When Discord finally tramples Celestia's last nerve, she decides she's had enough and banishes him to Earth without his chaos power. But when he falls in love with a human, Equestria will never be the same again.
When Discord finally tramples Celestia's last nerve, she decides she's had enough and banishes him to Earth without his chaos power and trapped in a human body. When he's rescued and brought back to health after getting injured in the forest Celestia dumped him in, Discord falls in love with the girl with a strange power and a mysterious past. Be prepared for feels later on. XD
"To be honest Celestia, you really are a bore. I was having more fun as a statue."
Celestia stood alone on a hilltop. The stars glittered and glistened in the silent night. The voice of her nemesis echoed in from every direction at once from an invisible source. A chilling laugh filled the air.
"I'm not trying to be funny, Discord, show yourself! I've had enough antics from you!"
A slight wind blew and Discord materialized a few feet in front of her.
He pouted and said "I'm just having a little fun with you, there's no need to be mean." Then he smiled "You didn't used to be so quick to give in, though. Losing our touch, are we?"
Overhead the night shifted instantly to day, and the grass started changing to random colors and giant butterflies appeared out of nowhere and took to the skies. Typical Discord, but Celestia was too tired to even try to be impressed. She had been hunting him down for days (or what were probably days) and the whole time he treated what he had done as a silly joke. Like it was some kind of ridiculous prank, not to be taken seriously.
"This time you've gone too far, Discord! I can't, in good conscience, let this continue."
"Oh come on Celestia, no one got hurt by it, at least not permanently, and it was mostly harmless." Discord smiled again as he remembered what happened at the castle when he escaped his statue again.
"You interrupted a private peace meeting, put a confetti-bomb under the buffet table, made the griffon king say everything backwards, flooded the castle with deranged mutant rabbits, painted 'Discord was here' in the sky using those blasted pink clouds of yours, and turned my favorite student and her friends into pelican birds! On top of all that you pretty much ruined our chances at striking a peace accord with the Griffon Kingdom! What part of that is considered mostly harmless?"
Discord did a happy loop- the -loop in air and started to laugh. "You..you really should have seen your face, though! It was hilarious! Stop being such a royal stick in the mud!"
Celestia's horn started to glow with magic as she muttered an incantation under her breath.
Discord rolled his eyes, "Didn't we already cover that turning me to stone doesn't work? Do it if you must, but I'll bust out again sooner or later."
"I'm not turning you to stone, not this time."
"Than what, pray tell, do you think you're doing with that?" he asked backing away from the glowing horn.
"Something I should have a long time ago, probably. I'm taking your powers away and banishing you."
"Your sending me to the moon? Really? Why not? After all, it went so well with Luna." Discord said positively dripping with sarcasm.
Celestia winced, she didn't like to think about that more than she had to, "No, farther than the moon."
"The sun?"
"Farther than that."
"The next planet over." Discord guessed.
"And here you had me thinking you had a good imagination. No, I'm sending you somewhere much, much farther than that. It's not uninhabited, but that's why I'm taking your power away first."
"What possible place could you possibly be thinking of then?" Discord mouth gaped as he suddenly realized just what Celestia was going to do. "You wouldn't! You're not! Not happening, of all places I'm not getting caught DEAD in that drab old place!"
"It's just a bunch of humans, Discord. They're just as strange as you. It'll be fun even, and you'll be out of my hair long enough for me to fix the mess you made!"
"C-c-celestia we can talk about this. Maybe you're right, I probably did carry that one a bit far. I'll make an effort to make it up to you!" Discord was actually starting to panic a little now. It took a LOT to scare Discord; you tick him off he turns you into a bowl of jelly. Literally. But Earth was another story, if humans were the same destructive, violent, unruly bunch they were a million years ago, and they likely were....he'd rather be a statue than be forced to deal with them without his chaos to back him up. They caused easily more damage to Equestria than he ever did.
Lightning shot out of Celestia's horn and smashed into Discord. Painful sparks shot up and down his body as his control over the chaos energy started to fade. Moments felt like hours, and by the time the sun princess had finished her spell, Discord had fallen to the ground in shock. It felt to Discord as if a huge part of him had been ripped out. He could no longer feel the chaos that he knew and loved in his veins, and any attempts to sit up induced painful dizziness that took his breath away. A purple cloud made of pure chaos floated through the air towards Celestia and she sealed it in a bubble of magic.
"And now for a change of look, it wouldn't do for you to show up in front of a bunch of vicious, carnivorous humans, and not actually be a human, now would it?" Celestia had a crazed look in her eyes, she had had enough. Too many escapes, too many emergencies, much too close together, had left her with very little patience to spare. Her horn began to glow again and ribbons of power flowed out of it to surround Discord. He could feel himself being changed, but without his chaos magic, try as he might to stop the transformation he was powerless to stop it. This spell faded too, revealing a much smaller figure.
Discord retained his white hair and trademark eyes, but that was the end of the similarities. His lightly tanned skin showed no signs of fur or scales and he didn't have a beard anymore. His matching arms ended in matching hands and his two legs were just the same. His body was no longer snake shaped and he didn't have two different wings, or even any wings at all. He was clothed in a simple shirt and denim jeans. Luckily, Celestia remembered humans had a thing about nudity.
"There you look just like the natives now." Celestia said " I'll bring you back eventually when I feel you've served your time, and I've fixed the damage you caused."
"Celly, please." Discord gasped, still in shock from losing his chaos, and now feeling completely defenseless in the new human form, "You're making a big decision here, there's no need to do anything rash. You already took my power and changed me to completely different species, can't we just leave it at that for a few hundred years and forget the whole thing?"
"You know I can't do that, Discord. I let you keep your job before, when you were a statue you still had your magic, so the chaos was still in effect enough to keep things running right. You decided to go and blow it anyway." Celestia was clearly angrier than she had ever been before, even Nightmare Moon didn't even get threatened to be sent to Earth.
"But it won't be when I'm gone. You're asking for trouble if you send me away, nopony can control chaos except me!" At this point he was grasping at straws.
"Notice that i'm not just sending it off to the wild. It will stay nice and safe in this bubble until I see fit to let you return, and have it back. Until then, I'm sure Equestria will survive on the small amount of chaos that happens naturally on it's own." Celestia began to prepare her third and final spell. "I've made my decision, as ruler of Equestria it's my duty to punish those who don't follow the law. The laws of physics included! I'm not a cruel pony, Discord. I'll be sure to put you in range of a town or something. It wouldn't do anypony any good for you to land in the middle of a desert or ocean. I'm sorry, but if this is what has to be done for you to get the point, then so be it."
Once again a field of magic reached out to the now-human Discord. The still protesting human felt himself lifted of the ground. He could see less and less through the ribbons of magic that were holding him. Then the world started to fade, until finally he was so enshrouded by the magic that his vision was cut off completely. And then with a loud crack as if from lightning, he was gone, teleported across space to where the princesses had sent the humans; another species Equestria was tired of dealing with.
Celestia stayed looking at the spot where Discord had formerly been standing for a while longer.
"Good-bye Discord," she said "and despite it all, good luck"
The rising of the moon brought another quiet evening to the forest. The moon was full and bright, casting it's silver glow down to the earth below. The stars glittered and twinkled in their fashion, and the cloudless night provided a stunning view of them.
Katrina left the den to look at the night sky often. It was her favorite thing to do. She could leave the world behind and dream of far off places, millions of miles away. Tonight she had been sitting there for hours watching the sunset, another common ritual of hers, later she would stumble off to the den with her pack-mates and settle in for a rest. Tonight, something felt different though, there was a strange tension in the air she had never felt before, like something big was going to happen soon.
"Whatca' thinking about?"
The shrill voice roused her from her daydream. She turned to look at the pup that had come to see her.
"Just that it's unusually still tonight."
"Yeah, I felt it too."
"What are you doing so far from the den so late at night?"
"Bane sent me, he wants to talk to you about something."
Katrina crossed her paws, of course Bane wanted to talk to her. It was always what Bane wanted. Bane was the pack alpha, they were already on shaky terms with each other, he didn't like her much. Somehow he always found something to yell at her about and it seemed like tonight was no different.
"I guess I'd better go see what he wants then, huh kiddo? The last thing we need in Bane in a bad mood."
"I think your right."
Katrina started to stand, but just as she did a loud bang echoed through the silent forest that stopped her in her tracks. It sounded like a gunshot. What if some of the pack mates were still out hunting? She had to go check it out. She stood up quickly and tilted her ears around to get a lock on where the sound came from.
"What was that?" squeaked the pup fearfully.
" I don't know. Hurry home Sammy, " she said "and tell Bane-"
"That you're going to be back late again?," he said flatly "Don't worry, I gotcha covered."
Katrina knelt down and hugged the pup before she turned around and leaped off of her rocky perch onto the mossy ground and bounded off into the dense forest. She knew where she had heard the sound coming from, she just hoped someone wasn't hurt. It wasn't the right season for hunters, she knew, but you still got the lone poacher every once in a while that liked to try and hunt in the forest anyway. After running a short while longer she came to a large clearing. She was sure this was where the sound came from. She advanced into the clearing cautiously, not wanting to startle whatever may be lurking in around still. A large shape was lying in the center of the open area. As she drew closer she could hear it's labored breathing, in the dark it was harder to see what the creature was but it was obviously hurt. The creature moaned and turned over, wincing at the pain that the action caused. It was then that she could see what the creature was. A human. Katrina knew that humans had a tendency to wander into the forest, sometimes to hunt, but with teens like him it was usually on a dare. She took a deep breath and focused her mind, it had been a while since she changed.
She put her weight into her rear legs and stood straight up. Katrina's body began to glow with a soft light. The light spread, covering her from head to toe, until finally she could no longer be seen past it. The glow faded in an instant and where the wolf had been a moment ago a human now stood there. She had the same blue eyes that the wolf had and her silvery hair extended past her shoulders. She was wearing camouflage pants and a light jacket lined with faux fur on the inside. She had a black headband on that held her hair out of her face. That took longer than I remember it used to. Obviously i'm out of practice.
A little explanation about Katrina, as far back as she could remember, she had the innate ability to change her shape. She was a human by nature, but she usually preferred to be a wolf. Luckily, whenever she turned into a human she was magically wearing the last clothes she had one when she was a human; it would have been a bit awkward trying to hid sets of clothes in the forest so she had them whenever she changed. She used to live in the nearby village, but that was a long time ago. They ran her out of town for a murder she didn't commit. It was such a long time ago that nobody there could even remember her name anymore, but she didn't dare try to live there again. She had been adopted once. They were all long gone now, but the house still stood. The wolves sort of adopted her after that. She slept at the den often but she wasn't really an official member of the pack. She was still a human to them, but they liked her all the same. They allowed her to stay with them and in return she used her powers to keep the hunters and poachers away. They called her the guardian of the forest. She passed out of the memory of the townspeople but they knew that someone was out there in those woods, watching over them and protecting them from danger. Legends spread of a white wolf that howled at the moon at night and every once in awhile you could see a pair of sapphire blue eyes watching from a distance.
The human Katrina hurried to the side of the injured boy. He was startled when he saw her, and attempted to back away from her but he winced and moaned whenever he moved his leg. He had strange eyes, they were yellow, not white. And the irises were red. What was unsettling though, was not their strange color but the fact that somehow they were familiar. Her head began to ache like it did whenever she tried to remember things she wasn't supposed to. Ignoring it, she bent over in an attempt to comfort the injured boy.
"Don't be afraid," Katrina said gently, "I'm here to help. I don't want to hurt you."
The boy looked doubtful, but he let Katrina approach.
"I can tell you're hurt, do you mind if I take a look? I might be able to help you."
He looked at her, apparently trying to judge whether she could be trusted or not. He must have decided that she could because he managed a weak nod. She came forward and sat next to him on the ground.
"What happened? Did you fall? I heard a loud noise."
He gave a weak laugh, "Yeah, that was me. I must have fallen out of a tree or something." He still wasn't 100% sure that it was safe to trust her, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice at the moment.
She was pleased that he was strong enough to talk, though he gritted his teeth painfully when he did. She proceeded to examine the injured limb. He continued to wince and a couple times he yelled out whenever the leg was touched or moved.
"You really did a number on this one!" Katrina joked, "As far as I can tell you dislocated it, it's not broken. I can put it back but it's going to hurt, a lot. So brace yourself ok?"
He nodded and dug his fingers into the soft grass, gritting his teeth to stop himself from shouting. She carefully held the leg, exactly as she was trained to, and set the hip back into the hip joint. Shocks of stinging pain shot up and down the limb, forcing him to tear the grass he was holding from the ground. She mentally thanked herself for reading all those medical books when she was bored, they came in handy a lot.
"There, it's back in place now, but you shouldn't put weight on it for a long while. You actually did surprisingly well, normally it hurts a lot more than that, simply because of the kind of injury." Katrina backed up a bit to give him a little more space "Do you live in the village?"
"No, I don't live anywhere at the moment."
"Oh" Katrina looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "I've been there." she said. "I tell you what though, you can come stay with me for awhile, at least until you are all healed."
The boy thought hard, the girl was nice enough, and it was true that he didn't have anywhere to stay. He still wasn't entirely sure whether to trust her, she didn't act anything like the humans that used to be in Equestria, they would have left him where he was, or put him out of his misery.
"I'm afraid i'm going to have to take you up on that. But like you said, I can't even get up, let alone walk anywhere."
"Then i'll just have to carry you." She said. "My name is Katrina, by the way. What's yours?"
"My name? It's Discord."
"Discord? That's an interesting name..." Katrina winced as the mention of the name gave her another headache. She knelt down and carefully lifted Discord off of the ground. Luckily as a human he was a lot lighter than he would have been as a draconequus.
She wished she could turn into a wolf and carry him on her back, it would be a lot easier and faster, but she doubted he would have the strength to hold on in his current condition. One step at a time, and being careful of his leg, she began the trek back to the den.
Bane was going to freak.
Author's Note
HI! Thanks for reading this far, i'm putting this story together in-between school and sleeping, so I haven't had time to do a lot of editing or revising with it. If you notice any errors, or parts that don't quite make sense, please, please, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments! Also if you have any feedback, positive or otherwise, I would be glad to hear it, too! This is only my second story ever so I am totally open to suggestions on how to make my writing better, hope you are liking it so far. :)
Here's a few answers to questions you may or may not have at this point:
Why is human Discord a teenager? He's older that Celestia!
Regardless of how old he really is, I decided to portray him as a teenager partly because it fit into the story better, and partly because, if you think about it, immortal creatures don't really age, at least not in the same way humans do. For all we know, on the scale he's using, he is approximately in his late teens. Also Katrina is a teenager, soo.....yeah.
What possessed you to make a Discord story? There's a hundred other characters you would have an easier time showing accurately.
Quite simply, Discord is my favorite bad guy EVER! Also I needed a break from high-school and homework, so I said to myself: "I'm bored and depressed.....BRING ON THE PONIES!!!!" It wasn't long before I found myself listening to this song. Basically, my brain read way too far into the chorus, my imagination got the better of me, and the rest is history. It's ADHD, it doesn't usually make sense. Yes, the humans in Equestria thing is a bit cliche by now, but it's what came to me at the time so it's what got written down .
Why are you asking yourself these stupid questions?
Because I have nothing better to do!
You suck at writing, you should be ashamed of yourself.
"Katrina, I swear, I've had it with you bringing in strays!"
"Oh get a grip Bane, it's not like i'll have him here long."
The large black wolf eyed her angrily. "No, I refuse to let him stay here! I won't have it Katrina. Not going to happen! Besides, he smells strange, not like anything i've ever smelled around here."
Discord, to be honest, had no idea what either one of them was saying. Somehow Katrina knew how to communicate with the wolf, but all he could do was sit there and wait for them to come to a decision. "What's he saying?" He asked.
"He doesn't like you. He thinks you smell funny and he won't let you stay at the den."
"I smell funny?"
Katrina shrugged, "A little bit, but it's not a bad smell just a different smell. Which is still a bad thing to a wolf, to be honest." Then she went back to speaking the wolf language, "Bane, I'll make you a deal. Let him stay here, just for one night, I'll find something to do with him first thing in the morning. In return, I promise, I won't bring anymore injured animals to the den, I'll find somewhere else to go."
The alpha looked at Katrina, and then at Discord, a look of disgust on his face. Admittedly, he wore that look a lot. or maybe it was just when Katrina was around. He sighed in frustration, knowing that it wasn't good for his reputation to give in to one who wasn't the alpha, let alone a human. "Fine. One night. One. Singular. Night. And he leaves in the morning."
"Thanks Bane, I owe you one."
"You owe me a heck of a lot more than one, human. And don't you dare think that this is me going soft, or i'll have to teach you otherwise, by any means necessary!" He barked this last comment as menacingly as possible, to make his point absolutely clear.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Katrina agreed. "He says you can stay, Discord. But only for the night."
"Thank you for this. I honestly expected you to freak out or something when I saw you coming over. It's what everyp- er everybody, usually does when i'm around. " He said with a yawn. He wasn't used to being tired. As an immortal he didn't technically need to sleep to function properly. This human body, however, was not nearly so accepting of sleep deprivation.
"No, problem. It's my job, and I was happy to help. Now try and get some rest, I have a place I can take you to tomorrow but we have to leave early to get there on foot."
So far this day was not going according to plan. At least thanks to the human he had shelter, which he might have been able to deal with himself had Celestia not teleported him 6 feet off the ground. Despite the pain he still felt in his leg, and being stared at by every wolf in the cave, Discord soon fell fast asleep.
He dreamed of Celestia repeatedly being hit in the face with cream pies. It was a good dream.
"Discord? Come on, it's time to wake up."
Discord groaned and turned over "Ten more minutes?" he asked.
"I'm afraid not. It's already close to noon, I was hoping you might wake up on your own so I let you sleep in longer than I should have. In about ten minutes, Bane will come to wake you up himself."
He opened one eye, "Is he the rather large black one?"
"That would be him, yes."
Suddenly this seemed like the perfect time to wake up. "Ok, ok, i'm up. Where are we going?"
"A house I used to live in down near the village. It's pretty far away though, and you went and slept in, so we'll have to use an alternate mode of transport."
"Meaning?"
"What i'm about to do, usually freaks people out, so you have to promise not to freak out and not to go blabbing about it in front of the villagers."
"If you don't want pon- er people to know, then why are you showing me?"
"Because it will get us there a lot faster, and because I trust you not to tell. Please promise?"
"Alright, I promise."
Katrina stuck out her pinkie finger, "Pinkie promise?"
Discord chuckled slightly at how similar it sounded to something he heard once in Equestria, "Pinkie promise."
"Good."
The other wolves that were still in the den weren't at all concerned about what she was about to do. They all knew her secret by now, she had been living with them so long. Katrina took a step back from Discord, like the night before she began to glow from head to toe. Much faster than the last time however, the glow faded revealing a large, snow-white wolf where the human had been.
Discord stared, open-mouthed in surprise; he didn't think humans could use magic. The wolf laid down on the ground in front of him, evidently intending him to get on. He looked around at the other wolves, it was hard for him to tell, but it seemed several found this amusing. I can;'t believe i'm doing this. He thought.
His leg still hurt terribly, but he was able to ease himself onto her back with a bit of effort. She turned her neck so she could look at him through the corner of her eye and lifted her shoulders slightly. Discord understood and he held tightly to the thick neck fur. He was able to keep his balance as she stood and started to walk out of the cave. Once they had gone for a bit, and he had a better knowledge of how to stay on, she picked up the pace. Gradually she moved a bit faster, and a bit faster until she was going at a dead run. Discord couldn't help but smile, he liked the the feel of wind in his fur too, bac when he had fur. In fact, riding on a wolf going that fast, watching as the trees whooshed by, felt almost as if he was flying himself again.
Sooner than he would have liked, the pair approached a cabin on the edge of the woods. It looked abandoned, the paint had almost entirely peeled off, and many shingles had slid off the roof onto the weed covered ground that surrounded the cabin. The door itself was actually more of a curtain, the kind used to keep out bugs. Katrina didn't stop at the doorway but instead walked straight up to the curtains and went through, she knew the house like back of her paw. The interior of the house was in much better condition, there was some paint peeling here and there but otherwise there wasn't much wrong with it, and paint could be redone. Katrina continued carrying him over to a flight of stairs, and she carried him up the stairs too, remembering that he couldn't climb them himself until his leg was healed. She took him down a hallway to one of the rooms and there she stopped. The walls were covered in family photos and drawings of racecars, and at least a hundred books. It was probably the best kept room in the entire house. There was a bed in the far corner that Katrina helped him onto. In the same glow of light as before she was a human again.
"The house isn't in the best of shape, but I come back to stay here a lot so I can assure you it's safe enough." Then she laughed "I don't know about you, but for me, that was a lot of fun. I guess I needed a run, sorry if got carried away." she said nervously.
