An Investigation Into Chaos

Chapters

Chapter Two: Lord Discord
Chapter Three: Outside Influence
Chapter Four: Pleasant Dreams
Chapter Five: Idiomatic Novelty
Chapter Six: Fervor Dreams
Chapter Seven: The Plan
Chapter Eight: The End
Chapter Nine: Dissident Perspective
Chapter Ten: Into Darkness
Chapter Eleven: Unanswered Questions
Chapter Twelve: Old Flames
Chapter Thirteen: Contrasting Shadows
Chapter Fourteen: Burning Passion
Chapter Fifteen: Unresolved Complications
Chapter Sixteen: The Beginning
Chapter One: Chaotic Order

Chapter Two: Lord Discord

You know, it really is funny how some things seem to work out perfectly.

Celestia would probably say its fate and those things are destined to turn out as they do, though that just seems so dreadfully boring…

Imagine a world where everything is predetermined and where everything is set from the start, a universe where everything you do leads up to a singular moment some indeterminate time in the future. You don’t have a choice in it, perhaps you might alter the event’s in-between but the final result is set in stone.

Now imagine a completely different world, one where every single choice you make forever changes your future. Imagine a world where every step you take is a step in a new direction, towards the some new destination that you decide. Whether you realize it or not…

Or perhaps that’s fate?

Either way it’s interesting to wonder how things might have turned out if just one little thing was left out of place. What would have happened if just one thing had been changed?

For example, when Celestia asked me to research the “Sociopolitical Instabilities in Canterlot” I really didn’t think much of it. I honestly still don’t know what she expected me to do really; did she think that I would just be able to sniff out the cracks in the system like some chaotic bloodhound?

Either way, reading through hundreds of taxation and requisition forms or going door to door doing audits sounded about as much fun as watching an ocean dry up drop by drop…

So, of course, I improvised.

I put my ear to the ground to try to find out exactly what was going on in Canterlot. It wasn't terribly difficult to squeeze my way behind the closed doors of the eternally double booked cocktail lounges and exceedingly “private” resorts and once I was there I found the real magic in Canterlot.

Everypony in Equestria will talk your ears off about the “Magic of Harmony” and the “Purity or the Crown” but it turns out that what really matters is what they don't talk about in polite company.

If didn’t take me long to find out that every high society party was a masquerade ball, with all the players hiding behind masks of philanthropy and altruism daring their fellows to call out the monsters hiding behind their masks. I found out that every dinner party was really a murder mystery of which duke stabbed which heiress to gain her family fortune and how long would it be before she dumped him for the next one. The intrigue never stopped.

Every funeral was a promotion. Every birthday was a hazing. Every marriage was a corporate merger and every divorce was a battle royal. Every birth was a bidding war. Every election was a whose who popularity contest. The list went on and on, until I decided to get off the ride.

Then the real fun started.

The moment I decided to mention that there was an inspector, on the royal dime, hiding amongst them, the party would go on as normal but chill whispers would choke all the warmth from the room.

It was foal's play.

First I would jaunt merrily around the room, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and find my mark. After that all I had to do was to follow them the after party meetings and wait for the doors to shut firmly closed behind us.

Some of them were honest, I respected that, they talked with no fear of reprisal and stuck to their twisted morals. There were even those who had the gall to ask me for assistance, of course they understood that I wasn't a free agent.

“I don't know,” I would say doubtfully, “that sounds like it could cause a lot of trouble. I’m sure Celestia wouldn’t approve of it.”

“If I were to accept your terms,” I would muse aloud, “I would have to get an explicit statement that you understand that I’m not doing it for you but in light of my own interests.”

“Oh of course I wouldn't mind getting that in writing,” I would insist, “in fact why don’t you draw up a copy for me to keep so I can uphold my end of the bargain without fail.”

I might have respected their honesty, though the same could not be said about their intellect. Hadn't they heard of my reform? Honestly it’s almost as if they believed me to be the same old double cross I was before!

Of course, too bad for all of them I was.

Just not in the direction they were hoping for...

Some of them were sickeningly clever. They would never talk about themselves or their own stake in the game but would drop hints and the juiciest gossip about everyone they knew, just daring someone to lock them away. Then all I would have to do is to go to the next room and get the same story from their partner and both of their fates would be sealed.

That’s the problem with sleeping with a knife under your pillow, it means everyone you sleep with has one too...

Then there were the worst of the worst. The ones that would strut about with all the swagger of a Minotaur bull, walking around like they owned the place, and without a single care in the world. I enjoyed watching their façade slowly crumble when I gave them little hints about what I really knew. It was almost pitiable how they would break down when they realized that I knew every little secret that they had shoved in the back of their closet.

Almost…

It would be if it weren't so disgusting. A thousand years of independence and some Ponies still haven’t figured out how to grow a backbone.

At the end of it all I had quite the list, nepotism, greed, cronyism, bribery, blackmail, embezzlement, fraud, forgery, the odd political assassination and all the other unmentionable colors of the rainbow; you name it and I found it gathering dust in sompony’s attic.

Of course none of it had any effect on the average citizen of Canterlot and greater Equestria; I could probably build a bridge to the moon and back and it would still be smaller than the gap between your everyday street Pony and any member of “high society.” It’s not exactly something to write home to your mother about but I expect that Celestia will find it interesting enough.

I have to admit that it is intriguing how much corruption can be floating around in these circles without having any demonstrable impact on the rest of the Empire. It’s like part of the Empire has been at war with itself for the last few centuries and no one has really noticed. That’s not to say that it isn't a risk of an imminent collapse, these are changing times and just because something has worked for hundreds of years doesn't mean it will survive the next decade.

Apparently in the last half century the public has begun to develop a system of free press, one that reports first and asks questions later. In itself is a sign of progress and an increasing autonomy from the Ponies, which would normally be a good thing.

Though imagine if you will what the public reaction would be to what goes on behind the closed doors of their precious nobility. There would be scandal, they would be outraged, the masses would clog the streets in protest, and they would demand “justice” and “change.” That wouldn’t happen though; the Equestrian legal system is an utter joke, the whole lot of them probably couldn’t change a light bulb if their lives depended on it.

The Equestrian legal system doesn't seem to have any real legislative or executive authority; the best they can do is squint at laws written a thousand years ago and send the guard to enforce them verbatim. Let me just say that that some of the older methods of law enforcement are not for the faint of heart.

At this point Canterlot is nothing more than just a pretty little powder keg, sitting patiently on the side of a mountain, waiting for some poor fool to light a match. I’m surprised that Celestia hasn't seen this coming, then again I should know how easy it is to be blindsided when everyone else thinks you're some kind of god. There really isn't much that one could do about it, either you try to muzzle the press or you try to beef up your legislature to deal with the inevitable fallout. Well there are other options, but I don't see Celestia as the kind of ruler to sing campfire songs while her capital burns.

A crying shame really, I do love s'mores myself.

The sensible thing to do would have been to write a full report and deliver it to her highness as soon as possible. That probably what I should have done at any rate.

It’s amazing what kind of authority I have with this whole “Investigator for the Crown” thing.

When Celestia told me that I would have full access to The Royal Archives I didn't think much of it, but that was before I found out about The Repository. Just imagine a veritable castle full of official records and documents, stretching back nearly a thousand years, all at my disposal. Not only that but I had the authority to arrange a meeting with anypony or inspect any grounds I saw fit for the purposes of my “investigation.” It was just too good of an opportunity, to let it slip through my claws for something as trivial as punctuality would be petty. Besides I have the opportunity to solve what might be the conspiracy of the century!

So I spent a few days combing through the Canterlot Archives, specifically the section detailing events in the castle.

Apparently there was a rather prestigious art auction here about twenty years ago. It was an extravagant affair and was attended by all of the aristocracy, including two brothers. Now it should be known their father had died in a tragic accident involving falling masonry; he had written no will so naturally the brothers quarreled over who would inherit the family fortune. Really it’s not that unusual to have feuds and infighting among families and of course they are all experts at keeping such matters “in house” no matter how much they might want to throttle each other, the auction itself went off without a hitch.

Though of course, there was a reception in the Castle Gardens.

And of course it had an open bar.

The rest went about as one would expect it to, both of the brothers drank themselves stupid with the misguided hope that the other might be easier to tolerate with a handicap. After a few dozen glasses, the thinly veiled insults turned into a full on shouting match. It might have ended there but, of course, one shoved the other and a full on brawl ensued. The elder of the two eventually managed to pin the other against one of the garden statues. The younger brother in his struggle to free himself managed to land a lucky blow and knocked his brother out cold, his unconscious form proceeded to fall in such a way that it trapped his brother underneath him. The report said that at this point the statue they had slammed onto had been knocked in just such a way that it fell on them, crushing them both in an instant.

So the story goes anyway.

It’s funny how things work out, the tyrant “famous” for crushing rebellions underhoof crushes two ponies while trapped in stone.

It’s a real shame I can’t remember that, I would think it would be a novel experience.

Isn't it interesting how an innocent argument among schoolfoals could be Chaotic enough to free me but a fraternal fight to the death didn’t even cause so much as a crack on my perfectly sculpted visage. It appears that Chaos and Disharmony alone were not enough to free me from my prison; before I had suspicion but now I have undeniable proof. Emboldened, I decided to use my near limitless authority to set up a private meeting with one of the most important Ponies in Canterlot.

“Hello, Luna,” I said as I grinned at her like a demon, we sat shrouded in the darkness of the forgotten chamber. “Do you have any idea why I’ve called you here today?”

With this our little game began and I placed the ball squarely in her court.

“Well met, Discord.” She said with a meter that gave me an unpleasant twinge of nostalgia. “I heard tell that you have been charged by my sister to investigate the goings on in Canterlot.” She spoke with a perfect mask of calmness and officiality. “I would assume that we are here to speak of my work.”

It's common knowledge that Luna preferred to work behind the scenes of the empire, allowing her sister to deal with public functions while she dealt with the bulk of the forms and paper work.

Paper doesn’t care about your past.

“Yes,” I let myself relax a bit as I showed her a bit of a winning smile, “I was wondering if you noticed anything untoward since your return.” I noticed her lean in towards me and tilt her head just enough to signify that I had her ear in the conversation. “Anything really, falsified documents, forged signatures, that sort of thing.” If she wanted to beat around the bush I was more than happy to oblige.

She brought the tip of a hoof to her chin thoughtfully before bringing it down across her chest. “I can’t say that I have seen anything obviously of the sort,” she said “That said, I do see a bit of suspect material, accounts that open and close at seemingly random intervals and charges that don’t clear when they should.” She looked me in the eyes and continued. “Some things are easily passed off as coincidence but it’s obvious that there is more it things than meets the eye.” I brought my claws together to form a temple and leaned forward.

“Really now,” I asked playfully, “do tell.” I brought a claw down to the table and started to worry a small circle into the dark wooden table.

“Why are we really here, Discord?” Luna said callously. My grin widened at the accusation.

“I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about. I thought we were talking about corruption, are you implying I brought you here under false pretenses,” she leered at me coldly as I baited her, “or did you have something else in mind.”

“Why did you bring me here, to this room?” Her voice trailed off momentarily as she looked around the dark enclosure. “You know as well as I do that this section of the Castle has been sealed off for centuries, why here of all places?”

“Dearest Luna, whatever is the matter? Is something wrong with the decor? I suppose I haven’t cleaned up in a while have I?” I looked around the room for a moment before putting on a face of mock surprise. “Oh goodness me, how could I forget? This is the room where you and your sister cursed me to a torturous oblivion, trapped in stone for a thousand years, isn’t it.” I addressed her with all the false sincerity I could muster. “I’m honestly surprised you two haven’t redecorated since then.” I casually extended my will and tore an old banner off the wall, the familiar crimson and tangerine insignia taking me back to simpler times. It was almost eerie how little it had changed in a thousand years had, all it would take would be a good scrubbing, maybe a new banner, and the throne room would be as good as new.

“You weren't the only one.”

“I’m sorry dear, I didn’t quite catch that, I’m afraid you will have to speak up.” I was thoroughly enjoying the rise I was getting out of her at this point. I put a paw to my ear and leaned in closer to hear her properly.

“You weren’t the only one who was trapped for a thousand years, Discord!” The displeasure evident in her voice was matched only by the ferocity etched onto her face. “Everything I had held dear was obliterated through eons while I slept in bondage. Why must you torture me with remembrances of the past?” At this I put on a concerned front.

“Oh yes, “The Nightmare Moon Rebellion” where your own sister banished you to the moon,” I shook my head, “a real shame that. At least your captor afforded you the luxury of rest when she locked you away. Tell me how long did it take you to figure out that I was awake in that little prison you forced me into? When exactly did you figure out that you had consigned me to an eternity of waking hell.” At this she looked away from me visibly shaken.

“I’m sorry…”

“What was that?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“I’m sorry, Lord Discord,” when she turned to face me her muzzle was slick with fresh tears “we found out a few weeks after we took the throne. We didn’t intend to harm you, just to remove you for a while. When we found out that you were still conscious we agreed that we would release you when we had stabilized the nation.” She looked away from me again. “But then I had my “episode” and Celestia said was afraid to release you alone…”

Her confession gave me pause; I patiently waited for her to continue.

“When I returned, I had assumed that Celestia would have released you long ago, I didn’t bring up the issue to her. But then when you escaped I was devastated, I demanded that she release you immediately… However, she thought it would be too dangerous, that you would try to seek revenge again.” She looked me in the eyes once more and I could see the tears threating to burst out of them. “Then one day she released you without even asking me about it. I’m so sorry Discord.”

I took a few moments to properly compose myself and to think about what she said.

“You mean to say that she never told you why she released me?” Luna shook her head, sobbing quietly. I stood up and silently glided over to her wracked from. “There, there,” I said softly, “all is forgiven, it will be alright.” I cooed softly in a pitiable attempt to comfort her, she turned and embraced me still sobbing.

“I’m sorry, Lord Discord. I’m so sorry.”

It took a while but eventually she managed to calm herself down. We took a bit of time to talk about the true nature of my release; she truly didn’t know why her sister had decided to release me. This news only served to deepen my concerns about my new found freedom.

She insisted that she could assist me in some way despite my insistence that I was perfectly fine on my own. She decided to grant me a parcel of land to myself, a place where I would not be bothered. It is a nice section of land, the forest directly beneath Canterlot. It even comes with a title.

I decided it would be in poor taste to reject such a generous offer.

So once again I will be known across the land as Lord Discord, although perhaps this time on more honest pretenses.

It really is funny how things work out.

Chapter Three: Outside Influence

Creation is a type of magic just like any other.

There are those among us who would call me a god for what I can do with just a snap of my talons. It might be true that I can bend and mold reality in ways that can boggle the mind and yes it might be true that I can birth new matter into the world on a whim.

And I certainly won’t deny the fact that I exist as a living embodiment of chaos and as such I am intangible and ethereal by nature, not to mention immortal.

However, I am no god.

I may even be Chaos personified, but I hold absolutely no control over the same as it doesn’t’ hold any real control over me.

That is to say our relationship is less contractual and more symbiotic, I scratch its back and it scratches mine.

Chaos may be my own element and I may have more control over it than anyone else can ever hope to match but my connection to isn’t really any different than an Earth Pony’s to the earth beneath their hooves, the wind under a Pegaisai’s wings, or even a Unicorn’s unspoken bond to the real of arcana. Chaos is like a river that flows through me, if I were to attempt to hold it against its will it would tear me asunder, I can only give it purpose and direction.

More or less I provide it with the path of least resistance, though that isn’t to say that I can’t change that path with just a little magic of my own.

When I was young there were times where I attempted to control my Chaos, to make it do my will and my will alone, I think it goes without saying that it always ended badly. Now I have come to accept the fact that I cannot own the magic that carves its way through this world, all I can really hope to do is find my place among its currents.

I tried to keep all of this in mind when I entered the forest Luna had graciously presented to me. As I wandered through the verdant edges of the vale I saw the forests desire to expand and to flourish, in my mind’s eye I saw the will of the forest to extend its leafy branches and earthen roots beyond the horizon. When I passed through the unkempt undergrowth of the forest proper I felt within me the need to grow and to secure the land that I was now mingling my very essence with. Finally, as I walked among the most ancient part of the forest my limbs seemed to grow heavy and my ever present urge to sleep increased tenfold, I had to make a conscious effort not to collapse on the spot.

In time I managed to wander into a clearing of barren earth full of freshly grown grasses. I grinned and accepted the contract that the forest had presented to me. I channeled and shaped the energy of the Chaos that flowed through me and directed it into the forest that would serve as my new home. With my newfound connection to the land around me I began carefully weaving the magic of the forest and my own Chaos together into new shapes and forms that would serve our joint interests.

I enchanted wards that would turn away those who would seek to harm us. I built lattices that would allow the forest to grow and adapt itself as it pleased. Boons were bestowed upon the land that would provide plenty to all its inhabitants.

The forest reveled in its newfound power, wholly accepting me as its new caretaker.

When all was said and done I was tempted to slip out of my mortal coil and once again descend into blissful unconsciousness. The weight of this world pressed itself down upon my shoulders as it sought to force me to sleep.

It would have been so easy to just give into the urge and rest for a while.

Perhaps a long while.

But of course I didn’t give in. I perished the through and stood tall against the temptation, I had things that needed be done and I couldn’t allow myself to rest so soon.

I thought carefully on what I had already accomplished and what I would needed to be done going forward. I decided that I might need more than a simple clearing in the forest to facilitate my search. I pushed the edges of the clearing out gently and the trees shifted away silently to accommodate my wishes. With a thought I began pulling the materials I needed from the Chaos of the ether and the foundation of my estate began to take shape in front of me. With a blueprint in my mind it only took a few minutes to finish.

I never really needed much for myself, still it would serve me well as a place to store my worldly goods and a place where I could entertain visitors should the need arise.

Once that was finished, decorum and all, I casually walked inside and exerted my will once again; this time it going for something a bit more involved. I slowly extended my mind’s eye far past my little forest glen and away in all directions, as my perception passed by different areas of interest I held them close in my mind. Once I could picture everywhere I might want to go I slowly brought the places together to an infinitely small point of space in front of me. When I was done I opened my eyes and I saw that the air before me shimmered like liquid glass, I exerted just a bit more power to conceal the rift.

I took the time to place just one final ward on the nexus and I stepped forward into the breach.

I silently emerged in a secluded, as well as restricted, section of The Archive; I said to nobody in particular, “Yes, I do believe that this will do nicely.”

Finding any new leads for my little “Investigation” was becoming troublesome, the reports on my activities ceased as soon as Celestia signed off on my “Orders.” It seemed that the case was well and truly closed.

Perhaps I should have ended my search there, “let bygones be bygones” as they say. However, by this point I felt compelled to continue, I needed to find out what was really going on and to uncover the truth.

I decided to look back at the report that started it all.

Once more I carefully read through it, by that point I was absolutely positive that it was intentionally falsified. There were incidents cited that didn’t exist, lists of payments to accounts that were never even registered, not to mention all the other contradictions and impossibilities. I sneered at the absolute mockery of officiality that lay before me. Somepony obviously wanted the real reason for my re-emergence hidden, at this point I took it as a personal insult, the fact that they were so heavy handed with the fabrication while simultaneously leaving no trace of the act itself was like a slap to the face.

It was taunting me.

They even managed to get this piece of garbage emblazoned with Celestia’s royal seal of approval, or at least a perfect copy of it, if they could do that much they could at least put a bit of effort into the document itself.

As I coasted from dead end to dead end I grew more and more frustrated, the futility of looking over my report was becoming more and more apparent by the minute. Eventually I closed the file and slapped it down on the table, not wanting to look at it for another minute, despite my distaste I sat back and just grimaced at the cover page.

The Official Investigation Of:
The Release And Re-Incarceration Of
Discord: Spirit Of Disharmony

Approved By The Crown: Princess Celestia

Officiated By:
Dual Vision

As I glared at the cover something that I had yet to look into caught my eye.

“Dual Vision, that’s a peculiar name.” I said aloud to myself. I unfolded my arms and picked up the report taking a long look at the name in question before I went off to find some reference material.

To my surprise this Dual Vision was one of the few Ponies listed in the report that had the pleasure of actually existing. I looked into the mysterious Pony’s records and found out that he was a “legal expert” from Ponyville. I decided on the spot that another inquisition was in order. It had been a while since I had talked to Fluttershy in person and Ponyville was lovely that time of year.

I left Fluttershy’s cottage around noon, armed with knowledge in my mind and a smile on my face. Now that I knew where my quarry hid it was about time that I began my hunt.

It took me about a half hour to find the residence in question. It was a modest home nestled deep in Whitetail Wood, in all honesty I almost didn’t find it. I thought it was somewhat strange that a legal consultant would want to live and work in such seclusion, but in that regard who was I to judge?

When I opened the door a bell chimed lightly above me and a voice rang out from another room “I’ll be with you in just a moment,” after a moment he added, “make yourself at home!”

I looked around the room and noticed a large bookshelf on the far wall. I waltzed over to it and some interesting titles caught my eye, scattered among the hum-drum legal texts. I read one title aloud to myself.

“Coup De Gra: The Rise of the Ethereal Sisters and the Fall of-”

“Lord Discord!” A voice stuttered out from behind me, I turned and noticed a very surprised looking Earth Pony having a mild panic attack. I didn't wait for him to finish.

“Has word of my new title spread so quickly?” I asked dryly. I thought to myself for the first time how much of an annoyance this could become. He ceased his pacing and looked at me, only slightly more confused.

“As far as I was aware Princess Luna awarded you the title more a month and a half ago,” he said, obviously not noticing the surprise on my face, “anypony who pays attention to the nobility would know about it by now.” I relaxed a bit and replied.

“Forgive me, time passes me by sometimes.” I said mechanically and continued. “Regardless, would you happen to be the one they call Dual Vision?”

“Yes, my Lord,” he confirmed as I rolled my eyes at the formality it all as he continued on bended knee, “but please, my friends call me Dual.” Deciding I didn't have time for this I used just a smidgen of my magic to lift him back onto his hooves.

“In that case please call me Discord. I find that titles are just a hindrance to proper conversation.” To this he replied.

“Of course, my Lo...” He caught himself before he continued. “I mean, of course, Discord.” At this he grinned up at me and continued. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what brings you to my humble home?” I replied to him stone-faced.

“I am here to discuss an investigative report you oversaw,” I noticed his features return to those of confusion and decided to elaborate, “the one about my escape and subsequent ‘rampage’ several years ago.” At this he somehow seemed to become even more lost, however he quickly regained his composure as he switched into what I assumed was his ‘business mode.’

“Of course,” he said then subsequently paused in concentration before he said, “if you would kindly follow me, Discord; I prefer to discuss matters of business in my office.” He turned and began walking down the adjoining hallway and I quietly followed.

The office at the end of the hallway was small and sparsely furnished, there were no distracting knickknacks and the curtains on the window were tightly drawn. The whole place had an air of officiality. I found myself sitting across from Dual, who himself was sitting behind a desk while wearing a stern look on his face. He politely waited for me to get settled in and began.

“So, Discord, what exactly is it you want to discuss about my report?” He spoke with all of the experience and confidence of a legal professional, it was almost as if someone had flipped a switch and I was talking to an entirely different pony then the nervous fool I had just met in the other room. “Of course due to its subject matter I can understand your interest in its contents; however, I just want to make sure you and I are on the same page.” I nodded and replied.

“Of course, to be blunt your report is full of inconsistencies and contradictions that are totally inexplicable,” I said with pure certainty, “in fact my own research suggests that the majority of the report was intentionally falsified.” I smiled grimly at him; his face contorted with confusion and for a time he simply sat thinking over his next words carefully.

“That is a very serious accusation,” I nodded again and he continued, “are you absolutely positive you’re not mistaken?”

I replied without skipping a beat, “I am one hundred percent positive.” He brought a hoof up to his chin and scratched it plaintively.

“You said that you have your own research against my report?” I nodded. “Could you show me a copy of the report in question?” I nodded again and stretched my will to a particular portion of The Archive, with a small flash the report materialized itself in my waiting claw. I presented it to him without question; he grabbed it up in his hooves and began reading through it carefully.

After about fifteen minutes of him flipping through it he placed it back on the desk and spoke up.

“I’ve seen enough, and this is obviously the official report. This is straight from The Royal Archives, correct?” I nodded and was about to begin my inquisition when, to my surprise, he cut me off. “However,” he waved the report in in front of me with a hoof, “I didn’t write this report.”

My brows arched skyward in surprise, he quietly got up and trotted over to a filing cabinet tucked in the corner of the room. He withdrew a thick packet of paper and returned to his chair saying, “This is my report.”

He placed the packet on the table and slid it in my direction. After a moment of trepidation I eagerly snatched the report from the table and began tearing through it word by word. My eyes were greeted by dozens upon dozens of pages of carefully thought out analysis and contextually supported arguments with expert testimony; this was the report that I needed to see, it had everything I was looking for. I painstakingly poured over every word until I reached the last minutes of the report; I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

It explained everything perfectly.

...While the ultimate cause of Discords release may well be the dissidence produced by the argument at 12:13, due to the history surrounding prison itself it can be safely assumed that this alone would not be enough to free Discord from his containment. The only significant event that could lead to his release would be the release and subsequent reformation of Nightmare Moon (A.K.A. Princess Luna) and the effects said event might have had on Princess Celestia.

When Princess Celestia imprisoned Nightmare Moon in The Moon over a millennia ago their bond to The Elements of Harmony was severed, as such neither could hold conscious control over them. However, while the Elements themselves draw their direction from the conscious mind my research suggests that the catalyst which unleashes their power lies in the subconscious (i.e. Conviction, Bravery, Positivity etc.), so long as the Ethereal Sisters maintained their conviction over Discord’s imprisonment the Elements would continue to suppress Discord’s power.

Celestia maintained this conviction through the centuries until the return of her sister, Luna. Upon Luna’s return and reformation after being forcibly imprisoned for a thousand years it can be said that Celestia would have ample reason reflect upon her past actions. Regret touches all of us from time to time. While Celestia’s conviction obviously remained I believe it was weakened to the point that the seal on Discord’s prison was comprised; this state of partial containment likely lasted until the air around him became charged with emotional energy (from the aforementioned argument) and touched Discords mind, stimulating him enough where his instinctual drive to resist confinement kicked in and sought to destroy his prison.

At that point, with the prison weakened as it was, it was only a matter of time before he escaped.

All of this is mere speculation mind you however; all other explanations can be thoroughly invalidated by the research contained within this report.

If this lack of conviction is in fact the reason for Discord’s initial breach of containment then it is unlikely that such an event will occur again. Lacking unforeseen outside influence, the new bearers of The Elements have no reason to doubt the ethicacy of Discord’s re-imprisonment. It can then be soundly conclude that without intentional intervention, Discord will remain trapped in stone until the end of time…

“I hope that clears up any misconceptions you had about the accuracy of my reporting, Discord?” The suddenness of the voice shook me out of my fixation; I looked up to see Dual staring out the window, apparently admiring the sunset.

“Yes, yes it does.” I spoke, still somewhat dazed. “Though is brings out so many more questions.”

“Advocate or Investigator?” Dual asked suddenly.

“What?” I asked dumfounded. He elaborated.

“Discord, it is obvious to me that you have a vested interest in finding out what exactly happened here.” I nodded dumbly as he continued. “To be frank, you can’t do that on your own. You have been investigating this alone, for what I assume to be months, and I just single-hoofedly destroyed what was probably your last lead. It takes a lot of desperation to wildly chase names into the woods.” He paused a moment, probably so I could catch up with what he was saying.

“Discord, you need my help.” He concluded with total sincerity, maintaining direct eye contact he continued. “So I’m asking you would you like to hire me as an Advocate or an Investigator.” It took me a moment to properly process his offer and to make a decision but eventually I replied with a grin plastered on my face.

“Dual, I would like you to be an Advocate; an Advocate for Truth.” To which he replied with a smile of his own.

“Discord, I think that you and I are going to get along just fine.”

Chapter Four: Pleasant Dreams

The vast majority of Celestia’s subjects assumed she was white.

To be sure, it was a reasonable assumption. After all, Celestia did appear white at a glance. Though despite all appearances and those assumptions would be incorrect.

As anyone who has had the distinct pleasure of spending time with Celestia in the right light would tell you, Celestia’s coat was, in fact, a delicate shade of pink.

This misconception was slightly bothersome to Celestia but it did differ to her some unique advantages.

For example, it made it exceptionally difficult for others to tell when she became features became flushed. The natural pink tone in her coat diffused the redness in such a way where one wouldn’t notice the difference if they were under the impression that her coat was actually white.

On the same note it was almost impossible to tell when she blanched, in fact, not even Luna herself could reliably recognize when the blood drained from her visage.

However, Celestia herself was acutely aware of the color draining from her face when she looked at the requisition form sitting on the desk in front of her.

“This has to be a coincidence,” Celestia thought to herself as she tried to maintain a semblance of calm, “there's no way he could piece it all together so quickly, there has to be a reasonable explanation for this." She tried to convince herself that was the case; however, no alternative explanation came. There was simply no other reason that could explain the form sitting patiently on the desk in front of her; it mocked her

Just like he would have.

“Discord…”

“He has to know by now, doesn’t he?” The possibility disturbed her far more than she thought it would; she felt vulnerable, exposed, and most of all alone. For a while coherent thoughts escaped her entirely and she was lost in a roil of conflicting emotions, the vast majority of which were ones she did not fully comprehend.

She thought about burning the vexing piece of paper and simply pretending none of this ever happened, like a foal would hide a broken window with a carefully drawn curtain. She also thought about direct confrontation, but that thought terrified her for reasons she could not explain.

“There has to be something I can do?” She thought. “Something? Anything?” Try as she might, she could think of no perfect solution, no easy way out.

“I’m trapped,” the thought brought a sort of twisted relief to her mind, “there's nothing left for me to do but wait for the inevitable.” She sighed and looked at the torturous form once again. She glared at it like a mother would stare at a child willing it to know what it done wrong, but the form stared back, either it was unaware of the problem or it simply didn’t care. She sighed once again.

“If I don’t approve this it will only prove my guilt,” she speculated, “maybe it’s just a coincidence, it has to be!” She convinced herself. “All I have to do is give it my seal and send it to the requisitions department and I can finally get on with my life.” She extended her magic to the ornate sealing device on the far end of the table and imposed it causing her seal to gently glide above the table. She could just stamp it and be on her way, it could be so easy just to get it over with.

But try as she might she just couldn’t find the willpower to do it.

She set the seal back in its place and let out a breath she was unaware she was holding. She brought up her hooves and let her head fall into them. Her mind raced with possibilities, contingencies, and eventualities; the more she thought about it the more powerless she felt about the entire situation.

For a while she sat there silently, just trying to calm herself, blind and deaf to the world around her as she tried to resolve her problems. The world would wait for her, just as it always had.

She was dimly aware of someone entering her private chambers; their calls to her, a subdued urgency present in the tone but obviously trying not to disturb her. It could wait.

She nearly leapt out of her chair when a voice called out just behind her.

“Sister, is everything alright?” The voice asked, with more than a hint on concern evident to her. Celestia turned to address the familiar voice.

“Luna, what brings you to my chambers at this time of day?” Celestia asked genuinely confused. Luna frowned at her and replied.

“Nightfall is upon us, sister,” Luna said softly, “you need to lower the sun so that the day may come to an end,” she paused and gave Celestia a worried look, “are you sure that you are alright?” Celestia took a moment to properly compose herself properly, she smiled up at her sister.

“Forgive me, time passes me by sometimes,” Celestia said as she stood up and began to walk to the balcony adjoining her room, “why don’t we go take care of that now?” She opened the door and stepped out into the waning sunlight.

The sun was only an hour behind its normal schedule, though it was uncharacteristic for Celestia to forsake her duties for even a minute. Luna followed her sister to the balcony as her face set itself in an image of pure concentration; her horn glowed with gilded energy as the sun began to set rapidly. Celestia brought the sun down to the horizon and set it back on its normal pace for the night, there was no need to deprive Equestria of a beautiful sunset just because she was a little late.

Luna and Celestia stood on the balcony and watched the sky slowly shift through different colors and hues much like a child would shift in bed, as if it were getting comfortable before preparing for a long nights sleep. However, whereas Celestia’s gaze was strictly leveled on the horizon, Luna’s focus soon shifted to something that was far more important to her than the greater world around her.

“Sister?” She said to Celestia, once again breaking her from her reprieve.

“Yes, Luna?” Celestia asked Luna, her eyes still firmly fixated on what was so far in front of her. She was surprised when she felt a warm muzzle brush against her side.

“You work too hard,” Luna said frankly but with concern, Celestia was about to interject with a rebuttal but Luna cut her off, “don’t bother denying it, we both know how worked up you can get about the little things. Go off to bed and I will finish your paperwork for you, you need to rest and you know it.” Celestia thought about rejecting the offer for a moment but the promise of sleep proved far too enticing to pass up.

“Thank you, Luna,” Celestia looked at her younger sister and then turned her gaze to the ground beneath her as she said; “I know not what I have done to deserve a sister as warm and caring as you Luna.” Luna replied without skipping a beat.

“Absolutely nothing!”

Celestia was aghast for a moment; she looked to her sister and was greeted with a sly smile. A smirk spread over her own face as they both burst into a fit of giggles. When they both calmed down Celestia finally returned her sisters affection with a loving nuzzle of her own. She turned around and began walking back indoors as the final rays of the sun were extinguished by the impending night, she left on a little ritual that the two shared since they were foals.

“Good morning, sister.” Celestia said as she went off to get some well-deserved rest.

“Good night, sister.” Luna echoed as she watched Celestia retreat to her bed.

Luna lingered on the balcony for a little while longer; she still had work to do. As the sun was finally out of the way the moon could be raised. Luna may not have had as much raw magical power as her sister but she prized herself on her finesse; the blank canvas of the night sky gave her plenty of room to exercise her creativity.

The stars, unimaginable distances away, twinkled softly as she shifted the air currents in the upper atmosphere. The moon could be set on an infinite amount of paths with all of the phases from a brightness of a full moon to the intimate dark of a new moon. Every night Luna took it as a personal challenge to paint the sky in a way she never had done before. When she was satisfied with her night she slipped quietly inside and snuck over to her sister’s desk.

She sat down and looked at the paperwork that was troubling her sister so; she was surprised to see that there was just a solitary page resting on the surface.

“Curious.” Luna said to herself, very much confused. She lit her horn with a touch of magic, just bright enough to cut through the gloom of the chamber but not so bright as to disturb her sister. She carefully read over the form in front of her.

It was a fairly standard payroll acquisition form for a private investigator, one Dual Vision. Luna didn’t understand how such a simple form could give her sister so much trouble. She could not comprehend it, until she reached the bottom of the form. The submission line, she read it aloud to herself.

“Payment requested by the authority of The Crown in the name of Lord Discord.”

Finally the pieces began to come together for Luna. She sighed to herself, illuminated only by the light of her horn. “Sister, whatever am I going to do with you?” She asked no one in particular as she completed the form added it to the pile of paperwork that was already completed. With an idle thought she sent the papers to the ministry where they would be properly enacted.

Before she left to her own study for the night Luna carefully went over to her sister’s bed. As she approached she noticed the telltale distress of a pony suffering though a nightmare. She quietly gathered energy into her horn and released it in a shimmering cloud that spread over Celestia’s sleeping form. She smiled in the darkness as Celestia slowly relaxed as she was released from her torment; before she turned away from her sister, to leave her to her rest, she uttered three final words.

“Pleasant dreams, sister.” Then she was gone.

Chapter Five: Idiomatic Novelty

It’s humbling to consider how much my life has changed in the last few years.

Everything is so different than I remember it, of course I would be the first to say that my recollection of the past isn’t exactly spotless or even remotely complete but nonetheless this is different. It never ceases to amaze me that despite all the things I have seen and done in my absurdly long life that I still manage to run headfirst into things I’ve never seen before. I would think by now that I should have seen everything.

Then again, perhaps I’m just ignorant of the patterns playing out around me.

Perhaps I’m just repeating the same mistakes I made millennia ago without even realizing it.

Or maybe I’m even repeating the mistakes of an older and wiser Draconequus happens to be looking back and scowling at what an idiot he used to be?

Of course it could be that the world we live in simply refuses to abide by the laws of logic and probability, at that point I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to blame it.

After all, what fun is making sense anyway?

As I was saying, I find myself partaking in a surprising amount of novel experiences as of late. For example, in our little “investigation” into the falsification of the report I have developed a very interesting dynamic with a one Dual Vision.

I am Lord Discord, Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos, whereas he is but a humble Earth Pony working under my employ; however, he shows no sign or inclination of subservience, reverence, or fear towards me whatsoever and I don’t feel the need to subjugate or to really direct him in any capacity.

I suppose you could say that we share a sort of mutual respect for each other.

Mind you I have worked closely with others in the past however it has always been a mutually exclusive beneficial relationship, “quid pro quo” as they say.

Though when I work with Dual Vision, and we are both working towards the same goal, we become the very definition of collaboration. This is new ground for me, I suppose I would still consider Fluttershy a friend and I do appreciate her effort to tolerate my presence; however, this is the first time in as long as I can remember that I actually a commonality with someone, somepony even!

I believe the term for that kind of relationship would be peers?

I never would have imagined a day where I would consider a Pony my equal in any pursuit; though in all fairness I suppose that my perspective of Ponies in general may have been just a bit skewed.

Can you really blame me though?

In a world populated by Dragons, Griffons, Minotaurs and all manner of strange and fantastic beasts it’s easy to say that Ponykind is meek and powerless by comparison. In all honesty I was surprised that they had even managed to survive at all before coming to me for sanctuary, as far as I was concerned they were just weak and helpless by design. They have no claws, no fangs or canines to speak of, that’s not to mention the fact that they aren’t exactly grand in stature. Mind you I wouldn’t really like to be kicked by one of them but even that isn’t much when you consider what they are up against.

From a purely utilitarian standpoint the race of Ponies is some sort of cosmic joke, though, luckily for them, they do have at least one redeeming quality to their name.

Talent!

As far as I can tell, most Ponies can’t even fight their way out of a wet paper bag; however, if they happen to have a wet bag fighting cutie mark you have an entirely different story.

Then I feel sorry for the bag…

The point is that I was mostly unaware of the real significance of a Ponies cutie mark and their respective “special talent.” Until recently I didn’t think much of it but now I’m beginning to understand how much potential these little Ponies seem to have, in the right light.

I suppose it was a bit narrow-minded of me to assume them all to be relatively useless, though to be fair I never had the distinct pleasure of spending time with one of them when they were “in their element.”

That is, until I started working with Dual.

Dual told me that his talent manifests itself as an intuitive understanding of “Analytical Ethics,” or something like that. The technical side of it seems to be completely lost on me, as his explanation of “Divergent Likeness.”

Despite not understanding it completely, I think I can explain his talent set relatively well.

Essentially, Dual is has a brilliant legal mind and he is a prolific historian; he applies these skills in conjuncture, making him a masterful investigator. I’m not even ashamed to admit that he far surpasses me in this regard.

Sure, for a while we worked as a pair, it was just him and I against the entire aristocracy and it was glorious. First we set out to create a sort of map that would lead us straight to our culprit, a wide net of information that would drag in every stallion, mare, and foal that had even the slightest possible connection to the crime. Then we quickly marked out sources and leads to every kind of data you can imagine. By the time we were finished we had some sort of a tab on nearly every single Pony in Canterlot.

The majority of these Ponies were eliminated as candidates for investigation almost immediately.

Most individual citizens and even the majority of noble houses would be unable to even attempt something as involved or complicated as falsifying an official government document; as ineffectual as the Equestrian legal system is it does surprisingly good record keeping. Then, of course, there was the question of a possible motive; most Ponies wouldn’t even have any knowledge of the report’s existence, much less a desire to change it.

With this in mind the pool of suspects dwindled down to a more manageable size

Then we began to sort out our catch, suspect by suspect.

After all the obvious suspects and red herrings were fished out of the net, things started to become problematic. The only remaining suspects were shadowy figures with unknown capabilities, all taking their place in some grand conspiracy grand conspiracy.

Then all that was left were dark shadows shifting under the surface of the water, lurking just out of sight. I was thrown completely out of my depth as I was plunged into an intricate web of assumption and causality, desperately clinging onto any facts or logic I could find like the survivor of a terrible shipwreck trying to survive the wrath of a roiling sea. Dual however was completely unfazed, he dove straight into the dark depths with practice and precision.

This was the kind of thing that someone like him lived for, a chance to ply his mastery on his chosen field, the impossible challenge.

It was inspiring really, to see him working to bring Order to a system so fraught with convolution and inconsistencies.

He was a perfect warrior of Chaos.

As much as I wanted to continue working with him directly, I eventually had to concede and accept the fact that I was fighting a fight that I could not hope to win. I decided that so long as Dual could push forward that I would do my best to assist him in any way I could.

So I became his envoy, collecting any kind of information he needed and presenting it to him in hopes to expedite his progress in some way.

Lord Discord, Lord of Chaos and Disharmony, Secretary.

As much as I enjoyed being reduced to a glorified errand boy I was disheartened when I couldn’t even do that anymore.

The game had progressed to its final moments.

By then we had all the pieces, I just had to wait for him to solve the puzzle.

There was nothing left for me to do but wait.

Of course, that’s not really my style. So I decided to go out and discuss the matter with a close confidant of mine.

Tea with Luna, sadly, didn’t provide the inspiration that I hoped it would. She more or less agreed with my assessment, that the only thing left for me to do was wait for Dual to find some kind of a conclusion to all of this.

She did, however, remind me of my obligations to Celestia, the ones that I had been otherwise blatantly ignoring. She suggested that it might be a good thing to take some time away from the investigation and find something that I could really sink my claws into, she said it might do me good to get my mind off of it for a while.

I admitted that she probably had a point; perhaps some time away from everything would help me get my old mojo back and let me figure it out my way.

I still needed the authority that the whole “Investigator for The Crown” thing granted to me, so finishing the report about Canterlot was completely out of the question.

And as you can plainly see I am still working hard on the report on the elemental properties of chaos.

So that left me with one viable option.

So I asked myself. “How does one inspire artists?”

I suppose I could have just granted them the inspiration myself, but apparently “insanity” is frowned upon in modern society. I certainly wasn’t going to go around the Empire, posing for prospective artists; as tempting as it was to have my face mounted in every Equestrian home as art, it just wasn’t worth my time.

I asked Luna if she had any suggestions and she said that I should go out and see the modern styles for myself, it seemed as good a starting point as any.

As I took my time wandering the galleries of artwork I tried to focus on the pictures in front of me, my mind constantly wandered back to the investigation. I thought about how close I had come but how far I still had to go. I thought about my own obsession with the issue, why I was so enthralled by the conspiracy. In truth, this in itself was a novelty, I have never before concerned myself with my image as portrayed by others but the false report instilled in me a deep sense of betrayal. I couldn’t explain to myself why I was so compelled to find the answers.

It irked me.

The art in the gallery wasn’t really helping my frustration; I glowered at the artwork displayed before me.

Art never had much of a flair for me I suppose, why marvel at a memory when you can have the real experience? I was always more of a weaver of words than a painter of pictures.

I it’s something to do with the flexibility of it all; the colors of a painting can have meaning but only in context.

Words however are units, each one with their own particular meaning. To make yourself clear you have to bend and twist in just the right way, so that they become something greater.

