Fragile

by RealBarenziah

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Princess Luna, Discord, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 33585

Twilight enrolls in the exclusive Celestial Academy, but danger lurks in the shadows. DiscoLight.

Professor Discord starts receiving unwanted attention from the new student of Celestial Academy, Twilight Sparkle. As Twilight spends her days trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the Draconequus, something watches from the shadows with malicious intent.

Published 2012-07-20 08:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-07-22 17:37:07 UTC

Chapter 1, Welcome to Celestial Academy

"Wow!" she breathed.
Twilight's hooves froze just after exiting the carriage. Princess Celestia's Celestial Academy was so huge and so gorgeous that it knocked the breath clean out of Twilight's lungs. Before her stood towers, columns, buttresses, and countless shimmering windows, all of it constructed from pristine alabaster bricks untarnished by the passing of the centuries.

She was lost in the grandeur of the whole place, so it startled her a bit when a stern voice called her name. Twilight tore her gaze from the building and looked to the space beneath the arch of the giant front doors. A tall pony stood there with a deep navy coat and mane made of shimmering stardust.

"P-Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed. She hastily bowed in respect as the princess approached. How could she have forgotten that Luna would be there?

"Please," the princess said in a solid voice. "You need not trouble yourself with such formality. Within these walls I am merely your Dean of Students. I trust your journey was acceptable?"

Twilight rose. "Yes, thank you.”

Luna glanced over Twilight’s carriage. "I'm afraid you're a bit late; most of the students have already checked in and classes start tomorrow. It’s our fault; we had a bit of a mishap with some paperwork and your carriage was delayed. I apologize."

"No, no, it's fine. I needed a bit of extra time to pack, anyway."

A series of loud THUMPS interrupted them. Two colts wearing blue and gold vests had opened the trunk of the carriage where they were greeted by an avalanche of books. A small smile appeared in the corner of Luna's mouth.

"I can see that," she said. "Come with me. I'll show you the campus while these gentlecolts bring your things to your room."

"Yes ma'am," Twilight replied excitedly.

Luna turned and walked toward the school, Twilight following close behind. They proceeded down the hallways as Luna explained each part of the school.

"You can see how the classrooms are numbered so you can find your way to your classes tomorrow. The library is just ahead, I'm sure you want to see it."

They approached a large wooden door decorated with an incredibly ornate carving of a tree crowned with stars. A simple plaque on the door read Library. Luna's horn illuminated with a soft blue aura, and the iron door handle took on the same light. The doors swung open, and a warm light washed over Twilight. A smile spread itself across her face and her eyes danced with stars as she took in the massive library.

There were cases upon cases of books, long oak tables to study on, jars of quills, and stacks of parchment. It was all illuminated by stained glass windows and chandeliers that were ragged with centuries of life. There were carvings and moldings, just as ornate as the door, that would never be found in modern buildings.

"Ooooooh," Twilight said. "This is... Do you think I could -"

"All in good time, Ms. Sparkle," Luna interrupted. "You will be staying here for quite a while. You will have more than enough time to explore the library. For now, let me show you where the dining hall is and then I'll show you to your room,"

"Oh," Twilight said, ears drooping in disappointment. "Okay."

Luna led Twilight across the campus, walking along the main courtyard as they went. As they were passing a small garden, Twilight spotted a griffon snoozing on a bench.

“Oh, that’s right,” she said. “Celestial Academy doesn’t accept unicorns exclusively.”

The princess followed Twilight’s gaze. “We offer courses that can be studied by anypony. Alchemy and herbology are common areas of study for the earth ponies here.”

“That’s great! I only had unicorns as classmates in Canterlot.”

Luna smiled. “I think you’ll find the diversity a welcome change to your educational environment.” She nodded in the direction of a nearby building. “That’s the dining hall. We’ll take a quick look.”

The cafeteria wasn't anything special. It was an up-to-date, modern eating area. Tables were scattered all around and there were many counters at which food would be prepared and served during the year.

"Not nearly as impressive as the library," Luna said as she led Twilight away. "But what else can you expect? Your room is in the west dormitories, female building, of course."

The academy was, for the most part, built in a giant rectangle shape. Sometimes there were breaks in the rectangle where buildings ended and new ones began. Twilight followed Luna across one such break to a dormitory building. A sign out front read West Female Dormitories. The pair went inside and started to climb the old wooden steps, passing a door that said Supervisor. Luna nodded her head towards the door.

"That's the Supervisor's office and living area," she said. "Her name is Ms. Emerald. If you have any problems with the room or your neighbors speak to her."

"Got it.” Twilight started up the stairs behind Luna. “I'm guessing my roommates have already moved in?"

"Actually, you don't have any roommates."

Twilight paused as they cleared a landing, then trotted to catch up with the princess as she began climbing the next flight of stairs. They passed many hallways during the climb, each one emitting the dull roar of many mares living in one space.

"I don't?" Twilight assumed she would be sharing a room with another mare or two.

"No. You've received a special scholarship, Twilight. Not only have we decided to educate and feed you free of charge, but you'll be receiving the topmost single suite in this building, which is why we are still climbing these stairs."

Twilight couldn't help but feel relieved. She had her own room at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns because she was Celestia's personal apprentice. The thought of having roommates had unnerved her. She had never been very good at interacting with ponies she didn’t know.

"I hope you're not disappointed," Luna said. "There will be plenty of opportunities to socialize."

"Oh no, not at all,” Twilight replied quickly. “I'm relieved, to be honest."

"Yes, Celestia said you wouldn't mind being alone. We're almost there."

They were finally clearing the last flight of steps. The stairs ended with a small landing. There was no hallway, only a single door with 4A painted on it. There were no other rooms on the floor, almost like a penthouse suite.
As she opened the door Twilight saw that the room wasn't very much bigger than the rest of the ones she'd passed on the way up. It was very clean and very neat with one bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a small bathroom. Twilight also noted, with delight, two empty bookcases.

Opposite the door was a large, tall window with a seat built into it. The cushions were purple with gold accents. Through the glass and dark iron grid Twilight could see a miniature balcony, probably more for decoration than for actual use.

"I hope this will be satisfactory," Luna said.

"It's wonderful!" Twilight beamed. "Thank you Princess Luna."

Luna smiled and said "Not at all. If you need anything, speak to Ms. Emerald." Twilight nodded. "I'm afraid you won't have much time to settle in. Classes begin tomorrow morning."

"That's okay Princess, I prefer to get started right away!"

"I admire your passion for learning, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight blushed a bit at the compliment. "I trust you have your class schedule for tomorrow," she continued.

"Yes!" Twilight replied. She took a scroll from the saddlebag that was slung over her back and opened it with magic. It floated before her as she skimmed it over. "I've memorized it completely. It took me forever to choose what courses to take."

"No doubt. May I?"

"Of course, Princess."

The scroll's pinkish aura turned pale blue as Luna's magic took possession of it. As her magic was pushed away from the parchment, Twilight felt for a moment the power the blue aura held. If Twilight was to put it into words, she'd say it was like a rubber ball had suddenly collided with a iron wall. Twilight could tell that even with all her gifts, Luna's magic was still monumentally more powerful. And why should it not be? Every night the alicorn raised the moon and brought out the stars. The amount of power needed to do such a thing was beyond what Twilight could guess. This only made her admire the princess even more.

"What's this?" Luna said with interest. "None of these are first-year courses. Most of them are second and third-year."

"Princess Celestia gave me the list of courses to choose from, I didn't know they -"

"It's fine, Ms. Sparkle. Celestia gave you the course list for second years. She must believe you to be quite talented."

"Oh well," Twilight blushed. "I don't know about that..."

"I don't doubt your brilliance, Twilight," Luna said. She smiled and tucked the scroll back into the saddlebag. "Those boys will be here with your things soon. The cafeteria opens for dinner at six o'clock." Luna headed for the door. "I will be seeing you Ms. Sparkle. I expect great things from you at our Academy."

"Thank you, Princess."

Twilight was left alone in the room. She set her saddlebag on the bed and climbed into the purple cushions of the window seat. She could see the inner courtyard perfectly from her window, and for the first time she took in the view of the many gardens, fountains, benches, sculptures, and cobblestone paths that decorated it.

It was such a beautiful place, and Twilight couldn't wait to get to class in the morning.

Chapter 2, First Day

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

Chapter 3, Many Much Reading

The next day, Twilight was sitting comfortably in a nest of books tucked into the corner of the library. She had gotten up early and skipped breakfast in order to get a head start on her Discord research. Now she was skipping lunch, ingesting instead the contents of Morgrim's Field Guide to Magical Creatures, Second Edition.

During the night she had filled a few pages of her research journal with her observations and hypotheses about Discord, but that was all. Nothing she encountered in the library so far had yielded any other clues, and lunch period was almost over. She cast her gaze around her, taking in all the books she'd gathered.

"I haven't gotten through many of them yet," Twilight said to herself. "There's still plenty of opportunities to look. I have a few free periods this afternoon." She stood.

"So you'll just be leaving this mess out then?"

Twilight jumped. An unsmiling, older unicorn looked at her sternly from around a bookcase. Her brows were knit together in an annoyed scowl over her faded blue eyes. A pair of glasses sat on the tip of her nose and her fading blue mane was pulled back into a bun behind her head, the unmistakable markings of a librarian.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am," Twilight said. "I was just trying to find information on something and I just pulled out anything that I thought could help."

The librarian approached Twilight's nest, and Twilight saw that her cutie mark was a scroll tied with a blue ribbon.

"Well, maybe," she said in an annoyed tone, "if you would have asked me for help, you could have narrowed it down a bit so you wouldn't have to tear the whole place apart."

"Sorry," Twilight said. "I was looking for information on something called a Draconequus."

"Draconequus? I don't know anything about that. It's some kind of creature, I assume?"

"Yes," Twilight nodded. "A magical hybrid creature."

"Is it intelligent?"

Twilight nodded again. "Yes. The same intellectual level as a pony, if not higher."

"Well," the unicorn said, her horn illuminating with a white aura. The open Morgrim book levitated to her. "Here's your first mistake. Morgrim was an idiot. He wouldn't have known anything about intelligent hybrid creatures even if he was one himself. This book doesn't have any uncommon knowledge in it. I'm assuming the Draconequus is quite the mysterious creature indeed, since I've never heard of one before."

"It seems that way," Twilight replied.

"Hm. In that case stay away from anything by Morgrim, Tiger Septim, and anything with '101' or 'Introduction To' in the title."

"Right."

The unicorn eyed one of the many stacks of books Twilight had built and illuminated an old tome near the bottom.

"Try this one," she said as the book took a place in the air in front of Twilight. Twilight noticed the Morgrim book droop a fraction in the air when the librarian took the other book into her levitation spell. She thought of how Discord thought she was showing off in class.

Is it really that hard to levitate so many objects at once? She asked herself. That could be why everypony was sniggering at me in the hallways; they must have thought I was showing off. Twilight didn’t like that idea at all.

"It's more theory than fact," the librarian continued, drawing Twilight out of her thoughts. "But I think that's what you need. It may be all you find, in fact."

"Thank you," Twilight said, taking the book from the librarian with her own magic. "Can I bring it with me?"

"No, that book isn't available for checkout. You'll have to come back and study it here."

"Alright," Twilight looked at the book. It was a standard size, but older than the rest, bound in thin black leather with the title Starswirl Hypotheses.

"It's not by Starswirl the Bearded if that's what you're thinking," the librarian said. "The author was a prominent scholar called Silver Quill, and he used many of Starswirl's theses and philosophies to support his own."

"I see...interesting." She was about to open the book when the bell rang out from the hallway. Her ears drooped slightly in disappointment. "Oh, I'll have to be going." She looked down at the mess she had made. "I'll clean this up first."

"I'll do it," the librarian said curtly. "You must be getting to class Ms..."

"Twilight Sparkle, Ma'am."

"Mahogany," the unicorn replied.

Twilight nodded. "Thank, you, Mrs. Mahogany."

Mahogany looked down and nodded sharply. Twilight picked up her bag and trotted away, careful not to step on any books lying on the ground.When she was gone, Mahogany stacked a few of the books on her back and carried them to the next aisle where they came from. When she came to the shelf she was looking for, she sighed in exasperation. The whole thing was empty.

"Ugh, that purple pony...hold on." She raised an eyebrow at the shelf. Not all the books that were supposed to be there would have been any help to Twilight.

She’s very bright. Surely she would have left the ones that wouldn't help.

"Well if she didn't take them, then-" Her voice cut off when she spotted all the missing books thrown carelessly into a fray on the ground. Lounging on top of them was-

"Discord!" Mahogany exclaimed angrily. "Just what do you think you're doing!?"

"Trying to sleep. Be quiet, will you?" He repositioned his head on one of the books, but his eyes were wide awake and shadowed with thin, dark circles.

"Sleeping?! You have all night to sleep and a room to do it in! What makes you think you can come in here and use my books as pillows?"

"There's never anyone in here," Discord said nonchalantly.

"Well not anymore. Ms. Sparkle will probably be visiting here very often."

"What's this, Mahogany?" Discord sat up. "Is it possible that you've made a friend?"

"Hardly," She turned and started to restock the empty shelf. "It's just nice to see a student in here to study for once and not to smoke, make out, hide, or sleep." She scowled at Discord.

He sat up and stretched his stiff back. "She's researching Draconequues?"

"You weren't sleeping at all then. And could it be you've actually just expressed interest in something?"

"Hardly." Discord took the air and snaked his way toward the door. "But you're right, I wasn't sleeping. I don't really sleep at all, anymore."

"Well that's not my problem, is it?" Mahogany called after his retreating shape. She turned away from the direction of the exit and sighed again in exasperation. She was alone again with a huge mess to clean up. She doubted she could get it all cleared away before Twilight came back for the Starswirl book. She sighed.

"Oh well. At least somepony is using this place."

The sun was setting on the mountainous horizon. The reddening light streamed through the stained glass windows of the library. The warm light illuminated the wood carvings and cast the deep crevices into darker shadow, giving the carvings a deep and dramatic appearance.

Twilight Sparkle sat at one of the many empty work tables in the library, Starswirl Hypotheses lying open in front of her. She found the old book to be extremely intriguing, and it wasn't long before she had written up dozens of pages worth of notes which now lay strewn around the table.

"Ms. Sparkle."

A candle sat itself next to Twilight, and the white aura that surrounded it died away. She hadn't noticed how dark it had gotten, and was grateful for the light. She looked up to see Mahogany standing there.

"Making a mess again, I see," she said.

"Yes, sorry," Twilight said. "I'll be sure to clean it up this time."

"You've been here a while. Don't you think it's time you went to dinner?"

"Dinner?" Twilight glanced at the reddening windows. "Oh, it's that time already?" She looked down at her book longingly. "Mm....That's okay. I'm not hungry."

"Don't be ridiculous," Mahogany said. "You were in here during both breakfast and lunch. Don't try to tell me you're not hungry."

"But I haven't found anything yet."

"What's all this, then?" Mahogany motioned towards all the parchment.

"They're notes on everything I've read so far. Nothing on Draconequues yet, but everything else is so interesting!" Twilight casually sifted through the notes in question, scanning over what she had written.

"Why not just skip to the sections that might have information on Draconequues?"

"I was going to do that, but then other things caught my attention. Before I knew it I was reading everything."

"Well," Mahogany huffed as she turned to leave. "If you're going to starve yourself, that's your business. Just be sure to get to your room before curfew."

"Yes ma'am!"

Twilight turned back to her book, but a sudden protest from her empty stomach distracted her. She tried to ignore it, but eventually it became loud. Embarrassingly so. She reluctantly stepped away from the book, blowing out the candle just to be safe, and trotted to the front desk.

"I think I'll grab a bite to eat after all," she said blushing. "I'll be back soon, though."

"Very well, Ms. Sparkle," Mahogany watched her go. When she was alone again, she closed the book she was reading and took a walk around the library, eventually stopping at Twilight's reading area. She saw the book lying open on the table and began to flip through the pages.

Twilight arrived back at the library just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. The chandeliers above lit the library dimly, and she saw that Mahogany had placed more candles around.

"You best finish up, Ms. Sparkle," Mahogany said from behind her desk. "You have only an hour or so before curfew."

"Thanks, Mrs. Mahogany."

Twilight returned to her desk and found the book open to same page she'd been reading before. However, she spotted a scrap of paper sticking out of the book that wasn't there before.

Mahogany must have been reading it and marked a page. I wonder what it is? She memorized which page she was on and opened the pages to where the scrap piece was. It was the first page of a section called The Chimera Complex.

"Of course!" She said to herself, clunking her hoof against her head. "'Chimera' is another name for a hybrid creature. There's sure to be something in here." She eagerly pulled out a new piece of parchment, but remembered the time. She sighed. "I'll just have to come back tomorrow morning."

The area illuminated with soft pink light as Twilight closed the book, stacked all her notes neatly, and placed them in her saddlebag. Being sure to blow out the candles around her, Twilight went back to the front desk.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning," she said as she headed towards the door.

"I'm sure you will," Mahogany replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

Twilight smiled. "Thank you for letting me study here."

With that the purple unicorn left the old mare alone in the dim library and headed back to the west dormitories.

Chapter 4, Twilight Trying To Be Sneaky

Twilight closed the book with a heavy thud and a sigh. She had just finished reading Chimera Complex for the third time. She looked down at her collection of notes. The chapter hadn't been nearly as helpful as she thought it would. Twilight picked up a page of her notes that summarized everything Discord related.

"Chimera: once a name for a specific kind of creature, (A lioness with a goat head growing out of her back and a serpent for a tail), the word is now used to describe almost any creature composed of many others. Some are intelligent, like the Gryphon, Hippogriff, or Minotaur. Others, such as the Manticore or Cockatrice, are of little more than standard animal intelligence. Silver Quill goes on to speculate that if Chimera's exist in both animal and pony levels of life, why not also at the level of the Alicorns? How Alicorns are born is a great mystery. It has been speculated that the world itself gives birth to them, giving them great magical powers and influence over nature. Some believe that Alicorns are beings from the world beyond our own like angels or gods.

Silver Quill hypothesizes that Chimeras of equal power may exist in the world or the worlds beyond. He calls this theoretical creature a Draconequus."

And that was all she could find. She sighed and rested her cheek on her hoof in thought. Discord, an all powerful being? Twilight smiled. There was no way that Discord had that amount of magical power. Both the princesses were incredibly wise and kind from the eternal life that their magic had given them.

Discord didn't strike her to be much of either. Still, Starling said that he'd been there long before any of the other professors, but exactly how long? She shook her head and illuminated all her supplies. All the notes stacked themselves together and packed into her saddlebag.

"I'll just have to do some field research," she said.

Twilight was one of the first students to arrive in Alteration class, but Discord wasn't there. She took the opportunity to open her research journal and turn to a fresh page. She had time to scrawl down the date and a few notes before the creature in question glided into the room. He took his usual place in the air by his desk and lounged there with a bored look on his face.

Twilight wondered if she'd ever get to see him walking on the ground, then wrote that thought down. Eventually the bell rang and everypony found their seats. In order not to arouse any kind of suspicion, Twilight covered her desk with her textbook and a few pieces of blank parchment.

Fortunately for Twilight, she had already read the chapters associated with the lesson, so she was already well-rehearsed enough on the material to spend most of the time observing Professor Discord like a creep. Or, rather...an investigator.

Once in a while she'd make some notes about the lesson on her parchment. When the bell rang an hour and a half later Twilight had a healthy amount of observations in her research journal. She started to pack all her things away without magic, but once everypony had gone, she illuminated everything with her signature purply-pink aura and neatly tucked it away.

