It was still morning.
Celestia had risen the Sun only a couple of hours ago, yet she was already dreading the rest of the day. Things had been getting out of hoof lately -- far out of hoof, and she didn't know why.
Ever since the murder of young Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor's parents, everything she had worked for -- all the peace she had worked so hard to maintain for so many years -- was crashing down around her.
The media was in a frenzy, ponies were becoming scared and distrustful of each other, and worst of all, it wasn't just the radical nobles that were beginning to blame the Princess anymore.
In fact, said radical nobles were beginning to gain support from even the common ponies, and they were gaining it fast -- too fast. Again though, Celestia couldn't blame them.
Not when another murder had happened in her city and the culprit had escaped yet again.
She wasn't sure if it was the same killer as before or not, but the whole situation did not bode well. She hadn't had time to put any of her plans into action to rebuild the now rapidly degenerating peace in Canterlot before this new headache had arisen.
There were also the rumors floating around, supposedly saying that Princess Celestia was going to lock down the entire city until the Guard caught the murderers. She had neither made nor even hinted at any kind of lockdown whatsoever.
She had indeed increased the number of Royal Guards on patrol around the city, but that was to be expected given the current circumstances. Now that it had come to this however, she was beginning to think a city wide lockdown might not be such a bad idea.
The problem was that the fear and paranoia of the citizens was getting out of control.
Whereas before she could -- and tried to -- explain away any kind of strange or dark occurrences before with relative ease, now it was becoming a lot more difficult. She had her hidden talent of course, but she was starting to actually worry it wouldn't be enough.
It was getting to the point that ponies were actually packing up and leaving the city.
She thought she still had time to make plans, to put things into their proper places, to maintain Harmony through a potentially necessary combination of both honest and dishonest means.
Celestia was in fact, running out of time.
It wouldn't be long until the Disharmony and dissent spreading throughout Canterlot reached the other cities nearby, if they hadn't already. On top of that, she still had other things to worry about.
For one thing, Celestia hadn't yet found them.
She hadn't yet found the ones who would take her place and safeguard Equestria's future in the dark days she knew were drawing ever closer. After what had happened all those years ago, she knew she could no longer be the Warrior Princess her ponies needed or deserved.
She had long since hung up her armor in favor of a more peaceful and diplomatic approach to ruling.
Celestia didn't regret her decision, but she did wonder from time to time if it was too late to be the truly kind and benevolent Princess she strived to be for so many years. There were times she wondered if it was too late to undo the damage her biggest mistake had done to her own mind.
Just like always however, she quickly pushed her dark ruminations aside and focused on what mattered to her the most -- protecting her little ponies.
That led her to her current dilemma.
She herself could no longer use the awesome might of Harmony to protect her subjects lest she repeat what happened back then. She shuddered at the mere thought of what would happen were she to try to use that power once more.
No.
She needed others to take up that mantle in her place -- ponies untainted by the horrors of the True Disharmony of old. She had thought Sunset Shimmer to be one such pony, but the moment the filly received her cutie mark, Celestia realized she had another destiny awaiting her.
A destiny the Solar Princess had no desire to see her fulfill.
It was for this reason that -- rather than punish the filly for her prying -- Celestia had instead decided to lead Sunset into the Hall of the Damned. It was for this reason she had tried to impress upon Sunset the truth of the darkness of Disharmony lurking just beneath the light of Harmony.
Unfortunately Celestia had overestimated the filly's mental fortitude and drove her away in the end. By the time she had realized Sunset had left, it was too late -- she was already out of the city.
To this day, Celestia still didn't know how the filly had managed to both break free of her Mind Magic and completely escape the city undetected. She did however, have a sneaking suspicion Sunset had had some kind of outside help.
In any case, her missing former protege was a minor concern that could be dealt with at a later time. Far more important right now, was catching the one, or ones, responsible for the murders and restoring peace and order to her city.
Still, as much as she tried to concentrate on her duties, she couldn't help but wonder just how the situation had gotten as bad as it did so quickly. She had mulled the thought over again and again, asking the more trustworthy ponies in her Court if there had been any strange goings on aside from the murders.
It turned out there was indeed some odd behavior among her little ponies.
According to her Royal Aide, Raven Inkwell, there were reports of ponies acting irrationally -- causing irksome but ultimately benign problems in the city. That in and of itself didn't bother Celestia.
What did pull at her attention, was what all these ponies shared in common.
A voice.
According to Raven and the Captain of her Royal Guard, when questioned, the ponies would always state there was a voice inside their head making them do the things they were doing.
