Chapters Two wooden mugs tapped together gently, and the mares grasping the handles lifted them to their mouths. After taking hefty sips of the mug's contents, the mares exhaled happily as a bit of foam clung to their upper lips. Behind them, a line of ponies stood adjacent to a white picket fence along a wide expanse of apple trees. Each pony was eagerly facing toward the end of the line, where a young filly with a pink bow above her red mane sat behind a desk and accepted their payment of bits. For each hoof full of coins received, the little filly would dispense a cup of amber liquid for their enjoyment.
Cider Season had once again graced Ponyville. Sweet Apple Acres was now on the third and final day of dispensing its intoxicating beverage to the town's residents. With cider season drawing to a close, the ponies who had waited until the last minute all seemed to rush in at once to get their fill before it was gone for good. Luckily, nopony needed to worry about the problem of the Apple family running out of the beverage before all in line were satisfied. If the family had learned anything at all during their scuffle with the Flim Flam brothers, it was that they were more than capable of making more than their usual amount if they put their minds to it.
While they no longer had to exhaust themselves as they had before, the rest of the family worked consistently at keeping the process of making cider in motion. With a swift kick to a tree, Applejack would collect the falling apples into the bucket on her back, and take them to her Granny Smith. After thoroughly inspecting the apples for their quality, she would roll those in good condition down a slide and into their apple-pressing machine. Big Macintosh kept at a steady jog while moving on the treadmill that kept the machine in motion. His motion kept the large wheel spinning, crushing the selected apples into a fine mush. After undergoing a process kept from prying eyes, the spout at the end filled a large oak barrel with fresh squeezed cider. The pattern continued fluently, while the youngest of the family, Apple Bloom, was in charge of processing transactions and dispensing the drink for their thirsty customers.
“Hey, Applejack!” A squeaky voice called out to the mare, who was just about to deliver a swift kick to an apple tree. Hearing her name caused her to stop in mid air, and she had to work to keep herself from falling over. Applejack pulled her stetson hat from her eyes to see her best friend Rainbow Dash in front of her, a bucket of apples between her wings resting on her back. “Mind if I take a cider break? I've kind of been working my tail off since the first cup was poured this morning.”
“Y'all can take a water break if ya need it, but no cider until after we close shop today.” Applejack told her sternly.
“Oh come on! You said I could have some cider if I helped you guys out.”
“No, that ain't true. What happened was you came to me last night after being gone at Wonderbolts reserves duties for the week, begging me for some cider.” Applejack recounted as they walked towards the apple-pressing machine her brother was jogging on. “I told ya that we couldn't save any for ya if you didn't wait in line and pay for it like everypony else. But when you kept prodding me about it, I offered you a chance to earn two barrels all for yourself, IF you agreed to help us make the stuff on the last day.”
“But why can't I have some of it now?”
“Because, when you get a hold of some cider, working hard is the furthest thing from your mind.”
“But-!”
“No buts, Rainbow. Not unless it's yours working hard to make some cider, not drink it. You got me?”
The rainbow maned pegasus rolled her eyes as she flew away from her friend, and dumped dropped her collection of apples in front of Granny Smith for quality inspection.
Apple Bloom pressed down on the lever of the dispenser, squeezing out a helping of cider to fill the mug at the bottom of the opening. “Thank you, ma'am; enjoy!” she said to the mare with bright orange hair, who bit down on the top of it and carried it away. With the number of times she had pressed down on that lever reaching well past one hundred, Apple Bloom could feel the strain in her forelegs building. Mixed with the heat of the sun bearing down on her, the little filly had to take a moment to regain herself. She closed her eyes and pulled her large pink bow off of her mane, using it as a makeshift fan to cool herself down.
“Hopefully it isn't TOO warm for you today, is it little Apple Bloom?” a warm, jovial voice said to her.
“Nah, it ain't too hot” Apple Bloom said as she placed her bow back on her head. When she opened her eyes, she gasped at the image in front of her. Between two royal guards, there stood two alicorns of different height. She had to crane her neck to see the tallest one, but she immediately recognized the brilliant white coat and the friendly face smiling down at her. She had a large flowing mane, shimmering beautifully with shades of blue and turquoise. To her right was a shorter alicorn, with a rather vacant expression on her face. Her coat was a dark blue and her mane sapphire, flowing in a motion similar to her taller counterpart.
“Oh my gosh!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Princess Celestia! And Princess Luna!”
At the mention of their names, the Apple family hard at work making cider stopped at once. Big Macintosh forgot that he was on a treadmill, and his back hit the grass as he rolled off of the moving surface.
“The princess's are here!?” Applejack asked frantically as she galloped towards her little sister. “Sorry for making y'all wait, your majesty's. If we'd have known y'all were here, we would have let ya jump in front of the line.”
“That's quite alright, Applejack.” Celestia replied with cheer. “Our thirst is no more pressing than our subjects. We're just fine waiting for our cider, like everypony else.”
“Speak for yourself, sister. I'm usually asleep by now.” Luna said in an irate tone. Her horn lit up with blue magic as she levitated a large plastic thermos in front of her. “Were it not for this brew of liquidated coffee beans, I doubt I would have the strength to stand.”
“I know you're tired Luna, I'm sorry.” Celestia apologized as her sister took an extended sip from the object in front of her. “It's just that you've never had their cider before, and the best way to enjoy it is straight from the tap. It just wouldn't do to have it shipped all the way to Canterlot.”
Luna withdrew the cup from her mouth and smacked her lips as the warm bitter solvent traveled down her throat. “If you say so.”
As the two princess sisters conversed, Apple Bloom had squeezed two wooden mugs full of cider for them. Celestia floated a pile of gold coins onto the counter. Each of them took a mug into their magical grasp, and drank from it. Celestia had chugged more than half the contents, while Luna took a very hesitant sip.
“Mm, very refreshing.” Celestia gasped as she pulled the mug from her mouth, a froth mustache clinging to her upper lip. “Well Luna, what do you think?”
Luna tilted the cup from her lips, and smacked her tongue a few times. With each movement, her eyes became more wide and bright. She took an even larger sip, and for the first time that morning, a smile appeared on her face. “That is most divine! A perfect blend of sweet and tart. Mm!”
“Worth missing sleep over?”
Luna opened her mouth to speak, then paused in thought. “I shall let you know once I finish a barrel for myself.” She said in haste. Celestia laughed heartily, while Big Macintosh left to fetch a barrel of cider for Luna.
The sound of vicious barking rang through the air, catching the attention of the two princesses who looked about in confusion. Their sight came upon a border collie, standing on its hind legs as it rested its paws on the trunk of an apple tree. Its tail wagged while it barked at the top, and a cluster of dark winged creatures flew from its branches.
“Atta' girl, Winona!” Applejack called after the animal, still barking at the tree in earnest. “You tell them fruit bats to stay on their side of the barn. These here apples ain't for them!”
Luna raised an eyebrow as she looked at the creature who jumped away from the tree and ran towards her owners. “Tia, is it customary for families to keep wolves as pets these days?”
Celestia fought to keep the cider she was drinking from spurting out of her nose. “No! No, Luna.” She replied, laughing. “She's not a wolf, she's a dog.” Luna's expression remained full of confusion. “Centuries ago ponies did begin to tame wolves for their own purposes. Then when they had pups, they were raised in civility and didn't behave as wolves anymore. Winona is domesticated.” At hearing her name, the Apple family's dog turned towards Celestia with her ears perked up. Celestia shot her an inviting smile, and the dog trotted over to inspect her more closely. “Isn't that right, little missy?” Celestia cooed in a childish voice to Winona as she rubbed her ears. Winona panted happily as she was petted, her tongue hanging out past her jaw and her eyes looking up at the princess.“Yes, you're a domesticated little doggy, yes you are!”
Big Macintosh returned with a barrel on his back, and set it on the grass with a soft thud. While Luna gathered enough coins to pay for the transaction, Rainbow Dash stealthily crept to the cider dispenser. With everypony else's attention on the princess's at the moment, she had a chance to sneak some of the sweet nectar she craved. Rainbow craned her head underneath the spout with her mouth open as she fumbled with the knob.
Even while she was being petted, Winona's ears perked up as a noise caught her attention. She turned all the way around and glared forward, barking at the pegasus underneath the barrel of cider.
“Rain-bow Dash!” Applejack snapped at her. The mare was so startled by Applejack's harsh voice that she pushed the lever too hard. Instead of receiving a light trickle of cider, her entire face was covered in a harsh stream of the liquid. “I told ya no cider til later!”
Dripping with cider, Rainbow Dash grumbled her displeasure at the situation. “Thanks a lot, Winona.” she muttered in a huff. As the dog in question sided up to her owner to receive more pets to her head, the ponies surrounding her burst into a chorus of laughter.
The sun filled the regal city of Canterlot with a gentle brightness, having only made it over the horizon just an hour ago. Overlooking the busy city itself was the castle, the capital of Equestria itself, and home to its two princesses. In the left quadrant of the castle, located between the towers of the sun and the moon, was the Tower of Stars; the third highest structure in the castle, and just above the castle’s observatory. Within the Tower of Stars sat a group of ponies at a marble desk. In front of them were folders and stacks of paper, as well as a few cups of coffee. They kept to themselves without a word in between them, staring at the table or the ceiling of the room, sometimes stealing a glance at the clock on the wall. The sound of a turning knob caught their attention, and they moved their gaze to the opening door of the room. They looked to see the tall white form of Princess Celestia stepping through, with a wide look of cheer on her face.
“Good morning, everypony!” She greeted aloud as she walked into the room. “I apologize for my tardiness; one of my hairstylists is new, and she had a teensy bit of trouble working her brush through my mane.”
“Oh, of course your majesty.” A disgruntled male voice replied to her. “Equestria would just fall to pieces if her highness were to suffer a split end.”
Celestia felt the bottom of her left eye twitch as she stared at the red maned stallion, his upper body dressed in a gray military coat. The coat itself was decorated in so many ribbons and medals, Celestia wondered how the stallion was even able to carry himself around without falling over.
“Nice to see you too, Sergeant Spearhoof.” Celestia replied, her smile returning as she imagined the stallion falling on his face with the addition of yet another medal on his chest.
A brown maned mare wearing a dark red blazer with pink buttons at the top cleared her throat, just as the stallion had opened his mouth to say something else. He crossed his hooves and turned away as the mare shot him a disapproving glance. “Good day to everypony. Very nice to see you, your majesty.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Honeysuckle.” Celestia said to her Chief of Treasury , as she walked past the ponies she was addressing to the other side of the table. On her way to the front, she nodded to the short maned unicorn Bowl Cut, the Chief of Homeland Wellbeing. Even though she kept her smile plastered on her face, she was rather frustrated that she had hardly been in the room five seconds before Spearhoof was on her case about something. She reminded herself that despite his barking, there was little bite that he could lay on her, and took her seat. “Now I realize that these meetings can be quite taxing, so let's just see if we can get through the items on today's agenda without problems and we'll all be on our way.”
Celestia slid the manilla folder at the center of the table towards herself with her magic, and pulled the front open. “Which of you would like to go first?”
The three ponies in front of her exchanged glances. Mr. Bowl and Mrs. Honeysuckle looked towards Sergeant Spearhoof hesitantly, but the stallion shrugged, motioning a hoof towards them dismissively.
“I suppose I’ll start us off with a report of the nation’s economics..” Mrs. Honeysuckle voiced gingerly. Celestia rummaged through the papers in her folder until she found pages with more numbers and figures than the others. “First of all, I'm happy to report that Equestria as a whole isn't experiencing any concerning drops in stocks or financial worth. Most everypony has a job and a roof over their head, so things are looking great on that front.”
“Well, that's wonderful.” Celestia replied, nodding appreciatively. “...But?”
“But, Maretonia hasn't shown any signs that they plan on paying back the loan that they owe us, after defaulting on it half a decade ago.”
Celestia rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Shocking.”
“Indeed. If they don't pay it back in the next few years, we might need to start making certain cutbacks on the nation.”
“Well, fretting over what might happen in the next few years isn't going to help anypony. I'll see if I can keep in mind some ways to save bits in the future, but for now there's nothing we can do.” Mrs. Honeysuckle nodded empathetically, as Celestia rummaged through the files in her folder.
“I guess it’s my turn then.” Bowl Cut adjusted his glasses resting on the bridge of his snout before he began. “Going off of Honeysuckle’s report of finances and jobs, the majority of the nation seems to be well fed. In fact, I think some of them might be a little too well fed.” Celestia rose an eyebrow at his odd quip before he continued. “Reports have been coming in from medical facilities all over the continent concerning their patients body mass intake. While it hasn’t reached a dangerous level, doctors are noticing that their patients are getting a little heavier as time goes by.”
Celestia nodded knowingly. “The price of a life of leisure. While I respect the brilliant minds who have invented the technology to make our lives easier, it seems to have relinquished the need for the citizens to exert themselves regularly and keep a healthy physique.” The princess tapped a hoof to her chin, taking a moment to ponder the situation. “Two things need to be done, Bowl. First of all, we need to snip the problem in the bud before it has a chance to bloom. Starting at the end of the fiscal year, I’m going to set in a new law that requires grade schools to teach a proper nutritious diet to young fillies and colts.” Bowl Cut’s horn illuminated, as he quickly scribbled a paraphrased rendition of Celestia’s instructions to him. “And for adults, I think a simple brochure or pamphlet with a summary of healthier alternatives would be fine. See if you can put something together, and have doctors administer it to all of their patients during their next visit.”
“Will do, your highness.” Bowl affirmed, clicking his pen closed.
“For defense against enemy threats, of course.” The stallion responded gruffly. “After all, our nation is one that finds itself threatened three times per year. I think we could use an increase in the weapons we use, as well as an increase in active soldiers.”
“Sergeant Spearhoof, when our nation is threatened, it's under attack by something that's a force of nature that can only be stopped by Twilight Sparkle and the other elements. Do you really think that a weapon like this would stand a chance against a villain like Tirek, if one were to appear?”
“Well, we don't know if we might be threatened by the other nations at some point.”
“Equestria has kept peaceful relations with other sovereign nations for half a century now. I see no reason that we should make unnecessary preparations for a nonexistent war.”
“If I may your highness-!”
“You may not.” Celestia cut the sergeant off swiftly, and his only response was his hoof pounding against the desk in frustration. “Well, is that everything then?” Celestia allowed herself to feel excitement that this meeting might actually end more quickly than meetings past.
“Actually, there is one last item that we didn't document, your majesty.” Mrs. Honeysuckle said as she lifted a notebook onto the desk. Celestia had to suppress the urge to groan as she nodded towards the mare. “If I'm not mistaken, your sister's birthday is coming up in the next few weeks. And I think it's very pressing that we receive your majesty's orders on what kind of cake she'll be receiving this year.”
