Learning ABCs - Adorable, Bothersome, Chaotic

by Isopod


24) Friendship is Magic

"..."

"... Well, well, well. We meet again, Twilight Sparkle."

"... Uh ... Discord?"

"I can't believe you still have the audacity to ride on my back, after what you had done."

"Discord."

"And sure, it is fairly obvious you didn't come here by free will but if you had a shred of manners left--"

"Discord, would you please listen to me?"

"Yes, Twilight, my dearest betrayer?"

"... Right, um... where in Equestria are we?"

"Funny you should mention it because, I've a feeling we're not in Equestria anymore."

"You know perfectly well that is not what I meant."

"Well either way, our current situation, seeing as only the two of us are here, is rather awkward and, for at least one of us, rather shameful, don't you agree?"

"I could care less about that now! We'll deal with social awkwardness and issues later, we first need to get out of... whatever this place is! You did this, didn't you! Why did you bring me here, anyway?!"

"Oh, now I'm a criminal again, am I? Have you not shown me enough discourtesy lately?" They both glared at each other. He rolled his eyes. "I haven't done a thing! I was brought here against my will as well, by means I'm not exactly familiar with. At least, I think so. In one moment, my body felt ticklish and 'poof'! I found myself here, with you enjoying a ride on my back. Seriously - manners. You lack them."

"Well, same thing! I just disappearing from my library and the next thing I knew I was here. Do you have any idea about this place?"

"It's nothing I've ever seen, yet it strikes me as familiar."

"It does look like a place only you could create."

"I think I already told you, a while ago as well, that I can't turn ground and sky upside down. Though I must admit, whoever or whatever did this, deserves at least a nice bouquet of flowers."

"Discord..."

"Oh fine, fine. Let's look around a bit, shall we?"

The world the two had found themselves in was indeed literally turned around. High, high above them, right after the thin patches of fluffy clouds, they could make out the unlimited amount of solid ground, with trees, river and flowers, even an occasional house or two. No matter how hard they tried to reach it though, it seemed eternally distant.

Underneath them was the sky. The sky acted entirely unnaturally as a solid land. The moment Twilight tried to put a hoof down on the apparently invisible, airy surface that now acted as ground, it would crumble and then grow up again, or disappear completely - it was highly unstable and constantly changing; nopony's short legs, or any legs whatsoever were made for walking on such a surface. Clouds were floating by them, only a hoof or two away. Occasionally, they would encounter a chunk of land floating around as well, the kind the pair could thankfully stand on - but all of them were either too small or held nothing of interest. There was however, a most impressively sized cloud that took up literally half of the sky in front of them and apart from others, seemed to contain colours in its core, which would every once in a while flash through it's surface, like a colorful light breaking through. Not exactly sure about it, Discord didn't go right through it.

"Well this is boring." The Spirit finally noticed after they kept rounding the cloud like a race track for about good ten minutes and they couldn't tell if they were going in circles or if the clouds was even more massive than they thought. "I mean sure, it is wonderfully weird and totally and absolutely amazingly done but I had hoped to reach the Land of Upside Down through my own magic one day." He pointed upwards. "Though, looking down at the sky and up at the ground does induce a rather funky nauseating feeling, don't you think?"

"No way I'm looking down for more than a second." Twilight deadpanned. The flight moved on in silence.

"... Hey, Discord?"

"Hmm?"

"Look, I... about what happened-"

"It's alright." The Spirit said abruptly. Even though he seemed really honest about it, she decided he was wrong.

"No it is not alright." She protested. She could hear Discord sigh.

"Well of course it isn't, Twilight Sparkle but, in a way, it is."

"Uh..."

"I am not - well, not entirely - angry with you anymore. Will I need to spell these things out to you?"

"You... you're not?"

"No, I'm just... how about this, we'll discuss this when we get out of here." Discord finally said, this time turning his head to give her a short, sincere smile. There was something in it that helped Twilight's sorrowful mood she was in for the past day. Suddenly she felt that the good old draconequues she knew and loved was back, if even a little piece of him.

"Alright." She said. Both of them already felt a bit better from just that one, small conversation. Twilight opened her mouth again, not sure what she wanted to say, when she suddenly heard him say:

"Ah-ha! I spy with my little eye~"

She could help but chuckle, despite rolling her eyes. "Not the time for games, Discord."

"Something that begins with 'L'!"

"Oh, for the love of--"

"Wrong! It isn't 'love', it's 'land'!"