"Still showing off, I see," Discord said from his airborne perch.

"I'm not showing off," Twilight insisted, then paused. Observing wasn't going to be enough. If she wanted to learn more about Discord, she'd have to talk to him.

Unfortunately, she thought, he doesn't strike me as the type of pony- I mean Draconequus that would be willing to share anything about himself....

"Professor Discord," she began. "I had a question that I wanted to ask you."

He didn't answer, but instead looked at her with disdain. Mind racing to find a suitable question, Twilight pulled out her Alteration textbook and flipped through the pages.

"This here," She trotted over and showed Discord the page. "Alteration Vectors. It says here spells that manipulate and object's structure, not just the appearance, use the object's structural vectors. In order to use these spells do you have to know the structure of that specific object's vectors so you can alter them properly?"

When Discord took the book in his eagle claw and pulled it from the pink cloud it floated in Twilight noticed two things: when his claw entered the cloud and tore the book from it she felt a strange fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She had spent enough time around Princess Celestia as her apprentice to recognize the feeling. It was the sensation of a much smaller or weaker magical entity brushing against a monumentally larger one.

It reminded Twilight of when she felt Princess Luna's magic brush against hers.

The second was something on his eagle palm. She glimpsed only just, and it was so quick that Twilight thought perhaps her eyes were just playing tricks on her. From she saw, though, it looked like a tiny mark in the center of his palm.

All of this registered in Twilight's quick mind in less than a moment, and Discord's reply drew her out of her thoughts immediately.

"You don't need to know the vectors. Most spells are constructed to do that kind of work for you."

"Ok...Is...that all?" Twilight said with uncertainty. She couldn't think anything else to ask him.

"Well, if you're planning on making your own Alteration spells then it will be necessary to know the vectors, but I think we both know you're not capable of that." He closed the book and held it out to her.

"Not capable!?" She took the book again using magic, whipping it away and holding it close to herself. "I'm perfectly capable of weaving my own spell!"

Discord blinked slowly. "I seriously doubt it."

"OH, do you?"

"Yes, I do. You may be a prodigy, Twilight Sparkle, but you're no where near advanced enough in magical arts to be able to weave your own spell. Few unicorns are."

"Well you'll see." Twilight turned away and walked out of the room, distracted from her field research now by Discord's jab at her. "In a few years I'll be spellweaving without a second thought."

"I'm sure," he replied sarcastically.

Twilight exited the room as she was putting the book away. When she was safely outside, she removed her research journal and scribbled down her most recent observations.

Underneath she noted: Perhaps it isn't so impossible that Discord is, in fact, on the same magical level as Princess Celestia.

Eventhough Twilight was dedicated in her pet project, she did not neglect her studies. In fact, she became so enthralled in her studying sometimes that she forgot about her Discord research. She would always try to find opportunities to talk to Discord, hoping that if he became used to her presence he might be more willing to give up information.

The day after her question about Alteration Vectors Twilight took her time packing up her things after class. For once Discord was nearer to ground level at his desk, glaring at piles of paper stacked on it.

"You don't look very happy," Twilight said, hoping to spark conversation.

"Would you be happy if Celestia forced you to do all the paperwork you've refused to do for the past six months?" He said. "Oh wait, what am I saying? Of course you would."

"I certainly wouldn't mind it as much as you." She got up from her desk and put on the saddlebag.

"Why don't you do it all then?"

"I don't think so. Princess Celestia would certainly recognize my writing style - wait, Princess Celestia?"

Discord raised an eyebrow. "Yes. What's it to you?"

"Nothing it's just...I always thought Princess Luna dealt with all those kinds of things. I mean, Princess Celestia is off running Equestria isn't she?"

Discord looked at the door for a second then back at Twilight. He said, "I don't think any of it really concerns you, does it?"

"Oh...well no, I guess not. It's just curious, that's all."

"Why are you still here?"

"I'm just..." Twilight replied. "Taking my time. I only have lunch next and-"

"Well maybe you should get there before all the food is gone," he interrupted her sharply.

She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded and started toward the door. Then and idea struck her. She looked back at her professor.

"Professor Discord, is it okay if I come in here later to study?"

He looked up from his paperwork with a confused look on his face. "Why?" he asked in a heavy tone.

"Everywhere else is too crowded."

The paperwork in his claws sank slightly with a rustle. "The library is too crowded?" he asked doubtfully.

Twilight smiled sheepishly. "The library is too dim."

He looked at her suspiciously for a moment then looked down again at his work. "If you must."

She smiled. "Thanks Professor."

As Twilight trotted down the hall, she couldn't help adding a happy bounce to her hoofsteps. Back in the classroom, Discord wondered absently what the little purple unicorn was up to. Then he face-palmed. Why did he say she could come and study in his room?

"Ugh. I really am tired."

Chapter 5, Studying and Creeping and Bullying

"Professor Discord!" Twilight said in a singsong voice as she entered the classroom later that day. "Have you made a dent in that paperwork yet?"

He looked up from his desk with an annoyed look on his face. "If you're going to be in here, you're going to have to shut it."

Twilight took a desk at the front of the room. "Yes sir, Professor Discord!"

"Must you always act so happy?"

"Yes. Yes I must. Especially when studying!" She opened some books in front of her.

Discord watched her out of the corner of his eye for a moment and saw her slip a little journal from her bag. She quickly concealed it behind the bigger textbooks.

What's she hiding? he thought. He remembered overhearing her in the library, but decided that he didn't care enough to do anything about it.
Her eyes didn't move very much as she wrote some things down. They jerked up towards him and flew back to the page when she saw he was watching.

Discord looked back down at the paperwork stacked neatly on the table. Too neatly. With a quick sweep of his tail he scattered the stacks all over the desk, most the paper falling on the floor. Twilight looked up in surprise at the commotion and he smiled in satisfaction.

"That's better," he said.

"What are you doing? How are you going to able to do all that properly now?" Twilight nagged loudly. Discord scowled at her. That high-pitched, whiny tone that mares got sometimes was one that he had always hated. She said, "Oh, right. Shutting it." She looked down again and started scribbling:

Seems to have a distaste for neatness.

Half an hour later, Twilight looked up from an Alchemy book she had unintentionally gotten sucked into to find Discord napping, his head resting on the nest of pages littering his desk. She took the opportunity to observe him closely.

Twilight noticed his eagle arm dangling off the side of the desk. She looked intently at his face, making sure that he was sleeping. As quietly as she could she tiphoofed to the desk to get a closer look at his talon, becoming as still as she possibly could. She suppressed an intake of breath.

There on his palm was a tiny swirling rune, glowing with the tiniest pink aura. Twilight stared at it, memorizing the shape, color, and orientation on the claw.

She leaned forward slightly to look at it closer, but suddenly Discord's fingers twitched and he closed his claw into a fist. Twilight looked up to see Discord scowling at her and she scrambled for some kind of excuse.

"I'm sorry," She began. "I thought I saw something-"

"There's nothing to see Ms. Sparkle," he interrupted. "I think you've studied long enough, don't you?"

"I,uh...No sir." His ears twitched at her response.

"No?" He said.

"No. You see-" She trotted back to her desk. "I just got to the most fascinating chapter in my Alchemy textbook a-and I'd like to finish it." She looked down at her book and said no more. Discord rolled his eyes. She wasn't going to leave him alone for a while.

Fine, he thought. If she wants to waste her time, let her. Nevertheless, he closed his eagle palm into a tight fist and kept it close.

The sun sank lower and lower in the sky. The two creatures sat in silence in the classroom as the windows grew yellow, then orange, and finally began to sink into a reddish hue. At this point Discord finally got up, cried "THIS IS SO BORING," and snaked through the air and out the door. Twilight's gaze followed him until he disappeared around the corner.

He had picked his way slowly through the papers, throwing the ones he finished to one side in a pile. Twilight began packing away her things. As she was leaving the room, she paused. She looked back at the pile of papers and thought for a moment about tidying them up. Discord's messiness had been bothering her the whole time.

Her horn illuminated, but she stopped herself, letting it dim again. "No," she said. "He likes it that way." She turned and left the room.

The hallway was deserted, as was the rest of the area. As she made her way down to the dining hall, though, she started to encounter more and more ponies. Soon she was surrounded with loud students, all of them gabbing with gossip or giggling. She noticed many of them glance at her and laugh to each other as she passed. She rolled her eyes and took out a book to flip through as she walked. If they had something to say to her, she wondered, why they didn't just say it?

But she wondered too soon. Suddenly a white form stepped in front of her and Twilight collided with a mare. She stepped back and recognized Ruby Spice.

Her appearance fit her name perfectly, but Twilight saw that even though her mane and tail were deep red, her eyebrows were brown. Mane dye. Her white coat also smelled faintly of bleach, her eyes were laden with black mascara, and her ears were studded with red ruby earrings.

Ruby must have had an expensive lifestyle. Twilight glanced at the other mares standing around and saw that they didn't appear to be much different from Ruby.

"Pardon me," Twilight said. "I didn't mean to run into you."

"Watch where you're going, Fatflank!" Ruby said loudly. Twilight's ear twitched in surprise at the sudden insult, and she heard subtle giggling around her. She took a step back and tried to go around Ruby, but she blocked Twilight's path again. "Watcha' readin' Scholarship?"

"Would you stop? My name is Twilight Sparkle-"

"PFFT!" Ruby lashed out a hoof and Twilight's book went flying. It landed with a thud a distance away, the pages folding uncomfortably against the stone floor.

"Hey!" Twilight cried. She tried to scramble for the book but several ponies blocked her. She suddenly became locked inside a circle of students with Ruby. They were all watching her, smiling with excitement.

"Come on Scholarship," Ruby said, her horn illuminating with a reddish pink hue. "You think you're the best at magical arts, huh?"

"What? No I-"

"Let's see how good you are at destruction magic!" Her horn grew bright and Twilight could feel heat coming off of it in waves. There was a burst of flames, and a little orb of fire burned above Ruby's head.

"Wait, hold on a second-"

Ruby reared in the air and sliced her horn through the air like a blade. The fireball flew from her and hit Twilight squarely in the face.

Luckily, Ruby's destruction magic wasn't as impressive as she thought it was; when it hit Twilight it flew apart and the flames sputtered out. Twilight felt little more than an extremely hot burst of air.

She stumbled back, mostly from the surprise of the blow. She looked up and was immediately hit again by another poorly summoned fireball. Then another, and another, and another. The bombardment continued, and even though it didn't hurt very much, it was very annoying, like being constantly hit with a pillow at a slumber party. Twilight tried to reason with Ruby.

"Would-OOF-you-GAH-AH-RUBY-OOF!" Twilight slipped and fell, and she heard a fresh round of laughter from the wall of students around her. Why did they think this was so funny?

With the continued bombardment of Ruby's spell interrupting her and the chanting of all the ponies around them, no pony heard Twilight say anything at all.

"Just-OOF! Would you-STOP!"

Twilight's horn burst with a blinding white light. Without meaning to Twilight summoned protective icy bubble, and she was suddenly safe behind its walls. Through the pale blue sheen she heard the crowd groan and jeers of "That's not fair!" "Coward!" "You can't just hide!" "Show off!"

Ruby smiled cruelly and approached the bubble. "You think you can hide from me in there?" she said. She stepped close to Twilight's defensive spell and shivered when she felt the coldness coming from it. "Only a coward hides from a battle, Scholarship! Coward! Coward!"

The crowd joined in until Twilight was surrounded by the word. She scowled and thought about what to do. She certainly wasn't going to sit there and listen to all this nonsense.

The bubble suddenly dissipated and Twilight ran. She picked up her book with magic and plowed through the line of ponies. They hadn't been expecting her sudden flight, so she was able to get free easily.

Her hoofsteps echoed on the stone as she ran away, as did the cries of "coward" that continued to ring at her retreating shape.

Twilight sat in the dining all with a book open beside her, as always. That way she didn't have to look up at anypony and no pony would bother her. And she liked to read, so it was a win-win.

As she munched away at her dinner she heard a large group of ponies come in. They were making a racket with all their loud gossipy voices, and Twilight couldn't help but glance up. It was Ruby Spice and her group of friends. She ignored Twilight completely, and Twilight immediately lowered her eyes back to her book.

Behind her, Twilight heard two mares talking. "Oh, there's Ruby Spice," said one.

"Did you go to the party she had last night?" said the other groggily.

"No. You did, didn't you? I can tell."

"It was awesuuuum...I'm still hung over though."

"Jeeze, what did she give you?"

"I don't know...but it was awesome."

Twilight rolled her eyes. She didn't understand what was so appealing about parties like that.

A young unicorn colt was exiting the restroom when a bucket full of jelly landed on his head. He yelped in surprise, and heard chuckling from somewhere above him.

"Featherwing is that - oh," his voice hardened. "Professor Discord."

"And a fine day to you, Mr. Frost. How are you liking your grape jelly?"

Frost merely grumbled in annoyance. Normally he'd punish anypony that tried to mess with him, but he couldn't exactly start yelling at a teacher, let alone that Discord guy.

"Oh fine, be like that! And I was going to offer you some toast to go along with it!"

Not willing to bear any more humiliation by the professor, Frost ducked back into the restroom to wash off of the sticky purple mess on his head. Discord left his perch near the ceiling and snaked down the hall laughing. It was nice to pull of a little prank on the students now and again.

The glee of the moment never lasted long, however. Discord was soon overcome with the familiar boredom and tiredness that had plagued him ever since he came to Celestial Academy. He sighed, simply too tired to feel sorry for himself at the moment. He considered going to his chambers and trying to rest-

"Whoa, whoa, what was that?" He said.

Discord stopped midair and backed up a few feet. There was something on the ground. Or rather, there had been something on the ground. A spell. He could feel the remnants of it as he passed by.

"Hm." He grumbled as he lowered himself toward a spot in the middle of the hallway.

There was a tiny buzzing in the air, nearly unnoticeable even to him. When he touched the spot on the stone floor, Discord could feel a slight chill. A temperature-based defense spell had been cast there recently, but by who?

It couldn't have been one of the teachers; even if one of them was demonstrating a combat spell they wouldn't have done so in the middle of the hallway. But what student could be capable of conjuring a spell of that strength?

"Actually," he mumbled to himself, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly. He could think of only one.

Chapter 6, Runes

"Professor Discord~!" Twilight sang loudly into the classroom. Her final class had ended and she found herself with some free time. So why not make a little progress on her pet project?

"Ugh. You again?"

"YEP!" She said happily. "Me again, sir! Still not done with your paperwork, I see."

Discord wasn't sure to think her friendly approach to him as annoying or cute. He remembered the last time she studied there, when he woke up to find her studying his palm.

Did she see the mark? He wondered. She's up to something. What does she want from me?

"Oh, are they serving chocolate milk in the cafeteria?" she asked, breaking his train of thought. She was referring to a glass of said beverage that was sitting on top of the papers on his desk.

"Don't spill any on that paperwork! Princess Celestia would be pretty mad if-"

"What do you want, Miss Sparkle?" He said, a trace of venom in his voice. She blinked his surprise.

"Oh, I just-"

"You're not here to study more, are you?"

"No, don't worry about that. I just came to say hello."

"Hello?"

"Yes. Hello!"

"...is that it?"

"Well, that, and I wanted to ask you something."

Here it is. He thought. "Ask me what?"

"I was wondering about your time here at Celestial Academy. Professor Starling said you were here before she was and I was just curious. Did you always want to work here? What made you come here? Did you study here as a student once or-"

"Ugh," he interrupted her. "For the love of - why would you possibly care about that?"

"I just wanted to know more about you, that's all."

"Sparkle," He abruptly rose from his desk, frustrated. "Would you just leave me alone? My life is none of your business. I have no interest in being friends with you, or anyone at this school for that matter. My job is to sit here and teach talentless, stuck-up ponies magic tricks. And now I have to sit through this boring paperwork for the next few hours. I don't have time for you ridiculous questions."

There was a moment of silence between them. Then Twilight cocked her head to one side and said,

"So you're not going to tell me anything about yourself?"

"No."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nope."

"Well then." She stood a bit taller and smiled. "I'll just have to try harder, then."

Discord groaned and sank into his chair. He furrowed his brows at Twilight's smile. Sighing, he rested his face on his giant lion paw and shut his eyes. Twilight noticed how tired he looked. Had those circles under his eyes always been there?

"Sir?" She said quietly.

He didn't respond. Peering at him, Twilight noticed that he had fallen asleep. She glanced at his eagle claw, but it was closed tightly and drawn up close to his body.

She stood there a moment, then tiphoofed out of the classroom, quietly shutting the door behind her. She got out her research journal and scribbled:

Professor Discord has dark circles under his eyes, and he seems to nap whenever he can, or at least when he's bored. Why is he always so tired? She paused, then started a new line. I should try to find a rune that matches the one on his palm. (See sketch on the previous page.)

She was about to close it when she decided to add a small note: Professor Discord has a taste for chocolate milk, it would seem.

"Best not leave even the smallest of details out."

Just as she had promised her journal, Twilight began to investigate the rune. Instead of going to the library, she instead sought out Professor Mordra, the Runic Studies teacher.

Mordra was a pretty Earth mare with a sandy colored coat and black mane. She reminded Twilight a bit of Daring Do, except her cutie mark was an ancient rune. Twilight recognized it as the rune for the number 7.

"Can I help you, miss?" she asked as she looked up from a book on her desk.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am. My name is Twilight Sparkle-"

"Twilight Sparkle? You're the one that got the scholarship, am I right?"

"Wow, does everypony know about that?"

"Well it's kind of a big deal, dear. But forgive me, I'm sure your sick of hearing about it. Can I help you?"

"Do you have a moment?"

"Of course."

Not willing to show Mordra her research journal, Twilight drew the rune on a scrap piece of parchment and showed it to the professor.

"I was looking for a rune that looks something like this, or similar to it. I'm not sure if this sketch is one-hundred percent accurate."

When Mordra saw the drawing she blinked in surprise and peered at it closely. Her eyebrows knit together and she studied it for a few more moments. Finally she said,

"This almost looks like - Where did you find this?"

"Looks like what?" Twilight asked eagerly.

Mordra sat back in her chair and thought for a moment, then got up and scoured one of her nearby bookshelves. Finally she pulled out a very large and very old book. There were several pieces of parchment sticking out from the edges that Twilight guessed were notes.

Mordra opened the book and took out of these notes. She held it up for Twilight to see. It was a rune very similar to Twilight's sketch, with a few small differences in detail.

"That's it!" Twilight said. "What is it?"

"This is an ancient rune called Cuig Deigon. It was used mainly as binding agent..." she trailed off.

"A binding agent?"

"Yes. Like...unicorns used it to...bind a powerful spell to an individual."

Twilight's smile faltered. "Wait. You mean...You mean like a curse?"

Mordra winced at the word. "I don't like using the word 'curse'. Runes have a bad reputation for being used in dark magic, but that's not all there is to them." Her voice took on an insistent tone. "Runes have been more often used in beneficial, good magic rather than in harmful spells. Just because a few terrible ponies decided to use runes as tools for their schemes doesn't mean-"

"But what about this rune, Professor?" Twilight interrupted. She began to feel tendrils of worry in her chest. "Was it used for a curse?"

Mordra looked down at the illustration, trying to fight the look of defeat on her face. "It's hard to say, Ms. Sparkle. This rune was used eons ago. Research can only take us so far, and Cuig Deigon is kind of like the pony-tale of the runic community. There have been countless studies on it, but not much is known. But, if I had to guess," She frowned and looked up at Twilight, "I'd say yes. This rune was probably once used in a curse, and a very powerful one at that."

