Author's Note

So that they can see that their comments do take you into account, even if they take too long, they can alter the story.

24- Surprise visit

It hurts... It really hurts

Even now, after all this time, he still felt Celestia's flames burning me as if she were still there.

It was a great advantage to have the freedom to choose whether she wanted to endure that pain or not.

Still, it seemed extremely strange to see my own injured body lying face up in bed in what could be considered a coma.

I had never disconnected from it to such an extent. I knew that I could take my conscious mind through the hive mind to the bodies of my creations, but I never dared to check to what extent. I had always left a part of me clinging to my bicornuate body... Seen like this, my main body is not very different from any of my creations, only of a higher quality

If Celestia had destroyed it... Would she really have died or would my consciousness simply travel to whatever body was available to me?

…

A few weeks had passed since the... battle on the Everfree or as the ponies are calling it, 'The Tragedy of the Everfree'

Never in the known history of Equestria have ponies faced such misfortune.

There were almost no survivors, almost a thousand lives were lost at once and they were blaming me

I can't protest that, the truth is that, if it was me who killed them, even my state of madness is not enough to justify mass murder.

I review the memories of what happened in my mind over and over again, not just my actions and decisions, but what I felt in those moments.

It felt good… at that moment, I tremendously enjoyed the destruction he was causing and the power he was exhibiting.

After all, that's the goal when you travel to a fantasy world, to gain power, defeat creatures, and have adventures.

I never really stopped to think about the goal behind what I was doing.

At first, I just wanted to survive, and when this was no longer a problem, I wanted to... Level up?

Holy god... How did I not realize this wasn't a game? Was my excitement so great that I couldn't see what I was doing?

I don't doubt that corruption by dark magic played its own role in my head, but I can't blame dark magic for everything, as that would automatically absolve me of anything I did or could have done.

And yet... despite knowing that, knowing that both logically, and morally I was wrong, somehow... I don't care, or not as much as I'm supposed to.

I guess this is the price for using a cursed item like the current of silence, who would have thought that the cure for one curse would be another curse?

"Knock Knock knock"

My internal musings were interrupted by the knock on the door.

“Come in, it's open” I said from the drone I had been forced to use to communicate and be aware of my surroundings since my main body went into recovery.

“Good afternoon, Heart” Aspen walked in making sure to close the door behind him “How are you feeling?”

I stopped for a moment and turned to see my bandaged body again.

I wasn't healing well, not as well as someone who heals as fast as me, but it seems like I underestimated how emotional the magic was.

Since coming here, I have learned that magic is an inherently emotional thing, to the point where the magical energy used to cast spells not only does what it is made to do, but also takes on a certain level of willpower.

Basically, if you cast a shield spell with no real threat present, it will be inferior to a shield made with the genuine intention of protecting something important to that caster, despite casting the same spell both times.

That's exactly why my wounds heal so slowly, Celestia truly wanted to kill me, and now the residual magic that her magical attacks left in my body acts like a potion, preventing the wounds from healing properly.

“Pretty good, all things considered,” I said finally. “Those potions they gave me cleaned up a lot of that… magical potion, thank you.”

“No problem,” Aspen shook it off like it was no big deal, which it probably was. Deer have hundreds of potions of all kinds in their holds.

An awkward silence took over the room. We both knew that this was not a casual visit, there was something we had to talk about, but I decided to postpone the topic a little longer.

“How is Zecora?” I asked with real guilt seeping into my voice.

“Better than you, I guarantee you, you did a good job protecting her from your flames with her cloak, other than that, she only has bruises and scrapes, at worst a scar.”

“But... And the pain?”

“… Getting better, she will completely fade away in about two days maximum”

Zecora, like me, was trapped inside the force field of the captain of the guard, fortunately as a resident of the Everfree she knew the place and the best methods to go unnoticed, managing to evade the guards and the conflict until she saw the aerial show that gave with Celestia

But after that Celestia's attacks got out of control, it was impossible for her not to receive a blow or burns and with it the same magic that poisons me now, only in a much smaller dose luckily.

