Chapter 6

"Revelations and Reflections"

With Twilight assuming her regular duties, Celestia spent the next few days just staying in her quarters. It was clear by now that Shingles virus would be in her body for some time and she was starting to grow restless.

"Equestria and its subjects need me," Celestia thought. "I can't stay here forever. There is so much that needs to be done."

But, with each time Celestia got up, the pain of the virus caused her to come back down again. As long as the virus remained, Celestia was going to be out of commission. It was hard to accept, but it was just the way it was. Just then, Celestia noticed one of her dressers moving around, causing her to become confused. After a few moments, the doors opened and Discord came out with one of her dresses tied around him.

"Discord, what on earth are you doing in there?" gasped Celestia, crossing her eyes. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on ponies?"

"I know, I know," replied Discord, kicking the dress back into the dresser. "It's just that I hate to see you in this condition and I thought I could be of support to you."

He then flashed himself into a doctor and pretended to examine Celestia's injury in the usual chaotic manner, even going as far as producing a CAT scan machine.

"It appears that your illness is supposedly healing itself," announced Discord, talking in a weird voice. "You'll be back on your feet in no time, Princess."

Instead of a look of thanks, Celestia gave Discord a 'you idiot' look, which caused the creature of chaos to give her a 'wtf' look on his face.

"Well, I was never really big into medicine," replied Discord. "If I didn't choose to follow the path I did, then I would have become something."

Rather than being disappointed, a small smile came to Celestia's face, seeming finding this behavior in a very amusing manner. She knew that Discord was never all evil, but rather he had been forced into it.

"But you are something," remarked Celestia. "You are just being a friend to me, Discord. Just like you were centuries ago."

Discord couldn't believe what he had just heard come out of Celestia's mouth. She was saying that he was just trying to be a friend to her and that he wanted her to get better.

"How could you say something like that, Celestia?" said Discord, getting into her face. "It was because of me that you ended up in this condition, me and me alone."

To prove his point, Discord produced multiple clones of himself, but Celestia disregarded them and Discord reverted back to his old self.

"I mean, if I hadn't aligned with Tirek," he explained, not knowing about what was going through Celestia's mind. "Then, you wouldn't have been put in this situation that I had caused. Tirek would have been back in Tartarus and nopony would have had their magic eaten up."

"Then you wouldn't have learned the magic of friendship," interjected Celestia, causing Discord's mouth to drop to the floor in surprise.

"Well, I feel sheepish," he said, literally turning himself into a small sheep and walking around the room for a moment.

"It's true, Discord," replied Celestia, as she felt another sharp pain in her back. "Why do you think I decided to reform you in the first place? Yes, you did betray us and yes, Equestria was at Tirek's mercy because of you. But, you needed to understand that there is more to friendship than just magic."

Discord was shocked at what Celestia was saying to him. Was all that he was doing with Tirek something that Celestia wanted him to do? Was this all part of a test to get Discord to learn friendship once again? These were the questions that went through his mind.

"I know that you embraced friendship before," continued Celestia. "We were friends once, Discord and I know what you did was wrong."

"But, all the damage I had caused," he stuttered, his voice filled with shock. "Are you saying this was all part of a test to get me to understand friendship?"

Discord couldn't believe what he was hearing and wanted to let Celestia know how he felt. However, he didn't want to say anything that would increase her stress. Instead, he chose to take it all in stride.

"I'm not surprised," he chuckled. "You always were the one to give out those tough tasks when were younger, although it was more than a little confusing."

The two old creatures chuckled for a moment as they reflected on their youth.

"Remember all those times we tried to disobey our parents just so we could have fun?" laughed Celestia, who got her mind off of her illness for the first time since it began. "You always were the one who was the ringleader."

"Indeed, Celly," chuckled Discord, transforming himself into when he was younger, almost as a foal-like creature. "Those were good times, wasn't it? It's too bad our destinies were to be completed separately."

"I know," replied Celestia, sadly as Discord turned back into his normal self. "I didn't want to turn you stone, but you were beyond help and reason. When you betrayed Tirek, I wanted to turn you back to stone forever, but I couldn't bring myself to do so."

Discord was beginning to think back to the conversation he and Celestia had when he was repairing the windows he had vandalized while aligned with Tirek. Celestia had clearly mentioned that she wanted to punish Discord by turning him back to stone, but that was ultimately not the case.

"I guess I learned that the hard way," sighed Discord. "But, I still want to prove to you that I am not the creature that everypony thinks I am. Some may never forgive me, particularly Cadence's hubby, but I want to focus on the future and not on the past."

It was then that Celestia was starting to get an idea. The Grand Galloping Gala was coming up and she thought that it would be a golden opportunity for Discord to prove that he wasn't the creature that everypony had made him out to be.

"I think I can think of a way," promised Celestia. "You have proven to me that you want to embrace the magic of friendship. The Grand Galloping Gala is coming up soon and I think you can prove yourself then."

It was then that Discord began to get excited and after expressing his excitement and saying his goodbyes, he disappeared and left Celestia alone in her quarters. At that moment, another sharp pain was felt and Celestia looked back to reveal that the blisters crusted open and strange fluid came out.

Celestia was on the track to being well, but how long would it be until she was fully healed? Next Chapter: Follow Up at the Hospital Estimated time remaining: 22 Minutes