//------------------------------//
// Part 2, Chapter 13 
// Story: The Discordian's Daughter 
// by Pumpkin Patch 
//------------------------------//

	Willow felt a slight spark on the top of her head, as if somepony had just gingerly patted her. However, when she turned around to see who it was no one was there. 
Chalking it up to a phantom sensation, Willow got back to work and placed her new potted cactus on her dresser. At first she put at the edge of the right hand side of one of her room’s only two pieces of furniture. It was a small room and very plain as well. The walls were a bland white and those two lonely objects, her bed and her dresser, were both dull, unpainted constructions of wood. If it weren’t for her wide collection of potted plants and hanging leaf decorations, Willow’s bedroom may possibly have been the least interesting room in the world.
Perhaps that was why she took placing this new decoration so seriously. She tilted her head back and forth, unsure if this was the perfect angle. The hair that kept sliding in front of her eyes as her head tilted wasn’t helping much. Still, she ultimately decided to move it to the other edge of her dresser.
That’s when the slip-up happened. When she pushed the pot over to the opposing side, she pressed just a tad too hard. The pot crashed open on the floor spreading dirt and cactus needles all over it. 
Willow started a bit at its landing, but other than that had no reaction. This was hardly the first time she had dropped a plant. She was used to cleaning up dirt, even in — or perhaps especially in — her own room. Still, this time there was the added issue of the cactus needles, made worse by the fact that part of her long hair had been dragging on the floor and several of these needles had found their way into it. They didn’t hurt, of course. It was only her hair, but Willow rolled her eyes at the prospect of having to carefully pull out each and every one. 
Reluctantly, she leaned over, clenched one of the needles with her teeth, and pulled it out. She spat out the needle into the nearest corner, then leaned down to pick out another one…
Then, out of nowhere, she heard a voice clearing its throat.
Willow jumped, that jump made her trip, which made her fall on her own hair, which embedded several needles into her leg. After springing up and yelping in pain for a few seconds, Willow opened her eyes and saw the source of the unexpected voice. 
“I beg your pardon. Could you tell me if you just saw a Draconequus pass by?” said Discord. He was staring at Willow from outside a solitary window next her dresser, a window she was pretty sure wasn’t there before. 
“Oh, uh, hey there, uh, master...I guess?” Willow greeted him nervously. 
“Oh, the whole ‘master’ thing is unnecessary. It sounds far too orderly for my taste. ‘Discord’ will do just fine.”
“I dig,” said Willow.
“It looks like you do,” said Discord as he looked at the dirt and needles on the floor. 
“Oh that?” asked Willow rhetorically. “Nah, just had a little trip up, that’s all.”
“Well, we can fix that,” Discord assured her. 
Suddenly, the needles popped out of Willow’s hair and body, returning to their original places on the cactus. The dirt receded into the pot. Finally, the pot itself reassembled, and then floated back to its intended place on the dresser. Willow watched in amazement. It was like time had reversed before her eyes.
“Far out!” exclaimed Willow. “Thanks, dude.”
“Oh don’t mention it,” said Discord kindly, perhaps overly so. He then reached over and patted Willow on the head, a pat that gave Willow a strange sense of deja vu. “It’s the least I can do for the oh-so-carefree daughter of the Doctor.”
Discord stared at her for an uncomfortably long amount of time. After seeing that Willow’s eyes began shifting and her teeth were bared in a sheepish grin, he spoke up again, “Er, so tell me. How are you...feeling right now?”
This did nothing to ease Willow’s nervous composure. “Uh, just groovy I guess..?”
Discord looked disappointed. “Well then,” he said sharply, “Have a good day!” 
As quick as he said that, Discord disappeared in a small, unceremonious puff of smoke and, a second or two after him, so did the window. 
Willow continued to stare blankly into the empty part of the wall where a view of the outside world was not a moment ago with a raised eyebrow. All she could say was “Huh…”


Then there was another sensation that Willow felt, this time on her chest. It felt like somepony’s hoof. It poked at her gently. 
“Willow...Willow, wake up,” she heard a familiar voice say. 
        It was only now that she realized that she couldn’t see anything but blackness. It took a few seconds more before she further realized that her eyes were closed. 
        When she opened them up, she found herself lying on her back and staring at a tiled ceiling. Off to the corners of her eyes, she could see portions of medical charts and diagrams that lined the walls of this small room. She was in a hospital again. 
        This time, however, there were more ponies surrounding her, more than she thought a room this size could hold in fact. On the right side of the bed she was lying in was Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. To her right was Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. Finally, at the foot of the bed, stood the two Princesses, Celestia and Luna. 
        Most of the facial expressions in the room showed unease or even outright fear. Twilight and Celestia were the only ones who seemed relieved by Willow’s awakening. 
