//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: Memories of the Forgotten 
// by NonDescript 
//------------------------------//

I was getting nowhere.

Despite the distance I had managed to cover, I was still stuck with what my next course of action should be. In fact, the entire time I had been out here, not once have I found something to work towards. I've got information, I've managed to keep myself alive, and I know I need to get back to Equestria. But beyond that, nothing.

And yet I kept moving forward, in some attempt to feel I was making progress. Walking isn't nothing. Therefore I'm doing something.

I kept thinking about Discord. Something refuses to sit right with me. I must be missing something big, because despite every possible angle I've tried, nothing seems to line up. If only five elements are needed to lock Discord away, then where does the element of magic sit? The element of magic brings all the elements together. It's the thing that binds them all.

Magic is what makes it all complete.

So either the five elements on their own have enough power without Magic to seal Discord away, which means their power has been grossly underestimated... Or, the power used to put Discord away in stone had to come from something, or somepony else.

So if I assume the elements weren't involved, then I'm left with where could that power have come from. Who might have the power or influence to rival the elements? Surely not Celestia... Right? She fell to the Queen of the Changelings power at my brothers wedding. But it's also just as possible she was holding back.

While I wouldn't normally be so quick to distrust Celestia, all things considered, I wouldn't put it past her to hide her true power, for some sort of advantage. Although, that would require Celestia to know that things would turn out right in the end.

Ugh, I had been thinking so long, I didn't realize the sun was setting. So soon? I don't feel as though I've made much progress today. I might just be slowing down from exhaustion.

I went through the intensive task of manually digging out a hole in the desert floor to hole up inside, considering the lack of... well... anything really.

I continued to think things over while I worked.

So then, where else could that power have come from? It can't possibly be Luna. She herself was defeated by the elements of harmony, so there's no way she could be stronger than them. But I'm at a loss for where else that power could come from.

Maybe they just needed enough power to make up for Magic, and that's it? But they would still need to channel the other elements as well.

There is a third possibility, and that possibility is what has me worried. Cause if it's true, then there's a lot more going on than I thought.

I covered part of my exposed body with the dirt, hoping to seal in some more warmth. My coat should keep me warm during the night, but I can't be too safe, especially with how cold this place gets at night.

As I slowly shut down and felt my head growing heavier, my mind continued to race on one single detail.

Could it be true?

Could Discord have come willingly?





"Discord... We need to talk".

I won't lie, as much as a shock it may be, I was worried for Discord. Every passing week, I felt I was getting closer and closer to the end. To a unified theory of chaos magic. And possibly even more of a shock, I felt I was getting closer to Discord. And yet, his mood seemed to get worse and worse over time. At this point, he wasn't even trying to hide it.

"Oh, have you found something interesting that you wish to share with moi? Or did you overnight become smitten by my devilishly good looks". No amount of eyebrow wiggling could convince me that wasn't a half-hearted effort.

Almost.

"Discord, what's wrong?" I said in my most sincere voice. And I wasn't pretending this time.

His usual cocky expression dropped almost imperceptibly. Maybe if it wasn't so obvious that he wasn't putting that much effort into it, maybe I wouldn't have noticed. In an attempt to save face, he shrunk himself down, and leaned one of my forelegs.

"Oh, is young Twily worried about little ol' me? I didn't know you cared! Still, whatever do you mean?". He said with a slightly higher voice due to his size.

"Look, I'm worried about you."

"What's there to be worried abo-"

"I'm not done." He immediately held his tongue. Like, claw wrapped around tongue-y flesh, held his tongue. "Something has been slowly bothering you the more research we get done. Now I might not be thousands of years old, but I'm not stupid. I know you don't care for my research, and I know that you love being you."

"Oh it's true-ue-ue!" He pulled out a mirror, and kissed it, before continuing his fake tears. I can tell he's trying to hide the fact that as I spoke, his posture went more and more rigid.

"So what I meant by 'what's wrong', is why in Celestia's name, are you still here?".

He stared at me blankly. "Excuse me?".

"What would you care about the results of this research! And if anything, you've been just as holed up in this library as me! Your mood has been slowly getting worse, you're not even putting any effort into being, well, YOU! What reason do you have to still be here, if it's only making you feel worse?!" I slow down a bit and catch my breath. "...I don't want to see you feeling down because you feel you need to be here..."

Throughout my monologue, Discord's expression grew more and more neutral. It was weird to see Discord, spirit of chaos, looking restricted and holding back.

"What reason do I have to be here? I don't think you understand, Twilight. I am the spirit of chaos. Where there is chaos, so am I. You may not realize this, but your experiments have resulted in a lot of chaos, concentrated right in this Library. There is chaos here, therefore, so am I."

His face became deadly serious, as he stared right through me. "As for why I might care for your research, frankly my dear, your research might very well leave me dead."

My eyes couldn't have widened more if I tried.





That's it!

I woke up with a start, immediately making my way onto my legs. The sun had yet to rise, but I didn't care. I knew what I had to do. I knew how to get a message out to Discord. It might be risky, but if it works, I might finally have a direction to work in.

