#extend the olive branch give her my discord ask if it's not too late to keep the bridge between us from crumbling

[echeveriia]

i’m in full ‘i should text her’ mode help what do i do

[domain-of-friendship-blog]

Episode 4-2

Twilight stood on the bridge at the entrance to the park, staring down at the gently flowing brook beneath her.

After a few hours had passed with no sign of Scarlet's return, her restlessness had driven her to look for the mare, but a scan of most of the town turned up nothing. Close to giving up, Twilight settled for a brief search of the park before returning to the library.

In hindsight, a bright red pony really should've been easier to find in all the greenery surrounding Ponyville.

Scarlet sat with her back against a tree, staring at nothing in particular. Absorbed as she was in her thoughts, she barely noticed the sound of someone sitting down beside her.

A moment of silence passed between them before anyone spoke.

"I'm sorry," said Twilight.

You have done nothing to apologize for, is what Scarlet wanted to say... but she couldn't quite summon the power of speech just yet. To sit in silence and avoid her friend's gaze was all she could manage.

"I shouldn't have pushed you," Twilight continued. "If you're not willing to talk about it, then that's fine. I just... wanted to make sure you know I'm here for you if there's anything I can do. We all are."

The grass rustled as she stood up to leave.

"...Wait."

Twilight hesitated.

"I..." Scarlet swallowed. "You deserve to hear of what happened. I apologize for withholding it from you."

Twilight slowly sat back down.

"But," she continued, "you must be prepared to hear of a pain you cannot soothe, a problem beyond even the power of friendship to solve. Are you?"

A problem friendship couldn't solve?

This wasn't quite Scarlet's style of drama, but what else could it be? Friendship hadn't failed them yet - not since they had all met that fateful morning and teamed up to defeat Nightmare Moon. Was Twilight being overconfident?

Clearly Scarlet was just too upset to understand. Whatever was going on, Twilight knew - she knew that they could make it better somehow by working together. She would play along for now, of course; tell a little fib to get her friend talking, then find a way to remind her of the true power of friendship.

"I'm prepared," said Twilight, holding back a confident smirk.

"...Very well, then." Scarlet cleared her throat, and began her story.

*******

Minutes of aimless wandering through the hedge maze had brought Scarlet no closer to a reunion with her allies.

It felt fruitless. If they were truly dealing with the very embodiment of chaos itself, how could they possibly trust that he would keep his word even if they succeeded? And that assumed Twilight's deduction was accurate to begin with; she couldn't quite put her finger - well, hoof on it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't quite add up...

A shooting star rocketed past in the corridor ahead of her, interrupting her thoughts. Curious, she gave chase, rounding corner after corner in pursuit until she found herself in a clearing. It was entirely empty, save for -

"YOU!"

Discord strolled into the center of the clearing. "Yes, me," he said, suddenly clad in a well-tailored suit and top hat, the latter of which he tipped in her direction as he bowed. "Isn't it wonderful? You should be honored that I'm taking time out of my busy schedule to speak to you today."

Scarlet growled under her breath. "Return my magic and I will show you precisely how 'honored' I am," she snarled.

"Oh, come now. There's no need for that," said Discord, his voice silky and sweet as he slithered up to Scarlet, coiling around her like a python. "Certainly not when I'm here to... extend an olive branch, as it were." He punctuated this by giving her a gentle pat on the head, right where her missing horn should have been.

Scarlet lashed out, her teeth just barely missing Discord's paw as he retreated out of range.

Discord put his hands on his hips with an air of indignation. "Well, I never!"

"The only peace offering I will accept from such a sniveling coward is the unconditional return of the Elements and your head on a platter!" yelled Scarlet.

"Such hostility!" Discord gasped. "I suppose it falls upon me to be the better draconequus, then." With a flourish, he snapped his fingers, summoning a pair of comfortable armchairs facing one another, in which he and Scarlet now sat.

Ignoring the darting gaze of the confused pony in front of him, Discord leaned forward. "Let me level with you for a minute, my little pony: I am not here to trick you into forsaking your Element as I did for your friends. In fact, I couldn't even if I wanted to."

Once she had determined that there wasn't some sort of well-disguised trap hidden within the velvety confines of her chair, Scarlet narrowed her eyes at Discord. "Precisely why would that be? And assuming I possess some bizarre inclination to take your words at face value, why would you volunteer this?"

