1. Can't Sit Idly, No I Can't Move At All

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The months that had transpired since Discord’s latest resurgence from his stone prison had been surprisingly uneventful. Both of the royal princesses of Equestria had been almost waiting for the Spirit of Chaos to make some sort of move that would violate this restrictive probationary period they had agreed to.

Indeed, there were some changes made to the land, but only within the areas that had been allowed him. It seemed that Discord was keeping to his word for now.

Every so often, Princess Celestia would look over the map that she and Twilight had used when showing her where they had found the borders to those places. Those four areas had been very distinctly transformed, but nothing outside of it had been altered in any way.

This method that Twilight Sparkle had come up with for dealing with him - this one that allowed a fair outcome for every pony involved - the longer the time passed with no incidents from the draconequus, the more Celestia wondered if this way was truly proving beneficial to him.

As liaison between them, Twilight had been providing the princess with information on his whereabouts, on the different ways that those areas were being transformed by him, and on her progress in this strange sort of friendship they seemed to have formed.

It would not have been the first thing the alicorn would have thought of doing when it came to Discord. Freezing him stone had been the method she had used, but she knew that merely sealing him away hadn’t really taught him anything. It had gotten him out of her mane, because she knew that he was necessary to the well-being of the ponies, whether they knew it or not.

Twilight had been right though, the way the unicorn had wanted to help him; it was a way that Celestia would not have thought of. She knew that giving him a chance was just, even if the princess doubted his ability to learn a thing about ponies or the bonds that make them so special.

As the white alicorn found herself staring back at the map, she tried to put herself back in that impartial mindset, and not let that natural abhorrence for Discord cloud her judgment. Such grudges were for her subjects, as the ruler it was her duty to put them aside for the good of her ponies, however difficult that may be when thinking about him.

She sensed another pony’s presence in the small meeting room but did not look up at first. The guards that always accompanied her would never have entered without announcing themselves. Only one pony in the castle could sneak up on Celestia so gracefully and silently.

Turning her head slightly, she was not entirely surprised to see the sparkly navy mane of her sister Luna as she looked over Celestia’s shoulder.

She allowed Luna to gaze down at the various landscapes and towns colorfully depicted on the map, thought Celestia was certain that her sister was not gaining any more information than she.

“Did you receive Twilight Sparkle’s latest progress report concerning Discord?” Princess Luna asked.

“Yesterday,” Celestia answered simply. “Everything appears to be very much the same, or at least no breeches in the agreement.”

“Did her words imply something that would cause you such concern?”

“Not concern…” she said, trailing off for a moment in an attempt to find the more appropriate term.

“Suspicion?” her sister offered.

“It is more the lack of suspicious activity that is causing me pause,” the elder princess said, thinking once more back to her student’s latest report.

“From what Twilight has been informing me, Discord may be sticking to the more physical and magical stipulations of this probation - and the evidence or lack thereof seems to support that claim - but that he still remains ‘reluctant’ when it comes to her attempts to get him to understand more the ponies of this world.”

‘Reluctant’ had been the word Twilight had used, yet she was more optimistic about this than her teacher.

“Perhaps this is a sign of progress. If he is really and truly making an effort to stick to his restrictions, than it appears this probation may no longer be necessary,” the younger princess said. It seemed that Luna was also in that same vein.

“All that this appears to prove is that he understands the basics, if he is so unwilling to learn what is truly important --- “ she stopped herself mid-sentence, then began anew. “Before it was not a requirement, but the longer Discord lives in this land - on this plane - the more important it will be for him to understand them, or at least form something other than this current apathy and mild obligation he holds for them.”

“It is true that we cannot be sure for certain, but has not what Twilight Sparkle done in his favor or spoken of worth considering?” Luna said to her sister.

“It is,” Celestia answered, though hesitantly. “But my sister, you were so young you may barely remember the havoc that Discord caused to the love and peace in the hearts of all of ponydom.”

Luna blinked, walking around both her sister and the table to look at the map from another angle. “I do remember some, but I also remember that Twilight Sparkle and her friends aided in my path to redemption for my past sins. If they are willing to give Discord a chance then--”

The white alicorn interrupted her. “And I have agreed to that chance, although I am not as confident in his willingness to learn about things as you are.”

She had felt the tension begin to get the better of her; Celestia had not meant to cut her sister off so abruptly. She knew all too well that Luna had endured a certain amount of doubt from the ponies of this world that she had truly changed once she re-emerged. A thousand years of tales about Nightmare Moon and generations of only one princess ruling the land had all but wiped the real Princess Luna from the collective memories of their subjects.

Luna had made an effort though, an honest attempt. Celestia would imagine that the younger alicorn would want to assume Discord was doing the same, to give him the benefit of the doubt she had struggled for.

“We can also not be certain that he would not be more willing to try if given more opportunity,” Luna tried after a brief silence. “It is something I feel our mother would have done, offering him such an opportunity.”

“Perhaps,” she allowed. “But our mother also understood the potential danger he posed. She never would have allowed him to live so freely here on this plane of existence, even under these restrictions.”

“Not without a substantial lesson on why the ponies of this world function the way they do, their minds and hearts can be difficult for those of us who exist so differently to comprehend.”

She noticed that the slight knowing cadence in her younger sister’s voice, as if she had first-hoof experience.

Whether it was something that Harmony would consider or not, Celestia knew that she didn’t know for sure. She couldn’t merely assume that her mother’s opinions mirrored her own. Harmony had known her former partner for far, far longer than either alicorn princess.

Discord might not have shown any care or concern for his former partner in the balance between Chaos and Order, and it was true that Harmony had not spoken exactly fondly of him to her, but Celestia could see her sister’s point on how their mother might prefer her student’s way of dealing with him over the alicorn’s.

“You would suggest that he be able to spend more time among ponies?” the white alicorn asked. Luna’s mane gave a slight swish as she slowly nodded.

“With no disrespect to her, it would take a drastic lesson to even attempt to get through to him. Probably more than Twilight Sparkle can offer on her own.”

The princesses contemplated that thought for a moment.

“And you feel this would truly be beneficial?” Celestia asked.

“A closer inspection of his progress may be in order, however I do feel it would be, my sister,” Luna answered. “It may be that a immersion into their culture may be something he requires.”

Celestia was dreading the thought that she may have to pay Discord another visit, to see just how far a stride he had made in learning to appreciate the ponies of this world… apart from the one friend he seemed to have. She could not deny though that Luna might have a point. These restrictions kept the ponies away from him, and him away from them. It was for their safety, but she did admit that this might be used by him to enable his continued ignorance of their importance.

It was something to be ruminated on, but not carried out for a while, if at all.

Unfortunately, circumstances were currently being set into motion that would expedite their need for a decision.

~*~

Dear Princess Celestia,

It has been a little over a week since we noticed Cloudsdale’s apparent drop in altitude. My friends and I have been doing the best we can to figure out both the cause of this mysterious phenomena, and more importantly how to reverse it.

It’s been a struggle, since there are – so far – absolutely no leads as to why this is happening. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the pegasi city is sinking…and what’s more, it seems to be sinking at a more rapid rate every day.

We have been able to keep the cloud city in place only due to the combined magic of the unicorns of Ponyville. As many of us as can be spared are focusing our efforts on keeping Cloudsdale afloat. The problem is Princess, that even with our power, we can only focus our energy for so long before we need to rest, and if we do rest, we run the risk of Cloudsdale falling right on top of our own home.

I realize that things have been evidently very busy for you and Princess Luna; I assume that is why you’ve been so quiet as of late. If there are any unicorns in the guard that can be spared, having them to aid us in slowing Cloudsdale’s deceleration would be very much appreciated while I and the rest of the Element-bearers search for a more permanent solution to this strange and troublesome problem.

I await your quick response. Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

As the wispy green flame of Spike’s carried the message to her teacher, Twilight hoped that it hadn’t sounded in any way accusatory towards Celestia. True, she wanted the princess to understand the urgency of the situation, but if she had already heard of their efforts to stop Cloudsdale from sinking, surely she would have already sent help, wouldn’t she?

It bothered Twilight a little bit, this silence from both of the high royal alicorns. The unicorn knew that the princesses were busy, but it was unlike them to not have any communication whatsoever with the Elements of Harmony, much less not send some sort of word about their latest plight.

Whatever their reasons, Twilight hoped that she was not out of line in writing that letter. If they did already know, she didn’t want to seem pushy…

Then again, as she and Spike exited the library and looked up at the slowly-encroaching city of clouds looming over their earthbound home, Twilight figured that it had been a necessary and responsible move.

“Do you think the princesses will be able to find out what’s causing it?” Spike asked. They walked to the outskirts of the town, beginning their inspection of the unicorns that stood there, stoically encircling Ponyville all with horns alight, and focusing on pushing Cloudsdale back up to its former place.

The sense of dread Twilight felt every time she looked up to see a whole other city blocking Ponyville’s view of the sky flared up again within her. “I certainly hope so, Spike” was all she could give for an answer.

“The biggest concern though is how to reverse the deceleration process.”

They reached the closest unicorn and began to walk in a line around the town, making their way from one tired-looking face to the next. She was grateful for each and every one of them, coming together to help their fellow ponies in such a way. She knew first-hoof how difficult it was to focus all of one’s energy on pushing an entire city upwards. Twilight had been one of the first unicorns to feel that strain when this temporary solution was thought up.

They had left the unicorn behind and soon walked between the strained ponies, none of whom gave any signs of their presence. That was fine with Twilight; they needed to be focused on their task. She was only there to ensure they didn’t over-exert themselves.

Eventually she did find one quite exhausted-looking mare along the western edge of Ponyville. Twilight could tell the mint green unicorn was on her last legs, she only wished that she hadn’t only just come off of her own shift so that she could fill in for the pony.

Luckily, that was when Rarity came rushing up to where the harp-flanked young unicorn stood, about to drop.

“Oh, I’m so sorry my dear! I simply lost track of time.” The fabulous white pony managed to quickly work in her apology as she and Twilight caught their comrade, who probably could not have held on any longer anyway.

Twilight and Spike moved her out of the way, with Rarity moving in to the space the other mare had occupied.

“I do apologize that I was late, Twilight. I just…” she trailed off, giving a pained, apologetic smile to her friend before summoning her strength to focus with the others.

Twilight nodded. “I understand, Rarity. I know how hard it is, but you’ve got to remember, we’re doing this for our fellow pony folk. We’re doing this for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and all of the pegasi who live up there.”

Rarity frowned as her eyes closed tightly, possibly both from the strain of the spell and from the purple pony’s words.

She managed a nod in return, and Twilight smiled at her before moving on. When she noticed that Spike hadn’t joined her, she turned around.

“Spike, are you coming?”

Spike looked troubled by the thought of Rarity having to stand out there with the others for the hours that her shift would last. Twilight had to give a tired yet resigned sigh at his reluctance to leave her side.

“Just be back before dark, ok?” she gave him a small smile before returning to her self-appointed task.

Twenty-four unicorns were placed strategically around the town, all focusing their powers on the same spell to try and keep Cloudsdale up. It wasn’t a whole lot, but it was all that could be spared at once. They needed to be given time to rest, and keeping up that schedule for them had been a stressful endeavor indeed. It seemed to be all that Twilight could do for the moment however, for none of them yet knew what was causing it.

The mayors of both towns had been holed-up in Ponyville’s Town Hall, arguing over the best methods for aiding the citizens of both Cloudsdale and Ponyville, and what could be done to prevent the looming catastrophe.

It was already looking like both cities would have to be evacuated, but Twilight hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. By her calculations, they still had another week to figure this out. It wasn’t a whole lot of time, but it was something.

When she had finished checking up on the unicorn team, she found her way to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie had been a source of levity in these worrying days, which all the ponies – especially the other Element bearers – had needed.

The purple unicorn slowly eased the door to the sweet shop open – careful to not let the bell over the door tinkle, as both a precaution in case the foals were asleep, and to ease the splitting headache she had that always accompanied a shift of ‘spell duty’.

Her caution about the babies had not been necessary though, when she made it through the unusually-empty dining area to the counter, she could see Pinkie Pie in the kitchen. Her pink friend now chalk white, covered from head to hoof in flour, much to the amusement of Pound and Pumpkin. The two foals giggling with delight as Pinkie pranced about the room like a bouncy flouncy ghost.

The earth pony noticed her friend, and bounded her way, leaving a trail of powder behind her.

“Hi, Twilight,” she sang, still in her foal-entertaining mode. “Everything going ok out there?”

Twilight suppressed a giggle of her own as Pinkie’s appearance, even though she knew it wouldn’t hurt her friend’s feelings; she wanted to remain serious for the moment.

“It seems so. Rarity just came on for her shift, so I think every pony’s been rotated twice today so far. It’s getting sort of desperate out there, and I’m hoping that Rainbow has some good news for us when she returns.”

As if on cue, the bell above the door tinkled, and the pegasus in-question appeared, though not acting quite as politely as Twilight had done when noticing Pinkie’s floury visage.

“There you are, Twilight, I’ve been looking everywhere for y-“ Rainbow began as she came up beside the unicorn, her eyes landing on their formally-pink friend. She burst out laughing, which Pinkie didn’t mind at all about. She even began to shake the whiteness off herself violently like a dog, which caused Rainbow to laugh even harder, falling over herself at Twilight’s feet.

Twilight tried to keep her composure, but the blue pony’s laugh was always infectious, and soon all three mares were enjoying a welcome fit of the giggles.

When it finally dissipated, Twilight tried to get them back to the task at hand.

“How about it Dash, what’s the news from Cloudsdale?”

Rainbow stood up, wiping her mouth and losing the smile that had been plastered there. “Not very good news, Twi. The city’s gone down a good half a meter in the last day. It seems like it’s speeding up.”

The weight of the un-answered question that was on every pony’s mind put a damper on the collective mood of the group. Even Pinkie looked downhearted at the prospect. None of them knew why this was happening, or how to stop it.

“The other members of the weather team have been doing all they can from above, but we’re sorta at a disadvantage. We can keep a cloud in the air, but it’s a lot tougher to pull a strato-cumulus mass as big as Cloudsdale up and keep it up just by wing power. My group’s probably been running themselves ragged faster than the unicorns have down here.”

“I sent a letter to the princess; I just hope that she’ll be able to figure something out.” She didn’t want to mention that she hadn’t actually heard from Celestia in a while, lest that add to her friends’ worries.

Pinkie had taken this lapse in good mood to clean herself up properly, and when she returned it was with a very thoughtful and un-Pinkie like expression.

“Twilight…this is a really weird thing to have happening, right?” she asked as she picked the foals up and placed them on her back for a ride.

That was an obvious question to be asking. “Uh, yeah, Pinkie,” she answered as Pinkie began to trot around the room, much to Pound’s and Pumpkin’s enjoyment.

“A really unexpected thing, something crazy?”

“Uh, Duh Pinkie Pie. What are you getting at?” Dash asked her, leaning against the counter with her front hooves crossed.

“Well, I don’t wanna put any blame on him – cause he did make that big promise and all – plus we put that spell on him so that he can’t mess with us, so I wouldn’t think he actually had anything to do with it, but he might know what we can co. You know?”

Twilight stared at her friend as she tried to board Pinkie’s train of though, which seemed to have left the station and was chugging up into the sky and doing loop-de-loops. Twilight was having a bit of difficulty in deciphering her meaning.

“Um, can you run that by me again, Pink?”

Pinkie gave a hop to jostle her little foal riders and then stopped for a moment in front of the unicorn.

“Isn’t it obvious? You should ask Discord.”

“Discord?” Twilight asked aloud, with a sort of blank stare that usually came when Twilight made a realization. Of course, that was a brilliant idea. She had no idea why she hadn’t thought of it sooner, but as her mind landed on the draconequus, a small pang of guilt began to gnaw at her.

With all of the craziness that was happening in her own back yard, Twilight had almost forgotten her other responsibilities to something – or rather some pony - just as crazy. She hadn’t paid a visit to Discord at all since this had begun happening, and she hoped that her neglecting that particular duty was not one of the reasons for Celestia’s and Luna’s silence.

Strangely enough – or perhaps not as strangely as it had been – she did feel bad for not visiting him, and especially for not sending word as to why that was. She would hope that he might have been paying attention to Ponyville and that her absence would be obvious…but the more Twilight thought about it, the more she wondered why it would be so obvious to him. Things that were obvious to normal ponies seemed to be completely alien to Discord.

She couldn’t help thinking that her silence might be leaving him feeling as put-out as the princesses’ silence was making her feel. She would have to make visiting Discord a priority.

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow brightened up; sounding almost like the problem had been solved already. “Good thinking, Pinkie. Of course with something this crazy and chaotic, Discord’s gotta be the one behind it.”

“I didn’t say that,” Pinkie stated. “I just think he might know what’s going on.”

“Rainbow, I don’t believe Discord is behind this. He wouldn’t be able to. At least, I don’t think so…” Twilight said, starting strong but losing the firmness as she began to contemplate the prospect. She was fairly certain that the restrictive spell they had put on him kept him from messing with any pony in a populated area, although she wasn’t sure if the actual area which was being populated was also as off-limits to his manipulation. If this was his doing, Discord may have found some kind of loophole.

But Twilight did not want to think that. She didn’t want to believe that he was just waiting around, searching for loopholes in his punishment. He had made a promise, and he was no longer able to affect ponies as he had once been able to… Twilight supposed this was yet another time when actually asking him what was going on instead of jumping to conclusions would be best. She did want to believe the best in a friend, after all.

Of course, she didn’t say anything about her suspicions – however small – to Rainbow Dash. Out of all of her friends, it was she and Applejack who seemed to retain their mistrust of Discord the most. They were going to be suspicious of him no matter what it seemed, and now with all of this happening, Twilight wondered what had taken the pegasus so long to immediately connect the sinking of her home town with the spirit of chaos.

“I’ll still ask him, in any case. We need all the help we can get.”

“Uh, I dunno if ‘help’ is exactly what we’ll get from him, even if he isn’t the one causing this,,” Rainbow added in a way that not-so-subtlety hinted that she retained her belief despite Twilight’s statement to the contrary.

Twilight didn’t want to argue about that right now, there was still so much to be done. Ignoring Dash’s comment and reminding herself of all the inspecting and checking in with her friends she had to do, the unicorn returned to her crisis-schedule-master mode.

“Have you been to check on Fluttershy yet today?” she asked her pegasus friend.

Rainbow shook her head, to which Twilight replied with authority, “Than you should most likely do that for now, I’ll go and see AJ and – if I can – see how the mayors are getting along with their negotiations.” She knew for a fact that the negotiations had been taking forever and the last time she had braved a check there were distinctly raised voices and something flew past her head.

At least they were doing a fair job in keeping things as organized as they could. Twilight felt sorry that she had not considered asking Discord sooner and allowing herself to get so swept up, but sadly she felt this was something unavoidable. So as she left her friends to find some other ways to feel useful in this predicament, she filed the ‘visiting Discord’ plan away for now, with hope she could get to it in time. Twilight might not have even needed to worry; perhaps he was reveling in this new alone-time.

~*~

Pop. Pop. Poppopopop.

The twenty or so cacti balloons that burst had begun to set off the rest in a chain reaction of exploding colorful noisiness. Such random and vaguely destructive happenings were usually something that Discord found entertaining, but today it could not hold his interest.

He had set them up and started them off like dominoes just to watch the outcome, but he had only done so out of boredom. He had been shifting from one of his holding places to another, though not entirely sure why. Perhaps he was merely searching for something to do, or see, or mess with. There had to be some way to have fun on his own that would keep him engaged.

The swamp really was not the most fragrant of places for Discord to have as a place to call his own, but that had been a quick fix. Discord had made a game out of it that proved to be entertaining. It was like a scent roulette, different smells drifted in and out through the swamp, so some pony may be pleased to find a spot that smelled of baking bread, or cotton candy, whereas other places would have that lovely muggy swampy smell, or possibly much worse. Though it was only entertaining during those rare times when any pony – or any sentient type being – ventured into the territory.

There was plenty of fauna to play with as Discord only knew how. It wasn’t hard at all to find some toads and teach them to play washboards and jugs and the spoons. The mouth organ was a bit beyond their skill level, but he was still able to construct a pretty good sounding band out of them.

Discord even found ways to make the sink holes lead to one another, like a secret chute going back and forth forever.

He watched his band swimming in the pickle juice part of the murky water for a while; evidently they had no will to practice. Discord supposed that was what he got for using amateurs. He eventually left after watching his second washboard player be eaten by a snake.

The badlands had been no more interesting. When it had been bestowed to him he had made the comparison between it and the desert he already had been given rights to. They were quite similar and Discord did not want to repeat himself in any way. There were minor differences between them, the landscape was rockier, and the soil grittier, but a few floating spires of rock and flying buttresses later it was starting to take on a whole other look.

A great deal of the rocky terrain had been replaced by a giant colorful ball pit. Discord took a swim through it, every now and then sending a ball or two flying up into the air and exploding in a shower of fireworks and confetti.

He eventually made it back around to the desert, and that was where he lay slumped and uncomfortable on a low-hanging cloud as he had flashed the cacti balloons into creation, and then began to pop every last one just so he could do it all over again.

Deciding to flash back to his home in the Everfree for what he only realized afterward was the fifth time that day; Discord began to search through the ancient ruins for something that he hadn’t really figured would be there. Some pony, rather. He checked the tally on the wall behind his ornate comfy chair, and added another hash mark. The unicorn hadn’t come to see him in nearly a fortnight. Why was that? Had she really finally gotten tired of him? Discord would not have thought that Twilight’s sense of duty would allow her to go this long without keeping up with her responsibilities even if she no longer wished to spend time with him.

It bothered him, and it bothered him as well how much this bothered him. Why should he care if she didn’t want to see him anymore? It should free him up for whatever he wanted to do without having to sit through all her nagging about trying to get the ponies of this world to understand or appreciate him or… something. It always seemed to boil down to him doing things to show them, and Discord continued to stand firm in his belief that they should already be appreciative if they weren’t already.

Without really thinking he had wandered through the massive, empty main hall, making his way to what had been deemed her chair. Made of books, naturally, though not the type he would have chosen.

Text books, history books, and philosophies that she had obviously chosen to maybe get him to read in his seemingly endless spare time. Like that was going to happen. He already had knowledge far beyond the texts, and the history books held almost no interest for him – they were written by biased order-loving ponies after all – and the philosophies… no doubt Twilight had picked those to help him find a new outlook on life. He didn’t see much use in that, what was wrong with his normal outlook?

He did notice a very large book seated awkwardly on the cushion, a thin layer of dust on the cover, looking quite of out place among the other tomes arranged so neatly into chair form.

This was his book, although Discord wasn’t certain whether he wanted to pick it up or not. If he left it there, he might be able to tempt her to sit for another reading.

He enjoyed performing little recitations for her, as it always seemed to both bother and entertain her. The only thing that seemed more fun to do than making Twilight uncomfortable was having her listen. When he read from his books aloud, she would always play the patient audience member, but there was a certain kind of thrill in being able to get her to shut up about ‘making changes’ to himself for a little while and hold her attention for so long.

She really did seem to enjoy them, even if Twilight had never actually told him so. He had caught her every now and then, looking almost completely enthralled by his storytelling prowess. Watching her flustered face try and avoid looking like she was having a good time had to be one of the highlights of her visits.

Discord had been smiling at the memory, and a sigh escaped him before he could reign it back in. Of course, there was no pony around to hear it anyway. He decided to pick up the book eventually, and wiped off the dust. Carrying it away from her chair and dropping it onto his long table with an echoing slam.

He sat in his big comfy throne for a while, just staring at it but not really looking at it. He must have been even more tired of this waiting than he originally thought.

Honestly, what was taking her so long? What could possibly be happening that was so important that she wouldn’t even send some sort of word? Discord wasn’t accustomed to having to wait for some pony. He’d done enough waiting while trapped in stone, thank you very much.

Discord was growing bored again, and that was probably one of his least favorite feelings. This frustration at her absence wasn’t a whole lot of fun either, though. Nothing seemed capable of keeping those particular thoughts at bay. It was almost as if he didn’t know how to have fun without her anymore.

A thought then struck him, something that he had hadn’t really considered because Discord knew it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t as if he could try actually going to her and seeing what was holding her up. He would be physically unable to, that restriction spell made sure of that. If merely going to the border on the outskirts of Ponyville had shocked him, Discord didn’t want to think about what it would do if he actually tried to go inside the town.

He pondered having to wait for Twilight for another two weeks, and his frustration only grew. There was also a hint of something else, something that made him wonder if it wasn’t just her being busy, or her losing interest in helping him that was preventing the unicorn from seeing him. There might be something wrong with her that was keeping her.

Discord tapped his claws rhythmically against the table for a long, long time. There was really no way of knowing without actually being able to see her for himself. That was out of the question though. She was well within the boundaries no doubt, probably holed-up in her library.

He rested his head on his paw, still drumming the tabletop with his other mismatched front limb. He wondered what would happen if he did attempt to flash into town…most likely more pain, but just how much? It was a dangerous thing to wonder about, because even though he did have a great liking to avoid pain, it was just the type of challenge that might make it interesting enough to even consider.

The draconequus winced at the prospect. It was either that or make another round to all his vast, empty places of residence, knowing that they would not be able to entertain him in such an intriguing way.

Discord didn’t think – for if he thought about it he might change his mind - he just…did it.

~*~

Spike sighed dejectedly as he lumbered back through town towards the giant tree of a library. He kicked a rock for a good seven blocks before it finally fell into a storm grate, he then grumbled about not even getting to kick it all the way home.

The young dragon supposed he understood why Rarity had sent him away. It had been fairly dull just sitting there beside her on that grassy hill, watching as she and the other unicorns focused their magic.

Oh Rarity, such a sweet, beautiful, and generous spirit. If being beside her to offer support could help her in any way, than Spike had wanted to provide that for her…she however seemed to think that he should ‘go off and play somewhere’.

He didn’t exactly like watching her suffer in silence, but Spike wanted to show Rarity that he was strong and tough beyond his years. He was the type of guy she could feel comfortable to cry or even rest her delicate white head on his shoulder if she grew tired from all the strain.

But no, what she appeared to see instead was what he had been trying to get her to look past: a small, meek, ‘baby’ dragon. It figured, in her mind Spike was a baby and should be off playing somewhere, and then to Twilight he was an assistant and should be off cleaning or something. True, things weren’t that bad with Twi, she was like a big sister, but Spike had to admit that she could get pretty scary about her schedule sometimes.

With all that was going on, Twilight had been leaning on her number one assistant more and more for the cleaning, schedule-checking, and most of the duties of the librarian that she had unfortunately been neglecting.

Spike didn’t really mind usually, he knew Twilight was in several different places at once where her mind was concerned, and if Rarity wasn’t too tired after her shift on the outskirts of town, maybe Spike could pay her a visit.

He entered the library and wiped his feet, looking around but not expecting to see his purple unicorn roommate. As he assumed, no pony was in sight, but a lot of books and loose pages were scattered about haphazardly. Spike wasn’t sure if this was a mess, or if Twilight had left it that way on purpose, but just to be sure he decided to leave the clutter alone for now.

He made his way through the main area of the library and began to climb the stairs. There was one area of the house that he knew required attention; Twilight’s bedroom. The mare had been continually forgetting to make her bed, and the half-eaten breakfast she had made herself still sat at the foot, though it was well past lunch time.

With an amused shake of his head, Spike began to tidy up for his friend, humming a little tune as he descended the stairs and backed himself into the kitchen with his claws full.

It was just as he was placing the dirty dishes in the sink that he heard a collection of very strange sounds all at once. First there was a pop, then a crackle, then a whooshing and finally a scream of pain.

Spike rushed through the door towards the sound, expecting to see something magicy going on – because apart from the screaming those were some very magicy sounds – and the screaming was soon joined by a sizzling, zapping, almost-electrical noise.

The dragon leapt over a chair as the screaming grew louder, and as he landed on it he could properly see what was making the noise.

Something was lying on the floor of the library. Well, not so much lying as twitching, seizing, and gasping for air as it writhed in apparently horrific pain…a very large something…something large and with various different miss-matched body parts…

It took only a few seconds for Spike to register what was happening, and then a few more to realize who this was that was having his nerve endings fried on the floor before him. By the time he had realized it however, the large and pitiful creature flashed away as swiftly as he had arrived.

It couldn’t have been more than ten seconds in all, but it was truly something to behold, and something that Spike didn’t think he’d have trouble forgetting in a hurry.

Once he had flashed away – and Spike’s brain started working again – his mind reeled with questions. Specifically: what in the world was Discord thinking? He must have known that something like that would happen if he tried to teleport into Ponyville. The whole restriction spell thing that Twilight and the others had placed on him was supposed to shock him if he came too close to the outskirts of a populated area… and if that was the case than why in Equestria would he try flashing directly into the center of a town full of ponies?

It left Spike wary, for he was about as reluctant to trust the spirit of chaos as the next pony, but he knew that Twilight not only trusted him, but was trying to help him. She had befriended him in a sense. A part of him knew that he should tell Twilight immediately about this. Discord was – in a sense – her responsibility.

Then again, Twilight had so much on her plate right now, and from his knowledge of Discord this seemed like an uncharacteristically dumb move for him

He might have been content with just telling the unicorn upon her return, if it hadn’t been for his appearance a second time.

If Discord’s first attempt to flash into the library tree had surprised Spike, this re-appearance all but dumbfounded the dragon. He hadn’t expected Discord to do such a stupid thing as that even once; he never would have imagined that Discord would try it again.

Yet as he was attempting to calm himself and turning away from where he had watched the draconequus writhe, Spike could only take a few steps towards the kitchen before there was another loud flash, pop, and scream.

Once more Discord seemed to sizzle with pain and once more did he teleport away as quickly as he had come.

After this literally shocking new development, Spike could only stand frozen in place and ponder its meaning. When some pony does something that stupid, he usually would learn to avoid doing it again. Spike could think of very few reasons for Discord to have been so impatient – or possibly so anxious – to reach his liaison. He certainly knew the only way he’d be caught going through something as awful as what he’d just witnessed… and that was only if some pony he cared about were in trouble.

But of course, that wasn’t possible from what Spike knew about Discord, and why should he assume that it was Twilight that he had been trying to contact? Who knows what he might have been trying to do?

His actions caught the young dragon’s suspicions. He had been wondering what types of things the draconequus got up to when he and Twilight had their little meetings for a while now, and this could be his opportunity. If the guy was trying to come see her, that was one thing…but with the whole Cloudsdale danger literally looming overhead, Spike couldn’t help but be concerned for both his friend and for Ponyville.

He began to think that he might have to pay Discord a visit himself, to set things straight, and to see just what his deal was. He decided to wait at least until Twilight returned. For all he knew the unicorn might have been on her way to meet with him at that very moment. If she were able to tear herself away from handling the more current troubles of the town.

2. You'll Find the Right Way to Cherish in Dreams

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Spike had been partially right. Twilight had meant to leave that afternoon to try and find Discord, and she had intended to make a trek into the forest and see what he had gotten into in her absence (most likely no good). Of course, Twilight meant to do a lot of things lately, but her typical schedule had been thrown quite out of sync. Every day since the discovery of the Cloudsdale crisis Twilight had spent organizing her fellow unicorns, and every night was spent pouring over nearly every book in the library as she tried to seek some sort of more permanent solution. The purple pony had hardly any time for sleep, or to even try to form a normal-looking schedule for that matter.

Her intentions, however, seemed to be misplaced along with her typical sleeping habits. As the day wore on and it became later and later, Twilight felt another pang of guilt every time her eyes landed on the forest, and her mind went straight to the being possibly waiting for her inside.

The day then turned to night, and then it was too late to go. True, she had gone to see him late at night once before, but it wasn’t as if that had been intentional… Plus it had been daylight when she had begun her search. The combination of her persistent conscience and the lack of useful information in the sea of books around her caused Twilight too much frustration to get any really good sleep.

As night began to turn into another day, Twilight began to consider that she might require a trip to the Canterlot Library for more research. It was a much, much bigger sea to peruse there, and if she didn’t hear from the princesses soon, that would be her best shot.

She felt a mixture of gratefulness and annoyance therefore when she felt like she had just begun a satisfying REM cycle, then suddenly the trumpets sounded. The sun had risen, and those trumpets could only mean that some pony important had arrived in Ponyville.

Twilight fumbled out of bed, quickly trying to rub the traces of that insignificant amount of sleep from her eyes and barreling down the stairs and out the library door, mane uncombed, teeth unbrushed.

The small town square wasn’t that far from her tree house home, and since dawn had only just broken, not very many ponies were out and about, with the exception of the nearly twenty unicorns still stationed on the edges of the town… and now the much larger grouping of uniformed members of the Canterlot Royal Guard.

It was a good thing that nearly every pony was still in their homes sleeping because the square was nearly filled with pony soldiers, all standing in formation. It was clear at a glance that neither alicorn princess had accompanied these ponies from the lack of a chariot or some other form of transport.

As if they had been waiting for her – which they might actually have been – the nearly forty stallions (and possibly a few mares in there) stood straighter at attention, making one long space to let some pony through.

Twilight’s sleepy mind was still trying to get its gears working or she may have figured who they might be making way for. If it wasn’t the princesses bringing this faction of the guard along, it had to be some pony else of great importance to Canterlot.

Even in her waking state, her heart leapt to see him. The multi-shaded blue mane and tail stood out as it always did against his white fur, still sporting unshorn fetlocks and a smile that – she was embarrassed to know – had made all the school fillies swoon. Twilight smiled broadly as he reached her, the stallion looking much more official and important than she did at the moment.

“Shiny!” she greeted her big brother best friend forever with a sudden hop, in really the most informal way to have greeted the captain of the royal guard, but Shining Armor didn’t seem to care. In fact he held a hoof out to wrap her in a hug, which she had to pull away from as he attempted to give her an affectionate noogie.

“There you are, Twily,” he said after finally letting her go. “It’s great to see you.”

“Great to see you too,” she echoed. This of course reminded them both about why they were there, for it wasn’t exactly hard to notice. All they really needed for a reminder was to look up.

“I’d ask how things are, but I already know,” Shining Armor said, the warmth slowly seeping out of his voice as the seriousness of the situation found its way in. “Is it true that you still don’t know what’s causing it?”

“Yes, and I’m getting desperate,” Twilight answered. “We can’t keep going like this, Shiny. The pegasi’s attempts at pulling the city back up have been less than fruitless, and our local unicorns are running themselves ragged trying to help.”

“More so than you, you mean?” Shining inquired, and Twilight caught that hint of a tease there.

“Shiny, I have to run myself ragged, I’m allowed to. It’s my duty to help, and who else could organize everything so quickly and be made to run so smoothly?”

“It isn’t as though you’re doing this all alone, Twily,” Shining said. “Your friends are part of the Elements too, surely they can help you.”

“And they have been. Rainbow’s been keeping us informed about what’s going on up there, Fluttershy’s been directing all the birds’ flight traffic away from both towns’ airspace, Applejack and Pinkie have been keeping morale up with food at no charge, and of course, Pinkie’s also been trying to keep every pony smiling even through all of this. Then there’s Rarity and I, we’ve been taking shifts along with all the other unicorns to use the one spell I know can provide at least a temporary solution. Though it’s not a very good one.”

Shining listened to her as she went through all that had been happening, and when she was finished evidently decided to breech one of the more obvious questions.

“What about the Elements themselves? Have you tried to use them? Maybe they could fix all this.”

A bit of the impatience Twilight had been having with nearly everything lately seemed to slip out at her brother’s question. “Don’t you think that was our first thought too? That was the first thing we tried, but evidently the Elements just aren’t meant to work that way. From what I can gleam they are made to work on an individual or a whole group of ponies, and even reverse things done to the landscape when an outward force causes a great imbalance… but this is apparently something different.”

His questioning glance seemed to coax her on. “The Elements are meant to restore balance, and for some reason this does not count as something that throws off the balance, because they haven’t been able to be of use. So far it’s only been a combination of the magic provided by the unicorns and the strength by the pegasi that has been able to slow Cloudsdale’s progress.”

Shining nodded sternly, and then he placed a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight didn’t meet his gaze at first, thinking back to the feelings of uselessness they had all felt when they discovered that the Elements – the go-to power source for all things supremely powerfully hard to fix – could not perform the task.

“Hey, don’t worry. We’re here now to help you all. The princesses sent me and enough unicorns and pegasi to fill in for your lot.”

Twilight perked up, “They got my letter?” she asked meekly. It was obvious since they were here that of course they did, but in all honesty Twilight hadn’t been too hopeful that they would respond.

“Of course they did. They send their regrets that they couldn’t aid you themselves, but they thought you might consider me and the rest of the guard here the next best thing,” he gave her a wink that brought her smile back, if only a little smaller.

“Just tell us what to do, and I’ll direct my ponies however you see fit,” Shining said.

Twilight nodded, some newfound hope filling the wind in her sails of determination. “Well, firstly if you could take up for the unicorns and the pegasi that are currently at their posts, and then we can figure out a new schedule that will rotate every pony. That is, if you don’t think your group will get too tired.”

Shining scoffed good naturedly. “Pfft, are you kidding? These guys have trained for far more treacherous conditions, they’ll be fine.”

“Great,” Twilight said. She knew that her brother was doing his duty, and that the princesses had sent him, and that every pony that had been sent was going to be doing their part, but at that moment she felt so grateful to him specifically. It was almost like he was coming to her rescue.

“Thanks, Shiny.”

It wasn’t a permanent solution – and it couldn’t keep Cloudsdale from continuing to slowly fall – but it was certainly going to be a great help and load off of the shoulders of the residents of both towns.

Shining gave the signal to the other members of the guard; he spoke to the unicorn nearest to him. “You heard the mare; we’ve got some dead-tired civilians to take over for. All the pegasi should head up to Cloudsdale with Lieutenant Flyer Fry. The unicorns can set up at the parameter that Twilight’s already arranged.”

One of the pegasi to Shining’s left gave a call for the others to follow, taking off in an orange blur that the other winged ponies could barely keep up with.

Shining Armor turned back to his sister as the winged portion of his group flew off.

“I’m going to need you to show me that spell you’ve all been using to teach it to every pony. We’ve also brought along a few earth ponies, but they weren’t sure what they could do.”

Twilight thought. “They can help the Apples. Applejack and her family have been gathering as much of their crops as they could spare to save in the event of an evacuation, and if any of them are medically trained, we are in need of some help there too. All of this had been such a strain on every pony, so many ponies have been pushing themselves to their limits… exhaustion is practically an epidemic at this point.”

With the rest of the faction heading out to do their part, Shining and the other unicorns crowded around Twilight as she showed them how to perform the magic that was pushing the city of clouds upwards.

It wasn’t the most difficult spell, but it required much concentration, and many ponies to all convene as one in order for it to have the desired amount of strength. When the spell was in effect, a pattern of small golden beams of light began to emanate from the horn of the caster. As they flew up towards their target they became invisible to the naked pony eye, but once a steady stream of beams could be seen coming from each horn Twilight figured they had it down.

A dozen of the uniformed ponies left their captain and his sister to relieve the ponies that had been up all night performing the spell, while the rest went off to aid any pony else they could. This left the siblings nearly alone in the square.

“We can have your group take a shift, and during that time I can find a way to make a new schedule for all of this,” Twilight said wearily. Now that the surprise of their arrival had subsided, Twilight was beginning to feel the extreme lack of a good night’s rest she had been suffering from.

Shining smiled again, and spoke with a soft tone of concern… yet with trepidation
“Why don’t you let me take care of the scheduling, Twily?”

Twilight had enough energy to look offended at her older brother. This had evidently been why he had been so careful about making this offer, he knew her enough to try not to make it sound like an insult.

“But Shiny, this is what I can do – the only thing I feel like I can do right now – if I don’t make the schedule, how will we know if it’s the best it can be?”

“Sis, you aren’t the only one who knows how to organize,” Shining said, still trying to be gentle about it. “I want to do this for you. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sent us to help you. When I say ‘you’ I do mean all of Ponyville and Cloudsdale… but I also mean you specifically, you and the other Elements. Let me do this for you, ok? There has to be a few things in that schedule of yours that have gotten sidelined during all this chaos.”

Twilight gave an involuntary chuckle, mostly to herself. Chaos…right, funny you should mention that, Shiny. True, there were a few other things that Twilight had been putting off, but going to see Discord was a fairly big one.

“Well, there are a few things that could use my attention,” she allowed.

“Like sleep?” he asked knowingly.

Twilight yawned in spite of herself. Sleep? She couldn’t possibly even if Shining Armor was giving her this opportunity to catch up on things. There were more important things than that she was sure.

“No, I couldn’t possibly, it’s barely morning, and I have things to do.”

The stallion shook his head and began to nudge her towards her home. “Nuh-uh, I am putting my hoof down, little sister. Whatever it is can wait until later today when you’ve had at least eight hours of sleep.” His good-natured command made her smile, but she still resisted his directive gesturing.

It took much prodding, coaxing, and a little bribing, but Shining was able to get Twilight back to her library tree home and up the stairs to her bed. He did not let her stop for any research material, no matter how much she assured him that she would need them and could just ‘rest on the bed with them. That’s good enough.’

So, against her will, Twilight lay back down for more sleep. As her mind began to drift off, she tried to get all the problems out of her head, and try not to focus on what she would need to do after this forced napping was over. Her mind brought Discord back to the surface. She knew she needed to speak with him about all of this, even if she didn’t think he was involved. She would also have to apologize for her absence.

Her sleepy mind half-wondered what he was doing. The thought of him adding some more ‘touches’ to his home, or finding new types of funny things to do to the non-speech capable fauna that he could still mess with somehow calmed her. Maybe it was the thought that he was out there now thanks to her. She was glad for him in that regard and that helped her feel a bit more content, and helped her finally let her conscious mind take a breather.

She still hoped he wasn’t too lonely out there.

Shining stood at her bedside for a little while, mostly to make sure she was actually going to sleep. He had left for a moment, but he couldn’t have been gone for more than a minute. When he returned her lights were very much out. He hoped she would be able to get more frequent rest now, with at least a small portion of the stress this situation was causing every pony lifted. Before he departed he could see her smile in her sleep, and he wondered what she might be thinking, or dreaming about. He smiled too, and then left her to her dreams.

This was one of those times when Spike wished that he was the type of dragon that had wings, or… that if he was that type of dragon, that they’d just hurry up and grow in already. A new day had dawned and it still seemed that Twilight had not gone to see Discord, in fact when he woke up it was to find her brother Shining Armor tucking her in for a nap that they both agreed was completely overdue for her.

So Spike took this opportunity to do what he had been thinking about since the draconequus appeared so suddenly the previous day.

It seemed the deeper he got into the Everfree Forest, the harder it became to avoid the ever-growing patches of Poison Joke that he knew would cause problems should his scales make contact with the blossoms.

As he did a kind of hopping jig to keep from walking on them, he wondered how Twilight managed to come and visit Discord with this mine field of crazy plant life all around. He supposed she might have found another route after traveling back and forth so much, or maybe she had had the good sense to wear some sort of boots to protect her vulnerable pony hide. Or – and this was a distinct possibility in Spike’s opinion – Discord had merely increased the amount of Poison Joke plants just for his arrival.

He sure hoped that since he had gone through this trouble that the spirit of chaos would actually be in this location. It would be just his luck that Discord would - after going through that endeavor in the library - that he’d go off somewhere farther away to lick his wounds.

Spike had a hunch though that he wouldn’t be far. It was a sneaking suspicion – and it weirded him out a little to think about it – but Discord’s appearance in front of him the other day – ending with a grand total of three tries, each one more painful to watch than the last – had given Spike something new to wonder about him. He wasn’t sure how much to believe, or if he even wanted to believe it… but as he continued to dance through the undergrowth and carefully avoid the strange blue flowers it continued to bug him… it was the why that was so bothersome.

The small purple dragon finally found a clearing in the depths of the forest where there was not a sign of the blue poison joke plant, and he rested his tired feet with a sigh of relief. It wasn’t much longer until he found the spirit of chaos himself.

Spike had never actually talked to Discord directly, so he wasn’t entirely sure how this would play out, but he did have a good amount of hearsay from Twilight and the others to assume that dealing with Discord would probably not be very straight-forward.

The castle was dark inside, and Spike strained his ears to possibly hear any pony approaching. He still nearly jumped when Discord finally made his presence known, leaning on a column on the far end of a giant room, a torch suddenly ablaze behind him.

“Well well, look who finally decided to pay me a visit. You know you cou-“ Discord seemed to be perfectly at ease as Spike approached, the very picture of cool and collected as he seemed to know exactly who he was talking to without so much as a glance. When the presumptuous creature finally did open his eyes to see not a pony but a dragon before him, his words were cut off and the confident smirk vanished.

Spike seemed to have caught him by surprise, which Discord was quickly attempting to adjust to, though he could tell he’d thrown the draconequus off his usual game.

“Oh, so she sent you. I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure, but I have heard much about you Mister Number-One Assistant,” he adapted almost seamlessly, but Spike thought he had caught Discord in something that he could not take back, and with that any fear that had bubbled up inside of him at seeing Discord faded away.

“Not who you were expecting, huh? And no, she didn’t send me. I came on my own.”

The dragon‘s lack of fear did not seem to affect him. Discord remained where he was, barely acknowledging Spike in posture. In voice however, it was clear that he was indeed not the creature Discord wanted to see.

“So has she finally grown tired of all our fun and shuffled the burden of entertaining and keeping tabs on me to you?”

“You know that’s not like her,” Spike answered.
“You’ve been spending enough time with Twilight to know that that’s something she would never do. She wouldn’t just stop her duties without warning.”

He saw Discord roll his eyes at the mention of ‘duties’.

“…and she wouldn’t just give up on some pony she considered a friend either, no matter how much trouble every pony else finds him,” he added. “I’m sure she feels really guilty about missing her appointments with you. She’s not going crazy like it’s a deadline for the princess or anything, but I’m sure she feels terrible.”

“Well, if she feels so terrible, then why hasn’t she shown up yet? It’s been at least two weeks,” he complained.

“Maybe because the whole of Twilight’s world doesn't revolve around you and neither does the rest of the world. There’s kinda been a minor crisis lately in our town if you haven’t noticed.”

“Of course I haven’t,” Discord answered impatiently.

“Of course you haven’t,” Spike repeated, not sure why he should be surprised.

“Look, you can play the offensive all you want, but I don’t think this is completely about you being offended by her absence.”

“What are you getting at?” Discord asked, but in a way that only barely hinted at an interest.

“You’re acting like she offended you by being gone so long, leaving you bored. I’m just saying that I don’t buy that as the whole reason for you to be so annoyed with her. If you were just bored you could have found something else to do around here.”

Discord glanced back at him, for once not fiddling with his claws, but looking at him with some interest.

“I know you get bored pretty fast, but I also hear that you get lonely.”

“Pfft,” Discord made a sound of dismissal. “Where did you hear that?”

“From Twilight,” Spike answered. That got Discord’s full attention, and since he had it Spike decided to tack on to his sentence. “I’m thinking that ’s why you tried to zap in to the library.”

Discord’s blank stare made Spike’s smile broaden, so he might have been right after all.

“Yeah, I saw you; all three times you tried it. That looked like it must have hurt.”

Discord gave a small shudder at the memory. “You have no idea,” he replied automatically, but then catching himself he added quickly. “Wait, you saw me?”

This time Spike grew a smirk that would have mirrored the draconequus’s own quite well were he still sporting one. “Yeah, I did. Don’t worry; I was the only one around if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Is that why you came?”

“Yeah, I wanted to know why you would do that,” that was his main purpose for being there, but Spike wasn’t sure he wanted to voice the slight suspicions he had been formulating on throughout his forest trip.

“I mean, the first thing I could come up with was that you might have - I dunno - missed Twilight or something.”

The look Discord gave him then clearly told him to skip that particular hypothesis. It didn’t do much to curb his suspicions, but he let it slide for now.

“Ok…but you should know that she cares about you. Why else would she be so adamant about helping you out like this?”

“You mentioned it already, it’s her duty.”

“More like her loyalty…and generosity, and kindness,” Spike began to tick off the various elements with his claws, but Discord tried to cut him off with another roll of his eyes, but to no avail.

“That’s what she does, and that’s what most ponies do. They’re always trying to find ways to keep harmony.”

“You mean keep order,” Discord said. “They so often tend to say ‘harmony’ when they mean the other thing, that which is my opposite. What do you know about the nature of ponies, anyway?”

Spike took offense to that. “I live with them every day, I know a whole lot more than you with your however-long-it’s-been of you watching and messing with them.”

“Lovely to meet yet another creature who thinks he knows everything,” Discord now sounded like he was humoring the young dragon, although Spike thought that was sort of funny considering what he‘d heard of his friends‘ past dealings with the spirit of Chaos.

“Are you sure Twilight didn’t send you, this is sounding an awful lot like one of her little speeches.”

“Then why don’t you listen to her?” Spike asked, thought not really expecting an answer. “You’re supposed to be learning from her about what really makes ponies so great - because they are - Look, I may not know much but I know about ponies. If you wanna be around them so bad you’d probably have to look at things more from their perspective.”

“Who's to say I do?”

“I think you do, or… did,” Spike said. “When you tried to visit Twilight. You at least wanna be around her, and that’s a start.” In a way this was for the unicorn’s benefit, but Spike couldn’t help but feel a bit more for this being after seeing that display in the library.

“Uh huh, So why does it matter to you what my motives might have been for experimenting with the restriction spell that was placed on me?” he asked in a way that implied that had been his goal all along.

“Because, well…I guess I sorta agree with Twilight. I guess I’m starting to anyway. If you knew more about them - maybe cared about them a little - I don’t think they’d be as against you.”

“I’ll… bear that in mind,” Discord said slowly. He seemed to find Spike and his words a combination of amusing and well below his usual notice. Spike did take note that he was being fairly quick to brush off his comments as something unimportant. Well, what did he know, right? He was just a baby dragon; it wasn’t like he paid attention or could recognize things anyway.

“Well, thanks for stopping by with that little pearl of wisdom. If you could just send Twilight along soon that would be lovely.”

“Actually, she might be on her way soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s on her way right now,” the dragon said. It was true that – once she realized how long it’d been – Spike knew that she’d make visiting him a priority. He couldn’t say for certain it would be today, but it was most likely soon.

Even though he felt what he had to say was important, Spike acknowledged that Discord was not going to take him seriously, not in the mood he was in right now. Maybe that was his fault for springing this on him, but he didn’t really see the big deal.

“It’s cool that you wanted to check on her, but next time you know… don’t pick a way of doing it that’ll cause you to twitch and flail all over the floor. Twilight would flip if she knew, not that I’ll tell her.”

Discord though, seemed to have had enough of the young dragon and, before he could say any more, Spike saw a flash of light before his eyes. Once it had cleared, he found him no longer standing before the draconequus. He was back at the edge of the forest, most likely exactly where the border lay keeping him out of Ponyville.

Spike got the not-so-subtle hint. Some pony wasn’t ready to talk about that stuff. Looking back, Spike didn’t think he would really want to be the one to listen if Discord had anyway… but he still felt as though he did the right thing. He may not be very intimidating, but Spike thought he had managed to say something to possibly get that weird mind of Discord’s to understand. That was a big maybe though.

That rest was helpful, even if Twilight still figured it wasn't very practical. Thanks to Shiny she had slept half the day away. Sure, she felt more rested, but she knew that it would probably take more than one long nap to fully catch up on the sleep she had missed. Twilight could sleep all she wanted after she found something to fix everything.

Things were a bit better in town when she exited her home. As ‘better’ as they could be anyway. Everything seemed to be running more smoothly with the Guard there. Even things that had really no relevance to the protection of the respective towns – like the market – were running with accuracy and efficiency. It appeared that every pony was on their best behavior for these important Canterlot visitors.

The enormously encroaching city of clouds still loomed above, and for a moment the slight cheeriness Twilight had felt at getting some good rest was interrupted. It must have dropped some more while she was sleeping. Perhaps that was during the last shift change when the guard arrived. The purple pony hoped that the lost distance could be made up somehow or at least that the guard could manage to keep the city at that distance for a while.

She would need to find her brother again to ‘thank’ him in any case. She was only really half annoyed that he would make her get some sleep. That was the elder brotherly thing to do, but the weight of what was at stake loomed overhead as clearly in Twilight’s mind as Cloudsdale.

Checking in with her friends would have to be made a priority as well, and with the guard here she might not have to inspect the unicorns around the parameter if she didn’t want to…but she still sort of did.

She could probably do with some more research, though it was looking like that trip to the Canterlot Library was more necessary than she originally thought. It might also be more doable now. Although that would mean more days spent away from home.

Making her way south through the town, Twilight headed down the dirt road and out of the town proper, towards the cottage that lay nestled close to the edge of the forest.

