The Diabolic Shadow Spreads

The draconequis Discord stood at his door and stared with wide eyed shock at the figures just outside his home. He would be shocked if it was only Tirek at his door, seeking revenge for how Discord's friends beat him back during his last attempt at ruling Equestria. Despite Tirek's presence, however, it was the being that Tirek stood behind that truly gave Discord a jolt of shock. There, floating idly in front of him, was his progenitor, the being that gave him his powers over chaos and disharmony: Mephisto, Lord of Hatred. His hands were folded in front of his chest, giving an air of patience that would unsettle most, if it came from a pony. From something like Mephisto, it was almost horrifying.

Mephisto then asked again, slower and more menacing this time, "May we...come in?"

Discord, weighing his options, decided to allow the two in. If it was only one of them, he might have been able to at least hold them off until he escaped to Canterlot and the Elements. With both of these immensely powerful beings accosting him, however, left him with few options for escape that didn't result in one of them following close behind him.

Tirek, as he walked past, decided to do a bit of posturing. "Hello, 'old friend'. Consider yourself lucky that Lord Mephisto is here.", he said through gritted teeth. He then continued after cracking his neck with, "If he wasn't, you would certainly be dead by now."

Discord smirked and shot back by spitting out, "Yes, yes. But since your MASTER is here, you are going to be a good little pet. Oh! Perhaps he'll give you a TREAT if you behave. Would you like that boy? Hm?"

Just as Tirek raised his fist to drive it into Discord's head, Mephisto's eerie whisper seemed to fill the room. "Now, now...no reason to be so confrontational to an old friend.", he said in an ominous tone. They both turned to face him as he motioned for Tirek to return to him. When he did, he said to Discord, "So, my pupil...Tirek has regaled me with rather intriguing tales of your 'exploits' since your escape from banishment."

Discord, donning a more stoic expression, slowly nodded his head and said, "Anything in particular that caught your attention? Perhaps had you on the edge of your seat?"

Mephisto floated over to his creation and said as he tapped his long claws together, "Oh, they were all incredibly engaging, I assure you. The tale of your first rise to power, how you dethroned the princesses...how they returned and beat you back." He then began to circle him slowly, listing off more of his failures. "How you returned, only to be beaten again by six ordinary equines. How your hubris was your undoing TWICE with that defeat. Then, there was the crowning achievement: you turned traitor for nothing more than their...camaraderie?" When he let the foul word pass through his teeth, he stopped in front of him and placed one of his upper hands on Discord's shoulder, his lower set of hands gripped tightly behind him.

Discord tensed at the contact, looking his former master in the eyes with as calm of an expression as possible. He looked to Tirek, who was still wearing a deep sneer, before he said to Mephisto, "I imagine that this is about the time that you try to beat me within an inch of my life, punctuated by my swift disembowelment? I remember that being a FAVORITE of yours."

Mephisto kept that same tight grip, his skeletal face keeping the same menacing expression it always had. After a moment of tense silence, Mephisto gave a slight chuckle and said, "Oh, you think far to little of me. For you see, Tirek told me of how easily you betrayed your supposed 'friends'. You still have that desire for something more, that...drive to unleash your fullest potential." He then placed both hands on Discord's shoulders and said, "I can help you achieve that...if you help me with my work in this realm." He saw Discord adopt a pensive expression, likely running through his mind everything these ponies supposedly did for him versus what Mephisto had done. This went on for a minute or so, the tension humming throughout the room as though a swarm of bees was circling overhead.

Discord looked towards him and said with a serious tone, "Tirek promised me the same thing, and it didn't exactly work out well for either of us. How can I be sure that you will both succeed in your plan?"

Mephisto looked to Tirek and said menacingly, "Oh...worry not about him. He has learned his place. Haven't you Tirek?"

Tirek slowly nodded his head, eye slightly twitching as he did so. He then said, "Of course, my lord. It is only by your hand that I was able to escape my prison. I serve you, and only you, until such a time as Master Baal returns."

