The book of Fearwing

Chapter 1: In the wake of chaos

It started out as typically normal day in the Everefree Forest. The birds chirped, small woodland critters went about gathering nuts and the like, and there was 50 foot hydra trying to run down a boar. Relaxing on a tree branch that over looked the chase, was none over than the master of fright himself. Fearwing lied back with his front hooves folded behind his head and his wings over the sides. He let out a content sigh as the whole being in his element thing kicked in.

The boar and hydra charged by him and drew his attention. He smiled at the sight and called out to the the massive reptillian predator. "Yeah, go get him Camila! Heheheh, sweet girl." He got up from his branch and stretched out. "Speaking of sweet girls, I wonder how Pinkie and her friends are doing."

Fearwing flew off toward his house to check on Vincent and Edgar. Sure enough, they were fighting again. After a few minutes of yelling, flying around, and ruffled black feathers from all involved, Fearwing wrestled them into their time-out cages. He cleaned up the mess with a few grumbled words he used to hear father Pie shout in anger. After taking the time to reorganize the book-case they knocked over, Fearwing was caught off guard by a sound he wasn't ready for.

"Rain?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "On the sunniest day of the year? I'm all for blocking the light and sticking it to Tia every once in a while, but I was enjoying the good wea...oh my." What Fearwing saw completely boggled the mind. "Being a pegasus, I'm quite the accomplished expert when it comes to clouds, so I'm pretty sure they shouldn't be pink." He also noticed an odd color in the rain. Now, being more curious than cautious, Fearwing figured he had only one option, stick out his tongue and taste it. This part made our wicked friend even more curious. "Chocolate milk? Okay, this is too weird, I better go see Pinkie before the trees start talking to me." With a flap of his wings he shot up into the air, bursting through the clouds. After he breached the other side, he found that the fluffy pink mass stuck to his face. Fearwing tasted something sweet. He licked the cloud off his face. "Cotton candy, right." He smiled. "Heh, If Twilight saw this, she'd probably have a fit...and now I have something fun to try. Mwahhahahaaahhh, crud I can't. The bet. Now I need a hug from baby sis." On that thought, Fearwing flew off toward Ponyville.

Sugarcube corner had become a shelter for those seeking to escape the strange weather. It was rather inventive, they sprung a leak and they started using glasses to catch it. Then they served it complementary with every order of donuts. The bakery was filled with chatter about weird things happening all over town. Bunnies were suddenly growing long legs and rampaging through gardens, water was begining to float into the air, and all the pools were now filled with gelatin. It frightened everypony to a high degree and they hadn't heard any word from Princess Celestia in regards to it.

The gab was silenced when the doors were thrown open and a gust of salt and pepper wind blustered on through, sending a certain black pegasus right into the counter. Fearwing sat there dizzy from the ride he was just sent on. Mrs. Cake rushed over to help him up. "Are you okay dear?"

He nodded while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I'll be alright, but this has got to be one of the most chaotic storms I've ever seen."

Mr. Cake joined them after helping fight back the weather to close the door. "You can say that again. Why just not a few hours ago, we tried to fill an order for a few loaths of bread. No sooner do we put them in the oven, than they start rising out of control."

Mrs. Cake finished. "We had to beat the mass of raw to subdue it. It got away though. It's probably out there training, getting stronger."

Fearwing figured it would be a good idea to stop saying things couldn't get any freakier. "Sorry for your troubles. Is my sister here? I wanted to check in on her and her friends."

shook his head. "She went off to Sweet Apple Acres to help Applejack."

The pegasus let out a sigh. "I'm gonna have to go out there again? This day just keeps getting better." He got himself up and ready for take-off, thenhe turned to them and asked. "Can I get a french cruller to go?"

Mrs. Cake happily obliged. "Here you go and that comes with a free chocolate milk."

Fearwing smiled and nodded. He ate the cruller and chug the chocolate milk. "Thanks." then he shot straight out the door into the messed storm of sugar and spice.

Popcorn...lots of popcorn. It spread through the fields in mounds, for as far as the eye can see. Thankfully, the weather there had been put under control, quite literally, tied up and put to rest under a tree, where mutant bunnies were going at it like crazy. In the midst of this madness, Big Macintosh was searching through the puffed up mess franticly.