Perhaps I’m just missing the point of it all?

The gallery itself was lined with paintings and filled with different sculptures. Some of them were perfect, crystal clear, representations of a scene or a place, beautiful of haunting depending on the scene portrayed. Then there were others that were just jumbled amalgamations of shapes, colors and textures haphazardly arranged in some way that apparently gave them some sort of “deeper meaning.”

I might not have had a critical eye for art but I could certainly see a pattern emerge.

There was no middle ground to any of it. Reality exists somewhere between logic and absurdity and while these artists could portray the conceptual extremes of reality they certainly couldn’t capture its essence.

I decided I didn’t like modern art.

Every display showed a unique and one of a kind masterpiece that in inherently disagreed with. It was obvious that the artists had some level of technical mastery in their craft and they certainly had a sense of aesthetic and flair but nothing in the gallery seemed alive to me because there was no sense of a dynamic between all the pieces.

There was no sense of Chaos in the room, just some kind of an implied order. I quickly tired of trying to find my muse and thought of returning to my forest to rest in a more varied setting.

But of course, inspiration is a fickle thing. Sometimes the moment you stop looking for it is the moment it will find you.

The forest was more or less amicable with my request, providing I supplied the power it would need to make the changes required. It would accept a bit of extra variety so long as an overall Order was maintained, a request that I could easily ensure.

I relished the chance to apply my creativity to such a large canvas. It would be unlike the scenes I had painted in Ponyville upon my release; I was in full control of myself now. I carefully prepared myself to bring inspiration to those bold enough to go seeking it.

The premise was a simple one; any aspiring artist would enter the forest and begin wandering.

The enchantments I had supplied would ensure that they would be cared for as long as they wished to remain, they also ensured that no harm could come to my charge of the forest. Such a venture would be mundane, if I didn’t change the rules a bit.

I left the forest unchanged, more or less; instead of ruthlessly changing the Order of the forest I simply gave it the means to change itself. All life seeks to grow and change at some level, endlessly improving on the design of the last generation through a tedious and brutal cycle of selection.

I just sped up the process.

Dramatically.

I must admit that I’m quite pleased with the results.

In a way, nothing really changed in the forest. Life went on as it always had, just with a more efficient method of revolution.

The result was both universal and asymmetrical, the perfection of it all lied in its subtly. A passive observer, upon entering the forest would notice a typical wood complete with the flora and fauna they would expect; however, it would be an imperfect mirror of their expectations.

In some places the leaves would shimmer like water or perhaps the animals would move from place to place in a blink of an eye. Some places might even seem perfectly normal until the observer noticed that they themselves had been changed, if only temporarily.

Then I extended my nexus onto the forest at large, making separate passages and causeways that would shift and sway to keep the onlookers on their heels. The moment they begin to grow accustomed to their surroundings they would be thrust into a new ethos of the forest.

The forest itself had enough constancy to lull passersby into a false sense of normalcy before the nexus tore that away from them as they took a few misbegotten steps in the wrong direction.

The intent was to make it appear as if the forest was daring them to try to comprehend it, only to taunt them with its newfound complexity and agency.

Finally I decided to place another ward around my home. I placed a ward that could deter unwarranted visitors by transporting them elsewhere in the forest, effectively ensuring my privacy.

Once I was done I proudly proclaimed to all Equestria that all were free to inspect my lands and all the wonders contained within.

At first they were skeptical, but eventually several brave should entered into my domain.

Soon word spread through the community that the forest below Canterlot was a truly place of awe and wonder. Adventurous wanderers would come and trek through the woods for days, taking in the sights and sounds this familiar yet alien place had to offer.

Some of these intrepid wanderers would be inspired to try to capture the magic they had witnessed through art.

Apparently they are calling it “surrealism.”

An apt name if I do say so myself…

Chapter Six: Fervor Dreams

Names, dates, times and reasons.

These things are simple, understandable and above all logical. They hold themselves self-evident and they can be used to explain just about anything that occurs in modern society.

Simply put, these things should always make sense.

That being said, these were the pillars of Dual Vision’s whole world. These were the things that held his mind together and shielded it from the tirade of pointless facts and details that constantly sought to overwhelm him. They were the things that he could always rely on and the things he could always make sense of.

This was especially true in the midst of an investigation.

At least, that’s how it was supposed to be. For the first time in his life, Dual was finding that that wasn’t necessarily true.

This investigation was proving to be a bit different than all the others.

It was also the most frustrating, aggravating, and infuriating case that he ever had the distinct pleasure of working on.

Dual yawned loudly, breaking the silence in his disheveled study. He started to shake his head in an attempt to dispel his weariness as he decided that it was also the most draining case he has worked on as well. It would have been so much easier for him to give up at that point. It wasn’t like he had actually found any concrete leads in the last few days, or even in the last few weeks for that matter.

He blinked a few times and continued looking through the ledger, occasionally marking down names and addresses to reference later.

Of course he realized no one would blame him for dropping the case, no one would question him if he said that it was beyond simply beyond him; he could easily pass the buck over to the next investigator and be done with it.

However, at this point he knew Discord well enough to realize that there wouldn’t be another investigator if he quit, or more precisely Discord knew him well enough not to bother with another investigator in the first place.

That’s why he couldn’t throw in the towel so easily; he knew that Discord was counting on him.

Discord had the distinction of being Dual’s most interesting and most accommodating client. Not only had he brought him a case that was riddled with intrigue and mystery but he brought his own personal stake with it as well. Discord worked tirelessly on this case for months and had expected nothing less from Dual. Dual just relished the opportunity to ply his trade in the name of truth and justice and Discord had made sure that he had every tool he needed at his disposal. Dual’s insistence to continue investigating was buried deep in his own principality, the truth must always come out.

Of course, the pay wasn’t bad either.

But the problem still remained that this investigation was completely draining him, nothing made sense. Well to be more specific it was more like everything made sense, too much sense. Every time Dual would approach the case from a different angle he would rush headlong into a brick wall. Alibis were ironclad, motives were nonexistent and possible culprits didn’t even seem to exist half the time.

This case was crumbling the pillars of his world.

Names, he had thousands of names. Discord had insisted that they dredge up the name of every stallion, mare, and foal in Canterlot and beyond. At the time he thought it was an egregious violation of privacy, not to mention overkill. It shouldn’t have been necessarily at all really; all it was is a forgery of a document in his own name, it should have taken him a few weeks, at most, to find the perpetrator. Though he couldn’t even seem to find a proper suspect now, he was quickly running out of prospects.

Dates, they seemed to conspire against him explicitly. Records like these were supposed to have perfect time seals, they were foolproof; somehow even this system was subverted. No matter how hard he looked he couldn’t find any discrepancies or anomalies in of it, it’s like the calendar was working against him now. Every day he spent looking for his next lead was a day that that very same lead might disappear, lost or forgotten. Days, weeks, months, all began to blur together as they swept Dual along with the relentless flow of time.

Time, yes then there was time. Time would be normally be counted by officiality for Dual. Things had to happen at specific times, times that could be used to establish causality and correlation. Now time itself had abandoned him in his quest. He had no time to eat, no time to sleep, no time to rest; every second he wasted was one second that would never be returned.

“Why even care?” He asked himself silently. “Honestly, why should I care? Every lead’s a dead end and that’s if I even find one in the first place! None of this is makes any sense…

“I should just give up…”

He sighed and closed his ledgers and reference book, hastily sweeping them over to the side and smashing his face into the table. He screamed, instantly regretting the decision, rubbing his temples to try to get rid of the instant headache. He took a deep breath and ran a hoof through his mane before rubbing the encroaching sleep out of his eyes. He needed to try to forget about everything, just for a moment, but his mind wouldn’t let him let it go.

“Why? Why am I’m so invested in this?” He thought. “Why did they do this? It doesn’t make any sense! Why?”

"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?"

There was a deafening crack when the sturdy oak table collapsed as his hooves slammed down on top of it. Loose papers flew everywhere and the ledgers shot over somewhere on the side of the room. The heavily bound reference book shot up over Dual’s head before landing on the behind him with a loud thud, jarring him back to reality.

He glanced at the cracked and broken table in front of him and sighed as he buried his muzzle in his trembling hooves. He jumped off of the stool and looked around to see what was salvageable. The study was in a state of shambles, even without considering the splintered table behind him the place was in a sorry state. He picked up his reference book and fell to his haunches, surrounded by a veritable disaster area. After a few minutes of just sitting there, breathing, he finally managed to calm himself down and stop shaking. Once the shock and anger passed, he simply felt disgusted; though not for breaking the table.

This was his job; it was his life’s work. His one purpose was to help others when they could not help themselves. Discord needed him to figure this out. He needed to figure this out; at this point it had become personal. He vowed silently to himself to double his resolve, in a show of defiance and determination he let out a weak yawn.

“Huh,” he said to himself. He looked over to the far wall and squinted at the clock only to discover that he worked through the whole night…

Again…

There were Ponies that would say that such a thing would speak volumes about his endless determination, his limitless focus and his impeccable work ethic.

Though to him, all it meant was that he probably needed to sleep

Dual trotted purposefully through his humble home and into his bedroom. His room was decidedly under-furnished, a true Spartan ascetic. A window, a bed, a nightstand, and a wardrobe were all that graced the room, as far as Dual was concerned that was all he really needed. The only personal touches consisted of a train schedule unceremoniously nailed to the wall, a picture of a family left behind, and a rug from a faraway land.

Once again, Dual cut to the chase. Without further ado he fell onto the bed with sun still streaming through the open window. His body fell into the recumbent bliss of slumber immediately upon contact with the soft linens; however, his restless mind had other plans.

Whitetail wood was a small and secluded forest just outside of Ponyville. Besides the occasional hiker or camping party there were no disturbances, just nature and its bounty; rabbits, foxes, birds, insects, and wolves.

Today the wolves hunted.

He eagerly chased his prey through the dense forest undergrowth. The shadow was more than his normal prey; it was an intruder in his domain. It was an unwanted presence in his home and it needed to be eliminated, if only to preserve his pride. Either way it made the interloper his quarry, something he would hunt down and deal with at his discretion. He concerned himself not with ethics or morality nor did he concern himself with the reasoning behind the interloper’s intrusion, he was just the hunter and it was his nature to hunt.

He was the predator and it was the prey, in the end there was nothing more to it than that.

At least, that’s how it was supposed to be.

Somewhere deep inside of him he could feel that something was wrong.

Every time he would get within a hairs breadth of the shadow, ready to pounce and end this charade, it would suddenly vanish only to reappear at the edge of his vision a few seconds later. He, however, was indignant. He would catch the shadow in his jaws and reveal it for what it really was before dispatching it in the manner fitting all those who fled his presence. Just what exactly did that shadow think it was doing, he was the predator and this was his domain, he was supposed to be the one in control here. It was an affront to his very nature that it could evade him so easily. So he doubled his resolve and chased the shadow deeper and deeper into the veil.

As the chase dragged on he saw the sun fall behind him and the darkness erupt in front of him.

As the chase dragged on he felt the thistles and thorns of the unwelcoming forest cut deep into his flanks and haunches.

As the chase dragged on he felt his body tire, breaths became labored, muscles screamed at him for release from their exertion.

Still, all doubt and all fear were purged from his mind. This was his domain, this was his hunt. He would catch this shadow; there was nothing of this world that would stop him because there was nothing that could stop him. This was his world and he would claim his place everything else.

Because this was his domain, this was his hunt.

The darkness threatened to consume everything as the two sprinted in their deathly dance towards the center of the forest. One would follow the other to the end of the earth for the answers they needed to survive; more important still was to retain the peace of mind that all game could be caught. The other ran simply for self-preservation, the desire to survive. Fear; persecution, regardless of whether or not it is deserved, is an amazing motivator.

The two paced out the clearing in the center of the forest. One was the hunter, one hunted. They stood as the primal paradigm of predator and prey while the darkness licked at the ground beneath them; it seemed to hunger for the altercation that would inevitably follow. The shadow came to a stop at the center, accepting its fate; it wasn’t going to run away anymore.

He knew the now that the end of this game was nigh. He would be victorious, after all this was his world. As he crept closer and closer he repeated his mantra.

"This is my domain, this is my hunt, and this is my world."

He carefully aligned himself, perfectly placed as the shadow stood paralyzed in his presence. He lined up his shot and leapt in a clean arc that sliced through the air. Aiming for the neck, one bite and it would all be over.

Just before he made contact, just before he claimed his prize, the shadow turned its head and locked its void like eyes on him; it seemed to stare into his very soul. The moment before it disappeared into vapor the shadow smiled at him, an obscene and maddening smile.

Then his world imploded. The darkness, before kept at bay by some unseen power plunged inward; it consumed all leaving not a shred of light left in this universe or any other. He couldn’t understand what had happened, it shouldn’t have happened. He won, he had always won; this was his domain and it was his world! He should be in the throes of joy and feast!

Instead he found the opposite.

Pain

Fear

Confusion

Loss

His world had been torn away from him, evaporated in an instant. It had cruelly plunged him into an unknowing oblivion, one from which he had no hope of escape. Then he saw the shade.

At first he feared the shadow had returned, to mock him, to remind him of his loss before snuffing him out entirely. This however, was a different presence. One also cloaked in darkness, but it held within itself an entirely different light. This was no intruder, no interloper, here was benevolence.

He crawled towards the shade, desperate to be free from his torment. As he approached it the shadows no longer burned him, instead they caressed and comforted him. He felt safe and whole once more as they wrapped him up in their intimate embrace. With time he came to stand beside the shade, he looked upon it with reverence and his eyes pleaded for assistance.

The shade did not return his gaze; instead it began trotting out of the darkness of the clearing and into the unknown. Still afraid of the world around him he hesitated, unsure of whether or not he should follow his savior. Eventually he stepped forward tentatively; he decided that he was more afraid of being left alone in the darkness than he was of stepping into the strange light. They walked side by side into the light.

As the world around him came into focus it was decidedly alien. The grass and undergrowth were replaced by hard packed dirt that was all perfectly level. The knotted trees and shading leaves were replaced with well-manicured walls of green. A part of him realized that he was walking along in some kind of maze. A greater part of him recognized something else.

This was her domain, this was her world.

As he followed her through the maze, he felt her presence permeate the walls and the air around him. He struggled to resist the urge to turn tail and run away from the foreign presence, but that urge was ignored in favor of the intense feeling of safety and familiarity that surged within him with every step he took. He was sure he had been here before, though he could not remember when.

He disregarded the nagging questions that ran through his mind and followed her to the center of the maze. It was an open area overgrown with breathtaking flora and an elegant fountain. He took a moment to take in the beauty that surrounded him as the shade walked towards the fountain. Content, he went and joined her as she sat beside the shimmering fountain. A brief silence passed between them before a voice echoed through his mind.

“Dual Vision,” the voice called out, some forgotten part of him recognized that that was his name, “what has brought you to my sanctuary?” It asked him with utmost sincerity and concern. “What is it that has troubled you so?”

He simply cocked his head at the query, confused at how to respond. For a moment the shade was plaintive and then it seemed struck by a thought. It chuckled silently before the voice spoke to him once more.

“If you cannot tell me, then show me.” As she said this, the shade rose and moved to the fountain, at her touch the water seemed to defy itself. The water flew into an iridescent mist that consumed the area around them, casting them in a multi-chromatic glow. When he tried to inspect it, it shifted and flowed away from his gaze. After a bit of experimentation he discovered he could project his mind’s eye onto the canvas of mist, painting his vision onto the world around him.

The shade watched as he relived the chase through the wood. It watched in perfect silence as he drew closer and closer to his prey once more. Then once again the hunt was complete and he was about to deliver the coup de grace his opponent when his world imploded just as it did before.

This time he was almost immediately pulled out of his melancholy by a sympathetic touch and a soothing voice. Once he managed to calm down again the voice addressed him once more.

“All is well young one,” it said with command and concern, “you have done well but now you must rest. Follow me”.

And follow he did.

Eventually they crossed over to yet another domain.

This domain seemed to be overtaken by darkness; however, this darkness was different the darkness that existed in the shades domain his or the darkness that invaded his. It didn’t seem to have any sort of consciousness or agenda other than to obscure the world from prying eyes. From time to time he could make out shapes in the distance, broken and misshapen things that seemed to defy logic, only for them to be snuffed out entirely by the encroaching shadows.

He did not like this domain.

Soon they came upon the form of a great slumbering beast. The beast’s body seemed to stretch on forever before disappearing into the flickering shadows on the horizon. He shifted silently, unnerved by the creature that lay before them.

It was than the shadows and the behemoth, more than the unnerving whispers and impossible stretches of absolute silence. There was something other that existed here that set him on edge.

“Fear not young one,” the voice commanded once more, “this is your charge. No harm will come to you here.” He stood locked in place as his memories came flooding back to him and realization finally hit him. He looked over the beast in front of him and sat down.

“So he is asleep?” He asked rhetorically. “Isn’t this the realm of dreams? Is it alright to leave him like this?” He looked over to Luna with concern in his eyes. She smiled at him before turning to look at the beast herself.

“Yes,” Luna said, “I have brought you here to remind you of what you quest for, I have brought you here to calm your roiling mind. It is his nature to sleep, even in dream. You must remember that time means little to one such as him.” She walked up to him and ran a hoof through his mane. “You drive yourself to fault; be patient, he will wait for you to solve the puzzle.” Dual nodded as he looked at the giant before him, he was unsure if he should be amazed or concerned.

Luna continued despite his wandering gaze

“Now, breathe deep of the ether of this realm. Its age is a sedative; it will allow your soul to rest, if only for one night.”

Dual, ever compliant, inhaled deeply and before slipping into blissful unconsciousness.

With a thought Luna pulled herself and the sleeping form back to his domain. Her eyes glazed over as she looked upon his small and tired body.

“Sister,” she said with an uncharacteristic resolve, “I respect your privacy. But the wellbeing of my Ponies must come before all else.”

Inspiration is a powerful thing.

Dual sighed as he looked at the state of his study, though it was nothing compared to the massive headache he had woken up to. He began the arduous job of picking up each paper, one by one, and putting them in their proper place. After several minutes he found the false report, buried in a shallow grave of notes and documents. He gingerly picked it up and placed it on the nearby table. He stared at it for a moment before chuckling to himself.

“And to think,” he said, “such a simple bunch of paper could cause me so much grief.” As he turned away a golden glare caught his eye, he looked back to the table when he realized that the golden ink in Princess Celestia’s seal had caught the light in just such a way to momentarily blind him.

When he saw it the first time he assumed it was nothing more than an impressive forgery, though after he inspected it he discovered it was an exact duplicate.

Something seemed off about it.

In all honesty it was a terrible idea to begin with. Normally he would have just disregarded it without a second though but by that point he was far to ingrained in the case to turn away a possible lead.

She couldn’t have done it; there was no way she could have.

“Or was there?” He thought to himself. He walked back over to the table and picked up the fraudulent report, carefully slotting it into his saddlebags. After that he took a deep breath, turned around, and walked out the door.

Chapter Seven: The Plan

I think it might be time for me to go and retune my nexus uplinks; they still seem to work, more or less, but they are starting to get a bit out of sync.

Of course, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. So as it can take me from point A to point B, I can’t complain. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even noticed the issue if Dual hadn’t so kindly pointed it out to me. Still, it’s a matter of common courtesy to keep my magic in check.

That and it helps prevent certain awkward situations.

For example, today I was rudely awoken by a certain Earth Pony when he was ejected from the end point of the nexus which shot him out at a wall and caused him to fall on top of me. After a brief and inconclusive argument about whose fault it really was he informed me that he had some news.

Some very important news that he only felt comfortable discussing in his private study.

Well that and apparently the unbound magic permeating the air in my home was starting to give him a headache…

Either way the two of us went back through the nexus and, after I extricated Dual from a nearby tree, I found myself with him in his study.

The room, for the first time since we started this investigation together, was completely spotless. All the papers, books, and folders were neatly tucked away into filing cabinets or sealed in boxes and stacked neatly in the corner of the room. Really, except for the missing table, the place looked good as new.

It surprised me.

By then I was used to the study being in a state of absolute Chaos, with papers and books strewn every which way and with the walls covered in diagrams and leads that pointed in seemingly random directions. For the first time in months the place was had a sort of defined Order to it; the change gave the room a distinct air of anticipation and a grim seriousness hung down, it clung to everything it touched.

“Alright, what’s this about?” I asked Dual bluntly, this obviously wasn’t time to play games. I could tell that this was a time to get answers, straight and to the point.

Dual simply walked over to the table in the center of the room and sat down, reaching under the tabletop and opening a drawer in front of him. A few moments later he pulled out two different file folders, each of them clearly marked and labeled, and set them on the table in front of him.

Two reports were laid out on the table. One of them was a carefully constructed analysis on my escape and “re-containment” while the other was a fraud, a blatant lie that insulted me with its very existence. Just looking at it was enough to make my blood boil, however I tempered myself if only to satiate my curiosity.

Dual sighed and stepped away from the table before he started pacing back and forth across the room.

“Honestly, I was at my wits end with this entire investigation. I tackled it from every angle I could think of; no matter how hard I tried and no matter how through I was I ultimately reached the conclusion time and time again, a dead end.”

He spoke with a sort of grim determination as he walked back and forth across the room. The entire time he kept a perfect posture, eyes forward, chin up, chest out and shoulders squared. Still there was the occasional slip in his voice; I could tell he desperately wanted to tell me something but that the time wasn’t quite right.

My anticipation was building but I kept it locked up tight in my gut, I had waited this long.

He sighed and continued.

“For a while I seriously contemplated giving up and abandoning the case.” He paused for a moment and stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I wondered how many times he had had this conversation before, figuring out the exact delivery to cultivate a more “manageable” response from his client.

“However, I happened to notice something odd when I was cleaning up after a certain little incident. I was looking at the report, the fake one anyway, and the seal managed to catch my eye.” He stopped his incessant pacing as suddenly as he started and moved back over to the table, propping himself up by his hooves and bringing himself closer to eye level. He stared down at the folders with intent, carefully maneuvering himself while he took the reports out of the folders.

“I noticed, well more remembered, something that I thought was inconsequential before.” He shook his head. “At first I didn’t think it would amount to anything to check it out so I ignored it, but I didn’t have any other leads so I decided that it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot.”

Dual squared his shoulders and raised himself up the few extra inches it took to look me dead in the eyes.

“Discord, I may have found our culprit.”

It took a few moments for the words to really sink in and for the reality of it to really hit me. Of course I expected it, there were signs, but seeing it coming and hearing it from the horse’s mouth were two different things entirely. Still, I recovered and burst into action.

“Congratulations!” I exclaimed as I popped in behind Dual with a burst of confetti and a complementary shoulder rub, “I knew you had it in you, chum!” I felt the tension drain out of me as I really started to process the situation, it was as if I was caring a large boulder on my back and I suddenly decided to throw it out of a second story window. The sense of relief was euphoric; for a moment I was worried that Dual had called me there to tell me that he was giving up the case, after all, the poor stallion was working on this for weeks with no real progress.

“Oh-ho, Luna had her doubts about you but I never doubted that you would pull through for a second! I-” Dual curtailed my celebration by unceremoniously shrugging me off of him, he even swatted off his party hat.

“Enough, Discord,” he said, still as serious as before his announcement, “I said that I may have found our culprit, but I am not entirely convinced yet; I brought you here to discuss my findings and to get a second opinion on my evidence.” He quickly regained my attention, as well as my curiosity.

“Evidence,” I thought to myself. “Alright, Dual, I’m sorry I flew off the handle prematurely. You know I can be serious if I have to be,” I said with a winning smile and continued, “now what exactly is this “evidence” you wanted me to look over?” I was barely containing my excitement; I just wanted this ordeal to be over. He motioned to the documents of him and I looked over his shoulder at the two reports.

“Now,” he began officiously, “like I said, I was cleaning up when I came across this report.” He pointed his hoof at the thinner stack of papers on his left and continued. “My eye was drawn to Celestia’s Royal Seal.” He began rummaging through the area under the table again while he continued speaking. “Now most officials in Equestria use a “Two Seal” system,” he popped back up with two stampers and a sheet of paper and placed them on the table, “this is because it became apparent that it was easy for nobles to forge official seals to falsify documents.” To punctuate his point he stamped both seals onto the paper leaving two intricate patterns on the page. “With two it’s harder to replicate, of course it’s still possible; in fact I had these two made to prove that point in a case a few years ago; these are an exact replica of House Galaxy’s seals. However, Unicorns, and by extension Alicorns, have access to a different system.

“They use an “Augmented Seal” system. Essentially, instead of having two separate seals, they only have one seal; when they press the stamp onto their documents they impart some of their magical energy to it.” He pointed at the report’s seals. “This creates a sort of energy signature that is totally unique to the seal holder, it’s a more secure and convenient system than carrying two seals. Of course they can still be forged, but it’s much more difficult; that’s how I established the original baseline for the amount of resources that a potential perpetrator should have access to.” I nodded; we had been through all of this before. I waited patiently for his conclusion and I furrowed my brow at the report in front of me.

“When I saw the seal again, I had a disturbing thought; it was an absurd idea really. I wanted to prove to myself that I was wrong, so I brought these two reports and my discontinuation of service papers from The Princess to a local “expert” on such enchantments.” He looked up at me seriously. “The only thing she asked for in return for her services was anonymity, so I apologize that I can’t tell you who they are; but trust me when I say she is an utmost authority on the subject.” I swallowed my pride a bit feeling a bit betrayed, but I allowed him to continue regardless. He quickly bowed under the table again and pulled out another stack of papers, setting them on the table.

“I had her analyze the two reports, using my dismissal papers as a verified baseline. I specifically asked search for any difference in Princess Celestia’s magical signature.” He stopped and grabbed up the stacks of paper, passing them to me, I was confused at this gesture until he elaborated. “For obvious reasons,” he tapped his forehead with a hoof, “I can’t verify her findings personally; however, you're considered a mage au-dessus excellence and you should have no trouble comparing the signatures for yourself.

On cue I raised the papers in question up into the air in front of me. As I methodically isolated Celestia’s signature from my own power I had a bit of dead time to think about things. I wondered just exactly where Dual was going with all of this; even if I could spot the difference between the signatures I could not identify who created the forgery, at least without a sample of their own magic to compare it to. Regardless, my trust in Dual’s deductive prowess far outweighed my skepticism.

Eventually I managed to cut through the energy surrounding me and lock on to the faint magical signatures emanating from the three seals. It would have normally taken me a very long time to perform such a delicate task due to the fact that my own magical energy has a bad habit of overpowering the natural field surrounding me; however, in this case I had a few unique advantages that expedited the process. The power in the seals was stronger than it would normally be, probably due to Celestia’s own power.

It also helped that I have become somewhat familiar with Celestia over the years.

Of course, I rarely meet with her personally. I’m simply too busy to engage myself in idle pleasantries and I except Celestia feels more or less the same. I believe that we have a nice, silent, agreement to stay out of each other’s way unless absolutely necessary, barring the occasional bit of fun at her expense of course.

Still, I know her well enough that I can at least recognize her magic at a glance. I used that familiarity to hone in on her signature. Eventually I could clearly see the magic impressed in each of the seals in my mind’s eye.

Of course they weren’t identical, not to me at least.

Magic, at any level and in any form, is heavily influenced by the user’s subconscious predispositions as well as their current emotional state. Celestia, of course, would have a refined air of impartiality and she would be a master in the art of emotional control, when you rule a nation for as long as she has it’s just something that you pick up out of necessity. However, I can say, without boast, that my mastery of the subconscious and emotional realms is completely unparalleled by any being on Equis. So when I looked at these signatures I saw the mind of a Pony in three wildly different states of mind.

In the dismissal form, I saw what one would expect from The Great Princess Celestia. There was a calm, cool, indifference displayed proudly in her magic. There was a kind of self-assurance that comes from over a thousand years of leadership and the assumption that one would live to see a thousand more.

There was also a slight undertone of relief.

“Curious.” I thought to myself as I moved on to the next.

In the official report, the real one, on my release was painted an entirely different picture. I saw fear and undiluted paranoia etched into the magic permeating the page. I also noticed that there was a strong, but tightly controlled, sense of regret laced in as well. Given the very nature of the report I expected the fear, I wasn’t exactly harmless, but the regret confused me.

What bothered me the most is the sense of anticipation, I would expect that there would be some sort of calm or a sort of relief woven into the magic here but I could find none. It’s almost like the part of the signature on this document and the dismissal form had been switched; however, that would be as impossible as it sounds.

Then the final report continued one of the most perplexing cocktail of emotions I had ever seen. I expected some sort of pride or smug satisfaction, the culprit patting themselves on the back for a job well done. At the very least I would expect some sort of nervous tension, the expectation that the forgery might be discovered.

Instead I found guilt, self-loathing, and something else that I couldn’t seem to pin down.

Something strange.

“Very curious indeed.” I said as I checked through them to verify my findings.

Dual looked between me and the papers, perplexed. “What do you mean, what’s curious?” This time it was my turn to hold up a talon and ask for a moment of silence while I worked. He obliged, although I could tell it was slightly begrudgingly.

Despite the nearly contradictory mindsets it was very much clear to me that each of these signatures came from the same Pony and it was obvious to me that that Pony could only be Princess Celestia. I decided to keep my own findings close to my chest.

“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head, but I don’t see anything that would indicate that any of these seals are fraudulent.” Of course I would never lie to Dual, but he has his secrets and I have mine. “As far as I can tell all of them contain Celestia’s energy signature.” He turned to face me; I idly wondered just how long I had taken inspecting the reports. It wouldn’t have been the first time I had kept him waiting for hours for a response, time gets away from me sometimes. His response caught me off guard.

“Exactly,” he said with confidence, “my informant told me the exact same thing.”

He got up and snatched the papers out of the air before he continued. “A forgery that good could only be attempted by one of the premier mages of Equestria, and even so it would have taken them months to make it; this leaves us with only one possible suspect who could do it in the previously established time frame.” He returned the papers to the table in front of him, staring intently at them as if willing them to reveal their secrets. I frowned and I tried to understand exactly what he was getting at. He didn’t give me any ground, he knew Equestria better than I did at this point, I couldn’t figure out exactly what he was implying.

He sat down and sighed, running a hoof through his mane before scratching the back of his head.

Then he finally gave me my answer.

“I only wish I could understand why she did it.”

It was at that moment that it all clicked.

The Pony I spend over a year trying to find had been right in plain sight the whole time. I couldn’t understand how I could have been so blind; I still can’t understand it honestly, it was obvious but I never even considered the possibility that it could be her all along.

“Celestia.” Her name slipped out of my lips like an angry cobra, tensed to strike and poised to kill. As I said it I could feel a shiver straight down my spine, it was the answer I had been searching for but not the one I wanted. Instead of giving me closure it only gave me more questions.

How could the fiery, young, mare that I met all those years ago be capable of something so…

Dishonest?

Deceptive?

Cold

Dual allowed me a moment to wonder before he nodded and continued. “From a legal standpoint The Princesses are absolutely untouchable, they have every protection the law affords to anypony and they even have the power to change those laws whenever they see fit; their decisions have even been held retroactively in some cases.” I looked over to him to see him sitting, staring blankly at the far wall as he spoke. “Unfortunately that means direct confrontation is a no-go situation here. Even if we brought a case against her she could simply dismiss it and she would never even have to acknowledge our claims.” He looked back at me giving me a sullen and defeated look. “I am afraid that I have absolutely no idea how to go forward from here.” He shook his head and sighed, as he looked at me I could see the defeat etched in his expression.

“We are in uncharted waters sailing on stormy seas my friend.”

I nodded, thinking about the obvious predicament. The whole point of this was to bypass Celestia and get my answers myself, but that wasn’t an option anymore.

Dual had done well, but his expertise would only take him so far.

But now, thanks to him, I had everything I needed. It was finally my time to shine.

“Actually, I think that direct confrontation is the only way forward from here. Though, as you said before, we can’t rely on the law to abide us anymore.” I turned away from him and looked over at the calendar pinned on the wall; nothing was marked so I continued without hesitation.

“No, I think that this calls for a much more personal approach.” I turned back around and looked down at Dual. He looked up at me and cocked his head slightly, obviously curious about where I was going with this. “Dual,” I asked, “how quickly do you think you can have that instability report that I told you about ready if I gave you my research material? I need it drafted and ready to present to Celestia as soon as possible.”

“Uh, it would take me about three weeks to verify everything and to construct the full report.” He eyed me warily. “Discord, what are you-”

“Good,” I said, cutting him off, “in that case I will return I a month; I expect the job to be done by then. In the meantime I have a few things that I need to take care of.” I quickly manipulated my nexus in order to make an expedient exit, but before I left I added a bit of advice. “Take the extra time to relax; you look like you have been through Tartarus, don’t strain yourself any more than you already have alright?”

Of course I didn’t wait for a response; I had far too much to do and precious little time to do it. So I stepped through the nexus and immediately started planning my next move.

Mark my words when I say that I am going to enjoy this.

Celestia, you’re in my realm now.

The russet colored Earth Pony decided not to question it when The Lord of Chaos and Spirit of Disharmony suddenly vanished. He did not question the absolute the complete and utter role reversal that had taken place just moments ago. He learned months ago that such questions did not bode well for his sanity.

Instead he stood up and thought carefully about the events that had occurred in the last few minutes.

Then he thought about how much had happened in the last few months, he sighed and promptly decided on his next course of action.

“I need a drink…”

Chapter Eight: The End

The meeting Discord had proposed to Celestia was simple enough; at least it didn’t have any obvious strings attached. Then again, the best bait never did.

Discord simply asked to speak with Celestia at the end of the day, in private. Celestia was free most nights after court was dismissed, so Discord asked to meet her in her chambers an hour before sunset. It gave her plenty of time to finish her paperwork and plenty of time to talk before she set the sun and went to sleep.

Discord accounted for everything, making perfectly sure that there weren’t any conditions that would inconvenience her unnecessarily. Even though Celestia only had a few hours’ worth of notice there wouldn’t be any real reasons for her to reject his proposal, all according to plan.

The best part was that it was inconspicuous, at least for him. If he had asked her weeks in advance it would have seemed out of character for him. The short notice gave the request a rushed and impulsive air that implied a certain playfulness and informality, classic Discord. He took every possible precaution to ensure that Celestia felt like she was in control, to make her feel like he was accounting for her.

Of course, that’s only what Discord wanted her to believe.

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

That was the plan, more or less; to lull her into a false sense of security, to get her guard down, and then pounce. She would never expect her precious pet to bare its fangs. She would never expect him to strike her down when she was at her most vulnerable so he could extract her darkest secrets straight from the source.

It was simple, he would win and she would lose.

And he would accept nothing less.

Everything had been leading up to this moment; Discord made sure that he dotted every i and crossed every t. He wouldn’t allow himself to spoil his moment of glory by making some petty mistake or miscalculation, this was the moment where he would finally get the answer he was looking for.

“Why?”

“Truly,” he thought to himself as he looked over at the final report that lay beside him, “why did Celestia have to release me? After a thousand years of bondage and after all the Havoc I caused when I escaped, how could she possibly justify the risk my freedom posed to her?”

Discord had already made all the necessary preparations, the report was finished and ready to “present,” Celestia would have received the request from Luna, and he had already planned out every move he would make. Now all he could do is waiting for the endgame to begin, out of habit he had turned to his report turned journal. His mind roiled with endless possibilities, they taunted him mercilessly as he confessed to the worn tome.

“Perhaps this is her way of atoning for the all of those years of torment she put me through?” He scrawled his thoughts on the page reflexively. “But why hide it from me in that case? What possible reason would she have to lie about it? Was she afraid I would reject her apology; was she afraid of how I would react? If that’s the case then she might have just lost her nerve now that the elements are locked away…”

Discord thought back to the incident that had conveniently removed The Elements from the equation, returning them to their rightful resting place. He tapped his quill loudly on the bottom of the page. Frowning at the lack of empty space on it he flipped to the next page to find that there wasn’t one, without thinking he snapped his talons and new pages appeared out of thin air and fused with the book. He didn’t waste any time filling them out.

“Imagine my surprise when I was suddenly surrounded by The Elements while they accused me of kidnaping the princesses after I actually did it! I was sure they would simply trap me in that damnable prison for all eternity. Luckily for me that zebra showed up with that potion, it turns out a potion that supposedly rips someone out of their body and induces prophetic visions leaves them quite susceptible to hypnotic suggestion; who knew?”

He was still surprised how well it had worked out, for all parties involved.

Discord’s thoughts drifted back to the circumstances of his release. He knew all of the official reasons and he had his own theories, but none of them seemed to satisfy him. “Celestia did tell me that after I was “reformed” my abilities would be for the defense of the empire and the betterment of its citizens; but is that all? Am I really just a tool to her now? Was I some pawn that could be thrown away when it was no longer useful?” The thought struck him deep.

He still had more power than she did. Without the elements by her side she didn’t have any real control over him anymore. He could bring her to her knees at any time, but even that didn’t give him much peace of mind.

For as long as he could remember, Discord had power.

With just a snap of his talons, reality would literally bend over backwards to serve his desires. Discord had the power of a deity, the power to raise civilizations and dash them on a whim. Because of this power, for as long as he could remember, everyone else just saw him as a means to an end.

To all those who could possess him, Discord was an engine of true revolution. With his power behind their will they nothing was beyond their reach, provided that they had the insight to utilize his unique talents. Some were paragons and some were reavers, more still were somewhere in between, but most all of them had one thing in common.

Discord was nothing more than a tool to them, a powerful tool but a tool all the same.

To them Discord was like a Primordial Flame, some ancient artifact of limitless power. In the right hands, such power could be sued to build great empires or destroy them outright. The heat of the flame would allow the holder to forge a destiny that they could not attain by their own means.

However, great power comes often comes at an even greater price.

The closer one holds the flame to their hearts the more powerful it would become, burning brighter and brighter until one day it would consume them entirely.

That’s what Discord was to them; he was a chance at greatness, the ultimate gambit. He was something to be used and then cast aside as quickly as possible.

For almost as long as he could remember that was just the way it was, and with no one to show him a different way that’s the way it would always be.

Even though he didn’t know anything else at the time, he knew he wanted more from life than to be some object of favor

He had seen his chance all those years ago, back when the Ponies asked him for his help. There was something strange about the whole affair that he couldn’t quite pin down; perhaps it was in the way they had asked him on bended-knee, or perhaps it was simply how they carried themselves. Regardless of the reason, he knew that there was something there.

There was something that made him say yes.

There was something that made him stay.

It took eons of waiting but he found it, the day two mares stepped forward to challenge him.

Luna had a sort of ethereal elegance about her, even then. The first time he locked eyes with her she immediately backed down, but her reservation wasn’t due to cowardice. No, Discord saw a flame that burned deep in her heart. He could see that she wanted nothing more than to find peace in this world; she wanted to find a sanctuary from all the horrors and evils of this world and use it to protect that which she held dear.

Then when she turned back and looked him dead in the eyes he could feel her determination. She would find what she was looking for; even if she had to carve her peace out of his hide, she would find it.

She still had that flame in her soul. When Discord looked into her eyes he could still see it burning bright, blasting straight through the darkness within her.

Celestia was different.

When Discord first saw her he could see a fire burning within her as well, a purpose that consumed her every thought. Where Luna asked only for peace Celestia wanted prosperity, simple survival wasn’t enough for Celestia. She saw a world full of potential just waiting to be unleashed.

Where Luna wanted to reignite the forgotten flames, Celestia wanted to watch the world rise like a born-again phoenix.

Even then, he could tell that she wanted to touch the sun. But now, that desire that burned so brightly before was obscured. Maybe it was still there, still burning deep in her heart, maybe she just hid it away.

Still, a thousand years was a long time and he couldn’t be absolutely sure.

He needed to know if it was still there. He needed to know if she still had that fire in her soul.

“If that’s the case, if I’m just a means to an end to her, then the Celestia I knew is well and truly dead.”

“And if she couldn’t last just a thousand years, with all that vigor and determination, what chance do I have against eternity?”

Discord sat there, staring at the words in front of him. Once he decided the ink had dried enough he closed the journal and looked out the nearest window. He could see the shadow from the trees beginning to creep through the glass as the sun fell closer and closer to the horizon.

He got up and stepped through the nexus.

Discord was the self-styled Lord of Chaos, with a snap of his talons the world’s order would bow to his whim without question. But Discord wasn’t omnipotent; there were things he couldn’t control.

For example, Discord couldn’t control what he was afraid of.

Discord was afraid of change.

When Discord stepped out onto Celestia’s balcony he realized that he was still a few minutes early. Deciding to take advantage of the situation, and to get a head start, he silently floated into the room, searching for his mark.

He found Celestia sitting at a modest desk, doing paperwork. He took a moment to decide exactly how to deal with her. Once he had a plan in place it took a concerted effort to stop him from snapping his talons, he silently conjured everything he would need.

He didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

Slowly, he moved himself into position. A wicked grin spread across his face as he imagined the look on her face. He steadied himself against the air and coiled up his body and-

“Hello, Discord.”

He proceeded to stumble and fall to the ground into a pile of sentient, and extremely agitated, air horns. After a brief, and decidedly one sided, battle he dispelled them and dusted himself off.

“How did you know?” He asked with a mix of annoyance and disbelief. “I didn’t make a sound.”

Celestia, calm as ever, just glanced over to the side. Discord tracked her gaze and noticed the full length mirror mounted on the wall. He could clearly see Celestia’s desk reflected upon its surface. He grunted an affirmative before he moved up to inspect the mirror in detail.

After a taking a bit of time to admire himself he noticed Celestia looking at the mirror with an amused expression on her face. It was then that he thought of a much better use for the mirror.

If she could do it, what was stopping him?

“I believe you wanted to discuss something with me?” She asked with her trademark smirk.

“Right,” he said in a serious tone, “of course.” He made a point to glance over at the papers on her desk. “That is so long as you aren't too busy. If you have more important matters to attend to then we could always reschedule.” He huffed and turned back to the mirror, feigning his own vanity as he carefully studied Celestia’s expression. He waited patiently for her carefully maintained mask to crack before his eyes.

She simply shook her head with an unfettered grace. “Don’t worry, Discord, I made sure that I took care of everything else before you got here.” She hesitated a moment, obviously waiting for him to make some witty remark, before she quietly sighed and continued. “You know, you don’t have to go through all this trouble just to talk to me,” she took a tentative step towards him adding to the sincerity of her address. “My doors are always open to you, Discord.” With all his willpower he managed to suppress a devilish grin as he quickly spun around and started floating over to her.

“Why of course, Celestia! Of course I know that.” He said, rolling his eyes for added effect. “Besides, it’s not like you could stop me from waltzing in here even if I wasn’t welcome.” When he was directly in front of her he stopped and silently touched down. “You and I both know that I normally wouldn’t bother with all of this. However,” he said casually before he moved behind her, “I’m here on business.” He smiled to himself as he waited for her to make her move.

“Oh,” she said softly before moving on with a bit more confidence. “Then I assume you’re here to discuss the nature of your assignments.” There was a slight edge on Celestia’s words what Discord couldn’t identify, impatience, annoyance perhaps? He scolded himself for his inability to read her from her voice alone. He decided to flip himself over to address, and observe, her properly.

