Chapter Four—Explores Research Methods and a Key Understanding
Discord was running in his dreams.
He ran because the chaos spirit hated being confined, despite the warmth and security afforded by the Tree of Harmony. Amid those night visions, the draconequus wanted to break away into the world again and stand on his own two feet—wherever they happened to be in relation to the ground.
And the shadows took chase.
Discord would have snapped them into something more appealing (like popcorn or chocolate, perhaps), or at least transported himself to a different place. But whenever he tried to do so nothing happened, and the spirit felt as much a prisoner in his mind as he had when in stone. He sent candy corn hail upon the pursuers, created a giant vacuum to suck them up, and even erected a wall of horned vines.
The shadows overcame and passed through these impediments with ease.
He could not escape.
Trapped again.
Now Discord fled through lavender skies tinged with a blood-red hue, and the shades matched his serpentine spiral over the Everfree Forest. More of them seemed to lift from those woods, though he soon noticed the heaviest plume swirled up from the castle ruins—which formed skeletal fingers that reached out and swatted him with great force toward the vegetation below. Pain radiated along his shoulders. He fell toward the forest that always moved on its own and never ceased, while Discord was stuck.
He wanted it to stop.
It had to stop.
When a dream became this intense, it often ended.
This time, Discord remained asleep.
He landed hard on his back on the mossy pathway that wound through the forest, wings aching. A glance found them broken with a pale gray hue, a boring color. The draconequus tried to fix them to no avail. They remained ugly and bent.
A rustling sound came from behind, and Discord looked over his shoulder.
Another shadow stood in the near distance, which was tall as a tree. Yellow orbs stared at him from where the face must have been, and the creature approached at a slow pace.
Discord had never considered himself a coward. He had always fought using magic and wits, knowing well that few could match or defeat him. Yet the sight of this shadow, whomever or whatever it happened to represent, caused an acute fear to shoot up his spine like electricity. He suddenly wanted something, though he couldn’t have said what—or if this reaction came from the shadow itself or some distant memory.
“Take me to them.” The shadow’s voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. “Give them to me and be free. That is all you ever wanted or were in the world. You were nothing more. Just a problem to fix. Why not give them to me?”
“No.” Given his terror and foggy thoughts, Discord couldn’t have begun to reason what the shadow meant. Still more intimidating was how he had lost control over his own dream—which had also never happened before—and his own reaction to this creature’s taunting. Normally, he would never have allowed anything to rattle him this much (or at least, to show these impressions to any pony). Now the spirit found that he wished to resist the request with every fiber of his being. Not only to resist, but to fight back.
“You can’t have them!” He leapt at the shadow creature, blazing with power.
“And who are you to keep them from me, then?” The shadow responded. “Is that your nature? You know I will find them anyway,
right?”
The questions were like direct hits.
“I am—” Discord trailed off, his energy waning. “I am—“
The shadow shot out clawed hands to strangle him. It was cold.
Only to have the familiar melody of the Tree of Harmony cut through everything. She dispersed the vision and filled his dreams with warmth. Light filled his head.
Discord awoke, just outside the cave in the fog in the early morning, gasping for breath. He rolled back over the threshold. After taking a moment to calm down, he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
Another dream filled with shadows, and a particularly nasty one as well.
At least it had been a dream.
Discord could handle a bad dream when he was awake and at a safe distance from the accursed thing, because they dissolved in Celestia’s sunlight. Take his damaged wings, for example. The chaos spirit reached back to touch them, and to give himself some extra reassurance.
And flinched, finding both his bird and bat wing crippled and gray as in his dreams. They didn’t hurt anymore. Instead, they simply looked twisted and indecent.
It appeared the shadows in his dreams had been more than dreams.
Argh. He was tired.
What was happening to him?
“Do you know?” Discord asked the Tree of Harmony, which (or so it seemed to him) let off an apologetic hum. TOH was trying to tell him something, yet he couldn’t hear it. He groaned, feeling flustered.
A moment passed.
Well, there was no use letting such a thing bother him yet. Something indescribable told the draconequus that if he could just crack the code that would allow him to understand the Tree of Harmony better, she might provide him with the answers.
In fact, Discord was counting on it, given that he was stuck sleeping in the cave until that happened.
