A new perspective

From the spot where Discord had made himself comfortable on the train the scenery flew by at a blurring pace. Rainbow had opted to take one of the 'slower' tracks despite the apparent speed of the locomotive, she said it would give them more time to 'hang out'.  Not being opposed to the idea, he had followed her to one of the more busy section cars, plopping down in a tired heap, he was happy the previous ordeal was over.

Aside from being in an almost delirious state this morning, it had not helped that Dash seemed to have more energy and endurance than anyone he had met. As soon as they arrived at the station, however, the trouble had begun.

First, Rainbow Dash had forgotten the tickets, a simple teleportation fixed that.

Then the ticket taker had gone missing only to be found with a few too many empty bottles in the storage room.

When that was finally cleared up they made there way to the railway when a luggage cart toppled and almost crushed both of them.

One of the cases had broken and spilt forth a mountainous pile of marbles that skittered in every direction.

The station was in the throws of pandemonium moments later, as a dog got loose from its leash and began knocking over several bystanders, including Dash, all the while spreading the marbles further by the second. Looking around Discord had acted quickly, floating into the air and seizing everything in sight within golden tendrils of magick.

Moments later and everything was back to normal as they finally boarded the train.

Sighing again at the memory, he watched the scenery and allowed his mind to wander

I bet Twilight would have thought that was fascinating

"--...So that was pretty crazy right? Totally chaotic if you ask me."

Chaotic?

His head snapped towards the conversation nearby, Rainbow Dash was relaying the events of their arrival to another passenger who sat in rapt attention.

It really was a rather large amount of chaos... The thought had not even crossed his mind, the veins over his heart had not responded, even in the presence of natural chaos. What was happening?  Was this a good thing? His body was physically changing and psychologically he wasnt even the same creature anymore....

The sinking feeling in his stomach was dispelled when something softly nudged his arm. A young female, likely early twenties, was attempting to get his attention. Without a moments hesitation he forgot his almost-panic attack and greeted her "Well, how may I help you lasse?"

She smiled, a beautiful gesture, "I just wanted to thank you for helping us with our dog, who knows where he would have run off to! We might have missed our council session with the princess if not for your help."

His eyes widened at the mention of the princess,

of course! she will know whats happening to...... His thought was cut off as the truth sunk in. What in equestria made him think Celestia would be willing to help him. Her reaction would be to calmly sip at her tea and fake some modicum of sincerity towards his plight.

He let his enthusiasm slip for only a moment knowing now was not the time, instead opting for a small smile, "What is your matter with the princesses if you don't mind me asking?"

She gave another calm smile, something he enjoyed, "Oh, not at all, I happen to be a delegate for Chrysanthemum and the recent tensions between our borders and the mountain ridges of the city of Orubokai have lead me to believe we need a...stronger sense of persuasion. I hope to gain a regiment or two of the off season Royal Guards if not the presence of the younger princess herself."

Discord's brow raised slightly and he turned to face her head on, "How are you so comfortable explaining your countries politics with a complete stranger, even if I did help?"

He had been suspicious of her since she had touched him, something felt very familiar about her appearance but he couldnt place it, the admission of such private, and possibly delicate information had done nothing to quell his suspicions.

Again that smile came back "Because I know who you are." Time froze and for half a second Discord felt threatened, it passed as nothing more than instinct. For a second or even half, he always followed his instinct. His eyes widened and he split reality without a hesitation. His former curious smile turning into a frown of apprehension. There were not many explanations as to why someone he had never met would know who he was. Even fewer of them were for benevolent reason.

The splitting of reality was him shifting himself and his guest to a cargo car at the back of the train, at least then if anything were to get out of hand, no one else would get hurt. She looked around bewildered with a slight tinge of fear in her eyes.

She spoke quickly, though there was a visible quake across her body, "I think you misunderstood what I meant."

He raised a golden covered arm and spoke "I will make this clear. I am not who I use to be, call this trip a semi-pilgrimage, one that has helped to purge me of the chaos within, I as well seek council from either princess, but for my salvation.  Regardless of that fact..." Orbs of golden light formed around his body, all seeming to spin faster and faster in their stations, "If you have come to hunt me, or harm those I care for, You will know what it is to anger a god." Though he had not mentioned it to anyone, most of his powered had been slowly returning to him for the past few days. Apparently the princess was letting her focus slip.

