//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Chaos and Harmony // Story: The Balance of Harmony // by The Rising Tide of Night //------------------------------// Suddenly, I was back in Sugarcube Corners, but still in my current form. Based on the decorations and the clientele, this was the Sugarcube Corners from this world. I was standing in the main shop area, looking towards the seating area. I noticed that something in my vision was off, and looked around carefully to determine what it was. A thought occurred to me, and I slowly brought my hand up to my left eye, touching where my eye patch would be. I was rewarded with pain and tears as I poked myself in the eye. Blinking away the tears, I looked down at myself, seeing that I was dressed casually, in a sleeveless dress with soft boots, my leg no longer twisted and broken. Looking at my arms, I saw that they were smooth, no longer crisscrossed with scars from the torture I had endured under the Crystal Palace. Stepping into the seating area, I looked around curiously, my jaw dropping as my eyes alighted on a large booth in the corner. Sitting there, talking and laughing, were my friends, alive and well. I could see Pinkie Pie eagerly scarfing food and talking at the same time next to Rarity, who was doing her best to smile at Pinkie’s antics while trying not to look disgusted as crumbs sprayed from her mouth. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were cuddling in the back of the booth, talking with Applejack, who had her back to me, her ever-present hat on her head. They all looked hale and hearty, without any injuries, scars, or even any weapons. I slowly walked over to them, and Pinkie Pie looked up at me, smile lighting up her face. “Twilight! We’ve been waiting for you!” she cried, spraying food over the table in front of her. Rarity carefully scooted away from her a few more inches. Applejack turned around in her seat, and I could see the joy in her green eyes. “Twilight! C’mon over here and grab a seat. We’ll get you something to drink!” She raised her hand, waving me over, and I could see her arm was as smooth as mine, no traces of any scars. I approached the table, pulling up a chair, and sat down. My friends all smiled over at me, even Rarity, who had grabbed a few napkins and was busy wiping the crumbs from the table. I watched Rainbow Dash give Fluttershy a kiss before she handed over a menu. I barely glanced at it before setting it down on the table, confusion plain on my face. “Twilight, dear, is anything the matter?” asked Rarity. “I… I don’t understand,” I replied, unsure of how to approach what I was feeling. “Y-you’re all… dead.” They all looked at each other, surprised and concern on their faces. “What’re you playing at, Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash. “We’re obviously fine.” She squeezed Fluttershy’s rear, causing her to jump and let out a squeak. “Well, I’d say Fluttershy’s finer than the rest of you,” she continued, as Fluttershy blushed furiously. Applejack smirked at Rainbow Dash, then turned to me with a concerned look. “You ok, Twi?” she asked. I just stared back at her at a loss for words. Then I gave her a shaky smile. “Y-yeah, AJ, I’m ok. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She reached over and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “It’s alright, Twi. Ah’d say you’ve been working too hard. You gotta get out of that library more often.” Her hand remained on my shoulder, and the surroundings took on a grayish tone. Her face froze, as did everything else aside from me. “Applejack?” I asked, hesitantly. Applejack’s eyes suddenly changed, changing from her warm green eyes to Discord’s yellow and red ones. She opened her mouth to speak, and Discord’s voice issued from her mouth. “Do you like it, Twilight?” he asked. “Your friends, all together again, happy as can be. And you with them!” He leaned forward, whispering to me. “I can give you this.” My surroundings changed back to their normal colors, and everyone began to move again. Applejack released my shoulder, and turned back to talk to Rainbow Dash. I just sat there in silence, trying my best to absorb all of the joy and happiness that always surrounded my friends, Discord’s words echoing through my mind. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie’s face appeared in front of mine, causing me to jump back in my chair. “Pinkie!” I exclaimed. “Don’t do that!” Pinkie just continued to smile. “Sorry, Twilight, but you were looking too serious. I needed to do something to turn those frowns upside down.” The world around me changed again, freezing. Pinkie’s bright blue eyes changed into Discord’s, and he spoke through her. “Fun and games once more,” he teased. “All the happiness you could ever want!” The world started up again, and Pinkie smiled at me. “Twilight, I’m planning a party for this afternoon, if you wanna come. It’s a Just Because It’s The Middle of Summer party! It’ll really get those smiles going!” “Sounds great, Pinkie Pie,” I replied, a shaky smile on my face. I looked over at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who were talking with Rarity. “I see