A Pony's Sympathy

Chapters

Sympathy
Uncertainty
Memory
Journey
Sincerity
Ally
Harmony

Sympathy

Twilight knew that Discord had escaped again, but this time he had skipped Ponyville, and she had tracked him into the Everfree Forest. It wasn’t that hard to do, really. She just needed to follow the trail of stuff that made no sense. Apparently he liked giving the bunnies long deer legs, because a few of them were running around the forest, and also many of the trees had turned into cheese. Twilight noticed that the animals that lived in them were still in them, but eating them from the inside out.

Discord’s new lair was deep in the woods, in –what else? – A Fun House. It took her ten minutes to even find a door because whenever she approached an opening it would slide down father along the outer wall, causing her to chase it.

She came without her friends this time. This wasn’t the safest thing to do – the princess would not have advised it – but if Discord showed any signs of trouble Twilight knew that she could teleport back to the library in a second. It tired her out to do that, so she usually tried to save it for really important times, but she guessed she’d use it here if she needed.

She wasn’t sure why he hadn’t targeted Ponyville yet, but she wanted to find out. And as long as he wasn’t a threat to her or her home, she was going to try and be diplomatic about things. She would try to reason with him. Twilight was nervous about this idea – true – but she had studied by Princess Celestia’s side enough to have observed a few things about how she would converse with an adversary.

Or at the very least, she would try her best.

Twilight found him lounging on a chair that seemed to be made of cake, wearing his sunglasses inside for some reason. The room was walled with fun house mirrors, the kind that made everything look wonky, so right away things looked off.

She seemed to have awoken him, stepping on some stray bubble wrap that was scattered about the floor and he sat abruptly upright and looked around, sunglasses falling off his face.

Twilight didn’t have time to hide – or really anything to hide behind – so she quickly went into her best courageous pose and stood her ground.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Discord said greeting her. He slid down off the chair towards her but she stayed put. “What a surprise, and where is the rest of your team?”

“I can summon them in an instant, so no funny business, Discord!” She said making her horn send off a few sparks just to be sure he got the message. It wasn’t entirely a lie, she could teleport back home to get them, just it would probably take longer than an instant.

“Oh, well to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked, making his way slowly across the room. It was a zigzag pattern that if he kept it up, he would be right in front of her.

“I knew you’d escaped again, and so I came to find you. To see what you were up to, since you’re so close to Ponyville yet you haven’t tried to do anything to it.” There, that sounded commanding enough, Twilight thought.

“I would think it would be obvious, what with me hiding deep in a forest. I believe this is a textbook definition of ‘in hiding’, or maybe ‘on the lamb’. I like that one too.”

Twilight wasn’t sure she believed him. “I’m going to have to send a message to the princess in any case. Then when you do…whatever it is you’re planning, my friends and I can stop you like we did before.”

“Oh, phooey,” Discord said, apparently tired of being told about how he was defeated. “Leaving just when you got here?”

He began to slink around the room, making a slow circle around Twilight.

“Let me ask you, did I really do anything that terrible? All I did was try and make things a little more interesting,” Discord said slightly defensively.

“More interesting for whom?” Twilight asked, leering up at the miss-matched creature.

He stroked his chin, pretending to consider. “Well, for me, really,” he said, wryly. “But you should thank me; you ponies don’t know the meaning of the word. That’s why I enjoy shaking things up. It’s for my own entertainment, true, but in my mind I do you all a service. What’s life without a little chaos?”

“Chaos,’ Twilight shot back. “The opposite of order, which is what we need to function in a polite society. That’s what makes the world go ‘round.”

“Oh, listen to you,” Discord rolled his eyes. “A ‘polite society’? Ugh. Really, you’re sounding just like your dear teacher, Twilight Sparkle. Why must every pony that faces me be so boring?”

Twilight scoffed. She was more insulted for her race and the princess than for herself.

“And order makes the world go ‘round, did you say? Well, without the messes in life, there’d be nothing for little ponies like you to clean up. How would you know what was right without knowing what was wrong first?”

“But by your own logic, chaos needs order more. If there were no rules than you wouldn’t know if you did something wrong either,” Twilight said.

“Yes, yes, it’s a rich tapestry, a delicate balance, yadda-yadda-yadda. We could go on all night about what’s more beneficial, but you’re not going to convince me of anything.”

Twilight was surprised, and he sensed it.

“Yes, I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to find a way to make me see the light, yes? Using diplomatic solutions? Well Twilight, I’ll have you know that your mentor tried that before. She tried reasoning with me too, she and her sister.”

Twilight looked confusedly at him, Princess Celestia hadn’t told her about that. She then flinched as he popped up right behind her. Did he have to do that?

“It was deemed that chaos could not be reasoned with, and so the next thing I knew they snuck a surprise attack on me and froze me in stone. Now, howdaya like that? How would you like that, Twilight? It’s lonely and cold and ever-so-dull! And what did I really do, whom did I hurt?”

“You manipulated them!” Twilight shouted. She hadn’t meant to shout, but his popping up behind her and the arm he’d draped around her shoulders had set her on edge. She was shaking a bit too, she hoped he didn’t notice. She needed to be brave.

“You messed up the lives of ponies and caused unrest between them! You did the same thing that you did to my friends.” She was able to wriggle out of his feigned-friendly embrace to look him straight in the eye. “You may not have hurt them physically, but you hurt them, if it was anything like what you did to me.” Twilight thought back to the hopelessness she’d felt when she thought she’d lost her friends forever, and her eyes began to tear but she tried to hide that too.

Discord did not seem to notice, or at least seemed unfazed. “That’s another thing I never understood about you ponies, your compulsive need to retain bonds such as friendship. I wouldn’t know anything about that. Never had any, never will most likely.”

Twilight blinked, she almost thought she felt a pang of sympathy just then. But that was crazy… probably just what he wanted. “So you lied before, you don’t get lonely,” she composed herself to ask.

“Oh, I didn’t say that. You see I have no family, nor any I could hold in your beloved covenant of friendship. That comes with being one-of-a-kind. But I still get lonely, all living things do.”

Discord had slid all the way around Twilight now, coming to rest in front of her, slightly to one side, but with his back to her.

“Perhaps I compensate for my lack of familiars with my ability to manipulate others, hmm?” he asked with slight sarcasm in his voice. “Maybe you think that’s why I do what I do?”

He rocked back and forth on his heels, arms behind his back, waiting for an answer. But it took Twilight a moment to think, that sympathy card had thrown her for a loop.

“No,” she said simply.

‘So you just think I’m the big monster flying around breaking up friendships for my own amusement? In this instance I won’t lie, I enjoy my work. But as we discussed, I keep the world turning just as much as your precious order does.”

“No,” she said again. Ugh, she mentally reprimanded herself, she sounded so dumb and not brave at all with these one-word sentences! He was trying to confuse her with twisted logic and sympathy. Twilight didn’t want to say that she had agreed with that first question. She didn’t want to admit that this sympathy trick – if it was a trick – might be working.

Twilight couldn’t help it though; she had a kind heart, even if he might not. She didn’t think she would be able to live without her parents, or the princess, and definitely not without her friends. Twilight remembered when she didn’t think she needed friends, how she’d compensated with books and magic studies. She hadn’t realized that something had been missing, and the tiniest part of her was starting to wonder if maybe he didn’t realize that either.

“No…,” Twilight hesitated, then finally let herself say it. “I feel sorry for you.”

Discord had been only barely listening, but at those few words he stopped rocking and turned around, puzzled. He blinked at the small violet pony with tears forming in her eyes…tears for her enemy. It was then his turn to compose himself, and it took a long pause for him to do it. Twilight figured he really hadn’t expected this answer.

“Oh come now, Twilight,” he said, slinking up to her so they were face to face. He seemed to have finally bounced back from that little surprise, even chuckling as he put his claw on her shoulder. “Don’t feel sorry for me. Haven’t you heard how much fun I have? And about the friends – or lack thereof – well, you can’t miss something you never had, hmm?”

Twilight sniffed, she had tried to hide her face to not show emotion, but she raised her eyebrow as she looked back up at him. She wasn’t sure if that was condescension or genuine reassurance in his voice.

“Maybe you think I am missing out? That might be, I don’t know. I don’t think you, nor I, nor any of us will ever know. At this point I would never find a friend in Equestria. You ponies don’t see the benefits of my work, so that makes me the enemy, and as soon as they find me they will shove me back in a sculpture again as fast as they can.”

Twilight stayed silent, frantically searching through her head for her next move. She settled for backing a few steps away from his reach. He was so confusing and unpredictable, and that was what made him so dangerous, wasn’t it?

“It’s better than death,” Twilight stated after she was a good few steps back.

“Is it, and you know this how?” Discord questioned her seriously, actually keeping his distance. Maybe her tears had affected him. “I believe out of the two of us I have the most experience with that, and no I don’t believe it’s better. Watching time go by around you, getting a horrible kink in your back, and being put up in someone’s garden.”

He lightened up again, jumping up to hover a few feet above the ground. “I mean, if I were still ruling this place do you think I’d put all of my enemies in my garden? Well, I probably wouldn’t have a garden, but anyway….” He gave a long sigh and let the sentence hang there as he floated around the room.

“I don’t like to talk about it. Being stone was more terrible than you can imagine. You can’t die, but you also can’t sleep or eat either. All you can do is watch. On the other hand, it did give me plenty of time to plot. So there’s that.”

Twilight watched him float about, eyes drying. She’d keep trying to reason with him; she’d resolved herself to find another way of doing this, especially since her friends weren’t here to help.

“Maybe if you told them-“

“Told them what? That I’m sorry? Maybe tell them how those ages in statuary solitary confinement have changed me? And I thought you were against lying.”

“No, maybe if you told them you get lonely, they’d…,” Twilight started strong, but the more she thought, the less sure she was about what the others would do. “…I dunno.”

Discord watched the pony as he floated, looking curious and slightly amused.

“You say you don’t know, but you do. You’re very smart. You know they’d just freeze me again, and maybe this time stick me in the basement or something.”

He landed again, back in front of her. “But, it’s a fitting punishment, right? For all my misdeeds? For all the ponies I’ve manipulated?”

In the beginning, she would’ve said yes immediately, but Twilight wasn’t so sure anymore. She didn’t know how much of what he was saying was true, if it was though…but no. She felt bad for him, but he still needed some form of punishment…to ensure harmony.

“I almost lost my friends because of you,” Twilight said, trying to put back the sternness and confidence in her words that she’d had when she entered.

“Yes, and haven’t you learned to appreciate each other all the more now!” he stated cheerily.

“That wasn’t your plan though, that wasn’t even part!” She said, annoyed by that idea.

“No, it wasn’t, just an end result that couldn’t have been possible without me. I may not know much about friendship, but all things need to be tested to be deemed strong.”

Was Twilight crazy, or did that kinda make sense? First feeling sympathy for him, now this? Maybe she was being manipulated. She subtlety checked her hoof for signs of fading color, but she was fine.

“Which just proves that a little chaos really can do something, can it not?”

Twilight stood there, unsure. It felt like he had a point, but at the same time she didn’t want to say something that would go against what she had been taught.

Discord probably sensed her dilemma, because he came back up to that uncomfortably close distance between them, wearing a small smirk. “Perhaps a little? Everything in moderation, right? Too bad that’s never been my style.”

She was looking straight into his eyes, but was prepared to shut them at any moment. Her friends had told her about the multi-color eye trick.

Twilight was surprised – therefore – when nothing like that happened. She didn’t answer him, and he didn’t seem to expect her to. His eyes stayed half-closed, and he just studied her for a moment. She tried not to start shaking again.

“Do you still feel sorry for me?” he asked after what felt like hours of tension-filled silence that was realistically only a few minutes.

Twilight considered this. She didn’t think she could forgive him, but she also couldn’t hate him either. For one thing, he at least wasn’t doing anything to her now…and there was that strange feeling that she’d had, like she might have something in common with Discord. ‘Might have had’, she corrected herself. I have my friends now, but he doesn’t.

She looked at him, and that pang of sadness returned, so she answered honestly.

“Yes.”

A smile – a genuine one – now grew on Discord’s face. “I have the sympathy of a pony. That’s something new.” He backed off a little, but was still a little close for comfort to Twilight. She thought about trying to smile back, but she was getting too nervous now and didn’t know how it ended up looking.

“I suppose I should be grateful. This might be the closest I’ll ever get to a real live friendship, a pony who doesn’t completely hate me,” Discord said, and Twilight felt he actually meant it.

“You are a singular unicorn, Twilight Sparkle,” he said as he put his paw on one side of her face. “Just let’s make sure you don’t get too boring. You need a little chaos in your life.”

Then – before she even knew what was happening – Twilight felt Discord pull her face in to close the gap between them, and press his lips on hers. It was short, but intense. The sudden firmness made her heart leap, and she felt her eyes close in spite of herself.

The second she could find her sense through all those swimming thoughts to pull away, he broke the embrace.

She hoped her cheeks weren’t blushing as much as they felt like they were. To say that was unexpected would be an understatement; nothing Discord did now would surprise her.

After he lifted his paw away from Twilight’s face he stood up to his full height - stretched – and smiled down at her, but otherwise not acknowledging what had just happened between them.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure but I really must pop out, literally. I don’t plan on telling you where I’m going, or what I’ll do when I get there. I’m sure you and the princess will find me eventually. Ta!”

And with a suggestive wink, he leapt up into the air and disappeared.

As smart as Twilight was, it took her a moment to realize that Discord had just gotten away. She hadn’t even gotten to wondering if he’d been playing her throughout this whole conversation or not. Her mind was still reeling from one stomach-dropping realization, that that had been her first kiss ever.

The Fun House Discord had left Twilight standing in remained solid for exactly one minute after he vanished before it too disappeared. Twilight was brought out of her reeling thoughts by being abruptly reminded that the room she’d been in was on the second floor. She fell with an ‘oomph’ to the muddy ground below.

She was glad that the ground was so soft, she wasn’t injured but she was now dirty as well as befuddled. Not wanting to make the trek all the way back home, Twilight thought she’d risk the exhaustion of a teleportation. Except when she tried to do so…nothing happened.

She concentrated harder, scrunching up her face to try and make the spell work, but still she remained in the forest.

Adding that to the list of things confusing her about the night’s proceedings, Twilight finally gave up with a regretful sigh and began to walk back. Now she’d have to get exhausted a whole different way, and this one was slower.

When she finally did make it back to the library it was well past midnight and Twilight didn’t want to go waking her friends up. She was too tired anyway.

Twilight tried to log what had happened with Discord away in her mind for later so she might get some sleep. A part of her knew that there was probably not a moment to lose, they needed to find out where he was and what his plans were, but again, she felt too sleepy to really get as worked up as she had been.

Letting herself drift off, she was content to snooze a few hours until the sun rose. When Twilight woke again though, the realization of all that had occurred in the woods came rushing back to her, Discord was on the loose again, and she had let him escape.

When they had learned of his re-emergence, Twilight and her friends had gone to Canterlot to reclaim their element jewelry, and kept them safely in their homes to stay on guard for the first signs of his return. Twilight ran down the stairs to the bookshelf to find the book that she had hidden her big crown thingy (a different one than the Elements book she had found them in, but that’s where she’d gotten the idea).

It was on a high far shelf behind another, larger book. But when Twilight tried to move the larger book aside, it didn’t move. She tried again, and again. Her mind went back to the previous night when she couldn’t teleport home either…this couldn’t be a coincidence.

She quickly tried to lift something else, a cup, a brush, anything. Then when still nothing happened she began to get worried. Twilight’s first thought was that – during their conversation – Discord had taken her horn like he’d done before. She rushed to her mirror…and it was still there.

That didn’t make sense, if her horn was still there, then her magic must still work, right? How could her powers not be working otherwise?

Could Discord have done something to her to take her power another way? She played through last night again in her head, there were a few times when he could have done something, but her cheeks flushed as she came to the only conclusion…and she felt her stomach drop as it did after it had happened.

When he kissed her, he’d done something to her.

Her eyes went wide and she felt overwhelmed with a mixture of embarrassment, guilt, shock, and then rage. She assumed this was what being used felt like.

Twilight screamed – not being able to hold that mixture of emotions in for long – which woke Spike up from his cozy bed. He screamed too, and then looked over at her like she was crazy.

“Gah!” Spike yelled after his initial scream, jumping up then running over to her. “What was that for, Twilight? Are you alright?”

Her shocked expression probably wasn’t helping matters. She couldn’t tell Spike, at least not all of it. But he needed to know about her magic.

“Sorry to scare you Spike,” she said, trying to calm down. “But my magic’s not working, not since last night.”

“What happened last night…and why are you all dirty?” Spike asked, gesturing at her fur.

Twilight looked herself over and gave an exasperated sigh. “You know what? I hadn’t even noticed.” It was true. With how mixed-up she was feeling about last night, on top of how tired she was when she got back, she hadn’t even given a thought to taking a bath.

“I’ll explain once I’ve washed up. Could you round everyone up and meet me back here while I do?” she asked.

Spike still looked concernedly befuddled, but he gave a wary smile and slowly headed towards the door. “Um…ok, Twilight. You sure you’re alright?”

Twilight did her best to smile back. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She hadn’t even convinced herself with that, but she hoped it set Spike at ease for a little while. “We’ll talk when everyone’s here, ok?”

Author's Note

[Story Written/published between Sept. 2011 and Oct. 2012]

Uncertainty

[Or: 'My Attempt to Continue A Pony's Sympathy'

Their search of the forest had been fruitless, even with the six of them searching the area that Twilight had indicated Discord had been hiding; none of them could find any clue as to where he had gone. Only the cheese trees seemed to remain – and they were already mostly-eaten by various woodland creatures.

Twilight knew that there wasn’t anything else they could do at the moment, but it still made her feel fairly powerless. Of course, she was already feeling powerless without her magic, so having to wait for Discord to make another move was not helping the situation.

