The Laughing Statue

Soon enough, the trio found themselves at the outskirts of the forest, the impenetrable trees of the Everfree disappearing abruptly as they crossed the threshold into a more civilized land. As the moon shone overhead, Twilight ignored the recently reformed Princesses gift as she stomped her way back to Ponyville, crushing the odd stray flower under-hoof.

Discord and Fluttershy followed behind, staying quite a distance away as Twilight continued her rampage. Silence staying between them, no words were exchanged as they returned to Ponyville. The streets were barren as they rushed through, the ponies that usually crowded them during the day having chosen to retire to wait out the night. It became apparent Twilight was heading to her library, the distinctive tree-like shape giving it away as they approached the library-tree.

Twilight galloped in, using great force as she pushed the door in with a wave of magic. Her companions trailing behind her, they entered to find Twilight accosting Spike, the dragon backed into a corner as Twilight towered over him. "You've gotta do something for me, Spike... It'll be easy."

Spike shivered,Fluttershy curled in on herself, and Discord laughed. Twilight jumped, quickly turning to face her audience. "What are you doing here!" she exclaimed, her ears flattening against her head. Spike, moving quietly, took the chance to sneak away from her, sliding his reptilian body around her as she focused on her guests.

"Does a friend ever need a reason to visit?" Discord said as he moved forward. "I was just in the neighborhood and decided to visit my good friend, Twilight Sparkle," his eyes on Spike, Discord watched the little dragon as he ran toward them, fleeing from quite thoroughly distracted Twilight.

"It seemed as you wanted us to follow, were we mistaken?" Discord said. Twilight stammered, watching Discord as he came closer, twisting himself around her. "Why so sad, Twilight. Did you have something fun planned without us?"

"No! I just... wasn't thinking about you," Twilight said. With a grimace, Twilight quickly extricated from Discord's entangling body. "Nothing fun here though, just Spike and I."

Discord chuckled, aligning himself with her, he brought himself down to eye level and gazed deeply into Twilight's eyes. "Well, then, looks like we'll just have to make some of our own... fun."

Twilight sighed, trembling as Discord ran his claw down her back. A soft squeal interrupted them, as Fluttershy finally found her voice and stared at them, confusion etched on her face as she gazed upon the entwined pair. Spike wore the same expression as he peeked out from his newly acquired position behind Fluttershy.

Knocked back into a better state of mind, Twilight flinched and let out a yelp, diving away from Discord. The Draconequus turned to Fluttershy, the Pegasus shying away as he leveled a glare at her. "Did you absolutely have to interrupt?" he grumbled. He sauntered over to her, ignoring Twilight as she warily backed away from him.

"You killed the moment, Fluttershy, Congratulations."

Fluttershy hesitated. Looking between them, she spotted Twilight staring intently at the Draconequus. A blush forming, she stammered out. "Sorry, but you were acting... odd."

"The damage is done," Discord moved around her, coming face to face with Spike. Discord shot out a claw, grabbing the dragon. "Perhaps it's time that Spike and I left."

Dragging Spike along, Discord began to leave the library. He hit a snag as Twilight regained her senses, her horn aglow as she grabbed Spike. "You're not taking my dragon anywhere!"

Giving Spike a few tugs, Discord vainly attempted to pull him along. "You let go of him, he's mine!" Discord shouted, continuing his efforts to free Spike from the Unicorn's grasp. Whenever he gained ground, Twilight pulled Spike back with matched ferocity.

Their battle was interrupted, as Fluttershy leaped at Discord, tackling him to the floor. With a smug smirk, Twilight brought Spike over to her, putting him gently down next to her. Fluttershy glared at the downed Draconequus, her eyes digging into him.

"You hurt Spike!" she snarled. Seeing Discord gaze drift past her, she looked over at Spike, seeing him vainly attempting to escape Twilight as she tried to comfort him. Fluttershy jumped off Discord and rushed over to them, placing herself between Twilight and Spike.

"Twilight!" she admonished. "Can't you see you're scaring him?" Fluttershy grabbed the dragon up in a hug, whispering comforts to him.

Spike calmed, or at least went to less effort to free himself from Fluttershy than he did Discord or Twilight. Twilight looked on, sniffling when she saw Spike calm in Fluttershy's hold. She looked over at Discord, who was watching the pair intently. With a huff, she went over to him.

"I don't know how, but you did this," she glared at Discord, eyes narrowing as she continued. "And I promise you, I will find out. But first, I'm going to tell the princess what you did." Twilight smirked, looking down upon Discord.

