The train back to Ponyville neared its destination.

Contrary to what the three bearers had originally expected whilst boarding, the journey had passed them by relatively quickly. With Ponyville now clearly in sight, and the locomotive steadily drawing to a halt, the three found themselves unsure of exactly where to begin.

Rainbow stepped up to the window, scanning across what she could see of Ponyville as they approached the station, "Right, so..." She briefly glanced at Applejack and Rarity, "What's first?"

Rarity stood from her seat, but stammered as she struggled to find the answer herself, "I-I... We... We need to get things ready for when we leave, correct?"

Rainbow sighed and looked flatly at Rarity, "We know, that's more or less what the Princess already told us. But what do we actually do?"

Rarity shrugged, "I suppose it will vary for each of us, Darling."

An announcement of the train's imminent arrival in Ponyville filled the carriage, and the slight screeching of old brakes could be heard from the outside.

Applejack stood up beside her friends, gesturing towards the exit and trotting beside them as they went, "Well Ah don't know about you two, but Ah'm headin' straight home. If Ah'm gonna be leavin' for a good amount of time then my family needs to know why."

Rarity nodded as they disembarked, "Family is probably a good place to start, actually. I might need to send Sweetie back to stay with my parents if we're to be gone for even longer."

"Ah'm sure my family wouldn't mind lookin' after her for the duration, Rarity. Heck, Applebloom would probably be over the moon."

Rarity smiled, "Probably. Thank you, Applejack, I might take you up on that offer; provided your family agrees, of course."

Applejack and Rarity shared a smile as they made their way into Ponyville. They turned to Rainbow expectantly, but the pegasus spoke before they did, "Girls, anything seem... off, to you?"

Their collective pace slowed as they examined their surroundings, though it took them a moment to notice what Rainbow was talking about. Many of the ponies passing them by gave them strange glances as they went, often accompanied by low, conspiratorial whispers.

Rarity scanned around carefully, "You don't think they're talking about us, do you?"

Rainbow shot the nearest group of whisperers an icy stare as she spoke, causing them to quickly avert their gazes elsewhere. She gave a huff, "Sure seems like it to me."

Applejack adjusted her hat and began trotting as nonchalantly as possible, prompting the others to follow, "Wonder what they're talkin' about. You don't suppose they know about what happened up in Canterlot, do you?"

Rarity briefly hummed to herself, "Word travels fast from Canterlot, certainly, but I would've thought this sort of thing would be kept under wraps... Either way, it's exceptionally rude of them, gossiping like that!"

Rainbow gave a huff and took to the air above her friends, "It could just be that something happened while we were gone." She pointedly raised her voice so that those around them could hear her, "But you'd think somepony would actually have the guts to tell us what's up, instead of standing there whispering like a bunch of creeps!" Although it earned her several glares, the majority of those she had addressed promptly dispersed. Rainbow scowled at those that remained until she, Applejack and Rarity rounded a corner. They made their way towards the Carousel Boutique at the far end of the street.

Rarity sighed and gave each of her friends a tired smile, "A mystery for later, perhaps? For now I just want to see Sweetie and relax until I can figure out how to get everything back in order before we leave."

Applejack smiled to herself, "Might wanna hold off on the relaxin; there, Rarity. We got a little trio of trouble headin' our way." She gestured to the three fillies dashing towards them from their right.

"Applejack!"

"Rarity!"

"Rainbow Dash!"

Within seconds each of said three found themselves to be the targets of crushing hugs delivered by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rarity and Applejack both returned the gesture, whereas Scootaloo jumped back - an embarrassed look on her face as she glanced over the nearby scenery as coolly as possible - preventing Rainbow from doing so.

Rainbow smiled down at the younger pegasus and ruffled her mane, "Hey, Squirt. You doing alright?"

Scootaloo nodded, still trying to maintain her distant composure but failing miserably, "Yeah, I've been good."

Rainbow gestured to the pack on Scootaloo's back, noticing that each Crusader had a similar one with their group's emblem sewn into it, "What's with the bags?"

"Me, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom have been doing some detective work while you were gone!" The other two Crusaders detached themselves from their sisters and stepped in line beside Scootaloo at the mention of their work.

Applejack chuckled, "Detective work huh? Hope the three of you have been respectin' other ponies' privacy then." They stared up at Applejack with seemingly innocent eyes, causing Applejack to roll hers, "Wouldn't mind havin' some detectives on hoof at the moment though, to be completely honest. Seems there's been a lot of whispers goin' around since the three of us left."

The fillies looked at each other with uncertain expressions but remained quiet, leaving Rarity to raise an eyebrow as she spoke, "You wouldn't happen to know what everypony is talking about, would you, girls?"

Again, they shared an apprehensive glance and shuffled slightly closer together. Sweetie cleared her throat awkwardly after several seconds of silence, "Well... It might sort of be related to our investigating..."

Rarity sighed and hung her head, "Please tell me the three of you haven't done anything that reflects poorly on Rainbow, Applejack and I. We really could do without it right now."

Applebloom shook her head frantically, "No! We weren't doin' nothin' like that, Ah promise!" She looked away from the questioning eyes of the older mares, "B-But it kinda has somethin' to do with you three, too..." When Applebloom looked back up at them, her expression had changed completely, now sad and almost ashamed, as opposed to defensive, "That's why we were investigatin'..."

Applejack leant down beside her sister and stroked her mane gently, "Listen, Applebloom, you and your friends ain't in no trouble; we just want to know what's been said, that's all."

