Standing at the front door of his establishment, the draconequus smoked a cigar, silently contemplating the night. His sister’s visit had soured his mood.

It wasn’t going to last though, as a taxi stopped near and an earth pony got out. She had amber eyes, blue mane and tail and a light yellow coat. A simple yet elegant white dress covered her in the chilly night.

The ponies making line to enter the club noticed her in an instant.

“Dude, it’s her!”

“No way!”

“I love you, Sapphire!”

She waved at the excited fans before turning her attention to the draconequus, who reduced his cigar to ashes.

“Well, well, well; who do we have in here?” He asked while a smile growing on his face.

“Discord!” She practically tackled him, giving him a tight hug.

“Oof! Glad to see me?” he managed to say after getting air back to his lungs. ‘She would make a great hoofball player.’

In a private room, Discord attended his surprise visit, both of them resting in a comfortable couch.

“So, what brings the great Sapphire Shores to my humble place?” He asked while giving her a glass filled with cider.

“… I came to thank you,” hhe answered after taking a sip.

“What for?” He asked, curious.

“All those people you introduced me back then, when I started my career... they said you recommended me.”

The draconequus shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal. “I thought you deserved a chance. I’m more of a rock kind of guy, but I recognize talent when I see it.”

“And here I thought I could give you one of my albums for free as your birthday gift,” she joked, causing both of them to laugh.

After it died down, she sighed, downing what was left of her drink. A frown appeared as she played with her glass.

“Tough day?” he said while refilling their glasses.

“More like tough years. I… suppose you know what I’ve been through?” She asked, praying that he didn’t.

“You mean the drugs, rehab and romantic scandals?” He said without missing a bit, resuming the huge drama that the last few years of her life had been.

The earth pony buried her head in her hooves, embarrassed. Oh, he definitely knew.

Discord patted her in the back “I’m not judging you; I happen to like the occasional substance. Besides, you mortals’ romances are nothing compared to the affairs of certain ‘deities’, so to speak.”

Sapphire had heard something like that before; Discord constantly talked about other times like they were mere days ago. She didn’t honestly believe he was the Beast; but there was no doubt in her mind that he was ancient and powerful.

Lifting her head, she refilled her glass and downed it quickly.

“You know, when I was little I always dreamed of being a star, a great idol. Fame and fortune! my name in every magazine!” She exclaimed, gesturing with her hooves fefore falling back to the couch “. But I never imagined…”

She stopped for a moment, looking at a mirror in a near wall. Seeing her exhausted reflection on it, knowing all the problems behind it. All the mistakes she had made in the way.

She didn’t want to know how disappointed her younger self would be at her now. ‘Present me is disappointed enough.’

“I never imagined how low I would fall.”

“Hey, as an expert on falls I can tell you that you are not so bad,” he quipped, made her chuckle a little. “When people dream, they forget the bad things. Reality has no problem reminding you how things truly are. Now, are you going to succumb to all that or rise and live your dream?”

She looked at his red eyes; his gaze challenged her to pick herself up and go forward. As he knew she could.

“Doing favors to help others achieve their dreams and consoling a poor, little pony; are you truly the Beast that everyone fears?” She joked, smiling a little.

Discord snorted in amusement. “People should know me first before judging me.”

They sit silently for a minute, sipping their light beverages before she talked again. “What should I do?”

Discord answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Get up, learn from your mistakes and make your dreams true,” he answered with conviction, before continuing with a mischievous tone. “And then find that ex of yours that said you would never be famous and show him oh how wrong he was.”

While she laughed, she hugged him gently.

“Thank you. For everything.”

Discord stiffened, before awkwardly patting her in the back. These things were not his forte.

Half an hour later, they exited the building, standing in front of the door. There were only a few people walking through the streets.

“You do owe a favor, though,” he said nonchalantly.

“I’m sure you’ll use it when you get a nice girlfriend that just happens to be one of my fans,” she assured him with a teasing smirk.

“I’m more of a free spirit, you know,” Discord answered with a snort and a smirk of his own.

She stood on her hind legs and spread her forelegs, looking at him with a pointed look. Discord rolled his eyes but crouched down and hugged her. These ponies and their excessive displays of affection…

A dragon landed in the middle of the street so fast it cracked the asphalt. They had barely started to shift their attention towards him when he acted.

A crystal flew through the air faster than a speeding train, directly towards them.

A few inches away from her coat, it glowed as the spell inside activated.

Discord didn’t have time to react.

It flashed and exploded with a loud boom, pushing them backwards and directly through the doors of the club. Breaking through the railing of the stairs located right at the entrance, they fell to the middle of the dance floor.

People screamed at the explosion and the limp bodies, leaving a wide berth while panicking, many rushing out through any available entrance.

After a few seconds, Discord got up, breathing heavily as his lungs once again filled with air. He looked at his side to see Sapphire, her blood pooling around her.

She was badly burned; Discord moved in four legs towards her, gently moving her mane to look at her face.

It wasn’t as burned as her chest, but he could clearly see her lifeless eyes. She was already gone. Too fast for him to try anything.

Through the corner of his eye he saw Sunset appear, galloping to stand at his side. She looked at him for a few seconds gazing down at her old coworker.

“Damn,” she muttered.

A pegasus flew through the sky at great speeds, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. She easily slow down and landed in front of the night club like it was nothing. This cyan pony with rainbow mane and tail wore a black coat designed to be as aerodynamically as possible.