"What?"

Somehow, Discord managed to suddenly round the huge cloud that blocked their path so much and in the distance, Twilight could clearly see a large, wide piece of land, as wide as the cloud they just rounded was.

"Discord, look! The cloud!"

"Mm?" The draconequues lazily looked over at the giant cloud and as just as surprised when he saw it rapidly dispersing.

"What do you think caused that?"

"...I have a feeling we'll find our answer on land." Discord said, obviously not telling the entire truth of the matter. Twilight let it go, for now. "Land ahoy, Captain!" Discord laughed before zooming as fast as he could towards it. Twilight held onto him for dear life.

"Well, I'll be---" Discord observed the land in surprise. He landed down and once she finally met the firm ground, Twilight could see why.

This piece of land, so far entirely illogically but thankfully, had its own normal sky - Twilight was getting seriously dizzy from the previous setup. However they found themselves in a peculiar land that Pinkie Pie would definitely move into if she could. The trees were coated in sugar and made of what seemed to be jelly, giant gummy bears growing on them. Flowers were literally replaced by lollipops and their petals by candy. Grass seemed the same as always, but was extremely soft, almost like it was fake - and, Twilight noticed with surprise, it let out random noises when stepped on. Each step she took would produce a different noise, such as a balloon popping, or horn honking, or a weird 'squee' most likely produced by a toy or a clown's nose. A single path that led through the party engulfed land was made of chocolate. As fun and tasty as it looked, Twilight didn't particularly enjoyed walking on it and quickly hopped onto the Spirit's back once again after the last step of her hoof produced a flatulent noise.

"What is this place?" Twilight's voice was filled with both disapproval and amazement. As Discord continued to float down the path, they could make out a small house in the distance. Upon investigating, they realized two things - one, there was not a living soul in there and two, the house was made entirely of cakes and candy, just like their surroundings.

"This place almost screams of Pinkie Pie." She finally spoke. "I wonder if she had anything to do with-- Oh no way, Pinkie can't even do magic. But this place is just so... her."

"Oh!" The Spirit suddenly exclaimed, his face giving away something akin to shock.

"Are you alright?" Her genuinely concerned voice made him snap out of it.

"I... I have to check something out. We do, in fact!" Twilight had only a millisecond to take a better look of the candy house as they zoomed right past it. They passed next to several large tables that seemed to be set up for an upcoming party, with plates and drinks already prepared - there were even decorations on the sugary trees and balloons stuck to the ground and even a party canon nearby.

It would appear that the land Twilight affectionately dubbed 'Pinkieland' ended very abruptly with a thick, extremely high forest of sugar-coated trees that at some point turned into normal looking, tall pines. Not wanting to miss anything, the Spirit decided to fly through it, instead of flying over it. On the way the encountered several small clearances with various different looking houses and cottages, but nothing caught their interest too much - except for one house with a bigger yard that had been literally round and entirely painted in blue, with numerous bubbles drawn on it. It had weird, round flowers growing in the yard but Discord didn't stop for them to have a better look.

The Spirit halted soon after - once they got out of a forest a huge meadow upon which the Sun was shining appeared before them. It was covered in the greenest, most lush grass Twilight had ever stepped her hoof on, filled with the most colorful and wonderful flowers Twilight had ever seen - the meadow's most noticeable feature was its animals. Or to be more specific, the variety and number of them. Bunnies, squirrels, butterflies, ducks, every possible critter, countless of different bugs, the wonderful singing of thousands of different birds hidden in the shade of nearby trees and bushes, or flying in flocks over the half cloudy sky... It all reminded Twilight heavily of Fluttershy.

"Oh, dear." The Spirit let out a sound as if he just realized something.

"What is it?" Twilight turned to face him. He was fidgeting.

"Um... well, I am, kind of, sort of, the one to blame for us appearing here.

Twilight immediately frowned and Discord couldn't help but to laugh at it. "But you said you had nothing to--"

"Indeed; not willingly, was what I said." Discord managed sheepishly. "You could say that my... personal conflicts brought us here."

"Discord, what in the world--"

"Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle, we're having the honour of dealing with myself."

"Yourse-- what?"

Discord cleared his throat for a dramatic effect. "You see, doesn't this meadow remind you of somepony?"

Twilight frowned, at this point wondering if he just read her thoughts.

"Of... of Fluttershy." She replied and the Spirit clapped his hands.