Her eyes now wide with unbound fear she quickly stuttered out "I am the direct line of Queen Bellatrinca De Quareza"

Her words were breathless and dead on her lips, all of her thoughts mechanical and heavy out of fear.

The glow died, his eyes fell as his jaw became tight. "Princess Cadenza. I had thought you would be much older after hearing her line had survived the centuries... I am sorry for our misunderstanding...I'll return us to the car."

Raising his paw to snap he stopped as she shook her head, "No...I think we should...talk first...I would like to ask a few things. If that's alright."

He laughed to break some tension, "I have a few question in return. Fire away."

She gave a small smile, "You said that this was your pilgramige...what did you mean by that, how are you free?"

At first a sigh was the only sound that came from him, after a few moments she began to think that would be his only answer when he replied. "The Princesses made a bet, my life being the gambling piece. Both of them sensed that after centuries my soul had begun to change from a roiling mass of inner turmoil into...something new, in part chaos as usual, and in part something new. The hope of the younger sister outshone the hatred the elder has of me and I was given a chance to prove myself....or at least provide Celestia with a week of entertainment." he spat the last with a bitter tone, his eyes forming slits at he thought of his life being a perverse kind of game. His old self would have relished in the idea of someone thinking he, the god of chaos, was prey.

"As for my..."Pilgrimage" I was sent to that town..." he flicked in the direction the train was moving away from, "And left in the care of each of the Elements of Harmony. As my...ahem...Journey began I found myself completely torn between the Chaos I knew and loved, and this new idea of peace...I suppose....I quickly found that they can coincide...in harmony."

Pausing for a moment he contemplated going on by scratching his beard, "That was when my rehabiliation truly began as you can see by my limbs, it has thus far been succesful..I think. I was placed in the charge, by turn, of each of the Elements, currently I am with Loyalty if you could not tell before, I have spent my time with Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, and a small stint with Magick...But my turn with Rainbow Dash has only just begun this morning, and I have not yet had a full day with Twilight. Even so I learned things, shared things, became something, that I never could have imagined through all of these experiences."

He Paused again and smiled, thinking of a few memories he already felt fond of, "Not even a week has gone by since I found my freedom, the leaps and bounds I have made have not gone unnoticed by the princesses...but it matters not."

Cadence clenched her own jaw, "She never intended to judge you...only pass a prior judgement."

Discord allowed a shallow breath to shudder out, "Yes. My fate was sealed as soon as my prison was shattered."

With barely a seconds passing she spoke in anger, "Is their nothing you care to live for that you would give up so easily?"

That took him by surprise, his face flashing up, half in surprise, half in anger "You think I would willing go to my death? You think I would willing walk away from the first feelings of love I have had in almost a millenium? Walk away from true friendship? ....Never. But I must. I will not bring the wrath of a scorned princess upon those I care for...even at the cost of my own life, better to have lived for others than to simply die for myself."

Her anger quickly subsided as she continued, "Bravo. I mean not to patronize you, but you have won me. I will give my two cents in the matter to both princesses, though I know not what good it will do. I believe it is indeed your turn to ask of me a question."

It was almost comical to see him holding the classic 'thinker' position before stating his question. "How did you know who I was?"

She smiled playfully "It is tradition in my family that we carry our history through stories and speech, though every nuance of our legacies is indeed written down in the libraries of most towns, we prefer word of mouth. As such, the events of your freedom before imprisonment have become something of a bedtime story for foals, told by each grandmother in turn to her grandchildren as our families continued through the past few ages. Not to sound like I'm kissing up to you, but it was one of my favorites. Romance, adventure, tragedy..."

Realizing she was making him uncomfortable she cut off the train of thought and continued elsewhere, "Though it was not hard to recognize you. Even if I had never seen you in anything more than the form of a statue. Even that was so long ago that I can hardly remember."

He closed his eyes for a moment and recited quickly, "August 12th, twenty-two years, eight months, six days, twelve hours and forty-eight minutes ago you passed by with your parents who were about to be set the charge ruling over Chrysanthemum, you stopped for twenty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds to explain to me that you were not afraid of my look, and wished I could have spoken back and given you guidance on your problem with the prince and your worries for your parents."

He Smiled, pleased at her reaction, "When you are encased in stone...and the pain has become a background noise, you tend to memorize every moment by running it through your mind for eternity. I remember every moment of my imprisonment with crystal clarity. It just takes me a moment to recall them."

This time she simply nodded, "I was so young...its astounding that you can remember all of those things...but it makes sense."

"You're up Cadence."

