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// Chapter 1: Confessions Over Confectionery 
// Story: The Truth of the Millennium 
// by Daemon McRae 
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This lunch should have been like any other. Nothing should have changed. We could have avoided this entire thing if that daft, arrogant, anachronistic fool of a mishmash of useless animal parts dragged up from the depths of—

I digress. To save time, and energy, I will simply say that it did happen. And over scones, no less. I haven’t looked at pastries quite the same since. It’s… complicated.

The evening had started off like any other. I had awoken to find the sun low enough in the sky that the horizon had been painted brilliant hues of orange, purple, and an array of other colors I dared not insult by naming them. Even with my predisposition and, in fact, position as ruler of the night, I always found a way to appreciate the beauty in what my sister does. At least, now, I do. There had been moments when I had not, but everypony has already heard that story. No need to mention it again.

Rising from my slumber, I met with my sister for our customary tea time. There is a little courtyard established on a balcony that faces west, so as to see the last lights of the sun and the waning luminescence of the moon each dusk and dawn, respectively. It is a peaceful, neutral place for my sister and I. Even during my time spent as Nightmare Moon I dared not defile this small yet sacred space. It would have been an insult to both of us.

To explain the full meaning of such a dainty locale would take a significant amount of time. Not that that is anything I am in short supply of, at the moment. But I have much more pressing stories to tell.

I had arrived first at the balcony, staring in earnest and appreciation at the palette of sky my sister had brought forth. I could see her in the distance, taking a moment to herself to fly out over the city and countryside, admiring her subjects and all of the glorious things they had created under our guidance and rule. It was truly something to be proud of.

I seemed to have caught her at the tail end of her aerial jaunt, as she started heading back to the castle shortly after I began watching her. I took a seat at the small table laid out for us, and gave brief instructions to an attendant nearby. She departed just as my sister landed on the balcony and made her way to me. The two exchanged pleasant smiles, the attendant bowing before removing herself entirely from the courtyard.

“Good evening, Lu,” Celestia greeted me warmly, with all the matronly air of a well-practiced ruler and an older sister. “Did you sleep well?”

I nodded agreeably. “Yes, quite so. I have been getting more and more sleep the longer I am back. It is, good, to be able to accustom myself to my old habits again.”

“And old habits die hard, don’t they, little Lulu?” said a familiar, grating male voice from behind me. I sighed heavily, knowing full-well its possessor.
“...good evening, Discord.” The words felt forced and taught, like they were being pulled out. For all intents and purposes, they might as well have been. “To what do we… owe the pleasure?”

Celestia nodded apologetically. “I had hoped to say something before he arrived, Lu. As part of Discord’s… rehabilitation, I have asked him to join us on this neutral ground. So that we may become more accustomed to verbal discourse with him on a regular basis. He is an occupant of the castle now, after all.”

Knowing full well that my sister’s intentions were pure, I decided to ignore the obvious flaw in her plan: Discord prided himself on being truly neutral. Chaotic neutral, in fact. He had no such allegiances to anypony, and a propensity for finding perfect little loopholes to do whatever he wanted regardless of company. Even in my long dealings with him I have found that any such alliances he might construct are subject to change on a whim. I’ve found it, difficult to believe he is trying to be an agent of good.

I do, however, have faith in those that vouch for him, and that is enough for now. It has to be. “So, I ask again Discord. To what do we owe the pleasure?” The words felt less forced, given the circumstances I had been presented with.

“Why, to enjoy a spot of tea and some treats while I’m at it,” Discord replied, taking my cheek in his claw to tug in a pinch like an adult would do for a child. “Unless you two intend to be selfish and parlay without me. Which would just be the most inhospitable thing, wouldn’t it?” I could practically see his devious smile behind me: rows of sharp, pointed teeth with that one snaggle-tooth fang that he chose to trademark for himself.

The one thing that I found reliable about Discord, his one tell, if he had any, was that he never truly told a lie. He may tell only half-truths, or leave with silence in the air like a threatening thundercloud, but never an outright lie. To do so would make him… predictable. It is a strange thing, to think of the truth as unpredictable, but there you have Discord in a nutshell: strange. Of course, knowing the King of Fools, it that same nutshell would most likely be a garish plaid, or covered in sequins. Mother of I, would that I could forever curse the inventor of the sequin. Or, the next best thing, the fool who showed them to Discord.