"Exactly! And-- oh goodness, just look up there! Who does THAT remind you of?" He suddenly looked up, his talon pointing to something. Twilight followed his motion. Somewhere up in the sky, not too high and clearly visible, was a sky city very similar to Cloudsdale - only it was bigger and its shape was much more... edgy. From what they could see, still being on the ground, it had extremely high cliffs, countless of dangerous looking mountain peaks and several big slopes; as well as numerous cloudy rings all around it. It looked almost like some sort of training ground.

"That's where Rainbow Dash resides!" Discord exclaimed in excitement.

"Nobody lives here, Discord! I'm sorry, but I still have no idea what you're talking about!"

Discord sighed, exasperated. "Haven't you ever studied a pony's... consciousness and psychology and such?"

"Well, not in terms of whatever it is you're talking about!" Twilight noticed, frustrated by her own ignorance . "This looks solely like a work of magic."

"And it is, it is." Discord confirmed, floating around and observing. "It is a very powerful, very rare and very hard branch of magic. I myself wasn't aware I had it in me."

Something went of in her mind and Twilight asked before she could contain herself. "Discord, do you know why you gained your powers back?"

Discord was silent for a moment or two, seemingly in thought.

"I can't say for sure, my dear." He started. "But from what I know of our species and our rather awesome magical ability, it seems that I sort of... relearned it." He shrugged playfully.

"But how is that possible?" Twilight continued to wonder. "Nopony can master magic that fa--"

"Exactly, Twilight. No PONY. That's another thing you can put into your precious draconequues research. Aside from being undeniably handsome and charming, we're also a species of many... geniuses. Yes, I believe that's the appropriate title." He literally patted himself on the back, prompting Twilight to roll her eyes. "A small fraction of magical ability Celestia gave me was just enough. Ever since, all the wishing to do greater magical deeds, all the growing, suppressed power I had in me started to leak through... until it quite literally leaked, according to your sketches." He chuckled, throwing her a cunning glance.

"I guess even Princess Celestia doesn't know much about the draconequues, huh." Twilight dared to admit her beloved mentor had a 'flaw'.

"Not even Celestia, my dear." Discord confirmed. Twilight was silent for a while, simply rethinking his answer and pretty much being surprised by the simplicity of it. As they crossed the colorful meadow and once again headed through the thick forest of cedars she realized he still hasn't explained his theory on "dealing with himself", so she opened her mouth to ask and right in that moment, she tripped and landed nuzzle first into the dusty ground. Wait... dusty?

"This must be the territory of Miss Applejack." She heard him say. And really, once Discord lifted her from the dusty ground, she realized she was on the edge of a valley - valley filled with most beautiful, mature apple trees she had ever seen. Its fruits were clearly visible even from the distance, bigger and redder than most apples Twilight had seen in Applejack's orchard. Behind the trees was a large, fancy farmhouse, as well as a firm, tall water tower. It looked pretty much like everything Applejack dreamed of having one day, Twilight figured - it looked firm, safe and like a proper home for such a big family as hers.

And so little thinking cogs started to turn in Twilight's head. The Rainbow Dash's 'home'? The 'territory' of Applejack? Two pieces of land that so undeniably looked like perfect homes to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie? Even the house of bubbles that, although Twilight didn't say anything about it, seemed to scream 'Ditzy Do'.

Twilight gasped as the realization hit her. That huge cloud... it moved the moment they finally spoke to each other, the moment they finally achieved some sort of temporary but honest truce. Everything in here changed and shaped itself according to him and the way he felt. What he felt.

"We are inside of your hear--"

His fingers immediately moved to shut her mouth.

For the love of Chaos and everything that is Harmonic, don't." Discord facepalmed. "Let's just assume we're in my mind, because technically, we really are."

Twilight couldn't help but laugh. "Fine, fine. Still, that's quite sweet, you know."

"What is?"

"Well... the level of care you have for your friends, I suppose." She spread her hooves to point out the giant dream-home Applejack seemingly deserved in Discord's opinion.

He growled. "You just had to go and say it out loud, huh."

"But I still don't understand how did we get here in the first place. I mean, I could understand how you did but what about me?"

"I... I don't know." He admitted." I think we'll just have to continue and see where the path takes us. The answer is definitely around here somewhere."