She wasn’t sure her friend would be home, but if Fluttershy was not already seeing to her aviary air traffic controlling, than the pegasus would be seeing to the needs of all of the little fuzzy animals that lived with her in the tiny house.

As Twilight approached the tiny thatched roof structure, she thought she could hear the melodious tones of her friend’s warbling soprano voice. Fluttershy was most definitely inside. She knocked on the door but was not greeted with an answer.

Twilight hoped she wasn't intruding as she pushed the door open and entered the small entryway. The various chipmunks, squirrels, bunnies, birds, badgers, ducks, geese, mice, voles, and other fauna all crowded around a massive mountain of bowls, all being filled with the animals favorite treats by the butter yellow mare fluttering above them, humming a sweet tune as she went about her daily chore.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight called, though not too loudly. She knew how Fluttershy was about being startled. This interrupted the pony’s singing, she turned and smiled warmly at her friend, though halting from pouring the bird seed as the animals protested at having to wait.

“Oh, hello Twilight,” she said as she landed, coming back to her task from the ground. “I didn’t hear you come in, I’m sorry. I’m running a tiny bit late today, and I almost forgot to come home to feed all of my animal friends, but I promise I’ll get right back up to Cloudsdale as soon as I can.”

Twilight had to smile at her friend’s meek apology. “It’s alright Fluttershy; I’m running a bit behind schedule too. Don’t worry about it. You just finish up here and return to the sky when you can, ok?”

“I did get Ditzy Doo to cover for me,” she said. “I don’t want you to think that I left my post without a substitute.”

“That was very responsible,” Twilight answered, hoping that this praise would ease the pegasus’ worries. Thinking that she might be able to spare some time for her pink maned friend, Twilight asked, “I don’t suppose you could use any help?”

“Oh my, that would be nice. Thank you, Twilight,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight then grabbed another bag of bird seed and aided the other pony in continuing to feed the growing mass of various fauna.

The more the time went on however, and the more scoops of seed she poured, Twilight couldn’t help feeling that she was stalling from certain other things she needed to do.

She had a hunch what it might be that she was trying to avoid. But then, why was she avoiding it? Discord may be a hassle at times, but he wasn’t all bad. There were times when their visits could be quite entertaining, actually, almost fun.

Was it the actual duty that she was avoiding, or Discord himself? Twilight supposed she just didn’t want to feel like she was letting him down. What could he learn from that?

It was weighing heavier on her mind as the day wore on and the longer she put it off. Twilight also wanted to put Pinkie’s idea into practice and ask Discord about any of this, and possibly for help if he could.

She placed the bag of seed back down and it was immediately engulfed by animals. Fluttershy swooped in to try and save the bag, for she knew their eyes were always bigger than their stomachs and would empty it while leaving nothing for the next day.

As the last of the creatures finished eating and all lay about resting their full bellies, Twilight and Fluttershy were about to set back off to their respective tasks. The unicorn would need to make up for this stalling; she had lost even more time than when she had had her nap.

They did not know that – coming in from above – some pony else was flying in to join them, and possibly to hurry some pony else up.

“Oh, come on, Fluttershy!’ Rainbow Dash called down to the yellow pegasus as she reached them. “I know you have to take that break to feed your pets, but Ditzy Doo has been letting about half the birds by. We’ve come close to getting knocked over like a dozen times.”

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy quietly said as she lifted her own wings and took flight to join her friend in the sky, though much more slowly than Rainbow. “And um, it’s not Ditzy’s fault, she has that eye problem…”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, but that’s beside the point. We’ve gotta get you back up to help us or we’ll have a major traffic jam up there.” The blue pony finally took notice of Twilight where she had been standing next to the place Fluttershy had taken off.

“Oh hey Twi. I haven’t seen you around today. Your brother told us you were taking a breather so I didn’t really expect you.”

“I couldn’t really keep myself away for long,” she answered. “I don’t feel like I’m helping if I’m not out doing things.”

“I hear ya there,” Dash agreed. “Sometimes it feels like we’re the only thing standing between my old town and my new town having the most destructive hug ever.”

Twilight didn’t want to mention that they most likely were. She wanted to be optimistic.

“How’s the weather team doing?” she asked instead.

Rainbow frowned and crossed her forearms at the question. “They’re… hanging in there. Most of us are trying to stay out of the factory right now. Only the senior staff and any pony that absolutely has to be in the building are there.”

She lowered herself down to Twilight’s face and cupped her hoof over Twilight’s ear. “I don’t wanna tell Fluttershy about this, or really most ponies. Cause I know she’ll flip out and I don’t want to worry her,” she whispered. “But I think you should know. The truth is… if we don’t get Cloudsdale back where it was soon we could have a much bigger problem than we realized.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in realization as she caught on, no longer following Fluttershy’s progress into the air and back to her post.

“You’re right,” she whispered back. “The factory, it’s essential to the weather production for all of Equestria… if the town is evacuated, what will become of the weather?”

Rainbow gave a pained look back upwards as she backed up a bit, her wings beating slowly now. “I don’t know. I mean most of us will still be able to keep things moving meteorologically speaking, but that factory is our main hub. It would make things a lot harder for us.”

Twilight should have seen it sooner, but the more immediate problems concerning their very huge town-sized problem had taken all of the focus away from things that might be affected down the line. She tried to pretend though that this was not yet another thing to add to her ever-growing list of things to be stressed about.

“That’s all the more reason for us to keep trying,” the purple pony said with an assuredness that she did not feel, but hoped shone through anyway. If she sounded confident, than Twilight hoped that might aid her friend in keeping up her own confidence.

Rainbow stayed close for a moment, hovering close to her friend before evidently rallying herself enough to give Twilight a nod of solidarity. If her words had not actually convinced the pegasus, at least Rainbow was just as willing to pretend they had worked as she was.

With this new piece of information, Twilight was wondering now just what other unforeseen disasters might be waiting in the wings to break off and multiply from this one crisis.

Yet again having to put off Discord, she decided to make a check on the parameter anyway, and then go and look in on Applejack. She didn’t want any more surprises.

`-`-`-`-`-`-`-`

3. Longing For the Logical, but He's Only Happy Hysterical

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Sweet Apple Acres was the busiest Twilight had ever seen it, and the most well-attended to since the previous Applebuck Season when AJ had needed help harvesting the crops after Big Mac hurt himself.

The earth pony members of the guard that had come along with Shining Armor – as well as several earth pony residents of their town – were all busy at work tending to the various crops of corn, wheat, grass, and, of course, apples that the Apple family grew to sell in Ponyville.

The unicorn searched for the cowboy hat-adorned Element of Honesty, but traveling from field to field could not find hide nor hoof of her. She did see Big Macintosh with several of the earth pony stallions pulling carts full of food to keep in their cellar, and Apple Bloom and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders whizzing by on Scootaloo’s scooter, but no sign of Applejack.

When she finally reached the Apple family house, Twilight could see even more earth ponies going in and out of the barn with food, and a long assembly line of mares performing the various stages of pickling and preserving foods.

Granny Smith was overseeing the group of ponies as they busily did their work, all humming a dreary but catchy work song to help pass the time.

“Make sure ya git them thar jars in line!” Granny Smith scolded the pony at the start of the line surrounded by jars. “Them thare need a firm hoof when dealin’ with them.”

The pony yelped and nodded, which Granny Smith seemed satisfied with and continued down the line.

Checking inside the barn, she finally found Applejack in the midsts of arranging the various dry goods so they would have maximum floor space used. Twilight had taught her well.

“AJ,” she called to the work pony, who turned to her while still checking over the piles of bundled wheat that separated them.

The orange pony smiled to her friend once she was finished inspecting. “Hey there Twi, sorry about my preoccupation, I’m a might busy as ya can see.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Twilight answered as she recognized the similarities in her own all-business demeanor. “I just wanted to check in on you to see how things are going.”

“We’re harvesting and preserving as fast as we can,” AJ said. “But we’re not sure if we’ll be able ta have enough to save iffin there’s a real evacuation of both towns.”

“I’m really hoping that it will not come to that,” Twilight said. “But I’m glad you are being so thorough in your preparations, just in case.”

“No problem, Twi. Whatever me and my kin can do for this town we wanna do it. Our family helped found Ponyville after all.”

Twilight tried not to let the growing worry about what Rainbow Dash said show on her face here as she thought back on it. She knew that she had just moved here, but between meeting her very best friends and all the wonderful ponies who welcomed her, not to mention having her job as the Ponyville librarian, Twilight truly felt like this was her home.

The fact that most of her friends not only lived here, but had been born in these towns was not lost on her either. As worried as Twilight was, she knew that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity were even more concerned about their hometowns.

That was just one of the reasons why she felt so adamant on being there for all of them, and being the one to organize it all.

AJ seemed to be doing a great job keeping things organized on her family’s farm, and it really did seem like Shiny was keeping his promise to keep things running smoothly with the magic shifts.

After she left Applejack she took another walk around the parameter and saw a mixture of Ponyville and Royal Guard unicorns all around the border, horns aglow and looking in far better condition than she had seen them just a day ago.

She was assured that Ponyville would be fine, at least for the moment. After deciding that she shouldn’t put it off any longer, the unicorn made her way for the Everfree forest. She could only hope that her visit with Discord wouldn’t add any more to her long list of worries.

It was an almost familiar site now for Twilight, the refurbished ruins of the old alicorn castle, hidden deep in the forest outside of Ponyville. The added touches to the décor had all been Discord’s doing, he had made efforts to make himself more at home in the parts of Equestria he occupied.

If only he would put that same effort into learning about how pony relationships worked, the unicorn thought as she entered the fun house castle. Or even to try and change his image so the pony folk might actually understand what he does for them. She sighed with frustration. It was something they had been going ‘round about for a while now. They would have to get back to it sooner or later, but today there were more pressing matters.

Discord didn’t seem to be doing anything important. Like the other times she would enter, he acknowledged her as if he knew she was coming. Although in the past he had known, and had been expecting her. This was the first time in a while that she had come without warning.

“Oh my, look who finally decided to pay me a visit. You know, dropping me a line might have been a good idea. I was starting to think you’d given up on our little visits.”

Twilight sighed. So he was going to go the sarcastic route today. She supposed she couldn’t blame him. “You’re right Discord. I’m sorry about that,” she said. Twilight found it a bit irksome whenever she had to admit that he was right about something. Wasn’t she supposed to be teaching him after all? “If I ever have to be away for an extended period like that again, I’ll make sure you know.”

“Well, it’s nice to know that you still care,” he slinked out of his perch atop absolutely nothing to land back in front of her. His tone was joking, but as so often happened with their meetings, Twilight had to wonder how much of what he said was sincere. He was quite good at masking whatever might be really going on behind his jovial manner.

She might have been getting better at reading him though, the unicorn had the vague suspicion that might have been ‘Discord’ for ‘Where have you been?’ and possibly even ‘I missed you.”

Another tiny bout of guilt as she pondered that idea. She tried to ignore it, for she was here now. No more need to feel guilty.

“I do still care,” she assured him firmly. “You’re still on probation, and I want to make sure that you are sticking to your restrictions. I don’t think either of us want to see you put back in stone.”

“And out of every pony in Equestria that gives us a grand total of…two.”

“That’s not true, I’m sure that my friends – most of them, at least – would prefer this method of restriction for you, especially now that they know what you told me. They wouldn’t want to subject some pony to such a lonely and isolating fate.”

“Oh, I’m sure most of them still would,”

Twilight rolled her eyes (which she was getting very good at since spending time with Discord) “Do you have to keep up that attitude? Remember, the only way to get the ponies to believe and trust you is to try, and that doesn’t sound to me like you want to try.”

Discord did a good job of pretending to listen, he almost had Twilight convinced. It was the same lecture that she had been attempting to hammer into his mind since their first few meetings, nearly day one.

This was the part when he would try to change the subject, usually to something that interested him, or something that he thought he could tempt her with.

“Have you been to visit any of my other lovely little prisons?” he asked in a way that sounded like an invitation.

“You shouldn’t call them that. How about, ‘reserved areas’ or something?” she said, trying to put a more positive spin on his situation.

“Oh whatever they are, I only have four of them. But the desert one is coming along very nicely, starting to feel quite homey if I do say so myself.”

This was usually the time when she would indulge him for a bit, as a show of good faith. Today however, with the weight of Ponyville’s and Cloudsdale’s problem heavy on her thoughts, she wasn’t feeling quite as accommodating towards his dancing around the big issues.

“That’s very nice, Discord. But no, I haven’t been to see it in a while. Not since Princess Celestia asked me to bring her there, in fact. I’ve had a bit more on my mind lately, I don’t know if you have noticed, but Ponyville---“

There was a popping noise and a great white flash, and suddenly Twilight found herself finishing her sentence in the middle of the great desert in the south-west of Equestria, far from the Everfree Forest in which she had been standing just a moment ago.

“---has been under a state of emergency.” She paused after completing her statement to look around, the frustration welling up inside her as she took in the multi-colored sand and the large mansion-sized fun house structure in the distance. When her eyes found Discord’s again, she saw that he was – as he for some reason really enjoyed doing – standing far too close to her, his nose almost in danger of touching hers as her head turned.

He still had his feigned look of concentration, and Twilight backed away from him with a groan. It was most likely that the only reason he did that because he knew it bothered her.

“Discord, were you even listening? I need to get back to Ponyville to oversee the big big problem that I was talking about. Take me home. Now.”

Discord smirked and shook his head, snapping the talons of his eagle claw hand to manifest a blanket and several squishy pillows at her hooves, and then into his hands popped a familiar book that caused her to sigh again. ‘The Complete Works of Bluish Carroll’

The draconequus had taken to pulling out his collection of queer and crazy nonsense poems whenever he felt like things were getting too serious during their discussions. It also seemed like every time Twilight was about to leave, he’d call her back for a reading of The Hunting of the Snark, or – if he was in a particularly dramatic mood – something vaguely creepy like The Raven by Midnight Dreary.

“Discord…” she softly said in an oddly regretful way, for she knew what he was doing. He was stalling like he usually did. The way he kept doing this, it was almost like he didn’t want her to go… or at least, that was what Twilight had begun to suspect. “Not today. I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long, but I need to go home.”

“Then you just go on ahead,” Discord shrugged. Though he said it flippantly, Twilight could definitely see through that one. “You can teleport yourself back home, can you not?”

It was true, she could. It would tire her out exponentially, but she could do it. The purple pony wouldn’t though, and he knew that. What was worse, she knew that he knew it too.

He chuckled at her hesitance, taking this opportunity to drape his paw around her shoulder.

“Yup, just as I thought, that wouldn’t be the polite thing to do and you know it. Face it, you owe me Ms. Sparky. You can’t deny me some fun after leaving me all alone for weeks without so much as a letter or smoke signal. Or might that be the same thing for your little dragon friend?”

“I thought I asked you not to call me that,” Twilight deadpanned, ignoring his other ramblings. “It sounds like a dog’s name.”

“I added the ‘Ms.’,” he pointed out. “Doesn’t that make it better? It sounds like you’re a grade school teacher or something. That’s fitting, right?”

“But there are much more pressing matters than your entertainment.”

Leading her over to the pillows, Discord suddenly flashed into the air just in front of the blanket, legs crossed and giant book in his mismatched hands.

“Come now, Twilight. It’s practically the only fun I get to have lately,” Discord coaxed her as he opened the large tome. “Plus you have to admit, you enjoy my readings. I am quite the storyteller.”

The unicorn didn’t want to admit it – at least, not out loud – but she did enjoy them. He was a talented narrator, and his voice had a rhythmic, immersive quality that lent itself well to the poems he read. More than once Twilight had found herself being swept away in his words, only to catch herself gazing up at him for a bit longer than was proper, and she would quickly flick her eyes away to focus on something else.

She hoped very much that he never actually caught her doing that. It would probably make him unbearably smug, almost like the time he found out about how she had omitted a fairly important bit of that fateful meeting some months ago when he broke from his prison the last time. It had been the one part that – had she been brave enough to mention it to her friends – would have saved her from being without magic for most of that trip to see him. Every now and then he brought it up again, just to see her go red.

With an outward reluctance - and an inward anticipation - Twilight resigned herself to the blanket, making herself comfy with her front hooves curled up beneath her on top of a pillow.

“Fine,” she agreed. “Just one, though. Then we need to talk about what’s been going on in Ponyville.”

Discord waved a hand to silence her. “Yes yes, we’ll get to that Twilight dear, but first, I think it’s time for the Jabberwocky.”

Well, at least it’s a shorter one, Twilight thought.

“Funny thing about Carroll, the pony seemed fairly adept at chronicling tales of such ancient creatures. It’s almost as if he’d met them in the flesh, although it isn’t as though he could have even if he lived a hundred years ago. The Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky have been in Tartarus for centuries.”

Twilight cocked her head and waited for this newest little rambling distraction to end.

“Gone the way of beings such as Tirek, the Vashta Nerada, the Smooze, really anything that Harmony deemed unfit to be.”

She thought Discord might have been making some of those up, although knowing him it was hard to tell.

“Just proceed, Discord,” the pony said wanting to get this over with, even if she enjoyed how much fun he seemed to have reciting Carroll’s various nonsense words.

Twilight had shifted to rest her head on her hooves, almost mesmerized by how effortlessly he was able to say aloud those words that would have tied any pony else’s tongue up in knots. His choice of poems may not have been her cup of tea, but he navigated the catchy phrases with a certain kind of grace, and it left her feeling actually impressed.

He continued on at his fluid pace, seeming to put so much concentration into this that he seemed to be barely glancing up from the book. Twilight wasn’t sure if he was merely floating a bit closer to her, or if she had been subconsciously scooting her pillow forwards towards him. In either case, the pony hadn’t realized that she had been listening that intently. When she noticed Twilight sheepishly scooted back to the other side of the blanket. Still attentive but reluctant to look at him now, for fear that he had noticed.

As he concluded the poem with a flourish and silence settled over them again, Twilight gave an involuntary sigh. It had been a very different sigh than the ones she had been giving him since her arrival, one more of satisfaction than of consternation, and she shook herself with embarrassment while simultaneously attempting to turn it into a cough.

This had been a bad idea. She needed to get back to business, but at the same time a weaker part of herself felt a twinge of longing to hear just a bit more.

She quickly stood out of her comfortable position and walked up to where Discord was floating; tugging his tail to signal that he should land.
He reluctantly complied, shutting the book as well.

“Oh my, it seems that you cannot be deterred today, Twilight dear,” he said, but his smirk was still prevalent. “Though I do think that you enjoyed that little distraction at the very least.”

The unicorn gave a non-committal head bob, neither a nod nor a shake. She rubbed the back of her head and cleared her throat, and perhaps hoping to clear her mind of the cloudiness that had rolled in while listening to his voice.

“Ahem… as I was trying to say earlier, Ponyville is currently under a state of emergency. Well, to be more specific, both Ponyville and Cloudsdale. We don’t know why, but for some reason the clouds that form the city have been losing altitude, and it just so happens to be floating nearly directly above us.”

“And you think I have something to do with it?” Discord assumed. Twilight had figured he’d be a bit on the offensive when she was at last able to bring this up, and the pony had not been wrong.

She shook her head and scratched one hoof with another. “No…well, I don’t. Some of the others have brought up the idea, though.”

“Typical ponies. Something’s going wrong, and you always need to find some pony to blame,” Discord tutted.

“Come on Discord. I know – or at least I have enough belief in that promise you made – that you aren’t involved. But you have to give every pony else a little bit of understanding. Look at it from their point of view. It’s something strange happening that they don’t understand, and so they’re afraid. You have to admit that does sound like your handiwork.”

Discord hmmed and then gave a shrug, finally making the book vanish from his hands now that he knew there was no possibility of an encore. “I’ll give you that; it does sound like something I might do. Although trying to see the world from their point of view does not.”

“Well, I think that’s something that should really start considering, like I keep trying to tell you—“ Twilight halted herself before she went on another little speech about getting him to ‘try’.
“Though, that’s a lecture for another time. The point is that I don’t believe that it’s you behind what is happening, but since it is something random, chaotic, and dangerous, that it was similar enough to you that you might have some idea about how to fix it.”

While she was speaking, Discord lifted the blanket and pillows up into the air for him to rest on. Twilight had hopped off just as it had begun to rise; she still wanted to retain the seriousness she had recovered.

He gave a gesture for her to continue, and she obliged.

“The clouds that form the city don’t seem to be dissipating or anything, they remain as solid as ever, but the entire formation is just sinking for some reason. It was slow at first, but it seems to be dropping another meter nearly every day. The rate of these drops has been increasing as well, despite our best efforts to try and slow its progress.”

“Hmm, now dropping something slowly doesn’t sound like me. If this was my doing, it would have already landed, or crashed, I suppose. Doing it slowly would just take too long.”

“That’s not really the point, Discord. I would like to know why it’s happening, but for the most part I just need to find a better solution than what we have right now.”

“But, they are clouds; can’t you just lift them up? They can’t weigh that much.”

“These aren’t normal clouds. They’re clouds that have been formed for the purpose of holding up an entire city. They’re tougher, stronger, and more resistant to damage than your average cumulous. The pegasi have been trying, but it would be like all of us in Ponyville trying to pick up our town and move it somewhere else,” she caught him before he could make the joke suggestion. “And no Discord, we can’t do that either.

“That’s why the unicorns have been trying to help every pony in Cloudsdale by taking it in turns to try and magically push against the city from below. It hasn’t stopped the city from dropping, but it’s at least slowing it down.”

“That’s the only thing you could come up with?” he asked, and Twilight frowned, her tone taking on much offense.

“Yes, Discord. It’s not like we had a whole lot of ideas at our disposal, and I’ve been beating my brain out trying to look for a better way. So unless you can think of something that could help, don’t scoff at what I had to come up with on the spot.”

Discord raised his arms in a kind of surrender, to somehow shield himself from her growing anger.

“Hey, hey, I meant no offense,” he said with an ease he apparently hoped she would catch. “Clearly I touched a nerve. So you want me to think of something you could do? Well can’t say I’ve been asked to help some pony very often…or at all.”

Twilight tried to calm herself. She wasn’t really mad at Discord, but he wasn’t exactly helping her mood since the whole story telling thing. He was unfortunate enough to be there as some more of that stress the unicorn was feeling broke through.

“I know that your restriction spell prevents you from approaching a populated pony area, and after you gave me a portion of your chaos magic your ability to affect the minds of ponies is hindered, but does any of that restrict your ability to manipulate the landscape?”

She considered her surroundings, then clarified. “What I mean is, since the last time the elements were used on you, have you been able to affect the landscape of the areas you are not allowed in?”

Discord’s eyebrows rose and he sat a little straighter. “Thought you didn’t believe I had anything to do with this,” he said with a hint of presumption.

“I don’t,” Twilight repeated. “But I wondered – or sort of hoped – that even if you couldn’t think of anything we could do, that you might be able to help us fix it even if you can’t be there yourself.”

Now Discord really did look like he was listening, even pondering what she was asking. His floating blanket landed softly in front of her, and Twilight had to wait as he seemed to mull it over.

“You know, I have no idea. Never really tried. I was having so much fun decorating my new little containment areas to bother messing with anywhere outside of them. I’d also been…hesitant to approach the borders. That is where I’d assume I’d need to be if I were even able to do such a thing. I’d most likely need to see it for myself.”

“But, you managed to mess up Ponyville while we were all still in Canterlot in the labyrinth.”

“Yes, you all were there,” he agreed. “But how do you know where I was that entire time? Do you think I stuck around to watch all of your every twists and turns?” Discord gave a chuckle at his own reference. “No no, I had other things to do, as you mentioned. It was a cinch for me to pop from here to there.”

He shrugged at her confused expression, although she didn’t know why she was so surprised.

“I had to have something else to do, anyway. I’d already hidden the elements, and not everything you did in that maze was that entertaining. I simply skipped the boring parts.”

This was new information to Twilight, but she supposed it didn’t really matter anymore.

“But, that was then, and this is now,” Discord said with a dramatic sigh. “Those are two places I can’t just pop in and out of anymore. I don’t think I’ve ever tried manipulating an area I couldn’t see – even if I were able to go there – unless you count when I was out there.” The draconequus gave a sort of gesture in the general vicinity of outward. “Wherever you would say it is in relation to this plane of existence… of course, I could always see those places I affected from there.”

The unicorn’s stance sank at those words. Amazingly Twilight discovered that she had been getting her hopes up a tad. “So, you’re saying that you can’t do anything, and that you don’t know how?”

“I’m saying that it’s something I’ve never been asked to do. I can’t say for sure that I can, or that I’ll try, but I’ll think about trying.”

Another sigh escaped her. “That will have to do,” she said lamely. “And we’ll get back to the other type of ‘trying’ you should be doing soon enough.”

She turned from him, still feeling wilted that this too had come up fruitless. She thought about preparing to teleport home, but now all of that anger and then disappointment seemed to have sapped her energy, and all she could do was droop her ears at the prospect.

Knowing that he probably would protest, Twilight turned back to Discord to ask him to take her back so she could go home. When her eyes met his again however, his expression puzzled her. He looked…awkward, like whatever he was thinking was causing him a great deal of consternation. Her puzzlement turned to concern, because the way he was grimacing it looked like he might give himself a headache.

“Discord, everything alright?” she inquired. He hadn’t really been looking at her, but her voice seemed to break his concentration, and his answer was oddly short and fast.

“No, just fine.”

“Uh huh,” Twilight said, not very convinced. “Um, do you think you might be up to taking me back now? I did tell you that I had other things I needed to do.”

The sun was beginning to set, and the shadows along the desert sand had begun to stretch out as if trying to escape from it as it sank lower, before they disappeared for another night.

He was slowly recovering from whatever that had been, but the unicorn still was curious as to what he had been thinking.

She was given a glimpse after he’d cleared his throat and stood to comply, but not yet going through with her request. “This big problem of yours, it’s—it’s causing you stress,” Discord’s voice was stilted, and it gave Twilight pause.

Twilight gave a small, humorless laugh. “You think?” This was yet another instance where she felt it was something obvious.

Discord was getting back to his usual demeanor again. “Well, it isn’t as if you haven’t faced things such as this before. I’ve seen how collected you can be in a real crisis, but you seem to have such trouble with the more everyday worries.”

This was kind of true, Twilight had to admit. “But this is something that any pony would be stressed about. Two populations are depending on us – my friends and I – to try and fix this.”

It wasn’t something she really expected Discord to understand in full. She knew he had the potential, but the concept of caring about ponies one doesn’t even know that well was probably a stretch to conceive at this point.

“So you have a sense of duty towards them, you shouldn’t let it cause you so much stress. It isn’t as if you’re doing this alone. Aren’t your friends helping as well, isn’t the whole point of the Elements your friendship?”

It was a little scary how similarly what Discord said mirrored the words of her own brother. She didn’t bring it up, however.

“Says the one who thrives on other ponies’ stress, but never seems to experience it himself,” Twilight said, ignoring the fact that he seemed to actually be trying to make her feel better.

“Oh, I have my own stresses. Stress is a form of chaos, and so it’s not always so un-enjoyable for me. But I can always find the funny slant, the irony in having my own messes.” Discord’s usual smirk was returning, evidently pleased that he’d pulled her back into a debate. “Incidentally, I don’t thrive on your stress.”

Twilight cocked her head to one side in confusion. “You don’t? Then what about all those times when you kept trying to get me to argue with you?” she asked, adding ‘like now’ in her head.

Settling back on a newly-formed comfy chair, Discord pulled his tail towards him and started fiddling with the end in his eagle hand.

“Dear Twilight, I only do that to rile you up. You should accept by now that that’s just what I do. I especially enjoy arguing with you because it’s so much fun. I haven’t had a really good debate partner in well…ever. Plus you are my first friend, aren’t you? I value your thoughts, but I don’t mean to cause you stress.”

She rolled her eyes, but found herself smiling in an exasperated sort of way. Yes, she should have known that, he pulled her into a lively discussion almost every time they met. He always knew what to say that would ruffle her just enough.

“Well, thank you for that, so glad to be a source of so much entertainment.”

“It is entertaining, is it not? When I’m out enjoying my limited freedoms I find ways to entertain myself, but it just doesn’t compare with getting you all flustered. Giving cows roller skates and a ramp to try and jump over the moon is almost dull in comparison.”

“You did what now?” her head snapped up, suddenly back in business mode.

Discord just shrugged and turned to face her again. “Eh, they’re fine. No harm done, and it’s not like it was in a pony-centric area.”

She sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to consider that worthy of discussing. “But how do you know that these little debates of ours don’t cause me stress?”

“Because if they did, you could try much harder to keep things more formal between us, or you could stop coming altogether. Well, that odd sense of duty you have might prevent you from skipping, but you know you get something out of this too.”

It irked her that she was actually giving Discord what he wanted, because she was getting flustered. He just did that to her, no matter what they talked about. She didn’t want to admit it though, that on some level she did enjoy these visits. These talks with him were some of the most intelligent ones she’d had since leaving the academy. His viewpoints were so different from hers; it was intriguing to hear his thoughts.

Then of course, there was also his story telling.

“Thank you, for your concern,” Twilight said honestly. He didn’t really seem to want a thank you, and he might not even admit that he was really attempting to show concern, but she appreciated it all the same.
She looked over to the sunset, taking a moment to admire the affect the fading golds, oranges, and pinks had on the desert landscape as the sun sank in the horizon.

Strangely enough, Discord had actually managed to help ease her frustrations. First with his trying to distract/entertain her…and now by – in his own ‘Discord’ way – showing that he did care about her well-being. These were probably the first times she hadn’t felt as stressed during this whole debacle.

It didn’t fix everything, or change what still needed to be done, but Twilight was grateful for this small moment in time, where she could see some actual progress from him. It made her feel like she was doing something right, and it even strengthened the feeling that she had made the right decision in giving her new friend a chance.

She didn’t really want it to be over just yet.

“Discord,” she said after a moment of watching the sun as it disappeared below the horizon line, the stars were now beginning to appear overhead.

“It looks like it’s too late for me to get anything else done today; perhaps I have time to hear another of your weird readings.”

She nearly jumped when she turned from the sunset to find his face right up next to hers again, that smirk he was so fond of back in full force.

“I knew you liked listening to them,” he smugly replied. She tried to smile as she backed away yet again. He didn’t go far, however. This time, the giant book came into being close to her, and Discord floated over it, both unicorn and book back on the blanket.

A new blanket was also draped over Twilight’s back, but she made no mention of it, though she found it an oddly thoughtful addition.

So she settled in to hear Discord give her another little narrative show. The stars shimmered overhead as she listened, curling up cozily in her blanket. It might have been a combination of the dark yet lovely starry night and Discord’s smooth, rhythmic reading, but as Twilight rested her head on her hooves merely to get comfortable, she found her eyelids drooping, and then finally closing as she was carried off by his oddly gentle voice to sleep.

It was only after Discord had completed his recitation that he noticed Twilight was no longer listening. He had been enjoying – as he usually did – observing her reactions when he looked up from the pages, but as the last sentence ended and the book was closed, Discord was surprised to see that the unicorn had instead closed her eyes and was now quite asleep.

Twilight was curled up into a ball, the blanket wrapped tightly around her to fend off the dropping temperature of the desert night air. He was not entirely sure of what he should do about it - no pony typically allowed themselves to sleep in his presence (for good reason) - should he wake her so she could make her way back? Most likely if Twilight was so tired that she’d go to sleep during one of his brilliant reading performances she would not have the energy to teleport herself back to her home.

He supposed he could flash them back to the forest and then… then what? Discord couldn’t exactly take her all the way to her home, and he definitely was not in a hurry to repeat his attempts to pop into Ponyville as he had done.

She gave a little involuntary shiver but still did not wake. It wasn’t getting that cold, was it? Of course Discord had to bear in mind that ponies were more sensitive to things like the climate and such.

He flashed back into his ruin/castle home in the forest, taking Twilight along with him, blankets and all. At least she wasn’t shivering now. He tried to give her a little shake or a prod to coax her into waking, but she resisted. The unicorn merely flicked a hoof at him and turned over with a soft, tired mumble.

As she continued to snooze on the floor of his main room, her chest rising and falling slowly all bundled up; Discord had to admit she looked quite peaceful. Much more peaceful than he had seen her of-late and certainly looking more content than when she was giving him lectures about learning to trust others or whatever it was. Watching as Twilight’s chest moved rhythmically as she breathed - even giving a small sigh as she nuzzled into her pillow - He didn’t really feel like he wanted to wake her up and spoil it.

There was that awkward feeling again, something that Discord still couldn’t quite get a handle on, it was as if the name were just beyond his reach, but it made him consider that the floor might not be the most comfortable place for her to be sleeping.

Making an adjustment to her book chair – stretching it out into a book couch – he snapped his claws and the unicorn appeared on top of it, still wrapped in her cozy burrito.

He looked around the room for something else he could do, but as he had left the realm of situations he was familiar with back in the desert Discord had no idea. It wasn’t as if he’d ever had some pony as a guest sleeping over before.

He would leave her here and go to bed on his own, he figured. She could walk back on her own in the morning. This might provide her a nice little breather from all that stressing in any case.

It wasn’t a bad feeling, he observed as he glanced one last time back at Twilight Sparkle’s dozing form. Doing something like this for her had actually sort of felt almost good. Though he wouldn’t make a big deal of it when she awoke, and he hoped she wouldn’t either.

This was a pony that have done so much for him already, and for some reason continued to be in his corner. He had almost expected Twilight to give up on him eventually - after her absence he had almost been waiting for it. Maybe that was what made him so anxious… he was still waiting for it.

He flashed to his floating water bed – a bed made of floating water – but before he could really settle down for himself, Discord noticed something appear at the head with a small magical pop.

It was a tiny scroll with the Equestrian coat of arms on the seal. He didn’t need to open it and read to know what it meant. It was a royal summons direct from the desk of Princess Celestia. Oh boy, what did she want now?

Discord found himself both curious and trepidatious at the prospect. It was a little insulting to be called to see her instead of her having the good manners to come to him. Hadn’t she done so before?

Breaking the seal in one quick motion, the draconequus found that he was - of course - correct in his assumptions. He only skimmed the letter, but he did see the words ‘urgent’ and ‘your presence is requested’. If he ignored it Discord knew they’d just keep sending these, although if he did choose to, it might make Celestia peeved enough to come to him instead, and who wouldn’t want to see that?

Discord thought about doing just that, when he remembered the young purple unicorn asleep in the other room. Even if the sound of a pissed-off Celestia arriving in his chambers didn’t wake her, there was the chance that the princess might discover her, and questions would be raised. It wasn‘t as if Discord would be embarrassed or anything of the kind, but it was tiresome to have to answer tedious questions of his every decision to Celestia.

After a good amount of weighing his options, he reluctantly decided it wouldn’t be the end of the world to come when called this one time… although he didn’t like being able to compare himself to that of a dog.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

4. What Passion Could Reach Me, What Lesson Could Teach Me

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The farthest part of the eastern border to the Everfree was where Celestia met Discord. The space where the trees began to give way to what lead to Rambling Rock Ridge was not forbidden to him, so there was no chance of him having to contend with the magical shock collar treatment. This was a fairly deserted area, though not large enough to have been considered in the divvying up of spaces for Discord to inhabit.

The princess evidently did not wish to waste any time, for her horn was already lit when he arrived, showing him just where she was. She stood beneath the cross-section of two far-sloping trees, and she apparently had come alone. Discord could see no pony else in the circle of light provided by her horn in any case.

Celestia lifted the ball of light from her horn to float above them, giving more light to the surrounding area. As per usual, the alicorn princess did not look pleased to see him.

“Discord,” she acknowledged him flatly.

“Lovely to see you too, Celestia,” Discord answered. Even if this seemed a cryptic summon, he could not resist the opportunity to be himself. “Have you been well? I suppose I have. Can’t complain, was having a fairly enjoyable day until some pony pulled me away from my bed as I was about to get some sleep.” For added affect, he had appeared before her in a fluffy pink robe and plush jackalope slippers upon his mismatched feet.

“For that I will offer an apology,” Celestia said, looking him over bemusedly but otherwise making no mention of his attire. “But this is the only time we have at the moment to speak with you. We do not have long before we must return to our task.”

Discord thought maybe she was using the royal ‘we’, as at first he could see no pony else around. Then a hastened flutter of wings in the distance betrayed someone else’s arrival, lessening the affect her entrance had as the second daughter of Harmony stepped from the shadows.

The younger alicorn glanced hesitantly up at her sister, looking fairly worn-out as she folded her wings and stood beside Celestia in the pool of light.

“You made sure to check the bonds before you left?” The elder princess asked, acknowledging Princess Luna with her words and a quick glance towards her.

Luna nodded, adopting the same demeanor as Celestia as she turned her head towards Discord, but spoke to her sister. “Yes, I am certain the spell will hold for the moment.”

“We should still attempt to make this brief,” Celestia answered. It wasn’t entirely as if they were acting like he wasn’t there, they seemed quite mindful of his presence though reluctant to clue him in immediately. They were certainly taking their time, in any case. The draconequus folded his arms and the robe and slippers disappeared as he waited for them to begin their explanation for this oh-so-important summons.

“Luna and I have been barely able to keep up with our appointed tasks of bringing out the day and night. Our focus has currently been on something much direr.”

Celestia took a glance around, as if checking for something, and then gestured to the areas that lead to the Ridge. “Do you know what lies beyond that?”

It took Discord a moment to realize exactly where they were, and when he did he realized what she was referring to precisely. In what was now the Ridge there was a cavern, hidden by a powerful magic. Deep underground – even farther down than the caverns beneath Canterlot – there stood a gate. It was a place Discord had been before a very, very, very long time ago.

“The entrance to the Gates of Tartarus.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, most ponies have absolutely no knowledge of it, and the ones that do know of it are still unaware of its exact location. Only the most loyal and trustworthy of my personal guard knows where the entrance lies, for I had to explain to them where my sister and I were needed when all this began. I currently have some guard members posted around the Ridge, but none anywhere close by the cavern that disguises it.”

Discord had a hunch that he knew where this was going, and that Celestia was going to beat around the bush to get there.

“As you are aware, the gates were forged of the strongest and most powerful magical substance known to ponydom, and re-enforced with several magical seals to keep them from ever being broken out of or into.”

So, Discord had been correct. “Oh joy, a history lesson. You know I don’t need the recap, Celestia. I was there when all this occurred.”

The princess continued as though he hadn’t spoken, although she had closed her eyes to presumably tune him out.

“And as an extra precaution, the three-headed dog Cerberus was stationed where Tartarus touches this world. He however, acts as more of a guard, and has not been of much use.”

Now Discord was wondering about the whole ‘out of or into’ business. Who would want to break into that place? He kept this to himself, letting Celestia finish her little speech.

“He was the one to find us when it was clear that the magic had begun to fade.”

Now she was getting to the point. Those seals were meant to last for eons. “And by fading, you mean?”

“The seals have been weakening for some time now. My sister and I have been attempting to find a solution, yet so far we have only managed to find a temporary answer. Reinforcing the bonds keeping the gates sealed shut appears to be beyond even our level of magic.”

“This is starting to sound familiar, but for the life of me I can’t think why,” Discord said, paw to his chin in thought. “So, you’ve called me here because?”

He saw Celestia’s frown grow even more pronounced. “It would seem that something yet more powerful than alicorn magic alone is needed for the binding of the gate. It is magic of the ancients, from nearly the beginning of existence. Tartarus was reserved for the most dark, the most evil; the things that would most harm the ponies of this world and throw it out of balance. It has been said that even you have banished a creature there once.”

“Well, we all have our moments,” Discord waved away her lengthy explanation. “So you need some ancient magic, and I’m the oldest magical being around. Small world, is it not?”

“This is not something I am pleased to do, Discord. Asking you of all ponies for help was not my idea. If it were not absolutely necessary I would not have bothered.”

Suddenly Discord was reminded why this was feeling so familiar. “You know, this is the second time I’ve been asked to help some pony with some big crisis of theirs. Who would have thought I would be so popular?”

The princess seemed caught slightly off guard by this revelation. She blinked several times before posing her question with only a mild annoyance. “What do you mean ‘second time’, to what are you referring?”

Discord smirked again at her confusion. “Twilight came to see me, asking for help about some sort of ‘state of emergency’ hoo-hah. Her friends are under the impression that I am the cause of it, but she appears to believe that I could be able to fix it.”

“If you are referring to the predicament concerning Ponyville and Cloudsdale, we have been made aware of it by Twilight Sparkle as well,” Celestia said. “I am surprised that she would come to you for assistance… though I suppose that is somewhat my fault. Regretfully I have been out of touch with her during this time.”

“So I’m just the next best thing to Celestia, huh?” Discord sarcastically questioned. “Don’t give yourself too much credit, I’m sure she approached me for the same reason you are. This is another chaotic situation, and I may or may not know of a way to reverse it.”

“So do you, will you help?”

“Not to sound cliché but, what would be in it for me? I’m not seeing too much of a downside if the seal breaks. It would create chaos the likes of which these modern ponies have never seen.”

“That is precisely why it must be avoided. That much chaos energy would certainly throw the world off balance. Were you not one of the beings that aided in forging the seal in the first place? Surely you are aware of its purpose.”

“That was not my idea, princess,” Discord answered. “Harmony dragged me into it. I suppose she made some good points. She said they’d ‘go too far’ blah blah blah, that they’d ‘eventually overpower us’ yadda yadda, mostly the boring ‘end of the world scenario’ things. But you know what really got me to go along? If I were to let those chaotic creatures run loose, how would any pony know who the real chaos being was?”

Celestia did her best Twilight Sparkle impression then, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at the draconequus’s remark.

“They’d steal my thunder, those creatures! And they didn’t even know how to take a joke. How could there be a being like that with no sense of humor. I mean, can you imagine?”

He paused, and then chuckled at himself. “Oh wait, my mistake. Look who I’m talking to.”

“But seriously. I am the Spirit of Chaos. I may not be as destructive as I used to be, but I chalk that up to my imprisonment and my recent…restrictions,” Discord halted at the thought of his current situation. He still wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it, whether or not it was better than before his thousand-year ‘stone age’.

“I’m not going to lie and say that I don’t think I’d enjoy myself watching it for a while, but I suppose it could get dull after a time. Though you must admit it would be a refreshing change from all the hugging and friendship.”

“You know that if this were to occur, then Order may we be wiped from the world. I know you to at least respect the balance made of the world for which we are both responsible. We may not care for each other, but we both know the other needs to exist. That is why I chose to seal you in stone rather than throw you in Tartarus all those ages ago.”

“I always did wonder about that. Thanks for clearing it up for me.”

“Bear in mind though Discord. We do need you to seal the gates, they grow weaker every day, and I fear something may escape if we don’t proceed quickly. I will do everything in my power to see that Tartarus is sealed and ensure the safety of this world. You can either help my sister and me to lock it up from one side of the gates…or the other.”

“Oh my, giving me a threat when trying to ask for my help? Your negotiation skills haven’t really improved, Celestia. What about the whole ‘Chaos and Order need to exist’ thing you just said?”

“If you are so arrogant as to not understand why this is so important and decide not to aid us, then I will very strongly consider it,” she said, the venom rising in her tone. “Tartarus has a connection to your original plane of existence, does it not?”

The draconequus nodded. “There’s an entrance there too, so what?”

“If you managed to live through the prison, you could return there and retain your part of the balance as you were originally intended.”

“And you wouldn’t just force me to go back there?” Discord asked. “Making me have to venture though there seems a tad extreme, I would think. Why must you come up with such creative forms of punishment?”

“Because I do not have much confidence that you will ever learn,” Celestia answered sternly. “I am attempting to be accommodating – even understanding – because I know that my student does believe that you will. You however have not done enough in my eyes to convince me. This could be your chance.”

It just came back to that whole ‘trying’ thing Twilight kept bringing up, didn’t it? Why did Discord have to continue to prove himself to ponies that he was certain would never change their ways any more than he wanted to change his.

“Perhaps I need some more convincing as to how this would improve anything for me.”

“For one thing, you would be able to remain here,” Princess Luna had been silent during this time, possibly waiting for a proper break in Celestia’s thoughts. She now chimed in in a less sharp manner than her sister.

“We know that - however you may grouse about it – this limited freedom you have has provided you with much entertainment and freedom, and you would not want to give that up. You may not have dreamed of living here amongst the ponies as our mother did, but now that you are here I am certain that you would not wish to return.”

So she was the balm, an odd method for convincing some pony to help Discord thought, poking with a stick before offering a carrot.

“That is one thing you have right,” Discord gave her. “If I agreed to this, would that mean that my probation would be over?”

At this, Celestia raised her hoof to her face.

“You are the only being I know that would take an impending catastrophe and use it to your advantage. Does this not seem like an inappropriate time to barter for more freedoms?”

“You did say mine is the only magic that can do the trick. The way I see it, why shouldn’t I be able to?”

“This is something that concerns the world; every pony in all lands will be affected by your action, or your inaction,” Celestia said.

“We had hoped that your more recent activities here meant that you now considered this plane to be your home,” Luna stated. “You have stake in it, and the means to aid us. Does it not bother you that this world would be so altered, how the beings here would be affected?”

Discord turned to the younger princess, addressing her with the same ‘of course’ attitude with which he had approached Celestia’s words.

“It’s not as if that’s new for me. I’ve been affecting this world for longer than any pony even knows and what has that gotten me? The majority of this ignorant population probably wouldn’t even care if they knew I’d aided you,” He answered.

The elder princess appeared to have taken this time to center herself, but Luna was not growing quite as agitated by him. Discord didn‘t seem to be able to push her buttons like he could Celestia‘s. If anything, Luna seemed sadder, almost disappointed.

“They might be persuaded to care if they were to know you had aided us out of a care and concern for them, instead of a mere tradeoff. Is there not something - not one single thing - which you would find in this land worth saving from this danger?”

Discord didn’t answer Luna right away, although his mind had jumped to an answer with startling precision and speed.

An odd sense of dread knotted itself in his stomach at the idea of Twilight being around when those gates broke open. Those creatures were power the likes of which even she most likely had never seen before. They were ancients almost as surely as he, and of course once she heard about it that exceptional unicorn would try and do something to fix it, and for a moment flash of something that tasted an awful lot like fear caused him to actually possibly think about caring whether or not Tartarus’s seals broke.

Of course, she was the exception. Even if he were still uncertain where her true concerns lied, Discord admitted his friendship with Twilight Sparkle was an anomaly, and something he would very much not enjoy verbalizing to these two.

That may not even count, Discord thought. They might have been holding out for him to help every pony for every pony’s sake, and in that case he might never get any new freedoms, and then where would he be? This seemed to be a no-win situation for him, and they clearly wanted their way whether or not he agreed.

Evidently he had waited too long to reply, and his silence was taken for a negative response.

“This is their world, Discord. You chose to become a part of it, and so you must learn to live and coexist in it harmoniously. This is something you simply must learn if you are to stay,” Celestia seemed to be losing her patience again, well that didn’t take long.

“Do not forget that you were never meant to exist on this plane. You are no more supposed to be here than the creatures trapped in Tartarus.”

Another truth from the mouth of the princess. Discord knew that he was not of this world, that was one reason why his power was so much stronger than any pony else’s, and what had made him so perceivably dangerous. The only ones to have ever defeated him were the daughters of his former partner and ponies armed with the Elements formed by her.

Still it sort of stung to be lumped in with all those mindless, humorless beasts.

Luna seemed to be reading Discord’s reaction to Celestia’s statement, and then - with a quick look to the other alicorn in which some silent agreement was exchanged - spoke again to him.

“Would you be willing to learn those things, Discord? If we gave you some time?”

Discord wasn’t certain what the younger princess was getting at. “Isn’t that what I have been doing, or rather isn’t that one of the reasons for Twilight checking in on me?”

“In the time that we have allowed Twilight Sparkle’s method for detaining you, we would have assumed – or even hoped – that you might have learned something about caring for others beyond yourself from her. Empathy is a concept that you evidently need a much more in-depth lesson in,” Celestia said.

“Hey, don’t blame her,” Discord said, staying cool although he was beginning to sense something from the white alicorn’s tone. “It seems like Twilight has been utilizing everything in her power to try and show me from within the confines of my homes, and she’s been quite entertaining sometimes in her attempts to explain why I can’t perform action A without causing disruption B which in turn affects pony C.”

The two princesses did not seem to appreciate his joking manner.

“Then you do admit that you may require something else?” Luna asked. There was something in her tone as well, and Discord didn’t like the sound of it.

He recognized both that same look and that same tone from all those years ago, the first time he met the alicorns. He had not paid Celestia’s words any mind then, but in hindsight he probably should have. After that cold farewell, the next time he saw them it had been to freeze him in stone.

“We can give you one week to prove to us that you can exist in this world with a pony’s sense of conscience. Show that you are in some way the redeemable soul that Twilight has attempted to assure us that you are. It is all we will allow before the gate is sealed one way or the other.” Discord’s creeping sense of dread grew stronger, but he did not show it. Another ultimatum by Celestia, she seemed quite fond of giving him those. He had no idea what they were going to do to ‘teach’ him, but he was sure he wasn’t going to enjoy it.

He had only seconds to ponder before the alicorns lit their horns in tandem and their magical strength converged upon him. The intensely solid wall of energy seemed to slam into him with the force of a train going top speed. The wall then surrounded him, now swirling and compressing him in the exact opposite of a gentle manner.

Discord had no idea what was happening, but he should have assumed another sneak attack would come. This pain was not as terrible as when the Elements of Harmony had been used on him, but it came fairly close. On his own personal pain scale, this compacting crushing sat comfortably between what the Elements had done and the jolts he received from the borders.

His eyes were shut tight, for he was not sure he wanted to know what was currently happening to him, but he was fairly certain he wasn’t being locked away in stone again.

This might not be the power of the Elements, but it had a similar feel to it. When the concrete wall of magic that had been curling itself around him finally slid him out of its tight embrace, Discord landed on the floor with a thud, completely wiped and with barely enough energy to even open his eyes to stare up at the princesses much less lift his head.

“Wha… how…,” he panted, trying to form some sort of idea about what they had done to him.

Princess Celestia appeared to anticipate his question.

“Regrettably Luna and I no longer wield the Elements, which I would prefer to have used. However this may have been a stroke of luck for you, Discord. I do not believe the Elements are capable of such a transformation.”

“We were not entirely sure that we could succeed in this by our own power,” Luna continued for her sister. “As you are an ancient, our magic may not have been enough.

“So we appealed to the spirit of Harmony, which our mother bestowed within us ages ago, that we have rarely ever tapped into. It was not enough to reseal the gate, but it appears that this remnant we possess has at least succeeded here.”

Through this haze of exhaustion, Discord found strength enough to be annoyed by their lengthy explanation about how they’d done it and not telling him what they’d done.

“You will have one week, Discord,” Celestia repeated her warning. “Prove to us that you can learn, and that this world could benefit from having you remain here.”

With that, the forest and alicorn princesses disappeared from Discord’s vision. He was suddenly back on his bed, for the few seconds it remained a bed before its form dissolved into a puddle on the floor sending him crashing down along with it.

But, he hadn’t done that, he hadn’t flashed himself out. He didn’t think that Celestia had power enough to send him away like that. Discord’s mind tried to keep him awake to assess the situation, but whatever they had done had weakened his body exponentially, and he was finding it hard to even stand on his back limbs.

Stumbling into a hanging sheet of fabric, Discord gave in to the exhaustion, faintly hoping that sleep might relieve the rushing dizziness that so overwhelmed him.

It took Twilight a few very groggy minutes to realize where she was when she woke the next morning. The unicorn was quite irritatingly dragged from her cozy cocoon of warmth and dreams by a grating, ringing noise and something lightly slamming into the back of her head.

As her eyes eased open, she had to blink a few times before her mind registered the thing that was now bonking into her nose as she had turned over. It was an alarm clock that had apparently grown wings and wanted to be very sure that Twilight got up. She watched it with a puzzled yet still sleepy expression as it seemed to realize that she was awake, but not getting up. It began to ring louder and louder, making itself comfy right next to her ear as it flapped its tiny gray wings.

Twilight batted the timepiece away and sat up, shouting at it to be quiet. “Urgh, ok ok I’m getting up, see?” she grumbled at the irritating little clock. It was persistent; she had to give it that. She wondered what it was doing here, and why it had found her to come and annoy. Why would any pony even make such a thing? Even in her abruptly-woken state, her mind came up with the most obvious – yet silly – answer.

“To see time fly,” she muttered at the clock, which had finally come to a rest on the arm of the couch she had been sleeping on. Its job now done it went back to its silent, dormant state. Such a weird, silly thing, Twilight thought. It was just the sort of thing Discord might find funny. That kind of obvious visual gag just screamed Discord.

This was when she got a good look at her surroundings, and remembered where she had gone to sleep that night.

