"Will You All Stop Breaking Tim!"

Rainbow cringed at the frustrated voice of a certain draconequus. "I'm sorry, okay! How was I supposed to know you could make Timberwolves behave?!" she apologized in exasperation, said wood-creature reforming to shake itself while glaring at her.

Fluttershy meanwhile, took cautious steps towards it, eyes filled with dying fears and growing awe. "Is it really...safe?" the pegasus asked, somehow both timid and excited.

Discord rolled his eyes, reaching down to pet the canine on the head, who panted in a comically happy manner. "Yes, he is, just like I told the Mani Drottning befo-"

"Many Drought what now?" Rainbow attempted to repeat.

"The Blue Pegacorn! How many languages are in my head!?" Discord growled out in frustration.

"Pegacorn...?" Rainbow muttered, idly noting Fluttershy was indeed rubbing the belly of a pacified Timberwolf. Because of course she would be. "Ohh, you mean Princess Luna! Yeah, that's called an Alicorn," Rainbow explained idly.

"Nar-Pony, the amount of bucks I have to give are dwindling rapidly," Discord warned with a blank expression.

"...Nar-Pony?" Rainbow murmured, trying to telling if she was being insulted or not before shaking her head rapidly. "Look, I didn't come here to cause trouble; I just wanted to make sure everything is going alright? And in case Fluttershy needed me to help with any freaky weather," Rainbow explained, turning sheepish by the end.

"Freaky weather?" Discord repeated, glancing up at the clear blue sky and pretending not to notice how uneasy they were about the subject. 'Was I some kind of weather-wizard?' he wondered to himself before looking back at Rainbow Dash.

"Don't worry about it," she said with an awkward chuckle. "So, um, I guess I should be off than," she said, turning to speed off.

"Wait."

She grimaced at his call, almost dreading what he might have to say or ask. But looking back, she just saw a look of interest and reluctance.

"Could you...teach me to fly?" he requested awkwardly.

The pegasus stared for a good long moment before she comprehended the words. "Huh?" Rainbow questioned intelligently.

Discord rolled his eyes at her. "I have wings and no idea how to use them. You're a very fast pegasus. Can You Teach Me?" he asked slowly, obviously feeling self-conscious about this

"Umm, sure, I guess. Is now a good time?" Rainbow offered, confused yet always interested when her best element was involved.

They both looked over at Fluttershy, who had apparently taught Tim how to play peekaboo with his paws. "I'd say yes," Discord answered wryly.

"Well, I work best by trial and error, so show me what you got and I'll tell you what you're doing wrong," Rainbow instructed, settling into the role of kickass teacher rather well.

Discord made a face, but flapped his wings as he came off the ground…for all of three seconds before hitting the ground with his face. Fluttershy winced and Tim whined, but by their lack of further action, Rainbow assumed this wasn't the first time Discord had tried this.

Shaking some dirt off his face, the amnesiac looked up at Rainbow with an expectant scowl. "Well?"

But Rainbow was giving him a thoughtful expression; unknown to him, not a normal sight on the speedster. "Do that one more time?" Rainbow requested, rubbing her chin.

Discord's eyebrow twitched, but seeing her seriousness, decided to oblige her. Sure enough, his face became very intimately familiar with the ground. "You better not say third time is the charm," Discord grumbled as he pulled himself up.

"No, I just wanted to be sure what I was looking at," Rainbow admitted, rubbing her mane. "Normally, I'd say there is only one right way to get flying down, but you're not exactly normal," she stated unashamedly.

Fluttershy gave her a slight reprimanding look, but Discord just nodded in admittance. "I've seen my reflection, go on," he acknowledged with a wave.

"Well, Pegasi usually use a bit of our flight magic in our tails and mane to balance us out in the sky. Like a, what's the thing you put on a hot air balloon?" Rainbow questioned with a scrunched brow.

"Zavorra?" Discord tried as a guess, getting no comprehension for his answer.

"Ballast?" Fluttershy suggested helpfully.

"What she said," Discord added in, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder in her direction.

"Yeah, that!" Rainbow answered with a grin. "You could try that, but it'd be a lot more in amount and complexity since you're kind of like a snake. Long body and all that," Rainbow explained, looking upwards in thought. "You could also keep expelling flight magic from all over your body, but that's a bit on the wasteful side. I mean you could probably do it fine, but that's a given," Rainbow admitted without thought as Discord narrowed his eyes briefly.

'So I have a relatively vast amount of magic? Definitely some kind of wizard,' he deduced, tilting his head at her. "Any third ideas?"

