Chapter 53

I turn and run. Blindly. I just run, out of the ballroom, out of the palace, and I'm sure I would have run out of the city if Discord and Twilight didn't stop me. Twilight teleports in front of me, and we crash together. As we heave and try to untangle ourselves, Discord comes running out, also out of breath.

"Good.. good work.. Twilight.." He gasps.

"Thanks.. Ow." She moans as she pulls away, stumbling to her hooves. Suddenly, she seems like she's towering over me, imperiously. "Now… why on earth were you running, Copper?" Her eyes pierce mine and I can only sob. "C-Copper! Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay!"

"No! No it's not!" I sob, throwing my face up towards the sky. "I- I think I caused this!"

"That's what you said earlier.. But how could you have caused this?" Discord says, still breathing hard. He comes close, his meager form pressed flush with mine. I can hardly feel upset about how near I'm allowing him to be, too upset by Echo to process anything else.

"I don't know exactly! But I had a vision, a horrible horrible vision and I didn't do anything about it I just let it happen so that makes it my fault- I did this to Echo!"

"So why were you running?" Twilight asks again, desperate.

"B-back to P-p-ponyv-ville."

"That answers 'where', but what for?" She seems incredulous.

"The vision- th-there were two and if this one came true then I need to see how and I need to see if the other one can be stopped, because it's horrible, Twilight, it's a terrible monster. It can't come here.." I want to keep talking but my breathing is too hard, my throat feels swollen shut. I choke on words and breathing for a moment, then give in to just try to take in enough air. Everything gets tingly and numb and I slump in a tense ball on the cobbled stone. I notice the world around me in mere observation, too flooded with feeling to have any specific reactions to what's happening outside myself.

"What's wrong?" Discord explodes. I can't see him but I can envision his face wide with worry.

"Oh geez, she's having a panic attack!" Twilight exclaims. Panic attack?

"What do we do?" Discord sounds panicked himself, his voice a vaulted wheeze.

"There's not much we can do except try to help her get calm again." Twilight doesn't seem too excited about that, nervously biting her lip and pacing around. Discord nods after a moment and just comes and sits by me.

"Hey." He says, gently, as he wraps his tail around me. I can't respond, so I just nod. "I know this is scary, but it'll be okay. Just.. just breathe, okay?" I numbly nod, and I relax against his side. Minute by minute the tears and the closed throat go away, but I'm so tired from everything that I nearly fall asleep. I dimly feel Discord pick me up, and see a muted flash of light through mostly closed eyes.

"I'll bring all our friends here after we start sorting some things out. You two can stay here for now. It's my old room, but nopony uses it anymore, so it'll be quiet. Keep her calm, let her sleep. Don't panic yourself either, Discord."

"Alright, Twilight. We'll be here." I hear a distant door open and close and then it's quiet besides our breathing. I try to drift off, but nothing feels right. I just want to get back to dig up that ball and see what else I'm going to do to ruin something or someone else. I want to run far, far away. I really, really want to see Echo, but I know he's probably being taken care of, and that if I saw him, I'd probably panic again.

"Copper?" Discord's voice intrudes on my internal monologue. I think I'm in a bed and he's on the floor beside me, but my eyes are swollen shut with malabsorbed tears. "You're not asleep, are you?"

"..No. I'm so tired but I can't quite.."

"I understand." He pauses. "Do you really think you made this happen?"

"Not so much in.. cause and effect terms. But I- I allowed it to happen. I could have prevented this if I hadn't buried those visions, if I just faced them. So it's as good as making it happen."

"I don't know if I believe that."

"Why not?"

"Well.. you didn't want it to happen, right? You.. you only got rid of it because you thought it wouldn't hurt, not because you wanted to add to the future harm. It's not the same as if you contributed on purpose.."

"But I contributed nonetheless. I helped by doing nothing."

