//------------------------------// // Epilogue: A Use for Chaos Magic // Story: Who Needs Enemies -- Part II // by Lets Do This //------------------------------// It was later in the evening. The Canterlot Archives was darkened and quiet, its many halls, reading rooms, and book stacks home to only shadows and stillness... Except for the Restricted Section, in a secure vault at the rear of one of the sub-basements. Celestia was there, staring intently at a tall, coal-gray crystal set under a dome of spotlessly clean glass. Discord was standing beside her, peering at it as well. "I did have a hunch, Celestia, that you didn't have me reformed merely out of the goodness of your heart. Though I admit that covers a lot of ground. Much as you do yourself..." "Discord..." she warned. He held up his claw placatingly. "Hey! Don't shoot the messenger, here. Though if you did manage to lay off the cake from time to time..." "The crystal, Discord?" Celestia asked, patiently. "Yes, yes! Let me see." He put on a pair of pince-nez glasses, and stared at it some more. "Hmm. And you're saying this is all that remained, after Sombra..." "All of it," Celestia confirmed. "The entire Empire... and this crystal is clearly the key." "Hmm. More like the lock, I'd say," Discord observed. "But yes, I believe I can at least unstick it for you a little..." He gently snapped his claw. For a moment, dark magic bubbled and seethed around the crystal, then lifted like vapor and dissipated... leaving it apparently unchanged. "It doesn't look any different," Celestia said doubtfully. "Well, you know Sombra, my dear. Appearances can be deceiving. But the crystal is accessible, I assure you. It's simply up to you to figure out how..." Celestia eyed him quietly for a moment. "And you're not even going to give me a hint? Just to watch me struggle with it? Because I will admit, I can't do this on my own. I do need your help." It was Discord's turn to be quiet, out of surprise. "Even after everything?" Discord asked. "The Mage Wars, the Confused Era, being left alone and isolated, for a thousand years. I could hear you, you know, even frozen in the garden as I was. Crying yourself to sleep, on nights when you hadn't managed to overwork yourself to oblivion?" Celestia nodded. "Like an old friend once said... if we're willing to put the past behind us, who am I to object?" Discord looked touched. For all of two seconds. Then he did his best not to look smug. "Well, you know how I work, Celestia. I can't just give you the answer. But I can point you in the right direction. And what I would suggest is this: ask yourself how you feel about Sombra." Celestia's cold, stern gaze was answer enough. "Good, good! Now work with that! How do you feel about the Crystal Empire? And -- oh, who was it again? Ah, yes, dear little Princess Amore, your friend, ally, and mentor?" Celestia's face fell, became sadly regretful. Discord suddenly clapped his paw and claw, right under her snout. "No, no, no! I mean, when they were still here! Stop thinking like a mourning dove, Celestia. Because that's how the Umbrum work! That's how they want you to think." The Princess glared at him hotly. And then, realizing, she nodded. She concentrated, and on her face a smile grew: warm, happy, reminiscent. Her sword-like horn lit up. With a levitation spell she lifted the dome of glass, and then took up the crystal. Shutting her eyes, she projected the warm, happy feeling from her heart into the crystal, as a shimmering amber flood of magic. And the crystal was instantly transformed. The coal-gray cast drained away, replaced by a warm, rich, roseate hue. Opening her eyes, Celestia gasped, nearly dropping the crystal in shock. Gently, she prodded it with her magic... ... and on the floor before her, a holographic map appeared. A city of crystal dwellings, in a street configuration reminiscent of a snowflake. And at its heart, a tall, ice-white crystalline spire... "The Crystal Empire..." Celestia breathed. "As it was before... before Sombra..." Then she sighed. "But it's still just an image, not the real thing. It's still trapped. Discord, are you certain..." "Sorry, Celestia!" He shrugged. "There are some secrets Sombra chose not to divulge to anyone... not even me! Presumably there's a way to unlock whatever curse was put on the Empire. But maybe he was determined to take the secret with him." "Maybe," Celestia agreed sadly. "Of course..." Discord added with a mischievous look. "If you were really desperate, I could always give it a whirl..." He held up his claw, eyeing her speculatively. Celestia sighed, and shook her head. Gently, she replaced the crystal under its glass dome. "No, Discord," she said, determinedly. "Every lock has its key. We'll just have to keep looking for this one..." "Ah, well. Suit yourself. And now, if there's nothing else, Celestia? I'll just pop back to my own dimension for some long-overdue spring chaosing. Ta ta!" In a flash of chaos magic, he disappeared. Leaving Celestia shaking her head, amused by the change in him. He seemed almost like his old self again. Almost. Extinguishing the lights, she locked up the Restricted Section. Then she trotted back through the darkened palace corridors, returning to the Audience Hall to continue her re-education of Princess Luna in the peculiarly formal and overly dramatic intricacies of the Night Court. The irony being of course, that Luna herself was the architect of same... And as she went, Celestia considered Discord. Lonely, solitary Discord, who unwound his life, his memories, his very self, just to be with a single pony who once offered to be his friend. "Maybe..." she whispered softly, "maybe there is just a spark of decency in Discord after all..." Then she heard the draconequus's voice. It boomed through the darkened corridors all around her, huge and ghostly, chuckling sinisterly: Don't bet on it, Celestia... The End My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro. No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.