The mane 6 and Discord were at Fluttershy's for dinner. Now that all of the six ponies, and not just Fluttershy, were accepting Discord more as a friend, they hung out together more often. Angel, on the other side... but Discord dealt with him by simply ignoring. Discord was amusing the mane six with stories of his.
-Wow, Discord! I confess I never imagined you had such fun stories!- Twilight admitted.
-Why, thank you, Your Highness.- Discord said and bowed mockingly. Twilight rolled her eyes and sipped her tea.
-There's something that still intrigues me, though. What about your past?
-My past?- Discord's smile vanished and he raised an eyebrow.
-Yes. Where do you come from? What is your origin?
Everypony present turned their heads to Discord, curious. Some seconds later, he smiled again.
-Why, whatever do you mean, Twilight?- he laughed, as if to emphasize that it was a silly idea. -I was born a draconequus. Simple as that!- he said dismissively, though he didn't convince the alicorn entirely.
"But... I don't understand. The history books don't mention draconequii as a species. They say that Discord was the only draconequus to ever exist! He must be hiding something." Twilight thought.
After the dinner, all the guests went home, but Discord, instead of teleporting back to his realm, exited the cottage normally and walked towards the Everfree Forest.
-Discord? Are you alright?- Fluttershy called.
-Worry not, dear Fluttershy. I am simply going for a stroll.- He gave a half-hearted smile. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, but went back inside. But Twilight turned back to Discord.
"This isn't normal. Why would he want to take a walk?" She decided to follow him and cast an invisibility spell.
Discord arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters and sighed.
-Sometimes I'm happy that Celestia didn't restore almost any of the stained glasses of this castle in Canterlot. This way, I don't have to be reminded of my past unless I come here.- Discord thought out loud. He entered the castle, staring at the remaining windows. Almost all were dusty, and most had cracks.
He snapped his fingers, taking away the dust of the first one. It depicted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna over a pegasus, a unicorn and an earth pony. Celestia's mane was entirely pink, and Luna looked like when she was turned back into herself by Twilight and co and the Elements.
But there was something else there. The Princesses weren't alicorns. Celestia was a unicorn, and Luna looked like a bat pony. The Sun and Moon were above their respective risers. Discord half-smiled.
-Look at you, Celestia and Luna... you were so young when you first assumed the rule of Equestria... you two almost always needed the help of the three tribes' leaders on the start. Though until they died, you were able to rule by yourselves...
Discord poofed away the dust of the second window. It revealed the banishing of the Sirens. Starswirl the Bearded hovered over the Sirens.
-Ah, I remember this one. One of my greatest achievements. After the Elements, of course.- He snickered. -Those Sirens didn't stand a chance against the spell I wrote.
His smile vanished as he passed to the next window. It depicted a crystal-blue tree, with five branches, and in each of them was a gem. On the center there was a star-shaped gem.
-The Tree of Harmony.- He sighed. -Sometimes I wish I hadn't grown it. But then again, how would Tia and Luna have defeated Sombra without them?- He sighed again.
He snapped his fingers and a small notebook appeared, floating on the air. Discord smiled tiredly.
-My enchanted diary... a wonderful spell I created. It has been so long. But a thousand and a little years as a statue later, I can add more entries.- Discord opened the diary on a bookmark.
It had been a few minutes since Discord had opened the notebook. Twilight was deep in thought about what Discord had said. "The way he talked about the stained glasses... about *his** history... was Discord Starswirl the Bearded?"* She then put a determined look on her face. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this. He has a journal, surely this is going to be a good source of research." She smiled lightly.
Then she heard a sound and her head shot up to see Discord leave the Castle with a teleportation spell. She waited still some time, to make sure he wouldn't come back, and trotted inside the castle, looking around for the journal. She picked it and opened it at the very start. Suddenly, the world began to melt as a new scenery formed.
When the world stopped melting, Twilight wasn't in the old Two Sisters' Castle. She was in a village, but not like Ponyville. The houses were made of wood, not bricks, with hay roofs. The wood wasn't painted. There weren't glass panes filling the holes for windows, they were simply covered inwardly with curtains. The fabric was, in general, worn out and of dark color. The doors were planks nailed together by a horizontal plank.
The streets weren't of dirt like in Ponyville, but of gravel. Some grass was sprouting among the gravel. "Wow. This looks like top notch road gravel. I wonder what city is this." Twilight thought. The gravel was being stomped by various ponies, of all races. "This must be after the three tribes found Equestria."
The ponies suddenly walked aside, making way for two ponies. Twilight soon spotted them. She recognized the royal sisters because of their cutie marks. They were very different from the princesses she knew.
They were the same size, and just a little higher than a normal pony. They weren't wearing their necklaces or shoes, only crowns. And, like in the stained glass window, Celestia was a unicorn, and Luna, a bat pony. Their crowns showed, respectively, the emblem of the Sun and the Moon.
Celestia's mane was entirely pink and not flowing, but behaving like normal hair. A lace held it on the lower part. Luna had the appearance of when she was returned to Celestia by the Elements of Harmony, except her mane was longer and in a braid. Her tail was wavier, and it had tiny braids falling over the un-braided hair.
They were trotting peacefully, smiling, until they came to a stop.
-Hello, citizens!- Celestia spoke, not in the Canterlot Royal Voice, but with her normal voice. -We are looking for talented unicorns.
-Any unicorn who matches our requirements shall have access to the Royal Archives.- Luna added. -We will allow them to stay there as long as needed.
-Hah!- A stallion said. -In good ol' Canterlot there ain't nopony as skilled as Starswirl here!- He gave a half-pat-half-shove on a young gray unicorn stallion to his side with messy black hair and magenta eyes. Celestia raised an eyebrow.
-Starswirl?- She said as the stallion -- or better, Starswirl -- stepped forward. Celestia, followed by Twilight, looked at his cutie mark. It was a light yellow moon surrounded by white little stars. -Thy talent is magic, correct?- Celestia asked, to what Starswirl nodded. The sisters smiled.
-Is there anypony else talented in any magical arts?- Luna asked. Upon silence, she nodded. -Very well. Come with us, Starswirl.
The royal sisters then turned around, and trotted away, followed by Starswirl. Twilight found herself trotting along with them, though she hadn't moved a muscle on her own. She then remembered she was in a memory. "At least that's what it seems to be." She relaxed, looking around. "So this was Canterlot who-knows-how-many years ago."
Twilight moved her head, trying to capture the entire scene, almost scanning the landscape, taking it every detail. She then spotted where they were going to; the entrance of the village. It was a wooden gate, the huge doors open. Twilight moved her neck forward, eager to see what it was like outside the village; but the moment she stepped out, the scenario melted, giving place to the Two Sisters' Castle, where she was sat in the same position of when she had opened the diary.
-Oh, come on!- She shouted in frustration.