It was a bit more than a slight shock for Twilight to realize this, and for some reason she couldn’t really explain why the shock of finding herself here was coupled with a sense of embarrassment. Perhaps it was just the idea that she had lost track of time and fallen asleep. Any pony might feel awkward at that, she supposed. But as she thought over the previous night, she remembered something. Hadn’t she fallen asleep listening to Discord read in the desert?

She supposed he must have taken her back here, but she could have walked home, hadn’t he tried to wake her? She sat there on what was her book chair – now her book couch, she supposed, when had he done that? – pondering Discord’s uncharacteristically thoughtful gesture.

Looking around the large main chamber of his ruin/castle home she did not see the draconequus in-question. Maybe he was still in his own bed. She wondered for a moment if it would be rude to just sneak out while he was sleeping. She really did need to get back, Spike might be worried that she hadn’t returned, and Twilight wanted to see if there had been any progress made about Cloudsdale.

The unicorn determined that it would most likely be rude – or at least impolite – to do so without at least saying a goodbye or a thank you. So she untangled herself from the blankets and placed all four hooves on the floor. She stepped lightly and cautiously, as she knew her hooves could make a loud noise that could fill the echoing chamber if no other sounds were present.

Twilight had never actually gone exploring Discord’s new abode before. She had not really had a reason to in the past. She wondered what sort of little surprises or extra touches he had added throughout the old castle. She figured that a place so ancient and made of stone would have a terrible draft problem, but as she wandered from long hallway to long hallway she didn’t feel cold at all. He seemed to have at least done a good job on the insulation.

It took Twilight a couple tries before she learned that she had actually been going down the same hallway for ten minutes, and that it had kept turning around on her whenever she turned a corner. Ducking into a random room and then coming out the other side seemed to have fixed that little problem, though if she hadn’t realized it she would probably have been there all day. Or until Discord came and found her… and had a good laugh at her expense.

Finally reaching what she hoped was his bedroom, the unicorn eased the obnoxiously creaky door open and slipped inside. There was a large, ornate four poster bed, a hammock, a pink cloud, and a very large pool of water. Twilight thought that was to give Discord some variety on where he slept, but the pool of water didn’t look that comfortable.

The pink cloud was also for some reason on the floor, and the ornate four posters on the ceiling, the curtains seeming to defy gravity.

It was his snoring that alerted her to his current whereabouts and the correct sleeping place, which turned out to be the hammock.

It swayed a bit at his every subtle movement, even in-sync with the snoring; it was a comic and almost cartoonish site to see, not at all out of place in the home of Discord. She let out a soft laugh that thankfully he had not heard, for as Twilight thought about it, she started having reservations about waking him at all. She felt oddly weird even being here in his room. Twilight knew that he didn’t have a very firm concept of boundaries – at least concerning her personal boundaries – but she wasn’t sure if he considered anything of his in this castle private at all, and if coming in here might be a violation of that privacy.

It was a catch-twenty-two of etiquette. It might be impolite to not wake him to tell him she had to leave, but it might also be impolite to wake him now and reveal that she had entered his room unannounced.

Making up her mind, she gingerly crept closer to his sleeping form hanging in the thick orange cloth and lifted her hoof up to give him a quick firm tap in what she hoped was the center of his back. Although it turned out to have been his stomach, and in her nervousness it might have been a harder jab than she had meant it to be. He gave a quite surprised grunt and flipped the hammock over, falling out with an ‘oomph’ and a moan as he tried to stand in his own sleepy state.

Not being able to stifle her laugh this time, Twilight only felt a little bad about it as she watched him rolling over, trying to stand. This was when she noticed something even stranger than all the other strange things she had seen just this morning. For a second she paused, one eyebrow raised and her head tilted in confusion, for this was not Discord.

As the pony that had been sleeping in Discord’s hammock stood she could see that it was indeed a pony, but in the darkness of the room it had been hard to determine that his form had been smaller than Discord’s would have been. He was also in shadow, so Twilight couldn’t get a proper look, but the silhouette that stood before her was definitely pony-shaped.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she apologized to the shadow as she heard it continue to groggily grumble. “Sorry to wake you, but um… I didn’t know any pony else came this far out into the forest. Did you get lost? If you want to come with me, I was just about to head back to town; I don’t really think you want to stay here for very long. I’m not sure if you know where you are, but the being that lives here might not be too happy about you finding your way into his house like this.”

She rambled for a bit out of a vague nervousness, for she was growing suspicious about this pony, just who was it, and why had they come here, specifically to Discord’s room?

“Ugh, do you have to talk so much so early in the morning?” the shadow grumbled. “Let me get a chance to wake up before you start your innate pony chattiness.”

Twilight blinked again. That was strange; this pony’s voice sounded a lot like Discord’s. Her suspicions only grew, and she found herself backing away without thinking, slowly making for the door.

“U-um,” she mumbled, stuttering her ‘um’ into two syllables. “I apologize, but I don’t really know who you are, if you could just come out here, where it’s light? Oh, or better yet…”

She hesitated, but then lit her horn anyway. Her magic glowed magenta and a ball of light shot out of the tip, floating up to the center of the ceiling and illuminating the room.

Now she could see this pony properly. He stood still hunched a tad near the hammock, now wincing from the light. It was a stallion – a unicorn evidently – with a bristly black mane and a white tufty tail. His fur was a drab sort of grayish tan color, and as he shook himself and stood up straight she could finally get a good look at his face… and she nearly dropped her ball of light from the shock.

His face was long, a bit wonky, slightly asymmetrical – though not quite as asymmetrical as the one it resembled so closely – his nose was a bit wide and his horn was an odd, twisty gray/blue knob at his forehead.

Twilight’s mouth was agape as she stopped backing up and just stood there blinking far too much. His eyes may be the same size now, but they were the exact same shade of yellow with their strange red pupils. There was absolutely no way around it, this pony looked exactly like Discord. Well, minus the other horn, goatee, and fang.

The pony that so resembled the spirit of chaos was staring back at her staring at him, looking more annoyed than confused. Finally he broke the silence.

“What?” he asked grumpily, using Discord’s voice again.

The unicorn’s mind had halted completely; absolutely no words were coming to her, just faint, odd sounds that didn’t even count as syllables were escaping her still-gaping mouth. She raised a shaking hoof, her voice just as quivery. “D-D-Discord?”

“Yes, what?” he asked, now following her pointing – first to look behind him – and then looking himself over. “Oh yes, right… that,” he said with realization and at bit of indignation.

“That explains some things. It will most likely be a long story, and I still need to wake up so if you’d be so kind as to give me a few minutes I’ll explain.”

Twilight stayed silent and unmoving, and when she didn’t move Discord rolled his eyes and walked up to her, gently leading her out the door and back into the main hall to sit her down on her book couch as he continued his morning rituals.

“Honestly, I can’t get you to come around for two weeks and now you’re having trouble with leaving me alone. You are giving me quite mixed signals, Ms. Sparky.”

The use of his irksome endearment for her seemed to coax her mind back into business, and she felt like she could probably actually form words now.

“But, Discord, what—“

“Up up up,” he waved a hoof at her shaking his head. “No questions until I figure out how to brush my teeth with these hooves.”

The most obvious answer would be to use magic, although since Discord had not been a pony for very long and Twilight was still reeling and trying to come to terms with the idea of Discord being a pony at all, neither of them came up with it.

All thought of exemplifying the correct etiquette abandoned, the unicorn slid off the couch and wandered the length of the chamber, the vague goal of ‘back to the library’ was the only reason Twilight could think of for why she was already outside, and she decided it would be more than fine to carry that out. It may have partially been to give Discord his desired space, but it was most likely to distance herself from what she had just seen.

5. Someone Who - Like it or Not - Will Always Be There

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The purple pony – still in a daze of confusion and curiosity about Discord’s current state – wandered back through the forest towards Ponyville. She almost didn’t even think to look up at the looming cloud city still almost-directly above her home, but the worry and the dread were stunned for now, replaced with awe and complete what-the-heckary.

Before she could really decide whether she wanted to teleport to the library or not, she found that her hooves had carried her all the way out of the forest and into the streets of town already. In fact Twilight only realized she was there when her eyes landed on the pink hooves of a pony directly in front of her, blocking her path.

“Oh, Twilight Twilight, there you are! We’ve been looking everywhere but we couldn’t find you!” Pinkie cried as she grabbed her friend by the shoulders and hugged her with a mighty squeeze.

“Hi…Pinkie…” the unicorn gasped from the lung-crushing grip of Pinkie Pie’s friendship.

“When Spike told us you hadn’t come home yet we started looking for you,” Pinkie told her as she loosened her hold enough for Twilight to slip out of the tight hug. “We knew you probably needed to take a break from all that running around like a crazy pony, but we didn’t think you’d go disappearing on us.”

Before Twilight could start in with her explanation, Pinkie turned and pulled her towards Sugarcube Corner. “Come on, we’ve gotta tell every pony that you’re back and that you’re ok!”

Twilight resisted, pulling against Pinkie’s coaxing hoof-hold. She needed to tell her friends about this – this was most definitely something they needed to know about. She just wasn’t certain they should all find out at the same time. Maybe if she could get Pinkie Pie back with her, they both could find a way to breach the issue to the others together. Pinkie was at least one of her friends that had been more willing to accept Discord and the new relationship Twilight had formed with him. She knew the pink pony to have a childlike demeanor, and young fillies and colts did seem to be more accepting of things they didn’t quite understand.

“No Pinkie,” she said to her friend as she began to pull her back towards the forest. “Before we let every pony know, there’s something I might need your help with.” Pinkie looked puzzled at Twilight’s request. “I think you should see this.”

Her frazzled tone must have alerted Pinkie to the importance of what she wanted her friend to see, so the mare followed Twilight back through town towards the forest.

“Well, okie dokie Twilight, but… where are we going?” she asked as they walked deeper into the Everfree.

Twilight figured there was no beating around the bush. She had been straight with her friends about all the other big problems that were happening of-late, she should continue in that vein as well here.

“We’re going to see Discord.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie jumped at the idea. “Really, you’re letting me come along to visit? You’ve never let any pony come with you before!”

She glanced back at her friend through the dark shade of the thick trees, momentarily distracted from her current goal by this observation. “You could have come with me anytime, it’s not like I was excluding you.”

“Well, you just never invited any of us is all,” Pinkie said, still bouncing. “I figured you just wanted to keep him all to yourself.”

A jolt of embarrassment at her comment shot through the unicorn. “What does that mean?”

“Iunno, just that he must be really fun is all,” Pinkie answered, looking surprised at Twilight’s anxious tone. “He seems like he’d be a fun pony to have for a party now that he’s not trying to take over everything. Does he still make those yummy cotton candy clouds with the chocolate rain?”

Twilight didn’t give her friend an answer, instead deciding to just go ahead and teleport them both back to Discord’s home. Pinkie Pie didn’t waste any time oohing, awing and zipping around to see what was all in the big main chamber.

“Hey I remember this place, this is where we fought Nightmare Moon!” her loud comments echoed throughout the room, adding to their volume. “Wow, Discord gets to live here, that’s just so neat!”

“Pinkie, we’re not here to look around at the décor, I brought you here because I need your help – and probably every pony else’s too – because I have no idea what I’m dealing with here, this problem is just too weird for me to handle on my own.”

“What problem?” Pinkie asked, already forgetting that Twilight was trying to be serious.

“I think it will be pretty obvious once I find Discord,” she answered, leaving her friend to explore the throne room and going to find the draconequus in-question.

She found him in his bedroom, now sulking on the floor below his four poster ceiling bed.

“Is this what you’ve been doing the whole time I was gone?” Twilight asked as she approached. It was easier to come up to him this time, although it was still freaky to ponder that this was indeed him. Twilight was still trying to wrap her mind around it.

Discord’s ears were flat on his head and he glanced up at her only with his eyes, now looking exhaustingly depressed with frustration.

“This body is annoying, I’ve only just been crammed into it and already it seems to be breaking down. There’s this terrible dryness in my throat and a horrible pressure in my lower stomach. No matter how I lay it won’t just go away.”

Those were some curious symptoms to Twilight, she could at least decipher the first, but for the second she had no idea. “You’re probably just thirsty, and for the second thing… have you tried standing up?”

Discord grumbled as he eased himself up on his now four matching legs, immediately wincing once he straightened up and crossing his back legs automatically.

Twilight blinked as it slowly dawned on her Discord’s immediate problem, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said flatly. “You have to go to the bathroom.”

“Bath-what?“ he asked, antsy now as well as frustrated.

“Bathroom,” she repeated.

“What-room?”

“Bathroom.”

“What-what?”

The unicorn rolled her eyes and face-hoofed at the idea of having to be the one to explain this to him. This was not the type of thing she signed up for when agreeing to help Discord.

“Come on, you must know what I’m talking about. Restroom, lavatory, water closet, going to see a pony about a--- “

“Well, I’m so glad you know all the terms,” Discord interrupted. “Can you explain to me what that has to do with this?”

“It’s the room where ponies go to…do you really not know, or are you just messing with me?”

Another wince and a kind of hop from the newly-made unicorn told her that he was not.

“Oh Celestia…don’t you have a room for situations like this somewhere in this place?” Twilight looked around as if searching for a sign or a big flashing arrow of some sort.

He frowned at her and shook his head. “That never really occurred to me since this has never happened to me before!” Discord’s voice was rising as he continued to squirm.

She sighed and started leading him outside. “Come on, before you wet yourself. If you don’t have a restroom in here you’ll have to do it outside.”

“Before I what?” Discord indignantly questioned as he followed her.

Thankfully it did not take long to reach an exit, and Twilight hurriedly rushed him behind a bush. She tried to explain as best she could what to do from a good distance away, facing away from him with her hoof still planted firmly over her face and feeling a blush rising despite her best efforts to quell it.

“Ok so…now what?” Discord questioned the unicorn.

“Now you just--- let it go,” she answered back with much embarrassment.

“Let what go?”

Twilight gritted her teeth as she fought to not yell. “Just, just… let your lower half go limp.”

She heard a thud. “I fell down,” he stated from behind the bush. “Great. Any other helpful instructions?”

“I meant let yourself relax, and release that…pressure.”

“Oh,” Discord said as he made the connection. A few seconds later he called back, sounding quite disturbed. “Gah, I’m leaking!”

“That’s supposed to happen! That is the entire point of this! Just hurry up will you? Do you need me to make some water sounds for you or something?” Twilight shouted, the redness in her face rising from both irritation and awkwardness.

He shut up then and tried to do as she said.

Eventually Discord seemed to get the idea, and a few minutes later emerged from the bush and back over to where Twilight stood waiting on him but resolutely not looking in his direction.

Discord came up beside her but she didn’t budge, so he tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and glanced over to him, her voice betraying her very strong discomfort at this scenario.

“Oh, right, so you’re done now? Ok, well… let’s get back to the main room, Pinkie Pie’s here and I’ll need to bring every pony else around.”

“So we’re just going to have a party?” Discord asked, not seeming to be embarrassed at all about what had just transpired; only mildly annoyed. “Are we going to tell all of Equestria about this? Because this is humiliating enough for me without all of your friends knowing.”

“I have to tell them,” Twilight said as she took a deep breath to try and calm herself. “They deserve to know. We’re the Bearers of the Elements after all, we might be able to help.”

“That won’t help, even if your friends actually had the inclination to help me. Evidently I’m banished to this form for a whole seven days,” he said as he walked along beside her, pausing to lift one of his front hooves to inspect it. “Ugh, trust Celestia to pick the drabbest color on my body to make my coat, and what in the world am I supposed to do with hooves?”

Twilight did a double take, pausing as well to look at Discord again. “Wait, what did you say? Princess Celestia did this to you?”

“Yes, yes, she and her sister,” Discord said as though it were obvious. “Apparently I needed a better ‘lesson in ponies’ or something like that. Just because I didn’t feel like helping her out at that moment. Doesn’t this seem like an extreme punishment to you?”

“But… why did she do this to you?” Twilight asked, but then thought better of it. “No, wait. I think we all need to be here for that story.”

The two unicorns headed down the hallway towards the main chamber of the castle ruins, though not without getting trapped in the weird turnaround hall that Discord had placed in his home for a reason that he could now not think of.

Twilight didn’t need to be able to see the throne room yet to know that Pinkie Pie was still there, for she could hear the pink pony loudly giggling, gasping, and wandering curiously as she typically did.

“Ooh, this is so neat!” they could hear her delighted cheers echoing all the way through the structure. They eventually entered the hall to see Pinkie poking a large chair made of cake, possibly unsure whether or not it was alright to eat.

When she caught sight of them, Pinkie bounded back to her friend and pointed to the chair. “Twilight, have you seen this cake chair? I wonder if Discord can make one for me. I want a cupcake chair, one that’s shaped like a cupcake and made of cupcakes! Ooh, or better yet, a cupcake throne. Wouldn’t that be neat?”

Once she had finished reveling about the prospect of pastry upholstery, the earth pony’s blue eyes landed on the other – much newer – unicorn beside Twilight.

“Hey, who is this?” Pinkie said as she stared right at Discord. “I’ve never seen you before, and if I’ve never seen you before that must mean you’re new in town! Do you have any friends? Aw I hope so, it can’t be fun to come to a place where you have no friends. Twilight, ya think we should have a party for your new friend here?”

“Pinkie…” Twilight tried to butt in, although Pinkie Pie was now in full-on gabbing mode.

“So, what’s your name? Where are you from? What’s up with your horn? Ooh, sorry, maybe that was rude, it might be a medical condition or something,” Pinkie said as she walked circles around Discord, who just stood there impatiently. Twilight knew that he had never seen Pinkie in her normal chatty state and she sort of wondered how much he could stand.

“Pinkie…” she tried again for both hers and Discord’s sakes. It was better if they just got things going and started figuring out what was going on.

“What’s up with your cutie mark?” Pinkie asked, ignoring that that might have been a rude question as well.

Now that Twilight could get a good look at him, she began to wonder as well. She hadn’t been paying attention to his flank, but as both mares looked from one side of him to another, they noticed something very odd. Discord appeared to have two cutie marks, one on each side of him.

The one on his left was a golden apple, an ancient symbol of chaos from olden pony times. It was even known as The Apple of Discord … well, that was fitting.

The mark on his right side was a swirling pattern, but not a line curving in on itself like Zecora’s sun whirl, it was wispy and seemed to be spinning around a darker central point… sort of like a hurricane. Certainly that was a good one for him as well.

“This is so weird,” Pinkie said as she looked from one side to the other quickly. Twilight thought so as well, but still she knew that it got weirder.

“So you’ve got one apple and one hurricane. Are you a weather pony? Or are you related to Applejack? I don’t think I’ve heard of a unicorn weather pony, or one being a relative of AJ. Have you Twilight?”

“No Pinkie I haven’t,” Twilight took this opportunity to finally be able to cut in on the conversation.

“Pinkie, forget about the cutie marks for the moment. Do you know who this is?”

The earth pony glanced back at Discord, giving him another stare down and hmming as she thought. She glanced back at Twilight with a shrug. “No Twi, should I?”

“Well I know you,” Discord said, speaking for the first time in a while. “Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter, a personal favorite of mine. Although I didn’t know you had such a talkative streak about you.”

“She gets sidetracked sort of easily,” Twilight stated as an aside.

Pinkie blinked at him. “Hey, that sounds familiar; I’ve heard some pony say that before.”

“That you’re talkative? I’m sure I’m not the first.”

“No…” Pinkie said, now lost in thought. “Huh, he does sound kinda familiar.”

“Can’t we just tell her and get this over with?” Discord asked and Pinkie continued to ponder.

“Oh no, let me try and guess, I love guessing games,” Pinkie waved her hooves and shook her head.

“Yeah, and you do love games, don’t you?” Twilight had to smirk at Discord’s impatience. After all the times when he was trying to stall her, this was just a little bit satisfying no matter how much she wanted to find things out.

“Oh, har dee har,” Discord scowled. Pinkie had been circling them both like a shark, and Twilight wondered how come she hadn’t tripped over anything yet.

“Aww, don’t be so cranky… ooh are you related to my friend Cranky? I mean, he’s a donkey, but you could be a mule. You kinda look like one Mister.”

“Pinkie, do you want me to just tell you?” Twilight asked, feeling that Discord probably had had enough.

After a few more minutes of circling, Pinkie Pie did finally plonk herself down and shrug in defeat. “Ok, I give up.”

“It’s Discord.”

Pinkie cocked her head to one side and perked her ears. “Discord? Nu-uh. Discord’s not a unicorn, silly. He’s a lot taller than this pony, and he’s all miss-matchy.”

“Well, this is him,” Twilight re-stated. She had counted on some level of disbelief from her friend, especially as she was still having trouble believing it herself.

Pinkie stepped back up to Discord, looking him over with a much more scrutinizing eye.

“I… guess… he kinda sorta looks like him. In the face. He kinda had that long, drawn out, donkey face right?”

“Donkey face?” Discord said indignantly, Twilight stifled a chuckle.

“Hmm,” Pinkie rubbed her chin with her pink hoof. “I’m not gonna believe you unless you can prove it. Say something… something only the real Discord would say,” she challenged the grayish former-draconequus.

“Uh…” Discord said, looking unsure of what to say now being put on the spot. “I’m Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony?”

Pinkie smiled widely. “Alright, it’s him. I believe you,” she said quickly, all doubt forgotten.

“But how did he get like this? What are we gonna do, Twilight?”

“That’s why I brought you here. I figured we would need to bring every pony here so we can figure this out. Would you mind staying here with him while I go round every pony else up?”

“Since when do I need a foal sitter?” Discord asked Twilight. “I got along here all by myself for all the time I’ve been assigned to these deserted places.”

“Since you made me help you go to the bathroom,” Twilight said with the briefest touch of the awkwardness that encounter had created. “Obviously you don’t know certain things about being a pony, so you need guidance.”

“I didn’t make you do anything; it’s just your innate pony nature that you feel you need to help with everything.”

“Is that your way of saying thank you?” Twilight argued. “I am trying to understand this Discord, and I know this is just as freaky for you as it is for me… us… all of us,” she fumbled the last part in her frustration. “You do need help whether you think so or not.”

“I could probably figure things out for myself,” Discord said with offense.

“Didn’t you think you were breaking down a little while ago?”

He halted. “Yes, and I’m still thirsty.”

“O-K,” Pinkie pushed in-between the two quarreling ponies, Twilight taking some satisfaction that she could now stand eye to eye with Discord without him wrapping around or looming above her. “Let’s go and find every pony else ok Twilight?”

Twilight backed up a few steps. Pinkie was right, and they’d had enough distractions for one day. When it was clear she was done arguing for the moment, Pinkie turned to the grayish male.

“Discord, I really wanna stay here with you and talk about that cake chair, but I think Twilight needs me to go with her, so you’ll have to be on your own.”

“Which is how I would prefer it,” Discord said.

That agitated Twilight more than it probably should have. Well if that was his attitude, maybe she shouldn’t help him at all or even come back. A part of the unicorn knew this was simply her being so on-edge, and that she’d regret it if she didn’t come back. As much as Discord normally riled her up, she knew now that he wasn’t all bad, and he shouldn’t be alone too long.

Calming down again, the unicorn nodded and looked back to Discord. “Fine. We’ll be back, just don’t do anything ok?”

“Fine,” he repeated with the same sort of briskness.

As they headed out of the ruins, Pinkie glanced behind at him and then back to Twilight, a question that seemed to amuse her clear on her face.

“Did you really have to teach him to use the bathroom?” she whispered with a giggle.

Twilight rolled her eyes, waiting until Discord was well behind them to give an explanation of that particular part of her day.

It took them a while to round up the others, for Rarity’s turn at spell-duty had just begun when they arrived, and as Fluttershy had been late coming back the previous day she was nervous about leaving her post for very long. Rainbow reluctantly allowed herself to go along though it was clear that she wanted to stay as well.

Twilight assured them that this was an important matter, but didn’t want to fully reveal it out in public. She had made Pinkie give her own Pinkie Promise not to say anything until they arrived at Discord’s.

The four puzzled ponies followed their friends to the edge of the forest but Twilight – deciding that she had had enough trekking through the woods today – teleported them directly into the chamber where Discord still stood, or lounged. He was stretched out on his cake chair, looking closer to his usual self than he had been recently.

As they reached him and Twilight could see his face better, she noticed that he still looked quite sulky.

“Uh Twilight, what’re we doin’ here?” Applejack questioned as they all took a look around the grand hall. “Ain’t this the old ruins in the Everfree?”

“And who is that?” Rarity asked, pointing to where Discord sat frowning up at his one small horn. “I don’t want sound rude but that shade of his coat is not flattering at all. Perhaps he might want something a little less… drab.”

“Aw, it’s not his fault Rarity, that’s just the color they made him when they ch-” Pinkie stopped herself before she could break her own promise, shoving her hooves over her mouth and emitting a muffled gasp.

The pink pony looked to her purple friend, and Twilight gave a nod. She might as well be the one to spill the beans and tell her confused friends.

“Go ahead, Pinkie.”

Taking a deep breath Pinkie Pie threw her hooves down and blurted out the secret to the room at large. “Discord, it’s Discord! He got changed into a pony for some reason and now he’s a unicorn!” She settled back down now that the secret was revealed; leaving some very shocked faces in its wake.

“Oh, and he’s gonna make me a throne made of cupcakes.” Pinkie added with a delighted smile.

Disbelief seemed to be the predominant choice of reaction preferred by her friends judging by most of their faces. Twilight noticed that each pony was taking it in turns to glance at Pinkie’s smile, Discord’s scowl, and her own look of uncertainty, for she did not yet know how they would react to this.

“Twilight,” Rarity blinked as she turned to the purple unicorn. “Is that true? This is…but how?”

“I don’t much care about tha how so much as the why,” Applejack said, eyes now narrowing in suspicion. “Why in tha hay would he do somethin‘ like that?”

“You honestly think I did this to myself?” Discord asked while looking at them perched upside down in his chair. “Do you really think I would subject myself to this of my own free will?”

“There’s not that much we don’t think you’d do if you thought you could have some fun at some pony else’s expense,” Rainbow said, matching AJ’s suspicious tone. “We’ve seen you change your shape before to try and mess with Fluttershy.”

The pegasus in-question was the only pony not to have spoken so far during this whole strange encounter. She wasn’t cowering behind her friends – as was a normal move for her – but Fluttershy seemed to be the only one who was unsure how to feel about Discord suddenly being a pony. She continued to give the odd glance back to Twilight, as if watching to see how the unicorn would react.

“Hey, he did that to me too,” Pinkie said, though more as a statement than an accusation. “But Dashie’s right, why don’t you just change back if you don‘t like it?”

“I’ve tried,” Discord explained with an exhausted sigh. “Once Twilight had left to apparently round the lot of you up that was the first thing I attempted. That was the first time I felt any semblance of strength since this was done to me last night. They seem to have taken most of my powers as well… that or blocked them”

“Likely story,” Applejack said. “How do we know this ain’t part of some big game of yours?”

“I don’t remember that,” Twilight said, now trying to recall the events of the previous night. “Was this before or after you brought us back home – or – to your home, I mean?” she corrected herself quickly.

Thankfully no pony – specifically not Discord – reacted to that little slip of the tongue, for Twilight assumed he’d make some sort of joke about it.

“Only a short time after,” Discord answered her. “I received an urgent summons from Princess Prissy-pants herself, and then I got plopped back here. I possibly could have changed back if this body wasn’t so weak.”

“If they blocked your magic, then probably not,” Twilight added. “I think if you were able to do so, you would have succeeded already.”

“But, who are ‘they’?” Rainbow Dash asked, still with an air of disbelief.

“That I don’t know,” Twilight said. “When I woke up he was just like this.”

“’When you woke up?’ Darling, is this where you were when Spike couldn’t find you?” Rarity asked her, hoof raised to her lip and sounding a tad scandalized. “We were getting quite worried about you when he said you hadn’t returned home, and now to hear that you actually spent the night over here?”

The white pony’s tone was making that sound a lot more unsavory than it actually was, and that was not lost on Twilight who very swiftly attempted to quell any new suspicions Rarity might have formed upon hearing that she spent the night with Discord.

“I fell asleep and he put me on the couch,” Twilight adamantly recounted. “Then I woke up and found him in his room as a pony. But that’s not really the issue here.”

“Yeah, the issue here is what sort of game is he playing?” Rainbow said. “Why turn into a pony and then complain about it?”

“I believe I just told you that I didn’t do this to myself, or haven’t you been listening?” Discord said, now righting himself and standing before them.

“Rainbow, I don’t think Discord had any say in this, and I certainly don’t think he did it himself,” Twilight thought back to their little ‘bathroom lesson’ and shook her head at the memory. “Believe me.”

“Well, I don’t suppose any pony would choose that unfortunate color for their coat of their own free will if they were going to change species,” Rarity concluded.

“That we can agree on,” Discord said, inspecting his hooves again and sticking out his tongue. “Wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t just this one color.”

“I still ain’t buyin’ it,” Applejack murmured as she took a look around the former-draconequus. She leered down and pointed at his left side

“And what’s this here on your flank? Y’all trying to impersonate my kin so ya can infiltrate my family?”

“Oh yes Applejack, you figured out my master plan,” Discord said with much sarcasm. “I turned myself into a pony just so I could impersonate a member of your family… please, as if your family hasn’t infiltrated itself enough.”

The indignity of that insinuation was probably more incentive than Applejack needed. “Are those fightin’ words I hear? Come on,” she shouted as she lunged for him, but was held back by – of all ponies – Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow, let go of me! I wanna see him fight now without all his little tricks.”

“AJ, as much I really, really agree with you… and would love to see what he can do now he’s knocked down to our level …” she took a deep breath as if to try and swallow her pride.

“We kinda jumped the gun with him last time when we didn’t really listen to Twilight.” Rainbow turned to Twilight as AJ stopped squirming.

Twilight was a bit touched by that, perhaps her friends were recalling what they had seen when they formed their mental and empathic link the last time the Elements were used to restrict Discord.

The unicorn smiled at Rainbow and she returned it slowly, but then saw the pegasus turn stern again as she looked back to the former-draconequus.

“That does not mean that we’re gonna trust you completely, though Discord. We just figure she has a better picture of what’s going on with you.”

“Actually, I don’t know that much either,” Twilight stated. “I refrained from asking until we were all present.” She hoped her being able to restrain her curiosity would count for something. “All I know is that evidently Princess Celestia has something to do with this… transformation of his.”

She gave a gesture for Discord to elaborate, but he seemed reluctant to do so. After a few minutes of mulling he began to explain with that same air of annoyance that - so far - had plagued him for his entire unicorn existence.

“It was something about ‘learning to empathize with ponies’ or ‘understanding them’ or something. I apparently don’t have enough care for you ponies for the princess’s taste.”

“But, that’s the same thing I’ve been trying to teach you during our visits,” Twilight said. “Maybe Princess Celestia hasn’t seen any improvement.” Her heart sank at the thought that she might have let her mentor down.

“Oh, it’s not all your fault, you’ve been going on about it since day one,” Discord offhandedly pointed out. This didn‘t really help to reassure Twilight. “This just appears to be something they’d been contemplating doing for a while now, but this whole business with Tartarus was the last straw when it came to tolerating me.”

Twilight did a double take at the mention of Tartarus, in fact all of the ponies’ eyes widened at the name.

“Can you believe it? Celestia must take pleasure in cooking up such forms of punishment. Wonder what would happen if I’d said I didn’t like bananas?” Discord continued with his grumbling rant.

“Discord, what was that part about Tartarus?” Twilight asked quickly, trying to keep him on-topic.

“Hmm?” he questioned as if he hadn’t been paying attention. “Oh yes, that. The spells that bind the gates appear to be weakening, and the Harmony twins have been working on it ‘round the clock trying to keep them from breaking.”

This was brand new information to Twilight, suddenly the reason for Celestia’s and Luna’s silence was quite clear. So they had been facing a similar problem to their own… if only a much more magnified one.

“That is important,” Twilight whispered to herself. “But what does that have to do with your current condition?”

“Celestia’s issued me a royal ultimatum,” Discord announced, then gestured to himself. “I spend a week in this… limited form to learn about the power of friendship or something so I can understand why I need to help them seal the gate.”

“Wait, they need you to seal it?” the purple unicorn asked.

“I’m the only one with magic ancient enough to do the job effectively.”

“But why didn’t you just do it without a fuss? This is something that concerns the fate of Equestria. Surely you’d want to help since you – I don’t know – live here now and all.”

Discord shrugged. “I didn’t really see the point.”

“Didn’t see the po-” Twilight facehoofed, unable to comprehend Discord’s words. “The point would be to avoid a major disaster that could harm all ponies everywhere.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t affect me that much does it?” he asked, which only made Twilight’s consternation with him rise. “Evidently if I fail to have learned an adequate amount about your little ‘bonds’ I’m being sent into Tartarus myself, and I shall be forced to seal the gate with myself inside.”

That threw Twilight for a loop. Would the princesses really actually do that? Would they banish Discord into that horrible place knowing that they needed him to retain balance?

“Oh, don’t look so worried, Twilight Dear,” Discord said, which made the unicorn shrink and glance away from him. “I could make it out eventually, just I probably wouldn’t be allowed back on this plane. I’d have to go back out there,” he made his gesture of vaguely outwards. “…to that boring empty place I came from before.”

“Then I guess it does concern you now, doesn’t it?” Rainbow scoffed. “And I’m guessing you want our help? Why does it take the fear of getting penned-up somewhere for you to cooperate?”

The unicorn was having almost as much of a struggle with this explanation for this transformation as the transformation itself. The princesses had done this to him because they hadn’t seen any improvement…or at least not enough.

After all these months of trying to get him to care, she thought he was really starting to, but her teacher had deemed it insufficient. She wasn’t sure who she should blame more, Discord or herself.

Still battling in which direction to aim her anger, she felt it rising to a critical level. Whichever way it was fired, Twilight was certain she didn’t want her friends to be around. Another private talk with Discord was in order.

“Girls, will you excuse us?” she asked through her teeth after a long pause. They all seemed to notice her temper building - all but Discord - and with a flash of her own magenta-colored magic she had transported the two of them to his bedroom.

Apparently startled at finding himself again transported somewhere without his knowledge or consent, Discord was thrown off momentarily and therefore was even slower to realize Twilight’s current state.

“Is this going to keep happening, because it’s very disorienting,” he said.

Twilight nearly groaned . How could he have the nerve to complain about being teleported when he had done so countless times to her and the others?

Twilight kept her expression firm, her stance aggressive. “You should probably get used to it, and that’s not the point.”

Now that she had him here alone, the purple pony didn’t actually know what to say to him. There were just too many words filling her mind to even attempt to line them up properly. After all their talks, their debates, the books and the blanket… had none of it meant as much as Twilight thought? Could Discord really disregard everything she tried to share with him as soon as it failed to benefit him?

If that were true, then perhaps she really had failed after all. Even his only friend couldn’t get him to care enough it seemed.

During the unicorn’s pause, Discord seemed to notice her extensive level of upset, and looked very uncomfortable about how he should handle it.

“Alright, let’s try this again. Why didn’t you just help them?” her question came out much softer than she had assumed it would, an extremely tired edge to it.

“They didn’t offer much in the way of reasoning, and had you been there it would have been evident to you that there was clearly no bargaining with them. It was their way or the T-way.”

Twilight shook her head at him. “You don’t know that, you can’t know everything,”

“Maybe you can’t,” Discord retorted under his breath, which she ignored.

“Well I at least know the princesses would have at least made an argument for their case before doing something like this to you.”

“And so they did,” he answered.

“But obviously it wasn’t enough,” Twilight concluded with a quick glance over his pony form. “What exactly did they say to you?”

Discord looked almost offended for a moment as he blinked at her comment. Twilight had no idea if she was right in assuming that was what she saw in his face, because it was quickly masked by yet more annoyance at having to recall the night again.

“They wouldn’t even entertain the idea of bartering my assistance for some lifting of the restrictions put upon me, it was all ‘do it for every pony’s sake, this world is your home now, too,’” Discord rolled his eyes as he repeated.

“They’re right though,” Twilight pointed out. “and those restrictions were always temporary; it was always your probation. This could have been your chance to show them that it’s helped you, you know. If you hadn’t tried to force it.”

“It was worth bringing up, especially as they were not offering,” Discord said.

Twilight tried extremely hard not to face hoof again. “It’s statements like that that make me wonder if you really have learned anything from me,” she said instead.

“Nice to know you’re all on the same page in this,” Discord muttered. “I suppose that now you know why they did this you approve of it?”

The unicorn halted, momentarily hurt by her own thoughts, for she had been slowly coming to this conclusion throughout his explanation, but it wasn’t something that Twilight wanted to consider on top of the shock of seeing him like this and her apparent failure to instruct her new friend.

This transformation was her replacement.

“Well - if the princesses saw fit to do this to you, then evidently I wasn’t fulfilling my duties as well as I thought… or as well as they wanted,” Twilight said. “I was the one meant to teach you, but I guess I just wasn’t enough.”

“Oh I see now, so it’s all going back to you, isn’t it?” Discord said with annoyance. “The whole reason for this has to be because you failed the princesses, it was your actions alone because everything is always about you.”

“Well how can that be, when everything is obviously about you?” Twilight asked sarcastically. “Of course, that’s why you refused to help, because everything you do has to be for your obvious and immediate benefit.”

“In a perfect world, yes.”

The unicorn mare couldn't hold back a groan this time. “Here I am thinking ‘well if I had just done more to show him about pony kind, taught him a little more, maybe this wouldn’t have been necessary’, I have to blame myself somewhat, because when faced with a choice like you had - something that couldn’t have taken much effort by your standards at all mind you - the fact that you chose yourself above every pony else clearly shows how little you listen to me… and how little you must think of what I have to say.”

“Are you really concerned that I didn’t listen, because you should be used to that by now,” Discord fired back at her. “I think you’re more concerned that I made you look bad in front of your beloved teacher.”

Twilight was taken aback by both of his statements. “You---how could you even think that? I thought you were listening, I thought you were making progress.”

“Maybe I was some of the time, and then after about the hundredth lecture I grew a tad tired of the nagging,”

“Nagging?”

“I try to get you to loosen up, and have some fun. Isn’t that one of those things that friends are supposed to be for?”

“I--but---Ugh, yes Discord, but that isn’t supposed to be the point of our visits.”

“So you admit that this really is all just some big duty to you?” Discord asked, both ponies staring each other down now, a sense of sternness forming between them that had not been felt for some time. “Well, you can take the blame off yourself, Ms. Sparky. You can’t fail a test because your subject is ‘uncooperative’.”

“This is not about tasks or duties, Discord. This is about you not considering others’ welfare,” Twilight argued. “I think you might be better here with me, when you aren’t actually faced with the choice, but apparently it’s much harder for you to keep that mindset when actually in a situation that requires you to think of others first. If you had just helped them, I don’t think this would have been the choice they made.”

Discord didn’t seem to have a quick response to that, he merely glowered at her, which she assumed was mirrored on her face.

“But you made your choice, what’s done is done. The options you have before you now are: learn the lesson that I have been trying to teach you, or be essentially banished from this plane of existence.”

Twilight thought she could easily tell what the newly-made unicorn was thinking now, that maybe banishment didn’t seem like such a bad option at the moment.

“Well, if it seems my only ‘friend’ is washing her hooves of me, what’s to keep me from failing Celestia’s little test and getting on with my isolation? You wouldn’t have to worry about letting them down if I do the failing all on my own.”

“Don’t even try to say that you don’t want to be here, because I know you do. As much as you complain about every pony or your restrictions… you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else because all of the other options leave you alone forever. You desperately need amusement and - I think - at least some form of companionship. You can’t get any of that trapped in stone, Tartarus, or in your ‘other plane’.”

About the rest of his comment, Twilight did not even want to dignify with a response. True, Discord was not her favorite pony at the moment, but he should have known by now that she wasn’t ‘washing her hooves’ of him or anything of the kind.

She wanted him to be able to be happy, and Twilight knew that for Discord that meant being free. She just wanted him to be able to come to - at the very least - an appreciation for her kind without such a harsh method.

“It sounds to me like they are taking a big risk here for your benefit. The longer they wait for a permanent solution, the more chance there is of the seals weakening enough for something to escape,” Twilight said. “You should consider this an opportunity as opposed to a punishment.”

“An opportunity” he repeated skeptically.

“Yes, for you to maybe get a better view of what I’ve been trying to tell you,” she said. “Maybe even attempt that whole ‘trying to get them to understand by you making the first move’ thing?”

Twilight could tell that this did not really appeal to him, but really… what other options did he have? Who knows, actually being around other ponies might go a bit further at showing him why ponies matter more than just lecturing him somewhere far removed from any pony else.

Flashing them back into the main chamber where the others were waiting - not certain if their little aside had helped to clarify anything or convince him in any way - Twilight continued in a much more upbeat and she hoped less absolutely frustrated way.

“We’ll help if we can.”

“Uh, we will?” Applejack asked with a side glance to Twilight.

“Yes, we will,” she emphasized. “I don’t think any pony here would willingly send Discord into Tartarus when the princesses themselves are giving him this chance.”

“We wouldn’t?” Rainbow asked from the other side of Twilight. The unicorn sighed. It was going to be more work selling them all on helping than she thought. She supposed it was the Element Bearer’s turn for a private word.

“Ok, huddle now please.”

The other five mares circled around Twilight, leaving Discord to sit on the outside knowing that they were discussing him.

Twilight could see him straining to hear them, and with her magic she sent him sliding back to his chair.

“Give us a minute, alright?” she added with a quick glance up to him. Only for a second did she notice his continued disliking that she could manipulate him magically now.

Leaning back down to the others Twilight whispered to Rainbow Dash. “What’s the matter, I thought you were going to be with me on this?”

“I am, it’s just…” Dash fumbled. She was clearly struggling between her natural mistrust of Discord and her loyalty to her friend. “How exactly are we supposed to help him learn about pony bonds or whatever when spending months with you hasn’t done the trick?”

“Some ponies learn in different ways,” Twilight said with a hint of the disappointment she was still trying to overcome. “I had hoped that he’d at least taken something out of our visits.” She wanted to believe that he really had made some progress, especially if his words – and actions – last night were any indication.

“I’m sure it ain’t your fault, Twi,” Applejack said. “I still don’t think he even wants ta learn. Why should we help him? Tha way I see it at tha end of this we could knock two apples with one buck.”

“Applejack, no matter what he’s done in the past, he deserves to be here,” the unicorn stated. “Forget about my personal connections to this for a minute – you all know those anyway – he hasn’t done anything towards any pony in all the time he’s been free, don’t you think that means he wants to stay? If any pony wants to be here, they should be accepted.”

AJ didn’t look all that convinced, and the others also looked wary.

“If he needs to learn about empathy, I think we should show him a little bit first. What kind of example would we be showing if we refused to help?”

“But what if he don’t want ta learn?” the orange earth pony asked.

“I think he will, whether he likes it or not,” Twilight answered.

“I’ll help Twilight,” Pinkie smiled. “It’s the least I can do since he’s gonna make me that cupcake throne when he gets his powers back and all.”

“I suppose I could help as well,” Rarity reluctantly said, taking another look back over to Discord’s coat. “Are you sure he couldn’t be helped by just a little coat-dying?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not really that big of an issue. Although… maybe something to cover his cutie marks. I’m not sure yet how I want to explain this to every pony else, but a pony with two cutie marks is bound to raise questions.”

“Fluttershy?” Twilight set her eyes on the yellow pony. She had been listening quietly to every pony speak, still with an emphasis on her purple friend’s state during all of this. She gave Twilight a small smile and nodded.

“How about it, AJ?” she turned to her final friend in the grouping.

Applejack’s reluctance was about as clear as Discord’s had been, but Twilight gave her an optimistic, only-slightly pleading smile. This caused the hat-adorned mare to sigh in defeat.

“Alright, fine. But I still don’t know what we can teach him that’ll convince the princesses.”

“We’ll just do the best we can,” Twilight said. She then raised her head to look at Discord, and the others followed suit.

“Ok Discord, we’ve all agreed to help. Although that’s only if you’ll accept it and agree to try,” the unicorn emphasized that last word. It was becoming such a recurring thing with them it was almost an inside joke.

The grayish temporary-pony seemed to catch that, standing back up with an eye roll of his own.

“…fine,” he said. “So now what?”

“Well, I guess we start by getting you into Ponyville,” Twilight said. The same question seemed to come to both she and Discord at the exact same time. Would he even be able to enter the town at all, even in pony form?

“We’ll give it a try first, anyway,” the purple pony awkwardly added in answer to the silent question.

“Oh joy, more border-testing,” Discord mumbled as they all began to head out, the former-draconequus lagging behind.

6. Not a Question but a Lesson Learned In Time

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Teleportation was coming more naturally to Twilight than it had in the beginning, but that didn’t mean that the force needed to transport seven ponies to the edge of the forest did not at least knock the wind out of her a bit.

After she took a moment or two to breathe, the others walked effortlessly across the invisible border and into the parameter of Ponyville. One of the guard ponies that had come along with Shining Armor was not far, hard at work performing the spell that was buying the towns’ ponies some time.

Predictably the only one who was in the least bit hesitant to walk any further was Discord. As Twilight walked by with her friends, she looked back to see him cautiously eyeing the place where he knew the invisible line to be, but from the safety of a spot far away beneath the black mulberry tree.

Twilight turned around but stayed on the Ponyville side of the line, giving him a coaxing wave of her hoof.

“Come on Discord, if we don’t check to see if your restriction spell is still in affect there’s no way we can proceed.”

“Come on, Dissy!” Pinkie coaxed, trying to help. Every pony gave her a look at the use of this random new nickname. “You can do it, come on.” The pink pony clapped her hooves and patted them on her knees as if she were calling a pet.

“Pinkie, he’s not a dog,” Twilight said.

“What if it does still shock him?” Fluttershy asked quietly from Twilight’s other side.

“Well, then our task to help him will be a bit more difficult,” Twilight answered.

“I have a hunch though that however Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were able to perform this transformation on him, the spell or spells may have canceled out ours. I don’t know what kind of power is strong enough to overpower something done by the Elements of Harmony, or at least I haven’t studied it before. If this is really something that they feel is necessary, they would have made it possible for Discord to enter a pony-populated area in order to interact with them.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Discord called from the other side.

“We won’t know unless you get your tail over here,” she called back.

With a roll of his eyes the temporarily-ponified spirit of chaos slowly rolled back up onto his hooves, and gingerly, carefully, and cautiously made his way to the border.

Discord closed his eyes and winced, bringing a hoof down practically in slow motion just a few centimeters over where Twilight knew the line was. When nothing happened, the unicorn was surprised to find that she had actually been holding her breath, for his relieved sigh was matched by one of her own.

“Great, so that will make things a little easier, if you can come into town then you’ll be able to see ponies in their natural environment.”

Now that he had all four hooves across, Discord was back to looking quite unhappy with this whole thing, and the others waited with varying degrees of impatience.

“You do seem to forget that I have watched ponies in their natural environment.”

“Yes, but that wasn’t you living amongst them, you were an outsider, now you’re just one of the stallions.”

“Just?” he said. “I know I may not be able to access my powers, but I think I’m at least a little more than just one of these ponies.”

“Well, you’re going to be treated like one while you’re here,” Twilight said. “It’s the only way I think you can gain something from this experience.”

As her eyes caught sight of the closest unicorn performing the spell, the flash of an idea came to her mind.

“And I think that should include helping with spell duty,” she added. Discord followed her gaze to where the guard member stood, then upwards following the golden beams emitting from his horn towards the sky where the massive form of Cloudsdale still floated, and still slowly dropping.

“Oh,” Discord said as if he’d only just noticed the giant cloud formation over the town. “Right, that ‘state of emergency’ you mentioned. What is it you want me to do about it; I wasn’t even certain I could do anything before this happened.”

They had all begun making their way into town, and Twilight could hear some pony muttering near the front of their little band. She couldn’t tell who was speaking, but she distinctly heard the words, ‘put it back’ in reference to Discord. Obviously some of them weren’t convinced that Cloudsdale’s current status was not Discord’s doing.

Not acknowledging the mumblings, she walked alongside the temporary pony as he was still looking up, and then tripping over his hooves from not looking at where he was going.

“I think you should help with the temporary procedure that every pony has been attempting while I continue to search for a way to reverse what’s happening to the city.”

“But doesn’t this way seem - I don’t know - futile?” he asked.

She took offense at that; he had said something similarly condescending about this plan before. A sigh escaped her, and she took a moment to try and appreciate that at least that had not changed.

“Look,” she said, attempting to level with him. “I know that it’s not the greatest solution in the world. But as I mentioned before it was the best thing I could come up with at the time. Until I find something that can fix it, this is how things have to be. I was already planning on making a trip to Canterlot to research their library; they have a much wider selection of materials than here.”

“After my stint here is over, of course,” Discord assumed.

The unicorn blinked at him and shook her head. “Of course not, I need to get there as soon as possible.”

“Wait, so you’re just going to disappear again, with me stuck like this?”

“I’m not disappearing, I just have things I need to do,” she said, although the way he was reacting, Twilight was starting to feel bad about that decision. She did see his point, the one pony he considers a friend doesn’t visit for a while, then when she does she has to leave him on his own again. But, he wasn’t alone this time.

“You’ll have every pony else here, and they can help you out while I’m gone, they’ve already promised.”

“I’m sure they are just as thrilled about that as I am,” he said with a meaningful look ahead of them. There was a good chance he had heard those mutterings as well.

“Time is of the essence here, Discord,” Twilight reminded him. “There’s no real way to tell how much longer we can slow Cloudsdale’s progress.”

“It would seem that it’s ‘of the essence’ in my case as well,” Discord said. It was another instance of him being right. Twilight hadn’t forgotten the point of this was to help him understand why he should help, for the seals of Tartarus may be weakening just as fast as the cloud city was sinking.

“I know, but… one big disaster at a time. I’ll handle the research for Cloudsdale, and you start learning about ponies. My friends will help you, and who knows? Maybe we can convince Princess Celestia to let you stay on this side of the gates.”

“If you really care about that,” Discord gave a derisive scoff, mumbling as if to prevent Twilight from hearing.

“Ugh,” she groaned, for the pony had heard despite his attempts. “I do care, I do. You have been doing so much better, and I certainly don’t believe you deserve to be made to enter that place.”

“Do I deserve to have to be a pony?”

“If it is what the princesses feel they had to resort to, then yes,” Twilight said. “I already said that this seems like a pretty big concession to me, especially considering that you should have just helped them without a fuss.”

“If you’re going to keep bringing that up, then perhaps it’s not such a bad thing that you’re abandoning me.”

Twilight did not respond to that. That was clearly bait to draw her into another little debate that he figured could get her to stay. But she couldn’t, not with all of this madness happening. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, he should know that already. She gave him the main reasons – or – the most obvious logical reasons.

Discord needed to be here for the balance and well-being of every pony in this world, and for himself to retain some form of freedom… and so they could continue to enjoy this strange friendship of theirs. The unicorn felt it a bit selfish though to state outright that she might want him to stay for her… the bigger, more important reasons should be enough.

“Just… just do what you can. Don’t make me use the T-word again,” she gave him the same slightly pleading smile that she had used on Applejack. She felt it might have been a bit much to add ‘for me’ to that sentence, even if she had weirdly enough felt like it.

Before he could bring her back into this discussion Twilight had trotted ahead of him closer to the front to find Rarity.

“First things first, if you could take Discord to your boutique and get him something to wear that will cover up his cutie marks, and then perhaps set him up with the unicorns to start on spell duty,” she said once she had caught up alongside her fellow unicorn mare.

Rarity nodded, both mares slowing to a near-stop as the others passed while they waited for him. It was clear to Twilight even before Discord had made it all the way to them that Rarity was already at work in her mind about just what to do with him.

Knowing that her friend could go a little overboard when styling ponies, Twilight added. “Just something simple Rarity, he doesn’t need a makeover.”

“But Twilight, I do believe you and I have differing opinions on what constitutes ‘simple’,” Rarity said still with her eyes keenly observing his coat again as she walked around to his other side.

Discord looked from one unicorn to the other – purple to white – his eyes growing wary now about what the white one had in store for him.

“Pants,” Twilight stated finally. “Just give him some pants.”

“…It will be a challenge just to find a color that can somehow compliment that gray of his…” the white pony mumbled, hinting for some more wiggle room than she knew Twilight was comfortable with. Eventually though, she relented.

“Ok, fine. If you think you can come up with something else, by all means. Just please don’t go overboard.”

“Never fear,” Rarity answered with a hoof raised, and then grabbed Discord to begin pulling him along to her shop. “We will make this work.”

“Make what work, is this absolutely necessary?” Twilight heard Discord ask as he was yanked away.

“Oh absolutely…” she heard Rarity answer. “Now come along.”

