Elsewhere in the land, the Crowned King of Chaos was enjoying himself with his chocolate rain and exploding glassware. Things were beyond topsy-turvy in this section of the realm, but they were just how Discord liked it. Since the split between Celestia and Luna that caused Fluttershy to be dragged away to war, Discord had been sulking in his section of reality, only recently deciding to invade and take control of a portion of unused land between Equestria and the Changeling Kingdom, using still-corrupted changelings as servants to amuse himself with.
Discord hated to be separated from Fluttershy, even questioning the logic of helping Celestia gain ground in a war that he viewed as unwinnable. As someone who viewed the entire situation with a neutral set of eyes, Discord saw that neither side was really right in their pursuits towards an everlasting day or night, declaring the notion of either as "ridiculously chaotic," though neither Celestia nor Luna listened to him.
Using one of the changelings as a makeshift yo-yo, Discord grunted to himself, viewing the entire situation through a magical screen he constructed himself with a snap of his claw. Bringing the changeling back to him, he sulked, watching the events unfold across both factions' horizons.
"Just look at the two of them," he sighed, forcing the changeling to look at the screen, "both clearly overpowered and matched in just about every which way, yet they both fail to understand what really is happening below the surface."
The changeling rolled his eyes, "And you're telling me this why?"
Discord scowled, bringing his yo-yo changeling closer to him, "Because Specter, I'm bored and you're the only one here right now."
"Against my will, really," replied Specter, looking at the rope that tied his wings to his sides.
"Oh come now," Discord smirked, "be thankful that you weren't transfigured like the other changelings. Do you really want to spend a lifetime feeling colorful like that? Bold and brown is the way to go, you know."
"Methinks that's a lie," Specter chuckled, slyly smiling back at Discord.
"Oh do you now?" Discord responded, snapping his claw yet again. He had a mirror appear before him and pushed it in front of Specter, "See for yourself."
Specter looked into the mirror and saw that Discord recolored him so that now he was bold and brown, resembling Discord's own color scheme. Specter rolled his eyes once more and looked back at Discord, sighing in the process.
"It might look great on you," he spoke, changing his appearance back to his changeling self, "but that's not for me. Black and dark is great for me."
"Even with those holes in your body?" Discord wondered, pointing at the holes that pierced through Specter's hooves.
Specter looked down at them and nodded, "Yeah, even with them. Name another creature that has a structure like this. Sure it makes things weird sometimes - especially when flying through the air - but I'd still prefer that over a neon color mishmash of whatever the heck the hive turned into."
Discord looked back at the screen and cackled slightly, "Look! Celestia is feeling distraught."
Specter noticed Celestia lowering Luna down onto the ground on the screen and wondered what was happening.
"Surely she hasn't come to terms with Luna and is seeking peace," Specter thought, "right? They've been at war now for years. Why have a change of heart now?"
Discord sighed, rolling Specter again in the makeshift yo-yo, "If you'd been paying attention, you would have picked up on the fact that neither Celestia nor Luna know where their precious leaders have run off to!" He looked to the top right of the screen and chuckled, "Little do they know that they both abandoned them, bringing along with them a few followers of their own!" He then peered his vision towards the bottom right of the screen, leaning towards it in the process, "And it looks like the lid is about to be blown off the can."
Pointing to the bottom right portion of the screen, Discord let Specter know that a few of the soldiers returned to the camp and had a meeting with Dusky and Luna when they returned to it.
"What do you say we add a little bit of chaos to the mix?" Discord squirmed, setting Specter down and pressing his fingers together evilly.
"I feel like my answer won't make a difference in what you'll do inevitably," commented Specter, using the moment to get away quietly.
"Absolutely right," assured Discord, using his magic on his paw to bring Specter back to him. "And you're gonna help."
"Why?" Specter sighed.
"Because together," Discord smirked, "we will make sure that neither princess will achieve what they truly desire."
"Do you really think that makes sense, Discord?" Specter wondered.
"Oh," replied Discord, "what fun is there in making sense? Those two sisters are overdue for a big ol' storm of chaos!"
