Who Needs Enemies -- Part I

Chapters

Prologue: Tea for Three
A Deal With Discord
A Fellowship... Reorganized...
Friendship... Is Magic

Prologue: Tea for Three

Once upon a time, in a magical land
(soon to be known as Equestria)...

"More tea, Sunny? Oh, do forgive me... Princess Shining Star?"

In a clearing in the Royal Gardens, adjacent to the newly-built Palace of the Two Sisters, situated in the heart of the verdant and eternally pleasant Everfree Forest, an ornately embroidered tablecloth was spread with a light afternoon tea service.

On the one side of it, a young ivory-white alicorn with a bubblegum pink mane and tail put a hoof to her snout, suppressing a laugh. And on the other side, a creature looking very much like a territorial dispute in a zoological park innocently blinked mismatched yellow eyes at her.

"Discord..." the Princess scolded him, "don't you start getting all formal. It's bad enough the servants and staff doing it. Honestly! I begin to think these little tea-parties of ours are my one respite from creeping protocol."

"Well, it is only your just due," Discord replied, bowing genteelly. "Your Highness."

Then he turned to the third member of the party: a regal pink unicorn with a flowing, rose-red mane and tail. She was dressed simply but elegantly in strands of blue beads, plus knit anklets with large golden hearts on them.

"More for you, Princess Amore?" Discord gestured at the teapot, currently hovering in midair and gently flapping its wings.

Amore suppressed a laugh as well. "No, thank you, Discord." And then her expression turned sad. "You know, Star, I sometimes feel as if these little get-togethers of ours are my sole respite from creeping, impending doom." She shook her head. "As if the North wasn't bad enough already, what with ice storms, Yak raids, and the occasional hungry Yeti, but now there are rumors of a reappearance of those mischievous Changelings. Not to mention the fabled Umbrum, whom nopony has seen in decades. And to top it all off? I now have to deal with this cabal of sorcerors -- led by my very own mentor!"

Shining Star nodded sympathetically. "Queen Velha has informed us that they have captured Lonely Island in the southern oceans. Although captured is a little strong. It's little more than a barren rock that nopony wanted anyways. Still, it does sit on a conjunction of ley lines. And these sorcerors appear to be turning it into a power-base, from which they intend to threaten all of Equestria."

"With, I feel certain," Amore said, "the ultimate aim of attacking and taking my Empire."

"Don't worry, Amore," Shining Star soothed. "You're my mentor, and my very good friend. We may not yet have a formal alliance, but we are ponies. Equestria and the Empire will stand together. You'll have every resource we can offer. Right, Discord?" She added a significant look in his direction.

"Hmm? Oh, to be sure!" Discord replied quickly. "I'd be the last to want these wonderful little outings of ours to come to an end."

"Thank you, Discord." Amore smiled. "And thank you, Star. Though you have yet to be crowned officially, it is a comfort to me knowing your realm already has such a kind and supportive leader."

"Hear, hear!" Discord reached for a cucumber sandwich with his eagle claw, and somehow managed to pick up only the crusts, leaving the middle behind. "Yes, Sunny, one day soon, you'll be crowned Queen of all Equestria, to rule the three tribes for eternity, with justice and fairness. Along with that sister of yours... oh, what is her name? I keep forgetting for some reason..."

"Moon Gleam," Shining Star sternly reminded him. Though with a smile, since it was an old and familiar joke.

"Ah, yes. Her. Really, Starry! Why the two of you have to be crowned as a matched set, I still don't understand. Couldn't she just, well... wait her turn or something?"

"They are immortal, Discord," Amore said. "Or close enough. Not as if they can take turns, now is it?"

"Mmm, no... I suppose not."

Amore turned back to Shining Star. "Have you settled on a coronation name yet, my dear?"

"I had thought Solana... or perhaps Solara. Though Star Swirl the Stuffy-Headed insists on something grander, more evocative... like Celestia!" She rolled her eyes. It was a long-standing dispute, which didn't seem like it would be settled any time soon.

"Hmph. That might work," Discord allowed dismissively. "And dear sister Moony? The woefully predictable and insufferably straight-laced?"

Shining Star laughed. "She still insists on being crowned Luna, no matter what Star Swirl says. But she knows her own mind, I'll grant her that. She's not going to remain the younger sister forever. If she can only stop prancing about like a filly whenever the coronation is even mentioned..."

Discord looked uncommonly somber. "And when you're both crowned, and busy with regal duties, do you think there'll still be time for trivialities like... tea parties?"

Shining Star reached out a hoof to touch his lion paw. "I wouldn't miss this for the world, Discord. And don't you worry. If they give it to me to rule this land, I will make the time."

Discord smiled back, and give her hoof a pat with his claw.

"Here you are at last, Sister!" said a light-blue alicorn with a flowing blue mane, who had just trotted into the clearing from out of the hedge-maze.

Shining Star suppressed a smile at that. Moon Gleam always made a point of going through the maze, rather than around it, just to drive home the fact that she knew it so well. The blue alicorn eyed Discord suspiciously. In return, he stuck out his snake-like tongue at her. "We are late for our afternoon lesson," Moon Gleam declared, "and Star Swirl is most put out. He sent me to find thee, Sister."

Shining Star sighed. "I'm sorry, Discord. I'm afraid it's time for me to go learn even more about how to be a Princess and rule for eternity, with justice and fairness."

"Oh, I suppose," he agreed sadly. "But next Tuesday's still on, right?"

"Absolutely, old friend!"

Discord blinked, startled.

"You know," he said, "I hadn't really thought about it like that. I suppose we are friends, of a sort. Hmph! When did that happen? When did I stop thinking only about me?" He stared at Shining Star, and at Amore as well. "You know, until I started visiting your tiny little pocket reality, and met you odd little ponies, I'd never really known anyone I might count as a friend..."

"Perhaps," said Moon Gleam, "if thou wert not so self-centered, and irritatingly insensitive, thou might have noticed it sooner?"

Discord scowled. "Shouldn't you be off counting the stars or something? I think you missed one last night, Moony. Though I won't say which. Wouldn't want you feeling like you'd slipped up, or anything..."

Moon Gleam refused to rise to the bait. Instead, she looked at her elder sister pleadingly. "Star?"

"Yes, Moon-Moon, I know," Shining Star replied gently. And moved to gather up the tea things with her magic.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Discord put up a paw to stop her. "Allow me. It's the least I can do... for a friend."

With a snap of his claw he instantly repacked the basket and folded the blanket. With another, he spirited both away -- to the kitchens most likely, though with Discord, one could never quite be certain.

"Sadly, I must return home as well," Amore said. "But I look forward to our next get-together, though the stars themselves know when I'll be able to make the time!" She chuckled softly. "You know, Star, I envy you? Living here in the warm, pleasant South, with your dear sister for company. And Discord as well -- a being of utter chaos! Truly, you are a force of Harmony to be reckoned with, my dear!"

Then she sighed.

"And I also envy the excellent relationship you have with your own court sorceror. Ah, forgive me, wizard! I know Star Swirl gets tetchy about that. Yes, I miss the conversations I used to have with Sacanas... the arguments and debates. And the comforting words of advice, few though they became towards the end. Yet I do realize why we grew apart." She looked sternly forbidding for a moment. "There are some opinions one simply does not forgive..."

"It is regrettable," Shining Star replied gently. "But sometimes it is what is. Some relationships just don't last. We outgrow them."

"So sad," Discord agreed. "Not like us, eh?" Then he bowed politely to Amore. "May I offer you a lift home, Princess?"

He snapped his claw, summoning a tall oval portal in the air, through which the jewel-like, glittering house-fronts of the Empire were visible.

"Many thanks, Discord," Amore bowed her head graciously. "It would be a long sleigh-ride otherwise!"

"Ah, perhaps," Shining Star suggested, "one day soon we might open formal diplomatic relations? And have something better than an old ice-trader's road connecting our realms? Then you'd be able to visit us more often. I know both our nations would benefit. And personally, both I and my sister would value your company and advice."

Amore hesitated. And then she smiled. "I would like that too, my dears. I do sometimes think my Empire has been isolated far too long." She bowed her head to Shining Star and Moon Gleam. "I promise to see you both at the coronation, if not sooner!"

The Two Sisters bowed their heads in return. "Until then, Amore," said Shining Star. "Be well!"

Princess Amore stepped through the portal, and with a snap from Discord, it vanished.

"Until next time, ladies!" he called grandly. "Parting is such sweet sorrow! Farewell, my dear Princess Shining Star! Oh... and you too, Moony," he added, with a frown in her direction. "Ta ta!" Blowing a kiss with paw and claw, he turned a back-flip, and then slithered away through another portal, leading to his own peculiar dimension. It snapped closed behind him with a small clap of thunder.

Shining Star giggled softly, as she turned to walk with Moon Gleam back toward their classroom in the Palace. "He can be so charming," she said. "Whenever he chooses to be."

"Sister..." Moon Gleam warned. "Ponies will talk. And even with Amore as chaperone, it is somewhat unseemly, these clandestine social outings with a godlike being of pure, unadulterated chaos..."

"Who, for all his age and limitless power," Shining Star reproved, "is a gentle soul at heart. He's like a young colt: eager to show off, wanting only company and attention... and a firm hoof now and again, to keep him from veering off the path."

Her expression turned serious and resigned. "And he is a comforting dose of inanity, in a life that seems ever more strictured and ruthlessly predictable."

"If one can manage to put up with him."

"I feel that we should, sister," Shining Star said. "Moreover, I feel we should make him part of our Court, officially."

Moon Gleam looked pained. "Must we? He will be insufferable."

"Indeed we must, Sister Mine." Shining Star nodded. "For when we two are crowned, and stand together in authority over this great land, it will be a comfort to know that along with your very good self, we shall always have our old friend Discord, keeping us from becoming a little too set in our ways."

Moon Gleam rolled her eyes. "Rough with the smooth, I suppose." Then she relented. "So long as it gives thee comfort, dear sister!"

Shining Star nodded.

"It does, Moon-Moon. It does indeed. And I hope, like our friendship with Amore and her Empire, that never changes..."

A thousand-plus years later...

A Deal With Discord

"Did the Princess say why she wanted us in such a hurry?" asked Starlight Glimmer. The lavender unicorn exchanged a worried glance with Trixie as the entire Advanced Projects group, including Spike, Grubber, and Cheese Sandwich, trotted quickly through the grounds of the Canterlot Royal Sculpture Garden. "Is it about, you know... earlier?"

"You know what we know," said Commander Tempest Shadow. The tall, black-armored pony glanced back from her usual place, at the head of the group next to Twilight Sparkle. "Celestia only said it was important. And that she wanted all of us present."

"And she wanted us to bring the focus gems," said Spike, around the protective case he held tight in his claws, "for the Field of Harmony! I wonder what we need these for?"

"Oh!" Twilight fretted. "I hope she doesn't think we're not responsible enough to have them. She might want to lock them away, for safety's sake."

"Relax, Twilight," said Sunset Shimmer. As usual, the flame-maned pony was trying to project more confidence than she felt. "It's... probably just a command performance, to impress some visiting dignitary." She waved a hoof dramatically. "The Heroes of Equestria! On display, for your amusement!"

"One performance, today only," Trixie added, hunched inside her magician's hat and cloak. "Tickets on sale, while supply lasts..."

"Come on, Trixie," said Moondancer, putting a companionable hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "It can't be that bad. Nopony was hurt, and we cleaned up all the damage."

"Yeah, but..." Trixie winced. "The Princess might have been letting us think about it first..."

"Celestia did accept it was an accident, right?" Starlight went on. "That Trixie's attempt at failsafeing Tempest's petrification spell... well, kinda-sorta backfired on us?"

"It wouldn't have happened, Starlight," the showpony hissed, "if you hadn't secretly been trying to help me behind my back!"

"Trixie, I told you! I only meant to project a little extra power! Just enough to help you complete the spell. But then you grabbed my entire reserve before I could stop you."

"Huh!" Trixie pouted, snout in the air. "Just goes to show. You didn't think the Great and Powerful Trixie could pull it off by herself, did you? You didn't trust Trixie's skill! Well! Trixie proved you wrong, didn't she?"

Starlight groaned. "Every statue and sculpture in the School and its grounds pulverized? Next time, Trixie? Let's just burn the Palace down. It'll save power and jail time."

Despite her fears, Trixie managed a smirk and a giggle. "No promises, bestie!" She nudged Starlight with an elbow. "But hey, you have to admit, we sure put the demo in demonstration, don't we?"

"No question about that," Sunset agreed. "But look, if this isn't about the Starlight-and-Trixie Iconoclasm Service, then what the hay is it about?"

The ponies glanced at each other, in varying degrees of concern and anxiety. And then a voice spoke up.

"There's only one way to find out," Twilight said. She came to a halt, before the entrance to the hedge-walled central exhibit space of the Garden. "We go in there. And we ask her."

Startled out of their own fears, the other ponies stared at Twilight. And then quietly gathered a little closer around her. Twilight didn't actually sound any more confident than the rest of them, yet there was something in her voice: a kind of calm, reasoned, almost fatalistic determination. It said there was a way through... somehow... maybe. If they could only just find it.

It was deeply reassuring, in the circumstances.

"You heard the young lady," Commander Tempest said, as she gazed loftily and authoritatively at the pair of Royal Guard ponies stationed at the entrance. The guards quickly saluted and stepped aside, and the Advanced Projects group trotted past them and onward, into the clearing beyond.

Happily, the overloading failsafe spell didn't seem to have reached this far. The numerous statues -- some representational, some abstract -- were all standing on their pedestals, apparently unharmed.

Thank Celestia for small mercies, Starlight thought.

The Princess was waiting for them in the middle of the clearing, standing next to one statue in particular. "Thank you all for coming so quickly," the tall, ivory-white alicorn said. "I've summoned you on a matter of great importance."

"Is it about the broken statues?" Twilight blurted. "We're so sorry, Princess! If there's anything we can do to replace them, or make up for our mistake, we..."

But Celestia held up a gold-armored hoof. "Calmly, Twilight. Most of the artworks were merely decorative, of little intrinsic value. I'm quite content to regard it as an... unusual form of cultural renewal, perhaps? However, when I received your note, I was reminded of one statue in particular, of rather greater significance..."

She gestured at the statue beside her. "This one."

Twilight wrinkled her snout, looking at it. It was a particularly ugly piece of work, whatever creature it depicted. It had a horse-like head, a snake-like body, and a thoroughly mismatched collection of horns, limbs, legs, and wings. It looked as if all the leftover asymmetry in the Universe had been swept together in a heap, then shaped into a being of utter divisiveness.

On top of which, it looked like it was screaming or something.

"I was relieved to find it undamaged," Celestia said. "For it is more than merely a statue. It is in fact a prison, for an age-old foe of mine. One I defeated many centuries ago...