"Because I need you to trust me, or this will never work." Discord drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. "And I can't corrupt your connection to your Element because dear Twilight hasn't figured out what it is yet!" He rolled his eyes. "I can't imagine why not. It's so obvious! I noticed it immediately," he added with a derisive sneer.

"You make a large number of unsubstantiated claims," said Scarlet.

Discord smiled coolly. "Oh, I know a lot more than you realize, Miss Lombardia."

Scarlet recoiled in her seat, her blood going cold. "How - How could you possibly - "

"How I know isn't important."

From behind his chair, Discord produced a blackboard covered in a long sequence of complicated-looking algorithms and diagrams, all of which led to a conclusion at the bottom that read 'No One Cares.' Before Scarlet could get much more than a glimpse, he shoved the blackboard aside, causing it to roll away at high speed and disappear down the corridor.

Discord cleared his throat. "What matters is that I know what you want, and I'm prepared to give it to you, no strings attached. You need not promise me a thing in return."

Scarlet stared at him impatiently. "I do hope you will forgive my skepticism."

"I will, as a matter of fact! You're welcome," Discord snapped. "Now then..."

With another snap of his fingers, the chairs disappeared. He then traced a claw through the air in a large circle, leaving a trail of green flame as he went. When the circle of flame completed, a scene appeared within it: an old fortress sitting on a flat, dusty plain bathed in moonlight.

"A lonely old pile of bricks in the middle of that 'Frontier' of yours... Fort Ceres, was it?" Discord gestured at it. "Not exactly my scene - way too stuffy and orderly. But, for you, it's - "

"...home...!"

Scarlet stepped forward, gazing longingly at the scene before her. Could it really...? No, it had to be; she could feel the familiar magic of home drifting through the portal.

For months now, her life had been dominated by late nights spent poring over books and testing complicated spells until she could barely see straight... and now, apropos of none of it, the answer sat calmly in front of her.

Discord cleared his throat again, snapping Scarlet out of her reverie.

"You..." Scarlet's voice was barely above a whisper. "You mean to... send us home...?"

"Very good!" Discord grinned. "And before you ask: yes, that does mean both of your little companions as well, and yes, I will remove any and all chaos magic I may have placed upon any of you in the process. In exchange, I need no more than the satisfaction of knowing that your troubles are over."

Scarlet took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she approached the portal curiously. She closed her eyes... and for but a moment, she was already there, the dusty breeze of the badlands blowing through her hair.

The ache in her heart told her there was only one answer.

Scarlet slowly backed up, her eyes fixed on the walls of her home. Discord stood beside the portal, an uncharacteristically pleasant smile on his face as he watched her take off at a run aimed directly for it.

"OOF!"

At the last second, Scarlet veered to one side, crashing into Discord with all the force she could muster. He toppled over with a comically noisy crash.

"No deal, Discord."

There was only one answer... but it wasn't the one she wanted.

"How dare you," she spat, tears welling in her eyes. "How dare you force such a choice upon me?"

At first, he said nothing. Strange, for one so clearly enamored with the sound of his own voice... Had she somehow caught him off guard? Even if he hadn't expected her to accept the offer, she would not have hit him unless he had allowed her to.

It didn't add up... but how much did she really care?

Discord slowly climbed back to his mismatched feet. "Have it your way, then." His expression was uncharacteristically soft, almost like he was... disappointed? Was he even capable of the emotion? She still didn't care.

With a snap of his fingers, the portal was consumed by the green flames surrounding it, leaving no trace behind.

"But know this, Scarlet Lombardia," he warned, "you are far more trapped here than you realize, and I look forward to seeing your face when you find that out for yourself."

Another snap, and the Spirit of Chaos vanished into thin air.

*******

"I presume now you understand," said Scarlet.

A part of Twilight wished she didn't. Eyes watering, she racked her brain for an explanation. "But... but obviously he was lying," she insisted, even as she knew it to be wrong. "It was a trick. It had to be."

Scarlet shook her head. "He had no reason to lie... and even if he did, I could feel familiar magic emanating from it. For all the power Discord wields... that, he could not have falsified. His - " She swallowed. "His offer was... genuine, and had I accepted it, we would be home now."

There was nothing Twilight could say to that.

"While I had hoped you would be a bit better prepared, as you claimed..." Scarlet began, "...you now know of what transpired in the maze. As my tale is over, with your pardon, I plan to retire early; I find I am.... suddenly very tired."