The two continued to travel through Applejack's valley until reaching a batch of thick and dark trees that stood as a kind of a border between it and another piece of land. This time, there was a small path leading to the next piece of land. Soon after, they found themselves a small, fancy town Twilight immediately knew was Rarity's land. Here, the Sun was eternally setting and offered a romantic view. There were several places that were obviously made primarily for the purpose of a date - restaurants, a theater and cinema, dancing hall and a few other buildings, many of them shops with fancy clothing. Near the very end of the land was Carousel Boutique, looking bigger and more extravagant than ever.

"I don't need to guess who this space is meant for." Twilight smiled. Behind her, the Spirit let out a tired sigh.

"This is such an invasion of privacy."

"Oh, oh! Where is mine?"

Discord already looked angry. "Like, I said, privacy! Mind your own beeswax!" But his bad mood couldn't take off the curious expression off her face.

"I'm going to find it anyway!" She announced as she pranced towards the cherry trees of rose petals that swayed in the breeze in the edge of Rarity's land.

Discord had little choice but to follow her. On their way, the trees got significantly different and a weak mist gathered at the ground, which was the first sign they were entering another area. Twilight suddenly gasped so loudly in her excitement, that the draconequus almost jerked.

"These are willows!" Twilight whispered mesmerized.

Discord arched an eyebrow. "You nearly gave me a heart attack over trees?"

Twilight's eyes almost popped out as she stared at him. "Willows are so magical! Great and soft, swaying in the wind... I adore them!" She claimed. For her it was a definitive sign that they were getting closer to area Discord had dedicated to her. All that happening, Twilight hardly thought of it as unpredictable when the Spirit suddenly stopped her.

"Do you really HAVE to see it?" He questioned, annoyance in her voice.

"How else do you expects us to get out of here unless we look into everything?"

I guess she's got a point.

But the further they went, the more noticeable and thicker the mist started to become. Twilight tried to use her magic to chase it away, only to realize in utter horror that her magic wouldn't listen to her - whether it was the area that prevented her from using magic, or was it that specific spell that simply malfunctioned, she couldn't tell. Discord seemed satisfied with this progress of the situation.

Even when they exited the forest, the fog was to thick she could barely see the blue-ish grass before her.

"What?" He asked once she shot him a dirty look. "It's not like I'm doing this on purpose!"

"Well, you are in control here! We're technically inside of your mind, or something! It should be your doing, it's the only logical thing!"

"Well, do tell me then," the Spirit started impatiently, "were you ever fully in control of what and how you feel?"

"I am--- well, no, but-- Well, I crave to be!" She finally stammered out before turning away from him and heading into the fog. The Spirit chuckled and followed her closely.

"Slow down dear, you don't want to get lost."

"I can easily call for you."

"True, but my mind is a scary place sometimes." She heard him say, half jokingly and half trying to sounds creepy. While he failed at that, the thought of being lost in a Chaotic mind was not something that seemed attractive.

"Oof!" Twilight suddenly hit something, like a wall or fence. It took her a few moment to make out a big tree and a few more moments to realize it was her library. To her surprise, this was the first house they encountered that had its lights on, as she could make out through the glassed windows.

"Oh finally, a familiar place!" Twilight gasped - to her disappointment and surprise, though, the door was closed, windows too. Her magic couldn't open them, and Discord unsuccessfully tried to transport them inside.

"We can not enter." He noticed, earning a glare from Twilight.

"Well thank you! I had no idea about that!

"Which means the solution to our problem is inside."

"... that at the same time makes sense and yet, we don't really have any logical proof to support such a statement."

"Well, seeing as it is my mind we're residing in..." He smiled.

"Point taken." Twilight accepted. "How do we get in?"

"Well, certainly not by magic."

"...Discord, don't you think it is obvious that you should open it... as you said, it's your mind."

"What do you propose?"

"Well, I do think this fog is to blame for all of it." Twilight admitted, and Discord rolled his eyes.

"This again? What does that have to do with--"

"The cloud moved the moment we made amends, remember? We talked. We need to remove doubt from your heart.

"Again, don't call it that."

"So, swat's the problem? You can talk to me about it."

Discord and Twilight eyed each other intensely as he tried to count the choices he had. Once he realized he didn't have any other, he whined like a filly.

"I just don't want to!"

Twilight laughed out loudly. "Discord, you don't have to be shy!"

"I am not shy!" He said a bit too desperately; at that moment, for the first time ever, Twilight had the honor to see a barely noticeable crimson color on his face.

"I know you're not." She said calmly. "But still, we have to enter somehow."