Choosing to finally to raise himself from the ground, Discord chuckled as Twilight craned her neck to look up at him. "Tell her about what? My dear Twilight, I've done nothing to you," Discord slithered over to her, Twilight shifting on her hooves as he closed the distance.

"Why blame me? It was not I, who rushed in here and caused such distress to the little one."

Twilight gulped, an audible sound as Discord waited for her response. "No... no. You're evil, you made me!" she accused, voice laced with disdain.

"Evil? That's quite rude. But you can't blame me for all your shortcomings, you know," Discord said. Giving her a quick flick on her snout, Discord dashed away from her, soon turning back to watch as Twilight began to tremble.

"What are you going to do now, hmm? You're precious magic can't do anything to me!" he laughed, thunderous chuckles of malevolence crashing throughout the library as Fluttershy, with Spike under-wing, began to edge her way towards the exit.

Twilight huffed. With a furious glare at Discord, her horn began to spark, soon growing into a small tempest. The library lit up, a purple hue shining off every surface. Discord guffawed, his laughter growing ever louder as Twilight gathered more magic to herself, an occasional bolt of purple scorching the floor as she struggled to keep it in check.

"Give me your best, Twilight Sparkle!" he shouted, fighting to be heard as the sound of magic resonated within the library.

Twilight reached a crescendo, glowing an unnatural purple as magic escaped her body in an almighty wave, briefly saturating the room as it left her. Discord's laughter continued as books began to glow. Splintering the shelves that held them in their rush to escape, they flew toward Discord. Big and small, they crashed into him, knocking him to the ground as they pelted him.

Curling up, he weathered the storm. His laughter quickly giving way to pained grunts as Twilight's barrage continued. Eventually, the onslaught of books stopped, giving Discord a chance to recover himself. He pulled himself from the ground, wincing as many new welts made themselves known. Taking a look around the library, Discord spotted Twilight, collapsed to the ground and breathing heavily. She stared away from Discord, eyes blankly transfixed on the havoc she had created.

Discord weaved through the debris of the library, carefully avoiding slipping upon the broken wood that now littered the area. Twilight didn't interfere as he left. Instead, she looked onward, unmoving, as Discord disappeared through the door.

Outside, the library looked to be in pristine condition. However, a glance through the window revealed the chaos within. Fluttershy whimpered, clutching Spike tightly as she used said window to look in at Twilight, who had begun to sob. "You should stay with me tonight, Spike."

Spike nodded. Tearing his eyes away from Twilight, he looked around, searching the corners of the library. "Fluttershy... where did Discord go?"

"Don't worry, Spike, I'm right here," Discord said, wandering up from behind. "And now that Twilight has proven herself inept, you can come live with Rainbow Dash and I."

Fluttershy jumped, a small shout of surprise coming from her as she scrambled away, Spike being dragged along with her. She flipped around, sending a mighty glare at Discord. "You did that! You made Twilight cry."

"Good, she should feel guilty for attacking her king. Treason's quite the crime, you know," Discord said. He reached for Spike, grabbing onto the Dragon's head. Spike protested, his little claws doing their best to scratch Discord as he pulled at him.

"You're not having him!" Fluttershy said, her tight hold on Spike loosening as Discord pulled. Fluttershy's jaws rushed forward and she clamped down on Discord's paw.

Discord yelped, letting go of Spike. He speedily brought his paw up, inspecting it. "You... you just bit me, how uncouth."

Fluttershy squealed, she dropped Spike and rushed to the Draconequus's side, grabbing his paw between her hooves. "S-sorry, I didn't mean too, I just..."

She let go of his paw, looking away as she quietly spoke. "I did... I... I think you're terrible and shouldn't be an Element bearer," Fluttershy grimaced, quickly dashing back to Spike.

"You're right, Fluttershy. He's evil!" Spike said, hugging Fluttershy as the mare whimpered.

"I'll survive without your approval, now come along, Spike," Discord said. He beckoned to Spike with his good claw. Spike didn't budge, holding onto Fluttershy as she continued to have a breakdown.

"I said come along, Spike," Discord said, a stamp of his hoof emphasizing his words.

Spike whispered to Fluttershy, and they both turned and fled into the night. Discord growled and snapped his talon, to no success. Watching as they quickly disappeared, he moved to chase them, but winced when he tried. "I don't need them anyway, stupid mortals," Discord chuckled.

Looking back into the library, he found Twilight had moved from her fetal position and disappeared to parts unknown. "I'll just go and... Rainbow Dash, I'll go find her."

With one last glance around, Discord slithered off, searching for his friend.