Epiphany

“Fine!” Twilight Sparkle shouted. “Leave! See if I care! With friends like you, who needs –”

The purple unicorn hesitated for just a moment, as she realized what she was saying. For the

past few months these ponies had been her closest friends. Twilight had finally learned that there was a

life beyond books – a life full of friendship and joy and adventure. With her friends she had grown has

a unicorn and learned more than she ever could have back in Canterlot.

When Discord broke free of his stone prison, Twilight had no doubt that with the help of her

friends she could defeat him. After all, no creature could possibly withstand the magic of friendship.

But that's not what happened. Discord turned all of her dear, cherished friends against her. When

Twilight had tried to round them up and use them to defeat the magical draconequus, the magic failed.

Her longtime friends were friends no more.

Twilight was alone. Instead of friends, she now had...

“Enemies,” the unicorn said sadly, as she hung her head.

She knew there was no hope. Discord could never be defeated. Her friends were gone. There

was nothing left. As she felt herself turn gray she did nothing to stop it. There was simply no point.

As Twilight walked home in the cotton candy cloud rain, Discord laughed – but Twilight paid

him no heed. Ponyville was no longer her home. After all, home was a place where you had friends –

and those days were over. It was time to pack up.

When Twilight reached her bedroom in her treehouse, though, she immediately noticed the giant

pile of letters. Spike tried to talk to her, but he couldn't – the letters just kept coming.

“What in Equestria are all these?” Twilight asked. She used her magic to levitate one over to

herself and read it. “It looks like these are all the letters I've written to the princess since I've lived in

Ponyville. Now that's weird. Why would Celestia send all this mail back to me?”

Twilight began reading through her old friendship reports. “Let's think about this, Spike. The

only possible reason Celestia would have sent these back to me right now, when all of Equestria is

hanging in the balance, is because I must need them for something. Therefore, Celestia must think that

the answer to this crisis is... all of my research into the magic of friendship.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Spike said wearily. “So what are you going to do? Are you going to

come up with some kind of magical spell that reverses Discord's magic and makes your friends

remember their true selves?”

“Of course not,” Twilight said firmly. “What good would that do? Even if I did restore them to

their old selves, Discord could just change them back again with a snap of his fingers. What – do you

think he'll let me fix all my friends, and then come at him with the elements, and then he'll just sit there

in his throne and let us take a shot at him? That's crazy.”

“I guess you're right,” Spike agreed. “So what are you going to do?”

“Celestia must be trying to tell me that the creature who needs a lesson in friendship is Discord.

Obviously his behavior is very anti-social.”

“Seriously? So, what – are you going to try to arrange friendship lessons or something with

him? How would that work?”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Twilight scoffed. “This is all very simple. Celestia and Discord are both

more than a thousand years old. They must have been friends a long time ago, before Discord lost his

way. All I need to do is use a memory spell to remind him of his past friendships. Once he's back to

normal I'm sure he will restore my friends – and Equestria – back to its normal self.”

“Do you really think that's going to work?” Spike said doubtfully.

“Of course! Think about it. Being locked up in that stone statue for a thousand years must have

made him lose his mind. Imagine if you had been frozen in store for a millennium, unable to talk or

even scratch your nose. I would have gone crazy too. A good memory spell is all he needs.”

“If you're sure,” Spike said doubtfully.

* * * * *

Discord was not difficult to find. Twilight spotted him in downtown Ponyville, making it rain

pepper on top of poor Berry Punch. She kept sneezing over and over again. Discord laughed

uproariously each time. How unoriginal, Twilight thought to herself. You already did that earlier. Can't

you come up with something new? The same joke isn't funny the second time.

But there was no time to waste. While Discord was distracted, Twilight conjured up a memory

spell and fired it at the draconequus. It hit him squarely in the back of the head – but it did not have the

effect she intended. Discord froze in midair. His eyes glowed white – and then everything vanished.

A moment later Twilight found herself deep in the Everfree Forest. She was deeply confused.

“Hello?” she called out. But no one answered. Around her were thick trees and underbrush.

Above her was a canopy of leaves. She couldn't see the sky or tell where she was, exactly. It was even

difficult to tell the time of day. It obviously wasn't night, because she could see – but the light wasn't

strong, either. It could have been early morning or late in the afternoon.

What in Equestria happened? I know I used the right spell because I saw it start to take effect.

Discord was remembering – and then everything vanished. But what does the Everfree Forest have to

do with anything?

Twilight stood still and listened. After a few moments she heard voices in the distance. Since

she was utterly lost, she decided to head in that direction. Maybe there was a local pony who could give

her directions. Or maybe this is another one of Discord's endless tricks. If so, I have to admit it's at

least a new one.

