Celestia stood in the midst of the ashes, unconcerned with the remains that clung to her coat, many of her ponies at first having worried on the verge of hysteria when they saw her amidst the wreckage without moving an inch for hours.

It wasn't until she explicitly ordered them to leave her alone, that she finally had her moment of peace, luckily her sister understood her situation and didn't hesitate to take command of her for now.

Anyone seeing her now would assume she was in a catatonic state, without realizing how wrong they were.

The princess went over and over the events of the day in her head, from the news of Discord's release to her arrival in this exact room.

His nephew's body lying on the ground with an expression of suffocation and suffering as he was consumed by the flames, in a moment of carelessness his protective spell destabilized and failed, if it weren't for his sister's timely arrival it would certainly have ended with him. Much more than a few burns

Miró, her library, her precious collection, used as a shrine and monument to magical knowledge and the great minds who practiced this art, ancient knowledge that she had personally made sure to protect.

And now they were all dust or stolen

If it had been a normal fire, it would have been relatively simple to use a spell to return the books to her former condition, but that green fire... imbued with magical power

A cursed power

As it was, she couldn't even recover the remains of her nephew's body, only dust remained.

Tracking the spell's point of displacement was also not possible in some way that even she is unaware of, the ponies that tried it just got seemingly random locations between Canterlot all the way to ponyville, with a few exceptions.

Despite that, it was not what happened to her nephew that puzzled her the most at this moment, although if the loss affected her, she was more surprised by the emotions she was experiencing, feelings she had not felt in generations, emotions she believed. Completely suppressed, they had suddenly returned with tremendous force

Hate, pure hate, accompanied by a thirst for revenge, from the back of his head he could feel the whisper of a malevolent voice with nefarious intentions driven by nothing more than his selfishness and personal desires, but despite that he was too weak to accept it. Understand his message so he could easily ignore it

She wasn't like that, yet justice was a worthy goal

"Guards" she called

"Yes princess" A couple of guards responded in unison.

"Call Captain Shining Armor, we have things to talk about"

"Go ahead!"

Upon receiving my signal, I jumped and managed to intercept the ball just a few centimeters before it hit the ground and send it back over the net to the opposite side.

All in exchange for a dirt bath and a few scratches, some would think I'm exaggerating, but if you're not going to give it your all in the game, why do you play in the first place?

"Here it goes!" Discord with the grace of a ballet dancer, even in the tutu, she jumped over her side of the fence and hit the ball with her racket, returning it to the danger zone

Lucky that this game was a two against two

Hawthorn as competitive as he is usually I don't accept that he seemed like he was trying less than me, so he jumped right in front of the ball as soon as it went over the fence

The result, crooked snout, cut lip, and a fucking headache.

However, his effort was rewarded, Discord was not prepared for such a quick response and such disregard for personal well-being.

"Aspens!" Discord yelled in panic at the statue-like deer, I was about to celebrate our victory when Aspen, still in a state of apparent petrification, was lifted off the ground and used as some kind of ridiculously large and somehow functional racket.

"NOOOO!" I couldn't help but protest as another point was scored against us, my frustration lasting until I saw the ball bounce off the ground and somehow retain its initial momentum, only to slam back into Hawthorn's face. "YEAH!"

We lost, but for some reason it didn't feel so bad.

"Haha, victory for the chaos team" The serpentine beast celebrated and danced dragging poor Aspen despite looking like a puppet whose strings were cut

Hawthorn still did not seem fully recovered, he fell to the sides as he walked and seemed like he was going to fall at any moment "B- best of 5" This was our second game, and he could barely stay on his feet, continuing would be nothing less how suicidal for him

"I agree, let's continue!" I obviously offered my support, after all, that's what friends are for.

Discord looked animated, he was about to drive the last nail in the coffin when…

"Don't even think about it" It had to be, Queen Fyr, Aspen's wife "They said the same thing more than six hours ago, that's enough"

She was talking to all of us, but I could tell how her focus was on me, when looking at her there is nothing that stands out too much, of course she was more beautiful than average, but other than that there is not much that differentiates her from a deer common

But her character, oh my!

Since I set foot... hoof, hell, since I arrived everyone treats me in two ways either with absolute respect or with fear

Hawthorn was the exception, but he was justified, he was an idiot, Fyr, on the other hand, although he seemed to respect me at first sight, I'd bet she badmouths me and curses me when I'm not looking.

"Very good, I understand" My words were followed by boos from Discord, but he still hadn't figured out what happened when Fyr got angry, and he didn't want to do it today "Aspen they came looking for you"

Ignoring Fyr's apparent death glare, we all looked at the deer king who seemed oblivious to his surroundings, Discord teleported in front of him and snapped his fingers a few times.