"... Discord!"

And for the space of that one name, Celestia's mask of calm, regal patience slipped a bit, revealing long-simmering anger and betrayal.

"Wow..." Twilight breathed. "Seriously? I thought Discord was a myth! But then, we thought the same about Nightmare Moon, too..."

"And Discord is, I am afraid, just as real," the Princess said.

"Who's... Discord?" Starlight asked. "Sorry, but I'm better at magic than history."

Celestia was about to reply, but Moondancer spoke up first. "Discord is a draconequus," she said, as if reciting. "He's an embodiment of chaos and disharmony. He's mischievous and extremely powerful. Over a thousand years ago, while Celestia and Luna were distracted defending other lands, Discord took advantage of their absence and seized the throne of Equestria. He ruled it in a timeless state of unrest and unhappiness, which has since come to be known as the Confused Era, and..."

Suddenly, she winced, looking up at Celestia. "Sorry... I'm stealing your thunder aren't I, Princess?"

"Don't apologize." Celestia smiled. "You're summarizing far better and more dispassionately than I ever could. Please, go on."

"Well..." Moondancer said, a little self-consciously now that everyone was looking at her, "according to legend, in order to defeat Discord, the Two Sisters learned how to unlock and use the Elements of Harmony. They combined their powers and confronted him, imprisoning him in stone for all eternity..."

She blinked, startled by her own words, and stared at the statue. "You mean it wasn't just legend? It actually happened?"

"Indeed." Celestia nodded. "And if Discord had been set free, we might all now be at great risk. The last time Discord was on the loose, he was only defeated by the combined powers of Luna and myself, with the aid of the Elements of Harmony."

Starlight and Trixie glanced at each other worriedly. Burning down the Palace suddenly felt like small potatoes.

"But," Celestia went on, "when I was later forced to use the Elements to imprison Luna in the Moon, the sisterly bond connecting us to them was broken. With the result that now neither of us can wield the Elements any longer."

Twilight gasped. "And that's why you wanted us to bring the Field gems!"

"Yes, Twilight. I fear I must once again call upon you and your friends to wield the Field of Harmony and protect Equestria."

Twilight glanced at the others, who nodded back at her. "You can count on us, Princess," she said. "If Discord does break free, we'll be ready. We'll put him right back on his pedestal, safe and sound!"

"Actually, Twilight," the Princess said with an amused smile, "I asked you here to do the exact opposite. I would like you to employ the Field's power... to release Discord."

"Huh?" The ponies all stared at her in shock.

"B-b-but," Spike asked, "why would we do that? If he's as dangerous as Moondancer says... isn't it best just to leave him where he is?"

Celestia nodded. "I understand your concern. And I don't make this request lightly. Yet the incident with the statues reminded me just how old and fragile the spell containing Discord has become. Better we release Discord at a time of our own choosing, when we have the resources to manage him, than have him break free unexpectedly and run amok."

"Okay..." Twilight said uneasily. "If you can describe the spell you used to imprison him, we should be able to recreate it using the Field. And come up with a counter-spell to free him. Right?" She looked at Starlight, who blinked in surprise.

"I suppose," Starlight hazarded. "I mean, if it's just a variant of the petrifying spell, we might already have that in our kit." She gestured to the small satchel of reference scrolls that Grubber was holding. "But... assuming we do manage to set him free, then what do we do with him?"

Celestia gazed up at the statue thoughtfully.

"I have a use for Discord's unusual variety of magic, assuming he can be persuaded to wield it for good this time, rather than for evil." She looked at Twilight and her friends. "You were able to use the Field of Harmony to heal the breach in the timeline, reform Nightmare Moon, and in so doing, return my sister to me. I am hopeful that something similar might be accomplished with Discord. It will not be an easy task, I am sure. He can be a challenge to deal with, even when he's feeling cooperative. You will have to be more than patient with him."

She turned to look Twilight right in the eye.

"Yet it is important enough, Twilight, to make it worth the effort. And I can think of no group of ponies better suited for this than you and your friends."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Twilight said, seriously. "We'll do our best." She glanced around at her friends. "Well, no time like the present, I suppose..."

In a surprisingly short time they were ready. In consultation with the Princess, Starlight had constructed the releasing and binding spells they would need. Spike trotted around with the gem-case, and each of the six gem-bearing unicorns donned a necklace containing one of the focus gems -- apart from Trixie, who as usual wore hers on the collar of her magician's cape as an accent.

Then Spike, Grubber, and Cheese Sandwich moved back out of the way as the six gem-bearers stepped together into the hexagonal formation, facing the statue.

Starlight muttered under her breath, making sure she had the spell clear in her mind. Then she nodded to Twilight.

"Power it up, everypony!" Twilight called.

The ponies remote-cast, linking their magic reserves together. Starlight cast the stabilizing spell on Tempest's broken horn, and Tempest launched the priming blast at Trixie's focus gem. Rays of spectral energy interconnected their gems. In seconds, the ponies were lifted off the grass, the full prismatic power of the Field of Harmony's storage loop blazing away around them. Their eyes gleamed brilliantly, their manes and tails flowed on invisible currents.

Seeing the Field was stable, Starlight switched spells and began threading the releasing spell into the storage loop, charging it up to a level that even she would have found intimidating were she not fully occupied with balancing the Field's power and keeping it from getting away from them.

And then Twilight, feeling as always as if she was somehow a hundred lengths tall, with enough power at her disposal to snap the world in half, reached out cautiously with a huge, invisible hoof...

And cast the spell...

A torrent of prismatic energy arched out from the ring. It fell upon the statue, enshrouding it in a whirlwind of raging magic forces. Slowly... ever so slowly... the petrification spell weakened, the stone splintering, cracking...

And then the statue simply shattered. It crumbled to fragments and powder, leaving nothing behind.

"OH MY GOSH!" Twilight gasped. "STAND DOWN!" Her amplified Voice echoed back from the distant hills like thunder.

Quickly, the ponies wound down the spell. Their hooves settled back to the ground, their eyes and manes returned to normal. And then they gathered around the splintered, crumbled remains, staring in horror.

"We're... we're sorry, Princess," Twilight offered miserably. "I was using as little power as I could, but..."

Princess Celestia scuffed uneasily at the gravelly ruin with an armored forehoof. "Well..." she finally said, with an air of weary, ancient remorse. "It was an awfully long time. And perhaps, not even Discord..."

"Did somepony mention my name?" said an amused voice behind them.

The ponies all turned, startled. And found the draconequus, very much alive, peering over their shoulders in innocent concern.

"What are we looking at?" he asked. "Lost something, have we? Tch, tch, tch, what a mess!" He trotted around to stand facing them amidst the fragments of the statue, his forelimbs crossed and an amused leer on his face. "Somepony's been rather careless, haven't they?"

"Discord!" Celestia thundered, glaring at him.

"Celestia! You still remember me after all this time. I can't help but be touched!" Then he stared sourly down at Twilight and the others. "But what's this supposed to be? A filly tour-group?" He dismissively clapped claw and paw. "Run along back to class, dears! The outing's over! Chop, chop!"

"These, Discord," Celestia replied curtly, "are the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony."

"Really? Well!" Discord peered down at them, a puzzled look on his face. "I did recognize Twilight... erm, from all the pictures in the papers lately." He pointed to a blurred photo of the back of Twilight's head, on the cover of a tabloid that had appeared in his paw. "But who are the rest of you supposed to be?"

"We're her friends, Discord," Sunset shot back. "And if you know what's good for you, you won't mess with us." The other ponies nodded firmly, scowling up at him.

Discord sniggered. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! No really, let's talk seriously. If you've got the real Element Bearers hidden around here somewhere, then trot them out."

He leered down at them threateningly. "And if not..."

"Formation!" Twilight snapped. The ponies quickly stepped back into the hexagonal formation, readying themselves. "And don't try anything, Discord," Twilight added. "We're ready for you this time."

Discord stared down at them all, baffled.

"But those aren't the Elements!" he demanded. "I know for a fact the real Elements of Harmony are moldering away unused, in a gallery over in the Canterlot Archives."

"That's right," Twilight replied proudly. "We fashioned and powered these ourselves. Say hello to the new-and-improved Field of Harmony, Discord."

Discord goggled. Then snorted. Then he was suddenly turning somersaults in midair, hooting uncontrollably with laughter. "Oh, this is priceless! No, no really, this is too much!" Finally managing to settle back on his mismatched hind limbs, he wiped tears from his eyes. "This is all you have, Celestia, to stand against me after a thousand years? A home handicrafts group? With costume jewelry, and paste gems?"

"What!" Trixie shouted. "I'll have you know these are hoof-carved gemstone! I've got the blisters on my fetlocks to prove it!"

"Really." Discord slow-clapped. "How resourceful. Oh, please, Celestia. You couldn't do any better than this?"

The Princess said nothing. She just gazed back at him, poker-faced.

Discord sighed, as if tremendously put upon. "Ah, well! I guess it's up to me to show you what the merest hint of chaos magic is capable of..."

Lifting his eagle claw, he snapped it.

Nothing happened.

Discord stared at the claw worriedly. He shook it, then snapped again.

Nothing continued happening.

The ponies looked at each other. "Is that supposed to be doing anything?" Sunset asked. "Maybe there's something about chaos magic I just don't get."

Trixie smirked. "Like it doesn't work if there are skeptics present? Spoon-bending's like that."

"I don't understand!" Discord tried snapping his claw again and again with no result. "It was working just fine a few moments ago..."

And then he looked up, at Tempest Shadow. In particular, at the double-lightning-bolt mark on her battlemage armor, which was glowing with intercepted magic energy.

"Ha!" Discord clapped his lion's paw to his forehead. "I don't believe it!" Abandoning what little decorum he had, he rushed over, grabbed up Tempest's forehoof and began pumping it enthusiastically.

"Sacanas! My old partner in chaos! Haven't seen you in simply ages! How did you survive Storm Island? Well, I must say! You're looking extremely fit these days! Shame about the horn really, but the rest... hmm, quite the looker now, aren't we?" He waggled his eyebrows saucily at her. "You finally got that anti-aging spell working, I see. And just in time, too! They were measuring you for the mausoleum the last time we palled around together. But really, how are you, Sacanas?"

Tempest scowled at him, and yanked away her hoof.

"The name is Tempest Shadow," she growled. "Commander Tempest, if you want to be properly formal."

"Yeah! You tell him, boss!" Grubber snarled from the sidelines.

"And Sacanas... the sorceror?" Tempest went on, coldly and pitilessly. "Died centuries ago, and good riddance."

Discord looked momentarily startled... and heartbroken.

And then his gaze turned subtly sinister. "Oh, really?" He tapped his single fang thoughtfully. "Well then, Commander Eye-Shadow, or whatever it is you call yourself, a word to the wise? I'd be really careful playing about with that armor. After all, you don't so much wear it... as reach an accommodation with it..." He chuckled darkly and derisively.

Tempest smiled back at him, languidly, unruffled...

And then suddenly fixed Discord with a cold, intense stare.

Discord choked, his eyes wide. A poisonous green glow had fastened around his neck like a shackle. The double-bolt mark on Tempest's armor was blazing, an intense thrumming filling the air all around her. Discord struggled, scrabbling desperately at his throat, as he was hauled bodily into the air...

Then all at once he was slung round like a living nunchuck, and slammed down on the turf -- hard. He lay there, helpless, pinned to the ground like a bug. Tempest stepped forward and bent her head down, to put her snout close to his.

"Oh, I'm not worried," she said softly. "I think I'm doing just fine..."

She grinned at him, her eyes glaring intensely.

"And I can quit any time I like!"

Discord's eyes bulged, staring up at her in near-asphyxiated shock.

"Uh, Tempest...?" Twilight said, worriedly.

The Commander glanced at her, then looked back at the suffocating draconequus. She snorted, shrugged indifferently, then abruptly turned away, trotting back into the formation.

Discord gasped for breath raggedly as the glow around his throat slowly dissipated. He staggered unsteadily upright, eyeing Tempest with wary respect.

Starlight leaned towards her. "How the hay did you manage that?" she whispered.

Tempest looked thoughtful. "Not entirely sure. He was right about one thing, though... the armor doesn't like him any more than I do."

Twilight, just as shocked as the rest, somehow managed to pull herself together. "We set Discord free," she said. "And if he's not going to listen to reason, it's time to put him back again. Power it up, girls!"

The group did. In seconds the ponies were hovering in the air once more, the full prismatic power of the Field of Harmony's storage loop blazing around them.

Discord stared up at them, clearly worried. "Uh, Celestia..."

"Don't look to me for help, Discord," the Princess replied. "You brought this on yourself."

"But, but..."

"Twilight is an acting Princess of Equestria, by my order." Celestia's voice was suddenly cold and stern, speaking as much to Twilight and her friends as to the cowering draconequus. "And no one," she declared, "tells a Princess of Equestria her business."

Discord looked up at the six ponies, their eyes blazing, their manes and tails flowing on invisible currents of power. In particular, he looked at Twilight Sparkle... who alone of the six of them showed the slightest hint of hesitation.

The draconequus's shoulders suddenly slumped. His voice turned piteous, his expression meek and miserable. "Um... Twilight?" he said. "A word first, if I may?"

Twilight looked down at him -- cautiously, dubiously. And then nodded.

"STAND DOWN, EVERYPONY."

In disbelief, the ponies de-powered the Field, settling back onto their hooves. "You're not serious, Twilight?" Sunset demanded. "You heard Moondancer. This is Discord! We can't trust him. I say we put him back in the Sculpture Garden for safe-keeping. And then have second thoughts!"

"But... that's not who we are, is it?" Twilight asked, uneasily. "The Field of Harmony is powered by friendship, Sunset. And when Celestia used the Elements on Luna... well, that didn't go so well, did it? So maybe this time, we should try listening first?"

Sunset stared at her, mouth open. And then shut it and nodded.

"You know, Twilight, it's really annoying when you remind me just how right you are like that?" She looked around at the other ponies. "Friendship is our thing now, no question. So, all right, we'll listen."

Twilight looked to Discord. "Well?"

Discord nervously tapped his fingertips together. "I... was only going to suggest we might have gotten off on the wrong hoof here. You know how it is, being frozen in stone for a thousand years and then suddenly released. Well, maybe you don't, but it's rather like getting up on the wrong side of the bed! You're bound to be a little out of sorts at first. And clearly I've misjudged you all. If this is the new version of the Elements, and you ponies the new defenders of Equestria... then perhaps a rethink is in order. I may need to mend my ways just a tiny bit..."

"Huh!" Trixie scoffed. "You're just scared we can put the genie back in the bottle."

"And," Starlight added, "thanks to Tempest, there's nothing you can do to stop us."

"Yes, well..." Discord looked sour for a moment, then quickly brightened up. "I have an alternative to suggest. You ponies have been asked to try to reform me, have you not?"

