Canterlot's train station was a mess.
No, that was an understatement. Twilight stood on the platform after disembarking the train, staring ahead at what was supposed to be the train station.
The sun was a disco ball, spinning around and casting beams of light down all over the place. The sky was no color, and yet every color at the same time. She could see reality being fractured, like a kaleidoscope, or like a mirror, shattered into a thousand pieces, each offering its own twisted reflection.
Ponies danced around like ballerinas, yet their heads were the heads of rabbits, with their ears almost as long as her tail. A line of massive, pony-sized ants marched in sync away from the train, as if it was an invading army. Their pincers were large enough that one of then managed to snap a marble pillar in half as it walked by.
The ant didn't even seem to notice or care.
And the top of the pillar summarily fell towards the sky, only to fall into the, as Rainbow Dash had informed her, cotton candy clouds. The pillar almost made it through the clouds, only for the clouds to catch the pillar and launch it back down at the train station. And then the pillar came to a stop and rebounded again, shooting back up into the blanket of pink clouds as the clouds enveloping it were a rubber band. In the end, no matter how long she stared at it, the pillar kept jerking back and forth with no signs of slowing.
At length, Twilight closed her eyes, then sucked in a deep breath. Her brain simply couldn't process all she was seeing, and so it did the only thing that it was remotely capable of doing: trying to ignore it.
Unfortunately, that didn't really work because of how insane everything was.
Twilight opened her eyes.
Sure, there might have been a few things that actually made sense somewhere around there! But if there were, she couldn't see it for everything else- too much was happening at once, and almost all of it was something she couldn't process.
She turned her head to the left, looked back behind her, then to the right and once again checked behind her.
Her five friends and batpony guard all wore squints as they surveyed the madness. Spike hugged her leg, and for a moment, she wished Spike wasn't a baby dragon. She wished Spike was an adult dragon so that their roles could be switched: Spike could carry and take care of her, instead of her having to take care of him.
Her expression fell into a scowl. "I don't even..." she hissed at the insanity. As if insulted by it, the madness somehow physically struck her. Her head jerked to the left as she winced, and a short lance of pain went through her head. She sucked in a breath as she recoiled. She groaned and pressed her eyes closed as her head throbbed, marking the start of a headache.
"So... uh... this is happening," Applejack noted.
Twilight shot a glare at Applejack before closing her eyes and inhaling. 'Nope.' She opened her eyes and turned her head to the right.
Midnight stood right beside her, casually nodding her head as it drifted left and right. Midnight's eyes looked unfocused as she stared at the batpony. Then Midnight blinked, turned to face her, and oh-so-innocently asked, "Is it just me or does Canterlot look different from normal?"
Twilight stared at Midnight. Without looking away from Midnight, she was certain all of her friends did too. Except for Pinkie Pie. She saw Rarity and Fluttershy past Midnight, both of whom turned their heads to keep staring at the batpony. 'No, really?' came to mind. She clenched her eyes shut, turned her head back to face the marching line of ants, then opened her eyes.
One of them carried a flag that had the head of an ant wearing a golden crown. In the center of the crown was the map of Equestria, rather than a jewel. She squinted at that for a moment, then put it aside as best she could. Thinking about it made her head hurt, and really, even trying to think about it was a mistake. "I have no idea what is going on. I assume we're supposed to get to the castle?" she asked flatly.
No answer. Twilight turned her head right and looked at Midnight. The batpony shrugged dismissively. "Probably."
Twilight forced a bold smile and inhaled before calling out, "Well then!" She paused and let the forced smile vanish. More quietly, she ordered, "Let's go." She was the first pony of her little group to walk ahead, and the insanity of that wasn't lost on her! Excluding Spike, she was the youngest! Unless Midnight was younger than her, which she doubted. And she was somehow their leader!
But at least it made slightly more sense- or maybe she had lost her mind. 'Yes, that makes more sense than all of this combined!' Clearly, she was imagining all of this. Clearly, she was either dreaming, in a coma, or had lost her mind. Maybe Nightmare Moon wasn't even real!
Nothing changed.
She managed to take one step forward before her right forehoof slid out from under her. Her eyes widened as she felt that sinking feeling where one realizes they're falling. She shut her eyes and clenched her jaw, bracing herself for the inevitable backstab of gravity. She felt her chest smack against the ground, making her grunt as the impact forced air out of her lungs. "Ugghh..."
"Twilight!" her friends called out in near-unison.
Twilight let the groan continue for a few seconds. She barely opened her eyes before squinting. The marble looked glossy and oily bubbles slowly and spontaneously inflated and then hovered away from the platform. Where her chest hit the platform, there was suddy foam. 'Soap. Of course.'
Because that certainly made perfect sense.
She managed to lift her head up and look back just in time to see Fluttershy go sliding across the platform while spinning around in circles. The poor pegasus looked equal parts bewildered and confused, just staring ahead not knowing what was happening. Fluttershy didn't even try to use her wings to stop herself, rather, Twilight could see just how tight Fluttershy had them pressed against her sides. She let out a sigh.
Rainbow Dash landed beside her. Twilight barely had time to register that before the pegasus had fallen on her face, groaning, "Whaa..?"
Rarity yelped in alarm as she joined Twilight on the platform. "My mane!" she shrieked. "Do you know how hard it will be to fix this mess!?" was her infuriated demand.
To Twilight, it didn't look that bad. In all honesty, the chocolate milk rain had made a bigger mess, though working together, her and Rarity had managed to clean everypony up fairly well with their magic.
Applejack apparently had the most common sense and stayed back. Twilight looked back towards Fluttershy just in time to see her hit the wall. She winced and felt her ears press against her mane as Fluttershy let out a soft, sharp whimper. Her friend stumbled back from the wall, wobbling and somehow not slipping on the soapy floor.
Although the floor wasn't shining or glossy now.
Twilight looked down. The soap was gone, and the suds in her fur weren't even there. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. "Come on..." she groaned. Not even five minutes- or perhaps it had been longer and she didn't realize it- and already this was a disaster.
Today had started off so well! And now it just sucked.
Manehattan had been better than this! Sure, in Manehattan she had been scared, but at least it made sense! At least she could wrap her mind around the 'why' and 'how,' but here? How in Tartarus could anypony explain this!? Wild magic? Sure! But no! Why!? How!?
She stood up wanting to scream. The very act of standing up made her head hurt worse. As hard as it was, she forced the scream back. Screaming would neither fix nor help anything. Maybe she would feel better, but it would probably wouldn't reassure her friends any, and they were, for whatever reason, counting on her to lead them.
In a way, it was nice. They respected her and thought so highly of her. They trusted her and had faith in her abilities, even when she didn't.
She stood there for a moment as her friends picked themselves back up and gathered around her again. Rainbow stood beside Fluttershy, hugging her. To her relief, she heard Fluttershy say, "I'm okay." Rarity fussed with her mane, using her brush to try to fix whatever had suddenly made her normally flowing mane a mess of tangles and sudden, jarring zigzags. She tried not to stare.
Spike clambered up onto Twilight's back and settled down on her withers. Midnight giggled, but Twilight ignored both the giggle and the batpony's teasing comment of, "Free pony rides!"
Twilight took a breath and steeled her nerves then galloped towards the street and called, "Come on, girls!"
