Alone, Togetherby KathBot0ChaptersIntroductionThe GardenThe PastFun with RoyaltyThe TruthThe ArgumentsThe RevivalThe RejectionThe HomeIntroductionIt was a normal day for Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "Y'know, y'all, I think we deserved this mighty fine picnic," AppleJack stated, unraveling the apple tarts from her picnic basket. "Yes, I agree, AppleJack, We just have not been able to have alone time with each other lately," Rarity said, curling her elegant purple mane. "Yeah! Especially with me going to the Crystal Empire with the Cakes! D'aw, I'll miss you guys so much," Pinkie lay down in the lush, green grass. "Also, with Rainbow Dash in the Wonderbolts, we'll never see her again!" she exclaimed. "Pinkie, don't be ridiculous of course I'll be around, but just not as much," Everypony turned around and stared at the blue pegasus gliding gracefully towards them. "I'm just glad we all are alone, together," Twilight let out a deep sigh. "Ooh! Ooh! I'd know that anywhere! It's an oxymoron!" Pinkie jumped up and down. Fluttershy trotted up the hill and lay down with her bunny, Angel. "O- oxymor-" "It's a fantabulously-fantastic-amazingly-super-awesome phrase made of 2 words that are total opposites but make actual sense!" Pinkie interrupted the stuttering yellow pegasus. "Sorry I'm late, everypony," Fluttershy apologized. "Are things with Discord okay?" Rarity asked "Yeah, don't forget that if he gives you a hard time, I'll be right over there and putting them up!" Rainbow Dash waved her hooves in the air like fists. "Everything is just fine girls. Discord is actually out on his own, and fully reformed," she let out a sigh followed by a small smile. AppleJack dug into her apple tarts and set them on the red and white picnic blanket Twilight set out. "You sure he's got it all under control, hun?" She stared at Fluttershy, raising an eyebrow. "Everything is totally fine, girls. In fact, you would never tell that he took over Equestria and put it into a state of chaos and disrest!" everypony started at her for a good moment. "Sounds pretty reformed to me," Twilight chuckled. Everypony let out a good laugh. Suddenly, Rarity let out a wailing gasp. "Don't tell me- I packed twelve plates! This is THE- WORST- POSSIBLE- THING!" "Ha! That reminds me of that one time we got invited to the wedding!" Pinkie shouted. The six ponies took a moment for a flashback. Meanwhile, in the Castle of the Royal Sisters deep in the Everfree Forest.... A tall, white alicorn with flowing hair of a hue of beautiful colors stepped cautiously into the site. She wore a beautiful neck piece and an elegant golden crown. Her sun cutie mark could be recognized across the land. She looked around at the building, as her former student and her friends had fixed stunningly well. The princess looked at all the tapestries hung from the walls, and remembered them from her childhood. Celestia stopped and glanced at one of the tapestries. It centered around the pony staring around it, as the one next to it showed her sister. She took a closer look in the background of rolling hills and noticed a small draconaquus in the background... dancing? "Discord!" Celestia shrieked. "What are you doing here?" she knew that she did not fully trust Discord yet, and so did he, too. "Tst, tsk, 'Tia!'" he teased. "What good is there in a bitter friendship?" He ran his eagle claw down her cheek just as tauntingly as he did with her student Twilight Sparkle before torturing them in a labyrinth. "Why are you here!" she demanded with more anger, scaring the draconaquus. Things suddenly took a serious turn for a moment. "Calm down, 'Tia-" he noticed her torturing glare. "I simply came to ask a question,and this is important." Discord paused to reassure her attention. "What do you want with me," he asked. "What do you mean?" "You told your pony friends to 'reform' me. What do you want with me?" she hesitated for a moment, then snapped "Simply because I believe your magic could be used for good instead of wrong," "Really?" he countered her with a glare. "Yes," They locked eyes for a moment. "Alrighty then," He slithered off. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity waved their hooves as they watched pinkie's train roll out of the station. "Have 'Yer self a good time!" Applejack hollered. Pinkie waved back from the train car through an open window, letting plenty of balloons spill out into the air. "Hey, you come back here!" She screamed to the balloons. "I feel kinda bad for Fluttershy, to be honest" Applejack said "She hasn't really been out since a week ago," "She's probably just very tired. Maybe some of her animals are giving her a hard time," Rarity remarked. "We should go give her a visit," Twilight trotted toward her cottage. Fluttershy was humming "Hush now, quiet now" while tendering to her birds. "Fluttershy!" She heard a familiar voice from outside. Suddenly, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight burst through the door. "Oh hi girls, sorry I couldn't make it to the station. I was... um..," she hesitated for a moment. Suddenly a few seconds later she burst out, "I was treating.... um... Angel, yes, Angel needs his.... eh... greens," "For the past week?" Rarity questioned. "Yes, he is um...," it was too late, for her bunny standing behind her was shaking his head in disapproval. "Oh fine!" she cried out, "I was spending my time thinking about everything!" "Everything?" Twilight looked at her in confusion. "You know, how you girls don't completely trust Discord, How he'll do out on his own, what will we do to protect ourselves without the elements, and ho-" Applejack put a hoof to the scattered, poor pegasus. "Don't tangle ya' self up, hun. We all get that you've been stressed lately and it's our duty to help you relax now," Applejack's words seemed to have brightened Fluttershy's face. After a delicious meal of tea and apple pie while talking to her friends about her problems, Fluttershy was collected again. "Thank you so much, girls. I really needed that conversation," "Just remember we'll always be there," Rarity commented. The GardenEverything was silent except for one mare's trotting. She was waiting. Waiting for something at the Labyrinth. She didn't know what she was waiting for, but she was waiting for it. Twilight's horn glowed a hue of different colors. She was testing a spell on Rarity, one that would turn a pony into an in-animate object. Sure, she was scared. What if she couldn't turn her friend back and loose her forever? "Now Rarity," Applejack teased, "Don't you go braggin' 'bout yer new form," Everypony chuckled, but Rarity was silenced as a rainbow was curling around her. Suddenly, a burst of colors spilled and a diamond dropped to the ground. Applejack was biting her lip and shifting her hooves frantically. The same thoughts were going through her head: Will she have her friend back? She shook them off quickly and tried not to think about it. Twilight collapsed to the ground, gazing at the diamond she had left. She was so exhausted she could barely lift herself up. Now how was she going to transform Rarity back. Soon, all these thoughts flowed through her head. Some were of when Rarity took them to Manehattan, and some where when she made dresses for them. Then more thoughts flew in her head. What would she do without Rarity? Just when she started to tear up a bit, she heard footsteps. She wiped her eyes and looked at Applejack, who was right next to her trying to help her up. Wait, footsteps? No, these were hoof- and claw- steps. Only one pony- or- being came to mind. Discord. Applejack successfully helped her up, but didn't dare to request Rarity's revival. She knew her friend was over- exhausted. Twilight just ran over to the bushes, and remembered, Canterlot Gardens. We're in them. We're in the Canterlot Gardens. She tried to peek through the bush and saw a snake- like body. That's definitely Discord she thought, but what is he doing in the Gardens? She ignored the questions ravaging through her head and remembered Rarity. "Discord!" Twilight leaped through the bushes. He leaped through the air and splashed the princess with chocolate milk. She just stood there, waiting for him to dry her off, and so he did with a snap of his claws. "Jeez, Twilight, no reason to be such a jumper," she looked at her body witch was draped in black cloth. In her hoof, she was holding a long reaper cane with a picture of her face on the end of the handle. "Discord!" she yelped, shaking off the clothes. "Why are you h-" she stopped herself, and recollected herself. Hey, He's 'reformed', maybe he can help me with Rarity she told herself. "Alright, Discord, I know this is all of the sudden, but I-" "Accidentally turned your pony friend into a diamond?" he had finished her sentence so fluently. "How did you-" Discord burst out in laughter. "Oh, you actually turned her into a diamond? Priceless!" "Discord!" "This is an actual crisis! I don't know how to turn her back- and if I could, then I wouldn't be able to because my powers are basically sapped!" "Twilight!" Applejack leapt out of the bushes. "I-" she paused to get a look at the draconequus. Funny, how she hadn't seen him in a while. "So, can you please do this for us?" Twilight folded her hooves. That's when it struck him. He had to go the the labyrinth. He just had to. Discord bit his lip, he found himself very frantic and nervous, but why? He remembered the pony asking him for help. He could tell she was very desperate. He peered over the bushes with his long snake- like body. In the grass lay a diamond. 10 karat he presumed. "Oh, um.... sorry Twilight," He touched the tip of her horn with his lion paw and teleported to the left of the pathway of hedges. "I've got some important, eh, things to catch up on, like maybe bragging to the statues in the garden. You should give it a try, princess," he dashed off towards the labyrinth. "Discord!" Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. "Applejack, get the diamond," she ordered her friend, who immediately jumped through the bushes. Twilight started running after Discord, who was now gliding swiftly through the air in panic, as he knew that pony was chasing after him. Applejack jumped through the hedges and joined Twilight in her chase. "Got the gem?" she asked her partner- in- chase. Applejack lifted her hat and showed her a dazzling diamond. Suddenly, Applejack and Twilight stopped at a 3- way turn. Discord had let them into the labyrinth. Was it on purpose, they shared thoughts. "Twi, ya okay to fly up and lead the way?" Applejack trusted Twilight heavily right now, and was holding back all the horrible thoughts about not having Rarity back. "I'll try," she responded with an eager nod. She tried her best to lift herself off the ground, and so she did. She looked down at Applejack, and they locked eyes for a moment to approve their attention. Applejack was perfectly following the pony above her head. Left, right, right, middle, left, middle she was as concentrated as she could imagine, trying to keep up. Suddenly, Twilight glided to the ground towards Applejack. "Come look at this," she told her. "Sorry to pop 'yer bubble, but isn't bad to spy on the princess?" Applejack knew what was going on because she could see Princess Celestia faintly through the hedge. "Applejack, this is serious. Don't you see someone else there?" she pointed at what looked like a tree to her, but with Twilight now pointing it out, Applejack had to sit down and look at it for a while. The Princess and Discord were talking- but very seriously. "Oh princess, how terrible for you!" Discord mocked Celestia, fluttering his fake eyelashes. "Discord! Stop this immediately!" she demanded. She was more aggravated this time, and very annoyed at his actions. Discord noticed this, and calmed down. "Look, just because we grew up together doesn't mean you can just keep messing with me like this," Celestia's words seemed to had aggravated him, allot. He did not like it when she talked about their past, it seemed. "Pinkie! Concentrate!" The Cakes were at the station, gathering their luggage. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm here again! It's been so loo~ong!" Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down in excitement. It was true, she hadn't been to the Crystal Empire in a very long time, Neither did her friends. When they got to their rented Crystal House, Pinkie immediately pulled out a blue and pink cannon. "This place is so~oo dul," she complained, pulling the string to her cannon and setting it off. Streamers spilled into the air along with balloons and party knick-knacks. "Pinkie!" the Cakes squealed in unison, growling at her. "Heh...heh.... sorry," Pinkie was still very excited for their oncoming trip. The Past"Crystal Cake Competition, Cis..tal...," Pinkie was blurting the title of the competition tens times fast, it seemed, as she saw it as a tongue- twister. The Cakes gasped in awe as they stared at the competition. Pastries towered high, glazed with frostings and sprinkles and other goods they had never seen. The Cakes stole a glance over to Pinkie Pie, who was now trying to say "Crystal Cake Competition" ten times fast again. After about an hour of Celestia and Discord's 'arguing', Twilight and Applejack leaped out of the bushes after Discord teleported away. The princess wailed in shock, and prepared her magic for battle, only to see it was her former student. "Oh, Twilight, a pleasure to see you. How are your studies going?" she asked her. Twilight was about to open her mouth to ask what she was doing with Discord, then she thought about how the princess would react to her spying on her. "I was trying a spell and turned my friend Rarity into a diamond, and I don't know how to turn her back! Celestia glanced at the diamond under Applejacks hat. After some hesitation, her horn glowed all sorts of colors. Soon, her horn burst in a hue of colors. After the flash, Rarity was sitting atop Applejacks head, causing them to collapse. Rarity and her friends were back at Ponyville, in Fluttershy's cottage, explaining what happened to Rarity. "Thank Celestia I was a beautiful diamond!" Rarity shrieked. "Thank Celestia you're still a pony," Applejack commented, followed by laughter from all the girls. Twilight had mentioned the 'thing' with Discord and Celestia in the gardens. "I think you girls should be happy for him, making friends and all..," Fluttershy seemed upset that Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight were so skeptical with Discord and Celestia's relationship. "But Fluttershy," Twilight said, "If this relationship goes on, don't you think the princess with get distracted from raising the sun every day?" "And don't forget, darling, he did make us all act so horribl-" Fluttershy pounded the table, silencing Rarity. "Then what, expect him to have no relationship with anypony at all? He's been alone for eons, don't you think he needs someone?" The room was silenced. Fluttershy's words stung them a speck. Maybe she was right, maybe he was lonely and needs somepony? Somepony who grew up with him? That night, all Celestia could think of was her chat with Discord in the gardens. She couldn't get this strange feeling out of her head, she could not explain it. As her sister rose the moon, she rest in her large bed. "Tag! You're it!" What was she dreaming of? "No fair! You can't tag my hair!" That's it. She was dreaming about her childhood with Discord. It seemed she was watching over her young self, playing with her sister. Her young self ran across the rolling hills, and stopped at a big, dark forest. Everfree forest, she presumed, in it's early state of growth. Her younger sister was still looking for her with her eyes shut. Young Celestia looked up at the towering branches of the trees. She giggled at one of the branches with a snake tail. "What's so funny?" the branch slithered down the tree. "I thought you were a branch," Celestia was not scared of the draconequus at all. "Why are you so funny looking?" the filly asked. Celestia, who was watching over them, seemed to have gasped at the rude comment, but kept watching as the young draconequus was not offended at all. "Why are you so pretty?" he asked in return. Young Celestia didn't quite take it as a compliment, more of just a normal question, witch didn't hurt her or change her feelings at all. The pony watching over them remembered how she did not understand many things when she was young. "I guess it's because my hair is pink," she responded, "...or maybe because you look funny but pretty too, and pretty ponies think other ponies are pretty too," she remembered what she was talking to, and quickly fixed her mistake. "Oh, erm... I meant, um... pretty things think other things are pretty too," They both giggled a little. "Starswirl!" her sister shrieked in the background. She had completely forgot about her beloved sister she was playing with. "Bearded!" she yelled in return. Celestia had no hesitation letting Luna meet her new friend. Tumbling down the hill came her sister, who touched Celestia and screamed, "Taa~ag! Now you're it, Tia!" Luna opened her eyes and looked up at the short snake-like figure up in the tree. "You look funny," she commented, pointing at him. All they did was giggle a bit. Only then, Luna realized that Celestia and him were already kind of close, only then she chanted, "Tia and Mister sitting in a tree! "Luna!" Celestia was annoyed at her little sister. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" "Lu~na! Gross," she started tackling her little sister. Luna peeked out from under Celestia's hoof that was holding her down playfully and saw the sun setting a small amount. "Tia! Mommy's going to raise the moon!" she squealed in excitement. Immediately, they rose up and ran up the hill. Tia stopped and looked back at the funny thing she had had an amazing time talking with. "Tomorrow?" she asked "Tomorrow," he replied. Tia chuckled and ran up the hill with her sister. "See the beautiful gems up there?" A beautiful, orange pony held Luna up to her chest. "Those are the stars. Every night, I will add a star up there so when you grow up you can raise them and remember when you were just a young filly," her mother nuzzled her ear. "Do you really think someday I will raise the stars and moon like you?" Luna asked. "I know so," she replied. Celestia woke up in her bed, present day. She was no longer dreaming, or remembering, or whatever the hay she saw, but she knew she dreamt it for a reason. She went down the spiraling staircase to the diner hall. As she took some milk from the chef ponies, she spotted Luna. With her plate and milk, she slowly trotted towards in an orderly fashioned way. "Had a good rest?" she asked her, noticing the grey under her eyes. "Yeah, lots of stars to raise, and I couldn't go to sleep, stuff like that," "I could help you raise the stars tonight if you want," "No, no, no, no, unnecessary, unneeded, no, please, thank you, sorry, no please. I got it, a~all under control, yup. Me, being controlling and unneeded of assistance," Luna seemed disrested at the thought of her sister helping her, maybe wanting to prove she can be as powerful as herself. "You did a beautiful job on the constellations last night," Celestia commented under her breath, hoping her sister heard her while grabbing eggs with her magic. "Thanks," Luna muttered back. Discord could not sleep that night before either. He could only think about his conversation with Celestia in the gardens that day. Surprisingly, he thought more about Celestia than the actual conversation. So, that morning, he flew down to Fluttershy's Cottage and barged right in, interrupting Fluttershy who was feeding her rabbits and squirrels. "Oh, Discord, hello," she was kind of confused to see him right at the moment- especially in this time of morning. "Fluttershy, we're still go~od friends, right?" "Well, wait, still?Yeah of course but wha-" "Good, now, go~od friends keep secrets, right?" "Right but," "Now of course, good friends give good advice to very good friends, right?" "ri-" "Right, of course, now as a good friend, I trust you for advice," "Discord what are you-" he pinched her lips. "Now to kick off the conversation-" he snapped his claws, summoning a long couch and a small chair to look like a therapy session. Discord hovered right into the long couch and put Fluttershy in the chair, giving her a clipboard and pen. "Discord I-" "Now Fluttershy, I need very good advice from the pony I trust," he looked up at her. "I know you should be asking the questions here- but let me just ask you one thing," "Yes?" Fluttershy responded. She had decided to just roll with whatever he was talking about and be a good, supportive friend for him. "Have you ever had a crush on maybe a special somepony?" Fun with Royalty"Well I...," This was a hard question for Fluttershy. She never really thought about a love interest in her future. "I never really thought of a partner, really," Discord was confused. He thought he had overheard her whispering to her bunny about it. She noticed the puzzled look on his face. "I'd rather not talk about that, I'm sorry," she slid off the couch. "Seem's fair," he muttered to himself. "Psst," "What?" "Pssst," "What?" "Psssssssssst," "Luna, what do you want!" It was clear Celestia was dreaming about the past again. "Wake up please," She rose from under the blanket. She wasn't dreaming anymore, in fact, she had not been dreaming at all, actually. "You keep sleeping in, sister," Luna told her, looking down to the floor. "Oh," Celestia glanced up at the bright morning sky. "So you rose the sun this morning?" Luna hesitantly nodded. "My, you might raise the sun better than me," Celestia snorted. At breakfast, she sat down at the table and poked at her food. Luna was not there, and she probably knew why. Suddenly, the door burst open, blinding light spilling throughout the room. The figure of her sister cast a big shadow. Luna was wearing her tiara, necklace, and shoes, obviously being way too big for her. This made them both try to hold back their outburst in laughter as hard as they could. Luna stomped over to the table, trying to keep on the shoes. She sat down in the chair across from her sister. "I like your getup," she giggled. "I'm menacing because I'm going to take over your kingdom so I should wear.. wear.," the sisters exploded with laughter. After they calmed down, Celestia summoned Luna's shoes, crown, and necklace. As expected, she put them on her body, leaving the necklace out because it was so small. She tip-hooved out of her chair to maintain a good balance in Luna's tiny shoes. "I know what you dreamt about last night," she whispered. They both fell over in laughter. Discord slouched in his thinking tree, where he does his "REALLY DEEP thinking", And what he was thinking about in it was deep alright, At least for him. "Does she like me back? WOULD anypony like me in general?" Many thoughts swirled through his mind, as usual in his thinking tree. Suddenly, a terrible thought hit him. He knew he would regret it forever if somepony were to find out, but he relied on the fact nopony would know. After all, he was the Master of Chaos, and the Master of Keeping Secrets. In fact, He was so well mastered at keeping secrets nopony knew he was also the Master of Keeping Secrets. With a snap of his eagle claws, he was invisible, and in Celestia's room. He waved his paw in from of Celestia's face to make sure he was completely unseeable. She did not even flinch, but he noticed that she was pulling out a crumbled scroll out of her vanity drawer. It was very crumbled up and soggy, seemed as if it was over one thousand years old. When he took a second look, he realized, it was, and more familiar than anything. Has it really been that long? Discord thought to himself. He stared at the castle on the paper. It had been drawn in filly's colored quills. It had 3 towers with cotton candy clouds on top. That's not how I remember it... he thought, until Celestia turned the paper upside-down. Draconequui had brilliant memory capabilities, however, Discord wished he hadn't. He hated every single bit of his past, and every essence of it's existence. However, he felt a tingling inside him telling him not to regret it. Until, he realized the time and teleported himself to the center of the Canterlot Labyrinth. As did the mare he was "spying" on. "Ready, set, GO!" the announcer blasted into the microphone. Pinkie pie dashed to the table in the center of the field, grabbing all the necessary tools needed to make pastries of any kind. She zipped back to a table in the southwest corner of the circle of arranged tables. Mrs. Cake started swirling the batter in the bowl tumbling around in their hooves, and Mr. Cake gawked at the competition. Unicorn, Unicorn, Unicorn he counted all of the ponies. "Start pre-heating the oven!" Mrs. Cake screamed, bringing him back to his attention. "Right!" he responded immediately, turning up the oven heat. She kept mixing the contents in the bowl, trying her best not to spill it, but also stirring it very fast. "I got this, make the 2nd layer!" Pinkie grasped the bowl out of her hands and started mixing faster than anypony in the competition. Mrs. Cake grabbed food items and threw them into the bowl, mixing the items as she did with the last bowl. Mr. Cake started to make the 3rd layer, doing the same as the other ponies on his team. After a minute or so, they poured their mixtures into circular pans and put them in the oven. "Two minutes is the fastest I can go," Mrs. Cake shouted as he set the oven timer. "Good, now let's plan that cake!" Pinkie shrieked as they pulled out a big blue poster and a white quill and scribbled away. "Twilight, I believe you needed me?" Luna stepped into Twilight Sparkle's library. "Yes, thank you for coming," Twilight stepped down her stairs into the main room. "I have come to a concern about your sister that I would like to consult you about," she said, offering a seat to her when they stepped into her kitchen. "Yeah, I've been having concerns about her myself," Noticing her state of comfort, Twilight stopped herself from being any furthermore overly formal. "Would you like something to eat first? Spike made nachos," Spike stepped into the room with a plate of chips and salsa in his hand. They were prepared very nicely and must've required much effort for him. "I'm alright, thanks," Spike groaned and went upstairs, eating some chips. "Alright, Luna, about a week ago in the Canterlot Labyrinth, My friends Rarity and Applejack were helping me with the transforming spell. Rarity volunteered to be the pony to be turned into an in-animate object. The spell, however, succeeded, but it exhausted me more than I thought. I couldn't turn Rarity back into a pony form- and to be honest- didn't quite know how, being so exited to try the spell out. Then, at what I thought was the perfect time that Discord walked by, I flew over to him," Luna raised an eyebrow at the thought of Discord being in the Labyrinth. He would never go there if it weren't for a reason. "Strange of himself to be in the Labyrinth," she said. "Then," Twilight continued, "He said he really needed to go, so Applejack and I chased after him through the maze until he got to the center. I'm sure he thought he lost us, so we hid behind the hedges and spied on him out of suspicion," Twilight's expression on her face was more serious. "In the center was your sister, Waiting for him. Just when Twilight said those words, everything seemed to happen at once. The oven made a Ding! sound. Luna stopped and tried to inhale the words. and Celestia was, in fact, waiting for him. The TruthLuna stepped out over the chair and stared at the floor. It does kind of make sense she thought to herself while simultaneously thinking of their past. She quickly turned to Twilight when a thought shot her mind. "They've been planning meetings in the labyrinth from what I presume. Celestia's been away every same day at the same time," she said. "We need to get to get to Canterlot Labyrinth Center, now," They burst out the window, flying towards Canterlot. "We'll make a landing in Canterlot before so they don't see us, but get there as fast as we can. I remember the maze perfectly, we'll make it through just fine," Luna was as serious as Twilight now, and they both were going very fast. Spike jumped up onto the window sill. "I'll get Rarity and Applejack!" he shouted from the top of his dragon lungs. Twilight nodded back in understanding. They landed in the city safely on a busy street full of high- class ponies. The Labyrinth was on the other side of the city where they were, so they dashed through the crowds as the ponies were greeting the princesses. They stopped at the train station to catch a breath after a fair 5 minutes of running. Luna looked up, and noticed Twilights friends, and nudged her shoulder when their faces peeked through the smoke of the train. "Girls!" Twilight shrieked, "We need to get back to the center of the labyrinth, ASAP!" Rarity stopped her from saying anymore, considering her state of unrest. "Spike told us the whole thing, we understand the emergency!" Applejack nodded as she was speaking. They all ran to the labyrinth, and finally arrived. Luna went slightly ahead of everyone so they could follow her. They stopped as they reached a dead end right next to the center, close enough that they could hear chatter from the center. They listened in for a while. Suddenly, Celestia let out a terrified gasp, her sister had leapt out from the hedges. Luna tried her best to try to keep it a secret that she knew what was going on. She stood there, looking at her sister and Discord for a moment. "Tia, what's going on? You missed lunch," she said, gazing at the fauna. "Why is Discord here?" Celestia glanced at Discord, who was backing away, and signaled for him to leave. "Oh nothing, I just bumped into him and," Luna stopped her from lying any more. "You've been meeting up with him," "Excuse me?" "Don't try to lie to me. You've been meeting up with him," "Luna," "Do you think we should leave them alone?" Rarity whispered to Twilight. She nodded back and they left the Labyrinth. "Why does this bother you so much?" "Because it will 'bother' your kingdom! You're putting yourself in front of all your citizens!" "It's not hurting them at all- why are you attacking me?" "Have you even thought about what he did to you? He