Celestia only owned one mirror.
There are those who would argue that she owned every mirror in Equestria, or at least a quarter of them. However, Celestia only had a few things that she felt comfortable claiming as her personal property, lest she deprive her Ponies of their heritage by taking too much for herself. So while her private chambers were far from Spartan, most who visited would comment about the rather minimalist aesthetic of the rooms.
Of course, Celestia would insist that she had everything she needed. She would tell them that, while she considered the whole of Equestria to be her home, that her private chambers were more or less her own little sanctuary. They were a place she could go to be surrounded by friends and her own memories, a place she could feel comfortable claiming as her own.
Sometimes her more astute visitors would ask her about something in the rooms that caught their eye, like the small Zebracan idol sitting on a pedestal near her balcony, or the Gryphon made Great Spear tucked neatly into a corner. She could spend hours talking with visitors about the memories those walls held, as long as they had the curiosity to ask. Everything there had a story behind it, and Celestia never got tired of telling those stories to anyone who had the time to listen.
Still, it was rare for a guest to ask her about her mirror. Perhaps they just assumed that it was a vanity, a way for her to keep appearances. Perhaps they thought that the mirror was there to keep her humble, something to remind her that, no matter how grand the Equestrian Empire grew, that she was still just another Pony.
The real reason she had the mirror was much simpler and much more complicated. Celestia wasn’t much a fan of her own reflection, so she hated seeing herself in that mirror. If she had to be honest with herself she would probably get rid of the thing, if it weren’t for the memories it held.
When Celestia took on her latest pupil, Twilight, she was just a filly. At the time, Twilight was barely old enough to cast even the most basic light spell; however, the greatest stories arise from the humblest beginning and Celestia saw great potential in that little filly. That potential would finally make itself know to the world at large when Twilight transcended her Unicorn form and ascended to become an Alicorn, the fourth Princess of Equestria.
Still, every story has a humble beginning.
When Celestia first took her under her wing, all those years ago, Twilight idolized Celestia. She treated her less as a Pony and more as a god, a sovereign, and a mentor all rolled into one perfect being. As much as Celestia appreciated the adulation of her subjects, and her students, Twilight’s view of her often got in the way of more important matters.
One of the biggest issues was that it made Celestia utterly unapproachable to her. Twilight was never a very social filly; in fact, there were those who would go as far as to call her a shut in. As it was it would take hours for Twilight to work up the courage to even ask her a simple question, and it was even worse when Celestia was holding court or doing paperwork. As far as Twilight was concerned, the whole of Equestria would probably burst into flames if Celestia was pulled from her work for even a single second.
Again, this alone would be a manageable issue for Celestia; however, Twilight made a habit of standing behind her when she was doing paperwork, just staring silently until Celestia would notice her. So instead of compulsively checking over her shoulder every few minutes to see if there happened to be a small lavender Unicorn sitting there, Celestia did what any mother or teacher would do.
She bought a mirror.
Celestia installed a mirror in front of her desk and asked it to be offset, so it faced ever so slightly to the left. It was a simple thing, but the results were nothing short of miraculous. It didn’t take long got Twilight to figure out that her mentor had inexplicably developed an extra set of eyes in the back of her head; she was always a clever girl. So, as not to disturb her, Twilight opted to wait for Celestia outside her chambers, as opposed to directly behind her. At that point, all it took was a discrete notice to her personal guard detachment and Celestia would be, promptly, informed when Twilight wanted her. By the time Twilight figured out the real reason behind Celestia’s “omniscience” Twilight had already gotten over most of her issues with approaching her.
Now the mirror sat in its place it the edge of the room, mostly forgotten.
But not entirely so.
Celestia’s eyes wandering away from the paperwork in front of her as her thoughts drifted to her upcoming meeting with Discord. It had surprised her to see the official requisition letter emblazoned with Discord’s own “seal,” and it surprised her even more to see him ask for an official meeting with her. Here was the one that she had fought, fang and claw, with for over a decade only to seal him in a prison of the hardest stone, trapping him in his own mind. Here was an ancient, one who had lived thousands of lifetimes, her lifetimes, and someone who could rewrite the very laws of nature with a snap of his talons.
