Before I sent my letter to Rarity, I decided I should actually check if anyone would hire someone with no skill in sewing and train them. Considering this was a town who's primary production consisted of milk and wool, there were a large number of tailors, seamstresses, weavers and the like, and it would take the rest of the day to get around to them all. So, the only thing left to do was start.

Tanner's Flannel, Sure Stitch's Repair and Alterations, The Right Cut. I shouldn't have been surprised, but they all wanted 'talented' workers, and without a cutie mark to declare my special talent, or something I'd made myself, there's no way any of them would give me a job. So, I gave the letter to a local mailmare, (and paid for postage using some of the money Gilda gave me once we got back home) as well as to have it sent express so Rarity would get it later today. I'd be heading there tomorrow and I wanted to give her a little bit of notice. I still kept most of it because I was going to need a cart fare to get there which sucked, and I wouldn't have to do that if I had my FRIGGIN WING.

As I walked the town, I made note of the different positions the various guards were in as they watched me to ensure nothing went wrong. Not like posts... more like spots they'd move to so they could see without being seen as they followed me around from above. I'm certain they had someone camped over at the sweater shack as well to keep an eye on Gilda and Seth, and another on our house. Tactical thinking meant that if at any point the spots they usually went to were vacant, that meant the absence of a guard that should be present, which meant trouble. Just me being paranoid me again. They're up in the clouds. Only pegasi or other griffins can get up there and still blend in, which means a stealth take down is simply out of the question. Even if they could get a cloudwalk spell they'd need a balloon to get up there and that'd draw attention.

Once I finished and returned home, I made a dinner of fettuccine alfredo with shrimps in the sauce. Seth's dinner tonight would be a medley of bugs Gilda had trapped, using a piece of rotten fruit she got from a vendor inside a jar with a narrow entrance. Bugs follow the smell to get in, happily roll around on the fruit, then are unable to leave. She screws the narrow top off, collects them, then Seth eats them like a child eats cereal. Put a bunch in front of him and let him stuff them in his face.

Gilda got home shorty after I finished making dinner, and she directed me in how to change his diaper. I already knew how to change a human one but given the different anatomy and the fact that he squiggled the entire time made it a bit more difficult. Especially the hole for his tail.

"I think it's a good idea." Gilda said after I told her my plan to learn sewing and stitching from Rarity. The fact that she's talented, and she probably won't charge me anything sealed the deal. I'd leave tomorrow, first thing in the morning, and be back that night with a sore ass from the two hour carriage ride. If I could fly, I could be there in forty minutes. And I wouldn't have to pay a cab. That night, we slept in a different arrangement. Gilda on her belly, Seth atop her back, and me by her side with a wing draped over me. It was getting closer to winter and I was glad for the extra warmth, though more so for the steady purr from one, and soft trill from the other.

Morning came as it usually does. Gilda and I had cereal, while Seth enjoyed a meal of crickets, playing with them more so than eating them, but he finished them all the same. Gilda left to go to work, and I hopped aboard a carriage headed to Canterlot, which would stop in at Ponyville on the way.

One uneventful carriage ride later I stepped onto the dirt streets of Ponyville, only to be immediately bowled over by Pinkie Pie who had nothing better to do at the time than assault anyone who passed by. Then she began rambling about having a 'welcome back party' for me and that she was going to drag me around town and introduce me to the ponies who moved in during my absence. Of course, there was no arguing with Pinkie Pie, so I suggested I stop at Rarity's first, where the unicorn would rescue me from the pink menace.

She bought it.

"Griffin, you've arrived. Thank you kindly for bringing him Pinkie, but I'll handle things from here." My ivory coloured savior.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinks bounced away, probably to prepare for a party I'd never go to. Oh well. I was here for business, and I'd rather get back home as soon as I can.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am that you want to learn, and from me no less! Not many stall.... boys, are interested in learning how to make dresses."

"Well then I'm sorry to disappoint, but I won't be learning to make dresses. I just need to know how to stitch and sew, and to make proper seams and such. I'll be making someone else's designs. I also need to learn how to use a loom to make fabric."

"Ah, well... then this will be much simpler. I can probably teach you in two days. Then it's just memorizing the different stitches. Uh... lets start with something simple. Threading a needle. Now, a lot of unicorns have trouble with this because you need very good accuracy, and you have to use magic to hold two things at....." In the time it took her to say that sentence, I had already threaded three, which I held out to show her. When she looked at me, I wiggled my fingers, and she seemed to understand.

"Right. Too simple. Okay, I'll move on to showing you the different types of stitches."