Discord nodded curtly. “Precisely, I thought it would be prudent to make sure you aware of my progress so far.” He carefully chose his words to make doubly sure his façade wouldn’t slip. “I’m sorry to say that I’ve run into some unexpected delays in writing up my full report of the properties of Chaos; however, I trust that you’ve heard of my influence on the artistic community.” Discord briefly rubbed his paw across his chest, exaggerating the motion and making it more obvious than it needed to be. At the same time he kept a close eye on Celestia, watching her closely. Though, for all his subterfuge she simply smiled and nodded at him.

“Yes, of course, I find myself quite taken with some of the new art spreading through Canterlot.” For a moment Celestia seemed to become distracted as she looked up and down the wall beside them. “In fact,” she said as her horn flared with an amber light, “I even went through the trouble of commissioning this piece for my personal collection.”

Discord watched as Celestia carefully removed a painting from the wall and passed it to him. He picked it up out of the air and stared at it intently.

The painting seemed to depict a forest at dusk, though the colors were all wrong. They mixed and clashed violently at times but they somehow managed to hold together well enough to make the scene obvious. The focus of the painting wasn’t much more than a streak, a serpentine blur of motion that seemed to make the paint around it warp and distort strangely. The odd thing about it was its contrast with the rest of the scene; whereas everything else was painted with reds, blues, and other vivid colors, the specter in question was strictly earth toned.

It seemed out of place to him, it was almost as if the scene and the figure were painted by two different Ponies.

The figure didn’t seem to belong, it seemed wrong to him. It took him a moment to collect himself enough to respond, he couldn’t afford to become distracted by such trivial pursuits. Celestia, however, took advantage of his moment of hesitation.

“I can’t say for sure that I really understand it; however, I must admit I do find this new style rather striking.” She carried on despite herself. “I suppose it just has a sort of je ne sais quoi to it.” Discord frowned at the painting and handed it back to Celestia.

“I suppose you could say that,” he said with a hollow tone, “I found the “traditional” styles lacking so I just offered them a different perspective.” He shrugged. “All I did was to offer them a chance to see the world as I see it, fluid and Chaotic.” He emphasized his point with a minor flourish as Celestia mounted the painting on the wall. “To you it might seem new and different, but to me,” he paused for a moment searching for a word, “it just screams of normalcy.”

Discord decided not to waste any more time thinking about it and he turned to the mirror, continuing his covert surveillance of Celestia. She stared at the painting blankly.

“Regardless,” Discord continued, “neither of those assignments have anything to do with what I wanted to discuss.” He continued to watch her through the mirror as she turned and stared at him.

“Then I suppose that you’re here to discuss the other report then?” She said with a touch of aversion evident in her tone.

Discord frowned, if only to keep up appearances in case she was paying as much attention as he was. “Yes, I finished the report several days ago and I’m prepared to deliver a full presentation on the issue.”

“I have to admit that I’m impressed by your progress Discord.” Celestia said “When I gave you these tasks I wasn’t sure if you would actually follow up on them, let alone complete them so quickly.” Discord scoffed.

“You wound me, Celestia, you truly wound me.” He made a show of being distraught at her comment; she took it in good form up until he decided to twist the knife. “And here I thought that you actually trusted me.” Discord barley managed to suppress a grin when she flinched at the word ‘trusted.’ “But, here you are implying that I couldn’t perform.” He decided to milk it just a bit more. “Do you doubt my ability, dearest Celestia?” He couldn’t help but smile at her when she hesitated.

“Not at all, Discord, I have complete and total confidence in your ability and your loyalty to the crown. What I meant to say is that I’m proud of how far you’ve managed to come since your release.”

Discord scoffed. “So what you mean to say is that you’re surprised that I’m not some snarling, self-obsessed, lunatic?” He turned back to the mirror and struck another pose. “I’ll have you know that I haven’t snarled in months.” He quipped, seriously.

“Discord, that’s not what I mea-”

“As much as I enjoy our little talks, Celestia, I would like to remind you that I’m here on business.”

Celestia straightened up behind him. “Well, if you’re ready to present your report, them by all means, I am ready to receive it.” Discord, ever the professional, didn’t miss his cue.

“If you insist,” he said, in obvious mock submission as he bowed before her, “here it is.

“When I first arrived on the scene in Canterlot there wasn’t really much to go on in the way of any leads. Everything seemed to, more or less, follow a carefully constructed system that was designed to promote the wellbeing of its citizens. Just in the way that you, and to a lesser extent Luna, intended when you constructed the system.” He turned around and suddenly stopped in order to build up some dramatic tension. “However, if you dig deep enough chances are you will find some dirt anywhere.”

“There are some actors in the system whose motivations are far from altruistic. As far as it’s mostly individuals from the more archaic portions of the aristocracy, but there are a few, well to do, industrialists who aren’t above getting their hooves a little dirty. Either way, they only seem to be interested in climbing the ranks of their respective circles and gaining more power within the system. Keep in mind that a little self-agency isn’t a bad thing; however, the real issue is that there are those among their ranks who are willing to abuse their rank or ply their power in nefarious ways to get what they want. As far as I can tell, this has been going on for quite some time, and, as one would expect some of these individuals have managed to garner a stranglehold on important sectors of both the sociopolitical and economic realms.

“Again, generally speaking, this sort of thing isn’t much of an issue in itself. Despite their questionable methods, acquiring these positions of power is no easy feat, so it’s only natural that they would want to properly maintain their holdings. By keeping everything in line for, themselves they inadvertently make sure that the system runs smoothly for everyone else. Besides that, there is also that fact that for every individual that abuses the system, there are a hundred, honest and hardworking Ponies that want nothing more than to do their jobs and to serve the rest of the community.”

Discord took a moment to catch his breath and make sure Celestia was still paying attention. Ploy or not, he still worked hard to get this presentation together and he didn’t want to waste his time. He looked up at her and noticed that she was staring blankly at her own reflection, painted in the mirror behind him. He was pleased to note however, that her ears were subtly turned in his direction, signifying that some part of her was still listening. Pleased with his rapt, if somewhat disconcerted, audience, he continued.

"However, while this may not cause any problems in the day-to-day, it does allow certain unpleasant “eventualities” to occur, and believe me they will occur.” He took another short pause ensuring that Celestia had enough time process what he was saying before moving on to the important part of his address. “For example; it’s not rare for individuals with egregiously large holdings to spontaneously lose control of their estates. Once this happens either someone, like a family member or partner, has to step in immediately to fill the power vacuum, or it will draw everyone around it into a massive struggle for dominance. The bigger the power vacuum the bigger the resulting struggle, and the bigger the struggle the more it affects other, innocent, parties.”

“Then again, assuming my ancient history is up to par, I suppose I shouldn’t have to tell you how a power vacuum works.” Celestia nodded slowly, still obviously distracted but now occasionally glancing in his direction as he spoke. “As I was saying, it’s normally a minor nuisance at best, but sometimes individuals can garner huge amounts of power and this can lead to catastrophic failures when they lose it. The worst case scenario would be if such a struggle leads to the destabilization of other’s spheres of influence, this could cause several important sectors in your empire to simply collapse. I’m sure you can imagine what would happen if even an auxiliary sector of the economy stopped production for length of time.”

“Another scenario involves the unique codes of conduct that exist within these isolated power structures. As I’m sure you can ascertain All of those involved play complex and dangerous games that, while personally gratifying, has no real effect on the average citizen’s livelihood; however, there is the very real possibility of scandal.”

Discord watched carefully as Celestia’s expression grew darker, and darker still, as he spoke.

“Imagine, if you will, a situation where all the good, honest, Ponies of Canterlot suddenly discovered that a certain, high ranking, noble house was involved in some suspiciously legal and morally incomprehensible plot. They, as responsible citizens, would demand that the house and all their dealings be investigated, and they would not stop the investigation until every bit of corruption was rooted out. It might seem like a good thing to do, and it probably is the most ethical course of action; however, something like that could have far reaching consequences. For example, a large enough investigation might uncover that someone’s fourth cousin, twice removed by a fifth cousin, is involved in another conspiracy. At that point you have teams of investigators hop scotching all around Equestria, shutting down valuable sectors in order to do their work, and while they are at it they are off dismantling a corrupt, but functional, power structure that keeps Equestria from falling into Chaos!”

Celestia raised a curious eyebrow at him and he turned around and stared back at her. “What? It could happen,” Celestia continued giving him a disbelieving look and he threw his arms up in surrender. “Alright, alright, so it’s not the most likely scenario, but believe me when I say that is the best possible scenario.” Discord spun back around just in time to see Celestia cock her head at him, obviously curious.

“So, let’s go back to the beginning of that scene then. Now, we have a horde of Ponies demanding a full scale investigation on a noble house and they won’t stop their demands until justice is served. Well, what do you think they would do if, for example, some archaic bylaw prevented any the public from taking legal action against them? I’m sure you’re aware that your judicial system can’t take much pressure from the outside before it collapses entirely. So what’s to stop the house from using its resources to buy lawyers to lobby the courts and stop an investigation before it’s even started, hmm?” Discord started picking between the pads on his paw as he waited for an answer for his obviously rhetorical question.

“So if the courts can’t deliver the justice that everyone is clamoring for, what then?” Discord turned around and started stalking over to her. “I’ve seen it, Celestia, and I’m sure you’ve heard about it at some point. An Empire burning from the inside out, protests turning into riots, martial law is declared, a coup is sprung and soon the whole country falls into civil war.” He passed Celestia and stopped right beside her, running a talon all the way up her spine and stopping right on her withers. A brief moment of inspiration suddenly struck him and he chuckled darkly.

“Of course, you won’t ever have that happen, not all of it anyway. I’ve seen more than my fair share of coups and there weren’t many that ended peacefully,” he smiled down at her as he pressed his thumb against her, holding off the pressure just before he would pierce the skin. “They aren’t pleasant in the least, but I think I certainly learned from the experience. For example, Celestia, do you know the best way to kill a snake?” At that, Discord quickly cut his thumb across her neck. He only pressed hard enough to just graze her skin, but to her it would have felt much more real.

“Need I go on, Celestia?” He said as she sputtered and coughed for a few moments. He patiently waited for her to regain her composure.

She rubbed at her neck protectively. “No, no, I think you made your point quite clear.” At that point she was still hyperventilating; they both waited a few minutes until she let out a slow and dignified breath, shaking her head. “However, I would like to hear what you would do about the situation. That is to say, Discord, that if you were in my place, what would you do to rectify the situation?”

“I suppose that if I were in your situation that I would probably try to strengthen the judiciary to the point where it can effectively function without me.” He thought about that for a moment. “Me as in you, of course, as much as I hate to admit it the system would probably run a bit smoother if I weren’t part of the picture.” He shrugged. “I’m sure that your judgment is better than most court officials when it comes to small disputes; however, if you could spear head a major investigation and allow other Ponies to take up your day to day duties as a Princess, then you could handle the investigation quickly and quietly on your own. That way there isn’t any risk of the whole situation boiling over, and you can deal with it on your own time.”

“Also, I would try to put a muzzle on the press. If they reveal a situation to the public before you are ready to deal with it, it might lead to trouble in the long run.” Discord stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “Though I suppose you can’t really do that without anyone asking too many questions…” Discord hummed in annoyance as he wrestled with the issue. “Ah-ha! You don’t have to eliminate the press so much as you just have to keep it from poking around in the wrong places. If you offer them grants to pursue different topics, for the education of the public, then for the most part they should be more interested in going after the stories you ask them to then the ones you would rather not have published.” Discord nodded and scratched the side of his face. “It’s not a perfect solution, but it might just delay the inevasible until you can deal with it properly.” He heard a small giggle behind him; he turned around and stared at Celestia in annoyance. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude about it. I just find it funny that here you didn’t give me any advice about actually dealing with the problem, you just told me what I could do to ignore it.”

Discord pouted at her. “Well, you didn’t ask me what you should do; you asked me what I would do.” He crossed his arms. “If you don’t like the advice I gave you then that’s your problem, not mine.”

“Thank you, Discord; it was all very good advice. Though I will admit, I have known about most of what you said for a while and your solutions, mostly, match up with my own.” She shook her head at him. “Either way, it’s nice to hear your perspective on the matter.” She smiled up at him.” I trust that you have a full written report on the subject ready for me as well?”

Finally, he could get to the real reason he was here.

“Of course, Celestia.” He said as the report materialized in his claw with a muted pop. “I have it right here.” He made a show of looking it over and he frowned. “However,” he stated grimly, “there is one more thing I wanted to discuss with you before I leave.” He held the report, his bait, close to his chest but still in plain view for Celestia to see.

“Of course, what exactly did you want to talk about?”

“Fraud.” Celestia took a half step back when he spit out the word with obvious disdain. He took advantage of her moment of shock as he continued, with a macabre grin slowly spreading across his face.

“Fraud, Celestia, is the act of falsification; at its core it’s an act of dishonesty. Fraud is the act of disregarding a hard truth in favor of a convenient lie.” It a great deal of effort for him to keep the excitement from creeping into his voice as he talked down to her in a clear monotone. “It’s really just another unfortunate issue in society. Wherever there is power to be gained there is someone who will stop at nothing to grab hold of it, and there is always someone who would do anything to keep hold on something once they have it in their grasp.”

He shook his head in a show of mock disappointment, still grinning like a demon.

“It happens, and it will always happen. There is nothing either of us can do about that. However, I believe that I have found a particular case of it that demands your immediate attention.” He bluntly waved the report in the air in front of her before carefully placing it on Celestia’s desk. He took pains to move her paperwork out of the way, so that she had nothing to distract her, before he silently asked her to sit down. His grin faded and was replaced by an expression of serious determination, something that would fit his tone; she nodded at him before going over to the desk, taking a seat.

He didn’t need to doctor the report after he liberated it from Dual, not too much anyway. All he really had to do was splice a page or two in and for him to place a very “specific” enchantment on them. It was simple enough; all it did was allow him to tell when someone was reading it. It allowed him to track Celestia’s eyes as they scrolled across the page, right down to the punctuation.

It wasn’t much, but it was all he needed. Despite the fact that he wasn’t even looking at the report in question, he immediately noticed when Celestia’s eyes froze on a particular name.

“Dual Vision has proven to be an invaluable asset to my investigation. His expertise is what allowed me to complete this report so quickly.” He waited. He waited just long enough for Celestia to catch her breath, just before he stole it again. “As it turns out, he happens to be an expert on fraudulent documents.”

Discord heard Celestia say something under her breath; “I’m sorry, what was that?” He asked, finally taking the time to look down at her. She just shook her head and turned away from his gaze.

“Nothing, it was nothing…”

“Please, continue.”

“You’ll find the description of the incident in question on page three-hundred seventy-six.” He watched her intently as she flipped through the thick packet of paper. Eventually she stopped on the correct page, and after only a brief moment of hesitation he felt her eyes begin to take in the words. He felt her gaze wander across the page and he quickly placed his claw down in front of her. She stopped and stared at his claw as he extended a talon, pointing at the beginning of a paragraph near the top of the page. “You can start here.” He commanded softly. He carefully removed his claw, allowing her to begin reading in earnest.

He tracked her progress as he mentally prepared himself; this was the moment he had been waiting weeks for. The carefully choreographed words were designed to provoke a specific, visceral, reaction from Celestia once she made her way to the bottom of the page. He would only have a few moments where the emotional backlash from her reaction would be strong enough to show through her own mental warding.

As she drew closer to the climax of the passage he could almost taste the fear in the air.

However, he still didn’t stop her. Fear alone wasn’t enough. Fear of discovery was hard to distinguish from a fear of persecution. He needed something definitive before he could go forward.

As she sped through the final lines of the page and moved onto the final sentence he quietly pulled his lips up to her ear and whispered just two words.

“I know.”

Once the words escaped his lips Celestia physically leapt out of her chair. She nearly fell as she took several, panicked, steps back away from him and the report.

The cocktail of the emotions venting out of her almost seemed to take on a physical dimension for Discord just from the sheer intensity of the emotions Celestia was feeling. Her shielding hadn’t failed completely, but it had failed catastrophically. The emotions that showed through were warped and distorted, almost beyond recognition; however, it was more than enough to prove her guilt and far more than Discord needed to move on to the final act. He looked over her pitiable form, contemplating his next move. Her legs were literally shaking as she, barley, stood with her back against the wall, franticly gasping for air as her wings flailed pathetically. Partially moved by pity and partially inspired by cunning he snapped his talons and conjured a small bit of magical anastasia in her system; just enough to ensure that she wouldn’t collapse from the stress of her panic attack.

“Celestia,” he began sympathetically, “please, I only want to know why you did it.” He held his arms up and approached her slowly, trying not to push her in her any further in her fragile state. “I’m not mad at you; I just want to know why you had to hide the report from me. I just want to know why you lied to me.” His voice and her labored breathing were the only noises in the room. Celestia stood in front of him, locked in place, offering him no answer.

“Why won’t you answer me,” it was becoming more and more difficult for him to keep the edge out of his voice, “Celestia!” Suddenly her back legs gave out and she fell to an awkward squat against the wall. As he grew more and more frustrated with her he rose higher into the air until he was almost directly above her. She turned her head down and began staring at the ground by her hooves, avoiding his gaze completely.

“Are you afraid of me, Celestia?” He said, in as calm a voice as he could manage. “Is it that you don’t trust me? Can’t you just tell me what’s really going on, don’t I deserve that much?!?” Her only response was that she to begin shaking her head franticly, while still staring at the floor.

“No! No! No! No! NO! NO!” Celestia shouted as she bolted upright, throwing the same word at him over and over again like a spoiled child having a tantrum. Discord could no longer contain himself, his anger and frustration boiled over.

“NO, What? Are you saying that I don’t deserve to know the reason I am EVEN HERE?!? Answer me! CELESTIA?!?” This time he didn’t have to wait for a response.

“I can’t tell you,” she barked out quickly, “I just can’t!” At this point her whole body was visibly shaking. Discord could feel his own body begin to shake with pent up rage, he couldn’t take it anymore. He felt rejected, trivialized. He had caught her, red hoofed, and she couldn’t even give him the time of day. He couldn’t understand why. There was only one explanation that came to him; the very implication of it all sent him into frenzy.

“Is that ALL I am to you?!?” He shouted. “Am I just a tool, just a means to an end?!?” He began slowly backing away from her as he his voice rose in volume. “I am DISCORD! Lord of Chaos and the very Spirit of Disharmony! I bow to no one and I answer to no one! I will NOT be used by someone like you!”

Without a second thought, Discord vanished from the room.

He left Celestia alone.

Discord popped back into reality in front of his home in the forest. He was livid, absolutely furious at the very idea that Celestia would use him like that.

He was even more upset at the thought that she could use him like that.

That she had used him like that…

He chastised himself for his own ignorance and sheer stupidity, he asked himself if he actually believed the lies he had been feeding himself or if he was simply punishing himself for some forgotten slight.

He knew that he should have seen this coming. He knew that he should have seen it and he should have taken control of the situation sooner, laughing as he took everything away from her for her insolence. He should have just taken everything he needed and anything he wanted from her.

That’s what the old Discord would have done.

Yet, here he was. Staring at his every worldly possession, just wondering what color it would burn.

He felt angry.

He felt betrayed.

He was alone.

And above all else, Discord was tired.

He was tired of the inane assignments, out of the corner of his eye he noticed his report turned diary being consumed by a vicious green flame.

So he decided that he would just stop caring about them altogether.

He was tired of pretending that he could fit in, that he could be a productive member of society, he barely noticed the chunks of wood and masonry smashing through the floor around him.

He decided it would be best if he just didn't bother anymore.

He was tired of all his, so called, friends using him. A distant part of him registered the searing sensation he felt when the strings that tied his nexus together twisted and snapped as they were torn away from him.

He decided it would be best if they stayed away from him.

Discord was tired.

In the center of the rubble filled clearing Discord fell into a deep and fitful sleep.

Chapter Nine: Dissident Perspective

Celestia only owned one mirror.

There are those who would argue that she owned every mirror in Equestria, or at least a quarter of them. However, Celestia only had a few things that she felt comfortable claiming as her personal property, lest she deprive her Ponies of their heritage by taking too much for herself. So while her private chambers were far from Spartan, most who visited would comment about the rather minimalist aesthetic of the rooms.

Of course, Celestia would insist that she had everything she needed. She would tell them that, while she considered the whole of Equestria to be her home, that her private chambers were more or less her own little sanctuary. They were a place she could go to be surrounded by friends and her own memories, a place she could feel comfortable claiming as her own.

Sometimes her more astute visitors would ask her about something in the rooms that caught their eye, like the small Zebracan idol sitting on a pedestal near her balcony, or the Gryphon made Great Spear tucked neatly into a corner. She could spend hours talking with visitors about the memories those walls held, as long as they had the curiosity to ask. Everything there had a story behind it, and Celestia never got tired of telling those stories to anyone who had the time to listen.

Still, it was rare for a guest to ask her about her mirror. Perhaps they just assumed that it was a vanity, a way for her to keep appearances. Perhaps they thought that the mirror was there to keep her humble, something to remind her that, no matter how grand the Equestrian Empire grew, that she was still just another Pony.

The real reason she had the mirror was much simpler and much more complicated. Celestia wasn’t much a fan of her own reflection, so she hated seeing herself in that mirror. If she had to be honest with herself she would probably get rid of the thing, if it weren’t for the memories it held.

When Celestia took on her latest pupil, Twilight, she was just a filly. At the time, Twilight was barely old enough to cast even the most basic light spell; however, the greatest stories arise from the humblest beginning and Celestia saw great potential in that little filly. That potential would finally make itself know to the world at large when Twilight transcended her Unicorn form and ascended to become an Alicorn, the fourth Princess of Equestria.

Still, every story has a humble beginning.

When Celestia first took her under her wing, all those years ago, Twilight idolized Celestia. She treated her less as a Pony and more as a god, a sovereign, and a mentor all rolled into one perfect being. As much as Celestia appreciated the adulation of her subjects, and her students, Twilight’s view of her often got in the way of more important matters.

One of the biggest issues was that it made Celestia utterly unapproachable to her. Twilight was never a very social filly; in fact, there were those who would go as far as to call her a shut in. As it was it would take hours for Twilight to work up the courage to even ask her a simple question, and it was even worse when Celestia was holding court or doing paperwork. As far as Twilight was concerned, the whole of Equestria would probably burst into flames if Celestia was pulled from her work for even a single second.

Again, this alone would be a manageable issue for Celestia; however, Twilight made a habit of standing behind her when she was doing paperwork, just staring silently until Celestia would notice her. So instead of compulsively checking over her shoulder every few minutes to see if there happened to be a small lavender Unicorn sitting there, Celestia did what any mother or teacher would do.

She bought a mirror.

Celestia installed a mirror in front of her desk and asked it to be offset, so it faced ever so slightly to the left. It was a simple thing, but the results were nothing short of miraculous. It didn’t take long got Twilight to figure out that her mentor had inexplicably developed an extra set of eyes in the back of her head; she was always a clever girl. So, as not to disturb her, Twilight opted to wait for Celestia outside her chambers, as opposed to directly behind her. At that point, all it took was a discrete notice to her personal guard detachment and Celestia would be, promptly, informed when Twilight wanted her. By the time Twilight figured out the real reason behind Celestia’s “omniscience” Twilight had already gotten over most of her issues with approaching her.

Now the mirror sat in its place it the edge of the room, mostly forgotten.

But not entirely so.

Celestia’s eyes wandering away from the paperwork in front of her as her thoughts drifted to her upcoming meeting with Discord. It had surprised her to see the official requisition letter emblazoned with Discord’s own “seal,” and it surprised her even more to see him ask for an official meeting with her. Here was the one that she had fought, fang and claw, with for over a decade only to seal him in a prison of the hardest stone, trapping him in his own mind. Here was an ancient, one who had lived thousands of lifetimes, her lifetimes, and someone who could rewrite the very laws of nature with a snap of his talons.

Here was the Draconequus whose very presence filled her mind with fear, regret, and trepidation for all the wrong reasons.

Here was Discord, politely requesting a “casual” meeting with her, in her own chambers. Admittedly, Celestia panicked the first time she read his request; this was the exact scenario that kept her awake at night, wondering what would happen and what could happen. She thought he would waltz in and call her out for what she really was.

A fraud, a liar, just another weak-minded fool.

But when she thought about it, she realized that might not be the case.

Perhaps Discord had no intent with this meeting, perhaps he simply wished to discuss other matters. Maybe this would be the moment where she confessed, she could get this awful ordeal over with and finally move on with her life; their lives. She shoved these thoughts to the back of her mind, regardless what happened she was sure that the matter would be resolved by sunset.

One way, or another.

With that in mind Celestia let herself relax for the first time in a long time. This was the calm before the storm, or the fragile serenity of standing atop of the gallows for the last time.

“What will be, will be.” Celestia thought with a sigh, trying to steel herself as she felt a shiver run down her spine. “The last thing I need right now is to stress myself out over nothing.”

Suddenly, she caught a bit of movement from the corner of her eye, just a twitch; she turned her head ever so slightly noticed and a figure in the mirror. Without drawing attention to herself she shifted in her seat to get a better view, she saw him clearly painted on the surface of the mirror sitting quietly at the edge of the room.

Celestia, deciding to play along, pretended to go back to her paperwork while she kept her eyes glued on the mirror in front of her. She was entranced by how his body flexed and twisted in the air, his pose accurately described as having both the intensify of a tiger stalking its prey and the excited energy of a kitten ready to pounce on its favorite toy. Discord’s form was like something out of her most fevered dreams and her most frenzied nightmares. Despite the odd amalgamation of body parts that comprised his anatomy he moved with an almost unnatural grace.

After a minute or so she saw his expression suddenly change to one of concentration as he summoned a mass of floating air horns around him. Just as he was about to spring forward Celestia let herself turn around ever so slightly.

“Hello, Discord.” She said as he suddenly collapsed to the ground in a pile of squawking air horns. The following moments could best be described as a cacophony before Discord snapped his talons and the semi-sentient noise makers vanished into thin air. He slowly stood up and, slowly, brushed himself off. It took Celestia nearly all of her willpower not to burst into a fit of laughter on the spot; instead she allowed herself a smug little smile.

“How did you know?” Discord asked, frowning sardonically, as he attempted to regain his composure. Celestia nodded subtly at the mirror in front of her. It took him a few moments to piece it all together, but eventually he grunted and moved over to it. Celestia watched closely as he flexed and posed in front of the mirror, admiring himself vainly. She stood up from her seat and walked up behind him. This incidentally put her in a position where she could watch both his front and his back thanks to the mirror

There was a part of her that knew that it was in impolite to stare, but that part was overridden by her own abstract fascination. Of course she was intimately familiar with Discords body after having watched over him during his thousand year imprisonment; however, seeing a statue and watching Discord, flexing and writhing, in the flesh were different things entirely.

All that coupled with the fact that she hadn’t seen him for more than a month made the experience all the more entrancing, so much so that it took her a conscious effort to speak up before he noticed her.

“I believe you had something you wanted to discuss with me?” She didn’t want to push him as much as she wanted to break the growing tension in the air between them. He looked back at her briefly before looking back at the mirror.

“Yes of course.” Celestia turned away sheepishly when he shot a glance a in her general direction. “That is so long as you aren’t too busy,” he stopped and straightened his goatee before continuing. “If you have more important matters to attend to then we could always reschedule.” When she looked back at him she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes when she saw him pretending to pick at his paw while he gauged her expression through the mirror. Instead, she just shook her head.

“Don’t worry, Discord,” she said with a coy smile, I made sure that I took care of everything else before you got here.” She took a moment to think about that and sighed, trying not to look exasperated. “You know, you don’t have to go through all this trouble just to talk to me,” the fact that he went through all this trouble to talk to her bothered her, it reminded her just how distant he was now. “My doors are always open to you, Discord.” Then Discord, literally and figuratively, turned a one eighty.

“Why of course, Celestia!” He exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “Of course I know that.” He started floating over to her, slowly carving through the air in front of her in a wide arc. “Besides, it’s not like you could stop me from waltzing in here even if I wasn’t welcome.” He stopped in front of her and looked down at her. “You and I both know that I normally wouldn’t bother with all of this. However,” he said as he suddenly launched himself up off the ground and into the air behind her, “I’m here on business.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding a bit more dejected than she should have. She knew he wouldn’t just show up out of the blue without some kind of agenda, he always had some kind of an ulterior motive. Still, it stung a bit when she thought that this was the one person who could possibly relate to her, floating above her, in her own bed chambers, the only one who might understand what it meant to be immortal…

“And he just wants to talk shop…”

Eventually she found her confidence again and she looked up from the floor to address him properly. She noticed that he wasn’t even looking at her; he was just staring at the panels on the vaulted ceiling. Then I assume you’re here to discuss the nature of your assignments.” She tried and failed to keep her distaste from creeping into her voice as she thought of how professional he was being about the whole scenario.

When she first assigned him those tasks she did it in with the hope that it would keep him engaged with her and general Equestrian society; instead, he seemed to use them as an excuse to avoid both of them as much as possible. Every invitation she gave him to attend anything social had was summarily rejected on the grounds that he “had business to attend to” as his notices termed it. She let out a held breath when he flipped over and casually nodded at her, apparently ignoring, or not noticing, her contempt.

“Precisely,” he said, lowering himself to the ground in front of her, “I thought it would be prudent to make sure you were aware of my progress so far.”

Celestia nodded politely, ushering him to go on while she tried to calm herself.

“I’m sorry to say that I’ve run into some unexpected delays in writing up my full report on the properties of chaos,” for a second he seemed genuinely disappointed before he immediately launched off onto the next thing. “However,” he said holding up a talon, “I trust that you’ve heard of my influence on the artistic community.” He punctuated his point by buffing the scruff on his chest with the side of his paw, in the very image of pride and self-absorption. Celestia felt a smile touch at her lips as she watched his very childlike display.

Admittedly she was surprised when she heard tell that several of Equestria’s premier artists had opted to take sabbaticals in order to trek through Discord’s forest. Apparently everyone who went in, even if it was just for a few hours, came out with a different perspective. It had become a forest of change and a place of boundless inspiration.

“Yes, of course,” Celestia nodded as she started looking over at the wall beside her, searching for a particular piece. “I find myself quite taken with some of the new art spreading through Canterlot.” It took her longer than it should have but eventually she found what she was looking for. “In fact,” she said as she carefully lifted the painting from the wall with her magic, “I even went through the trouble to commission this piece for my personal collection.” At that, Celestia passed the Discord. She tentatively released her grip on it when she felt him grab onto it.

She watched his expression shift slowly as he inspected the work and she wondered if he would be able to guess what the subject of it was. When she heard that someone actually saw him in there she had to seize the opportunity. As much as she wanted to go see it for herself, and visit Discord privately, she was just too busy to go on an expedition through the forest.

So she opted for the next best thing, capturing the moment vicariously.

The artist in question insisted that she didn’t want to charge her for the commission, insisting that the reputation she would gain from making a painting for royalty would be payment enough. Celestia decided not to push the issue after that, but let it be said that tax exemption forms are incredibly easy to file.

Noticing that Discord was distracted, Celestia decided to take the initiative.

“I can’t say for sure that I really understand it; however,” she said, filling the silence as Discord stared at the piece introspectively, “I must admit that I do find this new style rather striking.” He made no reply to her and she wondered if he had caught onto her subtle undertones. After taking a moment to think about it, she decided that it wouldn’t be hard to find that out for sure.

“I suppose it just has a sort of je ne sais quoi to it.” Discord suddenly glowered at the painting and held it out for her to take.

“I suppose you could say that,” he deadpanned, “I found the traditional styles rather lacking, so I just offered them a different perspective.” Celestia found herself nodding unconsciously while she took the painting from him, carefully studying his facial features for just a hint of insight into what he was thinking. “All I did was to offer them a chance to see the world as I see it, fluid, and chaotic.” Discord let his statement hang for a few seconds before moving on. “To you it might seem new and different but, to me it just screams of normalcy.”

Celestia scoffed at that, even by her standards the word’s “Discord” and “Normal” didn’t belong in the same sentence. The fact that she was even having this conversation with him was strictly abnormal.

That thought struck her. “I wonder how many months it’s been since we’ve even spoken to each other.” The exact number evaded her but she knew it had been at least three months since she last spoke with him. Still, his word’s echoed in her mind.

“I’m here on business.”

“Regardless,” he said, snapping her back to reality, “neither of those assignments have anything to do with what I wanted to discuss.” Celestia blinked dumbly at the empty air in front of her before she realized that Discord had moved back to the mirror, his back turned to her. She quickly put the painting up on the wall and moved up behind him, addressing his reflection.

“Then I suppose that you’re here to discuss the other report then.” She said, exasperated by the mere thought of it.

Yes, it was important to her, which is what she asked Discord to do it in confidence. As a sovereign she needed to be intimately familiar with the state of affairs in the Empire. She needed to know about the economy, about any issues within the population, and yes, she needed to know about any and all corruption plaguing Equestria. But frankly she didn’t want to discuss such matters with Discord

It wasn’t because it was particularly dark or because she didn’t want to expose Equestria’s own weaknesses to him, but more so because it was boring to her. Corruption wasn’t a huge issue for Equestria and Celestia knew it. She was diligent in eliminating most anything that would pose a threat to the nation and it showed, it was at the point where she rarely even had to worry about it. And yet between her personal advisors and “anonymous informants” she heard enough about it on a daily basis.

“Yes, I finished the report several days ago and I’m prepared to deliver a full presentation on the issue.”

So, as any rational Equine in her position would do, she tried to change the subject.

“I have to admit that I’m impressed by your progress Discord.” Celestia said with genuine sincerity, despite her dire circumstances. “When I gave you these tasks I wasn’t sure if you would actually follow up on them, let alone complete them so quickly.” Truthfully, it took him a while to actually commit to any of her mandates, but he legitimately surprised her with his dedication and work ethic when he actually decided to try to tackle them.

She had to admit that his methods could be a bit abstract at times, but he got results and that’s what she asked him to do.

However, instead of taking the compliment, Discord turned around with a mock look of betrayal ad anguish plastered on his face.

“You wound me, Celestia, you truly wound me.” Celestia blinked and suddenly noticed him sprawled out, a paw to his forehead, on a chaise lounge that wasn’t there a moment ago. “And here I thought that you actually trusted me.” Celestia couldn’t help but wonder where that came from. “But, here you are implying that I couldn’t perform.” He propped his head up on the headrest with his elbow as he stared her in the eyes with a sickening grin. “Do you doubt my ability, dearest Celestia?”

Celestia just stood there as the knot in her chest clawed its way up into her throat, rendering her speechless for a moment. She hoped against all hope that he didn’t realize the implications of his words and she desperately wanted to believe he didn’t notice her freezing up on the spot. However, at this point in her life Celestia did not believe in coincidences. She allowed herself a moment of, what she hoped was, polite hesitation as she meticulously reinforced the warding in her in the event that Discord tried to breach the bastion of her mind.

Now she was on her guard.

“Not at all,” she said through a forced smile, “Discord, I have complete and total confidence in your ability and your loyalty to the crown.” Without missing a beat she continued. “What I mean to say is that I’m proud of how far you’ve managed to come since your release.” Discord crossed his arms and snorted.

“So what you mean to say is that I’m not some snarling, self-obsessed, lunatic?” Ignoring her at this point he turned back to the mirror and continued to pose in front of it. “I’ll have you know,” he said with a completely straight face, “that I haven’t snarled in months.”

Celestia realized her mistake and sighed. “Discord, that’s not what I meant at all. I’m just trying to say that I’m honestly appreciative of everything you’ve done for me and for Equestria.”

At least, that’s what she would have said if he hadn’t cut her off at “meant.”

“As much as I enjoy our little “talks,” Celestia, I would like to remind you that I’m here on business.”

Deciding that her diversion was very near a complete failure, Celestia changed her tactics.

“Well, if you’re ready to present your report,” she said, almost defiantly, “then by all means. I am ready to receive it.”

“If you insist,” Discord quipped with a coy smile on his face, “here it is.”

It was at that point that Discord descended into a diatribe describing certain denizens that dwelled within the diarchy, seeking domination over disputed dominions in the empire; he divulged that while these degenerates did not disrupt day to day developments, that a distribution of even a disproportionately diminutive dystopian element could detrimentally derail different sectors of the Empire or even cause more disconcerting results…

Celestia found herself nodding in all the appropriate places, only half paying attention as she tried to decode the possible significance everything else he has said up until then. Discord, might have been devious and crafty, but she knew he was also cocky and a hopeless romantic. If he was planning something, she knew he would have been dropping hints like it was going out of style. The more she thought back the more she realized that if she was correct in her suspicions…

Then she could only hope she was wasn’t…

It was then that Celestia noticed that Discord wasn’t in front of her anymore; she started to look around franticly when she felt a cold, knifelike, blade cut across her throat. She involuntarily seized up and almost fell to the ground, coughing violently, as she felt the sensation of blood rushing down her throat.

“Need I go on, Celestia?”

It took a conscious effort for her not to spit, just to get the taste of phantasmal blood out of her mouth. Instead she waited for it to fade away, deciding not to compromise her composure more than he already had.

It all seemed honest enough and it was obvious to her that he was speaking off the cuff. Still, Celestia stayed on her guard; even at the best of times Discord was two faced, talking about something obvious while hinting at some hidden context.

“No,” she said, still rubbing at her throat, “I believe you have made your point quite clear.”

While she waited for her body to relax she thought back to what he said, carefully going over each oddly placed word in her mind.

“Is he trying to blame me for something? Am I the problem here?” She quickly glanced up at him to see him staring at her. She only held eye-contact with him for a few seconds before he looked away, but she saw coldness in his eyes she had never seen before. “I’m missing something.” Discord’s words echoed in her mind

“I thought you trusted me…”

“Just what are you playing at, Discord?”

Celestia let out a shaky breath, shaking her head. “However, I would like to hear what you would do about the situation. That is to say, Discord, that if you were in my place, what would you do to rectify the situation?”

Discord stroked his goatee thoughtfully, obviously unprepared to give his own opinion on the matter. After he thought it over for a minute he quickly rattled off a few tactics for working around the issue, blatantly avoiding the point of the whole exercise. It got to the point where she just couldn’t help but laugh.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude about it. I just find it funny that here you didn’t give me any advice about actually dealing with the problem, you just told me what I could do to ignore it.”

He gave her an incredulous look. “Well, you didn’t ask me what you should do; you asked me what I would do. If you don’t like the advice I gave you then that’s your problem, not mine.”

“Thank you, Discord; it was all very good advice. Though I will admit, I have known about most of what you said for a while and your solutions, mostly, match up with my own. Either way, it’s nice to hear your perspective on the matter. I trust that you have a full written report on the subject ready for me as well?”

The warmth in the room seemed to vanish when Discord pulled the folder into existence. “Of course, Celestia,” He said in a subdued tone. “I have it right here.” He looked down at the folder in question, lost in thought. “However, there is one more thing I wanted to discuss with you before I leave.”

A voice in the back of her head was screaming at her, but Celestia ignored it and pressed on.

“O-Of course, what did you want do discuss?”

Celestia noticed the room dim ever so slightly and she could swear that the color was draining from her peripheral vision.

“Fraud.”

Celestia’s heart skipped a beat and watched, frozen, as sickening grin spread across his face.

“Fraud, Celestia, it the act of falsification; at its core it’s an act of dishonesty.” Discord spoke as one would speak to a child, informing them of what they had done wrong. “Fraud is the act of disregarding a hard truth in favor of a convenient lie.” Even his smile was patronizing, as he spoke down to her in a cold monotone. “It’s just another unfortunate issue in society. Wherever there is power to be gained there is someone who will stop at nothing to grab hold of it

“And there is always someone who would do anything to keep hold on something once they have it in their grasp.

“It happens, and it will always happen. There is nothing either of us can do about that. However, I believe that I have found a particular case of it that demands your immediate attention.”

A flash of motion caught Celestia’s eye, she looked up to see Discord gesturing for her to sit down. She complied without thinking, barley containing the mix of emotions flowing through her. At some point the curtains had been drawn, she unconsciously flared up her horn and stared down at the stationary on the desk in front of her.

Her eyes searched idly for a place to latch onto the page amongst the shifting text, illuminated by the wavering amber light. Eventually a section at the bottom of the page caught her attention.

A Collaboration Of
Discord & Dual Vision

She glared at the name, as if it might jump at her if she broke eye contact with it for even a second. Discord chided her.

“Dual Vision has proven to be an invaluable asset to my investigation. His expertise is what allowed me to complete this report so quickly. As it turns out, he happens to be an expert on fraudulent documents.”

Celestia swore under her breath. “Of course he would be.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing,” she said, lying through her teeth, “it was nothing.” It was obvious that Discord has something up his sleeve, but she had too much respect for him to simply send him packing. Besides that, whatever it was this was obviously important to him.

Perhaps it would be something she needed to hear; maybe she just needed to put a little faith in him.

“You’ll find the description of the incident in question on page three-hundred seventy-six.” Celestia hesitated for a moment, still on her guard, before slowly flipping through the crisp stationary. When she came to the page in question her eyes were drawn to the passage near the bottom of the page, before she could read any of it she found the words blocked by Discord’s claw. “You can start here.” She followed his slender talon up toward the top of the page. She started reading, from the top, and his claw fell away.

As she read on she was acutely aware of Discord looming over her shoulder, he stared off into the distance, ignoring her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was still being watched. The article detailed several incidences of confirmed and suspected fraud that had within the last few years, comparing them to much older, archaic, cases that followed an eerily similar pattern. Most of these instances were small issues with of equally minor consequence; however, report repeatedly emphasized how even the most inconsequential case alluded to the probable existence of a larger operations that would go unnoticed without an in depth investigation.

It went on to describe a couple of these important cases, both of which involving shadow accounts that transferred thousands of bits before closing suddenly. It was suspected that these accounts might have funded large criminal organizations, but by the time they were discovered the accounts in question had their records “purged.”

If the thought of a major embezzlement scheme wasn’t troubling enough, the report suddenly moved onto a much more serious case. It moved onto the report of Discord’s release.

Celestia sat there, caught like a foal staring at the bewitching light of a Will-o'-the-wisp. She knew full well the danger of continuing into the forest, the danger of following the light, yet she pressed on, entranced. Bewitched by the prospect of what lay at the end of the forgotten path.

The tone of the article shifted dramatically, yet still subtly enough that she saw the continuity. Ar first it seemed to praise the report, stating that the forgery was so professionally crafted that it could only be discovered by chance or happenstance. It went on in great length, detailing how everything in the forgery had been “artfully misplaced” in such a way as to where it would look more like a mistake than a misrepresentation of the original article; even down to the royal seal’s which had just enough dissidence between them to pass as authentic to even the most critical eye.

Normally, such a forgery would indicate that the culprit was exceptionally well connected. Correctly replicating a magically infused seal was something even arcane practitioners at the arch-mage classification would have trouble with; considering that there are only forty three magic users in Equestria who have been verified to possess such skill (with an estimated one hundred total), it narrows the list of possible culprits down to the most endowed individuals and the most expansive organizations.

However, after a though analysis of the situation it was discovered that this, in fact, was not the case. Two separate factors dictate that there is no being in Equestria who could have forged the seal. The first being that the timeframe to fabricate the new document and resubmit it to the proper authorities in a way that the missing document would not be noticed was determined to be approximately five days at most (due to a delay between the official registration and processing of documents).

This time frame effectively decimated the list of individuals who would be capable of actually replicating the seal in that time. It was determined that it would take a practitioner who exists beyond the arch-mage classification (only ten individuals are verified to have demonstrated such capabilities are known to exist, five of these are currently unaccounted for).