Why did he have to take her magic, and had their whole conversation been about giving him a chance to do so and make a quick getaway?

She pondered it as she stood perched on the top platform of her library-tree home, looking through her telescope. The wind was a bit chilly, but stargazing had a way of calming her, and aided her contemplation.

All of that stuff Discord said about ‘keeping the balance’, and then his talk of loneliness in his stone prison…had it all been an act? The way he’d looked when she voiced her sympathy hadn’t looked faked, and then after she’d confirmed it he had looked almost…pleased.

She didn’t know what to make of any of it, and it bothered her so much to think that he could have manipulated her without using his magical trickery.

Twilight adjusted her telescope again to focus on a new piece of the sky, when another thought found its way though her mental deliberation. Perhaps she was so bothered because – in some way – she wanted it to be true, that she wanted to believe him.

But wasn’t that crazy? Couldn’t that be just what Discord wanted? It made her feel so stupid that she had even for a second thought that he might be worth helping. Yet she had, and for some reason there was a part of Twilight that still thought that…and that was the part that struggled against her more practical sense to keep her in this state of near-constant emotional uncertainty.

Then there was that other thing he’d done, the part that she mentally skipped over without focusing too much on the details of the memory. How it had felt – how she felt about it – Twilight rationalized that none of it was relevant.

She rationalized because she planned on omitting it from the retelling she would give her friends. She’d planned on giving them a more complete account of what had happened…but Twilight didn’t really want them to know about that part. He’d done something to her magic; they didn’t need to know her suspicions about his method for doing so.

Twilight was pulled out of her deep thoughts only when she felt something small smack into the back of her head followed by a tiny shrill screech.

It hadn’t hurt, but Twilight turned to see what had hit her. It was harder to make out in the dark, but there was definitely a furry creature lying at her hooves. It flapped its delicate, leathery wings as it tried to right itself, making more screeching sounds as it did.

She wasn’t sure what she should do about it, but a few minutes later Twilight noticed a light growing closer in the distance, zooming in on her at her platform.

The light hit the winged creature as it came up to them, and Twilight could properly see that it was a bat. It winced at the beam and she didn’t blame it, because it was big enough now to cause her to wince as well.

“Oh Echo, I know you were excited, but you shouldn’t have gotten so far ahead of me,” Fluttershy’s voice came from the light that was still shining in Twilight’s eyes. Fluttershy had apparently noticed this and quickly extinguished it as she landed beside her friend.

“Oops, sorry Twilight, I was just helping little Echo here on his first hunt for insects after recovery and he got a little overzealous.”

Echo had finally gotten back to his feet and was now flapping around Fluttershy, probably looking for a good place to perch. Her eyes adjusting back to the dark now, Twilight could make out that Fluttershy was wearing a mining helmet. So that explained the light.

“It’s ok,” Twilight said as she checked her telescope to make sure it hadn’t gotten jostled out of place. “Do you take bats out for night flying often?”

“Not usually, only when I want to make sure they’ll be ok on their own. What are you doing out here so late?”

Twilight sighed. “Just thinking,” she answered wistfully as Echo finally found a good spot on Fluttershy’s back. “Too much to sleep I guess, so I came up here.”

Fluttershy moved her gaze from Twilight to look around her, eyes finally pausing at the stars overhead and she gave her usual small smile. “Sorry you couldn’t sleep, but at least it’s such a clear night to see the stars.”

“Yeah, it’s fun to look for the different constellations,” Twilight said sounding a little stilted, it was far too obvious that stars weren’t the only things on her mind.

Fluttershy however either hadn’t noticed or was being polite about it. “Oh I don’t know many of the constellations, but it’s still nice to see them all spread out across the sky like that. They’re lovely even if you don’t know their names.”

They spent a moment doing just that, admiring the sky above them. This was the first time Twilight had really looked at them without her telescope since she came to the platform. Fluttershy had a point, analyzing them in groups and looking at one piece of the sky at a time was fun for her, but seeing the entire expanse of stars all at once made Twilight fully appreciate them.

It was a strange thing for Twilight, being able to see them grouped into their constellations and knowing all their names, but at the same time seeing them as her friend saw them, a smattering of twinkling dots spread out randomly across the deep violet background. It was like seeing them with two different sets of eyes simultaneously, but together they were still beautiful.

After she noticed this, a sudden realization hit Twilight even harder than Echo the bat had…it was order and chaos together, sharing the same sky.

“Do…do you want to talk?” Fluttershy asked softly, looking back to her friend, concerned.

Twilight blinked, breaking the thousand-yard stare she’d been holding with the sky. Turning back to Fluttershy, she could tell her friend meant well and wanted to help. But Twilight wasn’t sure though how much she should tell her before she’d worked things out for herself.

“…only if you want to, I mean,” Fluttershy added to her last sentence in that apologetic manner she sometimes had.

Yes, Twilight wanted to figure it out herself first before telling more to any pony…but she felt so overwhelmed that perhaps looking to a friend for help was a good idea. Plus Fluttershy was the representation for kindness and compassion in the group. Twilight was curious to know how she would feel about all of it.

She smiled at her friend, who returned it. “Thanks Fluttershy,” Twilight said. She then took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and began to tell her.

First she explained all of what Discord had said and done (with the one exception) while she had been in that fun house, and then how mixed she was feeling about what he had said. How she felt so conflicted about believing him, but at the same time starting to possibly understand his side…and beginning to wonder what they could do about him that wouldn’t involve death or eternal imprisonment.

Turning away from the telescope, the two ponies each put their hooves up on the railing of the platform as one spoke and the other listened. Echo had moved to Fluttershy’s shoulder, and was curled up possibly asleep. There was another moment of silence as Twilight finished and gazed out over the buildings of the town full of sleeping ponies.

“I just don’t understand, what type of game might he have been playing?” Twilight asked aloud partially to herself, part to Fluttershy.

“But you’re also not sure that he was playing a game, and he might have just been trying to avoid us?” Fluttershy asked, trying to show she’d been following Twilight’s train of thought.

“Exactly. I mean, if he were hiding, why choose a place so close to us?”

“The Everfree Forest is a scary place though, and not many ponies go in there unless they have to. I’d think it would be a good place for someone to hide.” Fluttershy said.

That was true, and it certainly was the last place Twilight would have thought to look, had she not discovered his little additions.

“So you think he was telling the truth? Do you think Discord’s capable of keeping a low profile enough to remain in-hiding?” Twilight asked. She saw Fluttershy deliberating.

“If the rest of it was true, I think so. I mean, if being stone was really as bad for him as he said. From what you said it sounds like he expects it no matter when we find him, and he’s right.”

Twilight nodded. She knew that her friends would believe that was the only option. It was the safest bet if he really was planning something. She had to consider the safety of all those sleeping ponies whose homes lay below them.

Again that other part of her wondered if it really was the only option, and surprisingly Fluttershy seemed to pick up on that as well.

“You’re not sure though if that is the right thing to do anymore?” she asked.

“Well, it probably is the right thing to do,’ Twilight corrected her. “But I’m not sure anymore if it’s the fair thing to do.”

Fluttershy blinked at Twilight, her tiny mouth in a small ‘oh’, as though unsure to ask the question in her mind.

Twilight made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle at her friend’s expression. “Yeah, I know. That sounds crazy, right?”

Twilight knew that Fluttershy was too nice to answer, even if the question hadn’t been rhetorical.

“Out of all of our friends who’d fallen victim to his manipulations in the maze, you were probably the strongest. You told us that you didn’t fall for anything he said, and in the end he had to force you into becoming the opposite of your element. He was probably the harshest on you,” Twilight stated. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you had no hesitation wanting him gone.”

“Right after it happened, yes. I wouldn’t have hesitated. I don’t think I’ve ever really hated any pony before, but I actually hated him for making me so mean to my friends.” Twilight saw the yellow pony frown at the memory, but she didn’t know if it was about Discord or the idea of hating someone.

“But after a while I tried to put it behind me, since he was gone.”

“And now that he’s back, how do you feel?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy didn’t appear to be happy with her thoughts on that, either. Still after a moment she answered. “I suppose I understand your dilemma, Twilight. If what he said to you was true, than you really have his confidence and you don’t want to betray that. It’s hard to take that chance though.”

His confidence? Twilight thought. That might be so, but if she did Twilight still had no clue why.

“I don’t like to think that any pony is beyond hope, but this is Discord. I have to wonder if he is worth that chance.”

Twilight understood that, she’d been expecting Fluttershy to say something like that; she figured her friend’s compassion might only reach so far.

“I just-I just wouldn’t feel right sending him back to stone if he were telling the truth.”

“Would you want him out there where we wouldn’t know what he was up to?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, but…” Twilight started, and again her mind seemed stalled by the debating ideals. “I have to believe there is another way.” She was glad that came out as confident as it did. It was one of the only things she was certain about in all this uncertainty.

Fluttershy removed her front hooves from the rail and turned back towards the telescope, waking Echo who slid off and flapped to stay airborne.

“I don’t think I could trust Discord, Twilight. At least…it would take a lot for me to, and I think that would go for the others as well,”

Twilight saw her give a sympathetic smile. “But I do trust you, and I know you wouldn’t be so worried about it or so adamant if it wasn’t worth it. If any pony can find another way, you can. I’ll trust your decision.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said and returned her smile with a small one of her own.

“I think I’d better get Echo back to his cave. I’m sorry I wasn’t more help,” Fluttershy said, extending her wings and flipping the switch on her hat.

“No, no you were. You gave me some pony to talk to and muddle through all of this with at least. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy said, but she paused before taking flight from the platform. “Are you going to be ok, do you think you can sleep now?”

“Maybe, I’ll try anyway,” Twilight answered. Fluttershy didn’t seem convinced, but she took off anyway, and Twilight figured she would keep her word and attempt to sleep. She began to take her telescope apart to store away (by hoof), when she looked once more to the sky.

It would take a lot; Fluttershy was right about that too. If Twilight could think of something that would ensure the safety of every pony while still leaving Discord some place to remain…and whatever it was would require every pony’s approval, that and Discord’s cooperation…

Even if Twilight had his confidence, she wasn’t sure that would be so easy to gain.

Still conflicted, but reassured now that she knew at least one of her friends knew and understood (to the best of her ability) Twilight left the starry night for bed, hoping maybe the solution would come along with sleep.

Well, that was unexpected. Discord thought as he landed on a cool, sandy landscape. It was a still night, but as he had just flashed out of an interesting predicament, he wasn’t immediately taking in his surroundings.

That should keep her from tracking me down for a short while at least, but I’m amazed she allowed me to do it that way. The satisfied grin he had while pondering his parting from Twilight only grew. The look on her face was worth it all on its own.

It was really a spur-of-the-moment decision. The opportunity had presented itself, and Discord had taken it. He didn’t regret it though; it was beneficial for him in more ways than one.

Of all the ponies – even among Celestia’s new champions – it was Twilight Sparkle who found him. Well, that wasn’t entirely surprising. She was intelligent and wasn’t the type to give up, or at least not for long.

No, it was what she’d said that had struck Discord. That any pony might feel anything close to sympathy for him was hard to believe. But for her to say it – possibly the most powerful unicorn he’d come across, not to mention Celestia’s pupil – that was unexpected.

Discord usually stayed two or three steps ahead of everyone, and even when he wasn’t he still liked to give that impression. So having a curve ball like that thrown at him just made things all the more interesting.

Compassion was something else that was mostly foreign to him, and he would not have thought a pony so skilled and honorable could be capable of holding it for an enemy.

It was a strange thing to recount the conversation. The mischievous glee he felt when he thought of flustered Twilight as he had come so close, trying to get her to see the benefits in his work…and then of course that flabbergasted expression she’d had when he’d kissed her. He recognized that. The feeling of having fun with a pony like that was familiar.

The rest of it though was new ground. His usual demeanor had only slipped once, so on the surface he’d remained the cool and collected self he prided himself on. Inwardly though, it had been hard to ignore.

Touched, Discord thought that might be the right word. She had said ‘I feel sorry for you,” and that small sentence hadn’t just surprised him, it had touched him…in some deep place inside him long thought lost or abandoned along with his conscience.

Then – useless though he knew it to be – when she had actually tried to think of something he could do that would change the minds of all those friends of hers. Discord had found it amusing because he saw no way that imprisonment could not be in his future…other than to avoid capture, but there had been a mixture of something else in there. He …possibly… might have felt grateful to her.

The moment he found the word that defined what she had felt like to him at that moment, Discord immediately dismissed it. He would be fooling himself if he thought for even a second that he might have an ally in Equestria.

Twilight could have been using her own means of manipulation, pretending to sympathize to get him to trust her. Then he might have given away his rough avoidance plan (i.e. not draw attention to himself. Definitely not the most fun plan, but he had been in a hurry). He couldn’t rule it out; it’s what he would’ve done if he were her.

But of course, Twilight was not him. She had strong principles (or actual principles), she could have been genuine. Discord hadn’t been sure then, and he wasn’t sure now. The tears that had formed in her eyes when she said it – then the certainty in them when he’d asked her near the end if she still felt that way - how hard could that have been to fake?

It nagged at him; it was an idea that just wouldn’t let go. It was almost as if he wanted to be proven wrong, and that was disconcerting.

He tried to avoid the only conclusion that might resolve his conflict – letting them find him – but Discord knew that the only way to know the truth was to speak with Twilight again, even though that might be just what they wanted.

Discord finally took a look around, and noted the expanse of barren, cracked ground and sparse plants along the landscape. Another deserted location, but one that had potential.

He would distract himself for while with making himself at home. Discord would try and put it to the back of his mind, and if they found him he would figure something out. He was good at improvising.

To the back also went Twilight Sparkle…and the faint hope that had come along with her words.

Memory

Twilight was able to sleep that night, if only a little. That tiny bit of rest though was enough to clear her mind, and help her come to at least one conclusion. It was something that the more she thought of, the more important it seemed. She needed to talk with the princess.

She’d only had a small amount of correspondence from Princess Celestia throughout all of this. She had sent word about finding Discord in the forest, and while that was of great importance all ponies involved knew they couldn’t do much without knowing where he had gone. Both of the princesses were also busy with many other pressing matters, and they had grown to trust Twilight and her friends to be able to handle themselves.

Twilight realized that - as she had pondered Discord’s words for the umpteenth time - she had only his account of what had happened between him, Celestia, and Luna so long ago – and only a brief mention at that. What had really happened then, when they had tried to talk to him as she had? What did they say, and how could she do things differently?

Being the logical pony she was, Twilight needed to hear other sides of the story, it was the only way to make an informed decision. She couldn’t rely solely on her own thoughts or feelings – those she knew could be subjective – she needed facts as well. From her experience, facts never lied and had never let her down.

After asking Spike to send a letter ahead for her, she boarded the train to Canterlot, hoping to be able to find something with which she could piece together the truth.

The princess met her in the tower where the elements were usually kept. Twilight didn’t know why she wanted to meet there, but when she arrived she was given instructions to go to Canterlot Tower and await Celestia.

Her mentor greeted her with her usual warmth, and didn’t seem surprised by Twilight’s stilted, awkward demeanor.

“So Twilight, you sought out Discord on your own?” Her mentor’s question held the expected reprimand that Twilight had anticipated. She had expected the princess to say how dangerous or reckless that had been, but perhaps she assumed that Twilight already knew that, because she didn’t.

“Yes, and I know that might not have been my best plan, only it was so odd – well odd for Discord – that he had been there so close to us hiding out for so long and he didn’t make a move against us.”

“I can understand your curiosity. As for his behavior, it should go without saying that Discord’s motives are often hard to determine,” Celestia said. “But you mentioned that you took this opportunity to attempt to reason with him?”

They had almost absent-mindedly begun to stroll down the long, long hallway of Canterlot Tower, making their way at a snail’s pace past the many stained-glass windows depicting the prominent moments in Equestria’s history.

“Yes Princess, and I-I don’t know, maybe I thought that if he really wanted to be left alone, than he would leave us alone, that we could come to some sort of…agreement.” She finished lamely.

Twilight looked awkwardly up at her teacher, wondering if she would be commended for trying to find a better way, or chastised for showing possibly-undeserved compassion when every pony might be at risk.

The indulgent smile Celestia gave her seemed to be a combination of the two.

“That was an admirable sign of diplomacy, Twilight. Although I’m not quite certain whether or not your kindness was a wasted effort on some pony like him.” Though she said it warmly, Twilight did not miss the slight edge in Celestia’s voice at the words ‘some pony like him’.

“But, he mentioned that you had actually tried that as well, a very long time ago,” Twilight said. If the princess thought he was so beyond reasoning with, why had she tried it first? This was why she had come, Twilight needed to know the princess’s account.

“Please Princess, if you could tell me anything more about that - when you had tried to talk to him as I did – I think it would help me…for when he reappears and we have to face him again, I mean,” she had slipped up there, almost revealing how important this was to her personally, and not merely for the sake of their eventual mission.

“Your curious mind never ceases, does it, my dear student?” Celestia said with a hint of a sigh. It wasn’t a completely happy sigh, though she tried to keep it light. Twilight could sense though that this was a story the princess would tell her, but only with reluctance.

“I think I can show you better than I could tell you, but perhaps a brief preface to the night in question is in order. How much of my own history can you recall?”

Twilight knew about as much as what had been recorded, or exactly what had been recorded in the Canterlot library. The history of her mentor was one of the first things she had researched upon beginning her lessons at the school for gifted unicorns. Of course in all their time together, the princess had almost never spoken about her past with Twilight, which Twilight had understood – she’d been taught not to pry – but hearing those same facts about her teacher from her teacher was an opportunity that she could not afford to pass up, so she answered, “I…could use a refresher.”

Celestia only smiled, apparently expecting this answer. “Then I will show you.” The alicorn placed her slender white horn onto Twilight’s small purple one, and almost instantly images began to form, and the princess’s voice echoed within Twilight’s mind as she narrated the scenes – the memories – beginning to play.

