It was a funny sensation; to feel the seconds ticking away slower than usual.

Especially considering the fact he is quite distasteful of that concept as it had tortured him for millennia, and yet, this time around he couldn’t be more amused than he currently was.

Never had the draconequus stirred chaos among mortals just by the simple fact of existing around them. The sheer tension of the clashing opinions couldn’t be more hilarious for him, and he had to actively hold himself back from just bursting into a fit of laughter all the way from the Saddle Arabian Desert to Ponyville. Silence reigned supreme on their way back, but of course that when someone actually spoke up, it was your royal majesty, Sunbutt the blaster.

-“Discord, I believe you know why we’re not heading directly to Leota, first-” – The Alicorn started only to be interrupted, as expected.

-“Oh, why don’t you let the boys sort it out for themselves? It would prove their ingenuity. That is if they had any.” – With the predictable sarcastic jab, the draconequus tilted his head playfully and shrugged as he crossed his arms.

-“… Because you set them up to this and freeing them would be a sign of your intentions to cooperate.” – Celestia pressed, feeling her patience dwindle drastically.

-“Hmmm, I see… But have you considered that, just the fact that you’re all not inside a giant hamster-ball and rolling your way back is already a show of good faith by me?” – Inspecting his talons in mild boredom, he provoked as a smirk grew on his lips.

Celestia’s features dimmed as she lightly tilted her head to the opposite side in exasperation. She knew that she had to keep herself above water and avoid drowning, but it was particularly hard to do so when you were up against a freaking cataract of stubbornness and annoyance. Nonetheless, she had to keep her nerves in check since these tiring games would probably grow much worse later on; be unyielding, assertive, and yet, tranquil and flexible.

A throaty growl could be faintly heard in the back of the group from where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were marching along the others, managing to break through her attempt to keep her cool. Discord’s gaze didn’t budge from the princess’ face as his Cheshire grim became toothy; his left ear twitched at the detection of the sounds of aggravation. Things were most likely bounded to go downhill.

-“A-Ahn, excuse me…” – Surprising all those present, Fluttershy softly called out to the draconequus.

-“Hm? What- Oh, there you are.” – He took a few seconds to localize that delicate butter-colored Pegasus right in front of his right leg. Had he moved before she caught his attention and he would have kicked her. – “Yes, Shutterfly, I take it?” – He questioned on purpose, having a very amicable tone of voice.

-“W-well… It’s Fluttershy, for starters.” – She took a second of hesitance to recompose her courage, shifting from a hoof to another. –“I was just wondering… Since you agreed to come with us peacefully out of your own volition…” – She started, sounding soft but at the same time inquiring.

-“That’s correct.” – His tail waved slowly from one side to another, missing from smacking Twilight in the face by a few centimeters.

-“And you also promised to stay in truce while this whole reformation is ongoing.” – She rolled her eyes and lowered her head before looking up at him, with all the calm in the world and a slightly adorable look to her face and gestures.

-“Indeed, but what are you getting at, butterscotch?” – Again, he missed her name on purpose; going for a name that would be more befitting for a male.

-“Well… I just don’t understand why you won’t free the guards. It’s not like they’re going to hurt you, right? It’s okay to be afraid, but you don’t need to be since you’re with Princess Celestia; A-and well, it would be a shame too, because then you would be falling out of your word, and you have been so cooperative up until now.”

It had literally been less than 40 minutes as they had gotten down from his temple in the quarantined lands and traversed east through the desert by hoof, not being particularly speedy about it either. Discord slowly blinked at her words; in one go, the Pegasus was trying to use reverse psychology to hit his ego, stir up his curiosity in order for him to behave, and also give mild compliments to try and stroke his pride.

-“Also, it’s Fluttershy. Although, Butterscotch is cute I guess.” – It was her turn to shrug at the chaos spirit, looking at him idly in wait of an answer.

Celestia seemed more surprised than anything, a smidge of confusion in her expression as she witnessed the shy Pegasus trying to handle his shenanigans. Mostly everypony else was a bit more in chagrin towards the scene, save for Pinkie Pie which was quiet but seemed fairly impressed with the fact that Fluttershy was not giving in to any pressure, and there was a lot of it hanging overhead.

