His figure stood alone the clearing dust, his slow, menacing clap sending shivers down all our spines. With looming flames and smoke behind his dark outline of a body, eventually the dust cleared and his physical characteristics could be seen, notably, his yellow and red eyes. His appearance was especially frightening, though not because he had an evil expression on his face, but because he looked completely comfortable in the presence of all of us, from me and Applejack, to the citizens of Ponyville, to the host of Canterlot itself. His eyes were fixed squarely on me, smiling as though proud. There were so many things wrong with it.

I stood up slowly and turned myself around, and looked at Applejack, who stood by my side. We shared a mutual anger, and though it was very intense, our united feelings and just knowing we had each other now seemed to give us strength. I was exhausted! I'd spent seemingly all my energy on that dragon (as evidence by my collapsing to the ground), and now I had to deal with this bozo. I looked at his shadowy figure and all my hostile feelings for him swelled. I closed my eyes for a second and took deep breaths through the nose... er, snout. Just protect her at all costs.

His showing up like this was disturbing beyond description, even with the all of the Princesses and a small army of royal guards behind us on the riverbank (and the ponies of Ponyville, who decided to stay in the river for the time being). Up until this point, he'd come in like a chess player rearranging his pieces and then fleeing, and now it seemed like pretty likely he'd just seen the whole thing. He was at least completely aware of the dragon fight, so I was right in my presumptions that he sent him and then watched from a safe distance somewhere. I looked back at the Princesses. Seemed we had plenty of help. Well... this is it... the ultimate showdown... But I wasn't sure if it'd be enough. I can't deny it, but I was disappointed that we couldn't just celebrate my beating that other dragon. I'd worked so hard and was so proud of myself. Even though part of me was still bitter and resentful towards them for treating my wife and I that way.

"Most impressive, AJ," Discord uttered, again seemingly without a hint of sarcasm, to which Applejack promptly walked in front of me, standing between the two of us valiantly and giving him a look of defiance and protection that I was quite proud of. Even though I should've been protecting her. He gestured to me with his claws as he turned to all of the ponies behind us, before he suddenly appeared right beside me, speaking fast with a smirk and his shoulder around my neck. "Proud of you, champ. I knew you had it in ya. Oh, and come on, the fire's a nice touch, isn't it?" He flicked my quills on the side of my head as though impressed with his work, while his other claw moved swiftly across my stomach, which was incomprehensibly uncomfortable. "Just feel that belly, don't tell me you don't love that Applejack. Hey, you know, you ever get tired of her, you'd be a heartthrob over at a dragoness mountain."

I snapped my mouth shut right around his head with the hope to never letting go, but in a flash he was back to where he'd been in front of us. Man was I angry, especially with that last comment. I felt my inner fire glowing yet again (both literally and figuratively) with growls accompanying it. Just moments before, Applejack had filled my heart with glee by looking at me as proudly as she was. Though before she or anyone else could respond to him, the next voice that could be heard came from behind us. It was strong, feminine, and familiar, with a tone that denoted wisdom and motherly protection. And it wasn't happy.

"I don't know if I should give you a chance to explain yourself or just arrest you now," muttered Princess Celestia, whom at one point, you remember, was not so keen on Applejack and I. But we were reconciled long before this night, and here she was defending us - her subjects.

"Oh, dear, not the dungeon," he said, placing the backside of his claw on his forehead dramatically. "I couldn't possibly escape the dungeon."

Celesita, Princess Luna, Twilight, Cadence, and Shining Armor had begun slowly walking forward. Turning my head slightly, I saw them out of the corner of my eye and heard them approaching. For a moment, it was encouraging and took away some of the fear I had of Discord. It was dawning on me, and my heart beat increased at the mere realization; this was the final showdown. It was all going down right here, right now. But he quickly restored my unease when he turned his eyes behind me to her.

"Hmmm," he said, turning his gaze with annoyance to them and looking them over. "I must say you're here sooner than expected, and here we are already blaming me? Yeesh," he continued, with another melodramatic shrug. "Who tipped you off?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and suddenly with what appeared to be authentic annoyance. Applejack turned around and we looked at each other with wide eyes; we knew who that was.

"Apple Bloom," she mouthed silently to me. I nodded my head up and down, equally surprised. But it occurred to me just as quickly that this could only mean one thing; she did it! She saved me and maybe all of Equestria! Twilight and them knew exactly who I was, so they weren't attacking me. She did it!! I started laughing triumphantly in my head. Applejack heard me in her heart, because for the first time in too long, she smiled with joy. The two of us shared a quick off-the-scene hug, though it was more of her hugging my head. But I was fine with that. A feeling of great pride overtook me for her sister, not to mention gratitude. I had enough to deal with, the princesses and the rest of the royal guard not included. More importantly, it meant she was safe, which was a huge burden lifted off our shoulders. Applejack was back to anxious, observing that she was no where to be found, but deep down I remained content. The Princesses wouldn't leave her without guards. I began to space out, looking up at the stars and briefly pondering about how deep our family's love really is. Here was my wife's sister growing up before our very eyes. But my thoughts were interrupted by the voice of one not-so-happy Discord.

"I'll deal with them later," he muttered threateningly to himself.

I shook my head violently. Discord snorted angrily, though not in a manner that hinted any kind of fear or lack of control in his mind.

"Turn AJ back into a human at once!" declared an angry Princess Luna. I drew my head back and felt myself blushing. Well, now everyone knows... I've said it a thousand times; being in a different body is... weird, especially when your wife is standing next to you in front of the entire town, all of our friends, and now the whole kingdom of Canterlot for Pete's sake. I slowly walked up beside Applejack for comfort, I felt much better about being beside her than her in front of me, no disrespect to her of course, but I was a bit more capable of protecting us. And that way she could protect me from feeling too embarrassed.

"Hi Princess Luna!" said Discord, in a mockingly friendly tone with wide, surprised eyes. "Isn't Nightmare Night tomorrow? The holiday celebrating your villainy? You better watch out ponies, I think she's gettin' hungrier by the day, just look at that gut," he said to the ponies in the river, holding his hand over the side of his mouth away from her. Though it was probably loud enough for just about everyone to hear.

"Who do you think you are?" shouted a raspy, angry voice that no doubt belonged to a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. She flew up and settled down to my left side, whereas Applejack was loyally at my right. She gave me another look over and chuckled embarrassingly before her smile disappeared altogether into third person embarrassment for me as I looked away from her sheepishly. Great, not more of this...

"Hey," I suddenly heard her whisper, and looked to see her curious eyes looking me over. "Did it, uh... hurt? You know, when you-"

"Yes," I replied as a loud roar, rolling my eyes. That horrible transformation was a moment in my life I didn't want to remember, and all the more reason to remember not to trust that dumb serpent.

"Change him back!" cried Rarity, who was now walked up behind us as well. Even Twilight flew up from where she was, taking her place with all us elements. Now we just needed the most important one of all. Fluttershy...  Suddenly emerging from the army of guards, crawling through and around the legs of some of them, was none other than Spike, the purple dragon. He was a friendly little guy and a good friend (you remember it was him and me on my first adventure), and he'd grown a little bit since I last saw him. He seemed to be looking at me with the same look that I had; nice to see another dragon.