She smirked "Oh hoe hoe, So no formalities now?...I like that.  well....."

She pondered for a moment. "Would you be apposed to me accompanying you to see the princesses, and as well accompanying me to the council? My own council partner could not come and I was already feeling worried about finding a replacement. Dont worry about the princess either, I believe Luna Is holding the throne for this particular meeting. I insist that you bring your friend along, would you accept my offer?"

"I have to talk to my companion, this is my time with her and I will not take that lightly. Especially from the Element of Loyalty."

As Cadence nodded she found they had returned to the previous car, nothing disturbed, everything in its place. Looking back over her shoulder as she turned away, she called back "I trust you can reach me telepathically with your answer?"

"Of course, what do you take me for? A mortal?" they both smiled, parting ways at the center of the car.

Walking over to a loudly snoring Rainbow Dash he cuffed her on the shoulder lightly to wake her, judging by the consistent whistle from the engine horn, and the movement of the passengers, they had arrived at their destination.

Holy Canterlot

The streets, as they always were, were alive with the bustling of thousands.  Apparently the carnival coming up had attracted more tourists than usual, not only in the town, but in the surrounding cities as well. Stall Vendors lined any wall space that did not give way to a front door or window, forming an almost wall like appearance of barters and loud hecklers.

Though solid cobble stone underneath his body felt good after the train ride. Never really being one to take any kind of long transportation, he didnt quite know if he liked the experience. Though good had come of it. The feeling and look of cobblestone made a flash of memory come to him. He saw blue fur and a shock of straw colored hair. In a half second he had a flashback of the night on the balcony with Pinkie Pie.

Her voice cracked and she began to quietly sob. It took a moment but she continued on "Even before then, the princesses....they know m-me. T-they k-k-know who I am and they d-dont remember. They dont remember me or h-him."

In the background of his reverie, Rainbow was talking.

"So, another princess wants us BOTH to come hang out with her? Sounds chill with me as long as we get down to business before we go, gotta show you 'round the underbelly of the town. Plus I want you too meet a real chill buddy of mine, She'll be at the club no doubt working her magic on the crowds."

"I...didnt know they had clubs in Canterlot." he numbly spoke

She "tched" and replied "Of course they do man! heh, you really are new to this whole thing, tell me you've had alcohol before, right?"

He turned his head pondering the hundreds of times he had guzzled candy flavored mead, the results being catastrophic every single time.  "Perhaps I should hold off on the drinking until after we have met with the council, I think a little night time club-hopping would be fun....there is more than one club right?"

Dash busted out in laughter "Alright, we can hold off, for now. Geesh, lets get you reacquainted with this old city before our royal duties kick in."

Walking up to a vendor on the left, Rainbow Dash pulled a pouch seemingly out of thin air and paid for a couple sticks of something in the shape of a tube. "The hell is that?" he sniffed it and then licked tentatively. His taste buds did much what his eyes did, shooting wide with pleasure. "Sea-Salt Ice cream? I haven't had this since I was a kid!"

"You were a kid once?" a solid question from Rainbow as she lazily lapped at the Ice cream,

Scrunching up his face at the memories he nodded. "Of course. I didn't just appear one day contrary to popular belief...though that would have been much more chaotic I suppose..."

So many people, you could turn this city inside out in a matter of minutes

"..But that was very long ago. Before this land was founded."

Rainbow froze mid lick "Geez, how old are you anyway? On second thought, dont tell me. I dont even want to know." she playfully jabbed him in the side and he returned it with his tongue stuck out comically.

"You know, you are pretty chill.....hey? Who's your-"

"Yooooo!!!! 'bout time you showed up!!" a blur of white and blue slammed Rainbow to the ground in a bear hug.

Giving a quick burst of air from her wings, Rainbow righted herself and bumped the new figure "Damn! How'd you find me? shit...arent you suppose to burn up in the sunlight?" a joking tone to her voice, Rainbow's apparent friend played along

"Oh, I wont, as long as I suck some blood first!" she flashed Dash a smile before jumping up and looking towards her companion. A flick in his direction and a question followed "Who's the player?"

Discord spoke around a bite of ice cream "Player?"

"No no, He's not like that, least I think not, yo? you a player?" A serious question from Dash

Eyebrows to the sky, "The seven hell's is a player?"

Their new companion stared quizzically at him, though he could not tell through the shades she wore. "I think you need to break him in man."

Rainbow ignored the comment "Speaking of clubs....You are DJ'ing tonight arent you?"

