Beyond the Pale
Twilight Sparkle
While Twilight stood in that golden land, time seemed endless. All of existence seemed to balance on the point of a single moment, her mane brushed by the subtle movements of the wind. She drew breath when she thought there was no air to breathe and thought for the longest time that she would awaken and find herself alone in Canterlot once more.
The serenity of the scene shattered at a gurgling that erupted from Twilight's stomach. The sweets she had on the zeppelin were all she'd eaten for the better part of a day. She hid herself beneath the grass and groaned.
Discord chuckled. “You mortals and your constant need for munching. Just eat something and let's get a move on.”
As much as Twilight resented his attitude, he had a point. Her resolve and purpose already slipped her mind the moment she came to this place. She set to nibble a few tufts of the green when, most peculiarly, a beastly rumble sounded from Discord's belly.
“What was that about mortals?” she laughed.
The draconequus sighed and plucked up a flower, twirling it between his claws. “Don't think that just because I hunger that we're on the same food chain now. I am like a pony and you are a mere mouse in the field. This place is bigger than me, but far bigger than you, young Twilight.”
Twilight paused again while lowering to graze and eyed Discord, who seemed preoccupied in plucking the flower and discarding the petals into shimmering dust. That's strange, she thought. It's almost like he's telling me to be careful.
He paid little attention to her after that, though, and busied himself in twisting the nature of the grass and spinning it into little pink fibers of sugar. He coaxed them out into a dancing maypole of colors and flavors and finally when little shelled candies bloomed from them he set to eating. Twilight's stomach took great interest and she finally leaned down to sate it.
The first bite of crisp green soaked into her mouth, full of richness and flavor. This is... unreal. It was as if she had experienced grass for the first time. As if what grew around her was the very idea and essence of grass, and every blade in Equestria was only an imitation, a pale thing inspired by what it meant to be green and fulfilling.
They feasted at length, their only company the sweeps of shadows from misty clouds soaring at an impossible height. And when they were near to bursting they settled into the flattened patch they'd made and considered one another again.
“So if you know so much about this place,” asked Twilight, “do you have any idea where Celestia might be?”
Discord rubbed his belly, then looked up as if she were distracting him. “Not a clue. This place goes on forever. It's definitely a great place to hide out an aeon or two if you manage not to get yourself totally lost.”
“I don't think the princess is hiding,” said Twilight. “But what could she be doing, then? Looking for something?”
“Who knows?” said Discord. “But we're not going to find her by sitting around here and complaining about it.”
“You're right.”
Twilight opened one of her saddlebags and pulled out the orb of light. It seemed all the more lustrous there, its radiance thrumming like the slow beating of a heart. She touched it with a hoof and exhaled.
Maybe a tracing spell will work a lot better if we're in the right place, she thought.
When she cast the spell, she could see threads of gold unwinding from thin air and coalescing into her, where they became shaded in her purple and took form. The power made her shiver. It seemed like she could tap into an infinite amount of arcane energies and channeling the spell was so easy, yet it set her blood to pumping. All she had to do was think of Celestia and the enchantment came to life.
“What are you doing?” Discord leapt at her and pushed her to the ground, but far too late to stop her.
The orb coursed with purple and pearl light, twisting about it in a crescent. Then it whistled and screamed through the sky, vanishing somewhere on the horizon. As soon as the spell took off, a hundred shapes around them, all vaguely-pony like, scattered in every direction. A swarm of little firefly glows passed them, too, tickling Twilight's nose and tail.
“Getting a better idea of where she is,” said Twilight, tugging herself out from beneath Discord's coil. “Since when did you care about a bit of a ruckus?”
“Oh, no, that was a delectable moment of cacophony,” Discord said, then shook his head. “There's no way nopony saw that. And there are some ponies I particularly don't want to meet. Me being here is very, very bad. I have to think of something fast.”
Twilight tilted her head. “I thought this was kind of the place for... things like you.”
“Well, yes. And no. This place is a pony paradise, don't you think? Utterly perfect and positioned between Equestria and the rest of the cosmos. Where do you think we are?”
I've never really thought about it. Ever since I dreamed of this place I just knew it was somewhere I was meant to be. What it is... on the edge of Equestria...
The color drained from Twilight's face. “This is the afterlife?”