"Hey bro? How's it hangin'? At least you look good," he remarked. I shrugged, secretly flattered.

Ignoring our side conversation was Discord. Before now, he hadn't really looked super sly or evil in his expressions and what not, but now he seemed to take delight in their pleas to change me back. Which wasn't a good sign. At all. He smiled and raised another eyebrow, putting it right to them.

"Why don't you just ask them to change him back?" he replied, pointing straight to the royal sisters, with a late third gesture at Twilight. He said it with such confidence, as though the obvious answer was that they couldn't. It was certainly a quick way to get me really nervous.  I felt my heart sink, and I slowly turned around and looked back at them. How else could I get back to being human? Certainly not Discord, not now it seemed. I looked into each one of their eyes. You can do that... right? I didn't know anything about magic, still don't. I didn't know what kind of stuff went into casting spells and what not. I was just hoping beyond hope that they could help me. The two royal sisters looked uneasily at each other, before they turned to me for only a brief second, as though they were avoiding me or something. Silence took over my heart as I stared desperately at their forced stern expressions towards Discord. What?

"You see, we are at the site of your greatest failure, my little princesses! That includes you, Twilight," he said, giving them a sly grin. I found it rather confusing. I thought it was me that he suddenly hated for no reason, not them. I knew he wanted the throne from them, and that he still harbored hidden resentment for his thousand years in stone, but now I was puzzled. Failure? Maybe their failure to protect Ponyville from the dreaded northern shortneck. I looked back at them again, and they didn't seem to know what he was talking about. "Not to worry, I am going to turn him back, he's been such a fine help to me."

I wasn't sure if I should feel happy or angry, but I settled with the latter. I certainly wanted him to change me back, but that didn't mean he was on my good side.  I growled through my teeth at him, and suddenly I sensed one more pony standing directly behind me. With a flurry of pink visible in my eye, I knew it had to be the crazy-hyper but loveable Pinkie Pie, one of my first friends when I moved here. Now we were just missing the pony with severe dragon-phobia to complete the elements of harmony. I buried my right claw over my face. How convenient. We need her, she's not here because she's terrified of me...

"I'm not kidding, you really have been stupendous. Ah, I almost forgot," he said, once again looking straight at me and put his fingers together. I froze in terror as he snapped his fingers, which was accompanied by nothing but silence. Yet if anything I felt the slightest tingling in the back of my throat that ran down into the top of my neck. It felt as though my vocal chords had been rearranged. For the first time in what seemed like forever - I'd only had a brief couple minutes to talk in my dragon body before - I slowly brought my claw to my throat before I turned up and stared him down.

"So... can you change me back now?" I muttered, and boy it felt good, eliciting a very short smile from Applejack who looked happy for me. I briefly pondered the stuff I was going to miss, but it was all worth it for my family.

"Ah ah ah! Not quite yet," he said, waving his index claw.

"Ain't that a big surprise," I remarked, turning my head. Somehow I knew that was coming. I wanted to envelop him in flames for putting her through all this. I resented all the stuff he'd done to me. The city was reduced to ashes, some ponies were burned from dragonfire, and another pony was probably dead from falling to the earth after being plucked right from the river, and here he was acting like something was wrong with the princesses.

"Your special mission was destroy that dragon! Not send him to destroy Ponyville! And then try to strain AJ and Applejack's marriage by turning him into the very creature you were supposed to annihilate!" shouted an enraged Princess Celestia. Everyone - including all the ponies in the river, who were still dealing with the shock of all this information - immediately looked back to Discord. But he was just being himself, with the carefree expression on his face, as though his schemes hadn't been interrupted at all.

"Yeah, thanks for that. I suppose you get credit for it though since it was your little science experiment that killed him," I growled.

"If it were up to me, you'd never get a third chance you filthy traitor," remarked Shining Armor coldly. He was a large white stallion and supposedly very powerful for a unicorn, though I wasn't sure if that meant much against Discord, who ignored our comments and addressed Celestia's instead.

"And I did," he responded with a shameless chuckle. Once again his gaze turned directly to me as he pointed his index claw at me. "Through him."

"See?" I said, holding up an open claw to the rest of them. I told them!

"He coulda been killed!" shouted a tearful Applejack. Hearing her like that made me soft with love for her, but it took only a second and I was all the while that much more infuriated at him. I had nearly forgotten about her already amidst all the chaos. But I remembered that she was the reason for everything good in my life. I wanted to just run away with her and spend the rest of our lives without a care in the world, free to raise our own foal with frolic and toil. But for the time being, that only added to the pain, because it wasn't realized yet. I still had to save her, by saving myself.

"But he wasn't," he said, waving a single finger (claw) back and forth before spreading his arms open to everyone in defense of himself. "My mission was to find the dreaded northern shortneck and either convince him to leave Equestria, or, from the mouth of Celestia herself, 'waste' him. And he certainly has been wasted. Sure, I let AJ do my dirty work, but I did succeed. And AJ learned that he's stronger than he thought."

"You," I growled in disbelief. I felt my vision getting blurry I was so angry. All she and I'd been through and that's all he had to say about it? I hate to say it, but I really did want to hurt him. I was seconds away from drawing up all of my fiery breath on him. But he simply raised his eyebrows again in a more serious and sympathetic manner.

"You yellow-bellied heap of-!" cried the suddenly present voice of Granny Smith. I turned my head quickly around and found Big Macintosh covering her mouth with his hoof, who although visibly upset knew not to anger this guy. They were just a few feet behind my tail, close to Pinkie and Rarity.

"Come on, AJ," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I know you've always wanted to show Applejack and all of Ponyville for that matter that you could be strong for her, and you weren't a complete whimp," he said, with a convictive expression to top it off.

"What did you say?" I uttered, in even more disbelief. Of course you've read it by now; I really did have those feelings! Which made it that much worse. How could he know about that? I traded soulful looks with Applejack. It's not a good feeling, having something like that thrown out there for everyone to know about you.

"And wouldn't you all agree, Ponyville that he most certainly is no whimp?" he said, as his facial expression dissented into harshness, pressing one claw against his chest and using the other to open his arm out to them. I turned my head back to them and saw them all shaking with fear, many of them expressing remorse. "You see, that's where you have failed miserably, my little pony princesses!"

I turned back to him and fought myself to keep my mouth shut from any growl or snarl, trying with all of my will to at least comprehend most of what he was saying. He didn't seem to make any sense but at the same time I thought maybe he was giving clues before he revealed everything. I didn't think it could make any sense, but I waited with a mixture of fear and hatred for all the misery brought down on my family.