"Maybe. But you still didn't, ah, donate to the cause. It's more like.. it was stolen from you. If that makes sense."
"Kind of.. But I feel like I let the robber go. He stole something important and I just.. Let him go. And then he used that important thing to do this horrible thing to my friend.."

"But you realize that even then, it wasn't your permission, you didn't.. You didn't allow this. You couldn't have known that in letting it go it would cause the harm."

"If I had studied the vision I'd have known.."

"Well, you couldn't have known that. And now we'll do everything to make it right, both of them." For the first time since I closed my eyes in tears on the streets, I force my eyes open, to look at Discord. His yellow and red eyes are fixed on me, genuine and focused and sure. "We'll make it right. I promise." I tear up a little again.

"Okay. Okay, I believe you." I crawl across the bed to rest my head against his. It is so.. So nice to be able to, to allow myself. I'm so scared, but my only comfort is him and this promise of fixing the future. It means temporarily endangering him, but I am in control of myself for this moment at least. I will not allow that vision to come true. Not again, not ever again will I let myself hurt someone I care about.

"What does this mean, Copper?"

"Hmm?" I sleepily pull my head back.

"This. I thought- earlier you freaked out about something, just when.. just when I thought you were going to give, you know, 'us' a chance. You ran and, and then the ballroom exploded in fights and then Echo.. and now we're here. What does this mean for you, Copper?"

"It means.. It means I can't fight myself right now. I just.. I want this moment. If there's never another moment between us, at least there was this, with no tricks and no misunderstandings. For now, at least, we're 'us'. I can't promise I won't go back to seeing reason tomorrow, but.. But tonight we're here. It just feels good to be next to you. And that's all I want right now."

"Then that's what you'll get." He sighs with a gentle purr that tickles in my cheekbones. "Though as far as tomorrow goes, I can't promise I won't keep pursuing you. A taste of what 'we' could be is quite a motivator, you know." I just giggle, a gentle, tiny sound that echoes in this massive room. Then there is only the sound of our breathing for a short while. There is a slowly building tap-tap of hooves coming down the hallway, which ends with the explosion of a slamming door. I jolt upright but fall immediately out of bed, panicked. Discord, too, springs up, like a cat doused with water unexpectedly. Looking down from the landing, I can see it's Octavia. Even in her sleek, seductive dress and light makeup her look of fury is absolutely breathtakingly horrifying, perhaps made even moreso by the outfit. It's so unexpected- on the mare and in the setting. The others- Twilight's group- try to talk her out of whatever she's about to do or say, but their voices are nothing.

"How..?" Her voice is low but eerily gentle for a moment before rising to match her face. "How DARE You!" She marches forward as other ponies hooves steps scramble to catch up.

"Wh-what?" I manage to spit out. Instinctively I crouch behind the railing, though I have a feeling that it would do nothing to save me from this mare's wrath. As she marches up the stairs with a fierce snarl on her face, I scramble back, and Discord moves in front of me.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on…. Echo is in solitary quarantine for treatment.. NO VISITORS ALLOWED!" She stomps her pristine heeled hoof and wood shatters beneath it.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't-" She stomps again, making me jump back into the wall. Even Discord flinches away. She's just about to speak again but the hooves from earlier take shape as the royals arrive on scene with more of Echo's loved ones.

"Octavia, stand down. Violence will not heal Echo when it is what injured him in the first place." A dark stallion, the same from the night of stargazing, Prince Knights, speaks with conviction. She looks like she's about to do something anyway, but he's up here in a flash, wings blocking her. "Stand. Down."

"W-w-what's going on?" Discord asks.

"Cut the crap! We know what happened! We know that she abandoned Echo! Princess Twilight Sparkle told us everything!" Octavia snarls around Prince Knights.

"She did not abandon him! If you listened closer you would know that Copper was, in her own way, trying to help." Prince Knights steps forward in my defense, but from what little I can see, I don't think Octavia so much as blinks. Gods, what a mare.