"Oh, fine, fine, for goodness sake- just let me do it on my own!" Discord took a deep breath to calm himself down, his eyes closing for a minute. Then, though reluctantly and with a short pause, he clicked his fingers. To Twilight's surprise, it worked, as the fog started to slowly disappear.

" How come that kind of magic worked?" Twilight questioned.

"I guess sometimes actions speak louder than words." Discord said tiredly as the world before them rapidly unraveled. Once the sky became visible, Twilight gasped.

Unlike others, this piece of land was engulfed in night. A huge full moon provided more than enough light for everything to be visible. As the mist retreated, the trees emerged in the dark, gorgeous, sad looking willows, swaying in the gentle breeze. There was a sparkling river nearby, dark and deep, reflecting the moon.

The most noticeable feature though, once the fog was gone, was definitely the sky; aside from the Moon, it contained not only numerous stars and constellations but also big, colorful nebulae, far away dots of color that Twilight instantly recognized as other planets or bigger stars. It was like the whole beauty of the universe tried to fit into that one part of sky.
Instantly, she thought of all the researches she could do, if she only had her telescope and maybe a piece of parchment. As if somepony heard her thoughts, she suddenly noticed a small building in the distance - her keen eye instantly recognized it as an observatory.

"Discord, this is... this is just magical."

As expected, he simply waved his paw dismissively. "Let's just get this over with, or at least try to."

Upon a second try, the door opened effortlessly. Discord ducked to enter through the tiny door, with the mare following him closely, still fascinated by the vast world of night Discord 'created' for her.

The moment they stepped in, the door slammed behind them. All the lights in the library vanished, the candles being blown out by a sudden, eerie wind that had no plausible source, and the windows, that opened along with the door, suddenly slammed shut again. Twilight felt something old and familiar in that wind, something that shook her to the bone and that made her skin crawl. She found herself being scared though there was no reason to be as of yet.

"Discord." She whispered, not sure what exactly she wanted from him, or why did she call for him in the first place. The draconequus, though, didn't seem at all shaken, perhaps even indifferent.

"Hmm?" He lazily replied, trying to get the candles to burn once again - and once again, his magic betrayed him.

"Discord, somepony is in here." Twilight knew it. That cursed, horrible wind marked the presence of somepony, somepony she met a while ago. Somepony who put that same fear she felt right now into her heart... only now, it felt so much worse.

"What are you talking about?" The Spirit chuckled. "There is nopo--"

"Can't you feel it?" Twilight cut him with a whisper - Discord frowned as he recognized the tone of fright her voice held. "That wind and that... that presence?"

"... No?" Discord simply stared at her, at the loss for words. If anything, he felt pretty good. In fact, for whatever reason, he felt great. Even nostalgic, though not realizing why. Like he was about to meet an old friend. "In fact, I feel brilliant!"

"...Oh... Oh, sweet Celestia, no!" Twilight suddenly backed away, staring into the darkness of the library as if somepony was about to jump out at any minute.

"Now what has gotten into you, Twilight Sparkle?"

"D-Discord... remember how you told me that we're here because... you have personal conflicts?"

"Of course I do."

"Well maybe," Twilight gulped, "maybe those, err... conflicts have manifested themselves in a... sort of a, um, 'living'... form?"

For a moment or two, they were silent. Both of them jumped when they suddenly heard slow, slow clapping.

"Bravo, bravo, my dearest, dearest Twilight Sparkle." A cold voice, incredibly similar to Discord's, yet so much more sinister, spoke mockingly. "Once again, Celestia's perfect little protegé did it.

Twilight did her best to silence a yelp and Discord stood next to her in what she could only define as an absolute shock. Down the stairs the being descended and though there was nearly absolutely darkness, they could see its features clearly.

To describe it as a more weird and sinister looking version of the draconequus was an understatement. The creature before them had dark, shining red irises that like two gems were set into the depths of its black eyes. These eyes had no place for kindness, friendly disposition or even the ever chaotic playfulness. Its body was long but its grace lost - literally bent in a few places, like a badly folded piece of paper, the bones in his body stabbing but not piercing from the inside, like a broken doll. Its horns were crooked to weird, unbecoming angles and its sharp, crooked teeth were barred into a perfectly abominable grin even the bravest pony couldn't look at without losing their cool.