"What are you talking about?" said Twilight, angrily. Discord smiled, as though he had the upper hand with information.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and now, Princess Twilight..." he said, disappearing before our eyes and suddenly draping himself around their shoulders. I looked around as low-key as possible. Fluttershy, Fluttershy, where is Fluttershy?? His loud voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Keepers of harmony in these lands, and so-called champions of friendship, benevolent rulers?" he muttered with the personality and tone of a snake, as they stared at him with expressions of being really, really annoyed and utterly infuriated. "It seems someone who actually cares about friendship and the state of his own subjects should be the one to make the rules around here. Look how far you all have fallen," he uttered malevolently, with a gesture towards all the poor citizens in the river.

Suddenly the inevitable memories of being chained and humiliated were running through my mind. And having ponies kicking me and bucking me in the face. And worst of all, the cruel taunts that many of them had launched at the most guiltless and innocent pony of all. The princesses were now confused as they looked at each other for support, and listening with intrigue, while the some of ponies of Ponyville had looks of shock. I couldn't believe it, but I suddenly... seemed to kind of sympathize with Discord. I hated his actions, and there was no excuse for them thus far regardless of how they ended up acting, but he still did kind of have a point about them. I continued to ponder and wait for more.

"Yes, it's true. I turned AJ into a dragon against his will, on the promise that I would keep him that way forever if he didn't agree to do a little favor for me," he said with a straight face, coming back to his original spot though hovering off the ground this time. Applejack and I couldn't believe our ears. He actually just came out and admit it. I had to stick my claws in my ears to make sure there wasn't something stuck in them. The ponies let out gasps of shock upon learning the truth, and cries of anguish and embarrassment at having doubted us could be heard. It went against everything he'd done thus far.

"This was especially hard on young Applejack," he continued, suddenly still quite serious, "who is, as you know, expecting a child of her own with him."

All of the new arrivals - the royals and the guards - gasped at the sound of this, led by Twilight. She covered her mouth with her hoof and stared with a deep expression. She didn't look ashamed, not at all. More like just... surprised, and maybe wonder, and probably saddened that it had to be revealed to her this way. She always admired us. She especially loved Applejack, her oldest friend. I felt a tear in my eye; I didn't want it to be known to everyone like this. I wanted to go into the springtime of it, with everyone happy. But nope. Both of us were filled with terrible uncomfortableness, only because we feared what might become at his mention of something so dear and personal to us. It's also kinda hard not to feel at least a little uncomfortable with something like that being thrown out there, since they weren't expecting it and what not. Instinctively I lowered my head on top of hers as we recoiled together. We weren't gonna show any sign of regret or shamefulness, because we didn't have any. We looked them straight in the eye.

"You villain!" whispered Princess Celestia. I saw what looked like a tear welling up in her eye. Though Discord looked to her with glee, as though the best was yet to come. So what does this have to do with her? This time Discord really did laugh. While this was going on, I whispered to the orange ears that were just below my mouth.

"No matter what happens, just stay with me," I told her quietly, not taking my eyes of Discord. I think she responded well, even though she didn't move.

"We trusted you!" said Twilight, who was clearly deeply hurt by his betrayal. "You had done so much good! And it was all just a show?"

It was all the more proof that he really had seemed to have changed before this whole thing. It seemed he was just unable to let those thousand years go, and had grown tired and jealous of not being in power anymore. Maybe he really had convinced himself he was right, I wasn't sure. But Discord didn't seem to take too kindly to her accusations, either.

"Hey now... I am good," he declared outright, defensively. "If we're talking about the magic of friendship here- or the lack thereof- that would be none other than you three," he said, pointing to them. "You see, we need a new system. I'm just showing you all the truth," he continued. Princess Celestia seemed to shove aside some traces she was showing of guilt -maybe she was afraid to know what they had done - and addressed him directly.

"Thinking you could be reformed has been my greatest failure," she said, stomping her hoof in the ground. Discord did not take well to it and now appeared angry.

"You don't know the first thing about friendship or justice. Let's keep you in stone for a thousand years and see if you get a little cranky!" he said, his eyes building up with flames before he quickly calmed down. "Besides, I am reformed! As your subjects have demonstrated, it's you that needs some serious friendship lessons," he replied. In the meantime, I was getting sick of being the middle man... er, middle dragon.

"We've had enough of this. Surrender now, or face the royal army's wrath," she commanded in a strong voice, like a mother defending her children. He decided to take it back to me and Applejack, though.

"As I was saying... " he said, smirking before suddenly getting serious and pointing to us, "she and him handled it all exceptionally well. Your subjects, the citizens of the great and harmonious Ponyville, however," he went back and fourth between them and the royal sisters, as though they provided him with all of his needs to bring them down. Most of them looked on with wide eyes and shameful, fearful expressions, while Celestia, Luna, and Twilight suddenly looked like they were descending into fear as they listened more to him.

"However what?" asked Princess Celestia quietly, fearing for his answer.

"Well apparently it was too awkward a subject for them, the way they mocked her and said all those horrible things that would make you break down in sobs. Just ask them," he said, pointing to us. My wife and I looked at each other sadly. We didn't know what to think. There was some truth in what he was saying, but it was coming from Discord of all people. Now suddenly he was praising Applejack and I as exemplary. We didn't know what to think or how to react. Because the ponies really had done those things, at least a number of them.

"And when AJ came to her to defend her from you all, you locked him in chains and kicked and spit and did all the other wonderful things trusting friends do when their friends are standing off to the side protesting. Sure, many of you stayed loyal, but too many of you fell from harmony and forfeited the magic of friendship. And that means you," he said, harshly pointing to Princess Celestia and the other two princesses, who were now swallowing their disbelief. "Blinded with all your bickering in Canterlot, let your subjects cut themselves off."  

A crippling silence gripped the scene that was lit solely by surrounding dimming fires and moonlight. The three princesses stared brokenhearted at the ponies in the river, perhaps sensing in their hearts that he was telling the truth. In their teary eyes, it seemed like they were as disappointed with themselves as they were the ponies of Ponyville . Now many of the citizens of Ponyville were crying too, having had everything revealed to them. They all looked at the two of us with remorse and guilt that I can't describe, even the ones that had been especially nasty and jealous. Royal Riff, Cherry Cola, and Bon Bon all had the most humbled expressions on their faces, knowing they'd been terribly wrong about both of us. I had already forgiven them for what they'd done to me. They didn't know who I was, at least not for sure until then. On the other hand, I had been so angry with them over their treating of Applejack, and I took so personally their attitude towards our having a foal. But when I looked at them then, I felt my heart softening. Not completely, but I couldn't be as angry with them anymore, because they all looked so sorry. All of the cruelty in their hearts seemed to have gone, replaced with heartfelt sorrow for what they had done. The situation was quickly weighing on my heart, conflicting it; so, naturally, I went to turn to Applejack for support, to see what she was feeling and draw from her.

"Don't you see, AJ?" he continued, suddenly standing right beside me and gesturing to them. "The Princesses let them become this, and as such, they are not fit to rule! I know you're angry with me, but come on. I was just showing you the cold hard truth about your so-called friends."

