"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHH!"
A feminine scream echoes throughout the large cave, and Azerrad, Vohrnil, Ryzoth and Tirek are startled by it except for Dark Shadow. The Changelings back away from Queen Chrysalis who has awakened to find her horn missing on her head, and she isn't taking it well.
"My horn! My wonderful horn!" cried Chrysalis as she clutched her head with her hooves, "Without it, I can't disguise myself nor feed on love, all because of that wretched and inconceivable stallion who broke it off of my head!"
"Whoa. And I thought getting my ear messed up was bad." Ryzoth muttered.
"Chrysalis, calm yourself." Dark Shadow calmly said.
"Calm myself?!" the Changeling queen lashed out, "How can I calm myself when my horn-"
"I SAID CALM YOURSELF!" the helmeted pony bellowed. Chrysalis and everypony else got scared by that tone, even Tirek is wondering why he is feeling this way. Dark Shadow took a breath and continued, "Getting frustrated with your misgivings is a pointless thing to do. Instead of being in grief, you should view it as another chance to move forward. You would do well to remember that."
Chrysalis reluctantly bowed to Dark Shadow, "Y-yes, Lord Shadow."
"And your horn is nothing to worry about," the helmeted pony added, "I have the means to give you back what is taken from you, like regenerating your horn to its former glory. I can't just sit by and let my daughter suffer, can I?"
"Daughter?" Chrysalis raised her eyebrow.
"What are you talking about, Papa? You don't call somepony of that title until you do that thing."
Everypony except Dark Shadow, Azerrad, and Vohrnil got startled by that soft spoken, clean yet spooky voice. Suddenly...
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
Ryzoth jumps in fright as a ghostly figure passes right through in front of his body. Then the ghost laughs in a cackling sort as it floats towards Dark Shadow.
"Jynsea! You know I hate it when you do that!" yelled Ryzoth, trying to calm himself from that prank.
The ghost then morphs into a mare Pegasus and lands beside the helmeted pony. She has a pale coat, a pure cyan mane where it flows down to her right side just stopping near her front leg and a small tail looking the same as her mane. Her eyes are a dark scarlet color, but the insides of her eyes are not black, like she has some condition. Even her face looks as beautiful as any other mare's, despite her nose being pointed upwards a bit. She laughs a bit, then she speaks, "Aw, come now, Ryzo-Whino. You simply make it too easy."
"On that I agree." Azerrad smirked, earning a comical glare from Ryzoth. Vohrnil chuckles at the reaction.
"Jynsea." Dark Shadow addressed her, "What brings you here after so long, my daughter?"
"Oh, you know, just flying around the country, keeping tabs on what's going on." Jynsea explained, "And I see you got a lot of company, Papa." she nods to Tirek, Chrysalis and her Changelings, "Are they joining our family?"
"One of them did," answered Dark Shadow, "I'm merely waiting for the other to make his decision to join us in our cause."
Tirek composes himself a bit, "Yes, I was pondering what to decide until the Queen of the Changelings interrupted me with her rants about her horn." the remark was not left unnoticed by Chrysalis, who merely huffs to herself.
"That easily?" Jynsea wondered, "You didn't recruit them with the ritual?"
"What ritual?" Dark Shadow asked.
"You know, Papa, THAT ritual."
At Jynsea's statement, the dark helmeted pony's mouth opened, like he is in minor shock. Then, he grits his teeth and starts to shake while making grunting noises.
"Uh-oh," Ryzoth is alarmed, "Daddy's gonna pop his blood vessels! Hit the deck!" he quickly lies down on the ground, though Azerrad, Vohrnil are still standing while Tirek, Chrysalis and the Changelings are confused. And then...
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"
Dark Shadow turns around and fires multiple red beams of magic from his hooves on at a time at the wall opposite his throne. For a few seconds he continues his attack, while Tirek, Chrysalis and the Changelings cower in fear, and Jynsea, Azerrad and Vohrnil watch on in minor concern. Ryzoth continues to lie on the ground covering his head, waiting for this rampage to end.
Eventually, Dark Shadow stops blasting the wall, leaving it in a pile of rubble, and takes hard breaths. Jynsea walks up to him, "Papa? Are you alright?"
