//------------------------------// // Chapter 25 - Truth, Lies, and Discord // Story: My Little Equestroid: Stompin' is Magic // by ForeverChasingRainbows //------------------------------// **Twilight Sparkle** "Twilight, before you go..." She had almost made it to the door when Celestia's words dumped a pile of frozen lead into her hooves. Twilight was already tailing behind everypony else on the way out of the room, ears flat and head bowed, and she froze in place. Rarity turned back in the doorway just ahead of her, one hoof on the door and one eyebrow raised questioningly. Twilight took a steadying breath and said, "I... guess I'll see you back at the room." Rarity glanced back out of the door behind her, but held her ground. "It's okay," Twilight said, the attempted cheer in her voice sounding false even to her own ears. "Go on, I'll catch up." Still looking a little uneasy, Rarity stepped back and shut the door. Twilight stared at it for a while. It was a nice door. She wondered how old it was, how many ponies the white wood had seen come and go. It certainly hadn't changed since she'd first seen it all those years ago, the brightly polished sun emblem on the outside marking the entrance to a lofty world she'd never dreamed she would be a part of. And now I'm staring at the door instead of turning around. "Twilight?" Celestia's voice shocked Twilight into motion, and she hurriedly scrambled around. She was so shaken up she was hearing things, that couldn't have been a hint of nervous apprehension in her mentor's voice. "Yes Princess Celestia?" Twilight said, a little too quickly. "Is there something I can, I mean, do you want me to, um..." Sentence construction failure, abort, abort! Twilight managed to stop her runaway mouth and settled for a slightly strained grin. There wasn't really a good ending for the babbling she'd been doing, so she ended up going with "Uh... yes?" To her surprise, Celestia didn't look angry or frustrated. If anything Twilight thought she looked... tired. Something in the set of her shoulders, the way her neck wasn't quite straight. There was even a tightness, and intensity around her eyes that Twilight had previously associated only with rare expressions of guilt or pain. Her sister, however, was not as subtle in her bearing. The dream-spell Luna had wrought had obviously taken its toll on the princess, and she was fast asleep on the bed. Her ethereal mane had fallen down over her face, but it didn't seem to be interfering with the quiet snoring coming from beneath. "I think," Celestia said carefully, "it's about time we had a talk." Twilight's mind rebelled at the thought of having that talk with Princess Celestia of all ponies, before it caught up with itself and decided that the millennia-old alicorn probably wasn't talking about... that. Twilight tried to restrain her flickering and racing thoughts into a region a little closer to sanity. "About what, exactly?" Twilight asked, shuffling her hooves on the white marble floor as she tried to force herself to look at Celestia instead of everything else in the room. "The future," Celestia replied. "Certainly the short term, and likely the long as well." Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. "So, am I... am I in trouble?" Celestia's jaw tightened, and her neck straightened up as her ears twitched back. "No," she said. "No. Twilight, this is my fault, not yours. I tried to introduce all of this to you slowly, to hold back the whole of it, all the while telling myself that I believed in you, that you were ready. Recent events have only served to reveal me for the fool I am. Not only are you truly ready, but my reticence held back the training that you required to adequately defend yourself. And worse, I held back because I was lying to myself, and to you. Because I didn't really think you were ready. But you are." Celestia bowed her head, eyes downcast. "I took it upon myself to guide you, and all I have done is slow you down. Hold you back, and put your very life at risk. I—" Twilight cantered across the space between her and Celestia, tears stinging the corners of her eyes as she gripped her mentor around the neck in a tight hug before she could complete her next sentence. "Stop," Twilight said into Celestia's white fur. "Don't. You don't get to apologise to me for that, for the teaching you gave me. Not ever. Not after everything you did for me." "My first instinct when I found out you were in danger was to drop everything and come rescue you," Celestia said quietly. "Because you weren't capable of protecting yourself, because I didn't really believe. Because I didn't have faith." "What kind of friend would you be if you hadn't wanted to