The Assembled Letters of Twilight Sparkle, Protégé of Emperor Discord

by Caligari87

Rating: everyone
Tags: Discord, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Main 6
Length: 2831

Emperor Discord sends his star pupil Twilight Sparkle to investigate a mysterious new phenomenon called "Friendship".

Twilight Sparkle has spent years as Discord's protege, studying the Magic of Chaos. But when rumors of a strange phenomenon dubbed "Friendship" show up in a small outlying town, the Emperor sends his star student to find out what's going on. Twilight goes with the best intentions and quickly discovers there is more than meets the eye going on in Ponyville...

Inspired by this post on r/mlpwritingprompts, by MetaSkipper. Original version by me is in the comments there.

Continued here!

Published 2014-11-23 06:10:06 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-06 01:05:03 UTC

Introduction

Twilight Sparkle grabbed her suitcase again as it attempted to dash through her bedroom door. Much as she appreciated her mentor's desire to impart the Magic of Chaos into everything, truthfully it was tiring at times. She was not yet a fully-developed practitioner of Chaos; her primal urges toward order and normalcy needed constant checking, but she was getting better. Ponies by nature were calm and orderly most of the time; it took a special kind of dedication to devote one's life to constant unpredictability, as she had.

Still, such was the life of any who swore their lives to Emperor Discord's service as Agents of Chaos. Her training was not yet complete, but she aspired to someday be one of them, spreading disharmony and Chaos as though she were an extension of the Emperor's own volatile will. She knew and accepted the difficulty willingly. To truly know Chaos, she had to lose herself in it completely.

Finally getting her things messily packed, Twilight skittered across the polished marble ceiling and into the hall where gravity was today turned mostly groundward. She deftly dodged the animated statue's game of 52 pick-up and made her way to the Royal Offices. The Emperor met her there, much earlier than he had said (probably due to his pocketwatch refusing to keep itself open for viewing). "Hello, Twilight Sparkle!" he exclaimed, floating on his side effortlessly. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes, Emperor Discord," Twilight said. "Although I'm still curious; why are you sending me to Ponyville?"

Discord sighed. "Still craving that little bit of 'planning ahead' we've been working on, I see?"

Twilight looked down awkwardly and swatted away a mosquito, avoiding the question.

"Oh well, I suppose it can't hurt this time." Discord magicked a thick day planner into existence and flipped through. Most of the days were filled with disconnected sketches, but this page had writing on it. "There's something in Ponyville that has me a bit worried, to be honest. The residents there seem to be displaying a strange sort of unity, and things are getting quite ordered. I'd like you to find out what's causing it."

Twilight cocked her head to the side, more confused than usual. "That's definitely worrisome. Any ideas why they're acting that way?"

Emperor Discord shook his head. "None, although it appears some of them have dubbed it 'Friendship'..."

Letter 3

Honorable Emperor Discord;

As promised, I visited the local music shop this week, and met with the proprietor, Octavia. Much to my dismay, she declined my offers to demonstrate new ways of randomizing all the music books! She made the point that if they were always unorganized, then the fun of having them scattered about would quickly diminish or become expected. I am unsure how to feel about this, but it's something I will consider. Is "moderation" a principle of Chaos?

Anyway, compared to the wonderful and new strangeness we experience everyday in your empire, my new “Friends” (what followers of Friendship prefer to call each other apparently) are almost distressingly normal. I try to educate them on the Magic of Chaos, but they are disinterested at best, except Pinkie. She is truly unique, I think you’d like her special brand of chaos, even if it sometimes seems geared toward unity instead of disharmony. I think her overall randomness helps to offset it; perhaps with a bit of teaching, she could become a promising student.

Still, earlier today was refreshingly out of the ordinary for these "Friends". The one named Rainbow dragged us all off to visit a (quote) “scary castle” she’d found in the woods. She said it had the frozen stone forms of the Day-Mare and Night-Mare, like the ones in our scary waking-time legends for fillies. Imagine my surprise when there actually were statues like she described! They were even solidly planted on the ground and all the bricks were in the walls! In fact, the whole place was strange, and not in the wonderful chaotic way we know. The castle and surrounding forest seemed to be outside your influence. Applejack says it’s because of a tree under the castle, which grows strange gems.

To be honest, the whole place gives me the normals all over, but I’m going back tomorrow. There’s something to this Friendship thing, and I’m beginning to think that castle and my new Friends are at the root of it. I’ll report soon.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Journal 1

Dear Diary;

Sorry I haven't

I’ve neglected to write in this journal for some time, but my emotions are confusing at the moment and I’m not sure

I visited the old castle again this week. Because it’s old, crumbing, and the route through the Everfree forest is possibly dangerous, I asked Applejack to go with me in case anything happened. While we were walking, I broached the subject of Friendship with her.

