> An Everlasting Nightmare > by lorettafox > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Impossible > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Spike...its too early for breakfast...” Twilight Sparkle mumbled in her sleep as she rolled over in her bed, pulling her sheets up over her head using her hooves. “Spike...I said its just too early...” Twilight mumbled again as the scent of warm food hit her muzzle, making it tickle slightly. “Spike...didn't I...” she started when she opened her eyes fully, only to be meant with a plate a slightly warm porridge that shined under the moonlight. “Right...It was a dream that he made me breakfast...” Twilight mumbled as she glanced up at the ceiling, which was a pale white as were the walls of the room she was in, expect for the fact that on one wall, several shelves of books were all lined and organized by name. Sitting up and letting out a yawn, she glanced down at the soft blanket and soft mattress she was lying on. She let out a sigh of unhappiness. She wished she could go back to before she had to come here, but she couldn't. “A little unhappy are we?” called a voice out in the darkness. Twilight let out a sigh as she tried lying back down and turned to face the wall. “I know you can hear me, my dear. Don't pretend that you can't.” Stuffing her pillow over her ears, she tried to drown out the voice, but it just seemed to get louder and louder. “Fine, be that way. Pretend that you can't hear me, the great and powerful Discord.” “Uggh...what do you want now, Discord?” Twilight called out into the darkness. “Its past 3am. Can't you let a pony get any rest in this place? You've already driven me crazy enough!” “Oh, you are simply no fun now, Twilight Sparkle. Besides, 3am is the perfect time for chaos.” Discord chuckled as he sat on top of Twilight, earning a sigh from the purple alicorn. “So, do you have any suggestions, Sparkle Butt?” “And here we go again with the Sparkle Butt comments!” Twilight moaned out in frustration. “Out of all the stupid names that you could possibly call me, you keep calling me that one! I've said it once and I'll say it again, my flank does not look like its sparkling!” “Oh really now?” Discord chuckled as he snapped his fingers. “I think its very sparkly now.” he smirked as he put on a pair of sunglasses. “Any brighter and we could hang you from the ceiling and use you as a disco ball.” “And there he goes with the disco ball comments.” Twilight groaned. “And to think I once loved you too! Now you've simply driven me into madness!” “Isn't it great?” he mused to Twilight. “Driving a pony so insane that they have to lock her away? The look on your face that day! It was simply priceless!” he laughed aloud. “You should have seen it! They didn't believe you at all!” “Its your damn fault that I'm in here!” Twilight screamed and threw the pillow at him, but it did nothing as the pillow simply passed through him. “Its your damn fault! Why can't you just do me a favor and finally just leave me alone? Or at least be the Discord that I once knew! Please, just do one of them and finally give me my peace!” “And stop having all this fun? Now, why would I do a stupid thing like that?” smirked Discord. “Besides, I quite like being around you. Its nice to have somepony to actually talk to instead of being encased in stone, but you wouldn't know that, would you since your little Princess doesn't turn ponies into stone!” “For the last time, you are not in stone and Princess Celestia had no choice!” Twilight screamed once again at Discord. “You were threatening to rain hot tea rain on all those poor ponies! How could Princess Celestia and Luna not use the Elements of Harmony on you? You didn't even see them as a threat! I know, I witnessed the event for myself.” “But those poor Earth ponies always kept coming up to me and begging me to bring rain for their crops. I only did what the poor ponies asked.” Discord teased. “And how would you know if I was encased in stone or not?” “I said go away!” Twilight screamed as she tried levitating the pillow at Discord to throw it at him again, but it was simply no use. Her horn was covered by a special black bag which prevented her from using her magic. Her wings flapped in aggravation as she simply glared at Discord. “What did I just go through screaming at you? Go away!” “Twilight? Twilight, are you in there?” came a knock at the door. Twilight glanced towards the door, her voice still screaming at Discord to go away. “Twilight, it's Nurse Redheart! I'm coming in!” There was the sound of unlocking before the door burst open and in walked a nurse pony, she rushing over to the alicorn. “Twilight dear, its alright! Its alright! Is he bothering you again?” “Yes, please...I beg of you...make him go away.” Twilight begged Nurse Redheart as tears began forming in her eyes. “He just won't stop haunting me. Is there anything you can do to make him leave?” “Alright, Discord. Go away now, Twilight needs her sleep! You can play with her later.” Nurse Redheart called out into the darkness. She looked around the room and waited a moment, before speaking up again. “Is he gone now?” “No, he's floating above your head with a bucket in his hands. I think he's gonna dump it on-AHH!” Twilight screamed as she bounced up in shock. “That jerk! He dumped that stupid bucket on me! Uggh!” “Its alright, Twilight...” Nurse Redheart smiled weakly as she placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, which