Chapter 10

"Approaching Tartarus"

For the majority of the ride to Tartarus, Discord remained silent as he sat next to Twilight's older brother, Shining Armor, who flat out called him a traitor. Now, he was hurt by his savior's brother's words and refused to look at him which was now starting to get on Shining Armor's nerves. He looked at the ex-master of chaos' body language and knew exactly how much his words had hurt somepony.

"Look, Discord," sighed Shining Armor as they neared the gates of Tartarus. "I know how much you are feeling right now and I am sorry for it. But, you cannot let this bother you."

"Why should I?" snapped Discord, jerking his head directly at Shining Armor. "Have you ever learned how much words can hurt somepony's feelings? And you are supposed to be Twilight's big brother."

Shining Armor looked down and began to remember that dark moment in his life when he did the ultimate betrayal of his younger sister on the eve of his wedding to Cadence. He knew very well how much words can hurt those that are closest to him.

"Actually, Discord," sighed Shining Armor, looking over towards him. "I know how it feels when my words hurt somepony. And I said those words to Twilight."

This made Discord drop his expression from that of anger, to that of shock. He may not have had the most time with Shining Armor as he had with Twilight, but he didn't always think that Shining Armor had his flaws.

"So, you know what it feels like?" asked Discord. "Why didn't you control yourself when Tirek and I confronted you?"

"Because I was trying to protect my wife and her aunts," explained Shining Armor. "Because of you, they were put in danger and I had to do whatever it took to protect them. Princess Celestia put her trust in you to stop the threat that was running around Equestria, sucking magic out of us. You betrayed us Discord and that is why I called you a traitor and after my wife was sent to Tartarus with Celestia and Princess Luna, I contemplated whether I should have disposed of you myself despite being regretful of your actions."

Discord was now beginning to get the truth about why Shining Armor hated him and began to really think about of what he was doing. But, just as Shining Armor was about to raise his voice in anger at Discord, his face turned to a look of despair and regret.

"But, I couldn't bring myself to destroy you," continued Shining Armor as the sun began to fade away from them as they got into Tartarus. "Because you gave my little sister the last key to open that chest and the tree gave her a brand new castle to live in."

The journey was now beginning to get more and more darker as they neared the gates. The sounds of evil creatures growling and snarling could be heard from miles away, but Discord and the royal guards stood steadfast for they knew that they had a mission to carry out and nothing was going to stop them.

"However, all I want to say is I am sorry that I hurt your feelings," sighed Shining Armor. "I hurt Twilight's feelings when Chrysalis was disguised as Cadence. She was trying to warn me and her friends about Cadence's behavior and I brushed it off as pure wedding stress. I told her to forget about being Best Mare and not even show up at the wedding at all."

Discord was shocked and horrified by this confession. In his mind, Shining Armor's actions were much worse than his own when he was with Tirek. True, he helped Tirek steal magic, but to hear that Shining Armor said those words to Twilight on the eve of his wedding made Discord shiver in fear.

"What's important is that I atoned for my words by putting her back in the wedding," continued Shining Armor. "We all apologized for what we did to her that day and I think you should do the same thing with all of Equestria. But, the more pain you keep inside, the more worse you will become. How you will do it is up to you."

Discord now realized that he needed to apologize for his actions and if Shining Armor could do it, then so could he. He now could see that he needed to start by finishing what he set out to do and that was to bring Discord back to the princesses where they would decide what to do with him.

Landing at the gates of Tartarus, the royal guards armed themselves for any sign of trouble and Shining Armor led them through the gates with Discord in tow. It was at this point that Discord began to grow very nervous of the surroundings. But, he knew that he needed to be responsible for this mission and give himself a chance of redemption for what he did. Suddenly, they all heard a low growling sound as they neared Tirek's cell.

"Cerberus must know we are here," said a royal guardspony. "Give us the word and we will neutralize him, Prince Armor."

But, Shining Armor raised his hoof and silenced the guard from saying another word. For he knew, giving his training, he had to be instinctive in situations such as this.

"We need to be careful," said Shining Armor, trying to sound quiet. "All we need to do is get Tirek out without getting any unwanted attention."

"Leave it to me," whispered Discord, who had transformed into a disguise of Princess Celestia much to the shock and dismay of Shining Armor and the guards. "I'll deal with him and you cover for me."

Shining Armor, trying not to laugh at the fact that Discord was disguised as Princess Celestia, agreed and allowed the disguised Discord to make his way towards Tirek's cell which was at the top of a center mountain. Cerberus was on duty and thinking that the master of chaos was his mistress, allowed him to pass through as Discord struggled to walk in Celestia's body.

"How does she do this?" he thought as he tried to keep himself from falling over and blowing his cover. The guards looked nervous for a second, but were relieved when Discord managed to recover himself at the last second.

Soon, Shining Armor and the guards watched as he neared Tirek's cage and a confrontation between the ex-partner's was about to commence.