She was surprisingly candid where the others had previously avoided my questions. She said that Friendship is their way of looking out for each other  and staying together. I gently reminded her that Unity is against the spirit of Chaos, and she seemed uncomfortable, but admitted she doesn’t much care for the blessings of unpredictability Discord showers on our kingdom.

This surprised me. I reminded her that I was Discord’s personal student, and asked if she was worried I might tell write about the conversation. She said she was, but that telling the truth was more important than what others might think of her. She also openly told me that she’s learned honesty is vital to cultivating Friendship and keeping Friends together.

I then asked if she considered me a Friend. After some hesitation she said she does, and that’s why she wants to be so honest with me. I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I find it flattering she is willing to be so welcoming to a student of Discord while following a philosophy which seems more and more to be in opposition his teachings.

By this point, we had arrived at the castle and entered the courtyard with the statues of the Day-Mare and Night-Mare. Nothing much had changed, although I noticed the statues were beginning to crack, more than might be expected from simple weathering. The whole place still seems outside the realm of Chaos; even a moderately powerful randomization spell did little more than turn a couple pebbles into various insects and writing implements.

Applejack agreed to show me the tree which seems to be the cause of this normalcy. We ventured through the castle dungeons into a cave system, and by spell-light from my horn managed to find the right passageways. When I asked Applejack how she found it in the first place, she said she’d been with Rarity, using a gem-finding spell. Chaos had not recently produced any source of gems, and she needed more to sustain her pet dragon.

Applejack’s tree is definitely not a product of Chaos. It is magical to a degree I’ve never felt before, and grows what appear to be very powerful channelling gems. Applejack said she didn’t want to feed these to her dragon because she doesn’t know how they will affect him. I explored the falloff of the magical field around the tree, and it does seem to correspond to the area unaffected by Discord’s influence. My own Chaos magic is unable to effect any change near the tree either.

At this point Applejack and I were both very tired, and returned to town. It hailed peppermints on the way back; I thought they were delicious, but she seemed annoyed. I left her at the farm and returned to the library.

I’m becoming sure that Friendship is a force or magic rooted in Harmony, which puts it at odds with the teachings of Chaos. Ironically, I also feel more at home here than anywhere else in Discordia. I’ve never been someone’s Friend before, and I kind of like it. I know that’s my “natural mare” talking... Still, it feels right.

I’m too tired to write to Discord tonight,  but I feel like I should tell I’m not sure if I’m going to tell him everything from today. I need to sleep on it.

-Twilight Sparkle

Letter 4

Honorable Emperor Discord;

I hope you are doing well! I haven’t heard from you lately. Perhaps you’re off spreading Chaos to one of our sister countries, or maybe you’re on a beach in your office and the secretary is holding your mail? Anyways, I look forward to a letter from you soon. By the way, thank you! We had peppermint hail yesterday! Things have been depressingly normal in Ponyville lately, and such a surprise was quite refreshing (not to mention delicious!).

I visited the castle, like I mentioned. I’m still not sure exactly what’s causing the odd behavior, or if it’s related to Friendship, but I’ll keep looking into it. What’s for sure is that my Chaos magic doesn’t work there. Of course, since no pony lives out that way, there’s no reason to bother.

I’ve discovered that this Friendship phenomenon is strongly rooted in unity between ponies. For example, I learned that Applejack is honest with me because she considers me a Friend and Friends tell the truth. It’s the flip side of the coin, but so far I don’t see any harm from it. Chaos still reigns supreme over Discordia, freeing your subjects from the daily grind of normalcy, but not all are as used to it as you and I. Perhaps being unified together gives ponies extra ability to tolerate unpredictability. Of course, I’m probably just guessing here. There’s still more to learn.

Your chaotic student;

Twilight Sparkler

Letter 5

Honorable Emperor Discord;

Didn’t get much investigation done this week, unfortunately. The ground around Ponyville turned into a lake for a few days, and then it rained hot coffee! Everyone pretty much had to stay inside to avoid either drowning or getting burnt.

I did get to spend some time with Pinkie Pie. Turns out her particular feelings on Friendship are centered around making ponies smile. She says Friends cheer each other up when they’re feeling down. Again, the principle seems innocuous enough. Chaos can be funny at times too, even if it was less than pleasant this week. We have to take the good with the bad; it’s all about keeping life fresh and exciting.