"Well, Twilight is out of the question, so you might have to ask the Alicorns about this next one," Rainbow forewarned sheepishly. "It's a bit like cheating in my opinion, but I'm an athlete. That in mind, you could always look into gravity magic."

"Gravity magic?" Discord acknowledge with a hum. "Well, let's see how well this works."

The pegasi and Timberwolf watched with rapid attention as Discord stepped off the earth. He hovered for a moment with his limbs moving back and forth uncertainly before he fell forward, but instead of hitting the ground, he spun upside down. "Buck, buck, buck!" Discord cursed under his breath as he thought hard about what he wanted: Magic expelling from his wings to right him, his wings stabilizing him as his internal mana evened out his balance.

"Umm, dude? Open your eyes!" Rainbow called with an excited voice.

Discord did, looking down in surprise to see he was hovering rather well. "This is...taking some figuring out," Discord murmured softly as he floated back down with a rather ungraceful thud, glancing to the prismatic mare. "Thanks."

"No problem! Somepony as awesome as me can't just leave a fellow flier high and dry when they don't know how to take off," Rainbow answered with more than a hint of smugness.

"How do you afford to feed that ego?" Discord asked blankly.

Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but bit her lip and swallowed it. "Oh, if you could remember right now," she muttered under her breath, too low for most to hear.

'Huh. Guess I was full of myself too. Charming,' Discord thought with a hum. "So, ponies, there's a small issue I need to address."

"What's wrong, Discord?" Fluttershy asked in concern.

"I have fangs," Discord stated simply, tapping his snaggletooth. "Do I eat meat and should I be concerned about where to find some?"

Fluttershy looked alarmed, curious and uncertain all at once yet did not provide an answer.

"I...doubt that'll be an issue," Rainbow stated flatly. "But if it is, you can always just get some fish."

"Okay?" Discord answered awkwardly, feeling like he was missing something important.

"We never saw you eat much," Fluttershy explained civilly. "Besides some candy."

Discord frowned in confusion, glancing down at his slender form. "I must have a great metabolism."

"Well, if there is nothing else, I have to go check on my cloud duty schedule for the week. Good luck with the flying and with...Tim," Rainbow stated, the Timberwolf giving her an annoyed looked before she flew off. "Bye Flutters!"

"Bye Rainbow!" Fluttershy called with a wave.

"Hm. She seemed nice," Discord granted idly, glancing back at Fluttershy. "But high energy. How'd you two become friends?"

"We went to flight school together as fillies," Fluttershy answered simply.

"Ah, okay then," Discord accepted, drumming his talons on his arms. "Well, I had a moment with the farmer and the speedster each, along with the Moon Mare. And I have a pet that everyone keeps breaking. Interesting day so far."

"Ponyville tends to be like that," Fluttershy acknowledged fondly.

"We all have horrible blunt naming schemes, don't we?" Discord mused with a scowl. "I guess if I pick a new name it should be like Discord."

"A new name? Why would you need a new one?" Fluttershy asked in concern.

"Because every time someone calls me Discord I just don't...feel it. I don't feel like I'm the one you're talking to," Discord answered in frustration, scratching his head.

Fluttershy watched him with sad, apologetic eyes while Tim whined again in sympathy. "I understand."

She didn't. They both knew she didn't, but knew she was trying to and knew that this was what he wanted. And that was good enough.

"So, what now? Is there anything I can help with?" Discord offered curiously.

"Oh no, it's alright. I'm use to taking care of every creature here," Fluttershy said with a wide smile.

"Fluttershy, I'd rather not be too much of a leech," Discord said with an eye roll. "Look, just point me to the physically heaviest things you have to do."

"Well...I did order a lot of food for the animals in bulk," Fluttershy mused, flying over to the side of her cabin.

Discord and Tim followed her. Despite Tim's former lack of higher awareness as a Timberwolf, even he seemed a bit startled by the large bags of nuts, seeds, carrots, and other foodstuff. Each bag was easily twice as big as the mare that had ordered them. "I...why did...how did you even move them?!" Discord asked, trying to rationalize this tiny, land-preferring Pegasus moving these oversized and overstuffed supplies of food.

"I thought they'd just send more of the usual sized bags, not the um, ultra-special deluxe size," Fluttershy said in embarrassment. "If it's not too much trouble, could you move them to the shed?"

"Assuming they don't rip? Yes, I can do that," Discord agreed, as the bags were still relatively small to him. At least, he hoped they were. "Won't these carrots go bad soon?"

"Oh no, it's Angel's birthday the day after tomorrow, so all of the rabbit and other carrot-lovers are going to an all-the-carrots-you-can-eat party," Fluttershy answered with a giggle.