completely betrayed you and practically destroyed Equestria!" "He's reformed-" "No, most things can be forgiven, but not what he left you with, he can never change," "But-" "In case you didn't know, Ponies never change." There was a silence as feint tears started to fill Celestia's eyes. As they were heading through the labyrinth, Twilight really had to idea where they were going. There was another being in the maze, slithering through the pathways. He had no doubt Celestia liked him back, and he was happy, but wasn't happy for her and what a hard time her sister was giving her about it. The group suddenly stopped at a dead end, and knew they were immediately lost. "Do you think you can fly up again?" Applejack asked. "Sorry, I'm kind of tired from running, so that would be a no," "Split up?" Rarity suggested, Applejack just shook her head. "Follow Discord?" Applejack suggested in return, glaring through the hedges keeping an eye on him. They leaped through the hedges, Rarity just teleporting so she would not ruin her mane. When they jumped through their final hedge, Discord was surprised, again, and spilled chocolate milk onto the intruder. He quickly apologized, and dried the ponies of the milk. "Did you need anything?" he asked, clearly holding back his annoyance. "We're kind of..." "Lost," he finished Applejack's sentence. When he came to realization that they were shocked that he finished her sentence, he burst out in laughter. "You actually are lost?" he looked at the disgruntled looks on their faces. "Seems fair," he said, and slithered through the pathways, letting the ponies follow him. The ArgumentsThe awkward silence was unbearable. Discord was cautiously wandering through the maze with the ponies. It was too unbearable for even Twilight. "So," she said when he came to a halt to decide which turn to take. "And do you have anything to say about this?" Rarity said to him. "What?" "You know," "You ponies were back there?" Rarity hesitated, "Yes," "I say that it's none of anyone's business," Applejack was very annoyed and infuriated by now. "Well its our business now, too. What's really going on between you and the-" Her lips were twisted by Discord's paw, as he did not want that sentence to be finished at all. He tied them together like a balloon. "Oh look- the exit, now off you ponies go," he shoved the ponies out of the labyrinth and disappeared. Celestia sauntered over to her bed. She collapsed on it, tears streaming down her face. Big girls don't cry, Big girls don't cry she kept whispering to herself, but it only made her cry even more. Luna had really hurt her feelings in the labyrinth. She made a point, though. How would the relationship affect her subjects? Discord slithered up his 'Thinking Tree' where he does his really deep thinking. It was basically his home, considering he had none. He thought about how they both knew they liked each other, yet they said nothing to each other about it. Every time they met, they just had a delightful chat. He really hated his next thought, allot, but it was a good thought. A good plan. His thoughts were interrupted when a mailbox that only appeared when he got letters shot right next to him. The only pony who sent him letters was Fluttershy, and from Fluttershy it was from. It read, You are invited To a dinner party at Fluttershy's Cottage Discord chuckled a bit when he realized it was in Haikou form, secretly. The letter was a bit more formal than her other friendly messages, so he inferred there were more guests, making him cringe. He knew it would be her pesky nosy pony friends, nosing into his business instead of theirs. When he came to thinking of it, Fluttershy hadn't been out as often as usual. This thought gave him a sense of urgency to rush over to her house. He arrived early as usual to any of his visits because he hated the feeling when he enters a room already occupied. All the ponies glancing at him would always make him nervous. "I'm so glad you could come!" Fluttershy greeted him as she trotted out of her kitchen. She looked way different than before because of her messy bun that pulled back her mane, except for her long forelock, that was trimmed a bit shorter. There was a grey hue under her eyes, assuring she had not been out at all. Minding her state, Discord offered to set the table. "Go ahead," she urged him, going back into the kitchen. With the snap of his paw, the silverware in Fluttershy's cabinet jumped out with their new pair of legs and assembled on the table with the plates and napkins. Fluttershy was half asleep while she was making tomato soup. She rested her elbow on her counter and put her head on her hoof, slowly shutting her eyes. The knock on the door shocked her awake, as she let out a quiet shriek. She sauntered over to the door, letting her friends in. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Is something wrong?" Twilight immediately started asking Fluttershy many questions, showing concern for her friend. It was pretty obvious that she was ignoring Discord's presence because she was so annoyed of him. "Thank you so much for coming, please, have a seat," she urged them to sit at her table. "Now, I know you are all wondering why I invited you here," "Yes," Rarity murmured, glancing at Discord. Fluttershy was a bit hesitant about what she was going to say, hoping Discord and her friends knew what she meant. She tried to comprehend the situation herself over the last few days. Her mouth opened to say the words, praying in her mind that her information is correct. It was very obscure to her, due to of her absence. "As you know, Celestia has... well..., and Discord," she stuttered so much, yet it was clear what she wanted to talk about. Discord rolled his eyes. "This is really unnecessary, really," he told her. Silence broke into the room. "I for one am happy for him," Fluttershy broke the quiet. "Do you realize that at any moment, time, place, he can easily take over Equestria all over again!" Twilight argued. "And do you realize your ignorance! He's reformed, why don't you trust him as a friend? Why are you so disapproving of this!?" Discord gazed as Fluttershy defended him. Their argument went on and on, and the soup was never served due to their arguing. He slithered back to his Thinking Tree, where he does his really deep thinking, and coiled himself around a branch. After a while of thinking really deeply, he decided he needed to express his plan that he thought of earlier to Celestia. The plan that he hated so much, yet was a really good plan. He teleported himself to Canterlot, outside of the castle. His teleportation distance was limited, so this was the closest he could get without tiring himself out. He shrunk himself and teleported on top of Celestia's throne. Exactly going as planned, she was sitting in her throne going through papers. To avoid suspicion of the guards, he whispered in her ear, "Meet me in your room," Discord rode her to her room, yet again, exactly as planned. "Alright, I think I have a plan, since the garden-y meet-y thing obviously didn't go down as planned," he expanded back to original size. "Remember that one plan we had when we were little and made that big castle on the paper and had the plan and everything? Well, I know this really good place that we can get away to," "Wait, weekly or forever?" "Eh, forever I guess?" "But what about Equestria? You just expect me to vanish from my subjects?" Celestia was clearly angry. "Wouldn't you sister take into control?" "Yes but she's not ready and I cant just betray her!" "Well, you already did, about 1,000 years ago," he was talking about when she banished her sister to the moon, and that really set Celestia off, but she had nothing to say. She just had a very angry, red face. Discord was quite aggravated too, but did not know how to express it and would always unleash chaos or do something he would regret if not handled. "What about Twilight Sparkle? What would she do?" "Well she's obviously nosing in so much, she's just such a nuisance. I think you should 'punish' her for her wrongs," "Are you asking me to banish her?" "You've banished enough ponies, haven't you?" "You stop that! You can't even decide what species to be!" "That's it!" Discord was very angry by now. He tapped Celestia's head with his lion paw, causing a rapid swirling in her eyes of all sorts of colors. He teleported out of the room, leaving her with a grey hue. The RevivalDiscord stomped out of Celestia's room in bitter anger. The same words kept ringing through his head. Lesson 06 Never take out anger physically, control it. He stopped in his tracks when he realized what they were trying to say. What he was trying to saw to himself. He looked back at the bedroom door in such agony and regret. Never had he made a mistake so awful, except for once over 1,000 years ago. One would think he could easily redo it, but he never knew how to undo the spell. There was no apologizing, it was too late. His back slid down the wall. Luna trotted down the hallway, casually ignoring him sulking and face- clawing himself. She turned to open the door that was on the corner, leading to her sister's room. "Go away, Luna,," "What's wrong?" "Just leave me alone," "I need you to lower the sun," "Yeah, whatever. Do it yourself," "Yeah, but-" Celestia sauntered over to her balcony and lowered the sun, whispering "Geez, brat," Luna minded her grey hue and rushed outside to the halls. "What did you do?!" she scolded Discord, but he already escaped. She peered back into Celestia's room, and they both changed eye contact. Her sister's eyes were almost full of tears. "You were right, sister, Ponies never change," Discord slouched in his Thinking Tree, doing really deep thinking. He thought about when he snapped over 1,000 years ago, unleashing chaos through out Equestria. Many statements from Fluttershy's Lessons swirled in his head, needing of organization. Lesson 14, Accept who you are Lesson 08 Sympathy is Key Lesson 19 Express your problems to a friend, don't unleash them Upon this thought, he rushed to Fluttershy's house, as he knew she is the only pony defending him. "Fluttershy!" he sang when he entered the door, acting as his usual self as if nothing were on his mind. She slowly climbed down the staircase, taking caution due to her lack of rest. "Oh, hello, um, did you need anything?" she asked. "Yes, in fact I do, I really hope you don't mind a little chat?" Discord explained regretfully what he had done to the princess. A little bit of fear was burning inside her, that he might be blasted back to stone. She cleared her throat. "It's okay, everypony makes mistakes, did you try to fix it?" "That's the thing- I can't, I never knew how. If I ask Twilight to do her spell thingy-" Fluttershy stopped him from over-stressing himself. Lesson 26 Some ponies need to be shown a little kindness He suddenly dashed out of the room, headed towards Canterlot Castle. It was very vague in the distance, but he kept slithering through the air. When he arrived at the balcony of Celestia's room, he sprinted through the doorway into the halls and toward the throne room. Discord paused in trembling fear, gazing at the throne holding a statue. He scurried up to it, putting his claw and paw on it's cheeks. When the spell is in effect for enough time, the victim will be converted to stone. For the first time in over 1,000 years, tears started to fill his eyes. The one pony he loved and cared about was now gone, taken away from him, because of his own cruel heart. He brought himself closer to the statue, to be responded with a warmer hug back. Celestia's stone body cracked and released her upper body first, allowing her to dive in. Discord was so confused, after his brutal mistake, she was hugging him? Tears were streaming down her face as she looked up to his. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "It was dark, cold, and alone," She was apologizing for when she turned him to stone. The feeling she had when she was in the prison had given her a glimpse of what Discord had felt like for so long. Celestia looked up at him once more, and whispered, "Please get me out of here," The glass pane of arrogant colors displayed the defeat of Discord, and behind the glass was the beautiful mountain range. With her horn, she blasted the window to shreds, knowing that the path that lead was unexplored by her subjects. He slithered over to the hole where the glass used to be, looking out at the sunset she was lowering. She trotted over to the glass, too, and spread her wings, ready to jump out. Discord spread his wings as well, signaling that he was ready as well. Upon the action, she jumped out, diving down and jolting up into the sky. He leaped out, catching up with her, and led the way. The sun was still setting, very slowly. All she had done was use a spell for a moment, and the sun was already lowering instead of her completely lowering it manually. He looked at her face, which was focused on the horizon. The sunset she had created had spilled light onto her, that made her shimmer so perfectly. Discord felt something that he felt when he snapped, something intense inside of him. He realized that he had actually found somepony to be with, he was no longer alone. Discord was happy. A day after their escape, Luna was looking everywhere for her missing sister. Even after the way she treated her, she was very frantic and worried. "Tia, 'tis not funny!" she would yell repeatedly, looking through every room. Celestia had not shown up at breakfast, which is was sparked her concern. The royal guards rushed up to her. "She is not anywhere to be seen in Canterlot. Shall we search other towns?" they suggested. Luna nodded, spotting the shattered stained glass panel in the corner of her eye. She summoned parchment and a quill, ready to write Twilight Sparkle a letter. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia is missing. Please report to Canterlot at once. Princess Luna A few minutes passed before Twilight burst through the doors. "I have an idea as to where she has fled to," Luna pointed her hoof at the shattered glass, revealing a long mountain range. "Do you think we can track them down?" Twilight asked, she nodded in return. "But, we cannot go alone. Should we bring some of the Royal Guards along?" Luna suggested. "I think I have a better plan besides going ourselves. Discord has done many wrongs towards all of Equestria. I believe it is time for it to end," Twilight had been fed up with him for a very long time, and now with what was going on, she was even eager to let him die, literally. "I know a pony," she leaned in to whisper, keeping what she was about to say even more secretive. "They are highly skilled and trained to get certain jobs done," "Are you suggesting we..." Luna remembered the tears rolling down her sister's face when she saw the unholy chaos spread through out her land over 1,000 years ago. They both felt so betrayed and lied to. Twilight's suggestion might just be what his punishment should be instead of stone prison, sadly. She looked up into Luna's regretful eyes, reluctantly agreeing to her plan. Twilight was doubtful of her own plan, as well. She remembered the time he tricked her that he was sick, making her go to the end of Equestria to test her friendship. Now some friend she was, she thought, but it was necessary, to protect all of Equestria and her former Teacher and Mentor. The RejectionA few days had passed since Celestia's disappearance. She had ran away with her one true love, and built a lovely, small castle for them to live in, with no disruptions. No responsibilities, no chores, no duties. Just them, happy, and alone, together. However, the other sister abandoned to lead the kingdom had every duty she could imagine. 