120 A Friendly Talk during Chess

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Sorry for the long wait. I went for vacation in the mountains, after which I had a visit from my family so I had to give them my full attention. It wasn't a hard choice when I have such a Cutie Cousin to Hug the stuffing off haha!

Anyway, hope you like this chapter and like always EEEENJOY!!!

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"Is it going to Hatch!?" The Cutie Mark Crusaders exclaimed together while trying to push through the doors of the lab.

Starfall looked up from a report on some research done by Whooves, and sighed as the trio finally pushed through and fell onto the ground...

"No girls. It's still not the time. Like I told you, it's still three days before it hatches. My sensors are quite precise about that." Starfall explained while lifting the trio up from the ground with levitation.

The girls made a disappointed "Ohh.." Sound just as a heavy breathing Spike rushed into the room.

He stopped, slightly wheezing with his hand on his knees.

"I...tried to-wheeze-tell them..." He said trying to regain his breath.

"It's fine Spike. Since you're all here, I might as well show you how it is now. Come everyone..." He said, standing up from his comfy seat and putting on a lab coat hanging on a rack by the entrance.

The fillies and a dragon quickly followed Starfall to a different chamber, passing by a large atrium with a single eye-catching statue surrounded by multiple rune clusters right in the middle of it.

What was weird though, were the multiple sets of board games on the table beside the statue along with a magical gramophone playing some catchy tune...

The girls wanted to ask Starfall what that was about, having seen a very similar statue in Canterlot a while ago, only for the Spirit of Chaos it depicted to attack Ponyville not long after...But their attention quickly shifted to the Large green glowing egg in the middle of the room they had just entered, making them forget about their previous questions.

"There it is! I have to say, my knowledge in hatching magical eggs improved since the day I hatched Phoebe. Had I known as much as I did today, Phoebe might have been even stronger than she is today... But she had been in the final stages of her growth back then so it wouldn't have mattered as much, I guess..." Starfall muttered to himself as he presented the Egg floating in the middle of the magical contraption.

The girls and Spike looked at the egg in curiosity in excitement.

It was clear that it was a size larger than the last time they saw it. It was surprising because eggs didn't usually grew in size at all, but it was probably Starfall's care and knowledge that caused it...

The green glowing vines on the eggshell looked healthy and promised something amazing to hatch soon enough...

"It's so pretty!" Sweetie Belle said in excitement.

"So cool! And it's... bigger?..." Scootaloo turned her head to the side in confusion.

"That's the side effect of me providing the egg with a bit too much magic...to make it simple...It will be a very healthy phoenix, hahaha!" Starfall laughed a bit awkwardly. He might have slightly miscalculated the magic, having his only experience with Phoebe's egg when he was just a young Colt...

But thankfully there wasn't any dire consequences, only ending up making the future Phoenix a bit larger, judging by the egg...

They spend a while talking about the egg, before finally leaving, saying something about wanting to see Pinkie Pie and Meena trying to befriend a resident grumpy Donkey...

Starfall recognised from their words that Cranky Doodle must have finally moved into Ponyville.

He wasn't really interested in the news much, as it wasn't really something that needed his attention, but it did remind him that he should probably check out why Donkeys and Mules have no Cutie Marks...

He shrugged his shoulders and watched as the Cutie Mark Crusaders left the Lab in a hurry, having assuaged their curiosity...

His steps slowly took him back into the Lab, and soon, he found himself sitting on a chair in the middle of the large atrium, The statue of Discord leaning over the table in a pose very much different from how he was the day he lost to Pinkie Pie and asked to be petrified...

Starfall's horn lit up and a magic formation of the floor followed, before the statue flashed with a bit of light...

It wasn't even a second later that Discord, Still gray like the rock he was currently imprisoned in, started to stretch and groan in relief.

"Oh! Finally! I thought those Fillies would never leave! What do you say pal? Since you insist on keeping me here unable to move despite my inability to do anything, even if I could move like you let me do now, care to spare some time for a game of chess?" He asked With a smirk and Starfall rolled his eyes.