"How do you know that?" Twilight demanded.

Discord looked offended. "Being turned to stone doesn't prevent me from hearing every word Celestia says. But leaving that aside, she's tasked you with reforming me, hasn't she? And I'm open to the idea!"

"Discord...?" Celestia asked, staring at him in worried puzzlement.

"Well, why not, Celestia?" he replied, shrugging. "I've had a thousand years of cooling-off time, so to speak, to come to my senses. And if you ponies are determined to put the past behind us, who am I to object?" He beamed cheerfully. "I'll even make you a bargain, as a sign of good will: if you'll be so kind as to not turn me back to stone, I'll agree to avoid egregious misuse of my magic in future." He shrugged. "Not saying I won't make the odd slice of toast fall butter-side down. It's only to be expected. I am the Lord of Chaos, I do have a reputation to consider. But large-scale pranks? Off the table... on one condition."

Twilight eyed him. "We're listening. What?"

"Oh, merely that you allow me to sit in, observe, provide helpful advice now and again... that sort of thing."

"Seriously?" Sunset retorted. "What do we need your help for?"

"Think about it!" Discord spread his arms grandly. "You ponies are just starting out as defenders of all Equestria. With all I've seen, all I know, I can be a valuable member of the team. Willing and able, ready to serve!"

The ponies looked at each other, uncertainly.

"I wouldn't trust him, Twilight," Moondancer whispered. "Everything in the multiple histories of the Confused Era says Discord can't be relied on. It's not that he's evil so much, just that he has a habit of being easily distracted and conveniently forgetting stuff..."

"Oh, really?" Discord said grumpily. "And just what is your Element supposed to be, Moondancer? Logorrhea?"

"Ah... that would be compulsive talking," Moondancer retorted primly. "Which seems to be more your line, Discord. I'm more into hyperlexia -- compulsive reading? I mean, if you're gonna insult me, get your terms right." She grinned and exchanged a quick hoof-bump with Twilight.

Discord frowned at them both.

"Well, isn't that just my whole point, right there?" he went on. "I mean, look at this group! We have Commander Teapot over here --" He gestured to Tempest, who was scowling darkly at him. "She's clearly the Element of Loyalty. But what are the rest of you supposed to be?"

"Well..." Twilight said uneasily. "I'm not sure we have a strict assignment of Elements. But I'd say Moondancer is Generosity, given how she slaves away on research for us. She makes me feel I need to read more!"

"Hmph..." Discord muttered to himself. "At least she's not primping her hair all the time, not like some ponies I know..."

"And," Twilight went on, "I don't think anyone doubts that Starlight here is our Element of Magic."

"Really?" Discord smirked. "Can she hold a candle to this?" With a wave of his claw, he conjured a bevy of dancing candles in midair, complete with a capering gravy boat and a fish-shaped tea-pot.

Starlight looked tolerantly amused. "Not bad, Discord... but can you do this one?"

She fired up her horn, thought for a few moments, and then cast. And the group of ponies was suddenly encircled by a marching phalanx of straw brooms, each broom carrying a pair of oak buckets sloshing with water.

"Nice!" Twilight nodded. "Teleportation, duplication, animation, and directed compulsion. All on the fly too, I'll bet."

Starlight casually puffed at her striped forelock. "Just a little something I threw together. Structured magic makes it almost too easy. The real trick," she added behind a hoof, "is not forgetting the banishment check on the recursive call... because then you'd be in deep water!"

She gestured grandly with both forehooves. Brooms, buckets, and water all disappeared without trace.

Amazement and jealousy warred on Trixie's face. "You have got to teach me that one, Starlight!"

"When you're ready, Trix," Starlight said. "We need to get you solid on bounded iteration first. Remember what happened with all those marshmallows? Oh, and Trixie here," she quickly went on, putting a hoof around her, "apart from being a Great and Powerful showpony... is our Element of Honesty!"

Discord stared down at Trixie. Who glared right back at him.

"If she's Honesty," Discord sneered, "I'm Princess Celestia."

"Takes one to know one," Trixie shot back.

"Oh, please! Great and Powerful? I doubt that." Discord sniffed. "I'm the Lord of Chaos! I can shred the very fabric of reality to suit myself. Whilst you're nothing but a self-absorbed, below-average illusionist!"

"Self-absorbed? Why, you...!"

"Take it easy, Trix," Starlight advised. "He's just trying to get under your skin."

"I know that, Starlight," Trixie replied. "And if you hadn't interrupted, I was about to see how far around the bend I could drive him." She shoved her magician's hat back on her mane. "Because if this walking, menagerie-flavored candy-cane actually thinks he can out-ego the incomparable showmare that is the Grrreat... and Powerful... Trrrixie..."

She flung her hooves wide, sending bursts of fireworks into the air. And then shrugged.

"Well... he's got another think coming, huh?"

Discord pointedly ignored her. "And who else do we have here?" He looked at Sunset. "Who are you supposed to be? Apart from Celestia's original, failed attempt at training up another pony just like herself to wield the Elements?"

"Ha, ha," Sunset replied. "Sunset Shimmer. And I guess, what with my empathy talent and all, I'd have to be the Element of Kindness, right?"

For a moment, Discord looked stricken. Then he harrumphed, pulling himself together. "You don't look like the tree-hugging, guitar-playing, back-to-nature type to me."

"Eh, I'm working on it." Sunset shrugged. "I do play guitar though..."

With a flash of her horn, Sunset materialized a night-black axe in midair above her head. She belted out several bars of screaming hot rhythm on it without even touching the strings. Then she made the dangerous-looking instrument disappear again. Huffing on a hoof nonchalantly, she grinned at the astonished looks from her friends.

"Just another little skill I picked up, while I was on the other side."

"Gnarly, dude. Break on through." Discord peered at her over a pair of dark glasses, then flicked them away. "All very entertaining, I'm sure. But speaking of entertainment, so far you've left out my personal favorite -- Laughter!"

"Oh! Right here! Present!" Cheese waved eagerly. Then he was suddenly standing beside Discord, holding his accordion. "Cheese Sandwich, party-pony extraordinaire, at your service! Any requests?" He merrily riffed a few bars of a sprightly polka.

Discord gazed down at him, non-plussed.

"I miss Pinkie Pie," he murmured. "I think I understood her..."

Then he gestured with his claw. "And what of poor Twilight, here? You've managed to leave her out entirely!"

"No, we didn't." Sunset put a hoof proudly around Twilight's shoulders. "Because Twilight's Element is the most important of all, the one that holds all the rest together... Friendship!"

Discord shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, somepony's not playing by the rules here. And usually it's me, so I'd know. You can't just split an Element down the middle like that. Friendship is Magic, isn't that how it goes?" He gestured at Cheese. "You can't have ponies who don't even wield an Element gem! Who are just here for comedy relief!"

"Says the Lord of Chaos," Trixie sneered, "who wants in on the team?"

Discord scowled. "Remind me to turn you into a frog later."

"Meh. Been there, done that." Trixie waved a forehoof disparagingly. "Can I show you something nice in a disappearing drake-and-eggnog? Or whatever it is you're supposed to be?"

Discord grumbled under his breath, then got control of himself. "Let's get back to the point here. I'm just not convinced that any of you are the right ponies for the job, as bearers of the Elements of Harmony."

"Oh, really?" Starlight objected. "And who asked your opinion?"

"Uhh, Starlight..." Twilight said, "... we did?"

"Yeah, don't remind me."

Encouraged, Discord went on. "Correct me if I'm wrong here, but in that other timeline, the one Nightmare Moon showed you, it wasn't you six ponies who wielded the Elements -- apart from you, Twilight. It was that other group, the ones from Ponyville."

"Wait!" Twilight said. "You know about that, too?"

"What else was on?" Discord shrugged. "I mean, I'm all for bingeing, purely as a distraction, though taken as a whole reality can be so dull. But this was fascinating! I couldn't help but listen in. An entire alternate timeline... one in which Twilight Sparkle here ends up as an alicorn Princess of Equestria!"

He pointed at Twilight. And with a flash, a crown appeared atop her mane, a golden crown bearing a lavender star-shaped gemstone.

Sunset frowned. "She still might. Nothing stopping her."

"Are you sure of that?" Discord retorted. "You know, being locked in stone doesn't just prevent me from employing a little creative anarchy to spice up your tedious little lives, it also stops me from stepping in when I hear ponies about to make a dreadful mistake."

"Mistake!" Twilight shouted. "Now just a minute --"

"Ah," Discord held up an apologetic paw, "perhaps I should have said misjudgement? Seriously!" He gestured with his arms, taking in the world around them. "You really think this is the way things ought to be? This timeline? You think because the six of you --"

"Seven!" Spike piped up.

"Eight!" Cheese added quickly.

"Uh... eight and a half, boss?" Grubber asked, looking at Tempest.

"Whatever!" Discord thundered. "Just because all of you came together and managed to whip up a home-game edition of the Elements of Harmony, you think that somehow makes you the Elements? You said it yourself, Twilight, the Elements are based on friendship... true, solid, lasting friendship. Yet looking at this crowd, it seems to me your friends here need you a lot more that you need them, or they need each other. Are you sure you're all really friends? And not just allies in adversity?"

"Is there a difference?" Sunset challenged. "Sure, we're not exactly old home-town buddies or something. But that doesn't change the fact that when the chips are down, we're a team!"

The others nodded in agreement at that. But Discord shook his head.

"Nope, still not convinced. And though it may not be my place to say it -- but I'll say it anyway -- I think it's important enough that you should put it to a test. So here's what I propose: you ponies allow me to show you that under different circumstances each of you might have had a better, more fulfilling life. And thus would not have ended up as part of Twilight's little fan-club here. As a bonus, if I manage to convince you of that, I'll gift you with that better life as your own. Free of charge!"

"Wait... he can do that?" Moondancer asked.

"Lord of Chaos!" Discord reminded her, grandly. "I can do anything I want." He frowned at Tempest. "Well, almost anything."

"Oh, sure," Starlight said. "And, assuming you manage to sweet-talk even one of us into going along with that, you'll be undermining the Field of Harmony so we can't use it against you."

"Not my intent, Starlight! Not at all!" Discord looked affronted. "I'm here to help, remember?"

"Hmph, likely story," Trixie grumbled. "Next thing you'll say is you have some ringers from out of town, ready to stand in for us."

"Oooh, what a splendidly devious idea!" Discord marvelled at her. "Are you sure we're not related?" Then he waved his paw dismissively. "Oh, right, you're the one who was Nightmare Moon's personal student. That explains everything. But still, it's the perfect solution, Trixie Moony Lune!"

"Uhh... what is?" Trixie asked warily.

"Why, finding substitutes for you all!" He clapped his hands eagerly. "Here's what we'll do. For any of you I do manage to convince, I'll temporarily swap in your counterpart from Ponyville as a pinch-hitter. You can trust them, after all, and that way the group will always be at full strength. I mean, so long as you have enough friendship magic, or whatever it is, you can still make this Field thing work, right?"

"Starlight?" Twilight looked at her.

"I guess..." Starlight replied. "Assuming we have enough unicorn power to trigger the spell, but..."

"And!" Discord quickly went on, "To keep things scrupulously fair, we'll let Twilight here be the judge. She'll decide whether each pony is truly satisfied."

"But... that's not going to work," Sunset objected. "Nopony's going to decide one way, if they see the entire group going the other way..."

"Absolutely right, Sunset!" Discord grinned. "And I have a solution for that, too. So there's no pressure on anypony to choose, one way or the other, only Twilight here will be aware of what each pony ultimately decides. To the rest, the group will always seem normal, no matter who's in it."

The ponies looked at each other, uncertainly.

"Still not enough?" Discord persisted. "Remember, I have to convince all of you! If I fail to convince even a single pony -- that includes you, Twilight, as the arbiter here -- that the alternate version of your life leaves everypony better off, then I'll admit I was wrong, put everything back the way it was, and not trouble you about it again."

"But can we trust him?" Moondancer asked. "To keep his side of the bargain?"

Discord put up his paw. "As Celestia is my witness!" He grinned at the Princess. "Aren't you, my dear?"

"And..." Twilight asked cautiously, "if you did manage to convince all of us?"

"Well, if you still doubt me, Twilight, it's not very likely, is it? But even so, you'd still have a team of friends to serve as the Elements of Harmony. A proper team in my view, but that's only my opinion. So Equestria will never be at any risk. As I said, this is merely a test, to be certain we've got the right crew on board, so to speak."

Conjuring a sailor suit for himself, Discord danced a brief hornpipe. Then he smiled innocently at them.

"So? What do you say?"

Trixie wrinkled her snout. "I know a shell-game when I smell one."

"Au contraire, meek and doubtful Trixie! I'm being reformed, remember?" Discord tugged her hat down over her eyes. "Why, I feel practically reformed already!" He wriggled happily.

"I'm with Trixie," Moondancer said. "It sounds exactly the kind of dodge Discord would come up with, as a way of distracting us from whatever he's really up to."

"Right," Starlight said. "And just on a practical level, even with the different solutions we've come up with for the Field spell, I'm not sure we can just substitute earth-pony and pegasus magic, not without some serious adjustment. Although... to be fair..." She tilted her head, considering it. "I could always run some tests of the spell with my friends from Sire's Hollow..."

"Sunset?" Twilight asked.

The flame-maned pony looked pensive. "I agree with you, Twilight," she said carefully, "that Friendship is our thing now. Which means, even though I'd personally feel safer with Discord as a lawn ornament, well... if I'm gonna be honest? I'd feel even better knowing we're all sure we're the right ponies to defend Equestria. I wouldn't want there to be any doubt. And if you're gonna be the judge, I know you'll make the right call. So... I say yeah, let's give it a shot. After all, we're a team. And I doubt anything Discord can show us would change that."

"Tempest?"

The maroon pony was silent for a while, her expression darkly somber.

"I probably shouldn't even vote," she said at last. "I don't trust Discord. He makes Trixie look reliable."

"Hey!" Trixie snapped, forehooves crossed in annoyance. Then she shrugged. "Yeah, well... I suppose, considering..."

"But... just as long as you're safe, Twilight," Tempest went on. "And, well... assuming everypony else was okay with this, then..."

She came to attention.

"Whatever you think is best, Twilight, I'll support it."

"Cheese?" Twilight asked.

"Me?" The party pony asked, surprised. "Sure, count me in! What have I got to lose?" He shrugged happily. "Could be fun!"

"Three for three, Twilight," Discord said, grinning. "More or less. Which makes you the deciding vote. So... what do you say?"

"Discord..." Princess Celestia said, warningly.

"Ah-ah-ah, Celestia!" Discord interrupted. "You've had your turn at bat. And I'm sorry to say, you whiffed miserably. Time to give 'Acting Princess' Twilight and her friends their chance to play." He gave her a smug look. "Unless you don't really think they're up to it."