"No worries, I like a good run too, the wind in your face and all that. But more importantly, since when can humans use magic?"
"That's a long story. One that I don't think I can fully go into right now." She sighed. Her face was focused and deep in thought, as if she was trying to remember something she forgot a long time ago. "Suffice it to say, as far as I can tell, i'm the only human that can. That's the whole reason I live in the forest, because nobody could stand to be around me once they found out what I was."
Her head ached, it hadn't stopped hurting since she found him the night before. The head aches didn't usually last this long. She shook her head in an attempt to think about something else. Time for a change of subject. she thought "Anyway, that was a really long time ago. I had better find you something to eat. You're bound to be hungry by now. Have a craving for anything in particular?"
Now that he thought about it he was pretty hungry, having something to eat might not be such a bad idea. Another thing he was unaccustomed to, hunger pains. What do humans eat anyway? The same things as ponies? "I don't mind really, just...I don't eat meat."
"Oh, your a vegetarian? Not a problem, really. I've spent long enough as a bunny to have lost my taste for meat. I'll eat it if I have to, but it's really not my thing. How does peanut butter and jelly sound, with some chocolate milk?" She asked.
"I love chocolate milk, that's one of my favorites." He smiled, if only he could make it rain chocolate milk again. He really didn't see why Celestia hated that so much.
"Excellent! I'll be right back, you stay put and call me if you need anything."
"Hey Katrina?"
"Yes?"
"Whose room was this?"
Katrina smiled sadly, "It was my little brother's. A long time ago." Then she left and closed the door behind her to go and make some sandwiches.
Discord stared at the ceiling and thought about that. Of all the rooms he saw, this one was in the best shape. Why was she being so nice? She only just met him, if she knew who he really was... What are you thinking, Discord? Why should you care? She's a human. A really nice human, who saved you in the woods, and stared down the alpha wolf so you could stay there, and put you in her brothers room. STOP IT!! She is a human! You're not, not even close, therefore she's off-limits. Why am I feeling this way? Is it because I'm human now?
Discord frowned and turned his head to face the wall. There were family photos there. There was an older man and woman smiling with their hands on the shoulders of a tall blonde boy, holding a trophy for something. The next picture looked like Katrina and what must have been her little brother playing with some blocks, the blonde boy from before was sitting in a chair in the background reading a book. Her little brother had dark hair and was sitting in a wheelchair. Was he injured? The boy was shown in quite a few pictures, many of them showed him playing with toy cars and drawing pictures with Katrina. The strange things was, in each photograph with Katrina in it, she looked the same age as she was now, even as the boy in the wheelchair got older.
"He sure did love racecars."
Discord jerked out of his line of thought, startled by the sudden appearance of Katrina.
"Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I was just thinking aloud for a moment. I remember he had this huge fascination with things that go fast. Especially cars." She was holding a tray with several sandwiches on it and a couple of covered glasses of chocolate milk.
"No worries, I was just looking at the photos." Discord gratefully took a bite of one of the sandwiches, he was pleased to notice that she added honey to the peanut butter. He didn't expect that that would go well, but it really tasted great. The two ate the meal in peace for a while but finally he broke the silence, "Is that your little brother then? In the wheelchair?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah." Katrina looked into her chocolate milk with a solemn expression on her face. She obviously didn't like to talk about it. But Discord wasn't very good with common sense, he had to know something, and then he'd let it go.
"Have you looked at these pictures recently?" he asked.
Katrina furrowed her brow, thinking hard. "I mean to sometimes, but whenever I do I get these terrible migraines. I always figured it was probably something about the room, like a dust allergy or something." She contemplated her sandwich for a moment, "Why do you ask?"
"Well i'm sure it's nothing."
"If it was nothing, you wouldn't have asked."
"I was only curious, it's just that....you don't appear to age...in any of them." She's been so nice, why did I have to go and bring it up? but he knew, If she really doesn't....then maybe...it might work out. but the sensible part of him knew better than that, luckily Discord had a lot of practice in shutting that part up.
Katrina, despite her splitting headache, looked up at the photos adorning the walls. It did seem like she was almost the same age. There was some signs of getting older, just slowly, not nearly as fast as her little brother. In what appeared to be the very most recent picture, her little brother was celebrating his 15 birthday, she looked the exact same as she did now. almost as if... she was stuck at 18.
"Katrina... How long ago where these taken? I know you said a long time ago but I mean-" He was cut off by the sound of Katrina shouting and clutching her head. "Katrina, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Now you've done it. Like she's really going to like you now. The other part of him said, Shut up.
"I'm okay, or I will be. It's just a really bad headache. It happens a lot whenever-." She gritted her teeth to stop herself biting her own tongue. "Whenever I start remembering things I'm not supposed to. Oh jeez that hurts. To be honest, they're not usually this bad tho-"
Katrina fell to the floor and nearly fainted. She had to focus all of her willpower just to keep from passing out. Her head swam with information her brain had given up on holding back. She could remember now, not everything, but a whole lot more than she had. They all fit right into place in her mind, like they had always been there. Being adopted into the family, the reason her brother was in a wheelchair, being blamed for his death. A lot more came too, including...
"A.. a hundred years..." She said.
"What?"
"That picture.... it was taken a hundred years ago."
"A hundred years?" Discord was shocked, on the other hand, "You know, your looking good for a hundred years old." he said with a sly grin.
Katrina's headache was feeling better, her head was still swimming with memories trying to get themselves in the right order but at least it hurt less. "Oh, ha ha. You're sooo funny." she grumbled.
"I try! Are you going to be okay, though? That looked painful."
"I'll be fine once my head stops spinning." she said. "At the moment you have three different heads, so I think I should wait until you only have one to try and stand up."
Discord laughed, "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea."
After a minute Katrina was able to stand up with out being dizzy so she went back to eating her sandwich. It's amazing how hungry you get after going through a psychotic episode.
"So that was you remembering stuff about your past you weren't supposed to?" Discord asked.
"Yeah. I'm remembering more about my past by the minute, but I still don't remember anything earlier than about 10 or so, and by that I mean when I think I was 10, back when I was adopted and living here."
"That's strange.."
" You don't seem concerned at all that i'm over a hundred years old, might I ask why?"
"I have my reasons." He smiled mischievously at some happy thought in his head.
"In fact, you seem rather pleased."
"That's because I am."
"And your not going to tell my why?"
"I wasn't planning on it. At least not yet."
"How come?"
"It's a secret."
She pouted
"No."
She gave him the puppy dog eyes.
"Mmmm, still no.
"Not even if I puff my lip out like this?" she proceeded to puff her lip out and looked as pitiable as possible. She looked so ridiculous that they both laughed until their sides hurt. It's official, I like her. Discord thought, Okay, this is probably a bad idea, a really bad idea, but-
"How about this, I'm tired right now, and I feel like taking a nap. I'll tell you tomorrow, ok? I'll even pinkie promise."
Katrina frowned No, it's not ok. I want to know why he's so happy about me being a hundred, it's weird, not wonderful. she thought, but what she actually said was, "Fine, that will work I guess." She looked out the window and noticed that night had fallen. "I have some things I need to do anyway, but don't think I'll forget!"
"Trust me, I'm sure you won't. I pinkie promised." Discord made the appropriate gesture of crossing his heart and sticking his fist in his eye, pulled the blanket over himself, and tried to go to sleep.
Katrina didn't know why he made those weird motions, but she left and shut the door quietly behind her. Walking down the hallway, she passed her old room. She didn't get back any memories about her room either, her mind was still fighting against those ones. Her hand reached for the door knob but she couldn't bring herself to turn it. I've had enough headaches for one day.
Katrina walked through the house in silence, not stopping to look at anything in particular. There were a lot of memories in this house, some more painful than others. Her little brother's wheelchair was still sitting in the corner of the living room where she left it. Her old memories, both the good and the bad, were assaulting her all at once. She couldn't stop herself from remembering the night he died. She sat down in the small chair and cried for a while. It hadn't actually been her fault that he died, but she still felt that it was. She had gotten into a fight with her parents,
"Dad please, why can't I have a sleepover with my friends?"
"You honestly think they want to be friends with a freak like you?" Her father was drunk again, the entire room stank of beer and whiskey.
"I'm not a freak! I can be normal! It'll just take some practice, that's all. Please can I go?"
"No! And that's final! Now get out of my sight before I do something you'll regret!"
She had run away, into the forest, the only place she knew she was safe. But...her little brother, he came out to find her after it had gotten dark, and he got lost. If only she hadn't run away, he might have lived. He was surprisingly good at maneuvering the wheelchair in-between the trees, but it was so dark and rainy that he couldn't stop his chair from sliding in the mud down a steep hill. By the time she found him, and carried him back home, he was dead and she was blamed. It wasn't until after her ex-adoptive parents had moved out, that she had the courage to recover his wheelchair and return it. She stayed sitting there crying for a while, until the moon was high in the sky.
Once she had cried herself out and decided that Discord was probably asleep, she dried her tears and made her way back upstairs to the hallway the bedrooms were in. At the end of the hallway, there was a hatch in the ceiling that led to the attic. Crawling up into the attic, she moved around a few boxes to make a sort of stairway and climbed up it. Now which one is the loose board? Let's see, 1..2..3..to the left and up a little bit. She counted out the appropriate amount of ceiling boards and pushed on one that was only slightly more rotted out than the others. The board gave easily allowing her room to climb out onto the roof.
Once again, the stars were beautiful; they always were here, where there wasn't any pollution. The full moon shone brightly in all it's glory, and a cool breeze blew through her silver hair. Katrina looked up at the moon and smiled. Thanks to this whole episode, she remembered why she used to stay out late and watch the night sky, for some reason she used to talk to the moon. She still didn't know why she talked to the moon, but she remembered that she used to know. It was something about her past, her old family, before she was adopted, had something to do with the moon somehow. Maybe they were astronomers or something. She would come out and tell the moon about her dreams, or about how the kids at school were mean to her, or about how her little brother dreamed of being a racecar driver. She remembered now all of the times she came out and talked. She used to love it so much, it comforted her to pretend the moon was listening. Like an imaginary friend.
"I'm sorry it's been a long time since I talked to you. I forgot who I was for a while." She didn't actually expect the moon to be listening, but she pretended it did. "On the other hand I'm more unsure than I was before. Partly because I'm remembering who I used to be, and I know who I am now and it's clashing. Mostly though, it's about something else."
Katrina sighed and leaned back, lying flat on the roof. "I met this guy and I...well at least I think...I think I like him. Like like him like him, and it so weird because I don't even know who this guy is, I only just met him last night, and he refuses to tell me anything about himself. But, he's funny. and he's really nice, too. Over the years, I've become this person I don't recognize anymore, putting the well-being of the forest before my own. I became some kind of extremely serious guardian, all over protective and stuff; I guess i'm still trying to make up for abandoning my brother. But tonight, tonight was the first time I laughed in a long, long time."
She laughed to herself, "I actually had the guts, or the stupidity, to stand up to Bane for this guy. I have never seen that old wolf quite so angry with me...of course, I never brought back a human before. He looks a bit strange, for a human, too. I mean, he has these eyes that are a bit of an odd color and his hair is white like mine. To be honest, that's probably one of the things I like best about him. We're both unique. He told me that nobody likes him where he came from, but I like him. I wish I knew whether he liked me too or not, I hope he does."
Katrina was silent for a moment."The way acts too, I don't know. He's just so nice to be around, he likes to crack jokes and he smiles a lot. He has this really beautiful smile. I've only known him for a day and I trust him completely. I even showed him my powers, he didn't freak out or be mean to me like others have in the past. I just have a really good feeling about him, i'm not really sure why, I just do." Katrina yawned, it was getting late; she should probably get off the roof before she fell asleep there. "But anyway, I should probably get to bed now, before I fall off the roof. I'll try to come talk to you some other time."
"You know, while I'm talking about him and everything, his name is interesting too. It's Discord. I've never met anyone with a name like that before." She slipped back through the hole in the roof and went down to the living room to sleep on the couch. She still couldn't bring herself to open the door to her old room.
Far away, in the country of Equestria, in the gleaming city of Canterlot, in the serene and beautiful Canterlot Castle Gardens, Princess Luna had been napping under a tree, shaded from the light of the baking, summer sun. She had been quite enjoying her nap, and she was having a rather interesting dream, one that she had often, about a girl who talked to the moon. All of a sudden, she sat straight upright, wide awake. Her eyes were as large as saucers and her face had a look of total shock.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Author's note:
I told you there would be feels. -_-, sniff, sniff.
Btw, Princess Luna has dreams about Earth. Who knew?
Princess Luna shook her head, trying to process what she just heard... Discord is on earth: I knew that already. Discord is a human: knew that too. Discord is falling in love with Katrina: how the hay did that happen? Luna, to say the least, was confused. How could she have fallen in love with Discord? Of all ponies! I have to talk to my sister about this... Not wanting to take the time to walk or fly there, Luna's horn lit with magic and she teleported right outside Celestia's door with a loud pop.
Luna pushed open the door, "Sister?" she said, "I have urgent news I wish to speak to you about."
"Luna? Come in, come in, sister! Don't be a stranger!"
Luna stepped gracefully into the room, Celestia was clearly taking Discord's banishment well. The sun princess was humming merrily to a tune only she knew to herself in the mirror, and using her magic to run a brush through her pastel rainbow hair, while a second brush did her tail and a third did her coat.
"You seem in a good mood."
"I slept well last night, it was good to have some peace and quiet for a while and I caught up on some very much needed beauty rest." She smiled happily to herself. "Now, there was something you wanted to tell me about?"
"I was taking my daily respite in the gardens this afternoon, when I once again had a dream about the Earth moon. In-"
Celestia eyed her suspiciously. "Don't you ever get tired of just sitting there watching them? There just boring humans that do nothing but beat each other up. You know they have no idea either one of us even exists, anyway."
Luna rolled her eyes."I find the humans interesting, sometimes. But in this dream there was a girl talking to the moon. I recall having told you about her before,"
"Katrina right?"
Luna stomped her hoof on the marble floor. " DO YOU WANT TO HEAR WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY OR NOT? IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT WE TELL YOU THIS BUT IF YOU DO NOT LET US SPEAK, THAN WE CAN HARDLY BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR IGNORANCE!" she made full use of the Royal Canterlot voice.
"Yeesh, sorry Lulu. Go on then, tell me what has you tail in a twist."
Luna sighed, her sister had this irritating habit to either take everything completely seriously or blowing it off. It really depended on the day. "Yes, her name is Katrina. She was talking to me, which is to say, the moon, and happened to mention a certain fun-loving draconequus friend of ours."
All three hair brushes dropped out of midair; she was having such a nice day. "What did she say?"
"Apparently he's much better at playing a human than we thought. Katrina thinks that he's just another human, and he must have had enough magic left to cast a spell on her because she seems to think she's in love with him!"
"In love? With Discord? Nonsense!"
"That's what she said. Is it possible he had enough residual magic to enchant her?"
"It's possible." Celestia's face became hard and unreadable. "It seems I'll need to bring him back early, but it will take me a few hours to prepare the spell needed to create a portal between the worlds long enough to bring him back. I'm sure he'll be all too eager to return and get back to his precious chaos, knowing him. He probably only put the spell on her in the first place to use her for a cover story, he is evil after all."
"I just hope she is ok." Luna said. she stared down at her hooves, "If she really is under a spell, I shall make sure he regrets putting it there for a long time."
"If it's a spell, and there is that possibility, than it'll release her the second that the portal closes behind us."
"Please prepare your magic, sister, we have no time to waste."
Celestia nodded and walked over to her bookshelf to research the appropriate spell that she would need. Luna walked to her room to try and get back to sleep. She tried not to think too hard about the danger that she thought Katrina was in, she needed to be fully rested if she was going to be any help to Celestia.
"Do not worry, Katrina. We'll be there soon."
Katrina opened her eyes slowly, sunlight streamed through the uncovered windows alerting her to the fact that it was time for the day to start. Katrina sat up and stretched. She breathed deeply of the fresh air, it smelled like muffins. Wait. Since when does it smell like muffins? Katrina stood and followed to smell to the kitchen. What she saw caused her to gape in surprise.
"Good morning, Katrina! Sleep well?" Discord was not only up and about, but baking!
"Ye-yeah I did. What's going on? Doesn't you leg hurt?"
"I am a very, very fast healer, always have been. When I came downstairs I saw you were still asleep, so I decided to make us some breakfast."
"You only hurt it a couple of nights ago!"
"Like I said, I'm a fast healer. I made muffins!"
"You made muffins?"
"Is that ok?"
Katrina smiled, despite her mild confusion. "Yeah, it's great! I love muffins!"
"Me too, hence why I'm making them. Besides, I have something that I promised to tell you about yesterday, and I intend to tell you." Discord looked as if he was not entirely sure if he should tell her, but he promised and not even Discord would dare break a pinkie promise, not even on an entirely different planet. Discord set a large plate of blueberry muffins down on the table
"Oh I get it, the muffins are a bribe. What is it that I should be mad at you for that warrants muffins?"
. He took a deep breath to stay calm and began to tell his secret. "The thing is, Katrina-"
"You can call me Katie." She mumbled, the way she said it reminded Discord of the element of kindness.
"What?"
"I mean if you want to, you can. I remember that I used to have friends in town, they always called me Katie."
"It's a nice name, I like it. Of course I like Katrina too... But anyway back to my story. First of all the reason you found me in the forest; it wasn't because I was pranked or tricked into going in there. I was teleported, from a different planet. I figured you deserve to know that."
"So you're an alien? That's cool..."
He laughed, "No, I'm not an alien. It is pretty cool I guess that I'm from across space somewhere, but I'm not here on vacation, I was banished here. I got bored, so I caused trouble and they sent me here for a time-out, so to speak. The reason I smiled when I found out how old you were, is because I'm pretty old myself. I was happy to find out that you were too, because it's nice to meet people you have stuff in common with. The difference is, that I'm thousands of years old, not hundreds." Discord wasn't smiling anymore, he could only imagine what she was thinking right now.
"Thousands, huh?" Katrina thought for a moment, before smiling herself. "You know, your looking good for a thousand years old."
"I seem to recall saying something similar to you."
"I seem to recall the same."
They both laughed.
"You aren't mad at me for keeping any of this from you then?" Discord asked.
"Not really, I understand why you wouldn't want to tell me something like that, you were worried about what I would think. I don't think any differently of you except that, I'm happy that your telling me the truth now, rather than me finding out anyway later. Now, lets eat these muffins! They look fantastic!"
They both ate their fill of muffins and put the rest in a plastic bag to stay fresh. Discord still looked a little concerned but Katie knew how to fix that.
"You want to go somewhere fun?"
Discord looked up from the book he had begun to read. "What do you mean?"
"You still look sad, so I had an idea. Do you want to go somewhere, really, really fun?"
"Umm.. sure?"
Katie smiled gleefully and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him to the front door. "Stay here one second." She left but came bag momentarily with a large yellow parcel in her hands. "Hold this, I'm going to turn into a wolf again to get us there faster." Discord slung the package over his shoulder with a strap on the side and a brief flash later Katie was a wolf. After Discord climbed on her back and held on tight she raced off into the forest. She was somehow running faster than she had the day before and she didn't slow until they came to a large river. She motioned for him to get off and in another flash she was a human again.
"Come on!" she laughed and grabbed his wrist again.
They ran up the river until they came to where it was gushing out of the side of a mountain from some unknown source above. Katie took the package and pulled hard on a cord coming off of the side. It inflated instantly into a small yellow raft. Discord had a feeling he knew where this was going. Katie pushed the raft into the water and tied it to a tree on the shore.
"This is the only place in the entire forest that absolutely no other humans know about. I used to do this all the time!"
She sat down inside and motioned for Discord to do the same. He stepped carefully into the raft and sat down next to Katie. Discord was more concerned about the safety of the raft than where he put his hand down, and for a split second his hand rested on top of hers and they both blushed bright pink.
"Are you ready?" Katrina asked. She smiled brightly and Discord couldn't help but smile too.
"As I'll ever be!" He replied.
Katie untied the boat from the cord and the small craft shot off down the river. In no time at all they were both soaking wet and having the time of their lives at it. They laughed, screamed and laughed some more, as the raft lurched left and right following the violent current. The raft finally came to rest in a lake where the river let out. After the thrilling ride, they settled down a bit and had a picnic lunch. Katie had thought to bring a couple thermoses of chocolate milk and the rest of the muffins. They spent the entire day out in the meadow, cracking jokes, telling stories, and feasting on muffins, unaware of how cold it had gotten towards the end of the day. By the time they got back to the house, it was so cold that they decided to curl up together in a blanket by the fireplace.
"This was a great day." Discord laughed, "We should do that again some time."
"I would love to." Katie sighed, she had to catch her breath from laughing so much.
Discord folded his hands and twiddled his thumbs wrestling with something in his mind. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. "Hey Katie?"
"Hmm?"