Fearwing flew over and spotted the red stallion in his distress. He hovered over him with an inquisitive look. "Hey there."

Big Mac didn't look up, he just stuck his head out for a quick "Howdy."

The black pegasus just chalked the lack of attention to the craziness. "You're A.J.'s brother, Big Macintosh, correct?"

Still focussing on his search he reeplied with a rushed "Eeyup. Hey, listen, can we wait for the introductions? I've got a big problem."

Fearwing was a bit concerned. "Any way I can help?"

Big Macintosh was real worried. "Applebloom..."

"Yours and A.J.'s little sister?" Interrupted Fearwing.

The red stallion went on. "Yes. She was out here helping clean up, then that crazy wind up and lifted her into the air, then tossed her into the popcorn and I haven't seen her since."

Our dark, winged friend felt Big Mac's pain. When they were little, Pinkie got lost during a game of hide and seek. "Maybe I'll have better luck with an air view." He flew over the popcorn like an evil stain across a field of snow. It took some searching, but he eventually spotted a red bow sticking out of the corn. "Ah ha!"

Fearwing reached in and pulled the filly out. Applebloom shook the popcorn out of her mane. "Thanks a bunch Mr. Fearwing. I think I got something in my eyes when that there wind picked me up. I couldn't see anything."

He flew her back toward Big Macintosh. "Don't mention it. As long as I've got ya, could you tell me where your sister and the gang went?"

She nodded. "They had to go to the palace. Princess Celestia said it was real important. Matter of fact, I'm home early cause our class field trip got cut short."

Fearwing placed her infront of her big brother and rubbed his temples. "Perfect, what started as a nice trip to see my sister is now turning into a visit to her royal ego. You two should probably get inside before something else crazy happens." They did as told and Fearwing flew off toward Canterlot. In his head he went over and over, "There is no way this could get any worse."

(a few minutes later.)

"Oh, come on!" Fearwing shouted as he glared below. The entirety of the castle's hedge maze had completely vanished. It was just a big crater, devoid of life. Fearwing was starting to become un-nerved. "What in the name of all things creepy is going on in Equestria today?" To his surprise, he heard laughing. It was weird, like maniacal with a hint of excited joy. Fearwing got in for a closer look.

At the center of the crater, the cause of the laughter was tossing about, just projecting his enjoyment. Fearwing landed behind him with a look of curiosity. A draconequus, first one Fearwing ever saw, but he knew his monsters. The creature finally broke his laughter to speak. "Oh those ponies! Heheheh, so easy to manipulate. It's like they weren't even trying and the aftermath. Bahahahah! Oh I wish I had a camera."

Fearwing's attention locked on the word 'six'. "Hey." He said in a loud and demandng tone.

The creature was surprised by this and turned to him with an inquisitive look and a smile. "Oh, hello there. I didn't here you land."

Fearwing glared at him. "Yeah, I could tell. I like to laugh too, mind sharing the joke?"

The creature tried to hush a giggle. "Well, it's really quite the interesting story. You see, I've ben trapped in stone for an incredibly long time."

Our dark friend's eyes lit up with realization. "The draconequus statue in the garden. You're Discord."

Discord took a bow. "In the fur, claws, scales, and horns. You've heard of me?"

"I know the story, but please go on." said Fearwing calming his expression.

Discord nodded. "Thankyou. Well as you can see, I've been released and I've been spreading a merry amount of chaos all over the place. Now, dear Celestia thought it would be a good idea to bring in some help from her guardians of the elements of harmony."

"Pinkie..." Fearwing's black coat went slightly pale when he thought of what this fiend might have done to her.

"Oh I liked that one." Said discord through a smile as he caught the name. "She had this care free spirit about her. Like she was just living for the happy, like me, but I digress. You see, I had a feeling Celestia might try to pull the elements on me again, so I took the liberty of hiding them. Twists and turns are my master plan, then find the elements back where you began. that brought them here, which is funny for it's own reason, but once they were here I got to hve some fun."

Fearwing growled. "What did you do?"

