On Thorax’s second day with Fluttershy he was woken by the crackling sound of magic. He shot up and looked around, but the only thing out of place was an envelope in front of the door. Letting out a sigh of relief he went ahead and changed into Crystal Hoof before rolling off the couch, sticking his four hoof landing. He hummed a little tune as he trotted over to the envelope. He picked it up and turned around, headed for the stairs, only to see Fluttershy headed down already. “Oh, hello there. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I always wake up with the sun, so I can have my animal friends’ breakfast ready by the time they’re up.”

“Okay. I found this.” He held up the envelope and she took it, before opening and beginning to read. “What’s it say?”

“Princess Celestia's taking us on an overnight goodwill tour of Yakyakistan. I’d better start packing.”

“Oh, I can help!”

Only slightly later in the day, Inky was awoken by Perfect Pace prodding her in the shoulder, followed by a singsong: “Hey. Iiinnkyyy It’s time to wake uuupp.”

“Nope.”

“It’s seven o’clock,” Perfect no longer sounded melodic. Now she just sounded mildly annoyed.

“So? I stayed up late last night.”

“You asked me to make sure you got up at seven since you scheduled a meeting.”

Inky shot out of bed, making a mess of the sheets as she did so. “I forgot! Right, I’m out the door.”

“Aren’t you going to have breakfast first? It’s almost done.”

Inky shook her head as she headed down the stairs. “I’ll grab a container and bring some to the meeting. Goodness knows Time Turner would forget to eat if nopony reminded him on occasion.” Once downstairs she opened a cabinet and fished out the largest resealable container she saw. Then she popped open the oven, grabbed the half of the breakfast waffles that looked most done, and set them inside. Finally she deposited a few apples from a wire basket and headed out the door.

“Inky! I’ve told you to stop raiding the oven!” Perfect called out, though without any real anger. There was a mild hint of frustration, but she’d long since realized that it would never stick. Inky set off at a brisk trot for Time Turner’s house, humming a tune as she went. As she passed her house Bon Bon stepped out and matched pace with her.

“You’re in a rush. What’s the hurry?”

“Nothing specific, I’ve just got a bunch of little things to do, helping Crystal Hoof settle in. It turns out he’s illiterate, so I’m going to see if Cherrilee can fit him in somewhere. I’m glad you could make it this morning, I know it’s a busy time for bakers.”

“Helping him integrate into Equestria is an important goal, well worth losing a morning rush over. This is the first defector in over a decade, I’m hoping we can ask him some questions soon.”

Inky nodded. “As soon as he’s settled, but I want to make sure he won’t bolt first. Though, when we do, it would be helpful if you play gently, I may have already pushed him a bit hard.”

“Trying to frighten him out of any mischief making?”

Inky blushed, but held her tongue. When they reached the Doctor’s house she led the way and gave two sharp raps. Red Rose opened the door. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting anypony to join you.”

“It’s okay, she’s in the loop,” Inky reassured her with a nod. She opened the door and led them to the living room. There were mechanical bits and small stacks of paper loose in a few places, but there was still room for all five of them. Derpy wasn’t here, presumably because she had work. Time Turner was busy fiddling with a screwdriver, trying to do something with a metal object in his hooves. Red Rose, the red unicorn mare with a pink and purple mane who owned the local textile mill, had taken a seat next to Sunset, a yellow earth pony stallion with an orange mane. He was a painter of some sort, though Inky couldn’t even recall so far as to whether he was an artist or whether he painted buildings.

Once Bon Bon had found a seat Inky began. “Thanks to everypony for coming on such short notice. Some of you already know, but for those of you who don’t, I’m helping another changeling settle into Ponyville. His cover identity is Crystal Hoof and he’s staying at Fluttershy’s cottage-”

At that the Doctor immediately jerked up. “You left him with Fluttershy‽”

Inky leaned back slightly at his outburst. “Yes. Is there a problem with that?”

“Today’s the tea party!” By now everypony was staring at him in confusion. He shook his head. “When she and Discord get together once a week!”

“They what?” It was Bon Bon who asked, but Inky shared the sentiment.

The Doctor looked directly at Inky. “You didn’t know?”

Inky was already heading out the door, leaving breakfast behind. “I appreciate your confidence Doctor, but I can’t know everything. I am but mortal, not Pinkie Pie.”

