Epilogue Unending

Epilogue Unending

Prologue:

Twilight looked out to the remains of the ancient oak. It lay uprooted; its branches, shattered. The crackling and the slow wine of its green branches were the only audible sonance. The leaves of this once grand tree followed the wind’s call, dancing across Twilight’s sight; gradually making their way down to their final resting place among the scattered, ash-ridden remains of what had once been Ponyville’s Library, her home. Closing her eyes, Twilight could almost make out the tree’s whisper carried off by the wind’s prayer.

Her friends, family, and mentors… all lost at the hands of Tirek through the actions, or rather, inaction of Discord.

“Discord…”

“ Discord, Discord, Discord!” the name ran through Twlight’s mind like fire; its color, red.

The soot beneath Twilight’s hooves darkened as the ash mixed with water.

“The pegasuses said this week’s weather would be clear with a high of 70.” She absently thought.

A droplet came to rest on her lips, it tasted of salt.  She quickly wiped it away.

“There is no time for sentiment.” She choked out.

Her entire life she had someone to ask, someone to look up to; now, there was no one. She was alone. The element bearers, her friends, were picked off one by one by Tirek’s magic. When she had fought him it had been like peering into the void. To call what he wielded magic would be like calling fire water. It was unnatural.

She could feel the Sun and Moon as well as the love and fear of the ponies around her. The Princesses’ had tasked her with saving Equestria. In the end, the combined might of all four of the Princesses had proven ineffective.

Twilight looked up toward the heavens. With the Celestial rulers gone, the sky remained in a perpetual state of twilight; the Sun being on one side of the horizon whiles the moon on the other. The irony of it was not lost on the newly crowned sovereign. Twilight spread her wings out in agitation. The ash that had coated her violet coat, plumed off of her.

The echoes of footsteps interrupted the leaves’ symphony. She was tired, too tired.

“Go away.” Twilight said, not bothering to turn around. Why talk? The people she loved were gone.

“Twilight” Discord said in a tone so gentle and unbecoming of the God of Chaos that it effetely shocked her out of her rumination.

   Twilight’s mind snapped back to the rhythm of a single word, a name whose beat carried with it the drums of war.

Twilight's eyes flared white, the color of freshly forged steel. Her mane took on the Sun’s corona, its brightness, blinding. The heat of her aura incinerated the scattered remains of the tomes that she had once cherished.

Her horn charged.

All it would take her to kill him would be a simple flick of her head to the right. He would be gone, and then she would be truly alone.

“alone…”

She flicked her head to the left; the motion sent forward a force equivalent to that of an asteroid toward a nearby mountaintop. It crumbled into dust. The remaining citizens of Ponyville ran for cover as the aftershocks of the blast fractured glass and scattered the loose debris of the once proud oak.

The corona diminished. Twilight’s eyes, no longer reflecting the light of a thousand suns, returned to lavender.

“You’ve taken everything from me Discord! Why?! Why do all this?” She asked. The tonality of her voice carried with it both anger and pain but her eyes pleaded with him for anything that would give her loss meaning. “We… I…  trusted you.” She whispered.

Discord looked at the fallout that had once been Mt. Paso and turned his attention back toward Twilight.

“Trust… trust had nothing to do with the outcome of today’s events Twilight. You’re seeking a reason as to why this all happened? From the God of Chaos?” he asked. The typical biting edge associated with his voice gone, replaced by one that spoke of understanding.

“I need a reason! There has to be one!” she yelled, tears now falling freely from her lavender eyes.

“You’re the reason for all of this Twilight.” Discord said. “Every decision made, every action taken, was to get “you” back!”

“Back!? What the buck are you talking about Discord! I’ve been here this entire time!” She yelled, anger marring her young face.

Discord let out a roar of frustration as he looked at Twilight.

“You still don’t understand… Obviously, how could you? Your perception is still that of a mortal; A foal!” Discord yelled in frustration.

“Twilight, I am old, older then time itself. I have gone by many names, and have taken many forms. All that I ask from you is that you let me show you…”

“Show me what!” Twilight yelled! “Cellestia is dead! Luna is dead! Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Flutershy…. Spike… They’re all dead; and for what, riddles?!” Twilight yelled; her aura giving off a dangerous heat.

“Enough!” Discord yelled.

“Do you think I would have chosen this path if there was any other way?!” Discord looked away from Twilight, anger and frustration gave way to pain. “Flutershy…”

All necessary… “Necessary sacrifices for what? A memory?” Discord thought. “No, not a memory, an idea made whole again.”

“Abstracts… all of this Twilight is fragments of a greater whole. All I ask is that before you vilify me and label me “monster” is that you let me show you… How no matter what path I took, in the end, it would undoubtedly bring us to this exact place, at this exact time.”

Discord slowly made his way over to her, the heat stinging his draconic eyes, “…of how, it would lead me back to you.”

Confusion spread across Twilight’s face. “I don’t understand”

“You will in time, but first we must go back.” he stated.

“Back to where?” Twilight asked.

“Why, back to the beginning of course.” he replied.