The helmeted pony regains his strength and sighs. "Yes, Jynsea." he replies, "I'm just frustrated with myself for forgetting about the ritual." Dark Shadow then looks at Jynsea, and smiles softly, "Thank you for reminding me of it."
"Just happy to help." Jynsea smiled.
"Is he done?" Ryzoth asked, getting up onto his hooves.
"Hmm, yes, Father is done rampaging." Vohrnil replied.
"Everypony, I must retreat to my quarters," Dark Shadow explains, "I shall look into the matter of the ritual and the means of giving Chrysalis her horn back. In the meantime, why don't you all acquaint yourselves with each other? That way we will have a better chance to fulfill our cause together."
With that, Dark Shadow disappears into his black smoke covering his body and it flies to another cavern. Jynsea then looks at the three ponies, an old centaur, and a hornless Changeling queen with her subjects.
"So," Jynsea says, "Who wants to talk about what happened to themselves that made them miserable?" she giggles evilly, which mostly everypony in the cavern finds it to be creepy.
At Sweet Apple Acres, things have calmed down a bit, yet mostly everypony is surprised by something they learned. A creature named Meteo stole an apple pie and the Apples nearly got to punish him, until Zenith demanded they back off from his son. In the dining room of the house, everypony is sitting at the table, and they have servings of apple pie on their plates. Zenith takes a piece of the pie with his fork.
"Howdy, little fella!" Zenith sniffs in the smell of the piece, "Oh, that smells great. What an interesting aroma. Smells like a sour yet sweet jelly covered in a cloud of dough. And without further ado!"
Zenith takes a whole bite of the piece and chews happily on it. Meteo is sitting beside Zenith, smirking amusingly at him. On their left sits Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Granny Smith is at the opposite end of the table from Zenith and Meteo. Big Macintosh, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Applejack sit on the other side of the table from the drake and four ponies. They usually glance in awe and surprise at Zenith and Meteo because of the relationship they have. Zenith swallows the piece, and after a second or two...
"Ah ha ha ha ha! Mmmm! Certainly sour and sweet!" the silver coated stallion exclaimed, "Super tasty! Is there no end to these surprises?!"
"You said that similar thing this morning." Meteo rolled his eyes.
"Just one of my quirks, Meteo." responded Zenith.
"So, why am I only getting one piece of pie?" asked Meteo.
"It's your little punishment for leaving our friends behind without notifying them and following me from a distance." Zenith answered, "And if you complain any further, you'll be left out of breakfast time tomorrow. Clear?"
Meteo noticed the look Zenith is giving him. "Yes, dad." He muttered.
"Look on the bright side," Apple Bloom spoke up, "Me, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are getting the same punishment as you are."
"Yeah, guess you're right on that." Meteo smirked a bit.
"So let me get this straight," Spike spoke up, "Are you really Zenith's son?"
"Actually, he is my guardian." the creature replied, "We may not be related, but we treat each other like any parent and offspring would, and I couldn't be happier being with him." Meteo looked up at Zenith, who simply smirked.
"And are you a sub-species of a dragon?" Twilight asked.
Meteo instantly looked at Twilight mildly incredulously, "Hey! Longma. LONG-ma. Not dragon. Even if I do that tongue thing I end up neighing at the same time." Meteo does so away from Twilight, and the combined hiss and neigh sounds a little garbled up, and he holds his nose wondering if he is startled by the vibrations from it. He hears a muffled giggle and sees Scootaloo holding her hoof over her mouth trying to contain her laughter.
"What's so funny, Scootaloo?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"That is the funniest sound I've ever heard all my life!" Scootaloo giggled a bit more.
"Scootaloo, be nice." Applejack firmly said. "Even if it is funny, we shouldn't make a big deal out of it."
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Meteo declared, "...some of the time."
"A Longma? Never heard of that kind of creature before." Twilight mused, "I'll have to look that up sometime."
"So, Granny Smith," Zenith said, getting the elder mare's attention, "how is it you got to know my grandma Ocean Swing a few years ago?"