Some good seconds went by with no response from the draconequus until he nodded comprehensively and his expression shifted from uninterested to a fake reassuring smile. – “My, my… I guess you are correct. Thanks for clarifying that, I had my doubts, really.”

He obviously didn’t have doubts or felt threatened in any potential, but if he pressed his lack of cooperation any further, a rainbow blast would be the next thing he would see for sure; not that he was too concerned about that, but this was an oddly endearing situation that he had reached and it would be a shame to let these amusing theatrics end so shortly. He would play nice for as long as required for everything to fall in place, especially since the Pegasus thought she had him figured out.

Snapping his fingers, everyone in the group could hear very loud noises of heavy quantities of glass suddenly shattering and falling to the ground, hundreds of meters ahead of them. Celestia held her breathe for a moment; he was just riling them up. No way that he let actual heavy broken glass shards fall upon the guards, right?

Predicting her thoughts, Discord answered while rolling his wrist, unworried. – "Gosh, do you actually hold the suspicion that I would harm your precious little squad? Far from me, Celly; I do like to paint towns red, but not in such a sense.”

The uneasiness among them went up so rapidly that the draconequus could almost cut the sheer tension in the air with a knife. The Alicorn held her nerve, marching forth with a surly tone to her voice. – “I know that… And thank you.” – Begrudgingly, she thanked the spirit with a mild pinch of sarcasm to her voice.

-"You're welcome! ~" – He responded in a much more gleeful tone, in contrast, obviously enjoying this much more than he should. Who could have thought that actively undermining your nemesis was so much more fun than overwhelming them?

Nonetheless, soon enough the guards all came running to the group, a few Pegasus troops having caught sight of them first, and alerting the others glass-covered guards to come to the encounter.

Now the real fun would start; at least for him, that was. For Celestia, it would be a pity, really.

-- Forest of Leota, 19:37 PM --

Perseverance and steadiness of mind were the keys to keep her plans running smoothly towards success.

Nevertheless, by this point, Celestia just wanted this long, long day to end, so she could bury herself in her soft mattress and regret all of her decisions while falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

It took more than a steady talking to, in order to convince her guards that they shouldn’t try to lynch, mob, or impale Discord to death. Not that they succeeded at their attempt anyways. The draconequus effortlessly held them far away from him with a snap of his talons, causing the Pegasi to grow plants whenever they fluttered their wings while sprouting a few flowers upon themselves from the dust clinging to their bodies alone; earth ponies’ hooves sparked with magical auras suddenly levitating themselves and each other in weird patterns by sheer lack of control; and lastly, unicorns horns would fruitlessly spark up only to create strong currents of wind, causing mayhem amidst them as the mini tornados would often knock fellow guards.

The chaos’ spirit looked at the mess of panicking ponies with deep satisfaction, claiming that he did nothing wrong by defending himself of being murdered; the worst part is that self-defense was a valid use of his magic, but obviously not to the point of abuse.

Even so, this was merely round one. The solar Alicorn readied herself for the struggle that was to come as she knew that her sister probably already brought in a heavy portion of the guards for back up, especially after what happened to Appleloosa. At the very least their stroll back through the forest was fairly more peaceful than before, as when Discord uncaringly strolled ahead, all things that had been previously almost lethally aggressive seemed much tamer and specifically affectionate to him.

Save for the sounds of the local fauna, flora, and the reports of the guards, which had been all turned back to normal after some minutes of convincing the lord of chaos; everything was coated by quietude. But despite that, it wasn’t a particularly comfortable one either.

Discord extended a paw upwards and as he did so, a purple venomous phoenix landed on his talon, still leaving trails of poisonous smoke in its path and blinking its third eye which secreted a black viscous liquid; he graciously pet it and whipped at the liquid with two fingers, giving a satisfied smile with the stickiness of it between his two digits.

Rarity flinched at the sight in disgust while Fluttershy, on the other hand, seemed to be in complete awe with the strange critter. The draconequus took notice of that and glanced down at the Pegasus, commenting for once without a trace of malice.

-“You like her? This is quite the healthy one; look at how much poison it leaks.”

-“Ah, she looks lovely, but what is the poison for?” – Fluttershy still felt her race and her gut twist with unwelcome warmth each time she spoke with him due to nervousness; however, something about talking of the critter made it easier for her to put in the effort as she was actually curious about the oddly alluring creature.