Long ago, not too long after the founding of Equestria, Harmony began to fade. She was the great spirit of order and peace, and ruled over the ponies and other creatures of the land without their knowledge. She was proud of the pony folk when they came together in friendship, but even with their new-found peace, she knew they could descend into their old ways.

Twilight stood beside Celestia, and before them they saw – as if in a dream – a vast expanse of land filled with ponies. As Celestia told the story, they moved over the Equestria of the past, moving up into the sky and through a layer of mist, revealing a shining alicorn. Her fur seemed to be made of light, and her red mane flowed in an eternal breeze as Celestia’s and Luna’s did. This matched perfectly with the artist ponies’ depictions of Harmony throughout the ages.

As with any growing foal, they needed to be overseen, watched more closely, in a way that Harmony could not provide. She wanted to remain above, for history had shown that too much of her influence in their lives would leave them complacent, and too little would leave them lost. What she felt they required was gentle guidance from a source they could interact with, without affecting the ponies’ free will.

This led her to the creation of my sister and me. You see, Harmony was also getting on in age – yes, even spirits can age and fade with time – and perhaps she knew her time was short, so she created Luna and myself to live on the same plane as her ponies, and lead them to achieve the potential she knew they were capable of.

Sadly however, in creating us our mother used the last of her life. She faded away not long after Luna was born. Our mother told us of our duties – to raise the sun and the moon, and to retain balance for the pony folk as well as the other creatures of Equestria. We were to rule them in a warm, parental way.

Twilight continued to listen in silence as she witnessed the Great Spirit Harmony create her daughters – forming them from the love she felt for all ponies – then gradually wilt as her children grew. She saw the two young alicorns play together, always close to their mother, and their mother always with a sad sort of smile on her face.

The images changed before they could witness Harmony’s true death. Twilight looked up to her teacher for an explanation, but she had paused. A similarly pained smile was visible on Celestia’s face, and the unicorn understood. That was a private part of the story, something for only Harmony’s children to hold in their memories.

When she continued her monologue, it was to see a now adolescent Celestia – with a pink mane and tail – and a filly-age Luna – stubby wings and a tiny horn barely visible through her pale blue mane.

She also told us of her reluctant partner in her eons of creating and maintaining harmony – Discord – Once Harmony was gone, he must have seen it as his opportunity to take over, and with no order to balance the chaos the ponies soon fell into a dark age.

The land they had overlooked earlier was now a crazy mishmash of random objects, colors, and noises. The ponies that once were so happy now all seemed to be arguing and complaining as they slipped on the soapy roads and tried to sleep when the sun kept going up and down.

The two princesses approached what Twilight recognized as the ruins where she and her friends had battled Nightmare Moon, although they weren’t ruins yet. The castle was whole and would probably have been magnificent, but it didn’t look quite right in this recollection. Perhaps this was due to Discord’s magic or Celestia’s point of view.

I had never met the spirit of chaos until that day. We knew that he had retained a begrudging alliance with our mother – both needing each other but neither very happy about it – so we first approached Discord to appeal to him by bringing up that bargain. As Harmony’s offspring, we could now take over her side of the balancing act they had kept up for so long.

Twilight had to admire her mentor’s courage at this point as she saw the small figures that were she and Luna approaching the comparatively huge figure that was Discord. He was lounging – something Twilight was quite used to seeing by now – and even he appeared younger in this memory. She noticed the absence of a goatee, slightly shorter horns, and an overall less scraggly appearance.

Still though, he had his same air of unsettling unpredictability, and even though she had faced him alone before, this was still Discord at the height of his power, and however powerful Celestia and Luna might be they were still even younger (or at least appeared younger) than Twilight had been.

Balance was important to the pony folk of our world to keep them safe and happy. Discord though seemed to have no interest in taking care of the ponies, and seemed only interested in his own amusement. We tried to get him to relinquish the throne since we were the rightful princesses, and he also appeared to have and want nothing to do with actually ruling over our subjects.

They watched the young Celestia make her case to Discord, with filly Luna beginning to show her fear and hide behind her sister. Discord sat up in his throne, but only laughed at her mention of stepping down.

“You know that balance needs to be maintained, our mother tasked us with keeping up the spirit of harmony and order. Do you not see the sadness that your antics have been bringing to the ponies of this world?” The young Celestia asked of the past Discord.

“And what makes you think I care about the ponies of this world?” Discord asked her flippantly. “What have they ever done for me, besides fear and hate me. What’s wrong with shaking things up a bit?”

“You’re causing strife between them! They can no longer trust each other!” Celestia shouted in a surprisingly authoritative manner. Even then it seems she was the strong leader she was now.

“Well, is that really my fault? Perhaps you merely overestimate the strength of your little ponies so-called ‘bonds’. Maybe you should keep a closer watch on them if you care for them so much,” Discord said, smirking at the now smoldering gaze of the young princess.

“Their bonds are so shaken because of the stress you have caused them, and I do care for the welfare of the ponies my mother loved so. You however, have nothing you care about besides yourself. You must see why we need to be the ones to reign over them.”

Discord seemed to actually think about this, but still retained his dismissive manner.
“I suppose I see your point, perhaps I didn’t think this whole ‘takeover’ thing through…the actual ruling of a country is terribly dull. But you’re not exactly winning me over, Princess. If I gave up my control, what would be in it for me?”

It was quite obvious to Twilight that young Celestia did not know nor did she particularly care. She seemed to be trying to calm herself though, because she probably realized that Discord was actually right, shouting at him wasn’t going to convince him.

“You can return to whence you came. I may not know where that is, perhaps on the same plane as our mother. Even if you do not wish to return there, you have said yourself that you have no care for these ponies and creatures that have fallen victim to your want for entertainment. Please, even if you feel no sense of responsibility towards them, you must have some semblance of compassion…to see that your relinquishing control can restore the balance, and benefit every pony.”

At this, Discord chuckled. “Oh my dear little Celestia, I have quite a good grasp on my responsibilities. I’ve been doing my job longer than you’ve been alive, longer than many ponies have ever lived. I’ve had so much time to learn my place and understand my part in all that balance stuff you keep blathering about. I know why I cause the chaos that the order must fix and why Harmony would make sense of my nonsense. You want to talk to some pony that doesn’t get all of that? Perhaps you should speak with the creatures you defend, then.”

A look of surprise and confusion broke through the pink-maned Celestia’s stone expression only for a second, but Twilight saw it. Apparently Discord did as well.

“For centuries this has been my existence, but never to this scale. From up in that ‘other plane’ or whatever it’s called, it was much more of a hands-off approach. Your mother was the one who instituted that rule at the beginning, and I suppose it was easier to maintain balance that way, but it was always within limits, slightly removed from the world and the affects we had on it. It got old pretty quickly.

But now that I’ve gotten to see how my work affects these ponies here, it’s just so much more rewarding! They don’t seem to appreciate it, but after meeting them I find that it’s just too difficult to care what they think. I’ll still do my part, keep the balance and all that…but from now on I want to do it my way, for no pony but me.”

“So, you have no intention of stepping down or stopping your manipulation of these ponies, and the randomization of their home?” The older alicorn princess asked. Her words carried a feel of finality in them, as if she knew the answer, and was already contemplating her next move.

Twilight knew what came next.

It was deemed he could not be reasoned with. So we sought out the final defense our mother had forged, to help all of ponydom in times of trouble, the Elements of Harmony.

She now watched the conclusion of Celestia’s tale, even though Twilight had already heard the fate of the draconequus.

Young Celestia and Luna spend years seeking out the elements, and finally find them all. They then return to the castle where Discord is still holed-up. Twilight did notice a drop in the amount of crazy chaos décor along the countryside – perhaps Discord was running out of ideas, falling into a rut – and amazingly he had been truthful about the sneak-attack as well. They burst in as he was singing karaoke.

Then the sisters – Element crowns atop their heads – trap him in a swirl of magic and light, leaving him encased in stone still posed for his show-stopping musical number.

The images faded before Twilight’s eyes, and once again she and the Celestia of the present were in Canterlot Tower, now standing directly in front of the stained-glass version of the scene they had just witnessed.

“I do hope that helped you understand, Twilight.” The princess said. “I saw no other way to keep every pony safe. If he had shown some semblance of compassion or remorse, I may have found another way of doing things. Although had he held any traces of those qualities, than our reasoning might have been all he needed and force would not have been necessary.”

Twilight nodded, for she did understand – or at least, she thought she did. She could see things from her teacher’s point of view. Her mother Harmony had taught her to care for and keep the ponies safe and happy, and when she found them being mistreated by Discord, it must have been hard to try and talk to him instead of just stopping him the first chance she got.

Strangely though, she could also see Discord’s view in a way. She still felt the manipulation of the ponies was too far, but he seemed to see it as a better way for him to keep the balance. Plus from what she knew now of Discord, he didn’t understand the bond those ponies had.

They both appeared to be doing what they believed they were here for, what they were supposed to do.

“But Princess…did you ever ask---“ Twilight’s question was cut off by the echoing slam of doors as they flew open on the opposite end of the hall.

The sound reverberated as one of the princesses’ royal guards flew up to them, stirring up a gust of wind as he tried to brake with his wings.

“Apologies your Highness,” the guard said with a low bow. “but there’s been a sighting.”

“A sign of Discord?” Celestia asked, the surprise of his entrance had ebbed, but the sudden sense of dread Twilight felt only intensified as he nodded.

“Yes, your Highness. Sources noticed some strange goings on somewhere outside of Appleoosa, and the pegasi settlement of Hurricane as well, on the far side of the Mohoove desert.”

“So he must be located somewhere in the desert itself,” the princess concluded. She looked back down to her student, who did her best to mask any trepidation behind an all-business expression. Twilight nodded, knowing what Celestia would say next.

“Well Twilight, looks like you and your friends have some traveling to do.”

Evidently the mask wasn’t working so well on her, or perhaps after all their time together, Princess Celestia could just tell, but as the guard went off to make the preparations for Twilight’s journey she placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder.

“I have every confidence in you. There’s no need to worry, when the time comes you’ll be able to do what needs to be done.”

Twilight smiled, these words were meant to reassure her, and she wanted them to be true. She wanted to believe that she’d be able to do the right thing. What that was though, she still wasn’t sure…or perhaps she was and was merely trying to avoid it.

Journey

After Twilight broke the news to her friends, they began their preparations immediately. They had chosen the town’s communal hot air balloon as their mode of transportation. Rainbow Dash assured them that she – along with Fluttershy - could get them to where it was rumored that Discord was hiding faster than any train. Rarity supplied the new stylish saddlebags and Applejack and Pinkie Pie filled them with food for the trip.

Indeed, the group was so caught up in their whirlwind of preparation that no pony seemed to notice anything strange about Twilight, which was quite helpful to her. Before she knew it though, they were off and soaring over the countryside. Their pegasi friends were tethered to the front sled dog style, with the flightless ponies sharing the basket and working the hot air mechanism.

It was only after a few hours of travel – with Pinkie looking out over the back and leaning far too much over the edge which caused Rarity to pull her back because it ‘made her nervous’ – that some pony said anything at all to Twilight about how she was.

Applejack had finally given up trying to nap, the wind buffeting the balloon caused it to sway and jerk every so often, and she’d had to lie on her hat to keep it from flying away.

Twilight held a book open between her hooves, but she had given up actually trying to read even before AJ stopped her attempted nap. Without her magic, she wasn’t able to keep the pages down without physically keeping them down, and no pony seemed to notice that she hadn’t turned a page in quite a while.

She just stared down at the book, moving her eyes every now and then to simulate reading, but she was quickly growing tired of that.

The unicorn couldn’t concentrate on the words, and it bothered her that she couldn’t even focus on reading – one of her favorite things – for very long with all that was happening.

“Uh, Twi…I’m startin’ to think if you stare any harder at that book it might just start a fire, is there something on your mind?” the orange pony inquired, bringing every pony else in the basket’s attention to the unicorn.

Before she could say anything however, Rarity spoke up for her. “Well, naturally she does of course. She’s nervous about facing Discord again. We all are,” the white unicorn said matter-of-factly.

“It’s not that, well – not entirely,” Twilight answered, finally closing her book.

“If it’s about your magic, ya don’t need to worry. I’m sure you’ll get it back before he has a chance to do anything,” AJ stated, trying to reassure her friend of her assumed fears.

“Precisely, if we have to force him to give your magic back, we will. I’m not entirely certain how we would go about that, but we will certainly try,” Rarity said in that same assuring way. “Than we will simply seal him away again and that will be that.”

Twilight could have just stayed silent, or thanked them for their attempt to calm her worries. She could have allowed them to think that these were her only qualms – though getting her magic back was causing her some anxiety as well – but the purple pony wasn’t sure she could continue to sit on these thoughts without voicing them any longer, any more than she could hold down the pages of her book.

They didn’t know that she was also worried about these new ideas swirling around in her mind, churning up her typical thought processes. Twilight worried about what they might think of her, if she voiced them.

“I’ve been thinking on this for a while,” she breached the subject, looking down at the now-closed book in her hooves. “And it’s not that I don’t think we could seal him away again, it’s just that I’m beginning to wonder…whether or not we should.”

She tried to retain the pensive face she’d held before she’d spoken, before she looked up to see the surprised faces of the three other mares in the basket. Well, Pinkie only looked surprised – even a little startled – it was the other two who looked taken aback by her words.

“Beg pardon?” AJ asked, looking like she was genuinely trying to process what Twilight had said.

“Twilight…darling, you did hear what you just said, didn’t you?” the white unicorn asked her skeptically. “The thing you said that makes no sense?”

“I’m not saying that we shouldn’t do something about him, we should. I’m just…not sure that’s how we should be going about things this time.”

“Whatever do you plan on doing then if you don’t want to lock him away?” Rarity asked, still clearly concerned about Twilight’s mental health.

“Well, I don’t – I mean, I haven’t gotten that far yet. I just have this feeling… if we could somehow talk with him-“her partial sentence was cut off by the orange earth pony’s scoff.

“Talk, Twilight, are you forgettin’ about all the stuff he did to our town? Like the buildings floatin’ every which way?” Applejack asked her. “Or the soap roads?”

“Or the chocolate rain!” Pinkie added with a smile, which went away when she noticed Applejack’s serious expression. “Oh right, that was a bad thing. It still counts though.”

“Not to mention what he did to us, separating us then nearly causing us to disband forever,” Rarity said. “Would you really want some pony like that just wandering free? I would say that imprisonment isn’t harsh enough.”

“But that’s just it; he manipulated us because we were standing in his way. He knew we were the only ones that could stop him, and he targeted Ponyville only because it was our home.”

“You’re saying that he wouldn’t do the same things he did to us to others now?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t think so. This time it seems like he’s avoiding us. We’re the only ones that threaten him, but instead of trying to keep us out of his way, he might be trying to stay out of ours, because he knows what we’ll do if and when we finally catch him.”

“An’ if that’s true, then he’s right,” Applejack said sternly. “But who’s ta say that him avoiding us ain’t jus’ the start of somethin’ else?”

“She’s right, Twilight. I’m afraid that we can’t take a chance on Discord suddenly flying off into the distance.” Rarity agreed. “You said it yourself that we are the only threat to him, so it is our duty to do just what we did last time.”

“Yeah, we got every pony else to think about,” Applejack continued with Rarity’s thought.

“He is really unpredictable, it’s hard to tell what goes too far for him,” Pinkie chimed in.

“An’ that’s exactly why we can’t trust him,” Applejack said with a note of finality, pointing to Pinkie Pie.

Everyone in the balloon seemed to be in consensus, and it made Twilight feel that she shouldn’t press her new ideas and beliefs about Discord any further. She knew it would be hard, but she had hoped that maybe they would keep more of an open mind than this.

Her hooves up on the edge of the balloon, she turned away from the other three and set her head upon them to watch the pegasi of the group as they pulled the balloon ever-faster to reach the flat land in record time.

Far out in front flew Rainbow Dash, and a few feet behind her Fluttershy. She thought back to the conversation she’d had with Fluttershy, and wondered if her friend would have anything to add to her side of the fairly one-sided conversation of the group in the basket.

Twilight saw Fluttershy look back at them for a moment or two, and that made her think that her friend could hear them even from that distance with the wind whooshing past.

They were right – she knew they were – but Twilight couldn’t shake the thought…or the hope that she was right too. They were coming closer now; soon the time for debating would be past.

Only about an hour after passing into the Mohoove desert did things take an unexpected turn. When Rainbow Dash had pushed for using the balloon they had all agreed without much persuasion. The ponies had been quite confident in Dash’s own self-confidence.

They had not taken into consideration the magical part of the balloon’s operation. Without unicorn magic to help keep it in the air as the pegasi pulled it, it was no more than a traditional hot-air balloon, and typically a hot air balloon could only remain in the air so long as the air around it was cooler than the air inside. As they traveled above a desert however, the air temperature began to rise, and the balloon began to sink.

It was an oversight that Twilight face hoofed about the moment they realized it. Rainbow and Fluttershy were doing the best they could to keep them aloft, but it was quickly wearing the latter pony out, and even Rainbow’s stubborn pride could only help them so much if she was doing all the work.

What was more, some very unpleasant-looking natural rock formations were coming dangerously close to the balloon, and if they couldn’t get any higher they might meet them head-on.

“Rarity, I know it’s not your area of expertise, but you’re all we’ve got right now. Any chance you can try and use your magic to help Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash out?” Twilight asked much more authoritatively than she’d been feeling of-late.

Taking over for Applejack, Twilight tried to get the flame in the mechanism to somehow burn hotter.

Rarity gave her an unsure mumble in reply, but her white horn glowed and she concentrated on trying to lift them higher.

It seemed to be working, but only slightly, they just barely missed one unreasonably tall and jagged column of rock, and seemed – for the time being – to be out of the metaphorical woods.