In hindsight, galloping ahead to lead the charge was probably a bad idea. Fortunately, she didn't fall down again. She heard the galloping hoofsteps of the rest of the girls as she charged ahead and, unsurprisingly, Applejack fell in sync with her and galloped beside her effortlessly. Rainbow flew at her right, and then Midnight galloped at Rainbow's immediate right. The rest of the girls closed in as well, yet she somehow kept the lead. Her friends probably wanted her to stay at the front.
Even though galloping absolutely sucked. She was a student, not an athlete!
They managed to race down the stairs to the street without tripping over themselves. The marching line of ants turned to look at them, which made her fur stand on end, but nothing came of it. Eventually, they passed the ant leading the pseudo-charge towards the castle.
But even then, the street wasn't deserted. Ponies ran back and forth as pink clouds of cotton candy chased them. The chocolate milk rain shot towards the ponies, even against the wind, as if directed by some higher power. Some ponies even ran in place, staring back at the clouds, not realizing they weren't making any progress.
And that was just what made the most sense. There were ponies who danced in the chocolate milk rain, spinning around and around so fast they blurred. There were pegasi whose wings were on their ears, and unicorns whose horns were forks, spoons, and sporks. Fish swam through the air, their mouths opening and closing and bubbles aimlessly wondering out to drift up into the sky. Buildings hovered in the air, not caring that it should have been impossible for anypony, save for the most powerful unicorns and alicorns, to have done so.
The grass they passed either ended up looking like a blue checkerboard, or, if she made the mistake of staring too long, a window into some deep, dark, infinite void that seemed to hunger for something more. Leaves acted like they tried to fly away from their branches- sometimes even taking the whole tree with them.
It made her headache worse. And then she simply didn't care about what was going on. So what if it didn't make any sense!? She didn't care! It was too much for a filly like her to deal with.
Nightmare Moon would take care of it, she was certain.
But there were no spells she could think of that could do this on such a large scale. 'What kind of magic is this anyway!?' her mind cried out.
The certainty twisted into uncertainty in her chest, and she felt like she left her stomach behind in Ponyville. The doubt, 'She called us...' whispered in her mind, and then her mind raced with thoughts of, 'She doesn't need us, right? I mean, are we even connected to the Elements of Harmony? I don't even know how to use them! I'm overthinking this.' She tried to reassure herself, 'She'll fix this. She just wants to talk to us is all!'
But if that was the case, why was the world still insane?
She managed to believe her reasoning for all of five seconds until the sun fell below the horizon. The moon ascended into the sky, and her hooves skidded on the thankfully-soap-free street. Her friends followed suit, all coming to a silent stop just like her.
As the moon ascended in the west she stared at it. The mare on the moon seemed to be literally crying. The same sort of dark craters somehow jumped off the moon from where the eye was and arced down into space, where they sparkled like stars, before fading.
The night felt cold and uncaring, callous and distant. There was nopony there to comfort Princess Celestia, if she was crying.
And she wanted to cry too.
"Hey," Midnight called.
Twilight managed to look away from the moon. As her gaze fell on Midnight, she found the edges of her vision blurred. The batpony gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "It'll be alright," was all Midnight said.
Twilight wasn't sure she could believe it.
"Heck yeah, it'll be alright!" Rainbow called out, beating her wings harder to launch herself another foot into the air as she pumped her right forehoof up. She smiled boldly and swooped back down to her prior position and said, "We'll figure this out and fix things in no time!"
A smile pulled at Twilight's lips, even as her mind screamed out, 'How!?' What were they supposed to do if Nightmare Moon couldn't stop this!?
What were five mares and a filly supposed to do if two alicorns and the Royal Guard couldn't stop something!?
She took a deep breath and gave a timid nod. "Okay..." she managed to mumble. Midnight and Rainbow both gave her reassuring smiles.
"Come on, we got this!" Rainbow encouraged.
"Yeah, if anypony can figure out what's going on I'm sure it's you or Nightmare Moon, Twilight," Applejack voiced.
"I don't know, I think this is great!" called Pinkie Pie.
Twilight turned to look at Pinkie, then squinted. Pinkie sat under one of those pink clouds, her mouth wide open, letting the chocolate milk rain pour into her mouth, either oblivious to the rain staining her coat or not caring about the mess.
It was Pinkie Pie. But surely, she wasn't the only pony who thought it was weird, right? A quick glance around at her friends found all of them staring too, so no, she wasn't the only pony who thought it was weird.
"Pinkie!" Rarity chastised.
Pinkie lowered her head and frowned at Rarity as she whined in a high-pitched, "Whaaaat?"
Applejack gave a tired sigh. "Come on, Pinkie. We don't have time for this! We need to get to the castle to see what Nightmare Moon has to say."
"Aww!" Pinkie whined, her mane deflating slightly.
Twilight shook her head and turned back to look towards the castle. The moon silhouetted it. She tried not to look up at the moon, but she still saw those tears flying off. 'Is that my fault?' she wondered.
She felt a forehoof touch her shoulder. Her head flicked to the right and her eyes landed on a light blue hoof. For a second, she stared at it, then met Rainbow's determined, supportive gaze. "Right," Twilight mumbled. She turned her head back around and faced the silhouetted castle.
She could worry about the moon and Princess Celestia later.
"Let's go," she called. She took the lead again and her friends followed, right beside her.
"Twilight, dear, do you have any idea what is going on?" Rarity asked. "None of this makes any sense and I, while granted, am not as familiar with magic as I'm sure you are, haven't heard of any kind of magic that could... do this."
Twilight winced. She glanced aside at Rarity and found everypony looking at her for answers. "I... don't know. I've never seen or heard of anything like this! I... would presume it's something Nightmare Moon or... her sister... can do but..."
"Nightmare Moon wouldn't do this," Midnight stated.
"Are you sure about that?" Applejack asked wearily. "She did banish her sister and bring eternal night..."
The urge to cry came back. She nibbled on her lip. Midnight shook her head and frowned as she repeated, "Nightmare Moon wouldn't do this."
"Then who!? Or what!?" Rainbow demanded.
Twilight looked away from them and mumbled, "I wish I knew..."
The castle wasn't guarded like it should have been. That was painfully clear, as neither Royal Guards nor batponies guarded the gate or the doors to the castle. But at the very least, the castle wasn't floating in the air like half of the buildings in Canterlot, so it wasn't a complete loss.
The Royal Guards and batponies were, of course, otherwise occupied. They had passed by many Royal Guards and batponies alike who were doing their best to keep ponies calm and rescue them from the clouds. Somehow, the eight of them had gone by without notice or scrutiny. The guards were just too busy trying to maintain order, which was an impossible task.
Twilight still felt hesitant to just open the door to the castle and walk inside. There was no way for her to know what was on the other side. And Nightmare Moon hadn't greeted her, nor had any guards acknowledged her. So she just stood there until Midnight casually opened the door and looked back at her with one of those oblivious smiles.
Which reminded her that Midnight was a batpony guard. "Right," she muttered.
Midnight giggled as if the chaos didn't phase her.
Twilight took the lead once again and headed inside. Her friends followed her. As she looked around the room, she took comfort in seeing that the chaos hadn't assaulted the interior. It was much the same as it had been, with banners of the moon and purple tapestries hanging from the walls and columns. It wasn't as comforting as it would have been to see the tapestries she had grown up with, but at the very least it made sense.
There was a sharp crack that made her stop. She barely managed to face her teacher before Nightmare said, "Good, you are here."