“Have fun,” she called to both of them, taking a moment to enjoy the look on his face just a little bit.

The day was waning and the rest of their group had all decided that more planning about what to do with Discord could come after they had done their daily part for the towns.

It was only as she was wondering how Spike could possibly help them while she was away when the sudden realization hit Twilight.

“Oh no, Spike,” her head whipped quickly around searching the immediate area for him. “I forgot to find him and tell him I was alright before I gathered you all.”

“It’s ok, Twilight,” Pinkie paused from her departure to answer her friend’s worry. “When we were getting every pony together I saw him with your brother at the Corner. I told him you were fine, but I didn’t know if you wanted him to know anything about any of this.”

“Well that’s a relief,“ Twilight exhaled slowly. “Though I think I’ll still need to apologize, and I certainly think he should be included.” She wasn’t certain how the dragon would react to all of this, but he at least deserved to know.

Of course any remaining guilty feelings about possibly making him fret over her absence dissipated when she actually found him.

For instead of full of worry, Spike appeared to be full of ice cream. An empty bag that had presumably been filled with bits and a large glass bowl that had presumably been stuffed with the mounds of sugary dairy treat sat next to his head. It seemed Shining Armor meant well, but leaving a young dragon alone in a sweet shop with money to drown his worries in ice cream was only going to lead to more trouble for him down the line.

She gave the little dragon a soft tap with her hoof, the green eye facing upwards shooting open to look around. When it found her face Spike lifted his own up off the table swiftly.

“Twilight, oh heyow---” his speech was halted as his eyes screwed shut again, his head in his claws. Apparently that had been much too swiftly as the impending ice cream headache put a damper on his little binge.

She patted his back sympathetically, although she smiled with a light amusement. “Sorry I didn't come and find you this morning to tell you I was alright, but it looks like you were doing fine on your own.”

Spike tried to smile sheepishly with a claw pressed lightly on the roof of his mouth in an attempt to ease the brain freeze.

“I think though that when I've explained what's going on you might understand.”

“Why, wad wowing won?” he asked, but then removed his claw. “I mean, that sounds kinda ominous, don't tell me there's more stuff going on now?”

“I'm afraid so,” she answered.

Spike's headache subsided slowly as Twilight filled him in, explaining about Discord, Tartarus, and what they were going to try and accomplish.

“So... he's really a pony?” was the first question the dragon had.

Twilight nodded. “Hooves and everything.”

“Oh, this I gotta see,” he remarked with some disbelief, already rising from his chair.

Twilight rose too, but slower. “He should still be with Rarity at the Boutique. Now this is important Spike, I'm going to need your help as well as every pony.”

“What do you want me to do?” he wondered, her slower pace to exit the restaurant clearly halting his eagerness to see the spirit of chaos as Twilight had described.

“Well with every pony else busy with their duties, they won't be able to help him or even stay with him all the time, and I don't really expect them to,” she said. “That's why I'd like to entrust the duty of keeping tabs on him to you.”

“To me, do you really think that's a good idea?” Spike said. He seemed a touch unsure now, but Twilight ribbed him gently.

“Considering your most recent activities, I don't really know,” she smiled. “Seems I can't leave either of you alone for too long, but you are still my number one assistant, and I believe I can trust you the most with this. Since I won't be here, you're the best one for the job, especially since you can send me updates on his progress while I'm away.”

Spike's raised eyebrow wasn't a hard thing to decipher.

“I won't be gone long, with hope no more than a few days. You know I need to find something that will help the towns.”

She watched Spike think about it for a while as they made their way to Rarity's shop, and she noticed a strange smile appear as he gave a small nod.

“Yeah, I'll do it for you, Twilight.”

The unicorn was a little surprised, she had been expecting this to be a bit harder to negotiate. She figured Spike would need about as much convincing as the others, since it had been about the same amount of struggle to get her friends to agree as Discord. She could chalk up Spike's willingness to help to his loyalty to her, but it was still odd.

She might have asked him about it, but she stopped herself. At least one thing in this mess had been easy, Twilight shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Thanks Spike, I'm counting on you,” she said once they had reached the Boutique.

The sign in the window of the shop was still turned to the 'closed' side as it had been placed when Rarity had left that morning for her spell duty. Once they were inside, it took a while for Twilight and Spike to see their friend through the racks of clothes.

Rarity it seemed was not heeding her words on the whole 'don't go overboard' thing.

They finally caught sight of the white unicorn as she magicked one of the outfits surrounding the platform near the center of her shop closer to where evidently the unwitting Discord stood.

A small flash of magic surrounded him and a few seconds later the temporary-pony was wearing some sort of red and black jumpsuit. It certainly covered much more than his cutie marks.

Rarity walked around the platform, making a motion for him to turn and – when he didn't comply – turning him herself with her magical aura.

“Now don't judge too harshly just yet Twilight,” Rarity acknowledged her as Twilight came to stand beside her. “This is still a work in progress.”

She watched as Rarity scrutinized her work, halting in front of the less-than-thrilled Discord. In another flash the colors on the suit had reversed, changing from mostly-red to mostly-black.

“No no, that won't do either,” she mumbled to herself. “This will be a while yet.”

“Remember Rarity, you don't need to do much,” Twilight reminded her to which the white unicorn nodded, now actually meeting her gaze.

“Oh I know, but you gave me the opportunity, and if this is to be one of my contributions to his hooves-on education I'd like to give it a real try.”

Another outfit swooped in on the stallion in front of them, and in another flash a different outfit adorned him. Some sort of longer, robe-like getup covering nearly every bit of him from horn to hooves, and for some reason still red and black.

“I'm happy you're taking that attitude but,” Twilight stated as she observed this new ensemble. “Do you think maybe you can try another theme? We're trying to help him blend in and this is sort of... the opposite of that.”

“He looks like a really creepy playing card,” Spike said from beside them.

With a sigh Rarity swept the robes away in another flurry of magic. She then disappeared into the racks of clothes, leaving Discord time to finally acknowledge that the other two had entered.

“I see you haven't left yet,” he said.

“I didn't say I was leaving right this minute,” she answered. “I'd like to leave as soon as I can, but there are a few things that I need to make sure are in order first. I still need to find Shining Armor and tell him about my intentions to go, and I wanted to ensure that you had some pony with you at all times.”

She put a hoof on Spike's back, half to bring him to Discord's attention and half to nudge him a bit forward towards the platform.

“Since Spike is going to keep me informed on how the towns are doing, he has also agreed to stick by you during the times when the others can't.”

Twilight was glad that Spike wasn't snickering, gawking, or doing any of the things she'd assumed he was going to do upon seeing Discord like this. He seemed to be taking things in, though oddly enough he didn't even appear as uneasy as the majority of her friends had at seeing him.

Even stranger was Discord's reaction to this new appointment. True, at first glance he appeared to be showing the same enthusiasm for having some pony appointed to him as he had when she'd tried to leave Pinkie Pie with him, but there was a bit more recognition in his expression than Twilight thought there should have been.

“So you found me a foal sitter,” he said in an only half-teasing way. “Nice to know I'll have someone to entertain me once the others have grown tired of me as well.”

She caught Discord's use of 'as well', but before Twilight could remark or even give a sigh, Spike answered for her.

“It's only temporary, it doesn't mean anything other than she wants to make sure you're making a real effort.”

“Uh... exactly,” Twilight said after a momentary pause as she blinked at her assistant. “Glad we're on the same page.”

She spoke a bit slowly, puzzled that Spike had been so quick to state something similar to what she had been about to say. Twilight decided to look past it and continue, though the attitudes of the two males gave her the slight impression that she might be missing something.

“I think it would do best for you to stay at the library while I'm gone. That way you won't have to go back and forth from the forest all the time. There are some excellent books on basic unicorn magic and you'll need to learn at least that much to be able to perform the group height retention spell. Spike can help you with that.”

“Gotcha,” Spike said with a nod to Twilight.

“Well I think it's a splendid idea,” the others heard Rarity say as she emerged from the jungle of racks and fabric. The white pony looked in much higher spirits than she had when she'd dove back in, triumphantly carrying yet another ensemble with her magic.

“Little Spikey-Wikey may be a dragon, but in my opinion he can be more the gentlecolt than a good deal of ponies I could name,” As she passed by Spike she took a moment to pat his head affectionately.

“Oh I'm sure,” Discord said, sarcasm evident even as he watched her approach with a clearly grim anticipation about just what she would put him in this time.

“Don't underestimate him. Rarity's right, Spike does know a lot about us,” Twilight said.

With another flash of her magic Discord was clothed yet again, this time in a much more understated look than Twilight had seen him in yet. Finally some actual cover for his marks that was simple, though the color was split down the middle. Brown on one leg, red on the other, along with a vest done in a similar theme though not in colors.

“That's better,” she said with a smile.

“Yes I assumed you would prefer something like this. Not what I would have chosen...” Rarity said, trailing off a bit for a moment to look Discord over one last time, but then choosing to continue being pleased with herself. “I suppose as we are in a pinch, functionality can take center stage. Although I couldn't help adding a bit of style.”

Twilight watched Discord look himself over, turning to see himself in the mirror and finally giving a shrug. “This isn't terrible. I suppose if I must be made to wear something.”

“That doesn't sound like much of a thanks,” Spike said, the temporary elation Twilight had seen on his face after Rarity had patted him gone now as he frowned up at the temporary-pony.

Even though she probably should have known better, Twilight had been half-expecting for this to get a 'thank you' out of him as well. The outfit Rarity made was certainly more colorful than the drab gray coat he'd been complaining about.

“Is this really that big of a deal? I mean, they're fine, they fit me, let's not dwell too much on it.”

“Discord,” Twilight had the beginnings of a reproach all lined up, but Rarity waved a hoof and halted her.

“Oh it's alright Twilight. I wasn't expecting much in the way of gratitude,” she said, retaining her smile even if it looked a tad forced now. She came in closer to Twilight to whisper, “That reaction actually exceeded my expectations.”

“Well, I'll thank you,” said Twilight. “At least that's one more thing to cross off the list before I go.”

“And since we now have the problem literally covered, I shall inform the others so we can begin planning for tomorrow. I suppose that will be when every pony will want to begin their um... help.”

Twilight could assume what Rarity's hesitance with the word help was all about, but she trusted her friends, the same as she trusted Spike. They'd do their part in helping Discord just as they were doing their part with the towns.

“That will be fine,” she assured the white pony. “Now I really need to go find Shiny.”

The mares began to take their leave, but Twilight quickly halted when her mind – already back in her own planning mode – reminded her that she had nearly forgotten the two males still sitting there. Her head whipped back around.

“Oh right, Um... Spike, if you'll take Discord back to the library for me?”

“Sure thing, Twi,” Spike answered simply. Twilight brought him into a hug. She wasn't sure she would get the chance to do so before she left.

“Thanks,” she said again in his ear as he returned the hug. Out of the corner of her eye the unicorn could see Discord roll his eyes while descending the platform. He didn't wander far, taking a seat near them with a slouch that read as a combination of uncomfortable with the situation, with wearing clothing, and with just sitting as a pony in general.

Not finding Discord's continuing attitude very encouraging, Twilight tried to keep herself optimistic as she let Spike go and put on her best serious face, looking at both of them.

“Now I don't think I should have to say this, but please try to get along,” she said. She made sure to look just as much at the dragon as the pseudo unicorn. Though when Discord met her gaze, she did try to make it a clear reminder that that was what he was there for.

With that said, Twilight finally felt she could go off and find her brother. Although as she was leaving she realized that this might well be the last time she would see Discord before she left, too. The unicorn wasn't quite sure what to say to him. Her words to the both of them were important and firm, even if she sounded less encouraging and more authoritative. He could probably use a touch of both, even if the air between them remained slightly tenser and more awkward due to all of this.

Glancing again over him in his new clothes, she did have to admit Rarity had done something pretty nice with them. With all that color he actually looked a bit more like himself, and that gave her a bit more of a smile as she passed him.

“You do look nice you know,” Twilight said quickly as she exited.

Discord noticed Twilight's smile as she flitted away from him again. He was fairly certain that this would be the last he would see of her before she left on that oh-so-important trip of hers. She'd breezed in and out so quickly that he had barely had time to say anything to her, much less any sort of goodbye. Then again, Twilight hadn't exactly given him a proper goodbye either.

Obviously that wouldn't have made a difference, she was going to go either way leaving him at the mercy of her friends and whatever plans they had for 'teaching' him. Staring over at the doors, Discord knew that it was not as if she wasn't coming back, but he considered that had he said something... he wouldn't feel quite so awkward as he did now.

It was a while before he shook himself out of his contemplation and remembered the creature that had also been left alone in the shop.

Sitting up a bit from his slouch, Discord frowned at Spike's observing him. The dragon didn't look all that confused. He looked a tad questioning, but it was colored lightly with a slight smugness that Discord took offense to. Surely this being must know that looking smug was his job.

“What are you looking at?” he asked when finally deciding to stand. His hesitance to do so until now somewhat related to wondering how much he could actually blend in outside while wearing this – arguably not bad – outfit, and somewhat related to what the dragon might have taken from his stalling at Twilight's departure.

The dragon almost let out the chuckle he was clearly withholding, but shook his head and shrugged instead. “Nothing, it's just... this is kind of ironic. Just the other day you were trying so hard to get here and now---”

“It's not ironic, just... coincidental,” Discord corrected grumpily.

“Whatever,” Spike said as he made for the door. “You know, attitude is everything. You won't be learning anything about life as a pony if you don't try and mimic their attitudes.”

“Well, you are the pony expert, aren't you Mister Dragon?” Discord meant it as a jab, but Spike seemed to take it as a compliment.

“Maybe not expert, but I know enough. And since we're sorta stuck with each other for most of your stay, I'm willing to help.”

The dragon had had a similarly seemingly superior stance when he'd paid Discord a visit after his attempts to see Twilight. He appeared to have not informed her about that, but it made Discord wonder why that might be. Did this little guy plan on holding that over him?

Though he still didn't like the dragon's demeanor, Discord did take into account that at least Spike sounded as if he did truly want to help. He sounded a touch more eager than the rest of Twilight's friends, anyway.

“Fine,” he agreed as he followed Spike out the door quickly overtaking him in stride. “Lead the way, Pony Boy.”

Spike's questioning expression was enough to coax a grin out of Discord, and the two made their way through the town and towards the library.

Twilight watched the wind whipping the snow across the already starkly white landscape. It sounded fierce and frigid, but being seated safely within the cozy warm train car made it easier to admire.

Her plan to visit Canterlot was changed by the addition of her brother. Shining Armor - upon hearing of her want to research the archives for a solution to the towns’ troubles - suggested instead that Twilight visit the library in the Crystal Empire. It was a good deal farther to travel than she wanted, but Shiny had made a persuasive argument. Held within the crystal library was a whole well of knowledge that the unicorn had only barely dipped into, and upon further thought it made Twilight much more hopeful that she might indeed find something that could help reverse Cloudsdale’s fall.

Since her destination had changed, Shiny had naturally offered to accompany her. It wasn’t so much that he was so quick to leave his post, but more so to use the excuse to go home and visit the wife he’d barely seen since she took over the ruling of the crystal ponies.

Shining Armor’s lieutenant seemed capable enough, and she knew her friends were more than capable of keeping things together until she returned, but Twilight couldn’t help but still feel some amount of guilt at her departure. As she continued to gaze out the window and the train clattered onward, she tried to make the rationalization that it was for the best for every pony…. especially Discord.

It was a strange and frankly infuriating thing to think about, because part of her wanted to be able to blame it all on him, she wanted to simply be mad and leave on her trip without any guilt whatsoever, because it was true that he had gotten himself into this mess. He was the one who hadn’t heeded her lessons and made that choice, apparently she just wasn’t worth it. Of course that thinking only managed to fuel the thought that it might not have been only the princesses she had let down.

Her stallion sibling returned to the seat beside her, finishing off the snack he had left her to seek in the dining car. A small untouched plate of carrots floated under her nose, the sudden orange in her peripheral vision pulling her eyes off the landscape and following the magic to its source. Shiny smiled as his horn lost its glow and the plate came to rest on Twilight’s hoof. She returned the grin before politely lifting one carrot for a bite, though she didn’t feel hungry just yet.

He didn’t need to reassure her that things would be fine, she knew that was what he would say, had he spoken. It was all in his face, but Shiny knew that reassurances could only be given so often before they lost their effect.

Instead of allowing him to do his brotherly duty yet again, Twilight took this time to ask him about something that - during the flurry of activity that was their departure - had all but left her mind until an hour or so ago.

As odd as it was for her to think at times, she did trust Discord to an extent. The whole situation concerning him really was proof enough that his words were true, but Shining Armor had also been sent to Ponyville by the princesses. If they were using their magic to keep Tartarus’s weakening gates at bay, how much of that did her brother know?

“Shiny,” she began her question, watching him from beyond her still half-eaten first carrot to see his reaction. “The reason that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna couldn’t respond to me - the reason why they sent you instead - does that have something to do with Tartarus?”

His double-take answered her before he spoke. “What, how did you know something was happening there, how much do you know?”

“Only that the seals are weakening for some reason, and that they have been trying to keep them closed.” Another, more selfish question escaped the mare before she could restrain herself. “Why didn’t they want us to know? I mean, I realize that this is an emergency, but - my friends and I - we might be able to do something.”

“I suppose they saw what was happening with Cloudsdale and figured you had more than enough on your plate,” Shining answered her reluctantly. “It doesn’t seem like anything but some seriously powerful magic can even make a dent in keeping those seals solid, at least that was how it was explained to me.”

That was what Discord had said too, and of course it was fairly obvious to Twilight that the princesses would want to keep something like this under wraps for as long as possible to prevent any widespread panic.

“But how do you know about that?” Shining repeated, and Twilight drooped her ears momentarily. How was she going to explain that? Her brother did know about the events that had led to her recent appointment as liaison to the spirit of chaos, and to a lesser extent her friendship with him. The whole ‘pony empathy lesson’ though… Twilight wasn’t quite sure how much to tell him about that.

“From Discord,” she said simply. Twilight saw Shiny’s expression harden slightly. The unicorn didn’t think he had ever actually met the draconequus, but Twilight supposed this uneasy reaction was natural. It didn’t do much to aid her in wanting to tell Shining Armor everything about what was happening.

“Oh,” he responded, but not much could be taken from that one word.

“Yes, I… I think that the princesses had contacted him about it,” she divulged the half-truth.

“Hmm, I wonder what that’s about. Maybe they were making sure he had nothing to do with this,” he wondered.

“He said that what’s happening back home had nothing to do with him, and I’m fairly inclined to believe that that isn’t his doing either,” Twilight tried to explain without divulging exactly how she knew.

“Well, things have been kind of quiet for a while since he broke out the last time, and now to have two crises like this happen about the same time?”

“Don’t you think that maybe he’s been quiet because of the agreement we have?” Twilight said without thinking. With every pony else it seemed going along that line of thinking, her response was almost automatic. She wanted to lead Shiny away from this trail of pondering, even if the unicorn was still not completely in the mood to be defending Discord in this manner.

She felt terrible not telling him, but Twilight was now coming to think that she shouldn’t tell him about Discord’s ‘lesson’. If Shining knew that some pony like him was in Ponyville - no matter the reason - he just might turn around and head back immediately.

Thankfully Shining didn’t ask anything more about it, although his thoughts didn’t seem to stray far.

“How is everything going with that, with him, I mean,” he asked.

“Not...terrible,” Twilight answered awkwardly. “Not as bad as you might think.”

“Really?” Shiny said, sounding skeptically surprised. “From what I hear he isn't that easy to get along with. He doesn't seem like the type to commit to something as structured as what I'm sure you're trying.”

Twilight chuckled to herself, if only he knew how much of an understatement that was. “I didn't say it wasn't a challenge. He's pretty difficult to get to focus on anything that he doesn't deem important, no matter how much I try. Oh he'll appear to listen, but he's just so hard to read that it's nearly impossible for me to tell if he is really listening or not.”

“What about his powers, he hasn't used them on you or anything?”

“Of course not, Shiny,” she said.

“Right, that was part of the whole agreement you made,” Shiny remembered, though he seemed to stall on what he seemed to want to say. “I trust you, Little Sis. If you say he's keeping his word, I believe you. Maybe it's just because it's you that is working with him, but it seems to me sort of... I dunno, dangerous.”

“More dangerous than some of the things you've done for the princesses?” Twilight asked. She had heard of her brother climbing mountains, facing manticores, accidentally sailing between Scylla and Charybdis on what was supposed to be a routine three-hour training mission.

“Not to mention some of the other things I've had to do along with my friends.”

“Sure, it isn't the most dangerous thing,” Shining obliged. “I know you can handle yourself, but the idea of you being all alone with a being that hard to control... you can't fault me for being a tad worried.”

Twilight supposed he was right, and she knew she couldn't fault him for it, even if it was sort of hard to see that way. Perhaps it was because she had spent so much time with Discord already, and how she had grown to trust him. Logically Shiny's would be the reaction some pony would have being alone with him, and it wasn't that long ago that Twilight had been afraid to be alone with him, she'd nearly forgotten.

“Especially since Mom and Dad don't know anything about it,” Shining continued, a bit pointedly.

Twilight caught that. “I haven't seen Mom nor Dad in a while. I mean, I send them letters, but it isn't... I mean, there's really no reason they should know.”

Shining smiled a bit conspiratorially at that. “Not worth a mention because it is or isn't something they should worry about?”

Since both siblings were under appointments of the crown, they both had to deal with dangerous things and at times place themselves in harmful situations. Their parents knew this to an extent, but it would never stop them from being worried for their children. This led them to make a pact with one another to save their mother and father any undo or additional worry for them by omitting certain events and 'downplaying the life-threatening parts' of their service to the princesses.

If Twilight had not mentioned her appointment as liaison to Discord, she knew Shiny would assume that was the reason.

“Because it isn't,” she emphasized. “He may be a lot of things, but he doesn't seem all that dangerous anymore, at least... not to me.”

Shining Armor looked fairly satisfied with that answer, although she wasn't sure his worries were abated.

“He tries my patience a good amount of the time, but it's really not bad. He's my friend, and there are times when I can tell he's trying, but it's difficult for him, I guess.”

“Well, his probation should be over soon, and then you won't have to deal with him as much anymore,” he remarked. His words carried a sort of hopeful finality to it, like he was trying to make her feel like the worst was almost over. Like it was a chore she was nearly done with.

Twilight decided to continue munching on her carrots – finishing the plate to have something else to occupy her thoughts and mouth. She didn't want to say anything more on the subject, for instead of relieved the purple pony felt the same drop in her stomach that she'd experienced after she had realized that very same fact during her argument with Discord. Suddenly the idea that he could possibly think she might be 'washing her hooves' of him didn't seem so far-fetched.

It really was ending, and possibly sooner than she thought. Soon Twilight would be freed from her arrangement with Discord and no longer be required to meet with him. He might get a pass to live where he chose – and maybe he'd visit now and again – but could these be the last days of their meetings?

This was silly for Twilight to realize only now, because she knew that they were bound to end eventually... however that didn't make her feel any better to make that realization. Looking back over all of those infuriating distractions of his – yet knowing now that they were numbered – It was strange for her to feel that she might actually miss them once it was all over.

7. Pleasing Everyone Isn't Like Me

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Spike did not allow Discord to sleep in Twilight's bed. Discord didn't really see the point in preventing him, it wasn't as if the unicorn would be using it for the next few days. The dragon couldn't come up with any reasoning other than it being 'just weird', but Discord did enjoy watching his new little roomie dragging out the foldable guest bed and trying to put it together using only his tiny claws.

He watched from the small balcony of the library as Spike pulled it down the stairs step by step, watching him wince each time the metal frame made contact on a step with a loud ka-chunk. Every now and then he would look up at Discord as he caught his breath; giving some sort of annoyed expression. He had been having so much fun observing the dragon's attempts that it didn't register what that look meant until Spike had already reached the bottom of the stairs and begun setting the bed up.

“Oh, did you want me to help?”

Spike halted from trying to pull apart the legs of the bed frame. “Oh no, this was totally easy, and it's not like magic would have made it any easier or that this would have made a good time for some pony to start practicing basic magic or cooperation.”

Ah, sarcasm. Something Discord was quite familiar with. “Well, you could have just said so.”

Spike looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped himself. In the time it took Discord to make it to the bottom of the stairs and over to where Spike was assembling the bed, the little guy had gotten one whole leg opened to the correct spot.

Discord didn't think he should be so quick to assume he would know what to do, these were things that didn't come so naturally to him, and even if he did manage to use the meager bit of magic that this body contained, it wouldn't be as substantial or really anything close to the level of fun he had with his normal power.

“Sometimes ponies won't ask for help, and whether or not they want it, you could always offer,” Spike stated as he moved on to another leg of the bed. “You're gonna be trying to help out with all the things going on around town like every pony else. You might as well practice.”

“But, what do I even do?” he asked. “I've never had to filter magic through anything before, much less a horn,” his eyes crossed as he stared momentarily up at the knobby appendage.

“Well Twilight might say something like, 'concentrate mentally on the completed structure and – using multiple steps of prestidigitation - create the desired effect',” the dragon rattled off as he struggled with the second leg.

“Multiple steps?” Discord now stood over where Spike sat, the amusement at his plight slowly leaving him.

“Yeah, since it's such a basic spell, you'd have to take something like using it for this in steps. Prestidigitation has a lot of uses, but they're all kinda simplistic. It pretty much boils down to 'picture what you want to happen, then focus until it starts happening'.”

“Why do ponies insist on making everything sound more complicated?”

“Because they can't just snap their claws and make things happen,” Spike answered, annoyance creeping back into his voice.

Discord shook his head at the dragon's impatience, but stepped forward and shut his eyes to concentrate regardless. Honestly, it couldn't be as hard to unfold as Spike was making it out to be, most likely he just wanted Discord to fix it for him so he wouldn't have to. It wasn't as if him sleeping down here so Spike would be able to watch him at all times was his idea.

Even using this limited magic, Discord was fairly sure he could set the thing up faster than it would take for the dragon to shut up about it afterward.

After an hour of trying to focus his magic through that stubborn useless pointy thing on top of his head, trying to pull the legs apart and straighten the structure piece by sluggishly-resisting piece...the bed was finally fully assembled. That was just in time for Discord to collapse face-first on top of it.

“Whoa, I think it might have actually been faster if you'd helped me set it up by-hoof,” he heard Spike chuckle.

Discord's ears drooped again and he turned over to face away from the laughter at his expense.

“Oh come on,” Spike said, losing his teasing tone. “At least you did something. Twilight said there'd be a bunch of things you weren't used to, but the whole unicorn magic thing probably won't take long for you to get. Just – you know – with practice.”

Encouragement, something else Discord recognized, but had only ever witnessed coming from Twilight. He wondered if she had taught him about that, or if that was yet another pony trait he had yet to master the concept of.

“The other part of it though – working with some pony – that you'll need to work on. We'll see what the others have planned for you tomorrow, and I'll help with the magic.”

The dragon made it sound hopeful, as if Discord shouldn't be dreading what was to come when he was placed under the tutelage of the other Element bearers.

In the time it had taken Discord to assemble the bed by what passed for magic in this form, Spike had brought down his smaller and much lighter-weight bed that had been set up at the foot of Twilight's. It appeared that he did not trust Discord to even be on the same floor as the unicorn's private inner-sanctum.

Sleep came much quicker for the young dragon than for the temporary-pony, and it did not seem long at all before the sun had risen, and he could already hear a forceful rapping on the door to the library. The abrupt sound jolting Discord out of the half-slumber he had barely fallen into.

Sitting up in the dim light of the morning, he couldn't help but notice that the knocking did not wake Twilight's dutiful assistant. Spike did not even roll over at the sound.

After the third round of knocking was not met with an answer, he could hear whoever it was shuffling around for something on the other side. A few more minutes of that – long enough for Discord to ease himself upright on the bed completely and frown still-tiredly at the door – and then he heard the pony calling out in a hushed yet still forceful tone.

“Spike, y'all up yet? I cain't find Twilight's spare key,” came the twanged voice of Applejack. Discord let a small groan escape him. The orange mare may not have been the last pony he would want to see first-thing in the morning on only his second day of ponydom, but she would certainly be in the bottom five.

Another round of knocking from the impatient earth pony could be heard before Discord moved to nudge the snoozing dragon with his hoof. At first Spike merely waved his claw at the nudge, mumbling something about his mommy. A couple more sharper pokes though finally caused his eyes to open and his head to turn upwards.

“Whaa?” came his sleepy partial-question, but it was then that Applejack called again from the door, and Spike sat up immediately to make his way to let her in.

Applejack smiled down at the dragon when he opened the door.

“Howdy, Spike. Sorry ta wake you so early, but it's my turn ta take you-know-who fer the day,” the end of her sentence lost a bit of its friendliness as she mentioned Discord, and her eyes swept over Spike to find him still sitting on the bed.

Spike stepped sideways to allow her entrance, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “That's ok, AJ. Let me wake up some more and I'll make us breakfast.”

“That'd be mighty nice of you, Spike,” she said, sounding far too awake than was really warranted in Discord's opinion. “I'll help if ya'll need.”

Spike slowly waddled for the kitchen to prepare, stretching a bit on the way. Applejack then turned to Discord, her smile vanishing.

“And what are you doin' still in bed?”

“Good morning to you too,” he mumbled as he finally rolled off the metal bed and set hooves to floor. “I'll have you know that evidently this body requires much more sleep than was previously necessary.”

“Yeah well, you better wake up fast, cause soon as we're done with breakfast I'm takin' ya ta the farm,” she stated, beginning to follow Spike to the kitchen.

So she really was going to be the first of the lot to try and show him something about ponies, was she? Well, that was just great. They couldn't at least start him off easier? Making cupcakes or something with the pink one?

“Why you?” his short question was abrupt, and came out harsh enough to stop the mare and force her to turn back to him. “Why do you have to be the first one? It's just out of all of you, I didn't expect you would be jumping at the chance to---”

“Because I drew tha short straw,” Applejack said firmly, shutting him up and turning back towards the sounds of Spike clanging around in the other room.

From the look of this morning, the rest of the day that lay before him did not seem like it was going to be much better. Then again, that wasn't the attitude that Twilight nor the dragon would find very constructive for him to have.

Three-fourths of the way through their journey Twilight had fallen into an uneasy doze, the lull of the train chugging along beneath them combined with the lull in conversation between her brother and herself appeared to be enough to coax a few more winks out of the unicorn.

That didn't stop her from being flung back out of her slumber again whenever her head spent too long against the vibrating window pane. It didn't matter if she kept positioning herself so that her head rested on the foreleg-rest, or even if she used her own foreleg wedged between head and window as a barrier. It seemed like every time she was about to drift off she'd feel another rapid stuttering beat against her horn.

They had gotten a late start, and she and Shining Armor knew that that would most likely mean a night spent on the train and arriving in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe her body was rebelling, hoping that Twilight would let it have a somewhat regular sleep schedule again after the previous evening. That night with Discord had been the first complete night of sleep she'd had in days.

Closing her eyes one more time and doubling her efforts, Twilight jammed a much-too-squishy pillow over her foreleg between her head and the window. Determined that this time she could remain comfortable-enough to allow for some sleep, she attempted to let the rhythmic sound of the engine carry her off yet again. Vague, partially-formed thoughts of cozy blankets and lumpy book couches floated past on her way out of consciousness.

After what felt like only minutes later to Twilight, the train's whistle blew and the engine began to slow. Her eyes shot open, instantly awake. Lifting her head to notice her brother massaging his neck with a similar look of instant defiant wakefulness about him, they both caught sight of their train car passing through the barrier that kept the Crystal Empire protected from the freezing climate outside.

Spires of prisms quickly grew to tower over them as they entered the train station at the edge of the city. The sun only hinting at making an appearance in the east meant that the streets would be fairly empty.

For the moment she could convince herself that this tempered rest she'd had was better than none at all. They would make a stop to see Cadance and to drop Shiny off with her, at which point Twilight hoped the library would be open. She did not plan to see much of the city, for once those doors opened she would refuse to leave until she found a book that held the answers she sought.

Morning had broken by the time they made it to the palace, and Twilight had assumed that most of its inhabitants would still be sleeping. As much as she wanted to see her sister-in-law she assumed that there would be a certain amount of waiting involved to do so. Shining Armor had even stated about how busy her days had become, which Twilight imagined made things even harder.

She was surprised therefore when they were met in the grand foyer by Cadance herself, flanked by two sparkling pink crystal mares and one silver stallion.

The princess's small entourage bowed at the sight of Shining Armor as they approached the middle of a giant snowflake design on the tiles beneath their hooves. Twilight was surprised and even a little bit embarrassed when they gave her a smaller bow of recognition as well.

“Shiny, Twilight!” Cadance greeted them with glee, raising a hoof to her mouth in slight embarrassment at her volume. Clearly she was attempting to maintain a more restrained and 'princessy' demeanor in front of her staff.. Not seeming able to help herself however, the young princess sprung from her delicate sitting pose to greet them in a way more befitting her family.

She hugged Shining Armor first, practically skipping into his open forelegs. When he'd released her she found Twilight and the two engaged in their usual greeting of 'Sunshine, Sunshine', their favorite rhyme that they had been doing since Twilight’s filly hood.

“I didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon,” Twilight said once they'd finished giggling.

“Well, you won't be seeing me for very long,” Cadance answered in a half joking tone. “You've caught me in-between schedule items. I really wanted to at least meet you as you arrived, and I noticed I had a small amount of time after my morning routine and my pre-pre morning briefing.”

“Pre-pre morning briefing?” Twilight wondered out loud.

“Yeah, it comes before the post-pre morning briefing, and the pre-post morning re-briefing,” Shiny joked. “About ninety percent of Cady's days are spent in meetings these days. With a whole empire re-emerging into the world every country and kingdom around wants to talk to us.”

“I didn't think we'd be so popular,” added Cadance. “But it's just part of what I signed up for with this whole princess thing.”

“I understand,” Twilight nodded. “I can't fault any pony for wanting to keep on schedule. I'm glad I was able to say a quick hello before I start on my own.”

“Oh?” Cadance asked, with a look to Shining.

“It's about what's been happening over in Ponyville,” he said. “the whole business with Cloudsdale they sent us for the other day.”

“I've been trying to find a solution to the problem,” Twilight continued for her brother. “but my resources back home are a little lax.”

“So you need to use the library here,” Cadance correctly assumed. “I should have known. Well, I'm sure Mrs Dusthooves will be happy to help you again. I would send for her, but I think you probably want to be there already.”

Twilight's head lowered a little and she smiled a tad sheepishly. “Well, I wasn't going to just rush over there without saying hello...”

“That's fine,” Cadance gave her a playful wink. “I wouldn't want to keep you and books apart for very long.”

Twilight would have taken this as her dismissal, but then the young princess turned to her husband, playfulness subsiding.

“Any news from my aunts?” she asked, and Twilight had no trouble understanding what that was about.

“As far as I know, there hasn't been much of a change,” he answered. “Apart from the spell continuing to weaken. It's taking up a lot of power each time they trade off shifts.”

Cadance nodded, smiling again to Twilight. “I don't suppose you have some of that library time reserved on figuring out a plan for that too, do you?”

The unicorn's mind had gone back to Ponyville several times already on their walk to the palace, stuttering over Discord to avoid worrying about him too much. Cloudsdale and Tartarus were both in the plan, but the former was meant to be her focus – she had told him that – for the solution to the latter was obviously and ultimately down to Discord. She did very much want to help, and the opportunity that was presenting itself here was too good to pass up. She just hoped he was taking the initiative too.

Resolving to add that to the list, Twilight gave her a confident nod in return. “I'm on it.”

It looked as if Cadance were about to speak to Shining again when she stopped suddenly, her mouth closing and eyes flicking back to Twilight. The princess blinked a few times, and for a moment gave her an oddly scrutinizing look. Her eyes squinted and her head began to tilt, not unlike a curious dog.

The purple pony blinked too, not sure why Cadance had halted. She was about to politely inquire when the silver stallion that had accompanied Cadance gave a pointed clearing of his throat. Every pony's eyes found him looking concernedly at his watch, ears drooped with anxiousness.

“Your Highness, we will need you to oversee the latest preparations for the upcoming Unification Day,” the anxious silver stallion stated softly.

“Yes Smittey, I know,” the young princess answered with a quick glance back to Twilight that she only barely noticed. “we're on our way. Although I think we can spare a few moments to---”

“But then you will need to begin writing back to all the leaders who have requested to open trades with the Empire,” Smittey announced, pulling out a scroll with which he began to read out a list of names.

“There's the empire of Sea Serpentia, the kingdom of Cheval, the sultan of Haissan seemed particularly interested in---”

“I understand, Smittey,” Cadance politely halted his listing.

“Which reminds me, the translator from Coeur De Cheval should be arriving today to help you prepare for their princes' visit during the Unification festivities.”

“Very well” the princess tried again to interrupt. Evidently acknowledging that she was not going to be able to avoid her duties much longer. “We shall discuss all of that during my midday post-morning briefing. I do think however, I should be able to spare a few moments to say a goodbye to my husband and sister.”

Smittey stared blankly for a few moments before bowing awkwardly and beginning to slowly back away out of a side chamber. “Oh… of course, my apologies.”

Cadance smiled at him. “It's alright, I'm grateful for your diligence. Just a second and then I will be ready to go.”

Rolling her eyes dramatically as her smile lost a bit of its playfulness, Cadance brought both Shining and Twilight each into another quick hug. “Duty calls. Have a great day, and I hope you find what you need at the library.” She then looked to Twilight specifically. “I'll try to swing by later, perhaps before dinner. I want to hear about any progress you've made, and well... everything.”

Another odd pause as her eyes swept over Twilight. The unicorn tried to dismiss it though, waving her sister-in-law goodbye as she disappeared the same way her assistant had.

When the siblings were alone in the foyer, Twilight's eyes grew brighter.

“Well Shiny,” she said as her walk to the door became a slightly-bouncy trot. “That solution isn't going to find itself. To the library.”

Neither Discord nor Applejack was happy about this situation in which they found themselves. It was bad enough that Twilight – the only pony which they probably might have tolerated each other for – had up and left them with her brother to do research. Now AJ had been chosen as the first of the Elements of Harmony to ‘teach’ him something about being a pony.

This is why the former-draconequus - along with Spike - followed the earth pony off to her little farm, where she evidently was far too busy with apple picking and the like to actually have him stick around. At least that was how it appeared to Discord, since the first thing she did upon arriving to the small farm house was call for her brother to take him off her hooves.

“No offense to Twilight, but I think she’d understand that I just cain’t spend my whole day tryin’ to show you about tha honest part of being a pony when I got all this work ta do storing food jus in case Ponyville’s gotta evacuate.”

This was her excuse, but Discord merely assumed that she just didn’t want to have to deal with him. This did not really bother the temporary-pony in the slightest. It was only when she was passing him off to her Clydesdale-sized older sibling that she gave a rationalization for why she thought this was a good idea.

“Right now what we need is more stallions in tha field to buck and gather apples. Big Macintosh here’ll git ya started.”

From the look of his half-closed eyes and a frown that perfectly matched his sister’s, this stallion looked like a barrel of laughs. He was the same color as their barn and almost the same size. Only in his currently shorter, comparatively less-broad pony form would he ever feel even the least bit intimidated by this pony.

Discord looked around the four of them, he saw quite a few other ponies in the fields, there didn’t seem to be any great need for him to be doing this.

“And you think this will help me…why?”

“Honestly, I don’t,” AJ stated. Well, at least she lived up to her title. “But maybe an honest day’s work could do sumthin’ for ya.”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” Discord said sarcastically, then turned to Spike. “Will the assistant be coming along with me, or staying with you?”

“I think Spike'll be more help with Granny at the house,” Applejack answered, to which Spike protested.

“But I'm supposed to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't get into trouble.”

“Big Mac will make sure of that,” AJ assured him. “Plus if he does the work right, he'll be so busy he won't be able ta make trouble.”

This message was quite clear to Discord. This was a punishment in the guise of a 'lesson', something of which Spike need not have to participate. It irked him to be forced to play by Applejack's rules, but if this was going to be as long and boring as he imagined then maybe it was ok for the little guy to miss out. At least one of them should enjoy himself.

“No, you go on ahead,” he said to the dragon, earning a look of puzzled hesitance in return. “Not like I should have expected any different.”

Waving him away – though not coldly – he watched as Spike turned to try and catch up with Applejack, who had already turned and trotted away, leaving Discord with her larger, evidently quieter brother.

Big Mac did not greet him, but jerked his head for Discord to follow. They walked through the fields, passing ponies every now and then. Several minutes passed without either speaking a word. Too many minutes, in Discord's opinion.. Out of a need to break this tense silence that had swept over them, Discord tried to at least get the red pony to say something.

“So… are you a fan of apples, or does working with them day in and day out sort of ruin their splendor for you?”

The pseudo-unicorn’s joke fell flat, or perhaps it was shot dead right out of his mouth, or perhaps it was flattened underneath Big Mac’s enormous hooves.

The earth pony did not acknowledge that Discord had said anything in any case, though his frown became more pronounced as he took a side glance in Discord’s direction.
“AJ told me who ya are,” the work horse’s statement carried the same drawl as his sister, though deeper and more resonant. What he said caused Discord to blink, and his negative tone made him cautious as to what Mac was going to do about it.

“She did?” he asked, Big Mac still did not look over at him as they continued to walk, Discord having to take two steps for every one of his strides.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac gave in answer, though still not sounding happy about it. “Reckon’ she thought I should know who I’d be workin’ with.”

“Ah ha,” Discord found his lack of communication a bit more intimidating than his size. It was harder to get a gauge on this pony.

“Ya made her into a liar, and made me act like a dog.”

“Oh are you still sore about that?” he said, slightly relieved to understand the reasoning for his frankly cold demeanor. “Won’t happen again, don’t worry about that. Actually, it can’t happen again, as right now I’m not physically able to access my normal powers, and even once I have them back I can’t manipulate minds as I previously did.”

This did not seem to ease Big Mac’s behavior towards the unicorn. Perhaps the earth pony was waiting for an apology. If that was the case he may be waiting for a long time. Although it did set Discord's mind to think about that.

He hadn’t exactly thought about how his re-arranging of Ponyville and playing with the minds of its citizens had affected any of the ponies beyond the Bearers of the Elements. It had been them that he had been trying to get at with that particular trick, after all. The others had merely been his puppets… though this particular former-puppet might be able to crush Discord’s skull beneath his hoof in Discord’s current, much more fragile pony state.

Thankfully a sense of revenge did not seem to be present in the stallion, though he did seem to have a strong sense of mistrust for Discord that just kept reinforcing the family resemblance between he and the cowboy-hat adorned mare.

This exchange was the longest conversation the two stallions had during their walk to the field of apple trees, and besides Big Mac’s monosyllabic instructions on how to carry the baskets of apples to the carts they used to take them back to the barn.

The earth pony did not seem confident enough in Discord’s apple-bucking abilities to trust him to help with knocking the fruit from the trees, so Discord was stuck with the less-enjoyable looking grunt work. Again though, he shouldn't have been surprised.

“Do you think we should start on that side, and work our way around, or do you think we should go by reference?” she asked him as they entered the giant room full from floor to ceiling with books of every sort. Twilight felt her spirits lift and her hope spring up at the sight of them. Where there were books, there was the promise – or potential – of a solution.

“I don’t know Twily, I’ll follow your lead,” he answered, Twilight was so prepared to dive in that she didn’t notice his expression, but his tone told her that he found her reactions to this field of knowledge quite amusing.

Pulling back slightly from her determination, the unicorn acknowledged that very few ponies were ever as excited about doing research as she, and she knew her brother was not among them. He had been assigned to help and he wanted to help, but she didn't want him to help if she knew he would want to be elsewhere.

“Not that I don't appreciate your help, but you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. I know you would probably rather be spending time with Cadance.”

Shiny tried to shrug, but a nod came along with it. “Well, yeah. It's been a while since we've actually spent any alone time together. But hey, once this whole mess with Cloudsdale is over and the empire has been fully integrated back into the lands things will be easier.”

“Were any of those meetings she had today something you needed to be there for?”

“Nah, mostly she's going to be reading letters and writing responses. I'm usually there for the big stuff, but most of the day to day decision-making is her duty. Not that I don't contribute. I've been making efforts to get the empire's own guard back into fighting shape. If they ever need to fight, of course.”

He seemed to notice now that he was putting a damper on Twilight's book buzz. She knew that they hadn't been able to spend much time together, but she didn't know that it was to this extent. She didn't want to add to it when he was being so nice.

“Still, I know that this isn't really your thing. If you don't feel up to it – or if you get an opportunity – you can go ahead and find Cadance,” she said assuredly. “That's the whole real reason you wanted to come here instead, isn't it?”

Twilight smirked a bit when Shiny confirmed by grinning, slightly sheepishly. “Hey, it was a win-win.”

“So if you get the chance to sneak away to see your wife, I won't be mad,” Twilight stated. “You're a great brother, but you don't have to be such a great brother.”

She ribbed him playfully, and he ribbed back. “I might, but for now I'll stick with you, alright? At least to get you started.”

Twilight smiled, taking a moment to absorb the very atmosphere of the place. It had the feel of the library back in Canterlot, yet somehow it held an even older sensation to it. It might have been the crystals that gave it that solid, carved look, or the sheer size and number of the books and scrolls that were just within view, or maybe just its preservation for the last thousand years... it felt almost ancient.

Her eyes flitted from one pristine shelf to the next, lingering a for a moment on a doorway not too far from them, slightly hidden in shadow. There were surely even more things she could find to study in this place, she could spend days exploring... although she knew they probably didn't have that many days to spare.

Indeed Twilight was so distracted by her own determination and the siren call of the tomes she bumped quite literally into the librarian. The crystal pony staggered back a few steps, nearly falling over.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” she apologized to the elderly mare. She gave her a hoof to help her up, still startled as well as apologetic.

Once she was up, the mare adjusted her spectacles and straightened her mane, but didn't seem angered by the indent. “It's fine, it's fine,” she answered with a weary wave, as if she were used to these sorts of accidental bump-age.

Noticing Shining Armor standing behind Twilight, the librarian gave a surprised squeak and quickly went into a short bow.

“My apologies to you as well, I had know idea you were here Your Highness.”

Shiny gave her an acknowledging wave and smile, and Twilight began her explanation. “Hello ma'am. I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh yes, I do remember you,” the mare answered. “It would be hard to forget how you and your friends helped us. I don't know whether we were formally introduced though. I'm Mrs. Dusthooves, head librarian here at the Empire's largest – and only, really – library and archives. What can I do for you?”

“Where can I find your section on weather?” she asked simply. It would most likely be more complicated than that, but she had to start somewhere.

“Right this way,” Mrs. Dusthooves gestured as she led the way down a long row of shelves that ended near the bottom of a very, very tall spiral staircase. She halted at the base of it, stepping aside for Twilight and Shining Armor to begin their climb.

“Meteorology and Pegasi Studies are right up those stairs. If you need any help I should be at my desk. Also for future reference all sections are indicated with a placard above the first set of shelves.”

“Thank you, Ma'am,” Twilight said, craning her neck as she followed with her eyes the tiny crystal steps that made up the long climb they were in for. “I'm not quite sure how long we'll be. As long as it takes if I have any say in the matter.”

“I could always check on you if you like, or come to tell you when we close,” Mrs. Dusthooves answered.

“You might be closing by the time we get up there,” Shining joked.

The librarian pony bowed again and left the two siblings to their climb.

“I assume that researching typical meteorology will be worth a look, and maybe then cross-referencing it with the magical-aspects of weather manipulation,” Twilight rattled off the first part of her continuously-updating mental to-do list. As they climbed higher, she was keeping an eye out for the gold placards above each section, filing away in her memory where the next place to check might be.

“Whatever you say, Twily,” Shiny said, amusement still present in his normal helpful and brotherly tone.

It was tedious, tiresome, and frustratingly dull work, especially when working with such a stand-offish pony as Applejack’s brother. At least after a while of observing him, Discord did notice that his dislike of talking was not completely due to his presence. It appeared to simply be his nature. As other stallions would pass them and call greetings to him, Big Mac would only wave back, every now and then perhaps giving the occasional ‘eeyup’.

This would have made Discord feel better, though he didn’t get the same vibe that Mac was doing it on purpose with any pony other than him. He wondered if Applejack told him to speak even less to him than the stallion would usually, or if this was Mac’s own form of getting back at Discord.

Had he held any confidence in this body's meager amount of power, Discord might have attempted to load the apples onto the cart magically. His experience with the bed the previous night however – and what Spike had said – made him consider that doing things the earth pony way might actually be faster. He was just glad Twilight had explained some of the disgusting finer points of his new form... or he might have thought all this sweating he was doing was something like the bathroom conundrum.

After about the hundred-thousandth basket of apples was loaded onto the three-hundredth cart, the sun began to set and thankfully, blessedly, mercifully Big Mac gave the signal for the end of work.

The temporary-pony shuffled along in the back of the group of other work ponies, all heading towards the barn and farmhouse. He still figured that this was simply Applejack sending him away, for he still was in the dark as to what precisely this was supposed to teach him, unless it was to test the sheer amount of tedium and exhaustion his new body could stand before it collapsed in a quivering heap of grayish horse.

Discord had figured that Mac would be at the front of this herd of tired workers, so he was surprised therefore to suddenly see his massive red flank walking next to him. He looked a tad warily up at the earth pony, leaning a bit away from him as they continued to walk.

It took a while before Discord realized that Big Mac might actually want to say something, but he restrained himself from asking. He was too tired to really bother anyway.

Mac finally did speak again as they were near enough to see the lights in the windows of the Apples' home. The other ponies began mumbling wearily around them about supper and bed. Discord however did not think these were the topics on the red stallion’s mind.

“AJ says her friend Twilight’s been lookin’ out for ya, and y’all are friends now.”

Discord raised an eyebrow, not sure where he was going with this. “Uh, in a sense, yes.”

The short words coming from Mac were at least less unfriendly than they had been earlier.

“AJ’s tryin ta trust ya, fer her sake.”

“Could have fooled me,” Discord said. “It seems as though your sister would take any excuse to get rid of me.”

“Cain’t really blame her,” Big Mac said. Discord supposed that was more honesty from the Apple family. “Cain't say I trust ya much neither.”

“Then why did you even bother with taking me, or was this really an attempt to punish me?”

“I did it because my sister asked me to,” he answered. “You do for family, even if ya might not like it. If ya can, ya do.”

“But you didn't get anything out of it, did you?” Discord asked. “You just said you don't like me, so what was in it for you?”

“Didn't say I didn't like ya.”

“So... you do?” Discord cocked his head to the side as he looked back up to Mac.

“Didn't say that neither.”

Discord wasn't sure – he had little to go on – but he thought the stallion might have just made some sort of attempt at humor.

“But like I said, ya do for family. Ya don't always gotta expect sumthin' back,” Mac continued.

Discord slowed his pace down as they began to catch up to the others. “Well, I wouldn't know about that. Not much family to speak of.” Really the closest things he had to family were the two alicorns that had set upon him this plague of mortality.

Surprisingly, Big Mac actually stopped and waited for him to catch up, shaking his head at Discord's words as he began his own strides again.

“It ain't always the family you're born into. Ya might could consider friends as close as kin. I might could count this whole town.”

“That does sound like the pony thing to say,” Discord sighed. “You still didn't answer my second question about why I was made to be here today.”

Mac was quiet again for a moment, which by now Discord noted was much more in-character with him than the veritable chatterbox he'd been on this walk home.

“I don't think it was a punishment... you're still alive, ain't ya?”

“Barely.”

“I think AJ's doin' for Twilight tha same thing I'm doin' for her. What she can for her family, how she sees fit. She can be a might stubborn when it comes to protectin' her family.”

Discord was almost glad when they lapsed into silence, he hadn't been certain what to make of Mac's statement. It still sounded as if the stallion got the shorter end of the deal. And what was with that about considering the whole town family to him? Of course, it was a small town, he might be related to just about every pony. Discord didn't know them though, not all of them, and not enough to think about calling them anything close to family.

There weren't that many ponies Discord would ever just 'do' for, to use Mac's vernacular. It sounded a lot like a bond, but more like the bond he had with Harmony and now her daughters. Something required of one no matter what. Well, Discord wasn't putting himself through this for their benefit, he just wanted his body back. He didn't feel he had to prove anything to them... but then there was the thought of the purple unicorn who had stood by him – this current abandonment notwithstanding – would he be willing to 'do' for her?

The happy sounds of hungry, tired ponies reaching a resting place grew in volume ahead of them, and Discord was taken out of his pondering on the one bit of family he might have in the Crystal Empire.

As exhausted as they all were, the workponies seemed to regain enough energy to scramble into the house practically toppling over one another. Yet Mac still stayed back with Discord, possibly waiting for the crowd to thin out enough to allow entry.