"Professor..." Twilight trailed off. She didn't know what to say. Professor Discord...is cursed?

"Oh miss Sparkle please! Please don't let this ruin your outlook on ancient runes," Mordra said in desperation. She hated it when ponies looked at her work and saw only taboo.

"Look here!" She said hopefully, trotting over to her bookcase. "Read this, Ancient Runes Made Easy by Zoo. I think you'll find runes quite interesting."

"Oh. Thank you, Professor Mordra." She took the book absentmindedly. "I was thinking about taking Ancient Runes next semester. I'm already in Ancient Text and Scroll Studies."

"And a fine class it is. If you like that then you'll love Ancient Runes." Mordra wore an enthusiastic smile, and Twilight did her best to return it.

"I should get going. Thank you again, Professor Mordra."

Twilight lazily flipped through the rune book in her room as she on the purple cushions by her window, lost in thought. Despite Mordra's insistence, the word 'curse' kept coming back to her. Sighing, she closed the book, having long since stopped paying attention to the words. She got out her research journal and began to write.

1. Draconequus. Possibly has as much magical power as the Princesses.
2. Has a rune on his palm that is most likely Cuig Deigon.
3. Is always tired.
4. Has been here for a long time.
5. Likes disorder.

Professor Mordra said that Cuig Deigon was used in ancient times, most likely for a curse. Does this mean that Discord is far older than he appears, like the Princesses (which would support item #1), or is the one that cursed him simply using ancient magic?
It is entirely possible that it's not a curse mark at all, but he seems very keen to keep it hidden.
His tiredness could be a side effect of the curse, or maybe he's simply overworked. He did have a lot of unfinished paperwork. Maybe he's choosing to do all of it at night for some reason.

Oh, also
6. Likes chocolate milk

Perhaps he's drinking chocolate milk to help him sleep like a filly drinks warm milk before bed?

"What am I even doing?" She asked herself, yawning. "It's late."

Twilight put down her quill and looked out the window at the school grounds. The moon was high in the sky now and it cast a beautiful watery light over everything. Twilight was admiring the night when a swift shadow suddenly caught the corner of her eye, disappearing behind the stone as quickly as it had appeared. She searched the grounds below her.

"What was that?"

Twilight peered into the shadows, searching for whatever was sneaking around the grounds. She never could stand it when ponies broke rules. It was long after curfew, after all. But the longer she searched the quieter things seemed to become. There was nothing out there.

"Huh. Must have just been a raccoon or something~" she yawned. She rubbed her eyes and remembered the dark circles under Professor Discord's. "I wonder if he'll sleep at all tonight."

She crawled under the covers of her bed, mumbling to herself, "I hope so."

Chapter 7 - Dropping Those Eaves

Twilight took a deep breath, drinking in the crisp morning air as she walked down the campus paths. She had awoken that morning well rested and she made her way to the dining hall with a confident swagger in her step. She was determined to find out more about Discord that day, perhaps figure out his curse. Why would he be cursed in the first place? Who cursed him? Is he even cursed at all?

Twilight shook her head free of all the questions rising in her mind. She didn’t want to overwhelm herself, at least not before breakfast.

As she was passing a large fountain she spotted Professor Discord laying on a large stone bench. She stopped.

“Professor Discord! Good Morning!”

“Ms. Sparkle,” he acknowledged.

“Where’s your tie?” She asked. His neck was completely bare. It was odd to see him without it.

He grumbled something unintelligible then said “It’s still in my room. I’ll have to put it back on soon, I guess.”

“What?” Twilight said, noticing his disdainful tone. “You don’t like it?”

He shrugged half-heartedly. Twilight noticed that his eyes looked no less tired than the last time she saw them.

“Well, I think it looks dashing,” she said.

“Ukg-he,” it was a half groan half chuckle. “There’s one I’ve never heard before.”

Twilight smiled and shook her head at the Draconequus. “Why do you wear it, then?”

“It’s a stupid dress-code policy thing. If I had my way I’d just-” He suddenly cut off. His head shot up and Twilight to jumped a little bit in surprise. His ears swiveled around as if he was trying to place a small noise.

Then his eyebrows knit together and he groaned.

“Sparkle,” he bid.

Discord lifted from his bench and slithered off, leaving Twilight alone in the courtyard. She raised an eyebrow and listened closely to the air, but heard nothing. She shrugged and trotted off.

Twilight munched away at some morning toast and tea in the dining hall, surrounded with empty seats with a book open next to her, as usual. It was the Rune book that Mordra had given her. Twilight was finding it to be very fascinating, but personally thought use of runes in modern day magic to be outdated and inefficient.

She was studying the shapes of some commonly used Runes when from somewhere near her she heard some ponies talking.

“Did you hear? Princess Celestia is here!”

Twilight paused mid-bite and pricked her ears.

“No way! How do you know?” another pony said.

“I saw her carriage outside, and her royal guards. They were wearing the golden armor and everything!”

“Wow. What do you think she’s doing here?”

“I dunno. This is her school, though, right? She’s got to visit once in awhile.”

Twilight was already gone. The table was even emptier than before, and the tea sat alone, going cold, wondering if it had done something wrong.

Twilight scurried down the hall. Princess Celestia was in the building, and Twilight’s face lit up at the thought of seeing her beloved mentor again. It had been months since she had last seen the Princess.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed her!”

She galloped down corridors, letting her legs guide her. She found herself near Luna’s office, which was even nicer than the offices and classrooms in the lower floors. She heard a familiar, if muffled, voice coming from behind the shiny wooden door.

Twilight nearly bolted through the door, but stopped herself. It was extremely rude to barge in like that, especially if it was the Princess in there. Listening, Twilight recognized Luna’s voice as well. She decided not to interrupt the two sisters and to wait outside instead.

She stood there a moment, wondering if she could sit down somewhere nearby to wait. The door was cracked open slightly, and Celestia’s and Luna’s voices leaked through.

“Luna, I saw the night sky last night. Absolutely wondrous.”

“Thank you, sister. I was especially proud of NGC 604. He shone beautifully.”

“NGC...?”

“Um. The Triangulum Galaxy. At least part of it.”

“Ah...”

“Yes.”

“Well, it was a beautiful night, Luna. I only hope you’re getting enough sleep these days. I mean, with the nighttime duties and all these students during the day-”

“Don’t worry, Celestia. I’ve been handling over a zillion stars, nebulas, and galaxies for centuries. A few young ponies are no trouble at all. Besides, I find that I don’t need much sleep these days.”

“Speaking of sleep, how are you faring, Discord?”

Twilight suddenly went rigid. Discord was in there? She leaned towards the door.

What are you doing!? she thought. That’s eavesdropping! Get away from that door right now young lady. Now. NOW! Bad! Bad Twilight!

She couldn’t make herself leave. Instead she listened to his voice ring through the door.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Come now, Discord-” Celestia began.

“Come now Discord” he mocked her. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

“You are my business, Discord. Or have you forgotten who-”

“What? Who what? Who cursed me?” His voice was steadily rising with anger. “How could I forget?”

“That’s enough, Discord.” Celestia said. “How long has it been? Centuries? I had hoped that you would have changed by now.”

“Neither you nor I have changed in the slightest, my dear. Our immortality does not grant us the luxury of growth. You’ve acquired more colors in your mane, though.”

“That’s not true, Discord. We’ve all grown and changed over the years. You at least seem a bit more docile than you once were.”

“Don’t think that for a second, Celestia. If I seem more ‘tame’ than I was a thousand years ago, it’s because this blasted curse you’ve put me under. It’s exhausting.”

“Well I very well couldn’t let you keep your powers, Discord.”

“You could have at least set up a spell that didn’t prevent me from getting a good night’s sleep!” There was a moment of silence. He said quietly, “I haven’t slept for...” He trailed off, then sighed.

“Perhaps you would prefer imprisonment by stone-”

“NO!” Twilight jumped at the sudden angry shout. Discord said again, more quietly, “No.”

“Then stop whining.” Celestia’s tone was firm. “You brought this upon yourself. If you refuse to become a lawful, functioning citizen of Equestria then your only choices are imprisonment or your continued service here.”

“Or,” he growled. “I could wait. Prior to popular belief I can be quite a patient creature, Celestia. Your time on the throne will end someday.”

“I don’t see how my downfall would help you. That spell will hold even after I’ve gone.”

Twilight strained her ears. She knew that she had already heard too much, but she forgot how to move. The Draconequus was silent for a long time. Finally he said, “You must be loving this. Seeing me so darn tired all the time. Powerless.”

“A little bit, yes.”

“You’ve no idea what it’s like, Celestia. I had everything, infinite power, and endless amount of abilities. I was the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony itself, for goodness sake!.” Twilight’s ear twitched.

“You still are.”

“Ha. Are you actually trying to make me feel better, or are you being sarcastic? You’re as bad as I am, Celestia. Worse. I’d never even threaten to turn ponies into stone. I’d never take somepony’s powers away like this.”

“We both know that’s not true.” Celestia replied.

“Quite. It was worth a try, though.”

“Are you at least finding teaching...interesting?”

“HA! The only thing I find remotely interesting here is the increasing stupidity of the students as generations go by. Pranks are no fun anymore. They’re not nearly as amazing without my powers.”

“We should stop talking about this, we don’t want anypony overhearing these things.”

Twilight’s heart rate suddenly skyrocketed. She got away from the door as fast as she could without making any noise. As she was sneaking madly down the hallway she thought,

Oh goodness! She knew! She totally knew I was eavesdropping! What if Discord knew too!? Oh God! How am I going to face him in class today???

Her pace gradually slowed, and when she was finally walking with a relaxed pace down a hallway that was on the other side of campus she began to process everything she heard.

So Discord is cursed. And he’s...he’s...

“The spirit of Disharmony?” She whispered to herself.

He was far more than a creature of great magical power. He was the earthly manifestation of Chaos, a spirit. Some would even say a god. At least he was.

“Until Celestia took his power away with a curse.” She took out her journal and began to write down everything she heard. “A curse using Cuig Deigon. That makes sense.”

She scribbled away at the page, but soon her quill was still again. She stared into the pages without seeing them.

What do I do now?

She wasn’t expecting this. Her little research project had gotten so much bigger than she anticipated.

“What should I do now?” She mumbled to herself. “Continue researching? There’s plenty to find out about what happened before the curse.” She began to walk, using magic to pack her journal away. “And about the curse itself. But...Princess Celestia was the one who cursed him. She must have had a good reason. She’s not the type of pony to treat curses lightly. Whatever he did...It must have been terrible.”

She shuddered. What could he have done to drive Celestia to curse him?

Perhaps it would be best if I distance myself from him. He could be dangerous.

She looked up to see the door to an Alchemy lab before her. She recognized the number as her first period classroom. Twilight had made her way to class without even knowing it.

She suddenly realized the emptiness of the hallways and muffled jargon of gossiping students behind the door.

She was almost thankful for the embarrassment of entering the room fifteen minutes late. It was a nice distraction.

Her first two classes passed in a haze. Twilight wasn’t paying any attention to the lessons, not that she needed to. She was too absorbed in her thoughts about Discord. More than once did her professors ask her a question, to which she would respond with a nonsense answer. Finally it came time to go to Alteration class.

Twilight didn’t quite register where she was until she looked up to see Professor Discord lounging by his desk like always, as if nothing had changed. Technically, nothing had changed. Twilight was just aware of what he was now.

“You’re staring at me again, Twilight Sparkle.” He said.

Her mind snapped back to reality, and she drew in a breath like she was going to say something, but no words came. She let the breath out in a sigh.

“Sparkle?”

“Um. Sorry, Professor Discord.” Does he know I was eavesdropping?

She turned away from him and took her seat as the rest of her classmates trickled in. Discord watched her out of the corner of his eye.

What’s gotten into her today? He wondered, then immediately shook the thought away. Why should he even care?

The bell rang and class began. Twilight sat at her desk, not willing to look up at the teacher.
What if he knows I was eavesdropping? What if he knows that I know that he’s the spirit of Disharmony?
Finally she worked up the courage to lift her head and face the Draconequus. Looking at him was strange now that she knew what he was.

But then every one of his movements became meaningful. A twitch of the ear, the droop of a claw. In every one she read something new by the light of her discovery.

So he did something bad. But does that mean he’s...evil? Twilight gazed at her professor, not hearing a word of the lesson. She saw again the circles beneath his eyes. Looking closely she noticed a the slightest slump in his posture, as if he was being weighed down by his exhaustion.

We all make mistakes, after all.

She looked into his gold and crimson eyes and again saw an unwavering tiredness. A sparkle of amusement flashed over the glassy surface as he teased a student who had answered a question wrong.

”I haven’t slept since..,” What he said in Luna’s office came back to her.

Since when? She thought. It must have been a very long time indeed since he slept properly.
Twilight tried to think back. She couldn’t think of a time she saw him well-rested.

Once when she was just starting out at Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, she had spent a whole night preparing for a test. She didn’t get a minute of sleep and the next day she was slow, achey, and felt like she had an awful cold.

She tried to multiply the feeling of that day a few times, and figured that might be what Discord was feeling.
But it’s not just that he’s tired. She thought. He doesn’t like it here. He doesn’t like the students, though to be fair, She glanced at some of the ponies around her. I can understand why.

“Sparkle,” Twilight shot up in her seat and faced forward to find Discord glaring at her. Oh God, he knows.

“Sir.”

He sighed in exasperation when she said nothing more. “You weren’t even listening to the question were you?”

“I uh...No. No I was not, sir.” She fought the urge to sigh with relief.

“Ugh,” he grumbled. “I had hoped the scholarship student wouldn’t be as completely dim witted as the rest of these...dimwits - ugh, I don’t have the energy to do this right now. Just pay attention, will you?”

“Y-yes sir.”

Discord gave her a weird look for the stutter, then returned to the board and continued the lesson. Twilight did her best to pay attention to what the Draconequus was saying but she always ended up staring blankly at him. Finally the final bell rang and everypony slowly made their way out the door. Before she left, Twilight paused to glance back at her teacher.

He was sitting at his desk with that incredibly bored look on his face, playing with a pencil, trying to make it stand on its tip. In light of everything, Twilight could see past what most ponies would see as idle boredom. It was more than that.
Discord was completely, utterly miserable.

Misery was never something Twilight could ignore. She stood up confidently and trotted out the door. She had a new goal.

The Princess said she wanted him to change. I think the first step to his reform is to make him feel better, and what pony better suited for a most difficult and classified task than Celestia’s most faithful student?

Chapter 8 - Kindness

Discord stared at the water dancing in the fountain in front of him, trying very hard not to think about anything. He was able to achieve a completely empty mind after a few minutes and remained in a zombie-like state for about twenty minutes before a shrill cry of “Good afternoon Professor Discord!” almost made him jump out of his skin.

“Oh~sorry. Did I startle you?” Twilight said.

“No.” Discord grumbled. She had, of course, but he wasn’t about to admit it. If he hadn’t been so tired he would have been able to see her coming. “What do you want?”

She shook her head. “Just saying hello. I’m heading to the library to check out a book. Then a long afternoon of studying!”

“Fascinating. Please tell me more.” To his disappointment she only smiled at the sarcasm.

“Here you go, professor,” she held up a bottle of chocolate milk using magic. “I bought two. I was going to save them for my study session, but you can have one.”

Discord was more confused at the bottle than anything else. He simply stared at it, one eyebrow cocked. Twilight didn’t wait for him to say anything.

“Well, I’m off. Good day, Professor!” She trotted off and Discord watched, frustrated that he couldn’t think of one snide thing to say. When she had gone he looked back down at the bottle next to him, then returned his gaze to the fountain.

“Well, that was odd.” He said to himself.

Twilight crouched behind one of the many columns surrounding the grassy courtyard, peeking out at Discord. He just sat there, staring into the fountain.

“Come on, sir.” She whispered. “Drink the milk. You love chocolate milk. It’s right there. Just sitting right there. Just...pick it up...”

Discord rubbed his eye, trying to wake himself up. “Come on, Discord.” he said to himself. “Don’t be such a wimp. It’s just a little sleep deprivation.” He stretched, his long spine cracking in several places. The little bottle caught his eye.

Truth be told he was kind of thirsty. He glanced around just to be sure the little purple pony wasn’t in sight, then picked the bottle up with his claw. Twilight squeezed herself so far into the shady base of the column it’s a miracle she didn’t get stuck.
She held her breath as she watched him take a sip.

“Huh,” he mumbled. “That’s weird.” It tasted funny.

Please, please, please, she prayed. Don’t notice the chamomile I put in it.

He read the label on the glass and scowled. “Oh. It’s off-brand,” he said in disappointment. “Eh.” He emptied the bottle anyway, throwing it carelessly into the bushes when he was done.

Twilight fought every urge to giggle and jump with victory. She watched him fly away then crept her way out of the shadows.

Discord slumped over in his chair. He tugged at the tie around his neck and occupied his mind with thoughts of what he had to do that day. He sneered. He despised all this work. It’s not like the students would learn anything, and it wasn’t any fun at all.

“Professor Discord!”

He groaned at the familiar voice and slammed his head down on the desk. “Whyyyy. Why!” He didn’t even lift his head to look at the door. “Twilight Sparkle. You don’t even have this class today.”

“There’s class today?”

“Sometimes classes have to be scheduled for Saturday to accommodate some students’ busy schedules...ugh. What do you want, Sparkle?”

She leaned forward, squinting her eyes and observing him closely. “Are you okay, sir?”

“I’m fine,” he growled. Scowling at her. “what do you want?”

“Are you sure? You look tired.”

He glanced up at her momentarily. “Go away."

“How did you like the milk?”

“It wasn’t my brand.”

“Oh.” Twilight frowned.

“Ha. I see," Discord said. "Trying to bribe me with chocolate milk to get my life story, huh?”

“No that’s not - I just had an extra...”

“Get out. Class is starting.” Twilight almost winced at the sharpness of the command.

She tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came. “Have a good day sir.” She smiled and slipped out of the room as the first students started filing in.

Twilight returned to her room, but not before making two stops. First she went to the infirmary to ask the lovely nurse that worked there for more chamomile.

“Didn’t I already give you some?” She asked. The mare was a unicorn, short and slightly plump with soft pink mane and a pale gray coat. Her cutie mark was a series of three red crosses.

“Yes, but I’m trying to perfect an alchemy recipe and I used it all up.”

“Oh I see,” She trotted over to a group of white cabinets and started to rummage through them. “What kind of potion is it? Chamomile works best in relaxation potions.”

“Yes! Yes, it’s a relaxation potion.”

The nurse used her magic to pull a jar of chamomile out from the cabinet and began spooning a generous amount of it into a smaller jar.

“Trying to deal the stress of your studies, huh?" she said. "Some would call that drug abuse.”

“No! No! Not at all! I take my studying seriously and budget my time accordingly. I don’t really get stressed out enough to-”

“Calm down dear, I was only joking.” She capped the small jar and brought it over to Twilight. “Do be careful, though. There have been cases of overdose on relaxation potions, and if brewed incorrectly it could do serious harm.”

“Don’t worry it’s nothing that potent. But I’ll be careful.”
“Good. Here you are.”

“Thanks Nurse Rosemary.” Twilight took the jar and trotted out of the infirmary. On her way back to her room she stopped by the cafeteria to pick up a few more bottles of milk.

She was just leaving when a spunky mare with orange mane suddenly blocked her path.

“Hey there!” She cried, a huge smile on her face. “The big dance is next week! Make sure you get your fancy-wear together!” She pushed a flyer into Twilight and bounced away without giving her the chance to say anything.