"I can't tell if you're a mahdollistaja or a kynnysmatto," Discord stated as he hefted up one of the bags without issue.

Fluttershy smiled despite the possible insult. Discord, or whatever he was going to be called, was adjusting rather well for his first day. But she was mildly concerned. Well, she was very concerned to be honest, about a lot of things, but there was one that nagged at her.

Originally, she had been worried about Discord doing magic on accident, how they would explain it to him and how they could help him relearn to control it. Or if they even could help. But besides the brief flight attempt, he didn't seem to be using any magic at all.

That was...strange. She heard baby unicorns had accidents with magic, so it only made sense that an amnesiac Discord might have an outburst or two. Yet despite several emotional moments, there was nothing.

Was that good or bad? Had being stripped of his memories weakened him in some way? Or was Discord's magic just that much different from a pony's?

She'd have to ask somepony eventually. Twilight wasn't an option. Fluttershy still considered her a friend, but she wasn't ready to speak to Twilight more than she had to. Rarity might be some insight, but her best option might be asking Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia for advice.

Oh well, that was for another time.

Meanwhile

Luna was not at all surprised to find her sister sitting here once court had ended for the day.

They were in front of one of the windows depicting Equestrian history; namely, their defeat of Discord.

Luna had found herself here on a few occasions herself. A thousand years ago, she did it just to remind herself that their victory had not just been a dream. Then as a place to think back and ponder on days long passed when she and her sister were not princesses. Since her return, she looked upon it to remember friends and allies long vanished to the grip of time, as Discord's Defeat was one of the last great events before her descent into Nightmare Moon.

Now she sat, wondering what her sister was pondering as she looked upon the likeness of their greatest foe.

"You want to know a secret, Luna?" Celestia asked softly.

Luckily, Celestia part-timed as a mind reader.

Luna waited patiently, which Celestia took as a sign to continue. "There was a point after you were sealed, where I sat here. I think it was seventy years afterwards? Eighty? Not yet a century," she mused thoughtfully before sighing. "I sat here and thought for the first time: I missed Discord."

Luna turned to her in surprise, eyes wide. "Sister, do you mean...?!" she asked in disbelief.

"Oh, nothing scandalous like that, Luna," Celestia denied with a roll of her eyes. "Discord was the hardest to fight, but the one who caused me the least stress. When we fought him, we didn't have to worry about...almost anything, compared to other villains: deaths, injuries, property damages, famines, plagues? Discord took no joy in inflicting those things on ponies. Anything he did was washed away when he left. The aftermath of Discord was always surprisingly simple. And after decades of facing threats, major and minor, who made myself wonder how Equestria would recover from the aftermaths? Facing down Discord again almost sounded appealing in a strange, half-insane-from-anxiety kind of way," Celestia explained.

Luna stared for a moment before looking back up at the window. "I suppose you are correct in that manner. Discord may have treated ponykind like toys, but he didn't like to break his playthings at least. Other villains, the same cannot be said," she accepted. "How many times did you think that?"

"About five or six times. In fairness, two of them were because of the nobles," Celestia said with a smirk.

"I can only imagine," Luna said with a giggle.

The silence that followed swallowed whole all of their momentary happiness, the ocean of Discord's powers pressing against their senses still something they could not truly ignore, even all the way in Canterlot. That oppressive, all-encompassing feeling that reminded them that Discord was out there yet...he wasn't Discord anymore, not really.

And all because of one mare.

"Before my banishment, I would have called for Twilight Sparkle to be dehorned," Luna stated with a scowl.

"I know, Sister," Celestia answered, looking down solemnly. "I might have agreed under other circumstances."

"You do realize that if she had done this to a pony...nay, any mortal at all, it would have erupted into a nationwide scandal?" Luna pointed out.

Celestia nodded softly. "It would have been depicted as me excusing her crime either because she is a noble, however minor, or that she is my student."

"If not for having saved Equestria more than once, she would have been in the dungeons already," Luna continued.

"I know, Luna!" Celestia snapped, shutting her eyes closed as she fought back tears. "Why do you think I'm here, missing battling a nigh-unstoppable foe, if not because I hate having to think about what Twilight has done! That I might have to pass judgement on her! And all because I didn't keep a closer eye on our attempt to reform Discord!"

"...Do you remember why you decided to try that, Celestia?" Luna asked softly. "Why you decided to risk freeing Discord so soon after his defeat?"