Discord was slightly taken aback. "Temper temper. It's rude to interupt." He smiled again. "First I took Twilight and Rarity's horns, then Fluttershy and Rainbow's wings, so everypony was on an even playing field. Then I split them up, so they lost eachother in the maze. One By one I twisted them around. Truthful Applejack became a liar, Pleasant Pinkie became a grouch, Sweet Fluttershy became a rather nasty number, generous Rarity became a greed obsessed hoarder,and ever loyal rainbow ditched her friends to save her own home, ruining the game and sealing the fate of Equestria. I won, they tried their best and the best part is, they never stood a chance in the fist place. Hahahaha, it's just so hilarious."

The black pegasus shook his head. He refused to believe it. All he knew for sure is that this guy was really getting on his nerves. What happened next was a burst of pure anger. Fearwing gave a defiant snort, then shot off the ground like a cannon shot with respective boom. He was locked on Discord and in a few seconds, shut the demented creature up with a direct hit. Discord fell to the ground with a loud thud and Fearwing kept upthe attack. They brawled for a bit then Fearwing put Discord in a headlock.

The masters of fear and chaos seemed to be evenly matched physically, but Discord was done with it. "Oh, really now, that was just rude. I was right in the middle of my triumphant victory laugh."

Fearwing put all his strength into keeping his opponent down. "Do you really think I care?"

Discord gave a sinister little smile to the situation. "Strong you may be, but magic..." He blinked, vanished leaving Fearwing stunned, and then reapeared behind him. "...you are most certainly not."

Fearwing lunged at him again, only to have his target teleport again. this process repeated four times until Fearwing stopped and then stomped in frustration. "Hold still you egotistical fruit-cake!"

Discord laughed a little. "Hahahahaha, and I thought the others were fun. You are simply a scream."

Our hero was getting tired. He thought that he'd be angrier, but he figured he was so enraged that he'd gone full-circle. Speaking of circle, he got an idea. he started flying arond Discord at an increasing speed. Fearwing's smile grew as he watched the world around him start to blur. He figured he'd top off the hurricane with his signature evil laugh. To his surprise, his laugh was interupted by another. He looked into the funnel and Discord was riding the wind on a surf board he pulled out of thin air. Fearwing was for all intents and purposes, dumbstruck. He pulled a sudden stop, fell to the ground with a plop and panted with exaustion.

Discord had turned his board into an umbrella and driffted down smoothly. He turned the tip to the ground, then gave a mocking look to his opponent. "Wonderful, simply wonderful. Oh, what game shall we play next? I'm up for some bowling or maybe 52 pick up." Fearwing remained speechless. Discord gave a wicked grin. "Honestly Fearwing, I see no reason for us to be enemies." He took notice of our hero's shock. "That's right, I know who you are, just as I knew the elements. The joy you take in terrorizing other ponies, the way they would fly into a panic when facing one of your home-made monsters. If that isn't chaos, then I need to get reaquainted with my job. Since you're so keen on challenging me, I'll throw you a bone. You're at your best intimidating others, let's see what we can do with that."

Discord placed the tip of one of his eagle talons on Fearwings forehead. The pegasus cringed, he figured Discord would warp him like he did the girls. There was a moment of suspense, but that turned into confusion. Nothng happened. Discord pulled his finger back and looked at it inquisitively. He tapped Fearwing's head again, still nothing. Once more and still no reaction. "Odd...my magic doesn't seem to affect you. Although, I should have guessed, knowing who your mother is."

Fearwing's eyes shot open. "What? You...you know who my mother is? My real mother?"

Discord nodded in a mock sympathy. "Uh-huh." he then went back to an evil glare/grin combo. "But that, my dear boy is something for another day. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to check on how the downward spiral is going with your sister and her goodie-goodie friends. Chow." He twictched his nose and vanished in a flash of light.

Fearwing shook his head. This had to stop. In a last bit of hope, he flew toward the palace, praying that there was still somethings Discord couldn't mess with.

The palace wasn't as bad as Ponyville, but it still suffered. Marble collums were now twisted every which way, the carpet was bloctching to the ceiling like in a lava lamp and the plants were flying around via little wings on their pots. Fearwing became even more concerned about how this would turn out. If Discord's chaos reached the royals, then what hope was their for the rest of Equestria.