Still at a loss for words, Twilight could only watch as Scarlet stood up and slowly marched away. It wasn't long, however, before a sound not entirely unlike bouncing springs heralded the approach of another pony.

"Heya, Twilight!"

Twilight took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with a foreleg before turning to address the newcomer. "Pinkie Pie... how much of that conversation did you hear?"

"Hmm~" Pinkie rubbed her cheek. "Well, you walked up and sat down, and she didnt say anything, and so you were like, 'I'm sorry,' and she didn't say anything, so you were all like - "

"Okay, so you heard everything then," interrupted Twilight.

"But there's something I don't get," said Pinkie.

Twilight sighed quietly. She hadn't expected Pinkie of all ponies to understand, and wasn't looking forward to explaining. "What's that?"

Pinkie looked at Twilight with a bizarrely serious face. "If Jimmy cracked corn and no one cares, why did somepony write a song about it?"

It took several seconds for the gears in Twilight's head to re-engage. "Wait, what?"

"One more thing!" Pinkie continued. "Why couldn't a big meanie meaniepants like Discord have been lying? Lying is totally a thing meanies do!"

Okay, that was the question she had been expecting. "Do you understand why Scarlet didn't take his offer," asked Twilight, "even when she knew he was telling the truth?"

"Pff, that's an easy one, Twilight!" Pinkie noisily sucked in a breath and spoke very quickly. "Even though she's been trying to find a way back to her home world for ages now she didn't want to bail on us when somepony dangerous was on the loose because she wasn't totally a hundred percent sure we would be able to beat him without help from her and her buddies and wasn't willing to take the chance that she would be condemning Equestria to eternal chaos and torment just to get what she wanted!"

Once again, it was several seconds before Twilight could react. "That's... that's right, but...?"

Pinkie playfully ruffled Twilight's mane. "Told you it was easy!"

"Anyway, the point is..." Twilight spent a moment brushing her mane back into place with her hoof. "We know that the purpose of his offer was to get her to willingly step out of the way so the three of them wouldn't be able to interfere with his plans. Scarlet is convinced he was telling the truth, but..."

She trailed off, the question of 'why' drifting silently from her lips. The obvious answer was that he knew she would be able to tell the difference, but was it really that simple? He obviously knew more than he was letting on...

"...but he's back to stone now anyway, so the point is probably moot," she muttered, heaving a frustrated sigh. "And after what Spike told me, I thought I was so close to figuring out her Element..."

"Spike told you something?" Pinkie tilted her head. "What did he told you?"

"He told me what happened after my Element got corrupted by Discord's influence," said Twilight. "Since my own memory of what happened is hazy at best, like yours was."

In an instant, Pinkie sat on her launches in front of Twilight, munching on popcorn from a small paper bag.

Twilight stared. "Um...?"

Pinkie's ears drooped. "Aw... I thought it was story time."

Twilight sighed. "I mean, I guess I can tell you if you want."

Pinkie's ears perked back up.

"The last thing I remember," Twilight began, "was when we all went our separate ways after the Elements wouldn't activate the first time..."

*******

"Twilight..."

Twilight gave no indication she'd heard Scarlet speak, instead continuing to stuff various belongings in a saddle bag.

"Twilight?" Spike twiddle his claws as he watched. "Um, what are you doing?"

"Packing. What does it look like?" Twilight sounded as lifeless as she looked, as though the essence of what made her Twilight in the first place had been drained out of her. "You'd better get started too, Spike. We're leaving as soon as possible."

"No, you are not," said Scarlet. "You two are not going anywhere."

Again, Twilight did not respond.

Scarlet lifted the half-full saddle bag beside Twilight and dumped its contents on the floor.

Twilight glared at her. "What are you doing?"

"Getting your attention." Scarlet marched up to Twilight. "You will cease this immediately. We are not letting Discord win."

"You don't get it." Twilight sighed. "He already has. I can't keep studying friendship if my friends don't want anything to do with me anymore, so there's no point in staying here. We're moving back to Canterlot."

With that, she magically shoved Scarlet aside and began regathering her things.

"This is bad," Spike whined, his eyes widening. "I've never seen her like this before. What do we do?"

Scarlet's lips curled into a subtle smirk. "We show her that not all is lost."

Spike tilted his head. "Huh?"

Scarlet met Spike's confused gaze. "Where are Twilight's notes?"

"They're on a shelf downstairs, but... I don't think she's all that interested in studying right now," said Spike.