“Whose…idea…was this…anyway?” they heard Rainbow panting as the two pegasi received a bit of relief from the strain with the help of Rarity and Twilight.

None of them answered her as they barely cleared a plateau, flying above it but not really looking at the scenery.

“That’s it, Rarity. You’re doing great,” Twilight praised her friend, who was still busy concentrating. “If you can keep this up just a little longer, I’m sure we’ll be able to steady our altitude.”

Amazingly, it seemed that Twilight was right; they seemed to be evening out, if a good deal lower than they had originally been flying. It was still a feat considering that Rarity was not accustomed to magically lifting anything heavier than a ponnequin or two.

The fashionable unicorn gave a strained smile as AJ gave her a congratulatory pat with her hoof, and they heard Pinkie ooh from the back edge of the basket.

It seemed that – though they hit a small bump – the friends’ increased help would still secure their quick discovery of the draconoquess, until they heard a sound from beneath them.

It was practically an explosion, an intense wave of sound that seemed to reverberate all over, and soon they were being jostled violently as Dash and Fluttershy jerkily lead the balloon back and forth, weaving through some unseen obstacle as the sound continued its strange echo.

Then Twilight – still focused on the task at hand – noticed something whipping past out of the corner of her eye, but when she took a split-second to look up again, it had already zoomed off.

The combination of the noise and the whatever-she-had-seen-was fully succeeded in breaking Rarity’s concentration, and Twilight tried in vain to work the heat to possibly aid their pegasi friends. The others held tight to the supports of the basket as they tried to regain control.

The loud, explosive popping finally died down, replaced with another curious noise, a slow – but increasingly loud – hissing coming from directly above them. The ponies’ collective stomachs dropped at the sound.

The harder Rarity tried to use her magic again, and the harder the pegasi strained to keep them up in the air, the louder the hissing seemed to become, now growing into a louder sound, a stuttering flatulent noise that under any other circumstances would have made Pinkie Pie giggle were they not in danger.

As the balloon lost air, Rarity lost the grip she had only barely magically held upon the balloon, and the blue and yellow ponies tried so hard to not give into the strain, they came dangerously close to another rock formation, this time only just managing a hairpin turn to keep themselves from hitting it, while the basket slammed against the side.

This broke the basket’s tether to the winged ponies, sending it and the ponies inside rushing to meet the ground. Not being able to teleport, Twilight grabbed hold of AJ who seemed to have the same idea, and they grabbed their two now-screaming friends and made a great leap off the side.

The four flightless ponies landed with a roll to soften their landing into the shifty sand, only a few seconds before the balloon crash-landed just a few feet from them.

After it was established that none were injured, Applejack inspected the balloon and confirmed what had happened. A number of teeny tiny holes could be seen all over the surface, some of which had been large enough to create bigger holes. The question was though, what had punctured it?

“Hey Twi, come here and look at this,” AJ prompted as she showed the unicorn one of the bigger holes in the fabric. “Whaddaya think caused it?”

“I’m not sure, but I thought I saw something shoot up at us from the ground just after we heard that noise. Whatever it was has to be around here,” Twilight answered.

The two ponies took a cursory look around, but nothing they could see would have the ability to fire anything at them as they had floated past.

Rainbow and Fluttershy soon returned carrying the hot air mechanism between them; it had come completely detached from both balloon and basket to fly off a good distance away from where they’d landed. Rarity was close by, salvaging the surviving saddlebags from the wreck and still trying to shake the coarse sand out of her mane.

The only one of them they couldn’t find was Pinkie Pie, who - just as Twilight was about to make an inquiry about her absence – came bounding up to them excitedly, all shock from the crash forgotten.

“Girls, girls, you’ve gotta come see what I found!” she said as she gestured for Twilight and Applejack to follow.

“Whadja find, Pink?” AJ managed to ask as Pinkie pulled them away.

It was a few feet from the crash site, their first true sign of something strange in this desert. Pinkie halted a good distance away and gestured towards the thing.

“Now don’t get too close, but isn’t it the neatest thing?”

It was harder to really make out since they’d stopped so far from it, but to Twilight it looked sort of like a very bloated cactus… a weirdly shiny, pinkish-purple cactus.

Twilight could tell Pinkie was disappointed that her friends didn’t get what she was trying to show them, as both of their confused expressions were met with a smile that meant ‘come on guys, dontcha get it?’

“I give up,” Twilight said finally. “If you’d just let us get closer-“

Pinkie put a hoof up to block her way “No no, just wait. There’s more behind that one.”

It took a few more minutes, but suddenly something did happen. They heard a loud pop from further behind the weird cactus, then another, and another, then the loudest one of all as they watched the closest one explode, shooting hundreds of needles out in every direction. The three ponies ducked, but the needles fell just short of hitting them.

The two shell-shocked ponies looked over at Pinkie. She had ducked a split-second earlier than them, and just nodded her head as they stood. “Yup, it was a balloon, a cactus balloon! There was a whole patch there, and I’m pretty sure I saw another group of them on that plateau thingy we passed right before we fell.”

The other two just stood there as Pinkie started walking towards where the cactus had been.

‘It’s ok, you can get closer now. I think they all popped.”

They made their way cautiously towards the scraps of magenta-colored rubber material that remained after it had popped. Indeed, it had been a balloon, a balloon with needles in it…something like that was almost like a time bomb. It would only be a matter of time before it exploded.

“So you think this is what hit us, Pinkie?” Twilight asked, Pinkie nodded, skipping now over to the remnants of the other exploded cacti balloons.

“Yeah, I thought they were pretty when we were flying over them, it looked just like a little desert rainbow party. Of course, I didn’t know they were gonna explode. I still think they’re neat though.”

“Neat maybe, but dangerous definitely,” Applejack stated as she came up behind her friends, looking suspiciously at the popped cacti patch. “Still think Discord’s not out to hurt any pony, Twilight?”

Applejack was right, of course. What had just happened to them proved that these things were dangerous, and it had Discord written all over it. It didn’t exactly play into his favor. Twilight wasn’t sure what to say, but thankfully the orange earth pony didn’t wait for a response.

“Well, least we know now what happened; don’t know if there’s anything we can do about the balloon though. We’ll probably have to head out on hoof,” AJ said, taking one last look around at the multi-colored scraps strewn about before turning back towards where the others were.

None of them really wanted to leave the balloon behind, but without any magical ways of sending it back to civilization there wasn’t much they could do for it. The holes could be patched up and the hot air mechanism repaired, but the group quickly decided that catching up with Discord was more important, and once Twilight got her magic back (as every pony kept assuring her she would) they would be able to get themselves home and find the balloon again later.

Twilight lead the team with Applejack and Pinkie close behind. Rarity had begun to lag behind as the sun beat down on the four earth-bound ponies’ trek through the sand.

Rainbow Dash remained above the leaders, keeping a lookout for any signs that they were getting closer. Fluttershy was flying as well, but staying close to the back, trying to aid Rarity by shading her from the sun as best she could.

It was a bit eerie how similar this felt to Twilight, though the landscape was quite different. Yet like the night she followed the clues into the forest, here was another trail of sorts – again leading away from a populated area and towards a more secluded space.

At least this time she had her friends along with her.

At first the only thing amiss about their surroundings was the changing color of the sand. They had left the normal tan-colored sand what felt like hours ago, and had since watched as the shifty ground below them turned orange, then aqua, and then to bright neon green that hurt Twilight’s eyes to look at for too long.

She had been keeping a mental tally of all of this, and of how they corresponded to her ideas for helping Discord.

It seemed that the evidence was accumulating over on the Against side of the list, even without the obvious reasons that Applejack and the others had brought up. AJ was right, they had every pony else to think about. The consequences for her actions if Discord was not cooperative earned probably about three hash marks. Not to mention the embarrassment and hurt she felt at the thought that he might have lied to her.

Now with their mode of transportation crashed and being forced to walk, she had to reluctantly add another tick to that side.

The For side didn’t have quite as many marks, though Twilight still felt they were worth considering too. His purpose in maintaining the balancing dance between order and chaos was not to be ignored. There was also his apparent avoidance of the residents of Equestria, and that nagging want…or hope to be right about him, that every pony deserved a chance, if he or she chose to take it.

She continued to list them off in her head, trying to form what she would say to him when they found him…which would not take terribly long.

Dash was the first to spot something on the horizon through the wavy dry haze.

“Hey Twilight, do you see that too?” she called down to the unicorn. Twilight squinted in the sun, but she thought she could see what Rainbow Dash was seeing. Way off in the distance there appeared to be some sort of building, and since they could both see it it probably wasn’t a mirage.

As soon as they all caught sight of it, there was suddenly a faded but very real dirt road before them, a dirt road that seemed to lead directly to it.

“Well, that doesn’t look fishy at all,” Rainbow Dash said as they all stared at the road that had definitely not been there a moment ago.

Twilight agreed. It certainly did appear as if Discord knew they were there, and was luring them into a trap. But why would he go to such lengths to conceal himself though, only to drop them now? Perhaps he was simply done hiding.

“I think we’ve found him, girls,” Twilight said to the group. “Every pony stick together.”

As they approached, the scene came more into focus. It appeared to be a single building, much smaller and much more run-down than the fun house Twilight had seen before.

Near the front of this ramshackle way-station of sorts stood a pony-shaped scarecrow, a pinball machine, and some of the oddest looking rabbits Twilight had ever seen.

“Oh, I’ve never seen jackrabbits like that before,” Fluttershy commented as a few darted past them. Discord had changed it up for this new climate. Instead of long deer legs, these rabbits had big deer antlers. “I hope they don’t have too much trouble getting into their burrows.”

“I think we’ve got bigger concerns than some inconvenienced jackrabbits,” Applejack said, stating out loud what they were all thinking. For as they watched the last of the jackalopes scamper off into the brush, their attention was brought back to the scene before them, all six pairs of eyes locked on him at once. Discord now leaned against one of the front posts of the neglected structure.

His eyes were closed, but that smirk of his – so mirthful but so often with that hint of superiority – told Twilight that he not only knew they were there, but really had been expecting them.

She heard a whimper from Fluttershy, and Twilight looked behind her to see her all but ready to cower behind Applejack. Seeing the other four standing their ground behind her – though they looked wary – it gave Twilight that sense of support she had come to need so dearly. They may have different views on what should happen next, but Twilight was very glad at this time to have them with her.

She saw Fluttershy compose herself to stand straight like the others, and the unicorn nodded to her friends, leading the approach as they took a few more determined – but still cautious – steps forward.

“Discord,” Twilight called to him fairly loudly, although he didn’t show any signs that he had heard her. She tried again, “Discord!” But still he didn’t acknowledge any of them.

“Cut the act you, we know you can hear us!” Rainbow Dash shouted as well, standing with the others but looking like she wanted to whoosh up to him and smack that grin right off his face.

He did finally open his eyes and look over at them. “Oh, Twilight and the rest. When did you get here?” he asked with feigned surprise.

Evidently that was all Rainbow needed, but as she was preparing to launch herself at him Twilight held her tail with her hoof. It was more the surprise of her action than force that halted the pegasus. “Hey, come on. Let’s do what we came here to do, he’s just sitting there!”

“Yes, and there’s probably a reason for that,” Twilight said. They all had to know she was right. As random as he could be, they knew from past experiences that he didn’t idle like this unless he either was confident he could beat them or would be able to escape them. This was a chance Twilight couldn’t afford to miss, in any case.

“Let me try this my way first,” she quietly urged.

Applejack scoffed. “Ya ain’t seriously still thinkin’ about trying to talk to him, are ya?”

“You tried that before, Twilight.” Rainbow reminded her. “And what happened, he got away.”

“That wasn’t her fault,” Fluttershy said, standing next to Twilight now but still not looking quite as brave as she sounded.

“I know, sorry.” Rainbow grudgingly corrected herself. “But if it didn’t work then what makes you think it will now?”

Who’s to say it didn’t? I’m still not even sure. Twilight thought. That was one of her biggest reasons for wanting to try talking with him again. She still wanted to try and find a different solution, but – possibly more so – there was that urge to know the truth, for her own peace of mind. It may have been a bit selfish, but she knew that these questions she had could only be answered by Discord, and only if they gave her the time to ask.

“Well, I do have you all here with me this time,” the unicorn said, which didn’t seem to convince her friends much.

“And at the very least, she needs to know how to get her magic back,” Fluttershy piped up. There seemed to be more in her smile to Twilight than the others knew. The yellow pegasus was the only one who truly knew how important she felt this was.

“At least let me try.”

She let her appeal to them hang there, and none of the others seemed to be excited about this idea. It took them a moment, but soon they all exchanged looks, and Applejack nodded, again speaking for the group

“Well, I still think this is crazy, but we trust you, Twi. We’re right here if he tries anything.”

Twilight nodded in return, and turned back to the draconequus now watching them with slight amusement. “Discord, for right now we’re just here to talk. How long it stays that way depends on you.”

“Hmm, what’s that Twilight?” Discord said loudly, cupping his ear. “I can’t hear you all that well from so far away.”

They weren’t more than ten feet away, but Twilight thought she might as well humor him. Rolling her eyes, the purple pony opened her mouth to speak taking one step forward – which was one step too far, apparently – and as she did a wall of energy seemed to spring up out of nowhere directly behind her, pushing her forward and her friends back.

Landing on her face, Twilight spun around to see a translucent but very solid barrier rise higher and higher, arching overhead and surrounding the building, leaving she and Discord on one side, and the other five ponies on the other.

Sincerity

She could see them shouting her name, but Twilight couldn’t hear anything but a faint muffled hum. Rainbow Dash was in the air again, backing up quickly and attempting to ram through the invisible wall, only for her skull to meet it head-on with a very unpleasant conking sound.

The others continued to call her name while Dash kept trying to force her way in repeatedly and from different angles, but it didn’t seem to be of much use. Twilight was sure that this dome surrounded and encased them perfectly and impenetrably.

That didn’t stop her from taking a few slams at it with her own hooves. It might have been fruitless, but it was the natural reaction to being trapped in such a way.

“Discord, what is this? Let me out!” Twilight shouted, turning back on him while he still remained cool and collected, moving away from the shack now and closer to her.

“You said you wanted to talk,” he said with a shrug. “As it happens, so do I. I thought this would give us a little more privacy.”

“But you didn’t have to separate me from my friends!” Twilight said, although as she said that, the realization dawned on her. “Y-you don’t trust them…or us together.”

“I knew you’d never dream of coming to find me alone again, couldn’t take the chance. You understand.”

“I may understand, but that doesn’t mean I like it!” Twilight said. She was angrier with herself for not catching it sooner, that it wasn’t a trap for them – but for her.

“Hey, I only wish to speak with you. No tricks, and your friends are still right there and still armed with their little element necklaces.”

That was true; Twilight could see that all of her friends had donned their necklaces. Of course they weren’t that useful without her magic and tiara to activate them, but they were still there. Discord could have taken them, or even flashed her friends far away and out of reach to help.

If this really wasn’t a trick, than Twilight was getting the opportunity she had wanted. If it was, than she hoped she would be able to get her magic back before he did anything too harmful. Honestly, she was a bit curious about this as well. She knew what she wanted to ask him, but she couldn’t imagine what he’d want to know of her.

Her friends all stood huddled close from the other side of the force field. Twilight put a hoof up to the edge, and tried to reassure them with a smile.

She saw Applejack nod sternly, and Fluttershy reach to meet the unicorn’s hoof with her own. She then turned from her friends and walked towards the center of the Twilight-holder.

“I see you’ve made yourself at home,” she said as she approached him, acknowledging the odd grouping of items around the shack. Twilight tried to keep her tone conversational, but she was still too wary for it to be in any way friendly.

“This dilapidated place seems sort of a step down from the last time.”

“’Dilapidated’? I prefer to think of it as ‘rustic’,” Discord said. “but yes, it’s not up to my usual standards, but you make do with what you can when you’re trying to lie low.”

“And again, you set up somewhere far away from any pony who could find you.”

“Well, you know how the old song goes, ‘Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
For the deer & the antelope-horned!’" he sang, pointing to each of his horns in turn. “This was an old stomping ground of the buffalo, abandoned for several years now though.”

“Wait, if you disappeared again back into hiding, then how were you discovered this time?” she asked.

“Perhaps I wanted to be found this time,” Discord answered. “If I really put my mind to it, I could disappear so completely I’d never be seen again if I didn’t want.”

Twilight believed it, and she was getting the vague feeling that she knew the answer to the question in her mind, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to be right. “Then, why did you want to be found?”

“Not sure, maybe for the same reason you came to find me,” Discord said, reaching to put his arm around her, which she quickly spun out of.

“I came to stop you from wreaking any havoc,” she said, which in her own way was true.

Discord shook his head, gesturing towards the others without looking at them. “No, that’s why they’re here. I would like very much to know why you’re here. What questions could you have that you would seek me out like this?”

“I didn’t seek you out,” she said slightly defensive. “But I did convince my friends to let me have a few minutes with you.”

“Before it’s time to make me ready for pigeons to use for target practice again,” he presumed.

“Things don’t have to go that way this time, not if you answer my questions truthfully.” Twilight saw Discord’s eyebrows go up in mild surprise. She tried to relay the importance his answers carried in her words.

“The last time I found you, you talked about balance, and your part in it. I’ve been trying to keep that in mind, because strangely enough I think I’m beginning to understand your argument,” she began her only slightly-prepared speech. “The rest of it though – what you said that night – I need to know how much of it was real, were you being honest then?”

“Hmm, which part?” he asked, clearly not taking this as seriously as she was.

“I think you know which part!” she snapped. “When you spoke of your prison and your loneliness, I felt sorry for you. I told you so, but is that what you wanted all along? Were you trying to play on that so you could escape?”

“You know – speaking of being honest that night – I could ask you the same question,” he said. “As a matter of fact I intended to ask you that same question.”