Celestia decided the statements were too consistent to be dismissed as outright insanity. She contemplated what this could mean, and soon enough came up with a possible explanation that both horrified and angered her.
The moment she realized what may have happened, she made her way back to the Hall of the Damned with both fury and dread in her heart and mind. She returned to the Royal Archives and entered the secret passage once more. She made sure to seal the entrance behind her before stomping further into the Hall.
"DISCORD!!!"
Her furious scream, amplified by the Royal Canterlot Voice, echoed through the large hall -- the sudden noise bouncing off the walls and fading into silence.
Celestia growled deep in her throat and trotted over to the statue of the mismatched creature. She stopped in front of the lifelike statue and stared at it, as though trying to melt the very stone with her gaze.
The statue only smirked back defiantly.
Celestia narrowed her eyes.
"I know you can hear me, villain."
A loud, boisterous laugh rang out in Celestia's mind, interrupting her thoughts.
"A villain? Me?" the voice laughed again, "are you seriously casting me as the villain, Sunbutt? Really?"
"What have you done to my subjects, Discord?" Celestia pressed, ignoring the creature's question, "there's been multiple reports of ponies hearing voices they can't explain and you're the only one I know, aside from Luna and I, that has the power to cast such a massive Telepathy spell even in your current state."
"Now, now, such flattery of the enemy is unbecoming of you, Celestia," the creature mocked, "what would your sister think?"
One of Celestia's ears gave an errant twitch but her face remained otherwise impassive save for a grim frown.
"Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself," Discord continued, "we haven't spoken in so long, Princess! What's it been, four... five thousand years?" You should really come down and visit more often. It gets a bit lonely in this musky old hall. I tell you, what I wouldn't give to at least be set up in some sort of nice garden inst--"
"Enough!" Celestia snapped, "what have you done to the citizens of Canterlot, Discord? What is your goal? Why act now after so many years?"
"Oh, calm down, Sunbutt. I'm not planning some big escape or anything like that. I'm just trying to get the attention of an old friend is all," the creature interjected, "but honestly, Celestia, why spoil our little reunion with useless semantics? Have a seat! Let's talk awhile! How's little Sunny doing these days?"
"I didn't come here to banter with you, creature," the Princess hissed, "you... wait..."
Celestia trailed off and frowned thoughtfully.
"Something wrong, Princess?"
She once again ignored Discord as her eyes slowly widened in horrified realization.
"It was you..."
"Hm? What was that?" the mismatched creature asked innocently, "You'll have to be a bit more specific, Celly, I've done a lot of things in my time."
"You broke the Memory Swap spell I had placed on Sunset," Celestia replied, accusation clear in her voice, "you were the one who talked her into leaving the castle."
"I neither confirm nor deny that statement, Sunshine," Discord answered, a smirk clear in his voice, "I will say that it's about time she cheesed it out of this boring old castle anyway."
"Do you realize what you've done?" Celestia said, shaking her head with a scowl, "because of your interference, that poor filly may have permanent mental scarring."
"Oh, I'm sure she's doing just fine," the creature replied flippantly, "who knows, maybe she even made some friends. More importantly..." his voice suddenly took on a venomous edge, "there wouldn't even be any risk of mental scarring if a certain paranoid Princess hadn't let a certain innocent little filly think she was being burned alive just to make a point."
Celestia grimaced, but didn't say anything in response.
"Oh, yes, I saw your little show, Celestia," Discord continued with a sneer Celestia heard more than saw, "and I must say, it was quite the spectacle! It's a pity I wasn't there during the actual ritual. Had I not been a mere hunk of rock at the time, I could've prevented that whole fiasco..."
"I did what I had to do to protect my ponies, Discord," Celestia retorted firmly, "you were -- and continue to be -- a menace, and had I the power to do so at the time, I would've killed you myself."
"Oh come off it, Celestia," Discord replied with a scoff, "I wasn't nearly as bad as even a quarter of the baddies you and your dear sister faced back then. All I wanted to do was have a little fun. Sure there were a few... hiccups here and there, but I certainly didn't go around traumatizing little fillies with visions of their own death."
"You've done far worse than that and you know it," Celestia shot back, "I've seen countless ponies driven to insanity and suicide because of your thoughtless actions!"
"Perhaps," Discord answered matter-of-factly, "but that doesn't make your actions any more justified, Celestia. Besides, I was perfectly fine with being reviled as a monster. You on the other hand... I expected better from you."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, I think you know exactly what it means, Princess," the stone draconequus replied, "you may have trapped me and shoved me into a dark hole away from society, but I still see things. I still know things."
He chuckled darkly.
