Heavenly Turmoil

by TheManWithTwoNames

Chapter 3

Heavenly Turmoil

A “My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic” fanfiction

By TheManWithTwoNames

Standard Legal Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters contained in the following work. “My Little Pony” and all subsequent properties belong to Hasbro.

---

It all happened so strangely. One instant, she was a phoenix, flying high and free toward the sun. And in an instant, the moon crossed the sky and eclipsed the life-bringing celestial body, blanketing the world in darkness. Blackness as far as the eye could see. Celestia slowly twirled as she silently tumbled into the empty abyss. She had no magic to save herself -- her horn was gone. Her wings were stone. Fear swelled inside of her. Celestia kicked her legs, grabbing at anything in the darkness that could rescue her. She couldn’t die like this.

And then he was there. Discord fluttered just above, smiling cruelly at her. He stretched his arm in front of her, offering his paw to the princess. Celestia snorted and swung her hoof, hitting his paw away. She would rather die.

“Sister! Wake up! I can’t keep the moon in the sky all day!” Celestia slowly lifted her head, her vision blurry and her mind fuzzy from the lingering nightmare. She had no idea why she hadn’t asked Luna for help yet; perhaps it was simply too embarrassing for the ruler of Equestria to crawl to her little sister over some nightmares.

“Ugh, just give me five more minutes.”

In an instant, Celestia was wide awake. The princess stumbled out of bed, confused and outraged at the sight of that horrible beast messily curled in her sheets.

“Discord, I--”

The spirit of chaos silenced her with a tired groan and a dismissive wave of his claw, grabbing an armful of fabric and vanishing beneath the blankets. Though Celestia would have loved nothing better than to kick the malformed creature out of her bed and stomp him to a bloody mess beneath her, she noticed something that gave her pause. The flowers in the vase were crimson. Not blue, or orange, or even flaming. Celestia tried to remember, it felt so long ago now, but she was certain that this was right. Shifting her attention back to the sleeping Discord, Celestia made a connection.

Stepping as gingerly as she could, Princess Celestia opened her door without so much as the faintest creak escaping, and silently slipped into the hallway. Celestia breathed deeply, enjoying the crisp bite of an early morning’s air. She felt better than she had in days and she was going to share it with everypony she could.

“Good morning, Your Majesty,” a maid nodded respectfully. Celestia stopped and smiled warmly at the mare, joy radiating from her like the warmth of the sun.

“It is, isn’t it?” Celestia replied and continued to make her way down the hall with a spring in her step, humming a little tune as she marveled at how clear and gorgeous everything seemed to be in the dwindling moments of the night. The only thing that could make it better was watching it shimmer the light of her marvelous sun.

“I can’t believe you.”

Celestia stopped in her tracks as a sharp pain shot from her horn to her stomach and vomit rose in her throat. She threw her head down and forced herself to swallow the disgusting bile, the acidic taste lingering in her mouth. Gasping for fresh air and cringing at the awful feeling in her throat, she glared up at Discord who seemed to be just as angry with her.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to run off on me,” the draconequus said, feigning insult.

Celestia did her best to ignore the spirit as he followed her every step. She couldn’t make a scene there, not in front of all her servants.

“Oh, you ponies are all the same,” Discord wailed melodramatically. “You take me home, have a one night stand of terrible nightmares and mental torment and then you just try to run out the very next morning without even the courtesy of making breakfast.”

“Speaking of breakfast,” Celestia muttered under her breath as an angry clucking could be heard down the hallway. She heard Luna and some other kitchen staff shouting, arguing and apologizing for this and that, as the buck-caws of a very upset chicken cut over them.

“Celestia, I’m sorry to leave you, but I just have to see this,” Discord said, his eyes wide in anticipation as he slithered down the hallway. Celestia frowned as she didn’t feel the congestion in her head fade away. Smacking her lips to try to coerce the terrible taste out of her mouth, she trudged to Canterlot Tower.

Celestia mentally kicked herself as she exerted her power to raise the sun. On most days, she would have been able to just raise the sun from the balcony outside her room. But because of her tardiness, she needed to get a better vantage point. It was an interesting thing, raising the sun. Like yin and yang, the sun and the moon worked together as opposing and complementary forces. The motion of one affected the other, they pulled on each other. When one was just hanging above the horizon, it was the perfect time to raise the other and use the momentum to make it run smoothly and evenly. But if one fell too low without help, raising the other became much more difficult.