Celestia's face lit up as she felt genuine excitement for this new item. Yes, a very pressing item indeed. The two of them had lived through so many birthdays already that Celestia considered it a challenge to outdo what sort of cake she presented to her sister year after year.
“Well, to match my sister's coat, we'll need something dark. That means we'll either be sticking with chocolate, which would be just fine. Or... do they make a raspberry cake?” She asked, while Honeysuckle took notes. Before the mare could answer, the door to the meeting room was pushed open.
“Your highness?” A royal guard called to her. “Ms. Silver Frame has been waiting in the reception hall for some time. She says she was promised an audience with you this morning, and she’s becoming rather impatient.”
“Yes, tell Ms. Silver Frame that she’s being made to wait while her majesty discusses the importance of a birthday cake.” Sergeant Spearhoof interjected in a biting tone of voice. “I’m sure she would understand.”
“Ouch!” he winced, rubbing the back of his head from the pain.
“Oh goodness, I’m so sorry!” Celestia apologized over-drmatically, before breaking out into a giggle. “These things seem to have a mind of their own sometimes.” Celestia resumed her march out of the doors, while the sergeant glared daggers out of the corner of his eye to her. Before the doors closed, she could hear Honeysuckle speaking up again.
“Now then, whether we go with chocolate or raspberry, we definitely need to line the edges of it with white chocolate moons.” She heard her say, before the doors finally shut. Celestia felt a tightness in her chest, as well as a rumble in her stomach. Feeling her annoyance spike, she hoped that whatever she was being summoned for had a good enough reason for her to miss out on what they were discussing without her.
“And as you can see your majesty,” the Earth pony mare drolled on as the stallion to her right pointed to various charts and graphs on a white board behind them. “Many ponies in Canterlot have found a chance to work and earn money thanks to my yachts. The boats themselves are almost as large as the castle itself, so as you can imagine, it needs quite a work force to keep it running smoothly! Of course, I'm more than willing to pay all my employees a handsome wage for their services.”
Celestia hardly paid any mind to Silver Frame. Legends spoke of how the princess's patience was as eternal as the sun itself. If those legends were at all true, then Silver Frame's inherent obnoxiousness transcended mortal capabilities. Rather than listen to her ramble on about her expensive yacht, Celestia instead found her eyes wandering about the glossy magenta walls of her throne room. She admired one of the stained glass windows, the one with the sun shining down from the heavens above onto the surface of the Earth. Back in the the medieval days, Luna had been so interested in the planets many light years away, and so Celestia had made this one specially for her when it was Luna's turn to sit on the throne during the night. However, Celestia's personal favorites were adjacent to the one depicting the astronomical bodies. They were the ones featuring Twilight Sparkle and her friends, saving Equestria from eternal night or chaos. She adored staring at these works of art, admiring how much her former student had grown into a princess worthy of bringing the light of friendship to Equestria. Reminiscing about Twilight’s journey to royalty brought warmth to her heart, which helped her endure such dreadful presentations as these.
“What do you say, your majesty?” Silver Frame asked, finally concluding her long-winded lecture. Celestia forced herself to stop looking at the work of art and back to the mare in front of her. Though she hadn't taken in a word that she said, she already knew what the mare was after. Silver Frame had visited her four times previously this year, and each time she had been seeking a deduction on the amount of taxes she owed. And from what little Celestia had heard this time, Silver was trying to claim that she was a “job-creator” and since she was paying so many employees on her yacht, she deserved a tax break.
Celestia wasn't a fool. She knew that Silver Frame's yacht was hardly doing anything to stimulate the work force of Equestria. Those employees were paid quite little for all the hard work they went through to keep their jobs, and it was not nearly enough for them to live comfortably.
“Well, that is very nice to hear.” Celestia replied with a fraudulent smile. “I'm glad that you've found so many ponies to work on your big fancy yacht. But I'm afraid that isn't going to give you any deductions in the taxes that you'll end up owing.”
“But- but your majesty!” Silver Frame moaned, putting a hoof to her yellow sun hat. “What about all the ponies I'm paying to work? Can't I get a little bit of help while I'm helping them?”
“I'm afraid not.” Celestia feigned a look of sorrow as she looked down at Silver. While her face appeared sympathetic to the aristocrat, her eyes remained stern and unmoving, projecting to her that it was not happening.
“Hmph! Very well then.” Silver Frame tilted her head up and turned about, the short stallion folding up the chart and walking close behind her.
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief once the ponies were out the door. While one of her guards announced the next guest to see her, Celestia counted her blessings that at least Silver Frame was gone, and that she would not have to see her again, at least not for a few more months when she tried yet again to plead a new case to Celestia. A dull pain surfaced in the front of her cranium, like her brain was being pinched and kneaded into dough. The princess lifted her hoof and rubbed her temple, a vain effort to soothe the headache that was building within.
The sound of faint clip-clopping snapped Celestia back to reality, and her attention was drawn to her next guest entering her throne room. To her delight, this didn't appear to be a snooty aristocrat trying to win favor with her. Trotting briskly along the red carpet was a small unicorn filly with dark black hair and a pink coat. Behind her was a cart covered in a sheet, which she pulled along its wheels by a rope with her teeth. Even though her mouth was occupied, she still wore an eager smile as she looked toward Celestia.
“Oh, hello there little one!” Celestia greeted her warmly as the filly drew closer to her. Her exuberant presence helped Celestia forget about the pain in her head for a moment. “What can I do for you today?”
The filly looked away for a moment, and took a deep breath. Celestia understood that anxiousness was unavoidable when they met her for the first time. She did wish she could do something to put them at ease before they met her, but after centuries of ponies shaking in her presence, she realized the nerves just had to run their course. After composing herself, the filly looked back to Celestia with more energy than before.
“It's not about what you can do for me, your majesty; it's about what I can do for you!” The filly shouted at the top of her lungs. Celestia's eyes popped open wide in surprise at the projection the filly's voice carried; she was at least a yard away from the princess, yet Celestia's ears still stung from the volume of her powerful voice. “Are you tired of cookies that crumble as you pick them up!? Can't wash that bland taste down no matter how much milk you chug!? Then I've got the solution for you! Hi, Filly Neighs here, with my one of a kind Crazy Captivating Confectionery Cookies!” The unicorn's horn lit up, and her magic lifted the tarp off of her wagon. Now uncovered, Celestia could see an ornate display of plates of cookies laid out for her to behold. “Why, just one bite, and you'll go CRAZY from how delicious they are!”
Celestia's head resumed throbbing with her headache once again, as did her ears from the sheer volume that the little filly spoke at. Nevertheless, the corners of her mouth remained upward, fixed in a smile as she listened to little Ms. Neigh's presentation.
“And of course, as any professional food salespony would do, I'm more than happy to share a sample of my work with her majesty!” Filly Neighs exclaimed, using her magic to levitate a chocolate chip cookie towards Celestia. “Please, help yourself! I promise your taste buds will be more than satisfied!”
Celestia inspected the confectionery in front of her. She realized that it was as big as her own hoof, perhaps even bigger. She was impressed that somepony her age was able to bake something that size.
“Thank you for the offer, little one.” Celestia replied, her eyes darting back and forth from the cookie to the eager unicorn. “But I've only had breakfast a few hours ago; I don't think I have the room for this.”
The jaw of the unicorn dropped in shocked disappointment. Without a word, her head tilted down, and her front hooves pulled in together. Though she remained silent, Celestia could read her face and all the thoughts behind it: She had put her heart into making those cookies, and worked so hard win an audience with the princess. And now that she was here, she learned that the her majesty didn't even want to give her baked goods a chance. Looking closely, she could see Filly Neighs lips beginning to tremble.
No no no no, please don't cry! Celestia internally begged, a slight ache creeping up in her heart.
“Well, I suppose I might have... a little bit of room.” Celestia said, as she looked back towards the enormous cookie. She leaned her head in and took a bite of the treat. The unicorn's head lifted up and her eyes shimmered as she watched Celestia chew the confectionery.
Mm... that's pretty good, actually. Celestia thought, before she swallowed. She looked at the unicorn's happy face, but it was blocked by the partly eaten cookie being swung in front of her view. Oh, she wants me to eat the whole thing. Alright then. Celestia took several more bites until the cookie was gone completely, down Celestia's throat and into her belly.
“Well, you're certainly right dear, that was...” Celestia took a deep breath through her nostrils, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to say. “CRAZY good!” She wasn't sure if it was a part of her soul being choked or possibly the weight of the large cookie hitting her stomach, but Celestia felt herself cringe after uttering that crafted praise.
“Well, if your majesty likes that, then not to worry, there's PLENTY more where that come from! Crazy Captivating Confectionery Cookies comes in a variety of flavors!” Filly Neighs began to levitate one different looking cookie after another towards the princess's face. “I have chocolate chip, caramel, cinnamon, chocolate, double chocolate, double double chocolate, and my personal favorite, double double chocolate cinnamon caramel chip!”
Celestia's eyes danced in all directions. No matter where she looked, she found herself surrounded by cookies, except for when she looked forward and saw Filly Neighs. The little unicorn looked so excited as she waited for the princess to sample the treats she worked so hard to prepare, and praise her for her talent in making them. Celestia's tummy felt heavy; it begged her not to go through with it.
Be strong, my stomach; it'll soon be over. Celestia closed her eyes and opened her mouth as she leaned towards the first of many cookies she prepared herself to consume.
The halls of Canterlot castle were filled with its residents bustling about in their daily activities.
Celestia groaned as she marched past her subjects, each step she took putting a strain on her belly, which was still full of more cookies than she had cared to eat. Celestia silently hoped that she would never lay eyes on another cookie again for a very long time as she cleared the hallway, allowing the other ponies to return to their duties.
Celestia and her guards climbed the stairs up to the hallway leading to her bedroom. The trek upwards was more tiring than usual, due to the state her belly was in. As Celestia stood outside the door to her bedroom, she felt a bit of fatigue settling in her chest. It brought itself to the surface in the form of a yawn, and the princess had to shake her head to keep it from overtaking her. She would have loved to take a nap at the moment and regain some strength for the rest of the day. Alas, she knew it couldn't be so: even in the comfort of her bedroom, her day wasn't over until she lowered the sun. Steeling her nerves, she used her magic to open the door and stepped inside.
Celestia looked about her room for what she dreaded was there. She looked to the right, and saw her brown oak dresser lined with golden edges. She looked right next to it, at the windowsill leading to her balcony overlooking the entire city. She looked ahead, towards her bed with the translucent drapes drawn around her mattress right next to her vanity mirror lined with gold. And for safe measure she looked left, to her red circle of a comforter, in front of her cozy fireplace. To her surprise, her room was exactly as she had left it this morning, before raising the sun.
Celestia let relief wash over her. With a bit of a bounce in her step, she pranced over to her comforter, stepping onto the plush surface. She lowered herself onto her belly, crossing her forelegs in front of her, then letting her long elegant neck descend between her hooves. Her shoulders rose as she took a deep breath, allowing herself to relax. She rarely had the chance to catch a moment of sleep at this time of day, and she was a bit giddy with excitement. Celestia's breath softened as she felt a pleasurable sense of heaviness creep over her senses. She could hear the steady embers of her fireplace waving about, a light crackle and pop sounding out several seconds apart. Her head tilted slightly to the left as her consciousness faded more and more, so close to the blissful embrace of sleep that she craved.
Her eardrums were assaulted with a quick barrage of knocks on her bedroom door. Celestia felt her heartbeat jump in her throat as she was torn from the sleep she was so close to attaining.
You've got to be kidding me. Right when I was getting comfortable. She griped internally. She had to suppress a frustrated moan building in her throat.
“Your highness, Royal Aide Mrs. Raven wishes to enter.”
Celestia grumbled under her breath. While she had no quarrel whatsoever with Mrs. Raven, she knew what the unicorn was here for. She undoubtedly had with her the very thing Celestia was afraid to find when she first entered her bedroom only a few minutes ago. “Send her in.” She replied.
With a bit of a squeak, the door handle turned and the fair brown-haired unicorn stepped through with a smile on her face. And as Celestia had feared, behind her was a stack of papers, files, and letters, culminated in a tower twice her own stature. Raven had to be extra careful that the top of the stack didn't hit Celestia's door frame as she pulled it through.
“Good evening your majesty.” Raven greeted her energetically. “Sorry for being late; ended up getting a little more of a workload than I'm used to, so I had to take some extra time processing it all.”
“No apology necessary.” Celestia assured her, as she watched the unicorn drop the stack of papers in front of her comforter. The tower hit the ground a touch forcefully, and the page on top shook loose. Celestia watched it waft lightly through the air, until it landed gently on her foreleg. Something caught her attention in the right side of her eye. She turned to see the levitating in the air was a tall white cup with a plastic lid on top, a bit of steam rising from the hole for sipping.
“Got you some coffee to go with that, your highness.” Raven said to her softly as she kept the cup afloat. “I think you're gonna need it.”
“Indeed.” Celestia replied, igniting her magic while Raven switched hers off. She took a gentle sip through the hole of the cup, and the warm drink poured over her tongue. As it traveled down her throat, her taste buds were embraced by a rich and sweet sensation. “Mm, white chocolate.” The princess smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she savored the taste. “And hazelnut. You know me very well.”
“I try my best, your majesty. Anything else I can do for you?”
Celestia looked towards the stack of papers next to her, then back towards her aide with a smirk. “Think you could go ahead and respond to all of these for me?” The corners of Raven's mouth lifted uncomfortably as she forced herself to smile. Her eyes danced from side to side, searching for the right response. “I'm joking. That will be all Mrs. Raven, thank you.”
With a quick bow, Raven turned towards the door and headed out, the guards outside closing it behind her. Now that Celestia was by herself, she closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side. The joints of her long slender neck popped loudly, and she repeated the same process for the other side before taking another slurp of coffee.
“Okay...” Celestia said out loud, as she levitated a vial of ink and a quill from her dresser and hovered it toward herself. “Here we go.”
And Celestia began the daunting task of pouring through each document in front of her. Most of them were of little trifle; a request for a construction permit from Horseshoe Bay, to allow the city to build an addition to the docks that handled cargo ships, in order to reduce traffic congestion. Celestia had no trouble with documents such as these; all they needed was the date of her viewing the document and for her to scribble her signature, and that was it. No trouble at all.
Celestia's groaned as she saw something with Vanhoover written on the top. She internally begged that it wasn't what she thought it was before her eyes scanned the document. She shook her head when she confirmed that it was exactly what she didn't want it to be. It was a threat of secession from the city, the third one that year. The town officials had been quite noisy as of late when the citizens had gotten wind of a band in Ponyville using Poison Joke to help in their singing talents, claiming that the herb shouldn't be used for recreational purposes. They had been adamant about a nationwide ban on the herb, saying that they would secede if their demands weren't met.