you two are looking as happy as ever,” I said. “Are you kidding?” Rainbow Dash replied, smiling. “Fluttershy’s the best! Ever since that time she tackled me behind the barn, we’ve been having a great time!” Applejack glared at her. “Now, don’t you go using mah barn for your little trysts, Rainbow. You two got your own places to get up to mischief in.” “Aw, lighten up, hayseed,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Sometimes it’s fun to get out a little, isn’t it, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy was blushing furiously, but put on a small smile as she nodded, much to Rarity’s amusement. Suddenly, the surroundings froze once more, and I watched as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash’s eyes changed from blue-green and magenta to the matching yellow and red of Discord. “See how much fun your friends can have?” they spoke in unison. “You can join them once more with my help. Just say the word…” The world began to move once more, and I felt a longing in my heart that I had never felt before. Watching my friends, healthy and happy, nearly brought tears to my eyes after all of the horror and heartache we had been through all these months. But at the same time, it felt… wrong. I knew what was true, and if I were to accept Discord’s offer, I would be living a lie, if I could call it living. I steeled myself, and stood up from the table, slamming my hands down on it. My friends immediately stopped talking and looked over at me in surprise. “Twilight, what’s your problem?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It’s all wrong,” I spoke softly. “What’s that, dear?” asked Rarity. “It’s all wrong,” I repeated, louder. “What is?” asked Fluttershy. “Everything,” I replied. “This is wrong. None of this is real.” I looked up at them, anger and sorrow in my eyes. “You’re all dead. I watched you die, each and every one of you, as we fought to find the elements of Harmony.” They were all looking at me, concern on their faces mingling with fright. “Umm, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack. “If we were all dead, how could we be here?” “Discord,” I hissed. “Stop dishonoring their memories and let them rest.” I felt a fury building up within me, and saw a purple aura begin to surround me. “I will never take an offer like this!” With that, a blast of pure magic flared out from me, shattering my surroundings like glass, my friends vanishing into the darkness. I found myself sitting on the floor inside Camelot castle, staring up into Discord’s eyes. He had an expression of disappointment on his face as he looked down at me. Letting out a huff, he turned around, stalking away. I became acutely aware of my situation as I felt the regular ache of my missing eye, the new pain of my ruined leg, and the overall exhaustion of my body. Discord spun around at the top of the dais, and flopped down in one of the thrones, sighing. “Ah, well,” he said. “I suppose since I couldn’t drive you mad, I’ll have to just kill you.” He snapped his fingers, and I heard a whistling sound above me. I looked up and immediately rolled to the side as a large stone statue landed on the ground right where I had been. I tried to push myself to my feet, but my right leg wouldn’t support me at all, and I fell back over. “Time to dance, Twilight!” I heard him crow. Without thinking about it, I teleported to the other side of the room just in time to see an even larger statue land right where I had been lying. I then teleported once more, this time landing right behind the throne he was sitting on. I heard rather than saw the crash of the next piece of statuary as I was in the process of digging in my bag while carefully bracing myself against Discord’s throne. “Now, now, Twilight,” called Discord. “No fair hiding.” I heard him rustling around as he looked for me, but at that point my hand connected with the element of Magic, and I pulled it out. I suddenly had a flash of insight and rolled to the side just as the blade of Discord’s sword appeared through the back of the throne. “Gotcha!” Discord called, as he saw my movement. I quickly teleported to the center of the main hall as a large boulder landed where I had been. I was starting to feel the fatigue of rapidly teleporting. Panting slightly, I leaned heavily on my staff, raising the element of Magic, and starting to pour everything I had into it. Discord saw the element, and gave it a look of dismissal. “Seriously, Twilight?” he huffed. “What do you expect to do with just one element? Your friends are certainly not going to be able to help you.” I continued to pour energy into the element, giving it my entire being. The element began to glow with the light of my energy, and suddenly I felt the other five elements leaving my bag, taking positions in a circle around me. They too, began to glow, and a light began to form connecting them all to each other. Discord gaped in surprise. “But how?” he demanded. “How can you control the elements?” “It’s who I am,” I replied. “My friends have given me their strength so many times over the years. I’ve learned more about harmony from them than I could ever hope to from a book. It