Celestia didn't answer for a moment. Luna wouldn't blame her if the original reasoning had been lost amongst everything. "Because he had been in stone for a thousand years," Celestia said with a sigh. "I considered freeing Tirek more than once, but he always tried to absorb a pony's magic before I could even offer to just exile him to his homelands. Chrysalis? I honestly thought she was dead. You were freed from the moon after a thousand years and given a second chance. Discord had to force himself out. I often wonder, if I couldn't have avoided his second reign of chaos just by freeing him and asking him for terms. So I thought he at least deserved a chance, deserved someone who wanted him to have a chance."

"And with so much history between him and ourselves, we could never attempt such a thing without tainted waters on both sides," Luna agreed with a nod. "I do not wish to be cruel, Sister. I just want to know: what do you want to do?"

"I love that mare, Luna," Celestia said sorrowfully. "I don't know if she is like a daughter, granddaughter, or something else; I just know that I love her. So is it wrong that I actually...do NOT want to just sweep this under the rug?"

Luna smiled in understanding. "Nay, Sister. It is a quality I have always admired of yours: you wish to see the right thing done, even if it is hard. Even if it hurts. Letting Twilight Sparkle go without punishment is not the right thing. Even your student knows that, if her reaction to her own deed was any indication."

"But be that as it may, Luna, she is a hero. Does that not earn some leniency?" Celestia asked with a troubled frown.

"I can attest that even Discord does not entirely disagree with that," Luna stated, giving Celestia's confused look a small smile. "I spoke with him. He also unknowingly tamed a Timberwolf."

"A Timberwolf?" Celestia repeated, almost smiling at the image.

"He calls it Tim," Luna confirmed before scowling softly. "I gave him the shortest summary of Twilight and her friends being national heroes. Angry he might be, he doesn't desire Twilight to die. In...less than pleasant words, he said she is our problem to deal with so long as she stays away from him."

Celestia took a short breath. "What do I do, Luna?" she asked helplessly.

"I can...only suggest, Sister," Luna started delicately. "I have no full grasp of how the law has changed in my absence, but I am sure you have a clear memory of something similar to this happening in the past few hundred years."

"...Yes," Celestia agreed, looking concerned with where this might be going.

"Then I propose recalling what those sentences were. Then reducing them a step or more," Luna explained.

"...The last time I can recall, Luna, I sentenced two unicorns to dehorning and severed the wings off a pegasus," Celestia informed tonelessly.

Luna raised an eyebrow, morbidly curious about the inclusion of the pegasus, but chose not to pry. "I thought Dehorning was outlawed?"

"No, just...it's illegal for anyone but the courts to do it. And even then, only by a professional. We managed to...solve most of the issues that made unicorns die from complications after the deed," Celestia explained unpleasantly.

Luna nodded slowly. "Then simply seal her magic for a time-"

"There were...mitigating circumstances, Luna," Celestia said with a wince. "The ponies didn't know what the spell would do in that case. It was purely accidental; mistakenly translating an old text to think it was a parlor trick, a short term hypnosis spell. They never even knew it was incurable until the trial. If they had fully known...it was the first time ponies were demanding an execution in five hundred years, Luna. If they had come forward from the start, instead of taking advantage of what happened, they would have only found themselves choosing between a long time in prison, banished, or their magic sealed. Twilight didn't mistranslate; she just chose to rush with the spell she could memorize before Discord took it from her; which, with any other creature, could be called self-defense on his part. And seeing as it worked, I suppose it was self-defense for Discord. So I can't argue Twilight is less at fault than them, Luna. If anything, it's more. So, what fits the crime? Dehorning, or making her choose how to spend the maj-" Celestia rambled, stopping as Luna quickly embraced her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Sister. I know this hurts you," Luna whispered tearfully into her neck.

"Luna...I..." Celestia paused to return the embrace. "I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I could force myself to give Twilight that judgement."

"Sister, I don't mean to sound cruel, but...I don't know if you and Twilight Sparkle will ever have closure from this event if it is anyone but you," Luna said, sympathetic yet honest. She held her sorrow ridden sister for a long moment as the next words hung heavy in her chest. "But, if you desire...I shall take on that burden for you."

Celestia stiffened in her hold, but made no immediate answer...

Author's Note

Okay, there we go! Sorry for the long, Long wait. Had writers block on this for a while, and a...lot of bad shit happened in my life for the past couple years.

Anyway, yeah, "Discord" got some lessons from Rainbow and Celestia is brooding. That's the shortest version of this chapter. XP But seriously, I hope you all enjoyed this. And I'm trying to make it clear that the Twilight-Situation is...complicated for all involved. And "Discord" is steadily piecing together who he WAS while deciding who he IS.

Well, that's it for now.