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1. What Happened and What Didn't7,563 words
2. What Happened and What Didn't pt. 27,569 words
3. Strange Magic6,673 words
4. Truth or Draconequuses7,922 words
5. Twilight's Plan4,970 words
6. Celestia's Reaction8,863 words
7. Peculiar Sorcery5,479 words
8. A Thunder in Our Hearts7,658 words
9. Slipping6,563 words
10. In Control7,229 words
11. Desperate Souls5,120 words
12. The Twilight Fantastic6,989 words
13. Coda2,379 words

4. Truth or Draconequuses

“Spike, where was that one book on Sleipnirnian Symbology I brought from Canterlot?” Twilight asked absentmindedly as she searched the lower shelves. Oddly enough some pony had not filed it under ‘S’. When the young dragon didn’t answer, she called again.

“Spike, Spike?” She finally looked up from her desired task to actually look around, and that was when she remembered that he had gone out. That was a few hours ago, she would think he’d at least come to check in every now and then, although he wasn’t one to take many breaks when helping Rarity at her shop. At least… that’s where Twilight thought he had said he was going to do today.

She found it in the same box with the other various books she had borrowed from the Canterlot library for a bit of light reading and research, pulling it out with her magic to bring over to a comfy chair. It was only when she got all the way to the other side of the room that she realized the book had not followed her.

Strange, she hadn’t felt any loss in her magical grip, she looked around the floor but couldn’t see where she might have dropped it. A retreading of her hoof steps yielded nothing either. She had halted the spell in order to search for it, so it must have dropped to the floor somewhere. Twilight considered possibly firing up the spell again even if she could no longer see the book’s whereabouts.

Her horn glowed magenta and she searched the room with her eyes for an idea of the book’s location. Still though, she couldn’t see it. Suddenly though, and from seemingly out of nowhere, it appeared in her usual magical aura, floating along horizontally towards where she had chosen to sit.

A bit confused, Twilight approached her floating book with some caution, and only relinquished her hold upon it after she had properly sat down. When she ended the spell however, the book just appeared to pop right out of existence again. The unicorn blinked, getting a touch annoyed now about this very odd and quite unnatural occurrence. It couldn’t have anything to do with her magic, it had been working perfectly fine just a few minutes ago. She had performed that basic levitation spell hundreds of times before.

Re-igniting the spell for a third time, she saw the telltale sign of a magenta glow directly above her, at which point the book proceeded to drop directly on top of her head. Her ears lowered as she pulled the tome off her face, now looking it over for any signs that the book itself had any sort of magical enchantment that might explain its behavior.

It didn’t seem particularly magical, nothing that would cause that to happen anyway.

She had hoped to try and analyze the Sleipnir rune symbols she had found in the Statera Equus. It was busy work and she knew it, something to keep her mind occupied while in the midst of waiting to hear back from the other libraries, and until she heard word from any of her traveling friends.

Of course, Twilight’s first instinct when anything this odd or out of the norm occurred was to find Discord and see if he knew anything about it. But Twilight still didn’t know where Discord was, and it wouldn’t be fair to assume that he would know anything about it either. It most likely could be connected to the fluctuations in the magical field she had been spotting, and this might be proof of her findings that she could actually show some pony.

The unicorn began an impromptu experiment. She picked up several books one at a time, began to magically call them to her, and then watched as each one would disappear before they reached her. Each time was a bit different, she recorded on a makeshift chart that it was always around but not precisely the midway point between herself and wherever the book happened to be.

As each disappearance was slightly different, the same went for each re-appearance. When one book fell down from the ceiling upon reentry, one came falling up through the floor, and another flew in sideways, and yet another was found inside of another book. The strangest one was when one simply popped up in Twilight’s mouth. She spit it out and then copied it down.

Another hour passed as Twilight busied herself with this new task, and when her experiment with the levitation spell grew even but still inconclusive, she moved on to other basic spells.

She tried an adhesive spell, gluing one item to another. Soon the floor around her hooves was littered with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (she had glued the bread together) a hairbrush glued to a tea cup, a tea cup stuck to its saucer, and various other odds and ends connected solely by her magic.

She noticed that they too had trouble with their basic functions. Though they adhered to each other, it wasn’t for long. It did not take long before each item fell from its partner as if they were repelled by magnets.

When Spike finally did come back home, Twilight almost didn’t notice until he asked about why all the junk was flying around and being paired up.