"Hello, hello, yuju, is anyone home?" He shook his head like a bartender does to mix liquor and released him only to have him collapse again. "I think he broke."

"No, do you think? Why will it be? I said sarcastically

Ever since I brought Discord, the day had been a bit…wacky for the sleepy forest village.

I still remember Aspen's face when he saw that he brought what was the equivalent of an omnipotent god, even in my home world, just to play... yes play

There was some panic, fear and so many other emotions, but it all ended in acceptance, especially when they realized that Discord could send us all to another plane of existence with a simple snap.

"Very well... I think it's my turn" Hawthorn arrived still somewhat unbalanced, since those were not the first blows that knocked him out today, but it didn't take me long to put his brother on his back and take him along with Fyr who kept giving me a death stare

"FIU, that lady is scary" I couldn't help but agree with Discord this time "Do you want me to make her disappear?" I ask in a playful tone.

"No!... Aspen would kill me"

"I can make him forget" I affirm nonchalantly

I was going to deny it again, but I stopped to think "You tempt me, you tempt me, but... no"

"Nah, you're missing it" I noticed that his gaze lost focus and focused on an area behind me, where I also began to hear a series of laughter accompanied by multiple small steps, the demons had arrived "My little agents of the chaos, where had they been?

The children led by Prince Bramble who spoke for all "We were looking for you, we were supposed to be playing hide and seek" All the imps gave him an accusatory look which of course I joined

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm still playing over there, look" I point to one of the trees in the distance, a second later it fell silent revealing that it was a simple piece of painted cardboard and another Discord wrapped in twigs and covered in green paint that reminded me of military camouflage.

"Behind the!" After the war cry, everyone went in pursuit of the fake Discord, or was that the real one and the copy was next to me?

I shook my head, since I met him it took me ten seconds to realize what a bad idea it was to try to understand anything about him, seriously, anything was a mystery that I preferred not to discover for the good of my mental health

"Well, I guess that's all for today" At the confirmation from Discord, I couldn't help but wonder if a whole day had really passed.

I looked up at the sky completely covered in pink clouds, having no idea if it was day or night higher up.

To think that such power would reside in a child

If a child, that was what Discord was or at least what I felt he was, if he really was a chaos demon, I can think of a few things he could be doing right now with those powers of his, but none of them includes chocolate milk

Maybe it's the naïveté and innocence he seemed to have or me just missing my younger brothers to the point where I felt a maternal instinct for a strange creature, whatever it was had worked wonders.

At first, I panicked as anyone would have done when facing a being that bends reality as if it were a game, then I realized her somewhat... extroverted personality and I decided to do the same as with Luna and show her some games

At first, he showed curiosity, not that of a rational person who is presented with something unknown and wants to understand how such a thing is possible, it was the curiosity of a child who was only interested in knowing what things he could do for fun

That only bolstered my theory, he might be a weird beast on the outside, but on the inside he was a child screaming for attention, and attention is just what I gave him.

But to my dismay, it quickly became clear that he wasn't the type of kid who stays behind a screen, but rather the hyperactive type who can set the house on fire if you're not attentive.

So I did the only thing I could think of and brought it to the dear village, hoping it would burn off that extra energy.

And yes it worked, the kids did most of the work asking him to do all kinds of crazy things with his powers, I felt like parents leaving their kids in the sandbox and letting the little devils do whatever they want

"Yuho, is anyone home?" Discord asked while hitting my head as if it were a door of a house and to my surprise it sounded hollow, I even added an echo to it, which stunned me a bit.

"Discord, what did I tell you about using your powers on living things?" I said with a reprimanded tone

"That can be annoying" She said with obvious guilt

"That"

"But you didn't say anything when I turned Hawthorn into a girl."

"Hawthorn is the exception" I affirmed while she caressed her head and her smile returned to her face

Then she pulled away "Well, that was fun, but it's time to go home for a while, at least I'm really out of shape."

I was praying it was just a joke, but pushed aside the growing uncertainty when I noticed Discord was about to snap his fingers again to go off to who knows where.

"Ahem, aren't you forgetting something?" I said while pointing to…anywhere, the houses were floating, the clouds kept creating floods of chocolate milk, the ice rinks were full of skating deer…there was nothing wrong with that last one, but that wasn't the point” Clean up after playing" I reminded him of one of the first rules I taught him so that the world would not collapse.