“Cain't say you were the best, but ya dun a good job today.”

Discord took a moment before replying. “Thanks… I guess.”

With that, the quiet giant left Discord's side. It was clear that he hadn’t changed the pony’s mind completely about him, but that the stallion seemed to make a connection between doing a good job at work without too much complaining and his respect. He might have actually earned a point or two in his favor in Big Mac’s book. Discord supposed that was a good thing, although he was merely glad that the day was over, he’d ponder this conversation’s meaning at a later time.

8. These Questions Like a Whirlwind Carry Me Away

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"Alright, so I need to be up top with the other pegasi, and obviously you can't come along for that,” Rainbow rattled off to Discord as if she had prepared this excuse in her head while on the way to pick him up.

She slowly flew slightly above him as she led Discord to the center of town. It seemed Rarity's outfit was still doing its job of keeping him incognito, or perhaps it was the ponies' imminent doom that caused them to not notice his meandering through their square.

As was now typical Spike accompanied them, the early hour not mixing with the dragon too well this time around either. He carried his mug of tea with him – clutching it tightly with both hands – and if it was possible he was actually walking slower than Discord was.

"So I'll let you be in charge of the 'optimal' thing. Twilight said it pretty much worked by itself, but that we might need some pony to watch it every now and then.”

At the very center of the square – given a berth by the town's ponies of a few meters around – was an odd contraption that vaguely resembled a barrel. It stood vertically with a small hole at the top, and a gauge showing numbers measured out in different ways on either side of the needle. Currently the needle was near the exact half of the gauge, and none of this did anything to inform Discord about what this thing was.

Rainbow Dash seemed to notice this, her tone suggesting that she knew about as much as he did, and that she found that ignorance frustrating.

"I think Twilight called it an 'optional dumb ceelo-something',” the pegasus tried to explain, only then noticing a small yellow note stuck to the machine's side. The word 'Rainbow' clearly visible on the folded page. She snatched it as she landed and unfolded the paper.

"Oh, ok,” she said as she skimmed the words, then reading them out loud. “It's an 'optical drum ceilometer. It uses triangulation of a spot of light projected onto the base of a cloud to determine its height.' So, it's how she's been able to keep an extra eye on Cloudsdale's progress from down here.”

Discord tapped the ceilometer with a front hoof, watching the needle jiggle for a moment before stopping again somewhere near the middle. Along the outside edge of the gauge it looked like Twilight had added a color code of green, yellow, and red to make the severity a tad simpler to identify. While the needle may have been near the center, it seemed to be slowly edging farther down the yellow section.

"So yesterday it was a lesson in physical tedium, and today it's the mental variety,” he said. “And yet another friend of Twilight's who is far too busy to actually help out.”

Dash's expression didn't change as she shrugged dramatically. “This is helping, or at least the best I can do right now. What do you want me to do? It's not like you can go up top with me.”

"Who says?”

"Uh, gravity for one,” she scoffed.

"Never have been a fan of that particular force,” Discord dismissed.

"You can't fly. You can't walk on clouds. This'll at least keep you in one place and out of trouble.”

"But if you really want my help with this whole mess, shouldn't I be allowed to see the problem from all angles?”

"We didn't ask for your help with the clouds,” Rainbow said with an annoyed flick of her wings. “Well, ok that's not exactly true. Because you were actually supposed to start spell duty with Rarity today, weren't you? You know, the thing that all the other unicorns are doing?”

"Plus, Twilight did specifically mention that you should do that,” Spiked piped up cautiously.

“Exactly, and I’d think you’d wanna at least give that a try. You haven’t been here more than three days and all I’ve seen you do is mope and complain.”

“Then isn’t it a nice change of pace for me to go along with you.”

Rainbow shook her head and scoffed again, clearly holding back what she actually wanted to say. She looked to Spike as he took another sip from his mug, and Discord thought she might have been considering the situation. She was certainly deliberating something.

“What happened a few months ago - what you did to back up what Twi was saying - that was actually pretty cool. I mean, once I understood it,” The pegasus sounded more controlled, but also more guarded. Like these words weren’t easy to say to him.

“You mean once you finally decided that her words were her own and I wasn’t coercing her.”

“Once Twilight showed us that, yeah,” Rainbow answered. “It was pretty cool of you… if you look at it the way Twilight does,” she continued with confidence.

“The way I see it though, I don’t think you would have stuck your neck out like that to prove her right if it hadn’t been your tail on the line. Because that was the only way you saw of getting what you wanted.”

“Mostly what I wanted,” he specified. “Where you are mistaken is that I saw no way of getting what I wanted.” He had seen no scenario where he would have walked away from that stand-off free, no matter how convincing his new ally was, or what he chose to give of himself. He hadn’t even really believed Twilight’s plan would work. But he had chosen to go along with the one pony that hadn’t completely written him off. The one that had given him hope.

“So you agree that you owe Twi, but… then what have you been doing? You might not actually care about her like she thinks you can - and if you really aren’t massively pranking us - you should at least understand that. I keep thinking that if it weren’t so unpleasant for you to be like this and so crucial to you to get back to your old self, you wouldn’t be playing along at all.”

"Well those are the only reasons I could possibly have. Either I’m only in this for myself, or this is all one big joke on you.”

“Your attitude hasn’t exactly said anything different,” she said, her frown intensifying. “Especially if you keep skipping out on what you were actually asked to do. And now that your foal sitter’s not here you’ll just do the bare-minimum until she comes back and deems that you’ve learned your lesson.”

Just what made her think that he didn’t understand or appreciate what Twilight had done for him? Even if it hadn’t been hammered into him by Celestia, Discord wasn’t as dense about the matter as every pony seemed to believe. Of course he understood it. He tried to show his appreciation in his own way, the only way he knew. This pony really didn’t know much about anything. If she’d been around for that last argument he and Twilight had had, Discord doubted she would think Twilight would be so willing to just hand over a good grade when she returned.

“What makes you think she would do that, then?” he asked.

Rainbow Dash looked far away for a second, losing her frown momentarily as if she were visiting a memory that she still did not quite understand.

“Because she’ll want to. She believes there’s this potential in you to do the right thing without having an agenda. I dunno how right she is but… she does.”

Ah, the faith that Twilight had in him. Had… it could very well be in the past tense now. That had given him a sense of hope that he’d tried to hold onto ever since those words had left her mouth. If Rainbow Dash here didn’t believe Discord to truly care about that faith in him that came along with Twilight’s friendship, was that what she had begun to think as well? It wasn’t much of a leap to take, considering how things had been between them lately.

“We gave you the choice today to go with Rarity, but you opted out, I dunno why AJ thought that would be a good idea but you made your choice. So it's either sit here and watch this thing or go make that horn of yours useful.” She gave his horn a poke for emphasis, much to Discord's annoyance.

"Let me go up there with you, and I’ll consider it,” Discord offered. It was the best he could muster, for he did not want to attempt that spell today, and not for the reasons this pony thought. Not as if she would believe him in any case.

“If you really want to go with her, there's always that spell Twilight used once to help ponies walk on clouds,” Spike mentioned with a look to Discord. “That's only if you're really interested in seeing it because you wanna help, not to get away from spell duty.”

The dragon appeared to see through his plan, or part of it anyway. It was true that Discord was attempting to avoid joining in with the other unicorns... not due to any lapse in his confidence to perform the spell; it merely seemed like a waste of his talents... as did most of the chores set to him lately. It seemed that the life of a pony was filled with many bouts of activities that just weren't fun, but done anyway.

It wasn't that entirely however. If this whole crisis concerning these two towns was causing Twilight so much stress – enough to add to it by leaving – there was a part of Discord that was curious to observe it more closely. He might be able to do something that was closer to his actual field of capability.

Rainbow was about to take off when Spike spoke, and she slumped a bit as she re-folded her wings. “Yeah there's that spell, but... do you really think he has the magic skills to keep it up?”

"As he is standing right here and he has controlled magic far beyond any form of basic unicorn magic, I'd say he has a pretty good shot,” Discord butted in. “It can't be that difficult.”

"More difficult than putting together a foldable bed?” Spike prodded only a bit sarcastically. “I'll go and get the book, but you're really gonna have to focus on it.”

"Yeah, or you'll be getting acquainted with gravity real quick,” Rainbow added, seemingly caving. “If you can actually get the spell to work and I don't have to save your tail, then I'll find a chariot or something to take you up in. We're not taking the balloon, its way too slow.”

Both pegasus and dragon headed off in different directions as Discord still stood, wondering how long it would take them to realize they had actually left him alone – something which he was sure they absolutely did not want to do.

“One, two, three...” he counted under his breath, one gleeful moment thinking they might actually have left him by himself for a few minutes. That was until he got to three and they both came zipping back.

Rainbow was muttering something and Spike had one clawed hand to his face, both noticing that the other had left him as well.

“You take him,” Rainbow said to Spike.

“Just wait here,” Spike said to Discord at the exact same moment.

Just as eager to get this show on the road as they were, Discord decided that he might as well follow the young dragon. The Pony Boy had the spell he needed anyway.

Twilight's entire day had been spent in the lofty balcony that was the Meteorology and Pegasi Studies section of the Crystal Empire's library. By the time the sun was sinking below the horizon to bring on the night she had nearly gone through the whole section twice. Building a nice little fort for herself out of the books, the unicorn stacked them across several tables in order of relevance.

A part of her felt actually almost peaceful as she was able to spend hours on end just reading, although the usual zen that her research gave her couldn't be completely achieved. With every new volume Twilight would feel a surge of hope, or potential and opportunity, which would slowly die away as she flipped through their pages. The basics she knew would not be all that helpful, but in a few books she did manage to find some interesting methods.

Casting in the Clouds offered something in the way of an atmospheric lifting spell. Although it read more like it was the atmosphere that would be lifted more so than the clouds.

In a similar way to how the pegasi had lifted the water up to Cloudsdale to make the supply of rain, the unfortunately-titled Breaking Wind: How to Tame the Air mentioned a group flight maneuver that could create an updraft powerful enough to ease the city back upwards. With the unicorns keeping it steady with their spell it was conceivable... if only they could find some way to keep it in its normal place once they got it there.

And she concluded that 10 Things You Didn't Know About Weather Magic & What You Can Do Now You've Wised Up should probably get a title change, for it seemed that all ten things advertised she had found in many of these other books.

She had seen Cadance for a brief time after Mrs. Dusthooves had found her and her brother to inform them of the library's closing. It took them a while to replace all of the books to their proper shelves, but Twilight kept the few most relevant ones she had uncovered on a table.

Her next day began with only a bit less resolve than Twilight had on her first day there. Finding the books she had set aside to leave at the front with the librarian, the unicorn set her sights on another section. It was only an hour or so of burying herself in the section on Contemporary Magical Theory that she realized her brother was not with her.

Marking her place among the new forest of shelves, Twilight walked around the section in search of him. She then went to the adjacent section, still no Shiny.

The echo of Twilight's hooves in the smooth crystal floor had become background noise to her, but eased back into the forefront as she listened out for another set of hooves. Once she had reached the front where Mrs. Dusthooves still sat with her own stack of books, Twilight had to accept that Shining Armor wasn't there. She couldn't blame him, she had given him an out the previous day. Twilight was grateful and a little surprised that he had stuck with her for this long.

"Looks like I lost my research partner,” she said in part to Mrs. Dusthooves, partly to herself.

"Oh yes, the prince mentioned for me to tell you he was going to see if the princess had any time free, and that he would return later to 'help me kick you out for dinner',” the librarian answered, a small nervous laugh escaping her as she quoted Shining.

Twilight chuckled too. “That sounds about right. Thanks for telling me,” she thanked her as she turned back towards the section she'd come from, her mind all ready to set itself back into scan-mode.

The sun shining through the crystal ceiling often sent tiny rainbows off in various directions, and sometimes they would randomly land right in Twilight's eye when she least expected it. As she turned her head, a sudden blinding of her right eye caused her to wince and turn away from her chosen direction. Once out of the way of the stray beam, the unicorn's eyes landed on the darkened doorway a bit further behind where Mrs. Dusthooves was busily stamping books. The one that had caught her eye earlier upon their arrival.

She didn't see a placard indicating what section they might lead to, but the fact that the carved opening concealed a set of stairs that seemed to move downward did give Twilight's curiosity a tiny nudge.

Twilight's wonder about this new set of stairs found her nearly passing the librarian's desk before she halted.

"Excuse me,” she lifted a hoof to the desk to get Mrs. Dusthoove's attention. “But where does that stairway lead?” Twilight pointed with her other foreleg to indicate the opening.

Mrs. Dusthooves peeked around the corner to where Twilight was pointing. “Oh, that leads to Ancient History and World Mythology.”

It didn't immediately sound like an area that would present any results for her search, and the stairs descending into the dark didn't exactly give it much of a friendly feel, but something about it had sparked an inclination inside her to check it out. Twilight did want to be thorough in her search after all, and since she had already gone up, going down sounded like a natural next step.

Lighting her horn, the purple pony headed downwards into the cool of the darker section towards wherever her curiosity was leading her.

Discord surprised every pony by being able to sustain his footing on the clouds. They felt different beneath these hooves, less substantial than he recalled when lounging on clouds in his favored form. It was taking more concentration than he'd assumed it would, but at least it was getting somewhat easier.

Spike assumed it must be because he was getting used to this way of magic focus, and while on one claw that might have been a good thing, Discord couldn't help but find that equally negative. He didn't want to be 'getting used' to it, because that might mean that he was intending to stay in this form for longer than he absolutely must.

Sure, there was a certain sense of accomplishment and maybe even pride in figuring this whole horn thing out, finally getting the hang of something seemingly so rudimentary to ponies yet he had never done.

Proving he could do it, that was something. Although it also continued to reinforce his appreciation for how his natural powers worked - or rather - allowed him to not have to work.

This cloud-walking spell did not allow for more than his own weight to be supported, so Spike was much to his regret left behind again to wait in the chariot.

"Don't worry, Spike," Rainbow Dash said as she unhitched herself from the harness. "We won't be staying long, or at least you two won't be."

Once free of the straps, the pegasus walked around to give her scaly friend a playful punch. Then with a side glance to see if he wasn't looking, she leaned in to whisper to Spike, "I'll betcha two bits he loses hold of that spell in less than twenty minutes."

She really hadn't needed to lean in, she did not appear to be all that skilled at whispering. Discord heard her clearly enough. Well, he didn't imagine much in the way of votes of confidence from the mare, he did notice that Spike did not accept the wager.

The cloud city was - as explained - empty but for the few pegasi manning the weather factory and the number of their fellows high above the cirrus-y spires trying to pull the clouds up. Literally pulling, with ropes and everything. Part of Discord just wanted to begin a slow clap and deem this idea positively precious. Further out he could spot other winged ponies directing other flight traffic around and away from Cloudsdale, and every so often the ones holding the most-likely magical ropes gave a flutter, shudder, or a tug as they continued to pull and stay upright.

Watching a dark blue pony directly above them lose his grip for a moment only to flip out and flap hysterically to regain his altitude, Discord tried to stifle a laugh. His covered snort instead came out even louder than he'd planned.

At this, Rainbow Dash whipped around to his eye level faster than it took him to stop himself and re-focus his spell (for in his tiny fit, he'd lost his concentration and had felt his hooves begin to sink into the cloud).

"Hey, what exactly makes this so funny? This isn't a joke Dissy," she reprimanded, putting am emphasis on Pinkie’s nickname for him. Wonderful, Discord was so glad that was catching on.

"You wanted to see the damage up here and the efforts we're taking. Well, here it is," she added, with a sweeping of her hoof to show the scene before them. "Look around and see if you've got any better ideas." Her frowning face looking away from him now, he saw Rainbow's eyes turn back to the pony Discord had been laughing at. The stallion did look fairly exhausted. He followed her gaze to the ponies in place near him, noting that even the ones wearing the armor were showing signs of fatigue. Sighing, Dash shook her head at the sight.

Discord thought he could recognize something now in the blue mare's expression, and it was a small consolation to get the impression her frustration was not completely due to his 'tagging along'.

The rope the pony was struggling to grip was secured at a place close to where they stood. The width of the cable was almost the same as the average pony's leg, and made of some material Discord had never seen. At the base it was reinforced by the same silvery substance somehow melding with the cloud.

"We knew we needed something with some more reliability then regular rope,” Dash said before he could ask. She must have caught his questioning expression from the corner of her eye. “So we got these from a forge in Las Pegasus. They're mostly Celestial Diamond, which is great since it can be melded with pretty much anything. They also added some stuff they found in the north outside of the Crystal Empire that's supposed to absorb vibrations. We hoped that might help with the pulling... so we wouldn't feel the forces at work as much.”

She continued to watch her fellow pegasi instead of Discord, disappointment clearly evident even in these specially-formed magic ropes she was explaining.

"This was supposed to be a temporary measure until Twi could find something else to fix things, but every day it's just getting wor-" a sudden shudder rippled through the clouds beneath their feet, and both of them were jostled from their stance.

Rainbow was quicker to brace herself than Discord, who had not been expecting the cloudy 'floor' beneath him to be so violently yanked. So after the shaking had stopped as quickly as it had started, Rainbow was still standing with only a few feathers out of place while Discord was splayed with his hooves in all directions, trying to right himself and maintain the spell.

"So much for those things absorbing anything.”

Dash smoothed her errant feathers back down, grumbling a bit still as she shook her head again. "Yeah... shift change. We always get kinda tossed around when it's time to switch off."

They both looked back up to see the dark blue stallion doing the aerial equivalent of limping away as another pegasus took his place with the rope.

Passing by the weary pony was a recognizable yellow mare, who became temporarily distracted from her flight by the stallion, pausing to give him a concerned pat on the shoulder.

“Oh for the love of-- is any pony going to do what they’re told today?” Dash complained with a hoof to her face upon noticing her friend. She waved a hoof and shouted up to her.

“Fluttershy!” She called up authoritatively. The sound of her name caused Fluttershy to jump and shy away from the pony she was comforting. When she had found the source of the call, the mare brightened however hesitantly.

Dash rolled her eyes as the mare fluttered down to meet them. “Aren’t you supposed to already be up with the flight traffic crew?”

Fluttershy looked apologetic, which was mostly how Discord typically saw her. “I know, I was just on my way when that shudder happened. I wanted to find you and make sure you were okay.”

The blue mare’s frown softened at her words into a smile that clearly meant she should have known. “Yeah, I’m fine. This guy’s fine, I’m sure Spike’s fine too if he stayed in the chariot,” she nodded her head in Discord’s direction as she listed whom had come along with her.

After landing in front of them, Fluttershy straightened her curtain-like mane from her face. She blinked when her eyes turned to Discord (who was mildly losing interest now) but she seemed to have recognized him before Rainbow pointed him out.

“Oh, and you brought-” she started, halting her sentence before quickly looking around as if someone might overhear. “Discord,” she whispered his name with a look to Dash. How the pony managed to somehow get her voice even quieter than it already was Discord didn’t know.

“I didn’t bring him, he just up and decided that he was going to come with me today,” Dash said. “Aaand I was just about to take him back where Spike’s waiting so---”

"What's the rush?" his question cut the blue pegasus off. "Weren't you waiting for me to accept your challenge?"

"That wasn’t a challenge,” Dash said.

“You’re right, I’m sure it wouldn’t be much of a challenge for me, even in my current condition,” he smirked. “Though I do understand your backing out, clearly you wouldn’t be able to handle any helpful ideas I could conceive.”

Discord took a moment to appreciate how he almost felt like his old self for a moment. He’d concluded that there was just no way of getting to do what he wanted in any straight path with this one. If it weren’t for Spike he doubted Rainbow Dash would have even taken him up, so outright offering his brain to add to the proverbial storm wouldn’t be met favorably. He had to play to her sense of competition.

“Do you have an idea?” Fluttershy surprised both Discord and Dash by piping up, looking a little bit hopeful.

While he watched Rainbow Dash stew in her conflicting mind, Discord considered this. “Not as yet, but if you really want my input…”

“Dash, maybe we should let him try,” she said. Her meek appeal not appearing to aid the blue pony in the battle going on in her head.

“Yeah Dash, come on,” Discord goaded with an emphasis on her name this time. He probably didn’t need to add anything more, Fluttershy’s doe-eyed plea was doing more in his favor than he could have imagined. Too bad that trick wouldn’t work if he tried it.

It took some time, but the stubborn rainbow pony finally realized that she had lost the battle.

“Ugh, fine. If you really think you can think of something, then yeah sure, Let’s hear it. ” she spat her aggressively reluctant agreement as she took to the air again. “But only cause I hate seeing every pony like this and we’re getting desperate. And only if you can think and walk back to the chariot at the same time.”

“Challenge accepted, then,” he said as he began at a snail’s pace back towards where Spike was waiting. It wasn’t a long walk, and Discord wanted to take as long as possible. It would give him more time to think, and it was already having a very enjoyable second benefit of frustrating the speed-obsessed Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy walked with them, staying on the cloud floor beside Discord and not seeming to mind his pace. She also did not appear to mind avoiding her appointed duty either. Although the temporary pony felt that it was less to do with his reasoning and more likely out of that natural kindness of hers.

Quite slowly they passed a few more bases of the magical ropes being held by pegasi. Discord took a good, long look while re-considering one as they walked.

"What might happen if you weren't using these things to pull?”

"Um, you just felt it,” Dash answered, referring to the shudder, “Even with the unicorns pushing from below, it's not enough to keep it up without us.”

"But it seems to still be sinking despite your unnecessarily strained efforts,” he indicated the pony holding up the rope nearest them. “You all just keep trying to push or pull the thing to slow it down, and how has that been working out for you?”

Rainbow Dash’s whole body drooped at Discord’s remark. She landed with an exhaustive look and turned back to him.

"Oh this’ll be good,” she scoffed. “You have an idea, then?”

"What do you do when normal clouds start falling to the ground?”

"I think you mean fog, and that’s when their density becomes too great and we have to come and dissipate it.”

"So what’s wrong with doing that?” he asked.

"And how do we do that, smart guy? Cloud density is not the problem here,” Rainbow said obviously. “It’s not like this is a normal cloud, its magic is supposed to keep it in the sky at all times. Dissipating won’t to a darn thing – other than possibly make all our buildings sink through or fall apart - because it’s not just made of water.”

"Then you just change what it’s made of, simple as that.”

"Oh yeah Dissy, we’ll get right on that,” Dash said sarcastically, using that nickname again. It was just so first-thought. Given some time Discord felt he could think of a much better one. She must have known he wasn't fond of it. “Because we can totally do that, or haven’t you heard?”

"All I’m saying is that you’re all approaching it from the wrong direction,” Discord said with a shrug. “The keeping-it-from-sinking as opposed to seriously focusing on the pulling-it-back-up part.”

"We haven’t been able to find a way that won’t harm one or both towns,” Fluttershy explained. “That’s why we’re hoping that Twilight can find something.”

“But I don’t think whatever she finds is gonna involve pulling,” Dash gave another glance up to the ponies above from Fluttershy’s other side.

“It just does not seem to be such a problem to manipulate them. Whatever they’re made of, they should be malleable to some extent,” he argued.

“You sure do have a lot to say about what we should do, given that you haven’t done squat about it yourself,” Rainbow Dash leered in suspicion. “The way you’re talking now it could make some pony wonder if you had something to do with causing this problem in the first place.”

Discord raised a hoof in mock-realization. “Wait wait, I do believe I’ve heard this one before. You should think about getting some new material.”

"Um, but Twilight said she didn’t think he would do anything like this,” Fluttershy spoke up. “We should probably give him the benefit of the doubt.”

"Yeah well, Twilight’s not here and even if he didn’t cause this, he’s supposed to be helping us fix it without bugging me to come up here,” Rainbow shook her head and took to hovering again.. “Why don’t we get you back to Ponyville so you can go and find out when you’re on spell duty while we continue our ‘futile’ efforts from up above?”

Her patience with him gone as far as it could go apparently, Rainbow zoomed off towards the chariot. Not exactly sporting, Discord thought. Although that did not mean that the ‘challenge’ was over.

He smirked at her form shrinking as she flew away, leaving him with only Fluttershy who still walked alongside him. She too watched Rainbow go, her face falling as if it had been she who had caused Dash to leave.

Rainbow had of course brought up that spell of theirs again. If it was so important then why couldn’t it be used to move the cloud city up instead of keeping it stable or whatever it was doing?

“Do you know what the actual specifications of this whole spell business is?” he asked Fluttershy offhandedly.

Fluttershy shook her head. He didn’t actually think she would know, but he had been surprised before recently.

“So you don’t know if they could maybe just put some extra effort into it or something. Eat some bran or magic moon mushrooms?”

“It’s really not that easy,” she said. It was a few more minutes of walking before she lifted her face from the cloud floor to address him again, at least sounding more hopeful. “But I have seen Rainbow Dash spin some clouds back up to the sky… though that was a lot smaller.”

They were within sight of the chariot now, Rainbow already wriggling into the harness and having a wrestling match with one of the buckles. Spike was still in the carriage, leaning over the side to speak to Rainbow but not seeming to get a reply.

“What would be the problem with doing that then? Get your little pegasus band together and whip the thing back upwards.”

“Like when we pull the rain water up to the weather factory?” Fluttershy asked. Discord had no idea what she was talking about, but he assumed from her expression this was a fair comparison.

“Uh… sure. Whatever that is, why not do that?”

They were now within earshot of the other two, Spike turning their way with a smile while Rainbow was still going pony-to-pony with the harness.

“Well… I don’t know,” Fluttershy said, sounding a bit like it made her wonder too. “I mean, I don’t know how close this problem is to that.”

Spike appeared to have only caught the tail end of the conversation as they approached, but chimed in nonetheless. “That takes a lot of wing power though, right? Didn’t you need about four-hundred wing power or something to get the water up here?”

“Eight-hundred!” Rainbow struggled to latch the final latch and correct Spike at the same time. “And you’d need a whole lot more than that to even attempt what you’re thinking. Like, over three thousand.”

“Oh my, do we even have enough ponies to do that?” asked Fluttershy. They watched Rainbow straighten up with a groan.

“No-- maybe,” she answered. Little patience seemed to have been recovered. “I dunno, it’s not like we’re even gonna do it, that sounds risky at best and downright moronic at worst.”

“I don’t think it sounds that bad,” the yellow mare lowered her ears at her friend’s words.

“You’d have to find a way to keep every pony and everything in Ponyville from getting uprooted and flying away though,” Spike brought up. “But it is an idea.”

“Not that great of one,” said Rainbow. “You just said it, how do you expect to keep everything below stabilized? That’s even if we could get enough pegasi to get to three-thousand WP.”

“Details,” Discord waved his hoof in her direction.

“Those are some pretty big details for you to be hoof-waving away. Why don’t you just get your tail in the carriage with Spike, Mister Idea Pony?”

The mare seemed to be beyond tired of indulging him, this entire excursion up on the cloud surface couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes, it couldn‘t have taken up that much of her day. And after he tried to rise to the ‘challenge’ by trying to help too. Though the pegasus was most likely determined to ignore any ideas Discord might think up, he thought that he had at least gotten the hard-headed pony to think outside her normal and immediate pool of thinking.

Relieved to be able to stop holding the spell, Discord climbed into the chariot with hardly a complaint. He had a brief glimpse of Fluttershy beginning to wave them goodbye when Rainbow Dash took off like a shot. The ride back down looked like it was going to be a lot bumpier than going up. The rainbow pony zooming up for a minute to bypass the boundaries of Cloudsdale and have a clear shot for their descent back to Ponyville.

A brief moment of stability gave Discord time to sling his forelegs over the side of the carriage and observe the view below, Ponyville sitting almost smack dab in the center of this impending bullseye. What was it about looking down from this height that somehow made this whole crisis of theirs to feel more real. It might have been the lurch in his weak pony stomach at the view, or that his pony eyes could take in nearly the whole shadow Cloudsdale draped over the land.

“She’s about to dive, I’d hang on if I were you,” he could hear Spike just over the wind that had picked up (no doubt having no effect on the city). He had barely registered what Spike had said before Rainbow took a jarring swoop downwards, knocking the chariot and its inhabitants for a loop. Banging into the dragon and knocking his hooves from their resting place, Discord tried to brace himself in some way as Rainbow Dash took another hairpin turn to avoid hitting something he couldn’t see.

Losing his hold on the chariot’s edge was not the best thing to do, because the next turbulent bump of the pegasus’s hectic scramble to get him back to town had flung him directly out of the carriage. As he felt himself falling away from the safety of the small contraption, an involuntary panic coursed through his body. Without realizing what he was doing his hooves grasped fruitlessly for a hold on the edge as it sped the opposite direction from where the wind was taking him. His horn even managed to send off a spark or two, as if even his limited unicorn magic was attempting to put his tail back where it new was safe.

This body of his grasped the whole concept of its own mortality much faster than Discord’s mind it seemed. It was only as he began to notice how very fast and very solid the ground beneath him was beginning to look that he even began to catch up with himself just how mortal this form of his could be.

But, it wasn’t as if he’d really be hurt, was it? There was no way he could die while stuck like this, was there? The surge of panic he was unable to quell appeared to believe so. But just as he was about to give in to screaming and flailing about helplessly, he heard a woosh above him as a yellow streak met him in midair. The pony caught his right foreleg with both of hers, the sudden yank of which causing some exceedingly excruciating pain to shoot up from his shoulder as the pink-maned pony flapped her wings to reduce their speed.

Another fun involuntary reaction was the scream Discord let out the instant he was caught. He had yet to feel physical pain in this body, so he had no idea that such an already-unpleasant concept would or could possibly be so magnified.

Fluttershy winced at his cry, folding her ears and looking like she might let out a cry herself. “I’m so, so sorry. I tried to catch you properly but you’d started kicking and turning, I was afraid to try until you held still.”

“Gaah! So you didn’t mean to pull my leg off?” he shouted up at her, which only made her look of guilt intensify. She squeaked and sniffled, shaking her head as their speed continued to slow.

“I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry. I-I just saw you fall out and I knew Rainbow Dash hadn’t.”

“What are you apologizing for?” they heard the pony in question call as she swung the chariot around underneath them for Fluttershy to safely deposit him. “You saved his flank, he should be thanking you.”

They were much closer to the ground, but once Fluttershy had released her hold on him, Discord’s pain only felt worse. New stabs of it shot up with every slight movement, he winced as the pony let it go and it dramatically flopped to his side. “I’ll thank her after we can somehow get my leg re-attached.”

Spike came close to him to inspect Discord’s problem. He pulled his leg away, holding it with his other foreleg to keep his shoulder from moving.

“Are you seriously hurt? Let me see,” he asked with some air of actual softness, actual caring. At this moment it didn’t do all that much for him, but Discord at least acknowledged that it was there.

“Rainbow, land over on that cloud please, I want to see how badly he’s hurt,” Discord heard Fluttershy quietly plead to the mad-mare driver.

Rainbow Dash looked reluctant for a moment, but did seem to realize that Discord was not faking. He admitted to being able to pull off a ruse, but even he was not that good an actor.

She landed the chariot on a nearby cloud barely big enough for it and her. Fluttershy hovered above while she and Spike tried to coax Discord into relinquishing his hold on the injured appendage.

The yellow mare looked frazzled, unsure of herself as Discord tried to find a way to make it hurt less while still not letting his leg move any more than he absolutely had to.

“Oh my goodness, um, can you try to touch your other shoulder?” she asked. The pseudo-pony was at that moment attempting to not pass out from the pain, so trying to touch his shoulder with this thing that used to be a working leg felt almost laughable.

“Are you kidding?” he moaned through gritted teeth, only just now managing to move his good foreleg away from the one that somehow could look so useless and cause such intense pain.

“Just try,” coaxed Spike, wincing from him a bit as well at the sight of his injury.

Letting out an exhaustive breath, he took another and held it in, only to let it out again with another yelp as his foreleg only moved a fraction of the way across his chest, absolutely nowhere near the opposite shoulder.

“Oh, oh no. I was hoping that it wasn’t that bad. Oh, I am so sorry,” Fluttershy began to babble her apology again without giving a solution. “I think you might have dislocated it.”

“I might have?” he growled, but groaned with pain again from the sudden movement to turn towards her. Seeing the meek pony look like she really would cry this time, he was able to think through the blinding pain enough to consider that she had saved him, and she had been the one to get Rainbow Dash to listen to him for a moment. “Alright, alright. Sorry, and thanks for catching me I suppose. But I'll be much more grateful if you can fix this!” the last part of his sentence grew in volume as the pain shot through him once more. He groaned again from the pain as well as having to distribute an apology and a thank you on top of it during this ordeal.

Fluttershy at least stopped tearing up, and appeared to be returning to her frazzled nurse mode.

“What can we do for him?” Spike gave a concerned look up to the Pegasus. Fluttershy’s ears drooped again, sending the message that whatever it was Discord would not like it.

“We’ll um.. I mean, I’ll have to… we don’t have another unicorn here to do it magically so… I have to try and pop it back in.”

Yup, that sounded exactly as fun as Discord had thought.

Instructing Spike to help hold him down, Fluttershy gingerly took Discord’s injured leg, earning another yowl from him and both pony and dragon another wince as he did so right next to their ears. He hadn’t thought Spike’s extra weight on him was necessary until he felt Fluttershy put even the smallest amount of pressure on him and he flinched so hard it could have been mistaken for convulsions.

Minutes passed feeling like hours to Discord as Fluttershy kept trying to slowly and easily fix the problem resulting in only stronger bouts of pain and more apologies from her.

It was only after he himself felt as if he could take no more when he heard the gruff tones of the other pegasus in the group turning to them. “Alright, that’s enough! I know you’re trying to be gentle-like Fluttershy, but this is not what he needs. Here, let me try.”

Discord’s eyes widened slightly, and he tried to protest, but this irksome body was weakened now from all the waves of pain and he could only barely shake his head as Rainbow came into view.

“Oh, but Dash, do you know how?” he heard Fluttershy ask while Rainbow muscled her way past her.

She shrugged. “It can’t be too hard. His leg fell out, we just pop it back in.” Her tone was not comforting.

With a much firmer grip, Rainbow Dash grabbed his foreleg sending fresh pain through him, and with one of her own forelegs on his shoulder for steadiness, lined his foreleg up and proceeded to jam it back into the hole with a muffled squelching, almost cracking noise. That noise was barely registered over Discord’s loudest shout of protest yet, especially due to the rough manner she used. Like she was using his foreleg to stab him.

But once his shout had ended, the pain began to subside, and he had full control of his leg again. Discord nearly collapsed with the exhaustive relief, his mind begrudgingly registering that he probably owed the blue Pegasus a thank you now as well. If he could remember to after he woke up from passing out, he might get around to it.

9. Magic We All Share, How Much We Learn to Care

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There was a very noticeable change in temperature the further down the stairs led her, and Twilight pondered whether or not that was from merely descending underground or – quite possibly – if she was going so far underground that the magic keeping the city warm was somehow dampened.

The unicorn held her head high with her horn alight, making note that there weren't even that many torches placed along the staircase, and that none of the few she spotted were lit.

The room at the bottom had to be a good twenty degrees colder than the library above, and not much in the way of lighting either. She cast her light from corner to corner, spotting mirrors placed at certain angles along each wall.

They were most likely put there to reflect light from above, something often used by ponies without the aid of magic to light such an underground room with what appeared to be little means of ventilation for torch smoke.

Using the mirrors along with her ball of light spell proved to light the room in a much more efficient manner than if Twilight had used the spell alone. It required much less concentration this way, which freed her up to begin exploring again.

The walls and shelves were made of stone rather than crystal, and with far fewer books and much more junk. Boxes of paperwork, unsorted books, and various other uncategorizeable things were stacked in piles nearly as high as the shelves themselves. The books and scrolls appeared fewer, but much, much older, and it all of the items coated with dust suggested that this was not an area often tended to.

Of course, Twilight was used to being amongst places like this. The smell of dust and decaying parchment were almost welcome, even if she had left the much friendlier and welcoming part of the library. This room felt like a combination of a dungeon and some pony's basement. If she asked permission, Twilight was fairly certain that she could put her own organizational skills to good use here.

With the state of the room, it was only a matter of time before she tripped over something. Even with the light aiding her. Sure enough, as she made to try and avoid a very old and fragile-looking chest, Twilight stumbled over a stack of books almost as tall as she and slamming her directly into the item she was trying to avoid.

The chest may have been locked at some point, but its rusted metal latch disintegrated in the unicorn’s fall on top of it. The lid slid sideways revealing the few contents that had managed to survive however long they had been kept in there. Twilight inspected the crumbling scrolls and books, only one of which didn’t look like it might fall apart if she so much as breathed on it.

The light seemed somehow more focused upon the one solid tome, perhaps it was the precise slanting of the lid that caused such prominence. As Twilight peeked in, creeping her nose cautiously closer to at least see the cover better, a tiny alarm went off inside her courtesy of her well-organized mind. This was getting her off of her set task, and she knew that. This whole excursion was possibly a big deviation from her plan, she really shouldn’t be indulging her curiosity so much.

That was completely right, Twilight told herself. Though as she thought that, it did not stop her still wanting to see. She would look at the cover, but she would not take it out.

The cover of the book appeared to be some type of leather, which was strange in itself. Equestrian publishers rarely used leather for fairly obvious reasons but as she analyzed it Twilight noticed that it wasn’t (thankfully) a leather made from a pony nor any hoofed animal she could name. But it wasn’t light enough a material to be anything else.

From her vantage point leaning into the chest, she could read only two words written in a language Twilight recognized as being very dead:

Statera Equus

It was a very old precursor to the contemporary Equestrian, but that clearly revealed this book to be centuries old. How it managed to stay in such good condition she had no idea.

Alright, so I’ll take it out to examine it, but only to see if I can translate it, she rationalized in her mind as she carefully freed the tome from the broken chest and placed it somewhere she could get a better look.

She had studied this proto-Equestrian somewhat, and she could manage a translation spell would help her with most of the rest. Upon further inspection the cover had smaller words underneath the two-word title. It was these words that caused all of that resolve Twilight had to get back on track to falter as dramatically as her eyes were wide.

Statera Equus: the Four Spirits of Balance

Four? Twilight thought. Wait, what? There were four spirit beings residing over the whole balance thing? But all of the history books she'd ever seen – even the ones containing the princesses' origins – had only ever mentioned Harmony. They barely even mentioned Discord, and Twilight only found out about his connection with The Great Pony when Princess Celestia explained it.

Her curiosity piqued more than ever, she swept the excess dust off of the cover and opened it. The first page held the same title, with a symbol of four colors swirling together in a circular pattern. Black, white, red, and blue. As they swirled, the colors appeared to pair up and intertwine with their partner: red with blue, white with black.

The table of contents on the next page listed a few titles Twilight recognized. The various origin stories of Equus and the countries that lay upon it. Her eyes caught a subsection dedicated to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna near the bottom of the list. From the page numbers on the right side of the columns, theirs appeared to be a shorter chapter.

The bulk of the book seemed to be dedicated to the titular spirits themselves. Twilight saw one sizable section for each of them listed. Harmony and Discord obviously, but below their names were two others labeled 'Mort' and 'Sef'.

Mort and Sef... Twilight did actually recognize the names. Mort was supposed to be the Reaper Pony, the one who supposedly came to claim the souls of the dead and escort them to the hereafter. Sef was just the opposite, she was supposed to be the one who selected souls to be born. At least that was the legend. She was always associated with life in any case. Twilight had never given those stories much credibility, especially since they were never shown in any actual history book she'd ever read.

Then again, Twilight was finding that history and mythology went closer together in this world than she had once believed. It hadn't been too long ago that a story she'd heard her whole life had been confirmed as more than just an old pony tale.

So these two had parts in the whole nature of Balance for the world. If this book was to be believed, that was. This was the only book in Twilight's current memory to say so, and it had been sitting here buried in the library of an empire that hadn't been seen for over a thousand years. She wasn't sure if that might actually lend it some validity or not.

She flipped to the section on Harmony to see if that coincided with what she already knew. It recited nearly exactly the story the princess told her with the memory spell, which Twilight knew now to be the true version. The other books she could recall almost never mentioned Discord, and when they did never depicting him as an equal or a partner to Harmony.

Harmony's chapters here mentioned him many times, specifying what the book defined as a 'sibling rivalry'. Once Twilight reached the chapter containing how Harmony had used her love for all the ponies and her own power of Order to create her daughters, there was a brief sentence about the events with Discord that followed, and an asterisk beside it.

Her eyes trained to glance down at the bottoms of pages at the sight of an asterisk, Twilight noticed a footnote:

For the tales of Discord's failed chaos creation and descent onto Equus, see the Discord section.

See the Discord section... as much as Twilight would like to continue examining the validity of this musty tome, she felt oddly hesitant to flip to that particular section. In all honesty the chance to learn more about him – especially when he hadn't offered much in the way of explanations – sent the flames of her curiosity to burn even brighter. Although it might be the same as it had been with Princess Celestia, maybe Discord had his reasons.

Her curiosity now threatening to burn her up, she decided to just casually flip a few pages while turning her head. After a few good flips she looked back down at the book's yellowed contents. A slight thrill of both guilt and a bit of satisfaction came to her when she saw that she had stopped near the beginning of Discord's chapters.

His section appeared to begin similarly to Harmony's, yet it was clear that even this book cast him in a more negative light. Or, perhaps that was merely Twilight's own perception of the book's tone. This would most likely still count as a 'biased pony recounting'.

His appearance is - like Harmony – said to be of his own choosing....Both beings seem to have chosen the forms that suit their realm best, which contrast each other in a way that also reflects their roles.

Twilight had wondered about that, and that explanation actually made sense. From the way it read, it sounded a lot like Discord created a body for himself to spite his 'sister', when she'd decided to as well. That was until she reached the next paragraph.

In the story telling of Harmony's creation of her daughters, Discord is sometimes mentioned to have also wanted to live with the mortals. His reasons are always said to be of a more mischievous or devious nature than his sister's.

Well, that was somewhat expected. As much as she knew his interest in ponies didn't spring forth from love or even a real respect as Harmony's did, Twilight knew that Discord did have some reasons for wanting to live among them. Maybe it really was simply that their plane was more interesting as he so often claimed, or maybe it was due to this rivalry between he and his partner. The book's author certainly seemed to think so. This was another reason for the unicorn to not fully accept the tome's facts. So much of it read far more from a certain point of view. Weren't all the best historical works supposed to be impartial, so they could give all the facts? They should, it certainly would make things a lot easier.

It wasn't a bad hypothesis. Like most of his past, Discord rarely mentioned Harmony. That was something Twilight might actually like to hear from his point of view. In this book as in all the others she knew, Harmony was lauded and praised for her great love and compassion. At least here it seemed Discord was getting a more full and equal representation, even if Twilight still gained the impression that they did hold her in much higher regard than he. She wasn't sure how much better or worse it was for these other two apparent spirits. The fact that they had never been presented to her as such in anyplace else was most likely her answer there.

But she could see why it made sense to the pony writers of old to play up the Great Pony. She was the ponies' champion among these spirits, the only one who seemed to care enough about them to create a brand new species of pony from her own self just so she could - in some way - be in the place she always wanted to go to.

Praising her was never the issue, it was the downplaying of Discord's role and the vilifying of him - even if his actions did warrant it - that caused Twilight to wonder as to the correctness of the stories. Well, maybe not the correctness, but certainly the fairness.

She chewed on that thought as she scanned the next page. The rising sense of injustice on Discord's behalf making them taste a bit more bitter than she was expecting. She was so focused on her own debates on conflicting sources that she was barely paying attention to the section she was reading. It was something about a 'failed attempt at recreation' made by Discord. She'd caught Celestia and Luna being mentioned again, and she supposed this was after their creation. It took her a few moments to really focus in on what the story was actually depicting, for at that moment her light flickered as a mirror was jostled, and Twilight's ears swiveled in the direction of the stairway.

She thought she had heard hoofsteps reach the bottom, and she lifted her head from the enormous book to glance around. One positive thing about the mirrors was that she did not actually have to move her head, for their reflections seemed to reach nearly the whole room. Out of one corner she could see movement, and she knew she wasn't alone.

Though it didn't keep her from giving a mild start when that somepony so swiftly and so silently placed a hoof on her shoulder. She turned from her seated position and saw - outlined by the light given off from Twilight’s magical source behind her - the slender form of her sister-in-law.

Her smile grew in relief when Twilight caught her reflection in the closest mirror even before she turned her head. The pink princess was a welcome sight and she gratefully accepted Cadance's hug.

"I didn't want to disturb you, but we haven't really been able to see each other," Cadance explained as she moved a few boxes to give herself a place to sit beside her sister-in-law.

"Well, this is a nice surprise," Twilight said. "I was actually getting a tad distracted so I suppose maybe a break is in order." She smiled back in response to Cadance's beaming, shrugging as she conceded and closed the book over her hoof to mark her place until she could find something else to do the job. It may not have been a book she needed, but she felt it was certainly something of worth… or it might be.

It was then that she noticed that it was only the two of them, no sign of her brother nor her royal entourage. "So you 're all by yourself? Where's Shiny?"

"It's actually getting closer to evening," Cadance answered, and Twilight had another sense of yet another day whooshing past without being really any closer. Now she felt more guilty about taking this little detour.

"It will be dinner time soon, but I sent my assistants ahead of me along with Shiny. I wanted to have a chance to talk, just you and me."

"Hmm, what for?"

"Do I need a big reason to want to have a chat with my favorite sister-in-law?" she asked, though it didn't appear that Cadance meant that to fool any pony. "I know you want to find answers quickly and I don't want to hold you up, but I did choose a time when we would have come and retrieved you anyway."

"I just feel bad now that I've wasted another day," Twilight sighed with an internal acknowledgement that she had allowed herself to be deterred. "It's not because of you, I shouldn't even really be down here."

"Yes, I don't believe I've ever seen this room before," Cadance said, taking in the dusty cobwebbed shelves and all-around neglected feel of the room. "Did you at least find something worth finding?" Twilight watched her eyes move to the book she had just closed, the one with her purple hoof still upon the cover obscuring the four-colored image emblazoned on it.

Twilight returned again for a moment to her thoughts on the strangely contradictory book. Contradictory to other books, that was. It did have more about Discord than she had ever seen in any history or mythology book, more than Discord himself would most likely offer up willingly. Her curiosity still lingered, even if - now that she actually knew him - it still felt a little bit like prying.

"Erm... I suppose," she gave in answer. "Have you ever seen this book before?” It was a longshot, Twilight knew. The book had been buried here in this underground archive for who knew how long, but much longer than Cadance had spent ruling the empire. Still the unicorn held her place with her hoof as she tilted forward the cover for Cadance to see. The princess looked over the symbol emblazoned on the leathery surface, but there was no more recognition on her face than Twlight's when she had first seen it.

"It includes other spirit beings in the balance of the world besides Harmony and Discord,” Twilight explained, turning back to where she had been reading. “This is the first I have ever read of that, although I had heard of the other two. Mort and Sef...” her sentence trailed off in a questioning way, asking Cadance indirectly to chime in that she knew who they were as well.

Cadance nodded. “Oh yes, I do know a little about them. But I always thought they maintained their own balance separately. I didn't think they were all connected.”

"If this book is right, than they are,” Twilight said. Her eyes landed on the section about Discord, that was another thing about this book that was so different. “And here it talks about Discord, but in more the way Princess Celestia explained it to me a few months ago. I don't think I've ever seen anything that depicts him as in any way helpful, or working with Harmony like I know he did.”

It was a familiar sense of defensiveness that overcame Twilight at that thought, a feeling of frustratingly unavoidable unfairness. But she knew that it was only ignorance of both ponies and Discord that caused it to be so unavoidable. If every pony knew about these other things in this book perhaps that might be the next step into a successful integration for Discord.

Considering what she knew to be true – and what she believed could be true – she hoped that this book was the one that was actually factual.

"I thought you were researching about Cloudsdale, and the problems concerning Tartarus,” Cadance said quizzically.

"I am,” she answered, embarrassed to have been caught getting off-track, but at least she could make a bit of a defense. “Though this does have some relevance to the situation with the gates,”

Cadance looked a bit unconvinced as she glanced back down at the pages. “How so?”

Twilight winced inwardly at her blunder, she had been referring to Discord's current situation and hoping that this might help in some way. She didn't know quite how much Cadance knew about that. Although it came back to her that Cady had not been in contact with the princesses since before Discord had been ponified. She couldn't have known about that. Yet she did at least know about her association with the spirit of chaos.

She wanted to be able to talk about it with her sister-in-law. There had been a time when she would come to Cady about nearly anything. It wasn't only about an issue of confidentiality, but about Discord's relationship with every pony, and how it seemed to affect her relationship with him... and them. Twilight wanted to explain how she felt this could possibly help fix the rift between the two sides.

The unicorn sighed, choosing to not answer Cadance's question, her mind filling back up with thoughts that even deep sighs couldn't clear.

The young princess looked past Twilight down to the section on the draconequus, still seeming to be drawing a conclusion.

“This is about your assignment to Discord?” she inquired.

Twilight nodded with a side glance to Cadance, trying to find a way to explain what a frustrating ball of conundrum both he and this whole matter was… and frowning at her uncertainty that she could accurately do so.

"I suppose I'm just getting tired of defending them to each other. However much I try to explain things, it's a slow uphill road to get ponies to stop fearing him or to get Discord to appreciate them. Well, they need to appreciate each other, and I just feel caught in-between.”

When Twilight turned her face back to Cadance more properly, she noticed the princess was looking at her in sort of an odd way. She had narrowed her eyes and was blinking confusedly. It wasn’t something negative at all, more like she was searching Twilight over, studying her closely as if the unicorn had something written on her that Cadance could barely make out.

After about a minute of this, Twilight began to feel a tad worried. Perhaps Cadance could see something that she couldn’t.

"Everything ok?” she asked slowly.

She saw Cadance blink again and give a little double take at the unicorn’s words. She was back to smiling, although something in the older mare’s eyes held a bit more understanding than Twilight was comfortable with.

"Yes, I’m fine, everything is fine. But um…” she hesitated, and Twilight wondered what she had been looking at. “I didn’t know you were so personally involved.”

“Why shouldn’t I be, I want to find ways that benefit every pony, and he is part of every pony,” Twilight answered, though as she said it she knew that it wasn’t the whole truth.

“Of course,” Cadance agreed. “I should know you would take all of your duties so seriously.”

Again some pony mentioning her friendship with him as a duty, which Twilight did know that in part it was… officially it was.

It was that same feeling, that awkward jumble of her heart to convey the reality that - ever since she first extended that hoof of friendship to Discord - their connection had been harder to pin down. More than a responsibility, she was genuinely his friend, and in the time they spent together it had been proven that he had genuinely grown to be hers. That distinction was the what had made her feel so differently about this bond of theirs, bringing with it an odd sense of joy at the thought. But uncertainty reared its head again. Why then did Discord not seem to want to heed her instructions or advice?

“I want to do right by him,“ she said in all honesty, because she really did… and not only because it was the right thing to do. “I just wish I could tell if he understands that.”

The young princess looked puzzled again for a moment, one delicate eyebrow raised with an unspoken question clearly forming in her mind. Twilight was sure she was looking just as questioningly back at her. The unicorn waited, but in an instant a smile had returned to Cadance’s lips, and a different question sprouted from them.

"Did you know that I had a crush on your brother even when we were growing up?”

Twilight blinked, finding this to be an odd thing to ask out of the blue. "No, I had no idea,” she admitted. She had never really been all that perceptive when it came to noticing that sort of thing, especially not when she was a filly.

Cadance giggled at her own memory. “I'm sorry to say, but you weren't the only reason why I was always so happy to come and foal sit for you,” she said a bit pointedly. “One of the things I liked most about him was that he never treated me like the rest of our schoolmates did. Having the princess for a guardian – being a princess – it caused the others to feel like I needed some sort of special treatment, or assume that I was going to demand special treatment. I never quite knew how many of my friendships were true, but with Shining Armor... he never did any of that. I was just 'Cadance' to him. And that… that made me feel special.”

"Being treated like you weren't special made you feel special?”

"Being treated like a pony, like he saw me as an actual friend with no other preconceptions made me feel special. It made me remember him, and appreciate him. Then that grew to become something else.’

"Not that I actually told him,” she added, lost for the moment in her own nostalgic musings.
“ It wasn't until we saw each other again after years apart that I found the courage to say something. I didn't think it mattered anymore, but then he actually told me he had felt the same way for me back then. That sort of changed everything.”

"Why are you telling me this?” Twilight asked, politely attempting to guide her sister-in-law back to her point..

"Because that may be something Discord has found in you, too. Some pony that talks to him as an equal, who likes him for who he is rather than what he is,” Cadance explained.