Discord stared at this terrifying creature and realized it was the part of him he missed most of all. It was his magic. His chaotic, trouble bringing, cruel self. It was Discord bare of any personality he ever had, nothing but his body and Chaos in one. The fact It bore such a terrifying form unsettled him. The fact that a part of him was like that... suddenly he wasn't sure if he could accept it.

"Dissscord." It hissed. "What a pleasure it is to find you here. It was about time you visit me."

"You have to settle this now, Discord." Twilight started silently. "If you don't, you might lose control over this monster."

"Monster?" It chuckled darkly - Its laughter sent shivers down her spine. "Are you calling your friend a monster? The Power of Friendship sure has fallen on hard times." Another chuckle. "But you are right, Twilight Sparkle. Your precious little 'test subject' has a job to do. So why don't you go and... play for a little while we do the talking?"

Twilight started, determined to stick to Discord despite the terrible fear that ate her insides: "I am not going any--" But It cut her off.

"Oh, that's what you think." It snapped its sharp, bony talons. Twilight suddenly disappeared.

"Twilight!" Discord automatically called but no reply came. He turned to It. "What in Tartarus--"

"Don't worry, my little draconequus." It spoke. "Your precious little friend is merely dealing with some problems of her own right now. In the meantime," it grinned, "let's talk."

Discord eyed It suspiciously but didn't say anything.

"Come now, you missed me for so long. No embrace? No greeting? You've changed so much." It continued, shaking its head. "What happened to the good old days, hmm? Well, never mind... time is the bringer of change but I could help you, if you only let me. We could do so much more, Discord. We could bring so much more... pain."

Well, that was new. He was fairly sure he didn't want to do that since the time he was a silly kid. Why bring it up?"

"All the power, Discord."

Ah, right. It was the sweet, sweet taste of utter control over everything and everypony.

"All you have to do is let me... take over for just a little bit."

Why was it that power suddenly didn't matter? Was it seriously the fact he had friends? God, what a cheese he turned out to be.

"With your magical ability and my Chaos, there's no pony that can stop us."

Back then, he sincerely had no one to trust. At best, he had followers who feared him. He never got any respect merely because of the fact he was different. For the fact he liked to spice things up. For the fact he was the embodiment of Chaos.

What was wrong with a little Chaos? Eternal question that bothered him since the day he first got punished for his strange magical preferences. Staring at the creature before him, he realized he might've found his answer.

The creature had nearly laid one of it's cursed hands on his shoulder when he swatted it away.

"Oh, would you shut your oversized trap already?" The creature stared, his eyes holding no emotion but something akin to regret washed over its face as Discord produced a mischievous smile. "If I have to listen to your booooring speech for another second, I'm seriously going to have to do something about it, and judging by your much too dark and serious personality, I suppose you don't like chocolate milk nor cotton candy. Ponies know me for both and though I hate them both since, they sure would cheer you up." He pondered for a moment. "Though with those teeth, perhaps better not."

The creature gave him that sinister look one last time before grinning maliciously. "So.... that's how it is going to be, my little draconequus?"

"I am no draconequus of yours." Discord said, and after thinking for a moment, added. "In fact, if anything, you're the draconequus of mine! My control, my rules. Now be a good boy and settle down - talking to a part of me is entirely too cheesy and even though I hate to admit it, it's much more boring that I though it would be. But oh well, even I have my bad days!"

The creature snarled. "Then you give me no choice. After dealing with you..."

"Bring it on, Mr-I-Can't-Afford-Dental-Care." Discord challenged with a good-natured chuckle. For a few seconds, tension was in the air. Then they both launched at each other.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Discord? Where are you? Anypony?" Twilight wandered. Where she was, she couldn't tell - she literally couldn't because around her, above her and below her was nothing but black nothingness. It wasn't even dark, as she could see her own hooves perfectly well but there was no source of light, no ground, no sky, no air... no nothing nor anything.

She walked on, not sure if she was going to find anything that way. She wasn't even sure if she was walking to begin with.

"Twilight? What is she doing here?"

Pinkie? And for real, a mare of bouncy pink mane was sitting comfortably on the floor, her hoover crossed before her as she observed her friend. Twilight couldn't tell whom was the question directed to as everything was empty but at that moment, she didn't care.

"Pinkie Pie! Oh goodness, how nice it is to see you again, even if it isn't for real!"

"Oh it is nice, isn't it?" Pinkie replied snobbishly and Twilight stopped in her tracks.

"Oh... hey there, Meanie Pie." Twilight bitterly noticed.