“It is not to parlay that we sit here, Discord. It is simply… to pass the time. To enjoy each other’s company. And to take such a moment as to sample some of the freshest pastries our kitchen has to offer,” Celestia explained, gesturing a slender, regal hoof in the direction of the balcony doors. I turned my attention, and in fact, could feel Discord do the same, to the now-present line of waiters standing calmly and regally in patient queue, each with a silver tray of food.

A calm that lasted insomuch as long as it took to notice the draconequus in the room.

“Oh Celestia, deary, you commend me with this fine feast you have presented before me,” Discord said in such extravagant prose that one would have to be dull or deaf to not catch the snarky attitude biting through. Slithering along the ground much like the snake his hindquarters represented, Discord took the jump on the lineup of waiters in his usual shocking demeanor. Without a moment’s hesitation he was gobbling up treats in his gullet like the ravenous monster his form portrayed. In short order the cookies, danishes, crumpets, cakes, and even the finger sandwiches—a name whose function I still questioned—were consumed in a gluttonous manner that made many a waiter green with disgust. But Discord took no mind to their reactions. That was probably his intent in the first place, to egg them on with his unruly display of feasting on the baked sweets. Though even I had to admit the rampant licking of his snake like tongue over his face to consume the last bit of icing left my stomach in a knot.
Celestia, somehow, had found this… amusing. She was chuckling behind her hoof, and gave the waitstaff an apologetic smile before sending them away with another wave, a dismissal they took as a great relief from present company.

I was less than entertained. “At least he left us the scones,” I remarked, seeing a lone tray on the table before us. I assume my sister had taken the courtesy of pulling them out of the line of fire once she saw Discord ready to pounce. I took one within my magical grasp, and took a hearty bite. My sister had always encouraged me to “nibble daintily”, I had always considered myself more robust than such mannerisms would allow.

Discord, in a rare, or, keeping his nature in mind, common moment of surprise, took one look at the plate of pastries left behind, and stuck his tongue out in disgust. 

“Scones? Really now?” he gagged, turning his tongue into the shape of an ‘x.’ Sniffing the plate and snorting in disdain at the delightful tasting pastry, said, “These aren’t even sweet! They’re right above rice cakes in terms of enjoyment in snacking on. I mean, seriously, what pony in their right mind would possibly—” Discord stopped in mid sentence, mismatched eyes positively shining with malicious intent. Throwing the one scone up and down in his claw in a nonchalant manner, he winked to my sister and I and said, “Oh, I get it now. Makes perfect sense, really.”

I knew it to be bait. Every fiber of my being told me not to respond to the obvious verbal mousetrap he had laid before me. I looked pleadingly to Celestia, who of course, was enjoying a scone with her eyes closed. So, naturally, I bit. “What, pray tell, are you on about, Discord?”

“Well, the obviousness of it all is practically hanging in the air,” he explained. Smiling that same wild grin of his that always seemed half shrouded in shadows, he pointed the scone directly at me. “Or rather, on your rear.”

The implications were obvious. Of course he, the Trickster Lord, would resort to calling a matriarch of an entire nation ‘fat.’ Before I had a chance to respond, thought, my sister cut in.

“Well, Discord. You asked earlier what kind of pony would enjoy a piece of confectionery such as this, did you not?” she asked innocently. Now, I knew my sister well, and it was all I could to to keep from smiling at what I knew she was going to say next. Instead, I bit into a scone to hide my grin.

Now, I should explain one thing before I go on. There are many, many stories and rumors about the age of the members of the Royal Family. Some of them absolutely outlandish, others more accurate than we would like to admit. But it is a rare moment when either of us would make any kind of statement that would betray our actual age.

So it took even I by surprise when Celestia followed Discord’s inquisitive grin up with, “If memory serves, your mother.”

Discord stared at Celestia with one of the most outlandish expressions I’ve ever seen. One mismatched eye was narrowed in what I thought amounted to contempt. Another was wide, his scarlet red iris practically filling his pupil while his eyebrow threatened to fly off his face. His mouth was a mix of a snarl and half hidden grin. All in all, it was like Discord was trying to express multiple different emotions at once, each probably pertaining to the insult Celestia just slinged at him.

Finally, Discord raised one claw in the air and said, “Oh snap, crackle, pop!” enunciating each word with a snap of his fingers, and wiggling his hips in a very sassy manner. “Looks like old sun butt still had some moves on her.”