Here was the Draconequus whose very presence filled her mind with fear, regret, and trepidation for all the wrong reasons.
Here was Discord, politely requesting a “casual” meeting with her, in her own chambers. Admittedly, Celestia panicked the first time she read his request; this was the exact scenario that kept her awake at night, wondering what would happen and what could happen. She thought he would waltz in and call her out for what she really was.
A fraud, a liar, just another weak-minded fool.
But when she thought about it, she realized that might not be the case.
Perhaps Discord had no intent with this meeting, perhaps he simply wished to discuss other matters. Maybe this would be the moment where she confessed, she could get this awful ordeal over with and finally move on with her life; their lives. She shoved these thoughts to the back of her mind, regardless what happened she was sure that the matter would be resolved by sunset.
One way, or another.
With that in mind Celestia let herself relax for the first time in a long time. This was the calm before the storm, or the fragile serenity of standing atop of the gallows for the last time.
“What will be, will be.” Celestia thought with a sigh, trying to steel herself as she felt a shiver run down her spine. “The last thing I need right now is to stress myself out over nothing.”
Suddenly, she caught a bit of movement from the corner of her eye, just a twitch; she turned her head ever so slightly noticed and a figure in the mirror. Without drawing attention to herself she shifted in her seat to get a better view, she saw him clearly painted on the surface of the mirror sitting quietly at the edge of the room.
Celestia, deciding to play along, pretended to go back to her paperwork while she kept her eyes glued on the mirror in front of her. She was entranced by how his body flexed and twisted in the air, his pose accurately described as having both the intensify of a tiger stalking its prey and the excited energy of a kitten ready to pounce on its favorite toy. Discord’s form was like something out of her most fevered dreams and her most frenzied nightmares. Despite the odd amalgamation of body parts that comprised his anatomy he moved with an almost unnatural grace.
After a minute or so she saw his expression suddenly change to one of concentration as he summoned a mass of floating air horns around him. Just as he was about to spring forward Celestia let herself turn around ever so slightly.
“Hello, Discord.” She said as he suddenly collapsed to the ground in a pile of squawking air horns. The following moments could best be described as a cacophony before Discord snapped his talons and the semi-sentient noise makers vanished into thin air. He slowly stood up and, slowly, brushed himself off. It took Celestia nearly all of her willpower not to burst into a fit of laughter on the spot; instead she allowed herself a smug little smile.
“How did you know?” Discord asked, frowning sardonically, as he attempted to regain his composure. Celestia nodded subtly at the mirror in front of her. It took him a few moments to piece it all together, but eventually he grunted and moved over to it. Celestia watched closely as he flexed and posed in front of the mirror, admiring himself vainly. She stood up from her seat and walked up behind him. This incidentally put her in a position where she could watch both his front and his back thanks to the mirror
There was a part of her that knew that it was in impolite to stare, but that part was overridden by her own abstract fascination. Of course she was intimately familiar with Discords body after having watched over him during his thousand year imprisonment; however, seeing a statue and watching Discord, flexing and writhing, in the flesh were different things entirely.
All that coupled with the fact that she hadn’t seen him for more than a month made the experience all the more entrancing, so much so that it took her a conscious effort to speak up before he noticed her.
“I believe you had something you wanted to discuss with me?” She didn’t want to push him as much as she wanted to break the growing tension in the air between them. He looked back at her briefly before looking back at the mirror.
“Yes of course.” Celestia turned away sheepishly when he shot a glance a in her general direction. “That is so long as you aren’t too busy,” he stopped and straightened his goatee before continuing. “If you have more important matters to attend to then we could always reschedule.” When she looked back at him she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes when she saw him pretending to pick at his paw while he gauged her expression through the mirror. Instead, she just shook her head.
“Don’t worry, Discord,” she said with a coy smile, I made sure that I took care of everything else before you got here.” She took a moment to think about that and sighed, trying not to look exasperated. “You know, you don’t have to go through all this trouble just to talk to me,” the fact that he went through all this trouble to talk to her bothered her, it reminded her just how distant he was now. “My doors are always open to you, Discord.” Then Discord, literally and figuratively, turned a one eighty.