“Oh, Spike there you are,” she said with surprise, dropping the pair of socks she had been fusing together. “I… was doing a little experiment.”

“I see,” he said awkwardly, now starting to help her pick up all the stuff. “Can I ask what for, or do I even want to know?”

“It’s just… something strange happening I noticed when performing some of my regular spells today,” she said as she observed the socks shoot away from each other within her magical grasp. “I don’t know if it’s only me or what, but the spells are sort of… acting up.”

Spike blinked at her, pausing in his attempt to pick up the socks. It might have been Twilight’s imagination, but Spike looked as if he might have actually seen something like this of his own. If that was the case, what did he know then?

“You wouldn’t have happened to have seen anything strange around here, would you?” she asked in only a semi leading way. She shouldn’t assume that he might have known something, even if the assurance that followed sounded a tad rehearsed.

“Huh, no. I can’t say that I have. Weird stuff going on? No idea what you mean.”

“Uh huh,” Twilight raised an eyebrow but didn’t question him further. “I think I’ll try another simple spell, see what I come up with. It might do to attempt them in other places around Ponyville, this point could be the problem. Why that might be, I have no idea though.”

“Uh, okay, you do that Twi,” Spike said a little quickly. “I’ll just stay here and tidy up for you.”

“You sure you don’t mind?” the unicorn asked, not acknowledging that his tone now made her think Spike wanted her out of the library, but not in an unkind way. More like he wanted the conversation to end for some reason.

“No, I don’t mind. Maybe you should try the main square, lots of hoof traffic but - I dunno - it could be a good magical hub or something.”

“Yeah… I’ll do that,” she said as she was being passive aggressively nudged out the door by the dragon who had only just stepped inside. That was a bit more than suspicious, but Twilight figured she had time to ask him about it later, she was chasing a new and much more fascinating oddity. Certainly something that could be of concern to the princesses.

Twilight saw Rarity trotting elegantly past the square as she continued her experiments. She had drawn a bit of attention from passers by, but only Pinkie Pie and the Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed particularly interested in what she was doing.

Interestingly enough, the town square had been a premium spot for researching this phenomena as the exact same effects as in the library were happening here as well. The experiments were yielding a bit slower results here - the responses to each spell were somehow slower than in the library - but still the objects levitated disappeared, then reappeared in another unpredictable way.

Pinkie and the fillies were making a game of trying to guess when the objects that disappeared would re-appear, hopping excitedly when one of them guessed correctly.

“Ooh, ooh, Twilight! Do it again, what else can we use? Apple Bloom, give her your bow!” Pinkie cheered and tried to snatch the filly’s bow, Apple Bloom swatting her away and clamping one hoof down over her head to keep her bow secure and away from the pink pony.

Twilight rolled her eyes but continued.

It was only Rarity’s comment about Spike that caused her to halt.

“So Twilight, have you seen Spike today by any chance, or has he been assisting you with these… experiments all day?”

“Huh, what do you mean Rarity, hasn’t he been with you all day?” she asked as some pony’s horse shoe plopped onto her head. “At least, that’s what he told me he was doing.”

The white unicorn shook her head. “No, I believe he made plans to visit me today, but he never showed up. I assumed that he had decided to stay with you.”

That brought back Spike’s earlier behavior into a new light. Maybe her little dragon friend was actually hiding something after all.

“Here Twilight, I have a dozen cupcakes you can try and do that thingy with!” Pinkie called, running back to where Twilight was working on her spells with a box of cupcakes bouncing atop her back.

“I wouldn’t normally allow such a waste of perfectly scrumptious bakery goodness, but if it’s for the good of magic science-y stuff, then here ya go.” The mare smiled as she passed them over to her friend, evidently delighted to be helping ‘do the science’.

“And it doesn’t hurt that this is fun to watch stuff disappear seemingly out of the fabric of reality?” she smiled back with a sly edge to her question.

Pinkie was not embarrassed in the least, she nodded emphatically. “Oh yeah, there’s definitely that.”

Again, as each cupcake was floated by Twilight's magic, it didn't take long before it phased right out of existence. Soon the entire box had been disappeared away to who knows where, and Pinkie sat near Twilight, holding her mouth open in the hope that they might re-appear right above her.

It was taking the cupcakes longer than any of the other items to come back, though, something that Twilight found odder still. She was just jotting down in her notes the time when something cold and hard thunked her in the head.