Celestia eyed him narrowly, considering it. And then nodded curtly.

"What?" Spike yelled. "You're going along with this, Your Highness?"

"As I said," Celestia replied evenly, "no one tells a Princess of Equestria her business. Let's just say that I'm leaving the decision in your capable hooves, Twilight."

"Yes, Princess." Twilight replied, her face pensively serious. Then she looked at Discord.

"All right. We'll do it."

"Wonderful!" Discord crowed.

"But," Twilight added, "at the first sign of any funny business, the deal's off and you go right back in the Sculpture Garden. You got that, Discord?"

"Absolutely!" He clapped claw and paw together. "Well! Shall we adjourn to... where is it the gang hangs out nowadays?"

"We'll show you," Twilight said. "Come with us." Turning, she led the way and the group headed off, with the draconequus trotting along readily beside them.

Princess Celestia watched them all go, her expression cold and stern.

"You so much as lay a claw on Luna," she muttered, "or anypony else... and I'll personally turn Twilight and her friends loose on you, Discord."

"Well!" Discord said, in an affronted tone. He was suddenly hovering in the air right beside Celestia, even as the other version of himself trotted away with Twilight and her friends. "If that's the way you feel about it, then fine! We'll keep this strictly between Twilight's little band of happy adventurers... and moi!"

Then he pouted, looking heartbroken. "But... I'm hurt. Really. You don't miss me at all, do you?"

With a flash of chaos magic, he disappeared.

And Celestia shook her head. Sadly, a tear in her eye...

A Fellowship... Reorganized...

"Hmm... loving what you've done with the place, Twilight!" Discord glanced around the top-floor workroom of the Advanced Projects tower. "So modern, So urbane. And yet somehow... still so you." He gestured at the books loaded on shelves and stacked in piles everywhere.

"Let's get to it, Discord," Twilight said. "How do we start?"

"No time for a chat, eh? Straight to business? Ah, me! Whatever happened to the old Twilight? The fun Twilight? The bookish little pony who'd freak out if she so much as found a quill out of place? You're so buttoned-up now, so straight-laced... so grown up!"

Seeing the look on Twilight's face, Discord relented, shrugging. "Oh, well. So be it."

He snapped his claw. And in the middle of the room, a tall oval portal appeared, like a shimmering mirror hanging unsupported in the air. "Now, this is a gateway," Discord explained, "through which each of you will be able to access the alternate reality I'll summon up for you --"

He paused for a moment, because both Twilight and Sunset had approached the portal and were staring into its shimmering surface.

"This looks a lot like..." Sunset began.

"... Star Swirl's mirror!" Twilight gasped. "The Speculum Vacivitas!"

"Well, obviously, Twilight!" Discord harrumphed. "Where do you think the old feather-brain got the idea in the first place? And when I think of all the precious hours he wasted, night and day, working so hard to recreate with technology and spellcraft what I could manage with a mere snap of my fingers! Oh, dear, dear, dear!" Discord covered his face with his paw.

Then he leaned around it. On both sides. "Remind you of anyone you know, Twilight?" his two heads chorused.

Sunset frowned at him. "Let's get on with it, Discord," she suggested.

"Yes, yes. All right!" Discord said, pulling himself back together. "Now, so nopony feels worried I might be sending you off to la-la land, with no way back, we'll leave the portal open right here until we're all satisfied. And I solemnly promise, I won't touch it. If you don't like what you find over there, you can come right back. I would, however, suggest that only Twilight and I go along with each of you the first time through, to observe your own individually-tailored realities."

Tempest snorted warningly.

"Oh, fine." Discord frowned. "You can bring along the four-hoofed armor museum, Twilight. If it makes you and her feel any better."

"We are allowed to discuss our choices, right?" Sunset asked.

"Of course! Do remember though, according to our rules only Twilight here will be aware of what each pony ultimately decides." Grinning, Discord rubbed claw and paw. "Well? Who's our first contestant? Come on down, everypony!"

The ponies looked at each other, uncertainly.

Except for Cheese, who waved a hoof. "I'll go first! Me, me! Pick me!"

Twilight looked at him. "Are you sure, Cheese?"

"It's perfect, Twilight! I'm not even one of the gem-bearing ponies, so there's no risk. And I'd love to check out an alternate version of my life. Maybe it'll give me some new party-making ideas!"

"You know, I take it back," Discord said, smirking bemusedly at him. "You are as much fun as Pinkie Pie!"

"Then let's get this party started, mister!" Cheese swung a forehoof enthusiastically.

"While you're doing that," Starlight said, "I'll go find Sunburst and the others and we'll look into rebalancing the Field spell, using different tribes of ponies..." She frowned at Discord. "Not that I think it'll actually change anything. I'm just being thorough, that's all."

"Of course," Discord agreed. "Teamwork in action! Am I right, Twilight?"

"Sure, Discord..." Twilight said uneasily. She glanced at Tempest, Cheese Sandwich, and then Discord again.

"All right, everypony. Let's do this..."

Twilight stared around, at the tall brownstone buildings with stone staircases and iron banisters, standing to either side of a street that seemingly stretched off to the horizon. "Wait... this is upper Manehattan, isn't it?"

"Top of the class, Twilight -- as usual!" Discord clapped a golden mortarboard on Twilight's head then strolled on, looking around at everything. "Though really I can't take credit. This is just the neighborhood where our friend Cheese grew up. Think you can spot him, Twilight? Oh, come on, you can do it! Think of it as like Where's Winnipeg? but played live with friends."

Twilight stared around, at a loss. There were ponies everywhere... trotting along the sidewalks, riding in cabs along the streets, leaning out of windows to call across to one another, or take in laundry from fire-escapes. Fillies and colts played stickball or jacks on the street, and called time for jump-rope on the sidewalks.

Still, there was no sign of the curly-haired pony anywhere. Twilight felt guilty for not being able to spot him.

Then Tempest, ever sharp-eyed, gently tapped Twilight's shoulder and nodded. And Twilight finally saw him: a small, meek, curly-maned colt, wearing black-framed glasses almost too big for his face. He was hunched behind the stone railing of a stoop across the street, peering out at the children playing all around him, paralyzed by shyness.

"Go on, Twilight!" Discord encouraged. "Talk with him. Show us the magic of friendship in action. And don't worry, you're not altering the past here. This is just a sample of how things looked, for context."

Twilight crossed the street, carefully dodging traffic, with Tempest close beside her. Discord by contrast strolled after them in a dead straight line, simply snapping his claw to teleport approaching cabs out of his way.

Reaching the steps, Twilight cautiously approached the shivering colt. "Cheese?"

"Hey, Twilight," he replied, and smiled sadly up at her. "This is incredible! It's exactly how things were when I was little, exactly how I remember it." He shut his eyes. "I was really shy back then. I couldn't talk to anypony. I was afraid to! Afraid they'd laugh at me. I just felt like... like a total nopony..." He sighed. "Eventually it got to be too much. So I... ran away."

"Oh, Cheese..." Twilight said sympathetically. "You're anything but a nopony. You've helped us all so much... with your songs, your laughter..."

"Yes, yes! Very touching," Discord interrupted sternly. "So Cheese felt lonely and ran off to join the circus or whatever. And then he stumbled by chance into Ponyville, where dear Pinkie Pie taught him to be a professional clown." He shrugged. "But why go to all that trouble?"

"Huh?" Cheese looked up at him.

"You didn't have to run away, did you? You could have done all that right here. All you needed... was a little confidence..."

So saying, Discord snapped his claw.

And Cheese suddenly took a deep breath, and trotted out from behind the stoop. He hesitantly approached some other children nearby, scribbling on the sidewalk with colored chalk.

"Hi," he said to them, nervously. "Want to hear a good one? What's a pony's favorite sport?"

The children looked at each other, then shrugged.

Cheese grinned. "Stable tennis!"

The fillies and colts groaned at the old pun... but they were smiling, too. Encouraged, Cheese went on. "What do you call a cow in an earthquake?" He glanced around, then beamed. "A milkshake!"

The children giggled. More of them gathered to listen.

"You know what else?" Cheese glanced around, and cautiously lowered his voice. "I wasn't sure whether Celestia really raised the Sun every morning..."

He paused, drawing out the heretical moment.

"... and then it dawned on me!"

The children stared at him... and then broke up laughing. Cheese sighed in relief, his eyes shining, his grin a mile wide. And he went on, for pun after pun, joke after joke. He swiftly drew an appreciative audience who hung on his every word.

Discord smirked at Twilight. Then snapped his claw.

Suddenly they were standing at the door of a classroom, looking in. Cheese was doing a hoof-stand on his desk, playing a harmonica held in his teeth, even as the teacher thundered at him to sit down and tried futilely to bring the class back to order.

Discord snapped his claw again. And now they were sitting in the audience in a drama classroom. Cheese was performing as the lead in the school play -- a comedy, of course -- happily mugging to the audience and causing them to laugh out loud.

Several more scenes followed, rapid fire, snap after snap after snap. They showed Cheese finding his role as a natural class clown, making ponies smile simply for the sheer joy of it.

Then after one final snap, they were standing in line inside a small delicatessen located in the southern, commercial end of Manehattan. Skyscrapers loomed huge and gray outside the windows, but inside the warm, well-lit store, Cheese Sandwich worked the counter, serving up sandwiches piled high with greens and melted cheeses. With every order he tossed off a quick quip or a snatch of song, making his customers smile.

"Hey, Twilight!" Cheese waved as she approached the counter. "Great to see you again! What'll you have, the usual?"

"Uh... Cheese?" Twilight asked. "You work here?"

"Don't I! Got my cutie-mark in sandwich-making, so the job's a breeze! And I gotta tell you, Twi, I was a little nervous at first but it's been a blast! I make ponies happy, I brighten their day, and I give them something warm and tasty to eat. And that's all I've ever really wanted... just to fit in and help ponies feel better!"

"I'm... really glad for you, Cheese," Twilight said. "So... you wouldn't change anything?"

"Are you kidding me?" Cheese stared at her. "This is the life! This is what I was meant to do, where I was always meant to be! Yay!" Darting away, he flipped a sandwich on the griddle, ran the milkshake blender, and danced along the counter, singing merrily as he doled out lunch and smiles to happy ponies.

Twilight stared at him, thoughtfully. And heard Discord whispering in her ear.

"What do you say, Twilight? Was I right or was I right? Do you honestly not believe, looking at him, that he's happier here?"

Twilight didn't want to admit it, but she had to. "He looks perfectly happy," she said. "He didn't need to be a party-pony. That just sets him apart from other ponies, so he has to work harder to reach them and make them smile. He only needed to be accepted, to fit in. This suits him... it really does..."

She turned away, biting her lip nervously.

And felt Tempest trotting along right beside her. "You don't have to go along with this, Twilight," she growled. "Just say the word, and I'll make that walking jigsaw puzzle put Cheese back the way he was..."

Discord flinched nervously, as her merciless glare swept his way. But Twilight shook her head.

"No, Tempest. Let's just... let's just leave Cheese be for the moment. If we change our minds, we can come back. Right, Discord?"

"Absolutely, Twilight! Any time. All you have to do is ask."

The three of them headed towards the door leading to the street. And Twilight paused at the door briefly, looking back at her friend. Cheese was so cheerfully busy: a completely ordinary sandwich-making pony. Just the way he really wanted to be.

Twilight sighed.

"He's made me smile so often... I just can't take this away from him."

When they stepped out of the portal and back into the tower workroom, the other ponies gathered around them.

"Well, Pinkie?" Sunset asked. "What did you think? Did Discord convince you?"

Twilight turned and stared. It was true: the radioactively pink party pony was standing right beside her, grinning back at her.

"Meh! I dunno," Pinkie Pie waved a hoof noncommittally. "I haven't really made up my mind yet." Then she stotted excitedly. "Ooh, ooh! Let's try it with one of you girls next, see what you think!"

Twilight looked at Tempest. And saw the Commander also staring at Pinkie Pie, a worried look on her face. Then Tempest looked at Twilight, questioningly.

Twilight forced a confident-looking smile, carefully giving nothing away.

After all, there was no way it could work that easily for the rest of them... right?

Despite her misgivings Moondancer volunteered to go next, out of simple curiosity. And Discord stared at her pensively, up and down, like a tailor sizing a client.

"Hmm... I'll admit, this one's a toughy," he finally said. "As I understand it, Moondancer, your whole deal was wanting to be friends with Twilight. And you've got that. I mean, how do you improve on being besties with the poster-pony for Friendship in all Equestria?" Pulling out an old-fashioned camera, Discord grabbed a quick selfie with Twilight, uncomfortably cheek-to-cheek.

"But never fear," he went on, blithely pitching the camera over his shoulder, "Discord is here! We need only look a little deeper. I mean, why was Twilight's friendship so important? Wasn't it... this?"

He pointed a talon at the cutie-mark on Moondancer's flank: the Moon and Stars... the mark of Nightmare Moon.

Moondancer winced. "I... suppose."

"Oh, let's be honest, Moondancer! Growing up, you had to deal with all the cruel jokes, the suspicion, even outright prejudice and hostility! All because you happened to have a cutie-mark resembling that of the most feared of historical über-villains."

"I got used to it," she replied defiantly. "I became an expert on the Nightmare, and in the process made the mark my own. And," she pointed out, "it's not like even you could undo that, Discord. You can't just make Princess Luna's mark go away. The Moon-and-Stars is too firmly embedded in pony culture, in our history, our lore and mythology. It's part of who we are, as ponies."

"True," Discord agreed, "but who really pays attention to the classics nowadays?" Seeing Twilight's disgruntled look, he waved his paw dismissively. "All we need is to have ponies not pay it quite so much attention. I mean, they already believed Nightmare Moon was a myth. What if they simply didn't remember her much at all? Apart from Nightmare Night of course... but that doesn't really count. It's just a fun holiday for the kiddies. Nothing to take seriously."

"What?!?" Pinkie Pie bounded up onto the worktable to glare at him, eye-to-eye. "Holiday fun-time is no laughing matter, buster!"

Discord gave her a look. "Moving right along," he said, "we can simply adjust things so that Moondancer never experienced that kind of isolation, which made her need friendship so desperately. I think I can manage that without much fuss..."

He gestured with his paw at the portal. "Care to have a look, Moondancer?"

Moondancer glanced at Twilight, who smiled back reassuringly. And then, together with Tempest and Discord, they stepped through...

Once again they were looking through a classroom door. But this classroom was one Twilight knew very well. It was Ms. Flask's Science and Light Magic class... where Twilight had first met Tempest Shadow.

Twilight could see herself as a filly, sitting across the room at her old study table. With her snout buried in a book, she was oblivious to everything, absorbed in speed-reading the morning's assigned lesson. Beside her sat a very young-looking Tempest Shadow. The maroon pony glanced warily around the room, occasionally flipping a page in her own reader with a hoof.