just took a brand new world for me to realize it.” The bonds of light between the elements brightened, connecting them all in a flash of rainbow colored light. “Now, Discord. It’s time this world was rid of you.” I saw him rush down the dais towards me, but I refused to back down, pouring my last dregs of strength into the spell. Just as he reached the last stair, I let it all loose. A blast of multicolored light flew from the elements, striking Discord in the chest, slowly turning his skin to stone. I felt myself quickly growing weak, and the last thing I saw before blacking out was Discord’s stone face, set in an expression of fear and hatred. I came to what must have been hours later. The first thing I felt was the pain of exhaustion, as every fiber of my being cried out in agony. I shifted slightly, finding my head resting in someone’s lap, and I carefully opened my eye. The world was a blur around me which slowly came into focus, as I found myself still in the center of the great hall. I felt something wet land on my forehead, and I carefully looked upwards as my head throbbed with pain. Staring into magenta eyes that were filled with tears; I saw the pale rainbow hair flowing around her bent head as she held me, crying. Princess Celestia saw that I was awake, and she gasped in surprise and happiness. “Oh, Twilight, I thought we’d lost you!” she exclaimed, no longer the vacant puppet of Discord. I tried to sit up, but found myself lacking the strength. Celestia saw my efforts, and carefully guided me into a sitting position, letting me rest against her until I felt well enough to support myself. I looked around the hall, seeing the devastation of Discord’s attacks. Broken statues were everywhere, and Princess Celestia’s throne had been rent in two by Discord’s sword. Discord himself was right where I had left him, a stone statue, the same expression of fear and hatred on his face. The elements of Harmony were lying on the floor around me, no longer connected by the bright rainbow light. I looked over at Celestia. “Princess…?” I started, not knowing quite how to phrase my question. I settled on simply asking, “Are you ok?” She looked away from me, knowing full well what I meant. “No, Twilight, I’m not ok,” she replied heavily. “I’ve spent so long under his control.” She grimaced as the memories resurfaced. “It was a moment of weakness, but that’s all he needed – just a moment.” “Princess, what happened?” I asked. She looked over at me, sadness in her eyes. “After you and your friends were killed, I lost myself. I felt that it was my fault for pushing you into battle against Discord, when I knew full well what he was capable of. It was then that he came to me, and…” She trailed off for a moment. “He showed me that I could be happy again. All it took was just one little decision, and my life could be filled with joy once more. And from that day forth, I was living in the past.” I shuddered as I remembered what Discord had offered me. I had nearly become trapped by his magic in the same way. She hugged her knees to her chest, and I saw the guilt in her face at what her moment of weakness had cost her. Seeing Celestia like this… it felt wrong. I felt fury building up inside of me. Discord had been the cause of everything. He had killed my friends, ruined everyone’s lives, and caused the Princess to suffer. I pushed myself to my feet, falling over more than once as my leg gave out from under me. Celestia saw my efforts, and did her best to help me stand. I limped over to Discord using my staff as a crutch, fury and hatred filling me as I approached his stone figure. I stood in front of him, and grasped his shoulder to steady myself as I placed my staff against his chest. Magic filled my staff as I poured my energy into one final spell. Celestia watched in shock as I released a blast of energy, shattering Discord’s stone body into a thousand pieces. I watched pieces of stone rain down, listening to the pattering noise as they struck the floor. I reached down and grabbed a handful of pieces, and limped over to Celestia. “He will never, ever trouble us again,” I declared with finality. “And if anyone gets the idea to reassemble him somehow, I’ll make sure that they’ll be missing a few pieces.” I shoved the pieces that I had grabbed into my bag. Celestia gathered me up in a hug. Despite the aches, despite the pain, despite the hurt I had endured, I felt at peace as she held me, my quest complete. We stood there holding each other for a long time, surrounded by the elements of Harmony. Tears were flowing down both of our faces as I mourned my friends and she mourned her losses. I felt warmth on my back, and turned to look out of the window, seeing the sun shining brightly as the ever present clouds broke for the first time since I had arrived in this world. Since that time, the world has been rebuilding. It’s been a long, slow process, since Discord’s rule was anything but productive. Fortunately, some good things had come out of the devastation. The Crystal Empire shared the magic boosting technology that had been developed under King Sombra’s rule, which really helped with reconstruction. My