Grizabella shook her head clear of the revelation. "Ladybird, you need to escort the Princesses somewhere safe. If the Princess saw Discord in her dreams, it may very well mean he's found them here."
"But what about Spectrum?!" Ladybird cried, wings flaring for emphasis. "He hasn't healed yet, and he's the only tough fighter around here! I can't do much for protection! All I can do is speak to the animals!"
"They'll be your guide when you no longer feel confident. Spectrum will be fine if we get the Princesses elsewhere."
"But-!"
"You'll be fine."
Ladybird growled in resignation. She beckoned the Princesses to follow her as she held the oak door of Grizabella's hut open.
Aurora picked up her little sister and headed out first. Luna was still shaking, though her tears had subsided. The sunlight outside beckoned the animals out of their bushes, wary that the sun would disappear behind the horizon. Yet what else was waiting for them out in the light? There would be fewer places to hide.
The pegasus shut the door with more force than necessary, and she stomped ahead of the alicorns, muttering under her breath.
Ladybird kicked a pebble out of their way. "I can't believe they want me to leave Spectrum at a time like this!"
"You like him, don't you?" Aurora smiled a knowing grin. "I think you're infatuated with him."
"What?!" Ladybird blushed as she turned to the alicorns. She looked back at the path they followed. "Maybe I like him…"
"Ladybird, you don't seem the type to be so harsh on other creatures…I'm surprised how…mean you seem to be about the griffins."
"Well, I'm not really mad at them. Most of them are my good friends. I'm just irritated that they're trying to save their own skins-"
"And Spectrum's."
"-yes, well…I guess it's not that bad…"
"Sister! I'm big enough to walk by myself! I'm not a filly anymore!" Luna fluttered off her sister's back and began regally trotting.
"I know," Aurora hurried to keep pace. "But I was worried you might collapse again."
"Oh…"
There was a long pause. Ladybird began humming, slowing down to examine the bushes. "By the way," she said, "I'm sorry I was so rude to you when we first met. I…I tend to get a little overprotective of my friends. I didn't know you two had lost control of the sun and moon. I…It's hard when the animals all come to you and ask what's going on and you have no idea what to tell them."
"Don't worry, you were well within your right to reprimand us." Aurora hung her head in shame. She was shaping up to be a pretty poor princess indeed.
"But it's not your fault!" Ladybird stopped. She turned to them both, a genuine smile on her face. "You know, you two are doing really well, given the circumstances."
"What do you mean?" Luna asked. "We've lost control of Equestria, we're forced to walk all over creation looking for some Elements that Starswirl told us to find, but we don't even know what they are or what they do!"
"But you're staying together and you're not giving up. I think your parents would be proud of you. I know I am. You're doing a lot more than the Kings and Queens are."
A flock of birds swooped down on the ponies. Luna's cry of alarm was the only warning they had before the birds descended on them. However, the birds passed over the sisters and flapped around Ladybird, twittering and tweeting. A few began pulling the red stripe in her golden mane.
"Calm down, everyone," the pegasus said. "Now, one at a time. Melody, you go first."
A little robin hopped onto her head and began singing. She was aptly named because the song was the most beautiful birdsong either of the princesses had ever heard. It reminded them both of mornings before Aurora took over the sun, when they'd watch the sunrise together as a family. The four of them.
"What do you mean your nests are flooding?" Before Ladybird could ask another question, the birds seemed to panic, their cries changing from melodic to chaotic. "Wait, the beavers aren't making dams because the bears are all eating the trees?!"
There was a flash of light and several of the birds feet swelled to three times their normal size. The ponies backed away as the changes continued to occur. Beaks became too large for their heads, and the birds ended up face down in the dirt with no hope of ever getting up; some wings shrank to humming bird size, leaving them flightless, while others' wingspans became that of eagles, several feet across.
Ladybird tried to offer a nuzzle to one bird that had landed beak-down, but he flipped around and roared at her, his open mouth revealing several large pointed teeth.
The pegasus backed towards the sisters, shaking. "What's going on?"
Melody, the little robin unaffected by all this gave a scoff. "What's going on? How daft are you, pony? I'm only conquering the country ruled by the ones who abandoned me. You're acting like I did something really bad." It was Discord's voice.