It dropped to the ground and rolled away from Twilight, and she stared at it quizzically. It wasn't a cupcake, but it was recognizable. It was a small, compacted ball of ice, but Twilight wasn't sure where it had come from. Looking around though, she noticed a few more fall from the sky.

“Wait,” she said, to herself and to the ponies gathered. “Is that--- is that hail?”

As if waiting for her to ask, a few more pieces of hail came sailing down from the sky, landing with a bounce on the ground and grass surrounding them.

“That's funny,” Pinkie Pie said. “I don't see any weather ponies up there. I'd ask them about this if they were there.”

“But it's autumn, the weather ponies would know better than to schedule hail outside of the summer.”

“Iunno, maybe they got confused?”

“I guess it isn't completely unheard of, but it certainly doesn't feel like summer weather,” Rarity chimed in.

But Twilight considered that it was explainable, if a little odd. It wasn't at the level of this strangeness going on with the magical fields. If this was connected to the strangeness in any way, it at least was something minor.

That was when it started raining fire, too.

“Okay ya got me. I can't explain that,” Pinkie said as they all ran for cover. The fire floated down in tiny flakes like snow, and mixed with the hail it was fascinating to see them interact. Fascinating, but much too dangerous for any pony to be out in.

The Cakes' bakery was the closest building, and so Twilight and her friends plus the Crusaders all trotted inside. Thankfully Twilight didn't observe any of the houses or buildings catching fire, but as she watched the ice and fire falling down upon the town, she knew there was no doubt this was connected to the anomalies.

That and she also couldn't leave the town to visit Cadance.

“Well, If she's willing – and if this clears up – maybe Cady can come to me,” she mumbled to herself, wishing Spike was here so she could have him jot down a quick letter for her sister-in-law.

“Pinkie, do you have any paper for me to send a letter to Cadance?”

“Sure! I've got all sorts of paper!” Pinke said, holding out several colors of paper in various thickness, Twilight assumed this was for any crafting emergencies.

“Cadance? What about Cadance, dear?” Rarity asked, her ears perking up at the name.

“Cadance wanted to come visit me for some reason out of the blue. I sent a letter saying that I'd go to see her instead, but now that this is happening I don't think I can leave Ponyville until I've figured out what's causing all of this.”

“Oh well, that's--- lovely, darling,” Rarity said stiltedly. “Was that the entirety of her message, she didn't mention anything else?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her. “No, just about visiting. Why?”

“Rarity waved a hoof in her direction. “Oh, no reason. No reason at all. You know that I'll be off to Canterlot for fashion week soon, so I'll probably miss her visit.”

“Okay...”

“You know, I do hope that Spike isn't out in this, wherever he is,” Rarity added as a change of subject.

Twilight didn't know what that was about, but she nodded in agreement. “I hope not, too. I hope he's okay.”

It took only a day for Spike's letter to reach Discord. He wondered if that owl of Twilight's had some homing pigeon in him, or if maybe he could sense Discord's own magical signature.

At first he had thought the bird was another flying toaster for him to fix, but when he had flown right up to Discord and dropped a letter addressed to him in scratchy claw writing, it intrigued him about as much as as it filled him with dread. Could this be it, the notice he had been anticipating with some level of anxiety, that other shoe about to drop?

But no, this wasn't an official summons from the princesses. If it had been, Celestia would have sent it through her own magic and not through Twilight's owl. It was from the Ponyboy, asking Discord to come to the library as soon as he got the message, and that he camouflage himself again if he wanted to avoid being seen.

Discord pondered momentarily if this might be some sort of ruse by his dragon friend to ambush him into seeing Twilight again, something he had managed to avoid every time he had popped in for a second to check on things (because of course he had to).

After a few minutes of weighing his options, Discord figured he should give Spike the benefit of the doubt. He wouldn't stay long though, if this wasn't about all of the strange occurrences and his efforts to fix them without detection, he could only imagine the commotion if his influence caused something to happen in Ponyville, the one place he was trying his best not to influence.

The library was empty, although not a huge surprise once Discord noticed that Spike had flipped the open sign over to closed. He wondered how long Twilight had been gone, and when she would return. Best to make this quick at any rate.

“Oh, great, perfect timing,” he heard the dragon entering from the kitchen. “I just got Twilight to step out for a while. She's still researching the fluctuations going on with the magic fields, so that oughtta keep her busy for a little while.”

Discord floated above the sitting area to give Spike more room to manuver, for it would seem that Twilight had either been doing some serious researching, or had just decided to re-shelve nearly all the books in the library in arbitrary stacks located all around the main floor.

