Several weeks ago…

“I don’t see why I have to,” Discord huffed as he and Fluttershy sat on the train to the Crystal Empire. “It seems like an awful waste of time and a pain in my posterior.”

“Please?” Fluttershy rested a hoof on the Draconequus’s shoulder and looked at him beseechingly. “I can’t stop her, and I know she can’t do it without you. You’re our only hope.”

“Do I look like a farmboy living in the desert?” Discord snapped.

Fluttershy blinked in confusion. “What?”

“Nevermind,” Discord waved his bear hand irritably. “But I think it’s a stupid plan. If I can’t do anything about Sombra, what makes you think poking him with a few metal sticks will do any good?”

“Well, he’s not a chaos god, just an undead unicorn,” Fluttershy pointed out. “And she’s got the fireworks.”

Discord turned in his seat to look at Fluttershy incredulously. “Do you think a few sparks and a lightshow will bother him? Even Celestia couldn’t beat him one-on-one, and you think Trixie’s illusions will do better?”

“I suppose not.” Fluttershy sighed and glanced around. She and Discord were the focus of the train car they were sitting in, as every pony watched them covertly or overtly, but no pony was close enough to actually hear what they were talking about. “But she’s right in that Sombra needs to be taken care of. And if she has your help, I know she can do it.”

“If I decide to help her. I still don’t like her and I’m only on this trip because I wanted to buy some souvenirs. Maybe one of those flugelhorns.”

“Discord…”

“Fine, fine. I’ll help. Honestly, this friendship thing is such a pain.”

“It might be inconvenient for you, but I deeply appreciate all you do, you know that.” Fluttershy nudged Discord with one wing, and was amused to see him turn slightly red.

“Why don’t you just let me deal with her?” Discord changed the subject and the train conductor pony’s hat into a potted fern with teeth. “It would be easy. Or better yet, let’s go to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor and have them deal with her. Even Celestia would do the trick – we could pit Chrysalis against her and take bets on who’d win. 8-2 odds on Chrysalis of course, but we could let Celestia have a few royal guards.”

“We’re trying to make Equestria a safer place. Both she and I have the same goals, even though our methods may differ, and so I want to give her a chance.”

“To kill?”

“To do the right thing,” Fluttershy said firmly.

“And is killing part of that?” Discord stared at Fluttershy intently.

She shrugged fractionally. “I don’t know. I did it, so who am I to judge her? We’ve both got blood on our hooves.”

“A spot compared to an ocean, I’d say.”

“Nevertheless. I want to give her time to change.”

Discord leaned forwards, mismatched eyes serious. “And if she doesn’t?”

“We’ll deal with that then. For now, let’s just keep her alive, okay?” Fluttershy glanced up as the train began to slow. “And please let these poor ponies go in peace, okay?”

“Oh, very well, but only for you.” Discord rolled his eyes and undid all the magical changes with a wave of his hand. “But I can’t guarantee Sombra will go down so easily. He’s not as inspired as yours truly when it comes to magic, but he’s tenacious. Like old peanut butter or chewing gum on the underside of your hoof.”

“I have faith in you,” Fluttershy said simply.

“Yes, well.” Discord stood and stretched. “I think you’re far too gullible. You trust in monsters Fluttershy my dear. Someday it will come back bite you.”

“You may look like a monster to some Discord,” Fluttershy said softly as the other passengers on the train fled, “but you have a good heart.”

“I borrowed it.” Discord helped Fluttershy to her hooves and opened the train door with a flourish. “Shall we?”

----

Now.

“Well, that didn’t work.”

“No, it did not.”

“Her instincts were far too good. I expected her to be suspicious, but she managed to call her changelings far too quickly. If you’d let me I could have sniped her out of the air, but nooo—”

“Not the objective, Discord.”

“Well, I hope your next object is stopping them from walking all over us and then eating everyone in Ponyville, because guess what she’s going to do?”

“It won’t come to that. I’ve got a backup plan if this one fails.”

“You mean, ‘keeps failing?’ It’s not going to work no matter how many times you try.”

“Who says I expected it to work before this point? It would have been nice, but this is Chrysalis we’re talking about. She’s stubborn.”

“And I’m not?”

“You’re the god of chaos. You never wanted to actually hurt anybody. You just like annoying ponies.”

“Hm. Guilty. But you’re sure this is going to work?”

“No. And if it fails—”

“She dies.”

“No.”

“If it fails, she dies. I’m not going to argue with you on that. Especially because it would mean you were dead.”

“No killing. Not now, not if it fails.”

“Then change the plan.”

“No.”

“In that case, I’ll personally go over there and roast them all right now.”

“Don’t do that Discord, please.”

“You’re not giving me a lot of options here. I don’t want to see you—”

“Die? I told you from the start what I had planned. Don’t tell me you’ve got cold hooves now.”

“It’s cold feet, and I’m supposed to be your friend. If I let you die, what would that make me?”

“Alone. I know. But she—”

“Enough about Chrysalis!”

“…”

“…Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Here’s a napkin.”

“It’s just—why her? Why so much? Aren’t we—I mean, you didn’t for Sombra or Tirek, but for her—”

“I’d do the same for you, any day. And I wouldn’t do it for her, except, well, she’s different from Tirek and Sombra. They were evil for a long, long time. She’s still young.”

“She’s older than you.”

“But not nearly as old as they were. And I…owe her a chance. I burned her.”

“She burned you back. And killed your friends.”

“And I killed all of her people. No one won that day. So I’ll give her this one chance. And if it looks like she’s beyond redemption, I’ll finish it.”

“…Promise me you won’t die.”

“I can’t promise that.”

“Then promise me you’ll try to live as hard as possible. Even if it means poking her eye out with a stick.”

“I promise.”

“And if you need me—”

“I’ll call out. But you have to trust me.”

“I wish I didn’t. You make this so hard.”

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

“…”

“It’s getting late. Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”

“Yeah. I suppose it is.”

“I’ll see you in the morning. Unless she sneak attacks during the night which I doubt. Either way, I’ll sent someone to fetch you. And Discord?”

“Mm?”

“Thanks.”

“Thank me after it’s over. If you die, I’m turning you into a life-sized sock puppet.”

“I think Pinkie Pie has one of me already.”

“Heh. Good night, Fluttershy.”

“Good night Discord.”

“Fluttershy?”

“Yes?”

“…Don’t die.”