All this was on Princess Celestia’s mind as she strained herself, her horn glowing with energy as the sun’s first rays shone through the retreating night sky. Celestia took a deep breath to herald in another morning, but rather than the refreshing rush of air she had enjoyed just a few moments earlier, she began to cough violently as though her lungs were full of smoke.

“I need to get this taste out of my mouth,” Celestia groaned. “Even Luna’s cooking would taste better than this.”

“Oh, you are getting nasty lately. And she was really giving it her best this time, too.”

----------

“Sorry I’m late, Luna,” Celestia said sheepishly as she took her usual seat at the table. “I was…” the words quickly died in the princesses’ throat, still too proud or ashamed to tell her own sister the truth. Luna smiled slightly and put down the fork she had been idly shifting the fruit on her plate with.

“Celestia, I think that we should talk,” Luna said seriously, making no attempt to hide her concern.

“Oh! Oh oh oh! Wait!” Celestia looked straight ahead at Luna, not reacting to the draconequus running toward the table with a tall box of popcorn. “I have to see this.”

“It’s a little early to be so serious, don’t you think, Luna?” Celestia said with a small laugh, looking up at the morning sky above and watching the black clouds of smoke fill the air. “I heard noises coming from the kitchen, that sounds like a fun story, tell me about that.”

“You haven’t been yourself lately, sister,” Luna said as she stared intently at her older sister. Celestia hated it when she looked at her like that; her mouth was folded pensively, and her head was hanging down low so she could stare up with her enormous teal eyes. Those eyes, boring into her mind and reading her every thought.

“Are you just going to sit there and let her judge you?” a voice hissed in her ear. She glared at Discord who was lurking over Luna and breathing into a paper bag.

“Luna, I think that you’re worrying about nothing,” Celestia said quickly before yelping in shock as a loud pop exploded behind her. By the look on her sister’s face, Luna wasn’t convinced.

“Wait, where’s the bag with the sandwich I brought?” Discord mumbled to himself as he discarded the ruined bag. He unfolded Luna’s wings without the young princess seeming to notice as he investigated, crawling around the table. Taking her eyes off the distracting creature, she saw that Luna’s worry had grown. Following her gaze, she saw that her own brilliant white wings were spread to her sides. Celestia took a moment to marvel at them -- how long had it been since she’d flown? Really, truly flown, and felt the wind wrap around her as she dove through clouds.

“Never mind, I’ll just have some steak and eggs. Extra steak!”

The air currents caressing her from horn to hoof, her hair waving like the gentle tide of the ocean. The wind in her hair -- cliché as it may sound -- was like nothing else she ever felt in her long, long life. It was the reason she enchanted her mane to sway in the air.

“Hey, is anyone even paying attention to me?”

She had to fly again. She had to. She slowly lifted her wings up in anticipation, ready to leave the world below her.

“That’s it! Stop ignoring me!”

A cry of pain derailed Celestia’s fantasy and she looked down at her sister in shock. Luna was on her side with a pained expression. She looked at her ribs, where a small patch of blood was matting her dark fur. Celestia ran and knelt beside her, wrapping her wings around the pair and trying to control her panic. Discord swung his hoof experimentally a few times, seeming dissatisfied with the results of his kick.

“Luna! Oh, Luna, no! Luna, are you hurt?”

Luna rose to her hooves, her narrow legs quivering. The princess fearfully backed away from her sister, breaking out of her grip. Celestia tried to pursue her, but Luna stumbled back from her approach, flinching with every motion.

“I... I’m going to fix this, Luna,” Celestia assured, her voice trembling. “Twilight and her friends are coming soon, and we are going to get to the bottom of this.” Without another word, Celestia galloped to the castle. Luna was left alone in the garden with her tears.

----------

Princess Celestia nervously paced around the grand chamber on the highest floor of Canterlot Tower. Immediately after leaving Luna, she had sent a squadron of pegasus guards to escort Twilight Sparkle and her five friends to Canterlot. She had written a letter to Twilight the the previous evening calling for her to return to Canterlot, but she hadn’t informed her of the reason.

She inspected the decorated case waiting in the center of the room again. All six Elements of Harmony were accounted for, and there had been no sign of Discord since he attacked Luna, but she wasn’t going lower her guard and allow him to steal the elements a second time. Twilight and the others would arrive and the seven of them would stop Discord once and for all.

“Princess Celestia!” She turned to see her saviors running through the doors to the hall. The six ponies bowed respectfully and Twilight stepped forward.