To say I was surprised at my sister’s sharp tongue was an understatement. To say I was amused by it even more so. I came rather close to choking on my scone, as it were. “Dear Sister!” I finally exclaimed, having cleared my throat of the offending pastry. “A lady must never reveal her age!”

The three of us looked about each other, and rather shamelessly deteriorated into a fit of giggles. Perhaps having a spirit of chaos about could be… less than distasteful.

The next few minutes passed with rather idle chatter, or as idle as one could maintain given the present company. It wasn’t until we had come round to the discussion of current affairs did anything actually happen. We had come to discuss the recent coronation of the young Princess Twilight Sparkle. A rather grand affair it had been, and more than joyous. Discord had opted to refrain from attending. His tastes lay in the rather more enthusiastic kind of parties. Or, as he put it…

“I’m just saying, a disco ball would’ve really livened up the place,” Discord sighed, sipping the last of his tea cup and setting the tea back down in the coaster. Next time we should probably refrain from using the fine china when Discord attends for tea. “Maybe some fireworks and a chocolate fountain or two. But no, Twilight just had to have the least ‘get shiggy with it’ coronation I’ve ever seen!” Discord huffed, running a claw through his mattered mohawk. “At least Cadence’s had some excitement to it. Much less of a drull than Twilight’s little ball, if you ask me.”

What happened next made every drop of my blood freeze in my veins. Celestia stopped mid-sip, gently put her cup down on the saucer she had been using, and asked, quietly and politely, “And how would you know what Cadence’s coronation was like, Discord?”

Discord stopped for a moment, whatever machinations contained within his head probably blowing a gasket right now. I swear, I could see smoke actually rising from his ears. Tapping a claw to his chin, Discord’s mouth hung open with no more than an unintelligible grunt, the only sound he could muster. “I… uh… have pictures from the party?”

I flinched noticeably. So much so that Celestia turned her attentions on me. Maintaining that same calm, collected tone, she asked me, “Dear sister, do you know what it is Discord is hiding from me?”

Now, I have never been any great shakes at lying, or politics. My strengths lie in military pursuits and motivational speaking. Not… lying to my sister. My eyes darted unconsciously back and forth, with Discord making obvious shakes of his head and claw crossing his neck in a blatant signal, and I mustered a weak, “Um… no?”

For a fraction of a second, in desperation, my mind let me believe she had believed me. She sighed, dipped her head, and was quiet for a moment. Then, she spoke. “My dearest Luna, I would hate to think that after all we have been through, after the great lengths and torments our relationship has brought us to in the name of Equestria and each other, that you would not do something so devious and insulting as to lie to me. Even more so, you would side with Discord over me in what has the potential to be a rather important matter. So please, if any of what I have done for you means more than a few simple words in my favor, I implore you, tell me the truth.”

I have never been good at lying. Nor politics, debates, or verbal conflict. My sister, on the other hoof, is a master of the spoken word and emotional manipulation. Suffice to say, I crumbled. “Tia, my sister. We couldn’t tell you. Neither of us. We’d decided long ago that letting loose this secret, this… burden, could do no good for anypony. We knew that if you found out, you would act. You and I are prone to… irrational decisions. I feared that you would err in judgement if you found out without knowing all that I know on the subject.”

Discord’s only response to this was a miserable facepalm.

My sister’s expression seemed to harden and soften with my words, to the extent that I could not properly judge her emotions when I was done. “And what, pray tell, is this… great secret you seem to share with what was once our great enemy?”

I shook my head sadly. “No, Tia. He was your great enemy. For years, centuries, he was… my ally. My only ally, for a very long time. He helped me. To survive, to thrive, and to maintain what little of myself there was left during my imprisonment.”

Now Discord was gagging, pointing a claw at his outstretched tongue.

Now her expression was blatant and clear. Confusion. “Your imprisonment? What does your imprisonment have to do with Discord? He had been trapped in stone for years before you were sent to the moon.”

Discord patted Celestia on the head, treating her much in the childish way he did to me not too long ago. “Aww, isn’t that adorable? She thinks she knows everything! Well, dear lil’ ol’ Tia, here’s a newsflash. Just because everything is under your sun, doesn’t mean you’re all knowing about it.” Discord leaned down closer, holding a paw to cup Celestia’s ear as he whispered, “A couple of things slip past you, but I just think it’s so cute how you try to maintain yourself as being wise on everything. It’s like a foal trying to sit at the adult’s table!”