This last statement bothered Celestia, she ran through the list of those who were considered to have attained that level of magical affinity. She only counted seven, where were the other three? Regardless, she continued, against her better judgment.

This is compounded by the fact that the fabricated seal in question is the seal of none other than Princess Celestia. The problem itself being that the Princess herself is an Alicorns, meaning that she has an extremely distinctive and complex magical signature. Because of this, in order to properly match her signature a forger would have to be both highly familiar with her and share her physiological (and thus magical) makeup. This limits the list down to three ponies capable of replicating the document.

At this point it was simple to deduce the identity of the perpetrator of the forgery by simple process of elimination.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was otherwise indisposed at this time, investigating strange occurrences in the northern section of The Empire with her husband, then Guard Captain, Shining Armor (occurrences latter confirmed to be connected with the reemergence of The Crystal Empire). Not only would it have nearly impossible for her to properly replicate the seal due to the conditions she was reputed to be living in at the time, but the sheer distance involved would make the logistics of delivering such a forgery realistically impossible. These factors strictly invalidate any involvement she may have had with the act of forgery at the time.

Princess Luna, at this point, would become the most obvious candidate. However, when she was asked about the report she stated that she was not informed about its existence until several months after its publication; furthermore she has provided a full, verifiable, alibi for the entire timeframe during which the incident might have occurred. The timetable the alibi established indicated that it would be impossible for The Princess to properly forge the documentation and seal in question.

This leaves only one candidate who could have possibly committed the act. The remaining party would have no issue forging the documentation, perfectly replicating the seal, acquiring the official document from The Canterlot Archives or submitting the fraudulent copy within the allotted timeframe before its official review.

The only remaining suspect, by definition, must be the culprit.

You are a liar, Celestia.

I know.

When the words slipped into her ear Celestia’s world spun into darkness as she leapt into the air, simultaneously losing her grip on her magic. By the time she relit the light on her horn she her, her back against the wall. Her stomach churned and her heart fell. Her wings shot out instinctively in response to a perceived freefall, fluttering uselessly at her sides while she panicked. Her pupils dilated in an attempt to take in as much light as possible.

Discord, his painted atop the dark backdrop of the room by Celestia’s own light, silently crept towards her.

“This isn’t right. This isn’t right; it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”

She heard a faint click before everything became warped and distorted. Celestia could hear her heartbeat echo in her chest as time seemed to slow down around her.

“Celestia…”

Discord’s voice jarred her from her revelry; it was unnaturally calm and distant. She looked up to see Discord towering above her, looking down at her with a profound sadness in his eyes. None of it made any sense to her.

“This isn’t right;” a voice in her head slurred, “it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

“Please, I only want to know why you did it.”

She wouldn’t.

“I’m not mad at you. I just want to know why you had to hide the report from me.”

She couldn’t.

“I just want to know why you lied to me.”

She didn’t.

“Did I?” She wondered, lost in the context.

“Why won’t you answer me, Celestia!”

Eventually Celestia realized she was on the ground, out of habit she retracted her wings and tried to stand up only to have her hooves slip on the cold marble. She looked down at the ground, trying to figure out what happened.

“Are you afraid of me, Celestia?”

“No, Discord?” Celestia’s mind started working a mile a minute to try to catch up with what was occurring around her. It slowly dawned on her that she was missing something. “That’s wrong.”

“Is it that you don’t trust me?”

Celestia felt her head spin as his word’s echoed in her head.

“I thought that you trusted me.”

“Discord, no, of course I trust you.” Celestia screwed her eyes shut with concentration. “It’s just… No…”

“No”

“No”

She stopped and opened her eyes when she realized she was standing again. She looked up to see Discord writhing in the air above her. She could tell he was upset.

It almost looked like he was in pain.

“No What? Are you saying that I don’t deserve to know the reason I am EVEN HERE? Answer me, Celestia!”

Still struggling to keep up with the conversation she spoke out of impulse. “I can’t tell you!” She could barely think, something was wrong, everything was wrong. She wanted to talk to him but the right word’s escaped her every time. “I just can’t.”

There was a long pause. Celestia knew something was wrong but she couldn’t understand what it was. She knew that she made a mistake somewhere. Her body betrayed her as she struggled to remain upright; she just needed more time to think.

“Time...”

Suddenly everything made sense, with a conscious effort Celestia expunged the drug from her system and immediately regretted it. Every one of her muscles burned with exertion and her heart fluttered as she stumbled forward.

“Discord I-”

“Is that ALL I am to you? Just a tool, just a means to an end! I am DISCORD! Lord of Chaos and Spirit of Disharmony! I bow to no one and I answer to no one! I will NOT be used by someone like you!”

Celestia was frozen, unable to speak and unable to react. His word’s cut her deep. She felt physically numb but her mind was finally working properly. She felt like she was going to pass out at any moment, but through sheer willpower she steadied herself and she spoke.

“N-no… That’s not it at all.”

Her throat was dry and her heart pounded in her ears. Celestia could hardly breathe but she still kept speaking.

“When I, we, imprisoned you all those years ago I was young and brash; we were foolish. We were so afraid, Luna and I. We were afraid of what you would, might, do to us when, if, we released you. So we decided to wait until we could handle it, and so we just kept putting it off and putting it off until…”

She let out a shaky breath.

“But then when Luna was gone I-I… I was alone, Discord.” She fought the urge to crawl into the deepest and darkest hole she could find, pressing on.

“I was alone for, a thousand years. For a thousand years I was “her majesty Princess Celestia” when all I wanted to be was that filly I used to know. I just wanted to be that girl who used to watch the sunset with her sister every night before they would fall asleep together…

“But I had to be Princess Celestia; I didn’t have a choice anymore. I had to watch everything I cared for fade away before my very eyes. I had to watch myself become somepony else, somepony I couldn’t even recognize. Discord, for the longest time I afraid was to even look at a mirror, I afraid that I would look at my reflection and only see a stranger.

“When Luna came back I was so happy, I thought had a chance to be that happy little filly again.” Again she had to fight the urge to simply disappear. "I need to say this," she told herself, "for my own sake."

“But, I didn’t. She had changed, I changed…

“A thousand years is a long time, things were different. So there I was, surrounded by ponies who cared about me, and not one of them could possibly understand how alone I felt. Then I remembered you.

“I remembered that you have existed since time immemorial. I thought that you might understand what I was going through, but I remembered that I had left you imprisoned for over a thousand years. I realized that I had cast everyone who could see me for who I was to a veritable oblivion. Guilt, self-loathing, doubt, that’s what set you free the first time.

“When Luna found out that I just left you in there she screamed at me for keeping you bound for so long and… I screamed back…

“She didn’t talk to me for a month after that…

“That’s when I came up with the plan.

“I had the report commissioned to understand what had happened and to try to understand why you went on a rampage like you did. When I found out what really happened I was miserable with myself, I was ashamed of what I had reduced you to. I wanted to release you but I didn't want you to think that I was just another spineless pony… So I made a fake report, to hide my weakness.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to hurt you, I just didn’t want you to think I was weak… But I am though, weak I mean…

“I could say that I released you for ethical obligation, that it was wrong to keep you bound against you will for things that you had no control over. I could say that I wanted to let you get back to your eternity and to move on from this as a better being. I could say that I released you for all the right reason, but I won’t lie to you anymore.

“I released you because I wanted a shoulder to cry on.

“I released you because I wanted someone to console me when I lose someone I had lost and to tell me that they understand.

“I wanted someone who I could relate to.

“I wanted someone that would stand by me so I wouldn’t feel so alone.

“Discord, I wanted… No, I needed…

“Discord, I need-” Mid-sentence she looked up at Discord only to find that she was alone.

That she was always alone.

There was some, small amount, of panic when the sun set more than two hours behind schedule.

There was some, small amount, of panic when word spread that Celestia had locked herself in her chambers and that she refused to come out.

Eventually, as things went back to normal, the citizens of Equestria forgot about the otherwise unremarkable day. The moment was lost to the unrelenting flow of time.

Chapter Ten: Into Darkness

Night court was always a pain. However much Luna liked the idea in theory, the practice itself left much to be desired.

Five nights a week, at a half hour after moonrise, Princess Luna was expected to entertain petitioners. It wasn't hard work per se; there are those who would call it intriguing. When Celestia first suggested the idea to Luna, she was ecstatic and immediately fell in love with the concept.

That initial excitement wore off in a few weeks.

Luna quickly discovered that most of her petitioners were just petty nobles who wanted either to confess their “undying” love, deliver to her endless praises, or to submit inane requests for their own personal gain. Celestia probably would have sat through their pointless addresses, smiling at them and nodding silently until they tired themselves out and left with their tails tucked neatly between their legs. Luna was sure that they expected the same thing from her.

Unfortunately for them, Luna was not Celestia.

After about a month, Luna decided that she was going to change that. So for the first time in centuries the formal court protocol was changed, or at least amended. Night Court was not to be held in a small, private, space where Luna and a single petitioner could discuss their issues and grievances. Not only that, but now a secretary was hired to serve as a buffer for all potential petitioners. If someone intended to come to Luna’s court with some inane or trivial request then they would be directed elsewhere or their grievance would be dealt with on the spot.

Needless to say, this drastically reduced the amount of petitioners she received.

She told herself didn’t mind, not really…

“Umm, Princess, is everything alright?”

Luna was yanked back to reality when Astral Gazer addressed her. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was. With a conscious effort she willed her expression to soften and immediately the Pony in front of her straightened up as he sighed with relief.

“I offer my sincerest apologies; it appears my mind my mind has drifted astray.” Luna silently thanked the high forces that she had been blessed with a coat dark enough to hide her blush. “It has been a long day, forgive me, time passes me by sometimes. Please continue with your tale, I implore thee.”

One benefit of holding a private court was that it allowed her discuss matters with Ponies less as a Princess and more as Luna. Astral Gazer quickly forgot about her faux pas as he continued.

“Yes… As I was saying before, we had followed up with the higher level mages in Canterlot and they told us that they were experiencing the same interference. The influx of wild magic from below Canterlot was beginning to interfere with their enchantments as well; there haven't been any serious incidents of course, but if this continues then it’s only a matter of time before somepony gets hurt… or worse.”

Luna allowed herself a private smile when he scuffed his hoof against the ground, obviously defeated and dejected. As much as she felt bad for him, this was nothing compared to when Discord was reigning over Equestria proper. Compared to the kind of interference mages had to deal with then, this “interference” was nothing more than background noise.

Still, it was a serious issue, and she had taken vows to support her subjects however she could.

“This is not the first complaint I have received about the effects of Discord’s errant power but it is by far the most concerning.” He looked at her with an almost childlike deference. She grinned at him, hoping her confidence would help ease his concern. “Worry not, I shall personally inform him of the havoc his power is affecting on your studies, I am sure he will do what he can to rectify the issue.”

Despite her best attempt to assure him it wasn’t an issue, Astral still seemed to be on edge. Even though she lacked her sister’s experience with court she still had enough tact to recognize when something needed a more concrete response.

“I realize that there is a somewhat distinct possibility what Discord won’t heed my request and that he may leave his influence unchecked,” in a moment of spontaneity she rose up from her diocese and quickly strode towards the stallion in front of her. “However, there are other ways to keep his abilities in check. So regardless of his consent in the matter the matter will be resolved by weeks end.” By now she was directly in front of him, starring down at him with a mask of stern confidence. “Have I made myself clear?”

The Astral was only able to maintain direct eye-contact for a second or so before he suddenly became very interested in the pattern worked into the floor. She smiled when she heard him sigh, releasing a breath that she knew he had held for far too long.

“Crystal clear, Princess.” He said, admirably trying to keep his tone even while still managing to fail spectacularly in the attempt.

“Verily, then I trust that you will inform your associates as such.” Luna turned her head to look out the window, admiring the burgeoning nightscape that had graced the royal gardens. “I, regretfully, have other duties I must attend to, so I must take my leave. Please be sure that you do spread the word that this issue will be resolved. The night calls to me,” she promptly turned and began to walk out of the room, nonchalantly calling back she added, “I trust that you can show yourself out; pleasant dreams, my little pony.”

By the time he looked up to respond The Princess of The Night was gone.

She was sure that Celestia would have chided her for being so dramatic, but Luna was pleased with her performance all the same. She knew that a bit of drama could get the job done quicker than a little tact, though she had to admit that it could cause problems down the line.

Still, those problems could prove entertaining in their own right, so the risk was worth the reward in her eyes. Luna was brash, secretive, and prone to emotional outbursts, but she knew these things. So instead of trying to “fix it” she made her “issues” work in her favor.

Though sometimes, when Luna would say something out of turn or act on impulse, her sister would give her a look that would frighten her. It was obvious that Celestia worried that Luna wasn’t satisfied, that she might relapse and allow Nightmare Moon to return. But, by the same token, Celestia trusted her; she let Luna make her own decisions because she had faith that Luna wouldn’t allow herself to fall a second time.

Luna, however, had no such faith. To her the days of the Nightmare Moon Rebellion always lingered a few steps behind her, threatening her will temptations of power and illusions of grandeur. She liked to think that she wasn’t interested in those things anymore, and she wasn’t, at least not consciously.

But she didn’t know if that’s what her heart truly wanted.

Because part of Luna’s ability to control the unconscious mind came from her own separation from it, and that’s what terrified her.

After Discord’s fall Luna filed away all of her anger, rage, and jealousy into the back of her mind, instead of confronting her issues she simply ignored them.

For a time, it worked.

Then they took over, and Nightmare Moon was born.

From time to time she caught that familiar distaste stagnating in the back of her mind, waiting.

It was Star Swirl who famously said that the only thing more terrifying than watching a pony descend into madness was feeling your own mind slip away from you.

“Things are different now.” She convinced herself as she walked through the comforting darkness of The Night Wing to her private chambers. After a moment of reflection, she laughed at her own, obvious, statement. “A thousand years goes by in my absence", she thought, "tis more surprising that anything is the same at all…”

When she returned she had expected some change, though nothing like what she saw. Her and her sister’s troubled diarchy had grown into a strong and prosperous empire, one to rival some of the most powerful nations on Equis. The Two Sisters Castle laid abandoned for centuries in the monstrous tangle of The Everfree Forest that had boiled out of control under Celestia’s careful watch.

Perhaps one of the most unnerving changes was how in a thousand years she her own name had been forgotten, meanwhile the name Nightmare Moon lived on through the eons because of Nightmare Night.

She tried not to let that tainted legacy bother her, but she feared the thought of repeating past mistakes.

“Still,” as she thought to herself her hooved clacked in discordance with the usual silence of the corridor, “at least I have Tia…”

“Even if she has become more reclusive of late…”

Luna reminded herself that she needed to ask her sister what was bothering her.

“Perhaps is has something to do with Discords own reclusion.”

The Draconequus was assumed to have shut himself up in his forest retreat, which in itself was completely unremarkable as he had always been somewhat reclusive; however, recently anyone who tried to approach his domain would end up appearing in some far flung locale whenever they got anywhere near it. One Pegasus mail carrier in particular was declared missing for eight days before news had come that she was at the Equestrian embassy in The Gryphon Kingdom, nursing a strained wing caused after she appeared on a mountain top.

At this point, Luna was seriously considering placing the forest itself under guard in order to prevent further accidents; thought that would be expensive and occupy a huge number of gaurdspoines. Luna sighed as she approached her chambers and opened the ornate doors, defeated by the knowledge of what she would have to do.

“It does indeed appear that I will have to do this the old fashioned way.”

She really didn’t want to do it, but there was nothing else she could do. It wasn't as if she could just sit around and do nothing, waiting for the problem to get better when all the signs pointed that it would only get worse. Contacting Discord in his dreams was not a daunting prospect, theoretically. Yes, she would have entered the realm of dream regardless of the meeting, and yes his domain was technically “on the way,” but that wasn't the part she was dreading.

The prospect of “waking a sleeping god” was not something she was looking forward to. That, and always found talking to him in his sleep rather…

Weird, for lack of a better word.

Then again, the last time she had talked to him like that he had astutely pointed out that he was indeed mad.

“Now, Luna,” He chided lazily, while tried to cast her out of his mind by obliterating her manifested form with meteors that burned with eldritch ice, “right now I have a half a mind to kill you, half a mind to ravage you and another half a mind that is wondering what I'm going to have for breakfast when I wake up. I think I’m in the mood for waffles!”

Luna groaned at the memory and idly wondered whether Discord made more sense when he was asleep or when he was awake.

After giving the question some serious thought, she decided that he was much easier to deal with when he was unconscious. At least then he was honest.

Regardless of all that, she eventually, although reluctantly, threw herself on top of her bed. After a few minutes of squirming around under her sating covers, she found the most comfortable spot atop her regal, cloud infused, mattress. She immediately slowed her breathing, and by association her heart rate, while she cast her mind’s eye to the stars.

Adrift among the endless ocean of twinkling lights she felt her body relax and, eventually, fall away entirely before she fell into the deep trance that made her waking dreams.

She decided that she would manifest herself in the old Two Sisters Castle. From her memories a vison of the place was constructed, brick by brick. In a few minutes a full scale replica of the palace had materialized around her and she silently touched down on the cold stone floor. She looked around and saw, to her annoyance, that several cracks had managed to superimpose themselves on the, otherwise perfect, walls.

With a thought she banished the errant cracks. It didn’t really matter where she materialized herself or what that place looked like, but she didn’t care. In the end those cracks were a silent reminder that this place didn’t exist anymore, not as she remembered it anyway.

It bothered her.

She let the moment pass. Luna was not about to let the night slip away from her while she wallowed in her frustration. Despite how tempting that thought might have been to her at the time, she knew she had work to do.

With a bit of effort she pushed at the edges of her consciousness and extended her perception outward in all directions, borrowing from the memories of her subjects in order to transcend her own, limited, memory. It was a slow tedious process, by her standards, but she soon had a nearly complete replica of Equestria that she could move through freely.

With a thought she took to the skies, high above the Everfree, and she watched as the world spread out in all directions. It was a bit warped and distorted even at the best of times and some places had no definition to them whatsoever, black voids that seemed to chew away at the sounding landscape. It concerned her only a little bit, as she earned the trust of more of her subjects her perception of the world around her grew in size and clarity.

Still, she suspected that there would be some places that she would never see in her waking dreams.

She knew some places would be lost, forgotten, or perhaps never even explored by her Ponies.

Perhaps someday she would seek them out, but not tonight. Luna had a schedule to keep tonight.

She decided to start in Ponyville on a whim. Opening her mind to pick out signs of discordance, a sign that someone might need her help. Then she would wait, and watch, for the right time to intervene.

She could be a lot of things to a lot of Ponies. To some, Luna was a glimmer of hope in a time of darkness; a silent guardian to stand by them in their time of need. To others, she was shoulder to cry on, or perhaps a body to lean on for those who had reached the end of their rope. Sometimes she reached deeper, mingling with the most intimate parts of the subconscious to find a solution to a hidden problem.

She did all this with no expectation of reciprocation, with no demands for love, or even praise. Many times she would even go so far to be anonymous; she could become the familiar face or the complete stranger that many of her Ponies needed to see. She did it only to help those in need, to help ease the burdens that her Ponies would be forced to carry through their lives.

She just wanted to know she was making a difference.

She hoped it was all she really needed.

Eventually, after she helped all those who were open to her, she changed gears and moved onto her next task. Returning to her own domain she mentally prepared herself for the upcoming meeting.

Yes, Discord’s temperament, and temper, had softened a lot since his release; at this point Luna would even go as far as to say that Discord was one of her closest friends.

However, one does not simply waltz into the mind of a mad god without taking the proper precautions. After she double checked, and triple checked, her wards, she extended her mind to meet that of another once again.

This time she did not ask for permission.

If Luna had been in her corporeal form she probably would have groaned, instead she silently dipped her head as she tried to find her resolve to push forward.

She had expected to find Discord as she usually did, with him locked in a dreamless sleep that could be described as a state of suspended animation. At that point all she would have to do was “wake him,” it would have been difficult to do so but Luna had accomplished the same feat a few times before. It wasn’t a task she particularly enjoyed, but it was something she could accomplish.

However, that wasn’t the case.

Luna manifested in the middle of a large room lined with scaffolding and dotted with roughly shod wooden support beams, the original stone columns having been long since removed. She looked around the hall contemptuously, balking at what had become of The Two Sister’s castle since its fall and subsequent renovation. She briefly returned to her corporeal form, just to prove to herself that she was still technically dreaming and that she hadn’t managed to transport herself to the castle while she was unconscious. Any feeling of hopelessness at the situation she found herself in was quickly overshadowed by frustration and aggravation.

“So, he dreams…”

Her mood only worsened as she considered her options. She could either give up or search for him and the former wasn’t really a viable option considering the circumstances that brought her here in the first place.

The latter option entailed her searching through his entire domain to find him. The main issue with that would be that Discord was an immortal; therefore he had lived for a veritable eternity which in turn meant that his domain was, theoretically, infinite.

After a few minutes of contemplating the viability of the first option again she ultimately decided that she couldn’t just leave without at least attempting to find him. She took some time to consider where he might have ended up and where she would actually follow him, remembering from experience that trying to speak with his subconscious while it was reliving certain moments was a very bad idea. Once she made her list she decided to just go through it chronologically.

“Might as well try his forest first...”

The room around her began to shift and move, seemingly of their own accord. The walls, and beams surrounding her wrapped around themselves and slowly turned into a thicket trees as the vaulted ceiling and glass resolved itself into a darkened forest canopy. Luna took a few steps forward and the sound of her hoof falls fell away as she stepped off the granite floor and onto solid dirt. She walked toward what would have been the throne room in the castle and entered into a forest clearing. The century’s old ruble melted away into flickering shadows that shifted and crawled around of their own volition. A cool wind blew across her neck and an all too familiar voice slipped into her ear.

“Hello, my little Nightshade,” Luna looked around for the source of the voice but found nothing. “It’s been far too long since we last met.”

“Discord, we need to talk, and I would prefer to do so face to face.” Luna held her ground as she searched for something, anything, to address.

“Now, Luna, why on earth would you say that? You know as well as I do that there isn't anyone who actually wants to talk to me.” As the disembodied voice chuckled in her ear any remaining hope Luna had that Discord would make this easy faded away, her patience quickly followed suit.

“Discord…”

“Alright, alright, no need to get testy.” Discord seemed to hesitate as Luna tapped her hoof on the ground impatiently. “Still, I’m not convinced that you, or anyone else, really need me.” His voice fell away again and just as Luna was about to protest he piped in once more. “I know! Perhaps another form would be more fitting,” the air around Luna seemed to shift away from her before it solidified into an old, yet eerily familiar, form. “How do I look?”

Discord took a moment to inspect his new body as Luna looked on with a mild revision. Discord stood before her as an Alicorn several shades lighter, and a bit shorter, than herself. Despite the differences she immediately recognized it as herself, or at least a younger version of herself; she reasoned that it must the way that he best remembered her.

The other her did a pirouette, admiring her own tail, before bouncing around with a perverse glee. The more Luna looked at "her" the more she noticed the little inconsistencies and flaws in the image, it looked like her but it didn't, it moved like her but it didn’t.

Then it looked at her, straight in the eyes. “Oh yes,” the doppelganger said in a voice that sounded far too much like her own, “this will do nicely...” It sent a shiver down Luna’s spine.

“I have important business to discuss with you, Discord, this isn't the time for games.” It took all of her willpower to stare down at the doppelganger and chastise it. “Whatever you’re trying to do I don’t have the time and I certainly don't have the patience to deal with it right now,” Discord rolled his eyes and turned his back to her, Luna sighed. “Discord, this is a matter that should demand our full and immediate attention.” The doppelganger whispered something unintelligible and turned around.

“Fine,” it said with obvious distain, “if it really is that important I suppose I can be serious.” He trotted up to her and Luna froze when the doppelganger locked eyes with her again. “Well then, spit it out,” it narrowed its eyes at her and for a moment she could swear that its pupil turned scarlet. “I don’t have all eternity to wait for you to say something.” Luna took a step back, away from herself.

“Discord...” She tried to say in a warning tone, but only a whisper came out. Something was wrong with her, the doppelganger, but Luna couldn’t figure out exactly what.

“Relax Luna.” Discord continued his approach as the thing maintained direct eye contact with Luna. “I have your attention,” he said with a sickening grin, “and you have mine.” He waited for a response but Luna couldn’t think of a retort; instead the doppelganger rolled its eyes at her. “Let’s just try to get this done and over with before one of us gets distracted, shall we?”

“Fine,” Luna thought as her double tapped her hoof on the ground impatiently. “It this is how he wants to play the game, I suppose I will just have to deal with it for now…”

“Discord, your influence is spreading and it’s starting to get out of control.” Luna opted for a blunt approach, appealing to Discord’s sensibilities. Of course that was operating under the assumption that he had any anymore, Luna was beginning to doubt that. “I’m receiving complaints every other day about it interfering with…”

Luna stopped when she noticed that Discord had manifested a pitch black aura around “his” horn. She looked around and noticed that he was moving something. Whatever it was whenever Luna tried to look at it, it would just move again or fall out of focus completely.

“Discord, are you even paying attention to a word I am saying?”

He blinked a few times, hesitating before he looked back at her with her own eyes. “Hmm? Yes, of course,” he hesitated for a bit, searching for the right words. “My magic is disrupting your precious status quo, right?” Luna nodded hesitantly and doppelganger cocked its head to the side, staring at her quizzically. “Would I be wrong to assume that the only reason here you came here was to ask me to stop being such a public nuisance then?”

“More or less,” Luna replied sheepishly, wincing at the callousness of her response. “Discord, all I ask is that you-”

“No.”

“Wha-what do you mean, NO?” Luna stammered out reflexively. The doppelganger just rolled its eyes at her and turned its back to her. Discord went back to doing whatever he was doing before.

“I mean “no,” did I stutter?” It floored Luna how nonchalant Discord was being about the whole situation. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself down, despite not needing to breath in her current form, but instead it just made her response all the more frantic.

“Discord,” she cried out in abject aggravation, “what is the meaning of this?”

“Luna, if I may be so bold to ask you a question,” he replied rhetorically, “did you stop for even a moment to consider my intentions before you decided to come here?”

“Y-your “intentions,” Discord, are you saying that all of this is intentional? You’re doing this on purpose?” Without even turning around Luna’s doppelganger nodded an affirmative, Luna could hardly even comprehend the betrayal she felt. “Discord, stop this foolishness this instant!”

Without thinking Luna dropped down into a defensive stance as her muscle memory and instincts overrode her rational thoughts. The doppelganger’s ears perked up and swiveled back, now focused on Luna, there was a tense moment where neither of them moved an inch but then Discord threw back his head and laughed mechanically.

“It seems that you have forgotten your place here.” Discord’s voice slipped into a hollow monotone as he spoke, the doppelganger seemed to relax as Discord turned his attention back to his own machinations. There was a moment of relative silence as Discord ignored Luna and as she attempted to stare a hole through the back of the doppelganger’s head. Suddenly it took a half step to the side and turned its head, staring her straight in the eye.

“This is my realm, not yours.”

Luna could almost taste the venom as it dripped off those words; she felt it as they cut into her very soul. As the air began to shift and seethe around her she knew that Discord was fighting the urge to reject her manifestation entirely. She never remembered him being like this, even when they fought hoof and claw he was never like this. When she searched for an answer in her doppelganger’s eyes she saw a tinge pain and rejection before Discord averted his gaze.

“Discord,” she spoke softly as not to tempt him, “what’s this about? I me what is it really about?” The doppelganger huffed and started to walk away from her again, Discord pretended to go back to what he was doing but Luna saw that his ears were still swiveled back towards her. “I know this isn’t you, this isn’t like you.” If her words had any effect on him he concealed it perfectly. Luna wracked her brain, trying to think back and figure out what could have put him in such a state.

"The last time anyone had heard from him was over a month ago, about the same time that…"

“Is this about Celestia?” Luna asked Discord plaintively. Again there was no physical reaction from Discord, but her doppelganger’s magical aura suddenly darkened several shades as it became tinted by uncontrolled emotion. “Discord? I’m right, aren’t I? Please, Discord, just tell me wha-”

“It’s none of your concern, I’m fine.” There was an unchecked malice in his voice now, she had definitely struck a nerve. Luna took a tentative step as she started to approach him.

“Discord, please, I just want to know what happened between the two of you. It’s not just you, it’s Celestia too…” Luna’s conviction failed her, she looked away for a moment trying to think of how to handle the situation she found herself in. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her doppelganger look up at her, it was only for a moment but Luna took it as a sign that she should continue. Luna sighed and turned back to him.

“She won’t talk to me anymore, she does her duties and she acts the part just fine but when all is said and done she just shuts herself in her chambers and refuses to talk to anyone… Not even me…

“She is entitled to take as much time as she needs to herself, I out of all ponies can understand that, but I’m worried about her. I just want to be there to help her, but she keeps shutting me out. I want to be here to help you too, Discord, but I can’t do that if you won’t let me in…

“Please, just tell me what’s going on and I promise I’ll-”

“I’m sorry Luna, I am oh so sorry.” Discord cut her off and he let off a long sigh. He turned around and started to walk up to her, this time there was a purpose behind each step.

“Discord I-”

“I meant to apologize sooner mind you, but I’ve been so very busy.” The doppelganger smiled at her and shook its head. “I pushed you both of you too hard all those years ago.” Luna took a hesitant step backwards when the warm smile faded from the doppelgangers face, she watched as the life started to drain from its eyes; they became placid mirrors that stared into her very soul. The doppelganger fell silent as Discord shifted his perspective again; suddenly his voice seemed to come from everywhere. “I just wanted to be sure that you were ready to rule. I needed to know that you would be able to bring some stability to Equestria when you finally ousted me.”

A smile touched at the doppelganger’s lips but it seemed different that before. It seemed to be a little less like a smile and more like its muzzle was pushing its lips away from its teeth.

“When I heard about your fall after my imprisonment I couldn’t help but feel a little responsible. I was convinced that I must’ve pushed you too far…”

Luna stood there for a moment, just staring back at the doppelganger before she took a few steps back and looked around for any signs of Discord. The confession genuinely touched her but she wasn’t sure if Discord was being entirely honest with her, it wasn’t like him to regret his actions but Luna had to admit that she still didn’t understand him entirely. She took some time to re-evaluate the situation.

“Discord, it’s alright.” Luna confessed to the empty air around her. She still wasn’t convinced that Discord was being forthcoming, but she was willing to meet him halfway if it would help him resolve his own issues. “I will admit that I did blame you for what happened for a long time, but that wasn’t really me as much as it was Nightmare Moon. I spent so much time blaming everyone else for my problems that I didn’t even think about-”

“I couldn’t even begin to imagine terrifying that must have been for you,” Discord cut her off without fanfare, “to watch yourself fall deeper and deeper into an abyss of hatred and despair. I just didn’t understand the kind of pain you must have been in, it made me feel sick not knowing exactly what I did to you.

“But then, I had a realization. I realized that even if I was the one who broke you, all those years ago, that it didn’t really matter in the end.”

A flicker of shadow drew Luna’s attention back to her doppelganger. Before her eyes she watched as its blue coat was slowly consumed by an inky blackness, the smile she saw before seemed to extend outward as its muzzle became longer, sharper, more predatory. The thing that really unnerved Luna was how its pupils pulled inward as its eyes narrowed.

“Because even after all that, you’re still here; in fact you’re stronger than ever!” Luna took a half-step back from the doppelganger only for it to take a step towards her. “I realized how liberating it must have been to just let it all go, to give into the temptation. You were always so high strung, Luna. I’m sure it felt wonderful to just let yourself go like that!” By now the doppelganger’s transformation was complete. Nightmare Moon herself stood just a few feet away from Luna, staring down at her with dead eyes and grinning manically.

“So I thought to myself, “what if I just let myself go,” it never occurred to me before that I could just give up, that I didn't have to try to be the good guy anymore!” Some of the darkness that spilled out from Nightmare Moon shot up and leapt out in front of her, she stumbled backwards as Discord materialized in front of her.

“What do you think, Luna?” He exclaimed with open arms, baring his fangs in a macabre grin. “This is the new Discord!” Luna looked at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Gone was the haphazard amalgamation of parts she had grown accustomed to, he was sleeker, more powerful; he was the embodiment of a true predator. Luna attempted to scramble to her feat, she tried to get away, but she quickly realized she was being held down by something. She looked around frantically only to discover that sinister, black, creepers had worked their way around her legs.

It struck her that her wards should have stopped Discord well before he ensnared her. She quickly checked them only to find that they were completely oblivious to the threat before her.

Her wards failed because Discord had broken the rules.

“Discord, you can’t just break down the boundary between realms like this, do you even realize what kind of-”

“What kind of Havoc that causes?” Discord said, finishing her thought. “Of course I do, I might be mad but I'm not a fool Luna.” Suddenly the vines pulled her down completely and Discord crouched down next to her, grinning at her prone form. He shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like I haven't done it before, I've just never done it on this grand of a scale.” He chuckled darkly and stood up, moving over to the doppelganger in front of her. “Before now it was just things that needed to happen, floods, droughts, plagues, you know the rest I’m sure.” As he said this he ran his claws through the doppelgangers mane, it fell into his touch complacently. “Unfortunate accidents need to happen once in a while to keep everyone on their toes, to keep you from becoming too complacent.

“But this!” He threw his arms out in a grand gesture. “This is different. I must admit that I never expected the planes to clash so violently, but that’s all for the better I suppose. After all, we will all be stronger after the fall! Right Luna?”

“It doesn’t have to happen like this!” Luna shouted out as she struggled under the weight of the vines that slowly warped themselves around her prone from. “Discord, you don’t have to go down this road!” She pleaded with him as she desperately tried to pry herself from his grasp. “We can talk about this!” She managed to pry two creepers away from her only for three more to replace them, forcing her down with renewed vigor. She decided to devote her reaming energy to try to negotiate with him. “I-I know what it’s like. You might think you’re alone, but you’re not!” She made eye contact with him only for her face to get shoved into the ground by another vine. “For all the darkness in the night sky there are endless stars that paint it with light. I can help you!”

Discord laughed, long and hard. He saw him move in front of her. As he picked her head up from the ground the vines moved away from her face, apparently content to wrap themselves around her neck.

“Really, Luna, I appreciate what you're trying to do.” He took a moment to stare deep into her eyes as he traced a talon along her jawline. “But you and your sister have already shown me everything I ever needed. You, Luna, have shown me the light; you’ve shown me that even gods can fall into darkness.”

Luna felt his talon start to cut into her cheek as the creepers around her neck tightened, their spines digging into her fur. Instinctively she channeled her energy into one last, desperate, spell.

“Let me show you my appreciation, Luna, for Auld Lang Syne.” Luna’s world fell away into as the darkness collapsed on her, suddenly-

Luna quickly scrambled to her hooves only to fall face first into her sheets. After a bit of panic and disorientation she realized that she was awake and in her room again, that and she was almost completely drained of energy. Choosing to ignore that she leapt out of bed and began sprinting through the shadowy, moonlight, halls of the castle, like a specter through the night.

The familiar shadows that normally comforted her only served to spur her on faster. The cool night air cut into the still fresh wound on her cheek as she ran.

Luna dealt with nightmares every night; however, she had no idea how to deal with them when they came to life.

Not alone, anyway.

After a few minutes of running her pace and her heartbeat had slowed dramatically, both coming to a standstill before the very large, ornate, doors placed at the end of a very long, comparatively mundane, hallway. After a few moments of trepidation she pushed the doors open, just enough for her to slip through, and she called out with the most confident voice she could muster.

“S-sister?”

“Luna?” Celestia twisted herself and sat up on the mattress to address Luna. “What is it?” She faked a yawn as she rubbed her eyes. “It’s late.”

“Celestia, it’s Discord, he’s changed.”

“What are you talking about?” Celestia asked, her voice tinged with worry and concern.

“I went to go visit him in his dreams and… he scared me Celestia, he was awake.” Luna finally broke down. “Sister, he broke the boundary between dreams and reality. I-I think he might have tried to kill me, but I don’t know for sure. He-“

Luna stopped when her sister wrapped her in a warm and protective hug. For a moment she was stunned, and then she embraced her back. She tried to be strong but after a minute she broke down again and started to sob uncontrollably. It took a while of them just standing there for her to calm down again, with a bit of effort she managed to pull herself away from her sister and wipe the fresh tears from her eyes. Celestia hoped she didn’t notice her doing the same.

“Tia, so the longest time I was so afraid that I might lose myself again.” Luna looked down at the ground for a second before she made eye contact. “Lately it’s felt like I’ve been losing you, but now we are losing Discord. We’re losing him again, Celestia, I’m scared.”

Celestia shushed her sister and embraced her once more. “Everything is going to be alright.” She slowly traced circles through Luna’s mane with her hoof, attempting to calm her down. “We’ll get this all sorted out in the morning, together. Ok?” Luna nodded into Celestia’s chest weakly.

“Ok…”

Celestia loosened her grip on Luna and looked down to see Luna looking back up at her. It was obvious Luna felt better than before but she looked far worse for wear; her muzzle was streaked with tears, her mane was a tangled mess, her wings were ruffled, and her eyes were bloodshot. “You should try to get some sleep; we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow and you look like you need all the rest you can get.”

Despite herself, Celestia smiled when Luna blinked at her, oblivious to her current state. Luna quickly glanced at the mirror in front of Celestia’s desk and almost immediately took a step back, obviously surprised by her appearance. Celestia chuckled as Luna smiled back at her own reflection.

“I suppose that wouldn’t be the worst idea you’ve ever had.” Luna said as she brushed a few strands of loose hair away of her face.

“Goodnight, Luna.” Celestia shook her head as she turned and stated to walk back to her bed.

“Sister,” Celestia stopped in her tracks and looked back over to Luna, “would it be alright if I slept with you tonight.” Celestia hesitated briefly.

“O-of course, Luna.” She took another moment to appreciate Luna’s disheveled state. “But first, let’s get you cleaned up.”

Celestia went through all the motions. She washed Luna’s face, she made sure to scrub all the sweat and exertion out of her coat, and she took the time to preen Luna’s wings; every feather in its place. She even went the extra mile to tease all the knots out from Luna’s mane, despite Luna’s constant insistence that she could do it herself.

She did it because she knew that she needed to do it, Celestia needed the contact. She did it because, despite the fact that she had probably narrated and dictated enough to comprise a new volume of her biography, she had hardly spoken two words to anypony in the past month. She did it because, even though she had greeted, mingled, and danced with dozens, if not hundreds of Ponies in the past month, she hadn't taken the time to talk to, touch, or even really look at anyone in the same period of time.

Mostly she did it because she wanted to spend some time with her little sister before she left, she knew Luna wouldn't really mind.

Once they were both in bed it only took Luna a few minutes to fall asleep, or to be more specific, it only took her a few minutes to pass out. Still, Celestia took pains to stay by her side, gently stroking her mane, until she was positive she was actually asleep. She carefully extricated herself from her sister’s hooves and shuffled out of bed. Celestia felt a pang of guilt stab at her as she watched Luna grab at the empty air in front of her before she managed to find Celestia’s pillow, her unconscious form deciding it to be an adequate replacement.

“We'll get this all sorted out in the morning, together.” At least that is what she had told her.

Celestia sighed, exasperated, before she leaned over to gently kiss her sister’s forehead. “I’m sorry.” She said.

Celestia lied, but in her mind it was a necessary lie. Luna needed her sleep if she wanted to be able to deal with the inevitable fallout of what would happen tonight, Celestia didn’t have the luxury of waiting for a new dawn.

She had already spent so much of her life waiting for a new sunrise, a better tomorrow. She had to admit to herself that just waiting for a solution to present itself was not a real solution to her problems. For years she had done what she thought she was capable of doing herself, delegating everything else to more competent Ponies and praying that her subjects would prevail when she was too afraid to try. She was tired of just hoping that it would turn out "Ok" in the end.

Celestia decided that if she wanted to control her own destiny that she would have to act of her own accord.

Careful as not to flare her horn, she grabbed a quill and parchment with her magic as she crept over to her desk. Laying out two pieces of parchment she quickly scrawled out two letters before sending out both with a silent burst of magic. She glanced back at Luna, to make sure she was still asleep, before she walked out to the balcony. As she stepped out into the cold night air, she took a moment to appreciate the beautiful night she had walked into before she commenced her final preparations.

Slowly, her horn flared up with an amber glow as she summoned up reserves of magic from deep within her body. The glow steadily grew in intensify as she tried to focus that energy into one concrete act of will. Soon the aura started to spread, from her horn, as it engulfed her entire body. The aura grew brighter and brighter until she was physically lifted off the ground, lifted up by the raw magical energy she was channeling. Celestia’s aura grew brighter and brighter until it became impossible to distinguish her from the corona of light.

It was then, just as she felt her strength begin to wane, she gave that magic direction.

A bolt of ethereal light shot out of her horn as Celestia fell back onto the balcony with a clatter of hooves. She quickly crept back into her room to make sure she hadn't managed to wake her sister and was relieved to find that she was still sleeping soundly on the bed. She moved back out to the balcony and cast her gaze skyward; it only took her a moment to find the tail of the bolt of magic as it arced across the sky. To anyone else it would look like a shooting star, but to her it was an assurance. It drained her reserves considerably, but it was the only way she could assure the sun would rise and set in her absence.

“However long that may be.” She thought to herself

Celestia always believed that it was better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. As she propelled herself from the balcony and into the night sky with a strong flap of her wings she thought to herself.

“I only hope that I am not too late…”

And with that though in her mind she angled her wings downward and descended towards the, ever darkening, forest below…

Chapter Eleven: Unanswered Questions

Luna looked up from the letter, narrowing her eyes at the two Ponies in front of her. Normally it would have been a pleasure to see Twilight; however, the circumstances behind her arrival went a long way to spoil Luna’s mood. Still, she had to admit; it was nice to see her again. That along with the fact that Twilight seemed to be paying close attention went a long way to make Luna feel a bit better about the situation, at least she wouldn’t have to waste time repeating herself to Twilight.

Dual, however, was much harder to read. It was obvious by the way he was staring at the stained glass windows that he was distracted by something. Luna wasn’t sure if he was even hearing a single word she was saying, let alone paying attention to them, and that frustrated her to no end. As much as she trusted her sister’s judgment, she was seriously beginning to question her decision to involve him in this.

Luna tried not to dwell on it; she had to stay focused if she had any hope of helping her sister.

“At week’s end, each week until you are dismissed, you shall attend a private lesson that will be on any subject I deem fit to examine. Starting tomorrow you will assume your duties as a Princess of Greater Equestria. I understand that Dual Vision is perfectly qualified to serve you in his role as your appointed advisor; so if you have any questions about your duties, please field them with him. Due to certain unforeseen circumstances, you are not to disturb me unless there is an issue arises that poses a direct threat to the Empire. Do I make myself clear?”

Twilight chimed in immediately. “Clear as crystal, Luna.” Dual still seemed to be absorbed in something else entirely; he continued to stare into space. Under less pressing circumstances, Luna would have probably laughed when a “gentle nudge” from Twilight nearly pushed him off his seat. Once he managed to right himself, Dual promptly nodded in Luna’s general direction; Luna decided not to press him for more.