As he marched through the halls, making his way to the throne room, Fearwing noticed something off. "This isn't right and not just the trippy decore. Where is everypony? usualy I've got at least five guards after me when I come to visit." As he reached the door to the throne room, he couldn't ignore the small grinding sound coming from the ground next to him. he glanced over and then got in closer when the spectical caught his attention. It was four of Celestia's personal guards. they had been turned into tin wind-up toys. As Fearwing watched them march about in a circle, he couldn't help but comment. "Oh, this is not an encouraging sign."

He opened the large doors and when he put his head inside, he was met with a happy and familiar voice. "Fearwing!"

It was Luna, Fearwing would know her voice anywhere. "Oh, Luna, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice." He came in the rest of the way, fixing his eyes on Luna and Celestia, sitting next to eachother at the end of the room. Fearwing flew over and gave Luna a big hug. "Discord has been twisting everything in everyway he can. The weather, the animals, the guards, even my sister and the gang. But seeing you safe and normal is just what I need to lift my spirits."

There was a bit of awkwardness, but then Luna's voice spoke to him again. "Uh, Fearwing. I'm over here."

Fearwing turned his gaze when the voice didn't come from Luna. He turned his head and saw what he thought was Celestia, but further inspection revealed Luna's teal eyes looking back at him. "Luna?" Celestia/Luna nodded. "Then that means I'm hugging.."

What he thought was Luna confirmed his deduction in Celestia's voice. "It's good to see you too."

The black pegasus pulled back in a second. "Ah! What happened."

Celestia answered, feeling weird in her little sisters form. "Discord happened."

Luna explained. "After Twilight Sparkle and the others left for the hedge maze, Discord came back to the palace. He got into some taunting speech regarding me turning against Tia after he saw how close we were when we first sealed him in stone. He got all preachy about how sisters shouldn't fight and then, these are his exact words,"What you need is some time in each other's hooves.""

Celestia looked to the ground. "We've been stuck like this for hours."

Fearwing looked puzzled. "You can't reverse it?"

Luna answered. "We aren't able to wield our magic in the other's body, but enough about us. We saw what happened out there. Are you okay Fearwing?"

The black pegasus narrowed his eyes at the question. "Okay? Heh...Okay? Let me tell you how my day has been. First I'm thinking, this is going pretty good, no problem. Then I look out my window to find it's raining chocolate out of cotton candy clouds. Then I get tossed around by some kind of spice wind, I'm looking high and low to make sure my sister's alright, I come here and some mish-mash of living crazy tells me she and her friends have been all mixed up, then I try to find comfort from my best friend, only to find she's been turned into her older sister. So yeah, it's been amazing!" His anger turned into despair, then tears started to well up in his eyes.

Luna looked at him with great sympathy. She approached, then knelt down and gave him a little nuzzle to comfort him. "Hey, come on now. Where's that cool, relaxed, positive guy that was bold enough to make friends with Nightmare Moon? It'll be alright."

Fearwing stopped himself from crying, but the sorrow in his voice was still obvious. "He out-me'd me . I couldn't do a thing to phase him. If what he said is true, then I don't know if the girls can do anything either. And, Luna, I apreciate the gesutre, but getting all close like this while you look like Tia is starting to creep me out."

Celestia took a bit of mock ofense. "Hey."

The three of them shared a laugh, then they gave a relaxed sigh. They felt a little better. They weren't happy, but they weren't in a total loss anymore. Fearwing lied back between the girls and stared at the ceiling. "I guess there's nothing left to do, but wait and see."

Luna took on a sour expression. "Now, what kind of talk is that?" She stood up and made sure Fearwing's attention was fixed on her. "Is this the same pegasus that I met my first night back? Where's the crafty stallion who devised away to drive six ponies from their quest to save Equestria? Who put together some of the most complex and inventive tricks and contraptions ever devised, just to make these brave heros scream, and almost won? Are you really going to sit there and tell me that the one and only Fearwing Shadowhoof, master of fright, and most diabolicaly intellegent mind in equestria, is going to sit there and do nothing while chaos runs rampant?"