"What do you mean, Meanie Pie?" Pinkie laughed an obnoxious laughter that certainly wasn't hers. "I'm your good ol' friend Pinkie! Always ready for a laugh!"

"Uh, right... so, what are you doing here, um, Pinkie?"

"What am I doing here? The better question is, what are YOU doing here, Twilight?" Pinkie noticed. "You should be helping your coltfriend over there."

"What? Discord is not my-"

"Awww, she's blushing, shes blushing!" Pinkie once again laughed obnoxiously, though twilight felt anything but shyness in her current predicament - from everywhere around her, faceless ponies popped out, laughing that same, disgustingly fake laughter. Twilight felt a lump in her throat but stood firm.

"What are you up to, Meanie Pie? You're not getting to me that easily!"

"What is it, Twilight? I thought you were up for a good laugh. I know I always am! So tell me, when do you plan telling that lizard about your stupid little crush?"

"It's not- I mean-"

"Ha! I knew you were nothing but a coward!" Another round of mocking laughter.

"Would you just cut it out!" Twilight angrily shouted and because of that little loss of control the world suddenly played with her mind. Everypony pointed at her. She couldn't tell what was real and not, if it was a dream or if it even ever happened. She tried to concentrate but the laughter was hard and loud in her ears.

"By the way Twilight, how is that book going? You know, the one you always mention you're writing about us and all the things that we did, adventures we went onto, as friends?"

At that point, even though stressed and disturbed by the current situation, Twilight had to frown. Indeed, she had been toying with the idea many times but it was still far from coming into realization.

"What are you talking about, Meanie? I mean, you know I love books but I never wrote a thing myself..."

"Twilight Sparkle, how dare ya to lie to yer friends like that!" Applejack appeared from the darkness. Her face was that of a stern parent. "And we were lookin' forward to your stories so much... yer a disappointment!"

"No, for real, I never wrote such thing!" She had at this point forgotten about the fact anypony around her weren't in fact her real friends but she was too deep in to realize.

"Oh, she didn't lie completely, alright." Rainbow Dash appeared in the air with the book Twilight never saw in her entire life. Across its cover was her face alone with a smug grin she didn't know was capable of producing; it was titled "Adventures of Great and Powerful Twilight Sparkle".

"Like, she completely gave every single credit to herself. That's so twisted, Twi. I thought we were friends."

"What are you- if I ever write such a book, I swear I'll-"

"Just like her, truly," Rarity appeared in her fancy robe, carrying a copy of the supposedly written book. "And look at the price of that thing! I say Twilight, I know you need your bits but if anything, you could've at least kept the cost at a small fortune."

"I could never overprice books, you know that well!" Twilight yelled out. "I even forgive anypony who returns the book late, because they probably can't help it and-"

"To think our dear friend Twilight," Fluttershy started, appearing behind her; she, of all things, didn't seem angry or bitter but disappointed, "would do such a thing to both her friends and to the books she supposedly respects and loves... I thought you were a better pony than that, Twilight. I guess I was wrong. We all were."

There is no reason to cry, something inside of her told her. Just calm down.

"Hahaha - look at her, such a crybaby! What's the matter, Twilight? Elements of Harmony got your tongue?"

"No, I... I just-"

"Why don't you just admit it Twilight... you're not fit to be an Element." Rainbow Dash said it like it was something she finally got out into the open. "You need something... different."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're a dishonest, selfish and egocentric pony, Twilight." Pinkie Pie started, nuzzling her as she spoke. "Trust me, you can take it as a fact when it's coming from your friends. But you know what? You deserve to be. One of the most powerful Unicorns to have ever lived, the very Element of Magic itself, schooled and tutored by Celestia... You're brilliant, Twilight. You're like a star."

"A... star?"

"Definitely, my dearest, bestest friend-o! And so you know what? We had an idea! You could do a great service to the Chaos."

Twilight was silent. "... Me?" She finally gasped.

"Oh, definitely, Twilight." Fluttershy approached her, gently nuzzling her as well, to offer her comfort. "I've never seen anyone as powerful as you are, Twilight. The very display of your power sometimes scares me."

"True, true." Applejack threw in. "Yer powers are your biggest asset, Twi. You shouldn't let it go to waste."

"All you have to do to gain Chaos' guiding, powerful hand," Rarity appeared before her, "is to honestly answer: do you accept Chaos as your guide?

"Ho-honestly?"

