Two days had passed since I met with Luna in the palace’s magical botanical gardens. Since then, things had been quiet for me. I hadn’t been summoned for any dinners and, critically, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Luna. I could start conversations with the various palace staff, though they seemed to be staying as strictly professional around me as humanely (was it still humanely if they were ponies?) possible. I was prone to start a riot if I walked into the city below, so I found myself doing a lot of exploring and reading. Oh and the things I read. There was so much I could say about the things I’d been able to read once I’d gathered the clarity of mind to ask one of the castle’s semi-permanently unoccupied guardsponies where the library was. Major pony metropolitan areas included the likes of Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, Neighagra Falls, and Manehattan. Why did half of all pony cities have names that sounded like bad pony puns of Earth cities? I must have spent half an hour just staring at the Equestrian map in befuddlement.

Not for the first time, I worried that I was only courting more disastrous realisations by trying to seek answers about this place. I had hoped to find some sort of grounded writings in between the pages of books, but pony writers described all things science as if it were just another subsection of the world’s innate magic. I learned, for instance, that steam engines were a thing and that ponies did in fact have the technology for trains. But that same knowledge was conveyed in a line which described a steam engine as being a gaseous thaumaturgical core. I had to put the books down after reading that.

I had to say, it was hard to stay away from reading with neither a body that tired naturally, nor a single directing influence on me those two days. In some ways, the time alone was kind of nice. So much had happened to me in the two days prior that I really just needed some time to process what had happened, no, what was still happening to me. It was all a lot. I was coping, I reckoned. I mean, I was coping, but I was coping.

During times that night fell and the majority of guards drifted to sleep, I found that the guard’s training field was a nice place to jog and test my body’s capacities. The nuanced balance of a body as warped as mine was something I was having to manually rewire, though I was becoming more confident with the extent of my abilities. I would glance at exposed bones every now and then and wonder how it all worked, but I could move quickly enough, jump high enough, and punch hard enough that I was willing to overlook the whys and hows for now. Barreling across the running track, I had wondered, every now and then, if I would run into a beaming Luna, looking for a rematch after our last bout. As much as I didn’t want to start another fight with her, I was finding myself rather lonely at the lack of her presence this last day or so. Somehow she had become a welcome part of my stay here.

---

During one twilight wander, while the sun dipped low and the moon rose high, I found myself walking around the edge of a hedge maze. I kept pacing, wondering where the entrance was. The thing itself was rather huge. I had figured it would be a good way to kill an hour or two while the day ended for the ponies on a regular sleep cycle.

Built into the side of the mountain, as opposed to hanging precipitously off the mountain’s edge like much of the city, the garden around the maze had a more natural feel than much of the palace and surrounding districts. Every dozen or so metres, sculptures of jubilant looking ponies could be seen on pedestals, often with instruments of their work in hand. It was tasteful, in a national remembrance sort of way. Very pony-esque, I thought.

Finally sighting shrubbery arches, I found the entrance to the hedge maze. To my annoyance, it was not far from where I had started searching. I had done almost a full loop of the course and it was right here all along. While I was grumbling internally, one of my emaciated feet hovered over grass as I froze mid-step. There was something I hadn’t seen during my first circle of the maze nearby now, standing by one of the numerous statues. Princess Celestia, brilliantly white as always, was looking markedly subdued in the muted haze of sunlight. I supposed that she must have just finished up a workday, seeing as day court would be over and the sun was dipping low. Just in front of the mare was the stony artistry of a patchwork chimaera of creatures. She seemed fully focused on the bizarre piece and, with her back to me, showed no sign of having even noticed my presence at all. I was more interested in making conversation after so many one-word conversations with guardsponies than I was with avoiding the somewhat caustic white mare, so I made my way over to Celestia.

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“I dohn’t see you out and about very often.” I called out the greeting to Celestia from a respectful distance behind her. Her back was still turned to me as she looked at the statue. Unlike Luna, she seemed wholly unfazed at my approach. Neither a hair on her head moved, nor a muscle on her body twitched.

“I love my little ponies, though their concerns have a way of monopolising my time.” Celestia cheerily elaborated. Apparently finished looking at the statue, she gave a little hum and turned her head to me. I could feel those purple eyes looking deep under the antler skull over my face.

“Do you know anything about Discord, young Brian?” She asked with a tilt of her head.

It was an odd question. Shifting the weight of my body from one leg to the other, I considered where she might be going with this.

“What, tension between ghroups?” I probed, wondering if the magical pony princess in front of me was about to start an angsty rant about how I didn’t know the true meaning of worldly strife. But no. Instead, she gave a short shake of her head.