Discord slowly began to nod his head after he heard this, appearing to have grown to feel safe. He looked back to Mephisto and began to tap his talons and claws together as he said, "What would you have me do...master?"

Mephisto chuckled in approval and said with a pat on Discord's shoulder, "First, Qandar, I want you to use your connection to the Royals of this realm to figure out as many details about the court as you possibly can. It doesn't matter how you obtain it, be it official records or whatever you can take from conversation with the Princesses and those close to them, so long as it is a comprehensive list of details. After that, we will act upon the first lesson I ever taught you. To break the chain..." He walked to the door with Tirek following closed behind and finished with, "Find the weakest link...and give it some tension." With that, he took his leave of his Lord of Discord, carrying an air of confidence as he vanished into the ether...

Maximilian looked over the edge of the chariot as it was carried away from the shining city of Canterlot by two of the royal guards, and the sprawling mountains and meadows rolled underneath them. He was fascinated by how...pristine it all looked, untouched by war and corruption. It stretched on for what seemed to be forever, with what he believed to be the small town of Ponyville in the distance. The Princesses told him and Bozz about this quaint little town, filled mostly with artisans of fairly large variety. As he looked at the town from a distance, he felt a very familiar air about it, the same feeling he experienced after he helped cleanse the town of New Tristram back in Sanctuary of the necromancy of the Skeleton King. The town of Ponyville looked like the most peaceful hamlet in all of creation.

Before long, he and Bozz had the opportunity to see it all up close. The chariot quickly landed in front of a massive crystalline structure, a gold staircase leading to the doors. As the Nephalem stepped out, said doors were thrown open, revealing the mistress of the castle from behind them.

Twilight smiled at them and went to greet them. She was in something far different than her dress from the castle. Her new outfit gave her more of the appearance of a scholar or a librarian. She had on a long sleeve white dress shirt with a deep violet button-up vest. A knee length skirt clung to the sides of her legs, and she wore black tights with similarly colored heels.

She looked down at the both of them and shook each of their hands, having to lean down for Bozz. She then gave a deep breath and said, "I am incredibly honored that you accepted my offer to stay in Ponyville. I'm excited for the opportunity to share our knowledge and cultures with each other!"

Max gave a nod and said, "If I am to be honest, I'm looking forward to seeing this pupil of yours that Celestia told me of. If you saw fit to take her under your wing, proverbially speaking, she MUST show a great amount of magical prowess." He then looked past her and stroked his chin inquisitively as he said, "It would be quite interesting to measure her capabilities. Perhaps in her, I would find a colleague in researching the camaraderie augmentation."

Twilight covered her mouth as she snickered at the inquisitive wizard. "Well that is an...interesting term for it, I must say." She then motioned them both inside and closed the doors. She then walked up and looked around her entrance hall as she said, "As for learning about how friendship effects our magic, you're in luck! I'm just about to receive a status update on her progress so far." Twilight began to walk down one of the massive hallways, the two Nephalem close in tow.

Maximilian quickly caught up with her and asked, "Progress reports? May I ask on what? Is it perhaps on her magical capabilities, or perhaps her work on some experimental magic, or--?"

Twilight cut him off with a good-natured giggle and said, "Oh, no no no. Nothing like that. You see, in order to better understand the ideas behind friendship, we catalog what we learn about it through our various adventures and interactions, which we call our 'friendship lessons'"

Max gave a look of recognition and nodded his head. He then chuckled and said, "Ah, yes, I remember reading about more than a few of these tales in a copy of your compilation book. Very fascinating read, that. Especially your adventures." He then shook his head with a smirk and continued with, "A spell of allure placed on a child's DOLL, of all things! Marvelous thought, if misplaced."

Twilight blushed and bit her lower lip as she began to fidget with her hands. It was one of her more unsavory moments, to be certain. She looked down at the ground as she remembered that she had a LOT of those unsavory moments early on. The Smartypants incident, the time travel debacle...the release of the Pony of Shadows. All of these and more spoke volumes about her, and she didn't like what she heard.