Then before she could react, she felt Nightmare's magic embrace her. She knew what would follow, but didn't have time to close her eyes. There was another sharp crack and a double image as Nightmare teleported them to her chambers. The double image of the background behind her teacher made the headache worse, but at least her teacher had been a constant from one place to the next.
Twilight heard her friends all groan in discomfort, and glancing left and right, she saw all of them there with her.
"I do not know how long we will have before he returns so I will make this quick," Nightmare declared.
Twilight turned back to face her teacher and asked, "What's going on?"
And Nightmare's mouth paused and hung open for a second before it closed. Annoyance ran across her teacher's expression, and she thought she heard a faint groan. "And she did not tell you of him, did she?" was her teacher's muttered growl. Twilight barely made out, "Of course not," as Nightmare exhaled. Nightmare inhaled, then hissed, "Discord."
Well, discord certainly described what was happening. Although she still would have preferred to use the term, 'Utter insanity!' "Right, but how do we stop this? Why do you need us!?"
Nightmare's eyes narrowed on her. "You do not recognize that name?"
"Name?" Twilight asked. Nightmare hadn't said any names, or if Nightmare did, she missed it. "Discord?" she ventured.
"Yes," was Nightmare's quick response. "The Spirit of Chaos and Disorder. Discord," she said. Her teacher glanced left, then right, then faced her once again. "I am hesitant to continue speaking his name, lest he return quicker than he should."
"What's going on anyway?" Applejack asked.
Twilight looked left at Applejack and nibbled on her lip.
Nightmare faced Applejack, tilted her head and said, "He has escaped his imprisonment."
"And what do you need us for, exactly?" was Applejack's next question.
Nightmare didn't immediately respond. Twilight turned back to face her teacher, who stood up straighter. She would have sworn that Nightmare looked uncomfortable. Her teacher's wings twitched. Nightmare glanced at her, then looked above her and behind her. Nightmare's chest rose, then fell. "I cannot stop him," was her admission.
Her heart skipped a beat. "What!?"
Nightmare looked down at her with a glare and snapped, "He is more powerful than I. I cannot stop him."
Twilight took the slightest step back. Nightmare's brow twitched back up, then she inhaled and exhaled. The glare faded. She glanced at Rainbow, then Applejack. Both looked at her teacher with a defiant look that made her even more nervous. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
Nightmare didn't apologize, but she continued, "I cannot stop him. Sister and I imprisoned him a great many centuries before my imprisonment-"
Rainbow cut in with, "Well can't you just-"
Nightmare's eyes snapped onto Rainbow with a glare. "No," was her statement. A few seconds passed, then Nightmare faced her once again and added. "And it would not matter."
"Why not?" Twilight asked.
Nightmare shook her head. Her teacher gritted her teeth, then she watched Nightmare swallow back pride and disgust before she spat, "Sister and I are no longer linked to the Elements of Harmony, which are the only things that can stop him."
And then it occurred to Twilight, 'And we are...' She felt a hollow pit form in her stomach, and it grew into a vast emptiness inside her whole body.
Nightmare looked at her intently and with purpose, and it seemed that her teacher knew exactly what she thought. "Yes," was her teacher's succinct acknowledgment.
Twilight's mouth felt dry. "W-what?"
"Do you not understand?" Nightmare chastized, her head snapping at an angle. "You and your friends are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony." Her teacher waited for a few seconds for her words to sink in, then she looked to the right at her desk and muttered in a low growl, "As much as I detest the idea I have no choice." Nightmare turned back to face her, then looked over her five friends. Once her teacher looked back at her, she stated, "You must stop him, for I cannot."
"And why should we help you!?" Rainbow demanded. "We already said that-"
Nightmare's eyes snapped onto Rainbow. "Defiant as ever, I see," she quipped. Then she inhaled. The anger subsided as her teacher recollected herself. "It is in our best interest. If you do not stop him, Discord would destroy Equestria. He is an existential threat to both my reign and Equestria. The entire world, even. If I did not need you to stop him I would do it myself, but as it is, I require you six to tend to him."
"So... Equestria needs us?" was Rainbow's much quieter question.
"Yes," was all Nightmare replied.
Twilight wanted to go scream and curl up in a ball. Why did her friends and herself have to deal with this!? Why did they have to bear the Elements of Harmony!? Why couldn't it have been somepony else's job!?
She would have settled for hitting her head against the wall. Maybe then the chaos would stop hurting as much.
Nightmare looked back at her, then her teacher's eyes wandered over her body in that familiar manner. The anger in her teacher's expression faded even more as the seconds passed while Nightmare looked over her. Then Nightmare met her eyes and said, "You are capable of handling this."
It was supposed to be encouraging. She was certain that was what it was meant to be. It didn't stop her from taking it as a lie.
"You're just going to send us against something that's a threat to you and Equestria without anything else?" Rarity chastized. "You do realize we're just five mares and a filly, right? Surely-"
Nightmare looked at Rarity and said, "I do recall the six of you facing me."
Rarity squirmed. "Yes, well... we all remember how that ended."
"If he's a threat to you what chance do we have!?" Applejack demanded. "Especially considering last time we tried something like that!"
'Why do we have to bring this up!?' An agonized wince rolled over Twilight's expression. 'Nightmare Moon is already mad enough, why do you have to remind her about that!'
For a moment, Nightmare looked back at her with an expression that seemed to say, 'We are wasting time, and there's not a thing I can do about it, is there?' Her teacher held back a sigh or a groan, or maybe both.
Nightmare looked at Applejack and said, "He is confident in his victory. He will not be expecting anypony to be able to stop him. He is arrogant. He will not harm you, aside from his," she looked away and mocked, "harmless fun," then looked back at her. "I will accompany you and support you to the best of my abilities- but I cannot wield the Elements of Harmony. You must."
Twilight nodded timidly.
Nightmare slowly licked her lips, then added, "Deal with Discord. Do not use the Elements of Harmony against me."
'I am trusting you to deal with Discord and not harm me,' went unsaid. It made her heart skip another beat. She felt queasy. 'If we turned on you... you'd stop us.'
Of course, turning on Nightmare Moon would be stupid.
"You said you don't have a choice. What's to stop us from using them against you after we stop Discord?" was Pinkie's genuinely innocent question.
Twilight glared at Pinkie Pie. 'Why? Just why?'
Nightmare didn't answer. She felt Nightmare staring at her. Nightmare putting it all on her. Her friends were her responsibility. Her chest tightened and twisted. It shook the glare from her face. "Girls..." she mumbled softly.
They all looked at her instead of Nightmare.
"We all saw what Discord's doing," Twilight voiced carefully. Of course, that was assuming Nightmare wasn't lying about it. But then, why would Nightmare lie about something like this? Why would Nightmare lie about Discord and then give her and her friends the Elements of Harmony? If her friends and herself really were the only ponies who could stop Discord and save Equestria from his madness, then they really didn't have a choice.
But it also meant she might somehow have the opportunity to rescue Princess Celestia.
Nightmare continued staring at her and the unease grew worse. 'She doesn't know what I'm thinking,' she told herself. 'She's trusting me not to...' whispered in her mind.
Breaking that trust would be bad, but even beyond that, she didn't want to break that trust. Maybe that was insane. She would have the chance to rescue her true mentor! But it would be betraying Nightmare Moon.