“Not quite. That word’s original meaning has long since lost any significance to these lands. Now and forever, it seems we are inseparable. No, Brian, I speak of Discord the entity.” Celestia looked deep into the statue in front of her. Pointing with her hoof, while turning her head to me, Celestia explained, “Discord is the spirit of chaos and disharmony between life. Once upon a time, over a thousand years ago, he ruled the lands that would become Equestria. That was before my sister and I deposed him and took our places as guardians of ponykind. His power is immense, his goals are undefined, and his methods vary by the second. This form”–Celestia traced her hoof gently across the side of his jawline–“is the singular thread that keeps him grounded as an entity in reality, instead of him just being an incalculable force of nature. It is only through this body of his, that has he been able to be sealed away, guaranteeing the safety and loving harmony of my ponies.” Celestia closed the speech with a short smile, devoid of any warmth.

I groaned internally. There were more ageless demigods to deal with. And this one seemed capable of blowing up the castle on a whim. I blinked. Celestia was looking at me now.

“So, what happened to Discord? Where is he now?” I questioned, my curiosity burgeoning. If he was such a threat, I’d have to look up the ex-ruler in the history books. Celestia shot me an odd look, turning back to the commemorative statue of his defeat.

“Discord is a spirit of chaos. Dungeons can’t hold those, Brian. I needed- all of ponykind needed a way to stop him from so much as snapping his fingers. It wasn’t easy, but there was a time when harmony itself responded to me.” Celestia gave the stone statue a light tap with the side of her hoof, glancing at me. Surely not.

Celestia looked around the tranquil garden, elaborating, “From there, it was just a matter of finding him someplace that would be safe from chaotic influences, while still providing enrichment in his surroundings. Most ponies don’t know this, but the Canterlot statuary garden was actually the first piece of our capital to be built. It was simple back then, just some hedges, flowers, songbirds, and Discord, secluded on a mountainside. Everything else came later. We still try to get musical performers and tours passing through here, so that he has something to watch.”

Celestia’s explanation continued, but I was transfixed by the chimeric creature, frozen forever in a stony prison. What a way to end up. The castle dungeons were so empty and out of use. My mind focused on Celestia’s ability to petrify people. Discreetly, I looked around the statuary garden at the numerous frolicking ponies on display. The sun hung low on the horizon.

“Do you often turn your enemies to stone?” I probed cautiously.

Celestia turned to me. With pursed lips and steady gaze, she gave no response, only staring into my eyes eerily. All around us, the numerous ponies immortalised in statuary seemed to loom taller, each casting longer shadows on the ground. I was about to step backwards, find some pretext with which to excuse myself. Suddenly, breaking her icy demeanour, she gave a gentle titter, holding a hoof up to her mouth.

“Your expression is hilarious,” she giggled to herself, turning back to the garden. “Did you really think that all these”–Celestia waved a hoof across the assembled statuary–“were petrified just like Discord?” I was too caught off guard to respond. The idea of Celestia keeping a petrified menagerie of ponies and beasts seemed to be a real side splitter to the mare in question.

“No, just Discord, I’m afraid. Besides, the power to turn even him, let alone anyone else, has been out of my hooves for almost a milenia now. No, he is other ponies’ problems these days, bless Faust.” Celestia took another glance at the statue, the smile on her face fading somewhat.

“I don’t even particularly hate the man. And I know that he doesn’t like being trapped in stone.” Celestia trailed off, looking deeply into the asinine face of the chaos spirit. It was forever locked in an alarmed yell, arms outstretched as if trying to ward something off. Exhaling softly through her nose, Celestia turned away, “It is a shame that he has had to stay in stone. All these years, it would have been nice to have someone nearby who understands how slow the passage of time can be.”

Celestia let the words hang in the air for a few seconds. All the while, I let centuries-old drama play out before my eyes, not daring to interrupt.

“Now and then, I considered opening his cage, reaching out to him. Chaos and harmony working together for all of ponykind,”–Celestia looked wistful–“wouldn’t it be the ultimate proof of the power of friendship?” Suddenly, as if Discord had personally slapped her in that very instant, Celestia shot the statue a burning glare. Pawing at the ground with a hoof in frustration, she accused, “But he is too dangerous! The elements rejected me, I was all alone. Was I supposed to risk my little ponies?”

As quickly as it came, that spark of fire seemed to die within Celestia.

“Even now, with my sister at my side and my student ready to protect her friends, it is still not time. It is still not safe enough. These holes plaguing my kingdom, they threaten my ponies. I could not, can not, risk him making the situation worse.”

In my mind, an unspoken question burned.

“So, why tell me all of this? Did you want to stress that you could seal me up in stone too? Lock me away like Discord if I was a threat to your ponies?” I accused, angling my head low and my antlers higher, ever so slightly.

Celestia was silent. Craning her head, she looked away from me and off into the hedges of the garden. Still facing away, she gave a soft exhalation through her nose before she began speaking.