        It took Willow a few moments to compute what must have happened that put her in this position, but once it synced in, she panicked. “Oh...oh no. It-it happened, didn’t it? I-I’m so sorry! I thought for sure it wasn’t going to—”
        Twilight placed a familiar-feeling hoof on Willow’s chest. “Relax. You’re okay. It’s over now.”
        “Wha? Whattaya mean?” Willow asked, still very much terrified. 
        “Despise is gone, Willow,” Luna explained, “My sister and I no longer sense her presence within you.”
        Princess Celestia nodded in confirmation.
        Willow’s fears washed away as a tidal wave of relief rushed over her. She trembled with the emotional change. “That...that is...so...far out!” she shouted as she pounded the bed with her hooves.
        “Take an easy there, darlin’,” said Applejack as reached out to push her back down against the pillow. “You’re head’s been through a lot since yesterday.”
        Willow exhaled slowly. “I’ve been out a full day?”
        “Just about, dearie,” said Rarity. 
        “After the...incident we put you under a sleeping spell, just in case,” explained Princess Celestia. 
        “We brought you here so the doctors could ensure that our, er, cure had no side effects,” added Princess Luna.
        “Yeah,” chuckled Willow, “Just like my old man, ‘no side effects’, he said.”
        There was timid, nervous laughter among the some of the ponies in the room before Rainbow Dash blurted out “Hey, I thought you couldn’t remember anything.”
        The moment her observant Pegasus friend had said it, Willow’s eyes widened. “I...I guess I can now!” she said to her own amazement. 
        “Her memory’s back! Her memory’s back!” chanted Pinkie Pie as she jumped up and down.
        Willow grabbed her head again. “Ugh. Well, sort of.”
        “What do you mean ‘sort of’?” asked Rainbow Dash suspiciously. 
        “It’s like, I can remember stuff now, but it’s...it’s all weird,” Willow tried to explain. “I can remember what happened, but not, like, how I felt or anything. It’s like watchin’ a show or somethin’.”
        There was a short pause as Willow held her head in silence. Then her head suddenly jerked up and her eyes were wide open “Holy mushrooms! I-I remember past the green haze!” she exclaimed. She looked at the two Princesses at the foot of her bed. “I remember attacking you!” She then turned to the ponies on her right hand side “and you!” Then she flipped her head to look at the other side “and you too!”. Finally, Willow moved her head slightly and her eyes met directly with Twilight’s and she said with trembling lips “...and you.” Willow burst into tears and lunged at Twilight, embracing her. “I’m so sorry, mare!” she sobbed. 
        Twilight returned her hug. “It’s alright. It wasn’t you…”
        The rest of the room was silent. Many ponies bowed their heads. Luna bowed the lowest. The silence, punctuated only by Willow’s sniffling, continued for several minutes. Once Willow had finally calmed down and let go of Twilight, she noticed that Luna’s face was more sombre than anypony else. 
        “Do-do you know somethin’ you’re not sayin’, Spooky mare?” Willow inquired. 
        Luna paused briefly before explaining, “Willow, your memories were completely erased while you were in your father’s preservation chamber. However, remember when I was in your dreams?”
Willow nodded.
 You told me that you did not recognize the locations you dreamt of,” Luna continued, “But, as I told you then, almost all of the dreams that ponies dream are made up of their memories. Very rarely do dreams conjure up completely imaginary places. It puzzled me at first, but I soon realized that the house you were in, the village street, and that wide open prairie, were all made from real memories, just not your memories.”
Willow’s eyes widened, “You mean...they were Despise’s?”
“That is correct, Willow” confirmed Luna.
Willow slid back in her bed. Everypony’s eyes were on her. “Far out…” is all she could say in her amazement.
“Despise remembered everything,” Luna further explained, “both when she was in control of you and when she was not. Right before we finally defeated her, I locked her memories in place so they would be preserved.”
“Is that what that last burst of magic was about, Princess Luna?” asked Twilight.
Luna nodded at her, then her eyes returned to Willow “I know it’s not as...pleasant as having your own memories back, but at least now you can recall more of what has transpired in your life.”
Willow blew another long, slow exhale. “I sure can. Whoah…” Then, she suddenly sat up in the bed again, “Hey. Wait up. I can remember things from, like, way back there. Like, a long time before Daddy made Despise.” How’s that work?” 
Willow thought she could faintly hear Spike mutter “Here comes surprise number two...”
“It is simple,” said Princess Luna. “Your father didn’t create Despise.”
“Wha?” said Willow with her mouth gaping. 
Pinkie Pie also joined her, screaming “What!?”
Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all dropped their jaws as well. Twilight, Spike, Celestia and of course Luna herself looked far less surprised. 
“It was actually Discord himself,” explained Twilight.
“How do ya figure that, Smarty mare?” asked Willow, still trying to process this revelation.
“Willow, are you able to tell the order of your, er, Despise’s memories?”