Twilight took a look at the flyer. It was just as the mare said, there was a big school dance happening next Saturday in the grand hall.
“I didn’t even know this school had dances.” She shrugged, folded the flyer, and continued on her way.

When she was in the safety of her dorm room she began blending the chamomile into the chocolate milks, making sure to put a higher dosage.

When she was done she recapped the bottles and gave them a good shake. “There. Maybe that will be enough this time.” She summoned a small chilling orb and placed the bottles inside. “There. That will keep you nice and cold until Monday.”

Twilight spent the rest of the day studying, as usual. When it came time to put down her book, she tucked the flyer for the dance into the pages as a bookmark. She looked at it a moment.

“Hm...” After a moment she shook her head at the flyer and closed the book over it.

She had read her way through the sunset, which would have looked beautiful from her window. She sufficed to get a view of the night sky before heading to bed. As she was observing the light dancing on the water of one of the fountains, a dark shape suddenly darted by it.

"What was that?" She gasped, pressing her face against the glass. After a moment the shape returned. It floated around a moment, then settled it's serpentine shape into one of the benches.

"Discord?" She whispered. He was far away, but there was no mistaking that long body with mismatched wings and horns. It was definitely Discord. He just sat there and looked into the fountain. Twilight sighed. "Oh, Professor. You really need to get some sleep."

She stayed up a while, thinking he might slither off to his room at some point, but he just hung around the fountain. Eventually Twilight was too tired to keep spying on him and went to sleep herself.

When Monday came around Twilight tucked the bottle of chocolate milk into her bag and sat through Alteration class.. After everypony had left, she held up the bottle to Discord. She received a heavy eye-roll in return.

“It’s your brand this time - I think.”

“I don’t want it, Sparkle.”

“Sure you do!” She set the milk down and started for the door. “Good day, Professor!”

Discord sighed heavily when she had gone. The milk was there. I might as well drink it, he though. He uncapped the drink and was about to take a sip when he stopped. It smelled odd. He took a small swig. That taste. It was the same as before, but stronger. He knew that taste.

“That’s chamomile.”

Twilight trotted down the path that skirted the inner courtyard of the Academy. It was a beautiful day, and all the gardens were bursting with life beneath the bright yellow sun. Students lounged on the lawn and sat by the fountains. Twilight saw a pair of mares playing in the water before a teacher nagged them out with threats of detention.

She was passing by one of the bigger gardens when something swept through the air and caught her eye. Stepping out onto the grass, she looked up and saw Professor Discord sitting on the stone above. His pinkish red tail was sweeping back and forth was probably what had caught her attention.

He seemed to be watching something amusing, so she asked "What are you doing, Professor?"

"Ah, Miss Sparkle," he said. "You're just in time to see Bastion partake in his daily courting ritual. It's kind of hilarious."

"Courting ritual? What are you talking-"

Twilight followed his gaze and saw a strong looking unicorn standing in front of a scrawny pegasus. It didn't take much observation for Twilight to realize the unicorn was picking on the little one. Every so often he'd glance back at a group of mares and flash a devilish smile at them, often received with overly girlish giggles.

"Oh," she said in a heavy tone. "I see."

"Why so disapproving, Sparkle?"

"It doesn't make any sense to me," she said, scowling. "I mean, why would those mares think that guy is attractive for picking on that pegasus?"

"Don't ask me. Women are one of the great mysteries of the world."

She rolled her eyes. "Apparently. I'm a mare and even I don't get it. How did you like the milk?” She changed the subject rather suddenly. Discord handed her the recapped bottle. It was still full.

“I’m not a fan of chamomile-flavored milk.”

Twilight took the bottle back. “Chamomile? That’s weird I didn’t even know they made chamomile flavored-”

“They don’t.”

“Oh. Well...then how-”

“You’re an awful liar, Sparkle.” Discord didn’t look at her. His gaze was fixed on the fight.

Twilight tried to think of what to say. “Are...Are you sure you don’t want-”

“Keep your drugged milk, Sparkle. I don’t want it.”

“It could help-”

“No. It couldn’t.” He used that venomous tone again, and Twilight wasn’t sure how to continue.

“I see.” She said quietly, returning her own gaze to the fight.

They both watched as Bastion's taunts became more and more forceful. Suddenly he gave the pegasus a threatening push. When the pegasus did nothing in return Bastion pushed again, this time with enough force to knock the little pony on the ground.

Twilight let out a disgusted noise. "Alright, I can't take this anymore." She started toward the ponies.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm putting a stop to this."

"Why? You won't get any thanks for it." She paused at his words and gave him a quick look before continuing on.

Discord watched as Twilight broke up the fight. He couldn't quite hear what she was saying, his tiredness often affected his hearing, but the way she was scolding Bastion reminded him of an overprotective mother. Bastion shook his head and went on his way, making sure that the mares were following him before departing completely.

Twilight turned around to see to the little pegasus when he suddenly yelled "YOU STUPID MARE!"

That, Discord did hear.

"THANKS A LOT!" he continued. "Now everypony thinks I need a mare to defend me. And not just that! YOU! The scholarship mare." He spit it like it was a curse word.

"I was trying to help you-" Twilight began.

"I don't need your help!!! Get out of my way frizz-face!"

The pegasus plowed past Twilight and retreated into the school. She made her way back to where Discord sat, neither defeat nor sadness in her expression.

"I told you he wouldn't be grateful," Discord said.

"I know," Twilight said. "I knew he wouldn't be. I actually kind of expected him to say something like that."

Discord's ears twitched in surprise. "Then why did you help him at all?"

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully as she began to walk away. "I guess..." She trailed off.

"What?"

She looked at him. "I guess sometimes we all need to be shown a little kindness, even if we're not grateful for it."

Discord sat in silence as she walked away. After she disappeared around a corner he said to himself,

"Meh. Sounds froo-frooey to me."

He lit from his perch and slithered off in the opposite direction.

Saturday nights were a popular time for students to throw parties, and the following Saturday was no exception. There were plenty of quiet, harmless get-togethers happening around campus, but students like Ruby Spice often held parties too. There was always loud music and questionable substances involved. If she wasn't so good at hiding and running, the faculty would have caught Ruby by now and put an end to these extravaganzas.

It just so happened that Ruby decided to throw her party that Saturday in the lounge of Twilight's dorm building. Someone had slipped something in Ms. Emerald's tea and she was out cold in her room. Had Twilight known that they had done such a thing she would have never associated them. When she returned from a late afternoon at the library she found the air pulsing with painful music and the whole lounge clogged with students. The music sounded muffled from outside; someone must have cast a soundproofing spell. A poor soundproofing spell, perhaps, but it worked well enough to make the music less conspicuous.

Twilight would have quickly made her way up to her room if Ruby hadn't spotted her.

"Twilight Sparkle!" She cried with delight. Twilight raised an eyebrow as the mare approached with a friendly smile. "Hey, there, girl. Glad you could make it."

"Make it?" Twilight asked. "Sorry, I-"

"Hey everypony Twilight's here!" Twilight tensed up as everypony in the room started greeting her and smiling. It all felt wrong.

She was swept up in a flurry of ponies all inviting her to dance, talk, hang out, sit here, sit there, try the cake, and so on. Twilight had no idea what to do with it all. She just stood, listening to all the yelled conversations swirling around her and tossing out timid answers whenever someone asked about her day, her studies, her favorite subject, and such. Why was everyone making such a fuss?
Suddenly Ruby called, "Hey Benny, get my friend Twilight some punch for me, would you?"

"Punch?" Twilight said. "No, I don't need any-"

"Here you go, Twi," A cup of cheery pink liquid was placed in her hooves. "Try it, it's great!"

Now my dear reader, you are probably thinking that there is no way that Twilight would drink a random drink given to her by a group of ponies that has openly disliked her, sometimes violently so. What you must understand that when one is placed in an environment of overwhelming peer pressure, one is driven to actions that one would never take under normal circumstances. If you were hanging out with your friends on the street, for instance, and each one one of them was smoking a cigarette, you would be inclined to do so yourself even without them pressuring you.

So please understand that when Twilight drank the punch that was given her she wasn't entirely in her right mind or within her usual sphere of reason.

Ruby and her colleagues watched with cruel pleasure as the substance they had placed in Twilight's drink slowly take effect. Her balance started to go first. Then her shyness. Then her reason. She nuzzled several ponies, danced like a fool, and eventually giggled and leaned against a stallion. The stallion, who frequented Ruby's parties and was in his right mind, had a few ideas about what to do with the mare leaning against him.

The record that was playing ended, and a pony got up to change it.

"You know," Discord said from his seat in the corner. "I do believe parties like this are illegal."

The party flew apart like a school of fish fleeing from an attacking predator. Discord sat, indifferent, as he watched the students run away. He chuckled when some of them tripped or knocked things over, but he didn't pursue them. In about fifteen seconds the room was cleared. Bits of rubbish, cans, plates, and leftover snacks was all the evidence that was left. Ruby had been sure to take any illegal things with her during her flight.
In the middle of the floor was Twilight. She didn't seem to have noticed everyone abandoning the party all at once.

She merely glanced around, in a daze. When she caught sight of Discord her mouth spread out in a stupid, watery-eyed grin. Discord frowned at her condition.
"Discoooooord!" She slurred loudly. "Fancieee meetin' you here."

"Sparkle," He said, raising a brow. "You're not well."

"Me? I'm just dandy!" Discord scowled at her. "Pffffft, don't gimmie that look, sir."

Twilight started hobbling over to where he sat. She teetered dangerously, but Discord tilted her back upright with his tail.

"This all must be so boring for you," she drawled. "I mean, as the spirit of chaos~" her sentence was interrupted by a large yawn, and Discord's veins suddenly felt like ice. "This must be so..." Twilight laid down. "boring...." She shut her eyes and began to doze.

"Why do you know that?" He said quietly. Twilight made a small noise as if she was trying to answer but too far into sleep to do so. Discord scowled at her, and her ear twitched in her sleep. Discord took a blanket from the nearby couch and tossed it over Twilight.

As he was leaving she snuggled under the blanket and muttered "Thanks." He paused for a second, then he shook his head and left the building behind.

Discord, knowing that it was useless to try and sleep, especially after Twilight's episode, floated around school grounds for a while, lost in thought. Further into the night, as he was sitting at one of the fountains, he glimpsed a shadow dancing around the edges of his vision.
He didn't have the energy to try and pinpoint it. Instead he lit into the air and slithered off. He felt a little peckish and thought it would be fun to raid the kitchens.

Chapter 10 - Laughter

Twilight yawned and stretched her back. The morning rays were just peeking over the horizon and she felt sweetly, deliciously rested.
"I need to thank professor Discord properly," she said as she got out of bed and prepared for class. "I'd still be a complete wreck if it weren't for him. Things would also have gotten even more out of hoof."
She ran a brush through her spiky bed-head mane and couldn't stop a smile spreading from ear to ear. She was bursting with positive feelings: relief, thankfulness, and hope that the draconequus was starting to warm up to her. It all made her incredibly happy.
She had to do something with these feelings. But what?

When Discord arrived in class he found a large bottle of grade-A chocolate milk tied with a small purple bow on his desk. Twilight was reading quietly at her desk. She didn't say a word and she didn't look up. Discord's ears flattened against his head and he silently placed the bottle in his desk just before the other students began filing in. He stared a while at Twilight, trying to read her. She never looked up from her book, but he could tell by the way she was sitting upright in her chair, the way her cheeks were stiff with a smile that she was trying to suppress, that she was very, very happy.

He tried very hard to figure out why for rest of the class period, but she didn't give up any other clues. She took the same massive amount of notes that she normally did. She answered questions in the same way. She sat at attention in the same way while the rest of the class dozed or doodled in their notes.

When class ended she was the last to leave, as usual. He watched her pack her things from behind his folded claw and paw. Twilight started to leave without saying anything, but as she reached the door she suddenly looked back at him, catching him staring at her. She flashed a huge smile.
"Thank you, sir!" she said in the most earnest tone Discord had heard in a long while. She didn't wait for his response and left. He was left alone and slightly dazed.

He shrugged, shaking it off.
Thanking me for last night, I suppose... His thoughts trailed away as he tried to figure out how that made him feel. Annoyed? Angry? If anything it made him feel odd, like something was out of place. It was an unfamiliar, uncomfortable feeling and he didn't like it.
He opened the drawer and looked a the decorated bottle of milk. No reason to let it go to waste.

Twilight hummed a happy tune as she completed an assignment that wasn't due for three more weeks. She glanced toward her window and smiled when she saw the sky was turning a deep reddish orange. She watched the sun sink below the horizon and savored the appearance of each star until the whole navy dome was riveted with light like a million jewels. She eagerly awaited the appearance of a familiar form, and sure enough, Discord appeared on the grounds.

He was far away and he floated around erratically. Twilight was beginning to lose patience with him until he finally chose a garden and settled down. Twilight abandoned her post at the window and rummaged through her books. She chose her Ancient Text and Scroll Studies textbook, a large tome that she'd been wanting to study more closely.
She carried the book on her back as she sneaked out. For a pony who was new to breaking the rules, she was surprisingly adept at sneaking around. Either that or the professors didn't care much about students breaking curfew. Twilight chose to entertain the former.

She pretended to be a ninja or master thief as she made her way towards Discord's garden, looking around every corner to make sure all was clear. When she finally reached him she emerged quietly from the bushes.
Discord heard her approach and only acknowledged her arrival with a partial movement of his head towards her direction.

"Good evening, sir," she said quietly.
"Mmm," he grunted. He glanced at her momentarily, then raised his eyebrow quizzically. "You really don't care about curfew, do you?"
"I do care," she said, sitting down. "I understand why the rule is there. But the university doesn't have to worry about me causing any trouble. I'm just here to read." She opened her book and started flipping through the pages using magic.

"You're going to read in the dark?"
"Sure. I'm used to reading at night, and the starlight is bright enough."
Discord didn't answer. He watched her look through the book in the dimness. He waited for her to say something else, but nothing came. Wasn't she going to say something about the milk? Ask him something about himself? Thank him again? He waited a few minutes, but it was clear that she wasn't going to say anything else at that moment.
She finally spoke when she opened to a page where a small flyer was being used as a bookmark.

"Oh yeah," she mumbled, reading the flyer. "There's a dance soon. This Friday night, it would seem."
"Ugh," Discord groaned. "Don't remind me."
"I'm not particularly keen about it either," she responded, laughing a bit at his discontent. "Do the faculty have to attend?"
"I was enlisted as a chaperone," he pressed the point between his eyebrows. "It's going to be awful."
"Maybe it won't be so bad," she said optimistically. "Music, snacks, shiny lights. It could be fun."
Discord made a doubtful noise and gazed off into some unknown distance.

Twilight shrugged and left him to his own thoughts. She observed the flyer a moment longer before setting it aside. Silence enveloped the pair for a long while, and Discord didn't particularly mind it. He glanced down every few minutes to always find her reading. He had thought about it long and hard all day, and he finally came to the conclusion that the reason her thankfulness and gift had made him feel so out of place was because what he did for her was the first nice thing he's done for anyone in years.
He hated nice. It was frilly, soft, gooey, and just made him gag. Niceness was weakness, and while he admitted to a vast amount of sleep deprivation, he refused to think himself as weak. He'd never been weak in his entire life. He decided that allowing Twilight Sparkle hang around him so often probably wasn't a good decision.
He needed her gone. He needed to be rid of her. She was screwing everything up in his head.

But Discord remained silent. He didn't say a word. He didn't force her to leave because having her next to him during his nighttime vigils felt like something he didn't entirely dislike. He had sat alone at the fountains. Feeling another presence beside him made him think that the hundreds of nights had in fact been lonely ones without him realizing it.
No, he thought, clapping his claw over his face. Stop thinking. Stop thinking those ridiculous things.

He glanced down at Twilight again and found that she had fallen asleep on top of her book. She was entirely ungraceful, her mouth wide open with a good amount of drool spilling over the pages. Discord rolled his eyes and groaned.
Well great. Now I'm just jealous.
He sighed and scowled down at the sleeping pony. This place was certainly no place for her.

Discord swept his tail around and danced the fluffy tip against Twilight's nose. She awoke with loud sneeze and a yawn.
"Sorry sir," she yawned again.
"Go home, Sparkle," he said. "It's late."
"Yessir," she mumbled. She gathered her book up and carefully replaced the flyer between the pages. "Good night, sir."
"Good morning."
"Oh. Ha. Right. 'Morning." She sauntered off, and Discord was alone again at the fountain.

His nighttime vigil was restored to it's usual state.
And that was a good thing. Right?

Twilight did her best to keep the draconequus company the rest of the week. She knew that he didn't like to talk much and liked his space, so she decided not to go every night and not to stay for too long. When she did visit she tried to keep conversation to a minimum, usually greeting him when she arrived and bidding him farewell when she left.
It was impossible for her to tell if he enjoyed her company or not, but he never sent her away so she took it as a sign that he was at least tolerant of her.
And that was a fantastic start.

Discord continued to juggle with two decisions: get rid of Twilight or keep her. He gave up when the whole conflict reminded him of a child's decision to give up on having an imaginary friend or not.

When Friday rolled around Twilight knew that Discord wouldn't be at the fountain that night. Twilight walked home after her last class and observed all the excited ponies running about. She'd heard chatter all week about dresses, makeup, dates, and other things leading up to the dance. Twilight had never understood ponies' fascination with school dances. Sure, she loved dressing up in fancy clothes and such, but the idea of the dance itself didn't appeal to her at all. She had made the decision not to attend this dance. Delving into her new library book seemed like much more fun.

But as she lay on the floor with said book sitting in front of her, she just stared at the cover. She glanced up at the dress she'd hung up to get the wrinkles out. It was the only dress she owned. It was a ruffly design of red and yellow that she was almost certain was ugly, but it would have to do. She looked back down at the book. It looked so inviting, and the dance seemed so...unnecessary.
Come on, Twilight, she thought. Remember what you said? It could be fun, and you can't leave the professor to battle the hordes alone.

She sighed and pushed the book away. She had stalled for far too long; the dance had already started.

The grand hall was streaming with multicolored beams and chips of white light that were thrown about by a disco ball attached to the chandelier. In between the light was a thick dimness that made it hard to see who was who. The edges of the room were crowded with tables and small snack and punch tables. The bulk of the space was bustling with students wearing too much makeup and sparkles dancing to what Discord would hardly call music.

He had settled himself into a table in the farthest corner of the room and wasn't paying attention to the students at all. He was busy ripping the edges of the paper tablecloth when Luna appeared.
"Discord," she said. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be chaperoning."
"You all seem to be doing just fine without me."
"Fine," she said curtly. "Stay here. Just pretend you're watching, at least. "
He grumbled a nondescript response and the princess left him.

He sighed and was about to go back to tearing at the paper when something appeared in the corner of his eye. He looked up to see Twilight Sparkle smiling at him.
"Good evening, professor!" She called above the music.
Discord looked at her quizzically. "Sparkle, what are you wearing?"

She had tried very hard make herself look presentable. Her hair was clean and brushed straight with a subtle sweep in the bangs, but it screamed an ignorance of any styling techniques that all the other mares in the room were proficient in. She wasn't wearing any nice shoes or makeup. Her dress was probably one of the ugliest ever made. The red and yellow colors clashed with her lavender and navy scheme. The cut was frilly and unflattering with puffy sleeves and overly poofy ruffles. Discord even spotted a couple of loosening buttons.

"I know, I know," she said. "But it's all I had."
Discord narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought you said you weren't going to come."
"When did I say that? I said it could be fun. Truthfully I was looking forward to starting a new book I got from the library, but I had a sudden craving for punch. So if you'll excuse me, I see a bowl over there."