-“Why, it aids with catching its prey and defending itself. You see, when this phoenix preens, it rubs the poison all over its feathers. And as it takes off to fly, the poisonous substance evaporates leaving a trail of toxic smoke behind.” – He explained in a matter of fact, quite pleased to having someone to brag about his creations with even if that feeling was surely a fleeting one.

The Pegasus perked up immediately despite everypony’s wariness and disapproval of her display of amiability, as she hadn’t taken notice. – "That sounds incredible! I would like to have a chance to see her going about the day.” – A small trace of a truthful smile made its way to her lips. She didn't know where it came from, but her heart was less heavy than before if only slightly.

Alas, the feeling didn’t last more than a few seconds as Rainbow intervened by running towards the duo and pulling Fluttershy’s arm to put some distance between them; causing her to yelp for a second before she managed to snatch her composure back, looking at Rainbow without comprehending what happened.

-“Come on, Shy, stay away from him!” – She spat with a rather vicious tone, taking a few steps to stand between the mare and the draconequus.

Discord seemed unimpressed through and through. Surely he didn’t care about the accusation. One more to file right behind the hundreds of thousands he already had. Still, it felt rather unpleasant to have such a casual chat with someone be rudely interrupted. His expression held a deadpan, with one of his brows furrowed in displeasure. He shouldn’t care at all, yet this was one of the very rare moments he interacted with another without animosity in more than a thousand years. Even if that someone was a very good actress with only the purpose of softening him; still, his mind ran through several ways of punishing the Pegasus in a fraction of seconds. However, luckily for her, Fluttershy stepped up showing some signs of frustration alongside mild confusion.

-“B-but why? He didn’t do anything.” – She protested meekly, feeling her nerves getting worked up again.

-“Didn’t you hear?! That thing is coated in venom!” – Rainbow pressed bent on keeping her friend safe and maybe landing a good punch on him if she got the chance; he was just 2 meters away from them after all.

-“Poison.” – Discord corrected in a monotone, almost baffled by her ignorance.

-“Same difference, and whatever! Nopony asked you, Dipcord.” – Snarling at him, the cyan mare spat back at his remark.

-“Is that the best you can come up with? I have heard nyckelharpas that are more offensive than you.” – Raising a brow and tilting his head, the draconequus seemed disappointed as his tail’s tip waved sinuously.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix suddenly became distressed as the Pegasus caused agitation. Feeling how they were acting with animosity between each other, it cawed and flew away leaving a trail of smoke behind. Discord didn’t seem particularly bothered by inhaling or exhaling it, however.

-"Rainbows, ah know how ya feel, trust me… I really do, but no need to get name-y there. Though, if ah were you Fluttershy, ah would follow Dash’s advice.” – Applejack tried to keep her friend in check while glancing at Celestia for a split moment… The Alicorn was not turning back to look at them, just marching forth with a tense gait as her ears started to softly pin backward.

-“What? But I’m feeling perfectly fine!” – Even if that wasn’t entirely true, Fluttershy didn’t feel poisoned by being nearby the Phoenix. Perhaps said poison only kicked in with prolonged exposure.

-“And I shall remind you that I do not need to stoop to such levels to deal with pesky ponies, like you.” – Not missing the opportunity, the chaos spirit belittled the duo.

-“Or maybe that’s what ya want us to think… Vermin’.” – The last part was murmured under her breath, only a handful of ponies being able to catch it from AJ’s lips. She knew it made her a hypocrite, but having to deal with Discord stirred the worst within her and brought it outwards.

Rainbow glanced at the farm mare while squinting; so much for calling her out. However, she understood why AJ slipped… That devil just had a way to work himself under your skin so she would let this one slide.

-“Really? It’s interesting that you would say that. After all, if I wanted to dispose of you so crudely, then it would have been really unfortunate for your friend, the embodiment of laughter, to take such a hearty like to the chocolate rain. Especially on the account that with just one of you missing, your little crystal trinkets lose their effects.” – Closing his eyes for a moment, Discord chuckled as he took every step with a carefree attitude. He could hear the pink earth pony physically cringing as the attention had been redirected towards her, and not in a positive light.