“I started heading towards your castle in the forest earlier today, thinking you might be there, but then I figured you might already have popped in and I might miss you,but then Twilight was here. So long story short, I thought you'd want to talk about this.”

“How could I when I was so surprised to get your letter, especially from Twilight’s owl, I thought you didn’t get on with him well,” Discord said.

“I guess we’ve sorta made up, or I just decided to accept him. He’s not actually around much so Twilight wouldn’t miss him,” Spike answered, now holding a scroll of his own in his claws.

Discord eyed the scroll with some caution, uncertain if that was indeed what he thought it was.

“You remember about a month ago, before you disappeared you came here and asked me to watch out for any letters coming in from Princess Celestia for Twilight? You asked me that if anything came through my flame mail to hide it.”

“If I recall, you told me you would never do such a thing, that it would be a betrayal of their trust in you to relay their correspondence and something-something, Dragon Code.”

“That’s right,” Spike said, still holding the scroll in his hand, which Discord noticed had a still-unbroken seal. “This came in yesterday, it's the first thing to come through me for Twilight in a month. But you already know that, don’t you?”

Discord feigned ignorance, but of course he did know. It was too much to hope that Ponyboy hadn’t noticed his periodic dropping in every now and then, just to check on things in the library and on his friends without the bother of them actually knowing about it. If they knew there would be questions, and he hadn’t avoided Ponyville this long for nothing.

Every time he’d noticed something out of place and had to adjust it he couldn’t resist the pull to come by and check, because there was a chance that some pony had seen him, and relayed that information back to Celestia, and she would waste no time sending word to Twilight. Discord had asked Spike for this favor knowing that he would probably say no, but that wouldn’t stop the spirit of chaos from taking things into his own appendages if he could.

“I haven’t given it to Twilight yet, and I haven’t read it yet either. But if you’re going through this much trouble to keep it from her, I guess it has something to do with you.”

“A fair assumption,” Discord answered, coming to more fully understand why Spike had summoned him. “Is there a reason you haven’t given that to her yet, Oh Faithful Assistant?”

“Because I figured that whatever this is about, it has to be something you should tell Twilight yourself. Something she shouldn’t have to hear about second hoof.”

It wasn’t something Discord wanted her to hear about at all, if he could avoid it. Although again, he knew that he couldn’t keep things from reaching her for long, and yes if he absolutely had to have her in the loop, he would prefer to be the one to explain things, so he could maybe spin it his own way.

He wondered how much – if anything – he should relay to Spike.

“I... may or may not have come across some things in my travels that could be helpful to that research of hers.”

“Really? That's great!” Spike said excitedly, “Twilight will be thrilled.”

“Not so much,” he shook his head. “Unless she is still angry with me about the past month of no contact. It might make things easier for me to go.”

“Go, go where?” Spike asked.

Discord indicated upwards towards the ceiling, which apparently took the dragon a moment to register.

“Wait, like, leave-leave?”

Discord nodded, easing his way into revealing what he knew to be mostly-pretty much undeniably true to even just his young dragon friend was proving to be a challenge, he couldn't handle hearing or seeing the Ponyboy's judgment.

“I have reason to believe that some of what's happening may actually be... partially my fault.”

“How big a part?”

“All of it.”

“What? That's crazy,” Spike started to say, clearly wanting to be reassuring of things for him as a friend, but then the small dragon grew thoughtful, as if he were putting a puzzle together inside his head.

“Actually, I hate to say it, but that does kinda make sense.”

“Thank you for the reassurance, Ponyboy,” he grumbled.

“Sorry, but I mean, if you really think this has something to do with you, you should tell Twilight.”

“And for the obvious advice.”

“Seriously, Discord. If that's what this letter says, then there's no question that you should talk about it with her. Because I'm going to give it to her no matter what. I've held onto it long enough already. My conscience can't take much more of this .”

Your conscience? He thought, but didn't voice his thought aloud. He was still appreciative that his friend would suspend his own little code of ethics just to buy him more time.

“You know, if you wanted Twilight not to figure things out the last thing you should have done was disappear on her,” Spike said. “I mean, she’s been trying like crazy to distract herself, and one of the things that helps her feel more in control when things are stressing her out is researching. She’s been looking even more into what happened with Cloudsdale, and it won’t be long until she puts all the pieces together and traces things back to you. I mean, I’m not even a unicorn, and even I noticed that more weird things happened around Ponyville when you were here than when you weren’t.”

