//------------------------------//
// A Fair Trade 
// Story: Fear Me, for My Name is Twaith! 
// by Michael Hudson 
//------------------------------//

	It had been a very bad day for Sunset. When she had first awoken, she had found out that her normal courier that brought her assignments to Ponyville had been held up, so she now had fifteen different royal letters to read through that she still hadn't. That was because Applejack had soon asked her to help on the farm, as her brother had hurt himself, and after earlier in the year, she wasn’t going to be stubborn about seeking help again. She had even been willing to let Twilight try to help, which had been her only piece of good news all day.

Ever since she had gotten to the farm, the afternoon had quickly spiraled out of control. From cotton candy clouds, to chocolate rain, to a spirit of chaos roaming loose, some ponies would probably have wanted to murder something. Sunset knew though that as long as she made it to the middle of the maze, she would be fine, and work could continue as scheduled.

"You're looking quite fine today, Sunset. Do something new with your mane?"

She spun her head around to try to spot the spirit, but quickly found herself spinning further then she meant to because of the prankster on top of her. She let out a low growl and glared at Discord as he hovered above her. "What do you want? I'm trying to finish this game of yours."

Discord raised an eyebrow while tapping his chin. "Now, why would you want to do that?"

Sunset's scowl only deepened at the stupid question. "So things can go back to normal you idiot!"

Discord nodded to himself, before slithering towards the mare, until the two's faces were only centimeters from each other. "Wouldn't you rather have both though? The prize, and the elements?"

Sunset stepped back from the sudden approach, before slamming the hoof back forward, and crushing Discord's paw. "What prize? I thought the elements were the prize."

He pouted for a moment, before detaching the paw and flailing the stump at her. "You know such an action would be taken as rude normally, right?"

Sunset came even closer, now trying to step on him. "I. Don't. Care. Now, tell me what prize you're talking about, because you didn't mention any in the rules."

Discord put his hands up. "Guilty as charged, though, this prize is only available for you. I mean, would you want me to offer to anyone else the ability to say they brought Twilight back to life?”

Sunset stepped back, her eyes widening in shock. “Wh-what are you saying?”

His grin widened, showing off a long, curved fang. “Your prize is Twilight’s life, and all you have to do, is lose the game.” Her horn popped into existence between them. “If you take it, it will be loaded with the spell to bring her back, and you lose the game. I’ll even throw in letting the elements stay where they are and the location if you swallow your pride.”

Sunset blinked for a few times, her heart hammering in her chest. She knew that a trickster like him had to have an ace up their sleeve. Some final twist that would make her regret the most joyous moment of her life. She immediately tried to shake the thought away, turning away from the chaotic being, but it stayed. It stayed, and she knew the temptation would only grow stronger with time. “I need to get going. Besides, I don’t need you. Celestia and I are already working on a cure.”

Discord coiled around her, stopping the fiery unicorn in her tracks.. "You don't? You're trying to beat death itself, something nopony has ever done, not even Starswirl the Bearded, and you think you'll be able to? How many trials will there have to be before she is back? And what if you turn her into something worse, like a succubus? Do you want to risk that?"

Sunset's breaths had becoming shallower with each sentence. Even though he had almost fully entombed her within his coils, she said nothing. She was too preoccupied. "No funny business?"

"One living Twilight, and the location of your elements, just so you lose here."

Sunset was silent for another few moments before gently nod. She felt her horn come back to her head, and immediately started charging it. She doubted the spell that was about to be used would need any less than her maximum.

Discord smiled at the initiative, liking how the mare knew why she had to lose. He touched her horn, and before she could react, the hedges came down, Twilight came into existence before them, and Sunset fired. A mixture of black and green energy rocketed towards Twilight, before slamming into the purple mare's chest.

Sunset's chest flared in pain at that exact moment, and she winced from the fact that it was getting harder to breathe. Something was quickly making its way within her, a dark force that reached into her mind. Her want to control, to live a good life, and to be someone someday were all brought to the forefront, with the large question of, “How?” repeating itself into infinite within her mind. She felt her legs buckle as the sound grew louder and louder, catching up for several hundred years of corruption, and drowning out her other thoughts with these base desires. Her mind screamed for a way to fix this, to get the voices to stop, but only one solution would present itself. Souls.

Discord leaned down, admiring how, despite all of the darkness and pressure that was on her soul, she hadn't immediately succumbed. He knew how to fix this though. "The elements were never in the maze, but in your library."

Sunset snapped. A bloodcurdling wail filled the air as green magic radiated off of her now ethereal body. Skeletal claws and hooves stuck themselves out of the ground, just before she turned to Discord. "I will rip you apart, and devour your intesti-"

With one snap, the spirit of chaos cut her off, causing the mare to go far away from them. Twilight wobbled on her newly formed legs, before slumping to her side. She had no clue as to what had happened, only that all of the pressure she had felt since she left the catacombs was gone, and that she was extremely tired.

While the ex-wraith got used to being truly alive again, and not simply given tangibility, Applejack walked forward. "What did you do with our friend?"

Discord put his talons to his chest and looked over newly made sunglasses. "What, me? I merely sent her a day away. I don't want to be around for the mess she'll make when she comes back around and turns in to the real monsters that wraiths are."

Twilight put on hoof beneath her, before groaning and raising herself. "N-no, she won't. She is too good for that."

Discord's eyebrow simply leaped off of his face at this point, just as a bemused smile crossed his lips. "Oh, how little you know. Still, it has been fun, and good luck helping your friend... recuperate."

And with that, he flashed out of sight, leaving the six mares there to think about how to save their friend.