“I have a huge debt with all of you and I plan to pay it”

“We don't do this expecting a reward.”

"I know, but we both know that you have a duty, and you came to fulfill it." I stopped looking at my body and looked at Aspen again.

Again, we looked at each other without saying anything for a few seconds.

“I'm sorry,” Aspen finally said.

“Don't do it, you've offered me practically everything since I got here, and now I've brought you more than trouble. If I stay or Celestia finds out that they offered me asylum, all the deer will pay dearly.”

Aspen visibly frowned, he was angry “She brought this on herself, if only she had talked to me before conducting a military operation on my lands all that bloodshed would have been avoided, but instead she decided that our opinion It didn't matter, that we couldn't contribute anything useful despite having lived in this forest almost as long as the ponies have been inhabiting Equestria or that perhaps we could offer a non-violent solution! At one point Aspen started to scream, obviously she had been stressing out and just now she found some kind of release, she had to stop for a moment to calm down “Celestia has no respect for us, that's why I can't blame you for what happened or at least “not totally”

“Thank you, but we both know it's not that simple, right?” From the day I met Aspen in the Celestia gardens I knew that he knew something that I didn't, I hadn't given it priority at the time, since I had other things to think about, but now I realized that it was a mistake, I had to know “Something else happened, Aspen I need to know, what did Celestia do? “How is it for her to come into this world?” Aspen had no way of discerning the true meaning behind those words.

“I don't know all the details, but I can tell you what I know, you will decide what to do with that information”

Even with that artificial body, I could not help but release the air that I was holding or that I unconsciously tried to hold, nor could I understand how I did such a thing without lungs.

“Well, tell me everything and then… then I will leave and never tell anyone that I ever had contact with your people” he bothered me a little. The truth was that I had already gotten used to the deer, and coming to visit them, whether to train or relax, had become part of my routine.

It was a real shame to have to say goodbye.

I could see the conflict on Aspen's face, it was obvious that he did not want to give in to Celestia's whims, after all this was his land and he was a king, but the reality was that both he and his people were at her mercy for which only gave me a respectful bow in gratitude and apology.

“What Celestia did to the forest a few months ago-”

"My King!"

Of course at the most important moment we would be interrupted, more than a week of peace and tranquility and right now they have to interrupt us

The door was practically knocked down by the messenger deer that was breathing heavily, it seems that it had come all the way at full speed

“Calm down and tell me what upset you so much,” Aspen ordered.

The deer took a few deep breaths before hurriedly replying “The princess is here!”

…

“Well… shit” It escaped me

Aspen did not pay attention to me and continued questioning the messenger, “Is she coming alone or are more soldiers accompanying her? And if so, how many? Has she already landed, or is she still in flight? What weapons do they have? Have they given any indication of their intentions?”

The questions kept coming and the poor deer, with no opportunity to respond, only cringed more as the questions kept coming.

Meanwhile, I was immersed in my personal misery, wondering how the hell he found me. Then I had the fantastic and obvious idea of using one of the drones I had left in the area to observe the invasion force.

A very small invasion force consisting of a high-quality silver carriage and a pair of Thestrals

Ah… oh, right… I told him I lived with the deer.

“Aspen” My call to the deer king stopped his attempt to strangle the deer that seemed to have fainted “Relax, they are not here for me, or well, they are, but not in the way you imagine.”

"That?" As expected, with such a vague explanation, I only got confusion.

“It's... a long story, but now this is more important, did you meet Princess Luna?” Aspen opened her eyes apparently remembering the existence of a second princess.

“No, our relationship with Equestria has been strained since your arrival, so we haven't had the chance.”

“I understand, I know this is confusing, but I need to ask you to order the deer not to be surprised by my appearance and that they should call me Spirit Flame or just ignore us. As long as they can do that, everything will be fine."

Aspen didn't understand everything, but he had enough trust in me to comply without asking for the time being.