“Don't you think I know that?” Discord said,not able to hide the edge in his voice now. “I don't suppose you have any ideas about breaking such a thing to her, do you?”

“I'm sorry, Discord, I don't,” Spike answered, looking legitimately sorry,which Discord also appreciated. “But you might want to figure something out,because here she comes.”

At those words Discord momentarily lost his aerial balance and slammed to the floor. Popping back up into a standing position, he stared down accusingly at the dragon.

“I thought you said there was time!”

“I thought there was,” Spike said. “But this is good, you can tell her now. Just do it quick, like ripping off a bandage.”

For the briefest moment, Discord considered just popping out of the library entirely and hiding out somewhere remote, like the moon. But suddenly she was there talking to Spike and before he could do anything her eyes had landed on him.

“Discord?” Her voice was a mixture of questioning surprise that Discord took as a good sign. She wasn't glaring at him or screaming,in any case.

Spike then turned back to him as well,feigning surprise. “What, Discord? What are you doing here? This is totally unexpected!”

Discord certainly hoped that Spike didn't think he should get an award for that performance.

“What's going on here?” Twilight asked. “Spike, first you act weird all day and actually stand Rarity up,and now you're suddenly back?” She ended her sentence with looking at Discord.

“All good questions,” Spike answered, thankfully pulling the unicorn's attention back onto himself. “And I think some of the answers might be in here,” he held out the scroll for Twilight to take.

Great, Discord thought. He'd just finished having this conversation with Spike, and now was the moment he had been dreading, having to have it with Twilight.

Twilight took it, but halted in opening it to look back to Discord. “When were you going to let me know you were back?”

“I only just returned,” he said, still searching her expression for any signs of anger. Instead he just saw more astonishment than anything.

“And your first stop was to go and talk to Spike?” she asked.

At this, Spike piped up.”I sent him a letter, so that's why he came to find me first. It was because I got that scroll. I know I should have given it to you the second I got it but I didn't and I am so sorry.”

His apology appeared to fall on deaf ears, however. For Twilight was still zeroing in on the draconequus.

“Wait, so if Spike hadn't written to you, how much longer would you have been gone, or would you have come back at all?”

Yup,there was definitely some anger rising up in that last sentence, fortunately – or not,depending on your point of view – it was Ponyboy making another interruption that quelled it.

“I think you should just open the scroll, Twi.”

A little frustratedly, Twilight looked from Discord to Spike and eventually complied. She broke the seal and unrolled the paper. As her eyes scanned the writing Discord felt a pang of anxiety flair up, something he stamped down on hard so as not to be noticed.

“It just says that I'm being summoned to Canterlot to 'be briefed about the goings-on around Equestria and discuss options for solutions',” she lowered the paper and glanced between the males. “Wait, there are 'goings-on' happening outside of Ponyville? Since when?”

“To be fair, you have been holed-up here in the library for the past month,” Spike said “But it's okay, because Discord here is going to fill you in.” He ribbed Discord in the side (or as close to it as he could get, being his height) and gave him a nod of encouragement like he thought this lead-in was being helpful.

Discord allowed him to continue thinking that, “Thank you, Ponyboy, but now that I'm here, isn't there somewhere you need to be?” It was bad enough to have been tricked into this surprise reunion with Twilight, Discord did not wish to have an audience for this particular conversation.

Thankfully Spike received the hint, bowing out through the front door with a thumbs-up from behind Twilight so only Discord could see. Discord assumed that was the dragon wishing him luck, and this gesture he actually appreciated. He could use all the luck he could get.

“Any other time I would be giving you a lecture about why it is considered rude to leave for an entire month after an argument without at least saying goodbye, but it has been a while and we've just had a major fluctuation in our magical fields and it sounds like the princesses have finally started seeing what I've been analyzing. So if you could provide any information that would be enough to make me forget about it.”

“I missed you, too, Ms. Sparky,” Discord said, catching the hidden meaning behind that mini rant.

She smirked momentarily but quickly turned back to a no-nonsense demeanor. “I don't know if you saw it – and I'm not saying you had anything to do with it – but lately there have been some strange things happening with my magic, and with magic around Ponyville in general, it's been escalating even more since I saw the constellation fall. And just today, we had some crazy weather that seemed like it was out of some ancient curse tome or something.” She indicated the window where a few bits of hail were dropping down mixed with what looked like flakes of ember.