"There's actually something else I should tell you too."
"What's that then?" Katie snuggled close to Discord reveling in the shared warmth under the blanket.
"Another reason why I smiled. I was just so happy when I found out that you could live as long as me, because... well... I really like being around you, Katie. More than that, I really like you, and I think, I mean, I know that, well..." Discord groaned in frustration. "Of all the times to be at a loss for words, it had to be now! My entire life I never shut up, and now I can't think of what to say."
Katrina laughed, but she knew what he was trying to get at. She turned her face up to look him in the eyes and smiled. "I love you too." She said.
Discord felt as if the entire earth had been lifted off of his shoulders, he even felt like he was floating. Without even thinking, he put his hand on her cheek and kissed her. And wow, what a kiss. Katie felt like there were millions of fireworks going of in her brain, in a million different colors and shapes. Nothing else mattered in the whole world except her and Discord, and that heck of a kiss. She was sad when it ended, but ageless or not, she had to breathe sometime. For a short while they just looked into each others eyes and tried to catch their breaths. Discord had never felt so alive in his entire life. All he could think about was how wonderful this one moment was, and how the next moment after that was even better. He was in love, and not even his common sense had anything to say about it. Sense never let him have any fun anyway, so he was glad when it shut up and took the back seat. They fell asleep on the couch, still wrapped in each others arms. Nothing mattered now, he had Katie. He didn't care about Equestria, or not having to be a human anymore. He didn't even care about getting his chaos back. Granted, it would be really, really nice to have his chaos back, but if he had to leave Katie for that to happen, then he couldn't care less about having it.
And Celestia would just have to deal with it.
Author's note:
Oh noes! Celestia is coming to get Discord back! What does this mean for his new relationship with Katrina? How does Luna know so much about Katrina? What is it in Katrina's old room that she's so scared of finding? How would the pony sisters react if they found out the love between out heroes was real and not a spell? What is the average wing-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Find out the answer to all of these questions, except maybe the last one, when the adventure continues in the next chapter of:
Be aware... I'm bringing the feels. Consider yourself warned...
Once again, for the second time that week, the night was perfectly still. The crickets didn't chirp, the cicadas didn't hum, not a single noise came from the forest. They knew something was happening. Only two happy souls didn't have a clue and they were both fast asleep in their cabin. Near the cabin, a light flashed on. The light grew and changed until it took the form of a large ring. From the ring stepped two large creatures, they had graceful wings on their backs and elegant horns atop their heads. They sharply contrasted with the muted greens and browns of the darkened forest.
"Honestly, while he had any magic left at all, I didn't think that Discord would be caught dead in a rotted out old cabin like that." Said the sun princess.
"There is something to be said for staying low-key.", reasoned her sister.
"Perhaps. Lets hurry up and get him back already. The sooner we get back to Equestria, the sooner we can forget all about this. You stay here, I'll go get him."
"You do not wish for me to accompany you?"
Celestia looked down at her sister sternly." I need you out here. We don't both need to go in after him, and with you out here you can make sure that no humans or animals try to get through the portal."
Luna sat down in the grass with a frown on her face. "Yes, your highness. Whatever you want, it is not like I wanted to come anyway." she muttered sarcastically.
Celestia ignored her tone and walked into the house. It didn't take long for her to find the draconequus in question. He was curled up on a sofa with who must be that Katrina girl cuddled up to him. She carefully used her magic to levitate the girl onto the floor so as not to wake her, and went to wake up Discord.
"Get up." she whispered.
Discord slowly opened his eyes, looked at Celestia and frowned. "To be honest, I expected you to be at least another hundred years."
"Plans change, now lets go."
"Honestly, I don't really feel like leaving."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Wait..What did you do with Katrina? I swear if you did something to her i'll-"
"Save it Discord, she's safe." Celestia glanced into the corner she had set the girl and then back at Discord. "Now come on, we don't have all night and I can't hold the portal forever, even with Luna's help."
"I'm not going, Celestia."
Celestia scowled at him, "What do you mean, your not going?"
"Plans change.", Discord got up off the couch and went to check on Katie.
"I don't think so." The princess used her magic to put a cage over her.
"What did you do that for?" Discord yelled. At the sound of his voice, Katie woke with a start.
"Discord, what's going on?" She looked and spotted Celestia, who admittedly was rather hard to miss. "Who are you?" She tried to stand, but instead she hit her head on the roof of the cage. "Also I appear to be in a cage. Could someone tell me what the heck is going on?"
"I am Princess Celestia. I'm here to take Discord back where he belongs."
"I told you, I'm not going!", Discord repeated. Celestia didn't understand why he was acting this way. Was it because he was a human now? Because his inner chaos was no longer affecting him? He obviously wasn't in his proper state of mind, not that he ever was in the first place.
"For what reason could you possibly want to stay? I'll admit that i'm confused, Discord. You are powerless here, you can never cause you precious chaos again, in time you will not even be immortal anymore, and yet you want to stay?"
"I want to stay because of her!" Discord pointed at the corner where Katie was. "I want to stay because I love her and there's no way I'm going to abandon her. I finally found something to care about that isn't causing trouble. It only took me a hundred thousand years or so."
Katrina was touched, Discord was standing up for her now. She could tell that the pony wasn't going to take no for an answer, though, and something about the fact that she had wings and a horn; something about her name made her very uncomfortable. Sure enough, she could feel another bout of headaches coming on. Katrina decided that it had gone on long enough. Unfortunately the cage had a nasty surprise for her, as long as she was inside of it, she couldn't change to different animals, she was powerless. Celestia used her magic to grab Discord so that he couldn't get away.
"Leave him alone! He doesn't want to go!"
"Hush! He is obviously just not thinking straight."
"Why should I? I wouldn't just come barging into your house in the middle of the night and put you in a cage!"
"Silence!"
"Leave him be!" Katrina yelled she beat he fists against the bars even though she knew it was useless.
"YOU. WILL. BE. SILENT." The Royal Canterlot voice rang through the house. I have more important things to deal with than one whiny human. Katrina was stunned. The Royal Canterlot voice, when used by Celestia, had a similar effect to Fluttershy's stare. Celestia turned and made for the door, Discord in tow. Discord struggled to hear himself think over the ringing in his ears.
"Katie! I'll come back! I'll find a way."
"No. You won't." Celestia said.
"You bet your pointy golden shoes I will! Once I get my chaos back I can go back and forth easy."
"After we cross through the portal, my sister will check in with the girl and upon her return I will break the connection between the planets."
"Why?!"
"Because you've already caused enough damage, simply by being here in the first place. I should never have sent you, and I won't send any Equestrian ever again. You just be glad I am even giving your chaos back at all and not putting you in a cell for the rest of your life."
Discord continued to try and break free, but being a human, he was powerless against Celestia's strong magic. Celestia spoke to her younger sibling now.
"Go and do what you feel is necessary with the girl, I couldn't care less."
"Yes, sister."
"I had to cage her, but the spell will break as soon as I step to the other side of the portal. Be aware, she's in a violent mood."
"You caged her? I thought we were of the understanding that she was not to be harmed?"
"She isn't harmed, just detained."
Celestia walked through the portal and it began to close behind her. Luna was more than capable of getting back on her own power so there was no need to hold it open. Luna knew as soon as the cage was broken. There was a loud crash from inside the house and the fierce roar of an enraged tiger. Katrina, for of course it was she, barreled out of the front door to the portal, but she was too late. By the time she got there it was much too small to fit through and a second later it was gone. The tiger roared and thundered making her frustration known to all that still lingered nearby.
"Katrina?"
The tiger turned to Luna, pain and anger mirrored in it's blue eyes.
"Katrina, it's okay. We had to bring him back home, he does not belong here."
The tiger flashed and she was a human again. "And that makes it all better!" she cried, "The first time I've been happy for a century and I'm not supposed to care when the reason for my happiness is ripped away from me in the middle of the night!"
"Katrina, I am only trying to help you feel better."
"WELL DON'T! I should think you've done enough!"
"But,"
"And how do you know my name? I never told you, I've never even met you. How do you know who I am?" She screamed. Luna looked hurt, it was painful for her to see Katie in such distress.
"You have met me, you just don't remember." Luna made an attempt at hugging Katrina, but the girl just shoved her away.
"Don't touch me! Just leave me alone." Katrina ran into the house.
"Katrina, wait!" Luna yelled. But she didn't stop, she ran into the house and up the stairs. She ran down the long hallway of bedrooms until she got to the closed door of her own. Her head pounded and she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. She reached for the handle and turned it. It's not like I have anything to lose. She thought. There's something I need to remember and I have a feeling that the answer is here. The door opened to reveal a small child's room. Memories swarmed in her mind as she struggled to process the forgotten information. The entire room was covered in drawings. Everything, the walls, the bookshelves, the floor, everything was covered in pieces of paper. She remembered now. They were pictures of dreams. Her dreams.
She still didn't remember doing them, but each picture she looked at made sense in her mind, somehow. She picked up an entire stack of pictures and looked through them. There were maps of stars and constellations she had never heard of. There were pictures of a gleaming city built on the side of a mountain and another built on a cloud. How was that even possible? She saw pictures of crowds of ponies gathered around a stage and pictures of strange creatures with horns on their heads playing instruments by magic. The next picture was the one that struck her the most. It was a perfect sketch of the night blue alicorn that she talked to outside. She was sitting on what appeared to be the moon next to a large white wolf with blue eyes. I...I'm on the moon. With a horse.... She and the alicorn starred in many drawings together, chasing each other around, playing games....looking at the stars. The pain in her head subsided as she kept looking through the pictures. Somehow, looking at them made her sad, yet they made her happy too.
It was at this point that Luna found her. She walked into the room and sat down next to Katrina. Katrina flinched when Luna laid a hoof on her shoulder but made no attempt to remove it.
"You really are a great artist." She said.
"I barely even remember doing them. Story of my life, I suppose." Katrina sighed. "I drew them about things I dreamed of. Everyone thought I was crazy when I thought they were real. Even my little brother stopped believing me eventually. Even I had started to believe that they were only children's fantasies."
"They were wrong. That world, full of ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, is real. You were born there. Well, sort of. To be more accurate, you came into existence on the Equestrian moon."
"H-how do you know so much about me?"
"You remember all those times you talked to the moon? You never knew exactly why you did it but you did anyway. I listened to you every time. I heard what you said about Discord and jumped to conclusions before I knew fully what was going on, and I'm very, very, sorry for that. The Discord I knew did not care much about the well being of anypony but himself; he was mostly concerned with pulling pranks and messing with the weather. But he did not care about whether his actions were hurtful to ponies. In my mind, I knew that the Discord he used to be would not have any problems with putting a spell on you, if it meant he had a cover story. I did not think it was possible that he had changed, much less that he could actually fall in love with somepony. Much less a human, of course he is a human at the moment. Perhaps my sister did a better job of changing him than I thought. Regardless, I was not thinking." Luna took a chance and gave Katrina a hug. The girl was too confused and hurt to protest this time.
"I know your name, and your past, because I'm the one that made you in the first place. I did something in the past that was wrong and caused my sister to banish me to the moon for a thousand years. I was so lonely up there, with only myself for company, that I felt I would go insane without a companion, more insane than I already was. So, I made you; expertly crafted from stardust and magic. When it was time for me to bust out, it became apparent that I could not keep you with me. Equestria wasn't ready to accept that humans are real. The effect of bringing you with me would be similar to that of a unicorn or pegasus suddenly appearing in your version of New York. So, I sent you to Earth with the other humans, hoping you would be safe there, and blocked your memories of me, Equestria, and the moon. I knew that if you remembered me, or Equestria, then you would always be looking for me and you wouldn't have even a little chance of being happy here. I have missed you so much, even after all these years I still think of you as my own little filly."
"You mean, you're my mom? My real, actual mom? I have one?" Katrina asked.
"Technically yes, but- OOF" This time, Katrina hugged Luna and tears welled in both of their eyes. "It's alright now, I won't give you up again. I'm sorry I hurt you, Katrina, but I intend to set it right."
"How?"
"I am afraid it is not possible to bring Discord back to Earth. The truth is, Equestria needs him just as much as it needs my sister and I. However, I am still responsible for half the law and order in Equestria, and I do not know of any law preventing me from bringing you back with me."
Katrina smiled,"You can do that?"
"Of course I can do that! Am I a princess or not? I'll make a portal and we'll be back in Equestria in no time at all." Luna created a portal out of thin air. Katrina felt a warm breeze blow through it from the world beyond.
Luna stepped through the portal first, and after only a moments hesitation, Katrina followed. The fresh smell of crisp apples and spring flowers invaded her mind.They came out of the portal in front of a huge castle. It was surrounded by beautifully sculpted hedges, and the perfectly white walls were decorated with brilliant gold that glinted and shimmered in the sunlight. There were ponies everywhere, all kinds; most were too busy with their day to notice the sudden appearance of the princess and her companion, but the few who did stopped and stared. They had never seen a creature like Katrina before.
Luna led Katie through the castle to a stairway. The stairway led to an underground dungeon that was built underneath the castle. They walked down a couple of rows of holding cells until they came to the one with Discord in it. He was sitting on the bench staring at the stone wall at the back of the cell as if willing it to open up and swallow him; no such luck apparently.
"Go away!" He said, "I'm not interested in talking to you anymore."
"Are you sure?" Katrina asked.
A little bit earlier...
Celestia's portal deposited them directly underneath the castle in the underground dungeons. "I won't keep you in here long. Only until my sister returns." she explained
"I swear Celestia, you'll regret this. I'm a pretty fun-loving guy. Jokes, laughter, and chaos are my lifeblood; but even I know when to get serious. You've crossed the line." Discord grumbled angrily. Celestia had still not released him from her magical grip, it seemed she intended to keep him well within her sights until she found something better to do with him.
"I was not aware there was a line, Discord. If i'm right in remembering, you were sent there for punishment, not to have fun."
"I don't see why you should care."
"You don't belong on Earth with some girl!"
"Some girl? Oh come on Celly, please tell me this isn't all about that. I'm sorry, but there never was anything between us and you know it. We're too different. It never would have lasted even if it was there in the first place." Celestia pushed him into one of the cells and locked the door behind him. Discord sat on the bench and scowled at her. "All this out of jealousy. I thought the princess was supposed to be better than that."
"I will deal with you later. Then your chaos will be returned to you, and things will go back to the way they were before. But this time if you cause trouble, I will find something else to do with you, you will not go to Earth again." Celestia walked away from the cell, her golden shoes tinging like bells as she stomped angrily down the stone hall.
A while later he heard hoofsteps nearing his cell again. What does she want now? The steps stopped right behind him.
"Go away!" He said, " I'm not interested in talking to you anymore."
"Are you sure?" a voice behind him asked.
He turned on the seat to look at his visitor. "Katie?"
"Last time I checked." Katie laughed.
Discord rushed over to the bars to talk to her. "But, how did you even get here?"
She smiled and hugged him through the bars, "I hitched a ride!"
"I brought her here." Discord hadn't noticed the night princess until now, her midnight blue coat blended almost perfectly with the dimly lit room. Her horn glowed and the lock rattled and opened.
"I am sorry for the trouble that I caused." Luna said. Katrina opened the door and Discord stepped out, only to be tackled in a huge hug by Katie.
"Not that i'm not grateful, but why the sudden change of heart, Luna?" Discord asked.
"My daughter helped me come to my senses." Luna sighed, "I was a foal that jumped to conclusions before I had all the facts. Thousands of years old and I am still learning."
"Y-your daughter?" Discord stammered, He looked at Katie, and then to Luna, and back to Katie again. "You're Luna's daughter?"
"Yeah!" Katie grinned, "Cool huh?"
"I hope you weren't planning on leaving. As nice as it would be to not have a narcissistic, all powerful, pain-in-the-butt, draconequus running around, there is the little matter of him being the only one who can control the spirit of chaos; it would be a shame if I had to lock the girl up to make you see reason, Discord." Celestia said. While the trio had been talking, none of them noticed the white alicorn enter the room. A large bubble of magic was hovering around her, and the purple cloud of smoke inside was ramming itself violently against the walls of the sphere.
"Celestia!" Luna said, startled, "How much did you hear?"
"I heard enough. You and I will be having a talk about this later. Discord, considering how the girl is stuck here now, and I see no benefit in antagonizing my sister over something like this, I will allow her to live on the condition that you watch your behavior towards the inhabitants of Equestria and it's surrounding countries, and that you make sure she doesn't cause any trouble either." She made the bubble float in front of her. "Here is your chaos, to be given back to you upon your return to Equestria, as promised. I would suggest you hurry and take it before it busts out itself." The bubble floated in front of Discord. The smoky cloud slammed itself against the inside of the bubble; chaos does not enjoy being contained, you can hold it for a little while, but sooner or later it was going to do what ever the heck it wanted to.
"Discord?" Katie laid her hand on his arm.
"I have to Katie." He said," The simple fact of the matter, dear, is that i'm the only one who can."
Katrina looked down at her feet, "I understand."
" I AM a different person when I have the chaos as part of me. Very, Very different in a lot of ways. I'm taller, and I'm a whole other species, and have this thing about chocolate milk and cotton candy. I don't know really how much of my personality will change. For all I know, I might not even love you anymore, though I sincerely hope this isn't the case. But know this, I do love you, this Discord does. Even if the old Discord doesn't, this one does, and I'll never abandon you, not after everything I've put you through, and not when you mean so much to me, ok? I pinkie promise." He leaned in close and kissed her again, not the same kind as before though; this one was gentle, and reassuring. She took it to mean, "Everything will be ok.", but Discord knew better. He knew it meant goodbye. Luna watched Discord like a hawk, and Celestia looked at Katrina with disgust. They were both thinking the same thing though, He/she better watch it. I'm still not sure I shouldn't just fry him/her.
"I know you won't. Same as I won't leave you." Katie said.
Discord gave her one last reassuring smile and went to examine the glowing orb that imprisoned his chaos. Placing his hand on it's surface, he could feel the energy pulse inside. The smoke pressed itself against the side forming itself into the shape of Discord's hand. It wanted to be free again, it wanted to go back to what it had been for thousands of years. But did Discord really want to? During his short time as a human, he's been able to finally have some time without the voice of chaos egging him on in his mind. He did miss it, but only a little. He had Katie now, so there was no reason to be lonely; he had her to talk to and to go fun places with. But someone had to do it. He knew that the chaos, should it lose it's patience in that ball and decide to inhabit someone else, that person would go completely mad and probably die. Of all the things he had done, he couldn't put that on his conscience too. Discord looked at the cloud with sadness and relief at the same time. He could feel it trying to get back to him. Like a puppy that had spent too long away from it's master.
He looked up at Celestia and nodded once. Her horn glowed and the ball of magic faded. The cloud whizzed violently around the room, for no particular reason and then changed direction and crashed right into Discord. He could feel it burning inside him changing him from the inside out.
Discord stepped back against a wall, all he could do was try to be strong for Katie, it wouldn't do for her to see how worried he actually was about all this. He knew that being turned into a human was a lot less complicated that going back. He thought about her and he couldn't help but think of how she would react when she saw his true form. Would she hate him then? Would she be afraid? As the process began, he looked to see the faces of the princesses and his love for the last time with human eyes. Katrina and Luna looked concerned, but Celestia had an almost triumphant look in her eyes; she was so sure that she had won, that Discord would no longer love Katie, or that Katie would no longer love Discord, that she thought she would have another chance of winning him over.
Golden sparks flowed from his finger tips and spread slowly up his arms. In an attempt at self preservation, his human mind tried to fight back, but the chaos magic was too strong, and too determined in it's goal to change him back to what he was before. As the golden flecks continued to gradually cover him, the now human part of Discord's mind silently screamed in protest, the chaos magic was burning away at his humanity, one inch at a time. The potent magic soaked into his bloodstream. He could feel it, every single speck of chaos magic, as it tried to change what he had become into what he used to be. He could feel his body dying and being reborn at the same time. It was wonderful and agonizing all at once. The glowing sparks spread up his arm and covered his torso, soon his legs would be covered with the stuff too. He found himself immobilized and he collapsed on the floor.
Katrina wanted to race to his side but Luna pulled her back and held her close.
"You must stay back, my dear. Don't get too close." she whispered. Despite how much she didn't like him, Luna couldn't help but be worried for him, there was a high possibility that the experience would be fatal. Changing from a human to a draconequus was a lot more complicated and dangerous than being turned from a draconequus to a human, especially when the cause of the change is the introduction of chaos magic.
The sparks of chaos magic danced about in Discord's mind, too. Causing him to alternate between seething rage, and overwhelming joy, both accompanied by fits of uncontrollable laughter.