Stuck in the library, I got some studying done too. There’s lots of books about Chaos, although a lot of them are laughably out of date, like pony scientists trying to find patterns in random happenstance, or ways to control or harness it. Still, they’re interesting to read and gave me a lot of ideas for things to build into my randomization spells. Not much else to report. I’ll try and get to the castle in the next couple days.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Letter 6

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Journal 3

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Letter 7

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Journal 4

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Letter 8

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Journal 5

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Letter 9

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RE: Letter 9

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Journal 6

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Epilogue

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Letter 1

Honorable Emperor Discord;

Thank you for my assignment to Ponyville to investigate this strange new phenomenon known as “Friendship.” I regret the necessity of leaving your immediate tutelage and will miss being able to speak to you directly, but I trust these weekly letters will be sufficient for my continued studies in Chaos. I have learned much already, and look forward to learning more.

Although the ride was bumpy, our train arrived in only two pieces. When I left the station, the crew had nearly succeeded in wrangling it back onto the tracks. Had I not been exhausted from the trip, I would have enjoyed delaying them further. The library is unfortunately exactly where you said it would be, however I was pleased to find not a single book in place.

After a brief rest, I ventured to the local confectioners to obtain dinner. The shop is a quaint little place called "The Sugar Polyhedron" (the owners tell me the number of sides kept changing, so they revised the name from the original "Sugar Cube Corner"). Here I met five other mares who greeted me warmly and offered to be of assistance if I need anything. They are pleasant enough, although they seem “closer” than any ponies I have ever met. They wish to include me in their group. Maybe this is related to Friendship somehow? I will examine further and report back.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Letter 2

Honorable Emperor Discord;

This week was supremely interesting. After spending some time with these five mares, I’m convinced the strange closeness is definitely a part of Friendship. Granted, the flying tables at The Sugar Polyhedron make talking difficult, but they somehow managed to maintain conversation, up to five minutes between interruptions! There was also a wide range of subjects discussed, from entropic farming to the latest fads in self-randomizing wardrobes. My acquaintances apparently spend more time together than almost any other ponies in town. I have yet to broach the topic of Friendship with them though. I will wait a bit longer, as they seem slightly wary of my status as your student. Perhaps I intimidate them?

And yes, I’m sorry for my continued formal style of writing. I know it annoys you, but for some reason I can’t seem to break the habit. Perhaps it balances against my desire to learn the higher ways of chaos over the banal normalcy we naturally crave. I will try harder to follow the spirit of Chaos in every endeavor. Muffins!

In other related news, I brought the Magic of Chaos to three young fillies today though! They were having a picnic and I cast the “Need It Want It” spell on my old toy for them. It wore off sooner than I would have liked, but they seemed to enjoy it; absolute pandemonium reigned supreme in the neighborhood for over an hour! Tomorrow I plan to visit the local music shop and see if the proprietor needs any help shuffling her music selection. I will report on that in my next letter.

Your faithful wAckY student,

Twilight Spzarkle

Journal 2

I can’t believe I lied to Disc No, it’s not a lie. I just left out a few unimportant details. Even so, I’ll bet Ap It doesn’t matter what Applejack would think. The key to being a good student of Chaos is being unpredictable, and always telling the truth is the exact opposite of unpredictable. Discord would probably be proud of me. Or not, I don’t know. I’m not sure why I’m getting so worked up over this.

Anyway, I wrote Discord about spending some time with Pinkie Pie. I left out that I actually tried to go to the castle with her after the lake dried up, but the coffee rain started while we were on our way into the Everfree Forest. It was just a little sprinkle at first, and then the downpour really began. We had to take shelter in a cave, and I scalded my hooves and left foreleg in a puddle of coffee, because I didn’t watch where I was trotting.

Pinkie found a cold pond deeper in the cave, thankfully. If not for that, my scald might have been a lot worse when we finally got home. As it was, we got stuck for several hours until there was a lull in the rain. At first, I was in a pretty sour mood, but Pinkie seemed to see that as a challenge. Pretty soon she had me crying with laughter. It felt good.

A little later, I asked why she wanted to get me to laugh. She told me that a smile or laugh is the best medicine she knows, and when a Friend is down or feeling badly, it’s important to help them feel better.

I wrote about that in my letter to Discord, but I left out how insanely dedicated Pinkie is to making ponies happy. And not just “ha ha, funny joke”, but actually genuinely happy. She literally considers it her entire purpose in life, and she’s 100% committed. Or should be committed It seems crazy, but I guess that’s okay.

This is so alien to me. Most ponies look out for just themselves. When we live every day unsure of even the ground under our feet, there’s little sense in doing much else. Somehow these Friends have discovered something else, and even more amazingly, they’re making it work.

I know I’ve dedicated my life to entropy, to never experience the same thing twice, to never be worn down by a daily grind, or sick of predictability. I’ve sworn to bring that Chaos far and wide, to smash the bounds of a boring “normal” life… but Pinkie seems dedicated to something better. How can I reconcile that?

Anyway, the coffee washed out our path through the forest, so the castle is a bust this week, but we were still smiling wide on the way back to Ponyville.

I really should smile more.

-Twilight