She clenched her jaws and swallowed. "We need to stop Discord," she affirmed. Her voice wavered. She slowly turned her head back to face Nightmare, then asked, "What's the plan?"
"I will leave that to you," Nightmare immediately countered.
'Even she's making me the leader! Why!?' she wanted to scream. As it was she grimaced.
"However, I will teleport us to the castle's courtyard. It would be better to meet him outside than inside, I think," Nightmare voiced to her relief.
Before she could say anything or close her eyes, there was another crack and double image, and the white walls were replaced with a pink sky.
Nightmare glared at the sky, then turned around and swept her head left and right.
Maybe Twilight could trust Nightmare, then. Nightmare was willing to trust her. 'You don't have a choice though... and I don't either.' She took a deep breath, then looked at her friends. Spike climbed down from her back and timidly walked over to Midnight. Midnight looked at her seriously. "Keep him safe, please," she asked. She glanced at Nightmare, but Nightmare didn't look back at her or say anything.
Midnight nodded without her normal, casual playfulness. Without saying anything, she extended a leathery wing for Spike to climb up onto her back.
"Take him to my tower," Twilight suggested.
Midnight nodded again, then took off at a brisk trot.
Spike looked back at her, his eyes filled with worry while he tapped his claws together. She watched him leave and felt an emptiness in her chest.
"I do not know where he is," Nightmare stated. "I would presume he is close by but I do not know. The Guard and Cadance are supposed to be distracting him."
"Uh, how will we know it's him?" Applejack asked warily.
There was a short pause, then Nightmare answered, "You will not be able to mistake him for anything else. He is a draconequus."
Which made perfect sense.
Twilight licked her lips, then asked, "Are you going to give us the Elements-"
"Not until he shows up," Nightmare preemptively answered.
Which she took to mean, 'Not while you have an opportunity to use them against me instead of him.'
'I won't...' she told herself.
"So... we just wait here for him to show up?" Rainbow asked, boredom seeping into her voice.
"This isn't much of a plan," Applejack flatly agreed.
"He could be anywhere, so it is in our best interest to remain here. He will show up, if only for me," Nightmare answered. "Likely, he will take an interest as to why the six of you are here with me."
The sky grew dim as the sun fell back below the horizon. Lightning crackled in the air, making Twilight take a step back. Rainbow landed, then she felt Rainbow and Applejack at her sides. Without thinking of it, she glanced at her friends and found the six of them huddled together, staring at the rapidly darkening sky.
The clouds started to swirl together and more lightning cracked.
Then she saw something like a twisted face in the clouds looking down at them, and she felt pins and needles race through her body, stabbing her from everywhere, inside and out. Serpentine eyes seemed to slither over her, looking at her from everywhere at once.
The feeling was worse than Nightmare Moon watching her.
Fluttershy squeaked and ducked back under her mane.
Laughter filled the air, filled her mind, echoing and thumping around inside her skull.
"Discord!" Nightmare growled out.
Twilight glanced at her teacher, who reared up, then slammed her forehooves into the ground. Her wings flared out and a burst of magic radiated out from her horn. A blue barrier flashed to life around her teacher and enveloped the six of them.
Rain, for once actual water, poured down in literal sheets, making the shield bend inward, yet it held back the downpour.
"Tch, tch, tch," came a chastizing click.
There was a flash of white, then directly outside of that blue shield, in front of her teacher, a being appeared sitting in a gray and black throne that hovered in the air. His eyes were yellow with crimson red slit pupils. A jagged antler and lumpy horn grew from the top of his head, and a black mane descended down the back of his long neck. His body was long and thin, almost snakelike, right at home on the red cushions. Looking at him sent shivers down her spine. His neck was covered in gray fur, while his body was covered in reddish-brown fur. His limbs were mismatched, each one coming from a different species.
Twilight had a moment of clarity when looking at him, and she deduced that yes, Nightmare was right. You couldn't mistake him for anything else. He was clearly a draconequus, but a twisted one. She had never seen a real draconequus, let alone one like that thing.
"You started a party without me!?" was the draconequus' complaint. His eyes widened as he leaned forward, then slithered out of his throne like a snake. He curled in the air and then unwrapped himself. He grinned at Nightmare Moon, then at her and her friends. He brought his claw and paw together a scheming manner that made her feel a sudden sense of panic surge through her body. It was only because her friends were right there with her that she didn't bolt.
She heard Nightmare growl and saw her teacher lower her head so that her horn was pointed right at him.
"I guess that makes me the game master, doesn't it now?" came Discord's calm tease.
"I think not," Nightmare hissed. Another flash of magic emanated from her horn.
Nothing happened, other than Discord's smile twisting further up. "Awww, Luna," he moaned.
'Luna,' repeated in her mind. Luna? Glancing at her teacher, the name seemed to only further infuriate her. Nightmare's legs trembled and her lips were pulled back, baring her teeth at the draconequus. Luna. Nightmare Moon knew that name. Discord called her Luna. The first references to Nightmare Moon only happened after her banishment. She couldn't recall reading the name Luna anywhere, but nor could she recall reading the name Nightmare Moon anywhere but Predictions and Prophecies.
And surely, Nightmare Moon hadn't been her name before her banishment? What sort of name would that have been? It didn't sit right with her.
She felt a vague sense of recognition, then it slammed into her, 'That's... what the batponies were going to call you... Princess Luna...'
Princess Luna. That had been her name before she became Nightmare Moon.
"Luna," Nightmare growled in a calm yet irate voice, "is dead."
Discord only laughed. "Aww, little Woona's throwing a temper tantrum, is she?" he mocked. The barrier shattered and a column of blue light exploded out from Nightmare's horn.
The beam lurched at Discord, then went right through his neck, leaving a completely clean hole the size of her hoof through his neck. The color in the inside was, rather than a bloody mess, simply the same color as his neck, albeit darker. It simply looked like she had cut through butter.
And Discord entirely ignored it, even as Nightmare trembled in rage. He threw his arms out and bellowed, "Well, I know what'll cheer you right up!"
He snapped a talon, and her heart sank as soon as the white light faded. "Looking for these?" he mocked, waving those six Elements of Harmony around without a care in the world.
Twilight blinked, and Nightmare's glare was gone. Her teacher didn't even tremble; Nightmare Moon was frozen stiff.
Fear.
Nightmare Moon was scared.
Discord idly looked over each of the Elements of Harmony in turn, as if scrutinizing a piece of art. They hovered in the air oblivious. He reached out and touched the Element of Magic, only to quickly pull his talon back and let out a wild, "Yeeouch!" He shook his hand, and smoke wafted into the air from his burnt claw. Finally, he stuck it in his mouth to suck on it before pulling it back out like nothing had happened. "That thing's dangerous," he stated bluntly, balling his talon up into a fist and pointing at it with his thumb.
The Elements flew aside, then disappeared in a flash of white light.
Discord looked at her. She looked at Nightmare. Her teacher was still. Discord slithered towards her, then pressed his nose against hers.
Twilight's blood ran cold as he stared directly into her eyes. "Ah, well, what have we here!?" he bellowed with a chuckle. His head snapped back. He lifted his head up into the air and brought a claw to stroke his goatee. "You seem familiar somehow..." he muttered.
A lightbulb glowed over his head and his eyes likewise lit up. "Ah! You're Celestia's student!" he called out, once again uncoiling his body with glee. The glee faded as quickly as it came and he mumbled, "Shame she's not here right now." Then the glee was back.