Over the course of the next two hours she showed me a 26 different types of stitches. Some were easy, like the straight stitch or lock stitch, which are normally done by machine. Others were hard, but I got the hang of them. For sewing seams, I'd mostly be using a back stitch, which followed a 1->3, 2->4, 3->5 kind of pattern, looping back through the previous position to add strength. She taught me to use the machine as well... until my magic, which was powering it, spiked and blew it up. I promised to buy her a new one, to which she replied, "Nonsense. I had you use an old machine because I knew about your... condition. You should probably inform any future employers however."

"That won't be a problem. Wingsconsen has very few unicorns. They all use foot pedal powered machines."

And that was when Discord burst in.

An eagle claw and lion paw scooped me up and squeezed me so tightly I felt my ribs creaking under the strain, while big, sloppy kisses were planted on each of my cheeks, which itched from goat stubble.

"Griffin! I'm so glad to see you again!" I managed to wriggle free of his grip and cough one of my lungs out while I regained my breath, as this merry draconequuis pranced about with glee while fireworks went off inside the store and streamers rained from the rafters. Trumpets sounded a celebration of his arrival to greet me and the creature himself banged on a parade great drum, complete with tassels, in a sort of one man parade.

"Discord! What the hell!" Why was he not a statue, why was he in Ponyville, and why did he coat my face in saliva? I wiped myself off and flung the slick spit from my hand. When it splashed on the floor it turned into grape juice, which Opalesence proceeded to lick casually, paying it's creator no mind.

"Griffin... this is Discord. We let him out a few months back and ever since he's been on his BEST BEHAVIOR". Rarity said with a glare at him so thick with spite I'm certain it would have slain any lesser being.

"Yes, and I heard you were in town so I couldn't help resist dropping in on an old friend. We should DEFINITELY go for a bite to eat, I just heard of the most exquisite restaurant that serves the most delectable seafood platter." He leaned in to whisper, though since it's Discord he came two feet too far into a one foot comfort zone and nearly put his head IN my ear. He shrank his own head to exaggerate the whispering, which kind of ruins the point. "Don't tell Fluttershy, she'd faint if she heard me talking about seafood."

"Whoa.. Discord... we're not friends." I said with exasperation. He deflated, quite literally, with the comical sound of air being let out of a balloon in a high pitched whine.

"We... we're not?"

"No. We've talked like... twice, when you were trapped in stone. I sat on your head. We barely know each other."

"*Gasp* How could you" He leaned back, backhand pressed on his forehead, even pulling out a hankie to make an over exaggerated nose blow into, before snapping his fingers as though he'd had a brilliant idea.

"Oh... then... do you want to hang out?" Discord, who had quite a bit of wind taken out of his sails due to my denial of friendship, asked in a more moderate tone, but an extra dose of puppy dog eyes. That must have been his epiphany. We could just 'hang out' and then we'd be friends and that'd be that. There was so much sap and feigned innocence in his voice I almost felt guilty saying no. Almost.

"Sorry, no. My life is hectic enough as it is."

"Oh... uh... I see. Alright then. I'll.. just be going then." He said as he sulked out the door, his legs scrunched up and his arms stretched out as he sagged while he walked.

"Uuugh... was that wise?" I asked Rarity, once I was sure he was gone and couldn't listen in, though since it's Discord you can never be certain of anything.

"Whatever do you mean?" Rarity inquired.

"I've made a point of trying not to anger people of power. That, and he seemed kind of bummed."

"Well he did come on rather strong and I agree, you've had to deal with enough chaos as of late. While Discord is Fluttershy's friend he tends to make events far more stressful than they need to be, and relaxation requires a certain distance from him."

"Can you believe it Fluttershy? After all we've been though he tells me we're not friends! I just don't understand it."

"Oh... well.. um..."

"You'd think that somegriffin in his position would be overjoyed to have a friend like me but no, he turns around and scorns all my affections without a second thought!" I covered my eyes and fell back onto Fluttershy's couch.

"Well... maybe he just... oh.."

"What do you think?"

"Well..." She began. "He never did make friends easily and he has a hard time trusting pon... people. That and it does sound like you came on a little... strong."

My eyes snapped wide in realization.

"Of course! That must be it! He's been through such a terrible ordeal as of late and he's only just recovering now, no wonder he's having a hard time. He needs a good friend to stand by him in his hour of need. Thanks Fluttershy, I'll head back right away and convince him to be my friend!"

"Discord stop!" Fluttershy raised her voice. She NEVER raises her voice, so when she does it means she has something important to say, and I decided I should listen. "Griffin is here to try and learn how to stitch and sew so he can get a job in Wingsconsen. He's busy and doesn't need interruptions right now."

"But why would he want to learn THAT?" I asked, entirely forgetting for a moment that both Fluttershy and Rarity both knew how to sew. "He's the KING OF THE NEW DOMINION." I called into a megaphone. "He can have whatever he wants, why get a job?"