"Octavia, darling… Jet and Neon.. even his father… they really could use your presence right now.." Rarity speaks softly though she's restraining something as well. The anger in the air maintains itself a moment longer, a terrible, anxious moment, but it drops away, signalled by Prince Knights furling his wings.

"This is not over. I will, at the least, have a very serious discussion with her about this." She hisses in the Prince's face, then walks away. Everypony is silent as she and a number of other ponies leave.

As the door shuts, I shake and start to cry again.

"Now, now, sugarcube… uh… this ain't your fault.. you only did what you thought would help… Octy's just got a toad in her hay like everypony else tonight.. it's something in the air." Applejack consoles me, petting my hair. When did she even get up here?

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It was fine one moment at the Gala, and then the next you could just feel the tension and the anger.. it built and built and built.. and then it exploded!" Discord says. "It was horrifying to watch."

"Indeed.. I have not felt such a tangible drop in emotional energy since your reign was at the height of it's stretch." Luna says to Discord, alighting next to Knights, joined a moment later by Princess Celestia. I'm surrounded by gods.. I don't have time to be overwhelmed, though, as Discord shrinks under the reminder. I put my hooves around his shoulders, returning his hug. Princess Luna notices and with a start says,

"Oh, pardon, I only meant to draw a comparison, not to injure your conscious. My point was that this was not an accident, or a coincidence, or in any way normal. These events are being caused.. Such riots have been sporadically showing up across the country for nigh on a year, now, but I never thought to be present for one."

"And now that we've experienced it firsthoof, we still don't know what to think of it." Celestia continues.

"And now we have our first major injury as well…" Twilight finishes. "Echo nearly broke his neck saving Scootaloo from a forty foot fall, and it's a miracle he survived at all, really, but what's weird is his magic is nearly completely shut off, and for no discernable reason. Moreover, he's stable but he shows no sign of waking up yet, which would be normal given the trauma of that aforementioned forty foot fall, but he has no other injuries besides what looks like a mild concussion and some bruising, which is impossibly fortunate."

"S-so what does all that mean?" I ask. If he's not hurt but he's not well, what am I supposed to take away from that?

"We don't know. Nopony's ever seen anything like it, ever. We have no idea what to expect." Twilight's voice is almost mournful. "Honestly, we all think it would be the best thing to leave him be for now, and to proceed with your plan. Maybe hindsight will help us figure out how this happened."
"Who caused it." Luna interjects, reminding Twilight, but Celestia sighs.

"I know you are convinced that there is a 'someone' behind this, Luna, but we don't have enough facts to even begin to guess." Celestia says, tiredly, to Luna. She turns to me, still softly sobbing on the floor, arms wrapped around Discord and his around me. "I am, however, very interested in what Twilight has been telling us about your abilities. It's been a long time since somepony had such a remarkable gift, let alone such mastery and understanding."

"I, uh.. It's just something I could always do.. And most of my 'mastery' comes from Twilight helping me branch out. I'm not.."

"I know you don't think much of yourself, Copper. I was like that, once upon a time. I was also born different than expected. But you are the one mastering the magic, you are the one who has the gift. You are more than your family's expectations. Take credit for this." Prince Knights says to me, and though his face is neutral, something about his gaze is incredibly relaxing. I can only sigh.

"I'll do what I can, of course. I want to help."

"And help you will." Celestia smiles. "But first, everypony needs some rest. The chaos of the Gala is being investigated now, but there's nothing for you to do until we have more time to organize our.. personal investigation. All the royals would like to be there for this, if that's not too much pressure?"

"I.. I would be honored." I barely say.

"Then rest, for now. We will talk more in the morning." She dips her head in a small bow, then disappears down the stairs, followed shortly by Luna, Knights, and Twilight. Only Discord, Applejack, and Fluttershy stay behind, though they talk to each other, exchanging a few quick lines while I sit in shock of the whole evening.