3 days after her disappearance, a guard burst through the doors of the castle. "Princess Luna!" he yelped. "Sir?" she replied. "The riots are even worse, more groups of hoof fighting are breaking out," Luna paused for a moment, then trudged to the balcony. She awed upon the crowd of hundreds of angry ponies, complaining and ranting about the princesse's disappearance. Her hoof was lifted up in the air in attempt to calm the crowd, but none payed attention, and just kept arguing. Parchment and pen hovered over to Luna with her magic. She wrote a letter to the only other princess possible of helping. Twilight Sparkle, Please report to Canterlot Castle at once. Princess Luna She teleported it to Twilight's library, hoping she would respond. A few minutes later, Twilight landed on the balcony and walked into the main hall to greet Luna. She walked up to her, and Luna turned around, noticing her arrival. "You said you know a pony?" "Yes, should I contact them now? It's really bad out there," Luna nodded hesitantly. Discord halted at a beautiful cliffside with a small waterfall on the side. He glided over to a shelf in the cliff, and Celestia followed. They were both very tired from their flight, so they lye down together. She leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder, his coat was surprisingly soft. They both gazed at the horizon for a bit. Discord looked over at Celestia, who was fast asleep. He lifted his claw, and a hue of yellow grazed over it. Boards of wood started coming up from the grass, as if the grass were turning into the board. The boards started building a structure, a small house on the side of the cliff in front of a cave. About thirty minutes later, a beautiful house was set upon the horizon. It was very small, instead of the big castle they both had planned to build when they were little. He glided over to the house, slithered through the front door, and set her on an enormous bed. Discord caught himself staring at her for a few minutes, then got in the bed and shut the lights off with a snap of his paw. Luna was tossing and turning in her bed that night. She was trying her best to infiltrate her sister's dreams. After about an hour, she started seeing obscure images of a tall white alicorn. It was definitely her sister, her target 'victim' for that night's shift. Celestia seemed to be watching a field from a cliffside. The horizon she was gazing upon was just all sorts of grasses and flowers. Luna was very confused, but refrained from interrupting. Instead, she walked up next to her sister after preforming an invisibility spell on herself. She looked over the balcony, and saw a small, white filly similar to her sister chasing a brown, snake like figure. It was very clear who the two were. The two seemed quite far from their home castle. Luna looked up at her sister, who had a big smile on her face seeing the two play. Suddenly, the breeze that had been rushing over them had gotten stronger, pulling clouds such a dark grey they almost seemed black over upon the land. Soon, one drop landed on Luna's muzzle. Then, thousands of heavy drops of water poured down on them, but they were not getting wet at all. The fillies rushed for safety under a hollowed out tree. They seemed to not care if they were too squished or touching each other. The projected imagery started fading away, so Luna had to quickly use the time she had. She cleansed herself of the spell with her magic and looked upon her sister, who was fidgeting a little. "Sister," Celestia looked down on her sister. "Why'd you have to go?" The dream faded away. "Twilight, you've been at this for hours! It's hopeless!" "Spike," Twilight looked up from her book and gazed at spike with her dreary eyes. "The ruler of all the land has escaped with the lord of all things chaotic. Am I supposed to just continue sitting on the couch all day and do nothing?" "The Wonderbolts are preforming tomorrow, you'd better-" "Wonderbolts!" she bolted up from her pile of books, startling Rarity, who had been sleeping on a neat pile of scrolls. "We must get help from Rainbow Dash, she'll know what to do!" "Yeah!" Applejack lifted her hat onto her head from onto her face. "I would also be nice to see Rainbow once again. Never see her this time 'round," "Alright, Since the storm outside is pretty bad, why don't you ponies stay here for the night," Spike suggested, minding Rarity. "Yes, Yes! Perfect! Just like that one time where Applejack and I had the hardest of times getting along!" Rarity agreed. Applejack chuckled a little remembering the night. She looked up at the window next to Twilight's bed, and remembered the tree that had burst through the window. This made her chuckle even more. "We have no time to clean up this mess, it's 11:00 PM and we need sleep," Twilight suggested, however, the other poneis in the room had just resumed the rest they were having when she was looking for a way to rescue the princess. She shut her eyes and put her head on an open article on Starswirl the Bearded's ultra teleportation spells. She was going to see her very old friend tomorrow. "Rainbow," she whispered "We'll meet again," Zip! A flash of a cloud zoomed by. Bam! Another cloud followed. Crash! A streak of rainbow shot by them. It was Rainbow Dash for sure! The three ponies and the dragon screamed at the top of their lungs, cheering for Rainbow Dash. The fliers lined up side by side, and looped through obstacles and hoops. Spitfire and Soaring, the fliers leaving the cloud trail, split off from the alignment, leaving Rainbow to preform a Sonic Rainboom, her signature move. And array of every color burst through the air. The crown roared along with the 4 friends cheering for her. She landed safely, along with the 2 other fliers on her team. They gave each other hoof-bumps and started trotting off the runway for some water to cool down from their performance. "Rainbow!" Rarity hollered, trotting towards her along with the rest of her friends. Rainbow's face lit up, and she started rushing towards them to give them the biggest hug she could give. They squeezed each other when they met very hard. "Oh my gosh! It's been so long since I've seen you guys!" she exclaimed. "Rainbow, we really need to talk to you in private," Applejack said. "What for?" she was pulled into her dressing room instead of having her question answered. "Discord and Celestia were caught meeting up in the labyrinth." Rarity said. "They are certainly in love, but this is a real harm to Equestria, Discord could turn and spread chaos through out the land. Also, Celestia could be distracted from her royal duties!" Twilight was very panicked to get the news to her friend. "Now, the princess is missing, and she's obviously ran away with Discord!" Applejack finished. "So you're telling me you want to stop Discord and Celestia from being in love?" Rainbow was almost mad at them. "Yes!" Rarity shouted, causing a disruption through out the hallway. "You're telling me you want to stop Discord from being happy, also Celestia?" Applejack hesitantly said, "Yes," "I leave for about 8 months and you all can't be loyal to your own princess, friend, or yourselves. Have you even thought about how instead it it affecting Celestia instead of you?" Rainbow turned away without letting them answer. She was very upset at them now. She trotted off and joined the other Wonderbolts for a drink. Twilight looked at Rarity, who was looking at Applejack who was gazing deeply towards the floor. Had they really humiliated themselves this way? Had they really only been thinking about themselves? There were so many questions swirling through out their minds. Twilight was almost sobbing, she had brutally sent a killer, an executer after Discord for a crime he never meant to commit, a crime that should never be punished for. Celestia slowly opened her eyes. She was on an enormous bed, that came from... where? Where was she? She looked out the window and saw the cliffside she had fallen asleep on. A door was on the other side of the bedroom, so she went through it. As soon as she stepped out, the hall that seemed to have been waiting for her suddenly shifted, bringing her to a long table. The smell of delicious eggs and pancakes filled her nostrils. Suddenly, she was sat down at a throne- like chair with a very tall backrest. She sat there for a second, just staring all around the room. Luna was alone at the castle she thought. she must've raisen the sun today she told herself. "Have a good night's rest, huh?" Discord was making very deformed pancakes, eyeing Celestia's unmanaged hair. She was just silent, confused, but silent. Not in an angrily way at all, she just wanted an explanation. "Formations!" a white, muscular stallion screamed at a large crown of armed soldiers. All of them lined up immediately upon his command. "We are beginning our 37th expedition beyond Canterlot! Be ready for a very long journey! This stallion will be executing the target criminal! Follow any of his commands!" "Yes Sir!" the crowd hollered in unison. It was as if they all had the same voice. "Formations!" they all lined up, once again following the general's commands. The Home"Twilight Sparkle!" Luna addressed the pony who just bursted through the doors along with her friends. "The fleet just left," Luna told the group. "We need to stop it now- we've made a huge mistake!" Twilight let out, catching her breath. "How so? We're technically saving Equestria here. Why stop it?" "Have we ever stopped to think how happy Celestia could be with him?" "I-" she paused for a moment in shock. How could she had been so foolish? She sat for a moment to think about what has happened over the last few months in general. She has let her opinions and emotions be toyed around by all the things she's heard instead of proved herself. It was up to Luna, Twilight, and her friends to stop the fleet. From taking away Celestia's one key to happiness. From taking away Discord's one key to happiness. Luna ran over to the mirror that was still shattered from her sister's escape. Twilight and her friends followed, but Applejack stopped midway. "Hold on, who's goin' to watch over Equestria while you two are gone?" she asked. Twilight and Luna just stopped themselves from leaping out the window, but looked at Rarity, Applejack, and Spike, telling them they know the answer. They had to watch over Equestria. And with that, the two alicorns leaped out the window, headed towards the mountainside. "You going to eat that?" Discord pointed at Celestia's plate. Only crumbs were left and two strips of bacon. "My bad-" with the click of his claws, the bacon disappeared. "I forgot ponies are herbivores," "I don't blame you, I forgot Draconequui were carnivores," she pointed at the two pieces of bacon that had appeared on Discord's plate. After a few minutes of silence, she looked down at the table. Her plate had disappeared. "Let's have a little tour, shall we?" Discord teleported right next to Celestia. The hallway shifted rapidly, stopping at every room in the house, naming them. "Room, room, room, room, washroom, room, bedroom," there were many extra rooms, most likely to fill up space. The hallway shifted very quickly to a door with many windows on it. The door was practically a window itself. He motioned her to open it, so she slip it open and stepped outside. A beautiful balcony was set up with the most beautiful view of the cliffside. She walked up to the railings and peered over the side. A sandy beach stretched across the horizon as well as a beautiful ocean. "Discord, I... I don't know what to say... this is.. amazing!" Celestia turned around and squeezed him, startling him as well. Discord was happy, enlightened, every single positive emotion swirled through him. What was it, what was this? He was happy, and in love. "Fluttershy!" Rarity jumped to see Fluttershy burst through the doors of the castle. "Where's Discord?!" she yelped, not bothering to greet them at all. She was obviously in some hurry. Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances, neither of them wanted to explain the bad news to her. "Where is he!?" she said, more sternly. "Gone, with the princess, they both ran away, we're pretty sure they ran away together. Twilight and Luna might've accidentally sent a fleet to capture the princess back and possibly.." Applejack dared to finish the sentence. Fluttershy's face had the sign of fear spilled all over it. "What are they going to do?" Fluttershy was looking down at the floor. When the words left her lips, she looked up at them both with such fear, hate, sorrow, any emotion they could think of. "Where did they go?" this question was easy for them to answer, yet they only pointed to the shattered glass. "Where are you going?" Rarity asked when she unfolded her wings. She just ignored her and jumped out, gliding towards the mountainside and heading towards the fleet. Twilight was behind Luna by quite a distance. "You alright?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm just thinking again," she replied, catching up. "I've let my opinions be toggled around by because of the thing's I'm telling myself, the things that I force myself to believe," "I, too feel that. I've let my emotions changed because of what I've heard. To be honest, at your coronation, I saw it as just a replacement for me. If she departed, you would become the first in command instead of me. I saw it as my sister putting you up higher than me, if you don't mind me saying. I thought if she knew you were smart and knew what to do, most likely more reliable than I, then I should follow that too," "I guess we've both made our final decisions, then," Twilight chuckled. "I've settled that Discord must be executed for his crimes once and for all, I'm going to support the fleet," Luna was mad inside, but couldn't let herself rage on her. She had to keep calm, physicalness would only make it worse. "You're decision is wrong. He should have the right to love, even if it is my sister," she sternly said. "Ponies do change, but some can't change back," she was referencing Twilight's decision, which told her that she had turned into a monster. She split off upon the words, and headed towards the fleet from a different way. "We need to capture the target and bring them back to Canterlot. The environment is too unusual," the designated murderer told the general, who was at his side. "We have the equipment just for any occasion, therefore we are prepared," he responded. A house rose on the horizon. It was small, and on the edge of a cliff. This was their destination. "Men, surround the area!" the general commanded, and the army did so. He picked out five of the extra men to come with him and the assassin to get inside.