brother was still having a difficult time earning the trust of the people there, since many of them only remembered him from his Twilight Armor persona. However, Cadence’s magic and the magic of the Crystal Heart at least kept the populace from raiding the Palace and killing him in the night. Celestia is back in power in Camelot, co-ruling the country with her sister. Once Discord’s spell on Celestia was broken, the city was cleared of the ghosts of the past, once more allowing living people in. Naturally, being the seat of power of the country, it didn’t take long for it to fill up once more. Princess Luna has been having a difficult time as well. Being gone for over a thousand years doesn’t help your ability to socialize. Fortunately, the Princesses have been using each other for support as they and the country recovered. Equs has become a bustling town. We’ve spent so much time rebuilding here, and the people are proud of their work. With my leg, I wasn’t able to provide much in the way of heavy lifting, but I tried to help out with my magic now and then. At least, when I was able to convince someone to let me do anything. Being a hero has its disadvantages, let alone a disfigured and disabled hero. I did get a nice cottage out of the deal, though. Big Mac wanted to build me a palace, but I talked him down rather resolutely. After some time, and some additional study, I finally worked up the courage to cast a certain spell that I had been avoiding for a while. Spike watched from the safety of the cottage doorway as I stood, light and wind surrounding me as I cast the dimensional travel spell that had brought us here in the first place. I pushed myself to the limits in order to give myself as much time as possible back in my old world, and when the light faded, I found myself sprawled on the floor of my library, back in my familiar pony form. I was still wearing the clothing I had left in, including the eye patch, and as I tried to move around, I found that my right hindleg was just as twisted as it had been. I limped around quickly, doing what I could to get things in order, when all of a sudden the door to the library opened, and I heard a cry of surprise. “Twilight!” cried Applebloom, as the little filly rushed in to see me. She stopped halfway, astonishment on her face as she took in my appearance. I cringed inwardly as she examined me, realizing what a fright I must be. Feeling a small sense of relief combined with fear and dread, I realized that Applebloom’s arrival might be just what I needed to get everything done in time. “Applebloom, I need your help,” I said quickly, “and I don’t have much time. I need you to move as quickly as possible and get your family, Rarity’s family, and the Cakes over here. There’s something I desperately need to tell you all.” I left out any mention of Fluttershy’s or Rainbow Dash’s families, as I knew they would likely be in Cloudsdale and wouldn’t get here in time. She stared at me for a minute longer, then nodded her head, a confused expression on her face. “Uh, ok, Twilight.” With that, she turned around and headed out into Ponyville, running as fast as she could. I quickly turned back to my task at hand – composing a letter to Princess Celestia. My mental clock had been carefully monitoring my time here, and I had two hours remaining when I finally finished my letter. Just as I was rolling it up, the library door opened, and Applebloom returned, followed by everyone I had asked her to gather. They all stopped in astonishment at the sight of me, but I urgently motioned for them all to gather around me quickly. I carefully sat down, and launched into my story, pausing only to answer a quick question here and there. When I finished, tears were present in everyone’s eyes, and I knew I only had a short time left. I hung my head, seeing the grief plain on their faces, and said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not bringing them back. I wish so much that I’d been faster, or stronger, or – or…” I trailed off, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled into a rough hug. Big Mac had grabbed me and crushed me to him. I then heard him say the longest, most heartfelt thing I had ever heard him say before. “It’s alright, Twilight. Ah know mah sister did what she had to do for you and for everyone. Ah’m not mad at you, and neither is anyone else. We’re just glad you were able to tell us how great they were.” Tears in my eyes, I looked around at the gathered crowd. They all nodded in agreement, sadness clear on their faces. “Thank you, everypony,” I said. I felt the magic stirring around me as the spell began to end. Pushing Big Mac away, I carefully backed up, looking at them all with a sad smile on my face. “I have to go now,” I announced sadly. “Please make sure that letter gets to Princess Celestia.” I indicated the sealed scroll that was now sitting on my old table, next to some of the pieces of Discord. As the wind picked up around me, I looked up at my mantelpiece, seeing my old picture of everyone. I quickly wrapped my magic around it, and floated it down to me, holding onto it tightly as I was pulled back into my new world.