She knew it was an empty threat. Vanhoover was likely to crumble without Equestria's support, and she knew that they knew that fact as well. If they didn't know that, then the ponies in charge of the town probably didn't deserve to be. She had a mind to crumble the document up and toss it into her fireplace. But she knew that if she didn't give a properly documented refusal to honor their demands, it would cause even more unrest than she wanted. She levitated a blank parchment from her dresser and laid it in front of her, dipping her quill into the ink and quickly scratching it across the surface.
Nearly an hour of signing and writing passed, and Celestia miraculously reached the bottom of the stack of papers. Quite exasperated, she held her temple between her hooves, a vain attempt to soothe her throbbing headache. Celestia looked towards the clock on the wall of her room, and noticed it was nearly time for lunch. While most ponies would look forward to taking a break from signing papers and having meetings in order to eat, Celestia's lunch break could hardly be considered a “break”. She would have to make a trip to the royal dining room, keeping herself poised at all times while the servants presented her meal to her. Then she would have to take the most lady-like of bites when she really wanted to stuff her face without care. And of course, she would have to skip on dessert to keep her figure, saving her sweet tooth for “special occasions”.
Letting out a frustrated growl, Celestia turned over and pushed the back of her head into her seat. “Why can't they just make me a sandwich, bring it up here and leave me alone!?” Celestia shouted in anger. “I hate being a princess sometimes.”
“You? Hate being a princess?” An airy male voice responded to her, making her lift her head with a start. “But I thought you were giving out wings and horns like they were hotcakes!”
Celestia turned her head from left to right, seeing that nopony was immediately present. Despite being unable to see the source of the voice, she knew full well who it belonged to. Now it was just a matter of finding out where he was hiding, if he was physically present at all. She looked towards her bed, through the curtains. She looked at her dresser, up above and down below. She looked to her fireplace, still burning warm and bright. He was nowhere to be found. Celestia felt an uncomfortable itch swelling within her mane, and lifted a hoof to scratch it.
Through the movements of her hoof through her wavy ethereal locks, she caught sight of it moving in front of her and noticed something wasn't quite right. Rather than shimmering waves of turquoise and heliotrope to match a misty morning sunshine, she instead saw locks of white and gray at the top, with a bit of dark brown throughout. Celestia felt unnerved at the sight, and wondered what in the world had happened to discolor her beautiful mane. Her question was answered shortly, as a pair of bright yellow eyes and a smiling mouth with a snagglefang appeared at the center of her waving mane.
“Hello!” The voice called out brightly to her from her mane.
“Aah!” Celestia screamed as she processed that her beautiful mane had been taken hostage by a former enemy, and present irritation. “Discord, get out of there!”
The face chuckled at Celestia's commotion. “At once! It is after all as they say...” A bright white flash blinded Celestia for a second as she was forced to close her eyes. When she opened them she found the face had disappeared. Unfortunately, so had her long ethereal mane. Feeling more than shaken, Celestia touched her hoof through the air and along her cranium, confirming to her fear that she was now in fact bald. “Hair today, gone tomorrow!” His voice finished behind her. Celestia turned abruptly to see Discord in his full draconequus form, looking boastfully at his eagle claw. She realized that wrapped around one of the talons was her dislodged mane in its proper color and beauty.
“Give that back.” Celestia ordered him, with an involuntary twitch of her right eye as she struggled to keep her temper in check.
“Oh don't get your tail in a bunch, missy.” Discord said, waving his mane wrapped talon at her. “It's not really my color.” He extended his arm towards her and poked the side of her head, twirling his talon in circles and unraveling the mane as if it were a bit of yarn wrapped around him. In a matter of seconds, the tip of her mane had left his claw, and it had been restored fully to its proper place.
In the past, Discord's presence had filled Celestia with dread, fury, and a touch of fear. The draconequus had once been a tyrant of chaos and disharmony, causing misery for all ponies in Equestria. But through a series of events, the magic of friendship had prevailed, and Discord had resigned his wicked ways in exchange for a more peaceful life in the nation. Despite his reformed nature, he still had a tendency to turn things on its head wherever he went, though it was never for more than a few minutes. The dread Celestia had once felt toward Discord had as of late been replaced with a mild annoyance at most, even though he rarely paid visits to her.
“What do you want, Discord?” Celestia asked, after taking a breath to calm her building nerves.
Discord feigned shivering, holding his arms together and chattering his teeth. “Well, for a pony in charge of the sun, that's a rather cold greeting.” He replied. “Why is it that everypony I speak to thinks I 'want' something from them?”
“Well then, why are you here?” Celestia's impatience was beginning to show, as her volume increased the slightest bit.
“Ah, now that's a rather interesting story.” Discord stepped towards the fireplace, rubbing his palms together before warming them over the flame. “You see, Fluttershy's taken her darling Angel bunny to the park on that pet play date thing that they do every so often. I wanted to go with her, but wouldn't you know it, I don't have a pet, so I was left at her cottage!” Discord turned to her, his furry lion paw lifted up against his forehead as his face wore a look of sorrow. “All alone, nothing to do, absolutely bored to tears!” His eyes welled up with moisture, and a red hanky materialized before his face, which he used to blow his nose rather loudly.
“I'm very sorry to hear that, Discord.” Celestia rolled her eyes at his exaggerated lamentations. “It must be very agonizing for somepony as hyperactive as you to be left with nothing to keep occupied.”
“You're telling me.” Discord said with a bit of a sniffle. On a turn of a coin, he smiled as if he hadn't even been crying, and the handkerchief began to float in the air. “But then something peculiar happened. While I was loafing around her cottage, I could feel the most exquisite surge of disharmony building in the distance.” Wiggling the phalanges of his paw and claw, the floating red cloth began to twirl and extend in length through the air. “I wasn't exactly sure where it was coming from, so I had to follow the trail myself, wherever it took me” As the cloth kept extending, Discord stepped off of his legs and towards the end of the handkerchief. As if squeezed through a funnel, his head became long and thin, as did the rest of his body, and his form slithered across the spirals through the air.
“I followed it all the way out of the little town of Ponyville, up the spires of Canterlot until I found myself here in the castle.” He continued, the end of the handkerchief reaching the tip of Celestia's horn. “And lo and behold, guess where I found myself?” Discord asked, appearing from the end of the disappearing cloth. His body had shrunk to the size of a doll. With his legs wrapped around her horn, he graciously twirled himself around it all the way down, until he was laying with his chest against Celestia's temple.
“M-me?” Celestia asked rather perplexed. “You felt disharmony coming from me... all the way out in Ponyville?”
“Like you wouldn't believe!” Discord clamored excitedly. “I don't know what you're doing, but you're just brimming with inner conflict and confusion. ” Discord slipped down the bridge of Celestia's muzzle, yawning a bit before finding residence under Celestia's left eye. “Why if I were up to my old ways, something like this would be quite nurturing. I could probably break out of ten stone imprisonments, and still have enough energy to turn the whole nation into an omelet!” He said, lifting the bags under Celestia's eye over himself as a makeshift blanket.
While Discord himself seemed to be enjoying the playful jabs at her, Celestia was finding no humor in it whatsoever. She shook her head violently in an effort to be rid of the little troublemaker. With her mane sprawled out in a frenzy, she looked down and noticed that Discord had vanished from her eyelid.
“Hey, come on now, what's the matter?” Discord asked from above, now back to his proper size. With a brush in his paw, he passed through the mess of her sparkling mane and restored it to its proper elegant form. “You don't want to talk about it?”
Celestia looked up towards him with a disapproving glare. “You? Of all ponies, why would you want to hear me gripe about my day?”
“Because, hanging out with Fluttershy and her friends has ruined me!” Discord complained, the majority of his weight falling over Celestia and blocking her sight with his brown chest. He continued to slither down past her and across the floor. “All of them gabbing on and on about their feelings, and emotions and all that junk. I tried to block it out for the longest time, but it's finally poisoned me, and made me... sentimental.” Discord winced and appeared as if he were choking at the utterance of the word. Blinking out of sight for a moment, he appeared to Celestia's left, donned in a brown blazer and half-framed glasses over his eyes. A pen and notebook appeared in his grasp, and he looked towards her with a reassuring smile. “So, I'm willing to give you somepony to vent to, your majesty. I want you to tell me everything that's causing this upheaval of disharmony within you. I'm all ears, so don't hold back!”
Celestia watched him sit back on thin air, as if a chair were holding his weight. She wanted to believe that his offer was genuine, that there would be no ill repercussions to come from his presence in her bedroom. Past memories were hard to let go of, however, even if they had taken place centuries ago.
“I'm not sure if I buy it Discord,” Celestia said, and Discord dragged his paw across his face in exasperation. “How do I know that venting all of my 'disharmony' to you isn't going to give you a surge in power that’ll make you unstoppable from going on another rampage through Equestria?”
“Cut me some slack, will you? I learned my lesson after the whole Tirek thing; no more evil from me, okay?” Celestia's face remained stone cold to him. Discord rolled his eyes, before placing his paw over his chest and his claw in the air. “I swear on Fluttershy's friendship that I will do you, nor Equestria, any harm.”
That was something Celestia took comfort in. For a reason she and the others couldn't quite explain, the timid little pegasus on the edge of the Everfree Forest had influenced the spirit of chaos in a way that defied all expectation. Even when Discord proved that he had outsmarted the elements, the knowledge that he had upset his first (and at the time, only) friend had crushed him. Celestia and the others knew that Fluttershy was very dear to him, and that he would go to untold lengths to keep their bond intact. If he was putting their friendship on the line for her trust, then Celestia could find a degree of comfort in trusting him.
“Fair enough.” She resigned. Discord’s face brightened with joy, and he once again took up his pen, at the ready to write. “Where to begin...”
And with her head leaning on the side of her couch, she told Discord what was on her mind. She spoke and spoke, and spoke some more. Her head whipped around as she felt her anger rise at the thought of different issues that plagued her throughout her day. She lifted her right hoof to mimic the ponies who tried her patience, and blew a raspberry to illustrate her disgust with them. The two shared an unvoiced but nonetheless mutual surprise for what was taking place at the moment; Princess Celestia, normally so calm and reserved, was finally being given a chance to unfilter her grievances, and from the sound of things, she had been holding quite a bit back for some time.
“Wow, princess, that's... wow.” Discord uttered, at a loss for how to properly respond to what he had heard.
“And you know what really gets my goat about all this?” Celestia went on, Discord shaking his head innocently. “Is that I just don't ever get to have fun anymore. I don't! I can have some 'leisure time' as long as I schedule it in advance. But I never get to cut loose when I want to. It's always schedules, deadlines and appointments, no time for wigging out and having fun, you know?”
“Well, I don't actually know, your highness. But I can imagine how stressful that must be. They make you run around like a dog!”
“Tch.” Celestia scoffed. “Even dogs have it better than me, Discord...” As she uttered her frustration, she found her mind locked on what she had just said. Something about it captured her attention.
“I suppose you're right, Sunny. But here's the thing:” As Discord spoke, Celestia rolled off of her recliner and trotted towards the window of her balcony. “Princess?” Discord looked towards her with confusion.
Celestia's eyes looked through the glass window, out towards Canterlot. She couldn't see it herself, but she knew off in the distance there was Ponyville, and further still, Sweet Apple Acres. She pictured the Apple family busying themselves on their farm, their dog Winona prancing about as happy as could be. A smile crept onto her face at the thought of Applejack’s four-legged friend.
“Discord... I just had a strange thought.” she said hesitantly.
With a flash of white, Discord teleported across the room. His notebook, pen, blazer and glasses had disappeared when he rematerialized right next to her. “I'm listening.” He replied.
“Just a few days ago, my sister and I went to Sweet Apple Acres so we could purchase some of their cider. While I was there, I saw Applejack's dog Winona, romping across the grass while she was chasing away fruit bats. She was so happy running around, receiving pets or praises, enjoying what little scraps of food she received. She was just the cutest, happiest little thing I've seen in such a long time” Discord nodded as he listened to Equestria's oldest princess digress the machinations of her psyche.
“And now, looking back on it, I realize I'm envious of her. I wish I could live that way; running around outside, without any schedules or deadlines to meet, being immensely happy at the little things I was given; just enjoying life to the fullest no matter what was happening at the time.” Celestia rose a hoof and laid it against the glass of the window. “I feel as if that little lady has it all figured out.”
Discord looked towards the ceiling and tapped his paw against his chin. “You know, funny story,” He began, clearing his throat before he continued. “First time I broke out of that lovely stone prison of mine, and ran amok in Ponyville, I had a little fun on Sweet Apple Acres before Twilight and the others sealed me up again.”
“You don't say?” Celestia replied, just a hint of annoyance building in her voice.
“I do say! And part of that fun was when I warped the mind of Applejack's brother- oh, what's his name? Mack-something? Oh right- Big Macintosh.” Discord's recounting was interrupted by his own laughter as the image played out in his mind. “I made the stallion think he was a dog!”
That greatly captured Celestia's attention. “You did?”
“I did! Oh, it was hysterical! He was barking, and digging holes, and licking AJ and her granny's faces! Oh ho ho ho, that was a sight to behold. Kind of cute in a weird way.”
Celestia had never heard of Discord doing such a thing before. She had seen Applejack's brother that morning, big and stalwart, brimming with a farmer's pride; a stallion among stallions, though humble and gentlecoltly. The thought of the big red stallion running around the farmlands barking and chewing on toys made her giggle. But her laughter subsided when she thought of herself behaving in the same way, and she was overwhelmed with curiosity.
“Discord... another strange thought.” She said, keeping her eyes from him. “Could you do such a thing again?”
“Of course I could do it again; it would be a cinch-! Wait, hold on” Discord asked, his neck extending several feet in the air, and then curling out to properly face Celestia. “What exactly are you asking of me?” His yellow eyes locked with her own for a moment, but she turned away while biting the tip of her hoof. She thought of saying the words, but her nerves made made them impossible to dislodge from her throat. “Are you asking me to brainwash you into thinking you're a dog?”
Celestia felt her ears burn softly. It was quite embarrassing to hear him say it out loud. She suddenly became aware of what an odd request it was, but she could not deny it. The stress of her day had proven that she did in fact envy Applejack's faithful companion. Even if it was through some manipulation, she wanted to experience it for herself, just for a moment. She knew she was out of sorts, but she needed to experience it so terribly, even if it was just once to get it out of her system.
“Yes, that's what I'm asking.” she admitted, sounding a touch defeated.
“Huh. Well, that's a new one. Okay, so, let's get this straight: I hypnotize you, and poof, you think you're a dog. Then what?”
“Then I get to be free! I don't have to worry about being a princess for a while. I can just run around, and play, and just enjoy being alive without care!”