She trotted off to the snack table and Discord watched her request punch from the attendant. She returned with a glass floating next to her in an orb of purple magic. She stood nearby and took periodic sips while observing the crowd.
Discord scowled at her. "You didn't come all the way here for punch," he said.
"Nope," she chirped.
"Then what are doing here?"
"I'm certain you already know." She took another drink from her glass and Discord remained silent. She finished her drink and said, "I'm going to get another. You want one?"
He was silent a moment longer, then he grumbled, "no."
"Suit yourself!" She cantered off to retrieve another glass.

The rest of the night proceeded in this manner. Twilight downed four glasses of punch and stood by Discord's table. He never asked her to sit and she never tried to. They remained silent with a comfortable distance between them.
An hour or so into the dance Twilight left to survey the snack table. She was deciding amongst different flavors of miniature pies when the music was turned down and a group of ponies took the stage.

"Good evening, everypony!" the announcer said. It was a unicorn mare with golden mane and an ivory coat. her dress was red and made of a sparkly fabric that almost blinded Twilight when she looked at it. The mare was flanked by two other unicorns in short, shimmery dresses.
"I hope you all are having a good time!" the mare cried. Here were a significant amount of clops and cheers in response. "Good! We'll get back to the music shortly, but as is tradition with dances organized by the Student Event Committee, we're taking a break to choose a winner for the raffle!"
The crowd cheered politely and waited as one of the other unicorns brought the announcer a large bowl.

The golden-maned mare dug around the bowl a moment and drew out a piece of paper.
"And the winner is..." She paused for dramatic effect. Twilight rolled her eyes and bit into a mini chocolate pie. "Twilight Sparkle!"
Twilight almost choked. That was her name. They can't have just said her name. As in, Twilight Sparkle Twilight Sparkle?
"Where are you, Twilight?" the mare called, peering into the crowd. Someone controlling a spotlight saw it fit to shine the thing on her, revealing her position."There you are!" Everyone clopped and cheered, but she didn't want to move. "What are you waiting for? Come up on stage?"

Not sure of what else to do, Twilight did so. She made her way through the crowd and climbed the stairs to the stage.
"You don't look very excited," the mare joked upon seeing Twilight's confused expression.
"I never entered any raffle," she said.
"You didn't have to, all students were entered automatically."
"I still don't understand...what did I-"
"You're secret prize is..." The mare reached into another bowl and pulled out another slip of paper. "A...tiara!"

Before Twilight could respond one of the other mares dug a tiara out of large box of prizes and placed it on Twilight's head. The gold-mane mare stepped back to allow some pictures to be taken of the winner by some photographer for the student-run paper.
The whole ordeal had taken Twilight completely off guard and instead of being happy at winning something like she knew she should she was just confused. However, as the as the photographer snapped a picture she couldn't help but enjoy her little bit of limelight and a small smile appeared on her lips.

Then something suddenly struck the top of her head with a metallic clang and she felt something cold and wet drench her face and back.
She looked down and saw a bucket at her feet along with a puddle of red that was being fed by a steady stream dripping from her mane and shoulders. It was spaghetti sauce. Three-week old, rotting tomato sauce. Worse still was the meat.
Twilight had understood the need for some creatures to eat meat. The school had to provide for the meat-eating inhabitants of the school, like the griffons, and Twilight had no problems with that.
She understood, but that didn't prevent it from making her gag. Just like most ponies, the thought of eating meat disgusted her. Not only were ponies herbivores, but the things that the griffons were eating used to be living creatures. Meat repelled her, as it should, and she always did her best to ignore the "Griffon Only" line in the cafeteria.

But now she was covered in it. It was touching her. It was slipping down her face and passing way too close to her lips before hitting the ground with a sickening plop. It violated her senses, it's scent clogging her nose and making her stomach turn.
It was beyond disgusting. It was revolting. It was horrifying. She would have screamed, but shock had rendered her silent. She could only hear a nondescript dull roar and expected that everyone else was screaming for her.
But when she finally focused her senses outward again she could heard the truth. They weren't screaming.
They were laughing.

They were laughing harder than Twilight had seen anyone laugh before. He filled her ears with a deafening roar and she felt her body begin to betray her. Somewhere deep in the marrow of her bones was slight tremor that grew into a shiver. Soon her whole body was trembling and the laughter only got louder.
She never thought she'd hear something so terrible.

All this happened in but a moment and Twilight ran away before any of the chaperones could do anything. She had disappeared but the laughter persisted. Ruby emerged from behind stage with her group of friends, also laughing.
Discord had watched the whole event intently. It was the funniest thing he'd seen in years. Ruby's prank was comedy gold. He should have been writhing on the floor with laughter.

But he wasn't. Discord felt no joy at all. There wasn't a single flutter of laughter in chest. In it's place was anger. He was furious. His face was as unreadable as ever yet he felt ready to set the whole room on fire.
He didn't want to think about why. He was sick of asking why. He lit from his chair and appeared on stage so fast that Ruby choked on her own breath in surprise.

He stared down at her with is usual icy gaze, but said nothing. Ruby and her friends weren't sure how to respond and were frozen until Luna suddenly appeared in front of Discord. Her eyes were glowing white in fury and her voice boomed with unnatural volume.
"RUBY SPICE!" She yelled. "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" The mares jumped back in surprise. The room fell silent at the god-like roar.
Ruby recovered and said, "But Miss Luna, we didn't do anything. We were back there helping out with the raffle. Just ask Goldie."
"ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU ARE COMING WITH ME RIGHT NOW," The unicorns jumped again in fear and followed Luna as she led them off stage. She was on the stairs when the princess suddenly noticed that Discord was gone.

It didn't take him long to find her. There was a bathroom with showers near the grand hall where the dance was taking place. Discord ignored any signs that denied entry to members of the male gender and floated through the door. Everyone was at the dance and the place was empty. Except, of course, for a little purple unicorn hunching over the linoleum tiles, picking tomato and meat out of her mane and dropping the pieces over the drain.

Discord sat in an invisible chair against the wall but didn't say anything. Twilight saw him and sighed. She was silent for a while as she continued to pick the rubbish from her mane.
Finally she said quietly, "Was the tie Princess Celestia's idea, or Luna's?"
Discord blinked at the random question and touched the fancy black silk bow tie he was wearing. He didn't respond.
"You're a draconequus, but I also know what you really are. I know you're the spirit of Chaos. I know you were an enemy to Celestia. I know you used to have immense magical power before Celestia cursed you. I know the spell prevents you from sleeping. I know it makes you miserable. I thought I could help. Somehow...I don't know..."
She dared not look at him, but he didn't respond. The silence stretched out and every second applied an extra pound of pressure to Twilight's frame.
She couldn't bear the tension and explained "That day Celestia came to visit I was at the door and I overheard your conversation. I know it was wrong. I know I shouldn't know these things but I just thought I could..." Her voice grew smaller and smaller until it trailed away completely.

Still no answer. Twilight chanced a look at his face. He was looking down on her with an expression she couldn't place. It wasn't anger, but it certainly wasn't happiness. His brow was tense and his eyes were narrowed; he was deeply considering something. Twilight's gaze darted back to the drain in front of her.

She flinched when the shadow of his tail swept over her head. She braced herself, and with a loud squeak, he turned on the water faucet. Twilight was drenched head to hoof in warm water, and all the horrible red started to flow away. She nearly collapsed as every fiber in her body loosened in relief, and a melancholic fluttering feeling flared up in her stomach.
She glanced up at him. He seemed completely calm, but he still wasn't saying anything. Twilight ran a hoof through her bangs to dislodge some stubborn clumps while she waited.

Finally he said, "You've haven't told anyone, have you?"
"No," she responded.
"Good."
Twilight waited for him to say something else, but his silence stretched on. "What, that's it?" She said. "No angry outbursts? No scolding? Not even a detention?"
He looked away. "You understand the nature of that information. You understand the consequences if it became common knowledge, or even a rumor."
"Why would you take that chance? You could cast a memory suppression spell on me."
"There are strict rules against that sort of thing. And what makes you think I could, in this state?"
"You could ask Luna. She could do it."
He scowled at her. "All you have to do is stay quiet. Is that really so hard?"
She sighed. "No, of course not." She paused. "Thank you professor." When he raised an eyebrow at the gratitude she explained, "For trusting me."

Before he could say anything in return Luna suddenly burst into the bathroom.
"Twilight Sparkle?" she called urgently. "Are you in here?"
"In here," Twilight called back.
"Oh, there you are Twilight." Luna's normally stony expression melted into motherly concern. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she smiled unconvincingly and Luna gave her doubting expression. "I am, really. I'm fine."

'Fine?' Discord thought. How could she possibly be fine? She had been drenched in meat, after all. Discord could imagine how horrifying that must be to a vegetarian creature, and yet here she was, smiling, saying he was fine. Impossible little pony. He felt annoyance flare up and let it out in a scowl before it could infect his voice.

Luna noticed Discord floating in the room and gave him a suspicious look. "Discord?" she said. "What are you doing here?"
He merely shrugged and Luna didn't feel like prying answers out of him. She turned back to Twilight. "Miss Sparkle, are you sure you're alright?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes, ma'am. Thank you for your concern. I'm just going to clean up and go to bed now. I planned a long study day for tomorrow."
Luna sighed. She was unconvinced, but the little unicorn was insistent. She escorted her out of the bathroom and watched her go. The Dean of Students wanted more than anything to comfort Twilight Sparkle, and she would have done everything in her power to do so if another matter wasn't pressing on her mind.

She stopped Discord as he came drifting out the door.
"Discord," she said. "A word?"
"I wasn't doing anything wrong," he insisted.
"Discord," she stopped him before any quips could come to his mind. "Everyone was so distracted during Ruby's prank we..." Luna glanced up and down the hallway, making absolute certain no one was within earshot. She whispered, "Discord. There's been another incident."
"Mm hm." he grumbled.
"Did you see anything? Anything at all?"
"No, princess. I did not. I was preoccupied."

"Very well." She sighed heavily. "I don't know how much longer we can put up with this. If only the cruelty of school girls was all we had to worry about."
"It's a magic school for gifted unicorns. Face it, it was never that simple."
"Maybe you're right." She began to walk away. "But that doesn't stop me from wishing it so."

Chapter 11 - Heartbeats

Discord sat through his Saturday class without a word to the handful of students sitting in front of him. He had written an assignment on the board and contented himself with scowling at them the whole period. When the class finally ended he watched the students file out until he was completely alone. He continued to sit. And wait.
And wait.
And wait.

But nothing happened. Twilight would have come to visit by now. Discord tensed up in anger and annoyance at himself when the thought occurred to him. She was just a student who had given him unwanted, unnecessary attention and pestered him without end. For what? His friendship? Discord gagged at the prospect. The whole concept frustrated him and he refused to believe there was any possibility of it.
The more he thought about it the more it seemed that Twilight was pushing Celestia's agenda; using the power of friendship, something Celestia insisted was the most powerful force of all, to reform him. To make him docile. To bend under the alicorn's will. He would have none of it.

"It doesn't matter what her motivations are," he grumbled to himself. "I'm putting an end to this. All of it."

Twilight had done exactly what she told Luna she would do. She went back to her dorm took a proper shower, settled down in her covers with a book and read herself to sleep. Her rest was long and dreamless and when she woke she welcomed the new day. Saturday mornings were her favorites. She could lounge about, warm in her covers for as long as she wanted before starting the day with a hot cup of tea and a frivolous novel.

As she pressed her cheek into her pillow she found her mind drifting backward to certain events from the night before. She deliberately steered her memory away from its target and landed squarely on the memory of Discord. She was certain he'd be furious with her. She was expecting a referral or a detention or a scolding, but nothing came. He had been so calm.
"He didn't even seem surprised," she mumbled. She thought that perhaps hundreds of years of life made him calmer, more considerate of his actions. At the very least they must have made him tired.

Twilight lost patience for lounging and rolled out of bed to start her day. She retrieved her saddlebags and loaded them with books. It was going to be another beautiful day and she thought some fresh air would be nice. When she finally stepped onto the lawn, however, she suddenly noticed how everypony who had witnessed her "incident" was probably enjoying the fresh air too.
Without allowing her mind to remember the event specifically she opted for the cozy nooks of the library.

Mahogany greeted her with a pinch more warmth than usual. She had obviously heard about the dance and was concerned, but she never asked about it and Twilight was thankful.
The librarian let her study in peace the whole day. She even brought Twilight a cup of tea around lunchtime.

Twilight tried her best to occupy all of her attention with the library, but memories of the previous night kept bubbling up. She would push them away each time but they would always return twice as stubborn as they were before. She thought about Discord again.
He hadn't punished her. He had gone to find her when she ran away. He turned on the water and washed away the red. Discord cared about her. He was her friend.
Something in Twilight's chest fluttered, and she felt happy. A friend. The only friend she had ever had was her big brother, Shining Armor. She never thought she needed anypony else, and for the most part she still felt that way. Being away from Shining Armor must have left an empty space without her noticing, and Discord had suddenly filled it up. It felt nice to have someone there, a new big brother.

Twilight chuckled silently. No, not a brother. Discord was something else. A mentor? No, something more than that. A father? That made her chuckle more. Definitely not. Just a regular friend? It didn't seem to fit, like it wasn't strong enough.
What then? Twilight pondered, no longer paying attention to the book in front of her. More than a brother, stronger than a friend. What could possibly-

Twilight's ears suddenly grew hot. Why were they hot? Her cheeks blared red and she dunked her head back into her book.
"Don't be silly," she snapped at herself. "That's just silly." She realized her heart was beating a little harder. "Stop that." She hissed. It didn't listen.

The feeling gradually faded as the clock ticked on and on. Twilight focused on A History of Political Fidelity in Cameloo as long as she possibly could. She wanted more than anything to forget what she felt, but when she dared look back on it an image of Discord came her mind, and the feeling just came back. She banged her head into the pages.
"Stop that," she told herself. "That's completely, utterly unacceptable!"

Twilight was familiar with the concept of crushes and always dismissed them as silly passing fancies, but acceptable in young fillies. Twilight wouldn't have minded if she had suddenly taken fancy to one of the colts in class; she could have dealt with that. But this was a teacher. This was an immensely powerful being possibly more than ten times Twilight's age. This was Discord.

When did I stop calling him Professor? She whimpered inwardly. She got up and shook herself harshly.
"Oh, Twilight," she sighed. "You silly, silly, pony."
She glanced at a nearby clock. The afternoon was young, and there were still a few books she wanted to read. She sat down again and noted with annoyance that the fluttering in her chest had given way to a glowing warmth. She shook her head at herself. It was only a little crush. It would surely pass, like all crushes do.

She closed the book she had open at that moment, no longer in the mood for a topic she already knew everything about. She needed something new. Something complicated. Something to distract her from all her hazardous thoughts. She scanned the bindings of the books she had stacked around her. Magical theories, histories, studies, and so on. Unsatisfied, Twilight began scouring the shelves. She scanned case after case, each title not quite what she wanted. She trotted down every aisle, and Mahogany's ears pricked up.

"Do you need help finding something?" The librarian called from her desk.
"OH!" Twilight's head appeared from behind a bookcase. "Yes, please. I'm looking for a book."
"I had no idea." Mahogany didn't get to use her sarcasm often. She was a bit rusty but the remark satisfied her for the time being.
Twilight grinned sheepishly. "I don't actually know what I'm looking for. I want something different from what I've been studying. Something new."

Mahogany tapped her chin in thought. "Something new, huh? Hm..."
She thought a while, then hopped off her chair and rounded her desk to a stack of unsorted books that were piled beside it. She scanned the bindings and tugged a light-colored volume from the stack. She levitated it over to Twilight.
"There you are. I read it over breakfast. It's different, but interesting."

Twilight held the book up in front of her. It had an off-white, almost yellowish cover with a deep blue border and swirling decorations. Spread across the cover in large blue and silver letters was the title: "Constants and Variables: Alternate Realities and Unknown Dimensions of Space." Blue flowers and stars extended from every corner and end of every letter. It was too gaudy, and she could tell by the smooth finish and untouched cover that it was a relatively new addition to the library. It was perfect.

"Thank you!" She said, retreating back to her reading area.
Twilight sat down and cracked the book open. She was a bit disappointed that there was no dust to clear away from the pages, but there was something special about the smell and feel of a brand-new book that was almost equally enchanting. The first page of the book had one line of text:
There are many oceans, but only one shore.
She was hooked.

Speed-reading was a skill she acquired from years of practice, but she only employed it for tests or schoolwork. When reading for fun, Twilight liked to relax and take it slow. However, this new book proved too enticing. It was a small volume, and within two hours Twilight had zipped her way from the first chapter to the last. When she finished the last word, she brought the back cover around and closed the book. She stared at the blank cover for a moment.
Finally she muttered, "Huh," flipped the book around and started it again.

Constants and Variables was a book about metaphysics. Specifically, it dealt with different theories concerning alternate dimensions. For example, the existence of a fourth dimension and what it might be, how one would travel through it, what it could be in it, and so on.
Twilight paused when she reached the fifth chapter and took a moment to find her notebook and quill. She read the chapter again, this time taking notes. By the time she was finished, she found herself uninterested in reading anything else in the book. She returned to the start of the chapter and began to read it again.

The topic was decision-based alternate realities. The book talked about choice. Every choice that is ever made by anyone changes the direction of the world. By definition, when there is a choice, there is more than one option. When one option is chosen, life and time continue based on the effects of that decision. For instance, one day you are walking down a road and you come to an intersection. You have two choices: go left, or go right. You choose to go right, but in other dimensions, a different versions of you chose to go left. Perhaps there is a grizzly bear to the left and you are eaten. Perhaps there is treasure to the right and you go home rich. Both outcomes exist, but in different dimensions, different worlds of space-time.

"Every choice creates a new reality," Twilight said quietly to the book. She thought about the possibilities. If she had chosen not to go to the summer sun celebration in Canterlot when she was a filly, she might never had seen Celestia raise the sun in person, she would have never discovered the wonders of studying magic, and she would have never become Celestia's pupil. Where would she be then?
"What if Mom said no when Dad asked her to marry him? I wouldn't exist at all!" She smiled. This was fun. "If Starswirl the Bearded decided not to share his studies, if Celestia had decided not to send me to Celestial Academy, if I had decided not to eavesdrop on her conversation with-" she suddenly fell silent, suddenly more somber.
Twilight asked the book, "If she decided to imprison him in stone, instead of cursing him, like she said...how would things be different?" She held the book up a higher. "And there's a reality somewhere for every possible outcome, according to you. 'Many oceans'...

"Is there one where he...Is there a reality where I..." She didn't know what she was trying to ask, but the pesky feeling in her chest returned. Angrily, she held her breath, trying to quell it.
Nope, she thought. This is nothing. These feelings are nothing. Stop feeling things you stupid body!
The feeling died down and Twilight sighed in annoyance. She shook her head and tossed the book away. Maybe she would find more luck on more familiar ground. Obscure Unicorn History would surely do the trick.

Twilight read through the afternoon. Mahogany fell asleep at her desk as the sun sank below the horizon and she woke later in darkness. Flustered at having forgotten the time, she quickly closed up the library. So quickly, in fact, that she forgot about Twilight reading in the farthest corner and locked the door with her still inside. Twilight had dozed off too and only woke when she heard the heavy library door shut with a loud noise.

She stood and stretched, not at all afraid of the gloom. The moonlight filtered in through the windows and painted the library with an ethereal, if not ominous, glow. She felt comfortably cool in the dark, and levitated her books and bags together without worrying about her mixed up feelings about Discord. She smiled when the flutter in her chest was almost unnoticeable. It was already fading away, like she knew it would.

