For All That Must Be

by cruelfeline

Chapter One: In Which Twilight Worries

A/N: And so truly begins our narrative.

Disclaimer: I own nothing pony.

Chapter One: In Which Twilight Worries

Her problems did not begin with the dreams. It might have been simpler if they had, but that was frankly just not the case. The dreams would come after the first real signs of impending conflict, arriving without any sort of warning or fanfare. The first hints, conversely, came loudly announced by dragon's breath and belch. Indeed, Twilight Sparkle's problems began with letters.

She frowned as she scanned the latest arrival from Princess Celestia. The note was in response to her latest friendship lesson, one she felt had been quite insightful: a musing on white lies and guarding feelings courtesy of yet another resolved spat between Rarity and Applejack. She'd pondered over said lesson for hours before finally having Spike put quill to parchment and dictating a good scroll's worth of learned points and principles. Certainly her work deserved more than... this? Twilight read over the abysmally short, generic response her teacher had sent. She levitated the parchment to look at the back, hoping that she might have missed some hidden scribblings, only to be disappointed. Again. Again, because to her left, piled neatly on her writing desk, lay at least ten similarly short, uninspired responses from her mentor.

"Am I doing something wrong, Spike?" she finally sighed, startling said dragon from dusting the shelves.

"Huh? Wrong what?" He glanced back at her before resuming his work. "Oh... is the letter short again?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, shoving the parchment into his face and earning an indignant squawk from the little dragon, "it's short. Look at it!"

"All right, all right... jeez. Let's see." Spike abandoned the feather duster for the moment, snatching the note from midair and squinting at Celestia's neat penmanship. "Hmm... 'faithful student... good progress... pleased with your continued efforts...'" He gave a snort and rolled his eyes.

"It looks pretty normal to me. I think you're-"

"I am NOT overreacting!" The force of her response knocked her assistant back onto his rump, but Twilight was too wrapped up in her distress to notice. "Princess Celestia has always written long responses to my letters. Always! Why would she stop now?"

"Oh, I don't know," Spike grumbled while dusting himself off, "maybe she's just bu-"

"What if my friendship reports aren't good enough? What if she thinks I'm not putting enough effort in? What if-"

"Twilight!"

Spike's voice interrupted her growing hysteria, and Twilight swallowed down her remaining anxiety as the dragon patted her on the shoulder.

"Twi, have you changed your reports at all?"

She had to think for a moment, only to shake her head. "No. No, they're the same as ever. Same class of topics, same length, same analytic depth..."

"Then why would the princess suddenly think they're not good enough? That makes no sense!"

Twilight blinked. Her mental gears turned for a few more seconds before logic won out over growing panic, and she let out a breath.

"You're... you're right, Spike. That doesn't make any sense."

Spike puffed up importantly. "Of course I'm right. I'm always right when you start going off the deep end! You know, you should really..." Twilight fixed him with a reproachful glare, and he swiftly deflated, expression switching to submissive humility. "...ah... you know, I think I'm going to get back to my chores." With that, he scurried off. She waited until he was out of sight before allowing her stern expression to melt into a small smile. Spike may have been prone to occasional moments of ego, but he was indispensable when it came to saving her from her forays into academic panic. Twilight made a mental note to surprise him with a choice gem at dinner later that evening.

Presently, however, she had to reach some sort of conclusion regarding the princess' uncharacteristically brief replies. She turned her full attention back to the latest response and read it a third time.

Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

As always, my faithful student, you are making very good progress in your advanced friendship studies. This last report showcased excellent personal growth and understanding of the principles of honesty and integrity. I am highly pleased with your continued efforts in expanding your knowledge of the various aspects of friendship and look forward to your next report.