to her was completely dry. “Do you want me to fetch Dr. Entropio? It is time for you to be taking your medicine anyways.” “Please do.” Twilight nodded. “Maybe my meds will make Discord go away and leave me alone for the night!” Twilight glared up Discord, who simply faked an air of innocence around him. She glared at him hard for a good minute before she looked back at Nurse Redheart, giving out an exhausted sigh. “Please, I'd like to see Dr. Entropio.” “Alright then...I'll be back in a moment with him, alright?” Twilight simply nodded her head as she watched Nurse Redheart walk out of the room, closing the door behind her. As soon as she heard the door shut, Twilight's voice started up. “What was that for, Discord? I didn't do anything!” “But that look on your face was just simply priceless!” he laughed. “You should have seen the way you jumped! Your nurse must think your completely bonkers!” “I am not bonkers! You're the only one who is making everypony think that Princess Twilight Sparkle has gone crazy with grief!” Twilight screamed at him. “If you hadn't appeared after that stupid accident, I wouldn't be here and I-” Tears started streaming down Twilight's eyes as she thought about the day of the incident. She didn't wanna remember it, it was just too painful. Losing the one that she had loved, it was too much. She had managed to save Screwball that day, but she couldn't save him. What she wouldn't give to just reverse what happened that day and go back to the way that things used to be. Before this Discord had appeared and started tormenting her. Twilight let out a sigh as she thought back to the day that she had told her friends that she began seeing Discord again. Tears streamed down her eyes as her memory played the perfect details as she had remembered it from that day. “Girls! Girls!” Princess Twilight Sparkle yelled towards her group of friends. Her face was just simply beaming, as if she had just received the greatest news in her life. “You won't believe what has happened!” “Twilight, dear, what is it?” Rarity asked as Twilight had been locked away in her palace for the last week ever since a certain incident happened. She couldn't dare bring it up and neither could the others in risk that Twilight would start crying again. Just simply mentioning Discord this week alone was enough to send the princess pony into a crying fit. “What in Equestria has simply gotten you so worked up?” “Its Discord!” Twilight bounced excitedly as her wings also flapped in excitement. “He's back! I thought he perished when Tirek was here, but he didn't! It was all just a clever ruse! You have to come see him immediately!” “Wait...he's unharmed?” Rainbow Dash said as her jaw dropped to the floor in shock. “But I saw him...” she started, remembering the scene that had happened a week ago with Tirek. From what had happened, there was just simply no way that anypony even Discord, could have survived that massive power blast. “Is he back at our palace?” “Yes! You all must come see him! He's wants you all there so that he can tell us the story of how he escaped!” Twilight giggled as she disappeared and reappeared behind her friends, eagerly trying to push them all forward towards the palace. “Come on! Get a move on, you slowpokes!” “Alright, alright, sugarcube.” Applejack stated as she simply laughed at Twilight's state, glad that her mood had finally taken a turn for the better. “We'll go see him with ya.” The six ponies walked, or rather ran, towards the palace as Twilight flew in front of them, excited to just show them all that her beloved had finally returned and wasn't gone. They all ran inside the place as Twilight led them towards the throne room, throwing the doors open with her magic. In the center of the room, Discord was sitting there, simply just waiting. “Discord, we're back!” Twilight said excitedly as she flew up to him, nuzzling him gently. “Now, are you gonna finally tell the girls how you escaped Tirek?” Twilight smiled up at Discord before turning towards her friends, who all had looks of surprise and confusion written onto their faces. One of Twilight's eyebrows lowered as she too had a confused look appear on her face. “Girls? What's the matter? Aren't you happy that Discord is alive?” “Umm...darling, you know that...” Rarity started, but stopped, not sure of how to form her sentence correctly. Instead, she simply bit her lip, unsure. “Rarity...girls? What's the matter?” Twilight asked as she slowly walked up to them. “I know its a shock to know that he is alright after the week we've all had, but I thought you'd all be overjoyed, not weirded out.” “Sugarcube, there's something you should know...” Applejack started as she walked up to Twilight and looked her dead in the eye. “There's no pony here in the room. It's only us.” “Ok. Ok. This isn't the time to be messing with me, AJ.” Twilight said with a slightly angry glare. “Are you not happy to see Discord?” “Twilight, there isn't anyone in the room.” said Rainbow aloud, allowing them all to hear it. “Seriously, there really is no pony besides us in the room.” “W-What?” Twilight questioned as she turned around and looked at the center of the room. Discord was still sitting there, but now simply had a smirk, almost evil-like, plastered smack on his face. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, but he was still there, even waving his lion paw at her to signal that he was there. “I know you girls aren't the bestest of friends with him, but this is no way to be acting towards him! You are all being utterly rude!” she almost screamed at them. “Twilight...maybe you should lie down.” Fluttershy calmly suggested. “Rainbow and Applejack are right. There isn't anypony else in the room.” “W-What?” Twilight said as she held her head with her two front hooves, falling onto her flank in the process. “Ok, Ok. I get it! You're all just trying to be funny, but this seriously isn't! Now stop it!” She screamed at them all when she heard a familiar laugh. Turning around, she could see a certain draconequus laughing his head off. “Discord, what's so funny?” she questioned. “They're right, you know.” he stated simply as Twilight gave him a confused look. “Only you can see me, Sparkle Butt.” “W-Why are you being so mean all of a sudden, Discord?” Twilight questioned. “I know you have your names for me, but isn't that a little mean?” “Excuse me if you mistook me for somepony else but the fact is...only you can see me...” he laughed evilly. “Only you can see me...” the words echoed clearly as if he had been telling her over and over again, in which he did constantly, to remind her of the truth. Everypony else thought she had completely gone insane, even Princess Celestia. She thought it would be best if Twilight had some medical attention and be looked after for awhile, but Twilight could see past her words. She didn't wanna be rude and say that she was gonna be sent to the insane asylum. “Princess Twilight? Its Dr. Entropio.” came a voice outside of the door. The door swung open to reveal a dark brown stallion with slicked back black hair and was wearing a white lab coat. In his magic, he carried what looked like a small pill. He walked up to Twilight and sat down next to her. “Has he been bothering yet again?” “Yes.” Twilight cried. “Can you at least make him disappear for the night?” “Well, he'll go away for the time being if you take your meds. It'll send you right back to sleep and that's what you'd like, correct Princess?” Dr. Entropio asked as Twilight nodded her head violently. “Alright then, Princess Twilight. Open up and here's your juice.” Levitating a small cup of orange juice to her, he placed the pill into her mouth before allowing her to take the orange juice, sending the pill down Twilight's throat. “You should feel the effects very shortly, princess. Just lie down and he should disappear.” Writing down a few notes on his clipboard, he smiled gently at Twilight as he pulled the covers over her. “It'll be ok now, Princess. We'll make you better and get him out of your head. You must remember he is simply a figment of your imagination. He isn't real.” Twilight let out a sigh. “I know he isn't real but he still won't st-” Twilight's body began to feel woozy as her eyes suddenly began to get heavy. “Just won't stop-” Her eyes began to close on their own accord and soon she was fast asleep, snoring lightly. Dr. Entropio smiled at her as he got off her bed. “Good night, Princess Twilight.” With that, he left the white room and closed the door, locking it behind him. ~~*~~ Twilight slowly opened her eyes as she took in her surroundings. She took notice that she was in a misty forest, at the base of a statue. Looking up at the statue, she saw that it was Discord, frozen like the very first time that he had been entrapped. Twilight simply let out a sigh as she lifted her head up and curled her tail around her. “Again with this dream scape.” Twilight stated again. “I come here almost every single night after I take my medication, and what do I come too? A simple statue of him. Why do you have to torment me with the memory? I get it, he was killed by Tirek. I get it.” Her magic suddenly charged up, making Twilight gasp out in surprise, as she hadn't wanted to cast any spells of any kind. Her magic grew and grew until it erupted from her horn and spiraled right towards the statue. The sudden force of magic made the statue crack and start breaking. Twilight watched with wide eyes as the statue began to crumble. Bits and pieces of stone fell down to the base, all of them barely avoiding her, until a force made the entire statue explode. Twilight instantly created a barrier to protect her from the blast. Opening one eye to make sure that everything was alright, she could see that the statue was gone. Taking down the barrier, she let out a sad sigh. “At least that troubling thought is gone. Maybe tonight I may actually have some peace for once.” “And what? Not be able to mingle with me?” called out a voice, a voice that made Twilight became angry very quickly. “NO! You are not supposed to be here!” Twilight screamed. “My meds always work! This is supposed to be the only time I get peace from my constant torment! My dreams are supposed to be only place for escape!” “Escape?” called the voice out again as a bright light appeared, causing Twilight to shield her eyes temporarily. Once the light subsided, Twilight peaked out from behind her wings to simply see Discord smirking at her. “What, not happy to see me?” “Why would I?” Twilight stated simply as she turned her back away from him. “You torment my waking life everyday and never give me the chance to leave that blasted mental hospital! Why in Equestria would I be happy to see you here, in the one place that I could at least have a little bit of solace.” “Mental hospital?” he questioned, sounding actually surprised at what she had told him. “Yes, mental hospital!” she