"Why, naturally. Whoever saw a deal being made by lying?" Rarity sneered. Ponies around her chuckled. "Of course, you being such a dishonest mare in the first place, it can be hard; but we know you can do it. You're not the most powerful Unicorn for no reason. You definitely can be honest just this one time. For yourself. For us. For the balance your Chaos could bring to the world."

"Come on, Twilight." Applejack nudged her. "Say yes."

"Say it Twilight... please."

"For everypony."

"For the good of Equestria."

"For Chaos."

"Say it for Discord, Twilight. Spare him of your awful self. Maybe once you change, he'll come to like you as well. I most certainly am sure he will!"

Discord.

"Are you guys stupid?" Twilight suddenly uttered. The Spawns of Chaos around her retreated in surprise.

"That wasn't very nice, Twi--"

"Oh, shush!" Twilight interrupted Fluttershy. "For ponies spawned by that awful... 'thing', I'd thought It could've planned something better. Sure, you were doing just fine at driving me completely depressed and very likely emotionally scarred, but whoever seriously thought I might even for a moment wish for even a fraction of that thing's power - or even power as an ambition - must be stupid."

Her words were echoing stronger and stronger in the darkness; she was so much into it she failed to notice ponies around her disappear slowly.

"I am an Element of Harmony - but I by myself mean nothing as an Element, or as a regular pony, without my very best friends. Our powers comes from all of us, together! And that happens to include that "lizard" Pinkie!" Pinkie gasped, and disappeared into the nothingness, with Rainbow Dash following closely.

"I refuse to be fooled like this! Return me to my friend! Return me to Discord this instant, and I just might decide not to kick your flank!" The last words were shouted and the rest of the ponies disappeared completely, darkness fell onto her and she was spinning. She closed her eyes firmly, not knowing what was going on...

And then she landed into something.

"Ah, just the one pony I wished to see!"

Twilight opened her eyes. Whatever caused it, the laws of probability wanted her to land into Discord's arms. He was smiling so widely. She hadn't seen that wide smile in a while. It was Adorable.

"Discord!" She threw her hooves around him, holding onto him like never before at that moment, and much to her surprised, he returned the hug just as firmly. It kind of, sort of, melted her heart into a jello.

Somewhere behind her, she heard a painful hiss.

"You mentioned you wished to see me?" Twilight asked with a smile as Discord gently put her onto the floor. The creature was looking even worse than before but also much angrier, and... weaker?

"Indeed. You see- remember when you and your friends trapped me into the statue?"

"Uh... yeah." Twilight sheepishly recalled.

"No, no, that's a good memory thingie! Well, back then, I was appalled by the idea that the Elements of Harmony can do such a thing to the all powerful Chaos I love and cherish so very much - NOW, though, I am using the very Elements to defeat this thing here!"

Twilight blinked. "But... you don't have the Elem--"

"Oh, I didn't mean your precious little jewelry. Besides, this is all in my mind, I don't need such things." He chuckled. "First, I went along with my favorite. Laughter." Discord snickered. "So I reminded myself of all the funniest things. Somehow, most of them included your facial expressions."

"Hey!"

"Like that time you almost fell off a cloud and begged me to leave you alone? Oh goodness, you were shrieking so much!" Discord laughed loudly - the Chaotic creature hissed in pain upon hearing it.

"But, I'll leave the description of my wondrous fighting tactics for later - the most important Element has finally arrived and I can finally sent my Chaos back where it came from! Which, in fact, is back to me."

Twilight gave him a strange look. "But you have your own magic, don't you?"

"If I may quote," Discord returned her with an equally strange look, "All the Elements lead up to the greatest Element of all. And that Element, as powerful as it is, isn't Magic."

Twilight wasn't sure if she heard that correctly. Whatever the case was, she decided to roll with it, because those were the most wonderful words she ever heard him say. She wasn't even aware of the painfully big smile on her face.

"So, let's show this awfully un-handsome Me just how I learned to control Chaos"" Discord grinned. Twilight nodded and Discord noticed something; the mischievous smile on her face. Very much like his own.

"Taste the Rainbow, freak!" Discord yelled out as he and Twilight both cast their spells and a ray of all the colours of the rainbow it hit the creature, engulfing him in the prismatic orb. As that happened, Twilight could hear Discord yelling "ow, ow, ow," constantly.

"Fighting myself was just a bit more painful than I expected!" She heard him shout out jokingly before the whole world of Discord's colorful mind collapsed.