Discord moseyed along the halls of the castle, shaking his head as he tried desperately to clence his mind of worry for Celestia and of the state of Ponyville. He had heard many news of it. There were even first-hoof experiences told by refugees who escaped from Ponyville. Often in meetings, big icons and dictators of some parts of Equestria would have Ponyville and their neighbouring towns as a topic of discussion. Many knew of Twilight's rule and how it affected Ponyville. Many knew how she was getting ready to try and take control of other towns as well. Peace, what a joke.

Often he'd accompany Celestia for the meetings. It's humiliating to hear creatures call him a pet or a tamed bodyguard, but he didn't mind as long as he could reassure himself that Celestia was safe. And after living as....him, in the castle, like the good old days, he was given his own role as, well, the Lord of Chaos. In the name himself, he's considered a big icon, and therefore he's given permission to accompany Celestia to these meetings even without registering or being called out as a plus one. It made him a bit less embarrassed of following as his excuse can and always will be 'I wanted to go so that I'll be more updated of present affairs and I'm a Lord yatta yatta yatta...'.

Although, it did quite agitate him a little to the fact that this was the first ever meeting to have been told that it's private to the point of it being in PONYVILLE aaaand he wasn't allowed to come. That really was what agitated him the most, the fact that he couldn't follow her for the meeting. It wasn't the first private meeting he was ever left out in but this was something he couldn't just take as 'a meeting' as it was held in the present hell of Equestria, Ponyville. Usually even if it's held in a different city he was allowed to wait by the doors of whatever meeting room the Princess was assigned to and even then it didn't worry him as much as it did when she had told him the private meeting he couldn't attend was in Ponyville. And with how ponies in Ponyville perceive him as after the whole 'incident', he better not risk it or he'll be a skin rug for sure.

Refugees from Ponyville, they too had share rumours of how Discord was outcasted by Princess Twilight. During meetings he'd hear these things but fortunately, Celestia always had his back and would dismiss the rumours for him. It's rather ridiculous to have her dismiss it for him however as it made him look like a child whose mother had to reason with other parents due to its behaviour. And sometimes they'll believe her, sometimes no. It didn't really bother him much however as he knew what was true and what wasn't.

He shook his head. Stop. He told himself he wasn't going to think much about these kinds of situations while she was gone. For once he should stop being dependant on Celestia's assurance. For once.

.....he's scared. Still. The smoke they smelt from her room balcony, the dark stories shared by refugees, his own experiences- it didn't match well with what he tried to convince himself with. Ponyville is safe, he'd say. She'll be fine.

At the coming corners of the corridors however, he sworn he could've heard something. It sounded like the shuffling of cards. Guards. Ponies cosplaying in ridiculous metal outfits. Oh yes, guards existed. Maybe- maybe he could distract himself with them. Yes.

He reached the corner of the corridor and peeked his head to the other side. Three guards sat in front of the doors of the throne room, and his suspicions of the sounds were comfirmed as an earthpony was seen shuffling cards.

"Another round of Blackjack?" asked the pony who leaned his back against the wall. Roco. His mane was a soft purple and his coat was pure white. Beside him was a big pile of what appeared to be chocolate biscuits packaged in transparent plastic. With no additional assets to him, he's undeniably an earthpony.

"Guy, we played at least eight rounds already, I'm almost out of biscuits," another guard commented, his tone being able to show that he was already indeed quite bored with the game. Miles. The pile he had however was much smaller compared to the other two. His mane was yellow and his coat was a lighter but softer shade of it. He was visibly a pegasus.

"True that," said the last guard. Drew. His mane was brown, his coat soft and lighter coloured. A unicorn. His pile couldn't compare to Roco's, but he had more than Miles.

"I'll show you guys a magic trick, then," said Roco as he plopped the deck onto the floor, then spreaded the deck across the floor. The other two observed the cards on the floor infront of them. The deck wasn't spreaded evenly but was spreaded just enough for each card to stick out a little while facing down. "Miles, pick a card, any card."

Miles stared for a second before pointing at his chosen card. "Right," Roco took the card out, but made sure to not peek at it as he flipped it over for Miles to see. "This is your card, remember it." The four of hearts. He plopped the card back into the deck and shuffled the deck. "I'm shuffling the deck see? Would it be impressive if I manage to pull your card outta the deck again without lookin'? I shuffled the deck again so it's messed up, no goal of cheatin' and such." The other two nodded in unison. After a while of shuffling, he paused his hoof on the top of the deck. "This is your card, believe me?"

Drew frowned. "Of course, this is a magic trick, not a guessing game."

Roco rolled his eyes. "Right. Aaaand, voila!" he said as he flipped over the top card and stuck his chest out proudly. "This your card, kid?"

"Uhhh.......I don't remember...." said Miles sheepishly. Roco blinked.

"I told you to remember your card....." frowned Roco. Miles laughed sheepishly. Drew rolled his eyes as he levitated one of his biscuits and unwrapped it, snacking.

Discord stared at them from the corner, still contemplating on whether he should show himself or not. What if they're one of those ponies that hated him? Well, he doesn't mind. But imagine embarrassing himself trying to befriend a group of stallions but returned with nothing but weird glances and or shooed away. Imagine the gossips tomorrow where ponies would talk about how the Lord of Chaos tried to sink so low as to befriend a group of stallions. Celestia would most definitely not drop the story for forever. He sighed as he looked down. Best not risk it, he thought as he attempted to walk away.

"Oi! Don't just eavesdrop on us and just walk away!" He froze as he heard that shout.

Drew and Miles turned to the corner where Roco stared to and saw the tail of the Lord peeking. "Hey, it's the Lord," said Miles to Drew as Drew rolled his eyes.

Discord's ears flattened in confusion as he peeked is head from the corner and looked back to them. "What did you just call me?"

"Princess Celestia advised us to address you as you were addressed when you first lived in the castle a thousand years ago. Lord, liege, basically treat you as a royals like the good ole' days, as she put it. Have.....you never noticed what we were told to call you as?" asked Roco.

Discord thought for awhile. He.....yeah. He never really noticed it. That and he's always been by Celestia's or Luna's side at all times. It's rare to see him ask for anything from castle staff as well so there's that. He rarely socialised with staff anyway. He looked to Roco and shook his head.

Roco observed his body language carefully. Mainly his eyes. He stood up and squinting, he spoke. "We don't intend to harm or speak ill of you. As I said before, the Princess advised us to treat you as one of them." The two other guards got up and nodded into Discord's direction, agreeing with Roco. Not only were they advised on what to address the Lord as, they were told a brief summary of his situation to give them a small insight on what to do if anything were to occur, For example, he wasn't stable in mind, which Roco could tell. He coughed, "Join us, won't you? We're playing cards."

"I don't wanna play cards....." whined Miles.

Roco rolled his eyes. "Fine, then we're just conversing. Like to join?" And Roco knew what he said was right as he could tell a glimmer of acceptance shone from the Lord's eyes as he heard that. Roco smiled as he sat back down and gestured the Lord to approach them. The other two sat in unison.

Discord indeed had that glimmer of acceptance shine in him, as he felt lighter to hear that. They weren't.....they weren't the sisters. And that sounded great to him. "......thank you."

Author's Note

Roco, [pronounced Rock-ko].