help?" Twilight protested. "And I did need help, if everypony else hadn't been there pulling my flank out of the fire you would have been absolutely right!" "That's not..." Celestia shifted, and Twilight dropped back to her hooves. The elder alicorn stepped back and lay down. Before Celestia could stop her or raise an objection, Twilight forced her way beneath one white-feathered wing at her former teacher's side. It wasn't exactly dignified, but Twilight thought it got her point across regardless. Celestia sat motionless for a while, before seeming to give up on any protest. Her head stayed forward, and her eye didn't glance down toward Twilight, but Celestia didn't push her away either. "You don't quite understand the particular situation that I'm in here, Twilight," she said. "It's not just what I did, it's also important that is was me that did it. Because of mistakes I've made before. Because of who I am." "Who you are?" Twilight echoed, before cursing herself internally. In her time as a filly, repeating a statement as a question never would have gotten past the Princess - she was expected to come up with an actual question of her own, process her curiosity into a directed form that would add something to her knowledge. Celestia hummed briefly, and Twilight knew she'd been caught. "You stole my statement, so I'll have your question," she said. "Who am I?" Twilight effortlessly slipped back into the rhythm of investigation she had been guided through in her youth. Enumerate potential answers, gauge reactions. "Well, start with the obvious," she said, "Celestia." "A long time ago there was a unicorn by that name, yes." Celestia said, her head still focused forward and her voice subdued. "What else?" "A... princess, and an alicorn." Twilight hesitated, then added, "A teacher. And a friend." "Some of those things please me more than others," Celestia said, "but I suppose they are all true. Still, they don't really define me." "The sun?" Twilight had gone down that path before, and she knew that wasn't the answer, but it was the only thing that popped into her head. A small smile touched the edge of Celestia's mouth. "A lot of ponies would think so. But I am not that any more than your friend Pinkie Pie is a party, or than Applejack is an apple farm. My special talent doesn't define who I am. It's just a thing I can do." Twilight's mind jumped on the mention of her friends. Celestia usually dropped hints into their lessons like that, something to point her in the right direction - but there didn't seem to be a connection there. Then Twilight recalled something Celestia had said earlier that night - that in magical terms, Rainbow Dash and the Element of Loyalty were one and the same. If that held true for all of them, then... "Are there more than six Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked, something igniting in her belly as she spoke. This was something new, something that she knew absolutely nothing about, something that she hadn't even caught hints of in all of her reading and research. Celestia almost chuckled at her question, only letting out a sort of amused exhalation. "No. Although, perhaps, in a manner of speaking, yes." Crushing the rising urge to scream 'For pony's sake just tell me already!', Twilight tried to figure out her next question. "So the Elements are something critical, something core to what we are. A concept, a virtue that we represent." Celestia didn't contradict her line of thinking, so Twilight went on. "Not just who we are, but essential in the most literal sense - we're them, they're us. The essence of what we are." Then, something hit her, spurring her excitedly onward. "So is there... wait a second. That's it, isn't it? The physical Elements are catalysts for the six of us, but everypony else has something similar!" Celestia's head turned toward her as Twilight asked, "So... who are you?" "You know," Celestia noted, "you're only the second pony in over a thousand years to ask that question properly." More out of surprise than indignation, Twilight said, "Second?" "Cadance did have a bit of a head start on you, Twilight." "Oh." After a few moments of silence Twilight said, "Are you, uh, going to answer it then? The question, I mean." "And what exactly would you learn if I just went and told you, hmm?" Celestia asked, one eyebrow raised questioningly as a hint of something happier returned to her eye. "Your friends got a helping hoof with theirs from the arcanite gems representing their Elements; Luna and I had to do it the hard way. Almost makes me want to moan about how back in my day we had to actually work for things, and lament the decline of the youth," she said with a