Max looked at her face and immediately felt a small pang of....something. He was always un-apologetically frank with what he thought and felt, THAT would never change. However, more and more, Bozz had been trying to keep him in line with his words, on account of those words landing them in deep trouble on innumerable occasions. Outside of Bozz, he didn't really have any desire to filter his words, but...something was different here. He then said in a more serious tone of voice, "And, if it is alright for me to ask, what do you remember LEARNING from that?"

Twilight slowed down and thought about it for a moment. By Celestia, that was so long ago, it was rather fuzzy in her memory, outside of the fact that it happened. She tried to remember exactly how she wrote it all down in the book. "U-umm...if I remember correctly, it was that I didn't need to create some friendship problem for the sake of my own fear and paranoia.", she said timidly, slightly embarrassed that she couldn't remember it exactly.

Max nodded his head and said, "That was the general idea of what was written, yes." He held up his finger and continued with, "However, I took it in a different direction. I gathered that there is no need to CREATE a problem to solve, if there is none. If you cannot be idle, then fair enough, reflect on past successes and failures and learn from them, but do not try to create a new problem for the sake of the satisfaction of solving it, for it dilutes the value of the experience." Noticing Twilight's fascinated and bewildered expression, he smiled nostalgically and said, "A lesson I could have used in my youth. I was...arrogant and socially unaware then. Far worse than I am now, if you could believe it. Always proving myself, even when there was nothing more to prove."

Twilight gave a similar smile and said, "Yeah. I know that experience." She then stopped in a massive chamber, with six white thrones encircling what Max and Bozz would best describe as something akin to a war map. She then said to Max, "But THAT, I'm afraid, will be a story for another time.", and gestured to a set of doors on the opposite side of the room. She then said, "You'll find the guest rooms and library through there. Both of you share the first room on the left. My pupil is currently in the library, Max, so I'd recommend you and her introduce yourselves." Twilight smiled and said, "I can promise, if you two start talking now, you will be doing so well into dinner."

Bozz, happy that his friend was interacting more with these ponies, looked up at Twilight and said quietly, "If I may ask, Twilight, while Max is speaking to your pupil, what am I to do?"

The princess smiled and leaned down, saying to him, "Well...I do believe I have a promise I need to make good on." With that, she offered him a hand, which Bozz carefully took. As her horn began to glow, she said to Max, "We'll be back in a moment. You two play nice!" With that and a giggle, she and Bozz vanished, leaving Max in the middle of the room.

With a deep breath, Max quickly walked to the library, eager to meet this pupil of hers. As he opened the doors at the end of the hallway, he was greeted with an impressive sight. A massive circular chamber was filled from floor to ceiling with books of various sizes, from the contemporary to the borderline ancient. In the middle of the room, laid on her side on a fine sofa and with her arm propping her head up, was who Max assumed to be the pupil in question. She was a pink unicorn with a purple mane cascading in waves from her head, and the same color tail draped over her lower body, a powder blue streak running through the middle of both. The outfit that covered her fairly curvaceous figure was comprised of dark grey sweatpants and a t-shirt with a similar hue to her hair. She was levitating a book in front of her, titled History of the Practice of Illusion Magic, with a pensive expression on her face. It was very obvious she didn't see him enter.

Max looked around for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. He had assumed that Twilight told her that he was coming, but not much else aside from that. In order to not startle her from her reading, he gave a clear of his throat and waited for her response.

The mare responded with a nod of her head and a response of, "One moment. I need to finish this chapter for my magical studies." After a moment or two of silent reading, she closed the book with a deep breath and said, "Sorry about that. Now to introduce myself properly." She stood up, walked up to about two feet in front of him, cleared her throat, and held out her hand as she said in a chipper tone, "Hello! My name is Starlight Glimmer. I am a student of my friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and co-defender of Equestria."

Max slowly took her hand and shook it, still trying to gauge her from her magical aura. It was...smaller and weaker than he thought it would be, considering her position. "Maximilian, Master Wizard of Sanctuary.", he said in a wary tone. "I must say, you are...different than I expected you to be, given what I have heard."

