//------------------------------//
// Inside the Chaos Dimension 
// Story: Relic of a bygone age 
// by DeadEternal 
//------------------------------//

The depth of the Canterlot General Post Office. Lit by everburning torches. Parcel Post was leading Fluttershy deeper and deeper into these catacombs. “You know, we seldom need to use this secret anymore. And you will be one of the first non-mailponies to witness it since Starswirl the Bearded created it for us all those centuries ago, in a time when the Equestrian infrastructure was not really developed at all.” He pointed towards a giant door. “It’s behind this door.”

Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the place. “I know you said it was a secret, but...why does it have to be so far underground? Is it dangerous? Could it harm the city if it was closer?”

“What? No! We just can’t move it. This was actually the cellar of the first General Post Office of Canterlot. But Canterlot was about three yards lower at the time it was constructed. Most big cities grew in height over time not only because of the higher buildings, but also because the ground slowly rose due to sediments. I’m sure the Princess could tell you more about it if you asked her.” He pushed open the giant door, revealing a giant metallic ring in the middle of a big room. “This is the Postal Portal. It can’t deliver you to a specific place, but to the general area you want to go to. Back when Equestria didn’t have trains, this thing helped getting post from one end of Equestria to the other. Or even outside of it. Thing is, you need to actually have something you need to deliver, and a badge of the Postal Order.” Parcel pondered for a moment. “I should have thought about the delivery thing earlier, shouldn’t I? Well, good thing we also do store some stuff down here, like writing paper and pencils and envelopes. So, you’ll have to write a letter to your friend living in...the place I shall not think about too much, and I will give you one of our spare badges. Luckily, I had thought about bringing THAT with me when we got down here.” He laughed nervously. “I’ll just need it back once you get back. The portal on this side will become inactive once you’re through, but it will leave open a portal from your destination back here, which you can also only go through with the badge.” He handed Fluttershy the badge, the paper, pen and envelope.

Fluttershy took the things and started writing.  

‘Dear Discord,

I’ve been waiting for you to join our latest teaparty, but sadly you didn’t show up. I know that I had to cancel the one before because of the Friendship Council meeting, and I am really sorry about that.

I hope you don’t think my other friends are more important to me than you. It’s just that Twilight wanted to get the meeting done as early as possible, and Tuesday was the day all of our other friends had time. I wish we could’ve done it on another date, but I thought you would understand that. Maybe we should have had our teaparty rescheduled to another day last week, but the meeting was long, and because I got back from Canterlot Wednesday afternoon, I had to work harder the rest of the week to get everything done I wanted to do.  

But I am not the only one concerned. You also missed Guys’ Night, and Spike was very concerned about that too. He said you never were late to even a single meeting before-’

Parcel cleared his throat. “I don’t want to interrupt you, but you don’t need to write a real letter. You just need to put it in the envelope and put an address on it to make it a letter that needs to be delivered. You’re going there in person, so, you know, you could tell your friend whatever you are writing right now.”

Fluttershy blushed. “I’m sorry. We used to write a lot more letters to each other back in the day, and maybe I got caught up in the act a bit.” She put the letter into the envelope and addressed it, then she put the badge in her hair. “So, how does this work exactly?”

“That’s a part of the secret you don’t need to know. Just give me the letter for a second, and turn around.” She did as she was told. A strange whirring sound filled the room, followed by multiple loud sounds of metal snapping into place, and a sudden bright blue light accompanied with a sound reminiscent of a splash in a pool of water. Then she heard hoofsteps as Parcel Post went back into her line of sight and handed her the letter.  

“The Portal is now open. Take great care out there. There are aggressive flying badgers and worse monsters roaming through that...place. I wish you the best of luck. You will need it.” Then he went through the big door, closing it behind him.

Fluttershy turned around, looking at the open portal for the first time. It was like a pool of water, with waves rippling over the light blue event horizon. She gulped, then she poked a hoof through it. It was a strange, tingly and cold sensation. With a final deep breath, she stepped through.