“Uh, I think so,” said Willow, “can’t really say I’m sure of anything now.”
“What is the first even you can recall?” asked Luna.
Willow thought for a moment, then answered “I think it was the dream ahead right before Smarty mare woke me up just now.” She went on to explain her vision of Discord appearing to her in her bedroom through the window he created, down to the detail of him patting her and the head then abruptly leaving.
“Bingo!” said Spike.
“Wait, I don’t get it,” said Applejack. 
Twilight turned to her fellow ponies in the room. “Do all of you remember when we faced Discord and he turned us into opposites of ourselves?”
Everypony looked down at the floor.
“Um, yes,” Fluttershy muttered bashfully. 
“Unfortunately,” said Rarity.
“Oh yeah!” said Pinkie Pie excitedly. “The creepy flippy flop!”
“Well, it’s a spell of his called antithesis, but yes, that’s correct.” said Princess Celestia. “You six were far from the first ponies Discord played that trick on. In fact, during his reign, it was one of his more common ‘jokes’. It works by creating a second, mirror-opposite spirit within the pony’s body, which then takes it over. The pony’s true spirit is then locked away deep inside the pony’s own mind until the spell is reversed.”
“However,” said Luna continuing Celestia’s thought, “the spell is very unreliable and sometimes when he attempted to use it, it failed. This frustrated him to no end and to my knowledge he was never able figure out why. Your situation I think gives us a clue, though. Evidently Discord was able to create a mirror copy of your spirit, but that spirit was too weak to overtake your true self. Thus, it simply laid dormant in the back of your mind and stayed there for several years. However, when your father injected you with his formula, the concoction attached itself to this spirit instead of your true one. Thus, Despise emerged.”
Willow briefly stared at Luna and Celestia blankly until she was able to process all of this. Then, she chuckled. “No wonder Daddy couldn’t figure out what was up.”
“Exactly,” said Twilight. “He did everything right. He just picked the wrong pony.”
“No kiddin’” agreed Willow, “especially after all that time he spent gettin’ me into help him out.”
“So now that your memories are back are you still gonna try to help him out?” asked Rainbow Dash pointedly. 
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight scolded.
“It’s cool, Smarty mare,” Willow assured Twilight. She then looked directly at Rainbow Dash with her large yellow eyes. “The answer is ‘no way, José’. 
A few ponies in the room smiled at this response, but Rainbow Dash’s eyebrow was still raised. “How come?”
“I’m done hurtin’ ponies, Awesome mare,” Willow said flatly. “Now that I can see what was happenin’ when Despise took over…”, she paused and closed her eyes, then shook her head, “I don’t want anythin’ to do with fightin’ again. Can’t believe Daddy duped me into it in the first place.”
“Don’t suppose the fact that his master put a mean spirit in you and ruined yer life helps much either,” Applejack added.
“It sure don’t,” agreed Willow. 
“Discord never treated the Discordians any different from any other pony under his rule,” said Princess Luna. “The fact that they worshiped him only made them easier targets.”
“Lookin’ back — now that I actually can look back — that makes a whole lotta sense,” Willow concluded. Then, she smiled, “It was still good times, though. My people were all real cool and mellow. Lots of parties, campfires, singin’, and baskin’ in Mother Nature. Not like the stiffs from the big towns back then. You could talk like how you want, dress like how you want, and it was all groovy. Even Daddy wore colored shades and tie dye shirts.”
Twilight Sparkled laughed, “Really? Professor Voidsdale used to dress like that!?” 
“Yup,” chuckled Willow, “At least he did before Discord got stoned.” Her smile faded after saying that. “Daddy changed a lot after that. Got real paranoid, ya know? Started dressin’ like all the stiffs, talkin’ like ‘em too. He was always worried that you Princesses were going to find out what he used to be and throw ‘im in the can. He kept tryin’ to make me like everypony else too, like I would blow his cover or somethin’. I kept sayin’ ‘no’ n’ I never saw nopony bat an eye.”
        The room fell silent again after this, though this time with far less tension. Willow could see everypony’s muscles loosening. To her, it felt like a simple gathering of friends now. 
        “So,” Willow said breaking the silence, “What happens now?”
        Unexpectedly, everypony’s heads turned to Fluttershy. She flinched a little when she noticed this, but then spoke up as if she had received her lines. “Um, Graceful’s Greenery was wondering if you would like to work for them.”
        “Really!?” said Willow excitedly. 
        “Yes,” said Princess Celestia, “It appears they were very impressed by the work you and Fluttershy did on the parade float.”
         “I can’t do it because I have to look after my critters,” said Fluttershy, “But, um, I told them you may be able to help.”
        Willow’s tiny smile reappeared, “Sure thing. Anytime, anywhere.”
        Princess Celestia returned her smile, “That’s good to hear. Speaking of which, there is another thing we have to discuss once everypony else leaves.”