Aspen nodded and dragged the fainted deer away. “Later, I want answers.”

“Okay and don't worry if she asks to see me, just bring her, I'll be ready” With that said, Aspen closed the door and I went back to my thing.

I moved around awkwardly in the body of the drone, but managed to position it inches from the face of my bicorn body.

I had to concentrate, gather my consciousness and take advantage of the influence that each of my creations had on the hive mind.

Without delay, all my remaining creations responded by giving a small pulse like the 'Btt' that I usually receive when they want to contact me

The moment all the signals accumulated, I abandoned that body and caused the drone to burn, while the leftover flames found their way to my face, where they entered my nose and mouth.

The combination of the arcane power in those flames and the mental shock sent by the hive mind was enough to reactivate my body.

“CAF, COF, AK” As expected, I choked and coughed as I tried to adjust back to the sensations of my burning skin, broken bones, and damaged muscles to the point where breathing was torture.

I couldn't stop my breathing from becoming erratic, and an overwhelming need to cry came over me. I was no longer on a battlefield, and I couldn't depend on adrenaline or madness to ignore my state.

Waiting didn't make it any easier, I almost left the body again, but I forced myself to stay there, I had to do this.

Luna couldn't see me like that

The fear arising from that last thought was enough incentive to grit my teeth and swallow my cry.

It took me a while to regain enough control to cast the shapeshifting spell, but I did it, and I was exhausted. I almost fainted, I barely got a few minutes of calm when the door to my room opened.

I didn't know who it was, my eyes were closed, and staying as still as possible seemed to be the best way to control the pain.

Then I felt a breath near my face and a hoof on my chest, but none of that bothered me, on the contrary, it was the first moment of peace I had gotten in a long time.

“Oh Spirit… What have they done to you?” It was Luna, and I could hear the pain in her voice.

Although I changed my form, I couldn't do anything to remove the wounds or the bandages. Although I have healed relatively well, I am still a mess.

“If I had stayed alone a little longer... I'm sorry.” I could feel Luna's head fall into my chest in what I assumed was a form of hug.

Her crying was already more than enough reason to let her know that I'm awake and okay, but as soon as she lay on top of me, that became a priority.

Her cold body was a refreshing comfort to me, but my ribs are broken!

However, the position we now find ourselves in provides me with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Luna had let her guard down, she was vulnerable to attack and I was going to take advantage of that.

That's why I approached her, slowly shortened the distance between us, being careful not to let her notice her and then attack.

LAME

“HYAA, but what?!” Luna stood up quickly while she rubbed her wet ear with her hoof.

“HAHAHAHA, COFF, HA, COFF, Your ear tastes funny” I wasn't kidding with that last part, but I didn't have time to really enjoy Luna's silly face when it transformed into one of infinite rage.

Luna climbed onto the bed and hovered over me, placing her front paws on either side of my head, forcing me to look into her eyes.

In short, I was not happy

"Do you have any idea? The remotest idea? How long did I wait to hear from you?! "A visit, a simple letter, anything, but no, you just disappear without saying anything right in the middle of the greatest tragedy our nation has faced in generations and when I finally find you, you do this to me."

Put it that way... I admit that I did wrong

I didn't even have time to apologize when Luna moved, I couldn't do anything other than close her eyes, hoping she wouldn't hurt too much.

… I cannot describe my surprise when I felt no pain at all, but a deep kiss on the lips and tears of happiness falling down my face.

After what seemed like hours, Luna finally pulled away. “I thought she lost you.”

I didn't know what to say... my heart stopped when I heard her and saw her as if it were the first time... I was surprised that she could feel so much of something other than rage after having drunk the potion of the current of silence

“I'm sorry, I couldn't move and... I still shouldn't have forgotten you, I'm really sorry.” I really regretted it.

“It's okay, I'm here, we're together, that's what matters” Luna hugged me again, I didn't care about the pain anymore.