"A whole lot of good it's done me,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. They settled themselves for a few moments to looking down at the book's elaborately-styled illustration of Discord and Harmony. “It's hard to tell if he even listens to me about important issues, and if he's so appreciative of our friendship why does he insist that I don't care about his problems?”

"Maybe he's actually afraid you don't.”

"But I do care!” Twilight's statement echoed as her hoof slammed onto the table. “That is how I show that I care. I've been going to see him for months, and every time trying to teach him about friendship, even though there is so much that he doesn't want to discuss, that he doesn't want to tell me. Sometimes I even come twice every week, even when I'm tired and no matter how busy my schedule is. I have always made time to visit. It was only these past few weeks I missed. Why else does he think I would do that?”

The memory replayed to answer her own question. When she'd returned to his home he had joked about her 'abandoning' him, but Twilight had even then figured that had been Discord hiding behind his humor, and then there was their last big argument in his bedroom. He'd again brought up the idea of her giving up on him. She thought she had given enough thought to his side... but at the time the very notion that he could be so ignorant – or even so insecure – had not entered her mind.

“You could be right,” the unicorn said with a glance to Cadance, much quieter at this realization. He hadn't seen a way out of his predicament a few months ago, either. Even when she had told him she had faith in him, and after he had tried to convince her friends Discord had still acted as if he'd expected her plan to fail. There had to be a connection.

“It’s almost like... he's confident in his abilities, and yet he is not confident in his ability to be anything but hated,” she spoke softly down to the inked-in visage of the draconequus. There again was that sense of near-uselessness, that Twilight hadn't been able to help him as much as she should have... as much as she wanted to.

It wasn't enough for her to believe that they could accept him or vice versa, he had to as well.

Finding herself getting lost in her own thoughts this time, Twilight slowly lifted her gaze back up to Cadance. The young princess still sat next to her, watching her.

“What else can I do to convince him?”

She wasn't surprised that even Cadance was having trouble answering, Twilight could tell she wanted to help, but it was a delicate matter, so terribly knotted up that even some pony as skilled as she was at unraveling emotions from a situation could be a bit stumped. It wasn't the unicorn's imagination either that Cadance still seemed distracted.

Distracted, just like Twilight had been. She shouldn't even be down in this place, even if this book could prove to be such a useful aid... it wasn't the aid she needed at the moment. As much as she wanted more of the princess's advice – and work on how she could continue working with Discord – Twilight knew she'd taken enough of a detour.

Snapping to her hooves, she closed the book with a slam and a grunt of indignation at her own procrastination.

“You know what, I shouldn't be down here. It's fine... well actually it's not but... the faster I can find a solution to Ponyville's and Cloudsdale's problem, the sooner I can focus on Discord's situation.”

“But what about dinner?” Cadance asked as Twilight was heading for the stairs, the Statera Equus floating beside her in her magical aura.

“Just give me ten minutes to look a bit more,” she called from the stairway, already half-back in her determined searching mode.

Cadance remained seated next to the spot that had but a second ago held Twilight, but without really any warning the younger pony had jumped to her hooves and was already trotting up the long stairway before Cadance had had a chance to call her back.

She was fairly certain that the unicorn would probably forgo dinner in favor of getting back on track, so the princess knew she should follow and drag her out of the library if need be to get a good meal. The head start her hesitance had given Twilight was one reason that made it harder for her to begin her own climb back upwards, what she had seen while speaking to Twilight was another.

She slowly rose and used her own magic to form a ball of light to guide her, but she still wondered about Twilight’s words. Her mind was set somewhere between amused and bemused at the very thought. Her special talent having to much to do with love, the young princess could always sense the auras of connection surrounding all ponies. Different auras with varying strengths constantly exuding from every being she met without their knowledge, and sometimes even visible to her eyes if she focused hard enough.

There were of course different types of love, different colors swirling and mixing about a pony, for a pony’s heart was a complicated and turbulent place. It hadn’t been the number of colors Cadance had seen around Twilight, it had been the sight of one she had never seen coming from the mare before. It wasn’t quite as clearly-defined as say - the ones that showed her friendships’ strengths - but it was definitely something Cadance had not expected to see from Twilight, and certainly not while she had been talking about---

Cadance’s contemplation almost caused her to miss a step, she fumbled for a moment on the cold stone before continuing on. It had to have been a mistake, Cadance couldn’t read Twilight’s mind, but the correlation was sort of hard to miss. She had been so excited at first to see that Twilight might have actually taken an interest in some pony in that way, even if this particular shade was so faint that she must not have known herself. She had been eager to help Twilight sort things out, but if her suspicions were correct… she didn’t know what she should do.

Discord, the princess pondered the name with an inward disbelief. A part of her wanted very much to be wrong about what she had seen, she knew that the two of them did have a connection that was irrefutable, she had seen some of that in there as well. Cadance almost wanted to convince herself that was what she had seen, only a very strong magical bond. Her heart ached at the half-truth she attempted to get herself to swallow, and it ached for her little Twily who had absolutely no experience in the kind of love she had sensed forming within the unicorn. To have such a thing bloom inside her for what might be the first time as far as Cadance knew, only for it to be… to be because of some pony like him… she dreaded what might come of this.

She wanted to help her little sister, that was her duty. Who knew - if Cadance was right - what might happen? Twilight could get over it, or (knowing her) she might never realize what her feelings meant or be far too sensible to act on them. Was there a chance however, that this could become something?

She had already suspected that Twilight’s original connection with Discord would be beneficial to her idea for the plans her aunts had for the future, a plan that Twilight was not completely in the know about, but that Cadance had known about since not long after she and Shining Armor became engaged. With this new piece of information though… Cadance wasn’t sure about it anymore. It could make things easier, or it could make things even more difficult for the princesses... and for Auntie Celestia certainly.

It wasn’t something Twilight had to worry about right now on top of everything anyway, not yet. It wasn’t really something Cadance wanted to focus on either, especially now she had the idea that her little bookworm of a sister-in-law could be falling in love at long last (which made her want to smile in a proud and sisterly way)… but that her heart’s choice had to be so… Discord (which had now caused Cadance to stumble on the stairs three times as she tried to wrap her mind around the concept).

Even if she very much felt like she should say something - at least to Twilight - her elder-sisterly duties were overruled by that of her own special talents’. She could not and should not interfere with matters of the heart unless called to do so. It was a rule made by her own design, to keep herself from meddling and causing harm to the bonds she saw. Cadance would remain silent about it until Twilight came to her on her own. She also concluded that it would not be in any pony’s best interest to tell either of her aunts. She would not want to be the spirit of chaos if/when Auntie Celestia ever learned about it, in any case.

Discord trudged dejectedly along behind Spike as he waddled into the warm, vaguely-cinnamon scented bakery. Pinkie Pie was busy at the counter, and the Cakes attending to customers or in the back baking. He led the particularly sullen temporary-pony up to the bar and leapt onto a stool. Discord followed suit, looking sideways at the young dragon and unsure of what he should do now.

“What should I ask for, I’ve never actually eaten or drank anything for actual sustenance before,” he asked.

“Does that mean you don’t eat?” Spike asked him. “That sounds like a rough life.”

“No, I eat, but only when and what I feel like,” he explained. “Never actually had to be hungry or anything, so a little uncertain on what to do now.”

Spike shrugged. “Everything here’s pretty good. I’m more a fan of gemstones myself, but you take what’s available when you live in a pony town with no other dragons.”

After a few moments of staring at the menu, Spike pointed to an item to suggest.

“You like chocolate milk, right? Maybe to start you off with something simple.”

“Well, I never actually drank it. I’ve used it in my ‘redecorating’ fun, but I had much more fun drinking the glass around the beverage.”

Spike raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “I… wouldn’t recommend trying that at the moment.”

When Mrs. Cake came around to them, Spike ordered two chocolate milks and a cupcake for himself. When they arrived Discord only stared at it, then gave the glass a tap with one hoof, scooting it along the table a few centimeters.

“What’s up now?” the dragon asked, Discord only gave another dejected sigh.

“Hooves,” he grumbled under his breath.

“That’s an easy fix,” Spike said as he pulled out a white bendy straw with red stripes. He stuck it into the thick brown drink and nudged it closer to the unicorn.

His ears drooped, Discord tried to bring the straw to his mouth, but every time he tried to bring his mouth towards it, the straw would slide a little further down the rim of the glass. What followed was a three-minute war waged between Discord’s tongue and the straw, him chasing it around and around as it dodged him, fully intent on not going into his mouth.

At first this was hilarious to Spike, who giggled all the while, but as it went into its fourth minute, ponies were starting to look over at them, and Pinkie Pie had discovered Discord’s noble struggle and was cheering him on with much enthusiasm. The dragon evidently had had enough, and finally decided to just grab the straw from the farthest side of the glass and shove the bent end into Discord’s mouth.

He mumbled a ‘thanks,” before attempting to take a casual sip, he attempted because now all the ponies in Sugarcube Corner were staring at them, for Pinkie was jumping up and down with joy at Discord’s ‘victory’.

He took a long, long sip that filled his entire mouth with the cold, sweet, chocolatey goodness. He stopped only when he could physically not fit any more into his mouth. Taking a moment to swallow some of the excess, the pseudo-unicorn swirled it about in his mouth, savoring it with a critical mind, trying to decide if he liked it. It didn’t take very long however.

“Huh,” he concluded as he finished the mouthful of tasty milky milkiness. “So that’s chocolate milk. Did not know what I was missing.”

He slammed his hoof on the counter, causing his glass to jump and some of the liquid to leap out. “Another!” he shouted.

“Uh, how about you finish that one first?” Spike said, and Discord hurriedly gulped his present treat down and then slammed his hoof again.

“Ok… how about another round over here, please?” Spike asked Mrs. Cake with an awkward, apologetic tone. She didn’t look too perturbed about Discord’s behavior, only a bit surprised.

“Oh, ok dear,” she said and brought them two more, though Spike had not finished his own. Discord ended up drinking both new glasses in under five minutes, and then Spike had to ask for more.

After an hour had passed, the two where hiccuping and groaning, surrounded by at least thirty empty glasses and looking quite satisfied indeed.

Spike had taken a chocolate milk break and gotten himself a few more cupcakes, but Discord had completely glutted himself on the beverage, and now he sat with his head resting on one hoof, his other grasping for a half-full glass and scooting it along as he had been doing previously. Both pony and dragon were experiencing wicked tummy aches, though only the latter knew what was happening.

“I feel like I am going to explode,” Discord moaned, now using his magic to float his half-full glass, but not sure if taking another sip would ease the churning in his stomach or make it worse.

“As long as you don’t explode in this direction,” Spike tried to joke through his own moan of gastro-intestinal distress.

After a few moments of silence, Discord noticed that Spike was looking over at him, a pondering sort of look on his face, though that might just have been his stomach.

The dragon finally spoke up, his little claw pointing to the former-draconequus.

“So... how's the shoulder?”

Discord gave his now-bad front leg a testing move, rotating it in a slow circle. It was definitely better than it had been, but the memory of what pain could be like in this form was still fairly fresh in his mind.

“What happened to your shoulder?” Pinkie inquired with a tilted head. She had wandered off from them for a few moments to do some bakery task or another, returning with her own glass of chocolate milk.

“Don't ask,” Discord said with a side glance at the pink pony.

“But I already did,” he heard her say before beginning to blow bubbles in her milk.

“Well, you seem to be okay now,” Spike continued over Pinkie's continued bubble-blowing.

“As 'okay' as it is possible to be in such a fragile state,” Discord's stomach was easing away from the queasiness of all that dairy product, but it didn't completely dissolve the uneasiness that experience had brought on. “I wonder what other unpleasant surprises await me.”

The dragon seemed to notice that he was not doing as good a job at cheering Discord up as he'd thought. True, the round of drinks was a welcome distraction and it did lighten his mood slightly, but Discord wasn't sure this trip to the bakery was all about making him feel better about the day's trauma.

“Come on, being a pony isn't all that bad, you've just been sorta unlucky and... maybe focusing on the wrong things. You've been here a few days, you have to observed some good stuff by now.”

Discord tapped his latest glass of chocolate milk in answer.

“Besides that,” Spike prodded him. “I don’t think Twilight or the princesses are gonna accept the refreshments as the only thing you’ve observed as good about them.”

He gave a slight shrug in acknowledgment to the dragon, for he knew that to be right. But what was he supposed to do, make a list and take notes? Write an essay using bullet points? Most of what he experienced was typical of or worse than Discord had imagined ponies’ lives to be. That might have had something to do with the cloud city dropping down on their home though, so perhaps he hadn’t been experiencing what would be labeled a typical day for them.

They were doing a lot though, he had to admit. Even if these methods seemed so arbitrary to him, that didn’t appear to stop them. If this was everything in their power and the ponies were truly utilizing everything at their disposal to at least treat the symptoms of this unknown force, it was at least respectable.

“They’re resilient, I suppose,” he answered after a while. “I don’t think I’ve seen any of the able-bodied ponies sitting still for long. They have a plan and they’re all sticking to it.”

He saw Spike smile and look to the room at large for a moment, then nodding as he picked up his own newly-poured glass.

“Those were the orders, and they have faith that Twilight and the others will find a way to fix it for good. So in the meantime yeah, they wanna do what they can.”

“And you won’t give up, will you?” Discord’s rhetorical question was thoughtful, thinking back to the limping pegasi and Rainbow Dash’s aggravated anxiety over it. It didn’t strike him in the same way as hearing Twilight’s worries, but it was difficult for him not to find some similarities the more he thought about it.

“You don’t have to do that,” Spike said from his side, pulling him away from the sorting of the memories. When Discord raised an eyebrow questioningly, he tacked on, “add me in with them. I mean, that’s nice of you, but we both know I’m not a pony. I haven’t been able to do much at all since I sent the letter. To be honest I’ve felt kinda useless.”

“Oh don’t take it completely as a compliment, it’s only since you are so well-integrated Pony Boy,” he tried to raise his glass to the dragon, but it only scooted away from his hoof. “And I’d dare say Twilight thinks you’re helping, cleaning up and foal-sitting me after all.”

Spike shrugged and stirred the milk slowly with his straw. “I guess, but every pony else has been able to use their talents to try and help. Being fast or strong or being able to use magic. I mean, I know a lot about magic - and ponies - but I can’t actually do magic or fly or anything. There’s stuff about pony life that I’ll never get to do.”

“Did you want to exhaust yourself pulling with those ropes or picking apples?” Discord asked.

Spike gave a half-amused sound that might have been a chuckle. “More like being counted, being able to do stuff that matters and that ponies acknowledge. Discovering talents and then being able to contribute with every pony knowing what you can do.”

Pinkie Pie stopped blowing bubbles in her glass of milk (which had now overflowed and was dripping on the counter) to pat the dragon’s clawed hand with affection.

“Aww Spike, we acknowledge you. You’re a great assistant to Twilight, and you’re helpful to every pony I know.”

The two males blinked at her, having nearly forgotten she was there.

“Have you been blowing bubbles this whole time?” Spiked asked her, but then shook his head as if it didn’t really matter. “Whatever, thanks Pinkie. I’m glad you guys appreciate what I do, but that doesn’t change that not every pony does. I’m still the baby dragon who lives with Twilight to some ponies, and the only one around.”

“But that makes you super special!” Pinkie said, to which Discord saw Spike roll his eyes with a smile like that was something always said about him. The pink pony then leaned over the counter a bit, scrutinizing Spike with a pondering “hmm,”.

“Wait, does this have something to do with Rarity?”

The young dragon jumped at the question and hastily grabbed the pony’s face to cover her mouth. “What, no way!” he said far too quickly, shushing Pinkie and glancing swiftly to Discord.

Pinkie backed over to her side of the counter and away from Spike’s censoring hold on her muzzle. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, silly. Maybe you just need to give her some more time to notice you. I mean you’re already over at her boutique practically every day, can’t be long now before she puts it all together.”

Spike face palmed, but Pinkie didn’t seem to notice, she now merrily began to clean up the mess she had made with her drink.

“And that was all about…?” Discord left the question open as Spike tried to hide from his confused stare.

“Nothing,” Spike tried, muffled from his head on top of his arm face down on the counter. He must have known that didn’t fool the pseudo-unicorn.

Rarity, the one who’d made him these clothes, and the one supposedly next to take him for a time (no doubt she would want him to attempt that spell as well, being the only unicorn of the group at present). Discord thought he had noticed a certain… preoccupation of the dragon’s when they had been in her store. He had nearly floated off the ground when she’d given him that glowing commendation. Even with that he didn’t think he would have thought too hard about his comments if Pinkie hadn’t said something, or if the drake had kept his cool.

He smirked at the obviousness, he didn’t suspect his feelings were all that secret. Discord hadn’t meant for his chuckle to come out derisive, but he couldn’t help but laugh even if Spike scowled up at him.

“What?” he grumbled, having left the safety of his own folded arm.

The face he made then only caused Discord to chuckle again, lifting a hoof in a kind of hope that Spike wouldn’t take it too seriously. “Well, it’s just… she’s a bit old for you, don’t you think Pony Boy?”

Spike scoffed. “You’re one to talk,” he said a bit defensively. That was clearly a deflection, but it surprised him. What was that supposed to mean?

“You’re a bit too old for Twilight, don’t you think?”

Discord froze at his accusingly-toned clarification. He felt a jolt that gave him a little jump of his own, knocking over his still nearly-full glass of chocolate milk. His first instinct at Spike’s words was panic, but the way he said it, almost as an insult… like he was calling the former-draconequus out on something. It gave him this strange sense of frustration and embarrassment, like whatever he was getting at Discord should deny at all costs.

“Wait…” it took him a moment, but the pieces clicked into place. He waved the dragon’s statement away before he knew what he was doing. “You think that--- you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh,” Spike said sarcastically. “And you only tried to pop in on her at the library because she was taking too long.”

He was regaining a smile quite similar to the one he’d had when he came to see Discord to tell him what had been keeping Twilight. That smile that made Spike look like he thought he had it all figured out, when in actuality it was him - Discord - that knew it all. This baby dragon shouldn’t assume to know things he didn’t understand. Even if Discord maybe didn’t quite understand either… but that was besides the point.

“I’m more observant than you think, “he added. “I may not have seen you around her much, but you always seem to compare every pony to her, like she’s your base line. Plus you keep complaining about her not being here, and that just keeps me thinking about the other day. I guess I can’t blame you. She was your first friend for a while. I kind of want to be wrong about it though, no offense.”

Discord hoped his expression conveyed that there was indeed offense taken. “I am sure that I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to.”

“Well, the cat’s out of the bag on my feelings for Rarity - you can’t tell any pony about that by the way - if you feel like coming clean about anything, I promise I won’t say anything.” Spike crossed his heart and then poked his eye, as he waited for Discord to speak.

What was he waiting for, a confession? Well, there wasn’t anything to confess in Discord’s opinion. The tightness in his chest was probably just the vest he was wearing, and was this place getting warm? It was probably just too crowded.

“That’s none of your business,” he managed to say, which was obviously the wrong thing because it just caused Spike’s smile to grow. “I am not discussing something like that with you, even if things between myself and Twilight were what you’re suggesting--- which they aren’t,” he emphasized, mentally cursing the dragon for catching him off guard with this. “I mean there’s absolutely no way…and I’m not going to talk about this anymore.”

Discord turned away from his companion but he just knew that Spike was still grinning smugly behind his back. Discord didn’t know why he’d had such a visceral reaction to it, he’d been able to talk about Twilight around and with Spike normally before. But what he was inferring… that his friendship with her could be anything other than what it was… well, he didn’t know anything now did he?

“Yeah, you’re right,” he heard Spike say, which caused Discord to turn back towards him. “She’s way out of your league.”

“Excuse me?” he took the bait, like a putz he took the bait. Discord back-tracked like a wild pony then, pretending he had not said that and attempting to slip back behind his mask that so often hid his true motives.

He wasn’t sure he had convinced the dragon, but Spike at least shut up about it then. It was quiet and perhaps a little tense between the two of them, Pinkie having finally departed to some other part of the shop.

“I know Rainbow Dash probably won't say so, but I'm sure she really did appreciate your input, or at least you know... the effort you were making there.”

The pseudo-unicorn propped his head on the hoof whose forleg had not been wrenched from its socket today as his dragon companion tried to look on the bright side. That was no doubt a pony-like trait as well, even when things were literally crashing down around them.

“I'm sure she appreciates that I won't be making any more request to go up there again,” he said.

“Didn't think you would be in a hurry after that,” Spike said. “But seriously… you weren't really just trying to skip spell duty were you?”

Such disbelief, even from this dragon? Was it so hard to believe that he might have more than one motive for doing the things he did? True he did have the desire to avoid the exhaustion, boredom, and pain he'd been experiencing as a pony so far, but he'd have thought at least his appointed shadow would think somewhat better of him than the others Twilight had left him with.

...but he couldn't completely deny that had been part of the plan either, and that might have been what Spike picked up on.

“Maybe I did, then again perhaps I really did want to see what all the fuss was about for myself.”

“But you know that was the only thing Twilight specifically said she wanted you to do while she was gone, why hold it off?”

“As if Ms. Sparky really knows what she wants,” the non-sequitur rolled out of his mouth to keep from answering the question.

It may well have been because that was the only thing she'd told – practically ordered more like – him to attempt in her absence during this whole 'lesson' that he'd avoided it. A bit petty yes, and a bit of an empty victory if Twilight was not physically there to see him not-helping with that. But so what? He'd been forced to labor for an entire day and then the next day – when he actually went out of his way to do something he considered ‘helpful’ in some small way – he got to enjoy the fun of injury.

It was that, and the thought of his inadequate unicorn magic being able to pull that spell off. Even if this method still felt overcomplicated to him, all of these ponies had been able to keep it up. What if he couldn't--- or, what if this body's magic wasn't equipped enough to handle it? It was hardly Discord's fault if the princesses had stuck him in a defective model. Even if he did, again it wasn't as if she would be here to see it. He could surely learn more about ponies some other way.

Almost on cue, Discord noticed the hulking red form of Big Mac out of the corner of his eye. Leaning his head towards the line of ponies waiting for pick up orders, he spotted him. The stallion wasn't exactly difficult to spot, but it was almost amusing that Discord only noticed him now. Of course he would show up at this moment. Mac looked over at them for a second, gave a curt yet not unkind nod to him, and then moved up two ponies in the line.

It was something she wanted him to do, and he had been avoiding it. Even if Twilight’s ideas about their friendship may not be quite the same as Discord’s, it was something that he should be willing to ‘do’ for her.

He sighed deeply. He knew he still wasn’t going to enjoy it, but he’d already had to endure frustration, tedium, and both physical exhaustion and pain. The spell couldn’t be that difficult.

“Fine,” he said as he stood to stretch his now cramping back legs. “If it will get every pony to stop pestering me about it, let’s find your mare friend and get me on the dumb spell duty.”

Spike looked more than surprised, but he hopped up as well. Discord didn’t glance at his face for long however, just in case the little dragon was still reading too much into things.

The night was waning, coming very close to time for Celestia to begin her preparations to raise the sun, but the white alicorn still stood at the gates of Tartarus for as long as was responsible. Celestia was determined to make the most of her turn, and to give her sister a bit more time for rest.

Both princesses had been up for far too long, and the strain of this was taking its toll. Luna had been resting for much of her own night. Not long after she had raised the moon and brought out the stars did she return to the hidden gates of the prison to help her sister use their mother’s ancient power to keep the seals from weakening any further.

It was now time for Luna to take over for her sister, and this changing of the guard needed to be done carefully, for there was a slight chance – however small – that during the few seconds between one princess ceasing her spell, and the other beginning hers, that something might be able to escape through the gates.

So far they seemed to have been lucky, for As Luna stood to begin shooting her portion of the order magic, Celestia nearly crumpled upon stopping her own. The alicorn shakily got to her hooves, giving Luna a nod as she was able to stay upright.

Luna nodded in return, and as the dark blue alicorn began to focus on the seals upon the gates, so did the white alicorn open her wings and – with a moments reluctance to try and summon the strength – teleported herself out into the night. Her other duty to bring about the day was calling her, and that was one she must never put off, even for the ponies' own safety (and although they did not know it).

With both princesses so focused on their task, so weary but determined to continue, they were not quite as observant as they might have been under the usual circumstances. For during their silent goodbye, and as Luna was focusing and Celestia was regaining the strength to leave, there was the perfect instance, a split-second moment for something very small to find its way through the weakening gates of Tartarus.

Something small, but not for very long.

10. Where the Past Comes Back to Life

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Rarity hadn't been expecting him, so they didn't immediately have a spot for Discord when he and Spike arrived at the central base for the unicorns to check in for their turns at 'spell duty'. A fairly gruff unicorn guard hadn't been all that helpful. He seemed to regard Discord with suspicion, but not in the way Discord typically raised it. It was more that this upstart Canterlot pony didn't think the temporary pony up to snuff.

“Haven't seen you before. You really think you can handle this?” he asked with an uncertain appraising eye.

This was when Rarity had found them and inserted – more like expertly sashayed – into the conversation.

“Nonsense darling,” she waved a hoof at the guard, posing slightly between him and Discord. “We need all the help we can get, and I have been hoping that this dear friend of a friend would stop by sometime.”

She flipped her hair and smiled at the unicorn guard, although Discord thought he caught the pointed nature of her words. It's about time he's shown up, so let's hurry and put him to work before he has a chance to change his mind and flee.

The guard's eyebrows raised slightly at her attention, and he looked back down to his list.

“I guess you're right. The more unicorns the better. He can take over for Charlie on the south side at shift change.”

Rarity smiled a bit brighter in thanks to him, and then giving a nod to Discord, added. “And I do hope you won't mind, but I would like to move my position for today to the spot closest to his. It will be his first time, and although I don't doubt his abilities, he might require some... supervision, as it were.”

The stallion looked from Discord to Rarity, his smile fading and a not very convincing shrug of uncaring followed.

“Thank you, I'll go ahead and walk him south,” Rarity waved him farewell as she steered Discord away.

“You really should have told me that you'd changed your mind, it's getting late and the day is waning. There weren't any open slots and we had to relieve others.”

“You make it sound like every pony's just lining up to do this,” he said while avoiding her steering by remaining a few steps ahead of her.

“Well actually, you would be surprised to know that they are. Even though the guards took over, most of the adult unicorns are still trying to do their part,”Rarity answered. “And honestly I was beginning to think you wouldn't be one of them. I'm pleased of course, this means there might be hope for you yet.”

“See? It's not just me around here who thinks well of you, or Pinkie,” Spike whispered to him as Discord trotted ahead still trying to avoid the jab of Rarity's 'gentle' guiding.

“Yeah, she has so much faith in me. So much that she's pushing me along like my warden,” he whispered back.

“Well, the day is going to end soon, and I don't think you wanna do this at night.” Spike gave him a playful punch in the side that Discord tried to scoot away from. “Come on, it won't be that hard, remember you don't have that many days to try and learn.”

That was apparently loud enough for the mare to hear. “Spike is right, Discord. You only have a few days here with us, and Twilight could be home at any time with a plan. I want to be certain that you have done everything in your power to listen to her and do what was expected.”

“Lovely, so you are being my warden,” he rolled his eyes and jumped a bit as her horn prodded him in the flank.

“I'd say more of a guidance counselor,” Rarity said lightly. She wasn't being cruel, and she at least didn't sound like his mere presence was a burden to her. There was a bit of briskness, but the white mare seemed to be trying to be generous with her politeness.

After relieving the beleaguered unicorn that had been there before him, Rarity instructed Discord on the method for casting the spell, and left for her position a few meters away from them. She was out of earshot, but still able to keep an eye on Discord from where she stood. She seemed to trust him enough to let him have this leash, but not enough to take him out of her sight.

It might have been because of Spike's presence that she had given him some room. The young dragon helped him go through the steps again before he really began to focus his magic. At first it was easy, he gloated inwardly to himself about how they had built up this spell for nothing. But then as his time went on he began to feel some resistance from the base of the cloud. Discord could feel the pushing force against the beams he was shooting, making it difficult to maintain the same level of force and concentration.

Spike sat with him, watching Discord begin to struggle some. He started jabbering about something but it wasn't exactly easy to listen to conversation and keep this accursed spell going.

Not that he would want to admit that to any pony present.

When Spike had lapsed into silence, Discord found a bit of a second wind, finding a kind of rhythm to the spell's continued flow. It was enough that he was somehow able to concentrate and allow his focus enough leeway to actually say something back to the dragon.

“Now then, what were you yammering?”

“You weren't listening?” Spike asked, sounding a little offended.

“I have been otherwise occupied if you haven't noticed,” he said through the rhythm of measured breaths, though still able to get across his snark.

“Of course I haven't,” was the dragon's ribbing answer. Really, he wasn't sure if he was beginning to like the drake more or just like the idea of getting back at him for all these come backs once he had his body and full powers again.

“Yes yes, you can remember things I say. You have the mimic skills of a parrot. Now, what were you saying?”

“Not much, just that this is probably a good way to get you working in a group,” he said, no doubt meaning his having to match up with the other unicorns and converge their magic and whatever.

“I'm not all that good in groups. Hard when you're leaps and bounds above every pony else magically speaking.”

“Well, what about balancing chaos and order? You have to do that.” Apparently if Twilight had discussed this with him, Spike didn't remember that.

“That's not really the same thing, or... maybe. I had to match up with Harmony, but that wasn't a challenge. It was when the two idiots came along that it became an annoyance to keep their pace. Even now they still aren't quite at my level.”

“So you have to slow down to match them, since they can't catch up to you. Like when I read along with Twilight. She's always way faster than me, so she slows down even though I know she'd rather be four pages ahead.”

Discord didn't understand what that had to do with what he was doing, but his focus was slipping back to his task. At the mention of Twilight, he had remembered what the dragon had tried to insinuate earlier. To avoid any resurgence in that conversation, Discord allowed himself to put the dumb spell back to the forefront, and tune him out again.

Just as he thought, he could hear Spike trying to start up that talk again.

“Speaking of Twilight, have you thought about what's gonna happen when she does come back? I mean... besides the obvious stuff.”

Regrettably he knew what Spike was getting at now, and again he felt the need to change the subject. It wasn't something he wanted to focus on, about as much as this altogether draining spell on which he was having to concentrate. What did the dragon expect to hear, what did he want to hear?

“I mean, if everything else goes right and you're back to normal.”

“I know what you meant,” he grumbled, finding it draining again to answer, especially when the awkwardness he'd felt was growing to encompass the other half of his focus. Perhaps it was awkward because whatever the dragon thought – whatever he himself thought – it probably didn't matter. None of it was feasible.

“I don't expect anything, except maybe I'll finally have some more space,” Discord took a moment to adjust himself as he'd slightly lost his footing. Maybe yes, if they actually accepted what he could cobble together as a lesson here. Maybe they'd take off the shock collar spell, which would be a relief for him.

Concerning Twilight though, he was truthful to Spike. He didn't expect anything. He shouldn't expect anything, since she'd probably no longer be required to monitor him.

He was saved from having to give any further elaboration by the pony he least expected, Rainbow Dash. The pegasus swooped into his line of sight before landing next to Spike, and soon Fluttershy fluttered down for a landing as well. What could he have done now.

“Hey Spike,” Rainbow greeted the dragon, and then added. “So, ya think he's able to listen up?”

“Yes he is,” Discord answered for himself. “What do you want?”

“We wanted to let you know that we’re sending a letter to Twilight by her pet owl. Owlowiscious should make it to the Crystal Empire by sometime tomorrow,” Fluttershy said with some hesitance. She sounded a bit more concerned about Discord's ability to focus on them and the spell. Rainbow did not have this problem now that she knew he could answer.

“Yeah, we might get a reply back within the next couple of days. We told her how we're doing and how you're doing,” she made an emphasis on 'you're'.

“Great, a report card,” he would have rolled his eyes if they were not squeezed shut already.

“Not exactly,” Fluttershy replied a bit more confident now. “We thought she'd want to hear a bit about things since we really just wanted to tell her about your idea.”

“We told her our idea,” Rainbow corrected. “His thoughts about using the pegasi differently, and yours about tornado power. I still don't think it's a solid plan, but Iunno, we’re thinking about trying it. Plus maybe Twilight might be able to use it or something while she's buried in books up there.”

“Aww, you guys are sending her something without me? I'd want to say something too,” Spike said with a small complaint.

“Hey, we thought you might wanna put your two bits in,” Rainbow answered, “So we brought it along too for you to take a look at.”

Discord had a brief side glimpse of the little group before turning is attention back upward. Fluttershy had removed the small scroll of paper from its place tucked under her wing and placed it in Spike’s already waiting hand, leaning in close to the dragon’s ear. “I don’t think she’ll ask, but it might be good for you to copy it for us too. Her mouth-writing really isn’t the best.”

He assumed the pegasus gave Fluttershy a wary eye, like she knew what her friend was whispering, but was still much too cool to admit to such a fault.

“That’s probably for the best, you can take the time writing it out to fix all the misspellings of the big words,” he managed to add but not able to enjoy Rainbow Dash’s reaction.

“Come on, Discord,“ Spike chided. “Just focus on the spell.” He’d perked up considerably at Fluttershy’s request, when he spoke again it was clearly to her. “Yeah, I can definitely do that for you.”

It had been mentioned before to him that they might be sending something like this to her if Twilight’s stay proved to be longer than expected, but Discord had considered it more of a threat and an empty one at that. Something to threaten him with to ensure he behaved.

Of course, knowing what he knew about her, Discord was sure that a letter like that - even at such an early stage of her trip - would be a very difficult thing to ignore, especially if they were mentioning this new plan and their want to try it out. Even if the bulk of it mentioned how poorly he must be doing (or how he assumed Rainbow Dash was spinning it), that letter could be the best way to tempt Twilight into returning faster.

Not that he would mention it to the young dragon, even if it did make him feel slightly better knowing that Spike was the one re-writing this update. He didn’t trust him enough to not say something or give Discord some sort of look that might lend some extra meaning to any verbal acknowledgment of his that this letter was a good idea. So Discord kept his mouth shut, though he wondered with a moment of dread if Spike planned to add any of his incriminating theories into his version of the report.

He probably wouldn’t have asked even if he had been able to, for Spike’s voice rang clear in the next moment from beside him.

“Ok, what are we waiting for?”

Discord heard four hooves, two wings, and two feet trot away, and when he opened his eyes the three of them were gone. Rarity was still at her post, but he was left alone. Again.

He wondered how long it would take them this time.

The letter arrived for Twilight with Owlowiscious the morning after her talk with Cadance, and after finding that strange and very old book. She had kept it with her even when heading back to Contemporary Magical Theory, wanting to keep it around just in case it disappeared on her.

She hadn't gone back to looking through it yet though, she had quadrupled her efforts upon her return to the library proper (in the few hours between when she could get away from dinner and when the library closed). Then she had proceeded to fall flat onto her pillow in her temporary room in the crystal palace, exhausted from all the squinting to read tiny words on dusty paper.

When she had awoken, she heard a soft hooting sound and found him on her headboard, holding a letter in his beak.

She was pleased to see him, even if Twilight had not been expecting him. After she had yawned, stretched, and woken up a tad more, she took the letter from him and carried it downstairs to read at breakfast.

It must have been a progress report from Spike on how Ponyville and Cloudsdale were doing. Discord as well, but Twilight considered that the fact the letter was so short could only be a good thing.

To her surprise, it was from Rainbow Dash by way of Spike (she knew his claw-writing anywhere).
Twilight didn't imagine Rainbow would have much to say about Discord, but at least the brief list of things he seemed to have done were included. She felt a tad disappointed on that front, especially since Rainbow's few sentences on what they had done so far with him still read so terse. It was good to know that at least they were trying, and evidently he was too. Small relief that that was, it might do well to ask him how much he thought he was getting out if it. Then again Twilight figured that would be an even shorter letter.

There was still so much she wanted to ask him, and that was just piling on top of the questions the unicorn already had from her discovery in the archives. They were nearly compelling enough in themselves to make her want to go back home already.

It was what Rainbow informed her of in the bulk of her message that cemented her feelings to return.

The letter told Twilight of an idea that the pegasi were going to try and attempt to get the cloud city back where it was supposed to be. When she'd announced it to Shining Armor and Cadance, they agreed that she should most likely venture back to oversee it. Shiny was reluctant to leave, but the letter expressly asked for him to come along as well, plus it would probably be bad form for the captain of the guard to leave his fellows alone for too long.

This was why Twilight found herself journeying back to her home only a mere three days after departing.

No pony waited for them at the station when they arrived, and that was completely understandable. It was hard for Twilight to accurately calculate how much the cloud city had dropped, but compared to when she had seen it last, her memory was telling her it was a great deal lower now. She'd need to check her ceilometer.

Shining Armor wasted no time returning to the other guard members, and Twilight made for the library. She hoped for some more explanation about this plan of theirs, and Spike might have the answers to her questions. Plus, she had missed her favorite number one assistant.

Was it strange to say that she'd missed being home even when it was in the midst of such a crisis, and therefore did not feel particularly 'homey' at this moment? Twilight was at least more at ease than she had been worrying about her home from the Crystal Empire.

Stepping back into her familiar surroundings, Spike had greeted her first with a shout of welcome and a warm hug.

“Hi Spike,” she said with welcome return of the hug.

“Did you just get back? Have you been to see Rainbow and Fluttershy yet? Did you find anything useful?” he asked in quick succession, which made Twilight smile, glad to hear that his spirits were at least up.

“Yes, not yet, and … maybe,” she answered almost as rapidly. She had halted on the answer to the last one. She did have some ideas, and she wanted to know if they could be beneficial to this new plan her friends had thought of. She had found something else, something helpful, just not entirely helpful to the situation which was more dire for them presently.

“I didn't expect you to rush back here, Twilight. I mean, I figured you would want to keep searching just in case,” Spike said.

He was right, she could have just sent Owlowiscious back with a note asking to keep her posted while she looked for other options. She could have... but in all honesty she had felt relief first and any inadequacy at not having found something as fast second.

It was a gamble to put their hopes on this one new idea they had thought up, Twilight knew. Maybe she could combine it with the knowledge she'd been able to acquire from the library and expand their chances of pulling off whatever her pegasi friends had in mind.

A reigning factor though was merely that she just missed home, where so many things and ponies she loved were. Even if home was going through a lot at the moment, and where those ponies she loved were all doing their part. Twilight simply could not sit back and wait all the way from the empire while they made their attempt.

“I know,” she consented. “But... I didn't feel right not being here.”

“Just can't stay away can you?” came a voice from the top of the stairs that caused the unicorn's head to snap directly towards the direction it had come from. “Or at least, can't stay away from a problem in need of fixing.”

It was somewhat jarring to hear Discord's sly tones from within her library home, even if she reminded herself that he had been staying there while she was gone.

Even as a unicorn, it was hard to mistake that expression of his, and curiously enough Twilight found she had actually missed it, and his voice, and strangely him.

Although, it may have just been the fact that Twilight knew their time together might be limited now that was causing her reaction to seeing him again. Or how much she had learned about him during her absence that was giving her this mixture of guilt and slight relief at this reunion. She did have many questions, but they would have to wait. What she most wanted to hear about was their idea, and how Discord had been doing in Ponyville.

Spike folded his arms but gave only a half-hearted reprimand as Discord made it to the bottom of the stairs. “You know you're not supposed to be upstairs.”

“But she is home now, which renders the rule moot,” he replied with a quick side glance to Spike. Twilight tried not to notice this acknowledgment of Spike had been the first time since she looked up at him that his eyes had not been on her. It was that same studying gaze he would get sometimes whenever Twilight said or did something that caught his interest. She really should have been used to it by now.

“I didn't want to feel like I was abandoning any pony,” she gave as her own answer to his earlier statement. She hoped it was pointed enough for Discord to understand the significance of her phrasing.

The effort of not-noticing Discord's gaze faltering her focus, she turned to Spike, whom she did notice was in better spirits in the former-draconequus's presence than when she had left. She took that as a good sign.

“And some ponies did a really great job at being as vague as they could in their letter, so I don't know enough about whatever you all are planning on attempting. Would you mind filling me in?” She didn't want to have to wait and hear it from Rainbow and Fluttershy.

With an apology for his sparseness, Spike explained the basics of the pegasi's idea for using their combined wingpower similarly to collecting rain water, combined with a protective bubble provided by Shining Armor to keep the unicorns protected from the wind as they maintained Cloudsdale's stability.

“That actually sounds like something I saw in one of the books at the library,” it had brightened her smile considerably when the memory clicked into place. She quickly pulled out the aforementioned book from her bag to find the passage she remembered.

“Yes, right here in Breaking Wind, it sounds quite similar to this method,” when she lowered the book with an expectant smile, she was met with the two males barely controlling their snickers.

Confused for a moment – but then remembering the title of this particular book – she rolled her eyes and shook her head in mild disappointment.

“Really, you two? Grow up,” she sighed. “Now back on topic, the book's method does have the same idea as far as the pegasi side of it goes, but it doesn't have anything about a shield spell or one for stability. I hadn't been certain if this was what we needed, but with these additions... we might have a chance. I'm sure Shiny can make a solid protective barrier on his own, that will free the other unicorns up for maintaining steadiness from the ground.”

It felt almost like the sky was lightening with Twilight's own brightening spirits. It was a real shot, something she could help contribute to, and amazingly they had come up with something that dovetailed already with the options she had been contemplating.

“You really think it'll work?” Spike asked expectantly, as if Twilight's ruling would gauge their success.

“It is certainly worth a shot, and a step up from what we've been trying,” she said giving him a nod and placing the book back down opened to the page. “How did you come to it?”

“Actually, Discord sort of supplied it... kinda,” Spike answered. “He kinda got Rainbow Dash to take us up to look at the clouds---”

“Wait, Discord came up with this?” Twilight interrupted, raising her eyebrow and moving her eyes from Spike over to the pseudo-unicorn in question.

“Oh don't sound so shocked, I do have ideas you know,” Discord said offhandedly. “And he's over selling it a bit in any case, they merely took a comment of mine and ran with it.”

“But, you were actually trying to help them?” Twilight asked, not trying to hide her surprise at both his apparent willingness to aid and the fact that this idea might have come from him in any capacity.

“Yes yes, you can pick your jaw up off the floor, Ms. Sparky. Wasn't that one of the reasons I was made to be foal-sat by your friends?”

Twilight closed her mouth awkwardly, she hadn't noticed it had dropped. She quickly managed to change her expression to a more flattering smile. “Well, yes but--- I guess I'm just a little impressed.”

“As well you should, you have no idea what I've had to go through,” his playful tone didn't betray it, but Twilight figured he really did count this as an ordeal.

“Or what we've had to put up with,” Spike added in that same friendly way. Twilight blinked as her smile grew a bit more. She was glad to see such a better ease between the two of them. She felt like she might have missed something, and made a mental reminder to ask about it later.

“I'll uh, go ahead and find Rainbow and Fluttershy. I'll bet they're with the guard members, probably filling Shining Armor in on the plan,” Twilight saw Spike give a peculiar look as he scooted away from them, almost making a show of his exit. Odd as that was, at least that was one thing sorted.

“This is certainly not what I was expecting to find when I arrived,” Twilight admitted, meaning the flurry of activity and the new found spring it seemed to give every pony's step. “Not disappointed though.”

“Just completely amazed that the whole town didn't fall apart while you were gone,” Discord said.

“That's not funny,” she said, but smiled in spite of herself. She found she appreciatied his voice even when he made such inappropriate jokes.

“It would be if things weren't actually falling apart.”

Twilight rolled her well-practiced eyes as she finally removed her saddle bag completely and set in on the floor. She had been so excited about this prospect for Ponyville that she'd forgotten she was unpacking.

“But apart from that wind breaker book, was this whole excursion to the bigger and better library worth it?” he asked.

Funnily enough, Twilight had been just about to remove the book she had found including him from the bag. She let the bag land softly back on the floor, her magic aura slipping the book from her mental grasp. Twilight wasn't entirely sure she should reveal it or voice all of the questions she had about it just yet. There were a great deal of them, and with something so solid as an actual bound tome there was no way for Discord to avoid answering them, or at least little way.

The problem with Cloudsdale wasn't sorted just yet though, Twilight reminded herself of that. One disaster at a time.

But this might be the only time she might have alone with him for a little while, since she was fully committed to heading back into his dilemma and helping him once everything with Ponyville was alright again. One or two questions might be good to quench her curiosity temporarily.

“Well, sort of,” she answered, still not able to actually bring herself to show him the Statera Equus yet. That might get her even farther off track. “I did find a few intriguing possibilities on some other subjects.” The questions converged on the tip of her tongue, crowding around and bumping into each other in their scramble for a way out of her mouth. Twilight had to be careful though, it wasn't as if he would really answer them, but she was still feeling slightly like asking about what she had read counted as an invasion of whatever privacy he wanted to keep.

She watched him carefully for his reaction as she sorted through all the questions, choosing one that didn't seem so directly pertaining to him.

“I did read something that I was wondering about,” she tried to sound merely curious, and not anxious. “Who exactly are Mort and Sef?”

Discord had been fiddling with the tufty end of his tail, but he stopped when the names were mentioned. He looked over to her with a side glance, as if they held only a small significance. “Doing some research on ancient spirits, were we?”

“Not intentionally, I sort of just... stumbled upon them.”

“But why would you need to even look them up, when you have such direct links to spirits yourself?” Discord asked with an obvious reference to himself, and possibly even the princesses.

“Well if those direct links ever saw fit to actually share some of their histories, then yes I think they would be great sources of information. But they sadly do not,” Twilight answered just as obviously. “And like I said, it was unintentional. Now, do you know them, or are they still around?”

“Perhaps your sources would be more open to answering if you asked the right questions,” he walked around her to stand by her right side, no doubt he had missed being able to dance around her questions and frustrate her aimlessly while she was gone.

“Just what constitutes a 'right question'?” she asked, head turning away though she knew he was still there.

“One that I know you don't already have the answer to,” his cryptic sentence was exactly what she had been expecting.

“But I don't always have the answers, Discord. I mean, I have most of the recorded history of the spirits memorized, but don't you think it might be nice to hear – I don't know – a more first hoof account? What's wrong with hearing your side too?”

“Absolutely nothing, but I would rather not dwell on the past. Distracts from the now, and in any case there isn't much from my dealings with those two I'd want to reminisce about.”

“So you did or do know them, and they are a part of the balance of the world as well?” she asked, trying not to look pleased that – in a back door type of way – at least she was getting an answer.

“Unfortunately, yes. They're the most stuck up beings I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. Well, Morty's a stiff, I've never even really seen Sef. Let's just say they aren't all that social, especially with mortal ponies.”

So that certainly gave more credence to the Statera Equus. Discord was confirming something in the book that none of the others Twilight had ever read had agreed with. That had to mean that she would be able to prove the rest of it, and maybe with it, she could... well Twilight wasn't sure. Duplicate it and spread its information around she supposed. Ridding Equestria of the ignorance it had about the nature of balance with only one book wasn't that much of a solution, but it was at least something.

It would have to do, but first Twilight knew that unpacking and reuniting with her friends were the important and immediate bullet points at this time.

Discord continued now talking a bit, changing the subject to mostly complain about several things that had been happening during his time as a pony.

“And when Rainbow Dash joins us, you could tell her to lay off on calling me 'Dissy',” she could hear the blanch in Discord's voice without having to look back at him.

“What, you mean you have some pony who insists on calling you something you don't like despite you repeatedly asking them to stop?” she feigned surprise, her own brand of sarcasm overtly evident. “Oh my, you poor thing.”

He found his way back into her line of vision, even though she had made a mostly-conscious effort to keep him from it. Sliding the bag away from her reach with a hoof as she was making to remove something from it, his eyes found her again, smile confident.

“I'll stop when you can convince me you don't like it,” he said with a softer edge, purposefully placing his face between Twilight and her bag. Then for emphasis he added, “Ms. Sparky.”

Her breath caught, and she tried not to betray her thoughts at his closeness. She blinked and slid her gaze down to where her bag was underneath his hoof. Did he really have to do this right now? It frustrated her that he could distract her like this, and that she didn't try and deter this type of behavior.

It was difficult to admit that she wasn't always able to pull herself back on track in situations such as these. She wouldn't give him what he wanted though, there was no way Twilight would tell him how she did sort of enjoy that nickname. It was beginning to grow on her in any case.

Twilight wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that however. This was obviously just him trying to get her to forget about what they should be doing, and reasons why she had been so angry with him when she'd left. When the unicorn glanced back up at him, she paused before speaking, smiling sweetly in a very unsuspecting way.

“Can I have my bag back now, please?” she said in a hushed and quite pointed way, matching her tone to his. When she didn't give him a real answer, Twilight raised her eyebrows patiently and held out her hoof, waiting.

The smirk faltered and Discord stepped back, sliding the bag back to her with a shrug. This wasn't exactly the time to be messing around like he so enjoyed doing, they weren't out of the woods yet, and Twilight knew he still had a few days to go before the princesses returned to see if he'd progressed.

She sighed in an attempt to ease the tension that had sprung up within the room, and the unicorn went back to her task of unpacking, fighting a smile as she did. For the moment all she could think was... It was good to be back.

When their two pegasi friends Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy finally did arrive at the library, Twilight, Discord, and Spike all followed them to the exact center of town, Fluttershy filling them in yet more on what precisely the other pegasi would be doing.

The royal guard had cleared the streets in preparation, not a single civilian not participating in this exercise was in sight. They were soon joined by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity coming in from what was probably another spell duty for her.

“All of the unicorns currently in position shall maintain their spell to keep it level,” Rarity explained to her gathered friends. “This should be helpful if and when the cyclone begins to pick up the clouds.”

“Then the pegasi will start our tornado maneuver around the town,” Rainbow chimed in, already bringing her goggles down over her eyes. Twilight noticed that – as they had done the last time she had seen them try something like this – all of the assembled winged ponies were outfitted with a pair of goggles, and they all stood in a large and offset circle, waiting patiently for Rainbow or in the case of the guard Lieutenant Flyer Fry to give orders.

The orange stallion in question was nowhere to be seen, and now that she thought about it, Twilight didn't see her brother either.

“Where's Shiny?” she asked to her assembled group of friends.

“I think he's finalizing things up with his lieutenant,” AJ answered. “He better hurry back soon, we'll need him for this too.”

Rainbow nodded to her. “Yeah, we figured that we'd need some powerful kind of spell to keep every pony and everything down here in Ponyville from flying away, and that's where your brother comes in. I haven't seen a bigger shield spell in well, ever.”

That was true, Twilight thought. Shining Armor had one of the widest ranges and most protective shield spells she had ever seen, leaps and bounds even more powerful than hers.

She found Discord again in their little group, he sat next to Spike looking bored and slightly put out.

Coming a bit closer to him she addressed him. “Let's get this attempt out of the way first, and then we can try and focus more so on your predicament, alright?”

It was he this time who wasn't meeting her gaze, and she wasn't certain if he was really just bored or if he might have been slightly resentful that he actually wasn't getting as much credit for this idea than he said he didn't need earlier. Apparently he did want a little more ego stroking for supplying the inspiration.

“If you're pouting about not being able to call the shots here, I'm sorry but it's better to leave that to the ones who know more about what they're doing.”

“It's not that,” he said as the others set about finalizing their preparations. “I'm just wondering what's going to happen when this doesn't work.”

“Well, there's a vote of confidence,” she said sarcastically. “It will work, this is a good idea, a good plan. You just have to have faith.”

This was when she spotted her brother cutting his way through the crowd of royal guard members and volunteer pegasi tornado brigade.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized as he came within earshot of the group. “I had some of my scouts inform me about something strange they saw south east of here. I told Flyer Fry to go check it out, so Rainbow if you wouldn't mind taking the lead for every pony while he's gone,” he added the last part with a look to the blue pony.

Rainbow Dash gave a salute, flicking her wings proudly. “Yes sir, can do.”

“Alright then, does every pony know what they're doing?” he asked the group, who all nodded. “Ok, Ms. Dash, your ponies.”

Dash nodded again with determination, and then signaled for all of the assembled pegasus ponies to follow her path up above the town. Almost as one, the other pegasi pulled down their goggles and zoomed up in kind, following her to the exact spot between Ponyville and Cloudsdale. They then spread out as wide as they could, all near to the towns' boundaries.

Shining Armor began to concentrate on his own spell, a very large pink bubble forming over their heads between the ponies on the ground and their flight capable counterparts. The shield colored the scene above them with a slightly pink tint, and Twilight watched the color spread and form to encompass the whole of Ponyville.

She took one last glance back around to each of her friends, the cautious optimism reflected in every one of their faces, and a sense of hope shared among them.