"You're hurting all my friends. They're in pain…"
"Of course they're in pain! Trasnformations are painful…unless you're me of course." The robin gave an evil grin. For a moment it seemed that Melody had control of her body again, giving several fearful squeaks. Then one of her wings creeped to her back, her other began molting feathers until the wing turned purple and more boney. The skin began to fade as it thinned. The bones snapped into new positions, giving it a decided draconic look. Her talon moved upwards, swelling until it became the size of an eagle's.
All the feathers exploded outward as Discord materialized in front of them. "Oh, don't cry," Discord said, waving one of his lion claws in disapproval at Ladybird. "Your little birdie is safe—" he pulled out a cage from thin air, a little robin fluttering against the bars, tweeting what could only be "I'm sorry," at the pegasus "—in here."
"What have you done to the animals? How dare you-"
"How dare I? How dare I? Do you know who you're talking to, little miss?"
Ladybird faltered for a second, but she swallowed and whispered. "Discord."
"Very good. Now, if you don't mind, I have a lot more chaos to dish out so I'm hoping you'll just let me keep making things so wonderfully chaotic." He turned his back to the ponies. Aurora almost couldn't believe their luck. "Don't think I haven't forgotten about you, Princesses. You see, the best reactions are the ones you have to wait and work for. You two have the best surprise of all coming soon!" He cackled and conjured a pink fluffy cloud that he devoured in one bite. "And besides, it's not like I can't find you anyways. I do rule Equestria after all."
The red pegasus stepped forward, a sad smile on her face. "I see."
"Yes, that's generally the point of chaos. You're supposed to see it."
"No, I see why you're acting this way. Why you have so much hatred."
"Because I was abandoned!"
"You're lonely and jealous that everyone else has what you've so long been denied: family and friends. You don't know what it's like to have a home, to have someone who wants you, and wants you to be there."
"I am not jealous!" A thunderhead appeared overhead, a lightning bolt emphasizing his point.
"You are. You have never known kindness, so you seek to take it from others. I see what you are: a coward and a tyrant."
"And what's a pathetic little pegasus like you going to do about it?"
"Please, let the animals be. Leave Equestria and find somewhere you can get rid of all this anger."
"Please? You're asking me to leave? And expecting me to actually do it?" Discord began cackling. "Oh, this is priceless! You're asking me, the King of all Chaos, to just leave?!"
Ladybird nodded.
"I'm sorry, but you ponies are just too much fun to toy with!"
As he said this, two wooden boards, joined at the center, appeared above Ladybird, the kind Aurora had seen in the marketplace of Canterlot at the puppet show. Dozens of tiny needs shot down, passing through the pegasus. As Ladybird cried out in pain, Discord grabbed the control and began moving it. Against her will, Ladybird reared up, began trotting in a circle, and bobbing her head up and down.
Aurora and Luna both stared in shock and horror.
"Let me go!" Ladybird seemed to gain some control and she began swatting where she thought the strings that bound her to Discord would be.
"Nope!" Discord cried with glee. He got right in her face. She whimpered as he held her close, her golden eyes filling with tears. Discord spoke slowly. "I want you to forget your animal friends. Besides, what have they given you? You've given them everything, yet they can't give back anything. How much longer can you be nice to them?"
"I…" Ladybird's eyes became focused and she bucked the draconequus right in the jaw. "I may be kind, but I am not going to let someone like you manipulate me into harming those I care about."
As Discord rubbed his jaw, he scowled at the pegasus, flames seeming to emanate from his red pupils.
Luna grabbed Aurora's leg, quivering in fear. "What's wrong with her coat?"
The pegasus's soft red fur was now fading, like a gown that had been washed too many times. Ladybird hung limp in the air, seemingly aware of the change, but her eyes glazed over with indifference.
She managed to turn her head and whisper, "Go…" before she fell totally unconscious.
Mustering their courage, the sisters galloped past Discord, who paid them no mind as he played with his new puppet, giggling like a foal.
Go back! Go back! Aurora had to force herself to concentrate on running. But there was something about Ladybird's dead stare that seemed to shroud her thoughts with hopelessness and fear.
She could only hope the Elements were enough to stop the chaos.