From Here to Eternity: Chapter Six

From Here to Eternity

Chapter Six

Amazingly, Discord did behave himself while they walked through Ponyville. There were a few times Twilight caught him deliberately flicking his tail into somepony's face or tripping up a passing pony but, in her opinion, he could have done a lot worse. When they reached her library, her friends all went their separate ways to prepare for the trip. They were slightly concerned about leaving her alone with Discord but she assured them she would be okay. She still had her magic while he was powerless. Of course Applejack mentioned that bulls were not to be trifled with whether they were Discord or not but she managed to convince her friends she would still be alive when they met up in an hour.

Of course she wasn't telling the whole truth about the situation. She was actually looking forward to some one-on-one with Discord. She was desperate to ask him some questions that had been on her mind for weeks now. Questions she never thought she would have answers to. Questions about what she saw in Serenity's book. How to bring up her questions without mentioning the book itself though? Or Serenity for that matter. She didn't want to risk Discord's anger by mentioning either.

Twilight bit her lower lip in thought as she and Discord entered the library. She actually felt nervous now that they were alone. Distractedly, she began to pack.

"Sooooo...where's little Rainbow crash?"

She glanced over at Discord who was awkwardly leaning against a wall with frosting all over his mouth, "You know where she went and don't call her that. And what is that? Why is there-"

"Those were some of the most delicious cupcakes Twi. I wouldn't have thought you could cook."

"I don't really," she raised an eyebrow at him, "I get all my pastries from-"

"It's not of consequence," he licked off the frosting and sauntered over to her, "What I meant by 'little' Rainbow crash was if your minion around."

She frowned, "You mean Spike? He should be here," she glanced around and called, "Spike? You here?"

No answer.

"That's odd," she went back to packing, "Perhaps he went out for more pastries."

"Good," she was suddenly aware of Discord being directly behind her, "I have some questions for you."

Her back still to him, she said, "I have some questions too now that you mention it."

"Really now?" he walked away from her and she let out a small breath. There was a thump and she heard him say, "Let's make this fun: we'll take turns! First I'll ask one question then you get to answer me then I'll ask another and then it's your turn again to answer me and so on. Maybe you can fit in a question of your own now and then. I'll go first," he cleared his throat, "When Dashie was acting like the only sane pony besides Celestia and was loudly protesting your merciful request, she mentioned something I found very curious."

Twilight held her breath as she remembered Dash's words of, "I don't care about any old book!" How was she going to explain that without actually telling him anything?

"She mentioned something about a book. I'm curious as to how this had anything to do with the conversation at the time. It didn't seem to connect at all. Unless, there's something I don't know," his voice deepened, "And I don't like being kept in the dark," she heard him draw closer, "About anything."

She swallowed nervously, "What makes you think I would know anything about that?"

He snorted in disgust, "You're the bookworm of course. Now fess up."

Slightly annoyed, she snapped, "Well I don't know anything, so there!"

"Of course you don't," his voice became a low growl, "Must be something important then, something secret, something you wouldn't want me to know about," she was suddenly flipped around. His expression was terrifying as he hissed, "Listen, I am millions of years old. I can tell when some pony who's only had a mere pittance of an existence is lying to me!" she opened her mouth but he continued, "And if you happen to disagree, I suggest you reconsider. We're going to be traveling together darling, I don't recommend making me an enemy before we even head out."

Twilight's mind raced. Her luck in dealing with Discord seemed to be going in a downward spiral. Perhaps she should tell him what she knew...but in little bits, so she could see how he responded. She tried to smile and said, "Well, uh, I've reconsidered."

"Excellent!" he suddenly grinned like an eager colt, "So what is this mysterious book the illiterate Dashie referred too?"

"Well," she pushed her hooves against him in an effort to gain some distance from him, "It's...a book about you. Mostly."

"A book about me?" he stepped back and dramatically placed a hoof on his chest, "Old insignificant me? Does this explain your sudden change of attitude towards to me? Your unexplainable spout of mercy and grace? Oh dooo tell Twi," he hissed, his smile spreading ear-to-ear in an unrealistic fashion.

She frowned, "You're not going to stop calling me that, are you?"

"No."

"Fine, I don't care anyways," she said, "It's an old book I found and...it had information on you and I learned a lot about you in it and I came to the conclusion you weren't as bad as you first seemed."