Applebloom looked nervously between her friends before turning back to Applejack, remaining silent all the while.

Applejack lowered her voice and spoke gently so that only Applebloom could hear her, "Is it that bad?"

Applebloom paused for a moment then spoke quietly, "Yeah, I guess it is..."

"It's okay, Applebloom. Go on."

Despite her sister's reassurances, Applebloom averted her eyes and shook her head, instead opting to look at her friends pleadingly. Scootaloo stepped forwards and looked Applejack in the eye, though she spoke in a far more subdued manner than she usually did, "It started about a week ago. Some of the Royal Guard came into town and started putting up these posters everywhere."

Applejack's tone reflected her confusion, "Posters?"

Scootaloo nodded, "Everypony thought it was some sort of joke at first. I mean... It was just silly! B-But when the Guards told us they were for real, well..."

Sweetie's meek voice was barely audible as she dragged a hoof through the earth beneath her, "Some ponies started saying some really nasty things about you and your friends..."

Rainbow looked between the saddened faces of the fillies before her and spoke with concern clear in her voice, "Wait, just what the hay was on those posters?"

Scootaloo and Applebloom looked at Sweetie, who blushed a deep red but dipped her head into her bag, withdrawing a rolled up piece of paper. Without a word she trotted to Rarity and dropped it at her hooves before hurriedly retreating back to her friends.

Rarity hesitantly levitated the poster and unravelled it before herself and her friends. She took an audible gasp as she realised what it contained.

A picture of Fluttershy, accompanied by a list of crimes and a reward for capture.

Rainbow and Applejack reacted similarly, but Rarity spoke before either of them could voice their reactions in front of the fillies, "Girls, you said posters, as in 'more than one', right?"

The crusaders nodded timidly.

"Am I correct in assuming that there are posters for Twilight and Pinkie too?"

They nodded again. "And Discord." Scootaloo added with a perplexed shrug.

"So that's what everyone's talking about." Rarity reached up and tapped the poster as she turned to her friends, "Everypony knows..."

A squeak could be heard from one of the fillies, "S-So it's true that th-they really did those things?" Sweetie asked in disbelief.

A heartbeat of silence passed before Applejack took the burden of bluntness upon herself, "It's true."

"But... Ah don't get it. Why?" Applebloom asked, seeming more perplexed than upset by the revelation, "Ah thought they were good ponies, like you?"

"It ain't as simple as good or bad, Applebloom-"

"But how can they not be bad if they're criminals now?" Sweetie looked between the ground and Applejack as she mulled it over, "I thought you had to be bad to do those things on the posters?"

Applejack took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Listen, girls." She opened her eyes after a moment to compose her thoughts and made sure the fillies were paying due attention, "Nopony is perfect, and everypony makes mistakes from time to time. Sometimes those mistakes are an accident, other times it's down to a poor choice; like with Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy."

Scootaloo tilted her head, "A poor choice?"

Applejack chuckled sadly, "Well, several poor choices actually. The thing is, they were put in a situation where they would've felt like they'd be doin' wrong regardless of what they did; all six of us were. It doesn't make 'em bad just for doin' what they thought was more right, does it?"

The Crusaders shook their heads after a moment's pause.

"Now Ah'm not sayin' they ain't done nothin' wrong, but they've only done those things because they got tricked into makin' those poor choices."

Applebloom scrunched her brow in confusion, "Wait, tricked? Who tricked 'em?"

Applejack took a deep breath but kept her features and tone steady, "That's not somethin' Ah'm gonna go into right now, Applebloom. You don't need - or want - to know everythin' that's happened, trust me. All you need to know is that Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy aren't bad, or evil, or anythin' like that. Ah can guarantee they're havin' a real hard time right now, and a lot of it ain't even directly their fault; they're just caught in the middle of somethin' that never should have happened."

"So... you're saying that they're not trying to be bad on purpose, but they sort of don't have a choice because they're confused about what's right or wrong?" Scootaloo asked in a tone that suggested new found comprehension.

'That's about as good an understandin' as Ah could hope for 'em to have at their age.' Applejack gave Scootaloo an approving nod and a smile, "Yup, that's more or less what Ah was gettin' at. Do you two get what Ah meant too?"

Sweetie and Applebloom nodded, "Yeah."

"Ah think so."

Rainbow wore a smirk as she nudged Applejack from behind, "Wow, I honestly never pegged you as the teaching type, Applejack."

Applejack deadpanned and spoke in a threatening tone as she turned to face Rainbow, "You tryin' to say somethin'?" A smirk of her own quickly emerged as Rainbow took a reflexive step back, "Just messin' with ya."

Rainbow shook her head, though she smiled back nonetheless, "Good to hear, I don't wanna be the next thing you toss through a window."

Applejack raised an eyebrow, "Sugarcube, you're certainly goin' the right way about it."

Rarity caught the Crusaders whispering amongst themselves at the display and cleared her throat loudly, "I think it's about time we headed home, right girls?" Applejack and Rainbow caught the warning look in Rarity's eye and promptly stepped away from one another.

Rainbow gave a brief wave to Rarity and Applejack before turning on the spot and trotting away, "You coming, Squirt?" she asked without looking back. Scootaloo darted to her idol's side without a moment's hesitation.

Applejack rolled her eyes and turned to Rarity, "I'll see you around, Rares. You'll let me know if you get any word about 'you know what' from Canterlot, right?"

"Of course. I'll see you later."