"Leave her alone," was Nightmare's infinitely cold threat.
Discord paused as if surprised, then spun around to face her teacher.
The ice filling her veins seemed to recede, but she still felt her legs trembling, even with her friends pressed up against her.
"Bah, what would you care?" Discord dismissed.
Then, the world shifted around her. She was in the air, and rather than feeling her friends against her side, she felt some serpentine body against her left, and an arm wrapped under her right foreleg to hold her there. A feeling of absolute horror and violation surged through her as she looked down at her teacher and felt Discord's body rumble as he chuckled.
"Now you," he said as his face leaned down to look directly at her, "are an interesting one!"
There was another flash of light, blue this time, and the feeling of touching that thing faded. She could still feel his presence lingering on her coat, like grime and smoke, but he wasn't touching her.
Nightmare stood in front of her and off to her right, with her black wing reached out, blocking Discord's view of her. She still felt like he was staring right at her through that sheltering wing. "You'll not do that again," Nightmare snapped.
Discord's gaze crawled off of her, and he burst into a fit of laughter that made Nightmare's wing flinch. The laughter echoed in her mind.
Somepony hugged her. She squeaked in fear and her head whipped around, only to immediately feel relieved: Fluttershy was hugging her, and the hug was surprisingly strong.
Rainbow jumped into the air and then flew over into Discord's face. She glared and shouted, "Hey! You leave her alone!"
Discord hovered higher into the air to where Nightmare's wing didn't block him, then flicked Rainbow in the nose with a talon, making Rainbow squeak and then shoot back at a speed that was too fast for her to recover.
She bit her lip as she watched her friend flail towards a wall, only for Rainbow to right herself and fly right back at Discord.
And then punch him in the face with her forehoof.
His body bent back in recoil and his paw and talon grasped at his face. He looked at Rainbow with a befuddled expression.
And Twilight just blinked. 'Of course. Leave it to Rainbow to get us killed.' And she didn't even care at this point.
Discord rubbed his nose, then gave an indignant, "That was rude!"
"Give us the Elements of Harmony back!" Applejack demanded.
He closed his eyes and turned his head away, folding his arms over his chest. "Now why would I do that? I'm the game master now and you haven't completed your quest yet!" Discord scoffed. "I can't just give you the best loot when you're only level one! You have to grind for it or pay an exorbitant fee for a chance to get them."
"Uh, quest?" Twilight voiced.
Discord opened his eyes and looked at her. "Oh, right!" he backtracked. "First, I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Discord!" he bellowed. Lightning cracked in the sky above him. "Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony!"
"We know, Nightmare Moon told us," Rainbow groaned.
Discord sent her a quick glare and dismissively said, "Hush." He turned to face her teacher, then said. "And Luna, that was rather rude," he stated matter of factly. "You introduced them to me but not me to them!" he whined.
Nightmare sucked in a breath, then said, "Discord, your doom. Your doom, Discord."
Discord chuckled. "Ah, not quite what I was expecting! You're getting better Luna!"
"Luna?" Rainbow grumbled.
Nightmare shot daggers at Rainbow Dash, enough to make her squeak and fly a little closer to the ground. "You'll not repeat that name."
And that was it. Twilight was certain that was Nightmare Moon's name. Luna. Princess Luna. She wanted to ask about it, but she couldn't. Not now, not until after Discord was dealt with. To ask now would have been stupid. Although she wasn't sure that Nightmare would be much more willing to talk about it later.
Luna was a nice name.
"I think somepony woke up on the wrong side of bed," was Discord's comment. "Or maybe the left side."
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Pinkie asked curiously. "Because it really wasn't," she said in a dull monotone.
Everypony collectively ignored her. Discord did too.
"Now, where was I?" Discord asked. "Oh, yes, yes, of course. The game-"
"I thought it was supposed to be a quest," Rainbow muttered.
Discord squinted at her and replied, "I thought I told you to hush? Oh, bah, no matter." He reached over and a zipper appeared on Rainbow's lips. Then he pulled it closed, much to Rainbow's alarm. Her wings shot out and she fell to the ground, then tried to pull the zipper open with her hooves, to no success.
Rainbow mumbled something frantically, but it was impossible to tell what for the zipper. "Much better!" Discord called out jubilantly. "Now. The riddle. Solve it and you can have your silly little gems back. Fail, and I keep them. Sounds fair, right!?"
"No!" Applejack shouted back.
"Too bad! I'm Discord!" was his retort.
"Fine, we will play your game," Nightmare hissed.
Discord hovered over to her teacher and then curled his body around her neck like a snake. "Now, now, Luna, it's for the adults. And Twilight. Not you. You don't get to help them." He unwound himself from her teacher, then hovered over to her.
Twilight stepped back instinctively, pulling Fluttershy back with her. Fluttershy whimpered and held onto her even tighter. Discord ignored her distress and slithered around her neck, and the feeling of his serpentine body wrapping around her paralyzed her in fear. Pins raced through her body, pricking her all over.
Nightmare growled. She overcame the fear that stopped her from looking away from Discord for a slight instant and glanced at her teacher. Nightmare glared at Discord wrapped around her neck, jaw clenched. But Nightmare didn't do anything. Her teacher couldn't do anything. 'You want to stop him...'
Discord glanced aside at Nightmare, snapped a talon, and a muzzle appeared and clamped Nightmare's mouth shut. Nightmare's magic ripped the muzzle off to reveal an infuriated scowl. Her eyes were nearly on fire.
Discord ignored it and looked back at her. "Now listen closely," he said, "Because I'm only going to say this once. You'll find your precious Elements back where the end began and the beginning ended; the place where night became day and day became night."
Twilight wasn't sure whether it was his voice or his close proximity, but something made her shiver. Discord uncoiled from her neck, and feeling his body gliding over her fur made her shiver even more. Once his tail was gone from her neck, it brushed against her jaw, making her flinch.
Discord slithered up into the air, then seated himself on his throne once more. He brought his paw and talon together, then leaned forward. Out of all of the ponies present, Nightmare Moon included, he looked at her, as if she was somehow the most interesting pony in the bunch. Not the alicorn, not any of the adults. Her.
Once again, Nightmare's wing extended out to block Discord from her sight. She still felt his eyes crawling over her skin, even with that wing in the way.
She saw a flash of light from around the edges of Nightmare's wings and heard the crack of his magic. For a few seconds, Nightmare's wing lingered in place, then it lowered and her teacher folded it back to her side.
Discord was gone, but she still felt violated.
She looked to her teacher for help, comfort, anything. Nightmare didn't immediately look back at her. Instead, she watched her teacher's eyes jump back and forth, studying the sky. Thunder cracked again and the dark clouds swirled together, then the rain returned- chocolate milk this time.
A blue barrier snapped to life around them, blocking out the rain. Everypony except Pinkie was grateful. Pinkie let out a high-pitched, "Aww!"
"Well, now what?" Rainbow asked.
"I guess we solve his riddle?" Applejack suggested.
"If it's solvable," Rarity groaned.
Twilight looked away from Nightmare and turned to her friends. They slowly meandered over towards her. Fluttershy finally let up on hugging her and took a step back towards the others.