Wonderful, something else he would have to take care of. With a snap of his claw he could see the sky already begin to clear, Twilight not seeming to notice, thankfully. She was off searching for some book or another.

“What was that?” she asked, turning a few seconds after hearing his snap, to which he feigned ignorance.

“No idea,” he murmured, halting at what he should say next, how much exactly to reveal. “But you were saying about the strangeness happening?”

“Yes, and I was wondering that since you're here, you might be able to tell me if you saw or sensed anything out of the ordinary while you were traveling?”

“Wanting to hear all about the trip you missed out on?” he asked. “I'm afraid I don't have a slide-show to show you.”

“Discord, I know it's hard for you, but be serious, please. For just a moment,” she pleaded patiently.

Well, he supposed that was as good a place as any to begin this revelation.

“---Yes,” he conceded , pulling this confession out like it pained him just to say it. He was still attempting to find a way of saying it without saying it. “Unfortunately there have been instances similar to what you've described occurring at every stop I made.”

“So, it is spreading,” Twilight stated. “But, how come I'm only hearing about them now, hasn't any pony else been seeing these instances?”

“I was doing a bit of community service,” Discord said. “Cleaning up after them so as not to incite any panic.” That was true enough, but veering dangerously close to the entire truth for Discord's liking.

“You were?” she asked, sounding a bit more surprised than as was probably warranted. “I--- that's commendable of you, Discord. Thank you.”

Commendable, him? Right, Discord hid his guilt well, but that didn't stop it from nagging at him.

“I thought that after Tartarus was sealed again, the excess chaotic energy would die off. I assumed its weakening seals and the leaking of that energy had been the cause of what happened with Cloudsdale...” Twilight trailed off, setting her mind in motion with her best and most precocious deduction face.

That face typically never failed to bring a smile onto his own, and Discord usually got a very large kick out of watching her try and put the pieces of some problem together. This time however, his amusement was tainted by that bothersome conscience he'd somehow managed to grow.

New as he was to it, Discord couldn't get past the guilt that thing was emanating from somewhere in his core. Because of course he knew why things weren't getting better, why the chaos hadn't ebbed.

it is only going to get worse the longer you stay there, Mort's words echoed in his mind, only making the feeling intensify.

Discord supposed that was the magic of guilt, it squeezed a being from the inside with bad feelings until they had no choice but to do the right thing. No wonder his conscience so often sounded in his mind like Twilight herself (when it didn't have the voice of that ponyboy Spike).

He wouldn't tell her though, he couldn't. If she knew that he really was the reason behind all of this misfortune happening around Equestria – whether or not he was doing it on purpose – it wouldn't take Twilight long at all to come the the exact same conclusion that Discord had about the only way to solve every pony's problems.

The unicorn just continued flipping, five books all going at once in her magical aura. Her face intent as she swept quickly from one tome to the next. The same desperation Discord recalled that had colored her features when every pony – including himself – was in danger now finding its way back there. That did not do much to help his guilt situation.

Hadn't he already offered a way out, even if she had not known that was what he was doing? And why should she, he didn't want her to know. Discord had – in a way that made perfect sense to him – made it known that he was willing to go. Sure, he'd done it in such a way that Twilight had eventually concluded that he was just goading her into a response. Which was exactly what Discord wanted her to do.

He had wanted her to say it, because he didn't want to leave her... here. Didn't want to leave here. Or both, it seemed that was muddled now to Discord, one was intrinsically linked to the other. Perhaps in fishing for her validation that she did want him to stay with her, Discord was also seeking a reason to stay that would make endangering the lives of every being on Equus somehow okay.

Watching her continue to search for an answer that he knew he could just so easily give her, his Twilight Spikele of a conscience's chipping away at him finally seemed to make a crack. It compelled him to say something... but Discord still wanted to refrain from stating it outright. That wasn't his style.

“Didn't I say that my leaving would have been better for everyone?”

This caught Twilight's attention, her magic lapsing for the briefest second as the books all made a slight bob in mid air.

“Yes...but I don't see how that is relevant.”

“I gave you an out. I offered to leave and make your life and every pony else's easier in the process,” Discord said.

Twilight blinked. “What are you saying, are you... do you feel like you're responsible for all of this?”

Only because I am, his treacherous mind brought forth.

“But you wouldn't have that. You practically begged me to stay,” he smiled, wanting to have some semblance of his fun even with all of this guilt filling him up inside... or perhaps because of it.

