- Appleloosa, 13:26 PM--

The crash site of the train still had a thin layer of dust floating around as the full throttle of the ponies nearby shook the land; all the citizens of the small town united and in a hurry as they did everything conceivable to help those who were injured and those who were scared.

But first and foremost they rescued the Princess and the element bearers from the derailed fallen train. As the machine lost its momentum after barreling through the city and knocking through a few houses that ultimately crashed down, the ponies didn’t leave a second to spare as they climbed up on the train and forced the metal plates to bend out of the way, as they tore at the wooden walls and opened doors that had become stuck while avoiding debris and shattered glass and removing all the conscious and unconscious passengers. Most of the royal guard squad and the element bearers were conscious, perhaps a bit dizzy.

However, Princess Celestia wasn’t.

Time seemed to tick away slower as the citizens aided the mane six and the guards to find a place for the sun bearer to rest. The magical shield that Celestia had used at the last second successfully saved everyone within the train, but it, unfortunately, knocked her unconscious due to the high demand of energy it had upon her already exhausted body. Joining in this mission with the mane six had as its main goal give them support, advice, and act like a diplomat. Even at full strength, she would have a very poor chance of defeating the draconequus at a magical face-off.

The faint sound of overlapping voices and the clopping of hoovesteps in quite a hurry dully rang within Celestia’s ears as the royal slowly slipped back into reality, blinking the moments away and letting her senses adjusting to all manners of sights, sounds and even smells. Dirt and dust was an abundant scent in the air as the shape of a purple pony faded into view.

-“Princess Celestia! Princess! Are you okay?!” – Twilight’s worried expression made the Alicorn wake up faster from her stupor.

As she shifted in bed dizzily, Celestia slowly sat up feeling her body’s senses starting to kick into gear again. Immediately Twilight supported the mare as her movements faltered. It took only some seconds until the pain of the bruises and her horn shot through her, making Celestia grasp upon the sheets under her and clench her eyes tightly. – “I believe I am, thank you for caring, my dear-” – Gritting her teeth as she sucked some air through them and opening both eyes weakly, she extended her wings gently giving a few flaps while letting the surroundings set into her mind. All of the element bearers were present, Twilight being the closest to her as she had a knee supported on the very edge of her bed, not snapping her gaze away for a second. The sheriff was also with the group, alongside some other stallions and two mares that looked at the royal with pure worry in their features. By the look of the room and the softness of the bed under her, Celestia deduced that they had brought her to the city's new inn… Through the window, you could see the agitation occurring outside as ponies worked on checking the citizen’s states, aiding the wounded and praying to find no dead.

Celestia’s eyes went wide, her ears pinning back as she tried to force her body to stand rapidly, ultimately tumbling forward and being held by Twilight; but before the purple unicorn could protest or warn the princess, she inquired the sheriff. – “Are there any victims?!”

-“Luckily not, your majesty.” – Silver Star answered humbly, putting his hat to his chest. – “We were already out and about when we saw the rails suddenly actin’ crazy and the trees raisin’ flight. Ah’m afraid two houses got destroyed, but thanks to the stars we only have some injuries here and there. We Appleloosan folks are a force to be reckon’ with.” – He offered his brightest smile at the princess, bowing lightly in gratitude for her worry.

-“Indeed, you are. Thank you so much Silver Star, I’m glad everypony is alright despite the shock, it sets my heart at ease.” – Looking at the mattress for a moment, the Alicorn gave a warm smile at the stallion. -“Resources and help will be sent by the crown as soon as possible.”

Bowing and tipping his hat, the sheriff smiled as he held a sniff back. – “Golly, your generosity knows no bounds, your highness. We will be ever grateful to yer help with our beloved town!”

However, the tapping of claws against wood broke through the sweet moment. Rainbow Dash was sitting by the closest window’s parapet, watching the town bursting with movement and huffing to herself in chagrin and silence. A quiet tension was exchanged through the group before Twilight grabbed hold of Celestia’s hand with care and looked at the sheriff with an apologetic but warm gaze. – “I’m sorry to ask that, but I think we need to talk with the princess in private for a moment. Discuss how we will tackle this whole… Situation, about Discord.”

-“W-why, of course! That nasty vermin should be dealt with first and foremost. I’ll let you ladies to yer privacy, need anythin’, we’re downstairs!” – Turning to leave hurriedly, Silver Star smiled and took the other stallions and mares with him.

As the mares were left alone, Rainbow Dash didn’t wait to speak up. – “… When Twilight said that you wanted to reform him at the train, I thought it was absurd… And my opinion didn’t change, if anything it’s stronger. No offense, your Majesty, but do you think someone who did THAT, can be reformed?” – Turning to face Celestia the Pegasus put a hand to the dusty window.

Outside, the ponies worked hard with repairing the damage to the town and dismantling and turning the fallen train’s carts. No one else spoke up for now, but Celestia could see that the doubt rooted in their hearts was strong. She had no choice; closing her eyes for a moment and pushing herself to stand up as Twilight aided her spontaneously, Celestia made her way to the cushioned parapet and sat right beside the cyan Pegasus, who couldn’t help but feel her heart skip a beat as the Alicorn got closer.

-“I’m aware of the many risks that this gamble represents… I have lived through them several times. But we have no choice… Fighting his violence with even more violence will only guarantee a dark future for us and everypony that is to come. It’s hard to understand and I know it sounds like madness, but we have to try our best to befriend him.”