When she found the front desk empty and dark, she noted with anxiety how far past curfew it was. She glanced out the windows and determined that the moon must have been considerably high in the sky.
"I'm surprised I dozed off for so long," she whispered to herself. "I better get to my room before anypony catches me out here."
She pushed the door, but it held firm. With a small grunt of frustration her horn illuminated dimly.
"Now I have to add illegal lock-picking to the list of rules I've broken this semester."
There was a soft click and the door swung open, and Twilight flinched as it produced a loud creak.

She poked her head out and scanned the hallway. No one. Twilight crept out of the library and silently closed the door behind her. The campus was particularly quiet that night, and she soon felt safe enough to relax and enjoy her walk around the edges of the courtyard. She decided to take a quick detour to investigate a gardened area that she hadn't had the chance to see yet.

The garden was a considerable distance from the fountains of the main courtyard, so she was surprised to find Discord sitting there when she arrived.

The moon was high, and the shadows of the leaves and sleeping flowers were deep and dark. Discord was silhouetted in the light, his form outlined in a shimmering band of silver. The fountain of this garden was quite different from the others. Instead of having an elevated bowl, the main basin was cut directly into the ground. It had two other tiers, and crowning the topmost one was a stone disk, etched with the image of a crescent moon. It was obviously the oldest garden in the school with slightly overgrown bushes and cracking stone with moss and vines clinging in the crevices.

Discord was facing away from Twilight. He sat on a wooden bench and observed the water as it tumbled around in the fountain, as usual. Twilight hadn't been particularly happy all day, but seeing him made happiness seem more familiar. She knew he could already tell she was there, so she didn't try to hide.

Her first step towards him was cut off when he said quietly, "And so she returns."
"Good evening, Professor," Twilight greeted. She trotted to his side and frowned when he failed to even glance in her direction. She began to feel worried when she realized he wasn't just gazing into the water that night. He was scowling, more furiously than ever, the lines under his eyes deeper than she remembered.

"Professor?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
"Go home." He didn't shift his gaze. Twilight moved between him and the fountain, and he looked away. "I said go home," he grumbled again.
"Sir?"
"Didn't you hear what I said?" Twilight jumped at his suddenly intimidating tone. "I don't want you here anymore. Not tonight, not tomorrow night, nor any other night for as long as you attend this school."
"But-"
Discord finally locked his scarlet eyes on her. "I'm sick of your meddling. I'm sick of you pestering me. Leave!"
Twilight smiled. "You've tried to get rid of me before and it didn't work. You really should just-"

Discord's eyes flared up in fury and his lips parted slightly to reveal a row of clenched teeth.
"You don't have any idea who you're dealing with, do you?" he hissed.
"I-" Twilight faltered. "I know who you are-"
"Who I am?" Discord's was dangerously close to shouting. "You barely know what I am. You have no idea what I've done."
Twilight was stunned at how much malice filled his voice. "But I-"
She jumped back when he suddenly dropped from his seat onto all fours in front of her, bringing him closer to her level. He advanced threateningly, and Twilight backed away. He followed.
"I have lived thousands of years," his voice was so much darker than anything Twilight ever expected from him. It was vicious, murderous even, and for the first time Twilight felt afraid of him. "I've ruled over lands you've never even heard of. I've caused unimaginable suffering."

Twilight stopped short when her back hooves suddenly stepped into the water. She glanced down instinctively, and when she looked up again Discord was right in front of her, his dark form blocking the light of the moon and casting her in shadow.
Quietly, he asked "Do you have any idea all of the terrible things I could do to you?"

Twilight was speechless. She was confused. Where was all of this coming from? In truth, he was terrifying her. After a moment, though, Twilight's fear began to subside, and she scowled at him.
"Yes," she argued. "There are plenty of things you could do to me that your curse would allow, but I seriously doubt you would actually do anything."
"Where would you get such an idea? What makes you so sure, Twilight Sparkle? I am chaos. Disharmony incarnate. I've seen countless ages and I've caused endless pain. Mortal pain is my pleasure, I find joy in it."
Twilight felt fear flicker inside her again, and something else she couldn't place.
He continued, "How dare you, a small, insignificant infant, assume you know me when you cannot even begin to comprehend what I'm capable of. I have lived thousands of years without friendship and I will live thousands more. Your pursuit is pointless, naive, and pestering. If you are fond of having your limbs attached to your body, I suggest you stop this nonsense."

Twilight had stepped back repeatedly and had water coming up to her stomach. She couldn't remember how to speak, so she stared for quite a while. Finally she was able to mutter, "Why?"
Discord ignored her and withdrew back to his seat.
"Why," she said louder, fighting to keep her voice even. "Why do you fight so hard against friendship?"
He merely scowled at her and growled, "Go."
She scowled. "If you're so evil, then, why did you help me?" He didn't respond. "Breaking up the party? Coming after me at the dance? I'll bet it was you who put that blanket on me, wasn't it?"
"Misguided actions fueled by sleep deprivation."

"Ha!" Twilight choked. She stepped back onto the stone and headed for the edge of the garden. "I'm leaving," she struggled to keep the heat behind her eyes from pooling into tears. Why were there tears? "But I'm not done yet. You haven't seen the last of me, Professor. Lie and threaten all you wish. There is good in you and I intend to make you see it."

She disappeared down the path, and Discord slumped angrily in his seat. He should have stopped her in the beginning when he had the chance.

Twilight trotted down the path to her dorm. There was a new, unfamiliar kind of pain in her chest. The heat behind her eyelids had subsided but what remained was a dull, dry feeling. She felt hurt. Discord had never yelled at her like that before. It surprised her, and it made her remember there was a reason Celestia put a spell on him. She had forgotten for a while that Discord must have done something terrible in the past to earn his punishment, and now she had an idea of what it was.

Unimaginable suffering. Could it really be true? Twilight was suddenly furious. He was too stubborn, and it was difficult to tell if he was just making it up to get rid of her. She growled at herself in frustration. Despite all of this, despite being blatantly threatened she still wanted to help him.
"Why?" She asked herself angrily. "Why are you such a stupid, stubborn pony?" Twilight was careful not to let her voice rise above a hiss. She noticed he pain in her heart again and paused.
"Stop," she sighed. "Stop doing that." Her body wouldn't comply, and continued to throb. Discord had gone to great lengths that night to indicate he wasn't her friend, that she wasn't anything to him. That he didn't even enjoy her company anymore, or never had.
She insisted the she was not in love with Discord, but the pain she felt at his words was hard to ignore. She was heartbroken.

Without warning, a bush not far from Twilight was shaken to its roots, sending a few of its leaves flying in every direction. Twilight jumped in surprise and scurried into the shadow of a pillar. She had forgotten that she was breaking curfew and peeked out of the shadows to see who was patrolling the campus.
But there was no one. Just moonlight and shadows.
"Discord?" she whispered. No answer. She shook the shock away and mumbled "Seeing things..."

Nevertheless, she crept home in the shadows. When a dark shape darted across her path she froze.
"Hello?" she whispered again. Nothing. "Who's there?" Silence.
She broke into a canter, still being as quiet as she could. She didn't know what she was seeing, but she knew she had to get home, and it certainly prompted her to hurry.

The moonlight in front of her suddenly went dark, and before she could understand what was in front of her she was dealt a violent blow to the head. She screamed in surprise and pain, but was almost instantly cut off by another blow, and another, and another. Twilight could feel hot, sticky ooze dripping all across her body, and she tasted something metallic. Blood. She was crumpled on the ground now, and something bludgeoning her to death. Skin broke, bones snapped, and Twilight's vision and mind blurred and blackened.

Suddenly, the blows stopped. Shapes and shadows danced incoherently in front of her failing eyes. Twilight was fighting for consciousnesses, and as more and more blood flowed from her wounds, which were deep and irregular, the more simplistic her thoughts became. She began to forget things. Where she was, what was going on, her family, her name, among other things. The only thought she had was escape, although she didn't know why. She didn't have the capacity to contemplate it, and she slowly pulled herself away. Her body was numb, and bit by bit she lost the ability to move until only her forelegs would comply. It felt like ice was forming in her bones. She dragged herself across the ground, her vision growing ever dimmer. At last she lost was little strength she had left and collapsed on the stone floor.

Just before she fell into unconsciousness, she felt herself being lifted and being surrounded by warmth. She could hear a muffled heartbeat by her ear, and felt the familiar vibration of sound tickling whatever it was she was being held against. Someone was humming. There was a peculiar sensation in her skin, and she finally fell away into blackness.

Wow. What a bombshell. I'm sorry, I promised myself that I would never put any author notes in this story, and yet here I am. I was really hesitant about posting this chapter. I had it planned all along, in fact very few things in this story are unplanned, but I just can't shake the feeling that I got something wrong. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I greatly appreciate your feedback
Stay tuned! There's much more to come. Had I decided to organize this story into parts, this would probably be the conclusion of Part 1.

Chapter 12 - Lullaby

Cool morning sunlight filtered through the tall windows of the infirmary, creating a soft sparkling cloud near the ceiling and softly illuminating rows of empty beds. Like everything else in the school, the infirmary was old. The old fashioned architecture crowned the ceiling with an arch and a mantle of large wooden rafters. It was a bothersome affair to keep them clean of dust, and Nurse Rosemary insisted that it be done. She would use her magic to clean the rafters herself sometimes. The room was a place of healing and had to be kept as clean as possible. Ancient architecture was no excuse for uncleanliness.
Consequently, the beds were pristine white if a bit worn in. The nurse was thankful that the beds in the infirmary were seldom occupied, but glad to have them just in case.

This morning, to Rosemary's dismay, one of the beds was sorely needed by one of the Academy's most promising students who had somehow attracted a great stroke of misfortune the night before.
Nurse Rosemary finished dressing a wound on Twilight's leg and gently tightened the bandage. Her face was full of almost motherly concern over the unconscious purple unicorn. She gazed down at the mare and frowned. Twilight was patched horn to hoof with bandages. There was more off-white gauze than lavender. Her mane was messy, and Rosemary tried to smooth it with little success. It was a pitiful sight.

"You must be losing touch," Discord said from his invisible perch above. "It took you forever to finish."
"It's not my fault," she snapped up at the draconequus. "Your spell may have stopped the bleeding, but I had to reopen every wound to restitch it properly."
"What can I say? Healing magic isn't my forte."
Rosemary scowled and inspected Twilight's face and forehead. "That's an understatement."

There was a moment of silence, and Rosemary's expression melted back into worry. She tapped her chin, in deep thought, but said nothing.
"What's wrong?" Discord said.
Rosemary was silent for a moment longer. She opened her mouth to speak, but she snapped it shut again and continued to inspect Twilight.

Luna's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway. "Rosemary," the nurse snapped to attention. "How is she?"
"I've done everything I can," the nurse said.
"Very well. Leave her for now, then." From over Luna's shoulder Discord spotted a few teachers in the hallway outside. "Come, there are things we must discuss. You as well, Discord."

Discord slithered out the door, but Rosemary hesitated, glancing nervously back at Twilight. Luna called her again and she hurried out the door and followed the group to the nearest meeting room. They filed inside and locked the doors. The group was small, consisting only of Luna, Discord, Rosemary, and three leading members of faculty.
"This is terrible," Rosemary began. "I always thought..." she trailed off and was silent.
"This isn't the first time this has happened," Luna said.
"That's right," the nurse said. "But I never thought it would become so...deadly. I always thought these incidents were just consequences of careless students. Like... hooligans who get drunk and accidentally injure themselves."
Luna bowed her head sympathetically. "Their lack of memory supports such a claim."

Rosemary nodded. "I know. Many of the ponies I treated this year were just too groggy to remember what had happened, and the injuries were minor. Naturally I came to the conclusion that they had simply been intoxicated." She shook her head. "But there was always something off about the cuts and bruises. The shapes were odd, and I was baffled as to what they could have fallen onto to produce such marks. Turns out, something's been attacking our students, and it's gotten much, much more violent."
"The night of the dance you treated a mare," Luna said. "Were her wounds the same as Twilight's?"
"Very similar, yes. But none of the wounds have ever been so deep or numerous. Whatever it was, it was trying to kill her," her last few words were spoken in a fearful whisper.

The room was silent, and Luna fell into deep thought.
Rosemary said, "I'll notify her parents. She needs to be sent home where-"
"No," Luna interrupted. "No one outside this room is to know about this incident."
Rosemary was aghast. "Princess! Twilight was nearly killed! We need to think about evacuating the school, sending everyone home-"
"No!" Luna commanded. "Were we to take that action, Celestial Academy would never reopen. It would attract far too much negative attention.
"But Princess," chimed one of the other teachers, an older unicorn named Jet Blaze who was head of the Classics division. He said, "We have to think about the well-being of the students. If there's something out there trying to harm them-"

"Then we'll dispose of it," Luna finished darkly. "We are taking matters into our own hooves. We'll track down this menace and destroy it before it can hurt anyone else. Discord, you were there. What can you tell us...Discord?"
"Huh?" He blinked to refocus his eyes.
"Have you even been paying attention!?" Luna yelled furiously, her voice echoing a little more than normal. Discord shrugged. He'd only been half listening, too lost in thought about the night before. "What can you tell us about the attack?" Luna asked again.

Discord was silent for a moment. He recalled driving the creature away and turning to find Twilight gone, a trail of red leading around the corner. He remembered following it. He remembered seeing Twilight laying in pool of her own blood, dying, yet still managing to drag herself away before collapsing. It had always been obvious that she wasn't an average unicorn. Of that, her scholarship was proof enough. But this was something else entirely.

He knew he only had a few moments before blood loss would take her. The curse prevented him from using his own magic, but he had some knowledge about how to use weaker spells that drew magic from elsewhere.
The healing spell was ancient and could only be guided by music. He didn't know any songs that would work, so he made do with a simple impromptu hum. It was like a lullaby. The blood she lost was drawn back into her body and sealed itself behind her skin. The result was sloppy; it looked like more of it had matted itself in her coat than returning to her veins, and it wouldn't last long. He had to get her to Rosemary before her shallow breathing stopped altogether.
He remembered how it felt to carry her. How cold she had been. How still. It was like holding a block of ice.

"Discord?" Luna drew him suddenly from his thoughts.
"It was dark," he said. "I was able to drive it away but I didn't get a good look at it." Luna sighed in frustration.
Twilight is the first one to be attacked so violently, he thought. Why? What makes her so different from the others?
"Perhaps Twilight can tell us something useful when she wakes," Luna said.
Rosemary shook her head. "I'm afraid Twilight won't be able to tell us much at all." Every pair of eyes turned to look at Rosemary. "She has suffered severe physical trauma, as well as magical depletion. It's likely she'll be asleep for quite some time."
"How long?" Luna asked.

Rosemary sighed. "I'm... I am afraid I was putting it delicately. Her magical depletion is severe. She might never wake up.
Twilight is in a coma."

He stood at the entrance of the infirmary, looking in. The meeting had dispersed soon after Rosemary's declaration of Twilight's condition. They were to reconvene later that day. It was dimmer in the room now that the sun was no longer on the horizon, streaming directly through the windows. It was noon now, and Discord should have been hungry, but he had no desire to eat.
The infirmary was empty except for Twilight. Her form was limp in the bed, in the exact position in which they left her. Rosemary scurried past him and to her desk where she retrieved a stethoscope. She began inspecting Twilight, pressing the stethoscope against her chest in several places and recording her findings. Discord watched as she struck Twilight's front left elbow with a little rubber hammer. No response. She was dead as a doornail.

He lit into the air and ventured a bit farther into the room as Rosemary made her final notes. She glanced up at him.
"Back again?" Her tone was melancholy, but kind.
"We're meeting again in a few hours. There are no classes on Sunday and I don't really have much else to do-"
"Thank you Discord."
Discord snapped his mouth shut. He was a bit taken aback at the sudden remark. He frowned raised his eyebrow at her.
"For saving her," Rosemary explained. He crossed his arms and sat back a little in the air. "No one has thanked you yet. If she were awake, she'd tell you herself."
He looked at the bedpost and didn't respond. It was made of metal and polished to such a high degree that Discord could see the gray of his head reflected in it, as well as a splotch of lavender.

Discord shifted his gaze to Twilight's pitiful form. She was limp and lifeless. Only the slight rise and fall of her chest indicated she was still alive. Rosemary gently repositioned Twilight so she lay on her side in a more comfortable position. She covered her with the blanket and looked at Discord from the corner of her eye.
"I know I scolded you before," she said. "But your healing spell saved her life. Without it she wouldn't have lasted long enough for me to help her."
He looked away. "She's comatose," he grumbled.
"Not because of the physical trauma. She pushed her magic too far and her body reacted. There have been cases like this before. Sometimes the effect is physical, sometimes it's mental. Unicorns have gone insane from pushing themselves too far." Her voice fell. "And I'm afraid that the effects are oftentimes permanent. We can't hide this from her family forever. If she doesn't wake up, they will have to be notified."

Discord shook his head. "She didn't cast any spells. I would've seen the glow."
"She must have. Her magic is severely depleted. She had to have spent it herself."
Discord shook his head again. He felt a hoof prodding him in the chest and looked quizzically at Rosemary.

Her stethoscope was hovering in front of him in an orb of turquoise magic. She was looking back and forth at different points on his chest.
"Where is your heart?" He raised and eyebrow at her, and she stood up tall. "What? Everything else about you is backwards!"
He shrugged. "A fair point, but why do you want to know?"
"You need a checkup." She leaned closer to him.
"I'm fine."
"I need to make sure that creature, whatever it is, didn't harm you-"
He pushed her away. "I said I'm fine. You wouldn't know what to look out for anyway. My insides are different from any pony's."
She sighed. "Can I at least check your heartbeat?"

He rolled his eyes and shrugged again. He pointed a claw at the right side of his chest. Rosemary pressed the stethoscope against it and smirked. "Right side. What did I say? Backwards."
He shrugged again as Rosemary listened to his heart, a strange expression spreading across her face. She drew away after a minute to put the stethoscope away.
"Your heart beats twice as fast as any pony's. I also heard a few things in there I couldn't even begin to place."
Discord smirked and stuck his nose in the air. "Sorry, Rosemary. No dissections today."
"Oh, of course not. You could just tell me what your systems are like. They must be unlike anything I've seen before."

Discord laughed and floated higher into the air above her head. "But what fun would that be?"
"But, Discord!" He began doing backstrokes towards the door. "Think of how science and medicine could benefit from learning about you!" She chased him. "I-I could just cast an x-ray spell. Discord!"
He laughed at her from the ceiling. "Sorry, Rosemary." He draped an arm around his eyes dramatically. "I promised my mother I'd never go back to selling myself."
"Well...what if I discover something about you that could help Twilight? A cure or something?"

Discord coughed and any laughter left in him evaporated. He cleared his throat and lowered himself towards the ground.
"I doubt you would find anything of the like," he said. "What's her heartbeat like?"
"A bit slow, but healthy otherwise. It'll keep her blood pumping. I'm more worried about bedsores and malnutrition." Rosemary walked back to Twilight's part of the room. "I can keep her full of the necessary nutrition for a while, but the body can only survive so long on IVs and the like. And if she's in that bed for too long the circulation in her limbs will degrade. Ponies have lost limbs to this condition simply because they couldn't move for so long."

Discord fought the urge to cringe when he remembered how he threatened Twilight with limb removal a few hours ago. "She's going to lose her legs?"
"I'll do my best to keep the blood flowing by repositioning her and stretching her limbs out, but I can't make any promises. Let's just hope she wakes up before then." She suddenly placed a hoof on Discord's arm. "It means a lot that you're concerned, Discord. But you should go back to your room and rest. There's nothing more you can do for her here."

