Once the chaos had died down – or, been transfigured, more like – Twilight had felt compelled to get back to her mission of translating the Statera Equus into the more common languages for distribution to all of the libraries over Equestria. Even if every pony assumed that such a thing wasn't necessary anymore to give credence to chaos's importance and role in the balance of the world, since Discord had proven himself several times over at this point.
But what her friends didn't understand was that it wasn't really about Discord anymore. There was a new chaos being to consider now. A new chaos being that would still need help to be understood, even if Twilight and Discord and all of their friends would strive to ensure that he be as fully understood as his partner in balance. A new chaos being that would help to change the stigma of what his powers could do or entailed.
A new chaos being that was still cranky even after his nap.
Twilight looked up from the crumbling pages of the ancient tome, lowering her translation notes with a sigh. A sigh of weariness but also a kind of serenity. She could hear him now as he made his groggy, unsteady cry. She wondered what sort of dream he had been having that caused him to be so upset at being woken from it.
Leaving the library and following his cries down the halls of Discord's castle (their castle now, Twilight supposed), she found him in his room on the floor, his blanket covering his head as his wings stuck out awkwardly from opposite directions. So, that was the problem. He'd fallen asleep on the ceiling and lost his concentration of gravity in his sleep.
Twilight laughed softly and again with a serene air, scooping him up in her magic – blanket and all – and disentangled him with a gentle shift of her magenta glow. She then transitioned him smoothly from magic to her foreleg.
The tiny creature felt so warm and soft in Twilight's embrace, he purred and wheezed quietly in the cutest way, yawning and stretching his massive miss-matched wings. They must have covered the length of his entire little body, a brightly green feathered wing with a deep purple dragon wing. She nearly dropped him when they extended, but as they slowly settled back down to envelop his whole frame, Twilight got the hang of it again.
Only his four limbs poked out of the protection of his wings, cloven and clawed back feet dangling over the crook of Twilight's foreleg while the red hoof and fuzzy black and white kitten paw of his front limbs twitched slightly in his still half-asleep state.
She carried him with great care back to where she had last seen Discord, redecorating with their friends to give this little guy a proper playroom.
As she turned a corner she was startled - though not entirely surprised – by Discord's popping into being before them.
He regarded them with a mischievous smile, holding up his clawed hand in front of him.
“Now, now, Ms. Sparky. We don't want to ruin the surprise, he can't see the room just yet.”
“Discord, he's barely a week old. He doesn't even have object permanence yet. I don't think the surprise will be ruined.”
“Can you blame me for wanting things to be as perfect as possible for him? I never even had a playroom in my youth. Of course, one might say that the world was my playroom, and there is also the fact that I didn't exactly have a 'youth' per se...” he seemed to trail off for a moment before his gaze landed on the occasionally-squirming bundle that Twilight still held.
“But anyway, he's going to be one of a kind, I just want his surroundings to reflect that.”
“One of a kind, but not alone,” Twilight added. “He'll have us, and Melody, and well---every pony.”
“Which is exactly what I want for him as well,” Discord stated, tickling the foal under his chin. “Isn't that right, Discord Jr.?”
Twilight rolled her eyes at him, but her smile remained. “You know that's not his name, you're going to confuse him.”
“Well, if he doesn't have object permanence yet, I doubt he's had the chance to memorize that silly name you gave him.”
Shaking her head slightly and sighing through her nose, she ruffled his purple-streaked mane, feeling the nubs of two equally miss-matched horns to go with the rest of him. And as his eyes fluttered open and he noticed her, Twilight noticed that his eyes were the exact same shade of violet as her own.
“And you gave him my eyes,” she mused, it was less of a question and more a realization.
“I thought that they would be fitting for him, give our son a pair of eyes no pony could resist.”
Twilight chuckled, and the weight of those words fell upon her not for the first time this week. 'Our son'. This adorably strange foal was her son... their son. No matter how unconventional his creation, it still stood that he was theirs. They had created him together, this new chaos being, out of true harmony between them.
Before she could make some sort of retort to Discord, the chiming of bells filled the hallway, signaling that more guests had arrived.
“That will be Cadance and the princess. I'll go and meet them and then we'll be back to see what sort of mess you all are making in there,” she said with a smile.
When she made it to the main hall, it was to be greeted by the sight of Princess Celestia, Cadance, and her brother. All received her welcome warmly,and she was relieved to see that Shining Armor appeared to hold no residual ill feelings from their last encounter.
“Honestly, I am still slightly worried about you and Cady, but I know we all have some more important things to worry about these days,” Shiny said as Cadance glided their own foal's basket over all of their heads to come to a rest near Twilight's eye line so she could peer inside.
Her tiny, pale pink niece was gently snoozing in her mother's magical grip. Melody flapped her own tiny wings, sending a slight breeze through her purple and yellow mane. This was the first time Twilight had really gotten a good look at her, between all that had been going on. She could definitely concede that Melody was cute, but she still felt that her foal was cuter. Although she might have a bias.
“That's for sure,” she replied to her brother, gesturing them all to come further inside. “Come on, Discord and the girls have been working all day on some big secret in the playroom.”
The room in question had larger and more ornate doors than her library, and after Twilight opened them she could see why every pony had been adamant on keeping her and their son out while they worked.