"Well, younglin', that started way back, just a few months later after Applejack got her cutie mark." Granny Smith explained, "One mornin', Ah noticed an elderly mare who looked older than me comin' over here. Even for an old mare she still got the looks, pretty enough to charm any stallion comin' her way."
"Pretty enough to pass off for my mom." Zenith smirked.
The elder mare chuckled at that little joke, "Yeah, Ah would've fallen for that if you were accompanyin' her." Granny Smith cleared her throat to continue, "We introduced ourselves and she is looking to buy some apples for her own delicacies. Then, Ocean Swing looked at me in a concerned manner and asks what is botherin' me, and Ah was confused at what she was gettin' at. Without respondin', she then put her case down and took a violin out of there. Then she began to play that same music you were playin', Zenith."
"What happened then?" Apple Bloom asked, being intrigued by this story.
"As she finished playing that music, Ah felt like all mah troubles were temporarily taken off my shoulders." Granny Smith sighed, "And Ah remember that feelin' after so long. Ocean Swing then said that whatever was botherin' me, she is sure Ah'll get it settled out with the help of mah friends and family. We then conducted our business with them apples and she went back to Ponyville. It's the last time Ah've ever seen and heard from that sweet old mare."
Mostly everypony is in awe of the story. "Gosh, it's mighty sweet of her to do that." Applejack commented.
"That's my grandma for ya." Zenith added.
Then, Meteo feels his nose suddenly getting itchy, and he subconsciously breathes in more air. Rainbow Dash notices this, "Uh, Zenith? Your little buddy's gonna sneeze."
By the time Zenith looks at his little friend...
"AH-CHOO!"
Meteo not only sneezes, but a small burst of blue flame erupts from his mouth as he raises his claws close to it. The flame disappears and in its place resting on Meteo's claws is a scroll with a blue ribbon tied around it. Everypony except Zenith and Meteo gasps at the sight.
"Sweet Celestia!" Rarity exclaimed, "Meteo has done that same thing Spike does!"
"Uh, what thing?" Meteo asked as he gave the scroll to Zenith.
"Spike has this magical flame he uses to send letters to Princess Celestia," Twilight explained once she regained her composure, "And when she sends a letter, Spike burps it out."
"Isn't that a bit gross? No offence." Zenith quickly said to the little dragon as he united the scroll.
"None taken," Spike smiles, "It may look gross, but the scrolls I burp out are clean like a whistle."
"I'm surprised to see that Spike isn't the only one who has that ability." said Starlight.
"I don't mind being a portable letter carrier of that sort." Meteo replied, "Of course, it's better than burping out one letter at a time per few seconds and getting a stomach ache from that."
Spike's face lit up in shock, then he looks away in embarrassment while chuckling nervously, "Funny you should mention that..."
"What does it say?" Scootaloo asks.
"'Dear Zenith,'" the silver coated stallion read the letter, "'I write this urgent message on two matters. The first is that we noticed Meteo is missing, and we found his tracks leading to where you were headed. Chances are he is long gone after you. We apologize for letting this happen.
"'The second matter is that the engine trouble is more complicated than I thought. Somehow the engine's wires got fried, so I'll have to work on replacing them tonight, delaying our agreed arrival tomorrow morning. Again we apologize for this unexpected turn of events.
"'Please reply to us by sundown. I'll have a report on the engine's status by then. I hope you're enjoying your visit in Ponyville and found Meteo safe and sound. Your friend and crewmate, Chestnut McApple.'"
Granny Smith's eyes lit up at the 'McApple' name. Has she heard that name from somewhere before?
"Guess they ran into technical difficulty," Meteo said.
"Is Chestnut one of those friends you mentioned?" Rarity asked.
"Yes. He prefers to be called 'Chester' since I called him that in the first place." Zenith answered.
"Hold on. That Chester guy referred to ya as his 'crewmate,' and he mentioned something about the engine's wires being fried." Apple Bloom spoke up, "Does that mean...?"
"Yup. I'm the Captain of the ship me and my friends use to travel with." said Zenith.
"And I'm his right-hoof partner." Meteo added. "Or, claw in my case."
"No way!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "That's cool! Does your ship sail on water?"
"Not exactly," Zenith shook his head, "but I'll give you this hint: It is similar to a zeppelin, only more advanced, and much faster."