“Right, sure, but when I did it to Big Macintosh, he still looked like himself. So what's going to happen when everypony sees you, the princess of Equestria running around sniffing trees and fire hydrants?”
“That, uh... oh, appearance concealment!” Celestia exclaimed. “That's easy magic, especially for you! You could make everypony who sees me think I actually do look like a dog.”
“Alright, fair enough. But if you have the mind of something like that, how are you going to make sure you don't hurt yourself or get into trouble?”
Celestia winced as she thought quickly, her mind racing with possibilities. She smiled when one idea in particular jumped out to her. “You!”
“Me?”
“Yes, you could be my owner!”
“... This is getting weird.” Discord said awkwardly, looking away from Celestia.
“I know it's a lot to ask, but could you look after me for just one day, to make sure nothing gets out of hoof?”
“A day!? You expect me to look after you for a full day!?”
“Pleeeeease?” Celestia asked, sitting on her rump with her hooves up to her chin, and stuck her bottom lip out while her eyes sparkled with need.
“H-how- who taught you to do that!?” Discord growled exasperatingly. It was visibly apparent that he was having trouble shunning the charm of Celestia’s piteous expression. He put the palm of his claw over his paw and shook his head.“Wait wait wait, time out- so, not even twenty minutes ago, I had to beg you to tell me how your day was. Now suddenly, you think it's a good idea for me to brainwash you?”
Celestia looked away from him a moment, touching her hooves together as she contemplated things. It was true, there was still a bit of hesitance lingering in her heart from his past misdeeds. But she remembered the heartbreak she witnessed after he had been deceived by Tirek. He had been remorseful of his mistake when he learned that his selfishness had cost him his friendship and left him with nothing. And she could see that he was moved by Twilight's compassion when she asked for Tirek to spare him, even when she had no reason to. Looking at the yellow eyes of the draconequus looking down at her, she couldn't sense any malice or ill intent within him. All she could see was genuine concern for her, though she had once been his enemy. The spirit of chaos had finally found some room in his heart to care for she who worked to preserve harmony. To say that she was touched would have been quite the understatement.
“I trust you, Discord.” Celestia admitted sincerely. “Fluttershy and the others have trusted you for a while now; it's time that I do the same.”
Discord's eyes relaxed, and he returned the look of sentiment that she gave him. He quickly shook his head to keep his thoughts from drifting, and then slithered closer to her. “Alright, let's get this over with then.”
Discord cracked his knuckles, then rolled his neck around a few times. He rose and lowered his shoulders to limber up, before lifting them up and taking Celestia's face gently into his grasp. With her chin craned upwards to him, Celestia felt her nerves creep up expectantly.
“Ssh, just relax, princess.” Discord said to her, in a tone much softer than she thought he was capable of. “Try not to worry about it; it'll make things easier.” As she stared up at him, she noticed his yellow eyes had red rings swirling from the edge, spinning towards the center and into his crimson pupils. She found the movement enchanting; was it just one spiral, moving around and around? Or were there many being constructed and deconstructed one after another? Where did it begin, and where did it end? Were there even such things as beginnings and ends? Did they matter?
As Celestia's thoughts wandered, she felt a sense of lightness overcome her brain. It felt as if it was melting away, dissolving, emptying out of her ears. She forgot what it meant to feel worry, fear, or anything for that matter.
Celestia's vision of Discord became blurred by pools of red and green, and soon enough, it was all she could see. The colors washed over her body, wrapped around her soothingly. She lost herself in them as they coaxed her. They made her feel safe, and secure, shielded from the world.
“There we go,” She heard a voice echo within the puddle that her mind had been reduced to. “You’re doing just fine, princess.” She wondered where that voice came from. Was it somepony else, or her own thoughts speaking to her? She immediately decided it wasn't worth thinking about. She felt tired; so wonderfully tired. With no desire to fight it, she let the sensation overcome her, and drifted off into sleep, wrapped in the cocoon of red and green.
And without even realizing it, her consciousness was gone; faded into the far, unperceivable depths of her mind.
Several minutes passed, and not a sound could be heard from Celestia's room, save for the tick-tock of the clock on her wall. Another sound accompanying the ticking was the tap of Discord's goat hoof and lizard foot stepping against the surface he paced across. Discord tilted his chin down and looked at the wrist of his claw, where a watch was affixed. “Alright, it’s been long enough.” Discord looked upwards, where he saw Princess Celestia still unconscious on her recliner. “Let's see if she's ready to wake up.”
Discord jumped from the ceiling of Celestia's room, and let himself float downwards towards the floor. Even closer to Celestia, he could see the alicorn's upper body rise and fall as she breathed in rhythm. It was faint, but if he listened closely, he could just barely hear her snoring through her muzzle. He slowly, carefully extended a talon of his claw towards her shoulder, and tapped her fair white coat.
“Celestia?” He called to her, his voice just above a whisper. The princess remained fast asleep. “Oh, Celly? Anypony home?”
Celestia's face wrinkled slightly, and an audible groan escaped her throat. Though it wasn't what Discord was expecting, he at least was glad to see some response from her.
“Come on sunny; time to wake up.”
“Rowr...” Celestia grumbled, her ears twitching as he spoke to her. Her wafting tail shook from side to side a few times, before she buried her head in her hooves and rolled over, her back facing Discord.
Did it work? Discord wondered. He smirked a bit and continued to poke her.
“Somepony sounds sleepy. But you can't spend your whole day sleeping now, can you?” A soft whine escaped Celestia, as she fidgeted about in a lazy attempt to escape Discord's touch. “Hey, don't ignore me, missy. Wake up.” Hey urged her, the volume of his voice increasing as he coaxed her to awaken. “Come on... wake up wake up wake up wake up!” He pestered her, while incessantly poking at her head.
“Grr...” Celestia growled just a bit, conveying her annoyance. Her vocal ministrations were matched by her stomach, which Discord found quite amusing.
“Well fine then, stay asleep!” He feigned defeat as he withdrew his claw. “I guess somepony doesn't want me to feed her.”
Celestia's ears pricked up at the mention of those last two words.
“Oh, what's that? You want to be fed?” Celestia's head lifted up instantly, and she looked over her shoulder at Discord, her eyes wide and alert. “Are you hungry, missy?” Celestia jumped to her hooves, standing up from her recliner on all fours. She shook her body from side to side in quick fashion to rid herself of her sleepiness, then stepped off to look at Discord with an eager smile.
Discord rubbed his chin in admiration of her movements. From the behavior she was exhibiting, it seemed that his treatment of her had done its job. But he needed extensive testing to make sure.
“Hm, I still can't tell if you're hungry or not. Maybe you should tell me?” Discord bent his knees slightly with his palms on his knees, looking forward at Celestia's eye level. “Say 'I'm hungry Discord!'”
“Arf!” Celestia barked happily, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.
“Yes!” Discord exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. He immediately put his grasp around Celestia's face, coddling her cheeks and smushing them up towards her eyes. “It worked splendidly! You think you're a doggy now, don't you? Are you my little puppy?” He teased in a playful tone of voice.
Not seeming to mind Discord's show of affection on her face, Celestia let her tongue slip in and out through her lips as her energetic eyes were locked on his own. Her stomach gurgled again, reminding Discord that she had only woken up because he had tempted her with a meal.
“Oh fine then.” Discord retreated his grip from her face and pat her on her head behind her horn. “Let's see if I can find you something to eat.”
Straightening two of his talons, Discord opened and closed them together up through the air like a pair of scissors. The sound of fabric snipping came from each motion, cutting a thin line through the empty space in Celestia's room. Once it was long enough, Discord poked his arms through the incision and stretched it wide open. Looking through, he was granted with a view of the castle's kitchen, clouds of steam from the various pots and pans making it difficult to see the white walls of the area. The ruckus of dishes and utensils filled the air, along with the orders of the chefs as they prepared a number of dishes for the denizens of the castle.
Keeping his lower torso in Celestia's room, Discord stretched the rest of himself into the kitchen, snaking his way across the ceiling. He kept his vision downwards, surveying the area as best he could and scanning the meals being put together by the chefs. Whenever a cook would turn away, whether to grab another ingredient or for guidance from their recipes, Discord would dip his head down and inspect what they were making. He shook his head in disapproval over several dishes, finding its contents quite unappealing. A few yards down the room, something at the center of a large table caught Discord's eye.
It was a round object, cabbage from the looks of it. Its surface was lined with cooked carrots, and wrapped in layers of spinach, as well a hefty layer of hay covering the vegetables. And the entire dish was glistening to the point that Discord could see his own face reflected off the surface. Taking a sniff, he deduced that a coat of honey was what had given the meal its enchanting shine.
“Perfect!” Discord uttered, before grabbing the dish and reeling himself back across the ceiling, and back to the opening up above. Pulling himself fully back into Celestia's room, the tear within space sealed itself back up, as if it had never been there before. The white alicorn sniffed the air, noting the presence of the cuisine in Discord's grasp, and she craned her neck in to inspect the delightful scent before her. She wasn't sure what it was, but it smelled enchanting to her. Her mouth hung open in anticipation, and strands of drool escaped the corners of her lips as she panted in excitement.
The plate that held the meal turned to a blender, and the contents were shredded into a chunky paste within a few seconds. The blender quickly reformed its shape into an orange dog bowl reading “Celly” on the side. Celestia herself was so excited she was bouncing off the ground in joy, her shimmering mane flowing up and down through the air. Her wings flared momentarily in excitement, before folding back in place as he lowered the bowl to the floor in front of her.
Celestia drew her soaking tongue across her lips as she looked at the mash placed in front of her. With a sense of vigor, she stepped forward, her mouth merely an inch from tasting the inticing banquet in front of her.
“Ah ah ah!” Discord placed his palm in front of her face, stopping her advance. Celestia's brow softened in disappointment. She looked up at Discord, her eyes begging him to let her eat.
“Sit.” He instructed. On command, Celestia lowered her posterior to the ground, her back straight and at attention. “Shake.” He ordered, extending his paw. Celestia lifted the corresponding hoof to touch his. “Other hoof.” When Discord traded his paw for his claw, Celestia did the same with the opposite foreleg. “Down.” Celestia lowered her chest to the ground, resting on her knees. Several seconds of silence passed, Celestia's sight locked on the bowl in front of her. Every fiber of her being remained motionless from the fear that one wrong move might risk it disappearing from her forever.
“Okay, you can eat.” Discord said as he tapped his leg. In the blink of an eye, Celestia sprung to her hooves and dove her mouth into her bowl. She lapped up the slop in a frenzy, gulping down each mouthful after only a few seconds of chewing.
Discord marveled at the sight in front of him. Through and through, his ministrations had worked even better than he had anticipated. Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, regarded as the most regal pony in the land, was eating from a dog bowl. She was completely convinced that she was a dog through and through, and seemed to be enjoying it. She didn't even object to taking orders from him, much to his surprise. She saw him as her owner, which made her his pet.
“This is gonna be fun. I can't wait to show you off to Fluttershy and her friends.” Discord said to her, as he rubbed the fair white coat of her back. A knock at Celestia's door broke Discord's thoughts as he looked up towards the entrance of her room. “Who is- erm!” Discord cleared his throat, as he was suddenly reminded that his appearance in Celestia's room had not been planned, and would likely cause a rift in the favor he was doing for the princess. He continued to cough, and with each effort, his vocals increased in pitch. After a few seconds, his coughs had a more feminine sound to them. “Y-yes? Who's there?” He asked. His voice for all accounts was an identical match to princess Celestia's.
“Your majesty, it's been quite some time since you began sorting out paperwork.” A gruff voice called back. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I'm alright.” Discord called back, still retaining his impersonation. “Or rather, no- I'm not alright. I, uh- oh I'm not feeling well at the moment.” Discord closed his eyes, and grabbed his stomach in mock agony. “I think I may have caught some sort of stomach bug. Ohh, it's dreadful! I don't think I'll be able to leave my room at all today!” He said, lifting his paw to his forehead in melodramatic fashion, while also keeping an eye on the real Celestia, who was still scarfing down her meal from her bowl.
Celestia chomped away at her meal earnestly. Her tongue dipped out and scooped up a helping of the mush her master had graciously presented to her, and she hastily chomped it before swallowing. It was leafy, chewy and crunchy, and delightfully sweet. It helped to fill the void of hunger plaguing her belly in a most satisfying fashion. She hadn’t the mind to reflect on past meals, but she was convinced that whatever she was eating at the moment was undoubtedly the best thing she had ever tasted. She was so intoxicated by its taste that she could not stop herself from it for even a moment, not until every last morsel was licked clean from her bowl.
“Oh dear, that's unfortunate to hear your majesty.” The voice replied back, a touch of dread in his voice. “I'll see if I can fetch some medical attention.”
“No no no! That won't be necessary!” Discord waved his arms in a fluster. “It's just that... they've already come by! Yes, I've had a physician take a look at me; nothing to worry about, just need to sleep it off. So, no need to fetch anypony. In fact, best not to mention it to anypony you see, because they most likely already know.”
“Well, that's a relief to hear your highness. I'll leave you to rest then. Feel better soon.”
“Yes, thank you. Goodbye.” Discord said, listening to the sounds of hooves clopping away from the door. “Phew!” Discord breathed a sigh of relief back in his normal voice. He heard the sound of scraping across the room, and saw Celestia with her head still in her bowl. Evidently, she had engulfed every last morsel of food, and was licking the bottom of the bowl with enough force to drag it across the ground.
“All done?” Discord asked. His voice caught her attention, prompting her to look at him over her shoulder. She leaned her head back to her bowl, picking it up with her teeth, and prancing towards him. She stopped in front of him with the bowl in her mouth, looking with lively eyes, and her shimmering tail wagging energetically. “What, you want seconds or something?” Discord chuckled, snapping his claw and making the bowl vanish. “You don't want to eat too much, or else you'll be too full to go play with Fluttershy and the others.”
Celestia's eyebrows perked up at the mention of the timid pegasus, and her head cocked to the side. Discord giggled at Celestia's mannerisms. “Oh, do you remember Fluttershy?” he asked in a playful tone. Celestia turned her head to the other side, and her ears perked up as she smiled. “What about... Twilight?” Celestia's ears twitched, and her mouth opened in a wide smile. “Do you want to go see Twilight?” Celestia began to bounce up and down on her hooves in joy, and Discord laughed hugely.
“You are cracking me up, Celestia!” Discord wrapped his arms around the alicorn's head in a tight hug. With his claw, he twirled around the circumference of her neck, and a turquoise collar appeared. When he pulled back, a yellow leash connected to the collar appeared within his claw. “Alright, let's go see Fluttershy and Twilight!” With another snap of his talons, the two disappeared, leaving not a trace of themselves behind in Celestia's room.