"I... don't really know. Maybe ask Applejack?"

I found Applejack where I knew I'd find her, on her farm, because she's always there kicking trees. Apple trees, and never anything else. So completely predictable. And boring. In any case I turned all the apples in the tree she was at into lemons so I'd catch her attention when they fell. She took a moment of looking at them before she turned to me.

"Discord." She said sourly. Like a lemon. For a moment I considered turning her into one, but I don't think Fluttershy would approve.

"Oh Applejack, don't take that tone. Aren't we friends?" She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath through her teeth in a kind of hissing noise, like she expected some great pain, before letting it out in a sigh.

"Alright ya varmint, what do you want?"

"I just need a simple question answered, that's all."

"Then ask and skedaddle. I have a lot of work to do." She grumbled.

"Well... I tried to be friends with Griffin but he turned me away, and Fluttershy says he's busy learning how to sew because he needs a job in Wingsconsen, and I was wondering why he'd want a job if he's king of the New Dominion and Fluttershy said I should ask you."

"Shucks, that's simple enough. Two reasons. First off he's not the kind ta take charity. He don't feel right just 'taking' money outta the coffers, he wants to earn it himself, but more than the money, I think he's trying to keep busy."

"But being busy is why he won't be my friend!"

"What I mean Discord," She said in her usual drawl, "Is that he's been through a lot, and having something to work at would take his mind off his troubles. Regardless of whether or not he's really helping or doing something, he needs to feel like he's doing something, otherwise he'll just sit on his rump all day thinking about his troubles, and that's no good for nopony. Getting a job will help him get back some sense a normalcy, which I get ain't really somethin you'd understand, but it's important to some folk. Right now he don't wanna feel like no king. He just wants ta feel like the simple folk and not worry about nothing complicated."

"I see... but wouldn't spending time with a friend help him take his mind off things?"

"Yeah, but you're not his friend. He said so himself."

"Then how am I supposed to BE his friend?"

"I unno, go ask Twilight or somethin. I gotta get back to work."

"Twiiiiiliiiiiight. Discord turned my mint ice cream salmon flavoured." Spike whined.

"If you don't want it, care to share?"

"Discord, what are you doing here?" Princess prissy plot asked.

"Griffin won't be my friend because he's too busy and he's making himself busy so he won't think about his problems but he could do that hanging out with me which he won't do because hes not my friend but he won't be my friend and I WANT IT! I want him to be my friend and Fluttershy said ask Applejack and Applejack said ask you." I wheezed as I tried to regain my breath after my lengthy tirade.

She shook her head to clear it of cobwebs.

" No need to throw a tantrum Discord." She remarked on my childish tone. "All I caught out of that is Griffin doesn't want to be your friend. Well, I have a question for you. Why do you want to be his friend? If he doesn't want to be yours, why go through all the trouble? Despite what Pinkie Pie says, you don't have to be friends with EVERYONE."

"Because he talked to me when I was trapped in stone."

"So?" She tilted her head to the side in confusion. For such a brainiac, she sure is dense.

"When you and your friends turned me back to stone, I was sure I would never get out again, at the very least for another several thousand years. Millenia trapped in stone, unchanging, unmoving, with no one to talk to, no one to listen. I don't know about you, but for me that's torture. And then Griffin walked right up to me, sat on my head, and he talked to me. Twice, he talked to me. He let me know what was going on in the world. He treated me like a person, not some villain to ignore and shun. That... meant a lot to me." I sniffled and wiped a tear from my eye before blowing my nose in an oversize hankie. Twilight smiled and shook her head.

"Well then, I think I see the problem. Really, it comes down to simple mathematics. Friendships are give and take. You're there when they need you, and they're there when you need them. He did something that meant a lot to you, but you don't really mean all that much to him. For you, your conversations with him in the palace garden were incredibly important, but for him it was just a passing courtesy. If you really want to be his friend, why don't you try doing something nice for him? I't not guaranteed to work but it's worth a shot."

I gave the wise and mighty Princess a big wet kiss before blinking away to think.

As I lay in Ponyville park thinking, in the form of a bench upon which a couple sat and nuzzled, (disgusting. Get a room will you?), I idly watched Rainbow Dash flying overhead, trying and failing, time and time again, to perform some stunt or another, I thought back to the second time I had spoken with him in the gardens. It was right before he went to get therapy. I don't know why he did that, I didn't think anything was wrong with him. Actually... there was one thing...

"I GOT IT!" I jumped up, returning to my handsome self and tossing the couple off me into the dirt. I'd have to wait for tomorrow, to be sure. A little eavesdropping let me know he'd be back tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow.