-“Or we could try our best to destroy him…” - Rainbow Dash retorted bitterly.

Shaking her head, Celestia cupped her cheek with a hand. – “Take the element’s message to heart, my little pony; they always stop or constrain those who are lost in power… They never destroyed them.”

-“But he could destroy us. What if we fail?! Fluttershy can’t be thrown to that thing! She is going to get hurt or… Worse.” – Looking at the princess, the Pegasus extended an arm with an outstretched hand, point at the shy mare.

The yellow Pegasus flinched and looked down as her friend’s lack of faith in her shown, even if it came from a place of care it still hurt a bit.

-"We will tread carefully; I assure you I'm not sacrificing anypony for his sake. If he is deemed irreparable, we will do as we must." – looking over to the side of the bed, she lit her horn and levitated her bag closer to them. – "I'm not that trusting in his capacity to willingly ally himself with us." – Tracing her claws over the relic, her gaze deviated to the train’s crash site outside.

-"If… If Princess Celestia thinks he can have a change of heart, I'll do my best to show him kindness." – Fluttershy surprisingly rose up to the conversation, although nervous. – "I'll stay out of harm's way, I promise… But I'll have to at least try.” – Her eyes shone with determination, despite how scared she truly felt.

-“We will be there for you, Sugarcube.” – Applejack placed a hand on her shoulder, showing support to soothe her nerves.

-“Most certainly. That ruffian won’t lay a finger upon you without passing through us first.” – Stomping a hoof, Rarity crossed her arms and whipped her head, causing her mane to graciously wave.

-“It’s a risky tactic, but we have to try.” – Twilight sounded like she was trying to convince herself instead of everypony else, her gaze directed to the floorboards.

-“Maaaaaaaaaaybe he is not as mean as he looks like? It could work. I mean why would a true, true meanie litter the land with delicious snacks and chocolate? Sure everypony was in trouble but really some of the changes didn’t look all that bad.” – Pinkie Pie offered in hopes to lighten up the tense atmosphere in the room.

-"Doesn't change the fact that he just wants to strip the world as we know it of its sense and make everything crazy and weird.” – Applejack retorted with disdain as she rose an eyebrow at the fellow earth pony.

-“Yeah. On top of that, he didn’t think twice before tearing at my wing.” – snarling at the memory Alone, Rainbow felt anger building up within her.

-“Did you think carefully before charging at him?” – With a calm and unbiased tone, Celestia asked in her earnest.

Swallowing dry as her gaze fell down and darted from one side to another, she pinned her ears and admitted with a defeated sigh. – “No… I didn’t. I just didn’t want him to escape.”

-“And he didn’t want to be captured. For Discord to retaliate, you all must have gotten him cornered… He is not a foe that uses of such devices to fight his enemies. I’m by no means excusing his actions, but with the power he holds, it’s more dangerous for us to be violent than peaceful. I hope you understand that.” – Celestia spoke in a calming manner; nonetheless, the way she was schooling the Pegasus.

-“I do but..! It’s unfair that we have to just forgive him for everything! Hnng-” – a growl caught in her throat as her healthy wing shot open and her bandaged wing strongly twitched, yanking at her wound and spreading agony through her.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, she calmed the Pegasus.-“During the decades we fought him, I let my heart be misled by emotion and my sister let her judgment be misled by harsh thoughts. Our actions yielded our subjects much more suffering than they could ever bear just for the intent of punishing him for his crimes. We succeeded, for sometime… But the rift left from our foolishness is far too painful to be repeated. He will have to answer for his fouls and I'll make sure the damage left in his wake will be fixed, but I cannot allow Equestria to be sent through an age of terror again just because it feels unfair. It is, and I know it… But as everything stands now, it’s crucial that we must try to avoid the worst.”

A strange and grim quietude filled the room as everypony stood in mild shock at the sheer vagueness and darkness within Celestia’s explanation. If they were seeing the best side of Discord’s chaos yet, then they didn’t wish to see the worst.

Clenching her fists with boiling temper and holding back unshed tears, Rainbow Dash sighed in exasperation as her cerise eyes met the Alicorn’s. –“Alright… You have my loyalty, Princess Celestia. This still sounds like a crazy plan, but I’ll follow you. If nothing else works, can we blast him? Please?” – She pledged, clearly favorable to the latter scenario.

A pause was taken as the Alicorn looked down to the jewel in the shape of a red lightning hanging from her neck. – "If it comes down to it, we will."

Having her hands together with intertwined fingers, Fluttershy’s wings fidgeted from the sheer tension alone. Applejack squeezed her shoulder soothingly, causing the Pegasus to glance upwards before the farm mare stepped forth and past her. – “Well… If we’re sure of what we should do, and everypony’s feelin’ well enough to do it, then Ah think it’s high time we take a move on, right girls?” – Most of the mares were quick to give their agreeing nods and sounds, Rainbow Dash being the last one to do it, begrudgingly so. –“Yer majesty?” – Applejack looked at Celestia, who also gave a single nod.

-“It’s time for us to go. We shall gather with the guards again, and see if everyone is in condition to take leave.”

-“How will we even find him?” – Rainbow Dash inquired as she stood up from the parapet’s cushion.

