The Laughing Statue

Upon his words, the ponies became deathly still. The silence growing as looks passed between them.

"Oh, that..." Twilight shuffled on her hooves, eyes staring at the ground. "Well... you can't stay with me, Spike's a young dragon after all, he might get scared," she giggled, turning to Rarity, who was staring at the Draconequus, who matched her stare with one of his own.

"Rarity! You're a successful mare. Surely, you can find space in your heart to give shelter to our friend in need?" Twilight asked, a sigh escaping her as Rarity stammered.

"Unfortunately, Twilight, I'm afraid that I am rather limited on space. All my dresses have to go somewhere, after all," Rarity said, attempting to look down at her, Twilight sagged, but gained a smile as Applejack began to speak.

"Hang on there, I've been in yer boutique, I know that you got plenty of room in there. Why ain't you offering that up?" Applejack said, leveling her gaze at Rarity, who glared back at her.

"Well... you see," Rarity shifted, after a moment's pause, she continued. "I have a sister, she often stays with me. Three of us would give very little personal space. My boutique is not an option, I'm afraid."

"That's odd, you never mentioned that you had a sister before, never saw her, either," Applejack said, suspicion flickering across her face as Rarity gained a guilty look.

Scrunching her face, Rarity dragged a hoof against the ground. "Although I do attempt to get her to socialize with those her own age, she has a tendency to stay inside. I'm sure you've seen it yourself, you do have a rather large family," she said slowly, giving a small smile before quickly gaining a stoic expression.

When she had finished, Applejack spoke, rushing out her words as a glint appeared in her eye. "Well, we can get her and Applebloom together sometime, I'm sure that they'll get along great."

Rarity cringed, a momentary expression quickly lost as she looked to Applejack. "Thank you, Applejack, I... appreciate your concern. But let's focus more on Discord here. How about he stays with you? I'm sure you have plenty of space on your farm."

"I would if I was able to, but Granny Smith is getting on in years, her old heart just ain't what it used to be. Along with Applebloom, I don't think they'll be able to handle seeing him that often," she turned to Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus slowly backing away from the group. "Rainbow, you live alone, how about you take him?"

Rainbow stopped, stammering out. "Yeah, but... Can he even stay in a cloud-house?" the Pegasus smirked at Applejack, who had gone silent.

Discord, who had taken to quietly snickering at them, broke his silence. "It's quite a good question, whether I can walk on clouds. Although the Elements have left me unable to do anything fun. I believe my more innate abilities have been left untouched."

After a few experimental flaps, Discord managed to raise himself into the air, relief evident on his face. Straining, he slowly raised himself higher. Wings flapping furiously, somehow seeming out of sync as he went ever higher.

After a short time, he found himself at the height of the lowest reaching clouds. Making a silent wish, he began to land on the nearest cloud, desperately reaching a hoof out to land.

And land he did, as he touched down on the cloud, the reassuring feeling of it supporting him almost made him cheer in delight. Unfortunately, his extended time as a statue had not left him particularly fit, and he collapsed in exhaustion, savoring the feeling of the cloud caressing his aching body.

A few moments later, Discord saw Rainbow Dash, easily staying aloft as she watched him struggle. "I don't think you'll be winning any races if that's the best you can do!" Rainbow said, laughing at the wheezing draconequus.

"Try getting turned to stone for a while, you'll wish you were as fit as me," Discord said, gasping for breath in between words. "But, now we know that there's nothing to stop us being together," Discord grinned, finding the energy to manage a wink in her direction. Rainbow's face dropped, her laughter quickly ceasing.

"Oh..." Rainbow said, turning away as the Draconequus gave out a wheezy laugh. "We should head back down, you think you can do that?"

Discord bristled. "I will have no trouble returning to the ground... However, feel free to go on back without me. I want to enjoy this cloud," shrugging, Rainbow left, plummeting back to the ground in a blur. Discord watched, quickly settling himself into the cloud once she was gone.

When he felt rested enough, Discord made his way back to the ground, the mares having all left. Except for Rainbow Dash, who had started pacing, looking at him with irritation flaring in her eyes when he landed.

"Ah, you waited for me, delightful. I just knew you cared," he said, grin on his face as he saw The Pegasus flinch at his words, "so, shall we be joining the festivities or shall we be heading home immediately?"

Rainbow laughed. "Yeah, I don't think that the ponies around here will take too kindly to you. It's best if we avoid the party." Gesturing for Discord to follow, she prepared to take flight.

"Oh, you certainly are eager," Discord muttered. Ignoring him, Rainbow took off toward her house, with Discord doing his best to keep up.

When Discord and Rainbow flew off, Twilight took the opportunity to inform her friends about the Draconequus. Quickly ushering them into the library that amounted to her new home.

When they arrived, Applejack was the first to ask a question. "Twi, did ya really have to bring us all the way here just to talk about Discord?"

"Yes Applejack, I did, were you paying attention to anything? Discord being free is really, really bad!" Twilight shouted, glaring as Applejack recoiled.

Twilight took a moment to collect herself, sighing before speaking again. "I'm sorry, It's just that the Princess told me that Discord was very dangerous. Apparently, when he had his magic he was more powerful than both of the Princesses."

Rarity approached Twilight, placing a hoof on her back. "He doesn't have his magic anymore. That's something, right?" Rarity smiled, watching as Twilight slowly became still.

"You're right, It's not that bad yet. but he could get his magic back at any time. The Princess doesn't want to risk it," Twilight said, looking at her friends, who sat silent as she continued on.

"Okay, first off, It's best if we all store the elements here, the library has a few spots where I can hide them." After the mares took off the Elements, she grabbed them with her magic, levitating them onto a nearby table. "I'll just leave these here for now, I can hide them later."

Twilight sighed, looking onto the others, steeling her expression as she continued. "Now, this bit's a bit more... awkward, but we need to get the Element from Discord too. but, he may not be very willing to give it up."

"Oh, of course he will, dear! A round, pink necklace absolutely clashes with his coat; not that he seems to be one for fashion, but even he will see that it needs a change," Rarity spouted, smiling even as she garnered stares from the others in the library.

Twilight rolled her eyes, the expression quickly repeated by her friends "He might not, we'll probably have to grab it when he's... not looking. I already tried using magic, he didn't even notice."

"Why would he want to hold onto it?" Applejack said, looking at the elements. "They don't seem to do much, 'cept make Nightmare shorter."

"Well, the Princess thinks that if we get the Element and give it to somepony else, we can turn him back to stone," Twilight said, eliciting a few gasps. Twilight grunted, stamping a hoof against the floor. "Why are you surprised? The Princess said this!"

Fluttershy was the one to speak first, breaking her long silence. "Um, Twilight, do we have to turn him back to stone? Discord did all those things such a long time ago... maybe he's nice now." she looked away, covering her face with her mane as best she could.

"Fluttershy does have a point, Twilight; stealing from Discord and trying to turn him to stone might end up making it worse, maybe he'll turn over a new leaf. He does have one of the Elements, after all," Rarity said.

Twilight, exasperated, began to droop, glaring indignantly as she spouted. "Fine! we'll leave it be for now, but I bet he'll do something evil! It's just a matter of time."