"Yes, I heard you mom"

Keep calling me that, and maybe it will come true, for obvious reasons I kept that last thought in my mind, as much as I liked children I was not yet ready for so much responsibility, even more so in the case of a being like Discord

He snapped his fingers and everything returned to normal, the houses returned to their original place, the streets were cleaned, and the deer whined like a child whose toys are taken away.

I also noticed that apparently it was already night

I saw Discord again who to my surprise seemed calm, I would say too much, he was just looking at the deer that were leaving with smiles on their faces, some even saying goodbye and thanking him for the crazy, but fun evening

"Is it a tear that I see?"

"That?! Whose? I? Never!" she flatly denied

"You're not very used to group games, am I wrong?"

"... Well, hey, me, who needs them anyway?"

“Feel free to come back whenever you want”

He seemed to think about it for a few seconds, he seemed unsure how to respond and no wonder, I wouldn't be surprised if he told me that it was the first time he was welcomed somewhere.

"Thank you" He said as he took me in his arms, I expected a hug, but it didn't happen, he just looked at me while he held me "Fence I planted a weird tree"

Once again no idea that he was talking, sometimes he did that, he just talked about things that only he could understand

“I have heard that everyone should plant a tree once in their life” It was the first thing that came to my mind.

"Well, I was absolutely right, maybe I'll do it more often, now goodbye"

"poof"

He disappeared, and I fell as expected, I didn't care and proceeded to shake myself like a dog to get rid of the dust, not everyone did it that way, but I thought it was fun to be honest

Now what to do?

To my surprise, I didn't have to think long when a deer came running in my direction. "Great horn!" I scream loud enough for everyone to hear, and I swear I felt the vein beating on my forehead, enhanced by the flames.

"What did I say about calling me that?" I asked, and the poor man leaned over begging for mercy, to which I just snorted "What's wrong?"

"A-a royal guard came a few hours ago" I immediately tensed up and gave him my full attention, it's possible that Discord's chaos may have been a good cover for not being noticed, but since there's even a slight suspicion of my relationship with the deer, I have no doubt that after what I did in Canterlot all hell broke loose "What happened?"

He directed one of his paws into his saddlebag and pulled out a paper envelope with a dark blue wax seal in the shape of a waning moon. "A letter from Canterlot at the request of one of the princesses."

Right, when I told Luna that I was staying with the deer at the Everfree she panicked and offered me a room in the castle, something I obviously declined because of a certain sun princess.

I immediately took the letter and began to open it "Why did it take so long to deliver it to me?"

"The letter was addressed to a Kirin named Spirit Flame" He was right, it wasn't strange that the letter got lost, now that I think about it, how did he know it was me? I looked at the deer again and recognized it as one that I regularly accompany on trips to Canterlot, each one for his own reasons, but that didn't stop me from meeting people along the way.

"Thank you very much" He nodded and left while I devoted my full attention to the letter in front of me.

And my mind went blank for a moment before rereading the letter again.

It was an invitation to a funeral... and it was more than obvious whose

The landscape passed full of green, beautiful trees with fruits ready for anyone to enjoy and the mountains in the distance, also full of life, gave it a design worthy of being painted and taken to a museum to be exhibited where everyone could appreciate its beauty

All accompanied by a slight mist and rain, it was at the right point to adorn the landscape without becoming a nuisance, there were not even puddles

I was always one of those who liked the rain, even now that I was a creature that literally breathed fire, I found few things more relaxing than sitting on a terrace with a cup of coffee and watching the raindrops fall.

Too bad it was fake, the clouds were put there by order of the royal family so that the weather would not contrast with the melancholic atmosphere caused by the event

Trying not to think about it too much, I disconnect from the drone that is in the train car and focus on my objective again.

A target shooting target, more or less at about twenty meters

I concentrate as much as I can, the circle, the runes, the formula and the flow of magic, everything necessary for the spell to be activated appears in my mind so clearly that I can almost see it in 3D

Even in my mind I think I could easily alter or improve it, but I push those thoughts away.

That time would come

The spell activates and a small ball of green energy forms in the exact center of the space between my horns, I slowly feed it with more energy until it reaches a decent size and then

I loose it

“SHIIIING”

And I stop it immediately!

A powerful beam of energy, with power like I've never seen before, shot out from the front of the ball towards the trees.

He swept them away!

Over a dozen trees were snapped in half or blown to bits, I don't even care that Aspen got mad about it.

