"Thank you for coming so quickly Pinkie, we have something important to take care of." Discord was static, unmoving, which was enough by itself to put Pinkie Pie on edge. She'd never seen him like this, and didn't know what could cause such a bad mood.
"What's the problem?" she asked, a note of trepidation in her voice.
"I'll show you," Discord said. "You see this couch?" Pinkie nodded. "Turn it into something, it doesn't matter what." Confused, Pinkie gestured, and the couch transformation into a gelatin mold of itself, which then collapsed under its own weight. "Now stop focusing on it," Discord ordered.
Pinkie relaxed, releasing her control. Nothing happened for a moment, then the gelatin started to grow and rotate under its own power, until it became a full blown cyclone rampaging inside Discord's small abode. He snapped his fingers, and it was a couch again. Pinkie Pie grew more nervous.
"Is there something wrong with me?" she asked, trying to keep the fear out and not quite succeeding.
"No, no," Discord said, only mostly telling the truth. "You're just not used to using chaos magic like this. Here" he pulled out an iridescent gem, one that sparkled in the fading sun. "It's a focus gem. Keep it on you at all times, and it should help." Pinkie stared at it for a moment, considering, then accepted the crystal, slipping it into her mane where it vanished among the curls.
Good, Discord thought, That's the last piece. Only a few days to go, now. His spleen itched, and one of his extra limbs scratched it absently.
"Now, then." He said, drawing Pinkie's attention from where it had drifted to one of the more colorful rugs on the wall. "Today we're going to try to open your Ali-sight. Do you know what that is?" Pinkie shook her head. "Oh, well. I guess I shouldn't expect you to have an in-depth knowledge of all things magical. Ali-sight is, well, magic-sight. With it, you'll be able to see magic." Discord now had Pinkie's full attention, and she was staring at him intently. "The thing is, since you aren't a unicorn, the usual methods for teaching you how to use it won't work. I'll have to show you, and to do that, I need your permission to speak mind-to-mind. Do you trust me enough to do that?" Discord waited while Pinkie thought it over.
She considered everything they'd been through the past few days: she thought about her initial reluctance, the fun they'd had together, their time spent on the date, how Discord went out of his way to keep her in the loop, all of it. "I think so," she finally answered, "but I want to be able to back out if I feel uncomfortable."
"Of course," Discord said, sighing. It was better than he'd expected, but worse than he'd hoped. "This'll feel a bit disorienting, so prepare yourself." He reached out and placed his claw against Pinkie's forehead. He focused, eyes closed, and opened a connection between them.
Can you hear me? he projected at her.
Wow! Pinkie responded. This is so cool! I can see your thoughts, they look like these funny drawings!
You see them? Huh. It must be different for everypony, Discord thought. I'm hearing yours.
Weird, Pinkie replied. So how am I supposed to use this "Ali-sight"?
Like so, Discord squinted and blinked, opening his eyes to the magical threads. Pinkie felt the mental pathway he used, and copied it, opening her own Sight.
"Ooooooooh," she breathed. "Pretty." The magic of Equestria glimmered in front of them, a shimmering ocean of silver threads, some bright and glowing, some dull and dark. They rippled as they moved, like the surf above a windy sea. The threads passed around and through them, each one connecting the pair to the rest of the world. Pinkie turned to look at Discord, and saw his threads were a massive knot, constantly twisting around themselves and frequently pulling fresh cords into the amalgamation, while spitting out old ones. She also saw that part of him was missing, but it was a part that didn't make any sense. "Discord, where's your heart?"
"That's a lesson for another day, Pinkie." Discord said, removing his hand from her forehead. Next time, to be precise, he thought in the now private cavities of his mind. "This is what the world really looks like, the spectacle I see every time I close my eyes. You see this thread here?" He pointed to a thick strand looping around the doorway before vanishing to parts unknown. "That's the anchor cord for this side of the portal. It keeps the connection between the doors. and this one" he indicated another, slimmer cord, one that wove its way all through the walls and ceiling, "I use to adjust the gravity in here." Pinkie nodded, still trying to soak in the view as best she could.
"Now that your Ali-Sight is active, I can show you how a spell works on the most basic level. It's the how and why of the magical arts, and a must-learn for anypony who wants to Understand magic."
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Twilight sneezed into her book, and wiped the snot off with a look of disgust.
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"For the past three days you've been learning to move. Now,"Pinkie watched the magic swirl around his palm, and contort into a knot that vibrated the air, causing a pumping beat started up. "I can teach you to dance."
The castle gardens
Pinkie wiped the sweat from her brow and tried her best not to fall over. When Discord had said he would teach her to dance, he was being literal, and had made her move to the music as she wove her spells. Every incantation had a rhythm to its formation, from the rapid patter of a rain spell, to the low booms of teleportation. It didn't matter that she was using chaos magic instead of the regular variety, they still had a beat, just one that broke itself up at random intervals. When she'd cast before, she'd disregarded those patterns entirely, hence the spell unraveled as soon as she stopped holding it together. While she was nowhere near perfect, she could at least now tie a spell knot without having it explode as soon as she let go.
After she'd gotten a handle on the basic spell weaves, Discord had taken her out to the gardens to practice in the open air and around and with nature. Of course, he'd forgotten to tell her what Ali-sight was like when you could see the sky. Pinkie had become so awestruck she'd stopped responding to everything, even Discord covering her in a mound of pie tins. The air above Canterlot was filled to overflowing with threads of magic, twirling in an unseen tornado over the castle, and twisting into knots so complicated they made Pinkie's head literally spin around in circles. Every living thing in the city, from the smallest bacteria to the strongest unicorn was connected to this web, their lives feeding its power and drawing magic from it in return. She saw multiple rivers of energy splitting off from the thundercloud of power overhead, each one heading towards another city or magical hotspot, including one turbulent stream that pointed straight at the Everfree, and seemed to attract more than its fair share of unruly strands.
Once she had taken in enough of the view to be able to focus on her surroundings, Discord had put her to work weaving spells with life. Each creature had its own unique pulse, and although similar plants and animals had similar sounds, no two were identical. Every spell had to be tailored to target, or it would cause a random effect on the unlucky victim. She'd practiced on lizards, mice, flowers, ferns, and everything else she could find until she could barely see straight.
Discord noted her fatigue, and decided to call it a day. The sun had set quite some time ago (another event that had shocked Pinkie into a stupor, as most of the magic over the city had swarmed over the sun like a horde of ants in order to move it), and even he was feeling the ache.
"Bedtime, Pinkie. We'll pick this up tomorrow," Discord said quietly, teleporting them back to his room and gently guiding her towards the door. She stumbled through it, only barely keeping her balance. Discord decided to do her a favor, and teleported her straight to her room before stretching out in his tub.
He mused that she'd been making an amazing amount of progress for only having been at this for a few days. She must have been a prodigy to have picked up on it so quickly. Discord giggled as he thought of tomorrow's lesson plan, then eased off into slumber.
Pinkie, meanwhile, had managed to stay alert long enough to use the bathroom and brush her teeth, then flopped into bed with a contented sigh. She closed her eyes and opened her Sight, drinking in the beauty of the unseen world as she drifted away, right into Luna's waiting barrel.