Discord was approaching the final stage of the transformation, his human self was fighting with all of it's might despite knowing that it would never win, only slow the process. Discord knew that this was for the best, and it had to be done, but the basic human instinct for survival refused to give in. This is where I die. He thought, This is what it feels like. All the pain and sadness and regret, that I could never feel as a draconequus, only as a human, coming crashing back at me. The chaos magic is all that I am, and it's killing me. Discord the human is dying. He even had his life flash before his eyes. Most of it was him causing chaos, turning upside down houses; making the world as he wanted it. Some was his time as a statue, with only the chaos in his mind to keep him busy in the made up world of dreams. There was him being banished to Earth. He met Katie and somehow was happier than he had ever been in thousands of years. The sparks continued to swallow him. The whole process probably took all of a couple minutes, but to Discord, it could have been years.
Discord didn't want to die. he didn't want to lose Katrina. What if he didn't love her anymore? What if he broke his promise and left her alone? What if he didn't even know who she was? It was then that he remembered something that he had heard once while he was a statue. A tan earth pony with dark brown hair and a hourglass for a cutie mark had stepped up to him and sat down on a park bench.
"I can't stay long," He had said, "something is happening to the time-stream somewhere around 15 A.D. Equestria time and I really should be going, But I know you can hear me, and I thought it only fair to warn you." He looked the statue in the eyes. "I'm not one for spoilers but this one is important and I was given specific permission to tell you. I'm sorry, but some day, quite soon, it will be time for you to die. When this time comes, you will know. When it comes, remember the one you hold the very most dear. Don't forget about them, to the last second you need to hold them in your mind at all costs. I'm afraid I can't tell you more; it would be telling you too much. Consider my dept to you repaid, old friend. Oops... that hasn't happened yet, spoilers!"
A watch on the pony's forearm beeped and he sighed with disappointment. "It appears i'm all out of time, Discord. I would really have liked to stay longer, it's been such a long time since we had a nice chat. Good bye, and don't forget what I told you."
The pony got up and walked to a small blue box. A grey pegasus with banana yellow hair and a bubbles cutie mark was waiting for him. She waved good bye to Discord too, and after they both got into the box it faded and disappeared.
You are the one I hold most dear Katie. Discord thought. And I won't forget you, not for a second. Pinkie promise. He crossed his heart and put his hand over his eye. Katie saw and couldn't help but smile despite her fear for his safety. Discord thought of that smile, and he thought of her hair and her eyes and her laugh. He thought of how she always smelled like the forest she spent so much time in, and called her home for so long; a harmonious mixture of roses, wet grass, and fresh rain. He thought of his love for her and how he hoped the draconequus would love her too. Faust-willing, she would be his last thought.
The sparks climbed over his shoulders and up his neck. They burned him and froze him at the same time, crawling in snake like tendrils all over him. He was sure now, this human body wasn't meant to undergo this much stress. He was dying. Really dying. Even when this thought occurred to him he kept Katie in his mind. He thought of how her silver hair looked with the moon shining on it, and he thought of that first kiss, sitting in her living room under a blanket, of when he tried to tell her he loved her, but she already knew. He was dying, but he was happy; not everyone gets to spend their last day with the love of their life. Just as the process was just about complete, the human portion of his mind decided it had one last thing to say:
"I don't want to go."
A single tear traced a line down his cheek as his body exploded in a shower of sparks. What was a slow process before, now raged like a fire, erasing every sign of humanity in him and blurring him from vision. In a final scream of both triumph and rage, Discord finally changed. On the surface it was bright and sunny, but in the underground chamber, thunder rolled and lightning flashed all around. The cells turned to Swiss cheese and each brick on the walls turned to a different color. Luna covered herself, her sister and Katrina in a shield spell to protect them from the huge magical discharge.
As quickly as it had come, the violent onslaught of magic ceased. The storm that had somehow materialized in the dungeon broke up and cleared away, the bricks and cells went back to their original state, and the magic shield flickered and died. Discord the draconequus fell to the ground. Katie ran to Discord's side, he did indeed look different, he was considerably taller, or longer as the case may be, than she was. And it was clear that he was nothing even close to human, but she knew he was still Discord. She was too worried about him to care what he looked like. She could feel his heart beating weakly in his chest and his eyes were closed. His shaky, ragged, breathing tried and failed to lift his chest up and down.
Katrina felt like she was going to cry, He couldn't possibly be dying could he? Not after all this., but she knew that a human body probably wasn't meant to be able to survive something like that, even if the transformation was completed in the end. Katrina closed her eyes and laid her head on his, placing her hand on his chest so she could still feel his feeble heartbeat. The beating slowed and finally stopped, so did his attempts at breathing. Celestia and Luna both bowed their heads. Katie couldn't believe it. She was absolutely stunned, she wanted to scream and cry at the top of her lungs but she couldn't bring herself to make a single sound. She could only hold him in her arms and sob. Luna came over and placed her hoof on Katie's shoulder, attempting to comfort her while not tearing her away from her grief.
She thought that she had imagined it when she felt his heart start beating again; when he started to breathe again. She thought that wishful thinking was playing with her mind and telling her lies. Gradually, Discord's mind started running again, he could feel himself coming back to reality. He felt Katie's head pressed against his. He felt her shudder and sob as she struggled to not lose her grip on herself and failed. He felt her warm hand resting on his chest. With great difficulty, he raised his arm and placed his lion paw on top of her hand. Katrina looked at it, it took her mind a moment to process that the paw wasn't there before. She turned her head to look at Discord's face, and used her free hand to brush her hair out of the way.
Discord opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Hey there, cutie." He chuckled lightly. "To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd see those eyes of yours again."
Katie sort of half laughed, half sobbed. "I thought you were dead. I really thought you were dead."
"I was." He said. "But there was no way I was going to let myself stay dead long. I love you too much, and I pinkie promised."
Luna came over and sat next to Katie and Discord. "I am glad you're alive too. Admittedly, Equestria would not have been half as interesting without a little Discord in it."
"Then I guess it's a good thing that you have a lot of Discord now isn't it?" He laughed.
Celestia scowled and left the dungeon. She was glad, of course, that Discord was not dead. However, she was hoping he would not remember the girl. She didn't like to lose. Especially to a human. Even more especially to a freak of a human that wasn't technically a human at all, but the product of Nightmare moon's boredom and loneliness in exile. It was embarrassing, insulting even. No matter, the human is bound to run into trouble eventually. Someday she would die and Celestia would be rid of her. Discord would be single again and all would be as it should have been, no meddling humans. All good things to those who wait.
Discord, Katrina and Luna happily laughed together. Luna had no doubts that Discord was the right guy for her little filly, not anymore. Even she could see that they were perfect for each other. Katrina wasn't particularly concerned about Discord's new, or rather old, look; she knew that he was the same person on the inside as he was before.
"You know what we need now, right?" Discord laughed.
Luna and her daughter looked at each other, and then at Discord. "What?" Katrina asked.
"A party!" He said." A big, huge, Discord-is-back-in-Equestria-and-he-brought-his-girlfriend-who-just-so-happens-to-be-Luna's-daughter-and-he's-happy-he-still-loves-Katie-and-managed-to-not-die-permanently type of party!"
"Sounds legit." Katie said happily.
Discord ran his eagle claws through his beard, "And I even know just the mare...."
Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville
Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Wiggly tail, left ear floppy, front right hoof twitchy, nose itchy. That can only mean one thing!
"Somepony needs a party!" She cheered.
Her right ear flopped twice.
"With an overly-complicated title! YAY!"
Author's note:
Whew! Done! After two days of writing nearly non-stop, I present you with a triple length chapter to celebrate the end of the story arc! More than 6,000 words, holy bananas. I think I need to take a break now. T-T
I can't believe I've gotten six chapters out of this! Wow! And more to come! When my fingers stop hurting...
Just a couple last minute things to mention:
First thing: I will be going back through the previous six chapters to edit and revise before I move on the the next story arc. So if you happened to notice anything that I didn't get the first time around please mention it in the comments and i'll be sure to check it out.
Second thing, I was checking the stats on the story, and I was so excited to see that four people have favorited this story so far, and the story had more than 300 views! Thank you guys so much for your support, I really appreciate it and knowing that people like my story inspires me to keep writing! So a special shout out to you guys!
Another shout out goes to fellow Whovians and bronies who recognize the songs that I linked in this chapter! I love all incarnations of The Doctor but number ten always has been and always will be my favorite. There may or may not be a crush involved....^_^
~ "I am Princess Celestia. I'm here to take Discord back where he belongs."
"I told you, I'm not going!"
~"You mean, you're my mom? My real, actual mom? I have one?"
"Technically yes,"
~"I have to Katie. The simple fact of the matter, dear, is that i'm the only one who can."
~"To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd see those eyes of yours again."
~ "Somepony needs a party! With an overly-complicated title! YAY!"
Pinkie Pie was ecstatic, not long after her Pinkie Sense kicked in, she had been sent a letter from Discord requesting a huge party in Canterlot. It didn't take long for our favorite pink party pony to get hard at work putting plans together. Pinkie was carefully choosing ribbons and balloons and cake flavors from her huge book of ideas. A party canon only did you any good if you knew what you wanted to load it with, and every Pinkie Pie brand party was as unique as the ponies you threw it for, so you had to get it just right. Everything was going great so far, in little less than an hour she had just about everything ready, but she was going to need help making the cakes. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were away on vacation with the twins, so they wouldn't be able to help with this one. Instead Pinkie decided to ask her friends over. After all, six heads are better than one!
It wasn't long before all six of the mares in question were sitting around a large table in the back room at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie was glad to see that they were excited about what she was going to tell them. They all wore huge smiles and waited for what pinkie had to say, all except for one. Twilight Sparkle wiggled in her chair uncomfortably, she was constantly looking around and she was nervously tapping her hooves on the floor. This behavior did not go unnoticed by Pinkie Pie.
"What's wrong Twilight?" She asked "You looked sicker than I did after those baked bads!"
"Do I? I didn't notice." Twilight shot a glare out the window, fearfully.
"Twilight darling, we can tell when somethings wrong. We're your friends! You know that whatever the problem is you can always trust us." Rarity chided.
"Well, like I said, it's nothing. I just got a letter from the princess, it has me a little on edge I edge, I guess." Twilight admitted.
"A letter from the princess! Is she in trouble? Who's responsible? I'll show him a thing or two!" Growled Rainbow Dash.
"No, she's not in trouble, but Equestria might be."
"What happened?" Fluttershy whimpered, barley audible even in the quiet room.
"Well... you see...something happened and...Discord's back." The room was silent for a few moment's until Pinkie bursted into a fit of laughter.
"I mean it!" Twilight scolded, "That's really what the letter said!"
"Oh Twilight, I don't doubt that it did say that! I'm laughing because I already know, silly-filly! I called you guys over to help me make a huge cake for his 'Welcome Back!' party!" Pinkie giggled.
The jaws of everypony in the room dropped simultaneously. "You mean to tell me, that you went and gathered all us ponies here, to plan a party fer Discord?" Applejack gasped.
"Well duh! Who else would need a cake so big and complicated?" Pinkie asked, pointing to the blackboard behind her that had a blueprint for a massive cake on it.
"I guess I figgerd that you were making it fer one of them uppity Canterlot parties. Like with Princess Cadence's wedding." Applejack answered.
"Well it is in Canterlot, he wants to hold it in the ballroom!"
"You aren't at all concerned that he even escaped in the first place?" Twilight asked.
"Nope!" Pinkie grinned.
Her five friends all looked at each other and then back at Pinkie. Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Pinkie Pie will be Pinkie Pie." she said. "Were all here now though, so how can we help?"
Rarity blanched at Rainbow Dash in horror, "Rainbow my dear, you can't honestly be considering helping with a party for HIM! After what that brute did?"
"Sure I am! I'd be a foal to turn down a Pinkie Pie party! Even if it's for someone I don't really like, it's sure to be a great time!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie chirped, "And he's even bringing his new marefriend!"
"Marefriend?!" All the other ponies said at once.
"How ever did that ruffian end up with a marefriend?" Rarity said.
"Even worse! What poor mare got stuck with Discord?" Rainbow Dash added.
"The thought of anypony being able to spend time around him voluntarily, is laughable." Twilight growled. "Even more so in a romantic setting."
"Well I think it's sweet!" Fluttershy had been quiet for most of the conversation, as usual, but decided to speak up now. "Oh I'm sorry....was that too loud...I think it was....But, anyway, I think it's great that he found somepony to care about that cares about him back. You really shouldn't be so mean!" The shy pegasus, having said her piece, went back to sitting quietly in her chair.
" Ah recon yer probably right, Fluttershy. Just 'cause he ain't mah cup a tea, doesn't mean I should judge the ponies who do like him fer what he is.", Applejack said.
"Well now that that's settled, let's get started on this cake!" Pinkie continued as if nothing happened, and started pointing to all the different parts of her cake idea and with the help of Twilight's expert organizational skills, the elaborate cake was soon underway.
A guest suite in Canterlot Castle.
"Honestly Katie, I have no idea how i'm going to survive." Discord moaned.
He had managed to get through an entire day without causing any trouble. The feat was more difficult than you would have thought. Discord was freshly regenerated and brimming with chaos magic just itching to be used, but he wouldn't risk Celestia's rage by causing a disturbance. Not this early in the game, anyway. He threw himself in the air backwards and a red sofa materialized out of thin air in the exact right place to catch him. "I am most assuredly ruined!"
"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Katie replied.
"I mean it! If I don't find SOMETHING to do, my head will explode." He laughed.
"That doesn't sound good. You would miss the party for sure. And Celestia was so nice as to let us use her ballroom." Katie frowned.
"I think that would be the least of my problems if I didn't have a head...but you're right, it would be a shame to miss out on a Pinkie Pie party. You haven't lived until you've been to one."
"Oh really?" Katie grinned. "They're that good?"
"Oh definitely, I can tell you from experience. I came into existence thousands of years before she was even a gleam in her mother's eyes. I was never actually invited to one personally, but I turned up once or twice anyway. You know, incognito."
They both laughed. Katrina was about to say something else, but at that moment the door opened and a small white unicorn came in. She didn't look at either Discord or Katie, but rather, her gaze remained focused on her hooves. "Pardon me for interrupting, but I was sent to collect a Miss Katrina from this room. Princess Luna would like to talk to you. And Discord, a miss Pinkie Pie is waiting for you down in the ballroom." She said.
"Oh, of course." Katie said. She furrowed her brows playfully, "The party planner want's to talk with you, Discord. I'll be right down when I'm done with Luna."
Discord raised an eyebrow at her. "You doubt my ability to stay out of trouble by myself?"
"Yes." Katie said flatly.
"Ouch. I'll be fine Katie, I promise I will do my best not to cause a big riot."
Katie laughed, "Or a little riot either!"
"That too."
Katie followed the unicorn out the door and through the many hallways to Luna's bedroom. The unicorn tapped on the door, the door handle glowed dark blue and it opened to admit them into the room.
"Thank you very much, Ivory Heart. You have been working hard, you can take the rest of the weekend off. You are more than welcome to attend the party later, if you wish. It seems that the host's party planner saw fit to invite the whole of equestria."
The white unicorn nodded and left the princess' chambers. Luna trotted over to Katie and gave her a big hug.
"And how are you doing dear? I hope everything is going well with you so far."
"Yes, thank you so much for letting us use that suite. I'm sure Celestia wasn't happy about that."
"My sister....is just being difficult. I'm sure she doesn't mean any harm. How are things going between you and Discord?"
"He's feeling antsy, being cooped up in a secluded suite and told not to cause trouble doesn't really work for him."
"This doesn't surprise me. I have something that might help, but it's a surprise for later. After Discord has his celebration."
Katie smiled, "Apparently, according to him, I haven't lived until I've been to a Pinkie Pie party."
"I can't disagree with that one. It's very easy to see why that mare has three balloons as a cutie mark." Luna looked Katrina up and down. "Hmm..." She said.
"What?"
"You need some party clothes."
"I do?"
Luna smiled. "But of course! This is your very first impression on Equestria! Even being a princess, I do not dress up all that often. However, for special occasions, I like to have fun and dress up. We don't have anything that would fit a human though..."
"Well I was actually thinking I might go as a pony. It would be so awesome to be a pegasus!"
"If you want to do that, I see no reason why not, that's between you and Discord. It would be easier to find something to fit you."
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Besides, if I can deal with him being a draconequus, I'm sure my showing up to the party as a pegasus for one night shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"As you wish." Luna said. She heard a knock on the door and called for them to come in. Two unicorns and an earth pony came in.
"Oh excellent, I was just about to call." Luna said. "My special guest and I will need total makeovers for tonight's party. and I will need a full wardrobe of pegasus dresses brought up a while before the party starts."
While the earth pony left to go and get the clothes, the two unicorns brought a cart in from the hallway. The cart was covered in hair supplies and makeup.
"Uhh, Luna.." Katie groaned, "I'm not sure about this..."
"What's wrong?"
"I have never had a makeover, or had someone brush my hair, or anything like that."
"There is a first time for everything, Katie. If you are going as a pegasus, now would be the right time to change shape though." Luna suggested. Katie, after a bit of concentration was able to perfectly picture a pegasus in her mind. A brief flash later, she was changed. She had a darkened blue coat, similar to her mothers but a bit lighter, and a silvery-white mane and tail. Her eyes were sapphire blue as usual. Upon further examination she found that she already had her cutie mark, it was a wolf's paw print. The two unicorn stylists stared but they quickly overcame their surprise and went about arranging the various brushes and other styling tools on the cart. Luna sat on a cushion facing a vanity mirror and patted another cushion next to her until Katie went and sat on it.
"You make a very pretty mare." Luna laughed. "Your colt-friend is going to be in for some surprise!"
"Well, I'm a pegasus, I am getting a full makeover, and i'm going to be wearing a dress, I think he will be a little surprised."
They both giggled, which irritated the unicorns trying to run brushes through their manes. When Luna said a full makeover, she meant it. One shampoo, brushing, and styling later, the unicorns started on makeup. They didn't use much, just the perfect amount to bring out the eyes and add a tiny bit of shimmer. After that, Luna showed Katie a long line of dresses, there were so many of them that by the time that Luna decided that she found the perfect one for Katrina, the party was just about ready to start and guests were arriving. Luna took a step back with the stylists and all three of them nodded their approval.
"You look beautiful." Said one of the unicorns, "I'm jealous of that colt-friend of yours!" He added.
"You really do, dear." Luna said. "Discord is going to, how does the saying go? Have a cow. When he sees you."
Katie smiled and looked at herself in the mirror. This was going to be great!
The party setup was going wonderfully. Between Discord, Pinkie, and her friends the party was setup in no time at all. The wall were decorated liberally with multicolored streamers. A few long tables were covered with different kinds of snacks and drinks. Pinkie and Discord went bananas with her party canon, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew decorations and speakers up to the ceiling, Applejack got cooking to fill up the snack tables, Rarity and Twilight helped coordinate the decorations and organize everything. anything you could possibly want from a party, including Ponyville's own Vinyl Scratch and a huge cake, could be found in that ballroom. Twilight was still uncomfortable with throwing a party for Discord but it was Celestia and Luna's wish that this evening go smoothly so she wasn't about to throw a wrench in the works by challenging him.
Discord was having so much fun, that it took him until they were done with the decorating and setting up to notice that Katrina had not yet returned from her visit with Luna.
"Has anyone seen Katie?" He asked, worriedly. All of the elements shook their heads that they hadn't.
"I'm sure she's ok." Fluttershy said. "She's with Luna right? Don't worry, she's sure to be down any minute."
"Come on, girls!" Rarity said "We have to get into our dresses!" The girls all left to go and get their dresses on, they had decided to wear their dresses from the gala. When they returned Katrina still had not shown. And when the quests started arriving Katrina still hadn't appeared. The doorcolts started to announce the names of the guests but Katrina was still absent. Discord was getting more and more worried, but just when he was about to leave and go find her he heard the doorcolts say her name.
"Introducing, the Lady Katrina." They said. Discord was relieved and turned towards them to see her, what he saw caused him to stop and stare. Through the doors came a blue pegasus mare. She wore an elegant dark blue dress threaded with pearls and jewels that made it look like she was wearing the evening sky. Discord was tempted to think that it couldn't possibly be the right Katie, but no, he knew it was Katie. How could it be anypony else? Her blue eyes were the same that he knew and loved, and her silver hair sparkled with just the faintest amount of glitter.
"Who's that?" Twilight asked,"I've never heard of her."
"She's wearing one of mine!" Rarity exclaimed. "That's one of the ones that was purchased recently from my boutique!"
"That's Katie.."Discord said. "My marefriend.... Excuse me for a moment." Discord ran in between the various guests to get to the front of the room to Katie. When she saw him she smiled and ran over to him. Somehow he couldn't get the words out. "Wow, Katie."
She laughed. "I'm glad you like it. You have no idea how long I had to sit perfectly still while two fussy unicorns kept messing with my hair."
"You're a pegasus."
"Yes I am, and you're a draconequus."
"Yeah." He struggled to find words to say. "Wow..."