wink. "Besides, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about, and I do actually have to get to court soon." That was the part Twilight had always loved and hated in almost equal measure. The answer was right there, and Celestia knew what it was, but she wasn't going to just give it to her. It was both frustrating and energising at the same time, and that rush had spurred Twilight onto many long research sprees in the library. Although, Twilight thought to herself, I didn't have Luna to ask back then. Maybe if I wait until she wakes up tonight, I can ask her about it! Celestia jerked Twilight firmly back down out of her excited state when she said, "We need to talk about dark magic, and a little about the veil between worlds." Twilight tensed up, her fears and paranoia jumping back to the forefront of her mind. Celestia must have sensed it, because Twilight felt the wing wrapped over her withers give a brief comforting squeeze as she began. "I want to tell you a story. It might seem strange at first, but there is a point to it." "Okay." "Picture a hilltop, deep in the countryside. Atop it there stands a great windmill, within which live and work a whole community of ponies." "What, like, inside of it?" Twilight asked. "How big is this mill exactly?" "It's a story, Twilight," Celestia replied, "it's as big as it needs to be. That's not the important part." Twilight gave up on her questions for the moment, and waited for the point to emerge. Ugh, I hate allegories. "The weather outside the mill is always harsh and stormy, and the land lies in perpetual darkness. The gusting winds drive the mill to produce all the food the ponies need, and the sturdy walls of wood and foundations of stone provide them with shelter. The air inside the mill is often heavy with flour dust, but magic provides them with light without the risk of a fire. The mill ponies live simple, happy lives within their home - safe from the harshness of the world beyond its walls. Most of them grow old and pass without ever considering what might lie outside of their hilltop home. A rare few perhaps wonder if there might be other mills out there, through the dark and the rain, but their lights do not reach far from the solitary window." Celestia's voice grew a little strained and distant as she continued, "Then, one day, a young filly goes missing. The ponies search the mill from top to bottom, but she is nowhere to be found. The only conclusion left to them is that she is, somehow, outside. But their magical lights cannot pierce the darkness beyond the walls, and they have no way to find the lost child. Her friends sit at the window, searching the darkness for any sign of their companion - and then one of them discovers something. If, instead of conjuring light from her horn, she produces sparks and flame, the light from them pierces the darkness beyond the window. Perhaps, if she were to make a flame bright enough, her lost friend might be able to find her way home. So, she sits at the window and tries with all her strength to make the fire shine brighter." The bottom dropped out of Twilight's stomach. Oh no... "She doesn't understand when her elders tell her to stop. She knows that fire is dangerous, and she listens as the tribe's leaders warn her about the flammable flour dust in the air and the wooden walls of their home. They even recount ancient tales passed down to them of the other things that live outside in the dark, that might be drawn to her light at the window. But the filly doesn't give in, and the elders know she is determined to do whatever is necessary to help her friend. She won't leave a pony alone and lost in the dark." No, no, no... you can't tell me to just leave her out there! You can't! Twilight screwed her eyes shut and covered her head with her hooves. "What would you do, Twilight," Celestia asked softly, "if you were one of those older ponies?" Twilight knew what the answer was. The correct solution, the right one. But that didn't mean she had to like it. "I—" she hesitated, voice wavering. "I'd have to... I'd have to get her to stop." "Then I suppose this old mare still has one or two things left to teach after all," Celestia replied, a comforting warmth re-entering her voice. "You see, the little filly is clever, and determined, and resourceful. And you've spent her life teaching her what she needs to know, and surrounding her with friends she can rely on. She's grown so far beyond your expectations, and made you proud just to be associated with her. So you pull her away from the window, gather her companions... and you open the door for her." Twilight opened her eyes again and looked up at her mentor. "You let her lead them outside, so they can