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“Quickly, Discord! Quickly!”

“Oh, but I’m the impatient one,” Discord rattled, the magic draining out of him in larger and heavier bursts.

“Time is of the essence! You must make haste!” Celestia frowned, ruffling her wings.

“Y-yes M-Mast-er,” he wheezed, the constant magical drain taking an enormous toll on him. Celestia gave him a saddened, pained look, but bowed her head.

The hefty stones inscribed with strange insignias levitated around them, each rock individually emanating a brilliant, blinding glow. The light struck nearly every crystal in the enormous cavern, reflecting and singing through the air with so many beams of light that Discord lost track.

Six stones in total, whirling and dancing through the air as they steadily picked up speed. Celestia was awestruck at the sudden reaction from Discord’s magic, but Luna was the most fascinated with observing the Elements of Harmony sashaying about them, waltzing amongst the air as if the heavy stones weighed no more than a butterfly’s breath.

Discord was significantly less enchanted.

“It’s not working…!” he grunted in panic, straining to keep the trickle of magic flowing into the Elements as they began to falter.

“Very well,” Celestia nodded, signaling to Luna. “We shall lend you our strength; however much that we may. Sister?”

“Ready,” Luna braced herself eagerly, the azure mare’s horn tip alighting as she summoned as much power as she could. She held her breath unconsciously, lowering her head and dispersing burst after burst of magic, alongside Celestia, who in turn transferred it all to Discord.

The more magic that was conveyed to the draconequus, the faster that the stones flew around them; spurting erratically back and forth as the multicolored lights they emitted began to blur, a whirlwind blossoming forth. Intermittent gusts of wind billowed and buffeted the trio, barely keeping the Elements from turning inward and transforming the high speed light show into a slew of deadly projectiles.

“Just a – hnng! – a little more!” Celestia shouted over the roar of the tempest, her strained voice drowned out by the titanic bellow beginning to spout from the Elements as they grew brighter and brighter.

“Tia!” Luna gasped, wavering as the course of the stones steadily became more wild and unpredictable. “Something is wrong!”

Celestia attempted to reply, but was interrupted when the entire cavern shuddered, a gargantuan rumbled echoing deep from within its depths and straight to the miniscule entrance from which they had scrambled into. A couple of crystalline stalactites splintered with the force of the earthquake, splintering at the roots and plummeting to the ground, where they shattered with violent explosions of glittering rain.

“Faster… faster…!” Discord grinned fervently, the unprecedented amounts of power pumping through him filling him with an elation the likes of which he had never known. So much power…!

It was incredible to him; the raw, snapping chords of power rippling through the Elements as their dance became more and more acrimonious and anarchic. The sheer, unfathomable depths of unbridled, barely contained pandemonium. It was vast, eternal; such a flowing and impossible thing, permeating the very air. And more than that – it responded to his touch, to his will – his will – it called his name.

It called to Discord.

It was alive.
… Interesting.

And to Discord, it was a beautiful, tear jerking and awe inspiring thing.

At least, until the intense rush of coursing magic wore off, and the infinite well of chaos suddenly became a predominately gaping maw of terror rather than a thing of beauty.

The Elements whizzed about, bashing back and forth into each other as polychrome sparks erupted from the whirlwind around them, sizzling into the floor as the maelstrom grew. Celestia seemed to have understood the impending danger, even more so than Luna.

“Discord, stop!” Celestia shouted to make herself heard, ceasing her flow of magic into him. Her mane began glowing with a dim light, echoing along with her sister’s sudden sheen. However, Discord no longer required assistance; crackling, shuddering waves of strength emanated from somewhere else, and a bizarre red tint burned in his eyes.

All that power.

So… much… POWER!

“Stop?” he cackled, casting out his arms and displaying the bedlam and turmoil brewing larger around them. “I can’t stop this! We can’t stop it now!”

“Tia-Celestia, what’s happening?” Luna shrieked as the Elements blasted through the air, cracking from their stony prisons and burning lasting images into the sky.

“The Elements are conflicting,” Celestia replied quietly, thoroughly unheard by her sister as she finally understood. “They cannot exist in conjunction with –”

“Chaos,” Discord beamed at her, lightning rippling across his talons.

“Discord,” Celestia began cautiously, aware of what he was about to attempt. “You cannot attempt such a feat; such a thing is too destructive – you won’t survive!”

“Well?” the draconequus beamed at her as another of the Elements settled over her, silently sidling into her as her mane began to alight with numerous brilliant colors. Oddly, he still managed to make himself heard, regardless of the violent gale. “What’s the matter, Princess? Is this not what you wanted?”

“Discord, I – said – stop!” Celestia panicked, the burning lights of the Elements fully settling into them as the cyclone ripped into the floor and walls around them, shredding crystals like so much paper.

“… No.”

And with that, Discord cupped her face in his talons, kissed her as passionately as he could, and leapt directly into the very maw of chaos itself.