-“… It just looked really yummy… It wasn’t bad, right?” – Pinkie felt a pang of guilt for all the off times she took to enjoy his chaos and didn’t stop herself instead; it had looked like so much fun.

-“Of course not, dearest; what do you take me for?” – Looking over his left shoulder, he smirked at Pinkie in both a playful way and vaguely charming, giving out an intended air of eeriness.

Pinkie visibly winced at the display and pulled an arm over her chest as Rarity moved in front of her with a deep frown and an extended arm to “shield” her friend. – “A ruffian!”

-“A vermin’.” – Applejack intervened, having thrown any limits out of the window by now.

-“A coward snake!” – Rainbow shout, snarling at him with her fists clenched.

-“A villain.” – Twilight said with deep apathy, referring to him as someone would refer to an obstacle to be destroyed.

-“I… Don’t know.” – Fluttershy gave a small unsure answer under her breath, looking to the forest’s debris in their trail as if they were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.

-“Enough!” – A booming voice cut through the air, shaking leaves out of the trees and sending vibrations through the group, making all the guards go stiff on the spot holding onto their respective weapons. As Celestia turned around to face them with disappointment seeded into her features and an uncharacteristic strictness, she pointed a finger at everyone from the element bearers to their current villain on probation. – “We agreed to a truce, and as much as I deeply understand how all of you feel towards this course of action, I still expect you to act like the grown mares that you are and no less.” – A look of hurt crossed the Alicorn’s gaze. It pained her to reprehend her pupils, but she needed to keep the sense of fake peace intact amidst them.

All present slowly cast their eyes downwards due to shame, despite the hanging feeling of unfairness at the back of their minds. Naturally, Discord never missed the opportunity to work everyone's nerves up as he whistled being fairly impressed and giving sarcastic claps towards the scolding. – "My, my, and that's dear mother goose putting her hatchlings in their place."

-“You’re hardly acting older than a brat yourself, and I would prefer that you cease to stir tumult among them.” – Celestia pointed out coldly due to how irritated she felt.

-“Second nature; and most of the times we don’t get what we want.” – Always with a sharp tongue, the draconequus promptly answered.

At that the Alicorn paid no mind, instead, pushing the brush aside as the moonlight started to shine down through the treetops mystically. Celestia had a familiar feeling that the moment had come; although this time she would almost gladly let her sister and her guards trample the draconequus if it wasn’t for the fact that he had to be shown kindness and acceptance in order for this whole reformation plan to remotely have a chance of working.

A mere chance. This wasn’t a shot in the dark; it was as if Celestia let a barrage of cannonballs in a deep, dark, abyss. Nonetheless, his voice broke through her thoughts for the moment.

-“… Just like I didn’t get an answer.” – He feigned sorrow over the lack of response, but his ears were perked up as he knew that the way the moonlight beamed down upon them couldn’t be all that natural. His smile grown even larger as he knew who would be intercepting them at any moment. – “Guess I’ll have to settle for the satisfaction of seeing dear ol’ Lulu.”

Suddenly, a dark moving mass came bursting through the treetops, ripping through the branches and foliage as it almost sounded like the trees were falling apart; dark owl-like wings fanned open as a sharp armored hoof descended right upon the draconequus’ chest, kicking the creature backwards and into the ground as he slid a few centimeters before the younger Alicorn landed with impact, shoving him to the stratus underneath and looking at the beast with her muzzled raised as a masterfully sharpened saber glistened under the moonlight, partially unsheathed as her hand rested upon the handle. – “Is this satisfying enough for you, Hellion? And do not call us demeaning intimate aliases; you shall address us by our respective name and title."

Despite being knocked clear out of air, the draconequus chuckled in sheer amusement as he bared his teeth in a snarling grin. – “Never change, Lunaria.”

-“That’s Princess Lunaria for you, fiend.” – Peeking at her sister Luna could feel that she just wanted this nightmare of events to end, so much so, that a small pang of guilt crossed her chest, but she had to support her sister. They had to be strong, together. – “There is much to do in the town of Appleloosa; our guards shall escort you and the bearers to your designated stays for the night. By morning you’ll be moved Ponyville, and all through this endeavor you’ll be under surveillance, so don’t try anything funny.” – Luna commanded with vigor to the chaos spirit, who was purposefully raising himself pitifully from the damp, dirty stratum.