Yours,

Princess Celestia

She pouted. Just a few weeks ago, her mentor's responses were a few pages long at least. Some, likely those involving lessons that affected the princess in some personal way, elicited pages of anecdotes and wisdom that Twilight would read late into the night. These recent replies were very obviously uncharacteristic of Celestia, that Twilight was sure of. Spike was quite wrong in dismissing their length, but Twilight was able to see his point in rejecting her previous paranoid reasoning. Her letters had not changed at all; if anything, she was more familiar with the sort of analysis and insight Celestia liked to see, resulting in letters improving with time. Looking over copies of her last few assignments, she nodded to herself: definitely no loss in quality or anything of that sort. Her organization and grammar were impeccable, her discussion properly insightful and pleasantly lengthy. Nothing had changed on her end, so what was going on?

Logic dictated that the problem had to do with the princess. Twilight bit her lip nervously: the idea that something could be wrong with Celestia, even regarding matters as seemingly small as friendship reports, was not a comforting one. She reexamined her thought process again, looking over all of the parchment spread over her desk, before granting attention to such an unsavory possibility. In the end, however, she had to consider it, so she pulled out her daily planner and studied all of her records from the past weeks.

Twilight knew that her planner would not include events and tasks that Celestia would need to perform on a daily or weekly basis, but that issue seemed unimportant: she doubted that anything ordinary would cause such a shift in the princess' manner. It would have to be something big, something important, to affect someone as old and powerful as she. Twilight's planner did include mention of various political events of some significance; it was a habit left over from living in Canterlot, reinforced by her desire to stay familiar with current events. These were the events she studied, looking over the past weeks and trying to find some sort of catalyst for Celestia's sudden aloofness.

There had been a meeting with a delegate from the Griffon kingdom a week and a half ago, but that had resulted in favorable changes to a recent treaty: not negative. Twilight crossed it off of her mental list of possibilities. Two formal parties... a public appearance at the Great Canterlot Library...a couple of concerts... multiple open court sessions... nothing unusual. The royal itinerary was fairly busy, but this was nothing special. Twilight had seen much worse during her time at the castle as Celestia's apprentice: some weeks had been almost cruelly hectic, but the princess was very accustomed to such activity. She'd get tired, sure, but none of her duties had ever suffered, particularly those that had some significant emotional value. Twilight was not an egotistical pony in any sense, but she would have to have been quite foolish to not identify her relationship with Celestia as emotionally significant to both of them. She loved her mentor, and it was more than plain that Celestia cared deeply for her. There was no way such a comparatively light schedule would affect her report responses so strongly.

"Hmm... let's see..." she muttered to herself, bringing a hoof to her chin, "when was the last normal letter? Maybe something happened right after... ah ha!" She levitated a few pieces of parchment up out of her pile and brought them up to her face. This was the last normal response, and up in the right corner of the first sheet was the date. Twilight quickly turned to that page in her planner and studied what she had written. It only took her a few seconds to read the brief notes, and those notes only contained one thing of any importance. The effect on her was immediate: she dropped the parchment and took a step back from her desk, as if putting distance between herself and the pages would lessen the sudden thudding of her heart.

The last proper letter had been sent a mere three days before they'd faced Discord. Twilight shuddered at the thought of all that had happened when the chaotic spirit had broken free: Ponyville engulfed in chaos, her friends bickering like cranky foals, Equestria on the brink of destruction. The memories were anything but pleasant, and Twilight had to pause a moment before allowing her thoughts to reach their obvious conclusion.

Whatever was wrong with the princess had to involve the recent crisis. It was the only thing Twilight could think of that made any sort of sense, for what else had been dramatic and unsettling enough to have the power to shake someone as stable as Princess Celestia? Confident in this line of reasoning, she immediately began to wrack her brain for supporting evidence. It didn't take long for one particular memory to surface, and Twilight gasped.

"The ceremony! I wasn't imagining things when I thought the princess stuttered! She really did... wait! Twice! She did it twice! How could I have missed that? How could I have forgotten?"