“Good, as far as I am aware, Twilight, you should be perfectly capable of handling this from an administrative standpoint. Dual will be there for you to should you require any tutoring in court etiquette.” Luna quickly looked between the two of them. “So, unless either of you have any questions for me...” Luna saw Twilight’s hoof go up in the air, but she chose to ignore it. “I’m afraid I have duties to attend to that require my immediate attention.”

After about a minute Twilight slowly lowered it back down to the ground, her disappointment was palpable. Luna instead, turned her attention back to Dual Vision. He didn’t so much as glance in Luna’s direction, she shook her head and sighed.

“Well then, if two of you will excuse me, I’ll be taking my leave.”

Luna didn’t even bother to wait for them to reply, or more specifically to wait for Twilight. She simply focused her magic and without another thought she appeared in her own chambers. She hung her head and let out a long, melodramatic, sigh.

“Sister, whatever am I to do with you?”

Luna had thought that a thousand years of rule might have eliminated Celestia’s impulsive streak, but with things as they that clearly was not the case. For the umpteenth time Celestia had gone gallivanting into some unknown peril, charging her problems head-on with a reckless abandon and with no regard for the potential consequences.

“And of course you had to leave me behind... Again!” Luna tried to be upset at her sister, but as much as she tried to be mad at her she only felt more and more worried. “At least this time you had the forethought and decency to leave me a note.”

“Even if you delivered it by proxy…”

Luna sighed again as she opened up one of her drawers, casually tossing the letter inside before locking the drawer with a quick spell. She looked over at her desk and saw that there was already a stack of paperwork for her to complete. She realized that, much as she hated it, when her sister left her behind, she couldn’t fault her sister’s logic.

Someone had to look after everything while she was gone; Luna was probably the most qualified Pony to do it. Of course, Luna always suspected that there was another reason Celestia did it. Keeping her busy was the best way to keep her out of harm’s way.

“Perhaps,” Luna wondered, “that’s the reason you invited young Twilight is here as well?”

It was hard for her to say whether Twilight’s presence would be a boon or a hindrance. From what Luna had seen of her records, and from what Celestia had told her directly, Twilight should have be more than capable of taking on at least a share of Celestia’s duties. Still, Luna couldn’t trust her to take on that responsibly without some oversight. No matter how capable Twilight might have been she was still a novice when it came to ruling; Luna had to offer at least some guidance to the young Alicorn. That would take time though, time Luna didn’t have.

She sat down on the floor beside her bed, taking a moment to think about her predicament. If Luna could keep Twilight busy with some of the more trivial aspects of rule then it would keep her out of her mane, keep her from asking too many questions. Luna knew full well she could differ most of her own duties to her advisors, confidants she knew she could trust. As for everything else, Luna knew she could put it off until everything resolved itself.

She shook her head, banishing the thoughts from her head. She could arrange all that later, now she had a much greater duty to attend to. She stood up and quickly clambered onto her bed, only taking a few moments find a comfortable spot.

“I won’t leave you alone again, Celestia. I promise.”

And with that she hastily shed her physical form, casting her mind into the darkness below…

Twilight stared at the spot Luna was standing just a few moments ago, despite her frustration she couldn’t help but admiring the scene before her. She watched as a thousand wisps of shadow twirled through the air, clashing together as they slowly collapsed into themselves. She cast her head down in defeat and sighed, wholly unsatisfied by the encounter.

“I barely know anything more than I did this morning. She didn’t even give me chance to ask her about what happened before she just disappeared.” She hummed to herself thoughtfully as she stood up and picked up her bags. “She could have at least given me a chance to say “goodbye” before she left me all alone-”

Dual cleared his throat loudly, causing her lose her grip on the bags and sending them tumbling back to the ground. She quickly glanced over to her side just in time to see him giving her a strange look.

“Well, mostly alone.” She felt her cheeks flush; obviously embarrassed by the fact that she had forgotten he was even there for what was probably the third time that day. “How long was I sitting there?”

“Sorry.” Twilight smiled at him weakly as she apologized. She looked over at her bags, carefully picking up what spilled out and neatly packing it away. She couldn’t stop thinking that something was wrong, but she couldn’t put her hoof on exactly what. Celestia asked her to take care of certain things while she was away before, but never anything this important…

That, and there was something else about the whole situation that evaded her. The whole thing seemed a bit impersonal to her, and maybe a little rushed; perhaps even forced?

“Something is definitely off…”

“Is something bothering you, Princess?” Dual asked, breaking her from her reverie.

Twilight blinked and looked at the book she was holding. She looked up at Dual and smiled, shaking her head. “Oh, it’s nothing.” He raised an eyebrow at her, obviously not convinced. “I think I might have left something back at the library.” Dual just continued to stare at her. Twilight laughed nervously, picking through her saddlebags and pretending to search through them to prove her point. She opened a small compartment and in the left pack and, to her surprise, she realized that she might have actually forgotten to bring some ink with her. She immediately pulled one of her other bags over and started to search through it frantically, convinced that she must have misplaced it. “And please, you don’t have to address me a Princess, just call me Twilight. Ok?”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Princess.” Twilight immediately pulled her head out of her bag and stared at him, confused, her mind trying to process what just happened.

“Huh?” Twilight raised an eyebrow towards him, regarding his implacable expression with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

He cleared his throat again and explained himself. “Even though you seem to think your title is irrelevant, you earned it and you continue to hold it for a reason.” He shook his head. “It serves to remind both of us of our respective stations. As your advisor, my duty is to assist you in your role as Princess however I can. Meaning I’m probably going to have to give you a lot of advice and guidance; however, it is important for me to remember that, even if I know more than you in certain subjects, it ultimately falls to you to make important decisions and means based judgments.” He casually lifted one of his hooves, inspecting the wall for any flaws or imperfections. “Humility is important; your title is there to remind me that I’m to follow your orders,” he lowered his hoof and glanced back up at her. “By the same token, it’s there to remind you that you are the princess, Princess.”

“Uh huh…” Twilight had to take a few moments to process what he just said. She had to admit that he wasn’t wrong and that he did have the right, as well as a reason, to call her Princess. Twilight smiled. “Well, in that case, I order you to address me as Twilight from now on.” Again he raised an eyebrow at her, but he didn’t say anything against it, prompting her to explain her reasoning.

“Mr. Vision, if you want to be able to advise me properly, then you have to be able to see the world from my perspective. I find that it’s easier to understand somepony’s perspective if your friends with them.”

Dual bowed deeply, still maintaining eye contact. “As you wish, Twilight. But, please, if you insist on being my friend, I’m going to have to ask that you call me Dual.” He shot her a cheeky grin. “Mr. Vision was my father.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and laughed sarcastically. “Of course, Dual.” She looked around, making sure they were still completely alone in the giant hallway. “So…” Her voice trailed off, grabbing his full attention as his ears swiveled in her direction. “What do you think of all this?” Dual frowned and looked at her, apparently waiting for her to elaborate. A moment passed and he looked down at the floor. Twilight could swear she saw a smirk on his face, but she couldn’t tell for sure.

He looked up again and cast his head around, looking up and down the hallway just like Twilight had done a before; obviously making sure they were alone. “Well as far as I can tell you haven’t been given any major tasks yet?” Twilight remained silent, listening intently as he continued. “Other than a few, small, public appearances and a couple other things you haven’t had a chance to really flex your wings as a Princess of Equestria, correct?” Twilight didn’t respond other than to sit down and shuffle her wings at her sides. Noticing this, Dual quickly corrected himself. “Figuratively speaking of course, I’m sure you’ve had plenty of time to get used to the wings.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course.” The hall fell silent again as Twilight just stared at him, only allowing a faint smirk to touch at her lips. It was a simple tactic, but she had seen Celestia use it enough times to understand how effective it could be.

“As I was saying,” Dual continued. “Other than a few isolated incidents you haven’t had much experience as a Princess.” Dual nodded at Twilight, affirming his own point. “Not only that, but you’ve also an introvert. From what I understand, most of the Ponies you know you’ve either met when you were just a foal, in the past few years, or while reading a history book.” The smile died on Twilight’s lips as she narrowed her eyes at the stallion in front of her. He immediately broke eye contact.

Twilight knew something was up. She expected Ponies to know a bit about her past at this point, she was a Princess after all, but he seemed a bit too familiar with her for only having met her maybe twice before. She took a moment to think back to the last time they met, he seemed to know an awful lot about her then too…

The silence hung in the air around them while Twilight waited for an explanation. Dual squirmed a bit when Twilight started to tap her hoof against the floor impatiently. “Well?”

Dual looked back over at her and sighed. “Your name has come up amongst my clientele,” he nervously scratched at the back of his neck, “repeatedly actually.” Twilight just sat there, continuing to stare, waiting for him to fully explain himself; Dual raised his hooves defensively. “Look, there are only a few lawyers in Ponyville and because of that I have a sizable base of client’s. Some of your friends happen to be those clients. I’m sure you can understand that they’ve happened mentioned you a bit in conversation, not to mention the fact that some of them have been curious about how your legal status has changed since you’ve become a Princess.” Twilight stopped tapping her hoof, much too Dual’s relief, but then she leaned forward.

“Aright, I can understand that.” Twilight shook her head. “But you seem to know some things that aren’t exactly common knowledge, even to my friends. Like how you came to me about verifying that seal. I know my friends think highly of me, but I don’t understand how you could know that I would be able to do that. That’s on an entirely different level than my normal, everyday, magic.”

“Well, after the incident where you saved the town from that Ursa Major-”

“Minor,” Twilight said, cutting him off, “Ursa Minor.”

“Right, Ursa Minor. After that I received several questions about what kind of rights and privileges powerful mages have.” Dual flashed a nervous smile. “So about a thousand questions later I kind of got curious as to your personal classification; I wanted to know exactly how powerful the Princesses’ protégé was. So I might have possibly gone and dug up some of your records. Nothing illegal of course, all the stuff open to the public.”

Twilight leaned back and rolled her eyes. “Well that explains it.” She noticed Dual immediately relax, and then something clicked in her head. “Wait a minute, that isn’t right-”

“Um, I can explain-”

“I’m not actually registered as a mage in Equestria,” she said, immediately staring him down again. “There’s still no possible way you could know that I would be able to do that, even if you looked at my records.”

“Well, that’s right, or at least half right. Can we go back to why we’re here?”

Twilight nodded. “We can.”

“Alright well the-”

“But that can wait until after you finish explaining yourself.”

“You can’t possibly be serious.” He said, obviously starting to get a bit annoyed at how insistent she was being.

“You have to understand my point of view here, Dual. If you’re going to be my advisor, even temporarily, then I absolutely have to trust you and your judgment.” She shook her head. “But I can’t trust you unless you’re completely honest with me. I need to know that you aren’t going to try to trick me or mislead me, and I can’t know that unless you’re open with me about your past.”

“I suppose…”

“Well?”

“Right... Well you are right about that. Going through you record didn’t give me much to go on other than some basic stuff from when you were just a foal; test scores, vaccination records, that sort of thing. I couldn’t seem to find much of anything from after Celestia took you under her wing.” Twilight nodded.

“Right, she didn’t want anything to get in the way of my studies.”

“Anyway, I guessed that Celestia probably had something to do with it, so I tried to get in contact with her. It took a bit of pushing but I eventually managed to arrange a meeting with her-”

“So you arranged a meeting with Princess Celestia just because you were curious about how powerfully I was.”

Dual whinged, “Well…”

“Well, what?”

“By that point it was less about you and more about finding work. I was kind of short on bits at the time, I was looking for any excuse to make new contacts in the hopes that I could find some new clients.”

“So, let me get this straight. You used me as an excuse to talk to the Princess?”

“Kinda?” Dual said with no small amount of uncertainty, “maybe, I don’t know… I was still curious, but to say that’s the only reason I went into that meeting would be a lie.”

“You couldn’t have just asked her for a job?”

“You don’t just go up to Princess Celestia and ask her for a job!”

“Then what did you do?”

“Well, you bring up a shared interest and find common ground.” Dual shrugged. “I just made small talk until we came to a point where I could mention my current employment status.”

“And how did that work for you?”

“Actually, it worked out great. We talked about some of the cases I worked on before, apparently she was following a few of them and she thought my record was impressive.” Dual nodded proudly. “She hired me on the spot.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, just a little bit surprised.

“Yes.” Dual glared at her. “Yes, she did. She also gave me some notes she took on your overall progress, mostly stuff from tests she gave you but some other stuff too.”

“Like what?”

Dual waved a hoof. “It’s not really important; your records are pretty impressive Twilight. From what I saw I could have said that you were easily as strong, magically, as anypony twice your age, and that’s before your ascension.” Twilight blushed. “Though, Princess Celestia said that if I really wanted to get to know you better I should talk to you in person.”

“And that’s when you came to me about the seal?”

“Well, no, all this happened a few years ago. I was too busy with the work Princess Celestia gave me to go out and actually talk to you about it.” Dual shook his head. “Actually, I probably would have never had the time to follow up and meet with you if it weren’t for the seal. The reason I came to you for that was because I was in the middle of another case and I needed results as soon as possible. You just happened to be the closest Pony I knew about who might have the aptitude, the knowledge, and the power to get the job done.”

“So you’re saying that, even after all that, you coming to me was still just guess.”

“Yes, but it was a very educated guess.”

“Right…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“That might actually lead into why Princess Celestia asked me to be here with you.” Dual scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I mean I am perfectly qualified for the position, and even though there might be others who have more experience in an advisory role I doubt that many of them know as much about you as I do.” Dual shrugged. “That and I’m sure the Princess knows by now that I wouldn’t turn down the work.”

“Huh,” Twilight said, somewhat surprised, “that actually makes a lot of sense.” Twilight sighed. “But that still doesn’t explain why I’m here and why the Princess isn’t.”

“Luna did say that Celestia wanted you here so you could get some more experience as a Princess.” Dual chuckled. “From what I understand, you’re capable. But you could definitely use some first-hoof experience.”

Twilight shook her head. “I know, I know, and that makes sense too,” Twilight sighed. “Still, something seems…”

“Off?”

Twilight nodded and stared down at the floor between her hooves. “I don’t know, Dual. Between the Princess leaving without a word, the midnight summons for us to come to Canterlot, and Luna being so curt with us, I feel like somethings wrong. I can’t put my hoof on exactly what’s bothering me, but I just can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is going to happen.”

“Does the Princess always tell you when she is going off on business?”

Twilight nodded. “She always writes to tell me personally, but she usually announces it at least a few days ahead of time.” Twilight looked up a Dual hopefully. “Have you heard anything about it?”

“No,” Dual shook his head, “this is the first I’m hearing about it. You’re right of course; Celestia almost always lets it be known when she’s leaving. That’s why I asked.”

“Right…”

“It isn’t unusual for Celestia to leave for a few days, or even a few weeks, but the fact that she didn’t tell anyone does concern me a bit.” Dual shook his head again. “I can’t say for sure, but judging from the look on Luna’s face when you gave her that note, I would wager that she didn’t know anything about it either. That implies that we might be the only three Ponies who know she’s even gone.” Twilight noticed the subtle shift in Dual’s posture as his eyes started to lose focus. She watched and listened intently as he continued.

“Not only that, but the fact that you received the letter so early in the morning implies she was called away by something in the middle of the night.” Dual quickly turned to the side and started pacing up and down the hall in front of her. “If we consider that along with the apparent fact that she hasn’t informed anyone of her imminent departure, we can easily come to the conclusion that whatever she left for must be important. Something must have happened that forced her hoof; otherwise she would have given us more information.” Twilight quickly stepped in front of him, nearly causing him to bump into her.

“Do you think someone might have taken her? She might be in real trouble!”

Dual shook his head and paced past her. “I don’t think so. I know for a fact that all of the Princesses have reinforced their wards since the incident where Discord “accidentally” foalnapped them. If someone tried to take Celestia in the middle of the night, there would have been a struggle. If there was a struggle, somepony would have noticed. The fact that we aren’t in a state of emergency right now implies that was not the case.” Dual paused for a step, hesitating. He glanced over at Twilight. “Did the note Celestia gave you have her seal on it?”

Twilight blinked. “Um… Yes! Yes it did.” She took a moment to think about that. “I can check and make sure that it’s her signature.”

Dual nodded. “You probably should, I doubt that it’s a fake but we shouldn’t rule out the possibility without checking.” He promptly started pacing back and forth again while Twilight checked the signature on the letter. “My question is, why not just leave a note with Luna? Instead of just giving you a direct summons, Celestia could have given Luna time to prepare and give a proper welcome. Now she’ll have to scramble to make sure everything gets taken care of. It doesn’t make any sense!” Dual stomped a hoof out of frustration, the crack of keratin against marble echoed down the hallway. Twilight winced; she checked one of her own hooves empathetically before going back to the signature. Dual sat down and stared at his hoof, apparently pulled out of his daze. After a minute of relative silence, Twilight spoke up.

“I’m just about finished checking the signature.” Twilight frowned, concentrating intently. She sighed and shook her head. “No, this is definitely her signature.”

“Alright, but that doesn’t really give us anything else to go on.”

“Maybe we’re just missing something?”

“Maybe…” Dual stared at the letter floating in front of her. “The letter, you said you received it a few hours before dawn?”

“Yea, it was somewhere around that time. I don’t know exactly when though, it took a few minutes for me to figure out exactly what was going on when Spike woke me up.” Twilight shook her head. “Princess Celestia’s never sent me something that late at night before.”

“Is there anything else unusual about the letter, anything at all?”

“Umm…” Twilight looked down at the letter, furrowing her brow. “Yes actually, it’s a bit short and really unspecific; more so than her normal letters are anyway.”

“Can I see it?”

Twilight nodded and quickly passed the letter to him. He carefully grabbed the scroll out of the air, unfurling it on the ground in front of him. Twilight moved in beside him and read though it silently.

Twilight

Find Dual Vision and bring him to Canterlot as soon as possible. Take the first train out of Ponyville; come prepared to stay indefinitely.

I will absent for the foreseeable future. Find Luna and give her the sealed note contained within, she will explain the rest.

Yours

Celestia

Twilight, having already memorized the contents of the letter, waited patiently for Dual to finish. She watched intently as his eyes darted up and down the page, obviously making multiple passes. He seemed to linger on particular words, obviously trying to glean some kind of insight, anything, from the meager context.

Dual sighed. He grabbed up the scroll and turned it over, checking the back. After staring at the blank parchment, he carefully turned it over and set it down on the floor. He shook his head and passed the back over to her; Twilight slipped it back into her bag.

“There really isn’t much to go on here. But judging by her phrasing, she expects to be gone for a while.”

“Oh, I really hope she isn’t in some kind of trouble.” Twilight didn’t try to mask the concern in her voice. “It really isn’t like her to run off without telling anyone…”

“What would you do if I told you Celestia was in trouble?”

Twilight responded immediately, bolting upright. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a hypothetical question,” Dual waved a hoof at her dismissively, “so relax.” Twilight sat back down, listening carefully to what he had to say. “So, if you knew Celestia was in danger, what would you do?”

“I would do whatever I could to help her.” Twilight replied without hesitation. Dual nodded.

“Alright, so you would just drop whatever you were doing to help her?” Without realizing it Twilight found herself on her hooves again, this time Dual stood up as well; he took a step towards her, making direct eye contact.

Twilight hesitated, though only for a moment. “Of course, anything!”

“You would put yourself in danger to help her?”

Twilight took a step towards him, staring him down. “She is my mentor and more importantly she is my friend. I would do anything I could to help her, danger or no.”

“Anything, really now?” Dual broke eye contact and took another step forward, standing beside her. Twilight nodded resolutely. “Would you put Equestria on the line to save just one pony?”

“Yes!” Twilight realized she replied too quickly and shook her head. “No! Maybe?” She sighed and sat back down. “I don’t know…”

Dual took a step back and waited patiently for Twilight to come to a decision.

Twilight stared off at one of the stained glass murals as her mind wandered back to a book she had read not too long ago. “Risking the life of one to potentially save the life of another is a fool’s gambit that, more often than not, results in a loss of both parties.” Twilight looked back up at Dual. “Alright, I think I understand where you’re coming from now.” She frowned. “But I still don’t understand where you’re going, what’s your point exactly?”

Dual looked down at the floor, Twilight noticed his lips move silently as if he were going over what he was about to say before he said it. “My point is that Princess Celestia isn’t acting the way a Princess would act normally. For example, at first glance it appears that the Princess called you here to give you a lesson in ruling and governance. I have no issue or argument against that in itself; however, the way she is going about it doesn’t make any sense.” Dual looked up at Twilight and shook his head. “It’s perfectly in character for Celestia to give Ponies a trial by fire, the best way to learn is to do after all. But there are better ways to do it than to leave you alone with half The Empire on your back!”

“Well, I’m not completely alone; Luna is still here to make sure everything runs smoothly.”

Dual nodded. “That’s another thing that’s been bothering me.” Dual took another step away from Twilight and started passing back and forth across the hall again. “Luna could easily rule in her sister’s stead; however, performing her own duties while also overseeing your transition, as well as, mentoring you would be exceptionally difficult.” Dual shook his head without breaking stride. “It would have been so much simpler to instead have you act as a regent while Celestia was here to watch over you, that way she could ensure a smooth transition with minimal interruptions.”

“So what’s your point exactly?”

“My point is that if it was Celestia’s plan to educate you from the start, then she executed it poorly. She’s just making more work for everyone involved; Princess Celestia doesn’t make mistakes like that.”

“So you’re saying she did it on purpose?”

“Yes, I feel like that might have been her intention, it makes more sense than the alternative.”

“Alright, but why do you think she would want to make things more difficult for Luna and I?”

Dual sighed and shook his head again, staring at the floor. “I honest I don’t know, Twilight.” He looked back up at her. “If I had to guess, I would say she’s trying to keep us distracted. She’s trying to keep us away from her.”

“Well, based on the facts as we know them I would have to agree with you.” Twilight said as she stood up, gathering her bags. “Though, I do have to correct you on just one thing.” Twilight giggled as Dual cocked his head inquisitively. “If it wasn’t Celestia’s intention for me to learn something here, she wouldn’t have assigned you to be my advisor.”

Dual nodded humbly; however, any semblance of stoicism was lost when Twilight noticed the light blush that touched at his cheeks. She chuckled as she gently tugged on his saddlebags with her magic.

“Would you like to get some lunch? We can talk about it more while we eat. I don’t know about you but I haven’t had a chance to eat anything today and I could really do with some hay fries about now.”

Dual stood up and shuffled his bags into a more conformable position. “Of course, it would be my pleasure Princess.” Twilight swore she caught a glimpse him smirking at her as he turned and led them down the hallway.

Celestia barreled through the twisted undergrowth, always keeping a just few steps ahead of the abominations that harried her.

Though, only just…

From the moment she touched down in the forest she could feel it rejecting her. It made the fur on her withers stand on end. It was a feeling of revulsion, something deep within her was reacting with the magic of the place. She knew she didn’t belong. The deeper she pressed into the forest the worse the feeling got, but that feeling was the least of her problems.

The farther she went the thicker the canopy above her grew, weaving itself into a near impenetrable barrier and preventing any light from touching the ground beneath her; eventually the woods around her were cast into an eternal twilight and with the only reliable source of light being the shaky, amber colored, glow emanating from her horn.

The deeper she went the more sounds of the forest seemed to become twisted and distorted. The air around her was stagnant and oppressive, but she could hear the wind whispering in her ear regardless. It cut through the trees and seemed to surround her, but the only breeze she felt was from the air rushing past her as she charged ahead. The sounds the wind carried to her disturbed her even more. She couldn’t be sure if they were real or just another part of the illusion.

The entire time she was there she never caught sight of the forest’s fauna. It seemed completely barren of animal life, at least at first. Eventually the inhabitants of the forest came to her, but she sincerely questioned whether or not they were truly alive.

Celestia had heard accounts, fables mostly, of Timberwolves accosting Ponies out of The Everfree Forest. She had always been skeptical of the tales, personally refusing to believe them. What was she supposed to think when her subjects claimed that the woods themselves came out at night to hunt them? She didn’t make the mistake of disregarding her subjects, however. It was obvious that the woods had become more dangerous since Discord’s disappearance. So she posted a small contingent of soldiers, what she could spare. She wanted to protect her Ponies from the danger of the forest, regardless of whether those dangers were real or imagined. She could not afford for her followers to lose faith in her in what would prove to be her darkest hour.

She would have laughed at the irony of it all if she had any air in her lungs. There she was, being hunted by the very same hounds that she refused to believe in all those years ago. Her past mistakes were finally catching up with her.

“I deserve this.” Despite the cacophony around her, despite the sounds of the asymmetric footfalls behind her echoing in her ears, Celestia’s mind had never been clearer. “For everything I have done, I deserve at least this…”

Her body tensed up and she involuntarily jerked to the side as a shadow leapt out from the corner of her vision. She felt its claws glide through her coat as they grazed the tender flesh beneath. At this point the only thing keeping her ahead of her pursuers was her baser instincts, the primal drive to survive. Her mind wandered; paradoxically unbound by the chaos that surrounded her, but fettered by the memories of her past deeds.

She accepted her fate, a fate she decided by her own actions centuries ago. Celestia always knew she wouldn’t live forever, she knew that as much as she knew the world wound not end if she perished in the nightmarish depths of a forsaken forest. She knew her Ponies would mourn her, perhaps for years, but they would survive, even thrive, in her absence. The thought was humbling but filled her with a sense of twisted relief; she knew even if she failed here, her legacy would live on.

She pressed deeper and deeper into the forest regardless; she still had a job to do.

But she was alone.

As the sun set, the forest churned with shadow and was plunged into complete darkness. Luna would have had little trouble navigating the lightless wood, but Celestia was not Luna. Instinctively, the light streaming from her horn intensified, lighting the way ahead while casting everything in an amber relief. As the light grew brighter it only made it harder to navigate. The amber glow washed away all the contrast and color from the woods making it nearly impossible to distinguish one tree from the next. Still, it was better than running blind.

Her strength was failing.

The light streaming out her horn only seemed to accelerate her fatigue. Her muscles screamed with at her with every stride, every step she took felt like it would be her last. She had to press on; if she ever slowed, for even a moment, her pursuers would overtake her. Even so, it soon became apparent that if she wanted to survive the night she would have to fight. She decided she would stop and face them once she found a clearing.

When she finally burst through the thicket and into a clearing she turned to face her assailants. Part of her wondered how she would fight them off when she herself could barely stand, part of her didn’t seem to care. She waited for the hounds to burst into the clearing as a pack, to finish their hunt, to claim their prize.

But they never did.

The seconds stretched into minutes. Celestia’s adrenaline eventually ebbed away and she collapsed from the ground. In a bid to conserve what remained of her strength she extinguished her horn, the hot amber glow vanished and was replaced by cool moonlight.

She decided that the hounds must have abandoned her, probably deciding that their prey wasn’t worth the effort in the end. Either way, she was alone. The night sky shone above her as she finally allowed herself just a few hours rest…

Discord loomed over Celestia’s prone form. He watched her chest slowly rise and fall in the perfectly circular grass clearing. The phantasmal Draconequus furrowed his brow and his lips curled back in obvious disdain. His tail flicked back and forth at irregular intervals, vexed by his proximity to her.

There lay Celestia, asleep and unconscious; she would have been completely defenseless. There was Discord, the very embodiment of Chaos, entropy, and discordance, but he couldn’t get any closer to her if he tried. He couldn’t touch her; his influence seemed to vanish about a yard from her perfectly crafted neck. Celestia’s wards were always powerful, but they were sloppy. Discord knew he should have been able to find a way past them by now, but he couldn’t.

Her wards were flawless, impregnable.

She was completely untouchable.

“What’s your secret, Celestia?” Discord asked, despite knowing full well she couldn’t hear him. “Why is it that you insist on defying me to the very end?”

Celestia, completely unaware of his presence, worried in her sleep. Her face contorted and her nostrils flared, she pulled her limps in closer to her center in an attempt to shield herself from some unseen evil. Discord found it ironic, he couldn’t touch her, but he didn’t have to. Celestia had become the herald of her own destruction, somehow…

It was true; the forest would do what he commanded it to, but whenever he came near her his link with it fell silent. Everywhere within a mile of her was completely cut off to him, he could only wait and watch as the forest delivered her deepest desires. He didn’t understand it, not completely, but he knew the wolves that hounded her were not of his creation.

“Are you here to taunt me, Celestia? Are you here to show me you can take what you’ve given me? Or did you come here to show me how close you can come to death without even risking your own life?” He waited for a response that would never come. In his frustration he lashed out at her, only to have his claws slide off an invisible barrier. It threw out sparks as his claws grazed over it, like he had carved into a steel wall. Celestia flinched at the noise, but otherwise she was completely unaffected by the attempt.

“Why, Celestia? Why is it so hard for you to leave me alone?” Discord sighed, nursing his claw as the numbness wore off and the pain started to set in. “Why are you even here?”

Again, his only response was silence. Celestia was completely ignorant of his plight. It was infuriating; all the answers were lying right in front of him, but he had no way to reach them.

“I suppose a better question would be to ask why I even care…”

Discord threw his arms up in the air, defeated. He looked down at Celestia’s form and was filled with nostalgia. He chuckled despite himself. “My, my, whenever did you learn to be such a nuisance? All you would have to do is leave me to my own and I would never have to look at you again. It’s that simple! Then again I suppose that wouldn’t fit into your vision, would it?” Discord glared at her, desperately hoping she would notice him and wake up and profess every dark truth he wanted, needed, to know.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow lingering at the edge of the clearing. He narrowed his eyes and turned to face it, only to find it had disappeared. He spent a moment searching around for the presence, only to find it had disappeared from sight.

It didn’t really matter if he couldn’t find it though; he could still feel eyes on him.

“Perhaps,” he asked aloud, hoping to catch the attention of his watcher, “I can find my answers elsewhere.” He turned his attention back to Celestia. “After all, you aren’t the only one who knows how to enter dreams, are you?” He hoped the interloper was paying close attention as he centered himself. The world around him fell away as he pushed his mind into Celestia’s unconscious form.

And so, the clearing lay empty but for the lone Alicorn who lay sleeping in the moonlight. All was dark and all was quiet. However, an unseen battle raged on in the mind of one…

Chapter Twelve: Old Flames

Sometimes dreams are simple.

Sometimes dreams depict patterns, familiar settings and events the dreamer has experience with. Dreams like this tend to be cyclic, with the dreamer falling into a simple routine and making few conscious choices. Choices that are made by the dreamer that fall outside of these cycle are often demonstrative of the unconscious minds desire to achieve change in reality. These are by far the most common dreams, and because of this they tend to be most forgettable. The primary exception to this rule is if the dreamer would become lucid during the dream. If the dreamer becomes lucid, then they have a much greater chance of writing the dream to memory. Even then it’s common for the dreamer to forget most of the dream, with the exception of the portions of the dream they were lucid.

Sometimes dreams depict desires and fears. Dreams such as these tend to be wild, unbound by logic and conceptual reality. These can range from primal depictions of nature to fantastic distortions of reality. The things depicted in these dreams are often heavily symbolic and emotionally charged, especially for the dreamer in question. Fever dreams and classical nightmares fall under this category; dreams such as these are oftentimes be enrapturing and haunting in the same breadth, much like the call of a siren evoking longing and hatred in the same melody. Repressed emotions and disregarded feelings often twist themselves into nigh unrecognizable forms and shapes in these dreams, calling out to the dreamer however they can. One should always take pains to understand the significance and symbolism in such dreams, especially if they recur.

Ironically the rarest type of dream is the one that’s most bound in reality. These dreams are also the dreams that can carry the most significance.

Sometimes a dream isn’t a dream at all.

Sometimes it’s a memory.

The first thing to come to Discord was the smell. Scent is the sense most intrinsically tied to memory, even more so than a Unicorn’s mnemonic kinesthesia, a Pegasi’s equilibrioception, or even an Earth Ponies’ sense of strength, strain, and endurance.

Three distinct scents filled his mind, flooding his consciousness.

Ozone, charcoal, and iron.

Touch and temperature followed soon after that. A chill wind blew through his fur and slid across his scales, causing him to shiver.

Other than the sound of the wind blowing through the grass all was silent.

In an instant the world resolved itself before him. Painted across the horizon was one of the most breathtaking sunsets Discord had ever had the pleasure of viewing. Wild shades of orange and yellow streaked across the vivid, blood red sky. Directly in front of him lay a charred field, it slowly sparkled with glints of orange and red as the falling sun managed to catch off of the odd pieces of armor that somehow managed to maintain their shine.

It looked like the sky had been lit ablaze while the ground smoldered with embers. The whole scene had a sort of macabre beauty to it, though Discord took no pleasure in that fact; he remembered he was the ultimate cause of its creation.

While Discord stood beside Celestia, watching the sun set, it occurred to him that this scene must have been set several hours after his escape that day. He remembered leaving as soon as the opportunity presented itself, letting Celestia and Luna deal with the aftermath by themselves. At the time, Discord intended it to be another lesson the pair would have to learn on their own.

Discord glanced over at Celestia, concerned. “How long did she sit here waiting?”

The details were a bit blurred at first, but soon enough his mind filled the gaps that time and Celestia’s perspective left on the picture. Celestia sat motionless; her face was completely expressionless as she regarded the scene before her with a thousand yard stare. She seemed to exist outside herself, completely detached from reality. The only sound to come from her was the sound of shallow breaths that were barely audible over the whispering of the wind. The only true indication that she was even conscious was the slowly flickering amber light that shone from her horn.

Discord regarded her critically. Surely she had figured it out by then, hadn’t she? He reasoned she couldn’t just wait there all night. Could she? The glow from Celestia’s horn continued to cast her face in relief against the brilliant sunset as she slowly lowered the sun to the horizon.

Discord knew it would have been a harsh lesson for Celestia, but it was one he felt she needed to be taught early lest she learn it the hard way. It was never his intention to break her, she was always strong, but looking at how well she had committed this moment to memory he couldn’t help but wonder how close he might have come to doing just that.

“Did I go too far?”

It should have been a simple question, but for the life of him he couldn’t find the answer. In his introspection the only thing Discord managed to accomplish was to waste time staring at Celestia. He just stared at her wondering what had really come to pass that day, wondering what could have been...

“S-sister?” Both Celestia and Discord were jolted out of their respective stupors when Luan spoke. Celestia briefly glanced to her left and Luna came into view. After a moment Celestia looked away, but Luna remained in scene. Discord wondered how long Luna had been watching Celestia before she announced her presence.

“Sister, the hour is growing late. The sun has already set, and a storm is coming.” Luna spoke softly, Discord could feel the concern in her voice. “You should come home, everyone is getting worried.” Discord blinked, feeling bewildered. He looked around and, sure enough, clouds began filling in around them as they obscured the starry sky above.

Celestia continued to stare into the darkness as if caught in a trance. She seemed completely unfazed when the sky opened up and the rain started to fall upon her. The raindrops stuck to her fur, saturating it, until eventually they streaked down her face like tears.

Luna took a step towards her sister. She raised a hoof as if to reach out and touch Celestia but seemed to think better of it, withdrawing it almost immediately. Luna shook her head. “Sister, listen to me, this is just another of Discord’s tricks. This is just another game for him.” Luna’s resolve was faltering, her tone grew increasingly frantic. “Please, sister, come home!”

Luna’s pleas fell on deaf ears as the soft patter of the rain drowned out the silence. Luna took another step towards Celestia, obviously ready to try again, when Celestia spoke.

“Why are they still here?” Her voice was raspy, as if she had been crying. “They always disappear when he leaves… So why are they still here now, sister?” Celestia turned her head slightly, acknowledging Luna but apparently unable to make eye contact. The rain clung to her coat, it brought out the subtle bit of pink in it. It made her look vulnerable. Luna averted her gaze, staring at the ground. It was obvious she was as ashamed as her sister was distraught.

“I-I know not, sister. I think it must be another of Discord’s vile tricks.” Luna scuffed a hoof against the ground, tearing a small hole in the moist ground. “I think he means to upset you, to cast you into doubt.” Luna looked back up at Celestia and Celestia looked back to the field. Her face remained a mask, betraying no emotion.

“This is different… He just kept pushing me and pushing me, and then I…”

“Sister, he forced your hoof, you had no choice but to retaliate. He’s playing games with your mind, sister, you know they weren’t real. Why must you-”

“That’s not the point!” Celestia’s mask broke as she shouted at her sister. She stood up and stepped towards Luna with flared wings and eyes full of anger. “It doesn’t matter if they were real, and it doesn’t matter if Discord cannot be slain. I wanted them to burn, Luna! I tried to consign them to oblivion!” Celestia swept a hoof out in the direction of the charred field, nearly striking her sister in the process. Luna took a step back away from her, afraid. Celestia seemed to realize she had crossed a line and she backed off.

“The worst part of it all is that I was happy when I heard their cries. Gods, I actually smiled while they burned.” Celestia sat back down, ignoring the mud splattering against her coat. She raised a hoof to cover her face, covering her shame. “At the end of it all, it doesn’t matter what Discord did to provoke me. I did this, that’s all that matters.”

Discord watched as Celestia started to shudder violently in the rain. Out of reflex he extended a paw to try to comfort her, the warm summer’s rain passed through it ineffectually.

Celestia flinched when Luna wrapped her in a strong embrace. They sat there, entangled in a loving embrace. Luna nuzzled Celestia affectionately, and she slowly ran her hoof through Celestia’s mane, calming her. Eventually Celestia calmed herself down, at least enough where she stopped shaking, and she extricated herself from her sister’s embrace.

“I’m sorry,” she said sheepishly. “It’s just, this time it was Discord, but what next? What if it was a troupe of soldiers from beyond our borders? What if next time it’s a loyalist party? Or what if next time it’s you, or even Fath-”

“Celestia,” Luna cut her off, “there won’t be a next time.” There was a certain confidence in her voice as she spoke. “You worry too much, Tia.”

Celestia looked at her sister, obviously unconvinced. Luna scoffed.

“It there is anyone with self-control, it is thee.” Luna insisted. “This will not happen again if you don’t allow it to.” Luna smiled, brushing a stray hair from her sister’s face. “Besides, if you let Discord break you then I will have to be the responsible one; you don’t want that to happen, do you?” Celestia laughed despite her grim mood. “Feeling better now?” Luna asked, obviously relieved by her sister’s mirth.

Celestia nodded. “Very much so, thank you Luna, I needed that” Celestia stood up, the rain slowly washing the dirt and grime from her coat.

“Tia,” Luna said as she stood, “if I must console you once in a thousand years, then I suppose that it will be a worthy price to pay so that I can have you stand my side until the end of days.” Luna shot her sister a sly grin. “Who knows, mayhaps you will find a way to return the favor by then.” Celestia pouted and gave Luna a quick shove; she burst into a fit of giggles when Luna scrambled to stay upright in the mud. If Luna was upset she didn’t show it, laughing as she regained her balance. A peal of thunder caused them both to flinch, staring at one another with concern.

“Come now, sister!” Luna exclaimed. “Let us away, before we catch our deaths in this cursed squall!” She lifted herself into the air with a beat of her wings. “What say you, Tia?” Celestia nodded.

“I will be just after you; I feel I need a moment to compose myself.” Luna nodded and turned away from Celestia, speeding towards the abyss that lay at the edge of Celestia’s perceptual memory. Celestia turned and looked at the field in front of her. The joy drained out of her features and way replaced by a steely resolve. She took a deep breath and her whole demeanor changed, she had a confidence about her that Discord had not seen since she imprisoned him all those years ago.

Then she turned towards the direction Luna flew off to. She tensed the muscled in her legs and wings, getting ready to take off.

Except she didn’t.

Instead, she relaxed again. Then she turned around and stared at Discord, locking eyes with him. After what seemed like an eternity to him, she turned around and took off to rejoin her sister. Discord just stood there, still frozen by her fleeting gaze. He knew that she looked right at him, but he knew that such a thing should have been impossible; he would have realized it if she became lucid. His mind buzzed with conflicting thoughts, ideas, and emotions, they combined and combusted before they could produce any viable explanation for what just happened.

Idly, he noted that the world was drawing out and way from him. The blackness encroaching rapidly, surrounding him

Idly, he tried to maintain the illusion of a world around him. The darkness closed around him haphazardly, the world around him lost its definition.

Only one thing remained, it only seemed to become more defined as he was plunged into a whirling pool of darkness.

The rain.

The warm summer’s rain clung to his fur; it soaked him to the bone as it began to fall in unforgiving sheets.

As the world around him faded away, the rain burned away all the darkness that dared to encroach on his mind.

The rain was indiscriminate; Discord paid it no mind as it burned at the edges of his mind in an attempt to cleanse it of his own darkness.

Without thinking Discord uttered four words.

“What did she see?”

Chapter Thirteen: Contrasting Shadows

“Shhh,” Twilight hissed sharply. “What if she hears you?” Dual Vision snorted. He glanced up from his paper to see Twilight pacing back and forth across the corridor, mumbling to herself incoherently.

“Did you ever consider that if she hears me then maybe she will realize that this is a serious issue?” Dual flipped back to the finance section and continued. “Maybe she’ll realize that she isn’t the only one who deserves to know what’s going on here.” He paused, halfheartedly searching through the paper for an article he hadn’t read already.

He smiled to himself, quickly skimming through an article talking about a project to insulate the local Canterlot mages guild from the latent magic fields permeating the city. It went into a great amount of detail into the controversy surrounding the project, focusing particularly on the public funds that had been placed into the project when Twilight issued a decree to fast track the project. Dual glanced up at her again, rolling his eyes at the fact that she was still pacing around in front of the door. He cleared his throat and spoke up again, much louder than before.

“Or maybe she’ll hear me and she’ll realize that we’ve been waiting for outside her door for over an hour now.” Twilight immediately stopped pacing and motioned for Dual to keep quiet, he studiously ignored her request. “She might even realize that some of us have other things to do than to sit and wait for ‘her royal highness’ to graciously invite her student to the lesson that she scheduled in the first place.”

“Will you be quiet!?” Twilight half asked, half commanded, in a hushed whisper. “Whatever happened to ‘patience, strategy, and tact?’” Twilight was looking back and forth between him and the door behind her, it almost seemed like she thought Nightmare Moon herself would burst through the door if she didn’t keep an eye on it.

“Patience decided to leave after I finished reading through the finance section for the first time. Strategy abandoned me once I read through everything else. Tact left about five minutes ago, about the same time my leg fell asleep.” He frowned at his paper, throwing it on the bench next to him with an aggravated sigh. He rubbed at his rear leg with his front hooves, he was careful to make the motion as exaggerated and obvious as possible. Twilight rolled her eyes at him.

“Nobody likes sarcasm, Dual.” She snapped back at him, causing him to smirk

“Sorry, this whole situation is just frustrating. It’s obvious that this is all just a ploy. I can tell she’s just trying to set you on edge by keeping you waiting.” He frowned. “I would be insulted by the attempt if it wasn’t working so well.” He slid off the bench and stood up, wincing at the pins and needles in his leg. He quietly limped over to Twilight, placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

“You need to relax, Twilight, if you let Luna get in your head like this then you won’t be able to take control of the conversation and she is going to brush you off, just like last time.” He glanced up at the doors leading into Luan’s chambers and furrowed his brow. “You know exactly what you need to do and you know exactly how to do it. Trust me when I say that you have absolutely nothing to worry about.” Twilight looked away from the door and she screwed her eyes shut.

