Closure

I’ve almost had it with this!

It was worse than helping organize Twilight’s library. At least her system made some kind of sense, but Discord’s way of organizing his books and various artifacts seemed so haphazard that Kind Heart could never get hang of where to place the items. It didn’t help, either, that Discord would always berate him for every mistake, be it ever so tiny.

“No, no, no! The thingamabob goes on the right, on the red shelf, while the thingamajig goes on the lower left, on the green shelf next to that huge book explaining Pinkie Pie’s behavior.”

“Wait, you can’t put those two glowing orbs together! You could set off a nuclear explosion!”

“Wait, what’s a ‘nuclear explosion’?” Kind Heart had asked.

“None of your business, just separate them before you kill us all!”

It also didn’t help that as he shelved the trinkets and whatnots, he still felt a pit in his stomach, that unyielding sense of depression: his mom was gone. No matter how much time had passed since her death, he just couldn’t let go of that sadness.

Something on the bookshelf beside him had caught Kind’s eye: it looked like a microphone, similar to the one he gave his mother as a birthday present, knowing how much she liked singing. The memory of Sweetie using his gift and singing his favorite song suddenly overcame him, diverting his concentration almost fully, but try as he might, he could still not grasp at the melodious tones that emerged from his mother’s vocal chords. While stuck in this moment of remembrance, he didn’t realize that his flank had accidentally tipped over two flasks of multicolored, bubbling fluid. The liquids mixed together and then …

BOOM!

A small, pink mushroom cloud arose from the mixture, the mist settling in the air and expelling chocolate milk throughout the entire room.

“Oops, sorry!”

Yeah, Discord was quite mad about that incident, only making matters worse. Finally, though, the excruciating work was done, and not a moment later Celestia lowered the sun to make way for the night sky.

“There you go, Discord. Everything’s done. Now, I’ll just be on my way back.” Kind Heart, tired as he was, already missed his bed, his muscles going limp at the thought of the plush mattress and soft pillows. It didn’t help that he still could not shake the sadness from his soul.

“Here, let me help you.” Discord then shot a beam of magic at the pony.

“Wait, what are yo–” Kind stopped talking as he felt something strange expand through his body, a warm feeling, one of rejuvenation: it felt as if his muscles had just had an entire good night’s rest, and his strength was back up in a flash.

“Wow, thank you, Discord.”

“Oh, not a problem. You see, not many ponies would be willing to help me organize my collection of artifacts, especially with the way I act. I’m sorry for scolding and yelling at you like that; I guess it’s just in my nature. I know, how about I make it up to you? I’ll give you a wish, any wish that you have in mind, though of course one within my power to grant.”

Kind simply stared blankly at Discord.

Wait, is this for real? I thought he was a mean, chaotic being. After all, with the way he treated me when organizing his library … But still, he did restore my energy and apologize for the way he acted. Could this actually be happening?

His astonishment, however, soon dissolved, depression taking its place.

“I don’t suppose you can bring my mom back, can you?”

“No, I’m sorry, I can’t restore life onto the dead …”

Kind Heart began to sulk, knowing that he would never see his mother again.

“… but I can take you back in time to see her again. Would you like that? Of course, I’ll have to take care of a few paradoxical elements, as well as probably alerting a certain time lord and …”

Kind heard nothing more, ecstatic at the chance that he had been given at seeing the most important pony in his life alive again.

“PLEASE, can you do that? Can I see my mother again?” Tears of joy had begun to form as he saw how close he was to obtaining his dream.

“As you wish.” Discord snapped his fingers, and a huge blinding light enveloped them both while deafening static arose from a small orb in his paw. “Now, whatever you do, do not break my concentration, and try to keep as still as possible.”

“WHAT??? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

“I SAID … oh, never mind.” Discord had forgotten how noisy this spell could be; after all, the last time he used it was to figure out how take control of Equestria the first time. Of course, that also meant that he was a bit rusty.

Oh, this is going to be a bumpy ride.

…

…

BOOM!

…

…

“Whe- Where are we?” Kind Heart had somewhat recuperated from the discomforting sensation of being squeezed out of a tube, but his eyes had still not adjusted to the darkness. The full moon was out, shedding some light on the scenery, though it still took Kind Heart many minutes to completely regain his vision. He was standing in front of a small lake, the moon’s reflection helping to illuminate the trees all around the stallion.

“Where? Well, you can see where, but what you can’t see is when.” Discord suddenly appeared on Kind’s back, much smaller in size, no bigger than a flea.

“Wait, Discord! Where are you?” Kind looked up and down and all around, unable to spot the draconequus.

“I’m on your back. Don’t move around so fast!” The stallion stopped moving and tried to turn his head a full 180, straining to look at his back but failing to see the voice’s owner.

“I’m too small for you to see,” Discord continued. “Being this small allows me to pass through the fabric of time easier.”

“Okay, then. When are we?” Kind asked, finally giving up on trying to spot the draconequus.

“Well, you see, since you didn’t exactly say a time …” Discord hesitated as he continued. “I just let the spell choose a time for me, though, of course, in this time your mom is still alive.”

Suddenly, a small sniffle was heard from one side of the lake. After focusing his eyes in the direction of the unexpected sound, Kind Heart found himself looking at a small, white-coated filly with a purple-and-pink mane. His heart skipped a beat.

“Wait … Is … is that my mom?”