He had time, and it wasn’t like he had anything else to do at the moment.
A tingle ran down his neck, yet this one was more familiar and quite gentle. And Discord knew right away that none other Princess Twilight Sparkle was on her way to the cave. He could sense her, even more so than with Fluttershy and the other ponies connected to the Elements of Harmony—who apparently were not in attendance.
Poking his head out of the cavern, Discord could see Twilight coming his way with a determined expression on her face.
That curious little pony was coming to visit the Tree of Harmony, Discord was sure. He should have known Twilight wouldn’t have been able to stay away despite brushing her off before.
Actually, this might have stoked her curiosity even more.
At least Twilight was easy to figure out.
So Discord tried to forget the bad dream for the moment (which he could consider on his own, later), tuck away his battered wings, and prepared to receive her.
Time to give the princess his best reception, to make up for the other day.
Hmm. What would Fluttershy do?
***
Twilight alighted at the bottom of the ravine and approached the cave in an easy manner. There was no need to hurry, this morning. The alicorn planned to simply enjoy herself, and she smiled at the thought of what might lay ahead. She had half expected Discord to be humming again, or perhaps to smell the fragrance of wildflowers. Or maybe—Twilight strained her ears to hear—the melody the chaos spirit had tried to prompt her with the other day.
The wildflower smell was certainly there, and mixed with a few other things, though for a moment she feared the draconequus might be elsewhere. Fluttershy had noted he hated to stay in one place for too long.
As if on cue, trumpets sounded and a red carpet unfurled from the cavern.
Yeeeup. He was there, all right.
“Come in, come in.” Twilight heard Discord ring out (in that the sounds of several chiming bells followed his invitation). Confetti rained down on her as the pony walked along the soft carpet over the threshold. Crossing it, she saw an extra wide assortment of musical instruments—including cellos, xylophones, and thimbles—and a larger spread of flowers (including a few poison joke blooms). There were pink polka dots on the wall. A breakfast table stood fully laid out towards the center, closer to the Tree of Harmony, with food-laden plates shifting about and tea pots dancing to an obscure steam-tooting rhythm.
Discord should have seen the counsel chamber yesterday afternoon. Twilight thought to herself.
Her host, meanwhile, sat in a high-backed cushioned chair while sipping tea. Wearing a formal dining jacket, he struck a refined pose and balanced spectacles on his snout connected by a golden chain that led nowhere in particular.
“My, if it isn’t Twilight.” Discord said. “Come to satisfy your curiosity about the Tree of Harmony, I see. Why not take a seat, or let it take you?”
Indeed, a seat had turned and run over to Twilight, bending down to stoop up the princess. But she hopped onto the chair in full willingness and allowed it to convey her over to the table, where hay flakes mixed with hollyhock petals sat in a bowl—alongside a menagerie of different breakfast dishes. A cheery pink pot filled her glass with tea. Despite everything, her stomach growled at the aroma of all this good food. She had actually rushed to the cave as early as possible, without pausing to eat in her excitement.
“You’re in a good mood this morning.” Discord noted, apparently having noticed the grin blossoming across Twilight’s face. “I was a little surprised you didn’t come charging back here with all the ladies in tow, when you saw me here yesterday.” He said this is an ineffectual way, though the princess could see him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
“I trust you.” Twilight answered, simply. Taking a sip of the tea. “Ah, this is delicious, and with a little twist of lemon—the way Fluttershy usually makes it.”
Discord had seemed surprised when Twilight answered with such confidence, yet then he feigned clearing his throat and took on a proud expression.
“Fluttershy taught me the method herself.” Spectacles gone, he leaned forward on his elbows and looked at Twilight, straight on. “Where are the girls today?”
“They received letters from the ponies who helped us to open the chest, so almost all of them have left for events across Equestria. And they should be gone most of the day.”
“So you decided to learn more about the Tree of Harmony on your own then?” Discord was sipping his tea again.
“I decided to spend the day with you.” Twilight announced, followed by the sounds of the draconequus choking.
Discord had apparently been so surprised by Twilight’s words, he had sucked up the teacup. The princess rose as if to help—but the chaos spirit lifted a griffin paw to stop her. He grabbed his neck in both claws and squeezed upwards. The teacup came flying out of his mouth, crashing against the far cavern wall.
“You wanted to spend time with me?” Discord was clearly taken aback. Touched, a trembling smile was marching across his lips. “You mean like for the sake of it?”
“Yes.” Twilight replied, pleasantly surprised. She hadn’t realized how happy the idea would make him, although she had hoped it might. “I want to get to know you better, since we haven’t exactly had the best opportunities to do so before.”
“And mostly my fault, I know.” Discord declared, in his usual light-hearted, joking air. “That changes things. Well then.” Just like that, the whole table and breakfast set vanished, and Twilight found herself sitting before a whole collection of board games. The chaos spirit burst from amid them, grabbing several—though he kept the dinner jacket he had worn before.
Was he trying to be casual?
“I have a ton of games I’ve been waiting to try out on some pony, like Friendship: The Gathering.” Discord leaned in close to Twilight and whispered furtively. “Of course, I suspect you might have known about that one. Or perhaps Oubliettes & Ogres.” He scrutinized her for a moment. Twilight was about to respond when he pressed onwards. “There are other possibilities too, of course. Although I did think of matching wits with you in You Risk Your Bits. You might just keep up with me. Fluttershy tries her best, but you simply know more random facts—considering your obsession with books.”
“Actually, Discord, I—“
“Not a pony for games? I’m surprised. I knew you liked tests, and games are basically the same thing.” Rather than chastise, however, Discord simply nodded his head as if in solemn understanding. Yet Twilight knew he didn’t, because he failed to give her any chance to answer. “Ah. If you don’t want to hang around the cavern all day—and who would—we might just take a trip somewhere, ourselves for a while. Fluttershy can tell you no pony could take you on a trip like I can, and—“
“Discord!” Twilight cried out.
“What? Am I going too fast for you?” Discord had exchanged the jacket for a festive vacation shirt decorated with rubber ducks. He wore sunglasses and was halfway out of the cavern already, although Twilight noted that he hesitated for some reason on the threshold. A small shudder ran through him. “It’s chilly out there.” The draconequus indicated the encircling fog, seeing her glance.
“It’s not that.” Twilight said. “I thought we could spend our time unraveling the mysteries of the Tree of Harmony. Together, I’m sure we might learn if it’s possible to communicate with us, and if there might be something it needs us to do next.”
“Oh, TOH.” Discord whirled about, seeming to refocus on the Tree of Harmony. He paused for a moment, as if listening to that same tune from the other day—the one only he could hear, at least for now. “You know, my dear Twilight, I got so excited and carried away as to completely forget about her. Pardon me, madam.” He bowed to the Tree of Harmony, which appeared to blink in answer. “You’re absolutely right. In fact, it might be even better with you here.” And for a brief second, Twilight thought a shadow passed over his vestige, although he quickly massaged it away with his lion paw. “Yes. We do both enjoy a good puzzle, I suppose.”
The draconequus managed a winning smile.
The shudder and that expression had bothered Twilight a little. However, she couldn’t let it get in the way of their good time. Perhaps Discord would tell her what was troubling him later.
“Right.” Twilight persisted. “There is so much we can learn from the Tree of Harmony. I’m sure of it. That is why I brought these.”
With a small poof, a few worn tomes borrowed from the Canterlot Library and pages of notes copied from manuscripts in the Canterlot Archives appeared on the free space left upon the cavern floor.
“What are these?” Discord asked, his face falling.
“They include everything with a mention to Tree of Harmony I could find in the Canterlot Library and Archives. I flew over there during the evening and grabbed what they had on record—and what I managed to locate while browsing works that might have had some information inside. It was difficult, because not a lot is known or recorded about the Tree or Elements. I did send a message to Princess Celestia, who is apparently away on business, but she hasn’t sent anything back yet. Still, I did it.” Twilight could feel the excitement bubbling inside her, the way it usually did when she was preparing to embark on a scholarly quest of discovery. “And we can go through them, analyzing each passage for clues. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
There was a pause.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Twilight finally asked at Discord’s blank look. “I thought you wanted to discover more about the Tree of Harmony.”
“Sorry to tell you this, Twilight.” Discord picked up one of the volumes, flipping through the pages without really reading anything inside. “But you cannot understand the Tree of Harmony by reading some old tomes.” With a laugh, he dropped it on the pile—raising dust that hadn’t been there before.
“And why not?” In spite of everything, Twilight could feel her feathers ruffling a little. Here she had worked hard finding all these resources for this project, and the only thing Discord could do was set them aside without a chance. She had had to travel all the way to Canterlot for these types of books. “We can learn a lot from what ponies have observed about the Tree of Harmony in the past for the present.”
“Most ponies probably wouldn’t have known TOH with their limited perspectives.” Discord asserted, clearing the board games from the floor. “Many of the ‘mysterious happenings’ reported in Equestria folklore are no different, and I have seen those get misinterpreted time and again. Trust me. There is a much better way to go about this. No offense.” He added, seeming to catch a hint of her befuddlement.
“But—! All right.” Twilight took another deep breath. They had to learn how to compromise on a plan. This was what good friends did, even though she longed to insist on flipping through the books to the pages she had bookmarked for the occasion. Then again, Discord had been around for a long time—and he claimed to be able to hear music coming from the Tree of Harmony, at least. So he must understanding something about it. “What would you like us to try?”
***
“Discord. I’m not sure this is working.” Twilight said, clanging two thimbles together. They had gone through a menagerie of instruments during the last hour and a half, moving through the collection assembled in the cavern. Upon her head, she wore a wreath of flowers, a lei, and several blossoms entwined in her feathers and mane.
“Nonsense, my dear Twilight.” Discord responded, dinging bells and rotating around the Tree of Harmony with her—as the chaos spirit had suggested, of course. “It is all about finding the right frequency, knowing how to listen, and having the right sense of smell.”
“Well, I’m kind of finding it hard to listen when we keep banging or blowing instruments without a break.” And, Twilight wanted to say, hard to keep up. “The sound we make comes out disjointed and harsh. Maybe we should try something else.”
“You’re right.” Discord proclaimed, and for a moment Twilight felt like they had finally come to an understanding. “We should be playing instruments that complement each other, somehow. TOH seems to favor a much quieter and sweeter melody. You take the flute.” A flute popped into Twilight’s mouth. “And I’ll try the violin.”
“That isn’t quite what I meant.” Twilight said, levitating the flute with her magic. “Hmm. What does the Tree of Harmony sound similar to a flute, or a violin?”
Here Discord paused for a moment, as if carefully considering the question. He stroked his beard, and then said a musing way:
“Not even close.”
“But I thought we were trying to match frequencies.” Twilight protested. “If you know the Tree of Harmony doesn’t sound like a flute or violin, why are we trying them? Why have we been trying the instruments?” She was trying so hard to understand his methods, but there just seemed to be nothing to them Twilight could quantify or even grasp now.
“Well, Twilight.” Discord replied. “TOH is all about harmony, which you should know very well. It is all about connection, and music is a good way to promote just that. Or, perhaps you would like to try a romp through the flower patch instead?” He seemed to pause for a moment, appearing to ignore the frustration Twilight could feel building inside her. “You know, maybe the board games would have made more sense.”
“Wait a minute.” Twilight interjected. “You’re not making any sense. I have no idea where you’re coming from, or what you mean.
How are you reaching these conclusions?”
“I am doing my best to make you understand.” Discord said, shooting Twilight a somewhat aggrieved expression. “You simply need to listen to what I’m saying.”
This was too much.
“You haven’t been listening to a single thing I’ve said or suggested for the Tree of Harmony.” Twilight exclaimed. “You keep talking about all the things you want to do, without trying to consider something we might both agree upon. Harmony and friendship both depend on ponies taking the ideas of each other into account.”
“What do you mean?” Discord shot Twilight what seemed to her a look of mock surprise. “This is exactly what I was trying to do.” He hovered towards her, but the princess took a step back. The chaos spirit froze, like he was walking on thin ice. And indeed, the cavern floor beneath him crackled a bit as he landed. “Why are you getting so upset?”
“I know you mean well, Discord.” Twilight said, striving to force some composure back into her tone—while willing herself to calm down. It was particularly difficult right now. How had their meeting turned out this way? “It’s just that I had some ideas of what might work too, and I went through a lot of effort to gather these possible guides for us.” She indicated the neat piles of books. “And I wish you would give those ideas a chance as well.”
“Yet it is as I said, Twilight. The ponies who probably wrote those books could not have known much about the Tree of Harmony. If they had, don’t you think a lot more would have been written or available on the subject?”
“Many of the ponies who wrote these books were great scholars, and they might have uncovered more than we suspect.”
Discord was giving her such a quizzical look now. How could she convince him?
Then her mind turned to the journal—the one Twilight and her friends had kept over the past several months. She had that volume on hoof now, in fact, and summoned it.
“When my friends and I began writing the journal, we couldn’t have known how it would help us to unlock the chest. The clues were there as we went along, even though they weren’t clear to us even while receiving the keys. You were the one who pointed out the connection between our experiences.” Twilight glanced at Discord, before turning her attention back to the journal. She flipped through the volume—and it made her remember all the good times that had happened while writing different entries. They had learned so much, and in the evenings she would retire to her bed in the Golden Oak Library feeling happy. “Perhaps we won’t find any new clues in books like these. Still, it’s worth a chance. Of course, if the library was still around, there might have been something that could helped us and—“
Twilight trailed off, a quiver having entered her tone. Why had she mentioned her library now, of all times? Despite everything, she could feel tears beginning yet forced them down. She hadn’t realized they were there, waiting for a moment to spring loose.
“I guess you never fully appreciate what you have until it’s not around anymore, and it’s hard to let go of those regrets.”
Twilight stood there in silence for a while, head bowed, half expecting Discord to make some wisecrack about her being unlike a princess. Nothing of the kind happened. Instead, she heard and practically sensed him drawing close. His shadow loomed over her, and then after what seemed an eternity, a large and soft lion paw patted her across the shoulders.
“My apologies, Twilight.” Discord said in a much gentler and quieter tone. “That library and its books meant a lot to you.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “Fluttershy keeps warning me to be considerate time and again, and I haven’t really gotten the knack at this point. I’m not that good at understanding the needs of others, I suppose.”
“Well, several ponies have told me I need to loosen up and keep an open mind.” Twilight sniffed, raising her head to meet the chaos spirit’s concerned gaze. “A few years ago, I probably would have been just as lost as you are at understanding ponies.”
“You, not understanding ponies?” Discord chuckled. “Miss Princess of Friendship? You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not.” Twilight retorted. “Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville to learn about friendship and everything.”
“Ah, Princess Celestia strikes again, I see.” Discord nodded his head. “Okay. I hear you.” He moved over and grabbed a book. “Let’s
see what we can find. I bet I find the first clues.”
“You wish.” Twilight said, feeling relief wash over her and grabbing another book.
She couldn’t let Discord beat her at bookwork, after all.
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The plot, she thickens!
5230800 Ha, thanks!
This is great. And you have such a great way of portraying Discord, simply overwhelming in his frantic energy and thoughtlessness. I like it a lot.
And the image of the two circling the tree and trying random instruments is really funny.
This was nice both Twilight and Discord were very much in character. Twilight's use of the journal as an example was a good idea.
Great job in writing Twilight and Discord.
Dang he really must have really feeling bad about it I wonder it could be the tantabus but then again we didn't see it until later on
Well yeah when it comes to the unknown of knowledge Twilight will be so excited to learn about it
Yeah just wait until season 7 we will learn about the tree of Harmony very soon
Awww Twilight I know that must be really hard for you to lose the library as your home 😢
“No, I’m not.” Twilight retorted. “Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville to learn about friendship and everything.”
“Ah, Princess Celestia strikes again, I see.” Discord nodded his head. “Okay. I hear you.” He moved over and grabbed a book. “Let’s
see what we can find. I bet I find the first clues.”
There you go now this time to communicate with each other this time
Oh wow so it looks like Discord was having a bad nightmare and apparently really gotten stronger and it looks like he gotten hurt a little bit but then he saw Twilight coming towards him and she told him that she wants to hang out with him to get to know each other which Discord was pretty surprised she even wanted to learn about how to communicate with the tree of Harmony of course things did not go as smoothly as they hope it would they were basically kind of arguing with each other and disagreeing but then afterwards she mentioned about the Library and Discord did felt bad for her losing what she cared so it looks like they start to better communication with each other now I wonder how the others are doing