In this moment, after all that pain, suffering and regret

I was happy

“Bring more cake!” The scream of one of the servants of Canterlot Castle was heard among many others.

“And wine too, the last bottle is already gone along with the last barrel of tea!” shouted another as he carried a cart full of empty plates.

“Bring more of everything, and someone bring Princess Luna, tell her what's happening again!”

“She's not here, she said she had an important matter to take care of in the deer village!”

“CRACK”

With the creaking of a dozen fine porcelain plates, all movement ceased.

“She did, what?” Celestia asked in a cold tone, not bothering to clean the pieces of pastry cream stuck to her snout.

“She... w-went to visit the deer because what happened... happened so close to their borders that we feared this would further aggravate our already tense relations with them, so we decided it was time for a political visit.” Raven, his assistant, responded.

Celestia's eyelid twitched, for a second, it looked like she would explode, but instead she “Ha…ha…HAHAHAHA” She just laughed uncontrollably.

Celestia laughed and laughed. At one point, she picked up another piece of cake directly with her hoof and popped it into her mouth, only to be followed by another and another. She didn't even give herself time to chew, she just kept putting more and more in without stopping her curling at any time.

This made the castle staff extremely worried. “Princess p-please slow down.”

Celestia ignored it and began to babble while she continued swallowing “Gug, visit, HA, gu, visit yes, deer yes, gug, LIAR!” Celestia shouted unleashing her real Canterlot voice “Of course she would, now that I need her she abandons me for that cheap reptilian whore of hers! Why aren't you here Luna?! "We were supposed to be there together."

In her tantrum, Celestia accidentally broke the table, scattering the fine desserts and throwing pieces of broken plates and glasses in all directions.

“Ah!” Raven was the closest, but she received nothing more than a simple cut on her front paw, not unlike a paper cut.

Still, that was enough to scare everyone present and make them back away.

“I'm sorry” The whisper was heard. Celestia watched as those present looked at her with fear, some ready to flee at the slightest sign of danger. “I'm sorry.” Celestia repeated without looking away from the drop of blood that dyed the white fur a crimson red. “I'm sorry, I'm not enough. ”

Many of those present wanted to go to her princess, hug her and comfort her... but they were so afraid that none of them were willing to take such a risk.

“ZAP”

Celestia teleported away, leaving the staff to clean up the mess while she set off on a desperate run, or that's what it would have been like if she weren't so damaged.

Like Forest, Celestia had healed well, but not completely, as much of the damage was done to herself by healing herself with a spell powered by pseudo-dark magic.

With a limping and staggering step, accompanied by labored breathing and the sound of an upset stomach induced by poisoning produced by the uncontrolled intake of sugar and alcohol

Celestia knew that she was putting on a degrading spectacle, that her mane and fur were disheveled, sweaty, full of sticky stains.

He wasn't worthy of her, this wasn't her, he repeated internally, but he couldn't help it, he couldn't block out the memory of the ponies he failed, ponies who should be living peacefully with their families and that she had condemned.

Celestia killed them

“BRUUUUG” Celestia stopped her from walking and vomited much of her stomach contents onto the floor, fortunately this area of the castle was restricted, both for the staff and the guards.

“You know it's true” Or so it should be… in the window, in one of the many stained glass windows, she could see the reflection of Forest Heart “You were the one who killed them.”

Celestia began to hyperventilate “It's not true, you know it's not true, it was you!”

Forest nodded, agreeing with him. “True, very true and I must confess that it was a huge pleasure, but it wasn't a pleasure reserved just for me, was it?”

"I do not know what you're talking about!" Celestia tried to cover her ears, but her voice still sounded the same.

“I think you do know” Forest said playfully, Celestia tried to avoid her by looking away, but her image kept appearing, it didn't matter if she looked at the floor, the carpets or her own body, the bicorn continued to manifest itself “Your explosion when Finally you stopped repressing yourself and gave in to that voice, that always tempting voice, the same one that until that day you had kept sealed, but that, for a moment, a miserable moment you let out, and as a result everything burned."