"C'mon, Applebloom." Applejack waved her sister over, and the two began making their way towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Rarity trotted towards her boutique after watching her friends go, beckoning her sister to follow. The two moves towards it in comfortable silence, but as Rarity neared the door her curiosity got the better of her, "Sweetie Belle?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you and the others whispering about just now?"

"Uhm..." A visible blush began to spread across her cheeks, "We were trying to figure something out."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Well... being detectives and all we've got to look for clues about everything, right?"

"And?"

Sweetie spoke quickly, her embarrassment getting the better of her and causing her words to trail into a meek whisper, "We were deciding on investigating whether or not Applejack and Rainbow Dash secretly love each other."

Rarity paused with her hoof on the door handle. She stared passively at it for what felt like a long time as she tried to piece together Sweetie's assumptions and the exchange that had taken place only a minute before. Then she laughed, wrapping a foreleg around her sister's neck to steady herself, for fear of falling whilst in the throes of her hysteric guffawing. For that brief half minute of gleeful bliss, Rarity felt more carefree than she had done in months. Even when she finally calmed herself, and the pressures and uncertainties that had previously plagued her returned once again, Rarity wore a genuine smile.

She found untold comfort in the fact that, despite all that had happened, she could always find respite from her troubles in the form of her little sister.

Discord cracked his knuckles as he stretched out his arms, producing a cacophony of xylophone notes, "Daylight's burning, everypony ready?" He was met with four consecutive nods, "We're up at dawn every day for the next few weeks, at least. Unfortunately, we're probably not going to get much rest between teleporting to each hideout, either."

"What?" Twilight's voice dripped with disappointment and irritation, "Why not!? You know how much the training takes out of me."

Discord held up his claw and shook his head, "We need to determine whether or not the guards are still on our backs first. I don't fancy having another 'incident', seen as though it didn't end so well the last time around."

Twilight nodded in reluctant agreement, "Right..."

"I have an idea of how to lead them astray if needs be, but the best case scenario is that they've lost our trail completely."

Pinkie rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "It would be nice not to feel like we're being hunted down for a while. I'm getting pretty tired of hiding in a hole in the ground everywhere we go." She turned to Discord and gave him a pleasant smile, "So, where to next, Discy?"

"North," he conjured up their map and traced a finger over their intended route, a dotted line trailing behind it, "to Baltimare."

Angel pointed at Baltimare and rapidly tapped his owner, gesturing between the map and Discord.

Fluttershy lifted her gaze from the map as she came to understand what Angel meant, "I-Isn't Baltimare a little too busy for us to hide there?"

Discord nodded, his finger swerving to the left just before reaching Baltimare itself, "Correct, we'll be staying somewhere a little more... remote." His finger came to rest on one of the mountains near the city.

Twilight glanced at him curiously, "Are you sure that's safe?"

Discord shrugged, "Safe enough, so long as nopony decides to go for a little stroll." He squinted at Twilight and Pinkie in turn, but relented after a few seconds, "Then again, I think we've learned our lesson about that by now." He was met with four pensive nods, and shook his head briefly, "Regardless, the four of you had best get your adorable little mortal heads out of Bluesville, it's time to go. Brace yourselves."

Without giving them ample time to do so, Discord snapped his fingers.

The biting cold came as a shock to Twilight's system, causing her to take a reflexive gasp of air that strung her lungs as she inhaled. Wind and snow swirled around her, buffeting her from all directions and effectively blinding her as she attempted to shield her eyes, "Discord!?" She could barely hear her own voice over the shrill whistling of the wind, "What is this!? What did you do!?" She already found herself shivering uncontrollably as the heat from her body was stripped away in layers, "DISCORD!?" She wheeled around, attempting to find any trace of her friends through the blinding blizzard, but stopped sharply at the sight of a blade not an inch from her face.

"If this were a real ambush, you'd be dead right now." Discord's voice - and subsequent chuckle - cut clearly through the howling wind.

Twilight allowed herself a moment for her heartbeat to slow before frowning up at the glowing red eyes before her. She muttered a string of obscenities under her breath, but shook her head in annoyance as they were drowned out completely by the whistling wind.

Discord stepped into full view, Fluttershy and Pinkie by his side. Though he himself didn't seem to be affected in the slightest by the cold, the other two were clearly freezing, trembling in the same way Twilight was. The sword in Discord's paw fell blade-first into the snow beneath them, where it shook for a moment before leaning over to Discord's left, apparently of its own accord.

With a wave of his claw, it melted into the snow beneath it. Discord motioned for the three to follow him with his paw, already moving in the direction the sword had leant, "This way!"

Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy shared an uncertain glance as he waded off through the snow, his silhouette fading rapidly as he did so. Twilight squinted and called after him, but her words barely carried to the two right beside her that had huddled against her for warmth.

"Or you could just stay where you are and freeze! Your choice, ladies! Really!"

The three shared a final glance before begrudgingly trudging after Discord. After sufficiently gathering her wits and energy, Twilight raised a shield around the three of them, warding them from the worst effects of the blizzard as they trailed behind Discord.

It wasn't long before Discord halted, turning to face them once again. They stopped before him, confused, until he snapped his fingers, parting the winds for long enough to reveal a massive rock face towering above them just behind him, "Well, here we are!"

The wind resumed its course as Discord's magic faded, lashing at the four of them once again. Though Discord himself showed no signs of discomfort, the others were still huddled closely together and visibly shivering, even despite Twilight's spell keeping out the worst of the cold. Through her saddlebags, Fluttershy could feel Angel trembling against the cold. It was more than enough to prompt her to speak on his behalf, "DISCORD, PLEASE, WE'RE FREEZING! WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE!?"