A red rubber ball bounced across the meadow, the smooth grass of the area blown by a gentle summer breeze. The ball slowed to a roll, until it was stopped in its tracks by a fluffy white tail.The owner of the tail, a well-fed cat named Opalescence, took a break from grooming herself to inspect the toy that had bumped into her. She touched it with her paw and rolled it around, deciding it suited her fancy. She had only enjoyed its company for a few seconds, before the sound of paws rushing towards her broke her concentration. She turned her chin up to see the brown and white dog Winona panting happily towards her, her rear up in the air with a wagging tail to match her expression. The dog made a foolish error in craning its head towards the ball, and avoided a swipe of Opalescence's claw in the nick of time. With a disdained expression, Winona lifted a paw towards her, beseeching her to give up the toy. The cat responded with a vehement hiss, and her claw raised up high, ready to swipe again. Winona sat back on her haunches in defeat.
Luckily, two airborne souls were ready to assist Winona with her plight. With a silent hum of rotary blades chopping through the air, the hovering tortoise Tank flew towards Opalescence and tapped his rounded feet against her back. The sudden contact made the cat turn around, yowling at whatever fool dared to touch her when she least expected it. She was startled by a loud “Hoot!” as Owlowiscious spooked her from behind. Narrowly dodging a swipe from her, the owl backed away as he was joined by Tank. The two aerial rascals incurred the wrath of Opalescence and fled for their safety as the feline gave chase. Winona watched them move away, and then used her mouth to scoop up the rubber ball that had been relinquished.
While the various animals played amongst themselves, their six owners watched with glee from afar as they chatted amongst themselves. Even further away from them, Discord watched the two groups from behind a bush. Discord wasn't used to feeling nervous, despite having experienced it once before in Celestia's bedroom earlier that day. With leash in paw, Discord took a deep breath, in an effort to calm himself.
“Okay. We're going to go over there, introduce you, see if they'll let us join them for a bit, and then we're going to go back to the castle.” Discord rehearsed aloud. “Sounds simple enough, right Celly?” Discord looked back to the other end of the leash only to see the large white alicorn sitting on her side with her back towards him. Her long neck was dipped in front of her while her left hind leg was raised up, and soft licking sounds could be heard from the other side. Discord stared at the sight for a few seconds, until Celestia lifted her head over her side to meet his gaze, staring back at him with an innocent expression.
“You are absolutely right, my dear! Nothing to worry about.” He chuckled, tugging on her leash gently, prompting her to stand. “Just need to apply an appearance concealment spell,” A spark of light orange appeared at the tip of his paw, and shot out above Celestia's horn. It expanded into a large orb that surrounded Celestia for a moment, then vanished without a trace. “And we're good. Okay, let's go meet the others then.”
The six ponies laughed as they watched Tank and Gummy engage in what seemed to be a staring contest without end. They were caught off guard by the masculine sound of somepony clearing their throat behind them. They all turned to see Discord, greeting them with a wave of his paw and a wide smile on his face.
“Discord?” Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence between all of them. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, it's pony pet playdate day, isn't it? We'd love to join you girls, if you'll have us”
“And what exactly do you mean by 'we'?” Rarity asked. She joined her friends as they all gasped in unison at what stood next to the draconequus. They saw at the end of the leash not princess Celestia, but a canine, much taller than any of them. Its coat was mostly white, with large patches of turquoise on its head and back, even extending down to its skinny wagging tail.
“Discord... she's beautiful!” Fluttershy exclaimed jubilantly. “But where on Earth did she come from?”
“You know, it's the strangest thing,” Discord began as he looked at Celestia. While the ponies surrounding them may have seen a tall white dog, he could still see Celestia for the regal alicorn that she was. “Right after you left the cottage to join your friends, I found her roaming around outside. No collar, no tags, no nothing. She warmed right up to me, so I thought I'd keep her.”
“But you know she probably belongs to somepony in Ponyville, Discord” Twilight addressed him earnestly. “Even if she likes you, you need to see if her rightful owners are looking for her.” As she was busy talking, Twilight hadn't noticed that the white alicorn disguised as a dog had trotted up to her. She was only aware of her presence as Celestia craned her head in and sniffed her violet mane, which made Twilight laugh.
“Yak yak yak!” Rolling his eyes, Discord's talons took the form of Twilight's purple head and mane, with her mouth moving in a pristine and pompous manner. “Yes princess, I'll put up some signs through town before the day is over. Just let me hold onto her for a while and see what it's like to have a pet, eh?” As Discord appealed to Twilight, Celestia licked her face eagerly, making the bookish princess laugh. “Would you look at that. She likes you, Twilight!”
“Okay, okay!” Twilight chuckled, gently pushing Celestia away. “You can keep her for a while. She seems nice.” Celestia's tongue hung out of her mouth with a strand of saliva dripping out as she looked towards Rarity. With a disapproving frown, the unicorn used her magic to conjure a small force field, just in case the “dog” in front of her got any ideas about getting friendly with her as well.
“Ooh, ooh, what do we call her for now?” An exuberant Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced up and down. The other ponies all craned their necks towards Discord curiously.
“Ah... her name is...” Discord's teeth clenched as he scrambled to come up with a name. His eyes looked over Celestia, wandering down to the bright yellow orb resting on her flanks. “Sunbeam!”
“Hey, look!” Rainbow Dash's voice caught their attention, and they all looked towards her to see their pets making their way towards, them their attention fixed on Celestia. “Looks like the others want to meet her too!”
“Well, we were about to get going,” Applejack began as she looked between the pets and “Sunbeam” who had just taken notice of them. “But I guess we could stay a bit longer. Winona ain't had another dog to play with in a long time.”
Celestia wandered towards the group of animals, her nose hovering over each of them curiously. She was fascinated by the smell of books and parchment coming from the brown owl, who stood still while she investigated him. And from Tank's hard tortoise shell, she took in the smell of the crisp air, and a bit of pegasus sweat from flying around with Rainbow Dash. She could smell cupcakes and other sugary odors coming from the alligator Gummy. The way he stood so still without hardly acknowledging her presence made her wary of staying around him for too long. She drew close to Opalescence, but seeing her bare her fangs and hiss made her stay clear of her. Angel Bunny stood on his haunches with his arms crossed as Celestia sniffed his ears. His right foot began to thump impatiently as she found herself captivated for quite some time by the various scents he had acquired from Fluttershy’s cottage. Eventually she had gained her fill and let the little rodent be.
The last animal that Celestia met was what captivated her the most. Only a fifth of Celestia’s size, Winona looked up at the new “pet” with wonder. Celestia craned her neck down, past her haunches and sniffed behind Winona's tail. She became more familiar with the little dog, who jumped up behind Celestia so she could do the same and get to know her a little better. After introducing themselves to one another, Winona trotted in front of Celestia, and with her eyes fixed on her, sunk her head down to the ground and wagged her tail through the air. Celestia mimicked her behavior, interpreting that the little dog was more than ready to play.
Winona barked a few times, and jumped forward slightly. The movement startled Celestia, but she understood what the dog was trying to do. Feeling a rush of energy, Celestia ran with all her might past Winona, leaving her in the dust. She looked back and noticed that despite Winona running her hardest, she had trouble keeping up with her legs not even half as long as Celestia's. The alicorn slowed her pace significantly, taking some pride that she had proven her speed was greater. Winona leapt with all her might, nipped at Celestia's neck, and the alicorn quickly rolled herself over the grass. With her hooves up near her face she and Winona bared their teeth and snarled at one another. Winona dove in and playfully chomped at Celestia's neck. Though her grip was firm, it didn't hurt at all, and Celestia continued to growl at Winona as she was bit. A few seconds passed, and Winona relented, letting Celestia roll over and stand on her hooves.
While Celestia shook her body of the grass and leaves clinging to her coat, she received a torrent of excited barks from Winona. Despite her being so much smaller, the little dog wasn't afraid to remind her new friend that she was the rookie in this place, and Winona was her superior.
“Heh, that's right Winona, you tell her!” Applejack cheered from afar. The rest of the animals had struggled to keep up with the two speed demons, and had finally reached an appropriate distance to watch them. Winona bolted away from Celestia, prompting the alicorn to give chase to her instead. With the two of them running, the group of pets once against began to follow them.
“Hey, Discord?” Pinkie Pie asked aloud. “You're going to take Sunbeam over to Fluttershy's cottage once we're finished here, right?”
Discord tapped his chin in thought. “I hadn't exactly planned on that.”
“Really? Well, where else were you gonna keep her until her owner shows up?”
Discord fought to keep himself from wincing. He had originally planned to take Celestia back to Canterlot after they dispersed. Now that they believed he was looking after somepony's lost dog, they would find it suspicious if he were to take her somewhere else.
“I suppose you have a point there, Pinkie Pie. Off to Fluttershy's she goes!”
“Fluttershy, can I please come over?” Pinkie asked the timid pegasus. “I really wanna get to know Sunbeam; she seems like such a cool doggy!” She gushed, as she and the others watched Winona writhe on the ground under her captor.
“That sounds fine.” Fluttershy replied gingerly, before turning her gaze toward the others. “In fact, why don't all of you stop by? Discord and I would love to spend more time with you.”
“We sure would, Fluttershy.” Discord said uneasily. Though he wasn't opposed to spending an evening with the others, he was a touch nervous as to how long he could keep Celestia's identity a secret from them. Though he knew her spell would keep her concealed, there was always the slip of the tongue to worry about, and Twilight's gift in magic was another factor he had to account. As he worried silently to himself, he noticed that Winona was prancing towards Applejack, no large alicorn anywhere near her.
Snapping out of his trance, he looked up to see Celestia walking by herself, intently sniffing the ground. She locked in on one spot of the grass, and stepped with her hind legs up to her fore legs, forcing her back to hunch. With her rump above the ground, Celestia's beautiful wafting tail rose up into the air just slightly.
“What is she doing?” Discord murmured to himself as he watched Celestia's peculiar ritual. His eyes opened wide in panic as he looked just a bit lower and received his answer. “No! No no no no, not that!” Discord waved his arms as he frantically begged in vain. It was too late, however; the damage had been done. Discord slumped over in defeat as he heard the other ponies giggling next to him.
“Looks like she's leavin' ya a present.” Applejack snickered, reaching into her saddlebag, and pulling out a roll of plastic bags. “Here ya go; something ta gift wrap it in!” She teased as she tore one off and held it near him.
Unamused, Discord turned his head towards her, while the farmer curled her lips in to keep herself from laughing too hard.
“Gee, real thoughtful of you Applejack!” Discord snapped, swatting the bag from her hoof. Out of thin air, a large wooden post with a metal scoop on the end appeared, which he grabbed in frustration. “But I’m good, thanks.” He said, stomping away from them.
“Aw, come on Discord!” Pinkie Pie called after him. Her teeth were clenched together as she fought back a fit of giggles. “Don’t be such a party pooper!” The pony of parties and the rest of her friends broke out into an uproar of laughter at the situation at hoof.
“Oh ha ha, so funny!” Discord mocked in a bubbly feminine tone. “Don’t be such a party pooper Discord, see what I did there? Ha ha ha, whatever.” He grumbled bitterly. Just a few feet from him, Celestia looked over her shoulder while her hindlegs kicked up some swipes of dirt and grass over what she had just left behind. She suddenly noticed Discord's presence and wagged her tail happily with a smile, while he glared at her fiercely.
“The things I do for you, Sunbutt.” He mumbled, before Celestia leaned forward and licked his face appreciatively.
The group sat in a circle in the living room of Fluttershy's cottage, Fluttershy herself sharing the recliner next to the window with Discord, who had Celestia sitting on the floor beside him. The rest of the ponies were stretched out comfortably on pillows and blankets on the floor in front of them. Each of them had a cup of tea and a plate of cookies that Fluttershy had prepared, Pinkie Pie offering a helping hoof with the cookies. The treats were crisp with a soft interior, and savoring sweet, with an enchanting smell emanating from them as well.
Discord and the rest of Rarity's friends erupted into a chorus of laughter at the unicorn's humorous anecdote. While the group enjoyed each other’s banter, their pets kept themselves occupied throughout the cottage. Opalescence kept her claws busy as she ran them across a large scratching post near one of the walls, while Winona laid on the floor away from the group and bit at a squeaky toy in the shape of a fish. Tank enjoyed the act of hovering lazily through the air by his copter, while Owlowiscious kept himself perched at the highest point in the house to watch over everything. While the tiny alligator Gummy sat next to Pinkie Pie, staring blankly at nothing in particular, the sight of Fluttershy’s Angel Bunny was very much occupied.
Discord noticed that the little rabbit’s sight switched from Celestia and to the draconequus himself, as he sat on the side of the couch next to Fluttershy. Angel had a look of disapproval on his face, which wasn’t unlike him. But his eyes seemed narrowed on him suspiciously. It was clear that something wasn’t sitting right with him.
Did Angel know what Discord was up to? Could he see past the spell that had been put on Celestia? Did the spell even work on animals? Discord took a sip of his tea as he dwelled on the perplexing thought. If it didn’t work on animals, then did Winona just see a large alicorn playing with her, rather than another dog?
The sensation of something soft and warm poking against his leg broke him from his thoughts. Discord noticed that Celestia had her nose brushing across his leg, her eyes transfixed on the few cookies he had left. She was drooling hungrily from the smell filling her nostrils.
“Aw, somepony hungry?” He teased, holding up a cookie in his claw and dangling it in the air, her eyes following as he moved it about. “I don't blame you; they are just scrumptious, after all.” Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie giggled humbly at his casual appraisal of their work. Stretching his claw out, he gently placed a cookie on the tip of Celestia's snout. He drew back, and it remained balanced as she stood still. To her, nothing else in the room existed; it was just her and the cookie, as well as the command she was waiting for to allow her to eat it.
A snap of his claw, and in one fluid motion, Celestia popped her nose up, and snapped up the treat in her mouth. She loudly crunched it between her teeth, as Discord offered her a pat between her ears.
“Nice moves!” Rainbow Dash said in admiration. “Does she know how to catch?”
“Only way way to find out.” He said, before turning back to Celestia. “Go see Rainbow Dash!” He instructed her actively. “She has something for you, go see her!” Celestia turned her head to the left to see the blue pegasus whistling to her, holding a cookie in her hoof. The alicorn sprang from her haunches and moved towards Rainbow Dash. She sat down in front of her politely, her sparkling tail wagging across the wooden floor as the others watched.
“Come on Sunny, beg for it” Rainbow said to her. Celestia leaned back on her hindlegs, her front hooves up in front of her chest submissively. “There you go; now catch!”
The pegasus flung her cookie forward, and Celestia caught it in her jowls. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and even Rarity clopped their hooves together, softly cheering the princess for her efforts.