Twilight actually scoffed. “You tricked me into telling you that I wanted you to stay.”

“Oh, so you don't really?”

“Of course I do,” she rolled her eyes, managing a very small awkward smile through that layer of worry. He did so enjoy being able to clear that layer away if only for a moment or two.

“Because you need to--- “ Twilight halted, now suddenly not willing or possibly not able to look him straight in the face, choosing instead to speak to one of the floating books. “And well... because I meant it. I do want you to, too.“

Her words were half-mumbled, but he caught them. They held less of the sincere astonishment they'd had the first time Twilight had said them. She must have gotten more used to the idea.

He so wanted to take that opportunity to approach Twilight as he normally did. She didn't seem like she'd be so objecting to Discord wrapping around her right now. She might not even roll her eyes if he did.

Something kept him from doing so, however. It was that same something that was weeding this backwards confession out of Discord.

“Life may be easier without you, but it would also be pretty boring,” she managed to say that out loud, her ears drooping a little while meeting his gaze again.

This is what he had wanted to be sure of. As much as Discord liked to play the game of hiding his true intentions, having to wonder what hers were hadn't been fun in the least. Now he knew... she really did care about him, and wanted him to stay for her. And so he had.

That also was entirely why his conscience was winning the fight.

“What if I told you... that you'd made the wrong choice?”

Her embarrassment fading, Twilight seemed to decide to lower her books for now. She chose to shorten the gap between them, setting the books still-open in a semicircle that she stepped over to meet him.

“What are you saying?” she asked. Even through those concerned eyes, Discord could tell Twilight was still attempting to piece the puzzle together. This made him feel he needed to act fast, or she'd figure it out before he could say it. Then she would most definitely hate him.

“I am saying that there is a reason why nothing of this magnitude has ever happened before I was able to live here freely, and it is also why Harmony never let herself come down here either.”

And there they went, Discord could see the recognition dawning on her. He practically heard the click of the puzzle pieces as they came together.

“So that is also why I am sure you won't want me to stay quite as badly,” the joke Discord had been about to make died away when that realization in her eyes turned to hurt. It shocked him a little to see how swiftly it turned. Then what came out was the truth.

“Because when it comes down to it Ms. Sparky, I know that you would choose the well-being of this world and all these ponies... over me.”

As casually as he tried to make it, Discord's own words felt like a kick to the stomach. Especially when he saw their effect on the brilliant pony who now stood frozen in front of him.

“And so you should,” Discord attempted to ease the tension, but he was having a very difficult time keeping his resolve while staring into her eyes now. He didn't want to see the pain this was causing her, it was making his own strangely worse.

When Twilight finally spoke again, it was almost accusatory – which Discord had expected – but in a different way than he'd anticipated.

“But, but.. there has to be some way, doesn't there?” she asked. “Otherwise that just wouldn't be-- you must be able to think of something.”

“Apart from the obvious?” he asked, starting to feel the same as he had done way back when it was looking a lot like he would be placed back in stone after trying to avoid the outcome. It was something that he knew in his gut was unavoidable, but she had given him the hope that things could be different. He was feeling resigned to his fate, because that positive outcome that was best for everyone just didn't seem so likely this time.

“Of course apart from the obvious,” Twilight half-shouted, which startled Discord into staring back at her. She must have caught the resignation in his face or voice, and it had apparently really made her mad. “You start with the obvious and you work from there. The obvious is not an option.”

“Not an option, but it is the easiest one,” Discord answered, which only seemed to infuriate Twilight more.

“You're really going to give up? After all of this? After--- after me?” He took a moment to find it adorable that she was still having trouble with saying that. “The easiest way isn't always the best way, Discord.”

“Twilight, do you really mean that you would prefer I stay when we both know the consequences?”

At this, her anger dissipated. The unicorn's eyes closed and she breathed in sharply, letting it out slowly as she lowered her head. It must have stifled the flame, but it did not ease her demeanor or stance.

“No, you're right. We should do what's right for every pony, and a part of me is very proud that you have enough care for them to be willing to do that.”

That was sincere, but amazingly Discord could feel a 'but' coming on.

“But, how unfair is it? After all that you have done and all that we've been through. The first time I actually---” emotion was rising up inside her again, but Discord still didn't dare approach her any closer.

“I won't accept it, there has to be another way, I'll find one.”

“Well you know what they say about life, it isn't fair,” he stated, trying to insert some semblance of mirth into such a grim statement.