As Twilight approached the voices she started making out words. “I most certainly am blaming

you for this debacle,” a male voice said firmly. Judging by the tone, the words seem to come from an

elderly stallion – one with rank and authority. “Lifting the containment field was a serious breach of

protocol. If Minty had just done her job then none of this would have happened. When we return to

Canterlot I will see that she is prosecuted.”

“That's completely unreasonable, Withers,” a nasally voice replied. “I keep telling you that the

field was not lowered. The creature overpowered it and escape. Her powers have been growing for

days.”

“Impossible! My calculations were not in error. I will prove it at the court martial.”

Twilight suddenly found herself in a small clearing in the forest. Overhead she could see an

orange sky. Rocks were tumbling through the air. That looks like Discord's work all right, she thought.

In the middle of the clearing were two ponies. To her surprise, they were both alicorns. One of

them was an enormous stallion that was even taller than Celestia. He was a white pony with a silver

mane, and had a diamond for a cutie mark. The other one was a slightly smaller blue pony with a tower

for a cutie mark. Twilight had never seen either of them before in her life.

“Excuse me,” Twilight called out. “I think I'm lost. Do either of you know what is going on?”

Both of the alicorns ignored her. “She's got to be around here somewhere,” the larger alicorn

said. Twilight realized by his voice that he must be the one named Withers.

“I quite agree,” his companion said. “Her irritating handiwork floats over our heads. What she

expected to accomplish with that outrageous display is quite beyond my understanding.”

“For the time being that is beside the point,” Withers said firmly. “The question before us is a

simple one. How are we going to draw her out?”

Twilight spoke up. “What do you mean, her? You do realize that Discord is male, right?”

Once again the alicorns ignored her. “I think our best bet is to simply irritate her. That will draw

her out, and then her capture will be straightforward.”

The white alicorn nodded. “Good thinking, Moonlight. She has such a simple mind, after all.”

Withers looked up at the orange sky and casually fired a bolt of magic at it. The chaotic scene

instantly vanished. The rocks disappeared, and was replaced with a very ordinary blue sky and fluffy

white clouds.

Twilight gasped. Even Celestia couldn't cast a spell like that! Then it hit her. The memory spell

had worked. Twilight wasn't in Ponyville anymore; she was in one of Discord's memories. The unicorn

was now in ancient Equestria – in the time long before Celestia and Luna. At this time the alicorn race

must still exist. But what am I supposed to see?

A shrill scream filled the air. High overhead a snake-like figure darted across the sky. Withers

instantly fired at it. The magical shot arced toward the creature, but it struck some kind of protective

shield.

The creature dove to the ground and landed in front of the two alicorns. Twilight realized, to her

surprise, that she was looking at another draconequus. This one was a bit different from Discord. Not

only was it female, but it was much larger. Her wings were almost the size of dragon's wings, and she

looked far more ferocious. Her eyes were glowing coals of fire that were locked onto the two alicorns.

“Why have you followed me here?” the draconequus hissed. “I have left your precious city.”

Withers spoke up. “Come now, Lily. There is no place for you in this world – we both know

that. If you belong anywhere – which I gravely doubt – it is in the shadow dimension. The real world

has no place for a being such as yourselves.”

“This world is as much my home as it is yours,” Lily shot back. “It took you a full year to find

me, did it not? And in all that time I hurt none of your precious ponies. I reside here now, in these

woods. They understand me. They support me. This is my home – not yours. I will ask you not to upset

my décor.”

Withers began to circle around her. Twilight realized what was going on – Withers was

positioning himself on one side of Lily, while his assistant Moonlight was on the other. “You were a

mistake,” Withers said bitterly. “The King believed it was possible to make a living embodiment of the

Elements of Harmony – a single creature that could fully represent all of them. You were to be that

creature.”

“Precisely,” Moonlight said. “That is why parts from so many different creatures were brought

together. You were intended to be unity within diversity – the very pinnacle of alicorn magic. We gave

you the best of everything.”

“And look at what you have done with it!” Withers called out. “You have been nothing but a

force for chaos ever since you were formed. Your prodigious magical talents have been utterly wasted.

Instead of uniting the land you have turned the sky orange and taught trees how to dance.

Harmonization is all about bringing things together. All you have done is torn them apart.”

“Your idea of harmony is... cold,” Lily hissed. “You seek order, which is altogether different. I

have given new life to your sterile world. For that you have hunted me.”

“Of course we have hunted you,” Withers replied. “Be reasonable. The magic we have given

you will greatly delay the onset of old age. You will live a very long time – and all we can see in your

future is destruction. The draconequus race must not be allowed to survive. You will do nothing but

torment the innocent creatures of this world. You have done too much damage.”