“I know, I know. It’s just…” Twilight’s voice trailed off. She took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes, looking at Dual. “She doesn’t even look at me anymore. I understand that she’s busy and she can’t afford to be distracted from… whatever she’s doing, but this is different! It’s like she’s an entirely different pony; she’s canceled her court, she doesn’t talk to anyone, she doesn’t even come of her room anymore!” Twilight broke eye contact. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just afraid that she’ll just push away from me if I try to reach out to her…” Twilight sighed and sat down on the spot. She turned her attention back to the door, staring at it with worry etched into her features. Dual sat beside her, assisting in her vigil.

The silence in the hallway was oppressive as each minute seemed to tick by slower than the last.

“I’ve seen her you know,” Dual said absently, “late at night, in the library.”

“Don’t you ever sleep?” Twilight asked.

Dual shrugged. “Sometimes,” he said, dodging the question. “But I have seen her, in a sense.”

“What do you mean by, ‘in a sense?’” Dual looked over at Twilight, he noticed her looking at him inquisitively. He scratched at the back of his neck, searching for the right words.

“Well, I see her, but she isn’t there, not really.” Twilight gave him a look and he shook his head. “I mean, she is there in a physical sense, but it’s like her mind is somewhere else.” Twilight blinked, obviously surprised by that. After a moment of silence she nodded slowly and away from him turned to watch the door again. Still, her ears were swiveled in his direction. Dual decided to take that as an invitation and continued.

“She never looked at me; she didn’t address me or even seem to acknowledge me at all. It’s like she didn’t even notice that I was even there. She would just walk into the library, then take a few books, then walk out.” Dual looked back up at the door, his eyes tracing the delicate patterns laced into the obsidian portal. “One night I decided to try to talk to her, I wanted to ask her how she was doing; so I trotted up to greet her and she just walked right past me. I managed to catch up to her and I tried to get her attention any way I could, but she just ignored me. I kept dogging her until she came up to a particular bookshelf; she pulled a book out of its place, with her magic, and then she turned around like she was just going to walk back out. I looked her straight in the eye and I slapped the book to the ground with my hoof, holding it on the floor.” Dual could hear Twilight wincing, he wasn’t sure if it was because of how he acted towards the Princess or because of how roughly he treated the book. Dual rolled his eyes. “And do you know what she did then?”

Dual looked over at Twilight, expecting a response, instead he saw her staring at the door with her head cocked to the side slightly and her brow furrowed. It was obvious she was deep in thought, he decided to continue regardless.

“Nothing,” he said, “she didn’t do anything.”

Twilight blinked, twice, looking back at him. “Nothing?”

Dual shook his head. “Absolutely nothing at all.” Dual turned and looked back at the door before he continued. “She just stood there, staring at the book under my hoof; she didn’t try to talk to me, she didn’t ask me to move, she didn’t even try to take it away from me! She just stood there until I let go of the book. Then she just picked it up, and she walked away.” Dual just shrugged and Twilight gave him a confused look.

“At any rate, my point is that I don’t think she’s ignoring you, not consciously anyway. I have no idea what she’s doing in there, but whatever it is it must be important if it’s consuming enough of her attention that she wouldn’t even notice someone standing right in front of her.” Dual shook his head and let out a short sigh sighed. “I think she needs help.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Honestly? I would say that anypony in that condition needs all the help they can get.”

Twilight made a noise but she didn’t say anything. Dual didn’t press the issue and silence reigned over the hallway once more.

The pair continued to stare at the door for what seemed like an eternity, or about ten minutes if Dual’s timepiece was to be trusted, before it opened. The door opened without fanfare or aplomb; it swung out and silently stopped up against the wall. Luna stepped out into the hallway, absently scanning the hallway before her gaze settled on the two Ponies in front of her.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Luna announced as she locked eyes with the Princess in question. Twilight nodded. She stood up and looked off to her right. Dual was already at the end of the corridor, she watched him turn the corner and then he was gone.

It was at that moment that Twilight realized that there was no running away from this.

She took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. She walked through the open door, stepping into the shadowy room behind Luna. She heard the door shut behind her with a soft click. She took a moment to look around, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim light of the room. Once her eyes adjusted she let go of the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

The room was a mess; the curtains were drawn, books were strewn haphazardly around the room haphazardly, and parchments were stuck on nearly every open surface with magic. In a strange sort of way it made her feel at home, the scene reminded her of her own late night study marathons. A faint smirk pulled at her lips, threatening to turn into a grin at any moment.

With her newfound confidence she took a few steps forward, moving towards the center of the room in an attempt to get a better sense of the organized chaos surrounding her. She looked around absently admiring the impromptu decor when she noticed something strange. She tilted her head to the side slightly and the entire room seemed to shift, changing into something completely different.

All the parchments seemed to flow together into one continuous shell of paper. Indistinguishable scrawls and abstract lines linked up to other similar designs and formed into complex, isometric runes. She took a step back, surprised, only for the illusion of perspective to disappear again. She looked around with excitement, figuring out where the center of the room should be and quickly making her way to it. She slowly turned and marveled at the web of runes and symbols surrounding her. From where she was standing she could easily make out the runes for protection, life, and fleetness, but faint chalk lines that twisted and turned on the floor around her signaled to her that this spell was far more involved than a few simple charms strung together.

She could have spent weeks just looking around and trying to decipher the meaning and ultimate purpose of each individual permutation and connection.

“Before we begin,” Luna said, causing Twilight to leap several feet into the air, “I need to test you so that I can have a better understand of your current level of competency.” Twilight looked over to find Luna searching for something in the corner of the room, she seemed distracted. “I understand that Dual Vision is perfectly qualified to teach you the ins of Equestrian governance. With that in mind I will take responsibility for your education in the realms of metaphysical constructs, general epistemological theory, as well as overseeing your mastery in the realms of the Arcane.

“As such I have decided that it would be most efficacious to deliver a written test.” Twilight, who had long since gone back to marveling at the notes and runes surrounding her, perked up at that. She turned her attention away from the infinitely enterprising runes and focused her attention on Luna.

“A test?”

“Yes,” Luna said morosely, “a test.” Twilight noticed Luna was digging through a pile of discarded parchments, all lying on top of what Twilight assumed was a desk. Eventually Luna pulled out a haphazard amalgamation of scrolls, texts, and parchments. She lifted “it” up and placed it on one of the few free patches of floor that didn’t have any notes or chalk lines on it. “You may utilize any resources you deem necessary to complete this test and you may take as much time as you need to complete it. Once it is completed I expect you to return to me to present the finished product, we shall discuss how to go forward from there.”

Twilight picked up the “test” and started skimming through it. It ranged from questions about the ethical implications of memory reading, to the design and construction of a barrier ward that would utilize a multilateral set of hexagonal planes arranged geodesically around a displaced focal point, and what seemed like everything in between. A particularly interesting problem caught her eye and she read through it enthusiastically.

“You know, Luna,” Twilight said, taking advantage of the apparent silence, “there are some things that have been bothering me that I wanted to talk to you about.” She took her time getting to the point, continuing to flip through the “test” and taking mental notes on what exactly she had to do. “I know you’re busy, but I was wondering if we could take some time and talk. Just you and me, doesn’t that sound-”

Twilight’s voice caught in her throat when she looked up and noticed that Luna was gone. She looked around, incase Luna just happened to wander behind her, when she couldn’t find her she dropped to her haunches and groaned.

“Nice…” Twilight just sat there, alone and dejected. “Why couldn’t this just be easy?” She asked, pouting. She stood up and walked back to the center of the room, taking a moment to admire Luna’s craftsmanship. “Still,” she said, “at least I have an idea of what she’s been doing with her time. I have something to go on…” Twilight looked around and noticed several runes and symbols she had never even seen before. “Actually, a lot of somethings…”

A smile touched at her lips as she looked around the room and back down at the test. She picked it up and trotted out of the room with a small spring in her step.

For the last four days she had dealt with scheming nobles and demanding business Ponies. She had made decisions and delivered proclamations in court, all the while ignoring that annoying little voice whispering in her head whispering that she wasn’t remotely qualified to deal with any of it. The last few days seemed like an endless tirade of stress and headaches to Twilight, she knew most Ponies would treat the test like just one more headache to pile on top of all the others.

Still, she smiled as she trotted into the library wing. She was happy; because if there was one thing Twilight knew how to do, it was how to take a test.

Luna slipped back into her trance the moment she hit the bed. Wasting no time she threw her herself into the æther and set out to track down her sister again. There was a moment of panic when she couldn’t sense her in Discord’s domain, but that panic was short-lived. A sense of relief washed over her when she realized that Celestia had just fallen asleep again.

Had she been corporeal she would have sighed. The first time Luna saw Discord slip himself into Celestia’s dreams she was worried about her sister. Luna feared afraid he might try to break her sister’s mind. So she followed him in and quietly waited for Discord to take make just one wrong move.

In his own realm he was all powerful, not to mention nigh untouchable. It was all Luna could do to give Celestia’s wards the strength and direction they needed to keep Discord at bay; even then she was still hounded by his abominations. Meanwhile, Luna would skulk around in the shadows, avoiding Discord at all cost. With almost all of her energy going into Celestia’s wards, Luna would have been completely defenseless against Discord if he caught her.

Still, it was a price she was willing to pay. She would walk across a razor’s edge if it meant keeping her sister from harm.

In Celestia’s domain however, their roles were reversed. She was still careful to keep out of sight, but for an entirely different reason. She prowled at the edges of Celestia’s mind; confident knowing that she could shred his essence should he even attempt to harm Celestia.

He didn’t though, that bothered Luna more than she wanted to admit.

For the bravado and vitriol he showed in their last encounter, Luna would have expected Discord to be more…

Chaotic…

Instead, Luna watched him silently as he played the role of the observer. He never interfered with Celestia’s dreams, at least not consciously, and he tried his best to keep himself hidden from her mind’s eye. Luna would have gone as far to call him “civil,” that is if it weren’t for the very distinct possibility that the mere act of calling Discord civil might unravel the fabric of space, time, and magic, and cause the universe to implode. Still, she was confident that Celestia wouldn’t be in any real danger from Discord while she slept.

Despite her confidence, Luna stayed on guard.

She slipped into her sister’s mind and observed the increasingly familiar scene of Discord watching yet another one of her sister’s memories play out in front of him. For a while she played along, like she always did; letting him watch with an illusion of privacy and waiting for him to make just one mistake. She didn’t know why he was doing this, but it was obvious to her that his malice towards Celestia had faded, somehow.

For Luna that raised far more questions than it did answers and she had never been one to sit around and wait for answers, not when the one who had them was sitting right in front of her. With a thought she dispelled the barriers and wards that prevented Discord from sensing her. She stepped towards him with a quiet confidence in her stride.

Discord never really had the opportunity to see what went on whenever he was gone, for obvious reasons.

He had fantasies about it though, idle daydreams mostly. Discord used to spend hours thinking about what happened after one of his signature Chaos storms. He was always partial to the idea that whenever he left a room that its occupants would break into an impromptu celebration, relieved and overjoyed that the Lord of Chaos had decided to leave them to their own devices. Of course it would help that he usually left some candy and chocolate behind whoever he went, a little wine never hurt anyone either. Despite all that, he had to admit it was far more likely that he might leave crowds of weeping, grief stricken souls in his wake.

Never in his wildest dreams did he expect silence.

However, watching through Celestia’s memories made him realize that’s exactly what had followed him. It wasn’t the calm kind of silence he would have expected either, it was a deafening, soul crushing silence. It was the kind of silence that would set you on edge, the kind that kept you’re mind racing even though there was nothing left to think about.

It was uncomfortable.

When he was imprisoned, all those years ago, he expected Equestria to fall into Chaos, at least for a little while. Instead, everything seemed to work out more or less perfectly. The transfer of power was smooth and, with the exception of a bit of unrest, silent. It went just as Celestia and Luna had planned it, with none of the flourish Discord expected.

He expected loyalists to rise, en masse, and challenge the sister’s right to the throne. He thought the Minotaur hordes would try and take back their lost conquests. He was convinced that the Gryphons would declare war again, and he was absolutely positive the Dragons would raze and pillage Equestria with abandon.

But none of that actually happened. In fact, the best way to describe the transition would be Orderly.

Discord realized something. He realized that for everything he did back then, and for all he was, it didn’t really matter in the end. He always thought that if he had to go out, he would go out with a bang. He didn’t even go out with a whimper, just an unnerving silence.

As far as the rest of Equus was concerned Discord was dead, and that was all that needed to be said about the issue.

There were only two beings on the planet that realized that Discord wasn’t really dead, and they kept that to themselves.

“How can you even consider just leaving him in there?” Luna barked at her sister, a contemptuous glare plastered on her face.

“I’m not,” Celestia stated flatly, “there isn't even anything to consider.” She absently inspected the statue in front of her, not even glancing in her sister’s direction. “We cannot release him; it is as simple as that.” She paced around Discords stony prison, simply drinking in every aspect of his form.

“Might I remind you, sister, that his mind is totally cut off from the outside world.” Luna shook her head and averted her eyes from the scene in front of her, obviously unnerved. “There is no dark abyss, or even a stone cold floor, to help keep him tethered to reality. He can’t see, he can’t hear, he can’t even feel anything.” Luna visibly shuddered at that. “Do you have the slightest idea what that’s like, Celestia?” Luna looked back up at her sister to find her running her hoof down his stone clad tail.

Discord shivered at the phantom sensation of a hoof trailing down his spine. He felt violated as he watched Celestia comb over every inch of him, but at the same time he was as enraptured as she was. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the scene playing out in front of him.

Luna shouted. “Are you even listening to me, Celestia?”

Celestia casually shook her head. “Not really, no.” She gave her sister a passing glance before going back to what she was doing. “No matter what you say to the contrary, you know as well as I do that we cannot release him, Luna.”

“He’ll go mad by weeks end!” Luna shot back, her temper flaring. Discord wasn’t sure if he should be flattered by her concern, or if he should be insulted by her assumption of his weakness. Celestia simply laughed at this, jumping down from the side of his statue and addressing her sister directly.

“He was already far gone before we imprisoned him. Besides that, what if we were to release him now, what then?” Luna went quiet and averted her gaze, Celestia didn’t back down. “Even if he didn’t turn on us immediately, even if we could subdue him, it would only be matter of time before the surrounding nations caught wind of the fact that we didn’t kill him outright.”

“And that’s supposed to be a bad thing?” Luna spat venomously. Celestia shook her head.

“No, of course not, you know that, Luna. I’m as glad as you are that the Elements decided to spare him.” She paused, apparently thinking over her words carefully. “However, what we see as an unexpected boon, others will see as a weakness.” Celestia sighed. “Fear is our ally right now, Luna, it’s what kept our adversaries from affronting us during Discord's reign and it’s all we have to keep them at bay until we can defend our borders. They are afraid to attack us because they think us invincible, in there eyes we are the heroines who slew Discord. If you take that away what are we?”

“We are the saviors who spared his life!” Luna protested.

Celestia shook her head again. “You know that’s not what they will think, Luna. To us, it’s an act of kindness and generosity; to them it’s an act of cowardice and weakness.” Celestia turned around and glared back up the statue, deep in thought. “If you take away our conquest, then we are nothing but two upstarts who crippled Equestria’s staunchest defender to usurp him.” She sighed. “They wouldn’t be wrong to make that assumption either.”

Luna looked back up at Celestia. “I-if we free him he could help us!” Luna was pleading at this point, grasping at straws. “We can’t just leave it, not like this, it’s…” Luna trailed off, staring at the floor in frustration. Her mouth moved silently as she tried to decide what to say. “This isn’t right, Celestia. I-I don’t know if I can live with myself, knowing that he has to suffer because of my own weakness…” Luna’s voice n her throat. She sat down and stared at her hooves as her shoulders slumped down.

The air in the room shifted, almost imperceptibly, as the heat of the argument fell away with the silence. Celestia seemed to sense this, turning back and regarding her sister with a critical glance. Her features softened however, and her face took on a more somber expression; a light frown touched at her lips. She moved over to her sister and sat down next to her. They sat there silently for a while, neither one of them willing to break the silence between them.

Eventually Luna sighed. She looked up at the statue, staring at it thoughtfully. Celestia reached over and brushed her sister’s mane off to the side, causing Luna to look back at her. The two locked eyes, as if having a silent conversation with one another. Celestia’s expression never changed, but Discord caught a hint of something from Luna’s face. Remorse? Regret?

“I’m sorry,” Luna whispered, breaking the silence. “I didn’t know.”

Celestia sighed and a small smile touched at her lips. She ran her hoof through her sister’s mane carefully. “It’s alright,” she said softly, “couldn’t have.”

There was a pause. Luna turned her attention back to the statue. “Do you really think we can do this?”

“I don’t really think we have a choice, Luna” Celestia said, shaking her head. She turned to look back at the statue as well, a look of contemplation taking over her expression. “We are alone.”

Luna looked at her sister for a moment before suddenly bursting into a fit of laughter. Celestia frowned and furrowed her brow. She looked down at her sister, who proceeded to hug her and ruffle her mane playfully. Luna quickly broke the embrace, looking up and down her sister with a smile plastered on her face.

“Sister, so long as we have each other we will never be alone.” Luna lightly tapped her sister on the muzzle. “You would do well to remember that.”

Celestia concealed a smile, rubbing her nose with a hoof. “I suppose you would be correct, as always.”

Luna beamed at that. “Of course I am,” she exclaimed, “I am supposed to be the clever one after all!” Celestia glared at Luna, who was only able to maintain her composure for a second before she burst out in a fit of laughter. Celestia giggled when Luna’s laugh turned into a hearty yawn, Luna blinked at her sister obliviously.

“And it seems you’re also the tired one.” Celestia said as she stood up, taking a step back. “You should go and get some rest; we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.” Luna looked as if she was about to protest, but when she was attacked by another yawn and instead she nodded. She silently stood up and slowly walked out of the room, leaving Celestia alone.

“It gets worse, you know.”

Discord almost literally jumped out his skin when Luna appeared next to him in all her ethereal splendor. It took his mind a few seconds to process exactly what was going on.

“What are you doing here?” Discord asked quickly, feigning composure. He turned his back to her and proceeded to stare at the statue of himself, neatly avoiding eye contact with both her and Celestia.

Luna quietly moved up beside her sister, sitting down next to her. “I could ask you the same question, Discord.” She replied, looking over at her sister. Discord glanced down at Celestia, who was now sitting between them; she was staring up at the statue. He noticed that all the joy had drained out of her features, replaced with an increasingly familiar, absent stare. “So,” Luna asked, “what are you doing here?”

Discord grumbled, turning away from both of them. “It’s none of your business. What I do with my free time is of my concern and mine alone.”

“That’s what Celestia said when I found out she had stopped sleeping all those years ago.” Discord glanced back at Luna, who was watching Celestia with a tight frown. “I offered to help her sleep, or at least stay up with her and pass the time, but she didn’t seem to want anything to do with me or anypony else.” Discord, giving up all pretenses, turned and watched Luna. Her face was a mask, hiding her emotions perfectly.

“I blamed her for that, not wanting to spend time with me I mean.” Luna took a few steps forward and stopped right in front of her sister, observing her closely. “It never really occurred to me that she might be hurting more than I was.”

Luna shook her head and locked eyes with Discord. “I felt betrayed, alone, unloved, and then, because of that, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I betrayed her, Discord, her and everyone else that I held dear just for a little scrap of recognition.” Discord tried to look away, to break eye contact, but he couldn’t. He had no choice to but to return Luna’s piercing stare as she stared straight into his soul. He noticed a certain sadness in her eyes, sadness and remorse, but there was something else there that shook him to the core.

Pity.

Mercifully, she broke eye contact, allowing Discord to try to regain his semblance of composure.

“No, I don’t blame you,” Luan sighed. “At least, I don’t blame you anymore.” Discord made no attempt to respond.

She glanced back at him and something seemed to catch her eye. She trotted up next to him, inspecting him. “You look different.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Discord crossed his arms. “I look the same as I always have.”

Luna shook her head. “No, that’s what I meant; you look different from last time.” Luna examined him clinically, pacing around him to look at every angle. He noticed how much Luna resembled her sister as she circled around him. It was just like how Celestia had looked at his statue in the memory he just watched. An involuntary shiver trickled down his spine.

“Oh, right…” He vainly tried to ignore Luna, and her prying eyes, by looking up at the ceiling. “That from was cumbersome…”

“Was it now?”

“Yes, it was.” He said, feigning assurance. “The spines got in the way.” Luna just nodded and continued staring at him. Discord did his best to continue to ignore her, until he noticed she had stopped in her tracks. At first he thought she was staring at him, but then he noticed that she was staring at something beside him. He quickly looked over to see what had gotten her attention.

Luna watched as he squirmed under her sister’s gaze. It was only in a dream, and it only lasted for a few moments, but she could tell that it had shaken him. It was like her gaze had priced his very soul. Even when the phantasm of Celestia turned away, even when she left the room, Discord just stood there, locked in place.

Luna rolled her eyes. She was growing tired of these games. She was tired of watching Discord bumble around, wallowing in his denial.

“Discord, you have a choice to make.” She addressed him directly, speaking carefully as to allow no room for misinterpretation. “If you truly wish to remain alone for the rest of eternity then you should leave now and never return. None of us could stop you from leaving; even if we tried we wouldn’t be able to.” Discord didn’t seem to react to what she way saying, but Luna could tell he was hanging on her every word. “If solitude is truly what your heart desires, then you shouldn’t waste any more time here.” She knew she sounded domineering and condescending, but she didn’t care; she just knew he needed to hear this. “If you don’t leave now then I can’t guarantee that you will have the opportunity to do so much longer.” Discord just continued to stand there, staring dumbly at the spot where Celestia had been standing a few minutes ago. Luna snorted, turning away from him.

“This is your last chance, Discord.” Luna closed her eyes and started to push at the boundary of Celestia’s domain. She started pulling herself out of Celestia’s domain, but not before delivering one last message.

“Heed my words, Discord. The ties that bind us are far stronger than any mere prison.”

Then she slipped away.

All was dark, and all was silent.

Luna stirred with a groan, her head was pounding and her bones ached. She attempted to open her eyes, but each tentative flutter only succeeded in letting in a flash of blinding light. Most Ponies would have just given up at that point, resigning themselves to be bedridden until their malaise passed.

However, Luna was not most Ponies.

Once she managed to pyr her eyes open she saw the room around her as a dim blur. She lurched forward, swinging herself into a loose sitting position. The room around her spun in place, shifting and churning more than it had any right to.

Still, Luna wouldn’t allow mild discomfort to incapacitate her; she remembered going through worse straights. Though, she couldn’t seem to remember any particular moment where she felt worse than she did at this at that moment. She shook her head in a vain attempt to dispel her malaise, quickly stumbling out of her bed. When she stepped onto the floor she misjudged the distance and her hoof slipped, causing her to stumble forward. Realizing she was about to slam into her wardrobe, she braced herself.

But she never made contact.

Luna blinked wearily, when she noticed the blur around her had suddenly taken on an entirely different color. Once she realized what was happening she tried to drop into a low crouch, only to trip on her own hooves. The same force that had caught her before was the only thing that kept her from falling face first onto the floor.

“Easy there.” A sympathetic voice called out from across the room.

“Who?” Luna asked, not recognizing the voice immediately. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, staring at the figure moving towards her. “Oh,” she said, as recognition finally struck her. “It’s you, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna grimaced as she steadied herself. “What are you doing in my chambers? You have yet to finish my test.”

“Actually, I finished that hours ago.” Twilight started to move towards Luna, but Luna glared at her and she hesitated. She shook her head. “That’s beside the point.” She took another few steps towards her, reaching out. “Luna, I’m worried about-”

Luna batted Twilight’s hoof away, cutting her off as she asserted her own independence. “How in Equestria were you able to complete it so quickly?” Twilight took a half-step back.

“I just…” Twilight stopped midsentence and shook her head. “You know what? I’m not going to let you ignore me again. This conversation isn’t about me, it’s about you.” Twilight stamped her hoof, punctuating her point. “Do I make myself clear?”

For a moment Luna just stood there, stunned by what she just heard. Her expression shifted from one of surprise to one of indignance as her mind processed what Twilight just said.

“How dare you!” Luna said, sneering at Twilight with derision and distain. “How dare you even consider talking down to me?! What makes you even think you have the right to supersede me?”

Twilight took a deep breath. “I have as much right to talk down to you as you do to talk down to me, which is none.” Twilight said calmly. “I’m simply acting in accordance with article twelve, subsection five, of The Articles of Equestria which states, ‘should one of the ruling parties determine that another ruling party is unfit for any reason, it is within their legal rights to remove them until such a time that it is determined that they can resume their duties in confidence.’”

“What does that have to do with anything? You will find that I am perfectly capable of fulfilling my duties-”

“Luna,” Twilight cut her off, “you can barely even stand right now!” Luna saw the hesitation in her eyes, but she still held her ground. “Even if you can still manage everything now, exactly how long do you intend to keep this up?” There was a pause where Luna seriously considered the question. She shook her head defiantly, almost stumbling in the process.

“I will keep going as long as it takes.” Luna tried to shout, but for some reason it only came out as a strangled whisper.

“Then please, Luna, let me help you! I want to help, but I need to know what’s going on to be able to do that.”

Luna remained silent, averting her gaze.

“I can’t just stand idly by while you fight against something that I can’t see. If you won’t let me help you then I will remove you.” Luna blinked, surprised by Twilight zeal. She looked back to Twilight to find that she seemed to be equally surprised by what she said. Twilight shook her head, apparently finding her steel. “I am prepared to do so by force, if necessary.” Twilight hesitantly shifted her stance with a grim determination, subtly lowering her horn and projecting it forward as it emanated a slight lavender glow.

Luna glowered at Twilight, projecting a nigh invisible barrier around her. Her horn only glowed weakly as she tapped into her reserves of strength, but the air around her still shimmered, showing her power. She tried to shift into a low crouch, but the sudden shift in her equilibrium made her stumble slightly. Twilight visibly lowered her guard and Luna chided her.

“Do not underestimate me, child, it would be the last mistake you ever made.” Luna extorted her will, causing the aura around her to darken to black. She surrounded herself with the inky strips of darkness. They orbited her form, obscuring it from Twilight.

“Luna, please, I don’t want to fight you, but I will if you force me to.” Whereas Luna’s defenses were reserved ant tactful, Twilight had no interest in such subtly. Light started streaming from her horn and a shimmering barrier materialized, surrounding her in an instant. It slowly rotated around her, all the while beams of multi-chromatic light around the room. Luna instinctively took a step backwards; vainly trying to dodge what she thought was an impending attack when one of the beams passed over her harmlessly. It was only when she realized that the facets of the barrier were acting as light prisms that she recognized the barrier for what it was.

“H-how did you-” Twilight waved a hoof, cutting Luna off before she had a chance to start again.

“Luna,” she chided, “it really isn’t that complicated of a barrier, it only took me a week to master it.”

“But it hasn’t even been three hours since-”

“Actually, it’s been a little over five hours since you gave me your test, but, once again, that’s beside the point.” Twilight tilted her head to the side, a confused look on her face. “So, Celestia never told you?” Luna’s curiosity was piqued, but she decided it would be better to stay quiet and concentrate on her barrier than to grill Twilight.

Luckily for her, Twilight was more than happy to accommodate her.

“Luna, I was the one who designed that spell in the first place, Starlight Candescence is my pen name.”

“Surely you jest?” Luna blurted, not convinced. Twilight just shook her head.

“Celestia thought that it might be a bit hard for a twelve year old filly to be taken seriously in the magical community, personal protégé to the princess or not. So Starlight Candescence was born…” Twilight trailed off, raising a hoof to her chin. “Actually, technically speaking, it was at that point Starlight Candescence was born twenty years ago, but again that’s not the point.” Luna took a moment to process this new information. She laxed her barrier slightly, feeling defeated.

“So, you must know what has been done…”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I can see you’re trying to protect something or someone…” Twilight averted her gaze, looking away from Luna and instead staring blankly at the floor in front of her. “I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t know why Celestia left or why you are running yourself ragged… But I can tell that it’s important to you.

“Luna, please,” Twilight looked up at Luna, “just let me help you! I need to know what’s going on!”

Luna gave no response.

“Please?” Twilight locked eyes with Luna. Luna finally noticed the tears streaming from her eyes, shining against the colors of the barrier surrounding her. Luna looked away, unable to meet Twilight’s gaze.

There was a long pause where Luna thought over her options carefully. Eventually, however, the silence was broken when Luna let out an exasperated sigh. She allowed her barrier to dissipate, the wisps of shadow that swirled around her fell to the ground and evaporated silently. Twilight’s own barrier vanished with a dull pop a few moments after. Luna allowed herself a moment longer to collect herself, and then she looked up at Twilight.

“Very well, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, “I will tell you what you wish to know.”

“From the beginning.” Twilight corrected.

Luna sighed again. “Yes, from the beginning. Though be warned, this is a long tale and we don’t have much time to spare, I won’t be stopping for questions and I will not repeat myself.”

Twilight nodded, her face cast with a look of fierce determination. A smile touched at her lips when she realized how much Twilight looked like her sister, standing there defiantly and demanding answers. Luna glanced away and banished the thought, the smile vanishing from her face. She looked back to Twilight and began.

“Our story begins long ago, long before Celestia and I ascended to take helm at the thrones of Equestria…

Chapter Fourteen: Burning Passion

Celestia squeezed between two low hanging branches, dropping into an awkward crouch to squirm through the tight passage. Once she was on the other side she stood up and looked around, searching for a point of light amongst the black brambles. She spotted the small, shimmering, orb hanging in front of a hole in the middle of the otherwise impenetrable wall of growth. She took just one moment to catch her breath, pressing forward and following the light.

Celestia followed the wisp through the increasingly dense undergrowth. Each step she took was more confident than the one before, emboldened by her progress.

When she first noticed the wisp she thought it might be a trick of her imagination, or even worse, she thought it could be a trap to lead her astray. Her gut told her otherwise. In the end, Celestia trusted her instincts and followed the light, if a bit tentatively at first.

Now she was moving as fast as her own fatigue and the overgrown vegetation would allow, the wisp guiding her through the mazelike brambles and showing her paths she wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. So she pushed through the brambles, across the streams and forgotten pools that lay untouched this deep in the forest. She slipped between the branches and charged over the grass covered hills.

It was visceral; with every step she took she could feel him getting closer. She knew that every step she took would bring her closer to their final confrontation, an end to all this.

The beasts that had dogged her every move before seemed so far away now, their howls were nothing more than distant sirens that called to her before they were silenced by muted explosions. The weariness and malaise that had clung to her shoulders and dragged her down was now replaced by a quiet confidence, a knowledge that she could push onward. The darkness that had clouded her vision was replaced by a soft, diffused, violet light that seemed to stretch on as far as she could see.

She silently thanked Luna and Twilight. She didn’t want to get them involved in any of this, but she was thankful they were there besides her, if only in spirit. They gave her the tools and opportunities she needed to push on; her progress was still slow, but there was a certain inevitability to it now. She would reach her prize.

Once again she found herself at what seemed like an impassable wall of brambles, but then a subtle flash of light drew her attention to the canopy above her. She only had to search for a few seconds before her eyes locked onto the wisp; it was dancing around the trunk of an ancient tree that’s head had been split by lightning ages ago. From where she was standing it seemed like there was just enough room for her to squeeze through.

Her legs tensed up and she shot into the air in one smooth motion. A powerful flap of her wings launched her up to the split in the tree and she landed with a clatter of hooves on hardwood. She took a moment to steady herself before dropping down on the other side of the tree. Finding the path ahead to be clear of any obstacles, she pressed into a full gallop.

Another howl rang out somewhere on her left side, it was interrupted by the sound of wood twisting and branches snapping violently. Other than the occasional clash such as this, the woods around her had fallen deathly silent. It was as if the forest was under some kind of spell to muffle all sound. The only sounds that remained were the sound of her labored breathing and her heart pounding in her chest, beating almost in time with her hoof falls.

There was no birdsong.

There was no buzzing of insects.

There was nothing, no sounds at all.

Despite the virulent overgrowth that surrounded her, it was obvious to her that the forest was well and truly dead.

The path she was on forked suddenly. She was about to break stride, to try and figure out which path to take, when she saw the familiar wisp of light shooting down the rightmost path. She quickly pulled off to the right to follow it. As she sped on the soft soil beneath her hooves gave way, quickly turning to rocky gravel. The hard rocks didn’t make for the most comfortable path, but they gave her the traction she needed to propel herself into a full sprint.

She knew she didn’t have much time find Discord. She knew all too well what would happen to him if he was left alone for too long in his current state of mind. She had seen it happen far too many times to far too many good Ponies. It was a sight she never wanted to bear again, she had been hurt far too many times to simply stand by and let him slip by.

Celestia knew that Discord needed her. She knew he needed her almost as much as she needed him.

This needed to end, and it needed to end soon.

“Explain to me exactly why I’m here again?” Dual asked with an exasperated sigh, shuffling around impatiently. He looked around the room that could easily described as the wreckage of a library after it was hit by a miniature tornado. Books, scrolls, and parchments were scattered everywhere, everywhere except for the carefully laid chalk lines on the floor. The lines beneath him wove together, forming into complex and nigh incomprehensible patterns that spiraled around, intersected with, and split off from each other at seemingly random intervals.

Dual stood, somewhat patiently, on a confluence of these lines at the edge of a large circle. A Pegasus and a Unicorn from the Royal Guard stood on similar confluences, the three forming a triangle around Twilight. Twilight herself had laid herself down in the center of an intricately traced piece of geometry that glowed faintly under its own power. Her eyes were screwed shut as she concentrated intently on the task at hoof.

Without moving or even looking in his direction, she shouted. “You’re helping!”

Her mane, tail, and fur flowed slowly, as if touched by some nonexistent breeze. Her horn glowed faintly and a white light was leaking out from behind her eyelids. Dual just rolled his eyes.

“And how exactly am I helping again?” Dual laid down on the floor with a huff. He propped his head up with a hoof, doing his best to look exceptionally bored.

“You’re providing a focal point for my magic to manifest itself as a natural talent,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly, “and you’re also acting a secondary power source for said magic.”

Dual traced a hoof around one of the spirals inlayed in the chalk. “Uh-huh.”

“I need you’re here so I can affect the flora of the forest while I’m astral projecting,” Twilight let out a frustrated sigh, “it’s important.”

“And why can’t you just use one of those ‘focus crystals’ you were talking about?”

Twilight sighed again, shaking her head with her eyes still closed. “Because those have to be purpose made for a specific task, and it takes a lot of time and effort to makes them.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We don’t have any crystals that I could use for this, so needed a real world analogue. Besides that, the Earth Pony variety is hard to come by to begin with.”

“So then explain to me why you can’t just use another Royal Guard for this?” Dual glanced at the other two Ponies in the room. The Pegasus on his right was just standing at attention, but Dual noticed he would look around whenever he thought no one was looking at him, shuffling his wings nervously. The Unicorn was sitting on his haunches, his eyes were shut and he had a serene look on his face while he channeled a white aura around his horn.

“I need somepony here to keep me tethered, so I can keep track of mind and Luna’s power output. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Royal Guard’s aren’t exactly known for their conversational skills.” Dual caught the Pegasus yawing out of the corner of his eye, and he could swear that he saw the Unicorn smirking.

“Uh-huh.”

“This has to be the third time I’ve explained this to you, Dual, is it really that hard to remember?”

“No, not at all.” Dual sat up, holding his hooves in front of him defensively. “I just ran out of conversation topics hours ago and frankly I’m bored.” He quickly flopped back down on the ground and let out a long, melodramatic sigh. He looked back over to the Pegasus, who shot him a sympathetic glance.

Dual saw Twilight roll her eyes even though they were still closed. “I’m sorry, but you can’t move until this is all over.” She pursed her lips. “It shouldn’t be too long now.”

“Can I please do my paperwork now?” Dual asked, displaying all the tact of a foal asking for a cookie.

“No,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “You need to keep concentrating on your Earth Pony nature so that I can have a pure focal point to channel my magic from.”

“But my paperwork will me concentrate on it!”

“And how exactly will it do that?” Twilight asked, not amused by his antics in the slightest.

“Simple,” Dual said as he rolled over onto his back, staring at the ceiling, “another part of my Earth Pony nature is being stubborn.” The Unicorn guard tried and failed to suppress a chuckle, it came out as a snort of laughter. Dual tried to ignore him, but he felt a small smirk of satisfaction touch at his lips as he continued. “All I want to do right now is get my paperwork done, and you’re going to let me do it whether you think it’s productive or not.”

“I-I what!?” Twilight opened her eyes to reveal two shining white orbs that glowed brightly in the relative darkness of the room. She glared at Dual, who was still upside-down at the time, and he casually waved back at her. “Eugh, fine!” She glanced at the door and it popped open, causing a small mountain of parchments and scrolls to flood into the room. “If you really want to do your paperwork so badly…” Her horn light up with a soft white light as a good third of the pile floated through the air, stopping directly above him. Dual quickly closed his eyes and shielded himself with his hooves, prepared for the worst. “Then get to it already…”

Dual opened his eyes and looked around, surprised to find that the papers had sorted themselves into neat and organized piles around him. He rolled over and sat up on his haunches again, searching for something in particular. “Gladly, once I have a-” with a pop a quill and ink appeared n the floor in front of him, “quill…” He looked back at Twilight, noticing she had already closed her eyes again. For a moment, he just watched her eyes dart back and forth under her eyelids.

“Thank you.” He said politely, moving to pick up the quill and beginning the long awaited task of completing his overdue paperwork.

“You’re welcome.” Twilight answered back politely.

Dual took the quill in his lips and started the arduous proves of filling out forms and requisitions for two Princesses. The room slipped into a comfortable silence, broken only by the occasional shuffling of paper or the scribbling of his quill.

That and the dull humming sound that never seemed to leave the room.

As much as most Ponies would have abhorred the task of doing paperwork, Dual took great solace in it. The last few days had been filled with complicated plans, theories, and tasks that he understood at a basic level, but that he couldn’t fully comprehend no matter how hard he tried to; he understood what he needed to anyway, magic just wasn’t in his talent profile and he didn’t see any reason to change that fact.

Paperwork though, that was something he could really sink his teeth into. There weren’t any complicated arcane formulae or magical inscriptions to memorize, and there were no singularities or emotional constancies he needed to maintain. Instead he just had to deal with the convoluted machinations of nobles, aristocrats, and officials grinding up against each other to create an indecipherable jumble of words that spread themselves out across hundreds of different pages.

Dual snorted. To call it simple would be stupid, but at least it made sense to him.

So for a while he dove into the complex jargon with reckless abandon, sorting out the legitimate requests from the inane, and sometimes nonsensical, attempts to abuse the system. In a half an hour he had managed to work his way through more than half of the pile Twilight had given to him and about a third of the ink in the inkwell. He was about to pick up another request form when the Pegasus guard spoke up suddenly.

“Princess Twilight.” There was an air of concern in his voice.

Dual looked up from his papers and glanced at the Pegasus before looking to Twilight herself. She was lying on her side with her hooves pulled close to her body. Dual’s ears swiveled towards her and he heard her snoring softly.

“Twilight, wake up,” Dual shouted, “Twilight!” There was no response. Looking around Dual saw that the Pegasus guard was prancing nervously around his circle; a circle which he was under strict orders not to leave under any circumstances. The Unicorn guard was standing now, he looked around the room with an almost unnatural level of calm, and his horn was still shining brightly in the dim light of the room.

Dual decided to follow his example and tried to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; he held the breath for a few seconds before he let it out slowly.

He opened his eyes again and looked around. Twilight was still asleep, but there was no concrete evidence she was in any danger, yet. There wasn’t any reason to panic, but it was his job to keep her “tethered” and he felt like he had let her down. He sighed and looked down; the form he was holding onto was crumpled up between his hooves. He carefully laid it out on the floor to smooth it out before he started skimming through it.

“…because of this fact it would be most efficacious to increase the water temperature of the public bathhouse by three degrees while simultaneously installing proper systems to cool the air in the buildings by no more than two degrees. This newly imposed temperature differential would ensure that incidents of tomfoolery would decrease by…”

Dual’s head fell between his hooves and he let out a frustrated groan. “I can’t deal with this right now!” He slapped the papers to the ground, crumpling them up in the process. He was about to throw them over his shoulder when an idea struck him.

He hefted the wad of paper in his hoof, tossing the ball up in the air experimentally. Then he looked over at Twilight, carefully judging the distance between them. He reared back and whipped the ball of paper at her as hard as he could. It flew straight and true, hitting its mark right behind her ear.

She didn’t even flinch.

Disheartened, but not deterred, he looked around for more ammunition. He quickly found another pointless requisition form and started wadding it up.

“That’s not going to work, you know.” Dual looked around for a moment before his eyes fell on the, previously mute Unicorn guard. “Alicorns are made of sterner stuff than that.”

Dual hesitated, trying to remember the guard’s name “Iron Clad, right?” The Unicorn nodded curtly. Dual looked down at the ball of paper he made and furrowed his brow. He had to admit that Iron Clad was probably right, but he didn’t have any better ideas. “Well I don’t see any better plans, and I have to do something seeing as it was my job to make sure she didn’t’ drift off.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Iron Clad said matter-of-factly.

“Excuse me? You heard what the Princess said; the reason I was here was to-”

“You were here to provide a focal point for her magic,” Iron Clad deadpanned. “I might be a few years older than you,” he hesitated for a second, “or decades, but I wouldn’t be a part of Celestia’s Honor Guard if my ears weren’t as sharp as the day I enlisted.” Iron Clad stood up looked around the room, searching for something. “At any rate, me and Stratos over there,” he jerked a hoof over at the Pegasus in question, “should have mentioned something when she started to nod off.” He shrugged.

“Personally I was too focused on my own magic to notice.” Iron Clad stopped for a moment, using his magic to pull a rather large book off a nearby shelf. “I don’t know what his problem is though, been twitching ever since we got in here.” Dual and Iron Clad looked over as Stratosphere who was doing his best to shrink into the ground beneath him. There was a moment of silence where the two stallions stared at the jittery Pegasus. Dual’s stare was full of curiosity whereas Iron Clad’s stare was full of authority and impatience.

Eventually Iron Clad sighed, shaking his head before shouting at him. “Well, speak up then! What’s your excuse?” Stratosphere froze on the spot, looking to Dual for support. Dual just shook his head.

Finally Stratosphere found his voice. “I-I have a thing about small rooms, OK!”

Dual looked around the cavernous chamber they were in, taking a moment to look up at the gothic style vaulted ceilings that must have been at least fifty feet high. Meanwhile, the sound of Iron Clad’s hoof smacking against this face was clearly audible.

Dual looked over to see the Unicom rubbing his hoof between his eyes, he couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or embarrassed. “At any rate, like I said, Alicorns are made of sterner stuff. Now word around the yard is that Luna is a pretty light sleeper, makes sense considering she’s the Princess of The Night. Celestia though, she’s an entirely different story.” He made a point of flipping through the book in his grasp before he went on.

“Every morning she wakes up at the same time, like clockwork. Now, normally that’s fine and dandy, but of course sometimes some crisis will rear its ugly head at midnight or some hotshot emissaries will demand an audience with her at some unruly hour.” He shook his head.” Anyway, it’s the Guard’s job to wake her up” He smiled, staring off into the distance. “I remember this one time, she slept through the whole routine; she even slept through the part with the bucket of ice water! Gale ended up bringing a thunderhead into the Royal Bedchamber.” Iron Clad chuckled to himself, scratching at the scruff under his chin thoughtfully. “Needless to say, the servants were not happy with us. Celestia made us clean it up.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. “It was worth it though.” Iron Clad let out a dreamy sigh.