The floor was an exact replica of Equestria, with geographically-accurate mountain ranges poking up from the carpeting, and various region-specific stuffed animals all in their appropriate places. A small wading pool complete with adjacent sand box was in the exact spot where the shore met the sea on the eastern coast.
The ceiling above them shone half with a bright blue sky and sun and half with a beautiful starry night sky, along with fluffy cloud-like cushions floating in a circular pattern above their heads.
Discord must have used every ounce of residual magic he had left,and the others had added their own touches as well. She could see Rainbow Dash had made sure to include a miniature Cloudsdale and Applejack a tiny farm play set.
Her friends all stopped what they were doing to turn to her with excitement all over their faces.
“Surprise!” Shouted Pinkie. And Twilight was surprised, and impressed.
“Oh, every pony, this is so wonderful. I'm sure he's going to love it.”
“But is it what you were thinkin'?” Applejack asked. Twilight gazed around the room again, but this time focusing on the ponies assembled. Her friends, who had become Discord's friends as well, and her family, whom she supposed Discord counted as as well. They had all come together to not only help them rebuild Discord's castle, but to help the new family build a life.
“It's exactly what I was thinking,” she replied. Her cheeks hurt from all the smiling she was doing, but she couldn't help it.
“So now that we're all here, some of us still haven't gotten to hear the name you decided on for our new little chaos being," Rarity said pointedly.
“That's because Twilight wanted to keep it a secret until every pony was together. She picked it out after all,” Spike said. “Discord won't let us forget that.”
“Well, it's not exactly a secret that he wasn't created under normal circumstances, and plus he's going to be one of a kind no matter what. I wanted to give him a name that was just as unique as he is,” Twilight said as she saw Cadance put Melody down in the bassinet that sat near the corner and where the Crystal Empire would be on the carpet map.
“I've recently been studying the ancient Baastinion's mythologies, they were always some of my favorites besides Sleipnirnian. They had legends about something similar to that of your balance between chaos and order. They called them 'isfet' and 'ma'at'. I thought – since he was created to help maintain balance between the two – we could combine those two into 'Ismaat'.”
“I still vote for Discord Jr., but there is something to be said for something more interesting,” Discord said.
“Ismaat sounds fittingly unique,” Princess Celestia said.
“Yeah, since there's no other pony like him, he might as well have a name to match,” added Pinkie. She leaned in close to the baby and placed a tiny party hat on his head.
“Welcome to the world, little Issy!”
Ismaat grabbed at the hat with his front limbs, unable to knock it off with neither hoof nor paw. When his attempts at removing it failed, he began to whimper and hiccup until bubbles came from his nose and mouth, which popped to reveal several birds inside that flew away and out of sight.
Twilight removed it for him, calming him instantly. Thinking that he might like some interaction with his cousin – though reluctant to let him go from her embrace – she placed him down in the large bassinet with Melody.
The two infants kicked each other in a playful sort of way, both cooing almost in unison, almost in harmony. Maybe on some level they already understood the nature of their relationship, that they were to work together. Or maybe Twilight was reading too much into little baby babbles.
Arriving slightly later than the others, Princess Luna reported that all of the anomalies had completely ceased all over Equestria, and it could be expected in the other affected countries as well. The night was peaceful, quiet, and uneventful across the land, as it should be.
Looking down at the two squirming futures of the balance between the two powers,Twilight couldn't help but feel the sense of peace as well, as if true harmony had really been achieved. At least for now, time would tell how the little ones grew into their powers, but for now all seemed well.
Discord wrapped his arm around her, and Twilight sank into his touch. It hadn't been actual labor, but the transference of their chaotic power into making their son had worn her out, and even now a week later she could still feel the after-effects. As happy as she was to be among her friends and family at this moment, welcoming the foals into the world, part of her only desired a cozy place to curl up and sleep for a few hours... or days.
Cadance looked just about the same level of worn out as she. Which only made sense, as she had had Melody not long before Ismaat was created. She could relate, even if she hadn't given birth to Ismaat the old fashioned way. Being his mother for only this week had left her exhausted, yet at the same time filled with more joy than she had thought possible. That was what she saw reflected in her sister-in-law's face.
She smiled again as she thought the word 'mother'. She knew that as powerful as Ismaat would become, he would still depend on both she and Discord. She made a mental note to find as many books on foal and young pony care she could find so that she would be able to be the best, most educated mother she could be.
Discord's arm still around her, the two slipped away from the talk and laughter of the group to have a quiet moment to themselves.
Though they had had no shortage of these moments over the past year - and though it delighted Twilight to see so many friends filling this castle where Discord had been alone for so long with such warmth and cheer - it was also true that since their creation of Ismaat most of Twilight's and Discord's time had been focused on him and his needs. They had scarcely had time to just be alone together. Twilight supposed they should get used to that, if Applejack and Rarity were any indication when they each shared their stories of helping to raise their siblings.
"Do you think it's time to tell your parents about us?" Discord asked jokingly, and Twilight rolled her well-practiced eyes with a sigh. A sigh of contentment.
"I guess so," a soft laugh escaped her. For even if he was joking, there was time now for her to think about such a commonplace worry as that. Meeting parents, being parents, and whatever else the future may hold.
There was time now, and Twilight smiled at the thought as she took Discord's paw in her hoof. It was comforting to look back on their journey through their friendship and revel in how far they both had come.
They were together, and Twilight felt a sense of true harmony.