Discord cracked his fingers on both hands in turn before casually pointing one in the direction of the cliff face he had previously revealed, smiling at Fluttershy as he did so, "Oh, we're just making an entrance, my dear!" A bolt of yellow light shot from his finger, disappearing into the blizzard momentarily. The Bearers watched as the direction of the wind - and the snow churning within it - began to change, slowly beginning to spiral into the cliff face itself in the same fashion as water down a plughole. The spiralling intensified rapidly, growing faster and faster. Discord snapped his fingers again, watching along with the others as the cliff face began peeling as if made of paper, allowing the tamed winds to carve a cave into the mountainside. Barely twenty seconds later, Discord snapped his fingers again, dismissing the winds he had manipulated and returning the texture of the rock face to normal. He waved the others forwards hurriedly yet nonchalantly as he approached their new hideout, "In we go!"

Far too cold to even comment on Discord's antics by this point, the three headed directly into the relative shelter of the cave without a second thought. Once all stood inside, Discord turned to the entrance, held out his arms, then drew them together before him; the cave mouth following the motion and sealing itself shut as he did so. Though the cave now provided almost complete shelter from the wind, it also left them without any trace of light, and the cold stone all around them did little to alleviate the freezing cold.

Discord grunted as he heard the shaking breaths of the ponies in the darkness, snapping his fingers and filling the cave with light, "I suppose I'd better do the usual decorating, right? Perhaps warm the place up a little?"

Pinkie spoke to the best of her ability, given her juddering voice and chattering teeth, "Y-Y-Y-Yes!"

Another snap, and the cave transformed into the hideout they were accustomed to, save for one new aspect; a small fire pit in the centre of the room, the smoke from which seemed to disappear upon touching the roof. Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Angel - once he had sprung from Fluttershy's saddlebags - immediately took positions around it, grateful for the warmth it provided. Discord, however, simply opted to lean against the nearest wall.

Once she found herself confident enough in her ability to speak coherently, Twilight turned her attention from the fire to Discord, "Why a fire? Can't you just heat the place up anyway?"

Discord shrugged, "I can, but I think you'll find that fire will heat you up far faster than keeping the room at a comfortable temperature via magic would. Besides, if I'm to waste magic on amenities every time we teleport, I might as well introduce a little variation into the mix. At the very least it gives us all something comforting to look at..." He glanced at the fire as he spoke. For a brief moment, the others saw the ghostly silhouettes of flames dancing in his eyes before he turned his attention back to them, "Or not. Of course, if you'd rather I get rid of it then I'd be happy to-"

"Don't." Twilight shot him a warning glare,"Just don't."

Discord held out his arms and smirked, "Suit yourself."

No more words were spoken between them for quite some time as four of the five attempted to gain precious heat from the fire, and all five stared into it, deep in thought.

"So you're leaving again?"

Rarity reached down and stroked her sister's mane comfortingly, "I am, along with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. We're still waiting for a messenger to give us the specifics though."

Sweetie hung her head disappointedly, "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know, Sweetie. If I had to take I guess I'd say several weeks, at the very least."

Sweetie kept her eyes on the ground, "Why do you have to go, Rarity? Can't you just stay here with me?"

Rarity sighed and continued to stroke her sister's mane as she spoke, "I truly wish I could, Sweetie, but you know I can't. I need to know that my friends are alright. You'd do the same for your friends, wouldn't you?""

Sweetie nodded after a moment's pause, "Yeah. It's just..."

Rarity initially waited for her to continue, but prompted her after an elongated pause, "Just what?"

Sweetie closed her eyes momentarily as she pieced together her words, "Ever since this," Sweetie raised her head so as to face Rarity and pointed at the statue of Spike before them, and the now barely noticeable mound of earth at its feet. Her voice gradually became quieter as she stared up at the imposing statue with a small tinge of sadness and her reverence of the monument visible on her face, "We've hardly spent any time together. You were always here, or busy catching up on late work, and then away in Canterlot..."

Rarity looked up at the statue's face and swallowed the lump that appeared in her throat, "I know. Even given what happened, I spent far too much time dwelling on the past, didn't I?" She rested a hoof against her sister's back, "I promise you, Sweetie, once this is all over, you and I will spend as much time together as we want, okay?"

Sweetie twisted a forehoof against the earth and faced away from Rarity in order to hide her disappointment, "Okay..." As quiet fell upon them, the filly desperately searched for anything to change the subject for fear of her irritation festering and verbally making itself known to Rarity. She didn't have to look far, her gaze settling on the statue after only a moment's survey of the area, "That gem really is beautiful, isn't it?"

Rarity smiled as she joined her sister in staring up at the fire ruby, still emanating the vast array of colours from the unicorns that had attended the memorial service so many months ago, "It is." Her gaze wandered to the face above the gem, then down to the barely-existent mound of earth at the base of the statue. In an instant her smile vanished, her voice taking on a wistful tone, "It still means a lot to me..."

Discord slumped in his seat and rubbed his chin for the third time that minute as he flicked his gaze between the other four. Though they remained seated around the fire, they no longer huddled closely to it as they had upon their arrival almost an hour prior.

Resigning himself to the inevitability of the coming conversation happening sooner or later, Discord spoke up, "Twilight?"