Fearwing sat up. "You're right." He took a proud stance. "I'm not gonna take this sitting down. If Discord wants to try and play the villain game, then bring him on. I'm not gonna let him out-think me. I'm gonna put him in his place!"

Celestia smiled at his display of valiance. "If anypony can, it's you. Now, tell us. What is your evil plan to save the world?"

Fearwing pondered thoughts swirled around that brilliant mind of his. "Hmmm, think think think." He went to the air and started flying around the room in no discernable pattern. "Think think think, gotta fly around and think at the same time, gotta think gotta think." He glanced over to Clestia and his attention was driven to her. "Huh?"

Noticing his stare, Celestia posed the obvious question. "What is it?"

He got in close for a better look. "Luna, you look different."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Of course I look different, We've switched bodies remember?"

Fearwing waved off the retorical. "No, I mean your coats much darker and your mane kind of looks lik it did when you were Nightmare Moon. Plus, I think you got taller. When did that happen?"

She blushed a bit. "I went through a bit of a growth spurt and the coat and mane just went with it. Never mind that, did you think of anything?"

He looked glad she asked. "You better believe it. Celestia, Where do you keep your letters from Twilight?"

Celestia seemed puzzled. "In my room. Why?"

Fearwing put on one of his signature grins. "Simple, we're going to send all of them back." The girls looked even more confused. He tried to explain as fast as he could so he wouldn't run out of time. "Okay, listen. Discord said he inverted the personalities of Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow, but he didn't say anything about Twilight. The only reason he would switch them around like that is because all the traits that made them in sync with the elements would now be out of the picture. All the things that made them friends was replaced by what would drive them apart. Twilight's element, magic, she was able to draw on that power because she believed in her friends. If she loses that belief, then she'll be corrupted and Discord really does win."

Luna figured where he was going. "So, we don't let her lose that belief."

With this new plan established, the three of them set to work sending back Twilight's letters. It took time, because they had to go one by one as to not make Spike too sick. In the sum of a few minutes, their work was done. Celestia turned to Fearwing as he made his way to the window. "What now?"

Fearwing spread his wings. "Now I go down to Ponyville and see if it worked and to help out any way I can. If I don't make it..."

Luna interrupted with a blush. "I...love you too."

He wasn't expecting that. "I was gonna say it was nice knowing you two, but...uh...thanks." With that bit of awkwardness, he took off out the window.

Celestia giggled a bit. "Smooth move, sis."

Luna blushed redder. "Shut up."

Fearwing couldn't believe his eyes. He thought it was bad before, but his was just a mess.. Green, grassy hill-sides were turned all sorts of colors, water as flowing up, and there was any earth pony just floating through the air with a real crazy look in her eyes, making faces in all directions. Discord was going to plunge the world deeper into chaos until it broke like an over-played-with toy.

Through the twisted thing that was once Ponyville, Fearwing had one thought running through his head. "Please let this have worked. Let no bad happen." He flew around the roof tops and down the block toward the library. He saw trouble at Sugar Cube Corner, the dough monster Mr. and Mrs. Cake fought off got stronger and came back for revenge. Fearwing went wide yed, but kept flying. "I gotta learn not to tempt fate so much."

He made it to his destination. He was about to knock, but twilight opened the door before he could. Upon seeing eachother, their eyes lit up and smiles slipped across faces. They didn't need words, in seconds They were wrapped in a hug and inches off the ground. Fearwing placed his scholarly friend back on the ground. Twilight had a look about her that seemed she was going to cry of sheef joy. "Fearwing, you have no idea how good it is to see a friendly face."

He smiled warmly. "You're telling me. I couldn't get here fast enough, Discord's turned this town into a mad house. I know about what he did to my sister and the girls, are you okay?"

Twilight seemed disheartened. "He took my friends from me and left me alone." She took a braver stance. "I'm going to get them back."

Fearwing took a hidden sense of pride that his plan worked. "That's the spirit. You go get them back."

She seemed confused. "You're not coming too?"

He relocated next to her so they were both faced the open world. "Discord knows too much. Look around, he's spread himself al over the place. Someone's gotta keep his attention while you gather the calvary. Besides, I want a rematch." Fearwing went to the air, then circled back and hovered before her. "And Twilight, make sure my baby sister's back to that bouncy pink piece of happy we all know and love by the time I get back."