"I know how desperately you try -- and fail -- to cling to your degrading moral standards despite the fact that you're almost literally supposed to be a shining light of love, tolerance, and Harmony."
"That's not--"
"I also know your little plan to clean up the mess you made so long ago will fail... spectacularly."
Celestia's brows shot up in surprise and a hint of fear at that and she took a step towards the statue.
"What?" Celestia whispered, "how can you possibly know..."
"Really, Princess?" Discord asked sardonically, "Think about it, you tried to harness the power of Harmony in a way it was never meant to be used, and you're still suffering from the consequences even now."
"I... I had to do it..." Celestia muttered, taking a hesitant step back and hanging her head, "she needed to be stopped... I had no--"
"I'm not talking about Luna."
The Solar Princess snapped her head back to the unmoving statue with a confused look, but Discord paid her no mind as he continued.
"You knew those little trinkets were nearing their breaking point, and you chose to use them anyway. As a result of your thoughtless actions, the power of Harmony is no longer safe to use -- at least not by you."
Celestia resisted the urge to glance towards the large ornate door at the far end of the hall and instead eyed Discord with a frown of grim determination.
"That might be the case, Discord," Celestia argued with a set frown, "but I've long since found another way to keep the power of Harmony alive until I can--"
"Find the right ponies to replace you," Discord finished in a mocking tone, "yeah, I know, and I'm telling you, your plan is going to fail, Celestia."
"Why? What makes you so sure?" Celestia questioned, trying to hide the rising fear in her gut, "I've managed to keep my little ponies from falling into the clutches of Disharmony thus far," even to her own ears, it sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than the statue in front of her, "There's... there's still time... I can still fix this before it's too late..."
"Denial, how cute, Princess!" Discord responded, letting out a bark of laughter, "really now, are you that blind to what's happening around you? Your ponies are restless, scared, and angry, your city is in near turmoil, and even as we speak I'm pretty sure there's other forces out there actively working against you!"
Celestia grit her teeth and looked away.
"I have it under control," she muttered, "I just need a little time and everything will fall into place."
"Oh, for the love of -- you don't have anymore time!," the stone draconequus cried in exasperation, "I wanted to dance around the issue and frustrate you some more, but it's no fun because now I'm the one getting frustrated, so I'm gonna spell it out for you, Sunbutt."
Celestia made to respond, but Discord bowled over her attempt.
"That Runic patch job you did to keep the Elements active and working all this time? It's failing."
"You're lying," Celestia responded in a quiet shaky voice, "you have to be. Everything's been fine up until now."
"Up until now is the key phrase here, Celly," Discord replied, "fact is, the Elements have been slowly losing their power for the last... oh I'd say two hundred years or so, but something happened recently that pushed them over the edge. Now I wonder what it could've been?"
"The murders," Celestia replied, falling to her haunches, "I don't understand, even that shouldn't have been enough to... unless..." her jaw dropped open and she stared at the statue in disbelief.
"No..."
"Now you're starting to understand just how chaotic the situation's become," the statue responded with a light chuckle, "Harmony is coming to an end, and it's going to happen soon. I can feel it, Celestia."
He laughed merrily.
Any creature touched by True Disharmony can feel it in some way -- even if they aren't aware of what that feeling is. Frankly, I'm surprised you were able to ignore it for so long."
Celestia slowly shook her head and backed away from the statue. She could've sworn she saw a crack in the stone that wasn't there when she first entered the hall.
"They're stirring, Celestia -- the ones that'll bring about a glorious age of Chaos and Disharmony to Equestria and the lands beyond once again! Oh, I can't wait!"
"This isn't over, Discord," Celestia replied, her features suddenly flattening into a mask to match that of the stone Discord was currently trapped in, "I will fix this no matter what I have to do. I will not let True Disharmony reign in Equestria again -- not while I still draw breath."
"Good luck, Princess," Discord responded happily, "anything you do now is probably just going to exacerbate the situation, so I say go on, give it your all! Don't give up, Sunbutt! Be the best Princess you can be!"
Celestia gave the wildly laughing draconequus one last baleful glare before lighting up her horn and vanishing in a flash of golden yellow light. After a moment, Discord's raucous laughter died down and he sighed happily.
Messing with Celestia never got old, and the ancient being of Chaos couldn't wait to do so in person. He was looking forward to seeing what the Princess would do -- not that anything she could come up with would be enough.
The artifacts were dying, the linchpin to Celestia's entire plan was already broken and useless, and Discord himself had long since destroyed that infernal Tree. Now there was nothing left to stop his inevitable return, and he wouldn't be the only one to rise once more.
When the time came -- and it most certainly would -- there would be some very strong competition for Celestia's throne.