Discord snapped his fingers. “Sort of. It's kind of in between here and there. And sometimes the occasional lost soul winds up here. But it's the pony afterlife. Not anything else. Not anyone else. And there are powerful beings who want to keep it that way.” He sighed heavily. “And as you might have noticed by now, I am not a pony.”
Twilight looked him over. “Aren't you like, part pony?”
This made Discord look at himself, and after a moment's consideration, sigh in disgust. “In a sense you're right. Fine. Turn around, and make sure no one sees. I just know I'm going to regret this later.”
Twilight had no idea what the draconequus intended to do, but did as she was told and turned to look where the light of her spell had vanished. In Equestria she could tell the distance based on the curvature and a few mental tugs on the magic, but it didn't seem to add up anymore. The very nature of the place was different. At least they had a direction, though.
After several uncomfortable moments of silence, Discord spoke again. “Alright. How bad is it?”
His voice sounded a bit odd—less booming but more baritone. She turned around, expecting to see him in the air but saw nothing but a tuft of hair somewhere at the bottom of her vision. And when she looked upon Discord she nearly fell over from the sight of him.
Discord had transformed into a pony, a broad-shouldered and full-barreled stallion with thick chestnut hair. His cutiemark was an incomprehensible mess of six colors in infinite shapes, drifting off into the blankness of his fur. Little ghosts of his old form remained—red markings of scales on his arms, several braids in his tail, bits and pieces that were just shaped like him. But all in all, he was a pony. With a long white flowing mane and lush beard flowing from his chin.
“Oh, I just knew I wouldn't do it right,” said Discord.
“Huh?”
“Your face is red. Spit it out, Twilight Sparkle. What did I mess up? Is it the tail? I can never keep track of the thing.”
He twisted to look back over his shoulders in a display of limberness that made Twilight shiver.
“Well?” Discord nickered.
Twilight glared at him. “Nothing. It's perfect. You're fine.”
“Oh, good,” said Discord, dusting his beard as if nothing had ever been wrong.
In the name of Celestia... stop looking at him. Twilight clenched her teeth and turned around again. So he's a LITTLE BIT cute. He's still Discord.
“Just in time,” muttered Discord.
Their attention drew immediately to a white figure upon the horizon. Twilight's heart skipped a beat and she galloped through the field without a second thought. By the size and the sheer presence of the pony it had to be Celestia, walking slowly towards them. The unicorn heard Discord calling out for her, soon racing in her wake but she wouldn't turn around for anything.
And as soon as she reached the pony she thought was Celestia, Discord grabbed her tail in her teeth, making her fall onto her front hooves just inches from the white pony.
“A troublemaker and an impulsive filly,” said a mare who was most definitely not Celestia. “Alive, no less. I'd assume you were lost, but there is no way you could have come here without a great deal of effort.”
Twilight Sparkle looked up, though felt compelled to remain bowed before the mare. Her size and presence rivaled that of Celestia, though she possessed no horn nor wings. Instead of auroras and shades of lively colors, this mare was entirely cast in a snow white, like the purest glow of winter moon. Her long mane, hooves, even her eyes remained bright and blank.
The mare took a step back and put her under a stern gaze, though Twilight could sense no malice in her. “Throughout my time a few ponies have come here, led either by their greed for life or knowledge. Why do you come here, child? And be truthful. I will know if you are not.”
“Someone dear to me came this way,” said Twilight. “I intend to find her and bring her home.”
“You have come a great way to do so,” said the mare, shaking her head. “But that is impossible. Those that come here must move on, or else rest under the eternal shade. You must forget her and leave this place before you are taken by it.”
Discord grunted. “She's not dead, or anything,” he said. “By that reason alone we should be dragging her back to Equestria. And how could the Pale Mare miss something like the Sun herself slipping through her domain?”
The Pale Mare quirked an eyebrow. “It seems you have enough knowledge to tie your own tongue,” she said. “But the sun has right to passage in these lands. You are but trespassers. I may not be able to evict you, but one touch and you will be bound here.”
And suddenly Twilight understood why Discord had tried to stop her. Why he felt fear in such a place. The Pale Mare, as he so called her, must have been a pony that presided over the land of the spirits. Bits and pieces of her dreams, like memories forgotten, suddenly crystallized in her mind. She knew the Pale Mare, and had felt her watchful gaze for many nights.