        “Uh...sure,” said Willow, unsure how to feel about speaking with the Princess one-on-one again.
        The group carried on for a quite a while, talking about everything from the parade to everypony’s future plans. Gradually, each pony said their goodbyes and left the room until only Princess Celestia was left. The atmosphere returned to feeling tense and uncertain. 
        “So...what’s up?” asked Willow timidly.
        The Princess’s tone was very serious. “Willow, I have to address the matter of your escape from the Greenhouse.”
        Willows heart immediately sank. 
        “Now, I understand that you were desperate,” the Princess assured her, “but you lied to Canterlot officials, forged my seal on a document, and disobeyed my authority. As of result, Despise caused untold amounts of damage to Canterlot and injuries, some of them severe, to its citizens, including my own person.” She stared Willow directly in the eyes. “Do you understand the position this puts me in, Willow?”
        Willow bowed her head in silence with her eyes closed. Eventually she made a very small nod and prepared herself for her next prison sentence. 
        “Very well,” said the Princess. “Now, with your situation I feel that confinement is no longer a suitable punishment —”
        As soon as she said this, Willow pulled her head back up.
        “So I have decided that, when you are not working at Graceful’s Greenery, you will be serving Canterlot by assisting in the city’s repair.”
        “So...no more holdin’ cells?” asked Willow as she sat up in her bed.
        “None,” said Princess Celestia, smiling. “How do you feel about that?”
        Willow began to scream “Far ou—”, but stopped herself. “Wait,” she said cautiously, “Does that mean, like, construction ‘n stuff?”
        “It does indeed,” said Princess Celestia. 
        Willow shook her head, “I dunno, mare,” Don’t do much heavy liftin’, ya know?”
        “Oh you don’t?” said Celestia. There was a hint of slyness in her voice. “Let me ask you, do you feel strong enough to get out of that bed?”
        Willow raised an eyebrow, but replied, “Uh, sure.” She then obeyed the Princess’ implied command and hopped out of the hospital bed to the left hand side. The ends of her hair spread out over the floor like an oversized dress. 
        “Now,” said the Princess, “Pick up the bed.”
        No sooner had Willow turned to Celestia to say “What?” that she felt her hair move on its own. The ends that were on the floor stretched out, shooting underneath the bed. The strands grabbed the bed from below and lifted it clear off the ground, holding it steady several hooves into the air. 
        And Willow’s jaw nearly dropped several hooves in the opposite direction. She stood there, gaping and wide-eyed as the rest of her hair rose up and danced around her head as it had once done for her alter ego.
        “It’s...it’s…,” Willow stammered. 
        “It’s just as I suspected,” said Princess Celestia. “By saving Despise’s memories, Luna left just enough of her in you that you can now use her power.”
        “Now,” said Willow as she placed the bed down, “this,” she said as she used her newfound hair ability to lift herself into the air, “is,” she continued as she waltzed around the room on hairy legs that did not end in hooves, “far out!” she cried as she loosened two hair locks on Celestia which dragged the Princess over to her where she embraced her in a hug with her own legs. 
        “Thank you, mare,” said the now empowered pony sincerely. 
        Princess Celestia laughed “Well, I had little to do with it.” She then disconnected their embrace, but still kept smiling in Willow’s direction. “What’s say we get you out of this hospital?”
        Willow put herself down on her own hooves and followed Celestia out of the room and down the hallway. Not wanting to accidentally damage anything with her new, livelier hair, she tried to make it settle down to its usual self, minus the tripping her up every other step. This proved difficult, however. The hair had a tendency to float around by itself and, while it didn’t hit anything as she and the Princess made their way to the front of the hospital, it definitely caused some unwanted stares from several members of the staff. 
        At long last, the Princess checked Willow out at the front desk and they exited the hospital together. It was now nearly sundown and Willow was greeted by a beautifully-colored sky as the fresh breeze wrapped around her. 
        Oddly enough though, it was Celestia that breathed the first sigh of relief. “This hospital was swarming with press when we brought you in,” she explained to the discharged patient next to her. Then she laughed, “I suppose my sister scared them off like she always does.”
        Willow laughed, but then asked a serious question. “So, where’m I goin’ from here?”
        “I have arranged for you to stay at a hotel near Graceful’s Greenery while you pay your debt to society. Come. I will escort you there.” 
Princess Celestia then stepped forward and, unexpectedly, spread her wings. She turned back to look at Willow, “If you can keep up, that is.”
Willow smiled. Her hair spread out in all directions. The Princess took to the sky and veered to the right to follow the nearby street. Willow’s hair stretched out and grabbed the nearest lamp post. It pulled Willow towards it. Then it grabbed the next nearest post and yanked Willow towards that. It repeated this with every lamp post down the street as she followed after Princess Celestia to her new living space, and to her new life.