I snorted through my nostrils; I couldn't stand the sound of his voice. Even if he was right, he would still have to answer for using this method of exposing it, which was the worst method ever. But deep down tearing me apart was whether or not I fully agreed with him. And in the back of my mind was the fact that he would change me back, especially with all them looking on. I didn't want any more embarrassment for poor Applejack, it was enough that she was married to a human. They had upset me so much, and his points about the princesses suddenly seemed valid. Don't listen to him, AJ... he's just trying to influence you, he doesn't care about you or her. Yet aiding my deep suffering was a little bit of anger that still resided in my heart. I could forgive them for what they did to me, they didn't know who I was. But their treatment of Applejack, however, was what suddenly lingered in my mind. But he does have a point... they did fall far from harmony...

I looked over at the princesses. All three of them looked ashamed, torn to hear what the citizens of Ponyville had done. They didn't do anything that suggested a course of action. They just stood their and wept, taking Discord's harsh words like arrows. In all my time living here, I'd never seen anything like it. As it had been since I came to Equestria, they were my princesses. They were loved by almost everyone. Nobody ever questioned them. We lived in a benevolent monarchy. But now it seemed like they really had failed. I shook my head. Snap out of it. Like he'd be better than them??

"You are strong, AJ. We could rule together, you know," he continued to me alone. Me?? "We could set this world right," he whispered in my ear, the opposite side of me from which Applejack was standing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Shut up," I muttered, holding my claw over my eyes. It was just too much for me. It was all too much. I'd had enough. I just wanted to leave and be with Applejack forever. He kept going.

"Their betrayal and mocking of you and Applejack will be dealt with. If they won't respect you, then they will pay for it. You've always wanted to make the perfect world for your wife and foal. Now you can. Help me and I will change you back. Come on, she's been through enough. End it for her. "

Did he actually mean this? And if he did, what should I do about it? He's lying. Of course he is. But he was so powerful, and the princesses had apparently become inept. But if I say no, then what happens? How can I get back to being human? I looked over at Applejack, who was sadly observing her friend. I searched direly for any kind of feelings she might have been having for recourse. I saw pain and concern, but I saw no sign of disappointment. Deep down, I was struggling to come to terms with the ponies of Ponyville, and how they reacted to our foal. I wanted to shut them out, I wanted to not care what they thought. But I still did. Yet right then, something unexpected started to unfold.

"Wait," said the young stallion Royal Riff, who with Cherry Cola, emerged from the river dripping with water and their own tears. I drew away from Discord and stepped closer to Applejack, my head alongside hers turned sideways towards them. There were no secrets now among anyone. They all knew she was expecting. They all knew I was the father. I stared intently at them, as strongly as I could. We stood tall and proud, side by side. From now on, I would be at her side at all times, and they would address us together. I knew something loomed with everyone, but it was going to have to wait, because the townsponies and us had unfinished business to settle. I think I had something to settle with myself, too.

"Oh sure, now you respect him. 'Cause he's a fire breathing dragon," interrupted the smug voice of Discord. "They don't owe you anything you little twerps! You messed it up, and you'll get what's coming. And you three know that you have to relinquish your crowns to someone else," he said, pointing the three princesses. "Don't blame me. All it took for them to do this was a little change in species for my friend here, and fear and jealousy did the rest. If anything I was just doing a little favor for these two - in disguiuse, I grant you- all the while exposing your so-called harmony. Now come on, this isn't about AJ coming to terms with him being a father to a foal that's only half his species, and worried about what you guys will say about a hyrbid creature, and Applejack isn't trying to come to-"

"Shut up!" I snarled suddenly, slamming my front claw into the ground, and it was apparently fierce enough for him to have done just that. He shut up, though he clearly wanted to keep going. It took all my strength to leave my fire fuel in my gut. One of the only reasons I didn't fry him right there was because I was still holding out hope he'd change me back. But as angry and deeply as he had cut and embarrassed me with that remark, I was glad he said it. Because he took my implicit feelings and made them explicit for me. I had to face them sooner or later.

We turned around and faced them again, and I felt my heart hardening for what they'd done to her. They really did look contrite, and sorry for what they done. Something happened then that I didn't really expect. Suddenly I felt my heart beginning to soften again, as they looked at the two of us with, from what I could, was real sincerity. I wanted an apology to Applejack, and I'm sure she wanted an apology for me as well. But all I could do now was listen. Along with all the princesses. Once again, all the tension with Discord was suspended for the moment as Applejack and I began our settlement with the ponies who had wronged us.

"Look," said Royal Riff again, one of the leaders of the young ponies. A kind of tension did still exist, but he was helping himself with his sorrowful emotional expressions. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes were anxious. He struggled for the right words to say. "We did say those things, we admit it. We have disgraced all of Equestria, and we know we don't deserve anything from you guys ever again."

"Ha! I'd say you have," I heard Discord snort snarkily from behind us. But I looked down at Applejack, and saw that she was listening with care and fairness. I could see remnants of her anxiety and resentment in her eyes, but it seemed she was opening her heart to something more. Royal Riff looked gravely at his buddies and female pony friends, as though he much more to say, but was just searching for the words once again. There was a brief awkward silence, but before he could continue, the apple pony reached up and put her front hoof on my neck affectionately, without taking her eyes off them. I was beginning to sense deep within that this was likely going to be a defining moment in our lives. The significance of everything that had happened.

"What he's trying to say," said Bon Bon, stepping in and holding her head down, having difficulty looking at us.

"We didn't know what Discord did you to you guys, but even so," stuttered Cherry Cola, equally ashamed. "We know what we were doing was wrong, and we did it anyway. The truth is, we were jealous of you two. What you two have together."

"We all were," chimed in another young pony who was a fierce scoffer. I didn't know if I should take that pride in that statement or what. But it did seem to appease me. I looked down at her again. From the beginning, I fiercely desired with all my heart for them to treat my wife with respect. I couldn't bare being the subject of her embarrassment. But looking at her, I finally began to realize, as close as we had been, and as well as we knew each other, that in the end, she didn't care what they said. She simply loved her family, and that included me.

"AJ," said Cherry Cola, looking straight at me. He was as honest and heartfelt as I could have ever observed in a pony besides Applejack. "You have a beautiful wife, who is even more beautiful on the inside. I couldn't deserve her in a million years."

I couldn't believe his sincerity. But at the same time, it had a certain remedy to it. There was no better way for him to compliment me than to compliment her. If he could sincerely apologize to her, then... I could forgive him. I looked down at Applejack, who was looking at them, and her benevolent heart seemed to be glowing through the compassion in her emerald eyes. Immediately I was reminded why I'm love with her in the first place. Then she looked up at me, and I was the recipient of all the delightful graces that come from her gaze.

"AJ is a better husband then I could ever deserve," said Bon Bon. She looked at the two of us and suddenly a shimmer of admiration shone in her eyes. Applejack responded well to her saying that, I could feel deep appreciation in her heart as though she was flattered and agreed with her. It sent waves of joy through me rendering me soft. I could feel my heart getting softer and softer, and it was getting harder and harder to feel anger towards them. I only ever wanted them to respect us, and now it seemed, just maybe...