It hadn’t taken long for Thorax and Fluttershy to pack everything she needed, though she had mentioned a nagging sensation of forgetting something. Even so, with his help she had been able to get out the door in plenty of time, and he was proud to have been able to help her. He was sweeping the floors when a large, furry, snakelike, bipedal… thing, appeared in the middle of the cottage. “Tea!” it offered, holding out a tray with two teacups and a teapot towards the empty couch. “Well that’s odd. Fluttershy!” The strange creature turned and saw Thorax, who had frozen in place. Then it frostily raised an eyebrow “Who are you?”

“Um, I’m, uh, her new roommate?” Thorax stammered.

“And why isn’t she here?” It’s voice had become a low, menacing growl.

“She’s going on a tour of Yakyakistan!” The creature narrowed its eyes, then disappeared in a flash of light. “Hello? Are you still here?” Thorax shook his head slowly. “I really hope I’m wrong, but I think I know who that was.”

Suddenly the door slammed open, causing Thorax to instinctively turn into a pet bed and close his eyes. “Thorax!” Inky shouted. “Where are you?” She started to trot upstairs, only to turn around. “I know you’re in here, I can smell your fear.”

“I swear I’m innocent!” he shouted, not yet turning back.

Inky took a deep breath in and out as she walked past him. “I’m not mad, just worried. I heard Discord might come by today.” A pause. “Innocent of what, exactly?”

Thorax let his natural form reassert itself, causing Inky to turn around with a start. “I didn’t know what you thought I did, I just knew you were upset. And you just missed him.”

“You can turn into inanimate objects?” Inky asked. He just nodded. “Impressive, I can’t even manage plants myself. Anyway, back to the matter at hoof. You said Discord already came by, how did that go?”

“He asked me where Fluttershy was, and I told him she was going to Yakyakistan.”

Inky nodded thoughtfully. “Hmm… Did he seem upset?”

“A bit.”

“Alright, I’m going to wait until he comes back so I can make sure there are no hard feelings.”

“You don’t have to do that.” You really don’t have to do that, Thorax thought, suppressing a shudder as he imagined Inky’s brusque attitude colliding with the icy condescension of Discord. Maybe he won’t come back?

“I accepted responsibility for your safety, and even though Discord wouldn’t destroy you lest he be stoned again, he can still be a huge pain if he wants to be.”

Before Thorax could think of a response a trumpet sounded outside, prompting him to change into Crystal Hoof. Then the door slid into the wall, revealing Discord’s return. He seemed in much better spirits now, though he still raised a skeptical brow at Inky. “Oh look, another one. And who are you supposed to be, since Fluttershy certainly didn’t mention another houseguest.”

“I’m Inky, and I’m just here to help Crystal Hoof get situated. Ponyville’s quite a change of pace from the Crystal Empire, and I wouldn’t want him to-”

“Yes yes, you’re the boring aunt Twilight got on loan. Fluttershy did mention something like that.” Discord waved a dismissive hand in her direction. “You’ll be pleased to hear that we’re going to Guys’ Night at Twilight’s castle.”

“Oh, that’s nice of you-” Thorax began, before being cut off.

“Yes, I’m a paragon of virtue. I’ll come pick you up around sunset.” Inky opened her mouth to say something, only for Discord to continue. “No, you can’t come. It’s called a Guys’ Night, not a Whoever Happens to be There Night.”

“Okay, but can I invite a friend of mine?”

“A friend?” Thorax asked, before Inky shot him a look. “Oh, that. Right.”

Discord raised an eyebrow and Inky’s look simmered. “Which friend?”

“Shadow Mark.” Discord snapped his fingers and Inky was transformed into a black pegasus stallion with a dark gray mane. She did so, not in a flash of colored fire, but in a flashbulb of white. “Umm… What just happened?” she asked.

Discord snapped again and both she and Thorax reverted to their natural forms. “How interesting,” Discord mused.

“Fluttershy already knows about Thorax, and Twilight is aware of my story,” Inky cut in.

“Fine then, I don’t care anyway. But you’re still not invited to the party. I’ll know if you try to sneak in.” And with that he was gone.

“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Inky muttered.

That evening, Inky, Perfect Timing, Bon Bon, and the Doctor were gathered in Twilight’s backyard, sitting at a picnic table. “Do we actually have a plan, or are we just going to be watching and hoping?” Bon Bon asked. “It’s not as though we can do anything to him if he does try anything.”

“Actually, I do have something that might work,” the Doctor replied, pulling a boxy device out of under the table. It resembled a large camara, with six distinctive gems set around the exterior, as well as several gears of varying sizes. “The only thing Discord fears are the Elements of Harmony, so I figured anything made to go up against him would have to include them. This device was designed to emulate the bearers using the Elements to petrify their target.”