-"I wouldn't dream of it." – With a snap of his tail, somehow, his clothes were as clean as if they had never been worn before, having also changed colors to a slight eye bleeding intensity of crimsons, purples, and black. Luna's muzzle scrunched up at the choice.

-“You better not.” – Was the last thing she said before she placed a hand upon her sister’s shoulder, ushering her ahead and out of the brush as the entire group followed.

It took them yet another while to reach over the highest of the Macintosh Hills. In the distance, ponies and guards alike were hard at work by repairing the damages and still getting rid of the train's carcass. The buffalos seemed to have somewhat joined further away, trying to help with the mess that became their running grounds since the whole field of apple trees had been tampered with. As the sisters were much further ahead than the rest of them, already marching to the town, Discord took his sweet time to stroll towards the place with his arms behind his back and a devious smile in his lips, never ceasing to look amused; everything to him was like a sick twisted game, which he got to be the master of.

Fluttershy and the rest of the girls lagged behind, being shielded by another few squads of guards. As they walked in almost complete silence, the Pegasus looked towards him with a certain ache in her heart, something smothering her from the inside as all the motions around her seemed to blur and become slower, her thoughts of doubt and failure growing so much larger all of the sudden as she held her hands together and squeezed them for some sort of comfort, trying to ground herself before her negative thoughts swept her away.

And as if by magic, Applejack placed both hands on each of her shoulders, muttering in a low voice to not call the attention of anyone else but those in their own group. – "Breath, Sugarcube… Ah also don't know how you'll even start to do this, but we're here each step of the way, alright?"

Clenching her eyes tightly, she squeezed them to the point where she could feel both tears of stress and relieve threatening to roll down. Blinking them away with an effort she turned towards Applejack nodding quickly in agreement a few times. – “I know… Thank you.”

As Twilight and the others watched this small scene unfurl their hearts ache a little. Even Applejack who was the most stubborn could see how much Fluttershy was struggling and how much effort she needed to put forth just to keep herself from coming undone; the pressure was insufferable, and she needed support. Glancing to the side, she closed her purple eyes and after opening them she spoke up finally deciding to work towards a solution rather than against any progress at all. – “Applejack is right… We will help in any ways we can. Opposing it to the bitter end won’t yield us anything, and in fact, it’s better to have him closer to us than further away if things end up going out of hand.”

Even if reforming him sounded like a plan set to failure from the start, at least they had a goal. Rainbow Dash sighed and grasped her element with contained fury… They would be there for Fluttershy indeed; especially when he proved that he was unredeemable and they could finally blast that cursed freak back to stone. He wouldn’t hurt anyone else, not in her watch. – “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Rarity and Pinkie quietly nodded along, agreeing despite their hesitance to see what results would come out of this mess. All of them could just hope for the best, even if each bearer had a specific idea of what that “best” may be.

-- Ponyville, 06:16 AM --

The following morning was filled with the same dread that dragged in through all the night’s length. Not surprisingly most of the mares slept very poorly, in especial Fluttershy who couldn’t catch a single blink of needed sleep until the sun came back around.

Speaking of which, as the Pegasus had remained sleepless the night prior while they took a spot in one of the local inns, she had opportunities to quietly glance at the others but mainly Twilight. The unicorn cautiously walked around the room as the others tried to sleep or just pretended to do so, all the while remaining silent. Perching herself on the seat near the parapet of one of the windows, Twilight watched all the commotion undergoing outside, which probably reflected her current state of mind.

None of them had had a chance to exchange a single word with the princesses once they retired in for the night. As for the last they saw of both Alicorns, for the time being, was when they had a brief encounter with Luna by their morning departure. She told them to go aboard a large flying, traveling chariot back to ponyville, while informing that Celestia had departed much sooner, around 4 AM alongside a portion of the royal guards in order to “prepare ahead of the events that were to come”, as Lunaria put it.

As the mares caught flight with the large chariot dragged by perytons, they caught airs that Discord was going to be escorted by the same means, however, being highly supervised by the princess of the night and her loyal guards as they would return to Canterlot around 8 AM and let him under the bearer’s care, only intervening if things went really awry; which they would go, very likely.