She watched the winged ponies begin to move together as one, flying in a smooth circle around and around the town. Twilight saw Rainbow Dash call something out, and the ponies' speed increased, the wind now beginning to pick up around them. She noticed that as they gained speed, the air outside of Shiny's bubble began whooshing past as well. The group above them rose slightly higher as they continued to gain speed, going just a little bit above the cloud city, possibly in the hopes that the city would follow. Still they continued to speed up, until Twilight thought she could see the base of a funnel beginning to spiral downward from the bottom of their assemblage.

So ensconced in what was taking place above her, Twilight didn't notice at first when a pegasus completely separate from the tornado team slammed into the side of Shiny's shield. It was only after he began a loud, slamming knock that she and her friends began to take notice.

It was Shining Armor's lieutenant, and Shiny appeared to have noticed this even in his concentration, for the place where the orange pegasus was hanging onto the shield melted a bit, became thinner so he could pass through. It was some skillful magic, Twilight had to take a second to appreciate it.

Landing a bit hard onto the ground, Flyer Fry straightened up and began walking towards Shining Armor, smoothing his ruffled feathers and giving Shiny a salute.

“Captain, I'm sorry I was late, and I know this is a very crucial exercise, but... we need you to come and help us identify something.”

“I thought I had sent you to investigate what it was the scouts saw,” Shiny said to him, a slight reprimand in his voice, but only due to his need for concentration.

“Yes sir, but... I have no idea what it is either. It appears to be... moving towards us.”

With a look of contemplation, and then frustration, Shining Armor evidently came to a conclusion.

“Alright, fine. If it's something important, go and signal the pegasi to halt. I'll go take a look and then be back to try this again. That should also give them some time to rest.”

Flyer Fry gave him another salute paired with an apologetic grimace, and then flew to the top of Shiny's bubble, flapping his wings and waving his forelegs in an attempt to get Rainbow Dash's attention.

When she had finally seen him and the other ponies had slowed their wing speeds to a suitable level, Shining Armor lowered his shield with a sigh.

“I guess duty calls again,” he said. “Why don't you just stay here, I won't be gone long.”

Twilight followed Shining Armor as he headed towards where Flyer Fry had come from, the orange pegasus catching up with them.

“Shiny, I think I'd like to come too, I want to see what the big deal is.”

“I guess I don't blame you,” he answered. “Just be careful. If things get hairy though, you come back to town.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Thanks for the concern brother of mine, but do you know who you're talking to? I think whatever's big enough to halt our attempts, it's nothing I can't handle.”

“Especially if we come too,” Spike added confidently, indicating the rest of their friends, who were now all following them with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy catching up.

“Uh, all of you?” he asked, to which they nodded. He shook his head but smiled with resignation. “Alright.” He then spotted Discord bringing up the rear of their little group, he was the only one not looking curious or determined or really particularly interested in investigating something strange enough to cause a halt to their plan. He looked mostly like he wanted to actively avoid whatever they were on their way to find.

It wasn't his expression that Twilight realized Shiny was focusing on, it was Discord himself.

“Hey Twily, who's that?” he asked the question she knew he would, and guilt flared up again as she dodged it.

“Who, him? Nobody--- a friend.,” she said quickly and not entirely without suspicious-ness. “What are we waiting for? Are we looking at ponies or are we checking out something in the south east? Come on Shiny.” she then steered him away from looking back at her friends to lead the way along with his lieutenant.

It was a good trek for the group as they followed Shining Armor's lieutenant who flew above them, over the bridge and then down into the beginnings of an expanse of wood, just north of the Everfree proper.

When the orange pegasus flew down to wait for them, Twilight noticed that most of the group was keeping up. Flutershy had chosen to head back, but Rainbow Dash was flying alongside Flyer Fry. Both Pegasi halted in midair , Rainbow looking a bit bored waiting for them as was usual, and her fellow looking a bit more concernedly down to his captain.

“So, what exactly was it that you saw, Fry?” Shiny asked while they waited for Discord to bring up the rear (not that Twilight had informed her brother that was who he was yet). “I figured that it would be a bit closer the way you were acting.”

“Well sir, it's sort of... slowly moving. It's hard to explain,” the pegasus answered waveringly, still looking as if he were afraid of a formal reprimand. “We aren't sure if it poses any danger as yet, but... I suppose it's more where it came from that we're concerned with.”

“Where do you think it came from?” Twilight asked. Rainbow shot up above the treeline to look over the landscape. She scanned what was ahead of them and then flew back downward to answer her friend.

“It looks like it came from a good couple of kilometers from here, but not in the forest,” she commented, looking a bit unpleasantly surprised at what she had seen. “It was really weird... what was that, a trail?” she asked the second part to Flyer Fry who still hovered where she had returned to.

The male pony shrugged as he landed next to Rainbow. “We don't know either, but that's what it looks like. It should be about halfway through these woods by now, but it's not so much what's at the front of the trail as what's at the end.”

“Could you be any clearer Lieutenant Fry?” Shining Armor ordered, sounding like he was growing tired of his subordinate's vagueness.

“Well sir, that's the thing. It doesn't seem to have a source,” Fry answered as meekly as possible, actually flinching like he thought Shiny might strike him. Twilight knew that was an obvious over reaction. “It just sort of... starts out of nowhere. Like it suddenly popped into existence in Rock Ridge.”

Rock Ridge... Twilight recognized that name. She looked around her, Discord had finally caught up, and he appeared to be the only other member of their group to which the name rung any bells. It couldn't have been what she was thinking, at least she hoped it wasn't what she was thinking.

“Rainbow, can you take me up so I can see?” she asked her friend. Rainbow answered by grabbing her underneath her forelegs and lifting her from the ground. Once clear of the trees, Twilight could see the trail that the other pegasus had mentioned. It was a lot bigger than she'd imagined, a long, winding trail that sort of shone a bit in the light. It looked wet, sort of slimy the closer it got to where they were. It left the ground looking not just shiny, but discolored in a sickly off way. This did not help Twilight's sense of dread.

Once her friend had lowered her back to the ground, Twilight began to trot ahead, hopping over a fallen tree and pausing to look back at her brother and his lieutenant.

“Are we getting close to it?” she called back, ignoring the questioning looks she was receiving from the rest of them.

The orange pegasus nodded. “Just past the little creek up there, there's a small clearing and that's where we saw it last.”

Twilight fought the urge to investigate this on her own. If whatever had made that trail had come from where she was afraid it had... she didn't want to be responsible for anything that might happen to her friends because of it.

“I-I think Shiny, Flyer Fry, and I should go on ahead. Every pony else should stay back, ok? This could potentially be something dangerous.”

“But Twi, that's why we're here. We'd like to help ya too,” AJ reminded her.

“I know, but we don't know what we're dealing with, so I'd appreciate it if you headed back now, or at the very least waited here.”

“Why, you have some idea of what it is?” Rainbow asked. “Cause I kinda wanna see it for myself now.”

“No,” Twilight said sternly, her harsh look now causing Rainbow to actually land on the ground. “Please, this is serious,” she then lept back over the log to address them quietly, trying to avoid the guard members hearing. “It could be pertaining to something from You Know Where.”

Now the ponies' eyes flashed with recognition, and Twilight was sorry to see that she had spread her own growing sense of dread. At least now they understood why she was being so adamant all of a sudden.

“Perhaps if we begin our walk back into town, we can have all of the pegasi prepared for another go at the plan,” Rarity offered with a bit of nervousness. It was clear that her apprehension about anything possibly coming out of Tartarus was over powering her desire to help or any curiosity she might have.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Pinkie agreed, even she looking wary. Rainbow Dash and Applejack still seemed to want to stay with her, and so the other two began to make their way back as the two more stubborn and loyal mares sat down where they had been standing.

“Spike, you stay here with AJ and Rainbow,” Twilight said even as the dragon opened his mouth to protest. “Nope, there is nothing for it. I know you won't want to go back with the others, but you are not following us up there.”

Lastly there was Discord, who looked like he would rather be leaving with Rarity and Pinkie Pie, but that wasn't happening either.

“Dis...sy,” she fumbled over the name, stopping herself before she could call him by his real one. Her ears lowered, grimacing as she wondered if the other two stallions were listening, for they had already made it to where she had left but there was still a chance they could hear her giving orders.

She looked back at them for a moment, they both waited but gave no indication that they had noticed her near-blunder or that they had even heard her.

Twilight saw Discord's scowl at her use of his nickname, and she tried to look apologetic as she spoke to him. “I think you should come with us. You and I both know from where this trail might have come. You might be of use in identifying or capturing it... if we need to.”

“If it came from there, there's no doubt. The best thing to do is to head back, which is what I'd like to be doing right now,” he said matter of fact-ly.

The unicorn shook her head, but the temporary pony just sat resolutely down, clearly not willing to get any closer than he absolutely had to.

She sighed exasperatedly. “Fine, then stay here with the others. But if I need you, you have to come.”

She then turned to follow the two guard members. It wasn't all that far to where Flyer Fry had mentioned, and the thing was not very hard to miss.

Twilight didn't know what to call this thing – if it even was a thing – she had no idea if 'thing' was even the correct term. It looked more like 'stuff', or 'discharge', or even 'inanimate magical runoff'. It didn't exactly have a shape, it was nearly a liquid as it appeared to be pooling and over-flowing onto the land it covered. It was a viscus-looking substance, a milky grape jelly color. It certainly didn't look all that pleasant, but it also didn't really look like something that would be kept in Tartarus. Perhaps it was something... left behind by something else. Maybe a bigger threat (she actually hoped that hypothesis was wrong, the size of this stuff would make for a much, much larger creature to have made it).
She noted that her brother and Flyer Fry were reluctant to get too close to it, and she could see why.

It was moving.

Slowly, very very slowly it was inching itself across the forest floor. It covered whatever was in front of it with an enveloping ooze. Twilight couldn't see any end of it from here, but whatever it left behind was no doubt warped like the ground and other things left behind in that trail.

It was like a slimy purple moving lake, or a very gelatinous glacier. The two unicorns and a pegasus could only stare for a moment at it, with fear, apprehension, and awe.

Twilight was taken out of this state of paralyzing mystery by a sound from behind her that made her ear twitch in its direction. She turned with a blank expression to see Spike stumbling from the bushes.

“Spike, I told you not to follow me,” she reprimanded, to which the dragon had the good sense to at least look sorry.

“Come on Twilight, I wanted to see. You made it sound like it was something really bad, and I wanted to help.” Spike kicked his little foot, trying to play innocent, but Twilight didn't think he understood the potential magnitude of this new found situation.

“I didn't come alone, anyway. Dis---sy came too,” She felt a bit better knowing that Spike was having trouble using that name as well, but she didn't see Discord with him. She was starting to think he'd made that up so he could come along when indeed the gray pseudo unicorn came crashing through the same bushes.

Kicking some burs off of his back leg, Discord took a few steps past Spike to close the space between them and Twilight. She rolled her eyes at their explicit disregard for what she had asked of them, but she resigned herself. Now that he was here, maybe Discord could be of help.

“So you wanted to come after all?” she asked him as he checked himself over for more sticky brown burs.

“Your assistant goaded me into it,” he replied, though Spike's smirk in his direction told Twilight that wasn't entirely true. “So what was it you ponies were getting in such a fuss abo---” he stopped mid-sentence as his eyes found the purple substance. There was a flash of recognition in those yellow/red eyes before the mask of mild interest could completely obscure it.

“What,” Twilight inquired quickly, then when he didn't answer she prodded. “You know what this is, don't you? D- ugh, if you know what this is, you have to tell us.”

Her loud statement had alerted the other two stallions and they came to meet Twilight, Spike, and Discord.

“Twily, does he know what this is?” Shining Armor asked, looking from her to Discord. “Sir, if you know something, you are bound by the laws of Equestria as a citizen to aid your royal guard for the safety of our country and her interests by divulging anything you might know.”

Twilight could practically see the retort forming in Discord's mind as he glared back at her brother, but another glance back at the stuff and then back to her seemed to give him the inclination to swallow it. This must have been something very bad if it required him to actually give a serious answer.

“I know that this is something you should run away from. Very fast.”

This caused every pony else to look at each other, while Discord continued to stare straight back at the stuff behind them. Twilight wanted to ask him more – and it looked like Shining Armor was about to start an official questioning session, but neither of them got the chance. Because the moment Discord spoke, the stuff started moving again. This was not the sluggish pace that had gotten it slowly to this point, the stuff did something Twilight could only identify with the word, 'lurched'.

It sprang out at them, making a disgusting glorping sound, it bubbled and flowed, moving as swiftly as a river full of jelly might. The ponies and dragon all leaped backward, Shiny nudging Twilight to run, she grabbed Spike with her teeth and paid no mind to his cries as she swung him onto her back and they bolted in the very specific direction of 'away'. The purple stuff now following them, pursuing them almost as fast as a stampede.

11. On Account of My Transgressions, Will You Welcome This Confession

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Crashing through the woods at break-neck speed, the two unicorns, one pegasus, one dragon, and one temporary unicorn all ran for their lives from the encroaching purple goop. Making it back to their waiting friends, Twilight did not stop to acknowledge the looks of shock and confusion on Applejack's or Rainbow Dash's faces, she only slammed hard into the earth pony's side to force her to start running as she shouted for them to move. Rainbow took to the air just as the stuff came up behind them.

They were barely able to keep a few pony-lengths ahead, what was once a sluggishly slothful sludge now had charged at them with all the force of a very gross looking bull.

Instinctively they all ran back towards the town, but through her panic Twilight began to worry if that was the right decision. If this stuff was chasing them, what would happen once they reached Ponyville?

“Shiny,” she shouted to her brother as he ran alongside her. “Maybe we should try running in another direction, we don't know what it could do if it hits town!”

“I know Twily,” he yelled back, not slowing down. “But just keep running, I'll think of something!”

The two pegasi zoomed over head, frantically trying to find a place to perhaps move those of them on the ground out of the path of the stuff. A very careful look behind her told Twilight that the goop was now not only covering the entire floor of the forest, but now climbing the trees as well, coating everything in sight with its milky, sickly-grape coloring.

So outrunning it wasn't doing a very good job at solving anything, and evading it by hiding above wouldn't help either, and it especially would do nothing to warn the town of this stuff's path of destruction and how it was now – thanks to them – directly in the center of it.

Rainbow and Flyer Fry took turns swooping down to catch each of them in turn, Shiny waving his lieutenant off of him to direct his attentions to Twilight first. Rainbow Dash grabbed Applejack quickly in her hooves and they shot off ahead to Ponyville most likely to deposit the earth pony as well as warn the town.

Spike was still atop her back, and Shining Armor at her side, but there was one member Twilight could not see around them, Discord.

Another flash of a look back found him falling behind again, galloping in a zigzag pattern to evade the stuff that was just close enough to take great waving lunges in his direction. It seemed to be getting awfully aggressive as Discord attempted to keep from being covered.

A burst of both annoyance and fear shot through her as he only barely dodged another wave of purple goo. Twilight let out an exhausted groan but nevertheless did want to help him. She grasped him in her magical aura, helping him to sprint even faster so that he was at least caught up with them.

“Lovely trick, now how about you stop playing around and teleport us back to town?” His question was out of breath but still filled with deflected fear.

“I want to be sure that we can get it away from heading into town,” she called back. “Maybe if we can lure it somewhere---”

“That's not going to do anything!” he shouted back aggressively. Flyer Fry swooped down again, this time with the intention of rescuing her, but she shook her head and bumped Spike upwards for him to catch.

“No, Twilight! I can help!” Spike called from the pegasus's hooves. He struggled and kicked at Fry who was losing his balance the more Spike resisted.

“Restrain him, Lieutenant! Get back to Ponyville and then come find us!” Shining Armor ordered. But just as Fry was beginning to fly away, Spike appeared to actually bite the pegasus, who dropped him with a shout.

Spike hit the ground hard then started running as well, but he was running the wrong way. Twilight watched him, giving a cry of protest that the dragon didn't seem to hear or in any case acknowledge. In her hurry to get Spike to safety she hadn't noticed her hold on Discord had been slipping, and that the stuff was nearly upon him. But from his vantage point apparently Spike had.

Twilight did not have a second to react, one moment she saw Spike make an angled leap from a rock to the side of a tree that had not been gooified, and then land directly behind Discord to push him out of the way of another wave of the stuff. Discord shot forward and slightly to the right of Twilight. Her stomach lurched with disbelief as she paused for the briefest moment, halted by her fear for Spike.

In shoving Discord out of the way, the wave had caught him. Maybe Spike had tripped, but that didn't matter. The purple goop was already enveloping him, covering Spike and drowning him until only the tip of his outstretched claw was visible. A clawed hand that had been reaching out for her, but she wasn't fast enough.

Angry, hot tears welled in her eyes. No, this was not happening. Spike did not just get swallowed up by that stuff, no way no how. In her frantic efforts of disbelief she was not fully able to grasp the concept, but she did notice that Flyer Fry had evidently been desperate to save some pony, and so both he and her brother were no longer with them. All thoughts of some sort of plan to get it away from Ponyville were dropped immediately, Twilight tried with all her magical might to grasp onto Spike beneath the ooze, to find him with her mind along with herself and Discord to teleport them all back home.

Maybe it was her adrenaline, her fight-or-flight or mother bear instincts, but with a mighty wrenching flash she landed hard onto the floor of her library, with Discord and – thank Celestia – Spike beside her.

Knowing that Spike was – if not completely safe – at least safely away from that stuff allowed Twilight to give herself a few seconds to take a breath. Discord appeared to be doing the same from her right side, but the unicorn's eyes were trained on her unmoving baby dragon.

After only three deep breaths, Twilight stood and stumbled over to him. Spike had been mostly cleaned off of the purple goo, although traces of it still clung to his scales. Patches of that same discoloration were forming on his body, and his tiny breaths were labored in his unconscious state.

“Spike,” the unicorn's intended whisper came out a ragged cry as she lost her battle with holding back her tears. She reached out her hooves, but they hovered over him, shaking as she couldn't tell where she could place them.

“I wouldn't do that, you might get it on you,” she heard Discord say from behind her. She didn't turn her head or even give any indication that she had heard him. When he slowly came to sit beside her, she did not turn to look at him. Twilight kept her unblinking eyes upon her poor little assistant.

“I must commend you, you got him out without bringing the whole lot of it along with him,” she could hear the attempt at a compliment, maybe even some reassurance. But Twilight was not in the mood. She wanted no words of commendation, no words at all that weren't telling her if Spike was going to be alright.

“There's still some runoff, but not enough to start attacking us...” he trailed off as she continued to ignore him.

“I would most likely look for some pony though, to help clean him off more carefully.”

The memory came slowly back to her through her paralyzing worry, the memory of Discord saying... something about the stuff, something that indicated he had known what it was.

She turned directly on him then, standing protectively and subconsciously between him and the unconscious Spike. She glared accusingly at him, her voice sharpening more so than it had ever done before.

“How did you know about that stuff, did you know what it was doing? What's going to happen to Spike?” her questions were tinged with the pain that fear of the unknown always brought forth. She didn't have the answers, and that was never a good position for Twilight to be in.

Discord looked taken aback by her harshness, but he at least looked like he understood the reasoning behind it. “I-I've dealt with it before, yes. No, I didn't know what it was doing, and... I'm not sure,” he answered all three questions in order, his voice dropping in volume along with his gaze at the end of the final one. He couldn't seem to keep eye contact with her worried, yet still accusatory glare.

“It's not exactly easy to guess what will happen, it's unpredictable for each pony that gets in its way.”

“But you've seen it before, it was something from Tartarus,” Twilight stated her question. Now that she had Spike at least back home and she was no longer running for her life, her mind was a bit clearer. She remembered how the waves had seemed to converge specifically upon attacking Discord, and how the stuff hadn't actually done anything until he had spoken, until he had made his presence known...

“More than that, it was something from Tartarus that remembered you,” she expressed her realization with a new found energy, one that quickly formed back into anger with Discord's look of recognition. The same look he had given the stuff when they had come upon it.

“That's why it was acting that way, why it was targeting you so specifically, I had no idea that it was so sentient,” for a moment she considered the possibilities of this... stuff actually having a consciousness, but then rounded back on Discord. “Why was it targeting you?”

Discord's eyes had gone back to the little dragon on the floor, amazingly Twilight could actually see some concern there, and again he avoided looking to her.

“It was a very, very long time ago, thousands of years. I never would have imagined that it could actually have a memory that lasted that long.”

“What did you do to it, Discord?” she asked, her temper flaring even more. This was most definitely not the time for his roundabout wordplay games.

“It's not exactly what I did to it – well sort of – but what I did for it as well,” he was still beating around the bush, and Twilight was now fighting the urge to beat him around a bush.

Discord seemed to sense this and - with hesitance - continued after a defeated sigh. “I created it,” he admitted, waiting a moment for her to take that in before adding to that loaded sentence.

“Harmony had it in her head that coming down here to live with the mortal ponies was a 'bad idea', but we both knew how much she couldn't stand to do something for them. She couldn't be down there even though she wished she could and all that, but anyway... then she made your little princesses. Two little alicorns made for the sole purpose of taking over her job and to be able to live here and be a part of your world.”

“I know all of that Discord,” Twilight kept her words very measured, trying not to scream at him to get to the point.

“Well... I saw that she'd done that and I thought to myself 'pfft, I can do that!'. I didn't know at the time she was dying due to giving her energy to make them – or even how she made them really – but I figured I'd give that a go too. She made her some Order beings, I'd try my hand at a Chaos being.”

“And that was the end result?” she asked disbelievingly. “That stuff?”

“Something went wrong,” he was beginning to sound annoyed at having to bring up his past failings, but at this moment Twilight could not care less, this could be integral to helping Spike, or helping the town. “I don't think I had all the facts. Not like there was a book or anything on 'how to make baby spirit beings'. So what appeared down here instead of an actual creature was a puddle of pure chaos energy. That's what that is. It has enough sentience to know that it is meant to spread chaos, but nothing else.”

“So, how do we stop it?”

“You don't. Nothing can,” he said. “At least nothing on Equus could. When Harmony had seen what I'd made and how it was rampaging across this plane, she forced me to capture it and seal it away in Tartarus. I figured it might one day escape the prison bubble I'd put it in, but I couldn't have guessed it would make its way back here.”

“So it remembered you, and how you sealed it away,” Twilight said flatly. “It was trying to get at you.”

“Yeah, I didn't think it would have enough of a brain to form the idea of revenge either.”

Discord may have looked back at her, but Twilight had turned from him and sat back down beside the slowly breathing little dragon. Her anger was dissipating, but her fear remained.

“So what can we do for him?”

“Like I said, I'm not sure. If I had my full powers back, I might be able to fix it. The ponies that got caught in it were all affected differently.”

“But it was all bad, wasn't it? Was it permanent?”

She didn't need to look back at him, his reluctance to answer made her not want to hear a response.

Just then, Twilight's friends burst into the library, all five of them converging around her and Spike, with Discord allowing himself to be shoved aside, separating him from her.

“Twilight, we flew back to get you but you'd disappeared. I figured you might have been able to teleport,” Rainbow Dash said, all of them looking just as worried as she was as they all noticed Spike. “Is he gonna be ok?”

The fresh batch of tears were held back by Twilight only by her will. “We don't know,” she said as clearly as she could. She found Fluttershy among the faces of her friends. “Fluttershy? Can you do anything?”

Fluttershy was already crying, not able to hold back her tears for even a second. “I... I don't know. Maybe some pony should go and get a doctor. I'm just- I don't--” she whimpered into incoherence.

Twilight managed to pat her pegasus friend on the shoulder, somehow comforting her instead of feeling like she needed some comfort of her own. “It's fine. Some pony go and get a doctor,” she looked around and met Rarity's gaze. She had been staring unblinkingly at Spike's small form, but when Twilight's question was asked she looked back up and nodded.

“Maybe some pony can find Zecora too, she might now of some kind of... herbal something that could help,” Pinkie suggested.

“Good idea, “ Twilight said somehow managing to give her friend an actual smile. It was short-lived however.

”I just hope she's here in Ponyville. I ain't gonna brave a trip outside Shining Armor's shielding spell to find her,” Applejack added.

This caught Twilight's attention. “Shiny's doing a shield spell, why?”

“You haven't been outside yet, have you?” AJ asked in a tone that told her that she was not going to enjoy what was outside.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie had already exited to find the mentioned ponies to help Spike, and Twilight followed them while trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever she might find.

Her mind had not prepared itself enough. It was almost a good thing that Cloudsdale now hung so low over Ponyville, because incredibly Shining Armor was able to encompass both of the towns in his enormous magical bubble. It shimmered with a light red, almost magenta glow, holding back the ever-encroaching wave of purple goop.

The stuff made from pure chaos was moving slower now, although not as slowly as it had done before it found Discord. It obviously knew that Discord was hiding in Ponyville, but it was having trouble seeking him out due to Shiny's protection spell. It was growing to slowly cover the big pinkish dome, and Twilight just stood there watching it. There had been so much to fear, so much to be anxious about these past few weeks and especially now that apparently her body was now shutting itself off from it all to spare her sanity, she was numb to it. It did not give her any clarity about what they should do, but at least she wasn't running around in a panic, like some of the other residents.

It was several long, tense minutes of silence for the three remaining ponies in the library. Applejack had gone to find her family in the hope that they were safely inside the protective barrier, leaving Discord alone with Twilight and Rainbow Dash to watch over the still unmoving Spike.

When Fluttershy and Rarity finally returned with a doctor, the flurry of activity pushed the pseudo-unicorn off to the side once again, where he remained a good distance away from the others.

He had watched Twilight stand over Spike’s body when she had re-entered the room. She hadn’t looked at him, hadn’t said anything, eyes trained fully in front of her, though far away. The unicorn looked positively numb. He didn’t blame her for it. He had known all of this was affecting her, taking its toll on her positive pony outlook and innate need for everything to turn out fine for every pony. Even for a pony who believed the right answers could be found even in the bleakest of circumstances, this would certainly qualify and justify as an over load.

The unicorn doctor attempted to scrape and peel off the excess purple gunk from Spike’s scales, with Fluttershy not far away to see if she could help while still whimpering away. Pinkie had returned with a zebra - no doubt the one she had mentioned - and they hovered near the dragon as well. Twilight was forced to move away from him while they worked, Rarity sitting by her side, one foreleg over the purple unicorn’s shoulders and the other hoof over one of hers. Rainbow Dash was on Twilight’s other side, looking from Twilight to Spike every so often, but more often than not at the floor. She didn’t seem to be comfortable with providing comfort even to her friend, choosing instead to sit close but still not close enough to embrace Twilight. There was something they actually had in common.

It was getting far too crowded in the room for Discord.

He considered for a moment going outside, but he knew now what waited out there for him to see, and it wasn’t much better than the sight inside. The pseudo unicorn found his way up the library’s stairs without so much as a glance from the ponies assembled let alone a reprimand. From the small loft he could still see them if he had any inclination to, or he could look out the window at the smoozey stuff that was hell-bent on getting at him through any means its surprisingly functioning brain could come up with. He avoided both as best he could. This dreadful feeling consuming him at the moment was only magnified by seeing them, or hearing them. Keeping himself separated from it was the only thing that slightly worked to ease it. As much of an outsider as he was, strangely enough this was the first time he really, truly felt it.

Every once in a while Discord would catch a sentence or two from them down there, though he tried tuning them out. Twilight had been able to explain what had happened, his own role in the incident, and what that stuff was and what exactly it did.

Discord heard hoof steps coming up the stairs and for a split-second he thought for some reason it might be Twilight. He took a moment to consider whether or not that would be a ‘hope’ or a fear, but either way, he was wrong. Of all ponies he had anticipated (and there weren’t many) he hadn’t expected the one to come looking for him to be Rainbow Dash.

He’d had a pillow over his head, the only thing Discord could find to cover both his eyes and ears. She’d pulled it from his grasp with her teeth and just stared him down for a moment. When he had gotten to his hooves she looked back down towards the group below, their voices still barely louder than a whisper.

“Hiding out?” she asked him, with the hollow ghost of a mocking tone impeded by the gravity of their situation (situations). “Can’t stand to see it either huh? Or can’t take the guilt?”

Hmm, guilt… well there was something he just knew about in passing.

“I don’t think I understand your meaning,” he answered with a bit of defensive edge.

“How about the fact that Spike’s down there seriously hurt, and Ponyville and Cloudsdale might get eaten by a big sludge monster that broke outta Tartarus because you wanted to be a total dip-cord?”

“I think the ponies that survived the last time it was around started calling it the Smooze,” he said in an attempt to avoid the subject.

“I don’t care what it’s called, this is a mess and this time there’s no way you can deny you made it.”

“You could give me a break, I already know all that. Plus I did almost die today as well.”

“Yeah well, who’s actually the one maybe dying right now? Oh right, the dragon who apparently saved your butt. So forgive me if I don’t send some sympathy your way right now,” she said.

Discord didn’t give any sort of retort for a long moment, and as much as he’d like to have given Dash a jibe back, she wasn’t exactly wrong. He knew it too, he hadn’t even realized what Spike was doing until afterward. The magnitude of it only hitting him when he, Twilight, and Spike had all come to rest on the library’s floor.

He could have been killed if it hadn’t been for Spike, and in this clumsy, magically-inhibited temporary form that really meant something.

“But you ponies, you’ve been mortal all your lives. You know all about dying. Me, I’d never given it a second thought before this ‘lesson’. Or a first one, come to think of it. I’ve always simply been ‘too important’, ‘too crucial’ to kill no matter how much some of my enemies wanted to.”

Though he was turned away from Rainbow Dash, he could feel he still had her attention, though neither of their postures gave much comfort to their little chat.

He thought again about Spike’s foolishly noble gesture, and the same question rose up inside Discord, one that he had repeated in his mind the last hour or so, and only now escaped his mouth.

“That little dragon may have actually sacrificed himself for me… why?”

Rainbow’s tone sounded a bit caught off guard by the sincere confusion in Discord’s question. “I… I dunno, that’s just the way Spike is. I guess he saw that you were in trouble and no pony else had. It sounded pretty brave of the little guy, gotta really admire that about him,” She made a sad chuckling sound. “Heh, now that’s some loyalty.”

Discord actually found himself sort of agreeing there. It appeared Spike was much more the pony boy he had appeared.

Thinking about it - talking about it with the pegasus - it gnawed at him again, and again he wasn’t able to keep his thoughts to himself anymore.

“When I think about if I would have done the same thing for him, and I’m forced to answer ‘no’…” Discord trailed off, the sensation overwhelming him yet again with sharing that little piece of information. He managed to turn his head to look at the blue pony, who was looking back at him as well. Her look was only slightly less judgmental than it had been.

“I feel---” he paused again, trying to think of the correct word for something he did not recall feeling all that often. He turned his hoof in a circle as he wracked his brain, as if the gesture might will the right term forth.

A frustrated groan escaped him before he finally broke down and just asked, “What’s the opposite of pride?”

“Uh, shame?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, yes, that works. Shame!” he pointed to her triumphantly, victorious for a millisecond before the weight of the shame fell back down upon him.

“You feel shame, like for real?” Rainbow Dash sounded genuinely surprised. “Wow, I mean you should totally be feeling that way, but… can’t say I thought I’d hear you of all ponies be ashamed about something.” Her surprise did not soften her face all that much, but at least the judgment had toned down more.

“Sorry, but you know it’s no good telling me all this, even if it’s just cause I’m the only one up here. I just don’t think you can hide up here forever. You gotta come down eventually and face what’s happened, and face what you did to make it happen. Ya know?” She sounded slightly awkward, like she hadn’t come to fill the role she was now serving. It was not exactly expected by Discord either - and no less awkward - but oddly enough he felt as though he had needed it.

“The more I see of these ponies the more I am convinced that I would never make a good one, I don’t have what it takes,” he was now mostly speaking to himself, for out loud the words somehow sounded more finite. Something had begun forming in his mind spurred on by Spike’s actions, Dash’s words, Twilight’s tears and numb expression… it was a combination of things really.

It was a crazy idea forming, something he would never have considered unless things felt just about this level of hopeless and he was at this level of shame.

“I feel like a coward, and that makes me feel miserable,” he shook his head, standing and walking past Rainbow now. “…and I don’t think I can take that anymore.”

Discord didn’t look back to see if Rainbow Dash was going to say anything more, he didn’t even look back towards the little dragon who had saved his life. He found Twilight in the midst of the other ponies, and for a moment he thought maybe he should say something to her beforehand.

As he approached though, he thought better of it and made to turn and leave without her seeing him, freezing when she lifted her eyes and met his. Her look was still mostly hollow, but now a question was coming to light there, as if the sight of his face was pulling her from a fog.

She started to come closer, the question forming in her mouth, but Discord was already backing away. He made it out the door and started for the edge of the bubble. He could see the Smooze still attempting to encompass the shield and cause it to falter. To get at him.

Maybe if Twilight hadn’t seen him she would have stayed behind. He might have gotten away clean even with her spotting him. There was a chance she wouldn’t follow.

“Discord, what are you doing?”

Of course there wasn't. No chance at all. He was counting on that. Avoiding her – and making a show of it – was the only certain way of getting her curious enough to come along.

The temporary pony had begun his trot to the edge of the shield to find some small place, just one little bit that wasn’t covered in Smooze to make his escape. Twilight had caught up with him though, teleporting in front of him to halt his pace.

“If you're going to give me a lecture or attempt to talk me out of what I have planned, then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.”

“What kind of plan involves you running for the town border when all this is happening?” she asked in quite an unnecessarily accusatory tone. “Because I know you haven't decided to run away and leave us all here to die or be … smooshed.”

“Smoozed,” he corrected her quickly. “And just where did that faith in your dear friend Discord disappear to with that question, Ms. Sparky? It so happens that I do have a plan.”

“Then you were just going to execute this plan by yourself, without me... or some pony else to help,” she had tried backtracking after saying the word 'me'. It would be quite adorable to hear her stumbling over phrasing like that if he wasn't attempting to strengthen his resolve for this plan about eighty five percent of him was trying to find some alternative to.

“Well, you would be my first choice,” his tone shielded the alarm bells going off in his head, the ones telling Discord that neither of them might survive this.

Discord ignored them, and put on a fairly good show of confidence in his opinion, while still refusing to completely reveal the particulars of his plan just yet. She was coming along, Twilight would find out soon enough.

“If you trust I know what I'm doing, then by all means, I'm sure I might need your help.”

“Now that you are probably right about,” Twilight said firmly as she stepped aside. They made it to the edge of the bubble, and had to search for a solid five minutes before they finally found a large enough opening free of Smooze.

“Would you do the honors?” Discord gestured with a hoof towards the shimmering light red edge of the shield.

Twilight made a small opening just large enough for them to wiggle through one at a time, and for just long enough for them to slip past. The bubble closed shut with a small tuneful sound, trimming the split ends off of Discord's tufty tail. Now was not the time to stop and look at the damage however, for the instant he had crossed the barrier, the Smooze began to sense him and change course.

Twilight sprinted alongside Discord as they both raced towards the hidden entrance to the gates of Tartarus. Both pony’s breaths were short and fast, both hearts pounding as they tried to stay just far enough ahead of the Smooze to not be consumed by it.

Twilight couldn’t speak for Discord, but at the moment she could feel her heartbeat in her ears. The Smooze was gaining on them, but at least they had been able to lure it away from Ponyville.

“So this is your plan?” she shouted at him as they continued to run, frantically searching for the telltale signs of the magical protection around the entrance. “We get it to chase us out of town, and then what?”

“Not you, me,” Discord emphasized as they slowed to continue their search. “It’s chasing me, and once we get to the entrance, I’m going to try to get it back inside and then seal the gates.”

“You know if you had just helped Princess Celestia when she asked you this wouldn’t be happening, but I guess this is a much more direct way of showing how all this might affect you.”

Even in the face of eminent danger Twilight could not help giving a lecture to the former-draconequus.

“Do you have to do this now?” he shouted back at her as they sped up again, making a hairpin turn to the left and then down straight through what appeared to be solid rock. When they emerged they found themselves in a long underground tunnel. The Smooze not far behind, they continued to run lower and deeper into the earth. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever.

There were no torches to light their path, so once they had left the natural light of the tunnel’s mouth both unicorns lit their horns and just kept running. Twilight’s beam of light was a bit stronger than Discord’s, but she chalked that up to just her being a pony for longer, and having more experience with using her horn in that fashion.

After what seemed like hours of exhausting running and continuing downwards, they eventually made it to a place where the walls had some form of illumination. Twilight was relieved when she saw the magically-made balls of light lining the walls of the tunnel, her energy was being depleted enough as it was with all the running, she didn’t want to drain it any more with an extra spell. She had to save it for helping Discord seal the gate.

It was only when they could finally hear the growls of the three-headed dog Cerberus that Twilight began to wonder about that. She was still fairly in the dark when it came to this plan of his, but perhaps she could give him a pass as they were running for their lives.

The three pairs of eyes found them all at once, and the giant dog growled again as they approached. Twilight slowed to a stop, trying to think quickly of a way to show the beast that they were no threat. Where was one of Pinkie’s balls when she needed them? This could certainly be counted as a ‘ball emergency’.

Amazingly Cerberus seemed to remember her, he lowered his enormous heads for her to scratch, which she obliged - though only after a few confused seconds - and he rolled over to have his belly rubbed.

Discord looked on impatiently as she quickly tried to appease the guard dog, his eyes scanning the space and possibly growing as frantic as Twilight felt. They could both hear the glorping sound of the Smooze as it advanced.

Once Cerberus had moved aside for them, Twilight stood with Discord at the hugely menacing gates to the prison of the most evil beings that had ever walked on Equestrian - or any country on Equus - soil.

“Alright, you might want to start opening it about now,” Discord prompted her with more than a hint of worry and - possibly even fear.

Twilight stood before the gates as they loomed above her, waving slightly as if she were looking at them through a haze. There was almost no difference in the bars of the barrier and the negative space between them, they were so dark, only the slight shimmer and the strong sense of its magic radiating towards them. The unicorn was frozen, panicked and unsure of how to proceed.

“Celestia brought you here once before didn’t she?” the other somewhat-unicorn asked her briskly from slightly behind her.

“Yes, but… She never actually opened it, we only discussed--- I just need to remember how to do it,” Twilight said.

“There’s no time to do it the right way, if it’s already weakened it’ll just bust open if you hit it hard enough!”

“But we don’t want to risk any other creatures escaping,” Twilight said. “… and why aren’t you helping?”

Through her panic she was able to glance back at him with a small bit of annoyance. It was more than a fair question. If he was in such a hurry why wasn’t he lifting a hoof to open the gate?

Surprisingly instead of an eye roll or some sort of retort - as Twilight had been expecting from him - Discord’s face fell, his eyes moving away from hers. “I… I can’t.”

“What?” Twilight asked. “What do you mean, you can’t? of course you can, you’re the only being with power ancient enough to seal it up again, you should be able to open it as well.”

Now Discord looked like he really did not want to say what he was thinking, still holding that hint of… was that regret?

“Yes, I do - or rather - I did. I don’t have full use of my powers right now, remember?” he reminded her, still not meeting her gaze. “When they did this to me they locked my powers away somewhere up in this tiny brain where I can't reach them. So, I can’t even try.”

“So, that’s why I’m here?” Twilight asked much quieter than she had been previously, her mind already ahead of her, clicking the pieces together to only-now form the image that was Discord's line of thinking, and it wasn't a picture Twilight liked.

“You still have the portion of my power that I gave to you. You’re the only one around here who has any chaos magic at the moment, and the only one with the power ancient enough to seal the gates for good.”

Twilight was coming to a conclusion, a conclusion that was making her heart jump into her throat and her vision unexpectedly blurry. She did not need to ask the question in her mind because she had already figured it out. Sometimes her intelligence betrayed her, and this was one of those times.

“Then… why are you here?”

“I’m the bait. I’m the one the Smooze is after. If it follows me into the gates, then you can seal it away and you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“But… but that doesn’t make any sense,” Twilight’s voice quavered. She tried to play dumb, for she must be mistaken. Discord couldn’t possibly be planning what she thought he was planning.

“Oh what fun is there in making sense?” he half-joked. The smirk he gave her was only a shadow of its former self. “You’d better get a move on, it’ll be here any second.”

If Twilight’s heart had been in her throat a second ago, it had fallen straight down into her stomach. So he had come here with this intention all along. He never planned to leave here with her.

“But, Discord… why-”

“I know I know, unbelievably out of character,” he answered her without really knowing what she would ask. “But it will be all better this way. The Smooze won’t bother you anymore after I’m gone, and your friends can stop worrying about you, and you don’t have to deal with me.”

Twilight found herself frozen again, and this time it seemed to have a hold on her mind as well as her body, for she couldn’t find the right words to say, or even the wrong ones for that matter. He must be joking, she searched his face for some tell that he was joking. His face had lost that ghost of a smirk, which really killed that theory. If it was a joke, it was a cruel one.

“Discord, you can’t be serious,” the unicorn all but whispered now. The magnitude of what he was trying to do seemed to have robbed her of her voice as well. “If-if you’re banking on making it to the other side, to that other plane, that won’t work. There’s absolutely no chance of you coming out, not the way you are now.”

“Oh, I did not hold any high hopes for that,” Discord said, his voice calmer now maybe in some sort of attempt to make this all seem okay, and Twilight felt furious at him for using that same knowing, superior tone he always seemed to have. But if she was so angry with him, why couldn’t she stop these tears from forming, threatening to overflow?

“But…” she was prepared to say it, though it was useless, for he knew Discord must have known that this would spell his end if he actually went through with it. So she asked something else. “What about the balance? Chaos and Order?”

Discord's eyes wandered the cold, dirty, underground chamber once more before finding her again, seeming to choose his words carefully.

“Let’s see Celestia handle that one. She always seems to find quick fixes for things, doesn’t she?” he said. “And if you don’t hurry up than it won’t matter.”

Twilight finally found a way to move her legs that were somehow now made of led. Discord had moved to stand right next to the gates, and slowly - still half in a daze of disbelief - she made her way to stand next to him.

“You really don’t care what happens to you?” she asked him. Discord hadn’t been able to look her in the eye for a while, but she made him then. Twilight gently turned his chin to face her.

He was trying to keep that poker face, as if this were just another discussion they were having back in his main hall. Twilight didn’t know if she found that honorable or amazingly stupid. Both seemed appropriate to fit him at the moment.

“I was going to land myself in there one way or another,” he said. “This way you all get what you want. The ponies of this world have never cared for me, and maybe it’s because I never cared for them. Not sure who initiated that, but perhaps I never bothered to learn about their ‘bonds’ because I did not know the strength of them.”

Twilight thought she could hear it in his voice, and see a glimmer of it in his eyes, that same sincerity that had made her trust him back when she found him that first time in the forest… that had made her heart go out to him.

“They’re still not that much to write home about, mind you. They can be petty, hold grudges, and they aren’t all very bright. Though I suppose that could be said of any beings to an extent. But I suppose there are some good points.”

He probably meant for that smirk of his to emphasize his words, and possibly ease her worry. He did not bank on it making her feel worse.

“I do - I suppose - think I am beginning to see what all the fuss is about you ponies. That spirit you have, that will to continue and come together, I suppose that is admirable. You never seem to give up with out a very good effort. I suppose that’s something worth preserving.”

Twilight tried so hard to smile back, though she didn’t know how it came out looking. It sounded like he might have really actually learned something. Why did it have to come so late?

“Plus they do have you in their ranks, boosting their numbers.” he added.

“You’re really going to do this for every pony?”

“Not all of them,” Discord answered her with a pointedness that was difficult to misinterpret. “Most likely they won’t know I did this, and they probably wouldn’t care if they did.”

“You know that's not true, if they knew--- and is it so hard for you to admit that you do care about that? About us?” Twilight asked through her tears.

“I see their worth,” he said. “You, the Pony Boy, those others that tolerated me, they might. I doubt you are the majority, but if you are a sampling of ponyhood I’m willing to do what needs to be done. And it would be getting done much quicker if some pony would hurry up and open the bucking gate.”

Discord’s gruffness at the end betrayed him; Twilight could tell plainly that this was as hard for him as it was for her. He had lowered her hoof from his face, but he had not yet let it go.

As she looked straight at him - straight into those crazy, infuriating, wonderful eyes of his, Twilight found herself wanting to provide him some sort of comfort, show him some sign that she cared… that she would care that he was gone.

In that moment Twilight wanted to do the one thing she never thought she would, but had never really forgotten. She wanted to return that kiss he gave her what felt like ages ago now. It surprised her how much she wanted to.

She was not able to do so however, for that was when Discord pushed her forward to perform the spell as the Smooze came oozing in, barreling down on them.

Twilight had to concentrate, to tap into that power that Discord had given her, but that hadn’t had much practice with. As her mind found the place where she had buried that weight in the deepest recesses of her magical knowledge, she remembered why she had been so afraid to use it, or even to attempt to learn how.

This power scared her; it was something wild and untamable. The unicorn had to use most of her strength to keep it in-check, to not allow it to come out in full force all at once, for she didn’t know what that might do to her.

Holding back the geyser of power she could feel bubbling up, trying to funnel it into a more manageable portion, Twilight felt her horn glow and concentrated harder.

Risking a look at her horn, Twilight could see that the magic coming forth was a different color. Instead of the usual magenta of her natural power, this chaos magic gleamed a bright, electric blue.

It was no good trying to keep it reigned in, for the energy Twilight was using to keep it tamed should have been going into actually focusing on opening the gates. There was nothing for it, she would have to let go. Twilight would have to give in to this power and pray that she could keep it from doing any harm.

Slowly, gently sliding her mental block aside, she let the magic have more and more leeway, and eventually let it consume the facets of her conscious self.

As much as she tried to keep it slow, once it felt a way out, the magic burst forth, eager to fill every crevice of Twilight with its power. Every nerve ending in the unicorn’s body seemed to be vibrating as wave after wave of the chaotic power radiated through her, and as she held on tight, trying to direct it.

Twilight was raised up into the air by the force of the power, and the bolt of bright blue light shot directly at the gates of Tartarus, melting away as opposed to unlocking like any normal, non-magical gateway.

Twilight barely had enough self-awareness to see Discord run in, or the Smooze chase after him. As the last of the amorphous goo passed the barrier, Twilight focused to shoot another beam of ancient chaos magic to close the gate, forging a new seal that would – with hope – refrain from weakening as the old one had.

Her deed accomplished, the purple pony now fought against the power that was still barraging her mind and body with its intensity. Now that it was over, she tried to force it back to the place where she had kept it locked within herself, but it seemed very reluctant to go back now it had been freed.

As she was attempting to hold onto her own mind and not give in completely to the chaos, Twilight felt the gentle touch of a hoof on her shoulder, something that she remembered occurring in a situation similar to this once before. It was a tether that Twilight could hold on to, to pull her back to the shore and away from the all-encompassing sea of power that was intent on consuming her.

A trio of howls in the distance alerted Twilight to a successful return to herself. They grew in volume as she floated back down to the ground; and she hadn’t noticed that her eyes had taken on the same bright hue as that magic until after it had faded. The hoof that she felt was still there, and once Twilight had more control over herself, she could remember who had once offered the young pony such a gesture.

“P…Princess?” she tried to speak, but she was still recovering from the force of the magic, and the energy it had taken to put it back in its place.

“I am here, Twilight Sparkle,” came a voice from behind her. The wrong voice, not the princess she had been expecting.

She turned to see not Celestia, but Princess Luna. The dark-furred alicorn was observing her with an impressed – yet also concerned – eye.

“You were able to seal the gate so quickly, and able to keep the magic of the ancients almost completely under control,” Luna stated. “Yet another event that demonstrates your skill and your magical abilities.”

“But Princess Luna, wha-" Twilight tried speaking again, but was silenced by the princess as she raised a silver-shoed hoof.

“There will be time for questions, now you must be still and rest. The danger has now passed. You have done wonderfully. Rest now young Twilight, you have most certainly earned it.”

As much as she wanted to protest, the pony’s magically, emotionally, and physically drained body did not seem to need to be told twice. She all but collapsed onto the ground, having her fall softened by the princess’s wing. She now fought to keep herself awake, she wanted to be sure that the gate was sealed, she wanted to know why Luna was here instead of her sister, and she wanted to know what had become of Discord…

The pull to close her eyes and lean against Luna’s comforting embrace was too great however, and before she could say any more the unicorn had fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep.

12. Where Do We Go From Here

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Discord closed his eyes as he darted directly into the black abyss that lay beyond the gates of Tartarus. He had watched as Twilight gave in to the chaos magic, and as the gate melted away to let him through.

He had confidence in her abilities, even though he knew she had never attempted to handle power of that magnitude before. But looking back to see how she was handling it was not an option – and going back to aid her certainly not.

For a while there was only darkness, darkness and the sound of the Smooze still pursuing him. Discord didn’t know how far he had gone or how far he could go until he met something that would halt him and allow that barely-sentient stuff to finally do him in. All the former-draconequus knew was that – though he still could not see – there was still ground beneath his hooves, so continuing to run was probably a good idea.

He had never imagined what Tartarus was like on the inside, and since he didn’t figure he’d be there long one way or the other he didn’t care to find out. So far it was only feelings… somehow both burning fire and freezing ice… and the overwhelming sensation that something just out of sight was waiting for him to come just a little bit closer, preparing to strike. Fear seemed to be the dominating factor in this world.

Discord did not fear dying – he wasn’t particularly looking forward to it – but it couldn’t be any worse than being turned to stone. That had been pain beyond anything he had experienced, before he really had a clue what pain was. Plus there was a chance that he might not die today, although that was betting against some very implausible odds… the alicorn princesses’ capacity for mercy.

He didn’t have high hopes for that either. Perhaps he should have told Twilight what he was planning before he brought her along. Though thinking back on her face when he did reveal his true reasons for luring the Smooze to the gates, Discord didn’t think she would have agreed.

The pony – since that’s what he’d be living his last moments as – was not sure he would have been able to go through with it either. There was something about seeing tears in her eyes that made him feel like he’d stepped too close to a border.

He had only ever seen her do this thrice… well, thrice for him anyway. The fact that Twilight was crying for him – that his actions were somehow harming that remarkable heart of hers – had made him want to stop. He couldn’t however, not after what had happened to Spike.

Even if he was able to pull through, Discord knew that both Spike's and Twilight's hearts would be harmed exponentially more if he allowed that nasty purple stuff to envelop their home and all that they loved. He may not have much caring for ponydom as a whole, but he knew that those two did. Through their eyes he could possibly see what all the fuss was about.

This attachment Discord felt first towards Twilight and now oddly towards Spike – ‘friendship’ he supposed – was what drove him to make this arguably stupid decision. It was this pull that called him to do what would be for her benefit, hers and by extension every pony else’s. Well, that was a first.

Thinking one last time of Twilight, all her knowledge, all her curiosity, her unyielding belief and hope in things even under such insurmountable odds. She had taken his face in her hoof, and Discord wondered what she had been wanting to say. He probably should have said something else. Telling her to hurry up was not a very fitting goodbye.

It took him a few moments to realize that he could know longer feel the effects of Tartarus pushing in on him from all sides, and that the sounds of the Smooze had faded away. The ground beneath his hooves had changed as well, and he slowed as he seemed to almost-recognize it.

“I was wondering when you'd finally notice,” Discord heard a low, slightly-worn voice from out of the darkness. Although – taking a look around now – Discord realized that this was a different sort of darkness than he had just been running through. Definitely not as menacing, yet still not exactly comforting.

He looked towards the speaker, though he thought he recognized him even before he appeared from the shadows. Some pony he had not seen in a very long time, but he had little trouble assuming why he was taking the time to appear in an actual form before Discord. The speaker had chosen a gaunt, skeletal pony form shrouded by a cloak. Though Discord couldn't see his face from this angle, he was sure the spirit was smirking.

“Morty,” he called with surprise and some amount of friendliness, knowing that Mort always hated being called that. “How've you been, how's life?”

“Oh you were always a laugh riot, Discord,” Mort answered dryly. “Asking the spirit of death how life is.”

“Well, it is a legitimate question, given our roles. I don't see much of you and I never see her.”

Mort sidled up to where Discord had halted from all that running. He didn't actually need to walk, but he was probably doing it for some sort of effect. He did chuckle, but Discord knew Mort well enough to know that wasn't always a sign meant to ease.

“You don't see much of us because we are doing our jobs,” he said. “Maintain the balance, control our power to equal our partner. Keeps things running smoothly for every pony down there.”

Discord sat himself down, folding his hooves to make himself comfortable. If Mort had interrupted his demise for a sermon about ‘proper spirit business‘, he knew he'd be there for a while.

“So is that why you're prolonging what you've come here for? I would assume that you could lecture me while you take me to wherever it is we go when we die.”

“You're not dead yet, Discord.” Mort said. “Not today, though it'll come sooner rather than later if you keep all of this up.”

“You know, I think I'd rather have the Smooze finish me off, then we can just skip this lovely ominous, cryptic thing you have going on.”