He looked bored as she spoke and he sounded incredulous as he said, "You honestly believe everything you read, don't you?"

She blinked, taken aback, "Well I uh-"

"What was this book called?" he leaned forward, "I happen to know there were no books written on me that survived my reign and no book written about me after I was gone can ever be conceived as accurate," he stuck his nose in the air arrogantly, "No pony could write anything worth squat about me without having known me on a personal level. Know how many ponies can claim that?"

"Well, um," she shrugged awkwardly, "I know there had to be some."

He tilted his head to the side in an amused way, "There are only two. One hates to write, least of all about me, and the other doesn't believe in keeping a diary. Ha ha!" he laughed at her shocked expression, "Why so startled little pony? Surprised there are as many as two?"

"But shouldn't there be at least three?" she blurted out. He froze and stared at her hard. Eyebrow raised, he crossed his hooves and softly said, "Now why do you think that?"

Twilight tried to laugh, "It's just that you're so old. I expected there to be more than just two close friends."

"They aren't friends."

She inwardly flinched at the venom in his voice, "Then what-"

"They're traitors," he snarled to himself, "They're backstabbing traitors."

"Yes, I know," she nodded with a frown, "You meant Celestia and Luna. I understand."

"You understand?" he snapped, "You claim to understand a thousand years trapped as stone! You think you know what it's like to be king and then to loose it all because of the disgusting self-righteousness of two pitiful sisters who felt it was their 'duty' to usurp me from my rightful throne because they didn't like how I ran things?" he shoved his enraged face right into her's, "You're a naive fool if that's what you think!"

Twilight shrunk down under his rage and looked away. He was right. What had she been thinking? She didn't understand anything about this...she was not Serenity. She was not connected to him in any other way than as one of the elements that trapped him all those years ago...

There was a long silence, then he stated, "Now tell me, what did you read in that book?"

She looked back into his eyes, memories of Serenity living happily with him, playing with him, laughing with him, loving him flashed across her mind. She felt so confused.

"Twilight?"

"Sorry," she blinked and tried to collect her thoughts, "Did you only have two who knew you personally then? No others besides the princesses?"

His expression was unreadable as he said, "There have been more than just two. Only the two still live though. Any others are long dead."

Her eyes widened as her brain spun, "Why do you think that?"

"Logic," he turned away from her and waved a hoof in the air, "Oh yes, I can use it too! No pony can live over a thousand years. Except our beloved princesses of course."

"But what if you're wrong!" she ran in front of him and met his confounded look, "What if there is still a pony out there you were close too?"

He began to look slightly uncomfortable, "I would have known if there was."

"How?"

He suddenly frowned, "So many questions!" he tapped her nose, "It's MY turn silly pony."

"I don't care!" Twilight could hardly stand the whirling of memories; it was like an unbearable pressure building up in her mind, "Does Serenity exist or not!"

Discord froze, "Where..." he licked his lips and swallowed as though he suddenly had a dry throat, "Where did you hear...about Serenity?"

Twilight cursed herself for her rashness. How could she just blurt out Serenity's name like that? Whatever happened to keeping that subject a secret? Angry with herself, she turned away, "Nowhere. I didn't hear it anywhere."

"Twilight," he grabbed hold of her face again and forced her to meet his eyes. They looked...worried? Concerned? Perhaps even...hopeful?

"Twilight, where did you hear that name?"

Relief flooded her mind, as she saw a way out, "Celestia told me about her. I heard about her from Celestia."

His eyes dulled as obvious disappointment shot across his features, "Ah. Celestia. Yes. She must have told you," he dropped her head and walked over to the wall. Slumping against it, he muttered, "Though why, I fail to see."

"Yeah, who knows why," Twilight sighed and started packing again. Discord was silent for a long time afterwords. It wasn't until she was almost done preparing to leave that he suddenly asked, "What did Celestia say about her?"

"Oh, um," she thought frantically. Though she felt far calmer now that they had remained silent for a while, she was still nervous about the subject of Serenity. It wasn't like she had wanted to blurt out her name. He needed an answer though and she couldn't help feeling as though she were digging a deeper hole for herself as she said, "Celestia said you and she were fri-uh, companions. That the two of you were close and spent a lot of time with each other. Also that you two pranked her a couple times," she chuckled to herself, "Not much to tell."

Discord didn't seem amused, "Did she ever mention what happened to her after I was made a statue?"