Even if Shy was never a fan of heights, this time not even riding through the skies could shake her deeply enough to rip her apart from the growing worries and anxieties. Since the beginning of their mission, her mind had been set on an intermittent state of overwhelming rumination, going through all and every outcome that was possible. At the best scenarios, she would manage to befriend him; on the worst case scenarios, he would just go back to being the same villain he was before, but now she would have disappointed not only her friends but also Princess Celestia, and on top of that, waste valuable time alongside the advantage they had on him due to his weakened state.

No pressure.

As the fiery star slowly rose as normal through the blue skies, her teal eyes softly traced over the line of the horizon; the nauseating feeling of her guts twisting was dying off as they start to descend. Ponyville lying right ahead of them in wait, but, despite that, this time the buttery coated Pegasus didn’t get that warm fuzzy feeling of familiarity from when she would see the town. Perhaps she was just too tired from all the stress endured.

For a change of pace this time around, nothing unpredictable happened. The past days had been so erratic and utterly chaotic that the fact they just had landed, thanked the guards for the transport, and saw them fly off again without any other event even prompting up felt completely outlandish; it was as if they were expecting trouble to just come in from every corner. Nevertheless, things remained as normal as they could be. Rarity broke through the silence this time being the first to speak up.

-“So… Now that we’re back home, and well, now that we know what the Princesses have in mind; I believe we still have a few minutes to refresh ourselves and get a breath of air before any of this-" – She rolled her eyes and frowned, then crossed her arms over her chest. – "Unpleasant endeavor continues. Princess Luna did comment that they would arrive around 8 o' clock after all."

-“That sounds like a good idea, Rares. Ah shame we can’t refresh our minds from all the crazy fertilizer that we had to see in that travel.” – Applejack stated while pinching the bridge of her muzzle and closing her eyes tiredly.

-“Crude selection of words, but I couldn’t agree more.” – The unicorn reprehended slightly as she cleaned her clothes with a hand and let her tail whip in annoyance.

-“I would like to brew a chamomile tea...” – Fluttershy mused to herself far too deep in thought and lack of concentration, merely joining the chat.

Rainbow Dash remained fairly quiet, however, showing clear frustration as she looked to the skies in longing. – “Guess I’ll take a stroll ‘til them.” – Turning her gaze towards the floor again, she barely caught a bundle of pink bouncing toward her.

-“Nu-huh! You’re getting your bandages switched and yourself rested. Don’t think I didn’t see you shifting about last night, miss!” – Pinkie threw an adorable accusing pout at her, leaning with an extended finger poking at her muzzle.

-“Uh… That would imply you didn’t sleep either.” – Raising a brow, Dash gave a small smile in return.

-“I can handle that, I’m not the fluffy Pegasus that takes 8 hours of sleep and another 6 hours of naps.” – Shrugging her shoulders, Pinkie grinned brightly, ruffling the cyan mare’s mane as she skipped forth.

-“Hey!” – The Pegasus shouts indignantly as she used her claws to try and comb her slightly messier mane from Pinkie’s ruffles.

This caused Fluttershy and Rarity to chuckle at the sight. Twilight and Applejack exchanged glances and smiled as well, their hearts a little lighter now.

-“Well then, everyone run along and do as we must to prepare. Around 8 we should meet back in the library since it’s best for us to keep close tabs on each other, never know what to expect from him.” – The purple unicorn warned the others with steadiness and calm. She was determined to make things work. Even if they failed Celestia’s main plans, they wouldn’t fail to protect Equestria.

-"Oh, I'll be prepared, alright." – Answering with both ardor and animosity, Rainbow cocked her head and crossed her arms defiantly.

-“Okie Dokie! I’ll bring the cupcakes.” – Taking it on a lighter note, Pinkie agreed as well, already turning around to bounce off towards Sugarcube corner.

-“Alright, with that settled, see ya gals soon.” – AJ started to trot away too, giving a small wave with her hand and adjusting her hat as she went on her way towards the acres.

-“Unfortunately, not for the best reasons.” – Rarity added by the end, already in chagrin due to why they would have to meet again so soon. This whole mess was far from over.

With not another word, each mare took their own path towards the places they knew as their home. Fluttershy could practically feel the stress in her body dissolving as her movements got so much more sluggish; of course, she was capable of making her way home, but every fiber in her body just desired for sweet rest and perhaps a soothing bath and warm tea.