“Why of course, Celestia!” He exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “Of course I know that.” He started floating over to her, slowly carving through the air in front of her in a wide arc. “Besides, it’s not like you could stop me from waltzing in here even if I wasn’t welcome.” He stopped in front of her and looked down at her. “You and I both know that I normally wouldn’t bother with all of this. However,” he said as he suddenly launched himself up off the ground and into the air behind her, “I’m here on business.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding a bit more dejected than she should have. She knew he wouldn’t just show up out of the blue without some kind of agenda, he always had some kind of an ulterior motive. Still, it stung a bit when she thought that this was the one person who could possibly relate to her, floating above her, in her own bed chambers, the only one who might understand what it meant to be immortal…
“And he just wants to talk shop…”
Eventually she found her confidence again and she looked up from the floor to address him properly. She noticed that he wasn’t even looking at her; he was just staring at the panels on the vaulted ceiling. Then I assume you’re here to discuss the nature of your assignments.” She tried and failed to keep her distaste from creeping into her voice as she thought of how professional he was being about the whole scenario.
When she first assigned him those tasks she did it in with the hope that it would keep him engaged with her and general Equestrian society; instead, he seemed to use them as an excuse to avoid both of them as much as possible. Every invitation she gave him to attend anything social had was summarily rejected on the grounds that he “had business to attend to” as his notices termed it. She let out a held breath when he flipped over and casually nodded at her, apparently ignoring, or not noticing, her contempt.
“Precisely,” he said, lowering himself to the ground in front of her, “I thought it would be prudent to make sure you were aware of my progress so far.”
Celestia nodded politely, ushering him to go on while she tried to calm herself.
“I’m sorry to say that I’ve run into some unexpected delays in writing up my full report on the properties of chaos,” for a second he seemed genuinely disappointed before he immediately launched off onto the next thing. “However,” he said holding up a talon, “I trust that you’ve heard of my influence on the artistic community.” He punctuated his point by buffing the scruff on his chest with the side of his paw, in the very image of pride and self-absorption. Celestia felt a smile touch at her lips as she watched his very childlike display.
Admittedly she was surprised when she heard tell that several of Equestria’s premier artists had opted to take sabbaticals in order to trek through Discord’s forest. Apparently everyone who went in, even if it was just for a few hours, came out with a different perspective. It had become a forest of change and a place of boundless inspiration.
“Yes, of course,” Celestia nodded as she started looking over at the wall beside her, searching for a particular piece. “I find myself quite taken with some of the new art spreading through Canterlot.” It took her longer than it should have but eventually she found what she was looking for. “In fact,” she said as she carefully lifted the painting from the wall with her magic, “I even went through the trouble to commission this piece for my personal collection.” At that, Celestia passed the Discord. She tentatively released her grip on it when she felt him grab onto it.
She watched his expression shift slowly as he inspected the work and she wondered if he would be able to guess what the subject of it was. When she heard that someone actually saw him in there she had to seize the opportunity. As much as she wanted to go see it for herself, and visit Discord privately, she was just too busy to go on an expedition through the forest.
So she opted for the next best thing, capturing the moment vicariously.
The artist in question insisted that she didn’t want to charge her for the commission, insisting that the reputation she would gain from making a painting for royalty would be payment enough. Celestia decided not to push the issue after that, but let it be said that tax exemption forms are incredibly easy to file.
Noticing that Discord was distracted, Celestia decided to take the initiative.
“I can’t say for sure that I really understand it; however,” she said, filling the silence as Discord stared at the piece introspectively, “I must admit that I do find this new style rather striking.” He made no reply to her and she wondered if he had caught onto her subtle undertones. After taking a moment to think about it, she decided that it wouldn’t be hard to find that out for sure.
“I suppose it just has a sort of je ne sais quoi to it.” Discord suddenly glowered at the painting and held it out for her to take.
