Twilight was on the ledge, about to jump. She'd embarrassed her brother, his soon-to-be-bride, and all of her friends. Even Celestia had said how disappointed she'd been in her behavior.
Twilight stood up on only her back legs in preparation for the leap. Cadence just wasn't acting as the Cadence she'd remembered. Foal-sitter Cadence was always kind and … not evil. Twilight HAD to call her out in front of everyone, just HAD to. And then … instead of gaining a sister, she'd lost a brother. And Celestia. And her friends. It was too much. Twilight was heartbroken.
She moved one hind leg over the edge that she'd so recently climbed out on. Almost there. Just the statue of Discord to catch her fall. Hmmph, maybe she'd need to jump somewhere else.
"Oh if you want to do it right here, I could watch."
Twilight startled so bad she nearly fell right then, "Stay out of my mind, Discord! I've had enough for one day!"
"Oh, and miss the fun? I've searched, converted, and downright bamboozled many, many minds before, but never have I seen a mind this … discordian. It would be almost a shame to let you die. You'd make an excellent villain."
New tears welled up in Twilight's eyes, "Shiny said that I … I shouldn't show up at all to his wedding," her breath choked at the words, as a few more tears took the plummet that she'd been planning to take.
"Oh, now you're getting me all wet. This shouldn't do at all. I'll have to do something about this."
Twilight wasn't so much as crying as drooling tears. She didn't have the energy to actually cry any more "I wish I'd never been born."
"Do you now?"
"Then the others wouldn't have to put up with my OCD, my making Friendship problems with the want-it-need-it spell, my accusing my brother …" Twilight stopped. She couldn't continue.
"You know, most dark magic is consumed by overpowering the will of the victim. If you offer absolutely no resistance, I can cast a very powerful spell indeed."
Twilight looked down at the Discord statue, and whispered, "You could make it so I wasn't born?"
"Call it a gift … from one villain to another. Maybe it will set your mind on the right track."
"I doubt it, but if you want to grant my wish, I'll let you."
"It is done." That was all Discord said.
"But... you didn't do anything?" Twilight paused "Is this some joke to you?! I should jump right on your head with my-"
"Look up."
Against her better judgment, Twilight complied. The sinister face of the Mare in the Moon looked down at her.
Twilight dropped back on to all fours in shock, "Princess Luna, she whispered "… no."
"So have a run about the castle. See what you will see. Oh, we're going to have such a fun time." Discord's voice was absolutely giggly as it echoed in Twilight's skull. He was almost … gleeful.
Twilight slipped her head back in the window, surprised to find Celestia on the throne again. She was certain the room had been empty when she had … left it.
"Princess!" Twilight called out. She'd have had to climb down from the windowsill to bow to Celestia, but she was only a half-second into it when she was safely surrounded by Celestia's soft, blue aura, hovering Twilight inside.
"Oh, my little pony, I didn't see you there. Come down before you get hurt. … Are you one of my subjects? Strange, I'd thought I knew every single one of them and yet … I can't seem to place you at all." Celestia's confused frown grew deeper as she arched her eyebrows in thought. Celestia suddenly had an 'ah-ha' moment as the thought broke, "Are you visiting from the Griffin kingdom? I know some ponies have moved there and had children. You must be one of them."
Enchantment-enveloped Twilight swung in front of Celestia's ever-smiling face, never having touched the ground."Princess," Twilight squeaked out, "I'm your new student."
"Oh." Celestia broke eye contact with Twilight, looking down, and floated Twilight's form back down to the castle tile. Celestia's hovering was the only light in the soft blue evening, the rest of the dark castle seemed gloomy by comparison. "I don't think I could accept any more students. After being betrayed by Sunset Shimmer … and then Trixie Lulamoon... I … I don't think I could do it."
"Is it about … Nightmare moon?" Twilight asked, sprawled on the floor, not even bothering to get up again.
Celestia nodded, "You see, I'd imagined I could have a protege, someone I could mentor to take up the Elements of Harmony, but it seems no one else is enough in tune with themselves for that act, and I had to banish my sister once again." Celestia shook her head. " I'm sorry, but I can't take any more students. I can't take it" Celestia looked up and finally smiled a bit again, "But your trip here was not completely in vain; I shall let you stay at the castle tonight. You may decide how you want to proceed in the morning. Sleep always helps me think, I find. It always seems brighter in the light of day."
* * *
Twilight tested the bed in her guest room with a light jump, "I'd always thought of this as Shining Armor's room. I wonder why he's not in it."
"Oh, but Shining Armor doesn't live here." Discord giggled in her head again.
"Yes he does; he'd still be here for the wedding!" Twilight snapped aloud, angry for once instead of sad.
"What wedding?"
"To Princess Cadence. He can have her."
"Shining Armor never met Cadence. You were never foal-sat for him, so they never met. And he never became a captain of the guard, either. Without a little sister to watch over, he never learned the pride that came with protecting the innocent. His cutie mark's even different, now; it's no longer a shield. I believe it's a basketball or something."
"Well, maybe that's for the best." Twilight sighed and crawled under the covers, noticing how gloomy the castle looked this time around. Besides the lack of light, there were a LOT fewer guards. Half the castle seemed abandoned at any given time. The place was so sterile … and lifeless. There wasn't that constant cacophony of voices the castle always used to have in her childhood here. It was all too quiet. It even smelled funny.