Following the dirt path towards her cottage, the Pegasus crossed over the bridge without noticing a peculiar detail due to how worn out her mind was. The critters littered around her house, climbing, flying, or slithering all over the place, they were just gone. Birds could barely be heard in the distance. Dragging her smooth claws to the door’s locks as she approached with vagarious steps, she opened the cottage’s front doors with her eyes almost closed, not really caring if her hooves carried dirt and grass to the inside of her home as she walked inside. Brushing her own hair by letting the velvety pink locks slide through her fingers, she made her way towards the couch in the living room from muscle memory alone, rubbing her face with her eyes closed as the distance diminished between her and her goal. Turning around to sit down as she pulled her hands away from her fuzzy face, with a flutter of her wings the Pegasus basically threw herself towards the couch intending to fall limp on it.

And it would have happened if her fall wasn’t blocked by a large body which she practically collided into, sinking a few centimeters. Strange warmth came into Fluttershy’s body as she felt the temperature from another living being, her back pressed against a chest that slowly rose and fell down, only speeding up its motions as a devilish low chuckle echoed through her abode. With a coiling and fizzling stomach, the temperature suddenly rose into the Pegasus body as a big shot of adrenaline ran through her. An eerily familiar eagle talon wrapped around her torso, lifting Fluttershy and bringing her closer in a strong embrace while a heavy lion paw rubbed playfully against the top of her head and mane in circular motions. That deep sarcastic voice spoke up with a certain glee of amusement to it. – “I think I know where I’ll be crashing in while being reformed; with you, Fluttershy!”

A flash of hot blood went straight to the Pegasus’ head as she grasped tightly around his eagle talon with both her hands in mild desperation; smooth claws sinking superficially against the orange scales as she felt suddenly light headed and the world started to spin around her. Unable to gather enough strength to trash around, squirm, or even scream, she just murmured under her voice as her extremities started to shut down and go limp.

-“O-oh dear.”

And with that, her world sank into darkness.

-“… Well, that’s definitely a reaction.” – He mused over the unconscious mare, stroking her mane gently as he turned around and gently set her to the couch, appreciating how her now disheveled mane fell over her features with a small chuckle. –“Now, now… Let’s see what we got to work with here.” – Talking to no one in particular, the draconequus’ image rubbed its claw and paw together as it fizzled and glitches out of existence with a strong flash of white light, causing a thin veil of magic to expand at alarming speed in a dome shape; shaking the very foundations of the cottage and causing a strong breeze to blow all through ponyville, managing to scare the remaining animals who flew or scampered away, terrified.

Far away from the small town, over the rails that led to Appleloosa and came from Canterlot, flew an overly secure traveling chariot as it was being surrounded by n generous quantity of guards carrying within it a mischievous deceitful creature and a guard sentinel. Lunaria knew the risks that were being taken as she decided to stir the ride herself with the company of two guards that sat by her flanks. If he decided to do anything remotely “funny”, she would take matters in her own hands to straighten him, and if she failed, then she would have to apologize to her sister later for the damage.

So far not a single strange occurrence had taken place, which only helped to irk the lunar princess' senses further. He was too quiet. Certainly, he was scheming something; no way in Tartarus that he would be so cooperative.

And just like a self fulfilling prophecy, suddenly a sharp white flash of light went off through the chariot’s windows, several of the guards turning sharply as they closed upon the carriage, which shook a bit too violently despite any lack of turbulence in their way; in answer to this, the perytons pulling the reins screeched in protest, bucking the air for a few seconds before Lunaria pulled at the reins, diminishing their velocity as they lost some altitude.

-“Lead it!” – She practically dumped the reins upon the fellow soldier sitting by, quickly jumping from their driving seat and flaring her wings, letting the wind do a short job of moving her to the side of the chariot as her claws scrapped the polished the wood when the princess yanked at the handle, almost tearing the door loose by sheer force. – “Whatever you’re doing, this is the only time we will request you to stop politely.” – Announcing with an unwavering harsh and demanding tone, Luna partially pulled her saber before she could get an accurate glance of what happened. The sight caused the princess’ grasp around the handle to tighten as her ears pinned further back, her mane and tail whipping wildly in the strong winds all around.

