//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Memories of the Forgotten // by NonDescript //------------------------------// Twilight's Exile Journal - Entry #4 'You mean the statue?'. That is what he had said. It only really hit me now as I started to write this, the implications of that statement. Discord, the reformed Spirit of Chaos himself, a being I'd hesitate to call a friend, but a friend none the less, is once again a statue. What is even going on anymore? Why is Discord a statue again? Has everypony been forced to forget about him too? I was too wrapped in my own worries to even notice till now... Oh my gosh... I'm completely forgotten, aren't I? No one knows who I am anymore, and anyone who would, wants me gone, or is encased in stone. Celestia wasn't kidding when she said it'd be as though I never existed. If only I knew the extent of which she meant when it truly mattered. That being said, it does give me some hope that I might be able to reach Discord, if I can find a way to pull him out of his stone statue. We didn't necessarily leave on the best of terms, but he might be all that I have at this point. Oh what a thought. Me and Discord versus the world. That seems totally ridiculous. The important thing for me now, is to use what I have gained from my encounter, to find a more permanent place to hide out, and sustain myself. Only then can I figure out a way to get out of this mess. But right now, I still can't help but have questions. Why did Celestia choose to exile me? Surely she could have erased my memory along with everyone else in Equestria. Instead she decided to get rid of me first, and lose one of Equestria's protectors. Why did she do that? What good does that serve her? What could she possibly gain? Also, what good does locking Discord up again, do? Surely, if he is released again, or if he escapes, then her whole ruse would fall apart. Discord could return everyone's memories, or tell the story that I could otherwise never could. As long as he has his full power, surely nothing could stop Discord. Except the elements of harmony. Which only raises more questions, than it gives answers. And I'm not sure I like some of the answers it gives either. But even those aren't my biggest questions at this point. My biggest questions are simple. Why didn't Discord stop everypony? And what did he mean when we last spoke...? "No." I stated firmly. "This may be your only option, Twilight." "Nope. Not gonna do it." "And what do you propose you do instead? Listen, playing around with chaos magic yourself may be risky, but Discord is the Spirit of Chaos! The only danger is Discord himself!" "Because that's supposed to make me feel better, Spike." "Still better than things possibly blowing up in your face, more than they already do!" Ouch. That hurt. "Look Twilight, we've checked every book at the Canterlot Archives, and ever since we got back here, you've done nothing but obsess over this, with no conclusive results, whatsoever! You're achieving nothing, while neglecting all of your friends!" Spike, bless his soul, really does not understand how much I would like to avoid Discord, at all costs. Of course, his idea has good reasoning behind it, which makes it even harder to blame him. "I know Spike. Of course you're right". I held my head low, dejected. I shiver a bit at the thought of studying chaos magic with Discord's help. "Believe me, I'm seriously considering it, but I would rather do anything else, than get help from him." "Why of course! There's nothing else I would rather do than get help from you!" I said, with as much enthusiasm as I could both muster, and/or pretend to have. Discord obviously didn't look particularly convinced, but there was no way he was turning down an opportunity to mess with me. It just so happened that's exactly what I needed him to do. Just, you know, under proper testing conditions. Then again, chaos is chaos, no matter where it happens. Plus, I could also see the gears turning in his head. He was having ideas. "Splendid!" he suddenly exclaimed, as he wrapped his body around mine, restricting me from any movement. "Why, you must have jumped at the opportunity to have the Spirit of Chaos himself aiding your studies. Obviously you wouldn't want to avoid a friend who could be of assistance. That would just be incredibly rude." Way to make me feel more uncomfortable about this, than I already was. He teleported away from me (thankfully), and proceeded to float around me on his back, with a satisfied expression. "Why, this must be that assignment from Celestia you've been busy with. The one that has been occupying you for a while." Before I could respond, he appeared behind me in a flash. "You know, your friends have been worrying about you, being holed up in that tree so long." "And how would you know that?", I calmly put, as I turned to face him with the most disapproving face I could. His face seemed to lose all humor at that moment. "Because unlike some lavender unicorn I know, I've actually been trying to make an effort to be around my friends". That one cut deep. However, his amused expression came back soon enough. "So, when shall we