Celestia closed her eyes, but that only made the image of her become more vivid in his mind.

She was back there, in the Everfree, and in the distance she could see herself falling along with Forest until Celestia literally exploded.

The princess was able to see in great detail the ponies that were still fighting to save their lives, the pegasi that bravely continued trying to save as many of their companions as possible.

Until she ruined it, in the blink of an eye, she turned them to ashes

“NOOOOOOOO! It's not true, it's not true! Celestia screamed, cried and kicked uncontrollably.

"Yes, it is! Admit it, you are a murderer, a monster, you have always known it, and it is only a matter of time before your ponies know it too.

"NO!" At that moment Celestio opened her eyes and ran back to him, completely ignoring any distractions like his wounds opening or the doors he destroyed in his path. “I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not.” ”

Finally, his goal was in sight.

The princess slammed into it, at no point did she slow down, but her mind was not able to register the pain at this moment.

She had become almost primitive, which led to a clumsy attempt to get her horn into the slot. “Almost there, almost there, almost there.”

I enter

The magical protections gave way, and the mundane and magical locks were unlocked, with a strong push, which would have destroyed any other door that did not belong to a magical vault like this, Celestia entered.

There she was, her chest, with her magic opened, revealing the reason for her obsession.

The elements of harmony

It was true that she was no longer its bearer, but Celestia was still the individual who once possessed not one, but three of the six elements, as well as having studied them for centuries searching for a way to cure her sister.

And now that Twilight and her friends had awakened them, she also gained access to that power, not to control it, the elements would simply reject and possibly punish any attempts to extract their power that were not from their current wielders, even she was no exception to them. That

But Celestia did not need to use that power, only to feel it, touch it, look at it, and the moment she did, her being was overwhelmed, her personality suppressed, and her soul suffocated by the simple contact with a being whose nature her mind was not capable of fully understanding.

A tired, disturbed, scared and to some extent traumatized Celestia was what entered that vault, but… What she came out of that place was better?

“How fascinating, I never imagined that such a work could be done with such simple materials,” Luna declared while admiring my wolves' pathetic attempt to imitate Rivendell. “Perhaps the ponies would do well to learn from you.”

“Yes, maybe,” Aspen said, wanting to avoid this conversation. The situation obviously made him uncomfortable, but there was little he could do. It wasn't like he could just tell Luna to leave without a good explanation, that would make him suspicious.

Something Aspen desperately wanted to avoid, especially since he found out that Luna and I were a couple... his reaction to that news was... peculiar, but I attributed it to the unexpectedness of the news.

“Where do these steps lead?” Luna asked, too fascinated with the internal structure of the palace to notice this.

“I don't know,” Aspen said which earned him a confused look from Luna.

“I think he's inviting you to find out, Luna,” I suggested, trying to save the situation.

"Oh, in that case I'll be happy to find out." Luna entered the descending stairs with remarkable good humor while I gave Aspen a reprimanding look, to which he looked at me with alarm and pointed to the path the stairs followed.

I think I didn't understand, but I didn't have time to ask, since I couldn't separate myself from Luna for long.

After my meeting with Luna, the three of us decided to take a walk to show her around, something Luna was against due to my injuries or at least until Aspen had the brilliant idea of pumping me full of drugs to the point where I felt like I was a stuffed animal and yet Luna remained quite protective of me, sometimes using her wing to force me to stay close to her

"This is fantastic!" Luna declared in joy “It's beautiful the way they used the roots to create paths, I didn't know they could be so big, and the way they cut them out and these columns, oh my, what a wonderful throne!”

Ok… now I understand why Aspen seemed alarmed, where the hell did all this come from?!

It is an exact copy of the throne room of the elven kingdom that appeared in the movie 'The Hobbit' in which they entered the black forest, and it doesn't stop growing!

How far did this go! My wolves couldn't do something like this in a hundred years. I looked at Aspen, who was as shocked as I was by the sudden growth of his domain.