Even though she had visited Discord multiple times, seeing his home dimension was always a bit confusing for a few seconds. And especially this time, since she didn't appear in his garden in front of his house, but instead out in the open, no ground beneath her hooves. She closed her eyes, expecting to fall into the endless abyss beneath her. But nothing happened. She just floated. She looked around, searching for anything leading her into the right direction. She saw a small patch of ground, a floating island, just a few yards away. She opened her wings, flapping them a few times. She could still fly, even though some other laws of physics didn't apply here! So she made her way over to the island.

There she sat for a while, again looking around. Debris was floating around, as did some things that made her head hurt. Circles made out of right angles. Angles with more than 360°. Things that should not exist, and no pony should ever see. She had to close her eyes to prevent her brain from trying to understand which it could never hope to understand. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind. She had a mission, a place where she needed to go. This place was chaos made manifest, but she knew that it could also be used to manifest her own thoughts. Not in a way that she would expect, of course, but still in the right way for this place.

So she thought about finding a way towards Discord's home, but was interrupted by the chattering of a swarm of flying badgers. Not exactly what she hoped for, but they could prove helpful in her endeavors. She opened her eyes and waved towards them.

"Hello there, my dear friends. Would you mind helping me?" she shouted towards the animals. Those looked at each other, slowly gliding towards the pegasus, eyeing her curiously. "I am looking for a friend of mine. He lives somewhere around here. Do you know how to get to Discord's home?" The badgers began chattering again, and even though Fluttershy could communicate with all animals on Equestria, those badgers spoke a form of animal different to those at home. She could still understand some of it, and piece together another bit, but it wasn't quite as helpful as she hoped. It sounded like they argued if they should bring her to Discord, lead her astray, tell Discord about the visitor, or some other thing involving a monstrous creature.

The latter suddenly seemed like the most agreed option as the badgers started screeching, pointing behind Fluttershy and fleeing. She turned around, only to stare into the multiple yellow eyes of a deep blue creature, with a maw big enough to gulp her down in one big bite. "Oh my," was the only thing she could mutter before she, like the badgers, took to the air, trying to fly away from this beast. But when she looked over her shoulder a few seconds later, the beast had vanished. Or so she thought, because as soon as she looked forward again, she stared right into the big, fanged maw of the beast. "Heeeeelp!" she cried as it went dark around her.





"That's it," she thought. "I came here, looking for Discord, and now I will be eaten alive by this monstrosity, and nopony will ever know what happened to me. I'm sorry, my friends." But her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a voiced, muffled by the fact that it was outside the maw she was stuck in.

"What did I tell you about eating visitors?...What? Yes, I know, but that was ages ago! You should know that I have changed by now. No more eating visitors. Imagine what would have happened if you swallowed that mailpony all those years ago. I never would have gotten my invitation!...Yes, I will give you something in exchange. Now spit it out!" The maw opened, and Fluttershy was spitten out, covered in the gooey saliva of the beast. The world around her was blurry as the spit covered her eyes. A grey something came into her view. "Now, what do we have here? If it isn't a Fluttershy. You shouldn't have come here."

She wiped her eyes, just in time to see her savior feeding the beast a whole plate full of cucumber sandwiches. "Discord!" she screamed, flying towards him for a hug. But he stepped to the side so that she flew past him. She felt a sting in her heart. "Discord? What's up?"

The draconequus took his sweet time feeding the beast, then he petted it. "Now off you go, you silly thing." Then he turned around, staring at the pegasus. "Fluttershy. What, by Celestia's beard, are you doing here?" His voice was harsh and cold.

Tears started welling up in her eyes, her heart getting another sting. "I...I...I just wanted to check on you! You didn't show up to our teaparty, you didn't go to Guys' Night, we were concerned! And this is how you greet me? I know that our teaparties are important to you, and that it hurt you when I had to cancel it, but I didn't think it would hurt you that much." She closed her eyes and sobbed. "I'm sorry. I truly am!" 

Discord's harsh expression softened a bit, and a bit of warmth came into his voice. "You silly pony. You shouldn't have come here, even less on your own. Which makes me wonder: how did you do it? I didn't teleport you here." He snapped his fingers and conjured some flying tissues, and they started wiping Fluttershy's tears.