It was evident that Discord’s jabs at her lack of omnipotence were digging under her skin. I made a few gestures behind my sister’s back in an attempt to silence him, but to no avail. “What are you talking about? You were trapped in stone for over a millennia!” She had grown angry now, her voice rising in indignant rage. “And you!” she yelled, pointing an accusing hoof at me. I quickly ceased any attempts at nonverbal communication with the draconequus. “You were to be banished to the moon for a thousand years! Where could you possibly have gone for all that time that I didn’t know about?!”

“Maybe she didn’t write back in all that time?” Discord guessed, poking Celestia in the side with his elbow. “After all, you know how mares could be at her age back then. Never listening to their elders, always being rebellious, throwing away all attachment to ties they once had with loved ones. And they never do seem to find the time to write, do they? I mean, you did make Luna here mighty mad.” Discord winked at me. “Could make someone just up and run away, especially considering you kicked her out in the first place.”

By now, my sister was livid. Both with confusion and the natural sense of irritation that comes from prolonged, unprescribed exposure to the Spirit of Chaos, she seethed in her seat. “Fine, Discord. I’ll bite. Where, exactly, were you two during your ‘imprisonments?’”

“Oh, she said it, she actually said it!” Discord slammed his palm on the table, holding out his claw expectantly and staring me down in triumph. “I told you she threw us in a cell to rot away, but you never believed me! Always going on about ‘she banished me but never meant for it to last a thousand years.’ Well, maybe for me, but not for you! Ha, biggest lie I’ve ever heard! Well, where’s my two bits I so rightfully deserve? You did make the bet, after all.”

I glared at Discord, then turned my still-hateful expression on my sister. “You said it was a mistake. You said I wasn’t supposed to stay up there. You promised!”

“Where were you, sister?!” she shouted, ignoring my anguish.

“A thousand years! A millennia that you had no intention of undoing! Where were you when I was left alone in Hell with this psychopath?! Where were you when I had nothing to my name but broken armor and shattered limbs?!” I cried. I felt the table, nay, the entire veranda shake underneath me.

“You were supposed to be asleep for a thousand years!” Celestia retorted. I could see tears in her eyes, but I didn’t care. “That was the only thing the Elements would grant me to stop you without your death, and that’s the only chance I took!”

“Nopony in their RIGHT MIND falls asleep in Tirelic!”

Discord slapped both his hands on either side of his head and groaned. “Oh, come on! You just had to say the name, didn’t you? You couldn’t have drawn out the suspense more or at least have used it for blackmail?” He peeked with single eye at Celestia and stepped slyly away. “Well, I see you two gals are having one of those ‘sister-bonding’ moments, so if you don’t mind me I’ll be going to cash in on my one-thousand years missed vacation days. Don’t bother calling, I really must catch my flight soon!”

I stared coldly at my sister, not bothering to turn my head as I addressed the fleeing draconequus. “Leave now and you’ll never get your two bits.”

Discord stopped in his tracks, one foot over the balcony as he was about to dive for freedom. Grumbling under his breath, with an odd number of mumbled curses in various dead languages, and returned to my side, sitting down cross-legged like a disobedient child put in time out. “You promise? Because I’ve been wanting to spend those two bits on some gumballs I’ve had my eyes on for well over a eight-hundred years now, and you know how impatient I can be.”





Soon after our… exchange, my sister had returned to her quarters to process the information we had given her. I had gone about my nightly duties in raising the moon, and monitoring the dreams of my subjects.

It was during the witching hour that he came, uninvited, into my quarters. Of course he would. Discord was, if nothing else, dramatic. “Discord, please. I still have work to do.”

“Another night shift, I’m guessing?” Discord asked, back stroking through the air to where I was seated. Stopping overhead so he could look down at me with that same cheshire smile of his, he asked, “What work can possibly be more important than catching up with an old friend? Your compadre. Amigo. Muchacho. Good buddy, ol’ pal, and jolly mate. What can it possibly be?”