IntroductionIt was a normal day for Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "Y'know, y'all, I think we deserved this mighty fine picnic," AppleJack stated, unraveling the apple tarts from her picnic basket. "Yes, I agree, AppleJack, We just have not been able to have alone time with each other lately," Rarity said, curling her elegant purple mane. "Yeah! Especially with me going to the Crystal Empire with the Cakes! D'aw, I'll miss you guys so much," Pinkie lay down in the lush, green grass. "Also, with Rainbow Dash in the Wonderbolts, we'll never see her again!" she exclaimed. "Pinkie, don't be ridiculous of course I'll be around, but just not as much," Everypony turned around and stared at the blue pegasus gliding gracefully towards them. "I'm just glad we all are alone, together," Twilight let out a deep sigh. "Ooh! Ooh! I'd know that anywhere! It's an oxymoron!" Pinkie jumped up and down. Fluttershy trotted up the hill and lay down with her bunny, Angel. "O- oxymor-" "It's a fantabulously-fantastic-amazingly-super-awesome phrase made of 2 words that are total opposites but make actual sense!" Pinkie interrupted the stuttering yellow pegasus. "Sorry I'm late, everypony," Fluttershy apologized. "Are things with Discord okay?" Rarity asked "Yeah, don't forget that if he gives you a hard time, I'll be right over there and putting them up!" Rainbow Dash waved her hooves in the air like fists. "Everything is just fine girls. Discord is actually out on his own, and fully reformed," she let out a sigh followed by a small smile. AppleJack dug into her apple tarts and set them on the red and white picnic blanket Twilight set out. "You sure he's got it all under control, hun?" She stared at Fluttershy, raising an eyebrow. "Everything is totally fine, girls. In fact, you would never tell that he took over Equestria and put it into a state of chaos and disrest!" everypony started at her for a good moment. "Sounds pretty reformed to me," Twilight chuckled. Everypony let out a good laugh. Suddenly, Rarity let out a wailing gasp. "Don't tell me- I packed twelve plates! This is THE- WORST- POSSIBLE- THING!" "Ha! That reminds me of that one time we got invited to the wedding!" Pinkie shouted. The six ponies took a moment for a flashback. Meanwhile, in the Castle of the Royal Sisters deep in the Everfree Forest.... A tall, white alicorn with flowing hair of a hue of beautiful colors stepped cautiously into the site. She wore a beautiful neck piece and an elegant golden crown. Her sun cutie mark could be recognized across the land. She looked around at the building, as her former student and her friends had fixed stunningly well. The princess looked at all the tapestries hung from the walls, and remembered them from her childhood. Celestia stopped and glanced at one of the tapestries. It centered around the pony staring around it, as the one next to it showed her sister. She took a closer look in the background of rolling hills and noticed a small draconaquus in the background... dancing? "Discord!" Celestia shrieked. "What are you doing here?" she knew that she did not fully trust Discord yet, and so did he, too. "Tst, tsk, 'Tia!'" he teased. "What good is there in a bitter friendship?" He ran his eagle claw down her cheek just as tauntingly as he did with her student Twilight Sparkle before torturing them in a labyrinth. "Why are you here!" she demanded with more anger, scaring the draconaquus. Things suddenly took a serious turn for a moment. "Calm down, 'Tia-" he noticed her torturing glare. "I simply came to ask a question,and this is important." Discord paused to reassure her attention. "What do you want with me," he asked. "What do you mean?" "You told your pony friends to 'reform' me. What do you want with me?" she hesitated for a moment, then snapped "Simply because I believe your magic could be used for good instead of wrong," "Really?" he countered her with a glare. "Yes," They locked eyes for a moment. "Alrighty then," He slithered off. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity waved their hooves as they watched pinkie's train roll out of the station. "Have 'Yer self a good time!" Applejack hollered. Pinkie waved back from the train car through an open window, letting plenty of balloons spill out into the air. "Hey, you come back here!" She screamed to the balloons. "I feel kinda bad for Fluttershy, to be honest" Applejack said "She hasn't really been out since a week ago," "She's probably just very tired. Maybe some of her animals are giving her a hard time," Rarity remarked. "We should go give her a visit," Twilight trotted toward her cottage. Fluttershy was humming "Hush now, quiet now" while tendering to her birds. "Fluttershy!" She heard a familiar voice from outside. Suddenly, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight burst through the door. "Oh hi girls, sorry I couldn't make it to the station. I was... um..," she hesitated for a moment. Suddenly a few seconds later she burst out, "I was treating.... um... Angel, yes, Angel needs his.... eh... greens," "For the past week?" Rarity questioned. "Yes, he is um...," it was too late, for her bunny standing behind her was shaking his head in disapproval. "Oh fine!" she cried out, "I was spending my time thinking about everything!" "Everything?" Twilight looked at her in confusion. "You know, how you girls don't completely trust Discord, How he'll do out on his own, what will we do to protect ourselves without the elements, and ho-" Applejack put a hoof to the scattered, poor pegasus. "Don't tangle ya' self up, hun. We all get that you've been stressed lately and it's our duty to help you relax now," Applejack's words seemed to have brightened Fluttershy's face. After a delicious meal of tea and apple pie while talking to her friends about her problems, Fluttershy was collected again. "Thank you so much, girls. I really needed that conversation," "Just remember we'll always be there," Rarity commented.
The GardenEverything was silent except for one mare's trotting. She was waiting. Waiting for something at the Labyrinth. She didn't know what she was waiting for, but she was waiting for it. Twilight's horn glowed a hue of different colors. She was testing a spell on Rarity, one that would turn a pony into an in-animate object. Sure, she was scared. What if she couldn't turn her friend back and loose her forever? "Now Rarity," Applejack teased, "Don't you go braggin' 'bout yer new form," Everypony chuckled, but Rarity was silenced as a rainbow was curling around her. Suddenly, a burst of colors spilled and a diamond dropped to the ground. Applejack was biting her lip and shifting her hooves frantically. The same thoughts were going through her head: Will she have her friend back? She shook them off quickly and tried not to think about it. Twilight collapsed to the ground, gazing at the diamond she had left. She was so exhausted she could barely lift herself up. Now how was she going to transform Rarity back. Soon, all these thoughts flowed through her head. Some were of when Rarity took them to Manehattan, and some where when she made dresses for them. Then more thoughts flew in her head. What would she do without Rarity? Just when she started to tear up a bit, she heard footsteps. She wiped her eyes and looked at Applejack, who was right next to her trying to help her up. Wait, footsteps? No, these were hoof- and claw- steps. Only one pony- or- being came to mind. Discord. Applejack successfully helped her up, but didn't dare to request Rarity's revival. She knew her friend was over- exhausted. Twilight just ran over to the bushes, and remembered, Canterlot Gardens. We're in them. We're in the Canterlot Gardens. She tried to peek through the bush and saw a snake- like body. That's definitely Discord she thought, but what is he doing in the Gardens? She ignored the questions ravaging through her head and remembered Rarity. "Discord!" Twilight leaped through the bushes. He leaped through the air and splashed the princess with chocolate milk. She just stood there, waiting for him to dry her off, and so he did with a snap of his claws. "Jeez, Twilight, no reason to be such a jumper," she looked at her body witch was draped in black cloth. In her hoof, she was holding a long reaper cane with a picture of her face on the end of the handle. "Discord!" she yelped, shaking off the clothes. "Why are you h-" she stopped herself, and recollected herself. Hey, He's 'reformed', maybe he can help me with Rarity she told herself. "Alright, Discord, I know this is all of the sudden, but I-" "Accidentally turned your pony friend into a diamond?" he had finished her sentence so fluently. "How did you-" Discord burst out in laughter. "Oh, you actually turned her into a diamond? Priceless!" "Discord!" "This is an actual crisis! I don't know how to turn her back- and if I could, then I wouldn't be able to because my powers are basically sapped!" "Twilight!" Applejack leapt out of the bushes. "I-" she paused to get a look at the draconequus. Funny, how she hadn't seen him in a while. "So, can you please do this for us?" Twilight folded her hooves. That's when it struck him. He had to go the the labyrinth. He just had to. Discord bit his lip, he found himself very frantic and nervous, but why? He remembered the pony asking him for help. He could tell she was very desperate. He peered over the bushes with his long snake- like body. In the grass lay a diamond. 10 karat he presumed. "Oh, um.... sorry Twilight," He touched the tip of her horn with his lion paw and teleported to the left of the pathway of hedges. "I've got some important, eh, things to catch up on, like maybe bragging to the statues in the garden. You should give it a try, princess," he dashed off towards the labyrinth. "Discord!" Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. "Applejack, get the diamond," she ordered her friend, who immediately jumped through the bushes. Twilight started running after Discord, who was now gliding swiftly through the air in panic, as he knew that pony was chasing after him. Applejack jumped through the hedges and joined Twilight in her chase. "Got the gem?" she asked her partner- in- chase. Applejack lifted her hat and showed her a dazzling diamond. Suddenly, Applejack and Twilight stopped at a 3- way turn. Discord had let them into the labyrinth. Was it on purpose, they shared thoughts. "Twi, ya okay to fly up and lead the way?" Applejack trusted Twilight heavily right now, and was holding back all the horrible thoughts about not having Rarity back. "I'll try," she responded with an eager nod. She tried her best to lift herself off the ground, and so she did. She looked down at Applejack, and they locked eyes for a moment to approve their attention. Applejack was perfectly following the pony above her head. Left, right, right, middle, left, middle she was as concentrated as she could imagine, trying to keep up. Suddenly, Twilight glided to the ground towards Applejack. "Come look at this," she told her. "Sorry to pop 'yer bubble, but isn't bad to spy on the princess?" Applejack knew what was going on because she could see Princess Celestia faintly through the hedge. "Applejack, this is serious. Don't you see someone else there?" she pointed at what looked like a tree to her, but with Twilight now pointing it out, Applejack had to sit down and look at it for a while. The Princess and Discord were talking- but very seriously. "Oh princess, how terrible for you!" Discord mocked Celestia, fluttering his fake eyelashes. "Discord! Stop this immediately!" she demanded. She was more aggravated this time, and very annoyed at his actions. Discord noticed this, and calmed down. "Look, just because we grew up together doesn't mean you can just keep messing with me like this," Celestia's words seemed to had aggravated him, allot. He did not like it when she talked about their past, it seemed. "Pinkie! Concentrate!" The Cakes were at the station, gathering their luggage. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm here again! It's been so loo~ong!" Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down in excitement. It was true, she hadn't been to the Crystal Empire in a very long time, Neither did her friends. When they got to their rented Crystal House, Pinkie immediately pulled out a blue and pink cannon. "This place is so~oo dul," she complained, pulling the string to her cannon and setting it off. Streamers spilled into the air along with balloons and party knick-knacks. "Pinkie!" the Cakes squealed in unison, growling at her. "Heh...heh.... sorry," Pinkie was still very excited for their oncoming trip.
