Discord being bored was nothing new, but having him actually show some measure of restraint definitely was. Leaning against the wall outside Solaris' chamber, the ancient draconequus contented himself by playing with a simple ball-in-a-cup toy, missing the mark several times. Of course, Discord, being Discord, naturally tried to spice things up by making the ball part of the toy look exactly like Solaris' head, which led to a smile on his part. But, as always, even this began to grow tiresome to him, and he vanished the thing without even bothering to snap his fingers this time. However, this proved to be good timing on his part, as the doors of the chamber opened, revealing not only Princess Luna, but Flash as well, both of whom closed the doors behind them, leading to some understandable curiosity on Discord's part. "So, how's the old king coping with Equestria's latest ruler?" he asked with a smirk.

Flash sighed. "Well, as you'd probably expect, Princess Twilight hasn't stopped since she got there. Solaris is answering best he can, but there's no telling when Equestria's longest interrogation is going to end."

Luna looked to him with interest. "Don't you mean interview?"

Flash didn't look at her, instead maintaining a deadpan expression. "I know what I said."

Discord chuckled. "One almost feels sorry for the stallion." Then, he squinted. "Almost."

Luna glanced over her shoulder, to the doors. "Doubtless my Father will provide our young friend with a wealth of information. Unlike Celestia, he was never really one to withhold knowledge until the right time."

Folding his arms, Discord looked to her with scepticism. "You mean he just blurts out whatever comes to mind?"

"...More or less, yes," Luna admitted. They all had a brief laugh together over that, but when it was over the mare of the night looked over to Flash. "I hope he hasn't been too much for you to deal with, Sir Sentry. I know Father isn't the easiest pony in the world to like."

Flash considered that, thinking on his response for a moment before finally answering. "I'll admit, it can get stressful at times." He frowned to her. "Especially given the likely reason I was assigned to him to begin with."

Luna, realising she'd been outed, at least had the good sense to look embarrassed. "Yes. And for that I must apologise. Celestia and I were so eager to get him back we...well..."

"Forgot how much of a headache he is?" Discord finished for her.

Luna glowered at him, then relented. "A not-inaccurate description of him." Again, she looked to Flash. "And I realise too that your selection was simply us rushing to find somepony to stay by his side while we made our escape. And for that, I admit to hoisting a truly unwarranted position to you."

Flash knew she was being sincere, and so his earlier irritation began to cool, his expression softening. "It's fine, really. Your Dad might be a bit of a hoof-full, but he's still an important figure in Equestria. And I'd be remiss in my duties if I wasn't at least willing to guard him."

Luna smiled to that, but Discord was unimpressed, scoffing from the side. "Oh please, as if cadet like you could actually do anything he couldn't do himself. He's an alicorn, I'll remind you. An old and skelefied one, granted, but still..."

"Lieutenant," Flash stated.

Discord looked to him with confusion. "Pardon?"

"It's Lieutenant Flash, not Cadet."

In response, Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh, lah-dee-dah! What, did you get promoted for holding the record for longest time standing by the throne in silence or something?"

Flash frowned. "No. I got it after a mission escorting visiting dignitaries back to their homeland. There was an incident involving a Cragadile and me and my unit had to deal with the beast for our charges to get home safely."

Discord blinked, then looked to him with renewed interest. "Hold up. Do you mean to tell me that you, Flash Sentry, have actually seen battle?"

Luna smiled to him, chiming in on the matter. "It may surprise you, old friend, but the Royal Guard are recruited for their ability to guard."

"Or did you think we simply led the lives of gold-plated shelf ornaments this whole time?" Flash asked with similar amusement.

Discord looked away with a huff, but that mood changed instantly when, at the other end of the hallway, all three sets of eyes could see the arrival of a familiar face. A small, purple dragon, hovering over to them with what could only be described as a look of frustration. Once he reached them, he set himself down, looking to the massive doors and then the odd collection standing beside it. "Let me guess...she got told somepony really magical, ancient or knowledgeable was behind these doors and just rushed on in, right?" After a collective nod from the three, the young dragon sighed, rubbing his temples before, in a move that stunned the onlookers, walked on in without even so much as looking daunted by the matter.

Now alone again, the three looked to one another, definitely surprised by their newest visitor. "Well...if we wanted your father to be convinced by the Princess' efforts to unite ponies with other races, I'd say we couldn't have asked for a better first example," Flash reasoned.

Luna's smile returned. "Indeed. And it's nice to see him attend to his duties so diligently. We can't have Equestria's leader down here spending her time asking questions of my Father all day after all."

As if the universe itself wanted to prove her right, the doors again opened, and all looked on to the rather intriguing sight of Spike walking back out, this time holding onto Twilight's tail, which he put all his strength into dragging behind him, with the attached alicorn doing her best to claw her way back inside. "No! Stop! I've only asked ten percent of my questions! There's so much I need to knohohohohow!" she whined.

But Spike continued, undeterred, getting his lifelong friend to go back with him whether she liked it or not. As for the rest, they simply had no idea what to make of all that, and so elected to just go back inside the king's chamber, wherein they looked up to him and, despite the lack of any kind of flesh on his face, realised immediately that he was feeling utterly taken aback by the visit. "WELL, SHE WAS...INTERESTING."

Luna giggled. "Oh Father, you have no idea."

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