-“The rails were obviously rigged to throw us off, but that’s also a clear path left behind. As we know, his location is more likely the quarantined Saddle Arabian peaks, so we must follow his trail of chaos to make sure we’re not being misled.”

-“… Can’t he confuse us with his magical trail?” – Fluttershy worriedly asked.

Shaking her head, Celestia had taken to her hooves as well and pulled her bag to rest on her shoulder. – “He cannot mask his path, it’s far too strong for even him to deviate. Wherever he is, the chaos alone will be able to show us.”

-“I hope we survive it.” – Dash muttered under her breath, just to get a light slap on the backside of her head from Applejack.

Luckily as no one else had heard her grim remark, the mares arranged their bags again and took some time to drink water left by the inn’s staff before they finally went downstairs, being led by Celestia. After that, little to no conversation between the pony’s group was made as they followed the solar princess while she took care of speaking with the resident citizens, getting pointers towards the location of her guards and useful things like an updated map of the surrounding lands and information about how to traverse them.

Twilight could feel the sheer stress that settled among them as the group went outside. The smell of dust was still strong as the dry winds carried the veil of dirt left by the crash and it refused to fall down; and as they marched towards that disaster, the Alicorn went ahead and meet with the head of the guards’ squad.

As Celestia commanded the scattered guards through the small town to re-group at one of the edge’s of the small town, the ponies went there first taking a little distance from the Alicorn as she talked with Spearhead, probably explaining the course of action to be taken.

Past the houses and establishments, following the intact section of the railroad that continued all through the town, Twilight was for once alone with her friends… She felt that the distrust towards the princess’ plan was intense especially within Rainbow Dash and Applejack, despite the hopes for the best coming from the others. This moment by their lonesome at the edge of the town was the time. She had to convince everyone that this was going to work, boost their morale.

The elements depended on them being in harmony, so if there was too much animosity between them, nor plan A neither plan B would work at all. – “Girls.” – Twilight called out, managing to catch their attention, despite the fact that Applejack had found some bruised apples that fell to the ground and an empty basket from where they rolled off.

-“Yeah, Twilight?” – Rainbow inquired, feeling a speech coming from miles away about how they had to put their faith in princess Celestia because she knew best. The cyan mare was starting to doubt her blind loyalty and adoration for the Royals, even if she felt guilty about it.

-“I know we’re all a bit thorn apart about Princess Celestia’s new plan…” – Twilight started tactfully.

-“A bit?” – Applejack retorted examining the basket, it seemed to belong to Braeburn as she found caramel fur stuck in it. Frowning, she glanced at Twilight by the corner of her eye.

-“But we need to-” – The unicorn tried to continue, only to be rudely cut off.

-“Yeah, yeah, trust her and try to reform him. We got it, even if it sounds impossible and like we’re gonna backstabbed.” – Spitting that with a bit of arrogance, Rainbow continued to be headstrong.

-“Or like he is gonna put us to figh’ against each other again. ” – Applejack finally dropped the basket where she found it, clearing her hands and watching a tiny veil of dust rise.

-“Girls! We need to keep our cool. What I mean is, Princess Celestia always does the best for all of Equestria, and this is what she is trying to do right now. I know we disagree with the idea, but if we stand against each other, the elements won’t work as well. If we think reforming him won’t work, then we need to make sure we’re on the same page about the elements instead.” – Gently touching her crown with the tip of her fingers, Twilight looked at the others assertively as she stood her ground.

An expression of surprise spread across the mare’s faces, especially Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s; they couldn’t believe that the purple unicorn was also in doubt about the strategy that the princess had picked… But that also helped disperse the the feeling that they were somehow betraying Celestia.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie had more concerned expressions as they felt that a mission to reform Discord could potentially fail, even if they were unsure. Meanwhile, Fluttershy took advantage of her long rosy mane to hide her expression of displeasure with the lack of faith the rest of the group had in the power of kindness. She herself knew it would be hard, but when she recalled the expression on the Princess’ eyes and how badly she believed this could work, she couldn’t possibly think so lowly of her plan even if it sounded almost impossible.

He had to have a heart. Celestia wouldn’t set them to fail on purpose, would she?

-“Fluttershy?” – Twilight’s voice cut through her thoughts as her touch came upon the mare’s shoulder.

Flinching from the sudden surprise, her teal eyes snapped to Twilight’s. – “Y-yes?”

-“Do you agree that as soon as he acts up, we should use the elements?” – Twilight anxiously expected her answer of agreement. The princess seemed to have finished her talk with Spearhead and the rest of the squad and was incoming.

Fluttershy’s breathing picked up; she had to choose between the most logical option and the most pacific one, while steadily running out of time. The knot inside her throat grew rapidly as her eyes scanned her friend’s face, searching anywhere for support. One by one, she could see Rarity was in doubt, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were determined and agreed with Twilight; Pinkie’s eyes connected to hers as she spared a glance to check if she wasn’t being observed… And Pinkie shook her head in disagreement.

Closing her eyes and sighing heavily, Fluttershy stepped forth and stared at Twilight with renewed bravado. – "No, Twilight; the elements will be a last! The last resource, if we ever need to use them. I can see where you're coming from, but everyone deserves a chance."

With that statement, Pinkie closed her eyes, feeling her chest warmer but a bit heavy too.

Rarity stood in silence with wide eyes, as the other three mares were left with their mouths agape.