The Past"Crystal Cake Competition, Cis..tal...," Pinkie was blurting the title of the competition tens times fast, it seemed, as she saw it as a tongue- twister. The Cakes gasped in awe as they stared at the competition. Pastries towered high, glazed with frostings and sprinkles and other goods they had never seen. The Cakes stole a glance over to Pinkie Pie, who was now trying to say "Crystal Cake Competition" ten times fast again. After about an hour of Celestia and Discord's 'arguing', Twilight and Applejack leaped out of the bushes after Discord teleported away. The princess wailed in shock, and prepared her magic for battle, only to see it was her former student. "Oh, Twilight, a pleasure to see you. How are your studies going?" she asked her. Twilight was about to open her mouth to ask what she was doing with Discord, then she thought about how the princess would react to her spying on her. "I was trying a spell and turned my friend Rarity into a diamond, and I don't know how to turn her back! Celestia glanced at the diamond under Applejacks hat. After some hesitation, her horn glowed all sorts of colors. Soon, her horn burst in a hue of colors. After the flash, Rarity was sitting atop Applejacks head, causing them to collapse. Rarity and her friends were back at Ponyville, in Fluttershy's cottage, explaining what happened to Rarity. "Thank Celestia I was a beautiful diamond!" Rarity shrieked. "Thank Celestia you're still a pony," Applejack commented, followed by laughter from all the girls. Twilight had mentioned the 'thing' with Discord and Celestia in the gardens. "I think you girls should be happy for him, making friends and all..," Fluttershy seemed upset that Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight were so skeptical with Discord and Celestia's relationship. "But Fluttershy," Twilight said, "If this relationship goes on, don't you think the princess with get distracted from raising the sun every day?" "And don't forget, darling, he did make us all act so horribl-" Fluttershy pounded the table, silencing Rarity. "Then what, expect him to have no relationship with anypony at all? He's been alone for eons, don't you think he needs someone?" The room was silenced. Fluttershy's words stung them a speck. Maybe she was right, maybe he was lonely and needs somepony? Somepony who grew up with him? That night, all Celestia could think of was her chat with Discord in the gardens. She couldn't get this strange feeling out of her head, she could not explain it. As her sister rose the moon, she rest in her large bed. "Tag! You're it!" What was she dreaming of? "No fair! You can't tag my hair!" That's it. She was dreaming about her childhood with Discord. It seemed she was watching over her young self, playing with her sister. Her young self ran across the rolling hills, and stopped at a big, dark forest. Everfree forest, she presumed, in it's early state of growth. Her younger sister was still looking for her with her eyes shut. Young Celestia looked up at the towering branches of the trees. She giggled at one of the branches with a snake tail. "What's so funny?" the branch slithered down the tree. "I thought you were a branch," Celestia was not scared of the draconequus at all. "Why are you so funny looking?" the filly asked. Celestia, who was watching over them, seemed to have gasped at the rude comment, but kept watching as the young draconequus was not offended at all. "Why are you so pretty?" he asked in return. Young Celestia didn't quite take it as a compliment, more of just a normal question, witch didn't hurt her or change her feelings at all. The pony watching over them remembered how she did not understand many things when she was young. "I guess it's because my hair is pink," she responded, "...or maybe because you look funny but pretty too, and pretty ponies think other ponies are pretty too," she remembered what she was talking to, and quickly fixed her mistake. "Oh, erm... I meant, um... pretty things think other things are pretty too," They both giggled a little. "Starswirl!" her sister shrieked in the background. She had completely forgot about her beloved sister she was playing with. "Bearded!" she yelled in return. Celestia had no hesitation letting Luna meet her new friend. Tumbling down the hill came her sister, who touched Celestia and screamed, "Taa~ag! Now you're it, Tia!" Luna opened her eyes and looked up at the short snake-like figure up in the tree. "You look funny," she commented, pointing at him. All they did was giggle a bit. Only then, Luna realized that Celestia and him were already kind of close, only then she chanted, "Tia and Mister sitting in a tree! "Luna!" Celestia was annoyed at her little sister. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" "Lu~na! Gross," she started tackling her little sister. Luna peeked out from under Celestia's hoof that was holding her down playfully and saw the sun setting a small amount. "Tia! Mommy's going to raise the moon!" she squealed in excitement. Immediately, they rose up and ran up the hill. Tia stopped and looked back at the funny thing she had had an amazing time talking with. "Tomorrow?" she asked "Tomorrow," he replied. Tia chuckled and ran up the hill with her sister. "See the beautiful gems up there?" A beautiful, orange pony held Luna up to her chest. "Those are the stars. Every night, I will add a star up there so when you grow up you can raise them and remember when you were just a young filly," her mother nuzzled her ear. "Do you really think someday I will raise the stars and moon like you?" Luna asked. "I know so," she replied. Celestia woke up in her bed, present day. She was no longer dreaming, or remembering, or whatever the hay she saw, but she knew she dreamt it for a reason. She went down the spiraling staircase to the diner hall. As she took some milk from the chef ponies, she spotted Luna. With her plate and milk, she slowly trotted towards in an orderly fashioned way. "Had a good rest?" she asked her, noticing the grey under her eyes. "Yeah, lots of stars to raise, and I couldn't go to sleep, stuff like that," "I could help you raise the stars tonight if you want," "No, no, no, no, unnecessary, unneeded, no, please, thank you, sorry, no please. I got it, a~all under control, yup. Me, being controlling and unneeded of assistance," Luna seemed disrested at the thought of her sister helping her, maybe wanting to prove she can be as powerful as herself. "You did a beautiful job on the constellations last night," Celestia commented under her breath, hoping her sister heard her while grabbing eggs with her magic. "Thanks," Luna muttered back. Discord could not sleep that night before either. He could only think about his conversation with Celestia in the gardens that day. Surprisingly, he thought more about Celestia than the actual conversation. So, that morning, he flew down to Fluttershy's Cottage and barged right in, interrupting Fluttershy who was feeding her rabbits and squirrels. "Oh, Discord, hello," she was kind of confused to see him right at the moment- especially in this time of morning. "Fluttershy, we're still go~od friends, right?" "Well, wait, still?Yeah of course but wha-" "Good, now, go~od friends keep secrets, right?" "Right but," "Now of course, good friends give good advice to very good friends, right?" "ri-" "Right, of course, now as a good friend, I trust you for advice," "Discord what are you-" he pinched her lips. "Now to kick off the conversation-" he snapped his claws, summoning a long couch and a small chair to look like a therapy session. Discord hovered right into the long couch and put Fluttershy in the chair, giving her a clipboard and pen. "Discord I-" "Now Fluttershy, I need very good advice from the pony I trust," he looked up at her. "I know you should be asking the questions here- but let me just ask you one thing," "Yes?" Fluttershy responded. She had decided to just roll with whatever he was talking about and be a good, supportive friend for him. "Have you ever had a crush on maybe a special somepony?"
Fun with Royalty"Well I...," This was a hard question for Fluttershy. She never really thought about a love interest in her future. "I never really thought of a partner, really," Discord was confused. He thought he had overheard her whispering to her bunny about it. She noticed the puzzled look on his face. "I'd rather not talk about that, I'm sorry," she slid off the couch. "Seem's fair," he muttered to himself. "Psst," "What?" "Pssst," "What?" "Psssssssssst," "Luna, what do you want!" It was clear Celestia was dreaming about the past again. "Wake up please," She rose from under the blanket. She wasn't dreaming anymore, in fact, she had not been dreaming at all, actually. "You keep sleeping in, sister," Luna told her, looking down to the floor. "Oh," Celestia glanced up at the bright morning sky. "So you rose the sun this morning?" Luna hesitantly nodded. "My, you might raise the sun better than me," Celestia snorted. At breakfast, she sat down at the table and poked at her food. Luna was not there, and she probably knew why. Suddenly, the door burst open, blinding light spilling throughout the room. The figure of her sister cast a big shadow. Luna was wearing her tiara, necklace, and shoes, obviously being way too big for her. This made them both try to hold back their outburst in laughter as hard as they could. Luna stomped over to the table, trying to keep on the shoes. She sat down in the chair across from her sister. "I like your getup," she giggled. "I'm menacing because I'm going to take over your kingdom so I should wear.. wear.," the sisters exploded with laughter. After they calmed down, Celestia summoned Luna's shoes, crown, and necklace. As expected, she put them on her body, leaving the necklace out because it was so small. She tip-hooved out of her chair to maintain a good balance in Luna's tiny shoes. "I know what you dreamt about last night," she whispered. They both fell over in laughter. Discord slouched in his thinking tree, where he does his "REALLY DEEP thinking", And what he was thinking about in it was deep alright, At least for him. "Does she like me back? WOULD anypony like me in general?" Many thoughts swirled through his mind, as usual in his thinking tree. Suddenly, a terrible thought hit him. He knew he would regret it forever if somepony were to find out, but he relied on the fact nopony would know. After all, he was the Master of Chaos, and the Master of Keeping Secrets. In fact, He was so well mastered at keeping secrets nopony knew he was also the Master of Keeping Secrets. With a snap of his eagle claws, he was invisible, and in Celestia's room. He waved his paw in from of Celestia's face to make sure he was completely unseeable. She did not even flinch, but he noticed that she was pulling out a crumbled scroll out of her vanity drawer. It was very crumbled up and soggy, seemed as if it was over one thousand years old. When he took a second look, he realized, it was, and more familiar than anything. Has it really been that long? Discord thought to himself. He stared at the castle on the paper. It had been drawn in filly's colored quills. It had 3 towers with cotton candy clouds on top. That's not how I remember it... he thought, until Celestia turned the paper upside-down. Draconequui had brilliant memory capabilities, however, Discord wished he hadn't. He hated every single bit of his past, and every essence of it's existence. However, he felt a tingling inside him telling him not to regret it. Until, he realized the time and teleported himself to the center of the Canterlot Labyrinth. As did the mare he was "spying" on. "Ready, set, GO!" the announcer blasted into the microphone. Pinkie pie dashed to the table in the center of the field, grabbing all the necessary tools needed to make pastries of any kind. She zipped back to a table in the southwest corner of the circle of arranged tables. Mrs. Cake started swirling the batter in the bowl tumbling around in their hooves, and Mr. Cake gawked at the competition. Unicorn, Unicorn, Unicorn he counted all of the ponies. "Start pre-heating the oven!" Mrs. Cake screamed, bringing him back to his attention. "Right!" he responded immediately, turning up the oven heat. She kept mixing the contents in the bowl, trying her best not to spill it, but also stirring it very fast. "I got this, make the 2nd layer!" Pinkie grasped the bowl out of her hands and started mixing faster than anypony in the competition. Mrs. Cake grabbed food items and threw them into the bowl, mixing the items as she did with the last bowl. Mr. Cake started to make the 3rd layer, doing the same as the other ponies on his team. After a minute or so, they poured their mixtures into circular pans and put them in the oven. "Two minutes is the fastest I can go," Mrs. Cake shouted as he set the oven timer. "Good, now let's plan that cake!" Pinkie shrieked as they pulled out a big blue poster and a white quill and scribbled away. "Twilight, I believe you needed me?" Luna stepped into Twilight Sparkle's library. "Yes, thank you for coming," Twilight stepped down her stairs into the main room. "I have come to a concern about your sister that I would like to consult you about," she said, offering a seat to her when they stepped into her kitchen. "Yeah, I've been having concerns about her myself," Noticing her state of comfort, Twilight stopped herself from being any furthermore overly formal. "Would you like something to eat first? Spike made nachos," Spike stepped into the room with a plate of chips and salsa in his hand. They were prepared very nicely and must've required much effort for him. "I'm alright, thanks," Spike groaned and went upstairs, eating some chips. "Alright, Luna, about a week ago in the Canterlot Labyrinth, My friends Rarity and Applejack were helping me with the transforming spell. Rarity volunteered to be the pony to be turned into an in-animate object. The spell, however, succeeded, but it exhausted me more than I thought. I couldn't turn Rarity back into a pony form- and to be honest- didn't quite know how, being so exited to try the spell out. Then, at what I thought was the perfect time that Discord walked by, I flew over to him," Luna raised an eyebrow at the thought of Discord being in the Labyrinth. He would never go there if it weren't for a reason. "Strange of himself to be in the Labyrinth," she said. "Then," Twilight continued, "He said he really needed to go, so Applejack and I chased after him through the maze until he got to the center. I'm sure he thought he lost us, so we hid behind the hedges and spied on him out of suspicion," Twilight's expression on her face was more serious. "In the center was your sister, Waiting for him. Just when Twilight said those words, everything seemed to happen at once. The oven made a Ding! sound. Luna stopped and tried to inhale the words. and Celestia was, in fact, waiting for him.