Twilight gave a nod and a smile. The two went to their tasks with a tune in their hearts that said they were going to win.

Discord was just soakng in all the mayhem that surrounded him. He skated down the soap road without a care. With a pirouette/jump combo, he finished with a grand pose on a toppled apple cart. He let out a content sigh then admired his work. A robin flew by upside-down while barking like a dog. The simple things are what touched him the most about what he did. "Ah, I couldn't picture a better day. I've been set free from that dismal prison, I had some fun with Celestia and her gang of friendship driven ponies, and all of Equestria has become my canvas for a whole big master piece of chaos. Mwahahahaha! It feels good to be on top!" His rant was cut off by a taunting whistle, then something splattered on the back of his head. Discord brushed the forein object off his scalp and discovered his hand was covered in some sort of pink glop when he pulled it back. It smelt sugary. "Frosting?" He tasted it. "Strawberry? Hmph, I preffer chocolate."

"Hey," Came a familar and determibned voice. Discord turned, only to be hit in the face with a second cupcake. Fearwing leaned against a barrel, tossing and catching one last pastrey in his hoof. "We have some unfinished buisness."

Discord simply licked the splattered treat off his face. "Mmmm, quite nice. That a family recipe?"

Fearwing smiled. "Pinkie's specialty, but enough of that." He tossed the cupcake aside. "I've come to settle this."

"Really?" Discord approached with an unamused expression and looked Fearwing in the eye. "Last time didn't go so well. What makes you think you can do anything now?"

Fearwing smiled. "I wasnt thinking straight. I was frazzled with all that was going on. I think you'll find me a better sport now."

Discord laughed a little. "Hmhmhm, such confidence. Very well, what do you suggest?"

Fearwing thought of the most time consuming thing he could. "You like riddles, let's make a game of it. We take turns asking eachother riddles, if one of us can't answer the other's riddle, then the lose."

"And we can ask whatever we want?" Asked Discord with enthusiasm at the idea.

Our dark winged hero nodded with pleasure his plan was working. "Of course."

Discord gestured to the right and a table with two seats had appeared out of thin air. Discord took his spot and waited for Fearwing to take his. "Challenger makes the first move."

Fearwing kept a matching level of pleasentness. "At night, they arrive without being fetched. By day, they are gone without being stolen. What are they?"

The chaos spirit didn't even pause to consider. "The stars. I never was, am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will. And yet I am the confidence of all, To live and breath on this terrestrial ball. What am I?"

Our dark friend smiled as he answered with ease. "The future. The pony who makes it, sells it. The pony who buys it never uses it and the pony who uses it doesn't know they are. What is it?"

Discord took on a rather monotone expression. "A coffin. I thought Celestia was grim." He smiled again as he continued. "Each morning I appear To lie at your feet, All day I will follow No matter how fast you run, Yet I nearly perish In the midday sun. What am I?"

Fearwing thought for a moment, then spoke with a hint of doubt. "A shadow. What does man love more than life Fear more than death or mortal strife What the poor have, the rich require, and what contented men desire, What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves And all men carry to their graves?"

Discord was amused. "Now it's getting complex. The answer is Nothing. Now, If you break me I do not stop working, If you touch me I may be snared, If you lose me Nothing will matter. What am I?"

Fearwing was starting to feel the edge. "A...a heart!"

"I'm getting to you, aren't I boy?" Discord said with a mocking venom in his voice.

Fearwing thought for a moment. "The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?"

Discord smiled, still unphased. "Darkness. Oh, here's a good one. On my way to St. Ives, I met a stallion with seven wives. Each wife carried seven sacks, each sack held seven cats, each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives, how many went to St. Ives?"

Fearwing was sure of this one. "One. It cannot be seen, it cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, Lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills. Comes first follows after, Ends life kills laughter. What is it?"

Discord seemed to be loosing interest again. "Again, the answer is darkness. Be more creative. This thing all things devours, Birds, beasts, trees, and flowers. Gnaws iron bites steel, Grinds hard stones to meal, Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down. What is it?"