Discord stood completely unfazed by her threats, calmly wiping at his face with a torn piece of the curtain’s clothe; once a beautiful white ivory white color now stained by the dark crimson of blood, which was smudged across his lips and under his eyes, creating trails akin to tears down his face as his smile grew much wider. –“Oh, I’m sorry. Should I have asked for handkerchief?” – Still not opening his eyes or turning his head, Discord’s smile opened in a calm grin.

The sentinel guard immediately reported, not waiting for a prompt from the princess as they had a sword held by one hand, using the other hand to rub at their semi-blinded eyes. –"Princess, I don't know exactly what happened as the fiend seemed to fall asleep, but once a few minutes transposed, blood started to dribble down his eyes and lips! When I tried to shake him awake a blinding flash of light came from his eyes opened."

-"For my credit, I wasn't going to do that, but the chance was too good to pass." – A short-lived menacing chuckle reverberated, being interrupted as a sharp saber poked the side of his throat. –"Oh my, this one feels sharp… Stepped up your personal collection, Lulu?"

Not being distracted by the inadequate use that particular nickname, Luna held a steady hand, not even the chariot’s vibrations forcing her to slice his throat open, despite her desire to do so. -“Tell us right now; what have you done?” – Using the hand she freed from the door’s handle, she signalized to the outer guards to scan the areas below, but never diverted her attention from the sentinel and the draconequus.

A moment of silence took place as he deeply inhaled, giggling mindlessly at this whole situation as his eyes slowly came open; remnants of unshed tears of pure blood now descending on his cheeks, staining his fur thoroughly as the intense white glow into his eyes started to fade away, revealing the common palette of golden and crimson, with even more crimson than usual. – “Oversensitivity to air travel?”

The saber got pushed a bit further against his skin, actually starting to poke through superficially as a small droplet of blood broke through. Raising his eyebrows, this time the draconequus pulled back, getting a few centimeters of distance between him and the sharp blade as he let his vision adjust, having large spots of light all speckled through his view. – “Still no sense of humor, I see; quite ironic for the former bearer of laughter.” – Closing his eyes once again, he lifted his paw to the small zone stung by the tip of the blade, massaging it with a paw pad.

A deep exhausted sigh came from the princess’ lips as she pulled the saber and put it back to its sheath. – “Do keep secrets as you may, beast; nevertheless, pull any other stunt to lay a trap or scare my guards and next time we won’t be as merciful. Understood?” – The question was mostly rhetorical as she inquired with a stern tone, pushing herself aside and letting another guard in, this time a bat pony sentinel to make company to the first one and soothe his nerves.

-“Clear as crystal, your majesty.” – His tone was obviously more mocking than anything as he saluted her for no reason in particular, opening one eye and grinning while using his free talon to wipe at his face with the same stained and torn piece of the curtain from before.

Her eyes only hang upon the menace that was that chimera for a few more seconds before she shoved the door close, locking it once again while letting go of the side of the chariot; flying forth and taking her place as the lead again right beside the other two guards. They reported immediately. – "Your Highness, all the surrounding perimeter seems to be clear, no lead as to any traps or alterations."

-“Then the lowlife only wanted to stir fear in the heart of our sentinel; Bastard.” – Whipping the reins a little harder to alert the creatures but not hurt them, the perytons pulled the flying chariot faster, ponyville lying far at the horizon alongside Canterlot’s mountains. Luna herself wasn’t thoroughly convinced that this stunt had only been done for kicks, but for the time being there was nothing else she could do in the lack of evidence.

Meanwhile, Discord glanced through the window as he placed a bloody talon upon it, letting his hand slide down causing a gruesome trail of blood on the glass. His grin became sinister as a sudden spark ignited all the blood stains and traces in a purple and white flame, not burning any material other than the blood itself. A throaty chuckle rang into the carriage as the guards eyed him warily. The game is afoot.

Author's Note

Perytons are carnivorous deer with wings in this verse, in which the ponies are anthros. They're used to pull the royal chariots since having a pony pulling the ropes and trying to fly would look very weird. XD

Writing this fanfic is a great experiment towards improvement, as I try to focus more on interactions. This particular chapter felt more like a transition, and the second part will have the bulk of the story. ;D

I hope you're enjoying, and if you have any doubts towards the plot, do voice them. Any critique towards the writing is welcome as long as it's constructive.