Discord drew away. "Concerned? Whoever said I was concerned?"
Rosemary smiled and shook her head at him. "You've had a long night Discord. Go and rest."
He floated there a moment, then grumbled and slithered away.

Rosemary adjusted Twilight's blanket.
"It's not like the poor dear will sleep anyway," she said. "When I first got here, Twilight, it was obvious to me that he had trouble sleeping, but he wouldn't take anything I offered him. I even tried to sneak some chamomile in his drink once and-" she suddenly went silent. A small smile crept its way across her face. "Twilight...what were you doing in the courtyard in the first place?"

Discord went to his room and flopped down on his bed. He remembered how nice it was to sleep on clouds. It had been centuries since he had that luxury.
"I have Celestia to thank for that," he grumbled, folding his talon and paw behind his head. He stared at the ceiling, not entirely sure what he should be doing. He certainly wasn't going to sleep, but he had a few hours to kill before the meeting reconvened.

He had nothing else to do, so to his dismay, he was forced to think. He remembered the healing spell he used and thought about what other spells he could cast. He knew very few that used magic that didn't come from the caster, and none of the ones he did know would do him any good. None of them were powerful enough to break free of his curse. He held up his talon and saw the little rune that had become so familiar to him. In some ways he was grateful it was there. It was a reminder that no matter how long he was there, no matter how kind the princesses were to him, he was still a prisoner. They were still his enemies.

He sighed. "Now how did that tune go?" He tried to remember the song he made up to guide the spell, and he found himself humming out the notes. He closed his eyes and made up a new verse. When he opened them again, an hour had passed.
He sat up and stared at the clock. Had he fallen asleep? He didn't feel any more rested, but the clock didn't have the cognitive ability to lie. Sure, Discord had reversed the hands and scrambled the numbers but he knew how to read it. An hour had passed, just like that.
"Huh," he grunted, rising in the air. "Curious."
He slithered out the door and closed it behind him with his tail.

Luna slammed a bundle of files down on the desk. "Is everypony here? Good." The doors closed in a puff of blue magic.
"Where's Nurse Rosemary?" Jet said.
"She will not be needed in this," Luna responded. "Her role will be to look after Twilight, nothing more." She tapped her hoof on the table."Is everypony ready?" They all nodded, except for Discord, who remained silent. "Then let us begin."

Princess Luna opened the files and spread out a few pages in front of her. Each one bore a small portrait of a student.
"I have reviewed the files of every student that has been attacked. There doesn't seem to be any connection between them."
"They're all unicorns," offered Zelda, a light brown unicorn with green mane and glasses. "And they might all take the same class."
"Coincidental," Luna said. "There is not one class they all share, and most of the students here are unicorns. The only thing they share is the unfortunate habit of sneaking out past curfew."
"So this creature is attacking whoever it can find," said Jet. "What does that tell us?"

"It tells us that it has chosen the campus as its hunting ground, and as such its dwelling is nearby," Luna tucked the files back into their folders. Discord noticed that Twilight's was significantly larger than the others. "And it shouldn't be too hard to track it down," Luna finished. "Until it is caught I will patrol the courtyards after I have completed my work in the sky. I need a you all to assist me. You will need to take turns every other night so you can stay rested. The campus will be on watch every night. If it shows itself again, we will be there to catch it."
"And what of Twilight Sparkle's condition?" Jet inquired.
"What of it?" Luna replied. "There is little to be done about magical depletion. All we can do is trust Rosemary to take care of her."
Zelda leaned forward and said, "But surely you or Princess Celestia could find a way to heal her?"

Luna shook her head. "My sister and I can do a great many things, but I'm afraid our abilities aren't boundless. All we can do it wait, and hope."
But her magic can't be depleted, Discord thought. She didn't cast any spells. I would have seen it. How does Rosemary even know it's magical depletion? He resolved to ask her about it once the meeting was over, and glanced up to check the status of the group. They were all staring at him.
"Huh?" He grunted nonchalantly. "What?"
"Discord," Luna said with an exasperated sigh. "I asked you if you understood."
"Understood what?"

Luna sighed at looked around the room at the other teachers.
"You all understand your duties. You may go. Discord, a word?"
All the teachers filed out of the room until Luna and Discord were alone. Her horn was glowing, and Discord saw that she was raising the moon. He patiently waited until it was set on its course and Luna returned her attention to him.

"Discord. This is a very serious matter. It's important you pay attention in meetings like these." He shrugged, and Luna gave him a disapproving look. "I'm serious, Discord."
"You asked me if I understand what now?"
"I asked you if you understood that you are to forget this event ever happened. You are to continue your teachings and daily routines as if you never saved Twilight from that creature. Or better yet, if you had never met Twilight at all."
"Now hold on-" Discord caught himself mid-protest.
"You are not to assist in this hunt in any way. Am I clear?" Luna looked at him intently.

"No we are not. Why am I being given the cold shoulder?" Discord crossed his arms indignantly.
Luna opened her mouth to answer when the window began to glow.
The princess sighed, "It wasn't my decision."

A ball of light passed through the glass and grew in size. It then faded away to nothing, leaving behind a tall, white figure. The last of the glow dissipated, and room now had a third occupant.
"It was mine," she said.
"Celestia," Discord greeted with little to no actual respect.

The normally warm and welcoming princess of the sun was now cold and unsmiling. She looked at her sister and thawed slightly.
"Luna," she said.
"Celestia," Luna replied. "I thought you would get here sooner."
"I apologize. There were many things I had to attend to."

"Why are you here?" Discord said.
"Why?" Celestia scowled at him. "My subjects are in peril. My most faithful student has been injured," she took a sharp step towards him. "I'm doing my duty. I can't do much directly, or without calling attention to the school, but I can at least reinforce the wards protecting it."
"Oh, I could do that in a snap," Discord said. "You just gotta lift this curse and-"
"This is no time for your banter, Discord!" Celestia cut him off. "You are not to assist in any of this."
"And why is that?"

"Because you're a suspect." Celestia advanced on him threateningly. "How do we know it wasn't you who did this to her?"
Luna tried to pull her back. "Sister..."
Celesta continued, "The others don't know you like we do. They don't know that you were a king of suffering. I made a mistake; I was merciful. I should have turned you to stone all those years ago. It was stupid of me to think you could ever change."
"Celestia," Luna pulled her sister away. "If he did it, why would he bring her to the infirmary?"
"I don't know. I've never been able to understand the things he does."

"It wasn't me." The sisters turned to look at the draconequus. He continued, "I didn't to it. Have you seen her? My claws would literally be stained red, but they aren't. See?" He held up his claws. "There's only a little on my arm from when I picked her up."
Celestia peered at him, searching for the tiniest hint of deception.
"I healed her as best I could," he continued. "If I wanted to kill Twilight, I wouldn't have brought her back."

Luna's expression softened. Celestia seemed to tense up even more, but her anger was cooling down.
She said, "I'll be watching you, Discord. Stay out of this." He shrugged in reply. Celestia scowled. "I mean it," She turned to Luna. "We should start on the wards."

The pair left the room and Discord found himself alone. Without much else to do, he started to hum.

Chapter 13 - Are You Still Sleeping?

A faint chime-like noise rang through the air as Celestia finished casting her spell. She touched down on the grass and gazed out over the grounds. The stealthiest owl couldn't hold a candle to the quietness of Luna's wings, so when she touched down beside her sister it was not without a small amount of surprise, causing Celestia to jump at her sister's sudden appearance.
"Luna," she sighed. "Don't sneak up on me like that, especially during a time such as this."
"My apologies," Luna replied. "I wasn't trying to scare you."

When Celestia didn't reply, Luna followed her gaze. She was looking at the stars. Their work had started after sunset and carried them far into the night. The moon was high and the stars shone brightly. Celestia's eyes slid over them carefully, as if she were counting them.
"It's a beautiful night, sister," Celestia said finally. Luna nodded, and a silence started to stretch out between them.
Finally, Luna said, "Sister, would you like to visit Twilight?"
"It's late, Luna. I don't want to disturb-"

"You won't be disturbing anypony. I know you want to see her."
Celestia nodded, and the pair began to make their way across the campus. It was eerily silent. Celestia couldn't help but feel out of sorts in the night. Their steps echoed through the still night air in a way they never could in daylight. Shadows spread out across the ground where they ought not to be, and dim light from the moon and stars slithered across surfaces like water. In truth, it freaked Celestia out a little.
She would never say so, of course, but she would never have to. Luna knew how Celestia felt out of place in the night, just as she felt out of place in the day. It was a more than a difference between them. It was a divide. They were contradictory to each other, yet balance between them was imperative. Balance that Luna sometimes felt danced on the edge of knife.

But they were sisters. Their friendship and love for each other made the dance possible, and the order they brought to the world only strengthened their bond.
Luna glanced up at her older sister. She was quiet. Celestia was hardly ever quiet.
"Sister," Luna said. "Is there a reason you have yet to visit Twilight? She's been studying here quite a while now, but you haven't visited her once. Is she no longer your student?"

The door to the infirmary eased open with a long, drawn out creak that echoed up into the rafters above. The noise disturbed the peaceful quiet in the worst way, but the racket was lost on the unicorn slumbering in the room. The sisters made their way past the beds and towards Twilight.
Celestia gazed down at the unconscious pony and was silent. Luna waited patiently.

"Of course she's still my student, Luna," Celestia said finally. She spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, as if she could disturb Twilight's rest. "But I've taught her everything I can through study and textbooks."
"Then why send her here? Is this place not the embodiment of study and textbooks?"
"No, it's not."
"But this academy is no longer the place of advanced magical knowledge it once was," Luna said. "Somehow it's transformed itself into a school for the privileged, creditable only in name. We have advanced studies, yes, but..."
Celestia shifted her eyes to meet her sister's. "There was no more she could learn from her tower in Canterlot. This place is full of knowledge, not just in books but in the teachers and the students."
Luna sighed as she came to understand. "You thought she would make friends here."
Celestia looked back to Twilight. "Was I wrong?"

Luna shifted her weight and took a moment before she answered. "From what I gather, she has become friendly with some of the faculty."
"Well, that's a start."
"And when I say 'faculty'..." Luna trailed away. Celestia looked up and tilted her head, inviting her sister to continue. "When I say 'faculty,' I mean Discord," she finished.

Celestia went rigid. Her face grew hard and twisted with suspicion. "What?" She said.
"Listen to me, sister," Luna said. "I know you mistrust him, understandably so, but I don't believe he did this. The two of them have become close during her time here."
"What have you seen?"
"Very little, but enough to know there is something between them. I've seen her speaking to him in the courtyard before class. He was the first to go looking for her when she fled from the dance. He has spent much of his time here in the infirmary since the attack. He's worried about her. He cares. They're friends-"
"Discord has never cared for anything," Celestia replied. "Why was she on the grounds at such a late hour?"

"Mahogany has told me that she accidentally locked her inside the library. Twilight must have been making her way back."
"And where was Discord?" Celestia's hard tone didn't falter.
Luna sighed. "He spends most of his nights in the gardens. That night was no exception."
"Wards protect this school. Even before our reinforcements they could have easily repelled an attacker such as the one that hurt Twilight." Celestia met Luna's gaze. Her eyes were ablaze with furious certainty. "Tell me that it couldn't have been him."

"Sister," Luna brushed her wing against Celestia's. "You took away Discord's powers and brought him here so he might be reformed. Yet you refuse the possibility that he might finally be changing for the better."
Celestia's anger dampened, and despair started to creep into her.
"You might be right about that, Luna," she said. "But in my eyes the evidence is strong against him, and he's done little in the past to sway my judgement now."

Celestia looked back to her student. It was obvious whatever Twilight was in was far deeper than sleep. Her body was as still as stone, with only the slight fall and rise of her chest to indicate life.
"What do you think would have happened?" Celestia said quietly. Luna raised her eyebrows in question. Celestia finished, "If I sent her somewhere else? Or if I imprisoned Discord in stone instead of allowing him to live without his powers?"
Luna tilted her head. "Are you worried about her destiny?"
Celestia gently brushed a piece of Twilight's mane from her bandaged cheek. "I just wanted to help her achieve it. I wanted to keep her safe. But it seems my judgement has led her astray."

"If what you told me about her fate is true," Luna said. "It won't matter where we lead her. She will find it, no matter what."
"I know." Celestia drew away from the bed. "I just hope it doesn't destroy her in the process."

Discord hated this room. It was too neat. Too clean. What he sought was nowhere to be found in Luna's office, and this was the only other place it could be. The file cabinets were all the same height, stacked side by side and carefully organized by name. Discord floated near the floor, squinting in the darkness. The room was illuminated by pale moonlight that entered through a lone window, and this was the only light Discord had to read by.
The room held the records of every student that had ever attended Celestial Academy, including those currently enrolled. It took some searching, but eventually Discord found the cabinet he was seeking.

He pulled open the drawers and rifled through the files. It took everything he had not to tear them from the drawer and spread them all over the room. It would have been a great improvement to the symmetry, but he couldn't leave any evidence of his being there. A paper storm would have Discord written all over it.
A paper storm, he though. I've got to add that to my list of things to whip up when I get my powers back.

Discord's eyes caught sight of the name, and he tightened his grip around the edge of the file.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Discord froze. Celestia stood in the doorway, silhouetted by moonlight that streamed into the room behind her.
"I asked what you think you're doing," she said.

Discord shut the drawer and flashed a smile. "Oh you know," he said. "Checking for termites!"
"I know what you're doing." Celestia ventured into the room, falling deeper into shadows as she advanced on him. "You're using her."
"Who?"
"You know very well who," she snapped. "I told you to stay out of this, and I want you to stay away from Twilight."
"What, that purple unicorn who got attacked?" His banter truly knew no end. "Why would I want to be around her in the first place?"
"Her magic." Celestia paused. She stood face to face with Discord, tall and unmovable as ever. "She's special. Twilight has more raw natural ability than anypony I've ever encountered. You have no doubt noticed it yourself. Such things don't escape you easily."
Discord shrugged. "I may have noticed."
"It could have been you who attacked her," she continued. "But then again it might not have been. Either way, I don't doubt the possibility that you plan to use her magic for your own gain."

"It's not like I've never done that before, I admit," Discord said.
"I know-"
"But," Discord held up a claw and interrupted her. "It wasn't in my plans this time. Although it is a very good idea." He broadened his smile. "Maybe she could lift this pesky curse of mine!"
"Forget it," Celestia said harshly. "Not even Twilight could lift that mark from you."

She turned and started towards the door.
"Stay away from her, Discord," she said without turning. "I mean it."
"I'm sure you do." This earned him a quick scowl, then the princess was gone.

The drawer was open again almost immediately, and the file removed. He opened it right there and flipped through the pages.
"Twilight Sparkle," he mumbled aloud as he read. "Education: Canterlot Magic Kindergarten, Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, blah blah blah..."
He scanned the pages, not entirely sure what he was looking for. He came to the school record room more on impulse than on a conscience decision. Maybe he would find something that would help lead to the attacker. Maybe he was merely curious. Probably a mixture of both.

Discord was starting to get bored when something caught his eye. It was a letter from Celestia, attached to the Celestial Academy admittance paperwork in the recommendations section. He read it closely.

[CONFIDENTIAL]

Order of Admittance, Princess Celestia

Twilight has proven herself far beyond expectations, and her knowledge has outgrown what I can offer her here in Canterlot. I hereby grant her the Grand Celestial Education Grant. She will be attend Celestial Academy free of any and all expenses in favor of her continued study and safekeeping.

-Princess Celestia

"Safekeeping?" Discord questioned aloud.
The letter was not at all a recommendation but a command. It was her academy, and Celestia had the right to admit anypony she wished, but something about the letter seemed off. It was short and cold. Celestia was never short and cold. Well, she was when she was talking to Discord, but he was special. No, he expected her to sing praise upon praise of Twilight's skill for several pages, but the little note was all he could find.
And the note ended strangely. Safekeeping. What did that mean? Why did Twilight need safekeeping?

"What are you up to, Celestia?" Discord mumbled to himself.
He scoured the rest of the file but found nothing else of interest. At most he learned that Twilight was a massive over-achiever. He found comments about reports and research papers she submitted to her teachers in Canterlot that were borderline publishing material. There were some accounts of work she did on her own merely out of curiosity. Besides broadening Discord's understanding of just how obsessed with learning Twilight was, the record did little to aid in the current situation.
He slid the file back into the drawer, in the wrong place, and shut it with a loud metal clang. His business done, Discord slithered out of the room.

"Why do I keep coming back here?" No answer. "It's not like I have anything better to do, but still." Silence.

The infirmary was an eerie place at night. Discord preferred having the open night sky above him, not dark rafters that faded into shadow as the ceiling rose. Rosemary had tucked Twilight snugly into the bed for the night, and Discord lounged on the next bed over.
"Celestia says you're special," he said. "I have to admit you're different from the rest of the students. You actually care about magic. So many of the students here couldn't care less about learning. I imagine they're here for the education section on their resumes. 'Celestial Academy' would look pretty good one of those things."

Silence. Twilight slept on. Discord shook his head at her.
"Look at that," he continued. "I'm finally talking to you, like you wanted from the beginning, and you're unconscious. You won't even sneeze when I do this-" He tickled her nose with the fluffy end of his tail. She didn't respond. "See? Not even a twitch."
He drew his tail away and said no more. The silence stretched on. The moon slid slowly across the sky, and the shadows in the room followed suit. She didn't move an inch.
"You should wake up."
Nothing. He shook his head and yawned.
"What am I going to do with you, Sparkle?"

"Discord."
"Mrm..."
"Discord." A hoof jabbed sharpy into his shoulder.
"Go away," he grumbled, hardly conscience. He opened one eye slightly to see who was bothering him. "Rosemary? What are you doing in my room?"
The nurse blinked once, then let out a hearty laugh and said, "Your room? This is the infirmary, you loon!"

Discord shot up from where he lay. "H-how did I-"
"I for one," Rosemary interrupted, a smile appearing in the corner of her mouth. "Think it's very sweet."
"Sweet?"
Rosemary nodded and waved her hoof at him. "You were so worried about your favorite student, you couldn't stand to leave her alone at night." She bobbed her head side to side in jest, giggling.
"That's not true!" Discord snapped. "I was just in here for a second last night. I sat down and I dozed off. That's it! Nothing else!"

Rosemary smiled and turned to her desk. "Right," she said sarcastically. It wasn't a second until Discord's frazzled expression was inches from her face.
"It was an accident! That's it!" He insisted, his claw gripping the side of the desk tightly. She pushed him away.
"Ok, ok," she said. "I was only teasing." She turned back to some paperwork on her desk and began filling it out.
Discord crossed his arms and leaned back slightly. "Well it wasn't funny," he said.
"Discord, it's okay," Rosemary looked up from her work and smiled. "You're friends. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Friends?" Discord cringed, but Rosemary didn't seem to notice. She was opening cabinets taking inventory of all the medicines she had, and Discord followed after her. Occasionally a bottle or two would float down to the counter for later use.
"No, no," he continued. "You got it wrong. We're not friends."
Rosemary studied a bottle of clear liquid. The label was small and covered in the tiniest typeface ever conceived. Without looking up she said, "Yes you are."
"No, no. We're not. We're...I'm a teacher, and she's a student, and she happened to be around when I was around and our paths... crossed here and there but we're just two beings in a building with a hundred other beings we're...we're not anything-"
"Discord. Honestly..." Rosemary lowered the levitating bottle and faced him. "You don't have to be so defensive."