I fell on my ass, it turned out that the spells do have recoil or recoil, only much milder, what knocked me down was more of surprise and a pathetic attempt to hit the center of the target

Something that obviously I did not achieve, but I was equally happy with the result obtained

It cost almost no energy, before the spell I could barely sustain a magic attack for ten seconds before needing to rest, now I feel like I could prune the entire forest and my horns have already recovered

And the best part? I could improve it, I was sure of that, it was an innate, instinctive knowledge, at last I will be able to take advantage of the full potential of dark magic

“btt”

My growing elation was interrupted by the message from my drone, apparently the train had arrived at Canterlot.

Quickly, I am engulfed in flames, I immolate the poor drone and activate the 'Flame gate'

I am quite pleased to note that apart from the smell of burning there is nothing to betray its use, then I activate a drying spell and my illusion

In Celestia's library I not only obtained combat spells, but all kinds with which I was able to strengthen my Kirin form, others were quite simple, but undeniably useful in everyday life.

Look out the window and contemplate the city... it was not as I remembered it, it is surprising how the entire population seems to share the same emotions of sadness and this in turn affects the environment

My stomach knots and I feel my flames gain strength, but I stifle both before they become a problem.

With a warning from the train staff I open the door of my small room in the carriage, because of its shape it reminds me of the scenes on the train from the 'Harry Potter' movies, only more colorful.

I noticed the strange look from the train staff when they realized that I was alone when all the other rooms were packed, but seeing that it was first class they wisely refrained from asking questions.

The truth was that I had taken advantage of the royal seal with which the letter Luna sent me had been sealed, it was not necessary, since by royal order all round trips to Canterlot would be free for anyone who wants to appear at the prince's funeral

But I've already wasted a lot of time playing with Discord, more than a day and although it was fun I'm kind of desperate to learn all the spells I can

Also, the number of ponies that decided to attend this already filled the wagons and I don't feel comfortable being surrounded by so many ponies, the last thing I needed was for my flames to feed on that feeling and one of them will start screaming that they wanted to burn them. to all

Speaking of which "Oh s-sorry." I was about to leave when a pony just as eager to escape this sardine can bumped into my butt.

Lucky it was a mare, because if not... let's just say that the prejudices of ponies could be justified

"Don't worry pretty thing" After the comment with a flirtatious tone I winked at her to which she blushed heavily, normally she wouldn't do something like that, but she was so cute!

He tried to hide behind her from her brushing mane, which only made her look even more adorable, would it be rude for her to caress someone in public?

Unfortunately, I was unable to carry out my experiment before being interrupted by another mare who was orange, blonde, and somehow…familiar, perhaps because of the hat.

"Wow, nice try Casanova, but I don't think it's the time or the place" she said with a apprehensive and distrustful tone, I must admit that if she was right

"My apologies and I wasn't doing it for what you think, she just seemed super cute to me!" I affirmed energetically to which the pony gave me a strange look without lowering my guard, I'm not surprised, if you said that to a human, or he hits you hard in the face or gives you that same look "Well bye"

Without further ado, I left the train, I think I heard her muttering something about strange foreigners, but I didn't pay attention to her and headed towards the castle, or I almost made it, rather

"Caution below!" I didn't have much time to think when a tower of I don't know what was falling in my direction, I instinctively rolled backwards while using my telekinesis to catch whatever was going to fall on me, it turned out to be just a pile of mis-stacked suitcases like a game half finished jenga

"Wow" Keeping the tower balanced and the loose suitcases in the air wasn't as complicated as having to do all of the above while looking at the miniature lizard man next to me who was looking at me with admiring eyes.

"Oh dear, thank you very much, if it weren't for you poor Spiky would have been crushed!" she said with too dramatic a tone

“Are you an actress or something?” I couldn't help but ask

"Hey, you flatter me dear" she told me while she ran a hoof through her stylized mane

It wasn't a compliment, are you crazy? I meant

I decided not to pay much attention to that and just rearranged the stack of suitcases, until so many hours of playing Tetris do me any good, why do they have so many different shapes? Suitcases have to be square for a reason, otherwise they're a danger just like now

"Hey Rares, who's the new one?" A new voice joined the party, and I immediately had to force my body to control itself and not go up in flames.

Oh no, oh damn! I would know that voice anywhere

After having her glued to my ear calling me a freak like I wasn't going to remember her

Rainbow Dash

"Do you have a problem with me, little lion?" She said with obvious provocation, noticing my gaze

Instinctively, I growled at him, not very mature, but better than burning down the train station.

