The Incantation

          After Fluttershy had taken off unexpectedly, I hung around outside the restaurant for a while, trying to collect my thoughts. When I was successful, I hurried home.

Somehow, in the heat of the moment, I'd forgotten all about the the crown. I could sell it and definitely get enough bits or gems to return the favor of help back to Fluttershy. She deserved it.

When I finally made it back to the cottage, once inside, I realized that I was not alone. Somepony was moving about the kitchen, and it smelled as if they might be cooking.

Thinking it was Fluttershy or Angel, I rushed into the kitchen to say hello.

Too bad I was wrong.

The kitchen was an absolute mess. Food was splattered everywhere, cooking utensils were scattered about, and Angel stood on the counter, his arms folded and a dirty look on his face.

On the receiving end of that look was none other then the Master of Chaos himself - Discord.

"What the he - "

Discord turned and frowned. He was holding a bowl and was mixing something up in it. I couldn't tell what it was, and I frankly didn't give a damn.

I was scared out of my wits.

"Who might you be?" Discord asked without stopping his rushed mixing. It was flying all over the place.

I swallowed hard. "Uh..."

"Pfff...'uh' isn't a name, if I recall correctly." He tossed the bowl on the counter, and it somehow landed upright. "Would you mind giving me your real name?" He snapped his clawed fingers and I was immediately locked in a cage.

"Hey!" I protested. "Let me out, Discord!"

"'Hey, let me out, Discord' isn't your name either." He poofed into a police uniform. "You're gonna take a trip to the slammer if you don't give it up, Sonny."

I wrapped my hooves around the bars and glared at him. "Emerald, for Celestia's sake, now let me go!"

He hesitated, considering whether I'd told him the truth or not. "Okay, laddie, you're free." The cage vanished, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "So," Discord went on, spinning a baton around. "Why are you in my dear friend Fluttershy's house?"

"I live here."

He laughed out loud, then stopped when he realized that I was serious. "Oh? You can't be serious. I've never seen you with her before. What are you, her boyfriend?" he spat the last two words. Did I sense jealousy?

"No," I answered heatedly. I felt my cheeks grow hot. "She just wants to help me back on my hooves."

He poofed his police uniform away and studied me, stroking his goatee. "That's funny...you look familiar..." He seemed to have an idea and vanished suddenly.

I stood there, staring at the mess in the kitchen. "When Fluttershy sees this, she's going to flip - "

Discord reappeared holding something in his claw. A paper.

"Tada!" He shoved the paper in my face. "Look familiar, Mr. Thief?"

I gasped as I read the article on the front, the one I'd seen on the train ride here.

He pulled it away and looked expectantly at me, raising an eyebrow and waiting for my response.

I gulped. "Please don't...I-I don't want to lose my new friends, especially Fluttershy. Please..."

The paper disappeared. "Who am I to share your business? I'm the God of Chaos, of course. I've done far worse than snitch on some pony." He lowered his voice and gave me an ice-cold stare. "But steal something from Fluttershy, and you'll be begging for Celestia to take you to a dungeon, far away from me."

I nodded quickly, feeling a bead of sweat forming on my brow. "I understand completely..."

Suddenly, he smiled. "On a positive note - my cookies are done!" He flew into the kitchen, a giddy look on his face.

I cautiously trailed him in.

"You're the God of Chaos, and you're baking...cookies?" I asked, nonplussed.

He pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven and took a deep whiff of them. "Ah, snickerdoodle..." He looked gleefully over at me. "Want one?"

I shook my head. "No thanks. I just ate lunch with Fluttershy."

He gave me a dirty look. "Fine. Be that way." He set the tray on the counter. "Fluttershy will surely have a few."

"I'm sure she will. Now, if you'll excuse me..." I turned to go get the crown from my box I'd stashed it in under the couch.

Discord followed me. "Now, wait just a minute...what is it your sticky little pony-hooves couldn't resist from taking that seems to have ruffled Canterlot's feathers? What is this 'artifact' the paper speaks of?"

I pulled the box out from under the couch. "Is it important that you know?"

"Goodness, I was just asking. No need to bite my head off." He made his head disappear and reappear.

"Fine, whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "Just don't tell anypony about this please."

I sat up on the couch and slowly opened the box, watching Discord in my peripheral vision. When I got the box open finally and pulled the crown out for him to see, he drew back.

"That's what you stole?" he asked in disbelief.

I looked up at him. "What do you mean? What's wrong with it?"

He shook his head and tsked a few times. "If only you knew about this...this...thing." He pointed at it as if it were a deadly snake coiled up in front of him, ready to strike.

"Oookay," I said, scratching my ear. "If you want to tell me, I'm all ears."

He grinned deviously. "No, you aren't." He snapped his claws and suddenly I was covered in ears. "Now you are."

"AHHHH! Get them off me! Get them OFF!"

He laughed maniacally and and snapped his claws again then the ears vanished, leaving me there gasping for breath.

"Oh...okay...you were...saying?" I asked between breaths.

"Oh yes - where was I...the crown!" he said loudly. "So, thousands of years ago, there were some nasty ponies that were worse than good ol' Uncle Discord. They would do just awful things to each other. But one in particular was just as cruel and vile as one could be."

I was listening intently now, my breathing back to normal again.

"He was a mage. That crown was made and cursed by himself. There's a scroll that goes along with it, used to awaken...a deity." His voice trailed off, a smile still on his face.

"What next?"

"You don't have the scroll, do you?"

I was growing impatient already. "No, now tell me the rest of the story."

He patted me on my head, which only made me mad. "Sure, sure...so eager to learn. Anyway, the scroll has the incantation needed to bring to life the deity it's made for. And you must be wearing the crown while you're chanting."

"No way," I said flatly. "You're crazy. This is just some weird-looking crown I stole from somepony. You're just trying to scare me into getting rid of it. In fact, I bet you want it." I pointed an accusatory hoof at him.

He threw his arms up in mock-surrender. "What? No officer, that wasn't my intentions at all! I really am telling you the truth."

I stared at him for a moment, but he appeared to be sincere. "Okay, fine. So, what do I do with it?"

He started flying around the room. "Well, considering that that thing makes my evil in the past look like a golf ball compared to a beach ball, I'd get rid of it. Bury it or whatever. You don't have the scroll, so that's a plus. As long as the two aren't together, we'll all be fine."

I dropped the crown back in the box and closed it. "I'll do that some other time. For now, I want to do some more research on it myself. See what I can find out."

Discord stopped flying around and faced me, raising an eyebrow. "You're not going to try to use it, are you?"

"Of course not," I scolded him. "I want to sell it..."

"Pfft...you ponies are so greedy." He watched me place the box back under the couch. "I'd bury it. It's in your best interest. Tata!" He waved and disappeared.

I gave a sigh of relief and went back into the kitchen. Angel was in there on the counter. When he seen me, he started waving his paws around wildly, ranting and raving about the mess Discord had left.

"Yes, yes, it's a mess. Fluttershy's going to be upset when she sees this..."

Just then, Discord reappeared in the middle of the kitchen, startling both me and Angel into hiding.

"Oh, my! I almost forgot!" he said, snapping his claws to render the kitchen spotless in seconds. Then he was gone again.

"Ugh."