"It's too late for that," said Discord angrily to them, after the other ponies shook their head in agreement to her comment. I had been so flattered by the comment, I didn't notice at first. Something was about to happen, I could feel it. My heart was so close to letting go. Like we were perhaps finally going to reconcile. The truth is that it was important to me. But it was interrupted.

"Wait..." said Princess Celestia, finally speaking again after having been put to shame. She turned her head upward and stepped her hooves forward, looked at us as though she had come to a realization. "It's not too late. True remorse and forgiveness is what brings ponies back into-"

"You had your chance," said Discord loudly, cutting her off, "just like them. But you were *not* princess-ly. Don't worry... I will see to it they are properly punished, AJ and Applejack," he continued.

"That doesn't mean you can deny them reentry into harmony," said Rarity angrily.

"Well," chuckled Discord, shrugging and pointing to the princesses. "At the end of the day, you three are the reason we have to get them back anyway, and therefore you must resign. That's all there is to it," he said.

"So you honestly expect us to just hand you the reigns? That's not happening," said a fiercely defiant Shining Armor. Suddenly, an orangish guard with a dark blue mane, armored in gold, stepped up and spoke.

"If I may, it's disappointing, but -"

"Disappointing? Who the heck are you to-" said another pony.

"What? No, let me finish, I was-"

"Nopony is laying a hoof on her!" cried Rainbow Dash.

Suddenly the whole guard and the elements of harmony broke out into fierce and incoherent arguing. I looked over and saw Twilight hoofing herself in the face, while the ponies of Ponyville began to try to sneak away. Amidst all the arguing, I couldn't hardly make anything out in specific. The tenseness had brought out everyone's worst, apparently. The Princesses apparent failure. Applejack and I looked traded soulfoul glances. We saw hoofs pointing, ponies screaming, and for what? Discord backed off a little bit with a smirk as he beheld the chaos before him. Suddenly his eyes narrowed as he caught something in his gaze that disturbed him, and he shot forward through the air towards the river.

"Ah, ah, ah! You are not finished here yet!" he said, and the ponies who had started to get away cowered in fear as they crawled back into the water. Suddenly there was a flash of bright white light, and the sound of an angry, motherly voice.

"SILENCE!" cried Princess Celestia, who was hovering over the arguing guards and other ponies, including Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight. Her eyes were glowing white, and it was impressive showing of power. But I knew it paled in comparison to Discord's. The scene went silent again as she floated back down, returning to her normal state. They all turned and looked at Discord, seemingly siding with her. A raspy voice broke the brief silence as the dust settled, directed at him.

"So some ponies in Ponyville turned into jerks, it was your fault anyway you little-"

There was a snapping of fingers and suddenly Rainbow Dash fell to the Earth, her wings and legs tied together with rope and an apple stuck in her mouth. Discord grinned at her as she spit it out, angry and embarrassed whilst trying to break free of the ropes around her legs. Twilight's horn lit up and the ropes disappeared, with Rainbow getting up fast. The three demoralized princesses came and stood together, looking at each other gravely. But looking at each other, they seemed to come to an agreement without even speaking. As with always up to this point, I just carried on. I carried on with Applejack and looked at them, waiting for the princess had to say.

"First and foremost," said the white princess, choking on her own words and searching the strength to utter them, "we apologize to the citizens of Ponyville, and to all of Equestria," she said, turning her horse head up towards us all, with gleams of guilt in her eyes. "We apologize to you two especially for having been subjected to this," she continued, and she was looking right at us. We could see plainly in her gaze that it was certainly a most sincere apology, given the pain in her eyes. Twilight stepped forward alongside her older counterpart, along with Princess Luna on the other side. Behind them, countless eyes simmering with awe looked on behind golden armor gleaming in the moonlight. The purple alicorn looked at my wife, then to me, then back to her with more depth of feeling than any anyone else. Her eyes glowed, like she was contemplating the glorious mysteries of life and our coming together. She suspended my heart for a moment, which was in safe proximity to it's master with Applejack standing right beside me. She went to say something, but before she could she was interrupted.

"Well? How about it? You finally see reason?" said Discord, leaning towards them with a raised eyebrow. Princess Celestia remained serious, breathing heavily  and looking back at the guards behind her.

"But we will not relinquish our power to you, Discord," she said, standing firm. Wait a second... that couldn't have been Discord's plan.

Suddenly there was another dead silence that gripped the scene. All eyes turned to Discord, and the fear of a looming battle between both sides filled the air. The whole time I felt like most eyes were either on him or me, but now I think everyone was there was staring at him to see his reaction. He raised his eyebrows, as though he was somewhat expecting it. Then he seemed to smirk, his eyebrows bending treacherously. He suddenly floated towards Princess Celestia, their eyes deadlocked with each other; the guards and other two princesses, as well as Shining Armor, each lunged towards her protectively, but without breaking eye contact with Discord, Celestia raised her hoof in a kind of "back down" gesture. He stuck his face right in hers and began whispering things to her while she breathed heavily with disgust. I was ultra curious as to what they were saying, and tried to focus my energy on my ears catching any possible words as I stealthily crawled in their direction. What are you saying? She was trying to remain strong and had a tough expression, while Discord poured words into her face. Meanwhile, it was killing me; I had to find out what he was telling her. Suddenly she looked over his shoulder at me with a look of concern, and my heart sank as I stopped in my tracks, frozen. Applejack must've seen it too. My expression was one of fear and helplessness.

"AJ?" she asked worriedly.

"So what do you think, AJ?" he said suddenly, turning his head around and looking at me with another smirk. I took a gulp and a deep breath, and stood my head up tall. His gaze pierced me like knives, especially in that matter. I tightened up my expression as best I could. In reality though, at this point I was just sick and tired.

"Look," I said, shaking my head. "Can we just cut to the chase or something? Because I've had enough of the monologuing."  

At first his smile faded into a look of surprise, but then it returned even wider as he chuckled hardly. He turned completely around and floated directly towards me, as though he was impressed or something.

"As you well know, the dry sense of humor, it just isn't me," he said, rolling his eyes with a wild shrug and grin. "But I love it in you, though... I still think you did great," he replied, not losing his smile. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared or intimidated - this was Discord after all - but I tried to keep a fearless expression on my face. He floated right up to me in the same manner he had the princess, and as with her I felt four ponies coming in close to my side, with one in particular hugging my front leg sternly. Also as with Princess, he stuck his face in close to mine so we were both studying the other's expressions. I still didn't know if he was completely serious about these sudden appraisals of me and Applejack, like he was trying to kiss up or something. His face stopped just inches in front of mine, focused squarely on me, as though he didn't want anyone else to hear. "Think about it. Is there anyone you can really trust here besides your family?"

His shameless smirk remained, because he knew there was some truth to it, even though it seemed like they had been ready to admit their error and repent before he cut them off. At the end of the day, I at least couldn't trust anyone the way I could trust my family. To be honest, I didn't really know what to say. I certainly didn't trust him, but again... he did kind of have a point. Maybe I couldn't trust the others anymore. Snap out of it AJ!