“What, of course I was being honest!” Even though Twilight didn’t want him getting up
in her face again, the unicorn couldn’t help storming up to him at this accusation. “What could I have possibly gained by lying?”

“And what could I have gained?” Discord asked of her, “I didn’t need to trick you to be able to escape. I didn’t want you to be able to find me that is true, but I could have left that conversation at any time.” He smiled down at Twilight’s frown.

“I stayed because - as I said that night – I find you to be a very remarkable pony, Twilight. I genuinely wanted to know what you – the most logical and powerful of this new team – thought. At the start most of what you said was typical…until then.”

Then? Did he mean when she’d voiced her feelings of sympathy and started trying to think of ways to fix things? Than why wasn’t he saying that outright instead of alluding and dancing around the words? One might almost assume that it made him uncomfortable to think about it.

“But you were trying to persuade me as well, were you not?” the draconequus continued. “That was why you’d come in the first place. How would I know you weren’t using your own form of manipulation?”

Wait, so Discord thought that she might have been trying to fool him that night? That was just absurd.

“Um, because I would never do such a thing,” Twilight said obviously, no longer shouting. “Even if I were that type of pony, that wouldn’t have done anything. You would have seen through that.”

“You’re probably right about that,” Discord said, he seemed to be evaluating her answer, looking her over in an oddly similar fashion.

“I mean, I wanted to talk – to possibly reason with you, but that’s something entirely different. There’s a clear difference between trying to convince and just flat out tricking some pony.”

It was a strange thing to contemplate, but it seemed that he had been having the same misgivings about her as she had been having about him. But, why would it matter to Discord if she were trying to trick him? That would only be possible if her words had had some sort of lingering affect on the draconequus. Could they have? No pony wants to be tricked; it seems not even a trickster.

“No, I wasn’t lying,” Twilight said, clearly to ensure he caught her sincerity.

“Neither was I,” Discord spoke with equal clarity.

A moment passed between them, both still unsure about the other’s motives, but as Twilight accepted his words as truth, she felt the veil of uncertainty lift – or at least become easier to see through. She still felt compelled to confirm though, in case he still held doubts.

“I’m not now, either. I still want to find another way of doing things.”

“Still on that, are you?” he asked.

“Yes, and I’ve been trying. I even asked the princess to show me what happened between you all that time ago, and her account helped me see something.”

“Oh, did she show you the part where they snuck in and zapped me while I was singing?” Discord asked, “Very un-sporting, wasn’t it?”

Twilight ignored him.

“She’s my teacher, I respect and admire her very much, but I do think that she might have approached you the wrong way. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t feel she was completely in the wrong, I’m saying that her methods for convincing you weren’t the best.

She tried to appeal to any love you might have for the ponies of this world, but I don’t think you have any. I don’t feel that you’re incapable of it, but that you don’t see them as anything but an obligation.”

“You see though, that’s what they are,” he said as he suddenly appeared behind the pony scarecrow, patting its little head for emphasis. “The ponies of this world are a bunch of harmony-loving little ingrates. Most of them just go along with their little lives ignorant to the true nature of balance, content to boil it down to the basic extremes. They don’t see anything I do as anything beneficial.”

“That’s something that you could change. You could change how every pony views you, but you’d need to try.” Twilight said. That had been all that was needed to change Princess Luna’s image.

“That would be if I had any inclination to try, which I do not,” Discord said, now echoing the words he spoke in that long ago memory Twilight had viewed. “I am bound by that ancient bargain to keep the balance, but I have found that doing it my way proves so much more fun.” He gripped the back of the scarecrow’s head to make it look like it was listening to his words, then nodding its head in agreement.

“But that thinking is what got you into trouble in the first place,” Twilight reminded him. That had been his attitude when Celestia had tried to reason with him. “You can’t see that spreading chaos in your fashion can hurt ponies…because you don’t care about them.”

She had expected Discord to give some sort of retort, but when he didn’t, she continued.

“I don’t really agree with that either, but I did have a thought. You want to avoid every pony – and you can be very good at it – why not continue on like you are? Fulfill your obligations, only without interacting or manipulating ponies.”

“Why not continue like this? Well Twilight, hiding out like this isn’t exactly the most riveting of activities.” He looked over the ‘rustic’ surroundings he’d constructed. “Very constricting to the creative mind, you know.”

“That’s where a little change of image can help,” Twilight tried persuasively. “You wouldn’t need to hide out if every pony knew you wouldn’t harm them.”

This time she could see that the draconequus was about to say something, but she cut him off. She knew what he was going to say. No pony in Equestria would believe that, and that was true. The unicorn had anticipated that, but this was going to be the hard part, she knew.

“I can vouch for you. With my friends, with the princesses, and with hope every other pony. However, the trust they have in me will only take you so far. You need to do something to prove you will keep your word.”

Genuine surprise was a look that so rarely graced Discord’s features, Twilight thought this was only the second time she had seen it. He recovered much quicker this time, however.

A disbelieving, almost pitying smile was what greeted her now, and Discord shook his head as he abandoned the scarecrow to float back over to her.

“There you go again, trying to fix things. It’s a very well-intentioned idea, Twilight. If I were even to consider it though, I don’t think I’d know where to start. What gesture could I perform that would be grand enough to convince an entire population who fears and hates me?”

Twilight’s eyes strayed from his at this, and a defeated sort of sigh escaped her. “That was something I have been wondering too, and honestly…I don’t know.”

She did have one idea, albeit one that served her more than all of ponydom.

“How about you give me my magic back? It’s not a grand gesture, but I—“

“I didn’t take your magic, not this time, anyway,” Discord interrupted her thought with a questioning look.

“What, then why hasn’t my magic worked since the last time we spoke?” she asked, her mind stuttering over that part of the night that she kept trying to write off, but still made her feel so strange. “…Not since you kissed me.”

The question on Discord’s face faded to understanding. “Oh, that? That was only a temporary block. I didn’t want you following me or summoning your friends before I could get a good head start. It should have worn off by now. It would only last this long if you continued to think about it.”

But Twilight had been trying not to think about it, and every time her mind brought it back to the surface she tried not to dwell on it...had that counted? She hadn’t even verbally admitted it had happened until now.

“I must have made quite an impression.” Discord said slyly. Twilight had trouble looking at him then; he just looked far too pleased with this new information.

Testing it out, she focused on creating a protective bubble around her. Her horn glowed, and a shimmer of pink formed over her head, surrounding her whole body. So finally saying it out loud had done the trick, the first step to acceptance.

She kept the bubble up to form a solid barrier between her and Discord. The last thing she needed was him invading her personal space again; she needed to keep a clear head, and that was very hard to do with him so close to her.

On the outside of her little dome, Discord had pulled up a cushy seat, sitting sideways with his back leaning against one arm of the chair, his legs slung over the other, and still looking positively smug.

“But…did it have to be a kiss?” Twilight asked. “I’m sure you could’ve blocked my power in some other way if you’d wanted.”

“Oh, and I’m sure I could have too, however it had to be something that you wouldn’t easily forget, but also couldn’t easily admit to happening. Something intimate,” Discord explained. He sat a little straighter in the chair. “Plus, it seemed like a good idea at the time. You were already so interesting, but the compassion you showed me…it intrigued me all the more. It was surprising…compelling.”

Twilight felt her tiny force field flicker for a moment as her concentration drifted. That was why he’d chosen to do it that way? He found her interesting?

“So sue me, I was curious. I don’t blame you for lingering on it so much, it was quite enjoyable, even better than I’d imagined. I’ve had trouble getting it out of my mind as well.”

She couldn’t help but revisit the memory now. Since she’d admitted it out loud – as well as to herself – it held no power over Twilight…or, at least her magic. She had felt so mixed-up about that whole encounter, especially the kiss. Now that she knew that it hadn’t been a complete lie – that there had been true feelings behind it – she felt oddly relieved, and even…flattered?

He paused, and she wondered if he’d seen that flicker. “You’ve thought back to it more than once since you mentioned it, I can tell. You can be very easy to read…you should work on that, Twilight.”

For the first time Twilight was actually glad she was divided from her friends. She hadn’t looked behind her to where they were all standing watching the two of them, but she was quite grateful that they couldn’t hear what was being discussed. She didn’t want Discord to know he was right, so she tried to not look as embarrassed as she felt.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “But we need to get back to the subject at hand. If you don’t want to change your image, what do you want?”

Discord slumped back into his earlier position, obviously losing interest now as Twilight was trying to get back to brainstorming.

“You don’t want to be bored,” the unicorn answered her own question. “That much is obvious, but you’ve proven you can entertain yourself without directly influencing any pony. This way you could go anywhere you wanted, within limits.”

Discord held out his claw as if underlining Twilight’s words. “There’s the catch, limits.”

She nodded. “Yes, limits. If any pony needs them, it’s you. I’m not proposing a scenario where you get off scot-free. I no longer think that your previous punishment was right, but if you’re going to live here-“

“Well, why can’t they just take my word for it? Why would I have to prove anything?” his interrupting complaint was on the verge of a whine.

“Sorry to break it to you Discord, but I don’t think your word is going to hold much weight with every pony. Not without my help and not without putting forth something of your own.”

“What do I have to do, wear a shock collar?” He threw out, growing irritated. Twilight rolled her eyes.

“It was my only idea that I felt could work for everyone, and…it’s better than being stone, isn’t it?” she asked. His flustering her had not entirely helped Twilight’s mood, but neither was his apparent unwillingness to cooperate.

“You do have me there,” Discord said reluctantly. “I have to wonder though, Twilight. You don’t believe the others will take my word alone, and yet you are still trying to help me. I’ll have to admit it is flattering, (Twilight had to roll her eyes again at his tone there.) but what is it that makes you think I will keep my word?”

Twilight risked a glance back at her friends, they were all still there standing up against the slightly opaque barrier, all with varying degrees of worry on their faces. Discord was repeating the same question that they had asked…the same question that she asked herself when she came up with this proposition.

Realistically it was absurd for her to think that Discord might agree to something even this restrictive, this orderly. Then again, she would have thought it absurd that he would – upon escaping – choose to hide out and be free rather than engage in his usual antics knowing he’d be caught. He apparently couldn’t help playing around a little, but he still voluntarily left a town full of ponies alone.

He had shared with her how it felt to be stuck like that, and he’d made it sound like he mostly found it to be just a big inconvenience, but Twilight couldn’t help thinking there was more to it.

“I probably shouldn’t,” Twilight hesitated. “But I have faith that you will,” She was taking a gamble - she knew - but there was something inside her that made her feel the need to try.

Because she now understood why he needed to exist, because she felt in her heart that no pony was beyond help, and because she had seen that small trace of a possible vulnerability – whether he’d meant to let it slip out or not. It had given her hope that she was right.

Discord was out of his chair now, standing right next to the outside edge of her bubble. He seemed to be considering her again, his expression then changed to a smile that brought her back to the last time he’d been this close, and it made her breath stop short.

“And now you have faith in me. I must say you are presenting me with many firsts, Twilight.”

She dearly hoped that Discord didn’t know about the particular ‘first’ he’d given her.

“Maybe I should show a little faith in you,” He now rested an arm on her personal bubble, using it to prop himself up.

“So, you do want me to help you?” Twilight asked tentatively, adjusting the bubble’s strength accordingly to support his weight.

“It’s really the best choice I have, isn’t it?” His tone was not all that enthusiastic, but perhaps it was finally sinking in just how far out of her way Twilight was going just to help him.

But if she was going out on a limb, Discord would need to come join her.

“You’ll still have to do something yourself,” she reminded him.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he waved his claw flippantly.

“And you’ll agree to my terms, and whatever I come up with, even if you don’t like the restrictions?”

His smile faded a bit. “I’m almost afraid to ask, what have you decided on?”

It wasn’t much – and she wasn’t sure what her friends would think - but Twilight thought she had an idea now. Oddly enough he’d actually supplied the inspiration, and she felt a sly smile of her own begin to grow.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Touché,” Discord conceded. His tone was back to playful.

The air between them that had lost so much of its uncertainty – and had even become somewhat friendly – now grew a bit awkward for Twilight as they both just stood there for a moment, still smiling but neither sure of what came next…or how it would go.

The unicorn reminded herself that that was what he needed right now, a friend. This then reminded her of the friends watching on the other side of the barrier, and she broke eye-contact with Discord to turn back to them.

“So…what we should do now is take down the barriers so that I can tell the others what’s been agreed to,” Twilight inelegantly brought herself back to business mode.

“You mean you’ll take down yours, and then I’ll take down mine?” Discord asked, easing himself off of her bubble finally.

She caught his meaning. It had been one thing talking about having faith and trusting him, but this was the moment to show it by going first. Of course, trust is a two-way street.

“How about at the same time?” Twilight asked.

A shorter pause as a wisp of that earlier uncertainty seemed to seep back in, but when it was over both pony and draconequus had lowered their shields.

Discord stayed the exact distance away from Twilight that her protective bubble had extended, at least until his barrier had melted away and he was promptly tackled by Rainbow Dash.

The other four who had been waiting on the outside rushed up to Twilight, all bringing her into a quick group hug before jumping back to stand protectively between her and Discord.

Ally

Discord was only briefly knocked off his feet. He’d been caught off-guard by Rainbow’s aggressive charge, but almost immediately after he had hit the ground – once he’d figured out what hit him – there was a flash of light and Discord was back up again, Dash now suddenly leering down at the ground behind Twilight.

Rainbow blinked as she looked back up, and then snorted with anger as she prepared to take another flying leap.

She was again halted mid-leap by her friends, Applejack and Rarity this time blocking her way, much to her indignation.

“Ugh, move over and let me at him! You all saw him trap her too, right?” she groaned as AJ had to practically sit on her to keep her from moving.

“Yes Rainbow Dash, we did,” Rarity answered her. “And believe me; the more aggressive side of me wants nothing more than to do what you just did. But if anything is going to be done about him, it should be done by all of us together.”

“Plus if ya’ll were paying attention, it didn’t look like he did anything to her,” Applejack said from atop the pegasus, though she sounded like she had her suspicions.

While this was happening, Twilight was able to push her way to the front, now standing between them and the draconequus.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stood closer to her than the others, but all still remained tense, worried for her, and wary of him.

“So Twi,” AJ called to her once it was assured that Rainbow couldn’t try and tear off one of Discord’s miss-matched limbs herself. “You got your wish; ya had your little discussion. Tha thing is though we couldn’t hear anything ya’ll were saying. Could ya fill us in?”

“I think we’re all very curious to hear that as well,” Rarity said.

Twilight’s ears drooped a little as all eyes fell back on her. She collected her thoughts, trying to find a way to explain the conclusion they had come to.

“While Twilight’s explaining, can I try out that pinball machine?” Pinkie asked, momentarily distracted by the shiny game box a few feet away. She was met with an annoyed look from AJ that caused her to shrink a bit. “…or, maybe later.”

As Pinkie re-focused, the purple unicorn tried to find a good place to begin. She turned briefly to glance at Discord, who had been uncharacteristically silent. He was sitting again, which she hoped meant that he was going to let her do the talking, however she found the bag of popcorn he was munching on to be a bit much.

When Twilight’s gaze drifted back to her friends, it seemed to absentmindedly land on Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was looking cautious as ever, but it reminded Twilight of that night when she had revealed to her friend the thoughts that had been eating away at her. Of course, she was still the only one who knew how Discord’s words had struck her.

No matter how they might react, her other friends did have a right to know more, they needed to be involved in the decision-making process. Rarity was absolutely right; if something was to be done they’d need to do it together.

So, Twilight began with a tone not-entirely dissimilar to the one she had used when voicing her proposition to Discord in the dome, deciding to start at the beginning with a brief recap.

“You all know that I spoke with Discord when I found him in the Everfree, that I tried to reason with him before he escaped. The short version of that conversation you know, that he tried to explain to me how his brand of chaos ‘wasn’t that bad’ and in some cases could be beneficial. He said what he did actually kept the balance, and I know now that that is actually right.”

She thought once more back to Harmony in the memory Princess Celestia had shown her. The Great Pony’s name had become synonymous with order in the same way Discord’s had with chaos, but from what she had culminated it wasn’t…at least not entirely.

“I’ve been over and over this in my head so many times, fighting with this idea of balance as opposed to order-only as the true synonym for harmony. However – and I know it’s strange to hear – but that’s the conclusion I am being drawn to.”

“You mean to say that soap roads and jackalopes help to retain the balance?” Rarity asked skeptically.

“Well, sort of…indirectly,” Twilight answered. “That seems to be just the type of thing he does for fun. The beneficial things Discord brings are harder to see I think.”

“Much harder,” AJ muttered, but Twilight continued.

“There are things during the course of our lives that we just can’t plan for, as much as we try to prevent the unexpected,” she felt she was grasping a bit, but Discord had done a good job at being as vague as possible about giving any actual examples of his part in the balance. Twilight wondered for a second whether or not he’d done that on purpose, to see how close she could get on her own.

“And even sometimes, the things that blindside us and take us by surprise actually end up aiding us. Facing something we never imagined can help us to come out stronger and with a better understanding of ourselves.”

“Well, it isn’t as if he orchestrates grand tests upon ponies all the time,” Rarity said. It was a fair point, and Twilight still hadn’t gotten a concrete answer on that whole thing either.

“That may be giving him a little too much credit, but if we accept that way of thinking, then a small amount of the messes in life – chaos reigned-in – should be allowed to exist, and it seems it will whether or not the physical embodiment of it is around. Because random and chaotic things have happened during all the time he was sealed away.

I know - and still believe - that chaos run rampant is a harmful thing, but in a sense the same might be said for order gone to the extreme.”

The purple pony paused to take a breath, and let her friends absorb her words. Most of them looked conflicted, and at least two still looked suspicious, but at least they were all listening.

“I guess…it keeps life interesting?” Pinkie spoke up, trying to follow along on board Twilight’s train of thought.