“Does any of this have a point to it?” Dual snapped out.

“My point is that Celestia isn’t exactly easy to wake, Cadance was the same way, and, if my memory serves me, Twilight was just as bad before her ascension. Like I said, Alicorns are made of sterner stuff. They are certainly tougher than just about any Earth Pony you might find, no offence intended to present company.”

“None taken,” Dual said. “I’m a scholar, not a fighter.”

At any rate, you won’t get anywhere with them if you treat them with kid gloves all the time.” He smirked at some untold joke. “Sometimes, they just need a bit of tough love.” The book Iron Clad was reading snapped shut as he tossed it up into the air. He grabbed back onto it with his telekinesis and, with a flash of light and an explosion of sound, it shot down at Twilight. The book hit her square in the back of the head, knocking her over and sending the book spinning over towards the corner of the room.

“What in the name of Celestia did you do that for?!” Dual scrambled to his hooves, livid with disbelief. He looked at Stratosphere and shouted at him, pointing at Iron Clad with an accusatory hoof. “Aren’t you going to do something?! He just assaulted a Princess?” Stratosphere casually glanced at Iron Clad and shrugged. Dual found he was unable to do anything besides glare at the two, so called “Royal Guards.”

“Um, how long was I asleep?” Twilight asked the room as she stood up and rubbed her eyes. She blinked hard a couple of times, obviously trying to wake herself up. The fact that her eyes were still glowing made the action strange and eerie to watch.

While Dual was stunned into silence, Stratosphere didn’t miss a beat. “A few minutes at most, Princess.”

“Oh,” Twilight looked at Dual. “Dual, why didn’t you wake me?”

It took Dual a moment to register that she was addressing him, but eventually he managed speak. “But, I, um… Are you OK? Twilight?”

“I’m fine,” Twilight said as she sat back down and closed her eyes. “I was only out for a few minutes; it would take a lot longer than that for any of my wards to break down.” Her head started moving back and forth, like she was tracking something just outside the room. “Why, did something happen?”

“Um…” Dual looked over at Iron Clad. He noticed that the Unicorn was sitting down again; his eyes were closed as he continued to channel the white aura around his horn. “No, nothing happened.”

He could swear that the Unicorn was smiling.

The room went quiet again. Twilight went on with what she was doing and Dual went back to doing paperwork, though this time he was paying a bit more attention to Twilight.

Eventually he managed to finish off all the paperwork Twilight gave him and he lied down on the polished basalt floor. With nothing left to distract him from his boredom he stared at Twilight. He absently noticed how her eyes constantly shifted under her eyelid, the light behind her eyes flickering in concordance with every movement.

From where he was sitting it seemed almost completely random, but Dual knew better than that. He knew that everything had at least some kind of order to it; nothing was completely random because that would imply that it was perfectly random. Everything had a little bit of purpose to it, it some small bit of significance even if he couldn’t see it.

“Hey, Twilight?” he asked softly.

“Yes, Dual?”

“Do you think they’ll be alright?”

There was a long pause, Twilight’s face fell a bit as her lips contorted into a tight frown. “I don’t know. Celestia was pretty weak when we started, but she seems to be doing a lot better now.”

Something caught her attention and she sat up suddenly. She looked around quickly, her eyes still closed, but then her gaze fell on the wall beside him. She stared at the spot for a few moments, the light surrounding her horn grew more intense for a second and then her eye twitched. The light died down a bit, back to where it was before, and she sighed, lying back down as if nothing had happened.

“I honestly don’t know what will happen when she finally gets to Discord, but I promise that Luna and I will do everything in our power to keep her safe.” Twilight smiled, but the fact that she wasn’t looking at him made the gesture it a bit less reassuring. “I wouldn’t worry about her too much; she’s a lot tougher than she looks.”

“Celestia isn’t the only one I’m worried about.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight opened her eyes to look at him just when he turned away. “Oh.” Dual snorted, but otherwise he held his tongue. “You said that you worked for him before this, right?”

Dual rolled his eyes. “I said I worked with him, not for him. He was very clear about that when we wrote up the contract.”

“Of course,” Twilight replied automatically. Dual turned back around to glare at her, but her eyes were closed again and the frown had returned to her face. “Luna and I still don’t know what’s going on, but I think he is in a very dark place right now.” She paused for a bit, obviously concentrating on something else. Dual gaze fell a bit, his hoof tracing the around chalk inlay on the floor. “It’s hard to say why he’s acting like he is. Luna said that he always had his moods, but she’s never seen him like this before so she thinks something happened. The last Ponies who saw him before this were you and Celestia. We obviously can’t ask Celestia right now, so unless you have anything else that-”

“I already told you everything you need to know. If I told you anything more than that I would be breaching confidentiality with my client and more importantly it would be betraying the trust of a friend!” Dual realized he was standing again as he stared down at Twilight. He waited for an inevitable rebuttal, but she didn’t challenge him. He sighed and fell back down on his haunches. “Besides that, there isn’t really much more I could say. I never asked him about his private affairs and he never asked about mine. Believe me when I tell, you that if I knew anything that I thought might be important I would have told you already.”

“Dual, I’m sorry.” Dual’s ears perked up at that. “I know that you and Discord were friends and I know that he means a lot to you.” Twilight smiled, actually making sure to look directly at him this time. “I promise that I’ll do my best to make sure everyone make it out of this alright, including Discord.”

“Thanks, Twi, that means a lot.” He smiled back at her, but her smile fell away.

She stood up, gritting her teeth in a show of fierce determination. “He’s close.”

Discord was watching the scene unfolding in front of him with a detached fascination.

He knew what was happening. With the help of her sister and her protégé, Celestia was closing in on her final destination.

At best, he had a few minutes. Then she would burst into the clearing and it would all be over. He tried not to think about it. Instead, he distracted himself by thinking about every little twist of fate that had lead up to this moment.

He noticed how the forest around him had become tainted by his presence. Its verdant depths were twisted into macabre specters of what they once were, now filled with gnarled branches and choking brambles. It had a certain beauty to it, it was haunting really.

Of course, that was just the backdrop. The show playing out in front of his is what really grabbed his attention.

He watched Celestia as she pushed headlong through the tangle of the forest. He was captivated by her athletic grace, marveling at the way her body twisted and flexed as she pushed onward. He was enthralled by the way the determination etched onto her features clashed so beautifully with the tears that silently streaked down her face.

He thought about how far she had come.

He thought about how far he had fallen.

He thought about what she must have thought of him.

Really, he thought about anything he could to keep his mind off of what would happen next. Still, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, there was still a little voice in his head that would remind him.

“It’s only a matter of time now. It’ll all be over soon.”

Celestia slowed to a stop in the clearing, taking just a moment to catch her breath. The ruins of something surrounded her. Broken glass was scattered around, crushed and half imbedded in the ground around her. There were heavy beams of wood that looked like they had been thrown, like the discarded playthings of some bored foal. A thin veneer of ash covered everything; it felt gritty under her hooves. A subtle bit of motion caught her eye.

That’s when she saw it.

The brambles from the forest were slowly creeping towards the center of the clearing. The thorny vines clawed their way along the ground before converging, forming a pulsing mass at the center of the clearing.

She knew he was in there; it was the only place he could be.

She hesitated. For a split second she forgot why she was there, but then she pushed past her trepidation and started walking towards the intimidating tangle. As she approached it, she felt her resolve wavering. It seemed like every time she took a step forward it, the mound would writhe and expand outward. When she stopped, just a few feet away, the pile towered over her, it was well over twice her height.

She stared down at her hooves, watching as the brambles slowly crept past her, desperately trying to find her voice. She took a deep breath and she let it go, slowly.

“Discord,” she pleaded, “please wake up. I need to talk to you.”

There was no reply.

Celestia frowned, looking back up at the tangle. “Discord, after everything we have been through you know I can’t just leave it like this.” She took few steps forward, reaching out to touch the tangle, but stopping just before making contact.

She sighed.

“Please, I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me!” She pulled her hoof close to her chest, hesitating when she noticed her heart was racing. “I-I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for everything I did. I just need you to understand why I did it. I swear to you that I’m not trying to make excuses. I just think that you do deserve to know what’s really going on.”

She waited for a response, but the only sound besides the sound of the blood pounding through her head was the rhythmic scraping of sharp thorns against the ground around her.

“Please?”

Still, there was no response. Her face started heating up. It occurred to her that he might not be able to hear her, or that maybe he was ignoring her. She didn’t know which thought upset her more.

“Would you just wake up!”

She felt something hot streak down her face, her eyes were burning. She was angry at Discord, for hiding from her like this. She was angry that he had made her come all this way just to talk to him. She was angry that he had just left her alone in her room like that. She was angry at him for making her worry so much.

She wiped away her tears with her hoof.

Most of all, she was angry at herself for crying.

She shouted, “Discord, I need you!”

Everything stopped and she stumbled backwards. The absolute silence caught her off guard. Celestia looked around and saw that the creepers that frozen in place all across the clearing. She looked around frenetically, desperately hoping that Discord had come out to talk to her face to face, but he was nowhere to be found. Finding nothing else to address, she turned back to the solid black mass in front of her.

“Discord, I need you right now. I need to talk to you.” There was still no response, but she was sure he was listening to her now. “Please, just let me say my piece. I’ll understand if you never want to see me again after this, but I’m not going to leave until I’m sure you understand.” She sighed. “I know you’re upset right now, and you have every right feel the way you do, but I’ve come too far and I’ve given far too much just to leave everything like this.”

Celestia waited for any kind of response.

Then something shifted. Before her eyes the mass in front of her was dissolving as the black briars started to pull away, slowly revealing the figure trapped inside.

But then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Celestia’s heart sank into her gut, the air shifted. The briars started pulling together again, twice as fast as before. Something was wrong.

She realized she was no longer safe here.

Celestia leapt backwards just as the mass exploded, clawing at her with a flurry of black tendrils. The vines shot out at her, only to collide in the air a few inches from her face. There was a burst of sound and a blinding shower of sparks. Celestia opened her eyes again to find the vines regrouping, recovering from the first impact with her barrier, only for them to lash out again and again. They threw themselves at the barrier, each time the sound and the sparks grew weaker as the pummeled the wall with increasingly powerful blows.

Celestia’s horn flared up with a brilliant white light as she materialized a barrier of her own just inside the other barrier. By this point the vines had covered the outermost barrier completely; the only light left was the light shining from her horn and the bright orange flames licking out from her own barrier as they scorched the ground around her.

She heard crack before she saw it. She knew she probably had just a few more seconds before Twilight and Luna’s strength gave out and the barrier failed completely.

She gritted her teeth as they finally burst through.

Discord desperately tried to figure out what had gone wrong as he tried to call off the impending assault to no avail. He hadn’t felt it happen, but it was obvious that he had lost control of the forest. He guessed it must have started pulling away from him when he first went asleep; it had to have happen some time ago for it to get to this point. He winced as the barrier around Celestia gave way and the vines around her were immolated by a searing flame.

“This isn’t right.”

He watched helplessly as the vines regrouped and started their assault again, waves of them slamming into Celestia’s barrier with reckless abandon. Celestia let loose a new wave of flames, once again reducing the vines to ash, but there were always more. More vines crawled in from the forest around them, some even shooting up from the ground around them, before they joined in the relentless assault. It didn’t take Discord long to realize that it wouldn’t be long before Celestia was completely overwhelmed. He watched as she fell to one knee, she looked so tired.

He glanced over to the side, noticing Luna and Twilight had materialized themselves in a desperate bid to pull the vines away from Celestia only to be blindsided by those damnable hounds. They quickly surrounded the pair, splitting them apart and isolating them completely. The sound of explosions and snapped timbres thundered through the clearing, but for every hound that they destroyed a half dozen would pour in from the darkness around the clearing.

The scene quickly devolved into one of absolute Chaos.

His powers still failing him, he tried to pour himself back into his physical form. He knew that if he could just wake up he could end this madness with just a snap of his talons. He made contact, only to be blocked by something. Dread and revulsion washed over him as he realized that his body had been possessed. Someone, something, had cut him off from his powers. He threw himself at the foreign presence, trying to overwhelm in an attempt to take back his body, only for it to shrug him off casually.

The world around him spun and twisted as the being assaulted his senses. He was completely overwhelmed as it stimulated all his senses, then it stopped as suddenly as it started. For a few seconds everything went black, and then there was a loud, discordant, buzzing sound. The world around him started coming back into focus as the sound shifted between different pitches and volumes. Slowly, the different sounds clashed together to form and impromptu voice. It lurched and cracked, but he could just make out what it was saying.

“What’s wrong father? I thought this is what you truly desired.”

Discord scoffed. “How could I possibly want this? Everything I ever wanted is being torn apart right in front of me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it!” Feeling defeated, Discord laid down on the ground.

“I don’t understand father,” the voice said innocently as it echoed through Discord’s mind, “you said you wanted to be free, did you not?”

“What does this have anything to do with being free?” Discord asked, sitting up and crossing his arms in annoyance.

“Think about it, with these three out of the picture, there is no one who can trap you again!” As the voice chimed out happily, Discord felt sick.

“Great,” Discord quipped sarcastically. “I’ve always dreamed about being outside my body for eternity by an insane forest spirit.”

Ignoring him, it continued. “In just a few more minutes there will be no one left to bother you; you’ll finally be free from all the bonds of this world. Then we can be together forever! Doesn’t that sound wonderful, father?”

One of the hounds broke off from the pack assaulting Luna and Twilight and raced over to Discord’s side. It jumped up at him, licking him while it wagged its willow tail happily. Discord looked at the creature with disgust, shoving it away from him. It looked back at him, looking genuinely confused and hurt. Discord stood up, sneering at the beast.

“Stop this madness right now. I may have wanted freedom, but I never asked for this!”

“Oh, won’t you please reconsider?” The voice said, pleading with him. “We were going to have so much fun together!” Discord just continued glaring at the beast; it sat down and glanced over to where Discord’s body was. “Oh well, it wasn’t as if you had a choice in the matter did you? Just sit back and try to relax, Ok? Believe me when I say that, it will all be over soon!” The hound suddenly shook its head before it shot up and sprinted at Twilight. He watched it as it leapt at her, exploding in a shower of twigs and tree bark.

Discord watched the scene play out around him. This isn’t how he wanted it to turn out, but he knew it was his fault that it had turned out like this. What was worse was that he could have prevented it if he hadn’t acted like such a child.

Still, he accepted the fact that there was nothing he could do about it now. He walked over to the barrier protecting Celestia, looking through it and watching her. She stood proud and defiant against the vines that sought to snuff her out. He knew she would probably fight to her very last breath; always holding out hope that something would come and turn the tide in her favor at the very last second. That was just the way she was, just the way Discord always remembered her.

“You really haven’t changed a bit, have you?” Discord chuckled at the irony. He finally found his answer, but now it was too late to mean anything anymore.

He knew she wouldn’t be able to hear him, but he continued regardless. “I wonder what could have happened if I hadn’t been such a fool. Perhaps we could have lived. Maybe we could have been happy, together.” He sighed.

“Celestia, I hope that come part of you will hear my apology someday. Before this is all over, I just want to say that I am truly sorry. I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done to you and I’d forgive you for everything you’ve done to me a thousand times over.” He pressed his paw against the barrier separating them, ignoring the pain for a moment. “I would give anything to make sure you could hear his, my last message to you.” He shook his head and sighed again. “I just wish I had something left to give…”

He pulled his paw away from the barrier, wincing at the sudden flash of pain. He looked at Celestia for just a minute longer before he looked down at his paw.

Then, he saw it.

He held his paw up in front of his face, marveling at the shining white flames that had engulfed it completely. It was still painful, but a sense of relief washed over as the flames licked at his paw. It felt lighter than before, like a weight had been taken off his arm. He clenched his paw experimentally; the flames shot down his wrist and flickered against his arm.

Holding his paw at arm’s length, he looked back to Celestia. A wicked crack had formed on the barrier, threating to shatter at any moment. Glancing over at Twilight and Luna, he saw that he couldn’t depend on their strength either. They were fighting their own battles; they wouldn’t be able to get to Celestia in time. There was only one way he could stop everything, one way to save her from herself, that was to end it all.

“Perhaps,” Discord said, pressing his paw up against his chest, “there is one last thing I can give to you, Celestia.” The flames spread slowly across the scruff on his chest, moving a few inches but no farther.

“No, what are you doing?” The voice shouted frantically. “You can’t do that! Stop that! That do you think you’re doing?!?”

Discord ignored the voice as it continued to scream at him and he took a deep, shaky breath. Taking a moment to appreciate what he was about to do, the more he thought about it the mores sense it seemed to make to him.

“I’m doing something I should have done a long time ago.”

He looked back to Celestia, even when she was fighting with all her might she was still the most beautiful thing in the world to him. He committed her perfectly sculpted face to memory; he wanted it to be the last thing he saw before it all went black.

He swallowed against the hard lump in his throat.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl and his heart was beating out of his chest. Every single instinct he had was fighting him, screaming at him to stop and reconsider what he was doing. With a grunt he pushed his paw into his chest, the skin parted smoothly by his well-manicured claws as it entered him.

He looked down to see his arm stuck wrist deep into his chest. He was half surprised that he actually did it. He blinked at it for a few seconds before he decided his remaining time would be much better spent looking at Celestia.

Part of him expected it to hurt, but instead he was filled with a feeling of warmth. The fire was inside him now; it latched onto his heart and shot through his arteries, spreading the warmth through his entire body. His body shook, rejecting what was happening. He struggled to keep upright, clenching his paw inside his chest. His vision started fading, the world around him grew darker as the dark red mist at the corners of his eyes threatened to swallow him up completely.

As the flames climbed over his face his world dissolved into a brilliant white, tinged ever so slightly pink.

Then, Discord did the most natural thing he had done in his entire laugh.

He laughed.

He was finally free…

Chapter Fifteen: Unresolved Complications

As drained as she was, Twilight immediately noticed the subtle shift in the air around her.

She quickly looked over towards Celestia and saw a pure white flame hanging in the air besides the barrier. Almost immediately one of the Timberwolves leapt at her, pulling her head back into the fight. With a thought she dissipated it violently before moving onto the next one.

She tried to focus on working her way through the melee, desperately trying to reach Celestia, but she couldn’t help but watch the white flame as it spread through the air in her peripheral vision. She could see that, whatever it was, was expanding as it coiled up around the air above Celestia’s barrier. Twilight hoped that Celestia had found some way to end this.

She stole a quick glance at Celestia, only to see the wicked crack that had appeared on the barrier surrounding her. Twilight winced; she knew it wouldn’t be long before the barrier failed and the vines overwhelmed her. Still, Celestia was still fighting; her horn was streaming a brilliant light from inside the barrier.

Twilight threw herself to the ground only just as one of the Timberwolves launched itself at her. It sailed over her head, exploding in midair with as it collided with a concentrated burst of her magic.

Celestia hadn’t given up, so she wouldn’t either.

The Timberwolves suddenly seemed to lose interest in her, turning their attention towards Celestia. Twilight took advantage of the momentary lull in the combat to pick herself up, turning to see what had gotten their attention. The coils of white flame were descending onto the barrier, mixing with Celestia’s flames, consuming them, and forming a solid wall of white fire. Meanwhile the vines continued smashing into the barrier, only to be consumed by the fire instantly. The fire shot down the vines immediately, streaking down into the forest faster than her eyes could track. She could see them writhing and twisting with what she assumed was a silent agony.

Despite herself, Twilight smiled. Celestia had come through in the end, just as she always had.

She watched silently as the throng of Timberwolves stalked slowly towards the inferno before they charged it. The second they made contact with the wall of flame they were utterly consumed by it, burning up nearly instantly with a snapping of timbres. An entire wave threw themselves into the flames before the rest of the pack seemed to lose their nerve, turning tail and sprinting back towards the forest. Still, some of them ended up tripping and getting caught up in the still burning vines, they were consumed by the fire just as quickly as the ones who threw themselves headlong into the blaze.

Twilight shifted on the spot uncomfortably. She knew that the Timberwolves weren’t conscious entities, but it was still a hard scene for her to watch. She glanced over to the side to see Luna staring at the inferno with the same deer caught by a witch light look she realized she must have been giving it. Luna took a step backwards. It was at that point that Twilight realized the flames weren’t just spreading along the vines, but that the whole wall of fire was expanding outward.

She looked back at the fire in front of her, noticing that the fire was spreading out to meet her. At first she took a step back, unnerved by the sight of a wall of fire encroaching on her, but then she remembered that this was Celestia’s fire. She had seen Celestia conjure flames before; she knew from experience that they would only burn something Celestia wanted to burn. In a few seconds the fire would push right on past her. It wasn’t dangerous in the slightest, at least not to her.

She looked back over at Luna. She was about to shout over to her, telling her not to worry, when the wall lurched forward suddenly, consuming Luna in the wall of flames. Luna’s scream, phantasmal as it was, pierced straight into Twilight’s soul.

Something was very wrong.

Twilight looked back down to see the fire lapping at her hoof. To her surprise it burned on contact. She quickly pulled it away, but the phantom pain in her hoof didn’t stop as the fire clung on to it and slowly crept up the wall of her hoof.

Her eyes widened and her mind started racing. She thought maybe Celestia had lost control of her flames, but she quickly discarded that as impossible; Celestia’s fire was an intrinsic part of her. No, these flames weren’t Celestia’s, they were something other.

Something wild...

Suddenly the wall of fire seemed a lot less friendly. Twilight started backpedaling just at the fire lunged at her, eating away at the ground in front of her. For a moment it seemed like she might get away, she turned around to press into a full spring but as she turned she tripped on a vine. Looking back up behind her, she saw the inferno looming over her. Before she could even get up she had been completely submerged in a sea of fire.

Half instinctually, she pulled her mind back to her body back in The Castle.

Twilight bolted upright the moment she felt herself slip into her body. She looked around and saw that the three stallions surrounding her were shouting and scrambling around the room frantically.

All she could hear was the steady crackling of fire.

She looked down and realized that the same white flames from earlier were covering her entire body now. It struck her as strange, the flames were burning her before, but now as the flames lapped against her she didn’t feel any pain or discomfort. In fact, she felt the strangest feeling of relief. It was like some terrible burden she had been caring with her had suddenly been lifted. It was a subtle change, but she could definitely feel it.

Curiosity got the better of her and she lifted one of her hooves up to inspect the flames. To her surprise it seemed like the fire was already starting to fade away. She was a little sad to see it go, but when it finally vanished it left her with a profound sense of warmth.

As the fire died away completely, the world around her shifted back into focus. Iron Clad was the first one to speak.

“Princess Twilight, are you alright?!?

“Are you injured, Princess? Do you need me to go find a medic?”

“Why in Equestria were you on Fire!?! What in Tartarus happened to you?!?”

Twilight blinked a few times, trying to come up with an adequate response to that. As she tried to process what actually did just happen, the two guards continued to ask after her health while Dual proceeded to freak out. Having three grown stallions yammering at her certainly wasn’t helping her thought process.

“Boys,” Twilight said softly, trying to get them to calm down. She was ignored. Rolling her eyes, she shouted, “BOYS!” The two guards fell silent immediately, Stratosphere stood at attention.

“You were on Fire!”

“DUAL!”

Dual stopped his incessant babbling. “Um, Ok. Did you want something, Twilight?” He asked, genuinely concerned.

Twilight groaned. “Yes, would you kindly shut up for just one second so I can talk?” Dual seemed a bit taken aback by that, but he nodded politely and complied with her request.

“Thank you very much.” Twilight said genuinely. “First off, as you can clearly see, I am fine.” Dual looked like he was about to start up again, but Twilight held up a hoof, promptly cutting him off. “Thank you for your concerned, but I’m actually feeling pretty good right now.” She looked back down, giving herself another once over just to make sure she was actually fine. “At least I think I am, anyway…”

Iron Clad spoke up first. “You mind explaining what exactly happened back there, Princess? You were just a little bit on-”

Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that I was on fire.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “Thank you very much for your concern, but it’s getting to be a bit much. I would really appreciate if we could just accept that fact and move on, OK?” The two guards nodded in unison, followed shortly after by a more hesitant Dual. “As for what happened, well… I’m not completely sure about that part yet. I remember Celestia confronting Discord, then something attacking us-”

Dual jumped in immediately, cutting her off again. “Discord attacked you?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t really know what happened. At first I thought Discord attacked us, but I’m not so sure of that anymore.” Twilight sighed. “Anyways, there was this big shimmering white flame that came up from Celestia, kind of the one that was on me before. Except, then it wasn’t from Celestia, and it burned up everything. I’m still a bit confused about that part.

“Then, I came back here. Anything past that you already know at this point.” She shook her head again. “As for the whole ‘on fire’ thing, I’m not really sure what happened with that. I mean, it did burn at first, but when I got back here it didn’t hurt at all. Actually, it felt kind of good,” Twilight noticed the odd looks she was getting from that. “You know, in that whole, ‘this feels nice but I never want to do it again as long as I live’ sort of way.” She rubbed at her foreleg, a bit unsure what to say after that. For a minute or so they just stood there in a daze, trying to process what had happened.

“S-so,” Stratosphere spoke up tentatively, “is it over?” Twilight took a deep breath and nodded slowly.

“Yes, I think so. I mean I hope so. I want to say Celestia and Discord are alright, but…” She brought her hoof up to her chin, convinced that she was forgetting something important. “Oh my gosh, I forgot about Luna!” Twilight didn’t waste another second as she leapt over to the doors at the side of the room and hastily threw them open. “Luna,” she shouted, “are you alright?!?”

She ran over to Luna’s bedside to see the same flickering white flames from before completely covering Luna’s body. Without a second thought she jumped up onto the bed to check her pulse and breathing. Only when her hoof made contact with the flames did Twilight stop and consider what she was doing, but to her surprise the flames remained bound to Luna, not spreading any further across her hoof or the bed sheets. The three stallions barged in behind her as she counted out Luna’s pulse. There was a moment of silence where no one dared to say anything that might break Twilight’s concentration.

After a few minutes of silence, Twilight sighed and carefully climbed off the bed. Once again, Iron Clad was the first one to break the silence.

“Is she going to be alright, Princess?” Twilight glanced over at him, noting that he seemed just a bit too calm considering the situation at hand.

Twilight looked down and nodded, thinking about what she was about to say intently. “Yes, she’s breathing fine and her heart rate is normal.” She looked back up at the three. “I’m not going to say that we’re completely out of the woods just yet though, we still don’t know what the white fire signifies yet. I want to run some tests, but right now I think she just needs some time alone to rest.” Twilight dropped down to her haunches and let out a hearty yawn. “Actually, some sleep sounds pretty good about now.” She looked up to see Stratosphere shuffling on the spot.

“In that case, I’d like to go out and get some air, with your permission of course, Princess.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course, you’re dismissed.” He didn’t waste a single second as he sprinted over to the balcony, threw open eh windows, and took to the sky without breaking stride.

“Seriously though,” Dual asked at the exact moment Stratosphere had left the room. “What is his problem?”

Twilight shook her head and chuckled wearily. “From what I understand his job involves a lot of aerial reconnaissance and high altitude scouting. Considering that, I’m not really all that surprised he doesn’t like being cooped up indoors.”

“Kid couldn’t sit still for more than five minutes,” Iron Clad grunted, “Pegas-” He was cut off as Stratosphere burst back into the room, landing right in front of Twilight. “Well, that was fast.” Iron Clad said, genuinely impressed. Stratosphere ignored him, immediately locking eyes with Twilight.

“Princess Twilight,” he said, panting slightly from exertion, “I think you need to see this.”

“Why, what’s going on?” Twilight asked. “What exactly do I need to see?”

He looked back to the open balcony windows, and then he turned back to her and shook his head. “No, I think it’s best if you see this for yourself.” Twilight glanced over his shoulder to look at Dual, who just shrugged. She thought about it for another moment before nodding at Stratosphere and standing up.

Taking the hint, Stratosphere led the way over to the open balcony. With one smooth motion, he shot up into the air and started gaining altitude. Twilight followed right behind him, with just a little less grace. At first Stratosphere shot ahead of her, but after a minute or so he slowed his pace to match hers, always staying a fair bit ahead of her. It didn’t take long for them to reach a comfortable cruising altitude, and then it took only a couple of minutes of powered gliding to leave the confines of The Castle behind and to pass over the edge of the platform supporting it.

At was this point that Stratosphere took them down a bit so that they were flying over the forest valley below the city.

When he stopped suddenly, Twilight was confused, but then he pointed down at something.

It took her a moment to spot what he was pointing at, because of how high up they were still, but when she saw it she gasped. A towering pillar of white flames shot up from the forest, at least fifty feet above the forest canopy. Twilight looked around a bit to get her bearings; she noted that it was right at the center of the forest. It didn’t take her long to realize that it wasn’t static, it was expanding. She watched it slowly consuming the trees around it, sending up isolated pillars of acrid black smoke. As she watched it spread, awestruck, Stratosphere flew up beside her.

“Princess, would you like me to contact the weather patrol and have them douse the flames?”

Twilight shook her head, still staring at the growing inferno. “No, these flames are obviously magical in nature. I doubt dousing them would do any good” She looked up at him. “I want you to set up a contingent to watch the flames. Tell them to watch them, and to inform me if they show any sign of spreading outside of the forest proper. I don’t want anypony to some within five hundred yards of either the forest or the flames, and no attempts shall be made to douse them or control them. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, your highness.” He said, preforming a strange, aerial bow.

“Good,” she said sternly, “you have your orders then.” He nodded and shot upwards into the sky, quickly making his way back to The Castle.

Twilight looked back down at the inferno raging far below her, hovering in the air silently.

“And now, we wait…”

Cadance spiraled down through the chilly evening air, gliding silently alongside Twilight and Luna.

It had been about a day since she arrived in Canterlot, and the flames had finally opened up in such a way where they could finally go down and find out what had become of Discord and Celestia.

Of course everything would be alright, as she kept telling herself, but there was always that nagging fear at the back of her mind that said that maybe it wasn’t alright.

Cadence’s face set into a tight frown as Luna and Twilight tightened up their flight path, honing in on the smoke obscured clearing directly below them. She looked up to see the two, golden chariots, each pulled by a small team of Pegasi. They kept their shallow angle of attack, slowly pulling farther and farther away from the three Princesses while still approaching the ground beneath them.

Deciding that they would catch up to them in time, Cadance pulled her wings to her sides suddenly and shot down towards Twilight and Luna. Once again, she thanked the powers that be that she managed to keep her sleek and athletic figure even after he ascension. She was still faster in the air than any of the other Princesses were, and she was far more agile.

Well, she liked to think that anyway. She knew she would probably always be a little bit faster than Twilight, but she wasn’t quite sure how fast Celestia and Luna would be at their fastest.

As she came level with the others she flared out her wings and made a few quick adjustments, matching her speed with theirs. She looked over to her left to see that Luna had her eyes set on the clearing below, her expression was completely unreadable.

She had expected as much from Luna, she never really left her emotions out in the open.

She looked over to Twilight to see a completely different picture, her brow was furrowed and her face was contorted with obvious worry. Cadance sighed and shook her head, she thought bout what she could say to her before she spoke up.

“Hey, Twilight?” Twilight looked over to her. It seemed like she wanted to say something back to Cadance, but it was like she couldn’t bear the thought of uttering it out loud. Cadance just shook her head, putting on her best winning smile.

“Don’t worry about it so much,” she said with about as much sincerity as she could muster at that moment, “everything’s going to be just fine.”

Twilight stared back at her for a moment before shaking her head vigorously, like she was trying to focus on something. She put on a weak smile and nodded back at Cadance, then she set her gaze forward and picked up her pace. Cadance watched as she pulled ahead of her and Luna.

Cadance smiled at that. “Now if only I were so easy to convince, then maybe this wouldn’t be so hard.” She thought to herself.

Twilight suddenly shot down through an opening in the forest canopy, quickly followed by Luna. Cadance looked around a bit before she joined them. It seemed so strange to her. Just the day before this part of the forest had been burning so brightly, but it looked so peaceful now. Most of the trees were completely untouched, with the exception of a few outliers. Those trees were still glowing with white embers as they slowly smoldered.

“Such is magic,” she said to herself, dropping down through the thick canopy beneath her.

When she touched down on the ground, she looked around the clearing before her. Her eyes were immediately drawn towards the center.

In the center of the clearing, surrounded by a ring of scorched earth, lay the still forms of Celestia and Discord. They were hopelessly intertwined in an intricate embrace as they lay burning with a bright white flame.

Cadance quickly ran over to check if they were ok. Just when she was about to reach out to touch Celestia, Luna shouted.

“Stop!” Cadance froze in her tracks when she realized that her hoof was hovering mere inches away from an ethereal inferno. “The flames certainly aren’t malignant, but we are still unsure of whether or not they have any unwarranted side effects.”

“R-right,” Cadance said, backing off a few steps. “But we still need to see if they are alright.” Twilight walked past her.

“I’m on it.” Twilight said with assurance before she looked at the pair on the ground in front of her.

Slowly, carefully, Twilight extended her hoof out and poked it into the flames. They reacted sluggishly to her touch, slowly climbing half way up her arm before dissipating entirely. Twilight sunk her arm in to the knee and reached over to read Celestia’s pulse and to track her breathing.

To Cadance it seemed like an eternity, but eventually Twilight nodded and pulled her arm out. She made what could be described as a satisfied grunt and Cadance let out a silent thanks to the powers that be. Then Twilight reached her arm back into the fire, this time going in shoulder deep to do the same thing for Discord. Eventually she pulled her arm out again, turning around and giving Cadance and Luna the all clear.

Cadance let out a small sigh of relief, and she could have sworn she had heard Luna do the same thing behind her.

It was at that moment that the two oversized chariots came, somewhat gracefully, crashing through the canopy above them. They parked themselves at the edge of the clearing.

“So,” Cadance said, trying to address the Elephant in the room, “shouldn’t we try to wake them? Um, or something?” Twilight just smiled at her and shook her head.

“It wouldn’t do anything.” Twilight explained. “When I found Luna like this, nothing would wake her up for at least a day after we got back. She came to her sensed just a few minutes before the flames vanished completely, so we think it’s just something to do with the way the magic in the fire happens to work.”

Luna stepped forward and nodded. “As I said before, we believe that these flames exist to cleanse the darkness from the hearts of those who touch them.” She looked Cadance in the eyes before continuing. “Discord and Celestia have both lived for a very long time; each of them has more than their fair share of darkness in their lives.”

“So then, how long do you think they’ll be out for?” Cadance asked as she stared into the slowly flickering flames.

“It’s not certain.” Luna replied, also staring into the fire. “I expect Celestia will come around soon, based on how quickly I woke up.” She sighed. “I’ve seen my fair share of darkness as well.” She shook her head. “As for Discord… Well, he is old. He is very, very old. It may be quite a long time before he awakens.”

Twilight piped in suddenly. “But we’ll be there for him when he finally does wake up!”

Cadance smiled at her, quietly correcting her. “We will be there for both of them when they wake up.”

“That’s enough talk,” Luna said as she slowly lifted them of the ground. “It’s time to bring these two back to The Castle.”

“Aren’t you going to separate them first?” Cadance asked. “Surely you don’t intend to just leave them like that, do you?”

Luna threw her head back and laughed wistfully. “Who am I, but a humble Alicorn, to interfere with matters of the heart?” Cadance stood there, momentarily stunned as she tried to process that statement. She shook her head.

“Wait, are you implying what I think you’re implying?”

By now Luna had managed to move the two across the clearing, setting them down gently in the larger of the two chariots. “I imply nothing that I don’t know to be the truth. That is, unless The Alicorn of Love disagrees with me?” Luna had a sly smile on her face as she walked over to the chariots.

Cadance, in all her infinite wisdom, decided to let that particular slight slide. That is, until she saw Luna hop up onto Celestia’s private chariot.

“Um, Auntie?” Cadance called out to her. “You do realize that that is Celestia’s chariot, right?” Luna looked down at her, feigning confusion.

“My, whatever do you mean my dearest Cadance?” She asked a bit louder than she needed to for Cadance to hear her. “I don’t see my sister’s name emblazoned on the seat.” She said this as she ground her butt into the cushion beneath her. “Besides that, it seems to me that she is more than comfortable in the other chariot.” Luna grinned over at Celestia, still wrapped up in the other chariot with Discord. Cadance looked between the two chariots and resisted the incredibly strong urge to face hoof. Still, she didn’t say anything as Luna ordered the chariot pullers to take off.

As they pulled up through the canopy, Twilight walked up beside Cadance and put a knowing hoof on her shoulder.

“Come on,” Twilight said, “let’s let her have her fun.” Twilight laughed when Cadance looked down and the ground and sighed. “Besides, this way we can catch up with each other on the way back to The Castle. I’ve got a lot to tell you about since you last visited!”

Cadance smiled back at Twilight sympathetically. “I suppose you’re right,” she stood up and spread her wings, “it’s just…”

It’s just what, Cadance?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I wanted to ride in the chariot for once.” The moment Cadance said it she could feel her cheeks growing red. She leapt up into the air, and for the hundredth time that day she smiled as she heard Twilight following right behind her, laughing.

The only difference this time was that she felt like she had a real reason to smile, because everything turned out just fine in the end, somehow.

Just like it always did…

Chapter Sixteen: The Beginning

Discord screwed his eyes shut, trying vainly to block out the light that had roused him from his sleep. He cracked his eyes open in an attempt to figure out where the light was coming from, only to be blinded by an intense white light. He snapped his eyes shut instantly, but it was already too late.

He was awake now, and from the look of things he wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep anytime soon.

Whatever the light was, it was bright enough to shine through his eyelids. He huffed and rolled over in the satin sheets. He used a nearby pillow to lazily pull himself upright. He rubbed at his eyes with the back of his paw, both in an attempt to remove the crusted sleep from his eyes and in the misguided hope that it might somehow help him deal with the offensive light.

He sighed, all that managed to do was to paint a slowly shifting picture of prismatic colors in his eyes from rubbing his them too hard.

He sat up, bracing himself against the velvet lined headboard, before he snapped his eyes open, forcing them to adjust to the far too bright light.

After a few seconds he blinked for a second and opened his eyes again. It worked, sort of. He could make out some shapes and a few muted colors of the room he was in, but everything seemed fuzzy and out of focus. Despite his best efforts he found that he couldn’t shift his focus past the flickering sea of white flames that covered him.

It was at that moment he remembered what had happened before. He also realized that he was on fire, but he decided that shouldn’t be his first priority at that moment.

Number one on his list of priorities became trying to figure out how on Equus he was he was still alive. He distinctly remembered plunging his arm into his chest in an attempt to end his own life and save everyone else; well, mostly just Celestia, but he definitely considered Twilight and Luna when he made that decision. Still, he was sure he hadn’t imagined it; the memory was far too vivid to be just some idle daydream of his.

Then, of course, the fact that he was still on fire went a long way to corroborate his memory of that series of events.

He pushed that thought away again; he had much more pressing issues to deal with. In fact, he decided that the whole on fire thing wasn’t even in the top three of his list of top priorities right now.

He quickly brought his paw up to his chest, feeling for some kind of mortal wound or at least a ghastly scar. When he found nothing but smooth skin under slightly bed-matted fur, he was surprised. Again, he distinctly remembered sticking his entire paw straight through his ribcage.

He shivered, deciding that he might find a less morbid way to figure out what had saved him.

Morbidity aside, he knew he still should be dead right now or at least on his last legs. That’s what bothered him the most; he knew he shouldn’t feel nearly as good as he did now. As much as he hated to admit it he hadn’t felt this good in millennia. If he had to describe it, he might have said that he was euphoric, at least in the physical sense of euphoria.

Besides the whole “on fire” thing of course, but he had other priorities.

A thought struck him, he blinked.

“A-am I even still alive?” Discord jumped slightly, legitimately surprised by the sound of his own voice. He realized that as well as being effectively blinded by the fire, it had also drowned out all the noise in the room as well.

Discord snapped his talons, and to his great surprise the fire that was shrouding him crawled across his body and up his right arm with the sound of rushing air. He watched it as is crawled up his arm and up the back of his paw paw before it petered out entirely.

Discord blinked, both from surprise and at the fact that he could suddenly see properly. “Well, at least something works the way it’s supposed to.”

He held out his claw and paw in front of his face, he flexed them both experimentally and watched as his talons pulled inward to form a makeshift fist while the claws silently popped out of their recesses on his paw. Satisfied by that he gave himself a full once over, paying close attention to the spot on his chest where he remembered sticking his arm into. Finding nothing out of the ordinary and that everything was accounted for he looked around the room. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had somehow ended up in Celestia’s room, but that was something he could worry about later.

He scratched at his goatee with his talons, stroking thoughtfully.

As far as he could tell there were three possibilities.

The first was that he was, in fact, alive and well. He doubted this theory for obvious reasons, but finding no obvious evidence against it he accepted it as a distinct possibility.

The second was that he was still alive but that he was still bleeding out in the center of the clearing in the middle of the forest and that this whole scene was just a delusion cooked up by his brain as it was in reverent denial of the fact that he was actually dying. Discord decided that this theory was more plausible than the first one, but that it was ultimately unhelpfully to his current predicament if it actually proved correct. So he discarded it out of principal.

The last possibility was that that he was dead and this was the afterlife. He looked around the room, thinking about the implications of that. He didn’t pay much attention to religion before, but he remembered hearing some zealots talk about Heaven and Hell. He didn’t really think of himself as someone who would go to Heaven, so he realized that if this was the afterlife then he must be in Hell right now.

He took another look at the lavishly furnished room around him, then back down at the satin sheets and cloud infused mattress that smelled distractingly like Celestia.

He ultimately decided that the third option was by far the most likely and that this was simply an abstract sort of Hell. Though he realized that if that was the case then it wouldn’t really matter what he did. So he decided that it made more sense to pretend he was still alive for the time being.

After all, he spends all that time figuring out his list of priorities. It would be a shame just forsake the few seconds he spent making that list now.

Discord carefully slipped out of the bed and looked around.

Priority two, find out if Celestia is alright.

Now that he could see clearly he noticed a light spilling out from under the curtains on the balcony. Judging by the generally Celestia shaped silhouette cast into the curtains by the amber light on the other side he wagered that the balcony was probably a good place as any to start his search.

As he slowly made his way to the curtains his stomach busied working itself into a thick knot sitting in his gut. When he reached out to grab the curtains and pull them open he noticed his hands were shaking. He grabbed the curtains in a white knuckled embrace, his talons and claws tearing into them slightly. He screwed his eyes shut, mumbling at the red wall of fabric in front of him.

“Just go and talk to her like nothing ever happened.” He told himself this, but even as he said the words he knew he was lying to himself. To pretend nothing ever happened would be delusional, they had clearly passed a point of no return in the forest and he would have to push forward from there if he ever wanted Celestia to take him seriously. He opened his eyes hoping that his body took the hint and pushed past his trepidation for him, but he saw he hadn’t moved a single inch since he shut his eyes.

He pulled back from the curtain and wiped his face with his paw, covering his mouth and staring forward blankly as he tried to think of some way out of this.

“If you truly wish to remain alone for the rest of eternity then you should leave now and never return.”

Luna’s words from before rang out hollow in his mind. As much as he didn’t want to admit it he knew she wasn’t wrong.

