To any outsider Discord's room would appear to be a complete mess, but to him it is simply reflective of his chaotic method of organization… and well above and beyond the reproach of others. Mother had for years tried to convince him to clean it, even sometimes sneaking in to clean it herself while he was out but it all provided fruitless, as Discord would just mess it up again in a matter of hours.
The draconiquis is probably the most unique sibling of the five, and he has no hesitations about embracing his personal talents. By getting lost in his seemingly endless gallery of inventions and thingamabobs he hopes to appease his inner desire for a continuously moving, changing world that the rest of the Palace continuously fails to do for him. In fact, he secretly hates being confined in this boring place… though he would never admit it to the others.
On this particular day, Discord is hard at work customizing his personal acceleration machine that he has been putting together for the past month. He imagines a device that can propel him around the halls at breakneck speed, hopefully making a lot of noise and scattering the palace decorations. Celestia's birthday is coming up soon… maybe he could unleash it there and ruin yet another year's party. The thought makes him chuckle to himself in delight. Yes, this creation will be even faster then Dream was during that time when he accidentally set her tail on fire with his fire belching machine and she chased him all around the grounds.
Grabbing a wrench/hammer/screwdriver/cutter/whatever else it is from a table nearby, Discord switches its function to arc welding and starts stitching up the joints on one of the metal panels of his creation. He is so engrossed in achieving mechanical perfection that the draconiquis doesn't even notice when one of his siblings enters the room behind him.
Cadence is always critical about the horrid state of her brother's room, and on this particular day she squeamishly searches for an open spot on the floor amongst all the debris where she can land, but after not finding one she gives up and remains hovering in the air.
"Discord, DISCORD!" she yells over the screeching din of his welder.
Lifting up the welding mask he is wearing, Discord momentarily halts his construction to talk to her.
"Can't you see I'm busy?" he utters in annoyance.
Cadence's eyes narrow slightly in anger, but unlike Dream she suppresses it and quickly dawns a smile instead.
"The twins are missing," the pink alicorn muses with worry, "have you had any luck in your searching?"
Discord appears to think about it for a second.
"Nope."
He then lowers the mask again and goes back to his welding. Cadence fumes, but again she forces herself to be patient. After all, Celestia and Light hadn't made any progress either… it's like both Dream and Luna have disappeared off the face of the planet. Unwilling to accept her brother's curt answer, the princess of love zips forward and stops when she is right next to him, lifting up his mask again with her powers.
"You could at least pretend to care," she scolds with a hint of bitterness.
"Well what do you want me to do," lashes back Discord, "…sing a happy song and make everything all better?"
Cadence eyes him angrily, expecting a better answer then that.
"They're probably just hiding in a magical dimension somewhere to scare us… I can't believe all of you are falling for this."
"What if they're in trouble?" demands Cadence, "what if they're really trapped somewhere and need our help?"
Discord shrugs.
"The twins have always taken care of themselves. I don't see why it's any different now."
"Grr, why do you have to be so infuriating?"
Cadence is getting angry again, and her eyes are starting to glow. Like a beast, her opposite form is lurking and waiting for the chance to break free.
"Hey calm down," insists Discord casually, "…it's in my nature."
Realizing that yet again she is getting out of hand, Cadence closes her eyes and turns away. Why is it so hard to listen to the things mother had taught her about controlling her temper? Her bad side, Haetra, is almost as potent as Dream's and it constantly pushes to gain control of her body. It's not fair… how come she has to suffer so much while Celestia and Luna have more mild evils within them?
"I… have to go," replies Cadence as she turns around in the air and flies over the mountains of debris towards the direction of the entrance.
She has to go see Mother. This situation is getting the better of her, and she needs some advice.
Relieved that his annoying sister is finally gone, Discord flips his welding mask back down and gets back to work on his amazing machine. Maybe he would run it though Cadence's room for the test run… the thought makes him giggle in anticipation. All he needs is a few more cartons of gelatinous rocket fuel from Light's room and…
Wait a minute. Discord halts his work for a moment, and his blood runs cold. He had long ago broken the locking spells Light had put on her doorway (how could be possibly resist the challenge?), and occasionally he snuck into her room to 'borrow' components for his machines that she would otherwise object to him having. Last night he had been excited to get his hands on some raw elemental whitefire, so excited he might have overlooked some things. He didn't leave the door open on his way out, did he?