Looking around the room, Twilight spotted the table at which Minuette was seated, gabbing away a mile a minute with Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine. And also with Moondancer. The beige filly was laughing and joking right along with the other three, completely at ease, even when Ms. Flask harrumphed and warned them to settle down and focus on the lesson.

"You see?" Discord said, smugly. "Moon-Moon just needed to get out from under that cloud of self-doubt and isolation caused by her mark. When her parents moved to Canterlot to escape the humdrum, backward little hamlet they'd been living in, Moondancer got a completely fresh start. And she's made the most of it, as you can see."

"She seems happy," Twilight allowed. "But... she might be faking it? To try to fit in?"

"Why don't we ask her ourselves?"

"In the middle of class?"

"No, no! Don't be silly, Twilight." Discord shook his head. "During her after-school program, of course."

"After-school...?" Twilight asked. But Discord was already snapping his claw.

A blur of time and space, and they were standing in another room that Twilight knew well, though this time mostly by reputation. "The Canterlot Observatory?" She stared around at the circular, domed room, with its massive refractor and shelves full of chart-scrolls and stellar atlases. "What are we doing way up here?"

"Why, visiting Moondancer, of course!" Discord shrugged. "After all, she's done so well in class, she was assigned to the Observatory's internship program. Youngest student to achieve it, I might add!"

"Twilight!" Moondancer waved at them from one of the upper gantries. Hurrying around the platform, she slid down the ladder to land heavily on the main floor. Then she galloped over to join them, breathless and excited.

"Isn't it great? Professor Star Gazer was so pleased with my catalog of irregular nebulae that he assigned me to calibrate the chain drive of the main scope! And I've worked out a system that only requires three sightings to get it tuned for an entire night's work."

Moondancer grabbed Twilight's hoof and all but dragged her over to the central chart-table, which was covered with a huge sky-chart, plus dozens of scrolls and bits of scrap paper covered in calculations and tables of observations.

"I'm hoping I can show this to him later. It's a fully updated star-map, based on the initial list of corrections provided by the Princess."

"The Princess?"

"Princess Luna, of course!" Moondancer grinned. "Ever since you and the other Element Bearers brought her back from the Moon, she's been itching to get back into managing the night sky. And this is just the start, I'm sure. If I play my cards right, and come up with a strategy for organizing and prototyping all the adjustments she'll want to make to the constellations, Professor Gazer may assign me to work with her directly!" Moondancer's eyes went wide, a filly with a dream. "Can you imagine, Twilight? Me, working side-by-side with an actual Princess? Wow!"

Her gaze falling back to the star-chart, Moondancer leaned closer, having spotted something. Then she shuffled industriously through the scrolls and notes to find one in particular. Grabbing a quill in her magic, she quickly jotted a reminder in a book lying open on the table beside her.

Twilight recognized the book. It was the blue-jacketed volume with the crescent Moon on its cover, the one Moondancer had used as her journal -- in which she'd written all her private, personal notes addressed to Nightmare Moon.

The book was now filled with random tables, calculations, and other work-related jottings. And Moondancer had very nearly reached the last blank page in it.

Twilight listened carefully, nodding in encouragement as Moondancer rattled on, talking excitedly about the organizational system she'd developed, the regular meetings she was attending with the Observatory's senior staff, her plans to publish her own dissertation on stellar temperature and luminosity -- "since some things are constant no matter how the Princess arranges the sky" -- and especially the late-night gab sessions she was having with the other interns in the program while they worked together to prepare the Observatory for its nightly schedule of research.

Try as she might, Twilight couldn't deny that Moondancer looked perfectly happy. She was a self-taught expert in astronomy, lunar geography, and stellar mechanics. A perfect fit, it seemed, for her unusual cutie-mark.

"Oops! Gotta get back to work!" Moondancer said. "So much to do! But you're coming to the Stellar Cartographic Symposium, right, Twilight? We can chat during the breakout sessions and catch up properly. Okay?"

Solemnly promising she'd be there, Twilight reluctantly left Moondancer to her internship duties, and turned away. With Tempest and Discord accompanying her, she headed back through the portal...

... and was only a little surprised to find Rarity stepping out of it with her, on the other side.

However, Twilight was very surprised by the room they'd all stepped out into...

"How'd it go, Rarity?" Starlight asked. "Did you find yourself running that fashion boutique in Canterlot, like you've been talking about?"

"Oh, puh-lease, dahling!" the violet-maned fashion pony made a dismissive noise, and shook her head. "I'm nowhere near ready to branch out yet. I still have to make inroads amongst the Canterlot elite, build up my client list." She fluffed her mane importantly. "But never fear, I'll get there! In any case, it was an interesting adventure to be sure..."

Twilight wasn't listening. She was staring around at the room they were all standing in. It looked like it had been carved out of the inside of a large oak tree. Its walls were woodgrained, with knotholes and organic-looking columns and arches. The walls themselves were inset with bookshelves, chock-full of volumes of every size and description. In the center of the room there was a table, on which stood a tall wooden chesspiece sculpture. And to the side of the room was a desk, with a pile of books that obviously wanted re-shelving.

"Um... where are we?" she asked carefully.

"Twilight!" Rarity said, surprised. "We're in your library of course! I mean, really, that tower room in Canterlot on the other side of the portal was simply di-vine, but it doesn't hold a candle to your comfy home here in Ponyville, am I right?"

"My home in... ah, right," Twilight caught herself quickly. "So nice... to be home."

Twilight felt momentarily disoriented, as if she were dreaming. Given a choice, it was exactly the kind of home she'd have wanted for herself. Her hooves itched to reshelve the books on the desk, and then plow through the tomes on the shelves, searching for unexpected treasures.

She noticed Discord grinning at her, apparently enjoying her confusion immensely. Motioning fiercely with her head, Twilight trotted over into a quiet corner, accompanied by the draconequus and Commander Tempest. "Okay, Discord," she demanded, "what's going on here? I though you said we weren't affecting the timeline."

"But Twilight!" Discord looked shocked. "If I'm to properly swap in your friends from Ponyville, something's got to give. All I've done is make a few minor adjustments. I've arranged things so Princess Celestia had you move to Ponyville, shortly after Sunset joined the group." He leaned closer, whispering confidentially. "She felt you needed to broaden your circle of friends. Quite right, in my view!"

"Discord..." Twilight said, warningly.

"Twilight! I haven't done anything extreme here. I'm just making sure we can carry on with the conditions of our little test. But, fair's fair..." He held up his paw with a resigned look. "If you feel I've gone too far, you have only to say the word, and everything goes back the way it was." He eyed her craftily. "Of course, you'll have to admit to your friends you called a halt to things just when we'd barely gotten started. And what will you say to dear Princess Celestia, hmm?"

Twilight frowned, feeling unfairly cornered. Then she nodded. "All right. But no more surprises."

"Me? Surprises?" He materialized a halo and looked innocent.

Tempest snorted crossly. "Yeah, right... I ought to --"

But Twilight shook her head. "No, Tempest. I said we'd give this a try. So, we'll give it a try. But... help me keep an eye on him, huh?"

"Like I'm not already?"

"So, who wants to go next?" Discord looked around at the group. "Sunset? Think you're up to it?"

"Sure, why not?" Sunset said, amused. "After all, it's not the first time I've visited an alternate dimension. Though given how tight-lipped everypony's been so far I'm half-afraid of what I'll find over there."

"Only the world as it might have been," Discord assured her, "had things gone better for you. As per our agreement."

"If you say so. But if Rarity was a challenge, having her own shop and all, I'm probably a master class, what with me having been Princess Celestia's student. How do you top that?"

"Oh, I think you'd be surprised, Sunset." Discord grinned. "Because for you, it comes down to one thing: you wanted to be the best at everything, am I right?"

"No..." Sunset grimaced, ashamed. "I wanted to be The Best. Period, end of story. I wouldn't settle for anything less."

"Nor did you! From what I understand, you were such an eager beaver, you made Twilight here look like a slacker!" Discord materialized a dunce-cap on Twilight's mane... and then seeing the look on Tempest's face, hurriedly waved it away again. "Though in the process," he went on, "you pushed away some very important ponies who might well have been great friends for you. Like... for instance?" he hinted.

Sunset nodded. "Princess Cadance. You know, I still haven't really made up with her for that? I've meant to, but... well, let's be honest, I keep finding excuses. It probably doesn't matter anyway, she'll have moved on by now."

"So sad!" Discord tutted commisseratingly. "Well, what if you didn't have to apologize? What if you could have it all back? A do-over?"

"That'd be a tall order," Sunset said, shaking her head. "It would mean changing a lot. Like, if I didn't go through the mirror... if I stayed here as Princess Celestia's student, what happens to Twilight?"

"Oh, let's take a peek, shall we?" Discord suggested, gesturing to the portal. "You can see for yourself!"

Sunset looked at Twilight and Tempest. And then nodded.

"Okay, you're on!"

Twilight furiously steeled herself.

I am in a library, she thought, the Canterlot Archives. I am surrounded by well over a million books. And I am not going to be distracted. I'm not.

She focused her attention firmly on the reading table on the left side of the main hall. At which a very young-looking flame-maned filly was seated, with books stacked all around her.

Another book was open on the table in front of Sunset, spreadeagled like a dissection specimen under her stern, unforgiving glare. Sunset flipped the pages sharply with infuriated little bursts of magic from her horn, threatening to rip the aging parchment:

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Twilight winced on the book's behalf.

Then she heard hoofsteps approaching and turned to look. It was Princess Cadance. Much like Sunset, the pink, particolor-maned alicorn looked very young, almost still a filly herself. Yet somehow she already carried herself with the poise and gentleness that made her such an excellent Princess.

She trotted right by Twilight without even noticing. When Twilight looked up at Discord, he put a warning talon to his lips.

Perception filter, he mouthed silently.

"Sunset?" Cadance called gently. "A group of us are going down to the lakeshore to study together. Would you like to come along?"

For a moment, Sunset kept glaring at her book. It looked like she was going to ignore Cadance, or at best, toss back some curt reply.

Then Discord snapped his claw.

And Sunset Shimmer looked up, as if she'd suddenly come to an important decision. "Yeah. You know, I'm not getting anywhere with this. Maybe... maybe some time away from the books will help."

"I'm sure it will." Cadance smiled sympathetically. "It'll all still be waiting for you when you come back."

"I suppose," Sunset said. "Come on. Let's not keep everypony waiting." Together, the two of them trotted out of the library door.

With a grin, Discord reached out with his lion paw and swiped at the air in front of them. The entire scene before them slid to the left, and was smoothly replaced by another.

Cadance, Sunset, and a group of other fillies and colts from the School were gathered by a small ornamental lake. It was on the rim side of the parkland, close to where a waterfall tumbled away for hundreds of lengths to the plains far below.

The students chatted and laughed together, and ate sandwiches that somepony had brought. One of the ponies brought out a guitar and strummed capably on it. And Sunset nodded along to the tune, getting into it. Occasionally she glanced at Cadance and smiled, clearly pleased to have been invited along.

Another quick swipe of Discord's paw, and they were suddenly back in the Library again. And so was Sunset. But now it was late at night, and Sunset was just flipping shut the last of the books she'd been going through.

She stared at the stacks of books, shoulders hunched. Then she shook her head, regretfully.

"I just don't see it," she said, whispering even though there was no one else around to hear her. "Maybe..."

She winced. Then nodded firmly.

"Maybe that means I'm not the one to do it, after all."

Pushing back her chair, she got up, and then quietly, somberly, left the Archives.

With another quick swipe from Discord, they were standing in the Royal Audience Hall. Before them, Sunset was curtsying respectfully on the carpet before the Sun Throne.

"I've made up my mind, Your Highness," she said, "I made you a promise, to find a way to reawaken the Elements and defend Equestria. And... I think we both know I can't keep that promise. I'm just not up to the task you've set me."

"Sunset!" Twilight gasped. Then she slapped a hoof over her mouth, with a sideways glare at Discord. Thankfully, neither Sunset nor Princess Celestia had heard her.

"And," Sunset went on, "I don't want to be in the way if there's somepony else who can pull this off instead. That wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be fair, to you or Equestria. So... I'm not going to keep beating my head against the wall here. I'm going to move on, to something else. I haven't quite figured out what... but I will."

Celestia gazed down from her throne, at the miserably hunched filly before her. Her face looked saddened... yet also deeply understanding. "Are you certain, Sunset? Is this what you really want?"

Sunset looked up at her, eyes glistening with tears. "I'm not sure what I really want, Your Highness. I just want to stop disappointing you. I want you to be proud of me!"

"Sunset, I have always been proud of you," Celestia replied. "Proud of your energy, your determination... and most of all, of how forthright you are. You never give up, as long as you believe there's a way. And equally, you are honest with yourself about your options. You know where to draw the line. And know this, Sunset: I support you, no matter what you choose. With all the hard work you've put in, you deserve nothing less."

"Thanks for taking it so well, Your Highness." Sunset shrugged. "Well... I'll go pack my stuff."

"Whatever for?"

"You're not going to want me hanging around the School anymore, right?"

"Sunset!" Celestia gently laughed. "You are here at the School because you are a filly with amazing potential. Because it's the best place for you to be, to learn and grow as a pony and achieve what you want in life. That is all I've ever really wanted for you. None of that has changed, so why would I ask you to leave?"

"Wow. But... you're not going to want me as your personal student anymore, right?"

"Sunset..." Now it was Celestia's eyes that were glistening. "I am proud to be your teacher. I would never want that to change, no matter what happened, no matter what you decided. You are very special to me. That is why you are my personal student. It's not what you can do for me! It's who you are as a pony, what you have a chance to become someday. And if I can continue to help and guide you -- if you still want me as your teacher -- then I want that too. That will never change, Sunset!"

"Even if you have to find somepony else to wield the Elements?"

"Even if," Celestia confirmed. "After all, there's still time. Who knows what may happen between now and then? After a thousand years, I've learned to be patient, to trust in the future. Just as I trust your judgement, Sunset. Never let there be a doubt in your mind about that."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Sunset smiled gratefully.

Celestia nodded. "You are most welcome, my faithful student."

Discord made a face. "Gag! I'd forgotten how soppy Celestia can be at times. Still, I think one more spin of the wheel ought to do it. Place your bets, everypony!"

Another swipe, and they were standing on the broad grassy quad in front of the Advanced Projects tower, adjacent to the Library Annex. But now, that familiar tower was merely an unregarded, nondescript storage building, currently unoccupied but having a somewhat better-kept top floor.

Twilight spotted Sunset sitting on a sunlit dividing wall, near the edge of the quad. She was older now, almost a full-grown mare. Yet she was still the confident, bright-eyed, smiling pony that Twilight recalled. She was strumming a small guitar, and humming along to herself. Seeing Twilight trotting towards her, she waved.