"You seem to be at a loss for words again." She said smiling.
"That seems to be the case, yes." He laughed. "Come with me!" Katrina followed Discord as he led her across the dance floor, over to where the girls were dancing to one of their favorite tunes.
"Katie, I'd like you to meet the Elements of Harmony! Girls, this is my marefriend, Katie!"
Pinkie spoke up first, "Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie! This is Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity!"
Katie shook hooves with each in turn. Twilight looked suspicious of her, but shook hooves nonetheless. Rarity was the next to speak,
"You look absolutely marvelous in that dress, darling. I dare say it's one of my best, and it's just your color!"
"Thanks, Rarity! You really are a dressmaker of an entirely different caliber. I wish I got to dress up like this all the time! This is the first dress I've ever worn."
"Really? I figured that since you were royalty, you probably had many dresses."
"Nope. I'm royalty by birthright but I only found out recently. In fact, up until a couple days ago, I didn't even know I had a mom."
"I'm sorry."
"No need to feel sorry, Rarity. The past is the past, I couldn't be happier with how things are turning out." Katie looked over to where Discord was having an energetic conversation with the DJ. Who smiled and nodded. What are they talking about? Rarity caught her looking at him and cocked her head.
"You guys are so romantic, you know that?"
"What? How so? I mean I love him and everything, but does it really show that much?"
"Yes darling, it does. You keep looking over at him. And when you hadn't come down yet he was so worried about you that the balloons started spontaneously changing color, and he was about o go up to Luna's tower to check on you."
"Sorry, mom had me trying on about a hundred different dresses until she finally decided she liked this one best."
It was that part that Rainbow accidentally heard, "Woah, woah, woah, princess Luna is you mom?", She said.
"Well, like I said, I only just found out recently." Katie said, dragging her hoof on the ground nervously.
"That's so cool! Wait until I tell Twilight, she's so gonna freak!"
"Actually Rainbow-" Katie tried to tell her not to go, but she had already sped off. "That's not going to go over well." She had heard how close Twilight was with the princesses, Celestia in particular. Twilight would most definitely 'freak'.
"I'll go and stop her, dear. You enjoy your party!" Rarity said. She trotted off to find Rainbow Dash before she blabbed to much.
The song that was playing ended and the ponies called for an encore. The DJ levitated a mic to herself and addressed the audience.
"How are we doing tonight? Great party huh!" The ponies cheered and whooped in appreciation. "Excellent! As a special gift to you guys and to his marefriend, the host of this fantastic party would like to do a song! Welcome to the stage, Canterlot's very own, Discord!"
"No way." Katie said. Her new friends snickered trying to hold back their laughter. Discord got up on the stage and picked up a microphone. He's kidding right? Oh my gosh.
"Thanks for the intro Vinyl! Let's hear it or DJ-PON3!" This elicited more cheering from the audience. " Now, I would very much like it if my marefriend would come up here and join me onstage for a moment!" Katie, despite her surprise and embarrassment, allowed Pinkie to push her up on the stage. She couldn't believe he was doing this, she giggled despite her attempts to hold the laughter back.
Discord smiled at her and spoke into the mike again. "I'd like you all to meet Katrina, my very beautiful marefriend!" The ponies in the audience cheered and stomped their hooves on the ground. Katie blushed, What is he doing? "Tonight I'd like to sing you guys one of my favorites! It's one of her favorites to so let's see how long Katie can resist singing along! Hit it Vinyl!" Music flooded the room. Katie knew this song, it would take absolutely zero time for her to get sucked in, she knew it. Before she could wrap her mind around what was going on Discord started to sing.
"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world. She took the midnight train goin' anywhere. Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit. He took the midnight train goin' anywhere" He smiled, he knew that there was no way she could stop herself from singing too.
Katie laughed, she knew it was time for the next line, it was now or never. Oh what the hay, I might as well. "A singer in a smokey room, a smell of wine and cheap perfume, for a smile they can share the night, it goes on and on and on and on!!"
Then they both sang together, "Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard, their shadows searching in the night! Streetlights! People, living just to find emotion! Hiding, somewhere in the night!"
When it came time for the next line a new voice cut in before either one of them had a chance to pick it up, "Working hard to get my fill, everypony wants a thrill. Payin' anything to roll the dice, just one more time! " It was Luna!
"Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends, It goes on and on and on and on! " Celestia, too? No way.
All four sang the chorus, "Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard, their shadows searching in the night! Streetlights! People, living just to find emotion! Hiding, somewhere in the night!" A rocking guitar solo shook the room
"Don't stop believin' !"
"Hold on to that feelin' !"
" Streelights, people! "
" Woaaahhh!!!"
"Don't stop believin'"
"Hold oooon!.."
"Streetlights, people!"
"Oh, woooaah!"
" Don't stop believin'! "
The music ended and the audience stomped and cheered, screaming their appreciation at the top of their lungs. Discord took a bow and Katie and Luna followed suit. Celestia looked like she couldn't believe she just did that, but she took a bow too before sheepishly stepping off the stage. The DJ got the next song going and the three singers still on the stage quickly got off to go and find a table to sit at.
"I have something to give you two." Luna said. A large blue envelope appeared out of thin air in front of her. "Consider it a welcome back to Equestria gift."
Discord took the envelope and opened it. Inside was a simple sheet of paper, but the important part was what was ON the sheet of paper. "What is this?" he asked.
"A deed."
"To what?" Katie asked trying to look at the paper.
"Nothing much." Luna smiled, "Just your own castle."
"Our own castle?"
"Well, I am sorry to put it this way, but Tia has made it quite clear that she does not like you. I am sure she will come around eventually, but in the meantime, you need a place to live where Tia is not going to be staring at you around corners. And Discord, a little bird told me that you were getting a little stir-crazy and were having a hard time not causing trouble. You can redecorate and renovate and basically go crazy with this castle, without Tia or anypony else having the right to get mad at you for it."
Discord got up and actually hugged Luna. "With Katie as my witness, I owe you."
"Do not worry yourself about it. Windcroft Castle is one that I have been holding in reserve for a long while on the off chance that someday I would have the courage to bring my daughter back and face what I did to her. I am happy that I finally have the opportunity to give it to her. And to you. While you would not have been my first expectation of stallions that she would have fallen for, I am confident that you will take good care of her. I am not fully trusting of you, but I can see that you care about her enough to see that she stays safe while she adjusts to life in Equestria."
Just then Twilight found them and galloped over followed closely by Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
"I'm sorry, darling." Rarity said. "She gave me the slip and by the time I found her it was too late."
Twilight glared at Katie, and then at Discord, and she even dared to scowl at Luna. "Does anypony care to explain this to me?" she said.
"Explain what?" Luna said.
"How you have a daughter! I keep up with all the news in Canterlot! Since when do you have a daughter?" she snapped.
"I do not understand why this has you in such distress Twilight Sparkle." Luna said calmly, "It's true that she's my daughter. I'm sorry I never told you, but if it makes you feel better I didn't tell my sister either. This was supposed to be a secret between Katrina and I."
"I'm sorry, I heard her telling Rarity and I figured Twi would find it cool, not upsetting. It didn't occur to me that you might want it kept secret." Rainbow apologized. Normally, she was too cool to say sorry for anything; but where the princesses were concerned even her ego wasn't big enough to stop her from admitting her mistakes.
"I forgive you, Rainbow." Katie said, "The main problem with ponies knowing my past is that something like that would be big news and in no time at all, everypony in Equestria would know. In time, the world will know about it anyway, but until then I just want to live my life, go on adventures, make friends, stuff like that, without paparazzi breathing down my neck."
Rainbow Dash smiled, happy that there was no harm done, but Twilight was still angry.
"How could you even have a daughter?"
"I created her while I was living on the moon. I needed the company."
"Does Celestia know now? Or are you keeping it from her still too?" the unicorn growled.
"Tia knows, and so do many of the castle staff, but they know the importance of family matters staying family matters, so I know they won't go running their mouths. Now I think that's enough questions for now Twilight, it's time for you and your friends to go home. The party's over and I'm sure we all need a rest. If you feel that you need to talk further about the subject, you can come back tomorrow and I would be more than happy to tell you as much as I think you should know."
Luna stood up and flew out the window back to her tower. Twilight looked rather put out, but all the same she grumbled a goodnight to Katie and Discord and turned for the door. Katie hugged the other elements goodbye and soon she and Discord were the only ones left in the room.
Discord and Katie found the guard that Luna mentioned and he showed them outside to a cart where two courier pegasi stood ready to carry them to their new home. The two lovers snuggled close in the cart against the cold and they soon found themselves flying over Ponyville. In the light of the rising sun, Had the party really lasted all night?, They could see a lone cloud in the sky high above ponyville. A castle was built on top. Discord looked the picture from inside the envelope.
"That's it. That's Windcroft Castle." He said.
Author's note:
Hey guys, it's Whovian again! I'm still hard at work trying to bring out chapters to you guys in between my essays and coursework for high-school, so I hope these chapters aren't out coming out too slowly.
Geez, Twilight really went off the deep end there, didn't she? I hope this doesn't lead to too much trouble... /)(^o^)(\
Also, Discord singing Journey. I heard the song today and it was just WAAAAAY too good to resist. I couldn't help myself. XP
Let's not forget, it's almost time for one of my favorite holidays! That's right....
It's almost time for halloween!!! MWAHAHAHA!!! They will never find out our secret plan! Not until it's too late!!!
What do you think you're doing?! They're still reading this!
Oops...oh well, I wouldn't worry about it. Who reads the author's notes anyway? It's like staying at the theater just to watch the credits. It's not particularly interesting and it doesn't say anything that most ponies actually care about. It's much better to go and get more popcorn! Especially with extra butter and cheese! Ooo, I remember this one time....
Would you leave the fourth wall alone, please? It has enough holes in it already.
Sorry! Heehee!
Anyway....I'm already at work on the next chapter, so stay tuned!
The Castle was quite large, though not as big perhaps as Canterlot castle, it was somewhere between a castle and a mansion in terms of size. The walls were made of brilliant white stones that looked golden in the sunrise. Flags that were fastened to the tops of the towers fluttered merrily in the light morning breeze and they matched the banners strung from the walls. It was anchored to the ground by a bridge built to look like a rainbow, or perhaps it actually was a rainbow. In front of the twin wooden doors was an extravagant sculpture garden, some were made of the conventional stone and marble but quite a few were made of expertly shaped cloud.
The chariot landed softly in the garden to let them off. Katie was thankful that she was still a pegasus or else she would fall right through. Discord thanked them and they flew off.
"It's beautiful." Katie said.
"It is. but now that i'm looking at it, the thing it needs most right away is a special signature touch of mine."
"What would that be?"
"I'll show you." Discord bent down and placed his lion paw onto the fluffy cloud holding them up. The cloud around his paw began to change color taking on a pinkish hue. The color spiraled and spread quickly. It reminded Katie of when she poured pink Kool-aid mix into a container of water and just watched the color spread instead of stirring it. In no time at all the cloud had turned entirely pink. Discord gripped a small bit of the pink cloud and popped it into his mouth.
"Discord's special recipe cotton candy. The best kind in all of Equestria if I do say so myself." He said
Katie reached down and grabbed a pinch herself and put it into her mouth. The sugary confection melted over her tongue. The sweet flavor made her hum in pleasure. It was perhaps the best she had ever tasted, the traditional cotton candy flavor, but somehow better and with just the lightest hint of chocolate aftertaste.
"I can agree to that!" she said. "You're right, that's exactly what it needed. Nopony in all of Equestria would doubt that this was Discord's castle now!"
"You want to check out the inside?" He asked.
"Of course!"
The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. By the looks of it, even though Luna fully expected Discord to redecorate it however he pleased, she was not afraid to go all out with the original design. Brightly colored tapestries and paintings adorned the walls. It was truly a sight to behold. Sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows, projecting multi-colored light onto the floors and walls. Twin spiral staircases off the the side of the main foyer led up to the higher floors.
Discord studied the interior carefully."I like it," He said, "but..."
"What's wrong?"
"It needs a couple more Discord touches."
"Well, part of the reason she gave us the place is so that you can cause as much chaos as you please. So I don't mind you making whatever changes you feel necessary. Just try not to tear the place down, it's so nice and we only just got it." She joked.
"Do you really believe I would do that?"
"Yes." she said flatly.
"I'm more predictable than I thought, you know me so well! Don't worry, the place is staying in one piece, I'm just redecorating, just a little here and there. Keep in mind, that including when I was human, It's been at least a week since I caused any sizeable chaos at all. There is only so much I can do to hold back."
"By all means, have your fun. I'm going to go and explore a bit, ok?"
Discord smiled and his lion paw and eagle claw both lit with magic as he started to add his 'personal touches'. She honestly hadn't expected him to start changing things quite so soon, but she couldn't blame him. If she had the spirit of chaos constantly nagging in her head, she would probably be anxious to blow off some steam too. She climbed one of the spiral staircases and in time she found herself atop one of the towers. She didn't know how she knew it, but this one must have been meant to be her room. The room was beautiful, it had a moon and stars theme, of course. A doorway off to the side led onto a stunning balcony. Obviously, Luna wanted her to stay in touch. Could she use the Equestria moon the same as she could use the Earth one?
One wall was lined entirely with fully stocked bookshelves, and another had a doorway that led to a walk-in closet. against the back wall was a large round bed covered in fluffy pillows and quilts. Katie spun around and flopped onto it. It was low to the ground, so it was clearly built for pony use, but she didn't mind in the slightest. It was extremely comfortable, it felt almost as if she were lying on a cloud. The fatigue and excitement from the night before finally caught up with her and, despite her best attempts to stay awake, she quickly fell asleep cuddled up in her warm blankets.
She dreamed about the moon.
A blue pegasus filly bounded around the barren landscape. She giggled and smiled. Every once in a while, she would find a rock or something that interested her and she would play with it or use it to draw pictures in the gray sand. She was so busy having fun, she didn't notice the shadow looming over her. It had been following her for a long while now, just barely staying in the shadows far enough for the filly to not notice her presence. She ruffled her wings anxiously, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Her blue mane billowed around her in a nonexistent wind, and her hooves pawed impatiently at the ground. Her turquoise eyes were focussed intently on the child her, gaze did not waver for an instant. She had been stalking her prey too long to risk letter it escape her sight again.The little filly paused in her romping to examine an interesting rock she found. The dark blue alicorn stepped out of the shadows.
"I have you now!" She cheered, "There's no escaping me this time young filly!"
The filly turned and galloped away, hoping to outrun the much larger pony. Her heart beat fast and she could feel it thumping in her chest. Her smooth even breaths became short and huffy. She chanced a look behind her, she was making no headway; the alicorn was catching up, and fast. The filly squeaked with fear as she realized that escape was hopeless on the featureless surface of the moon. There were no bushes to dive into and no trees to climb, she was trapped. She attempted to dive for cover into a crater but to no avail. The alicorn caught her in a magical grip. Her horn glowed as she set the filly down on the surface of the moon.
Oh, you're in for it now!" She said. The filly squeaked again and shut her eyes, dreading what she knew was coming next.
"You've evaded me long enough, it's time for you to get what's coming to you! TICKLE FIGHT!" She laughed gleefully. She began tickling the young pegasus all over making her scream with laughter.
"Cut it out!" The filly squealed. But the alicorn was relentless, turning a deaf ear to her desperate cries.
"I'm serious! Mom, cut it out!"
The alicorn laughed and stopped her barrage of tickling. The filly got herself up and tackled the alicorn. They wrestled until they both collapsed in a fit of giggles. The little filly looked up into the pitch black night sky, of course it was always nighttime on the moon, but she didn't mind; she was used to it by now. She was born on the moon, mommy told her so. Mommy wasn't born here but she got in a fight with her sister and now she was stuck here in time out. The filly had been in time out before, but she only had to wait ten minutes, not a thousand years.
She had mapped every single one of the stars, and she could name them, too. She could see the beautiful planet of Equestria from here. She had memorized the beautiful country, she knew roughly where canterlot was and where the borders of Equestria met that of the Gryphon Kingdom and the dragon country. She also knew a lot about Equestrian history. Her mother often told her stories about Equestria's past. She wished she could visit, but her mom had explained several times that they would be stuck on the moon for at least another half-thousand years. That couldn't stop her from hoping though. Her mom promised her that someday they would go back, and she would be able to actually see the dragons, and they could go and live in Canterlot. Mommy said that when they did go back, they would teach all the ponies about how beautiful the night was, and everypony would cheer for her and her mother. Mommy said that everypony would look at the stars and be happy. Mommy promised that they would never be apart.
"Hey momma?" She said
The alicorn rolled over to look at her filly, "What is it dear?"
"Tell me another story about Equestria."
"I'm tired, dear. I've been chasing you around for hours."
"Please? You're so good at telling them, and I love hearing about Equestria."
"Fine, one story. Then it's time for us to rest. Which do you want to hear?"
"Tell me about.....umm...", the filly thought a moment, "I know! Tell me the one about the Windigoes!"
"About Hearth's Warming Eve? I've told you that one a hundred times already! You must have memorized it by now!"
"I know, but it's one of my favorites. Please?"
The alicorn smiled, "Oh, alright. Let's see, how did that one start again?"
"Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of Celestia...." She filly supplied.
"Of course, I remember now. Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of Celestia, and before ponies discovered our beautiful land of Equestria, ponies did not know harmony. It was a strange and dark time. A time when ponies were torn apart, by hatred."
The filly gasped. She knew the story by heart but she reacted the same every time. The alicorn told her filly the story from start to finish.
" The three leaders agreed to share the beautiful land, and live in harmony ever afterwards. And together, they named their new land..."
"Equestria!" The filly cheered happily. After all that playing and the alicorns exciting story, the filly was tired and yawned sleepily. She curled up in a tight ball against her mother's warm coat.
"I love you momma." She said.
The alicorn smiled as she nuzzled the filly fondly. "I love you too, Katrina. So, so much. You'll always be my little filly."
High up in one of the towers in Canterlot castle Luna woke slightly from her slumber, and mumbled a single word in her sleep.
"Always."
Sorry for the shorter chapter. I'm having a bit of a feels overload. T~T
Awww, don't feel sad Whovian. They get back together eventually.
I know, Pinks. I know.
You still look like you're going to cry...
Sorry, It's just a sad chapter is all, but it's happy at the same time, I think. Sort of bitter-sweet.
You need a hug?
A hug would be nice. I could definitely use a hug...
"Discord, you're going to be late! Remember, you told me not to let you forget."
Discord was dozing on a puff of cloud that had been creatively shaped into a sofa. Katrina walked over and tapped her foot impatiently. He's going to make me do it, isn't he? She rolled her eyes and bent over him, kissing him lightly on the cheek.
"Hey! Only on the cheek?" He said. He looked at her and scowled. "I feel cheated!"
"You can have the rest of that kiss as soon as you get back. Celestia and mom needed you to go over today. You're a third of what makes Equestria go 'round, so they have to consult you about major decisions."
"But it's so boring! I can't believe I ever wanted to rule Equestria! All they ever talk about at these meetings is budget cuts and the economy and the price of tea in Trottingham. These meetings never involve anything even remotely interesting." Discord grumbled getting up from his nap.
"Which is exactly why they need you there to liven things up!" Katie smiled.
Discord summoned a cup of hot chocolate and sipped it thoughtfully.
"Well?" Katie said.
"Needs more marshmallows." Discord said seriously. Katie tried, she really did, but she failed miserably. She laughed at his randomness, despite knowing that he was going to get in trouble if he stayed too much longer.
"Come on, Discord. I would go in your stead but we both know how much Celestia hates my guts. She would probably fry half of Equestria if I so much as dared to show up."
Discord sighed and got up, "Fine, but I expect you to make good on that promise," He said. "The other half of that kiss when I get back."
"Of course." Katie replied.
Discord squeezed her hand and disintegrated into a cloud of purple smoke which flew out the window.
"Now let's see. What to do today. I don't feel like baking at the moment, I guess I could read a book. Hmm.....I know! I'll go down to Ponyville today, it would be nice to spend today visiting my friends."
Katrina flashed and a second later she was a pegasus. She trotted merrily down the rainbow bridge into the Everfree forest and from there into the small town of Ponyville. She decided Sugarcube Corner would be a good place to start, Pinkie always loved it when she visited. She knew almost everyone in Ponyville by name, they were all very friendly, although very few knew that she lived in the huge mulit-colored castle above the Everfree. She trotted up to the door of the bakery and took in the smell of freshly baked cookies that wafted through the cracks in the door. It was a perfect aroma of freshly baked dough, chocolate, and vanilla. As she passed through the door she was instantly in a better mood when she was loudly greeted by Pinkie Pie.
"Good morning, Katrina! What brings you to Sugarcube Corner today?" The mare said happily.
"I just came to pay you a visit, but now that I'm here, i'm afraid i'll have to sample some of those wonderfully smelling cookies of yours."