“I know you do not like me, Brian. I misjudged you as a person and that has coloured our relationship up to this point.” Celestia paused for a moment, “Twilight, my student, sent me a thirty-page report detailing the two minute exchange between the two of you. Moreover, yesterday morning, Luna was tripping over herself trying to tell me about your story and the first few hours you spent in Equestria. Though I would have preferred to determine those details with you in the secure setting of the Canterlot dungeons, my hoof has been forced on that front. Luna has chosen to put trust in you. Because I value her input and because you have done nothing to betray that trust so far, I have been honouring that decision.”

Still fixated on the distant hedges, Celestia continued, “Twilight’s and Luna’s stories seem to match up perfectly. I do not have any reason to believe that you intended to hurt Scootaloo or my student. On the contrary, it seems that you took several deliberate steps to protect my ponies.”

“So why the focus on telling-” I started, before being interrupted by Celestia, who raised a hoof. Finally, she turned her head back to me.

“I don’t want to threaten you, Brian. I don’t think that you need to be threatened. Right now, I want to talk about Discord.” Celestia clarified.

Celestia’s words caught me off guard. I was silent, giving the princess room to explain. But, instead of jumping into dialogue, she took a quick glance around us to make sure that there were no observers. Lowering herself to the ground, Celestia folded her hooves up on themselves, turning into a pony loaf and snuggling up in the grass. Once she was nice and comfortable, she began her explanation.

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“I had thought that Discord might have been the culprit behind these portals. On the rare occasion he feels like it, he can play long games with ponies. You will rarely see a spirit of chaos hold a plot together for decades, but Discord has had centuries in stone to just watch some of his schemes come to fruition. Even more so than the raw chaos of his reign, the lingering presence of his work can be the most devastating.” Celestia’s tone shifted, as if she was telling a story to a group of students, “Across the sea, in Zebrica, there was a village on the plains was fed by a porous aquifer. Burning water, I later learned they called it. It was a miracle for the whole region. Zebras would flock to try it. I myself only learned of the settlement when I found out that it had been swallowed by the earth. All at once, the entire village collapsed into a gargantuan sinkhole. It fell almost forty feet. I arrived to help assist with recovery. Only when I arrived did I learn what had happened. Discord, on a whim, had turned the towns groundwater source to lemonade. Over three centuries after his imprisonment, the lemonade had eaten deep into the town’s limestone foundation, right up until the support for the settlement just gave out. If Discord had still been around, I’m sure he would have teleported in with an arrogant snap of his fingers, just like he always did. He would have turned everyone’s fur into little parachutes, or put balloons on every buildings’ foundations and called it the floating lemonade town. But I’m not Discord.” The last sentence was followed by a slow exhale by Celestia.

Shaking her head sadly, Celestia continued, “When I got to the remains of where the village had once been with a recovery team, it was all gone. Only a handful of zebras who were foraging outside of town when it collapsed survived.” A sliver of weariness flashed in Celestia’s eyes.

“For two weeks now, I’ve been looking for a hint of his influence. Chaos magic present where holes have opened, a breach in the seal of his statue, some hypnotised ponies doing his bidding, I’ve searched for everything and more. I’ve come up empty. These holes may be causing lots of chaos, but I can say for sure they are not a plot of any chaos spirits, so I’ve lost my best lead. You want to know why I brought up Discord, it is to make it clear that I might not necessarily have all the answers right now. I could use an ally in this.”

Celestia turned her head to me, a pensive look across her expressive muzzle. Huge though she might have been for a pony, she had to look high up to meet my eyes while she sat on the ground. A rumble forced its way through my chest, the monstrous equivalent of a humming. Joining Celestia, I crossed my legs and sat with her on the grass.

“So, what are you proposing?” I asked, leaning towards her..

“You and I started on poor footing. I would like to try and make amends. In my eyes, you are the first pony who looked like a real threat to Luna since she came back into my life. I did not show you the Equestrian spirit of friendliness that you deserved, coming to our lands.” Celestia looked conflicted. Dipping her head onto the grass, she admitted, “I don’t dislike you, Brian. I just want you to know that I love my sister. I’d do anything to keep her safe.” Pulling her head up, Celestia recomposed herself, adopting a thin smile.

“I am no longer worried that you might hurt Luna in any way.” Celestia’s face held that damned expressionless benevolence that I couldn’t read into. Laying out her plea, she continued, “We could do a lot of good working together, instead of being combative. Can we agree to put the past behind us?” Rustling under her fluffy white barrel, a hoof was offered to me. Celestia was giving me the pony equivalent of a hand to shake.

The memory of Luna’s surprise at being cut filled my mind. In my mind, I could see it as clear as day. There was Celestia’s fiery visage as I turned from her sister to her. The glow on her horn like a solar flare leaping from the sun. I remembered the fiery inferno that consumed me. All the while I stared blankly at Celestia’s pristine white forehoof. Closing my eyes, I sighed.

Her fur was soft.

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