“I must find her, even if it means losing my life,” said Twilight. With a flick of her horn she brought Celestia's ball of light to her side and presented it. “I believe Celestia meant for us to find her. This is all she left in Equestria, and the only thing that lead us here. Please...”
The guardian looked down upon them, her frown fading. She stood considering for a time. “I can not help you,” she said, more softly than before, “but if you are in the sun's charge, I will overlook you for now. Be warned, however. This place will test you. This place will eat at you. You are still as mortal here as in any other land, and the nature of this place can evoke dangers beyond your imagining.”
She scraped her hooves into the ground and a faint tremor ran beneath them. Twilight saw her attention shift to Discord, who was practically trying to hide behind her now. “And if you disturb the peace of the ponies here, I will destroy you myself.”
Twilight Sparkle swallowed and nodded. “I understand,” she said. “And thank you.”
The Pale Mare only nodded and turned away. Her body began to sift into mist and Twilight would have thought her departure peaceful if not for a faint moment when her figure shuddered dark and her eyes lit up with golden flame. Twilight felt a single word sear through her mind.
Invaders.
And then the Pale Mare was gone. Twilight and Discord stood in the empty field. Spirits shyly crept back from the distance to mix in the fields and return to their ephemeral play.
“It's kind of funny, seeing you scared,” said Twilight, smiling back at him.
“If anything, you should be all the more terrified,” muttered Discord. He razzberried and then trotted off towards where the light of Twilight's spell had lead. “Let's get out of here while she's distracted. If we're lucky, we'll never have to speak to her again.”
At least until I'm at the end of my mortal coil. Twilight shuddered at the morbidity of her own thoughts. But it was impossible not to consider her fate, the inevitable fate of all living things, while walking through one of their worlds. He's right. I should be afraid.
And her mind drifted to the pale mare's sudden fury, her attention to somewhere else in the plane. They were not alone. They were not the only ones who had entered the golden lands. Nightmare Moon? And if not Nightmare Moon, then who else...?
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Discord. . .
*Squee*
Dun dun duuuuun!
What would the rest of the mane six think of Discord as a pony then? Cute as well? ... Oh god, I just imagined a harem
Neat Death Pony.
how limited is Discord power exactly?
wow. cant belive it took me this long to start reading this story. serriously, its been sitting in my read later list for about a month now.
good read. look forward to more.
Ha, Twilight's reaction to pony Discord...
Heh heh, Twilight, stop looking at Discord's flank, no matter how much you like it.
I rather like the idea of the Pale Mare, actually. A pony that's strict and totally incomprehensible, and yet, completely logical.
Wow the reaper herself. Got moving, you two, that place isn't for you.
I enjoy the biblical reference. will there be a red, black, and white mare as well?
Twilight, the longer you keep it a secret the more Discord will want to know that you think he is cute.
Heck ... he already like you more than anyone else since .. well ...Ever!
Yay! Discord and Pinkie are best ponies!!
Oooo, very cool with the Pale Mare. Again, I just love the world building.
They just dodged the Angel of Death.
Who's the cat that won't cop out
When there's danger all about?
Discord!
I can now say discord and pinkie are best ponies!
think of the awesome times pinkie and discord could have... 
The epic quality of this story is epic. Your writing brings a sense of importance and foreshadowing to almost everything that happens, which only makes me desire more to understand what things mean.
1412365
It's amazing Twilight can even put up with him...
Nooo, bad.
1412430
I'm really reluctant to make up a lot of lore but the show probably won't go there and everyone has a death figure so I figured why not.
1412460
I try to go by the show. He can bend reality on a whim, but they seemed to put Canterlot/Ponyville back together fast enough when he was gone. Twilight recovered from being Discord'd without magic--just a deep moment of introspection. They can painstakingly fix things he's done, but so far there's only really been one character that's 'above him' in power and that was basically another primal force, if I may. And since they're kind of in their domain...
1412719
I tend to be reluctant to read anything that's not finished, myself. So I don't mind folks waiting.
1414081
I think there may be some coincidental overlap here. Every culture tends to have a personification of death, so I figured the ponies might as well. And the skelly thing didn't really fit the tone of what I was doing.
... ugh I'm so tired I can't feel my face and scrolling up and down between comments/the reply box is actually immensely frustrating. I'm still really grateful for feedback. All of it. And always
worried about dropping the ball...
Is Twilight starting to fall for Discord?
The Pale Mare... Death herself.