Pinkie smiled and disappeared into the kitchen reappearing a moment later with a bag of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Katie handed over the appropriate amount of bits and dug on of the cookies out of the bag. She loved when they were this fresh, still piping hot and oh so gooey.
"Mmm...Pinke, they're fantastic as always!"
"Heehee! Thanks!" she smiled. A tall yellow stallion raised a hoof to get her attention. "Sorry, Katrina. I really wish I could talk now, but the Cakes took the twins to go see a play in Canterlot, so I'm running Sugarcube Corner on my own. Would it be okay if we talked later? How about for lunch?"
"Sounds great! I'll meet you at the Cafe!" Katrina said. She walked over to the park to enjoy the rest of her cookies. As she sat down in the cool grass, a gentle breeze whipped around in her hair. It was a beautiful day out. It was so relaxing she thought she might accidentally doze off; but just when she thought that, she heard something coming from a nearby bush. It sounded like crying. She turned an ear towards the bush and heard the sound again.
Katie carefully set the bag of cookies into her saddle bag and went to check on whoever was hiding in the bush. She moved with practiced grace over the grass. Her hooves didn't make a single sound. She gently moved one of the branches aside to reveal an orange pegasus filly with purple hair.
"Are you okay, kiddo?", she asked
The filly jumped in surprise and looked at her. "Uh...of...of course I'm fine." She wiped her nose with a hoof but her eyes were still puffy and red. Katie sat down next to the bush so she was at eye level with the filly.
"You want to talk about it?"
"There's nothing to talk about...I'm not crying." The filly sniffled.
"Alright," Katie said, gently. She helped Fluttershy a lot, many methods used to calm scared animals seemed to work on foals too. "But if you had been crying, what would you have been crying about?"
"Well it wouldn't have been because of that stupid Diamond Tiara, if that's what you were thinking."
"No?" Katie asked.
"No. And it wouldn't have been because of school either."
"You're too cool to be upset about school." Katie agreed.
"Exactly." The orange filly, she sniffled again but she looked better than before.
"Even so, You look like you could use a pick-me-up anyway. I just so happen to have some fresh cookies with me. Do you want to come out of that bush and share them?"
The filly nodded and climbed out of the bush, gratefully accepting the cookie that Katie offered her. Together they finished off the rest of the bag.
"There, you feel better?" Katie asked kindly.
"Yeah, thanks for the cookies. I'm Scootaloo!"
"Nice to meet you, Scootaloo. I'm Katrina, but most ponies call me Katie."
"Cool." Scootaloo looked down at her hooves. "Actually, Katie, I was crying in the bush, just a little bit. but I'm not a baby or anything."
"You feel like talking about it now that you're feeling better?"
"Well, at school we do this thing called family appreciation day. Through the year, each foal takes a turn bringing in a family member to talk to the class about themselves. Well, I had managed to not get picked all year and this mean filly called Diamond Tiara tipped miss Cheerilee off that I hadn't done it yet. Now I have to find a family member to bring in to school today."
"Do you not like your family?" Katie asked. It was easy to see that the poor filly was about to cry again.
"I...I...Katie can you keep a secret?"
"If you need me too."
"You promise?"
"Pinkie promise." Katie used a hoof to cross her heart and then she put it over her eye, the traditional gestures that accompanied a Pinkie promise in Ponyville.
The orange filly took a deep breath. "I don't have any family to bring."
"What do you mean?"
"I live here in Ponyville. On my own."
"All on your own....I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Nopony does, I really want it to stay a secret but if I show up when school starts without anypony with me, everypony will find out for sure!"
Katie thought for a moment. It wasn't right that nobody had noticed that this filly was all on her own yet. Katie had a full wolfpack that she lived with, but this filly was all alone. She understood why she didn't want anybody to know though. If everybody knew she was an orphan, than it would be one big pity party all over the place, and probably bullying from other fillies and colts. For a filly trying to pull the toughgirl act, that was the last thing that she needed. If only there was some way she could help.
"I have an idea." Katie said.
"You do?"
"How about a substitute mom?"
"You mean, I would bring you, and you would pretend you were my mom for a day?"
"If it would help, Scootaloo. I know how hard it is to live with a secret like that. I did for most of my life."
"That would be perfect!" Scootaloo exclaimed, a schoolbell could be heard in the distance."That's the bell for school, we'd better hurry if we're gonna show up on time!"
The two of them raced as fast as they could, Scootaloo was on her scooter, to the schoolhouse. Katie was impressed at how well Scootaloo knew how to use her scooter, that very well could be her special talent. Scootaloo pulled up to a beautiful red painted schoolhouse. A herd of young foals were still filtering into the building from the adjacent playground. A pink pony with three smiling flowers as a cutie mark saw Katie come up with Scootaloo and came over to greet them.
"Good morning miss Cheerilee!" The pegasus said happily.
"Good morning to you too, Scootaloo. Who is this you brought with you, your guest for family appreciation day?"
"I'm her mother, Katrina. I'm sure you've seen me around town before but I don't believe we've formally met."
"Nice to meet you!" Cheerilee smiled. "You're just in time, I was about start class."
Scootaloo and Katie followed Cheerilee into the schoolhouse into a single room filled with young fillies and colts sitting at desks. Scootaloo sat at an empty desk and Katie followed Cheerilee up to the front of the class.
"Good Morning class! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! I would like all of you to give a warm welcome to this week's guest Ms. Katrina!" The children clapped their hooves half-heartedly. Scootaloo clapped too, but really she was trying to hide how nervous she was. It had only just occurred to her how many ways thing could go horribly wrong.
"So Ms. Katrina, Tell us a bit about yourself!" Cheerilee said happily.
"Well, I work with Fluttershy taking care of animals. She works out of her cottage, but my job is to go deep into the Everfree and make sure that the animals there are getting along okay and not in danger of becoming upset and wandering into Ponyville."
"You mean you job is to spend all day in the Everfree Forest?" a violet unicorn in the back asked.
"Yep!" Katie smiled proudly.
"Don't you get scared?" The same filly asked.
"Sometimes, but I have a lot of friends there, so I'm not all that worried about it anymore." Katie scratched her chin thoughtfully, "And besides, I have a special gift with animals."
A white filly with purple and pink hair waved her hoof in the air excitedly. "You have a question ms..."
"Sweetie Belle! I was just wondering, Is that how you got your cutie mark?"
"Yes it is, Sweetie Belle." Katie turned to show the class her wolf print cutie mark. "I guess you could say that I got it because I have a special relationship with animals. I'm able to put myself in the animal's shoes, so to speak."
A pink earth pony snickered under her breath and whispered to the gray earth pony beside her. Katie raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Is there something wrong with having that as a special talent, young lady?"
The pink pony rolled her eyes. "My name is Diamond Tiara, and she's Silver Spoon. And yeah, I think that talent is like totally lame. Relating to animals? That's lamer than your special talent being blowing bubbles."
"You leave my mom out of this!" the purple unicorn from before squeaked loudly.
"Calm down please girls." Ms Cheerilee said. Katie kept a calm composure but her eyes gave away how angry she was at Diamond Tiara's hurtful comment. "Please continue Ms. Katrina."
"Thank you Cheerilee. As I was saying, my special talent is putting myself in animals shoes, being able to see things from their point of view."
"I guess it's better than being a stupid blank-flank." The Silver Spoon whispered to Diamond Tiara.
"Would you shut up!" Scootaloo hissed at them.
"Scootaloo, be nice."
"Sorry, Ms Cheerilee."
"How would you darling young fillies and colts like to hear about the time I first met the alpha of the timberwolves?" Katie spent to rest of the time she was given to tell her story. She worded it carefully so as not the reveal that she had magic powers or that she actually lived in the Everfree. When she finished the children clapped their hooves happily and Katie sat down next to Scootaloo.
"I should go now, but would you like me to come and pick you up after school?" She whispered to the filly. Scootaloo nodded and Katie left, making a mental note of where the schoolhouse was. When she walked by the clock tower she could see that it was time to meet Pinkie at the Cafe. She galloped back into town and met up with Pinkie just as she was closing for lunch.
"Hiya, Katie! You ready for some lunch?"
"You bet, I just ran here from the school house and that really worked up an appetite."
They chatted all the way to the Cafe where they each sat down and looked at the menu. A tall stallion with a mustache came over to talk to them. "May I please take your orders ladies?"
"Can I have the daisy sandwich please? With hay fries on the side?"
"I'll have the same!" Pinke said.
Katie had become accustomed to the strictly vegetarian diets of the ponies, and had even developed a taste for things that humans never usually ate, like daisies and hay. The waiter came back with their food and they spent the rest of the meal eating their sandwiches and chatting. They had only known each other for a short while, and while becoming friends with Pinkie was inevitable, she and Pinkie were as close and any of the elements were with each other. The only one that still avoided her was Twilight. Just as they were finishing, Katie heard a distant bell ring, signifying that school had ended.
"This has been a wonderful lunch, Pinkie. I have to go though, sorry."
"Okey-Dokey-Lokey!"
Katie put her share of the bits on the table and walked to the schoolhouse. When she got there she was met with a sight that she didn't expect. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and a filly that Katie recognized as Applebloom were about to get into a fight with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Instinctively, without meaning to, Katie's guardian instinct from her time on Earth kicked in. She crouched and waited behind a bush, mentally planning her next move.
"Where'd you get the money, blank-flank?" Diamond Tiara asked, she made no attempt at all to hide her accusing tone, in fact, she emphasized it.
"What money?" Applebloom asked.
"The money Scootaloser used to hire a mom, we all know she doesn't have one." Silver Spoon answered, "Do you like that, Diamond Tiara? I just made that up."
"I'm not a loser!" Scootaloo said.
"Yeah! You take that back!" Sweetie Belle squeaked.
"Why don't you make me?" Silver Spoon sneered.
"I'll tell Rarity on you!"
Silver Spoon turned around a bucked Sweetie Belle in the face, knocking the unicorn on her back. Katie was filled with rage and a quick flash later a timberwolf charged out from behind the bush, teeth bared and wooden body plates flaring out.
The timberwolf jumped in between the crusaders and the attacking bullies, taking a defensive position but making no move to attack.The two earth ponies squeaked in fright and ran away from the vicious wolf. She snarled and growled. Katie was debating to herself whether to chase the fillies or not. Likely if she did, it would be bad news for Sweetie Belle, getting bucked in the face by an earth pony of any size can be devastating. She sighed and turned to the concerned fillies. She looked first at Scootaloo and then at Applebloom to make sure they weren't hurt too, and then her attention turned to Sweetie Belle, who had fallen unconscious on the ground. Some blood trickled down from above her eye and the area around and above her eye had already begun to swell. The best case scenario would be one doozy of a black eye, the worst...Katie forced herself not to think about it. Katie pushed her way through the other two fillies to try and pick up Sweetie Belle, Sweetie's best chance of survival was to get her back to Rarity's boutique as fast as possible.
It was about now that the other two fillies got over their shock. Applebloom took up the offensive first. She shouted at the wolf and attempted to scare it away from Sweetie Belle. Katie, of course, was not just some random animal; and so didn't see her as a threat. Applebloom was plenty small enough for the strong creature to gently push away anyway.
"Go away! I won't let you eat my friend!" Scootaloo yelled. The wolf stepped back a little and whined sadly. She understood their fear, but she couldn't reveal herself now. Someday, maybe. She tilted her head and nuzzled Scootaloo. Being nuzzled by a wooden wolf was not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it got the point across.
"Maybe she wants to help Scoots." Applebloom said. "Is that what you're trying to do?"
The wolf nodded. The other two fillies still looked unsure. They let her pass but they didn't stop watching her for a second. They helped to get Sweetie Belle on Katie's back.
"I guess I should thank you then. To be fair, timberwolves aren't usually known for being nice to ponies." Scootaloo said shyly. "Follow us, we know where she lives."
Katie didn't move quickly. Since Sweetie Belle was unconscious, she couldn't balance herself. So she had to make sure to move slower to keep from dropping the filly. Applebloom trotted alongside Katie to help Sweetie hold on, while Scootaloo led the way on her scooter. After what felt like an eternity of walking and constantly readjusting the filly on her back, they finally came up on the Carousel Boutique. Rarity was out front sweeping the porch, so she saw them as they approached. Her mouth gaped in shock. She ran right over to meet them, barely even noticing the wolf at first.
"Oh my gosh, Sweetie Belle!" She squealed, "What happened?"
"She got bucked in the face by Silver Spoon! We thought we could take 'em, but we couldn't. We would have been toast, but then this timberwolf showed up and saved all out hides!" said Scootaloo.
"She really scared the pants off em!" Applebloom added.
Rarity's eyes welled with tears. She looked up at Katie and recognition sparked in her mind. Rarity and the other elements were the only ones other than Discord and the princesses who knew about her powers. She spent so much time with Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy specifically, that those three could recognize her easily in any form. Rarity led the wolf inside and helped get Sweetie Belle onto the couch. She sent Applebloom into the kitchen to get a cold cloth and sent Scootaloo to go and get Fluttershy. Only when they had both left did Rarity speak to Katie. Well she didn't speak at first, but rather she lunged forward and gave the wooden canine a big hug.
"Thank you so much, Katrina, for standing up for my little sister. I hate to think what would have happened had you not been around."
Katie flashed back into a pegasus. "I'm just glad that I was close by and heard them fighting."
Rarity sniffed and adjusted Sweetie's mane so it wasn't in her eyes. Applebloom came back with the cold cloth and placed it on her head.
"Hey, where'd that timberwolf go?" Applebloom asked.
"She had to go back to the forest. I saw her leave on my way to the schoolhouse and came in to see if everything was alright." Katie said, coming up with a cover on the spot.
Scootaloo and Fluttershy galloped into the building and the yellow pegasus began to examine the filly.
"You should have seen it, Katie! It was huge! Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were so scared!" Scootaloo laughed.
"How is she Fluttershy?" Rarity asked.
"It's not as bad as it looks. I think she'll make a fully recovery. When she wakes up, have her drink plenty of water and look out for signs of concussion." Fluttershy said softly.
"Thank you, I'll make sure that happens. I'll keep you in the loop too, so you know if anything changes.."
"Scootaloo told me about that wolf. I would have been so scared. I'm glad we were lucky enough for her to be around." Fluttershy secretly smiled to Katie and left the boutique.
"I swear, if I ever get my hooves on those fillies!" Rarity growled, "They are SO going to regret it."
"Believe me Rarity, I'm sure they won't have the guts to try something like that for a long time. And if they do, I betcha that wolf will show up again and again, until they give it up." Katie said. She looked at the other two crusaders who were yawning but trying to stay awake, for the sake of their friend. Due to the amount of time it had taken to get to Rarity's when they had to move so slow, the sun was already starting to go down. "I should probably get this two fillies home, do you want me to come back after?"
"I'll be okay. Thanks anyway, dear."
"No problem, it's what friends are for." She patted Rarity on the back and gathered up Applebloom and Scootaloo. The fillies didn't want to leave but they understood that Rarity probably needed some alone time. The trio walked in silence to Sweet Apple Acres. There wasn't much to say. They were grateful the wolf had turned up but nothing explained what the wolf was doing around in the first place, or why it had stepped in. They reached the Apple's home and dropped off Applebloom there. Scootaloo and Katie walked back to Ponyville park and sat down on a bench.
"So where do you usually stay, Scoots?"
"Around. I usually sleep here in the park, but when it's cold I go and sleep in the clubhouse." The filly sighed and looked at her hooves sadly. "You made a really great mom-for-a-day."
"Thanks, Scootaloo. That means a lot to me to hear you say that." Katie couldn't help but feel attached to the filly. She reminded Katie a lot of herself. All alone, but trying to be strong for her friends. "I tell you what, how about you come and stay with me, at the very least for tonight. This ordeal is bound to have stressed you out a bit and I just don't feel right letting you sleep in the park. Besides, my place had plenty of space in it for you to borrow a room, and I'm sure my coltfriend won't mind."
"You mean it? Could I really stay with you for tonight?" The filly said hopefully.
"Of course I mean it, you could stay for a hundred nights if you really wanted. Just one thing though..."
"What?"
"My coltfriend is lot different from anypony I'm willing to bet you've met before. A lot of ponies judge him by that and they end up getting the wrong impression. He isn't mean, and he would never try to hurt you. He likes to pull pranks, but he means well. The girls have all met him and they can tell you the same. Just don't judge him before you know him, ok?"
"I like to pull pranks and stuff like that too. So who knows, maybe we'll get along!" Scootaloo said.
"You just might! It's getting dark, though, so stay close to me, it's easy to get lost in the Everfree."
"You live in the Everfree? Cool!" The filly laughed, "You must be super brave!"
"Not really, I spent a lot of time in forests before I even knew what the Everfree was. You get used to it."
The two of them journeyed into the Everfree forest together. Scootaloo never strayed from Katie's side. She may have pretended she was brave but the Everfree Forest at night was even enough to scare Katie sometimes so it was understandable that she was afraid. Once or twice, she thought she saw glowing eyes coming from the trees. But the eyes never stayed long. When ever Katie saw them she would let out a low hiss or growl, or this sort of clicking noise and whatever had been watching them would slip away. Soon they came to where a massive rainbow was sprouting from the ground, acting as a bridge to the castle above. Scootaloo had seen this bridge from Ponyville lots of times but she never dared to venture far enough into the forest to check it out. Katie started to walk up the bridge and turned to make sure the filly was still following. Scootaloo was looking at the base of the bridge deciding whether it was a good idea to step on it or not.
"It's okay, it's actually pretty darn stable so you're perfectly safe."
Scootaloo cautiously placed one hoof on the rainbow. When her hoof stayed firm instead of falling through, she figured it was in fact safe and followed Katie up it. Scootaloo had never seen a cooler looking castle. The place looked like it was in constant party mode and the cotton candy cloud squished under her hooves.
"Is this... cotton candy?"
"Yep, it is!"
"Cool..."
Katie pushed open the door and led Scootaloo inside. "Honey? Are you home?" She called.
"I'll be right with you!" A voice sang from another room. Scootaloo was stunned by the sheer size of the place. How did it get bigger on the inside? The decoration on the inside was just as crazy and random as the outside, but somehow it went together well and actually looked pretty good.
Discord swooped in from the next room over and greeted Katie with a big hug. "As usual it was a total bore," he said rolling his eyes,"Luckily I don't have to attend very often."
"Discord, I hope you don't mind, but this little filly has nowhere to stay and I didn't have the heart to make her stay in the park. I figured that she could maybe borrow one of our spare rooms, at least for tonight."
Scootaloo had always been told it was rude to stare, but when Katie had said that her coltfriend was different she didn't think she meant that different. He reminded her of a field trip she went on once, she couldn't quite place why. She didn't want to make a bad impression though, so she found something else to be interested in, which wasn't hard.
"I don't mind, Katie. As long as she's okay with staying here. It might be fun to have a filly running around."
Scootaloo jumped for joy. She ran up and shook his paw. "Thanks for letting me stay, I really wasn't looking forward to sleeping in the park again. I'm Scootaloo by the way!" She said happily.
"Nice to meet you Scootaloo, I am known simply as DISCORD MASTER OF ALL THINGS AWESOME AND UNDENIABLY BEST PONY!!!"
"No you're not." Katie laughed.
"I can be 'Discord master of all things awesome and undeniably best pony' if I want to." He pretended to pout."Now who's hungry? I was just about to whip something up!"
Scootaloo's stomach growled noisily.
"I hear you loud and clear!' He said. Discord snapped and they were all in the dining room. The table set itself and their glasses filled themselves with chocolate milk. "Now let's see... what are you girls hungry for? I could go for pancakes personally."
Scootaloo tilted her head, confused."Pancakes for dinner?"
"Sure! Why not?" Discord said, "Once you've been around as long as I have, you come to realize that make sense really isn't any fun at all."
Scootaloo thought about this and figured that he was probably right. What fun is making sense all the time? After all, a lot of the things she and the crusaders tried didn't make much sense, but they had the time of their lives at it. If it's fun, and nopony's getting hurt by it, does it really have to make sense?
"Pancakes works for me! I haven't had them in ages anyway!"
"Works for me too." Katie said.
"Pancakes it is! With maple syrup and applesauce and chocolate chips and marshmallows!" Discord waved his claw and in seconds, every plate was stacked high with pancakes covered in toppings and he pulled a bottle of maple syrup out of thin air. The pancakes were delicious, the most delicious anything she had ever had, Scootaloo gladly ate her fill. Once they had eaten, Discord began to show off a few new tricks he had thought up out of the blue. Including something he had been messing with recently that involved expertly balancing crystal balls, as if gravity simply had no effect. For added fun he made them randomly flash and change color so create a laser light show in his hands. As amazed and excited as she was though, Scootaloo found the the long day paired with her full stomach made her very sleepy. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"I think it's time for little fillies to go to bed." Katie said softly.
Discord chuckled under his breath,"I think you're right."
