What Happened After

It had taken some weeks after the events of the party to set things right in Ponyville. Though most of the physical damage had been contained in the Apple Farm, and the Apples had no shortage of willing hooves to help them with the repairs, the emotional trauma had been harder to deal with. Even the most out of touch pony noticed Twilight had changed somewhat. There was an expression of sadness about her even at the best of times, and all knew it was over her actions against the Queen that night. Therefore, even though Pawise and Fluttershy shared a mutual affection for each other, they both thought it best to wait on their relationship until something could be done to help their suffering friend.

The suggestion was made that the Queen live somewhere other than the Library, but Twilight wouldn’t hear of it. She had a duty, she said, to fulfill her teacher’s wishes, and that was what she was going to do.

In spite of the emotional cost to herself.

As for the Queen she was always on her best behavior, especially due to Discord’s habit of literally popping in unannounced. She was at least polite to Twilight, without being obsequious. If she harbored any ill will towards her, she kept it to herself. The only pony with whom she was openly friendly was Pinkie, and they spent as much time with each other as they could.

One afternoon while the Queen was out with Pinkie, Twilight was able to have one of her rare private conversations with Discord. Twilight asked him how he felt about the Queen.

“Oh, I was a bit peeved at first, Twilight, but now she amuses me.” He laughed and said, “No matter how many times I…er…drop in… she’s always surprised.”

There was a time when Twilight would been annoyed at his impromptu visits, but she knew they had the ultimate purpose of keeping the Queen in check, so she merely smiled and said, “Just give me some warning before you do…”drop in.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said as he idly poured them both steaming tea from a spout on his head.

Twilight grimaced as he held out a cup and asked her, “Cream and sugar?”

“No thank you…I’m…good.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself,” said he as he finished off both cups and tossed them into the air, where they popped and disappeared just before hitting the floor. Then he grew unusually quiet for a few moments, then asked, “You’re still bothered by that night, aren’t you?”

Startled, she looked at him, and then softly said, “How did you know?”

“Come, come, Twilight. EVERYpony knows. And what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t as well?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, causing him to nervously clear his throat.

“I mean, what kind of friend would I be now if I didn’t notice?”

She looked down for a few moments. Without raising her eyes she quietly asked him, “Have you ever killed anypony?”

If he was bothered by her direct question he didn’t let it show. He merely smiled, shook his head and said, “How boring would that be? I’m THE Master of Chaos, and as such I need a live audience!” He paused, and then said, “Although…there was that one time…”

Twilight looked at him with new interest. “Yes?” she prodded.

Discord looked her in the eyes, considering. Then he said, “It’s not in my nature to be helpful, you understand, but I think in your case an exception is needed.” He got to his feet. “It will just be easier to show you.” And with that he snapped his fingers.

*****

They found themselves on a barren plain. The wind whistled and howled around them, as a billion stars wheeled overhead. A sickle moon was the only illumination.

“What is this place?” asked Twilight. She could see little in the moonlight. There were no dwellings, nor any discernable landmarks.

“This is Ponyville,” said Discord. “Or it will be in about, oh, two millennia.” He turned to her. “Look around. See if you can find anything.”

“What’s there to find? There’s nothing but rocks and sand. I don’t…” Just then she noticed something white jutting out of the ground a few yards ahead of her. “Wait…what’s that?” Discord was silent. Twilight walked over and started uncovering it. It was a skull, but it wasn’t a pony’s. The closest creature the skull resembled was that of an ape, but the cranium was too large, and lacked suborbital ridges. She looked a question at Discord.

“They called themselves “humans.” If any still exist in your time, they’re few and scattered.”

“What happened to them?”

“They happened to them. This is the final result of their war, but this isn’t where I was involved. This is.” He snapped his fingers again.

Now they were in a huge room, filled with strange machines that had lights that blinked on and off, while the creatures Discord spoke of ran here and there, speaking loudly to one another. A large circular table dominated the center of the room, and seated around it were more of the creatures. They seemed to be arguing.

Then one stood and shouted the others down. It pointed to a large illuminated map behind it, where red lines crossed and crisscrossed each other. Major portions of the map had gone dark, even as Twilight and Discord looked on. Then the creature gestured, and another brought what looked like a suitcase to it, which was then opened. Inside were more blinking lights, with two holes that appeared to be places for keys to fit, which were on either side of a large red button.

The first creature reached inside his clothes and brought out a key, and seemed to be demanding for the one seated on his right to do the same. The second creature shook his head ‘no’. The first one looked at him, then motioned for two others to stand on either side of him. They pointed what must have been weapons, though they were nothing like any Twilight had seen before. The first creature waited, then said one word. The second one hesitated a moment more, looked at the two menacing him, then slowly brought out his key. All had gone silent, except for the sounds of the machines.

Then there was a flash of light behind the standing creature, though none of them seemed to notice it. Twilight gasped. It was Discord, but he appeared to be much younger. His beard was black, and instead of his usually flippant expression he seemed to be in the middle of an agonizing decision. As the creatures slowly inserted their keys, and the first one reached for the button, the young Discord raised his eagle claw. He hesitated just a moment too long as the first creature closed its eyes, mumbled something and then pressed the button. The young Discord’s face contorted with pain, then he let his arm fall to his side. Then he slowly faded from sight, but not before Twilight was able to see a single tear roll down his face.

As the shaking started, the older Discord looked down at Twilight and said, “Time to go.”

****

They reappeared back in the Library. Twilight was silent, thinking over all she’d seen.

Finally she said, “So…that machine the creature had, it caused their destruction? I don’t understand.”

“Let’s hope you never do, my little pony. That device was only the catalyst for other devices, called missiles, which flew all over and landed with terrifying impact. Billions died. And I could have stopped him.”

“But...but...why…” began Twilight, but Discord held up his paw.

“Why did they destroy themselves? Who knows? They’d been at war at one time or another for their entire existence, over one squabble or another. It doesn’t matter now.”

“’But you may be wondering why didn’t I just show myself to the creatures? Or simply speak to them? I’d tried that before.”

“What did they do?”

He laughed without humor. “They doubted their own eyes. Said I was a ‘figment of the imagination’, and I couldn’t possibly exist.  Or I was some sort of trick created by their entertainment technology. The rationalizations were endless.” He smiled grimly. “It would have been funny if it weren’t so damn tragic.”

“So that first creature, that…’human’, killed them all…”

“No, Twilight. He only ensured the final outcome. They had been at war long before that, but the actions you saw didn’t have to be done. If I had...killed him, they might have survived that war, as they had so many others.”

Twilight was quiet, but visibly shaking. “But you stopped yourself.”

“Yes. I realized at the last second I would have been playing the part of a deity, and that’s a job I did NOT want.”

“So…if I had killed the Changeling Queen...”

“You might have saved Equestria from further threats, but it would have cost you your entire being. And I like you just the way you are, as annoyingly sweet as you can be.”

Twilight met his eyes for a moment, then rushed forward and hugged him.

“Thank you.”