Red let the words Celestia had said sink in. She was right. He was just born into the wrong family. Red let out a sigh, and laid back down. He really needed to some rest. Once he closed his eyes, he realized just how tired he was. He fell asleep almost instantly. When he awoke again, he saw through the windows that it was almost dusk. As he got up and stretched, he noticed that he was able to use his other arm again. Hm, one of the princess must have healed it... "So much for a reminder, am I right?" Yeah...

As Red walked to the sword, he noticed that there was a note attached to it. Taking the note, some kind of ticket fell out. Picking it up, Red saw that it was some kind of invitation. As Red read the note, his eyes twitched violently. He was invited to the Grand Galloping Gala. Are you fucking kidding me? I'm invited to a social event? Celestia must have put this here. No way in hell would anyone else invite me to an event like this. Even though Red knew he would only cause problems, he still took the ticket, out of appreciation. "You? Go to the Grand Galloping Gala? Oh, this'll be a treat." Trust me, I'm not going, I'm only taking the ticket.

When Red took the sword he attached it to a strap on his back, under the trench coat. When he walked out of the room, he saw that there was a group of guards. Red's eye twitched again. A pony stepped forward, and told him, "We've been ordered by Princess Celestia to take you to the throne room, to discuss your... Mental stability." "Hm, if that's the case, lead the way." Once they got the the set of double doors Red went through when he first came to the castle, the guards headed off to their posts. Hm, I guess this is a private conversation.

Red opened the doors, and walked inside. As soon as he got inside, the doors behind him closed. He was lifted off the ground, yet again. "Uh, is this really necessary?" Red asked. But he didn't see the princesses. Only a creature that looked like a cross between about twenty different animals. "Well, what do we have here?" The creature asked. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..."

"What you have is someone who's seriously pissed off, and I would suggest letting me down." Red told the creature. "Hmph, I'm Discord, thanks for asking." "I'm Red, displeasure to meet you." Red said. "Looks like someone's not very social." "Oh, what gave you that idea?" Discord only smiled, and Red suddenly dropped. Landing on his stomach, Red got up, and brushed himself off.

Red looked at Discord, who was suddenly by his side. "One question, what the hell are you?" Discord grinned, "I, my new friend, am a draconequus." "What makes you think I'm a friend?" Red asked. "Because, something about you tells me not to get on your use bad side." "And what would that be?" "I don't know, maybe the fact that you have a sword that you could easily use to kill me. Or, maybe, it's because I know what you can actually do."

"Hm, I'm guessing it's the latter, am I correct?" Red asked. "Maybe." "You know Discord? There's something about you that I like. I can't put my finger on it, but it's there." "As long as you don't get the sudden urge to kill me, I think we'll be good friends." "Likewise." "I have a question." "What is it?" "What're you doing in here?" Red shrugged, "Eh, I was told that Princess Celestia wanted to have a conversation about my 'mental stability'." "Hm, I wonder why..."

Then, the doors opened, and in walked Princess Celestia. "Sorry Red, you won't believe how long a discussion with Luna can take," She apologized. "It's alright, not like I had to wait long anyway. Besides, I met a new face." Discord waved to Celestia. Celestia sighed, "I was a minute late, Discord. I told you that if I was five minutes late, you could discuss his mental state with him."

"Uh, about that?" Red asked."Oh, right, Discord, you can go now." Discord groaned, "Fine..." And then he snapped his talons, and teleported out of the room. "So, my mental stability?" Red asked Celestia. "Red, ever since you started hearing Nightmare Moon, have you, for example, wanted to hurt anypony?" "No. Is there a reason you're asking?" "Where and when did you start hearing her voice?" "A couple of days ago, in these old ruins of a castle." "Well, that would explain it. Nightmare Moon was purged from Luna at that exact place by my student and her friends."

"Wait, Luna and Nightmare used to be the same pony?" "Not entirely. A little over a thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon took control of Luna, and attempted to overthrow me, and send all of Equestria into an eternal night." "Hm, it's a good thing she failed then. Exactly how did you beat her?" "I had to use the Elements of Harmony, and banish her to the moon for a thousand years." "But in doing so, you had to banish Luna to the moon as well..." Yes, and for a thousand years, I had to endure loneliness unlike anything I had experienced before." "I can't blame you. If you hadn't banished her, she would have made the night here eternal. You had to choose the lesser of two evils. I had to make similar choices many times."

