Second chances
Celestia walked slowly through the Canterlot garden. Her sister’s beautiful moon was full tonight, casting pale moonlight over all of Equestria. Ponies slept peacefully, mercifully unaware of the events that would soon unfold, events that could very well destroy them should Celestia failed. She had considered informing her student Twilight Sparkle, but decided against it, instead confiding in her younger sister Luna. Thinking back to a mere half hour ago, it was a decision she now regretted.
“Sister I beg you to reconsider,” Luna had pleaded. “You know what will happen if that creature escapes.”
“Of course I do,” Celestia had replied calmly, “but I assure you that every precaution has been taken. I wouldn’t be doing this if there was even the slightest chance that he could hurt somepony, or break free of my control. Now please return to the castle, this is something that I would rather do in private.”
“Well I will not be held responsible for the damage that this could cause,” Luna had replied angrily before flapping her wings and flying off into the night.
Celestia sighed, no doubt she hadn’t heard the end of this, but as long as Luna remained silent about the plan, Celestia could deal with her later. She shook her head of the memory and resumed her walk, admiring the sculptures bathed in moonlight, each one representing a different virtue. Celestia rounded a corner, passed the statue of victory, and came face to face with the sculpture she was most interested in, the statue which was the reason for her being out in the gardens that night.
This particular statue had the head of a pony, a pair of mismatched eyes, one larger than the other, the body of a serpent, and the limbs of various other animals. Celestia knew all too well what it represented, and she was about to release it. Celestia knelt down in front of the statue, her horn glowing as she reached out to it telepathically.
“Discord can you hear me?” Celestia asked. There was silence. “Do not play these games Discord, I can sense your presence.”
Manic laughter filled her head, “oh but games are so much fun” Discord said to her mind.
“Not the ones you play” she replied.
“Well well well, Celestia herself has come to visit me, you should have told me you were coming ahead of time, I would have cleaned the place up.” Discord said with a chuckle. The only place he meant was his own mind, which Celestia dared not explore, rather she tiptoed around the edge, simply reading his thoughts. “Now what can this humble god of chaos do for you my dear?”
“I have a proposition for you, or rather an ultimatum. I have decided that keeping you alive, even in this state, is too great a risk. You demonstrated that when you exploited my loss of the elements of harmony. So I am giving you two options, prove that there is still good in your twisted heart, or I disassemble you, cell by cell.” Celestia told him.
Another fit of laughter rang in her mind, “oh this is priceless, even after all the fun I caused, you still insist on giving me another chance, will you ever learn?”
“Laugh if you will Discord, but I still have hope for you, I know you can’t help what you are, and I still remember the good times we had, even if you have buried all the memories of them.”
The laughter stopped abruptly, “I let go of those memories centuries ago!” he roared angrily.
“I don't believe that,” she replied softly. “Believe me when I say I take no pleasure in keeping you imprisoned, all I need is to know that you have even a spark of good left in you.”
“Oh Celestia, you couldn't kill me even if you wanted to,” he said smugly. “You know full well that we gods can’t be killed.”
“You are no god Discord, only a monster, a mere shell of the good spirit that could have been a god. In this state, you don't deserve immortality.” Celestia said.
“Yes well we don't always get what we deserve, control of Equestria for example, or world chaos” he said in a sinister voice.
“Enough of this Discord,” she said angrily, “make your choice.”
“Fine disassemble me then,” he replied dismissively. “But you know I'll be back eventually. Even if it takes 1000 years, I'll pull myself back together, and then we can start our game all over again.”
“Not where you are going, I'm sure you are aware of what happened to my sister when she became a threat to Equestria?” Celestia asked
“Of course, how could I forget her adorable little tantrum, and the whole eternal night thing, now that was a classic!” He chuckled.
“Well I won’t banish you to the moon, I think the sun would be more appropriate.” In Celestia's head there was silence. She had won. “I will be back tomorrow night to hear your decision.” With that, Celestia opened her eyes, stood up and walked away slowly. She decided to find Luna and try to reason with her. While in the mind of the self-proclaimed god of chaos, two things were felt for the first time in thousands of years, one was fear, the other was sorrow.
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Meanwhile, in the small town of Ponyville, a certain purple unicorn stirred in her sleep. Twilight sat up in bed, blinking as the light hurt her eyes… Wait what light? She looked around, all the candles had been blown out and the curtains were closed. She realized that her horn was glowing, a purple aura illuminating her bedroom. A shape stirred at the foot of her bed, Twilight gasped, then giggled when she realized what it was.
“Uhg… Turn the light off,” Spike groaned.
Twilight jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs, her horn casting bright purple light as she went. “Now where could it be?” she said frantically, levitating books from various shelves, before discarding them onto the floor.
Spike waddled slowly down the stairs. “What the heck are you doing?” he asked yawning loudly.
“Looking for my copy of Uncontrolled Magic: Causes and Reactions,” Twilight replied, levitating yet more books from their homes.
“Well that's weirdly specific” Spike muttered. He groaned at the pike of books on the floor, no doubt he would have to clean them up.
“Aha! Here it is!” she declared triumphantly, levitating a large green tome onto her reading podium. Twilight flipped through the pages, “let’s see horn, horns, aha! Here's something.”
“I'm going back to bed” Spike declared grumpily before climbing up the stairs sleepily, he hated being woken, especially when dreaming of Rarity.
Twilight read the passage aloud to herself. “In rare cases, a unicorn’s horn will glow as a warning of imminent danger, to them or someone close to them.” Twilight stepped back from the book in dread, trying to figure out which of her friends might be in danger, or if she herself might be in danger. The library was silent, except for Spikes gentle snoring.