-"… But Fluttershy-" – Twilight tried to speak up, but before she could try to sway her to their side, the butter-colored mare bypassed her and joined Princess Celestia and Spearhead, who were already coming their way.

-“Did I lose something interesting?” – Princess Celestia was speaking in her earnest, being calm and warm towards the group.

-"Not really, Twilight was just trying to calm our nerves." – Fluttershy explained in a matter of fact, having her normal tone back and looking at the princess' eyes with gentleness.

-“…Yeah! After all, we gotta be ready to face him. So let's go already!" – Pinkie bounced forth, landing right beside Fluttershy, both deviating attention and masking the tension between them all.

-“I’m glad to see you’re not scared, my little ponies. We shall depart at once; reinforcements have been called by two of the guards that came with us. They’ll be at ready in case they’re requested… But I have my faith in all of you.” – Celestia reassured all as she and the guards started marching. Spearhead cordially nodded in agreement, listening to the Princess’ encouragement.

The mane six was quiet for quite a few seconds despite following along.

-“We won’t let you down, Princess.” – Twilight managed to muster an answer, even if her head swirled with doubts. With a heavy heart, they marched forth towards the Macintosh hills, headed to the Saddle Arabian Peaks but having to cross the Forest of Leota first.

Twilight deeply hoped that they wouldn’t have to let her down, or the entirety of their country for that matter.

-- Forest of Leota, 15:02 PM –

Pushing through the confusing twists and turns from the dense rainforest of Leota, all through the path the leading group had found considerable changes to both fauna and flora, a clear path of chaos magic left in the wake of the devilish spirit alongside some minor clues that could be easily looked over if they had not paid attention.

Blue feathers, blood stains, and spills, purple crystals with a magical charge littered through the path. On the most obvious side of those clues you had the corrupted plants starting to act aggressively; their vines sensitive to close movement and trying to snatch any large passenger who dared go through their spot. For the time being, they had not made any unfortunate victims and when they snapped at the group the armed guards were fast enough to cut the spiked vines before they could cause any harm, dispersing the toxic pollen that was spread in the air with the Pegasus guards’ wing flaps.

Despite the drastic changes made to the flora, there was an underlying beauty beneath the danger they offered. Fluttershy’s eyes drifted around with wariness and hidden wonder. The more time she had to think about the draconequus and the way he acted, the further she set her mind to the task of turning him into an ally… Perhaps a friend if she managed to get past his defenses.

And she would get past them.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie quietly followed the group while monitoring everyone’s moods with rapid looks. Celestia was literally a mare in a mission, or well, all of them were. However, Rarity and Twilight seemed lost in thoughts and their own worries. Applejack and Rainbow Dash took place on the flanks of the group as extra guards, watching out for any possible trouble, but not really bringing conversation into their stroll; speaking up only when they saw something suspicious, but most of the movement around them happened to be of strange unknown creatures after the violent flora had been dealt with, and therefore a false alarm which everypony eventually grew numb to.

At least for now, everything was going as they expected. Resistance to their advances had been placed, but it was easily dispersible. Discord wanted them to reach him as Celestia had pointed out. The draconequus had no interest on the death of those who stood up to him, had told her that the train crash was merely a warning; he knew she could save everybody and now he was expecting everypony to move to their designed locations on his mental board so he could strike everyone out of the game at once. Unfortunately for him, the solar princess had another vision of how this particular game of theirs would unravel.

Nonetheless, a curious sight stood above the group as they made their way towards their destination. Perched upon a dark spiky tree’s branch, a venomous purple phoenix tilted its head at the passengers, blinking the middle eye on its forehead before turning around and flying away leaving only a trail of poisonous smoke behind it.

-- Saddle Arabian Desert, 17:20 PM --

As the sun started to make its way down the horizon and they walked through the barren desert, the temperature started to fall and cool drastically only to add to their already difficult journey. Despite some of the pony's abilities to fly or teleport, they had to keep the group together for the sake of safety, taking several hours to cross the Macintosh hills and the corrupted Leota forest. Following through the dunes, an intense source of light started to come into their field of view as the Saddle Peaks popped up at the horizon's line. The trail of chaos magic was much less vivid once they left the forest, indicating that the chaos spirit had no interest in putting up any other setbacks and was probably healing from his previous injuries.

Marching across the desert, they had their goal in sight, so almost no one really noticed the low rumble of the sand, the way it shifted behind the army as the ponies advanced their path. The way it swirled around and changed, starting to make bases for large structures. Rainbow Dash's ear twitched, despite her eyes being focused on the fading strange coloration that the sky took near the peaks.

The second time her ear twitched though, she did not ignore it. As she turned around in a second, she caught a glimpse of Applejack doing the same as the large mare could feel the very earth shifting under her hooves, due to her natural magic.

-“Careful, everypony! There’s something shifty ‘bout this place!” – Applejack exclaimed while assuming a defensive instance.

All the Pegasus that could spring to air did so, the guards positioning themselves around the princess and the elements of harmony serving as living shields to anything incoming. Unfortunately, the offense was coming from below. Suddenly a wall of sand lifted itself around Celestia and four of the elements, sealing them within a dome in complete darkness for a few seconds. Rarity and Fluttershy were the first ones to scream, Pinkie joining them out of sheer excitement, which wasn't really appropriate.