Twilight shifted her attention from her friends to Discord, giving him a questioning look.

Discord gestured to the seat nearest him, "There's something I think we need to talk about."

Slightly perplexed, Twilight trotted over and took a seat opposite Discord, "What's up?"

"Well," he grimaced, drawing a short hiss of breath through his teeth, "There are a few little things regarding you and I that I feel I'd better address whilst our little... 'adventure' is still relatively young."

Already cautious, Twilight glanced at him suspiciously, "What? What 'things', exactly?"

Discord hummed to himself, "Well, two things in particular. Issues that could come back to bite us later down the line if left to fester."

Twilight sighed and rubbed her temples exasperatedly, "You're not helping."

He smirked but quickly reverted to a neutral expression, "Well... Let's just say that Celestia and I had something of a 'run in' recently."

Twilight's head shot upwards immediately, "You what? When? What happened?"

Discord raised his paw and kept his calm exterior, "That's the second issue, and I'll get around to it soon enough, don't worry." He rolled his eyes at the frustration showing through her features, "Trust me, you won't understand what I'm getting at if I don't clear up the first issue beforehand."

Twilight, clearly not satisfied with his response, blew upwards into her mane, "Fine. Just spare me the theatrics and make it quick, will you?"

Discord tilted his head and scowled, taking on a mocking tone, "Fine." He sighed and reclined in his chair, "As difficult as it might be to believe, I'm not the most honest of individuals."

Twilight's expression of mild irritation didn't shift an inch, "Really? Who would've thought it?"

Discord allowed for a moment's silence before continuing, "There have been a few occasions where I've had to... shall we say, slightly manipulate the truth to move things along."

Twilight still displayed no visible response, "You mean lie through your teeth, right?"

Rolling his eyes, Discord sighed, "If you must put it so crassly."

Twilight leant forwards slightly, staring unblinkingly at him as she spoke, "So, what have you lied to us about?"

Discord held his paw over his heart and jolted backwards in his seat, "I'm stunned Twilight, really I am. I never said I'd lied to you."

A moment of silence passed. Twilight's stare remained firmly affixed to Discord throughout.

The draconequus registered her expectant glare, holding up his paw and examining it sadly as he spoke, "I must really be losing my touch."

Twilight grunted and spoke in a harsh tone, "Theatrics." She reclined in her seat and allowed a degree of curiosity to grace her features, "But you don't honestly think I've believed everything you've told me since day one, do you?"

"You believed enough to follow me out into the wilderness with minimal concrete evidence and earn yourself a reputation as a national criminal in the process, if that counts for anything." He gave a chuckle at the warning glare she gave him, "But no, I imagine you've had your doubts for quite some time. Honestly, I'd expect no less; I'd be wary too, were I in your position. I'd also be shorter, less powerful, more irritable, generally bori-"

He came to an abrupt stop as a spark of purple narrowly missed his face. Reacting quickly before it had the chance to ricochet in the confines of their hideout, Discord swiped out his claw and firmly grasped the magic in mid-air, stopping it dead before holding his paw out at her in mock disbelief, "Testy!"

The rising glow of Twilight's horn, accompanied by the rising glow of the blush on her face, acted as something as a warning to the draconequus, "Alright, alright! Too much, I get it." He popped the magic into his mouth and munched it absent-mindedly as he continued, "Yes, Twilight, I 'lied through my teeth' on the odd occasion. It's not something I particularly enjoy doing - what with it taking all the fun out of deception and all - but given my circumstances and my options I don't believe you would have done any different."

The glow surrounding Twilight's horn dimmed slowly, "Explain."

"Well, remember our little heartfelt conversations back when I was a glorified garden ornament?" Twilight nodded, frowning as she attempted to determine where the truth had ended and the lies began during said exchanges. "Whilst the majority of what I told you was indeed the truth, in one or two cases I lied in order to gain your trust enough to escape."

Twilight reclined in her seat - much to Discord's surprise - and spoke more calmly, almost resignedly, after a brief pause. She didn't look him in the eye now, instead gazing vacantly at the wall behind him, "I figured as much..." She reached up with a hoof and rested it against her forehead, her voice quavering slightly as she spoke, "C-Care to elaborate on exactly what you lied about?"

Discord caught Fluttershy stirring from her musings and gestured for her to stay put, doing the same to Pinkie as Fluttershy nudged her. Turning his attention back to Twilight, Discord gave a slight cough, "For the most part, only the minor details I could spin to shed me in a more positive light: Celestia wasn't quite as coarse in her dealings with me after the 'summit incident' as I told you; my speculations that the pain caused by the pent up chaos energies was being caused by her may have been true, but I haven't a clue myself; and from what you know of my past you've probably already deduced that Celestia had reason enough to lock me away anyway, so claiming 'I never did nothing wrong' was a lie, and one could say an affront to all reasonable morality."

Twilight flicked her gaze to him for a split second before settling once again on the wall, "Right. You said 'for the most part'?"

Discord hummed the affirmative, though his usual teasing tone was absent from his speech, "Ever the observant one. Yes, there's one thing in particular that I lied about that needs addressing."

"And that is?"

"I originally told you that I never summoned Calamity to Equestria. That he only came here of his own volition in an attempt to free me." He sighed and prepared for a spectrum of reactions from the unicorn before him, "I lied."

Twilight blinked rapidly before slowly raising her head so as to face Discord, revealing now tired looking and almost tearful eyes, "You called him here, didn't you?"

He stared into her eyes and gave a single nod, "Yes."

