The Keepers of Discord

by Hoopy McGee


Epilogue

The place existed nowhere in rational space. It was created out of pure imagination and chaos, with just a smidge of order to give it structure. The barest amount, honestly.

If one squinted just right, it could almost look like a grove of some kind, with a large garden full of strangeness.

Around the constantly shifting non-walls of the place were hung, draped or propped up a variety of paintings, most of which were of a certain statue in a certain grove in Equestria. All of them were by the same artist, all of them were of questionable skill, and none of them were signed.

There was also a bookshelf that could be wherever you wanted it to be at a given moment. It was filled with notebooks, which contained hoof-written, one-of-a-kind stories that you would find nowhere else in any reality.

The master of this place, who looked like everything and nothing all at once, at least when he wasn't concentrating on maintaining his appearance, reached into nowhere and pulled out an envelope, and a single piece of paper. He settled down and, once again, read what his friend had written to him.

Dear Discord,

Well, the doctors say that this may be it for me. I didn't want to believe it, but it's seeming more and more like it's true. This cough isn't just a cough, it seems. I won't bore you with the details, but it doesn't seem likely that I'm getting back out of this bed for anything but my funeral.

I wanted to say thank you. I know that probably sounds weird, since you didn't have a choice and all, but honestly? I had a great time being a Keeper. Tending the garden, cleaning your statue, writing my silly stories and making my terrible paintings, it was all just too much fun! I'm the luckiest pony in the world, to have had that job. I just wish my mom could have seen how lucky I was.

And my foals being a part of it? Well, that was just the icing on the cake, as it were. Winter and Cloud won't want to be Keepers themselves, I know, but I'm pretty sure Summer will. She's my darling little girl, and I know she'll take great care of you.

If I have any regrets, it's that this is happening before I have a chance to meet you, to see if what I did had any impact, made your stay even a little bit more tolerable. It can't be fun, being trapped in stone. I hope I helped make that easier for you. I hope... gosh, I really hope I didn't make it worse! If I did, and you ever get out, please don't blame the children for that. They're only following in my hoofsteps.

I'm going to have to go soon (both figuratively and literally, ha ha), but I wanted to thank you, again. I wish you all the best, Mister Funny Face. And remember, a little bit of chaos is fun and special. A lot of chaos? It's just a big mess.

I wish I could have seen you once again before the end.

All my love,

Sunny Meadows.