Mostly everypony is in awe of the explanation Zenith gave about his ship and his position on it. He then clears his throat, "But enough about that. Lunch isn't going to eat itself, you know."
"Darn tootin'!" Granny Smith agreed, "Best get to eatin' them pies before they get cold."
So they all start to eat their pieces of pie. Of course, Meteo only took one bite of his piece, and he looks at it in sadness. Apple Bloom notices this. "What's wrong, Meteo?" she asks in concern, "don't you like apple pie?"
"No, no, it tastes good," Meteo replied, "but...eating some stolen food kind of makes me feel ashamed, you know?"
"Well, you did steal that apple pie." Rainbow Dash bluntly said.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack firmly berates the rainbow haired Pegasus.
"What? It's true!" Dash reaffirmed, "We saw him holding it and everything!"
Meteo glances once more at his piece of pie, then with a sigh takes his knife, holds his piece down with his fork as he cuts it into three pieces, and slides his plate towards Apple Bloom, which she, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle notice. "Here. You three can have these." He said.
"Huh? Why would you do that?" Scootaloo asks, "Won't you go hungry?"
"Leaving three fillies starving even with one piece of pie sounds stupid to me, so it's worth the risk, not to mention it should make up for stealing that pie."
Everypony paused eating and looked at Meteo in awe as he said those words, except Zenith who merely smirked. The Crusaders feel touched by this gesture, though Scootaloo tries to hide it.
"Aw, that's so sweet." Sweetie cooed, "It's pretty cute of you to do that for us."
At that moment, Meteo eyes go wide, and a second later, his cheeks blush a bright pink. Everypony except Zenith gets concerned. "Meteo?" Starlight asks, "Are you alright?"
"C-c-cute?" Meteo stammers, then in an instant, he gets off of his chair and flaps his dragon wings as he dances in the air while laughing embarrassingly, "Aw, come on, I'm not that good looking! What are the chances any filly would fall for me?"
"Okay, Meteo, that's enough modesty. And there's no need for those theatrics while eating." Zenith said, still smirking.
Meteo paused his routine and sees mostly everypony having mixed feelings on what he did. Chuckling embarrassingly, Meteo sat back down, "Sorry, force of habit."
As that is going on, Rarity couldn't help but smile softly, for seeing Zenith being firm but kind to the longma reminds her of those days she was in those similar situations with Sweetie Belle, and the thought makes her blush a bit. Then she resumed eating her pie as the rest of her friends do so.
A few minutes later, everypony is outside the house. "Thanks a bunch for the apple pies and fritters, Granny Smith." Zenith happily bowed to the elder mare.
"Yer mighty welcome, sonny." Granny Smith said, "If yer pals come over to Ponyville, tell them Sweet Apple Acres is the best place to buy the best apples around."
"I'll be sure to do that." Zenith replied.
"So, shall we continue to show you what Ponyville has to offer?" Twilight asked.
"Actually, it is within my concern to meet this Fluttershy you talked about." said Zenith.
"Wait a zooming minute, pal!" Rainbow Dash firmly got up to Zenith's face as she ascends a bit in the air, "Twilight clearly said that Fluttershy doesn't want to see anypony at the moment, as in, needing space to cope with what happened last night!"
Despite being startled by the cyan furred mare glaring at him, Zenith kept his composure. "I take it Fluttershy's been your friend the longest among your other ones?" he inquired.
"That's right! I'm not the Element of Loyalty for nothing, you know!" Rainbow stated.
"Didn't Applejack state we will be along to check on Fluttershy?" Rarity recounted.
"I know she said that!" Rainbow spat, "But that doesn't mean-"
Zenith then pushes Rainbow Dash away from him with his left hoof. "Rainbow Dash, I'm gonna have to stop you right there this instant." he firmly spoke in a commanding tone.
"What'd you say?!" Rainbow cried out.
"Listen here, and listen good!"
Those words Zenith shouted shut everypony up. Even those who attempted to stop the bickering backed off. Meteo is startled by this as well, but his eyes show that he knows his father figure is being like this for a reason. Normally, anypony in this situation would try to keep things under control, but for some strange reason, Zenith's presence seem to radiate a sense of authority when he shouted those words, and something else at that.