They all looked at her. She looked at her teacher. Nightmare looked back at her and said, "I cannot help you. He would not allow it, or I would." Then her teacher paused, turned to face her and bit her lips. That look of uncertainty crossed her teacher's expression for a moment as Nightmare seemed to struggle to find what to say. Eventually, her expression hardened and she voiced, "Do not trust him."
Twilight's mouth felt dry. She gave a quick nod.
Nightmare's eyes jumped off of her. "And be careful," was added.
Twilight nodded slowly and turned her head to her friends. "Well... any ideas?"
Sighs, groans, and shrugs were her friends' responses.
Twilight grimaced and held back a groan. "Right..." she muttered. She looked down at the ground and winced.
Why did it seem like everything was being put on her?
Discord's voice whispered in her mind, 'Why not? As fun as ruling the world is, it's far more fun to play with you little ponies! Your reactions are always so priceless! And you? You are by far the most interesting pony I've seen in, well, a long, long time, Twilight Sparkle.' Pins ran through her whole body.
Her eyes jumped off the ground and landed on Nightmare's side. 'Discord!?'
'Of course!' Discord's voice called back.
'Either I'm imagining things or-'
'I assure you Twilight Sparkle, you're not imagining this,' Discord's voice dismissed.
'How?'
'Spirit of Chaos. Discord. Nice to meet you.'
Twilight looked around. Nopony stared at her. 'What do you want?'
'That's a good question, Twilight Sparkle. But it's a boring question, now isn't it?' Discord's voice asked. Twilight heard his chuckle echo in her mind. The chuckle came from everywhere inside of her mind, making her want to run away. She fought the urge off and held her ground. As much as she wanted to, she knew running away wouldn't help. 'Tch, tch, tch,' came Discord's mocking tone as if he was treating her as a young foal. 'You sure agreed to be Nightmare Moon's student awfully fast, now didn't you?' he asked innocently. 'Makes me wonder if you actually care about Celestia... I wonder what other ponies think of that?'
A jolt of panic squeezed through her mind. 'You're wrong! I do care about Princess Celestia! She's my mentor!'
'Is or was? And Nightmare Moon is your mentor now, but you don't seem to value that very much, now do you?'
An edge of doubt crept into her mind. 'I do...'
'Hmm, really? Could have fooled me, with all your freaking out about her and freaking out about freaking out. You don't trust her, and you know she doesn't trust you. Makes me wonder why you'd agree, other than to save your own skin.'
'There's a lot she can teach me-'
Twilight felt Discord smile. 'There's a lot I can teach you, Twilight Sparkle. So what do you say, why not become my student instead? Just think of all the fun we could have! Reality could be our own little plaything! No rules... no order!'
'No,' was all she had to say in response to that.
'Hmm. Fine. But don't think this is over! I really think we'd make a great team together! Why, just picture it! The two of us, flying around and sowing chaos everywhere!' Discord laughed. 'It would be so much more fun than being Luna's student. Eugh. You know there's reasons why she never took students. Though I suppose it is in her best interests to keep you around as her student... wielding the Elements of Harmony and all that.'
'Oh, and I suppose those mares have some reason to keep you around. Free labor, right?' he whispered. 'Plus they get to say they're friends with Twilight Sparkle! It really is in their best interests too. Do they really care about you?'
Her jaw tightened. 'They do!' her mind shot back. 'They stuck by me when we tried to stop Nightmare Moon!'
'And where were they after you lost, hmm? Where were they when you were stuck in Canterlot with Nightmare Moon?'
How did Discord even know that? Nightmare said he had been imprisoned, so how could he know!?
'I know many things, Twilight Sparkle,' came his calm voice.
Her hooves all scooted closer together and she bit down on her lip harder.
'We'll be in touch...' he promised.
A few seconds passed in silence. She let up on biting her lip.
She couldn't trust Discord. It was in Discord's best interest to stop her from defeating him, assuming she could. If Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia could teach her so much, then how much more could Discord teach her? But what would that knowledge matter if the rules of reality were rewritten on a whim!
She swallowed and stepped to the left. Nightmare didn't notice it, or if she did, she said nothing.
What had been Discord's riddle? "We'll find the Elements of Harmony back where the end began and the beginning ended, where night became day and day became night..." she mumbled. A grimace pulled at her lips. What ended? What began? Where did the night become day?
"Canterlot?" Rainbow suggested. "Uh, where was he imprisoned?"
"He was kept here in Canterlot," Nightmare answered. "Imprisoned in stone by the Elements of Harmony."
"So Canterlot then?" Rainbow asked again.
'Does that make sense?' she asked herself. "Wait... Discord's the, um, Spirit of Chaos, right? Why would he want it to make sense?"
"I dunno," Rainbow admitted. "I'm not good with riddles."
'Yes, I'm not surprised,' came to mind. She looked back at her friends.
"Well, I for one think Canterlot is worth a check... but, erm, where exactly in Canterlot?" Rarity asked. Her friend's gaze was locked on the sky, or rather that thin barrier of magic blocking the chocolate milk from ruining their coats and mane and tails.
"I do not know the extent to which I can assist you, however, given that it is Discord we are dealing with, I would say that anything is possible. Since it would not make sense for him to make sense, then perhaps it could be in Canterlot, although I suspect it is not," Nightmare stated. Her teacher inhaled deeply, then looked her in the eye. "Stop him. I will do what I can to distract him so he does not cause you further problems."
She nodded. 'She's my teacher. She wants to teach me, right? Or is it just for convenience?' whispered in her mind. Her teacher teleported away. The barrier disappeared, and the cold chocolate milk rain crashed down onto them.
Rarity let out a devastated groan of, "Why!?"
"Oh come on, it's not that bad!" Pinkie cheered.
She glanced at Pinkie, and of course, her friend was laying on her back with her mouth open as wide as possible, trying to catch as much of the chocolate milk as she could.
"I beg to differ!" Rarity hissed. "Do you have any idea how bad this is for my mane!?" she shrieked.
"Oh, relax!" Rainbow huffed. "I hate this as much as you-"
"I beg to differ!" Rarity yelled.
"-but you did manage to clean us all up with Twilight's help on the way here!"
Rarity huffed indignantly. "Well that doesn't mean I have to like it, Rainbow Dash."
Well, her friends were there with her, but they really weren't much help. And her teacher couldn't help. So now it seemed like it was entirely up to her! Equestria and Nightmare Moon were counting on her not to fail!
And the self-doubt struck at her core, weighing her down more than her soaked fur could. After all, she had failed before. Why would this time be any different? Nightmare's trust in her was misplaced.
Her head lowered and her ears folded back. 'This is pointless...' whispered in her mind. And it wouldn't matter, would it? They wouldn't be able to stop Discord if he was as powerful as Nightmare suggested. What were five mares and one filly supposed to do that an alicorn couldn't!?
"The Elements of Harmony," she muttered under her breath. She inhaled, then exhaled. She had seen them for the briefest flicker outside of the pages of that book. They were real. They could stop Discord.
"We need to find the Elements," she called out. 'Again.'
She lifted her head back up and looked left, then right. Canterlot was large. Equestria was bigger. There was no way they could find the Elements without solving that riddle. And even then, that was assuming he hadn't lied about it.
"We'll find the Elements of Harmony back where the end began and the beginning ended, where night became day and day became night," she repeated. She looked back at Rainbow Dash, who kept flapping her wings in a futile attempt to shake the chocolate milk from them. All her friend managed to do was splash Applejack with more chocolate milk and earn a glare from the earth pony. "Why do you think it's here in Canterlot?" she asked.