“We came as fast as we could.”

“Thank you all for coming. I’m afraid that I must once again ask too much of you.”

“We’ll do anything to help,” the cyan pegasus spoke up, rising into the air and saluting. Rainbow Dash, bearer of the element of loyalty. Celestia secretly envied the pony, soaring through life without a care in the world. She saw much of herself at that age in the young mare. Celestia forced herself to keep her mind at the matter at hand. She lifted the Elements of Harmony from their case and placed them ceremoniously on the six ponies.

“I don’t suppose you have heard news of the fire in Canterlot yesterday?” Celestia asked grimly, despising herself for her uselessness.

“Oh no,” the soft voice of Fluttershy gasped.

“I hope nopony was hurt,” the sophisticated Rarity added.

“I’m afraid so,” the princess replied. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the six. “A young filly that was trapped in the house, Dew Drop, couldn’t be rescued in time.” The air grew heavy as each of the ponies took in the information. Applejack respectfully removed her hat, the perpetually cheerful Pinkie Pie had an unfamiliar moment of solemnity, and the others took to comforting Twilight. The filly had always enjoyed Twilight’s company while she lived in Canterlot, and was one of the few ponies in the capitol that Twilight was friendly with.

“I have reason to believe that the fire was no accident,” Celestia continued, “and that it was magical in origin.” She heard a sinister laugh echo across the room. She kept her eyes trained on the girls -- they didn’t react to the sound.

“Who could have done this?” Twilight asked.

“It is difficult for me to say... But I believe that Discord is responsible.” The six were shocked and immediately proceeded to bombard the princess with questions. Every word pounded against Celestia’s head, every shrieking voice threatening to split her skull in half. She silenced them by holding her hoof out and motioned for Twilight to come to her side.

“But Princess, I don’t understand. We defeated Discord. The Elements of Harmony trapped him again,” the purple unicorn spoke quickly as she always did when faced with a conundrum. “How can he be free again? Why hasn’t he made any real attack on Equestria yet? What--”

“Twilight, I need to ask you something.” Twilight looked up at her mentor respectfully, noticing the concern in her eyes. “Can you sense anything strange in the room?” Twilight looked around at the walls suspiciously before closing her eyes. She calmed her mind, letting her magical intuition spread around the room and search for any kind of magical interference. After a minute, Twilight opened her eyes and saw the princess staring daggers at Rainbow Dash.

“Come on, Celestia, don’t you want to fly?” the pegasus taunted cruelly, flying in small loops and patterns around the room.

“I couldn't feel anything, Princess,” Twilight said softly, calling Celestia’s attention back to her.

“Thank you, Twilight. We leave immediately.”

----------

The ponies that were unable to fly were carried in a chariot pulled by Celestia’s most trusted pegasus guards; they were among the few ponies in all of Equestria that knew the location of Discord’s prison.

But Celestia couldn’t care less about any of that. Her mind was on more important things, like pulling out of the nose dive that was sending her racing to the ground. With just the slightest shift of her wings, Princess Celestia snapped up into the air just inches before crashing, leaving a burst of ethereal light to spread across the ground. She rejoined the six young ponies, who greeted her with generous applause.

“Wow, Princess! I didn’t know you could fly like that!” Rainbow Dash cheered. The others were simply flabbergasted; they never really thought of Princess Celestia flying before, and when she had told them that she would be flying alongside the chariot, they presumed she’d be very regal and dignified in her flight. Instead, she soared through the skies with a daredevil attitude and enough enthusiasm to shame the finest fliers in Cloudsdale. And it felt amazing.

“Isn’t it fun to just break off and cut loose?”

“I have to say it is,” Princess Celestia agreed.

“Beg pardon?” Applejack asked confusedly. None of the ponies were quite sure who Celestia was replying to, but shrugged it off without much thought.

“Man, we are high up!” Pinkie Pie shouted in amazement, leaning so most of her body was over the side of the chariot. “I can’t remember the last time I was so high up! I mean, except when we were going after Rainbow Dash a few days ago because she was being all stubborn about helping us, or that other time when we went to Cloudsdale in the balloon, or when I was commentating on the Running of the Leafs, or --”

Celestia decided that the loud, pink earth pony was her least favorite of Twilight’s friends. She didn’t care for her arrogance. But now it was her turn to fly.

“Is that the place?”