-“Don’t fret! We won’t be harmed.” – Reassuring everyone as best as she could, Celestia raised her hands and let her horn flare with light and warmth despite the sheer discomfort of using it, providing light but not doing anything else as the dome only trapped them.

Outside, the sounds of the soldiers trying to break through the dome diminished one by one, the clashing of metal weapons against something that sounded remarkably glassy could be heard duly through the dome’s walls but that also quieted down fairly quickly, raising the nerves of everypony as a mortifying silence spread.

-“… They’re not-” – Twilight started assuming the worst, but Celestia intervened.

-“No. They’re still alive.” – She could feel the magical auras of those around her, despite the heavy interference of chaos magic impairing most of her extra sensorial capacities.

Two heavy punches against the dome’s walls startled the mares, making Celestia and Twilight flinch and causing a high pitched yelp to come from both Fluttershy and Rarity.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, seemed rather excited about it. – "It's Rainbows and AJ! They're gonna break us out." – Although the idea seemed farfetched as the other soldiers were unable to free them, immediately the dome started losing it’s density as the two mares relentlessly punched, dug and kicked it.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. – “Of course they will.” – She nodded in agreement and in a supporting way. Those who Discord desired to see could break through the dome; he had just taken care of the guards. The princess' gut twisted around in sheer anxiousness as the sandy walls of the dome that trapped them were coming undone.

When Rainbow’s claws and Applejack’s hooves broke through one of the walls, the entirety of the trap collapsed, missing the ponies only because Twilight made a shield to protect them from the falling sand.

-“Are you alright?!” – Rainbow Dash looked at the group in sheer worry, Pinkie was the first to tackle her.

-“Super! I mean, sure we could be better but for the moment we’re okay.”

-"That's a relief to hear." – Applejack sighed and grabbed the tip of her hat while closing her eyes, being surprised when the hand of the Alicorn rested on her shoulder.

-"Are you alright as well?" – Celestia asked while her eyes darted from one mare to the other. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded hurriedly, lifting her worries as she gave a short-lived smile. – "I'm glad…" – But one sight made her body shiver, as the sun reflected upon them with renewed strength even if it was about to set.

A strange glassy structure had lifted from the sand, enclosing the royal guard squad as a whole, filled with sharp spike formations on its ceiling, and having extremely thick walls even if it was crystalline. Celestia ran for it, putting her hands on the side of the structure as her horn lit up with a fizzling magical aura.

However, it didn’t matter what she tried to do, the structure seemed to nullify teleportation spells and it was simply too heavy to lift and too strong to destroy quickly… Fortunately, she noticed little holes on the walls, wide enough to allow air to flow in. – “Are you all okay?!”

-"Yes, your highness! We are sorry to disappoint you! We will try to escape right away." – Spearhead boldly declared, slamming a fist against the thick glass wall with a pained expression. – "Stay right there! We will work our way out."

-“No! I know why he trapped you… He wants us to come alone.” – This game he was playing, for now, Celestia had to move exactly to where he wanted her to be.

-"DON'T GO YOUR HIGHNESS! IT'S CLEARLY A TRAP!” – Spearhead shout in distress while putting his hands against the wall as if he could break it from the sheer pressure of his strength alone.

-“He won’t allow us to come with you… But I reassure you we are going to be alright. Have faith in us, my dear guards. You may try to escape, but do not irk Discord. I do not seek to bring any casualties, so promise me to take care of everypony.” – Focused on making sure they would be alright, as the princess gazed at him with determination, she commanded the stallion.

-“Princess Celestia…” – His immediate loyalty faltered as all of his instincts screamed for him to disobey and do what was possible to protect her and her pupils.

-“We have to go. Promise me.” – Celestia pressed on.

-“I promise.” –Closing his eyes with a heavy heart, ultimately the guard did not betray his Princess’ orders.

Giving a single nod as she closed her eyes, Celestia let her hand slip downwards over the glass wall as she turned around, walking towards the element bearers and with one goal in mind: meet him. – “Let’s keep going.” – She voiced in a demanding way this time, preparing herself for what was to come.

As the mares had listened to the exchange between her and Spearhead, they gave the glassy prison a last worried look, hoping that the guards would be okay, especially as they would attempt to escape. Following the solar princess, as they stepped closer and closer to the quarantined lands where Discord resided, the feeling of being watched grew more and more intense.

-- Quarantined Zone, ??? --

If someone ever told Applejack that she would feel nauseated from walking into a plot of land, she would have scoffed at them, but as they entered the distorted and corrupted place, that possibility started to become a reality.

While the land below was a calamity of colors, patterns and break of physics happening everywhere and all the time, the sky above didn’t fall far behind as it was taken with the most strange colors and gradients conceivable, changing it’s palettes at times from fluffy and comfortable colors to colors that almost announced the end of the world if they had been plastered in the sky by natural means.