Truth be told, it wasn't particularly surprising that she'd missed it. She'd only just noticed it when it had happened, it had been so subtle. Her friends hadn't noticed at all; when she'd mentioned it after the ceremony, they'd responded with looks of utter bafflement. Twilight had dropped the idea almost as quickly as she'd formed it, preferring instead to partake in the wonderful spirit of victory with everyone else. Indeed, she'd had no reason to pursue it: without anything to give her further suspicion, she'd chalked her uncertainty up to leftover stress from the Discord ordeal. No more, and no less.

Now, however, she had plenty to make her suspicious: numerous letters that bore Celestia's signature but lacked her true voice. The problem now was figuring out what to do about it, and quickly. If she was right about this mess, then something had been wrong for... over a month. A month! Twilight squirmed.

"Oh... how could I have let this sit for a whole month? I should have noticed it sooner... I should have been more proactive! I shouldn't have ignored my intuition at the ceremony! Now who knows what's happened! I've been a terrible student, and now-"

"Twilight!" Spike's voice floated in from the other room, "deep end!"

"...ah. Right. Thanks, Spike!"

"No problem!"

She didn't have time to lose it: Celestia needed her! She needed to... to... to what, exactly? Now that Twilight saw where the problem could be, what could she do? Perhaps... could she write to Celestia? Offer her comfort, advice, counsel?

For a moment, she considered it, only to reject the idea with a vehement shake of her head. "If I write to her about this, she'll know that I've been disappointed with her letters. She'll know I know something's wrong, and if she knew that..." Twilight shifted uncomfortably. Letting the princess know might put the monarch in an awkward position. After all, who liked to have a rare moment of shortcoming focused upon, particularly when still suffering? No, that would not do, not at all. Twilight didn't even truly know what was wrong, only that it seemed to stem from the events surrounding Discord. How could she possibly bring up something that unsettled the princess so much without really even knowing anything about it? How could she-

"Oh! Yes, of course! It's obvious!" She visibly brightened, clapping her front hooves together in sudden excitement. "In order to solve a problem, one must first know how to approach it, and that means knowing all there is to know about said problem! So all I've got to do now is-"

"Research?" Spike sauntered back in, eying her warily.

"Exactly!"

Spike gave a long-suffering sigh. "I'll start getting the books."

---

"No, no, no, no! This is the same; it's all the same! Ugh!" Twilight tossed yet another book aside, earning an indignant yelp from her scaled assistant as he rushed to catch it.

"Will you relax? And stop throwing things? It's bad enough that you had me get every book on Equestrian history ever," Spike grumbled, taking her latest projectile and returning it to its place on the shelf.

Twilight sighed in a mixture of frustration and genuine apology. "I'm sorry, Spike. It's just that none of these books have what I'm looking for! None! How is that even possible?"

"...what are you looking for?"

"Discordian history." She opened up another massive tome and began flipping through its pages.

"Disco-what now?" Spike paused in his clean up to fix Twilight with a look of utter confusion. She sighed again.

"Discordian. You know, pertaining to Discord? I'm looking for information about the time Discord ruled Equestria."

"Discord... you mean that weird goat-looking guy? The one who turned everyone gray? Who made Fluttershy..." Spike shuddered suddenly, remembering the state his friends had been in just a few weeks ago.

"Yes, him. I'm trying to find out more about him, and these books are way too general! They're telling me things I already know. Look," she pointed out a passage, "see? Right here."

Spike climbed up onto the desk to get a better look, reading aloud as was his habit.

"'Discord: Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. A draconequus, he is best known for the use of very advanced chaotic magic. His rule over Equestria preceded that of the princesses Celestia and Luna, who ended his reign of disharmony by using the Elements of Harmony against him. The result was-'"

Twilight cut him off abruptly with a frustrated huff. "See? It's all stuff I already know. No details about his rule. No details about his origins. Nothing about how the princesses fought him, other than the use of the Elements. Nothing that I don't already know!"

Spike winced as Twilight's voice rose in her agitation. "Well... maybe there isn't anything else to know."

"There has to be more! The princess has not been herself, and I know it started when we defeated Discord again! There has to be more to all of this, a reason she's acting this way. And I'm going to find it!"

