The portal led to an area that neither Twilight nor Celestia knew about. The area was pitch black, the darkness spreading in all directions, except for the hole that the two alicorns had entered through. The more they looked, they realized that despite the lack of light, and the infinite blackness that surrounded them, their vision was not impaired and they were able to see as if it were in broad daylight.
Twilight began to descend, and she felt her hooves touch something. She looked, and saw nothing. Just black. She learned that there was a definite ground; it was just unable to be seen. They wandered aimlesly, only to be stopped by the glow of something in the distance. The princesses changed their path toward the light, and as they approached, they could tell what was there.
The Tree of Harmony.
It was sitting there, in the middle of the infinite abyss, the only beacon in the seas of nothing. Celestia, using magic, removed the six gems carefully from the Tree. They all glowed, and formed a circle in front of Celestia. Each Element let out a thin rainbow that made its way to the next in the row, eventually forming a small rainbow ring. “Now, Twilight!” Celestia shouted.
Twilight rose, her horn glowing the brightest shade of magenta it ever had. A beam of pure light erupted from the aura, straight toward the ring. As the light hit the center, the Elements of Harmony reacted, creating a field of light that constantly expanded. That’s when they heard it. Five voices, all acting in sync.
“You aren’t going to get away with it that easily!”
Twilight turned, and her beam of light dissipated. Five figures stood together, all of them totally white. No faces, no color, just a group of white silhouettes, each wearing a necklace containing a gem of a different shade of gray. Their necklaces reacted to one another, and a monochrome rainbow began to form. That’s when it hit her. These were her friends. Those… things took them and turned them into this.
“That’s quite enough”
Everypony turned their heads and saw the face of the one responsible for all of this. The reason Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were captured. Why the Tree of Harmony was in this strange zone. But it didn’t make sense.
Before the princesses was Discord.
Twilight was furious. “What did you to them?!”
“Don’t worry, Twilight,” said Discord, “They’re fine. If anything, they’re better than they were before.” He made the point to show off what he was wearing. Another necklace, this one with a gem as pitch black as the area they were in. “However, I refuse to let you use that spell. Behold, your friends and I have a little something special – The Elements of Disharmony!
“Disharmony?” Twilight gasped, “Where did you… How did you… WHAT?”
“Twilight!” Celestia chimed in, “Finish the spell.” Twilight’s horn one again gained the magnificent magenta aura and the light once again was magnified the Elements of Harmony. The field of light once again reappeared.
Twilight’s transformed friends gathered around Discord. “Allow me to introduce the group,” he said, “Applejack, with the Element of Deceit; Rarity, with the Element of Greed; Rainbow Dash, wielding the Element of Betrayal; Pinkie Pie, and her Element of Sorrow; Fluttershy, the Element of Cruelty, and last but not least, I, Discord, with the Element of Chaos!”
The monochrome rainbow reformed, with an added black stripe. Mirroring the Elements of Harmony, the Elements of Disharmony released a field of black. The two fields expanded, until they collided. Then, everything was still. Neither side budged an inch, and neither side continued to grow.
The conflict pushed on and on: Twilight, wanting peace, and Discord, wanting anything but. Both sides continued to put in all of their effort, until, simultaneously, Discord and Twilight collapsed.
When Twilight regained consciousness, she immediately jumped to her feet and made a futile attempt to retry her spell. Discord didn’t. He remained calm. Twilight didn’t like the look on his face. “He… he won,” Twilight said somberly. “I’ve failed.” Tears welled in her eyes. She was glad, her tears had impaired her vision to the point where she couldn’t see the damage Discord had done.
“Don’t get like that,” Discord said, “Look.”
Twilight ignored him and continued to cry. Now it was Celestia’s turn.
“Twilight! Look”
This calmed her down. She stood, and stared at what had grown where the fields had met.
It was a tree. It was larger than the Tree of Harmony, that was for sure. Each leaf had one of two different designs: Either a rainbow or completely gray. The different leaves were evenly scattered among the Tree, and Twilight realized, both the Elements of Harmony and Disharmony were part of the Tree.
“Mind explaining what’s going on?” Twilight asked.
“Certainly,” said Discord.
“The world is all about balance,” Discord started, “For example, when Nightmare Moon was banished, Celestia took the role of Luna, rather than eliminating that part of the job. Think of it this way, if nobody had anguish or sorrow, how would we know what happiness feels like?” Twilight nodded. “Right now, we are in the Chaos Zone, my home.” This is where the chaos that rules over Equestria is born: Every disease, death, famine, you name it. Alicorns originated in the Peace Zone, Similar to this, but rainbows everywhere… ugh… it makes me sick just thinking about it. Anyway, that’s where love, peace, yadda yadda yadda, you get it. Each Zone provides half of the world. Without one, the entire world would crumble. That spell of yours, it doesn’t create peace. It eliminates chaos. The spell would have destroyed the world had it succeeded. Also, I’m kinda the God of Chaos. That spell would have eliminated me from existence. I had to do everything in my power to stop you.”
Twilight shook her head. How could she have been so naïve? “What about the tree?”
“That tree is the Tree of Balance. It was created when the peace was matched by chaos, and they were united. Another identical Tree of Balance appeared in the Peace Zone. But here’s the kicker. By proving that your peace is equal to my chaos, you have verified your role. You are the goddess of peace, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight blinked, then again. Had she heard him right? “A… a GODDESS?”
Discord nodded. “Y’know, I can’t say I’m fond of this, seriousness has never been my favorite thing. But it’s true. Hey, what’re ya gonna do?” Discord chuckled and snapped his fingers. The white pony figures returned to their former selves. “Well, I must bid you farewell, the world isn’t going to instigate itself.” Twilight smiled. She and her friends approached the portal back to the Everfree Forest.
“Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, “I need a word.”
“You girls go on ahead,” Twilight called to her friends, “I’ll catch up. Now, what it is, Celestia?”
“I’m sorry. I should have seen this coming from the start. I didn’t think the consequences through.”
“It’s alright, really.”
“I hope you know what this all means. Before, you took the initiative to help others. Now, it is your job. Your destiny.”
“I don’t think I mind,” Twilight said, “After all, it seemed like my job before.”
Twilight reentered the Everfree Forest, and saw the world as she knew it. There were imperfections everywhere, but that kept the world the way it was. Though it seems like the greatest thing the world could see, world peace isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Twilight looked up at the moon, and saw a serpentine silhouette fly across it. Discord was out there bringing chaos to the world.
And she wouldn’t have it any other way.