Everything felt out of place and unnatural as if this whole piece of the earth had become an unregistered error that just refused to crumble out of existence. Pieces of land randomly floated around and the scenario was completely broken. If you looked at some holes, there was an unending darkness littered with stars, and some rivers had lava that behaved like water, flowing much faster than the viscous dangerous liquid ever could, which just turned it much more lethal. Trees all had impossible shapes and strength, deforming in various ways and bearing strange over-colored fruits; of course, when the tree wasn’t literally creating fish from its branches, which proceeded to dive in the lava lake once they were “ripe” enough.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack clenched their eyes and shook their heads, refusing to look at the rest of this madness in order to spare their sanity for the real action. Celestia walked ahead of the group, unfazed by the nonsense and the utter feeling of nausea that it proportioned. She worried about the girls, but they would have to resist the way their body answered to the chaos. – “He is up there.” – Gazing towards the Sky, Celestia wished she could appreciate what she saw.

-“Up where- Wow.” – Twilight couldn’t help but exclaiming once her eyes followed the direction. A floating temple made apparently mostly out of glass, which was stained at some parts, floated in the sky. It was easy to miss due to the ever-changing colors of the backdrop, completely swallowing the semi-transparent structure… At second glance, Twilight could see other materials and long bridges between supposedly other floating structures and pieces of land, but that hardly mattered right now. – “How are we going to get up there?”

-“The stairs.” – The princess calmly pointed out with a hand. Indeed some dozens of meters ahead there were a set of steps loosely linked by a chain, clouds, vines, and all sorts of inappropriate aids, the steps formed a large spiraling set of stairs that went more than 60 meters upwards.

Fluttershy was resisting as best as she could but that sight made her stomach twist upon itself as she closed her eyes strongly. One of her worst fears was fear of height, and although all Pegasus would consider 60 meters a normal height, her limit normally bordered 22 meters overall due to her phobia. Her whole body shuddered at the thoughts as she had to force herself forward… Princess Celestia counted on her; no, Equestria did.

That thought definitely didn’t help mellow her nerves as her heart started to pound rapidly in her chest, forcing the Pegasus to open her lips and desperately take more air in.

-"It's going to be okay, we're here my dear." – That familiar motherly tone filled her ears once again as a hand grabbed upon hers, immediately the building tension in her nerves faltered as she gasped and opened her eyes swiftly. Celestia gave her a gentle smile and tilted her head while turning to walk slowly as she still held the butter-colored Pegasus' hand. – "We can take some time if you need to think or calm down; I know being here is overwhelming enough and our journey since we left Canterlot has not been easy to take upon."

Fluttershy let a deep sigh escape her lips and breathed in, repeating the cycle until she could raise her muzzle in the air and look upwards. Climbing stairs were not like flying, despite the fact these were very transparent and forged to terrorize you with the possibility of falling at any second. Even so, she had to be strong. Raising a hand to clear away the buildup of tears at the corner of her eyes, she sniffled and walked forward, pulling a bit at Princess Celestia as she still held her hand. – "N-no, it’s okay…Let’s meet him.” – Turning to look at everypony, all of them nodded in agreement even if the interest in certain results for this meeting was quite segregated among them.

-“Be prepared my little ponies.” – Celestia warned the group one last time before they started to ascend.

Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack quietly checked their elements of Harmony… They would be prepared.

Rarity was unsure but she did not voice a single complaint as she remained deep in thought, inclined to stray towards the logical solution for all of this, she traced a well-polished claw over her own element.

Pinkie Pie felt her hackles standing up a bit, knowing something really intense was about to happen, but choosing to remain with Fluttershy and Princess Celestia; maybe he could be their friend if given a chance..?

One way or another, they were about to find out.

As the group marched upwards and finally reached the top of the glassy spiraling stairs, the moment they set hoof on the major platform sustaining the multilayered sky temple, the steps cracked up and completely collapsed, falling towards the floor with all the things that once sustained them in a rain of broken glass, vines, water and other nonsensical materials. Fluttershy felt herself straining to swallow dry… There was no turning back from this point onwards. Turning once again to face the mayhem that was laid before their eyes, the ponies marched onwards being capable of seeing Discord’s throne perched far, far above in a floating piece of landmass, that as also turned upside down. Despite locating the throne, the draconequus was not sitting in it.

Celestia squinted and let her gaze trace the surroundings… There were cascades, vortexes, lava, actual grassy ground, a crystal and smooth surface that alternated colors and patterns very often, everything was mostly a pain to look at, really, and if you stared for too long you would deeply wish you haven't.

However, they didn’t search for long as a particular movement caught Pinkie Pie’s eye and she immediately voiced the alarm. – “There!” – Pointing towards what should be the frame of a very big door that led to a solid light bridge, the party mare had seen a crimson dragon tail flickering its white tuft of fur, and there he was, sitting on top of the semi-transparent bridge with his legs dangling off the edge.

Tapping his claws on the solid light surface, he caused it to flicker and send waves of distortion through the surface of the bridge. -“Oh, what took you so long?” – Discord mused in his deep voice with sarcasm as his gaze fell upon the group and he wore a sly smirk; they were by themselves as expected.

Stepping forth from the grassy ground and upon the crystalline path, Princess Celestia took a while to analyze the spirit of chaos. His clothes were still tattered from the battle and he made sure to be as far away from them as possible, looming from above out of reach and perched in an area of difficult access; despite that, he was still being sarcastic.

He was bluffing.

-“Cut the foolery, Discord. You know why we’re here, and we demand you cooperate.” – The Alicorn wanted to convince him, surely, but it didn’t mean she was going to be a pushover about it.