"But Twi," he tried again, "why don't you just ask the princess? Write her a letter? You know: communicate? Didn't you learn that in one of your friendship lessons?" He reached out, intending to shuffle through her notes for some advice on openness, only to stop when she gave him an almost pained look.

"That's just it, Spike. The princess is the one who's changed and hasn't said anything. I'm afraid that whatever is bothering her might be too difficult for her to talk about, and if I were to bring it up..." she shuddered as various consequences came to mind. "No, I refuse to do anything before I have more information! I just don't understand why I can't find any details about such a huge part of Equestrian history. It's ridiculous!"

She left her desk to browse the library shelves for the umpteenth time, hoping to find some encyclopedia or royal biography that they had missed. Her search was unsuccessful, and she hung her head in defeat.

"Oh, nevermind. It's just not in any of these books." Twilight gave one last glance around the room before growling. "Ugh! I cannot believe this. We defeated that jerk weeks ago and he's still making my life miserable! I bet he'd be thrilled!" She sat down heavily, pouting down at the texts spread out across her desk.

She was completely and utterly out of ideas. Every book in the library with even a slight reference to Discord and his time as ruler was either on her desk or stacked next to it. She'd gone through each one at least twice, some of the wordier ones three times in case she'd missed something, and she was no closer to understanding the situation than when she'd started. Heck, she wasn't even sure she was working in the right direction! How could she be sure that the princess' distance had to do with Discord? Twilight bit her lip as she reexamined her logic. Was it possible that she had erred, that this was all a waste of time and pointless frustration?

No... no, she knew she hadn't. The more she thought about it, the more obvious it became that Celestia had not been right even before the letters. She'd been very brief about Discord. She'd never discussed their final confrontation with him. She'd barely spoken of the whole ordeal beyond the formal congratulations. Heck, she'd never even explained how the Elements had been stolen, or why she'd allowed them to flounder about in a maze designed only to cripple them. All of these things, and so many more, made less and less sense as Twilight tried to understand them. The only conclusion she could reach was that something about the whole Discord situation was affecting the princess in an abnormally strong way. Something... but what? What? She couldn't come up with anything, and her books had failed her. What did she have besides her books?

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm done researching for the day." Ignoring Spike's shocked gasp, she made her way around piles of books to the door. "I'm going for a walk, try to clear my head. I'll be back before dinner."

She did not wait for his response and stepped out into the sunshine for the first time in days, shutting the door behind her.

---

Twilight managed to walk through most of Ponyville in something of a half-conscious daze. Her mind, try as she might, would not leave the current predicament alone. She had intended to calm herself and perhaps grant a new perspective on the situation, but all she managed to accomplish was... well, a whole lot of nothing. Celestia's short letters, her distance, the strange lack of information about Discord... all these things would not leave her be. She was so distracted that she didn't acknowledge anyone on her walk, even failing to wave back at the local mailmare when she called out in greeting. In fact, by the time she actually shook herself out of her thoughts, she realized that she'd left Ponyville altogether.

Withers-high grass rustled softly as a light breeze blew across the meadow she'd come to. At the other edge, the sun was already dipping behind the trees of the Everfree forest. The sky overhead was a dusky blue bleeding into mauve and magenta, the faintest hints of stars beginning to stand out amongst the clouds. The lovely sunset, utterly picturesque above the expanse of the meadow, went entirely unnoticed when Twilight realized precisely which meadow her hooves had brought her to. In the very center, stony surface painted a myriad of colors in sunset's light, stood the great frozen form of Discord.