“Discord, don't be giving up just yet. We can find something, I can find something, maybe in one of the books from the Crystal Library.”

“The ones you've looked through a hundred times?”

“I might have overlooked something, you don't know for sure,” Twilight argued, and then brightened momentarily. “Cadance is coming, maybe she can help me figure out a solution.” She paused for a moment, then when she spoke again it was softer, gentler, and almost to herself.

“Just, just don't give up, okay? There just has to be some way to make this work.”

She was so remarkable. Still trying to find a way to fix it so everything worked out alright for everyone.

“Twilight---,”Discord started, but was silenced by the unicorn gently taking his clawed hand. He leaned in closer automatically, his eyes becoming level with hers.

“I still meant what I said,” she whispered, for they were so close now, Discord could see the unshed tears shimmering in her eyes. “I want you to stay.”

His right paw twitched, for in that moment all he wanted to do was run his claws through her mane, to hold her face, but he resisted. He still saw only disappointment for them in their future, but he wanted to thank her for holding so fast to hope all the same.

Those brilliant violet eyes were only centimeters away now. The tears had faded, and a new resolve burned within them.

Her hoof then left his claw and found its way to his face, catching him by surprise. She caressed it gently, slowly gliding her hoof down his cheek to his chin. Discord leaned into her touch without thinking, for he was pondering just what she was thinking, and what she might just be about to do.

Discord was pleasantly surprised when she didn't hold herself back this time. She grasped his goatee and -with a forceful tug – swiftly pulled him in to close the gap between his lips and hers.

She had to make the decision now, or Discord just might make it for her by disappearing from her life again, this time forever.

It just wasn't fair, to either of them. But how could she in good conscience make such a decision when she knew the possibilities that might come from it?

Although, looking up into Discord's eyes, at his resignation, nearly the exact same expression he had made when he stood back and allowed her friends and herself to blast him with the Elements a year ago. Her resolve cemented even further as she locked his gaze.

Yes, it was a decision that was not good for everyone, but this was what she wanted. She could feel it in her very core, it wasn't just for him, but she wanted him to stay for herself. Because even if it was a daunting thing to ponder, the idea of them being together, moving forward with this--- she wanted the chance to at least try, and at that moment losing that chance was worse than anything she could imagine his chaotic influence could inflict.

Twilight had been so afraid of her own selfishness, so uncertain about what this could mean for every pony else,yet at this moment she found herself wanting to be selfish.

“I won't accept it,” she continued. “There has to be another way. I'll find one.”

Twilight had no excuse, she had to find something, some way of communicating her feelings when words just would no longer do. And when her mind landed on it, she reacted without thinking, before her mind could logic her out of it.

She had just grabbed him by the goatee, planting her lips firmly down onto his. And then suddenly there she was, kissing Discord. This was not like the surprise smooch from a year ago. For one thing, this had been her idea, and for another, she wanted to convey every thought, every feeling that had been building up for the past month - the past year, even - in this kiss. It was her plea for him to stay with her, to agree to at least the idea of hope.

Of course, she couldn't hold onto that thought for very long, because her eyes had fluttered closed and his paw was soon running through her mane, grasping her head to pull her even closer. Her heart hammered in her chest as her head swam with an overflow of endorphins. After several moments of sweet, breathless release, they parted for a few seconds to enable her to come up for air. Then her eyes met his again and she brought him back in for a shorter, gentler kiss that helped to anchor and pull back her mind from floating away with her.

When they parted, Twilight didn't know what would come next, but she hoped that she had been able to convey what she had wanted.

One look at Discord revealed that this was an understatement. He had obviously gotten the point, and then some.

“So...” Her face flushed, Twilight tried to continue the conversation after what she had just done, but it was difficult for her to speak in any way that wasn't breathy and overexerted.

“So...” Discord mimicked her in a near purr, clearly not as out of breath as she, but still having enjoyed himself. “If I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon, what do you suppose I do in the meantime, then?”

She was still waiting for her heart rate to slow, but she tried to speak again in answer. “Yes -um – just--- just keep moving,I suppose. Keep fixing things and I'll keep researching here, and when I go to see the princesses maybe they can help, too.”

“If this doesn't make them think I've gone back to my old ways, that is,” he said. That was far too negative for Twilight to handle in her currently giddy-on-endorphins mindset.

“Don't you make me have to do that again,” she smirked, to which he returned with one of his own.

“I think I could handle that.”

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