Even Twilight is wondering why she feels a bit intimidated by this, despite being an Alicorn.
Taking a breath, Zenith takes his hoof off of Rainbow's shoulder and continued, "Rainbow Dash, I get that you take the virtue of loyalty seriously, and I can respect that. But, don't you think you've been taking it way overboard than necessary, like overflowing your cup with too much cider?"
"What are you getting at?" Rainbow raised her eyebrow.
"Let me put this in a simple manner. It is okay to be passionate about something when the situation calls for it. However, if you let that passion get the best of you and you act on it all the time in everything you do, you'll end up bringing more harm than good not just to everypony, but also to yourself, even if it was your intention or not." Zenith explained, "Am I right to assume you had to be reminded of that plenty of times?"
After a second or two, Rainbow Dash's eyes widen in realization. Everypony else who listened to Zenith's words are astonished by them, and it seems to bring subtle revelations to each of them, if not a mere reminder to what they've been through. Rainbow then glances away, a look of frustration in her eyes and an obvious frown. Everypony notices this and gets concerned, mostly Scootaloo.
"Well, there were times I cr- uh, tumbled down badly due to my past actions," Rainbow reluctantly said, her correction on her sentence not left unnoticed by the silver stallion, "but my friends usually help me see the damage I've done, and I pick myself up from there. It goes to show that your friends won't leave you hanging when you've shown them that you won't either." She finishes that sentence with a confident look and her usual heroic pose.
"So, you still against checking up on Fluttershy?" asked Zenith.
Rainbow reluctantly sighed, "A little, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to do so. If you got your mind set on it, who am I to get in the way?"
Everypony else mostly smiled or make sighs of relief, seeing the new stallion and headstrong Pegasus being on good terms with each other. "Then it's decided." Twilight announced, "We'll head to Fluttershy's cottage and check on her well being." She turned to the young farm mare, "You coming, Applejack?"
"Ah wish Ah could, but Ah gotta make sure the Crusaders do one last thing to finish their punishment." Applejack said. "But ya'll tell Fluttershy Ah said 'hi', okay?"
"Will do, Applejack." Rainbow Dash saluted.
"Speaking of 'one last thing'," Zenith spoke up and walked up to Apple Bloom and knelt down to her level, "Apple Bloom?"
"Yeah?" replied the red haired filly.
"Remember what I told you about my parents. I've been making my mom and dad proud of what I did throughout my life, and I'm not gonna stop anytime soon." Zenith then motioned to Apple Bloom's family, "Your whole family has been doing the same thing for your parents, and by the forces above, I'll bet your parents will be proud of what you will continue to do in the future."
Upon hearing those words, Apple Bloom slowly smiles while biting her lip. She then hugs Zenith, surprising him and everypony present. "Thank you, Zenith." Apple Bloom sniffed, "Ah'll make Ma and Pa proud of me as Ah do the best Ah can just by being me, so thank you for those kind and assuring words."
Zenith smiles and returns the gesture. Everypony watches this in similar feelings of happiness. Even Rainbow Dash can't help but smirk again at this display.
Sweetie Belle is touched by Zenith's efforts at making her friend feel better. Of course, she starts to feel jealous that Apple Bloom is that close to the handsome stallion.
For Rarity, that's a similar story. Seeing Zenith comforting Apple Bloom is making her heart flutter. Then she thought that if he comforted Fluttershy like that, it would be the first step for the shy mare to be more than friends with Zenith, and she has suspicions that it may happen sooner than she thought.
After saying their goodbyes, and some apologies being given and accepted, Zenith, Meteo, Twilight, Spike, Starlight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash went on their way to Fluttershy's cottage.
"That Zenith is one nice fella." Granny Smith noted, "He reminds me of his old sweet granny. Don't ya'll agree?"
"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.
"A little firm, but as kind as a mother bird feeding her babies." Applejack added. Her pet dog, Winona barked in agreement and Applejack petted her head.
"By the way," Scootaloo spoke up, "what was it about us doing one last thing for our punishment?"
"It's simple, really. If ya'll three behave while we sell the apples ya collected at the market, and Ah mean 'all' the apples, Ah'll consider your lesson learned and your punishment done." Applejack explained, "That all right, Granny Smith?"