"Where there is chaos, so am I."

This might just be my only chance.

I need to create some chaos in the badlands.





The research had continued slowly for about two more weeks. Discord barely talked that entire time. It was eerie, seeing who I considered the loudest, most obnoxious being I had the displeasure of calling a friend, be driven to near silence. Still, he did what I asked of him that was needed for the testing.

Unfortunately, he avoided any of my attempts to get him to open up.

During those 2 weeks, my machines experienced more and more errors and faults. Thankfully, none of the results were wildly incorrect, but the machines themselves would break down on me. By the time I had finished my report, I had known why.

But that still left Discord.

"Uhh, Discord?"

"Yes."

"The report is done."

"Oh, is it? Good for you."

"...You can leave now if you want."

"Well, I guess I'll be taking my leave then."

He goes to snap his fingers, most likely to teleport away. But I stop him.

"Wait!"

He pauses. "Did you not say I could leave?"

"I just want to know one thing."

He looks irritated, but none the less he gestures with his claw to go on.

"...Why did you help me, if you believe that the results will kill you?"

"..."

"...Well?"

"...Cause I was hoping, and I'm still hoping things turn out differently this time".

"...What? What do you mean?"

"I'm hoping that you-"





I focused my magic to my horn. I may not have my research with me, but I'd worked at it enough to remember the spell I'm casting.

This is my only remaining option.





"-Twilight, are you alright? You look awfully pale. I hope this task hasn't been too hard on you."

I looked up to see Celestia, kind as ever, with eyes filled with worry.

"I'm fine Princess. Really, I am. Just a little exhausted."

"You haven't been neglecting your friends, have you? You should know that whatever project I give you, it should not get in the way of your friends."

I thought back to everything Discord had done to help me, especially when he would push me to see my friends. "Oh, there's no need to worry about that. Discord more than helped me get out out of the library a bit. He's been quite a big help with the research."

If she was surprised to hear about Discord, she didn't show it. "Is that so?  Well, I guess I better thank him personally then. He has certainly come along way, hasn't he?"

"Yeah..." I hope she doesn't notice my mood continuing to deflate. The more I sit here, the more I worry for Discord. Nuisance he may be, I don't want him gone. "...Princess?"

"Hmm?" She'd been slowly drinking her tea throughout the exchange. No doubt she's already confident in my results.

"...Can you remind me what this research was for?"

She smiled at the question. "Twilight, surely you haven't forgotten have you? As I mentioned when I gave you this assignment, if we can understand chaos magic, we can potentially rid evil of their power. It's an extra line of defense against our foes."

Then she smirked. "Surely you Twilight, of all ponies would like to remove variables."

And that what my first indication that something was wrong. And maybe if I wasn't so tired, I would of thought to keep my mouth shut.

"Variables, Princess? if I didn't know for certain that no one has seen my report, I'd have guessed you've already read it."





The strain on my magic became clear, pretty quickly. I hadn't been using my magic for anything beyond levitation while out here. I was exhausted, dehydrated and starving. I didn't know if I had the strength to pull of the spell, but I had no other choice. If this fails, I've secured my own death.





Her expression hadn't changed.

"And what would lead you to believe that?"

I hesitated, but went on none the less. "Well, as my report goes on to show, an increase in levels of ambient chaos magic, seems to result in more variables that need to be accounted for. My machines started to show signs of malfunction, but I was able to take into account any errors that arose."

"...Curious. Go on."

"However, the variables disappeared the moment I brought back in harmonious magic. It seemed to only occur when chaos magic was introduced." I myself take a sip of my tea. "So as far as indirect effects, chaos magic seems to result in, not quite unpredictability, but an increase in the number of variables to be accounted for."

"And direct?"

"Direct effects of chaos magic were hard to observe, until we reached a point where ambient chaos magic was actually measurable. At this point, ambient harmonious magic became immeasurable, leading me to believe that more of one kind of magic dilutes the other."

"And what were you able observe then?"

"When I observed the effects of magic directly, it just felt like changes were being made out of the blue, much like Discord's regular antics. Things would be changed in ways they shouldn't be able to be changed. However, based on my observations of indirect effects, I was led to believe that what it's doing is making new variables."

"New variables?"

"Well, for example, the materials that make up a cloud can't be changed. Different quantities, sure. But every cloud is still made up of the same basic elements. It's fixed. A direct effect of chaos magic may result in those elements being interchangeable, or making it variable. Then, that cloud can be made of anything, like cotton candy. And that idea can be scaled up to bigger things, given enough power behind it."

"So your research has led you to believe that chaos magic is creating variables that shouldn't be there?"

"I wouldn't say, shouldn't be there. More so, that as you decrease exposure to chaos magic, the more things become fixed and predictable."

"Doesn't sound all that bad though, does it?"

That stuck out to me as a bit weird. "...Princess, do you know all of this already? You've been asking me to clarify, but so far you seem to already know what I'm saying..."

"Guilty as charged." She smirked at me. Likely, she was expecting me to react, knowing that the answers were already out there. "However, did you manage to create the spells to alter ambient chaos levels? I believe I sent a letter through Spike about that a week ago."