Oh Equestria. How was she going to answer that? She decided to feign ignorance, "She didn't. Why? Do you know what happened?"

"No. No I don't," was the curt reply, "Are you sure YOU don't? Perhaps you read something in that book of yours. The one all about me. The one I'm beginning to suspect was written by somepony I knew."

Perhaps she should just tell him everything. He would be furious at her for trying to lie to him but maybe...just maybe...

"Twilight! Hey Twilight! Is that you talking?"

"Spike!" she ran from the room, grateful for the excuse to leave. Spike was in the doorway, covered in scratches from head to toe. Her mouth dropped at the sight of him, "Spike! What happened to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Really," he brushed off some dust, "I was just helping Riba-twirl with something."

"Riba-twirl?" Twilight summoned over a first aid kit and levitated her dragon assistant over to a chair, "Who's that?"

"Her name is Ribbon Twirl," he sighed dreamily, "She's just moved here from Appleloosa. She's a cousin of Applejack's but she's more like Rarity than anypony from the Apple family. See, she wants to be a designer and I think she has real talent," he brought his little clawed hands up to his heart, eyes closing, "She's soo nice! Really fun too. Kinda like Pinkie Pie when she's being crazy...but she's soo cute!"

"Uh," Twilight rolled her eyes slightly, "I can't wait to meet her!"

"Really?" he jumped off the chair, ignoring Twilight's "Hey wait!", "She's right outside here, so you can meet her right now! Riba-twirl! Come on in! Twilight wants to meet you!"

Twilight sighed and smiled at the back of her assistant. He could be so enthusiastic at times. Movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she tilted her head to see Discord enter the room with a bored expression. He yawned and said, "I hope you realize your hour is up," he grinned mockingly, "You're going to be laaaaate."

She gasped as she looked up at the clock. He was right! She didn't have time to meet Spike's newest crush!

"Twilight, this is Ribbon Twirl! You can just call her Riba-twirl like me though."

She looked down into the big brown eyes of a young filly who saluted her, "Hi!"

Spike grinned abashedly, "Isn't she nice?"

Twilight took in the delicately curled brown mane, the soft yellow coat, the long lashes, the freckles splashed across her face, the multiple ribbons, the eager, lively expression, and sincerely smiled, "I think she's very, very nice."

"Really? That's great Twilight because-"

"Ugh! Mother help me, I'm gagging over here."

Twilight glared over at Discord who was making choking noises, "If it bugs you so much, why don't you just leave?"

"I just might!" he minced passed them, "Perhaps I should let Schism ponynap me, at least then I would not have to put up with this lovie-dovie goosh!"

Spike and Ribbon Twirl stared up at him with blank looks. After a moment Spike muttered, "Haven't I heard that voice before?" right when his friend burst out, "Why do ya have a bull in yer house?"

The 'bull' glared down at her, "I am NOT a bull missy! I am-"

"Discord!" Spike suddenly yelped, "I knew I heard that voice before!" he frantically waved his arms at Twilight, "Why is he here? I thought you had taken care of him since you were back so soon!"

Twilight tried to smile reassuringly, "Well uh, things have uh...changed a bit. Actually, I'm glad you're here because I needed to give you instructions of what to do while I'm gone."

"Gone?" Spike's voice rose to a squeal, "What do you mean gone? Did HE threaten you to leave?" he jabbed a claw at Discord who rolled his eyes, "I did not. I'll have you know this was all HER idea," he jabbed his own hoof into Twilight's side making her wince, "Ow! Hey!"

Spike puffed up indignantly, "Don't you touch her!"

"Why not?" Discord grinned wickedly and wrapped an arm around her waist, "We're all friends here, aren't we?"

Twilight calmly shoved him away, "Not really," and smiled down at Spike, "Don't worry about him Spike, he doesn't have his powers anymore."

Discord gasped in mock horror, "Just advertize it to the whole world, why don't you?"

"No...powers?" Spike frowned, "I don't buy it."

"Well it's true," Twilight sighed, "And I need you to take care of things around here while I'm gone okay?"

"But I uh," he suddenly looked awkward, "You're leaving me in charge? Alone? But how long will you be gone?"

"I...um, hmm," she glanced questioningly up at Discord who shrugged, "How should I know? I've never gone there solely on hoof," his face suddenly twisted, "Solely on hoof...ugh, my limbs are going to fall off..."