"Hey, Twilight! Haven't seen much of you lately. Not since you moved to Ponyville after that near-debacle with Trixie and the storage loop."

"Um, yeah. How have you been, Sunset?"

"Oh, you know... same old, same old. Hanging out with Cadance and her entourage. Nowhere near as exciting as your life has been." Resting a hoof on the guitar, she grinned. "But you know what, Twilight? I'm okay with that, really I am. I could tell you were going to be the one to figure out the Elements -- and you did! I'm so proud of you, Twilight!"

Turning back to the guitar for a moment, Sunset strummed the strings with her hoof, using her magic to work the frets.

"Yep, you're the Princess of Friendship... and me?" She grinned. "Well, don't spread it around, but Cadance is planning on asking me to serve as part of her court. Yep, seeing how good a job I did mentoring you, she wants me to go on doing it officially. There's some impressive title on the books, but she's taken to calling me her Princess of Empathy." She paused, considering it. "Princess of Empathy... I like that. I really do!"

"You don't... miss being Celestia's personal student?" Twilight cautiously asked.

"You mean her only student? Nah! She's branched out. She's got me, and you, and all the rest. That's good for her, and it's good for all of us, too. The pressure's off. We can succeed or not, on our own merits. That's how it ought to be. No pony is an island, so they say."

Sunset nodded, happily. Then she slammed out a fast riff on the guitar, and just as quickly pulled it back to a more sedate, mellow line.

"Fast or slow, it's how you go," she said. "Hmm... I should write that down, there might be a song title in that. You know, Twilight, I'm considering a side-hustle in music? Yeah! I'll write a few songs, play a few gigs. It'll help me get out and meet ponies, learn how they're feeling, what they need. After all, if I'm going to be Princess of Empathy, I want to do the best job I can. That's for sure!"

"I'm sure that you will," Twilight said. "I'm... I'm happy for you, Sunset. It's really working out for you." She looked wistful. "You'll come by and visit us, won't you?"

"You kidding? Ponyville's not that far away." She pointed a hoof at Twilight, a serious look on her face. "And any time you need me, you just yell. I'll be there. 'Kay?"

Twilight nodded. "Sure thing, Sunset. Well... I'll see you round."

"Don't be a stranger!" Sunset saluted playfully with a forehoof, then went back to playing the guitar, filling the air with comfortable, relaxing music.

Turning, Twilight trotted away, leaving Sunset to it. Just another promising student, with a potential career in music and in helping other ponies. No pressure to perform, to excel, and ultimately, to overdo. It was exactly the kind of life Sunset needed.

And her cutie-mark, Twilight thought. That flaming sunburst... it would make the perfect band logo if she decided to go that route...

She sighed, resignedly.

Discord, trotting alongside her, peered down at her nervously. "You are okay with this, aren't you, Twilight? This is a better life for Sunset, right?"

"Yeah..." Twilight nodded. "Yeah, it is. A much better life."

She abruptly came to a halt, and stared up at him sadly.

"Is this how it is for all my friends, Discord? Am I forcing all of them to be somepony they're not?"

"Well..." Discord shrugged. "There's still three more to go. I might still be wrong, here."

"I'm not sure." Twilight shook her head. "I'm not sure you are, anymore..."

They stepped through the portal into the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville. And this time, it was Fluttershy who stepped out of the portal with them.

"Well..." the butter-colored pegasus said. "I know I was afraid of what I might find over there. But really I needn't have worried. It was very pleasant, actually!"

"Still no hints for the rest of us?" Starlight asked. "About what we're likely to see over there?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to bias anypony's opinion," Fluttershy replied. "Besides, it's different for every pony. Isn't that right, Discord?"

"Er, what?" Discord had been staring at her, biting his lip nervously. "Oh, yes! Completely personal, Fluttershy. No two experiences the same."

"That's good. It's just like when I take care of my little animal friends. It's the personal touch that counts."

"Uh huh..." Discord tapped his paw and claw together. "Speaking of which, is there anything you'd like, Fluttershy? Some tea... or... or maybe sandwiches?"

"It's good of you to ask," Fluttershy smiled. "I'm fine for now, thanks."

"All right..." Discord said, meekly. "Just... wanted to be sure."

Twilight ignored him and looked around the room, at the three old faces, and three new ones.

"Is everything all right here?" she asked. "Starlight?"

"Near as I can tell." Starlight nodded. "By the way, I've done a few test runs with Sunburst and the others, just to be sure I'm not fooling myself from the times we've used the Field with Pinkie and Fluttershy. And we don't have to adjust the spell all that much. With a little tinkering, I could probably even make it self-adjusting, so any combination of the three tribes could use it."

"Provided we have Tempest to launch the priming blast, right?"

"You know..." Starlight tapped her snout, thinking it over. "There might be a way around that. Maybe you, Rarity, and I could combine our power to kick-start things. A few more tests, we'll know for sure."

"Thanks for following up, Starlight."

"Oh, not a prob, Twi!" Starlight said. "You know me. I love messing around with the Field spell!"

"All right, ponies," Discord called briskly. He was suddenly dressed like an old-time film director, clapping for attention. "We're burning daylight here! Who's up next?"

"I guess it'll have to be me," Trixie said. "Starlight's still working on the spell, and Tempest is sticking to Twilight like glue." She eyed the draconequus warily. "But no funny business, Discord! Remember, there's a birdbath in the Sculpture Garden with your name on it."

"Fear not, oh Great and Powerful showmare!" In a flash, Discord was wearing a star-spangled magician's hat and cape, styled just like Trixie's. "Have no qualms or trepidations. I guarantee a thrilling and engaging experience, the likes of which you shall not forget, not in a millennia..."

He eyed her narrowly. "You should live that long..."

Trixie looked at Twilight, and smirked. "Starlight's not the only one who needs to work on her stage-patter." Then she squared her shoulders, as if hitching herself up to her wagon, and faced the portal.

"All right. Let's get this show on the road."

Friendship... Is Magic

It was a quiet, unremarkable town, a small, unremarkable house, and a perfectly ordinary, rather tackily-decorated living room. But none of that mattered. Because the talented young unicorn filly, seated on the floor in the middle of the living room, had just completed the Dreaded, Impossible, Never-Before-Attempted...

Rope Cut-And-Restore Trick, For Beginners!

It hadn't even been all that hard. Patricia Pot hugged the cut rope, overjoyed at finally making the trick work all on her own, not wanting the good feeling to end...

The door behind her opened. Her mother, Showcase, trotted in. The almond-yellow mare shrugged her work carryall off beside the door, then kicked the door shut.

Patricia jumped up and ran to her, waving the rope excitedly. "Mom! I got the rope trick to work!"

"Really! That's wonderful, Trixie!" Showcase smiled warmly. "And as it happens, I have some wonderful news of my own. Come and sit with me. I'll tell you all about it."

Once settled in her favorite chair, with Patricia sitting nervously on her lap, Showcase hugged her daughter, then held up a letter.

"This is from your father. He says he's been really busy presenting his show in Las Pegasus... but it's given him some time to think. And he's decided he wants to come back and live with us again. For us all to be a family again, just like we used to be. Isn't that wonderful?"

Patricia stared up at her, stunned beyond words, beyond thought itself.

It was everything she'd wished for.

Before she could speak, there was a knock at the door behind her, and it edged open nervously.

"Anyone home? Showcase? And... where's my favorite daughter?"

"I'm your only daughter..." Patricia retorted numbly, out of habit.

And then she bounced down from her mother's lap, galloped across the room, and slammed into and furiously hugged the top-hatted stallion who'd walked in.

"Daddy!"

He hugged her back, then grinned uneasily at Showcase. "I hope I didn't beat the letter back here," he said. "But as soon as I posted it, Showy, I just knew I didn't want to wait a minute longer. I wanted to come back. I've missed this so much! And if you're still open to the idea, I want to figure out how we can make it work again."

Showcase hugged him too. "I'd been hoping you'd say that."

Jack Pot slung his daughter up on his back. "Well, how 'bout it, Trixie? You too old for a pony ride from the old man?"

"Are you kidding?" she cried. "Oh! And I got the cut-and-restore trick working. Can I show you later, Daddy?"

Jack Pot looked at his wife cautiously. "If that's all right, Showy? The magic show is still part of my life, but... I'll make sure it doesn't come first, this time."

Showcase sighed. "Just don't leave us again. I couldn't bear it."

"Not on your life!" Jack Pot grinned. "We're gonna get it right this time. All of us together. Aren't we, Trixie?"

"That's the Great and Powerful Trixie to you!" Patricia told him haughtily. "Giddyap!" Then she grabbed tight to his mane, squealing with joy, as he took off around the room, galloping back and forth, giving her the pony-ride of her life.

And from the staircase on the far side of the room, unseen by Trixie or her parents, Twilight, Tempest, and Discord looked on.

"See?" Discord said. "All that ego, all the over-the-top drama, the parlor tricks... just to try and replace something she lost a very long time ago..."

Discord paused for a moment, looking sad. "You know, suddenly I understand the little performance egotist a bit better..."

"Are you all right, Discord?" Twilight asked.

Discord harrumphed. "Me? Never better, Twilight! Why do you ask?" Waving off a reply, he gestured toward the happy family. "Now what say we just roll things forward a little, and see how this wonderful soap opera turns out..."

He reached out his claw and rotated it, as if turning a knob. A burst of static filled the air before them.

Then the three of them were abruptly seated in a glitzy, glittering, heavily over-architected show theater -- the kind which, just looking at it, all but screamed Las Pegasus at you. On the stage, Jack Pot was holding up his forehooves for silence.

"Fear not, my friends! All hope is not lost! For now, I remove the nine Blades of Doom from the Casket of Imprisonment -- so! I release the chains encasing it -- so! I throw open the doors, and hey presto, what do we have here...?"

A blast of fireworks fountained out of the box, followed by a cloud of choking smoke... and from it stepped Patricia, chin held high, gesturing grandly.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" Jack Pot called out. "May I introduce to you, my charming and talented assistant... and dearly beloved daughter! The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

The audience gave it up willingly. They applauded, stamped, and cheered for the well-known father/daughter show, which was swiftly becoming one of the strongest draws on the Strip.

Jack Pot and Trixie smiled at each other, then smoothly moved on to the next trick in the act. It was a mentalist performance, where Jack Pot stood blindfolded at center stage whilst Trixie circulated amongst the audience, borrowing items from the crowd for her father to identify, with unerring precision.

And the audience ate it up, unreservedly. It was impossible to say no to the bright-eyed, smiling young filly as she made her way around. Trixie was totally in her element, so endearingly eager, yet at the same time thoroughly confident, a total professional.

Twilight didn't need to ask how Trixie felt. She could see it in the showpony's eyes. This was where Trixie had always longed to be: working side-by-side with her father, bringing thrills and entertainment to endless crowds of enthusiastic fans. Not working as a solo show, trudging from town to town, struggling to make ends meet, scraping up whatever audiences she could... and in the end feeling, no matter how skilled she became, that she was always missing out on something really important...

... something that other ponies had...

"Let's go," Twilight said abruptly, getting up from her seat and heading up the aisle. With a final glance at Trixie, Tempest got up as well and trotted after her.

"But, they haven't gotten to the Abyssinian Rope Trick yet!" Discord whined. "That's my favorite!"

"Come on, Discord!"

"Oh, pooh!" Tossing aside his program, Discord got up and made his way up the aisle after them.

As he did, he glanced back at the simple, humble stage performer and her doting father. They were working together, wowing the audience with their shared skill and pride, not to mention the evident love that they each felt for the other.

Staring at them, for once the draconequus seemed not entirely sure of himself...

When they returned to the Library in Ponyville, Twilight found Applejack stepping out of the portal beside her.

"Wayall..." Applejack said, "that was kinda interesting, like Rarity said. But I cain't say I'm all that convinced. Maybe it's cause I'm so attached to Sweet Apple Acres. Kinda hard to see myself livin' anyplace else. But don't let me throw cold water on it. Everypony gets to make up their own mind, that's how this works, right?"

"Right," Twilight said, noncommittally.

Then, realizing something else was different, she peered upwards at her mane.

There was a crown sitting atop her head. Taking it off with her hooves, she stared at it. It had a large, star-shaped lavender gemstone, looking very much like the star in her cutie-mark. Looking around at her friends, she saw that their necklaces were all subtly different. They were more ornate than the simple clasps Trixie had bought for the Field gems. Each necklace held a gemstone with a shape that matched the pony's cutie-mark: an apple for Applejack, a diamond for Rarity, a balloon for Pinkie Pie, a butterfly for Fluttershy. And Tempest's was a double lightning bolt, similar to the mark on her armor.

"Of course," Twilight said, mainly to herself. "It was Trixie who fashioned the gems for the Field of Harmony, so these are..."

"... the real Elements of Harmony," Discord confirmed. He tapped Twilight's crown with a talon. "What do you think, Twilight? Just the sort of thing a future Princess of Equestria ought to wear, isn't it?"

"Oh, indeed!" Rarity agreed. "You know, Twilight, I've always thought it looks simply di-vine on you!"

"And..." Twilight breathed, "we found these... in Celestia and Luna's old castle... while we were defeating Nightmare Moon..."

She could feel the memory of that night unfurling in her mind. A different past, one in which these five ponies had travelled with her into the dark and forbidding Everfree Forest, to the castle of the Two Sisters... and their shared destiny.

"Such an adventure!" Discord marvelled. "Definitely the kind of thing that lasting friendships are based on." He grinned mischievously. "You know you really ought to write a book about it, Twilight. You and all your little friends. I'm sure it'd be a runaway best-seller..."

"Ohhh!" Fluttershy shuddered. "Don't remind me. I'm just glad Celestia teleported us home after we rescued her. I still can't believe I let you talk me into hiking all the way through the Everfree Forest. And then through that spooky old ruin. That was not my idea of fun, not at all!"

Discord looked panicky for a moment. Then, recovering, he snapped his claw.

And Fluttershy suddenly found her pet rabbit, Angel, sitting in her hooves. Surprised, she gave the rabbit a quick hug, then smiled at Discord. "Thanks! Somehow whenever I think about that night, cuddling Angel reminds me we all got back home safely, and that makes me feel so much better. Um... how did you know?"

"Oh, uh... just a lucky guess!" Discord waved dismissively. "Being the Element of Kindness, you probably find expressing kindness to small furry woodland creatures... comforting, or somesuch..."

"Well, I do," Fluttershy said. "And it's good of you to notice. You know, I'm not sure what Princess Celestia was so worried about. You can be a really good friend, Discord, if you only put your mind to it."

"Oh, I try, Fluttershy..." he said, weakly. "But it's so hard to tell. I'm not sure I've even really had a friend before."

"Well, you do now." She smiled up at him. "And maybe that's all you needed. Maybe it's all you were missing."

Discord stared at her, soulfully.