"I'm still better off with them than you," I said, a bit surprised at my remark considering how scared I was. He wasn't visibly offended. His smile melted away into a more serious look, which was very rare for him.

"I saw it was this way from the beginning. I had to expose it somehow," he replied. Applejack called up angrily, in her protective country tone.

"Ya better back off my hubby 'fore ah'-" she started, but she was cut off. Discord looked down, and with a smirk it was as if her lips had been zipped shut as she struggled to speak. I looked back up, seething in rage. To see her helplessly fighting to talk, but unable to, as a result of his doing... I couldn't stand for it.

"If you're trying to get on my good side, you're going about it the worst possible way," I snarled quietly, remaining in front of him.

"Relax," he said, snapping his fingers, which was followed by a loud gasp for air from Applejack. I looked down to make sure she was ok; it killed me to see her like that, but when she looked at me and gave me the expression that she was gonna be alright, I turned back to him growling. "Just let the boys talk for a second, will ya?"

"No. What I hear, she hears," I said, my eyes fixed on him.

He ignored me and leaned in, our faces were only barely not touching now. I was sorely tempted to bite him, or blast him with flames, or something, but I figured he'd get out of the way. And deep down, I knew there was another thing keeping me from doing it, and to my worst fears, he played upon it. He whispered right in my ear. This was the most mellow I'd ever seen him, usually he's so outward and open with everything.

"You know, this has all been a little too public. Hey, I never said I was perfect! Thing is, I can end all the embarrassment she feels about being married to, well, this," he whispered, looking down as though gesturing to the rest of me. It was an rage-inducing remark, considering he was the cause of it. "Yeah, I didn't wanna do it this way. But now I can let you hold your child in his real father's arms. I can do it, you know. I could change you back right now. Just help me set things right," he said quietly. I felt my wife holding her head as high as she could, even jumping up to try to hear him. I took a deep breath. It was the most uncomfortable and angst-ridden breath of the night. I was torn between rage and sadness. Now it seemed he'd gone back to just straight up blackmailing me, but it was a good tactic on his part. I didn't want her to be embarrassed anymore. My family trumped all the pleasures that came with being a dragon.

"Sugarcube!"

"You know what the funny thing is?" he continued, still silent enough for just me to hear. "This deal really is as good as it sounds. You go back to normal, you run the show with me, and we restore friendship to these lands while you and her go back to your lovey dovey frolics through the meadow the way it was before. So what do you say?"

"What is he sayin' to you honey?" she asked desperately. I closed my eyes and looked away from him. I lowered my head and allowed her to embrace it. "You leave my hubby alone," she said, infuriated as she once again placed both her hooves on my head and leaned on it. There was so much protective love in her tone that made me so entranced to hear, yet also that much sadder. I couldn't bare the thought of her being disappointed in me. But it was like my heart knew that she loved me anyway, and this argued with me as well. I knew she still loves me, and we still could wondrous things together like this. She won't be disappointed. Just put up with being a dragon... This isn't a judgment call... you can't let him win... I told myself that, but in the depths of my heart, I was afraid of letting her down. She had said that our child deserved to be raised by his father from whom he will inherit half his looks. What will he think when he sees his father is a dragon? I looked over at the ponies in the river, who stood shivering in the water and trying to make sense of all this. I hope she's not embarrassed! She may not be disappointed in me, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't be disappointed overall. I opened my eyes and looked at up the stars, which I had spent so many hours looking at with her. I just want her to be happy!

I could hear Discord chuckling, though I couldn't see him as I had shut my eyes again. The princesses yelled for him in fury to cease, as I felt the other elements of harmony closing in around Applejack and I. When suddenly a distinct voice - one I hadn't heard all night - forced my eyes open, and with it, the utter silence that followed.

"DISCORD!"

It came from an unmistakably fragile and girly voice. And it didn't sound too happy. Discord's expression went in an instant from complete confidence and cunning to paralyzing fear. His eyes shot open and his mouth had fallen all the way down with a horrified gasp. I had never seen him more scared in my entire life (and I gotta admit, it was a thing of beauty to behold); I had rarely seen anyone as scared as he appeared right then. It was as if his mother was standing behind her child caught in the act of trouble making. He turned around slowly, but far from finding his mom, he was looking down at a yellow mare with a pink mane and tail, and butterflies on her flank.

"Fluttershy!" he muttered, throwing his claws up welcomingly in a tone that was dripping with jitters. We were all dumbfounded, staring with wide open eyes ourselves, though not out of fear. She had finally arrived. And best of all, she had obliterated all of his confidence. He really did care about what she thought.

"Discord!" she repeated, her expression angrier than a bull painted red.

"Friend!" he said, his voice shaking with nervousness. "Why ever are you here, my dear? Uh... you may not want to be here right now, you know there's a-" he raised one claw to his the side of his mouth closest to me and began whispering, gesturing towards me with his eyes, "there is a dragon right there!"  

She looked over at me briefly - though without any trace of being scared - and then back to him, and boy let me tell you, she was open for business.

"I swear if you do not change him back right now," she commanded in her delicate voice, "and you do not stop all of this, we will not be friends anymore!"

Discord just got even more desperate, and I was loving every second of it. I think we all were. His pupils shrank into small dots and he was so scared he shook.

"Change who back, my dear?" he said, attempting really badly at a face to demonstrate he didn't know what she was talking about. She merely stomped her hoof in the ground in anger. Yes. YES!!!!

"I've heard enough, Discord, and I am SO disappointed in you. You change AJ back right now!" she demanded, and just like that, I felt a surge of hope in my heart from the most unlikely source. The meekest pony in Ponyville had just silenced the most powerful being in Equestria. I always loved her as a friend, but now I really loved her as a friend. Just like that, all eyes were on him again. He looked around, petrified and shaking. My mouth dropped open even further. I couldn't describe the adrenaline running through me as we all leaned in, biting our lips and watching him. Victory seemed so close, and out of nowhere. She's... she's gonna do it!

We watched. As Discord looked all but beaten, given away by his expression, he turned his head to the ground. He stood there silently, and the two of us held our breath, along with everypony else. He looked up, and his expression was replaced with sheer harshness. Looking dead ahead, he raised his claw and snapped his fingers. Instead of me standing there as a human, Fluttershy fell to the ground, her eyes closed. The crowd gasped with horror, as flickers of guilt flashed in Discord's eyes.

"Sorry, dear friend. But you should sleep through this one, and I'll explain everything later," he said, chuckling despite himself. Just like that, bonafide victory had appeared out of nowhere, taunted us with it's cruel beauty, and just like that, it was gone. Twilight and many other ponies choked on their anxiety, stuttering with fright and shock.

"Relax, she's asleep. Didn't count on her coming back so soon," he said, throwing his claws up.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said, bringing my claw to my face.

"Pa-thetic," uttered Rarity.