"I guess that answers your question," Twilight quickly spoke over Discord's mutters, "I made you a list just in case you weren't here in time to see me off. You'll find it in the library."

"But Twilight, I'm not sure that-"

"Oh you'll be fine Spike! I trust you to keep things nice and tidy while I'm gone."

"But what if-"

"You can always contact Applejack's family or Mr. and Mrs. Cupcake for help and there are numerous others you can call on too. Even Derpy can lend a hoof if you need it."

"I guess..."

"Come on Spike, cheer up! You'll be fine, I know you will."

Spike suddenly ran up to her and hugged her leg, "But will YOU be fine? I don't trust you alone with Discord."

Twilight's heart softened at Spike's sentimental words and she hugged him back, ignoring the gagging noises behind her, "I'll miss you too Spike but don't worry, my friends will be with me. Take care of things while I'm gone okay?"

He stepped back, straightening with pride, "You can count of me Twilight! I'll make sure everything is as it should be!"

"Can I help ya?" Ribbon Twirl eagerly jumped beside him, "It's ta least I can do to repay Spikie here for help'n me git ma fav'rite ribbon back!"

"Is THAT what you were doing?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at her dragon assistant who shrugged, "The wind blew it out of her mane and it got stuck in a bush. I was the only one who could reach it."

"Ya mean you was the only one to stop 'n help," Ribbon Twirl drawled, "No pony else bothered to ev'n ask me what was eat'in at me."

Spike blushed, "It was no problem. I'm glad I could-"

"GAGGING!" Discord suddenly exploded. Grabbing up Twilight's two bags, he stomped out the open door growling, "I thus release myself unto the unsuspecting citizens of Chaosville..."

"Oh dear," Twilight gave Spike a quick nudge, "I trust you to handle things while I'm gone!" she ran out the door yelling, "I love you! Oh yeah!" she poked her head back in, "Did I tell you about the list?"

Ribbon Twirl quickly answered, "Yer sure did miss!"

Twilight grinned at her and ran off after Discord only to find him gone. Her heart stopped, her breathing stopped, everything stopped; where did he go?

"Afternoon Twilight!"

She yelped and turned around to see Derpy Hooves hovering above her, "I had a message for you from the Cakes saying that your cupcakes were done but I saw you and your friends rushing off somewhere a few hours ago so I told Spike instead. Did you-"

"FALLING PIANO!"

Twilight jumped and screamed while Derpy exclaimed, "GET OUT FROM UNDER IT!" and zoomed away into the distance. Twilight watched her go, panting at being startled again so soon. She did not run though. Somepony's familiar laughter kept her from doing so.

Poking her head around the corner of a nearby house, she glared at Discord. He was rolling on the ground, completely incapacitated with his laughter. Unamused, she snapped, "That wasn't funny Discord!"

He wiped away a few tears and gasped, "Oh yes it was!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Oh, you're no fun."

"I can be loads of fun!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

Twilight ground her teeth together in frustration, "Never mind. Let's go meet the others. NOW."

"Pft," he stood and pranced passed her, plopping her bags onto her back, "Of course your highness. Shall I call for your noble carriage?"

Too irritated to respond, Twilight walked beside him in silence. She ignored the scowl he gave her, tried not to notice the disappointed look she received, but she couldn't keep her mouth shut after he shoved his pouting face against her's, "Would you stop it?"

"Why should I?"

"Just because!"

"That's not a reason."

"I don't need a reason! Just like YOU don't need a reason to be annoying!"

"Au contraire, I DO have a reason."

"...seriously?"

"Oh yes," he chuckled as they came in sight of her friends waiting for her, "I just looove seeing you get flustered!"

"Arrrrrg!" she growled as he bounded up to her friends proclaiming, "It appears we can leave now that our fearless but tardy leader has finally arrived!"

"Don't say anything," she grumbled to herself, "Ignore the tardy part. It's not MY fault that I'm tardy, it's HIS fault..."

"Okay Twi! Yer ready?"

She smiled at Applejack, "Sure am! Are you girls ready?"

"Yeeha!"

"You BET! Let's DO this!"

"Lead the way!"

"I'm ready to walkie-lalkie-dalkie!"

"I guess..."

"Okay then!" Twilight pointed her nose towards the Everfree Forest, "Let's go!"