There had been more than a little controversy regarding his placement just outside of Ponyville: no inhabitant of the small village wanted the petrified form of a dangerous enemy permanently stationed right near home. Indeed, Twilight and her friends were among the most confused and unnerved when Celestia announced the statue's new resting place. Her reasons, however, did make some sense once they'd had a chance to mull them over. Celestia had explained, in the same gentle tone she used whenever trying to convey unpleasant realities, that the fields outside Ponyville would be a safer area for the statue. They saw far fewer visitors than the Canterlot Gardens, so chances of another escape aided by arguing fillies were much lower. More importantly, however, was the fact that placing the statue near the current bearers of the Elements would keep the seal stronger. Before, Celestia and Luna had been the ones to work the spell, so the statue stood in the gardens, its seal kept strong by the nearby presence of the princesses. Now with a new seal in place, established by new bearers, it was only logical to give the statue a new place of residence to ensure the seal's permanence. Thus, Discord's petrified form found its new home in a particularly large meadow right outside of Ponyville's borders.

Twilight walked up to the statue now, lip curling in a look of disgust as she glared up at the twisted stone face, forever frozen in wide-eyed shock. It was no real surprise that her unconscious mind had led her here; she'd read about that sort of thing in enough psychology books to expect it. That didn't make the sight any more welcome, and she sat down with an angry snort.

"Of course I'd end up here. Stupid statue. Stupid Discord. Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused, you dumb draconequus! First you plunge Equestria into chaos, then you nearly destroy our friendship, and now, even when you're rock, you manage to hurt the princess! You stupid... ow!" A well-aimed kick at the statue's reptilian leg had only resulted in a throbbing hoof, while her anger remained fresh and fiery as ever. Oh, why did her inner turmoil have to lead her here, of all places? The last thing she wanted to see was the ugly brute's face.

Twilight sighed, the pain in her hoof finally subsiding enough to allow her to seek something useful in her current position. Maybe... maybe she'd led herself here because something about the statue would inspire her. She studied it with a critical eye, trying to find some sort of meaning in the mishmash of parts making up the imprisoned creature. Pony, eagle, lion, goat, lizard, snake, deer... all unfortunately familiar and still eerily creepy, but nothing jogging any sort of useful memories or new insight. Twilight looked up into his face again. Nothing. Still the same expression: the same wide eyes and open muzzle, the same naked surprise and...

A sudden chill danced down her spine, and Twilight shuddered before finally looking away.

"Oh, forget it. Whatever you did to the princess, you're just a hunk of rock now, and staring at you isn't going to help me." She sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. "I guess I should head back."

"Head back where?"

"Ah!" Twilight yelped, whirling around in surprise only to find herself nose to nose with Pinkie Pie. She let out a relieved breath.

"Pinkie Pie, you startled me! Don't you know not to sneak up on ponies?"

Pinkie Pie blinked.

Twilight gave her deadpan look. "Of course you don't." She made to scold her more, but Pinkie Pie interrupted in her trademark overly energetic fashion.

"I haven't seen you in ages! None of us have! We've all been all 'where's Twilight, have you seen her? I haven't, have you?' But here you are, right in the meadow! Have you..." she brought her face uncomfortably close to Twilight's, "have you been hiding?"

"Um... no? I've been in the library. Resea- ah... studying. I've been studying. You know, books and stuff? And I decided to take a break and go for a walk."

A part of her cringed the moment the lie, however small, passed her lips, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Pinkie Pie the truth. She didn't know precisely why: was it because she was embarrassed over a possible overreaction? Maybe. Or perhaps she did not want to worry her friends with her concerns about the princess. Was it a mixture of the two? Twilight wasn't sure; all she knew was that she suddenly felt very peculiar, almost twitchy, and the idea of explaining her recent activities to her friends made it worse. She was not normally one to follow blind intuition, but something deep within nudged her away from exposition, and so she stood by her story. Pinkie, being Pinkie, did not notice.

"Well, how about you come over to Sugarcube Corner for a while and hang out? Everyone's coming; Mr. And Mrs. Cake let us hold a tea party, and they just got in all these new kinds of tea to try! We can... um... Twilight? Twi? Hellooooo?" Twilight shook herself out of what had apparently become a private revery to see Pinkie's wide eyes boring hopefully into her own.

