With cups of coffee in-hoof, Flash and Luna begrudgingly made their way back down the ancient hallways. It had been a pleasant break from their time there, but they knew they were going to be needed back sooner rather than later. "So, think things have calmed down between them?" Flash asked.

Taking a sip of her beverage, Luna glanced around. "Well, given that the palace is still here in one piece, I'd say so. At the very least they're showing more restraint than I'd expect of them."

Sighing, Flash looked to the former royal. "Dare I ask if the two bothered each other this much back in your day?"

Luna chuckled dryly. "Oh no, they stayed far away from one another. I think we can thank the passage of time for them being so, how do you say it nowadays, mellow? Relatively speaking of course."

"Of course," Flash concurred. Eventually though, the two stopped, just shy of the great doors that led to the enormous alicorn skeleton they knew they'd have to return to. After taking in a deep breath to calm himself, Flash again looked to the blue mare beside him. "Well, back to the grindstone, Princess?"

"If only to keep Father from getting any crazy ideas after speaking alone with Discord."

And speak of the Devil, that very draconequus now burst out of the doors, looking utterly infuriated. "Why, in all my years, I have never met an alicorn so completely devoid of humour! Even Celestia knew how to take a joke better than that guy!"

Looking on at him, Luna finally finished off her coffee before she proceeded past the old spirit of chaos. "Alright then, I'd better go in and calm Father. Wait here until I give the go-ahead, Flash."

The stallion saluted. "Will do, Princess." Once Luna was inside, making sure to magically close the doors behind her, the guard arched an eyebrow to Discord. "You know, given how much you hate the guy, I'm surprised you've been willing to stick around this long."

Discord, upon hearing that, waved him off. "Oh, you know how it is. Fluttershy would never forgive me if I just gave up on a chance to befriend somepony." He narrowed his eyes. "Even a pony as difficult to like as Solaris."

Flash smirked to that. "Well, for what it's worth, I'm sure she'd appreciate you putting in the effort. Though for the record I doubt the two of you will ever really be the best of friends."

Discord shrugged, leaning against the wall. "Oh, certainly not. At least not with my current methods."

After a brief pause, and after noticing the clear signs of wheels turning in his head, Flash looked to Discord with understandable wariness. "Meaning...?"

Conjuring a halo above his head, Discord put his paws together in mimicry of a prayer, no doubt to make himself look innocent. "Why, I mean nothing, dear pony. I assure you I have nothing but good intentions in the works."

"...Yeah, I ain't buying it. You're up to something, and if I'm going to avoid another headache, I'd at least like to know what that something is ahead of time."

Frowning, Discord took hold of the halo and proceeded to take a big bite out of it, as though it were a donut. Once that was done, he began to drum his fingers together in a totally not-suspicious way. "Well, friend, if I am going to make this attempted friendship between Solaris and me work, I'm going to need to prove my good intentions by doing good for Equestria."

Flash continued to stare at him carefully. "Makes sense. But how do you plan to do that?" His eyes narrowed further. "And not for nothing, but are you sure it's good for you to do that? The last time you tried to 'help' you wound up losing all your power and unleashing three of our deadliest enemies upon Princess Twilight and her friends."

Discord shrugged to that. "Yes, I admit my track record of helping hasn't been totally perfect, but I assure you this plan can have nothing but positives for ponykind."

"And that's because you're going to...?"

"Well, Mr Sentry, I plan to..." With a snap of his fingers, Discord brought out a duplicate of himself who was equipped with a drum, all in order to give a drumroll for what he apparently felt was a big and dramatic reveal. "Revive Solaris to his former state!"

Flash hadn't known what to expect, but that was clearly not it. "So...you're going to make him not just a skeleton anymore?"

Dismissing his double, Discord gave a firm nod. "Indeed, my dear fellow. Solaris, for all his faults, was the most powerful pony who ever lived, and who devoted his very being to the enrichment and protection of Equestria. To have him return, to have him stand alongside Twilight in her pursuit of guiding ponykind, can only be a good thing for all of you...assuming you can all tolerate his stick-in-the-mud attitude of course."

After a moment of silence, Flash looked to him with doubt. "You're just doing this so you get to have something to lord over him, aren't you?"

Discord, for a brief few seconds, tried to appear unfazed by those words, only to then sigh. "That predictable, am I?" Seeing Flash nod, he continued. "Okay, fine, maybe I'd use this as something to remind him of what I've done for him...every hour or so. But I'm not wrong in saying it'd be a help to you ponies."

Though he was still uncertain, a quick glance at the king's chamber doors caused Flash to soften in his expression. "So...what's the plan then? You just snap your fingers and turn him back?"

Discord shook his head. "Alas, no. He and I are both greater powers. As such I can't get rid of him any more than I could get rid of the Tree of Harmony back during my bad guy days."

Stepping forward, curiosity began to take root in Flash. "Then...what exactly do you plan to do?"

Here, Discord resumed his earlier smirk, leering at the stallion. "That, Flashy, is where you come in."

Of course, Flash didn't like hearing that in the slightest, as evidenced by the step back he took. "Me?"

Nodding again, Discord brought his face right up to Flash. "Have you ever heard...of the Alicorn Amulet?"

Next Chapter: A Quest Undertaken Estimated time remaining: 55 Minutes