The new figure smirked and flashed a large grin "Sure as shit am. Its part of the Vinyl Day Celebration, or did you not hear about that? I better see you both there, starts at 11pm, goes till 5 in the Am. Be there, just drop my middle name, I'll let the bouncer know you are VIP."

Dash bumped the Dj's hoof and smirked, "Hey, that works perfect, we have some things we need to take care of before hand anyway."

"Well, in that case..." the DJ pulled Dash aside and lowered her voice so her companion would not hear.

"So...Your buddy there, he up for a good time? He looks like just my type, a real freak right?" she had let her shades slide to show her discolored eyes, one a deep ruby red, the other a translucent blue. In truth both were red, and Dash knew that, but she liked to keep one as blue as her mane when there was a rave to be had and a crowd to be wow'd. Afterall, the famous Dj P0N-3 had an appearance to keep up, though Rainbow knew the real Vinyl Scratch was a blast even without her stage persona.

As Discord watched the two have some offhand discussion he decided it was time to see a bit more while he had the chance. Off to the side he had finished enjoying the ice cream treat and walked away from the two towards the main square, they had gone a lot further after getting off the train than he had thought.

He never would have expected to hear a lilting voice so recognizable "Well, Well, Well, speaking of the devil."

Dead in front of him was a very young figure that looked oddly familiar, he recognized the outfits color scheme from a distant memory and smiled, he remained silent for a moment just to drink in the look he hadn't seen in centuries. "Its not kind for one god to call the other a devil princess."

She smiled softly "I think between you and I it could be your new nickname, what do you think?"

A genuine laugh escaped his lungs and as he was about to reply when it was cut off by a startling shout from behind,

"No! NO NO NO! He is totally taken! Completely totally! You are not touching him!"

"Woah woah geez! Protective much! You'd think he was your dog for all you shout 'bout it!."

Apparently the conversation between Rainbow and the DJ had gotten out of hand,

He barely registered the conversation over his shoulder "I dont remember what you call yourself in that form Princess of the moon. But I dare say Princess will do? Or would you like a ...nicknameof your own?"

"Of course old friend." the figure smiled and laughed lightly, not falling victim to his obvious trap, Discord would be one of the only creatures able to recognize her pegasus form.

His grin twisted "Then would you like to accompany us to your meeting? I bet it would give Rainbow Dash a shock when you shape-shift."

She smiled brightly with a sparkle in her eye, she did love a good prank, "Always a trickster no matter whats changed."

They smiled warmly at each other and turned to walk towards the arguing duo. Time slowed for a moment to the two of them. Long ago, so long that if it had ever been recorded it was lost to the ages, He remembered Luna walking with him. Long walks when he would get stir crazy at night. He never was one for a full nights sleep anyway, more like twenty minutes here and there all day. Despite that he always knew she would be awake at night, he savored the knowledge that he had always known she would be there.

Discord brushed a paw on Luna's wing to grab her attention, still staring straight ahead he spoke "Thank you."

With a quizzical turn of her head Luna asked, "For what?"

"For calling me your friend, and meaning it." She smiled warmly and lightly batted him with her wing, much to her surprise he reached down and scratched between her shoulders for all of three seconds.

Burning the blush on her face with practiced ease, Luna and Discord made their way towards the argument, and soon after settling the affairs and the timing for their schedules, The princess, Rainbow Dash, and Discord, were bound for the Royal Castle. The train ride took longer than had been intended, and the meeting pushed forward according to the disguised princess.

"I still dont know about this whole Council thing. I dont have to say anything do I?" questioned a hovering Rainbow Dash

"No Rainbow. Cadence will be talking of course, I might have to interject here and there if I see fit, but it will mostly be Luna and the other Council Members. Though they might address your presence in the beginning. Nothing major, a simple introduction, perhaps a chance to show off?" he waggled a brow at the cyan pegasus.

She brightened visibly at the thought of showing off for representatives of vast importance in the country "Oh hell yes, this could be just what I need to really get my name out."

They wandered further past the center and edges of the town, the castle now looming over almost everything in sight.

He looked around at the guards, there seemed to be more stationed than usual. A lot more, likely due to the importance of the guests but not something he was going to dismiss as easily. He would give it its due thought after he saw the affairs of the counsel meeting.

He still felt uneasy walking through the main gates. With a thought he reached out to Princess Cadence and let her know they had arrived. The evenings events were sure to be spectacular.