Shrugging, the draconiquis reached the conclusion that he must have closed it… after all if he didn't Light would have gotten him in huge trouble at breakfast. Continuing with his work, he pushes the thought from his mind.
…
Light, the mightiest being in the entire universe, is becoming a nervous wreck. She has exhausted almost all her means to find her two missing children, employing all the palace's guardians and two spell books worth of seeking spells to no avail. She is getting upset, and her usually unflappable demeanor is notably rippling with anxiousness and worry.
Along with Cadence, Celestia and Light had been searching the halls personally all day skipping both meals and their usual daily activities. The princess of the sun was optimistic and thorough, but after searching for so many hours on end even she was beginning to tire. All trails they had found ended at the door of Genesis Wing, Mother's personal room. Light had considered going inside, but she knew it is impossible for them to be in there. She hadn't seen them when she awoke in the morning, and given her enormous power she most certainly wouldn't have missed their intrusion at any time in the night. Besides, the spells on her doorway meant that it could only be opened by her and nopony else, so there's no way the twins could have gotten in there anyway.
"Good night Celestia," assures the mother of creation, touching noses with her oldest daughter.
"Good night mother," returns Celestia, though she can sense her mother's anguish and in return she feels it too.
Without another word, the princess of the sun walks slowly up into her room. Convinced that her daughter is sufficiently tucked into bed, Light teleports away and leaves her to her rest. Reappearing in the material universe before her room, she activates the necessary sequence of spells to unlock the door. The combination predictably works, and the mother of creation makes her way inside shutting the door behind her.
What had she done so wrong to make the twins run away? She had always assumed that she was a fair and kind parent, celebrating birthdays, preparing meals on a daily basis and helping her children when they needed it most. Creating worlds had always been her greatest passion and most divine purpose, but now she couldn't help but think it is the thing that is holding her back… could she have made more time for her kids instead of spending hours adding fantastic creatures to her pony world? These thoughts are tearing her up inside and drawing away her strength.
What if Dream and Luna decided they no longer wanted to live separately from the celestial objects of their birth? What if they, unbeknownst to her, found a way to end their sentient lives and return to the moon and the void clouds they had originated from? Light feels a well of tears building in her eyes, and she is unwilling to suppress them.
Maybe she is a bad mother.
Unable to sleep, Light lies in bed staring at the celestial ceiling of her personal bedding quarters. She is so upset that she hadn't even bothered entering her laboratory to check on her creations, but that doesn't matter anymore. The mother of creation promises herself that she will no longer spend any time there at all… far more important are the three children she has left to raise.
It takes more then an hour for Light to fall asleep. Every time she starts to nod off fresh images of the twins flicker in her mind. The day when they were first born sticks out the most, when those two beautiful fillies first came into the world. It brings on fresh tears.
…
Losing patience, Lord Eclipse literally forces Light into rest so he can take over her body. Finally succeeding, he curses that stupid bitch for making him wait so long. Rising from the sheets, little droplets of tears rattle under his feet. Being the god that she is, Light's tears form into diamonds that would undoubtedly be worth thousands of gold in the world of ponies, but Eclipse cares not for them. He knows perfectly well the source of her sadness even though he can't penetrate her mind… she mourns the loss of those two brats he sent away into the world of ponies.
Conveniently for him, his opposite hasn't thought to look in the bank of worlds in the lab. In order to cover up the passage of the twins he had not only erased any magical trace of their presence, but he also created illusionary cloaks to replace the two that had been taken. Dream and Luna were in his world now, and he had a well of plans so deep they gave him the chills just thinking about it.
First thing's first, time to check on his other 'project'.
Eclipse stopped to examine himself, or rather Light's body, in a mirror-like wall positioned in the hallway about halfway to the laboratory. Apart from the deep red eyes that are his own, the rest of her form is pristine and unaffected by his corruption. Given more time in it he could probably mould this body to his own needs, but to do so would certainly make his nemesis aware of his nightly excursions and put a stop to them permanently. No, it's far better to simply keep things as they are until his plans are complete… speaking of which…
Eclipse reaches the laboratory and eagerly seeks out the flagstone in the floor that conceals his experiments. Finding it in a dark corner, he taps it with one of his hooves. Suddenly a wall falls back out of place, revealing a collection of half a dozen massive vats containing a variety of unconscious ponies. There are unicorns, earth ponies, and even a pegasus in the collection, and all are completely submerged in whatever liquid the Lord of Destruction had put them in. As a whole, he found the forthcoming act of creation distasteful but necessary if he is to acquire a new body in which to reside.