Celestia frowned as she turned to see an orange mountain range in the distance. They couldn’t have gotten there so soon, could they? It had only been a few hours. There was a sealed cave in the tallest mountain that a dragon had once called its lair, though many ponies still believed the beast to lurk within. This suited Celestia just fine -- with the reputation the mountains had already, there was even less of a chance for anypony to accidentally discover the greater threat.

“Yes, that is it.”

“It looks... scary...”

“Don’t fret, Fluttershy, it’s unbecoming.”

“Girls, I have to ask. Was there anything strange you noticed about Discord when you confronted him?”

“Ya mean besides the exploding chocolate milk rain, cotton candy clouds, ten-foot tall bunnies, floating pie, dancing buffalo, and checkerboard grass?”

“I understand it’s a redundant question, but yes. Was there anything happening that might have hinted toward some greater plan? Something Discord said or did that was suspicious?”

“Well,” Twilight replied after a moment’s thought. Of course she’d have the answer. Her faithful student. “He kept inviting us to use the Elements on him. He just sat there and took it. It didn’t look like he was even trying to escape.”

“Hm. Perhaps not. Discord’s overconfidence was his undoing when I first confronted him,” Celestia said. “At least he was quiet when he gave you the opening. He insisted on singing through my entire battle with him.”

----------

The carriage landed on a large ledge extending from the side of the mountain, and the ponies disembarked the carriage and walked to the wall of rocks that had sealed off the cave.

“It’s going to take forever to move all these,” Twilight cried, exasperated. Celestia gave a few short laughs and strode forward.

“You know, there is some truth when ponies say that I’m the most powerful being in Equestria,” the princess said with more than a bit of pride. With the slightest effort, the rocks rolled away, laying the entrance bare.

“We don’t all have to go in there... do we?” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Well, yes, that was my intention. It was part of why I called for all of you to be here,” Celestia said. “Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no... It’s just that... it’s very... um... dark...” the yellow pegasus said meekly, inching away from the cave. Celestia hid her displeasure well.

“Well, maybe the princess and I can just go in ahead and look around and you all stay could here and keep Fluttershy company?” Twilight offered with a hopeful grin, looking at Princess Celestia for confirmation. Celestia nodded in approval; she really didn’t want to spend any much more time with Twilight’s companions than she had to.

“Well, alright, Sugarcube,” Applejack drawled in that insipid accent of hers. “Y’all be careful in there.”

Twilight nodded thankfully, and teacher and pupil entered the mountain. There was not much light in the cave - it was high noon and the sun was directly above them. Celestia called upon her magic to move the sun forward by a few hours; it was a period of unrest in her kingdom, she had to break a few rules to solve it. And what was the point of having control over the sun’s orbit if she didn’t use it? The falling sun poured light directly through the mouth of the cave, cutting a line of light down the middle of the chamber. Twilight had to hand it to whatever dragon had lived in lair, it had excellent taste; there would always be a marvelous view of the sunset.

Celestia was stunned by what the sunlight revealed. It was impossible. She wanted to believe it was just another of Discord’s tricks, but she couldn’t trust her own senses anymore. Everything she had hoped, all of her most optimistic thoughts were nothing but naïve wishing, and her worst fears were coming true. She was so certain. It didn’t make sense.

“It’s still here?” Twilight asked flatly, sounding almost disappointed.

“No, it can’t be,” Celestia snorted, stomping over to the fossilized draconequus, tapping it apprehensively with her hoof. Solid stone. She closed her eyes and focused her magical energies, searching through the cave for any sort of magical residue, any small disturbance in the balance of nature that should not have been. She found something! There, at the mouth of the cave! It was a spell to remove the boulders blocking the entrance -- hers. Not so much as a wisp of unfamiliar magical energy lurked in the corners of the darkness.

Discord was securely imprisoned in stone.

Celestia’s mind was racing as she trying to make sense of this unbelievable turn. Could he have somehow leaked out of the stone? Through a crack, or a thin layer? Perhaps he had escaped and made a replica to throw them off the trail? No, she would have sensed some traces of magic surrounding it. Was the statue the effect of some mass hysteria? Did Discord have some unknown accomplice that could have assisted him? Were his mind and magic still free though his body was trapped? No, the power of the Elements was too great to allow such a flaw in the seal. Then what?

“Hey, girls!” an annoying voice echoed across the walls of the cave. Celestia watched the intruding pink earth pony bounce in out of the corner of her eye, hoping Twilight would deal with her. “Didja find anything?”