“Ahem, Rainbow, you're nice… miss, you were just helping me with my bags.” Before we jumped down each other's throats the mare with too much makeup for my liking, I speak in my defense, though it doesn't help that I don't seem to know how. Refer to me

"Well, it doesn't give me a good thorn" The curmudgeon pegasus replied

"The feeling is mutual, believe me" To my surprise she also begins to growl, only in a less bestial way and more like a spoiled child who did not get what she wanted, in short, it was painful

I was about to rub this in her face when I was bombarded by a pink projectile.

“Oh my Celestia! Who are you? What are you? Why do you smell like sulfur? Why do your eyes seem to be changing color?"

I immediately walked away from the crazy “Hey! Do you mind? Personal space!"

But ignoring my words, she continued to harass me until she was enveloped in a light blue aura.

"Pinkie, what did we say about the importance of staying calm at these kinds of events?" Forget what I said before, I like this mare more and more

Luckily the pony with an overdose of sugar, caffeine and I don't know what else, this time she did seem to pay attention to the rebuke "I'm sorry" She looked uncomfortable while somehow losing color and her mane deflating slightly, what witchcraft! Is this?! “It's just that I don't feel very comfortable in this environment, especially in meetings where there is nothing to celebrate…”

Well… if that's the case I think I can understand, I had an uncle who was a policeman and despite being a tough guy and never seeing him cry, he just couldn't stand funerals, maybe it's because he had to attend several when he was younger, but still it was strange to see him so affected

"Calm down, it's okay, everyone deals with problems in their own way and if laughing helps you, I don't think there's anything wrong with it" I gave him a reassuring smile, and I was a little calmed to see how he returned the same one, just for a second then turn into a maniacal grin and pounce on me giving me the biggest hug of my life

Okay, flirting and emotional support to strangers was one thing, but direct contact was another, as soft as his fur was, I felt quite uncomfortable, I mean, what kind of person goes around giving hugs to strangers?

I raised my body temperature a bit, not enough to burn her, but enough that she felt compelled to let go of me.

"Ouch, ouch!" She complained as she rubbed her hooves trying to stop the burning

"I'm sorry" I lied "Sometimes he gets nervous, are you okay?"

"Oh yes, don't worry, it's all good" she shook her hooves and jumped up and down as if nothing had happened.

Heavens! He must have devilish stamina, even Hawthorn can't help but flinch when he's near my flames.

Rainbow and the white unicorn were still there looking at me with the lizard boy, the pegasus was now doing so with obvious suspicion.

I decided that enough was enough, surely if I continue with them, they will notice that something is not right with me

"Excuse me, but I have to go now, or I'll be late"

“Oh dear, tell me, are you coming to pay your respects too?” It seems that she does not understand

"Yes" Simple and short, I want to go

"And wouldn't you like to join us?" I stopped for a moment, thinking I heard wrong

"That?" ask incredulous

"That?!" Rainbow asked annoyed

"Rainbow, don't be like that, having company at times like this is important"

"Right and we're all together, she doesn't matter, besides we don't even know who she's supposed to be"

And so a meaningless discussion began, without taking into account that I could have my own opinion for a second, at first it was just the two of them until the lizard boy decided to jump in and scold the flying chicken for my liking, despite that she continued to be so stubborn and stubborn

Honestly, I was tempted to accept the invitation just to annoy the mare, but no, I'm sure I'll end up blowing something up, for the safety of everyone around me, it would be best to stay away.

Having made my decision, I took out the secret weapon

"Excuse me!" I said forcefully to get her attention "But I don't think it will be possible"

The pegasus did not miss the opportunity to throw it in his face “Ha! They already heard it"

"I was invited by the royal sisters, and I'm not allowed to bring guests" Rainbow's idiot face was priceless!

I could barely stifle the curl until…

"You too?!"

… What the fuck did he just say?

"Girls we're here, sorry for the delay Fluttershy almost fainted and Rainbow was supposed to help me with Twilight... oh it's you" The same mare with a hat that I met at the exit of the car

"Do you know her?" the lizard spoke

"Something like that" He turned back to the now almost empty car "Girls, it's almost time, come on... you don't want to be late with the princess, do you?"

Before I could ask how they got an invitation from the princesses, two ponies got out of the car, one was the same pegasus I had met before, but the other was the one that got all my attention.

I recognized her immediately, she was the same one I had fought with in that hateful town, only now she was... different, describing her state of mind as depressed would be an understatement, her eyes looked like those of a dead person, her walk was slow and Just like the pink, her mood seemed to be reflected in her body, I don't remember much about her because of the shortness of our previous meeting, but I can swear that her colors were less... gray

Twilight, if I didn't mishear, but what happened to you?

Author's Note

Fyr: Queen of stags, wife of Aspen, mother of Bramble (Doe/Female)