A part of her definitely wanted nothing more than to take a break from her disconcerting thoughts and join her friends for an afternoon of pleasant company, but... it was no use. She was too... too bothered to properly socialize. After all, with her all broody, they might notice something amiss, and that could prove disastrous. No... no, she wouldn't go. She was tired anyway, drained from her attempted research and the unsettling feelings milling about her mind. With a sigh, she pushed past Pinkie.

"Sorry, Pinkie Pie," she gave an apologetic smile, "I'm really, really tired from all that studying. I think I'm just going to go home and...uh, hit the hay."

"Oh." Pinkie frowned for a moment, but it was short-lived. A second later she beamed back at Twilight with another genuine grin. "That's okay! Your studies come first, after all. We understand! Just don't overdo it!"

She felt guilty now, faced with such earnest goodwill, but her resolve did not falter. "Thanks Pinkie. I'll see you later; say hi to the others for me. And tell them I'm sorry I couldn't see them."

"Okie dokie loki!"

---

Twilight reached the library just as the last rays of sunlight left to darkened sky. She had dinner with her assistant, Spike too engrossed in enjoying his gem treats to notice her subdued air, and washed up before finally retiring to bed. Curled up between the plush sheets, Twilight closed her eyes, hoping that a long, restful sleep would rejuvenate her. Surely she would be in better spirits tomorrow, ready to find the elusive solution to the princess' strangeness. A good night's rest would put her in top form, and everything would look better in the morning.

What she did not know was that the moment she thought these comforting thoughts, allowing herself a reassuring smile as she drifted off to sleep, was quite a rare moment indeed: it was a moment in which she was completely and utterly wrong. Her sleep would not be peaceful. Her sleep would be anything but, and as she fully succumbed to slumber, her real problems began.

---

A/N: Thanks for reading.

Comments

[Dream Catcher]

If I am any judge of stories, then I must say that, so far, this has been brilliant. Not only is your diction superb - which I am envious of for my own failings at accommodating such marvelous word choice in my own far-from-finished writings - but I also like where you're taking this. Please, give us more.

Plus, I find myself wanting to see how Twilight will react to the up-and-coming !

[thewaffler]

That was really good and I know that cause when I got to the end I wanted more story. I like how you handled everything in realistic way: Celestia acting like she didn't want them to defeat Discord- slight apathy then sadness, subtle changes in behavior and Twilight being the only one who can see these changes and her research finding nothing useful b/c text books don't show the personal side of the story. You really want to know about the origin story, get to the part when Discord forms a friendship with Twilight and renews his relationship with Celestia. I always liked this shipping cause Order and Chaos go well together to create balance.

So, good writing, no glaring grammar errors, great characterization and the beginning of something that could be truly heartwarming and happy.

Peace Out.

[Morex25]

This is incredible and well- written, you left me wanting more. This has a lot of potencial and I know your going to make the most of it.

[Tailslover13]

I really loved this, and it's starting to make me wonder how Twilight is involved in all this. Are Twilight's parents secretly the kids of Celestia and Discord and thus they're Twilight's grandparents? Probably not, but it's a thought I had. Anyway, not only very well-written, but very captivating and it left me definitely wanting more to see what happens! I've honestly never read another Discord and Celestia story before, and it intrigues me, so I'm very interested in seeing where this goes. Keep going!

Wow! This rocks! You really got the speech-patterns right! I LOOOOOVE Twilight, and Spike was just perfect!

[Luminous Shot]

As someone who knows English only as second language, it was a bit harder for me to tell, but especially at the part where you described Celestia's and Twilight's letters, I was sure that you knew what you were talking about.

You captured Twilight's character perfectly. I would say that she was about 99% IC — I only wondered why her mane didn't start to burn when she reached a point where even her books couldn't help her understand something.

[RTStephens]

Getting around to reading stories that I've, "put on the shelf," so to speak, and yours is next on my list!

Nicely detailed, characterized and interesting. The little mystery that has Twilight all up and about has got me intrigued and wanting to continue. I'm looking forward to seeing how Discord is handled under your care.

I also liked Spike's interactions with Twilight. Funny and natural to both of them!

Till then!