With that said, and with Specter in tow, Discord began to plot his way to infiltrate the Midnight's Rising base first to stir up a bit of chaos and distrust among the soldiers, especially Dusky and Luna.
The next day, Lunar and Twilight awoke early in the morning and scouted the nearby area to see if there were any signs of intruders. They combined their magic and moved out the boulders that were blocking the entrance to the cave they sought shelter in, placing them back in place once they were outside. Looking around, Lunar noticed that not much had changed outside of the sunrise. As for Twilight, she started performing recon on the area before she turned her sights towards Lunar, staring at him and watching as his black mane flowed smoothly as the morning wind blew. She slowly began to inch closer to him, feeling herself smile like a schoolfilly.
"I think we're all set to continue-," Lunar stopped once he turned his head and noticed Twilight, feeling himself blush a pale pinkish color slightly as he looked back and saw the wind playing with Twilight's mane and tail. He cleared his throat and tried to cover up his blushing, but was failing to do so.
"Y-You know," Twilight stammered, continuing to inch closer to the dark-colored alicorn, "I'm still surprised you chose to come along with us. I really can't believe this is happening."
"Nor I," admitted Lunar, "and I'm happy to know that we are. Celestia and Luna could learn a thing or two from us both and the creatures that came along with us."
"What do you think will happen when they do inevitably find us?" Twilight thought, "Because you know they will."
"Well," said Lunar, "either a list of questions for us or actions taken against us. I think it would be wise to keep moving for as long as we possibly can. They can't reach us if we continue to move further away."
"Well, their chances of reaching us would significantly be hindered if we kept moving," answered Twilight. She felt herself blush a bit, "N-Not that continually moving is necessarily a bad thing right?"
Lunar chuckled, "With you and the others? No, not at all."
Twilight then began to hide behind her mane bashfully. Lunar noticed this and politely looked the other way, taking in the crisp morning air. It mostly didn't bother him, until the wind started whipping and nipping at his wound. He cringed slightly when the cold air dug itself into his body, resting his hoof ahead of the wound to try to combat the wind, but failing in the end. Twilight saw this and stepped up towards Lunar, resting one of her wings along Lunar's wound gently. Lunar cringed slightly once more, then looked back to see the purple-colored wing on the side of his body. He smiled and then focused on Twilight.
"Thank you, Twilight," smiled Lunar. He fought through the pain, but the fact that she was trying to help meant more to him.
"Think nothing of it," Twilight replied, looking down in the process, "it is my fault in the first place."
"No it's not," assured Lunar, "if it weren't for the stupid war, it would've never happened. Hell, I don't think I would have wings if the war never happened."
"Me neither," Twilight said, looking at her own wings briefly.
"Look," continued Lunar, "I don't blame you for what happened."
"You don't?"
Lunar shook his head, "No, because what happened was merely an accident. I was still learning things about my wings at that point and pushed myself harder than I should have. If I didn't do that, I probably could've avoided the initial spear."
"At least you have your very own, custom made metal wing," Twilight responded, "right?" She felt the metal a bit more and noticed how cold it was compared to the weather.
"Perhaps," chuckled Lunar, "though it can be a hassle when I have to take it off for maintenance."
"I could only imagine," Twilight acknowledged, lifting her wing off Lunar's body to see the metallic wing once more.
"Not as pretty when the wing's off," Lunar joked, "truuust me on that one."
"I'll take your word for it," laughed Twilight.
Smiling some more, Lunar looked down at Twilight and leaned in for a kiss, giving Twilight one on her cheek softly. Twilight, looking back at Lunar, blushed harder and quieted herself down. She initially hid behind her mane in a bashful manner, then quickly returned Lunar's kiss on her cheek with one of her own on his. Lunar blushed a pale pinkish color again, looking down to Twilight again.
"It does mean a lot to me to know that you're here, Lunar," Twilight admitted.
"I'm happy to know that," Lunar stated, "and I feel similar, honestly."
After conversing with one another for a little while longer, the two alicorns went back to the cave and opened it back up, preparing to move again with everyone after a short breakfast period.