-“Demand? Please, Celestia, you’re hardly into a place where you can “Demand” anything from me.” – Making flying quotes with his claws and talons, he then put his hands together with intertwined fingers as he mocked the princess’ predictable intent. – “I demand you surrender Discord! Now come down here so we can blast you back to stone.” – Clearing his throat after using an excruciatingly high pitched voice, he rolled his eyes and tilted his head at her. – "I'm afraid that's not going to happen."

For the moment the mane six stood in their places as Celestia let a sigh escape her lips and walked forward. – “I’m not here to forcefully imprison you if not strictly necessary. I’m here to negotiate, Discord.”

That word caught the draconequus' attention as one of his ears perked up; his mocking expression morphed into both interest and suspicion, but ultimately he leaned forward, almost enough to fall off the bridge's edge. – "And, pray tell, why would I be interested in negotiating with you? I don’t think you have anything of value to offer in exchange of a truce.”

-“Because I know you’re lying. We may be in your lands now, and this is enough to mask the fact that you’re weakened, but as the truth remains, you cannot pull a stunt towards the elements of harmony as you did before. I’m afraid that not being imprisoned in stone is the best you can hope for, as we’re not leaving this place without your alliance or surrender.”

-“Alliance?” – The sheer incredulity in his voice made it clear how absurd this proposition sounded, even to him. With both ears perked, he crossed both his legs and arms, inquiring Celestia to continue. – “This ought to be hilarious.”

-“Discord... For centuries we have been engaging in the same battles, doesn’t matter how much you distorted everything and tore everyone’s lives apart, you never changed your ways.” – Walking towards the bridge with intent, Celestia calmly strolled through the changing terrains and their chaos. Her wings fluttered slightly in preparation to take off.

Glaring at the display, the chaos spirit held himself from reflexively wincing as she kept getting closer. He knew what she would get at, but it could be too good to be true. She was stalling for time. -“Reverse psychology will do you wonders in convincing me, really… Not.” – This time he stuck his tongue between his teeth, pretending to gag as he looked away.

Unfazed, the Alicorn took off to the nearest floating island, approaching him. Discord kept his nerves in check and did not falter, but it was taking more focus than he would admit just to stand still. As the princess landed, she could feel the hint of hesitation and apprehension in his body language even if he hid it… He was stressed. – “You have achieved nothing. You made pony kind suffer for decades but even your games have turned stale. If you seek to bring change then I could give you your space to change and let others appreciate those changes alongside you, but as we are right now, the more you struggle and spread chaos, the more we fight you. So I bring you an ultimatum…”

Jumping and flapping her wings one more time the rainbow-maned Alicorn landed on the light bridge which promptly fizzled its light structure for a moment. The mane six all felt their nerves flare as they stepped forth; Fluttershy partially unfolded her wings, despite being afraid… She wouldn’t fail.

Discord turned his head towards her and took his time to slowly stand to his hooves, towering over the princess even if she was still 3 meters away from him. The draconequus stood silent and skeptical as Celestia continued. – "I ask you to come with us out of your own free will and live in Equestria. You will not be allowed to cause indiscriminate chaos or harm the lives of others, however, we will cease to pursue and battle you in return. You can be a friend to Equestria and a powerful ally with freedom, or instead of can remain a lonesome tyrant whose changes, in the end, will just bring misery and crumble away to time as evil and hollow; your choice."

Even if time wasn't really a constant in the chaos-consumed lands, the quiet seconds that ticked away among them felt like an eternity before the draconequus reacted; Celestia wasn't surprised when he burst into an uproar of laughter; if anything she was perplexed that his voice emitted actually joyful throaty wheezes in the place of his common devilish cackle. Patiently she waited for him to stop doubling over and pressing a paw to his abdomen.

The element bearers weren’t as understanding and their patience was running shorter. Twilight looked at the others as they checked their elements… Fluttershy’s ears were perked as she felt the courage building up within.

-“You expect me to believe that you’ll just give me a pass for everything I have done if I wave the white flag and promise I’ll behave? That’s just too good. I was wrong about you Tia… You do have a sense of humor.” – Stretching his wings, Discord slowly strolled towards her in an awfully good mood. His smile was cheeky and his steps were vagarious.

The other mares grew wary immediately; the solar princess gave a step back in answer to his approach. – “You’ll be kept under vigilance and we won’t give a pass to any raucous interventions caused by you without explicit consent. I’m offering you forgiveness and a chance to try to be someone new, to start over. I hope you don’t force my hand… I know you don’t want to be imprisoned again.”

Suddenly things took a surly turn as Discord charged forward and grabbed her by the arm, yanking the princess to the side with agility and speed. Celestia’s horn lit up with explosive energy but no further aggression happened; she just felt her body being tilted over the edge of the bridge as Discord had spun her around and threatened to let her fall, using his free talon he snapped and in the blink of an eye her wings were restrained by metal chains wrapping around her body and her horn’s magical aura was painfully extinguished by a metal ring.

-“Give me one good reason to trust your word, Celestia.” – The 5 mares below were frantic, swiftly grouping up to attempt to fire the elements of harmony… Except that they looked around in panic, clearly missing a member of the group.

As Celestia hung 20 meters above the shifting ground that was quickly collapsing into a hole, and a deadly quantity of meters from the real ground that became visible as the temple's floor gave away under that spot of the bridge, she looked at those cold and distant crimson eyes, who used to hold so much warmth, wonder, and creativity. Now they had only contempt, mistrust and animosity… But she needed to reach out to him.