“None of us could stop you from leaving; even if we tried we wouldn’t be able to.”

If he wanted to leave no one could stop him. Discord wondered who would even bother to try. Fluttershy would probably try to talk him out of it, but he doubted she would be able to tell him to stay if she knew he really wanted to leave. None of her friends would lose any sleep if he just left, Pinkie Pie would probably even throw a party. Dual, he was complicated. Discord didn’t know if he would even say anything about it, he never seemed to pressure Discord into talking about his personal life. Dual was a Pony that Discord had learned to rely on, to be able to lean on, but he wasn’t sure if Dual would reach out to him if he pulled away.

“This is your last chance, Discord.”

If he didn’t know Luna as well as he did, he would say that she would probably let him leave a word. In reality Luna was sentimental, reactionary, and prone to emotional outbursts, as much as she tried to hide these facts Discord knew exactly what hid behind that stone wall mask of hers.

No, she wouldn’t let him go so easily. She would kick and scream and do her best to hold him down while she tried to talk some sense into him. She knew if he set his mind to something then she wouldn’t be able to stop him, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying.

The only left who would even care if he left would be Celestia.

Discord sighed.

“Heed my words, Discord. The ties that bind us are far stronger than any mere prison.”

He really wasn’t sure what Celestia would do. A younger Celestia would probably act just like her sister, trying to force him to stay. Then again she seemed a lot more sensible than she used to be; maybe she would try to calmly talk him out of it like Fluttershy would. He doubted she would sit back and let him leave without some kind of confrontation.

“I’ll understand if you never want to see me again after this, but I’m not going to leave until I’m sure you understand.”

Try as he might he could only guess as to what she might do. He had misjudged her so many times in the past few years; he really couldn’t figure her out. Part of her had grown up in that long thousand years she spent by herself, but another part of her was still the same old Celestia he remembered from way back before he was imprisoned. In the time he was gone she had grown into some beautiful enigma, some puzzle that he couldn’t crack no matter how hard he tried.

“Discord, I need you!”

He glanced back at the room behind him, and then he looked at the silhouette still emblazoned on the curtain in front of him. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t know what Celestia would do, more importantly he wasn’t sure if he would be able to say no to her offer.

Discord snorted, realizing that his life had somehow become the perfect set up to some cosmic joke.

“What do you give a stallion who has everything he wants, but who doesn’t know what to do with it?” Despite himself, he smiled at that.

Discord swallowed hard against the lump in his throat, a splash of whiskey sounded amazing right then.

He sighed, staring down at the floor beneath him. He wasn’t getting anywhere anytime soon. He knew that he had to leave now if he wanted to get away from everyone. All it would take is just one snap of his talons and he would be halfway across the world, in some hot wasteland where no one knew his name.

With a concerted effort he threw open the curtains in front of him and stepped out onto the balcony next to Celestia.

Celestia glanced over at him and smiled. “Oh, you’re awake, good.” She turned back to the horizon, focusing on the sunrise. “Listen, Discord, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something for a while now.”

“Enough with the pleasantries, Celestia, I’m not here to talk I’m here to get answers.” Discord said with as much clout and authority as he could manage, hoping he could bluff his way through this. “I need to know what-”

“First off, you’re not dead.” Celestia said, cutting him off. “I assure you that you’re very much alive right now, though you’ve been unconscious for a while now.” Celestia continued to stare forward as she talked, like she was reading some prompt that someone had managed to write on the rising sun. “Second off, I’m fine. Luna, Twilight, and Cadance picked us up about a week after the incident and you’ve been staying in The Castle since then. Luna thought it would be a good idea to drop us both off in my bed while we slept it off.” Celestia suddenly became very interested in the decorative crenellations on the balcony railing. “I haven’t had the time to find a guest room for you to stay in, so you’ve been staying in my bed in the meantime…”

Discord blinked, taking a moment to process what she said. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but then he realized that she already told him most of what he wanted to know. There was an awkward silence where Celestia was busy distracting herself while Discord was busy trying to think of another question to ask. Eventually, Celestia turned back to the sunrise. Discord decided that, for the moment at least, his questions weren’t so important.

He turned to the horizon to look at what might have been the most beautiful sunrise he had ever seen. The sun was just starting to break over the ranges on the eastern horizon as it cast its rays through the morning mist on the mountain tops. The light filtered through the mist and clouds and painted the landscape below in the most beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange. Occasionally the sun would break through the mist and for a few seconds and it would catch the rocks and rivers just so, causing them to shimmer and gleam with all the colors of the rainbow. The mountains themselves were cast in black, their long contrasting shadows contrasted spectacularly with the light show above and beyond their reach.

Discord watched the sun rise for only a minute or two before his eyes drifted back to Celestia.

She stood proudly at the edge of the balcony, her wings flared and her eyes set on the horizon before her. Her horn streamed an amber glow that slowly spread outward and crept down her in rivers of candescent magic, infusing her whole body with a light orange glow that contrasted against her iridescent mane and tail and her striking magnet eyes just perfectly.

She was magnificent, Discord thought it was no wonder half her subjects still treated her like a Goddess. He could stand there for hours, just watching her raise up that magnificent orb of light.

He couldn’t though; a thousand questions were piling up in the back of his head. His mind was demanding answers and, one way or another; he would have to get them out of her before he would be satisfied.

“How long was I out?” He was stalling, but at least it was a question. Celestia quickly glanced at him before nodding back at the horizon. He didn’t pick up on it at first, but once he started paying more attention to it he noticed that the forests and plains were a few shades greener than they had been before.

“It was a light winter.”

Discord nodded, grabbing onto the railing in front of him. His face twisted into a tight grimace as he scanned the horizon, picking out the subtle differences.

“Discord,” Celestia broke silence, “there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Discord just shook his head. “Now, Celestia, don’t think you can get out of answering my questions so easily.” Celestia sighed.

“You know, you don’t have to-”

He waved a paw and cut her off. “No, I think I do. Not knowing has been eating at me for a while now. If I could just let it go so easily then we wouldn’t be here right now, things wouldn’t have gone so wrong. I need this, Celestia.”

Discord looked over at her just when she looked away, avoiding eye contact. Her mouth twisted into a tight frown as she continued to stare forward, obviously deep in thought. He wanted his answers, but he wasn’t going to push her. He didn’t want a repeat of last time. Eventually she nodded, that was all he needed to continue.

He took a deep breath and sighed, looking back at the sunrise. “Celestia, ever since the day you decided to free me you’ve kept me in the dark as to why you did it. You asked me to stay and help you keep house with your little Empire, as did Fluttershy, so I stayed and minded my own business. Even with The Elements of Harmony still mucking around I think I could have left anytime I wanted to; it wouldn’t have been easy mind you, but think I could have done it. Honestly, part of me thinks I should have jumped ship the moment The Elements were put out of commission, but I didn’t.” Discord shook his head.

“Sure, there were probably a dozen little reasons for me to stay put. Fluttershy wanted me to stay, of course. Then there’s the fact that I do actually like Equestria; that’s when I can forget that it’s filled with Ponies who’s one goal in life seems to be to annoy and cofound me at every turn. No offense intended to present company, of course.” Discord glanced back over at Celestia, expecting to get a chuckle out of her at least. She was just staring at the horizon, distracted.

Discord sighed. “My point is that there are a few legitimate reasons why I wanted to stay, but they wouldn’t have kept me here for as long as I stayed. No, the real reason I stayed was curiosity.” Discord hesitated, trying to think of the right words to explain himself properly. He looked back at the horizon and continued. “You told me up front why it might make sense to keep me around, I was an asset to be used, but you never really adequately explained how I was worth the risk to keep around. I’m dangerous, Celestia, I know that, and I know you know that too.” Discord shook his head and sighed again. “If our encounter down in the woods proves anything at all, it’s that I’m still as dangerous…”

Celestia shook her head looked back over at him. “Discord, I-” He made eye contact with her and her voice died in her throat. She quickly looked down at her hooves, almost looking ashamed of herself.

“You what, Celestia, what is it?” Discord asked, looking down at her. “I know you know that I’m right. If you didn’t have some kind of ulterior motive for releasing me then I’d still be locked up in that damned statue.” He scoffed, crossing his arms. “As far as I’m concerned I should still be locked up in there, waiting for another chance to escape that would never come. I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be talking to you, and you shouldn’t even have to answer to me in the first place, but here we are!”

Discord looked back over the balcony, at this point watching the sun rise was more an excuse to break eye contact with Celestia than anything. He sighed, frustrated.

“Celestia, I shouldn’t have to ask this question. I really shouldn’t have to, but I need to know why I’m here. I need to know the real reason you decided to release me. I don’t want the reasons why you think you should have done it; I want to hear the reason why you actually did it. I’m only going to ask you this once.” Discord leaned into the railing, looking for something, anything, that would catch his eye other than the Alicorn beside him. Eventually he broke down and turned back to look at her, he made eye contact with her and for the first time that day she didn’t shy away from his gaze.

“Celestia, I want to ask you why you really freed me.” Then he looked away, unable to maintain that level of intensity. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Celestia seemed to take this as her cue to explain herself. “Discord, I-”

Discord breathed out a heavy sigh, cutting her off. “I wasn’t finished.” He said calmly. He took a minute to regain his composure before he opened his eyes and looked back at her again.

“I really do want to know why I’m free, but I really don’t think I’m in a position to be making demands. I had a lot of time to reflect on my past while you were gallivanting though he forest and trying to save me. I realized that I’m not the Draconequus I thought I was. I think I’m only just starting to realize what I put you and your sister through all those years ago, I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand the gravity of my past sins. I haven’t had as much time to truly reflect on what I’ve done since you’ve released me, but as far as I’m concerned I’ve done nothing of any real importance other than getting in the way and being a general nuisance. At best I’m a burden to everyone around me and I’m not sure if there is a word that really describes what I am when I’m at my worst.” He shook his head.

“My point is that I’m in no position to be making demands of you, not in good conscious anyway. I want my answers, but I know I don’t deserve them and nor will I ask for you to give them to me.”

“That’s why I’m giving you the choice.” Discord said, completely serious.

“I want you to know that I want to stay here and get my answers from you and I want you to tell me everything. I need closure, but I’m not going to force you to tell me anything. If you want to tell me, of your own free will, then that’s your choice to make. As I said before, I’m not in a position to make any demands of you and I don’t feel comfortable making that request.”

“So I’m giving you the choice. If you don’t want to tell me, then just say the word. I’ll leave Equestria and you will never hear from me again. I’m not sure I can stay here if I don’t know why I’m here in the first place, after what happened in the forest I’m not going to try. The longer I stay here the bigger the threat I pose becomes, but if I leave now then you and everyone else in Equestria can finally be safe.” Discord held up one taloned finger in front of him.

“I only have one request of you before you make your decision.”

After a moment of silence Celestia took a deep breath and spoke up. “And just what would that be?”

Discord closed his eyes and nodded. “I only ask that you accept my sincerest and most heartfelt apology. I apologize for everything I’ve done and everything I must have put you through. I am truly sorry for what I did to you all those years ago before you imprisoned me and I’m sorry for everything I’ve done since I’ve been released. I will say in my defense that I did everything I did all those years ago because I thought it would prepare you both for the trial and tribulations of ruling a state. I realize now though that I went too far and that my own good intentions are a poor excuse for what I did; nothing can ever excuse what I’ve done.”

Celestia sighed. “Discord…”

“No, I put you through things that no one should ever go through and I forced you to make decisions that no one should ever have to even think about, especially not as young as you were back then. I was over zealous in my attempts to teach you and you both paid the price for it. I didn’t take the time to consider how my own reckless disregard might affect you in the long run.”

It was at that point where Discord couldn’t’ bear to look at Celestia any longer, he turned away and went back to looking over the railing. He hung his head and stared down at the ground beneath him. There was a long silence where neither of them spoke. Eventually Discord continued without picking his head up to look at Celestia. He shrugged.

“That’s why I’m apologizing right now. I’m not asking for your forgiveness because I don’t expect you to actually forgive my actions. I just hope that you take what I said to heart, I really am sorry, sorry for everything I’ve done.”

There was another awkward silence where Discord ran out of things to say. He couldn’t think of anything to add without blatantly embellishing his apology and he couldn’t even bring himself to look at her. The sun was starting to burn through the clouds. It was glaring in his eyes, but Discord didn’t have the heart to do anything but just squint. He heard the light tapping of hooves on marble and then suddenly something came up in front of him, blocking out the sun’s glare.

He looked up to see Celestia’s perfectly wing spread out in front of his face. He followed the wing back to its owner, who was now standing right next to him. At most a few inches separated them as she looked back over her shoulder at him, regarding him with a warm smile. He just glanced up at her hopefully.

“Discord, thank you for the apology, you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that.” The smile faded slightly, leaving just a small smirk on her lips. “It was beautiful, but unfortunately I have to reject it as well as your offer.” Discord gave her a confused look and her smile came back a bit. She pulled her wing in slightly and it brushed up against his cheek before it trailed down to his shoulder. She pressed her wing up against him, bidding him to stand up from the railing. They both took a few steps back, now standing face to face.

“Your apology was everything I ever wanted to hear from you, almost everything.” She shook her head. “However, both Luna and I forgave you for everything you did a long time ago. Luna was able to see through it, she knew you were well intentioned. A little impulsive maybe, probably a bit nearsighted and I have to agree that you were definitely zealotrous, but at the end of it all you meant well. It took me a lot longer to accept that, but when I found the things I learned from you carrying me after Luna left I felt like I understood your thought process a lot better.” She broke eye contact for a second, staring down at her hooves. “Besides that I’ve had to do some things since then that I’m not comfortable with, I don’t think I’m really in much of a position to take the moral high ground myself.”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Alright, I can give you that, but even if you don’t think that it’s morally justifiable you have to admit that I’m still a threat to everything you stand for.”

Celestia looked back up at him and shook her head. “If I were to ask you to leave because of the potential danger you could pose to Equestria, then I would have to exile every high level magic user in Equestria. If I did that I would have to include Luna, Cadance, Twilight and especially myself.” She looked back at the sunrise; her horn brightened a bit to make some small correction. “Magic it dangerous by its very nature; it affects everything it touches in some way. If you learn how to properly control it as well as how to control yourself then the risk diminishes and the potential reward becomes impossible to ignore.”

Celestia shook her head. “You might now see it yet, but you’ve made a mark on The Empire since you’ve returned and trust me when I say it’s been a good one for almost everyone involved.” She looked back at him, making direct eye contact again. “No, I don’t see you as a threat. I’m convinced you’ll accomplish great things here, Discord, provided you stick around long enough to do them.”

Discord scoffed and crossed his arms. “Be that as it may, that still doesn’t change what I’ve already done and what I’ve proven I’m still capable of.” Celestia tentatively nodded at that.

“I’ll be the first one to admit that you’ve done same terrible things. In fact, you’ve done some things to Luna and I that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I also have to admit that even though you’ve done terrible things, that I’m who I am now because of them. What matters is that in the end your actions turned out to be for the best and that you’re learning from your mistakes to do better in the future.”

Discord shook his head in disbelief. “Trust me when I tell you that you would have ended up exactly where you are today if I just stepped aside and let you take the throne all those years ago. You would have made it here all the same and you wouldn’t have to carry that trauma with you all those years. You were spirited and determined and you wouldn’t accept anything less than absolute success, if anything I just made it that much harder for you to achieve that standard.” She just raised her brow at him, staring as him like she didn’t know if he was serious or not.

Eventually she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Alright, Discord, let’s say that if you had just stepped aside everything would have turned out as it did regardless. Ignoring the ridiculousness of that statement we can say that my life would have went on as it did either way. True, if you hadn’t done what you did I probably would have fewer scars to bear in my mind, but the scars I would have earned later would only cut deeper. Your lessons helped more than you think they did. Even if you’re right and you did nothing to help me, if you stepped aside and let me go on without you there’s still one important difference that you can’t ignore.” She sighed again and looked out at the sunrise longingly.

“If you had simply left us alone then you wouldn’t be standing her right now. As far as I’m concerned the fact that you are standing here right now that makes everything you put me through worth it in the end.”

Discord huffed. “Celestia, I-”

Celestia cut him off by waving a hoof; he opened his mouth again before closing it silently. He noticed the slight blush touching at her cheeks and realized that it probably wasn’t the right time to get in an argument about semantics with her. She turned her body to face towards the rising sun, carefully pulling herself up on the railing with her front hooves. She stood there for a moment, the wind blowing through her mane causing it to mix and clash like a kaleidoscope the wind blew the different sections into small loose strands. Then she closed her eyes again, her horn light up brighter than before and she went back to concentrating on raising the sun.

“Discord,” she said still concentrating on what she was doing, “I can tell you the real reason why I released you. Though I have to warn you, I’m not sure it will be the reason you were looking for.” Discord stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue on her own. Eventually she sighed.

“Probably the best answer I could give you would be for me to say that I released you for purely ethical reasons. Even though you posed a legitimate threat it was wrong of me to keep to you looked up like I did. I continue to stand by my decision to keep you imprisoned for a little while, we were vulnerable and the last thing Luna and I needed was you coming in and destroying everything we worked so hard for. Then after Luna was banished I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, I just couldn’t risk it with the way things were. We could have probably released you after our coronation, but I was too busy thinking of the wellbeing of the state to think about your own wellbeing.

“I won’t apologies for doing what I thought was right at the time, but I will say that keeping you locked up like that troubled me greatly and the thought of it still bothers me to this day.” At some point Celestia’s eyes opened again and she was staring directly at the sun. Her face was completely expressionless but the emotion in her voice more than made up for that fact. Discord could tell that she was talking off of some kind of a script, a program she had though up while he was unconscious, but he could hear her voice slipping and almost cracking with raw emotion in some spots. It might have been pre-planned, but it was obvious to him that what she was saying was coming straight from her heart.

“I could say I released you to capitalize on your raw power and ability. Like I said before, you’re capable of great things and, despite your rather questionable methods as a sovereign, you made an excellent vanguard to Equestria and you continue to do so today. When you look at the cost benefit analysis of it it’s very easy to justify the risk of releasing you in light of the possible rewards for doing so. I really do wish I could tell you that I released you for the good of The Empire, but that would be a blatant fabrication on my part. In the end my real reasons weren’t nearly so noble or so well intentioned.

“I’ll tell you exactly why I did it in a minute, but first you have to understand where I was coming from and where I am now.” She glanced back at him with a solemn look on her face before turning her attention hack to the rising sun. She sighed. “When we imprisoned you the only person who would stand by me was Luna, she was the only Pony I could really count on. When I banished her to the moon I felt completely and utterly alone.”

Celestia shook her head. “It was such a strange feeling, I was surrounded by Ponies who would stand behind my every decision, ones who might even give their very lives in my name, but there was no one who could take her place. There were thousands who would stand behind me, but there was no one to stand beside me. I tried to ignore it, but that only made me feel worse. I knew it was my fault I was alone and I had to carry that weight with me wherever I went.

“I tried to fill the void as best I could. I had students, attendants, and advisors who were all hoof picked to be friendly and personable, but I just couldn’t get invested no matter how hard I tried. I even tried courting a few times, but the relief they provided from my crushing loneliness was fleeting at best; sometimes I just outlived them, sometimes I would outlive their affections. The years trudged on and it only got worse and worse, the apathy, the depression, the soul crushing loneliness threatened to consume me. I’ve gotten better at dealing with it since those early years, I can cope with it now, but I still couldn’t sleep at night. It’s all I can do to drag myself out of bed in the morning sometimes.

“When Cadance ascended I thought I might have found someone who could stand by me, but I quickly realized that wouldn’t work. She was too young, too alone, and too afraid to console me. She needed someone to be there for her, someone to watch over her and tell her that everything was going to be just fine. I had to step up and take care of her. If I had tried to open up to her she might have been able to fill the gap, but then I would run the risk of dragging her down with me. Now she has her own little empire under my own, she has her own life and her own interests to worry about. It wouldn’t be fair if I just threw myself on her.

“The same goes for Twilight, more or less. I still hold out hope that one day they might consider themselves my equal, instead of some mentor or distant relative. Maybe someday I can finally be open with them, but I fear that day is a long time away. It’s all I can do to hold the façade for them so they can have something to aspire to in the meantime.

“Then Luna was freed. The same powers that tore her away cured her madness and brought her back to me. I thought my search was finally over. I thought that maybe we could just go back to how things were the way before, but then I was reminded about how things were before and I realized didn’t have anything left to go back to. We’re still close now, but it’s different than it was before. Everything is different now. She tries, I try, but I don’t think things will ever be the same as they were between us. I lived a thousand years without her; she spent a few lonely years in complete isolation. We’re just too different now, I had to accept that.

“I spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking back to how things were before, trying to reconcile how different everything was. I found myself thinking back to you, how I cursed you to live inside that statue. You used to be so real to me; you were something that I could focus on. I remember how I used to throw everything I had at you and how you wouldn’t even flinch. You were just so alive before it happened. It hurt a little, to think you were just a statue, that now you were just another façade.

“It haunted me. It kept me up at night. I couldn’t think straight. I just couldn’t get you out of my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I might have consigned the one person who might be able to understand me to an eternity trapped in stone. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t my fault, but there was still just a little seed of doubt that lingered in the back of my brain. It was that little seed that finally set you free after all those years.

“When you came out, you were so different. I think a little part of me died inside when I saw what I really did to you by keeping you locked up for all those years. I think Luna felt it too. She screamed at me. She demanded that have The Elements release you. I said no, of course. As a sovereign I couldn’t justify releasing you. As a Pony though, it stuck with me. I thought long and hard about it. I spent hours just staring up at the celling thinking about who you really could be, Discord. I thought about who you could be to me.

“So I decided to release you on the off chance that you might be the one I was looking for. My reasons couldn’t be more selfish than they were in the end.

“I released you because I was hoping that you would be the one who could remind me that the dawn always comes after the darkest part of the night.

“I released you because I thought you might be the one who could stand beside me so I wouldn’t feel so alone in the middle of a crowded room.

“I released you because I wanted you to be the one that I held onto while everything slowly drifted away.

“Discord, I released you because I needed you to be the one who could help me remember why life was still worth living. I needed you to be the one who could show me how to forget about all the pain and all the heartache it took to get here, if only for a moment. I wanted you because I was hoping I might be able to do the same for you.

“That’s all there is to it really. I released you because I wanted you and because I’m selfish and stupid and because I wanted you to tell me that everything was going to be just fine and I wanted you to really mean that someday…”

It was at that point they both realized how close they actually were; they maybe had a foot separating them. Celestia looked over and they both locked eyes. Discord couldn’t really tell how much time passed as they stood staring into each other’s eyes, but he blinked and the moment was over. When he opened his eyes he found that Celestia was staring very intently at the sun, the intense light from her horn was doing very little to hide her blush.

“Huh,” Discord said. He took another moment to look Celestia over before he turned and leaned over the railing casually. “That’s it?”

Celestia took a deep, shaky, breath and nodded slowly. “I would understand if you wanted to leave now, now that you have your answer. I won’t stop you…” He glanced over at her again, her legs were trembling. She snapped her eyes shut and took a deep breath, but the trembling only subsided a little.

They stayed like that for a few minutes. Discord stared at Celestia as she stood there, raising the sun with her eyes screwed shut.

Then, he laughed.

It started out small, nothing more than a chuckle, but before long it evolved into an uproarious storm of laughter. Celestia sighed, quickly peeking at him through a cracked eyelid before shooting a fierce glare at him.

“It’s not funny!” She barked at him. “I was being completely serious!”

“I know,” he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “That’s what makes it hilarious!”

Celestia wanted to shout at him, but in the end she just pouted and tried to focus on raising the sun. Discord figured she was trying to ignore him, but he knew that wouldn’t work for long.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at nine sharp.” He said, nonchalantly.

“W-w-What?” She quickly snapped her head back to him, staring wide eyed in complete surprise.

Discord was trying as hard as he could to keep the smirk off his face. “Dress however you like. Just try keep in mind that I’ll be dressing casual.”

“I-I,” Celestia stuttered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held it for a few seconds, and exhaled slowly. Then she opened her eyes again and stared at him. “W-what?” Discord’s façade immediately broke as her burst out into another fit of laughter.

Eventually he managed to calm himself down again, but he still had a massive grin plastered on his face “Celestia, you don’t know the first thing about eternity, do you?” She just shook her head dumbly. Discord shrugged. “Neither do I,” he sighed, “I figured it would be worth a shot to ask.” His grin twisted into something more sinister as he stared down at Celestia. “I do have a bit of advice that an old Pony once gave me on the subject a long time ago, would you like to hear it?”

Celestia nodded, Discord couldn’t help but chuckle. He took a confident step forward, closing the distance between them in an instant. He slowly drew himself down to her level, when he was almost eye to eye with her he glanced over to his left. He gestured to the sunrise that was still in front of her.

“Treat every sunrise like it’ll be your last.”

He quickly coiled through the air around Celestia, coming up directly behind her. He pressed his talons into the fur directly above her tail, lightly dragging them along her back and up her spine as he slowly drew his claw skyward.

“Treat every sunset like it was your first.”

He shot into the air again. This time he quickly coiled himself around Celestia. He was careful to keep just far enough away from her as not to make direct contact. The only thing that separated their bodies was a thin sheet of air and static electricity. He held his head directly behind hers and chuckled softly, causing her to flinch.

“And most importantly, treat every tender moment-”

He quickly brought his paw up in front of her, lightly pressing it into her collar bone and drawing her that much closer to him. He brought his talons up further, snaking them around her head and up behind her left ear, bending it slightly back. With an obscene smile plastered on his lips, he whispered into her ear.

“-like it will last forever…”

Celestia stood rigid. Every muscle in her body froze as Discord coiled around her. It felt like an eternity as the charge in the air slid across her fur, but she guessed that it only took a second at most.

“Did he really just…”

Her mind slid to a crawl she tried to comprehend what just happened. She planned this for months and she thought of every single possible contingency, but somehow he still managed to catch her completely off guard and at her most venerable.

The morning breeze blew across her, causing to shiver in Discord’s serpentine embrace.

Celestia swallowed hard.

“D-Discord?” It was all she could do to just stutter out his name.

Celestia waited for a response, but after about a minute passed she started to realize that she might not get one. It took a concerted effort but eventually she managed to dare her body to move. She shifted in place slightly, not much, just enough to make contact.

But she didn’t make contact.

It almost seemed like…

Celestia spun around on the spot, making contact with the empty air surrounding her. She blinked, twice.

“Did he really just leave?”

She looked around to make absolutely sure, but there was no sign of him anywhere. She turned around to face the sunrise again, putting her hooves up on the railing in front of her. With a thought she willed it to finish rising and she gave it enough energy to continue its course until sundown.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Discord scanned over the remains of the clearing, frowning. The earth around him was scorched black and most of the trees at the edge of the clearing had strange burn marks on them. Strange black shapes stuck out of the ground at odd angles that he recognized as either discarded masonry or charred support beams.

“Well,” he said, crushing a piece of twisted glass under a hoof. “I’m not really sure what I was expecting to find here. I suppose I have to start somewhere.”

He rolled his eyes as he snapped his talons. The pieces that remained intact were quickly pulled out of the ground and they formed themselves into the shape of a new structure. They were joined by a whole host of new materials as Discord slowly drew them out of the either surrounding him. He had a much grander design in his mind this time, so he expected this to take a while. It was bothersome, but he needed to have a home that he could live in comfortably, one that would draw the approval of certain visitors.

He only needed the approval of one visitor though, the only one that mattered.

He took another moment to finalize the blueprints in him mind. On a whim he revised them again, pushing out the lot on all sides to accommodate an even larger structure. He snapped his talons again to set the construction to continue without him as he moved on to untangling the shattered wards from the nexus he created, attempting to repair all the damage he inadvertently caused with his negligence.

He studiously ignored the sapling that was still silently burning at the edge of the clearing; he could deal with that later.

Finally he snapped his talons one more time to summon up a lawn chair, opting to relax for what felt like the first time in about twenty minutes. He took a sip of his drink and sighed in contentment, he still didn’t know exactly what had happened, but he figured the fact that he was still alive was far more important than the how’s and whys behind it.

Besides that, he had a reason to stick around now.

Just one reason of course, but that’s all he really needed anyway.

That one little reason would be enough to keep him busy for a long time, so long as everything went according to plan. He had so much he need to get done and not much time to do it in. He he knew he could get it all done with plenty of time to spare. He laid back and took a little time to admire his craftsmanship.

Discord chuckled to himself.

He nodded under the shade of his parasol. “If I haven’t lost my touch than everything should be kicking off in three.” he held up his claw, holding three talons up.

“Two.” One of the talons shot down, leaving just two remaining.

“One.” Only one talon remained standing proudly in the air.

He smiled to himself, closing his eyes and laying back in his chair. The last claw fell silently.

“DISCORD!”

Author's Note

Alright, still here? Good!

That's the end of my humble little story, I hope you enjoyed yourself and I sincerely hope you don't think it was too terrible.

If you made it this far I only ask that you rate the story fairly, kick it a favorite if it deserves it and leave a comment saying what you thought down below.

If re-reading stories is your thing and you got here before everything was revised I have good news for you! I have run through the ENTIRE STORY and did a full editing and revision run of it so hopefully if you do choose to re-read you shouldn't have any trouble with any of that. [If I forget to take this off of the note later this part only applies if you read anything BEFORE 06/20/2014]

Out of principle I will not respond to any comments on the final chapter as I feel that it should be able to stand on it's own merit at this point without any defense or embellishment on my part. I will however post an AMA blog about the story at large which can be found here.

As always any criticism is appreciated as it helps me understand what I might be doing wrong so that I don't repeat my mistakes over and over again wondering why it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to and with any luck it will make my next story just that much more enjoyable.

Before I go I just wanted to thank Super Trampoline for bugging me to write for FimFiction, even if all he did was bug me about it he made me get around to it so if you liked this feel free to ~~bug him~~ show him some love.

Thanks to alexmakovsky for the cover art for this fic, I realize he didn't personally dedicate it or anything but the fact that he has all of his Pony inspired works listed as free use is amazing and he deserves credit for being a cool dude.

As for the rest of you that I love, I appreciate all of you but I especially appreciate all of you who took the time to comment up until this point. I love the favorites and watches but it's the comments that really keep me going.

In no particular order I would like to offer a special thanks to...

MrSpartan
Indieman
Sinful Pickle
Luna Secret Stallion
Acclamations
Fury of the Tempest
AnormalUnicornPony
Fatch
ChaosSapphire
amiamera
FatesEnd
Frostfairy
Burm
Bronpierunner
Vibrant lies
survivorofgallopfrey
berryy2
alarajrogers
Spite
Caela

Cheers, Null

P.S. For the record I loved writing this story and I love you guys for reading through it, unless you just skipped to the end and are reading this without the rest of the story and if that's the case what are you waiting for?

P.S.S. I just finished revising this chapter (January, 16th 2015) and I can't help but notice that it suddenly doubled in length. Sorry for the wall of text. I had to revise this entire chapter because I realized how poorly I executed i the first time, I basically had to start from scratch! I'm definitely going to have to take another run at this chapter though, it was so bad...

Chapter One: Chaotic Order

It seems that through the years of my absence that Chaos has become such a dirty little word. It’s such a shame really, that the true meaning of the word seems to have been lost along to the fair ponies of Equestria as well as so many other things they once held dear. It is a true tragedy if there ever was one. However there is at least one among us who remembers how things really used to be…

Fear not for that has been lost, dear reader, for I still remember, more or less, how things were millennia ago. I'm not going anywhere and I have all the time in the world to right that which has been so wronged by the pages of history.

In today’s society Chaos is a predator. It’s a thing that seeks to bring ponies down when they are at their weakest and their most vulnerable. To them, Chaos is sickness, war, famine, drought, and death all rolled into one convenient pseudonym. So the threat of Chaos has become a call to adhere to a “Greater Order,” one which says that all that is not sought to will devolve into madness and spectacle before your very eyes.

Chaos has become the proverbial black sheep, it’s the bent key that won’t fit in the door, it’s the loose axle on your cart that breaks the wheel and leaves you stranded in the middle of nowhere…

To put it simply Ponies today see Chaos as the one unaccounted variable that makes everything go wrong, the one weak link in the chain that holds the blood crazed Manticore back from the spectators at the circus.

Today Chaos is everything that is wrong with the world and without it ponies truly believe that Order would be righteous and complete.

Of course we both know that that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Or at least I know that at any rate and so shall you.

Chaos and Order are not the opposites that society paints them to be.

Order and Chaos are not like two cosmic titans, battling each other for control of the world, just as much as they are not warring forces.

You see when I was young Chaos and Order were one and the same, there was no distinction because there is no real distinction between the two…

Or something like that, it all gets a bit fuzzy when I try to remember back more than a few millennia but trust me when I say that was, in fact, the case.

I suppose the best way to explain it would be to compare the world around us to a statue.
So, let’s imagine a proud and prolific statue standing tall in the gardens. It is a beauty and in inspiration to all who behold it and it is a testament to the skill of the craftspony who designed it.

But there is a problem!

Unbeknownst to the pony who sculpted this truly marvelous piece of art the stone they used contained but a single, modest, flaw in its core. Now, the statue was designed to stand through the test of time and weather any force that Equis could throw at it. That’s part of the point of making a stone statue in the first place, you make it to last.

However, because of this one flaw the statue is now imperfect. The statue, as it is flawed, now stands as a mockery to perfection and to True Order. This statue is a perfect example of a system that appears to be stable but is inherently flawed, what I like to call “False Order.”

Now, as far as the universe is concerned this “False Order” is an affront to nature and must be stricken down so that “True Order” may reign supreme. This, my friends, is where good ol’ Chaos comes into play.

Whenever something is flawed or inherently unstable it is the job of Chaos to point this flaw out to the rest of the world so that True Order might be restored.

So Chaos will be the rain that seeps into the cracks between the stone. Chaos will be the ice that pushes the stone apart, bit by bit. Chaos will make the statue crack and slowly crumble away before all those who would deny its flaws.

Chaos will show the crack for what it truly is, it is something that needs to be fixed or reassured. Chaos is that which will reveal something that is inherently wrong, it’s the universes call to for the rest of us to right that wrong.

If at that point somepony just happens to notice the crack spreading out of the statues artfully crafted thigh, then they can attend to it and repair the damage that has been done by the flaw.

Of course, if all the signs are ignored then the crack will simply continue to spread and the statue will one day crumble away, becoming nothing more than dust in the wind.

You see Chaos seeks order and Order relies on Chaos impose itself.

In simple terms you may consider Chaos the Universal Law of Change and you may consider Order the Universal Law of Constance.

Both laws require the existence of the other to have meaning as both Chaos and Order require one another to exist. Chaos models itself off the underlying Order in a system while Order requires Chaos to be created.

In a way, it’s almost tragic. Chaos shall forever lust after a state of True Order knowing that if it were ever to embrace it that they would both be no more.

Please, feel free to ignore the ramblings of an old Draconequus.

My point is that Chaos and Order are not foes as much they are eternal allies against the cosmic forces of disorder and imperfection.

So, now that you know what real Chaos is let’s try moving on to a real world example of the workings of Chaos. Let’s call it "An Investigation Into Chaos," an exploration of how it thinks, moves, and acts.

So it may have come to your attention at one point or another that I, Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Lord of Disharmony, was once imprisoned for a thousand years under the rule of Princess Celestia and Luna before my escape and subsequent release.

I have read the “official” report on my escape and it states that when our fair Luna was trapped in the etherium of the moon her and her sister Celestia lost their connection with The Elements of Harmony. This is supposed to have caused a steady weakening of my prison that left it in a state where an argument between mere school foals set me free. The report continued to state that after my recapture by the hooves of the new element bearers my prison would remain intact indefinitely.

This report shall serve as our second example of False Order. It may seem to be a perfect explanation but there are obvious faults which we can explore together and then we shall serve as the riotous force of Chaos that will send this petty charade crumbling into dust.

The first flaw in this report is perhaps the most obvious one.

The report states that I would remain encased in stone for all eternity and yet I can assure you, dearest reader, that I am most certainly not encased in stone

Yes I realize that this may not be the fault of the original prison that I was encased in and that it doesn’t directly contradict the substance of the report itself; however…

It just feels wrong…

So Celestia saw fit to have me released, I understand that but I question why she wanted me to be freed in the first place. I mean why in Tartarus would that mare ever even consider taking the risk of setting me free. I do understand that Celestia is the sovereign of this fair nation but that does not exempt her of the bounds of logic!

Surely she remembers what I did to Equestria when I was released and I hesitate to think that she has forgotten what I was like before my imprisonment. It makes absolutely no sense! Why would she even think about it, much less do it?

And yes, before you say it I am, in fact, aware of the “official” reason that Celestia released me. She did say to me in no uncertain terms that she wanted to put me to work for “the good of the Empire.” I realize that that logic stands, at least superficially, as is evidenced by my continued presence in Equestria and the inane tasks she has seen fit to assign to me. I understand wanting me for the defense of the nation but her other imperatives are absolutely inane and nonsensical!

Would it not be easier to hire trained investigators to find instabilities in Canterlot’s sociopolitical structure? Would it not be safer to show your artists natural beauties instead of having the Lord of Disharmony himself serve as their muse? Would it not be more effective to have your prized student Twilight Sparkle write a report on the elemental properties of Chaos?

Yes it would be. On every count she had a thousand different options that make far more sense than releasing me for them. I am genuinely at a loss, I can think of no reason that she should ever want to release me or would ever need to do so.

This, dear reader, is where Chaos gets complicated. When there is no direct or obvious route to dismantle the False Order that has been imposed, Chaos must improvise.

So for now let us ignore why Celestia has released me and focus on what she is doing to me.

So then, Celestia seems to think that I would be a good inspector, author, and artist but why? I can understand the general concepts behind her logic but I know that she knows me better than all of that. As I said before, there are better alternatives to me on every front. Having me do these tasks is frankly a waste of my time, so the question becomes why is she trying to waste my time?

I think that Celestia is trying to keep me awake.

So after my "outbursts" in Ponyville you might think me to be some violent and disorderly force of raw Chaos. In my defense I may be Chaos personified, but even I have imperfections.

You have no idea what being locked away for so long does to your mind, those two upstarts sealed away every last bit of power I had for over a thousand years.

Once I got out I just needed to prove to myself that I was still in control, that I was actually still alive. They took everything away from me; I just needed to be sure that wouldn’t happen again…

No, I might be young at heart; I might still be cheerful or even optimistic at times. However, as much I try to deny it in casual conversation, I am old.

I could describe to you what it’s like to watch the world change around you when you yourself remain the same, but you would probably perish of old age before you could truly understand how it feels. Eventually reality loses some of its flair and you become more and more enthralled with the realm of slumber. It starts out small at first; you sleep for a week, then a year, than a century. I remember the last time I was truly able to rest, it was right before I was so cruelly imprisoned…

Not too long ago Equestria was more of an idea than reality. The meek of this world, the humble pony folk, came and woke me from my slumber. They told me that they were cast down by stronger and more prolific races such as the Dragons and the Griffons; they came to me to ask for a safe haven. I obliged so long as they promised to leave me in peace. Then that fateful deal was struck and Equestria was born.

I tamed mountains and carved out valleys. I seeded forests. I even brought up rivers and lakes from the depths of Equis. I did my best to make a paradise that would stand through the test of time. That, more or less, is the story of how Equestria was made.

That’s how I tell the story anyway; I’m the only one left who is old enough to remember such simple times.

All you need to know is that I did all I could give the ponies a place that they could truly call home, they decided that in return for this gift they would bestow upon me the “honor” of being their King. Perhaps all this could have been averted if they had simply asked my permission in the matter however, I was asleep at the time and some things can’t be helped.

A few decades later they roused me from my slumber with cries of a plague that had spread over the southern lands. They asked me to cure the afflicted and save their villages. Of course I had to tell them no, one does not simply cure a plague. To do so would be to upset the natural order, if I were to do that then the same plague would return the next year with far greater consequences. They didn’t understand why I would not help them and begged me for my favor. Eventually I simply said. “This is stability, a system in which problems solve themselves.” they left me to slumber once more.

A century passed and they came to me again, this time with cries of crippling droughts and an unending cold in the northernmost lands. They asked me to bring them back the rains and to end the cold, so that they could grow their crops and live well once again. I told them that if I were to do that it would wreak havoc with the climate of the adjoining lands and would eventually put a stop to all of the rains. I told them that the cold would come back with twice the ferocity and freeze the very ground if I were to hold it at bay for even a season. Again they didn’t understand that this had to be the order of things and I simply said. “This is stability, a system in which problems solve themselves.” I fell into slumber as they left my cave in the mountain side once more.

Three more centuries passed and I was once again awakened. The ponies told me that the woods had become overgrown and that they were hunted by terrible creatures in the night. They asked me to tame the savage wilds so that they would be safe in the setting sun once more. I told them that if I were to cull nature with my power that it would resist and that that same power would make it return twice as wicked, spawning truly terrifying beasts. I said that if they wanted to cull the wilds that they would have to assert themselves onto it as to change the order naturally. Then I said. “This is stability, a system in which problems solve themselves.” I returned to my sleep in my throne before they were even able to respond.

Then that fateful day so many years ago arrived, I awoke in an ornate throne room to find two young mares addressing me. “Most curious…” I thought to myself as they spoke.

“Discord,” the elder of the two spat out as if I were the most revolting thing in the universe, “you claim to be our sovereign and by that right we are your faithful subjects. Why do you neglect us so, your ponies suffer famine, drought, sickness, predation, and foul weather.” I rolled my eyes fully prepared to hear the same charade of false need that I had heard so many times before.

Needless to say I was surprised to hear what came next.

“Discord, do you not care about our suffering? We demand an explanation for your inaction!” They shouted in tandem. That was certainly different. I reached out my will to their mind so that I could properly address them and their concerns. I frowned when I saw playing in their minds eyes, the same problems that had plagued their forbearers for years.

“My dearest Celestia and my dearest Luna,” I said with all the sincerity I could muster for such a trivial pursuit, “it is not my charge to resolve all of my “subjects,”” I passed over that word with disdain, “problems; all of these charges are issues that should resolve themselves.” I added, “I have done all that has been asked of me. This is stability, a system in which problems solve themselves.” I decided that I would wait for them to leave me once more. Instead they simply stood and glared daggers into my very soul.

“But I can tell you’re not satisfied with that answer,” I said as I rose from my throne and approached them, “I will make you a deal, if you think you can do better with my throne and my title than I have…” I paused in front of them with a smile that grew wider and wider by the second.

“Perhaps you should simply take it from me.”

Therein lies my mistake, I had hoped that the ponies would eventually grow some backbone and care for themselves. That was the moment I had waited eons for. What I didn’t anticipate was the image they had created of me. Somehow in their minds I had turned from a benevolent protector to a malicious tyrant. As the pair took my throne they took my power and sealed me in stone lest I rise against them.

What bothers me is that I have done nothing to change that perception and still Celestia saw fit to give me my freedom. It makes no sense whatsoever, why the sudden change of heart, why take the chance. There is something missing in the equation, something integral. Perhaps I should speak with Luna, it might prove enlightening.

Chaos has a purpose. It can be negative, it can cause death and despair for everyone involved as their False Order comes crumbling down around them. It can also be positive, exposing lies and falsehoods before they bring the True Order to the brink of oblivion. The truth always comes out, one way or another.

I’ll make sure of that.