Starlight nodded her head and said, "I'm assuming that you are referring to my aura." After a surprised nod from Max, she sighed and said, "Yeah. I tend to keep it suppressed for a few reasons...namely my attempt to destroy all of Equestria by way of time travel."

Max's eyes shot completely open and said, "I'm...sorry? You attempted to dismantle time itself?" Max then stroked his chin and thought for a moment. He was simultaneously worried about working with what seemed to be a known traitor to the nation...and also impressed with her magical talents.

She must have noticed his expression, because she immediately stammered out, "N-now don't worry, I put that part of my past behind me." She then held up both of her hands and said, "A bit of friendship to get my mind right, and I am a changed mare." After a moment of awkward silence, she said to herself, "Which I now realize is probably not making you feel any better..."

Max shook his head as he continued his pensive chin stroking. "No, no, it's quite all right. If you WERE to attempt some sort of surprise coup, it's unlikely you would have waited this long to carry it out.", he said in an analytical tone. He then continued with, "This is especially telling considering the lengths you went to. Changing history itself..." He looked at her for a moment before he let out a small chuckle and exaggerated bow of respect.

Starlight, comforted by his acceptance of her past, rolled her eyes with a smirk and said with palpable sarcasm, "Oh, you think THAT'S impressive, let me tell you about the time I forced equality by removing everyone's cutie marks!"

Max unintentionally let out a clear laugh before stopping himself and rubbing his temples. Starlight gave a confused expression, to which Max responded with, "Apologies. I am absolutely certain that this is a very culturally significant thing here in Equestria, but...by the Heavens, these names are ridiculous." Maximilian collected himself as he took a deep breath, and said in a respectful tone of voice, "Now, if I may ask, what exactly IS a 'cutie mark'?"

Starlight gave a nod and began to explain. "Well, a cutie mark is an image that appears on our flanks whenever we discover our talents, meaning something that we do exceedingly well from a young age." Without warning, she pulled down her sweats just enough to reveal the entirety of her rear. "This, for example, is mine. A glimmering star, meant to signify my talent with all schools of magic." She noticed Max looking at her with a raised eyebrow before she said, "Oh, c'mon, go ahead and look. It's fine."

With a shrug, he walked forward and leaned over, closely observing the mark closely. "Hmm...unique shape, vibrant color, detailed design. A remarkably eye-catching sight.", he said, appearing to be in analytical mode on its highest setting. He then looked up at her with a devilish grin, deciding to have a bit of fun with her to test her social borders. "Oh, and of course, the cutie mark is rather lovely as well.", he chuckled as he stepped back, half expecting to need to teleport out of the way of a magical blast.

To his surprise, she only rolled her eyes and chuckled as she pulled up her sweatpants and said, "Alright, you're attempt at crude humor aside, thanks for the compliment." She then sat back down on the sofa and opened up her book again. She then pat a spot on the couch next to her with a friendly smile on her face, a wordless invite to discuss any number of topics one could think of in the presence of a rare species.

Max, happy to have more individuals to discuss magic with, sat down next to her and gave a sigh of relaxation. "So, illusion magic, eh? Quite a fascinating school. It requires an expansive knowledge of the inner workings of the human mind and it's connection to the body.", he said as he recalled his own experience with the practice. His first attempts were quite...interesting to say the least. The elders had to be brought in to clean up after the rampage.

Starlight nodded her head and rubbed the back of her head as she said with a nervous chuckle, "Yeah, I know that first hand." She then sighed and said, "Attempt one of two in the 'Starlight Takes Equestria' quest."

Max looked at her and gave a small nod of acknowledgement before he said, "Well, Miss Glimmer, we have all allowed ourselves to fall to our more...dark impulses." He then smiled and continued with, "However, as with the time travel incident, I imagine it was an impressive feat." Noticing a tea set on a nearby table and helped himself to a cup, asking with fascination in his eyes, "May I ask you to regale me with tales of these feats?"

With a reassured look in her eye, she nodded her head and grabbed a cup for herself. They would be at this for some time, that was certain.