bring their lost friend back home." Twilight was still a little trapped in the metaphor, and the rush of embarrassed heat flooding her face, but she was pretty sure she was right to be nurturing a little glimmer of hope and joy right now. Celestia responded to her halfway constructed question before it left her mouth. "This is one of those times that being as old as I am, and occupying the position I do, combine to produce something useful," the Princess said. "There are a lot of secrets out there, and I've had a long time to collect them. So when situations like this come up, presenting me with an impossible choice... I can sometimes use one to cheat." Celestia's expression grew severe for a moment. "This stays between us. Your friends will find out tomorrow, and that will be as far as it goes. Nopony speaks of it again. Is that understood?" "Okay," Twilight replied with only a little hesitation. After all, she trusted Celestia to do the right thing, for the right reasons. "When I told you that there were only seven pieces of arcanite in Equestria," Celestia continued, "that was a lie. When I hunted down what remained, most of what I found was indeed fragments and dust - but there was one more intact piece. It sits in a vault beneath Canterlot, its existence known only to its guards." Glancing up at Luna's sleeping form on the bed, Celestia added, "I will use it to open a doorway for you, so you can return both of our misplaced individuals to their homes." "We're going on a rescue mission?" Twilight asked hopefully. "To another world?" "And this time your friends are going with you," Celestia confirmed. "Remember that there will be an enemy pursuing you that is far more deadly than a runaway unicorn who stole your crown. Move fast and stay as far from him as you can, you aren't going there to fight. And if you do encounter him," the elder alicorn said, brow creased with worry, "run. Get Rainbow Dash, and come home safe." Her eyes straying to her sleeping sister once more, Celestia spoke again. "You will be going to a strange and unknown place, Twilight. You have a potential source of information, and a day to prepare. It may be worth getting to know our visitor a little better." Following Celestia's gaze, Twilight asked, "Do you think I could ask Luna about it when she wakes up?" "I do not know if she will answer your questions, Twilight. She is..." Celestia frowned, and the muscles in her jaw tightened. "Luna has been badly injured by all of this. Perhaps worse than even she realises." Twilight watched as Celestia looked around the room, as if checking for any unseen observers, before the princess' horn flashed. A faint golden bubble enclosed the pair lying on the marble floor. "A privacy spell? Why?" Twilight asked, concerned. "I've... never done anything like this before, Twilight," Celestia began slowly, "Never tried talking about these sorts of things with anypony else, but maybe if I had the last time, things wouldn't have gotten so far out of hoof." She hesitated for a moment, then pressed on. "I'm worried about Luna. She'd been recovering and adjusting to life again so well, and now... Now she's in real danger. More so than either of us, with those corrupted arcanite fragments in the hooves of who knows how many ponies. It's almost impossible to bend a mind as old as hers or mine, but there are others close to her who are not as resilient. Even indirectly with a word, an action at the wrong time, somepony close to her could begin something terrible. "I could try to talk to her, to be the overbearing big sister who won't trust her with anything, but I fear that would be the worst possible thing for her to hear right now. I don't have any reason to believe anything untoward has even happened as of yet." Celestia bowed her head. "But, you should be wary in the time remaining before you leave, Twilight. In her current condition, she makes a very attractive target. We must assume whoever took Rainbow Dash is deliberately acting against us, and they may be trying to place an agent close to Luna already." Twilight huddled a little smaller on the floor as she found herself unsure of what to say. "I... don't know if there's anything I can do other than try and be supportive. If her own doubts and guilt are the problem then she needs the rest of us to believe in her." "Which puts us at the most severe risk if something were to happen," Celestia said, her face twisted as if she was being forced to chew something unpleasant. "Some days the crown is heavier than others. It has never been more so than when it tells me to distance myself from my own sister for the greater good." Twilight's ears perked as an idea struck her. "Maybe I can do