"You have no idea..." he said quietly.

While they were talking, Twilight was putting her Element crown back on. She found that it fitted over her mane perfectly, right behind her horn, almost as if it had been made for her. She peered up at it, uncomfortably.

"You all right, sugar-cube?" Applejack asked. "You're looking a mite peak'd, if you don't mind me sayin'."

"I'm fine," she lied. Then she blinked, realizing. "But wait, this is the Element of Magic," she said. "So what's happened to Starlight?"

"Oh! I'm right here!" Starlight waved at them from the librarian's desk. "I've finished organizing the magic reference section, like you asked. Though really, there wasn't much left to do. You and Spike have already done such a good job."

Coming around the desk, she trotted over, toting a large spell-scroll in her magic. She unrolled it to show to Twilight. "Check this out! I think I've just about reverse-engineered the spell behind the Elements. A few tweaks, and you'll be able to invoke the spell way faster. No more waiting for the storage loop to connect the gems and warm up before you can fire it off."

"That's great, Starlight," Twilight said weakly. "You're really good with magic, you know?"

"Oh, please!" Starlight waved a hoof. "I'm just a dabbler. Nowhere near your level. That's why I'm here, to learn from the very best!"

"Like teacher, like student... eh, Twilight?" Discord hinted with a grin.

"So!" Starlight said. "What's next?" She bounded excitedly. "Oh, tell me you've got some really fun assignment for me, Twilight!"

"Actually, she has." Discord said smoothly. "If I may, Twilight? Since we're not replacing Twilight as part of our little test, I thought it might be fun to let her assistant Starlight have a go at the portal, just to see what kind of life she might have had, if things had only been a little different."

"Ooh! Can I?" Then Starlight suddenly looked uneasy. "But wait a minute. Being accepted to Celestia's School as Twilight's assistant, that's gonna be hard to top. Seriously, Twilight. If it wasn't for you and Tempest, I wouldn't have had a chance of getting in. Not the way I mess around with magic, doing stuff on the fly and so forth."

"Well, all you really needed," Discord said, "was a good friend to help keep you grounded. And you might be surprised at how well that turns out!"

Starlight shrugged. "Sure, I'm game!" She looked at Twilight. "What do you say? Can I? Oh, please say yes!"

Twilight bit her lip. Then she nodded.

"How could I say no?"

"Where are we?" Twilight asked.

She stared around at the tiny but immaculately kept village. Its high-peaked stone-walled homes, topiary gardens, fountains, and shady trotting paths made it look like a suburb of Canterlot itself, yet it was clearly located somewhere on the plains. Twilight could see Canterlot Mountain itself in the far distance.

"Well, let me just check the travel guide..." said Discord. He was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, and baggy shorts. Adjusting his glasses, he thumbed through an A to Z of Equestria.

"Ah, here we are!" he said. He showed Twilight a page in the book... on which there were tiny animated images of himself, Twilight, and Tempest, superimposed on a street map. "I thought so," he went on. "This is Sire's Hollow. And if I'm not mistaken --" He looked around, then pointed. "That is the house we want!"

Twilight trotted over and then peered in through a front window. Inside, she saw a small library and two young ponies, seated at opposite sides of a table. Looking closer, Twilight stared at them in amazement. The small lavender filly on the right, that was clearly Starlight, looking only a few moons younger than when Twilight had first met her, pigtails and all. And the ginger colt on the left... that just had to be Sunburst.

"Starlight told me about this," Twilight said. "It's the day Sunburst got his cutie mark... and she didn't. It made her feel so alone, so abandoned..."

"Well, now," Discord said, "we can't have that, can we? Not for an old friend like Starlight. Ahem... I mean an old friend of yours, Twilight..."

The two young ponies had apparently unloaded the entire contents of one of the bookcases to play a game of Book Stack. Twilight watched as Starlight fired up her horn and gently... gently... teased a book out of the bottom of the stack on the table, allowing the rest to settle softly in its place.

For a moment, Starlight grinned proudly, holding the book in her magic, then moved to add it to the top of the tower.

And the entire tower of books unexpectedly swayed, and began tumbling towards her.

Starlight shrieked, and flinched, shutting her eyes. Knowing how important the moment was, Twilight had to forcibly restrain herself from using her own magic to yank the terrified filly out of the way.

Sunburst lit his own horn, and tried to grab the entire tower of books with his magic. He just barely managed it, straining mightily to hold them all. And then...

Discord snapped his claw.

"Uh, Starlight?" Sunburst called. "A little help?"

Surprised, Starlight quickly fired up her own horn and latched her own magic around the collapsing tower of books. Between the two of them, the ponies divvied up the volumes, separating the pile into two swirls of books, circulating around each them.

A sudden gleam surrounded each pony. They rose into the air. There was a brief, sharp flash of magic. The books flew across the room and slammed back into place on the bookshelves. In alphabetical order, Twilight's bookish mind automatically noted.

Starlight and Sunburst landed gently on the ground, staring at their flanks, and then at each other, with wide grins on their faces. Both of them had gotten their cutie-marks. Sunburst's matched his name; Starlight's was her familiar star-and-swirls mark.

Overjoyed, the two ponies hugged each other. Then they raced out of the room, and out through front door. They scampered across the village square to where their parents were chatting. Stellar Flare and Sunspot excitedly grabbed up Sunburst. Firelight did the same with Starlight. They carried them triumphantly around the square and the village's occupants all gathered around, oohing and ahhing. And speculating -- as parents will do -- on what talents the children's marks represented.

"They got their cutie-marks together," Twilight breathed.

"And," Discord added, "they were both accepted to Celestia's School. I'll spare you the drama of them saying goodbye to their parents, finding their way around the School, rising to the top of their class. The point is, they did it together. Oh, let's just skip ahead to the good bit, see how it all turned out..."

Discord grabbed at the scenery in front of them, and yanked. It rolled upward like a window shade. Revealed in its place was the purple-walled Tudor-ish facade of Celestia's School, with the broad green lawn in front of it. And sitting in the middle of the lawn, Twilight saw Starlight and Sunburst. Each of them had a stack of textbooks beside them, and there was a picnic lunch spread out between them.

And they were apparently engaged in a tug-of-war over an apple.

"Is that... grr... the best you've got?" Sunburst snarled, his horn singing with power.

"Oh, ho!" Starlight replied, her voice tense with strain, "I'm just warming up! It... is... on!"

The two of them fought determinedly, neither giving an inch.

"What the hay?" Twilight said. "I thought they were friends?"

"Well, why don't you go ask them?" Discord suggested.

Twilight did so, trotting over to them. "Excuse me?"

"Twilight?" Starlight's eyes went wide...and she let go of the apple.

"Waughh!" Sunburst tumbled backwards, head-over-hooves. He landed heavily, upside down, with his wizard's cloak wrapped around his face. Then sitting up, he shoved aside his cloak, adjusted his spectacles... and stared, eyes goggling.

"Woah! You're Twilight Sparkle!" Quickly brushing off his cloak, he danced in excitement. "Starlight! It's Twilight Sparkle!"

"Yeah, I kinda got that. How are you, Twilight?"

"What?" Sunburst yelped. "You know her? You never told me, Starlight!"

"I... didn't wanna seem like I was showing off." Starlight shrugged. "Twilight's been kind enough to help me with my magic studies now and then."

Sunburst was speechless, in awe of the very idea.

"What's going on here?" Twilight demanded. "Why are the two of you fighting?"

"Oh, we're not fighting, Twilight," Starlight replied. "We're magic-wrestling! See, it helps Sunburst work on building up his reserves, and me... well, it helps me remember to keep a lid on my power. Seriously, Sunburst? If I'd wanted that apple, I'd have gotten it!"

Sunburst wasn't paying attention. He was staring at Twilight in utter fanpony rapture, nervously adjusting his spectacles. "Can I... have your autograph?" he asked. "I mean, if you wouldn't mind? Starlight and I are really big fans of you and your friends. Seriously, you're like, the Elements of Harmony and everything!"

"Well, sure..." Twilight said. "But first, I wanted to ask Starlight how things were going."

"Oh, like gangbusters, Twilight! You wouldn't believe it!" Starlight beamed. "Sunburst and I are working on a term project that's gonna blow away the class. Ahem, not literally, I mean. That is, if we can get hold of a reference work on apparition spells I've been looking for. Most of the good stuff is locked away in the Archives, and you don't get in there without being somepony pret-ty important." She grinned sheepishly. "I don't suppose... you might, uhh...?"

"Depends on the book," Twilight said carefully. "But sure, if I can lend a hoof, I want to."

"Thanks, Twilight," Starlight sighed. "You don't know how much it means to me, having such good friends. Yep! If it wasn't for you and Sunburst here... I just don't know what I'd be doing right now!"

"So... you're really happy here?" Twilight asked. "Going to classes, studying magic..."

"What kind of question is that? This is a dream come true, Twilight! Oh, yeah, sure, at some point I'm going to have to get serious, think about what I want to do with my life. But for right now..." She gazed around at the School grounds, at the other students trotting back and forth between classes. "I get to hang out with Sunburst, and soak up all the knowledge I can fit in my tiny pony mind. It just doesn't get any better than this!"

"I'm glad for you, Starlight," Twilight said. "I really want you to be happy."

"Something wrong, Twilight?" Starlight asked. "You look worried."

"No, nothing's wrong," Twilight assured her. "Nothing at all. I'm glad it's working out for you. Really, I am."

She willingly gave both of them her autograph, and got the title of the book Starlight was looking for. It didn't sound dangerous, but with Starlight's knack for improvisation, you never knew.

And then, saying goodbye, she trotted away disconsolately. Tempest followed along right beside her, and Discord ambled along behind them both at his own pace.

"How could I have been so blind, Tempest?" Twilight said. "I've been forcing each of you to be somepony you're not. How could I be so selfish?"

"Twilight..."

"And you worst of all!" Twilight looked up at her. "You've been following me around so selflessly, day and night, like my own personal bodyguard! I never really thought about that until now." She shook her head, a determined look on her face. "That's not right, Tempest! That's not right at all. You deserve better. All of you do!"

Twilight headed off back towards the portal. After a moment, so did Tempest.

And so did Discord... suppressing an overjoyed grin all the while.

Twilight stepped out of the portal, with Tempest and Discord right beside her.

And nopony else.

Because I'm the element of Friendship Magic, Twilight reminded herself. Friendship is Magic... it's one element, not two, just like Discord said. So there's no place for Starlight. Not even as my assistant...

"Hey there, Twi!" a cheerful voice called. "What'd you see over there?"

"Nothing much, Sunset."

"Sunset?" Applejack looked puzzled. "Who the hay is Sunset?"

"Oh... sorry, Applejack." Twilight shook her head. "I'm just... feeling a little frazzled right now."

"Well, I shouldn't wonder!" Rarity replied. "Popping in and out of other realities like that, over and over. No surprise you're feeling turned around, dearest." She held up her snout loftily. "Ponies just aren't made for galloping about so!"

"Speak for yourself, Sister!" Pinkie Pie stotted energetically. "I'm so wound up right now, I could bounce on a pogo stick all the way around Ponyville!" She grinned insanely. "Hey, what a great idea! 'Scuse me!" She blasted away through the front door, slamming it behind her.

"Um," Fluttershy offered, "maybe you should take a break, Twilight? That's what I'd do, if I felt I'd been overdoing it."

Discord grinned. "You should listen to this one, Twilight!" he said. "She is the element of Kindness, after all..."

Twilight nodded. "That's a good idea, Moon... I mean, Fluttershy. I'll just... be up in my room."

Turning, Twilight trudged away, up the stairs. Her hooves felt like lead weights. Her thoughts were whirling.

I don't know what I was thinking. This is how things are supposed to be, with each of my friends -- my friends from Ponyville -- having the Element that was meant for them all along...

Worried, Spike quickly moved to follow her. And so did Grubber... until an iron-armored hoof landed on his shoulder, forcefully holding him back.

"I think she wants some alone-time right now," Tempest warned.

Grubber glanced up at her, then nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right, boss..."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Twilight gazed around helplessly. It all felt so familiar: the loft bedroom insulated with books, the comfortable bed set by the oval window on the upper level.

And yet, at the same time, it wasn't familiar at all. It was totally new, like she'd never set hoof here before. And it didn't help, not in the least, that even so...

... it all felt so much like home.

"Twi? Are you okay?"

Twilight turned, and found Spike trotting into the room after her. Reaching out a hoof, she pulled him into a hug. "I don't know, Spike," she said quietly. "It's a really tough decision to make. So many ponies' lives depend on it."

"Huh. I didn't think it was even that close," Spike said. "After all, we're a team, right? You, me, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy... even Tempest and 'ol Grubber. Yeah! Nothing can change that, right?"

"Oh, Spike..."

At the bottom of the stairs, Tempest turned to gaze round at the other ponies.

"Let's let Twilight be for a while." Her voice was cold and forbidding. Her tone brooked no contradiction. "We can pick this up again in the morning."

"Yeah... makes sense..." Applejack eyed the Commander nervously. The other ponies quickly nodded as well. None of them wanted to run afoul of Twilight's self-appointed guardian, with her decidedly touchy temper.

Tempest nodded curtly, then eyed Discord. "We can trust you to behave yourself until then?"

"Oh, of course!" he replied. He was suddenly dressed in a green sash and beret. "Filly guide's honor! Although," he added with a crafty grin, "just out of curiosity... what would you do if I didn't?"

Tempest's smile in return was cool and unruffled.

"Would you like to be mounted on the wall head up... or head down?"

Discord's smile disappeared. Grimacing, he glanced around. "I'll just... go find somewhere nice and quiet to be good for a while..." With a flash of chaos magic, he departed.

Grubber shook a fist at where he'd been standing. "Yeah, you better be good! Remember, she knows where you live!" Then he looked up at Tempest. "Uh, you do know where that is, right, boss?"

Tempest just smirked, pleased with herself.

Then she looked around at the other ponies, at their shocked expressions. "What?" she asked. "You have to draw the line with him somewhere..."

Early the next morning, Twilight was still in bed.

And Tempest was in the bath.

More precisely, it was an old laundry tub she'd dragged into the downstairs utility room she'd refitted as a makeshift guardroom. With her armor hanging on its rack nearby, Tempest sat in the tepid, soapy water, her face somber and pensive.

There was a flash of magic, and Discord suddenly appeared, wearing a shower-cap and towel and carrying a rubber duck. "... Winter wrap-up, winter wrap-up... Oh, ho! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was occupied."

Tempest merely glanced at him. "You just have no concept of personal space, do you?"

"Me? What about him?" He gestured at Grubber, standing at attention beside the tub with a large scrub-brush held in one paw.

"Him?" Tempest snorted. "He's hired help. He doesn't count."

"Yeah, that's right!" Grubber added. "I... wait, what?" He looked at Tempest worriedly.