"Just because you say that, it doesn't mean you are saying the truth Discord. I'm not going to let you walk around, so that you could free yourself when I turn my sight away. While I intend to make you see reason, I doubt a few games of chess or Ponker is enough to lead you away from your previous behaviour." Starfall said, nonetheless taking out a chess set and placing it on the table.

"And are you sure, telling me all this is the best idea of "resocialising" me?" He asked while making air-quotes mokingly. "I am Discord! The Lord of Chaos! And I shall rule this land! Chaos and Disharmony shall befall upon you petty Ponies!" Discords exclaimed while moving a pawn on the chess board with his tail.

Starfall just shook his head in exasperation.

"We both know that's not what you really want Dis. You're not evil. Circumstances might have pushed you, but I know there's a good and friendly Being somewhere inside of you." Starfall said, making his own move on the chessboard.

"Ha! If I had my power, I'd have showed you just as much wrong you are." Discord said acting high and mighty as was his usual.

"The fact you pushed that part of you away for so long might be a bit problematic, but I know that you'll see the error of your ways one day. Despite what you might think, I don't hate you, and neither do any of the girls and Princesses. Ponies have already forgotten about your past actions, and you hadn't had the chance to destroy your reputation again thanks to Daybreaker... You should treat this like your chance Discord. What's the point in bringing suffering...You're the Spirit of Chaos not the Spirit of Malice or Hatred. And What's wrong with a little Chaos from time to time?" Starfall smiled knowingly at Discord, who for once wasn't sure how to respond, his tail holding a rook mere inches from the board...

"The Draconequus looked at Starfall for a moment in daze but a memory from long ago made him shake his head.

"You know nothing Pony...I tried Friendship once...It... Didn't work out..." Discord said finally setting down the rook in his tail...

Starfall checked the board and smiled.

Slowly he picked up his queen using levitation and looked at it. It had the distinct shape of an Alicorn. Quiet an amazing piece of art made by yours truly.

"You know Discord...You're not the only one whom Friendship had disappointed at some point..." He said not looking up. His memories went back to his previous life... Sometimes he forgets that he wasn't always a Pony...

Discord looked at Starfall weirdly and snarled.

"But...Even when they left me for other "better" friends... made me feel like dirt when I tried so much to keep our friendship going... You want to know what I did?" Starfall asked?

Discord slowly nodded his head and Starfall smiled settings the Queen down on the chessboard.

"I died..." He said standing up from the table.

Discord looked stumped at that moment.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked completely confused as Starfall looked at him with a sad smile.

"I died...That part of me that cared for them turned into resentment, and then indifference... And after that...It took me a while to once again start trusting others...But...Then I found true Friendship. And realised that what I had before was just a fake. A mere imitation. The real thing is so much more... It's...Magic. And it's what I want to share with you." Starfall said without looking away from Discord.

"By the way... Checkmate." Starfall said, pointing at the Chessboard, and only now Discord realised that his king was completely stuck with no way of running away...

The Draconequus continued to stare at the board in shock as Starfall walked away.

"It was a good game pal. See you later. maybe we can have a rematch." He finally added as the formation automatically activated once again immobilising the Spirit of Chaos in the same position, his eyes never moving from the board...

_________

Starfall left the atrium and stopped behind a corner, as a grin slowly got plastered on his face...

"Damn that was a cool exit!" He muttered to himself giddily, remembering their conversation.

But as he neared the Secure Containment Storage deeper In the Storage Wing, his expression slowly fell.

He swiped his security card over the terminal and provided a bit of his magic followed by a retina scan. Only then did the door finally open to reveal an empty chamber.

The only objects in the room were six separate, identical pedestals, only one of them housing a glowing Star-shaped crystal.

He approached the barrier that surrounded all of those pedestals and looked at the Star...

"Funny..." He said without much humor.

"To think I would go out of my way to look for Fallen Stars in order to Contain or Destroy them..." He muttered to himself, as the star suddenly change into red colour while a black slitted iris looked at him with an unmeasurable malice...

His hoof touched the barier and a spark of magic triggered his "magical hiccup" As a wave of magic passed through his body making him shudder.

"So much to do, so little time." He sighed, not sparing any more time to watch the agitated Fallen Star...