“I suppose you could say that,” he deadpanned, “I found the traditional styles rather lacking, so I just offered them a different perspective.” Celestia found herself nodding unconsciously while she took the painting from him, carefully studying his facial features for just a hint of insight into what he was thinking. “All I did was to offer them a chance to see the world as I see it, fluid, and chaotic.” Discord let his statement hang for a few seconds before moving on. “To you it might seem new and different but, to me it just screams of normalcy.”
Celestia scoffed at that, even by her standards the word’s “Discord” and “Normal” didn’t belong in the same sentence. The fact that she was even having this conversation with him was strictly abnormal.
That thought struck her. “I wonder how many months it’s been since we’ve even spoken to each other.” The exact number evaded her but she knew it had been at least three months since she last spoke with him. Still, his word’s echoed in her mind.
“I’m here on business.”
“Regardless,” he said, snapping her back to reality, “neither of those assignments have anything to do with what I wanted to discuss.” Celestia blinked dumbly at the empty air in front of her before she realized that Discord had moved back to the mirror, his back turned to her. She quickly put the painting up on the wall and moved up behind him, addressing his reflection.
“Then I suppose that you’re here to discuss the other report then.” She said, exasperated by the mere thought of it.
Yes, it was important to her, which is what she asked Discord to do it in confidence. As a sovereign she needed to be intimately familiar with the state of affairs in the Empire. She needed to know about the economy, about any issues within the population, and yes, she needed to know about any and all corruption plaguing Equestria. But frankly she didn’t want to discuss such matters with Discord
It wasn’t because it was particularly dark or because she didn’t want to expose Equestria’s own weaknesses to him, but more so because it was boring to her. Corruption wasn’t a huge issue for Equestria and Celestia knew it. She was diligent in eliminating most anything that would pose a threat to the nation and it showed, it was at the point where she rarely even had to worry about it. And yet between her personal advisors and “anonymous informants” she heard enough about it on a daily basis.
“Yes, I finished the report several days ago and I’m prepared to deliver a full presentation on the issue.”
So, as any rational Equine in her position would do, she tried to change the subject.
“I have to admit that I’m impressed by your progress Discord.” Celestia said with genuine sincerity, despite her dire circumstances. “When I gave you these tasks I wasn’t sure if you would actually follow up on them, let alone complete them so quickly.” Truthfully, it took him a while to actually commit to any of her mandates, but he legitimately surprised her with his dedication and work ethic when he actually decided to try to tackle them.
She had to admit that his methods could be a bit abstract at times, but he got results and that’s what she asked him to do.
However, instead of taking the compliment, Discord turned around with a mock look of betrayal ad anguish plastered on his face.
“You wound me, Celestia, you truly wound me.” Celestia blinked and suddenly noticed him sprawled out, a paw to his forehead, on a chaise lounge that wasn’t there a moment ago. “And here I thought that you actually trusted me.” Celestia couldn’t help but wonder where that came from. “But, here you are implying that I couldn’t perform.” He propped his head up on the headrest with his elbow as he stared her in the eyes with a sickening grin. “Do you doubt my ability, dearest Celestia?”
Celestia just stood there as the knot in her chest clawed its way up into her throat, rendering her speechless for a moment. She hoped against all hope that he didn’t realize the implications of his words and she desperately wanted to believe he didn’t notice her freezing up on the spot. However, at this point in her life Celestia did not believe in coincidences. She allowed herself a moment of, what she hoped was, polite hesitation as she meticulously reinforced the warding in her in the event that Discord tried to breach the bastion of her mind.
Now she was on her guard.
“Not at all,” she said through a forced smile, “Discord, I have complete and total confidence in your ability and your loyalty to the crown.” Without missing a beat she continued. “What I mean to say is that I’m proud of how far you’ve managed to come since your release.” Discord crossed his arms and snorted.
“So what you mean to say is that I’m not some snarling, self-obsessed, lunatic?” Ignoring her at this point he turned back to the mirror and continued to pose in front of it. “I’ll have you know,” he said with a completely straight face, “that I haven’t snarled in months.”
Celestia realized her mistake and sighed. “Discord, that’s not what I meant at all. I’m just trying to say that I’m honestly appreciative of everything you’ve done for me and for Equestria.”
At least, that’s what she would have said if he hadn’t cut her off at “meant.”