The scene greeting her wasn’t a cheery one; but that was sadly expected in her profession. Police officers were everywhere, keeping people calm and out of the crime scene.

A light blue pegasus walked towards her, wearing the same coat.

“Rainbow,” he greeted his coworker.

“Soarin,” she greeted back with a nod before turning toward the door, where a couple of ponies was pulling the body out in a stretcher, covered in a blanket.

“What do we have here?”

“Famous singer Sapphire Shores. Witnesses report a dragon dropping out of the sky, throwing a crystal bomb at the victim and then disappearing in a flash; probably using a teleportation amulet,” Soarin answered.

“So we have another murder,” she said, following the body with her gaze as it was carried towards a vehicle.

Soarin nodded. “We still have to talk with the owner of the club. The witnesses say he was right beside the victim when the dragon attacked, and was even caught by the attack.”

Rainbow looked at him. “How badly hurt is he?”

“Surprisingly, it seems like he’s not hurt at all; he’s waiting inside. I was planning to go talk to him myself when you arrived."

Rainbow waved a hoof at him. “I’ll do it. You finish out here,” she said before marching inside. “Something I should know about him?”

“Yeah; he’s a draco… draconequis, I think it was.”

She stopped and looked back at him. “He’s a what?”

Soarin shrugged, giving up on getting the word right and gesturing towards the broken entrance. “Just go inside and see for yourself. He sure isn’t like anything I’ve seen before.”

He wasn’t kidding; Rainbow had seen her share of chimerical creatures on her job (some even say pegasi themselves were like that), but nothing like the person resting in the bar. None of his limbs matched; neither his horns nor even one end of his long body with the other.

‘He sure looks like those freak animals you would find in a circus.’ She then chastised herself for that thought; her father would lecture he to no end if she ever said something like that.

“Detective Rainbow Dash. Are you the owner of this place?” She introduced herself, stopping near him.

“Nice to meet you, officer. And yes, I am,” he answered, lifting his glass in greeting while changing his position to face her.

She noticed the burned suit he wore, little more than rags in the front; but apart from a slightly burned coat, he didn’t seem hurt. “I’m here to ask you some questions,” she said while getting her small notebook and pen. She flapped her wings, floating in place without problem; it was easier for her to write while hovering.

“Fire away.”

“First of all, aren’t you hurt?” She said, gesturing to his burnt fur.

Discord snorted. “This is nothing, believe me. It’s only a itch,” he answered, waving nonchalantly at her.

Seeing his attitude and noting how it didn’t even seem to bother him, she decided to take her word for it. Maybe it was like how a pegasus’ body was more resistant to electricity, and getting hit with lightning wasn’t as bad for them as it would be to other kinds.

“What’s your name?”

“Discord,” he said, wondering how she would react.

She stopped writing and looked at him, lifting an eyebrow. “Is it your artistic name?”

“Nope. It was given to me by my father. You may know him; your species kind of worship him,” he replied with total honesty. The eyebrow rose higher and she answered with a tone that left very clear that she didn’t believe him.

“Riiight. What was your relation with the victim?

“She used to work here years ago; she was actually one of my first employees. She sang by herself, and sometimes I joined her in the scenario. Fun times,” he reminisced. “She left to start her career, and visited once in a while… like tonight.”

“Any idea of why she was killed?”

“Why do you people kill each other?” He said, manifesting a list in his paw that unrolled itself and went rolling away. He checked a few ones. “So many things to choose; so many motives for it all. It amazes me as much as it disgusts me.”

Rainbow followed the rolling list before it turned around the bar. “Any reason in particular?”

“Got a few, but nothing concrete;” with a flick of his wrist, the list dissolved in shiny sparks that disappeared in an instant. “Jealous rival, angry ex; you know, the usual.”

“’The usual?’” She questioned.

“The reasons you mortals always kill each other.”

‘’You mortals’? So, what does that make you?’ “Did you manage to see the attacker?”

“Dragon; green scales with red underbelly; kind of clashing if you ask me. Orange, bloodshot eyes; dark cape that sorely needs a good washing machine and he stank.”

It took Rainbow a second to write it down, not expecting such a detailed and fast description; although that last bit made her stop. “He stank?”

“He definitely needed a shower. And that’s all I know,” he said, refilling his glass.

“Well, that will be all. Thanks for your cooperation,” Rainbow finished, turning around to leave.

“Detective.” The pegasus stopped and turned around. “It’s draconequus. Dragon Horse. Of course, I’m made of so much more, but then the name would be unbearably long.”

Rainbow blinked and absently nodded before walking out of the building, wondering if he had heard her and Soarin before, or if he simply was used to being asked that. ‘It’s probably the later. There’s no way he has such good hearing…’

“I’m surprised you didn’t try to seduce her,” Sunset commented, walking towards him while watching the pegasus leave.

“The thought crossed my mind, but there are more important things to do now.” He answered, getting up before brushing the burnt fur off him like it was dust.

“Like what?” she questioned, lifting a brow in confusion.

“First of all, to change out of this burned clothes.” He said, gesturing to his ruined attire, before walking towards the elevator to the upper floors where they lived.

“And second, to take a temporary leave from my vacation and make a visit to that dragon.”

Sunset smiled, licking her lips. ‘Oh, this is going to be exciting. I hope he lets me see what he’ll do to that lizard…’

Author's Note

Well, here it is the first chapter. I have exams in college, so the next parts may take a while.