something. If I'm going to be talking to him anyway, maybe I could try and get Thirty-Thirty to uh, be less... hostile, I guess?" "That would certainly be helpful, Twilight," Celestia said, "but neither of them seemed to view that as a likely event. Maybe someday when all this is behind us." For a short while the two alicorns simply sat beneath the hazy, transparent bubble of golden light. Twilight hoped Celestia was getting some sort of comfort or reassurance from it, even if she wasn't really sure what exactly she should be doing. Eventually Celestia shifted, dismissing the enclosing spell with a wave of her horn. "I really must be going now," she said, and Twilight thought there was something of the princess' usual confidence back beneath her voice. "The nobles will grumble and some poor guard will be sent to find me." Slowly standing to her full height, Celestia turned to face Twilight before inclining her head. "Thank you, Twilight. For listening, and for your kind words." "Hey, what are friends for?" Twilight said as she rose to her hooves. She tried to fight down the nervous rush and flushed cheeks that still always accompanied treating the princess who had been her teacher as an equal. "And thank you. For sharing, and for trying to take the blame for everything. Which I am totally not letting you get away with, by the way." A wry half-smile pulled at Celestia's muzzle as she headed for the door. "Oh, you'd be surprised at what I can get away with when I try," she said airily over her shoulder. Any reply Twilight might have offered was cut short by the opening of the door, and the sound of an entitled member of the esteemed Equestrian nobility in full flow. "—and if you do not stand aside I shall be- Auntie Celestia!" There was no mistaking that voice. Only one stallion Twilight knew from being in and around the palace for so long could whine quite so well. Oh my stars I hope Rarity isn't still nearby, Twilight thought as she cringed, hiding behind the door. Celestia was already lost, but there was no need for Twilight to go down with her. She'll home in on that voice like Spike going after an emerald, and I know for a fact she's been practicing her right hook... "Nephew, what a pleasant surprise," Twilight heard Celestia say on the other side of the door. "What seems to be the trouble?" "Well I was looking for you, of course," the young prince began. Twilight could already hear Celestia manoeuvring Blueblood off down the corridor as he continued his affronted complaint. "I was simply attempting to ask Auntie Luna where you were, but those awful, shabby guards of hers were trying to refuse me entry!" "And why exactly were you looking for me?" Celestia asked, her voice receding steadily into the distance. "The commencement of court was delayed this morning, and I thought something might be wrong," Blueblood said, not a hint of actual concern in his voice. "Do you, perhaps," Celestia enquired, "have something to present in this particular court session, nephew?" "Well," Blueblood went on without a trace of shame or self-awareness as the pair headed out of earshot, "now that you mention it, there was one tiny little thing..." After slowly counting to ten in her head to make sure it was safe, and silently thanking Celestia for allowing her to dodge that particular encounter, Twilight emerged into the corridor. She stepped between the two Noctrals on either side of the doorway and then, without really knowing why, she paused. Something was off, but she wasn't quite sure what. Suddenly the door behind her banged shut, and Twilight made a little startled jump forward before glancing back. One of the guards was eyeing her suspiciously. "Are you all right, ma'am?" the Noctral stallion asked. Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but somepony chose that exact moment to yank on her tail so hard it felt like it was going to come off. For some reason, that action was also accompanied by the clicking of a light switch, and the lights went out. **Twinkle Sprinkles** "Book Horse was having a bit of an identity crisis. Everything had been rather too chaotic over the last few hours, and even the most brown-nosed student of the Great and Powerful Sunbutt was—" "Discord!" "—Purple Smart interrupted. Most rudely and, I might add, rather unprofessionally breaking the fourth wall by addressing the narrator—" "Stop it, that is not funny!" "Oh you are absolutely no fun at all," the draconequus pouted, popping into view in front of Twilight. "What did you do, and where are we?" Twilight asked, gazing around at the insane world in which she found herself. It was as if somepony had just tossed a bunch of random objects and pieces of landscape