Deathly quiet, permeated only by the faint crackling of the fire, followed.

It took Twilight almost an entire minute of stuttering and starting before she was finally able to find her voice, hanging her head as she asked the gnawing question, "W-Why?"

"To free me, of course. For all I knew, I could have been sealed in that rock for another millennium, so I called him to my aid." After a moment's hesitation, Discord reached across with his paw, placing it under her chin and bringing up her head so as to allow him to look her straight in the eye once more, "Listen to me, Twilight." She didn't speak, but the questioning look she gave him prompted him to continue, "I promise you, I had no idea that he would appear where he did. It was never my plan to have him cause so much destruction."

Twilight mulled it over for a moment before responding with a glare, "I-I... believe you. I shouldn't, after all you've done, but I do."

"Then why the glare?"

Twilight inched her muzzle a little closer to his, staring threateningly into his eyes as she did so, "I have family in Canterlot, too. Seems to me like they wouldn't be here any more instead of Spike if your pet demon had succeeded."

Discord shook his head and leant back slightly, "No. Had he appeared in the caves beneath Canterlot it would have been a simple task to break through the surface, grab my statue from beneath, and escape through the tunnels. His mission was simply to rescue me, and - despite being the embodiment of disaster itself - that would have been his only priority, had things gone to plan."

Twilight allowed her glare to lessen slightly, rubbing her watery eyes before speaking, "I'm not sure whether I believe that. Then again, we'll never know now anyway, so I don't suppose it matters."

Discord scratched his chin for a moment before speaking cautiously, "If you don't mind me saying so, you're taking all of this far too well for my liking. I'd have expected more spells, or at least a few verbal barrages here and there. What gives?"

Twilight shrugged half-heartedly, "I suppose it's just the fact that I've been preparing for you saying something along those lines ever since we left. That one day you'd just turn around and... do something, I don't know. I had all these scenarios in my head. You'd tell us it was all a lie, that you've brought us willingly away from all we've loved for nothing and then just laugh at our stupidity for trusting you." She sighed, "I guess after considering the worst case scenario for so long, I was half expecting it to become a reality myself."

Discord dangled his arms over either side of his chair, "Well, nothing quite like being trusted, eh?" He caught Twilight frowning to herself and chuckled, "Don't worry about it, I wouldn't trust me either."

Twilight reclined back into her seat and rubbed her eyes once again, "Why admit to lying now, anyway?" She pondered over it for but a moment before groaning to herself, "Celestia, right?"

"Five hundred Discord points to team Sparkle." Standing from his seat, Discord stretched and chuckled to himself as Pinkie shot Twilight a competitive glare, "But yes, Celestia. As I said, I had a run in with her recently, and it culminated in us playing mind games with one another." He brushed himself down casually, "Needless to say, I won by a landslide."

Pinkie and Fluttershy - with Angel atop her back - hesitantly approached until Discord waved them over. Each took a seat beside Twilight whilst the draconequus remained standing.

Twilight voiced her curiosity immediately, "What happened, exactly? I didn't even realise you were gone."

Discord scratched his chin in thought, "I suppose that's because, in a sense, I wasn't." He caught her confused look, "Remember visiting me at my statue? How your body existed in one place whilst your consciousness was elsewhere?"

Twilight and the others nodded as they recalled the somewhat strange experience.

"Same principle, really. I was here physically, but not here." he tapped his head a few times.

Pinkie tilted her head curiously, "So what actually happened?"

Discord took a great pause for thought, pacing, humming and stroking his beard almost constantly as he attempted to come up with an adequate response. When he did, he stopped and turned to Twilight, "You're probably going to find this hard to believe."

Twilight shrugged, "If it's about Celestia, I'll take all the knowledge I can get."

Discord fought the urge to smirk at the statement, "Oh the irony of it all." He took note of their questioning expressions, "Celestia seems to have had the same approach to you, Twilight. Ever since you first set hoof in Ponyville, actually."

"What do you mean?"

Discord leant against the far wall and crossed his arms, "She had set up a rather complex and intricate viewing spell, very difficult to pull off in the first place; even harder to tamper with. Ever since you first arrived in Ponyville, Celestia was able to see what you were doing; every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day." He saw the mix of emotions seeping onto her face, "And yes, that includes up until right now. Or at least, it would have done."

Given that Twilight seemed to still be processing the implications of being the subject of 24 hour surveillance by Celestia, Fluttershy spoke up on the group's behalf, "Y-You stopped it?"

Discord smiled and donned a pair of shades, "Of course. Smashed the place to smithereens whilst Celestia watched, as a matter of fact. Fortunately, I was aware of the spell for quite some time, and managed to set up some countermeasures before Celestia could track us through Twilight's memories."

The unicorn scoffed loudly, "Without telling me exactly what she'd done, or that you'd used another spell on me."

Discord coolly pushed the sunglasses slightly closer to his eyes, "Unavoidable, I'm afraid. If I'd have told you I have little doubt that you would've found the spell and gone messing around in there at the first given opportunity, drawing Celestia's attention in the process." He caught Twilight preparing to retort and sighed loudly, "Unwanted countermeasure spell, or unwanted failure before we even truly began, those were your options." He removed his glasses and raised an eyebrow, "Although, if you'd rather go back?"

Twilight bit her tongue and shook her head in frustration after several seconds. Fluttershy glanced up at him, "I don't understand. What does your lying have to do with this?"