"Are you kidding?" Said Scootaloo,"I'm not even a little bit tired." She proved her point by yawning again.
Katie went over and helped the filly out of her chair. "Come on, let's get you to bed. You still have school tomorrow."
"Maybe I'm just a little tired..." She yawned.
Katie walked the sleepy pegasus up the stairs to one of the spare bedrooms near hers. She brushed through her hair and tucked her into the bed. The filly sighed in comfort and snuggled in the warm blankets. Katie turned to leave the room.
"G'night, mom." The filly mumbled.
"What was that?" Katie asked, she didn't quite catch what Scootaloo had said the first time.
"I said good night, Ms. Katie." The pegasus adjusted.
"Good night Scoots. I'll see you tomorrow. And you don't need to use the 'Ms.' just Katie is fine, really."
Katie blew out the candle that lit the room and walked back to her own. Discord popped in to say goodnight to her and when I say popped, I mean literally, it made a sound.
"You are so adorable, you know that?" He said fondly.
"Am I now?" Katie sat down on her bed and ran a brush through her hair.
"Yes, you are. I see what Bane meant when he got upset about you bringing in strays. I don't mind it personally, she's a sweet little filly, a little extra company is never a bad thing. But if I didn't know any better, I would say that you've taken a shine to her."
"So what if I have?" Katie raised one eyebrow at him.
"I rather like her, too. I don't blame you, not even a little bit for wanting a filly of our own. Especially since, we aren't really genetically compatible, being different species." Discord sat next to her on the bed and put his paw on her hoof "I know what you're thinking though, and the answer is yes."
"What is it you think i'm thinking?"
"I wouldn't mind adopting."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Wanting to have your own filly or colt is perfectly reasonable. We have a home, the means to feed them, a caring mare to make sure I don't make a foal of myself; we're in the right position to adopt if that's what you want to do. To be perfectly honest, Katie, I've been thinking about it too, and for what it's worth, I think you'd make an awesome mom. Besides, having a filly around is bound to be fun huh?"
Katie smiled. That's right, they could adopt her! They could adopt Scootaloo. Katie remembered what she promised Discord that morning and gave him a big kiss. "I promised you the other half." She said, smiling. "And you would make an awesome dad, too."
Discord hugged her and poofed out of the room leaving her to her thoughts. Katie curled up under her blankets and sighed. It was true, she had become wonderfully attached to the filly. It certainly hadn't taken long. Tomorrow she would think on it some more and then she would ask Scootaloo what she thought. Hopefully, the filly liked her too. Katie yawned and fell quickly asleep.
Author's note:
Hi guys! I hope you are still liking the story so far! The next couple of chapters are going to be coming out very soon!
I hope Scootaloo say yes to being adopted! That would be so awesome, and I could throw them a HUGE party!
Ahem...
Oops, fourth wall, my bad. Carry on.
You probably noticed that I have not gone into a lot of detail about what the castle looks like nowadays. Basically imagine the biggest, fanciest, funnest, most amazing castle ever, make it bigger on the inside than the outside, make it 300% cooler than it already is, give it an indoor pool, imagine what happen if you let Discord loose in it for a month or so with full reign, and you have Windcroft Castle.
umm, Whovian?
Yes Pinkie?
I just got a combo! Twitchy tail, creaky knee, blinkie eye, floppy ear!
What does that one mean?
I don't know! That ones new, but whatever it means...it involves a bear on a pogostick!!
Seriously?
Either that or some rabbits. Sometimes it's hard to tell...
"It's time to wake up little filly, you need to get to school." Katie opened to door to the guest room and walked inside. Scootaloo was curled up in a happy little ball on the blanket. She was so adorable, it seemed like a crime to wake her. Katie Walked over to the sleeping filly and nuzzled her awake. Scootaloo blinked her eyes open and yawned.
"Is it really morning already?"
"Yeah it is, Scootaloo. I'm taking you down to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast so you best hurry and wake up so we can go."
The orange filly stretched her limbs in all directions and shook her mane around. "Okay, I'll hurry." Katie left and trotted down the stairs where Discord greeted her with a happy embrace.
"Good morning Katie!"
"Something has you in a good mood." Katie said. She couldn't help but smile along with him.
"Katie, you know I don't sleep much, right?"
"Yes...I don't see how it's relevant though."
"Well in my not sleeping I flew around a bit, looked at things, talked to a few ponies, and found the place that Scootaloo used to live at. They said they would send somepony over later today with adoption papers."
Katie's face lit up. "I could kiss you, you know that? and I think I will." She flew up to eye level and kissed him happily. It just so happened that Scootaloo came down the stairs at that exact moment.
"Okay, I'm all ready to...Umm... do you guys need a minute?"
Katie and Discord separated immediately and Katie blushed a bright pink that looked purple through her blue coat.
"Sorry Scoots, I got a bit carried away over some good news." Katie said.
"What was it?"
"Something we'll discuss after school." Discord said cryptically.
"But that means I'm going to spend all day thinking about it!"
"Then you'll be that much more excited for when we tell you. Now hurry up, we're meeting Rarity and Sweetie Belle there." Katie said. Scootaloo followed Katie outside, unfortunately she left her scooter at Rarity's; that rainbow bridge would have made the coolest ramp ever!
"I'll race you to Sugarcube Corner!" Scootaloo said.
"You're on!"
The two pegasi ran down the rainbow bridge and through the forest in the direction of Ponyville. Scootaloo didn't run as fast as Katie did, but she knew all the backways and shortcuts. It was anypony's race. Katie galloped through the main streets, she knew what she thought was the fastest way to Sugarcube Corner, so she went as fast as she could. The streets were mostly empty so she wasn't worried about running into ponies. This was something she loved doing, going fast, really fast. Her hooves beat a steady rhythm on the dirt road. Her silver mane looked almost golden in the early morning light. The silky strands flew out behind her in the breeze. Unstoppable. That was the only word to describe the feeling, no other word could possibly compare. She hadn't run like this in a while, it reminded her of the morning after she met Discord when she carried him through the forest. In no time at all she slowed to a stop in front of the bakery. She felt triumphant and sure that she had won. She walked inside casually to wait for Scootaloo.
"Wow! Two whole minutes!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I'd say she ate your dust, Scootaloo!" She tilted her head in thought, "Of course, why would anypony eat dust? Or even dirt in general? I did once on accident and it wasn't particularly tasty. I suppose somepony must have done it though or else they wouldn't have come up with the phrase. Stuff from the dirt tastes good though. Like carrots and potatoes, and apples, and basically all fruits and vegetables. OOOh wouldn't it be cool if cupcakes and candy grew on trees too? I mean if it can rain chocolate milk than trees can sprout cakes right?" Pinkie stopped to take a breath.
"How did you beat me Scootaloo? I thought I got here tons faster." Katie panted.
"I know all the shortcuts!" She said proudly, "Once I got here, Pinkie started a timer to see how long it would take you to catch up!"
"Well, I am definitely impressed. Rarity should be along with Sweetie Belle soon, if your friend is feeling up to it that is. We were all going to walk you to school together so that those horrible fillies don't bother you again." As if on cue, Rarity came in through the door followed closely by Sweetie Belle. The filly was wearing a bandage over her eye. Scootaloo got up off the chair and ran over to Sweetie.
"How are you feeling Sweetie Belle? That looks like it hurts."
"It does," The unicorn groaned, "A lot. But I have to go to school anyway. Who knew that Silver Spoon could kick so hard? I sure didn't."
"Don't you worry Sweetie Belle, your sister and I are going to be having a chat with Ms. Cheerilee about what happened yesterday. Those fillies are going to regret doing this to you for a long time." Katie said encouragingly. She bought a bag of blueberry muffins for the four friends to share on the way to the school house, with a couple left over for Applebloom.
Rarity still looked like she was about to cry whenever she looked at Sweetie Belle. Of all the ponies in Ponyville, Rarity was right at the top of the list of ponies that you wanted to avoid getting mad at you. Heaven help Silver Spoon if Katie or Rarity ever caught her being mean to anypony again. As the group continued down the dirt road to the schoolhouse they heard the far off sound of foals playing on a playground. Applebloom was waiting outside the fence for them to arrive. She didn't want to go in alone and risk running into Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. Scootaloo hadn't left Sweetie's side the whole way. As tough as she tried to be, she couldn't help being worried about her friend.
"How ya feelin' Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom asked.
"I'll be okay, it hurts a lot but Fluttershy says it will heal up with no permanent damage." The white filly replied.
The school bell rang and Cheerilee called out over the playground and the foals began filtering into the school house. Cheerilee saw the five fillies and mares waiting by the fence and went over to talk to them.
"Sweetie Belle! What happened?"
"She, Scootaloo, and Applebloom were attacked by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. My poor little sister took a buck to the face!" Rarity said.
"I have heard about them being bullies before, but this is my first report of violence," The teacher mused,"I'll be very sure to look into it Rarity, and I'll keep a close watch to make sure this never happens again."
The three fillies trotted inside, reassured that their teacher was going to give the bullies what they deserved. Rarity and Katie walked away from the schoolhouse back towards town. Katie decided to take opportunity of the moment alone, and ask Rarity what she should do about Scootaloo.
"Rarity, can I ask you a question? About foals?"
Rarity looked at Katie, she was suspicious of where the conversation was going but she didn't show it on her face. "Of course, darling. Whatever you need."
"Well, you're well aware that my coltfriend and I are different species."
"Yes, I know. What does that have to do with foals?"
"It means that we can't have our own foal, at least not by conventional means."
"Oh...right." Rarity blushed.
"Discord and I decided that since we can't get a foal that way, we should adopt."
"I think that's wonderful, but what is it you're trying to ask me, dear?"
"We have little filly in mind. I promised not to tell anypony that she was an orphan so I won't use her name. But, she doesn't know that we want to adopt her. How do I tell her I want to be her mom?"
"I'm afraid Fluttershy or Cheerilee would know how to deal with little fillies better." Rarity thought for a moment, "All I can suggest, is that you and Discord take her to a nice secluded place, away from other fillies or colts she may know and simply tell her how you feel. With my little sister, and with clients for that matter, I find it best to be straightforward and let them know what you think. I hope that's helpful to you." Rarity finished.
"It is Rarity, thank you. I'm going over to Fluttershy's next to help her with the bunny census and a few other things, so I'll ask her about it too. Also, I think it would be a good idea to talk to Princess Luna about it; after all, the filly would be her new granddaughter."
"I think that's a wonderful idea." Rarity said. She was glad that she was able to be helpful to Katie, she hoped that whichever filly they had taken a liking to had taken a liking to them as well. The clock tower chimed letting Ponyville know that it was 10 in the morning. "Oops, I should have opened shop a while ago. I hope I didn't keep anypony waiting. I wish you the best of luck with adopting the filly."
"Thanks Rarity, have a nice rest of your day!" Rarity left to go open shop while Katie continued her journey to Fluttershy's cottage. The pegasus in question was out front watering a bed of flowers she was working on. She hummed happily to herself, many of the birds in and around to cottage knew the tune and they hummed along with her.
"Hey Fluttershy! I heard you needed help with a bunny census."
"Oh yes, I would definitely like some help, umm if you're offering and everything..." The timid pegasus spoke barely above a whisper.
"How can I help?"
"Well, what we have to do is get all the baby bunnies in this pen here. Then we can count them. There's so many though, that I can't herd them in."
"So what you need is a dog like Winona?"
"I think that would work wonderfully, um if that's ok."
"No problem!" Katie flashed and turned into a border collie like Winona.
"Oh, that'll do perfectly!" The pegasus said. "Just remember to be careful, they're only baby bunnies after all!"
Together the border collie and Fluttershy had an easy time herding the bunnies together into the pen. Fluttershy did a quick count up and let the bunnies back out.
"Thanks for the help Katrina. I really appreciated it. That was the easiest bunny census I've ever done."
Katie flashed back to a pegasus. "No problem, Fluttershy. I was glad to help. I had something I needed to ask you about anyway."
"Oh, well, what is it you need to know?" She asked shyly.
"Well, I know that you're really good with foals. Discord and I were thinking of adopting a little filly and we know just the one that we want to adopt, but I don't know how to tell her that we want to be her parents. I mean, she got along well enough with Discord when she came over to visit, but what if she doesn't want us to adopt her?"
Fluttershy thought about the question while she patted Angel on her lap. "Is it a filly I know?"
"I think it may be, but she doesn't want anypony to know that's she's an orphan."
"You mean, she's been living entirely on her own? Poor filly. I wish I had known sooner, I would have invited her to stay here, but i'm glad that she has ponies like you to care for her now. I think you should be straightforward about what you want to do, but... um... don't go shooting it out all at once. Take her out for ice cream or something so that your all nice and relaxed and tell her calmly that you want to adopt her. I'm sure that she'll say yes, I mean you're a very nice pony, and Discord is too once you get to know him, I guess."
Katie nodded in understanding, it did make sense to do it like that. Rarity had a good point too. If Scootaloo is stressed out and surrounded by ponies, she might not be willing to listen to what she had to say. That meant she only had one pony left to talk to. Her mom.
"Thanks for your time Fluttershy, you were a big help!"
"Anytime!" She whispered happily.
Katie walked deep into the Everfree. There were few places in Ponyville where the princess of the night could show up unannounced and not cause a riot, so Katie and her mother had their own special rendezvous point where they could talk without everypony freaking out. The Everfree was like a second home to Katie. She was friends with many species of animals there and very few of the ones she wasn't friends with bothered to give her any trouble, especially if there were timberwolves around. She loved the feel of the forest. Katie flashed into a timberwolf and darted through the trees. She loved the crunch of the leaves under her feet. She loved the smell of the forest too, she imagined that in spring, with all the flowers and trees in bloom, the air smelled similar to what the forest back on Earth used too, but better. Katie expertly leaped over a patch of poison joke, being sure not to make contact with any of the blooms.
A bridge lay ahead of her, and on the other side a dark castle was shrouded in mist. The ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. The princesses used to live here, before they moved to Canterlot. The castle was mostly forgotten and very few of the ponies in Ponyville knew it existed. She carefully negotiated the rotted bridge and walked into the castle. In the center of the main room was a large crystal. By just giving it a little magic, it would contact Luna and if she wasn't busy, she could teleport right over, a bit like a pager. She sat down in front of the crystal and flashed into a unicorn. She wasn't very good at unicorn magic, but she was good enough for the purposes of the crystal. Katie sent a few sparks into the crystal until it glowed blue and stepped back from it. In a few minutes Luna popped in to the room from thin air. She smiled at Katie and gave her a hug.
"Hey mom." Katie said snuggling into the warm embrace. "Sorry for the short notice, but it was really important that I talk to you as soon as possible." Katie explained the situation, including what Rarity and Fluttershy said.
"I think it's a fantastic idea to adopt a filly. You're sure you're ready, though?"
"I don't know. I just know that she's been living alone for a long time. And I know you never meant for it to happen that way, and I know you would take it all back if you could, but I know how it feels to think you're alone. I can't just sit and watch a wonderful little filly like her go through that. Discord and I both think she's just perfect, she would be your granddaughter, you know."
"Can you really imagine me as a grandmother?" Luna said jokingly.
"Well you're plenty qualified. And I bet she'd love you, just as much as I do." Katie nuzzled Luna's coat comfortingly.
"I can't wait to meet her. I think you'll make a great mom."
Luna had important things to do back in Canterlot so the two mares traded hugs and goodbyes and Katie headed back to town.
Author's Note:
Hmm... how will Scoots react to being asked to be adopted?
I can't wait to find out! XD
I already know.
How?
I read ahead in the chapters that you've written but haven't posted yet. Speaking of which, in chapter 14, don't you think it would be really cool if, instead of...
Pinkie!!
Oops. Spoiler alert!
*eye roll* Anyway, Chapter 14, while I'm not giving away any specifics, is going to be the special Nightmare Night chapter. So let me know what you're going as, if anything, this year or what your favorite costume that you ever wore was, down in the comments!
Katie liked to think of it as her secret garden. The same way she used to have her secret river, nopony knew about her hideaway deep in the Everfree; excepting Fluttershy who found the place on accident as a filly. It was always green there. Unlike the other places in the forest, which changed seasons on their own and experienced fairly normal weather, it was always spring there, always. The flowers were always in bloom, the fruits were always in season, and the animals never fought each other. The garden had a natural stream running through it that ended in a large pond. During her living with Discord, she had grown uncomfortable with things that are too peaceful and too quiet, but this place was the exception. Simply being there in the first place had the effect of relaxing even the most stressed and nervous of ponies. It was, she decided, the perfect place to ask questions and tell secrets. As a result, it was here that she decided to take her coltfriend and the filly she wanted to adopt on a picnic. It was here, she hoped, that they would achieve a happy ending, or rather, a new beginning. Assuming all went according to plan.
"Please, please, please, please, please, tell me we're almost there." Scootaloo pleaded. Her legs were getting tired, but Katie had said that they were going someplace really special, so she was willing to walk just a little bit longer. Also the scent of freshly baked pies and cookies wafted from the bag that Katie was carrying, and if it meant that she could have some, Scootaloo would endure a little leg pain.
"Yes, we're nearly there now. Trust me, you'll know it the moment you see it." Katie said. She hadn't stopped smiling since the group had left the house, but it was slightly forced. Try as she might, she couldn't get the possibility of Scootaloo's refusal out of her mind. It nagged at her constantly, even though she knew that it was unlikely. The filly had already confessed that she enjoyed spending time with Kaite. And to give credit where it's due, she took the matter of Discord being her coltfriend rather well, all things considered. What worried her the most, though, was the thought of how the filly would react if she ever found out about Katie being a human and not a pony at all. That thought was the one that plagued her, but her face didn't show it for an instant.
"No worries, Scoots, I've heard her mention it before it passing. It's worth the wait." Discord was having trouble staying patient too though. He was just as excited and nervous as Katie was, but with a difference. Ever since he was reunited with his chaos, it was determined to make sure that he didn't forget who he was. His inner chaos, or Little Discord as he often called him, was what caused him to get into trouble so often. He often found himself getting into arguments with his inner chaos. 'Oh come on, you know it would be funny.' 'She's my marefriend, LD.' 'She's not even a mare!' 'Not the point, I refuse to do something like that to her.' 'It would only be a little scare.' 'It doesn't matter, I've listened to you more times than I should have in the past, but there's no way I would do something so mean to her.' 'You're no fun.' 'I'm plenty fun, but i'm done being mean to the ones I love. If I want them to like me back, I need to stop treating them like i'm so much better than them.' 'You are so much better than them.' 'Sometimes, but I won't treat them like they are.' 'You've changed, Discord. But for the better? I don't think so...Besides you take it from me, this whole thing is going to be one big sob-fest. Why should we bother with a filly? We have enough to deal with.'
"We're here!" Katie reached forward with her hoof and pulled a curtain of vines to the side. "Welcome to my garden."
A whole swarm of butterflies flew around gently on the breeze, adding to the beauty of the scene. Everything that the most beautiful about nature and spring could be found in that forgotten clearing. Even Discord, who enjoyed making things look completely out of the ordinary and just plain strange, stared in awe at the sight before him.
"Well are you just going to stand there or come in?" Katie laughed. Her smile was not forced now. Her joy was genuine, any stress she felt going in was gone almost instantly. The effect was almost magical, a sort of natural magic that happened all on it's own. Her companions walked slowly into the garden, savouring the feel of the soft grass on their feet, and the smell of the air. Katie had the exact same reaction the first couple of times she came to the garden, it still took her breath away but she was a little used to it by now.
"What is this place?" Scootaloo asked. She tried in vain to chase a butterfly, but it flew high in the air and evaded her grasp.
"The only place in Equestria where it's constantly spring. Very few ponies know it exists. I know, Fluttershy knows, and now both of you know."
"It's amazing, Katie. It's the perfect place." Discord created a large blanket out of thin air and spread it out on the emerald grass. The trio sat on it and took in the environment around them. The very air was intoxicatingly fragrant.
"So what is it you guys wanted to talk to me about? You didn't think I forgot did you?" The orange filly asked. Her gaze was turned to the sky, her eyes followed to path of a scarlet colored bird with long feathers.
Katie took a deep breath, it was now or never. Discord squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"We wanted to talk about you, Scoots. About you living on your own, without any parents."
Scootaloo turned her gaze away from the bird she had been watching to Katie. Her shoulders slumped and she frowned slightly.
"What about it?" Her nervousness was apparent in her tone.
"Katie, to convince me why you should stay the night, told me about your situation on the condition that I don't spread it any farther. I thought about it a lot last night and decided to make some calls. I found the orphanage you used to live at and called them about you."
Scootaloo stood straight up and faced them angrily, "You're sending me back?"
Katie quickly stood next to her and hugged her. "Not even close, Scoots. We wouldn't dream of sending you back. Especially since you're so happy here with all your friends. Please, calm down and hear us out."