into empty space, then filled parts of the void with a kaleidoscope of swirling colours and distant stars. If there was any rhyme or reason to the place, she couldn't see it. She currently stood a few paces in front of Discord, on a tiny floating island of rock only just large enough to accommodate them both. The entire world seemed to be slowly rotating around them, but Twilight wasn't sure if that was because the colourful mass was spinning or because the tiny rock on which she stood was. There wasn't any point of reference to judge it by, although she didn't feel like she was moving. "I've brought you somewhere a little more private, so we can have ourselves a chat. This," Discord said, throwing out an arm to encompass the chaos around them, "is the closest thing I have to a home." Instead of demanding to be sent back immediately, Twilight found herself hesitating as curiosity got the better of her. "You... what?" she managed, glancing at the quite literally incredible miniature universe around her with renewed interest. "I want to talk to you," Discord said, leaning forward and tapping Twilight's muzzle with a claw. "Got something to tell you, in fact." "Whatever it is you could have just—" Twilight began. Discord made a swift chopping motion with his paw, eyes narrowing. "No," he growled, "this is only about you. Every time it happens it's always all about you. You can tell them if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it. You need them to trust you and help you if we're going to get through this." And I'm all alone with an angry Discord... Twilight shrank back a little, and started reaching for her magic. "What's about me?" she asked nervously. "Everything!" Discord exclaimed, throwing his mismatched arms up. "You crossed a line today," he continued in a more level tone. "Only a small one, but it was a starting line. The outcome isn't quite guaranteed, but it's never ended well the last..." Discord trailed off, gazing upward and rolling a paw in the air as he tried to recall something. After a moment he settled for finishing with "...however many times it's been." "Is this about what... what happened in that dream," Twilight said, "about what happened to me?" "No. Well, yes, that's a part of it," Discord said, "but you actually started it a little earlier. Not that that's really relevant. What matters is, this time around I'm feeling unusually motivated. You could say I've taken a side, even." In a puff of confetti, Discord produced a pair of pink and yellow pom-poms, and a pink-trimmed yellow sports vest emblazoned with a butterfly. "So I'm going to try something." Twilight grinned uncertainly as Discord discarded his Fluttershy cheerleading regalia. "Try what, exactly?" "To give you a little shove in the right direction." Discord replied, kicking a small stuffed pony that looked a lot like Twilight off into the shifting, multicoloured space around them. As soon as it passed the lip of the small island, it shot off upwards and slightly to the right, disappearing into the haze. "You six vindicated Faith by returning Hope to this little world, and you've achieved many more things since that were almost as impressive. It seems you even managed to get some of it on me, of all people. It's time I paid a little of that back." Twilight tilted her head to one side questioningly. "Faith and hope?" "Not faith and hope, Faith and Hope," Discord said, not helping Twilight's understanding in the slightest. "Proper nouns, you need to capitalise them. Just because you ponies gave them more names doesn't change who they actually are. I mean, your parents named you Twilight Sparkle for heavens' sake. Could've just stuck with the one you were going to always have had, but no. Had to crowbar the sunshine, rainbows and gratuitous fluffiness in there somehow. Now." Discord held up a claw to silence Twilight's stream of unanswered questions. A black beret and long brown trenchcoat appeared on his form and — glancing aside furtively before affecting a terrible Prench accent — announced, "Listen verry carefully, Ah shall say zis only wunce." What? Dropping the accent — and the trenchcoat — Discord said, "Celestia thinks she's prepared you for this, but she has no idea what's coming. She never does. Always figures it out too late." He leaned in closer, voice eager and intense. "I showed you a part of it, once. Pale shadows of the real things, a taste of what you might make them into. Magic is the fulcrum about which all pivots. Light or dark, Order or Chaos. Simple. Elementary. Six of one, half a dozen of the other... but you have a hoof in both camps, Magic. Six plus six equals eleven, and you're the one that gets to make the choice." "Is