After a few seconds, Fluttershy managed to regain her voice, still weak and trembling, but there. "I wanted to come alone. Spike had offered to come with me, but I thought you could be upset if I brought someone else here too. Especially since you seemed to be upset to begin with. As for the how: Mailpony secret." She looked at him with red eyes.

Discord sighed as he pulled her in for a hug. "It's sweet of you to be concerned about me, but you shouldn't be. Everything is fine. But you need to go back. Now that you have mentioned it, I can see the portal. Go back, and don't come here again."

"But why, Discord? What happened? Why don't you want to be our friend anymore?" Fluttershy sobbed into his fur.

"That's not it, Fluttershy. Look at me. I am an ancient being, hailing from times unknown. Twilight's coronation brought about a new age. An age of harmony. Of order. Celestia, Luna, they too have left the big picture. It is time for the ancients to leave the world for a new generation. I am a relic of a bygone era. The world doesn't need chaos anymore. It's time to move on."

"But we still need our friends! And you are a friend! You can't just go away!" Fluttershy looked into his eyes. "I need my friend, now more than ever. Twilight lives in Canterlot, Rarity is expanding her business, Rainbow is touring with the Wonderbolts, Pinkie Pie meets with Cheese Sandwich. Our lives have changed, and even though we are still best friends, it gets a bit lonely from time to time."

Discord shook his head. "Fluttershy, I appreciate everything you have done for me. But I have seen the world change time and again. It is not the Equestria I know anymore. I don't think you'll understand it. I was a villain and a helping hand. Now that everything has gone the way it needed to go, my presence isn't needed anymore. I am superfluous. I have shaped civilisations, both ancient an modern. There isn't anything left for me to do."

"Except teaparties with me and Guys' Night with Spike and Big Mac. Even if you don't change the world anymore, you can still change lives for the better!"

He chuckled. "I should bring you home." He snapped his fingers, and a white light enveloped them.





Twilight and Spike had arrived at the Royal Castle. "I sure hope she can help Discord. Guys' Night wouldn't be Guys' Night without him anymore."

Twilight shook her head with a grin. "As far as I know Discord, Fluttershy will be able to help him with whatever is ailing him. She always knew what to tell hi-" a bright light interrupted her. "I guess that went better than expected. Didn't take very long after all." She looked around, seeing Discord and Fluttershy sitting in the Royal Gardens. "Let's say hi to them."

Spike flew over to the pair, arriving a bit before Twilight, who walked more casually. "Discord! We were worried about you! We really missed Captain Wuzz yest-" Discord snapped his fingers and the dragons mouth zipped shut. "Hm mh hmck, Dscm?"

"So, I've gotten you back to your Dimension safe and sound. And now it is time for me to take my leave. I should have said something instead of just disappearing, I know, but I knew that a 'Goodbye' would have been hard on you, Fluttershy. My time here is over."

The pegasus clung to his fur. "Don't leave us, Discord! Please, stay! We would miss you!"

The draconequus looked towards Twilight, who just arrived. "I'm sure at least you can understand me, Princess Twilight. A new era doesn't need to be reminded of the faults of the old era. It's your time to shine." He got ready to snap his fingers.

"But I would be happy to have you around, Discord. You know so many things, I could learn a lot from you!" the princess shouted. "And Twilight is more than enough. Friends don't need to use my title."

Discord sighed. "The world has changed. Too much for this old draconequus."

Fluttershy looked at him. "Show me. Show me what has changed, and why it means that you can't stay with your friends anymore."

Discord took a deep breath. "Are you sure you want to know this? To see thousands of years of my history?" Fluttershy nodded, as did Spike. "Well then. I shall travel with you to places that have changed so much, it hurts to remember how they were, if that's what you want." He looked at Twilight again. "And knowing you, you want to come too, don't you? Learn about the history of the world?"

Twilight pondered a moment. "You know what? Actually, I don't. I have to fulfill my duties as a princess. Spike can tell me about all the interesting things you show them."

A smile came to Discord's face. "Well, then it's just us three." He snapped his fingers, and in a flash of bright light, he, Spike and Fluttershy disappeared.