Scootaloo calmed and sat down, but she still looked down at the grass worriedly. "Katie was telling me a lot about you last night. She was telling me how wonderful you are, and how you asked her to be your mom for a day. She told me how brave you were against those bullies, and how proud she was when you defended your friends even in the face of danger."
Scootaloo turned to Katie, "You saw all that? How?"
"Well, Discord isn't the only pony in Ponyville that's strange. Remember how I was telling your class about being able to relate with animals, to put myself in their shoes?"
"Yeah...like Fluttershy."
"Not exactly, with Fluttershy it's more of a psychological thing. Meaning that for her, it's more a part of her personality than a separate ability. For me, it's a lot more literal."
"What do you mean?"
"You remember the timberwolf?" The filly nodded, "That was me, I was the timberwolf. I have the natural ability to change my species at will. When I saw you in trouble I went on gut instinct and came out a timberwolf, I didn't even realize that I had changed until ponies started screaming."
"That was you? You're the one who saved us?"
Katie nodded quietly. The filly thought about what that meant but didn't say anything.
"The reason I talked with your old orphanage was not to send you back, but to ask officially if you could stay here permanently. They were happy to know that you had been getting along so well, and that you were ok. They agreed to send someone over today while you were at school to give me these." Discord pulled a scroll out of the air. He never needed to carry anything on his person, he could carry anything with him anywhere using pocket dimension, it was more safe and more portable than any lockbox ever invented. He smiled and handed it to Katie.
"What's that?" The filly cocked her head trying to read what was on the paper.
Katie looked at Discord, who nodded encouragingly, and then at the filly. "They..They're adoption papers."
Realization dawned on the pegasus. Emotions swirled through her mind. These two ponies loved her and wanted to adopt her. She wouldn't have to be alone anymore. They could be her real actual, parents. She might even get grandparents too. The filly stared at her hooves trying not to cry, then she would have to kiss her street cred goodbye for sure.
"Are you ok, Scootaloo?" Katie asked.
"You guys...want to adopt me?" She sniffled.
"That's what we're hoping. If you are willing to adopt us, that is. All we have to do is sign the papers and send them off to Canterlot." Discord said. I told you it would end up one big sob-fest. You really should listen to me more often. He told himself to shut up.
It was too much for Scootaloo. Sure she had friends, but no one ever loved her like a daughter. She spent so many years in the orphanage. Her wings didn't grow as fast as her peers' did, and no one wanted to adopt a defective filly. That's what they always said when she asked them. These ponies barely knew her, and yet they were willing to open their home to her so she could live a better life. An even tougher filly than Scootaloo couldn't have stopped themselves from getting teary-eyed. Scootaloo stumbled forward into the arms of her new family.
"That's a yes then?"
Scootaloo couldn't speak but she nodded her head up and down as tears streamed down her cheeks. Katie seemed to only just remember that they came for a picnic. She was sure the filly would be hungry soon. Discord and Katie both signed the paper and he teleported it to Canterlot Adoption Agency. Katie was able to coax Scootaloo into eating some of the food they brought. Discord, on the other hand, enchanted some flowers and trees into an entire orchestra which he proceeded to direct. His motions were so energetic and wild that it looked more like he was just having fun with a stick than actually directing, but the instrumental plants didn't seem worried and they played a joyous tune all on their own.
"When you finish eating, Scootaloo, there's another member of the family that I would like you to meet."
Scootaloo gulped to clear her mouth, "Who's that, mom?"
Katie's heart swelled with pride at her new daughters words. She was a mom now. "Your new grandmother. I know she's just aching to meet you."
"She knows about me?"
"Only a little, only that I had met a wonderful filly that I desperately wanted to adopt. I wasn't sure exactly what to do to ask you to be my daughter, so I went to her to ask advice. She's just waiting for me to contact her about whether you said yes or not."
Scootaloo smiled wide, "Well, what're we waiting for?"
Katie cocked her head thoughtfully, "There's exactly two ways for me to contact my mom directly, one requires it to be nighttime, and the other involves going to a haunted castle."
"She lives in a haunted castle?"
Katie laughed, "No, but it's our secret meeting spot. I can send her messages from there and she'll race right over to talk."
Scootaloo bounced up and down excitedly, "When can we go?"
Discord got bored with messing with the plants and laid down next to Katie, "Soon as you finish your sandwich eager beaver." Scootaloo hurried and scarfed down her sandwich and chased it down with the rest of her chocolate milk.
"All done! Let's go!" All three ponies laughed happily.
"Alright, alright!" Katie giggled, "For added fun, how would you like to try a hoof at wolfback riding?"
"Are you serious?" Scootaloo grinned.
"Completely! Climb on!" Katie flashed into a timberwolf and crouched down low to the ground. Discord scooped up Scootaloo and put her on Katie's back. After a bit of thought he transformed into a pegasus and sat down behind Scootaloo.
"Hold on tight, Scoots!" He laughed. Katie stood up carefully, even just this act caused Scootaloo to squeal with excitement. When Discord was a pony she was plenty strong enough to carry both of them easily. The wolf took it slow at first but in no time at all she was bounding quickly through the forest. The ponies on her back whooped and cheered her on. She gladly obliged, going faster and faster to her top speed. Discord slid off her back and turned into a wolf too and they proceeded to race each other to the castle. He shot a challenging glare at her and bounded ahead.
"Are you really gonna take that from him?" Scootaloo laughed. Katie sped forward and caught up with him challenge accepted. The two wolves charged through the forest. Scootaloo was having the time of her life, and who would ever believe that she got to ride on a timberwolf? Sure, she wasn't technically the first pony in Ponyville to do that but Sweetie Belle had been unconscious so that didn't really count. When they got to the bridge Discord turned back into a draconequus and flew over while Katie carried Scootaloo over it. Inside Scootaloo slid off onto the stone floor.
"That was so awesome! We went much faster than my scooter ever goes!" She beat her wings up and down, trying to achieve lift, but she just dragged around on the ground instead.
"I rather enjoyed that too, Katie. We should do that more often." Discord smiled. Katie flashed into a unicorn long enough to activate the crystal and then turned into a pegasus. She really didn't like spending longer as a unicorn than she had to, using too much magic gave her a headache. All she knew was what Rarity had showed her anyway, because she wasn't on good terms with Twilight yet.
"You ready to meet my mom, and your new grandmother?"
Scootaloo nodded and just as she did a flash filled the room and when it faded none other than Princess Luna stood in the room. Scootaloo was shocked, Katie's mom is Luna! The Princess Luna? Does that make me a princess too by adoption? Well, nothing says I have to be a girly-girl kind of princess. Luna isn't very girly-girl and she's waaaay cooler than Celestia. At first, since the filly was too shocked to say anything, Luna didn't even notice she was there and instead gave Katie a hug.
"Good evening Katrina, dear. How is your evening?" She asked her.
"As beautiful as ever, mom. But do you remember that filly I was talking to you about yesterday? The one I wanted to adopt?"
"Yes, how did it go?"
Katrina turned and waved to Scootaloo and Discord. The draconequus poked the stunned pegasus gently bringing her back to the real world. Scootaloo stumbled forward in front of the princess.
"Mom, I'd like you to meet your new granddaughter, Scootaloo!"
Luna smiled and laid down next to her. Even laying down she was a lot taller than the filly. "Hello Scootaloo." She said gently. She missed when Katrina was this small, it felt like an eternity ago. Of course, it was an eternity ago, but it felt like even longer.
"Hi," Scootaloo said nervously,"I never had a grandma before."
"I've never had a granddaughter. I guess we both get to try something new then."
"Sounds like fun!" The filly smiled happily. She took a chance and nuzzled Luna who giggled and hugged her back.
"You're right, Katie. She is a wonderful filly. Welcome to the royal family, Scootaloo."
Scootaloo thought for a moment but the second she opened her mouth Katie cut her off.
"No, that does not affect you having to go to school tomorrow."
"Awww."
Luna smiled. "That's ok little filly, I didn't like going to school much when I was your age either. Granted, when I was your age, Canterlot wasn't even built yet. The pony sisters, being Celestia and I lived here, back when it was splendid and beautiful, and the Everfree hadn't overgrown it forcing us to leave."
"Wow, that must have been a long, long, long time ago."
"It was." Discord smiled, "It was hilarious, though! Imagine the Everfree forest quadrupling in size overnight! In hindsight it was rather rude of me, but at the time I couldn't stop laughing for days!" To demonstrate his point he broke out in a fit of laughter, causing everypony else to roll their eyes, but eventually they all laughed too.
It was the perfect end to a perfect day. But one has to wonder, how long can it really last?
Author's Note:
Hey guys! I hope you liked the last few chapters!
I know I did!
Do you ever sleep?
Of course I sleep, silly filly!
How do you always know the second I'm doing one of these?
You have a Pinkie sense for when I'm writing author's notes?
I have a Pinkie sense for everything! Except bananas, but really who has a Pinkie sense for that?
Do you like bananas?
Don't even go there.
no?
No.
Not even a little bit?
*sigh* Maybe later. I'm in the middle of something at the moment. How about tomorrow? I have some schoolwork to do, but I'm all free otherwise.
... Okay. See you later, Whovian.
Bye....I guess..
You don't like bananas?
Not really, I like them a little bit but I'm not about to get shot to the moon over it. Anyway, the next chapter will be sort of a mini story on it's own, basically an episode, in honor of Nightmare Night! It will take a bit longer to get out but I think it'll be worth it.
Katrina and the Cutie Mark Crusaders team up to defeat a great evil that threatens all of Equestria! Who's behind the mysterious disappearances? What has Celestia so on edge? What in the world is a cherrychanga? and what makes them so fregging good? Find out in the next episode length Nightmare Night special of:
"For Celestia's sake, Spike! Where's my book on mysterious magical maladies?", Twilight huffed angrily. It was only after a moment of silence that she realized she was yelling at an empty room. Spike, of course, was absent that day having agreed to spend the day helping Rarity. Owlowiscious swooped in to view with the book that Twilight desired. She smiled and ruffled his feathers fondly before taking the book and magically flipping through the pages. "It's a good thing YOU'RE still on my side. Spike's been rather touchy recently."
Twilight sighed as she settled into her favorite nook in the library and commenced studying. She hadn't gotten very far though, before the front bell rang. Owlowiscious hooted once and swooped down the stairs to greet the midnight-blue pegasus that had entered.
"Hey there, Owlowiscious! I'm guessing Twilight isn't interested in talking to me yet?" The mare asked.
"Whoo!"
"Yeah, I didn't think so. I really wish I knew why she hated me so much. Is it something I said perhaps?"
"Whoo!"
"Well I hope you're right about that, Owlowiscious. In the mean time, can you help me find a book about Commander Hurricane for an essay my daughter is writing?" She asked as she patted him on the head. The owl flew off excitedly in search of his newest quarry.
"It's not that I hate you, exactly." Twilight growled from above, "It's that you don't make any sense!" Twilight huffed and threw her book down on the bed beside her. "You're just some random human from a galaxy far, far, away who just shows up in the middle of the night arm in arm with the most powerful villain in Equestria. You can be what ever you want, you live in a castle above the Everfree forest, and oh! By the way! You're a construct created 1000 years ago by Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon! You're impossible! You shouldn't exist!"
"But I do exist, Twilight. And I have no intentions of changing that anytime soon. I just want to be your friend. I want you to feel that you can trust me."
Twilight stared daggers at the pony impostor that stood in the foyer of her library. "And why should I? For all I know, you have us all fooled. For all I know, you're working for...for HIM! With the intention of helping him steal the throne!"
"I promise you, Twilight that isn't the case. Besides, Discord has really changed, he doesn't want to cause you or anypony else in Equestria any harm. Do you think that Mother would have let us adopt a filly had this not been the case?" Katie said sadly. She fit in well with most of the ponies but there were a few, like Twilight, who were so loyal to the princesses that they couldn't get past seeing her as a threat. Owlowiscious flew in with a book and Twilight's piercing gaze momentarily moved away from Katie. Twilight magically took the book from him and shoved it at Katie.
"You. Don't. Belong. Here." Twilight growled and she blinked back upstairs to her reading nook.
Katie sighed and left the library. The door magically slammed behind her just in time for her tail to clear the door frame.
"Wow, somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
Katie turned to see Discord behind her. She was used to him trying to surprise ponies by now. After all, he was still Discord, and chaos is what Discord does best. Though she had to give him credit, he was trying his hardest not to go overboard.
"Yeah, she did." Katie sighed, "I keep hoping she'll come around but apparently 'I don't belong here."
Discord did nothing but his inner chaos rolled it's eyes. What a whiner. it said. Discord told himself to shut up and turned his attention back to Katie.
"Well, you know that i'm being honest with you when I say that I know how you feel about that. I've only been hearing it for the past 3000 years or so. More or less. I lost count really." Discord rolled over in the air thoughtfully. "If it makes you feel any better, after a few hundred years it begins to lose it's sting. And she's just one little unicorn anyway, the others love you!"
Rather than looking at him, Katie turned her attention towards the ground. She hadn't put much thought into the whole "immortality" thing. She was born that way but up until the last couple of months, she hadn't even noticed the time pass because of a memory spell. Now that she knew who she was, and more importantly what she was, the memory spell was gone and she didn't quite know what to do with herself half the time. The Everfree pretty much took care of itself, the ponies around town needed help with things now and then but it was never enough to keep her occupied for long. She only really felt happy when she and Discord were doing something together. Katie was pulled out of her train of thought when she felt a paw rest on her shoulder.
"Hey, no worries Katie. There's still plenty of time for her to get over herself and apologize for how rude she's been.", he said reassuringly.
"But what if she doesn't?"
"Than it's her own fault, and her own loss. Now, I feel like some cupcakes, don't you?"
"Not really."
Discord gasped in mock surprise, "That's a lie and you know it. Everypony always feels like cupcakes." Discord grabbed the book and flew off in the direction of Sugarcube corner.
"Hey! What gives!" She laughed.
"If you want your book back, you're going to have to come and get it!"
Katie's face light up with a grin. "And uh... What If I don't feel like it?"
"Then I'll just have to eat it, since it's obvious I won't be getting cupcakes. I will, by the way. Just ask Twilight, she'll tell you. If you ever want to know how to get that mare mad at you, eat a few library books. Works like a charm!"
Katie ruffled her feathers in mock annoyance, but she followed him to the bakery anyway. In truth, she didn't doubt in the slightest that Discord would do something as ridiculous as eating a library book.
Sorry I took so long to update, and also for the relative shortness of the chapter. Life happened and time got away from me. -_-
I'll try to be more consistent in the future, but between family crises, computer issues. and mountains of schoolwork, I'd rather not make any guarantees.
Hey! Cheer up! I'm sure the next chapter will go a lot better!
The smell of fresh baked cakes and muffins filled Katie's nose as she entered the bakery. Sugarcube Corner had become her favorite place in Ponyville. It wasn't hard to guess why either, between the good smells, the delicious food, and Pinkies endless antics, it was quite impossible not to be in a good mood.
Discord flew right in and pulled Katie behind him. "Pinkie, my dear, miss mopey over here needs a dozen of whatever cupcakes you have at the moment!"
The frizzy ball of pink hair known as Pinkie Pie bounced into view. "Okey Dokey Lokie!" She giggled and was gone as quickly as she had appeared. It never ceased to amaze Katie how that mare could be so perky and so happy all the time, perhaps it was the sugar.
In no time at all, Pinkie came out with a full tray of freshly minted cupcakes. Katie forced herself to forget about Twilight and together the trio did away with the whole batch, laughing and joking the whole time. Discord ate his share, but as usual, his mind was on other things...
'I see you're still crazy about little miss perfect...' 'and why shouldn't I be?' 'Look at her, Discord. Really look at her. Do you see what I do?' Discord glanced at her despite his better judgment, ' I see a beautiful mare, with a wonderful sense of humor, who loves me for being myself.' 'WRONG! Get past your lovesick attitude and think straight! She's the daughter of the traitor princess, heir to the lunar throne, your enemy. She wasn't even born, she was constructed!' 'That doesn't matter to me.' 'It does matter! She's not even your species!' ' Nopony is my species! They all died a long time ago, remember? I'm the only one left! I'm never going to find anypony my own species! '...' 'LD, don't be like that.' '...' 'I..' 'You know what? I give up. Someday, you'll stop feeling sorry for yourself and see things for how they are. This mar- This woman will only break your heart, and when she does, remember that I tried to warn you.'
"And then I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?" Discord was brought back to reality by the sound of laughter ringing through the bakery. Many had heard the story before, most didn't get the joke, but they all laughed anyway. It was pretty much a given that half of what Pinkie did was so random that most wouldn't understand the humor behind it, that was something that Discord and the pink mare had in common. Discord returned his eyes to Katie and in that instant, their eyes met and she smiled warmly. 'You're wrong. You have to be wrong. She's perfect.'
Katie, of course, had no knowledge of the battle going on in Discord's heart. She only knew that a full belly, and time spent with a few good friends, makes one very tired. She let out a yawn and stretched her wings.
Pinkie laughed, "hee-hee, looks like SOMEPONY's all tuckered out! It's getting pretty late anyway, you should head home, silly filly!"
"I think you're right, Pinkie Pie." Katie giggled, "Big day tomorrow and all that."
Discord raised one eyebrow curiously, "What's tomorrow?"
Pinkie rolled her eyes, Discord had an even shorter attention span that she did sometimes. "The summer sun celebration! It's only on the same day every year! Princess Celestia is coming to Ponyville for the celebration again!"
To say that Discord was surprised, would be an understatement. The last time she held the celebration in Ponyville, was the time that Nightmare Moon escaped. While that certainly wasn't a concern this time, the fact that she chose Katie's first year back in Equestria to come to Ponyville couldn't be a coincidence.
"Why Ponyville this year?" He asked.
"I dunno. Twilight said something about making up for last time."
Katie placed a hoof on Discord's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, love. I'll stay clear out of her way. It won't do you any good to make a fuss about it. I'm not staying home, Scoots really wants to go and it's not really fair to make her stay home."
"I could take her."
"I'm not going to hide just because I'm not on Celestia's nice list."
"The only reason she hasn't attacked you yet is because of your relation to Luna. Luna doesn't make a habit of attending the sun celebration any more than Celestia attends the lunar festival. I'm not sure that she will be willing to let you be if she runs into you tomorrow."
"You know, it's really not such a big deal for both of you to go. And Princess Celestia knows how much Katie likes to be a pegasus, if she goes as an earth pony, she might not be noticed as easily." Pinkie chimed in.
Discord face-pawed. Leave it to Pinkie to find a loophole like that. Katie jumped and clapped her hooves in victory. "That's a great idea, Pinkie! Discord and I can go together as earth ponies! This is going to be so much fun!"
Despite how happy Katie looked, Discord just felt sick to his stomach. Katie was literally playing with fire by going to the celebration. He could only hope that she didn't get burned.
Very VERY early in the morning, the day of the Summer Sun Celebration.
It was that dark and lonely hour when the night had not yet given in to the dawn, where the stars were faded but the moon was still clearly seen in the sky. Groggy ponies from all over Ponyville huddled close together in the town square against the stinging cold that lingered in the air. Scootaloo balanced on Katie's back as the two of the waited for dawn. Discord stood to their side but unlike the others, he felt a sense of dread, not of excitement. He liked to push limits, he liked to live dangerously, but it wasn't his safety at stake this time.
Scootaloo took a deep breath and exhaled a vapor cloud that hung in the air and the spiraled away. Katie laughed and puffed a cloud too. The two smiled and Katie nuzzled the pegasus fondly. Discord sighed and the corner of his mouth lifted in a grin. As nervous as the entire situation made him, nothing made him happier or put him more at ease than seeing his marefriend smile. 'I just wish she'd be more careful' 'Because you are such a great example of that.' 'I thought you weren't talking to me.' ' I'm not. I'm warning you.' 'Warning me? About what?' 'You're precious marefriend.' 'I thought we discussed this.' 'You're sure you can keep her safe?' 'I'm fairly sure i'm capable of that. I won't let Celestia lay one hoof on her' 'Then I have a question for you, friend.' 'What's that?' 'Where is she?' 'What's that supposed to mean? She's right...
Discord heard a high-pitched squeal in front of him and he turned immediately towards the sound. Scootaloo sat in a heap on the ground where Katie had stood only moments before.
Scootaloo shook her head from side to side and stood up shakily. "What just happened?" She moaned. Discord trotted to her side and helped her stand. "Wait...I was on mom's back...Mom! Where did she go?"
Discord abandoned his earth pony form and stood at full height. His eyes desperately scanned the crowd.
"Daddy? Where's mom?!"
"I don't... she was just here...I.."
Scootaloo spun in frantic circles but her mother was nowhere to be found. She cried out at the top of her lungs, "Mommy! Where are you?!"
But Discord knew they wouldn't find her anywhere in town square. Katie was gone, and he had a feeling he knew who was behind it.