“Doctor,” Bon Bon whispered. “How did you remove the Elements from the Tree of Harmony? And why haven’t you told anypony you can manipulate the Elements?”

“Oh, well…” His smell shifted from proud to something between guilt and worry as he anxiously tugged at his collar. “I’ll answer your first question after we’re done here, but as for your second, this is an untested prototype. I’ve done my best, and let me tell you, it’s not easy to simulate character with gems and steel, but I’ve gotten as far along as I could without a proper field test.”

“How long did that take?” Inky asked.

“I’ve been tinkering with it off and on since Discord re-emerged a few years back. Up until now I’ve never had a need for it when everything was in place.”

“Do you have any other potential superweapons lying around your house we should know about?” Bon Bon asked.

Inky immediately considered the possibility of requesting military assistance from the Changeling World, but the Doctor seemed shocked. “Superweapons? You make me sound like a mad scientist from the comics. This is the only purpose built weapon in my house, and I designed this specifically with Discord in mind.”

“Purpose built?”

“Any sufficiently powerful tool is indistinguishable from a really inefficient weapon,” Perfect pointed out. A shadow fell across the table, and they all looked up to see the sun disappearing behind the horizon. “Am I the only one who thinks we all might be overreacting to a neighborly invitation to an event?”

“It was a very forceful invitation,” Inky began.

“By the Spirit of Chaos,” Bon Bon continued.

“You can never trust that, that… fiend!” the Doctor added. “I’d feel far safer if he didn’t frequent Ponyville, except that then I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on him.”

“Well, let’s go see how things are going,” Perfect conceded.

As they made their way over to the windows of Twilight’s castle Inky cast a perception filter over them. This one utilized a modified version of the ‘Want it Need it’ spell Twilight had wrecked Ponyville with that one time, inverted so as to deflect attention away from the target of the spell. She’d learned through experience that her filters couldn’t affect young foals or either those with a strong will or those with talent for magic, she wasn’t sure which. Whichever way that it failed to fool the Princesses it likely wouldn’t work on Discord either, but it would at least keep most passerby from noticing the group’s odd activity.

Once there they saw Discord talking to Spike and Big Mac, with Thorax right behind him in his Crystal Hoof disguise. Then there was a flash of light and they were all gone.

“Please tell me one of you can track teleports,” the Doctor whispered.

Perfect shook her head. “Sorry Doctor, if I were standing right where he cast the spell, I might be able to tell somepony had teleported, but I’d have no way of knowing where.”

Inky shrugged. “I might be able to manage a rough distance, but I imagine Discord probably doesn’t follow the same power drop-offs as the usual mage.”

The Doctor rubbed his chin with a forehoof. Just as he opened his mouth they reappeared in another flash of white. “Well, I suppose that’s a moot point now.” Spike ran into an interior room, and the others all stood around, waiting.

“It just occurred to me, what are we going to do if they head deeper inside?” Perfect asked.

Bon Bon smirked and withdrew a grappling hook from her saddlebags. “Then I’ll do some mountaineering. Inky, think you’re up for a flight?” As the others headed off after Spike, Inky nodded.

“I still don’t understand what happened,” Perfect said in a bewildered tone.

“Neither do I,” agreed the Doctor.

“I bet we’d have a better idea what in Equestria happened in there if Discord wasn’t such an impulsive teleporter,” Bon Bon added. “And here I thought Princess Twilight teleported everywhere.”

“Yes, or if we could hear them,” the Doctor continued. “Spying is probably much less frustrating when you can reach listening range.”

Perfect let out a large yawn. “Well, they all seem to be having fun, so I’m going to bed. It’s way past my bedtime, and you don’t need four ponies for this. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Once she was gone, Inky turned to the Doctor and pulled him away from Bon Bon, who was still watching the window, though she seemed to be nodding off a bit. “So, how did you manage to obtain some Elements of Harmony?” she asked. “I would’ve thought you borrowed the ones from the other world, but most of those are in their shaped forms.”

“Oh, well, you see.” He swallowed. “They’re fake. The device really is designed just as I said, but the Elements are simply enchanted to seem as though they were the real things. I was hoping it might be good enough to fool Discord. After all, I’ve spent as much time around the Elements as he has.”

“Huh. That’s surprisingly sneaky of you Doctor. I expect you didn’t tell us so our reactions couldn’t give it away?”

“Yes, specifically Perfect Timing.”

“Well, I’m glad we didn’t end up having to use it. Although, maybe we should see about testing it sometime, just in case.”

Author's Note

Discord doesn’t have any passive detection abilities beyond the average creature, but if he thinks to start running scans there’s not a lot he can’t find.