Celestia tilted her head back and downed her tea in a single gulp, leaning back in her chair as the liquid rushed down her throat.  Her garden surrounded her, the centerpiece of which, of course, was the frozen statue of Discord, Lord of Chaos and Disharmony.  Besides that one sour note from her past, though, the garden really was pleasant.  Rose bushes by the dozens, little birds and fluffy squirrels playing over the cobblestone paths, even a nice little hedge maze to wander around in.  

And then she thought of what she would need to do soon…

She poured herself another cup of tea and slammed it back in one gulp, eyeing the statue as she replaced the cup in its saucer.

“Wishing for somezing a little stronger?”  A familiar voice asked behind her in its usual, heavy German accent.  

She turned in her seat and smiled warmly.  “Hello again, Swarm.”

The man behind her returned the smile, his blonde hair shining in the midday sun, a bottle of wine cradled in his gloved hands, right in front of the lapels of his finely-tailored suit.  “I vould assume we are alone?”

“Of course, just as you requested.”

“Good, good,” Swarm took a seat at the marble table and produced two glasses, filling each to the brim.  “Colli Aprutini, from the vines of Teramo.”

“Your Italians do seem to have a knack for wine making.”  Celestia said, her glass rising to her lips with a magical shimmer.

Swarm stared at her, “Now, how did you even…”

“I am an Alicorn, Swarm, tasked with the protection of all of Equestria.  It is my job to know.  Now, judging by your accent, I would assume you are the European brother, are you not?”

The man grimaced.  “My brozer did not tell me you were avare that zere vere more of us.”

“He probably wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Oh, it is quite ze surprise, I can assure you of zat.”

“Now, what name do you prefer to go by?”

The man raised his glass to his lips, obviously deep in thought for a quick instant, and then he shrugged and took a small sip.  “Hans.  Hans Dietrich.”  He replied with the wine sliding down his throat.

“A lovely name.”

“Yes, I thought so too.  Now,” Swarm crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair.  “Vhat seems to be ze problem, mine little princess?”

“You’re imitating Freud on purpose, aren’t you?”  Celestia asked with an eyebrow cocked.

“I have a lot of German in me; it’s one of ze benefits.”

“Fine,” Celestia sighed.  “If you must know, it’s Discord.”

The cocky little smile on Swarm’s face faded.  “You really don’t want to enlist his help in zis battle, do you?”  

“The God of Chaos and Disharmony, whose iron rule over the land spread misery to untold millions, loose once again?  And, what’s more, we become indebted to him by asking for his help?”  Celestia replied icily.  “Swarm dearest, why would that bother me at all?”

“You know what’s at stake here, you know what ze enemy is capable of, and you know zat if they vin, zeir reign will make a thousand years under Discord look like a cakewalk.  We have no choice: my forces are spread too thin, ve need all ze help we can get!”

“I know this Swarm, I was merely airing a few personal grievances,” she sighed again, bringing the wine glass to her lips and sipping regally.  Suddenly, a bear’s paw clamped onto Swarm’s shoulder, and he bolted out of his chair, a rapier materializing in his hand.  Discord smirked back at him, the small tuft of hair he tried to pass off as a beard waving in the mild breeze.

“Which is why I released him twenty minutes ago,” Celestia finished, allowing a tiny yet confident smile to cross her face as she sipped.  “That facsimile on the pedestal over there is just so nobody notices Discord’s absence and panics.”

“So, this is the boy with all the toys?”  Discord looked Swarm over as the rapier disappeared once again.  Swarm returned the gaze, both of them systematically scanning each other until they finally met one another’s eyes.  Discord’s yellow-red pupils locked onto Swarm’s sky-blue pearls.  

“You know, if this was another kind of fanfic, this would be the part where we kiss.”  Discord said, nonchalantly returning Swarm’s piercing gaze.

“Oh, I’m avare.”  Swarm replied.

“You won’t hear a complaint from me!”  Celestia gushed, the wine obviously starting to take effect as the two took their seats at opposite sides of the table.

“I’ve heard a great many things about you.”  Discord said, his gaze never leaving Swarm’s.

“Have you now?”

“It’s hard not to hear of another traveler when one jumps across as many worlds as I do.”

Celestia paused mid-sip in slight surprise, as if Discord had just revealed something she might have suspected at some point, but never put much effort into investigating.