"You all doin' okay, sugar?" Applejack's voice eventually redirects itself to me.

"I, uh, I don't know."

"Well, les' get you off th' floor 'n' see if that helps any." She pulls me to my hooves, then leads me to the bed. "I guess we're stayin' here for the night. I don' know any other places for us to go in the castle besides the Princess's personal rooms, but that don't seem like a good idea to me."

"It'll be like a sleepover." Fluttershy chips in, the first words I've clearly heard her speak all night.

"Remember the last time we had a sleepover?" Discord asks, almost jovial.

"Yeah, you magically poisoned us to fall asleep on my floor." Fluttershy reminds him.

"Ah, yeah.. It was fun, though."

"It was a decent night of sleep, I'll give you that." She chuckles.

"Anywho. We've had a chance to speak our minds on th' matter of th' evening; why don't you let loose a little?" Applejack says to me. "I saw the way you bolted- must've been a mighty fright seein' Echo like that and.. well, recognizin' it."

"I'm just.. numb... from it all. I was having a bad, well, not a really bad night, mostly just a weird night, and then me and Echo, we argued because I was kind of an ass and interrupted what was obviously a very important date moment for him and Pinkie and now I am so, so sure that I pretty much caused this and Octavia, who's Echo's best friend beside his brother or Pinkie or whatever, is really bucking mad at me and I can't blame her, I mean, I may have just allowed her best friend to, to what? Die? Be paralyzed? I don't even know but if something terrible happens I'm pretty much to blame and I.. I don't know how I'll live with that. But, but then I've got the ear of not just one, but three princesses and a prince, who all somehow think I can fix this? I mean, normally that'd be a big deal but am I just banking off of Echo's tragedy? That's so disgusting and terrible and I… I can't believe it happened."

Following my ramble, everyone is silent. I wouldn't know what to say either.

"Well.. it has." Everyone turns to Fluttershy, who seems ready to weep and yet be made of steel. "It has happened, and now we've got to deal with it. And we've got to believe that when we do, we'll make it better." She looks up. "Do you?"

"Do I- do I believe?" She nods. "I want to."

"That's good enough for now, then." Her smile is small and timid, but it fills me with strength. "Let's sleep for now, then, like Princess Celestia said."

"A splendid idea. Shall I try to spell us to sleep?" Discord suggests, stretching a hand.

"Probly not a good idea. Remember when you tried to magick up a tie earlier tonight? Not good. Let's just get outta our suits and dresses and fall 'sleep all regular like. Not that I don't 'ppreciate you offerin', Discord, it would've norm'lly been a good suggestion." Applejack explains. He nods.

"I'll, uh, use the downstairs if you ladies are going to.." He gestures to our dresses. "Yeah, I'll- I'll just go." He drops to his hands and scurries down the stairs.

"Gee, he sure is bein' considerate." Applejack notes.

"What do you mean? Of course he is." Fluttershy replies, a twist to her nose.

"Well, not that he was a peepin' tom before or anythin' but he sure didn't care bout stuff like takin' off clothes before. Now he's all a gentleman." Applejack poses like she's wearing a bowtie, 'adjusting' it with a hoof.

"Oh, yes, I see that. Those lessons have been helping him be more conscious about what others care about."

"Lessons?" I ask.

"Yes, he's been taking etiquette lessons from Echo.." Fluttershy stops, looking down at her hooves again. "He's really changed a lot. Grown up a lot." She turns to me, eyes suddenly, not hard or harsh, but impenetrable and sure and solid. "And a lot of it is you, too. You two, Echo and you, since you came to Ponyville, he's changed a lot. You, for whatever reason, inspired him, and Echo has helped him. You and Echo are really his first friends outside of myself and the Elements or the Princesses. Not that that's a small list, or we're not good enough, but we're.. We're step one. We're 'expected' to be his friends, and while we're of course happy to be that, it's not the same as naturally making friends. We're like de-facto friends."