“Hey, thanks princess, this place… took us a long time… to make” Aspen tried to invent as he moved almost in a trance to the throne, he was practically drooling.

“Hello miss, who are you?”

“Hello little ones, I am Princess Luna of Equestria?”

My attention returned to Luna when I saw that she was talking to a pair of fawns.

“Bramble! How long have you been here? “Do you want to give your mother a heart attack?” Aspen quickly stopped massaging her butt with the elven throne seat.

“Sorry, dad,” the prince lamented.

“I see, so these are your children, my apologies, but my sister must have been busy when she told me about her family, could she ask the name of the second prince?”

Wait... What did Luna just say? Something about a second... what?!

Me and Aspen focused entirely on the fawn hugging one of Luna's front paws.

It's a fucking clone!

CRACK

Something broke... it was Aspen's mind, apparently there were too many surprises for one day

The thing was identical to Prince Bramble, except that it had the colors reversed. I don't blame Luna for getting confused, I would have mistaken them for twins too if I didn't know, since Bramble is an only child

“Oh, oh, let me say it” The boy separated from Luna, stepped back and… took out a wooden sword along with a breastplate from I don't know where before declaring “I am Maximus tenth Meridian, commander of the armies of the north, general of the legions felix and loyal servant of the only emperor Marco… Marco… there, what was he like? "His names are so boring that it's not worth it." The brat threw his sword against a column, but it bounced right off his soft nose.

Now it's my turn to go crazy

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?! How do you know that legendary dialogue? And above all, how dare she desecrate him?

“Are you okay, little Máximo?” As surprised as I was, I failed to warn Luna of the danger while she checked to make sure she hadn't hurt herself. “I think it was an incredible speech, and I would have loved to use something like that. “I was a general too, you know?”

"Oh really? Oh, really?!" The boy, forgetting the existence of any law of physics, began to jump enough to equal or surpass Luna's height, his body seemed like rubber with each bounce, and the innocent Luna just laughed.

“Calm down, little one, you could hit yourself again or worse,” Luna warned, looking into space. Majestic or not, this place without railings is a danger

“I just watched a 56-hour marathon of movies, series, anime, and 80 kilos of junk food that I didn't even know could exist.” Luna gave Aspen a death glare before grabbing the boy with her magic and taking him to her loin in the hope that it would rest

Even if Luna didn't understand most of what this child was saying, anyone she would realize is that children shouldn't do that.

While Luna was saying sweet nothings and rubbing the head of… whatever that thing was, I approached Aspen and Bramble.

“Bramble, where did that demon come from?”

“I don't know, I found him staggering in the kitchen while he mumbled things in languages he'd never heard before... he reminds me of Uncle Hawthorn the night after one of his girlfriends dumped him.”

“Bramble, I told you we didn't talk about that.”

I ignored Aspen and walked with some hesitation to Luna as she prepared a sequence of combat spells.

“Hello… Is that little one okay?” I asked while pointing to the source of my concern on Luna's back.

“He is, I think he simply has an upset stomach, although it could also be a magical upset.”

“Magical…discomfort?” I think I read about it in one of the books, something like the flu, but instead of the respiratory system being affected, it's the magic of the body that suffers the infection.

“Yes, the prince exhibits all the signs, he only looks at his eyes”

I decided to listen to Luna and looked into her eyes. They were exorbitant, he had quite noticeable circles under his eyes, his yellow retinas seemed to momentarily fade, and his red pupil, in addition to shining, changed shape to a sharper one like that of a predator.

…

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I dismissed the spells he had prepared along with my worries.

This explained everything

“I think you're right Luna, why don't you let me take him to the infirmary?” I said it in a deadpan tone.

“In that case, I will carry him, you are still injured, lead the way, please.”

The tone in which Luna spoke left no room for an argument.

“Aspen, we're taking your other son to the infirmary.” I gestured to Aspen so that he could simply nod and let us go, which luckily he did.