“Don’t be surprised, Princess,” Discord grinned and leaned back, his reptilian tail shifting to accommodate his motions, “I am the very essence of chaos and disharmony.  You may have caged my physical form in this realm, but there are infinitely many more for me to play in.  Like Mr. Dietrich’s here.”

“Oh?”  Swarm laughed, pulling another wine glass out from under the table and filling it.  “I find zat hard to believe.  Nozing could get near my vorld without my knowing.”

“You’d be surprised, Dietrich.  At any rate, it’s been awhile since I’ve paid a visit.  Not since you were born, in fact.”

Swarm’s grip on the bottle faltered, spilling a few drops of wine onto the pure-white marble of the table.

“Yes, I’m afraid your world has gotten quite boring since you popped up,” Discord continued, eyeing his fingernails with sudden fascination as a wicked smile crossed his face.  “But then, what could one expect from a planet reduced from six billion real, living, sentient beings to…”

“Discord!”  Celestia barked.  “Enough.  Or have you forgotten our deal?”

“Of course I haven’t,” Discord’s goat-like features formed into a pout which reminded Swarm of a child being forced to eat their veggies.  “Just having a bit of fun here, Princess.  It has been a while since I’ve been allowed that much in this specific world.  Speaking of fun though, it looks like I’ll be having a lot more once we’re done.”

He grinned, his teeth, though misshapen and cracked, gleaming intimidatingly at his companions in the midday sun.  “Two-hundred year’s free reign over alternating sections of Equestria?  You two must be desperate.”

“We are,” Swarm replied gravely, and immediately his tone set the god of chaos on edge, though he absolutely refused to show it.  The man in the tuxedo ran his finger along the rim of his glass.  “For the past few months, zere have been numerous interdimensional breeches, on a scale unlike anyzing we’ve seen before.”

“So?  One of us has gotten frisky.”  Discord messily gulped down his wine and slammed his glass down on the table, chipping its polished surface as he wiped his mouth with the back of his clawed hand.  “It happens every now and again.  Plenty of time on our hands, infinite power, what do you expect?”

“Not like zis,” Swarm reached under the table, this time pulling out a manila folder.  He threw it casually towards Discord, who caught it mid-air and popped it open.  Inside was a stack of photographs, the first of which showed some kind of beach landing being undertaken by a large human military force.  “Zat first one was taken by an American spy satellite last veek in one of ze worlds near my own.  It shows an assault being undertaken by a group calling itself ‘The Ridchir’ upon ze southern shores of the isle of Hong Kong.  Zis group proceeded to launch an all-out attack upon ze Chinese mainland and carry out a number of terrorist attacks and air strikes which resulted in the destruction of an American carrier group, along vith numerous Chinese, American, Taiwanese, and Japanese military facilities in ze region.”

“Now, where did a terrorist group get the resources to carry out such a widespread attack?”  Celestia asked, leaning forward in her seat.  Discord tried his very best to look disinterested, though privately he had to admit he was curious himself.

“Anozer vorld,” Swarm replied flatly, tilting his head back and upending his wine glass down his throat as his companions sat in stunned silence.  “Ze rest of them are like zat.  A few, particularly nasty human vorlds doing zings they should not be able to do.”

Discord flipped rapidly through the file.  The photos were all the same: a group of men armed with sub-machine guns and assault rifles taking a group of animal-like, anthropomorphic people dressed in medieval garb hostage.  Several men in Roman-style tunics lying in a ditch, covered in their own blood, with dozens of tell-tale automatic rifle-fire wounds all over their bodies.  An archer with pointed, elf-like ears taking aim at the hundreds of parachutes opening over his tree-top home.  And, most disturbing of all, an alternative version of Ponyville, burning as the dark silhouettes of stealth bombers streaked overhead.

“Somezing is punching holes in the walls of reality itself, spraying zis vay and that like a child vith a machine gun.”  Swarm said, pouring himself another glass, “And I haff good reason to believe it has set its sights on zis specific version of Equestria.”

Without another word, both Princess Celestia and Discord pushed their glasses forward.  Swarm refilled them silently, staring tiredly at the last few drops trickling away. Next Chapter: Chapter IV: The Missing Pilot (Part 1) Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 55 Minutes