"D- what? De-facto friends?" Applejack squinches up her nose in confusion, and I find myself perplexed as well.

"Yes, uh.. When you work a public service job, you're expected to be friendly to everypony, right?"

"Uh, yeah. You're providing a service and- and nopony wants to hire a service that's mean."

"Right. Well, we were more or less providing the service of reforming Discord. We were expected to be friends with him. I love Discord, and becoming friends with him was a privilege as much as a duty for me, but for the rest it was.. More difficult. It was a duty, pure and simple. Even for you, Applejack... Even for Twilight.." She looks over to Applejack, who looks down as she pulls pins out of her tail-bun. She nods guiltily.

"It was kindness as a necessity, not as, well, a kindness. It's different now, and things are much more natural and nice, but we're still de-facto. We probably can't escape that unspoken status.. Echo and you and a few others now, because of you, are naturally formed friends. You.. you chose to seek him out, and he, you, and I think in some ways that makes your relationships much more.. solid. Does that make any sense?"

"I think so. Like, uh, you are, of course, really friends with him, but the nature of the start of your friendship is sometimes.. awkward, maybe? It makes things.. not bad or difficult or wrong but, uh, different."
"Yes, yes it's different." She nods, slipping out of her skirt, a dress of green and blue tulle lined with satin underneath.

"So, so what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you're step two, Copper. You are very important to him, no matter how you choose to interpret that importance. I know you have your reasons for keeping him at arm's length, but I think you need to decide if he's important to you. I'm not saying to pity him, or take up the mantle of his conscience or, or sanity or anything. You have to decide what's right for you, and hold to that decision. Because, as his friend and yours, keeping on like this isn't good for you. What do you want? What do you need? You could grow up together, or you could grow up by yourselves, but you're only going to go backwards by walking this in-between." I open my mouth to reply, but I can't make any sound. I settle for just nodding.

"But, Copper?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever you do, be kind about it." Fluttershy smiles at me. "With all this going on, we can't afford to be cruel to the ones we love." Again, I can't think of an apt response, so I just nod, mouth agape in wonder at the gentle mare before me. This mare tamed the once-wild Discord? I believe it. She could talk a fire storm into submission, and I wouldn't doubt it. "And with all that said, I suppose it's time for bed, hmm?"

"Yeah, I reckon there's not much use for words anymore for th' night." Applejack says as she shakes out her mane, undressed. I, too, have managed to slip out of my dress and remove the remainder of my hairpins. "How're we handlin' sleepin' 'rangements?"

"I'll, I'll go downstairs." I manage to say. "You guys are buddies, you can share Twilight's old queen here, and, and I think there were a couple couches or something downstairs. We- uh, I- um, Discord and I will work that out." I nod, trying not to feel embarrassed over nothing. Fluttershy and Applejack only nod in return, like they'd already worked that out and were waiting for me to realize it too. Stupid, stupid. Of course they'd think we should go together, they want us to be a thing!

Well, didn't I promise him that for tonight, we were? Not that they were here for that, but it still holds true, I guess. No regrets. I try to steel myself as I trot down the stairs, legs sore from being up and about all day.

I can see Discord's suit folded on a table as I come down, and the draconequus himself draped on the loveseat, his tail hanging over the edge being the only sign of him from this angle. I quietly walk around the room, hoping there's another couch or even just a single pillow lying around somewhere, but to my woe there is not. I stand by the couch, trying not to sigh or do anything to wake up Discord.

I can't go back upstairs, they're probably already asleep and there's not enough room even in a queen bed for three adult mares, one of whom has wings that will undoubtedly unfold in the night. I could sleep on the floor, that's nothing I've never done before, but this room is cold and I doubt I'll be able to sleep well without some kind of cover or, or something, and, again, my dress is upstairs folded with the others and I can't bear to be the nuisance that wakes somepony up for no reason.

