By the time Celestia cried herself to a deep sleep, Twilight Sparkle had reluctantly peeled herself from the mare’s comfortably warm presence to prepare herself for the arrival of her Ponyville friends, which was due any minute now.

“I’m so late…” Twilight whispered to herself as she used a brush to tame her unruly mane into its correct position, while seated at a stool close to the bedside allowing her to perfectly capture the serene mare slumbering peacefully within her bed.

There were many openings throughout the encounter that Twilight’s brain simply screamed at her to just kiss the princess and be done with the inevitable rejection. Naturally, she could not bring herself to do it, for it was neither the right time or place to do so.

Well… it was the right place, thought Twilight with an embarrassed smile, her cheeks and nose flushing a shade of red. Princess Celestia is still grieving and it would have been wrong for me to take advantage of her.

Sighing, Twilight glanced to the clock, noting it was past two o’clock.

She had to get to the station in record time, and that would be no problem with several timed teleportations, for if there was something she was extremely proficient at it, it was most certainly teleportation magicks… besides being a living encyclopedia, of course.

Having lived at the castle for quite some time before moving to Ponyville, it would be no stretch of the imagination that Twilight knew Canterlot like the back of her hoof; she knew her first port of call was to be the Canterlot Gardens.

A place she knew to be off limits these days.

“It’s not like I’m going to stay there to look around or anything. Besides, it will make my journey much shorter. I’m sure the Princess won’t mind. I hope?” Twilight placed the brush down onto the stool just as she stood up.

With one final glance to Celestia, the flare of her lavender magic consumed her horn and then eventually her body a second before she popped out of existence and teleported herself into the middle of the gardens.

Inhaling the sweet, flowery air of the gardens, Twilight sighed heavily.

She really did not want to leave that bedroom.

Not now and not ever.

If only Celestia’s visit had been for different reasons. Reasons that involved the two of them—

“Whoa there, Twilight,” she talked herself out of her dirty thoughts and shook her head side to side as if to shake the images of Celestia's very attractive plot out of her mind, “thinking of things like that will only serve to hurt you in the end. You just don’t know if she’s into mares yet or even willing to have any kind of relationship with her own student at that! Focus, Twilight. Stop living in a fantasy world.”

Closing her eyes and directing her thoughts to her next teleportation point outside castle grounds, Twilight summoned her magic only to stop herself and widen her eyes at the sound of somepony… crying?

Naturally curious and now somewhat concerned, Twilight turned about on the spot, looking all around to try and identify the source of the whimpering.

“Hello?” She called out, “is something wrong? Are you okay?”

The whimpering had ceased, and for a couple of minutes Twilight simply strained her hearing to try and see if she could at least hear a reply.

Instead, she got nothing. Either the pony was too afraid to come out or was too lost in their sorrow to want to reply back.

Trotting forward so that she peered around a mulberry bush that was nearby, Twilight swiftly found herself aghast at what she discovered.

The statue that stood within the garden grounds was one she knew all too well. It frightened her as a filly but not so much any more, having long since grown up to the truth (after many hours of research mind you) that Discord was indeed long gone and that likeness of him was nothing more than a harmless effigy.

The reason for her reaction was due to the vandalized state of the statue, its once pristine white surface having been blemished black in various areas upon the mismatched animal body, as if it had somehow caught on fire.

Stepping forward to investigate, Twilight further noted with a growing concern that the area about the statue had also been scorched into dust. Yet no other part of the garden appeared to have been touched, as if the fire did not exist long enough to spread throughout surrounding area.

“What happened?” Twilight stopped before the tarnished earth and narrowed her eyes, “wait a minute...this can’t be a natural phenomena. This statue is made out of marble and thus is a calcium carbonate in molecular formula, making its melting point above 825 °C... it is as if a localized source of high heat was projected right here on onto the statue with a degree of directionality that can only narrow it down to it being a magical creation...” puzzled, Twilight inspected the sculpture of the Lord of Chaos to further note the limbs that were once a lion’s paw and eagles talon, had been melted away to the elbow, “and it was at its hottest point apparently on the ends of his, uh, where some of his arms used to be.”

It hurts so much.

“What?” Twilight sprang back, startled at the voice she could hear clear as day. As if someone was standing right next to her. But no one was there. “W-who’s there?”

It burns.

There it was again, but this time, she could almost feel as if the voice was coming from directly in front of her, as if it was coming from the—

Twilight’s blood ran cold as she swung her gaze up at the statue of Discord, her mouth agape in complete and utter surprise.

“Discord?” Twilight stammered, almost smiling at the ridiculousness of her query.

Please, little pony, if you can hear me, help me escape before she comes back to finish me off.