The TruthLuna stepped out over the chair and stared at the floor. It does kind of make sense she thought to herself while simultaneously thinking of their past. She quickly turned to Twilight when a thought shot her mind. "They've been planning meetings in the labyrinth from what I presume. Celestia's been away every same day at the same time," she said. "We need to get to get to Canterlot Labyrinth Center, now," They burst out the window, flying towards Canterlot. "We'll make a landing in Canterlot before so they don't see us, but get there as fast as we can. I remember the maze perfectly, we'll make it through just fine," Luna was as serious as Twilight now, and they both were going very fast. Spike jumped up onto the window sill. "I'll get Rarity and Applejack!" he shouted from the top of his dragon lungs. Twilight nodded back in understanding. They landed in the city safely on a busy street full of high- class ponies. The Labyrinth was on the other side of the city where they were, so they dashed through the crowds as the ponies were greeting the princesses. They stopped at the train station to catch a breath after a fair 5 minutes of running. Luna looked up, and noticed Twilights friends, and nudged her shoulder when their faces peeked through the smoke of the train. "Girls!" Twilight shrieked, "We need to get back to the center of the labyrinth, ASAP!" Rarity stopped her from saying anymore, considering her state of unrest. "Spike told us the whole thing, we understand the emergency!" Applejack nodded as she was speaking. They all ran to the labyrinth, and finally arrived. Luna went slightly ahead of everyone so they could follow her. They stopped as they reached a dead end right next to the center, close enough that they could hear chatter from the center. They listened in for a while. Suddenly, Celestia let out a terrified gasp, her sister had leapt out from the hedges. Luna tried her best to try to keep it a secret that she knew what was going on. She stood there, looking at her sister and Discord for a moment. "Tia, what's going on? You missed lunch," she said, gazing at the fauna. "Why is Discord here?" Celestia glanced at Discord, who was backing away, and signaled for him to leave. "Oh nothing, I just bumped into him and," Luna stopped her from lying any more. "You've been meeting up with him," "Excuse me?" "Don't try to lie to me. You've been meeting up with him," "Luna," "Do you think we should leave them alone?" Rarity whispered to Twilight. She nodded back and they left the Labyrinth. "Why does this bother you so much?" "Because it will 'bother' your kingdom! You're putting yourself in front of all your citizens!" "It's not hurting them at all- why are you attacking me?" "Have you even thought about what he did to you? He completely betrayed you and practically destroyed Equestria!" "He's reformed-" "No, most things can be forgiven, but not what he left you with, he can never change," "But-" "In case you didn't know, Ponies never change." There was a silence as feint tears started to fill Celestia's eyes. As they were heading through the labyrinth, Twilight really had to idea where they were going. There was another being in the maze, slithering through the pathways. He had no doubt Celestia liked him back, and he was happy, but wasn't happy for her and what a hard time her sister was giving her about it. The group suddenly stopped at a dead end, and knew they were immediately lost. "Do you think you can fly up again?" Applejack asked. "Sorry, I'm kind of tired from running, so that would be a no," "Split up?" Rarity suggested, Applejack just shook her head. "Follow Discord?" Applejack suggested in return, glaring through the hedges keeping an eye on him. They leaped through the hedges, Rarity just teleporting so she would not ruin her mane. When they jumped through their final hedge, Discord was surprised, again, and spilled chocolate milk onto the intruder. He quickly apologized, and dried the ponies of the milk. "Did you need anything?" he asked, clearly holding back his annoyance. "We're kind of..." "Lost," he finished Applejack's sentence. When he came to realization that they were shocked that he finished her sentence, he burst out in laughter. "You actually are lost?" he looked at the disgruntled looks on their faces. "Seems fair," he said, and slithered through the pathways, letting the ponies follow him.
The ArgumentsThe awkward silence was unbearable. Discord was cautiously wandering through the maze with the ponies. It was too unbearable for even Twilight. "So," she said when he came to a halt to decide which turn to take. "And do you have anything to say about this?" Rarity said to him. "What?" "You know," "You ponies were back there?" Rarity hesitated, "Yes," "I say that it's none of anyone's business," Applejack was very annoyed and infuriated by now. "Well its our business now, too. What's really going on between you and the-" Her lips were twisted by Discord's paw, as he did not want that sentence to be finished at all. He tied them together like a balloon. "Oh look- the exit, now off you ponies go," he shoved the ponies out of the labyrinth and disappeared. Celestia sauntered over to her bed. She collapsed on it, tears streaming down her face. Big girls don't cry, Big girls don't cry she kept whispering to herself, but it only made her cry even more. Luna had really hurt her feelings in the labyrinth. She made a point, though. How would the relationship affect her subjects? Discord slithered up his 'Thinking Tree' where he does his really deep thinking. It was basically his home, considering he had none. He thought about how they both knew they liked each other, yet they said nothing to each other about it. Every time they met, they just had a delightful chat. He really hated his next thought, allot, but it was a good thought. A good plan. His thoughts were interrupted when a mailbox that only appeared when he got letters shot right next to him. The only pony who sent him letters was Fluttershy, and from Fluttershy it was from. It read, You are invited To a dinner party at Fluttershy's Cottage Discord chuckled a bit when he realized it was in Haikou form, secretly. The letter was a bit more formal than her other friendly messages, so he inferred there were more guests, making him cringe. He knew it would be her pesky nosy pony friends, nosing into his business instead of theirs. When he came to thinking of it, Fluttershy hadn't been out as often as usual. This thought gave him a sense of urgency to rush over to her house. He arrived early as usual to any of his visits because he hated the feeling when he enters a room already occupied. All the ponies glancing at him would always make him nervous. "I'm so glad you could come!" Fluttershy greeted him as she trotted out of her kitchen. She looked way different than before because of her messy bun that pulled back her mane, except for her long forelock, that was trimmed a bit shorter. There was a grey hue under her eyes, assuring she had not been out at all. Minding her state, Discord offered to set the table. "Go ahead," she urged him, going back into the kitchen. With the snap of his paw, the silverware in Fluttershy's cabinet jumped out with their new pair of legs and assembled on the table with the plates and napkins. Fluttershy was half asleep while she was making tomato soup. She rested her elbow on her counter and put her head on her hoof, slowly shutting her eyes. The knock on the door shocked her awake, as she let out a quiet shriek. She sauntered over to the door, letting her friends in. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Is something wrong?" Twilight immediately started asking Fluttershy many questions, showing concern for her friend. It was pretty obvious that she was ignoring Discord's presence because she was so annoyed of him. "Thank you so much for coming, please, have a seat," she urged them to sit at her table. "Now, I know you are all wondering why I invited you here," "Yes," Rarity murmured, glancing at Discord. Fluttershy was a bit hesitant about what she was going to say, hoping Discord and her friends knew what she meant. She tried to comprehend the situation herself over the last few days. Her mouth opened to say the words, praying in her mind that her information is correct. It was very obscure to her, due to of her absence. "As you know, Celestia has... well..., and Discord," she stuttered so much, yet it was clear what she wanted to talk about. Discord rolled his eyes. "This is really unnecessary, really," he told her. Silence broke into the room. "I for one am happy for him," Fluttershy broke the quiet. "Do you realize that at any moment, time, place, he can easily take over Equestria all over again!" Twilight argued. "And do you realize your ignorance! He's reformed, why don't you trust him as a friend? Why are you so disapproving of this!?" Discord gazed as Fluttershy defended him. Their argument went on and on, and the soup was never served due to their arguing. He slithered back to his Thinking Tree, where he does his really deep thinking, and coiled himself around a branch. After a while of thinking really deeply, he decided he needed to express his plan that he thought of earlier to Celestia. The plan that he hated so much, yet was a really good plan. He teleported himself to Canterlot, outside of the castle. His teleportation distance was limited, so this was the closest he could get without tiring himself out. He shrunk himself and teleported on top of Celestia's throne. Exactly going as planned, she was sitting in her throne going through papers. To avoid suspicion of the guards, he whispered in her ear, "Meet me in your room," Discord rode her to her room, yet again, exactly as planned. "Alright, I think I have a plan, since the garden-y meet-y thing obviously didn't go down as planned," he expanded back to original size. "Remember that one plan we had when we were little and made that big castle on the paper and had the plan and everything? Well, I know this really good place that we can get away to," "Wait, weekly or forever?" "Eh, forever I guess?" "But what about Equestria? You just expect me to vanish from my subjects?" Celestia was clearly angry. "Wouldn't you sister take into control?" "Yes but she's not ready and I cant just betray her!" "Well, you already did, about 1,000 years ago," he was talking about when she banished her sister to the moon, and that really set Celestia off, but she had nothing to say. She just had a very angry, red face. Discord was quite aggravated too, but did not know how to express it and would always unleash chaos or do something he would regret if not handled. "What about Twilight Sparkle? What would she do?" "Well she's obviously nosing in so much, she's just such a nuisance. I think you should 'punish' her for her wrongs," "Are you asking me to banish her?" "You've banished enough ponies, haven't you?" "You stop that! You can't even decide what species to be!" "That's it!" Discord was very angry by now. He tapped Celestia's head with his lion paw, causing a rapid swirling in her eyes of all sorts of colors. He teleported out of the room, leaving her with a grey hue.
The RevivalDiscord stomped out of Celestia's room in bitter anger. The same words kept ringing through his head. Lesson 06 Never take out anger physically, control it. He stopped in his tracks when he realized what they were trying to say. What he was trying to saw to himself. He looked back at the bedroom door in such agony and regret. Never had he made a mistake so awful, except for once over 1,000 years ago. One would think he could easily redo it, but he never knew how to undo the spell. There was no apologizing, it was too late. His back slid down the wall. Luna trotted down the hallway, casually ignoring him sulking and face- clawing himself. She turned to open the door that was on the corner, leading to her sister's room. "Go away, Luna,," "What's wrong?" "Just leave me alone," "I need you to lower the sun," "Yeah, whatever. Do it yourself," "Yeah, but-" Celestia sauntered over to her balcony and lowered the sun, whispering "Geez, brat," Luna minded her grey hue and rushed outside to the halls. "What did you do?!" she scolded Discord, but he already escaped. She peered back into Celestia's room, and they both changed eye contact. Her sister's eyes were almost full of tears. "You were right, sister, Ponies never change," Discord slouched in his Thinking Tree, doing really deep thinking. He thought about when he snapped over 1,000 years ago, unleashing chaos through out Equestria. Many statements from Fluttershy's Lessons swirled in his head, needing of organization. Lesson 14, Accept who you are Lesson 08 Sympathy is Key Lesson 19 Express your problems to a friend, don't unleash them Upon this thought, he rushed to Fluttershy's house, as he knew she is the only pony defending him. "Fluttershy!" he sang when he entered the door, acting as his usual self as if nothing were on his mind. She slowly climbed down the staircase, taking caution due to her lack of rest. "Oh, hello, um, did you need anything?" she asked. "Yes, in fact I do, I really hope you don't mind a little chat?" Discord explained regretfully what he had done to the princess. A little bit of fear was burning inside her, that he might be blasted back to stone. She cleared her throat. "It's okay, everypony makes mistakes, did you try to fix it?" "That's the thing- I can't, I never knew how. If I ask Twilight to do her spell thingy-" Fluttershy stopped him from over-stressing himself. Lesson 26 Some ponies need to be shown a little kindness He suddenly dashed out of the room, headed towards Canterlot Castle. It was very vague in the distance, but he kept slithering through the air. When he arrived at the balcony of Celestia's room, he sprinted through the doorway into the halls and toward the throne room. Discord paused in trembling fear, gazing at the throne holding a statue. He scurried up to it, putting his claw and paw on it's cheeks. When the spell is in effect for enough time, the victim will be converted to stone. For the first time in over 1,000 years, tears started to fill his eyes. The one pony he loved and cared about was now gone, taken away from him, because of his own cruel heart. He brought himself closer to the statue, to be responded with a warmer hug back. Celestia's stone body cracked and released her upper body first, allowing her to dive in. Discord was so confused, after his brutal mistake, she was hugging him? Tears were streaming down her face as she looked up to his. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "It was dark, cold, and alone," She was apologizing for when she turned him to stone. The feeling she had when she was in the prison had given her a glimpse of what Discord had felt like for so long. Celestia looked up at him once more, and whispered, "Please get me out of here," The glass pane of arrogant colors displayed the defeat of Discord, and behind the glass was the beautiful mountain range. With her horn, she blasted the window to shreds, knowing that the path that lead was unexplored by her subjects. He slithered over to the hole where the glass used to be, looking out at the sunset she was lowering. She trotted over to the glass, too, and spread her wings, ready to jump out. Discord spread his wings as well, signaling that he was ready as well. Upon the action, she jumped out, diving down and jolting up into the sky. He leaped out, catching up with her, and led the way. The sun was still setting, very slowly. All she had done was use a spell for a moment, and the sun was already lowering instead of her completely lowering it manually. He looked at her face, which was focused on the horizon. The sunset she had created had spilled light onto her, that made her shimmer so perfectly. Discord felt something that he felt when he snapped, something intense inside of him. He realized that he had actually found somepony to be with, he was no longer alone. Discord was happy. A day after their escape, Luna was looking everywhere for her missing sister. Even after the way she treated her, she was very frantic and worried. "Tia, 'tis not funny!" she would yell repeatedly, looking through every room. Celestia had not shown up at breakfast, which is was sparked her concern. The royal guards rushed up to her. "She is not anywhere to be seen in Canterlot. Shall we search other towns?" they suggested. Luna nodded, spotting the shattered stained glass panel in the corner of her eye. She summoned parchment and a quill, ready to write Twilight Sparkle a letter. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia is missing. Please report to Canterlot at once. Princess Luna A few minutes passed before Twilight burst through the doors. "I have an idea as to where she has fled to," Luna pointed her hoof at the shattered glass, revealing a long mountain range. "Do you think we can track them down?" Twilight asked, she nodded in return. "But, we cannot go alone. Should we bring some of the Royal Guards along?" Luna suggested. "I think I have a better plan besides going ourselves. Discord has done many wrongs towards all of Equestria. I believe it is time for it to end," Twilight had been fed up with him for a very long time, and now with what was going on, she was even eager to let him die, literally. "I know a pony," she leaned in to whisper, keeping what she was about to say even more secretive. "They are highly skilled and trained to get certain jobs done," "Are you suggesting we..." Luna remembered the tears rolling down her sister's face when she saw the unholy chaos spread through out her land over 1,000 years ago. They both felt so betrayed and lied to. Twilight's suggestion might just be what his punishment should be instead of stone prison, sadly. She looked up into Luna's regretful eyes, reluctantly agreeing to her plan. Twilight was doubtful of her own plan, as well. She remembered the time he tricked her that he was sick, making her go to the end of Equestria to test her friendship. Now some friend she was, she thought, but it was necessary, to protect all of Equestria and her former Teacher and Mentor.