"Gilda, do you think you can undo the true form spell on me? I don't have my amulet and I need to change back. I want to practice sewing with claws instead of fingers today."

"Yeah, okay. Reverti." She muttered as she picked up a small, low quality emerald. Soon as I was feathered once again she rubbed her face against mine in a quick nuzzle. "Hurry back okay?"

"I will. Today should also be the last day I'm there."

"Mmm hmm. And be careful. I don't want anything to happen on the road between here and Ponyville. People are starting to find out that you're back, and I hope trouble stays away."

"I will be." And with that, I left for the long carriage ride.

When I arrived I found Discord outside of Rarity's place, apparently waiting for me. Friggin crap. Here we go again. As I moved towards the boutique, he stood in my way.

"Please move aside Discord." I said in a formal tone, the please being the sternest of manners as opposed to begging, so the tone of my voice would convey the fact that I was in no mood for nonsense or pleasantries.

"Not just yet. I've decided to be your friend and I did a lot of thinking yesterday and I decided I wanted to give you something."

"Okay?" I was wary of whatever 'gift' Discord intended to give me. He nodded, scrunched his face up in determination, then bent over and started hacking and coughing... no.. it was more like the hissing sound a cat makes when they're trying to huck up a hairball. With a bob of his head and a jerking sputter, a bone popped out of his throat. He then pressed his lips to the bone and opened them, revealing a bit of meat on it. He then chewed a bit and repeated the gesture again and again until I realized what he was doing. He was un-eating something. That something, over the course of the next five minutes, took the form of something familiar. Something that I had lost long ago.

He pulled out a stick of glue with a picture of Diamond Tiara's face on it, a pun only I would understand in this world of sentient horses, smeared the glue all over the one end, then jammed the sticky bit onto my stump. With astonishment I realized that the thing he had uneaten was a wing. Not just any wing, because that he could have conjured out of thin air. Since my wing had been eaten to remove it from this world, by whatever laws preside over chaos magic, he had to un-eat it to bring it back into existence. Either that or he was putting on a show. I marveled at the fact that I could feel it. I could move it. It felt right. It's colouration was mine. It's shape was mine. It's musculature was mine. It was MINE. He had given me back the thing I had lost so long ago, a loss that had devastated me to the very core.

Discord I so crudely shunned yesterday. My wing, the lack of which had caused me no end of strife. If I had my wing, I could have flown over a vast majority of the obstacles in the underworld. I could have flown right over the disgusting muck of the Black Marsh and been back in Equestria mere weeks after my fall at Ancientwell. Discord gave it back.

I was without words. Yesterday I felt some phantom of guilt for brushing him off. Today I felt it's sting full force. This was not the villain I thought I knew. He said nothing. He just stood there expectantly, his eyes full of hope like a child's on Christmas morning, while I shook with a mixture of emotions I didn't know how to handle at that moment. I squeezed my eyes shut, and a tear escaped from them.

"Will you be my friend?" He asked, looking me in the eye.

"Hell yes."

*Thump*

*Thump*

*Thump*

*SMASH*

I quickly awoke, having not been in bed for more than ten minutes after lowering the sun to make way for the night, when an iron horseshoe shattered my bedroom window. I went to see what the ruckus was, to discover who would dare to cast such a thing into my room when I saw Griffin and Discord sitting on a cloud with a pile of horseshoes between them.

"Griffin! Discord! What is the meaning of this!?"

"Why, we're playing horseshoes." The draconequuis explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then why are you throwing the shoes at MY WINDOW!?!? There isn't a pole anywhere around here!" Griffin cast a shoe and cast it well, for it connected with my horn and spun around it several times before coming to rest against my forehead.

"Ah! Excellent toss good fellow!" Discord exclaimed, and they were now both wearing top hats, monocles, and sipping tea from just outside my window.

"Indeed ol chap. Don't think the lady expected that one did she? Oh oh oh." He laughed in fake sophistication, a clear mockery of Canterlot life.

"GET OUT OF MY YARD!" I shouted as I tossed the shoe back at them. They ducked and weaved around it before flying off into the moonrise, laughing like the mad... which I suppose they were.

I repaired my window with a spell and when I turned to go back to bed, I noticed the horseshoe that was on my floor was no longer that, but a scroll. Intrigued, I opened it to read it's contents.

Dear Princess Celestia

Friendship is hard.

And totally worth it.

Discord.

"I am the one who originally decided to let Discord out. I'm the one who suggested he make friends."

...
...

"What have I done?"

Author's Notes:

Writing Discord is like writing Pinkie Pie. Difficult and not as fun as it sounds. Do you have any idea how hard it is to capture the essence of John Delancie without BEING him? I think I did alright. Thanks to Io Kusanagi for help getting me in the right mindset.