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Discord occasionally speculated as to whether or not it could have been his embrace of unfathomable power that led to his recovery of memory. Maybe the powers of chaos had seen fit to grant him something that had been utterly destroyed, simply to balk at the rules of reality.

Or perhaps he made them all up in his head, and he was even madder than he thought.

Regardless, Discord gazed from everywhere and nowhere upon memories that might not have ever been, pondering.

How long had it been since he’d done so; or, rather, how long had he been doing so?

Chaos was a tricky thing.

Even to Discord, it was something nigh imperceptible. Even attempting to reason or make sense of it was lunacy.

But to Discord, such a thing was bliss. Unwarranted, unrestrained, completely flawed and unstable mayhem. It was joy itself.

It was freedom.

0-0-0-0-0

Rainbow Dash could be seen holding Pinkie Pie closely on the steps to the palace, each of them sitting silently as the sun rose higher into the sky.

Fluttershy endeavored to make toward her friends to comfort them, but Applejack cut her off. She and Rarity, the pair having left Twilight to her ‘discussion’ with Princess Celestia in the throne room, stood at the entrance to the castle.

“Um, excuse me, Applejack,” Fluttershy nodded politely. “But I’d really –”

“Best t’just let ‘em heal on their own, darlin’,” Applejack said somberly.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Applejack on this one, darling,” Rarity tutted. “A little space is just what they need for the moment.”

Fluttershy, conflicted, rubbed her foreleg uncomfortably.

“I-I know you think so,” she said guardedly. “But I would personally feel much better if I could let them know that they still have friends that are here for them, and care very much.”

Ever so slowly, Rainbow Dash raised a single hoof without looking back.

“Good to know,” she said lowly, but loudly enough for them to hear before returning to holding her friend.

Rarity snorted, and Applejack chortled quietly as a heat rose in Fluttershy’s cheeks.

As for Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, their conversation took place in a much quieter tone.

“Pinkie,” Dash continued, rustling uncomfortably. “Why didn’t you just tell me how you felt before?”

The dismayed mare failed to answer immediately.

“I –” Pinkie choked. “… I tried to.”

Rainbow Dash was thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded pensively.

“… I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” Dash whispered, hugging her tighter.

“… Does this mean that we can spend more time together?” Pinkie asked hopefully.

“I don’t see why not,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “But only if you stop beating yourself up. Okay?”

“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “Pinkie Promise.”

After a moment, in which Dash could have sworn she saw Pinkie’s mane… inflate slightly, Pinkie Pie poked her gently in the chest.

“Okay, but you have to stop being mad at Twi and refusing to forgive her. That’s not a good thing.”

A gloomy look passed over Rainbow Dash’s face, and her expression went blank. After a few moments, she struggled for words.

“Forgive her? She’s my friend,” Rainbow Dash shook her head slowly. “She did what she thought she had to do to protect me, even if she was wrong; Twilight thought that she was doing the right thing, looking out for a friend. I can forgive her for that, I guess... But stop being mad?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled darkly, somber and serious expression returning.

“No. No, I think I’m still going to be mad at Twilight for a long, long time.”

Pinkie frowned. “Holding grudges is bad for your health.”

“So is suicide,” Rainbow Dash quipped quietly, and Pinkie regretfully hung her head. Dash only hugged her more closely, though, and they both fell silent for a while and listened to the birds chirping.

0-0-0-0-0

Rainbow Dash waited every day for Discord’s return.

Every day that dragged by, every night spent wondering injured her and scratched at the back of her mind. Dash continuously half expected Discord to simply leap out of thin air with a flash, a bang and a maniacal grin, that everything would go back to the way it was and she wouldn’t hurt so much anymore.

At first, they all feared that he would indeed return, and it would be an absolute repeat of the last time he wreaked havoc across Equestria. But there were no cotton candy clouds, no chocolate rainstorms or wild spasms of unexpected everything running rampant through the land.

Discord didn’t come back to her.

Not even Twilight, with the assistance of Princess Celestia herself, managed to track him down. Nevertheless, Rainbow Dash never truly stopped missing him, even though Pinkie Pie was bound and determined to help her forget about him.

In lieu of lending more of her attention to Pinkie Pie, of course, which Pinkie was all too happy to accept.

As such, life for Rainbow Dash slowly but surely began to return to normal. She performed Sonic Rainbooms on a regular basis, much to the annoyance of several of Ponyville’s inhabitants. She gradually became more accustomed to Pinkie Pie as the two grew closer, and for the first time in a long, long time, Rainbow Dash was finally at a sort of peace again. For once, everything seemed like it was going to turn out alright, and the light within her burned just as bright as before.

At least, Rainbow Dash believed so, until she found herself staring in horror once again into the cold, unforgiving eyes of Master.

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Oh, yeah.

There's a sequel.

Author's Note

There is a light in the heart of all things.
In the absence of light, it is a simple matter for darkness to overwhelm even the vastest reaches.
However, shed but a little light, and one finds that even the greatest of shadows is dispelled in a single instant.