“And you cannot be allowed to expand your race, either,” Moonlight added. “Where is your

son, Lilly? How did you even have a son in the first place? We did not create a male draconequus.”

Lilly's eyes narrowed. “You will never find him. Your kind is not welcome in my forest. Leave

now – while you still can.”

Lilly shot off the ground into the sky – but as fast as she was, the two alicorns were even faster.

As she soared high into the air she fired several bolts of magic behind her. The two alicorns dodged

them easily.

Then Twilight realized she wasn't aiming at them at all. The magic hit the forest. Around her the

trees suddenly came to life. The forest roared in anger as Withers and Moonlight fired attack after

attack at Lilly. The trees shook their branches at the sky and began throwing rocks at the alicorns. At

first they were able to dodge them – but then the number of rocks simply overwhelmed them.

Withers, deeply irritated, banked in the sky and turned his attention away from Lilly and toward

the angry forest. Twilight was terrified. She was fairly certain that she couldn't get hurt in a memory,

but she didn't really want to bet her life on it – which is apparently what she was doing.

Withers lit up his horn. A ball of magic began to form at the end of it. When it became about the

size of a pony, it suddenly exploded. A shockwave of dark green magic erupted in all directions and

moved at lightning speed. When it struck the trees it turned them into ash.

Twilight was in shock. For miles around, there was simply nothing. The spell had vaporized the

forest. There was nothing but bare rock and parched ground.

Except for that one small figure, huddling in the distance. He had been hiding behind a tree, but

now the tree was gone. Even at this distance Twilight recognized him. It was a very young Discord.

“There he is,” Withers said triumphantly. “Did you really think you could hide him from us?”

Lilly, enraged, lit up the sky with fire. An entire army of flying pigs appeared. They quickly

assumed attack formation and headed toward Withers – but he vaporized them almost without effort.

Withers shrugged off the fiery attacks that Lilly threw at him. “Really, dear, what do you expect to

accomplish? We are the ones who gave you your magic in the first place. You didn't seriously think you

could defeat us, do you?”

Moonlight flew beside him. “It's over. You are going back into prison – and your son is going to

be eliminated. You should never have created him in the first place. The draconequus race ends right

here.”

“Never,” Lilly hissed. The enormous beast flew low across the ground and landed in front of her

son.

Discord was very young – he was just a fraction of the size Twilight remembered. He was

terrified, and was crying. He was clearly scared and had no idea what was going on.

“It's going to be all right,” Lilly said.

“It most certainly is not,” Withers replied. “I will see to that myself.”

Withers and Moonlight, standing side by side, both cast a spell at the same time. Their magic

connected to form a powerful beam of dark green energy. The beam shot through the air and collided

with a shield that Lilly was casting.

Lilly put all her energy into sustaining the shield, in order to protect her son. Twilight could see

that it was clearly a losing effort. Slowly the beams inched closer to her. Twilight saw that the

draconequus was beginning to tremble. At the same time, the beams from the alicorns began to get

stronger, and then –

Twilight was never sure afterward exactly what happened. Maybe Lilly did something to change

the characteristics of her protective spell. Maybe it was a bit of chaos – a desperate attempt to fight

back. Or maybe Withers miscalculated. Whatever the case, the whole world suddenly exploded. There

was an eruption of fire, a blinding flash of light, a sensation of heat – and everything disappeared.

When Twilight could see again, she saw bodies. Lilly, Withers, and Moonlight were all on the

ground. They were dead – charred almost beyond recognition.

Standing over Lilly was Discord. There were tears in his eyes and rage in his heart – but there

was nothing he could do.

* * * * *

The memory abruptly ended. One moment Twilight was in the past, in the ruins of the Everfree

Forest, and in the next she was back in Ponyville. To her amazement, everything was back to normal.

The chaos was gone and the sun was back in the sky.

About a hundred feet away was Discord. He was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Twilight walked over to him and looked at him. For the first time in her life, she pitied him. I

understand, she thought to herself. Lilly is gone, and I cannot bring her back. But maybe I can help.

In the distance she saw some ponies hurrying toward her. Whatever just happened impacted

more than the city; it changed her friends as well. Rarity, Applejack, and the rest were no longer gray;

they were now back to their usual selves.

She knew they would have many questions – and, hopefully, some apologies to make as well.

For now, though, all of that would have to wait. Twilight had a new job to do. Discord needed help; in

fact, he had needed help for a very long time. If there was anyone who needed the magic of friendship,

it was him – and Twilight would do all she could to help him.