As I stand trembling in the chill of the room, undecided but desperately tired, I feel Discord's hand reach out and touch my side. I jump a little at the unexpected contact, but mostly I just feel relief. Strange how he can do that to me.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." He mumbles, eyes sleepy slits, barely open.
"Oh, you're fine." I say, hushed.

"I thought I was dreaming for a moment.. and I thought.. I wanted to make sure." As I meet his sleepy eyes, almost awake but still dusted with dreaming, I can see myself in his eyes. Literally and metaphorically- I can see in the reflection, even in the low light of the moon dancing down through the high windows, how I look standing next to him, but I can also see, just for that moment, how he looks at me. And for a moment, just that moment, I can almost see how I might be beautiful to him.

"You're not dreaming. I'm here." I let my head fall to the side, bumping into his arm. "See? Real." His gaze is clouded for a moment, like he's deciding to believe me, and then he smiles and giggles like a purr. Slowly he reaches over with his other hand and pulls me over. His arms are around the back of my neck, and I lean down to rest my cheek on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're real." His voice clears, going from that low murmur that makes him sound like somebody else back to his normal, high and airy voice. I love his voice. "Would it be too much to share the couch tonight? I know there's nowhere else down here but I thought.. You'd stay up there."

"I.. I would like that, actually. I said.. I said for tonight, at least, we could be. Be close, that is, be 'us'. I still.. I- yes. Please." He smiles, then lets go of me, sitting up on the couch. He pats the cushion, as if to say 'come on up'. Slowly I step onto the couch, then turn to hang my legs off. He lays down again around my back, curling his long neck along my side so that he's facing me. He pulls his tail around so that it rests on my forelegs, and I nestle my head onto it like a pillow.

"This okay, then?" I can feel the vibrations of his words in my ribcage, and I chuckle.

"Perfect." I mumble. I really do feel perfect, like this, with him. Why can't I just let myself feel like this? What was the reason I've been so apprehensive? Why-

The image of Discords swollen, bloody face pulses in my head and I remember why. I stiffen, and I feel him still in return.

"No- don't go." He whispers hastily. How did he know I was about to bolt? I gasp for air, fearful. "Tell me- tell me what happened, what keeps happening. You're so afraid- I can feel it- tell me why. Why? What scares you so much? Please, Copper..!" Though his voice is a whipser, the distant echoes of that hurtful future quiets underneath the real thing.. like thunder over-singing a siren.

"I- I-" My jaw shakes, and tears run down my cheeks. His tail curls up to brush one away, his hands busy stroking my back.

"Ssh, ssh- Take your time, but please, please talk to me." He sounds so desperate. Have I done this? Have I made him this afraid? I take a moment and swallow down my fear.

"When- in the ballroom when we were dancing, it was perfect." I start. Discord nods, encouraging me. "And I felt… actually it felt like when I work, when I am.. I'm not a broken pegasus or just a mare or, or anything. I'm talented and strong and useful and I feel okay. More than okay, even. It was like that, but even better. I was.. really really okay. But when I work and I feel like that, I get visions, you know that.. I normally have to focus, but, but that's how it happens. I had a vision when we were dancing, and it was bad. It was really bad, and it was my fault. And I couldn't stand the thought of you- of me hurting you- and I… I panicked and I remembered every time I'd ever hurt someone and I couldn't let that happen to you and I ran." I blink and a couple more tears drop down my cheeks. I turn to Discord. "That's what happened. That's what keeps happening."

"Every time?"

"What?"

"Every time we start to be okay together, you get visions?"

"N-no, the vision part was new this time. But before I, I did always remember my past and, yeah, panic and try to run, though a bit more… politely."

