Chapter 9: 虹 Dash



When I woke up, the first thing I thought was “Where’s Pinkie?” I hurriedly scrambled to my hooves and let out a yell.
    Discord—yes, Discord-- was peering through the “door” (more like a big scoop taken out of the boulder). I instinctively flapped my wings, and, streaking toward him, kicked him hard on the face.
    Twilight awoke when she heard his screech of pain. “OH MY CELESTIA!” she screamed as she saw him. Fluttershy whimpered and ducked behind Rarity, who was now on her hooves.
    Applejack crouched in a defensive position. “Y’all are not welcome ‘ere,” she growled.
    Pinkie then bounced around Discord and into the hollow rock. “Hi!” she said, beaming. “Discord’s back!”
    “We can see that,” I muttered through gritted teeth. “W-why is he here?” Fluttershy stammered.
    “I come in peace.” Discord sat without invitation. “I wanted to tell あなた why I was behaving that way.” He gestured for us to sit down.
    “When I was young, I was best フレンズ with who あなた call Princesses Celestia and Luna. We spent every 秒 with each other, but then I felt jealous. They always got all the attention!
    “So, I decided to run away. To teach everyone that I wasn’t just padding after the princesses to be もっと見る 人気 または some stupid reason like that. I flew away, and soon I stumbled upon a small village of ponies. They brought me to be interrogated によって their queen, for they didn’t know whom to trust. I am a Draconequus, so they were especially nervous toward me.”
    He hesitated, glancing at Pinkie. “Go on, my love…” Pinkie chirped.
    “My… MY LOVE?!” I sputtered. “Pinkie, あなた 愛 this… this monster?”
    Pinkie frowned at me. “Just listen to his story, Dashie!”
    Discord took a deep breath and carried on.
    “So, the queen, whose name was Solar Eclipse, finally decided to use me to her advantage. She cast a spell on me—so that I would be evil and under her control for a thousand years.”
    “So, with our combined powers, we fought with the sisters. We came very close, too, and then… the Elements came into play.”
    “You see, they banished Solar Eclipse to a faraway star, hoping that she would never be able to return—and, as あなた know, they froze me in a statue. But it seems Solar Eclipse has returned to this planet, to find an able body to control.
    “That was always her special thing—hypnotizing ponies so that they turned evil.”
    “Seems like あなた picked up a few tricks from her,” I muttered quietly.
    Discord chose to ignore me.
    “Anyway, when I broke free a 年 ago, I was still under her power. She controlled me from space, made me evil again, and then あなた stepped in.”
    In the moment before I was defeated によって あなた six, I felt free. That was when the power broke. And I managed to break free again, and find you, to warn you.”
    Discord paused.
    “Solar Eclipse has returned. She has enslaved all ponies in Equestria.”
    Twilight gasped. “Shining Armor?”
    Somehow, Discord knew about her brother. “Yes, my dear Twilight Sparkle, I’m sorry to say that everypony—except あなた six—is now controlled によって her.”
    “What about you?” Rarity posed the 質問 all of us were thinking.
    “Only ponies are affected によって this particular spell. The already-mean are affected first.”
    Discord sighed, and absently grabbed Pinkie and squeezed her hoof.
    Fluttershy gasped. “T-that means…” she looked at Twilight. “Trixie?”
    Twilight nodded.
    “Discord, fine, we trust you. But any sudden moves…” she let the sentence trail threateningly in the air for a moment.