The RejectionA few days had passed since Celestia's disappearance. She had ran away with her one true love, and built a lovely, small castle for them to live in, with no disruptions. No responsibilities, no chores, no duties. Just them, happy, and alone, together. However, the other sister abandoned to lead the kingdom had every duty she could imagine. 3 days after her disappearance, a guard burst through the doors of the castle. "Princess Luna!" he yelped. "Sir?" she replied. "The riots are even worse, more groups of hoof fighting are breaking out," Luna paused for a moment, then trudged to the balcony. She awed upon the crowd of hundreds of angry ponies, complaining and ranting about the princesse's disappearance. Her hoof was lifted up in the air in attempt to calm the crowd, but none payed attention, and just kept arguing. Parchment and pen hovered over to Luna with her magic. She wrote a letter to the only other princess possible of helping. Twilight Sparkle, Please report to Canterlot Castle at once. Princess Luna She teleported it to Twilight's library, hoping she would respond. A few minutes later, Twilight landed on the balcony and walked into the main hall to greet Luna. She walked up to her, and Luna turned around, noticing her arrival. "You said you know a pony?" "Yes, should I contact them now? It's really bad out there," Luna nodded hesitantly. Discord halted at a beautiful cliffside with a small waterfall on the side. He glided over to a shelf in the cliff, and Celestia followed. They were both very tired from their flight, so they lye down together. She leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder, his coat was surprisingly soft. They both gazed at the horizon for a bit. Discord looked over at Celestia, who was fast asleep. He lifted his claw, and a hue of yellow grazed over it. Boards of wood started coming up from the grass, as if the grass were turning into the board. The boards started building a structure, a small house on the side of the cliff in front of a cave. About thirty minutes later, a beautiful house was set upon the horizon. It was very small, instead of the big castle they both had planned to build when they were little. He glided over to the house, slithered through the front door, and set her on an enormous bed. Discord caught himself staring at her for a few minutes, then got in the bed and shut the lights off with a snap of his paw. Luna was tossing and turning in her bed that night. She was trying her best to infiltrate her sister's dreams. After about an hour, she started seeing obscure images of a tall white alicorn. It was definitely her sister, her target 'victim' for that night's shift. Celestia seemed to be watching a field from a cliffside. The horizon she was gazing upon was just all sorts of grasses and flowers. Luna was very confused, but refrained from interrupting. Instead, she walked up next to her sister after preforming an invisibility spell on herself. She looked over the balcony, and saw a small, white filly similar to her sister chasing a brown, snake like figure. It was very clear who the two were. The two seemed quite far from their home castle. Luna looked up at her sister, who had a big smile on her face seeing the two play. Suddenly, the breeze that had been rushing over them had gotten stronger, pulling clouds such a dark grey they almost seemed black over upon the land. Soon, one drop landed on Luna's muzzle. Then, thousands of heavy drops of water poured down on them, but they were not getting wet at all. The fillies rushed for safety under a hollowed out tree. They seemed to not care if they were too squished or touching each other. The projected imagery started fading away, so Luna had to quickly use the time she had. She cleansed herself of the spell with her magic and looked upon her sister, who was fidgeting a little. "Sister," Celestia looked down on her sister. "Why'd you have to go?" The dream faded away. "Twilight, you've been at this for hours! It's hopeless!" "Spike," Twilight looked up from her book and gazed at spike with her dreary eyes. "The ruler of all the land has escaped with the lord of all things chaotic. Am I supposed to just continue sitting on the couch all day and do nothing?" "The Wonderbolts are preforming tomorrow, you'd better-" "Wonderbolts!" she bolted up from her pile of books, startling Rarity, who had been sleeping on a neat pile of scrolls. "We must get help from Rainbow Dash, she'll know what to do!" "Yeah!" Applejack lifted her hat onto her head from onto her face. "I would also be nice to see Rainbow once again. Never see her this time 'round," "Alright, Since the storm outside is pretty bad, why don't you ponies stay here for the night," Spike suggested, minding Rarity. "Yes, Yes! Perfect! Just like that one time where Applejack and I had the hardest of times getting along!" Rarity agreed. Applejack chuckled a little remembering the night. She looked up at the window next to Twilight's bed, and remembered the tree that had burst through the window. This made her chuckle even more. "We have no time to clean up this mess, it's 11:00 PM and we need sleep," Twilight suggested, however, the other poneis in the room had just resumed the rest they were having when she was looking for a way to rescue the princess. She shut her eyes and put her head on an open article on Starswirl the Bearded's ultra teleportation spells. She was going to see her very old friend tomorrow. "Rainbow," she whispered "We'll meet again," Zip! A flash of a cloud zoomed by. Bam! Another cloud followed. Crash! A streak of rainbow shot by them. It was Rainbow Dash for sure! The three ponies and the dragon screamed at the top of their lungs, cheering for Rainbow Dash. The fliers lined up side by side, and looped through obstacles and hoops. Spitfire and Soaring, the fliers leaving the cloud trail, split off from the alignment, leaving Rainbow to preform a Sonic Rainboom, her signature move. And array of every color burst through the air. The crown roared along with the 4 friends cheering for her. She landed safely, along with the 2 other fliers on her team. They gave each other hoof-bumps and started trotting off the runway for some water to cool down from their performance. "Rainbow!" Rarity hollered, trotting towards her along with the rest of her friends. Rainbow's face lit up, and she started rushing towards them to give them the biggest hug she could give. They squeezed each other when they met very hard. "Oh my gosh! It's been so long since I've seen you guys!" she exclaimed. "Rainbow, we really need to talk to you in private," Applejack said. "What for?" she was pulled into her dressing room instead of having her question answered. "Discord and Celestia were caught meeting up in the labyrinth." Rarity said. "They are certainly in love, but this is a real harm to Equestria, Discord could turn and spread chaos through out the land. Also, Celestia could be distracted from her royal duties!" Twilight was very panicked to get the news to her friend. "Now, the princess is missing, and she's obviously ran away with Discord!" Applejack finished. "So you're telling me you want to stop Discord and Celestia from being in love?" Rainbow was almost mad at them. "Yes!" Rarity shouted, causing a disruption through out the hallway. "You're telling me you want to stop Discord from being happy, also Celestia?" Applejack hesitantly said, "Yes," "I leave for about 8 months and you all can't be loyal to your own princess, friend, or yourselves. Have you even thought about how instead it it affecting Celestia instead of you?" Rainbow turned away without letting them answer. She was very upset at them now. She trotted off and joined the other Wonderbolts for a drink. Twilight looked at Rarity, who was looking at Applejack who was gazing deeply towards the floor. Had they really humiliated themselves this way? Had they really only been thinking about themselves? There were so many questions swirling through out their minds. Twilight was almost sobbing, she had brutally sent a killer, an executer after Discord for a crime he never meant to commit, a crime that should never be punished for. Celestia slowly opened her eyes. She was on an enormous bed, that came from... where? Where was she? She looked out the window and saw the cliffside she had fallen asleep on. A door was on the other side of the bedroom, so she went through it. As soon as she stepped out, the hall that seemed to have been waiting for her suddenly shifted, bringing her to a long table. The smell of delicious eggs and pancakes filled her nostrils. Suddenly, she was sat down at a throne- like chair with a very tall backrest. She sat there for a second, just staring all around the room. Luna was alone at the castle she thought. she must've raisen the sun today she told herself. "Have a good night's rest, huh?" Discord was making very deformed pancakes, eyeing Celestia's unmanaged hair. She was just silent, confused, but silent. Not in an angrily way at all, she just wanted an explanation. "Formations!" a white, muscular stallion screamed at a large crown of armed soldiers. All of them lined up immediately upon his command. "We are beginning our 37th expedition beyond Canterlot! Be ready for a very long journey! This stallion will be executing the target criminal! Follow any of his commands!" "Yes Sir!" the crowd hollered in unison. It was as if they all had the same voice. "Formations!" they all lined up, once again following the general's commands.
The Home"Twilight Sparkle!" Luna addressed the pony who just bursted through the doors along with her friends. "The fleet just left," Luna told the group. "We need to stop it now- we've made a huge mistake!" Twilight let out, catching her breath. "How so? We're technically saving Equestria here. Why stop it?" "Have we ever stopped to think how happy Celestia could be with him?" "I-" she paused for a moment in shock. How could she had been so foolish? She sat for a moment to think about what has happened over the last few months in general. She has let her opinions and emotions be toyed around by all the things she's heard instead of proved herself. It was up to Luna, Twilight, and her friends to stop the fleet. From taking away Celestia's one key to happiness. From taking away Discord's one key to happiness. Luna ran over to the mirror that was still shattered from her sister's escape. Twilight and her friends followed, but Applejack stopped midway. "Hold on, who's goin' to watch over Equestria while you two are gone?" she asked. Twilight and Luna just stopped themselves from leaping out the window, but looked at Rarity, Applejack, and Spike, telling them they know the answer. They had to watch over Equestria. And with that, the two alicorns leaped out the window, headed towards the mountainside. "You going to eat that?" Discord pointed at Celestia's plate. Only crumbs were left and two strips of bacon. "My bad-" with the click of his claws, the bacon disappeared. "I forgot ponies are herbivores," "I don't blame you, I forgot Draconequui were carnivores," she pointed at the two pieces of bacon that had appeared on Discord's plate. After a few minutes of silence, she looked down at the table. Her plate had disappeared. "Let's have a little tour, shall we?" Discord teleported right next to Celestia. The hallway shifted rapidly, stopping at every room in the house, naming them. "Room, room, room, room, washroom, room, bedroom," there were many extra rooms, most likely to fill up space. The hallway shifted very quickly to a door with many windows on it. The door was practically a window itself. He motioned her to open it, so she slip it open and stepped outside. A beautiful balcony was set up with the most beautiful view of the cliffside. She walked up to the railings and peered over the side. A sandy beach stretched across the horizon as well as a beautiful ocean. "Discord, I... I don't know what to say... this is.. amazing!" Celestia turned around and squeezed him, startling him as well. Discord was happy, enlightened, every single positive emotion swirled through him. What was it, what was this? He was happy, and in love. "Fluttershy!" Rarity jumped to see Fluttershy burst through the doors of the castle. "Where's Discord?!" she yelped, not bothering to greet them at all. She was obviously in some hurry. Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances, neither of them wanted to explain the bad news to her. "Where is he!?" she said, more sternly. "Gone, with the princess, they both ran away, we're pretty sure they ran away together. Twilight and Luna might've accidentally sent a fleet to capture the princess back and possibly.." Applejack dared to finish the sentence. Fluttershy's face had the sign of fear spilled all over it. "What are they going to do?" Fluttershy was looking down at the floor. When the words left her lips, she looked up at them both with such fear, hate, sorrow, any emotion they could think of. "Where did they go?" this question was easy for them to answer, yet they only pointed to the shattered glass. "Where are you going?" Rarity asked when she unfolded her wings. She just ignored her and jumped out, gliding towards the mountainside and heading towards the fleet. Twilight was behind Luna by quite a distance. "You alright?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm just thinking again," she replied, catching up. "I've let my opinions be toggled around by because of the thing's I'm telling myself, the things that I force myself to believe," "I, too feel that. I've let my emotions changed because of what I've heard. To be honest, at your coronation, I saw it as just a replacement for me. If she departed, you would become the first in command instead of me. I saw it as my sister putting you up higher than me, if you don't mind me saying. I thought if she knew you were smart and knew what to do, most likely more reliable than I, then I should follow that too," "I guess we've both made our final decisions, then," Twilight chuckled. "I've settled that Discord must be executed for his crimes once and for all, I'm going to support the fleet," Luna was mad inside, but couldn't let herself rage on her. She had to keep calm, physicalness would only make it worse. "You're decision is wrong. He should have the right to love, even if it is my sister," she sternly said. "Ponies do change, but some can't change back," she was referencing Twilight's decision, which told her that she had turned into a monster. She split off upon the words, and headed towards the fleet from a different way. "We need to capture the target and bring them back to Canterlot. The environment is too unusual," the designated murderer told the general, who was at his side. "We have the equipment just for any occasion, therefore we are prepared," he responded. A house rose on the horizon. It was small, and on the edge of a cliff. This was their destination. "Men, surround the area!" the general commanded, and the army did so. He picked out five of the extra men to come with him and the assassin to get inside.