“You know full well my duties as Princess of the Night. I must attend to the nightmares of the weak and small, along with quieting the unsettled dreamscapes of the unruly and the mad. Much of the damage I repair, Discord, is of your doing. Many ponies still haven’t recovered from the chaos you’ve sown. Not to mention the damage caused by your uncontrollable tongue,” I hissed, more than furious. I knew it was not all his fault, yet I needed somepony else to blame. I was already quite upset with myself, it felt good to be so at some… thing else.

“Well, at least I’m keeping you your job, right?” he chuckled, flicking my horn with an errant finger. How he got it to bend and flex like rubber I still don’t know, but I had to hold onto my horn just to keep my brain from rattling in my skull. “But hey, better than that ‘thousand year’ imprisonment, am I right?” Discord could barely contain himself as he rolled around in the air, barking out laughter from the various animal kingdoms his demented form represented.

“This is no laughing matter!” I snapped. It mattered not, as he continued his raucous uproar of animalistic glee. “Discord, this is serious. You know full well the consequences of Celestia going anywhere near that place. What it would do to her. What he would do to her. You can’t possibly think, even in your sordid mind, that it would be anything less than a disaster. You remember what it’s like over there. Should his influence spread, the rest of the worlds would fall.” My head slumped weakly as I turned my beratement upon myself. “I should never have lost my temper like that. She’ll want more than anything to investigate the crossroads, you know.”

“Like they already won’t fall to another disaster or calamity other than this one. Way I see it, we got an extra couple hundred years before the next storm rolls our way and recks up the place. The cracks in the foundations are already obvious.” Discord twisted around in the air so that he stared me eye with an oddly shaped eye. “What trouble can come from those foundations crumbling too early? It’s not like I’ll be around to enjoy the show, as entertaining as it would be.”

I rubbed my temples with my hooves, impatience and frustration welling within me like hot bile. “You don’t get it. How powerful he was when we left. All of the places he’d created, those monstrosities. If he were to gain access to our world, each and every one behind it would fall. And then he would reach out into the other directions. There would be no place for either of us to hide. And I doubt not that he would ensure us a place in the Many-Angled Isle should he find us. Which I am sure you remember.”

“Don’t remind me,” Discord muttered with a roll of his eyes, which promptly fell out of their sockets. Catching them before they hit the ground, he fit them back into place and said, “You know, there is a way we can keep Celestia from finding out about that place. Might be a bit tricky, but I’m sure we can manage.”

My frustration gave way to confusion, and I caved in to my curiosity. “How could we possibly manage that? She already knows of its name! She’s bound to go charging in, just to make sure all of the others she’s… ‘imprisoned’ aren’t roaming free of their own accord somewhere else! Do you know how many we’ve had to seal away with the Elements?! We can’t tell her anything more about Tirelic without telling her far too much, and with the information she has right now the only conclusion she’s bound to draw is that it’s a safe haven for enemies of Equestria to hide out while they wait for their chance to return!”

“Oh please, they won’t be returning for a couple of thousand years at least.” Discord hummed under his breath, tugging at his beard in his usual contemplative manner of intense thinking, which I had learned could never be a good sign. “Though at the progress they were making the last time I checked, it could be just a couple hundred years. Maybe even a few decades. More were being added each day, so there’s a good chance he’s already halfway complete by now.”

I rolled my eyes slightly. “Discord, you and I both know there’s no physical way to reach Equestria from Tirelic. Not by walking, digging, or flying. We tried.”

“Wow, you really are like your sister,” Discord concluded, sticking his tongue out at me. “We could never hope to achieve exit from that place because it was just us two. Now, let’s say you were to get a couple hundred-thousand ‘volunteers,’ and then you’d be making some progress. No labor unions make getting work done much faster, with minimal coffee breaks as well. After all, we know how efficient he can be when he gets his mind focused on something.”

“You’re talking about a battalion’s battalion of pick-axes. That’s like saying you can get to the other side of the mirror by punching it a million times. No. You… normal ponies just get broken glass,” I argued. A sigh escaped me as I rounded back to our initial issue. “Besides, the problem still stands. My… ‘hot-headed’ sister—shut up—isn’t going to let this lie. And since there’s absolutely nothing in Equestria, written or otherwise, that would answer any of her questions, she’s going to want some first-hoof experience.”

“Which is why we use the ‘Forget-Me-Stick!’” Discord exclaimed, drawing a large nightstick from out of thin air. Giving it a few practice swings, he added, “Just a couple of whacks and she’ll be fine. Sure, brain injuries willing, I’m positive she won’t remember a thing, and we can go on with our lives like we didn’t just conk your sister repeatedly on the noggin. You up for it?”