Our friend was thinking hard on this one. After a minute of pondering, he answered. "Time. Now I have one big one for you."

There was a slick smile that spread across the chaos spirit's face. "Lay it on me."

Fearwing gave a wicked little smirk. "What do I keep under the loose floor board back at my house?"

Discord was shocked. "Th...that's not a riddle."

Fearwing brushed off the complaint. "Aren't you the one who wanted the rule that we could ask anything? I asked a question, now answer it."

The draconequus bit his bottom lip. "Well, I can't but.."

"Oh!" Said Fearwing with mock surprise and a smile. "You can't? Well, that means I win, now doesn't it?"

Discord was mad. His gray face turned red and steam shot out his ears. "No fair! You cheated!"

The black pegasus remained unphased by the anger. "I played by the rules that you helped specify. I simply out-played you."

Discord glared at him. "Fine. I have a new game. One that you might be familiar with. It's called twister!" Discord spun around at an increasing speed, until a funnel of wind with incredible strength stood in his place. The chaos spirit stepped out and gave it a push in Fearwings direction.

Our wicked friend was picked off the grounf. "Woah!" He was spun around and around and around.

Discord appeared at the eye of the mini storm, holding a wrentch in his lion paw. "Hate to throw a monkey-wrentch in your plans, but I'm the only one who plays mind games around here." he tossed said wrentch at Fearwing and sent him flying and I mean really flying. All you could see was a black and white blur shooting through the air back toward the palace. Discord was happy to have gotten the last laugh. 'Now that that mess is out of the way. Where was I?" Heremembered and with a whip crack of his snake tail, he turned the table into a sinister looking throne. He sat back and continued to bask in the full glory of his chaos.

Luna and Celestia were worried. They knew Fearwing was a force to be dealt with, but Discord was on a whole other level. One thing that bugged Luna more than anything, as she paced up and down the hall, was what her last words to him were. "I can't believe I just blurted that out."

Celestia felt for her little sister. She had her share of awkward moments in relationships. Normally it would just be a matter of draping a wing over her little sister, but now Celestia found herself on the shorter end of the preverbial stick. She lifted off the ground a few inches and gave Luna a comforting hug. "There, there it's nothing to be ashamed of. The two of you care very deeply for eachother. That's understandable, because for a while, the two of you only had eachother to rely on."

Luna felt she needed to correct her sister. "Well, aside from you of course."

The day princess nodded. "True, but I'm your older sister. Sometimes you need to find comfort outside the family. Plus Fearwing and I haven't always gotten along."

The younger sibling was curious. "Hey, I've always wanted to ask. When did you first meet Fearwing?"

Celestia smiled. "Now that's a memory to smile at. I remember it was just about two years before you returned from your exile. I was about to leave for my daily raising of the sun, when he showed up. I didn't even know just what he was at first. There was a massive bat-like creature that blocked me before I could leave. i tried going around it, but it met me at every turn I could make. I grew tired of it, so I lit a small spark on it's tail. I only meant to scare it off, but the matierial it was made out of caught into a blaze almost instantly."

Luna gasped. "Was Fearwing okay?"

Her older sister nodded with a smile. "He and his ravens tumbled out of the disaster without a scratch. I remember that it was one of the few times I got mad. I asked him what the meaning of his assault was and he took a stern stand before me and said "The bats are not happy! They hold a roost on the mountains of the everfree forest and you raise the sun too close to their home. You've nearly blinded half of them." Well, I felt terrible. I was causing pain to inocent creatures and this brave pegasus confronted me without a care of who I was. The guards were a bit more agressive than I and they rushed him. I don't know where he learned to fight, but he knocked out five highly trained stalllions on his own. I'll never forget how he made his grand exit. Shaking a hoof and turning to me with an angry stare, he shouted "We'll meet again Celestia"".

Luna seemed disheartened. "You don't approve of my feelings for him, do you?"

Celestia gave her a tender nuzzle. "Don't be silly. After all that Nightmare Moon mess, I was so worried that you wouldn't be able to recover from your guilt. When Fearwing First barged into the palace demanding to see you..."

"He did?" This was the frst Luna ever heard of it.