"Now, about the discussion of my mental state." Red said. "Of course. Before you passed out, what I saw in your mind was... How should I put this? Disturbing would be putting it mildly. The things that you were made to do, it's a wonder how you haven't snapped." "Yeah, I ask myself the same thing sometimes." "But, that's not the most disturbing, it's what you can do." Red was silent when Celestia said that. "It's not that we would be afraid of you if Twilight hadn't found you, it's just that, well, you have many abilities that would frighten others it they found out about them." "I try to only use them as a last resort. But sometimes it can't be avoided." And Red wasn't lying, sometimes he had to use his abilities to get himself, or others, out of harm's way.

After about half an hour later, once Red was able to convince Celestia that Nightmare wasn't influencing any of his thoughts or actions, Red walked out through the double doors. Where Discord was waiting, throwing a tennis ball at the wall and catching it. "Were you seriously waiting this entire time?" Red asked. "Eh, I get bored easily," Discord answered. "I wonder why..." "So, what did you and Tia talk about? Other than the possibility of you being insane." "Eh, had to convince her that one of the two voices in my head, who happens to be the one who took over her sister, wasn't telling me to kill everything I see." "Hm, how did that go?" "Surprisingly, I somehow managed to convince her that I was in control of my actions."

"So, what can you tell me about yourself Discord?" Red asked. "Well, I was the former Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, but, I'm reformed now, and I've given up that title. What about you?" "Hm, well, I had a terrible childhood, if you can even call it that. I've been to many worlds, I have two voices in my head that try to control me, Broken, and the more recent occupant, Nightmare Moon. I've seen some things that would make even the most hardened of people break. I'm technically 35 years old. Don't ask. Nearly died more time than I can count. And, I try to do the right thing when I'm faced with a choice." "Hm, I think my backstory's better." "Whatever."

Discord snapped his talons, and in a bright flash of light, Red was suddenly in a straitjacket. "Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me. Get this thing off of me right now." "Hm, I don't know, it suites you rather well." "I swear I will break your neck, and break out of this thing, in that order, if I have to." "Oh, fine, you sourpuss," Discord said as he snapped his talons, and the straitjacket disappeared from Red. "That's what I thought..." Red muttered. "You really need to work on your choice of entertainment." "Why? I find that slicing things to pieces, and seeing what they have on the inside, is a great way to keep myself busy." "I'm not sure that's healthy for the mind." "Did I ask for your opinion?" Then Red was lifted up, surrounded with a magical aura. "For the love of... Okay, who is it this time?" Red asked.

Then, a unicorn came into view, with his horn lit up. He looked more like a prince than a guard. "Hey, if you could let me down, I would appreciate it." Red said. "Fat chance. For all I know, you could be trying to assassinate the princesses," The unicorn told him. Red chuckled, "Trust me, if I were here to kill the princesses, you wouldn't catch me. I can promise you that." "Oh yeah?" The unicorn asked. "Are you challenging me?" Red asked in return. "I guess I am." Answered the unicorn. "Alright then. We should take this outside. Wouldn't want to make a mess, would we?"

Seven minutes later, Red and the unicorn, who Red found out was named Shining Armor, were outside, in a ring where the guards trained. "Just so you know, I used to be the caption of the royal guard. You still sure about this?" Shining asked, using his magic to bring a sword over to his side. "100% positive. You may want to get another sword. It won't be fair if you only use one." Red told Shining. Shining frowned, but still took another sword with his magic. "Ready?" Shining asked. "On the count of three?" "One..." "Two..." "Three!" Red and Shining rushed at each other.

Shining brought both swords down on Red, but he easily blocked the blow. Shining then slashed with both swords in an 'X' motion. Red hopped out of distance of the strike. Red knew that Shining was holding back, just by the speed of the first two attacks. "Shining, if you want to win, you don't want to hold back, especially against me." Red told Shining, dodging another strike. "You sure? You could get pretty hurt." Shining told Red. Red only nodded. Then, Shining went to stab Red, but Red easily deflected it.

Then, Shining unleashed a barrage of strikes against Red, who either dodged or deflected them with ease. When Shining went for Red's head with a scissor motion, Red ducked, and saw his chance. Bringing his sword up, Red aimed for Shining's neck. Shining couldn't even blink. Red held the sword to Shining's neck, smirking. "Hm, you're good, but you're way too slow to even get a hit on me." Red told Shining. Red then sheathed his sword, and began to walk away. "H-how?" Shining asked. Red stopped, and looked back, "Simple. I've had years of training. More than you can imagine." Red turned away, and began walking again. Next Chapter: Old Problems Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes