A Sparkling Sunset

by Ferhog

Contemplating The Sacrifice - Discord?

Twilight Sparkle was dying.

A day before, Discord had been experimenting with creating the world's greatest bathing experience by filling a tub with melted rubber duckies when he felt a sudden magical disturbance coming from Twilight's castle. Warping to it's location, he found himself in the library, taking the form of a book so that could analyze the situation while also avoiding detection. He preferred to only be seen when he wanted to.

The first thing he noticed was the intensely bright opal light shining against the entire library, which was coming from a large mass of magical energy, like an extremely miniature star. He realized that this was originating from Sunset Shimmer, who was clearly in an emotionally broken state, as was Twilight, who walking towards the former against the erupting storm of energy.

Discord couldn't make out the emotional conversation between the two ponies over the rumbling blaze, but he quickly understood that he was looking at one of the many outcomes that he had anticipated from the romance between the two. The heartbreaking split.

But it was a lot more serious and dangerous than he had predicted.

It was then that Sunset threw her head back before pointing her horn at Twilight, the magical energy disrupting as it prepared to be released. Discord had less than a second to figure out what was occurring before he desperately tried to minimize the damage. As the ball of destruction was launched at the alicorn, he created a series of shields out of pure chaotic energy, forming around every important target he focused on. Sunset, the surrounding area, and the magic itself were all encased in protective fields, but he focused the greatest amount of energy into protecting Twilight, who was right in the path of devastation. However, in the minuscule time he had, he hadn't managed to create anything close to the strength he needed. The comet broke through it's shield like it was nothing, exploding against Twilight's force field and breaking it like thin glass. While he had prevented Twilight from completely disintegrating, she still took the brunt of the impact, merciless waves of pure heat and force crashing against her, burning and ripping through her body. Twilight may not have had the longevity of Celestia and Luna, but as an Alicorn, her body was extremely durable, which was likely the only thing that allowed her to survive the blast. The remaining shields managed to contain the explosion and reduce the damage it would've done to the library to simply knocking a few shelves over. Sunset wasn't hit nearly as hard as Twilight, but it was hard enough on top of the strain of releasing all that energy that she definitely wasn't going to stay conscious for long.

But Sunset wasn't given the chance to pass out on her own, as it just so happened that a certain Captain Flash Sentry, likely noticing the commotion, had walked in just at the moment that Sunset had snapped. It was fairly obvious what he was thinking when he saw an apparently former criminal 'attack' the Princess, as he quickly rushed around the dazed Sunset before striking her at the back of the head, knocking her out cold.

Within minutes Flash had roused the rest of the Guards to get Twilight medical attention as quickly as possible, as well as bring the unconscious Sunset into custody. It wasn't long before the entirety of Ponyville was aware of what had happened, and Twilight was swiftly transported to Canterlot, accompanied by her devastated friends.

Twilight was now receiving treatment at a secure wing at the Canterlot Hospital, while Sunset was lying unconscious in a cell within the castle, a trial with Celestia awaiting her.

Discord had done little more than watch the situation in secret, a habit that tended to be picked up by near god like being such as him. He had considered telling everyone the truth, but that would inevitably involve mentioning Sunset and Twilight's relationship, something that Twilight had seemed content to keep a secret. And even then, there was the matter of trust. Twilight's friends would probably trust him, but as far as Celestia and the rest of Equestria were concerned, he was still a mischievous and unpredictable spirit who had betrayed them to Tirek only a few months ago. What a coincidence it would be for him to suddenly stick up for a fellow 'reformed' enemy of Equestria. He'd likely be accused of conspiring with Sunset against the Princesses.

And all that aside, proving Sunset's innocence could be dealt with later. A much more pressing matter was at hand...

Discord was currently in a quiet part of the Sweet Apple Acres orchard, which was secluded enough for him to do some serious thinking, something he rarely ever found himself doing. Pacing around in circles, he thought about Twilight's condition and what could be done about it.

It didn't matter how much medical attention Twilight was receiving at the moment. No mortal force in the world, scientific or magical, would save her. The damage done to her body was far too extensive. The only thing keeping her soul bound to the living realm was her alicorn magic, but even that would inevitably wear out. There was only one thing Discord could think of that would save her, and he had spent the whole previous night and morning contemplating it.

His power to bend reality to his will could do many things, and some would say that what he could do was limited only by his imagination. This wasn't entirely true. While he could change things around him into whatever his mind concocted, that was all he mainly did. Change. He could change anything, but creation and destructive were a very different matter.

While his usual antics appeared to create and destroy matter on a whim, from the perspective of chaos itself this was still just him reshaping reality. True creation and destruction, that of life, energy, and the mind, were beyond his power. Or rather, it was beyond his power if he wasn't willing to go through the cost and effort.

His chaos magic could be used as a tool for destruction, such as being used to kill someone, but it wasn't directly responsible for it. Similarly, while his magic could warp a persons mind into various states of reversible madness, permanent damage such as trauma or dementia wasn't directly possible and would require significant... creative efforts.

And creation was a whole other ball game entirely.

Similar to the average pony, he was filled with magical energy, only on an abundantly larger scale. And like the average pony, this magic would drain him were it depleted too much, but restore itself over time, much like natural body energy. However, while this energy served as the source of his chaos powers, it was never truly depleted due to the magic simply being used to just change the state of reality, before it ultimately returned to his body. A sort of magical recycling. But as a certain Alphonse Elric once put it, to obtain, something of equal value must be lost. In the case of restoring mental disorders, or on a larger scale, life itself, this cost was his own energy.

Raising the dead was an act no mortal being would dare attempt for the toll it would take on them. It would almost certainly kill them in the process, and success was essentially impossible. And while Discord was no mortal, the consequences were almost as dire. If he survived, he would at the very least be reduced to an extremely vulnerable state. And while Twilight wasn't exactly dead yet, she was close enough to death for just as much energy to have to be sacrificed in order to restore her.

There were many beings in the world that were just as powerful as Discord. Beings that would definitely be able to sense the shift in power, and use the opportunity to take one of their most prominent threats out of the picture.

And that was where Discord was frustratingly conflicted. Twilight was his friend, something he had very few of. Though she probably didn't realize it, she was his closest friend aside from Fluttershy, and someone he held very dear. And as his friend, he was willing to do almost anything to keep her safe.

But was he really willing to give up his own life for her?

The thought of himself facing death was something that had always seemed like a mere fantasy to him. He was the Spirit of Chaos, a being even great Alicorn's like Celestia and Luna couldn't hope to lay a scratch on. His most prominent threat had been the Elements of Harmony, which could only imprison him in stone. It wasn't until he had been betrayed and depowered by Tirek that he considered death as an actual possibility.

And the thought of an end to his days in this world, and the unknown fate that awaited his soul, it scared him just as it would anyone. Actually, as a relatively new concept to him, it scared him even more.

But this was Twilight. Not only was she his dear friend, but she had done so much for Equestria. She had been an instrumental piece in saving the land from countless threats, and was responsible for helping so many. That wasn't even including all of her friends and family, who would be distraught if she passed. Discord hadn't been responsible for much more than trying to conquer Equestria and betraying it after they had shown him kindness. How could his life have anywhere near the worth of Twilight's?

But he had turned himself around. He now had his own friends who would miss him if he died. And after all he had done to Equestria, he couldn't pass away before he could atone for his sins. Twilight had already done enough to have lived a satisfying life. He still had so much to do before he died.

But if Twilight died, who would be able to prove Sunset's innocence?

But...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As Discord cried out in distraught frustration, burning cracks swiftly spread out from beneath his feet, striking the bases of nearby apple trees and incinerating them.

It took a brief moment for him to regain his composure, but that didn't stop him from being astonished at his actions. In spite of his chaotic nature, he was usually in constant control of his emotions, letting out only his childish happy side most of the time while keeping the rest of his emotions locked away. Only recently had he experienced true sadness a few times since his reformation, and anger was something he never let out. At least not in recent memory.

An outburst like this was... alien to him. As was the confusion and frustration that caused it.

Thinking about and rationalizing the situation wasn't going to solve anything. It certainly hadn't helped in the past couple of hours, and it likely wasn't going to help any time soon. He had to act. Now.

Discord's mind focused on the hospital in Canterlot. He visualized the ward that Twilight was currently being treated in. It's white walls, floor, and ceiling. The metallic bed designed for both comfort and practicality, and the various machines attached to it. The clear window letting sunlight seep into the otherwise dull room and the small table with a vase of bright flowers, creating a comforting atmosphere for patients. He saw all this as it really was, all the way in Canterlot, the watchful eyes of a spirit capturing every detail.

As well as the ward itself, Discord also saw those currently in it. Twilight lay in the bed, surrounded by her closest fiends, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike, each in their own state of despair at the sight of their friend's suffering. It would be best for them to not be aware of his presence, so he decided to take a much less physical state than usual.

Expressing in his mind the desire to enter the Hospital, Discord's body warped into a different state of reality. A sort of space between the physical and magical plains that he quickly traveled through as he made his way across the many miles between Sweet Apple Acres and the Canterlot Hospital. But upon swiftly reaching his destination, Instead of transferring back into the physical realm as he normally would during transportation, he simply stationed himself as a watchful ethereal presence within the room, his presence unfelt by anyone in the ward.

In this state, he had a perfect view of Twilight Sparkle. And it was anything but an appealing sight.

Her devastated body was covered in various pipes and wires connecting from her to the surrounding machines, monitoring her condition and filling her with various fluids in a desperate attempt to save her life. But one look at Twilight could tell anyone that these efforts were futile. Her Lavender fur had severely darkened from her burns, a large portion of it now completely black. The exposed skin that her incinerated fur could no longer cover were various red shades of burnt skin and exposed flesh, along with black charred crust. Beneath the visible layers, he Discord could also sense that most of her organs had been ruptured or crushed. Her face, slightly obscured by an oxygen mask, may have looked asleep in her unconscious state, but behind her closed eyes, Discord could see a deep despair. Whether it was from her physical suffering, her losing Sunset, or both, he couldn't tell.

"How much longer due we have to wait?" Rainbow Dash asked, her voice shaky with frustration and fear.

"The Doctor said that they really aren't sure when she might wake up." Rarity answered, her voice similarly broken, but with a greater hint of depression and sadness in comparison to that of the pegasus. "They can't even be certain if... if she'll even wake up at all..."

Spike whimpered as he sat on a chair next to the bed, his red eyes indicating that he had been doing a lot of crying. Applejack stood next to him, rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him. Though she was the most composed of the group, the way she wore her hat so low hinted that she was trying to hide her own desperate concern for the Alicorn.

Pinkie Pie frantically paced around in a circle, her mane drooping much lower and looking much darker than usual. Her facial expression shifted constantly, as if her emotions were battling over whether she should cry for her friend or try to encourage hope.

Fluttershy simply stared at Twilight with wide eyes that showed little emotion. It was clear that she was struggling with her own thoughts and emotions like Pinkie Pie, but it was a lot harder to figure out behind her almost blank expression.

The sight of his friends in such states of distraught saddened him, but he imagined that his feelings were nothing compared to how they must have been feeling about Twilight themselves.

"Aaaaaah!" Rainbow Dash roared in anger as she kicked the wall behind her. "I can't believe we ever trusted that bitch!"

Pinkie Pie stopped her pacing and looked at Rainbow Dash with disbelief. "Dashie, you can't really think that Sunset was really responsible for this?"

"Don't be stupid Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted at her. "Flash saw her attack Twilight! Who else could have done it?!"

"It has to have been a misunderstanding. Sunset would never do that!"

"What do you know about her?! What did any of us know about her?! Oh yeah, we know that she once tried to kill Twilight! And now she's tried to do it again, and you know what? SHE'S PROBABLY SUCCEEDED!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity cried in disbelief.

At the sound of Rainbow Dash's declaration of Twilight's imminent death, Spike curled up into a ball and began sobbing into his crossed arms. Applejack continued trying to comfort him as she looked up at Rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash, please..." The Farmer said with a calm tone. "We can't be certain that Twilight's going to die. She's receiving the best support Equestria can offer."

"Are you idiots BLIND?!" Rainbow Dash screamed, her eyes tearing up. "Look at her! If she ever wakes up from this, how can we expect her to live that much longer with what's happened to her body!"

"Rainbow Dash, think about what you're saying!" Rarity yelled at the Pegasus, her own eyes welling up.

"What I'm saying is the truth! And ignoring it isn't going to miraculously stop her from dying!"

"We can't just give up on her Dash..." Pinkie pleaded. "We've always managed to make it through impossible odds through miracles, there's no reason for us to lose hope now."

Rainbow Dash glared at Pinkie with disdain. "You're stupid idea's aren't helping anyone, Pinkie. Why don't you just go and take your ignorance out of here..."

"If any here needs to leave, it's you!" Rarity shouted. "The last thing we need right now is someone berating others for caring!"

"Don't you dare imply that I don't care!" Rainbow snapped back.

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!"

Silence hit the room as everyone turned their heads towards Fluttershy, who stared back at them with red eyes full of sadness and anger.

"We're all distressed about what's going to happen to her..." Fluttershy told them all in her usual quiet voice, but with a much more commanding and emotional tone than was normal. "But we can't afford to start breaking down and fighting like a bunch of foals. That's not what she would want."

Her words seeping into everyone within the room, they all began to hang their heads low, silently expressing their shame in losing their composure with each other.

Rainbow Dash looked like she felt the most ashamed. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. You're right. I'm just... scared..."

Fluttershy's expression softened, her more hostile demeanor reverting into a more worried demeanor as she turned to face Twilight again. "I know. We all are."

The way that Fluttershy was acting was baffling to Discord. It was completely unlike her to take control of a situation like that, and he couldn't help feeling a little bit of pride for her. But such a change in someone's normal behavior usually meant that they had been intensely shaken up, and the anguish in her voice as she released her outburst indicated that she had been shaken up severely.

This situation clearly wasn't healthy for her, or any of them for that matter, and it would only get worse when Twilight finally passed. And it was coming. Fast. He focused on the presence of the magic originating from her soul, which was losing stability and leaking from her body as it lost the ability to remain within it. He estimated that she only had an hour or two at most. A few minutes at worst.

That was when he suddenly felt much greater waves of magic being emitted from her body. Some factor had suddenly changed. Either an important part of her body had succumbed to her injuries, or the soul had just given up on trying to live. Whatever it was, it was causing her life to start breaking down fast.

On the physical plain, the signs of this sudden disturbance were in the heart monitor attached to her. The readings started spiking immensely at a greater pace, a loud and haunting rhythmic beeping noise accompanying it.

Spike lifted his head from his arms and stared at the Alicorn with tearful fearing eyes. "Twilight..."

"We need a doctor in here NOW!" Applejack quickly commanded.

Fluttershy swiftly turned to the other Pegasus. "Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash took a moment to take the order in on top of taking in Twilight's sudden change of status to critical.

"Right!" She responded as she turned around and burst threw the door before taking off and shooting down the corridor.

If Discord was in his physical form, his eyes would have widened with horror. He realized that Twilight didn't have anywhere near the amount of time that he initially assumed. At best, she had a minute.

"Darling, stay with us." Rarity desperately told the dying Princess. "We're getting help."

Pinkie's body shook while her face consistently twitched as she struggled to remain optimistic in this dire situation. Spike's claws fearfully gripped the blanket covering Twilight while his tears streamed down his body. Applejack continued trying to physically comfort him while staring at the heart monitor with the same fear.

Discord himself gave the monitor almost all of his attention, and caught every detail of the line going flat as the rhythmic beeping became a single continuous noise that broke the hearts of anyone who heard it with it's message.

Twilight Sparkle was dead.

"TWILIGHT!" Spike cried as he shook her body. "TWILIGHT, PLEASE..."

Pinkie Pie dropped to the floor as her fur darkened and her mane deflated completely. Rarity fell beside her and embraced her as she began breaking down herself.

Applejack, her hoof still on Spike, lowered her head so that her hat would obscure her face, but it did nothing to hide the tears leaking from the shadows.

Fluttershy gazed at her dead friend with an expression of disbelief that slowly twisted into pure unfiltered rage.

"I swear..." The Pegasus whispered in a shaky but venomous voice. "If I ever find her..."

The scene before him allowed Discord to fully understand what consequences Twilight's death would have on the world. Fluttershy's subtle declaration of her desire for revenge against Sunset was all he needed to imagine how this was going to affect her as a pony. Though the others didn't show it as much, he could see that their futures were going to be similarly filled with a lot of pain. This was especially true for Spike, who had essentially just lost his family. And he could only imagine how Rainbow Dash was going to react once she found out.

He thought of Sunset, and how no matter how much he could try pleading her innocence, the grief brought on by Twilight's death would cause those close to her to seek something to blame, which included Celestia, the one who would ultimately decide her fate.

He couldn't just watch anymore. It was time to act.

Shifting his presence into the physical plain of reality, Discord's body materialized within the ward in a brief flash of bright white light. Due to his quite literally flashy entrance, he quickly garnered the attention of the grieving ponies and dragon.

"Discord?" Fluttershy said in confusion through her broken voice. "What are you..."

"I'm doing what I should have done the moment this happened." Discord answered her.

He approached Twilight's body. Though her life force had left it, it hadn't exactly disappeared. He just had to pull the magic back in and use his own life force to fill in the blanks and stitch it back together. Though it may sooner or later result in his own death, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't take the chance. It was what a friend was supposed to do.

His right paw stretched out and touched Twilight's forehead. Everyone else in the room looked at him, a look of sadness, confusion, and a glimmer of hope on all of their faces. It was his last chance to turn back.

But as he looked down upon Twilight's face, despite how lifeless it was, he could still see the pain behind her closed eyes. This wasn't how she was meant to die.

"Your time hasn't come yet, Twilight Sparkle." He told her softly. "I beckon you to return."

Closing his eyes, Discord focused on channeling his magical energy into her. He immediately felt his body draining as the point where his paw touched Twilight's head began to glow white. As he felt his own energy transferring into her, he could also sense the invisible traces of Twilight's own life being pulled from the surrounding magical space back into her body.

The four Ponies and Dragon present in the ward watched in awe as the light spread across Twilight's body, obscuring her completely in a bright white glow.

Discord's instincts told him to stop as he felt the strain building up on his body and soul. An almost painful weakness spread through him as he continued to lose his power. The effort to remain conscious even became a struggle, but he couldn't let himself stop. He was so close to saving her.

Giving it one last push, he felt the last of the necessary energy leave his body and enter the Alicorn. He felt a light feeling in his head as he removed his paw from Twilight's, and he felt himself fall to the ground.

But the ground never came. Instead, he felt himself being caught midway through his fall. Looking to each of his sides, he realized he was being held up by Fluttershy and Rarity on each of his sides.

His body was filled with a sensation he hadn't felt since Tirek stole his power months before. He felt tired, weak...

Mortal.

The white light from Twilight's bed faded, revealing the Princess lying in it as she had been before, but with the key difference of all her injuries being gone, as if they never happened at all. Her burns had vanished, the exposed flesh sealed behind her restored patches of skin. Her fur had returned to it's saturated lavender colour. Her Mane had even grown back as well as recovered from the singeing. In fact, it was actually noticeably longer than it had been before.

And when Discord saw the Alicorn gasp for breath as her eyes flung open, the indescribable joy he felt in his heart told him that the consequences he felt were more than worth it.

After staring at Twilight in complete bewilderment for a few brief seconds the others all leapt onto the Princess with tearful embraces. Unfortunately, this also included the two who were supporting him. And while his slumping to the ground was quite uncomfortable for him, he completely understood that seeing your close friend get resurrected would probably make you forget about anything else.

"TWILIGHT!" Spike cried, tears of joy replacing his old tears. "I... we thought..."

"We thought we lost you darling." Rarity finished for him, as she wiped her own tears away.

Unsurprisingly, Twilight looked extremely confused at the all the affection she was suddenly receiving after just coming to. Feeling her probably dazed head, she removed the oxygen mask and stared at it in confusion.

"Wha..." She mumbled as her brain kick started. "What happened?"

"Twilight..." Said Fluttershy, who had started crying herself. "This may sound... completely insane, but..."

"TWILIGHT!"

Discord felt a gust of forceful wind hit him as Rainbow Dash flew into the room and joined in on the great collective hug currently crushing the newly resurrected Alicorn. Looking back at the door, Discord saw that a Doctor and Two nurses were standing at the doorway.

"Impossible..." The Doctor said with a baffled expression. "Last I checked she was in critical condition, and that was just a few minutes ago..."

Upon simultaneously realizing that Twilight was squealing uncomfortably underneath the mass of Ponies collectively embracing her, they all backed off to give her some room to breath.

"Could someone... please explain to me what's going on?" Twilight asked through her heavy breathing. "Where am I? What..."

"YOU DIED!" Pinkie interrupted her with a yell, her mood having quickly shifted to her usual cheerful self in true Pinkie Pie fashion. "You were dead but then Discord touched you with his glowing paw hand thing and then you weren't dead but you were fully alive instead of being undead like a Zombie which is great because if you were a Zombie then we would have to kill you to prevent the Equestria Zombie apocalypse which would really suck because you already died so that would be your second death and your first death was bad enough so I can't even imagine how depressing it would be to experience both of your deaths but that doesn't matter cause' YOU'RE ALIVE! AND YOU'RE NOT A ZOMBIE!"

Twilight spent a few seconds staring at Pinkie while somehow looking even more confused than she was before.

"Um... could you run that by me again?" She asked as politely as her dazed mind could.

Rainbow Dash looked similarly confused. "Yeah, I kinda lost it at the part where you said she died, which I'm pretty sure I misheard because normally people don't get told that they died. For obvious reasons."

Pinkie looked like she was preparing to tell the whole story again, but instead found her mouth blocked by Applejack's hoof.

"What Pinkie Pie was trying to tell you was... as hard as it is to believe... you actually died." The farmer explained to Twilight. "That is before Discord..."

As Applejack reached the limit of how much she understood of the situation, she turned her head to the Draconequus, everyone else doing the same as they began to fully comprehend what he had just done.

"How... did you you do that?" Rarity asked. "Bringing someone back... that shouldn't be possible."

"Damn straight it shouldn't be possible!" The Doctor exclaimed as he approached Discord. "Why was I not informed that someone could apparently raise the dead! And return them to peak physical condition in the process! Do you have any idea how easy that would make my job?"

Discord groaned as he rubbed his head in response to a quickly growing headache. "Sorry, but I'm afraid this is just a one off. The strain this puts on me makes doing this on a regular basis basically impossible. Trying this even once within the next few years would probably kill me in the process."

"You mean... you risked your own life to do this?" Fluttershy asked.

"Of course I did. I may not have the most glamorous track record when it comes to deeds good and bad, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to sacrifice myself for my friends."

"That's... really something I didn't expect from you." Rainbow Dash admitted. "But we can't thank you enough. You have no idea how much this means to us."

"Do you think I would have done this if I didn't know how much it meant to you all?" Discord responded. "I did say I was willing to sacrifice myself for my friends. As in plural. Don't think that I didn't consider you all when I did this."

"Regardless, Dash's point still stands." Applejack told him. "Thank you."

Before Discord could tell them that he appreciated the gesture, the Doctor put himself between him and the others, a look of interested curiosity on his face.

"You're certain you wouldn't be able to do this again? This could be a major breakthrough in magical medical care." He explained.

Discord found the Doctor's intrusiveness quite aggravating, not helped by the pain he was feeling from his previous action. The Doctor crept backwards fearfully in the face of Discord's annoyed glare.

"I already told you, it's a one off." The Draconequus growled. "Now, while I appreciate the treatment you've given my friend before I revived her, I'd prefer it if you didn't pester me after I just drained myself of the majority of my life energy. Now please get out of my face before I mess up yours, Bill Cipher style."

"OF COURSE!" He squeaked in fearful response before running towards the door. "Come Nurses, we have other patients to treat. The normal way. Without resurrecting them. Resurrection is unnatural anyway. We don't wasn't any of that witchcraft in our Hospital am I right?"

The two nurses chased after the fleeing Doctor, leaving Discord and his friends in peace.

"So..." Twilight began. "How exactly did I... die?"

It was evidently something she found strange to say.

"You mean you can't remember?" Spike asked.

"No..." Twilight's eyes squinted as she looked like she was struggling to remember. "I last remember... me... and... Sunset..."

Her eyes widened.

"SUNSET!" She cried as the memories came flooding back to her. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

Author's Note:

Fun fact: I was originally going to continue this chapter by having Discord explain the situation to Twilight before teleporting her to the Canterlot Castle and blacking out as he watched Twilight fly away to save Sunset. But, I figured this made for a niftier cliffhanger, and I've honestly lost count of how many Blackout cliffhangers I've already used.

Once again, I apologize for this chapter being so late. On top of this being generally hard to write because of the new character perspective I've also started working permanently at my family's pub, which will likely unfortunately affect my writing schedule in the future.

Despite me thinking of this chapter like a year ago, I never realized before I actually started writing it that I would basically have to make up my own rules of how magic works as well as Discord's in particular. It's basically resulted in me bullshitting my way through this chapter. But as I once said in some random comment "The world is full of Deus Ex Machina's ripe for pulling out of your ass" (That's right ladies, I'm a writer, artist and genius philosopher).

As always, please comment and critique so I can improve for future chapters and stories.

Also new profile pic. Yay.

Comments

[Mellow]

I don't understand how you have perceived discord's powers in this way. In the show he is shown to corrupt ponies' minds at will and make things appear out of thin air. He also seems to give life to inanimate objects and be able to do pretty much anything he wants.

[Starlight Nova]

Wasn't this story written by somebody else first?

[BrightKnight 42]

Noooo!!!!! Damn you Cliffhangers!!!!!!!

[Ferhog]

7453244 As I said in the Author's, I found it hard to write this chapter this chapter since Discord's powers and limitations have never been fully explained and I wanted to make bringing someone back to life seem like a big deal and not a complete Deus Ex Machina (though ultimately, it pretty much still is). I Probably should have stated in the chapter that the way we've seen him affect peoples minds is just more 'change', such as 'changing' Big Macs mental state to that of a Dog. As for bringing objects to life, I honestly forgot about that. I guess you could explain it as the since of Chaos magic itself controlling them as Chaos magic's chaotic instability is almost like it's alive.

Again, I just wanted to write drama in a chapter featuring a complex character I hadn't written before, I expect a lot of plot holes to be pointed out.

[Ferhog]

7453502 Not that I'm aware of. There is a story Titled 'If She Were The Sun and Her The Moon' that was inspired by this, but otherwise I haven't tried copying the concept for this story or any individual storylines from any other stories, nor are there any that I know have copied this one. If there's any scenes in this that match other works I promise it's not deliberate. Trust me, I'd probably be uploading a lot faster if I was copying people.

[Ferhog]

7453550
Hey, if Voltron's going to leave he hanging, I'm taking you all with me.

[tvo770]

cdn.meme.am/instances/55398348.jpg

[tvo770]

Discord was currently in a quiet part of the Sweet Apple Acres orchard, which was secluded enough for him to do some serious thinking, something he rarely ever found himself doing. Pacing around in circles, he thought about Twilight's condition and what could be done about it.

RIP Thinking Tree

[Ferhog]

7455980
How do we know Sweet Apple Acres ISN'T the thinking tree? I mean, have YOU ever seen them in the same place at the same time?