"A shame, that, as I will not be giving her a choice in the matter. Would you fetch them for me?"

Spike cringed. "Um, all of them, or...?"

"As many as you can carry." Scarlet smiled warmly.

Spike nodded and scurried off down the stairs, returning in moments with his arms full of scrolls.

Scarlet plucked one from the pile and cleared her throat. "Always have faith in your friends, for your bonds are a source of unyielding strength," she recited.

Twilight hesitated briefly as she listened, but soon returned to packing.

"Each and every one of us has a talent to be proud of, and by coming together and combining our efforts, we accomplish far more than we ever could alone," Scarlet continued.

"Stop," said Twilight. She was not looking up from her work, but she had stopped packing. "Please... stop..."

"True courage is about standing up to your fears, no matter how hard it may be, if it means doing the right thing."

"STOP!" Twilight whirled around and screamed at Scarlet, her tears splashing to the floor. Falling back on her haunches, she gasped for air in between sobs. "D-Dont you... think this is... h, hard enough on me already...?"

Scarlet stepped forward slowly and sat down in turn, running a gentle hoof through Twilight's mane. "I am simply reminding you of what you are leaving behind. You have come a long way, Twilight, and you have learned so much... but if you give up now, it will all have been for naught."

Twilight nuzzled Scarlet's foreleg as she fought to steady her breathing.

"There will always be those who would take from us what we hold dear," Scarlet explained. "So long as we have the strength to stand and fight... no matter the odds, it is our duty to do so. We can still turn this around!"

Twilight stood up slowly, wiping her face with her foreleg, and took a deep breath.

"You're... you're right....!"

At once, the spell was lifted, and Twilight's mind was her own again.

"I..." Twilight lifted a hoof to her head. Her vision was blurry - were these tears? She wiped at her eyes before continuing. "What happened? What did I miss?"

Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, you had me ever so worried..."

"Yeah! Twilight's back!" Spike ran up and gave her a hug.

Twilight idly patted Spike's head as she stared at Scarlet. "Wait, did you just break Discord's spell? How did you do it?"

Scarlet beamed. "I simply reminded you of what was at stake: your friends, and everything you have learned from them. The rest was your doing."

"Reminded..." Twilight echoed, her eyes lighting up. "That's it! I know how we can get the others back to normal!"

"You have a plan, then?"

Twilight nodded. "If the trick is to remind them of what we mean to each other, I have a memory spell that should expedite the process. All we have to do is catch them, and the spell should do the rest!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Spike threw his fist in the air. "Let's do it!"

"We have no time to waste," agreed Scarlet.

Twilight nodded, scooping up Spike and plopping him on her back. "Then let's roll - we've got friendships to save!"

*******

Pinkie gasped loudly. "Ohhhhhhh! I get it now!"

"W-What?" Twilight shook her head. "You get what?"

Pinkie leaned forward and grinned, tossing her empty popcorn bag away and speaking in a singsong voice. "I know what Scarlet's Element is~"

Now it was Twilight's turn to gasp as she reached out and gripped Pinkie's shoulders. "You do? What is it? How long have you known?"

"Like..." Pinkie produced a pocketwatch from somewhere and glanced at it. "...about eight seconds?"

Twilight blinked.

Pinkie checked over her shoulders to ensure nopony else was listening before carefully whispering into Twilight's ear.

Twilight's eyebrows shot into the stratosphere. "OH! That explains everything! Not just Nightmare Moon and Discord, but..." She frowned. "...but it also means she hasn't really been living up to her Element lately, doesn't it?"

She raised a hoof to her muzzle in thought. Now that she had all the pieces of the puzzle, it was simply a matter of fitting them together.

"Scarlet was wrong, Pinkie," said Twilight. "We can help her; just not the way she thought. I think I have a plan, and I'm going to need your help."

Pinkie snapped into a rigid attention pose, saluting with her hoof. "Pinkie Pie ready and waiting!"

Twilight smirked. "I'm going to need newspapers. Lots of them - as many as you can find. Go door-to-door if you have to."

"Okie-dokie, Loki!" Without further ado, Pinkie hopped away, setting immediately to her task.

Twilight took off in the opposite direction. What Scarlet needed was a reminder of what was really at stake, just as Scarlet had given her; an opportunity that would bring out the best in her.

"Hang in there, Scarlet... I'll show you how strong you really are, just like you did for me!"

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