I met his jovial gaze with a flat expression. “That didn’t work last time, Discord, and it won’t work now. She still remembers your middle name.”

“Ah yes, the one that can bring about the apocalypse. I really should’ve gotten that removed on my driver’s licence.” Discord shrugged and threw the ‘Forget-Me-Stick’ over his shoulder, where it promptly smashed through one of my windows. “Well, I’m stumped.” He hummed under his breath, tugging lightly at his grimy white beard. “Unless you have any suggestions, we can always just go the high road and convince her it was all a dream with the right amount of alcohol and acting skills.”

Involuntarily, I shuddered, my body shaking violently at the thought of reintroducing any of the three of us to alcohol again. “No. Our best bet, despite all of your natural instincts to the contrary, and, I will concede, most of mine, is to tell her the truth. Why she can’t go there. Why we didn’t tell her. As much of it as we can, given our situation. Should she still decide to go, however, there is one distinct advantage we maintain. Albeit a thin one, given my sister’s predisposition for absolute bullheadedness.”

“Well, if she actually does decide to take a peek, then there’s a good chance that her mind would shatter at the pure vileness that place has to offer to newcomers.” Discord tapped two of his claws together while his smile distorted to a more dark and twisted variant of his jolliness. “I mean, when we got there, we both technically counted as villains. While poor little Tia is about as pure as her white coat. Even if he doesn’t find her, do you really think Celestia can handle it? You nearly didn’t. Remember?”

I sighed heavily. “Of course I remember. One of the few things I’m thankful for is the amount of time you’d had before me to acclimate. Pardon my… ‘being mushy’, but had you not been there I may have well and truly lost my place in that land. But no, we can’t rely on her weak stomach or pure heart to rebuff her. Our only hope is that she can’t get there the same way we did. After all, as far as we know, it’s the only way in or out of that land.”

“So, we enter through the gullet of Tartarus again, eh?” Discord chuckled and shook his head, though with much less enthusiasm than he normally expressed. Resting both his feet on the floor with his back straight and hands behind himself, Discord raised a brow at me. “You know that convincing Celestia otherwise would be useless. Yet… you seem… oh, what’s the word?” Discord snapped his finger repeatedly, a frown on his disheveled face. “Eager about it. Yes, yes, that’s the word. Looking forward to going back down old memory’s lane, Lulu?”

Once again, I shook my mane, this time in disagreement. “No, Discord. Tartarus is the way out. The way in, the only way in, is to be banished by the Elements of Harmony. You know it, I know it. And now that the Element Bearers are a new generation of mares, they would be hard-pressed to banish Celestia, even with a direct order. As for memory lane… no. I am not the same mare I was when I last lived in Tirelic. I doubt I could ever be that mare again. Returning would mean… something else. What, I do not know. But I doubt it’s anything either of us are ready for.”

Discord nodded his head, his expression almost… sad. Any mood Discord had that wasn’t related to deviousness or mindless joy usually meant that something serious was about to take place. “That place has a way of changing people, Luna. You and I both know that all too well. You may be a different mare now, but I remember fondly the mare you used to be. The changes may have been made, the differences set in stone, but you know even better than me how easy it is…” He waved his hand aimlessly in the air. “To fall.”

My head fell to lay on my chest. “Yes, I do. You… you never fell. All you have done is rise, since I’ve known you. To power. To the occasion. To battle. I… have fallen. And for a time I thought I would never stop falling. But I have seen what lies at the bottom of that pit, Discord. Monsters and beasts like him are what await those who fall too far. I have seen the bottom of the pit, and risen above it. There are… few things in either world that could fell me so thoroughly as to never come back. However, there is a difference between falling… and changing. The mare I once was may be but a nightmare of my own, but I have seen the potential of creatures to become something they could not, elsewhere, while in that place. The Walking Punishment… she, of all that we have met, is the greatest evidence of that.”

“You weren’t much different,” Discord reminded me. I instinctively winced at that statement. The truth of it hurt much worse than I thought it would. “But still, it looks like Celestia is intent, whether we want to or not, to check the place out. In all retrospect, this might be for the best. I mean… it really is hell incarnate in there. As much as I hate to admit it, Celestia might be just the thing to fix it.”