"Defensive? I'm not defensive-"
"Look," Rosemary sighed. "I know you've never been keen on the idea of having friends. Or colleagues. Or anything resembling a good relationship with anybody in this school, least of all the students. So, I understand that this must be a little disorienting for you. But there's nothing wrong with a student and a teacher being good friends." Rosemary beamed a brilliant smile. "Just look at me," she continued. "I try to make friends with everypony I can, faculty and students included."
A voice sounded from the doorway, "A practice I don't recommend."

Rosemary jumped in surprise and wheeled around.
"Luna!" she said. "I was just..."
Luna strode into the room and continued, "It's important that the professors here maintain discipline, and respect. Letting students walk all over you is no way to command their attention in the classroom."
"Can that not be done with a friendly demeanor, at least?" Rosemary offered.
Luna gave a small smile. "Of course. And in your case, I think it's good that you try to be friendly. It's important to have a nurse in the school that the students can easily approach with health concerns."

Rosemary blushed a little and smiled. "Thank you, Princess," she said. "I need to finish this work so I can start tending to Twilight. Did you need something from me?"
"Actually, no. I came looking for that one," she tossed her gaze unto the draconequus floating nearby. "Discord."
"Yes?" He answered.
"You're late for class."

His ears perked up. "Really?" he asked. "What time is it?"
"Late enough for your class to have begun without you. Get going!"
Discord grumbled then slithered off. He had forgotten about his current occupation, and was not at all looking forward to resuming his regular routine.

Chapter 14 - Discord Trying To Be Sneaky

Author's Note

Wowza! It's been YEARS! I recently took a look at this fiction I had here and found this chapter still in the drafts. I actually like this chapter a lot so I took a moment to polish it up a little for you and publish it. Apologies, it's not the final chapter, but it's pretty close. I don't have any plans at the moment to write up the last few chapters, but if I may tinker with them here and there if I need a break from my work.
Enjoy, my friends!

Chapter 14 - Discord Trying To Be Sneaky

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

Discord shot upward in surprise and struck the ceiling with a solid plunk. He rubbed his bruised skull and peered down at mare below him. "Mahogany!" He yelled. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Just what do you think you're doing!?" She demanded again. Discord slowly floated downward to meet her where she stood amongst the wreck he had made. Mahogany's precious library looked as if it had been ransacked by a band of thieves. But the only criminal here was Discord, and she scowled at him as he smirked at her from his invisible perch inches from the ground. "My library-"

"Has been vastly improved, if I do say so myself." He flashed a devilish smile, and Mahogany's face reddened with frustration. "Every. Time." she said. "Every time...you come in here and it spells disaster for my library! Why must you be such a nuisance?" Mahogany wasn't an old pony, per se, but the flesh on her face was just loose enough to form the most hilarious wrinkles when she was angry, and Discord couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Stop that!" She demanded, to no avail.

"Oh, Mahogany, dear," Discord said, taking a breath. "You're always so much fun." Mahogany sharply inhaled a long breath through her nostrils, and held it for a little longer than necessary. When she finally exhaled, the redness in her cheeks was gone, and she seemed to be more calm. Boring, Discord thought. Mahogany clenched her teeth and said calmly, with no small amount of effort, "Perhaps you could tell me what you need, and I'll find it for you." Her annoyance was not well hidden.

"Who says I was looking for anything?" Discord chimed. A cloud of silver magic ripped a book out of his claw. He had forgotten he was holding it. "You were reading this when I came in," she said, scanning the pages before analyzing the cover. "'Insidious: True Tales of Deadly Encounters with Creatures Unknown'... A bit early for such an unsettling read, is it not?" Discord shrugged innocently. "I wasn't reading. I was just looking at the pictures."

Mahogany raised an unamused eyebrow. "That does little to comfort me. This really is a dreadful book. So many horrid stories. Why were you reading it?" Discord picked up a random book and leafed through it absently. "I wasn't," he said curtly. Not in the mood to play games with him, Mahogany sighed and decided to leave him to his own devices. In truth, she was glad to at least have something to do today. Cleaning up after Discord was better than falling asleep at the front desk. She couldn't expect anyone to come around to check anything out. As she was leaving she paused and sighed. "Poor miss Sparkle..." she said softly, so different from her usual rigid tone. Behind her, Discord lowered himself to sit on the ground. He stared blindly at the pages of the book in his hand. "She was the only one who ever came around here," Mahogany continued. Discord said nothing. Mahogany brought the grim book to her attention again. She looked sadly at the cover. "I've already looked through this, Discord. And all those books you're sitting on. I couldn't find anything. There just aren't enough details about what attacked her." When he continued to be silent, she said "I don't think I'm supposed to know, but...I visited her in the infirmary and Rosemary was kind enough to tell me."

Mahogany let the silence stagnate for moment before clearing her throat and returning to her usual disposition. "Well," she said. "It looks like my work is cut out for me today. Don't you have a class to teach?" She glanced backward in time to glimpse Discord's tail disappearing over the row of bookcases. The door to the library creaked loudly, and Mahogany found herself alone.

Morning streamed in softly through the infirmary windows. Rosemary was mixing up Twilight's nutrients for the day when Discord's head appeared in front of her, upside down. She jumped in surprise. "Discord! Here to pay a visit to your favorite student?"

"Sorry, m'dear," he flipped, rather gracefully, and planted himself on the floor. "Just business today." Rosemary frowned. "Business?" Discord nodded and said, "Luna wants me to try and figure out what could have attacked her. Something rather powerful, no doubt. Had to be able to make it past the wards protecting the school." Rosemary shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, I suppose so. And you've come to me because..."

Discord stiffened his mouth and attempted to spew the most intellectual vocabulary he knew: "I require more data to cross-reference with suspects found in the school databases, of have a cornucopia of dastardly doodads of-"

"Oh, stop that," Rosemary smirked. "You need more information on how exactly Twilight was affected, so you can get an idea of what kind of abilities this creature has, correct?" Discord stuck his nose in the air. "Hmphf," he huffed. "You didn't say it nearly as egg-headed as you're supposed to." She laughed softly at him. "Do us all a favor and stick to your own dictionary, would you, Discord? It suits you much better."

She turned back to her army of vials and glass beakers, carefully measuring amounts of liquid nutrient, tonic, and elixir Twilight's body needed to stay functioning, and perhaps even recover. Rosemary didn't want to think about how wishful that kind of thinking was, so she instead attended to Discord's request. "I've been compiling a report on Twilight's condition for a few days now. As terrible as it is, it's actually quite fascinating." At Discord's objecting expression, she quickly added. "You see, I wrote my thesis on the biology of unicorn magic and the effects it can have on the user. Nopony ever teaches you much about the actual biology that enables a unicorn to cast the spells she can; it can be rather vague and it's not important in learning to use magic. My thesis actually has a part of it devoted to magical depletion and it's biological effects. I'll bundle it up with the report and get it to you by tonight."

"Well, that sounds like the most boring read I've ever heard of," Discord groaned. Rosemary opened her mouth to object, but Discord continued "I'll be expecting it this afternoon. Thank you, Rosemary." Without another word he slithered out of the room. Rosemary sighed after him. "Light on the jokes today, isn't he?" She glanced over to where Twilight lay. "He's worried about you. You're lucky to have such a loving friend, Twilight."

Mahogany was still straightening up the mess in her library when Luna appeared at the door. "Mahogany," Luna called. "Are you there?" The librarian stumbled out from between the bookcases and called back, "Yes, ma'am. I'm over here. I'll be with you in a moment." She carefully stepped out from the carpet of books and met Luna by the front desk. "Miss Luna," she said. "How can I be of service?"

"I borrowed this," A large reference book of magical beasts and creatures appeared in a small puff of blue magic. It floated gently down and set itself on the table. "I am returning it to your care." Mahogany nodded and pulled the book closer. She glanced over the cover and said, "Thank you. I'll add it to the pile of books that need re-shelving." Luna peered around the librarian pony's shoulder at the aisle she had emerged from. Books were strewn everywhere. It was chaos. "It seems," the princess said. "That you have your work cut out for you."

Mahogany snorted. "Do I. Discord was here earlier. I found him tearing up the place looking for...well, who knows." Luna raised an eyebrow in interest. She said, "Discord was looking through the books? What was he searching for?" Mahogany tapped the reference book with the tip of her hoof. "Actually," she said. "He was looking through books similar to this one. Didn't find what he was looking for though."

Luna didn't say anything in reply. She took a moment to contemplate, then said "I see. I have other business to attend to, Mahogany. If you require more help in the library, please let me know." Mahogany nodded and Luna departed.

Midday. He hadn't eaten yet, but he wasn't hungry. He was on a mission. Although, a good bottle of chocolate milk would have hit the spot right about then. The only place to get one was the cafeteria, and he was far too busy sneaking into the girls' dormitories to bother going there. It was easy enough, with everyone in class or on the lawn relaxing in the sun. When he reached Twilight's room he was disappointed to find it unlocked. "Oh goodie," he mumbled. "I don't have to break anything today." He slipped into the room and closed the door silently behind him.

Twilight's dwelling was utterly pristine. Everything was in its proper place. Her books were lined neatly in the bookcases, sorted alphabetically and by subject. Rolls of parchment, quills, and inkwells were stacked rather meticulously on a nearby desk. Her bedsheets were made so tightly it was worthy of military barracks. The only thing that seemed slightly out of place was Twilight's saddlebag, which slouched on top of the bed. As he rummaged through a stack of books on her bookcase he made a point to knock the bag over as he slithered by, its contents spilled over the floor. He also left one or two books upside down and sideways in the bookcase, just to liven things up a little.

Discord wasn't entirely sure why he was here. The chances of finding any clues here as to what harmed Twilight was slim to none, yet it was the last place he had to look before he was out of ideas. And also, he wanted to come here. Something about the idea of coming to this room produced a bubble of calmness in his chest, the curious sensation of stillness where chaos has swirled and thrashed about for aeons. It was maddening.

"Just needs a little redecorating," he mumbled. He messed up the curtains in the window and threw a hat in the middle of the floor for good measure. He wished she owned more clothes so he could cover the floor more, but raiding her closet would be pushing it. It was weird enough that he was in here at all. He surveyed his work and shook his head. It was time to go. As he drifted towards the door, he glanced at the saddlebag. Parchments, quills, scrolls, and books had spilled out of it over the floor. Underneath a runic dictionary was a curious little journal.

He absentmindedly plucked it from the pile, flipped open the cover, and froze at the sight of his name written on the first line.

"Discord....species: Draconequus..... Description:....."

Chapter 9 - What Happened Last Night?

The sun's light had barely broken across the horizon when Twilight awoke to find herself on the floor of the lounge with a blanket draped over her. Litter from the party was everywhere.

"Why am I..." she muttered to herself. She tried to get up, but a headache suddenly ripped through the inside of her skull. "Ugh...What happened last night?" She scoured her brain for memories, but none came. She began to panic. "What happened last night."

Twilight was able to stand after a few minutes of sitting upright, but it didn't comfort her in the slightest. She took in her surroundings: she was in the downstairs lounge, surrounded by garbage. She cringed. "Ugh," she muttered. "I hope I wasn't the one who made this mess." She cringed again as her headache tore across her brain again. She groaned nervously.
"What is wrong with me?" She took a deep breath. "Ok. Calm down, Twilight. Let's see. Yesterday...yesterday..."

Twilight retraced her steps from yesterday in her mind. "...Then I went to go study...I was in the library for most of the day...I came back and...and there was a party going on-" she gasped. She suddenly remembered the punch that Ruby had given her.
Twilight growled angrily. She was furious with herself. "Twilight you idiot!" She said. "You absolute moron! You couldn't have just ignored her, could you? You couldn't have just gone right up to bed. And now...and now...." She went silent. She couldn't remember what she had done after drinking the punch. She began pacing around the room.

"Oh no...Oh no...." she said quietly to herself. "What happened....what did I do....what did they do?" She was so afraid of what could have happened she was on the verge of tears. She spotted the blanket she had woken up under and crawled into it again, wrapping herself up cozily. "I wonder if I got this blanket myself or if somepony gave it to me. I was probably too out of it to manage finding a blanket."

Her head throbbed again and she gave up any more attempt at thinking. She slowly made her way up the steps to her room. When Twilight finally snuggled under the covers of her own bed, the sun was just peeking out over the horizon. In her last seconds of consciousnesses she closed the curtains using magic and thanked the stars there was no school on Sundays.

Twilight paced around her room. Her mane was messy and dark lines were embedded under her eyes. Her sleep had been fitful and she didn't get a moment of rest. She just couldn't stop thinking about what might have happened the night before. She shuddered at the thought of somepony taking advantage of her in that state, and it wasn't impossible. Twilight shook her head to try and dislodge any more ideas trying to take root, but it was no use.
She decided to take a walk to try and distract herself.

It was already past noon and the sun shone brightly. Many of the students lounged around the courtyard, dozing or chatting with their friends. It was certainly a beautiful Sunday. On any other day as beautiful as that one Twilight would have taken advantage of the weather and relaxed under a tree with a few books, but not today.

Walking wasn't helping. "Maybe a jog around the courtyard will help calm me down. Getting those endorphins flowing will help me feel better."
Twilight began to canter. Then trot. Then sprint. She was so intent on clearing her head that she was oblivious to the weird looks she got from the students she passed.

Discord was comfortably hidden from sight on the roof when he spotted Twilight sprinting across campus. His ears pricked in interest.
"What could be so urgent?" He wondered, watching her run. When she finally reached the other end of campus she took a wide turn and continued running, this time in the opposite direction. Discord caught her expression as she sped past. Her eyes were wide with panic but her mouth was pressed tightly into a thin line. He knit his eyebrows together in confusion but let her pass.
When she had gone he settled back into his comfortable perch and laughed as a colt was splashed in the face by a mare after he asked her to dinner. He clearly wasn't her type.

Twilight returned to her room. Instead of feeling better, she was now stressed, exhausted, and sweaty. She ran straight up to her room and collapsed on the floor, groaning in defeat. She rinsed her face at her sink and sighed
"There's no helping this," she sat down on the floor by her bed and levitated a sizable stack of books to her side. "I'll just study to take my mind off things until class tomorrow. If I read constantly until sunset, I'll be tired enough to sleep through the night. Now let's see..."
She rested her legs on some cushions and opened a huge book of magical theories.

After a while she was so engrossed in her book she didn't notice the Discord hanging upside down from the roof, peeking in through the window. Her expression hadn't changed much since he last saw her. He quickly got bored after a few minutes of inactivity and slipped away unnoticed.

The lines under Twilight's eyes were even deeper than before. She closed her last book and put it aside. The sun had long since set and the moonlight streamed into the room. It was brighter than Twilight had seen it in a long while. She laid down on her bed and tried to fall asleep, but her mind wouldn't let her. She tossed and turned, desperately trying to silence her brain for long enough to rest, but to no avail.

Twilight groaned and rolled out of bed. She sat at the window and looked over the grounds. They were beautiful in the moonlight.
She bit her lip. "I know it's against the rules," she whispered to herself. "But maybe a short midnight walk will help me."
Being careful not to let the door creak, or the stairs groan under her hooves, she sneaked her way to the courtyard.
She was walking one of the northernmost paths when a sudden movement in the shadows made her take cover behind a pillar.

She peeked out from her hiding place to see a familiar form slithering its way through the air. Discord stopped at one of the fountains and settled into a bench.
Discord, she thought. I totally forgot he'd be out here.
She leaned out from her hiding place to get a better look at him. He sitting, like usual, at the fountain. He was slumped over, and he was turned away from Twilight. She couldn't see his face.

"What is he doing?" She whispered to herself. His ear swiveled and she clopped a hoof over her mouth, cursing inwardly. When his ear returned forward she tiphoofed slowly from behind the pillar, then darted to a bush that was closer to the fountain. She peered through the leaves, but she wasn't satisfied with her vantage point and began looking for a new hiding place.
Discord suddenly sighed, and Twilight paused.
Come on, she thought to herself. Since when are you the kind of pony to spy on others?. She took a step toward him.

"You're not allowed out after dark, Sparkle."
Twilight froze, but Discord didn't turn around. He only stared into the water, like usual.

"I know," Twilight said, approaching him. "I couldn't sleep so I thought-"
"Unless you want a detention I suggest you go back to your room."
Twilight stopped and took a good look at his face. He wasn't wearing his tie and in the darkness the lines under his eyes looked even darker. He broke his staring contest with the water and looked back at her. Her eyes still had that panicked look in them.
"You look terrible," he said.

"Ha," she said. "I've kinda been...stressing out."
"Is that why you were running around campus like a crackpot on the loose?" He looked back at the fountain.
"I thought exercise would help but..." she scratched her hoof nervously. "There was some kind of party last night and-"
"I didn't ask what was on your mind and it's not like I really care and I should really just give you three weeks detention for breaking curfew, but I know you won't go away until I tell you that I was there and I took care of it."

"You- what now?" Twilight said.
Discord sighed, "I was at the party. It took them quite a while to notice me but it was worth it to see them scurry around like a mob of startled chickens when I announced myself."
"Wait. You broke up the party?" She asked urgently.
"Isn't that what I just-"
"Did you see me!?" She interrupted. "What was I doing!?"
She had somehow ended right up in Discord's face and he pushed her away saying, "For goodness sake, calm yourself. I... may have seen you." He stuck his nose in the air and thought about what lie he should tell her. Drugs? Misconduct? Colts? There were so many choices.

"May? MAY? Oh, please don't do this to me professor. Did you see me or didn't you?"
Discord looked absently down at the mare. Her mouth was set into a quivering line but her eyes were panicked and she looked on the verge of tears. There was a subtle trembling in her stance and he could almost hear her heart pounding. He let her tension hang in the air a moment, then sighed in annoyance.
"Yes, I did see you."
"And?"
"Oh, don't worry. I broke everything up before you did anything rash."
Twilight nearly collapsed with relief. "Oh," she sighed. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that." She sat down with another sigh. "What happened, exactly?"

"Oh, you know. The kind of behavior one would expect from a mare that's been drugged. You just seemed drunk, really. I'm surprised you drank from that cup at all, knowing you."
"I know," she sighed. "I don't know why I did it."
"I was stupid of you to trust Ruby. Especially after she attacked you in the hallway."
"I know, it was- wait. How do you know about that?" He only shrugged in reply. "It was dumb. She was just..." Twilight trailed off.
Discord raised an eyebrow.
"It's not a big deal. I'm fine. It was just a silly thing." She changed the subject. "What are you doing out here?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm allowed out here. Go back before I have to take extreme measures."
"Tsk. That's the third time you've threatened me with detention, sir~" She suddenly yawned. "But, ok. I think I'll be able to sleep now. Professor," she waited for him to look at her again before saying, "Thank you."

She trotted into the darkness without waiting for or expecting any reply from him, and he didn't give any. When she was gone completely he muttered to himself, "Ugh, that was a perfect opportunity to make some fun." He stretched his back and rose into the air. "I must be getting old; I'm going soft."

Discord and Twilight weren't the only ones out that night. A mare named Garnet was sneaking back from visiting her boyfriend in the male dormitories. She had sneaked back to her dorm in the night before and she wasn't afraid of being caught until a shadow suddenly shot across her path. It was gone before Garnet could see who it was, and she ducked behind a pillar in fear of being discovered breaking curfew.
She hid long enough to start thinking that her tired eyes were playing tricks on her. She cautiously stepped out of her hiding place and started back on her way home.

She hardly took two steps before something struck her violently. Garnet was attacked so quickly that she didn't have any time to scream before a flurry of blows made her lose consciousness.