it really that hard to just use my actual name?" Twilight demanded, "and while you're at it, maybe start making sense?" "Well I could, but you haven't really earned it yet," Discord said airily. "In previous timelines and from certain atemporal perspectives, certainly, but not in this particular iteration from your oddly restricted linear view. It's going to be the essential nature of what you are, what you were and what you could be, and in this particular run round the track you're about to start having always been who you're in the process of becoming." He paused for a moment, mouth moving silently as if running over what he'd just said again. "At least I think that's right. You don't really have words for it, your language is far too centred around this whole linear-time nonsense. Besides, even if I did use it, you don't even know what it is. And it isn't always having had been your name yet anyway. Me just knowing it is enough of a paradox already without me actually telling you. Oh, and the making sense thing? No. Sorry, that one's genetic I'm afraid." Twilight covered her eyes with a hoof and let out a thoroughly exasperated groan. "You call me the spirit of Chaos, but I'm not," Discord continued. "Touched by it, certainly, but not the thing itself. I'm just an observer who's seen too much." The draconequus' voice sank to a frantic whisper, rushing over each phrase and speaking slightly too fast. "I'm a victim, an example, a warning. Bound by restrictions and limitations you could not comprehend. I don't play around with names - Discord is who and what I am. Sometimes I revel in it for a while, to see if He might notice me, appreciate me... or maybe try to come to terms with how utterly pointless it all is. All the time in the world — so many worlds — but I can never stop it, never change it, always watching as it slides into the abyss, over and over again. Chaos runs out of control, and then falls victim to its own self-destructive nature, leaving nothing behind. Perfect Order. Almost, anyway. There's always one that remains, one that remembers, the tiniest bit of Discord, waiting for the process to start all over again. But I've had an idea," Discord said, tone suddenly back to normal and a wide grin on his face. "This time I have a plan. This time I'm trying something new. Maybe it'll make a difference, maybe it won't. How many times could you stand to watch everything end, do you suppose?" Discord mused, eyeing Twilight speculatively. "It's a wonder I haven't gone quite mad, really." Yes, I can see why that prospect might concern you, Twilight thought sarcastically. All of a sudden, Discord and the chaotic space around her vanished, and Twilight found herself seated at a small, round, wooden table. The square room around her was dimly lit by a few fittings on the reddish brick walls. A low stone roof was hugged by a layer of what looked like smoke, in amongst which were a few ceiling fans, barely rotating in the stale air. Before her stood a small platform bearing a microphone, illuminated by a single spotlight. In the cone of illumination sat Discord, atop a tiny three-legged stool. He was still wearing the little lopsided black beret, which had apparently necessitated the removal of one of his horns; the appendage in question was currently sat on the floor next to the stool. Is this a poetry reading? Twilight thought as Discord cleared his throat. Oh no, he isn't actually going to... he is, isn't he. "Now, pay attention," Discord said, looking down his nose at her. "You're going to want to remember this later." Then, he launched into rhyme. "Two sets of six Eleven all told Five of them paired, one alone in both folds Five brought forth one And one can draw five To give you the power you need to survive Strength comes at a price Means pardoned by ends The future bought with the lives of friends Avarice and Cruelty Deceit and Despair All for the Pride of one stubborn mare Three birthed a Nightmare Two darkened the Sun But only in you can they all become one The night thus beginning With Twilight descending Will herald no dawn — only final Ending But you stand at the crossroads On the fulcrum of worlds If you follow the Spark, a new path unfurls Friends still beside her The Twilight ascending Can push back the final darkness impending Betwixt Chaos and Order Bringing forth Harmony From darkness and light, combined most artfully Things may seem bleak And it may cost a life But heed this last piece of friendly advice: When Faith betrays you And Hope goes astray Don't force them to follow — let your friends point the way." Twilight tried to fix what she'd heard in her memory as the reading concluded, on the off-chance that