Celestia was shocked. "I was sure he would have told you. He kicked in the front doors yelling where is she and the guards were all over him. They were getting tossed away as fast as they were moving in. I just assumed this was just another ploy to rebel against me, but when he called for you by name, I got to thinking. Next time he showed up, I was the first to meet him at the door and the first to welcome him in."

Luna giggled a little. "He was suspicious wasn't he?"

Celestia laughed with her. "It was like he was waiting for them to launch out of the walls." She gave her sister another nuzzle. "Don't worry. Knowing how much he cares about you, i'm sure he'll come right throuh those doors." There was a loud crash of stained glass windows breaking and then the girls were knocked over by a dizzy Fearwing. Luna landed on Celestia and pinned her sister under her own weight. The two looked to see what hit them and saw Fearwing sprawled on top of Luna with a real dazed look and holding a wrentch in his hooves. Celestia corrected herself. "Or this. This is okay too."

Luna was frightened and worried about him. "Fearwing, are you okay?"

He kept that dazed, cross-eyed, exausted look as he managed a confused reply. "Where's the leak ma'am?" Luna sat up, held Fearwing in frnt of her and shook him a little to straighten his senses. It worked. "Huh? Oh, hi girls."

Celestia asked the obvious question. "What happened?"

Fearwing brushed himself off as Luna put him down. "I spun the chess board when he wasn't looking and then he threw it off the table."

Celestia was confused, but Luna cleared it up. "Fearwing cheated and Discord was a sore loser."

Fearwing smiled. "But it worked. Twilight's faith in her friends is stronger than ever. It won't be long now before she rallys them to the cause and the six of them put Discord backin his place as a garden decoration."

Luna was happy to see his confidence, but wondered if it was well placed. "How are you so sure?"

He shot her a clever smirk and answered. "They beat us, didn't they?"

No sooner did he finish that sentence, than everything that was twisted around the palace start to glow. When the light show faded, the guards were fixed, the collums returned to their shape, carpet was fixed and plants were firmly back where they rested before the chaos. Fearwing was amased by the miraculous recovery of all things that were messed up, even the window he busted through was repaired. He turned his attention back to the girls. They were in some sort of shock for a few seconds and Fearwing figured out why. When he saw what looked like Luna, it really was Luna. The siters had switched back to their old selves and celebrated with a hug, then were tackled by Fearwing in a group hug that proved he was his sister's brother.

For those of you who know how the story of The elements vs. Discord ended, then you're familiar with the big celebratory ending that honored them as heroes once again and made referrence to another story we've all become familiar with.(insert Chewbacca sound here.) The girls were united as friends once more, peace was returned to Equestria, and everypony turned up to celebrate.

Save for two, who hid in the rafters while this was taking place. Luna snuggled up next to Fearwing as they lay side by side watching Celestia address the heroes and the crowd. "You should be down there. If it weren't for you, Discord would have run rampant forever."

Fearwing draped a wing around her and brushed off the remark with a smile. "Nah, they're the heroes here. They put Discord back in his eternal prison, I just egged him on while they got the real work done." He smiled at the sight of his sister and her friends. "You know, maybe I'll hang around them more often. I mean, just look at how far I've come since I first met them. I went from creepy miser hiding in the woods, to having some great friends all over Ponyville and Canterlot." He gave her a nuzzle. "And don't think I've forgotten the one who started it all."

She blushed. "It was a well worth decision. I can't help, but feel that something's bothering you."

He looked down about something and was silent for a few seconds. "Discord's magic didn't work on me like it did on everypony else. He said it had something to do with my mother and that he knew who she was." He was silent again and could tell something touched with Luna as well. "Luna...if you and Tia knew something about that, you'd tell me right?"

Luna was surprised by this question. There was a conflicted look about her, but she only manged to nuzzle him again. "Right now, all you have to know is that Me, my sister, yours and all her friends are here for you, no matter what. And about what I said..."

Fearwing stopped her there. "It's alright." He rested against her and she returned the affection. "If roles were reversed, I think I would have said the same thing." They stayed together till the end of the ceremony, then they joined Celestia and the girls for an after party at Twilight's library. Friendship had once more conquered evil and Equestria was safe, and that was something to think about.