“Not yet, Pinkie. Discord’s still here. I don’t have any idea how he’s been harassing Canterlot,” Twilight whispered, able to recognize that the princess was deep in thought.

“Maybe it wasn’t him,” Pinkie suggested helpfully. Celestia’s eyes flared and clenched her teeth tightly, unseen by the other two girls. How dare this common pony question her!

“This spastic, dirt pony clod, this mere child, thinks she knows better than the ruler of all Equestria?”

Celestia spun to condemn the girl, but her rage subsided when she witnessed a peculiar sight. This Pinkie Pie was twitching furiously, bouncing on the ground, and shaking from nose to tail; it looked as if each segment of her body was trying to tear away from the others, or at least having a violent seizure.

“Is she going to be well?” Celestia asked Twilight as she slowly made her way over. All at once, the spasms ended, with the pony looking surprised at herself.

“I’ve never felt anything like that before!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“What in the world is going on in there?” Rarity called. She and the other three ponies entered the cave and crowded around their friend, all looking at her expectantly.

“I think Pinkie Sense just kicked in,” Twilight answered. “And it looks like it’s a doozy.”

Pinkie-what?

“So what’s up, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered above the other girls, her interest piqued.

“I don’t know what this was. Usually my Pinkie Sense is more twitchy-twitch twitchy tail and flip flop ears!”

Celestia had enough of this foolishness. “What is she talking about?”

“Please, Princess, this could be important,” Twilight hushed her. Princess Celestia was surprised by her loyal student’s tone, and even more so that she was holding stock in what was most likely due to some drop in blood sugar.

“But I’ve never felt anything like that. This was more like shaky bone, headache... cold.” Pinkie said the last word nervously, losing her never-ending enthusiasm for a moment.

“Cold? Ya mean cold hooves?”

“I brought a scarf if you’re feeling a draft.”

“No, you guys. Cold insides.”

Princess Celestia gave the petrified Discord one last glance before drawing herself up tall. “I think that we’ve learned everything that we can here.” She led the six girls out of the cave and stacked the boulders in front of the cave’s entrance. As the six ponies began to shuffle back to the carriage, Celestia held her leg out, making Pinkie Pie stay behind.

“So, this... sense of yours,” Celestia asked, still not convinced by the whole thing. “Does it happen often?”

“Well, not all the time,” the party pony said conversationally. “Usually when things are about to happen.”

“Things?” Celestia was intrigued. In her many years, she’d never heard of an earth pony with clairvoyant abilities. “What kinds of things?”

“All sorts of things. Like if something’s about to fall, my tail starts twitching. Or if I can’t find Gummy, and my shoulder aches, then I should check the bathtub!” Celestia sighed. She should have known that the pony would be no help. “But the last time I had something big like that, the girls and I almost got gobbled up by a hydra in the swamp!” Perhaps she spoke too soon.

“So, what does this mean?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never ever ever had anything this big before.”

“Please, please try to think,” Celestia asked her, allowing Pinkie Pie to rejoin her friends and leaving herself alone to mull this information over.

“I’m surprised she didn’t tell you to try to laugh at me,” a snide voice mocked. Celestia snapped her head around as saw Discord gliding away down a narrow rocky ledge. She took off after him, her hooves scattering dirt and rocks in her charge. She wanted answers, and she would not be denied. She pursued the taunting spirit around winding corners and through the air, from mountain top to mountain top, sliding down rocky cliffs and dashing around falling rocks. Debris slammed into the ground around her, but the princess could hardly notice - nothing would distract her from the real priority.

Her chase finally ended on a long, smooth expanse of stone. Celestia’s wings were spread wide and her horn radiated with barely contained power.

“Enough games, Discord!”

“Oh, we’re so serious! I thought you were enjoying your day out,” Discord said playfully as he jogged in place. “I’m certainly enjoying the exercise.”

“How are you here? I saw you imprisoned in the cave where we left you - I felt it with my own hooves! How are you here?”

“You know, a more immature draconequus might have found something provocative about that,” Discord purred, winking at the indignant princess. “Alright, fine, I’ll give you a chance.” Discord’s waist separated from his upper torso and walked behind Celestia, and both halves sprouted the missing part of their bodies.

“The answer you seek is right at your side, but hearing it will make you run and hide.” Celestia’s anger intensified. It was irritating enough when there was just one of him speaking in his riddles. “Face the music and let your lesson be learned, and then back to my cave is where you’ll return. One choice will return you to your life so sweet, the other one leads to ruin complete.”