“As much as I enjoy our little “talks,” Celestia, I would like to remind you that I’m here on business.”
Deciding that her diversion was very near a complete failure, Celestia changed her tactics.
“Well, if you’re ready to present your report,” she said, almost defiantly, “then by all means. I am ready to receive it.”
“If you insist,” Discord quipped with a coy smile on his face, “here it is.”
It was at that point that Discord descended into a diatribe describing certain denizens that dwelled within the diarchy, seeking domination over disputed dominions in the empire; he divulged that while these degenerates did not disrupt day to day developments, that a distribution of even a disproportionately diminutive dystopian element could detrimentally derail different sectors of the Empire or even cause more disconcerting results…
Celestia found herself nodding in all the appropriate places, only half paying attention as she tried to decode the possible significance everything else he has said up until then. Discord, might have been devious and crafty, but she knew he was also cocky and a hopeless romantic. If he was planning something, she knew he would have been dropping hints like it was going out of style. The more she thought back the more she realized that if she was correct in her suspicions…
Then she could only hope she was wasn’t…
It was then that Celestia noticed that Discord wasn’t in front of her anymore; she started to look around franticly when she felt a cold, knifelike, blade cut across her throat. She involuntarily seized up and almost fell to the ground, coughing violently, as she felt the sensation of blood rushing down her throat.
“Need I go on, Celestia?”
It took a conscious effort for her not to spit, just to get the taste of phantasmal blood out of her mouth. Instead she waited for it to fade away, deciding not to compromise her composure more than he already had.
It all seemed honest enough and it was obvious to her that he was speaking off the cuff. Still, Celestia stayed on her guard; even at the best of times Discord was two faced, talking about something obvious while hinting at some hidden context.
“No,” she said, still rubbing at her throat, “I believe you have made your point quite clear.”
While she waited for her body to relax she thought back to what he said, carefully going over each oddly placed word in her mind.
“Is he trying to blame me for something? Am I the problem here?” She quickly glanced up at him to see him staring at her. She only held eye-contact with him for a few seconds before he looked away, but she saw coldness in his eyes she had never seen before. “I’m missing something.” Discord’s words echoed in her mind
“I thought you trusted me…”
“Just what are you playing at, Discord?”
Celestia let out a shaky breath, shaking her head. “However, I would like to hear what you would do about the situation. That is to say, Discord, that if you were in my place, what would you do to rectify the situation?”
Discord stroked his goatee thoughtfully, obviously unprepared to give his own opinion on the matter. After he thought it over for a minute he quickly rattled off a few tactics for working around the issue, blatantly avoiding the point of the whole exercise. It got to the point where she just couldn’t help but laugh.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude about it. I just find it funny that here you didn’t give me any advice about actually dealing with the problem, you just told me what I could do to ignore it.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Well, you didn’t ask me what you should do; you asked me what I would do. If you don’t like the advice I gave you then that’s your problem, not mine.”
“Thank you, Discord; it was all very good advice. Though I will admit, I have known about most of what you said for a while and your solutions, mostly, match up with my own. Either way, it’s nice to hear your perspective on the matter. I trust that you have a full written report on the subject ready for me as well?”
The warmth in the room seemed to vanish when Discord pulled the folder into existence. “Of course, Celestia,” He said in a subdued tone. “I have it right here.” He looked down at the folder in question, lost in thought. “However, there is one more thing I wanted to discuss with you before I leave.”
A voice in the back of her head was screaming at her, but Celestia ignored it and pressed on.
“O-Of course, what did you want do discuss?”
Celestia noticed the room dim ever so slightly and she could swear that the color was draining from her peripheral vision.
“Fraud.”
Celestia’s heart skipped a beat and watched, frozen, as sickening grin spread across his face.
“Fraud, Celestia, it the act of falsification; at its core it’s an act of dishonesty.” Discord spoke as one would speak to a child, informing them of what they had done wrong. “Fraud is the act of disregarding a hard truth in favor of a convenient lie.” Even his smile was patronizing, as he spoke down to her in a cold monotone. “It’s just another unfortunate issue in society. Wherever there is power to be gained there is someone who will stop at nothing to grab hold of it
“And there is always someone who would do anything to keep hold on something once they have it in their grasp.