"I see." He nods, looking away. "You know, I may not have visions of the future or the past, but I understand remembering your guilts. Remember, I'm only two years reformed. This time less than half a decade ago I could never imagine having a conversation with anypony, let alone sharing space like this. I would have hated it. I'd have chopped off my tail before I got close to anyone or anything that I didn't make myself. I'd have much rather.. hurt somepony with mind tricks and world warping than consider your world as valid and good and worthy. Violently." He closes his eyes, laying his head down on my back. The weight is comforting. "And now I see you smile and part of me thinks 'this is the moment to strike, for maximum pain and chaos' and the rest of me gags at the idea of hurting you, anything. It's not fun anymore, and I am quite grateful for the worldshift. If I'd gone on the way I was, well, I'd probably be stone again, for one, but I would also just be full of hate and anger.

Sometimes I feel those things rise up again, and that scares me, and that's because the rest of me is full of something better. I am.. Hesitant to call it 'love', but I don't think there's a better word for the way I look at the world now. I see the world.." He scoffs. "I don't know. Better. More like it is and how it could be rather than what I thought it should be. But I do get scared when I look out and see the damage I could do. I'm scared because I know it will hurt others, especially ponies like you. I never really cared before, and now I care, and I'm scared to hurt anypony because I care.. I get it."

"For some reason, I keep forgetting you were ever a 'bad guy'. I think because I've only known you like this. Before.. you were just a name. There was never any consequences attached to your name for me, you were an idea, but now, like you said, you're different, but this is the only way I've known you. You're more than an idea, you're a person to me now, and I.. I can't imagine you differently. I didn't know you struggled with that. Is it hard, for you?"

"I imagine it might be as hard as it is for you. I just hide it better." He chuckles. "Though I'm less scared every day. I'm more sure of who I am and who I want to be, and who I was is not who I want to be, so I won't do anything to endanger that. Why do you remain so scared?"

"Everytime I hurt someone, it was purely on accident, or so it seemed to me. My parents- I couldn't control how I was born and yet I did so much damage to their lives. And.. potential friends or lovers, I always hurt them, somehow. Betrayed them, or abandoned them, or in the worst case, actually physically hurt them.. I never meant for any of it and yet it all happened. I'm just scared to… to be happy and to do it again. Be somebody's unhappiness. And now I've done it to Echo. I allowed, yes, unwittingly, but nevertheless, I allowed him to get hurt. I'm terrified to do even more damage to anyone else."

"I don't know what to say, besides what I've already said. I suppose.. You have to decide, and keep deciding, what's best. I don't think you could ever hurt me, even on accident, but even if you did, that's not the end of the world, is it? Ponies make mistakes, and that's fine because life is about learning, isn't it? And we can learn together, in that case, if either of us ever did hurt the other. We could grow past it, together." I chuckle at that.

"Could you hear Fluttershy up there? That's exactly what she said."

"No, but I'm not surprised. She's one of my best teachers." He says, then yawns. "I suppose we should try to get some sleep. Will you be okay? To sleep?" His eyes search mine.

"I think so. I.. talking did actually help. I'm still scared how I'll feel tomorrow, but right now, I'm okay. Really really okay." I smile, a tiny crack of happiness amidst all this hurt. This happiness, though, feels like the tool we'll use to erase and heal that hurt, so I don't mind indulging it. If this is the weapon that'll save us, save Echo, then I'll let myself have it, so I can let him have his life back..

"Then sleep, and keep feeling really really okay." Discord purrs.

"And you?"

"Hmm?" He says sleepily.

"Are you okay? With this? With me? I'm not.. disappointing, am I?"

"Never." He says, sending chills down my spine, though I'm instantly warmed again. "You could never disappoint me. This.. you.. despite everything else going wrong, you are right. I've never been so.. really really really okay.." He chuckles, and I can't help but giggle back.

"Okay." We nestle into each other, and sink into sleep within moments. I hear Discord's heartbeat as I drift off, and the steady beat follows me into a deep, deep slumber.

Tonight, we have this. Tomorrow, we'll start to fix everything.