“The Smooze is back in Tartarus thanks to you, but it can't sense you anymore thanks to me. I wanted to swoop in here and have a little chat before Harmony's kid could get the chance.”

That got Discord's attention, he lifted his head but – as always – Mort was hiding his expression. In that way they were similar, although certain spirit beings didn't need hoods to hide their intentions.

“Yeah, the older one, she tried to pull you out of here before the Smooze could find you. I put her on hold for a little while,” Mort replied in acknowledgment of Discord’s unasked question before continuing.

“Sacrificing yourself to protect the mortal world, I'll give you that. But going down there and actually living with them?”

“Well if you hadn't noticed, I spent most of that time frozen in stone.”

“Yeah, and we didn't do anything then because that actually helped every pony. You were out of control then, you know. Harmony's kids were right to keep you somewhere where your chaos could be filtered, because there was no way you would have kept to their levels.”

“Their levels were far too low for my tastes,” Discord said, remembering the two alicorns and the level their order power had been at the time. It was a joke to think that he be required to keep in-step with two children's power level. “But haven't I been doing my job sufficiently of-late? I haven't been able to have a fraction of the fun I had back in those days.”

“Seems like you're having lots of fun playing with the ponies,” he said flatly. “Your sister wanted to do just that too, didn't she? I'll never really understand your fascination with actually being there with them.”

Even with all that he had learned recently about them, Discord couldn't shake his old reflex to protest. “That was Harmony's thing.”

“I think it was both of yours,” Mort retorted still in his dry tone. “You both wanted to go down there. Maybe for different reasons, but you were both so fascinated by them. Your interest in them has meant mistakes for both of you.”

Right, because all good little spirits do what they're told and stay far enough away to not cause harm... or any fun at all. That had been practically included in their ethereal makeup, and hammered into Discord's head every endless day by Harmony and to a lesser extent Mort. Well, they weren't supposed to have corporeal forms permanently either, but that hadn't stopped him from making one, as had Harmony.

“Sef and I have been watching you. Not extensively, but about as much as we watch Harmony's daughters and well... everything else. From upstairs where we're supposed to be.”

“But you missed me so much you just had to make a trip into Tartarus to have this 'little chat',” Discord attempted another joke. “Couldn't resist adding to the lovely lessons I've been forced to learn while living down there?”

As he mentioned Tartarus though, a thought struck him, and Discord felt a sudden spring of indignation at the thought of them – his two fellow spirit beings – sitting up there and watching all of this taking place without doing a thing.

“If you were watching, you knew this prison's seal was breaking, you could have gone down there and fixed it for Celestia.”

“If it had been our part of the seal that was breaking, we would have,” the hooded spirit said as plainly as he could.

A beat of silence, perhaps it was Mort waiting to see if Discord would have another joke for him, but the moment passed and Discord chose against it. He knew how the dance went, Mort was leading him to something - maybe more pointedly than he would have - and waiting for Discord to catch up.

“You know, there's certain types of plants that don't do well with direct sunlight?” Mort said. “They need partial shade to balance themselves out. Give them too much sun and they wilt.”

“And I suppose this is some sort of metaphor?” Discord surmised. “Or are you trying to change the subject with botany?”

“Maybe I like metaphors, maybe metaphors are my bread and butter. The point is, you wouldn't bring the sun down to live in the garden and shine over all the plants. They couldn't take it. The sun's where it is for a reason.”

Discord had figured he knew where this was going, it had been what Harmony had always feared would happen if they ever came down to the ponies' world. That had been why she prevented herself, and made her daughters. But, he had been living there for a while and nothing had been happening. Well, not until recently.

“You're gonna wilt their world, Discord. If you stay there much longer, and it's already starting.”

He was about to ask what Mort was getting at, but it slowly came to him... there might not have been a coincidence to Equestria's double onslaught of crises after all. But... had that really been due to him, even if he hadn't meant to?

“It's just a matter of time, just like that body of yours,” he noticed Discord's questioning look and corrected himself. “Your other one, the one you picked. You are way past the expiration date on that form, and if you don't go back upstairs and stop with the whole 'permanent form' thing you're gonna run out the clock on yourself and that place you just saved.”

“You don't know that,” was all that Discord could manage as a response to Mort's words. Because it was true, none of them knew. They had always feared – or Harmony had always feared – that their influence was too much for the mortal beings without keeping it all in check, in balance. 'We aren't meant to live there,' Harmony had always said, and always with such regret.

Of course he had wanted to live there, it was much more fun than staying up there with only Harmony for company. Those other two were off doing whatever it was spirits did with no bodies. His sister always dreaming about meeting the mortals, while he dreamt of seeing what it would be like if they all lost the use of their tongues and had to communicate by an intricate blinking system.

Just a few months ago, he wouldn't have cared one bit about what happened to their world. But he was living there now, and he wanted to stay. Though for different reasons than he'd started out. If it really was him, if he was the cause... Discord thought he might actually be beginning to understand that wistful regret in her voice.

“We just thought we should say something, even if we know you'll never listen,” Mort said. “I'll go ahead and let the little princess talk to you now.”

With that, Mort appeared to melt away, dissolving into something that had no form, a shadow of a cloud.

As the darkness where he had spoken with Mort suddenly burst into a blinding light, Discord had no idea where he was, but he assumed from his fellow being's final statement that wherever this was, Celestia was nearby.

In the moments before he opened his eyes, he decided that until it could be confirmed that what Mort had said was true – and if Celestia didn't already know about it – there really was no reason for him to tell her about it, or even mention it to her. There were more immediate matters to attend to. Other things that he needed to know.

When he opened his eyes and saw the endless star scape surrounding him, coming together to form some sort of sparkly something on which to stand, he wondered for a moment whether or not Mort and Celestia had planned this. Why else would Celestia meet him in the very last place he wanted to be at that moment?

But no, this place wasn't the same as his former home. It felt less solid, much too dream-like. As much as Celestia apparently wanted to copy it, she could never fully replicate that place, it was beyond even her level of comprehension. This was her approximation from the memories imparted by Harmony.

It still didn't change his opinions on telling her about what had just happened. It wasn't as if Mort would tell anyone either. Wouldn't want to risk breaking the rules twice in one day.

Encompassing his fellow spirit being's morbidly curious omen were the more immediate matters of what had happened at the gates, and how this would all play out for every pony involved.

“For a minute there I really believed you were actually going to let me die in there,” Discord said to the emptiness, for as the relief washed over him, he affixed a smirk back on to hide it. He did not want Celestia to know in any way that he had doubted that she would save him.

“Do not think I did not seriously consider that either,” the alicorn said as he watched her appear through the cloudy white that surrounded him.

“It took you long enough; did you have to flip a coin or something?”

“You speak as if you knew what the outcome would be,” Celestia answered him; it was a much lighter, almost conversational tone than Discord was used to hearing from her. “Though your actions at the end speak differently.”

“Once we arrived at the gates and there was no sign of either of you princesses… I started to have my suspicions,” Discord said. “So that was part of your little lesson as well, was it?”

“Not entirely,” Celestia stated. “We did not anticipate your involving Twilight.”

Discord wouldn’t have if he’d seen any alternative. “Well then how was this supposed to play out?”

“We had hoped that you would come of your own free will and offer to seal the gate, then in exchange we would return the power in order for you to do so,” she explained. “However, with the appearance of the Smooze some alterations had to be made to the plan, and we never anticipated that you would willingly give up your life to save every pony.”

“So you hid in waiting and then brought me back here? Pretty sneaky, not entirely like you” he remarked, glancing around at the vast misty whiteness that had formed beneath his hooves.

“You did a good job by the way, looks almost exactly the same… you see why I wanted to leave, right? Utter Dullsville.”

“I am sure it was much more entertaining for you when our mother was there alongside you,” the alicorn said, taking a look around as well. “When you would watch the ponies on their plane of existence.”

“Not by much,” Discord mumbled.

“And as for our methods – not only at the end, but all of it – I do hope you understand that neither I nor my sister took any joy in presenting to you this opportunity,” Celestia continued. “Or forcefully presenting it to you, by your way of thinking.”

Discord wanted to roll his eyes, but the final verdict had not been dropped yet, and that might not help.

“I do hope you understand that … this was a very dire circumstance, it was a threat to the balance of our extremes, and we wanted to find a way for you to see while it was vital by any possibly heavy-handed methods we could think of, and we also wanted it done quickly.”

Discord raised his eyebrows with a slightly amused expression. He thought he should enjoy it, because this was most likely the closest thing Celestia would ever give him that resembled an apology for this whole mess. At least he really did manage to learn something from it.

“So what happens now,” he asked. “Am I banished to the real deal, far away from your precious ponies and where you never have to see my face again?”

The princess gave him an appraising look, as if sizing him up based on what she had witnessed. “That all depends on what you have learned, if in fact your act of self-sacrifice truly was a new found care for the beings of this world.”

“Well, maybe not ‘care’, I don’t think we should go that far… but it might be safe to say ‘respect’,” Discord thought that might be blowing it for him, but he did think back on how the ponies had really tried to help, even though most of them still did it with reluctance. They may not have liked each other, but they could coexist for that short while. It wasn’t too far removed from how he had lived with his pseudo-sister Harmony.

“We won’t be having any giant group hugs any time soon, but I will give you that they do have a sort of …something to them. And it didn’t exactly seem fair for them to get covered in the Smooze just because of me.”

He thought a moment, and then pointed to her. “But then of course, you saw all of that, and I’ll bet you heard what I said to Twilight, too.”

“I did,” she answered.

“Oh, so you just want to hear me apologize and say you were right, and then beg for my powers back?”

Discord thought for a second that Celestia might actually smile. She came really, really close in any case, but she must have thought better of it.

“I suppose that would be expecting too much of you,” the princess said. “Although it does seem that a ‘respect’ for the ponies and their bonds is better than having no care at all for them.”

That sounded promising, though it wasn’t a firm yes or no. She seemed to get the hint that he was waiting for more elaboration, so she continued.

“When Luna joins us, we will restore the connection to your powers, and to your true body.”

“Yes,” Discord cheered, pumping a hoof in the air. “Farewell you irksome hooves!”

“It would also seem that you would do better if you were to remain on the same plane as the ponies,” Celestia continued through Discord’s jubilation. “Although that does not mean that you will have complete free reign.”

That dampened Discord’s little one-pony party. “So, you’ll be keeping me confined to my lovely little restricted areas. Shock collar treatment and all?”

“Being there appears to have helped you somewhat, but it was only when you were able to view them in their lives among them that I feel you were truly able to glimpse their value,” she said. “The border-confinement spell has served its purpose for you, but bear in mind that it was for the ponies' peace of mind as well.”

“As long as I'm no longer subjected to all those zappings, there's no reason they should have to worry,” he answered.

“I should hope not,” Celestia answered. “In some ways this will be an even bigger adjustment than last time, for all involved.”

Even through her sanguine explanation and her apparent acceptance that Discord had grown, he could sense her patience wearing thin with him already, perhaps she was regretting the decision to do this meeting alone, without her sister or Twilight as a buffer.

Wait, he thought. Twilight.

Something slammed forcefully into his mind, and Discord thought back to how he had last seen her at the gates, at the mercy of the power she was attempting to harness, and a creeping sense of dread came over him.

“Twilight, she was able to--- I mean she didn't--- ” he hoped the sudden anxiousness inside him was not outwardly noticeable to the princess. He thought he’d heard it in his voice, but she might have been fooled.

“I told you that she would not know how to wield it,” Celestia said, and the tightness in his chest intensified. Was he actually holding his breath?

“Amazingly, she surprised even me. She was able to keep it contained for far longer than I anticipated, long enough for Luna to reach her. Had my sister not aided her though, I doubt she would have been successful in reeling that chaos back in.”

“So… she’s fine?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “She is,” there was a bit too much recognition in her tone for Discord’s liking, though he had begun to breathe again.

“Luna brought her home, she is weakened greatly but she should be fine. Twilight is amazingly strong in more ways than one,” the princess finished.

“I know that,” he said obviously. “I just wanted to be sure, didn’t want her to have to pay for something I did is all.”

“Of course,” Celestia agreed, her eyes examining him again in a manner he didn’t think had anything to do with his words at the gates. “And concerning her, as the limitations for you will have changed, so should her role as well, I feel. Or perhaps we should re-examine her involvement now that it may no longer be required.”

May no longer be required? Was she not paying attention? Of course Twilight would still be required… or was it finally coming to the part Discord had wanted to much to avoid, when Ms. Sparky might drop him now that her purpose had been fulfilled?

“I realize that she was very integral to your progress - moreso than I thought, evidently - but you do have the option Discord, to give yourself more of a leash without having so much contact with her.”

What was apparently supposed to sound like Celestia was giving him some sort of concession sounded an awful lot more to him like the princess was the one that wanted this arrangement to be finished.

“If you really care about making sure things stay all perfectly balanced - and you trust me to go where I please - why not just keep the party going? As long as she is willing to continue putting up with me, I don’t see any reason to leave Ms. Sparky all alone.”

“She isn’t alone, but she does have other commitments,” Celestia said. “You can’t expect her to keep making time for you forever.”

Discord didn’t expect it, but there was a small flicker of hope that maybe she might choose to, even if it wasn’t required.

“Perhaps we should be including her in this conversation,” Discord offered. “Maybe this is an option you should be giving to her instead of me.”

He watched the alicorn deliberate, but apparently concede with a nod that this was indeed something to ask her student. Of course, Discord wasn’t certain what Twilight would decide in the long run, and considering all that had happened, and all that could happen if what Mort said was correct, he wasn’t even certain what he wanted her answer to be. Maybe it would indeed be better for him to be on his own… but it wouldn't stop him from giving her the choice.

“…the stress on her body was quite extensive. The most important thing for her now is rest. See that she gets it, Fluttershy.”

Twilight heard the voice of Princess Luna far off in the distance, as if she were standing on the other end of a long, cavernous tunnel. Cavernous tunnel… why did that ring a bell?

“Yes ma’am,” she heard Fluttershy through that same echoy, far-off filter. “What happened to her horn?”

“An injury sustained by the force of the magic she used. Fear not, it is merely singed. The mark will wear off in a few days.”

Her horn, what about her horn? Twilight wanted to know what was going on, but everything from her eyelids to her hooves felt weighed down with giant, heavy bricks. She tried to open her eyes, or turn herself, but her mind seemed useless to fight against the massive energy depletion that had occurred within her.

“I must take my leave. Make sure she stays well-rested and hydrated,” she heard Luna say and – presumably – fly off.

“Oh Twilight, I wish you could tell me what happened. You’re going to be fine though; Princess Luna said you would…” Fluttershy did not sound confident in her words, she sounded worried out of her mind.

A stumbling shuffle from her other side caused Fluttershy to gasp and zoom around Twilight with a whoosh, meeting what sounded like scrambling claws and the moan of another patient on the unicorn's other side.

“Spike, no. I'm very, very sorry, but you are just going to have to stay on your bed. You shouldn't be moving right now any more than she should.”

“But-- Twilight---” she heard her name sputter fearfully from Spike's mouth, and it pained her to think that he had woken up to this. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to sit up and hug him, or give him a smile, give him some sign of reassurance that she was alright – or, that she would be – and at the very least that she was conscious. The unicorn imagined how she must look right now; with hope she didn’t look as weak and helpless as she felt, and not as bad as Spike had just a few hours ago.

Singed horn… when had that happened? Then Twilight began to remember the chaos magic, and the gates, and Discord running in…

“Twilight!” she heard several hooves practically stampeding through the doors, and Fluttershy rushing to shush the newcomers. They were beginning to sound closer now, and at least the weight she felt in her head was lifting somewhat.

When at last her eyelids did not feel so heavy, she could ease them open and see that is was – as she had figured – all of her friends, including an injured-but-still-living Spike and even her brother. Her head was cushioned by her pillow, her starry night-patterned blanket wrapped up around her like a comfy little burrito. Since Luna had mentioned it, she wanted to see her horn, because now that she was feeling more aware of her surroundings there was more than a bit of a sting in that general area.

Her eyes were still focusing, but as Twilight stirred and looked around at them all, she watched as seven worried faces relaxed, letting out sighs of relief that she was indeed awake. Wait, no, only six. The unicorn searched around the room but couldn’t see the typically-airborne form of Rainbow Dash.

Before she could attempt to voice a question about her friend’s absence however, the blue pegasus swooped in through the window, looking behind her before landing and noticing Twilight.

“It looks like the Smooze is completely gone,” Dash reported. “We followed the trail it burnt through all the way back to the Rock Ridge, but I guess it all got put back where it belongs.”

“I’d like to take a group through to inspect from the ground just to be safe,” Shining Armor said. “I’m sure that’s right, but we can’t be too careful.”

“When that stuff started coming down on us, everyone was in a panic, that on top of every pony here being worried about Spike we had no idea that you’d gone missing until after it was all over,” Rainbow said to Twilight.

“Princess Luna said--" Spike managed. "She said you’d actually gone to the gates and sealed it back in, that you had to use chaos magic to do it. When she brought you inside you weren’t moving, I got scared…”

Out of all the ponies assembled it was the baby dragon that looked the most concerned. Clearly it had been only he and Fluttershy around when Luna brought her back, and it had evidently shaken him.

“We were all scared,” Applejack agreed, holding Spike up to place his claws on the bed, to which Twilight eased her hoof to cover them, trying to comfort him.

“I’m sorry Spike.”

“It’s ok,” Spike sniffled. “Just--- just if you ever plan on running off to do something that dangerous by yourself again, maybe tell us? Or you know, don’t go at all.”

“I had to,” she said to the group. “And I wasn’t alone. I was following Discord’s lead.”

“Discord?” AJ stated with surprise.

“Yes, he had the idea to lure the Smooze back to Tartarus, it was after him, it remembered that he was the one that had sealed it in there.”

She thought back to it, and her heart sank as if to try and fill the gap that was now somehow dominating her stomach. He had just run in there, no looking back, knowing that he could never come out again. It was a concept that Twilight did not seem to be able to wrap her mind around, for it just didn’t fit. Discord couldn’t die, not if balance was to be maintained, not if he was going to learn anything… not if she wanted to see him again.

“Spike, Fluttershy, did Princess Luna say anything to you about him when she was here? Anything at all?”

The dragon hesitated and gave a wary, questioning look to Fluttershy that the pegasus returned. Twilight did not know if that was merely because she really hadn’t said anything or they were withholding something to provide some source of comfort to her by not knowing. In either case, he kneaded his claws together and he ran a hoof through her mane, neither giving an answer.

But of course Twilight realized as she played the scene back in her mind again, Discord had gone in before Luna arrived; she may not have even known he was there.

“Twilight, what happened?” she heard Fluttershy ask in her high, whispering voice.

She didn't know how much they would believe, but they all deserved to know.

“I think… he sort of saved us,” she whispered in reply. She didn’t have to think - she knew - but that was proving to be a somewhat difficult thing to process as well. She tried to consider his options, looking at it from other sides in an attempt to reach an outcome that could have meant he might have survived, while still ensuring Ponyville and all of Equestria’s safety.

He had options, but as Twilight pondered them, she kept coming up empty on one that would have been in any way more beneficial to every pony than the one Discord chose. Beneficial that is, to every pony except for himself. Without access to his powers he was a mortal pony, and however much she considered the odds, a mortal pony sealed in with the monsters of old didn’t stand a chance.

It was also the outcome that Twilight would have thought least likely, least in-character for Discord. It was certainly the most extremely selfless one. She thought he didn’t care about every pony and after what he said before he ran in, Twilight thought - or maybe hoped - that he had done it for them, that he really had learned something. She wanted to be proud of him, of how far he had come to connect in such a way.

Twilight also wanted to be angry with him for doing something so recklessly selfless, and she knew that was most likely being selfish on her part. Hadn’t he thought about how sacrificing himself like that would affect her? Maybe Discord had, and the more logical part of Twilight made her think that might be just why he decided to do it. How in Equestria could he continue to do the unexpected even after death?

That thought made Twilight want to laugh, but the dull ache she still felt was overpowering that urge quite quickly, What came out was a half-laugh, half sob as her eyes welled again, and she tried to silently make those nearly-tears evaporate. The unicorn thought she could possibly do that with her magic, if her horn wasn’t in need of a rest.

The others’ puzzled expressions turned slightly softer, Spike’s and Fluttershy’s especially. Now Spike was the one giving her a comforting pat on the hoof. She wasn’t sure she could get through the story of what had happened at the gates of Tartarus, but she would try.

It didn’t take long to tell them, for the whole thing really had not taken very long, even if time seemed to move a lot slower in Twilight’s memory. Shining Armor had exited to check on the members of the guard just before Twilight approached the part where she had used the power Discord had given her, which she supposed was a good thing. Describing what it had felt like - what it had done or almost done to her - would probably have been something he did not want to hear. Though he knew she was powerful and skilled, Twilight was certain that Shiny still had that sense of elder-brother protective worry, and she might have gotten a lecture of her own on the dangers.

The group was silent when she concluded, and oddly enough the mood in the room had somehow gone even more concernedly sorrowful. Most of them may still not have liked or trusted the draconequus, but a few of them had - Twilight could tell - seemed genuinely downhearted by the news, and they all seemed to comprehend the magnitude of what Discord had actually done for them.

“So what’s going to happen now?” Spike asked. “If he’s gone.”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight said. She had begun to feel like she wanted to stand, she was feeling the urge to do research. It was something she knew would keep her mind busy, and keep the weight of this loss she was feeling far away from the forefront of her thoughts.

Fluttershy tried to protest at her getting up, but only halfheartedly. The others were murmuring to themselves as Twilight reached for the nearest book to her, she would start there.

She scooped the book on her nightstand up into her hoof, then threw it aside again without looking to see where it landed, a fresh batch of that radiating hurt cropping up again.

‘Stories & Poems by Midnight Dreary’. One of his…nope, that wouldn’t do it.

It was then that Shining Armor came back up to her room, looking stunned but excited.

“Every pony, I think you might want to come see this,” he said in a tone of astonishment gesturing with his head towards the door.

The others questioningly followed slowly after him, leaving Spike and Twilight alone in the room. Fluttershy gave a quick command to stay inside that they both resolutely ignored. The unicorn’s curiosity was getting the best of her, and she tried to roll herself out of bed and onto her hooves.

Spike quickly came to her aid, helping her stay upright even with his own pains. It wasn’t too hard, it was the noodly-ness of her limbs and the pounding in her head that were the big problems. Twilight managed to slightly-drunkenly walk to the stairs, wanting very much to just teleport outside, but her aching singed horn argued for walking.

Spike helped her get to the bottom, and then Twilight could take it from there.

Once they reached the outside, the sheer brightness of the day blinded them for a few seconds, and Twilight had to shield her eyes.

When her eyes had adjusted, it took her a moment to realize why everything seemed so much brighter. Every pony was looking up at the sky with the same stunned expression as Shiny’s, for the sky above Ponyville was as clear and as blue as it had ever been before all of this happened. There was no more literal dark cloud blocking the sun.

Cloudsdale was gone, way back up in the sky at its normal place, looking like a tiny, normal cloud from down on the ground, as it should be.

“But, how…” Twilight started to ask, though as she looked back at each of her friends, she could tell that their guess was as good as hers.

“It just happened,” Shining Armor said. “When we went in to see you it was still there.”

“And it was there just a minute ago when I came in,” Rainbow Dash added.

Twilight could see a sense of cautious optimism growing on her friends' collective faces, as well as on every face she saw appearing on the streets before her. Each of the townsponies that had not already been outside were now slowly emerging from the protection of their homes to see with their own eyes the brightness of the day. It was almost like they had forgotten what it felt like to have the sunshine beaming down upon them, and she could see the change in their expression as the light hit their faces.

As the ponies milled about around her trying to find each other, as the murmur of the growing crowd grew more excited, Twilight didn’t know what to say, having not one – but both – of the dangers facing Equestria fixed in the span of a day… and for her friends and herself to not be the main reasons for their being solved… this was a truly unexpected thing. A crazy, unexpected thing…

That brought her mind back to Discord, but Twilight tried to put it away again, she was not ready for a connection to be made between this sudden, miraculous occurrence and what she knew had become of Discord. She wasn't prepared for that, especially since she might be the first one to make it.

“This is just… this is just impossible,” Twilight stammered as she looked to each of her friends, each of them bewildered but becoming more gleeful by the moment.

She knew that the reactions of the town and of her friends were the proper ones, the feelings that she should be completely overcome with as well – and she was feeling them as well – though with all that she had been through so far today (had it been just in one day?), Twilight supposed a certain amount of joy-muffling was expected. She should expect this conflicting mixture of excited relief and wearying grief, she should expect to not feel up to celebrating with every pony as they must have been preparing to do, and she should expect that most of her friends would understand that.

What Twilight had not expected – and neither had any pony else for that matter – was for a sudden flash of light to blind them momentarily, followed by a large group of sombrero-clad ponies to strike up their band, filling the whole town with lively Mariachi music.

Every pony's heads had turned towards the band that had not been there a second ago, Twilight's among them, not even able to form a question about it before another sound stopped her heart mid-beat.

“Au contraire, Twilight dear,” came a very familiar voice over the brass trumpets. “You forget that impossible is more a dare to me than a limitation.”

Twilight froze as she heard that familiar flash, watching again as her friends' heads snapped back up, seeing every pony else’s reactions before finally finding herself able to turn towards the speaker. No, no way. There was no possible way.

There he was, the Spirit of Chaos was right there, leaning on the statue of Celestia, back in his proper form and smiling at her as if absolutely none of this was odd in the slightest, as if she hadn’t just seen him run towards his own death.

The others looked similarly stunned to see him, though none as spectacularly as the purple unicorn. Discord appeared to be quite enjoying himself, and not noticing at all her reactions to seeing him alive and well.

With a snap of his claw glasses of chocolate milk sprang into being in front of every pony in the square. Most of them just stared down at their glass curiously, or confusedly. Pinkie Pie was already drinking hers down in one gulp.

“It seems that I have proven myself to those two Harmony Twins,” he explained as he floated closer to his band of background accompaniment, a big grin on his face. “They think I’ve learned my lesson, or enough to where I won’t have to leave all you ponies, isn’t that wonderful?”

“Yeah, wonderful,” Applejack mumbled. Twilight was amazed that the earth pony could find her voice while she was still struggling.

“Isn’t it just?” he said with no hint of the sarcasm AJ had put into her words. “Although I don’t know why I was so worried. I should have known they wouldn’t let me go in there in that form, that could have been the end of me. I had a hunch once I got in there, and thanks to the brilliant spell-casting of our Twilight here, the gate is sealed up and there is no more threat of anything escaping into the pony world.”

Wait, Twilight thought. He should have known they would save him? Did he know beforehoof that he would live? Did that sacrifice really mean anything, then?

This new information was something not to be ignored, what did that mean if he hadn’t done it to save them? Had he really just been faking it, knowing that Celestia and Luna would not let him enter Tartarus in that state? He was parading around now, giving every pony drinks and dancing to music, when all of that might have been a lie?

Twilight’s earlier tears had dried, and she was quite glad to see that – at least outwardly – she appeared to be the very picture of ‘angry enough to burst into flames’. She thought he was gone forever, and the sinking feeling brought on by her thoughts of that loss had not been lost on the unicorn. The sudden jolt through her heart at Discord’s reappearance here coupled with the relief that he was back to normal was not lost on her either.

The anger and frustration with him and his most-recent behavior – however - was very familiar.

Twilight was attempting to keep it bottled up, it was another of those volatile mixtures of emotion that overwhelmed the unicorn and threatened to burst forth just as harshly as the chaos magic had done if she didn’t try and keep it in check. It seemed Discord just brought that out in her.

She was glad that ‘angry’ was the blanket expression to be read by the others only because it would make it much easier to possibly get Discord to interrupt his little party.

“Discord…” Twilight used a careful tone, forceful and through her teeth.

“Oh come now Ms. Sparky, everything’s fine now, we’re all back in our respective places, don’t you feel like a celebration?”

“Not particularly right now, no.”

He seemed to hope that smiling at Twilight in his giant sombrero would elicit a more positive reaction from her, when it did not Discord gave her a frown that clearly denoted her the ‘official party pooper’.

“Fine,” the draconequus conceded with a sigh as he waved his claw and the lively music halted, his goofy hat vanished, but the glasses of chocolate milk remained. Twilight heard Pinkie give a small moan; she had evidently been busy dancing her hooves off to the mariachi band.

As the other Element-bearers and regular townsfolk already had surprised and puzzled looks affixed to their faces from Discord’s appearance in Ponyville, Twilight didn’t think they would need to change expressions for her canceling the celebration, or for the number of things that this overload of emotions was making the purple pony consider doing to the spirit of chaos. In any scenario, she did not want to cause a scene.

She motioned with her hoof for Discord to come closer to her, eyes half closed and trying her best to keep her expression unreadable.

He did not hesitate in the slightest, leaning down to her eye level with his favorite all-too-superior smugness back in top form. Well the site of that certainly helped Twilight answer the question of what she wanted to do to him first.

She allowed herself a smirk of her own, leaning herself in close to him as well.

If he had known what would come next earlier, than surely he would know what she was about to do… and duck.

As Twilight’s hoof made contact with his face, it appeared he had not figured it out. The unicorn wasn’t sure which she had really intended to do – smack or punch him – but whatever it was she had put enough force into it to knock his face sideways and throw him of balance. The blow made a great thwacking noise that almost echoed for a whole five seconds afterwards, and caused Discord to stagger to remain upright.

Deep down Twilight knew that doing that would not solve anything, and it did not even really make her feel better (well, maybe a tiny bit). She just felt so much pain, frustration, and all-around confusing feelings concerning him welling up inside of her she just had to let it out somehow… and even then it didn’t relieve it all.

The unicorn snorted as she tried to vent off the excess anger, to possibly calm herself. She still didn’t want to make a scene if that hadn’t already done so.

When Discord had righted himself, he held both of his upper limbs to the spot where Twilight had hit him, half wincing from the pain and absolutely flabbergasted.

“What was that for?” he shouted, and his astounding ignorance caused her to flare up again, although Twilight restrained herself.

Twilight hadn’t noticed that she had also been wheezing a bit, she slowed her breaths and calmed her face. She needed to get all of this out of her system, and that had only done half the job.

Something else had fought against her vote to give him a good pop for doing such a stupid thing as risking both of their lives trying to lure the Smooze, then not telling her the whole plan until they were actually at the gates, and then running inside leaving her to think he had died.

This new revelation that the draconequus might actually, possibly have known he would be fine – and not bothering to mention this to Twilight – had caused her to go with a more violent release of her current tensions.

If the unicorn was going to go ahead with anything else, Twilight wanted the rest of their conversation to be private.

“I think you know,” she answered his question, still in a carefully flat voice. “Now if you don’t mind, please flash us to your home. Now.”

It was obvious that Discord had not been taking Twilight’s reactions seriously until this moment, and she did slightly regret having to be so blunt in showing her frustration. She was glad in any case that he did as she requested without comment, and in a flash she stood with him in the main hall of his renovated ruin of a home.

She noticed Discord’s face as he finally removed his paw from the mark she had left on it appeared ready for a long reprimanding lecture.

“Alright I think I get it now,” he pointed at her with his claw. “Was it the whole ‘putting every pony including yourself in danger’ thing? Because it’s not as if I wanted the Smooze to escape and chase me back to Ponyville.”

The purple unicorn allowed him to keep speculating, for she was still debating her next move now that they were here.

“Is it because I had to make you use that power I gave you? I’m sure you want to take a shower or something after doing that, but it was the best idea I could come up with, and you handled it quite well judging by the fact that you’re all in one piece,” he tried to smile at her as he glanced at the slightly-cracked, blackened tip of her horn. “Barely even a scratch.”

She shook her head, half giving him an answer, half at his continued clueless-ness. Those things weren’t altogether great, but they were certainly not what was making her feel so spectacularly mixed up inside. It was the hurt at his actions and then his attempt to smooth them over … it boggled her mind to think about it.

“I thought you had died,” she mumbled at her hooves. She tried to bring the strength back into her words, for she wanted him to know – to understand – in case her actions hadn’t done the trick.

“I was afraid, there was no possible outcome I could see of a mortal unicorn deliberately running into the place that held the most evil and dangerous creatures to ever exist and come out fine. It would have been a stretch even in your normal form, but you had to pick then to do something so recklessly selfless?”

“I hear some concern in there, but not sure where to find the ‘thank you for saving every pony, Discord’,” the draconequus remarked, evidently not noticing her currently emotional state.

“Yes, yes you did. Thank you,” her thanks was transparently feigned. “I’m not going to say that wasn’t very important and probably what proved to the princesses that you had learned the lesson they were trying to convey.”

Staring him down again – though she did have to look up – Twilight searched for something in his face that could tell her that he really had learned it.

“But what you said just a little while ago makes me wonder about that. If you had any hunch at all that Princess Celestia wouldn’t let you die, why did you not let me in on that little tidbit of information? Not telling me your plan so that I could – I don’t know – know what I was getting into, and then to not tell me that you knew you’d be ok when I was sure you…” she trailed off, her voice having cracked as her throat grew tight.

Twilight cleared it quickly, took a breath, and tried again. “Please, tell me why you didn’t think to tell me that. If you knew, than that may change the whole outcome. Did you really learn anything, or were you only giving them a good show of risking your life so that they would change you back?”

“So much doubt coming from the one pony who is supposed to trust me.”

“You know I trust you, that is not the issue here!” she was not in the mood to be riled up at the moment, but Discord didn’t seem to notice. “The issue is that if you were doing that for your own selfish reasons, than you haven’t learned anything, so what was the point of putting me through all of that?”

Whatever combination of Twilight’s words or actions it was that finally made Discord appear to get a clue, Twilight was grateful.

“Alright, alright,” Discord said, a little softer now. “So you think I should have told you about using the magic, but had I done so would you have still come along?”

“Yes,” she said firmly, although that wasn’t completely true. “I mean.. I would have tried to find some other way to get the Smooze---“

“But there was no other way, was there?” Discord said. “You must realize that. You were probably looking at every possible outcome during the few seconds we had at the gate before it was upon us, you wouldn’t have agreed otherwise.”

He hadn’t mentioned the very big issue yet, but apparently he was getting to that.

“And I didn’t know that they would save me, not until the very last moments, and even then it was just a hunch… maybe even a hope. You didn’t notice that neither princess was present at the gates when we got there? I found that suspicious.”

Twilight thought back, and realized that she had not noticed. They had been in a bit of a hurry at the time, and other things were occupying her attention.

“Apparently they were waiting in the wings, which is how you managed to make it home so quickly. It wasn’t a ploy meant to fool you, but yet another lovely part of this test,” Discord said, still attempting to remain the cooler head of the two while giving this explanation.

“If you want to hear it from them, be my guest. I won’t be joining you if it’s all the same. Just because all of this did teach me something doesn’t mean that my limit for time spent being summoned for pow-wows with the princess is more than exceeded.”

So he really had convinced them, and not by any trickery or deception on his part. Part of Twilight felt bad about even jumping to that conclusion, but she knew that logically it wasn’t something she could have completely counted out even now.

Twilight wanted to retain the accusatory stance , she tried as best she could to keep up the front during his explanation, but she was running out of reasons she could logically give for her harshness. Being mad at him was so much easier to process than the wash of relief that accompanied Discord’s continued presence.

“Are we still mad?” he asked, easing closer with some amount of caution. “Because you don’t seem to be noticing that everything is fine now, or at the very least all of those giant problems have been solved. No pony is dead, crises averted.”

The draconequus was attempting to figure out her current mood, and honestly so was Twilight. He must have noticed something begin to soften in her face, for his searching expression yielded another smile, accompanied by an enormous paw on Twilight’s shoulder.

This one comforting gesture was enough to wash away what was left of her resolve to stay mad. He was right, she knew that. Spike was going to be alright, the towns were going to be fine, and Discord was too. She had actual, physical evidence that he had survived. The fact that he was there, and that he cared enough to comfort her was further evidence of how far he’d come.

The surprising jolt she felt at his touch caused her eyes to follow the sensation to its source, as if seeing his paw resting on her would confirm that it was indeed real. Her breath caught as more pinpricks of tears threatened to form, and when Twilight found his face again it was all she could do to not just pull him close to her and sob right into his fur.

It was just overwhelming, all of it. Why was it his presence, his confirmation that it took to really make it sink in for her? She allowed herself to lean into his touch, exasperated at herself and wondering just why he continually brought out so much in her.

Several long, deep breaths passed, Discord leaving his paw where it was and still observing Twilight’s attempts to reign in this little breakdown. With the anger spent all that was left were tears that were in no way helpful nor productive. She wanted to discuss what Celestia and he had talked about, what she had said exactly when they had returned him to his form. It was important to know what the rules set for him were now, or if there still were any limitations.

As usual is was difficult to figure out what he was thinking, he seemed to have gotten lost while observing her. Discord looked far away in his mind for a few moments before speaking again.

“I didn’t mean to cause you grief,” he started, his eyes returning to hers as his paw came away slowly. “Not in this case at least, but it seems as if that is just going to keep happening whether I intend to or not.”

Again Twilight’s eyes followed the path his right limb took. She was much calmer now, and she was grateful to be able to both think and speak more clearly.

“You'd think I should be used to it by now, or at the very least better able to handle it,” she said, trying to put some humor into the statement. He did love to rile her up, but it was good to hear he never meant to take it to quite this level.

Discord tilted his head in a half-shrug, eyes leaving her for a moment and running his claws through his goatee thoughtfully. “Well, there’s really no reason why you should if you don’t want to. Not now, anyway.”

Twilight recognized that pattern of speech, that was his way of dancing around the real questions. Obviously there was something he still needed to divulge, yet even now after watching her have such an episode he still wanted to avoid something. Or perhaps he had just been waiting for her to have a cooler head before bringing it up.

In either case, he continued when she didn’t immediately ask for clarification.

“You have been given an out, Ms. Sparky. It appears that I will no longer be required to have a liaison to visit me all the time, or at least that’s what has been decided by Celestia. I’ve also been granted freedom to move about the land as I see fit, with the conditions that I keep my word to not cause harm to the ponies and other creatures I may find. I’ve considered taking some time to travel, see places that I haven’t visited in millennia, that sort of thing.”

As he spoke Twilight felt herself being swept up off her hooves, falling back to rest on her book couch as it brought itself up beneath her. The unicorn hadn't realized how tired her legs were of just standing until she felt those muscles relaxing from contact with the comfy surface. Discord must have figured this was a sit-down conversation, and she supposed it was. If it really was what she was thinking, then the time had indeed come, a possible ending to all of this time they had spent together.

“This does mean as well that you may not see much of me anymore, just to let you know. You could very well be rid of me for all time. No more of your dear friend Discord to cause you so much trouble. Doesn’t that just sound… perfectly dull?”

Having pulled up her seat, Discord now joined her on his own favorite elaborate chair. It floated to join facing opposite of her. She had folded her legs beneath her, but she sat straighter when he'd come to a landing.

“If Princess Celestia isn't holding you to the same limitations, then there's no reason that things need to change very drastically,” she stated assuredly. He was making it sound like it was an all-or-nothing decision, and despite his return to a flippant attitude, Twilight felt it was a much bigger deal to him than he was letting on. It was a bigger deal to her, too. She'd made the decision to continue helping him even after his probation was done back at the Crystal Empire. She didn't think this – whatever their friendship might be – should end just yet. Twilight didn't want it to.

“Of course, that all depends on you,” Discord said. He gave her a sidelong glance and swirled a newly materialized glass of chocolate milk in his clawed hand. Her assurance must not have been enough for him to ease whatever he was thinking.

“You have to admit it would be easier without me, for both you and all of your friends. None of you would have to worry about my crazy chaos interfering with your little lives any more than it already does.”

This was beginning to sound like the set up for a much bigger departure than just going to travel Equestria, and eerily like the speech he gave at the gates, and that made Twilight uncomfortable.

“Are you saying that… you’re going to leave?” she asked, batting away another glass that floated towards her. “As in leave, leave?”

“I am merely proposing scenarios, and you being my friend I’d like your input.”

“Did Princess Celestia say---”

“Both of the princesses are perfectly willing to put up with my staying here on this plane indefinitely. However, given certain things... I don't doubt Celestia – as well as a good deal of your fellow ponies – might just sleep better knowing that I was back up on the top shelf.”

“Well, maybe, some... but Discord, you just got back. Are you seriously offering--- do you want to leave?”

He had been watching his milk swirl within the glass this entire time, perhaps to avoid her gaze and by extension avoid her searching eyes as she tried to ascertain that he was serious. Discord finally stopped as she flubbed over her words in her attempt to ask. The glass went still and the chocolate milk settled completely before he looked to her again.

“What I want is to hear from you. My part of the balance can be kept from wherever I am, so it would make no difference in my job essentially if I chose to go back now. Like I said, it might put some ponies' minds at ease.”

Both his glass and the one being offered to her disappeared, and Twilight could see it in his eyes, the poker face had slipped there for a second. She could see clearly now this line of questioning carried far more weight than he wanted to show.

“What do you want me to do, Twilight?”

Even now it appeared Discord still held doubts that he would ever be really accepted, the same as what he had said outside of the gates. It was true that there probably would be some ponies that might still hold onto their grudges, but would his leaving their plane really fix that? Twilight knew he could care less that he'd never achieve universal popularity, so this couldn't be completely about the beings of this world accepting him.

“I--” she began, no longer able to keep still on the cushions of the couch despite her aching legs. Twilight sat completely upright, searching for the most convincing argument for staying she could muster, one that was more than the most obvious; 'because I want you to'.

“I agree that some ponies might prefer it if you went back, and maybe things would quiet down around here... but honestly I don't know what I would do if that happened. There is still so much we could still do to try and bring about some more understanding between the ponies about you, and with all the things you've done – all the things you've learned – it just wouldn't be fair for you to---”

Twilight halted when he raised his eyebrows at her, and she let the rest of the breath she had been using to make this speech go without finishing. That wasn't what he'd asked.

He wasn't asking her what she thought was best for Equestria, or what was best for him. He wasn't asking what she thought he should do, Discord was asking Twilight what she wanted him to do.

It would be easier if Discord had been asking what was best for every pony else. Twilight was much more adept at figuring that out.

Maybe this was her chance to convince him that she really did care. Maybe this was the thing she had been trying to find to truly let Discord know that she wanted to stand by him as she had been since they had begun their whole arrangement. Because when she thought about it – that the answer Twilight gave at this moment could very well mean his departure from her life forever – that pang of fear that had arisen when he'd run into that abyss returned in full force.

Twilight didn't know if it was best for every pony or even herself... but she knew she did not want him to go. Maybe the most obvious thing to say was the best one.

Why then was it so difficult to get out? How could something so simple become so hard to say when it was Discord she was saying it to? It wasn't as if it were anything personal... or maybe it was. There was motive, intention behind it, and that was Twilight's only explanation as to why her heart had begun to hammer again at just what those intentions were. She licked her lips nervously, bolstering herself to say what she hoped Discord needed to hear.

“I want you to stay,” Twilight felt her gaze slipping downward but she tried to retain eye contact, though it was growing even harder now that she'd seen his smile returning. She quickly tried to compensate for her sudden nerves by clarifying. “I mean, I think traveling would probably be good for you as long as you decide to come back every now and then, but as far as leaving this plane goes... no, I want you to stay.”

He once told her she was easy to read at times, and Twilight had tried to practice masking her emotions in a similar way that he did, but Twilight was certain there was no hiding any of this from Discord right now, not with this nervous, anticipating smile plastered onto her face or the mutinous warmth she could feel spreading over her cheeks. She wanted to roll her eyes, with so many extremes for her today, Discord must be eating this up.

His eyes half-lidded, his smile genuine if still fairly sly-looking from Twilight's perspective, Discord sat up straighter to match her, and then seemed to take full advantage of her awkwardly anxious state to glide his way off his chair to join her on the couch.

The strong, soft right arm of his found its way wrapping around her almost naturally, his warmth adding to the veritable radiation coming off of her now.

“As you wish,” Twilight heard him almost purr. It carried a hint of confirmation to it, of finality. But Twilight only really caught it upon later replayings of the scene inside her head.

This was exactly the type of situation that the unicorn would try to avoid when being alone with Discord, at least under normal circumstances. She had tried to conduct herself in a friendly yet professional manner, especially after all that had been happening started up. There had been times though – during some heated discussions, or his insistent readings, or even sometimes just a lull in conversation – when she felt something shift her thought process, almost charging the very air between them and bringing her back to that first night he had come so close.

It felt like a very long time since the air had been so charged, and at this moment the unicorn was trying to remember why it was supposed to be something to avoid.

But Twilight knew she had to remember, because she knew that if she allowed it to continue that charge could spark something, something quite extremely confusing and with the potential to make things much more convoluted. Discord was her friend, and she wanted to retain that, she wanted to keep him --- wanted him to stay, rather. She'd just confirmed that.

Anything else that happened, any other moves she took towards or away from him, it should be her decision. And maybe Discord knew that, and perhaps that was what that whole question had really been loaded with.

There was time now, more time than she could hope for, there wasn't any need to rush things.

Biting her lip and turning away for a moment, Twilight attempted to pull herself back once again, reminding herself of that fact, and that all of the things she had been sorting out in her mind were probably all-but broadcast on her forehead for Discord to see, so he probably knew her conclusion.

“I think we should probably go back to Ponyville,” she said after what felt like ages. This whole encounter couldn't have been more than five minutes or so, but with how they had exited, Twilight was sure there was some talking going on between her friends back home.

“There might be a real celebration going on, you wouldn't want to miss that.”

“Well, now that that's settled I suppose you're right,” he answered playfully, though taking his own time to extricate himself from the couch to flash them back.

Twilight had been right about the ponies of the town taking it upon themselves to continue with their own festivities even after Discord had been made to halt his own. With precious little for them to celebrate these last few weeks, Discord couldn't blame them, and he didn't even feel gyped at the lack of acknowledgment he received for being the one to kick the party off.

Discord was just so glad to be back in his preferred body, so pleased that he could float above the milling crowd of ponies without being in danger of having his insides fried, that he almost didn't care that Twilight had left his side not long after they had returned. Almost.

He was more than a tad disappointed at how their conversation had ended, or rather how it hadn't ended... this 'letting her decide' business was going to cause him problems, he could tell already. But, that was just regrettably something he would just have to try and manage himself. It was only one of the things he was letting her choose with that one question.

If any pony asked, it had been officially about what Celestia had suggested to him. About whether or not the unicorn still wanted to help him, but there was more loaded into that inquiry than even Twilight had guessed.

She had chosen though, and he was going to stick around because she wanted him to. He did suppose he had an eternity for her to get more comfertable with certain things, but until that day came it was usually fun to watch her become so awkward and flustered... and to know he was able to do that to her highly intelligent mind just by sticking around.

He had allowed her to scurry away from him to join her friends for the time being, watching as she took a hurried glance back she didn't think he saw. The newly-reinstated draconequus did have something else that was of great importance. Some pony else that had helped him during his time of mortality needed a proper token of his gratitude.

So Discord had set off above the many partying ponies in search of the one little dragon. He hadn't seen Spike with the friends that Twilight had dissapeared with, but he thought the Pony Boy might be inside.

He only hoped that during the return to his form he had managed to completely cure Spike of the excess Smooze runoff.

It didn't take long to find him, Spike was outside of the large cake-themed sweet shop where he was evidently attempting to regain his strength by eating his weight in cupcakes.

Spike spotted Discord before he had actually gotten close enough to speak clearly through the din and raised a cupcake in greeting, his face almost completely covered in frosting and sprinkles. That appeared to be the only thing wrong with him now, for he was alive, awake, and apparently very hungry. Discord did not envy the stomachache the little dragon would have later.

“You know, it's funny,” Spike said as he swallowed a bite of his current confection. “The doctor and the others got most of that stuff off of me, but it was only after you popped back here that it was all completely gone.”

“Ah, the miracles of modern medicine,” Discord answered with a grin.

“Thanks,” Spike murmured, but Discord held up his clawed hand to deflect it.

“No Pony Boy, I believe out of the two of us the one who should be thanking the other is me,” he said. “You wouldn't have needed the help if you hadn't jumped in the way of the Smooze in the first place.”

Spike tilted his head questioningly, possibly at the name of the Smooze, possibly at the idea that Discord might thank him. He didn't let Spike say anything, popping another cupcake into the dragon's mouth with a snap of his claw. He had a whole speech prepared and Spike couldn't be interrupting.

“During my stint as a pony there were a few who decided to help me, and while I did learn from them, I find it absolutely fascinating that the one being who gave me the most input about ponies wasn't a pony at all. Spike, you helped me in more ways than one, and for that help I'd like to do something very special just for you.”

Spike was able to inhale the cupcake plugging up his mouth by this point, he made a feeble attempt to wipe the frosting from his mouth as he continued to look up at Discord quizzikly.

“Uh... ok, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, I remembered what you said about feeling like an outcast amoung these ponies, about not being able to share the same experiences or whatever it was--- I remember most of it anyway. But I thought to myself 'that seems slightly unfair for my poor new dragon friend'.”

Spike blinked and came slowly to his feet, bringing up his own clawed hand pointing at Discord.

“Wait, you're not thinking about turning me into a pony, are you?”

At this, Discord shook his head and waved his hand again, leaning down to Spike's level and putting his paw on the dragon's shoulder. “Oh goodness no, why in the world would I do that to you?” he chuckled at the thought and at Spike's continued confusion. “You're fine being the special Spikey-wikey you are, no need to rock the boat there. But there is one thing that all the little fillies and colts get to experience that you sadly have not, and that is something I can provide.”

With that, Discord landed close by to Spike, and a sudden white glow flashed into life around the dragon's bottom half. When the light had died away, Spike's eyes widened in awe and what Discord was sure was gratitude.

On the outward sides of both his left and right thigh – emblazoned brightly on his scales – was what was unmistakeably a cutie mark. A golden quill sat in front of a scroll with a bright red seal in the shape of a pony's head.

Spiked blinked several times, whipping his head and twisting his body from one side to the other to get a better look at both of them. He spun in a circle until he fell down onto his tail, sprinkles flying everywhere from his face.

“You--- just--- wow,” Spike managed, still marveling at his newly-marked legs.

Discord shrugged. “Not the most inventive of marks, I debated putting a picture of Rarity on there but I thought better of it.”

In the distance Discord thought he heard the faint cry of a very high-pitched voice crying out, 'Oh come on!' but that might have been his imagination.

When Spike was finally done admiring his thighs, he looked back up to Discord with the biggest smile on his face, and that made Discord feel pretty good, he didn't often see some pony looking so happy around him.

“Now I really have to thank you,” Spike said, to which Discord waved again.

“Just think of it as a token of my appreciation,” he said. “And I do hope that you might do something for me, now that we're officially friends.”

“Sure,” Spike answered, and Discord found his way to lean to the dragon's eye level again.

“Not that it'll be difficult for you, but there's a chance I might be gone for w while,” he said in a lower tone than he had been using, coming closer to Spike's ear but not really whispering. “Just in case though, I can trust you to watch out for Ms. Sparky, right?”

Spike raised an eyebrow, and thankfully he didn't see any re-emergence of that knowing look his dragon friend had the last time they had spoken about Twilight.

“Are you planning on going somewhere?”

“In a sense, traveling,” he said, not entirely sure what he should say, because whatever he said to Spike would doubtless find its way to Twilight's ears. “This is just a blanket request, from one friend to another.”

Spike didn't appear to completely swallow this as the whole truth, but he nodded. “Yeah, sure Discord. I always watch out for her so no problem.”

“Good,” he clapped the dragon on the back and put on a showy grin once again, floating back up and above the ponies as they continued to celebrate. “Be seeing you around, Pony Boy, you can bet on that.”

A tiny salute to the dragon below, and Discord flashed himself away, to a quieter part of the town's border, leaning now against a black mulberry tree at the very edge of the Everfree.

It was a change to be appreciated, to be wanted. Perhaps it didn't mean much to every pony – and there was still a ways to go – but it was a welcome change to have at least some ponies want him around.

Only time would tell if it stayed that way, but Discord would do his best to ensure it. Hopefully without losing any good opportunities for some fun.

Deja Discord

by Ckat_Myla

1. Can't Sit Idly, No I Can't Move At All

2. You'll Find the Right Way to Cherish in Dreams

3. Longing For the Logical, but He's Only Happy Hysterical

4. What Passion Could Reach Me, What Lesson Could Teach Me

5. Someone Who - Like it or Not - Will Always Be There

6. Not a Question but a Lesson Learned In Time

7. Pleasing Everyone Isn't Like Me

8. These Questions Like a Whirlwind Carry Me Away

9. Magic We All Share, How Much We Learn to Care

10. Where the Past Comes Back to Life

11. On Account of My Transgressions, Will You Welcome This Confession

12. Where Do We Go From Here