“I don’t understand,” Twilight took a step forward, doubly perplexed by the statue’s plea, “did somepony do this to you? Who? Why?” For a second, she had to just gawk at the fact she just asked a statue who vandalized it.

I’ve never felt such chaos… I should had been reveling in it but it terrified me. There’s a fine line between chaos and destruction and I don’t know which side she belonged!

“Who are you talking about? Please, if there somepony responsible for this, I promise you Princess Celestia will—”

NO! Don’t bring her here! She’s the one that did this to me! You have to believe me!

Twilight took a single step back, looking upon the statue with sudden suspicion. She had to just remind herself of the identity of this statue. If it was indeed Discord himself, then all of this could be some kind of trick.

After all, why was he so intent on her releasing him?

If she remembered her history correctly, Twilight Sparkle was sure Discord was defeated by the two royal sisters in battle. But the outcome of the battle was never recorded, other than the fact that the princesses defeated him.

Perhaps this was the result of that day?

Perhaps Discord was forcibly imprisoned here in the gardens all along right under everypony’s noses. Her fillyhood bogeyman was in fact in front of her eyes the entire time and she was now silently thankful she never knew of this shocking revelation when she was a filly, as she would have never set hoof in the gardens again.

Please! I’ll do anything! I’ll reform! I’ll make it rain chocolate and hail marshmallows—anything! But please you have to set me free from this infernal prison before she comes back!

No matter how convinced she was that somepony or something did indeed attempt to harm Discord in his vulnerable state, she could not swallow the concept that
Princess Celestia was capable of torture.

“No,” Twilight narrowed her eyes upon the effigy, “I will not. Quite frankly, I don’t trust you, Discord, and while I am sorry you are in pain I simply do not believe Princess Celestia is capable of torture, let alone cold blooded murder. For all I know this could be some kind of trick.”

This is not a trick you confounded purple coloured unicorn! If you do not release me, my death will be on YOUR hooves!

Turning about, Twilight summoned her magic, shaking her head from side to side. “If there anypony who will know how to figure out who did this to you, it is Princess Celestia and as her student it is my duty to inform her.”

Using her magic, Twilight slipped into the ether, leaving Discord alone to the garden’s serene and idyllic backdrop.

____________________________

Regardless of her state, Celestia had her duties to perform.

Running both the Day and Night Court most certainly ate a majority of her attention, and thankfully, it consumed a lot of her thoughts. It was in these long hours of administration that Celestia felt her whole world was once again at peace.

For it was here in the warm confines of her throne room that she had fashioned her image as a benevolent and powerful ruler. Gentle natured and loving, yet firm and fair when the need arose, no one would dare oppose her methods or decisions even if they turned out to be quite controversial.

Equality for everypony, no matter the social status or their income, was perhaps her biggest scandal of the most recent years. A fixed taxation no matter who you were, was made mandatory to fuel a free health care and educational system, even going as far as to create a housing scheme to make sure that everypony within her kingdom possessed a good quality of life with a stable roof over their head in some shape or form.

Yet, nothing was said or done to change Celestia’s plans, for it was working.

Sure, she had some grumbles from some ponies from time to time, but they were either too afraid or too brainwashed during this age of unrivaled harmony, so that nopony actually considered the pink, two headed elephant in the room.

The system was extremely flawed in its management of finances.

Eventually the economical establishment of Equestria would fall into debt, but not for a good few years to come.

“Maybe a hundred if I am lucky,” Celestia commented with a mutter.

Celestia had hoped open trade with surrounding nations would perhaps curb the astronomical costs of her ideas to create an idyllic land for her little ponies to frolic in.

But things were never truly that easy, were they?

Reviewing the scroll of the months financial report, Celestia sighed heavily as she lifted a hoof to press against her closed eyelids as she leant back defeatedly against the throne.

“Is something the matter, Princess?” Inquired Raven as she approached the throne, pausing once to bow her head low.

Snapping out of her silent despair, Celestia poised herself more appropriately and befitting of her position while using her magic to roll up the parchment, placing it aside on top of a fairly hefty mound of similar scrolls just next to the throne for the time being.

Celestia smiled down at Raven, chuckling lightly as she shook her head from side to side. “You don’t have to bow every time you see me, Raven. We are friends after all.”

Raven lifted her head, grinning back at the Princess. “Sorry, Princess. I have just come to inform you that a letter has arrived from Saddle Arabia. It seemed pretty urgent.” Withdrawing a scroll from her saddlebag, Raven summoned her magic to levitate it over to the Princess.