“That’s part of it, I think,” Twilight agreed, glad enough for Pinkie’s encouraging statement to smile for a moment. Thinking quickly, she turned to face Discord again, her face growing stern.

“Then again, order seems to know where to draw the line,” she added significantly. She wanted to make sure that Discord knew that she was not merely siding with him completely.

“So ya think we should just let him go on as he pleases because of this whole ‘balance’ thing?” Applejack asked.

“Not entirely,” Twilight said. “I thought that maybe – if I could find a way to discuss it with him – that some sort of…arrangement could be made.”

“That’s why ya were so keen on tryin’ to talk to him, then?”

“Yes, for the most part,” she felt a tad awkward again as she thought of her more personal reasons for wanting to talk to him. “I also had some questions for him, and it was those answers that have led me to trust him.”

“What kinds of questions?” Rainbow managed to ask still pinned under AJ’s rear.

Twilight was hoping that wouldn’t be asked, but she managed to find a roundabout way of explaining.

“I-I needed to know about some of the other things he mentioned before, what he meant by them. He seems to find his imprisonment worse than death, and that’s most likely why he’s been avoiding every pony.

Our elements are representations of what it takes to be a true friend, and they are part of the founding blocks of our whole society. We are always encouraged to extend those elements to every pony, no matter how they may act towards us.

I agree that Discord’s original punishment served its purpose, and that long ago he may have been little more than a monster to the ponies of this world, but long ago he had never even considered that the bonds that the ponies have…that the elements were so strong. Not just as weapons to rival him, but as things to enhance one’s life.”

Twilight had certainly expected the looks she was receiving from nearly every pony now.

“And ya think that he understands them now?” Applejack again showed her knack for asking what the whole group wished to.

She became considerably more aware of Discord watching her from behind then, but she didn’t turn her head.

He was sincere, she reminded herself. He was actually afraid enough to keep away from us, and to wonder whether or not I had been lying to him. He also trusts me…all of that has to count for something.

“I think…he could.” Twilight said slowly. “It’s hard I know, to think of Discord as a being who in any small way could be capable of seeing – much less experiencing – the magic that we share that is friendship.

I do like to think though, that since he has shared with me his own thoughts, and agreed to go along with my idea for helping him – accepting that help – that all of that means that he is capable.”

She nearly jumped from the jolt she felt as Discord spoke up behind her.

“Oh Twilight, now you’re going to make me blush,” she whipped her head around to see him pretending to hide his face. “I might have gone about as red as you were the other night.”

The unicorn gave him a wide-eyed look of irritation, sliding her hoof quickly across her mouth to convey that he very much needed to zip his lips, though she felt her face warming in spite of herself. Did he have to bring that up again when she was trying to help him?

“Oh, and there it is again!” he gestured to her face animatedly. It was probably more than she could hope that her friends didn’t notice as well, and Twilight made a mental note to find a spell that would make blushing undetectable on her face when she got home.

Turning back to her friends and giving a sigh to possibly banish her frustration, she tried to get back to explaining. All still stood listening, even if some of them no longer looked as receptive as they had been at the beginning.

“So, that leaves us with the moral quandary of whether it is just or not to lock a being away in a frozen horror for another thousand years.”

Judging by their faces, that didn’t seem like such a terribly tough decision to at least three of Twilight’s friends.

“It would be so easy to do that, believe me I know. I haven’t forgotten what he did to us, even if we could eventually overcome it. No…it will take me a very long time to forget, and even though we know we should, it’s extremely hard to forgive.

I would like to give him a chance, and I hope that you could at least entertain the idea of doing the same…or at least following my lead as far as what I want his punishment to be.”

Another pause as Twilight concluded, and she felt once more her words seeming to hang over them, waiting for some pony else to speak up.

“You have really managed to come to a decision…something that he’s actually agreed to?” Rarity asked, still looking doubtful, her eyes flicking up to Discord as she mentioned him.

“He’s agreed to whatever I decide on,” Twilight stated. “I wanted to ask you all your thoughts. I’ve shared with you how I feel, but we need to make this choice together.”

“What would be your way, if we chose against freezing him again?” Fluttershy asked. This was helpful; it didn’t seem that any pony was as willing to ask this time.

“We could somehow find a way to keep him separate from every pony,” Twilight said. She tried to sound convincing, though she was still putting the pieces of her plan together herself. “In part from his promise, but mostly from some sort of…some sort of magical border.”

Applejack’s disbelieving frown became more pronounced as she spoke up again, talking to Twilight but not taking her eyes off Discord.

“An’ how do we know that we can trust him to keep his promise, or to not get bored one day an’ break those magic borders of yours down jus’ for the fun of it?”

“I’m willing to trust that he won’t…and you can trust me, right? I can make as certain as possible that no harm will come to any pony in any case.”

“Uh, not to badmouth your magic skills Twilight, but we’re supposed to just accept that he won’t do anything to us and that you’re gonna be able to keep him in line? Forgive me if I find all that sorta hard to believe,” Rainbow Dash joined in.

“I believe you, Twilight,’ came Pinkie Pie’s emphatic voice after a moment. Her unflinchingly honest concurrence caused Applejack and Rainbow to throw her incredulous looks, which she caught with a blink of surprise.

“…what, that was a really good speech!” she answered their questioning faces.

“I’m not saying that I’ll be able to keep him bound to his promise alone,” the purple unicorn said. “It would take the combined power of the Elements to do that. The rest of it I guess just boils down to trust.”

“Darling, I am attempting to understand all of this,” Rarity came to her feet slowly, speaking with apprehension. “You mentioned that you no longer felt that we should lock him away again. I think you really believe that this is right, and that he is worth the chance, but you must understand also how we can have such difficulty with that.”

“Especially since he’s not exactly makin’ this promise himself, lettin’ you do all the talking,” AJ pointed out. “If he’s agreed to it, than why won’t he pony-up and show us something to back ya’ll up?”

“I think what Applejack means is that some proof on his part is in order,” the white pony added.

She had told Discord this would happen. Even if she got them to listen, they were all still too guarded about this whole strange scenario. They were going to need some proof from him, some sort of…something.

They were all thinking it; it was etched on all of their faces, even evident in Fluttershy’s timid eyes. The unicorn really didn’t know what to tell them, this was the part where she had to trust that he would to the right thing – as she was trying to do – even though it wasn’t easy.

Unease crept back into their midst as the ponies all looked to her, and then back up to Discord. Twilight turned as well to look up at him, and for a few moments it looked to her as if he might just change his mind, that or he didn’t have anything to show his sincerity.

It was almost like a stand-off of wills, as she waited with the others for him to say, do, or give them something that she knew he didn’t want to. To Twilight’s relief though, he ultimately caved.

“Fine, fine. I was holding off on doing this, but I assumed that Twilight was merely underestimating your capacity to believe me.” Discord sighed indignantly. It was clear that he did not enjoy having to prove himself to any pony, but if he had some sort of idea, then Twilight was glad. “She said you’d need convincing, but I didn’t think it would come to this.”

He sank back to the unicorn’s eye level, gingerly reaching out to hold her face in his paw. As he closed his eyes and gently pulled her an inch or so closer, Twilight felt this was all-too familiar. Her gaze swiftly flicked from her friends back to him, for one embarrassing moment fearing he was actually going to kiss her again right in front of them.

She gave an inward sigh of relief when instead Discord slowly lifted his claw to touch the tip of her horn. Even as he was concentrating, he still looked as if he was reluctantly forcing himself to perform some sort of chore, and only after did that make any sense at all.

When his claw made contact, her horn began to glow, and Twilight shut her eyes too… because at that moment an enormously heavy weight seemed to have been placed on her head. She strained under the force of the weight, fighting to keep herself standing as it sank lower, feeling like it was trying to lower itself inside her head.

She had no idea what the sensation was about, but the purple pony was quickly exhausting herself trying to fight it. She was almost to the point of losing consciousness before she finally gave in, letting whatever this heavy force was enter her mind. Once she allowed it, she no longer felt as strained.

Then when Discord finally removed his claw from her, Twilight staggered, woozy from the whole experience. The new weight she had felt wasn’t helping her balance either, but that was ebbing slowly. When she was finally able to remain upright, she looked back up at the draconequus, eyes still focusing.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushed up and pulled her closer to the group and away from Discord, both still staring daggers at him.

“What did you do to her?” Rainbow shouted. She and AJ now stood protectively in front of her, all of her friends closing ranks around Twilight. Fluttershy inspected the unicorn, and she tried to protest, but it was still difficult with the strange weariness to form words.

“Something…I didn’t think I’d ever do,” Discord answered, sounding winded and looking a bit weary himself from whatever he’d done. It hadn’t knocked him as hard as Twilight, but none of the ponies believed they had ever seen the spirit of chaos need to stop and catch his breath before.

“That…was a portion of my power, given freely over to you. Kudos to you Twilight, for being able to withstand it, not every pony can. Though not entirely surprising.”

Still somewhat dizzy Twilight absorbed that explanation from the center of her protective circle of friends. So, that’s what the weight had been about. Though she couldn’t see the others’ reactions to this - Fluttershy seemed more concerned with making sure she wasn’t seriously hurt from the exchange - Rarity was the next closest, and she appeared to be all but dumbfounded.

“A portion of yo- why would you do such a thing?” the white unicorn inquired disbelievingly, glancing from where Twilight lay back up to Discord.

“Perhaps so you ponies might finally believe her,” he grumbled, rubbing his head as if what he’d done had also given him a splitting headache.

“What, did you think I wanted to do that? Honestly, I could care less what you think of me, I was never under the assumption that you’d believe me if I had said any of that myself.

But I was under the impression that you trusted those you counted as friends, being there for them and believing them and all that other Magic of Friendship garbage you keep yakking on about.”

“Don’t you even try and explain anything about friendship to us!” Rainbow shouted. “And we are being there for her, we’re going to protect her – and every pony else – from you! I’m not trusting anything you say after you lured Twilight into a trap and just did something weird and magicy to her…oh, and you took her magic!”

“No, he just…he just blocked it,” Twilight tried to interject as she attempted to stand, only to stumble and land practically on top of Fluttershy.

Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as her other friends closed ranks around her.

If the majority of her friends believed her about him, they weren’t showing much sign now. They possibly could have taken Discord’s actions as they were, but they were reasonably worried about their friend, and the evidence against him was mounting.

Indeed, it was obvious that his sacrifice of power was having the opposite affect that was intended.

Rarity still seemed to be processing what Discord had done. She continued to look concernedly at Twilight being helped back up by Fluttershy, and it seemed that his words were difficult for the white unicorn to swallow as truth.

Two in their number seemed to have their minds made up, however.

Grouping around Twilight, the others listened as Rainbow gave a hushed cry for retaliation.

“I say we zap him now, while he’s weakened by whatever he did. Who knows what he really did to you, Twilight?” Her voice was unwavering, brimming with righteous anger.

“I’m sorry, Twi,” AJ said with equal assurance in her voice as she watched Twilight wobble and lean on their yellow pegasus friend. “But we tried it your way and look what happened, you can barely walk.”

“It’s just-I’m fine,” Twilight managed, it was getting easier now to speak. She shook her head to banish the dizziness from affecting her speech.

“Twilight, I want to believe you…” Fluttershy began, pausing to make sure she could stand on her own. “Especially after all that you said. I know you really believe that your way is best but…I didn’t think he’d do something like this to you.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Twilight knew the moment she said it that they wouldn’t buy it. “Really, I’m fine now.”

“No Twilight, this is not cool,” Dash said flatly.

“But he…he actually weakened himself as well,” Rarity whispered, speaking for the first time in a while. “If what he said is true, then he weakened himself intentionally…why would he do that, if not for the reasons he said?”

“How do we know that wasn’t a trick? We can’t take the chance,” Rainbow matched Rarity’s volume, though still speaking harshly.

All eyes landed back on Twilight. The unicorn’s breathing was a little bit labored, which betrayed the confidence she tried to instill in her friends that she truly had recovered.

“I...I believe him. You didn’t feel that. This, this is definitely something strong…and important of his.”

“Twi, Sugarcube…” Applejack attempted to soften her words with her often-used endearment. “That speech of yours was real good, and ya made some good points…but under the circumstances dontcha think your opinion just might be a bit…compromised?”

What did that mean? Twilight had been trying like crazy to not use solely her own opinions, so as not to compromise her decisions. Or did AJ – like Rainbow – think that Discord’s giving up this power was something much more malicious?

“You think he’s manipulating me?”

“All I know is there was a whole dang lotta eye-contact goin’ on in there,” she answered, obviously recalling his method for manipulating them in the past. “Mighty convenient that we couldn’t hear a thing from outside, who’s ta say he wasn’t?”

“Actually, I did notice that as well,” Rarity agreed, although somewhat more reluctantly now. “It was quite unnerving; he hardly took his eyes off you, Darling.”

Twilight scanned over her talk with Discord in the dome, trying to look at it from the outside, to possibly see what they had seen – or, thought they saw. She hadn’t noticed any particularly long instance that could have been seen that way – then again – she could hear everything perfectly.

“But, he never touched me, and I never saw any of that multi-color eye stuff you all mentioned to watch out for. You must have at least seen that.”

While most of the ponies’ minds were still being made, it seemed AJ’s was set and locked firmly in place. She regarded Twilight with resolve in her conclusion, but also with a kind of pity that made it clear she placed no blame on her friend for being the ‘victim’.

“It ain’t your fault; he’d probably say anythin’ to ya to keep from being locked up. What if he was jus’ taking this proposition of yours and using it to his advantage? I don’t want something bad to happen to ya and I don’t want to see ya be worked over like his little puppet.”

“I understand, but you’re misunderstanding, it wasn’t-I’m not being manipulated, I would know if I were,” Twilight spoke clearly, voice rising with annoyance at her friend’s apparent refusal to listen. It was clear that she was not convinced however, and what was more, it seemed that Applejack’s conclusion was having a contagious affect on the others.

“Whatever he just did, he is still weakened now,” noted Rarity again. “Perhaps if Twilight were under a sort of manipulation, it might be weakened as well, or broken entirely.”

“If that’s true, then now’s the perfect time to strike,” Rainbow Dash repeated her call to action.

“This is getting out of hoof,” Twilight frustratingly tried to get their attention, to regain some control on the proceedings, for the consensus was very swiftly being made, and not in favor of her ideas. “Fluttershy, you believe me still, right?”

Fluttershy bit her lip nervously, whimpering with confliction. Twilight could tell she was fighting with her understanding of Twilight’s dilemma and the now determined glares she was receiving from Applejack and Rainbow. Her loyalties were being divided, and it made Twilight yet more frustrated at the others’ evident peer pressure.

The yellow pegasus wasn’t able to answer, for the others were already beginning to get into formation. Twilight stood stock-still in protest while at the same time trying frantically to think of something to say – something to do – that would get them on her side again.

“Put on your tiara Twi, we’re doing this,” Rainbow practically ordered the unicorn. “You’ll have to fight whatever’s going on in that head of yours and focus with us.”

Twilight moved her eyes from one friend to the next, trying to find some pony who might still be willing to halt. In each of their eyes though, she could see their worry for her, and their fear for every pony. They were afraid for her, for what they assumed Discord had done to her, and for what they feared he might do to this world if even given the slightest chance.

She thought her words could win them over, and that her reasoning had been solid, full of unavoidable fact and logic that they couldn’t deny. At the very least she hoped that they would hear the plea in her voice, even if they wanted to ignore the facts. She thought they would trust her, but she should have known. Their love for her and their fear of him undermined all of that.

Her heart hammered and she felt a catch in her throat, because as her eyes landed lastly on Applejack her face reminded her of the words she had said back in the balloon, which were still true even now.

“I… have every pony else to think about,” she repeated the words at an almost inaudible whisper. This realization – that condemning Discord again to the prison he had tried so hard to avoid – and that she had attempted to help him avoid – was what the others truly believed in their hearts at this moment would keep every pony else safe.

She couldn’t fight their conclusion, yet she still felt this overwhelming urge to. Twilight had tried to avoid this end, and the confliction she felt even now weighed heavy on her heart.

Was she being naive or selfish? Was betraying his trust and sealing him away again the only real option after all? It hit Twilight like a kick in the stomach when she caught herself using that word in her mind. Betrayal…yes, this would be a betrayal. She had Discord’s confidence and even his faith – he was willing to believe and trust her, and even give up something to help her – just like a real friend. How much damage would this do to the already-fragile seed of hope she might have instilled in him, that tiny hint of progress?

Some first friend she was turning out to be.

Suddenly her mind came back to the present, and all of her friends were now in formation around her, waiting for her to begin. But, she didn’t have the tiara…then as she thought of it her element of magic unexpectedly popped into existence on top of her head.

Twilight recognized that pop, and the unicorn’s eyes landed on Discord’s. He still stood where he had been, but all enthusiasm or enjoyment he had been having about the proceedings was gone now. On his face was that smile he had given her before, full of pity and resolution. He seemed resigned to his fate, and his expression seemed to tell her that this was what he had expected all along.

Though he didn’t look betrayed, Twilight still felt the shame in full force. She tried to convey her sorrow and apology to him in her face, hoping she wasn’t really welling up as much as she felt she was.

So, he was giving up, Twilight couldn’t believe it. She was almost offended that he would give up this easily. It made it even harder for her to keep her resolve. She was almost shaking with the denial of what she knew was inevitable, but slowly as she placed herself in the dead center of the circle did she ultimately buckle , and give in to fate.

One last look, hoping that he could see how sincerely sorry she was… because the words were lost on their way to her lips.

Twilight closed her eyes and ignited that familiar spark, which she felt flair off from herself to bounce off the other five elements, charging them up in the form of a glow before crisscrossing to each other’s invisible strings and then finally back to her until each element had five distinct streams of energy flowing to each of the others. This formed a glowing web that connected the six bearers - a manifestation of the connection that could not be seen.

