Chapter 8:

“Maybe, someday, we'll find out what this whole mess was all about.”

“I have a few theories on that.”

“I don't want theories without facts, General.”

“I can't give you positive proof, but I can give you this.”

“. . .”

Twelve Days After the Attack:

“Captain, we're ready when you are.”

Clifton looked back at his executive officer, then out at San Diego. “Very well, take us out slowly.” Then he muttered under his breath. “I want to get a good view of the city before I die.”

“You say something, Sir?”

“No, just thinking out loud.” Clifton grumbled. He was left alone for a moment before a familiar figure stepped out next to him. “Did you reach her?” Admiral Bogart asked.

Clifton thought back to eight hours prior, hundreds of miles away. The sun had set some time earlier, Clifton was pulling up the drive way in the same Crown Vic as before, to a house that he wanted to forget.

He got out slowly, his eyes scanning for some sign of life in the house even though he knew there would be none. He slowly walked up the steps and tried to slip his key into the lock, but the door was unlatched and simply swung open from the slightest push. Bob stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The house was silent, not even his own footsteps made any noise.

He left the lights off, perfectly navigating his way to the back door without them. The door slid open and he looked out into the backyard. The rose bushes were dead, not a single leaf on one plant. Bob sat down on the bench that he had said goodbye to Chrys on and pulled out a cigarette.

For an hour, he sat there smoking cigarettes, stomping them out when flame neared his lips. His thoughts varied, sometimes on the coming battle, sometimes on the recent revelations that Discord had dropped on him, but mostly on Chrys. He thought of the time that they met.

Bob was twenty, just entering college through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. Standing next to him was his best friend and crush from the sixth grade. She was practically a model by college standards, but she was smart. Bob thought she was the perfect girl, until he found out that she and his roommate were cheating behind his back.

When he found out, his grades took a dive and he was nearly kicked out of ROTC. It was late at night and he was returning to the dorm from a late night party. He had gone to get drunk but was still sober when he left. It was then that he bumped into Chrys.

She was standing on the balcony of the dorm when she dropped her camera. Bob caught it and climbed the drain pipe to give it back. She took it and thanked him as she examined the lens, then she looked up into his eyes. Bob was so shocked that he nearly let go of the pipe. Her eyes drew him in, controlling his every movement and thought. And the best part, he knew she felt the exact same way about him.

Things had changed so much since that moment, and life had driven a rift into their marriage. Bob and Chrys still loved each other, but that was the problem, they loved each other too much.

Bob stood and stomped out his last cigarette before walking silently back into the house. The stairs creaked slightly as he made his way to the bedroom. Empty, as he knew it would be. On the dresser was a notepad, exactly where he left it months earlier. Taking out a pen, he wrote a message to Chrys.

“Chrys,

I know you're going to receive this. The fleet is leaving tomorrow and I have to be on the carrier. With all my heart and soul, I wish I didn't, but I have to be. There's too much at risk for me to sit this one out, and my crew needs me to lead them.

One way or another, this is going to be my last deployment. If I somehow live through the next few days, I'm getting out of the Navy for good. If things take a turn for the worse, please grant me one last request. Forgive me for not being the husband and father that you and Sean deserved.

I will always love you.

-Bob”

Bob looked up at the night sky, his eyes moist and his heart broken, but he dutifully got into the car and drove back to base to board a plane that would take him to the carrier.

That had been only eight hours ago, but to Clifton it felt like a lifetime. He turned to Bogart. “I left her a message.”

Bogart nodded regretfully. “If you want, I could-”

“No.” Clifton interrupted. “If she doesn't want to see me, I won't make her.”

Bogart frowned, but left it at that. “I'm going to be visiting Granger and. . . a friend in a few days. I'll be gone for a while, so I need you to cover for me.”

“I got it.” Clifton grumbled, watching as the ship began moving towards the entrance of the harbor.

“Thank you.” Bogart said. “And Clifton.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean it.”

“. . . Yeah.”

The two men stared at the city when the Reagan passed three ships entering the harbor, causing Clifton to double take. “Admiral Bogart.”

“Yes Captain?”

“Is there a reason why the USS Iowa is being refit?”

Fifteen Days After the Attack:

Principle Celestia continued to sign off on various forms guaranteeing the continued operation of the school as her door opened. “Can I help you?” She asked without looking up.

There was a slight pause, causing Celestia to give her visitor a glance. She had been expecting a student, not the Spirit of Chaos. She was about to scream when a bolt of magic hit her in the face. She fell backwards in her seat and would have fallen over had it not been for a strange force holding her up.

“Discord.” She breathed. With a yell of fury Celestia lunged over the desk and tried to attack him, her hands glowing with power. She was stopped short, hanging frozen in midair as Discord calmly walked around her and pulled a chair up to her desk. Discord then snapped his lion paw and Celestia was seated in her own chair behind her desk, the papers were neatly arranged and even her hair was smoothed out.

“Now Cel, is that any way to treat an old friend?” Discord smiled as he leaned back.

“What do you want?” Celestia growled. She was obviously surprised to see him, but what surprised her even more was the fact that he had returned her memories and some of her power, although she was still extremely weak by former standards.

Discord's smile disappeared. “To say goodbye.”

Celestia would have tried to kill Discord right then and there if he hadn't been holding her down with his powers. “So that's why you returned my memories? Just to come and gloat once more?”

Discord remained silent and pulled out a small glass orb. He handed it to her. “When I die, Luna's and Cadance's memories will return to that orb, as well as a small amount of power.”

“What about the rest of my power, I could've moved this whole building before, now I can't even move my desk.” Celestia asked.

“It's gone, I used it to attack the world.” Discord answered as if it was a matter of fact.

Celestia frowned, her eyes searching him. “Why?” She asked.

“Why what?”

“Why are you giving me my memories back?”

Discord sighed. “Because I want you to continue my work when I die, continue to help humanity.”

Celestia scoffed at that. “You gave me my memories back, remember? And I seem to recall you were trying to enslave humans alongside Tirek. I don't see how much has changed.”

“You think I don't know that?” Discord said, his voice bitter. “We all carry sins that weigh us down. Maybe now I can pay my penance for what I've done.”

Celestia looked at the orb. “Why should I believe anything you're saying?”

Discord leaned forward, practically pleading in his voice. “Because tomorrow, the world is going to change, and you once said that humans, as corruptible and vile as they are, given the right guidance can be molded into creatures of beauty. Tomorrow, they are going to make a stand against the greatest threat that the world has ever known. . . They're going to do it without us, without any help from the spirits. Celestia, right now, humanity is molding itself, and you can help them go even farther. You told me long ago that all you wanted was to help those who can't help themselves, now you can help everyone.”

“It won't work.” Celestia cut him off, her eyes beginning to moisten. “Last time I tried to help, it ended with war that killed almost everyone I cared for. What if it happens again?”

A hand, a human one, touched her own hand on the desk. She looked up and instead of Discord, she saw the man known as Admiral Bogart.

“You've spent thousands of years hiding from what you thought was failure.” He said softly. “I've spent thousands of years hiding from my own face.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “No more hiding.”

Celestia blinked wiped away the tears from her eyes. When her vision cleared, Discord was gone, leaving her alone in her office again. The door opened and a familiar figure walked in.

“Dear sister, you have been crying. What has happened?” Luna asked as she stepped up to embrace her sister. Celestia merely hugged her sister back, rocking back and forth as she considered how fortunate she was to have friends in a time like this.