"The sun and moon keep, you know, and if he was imprisoned here, I figured that's what he meant," Rainbow answered.
She pursed her lips and tasted the chocolate milk. "And I suppose Princess..." she trailed off. "Um, she... ruled from here, so... that makes sense, I guess, since she moved the sun and moon."
But something felt wrong about that. The day wasn't becoming night, nor was the night becoming day. It was just the cycle. "What ended? What began?" she asked.
"Canterlot wasn't here one thousand years ago," she mumbled. So if Canterlot had began, what had ended? Canterlot's non-existence? 'That doesn't feel right...'
"Well, a great many things could have started and ended," Rarity commented warily. "Perhaps we should focus on the second part more?"
"Uh, when exactly did night become day and day become night?" Applejack asked. "Unless he's talking about Nightmare Moon's return, and even then, that doesn't make a lick of sense. The night may have become day, but the day didn't exactly become night."
"Did they switch places?" was Fluttershy's barely audible mumble.
She looked over at Fluttershy. She watched her duck back behind her soaked mane and let out a sigh.
"What if he's talking about Nightmare Moon's banishment?" Pinkie voiced. "You said that she tried to bring eternal night, which would mean the night would become day, right?"
Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie. "Sort of? Maybe?" she begrudgingly offered. "I mean, it's a stretch, but... maybe."
"Well, if that's the case, what does the beginning ending and the ending beginning mean?" Rainbow asked. "How can both be the case!?" she bellowed, then huffed and hovered in the air, folding her forelegs over her chest. "It doesn't make any sense to me."
'The end of Princess Luna and the beginning of Nightmare Moon?' slithered through her mind. 'That would make Princess Luna the beginning... and Nightmare Moon the ending? Does that make sense?'
That was assuming that she was right that Nightmare Moon had been Princess Luna once, which she couldn't be entirely sure of.
She was sure there were other things that could mean, but if it was what she thought, then she had an answer, and the answer made her wince. "It's not in Canterlot..." she muttered. And oh, admitting that was agonizing. When this was all over, she wanted a bath, and then she wanted to lay down in bed for a whole week, locking herself in her library!
"What do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked.
"The Castle of the Two Sisters," she mumbled reluctantly. "I think that's where we'll find the Elements of Harmony."
Even the rain seemed silent for a few seconds.
"You mean we have to go back to Ponyville, then into the Everfree Forest again to find that castle, then find the Elements, which might not even be there, then come back to Canterlot. Again!?" Rainbow groaned.
"Are you sure about that, Twilight?" Applejack asked. She gradually turned to face her friend, who looked at her somberly. "It's not exactly going to be easy to do that, and it won't be quick if we're wrong either!"
Twilight gave a weak, unsure nod. "I know, but... it's the best I can think of," she admitted.
"Alright, well, I guess we better get going then," Applejack declared. "And hope the train still works," was mumbled.
"At least we'll be out of the dreadful rain!" Rarity stated. "Although I don't particularly want to go through the Everfree Forest again," she muttered, then took a deep breath and gave an eloquent, "but if we have to, then I guess we have no choice."
For some reason, they trusted her to be right, even though if she was wrong, Equestria would suffer even longer. And that was assuming they ever found the Elements of Harmony. Why would Discord just let them have the Elements if they actually found them? Or what if he lied and sent them on some quest that was ultimately futile and for his own enjoyment!?
She wanted to go home. She wanted to lay down in bed, curl up in a ball, and sleep. Or just wake up from this nightmare. She didn't want to do this; she didn't want to deal with this. She wanted to have that comforting knowledge that Princess Celestia would make everything alright back like it was before. But apparently, for some reason, it fell to her.
And her friends. They would be there to help her.
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as best she could, then swallowed and said, "We should get Midnight and Spike first. Having them with us might be helpful." 'Spike will be safer with us,' she hoped, but she wasn't entirely convinced.
It was maddening. She was Queen and Empress, yet to Discord, it didn't matter. She was Queen of the Night! And to Discord, it didn't matter. The sun and moon were simply his playthings; he would raise one and lower the other on his own whims, whenever it suited his purposes.
It would wreak havoc on Equestria. It had already done such. Cleaning up after Discord, assuming her student succeeded, was going to give her the biggest headache yet. But she knew, 'You will succeed.' She was certain her student would find the Elements of Harmony and put an end to Discord's insanity.
The sun dropped out of the sky and the moon took its place. She felt his magic pulling at the strings of her domain, and she hated it. It was a violation of her sovereignty, like what her sister had done in her absence. Yet it was made all the worse by the fact that she couldn't defeat Discord. She couldn't rend him limb from limb. She couldn't draw his blood the way she could draw her sister's blood.
Her strongest spells would do nothing except make him laugh at her futile efforts. And that mocking, maddening laughter was more than enough to ensure she didn't wind up wasting her magic in an attempt to vent her rage. No, it would simply draw more of Discord's mocking.
She would not be mocked.
Her student would not fail.
Discord would fall.
But that didn't stop him from ruining everything he touched in the meantime. He sat in his hovering throne, ignoring her in favor of looking over the broken reality shattering Canterlot. He drank the glass of chocolate milk he held, and the chocolate milk retained its form as he sucked the solid glass down his throat like it was water. He alternated between eating his bowl of popcorn and eating the kernels while tossing the popped seeds aside.
Most of those popped seeds bounced off her helmet and fell to the ground at her hooves. The magic that made up her tail violently twitched, ready to strike out at anything that gave her a way to vent that would actually work.
She heard the screams and cries of ponies from her city; she heard explosions and the roar of things she had not seen in her existence outside of when Discord was present. She watched as he tortured her subjects with madness and insanity, yet he did not cross that line so as to physically injure them. At least not on purpose.
He was cruel, but not so cruel as the griffins. He was callous and sought only his own enjoyment from playing with her subjects. Yet in a way, that was in her best interest. After all, he could not have fun if he simply killed everypony. There was no chaos in death, only in life.
Yet she was still powerless to stop him. And it was maddening. Maddening like how her sister denied her revenge so.
The moon dropped out of the sky and the sun bounced back overhead, only to be blocked out by those accursed pink clouds suddenly rushing into place. But this time, no rain fell. At least, not yet.
She glared at him.
She overheard Rarity ask, "Are you doing alright, dear?"
"It's just... a lot to deal with," her student whispered back.
"Well we've got your back!" Rainbow called out.
She clenched her jaw. 'You are ready for this... but I should have prepared you better. Why did this have to happen now?!'
Manehattan. That had to be why. Her lips pulled back in disgust and she snarled. 'Foals! Look at what you've done!' hissed in her mind. But that wouldn't stop what was happening. No, only that filly and her five friends could.
The snarl died down and her lips fell back into a neutral line. 'What does this say of me, that my fate and that of Equestria rests in the hooves of a filly?' The thought made a part of her ignore the chaos and hatred she felt for that draconequus. It made her think and contemplate. The idea was utter insanity. Utterly obscene! How could such a thing be the case!?
It mocked her, that she could not stop Discord, but that her student and her student's friends could. It would make her look weak if everypony knew about it, that she could not stop Discord and that a filly did. Her jaw tightened. 'You are no ordinary filly,' she knew, but they would not know that.