"Yes! Of course! I almost didn't, but when I got your letter, I steered my research away from the theoretical, in order to try and produce a spell."

"And did it work?" she asked. She looked hopeful for an affirmative.

"...Yes. But Princess, I must ask again. What was this all for?"

She grew serious. "It's surprising to see you asking so many questions. Don't worry, the spells you've made are very important to what I have planned."

"But Princess, what do you have planned?"

"As I said, if we can understand chaos magic, we can-"

"-Get rid of evil's power. I get that. But you said you have something planned. Princess, what is it?"

"..."

"...Princess?"

"Twilight. Give me your report." And that was the moment where all kindness from her voice was lost.

...She'd never given me a command like that before. No kind words surrounding it. No motherly like affection beneath her words.

No. That was an order.

"Princess, with all due respect, I can't on good conscience give this to you, without knowing what you plan to use it for."

And that was when she grew angry. "Twilight, are you questioning me? Give me the report. Now."

"Not when it might mean the death of my friend!"

...

...

...That outburst surprised even me.

"...Excuse me?"

"I-If what I understand is correct, if you can control the balance of chaos and harmonious magic, you have control of Discord's life." Strength was filling me at that moment, understanding the kind of power I had on the parchment in front of me. "And Discord or not, no one should be allowed that control over someone."

"Twilight, that report has the power to safeguard Equestria indefinitely. No more uprisings. No more invasions. No ponies coming from nowhere, that threaten the security of this nation. No longer would we be at the mercy of the unpredictable."

And that was when it all came together. Why Discord's mood grew worse. What Discord tried to warn me of. Why my spells are so important to her plans.

"Surely you Twilight, of all ponies would like to remove variables."

Celestia was going to rid the world of chaos magic. She was going to purge even the potential for evil.

And that meant Discord would die.





Even as tears came to my eyes from the strain, I pushed forward. My strength came from knowing why I'm doing this. What it might mean if I fail. Either Celestia finds my research, or she finds the next bearer to the element of magic. In the end, the only way to prevent Celestia is for me to stop her now.

And that means I'm going to need help. I'm going to need help from the only being who can possibly rival Celestia. Without Discord, I have no hope.

Please Discord. Please. I need your help.





"...You're gonna kill Discord. You're gonna kill him." Tears that I didn't know I could spare for Discord, were filling my eyes. I don't care how much he annoyed me, or got on my nerves, Discord is still a friend. And the Celestia in front of me... This was a Celestia I'd never seen before. She was asking for control over Discord!

"But I have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed..."

...She had Discord reformed, so that he could help secure his own death. That's beyond needlessly cruel. It's despicable.

"I can't give you this report!"

Fury. "Twilight, I have been a live for tens of thousands of years. I have killed, and will likely kill again. My threats are not to be taken lightly. You will suffer a fate worse than death, if you don't give me that report now!"

My head was shaking back and forth, trying to deny what I was seeing. Less than a few minutes ago, we were happily having tea to mark the end of my assignment, and now I'm fearing for my life. I couldn't believe it. Everything was happening so fast, that I hadn't processed any of it.

"...N-No. I can't do this, no!" I turned around and ran to the doors of the study, bringing my report with me in my magic, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

Yes. In the next few days I'll find out this has all been a huge misunderstanding.

I'll find out that Celestia was replaced by a changeling.

Or that this is Discord's idea of a clever prank.

Or that this is all one big nightmare.

I throw open the door, and prepare to dash. "Twilight, wait."

There's no regret, guilt or empathy in that voice. It's a stone cold request, that my body instinctively follows, as I turn to look at Celestia.

"I will not stop you Twilight. However, you can avoid a great many things if you stop right now."

My body is still frozen, not responding to my requests to leave immediately.

"If you do choose to leave, then know this." I turn my head, unable to hold her gaze. "Before you even reach Ponyville, you'll find half of it in ruin. The library destroyed. Your friends homes burned to the ground. It will be classified as a terrorist attack, and they will find that it was committed by none other than one Twilight Sparkle.

"They'll find out that your studies in to chaos magic has made you mentally unstable. That you'd been planning an attack on the town for weeks. Your friends will hate you. Your family will disown you. You will be thrown in prison, and be punished to the fullest extent applicable under Equestrian law.

"And then I'll get that report anyway."





If Discord doesn't appear soon from all the chaos magic, this will all be over. My whole body underwent excruciating pain. I was barely still standing, but I needed to continue. I needed more power. I needed to make a beacon out of chaos.

And at that moment, I reached my limit.

Every last drop of magic in my system had been expelled. My legs couldn't hold me anymore, and dread filled my system. I had failed.

As my head hit the ground hard, and my eyes grew heavy, I swore I heard the voice of a certain draconequus.





I ran. Of course I did, there was nothing else I could have done! Everything around me was collapsing, faster than I could process. I was preparing my horn to teleport as close as I could get to Ponyville.

I need to save them from my choice to run.

My body was gone in a white flash, and not a second later, I was standing on the dirt road, just on the outskirts of Ponyville.

I was already too late.