As their eyes glowed as bright as their jewelry, they slowly rose up into the air as all of their connections completed. For in this connection, the bearers of the elements were not only linked magically, but also both mentally and – most importantly – emotionally.

Once the six ponies were all connected, their minds became as one, which was needed for them to all be able to picture clearly in their minds the desired outcome of the power they wielded. The mental link was important, but it was the emotions that the friends felt that truly steered the elements’ power.

Both the minds and emotions of the friends needed to be in-sync with one another, for it was the bond that they shared that created the magic in the first place. If they were divided in either way, the magic would not work to its full potential.

Though events may be misconstrued and words could be mistrusted, emotions never, ever lied. When the Elements were being utilized, their bearers’ emotions were intertwined, and they could all feel each others’ feelings.

The complete and total honesty of an empathy connection proved to be Twilight’s greatest ally at that moment. She could completely feel her friends’ determination, their fear for her and for Equestria, and their belief in what they were doing as if these were her own feelings. The reverse then was also true. They could as well sense her conflicting beliefs, and turmoil that was being caused by her feelings of betrayal. They could see clearly now exactly why Twilight had felt Discord was worth giving a chance.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were the first of the group to reflect those feelings back to her, emotionally agreeing to Twilight’s plan. Rarity felt more reserved, but feeling the resounding harm this was causing her friend, also soon yielded.

A silent emotional plea was made to Rainbow and Applejack, the two most against her idea, and though she understood so well their side – especially when feeling that they really and sincerely believed in what they were planning to do – Twilight’s faith and hope that she was right about the draconequus finally seemed able to break down their barriers and reach their hearts.

Though they still felt reluctance towards her plan, the two resistant ponies could not deny what their friend was feeling of her own free will, and didn’t want to cause her the mental and emotional hurt that they now knew she had deep within her.

Twilight mentally showed them the full extent of her plan, which slowly each of the ponies began to picture in their minds. All of this took only a minute or two, and when they opened their eyes again a stream of rainbow-colored light seemed to shoot out from each of the Elements, swirling together and combining to climb higher into the sky. The beam arched and swooped down again, zeroing in on its intended target, Discord.

No surprise graced his face this time; for he was so certain of what would happen. He braced himself for the pain that was to come and hoped that he would freeze in a more dignified position than last time.

The beam hit him head-on, seeming to slice through every inch of him, and Discord did indeed feel pain, though not quite as much as he had been expecting.

The force knocked him to the ground, and he lay there waiting for it to go ahead and get over with.

Soon the rainbow streak died away, the ponies floated back to the ground, and their eyes and jewels lost their glow. They all had their eyes on Discord, surveying what they had done.

One thing was very evident to everyone involved…he was not frozen in stone.

Harmony

“Small border markers have already been placed around the parameters of the most-deserted places in Equestria,” Twilight relayed to the princess. “Mostly for every pony else’s benefit since I do believe he’ll know exactly how far away he should stay.”

Twilight stood with Princess Celestia at the table of a moderately-sized meeting room. A map of Equestria was laid out in front of them, and Twilight indicated each of the newly-formed borders with small magically-drawn dotted lines.

Four sections of the land had already been given, with two others still being discussed. Well ‘given’ was the word Twilight used in her mind, although the unicorn knew that she did not have the power or the authority to officially assign Discord anything. Her magic kept him in those areas, but only Celestia could make them really his.

Even though so much had already been done to forward her plan in just a few short days, this meeting with the princess still felt more like a proposal to Twilight.

“Very good, and just so things are clear, the spell incorporates all sentient beings inhabiting populated areas?” Celestia asked her.

“Yes Princess; Ponies, griffons, dragons, donkeys, etc. I’ve made certain there were no loopholes for him to try and work around if he ever felt the urge.”

“It seems that you have thought of everything,” she stated.

“Everything I could think of, and everything I could control. There are still factors that remain to be seen, such as how every pony will react to these new conditions,” Twilight said.

“They may be fearful for a while. I don’t believe we would have much trouble keeping them out of any area that he inhabits, though I plan on arranging a meeting with the mayors of the respective towns closest to them. We would need to assuage that fear while still stressing that a distance should be kept.”

Twilight found that slightly encouraging, although it came coupled with a small sense of guilt. She knew that her actions – whether or not Celestia agreed with them – would cause the princess to have to add to her already-massive pile of royal duties, either by helping every pony adapt to the changes or cleaning up her mess if things didn’t work out. Twilight regretted causing her the extra headache.

“And what of Discord, how has he been adjusting?” Celestia wondered, momentarily pulling Twilight out from her anxious mind once more.

“Oh, it’s been an adjustment,” the purple pony replied as she thought back to the last time she had seen the draconequus, and she had to smile a bit at his expense. “Limits aren’t exactly something he’s used to, so he’s been…frustrated to say the least. I guess I can’t blame him, what with all the testing we had to do.”

After the spell had been implemented they had needed to know the limits of this new restriction, just how close Discord could get before feeling its affects. It wasn’t that hard to judge, the closer he got to any densely-populated pony area, the bigger the shock he received.

It became a sort of game – one that he had very much not enjoyed – a kind of hit-or-miss testing that allowed Twilight to map out the invisible borders. It had left Discord literally sizzling and in quite a bad mood, but once it was over the desert, the badlands, the swamps, and the Everfree had all been plotted.

In loyalty to her, Twilight’s friends had actually helped with this as well, though AJ and Rainbow Dash seemed about as happy with it as Discord. Rarity seemed to be trying a bit harder, helping place the markers along with Fluttershy and Pinkie (who had a blast trying to guess when Discord would go zap).

She was grateful that they were making an effort to be accommodating even if it was only for her sake. She knew that every pony else would most likely not put forth as much effort. Word was slowly beginning to spread about what had transpired, and Twilight knew that whatever needed to be done needed to be done quickly, which brought the unicorn right back to feeling guilty.

Even if Celestia could stay ahead of the rumors and try to dispel any panic, it would not take long for it to become known that it was hers – Twilight’s – actions that had caused all these new changes.

She had been certain in the moment that she had made the right decision, but the inevitable doubt Twilight had kept at bay now began to seep in, and her stance had subconsciously shifted to reflect those thoughts.

“Princess,” she paused tentatively. “This has been a very large undertaking, and there is so much that will still need to be done. I apologize if it’s caused you any extra stress, but I have to wonder – with all this extra effort – do you still think I did the right thing?”

“There is no need to apologize my student. This land has undergone many changes, some exceptionally more altering to the ponies’ lives than this. I won’t say that it may not be a struggle for some, but you certainly do not need to worry for me.”

That was slightly more reassuring, despite the fact that the unicorn had a hunch her teacher would have told her not to worry about her even if all of this really did cause her stress.

“And concerning your dealings with Discord; I did tell you before that I had every confidence that you would do what needed to be done. I trust your judgment and therefore I would have supported whichever outcome you found to be necessary.”

“How can we know for certain that I made the right choice, though?”

“Only time will tell that,” Celestia answered. Twilight sighed, it was the expected response but it didn’t do much to relieve this lapse in confidence she felt.

Her eyes had drifted to the floor, but her mentor lifted Twilight’s face back up to view her own. Celestia smiled down at her in a way the pony recognized from her years at school. It was the same knowledgeable, didactic expression that usually preceded a lesson.

“It may be hard for you to conceive Twilight, but there will come times in your life when there may be problems with no one right answer. That is when one is required to make a choice.

I know that you were required to do so here, and that you tried to obtain as much knowledge as possible – that is always important – but you should never forget to consult your heart as well.”

“But I can’t solely rely on my own feelings,” Twilight responded almost automatically, even though she thought she knew what her teacher was getting at. Twilight had attempted to keep things logical and factual, but in the end it had been her heart’s contribution that had won her friends over.

“Not always, that is true,” Celestia agreed. “But your thoughtful consideration may be one of the reasons you were able to do something I never would have thought possible, you convinced chaos to agree to be reigned in.”

Twilight observed the princess as the elder’s eyes looked over the map again intently. She didn’t appear to actually be reading it; instead she seemed to be ruminating on how best to phrase what was in her mind.

“It is more difficult for me to see him as you do,” she halted a moment, and Twilight thought she heard that touch of harshness that sometimes cropped up there when Discord was discussed.

When she began again though, the princess was as soft and composed as ever. “But I cannot fault you for giving a being a chance in such a way. It is in a sense an execution of some of the things you have learned about friendship, after all.”

“However differently it will be to manage, I am pleased that you were able to find a way to exhibit a more diplomatic - and arguably kinder - way of dealing with him.”

Twilight allowed an audible sigh to escape her; grateful that her teacher did approve of what she had done, even if the purple pony sensed she had her misgivings.

“Of course, whether this faith you have in him is justified will remain to be seen. We shall consider this his probation,” she added. “I believe that you also know that we can not merely leave Discord to his own devices out there; we will need to find a way of keeping tabs on him. I could always assign some pony in the guard, or if it came to it I could check in with him myself.”

“With all due respect Princess, I’d be willing to keep you informed. I doubt any pony else would want to approach him willingly at the moment,” Twilight piped up.

“I had a feeling that you would offer, but are you sure that you would be up to the responsibility?”

“It might make for tight scheduling, but I think I can manage it along with my friendship reports and my regular studies,” Twilight said. “Plus, I feel like he may be more inclined to actually show up if he meets with me.”

“Somehow I don’t doubt that,” she said. It was an oddly specific tone of voice, but Twilight wasn’t able to decipher the implication before Celestia spoke again.

“Do you know where he is now?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “He should be back in the desert. That’s where we left him after testing the borders,” she answered.

“I wonder if you could take me to him, if you wouldn’t mind. There are some things that we need to discuss and I doubt Discord will want to be kept out of the loop on something that concerns him.”

It was a different scene than Twilight had remembered that awaited them as she and Princess Celestia teleported to the deserted area near the exact center of the desert… or at least different from the last time Twilight had been there.

Gone were the odd groupings of neglected junk as well as the ramshackle building, though the jackalope population seemed to be flourishing.

The kaleidoscope of colorful sand swirled around them, mixing their respective hues together to create new colors as they shifted like some foal’s giant sand art project.

The new building that stood before them was much grander, looking a lot closer to his hideout in the forest and just as out-of-place. It had the same fun house feel to it as well, complete with a rotating mirrored tunnel at the entrance and the whole thing leaning to one side. More wonky mirrors and false doors were sure to wait had they entered, but that turned out not to be necessary.

Discord was standing outside his new house, eyeing it meticulously with his mismatched arms outstretched as if to view its placement. He gave a light sliding gesture and the whole building shifted along with his claws, now sloping to the left instead of the right.

He had evidently heard their arrival, and called to Twilight without turning around, still focused on his decorating.

“So, have you come to see how I’m healing up after the torture you put me through the past few days?” he asked with mild sarcasm. He actually seemed in a much better mood than when Twilight had seen him last, and he was apparently taking pains to make his surroundings reflect that.

“Uh, partially,” She answered. “Glad to see you’re in better spirits.”

“Well, why shouldn’t I be? This may only be a form of freedom, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try and have some fun here,” he finally turned to look at Twilight, and his eyes caught sight of Celestia beside her. His smile broadened.

“Oh and you’ve brought Celestia as well. Have you come to help me move in?” he asked jovially. “Or should we perhaps take this opportunity to celebrate? Do you like cheese? Oh what am I saying, every pony likes cheese.”

As he approached them he snapped the fingers of his claw and a large pile of various cheeses appeared in front of them. Twilight raised an eyebrow and Celestia continued to watch him, completely unfazed.

“Discord,” Twilight began, but Discord waved his paw and shook his head as he made the cheese disappear.

“No, you’re right. Scratch that. Ice cream’s the better way to celebrate.” With a snap a giant tub of ice cream now towered over them in the cheeses’ place, three tiny spoons already stuck in, barely visible at the top.

Twilight tried to peer around the massive tub, but found that she had to literally walk around it to be able to see him. She was a bit nervous about this meeting, for she still didn’t know exactly what the princess would say to Discord.

“Listen, it’s great that you’re settling in and everything, but we’re not here to celebrate.”

“I asked Twilight to bring me here so that you and I may discuss some things,” Celestia clarified from the other side of the ice cream, her voice formal.

Discord crossed his arms and slumped, his exuberance apparently dampened a bit by the prospect. “Really, more talking? Haven’t we had enough of that?”

The ton of ice cream disappeared and they could see each other properly again. Discord was slowly losing his smile as it became clearer that they were there for serious business.

Celestia smiled at Twilight, giving a nod of dismissal. “Thank you for bringing me, Twilight. You may go.”

Twilight blinked, surprised by this request. “But Princess, I thought you wanted to-“

“I do wish to speak with Discord, but alone.” She heard the touch of authoritativeness in her teacher’s polite words.

This made Twilight a bit more uneasy, whatever she was going to talk with him about; it must be something of importance. Why wasn’t she allowed to stay, then? She had allowed the unicorn to take on the responsibility of being Discord’s liaison; shouldn’t Twilight be privy to their conversation?

The princess seemed to understand Twilight’s hesitation to obey, and her smile grew a bit warmer as she lightly nudged her student’s head. It was a maternal gesture, something that she had not done in some time, not since Twilight was a filly.

“Everything is fine, you don’t need to worry,” Celestia softly assured her. “Everything is still moving forward, but there are still things that need to be discussed.”

Though Twilight still felt that she had a right to stay – and though this dismissal felt a lot like sending the foal off so the grown-ups could talk – Twilight knew that Celestia had her reasons.

She nodded to the princess, then slowly but awkwardly began to back away. She spared a look and a smile to Discord before taking a bit too-long to teleport away, as if hoping her mentor would change her mind.

The princess waited until she was certain that her student had indeed left to begin speaking. She knew that Twilight would want to stay, but this was something to be done on her own. Celestia assumed that the unicorn’s hesitation might have also stemmed from a worry for her – for what Discord might do to her if Twilight left the two of them alone – or even vice-versa.

Celestia had begun to wonder about what Discord might be up to ever since she had heard of Twilight’s meeting him in the forest. That had forced the alicorn to revisit certain memories that she typically wished not to.

Twilight had come to her – as she so often did – with her problem, asking her teacher to dig up the very memory that had drifted back up to the forefront of the princess’s mind.

She had not stood before the draconequus in this manner since that day all those ages ago. Things had changed evidently for the both of them. Discord had towered over her in her youth, and it gave her a small sense of pride that she was nearly eye-level with him now.

While her growth since then was clearly visible, the changes the intervening years had made to her adversary were not entirely cosmetic. If Twilight was to be believed – and if he was to be trusted – than there had been some sort of improvement made on the inside…but that was much harder for the princess to see.

Her respect of the balance they retained and her desire for formal diplomacy were some of the reasons for Celestia to allow Discord this pseudo-freedom, her student’s act of mercy and her adamant quest for a fair outcome had been another.

Her dear Twilight… she had such a kind heart. Celestia was proud of her and truly did trust her judgment, though silently she sought to watch out for her, to be certain that her faith was not merely unwarranted naiveté.

For although Celestia had faith in her student and her abilities…she found it quite difficult to form sympathy as Twilight had for the being before her, for this was the same being who had done such damage to her ponies – playing with their minds and their bonds with each other – when her mother had barely even faded away.

She felt she understood perfectly Twilight’s side of it, but she had to wonder what Discord was getting out of this. Freedom, of course, but this was as much an adjustment for him as it was for the rest of Equestria. Accepting help from Twilight and agreeing to her plans to help him even though they would most likely remove him from his comfort zone…had that been purely out of the will to survive and evade his punishment?

Discord regarded Celestia with only mild interest, arms still crossed. Neither being moved any closer to each other than they had already been when Twilight left. For a few moments the only movements at all were the eternal flowing of the princess’s mane and tail, and the slightly-squeaky rotating of the mirror tunnel on the house behind him.

“So…,” Discord began slowly after a few minutes of this stalemate. “How are things?”

Celestia blinked, and then breathed in deeply before speaking. She wanted to summon her patience so as not to become as frustrated with him as she had done in the past.

“Busy, as ever,” she answered still in her formal manner. “So I shall attempt to make this meeting brief. I wished to speak to you on the new circumstances in which you have found yourself, as well as inform you on what has been decided upon.”

“Oh, that sounds like such an important and completely-not-dull discussion to have.”

“It is important, and I assumed that you would want to know. Firstly however I would like to make certain of the limits this punishment spell that Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony placed on you have. It does indeed keep you confined to only the deserted areas of Equestria, and you are restricted from coming within a certain distance to any populated area of the land, is that right?”

“Yes yes, that’s right. Your little ponies’ homes are safe from big, scary, me. I would think that Twilight would have told you all of that already, is this really why you’re here?”

“I wanted to hear it from you.”

“Oh, pull the other leg,” he scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “That can’t be the sole reason for you to so graciously grant me this private audience.”

Celestia chose not to respond to that. She would come to her other concerns at her chosen pace, and she didn’t enjoy Discord’s clear want to hurry things up.

“Twilight has given me – as far as I can glean – a full account of your latest encounter with the bearers of the Elements. From what she has told me, you do seem to be genuine in your agreement to her terms, though there is one question about this restriction that has not been addressed. The barriers holding you back only affect you, if you chose to seek them out. I wonder what would stop you from using your powers of manipulation on some pony unfortunate enough to enter into these territories you inhabit.”

It was something that Twilight Sparkle had not mentioned in her explanation to the princess, and it had caught Celestia’s notice. Her student normally would not ignore something she found to be such a basic, obvious thing to consider. Her thoughts then turned to Discord, and she feared the draconequus might use this as a loophole in their magical metaphorical contract.

Discord gave no signs that this surprised him, but neither did he look as if he were caught in the act of intentionally omitting that fact to exploit it.

“Under the restrictions of this lovely new punishment, actually not much,” he replied, now inspecting his claws as he spoke. “After they shot me with those Elements again, we discovered that was a concern that turned out not to be necessary.”