He apparently didn't take too kindly to her remark, and he turned his head slowly her way threateningly. With a smirk, he lifted both of his claws, and magic rays blasted from his fingers and an instant, Rarity stood before us not as a white mare, but as a white sheep with fluffy wool. As we all looked on with horror, Rarity's eyes opened and her mouth froze, and after a brief pause, she reluctantly tilted her eyes downward at herself and, upon getting a good look, let out a high-pitched scream for the ages. Discord broke out into laughter (the only one of course) as Princess Luna took initiative and launched a ray of blue magic at Rarity from her horn, and in another flash she was transformed back to herself. As Discord's laughter died down, there came another dead and eerie silence, though this one had a different tone. I felt my heart rate rising, even though all noise had been suspended. I knew what I saw in the Princesses' faces, shared by the host behind them. The dreaded calm before the storm. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, along with the rest of the guards were staring squarely at him with looks of utter disgust, but there was more in their eyes than just that. The look of war.

Discord's smile faded, and his eyebrow raised towards his adversaries as his demeanor was suddenly threatening. I felt Applejack's anxiety rising rapidly as she suddenly started hugging my front leg tightly again. As for myself, I was descending into a dark place as my own alarm skyrocketed. After watching the harsh anticipation, Princess Celestia suddenly spread her four legs and crouched down into battle position, tilting her horn directly towards him.

"Stick to the plan!" she cried, and rays of magic white light shot out of her horn at Discord, who was more than ready. Without even taking his eyes off her, he raised his claw and began catching her magic rays in his claws, where it seemed to dissipate harmlessly. Following her was Princess Luna, whose luminous blue rays blasted from her horn towards Discord as well. He raised his other claw and began taking in both of their magic, but it was to no avail for either of them.

"This is your plan?" he said with a condescending chuckle, as the rays lit up his face in the dark. He stood up straighter and his expression seemed to get more serious as he focused up, and with a smile he shoved with all might and many of the rays blasted back at the Princesses, knocking them both to the ground painfully and ending the brief firing session. They both collapsed, and the noises that had come from the magic blasts (it almost kind of sounded like electricity or something zappy) came to a halt, replaced with Discord's chuckles. Suddenly he turned to me with a smile. "May not need you after all, sport!" Applejack and I looked at each other once more, the two of us beyond worried.

"No," said Princess Celestia, raising herself up off the ground. "This is," she said, and this time, simultaneously with Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and Twilight, all five of them crouched over and shot rays at Discord from five different locations, who stood in the middle of all the noisy blasting. It was so bright that Applejack and I had to cover our eyes at first. With one step, Discord turned his body so it was facing wider and raised both of his claws, and once again, magic rays began erupting into his hands. He looked flustered at first, his eyes heavily focused, but after a few seconds he began to smirk again the magic seemed to be no match for him.

"Wow, you guys are really powerful!" he said mockingly and loudly over the blaring sounds of the magic that shot every which way towards him. Knowing nothing about magic, I was at a complete loss for how this was happening of course, but it was happening. All six of them seemed to be on the way of tiring themselves out as they poured magic out of their horns, but Discord had the upper hand. Adrenaline pumped through my body, and though I was literally just standing there watching, covering my eyes occasionally, I was stressing out. I didn't know where this was supposed to go. I looked down at Applejack again, who was in the same state as me; scared and anxious, watching with her hoof over her eyes. My heart erupted with angst to see her that way. It was becoming more and more apparent that this night was going to determine my future. I was torn; in the back of my mind, I didn't want anything drastic to happen to him until I knew for sure the princesses couldn't change me back. I suddenly observed the host of guards spreading themselves out behind each of the princesses, forming ranks and lines in a kind of circle around Discord, with some of them as far as one hundred yards away.

"You lost a lot of power that day, didn't you?" said an increasingly exhausted Princess Celestia, who was fighting with all of her might. I breathlessly considered everything. That day? What is she talking about?

"Still way more capable than you!" snarled Discord, who sent a ray blasting back in her direction, after which she desperately stepped aside to avoid. Discord suddenly seemed to become aware of the guards that were surrounding him, as he increased his efforts and sent rays blasting into Shining Armor, briefly ending his stream of magic as he fell back, clearly hurting.

"Honey!" cried his wife with great concern, Princess Cadence. She somehow kept her stream going, though, and getting up in pain, Shining Armor seemed to shrug it off angrily and raised his hoof in the air. All of the guards crouched down and prepared themselves, watching him for the command.

"Now!" he yelled over the noise, as his hoof came swooping forward towards Discord.

Simultaneously, alongside the big five's (Shining, Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence), smaller and less intense rays of magic of all different colors began to shoot through the night at Discord who stood alone in the middle, lighting up the darkness. With each guard's magic that added itself to the assault, Discord seemed to lose a step of balance and his expression became more and more drained, as though he was now resisting with plenty of effort. The smile and look of confidence on his face faded as he angrily absorbed everything, now shooting back rays with great fury. Applejack actually had to duck, and took refuge under my legs as I lifted my wings over to try and shield us.  Amidst the blinding light in the middle, Discord fought back. I desperately tried to think of what they were trying to do. Over the raging sounds, I began to hear cries of exhaustion from every which way, like when you are lifting something really heavy and looking for that last bit of strength to keep it up. With each second that passed, Discord was going from holding the upper hand to more towards being overwhelmed. A few more moments and his facial expression began to turn into one of fear and cowardice as he wore himself out holding back all their magic.

In maybe the most harrowing moment of the night, he turned and looked at me, his eyes desperate and pleading, fighting furiously against the assailment of magic that enveloped him.

"I can give your child his real father, you know!" he cried, as I beheld all the host of Canterlot's magic hurling itself in at him. "I can give Applejack her real husband! I can change you back! They can't! Rule with me!"

I stood there and breathed rapidly, my eyes filled with suffering. His words were like ropes that engulfed me and dragged me downward. Suddenly I was on everyone's mind, and I could sense Applejack looking up at me gravely while my heart rate rose to off the chart. Discord was losing right before my eyes, I thought I should've been happy. But I wasn't. I was torn. 'Can we at least hold out hope he'll get back to the way he was?' said the voice of Applejack in my memory from the night before. 'What's your foal gonna say when he sees his father is a dragon?' said the voice of Discord from another. 'I can end all the embarrassment she feels about being married to, well, this.' I looked down at Applejack once more. Seeing her standing there, in all her innocence, suffering as she had been all night, I just wanted what would make her happiest.

"Don't..." said an exhausted Twilight in between breaths, seeing the anguish in my expression, "Don't listen to him, AJ! He doesn't care about-"

I wiped my eyes blurred with tears with the back of my claw.

Suddenly Discord gave out and collapsed to the ground, half dead from exhaustion. All the other ponies and guards cried out with one last blast and the firing stopped, the blinding lights and all the noise with it. Ponies in all directions were falling to their knees and breathing heavily in utter tiredness, though much better off than Discord, who was panting weakly into the dirt. He flipped over and held his hands over his thin midsection, grimacing in pain while managing a few not-so-sane chuckles.

"Was it something I said?" he wheezed with an erratic and dizzy giggle, before he began to curl up and groan. "I really need to stop underestimating you ponies."

"Twilight," I said, catching my breath and wasting no time, "Princess," I continued, looking at the panting white alicorn, "is there anyway you two can help me?"