But the thought didn't draw her ire or rage.
Perhaps that a filly had defeated Discord would reflect well on her for having taught Twilight.
'Sister taught you, and I have not,' came to mind, 'and they will know that Sister has taught you longer than I...'
Cadance flew towards her, her lips pulled back in disgust as liquid chocolate dripped from her body and flicked off of her wings with each beat. "What are we supposed to do!?" Cadance cried out.
Discord laughed that maddening, mocking laugh. The laugh where he felt his victory secured, that same laugh right before her sister and herself had turned him into stone once before.
She hated that laugh.
Cadance landed beside her, still grimacing, chocolate still dripping off her body. The lesser alicorn lifted her left forehoof, and in a frivolous action that certainly suited her, batted her hoof at the air to fling more of the chocolate off her golden shoe.
Discord coiled around Nightmare's neck and ran one of his talons along the length of her horn, then pressed downward. She felt her horn warp and bend like a tree branch from his touch, then his talon flicked off her horn, and her horn bounced back into place. The feeling was innately wrong; horns were not supposed to bend at all! Her lips pulled back and she growled.
"Oh come now, Luna! Lighten up a little!" was his joyful shout as he threw his arms out. Then, slightly more seriously, he folded his arms and said, "This temper tantrum of yours is a real buzzkill!"
But she would not fall to his goading. No, that was exactly what he wanted. To goad her into making a fool of herself; to goad her into entertaining him.
"Humpf, fine! Be that way!" he huffed. "You never were as much fun as Tia was, although your expressions always were so much better. So much more intense!" He broke out into laughter again and uncoiled from her neck, then swam back to his throne, where he flopped over the armrests, clutching his chest, still laughing and cackling.
The laughter slowly died down and he used his talon to wipe away a tear. The tear sprouted a pair of white pegasus wings, then fluttered into the sky. He righted himself in his throne and hunched over, leaning closer to her. "You know, I'm a bit surprised that you took on a student, Luna."
Her heart stuttered, skipping a beat. She felt like her vision shifted at an angle, then returned to normal. Her head felt lighter, then the lightness faded.
It caught her off guard. She clenched her jaw. 'I will not fall to your goading!' hissed in her mind.
He smiled. "You never really seemed like the type," he added calmly. He casually snapped his talons and a plush, stuffed Twilight Sparkle appeared in his lion arm. He hugged it close to his side and stuck out his lower lip, then mocked, "Although it's a bit of a shame that you've not really had an opportunity to teach her, aww... Such a shame." He sighed and stroked the plush's mane with his talons before smiling. "You can't really call yourself her teacher now, can you?" He pulled it to his chest and his lips parted as he gave her a threatening smile. "Since you've not actually taught her anything."
He paused, then shrugged indifferently and casually added, "Well, aside from fearing you, that is."
A grimace almost slipped onto her lips; she barely caught it in time. "I assure you," she stated, "once you're imprisoned again-" she jerked her head at an angle, "-I will be rectifying this."
"Mmm, mhm, yes, sure, whatever you say, Luna," he dismissed.
And she fell for the goading again as she shouted, "She will defeat you!"
He smiled, tossed the plush aside and cackled. "Ah! Oh so serious! You should see the way your lips tremble!" With a snap of his talon, a mirror appeared directly in front of her face, giving her no choice but to look back at her expression. "Your eyes are positively burning!" he declared.
And flames seemed to come from her eyes, yet it did not burn; there was no heat. But it was still enough to make her recoil from the proximity to flame. She shattered the mirror with a burst of her magic, but all that did was leave half a dozen splintered shards, each one with a separate, entirely distinct reflection of her expression. One of them was Luna.
Discord cackled and squirmed, rolling over and over in his throne as if it was the best thing in the world. "Your expressions are always so much better than Celestia's! So much more intense and serious!"
The cackling and squirming came to a sudden stop. He stared off into space, then righted himself in his throne. Almost idly, his talon reached up to his goatee and he lifted an eyebrow. "You know, I wonder... Just think what kind of chaos your student could cause..." he mused, then turned to face her and smiled. "I daresay she could cause even more chaos than you!" was his declaration. "I suppose we'll eventually find out, won't we?"
She growled. It was unbecoming of her to let him get to her, but then the only pony there to witness it was Cadance. Perhaps it would do Cadance good to see her wrath to ensure her loyalty! As it was, she barely held herself in check, only because letting him get to her was letting him win.
'Letting Cadance see me lose control is not wise,' raced through her mind.
To do so would be to show weakness, and she did not think Cadance was beyond using that against her.
Discord looked off to his right and looked over her palace. "Oh! Hmm, I wonder if perhaps I should claim your student as my own," he idly mused.
"I think not," she hissed.
He stopped and looked back at her. "Oh, come now Luna, it's not like you have much of a claim to her anyway!" The plush of her student levitated back into the air, and he looked over it contemplatively. A plush of herself appeared in front of her student. It was not a flattering one, as her eyes and fangs were disproportionate, while her pupils had an intensity befitting a cow. Its wings flared and it let out a roar akin to a baby kitten calling for its mother. "Well, at least not any legitimate claim anyway."
And then the plush of her student ran away in fear.
She had nothing to say to that display. She had nothing she wanted to do about it, not that she could have done anything. That dagger of Discord's had sunk so far under her skin it didn't matter. Bitterness.
Bitterness.
Bitterness.
"If I could kill you," she said in a quiet, controlled voice. She paused and smiled. "I would."
"Oh, you could try," Discord casually commented, "but really, it'd just tickle," was his mocking.
Her tail flicked violently side to side.
He snapped his talon, and a red ball appeared in the air. Her eyes jumped onto it, then her heart grew cold as she read what as on the ball. 'Property of Cerberus.' And a slow ache coiled in her heart. 'You wouldn't,' was that foalish hope of hers, because she already knew, 'You would...'
"Put that back where it came from or so help me!" she hissed.
Discord barely acknowledged her demand. The ball levitated over into his lion paw, then he threw it. The plush of her took off after it, then the plush of her student levitated back into his lap. The plush almost seemed to stare at her.
"Yes, I think claiming your student," he paused and then backtracked to clarify, "well, your sister's student-" Nightmare snarled and he just smiled, "-would make for some great chaos! Oooh! And maybe her friends could join in... I can think of a few uses for them..."
He slithered down from his throne and wrapped his body around Cadance's neck, making the younger alicorn squeak in fear, then his body coiled around Nightmare's neck like a snake. "Oh! Just imagine what it would be like to see her causing chaos! With that kind of power... Well..." he trailed off with a chuckle, then released them. He sat back down on his throne, snapped his claw, and a jeweled, golden crown appeared atop his head, along with a golden scepter clutched in his paw.
"You neither have claim to her nor Equestria!" she hissed. "They're mine!"
"Oh come now, Luna," he mocked. "Your claim on Equestria is even more illegitimate than your sister's," he casually added. "Besides, we both know Equestria belongs to," he paused to smile, then touched the scepter to his chest, "meeee!" he teased.
The only semblance of comfort she could take from being in his damned presence was the knowledge that he wasn't anywhere else. She was distracting him, which meant her student was that much more likely to succeed.
He waved the scepter away and spun it around in the air. "And as for your student?" he asked. "Well... we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we?"
He snapped his claws and disappeared in a flash of light, his voice declaring, "To be continued!"