begin?" "Really." "What? You didn't say how many you wanted to appear." "Just how do you fit that many bunnies into thaum-meter?" "Well-". "Give me an answer and I'll find a way to stick you in there too." "I'd like to see you try, m'dear." "So, you going to say your sorry?" "Yes, I'm sorry I angered the purple unicorn who enjoys stuffing innocent beings into things". "I think you can handle a few more minutes in there". An Extract from the Research Journal of Twilight Sparkle On the Subject of Chaos Magic Recovered and Restored by Discord, Spirit of Chaos As much as Discord has been incredibly helpful (much to my great surprise), he still seems to enjoy using most of the time trying to make things as difficult for me as possible. Granted, at times I've been doing the same to him, with little success. However, neither of those things are relevant to my findings. Despite Discord's almost never-ending supply of chaos magic, I haven't at any point been able to properly sustain a suitable sample. The chaos magic that's embedded into his spells seems to dissipate quicker than I am able to isolate it, no matter how big or chaotic Discord goes. I think he knows something, but he isn't telling me. I think he finds my lack of results to be greatly amusing. Amusing enough to not really give me a direction to go. The only empirical data I have been able to obtain, is as I conduct more and more attempts at isolating chaos, the ambient harmonious magic seems to be decreasing, or at the very least, is being diluted. If it's being diluted with chaos magic, it's still not significant enough to be able to separate or distinguish the two. My equipment also seems to be undergoing failures or miscalculations at times. They're becoming erratic. Unpredictable. I don't think I can attribute it to ambient chaos, but maybe to the decreasing harmonious magic. Although why decreased harmonious magic would result in my machines breaking is confusing at best, and totally illogical at worst. I'm also conducting fewer tests as time goes on, as both Spike and Discord try and get me out of my lab, and talking to my friends again. I'm sure my friends appreciate it, but I believe they might just see it as me fulfilling an obligation between my work. At some point I'll have to make it up to all of them, but maybe, if Discord and I raise the ambient chaos levels enough, maybe I can observe it's effects more closer, and fast track my research, to a point where I can take a proper break from my research. It's hard to tell how Discord feels about everything. At a glance, he seems no different from usual. Annoying, touchy and, maybe occasionally, funny. But the more research we do, the less at that there seem to be. He seems to be doing all of those things out of obligation, rather than cause he wants to. Why would he feel obligated to mess with me? I don't know. What I do know, is as we do more, he starts to appear more and more worried when he doesn't think I'm looking. Maybe there's another reason he's not telling me anything. Regardless, I'll complete a proper report on what I have so far, tomorrow. Right now, I've got more experiments to do, and Discord is getting restless. Which is pretty much always, but no reason to keep him waiting more than necessary. Hopefully, I can maybe return to this journal with better news soon. Twilight's Exile Journal - Entry #5 I've had a bit of time to think over everything now, as I've spent the last two days, just walking. Thankfully, I'm no longer trying to curl up into a ball, as I try to deny reality. Either I'm starting to accept reality, or I'm getting better at ignoring everything. Right now, I attribute it to a little of both. But my primary concern at this point has little to do with my mental state, surprisingly enough. No, all I want to know, is how can I reach Discord. Discord holds all the answers right now. There are still things he hasn't told me, and I fear they may be related to what stuck me out here in the first place. All I can hope for, is that Celestia didn't get to him too. Do I even still have friends at this point? They've all forgotten about me, willingly or otherwise, and they all but abandoned me when I needed them. Heh, wouldn't have been the first time... No. They are your friends, and they always have been. Yes, they've abandoned you before, but they've always tried to make things right in the end. Don't you dare think otherwise. I guess I'm not doing as well on the reality front as I thought. My main concern out here hasn't really changed. It's still mostly centered around finding a source of water (that hopefully doesn't require theft this time). The water I took is fairly close to running out, but I should be able to sustain myself for at least a few more days on this water. As far as what might be happening in Equestria, my concern is, what does the results of my research mean going forward? Most of it is hidden, possibly lost forever. That thought both comforts and worries me. It means that she probably hasn't found it, and that it could theoretically be found at a later date. The part that worries me, is who will be the one who finds it in the end? And will end up dooming us all?