At first they showed no change in emotion, they were too out of breath to do anything but continue to inhale violently. After a few seconds they looked up as though they were a bit surprised to hear that as a first question following the intense battle. I hadn't given up complete hope. They hadn't outright denied that they could, not yet at least.

"AJ," said Applejack, her sweet country voice soothing me with it's care, "ya know ah' still love you, and you'll always be my sugarcube, no matter what you be."

"I know," I said, looking down with my eyes closed. I believed her. Her honesty was one of the many reasons I'm in love with her. But I was still hurting. I was still hoping I could back to normal, especially for her sake, and our foal's sake. I looked up at Princess Celestia, with pleading eyes, still waiting for an answer. But I knew what that was when she looked at Twilight with sadness. I felt my heart sinking back down, afraid of Applejack's disappointment.

"You were able to change her back pretty quick," I said, holding on to some kind of fool's hope, gesturing at Rarity for a second with a forced smile.

"I am *so* sorry, AJ," she said, almost teary eyed. "Given their size, rarity, and resistance to magic, dragon transformations," said the purple alicorn sadly, looking as though she desperately wanted something else to tell me amidst her hard breaths, "dragon transformations require someone of extreme magical knowledge, not to mention power," she continued.

"Not even you?" I whined to Princess Celestia, who gave me the saddest and most apologetic expression of all time, as though ashamed of herself. "I have a kid to raise," I said, falling back on my tail.

"It's ok, AJ. Appearance doesn't matter, love is what matters!" said Cadence, as Applejack rubbed her hoof on me, devastated to see me this way.

"It'll be alright, sugarcube," she whispered, her voice choking on her own tears.

I shut my eyes again and held my claw over them. I wish I hadn't held hope out until now. Deep down I knew the answer before I asked them, but I'd been afraid to face it until now. Everything I liked about a dragon didn't matter now. All I could think about was a disappointed Applejack, and an image of my foal being made of by his classmates. Unable to play someone who looks half like him. I felt Applejack placing her hoof on my chin as my head hung down. She was concerned only with making me feel better, like she's always been.

"Hey now, it isn't your fault," she said, looking me deeply with her green eyes. "Sugarcube, it don't matter, you seen how much fun we had!"

"Someone like me," whispered the voice of Discord, reeling on the ground a few feet away from us.

We all turned and looked over at him. It was like we forgot he was there.. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence walked in and stood over him, while Princess Celestia and her sister, as well as Twilight, stepped up until they were all five standing together, looking down at him. Applejack and I stayed back a few feet, while the guards moved in a just little bit closer from all directions. They seemed to ignore us, looking at him with building anger.

"So what do we do with him?" asked Princess Cadence, moving over a little bit with her husband.  

"I say we end him," said a deathly cold Shining Armor, his eyes merciless.

"Say what?" said a frightened Discord, still holding himself on the ground.

"You can't do that," I said suddenly, taking a step forward. I hated him more now than I ever did in my life, but here I found myself defending him. I didn't feel it was the pony of way of doing things, but there was another reason that also dominated my defense of him, which you might be able to guess. Shining Amor looked over at me, a bit surprised at my statement, and looking at me as though I had no business saying that. Yet all the while he seemed a little intimidated by me, so he didn't show it too much.

"He's too powerful," he said, holding his hoof out towards him. "How many chances are we gonna give this guy before he does something really bad, like take over Equestria? Look at all this destruction! He's the mastermind behind all of this!" he continued, looking back at the burnt ruins of Ponyville and the scorched land around us.

"Whoa now, I wasn't gonna let anyone die!" said the draconequus, throwing his hands up with a pleading smile.

I didn't know what to say. I knew he'd done horrible things, but there had to be some other way. He doesn't seem completely evil, so he can't be deserving of death... Equally powerful in my defense of him was my needing of him to change me back. His fate would determine a lot of things for Applejack and I.

"Do it now, before he recovers and obliterates us all! " he cried, very urgently this time. I couldn't believe he was suddenly pushing for so strong a measure so aggressively. And it made it that much worse.

"You can't!" I repeated, once again drawing a ferocious expression from him.

"After all he's done to you? Your wife?" he said, charging me, and it made me pretty angry amidst all my anxiety. That was too far on his part, regardless of how strongly he felt.

"All I want is to get back at him for what he's done to us!" I shouted, narrowing my eyes and lifting my head high over him, and it seemed to scare him a little as he softened his face to a more sympathetic one. "But ..." I continued, looking at him with sadness, thinking of Applejack and I holding our foal together. "I need-"

"Look, I'm really sorry, dude, I mean I have two little foals... but this is Equestria we're talking," he said, and turned to Celestia. "Princess," he said, looking right at the white alicorn, who was clearly listening as she looked at the weakened serpent but fighting reservations. I looked over at my wife, and she seemed to be uncertain as well. There was so much weariness in her eyes, and it made me so much sadder. "What dungeon can hold him? He's not gonna underestimate us again. We turn our backs for a second and he'll blast us into next year. We protect this land at all costs. He's had his chances."

"Hey, you know what? I was wrong about you guys, you really are good rulers," he said on his back with what was now a truly nervous grin, though even for him, it was bad acting and he was clearly just trying to save himself.

"It would be horrible," said Twilight, teary eyed and heartbroken. "But after what we just saw, he has left us with little options."

"Every second you waste he recovers," he urged the white princess, his voice getting more alarmed with each word. I couldn't believe it had to come this, but this is where we were. Princess Celestia weighed both sides heavily in her expression as she contemplated it. She appeared almost as torn as I was, and didn't want to regret whatever decision she made. I didn't notice how hard I was breathing.

"Turn him to stone again or something!" I pleaded as a last resort. I agreed he was dangerous and needed to be contained, and there was some merit to his points, but it still seemed strong. He wasn't utterly evil, at least he didn't seem to be. Therefore his death would be a tragedy. And my last chance at getting back to normal would be gone.

"Come on, don't do this! I've got three kids!" said Discord, holding his hands up with a nervous smile.

"By the time you wake up Fluttershy and get set up, he'll be gone and we'll be dead or powerless while he takes the crown. We're running out of time! If we don't do something now, he'll destroy us!" shouted Shining Armor.

"If daddy dragon isn't what you want, this is your last chance," he said, turning to me while he charged me.

"Stop it!" I cried, covering my ears. I fell to the ground and looked at my claws. I felt my tail behind me, my scaly skin... it hit me that it now appeared that from here on out, they were going to be a part of me. Forever. The anxiety in my soul shot through the roof, and I suddenly felt capable of anything. Flashing before me were horrible scenarios of ponies laughing at her standing next to me. Come on, that's irrational! "Applejack!" I yelled, in desperate need of some help from the only person that could provide it. Just as I felt her around my neck, opened my eyes and looked up, seeing Princess Celestia bite her lip and reluctantly lower her horn, pointed directly at Discord. The other four followed suit, warily positioning themselves around him and aiming their horns down at him. My eyes went from them to my last chance, whose eyes were squarely on me, pleading for my intervention.