“Not all of it,” I said quietly. When Discord raised his eyes at me, I repeated, “Not all of it. Certain places, yes. There is no denying the propensity for evil in such a place. But the cities, Discord. Remember the cities. All of those races, the commerce, and the diversity of it all. If not for the obvious flaws, that land has so much potential. No, my fear isn’t that it would be too much for her. I admit, I am afraid of what would happen should he find her, but… my greater worry, in fact, my greatest worry, is that she’ll find something there she could never have here. You know what kind of things you can find there, for the right price. What if my sister encounters an offer she can’t refuse? It’s not like time passes any differently for us or them. I can’t imagine the kind of place our world would be if she found a reason to stay. Like we almost did.”

“Celestia is many things, Luna. A pain in the ass, an obtuse killjoy, and one helluva strict leader. But what she isn’t is a sell short that takes the best offer of the bunch.” Discord wringed his hands together in a nervous habit I had seen often enough. “I mean, Celestia being just… Celestia. That’ll never change. Ever. I know it and you know it. I mean… I mean… you don’t honestly think she’ll actually… be tempted?” Discord’s eyes stared pleadingly at me.

I stared thoughtfully back. “I think, being as old as we are, that there are things in this world that we long for. In that millenia, I got what I asked for, whether I wanted it or not. Celestia has gone centuries without reprieve in the monotony of rule. And above all, there is one thing Tirelic could offer her that even I am not sure she could refuse.”

Discord bit his lower lip. Even though he didn’t like admitting it, he stuck to his old ways best. At least concerning Celestia. No matter how much he antagonized her, she was as much a part of him as he was a bane on her existence. I’m not sure how Discord would change if Celestia was no longer the pure white paladin of goodness he sees her as, but I’d imagine it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Then we’ll just have to make sure she can refuse those offers,” Discord said, though the shakiness of his voice broke what semblance of confidence he had backing up his words. Sighing under his breath, he twiddled his thumbs and said, “You know, now that I think about it, I never should have told her. Bliss from ignorance is one of the best blessings one could have. But… I suppose it was a jab I couldn’t resist taking.”

“I seem to remember there being few things you could resist, Discord,” I acknowledged. It wasn’t forgiveness, nor was it condemnation for his actions. Simply recognizing his nature.

“Yes, well, explaining to Celestia that at any moment in the next few years or so a giant hole can pop up in the middle of Equestria with an entire army of abominations ready to slaughter millions was just too good to pass up.” Discord dug into his pocket—how he managed to keep one on his body while wearing no clothes was still a mystery—and showed me a picture of Celestia’s horrified face. “I’m thinking of getting this framed. Now, do you think a classic wooden frame would do it justice, or should I go for a more glamorous look with a gold trim?”

I felt a slight chuckle come over me, even given my less-than-jovial mood. “I’d suggest black borders and ribbon. We may never see that expression again.”

Stowing the photo away for safe keeping, Discord said to me, “Well, I guess I’m going to get blamed again—unsurprisingly—for Celestia wanting to hit the crossroads. Since you simply shot down all of my brilliant and foolproof schemes, and Celestia herself is practically a freight-train of single mindedness when it comes to ‘national security’, we seem to be stuck.” Discord scratched the side of his face and pouted. “You do know Tia can be an idiot sometimes, right?”

“Yes, I suppose she can be. We can only hope that we are enough to remind her of what she is, and not what she could be,” I sighed, my heart heavy in my chest. “If you would ask her now, I guarantee she would tell you she wouldn’t want to change a thing. But Tirelic is far from now, Discord. Even though I fear it’s getting closer every second. Equestria survived without us for a thousand years. The country nearly fell in a day when my sister disappeared. If we are to truly entertain whatever notion she may have about investigating the crossroads that place has become, we must be ready to be for her what we she has always been for us.”

“A friend?” Discord asked.

I shook my head, one last time before staring off into the night sky. “No. The better person.”

Discord gave a short bark of laughter. Not happy, just sad, like before. Going over to my window and undoing the latch, Discord leaned out of the opening. Before he departed, however, he stared back at me. “You know, Lulu, you were wrong before. For some of us, Tartarus isn’t the exit to Tirelic. It’s the entrance.” He flew off into the night sky, his parting words still traveling on the wind. 

“For one reason or another.”