“You know Discord, I'm ashamed to be saying this,” Twilight began as she watched the spectacle before her. “Part of me is hoping that whoever owns her doesn't end up coming to find her after all. She just feels like she fits here with us.”
“You don't say?” Discord replied, his mouth full of the cookie had had taken a bite of. “Well, if you girls like her so much, I might have to bring her around more often then.”
“Come on, two for two!” Rainbow Dash said, holding another cookie up while Celestia stayed upright on her haunches. When she tossed the treat however, Celestia snapped her mouth a bit too early, and the cookie ended up hitting her nose and flying off to the side. Celestia looked confused for a moment, until she saw the snack land several feet away from her.
“That's what you get, Sunny” Discord teased. “You're getting too eager, so you didn't catch it.”
Celestia paid her master no mind, and instead pranced away from Rainbow Dash to claim her prize. However, just as she opened her mouth to scoop up her treat, a small brown squirrel scampered in front of her and picked it up in its little fingers. Celestia's brows rose in offense. She knew very well that cookie had been meant for her. It was only because she had mistimed her catch that the squirrel was even able to hold it. Celestia pleadingly reached a hoof towards the squirrel, who turned away from her, keeping the confectionery to itself. And just to spite her, the little creature even stuck its tongue out in defiance.
A frustrated growl escaped Celestia's throat, and her powerful white wings flared out from either side, making the squirrel tremble in fear. She wanted that cookie, and she was prepared to take it back by any means necessary. The squirrel took hold of its stolen prize in its mouth, and ran toward the right wing of the living room. Celestia thrust herself towards the furry thief, her hooves scratching against the wooden floor in a frenzy. The noise caught the attention of Discord and the rest of the ponies just in time to see them rushing towards the small wooden staircase leading up to Fluttershy's birdhouse.
“Cele- Sunbeam, no!” Discord shouted, albeit too late. Just as he had screamed, Celestia smashed hard into the staircase, roughly cleaving it in half and sending a mess of birdseed into the air. As it fell towards the floor, the feathered residents poked through the tiny hole and took flight as their home crashed to the ground. The birds flew over Celestia's dazed eyes for a moment, before she shook herself and regained her focus, sending them away. She looked ahead to see the brown squirrel taking a bite of the cookie that was rightfully hers. She jumped to her hooves and lunged after him, sending more birdseed flying into the air. Her thunderous galloping startled the various bunnies, otters and mice in Fluttershy's cottage. The once peaceful living room had in a matter of seconds been transformed into a stage show of chaos with birds flying about the air and critters scurrying across the floor in a panic. Fluttershy found it difficult to decide which of her pets to console first, and the other ponies could only take cover under their hooves or wings as the commotion unfurled.
In the middle of the commotion of animals, Winona and Opalescence retreated to their owners, while Owlowiscious and Tank did what they could to stay afloat above the commotion. Angel himself took shelter underneath the sofa, not so much out of fear, but rather annoyance at all of the commotion. Gummy however seemed not to be aware that there had been any change in the atmosphere around him. He closed his eyelids as bits of food and dirt were tossed through the air, and it took several seconds for him to open them up again, not even slightly phased by what was taking place around him.
“Hey! You stop this right now, or we're going home!” Discord berated her as she tried desperately to break free. His words fell on deaf ears as Celestia's focus was still on the rodent who had taken what was rightfully hers, and munching away at it with glee. A powerful growl built in her throat, one with enough force that even Discord could feel it vibrate against his chest.
“ARF! WOOF WOOF WOOF!”
Unconsciously tapping into her seldomly used royal Canterlot voice, Celestia's barks thundered throughout the room.The sound was deafening to those within earshot, and it shattered the windows of the cottage. The frightened animals retreated out through the glassless openings, and fled towards the expansive lush of the Everfree Forest.
Fluttershy shook her head in attempt to clear the ringing in her ears. A look of panic came over her face as she looked at the state of her home. Discord, seeing the mare who had first befriended him looking so upset, dropped Celestia from his hold, and the alicorn pranced towards the cookie that the squirrel had left behind in fear.
“Fluttershy, I am so sorry.” Discord began, his claw and paw clasped together pleadingly. “I never meant to-”
“My animals!” Fluttershy wailed hysterically. “They went towards the forest! Poor babies, they're not safe there!” In an instant, Fluttershy took to the air and glided out of the broken window.
“Come on y'all, let's see if we can help her.” Applejack encouraged the others, still a bit out of sorts. “I'll betcha if the five of us help her, we can get those varmints wrangled up in no time!” The ponies in front of her all nodded solemnly, before prancing towards the front door, their pets who had stayed behind accompanying them as well.
“Hey, six of us, right?” Discord said feebly as he watched them all leave towards the door. In a flash of light, he was donned in a brown jacket with a large net in his paw. “Heck, I could probably-”
“I believe you and that beast of yours have done more than enough.” Rarity cut him off harshly, before flipping her spiral mane upwards and closing the door behind her with her magic. Discord was stricken with grief as he realized he was right back where he had started so long ago. He was reminded of the day he had angered Fluttershy and come so close to losing her friendship; her, the only pony who had ever seen more than just a fiend and given him a chance at friendship. She and the others once again disapproved of him.
A loud crunching sound snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked to the side to see Celestia laying on her belly, swallowing the last bits of the cookie she had reclaimed, and licking the floor for remaining crumbs. A scowl appeared on his face as he connected the real reason this travesty had happened. This was a mess she had caused, but he was the one taking all the blame for it. There was plenty of blame to go around, and he was sure that she would get hers.
Blinking himself out of his costume, Discord materialized a roll of newspaper into his paw as he stepped towards the unsuspecting pony. He reared his arm up and delivered a swift blow to her rump with the paper, and Celestia let out a frightened yelp as she turned around towards him.
“Bad!” He scolded her viciously. “Very, very naughty! You have been causing me nothing but trouble since I introduced you to them, and I'm the one having to take all of the heat for it!”
Celestia looked up with pitiful eyes as he overshadowed her. She couldn't understand what he was screaming, but she understood that he was angry. And the way he was staring, she knew he was angry at her.
“I thought this was going to be fun for both of us, but you, you've just been a little brat. If it were a year ago, I may have enjoyed that little bit of chaos you just caused. But it might have cost me my best friend right now, so I'm not enjoying it in the slightest bit! So here's what's gonna happen.” Discord snapped his claw, and Celestia’s collar appeared around her neck, the other end wrapped around the leg of Fluttershy's staircase. “I'm going to go see if I can help the others find the animals you scared away, and hope they forgive me enough to call me their friend. You, missy, are going to stay here, and not do anything. Understand?” Celestia looked from the leash to Discord, her back hunched as her bottom lip trembled. “Don't you give me that look; I'm not in the mood for it.”
In the blink of an eye, Discord vanished from the tattered living room. Celestia tried once to step away from the staircase, but the tug on her neck indicated that her efforts were in vain. Circling about the floor once, she slumped down onto her legs, her head resting on her hoof. A dismal sigh escaped her nose, and she closed her eyes. She wasn't sure what she had done to upset her master, but she was sorry for it. She wished she could make him understand that. But he was furious with her, and didn't want to see her anymore. Her sorrow made her feel exhausted, and she didn't fight the urge to sleep. She hoped for a moment that when she woke up, he would be there, and he would be happy with her again. But she couldn't know for certain; all she could know was that she wanted to sleep.
There had once been a name for the forest outside of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Since the castle had been abandoned following the Battle for the Dawn, the forests demeanor had grown unruly beyond recognition. Its trees had grown tall and misshapen, their shrubbery so wild it blocked out the sun. The creatures who roamed there were no longer small and charming, but fierce and dangerous. To remark its change in environment, ponies began to refer to it as the Everfree Forest. Only the bravest ponies dared cross its threshold, except in the case of dire emergency. And only one foreign soul had ever been brave enough to call the dark, mysterious forest her home.
However, just as things in this world can change for the worst, they can just as easily change for the best in the blink of an eye. Though it had nearly consumed Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle and her friends had given up their treasured elements of harmony in order to restore balance to the disorder of the forest. The dark cloud of maliciousness had been lifted from the forest, and harmony had been allowed to return to the wilderness once again. However harmonious, it was still by its nature a forest, fit only for critters who were their own masters and deemed the outdoors their everlasting home. It was certainly no place for animals who had been raised in a peaceful cottage, with a roof and walls protecting them from the environment outside. Fit for their needs or not, the birds, otters, squirrels and bunnies who had escaped from Fluttershy's cottage decided for the moment that an ever expansive forest might be a better alternative than being eaten by the barking creature that had scared them off.
“Hey, get back here!” Rainbow Dash called to the squirrel she was in hot pursuit of. The little brown creature climbed up a tree and scurried across to the other side of its trunk, out of Dash's view. The pegasus swooped to the other side, only for the little rascal to dart immediately back around. The two circled around the tree several times, until Rainbow Dash found herself becoming dizzy at the repeated motions.
Her other friends weren't having any more luck themselves. Applejack jumped left and right rapidly, dodging an unrelenting assault of acorns flying through the air. Winona growled at the attackers, making them scurry away in a fright. Pinkie Pie seemed to do fairly well keeping up with the otters, but rather than catch them, she seemed to have been caught in a game of hide and seek with them. The only one who seemed to be having any real luck was Fluttershy, who had managed to coax a bunny out of hiding from the bushes and into her forelegs. She also had a number of birds clinging to her mane and shoulders. But with her hooves full, she realized she wouldn't be able to do much good until she could relinquish the animal safely, while ensuring it wouldn't run off again.
“Are you sure Rarity and I can't use our magic, Fluttershy?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she watched the yellow pegasus hover gingerly in the air. “We could probably catch them a lot quicker that way.”
“I'm sure you could,” Fluttershy replied. “But I just don't know if it's a good idea. These creatures are so small and gentle; I don't know if your magic might be too rough on them, or worse- it might scare them.” Fluttershy ran her hoof across the bunny's ears, while it closed its eyes in satisfaction.
“Well then, I guess Rarity and I'll just stand here and look pretty.” Twilight said in a huff.
“I won't object to that.” Rarity said, flipping her mane over her shoulder and lifting her left hoof to her chest while turning to the side, in a graceful pose.Twilight raised an eyebrow, noting that Rarity might have looked a little more glamorous if she didn’t have her plump cat resting on her back at the moment.
In the blink of an eye, parts of the forest sprang to life, the grass that the otters stood on expanding and towering over them, until they joined at the top to form a small round cage. The bark of the trees shot up around the squirrels to prevent their movements, even as they twitched about and tried to claw their way out. And the bushes that the rabbits were hiding in formed into large wooden baskets, soft and warm blankets inside to keep their fragile bodies safe.
As the ponies stared about in confusion, the orchestrator of the commotion revealed himself, dusting his claw and paw off as he strode towards them. “That's right Twilight; your magic might be just dandy for blasting overpowered centaurs bent on ruling Equestria; but it just won't do when it comes to handling pwecious widdle wabbits.” Discord mocked her as he levitated the wooden baskets along with all the other confined animals he had behind him.
“Discord, did you find all of them?” Fluttershy asked astonished.
“Swept the whole forest. Count 'em up for yourself!”
As Fluttershy swooped around the floating animals and counted them up, Applejack removed her stetson and shook some of the acorns that had built up at the top. “You know, we mighta gotten off to a rocky start,” She began, before replacing her hat on top of her head. “But I gotta admit, I'm finding it pretty hard to stay mad at him anymore.”
Discord allowed himself to grin just as Fluttershy flew back down towards him. “That's all of them!”
“Great! Then let's get them out of here.” Discord willed a large gathering of roots and vines from the Earth, and attached each of them to the confinements. They miraculously rose to the air as he took flight above the trees, keeping them all tethered by holding the ends of the vines like one would strings to balloons floating above them.
With Gummy’s grip at the end of her curly mane, Pinkie Pie let out an amused snort as she watched the animals floating above Discord. “Hey girls, look! Balloon animals!”
Rainbow Dash clutched her stomach from laughing while floating in the air. Twilight and Rarity however appeared as if their brains had shut down from trying to process how Pinkie Pie had come up with such a pun on the spot. Shaking their heads, they followed Pinkie Pie and Applejack on the ground, while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash joined Discord up above the trees, guiding the airborne animals back home towards the cottage.
Celestia's ears twitched as she heard a faint tap from across the room. She blinked leisurely as she slowly woke up, her eyes darting in all directions in search of what had made that noise. She tilted her head upward against the floor, and saw from a sideways perspective a tall bird on top of the mountain of spilled birdseed. Celestia rolled over onto her chest to look at the creature more intently. It had fine, smooth feathers jutting out from its head, and dark points on the ends of its wings. It's long, pointed beak darted in and out of the feed quickly, pecking away at the free meal it had discovered.
It was so preoccupied with eating that it had no idea Celestia had it in her sight. A sense of ambition swelled in Celestia's chest as she rose to her hooves. Though she wanted desperately to bound towards it and snare it in her jaws, she had enough sense about her to remain patient and stealthy. She would claim her prize in due time, and when she did, she could present it to her master Discord when he returned. Her tail swished quietly as she imagined it: his face would light up in joy as she put it on the floor in front of him, and he would praise her and tell her she was a good girl, all while patting her head or rubbing her belly.
Unfortunately, when she was nearing the unsuspecting bird, her collar tugged at her neck, reminding her that she was still tied to the staircase. The sudden pull made her hoof scratch against the floor, and the noise alerted the bird to her presence. Dread overcame Celestia as she watched the bird spread its wings and jump away from the mountain of seed. In an instant, she realized her prize was getting away, and that she would have nothing to present to her master if she couldn't stop it. Celestia pushed through the discomfort of her collar tugging at her neck and bound forward with all her might. It took some great effort on her part, but the post at the bottom of the staircase came apart with a loud and vicious crack.
She was free. Celestia bounded towards the winged creature, chasing it in circles around the room, until it managed to fly out the window. But Celestia wasn't giving up that easy. She leapt through the air, and cleared the edges of the broken window in a single bound. Outside, with the bird just a few hooves above her, she gave chase to the creature, barking at it intently as they fled from the sight of Fluttershy's cottage, in the direction of the little town of Ponyville.
The giant balloon cages filled with critters descended towards the ground as Discord gently tugged the attached vines towards himself. Once they touched the ground, they all combined into one large tunnel, which draconequus yanked the front of it towards the back door of Fluttershy's little cottage. He received a tap on the shoulder from Fluttershy once the connection was complete.
“Um, before you let them out Discord, do you think we could put Sunbeam up in my room?” Fluttershy asked him sweetly as she hovered in the air. “It's just that I don't want her to startle them again. Not that she's scary or anything-”
“No no, I get it Fluttershy.” Discord replied, grabbing her by the hoof as he grabbed one of the flowers on the side of her cottage and twisted it. The wall swung open on non-existent hinges as he pulled her inside, the mare looking about in confusion for only a moment before he shut the makeshift “door” behind him. “After today, I'll make sure not to bring her by anymore. Shame she can't handle a bit of social interaction.”