“It happens, and it will always happen. There is nothing either of us can do about that. However, I believe that I have found a particular case of it that demands your immediate attention.”
A flash of motion caught Celestia’s eye, she looked up to see Discord gesturing for her to sit down. She complied without thinking, barley containing the mix of emotions flowing through her. At some point the curtains had been drawn, she unconsciously flared up her horn and stared down at the stationary on the desk in front of her.
Her eyes searched idly for a place to latch onto the page amongst the shifting text, illuminated by the wavering amber light. Eventually a section at the bottom of the page caught her attention.
A Collaboration Of
Discord & Dual Vision
She glared at the name, as if it might jump at her if she broke eye contact with it for even a second. Discord chided her.
“Dual Vision has proven to be an invaluable asset to my investigation. His expertise is what allowed me to complete this report so quickly. As it turns out, he happens to be an expert on fraudulent documents.”
Celestia swore under her breath. “Of course he would be.”
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Nothing,” she said, lying through her teeth, “it was nothing.” It was obvious that Discord has something up his sleeve, but she had too much respect for him to simply send him packing. Besides that, whatever it was this was obviously important to him.
Perhaps it would be something she needed to hear; maybe she just needed to put a little faith in him.
“You’ll find the description of the incident in question on page three-hundred seventy-six.” Celestia hesitated for a moment, still on her guard, before slowly flipping through the crisp stationary. When she came to the page in question her eyes were drawn to the passage near the bottom of the page, before she could read any of it she found the words blocked by Discord’s claw. “You can start here.” She followed his slender talon up toward the top of the page. She started reading, from the top, and his claw fell away.
As she read on she was acutely aware of Discord looming over her shoulder, he stared off into the distance, ignoring her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was still being watched. The article detailed several incidences of confirmed and suspected fraud that had within the last few years, comparing them to much older, archaic, cases that followed an eerily similar pattern. Most of these instances were small issues with of equally minor consequence; however, report repeatedly emphasized how even the most inconsequential case alluded to the probable existence of a larger operations that would go unnoticed without an in depth investigation.
It went on to describe a couple of these important cases, both of which involving shadow accounts that transferred thousands of bits before closing suddenly. It was suspected that these accounts might have funded large criminal organizations, but by the time they were discovered the accounts in question had their records “purged.”
If the thought of a major embezzlement scheme wasn’t troubling enough, the report suddenly moved onto a much more serious case. It moved onto the report of Discord’s release.
Celestia sat there, caught like a foal staring at the bewitching light of a Will-o'-the-wisp. She knew full well the danger of continuing into the forest, the danger of following the light, yet she pressed on, entranced. Bewitched by the prospect of what lay at the end of the forgotten path.
The tone of the article shifted dramatically, yet still subtly enough that she saw the continuity. Ar first it seemed to praise the report, stating that the forgery was so professionally crafted that it could only be discovered by chance or happenstance. It went on in great length, detailing how everything in the forgery had been “artfully misplaced” in such a way as to where it would look more like a mistake than a misrepresentation of the original article; even down to the royal seal’s which had just enough dissidence between them to pass as authentic to even the most critical eye.
Normally, such a forgery would indicate that the culprit was exceptionally well connected. Correctly replicating a magically infused seal was something even arcane practitioners at the arch-mage classification would have trouble with; considering that there are only forty three magic users in Equestria who have been verified to possess such skill (with an estimated one hundred total), it narrows the list of possible culprits down to the most endowed individuals and the most expansive organizations.
However, after a though analysis of the situation it was discovered that this, in fact, was not the case. Two separate factors dictate that there is no being in Equestria who could have forged the seal. The first being that the timeframe to fabricate the new document and resubmit it to the proper authorities in a way that the missing document would not be noticed was determined to be approximately five days at most (due to a delay between the official registration and processing of documents).
This time frame effectively decimated the list of individuals who would be capable of actually replicating the seal in that time. It was determined that it would take a practitioner who exists beyond the arch-mage classification (only ten individuals are verified to have demonstrated such capabilities are known to exist, five of these are currently unaccounted for).