The two creatures fled and Celestia immediately ran after the Discord in front of her. She ran with even greater determination than before, pushing herself harder as she tripped on the rocky surface and harrowing trails. The draconequus vanished around a corner on the side of a mountain, but when Celestia skidded around the sharp turn, the princess was greeted by a large rock thundering down the side of the mountain. The stone cracked the alicorn in the head, rendering her unconscious. Princess Celestia leaned to the side and fell off the path, falling helplessly toward her impending doom.

Celestia weakly opened her eyes and felt several hooves pressing against her side, carrying her higher. She tilted her head and saw her pegasus guards holding her, joined by Rainbow Dash. Feeling another wave of pain, Celestia shut her eyes and fell into restless sleep.

Princess Celestia awoke, unsure of how much time had passed. She tried to stand, only for her guards to softly urge her to lay down again. She complied; it hurt too much to stand, anyway. She looked up in misery as she saw Twilight Sparkle and her five friends surrounding her, watching her in concern. In pity.

“How... how did you know to find me?” Celestia moaned, her head pounding from what was most likely a concussion.

“Twitchy tail.”

Of course. “I’m sorry to have worried you all. I thought... I thought I saw someone,” Celestia muttered.

“Don’t worry, Princess!” Pinkie Pie said happily as she hopped back and forth. “Sometimes I see stuff that isn’t there, too.”

----------

Celestia was taken back to Canterlot alone; another carriage had been called for the six waiting back at the mountain. She had asked them to hold onto the Elements of Harmony themselves so they’d be prepared when Discord made his move.

Luna was nervously hovering around her sister all through their dinner, constantly checking if she was comfortable, if the food was prepared correctly, if she needed anything, if there was anything she could do to help, how did this happen; Celestia mumbled softly at every interrogation. She just wanted to be left alone.

“Well, you have your birthday to look forward to,” Luna said as she returned to her seat, sitting with her haunches posed to spring her to her hooves at a moment’s notice. “I think it’s only four days now. Oh n--I dropped your gift yesterday during the... Sister, are you sure that you don’t need anything?”

“I’m fine,” Celestia said darkly as she rose from the table, her food mostly untouched. Celestia wordlessly exited the hall and returned to her chamber, determined to figure out what Discord was planning. She called her quill and paper and began to make a list of everything that came to her mind.

- Headaches
- False visions
- Nightmares and sleep troubles
- Fire and smoke
- Setting fire to the home in Canterlot--Why that house? Connection to Twilight?
- No unnatural weather or chaotic disturbances
- Invisible to everyone else but can still attack Luna
- Appears to still be in stone--How can he still be free? Outside help; Weakening in the Elements; Some plan he prepared before; Another illusion

Celestia grunted in frustration. What was she missing? There were missing links that put these all together. She began to doubt herself. Was she even moving in the right direction? This was Discord -- was it foolish to try to make any sort of sense of all this?

A scratching noise from the corner of the room broke her concentration, and two horns protruded from the flames dancing from the mouth of her vase.

“You know, I’m great at puzzles,” Discord called as he pulled his torso out from the pot, leaning his head on his hand. “Just say the magic word.”

Comments

[Greytercakes]

Going through this story, it's definitely a lot more rough than your Cotton Candy one. But Discord is crazy well written, both your stories catch a side of him that a lot of writers sort've let slide away: dude can be upbeat and joking and still be pretty scary.

[Lullay Moon]

“Sometimes I see stuff that isn’t there, too.”

dat sentence.... See knows...

Celestia grunted in frustration. What was she missing?

you are missing the pony that annoys you the most of twilight's friends

This was Discord -- was it foolish to try to make any sort of sense of all this?

Hmm... Weeeell... Discord actually made sence with his riddle "Twist and turns are my master plan, Then find the elements back where you began." I mean seriously that made perfect sence all you needed to do was forget about "Twist and turns are my master plan I mean that ment nothing, he praticaly said Find the elements of Harmony Back at Twilight's Library!

overall You made Discord even better. Love to see how this plays out

[ThatClosetBrony]

“Don’t worry, Princess!” Pinkie Pie said happily as she hopped back and forth. “Sometimes I see stuff that isn’t there, too.”

Oh, wonderful.

I am glad to see this brutal side of Celestia. Much more realistic, much more believable.

Also, Luna seemed oddly cheerful for an alicorn who just sustained a heavy wound out of nowhere. Did that really happen too?
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