"Fine by me." the elder mare nodded, "Just be sure they don't sneak off again."
"Don't worry. Winona will keep an eye on them, won't you, girl?" Applejack looked to her pet who barked in response.
"All right, Crusaders. If we do this right, we'll may be able to find a pony who has trouble figurin' out their cutie marks." Apple Bloom said.
"Sounds good to me." Scootaloo turned to her white filly friend, "What about you, Sweetie Belle?"
Despite hearing the conversation, Sweetie Belle looked at the direction the ponies, dragon and longma went, specifically Zenith. She wondered if she'll meet him again, and just thinking about him made her blush a little.
"Hello! Anypony home?" Scootaloo called out.
"Huh?" Sweetie Belle snaps back to reality, "Uh, yeah, yeah that works for me, too."
"Come one, ya'll!" Applejack called, "Them apples won't be sellin' themselves, ya know!"
"We're coming!" Apple Bloom replied.
The Crusaders followed Applejack, and Sweetie Belle took one last look at where Zenith went. Confirming she'll see more of him in the future, the white filly caught up to her friends.
Sometime later, after going along the edge of Ponyville, the five ponies, one little dragon and one longma arrive at a woodland cottage. To Zenith's and Meteo's surprise, various animals are going about their lives near the cottage like it is a part of their home. Of course, some of them look a bit nervous and cautious after what happened last night.
"Is this the place?" Zenith asked.
"It is. That is Fluttershy's cottage, a home to her and other animals." Twilight explained.
"All of those animals?" Meteo said in awe, though he rubbed his ear, like there's a certain noise annoying him.
"Yeah, Fluttershy takes care of all the animals that can fit in her home, hence her occupation." Rainbow Dash nodded.
"So, shall we check on Fluttershy?" Zenith inquired.
"Not so fast!"
The group is startled a bit by that voice. Then...
POOF!
A Draconequus appears in front of them wearing a mock up version of a guard's armor. As he landed on the ground, he stood at attention with a mop in his paw. "Unless a princess states otherwise, nopony is to see Fluttershy at the moment."
"Uh, Discord? Twilight's a princess, so she has a say on that." Spike nodded to Twilight.
"Um, yes, that's pretty much how it goes." Twilight rolled her eyes then turned her attention to Discord. "It's okay, Discord. We're just want to check how Fluttershy's doing in person."
"Yeah, Discord, at ease. You did a good job looking after her." Rainbow said.
"Oh? Well, I have my doubts, but as you command, fair princess." With that, Discord snapped his paw fingers and his guard armor disappeared in the flesh. "I was starting to get a bit cramped wearing that armor all day."
Discord then noticed Zenith and Meteo, who were looking at him in mild horror. "And who are those two?" asked Discord.
"Oh, they arrived today in Ponyville, and are intending to move in once they have found a place to stay at," explained Starlight, "As for their names, they are-"
"WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! IT'S DDDIIIIISSSSCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRDD!"
Everypony is taken aback by Meteo's scream of fright, and the other animals are startled by it enough to make haste for their homes. "HHEEEEELLPP! THE EMBODIMENT OF CHAOS IS GONNA DESTROY US AAAAALLL!" Meteo cried as he jumped onto Zenith's back and clutched his neck. The silver stallion then leaps backwards and assumes a defensive position, growling like a dog.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's not lose our heads here!" Twilight hovered in front of Zenith waving her hooves, which grab his attention, "Discord has changed! He may look scary, but he gave up his chaotic ways for good, and-" Twilight pauses a bit when she figures out something about Zenith's and Meteo's reaction, "Wait a minute. How do you know Discord?"
"Yes, how do you know me?" Discord asked.
Zenith looked back at the Draconequus, "I read from a book that a millennia ago, you caused major chaos on Equestria until the royal sisters used the Elements of Harmony to trap you in a stone statue!" he yelled angrily.
"A-a-and that book had pictures showing what you exactly look like!" Meteo added, clinging onto Zenith's neck in fear.
"So how did you escape from that stone prison?!" Zenith demanded.
