Discord brooded inside his stone prison. He knew that one day he'd be able to escape again, but when that day came he needed a plan. He wouldn't let another chance at creating some wonderful chaos go to waste, but what would he do about those pesky Elements of Harmony?
I shouldn't have underestimated them last time. Now think, I know all of their power comes from their pesky little friendships, that’s why I used my Draconequus powers to turn them against each other. But that party pooper Celestia had to remind them with her letters. Why doesn't anypony appreciate some good old fashioned chaos anymore?
He was then interrupted by a mother telling her child a story inside the trophy garden. It was one Discord had heard many times before, but never really thought about. It was about three little ponies who gained their magic from friendship. He listened to the story, and thought about it.
Funny, when I took away the Element's magic and friendship, they turned colourless like the ponies in the story. All magic comes from friendship, everypony knows that, but I can't win by taking away their friendship. As long as at least one pony still has a friend they can show the other ponies friendship and ruin my eternal chaos. But there's only a finite amount of magic in the air, unless acts of friendship are being performed nearby. Maybe that means that-YES! That's it! i know exactly how to defeat those little ponies and bring about eternal chaos! Oh how i wish I could laugh maniacally right now! Now I can think about what kind of chaos to bring. I already did chocolate rain, maybe I can try strawberry or...
Having decided how he would defeat the ponies, Discord waited for his next opportunity to escape. Little did he know it would come a lot sooner than he realized.
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The darkness began to fade as dawn arrived. The moon once again relinquished to the sun, and Spike was up bright and early to help Twilight re-shelve the books. To his mild surprise he found Twilight with a book at her desk, barely awake and surrounded by burnt out candles. If she noticed Spike coming downstairs she didn't show it, completely absorbed in whatever she was studying.
"Twilight I don't know why you’re always up so late studying. I mean Celestia only kept you here to study the magic of friendship, shouldn't you save your energy for, you know, friends?" Despite her tiredness Twilight immediately sprang into a lecture, eliciting only a sigh from Spike.
"I'm studying because we should be trying to learn as much as possible about anything we can Spike. Don't you ever wonder why the world is the way it is? How we came to be and what we will become? Why the sky is blue and the grass is green? Don't you ever look around and ask why?"
"No," Spike replied flatly. "And you really should be saving your energy for studying friendship, you don't want to go a week with nothing to report again do you?"
"Actually Spike I am studying friendship. I assume you already read those books I gave you about where magic comes from, didn't you?" He hadn't.
"Yeah, about that..."
"Spike, you need to keep up with your studies. I am in charge of your education after all. In simplest terms magic comes from and is strengthened by acts of friendship. There's only so much magic in a given area, and if someone uses too much of it they can't use anymore. While only unicorns can control magic, earth ponies and pegasi still use it in their innate abilities. Pegasi use it to walk on clouds and leave trails,, and it gives earth ponies a connection to the land. Do you understand so far?"
"Absolutely Twilight," he lied, hoping Twilight would stop. She, of course, continued as always.
"Everypony also has magic that helps them with their special talent, see a pony doesn't just get a cutie mark when they get their special talent, it also marks the point at which their magical abilities develop to their fullest and give them their innate abilities," Twilight continues to lecture.
"Kind of like Pinkies' pinkie sense?," Spike offered.
"Not exactly," Twilight explained. "But similar to that, yes. Anyhow, I was wondering how Discord and Nightmare Moon had such powerful magic even though they had no friends, and as it turns out there's actually two different kinds of magic."
"Wait," Spike interrupted. "Is that even possible?"
Twilight elaborated. "Yes, you see the kind of magic most ponies use that comes from friendship is called harmonic magic, hence the Elements of Harmony. It's the only kind most ponies are aware of since it's the only kind we use, but there is another kind that's the exact opposite. It's called disharmonic magic, and it gains power from hatred and disharmony the same way harmonic magic gains power from friendship and harmony. It's almost the same, except it's the exact opposite."
"Twilight?"
"Yes Spike?"
"I barely understood anything you just said."
"I'll give you some books that explain it, now I'm going to go get some rest while you clean up this mess."
Spike sighed. "Yes Twilight, right away Twilight." Twilight trotted upstairs, leaving Spike to his own devices. I still don't know why she doesn't just save her energy for her friends, or at least napping. Oh Celestia how I'd like a nap right now, but no, I have to clean up after her late night studies. Sometimes I really hate that mare.
Twilight settled into bed upstairs. As she tried to sleep she found that she'd worked herself up too much in her lecture to Spike. She was about to give up and just get some coffee, but then, all of a sudden, she felt just a little weaker and drifted off into sleep.