“Oh?” Celestia blinked, somewhat surprised by the news. Leaning forward, she tilted a brow and took the scroll in her own hue of magic to review the contents silently for a few moments, before her expression solidified in a rare expression of annoyance. “Not again,” she sighed, placing the scroll down to allow her hooves to rise up and rest against her now closed eyes.

Concerned, Raven stepped forward. “Is something the matter, Princess?”

“Politics,” Celestia grumbled a little as she slipped open her eyes and revealed a sour smile for her scribe, “nothing more. Could you arrange for a visit to Saddle Arabia, departing tomorrow morning at the earliest convenience? I am afraid I am needed to once again curb some hostilities between our neighbors.”

Nodding, Raven turned about and headed for the throne room doors, “I will get right on it, Princess.”

Just as Raven departed, Celestia thanked the mare and was immediately bedazzled by a bright lavender flash appearing directly before her throne.

Before her stood Twilight Sparkle, with an expression Celestia knew all too well. Either she had found yet another puzzling spell she could not quite figure out that had driven her to the edge of rationality, or perhaps—

“Princess, I’m so sorry to interrupt you like this but I was just in the gardens—”

Celestia’s heart seized in her chest, her eyes widening a fraction as she felt her usual, warm and loving smile falter.

“—and… I know the gardens are off limits now, but I was simply there just to use it as a staging point to teleport myself across Canterlot to meet with my friends and I—”

Inside, Celestia’s mind was aflame with a mixture of emotions; the tumultuous thoughts raging in her head were nothing compared to the icy chill of fear creeping up her throat.

“—found the statue of Discord… crying… I didn’t quite believe it at first but, he started to talk to me inside of my head. He was begging for me to...”

Celestia had not noticed it, but she had abruptly narrowed her eyes upon Twilight in such a fierce manner that it caused the lavender mare to shrink back and clam up, yet the words that came from her mouth, combined with the authoritative tone she delivered them in, caused Celestia to shiver the moment they passed her lips.

It felt strangely pleasant, for some peculiar reason.

“What did he tell you?”

“He…” Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat, though found herself unable to speak under such an uncharacteristic glare from her mentor. “He told me to f-free him. I didn’t! Because I thought it was some kind of trick-”

Celestia stood up from her throne and released a heavy sigh. “Twilight Sparkle, while I can overlook the fact you went out into the gardens, what I can’t forgive however is that you were almost fooled by the Lord of Chaos himself. He is a very crafty character and you must be careful around him.”

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to—”

“Stop, Twilight Sparkle, let me finish… I do not want to hear an apology. I, on the other hoof will apologize to you,” softly, she smiled down at Twilight, attempting to show she was not angry with her at all. Though the truth of the matter was she was in fact simply seething towards a certain Draconequus at that point in time, and she struggled to contain it. “I should not have allowed Discord to be publically displayed like he has been. I am surprised he has not yet attempted to trick anypony thus far. I can only assume he chose to talk to you because you are my student and he knows that I care for you deeply, far more than any other pony in Equestria.”

Fear was replaced with relief and then finally joy, for Princess Celestia had openly admitted that Twilight was the most important pony to her in all of Equestria. It renewed hope in what Twilight had long thought to be a selfish, one-sided affair.

“Princess,” Twilight finally managed, her smile bright and her eyes glinting with restrained tears, “I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Nothing needs to be said, my student” Celestia moved forward to embrace the pony briefly, “now, forget what Discord told you. He is a master manipulator and has no qualms using anypony to realize his goals.”

Twilight pulled back, looking up at the Princess with a quizzical expression. “I think he’s telling the truth, in part. His statue is damaged. As if some kind of heat had just suddenly appeared only around him.”

Celestia could not help but smile. She loved how Twilight could analyze almost any situation and formulate several possible scenarios, one of which was, more often than not, the truth. “I see. Do not worry, Twilight. I will personally look into this and find whoever did this to Discord and bring them to justice. While he is a monster of chaos, he is still a living creature and I will not stand idly by as an attempt on anypony’s life within Equestria happens under my reign.”

Before Twilight could speak, Celestia placed a hoof over her mouth and guided her the rest of the way down the dais. “Now, push this thought from your mind and go and have fun with your friends. You are extremely late and I can only assume they are worried about you.”

Twilight gasped. “Oh no! My friends! I completely forgot about the—I’m super tardy! I-I have to go! Thanks Princess! I'm sure Discord will be somewhat relieved you are protecting him, too!” And just like that, Twilight blinked from the throne room, leaving Celestia by herself.

For many long minutes Celestia simply stared at the ground between her hooves as the smile she used to calm Twilight's curiosity mutated into a sneer that revealed teeth. “How dare he…”

Author's Note

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