Luna had no problem following me back to the surface, lucky we didn't go too deep or we would have gotten lost.

“Luna…” I caught his attention, but I was honestly afraid to ask this. “How is everything in Canterlot?”

Luna couldn't help but grimace, obviously, she didn't want to talk about this, and the truth is, neither did I. "Not very good, almost every noble family had one or more relatives in the Canterlot guard, so almost all of them have declared mourning, which has massively increased my duties."

“I'm sorry about that.”

“Don't do it, I had been asking to be given more responsibilities, and well, now I have them” Luna let out a sigh.

“But it wasn't as you expected.” I slowed down my pace a little and leaned on his shoulder. I guess this is the pony equivalent of walking holding hands.

"No, it was not"

“And Celestia?” I made sure to ask that question carefully.

Luna hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke. “Physically, she is recovering, the rest… she is strong, she just needs time and some help.”

Luna simply wrapped her wing around me, denying me any chance to get away from her, she didn't say anything after that, and I didn't ask.

“We're here.” I opened the door to the infirmary, where, luckily, I had already thought of a plan.

While Luna put the sick fawn on a bed and tucked him in, I opened one of the cabinets and took out a jar at random.

I doubt it will matter if I give him the wrong one.

“Luna, I'm going to give him this, in the meantime, why don't you find Fyr and tell him what happened? "Surely she's in Aspen's office helping with the paperwork," I suggested, trying not to sound suspicious.

“Sounds good to me, but I don't know where her office could be.”

“Just ask a servant or guard, I know there aren't as many as in Canterlot, but I don't think it will be too difficult for you to find them, or could it be that the little princess needs a nanny to move around in a castle 8 times smaller than hers?”

Luna scoffed at my bad joke. “If I could handle Anor Londo, I can handle anything.”

After that comment, Luna left the room to which I looked at my patient again, and as expected, he was no longer the same.

“Is Discord serious?”

There he was, the lord of chaos lying in bed with a blue ice pack on his head and a comically large thermometer in his mouth.

“Achu!”

I was forced to duck quickly as blue fire erupted from Discord's nose, caused by his sneeze.

“What is not obvious? “I am badly hurt”

I stared at him blankly. “You were wrong, this is what someone who is sick looks like.”

Discord froze for an instant... literally, with a jolt, he shattered the pieces of ice that surrounded him, and they reformed next to him, creating another smaller, sick Discord, but at least the original one had returned to its original colors

"Really? I have never experienced it” Discord said with a thoughtful face.

Normally, his antics wouldn't bother me, I'd even find them fascinating, but not now.

“What are you doing here, Discord? This is really not a good time.”

“Well, believe it or not, this is not my fault, I was just looking for a place to recover after that apocalypse I had to survive when that little imp found me and started using me as his wish machine.” ”

“Are you talking about Bramble? Was it because of him that you decided to make the modifications to the deer home?”

"I didn't decide, in the middle of my escape, some of the most fanciful things in your mind piled up and hit me. I needed to get rid of some of the information that suddenly went directly into my brain" Discord explained to me as he took his brain out the ear and cleaned it with a cloth until it shined

I should note that he was remarkably small

"My mind?" I'm already used to not understanding only half of his explanations, but that made an idea form: “You got into my head!”

“Hey, don't look at me like that, do you have any idea how rare it is to find a race that not only has chaos in its nature, but can thrive in it. I'll give you the answer, none that ever existed! I was simply curious and decided to explore your memories. Is that so bad?”

“Sounds like what a stalker would do” Despite everything, I wasn't upset, I was a little flattered that an existence like this saw value in humanity

Despite his behavior, Discord is still the closest thing to a god he has ever known.

“I just wanted to finish watching my ‘Konosuba’ marathon, and I would get out of there, I swear, I didn't expect everything to start burning.”

That baffled me.