“Discord it's not like that all.” Fluttershy offered as they stepped towards the living room. “What she really needs is-”
Discord noticed the broken stair post in the living room. Adjacent from the splintered wood, there was an abundance of bird seed across the floor in the shape of hoof marks, tracking towards the window.
“Oh no…” Discord uttered, noticing the broken stair post in the living room. Adjacent from the splintered wood, there was an abundance of bird seed across the floor in the shape of hoof marks, tracking towards the window. “No no no no no!” Discord scuttled to the broken window, looking out into Fluttershy's yard, his eyes pried open in fear.
“Discord, what's wrong?” Fluttershy asked, trotting into the room upon hearing his shouts of anguish. She gasped at the sight of her broken stair rail, and then looked towards the window, where Discord stood. “Oh no; don't tell me Sunbeam escaped.” Discord hadn't the sense to reply to her, and could only grab his horn and antler in panic. Fluttershy swooped up to him and put a comforting hoof to his shoulder. “Don't worry; as soon as we get the animals back inside, we'll all go look for her, okay?”
Fluttershy flew away from Discord towards the backdoor, while he continued to fret over the situation. While Fluttershy was concerned for the safety of what she understood was his pet, she hadn't the faintest idea of how severe the situation was. Discord knew that because of his negligence, the head of Equestria had escaped and was nowhere to be found at the moment. His uneasiness escalated to the point that he accidentally broke the extensions from his head in half, prompting them to grow back within the instant. His thoughts were interrupted by the scurry of animals paws against the floor, as Fluttershy and the others reentered the living room. With a snap of his claw, the windows were repaired and the floor was cleaned of the mess Celestia had made earlier.
“Hey Discord!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed excitedly. “Can’t you just, I dunno, teleport Sunbeam back here? You've done it to us a couple times, even when we didn't want you to.”
Relief washed over Discord as he chuckled in delight. “Oh yeah, good idea. Not sure why I didn't think of that in the first place.” He said as he snapped his talons.
A few seconds passed, yet no visible change occurred. No magical pop in the air, no appearance of Celestia in front of him and the others. Nothing. Perplexed, Discord looked at his talon and snapped again. Once more, no change in the room occurred. He rapidly snapped his talons in succession, while Fluttershy and the others exchanged nervous glances between themselves.
“Uh, Discord?” Applejack asked hesitantly. “You having some performance issues there?”
“I don't know what's going on!” Discord exclaimed, shaking his claw of the cramp that had built up from so much snapping. “This shouldn't be happening, unless there's some kind of magical interference I-!” At the utterance of the phrase, Discords thoughts returned to a few hours ago, when he and Celestia first appeared at the meadow where Fluttershy and the others had gathered to let their pets play. Before they had introduced themselves, he remembered that he had put a very specific enchantment on the princess to conceal her identity from the others. “Oh no...”
“What oh no?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “Why would Sunbeam have magical interference?”
As the six ladies stared at him in confusion, he wracked his brain for something he could tell them. Some kind of fib that would explain why his powers weren't working without telling them what was going on. But with the stress of knowing Celestia was still out there by herself and not of sound mind, his creativity in lies were experiencing interference of their own.
“Discord? What are you not telling us?” Twilight asked, her voice lowering into a more accusing tone.
Discord winced. He had taken too long to think up a lie, and they knew he was hiding something now. Any attempt he made to dissuade their concerns would be met with suspicion. Even so, the fact that his magic had been rendered useless in the situation, he realized he was going to need help in the matter. He had to confess to them.
Discord gulped apprehensively before he spoke.
“Well, ha ha, funny story actually, you’re- you girls are gonna love this! You know, be-because it’s so funny!” Discord stammered. He laughed nervously as each pony stared down at him with confusion or suspicion on their faces. He tugged at the gray hairs of his neck as his forehead built up a thin layer of sweat, fighting with himself to get it over with.
“I, uh... heh heh, you see… Sunbeam's actually Princess Celestia, hypnotized into thinking she's a dog, and with an appearance concealment spell on her to make you and those who don't know she's the princess look like a dog.” Six dismayed gasps filled the air. The mares jaws dropped at the revelation of the truth. “And I'm guessing that concealment spell is causing some sort of interference with me snapping her back here. Isn't that silly?”
The room was deathly silent, save for the scarcely audible sound of Twilight breathing heavily through her nose. A noticeable vein throbbed in her forehead as she stared the draconequus down.
“You. Did. WHAT!?” She screamed, as her wings flared, pushing Pinkie Pie and Rarity aside. In the blink of an eye, the lavender alicorn was off of her hooves and rocketing through the air towards him.
“Mother.” Was all Discord could voice, before he was pounded into the floor with agonizing force by the weight of the alicorn. With her hooves around his collarbone, poor Discord's head rocked back and forth as an infuriated Twilight Sparkle shook him with all her physical might.
“Why did you turn the princess into a dog, you misshapen chimera!?”
“Because she asked me to!” Discord pleaded in between shakes. “She was having a bad day, and wanted some time away from being a princess!”
“As a DOG!? Why couldn't she just take a normal vacation and go get a massage or go to the beach or something!?”
“I don't know! She said she wanted to forget that she was a pony, I didn't want to make her feel bad! So I just gave her what she wanted!”
“I don't believe you!”
“I do!” Fluttershy interjected as she flew up and threw herself in between the two, shielding Discord from Twilight's vicious assault. “Discord's not the meanie he used to be! If you would spend even half the time I do with him, you'd know he's been helping others out so much more instead of causing trouble.” Twilight's teeth gnashed in anger as she stared between the two in front of her.
“I think I'm on Shy's side with this one.” Applejack spoke out as she trotted towards them. “Think about it: even if he were up to something rotten like his past self, this sorta scheme just don't make sense. I mean, what would he gain from pulling something like this, 'sides a cheap laugh? And 'sides, he's telling us all this now 'cause he knows something bad just happened and he's out of options. Ain't that right?” She asked as she looked towards Discord. The draconequus nodded solemnly, and Applejack nudged Twilight with her hoof. “Let him go, sugarcube; he ain't trying to hurt nopony.”
Twilight's right eye twitched, and her cheeks puffed up in aggravation. A rising growl emanated from her throat, before she teleported from everypony's view.
The entire cottage shook as the sound of an explosion and crash of Earth matter being eradicated rang out. After those in the living room regained their stance, Twilight reappeared breathing out in satisfaction.
“Okay, I'm good.” She said softly, before glaring at Discord. “But we still have a problem on our hooves: Princess Celestia is lost, and still thinks she's a dog. From what I saw in the cottage, she could cause all sorts of trouble without somepony keeping her in check. We need find her ASAP. Anypony have any ideas?”
The mares looked up towards the ceiling, or touched their hoof to their chin as they racked their thoughts. Applejack's concentration was interrupted by the jingling of a collar behind them, and turned to see her own dog Winona scratching her ear in a frenzy. As the little brown dog stood to her paws and shook herself, an elated smirk appeared on Applejack's face.
“Think I got an idea, y'all.” the farmer said, prompting the others to turn towards her inquisitively.
The troop stepped outside of Fluttershy's cottage, with Winona and Applejack leading the way. Looking to the side, Fluttershy took notice of the remains of a blackened tree trunk, broken to pieces and smoldering where it stood. Twilight Sparkle saw Fluttershy, and saw her looking at the tree. The alicorn turned her eyes away and whistled innocently, as Applejack and Winona neared up to a small pile of bird seed in the shape of a hoof.
“Hey girl, you wanna play with Sunbeam again?” Applejack asked her pet exuberantly. Winona ceased panting for a moment while her ears perked up at the mention of the name. She evidently remembered her new friend from earlier that day, and the idea of seeing her again excited her greatly. “Okay, we'll go play with her! But ya gotta find her for us first, okay?” Applejack pointed to the birdseed as she spoke, and Winona dipped her nose into the feed.
“Do you really think that will work?” Rarity asked as she watched Winona sniffing keenly for the scent she had acquired from the princess.
“It's as good a shot as any. Winona's tracked all sorts of stuff. One time Apple Bloom got stuck in a ditch out in the farm, and didn't come home when dinner was ready. We gave Winona her blanket, and she found her quicker than jackrabbit on hot coals.” The dog huffed through her nose, before turning to the right and scampering down the pavement with her nose close to the ground. “Lookit that! I think she's got her locked down.” Applejack exclaimed avidly, jumping off the patio and following close behind.
“Let's hope you're right, Applejack. Come on everypony!” Twilight called out before galloping towards the farmer and her canine companion. The other mares followed behind on the ground, Rainbow Dash and Discord being the only two taking flight, as the little brown dog led them in the direction of Ponyville.
A small pile of coins thudded against a wooden kiosk, and a brown maned stallion slid his hoof across the surface, ushering them into a basket next to his hindlegs. With his payment secure, he scooped up a helping of vegetables and placed them into the saddle bag splayed across the grayish haunches of the blue maned mare who had just paid him. The stallion waved her goodbye and she returned the gesture before turning to leave the Ponyville marketplace. Before she could take a proper step however, she froze in place as she saw a little brown dog walking past her, sniffing the ground intently. While the dog itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary, the mare found herself staring curiously at the apple farmer, the group of ponies and most certainly the draconequus towering over all of them.
“'Scuse us.” Applejack said to a group of unaware ponies chatting in front of them, catching their attention and their surprise as they scurried to the side to permit them space to advance. “Sorry. Comin' through! Pardon us.” Pony after pony moved out of the way, staring aghast at the peculiar group forging through the town market.
“I still can't believe she was able to break the stair post and get away.” Discord muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as his wings carried him through the air.
“I still can't believe that YOU put a spell on the princess to make her think she was a dog.” Twilight berated as she turned her shoulder to look at him. “And what's more, you tied her up on a leash and left her by herself!”
“Well, she was acting like a dog!” Discord exclaimed in protest, his arms flying out to the side vehemently. “Shouldn't I treat her like a dog?”
Fluttershy swooped upwards from the ground, so that she was eye level with her draconequus friend. “You should have treated her like a pet, Discord.”
“What?” He asked skeptically.
“Fluttershy's right.” Applejack added in, still keeping her eye on the dog that was leading them in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. “I mean sure, animals don't think and act the same way ponies do, so you end up treatin' em differently. But when you got one of 'em as a pet, even if you're the one who's callin' the shots, you gotta treat 'em with respect.”
“AJ's right.” Discord turned his head to see Rainbow Dash flying closer to him, offering her own input on the topic. “Tank isn't just something I own; he's my buddy. Even if he messes up, I can't just make him feel like trash, you know? We all make mistakes now and then.”
“And no matter what kind of mistakes are made, everypony and every creature, shouldn't be made to feel like they're not worth anypony's attention. Right?” Fluttershy's words hit Discord hard. He felt his chest tighten, and his head slightly heavy even as he continued to fly. Upon reflection, Celestia making a racket of things in Fluttershy's cottage seemed hardly a trifle compared to the choices he had made in his long life.
“I suppose you're right, ladies.” Discord lamented, a defeated smile slowly forming as he looked to and from each of them. “In fact, I-!”
Before he could finish, a high pitched scream captured their attention. They all looked ahead at the sight of an skinny orange stallion, adorned in a white apron, bolting out from behind Sugarcube Corner.
“Hey, Mr. Cake!” Pinkie Pie called to the stallion as she bounced towards him. “Whatcha screaming for, huh?”
“Pinkie?” Mr. Cake turned his head towards the mare, who stared back at him inquisitively. “I-I was just throwing out some expired danishes, when I saw this-this-this THING rooting around in the dumpster!”
“The dumpster?” Pinkie asked, the others gathering around her. “Say, this thing in the garbage,” did it happen to look like a big white dog with a bit of turquoise on its back?”
“That was no dog, Pinkie. ” Mr. Cake recounted, his voice shaking with dread. “It was far too big to be a dog. It was a monster!”
While Mr. Cake explained what he had just retreated from to the group, Winona sniffed a few paces past Mr. Cake. She stopped in her tracks with her paw lifted slightly, staring intently towards the alley behind Sugarcube Corner, where their dumpster was located.
“I reckon we oughta take a look anyway.” Applejack declared, adjusting her hat before taking off in a gallop. “Come on y'all!”
Leaving the quivering stallion behind, the crowd hurried towards the alley. They stopped in their tracks upon viewing the rusty gray dumpster behind the bakery. The receptacle itself rocked back and forth violently as something rummaged around inside. All of the mares looked on wordlessly, until Rainbow Dash nudged Discord's arm.
“You call her.” she urged him quickly. The draconequus took an uneasy step forward, looking back for only a moment, only to see them wave their hooves, pushing him to get on with it. Taking a deep breath, Discord pursed his lips and let out a series of soft whistles.
“Here, Celly.” He called to the dumpster. “If it is you, of course. Come on girl. You in there?”
The movement in the canister stopped abruptly. Everypony in view braced themselves. They hoped with everything they had that it was indeed Celestia in there, but part of them feared Mr. Cake was right in describing the intruder as a monster. Their bodies stood rigid with anticipation for whatever was about to follow.
A moment of dreadful silence passed, and something burst from the surface of the open container, covered in a layer of slime and trash. The being shook itself free of the trash concealing its appearance, to reveal its stained white coat and messy glittering mane.
“Celestia!” Discord and the others shouted in glee at the sight of Equestria’s oldest princess. The alicorn herself responded with an open mouthed smile as she pulled herself over the edge of the can and bounded towards her owner. Discord himself took flight and leapt towards her with open arms. “You had us worried sick!” he exclaimed joyfully as he took her within his grasp and hugged her tightly. He felt himself overcome with relief and joy as he felt her force pushed against his chest.“Oh thank goodness you're safe.”
And though for all the world he wanted to hold onto her forever more, a very rank and foul odor invaded his nostrils. All at once, he became aware that he was hugging a pony who had been swimming in Mr. and Mrs. Cake's garbage for who knew how long. Just as quickly as he had wrapped his arms around the princess, he pulled back and looked downwards in disgust.
“Euaagh!” Everypony retched in response. Rarity had her hoof pressed to her mouth, in an effort to fight the urge to vomit. Celestia however sat back on her haunches, looking as happy as a pony who believed herself to be a dog could possibly be.
Fluttershy hovered towards the ceiling of her bathroom, a small bucket of water in her hooves. She gently emptied the bucket over a soaking Princess Celestia standing in her small bathtub, her ethereal mane weighed down by several ounces of water. Her face exhibited the most piteous look of heartache towards the pegasus. Just from the look on her face, one might think Fluttershy was administering the most cruel form of torture on her within the porcelain basin which she stood.