Discord hummed to himself, "Good question. The answer is relatively simple, and should be common sense to all of us by now, but it's a point I'll reiterate until it sticks." He snapped his fingers, transforming the shades in his paw into a short stick.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "What?"

Aiming the stick like a dart, Discord launched it across the room at great speed, allowing it to sail through the air into a picture of a familiar princess that hadn't existed only moments beforehand, "Don't trust Princess Celestia."

Pinkie waved a hoof in the air so as to garner Discord's attention, "Discy?"

Discord grimaced momentarily, "Yes, Pinkie?"

"Do we earn points for stating the obvious? Because if we do, I think you're winning now."

Discord scrutinised her expression carefully, scanning for any trace of snideness behind her inquisitive glance. As usual he found none and sank his head into his claw dejectedly, "No, Pinkie, we do not." Keeping his head planted in his hand, he continued, "In all seriousness though, at some time in the future we're bound to have another run in with Celestia. When we do, you can be sure that she'll say anything she can to convince you that I'm the greater of two evils; something she's fooled even herself into believing. That much, you're all probably aware of." He straightened out and scanned across each of those before him, "However, we're all also aware that - despite how much it pains me to admit such - she's no pushover, in terms of both power and intelligence."

Twilight nodded begrudgingly, "And?"

"And, once she's simmered down, it won't take her long to realise that she can use what I said to her advantage. She'd steeled herself against the taunting she thought was coming, so I had to take the deception up a notch." He snapped his fingers, materialising his cloud beneath him as he slumped onto it lazily, "I'm not going to repeat everything that was said, but it generally revolved around me stating that I'd planned everything to happen the way it has from the very start, which - as I'm sure the four of you already know - is not the case. We wouldn't be hiding in a cave in sub-zero temperatures whilst being hunted down by approximately half of Equestria if I'd have planned our 'adventure' from the moment the six of you decided I hadn't had my bi-annual taste of the rainbow. Honestly, after all that business the only plans I had for the six of you were some rather nasty revenge plots." He paused and smirked at the pegasus in the room, "Except for you of course, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy shook her head disapprovingly, but couldn't help but give a small, involuntary smile. Twilight, on the other hand, simply deadpanned and spoke in a flat tone, "Charming. Thanks, Discord."

The draconequus flopped down onto his back and gave a light laugh, "Hey, at least I'm being honest, right?"

Pinkie looked between Discord and Twilight's flat, unimpressed expression a few times before giggling herself, "He has a point, Twilight!"

Twilight, wholly unamused, remained stationary for a sum total of four seconds before turning and trotting to her bed in silence. Upon reaching it, she allowed herself to fall forwards onto it and released a hefty sigh, "Strange how it makes me trust you even less when you tell the truth, isn't it?" With that, she rolled to face the wall, putting her back to Discord and the others.

Discord shared a mischievous smile with Pinkie before calling out to Twilight in mock anger, shaking his fist as he did so, "One day, Twilight Sparkle! One day you'll learn to appreciate and trust me for who I am! Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but one day!"

Twilight responded by grunting and holding her pillow around her ears, "I doubt it."

Discord frowned at her lack of enthusiasm, allowing his arms to droop over the edge of his cloud, "You're still as boring as when we first left." He glanced at Pinkie and Fluttershy, who smiled back amusedly at his defeated expression, before rolling from his cloud and floating in mid-air, "Well, it's a shame for me to go whilst we're having such great fun - thank you, Twilight - but I'm afraid I'm getting that familiar... itch, to cause some more entertaining chaos. That being said..." He snapped his fingers, causing a small opening to form in the wall through which they had originally entered, exposing all within to the chilling winds once again. Stepping up to the exit, he glanced back over his shoulder at them with what had quickly become a serious expression, "I might be gone for quite a while longer than usual this time around. Just remember, you'll be safe here as long as you don't leave and keep the fire stoked. Don't sleep until I return."

Fluttershy stood up as he turned to leave, holding up a hoof to shield her face from the harsh chill the wind carried, "Where are you going that's going to take you so long?"

Without looking back, Discord spoke, his tone now flat and calculating, "Somewhere distant enough to be adequate, but near enough to be believable. Somewhere I can draw a great deal of attention to myself without being seen by anyone."

Twilight scrunched her brow in confusion, "What does that even mean?"

They watched as Discord's figure faded into obscurity through the whirling snow outside, his silhouette quickly fading from view as the hole through which he had exited sealed itself shut. Discord's voice reverberated through the room before any of the four within could react to his absence, "It means I have some complicated work to do in the next few hours and could do without the distraction of having to save any of you from a perfectly avoidable incident. Sit tight."

Twilight glanced around the room, taking note of the significant lack of exits, "Like we have much of a choice..."

Applejack gazed absent-mindedly over Sweet Apple Acres from her position beneath a particularly shady apple tree, pondering over the events of the previous day and her upcoming return to Canterlot, as she had been since the crack of dawn. The sun was high in the sky now, and in the distance the inhabitants of Ponyville could be seen going about their daily routines.

She remained there, motionless, until a familiar multicoloured object shot up from Ponyville and sped in her general direction, snapping her from her musings. Adjusting the brim of her hat, Applejack stepped forwards and waved a hoof so as to signal her location to her friend.

Surely enough, only a few seconds later, Rainbow landed before her with a dull thud as her hooves hit the earth, "Hey, Applejack."

Applejack stepped backwards and leant back against the tree trunk once again, "Hey, what's up?"