"Discord, you're not going to watch me dream are you? How long are you going to be in my head?"
"No, I'm going to get some shut-eye myself. But I just want to say I've had a lovely time with you. Haven't had this much fun in years."
Twilight pulled the covers over her head, "Well, I'm glad someone is."
* * *
"I'm sorry dear, we don't know where Applejack went. She never came back from the rodeo competition she went to. But never fear, Filthy Rich has agreed to donate the money to fix city hall in her stead, if that's what you're asking."
No, that jolly well wasn't what Twilight was asking Mayor Mare. Twilight wanted to know where her friends were now.
"Well, what about Fluttershy from the animal shelter?"
"I think she moved back to Cloudsdale, poor dear. Wanted to be with Rainbow Dash, our former weather-mare."
"Former?"
"Yes, I think she's in flight school again. Did horribly at the Best Young Fliers competition with no one to cheer her on. Shame, really."
"What about Pinkie Pie from Sugar-cube Corner?"
"She moved back to her parents' rock farm. Said she didn't feel appreciated. We all miss her terribly. She brought such a cheer to our little town."
"What about Spike, then?"
"Who?"
Twilight sighed, "Never mind. What about Rarity? Of the dress shop?"
"I think she moved back in with her parents, too. Something about her sister. I don't know the details.
"Well, why don't you know?!" Twilight snapped at her. "You should keep track of everyone. Aren't you the mayor of Ponyville?!"
"Oh, we're not calling it Ponyville any more, dearie," The mayor laughed."Now it's Filthy-Rich-Ville. He insisted on the change when he donated the money, but... It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? The Flim-Flam brothers at Sweet Apple Acres offered first, but Filthy Rich bid higher than them. Something about free advertising?"
Twilight's head was swimming. Everyone else was miserable. It had been the little things Twilight had done that improved their lives the most. Cheering them on. Giving good advice. Giving a hug here and there to make them feel better. The minor things she'd long forgotten about. She'd messed up several things recently, but... their lives had been better with Twilight than without. And Twilight belonged with them.
Twilight ran out without even saying goodbye to the mayor. She might have run all the way to Canterlot to confront Discord, if he hadn't started speaking in her head again, just then, "Well, aren't you enjoying your little gift? Isn't this everything you've ever wanted? No problems. No worrying you'll screw something up. You're not involved in this at all, anymore. So take a break and have some lemonade." A glass suddenly appeared in thin air out of nowhere in front of her.
Twilight dead-stopped in her tracks, throwing up a small cloud of dust behind her. "I don't want your lemonade, Discord. I want my life back."
"Oh, is the Twilight not happy?" Discord moaned in mock-sarcastic whine. "Is she upset that she got exactly what she wanted?"
"This ISN'T what I wanted, Discord!"
"But it's what you said you wanted, isn't it?"
Twilight looked down at the ground, sighing "Fine. I was wrong. I'm not such a screw-up, after all. I realize that, now. I can always add something to the mix, no matter how small. So change it back."
"What makes you think I'm doing that? I think I like it this way. So contrarian."
Twilight glared menacingly at the glass of lemonade still hovering in front of her, "I've had it, Discord! You said you could only cast the spell if I didn't resist it. I'm resisting! With every fiber of my being! Discord, this isn't right! I --"
Twilight realized she was shouting at a brick wall now. A wall back in Canterlot Castle. Back in the throne room. The sun was just setting out of the far window. Festive wedding paraphernalia and bunting was spread across every surface that could hold it.
She was home.
"Miss Twilight Sparkle" a guard ran up behind her. "I've been ordered by Princess Cadenza to look for you. We need your- oh, your leg … it's injured." Twilight looked down. Her leg was bleeding. She'd scraped it on the rock when she'd … climbed out.
Twilight grinned from ear to ear. "Yes, my leg is bleeding! My leg is bleeding!"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm better than okay! My leg is bleeding! And look at these rose petals for the wedding! So many petals!" Twilight threw a bunch in the air and let them rain down on her head. "Oh, everything is so perfect! I have my friends back! I have my life back! I'm going to go apologize right now! This is so great" And, in an almost dance of bubbly jubilation, Twilight went off to find Princess Cadenza.
* * *
"And you've never told this story to anyone before, Princess Twilight?" Celestia sipped her tea, as it was still too hot to gulp, while they both sat in Celestia's office. A big stained-glass window featuring Twilight's ascension to princess-hood took up the entire left wall, throwing the whole room into a fine, bright, purple-ish hue at this time every day. Both Celestia and Twilight sat in red velvet chairs, facing one another.
"A lot of things happened that day; the changeling invasion, the wedding. But I'll always remember and be thankful to Discord for the lesson he taught me, too. It's different from the lessons you teach, but sometimes you need to learn lessons from Discord, too, I guess. They're not as much fun as Celestia's lessons, but I learned just how important my life is, then.
"And that is a valuable lesson, indeed. You are so very important, Twilight. I'd hate to think you might have actually gone though with it. Who knows where this kingdom would be now?" Celestia added, "And … I'm most glad of all that you're feeling better. My faithful student, I would be so saddened to lose you. I hope you never consider such a thing in the future. Know that you can always come to me at the very least, for anything. Anything under the sun."
Twilight smiled a knowing smile, "I know that. Now. There are so many friends out there that can help me when I most need it. It's a wonderful life."