“Now don't you give me that look,” Fluttershy chided her jovially, as she grabbed a towel to begin drying off her fair white coat. “It's for your own good... your majesty.”
Outside of the bathroom, Discord and company took residence in her bedroom, the draconequus himself relaxing on top of the pegasus's bed.
“I still don't see why Discord doesn't just un-hypnotize her now.” Rarity griped as she busied herself with Fluttershy’s sewing machine, making repairs to some of Fluttershy’s older dresses. “Wouldn't it be easier for her majesty to wash herself if she was of sound mind?”
“Rarity, how would you feel if you woke up stinking to high heaven and finding out your best friends just caught you swimming in garbage?” Applejack asked her egotistically. The unicorn gave a fierce shudder in response. “Yeah, that's what I thought.”
Twilight Sparkle turned her head up from the pages of a book on international species of animals outside of Equestria. “I think it would be best if Celestia didn't know that we all saw her like this.” she said to all of the ponies in the room. “Let's just let Discord take her home, so she can regain her senses without any of us being present.” The bathroom door swung open, and Fluttershy poked her yellow head out to look towards them.
“Look who's all clean!” Fluttershy called out, before Celestia's large white form bounded out into the room. In a giant leap, she landed on Fluttershy's bed and dropped to her back, rolling about in an effort to push some of the water still clinging to her coat away. The group of mares laughed as they watched her antics, including Twilight herself.
“Princess! Not on Fluttershy's bed!” As Twilight spoke to her, Celestia righted herself on her legs, and stretched her head out towards the smaller alicorn. Before Twilight could react, Celestia's tongue lapped against her purple cheek, making her giggle fiercely. “Ah ha ha ha, stop it! Princess!” Twilight's wings flared upwards as her front hooves pranced in place. She managed to stand on her hindlegs, holding Celestia under her face as she smiled at her. “You stop being such an adorable puppy, or I'm gonna take you home myself, okay?”
“Oh yes Twilight, I can see you definitely don't approve of this new Celestia at all, do you?” Discord asked mockingly. Twilight's eyes widened and she forced herself away from the alicorn rather abruptly.
“I don't!” She retorted while a touch of redness appeared on her cheeks, and her wings promptly returning to her sides. “Just, get her home and back to herself, alright?”
“Yes yes, of course your majesty.” Discord replied in a rather irked tone. “After she gets back to the castle, she'll be back to her old majestic self.”
Fluttershy swooped to Celestia and stroked her mostly dry turquoise mane, which had just begun to regain its wavy motion. “Thanks so much for playing with us today, princess. I know all of our pets were so glad to spend time with you.” The other mares nodded in agreement.
“And we had fun too, Fluttershy. But it's time we got going.” Discord said, taking Celestia in his grasp and putting his claw underneath her foreleg as she panted blissfully. He gently waved her hoof back and forth towards the others. “Say bye-bye!”
With a light chuckle, the other ponies all waved back at Celestia, before she and Discord vanished with a magical pop in the air.
Discord and Celestia regained their form inside of her bedroom, adjacent to her round sofa. The room was just how they had left it hours ago, quiet and empty, with her large and warm fireplace burning brightly. Discord looked down at the princess, still clutched in his arms as she looked about with interest in the sudden change of scenery.
“What do you say, Sun butt?” He asked, lowering her hindlegs down to the floor so she could properly stand. “You ready to go back to being a princess yet?”
Celestia's eyes turned up to his face, before she lowered her head and stepped towards him. She rubbed the side of her head affectionately against his brown chest. Discord was caught off guard at the tender display, and chuckled as her soft white head tickled his furry chest. Celestia turned around, stepping onto the sofa at the center of her room. She dropped down onto her legs, then rolled over onto her back. She kept her legs opened, exposing her spotless white chest and belly to him, while staring towards him with a look of hopefulness splayed across her face.
Discord sighed in defeat, though still retaining a pleased grin as he stared back at her. “Alright, fine. No sense in spoiling a good thing, right?” Discord slithered through the air towards Celestia, joining her on the unoccupied space next to her. He lowered his right paw against her chest, rubbing the palm of it up and down in soft, quick strokes. He felt the alicorn's chest rise a moment in response to his administrations. She let out a soft breath through her nose, and stretched her forelegs out in satisfaction.
Discord brought his claw down, parallel to his paw, and scratched the space underneath her stretched foreleg. Bringing them back in, Celestia's body constricted. Her left hindleg began to move in quick circles, as if she were scratching at the air repetitively. Her teeth were bared in an eager smile while her eyes were closed, reveling in the sensation Discord provided her.
“Aw, do you like that?” Discord cooed to her in a playful tone as he sustained his embrace of her. “Do you wike havin' your widdle belly wubbed?” The draconequus felt himself enchanted by Celestia's responses to him. When he had first encountered her that day, he had come upon a mare burdened with more responsibility than any pony in the country, threatening to crack under too much pressure. Now, laid bare before him, her mind cleared of the frustrations of her royal title, Celestia was the best depiction of a happy, carefree being. It hadn't made sense to him before, but now he finally shared a bit of the envy she had expressed for Winona that afternoon. It was as if she had achieved a level of harmony unreachable to normal, sentient ponies.
“You are just too cute!” He praised her, lowering his head towards her neck and peppering her with quick playful kisses as he held her tight. “I didn't think you had it in you princess, but you're just the sweetest little thing when you're this happy.” Celestia moved her snout up and licked his chin appreciatively. She pulled away after a moment, and her mouth opened wide as a yawn squeaked out from her. “Yeah, I'll bet you're tired. You've had quite the adventurous day.”
Celestia dropped the side of her head onto the cushion, facing Discord. She lifted her right foreleg and draped it over his shoulder, her sparkling tail swishing upwards a few times. Looking into her eyes, Discord could feel the gratitude Celestia held for him. Whether it was a result of the spell or something deep within her, she was grateful for him. She saw him as somepony that looked after her, that held her best interests at heart. She felt safe laying next to him, sharing in the warmth his body provided her.
With her gaze still locked on him, her eyes began to drop. She fought slightly to keep them open, to look upon his bushy white brows and goatee. His paw brushed gently over her flowing mane, sprawled over her body like a blanket. She found herself looking into his bright yellow eyes as he pet her, and her heart was warm with affection for him. But eventually fatigue won out, and her eyes remained shut. With his paw still stroking her head, she allowed the embrace of sleep to overtake her, and temporarily whisk her away from the conscious world.
It started with a sense of heaviness, as Celestia became aware of her own breathing. She could still only see blackness, with a bit of light apparent near the bottom of her vision. With a bit of effort, she blinked her eyelids open, her mind still fuzzy and unable to process everything she saw. Feeling stiff, she rolled onto her back and stretched her legs out at both ends to push out a bit of the weariness clinging to her limbs. A hearty yawn escaped her chest, as she mentally pushed herself to resist the urge of going back to sleep.
Forcing herself to lift her head up, she looked forward and noticed that she was looking at her bed, on the other side of the room. She looked down at her forelegs, noticing the rose colored cushion she laid upon.
“Oh goodness,” she mumbled, smacking her parched lips together as her mouth worked to moisten them up again. “How long have I been out?”
“Ah, that's the first time I've heard you speak intelligibly all day.” A charismatic voice rang out from beside her. Celestia looked to her left, towards the mural of the purple comet in the sky surrounded with tiny stars. She smirked as she noticed a stained-glass depiction of Discord next to one of the tiny balls of light, an iron golf club in his grasp. He swung it up over his shoulders and took a mighty swing, knocking it up and against the edges of the portrait, where it bounced around several times until landing at the center of the large comet: a hole in one from what she could see.
Discord disappeared from the portrait and reformed himself in the third dimension again, leaning over the edge of Celestia's sofa. “So, you decided you've had enough of your dog day at long last?”
Celestia looked perplexed for a moment, until images and sensations began to return to her memory. She could only remember bits and pieces at a time, her slurping food out of a bowl with her name on it, and romping around joyously with another excited and carefree furry spirit. But she remembered without a doubt her last memory before all of those events had transpired, most notably the request she had made to Discord. But what he had just said didn't make any sense to her: she had decided she'd had enough?
“I don't understand... you're the one who hypnotized me. Wouldn't I be at your mercy to turn me back to normal?”
“Well it's true, I did hypnotize you. However, that was only to get you to go to sleep. And while you were passed out, I tried something I've never tried before.” Celestia cocked an eyebrow suspiciously as the draconequus went on. “I delved into your subconscious, and tweaked a few things to make you lose your inhibitions. Part of you was still a little embarrassed of what you wanted to do, so I just knocked down those walls keeping you cooped up, that way you were free to do whatever your heart desired.”
Celestia sat in awe of the revelation he'd made in that moment. When she had proposed the idea to him, she had imagined that he was going to make her his puppet in a sense, even if it was for non-malicious reasons and only temporarily. What she had just learned to be the actual cause for her altered behavior was perplexing to say the least.
“Are you telling me that everything I did today... it was a result of my own free will?”
“Well, you got a serious push from yours truly, but yes, it all came from something that was actually inside you.”
“Eating out of a bowl?”
“Yes.”
“Chasing after animals?”
“M hm.”
“Erm, what about in the park, when I-?”
“Yeah, that too.” Discord replied, looking away from her, as the alicorn's cheeks burned with shades of red. “Hey, come on, don't be embarrassed. “ He reassured her, hopping over the couch to sit next to her. “What matter is putting your senses back in perfect harmony. And from what I can sense of you, I think your little adventure today did just the trick.”
Celestia took a deep breath to regain her composure, and allowed herself a satisfied smile. “I think it did too.” She replied, lowering her head in a humble fashion. “And I am grateful that a friend like you were responsible for making that happen, Discord.”
Staring back at her, Discord felt the back of his neck tickle, and reached back with his claw to scratch it. “Don't mention it.” he said modestly, before standing on his legs. “Well, I should get going.”
“Don't be a stranger to me anymore.” Celestia reminded him as she stood to her hooves, and wrapped her wings around him. “You're welcome to visit me anytime you wish.”
Discord lowered his head and wrapped his arms around her long and cozy neck. “Thank you.” He said to her softly. After a moment, they stepped apart and he waved his paw at her. “See you around, Sunny.” In the blink of an eye, a small burst of magic rang out, and he was gone without a trace.
With Discord gone, Celestia stepped towards her bed, where her golden adornments had been laid out by her mischevious friend. She used her magic to hover them back into their proper place upon her body, but paused when she looked at one of her shoes. Tucked in the sole of one of them was a scroll of parchment. It had to be from Discord, but she didn't understand what it could be. After placing her hoof in the last shoe, she unraveled the parchment, and her eyes poured over the words written on its surface:
Dear Princess Celestia,
Your friend, the spirit of mischief and mayhem,
Discord
Celestia finished reading the letter with a warm sense of satisfaction. She magically yanked a large chest from underneath her bed, and opened the top to reveal a neat arrangement of brightly colored folders, each bearing the name of a pony who had learned an important lesson in friendship ever since Twilight Sparkle made Ponyville her permanent home. Pulling an unnamed folder from her desk, she embroidered the name Discord at the top. She slipped his letter inside, and put the new folder in to join the others, his right in front of Fluttershy's.
A knock rang out from Celestia's door just as she slid the chest back under her bed. “Who's there?” She called out casually.
“It is I, sister.” Luna's voice called through her door. “May I come in?”
“Of course Luna.” The door opened and the dark alicorn stepped through, her bat-winged guards waiting outside for her. Celestia looked upon her sister, her head hung low and visible bags underneath her eyes. “Luna? Are you alright? You don't look so good.”
Luna's tired eyes looked up frustratingly towards Celestia, a grimace forming as she struggled to keep herself in check. “Well forgive me, Celestia; I'm sorry if I don't look as good as you do after pulling a double shift.”
“A double shift?” Celestia repeated in a clueless manner. “What on Earth would you do that for?”
“I’ve been covering for you!” Luna exclaimed, her voice weighted with fatigue. “ I was asleep for only a few hours when I heard a knock on my door. One of your guards tells me that you're ill and that the castle needs a princess to keep things running smoothly, so-” Luna stopped mid sentence, and her mouth opened wide as a yawn escaped her mouth. She rose a hoof to her face and then shook her head to keep alert before she continued. “ So, I was forced to take the reigns in your absence. I’ve had so much coffee today, I feel as if my veins might be coursing with the stuff!”
Celestia felt a lump catch in her throat as she listened to her sister's woes. Her heart was wracked with guilt as she cursed herself for over-looking the fact that her canine curiosity would leave an empty throne in Canterlot Castle. Even if she neglected her responsibilities for a day, somepony was going to have to take them on for her. And it seemed poor Luna had reluctantly stepped in to fill her absence.
“Luna, I am so sorry!” Celestia grieved to her sister emphatically. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
Luna took a deep breath and shook her head. “These things happen. Just as long as you're well enough to lower the sun while I raise the moon.”
“Of course Luna; I'd say I'm right as rain now.”
“Wonderful. Oh, and if you could please please PLEASE watch over the night for just a few hours. I only have enough strength in me to raise the moon, I'm already close... to...” Luna's head dipped forward and leaned against Celestia, and the mare began to take slow, unconscious breaths against her.
“Um... Luna?” Celestia called, poking her sister's mane.
The princess of the night jumped away with a snort, and shook herself awake. “Moon! Right, moon, going up, let us make haste. I'm fine.” Luna trotted quickly to the windows of Celestia's room, leading to the balcony. She opened them abruptly, and accidentally let in a group of birds who had been fluttering around on the outside. “Oh drat. Apologies sister. Begone, you pests. Shoo!” Luna bellowed at the feathered creatures who had parked themselves on the edge of Celestia's bed. They seemed to be unaffected by the volume of Luna's voice shouting at them.
Luna had just raised her hoof, preparing to swat at them, when she heard a growl from across the mattress. The noise not only captured her attention, but that of the birds as well, who turned towards the source.
Celestia stared towards the small, uninvited creatures in her room. Her throat rumbled angrily as she stood with her rump in the air, her chest near the ground as she bared her teeth menacingly. If they weren't going to leave, then she would have the pleasure of snatching them up in her jaws in the blink of an eye.
“Arf! Arf arf arf!” Celestia barked viciously at the birds. They jumped from the end of her bed in fright, a few feathers knocked loose as they flapped their wings in a hurry towards the window and out into the twilit sky. Celestia gave chase towards them as she barked, and growled until they disappeared from her sight.
The glaring silence in the air brought Celestia back to her senses. She turned to look over her shoulder, at the mare who stood behind her. Luna's tired eyes remained wide open, as she struggled to comprehend the sight she had just witnessed before her.
“Heh heh... whoops.” Celestia uttered as she smiled bashfully back at Luna.