Rainbow rummaged beneath her right wing for a moment before withdrawing the remains of a gilded envelope.

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she examined it, "That what Ah think it is?"

Rainbow nodded, withdrawing the letter within and unfolding it, "Yeah, summons to Canterlot. The messenger dropped it off at my place about half an hour ago, and Rarity had hers when I spoke to her just now. I'm guessing you're still waiting on yours?"

"Yup." Applejack replied in a somewhat level tone, "What's it say?"

Rainbow scanned the letter briefly before glancing at Applejack and passing it over, "We're supposed to be in Canterlot by the start of next week from the looks of it."

Applejack confirmed such and nodded, passing the letter back to Rainbow without taking the time to do much more than skim over the remainder of its contents, "Seems that way, yeah."

A brief moment of uncomfortable silence followed.

Rainbow shifted awkwardly on her hooves, gauging her friend's reaction as she spoke, "What's up, Applejack?"

Applejack slid down against the tree until she slumped into a sitting position, "Ah've... just got a lot on my mind is all. Not like that's any excuse for bein' sat here doin' nothin', mind."

Rainbow shrugged and made her way around to sit against the opposite side of the tree trunk, "Say what you like, you're still better at coping with everything than most of us are."

Applejack gave a single involuntary, humourless chuckle before she could stop herself, "Yeah, when Ah'm not trashin' castle suites worth more than the whole of Ponyville."

"Well yeah, but that was a one off so it really doesn't count. You've never just hidden away from everything like Twilight and Fluttershy did, or shut everyone out like Rarity had, or... drank yourself stupid, like I did. Even after they left with that prick Discord, and everything he's made them do, you've kept a level head and focused on getting them back instead of being too worried to think straight. I think you've probably earned a morning's rest, to be fair."

A brief pause followed.

When Applejack spoke again, her voice held an unfamiliarly pensive, almost haunted tone, "Ah've lost a lot since I was small, Dash: Family, property, integrity." Though Rainbow couldn't see Applejack from her position on the other side of the tree, she definitely heard the series of shaky breaths the farmer took before continuing, and the slightly higher pitch of her voice, "You... You can only lose so much, you know? Ah don't think Ah could handle it if we lost those three to that monster. Ah can't let myself get distracted, or take a day off 'cause I know that they need me, but honestly, after everything we've tried, and everything that's happened..." She gave a defeated sigh, "Ah'm startin' to get the feelin' that no matter what we do, and no matter how hard we try, we won't be able to change how this is gonna play out."

Rainbow took a long pause for thought before responding, "Maybe you're right. I hope you aren't, but even if we don't end up changing anything anyway at least we can say we did everything we could instead of just taking it lying down, especially you."

Applejack gave a slight grunt to indicate she had heard. Another lengthy period of silence elapsed before she spoke in a quiet, contemplative voice, "They didn't take it well... My family, Ah mean."

"About going away again?"

"Yeah... Ah mean, they understand why Ah've gotta go, but they just don't want me to. As soon as Ah told 'em Ah'd be leaving again they made that pretty clear." She puffed out her cheeks and blew a steady stream of air from her mouth before continuing, "Don't get me wrong, family comes first and all, but they just ain't in any danger right now, and our friends are."

Rainbow glanced over to her left as she spoke, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. You said they understand, right? Honestly, they're probably just upset that you're not going to be there, not that you've chosen to help your friends when they need you. By the way, I think that's your letter over there. Right side."

Applejack cocked her head to the right and saw a pegasus messenger flying towards the barn, "Probably. That the guy that brought yours?"

Rainbow squinted as she focused on her target, "Yep, that's him."

"That's one little mystery solved then." The farmer redirected her gaze towards Ponyville, "Speaking of mysteries, any word on those rumours being spread about us?"

Rainbow grunted in frustration, "Not much, other than that they're spreading like a damn wildfire. Honestly, I think I'll be glad to get out of here for a while, at least until they forget about it."

Applejack cast her mind back to the posters the Crusaders had shown them, and over the trials and tragedies of the past few months. She turned to face the general direction of Spike's final resting place, looking out over the vast fields that still held slight scars from the cataclysmic battle between Spike and Calamity, "Somehow, Ah don't think this is somethin' anypony's gonna forget for a long time, Sugarcube."

Author's Notes:

Well, finally got it done, and it only took six months!

...

:|

Yeah. I'm actually sort of worried about that. After around a month with no updates I start forgetting things about the fics I read, even my favourite ones, so after 6 months without updating I think I've more or less disappeared from the minds of a fair few readers.

Come to think of it, I never got around to writing those one-shots I mentioned in the last A/N either. Oh well, the time I invested into studying should pay off, even if it managed to damage both my soul and creativity somewhat.

Anyways, just in case you guys are wondering where the hell I've actually been and haven't seen my blog posts of late, here's the super condensed version: I was busy from January to around mid-June with exam preparation, and have been busy from then up until now applying for part-time jobs and deciding upon which university I will be attending.

The next chapter should be up by mid-August, if all goes as planned. I'm hesitant to give a set deadline yet - since I keep missing those of late - so I'll only put that on my user page once I've written a little, therefore allowing me to get a feel of how long the rest of the chapter should take. That being said, this next chapter is really short in my plan, so it might only total up to around 2-3k words if I don't flesh it out, in which case I might get the update out sooner.

Anyway, enough about me. If you're still along for the ride even after these long six months, thank you! :D Hopefully I can make it up to you guys over the coming weeks and months.

- Mike, getting back to work.