This last statement bothered Celestia, she ran through the list of those who were considered to have attained that level of magical affinity. She only counted seven, where were the other three? Regardless, she continued, against her better judgment.
This is compounded by the fact that the fabricated seal in question is the seal of none other than Princess Celestia. The problem itself being that the Princess herself is an Alicorns, meaning that she has an extremely distinctive and complex magical signature. Because of this, in order to properly match her signature a forger would have to be both highly familiar with her and share her physiological (and thus magical) makeup. This limits the list down to three ponies capable of replicating the document.
At this point it was simple to deduce the identity of the perpetrator of the forgery by simple process of elimination.
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was otherwise indisposed at this time, investigating strange occurrences in the northern section of The Empire with her husband, then Guard Captain, Shining Armor (occurrences latter confirmed to be connected with the reemergence of The Crystal Empire). Not only would it have nearly impossible for her to properly replicate the seal due to the conditions she was reputed to be living in at the time, but the sheer distance involved would make the logistics of delivering such a forgery realistically impossible. These factors strictly invalidate any involvement she may have had with the act of forgery at the time.
Princess Luna, at this point, would become the most obvious candidate. However, when she was asked about the report she stated that she was not informed about its existence until several months after its publication; furthermore she has provided a full, verifiable, alibi for the entire timeframe during which the incident might have occurred. The timetable the alibi established indicated that it would be impossible for The Princess to properly forge the documentation and seal in question.
This leaves only one candidate who could have possibly committed the act. The remaining party would have no issue forging the documentation, perfectly replicating the seal, acquiring the official document from The Canterlot Archives or submitting the fraudulent copy within the allotted timeframe before its official review.
The only remaining suspect, by definition, must be the culprit.
You are a liar, Celestia.
I know.
When the words slipped into her ear Celestia’s world spun into darkness as she leapt into the air, simultaneously losing her grip on her magic. By the time she relit the light on her horn she her, her back against the wall. Her stomach churned and her heart fell. Her wings shot out instinctively in response to a perceived freefall, fluttering uselessly at her sides while she panicked. Her pupils dilated in an attempt to take in as much light as possible.
Discord, his painted atop the dark backdrop of the room by Celestia’s own light, silently crept towards her.
“This isn’t right. This isn’t right; it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
She heard a faint click before everything became warped and distorted. Celestia could hear her heartbeat echo in her chest as time seemed to slow down around her.
“Celestia…”
Discord’s voice jarred her from her revelry; it was unnaturally calm and distant. She looked up to see Discord towering above her, looking down at her with a profound sadness in his eyes. None of it made any sense to her.
“This isn’t right;” a voice in her head slurred, “it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
“Please, I only want to know why you did it.”
She wouldn’t.
“I’m not mad at you. I just want to know why you had to hide the report from me.”
She couldn’t.
“I just want to know why you lied to me.”
She didn’t.
“Did I?” She wondered, lost in the context.
“Why won’t you answer me, Celestia!”
Eventually Celestia realized she was on the ground, out of habit she retracted her wings and tried to stand up only to have her hooves slip on the cold marble. She looked down at the ground, trying to figure out what happened.
“Are you afraid of me, Celestia?”
“No, Discord?” Celestia’s mind started working a mile a minute to try to catch up with what was occurring around her. It slowly dawned on her that she was missing something. “That’s wrong.”
“Is it that you don’t trust me?”
Celestia felt her head spin as his word’s echoed in her head.
“I thought that you trusted me.”
“Discord, no, of course I trust you.” Celestia screwed her eyes shut with concentration. “It’s just… No…”
“No”
“No”
“No”
“No”
“No”
“No”
She stopped and opened her eyes when she realized she was standing again. She looked up to see Discord writhing in the air above her. She could tell he was upset.
It almost looked like he was in pain.
“No What? Are you saying that I don’t deserve to know the reason I am EVEN HERE? Answer me, Celestia!”
Still struggling to keep up with the conversation she spoke out of impulse. “I can’t tell you!” She could barely think, something was wrong, everything was wrong. She wanted to talk to him but the right word’s escaped her every time. “I just can’t.”