"Interesting..." Discord casually glanced around. "You're here... and your armor is over there... which means..."

Tempest coolly held up a foreleg. There was a small metal band around her fetlock, glowing a fierce shade of green.

"I always wondered what this little bauble was for," she said icily. "And now I know. So don't get any ideas, Discord."

"Perish the thought!" Discord swatted at the lightbulb flitting about over his head like an errant moth. And then he joined Grubber in looking at Tempest in concern.

"She really does matter to you?" he said. "Twilight, I mean. It's not just an act, to land yourself a cushy job. You really would do anything to protect her."

Tempest flicked at the bathwater with a hoof. "It's who I am. I don't argue with it. I just try to live through it."

"Well," Discord said, "she's really so fortunate, you know. Having the one pony in all Equestria who can stop me dead in my tracks, as her own personal watchdog."

"Hardly matters now, does it?" Tempest said. "You've got her so wound up, so convinced she needs to do this. To let all of us go, out of a sense of personal responsibility -- out of friendship! Because that's what she's really good at." She sighed. "And I'll be gone, too. Off in some oh-so-wonderful alternate life." She smiled wryly. "I can even guess how you're going to do it."

"Well..." Discord said, uncertainly, "if that's how you really feel, why don't you speak up? Say something? She'd listen to you..."

"Because it's not my place, Discord!" Tempest glared at him. "I said I'd support her, whatever she thought was right, and I will. She deserves that from me!"

"How so?"

"Because she gave me back my life! She helped me to be something other than the pony I was turning into!" Tempest stared down at the bathwater, her breath hissing between her teeth. "So wherever she leads, I'll follow, whether I like it or not. I'm only her guardian, and if need be her bouncer. It's not for me to tell her what she should or shouldn't do." Then she tossed her hooves in frustration. "Oh, why do I even bother? It's something you just wouldn't get, Discord! You think it all revolves around you."

"But, but... it does all revolve around me! Well, no, let's be honest, that's not true. There are some things even I can't do. Though I try not to dwell on that. Takes all the joy out of life, really..."

He sighed, then stared at Tempest thoughtfully. "You know," he finally said, "I was right all along..."

His voice suddenly became sadly hollow.

"... you really are the Element of Loyalty..."

Looking unusually regretful, he vanished. And Tempest sat quietly for a while herself.

Then she snorted crossly.

"You going to stand there all day?"

"Ooop! Right, boss!" Grubber quickly wielded his brush and set to work scrubbing her back.

Later that morning, they were all gathered in the Library's main room, near the portal. Twilight and Tempest were standing together in front of it. Discord was standing off to the side, giving them some space.

"Applejack, you know what to do?" Tempest said sharply.

"Ah think so," the farm-pony replied. She was dressed in Tempest's armor and shoes. "If Discord gives us any grief, Rarity charges this puppy up, then I give him what for. But lordy, Tempest!" she added. "This thing weighs a ton! Feels like I got a cartload of apples on mah back. How do you manage it so easily?"

Tempest gestured at her broken horn. "All that unused magic had to go somewhere."

"Is that really necessary?" Discord complained.

Tempest looked at him. "Just so you know that we have a contingency plan."

"But you ponies have the Elements! You could turn me back into objet d'art any time you wanted to."

"I'll trust the magic I'm used to, thanks. It might be a little on the shady side, but it works."

Then Tempest felt a nudge at her foreleg. Looking down, she found Grubber staring up at her.

"What about me, boss?"

Tempest looked at Discord. "Him too," she said flatly.

"Are you sure?" Discord asked. "You might be disappointed. You know the kind of crowd he hung out with..."

"I can handle him." She smirked at the hedgehog. "He knows what's good for him. Don't you?"

"You bet, Tempest!" Grubber grinned. Then he faced forward, balling up his paws and scowling determinedly.

Tempest looked at Twilight. "Are you ready?"

"I should be asking you that," Twilight replied. "Are you sure about this, Tempest?"

"I trust you, Twilight." The larger pony nodded. "You'll make the right call. And, just so you know..."

Leaning closer, she whispered in her ear:

"I've never minded... not once."

Tempest nodded reassuringly, and Twilight managed a smile. Then, facing the portal, they stepped through together...

It was another small village, this one set in a valley amidst willow trees, pine forest on the hilltops all around it. The houses were organically styled, almost mushroom-shaped. Their sloping thatched roofs rose to tall chimney-spires, designed to keep live sparks from falling back and setting the thatch alight.

Running across the village square were three young unicorns: a cyan colt, a lime-green filly... and a familiar-looking maroon filly with a plume-like mane and tail. The three of them were tossing a ball back and forth with magic from their horns.

As they approached closer, Twilight blinked, startled. There were words floating before her in her vision, as she looked at each of the three children. According to the words, the colt was named Spring Rain, and the filly was Glitter Drops.

Twilight glanced up at >>> DISCORD!!! <<<, who looked innocent and twiddled his thumbs idly.

"... and I still can't believe you went in there!" Spring Rain was saying as the three children drew closer.

"You stood up to an Ursa!" Glitter Drops added. "I mean, get out! That took guts!"

"Right, guts. I was so incredibly brave." The maroon filly caught the ball with her magic, projected from her whole and undamaged horn. "So brave that as soon as I saw the yellow of its eyes, I grabbed the ball and got out of there. Urgh!" She shivered. "I'm never doing anything that stupid again."

The other ponies exchanged a guilty look. "We're sorry," Spring Rain said. "We shouldn't have made you go in there. You coulda got hurt, bad."

"I'm tough." Tempest shrugged. "I can take it. Maybe. But next time, one of you goes in there." She grinned. "I'll be waiting outside to catch you when you come running out screaming, like I did!"

The three of them giggled at that.

Tempest looked round, and caught sight of Twilight and Discord. Her eyes went wide.

"Go on ahead," she told her friends. "I'll catch up. There's a... grown-up over there I need to talk to."

"Is it somepony who's come to adopt you? Ouch!" Spring Rain winced as Glitter Drops punched him fiercely. "Sorry. We just know how much it means to you."

"Nah. It's just... somepony I know," Tempest said. "A county counselor, come to check up on me. Go on. I'll see you in a bit."

Willingly, the filly and colt took the ball in their magic and gamboled off together, tossing it back and forth.

And Tempest turned to smile up at Twilight.

"Hey, Twilight," she said.

"Hi, Tempest," Twilight replied.

"This is a bit of a switch, isn't it? I mean, now you're the B.S.B.F.F."

"Yeah... I guess I am. So, I gotta ask. Are you happy here?"

Tempest shrugged. "I've got my horn back. I've got my friends back. I've got my home back, such as it was. The Foal Center wasn't great, but they looked after me. I have no complaints."

"But are you happy?" Twilight insisted.

Tempest looked around.

"Yeah," she admitted. "I am. I'm happier right now than I can remember being, ever since... well, since this very day." She looked up at Twilight, and smiled. "Honest, Twilight. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be all right. But... you look after yourself, huh?"

"As best I can. With Spike and all the others..." She paused, then went on. "... I mean, all the others from Ponyville, helping me out."

"They're a good group of ponies. They'll back you up when you need it."

"Well..." Twilight glanced around, looking for something else to say so she didn't have to stop. "I really hope we run into each other again at some point. I have no idea when, or where, but..."

"Don't worry," the maroon filly said. "We're bound to run into each other, sooner or later. Now," she added, "gimme a hug like you're aching to. And then get outta here... before you have me crying, too."

Twilight did. Then she wiped her eyes and waved, as Tempest turned and galloped off, chasing after her friends. She kept on waving until the maroon filly was completely out of sight, in case she looked back. But she never did.

Then Twilight sighed.

"Let's go. We're done here. You win, Discord."

"I do?" he asked, surprised. "Just like that?"

"What do you want from me?" Twilight glared at him. "An award ceremony? You were right, I was wrong. Are you happy now?"

"Well..."

"Oh, come on. Let's go!" Turning, she stormed off, back toward the portal.

Discord just stared after her.

"Am I happy?" he asked, mostly to himself. "I suppose I must be. I won, after all." He scratched his antler, puzzled. "So why don't I feel it?"

Shrugging, he followed after Twilight, leaving the quiet picturesque village behind them...

...over which early afternoon stormclouds were just beginning to gather...

"So, that was cool," Rainbow Dash said, swooping out of the portal over Twilight's head. "Not sure I'd really call it awesome, though."

"I don't think any of us have been 'zactly won over," Applejack agreed. "The alternate lives we each saw were different, all right. Ah'm not sure I'd say they were better."

"Agreed," said Rarity, primly. "For example... if you'd had me staying at the Palace in Canterlot, making inroads with the nobility and becoming the talk of the town, or something like that, I might agree that would be a pretty nice change from life here. But that's just me. We all have our little pipe-dreams, I suppose..."

"I dunno," Pinkie Pie said, shrugging. "I'm happy pretty much anywhere there's whipped cream." So saying, she sprayed an overgenerous serving from a container into her mouth, smacking her lips messily. "Mmmm!"

"What do you think, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "Did any of our alternate lives seem better to you?"

"I... haven't quite decided, Fluttershy," Twilight said. "I'll think it over, and let you all know."

"Well, whichever way this goes," Rarity said, "I assume this means Discord will be hanging around from now on?"

"Oh, I'll pop in," Discord said, breezily. "From time to time. Whenever I'm needed. Don't want to wear out my welcome."

"Uhhh..." Rainbow asked, "who gets to decide when you're needed, Discord?"

"Why me, of course!" Discord beamed. "After all, I should know when a little dash of chaos is just what the situation calls for!"

"A bad penny, and so forth?" Applejack quipped.

"Now really, Applejack!" Fluttershy said. "So far Discord has kept his word. He's been a perfect gentleman all along. He's willing to be reformed, just like Celestia asked, so we should be welcoming and hospitable in return."

"I'm just wonderin' when the other three shoes are gonna drop," Applejack said. Then she shrugged. "But you're probably right, Fluttershy. We should give him the benefit of the doubt. Not like he's caused much of a ruckus so far. Right, Twilight?"

"No," Twilight said quietly. "Not much at all."

"Okay, look, this was fun and all?" Rainbow said. "But I gotta get back to weather patrol. There were some stray stormclouds that needed corralling, and there'll be no unplanned rainstorms on my watch! See ya!" She blasted away through an open window, her rainbow contrail fading swiftly behind her.

"Ah better get back to the farm," Applejack said. "Got some trees that need buckin'. Lemme know what you decide, Twilight!"

"And I've got cakes to tend to!" Pinkie giggled. "I'm sitting for Pound and Pumpkin again! Yay!" Stotting happily, she headed out the door after Applejack.

"And I'll be over at the Carousel, Twilight, if you need me," Rarity said, trotting out the door herself.

Discord crooked his lion-paw elbow to Fluttershy. "May I walk you back to your cottage, m'dear?" he asked.

Fluttershy giggled. "I'd like that! I was going to check on Angel anyway. And we can chat on the way. I've been meaning to ask you... where exactly do you go when you disappear like that?"

"Well, Fluttershy, I have an alternate dimension of my own. Wonderful place to live, very chaotic. Of course, I haven't been there in a millennia, so it's probably gone all mend and measure in my absence. I'll have to re-chaos the place all over again..."

Fluttershy laughed as they strolled out through the door together.

And Twilight sighed. She turned, and went back upstairs to bed again.

This was going to take some getting used to.

"This is where you live?" Discord asked. He held up his claw and paw, framing his view, tilting his head this way and that. "I could have sworn it wasn't quite so... earthy. But my memory isn't what it used to be. I mean," he added hurriedly, "my memory of other places, other cottages similar to this, er... rococo whatsit, that I've seen in times past."

"I was fortunate it was available," Fluttershy said. "Since the cottage is so close to the Everfree, it was kind of abandoned. The town was happy to have somepony take it over and give it the care and attention it needed. It took a bit of work, but I made it a home... for myself, and all my dear little animal friends." So saying, she scooped up a squirrel with a hoof and nuzzled it happily.

"Hmmm..." Discord mused. "I was just thinking it could use a little, I don't know..." He waved his claw. "Touching up! A pony as kind and understanding as you are ought to live somewhere appropriate, like a grand estate or something. How about, ah..."

He snapped his claw. In a flash, the sod-roofed, birdhouse-dotted cottage was replaced by a towering, pillared mansion, with a white picket fence, a sweeping brick path, and trickling fountains.

Fluttershy put her hooves to her snout, gasping in surprise. "Oh, my!"

"What? Too much?" Discord quickly snapped again, and the cottage was back as it was -- to the great relief of the birds, who had been flittering about trying to figure out where their homes had gone.

"I'm so sorry, Fluttershy," Discord said, with an abject look. "I did promise not to let my magic get out of hoof. But it can be so difficult to remember at times. Lord of Chaos, and so forth! I forget stuff all the time." He looked somber. "In fact, sometimes I think I've forgotten far more than I'll ever really know..."

"It's okay," Fluttershy said, relieved. "Your heart was in the right place."

"You won't... tell them about this, will you?"

"Of course not!" Fluttershy giggled. "It was a wonderful joke!"

"Joke?" Discord stared at her, offended.

"Why, yes! So long as you put things back the way they were, and don't hurt anypony, who minds a little prank now and then? And you do it so easily! With Pinkie Pie, there's always some cleanup after."

"Well, I... uh..." Discord came to a halt, thoroughly flummoxed. "You're very understanding, my dear," he finally said.

"It comes with the territory -- Element of Kindness, and so forth! Come on in. I'll make some tea, and we can chat a bit." She looked concerned. "Unless there's somewhere else you have to be?"

"Hmmm!" Discord said, haughtily. "Let me just check my calendar..." He hauled out his ten-thousand year calendar, perused it briefly, then made the twenty-ton stone disc vanish. "Nope! I'm completely free for the next few decades."

"Oh, good! Come along then. I want to check on Angel."

Discord watched as the butter-colored pegasus trotted contentedly away, up the dirt path to her front door. There was a relieved, distracted smile on the draconequus's face. Then he glanced over his shoulder in the direction of Canterlot Mountain.

With an evil leer.

He pumped his lion paw in victory.

"Ye-ee-sss! You didn't think I could pull it off, did you? Ha! In your face, Celestia!"

Then he turned and marched away, proudly and triumphantly, after Fluttershy.

To Be Continued...

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro.
No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.

Author's Note

Next week... the conclusion.

(POOF!)
Oh, come on! That's supposed to be some sort of teaser for next week's episode? We can do better than that. Will Twilight Sparkle settle down and enjoy her new life in quiet little Ponyville? Will she undo all of Discord's hard work giving her friends better lives, by trying to get them all back? Will there be tea and cucumber sandwiches? Will Discord ever stop talking about himself in the third person? I don't know about you, but I want to find out, so see you next week! TTFN!
(POOF!)