“And why would that be?” Celestia inquired sternly.

Discord gave a halted look, evidently not wanting to explain further. After a few moments of reluctant mental deliberation he seemed to realize that Celestia would not continue otherwise, so he finally relented. “…Because that apparently was part of the power I handed over to Twilight.”

“By that you mean your manipulation of the ponies?” she asked skeptically.

“Their minds,” he clarified, tapping his head with his claw for emphasis. “It seems that I no longer have the same affect on the minds of the ponies that come close to me as I used to. Outward forces I can still control – altering landscape, creating obstacles, even changing outward appearances – I’ve still got all that. I don’t seem to have enough power anymore to alter their perceptions as I once did though.”

He spoke regretfully, as if he had had a favorite toy taken away…which in a sense he had.

“And this will not dampen your ability to retain your side of the balance?”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that,” he said waving his paw at her. “I’ve still got plenty of chaos magic. I wouldn’t give it all away just to ensure my freedom from being a lawn ornament. I’ll still be able to keep up the fun.

“Of course, I don’t know how much fun it will be if I can’t get ponies to fight over a giant boulder they think is a diamond or think a drunk polar bear is following them around,” he sighed, then looked back up to her with a smirk. “Although I thought you’d be pleased, that was one of those things you seemed to find objectionable about my methods, wasn’t it?”

It had been, but that was not the extent of it. It was his manipulations of their minds and the toying with of their bonds, but it was also the flippant way in which he did it. The fact that Discord saw no worth in them or the remarkable potential the ponies of this world held within them, as well as within their capacity to love.

The princess would have been content to assume that such concepts were beyond him, though reluctantly she knew she must take his recent actions into account. Whether or not he intended to relinquish that particular part of his power, he had relinquished some part of it. It seemed that he had done so to not only save his tail, but on behalf of some pony else. Celestia had found that hard to believe, but that was the way Twilight had recounted it. She considered that as she spoke again.

“But you do not seem to understand why we found it ‘objectionable’.”

“Why does that matter?” he wondered dismissively.

The princess paused again to strengthen her resolve to not let him frustrate her. As calmly as she could she asked, “If that portion of your power had not been given, would you have continued to use it if you found an opportunity?”

“Hmm…,” Discord thought aloud. “It depends on how bored I was. I’d assume I would get pretty bored out here with no pony wandering by every day. It’s not as if that will matter, since I don’t believe I’ll get many visitors.”

Celestia shook her head, sighing with exhaustion and – amazingly – disappointment.
”Even after all of this, you still fail to see their value.”

“Well, it’s only fair, as they don’t see any value in me,” he said as though it were obvious.

“Hasn’t what Twilight Sparkle said convinced you of anything? Turning the blame entirely around on solely their ignorance will not change anything. Putting forth the effort – doing something on your part – is what will show them.”

“I thought I’d already done that,” he grumbled.

“You have to some extent. Agreeing to Twilight’s proposal, giving up a piece of your strength, these are things I would not have thought possible of you, Discord. However, this probationary period we have decided upon will determine whether you intend to keep your promise or not. You could take this time to try and understand them better…so they can in-turn understand you.”

“Oh joy, homework on top of it all.”

“Twilight can help you, perhaps during the progress reports. She has agreed to be the liaison between us and will be checking up on you as frequently as she deems appropriate.”

“And you won’t be doing it yourself because you’d rather not be in the same room as me? He presumed.

“Twilight feels she can handle the responsibility, and she is the one who found you. She seems to see some sort of potential in you, and has been your greatest advocate in these days following your detainment.”

“She can also tolerate me better than you can. Well too bad for that, whatever will I do without those lovely disdainful looks you give me?” Discord sardonically feigned sadness.

Celestia continued to not be amused.

“You also seem to be more receptive to listening to her,” she added pointedly. That possibly meant that he might actually learn something. As she thought back to Twilight’s departure Celestia reminded herself of the other reason for their talk’s privacy.

“And since we’re on the subject, I did want to speak to you for a moment about her.”

“Ah, I figured there was a reason why you sent her away,” he said sounding quite a bit more interested in the conversation now. “You know, I also see potential in her, although I’m sure for many of the reasons why you chose her for your student in the first place.”

“It is that interest you have in her that has me concerned,” Celestia said. “She does have great potential...but I have to wonder what it is that makes you realize this about her and not every pony else. You can not expect me to assume that it is only for the compassion she has shown you.”

Discord chuckled at her words as if they were the punch line of a joke he’d heard before. “Oh Celestia, you are correct in thinking that there are other factors in my interest in Twilight Sparkle, but you’d be wrong to think that that was not one of them.”

When she didn’t look entirely convinced, he continued. “How she seemed to grasp the concept of the balance we share in keeping, and the way she talks to me rather than at me. It’s almost like finding some pony that speaks your language – or is actually willing to learn it. I haven’t had such fun conversation since... I can’t even remember. You’d be wrong to think I don’t admire that compassion, but it is also her want of knowledge that intrigues me.”

“That comes from being my student,” she stated.

He seemed to be regaining his enthusiasm, but Celestia retained her serious demeanor, hoping that might influence – or at least remind him – to keep a lid on it.

“Not to mention how much fun it is to fluster her, I can’t even tell you, Princess. It might possibly be more fun than aggravating you. Someday I may just have to show my gratitude.”

Letting that jab at trying to annoy her slide, Celestia focused on the second part of what he had said. “I may regret asking this, but how exactly would you show gratitude?”

Discord seemed to think about this as well, but more in a way that suggested he already had an idea.

“Perhaps providing her with something she wants, something she can’t get enough of,” he seemed to pause for affect. “Knowledge.”

“Knowledge,” she repeated questioningly. “What knowledge?”

The draconequus smiled, apparently glad she’d asked. “She may be your student, but she is a student still. She has a natural curiosity and open mind, some of the traits I probably have to thank for my current state.”

“For that you have her heart to thank,” Celestia corrected him. If that had registered with him though, he didn’t show it.

“What I’m getting at is that there are certain things that she could learn from me, things that you would never show her.”

It took Celestia a moment to realize what he meant. “Twilight has more sense than to use the chaotic magic you gave her. It may lie within her, but she would have no idea how to wield it.”

“Not without some pony to teach her,”

“And of course you would be happy to accommodate?” she assumed.

“She’s done quite a lot of accommodating just for me, I’d be happy to return the favor if she ever asked.” Discord said. “But it is a part of her now.”

The princess felt her stern expression slip into an uncomfortable frown. That was an idea that would be difficult to get used to, and one that she did not feel quite ready to think about.

Discord seemed to pick up on her feelings, and his smile only broadened to that of a smirk. “Which is it that bothers you more Celestia, that your favorite student essentially has a part of me residing inside her now, or that someday she may actually want to tap into it?”

“What Twilight wants would be up to her, though I feel I have spent enough time with her to have a clear grasp on her mindset. I highly doubt that she would want to use it, despite her newly-formed alliance with you,” she spoke matter-of-factly.

“But of course, things can change. What some pony wants today may be something completely different tomorrow,” Discord mused.

“Spending so much more time with me Twilight’s wants could head in a fairly different direction from what you could anticipate, and - being the maternal figure you know she sees you as - you would never refuse her of something her heart desires, even if you don’t approve of it.”

Celestia wasn’t sure what Discord was getting at, but she had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t entirely speaking of chaos magic anymore.

“Discord, I realize that you now share a significant bond – not only the magical connections of your magic given to her and the magic restricting you – she has become in some small way your first friend, something I never would have thought you capable of letting into your life. You may want to show her things, but I think you could benefit far more from her.”

When his attention seemed to be waning again, the alicorn stepped right up to him for the first time since arriving. Her patience with him was growing thin, and this was the part that she wished to hammer into the chaotic mind of the draconequus.

“Do not forget though, that Twilight has other even more significant bonds. She has a family and friends who all care for her. I know that you have formed a…special interest in her, but bear in mind that she is special to many, not only yourself,” her voice grew harsher, losing its royal, princessy tone as she stared right into his face.

“If you take nothing else away from this meeting, know this; your probation holds the stipulation that you meet with Twilight to assess your status. If during those meetings Twilight is harmed – if you do anything in any way untoward – than you not only will have her friends to answer to, but me as well.”

She had intended to intimidate Discord, but even if she had Celestia knew the miss-matched being to have a very good poker face. No shock registered on his asymmetric features, but at least he had lost the smirk.

Assuming that he got the message, Celestia backed away but did not break her stare nor change her serious tone.

“It is because of Twilight that this second chance is possible, but there will be no third.”

With the hope that she had gotten her point across, Celestia departed, leaving Discord to his redecorating.

Twilight gave a groan of exasperation as she began to trek into the forest. She had been waiting on the edge of where she knew the invisible barrier to be for nearly an hour now for him, and Discord still had not shown up. This was already putting her far behind schedule, and if she had to go searching for him she might as well throw all her plans for the day out the window. He had better – at the very least – actually be in the forest.

It annoyed her that Discord couldn’t even stick to the plan for the first day, and it was hard enough for Twilight to pry herself away from her friends for this meeting.

They had known what she had to do today, but that still didn’t assuage any of the tension in the air that had risen when Twilight had announced that meeting Discord was what she was leaving them to do.

True, Pinkie and Fluttershy hadn’t seemed too worried, but she could still sense a form of concern mostly from the latter. Rarity had attempted some quite transparent forms of stalling her.

“Oh I just remembered, I need to take all of your measurements again, Twilight. I wanted to make you a new...uh…saddle-dress, yes that’s it,” she had stumbled to her hooves as Twilight had headed for the door of her shop. She had then insisted on having Twilight try on various giant hats just in case it got too sunny outside.

The unicorn’s frustration was calmed a bit by the thought of her friends’ concern, for she knew that each of them did care and were concerned for her, but she hoped that they knew she could handle herself.

The way that Rainbow and Applejack had acted when she left the boutique, one might think that she was off to do something dangerous or unsavory.

It almost felt to Twilight like she had five extra mothers… with she in the role of the grown-up daughter going off to do something they silently objected to but had no right to keep her from doing.

She knew they loved her, and she appreciated their worry for her, but she was still an adult, and this was the way things were now. This was something that she was obliged to do – she had signed up for it.

Twilight admitted that these were very strange new circumstances she found herself in, but she was glad to have their support in some small way.

Of course she wasn’t exactly pleased about these new responsibilities as she trudged through the undergrowth to find Discord when he knew very well where he was supposed to be.

At least he had made it easy to find him – the fun house was back – he had evidently incorporated it into some of the ruins of the old castle. She wondered how the princess would react to her old home being used in such a way for essentially a second time.

As she entered the massive central room she noticed that it still looked a bit on the dank, ancient side. Discord might not have been completely finished with his ‘renovation.’ She found him at the far end of the ‘throne room’ sitting in yet another giant squishy chair made of cake.

Before him sat a model city of Ponyville that seemed to be made of gummy candy. She was a bit too frustrated with him at the moment to wonder if she had just walked in on some sort of plotting session, but whatever concerns that brought up were silenced when he took a big bite out of Town Hall. She didn’t think he’d eat something that was part of a plan.

He watched her approach as he finished chewing the candy building and the draconequus greeted her in his usual way, as if he did not notice how annoyed she was.

“There you are Twilight. Is it time to check up on me already? Why don’t you pull up a comfy chair?”

With a snap a smaller cake chair appeared on the other side of the table on which the gummy-model sat.

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t want a comfy chair,” she said briskly.

Discord laughed. “Didn’t think you would, I just wanted to hear you say ‘comfy chair.”

The unicorn cocked her head to one side, and then shook it once more before going back to voicing her irritation with him. “Discord, you were supposed to meet me at the edge of the forest to test the border again.”

He gave a tired sound of derision through his nose before picking up gummy Sugarcube Corner. “I am not much in the mood to have my nerves fried today, Twilight. Don’t you think we tested that little exercise in schadenfreude of yours enough?”

Twilight walked around to his side of the table, magically taking the gummy model out of his grasp and placing it back with the rest of the candy buildings, leaving Discord looking disappointed.

“Negative re-enforcement seemed like the only thing that would satisfy the population that you really would stay away, and it’s only the border. The shocks intensify only the closer you get to any densely-populated area. It’s not like I’m asking you to flash into Ponyville.”

“I had no idea you were such a sadist,” he quipped, which made Twilight sigh even though she had caught the joking tone.

“Hey, it was your idea,” Twilight reminded him. “Sort of, ‘shock collar’?”

“So I should just blame myself?” he asked, now deciding to finish Town Hall off instead.

Twilight was ready with a reply. “You like yourself too much to stay mad at you, so yes.”

“You also seem to be responding to it pretty well,” she added even though Twilight was sure that’s not what he wanted to hear.

“But you could always try a little positive re-enforcement, you know,” he muttered.

“Not entirely sure you would respond as well,” she said sarcastically.

She then had a thought. Twilight was confident in the methods of her restriction spell, but it really only did one part of the job to be done. It made the ponies feel more at ease with Discord’s presence. It did nothing to help him with his image problem or teach him about the value of companionship…something he very much still needed to learn. Perhaps some kind of positive incentive was also in order, something that could somewhat balm the negative.

“Though, I do suppose I could provide you some,” she said. He apparently had caught the double-meaning a split second before her, and when she finally realized how that could have been taken she quickly elaborated. “I mean that since these meetings are going to be a part of our lives now, we could make an effort to make them more pleasant. I could stay and visit for a while.”

She felt a little awkward about the speed at which she caught his full attention with her words, his eyes flicking up to hers and abandoning the Gummyville with a smile. The smaller comfy chair scooted up behind her.

“I can’t today,” Twilight added maybe a little too quickly. “If you’ll recall I’m running very late because some pony missed an appointment, but we can begin the next time.”

The purple pony hoped he caught that tiny reprimand in her polite offer. If she was going to stay longer next time, he’d need to be on-schedule.

“I think I’ll hold you to that,” he answered. “Think of all the fun we’ll have.”

“Fine, now that that’s settled, will you please come to the border?”

He sighed regretfully, but flashed them both to the edge of the forest anyway. They landed in the shade of a black mulberry tree just at the part of the forest where the thick growth gradually receded into softer, shorter grass.

Discord stood next to her, looking down at her skeptically. “Are you really going to make me do this?”

“I’m afraid so,” Twilight responded. Then when he didn’t move, the unicorn held out a hoof and smiled as if to say ‘after you’.

Discord sighed as he took a few steps closer; wincing in preparation for the shock he was about to receive. As soon as his clawed foot met the ground within the invisible line, they heard a crackle and a pop and Discord hopped back a few more steps than was needed.

Blowing on his smarting foot, he glanced back down at Twilight. She hoped he appreciated that she wasn’t smiling so as not to make him think she was enjoying his pain in any way.

“There,” he mumbled. “Happy, have I fulfilled my requirement for the day?”

“Indeed, you have.” Twilight replied politely. “I suppose that is all for today, but we’ll make sure to schedule in more time for the next visit.”

The draconequus smirked down at the growing formalness in her tone. It wasn’t that she wasn’t trying to be unfriendly. On the contrary, Twilight thought that was fairly friendly, she just wanted to do things properly…especially since she had gotten such a late start.

“Until next time, Twilight Dear,” Discord bade her farewell.

Twilight rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. “Do you have to call me ‘dear’ like that?”

“I could always call you ‘Twily’” he shrugged.

“That would be a no,” she answered. “Only my brother calls me that.”

“How about ‘Sparky’?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at that one. “Now you’re just getting ridiculous.”

“Good, it’s what I do.”

She sighed, but with only half the annoyance she would have had before. He had taken this opportunity to yet again enter that uncomfortably-close distance between them. Was this how things were going to be now? Would she have to get used to Discord continuing to invade the territory of her personal space?

Twilight knew exactly where the invisible border lay behind her mere inches away from her hooves. She only had to take two steps backwards and he would be physically incapable of being as close to her as he was right now.

That would be impolite, and not exactly a good example of friendship or trust if she did so without any notice. Then again, Discord had done quite a few things to her without warning.

She superficially rationalized that this was the reason for her stalling, for why her hooves seemed glued to the spot and the constantly-running gears in her mind had halted. She couldn’t will herself to take those two extra steps in any case.

The unicorn did notice that Discord also seemed to be stalling, and her heart hammered despite her attempts to regulate its pace. He couldn’t possibly be about to do what she was thinking, he wouldn’t end two conversations like that…her stomach gave a little involuntary flip at that prospect.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she stammered, now attempting to distract him as well as herself. “…and I won’t be giving you that power back. I wouldn’t know how anyway.”

He seemed unfazed by her attempt to get him off his apparent train of thought. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of asking. That was my ‘show of good faith’ and everything, wasn’t it?”

She managed a nod, her mind trying to recover from the mental halt that his proximity was causing.

“Besides, think how much fun you could have with it if you chose to use it?” his voice was softer now, almost a purr.

She blinked, that question had helped momentarily clear her mind. It was something she hadn’t considered possible or even thought of at all.

“I wouldn’t know how to do that either, and don’t believe I would want to use that power even if I did,” she answered, her voice growing quieter as well.

“You could always learn,” he said. “Either way it is yours now, do or do not with it what you wish,” his purr seemed to vibrate as the tension Twilight felt between them grew stronger.

“Though if you ever get curious, you know where to find me,” Discord whispered, and it didn’t take much for the unicorn to anticipate what was about to happen next.

Twilight closed her eyes as he inched closer, her legs only half-heartedly still attempting to back up. She waited breathlessly for the expected sensation of his lips on hers…only to hear a pop from directly in front of her.

Twilight’s eyes fluttered open, her cheeks warm, and as she made the realization her stomach dropped with embarrassment and irritation. She was alone now at the very edge of the barrier.

Of course, she thought. She had expected it, and Discord didn’t want to do anything expected.

…Yup, she mentally concluded as her legs finally began to make the trip back into town and to her friends. This is exactly how things are gonna be.