Clenching her eyes for a moment, she heard a flutter of wings hushing towards them. As her eyes opened again, she spoke with honesty and showing no signal of fear for her life. – “I won’t let my subjects… My children; be caught in another war. Be it by your hand or another, I won’t allow it.”

His expression softened if only for a moment, a brief glance of emotion going through his features before he spared a look at the group; the strong build-up of magic and light was barely being held together as they looked all around, panicking as they pleaded for Fluttershy to join them. Raising a brow, his golden and crimson eyes snapped back at the princess, his grasp loosening around her arm. – "War may be the strongest representation of mortal chaos, but I have no interest in waging one. If it happens, you probably brought it upon yourselves… You claim I remain unchanged but are you ponies any better?"

She felt herself slipping further, her muscles tensing up as his claws started to dig into her skin to keep her from falling. Both knew that if she put enough strength into bursting the metal ring around her horn, it would break; however, would she have enough time to snap out of the shock before becoming bloody splatter hundreds of meters below? Even with such questions in mind, she remained quiet, letting her supposed time drain away as the draconequus got impatient.

Broken glass that had rained down just some moments prior waited for her at the bottom. Swallowing dry, she closed her eyes preparing herself for the worst as the pressure against her arm diminished and her body started plunging, gravity doing its job.

-“NO!” – A familiar voice suddenly shouts in both anger and foolish courage, a svelte yellow Pegasus hurled herself past the duo, shoving princess Celestia back upon the bridge, causing her to roll and slide through the slick surface.

As Fluttershy fell to the floor while gasping for air; the Alicorn swiftly sat upon her hinds legs before pushing herself up and looking at the draconequus squarely in the eye. – “Yes. We are better now… It may have taken some time and there is a lot we need to learn, but we are better.” – With effort, her horn lit up and her magic started charging against the magical inhibitor, quickly heating up her horn as her forehead felt warmer.

Discord flinched at the sudden display as he had lost his composure for a while. Massaging his wrist with his talons, he rolled his paw around as his gaze finally fell upon the meddling pony. With an eyebrow raised the draconequus tilted his head with curiosity as the mare got up on shaky hooves and scurried towards Celestia using her wings to shift her momentum and flutter around the mare, searching for a way to free her wings from the chains.

Seconds slipped by just like sand would slip through his hands if he were holding some. The draconequus swallowed dry as he watched the Pegasus’ futile struggle to free the princess. From all the ponies that she brought, that mare was the only one to come to Celestia’s aid instead of taking the chance to attack when his guard was at its lowest.

Could Celestia’s words be true? Had the ponies truly changed, despite their damned past?

No. That mare probably didn’t even know her own species’ dirty secrets and bloody history.

Chuckling with delight, Discord felt curiosity overcoming his senses… If this was the type of game Celestia wanted to play, then so be it. He liked the change of airs offered. He would feed her hopes and crush her beloved country and her people from within. That would be much more amusing to watch than simply destroy their houses and force them to fight.

His ears twitched as they caught the sound of the rest of the group trying to use other unstable chunks of land and the door frame to climb up to the long and narrow bridge. Putting both his paw and talon together, Discord stepped forth and spoke up. – "Very well, Princess… We have a truce, I'll see if you truly hold your word, and in exchange, I'll abstain from unleashing utter and complete mayhem upon your dear diminutive equines… But this is not a surrender, this is probation." – Raising a talon, he leaned forward speaking just a few centimeters away from her face, before pulling back and snapping his fingers.

The horn ring and the chains were gone with a white spark, leaving Fluttershy disorientated for a moment before she looked up at the draconequus… Somehow, even if her heart was racing in her ribcage, she felt that he was less intimidating now than when they first met.

As Discord extended a paw to seal the truce with the Alicorn, Fluttershy jumped at the opportunity, bypassing the princess and holding his paw softly in agreement, even shaking it with both her hands. Holding back all of her nerves and mustering as much courage as she could, she spoke up.

-"I-I… I hope we can be good friends." – Her nervousness was obvious but obfuscated by her courage. With that said, she slowly let go of the heavy, fluffy paw, she had held.

Princess Celestia put a supporting hand upon her back, alleviating her nerves.

Hanging from a floating island and trying to trace a route to jump upon the bridge, the mane six all stared at the scene dumbfounded and slack-jawed. Some more terrorized at the scene they witnessed than others.

Stillness lingered in the air for a few good seconds as the draconequus stared at her with wide eyes. Did that mare truly believe in Celestia’s play wholeheartedly? Was she just a good actress? It would be fun to find out which was true. And when he had her heart under his claws, he would make sure to expose its torn pieces for all of her friends to see.

As the moment of surprise faded away, the spirit of chaos smiled in return and proceeded to patronize the mare as he lightly pinched her cheek and cooed. – “Sure thing my dearest little horsey acquaintance; so let’s get going now? Shall we?”

Author's Note

Wow, this chapter was rather the experiment for my writing style. It had been months since I didn't write like that and it felt quite fun.

self satisfaction aside.

Fluttershy gets Celestia as both are elements of kindness, even if she is a former one. I avoided going too deeply into the landscape descriptions of Discord's quarantined lands because that alone could take pages.

I hope you enjoy where I'm taking the story! If you have anything you want to voice, drop a comment.