Mostly everypony present is caught off guard at how Zenith and Meteo already know Discord. The spirit of chaos then clears his throat, "That is a lllooooooonnngg story," he says as his arms extend like a rubber band and then snaps back in place, "but to summarize it," he snaps his claws and a grey Discord duplicate appears beside him bearing an evil face, "I used to believe that spreading chaos is all fun and games, no matter who got the stick end of it. But! That Discord got booted out of the building!"
The original Discord then kicks his duplicate in the bottom, making it disappear, "And it is thanks to Fluttershy and her friends that I am a changed Draconequus!" An angel halo appears above Discord's head as he poses in a triumphant manner.
But Zenith isn't convinced, "As if I'd buy that! And that doesn't explain how you escaped!"
"Let's just say some certain ponies argued about who I was, which was the final stretch for me to release myself from being a garden decoration." Discord explained.
"And you started your murdering spree after that?!"
Mostly everypony gasped at Zenith's accusation, even Discord. Just then, the cottage door behind Discord opened, and a yellow Pegasus mare flies out and comes face to face with Zenith which he notices.
"Listen here, mister! I know from the first time I met Discord that he used to find joy in seeing other ponies suffer from the chaos he caused," Fluttershy lectured the silver pony, who simply raised his eyebrow, "but he knows better than to destroy ponies straight out! He told me himself during one of our tea parties, and you know why? Because he is my friend! It doesn't matter who he used to be and what he did back then, what matters is that he changed for the better and is on good terms with everypony, even Princess Celestia! If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with me, or my name wouldn't be Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy's words had differing impacts on the silver stallion and the red and blue longma. Not only is Meteo stunned by her words, but also her beauty. Her pure light yellow coat, her long pink mane and tail, and her teal eyes seem to radiate a sense of comfort to Meteo, even when she looks angry.
But Zenith looked at Fluttershy in suspicion and a bit of concern with his eyebrow still raised. Sure he finds this yellow mare cute, but Zenith reminds himself in his mind that he will give his heart to another mare. What he sees in her stern eyes, is another emotion hidden underneath, one he believes she is trying to make it so.
A second or two after she lectured the two newcomers, Fluttershy's face shifted to sadness, and she descends to the ground. "Oh, who am I fooling? I'm so upset from what happened last night that being assertive doesn't seem to cut it right now." Fluttershy sniffed as tears softly built up in her eyes. Seeing this brought guilt to Zenith and Meteo, along with the concern of how she ended up this way. Twilight descends to the ground as well and put a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.
"Fluttershy? We came over here to check up on you as we promised," Twilight explained, "and these two are Zenith and Meteo, new ponies who arrived here in Ponyville. At least one of them is a pony."
"I'm sorry. My depression is eating at me so badly that I couldn't think straight." Fluttershy wiped the tears off her eyes with her hoof.
"How about we take this conversation inside?" Discord said, offering the way to Fluttershy's cottage, "There's some tea brewed up for everypony."
Zenith raised his eyebrow in suspicion again and Meteo quivered behind him. Twilight notices this. "Zenith, Meteo, I know this may be a lot to take in, but what Fluttershy said about Discord is true." said Twilight, "You'll have to trust me when I say that Discord has changed. If not, then trust Fluttershy, for all our sakes."
The silver stallion is mildly taken aback by Twilight's words. He looks at the grief stricken Fluttershy, and at the rest of the ponies and little dragon. They nod in agreement with Twilight. Zenith then sighed, "Alright, I'll trust you on this, Twilight, for Fluttershy's sake."
"W-w-what he said." Meteo added.
Twilight softly smiled and motioned the others to come into the cottage. Rarity, who watched what happened so far, starts to feel a little suspicious that her thoughts about Zenith and Fluttershy might come to fruition, along with being jealous. But her friend is in deep peril, and Rarity focuses on that as she and the rest of her friends entered the cottage, with Zenith and Meteo following behind.
Back at the cave in Everfree Forest, on the Tree of Harmony, the star shaped Element that has a crack on its left side instantly cracked a bit more down. At the same time, the other Elements turned dull and formed single cracks on each of them at various positions.
This bad sign for Equestria seems more severe than originally thought.
TO BE CONTINUED...