There was a long pause. Celestia knew something was wrong but she couldn’t understand what it was. She knew that she made a mistake somewhere. Her body betrayed her as she struggled to remain upright; she just needed more time to think.
“Time...”
Suddenly everything made sense, with a conscious effort Celestia expunged the drug from her system and immediately regretted it. Every one of her muscles burned with exertion and her heart fluttered as she stumbled forward.
“Discord I-”
“Is that ALL I am to you? Just a tool, just a means to an end! I am DISCORD! Lord of Chaos and Spirit of Disharmony! I bow to no one and I answer to no one! I will NOT be used by someone like you!”
Celestia was frozen, unable to speak and unable to react. His word’s cut her deep. She felt physically numb but her mind was finally working properly. She felt like she was going to pass out at any moment, but through sheer willpower she steadied herself and she spoke.
“N-no… That’s not it at all.”
Her throat was dry and her heart pounded in her ears. Celestia could hardly breathe but she still kept speaking.
“When I, we, imprisoned you all those years ago I was young and brash; we were foolish. We were so afraid, Luna and I. We were afraid of what you would, might, do to us when, if, we released you. So we decided to wait until we could handle it, and so we just kept putting it off and putting it off until…”
She let out a shaky breath.
“But then when Luna was gone I-I… I was alone, Discord.” She fought the urge to crawl into the deepest and darkest hole she could find, pressing on.
“I was alone for, a thousand years. For a thousand years I was “her majesty Princess Celestia” when all I wanted to be was that filly I used to know. I just wanted to be that girl who used to watch the sunset with her sister every night before they would fall asleep together…
“But I had to be Princess Celestia; I didn’t have a choice anymore. I had to watch everything I cared for fade away before my very eyes. I had to watch myself become somepony else, somepony I couldn’t even recognize. Discord, for the longest time I afraid was to even look at a mirror, I afraid that I would look at my reflection and only see a stranger.
“When Luna came back I was so happy, I thought had a chance to be that happy little filly again.” Again she had to fight the urge to simply disappear. "I need to say this," she told herself, "for my own sake."
“But, I didn’t. She had changed, I changed…
“A thousand years is a long time, things were different. So there I was, surrounded by ponies who cared about me, and not one of them could possibly understand how alone I felt. Then I remembered you.
“I remembered that you have existed since time immemorial. I thought that you might understand what I was going through, but I remembered that I had left you imprisoned for over a thousand years. I realized that I had cast everyone who could see me for who I was to a veritable oblivion. Guilt, self-loathing, doubt, that’s what set you free the first time.
“When Luna found out that I just left you in there she screamed at me for keeping you bound for so long and… I screamed back…
“She didn’t talk to me for a month after that…
“That’s when I came up with the plan.
“I had the report commissioned to understand what had happened and to try to understand why you went on a rampage like you did. When I found out what really happened I was miserable with myself, I was ashamed of what I had reduced you to. I wanted to release you but I didn't want you to think that I was just another spineless pony… So I made a fake report, to hide my weakness.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to hurt you, I just didn’t want you to think I was weak… But I am though, weak I mean…
“I could say that I released you for ethical obligation, that it was wrong to keep you bound against you will for things that you had no control over. I could say that I wanted to let you get back to your eternity and to move on from this as a better being. I could say that I released you for all the right reason, but I won’t lie to you anymore.
“I released you because I wanted a shoulder to cry on.
“I released you because I wanted someone to console me when I lose someone I had lost and to tell me that they understand.
“I wanted someone who I could relate to.
“I wanted someone that would stand by me so I wouldn’t feel so alone.
“Discord, I wanted… No, I needed…
“Discord, I need-” Mid-sentence she looked up at Discord only to find that she was alone.
That she was always alone.
There was some, small amount, of panic when the sun set more than two hours behind schedule.
There was some, small amount, of panic when word spread that Celestia had locked herself in her chambers and that she refused to come out.
Eventually, as things went back to normal, the citizens of Equestria forgot about the otherwise unremarkable day. The moment was lost to the unrelenting flow of time.