Discord wasn't just being Discord, then flinched as the room shuddered. A low, seismic rumbling filled the air as Discord gazed at the ceiling, looking mildly put out. "Damn," he said, "too much. Should've gone with the interpretive dance number." He exhaled sharply and looked back down as Twilight. "Oh well, I've crossed the line now. I like lines. They make the most wonderful whistling sounds as they pass by," he said happily, face breaking into a manic grin. "Damn the torpedoes, I'm going in." "What's that rumbling?" Twilight asked, concerned. "The piper's coming to collect," Discord replied hurriedly. "One group nurtures and guides you, the other one follows you. One part of you wants friends, the other one wants subjects. You can't have both, but you'll always want to, so you're going to have to resist and hold the center. Now, and for the rest of your life. Order, and... well, you know." Discord twitched his head upward. "Him." Twilight shot up from her seat as the whole room shifted, accompanied by a torturous grinding sound. Gaze flicking between Discord and the ceiling, she said, "Are you saying that's—" "Chaos, yes," Discord confirmed. "He's weakened right now. A little over twenty-five years ago something broke Him. Tore a piece of Him right out, shifted the balance of power." Twilight shivered as Discord's gaze swept across her. "You might say it birthed a chance at Harmony. He was stronger than She was, but now they're pretty much even. And that means somewhere between Chaos and Order, we might be able to hold the balance. But He's trying to get back what He lost, and you don't want to find out what happens when He does." Discord clapped his hands together in front of him, eagle claw rubbing against lion paw as he continued. "Now, I think He might be a little upset with me, which means you need to leave. He can't kill me, precisely, but there are a number of unpleasant things He could do to you, especially in here. Even so, this is going to be, oh, what's the word... inconvenient for me." The insane glee disappeared from Discord's features, replaced by a mixture of doubt, uncertainty and fear. In a small, quiet voice, he said, "Tell Fluttershy... tell her thank you. For everything." Then in a flash his usual cocky demeanour returned, and a savage grin showed off his mismatched fangs. Twilight saw a shiver run up Discord's entire body as he closed his eyes for a moment. "Hmm," he murmured, opening his eyes again, "so this is what it feels like." What is he doing? What's going on here? To her surprise, Twilight almost saw something of Fluttershy in Discord at that moment - there was a part of that defiant, joyous expression that reminded her of the timid pegasus that faced down a dragon. A force began pulling on Twilight's body, drawing her backwards across the floor as the walls and ceiling of the chamber began to splinter and crack, a sickly yellow glow beginning to show through the fissures. She could feel herself being pushed out of whatever strange pocket dimension Discord inhabited. Discord turned his back on Twilight as she was drawn away. Raising a clawed arm to point at whatever was coming from outside the walls, he shouted "Oh, don't act so outraged. This has been a long time coming! I'm not just going to sit back and watch you destroy her, watch you ruin everything. Not this time!" A wave of unstable power smashed against Twilight's magical senses as a flame ignited in each of Discord's outstretched hands. As the unseen force continued to drag her away, she only had a moment to realise that she was feeling a chaotic mix of both light and dark magic. ...or should that be Order and Chaos? "Time to work out some of those daddy issues!" Discord cried. "Bring it on, old man!" Twilight felt herself stretch out and snap back into shape, as if she was a pony-shaped rubber band, and suddenly she was back in the corridor outside Celestia's room again. She jumped as the door banged shut behind her, and one of the bat-winged guards beside it eyed her suspiciously. "Are you all right ma'am?" the stallion asked. What was that? Did that really happen or am I going completely insane? A little shakily, Twilight headed off down the corridor in the vague direction of friends and sanity. "It's nothing," she replied distractedly, "just a little jumpy today I guess." Somepony stop the world, I want to get off... As her mind whirled at a frantic pace, Twilight couldn't shake the feeling that somepony was running around kicking the foundations out from under her at every opportunity. Her mind drifted back to Princess Celestia, and Twilight was suddenly immensely grateful there was at least one thing in her world that wasn't going to change.