Over a hundred years of experiments on mortal ponies is finally yielding results for Lord Eclipse, and one unicorn in particular is showing quite a bit of promise. In the past he had been a crusader, seeking out mythical beasts to slay to atone for some long forgotten wrong, but now he is nothing more then a shell. Lord Eclipse had ensured that, taking the form of an ancient dragon and swallowing him whole. Now the knight's empty body would form the basis of his own glorious new form. All he needs is power, and with his own power locked away beyond his grasp by Light it can only come from one other place – the evil sides of 'her' children, or rather 'their' children.
Long ago, in her loneliness Light sought to create sentient life forms to accompany her in the palace. Given that Eclipse was imprisoned during this episode, he made sure of her torment and ultimately forced her hoof. After dozens of failed experiments in capturing solar flares from a nearby sun, Light must have surmised she needed his power as well in order to succeed. Naturally he wasn't a willing donor, so she made him a bet. He would give her a small portion of his power to create a new being, and if she succeeded she would keep the power and the pony but if she failed in the endeavor then she would set him free. It was an offer he couldn't refuse at the time… little did he know that Light had actually tricked him. She bound a solar flare with little to no difficulty using his and her combined energy, and Celestia was born.
Eclipse still hated her for it.
"You're doing well," comments Lord Eclipse menacingly, tapping his (or her) hoof against the glass separating him from the unicorn crusader, "an excellent medium for my new form."
The other ponies would have their part to play too in his schemes, in time.
Eclipse steps away from the vats and goes to check on the other project he has started devoting his time to only recently – the twins. With the two of them separated from Light, he could now focus on turning them to his will. Yes, with Dark Moon and Nightmare on his side he could easily regain his new form and be free from this prison inside the Mother of Creation's head.
Peering into the orb that contains the world of ponies, Eclipse examines the fate of Light's precious daughters. Interesting. It appears that Dream has settled herself with a family of earth ponies, and Luna with noble unicorns in their castle. Disturbing developments, but not entirely unexpected. Remarkably they actually appear to be enjoying themselves on this adventure… a fact which certainly won't do.
"Hmm, Light's wretched daughters aren't making any progress," Eclipse thunders with annoyance, "perhaps things need to be 'accelerated'."
Peering over at the Mother of Creation's ingredients cabinet, Eclipse suddenly gets an idea. In the past Light had bound undesirable and evil elements within a collection of vials so as to avoid their inclusion in her increasingly 'perfect' worlds. Ultimately such a notion was a foolish one – wherever there is light there must be darkness as well, and Eclipse knew that all too well. All it did is to grant him a whole arsenal of menacing creatures and forces to turn against her creations, and he would do so with absolute glee.
Unlocking the 'cabinet of evil', the Lord of Destruction examines all the vials and containers held inside for something remarkable and devious that suits his tastes. There are lesser evils like greed and vanity, but nothing that outwardly appeals to him. Then suddenly he strikes the mother load. In the bottom left corner is a case of pure bronze, bound in one of the most potent magical locks he had ever seen. Unable to resist, Eclipse pulls out the case and sets it on the table.
Unfortunately for Light all her security doesn't do much to protect her stuff from the intrusions of herself, and Lord Eclipse opens the lock with ease using her powers. Inside he finds four vials. First he reads the labels – the red vial of War, the blue vial of Starvation, the green vial of Ruin, and the black vial of Evil. Just looking at them sends chills down Eclipse's spine. He thinks about all the havoc he could raise with these pure elements of destruction, and a plan begins to form in his mind.
Eclipse glances over at the mortal ponies he is keeping in the vats, and imagines them as the harbingers of his wraith… the four ponies of the apocalypse if you will. He laughs out loud at the brilliance of it.
"I hope your ready my little fillies," whispers Eclipse over the orb containing the world of ponies, "because I'm about to put an end to your little paradise."