"What do you mean?" I asked with some trepidation

“Well, there I was minding my business when I suddenly felt as if Buddha himself had given a physical fragment of his enlightenment to Bob Marley, who did not hesitate to grind it up to make an ultra-intense joint that he shared with everyone” The body of Discord was carried away with the breeze, emphasizing how numb the experience had left him “And then everything went KABUM!” Discord was solid again, only this time he was dressed as an American soldier and his face reflected the thousand-yard stare “Explosions everywhere, unnecessarily brutal deaths, and the fire consuming everything, I barely made it out of there alive!”

I didn't need any more explanations, I thought I knew what he was talking about.

“So you were there when Luna kissed me and also when I had my battle to the death with Celestia.”

Discord's mouth fell to the ground...literally, he quickly picked it up and reassembled it, but he didn't say anything.

"You will not say anything?"

Discord seemed conflicted, I saw a smile form on his face only for it to twist, if there is an emotion that I didn't expect to see from him, that was the shame "... I want to do it, but after what I've seen in there, I have a feeling that's not what you need."

“Ha, and what do I need?”

“A question, one used by your people more as a joke or as a simple greeting, some words whose importance they have forgotten… my friend, are you okay?”

…

I lost concentration, my shapeshifting spell faded, and I wanted to laugh at the stupidity he had just said, but instead I just stood there and… suffocated.

“I don't know, I genuinely have no idea, the potion they gave me suppresses my emotions, not until I feel nothing, but... I don't feel joy or that sick pleasure for what I did in my worst moment, but I don't feel guilt either, or not enough. Where is that supposed to leave me? I am a good person? Bad person? Does it even matter at this point?”

Since I woke up, I couldn't stop debating this. I'm not the good one, that's clear, but have I fallen enough to be the villain?

I don't wish any harm on the ponies, and I don't want to cause them more suffering, but I won't give myself to them or embark on a trip to search of redemption. Just note that I feel more guilty for worrying Luna than I do for making those soldiers die

“Some of the damage is irreversible” Discord confirmed my fears “Whoever you were on Earth, that individual no longer exists. You should stop comparing yourself to that child who only knew death through a screen, and instead of seeing yourself as a being that inhabits a new body, you should think of yourself as a totally new individual who accidentally obtained the memories of someone else." With his paw, he patted my head, consoling me "You are no longer a human, you never were, you are Spirit Flame, the first bicorn that ever existed, a new and unique being who still has too much to learn and experience, so don't beat yourself up for a stumble, live this new life without regrets, even if you make mistakes, just do the best you can.

I felt the moisture run over my face, I didn't know I could still cry. I couldn't process that fact well when I found myself walking towards Discord, where he welcomed me with open arms, wrapping me in a tight hug.

“How many drama movies did you see in there?”

“Ha, with a life as long as mine, it is inevitable not to have lived yours too” I didn't understand anything in that sentence

Before he could ask, one of Discord's ears twitched and he broke the hug. “As cute as this moment seems to me, I recommend that you return to Aspen and Luna. Fyr is already thinking of ways to torture him for the supposed bastard son and Luna seems to have some news that you won't want to miss."

Not many times have I seen Discord serious... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen him serious. I guess that's all the more reason to pay attention to him.

"Okay, please rest. I will tell the servants to bring you food and something to entertain you." Upon reaching the door, I activated my shapeshifting spell and turned to say goodbye, but to my surprise, Discord was no longer there, just an empty room

“Thank you.” I didn't know if he could hear me, but it didn't hurt to try.

I left the infirmary, returned to the new section of the elven kingdom and it didn't take long to find the group

Fyr had Bramble on his lap near the throne, probably explaining to him that that fawn was Discord, and at a considerable distance from them were Luna and Aspen talking.

The atmosphere seemed tense

“Hello… Did I miss something?”

Luna was the one who responded "I must confess that the main reason for my visit was not to visit you Spirit, I came here to present an invitation to King Aspen."

"So that?"

Luna bit her lip and avoided eye contact. “The trial of the captain of the guard, Shining Armor accused of treason and sedition.”

My jaw fell

Discord was right, this news certainly caught my attention.