screamed. “Because you decided so lovingly to appear one day and get me to show my friends that you had returned when you hadn't, everypony thinks that Princess Twilight Sparkle has gone insane with grief!” “I don't know what happened, but I didn't do anything of the sort.” “And here we go again with the innocent routine! You're just gonna wait until I believe you're actually the Discord that I loved before turning it back on me and laughing in my face! Isn't that joke getting a little slate? Can't you come up with something new?” Snapping his fingers, Discord disappeared and reappeared in front of Twilight, grabbing her face with both of his hands. He looked at her dead in the eyes and could see nothing but intense anger. “I don't know what your mind has done to you, but I am not this illusion of me that your mind is tormenting you with.” “Why should I believe you?” Twilight barked, tears streaming down her face. “Isn't this where you just start laughing in my face? Go ahead, laugh at me.” Twilight simply stared at him, waiting for Discord to laugh at her, but he simply stared at her, worry in his eyes. “Why aren't you laughing at me? Go on, I deserve it.” “I'm not going to laugh at you. I may be the god of chaos and find amusement in other ponies' troubles, but not when its actually serious. Twilight, I know this is going to hard to believe, but you have to listen to me.” “Alright, fine. I'll listen. What is it?” “I am not the illusion that your mind has been tormenting you with. I am the actual Discord, the one who fell in love with a Princess Twilight Sparkle. And I know you were hurting when Tirek blasted me with that magical blast and I never returned, but you must know I kept trying to, but the spell he blasted was so powerful, I couldn't get to you. I've only barely manged to get a fraction of my power back so I can at least tell you that I am alive.” “If you're so alive, why don't you just appear to the doctors or the princesses and tell them you're alive and get me out of this damn mental hospital!” Twilight screamed. “I will get you out, my dear, I promise I will get you out but I don't have enough power to come back to you yet. I'm still very weak from Tirek's blast.” Discord stated. “And when you wake up, you have to keep going and fight this illusion that your mind has created of me. From what you keep yelling at me, he really has been tormenting you. You must keep fighting him.” “Are...Are you really my Discord?” Twilight looked up at him sadly, the anger that was once in her eyes were now replaced with sadness. “Please...if you aren't...just laugh at me and get it over with.” “I'll prove to you that I am not your mind's illusion of him.” Discord stated as he pulled his arms forward and connected his lips with Twilight's. Twilight opened her eyes in surprise before her eyes slowly lowered, finally giving into the kiss. The Discord that had been tormenting her for at least two months pulled many jokes and pranks on her, but he had never once kissed her. He could have easily pulled this rouse on her in the beginning, but he never did. His kiss was just like she had remembered it, like she had never stopped kissing him. It was soft and gentle, but had a slight...chaotic nature to it, if you will. The kiss lasted for a moment before Twilight pulled away and opened her eyes slightly to look into his red and gold ones. Slowly opening her mouth, she whispered, “Are you really him?” All she got was a simple nod from him. “Please...I beg of you...save me from this everlasting nightmare...” “I will soon, my dear. But you must hang on until I regain my power. Until then...hang on. Even if all you have is the memories of me to keep you going through the torment, just hang on for me. Just hang on...” With that stated, Discord slowly faded away from Twilight's eyes until she saw nothing but a pile of rubble in front of her. “Hang on...” Twilight muttered to herself. “Should I just hang on...to a possible hope..that he may be alive and this isn't just a trick?” > Visiting Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight awoke with a sudden start as she bolted upright and looked around. It was sunny in her room now, but she felt like she had been drenched in something. “DISCORD!” Twilight screamed, loud enough to wake the dead. “What did you do to me?!” “Oh good. The little princess is awake.” Discord smirked at her. “I call this latest creation chocolate milk a la Sparkle Butt. A little boring for me, but you might like it, Sparkle Butt.” “Uggh!” was all that Twilight could mutter as she hopped out of bed. She stepped off of her bed as chocolate milk rolled off of her body and onto the floor, creating little puddles as she walked across the room to her little table. Picking up the brush in her hooves, she brushed her mane and looked in the bolted down mirror. Was the dream she had real or was it just Discord messing with her mind again? But, that kiss. He had never done that to her before. Never once had she been in this hospital had he ever kissed her, not once. Twilight shrugged her shoulders as she placed the brush down and shivered from the cold feeling that having chocolate milk dumped on her brought. There was no use getting a towel though. The doctors had told her time and time again everything that Discord did was just her mind playing tricks on her and the feelings would soon pass. Twilight looked in the mirror once more, making sure that her appearance was in proper order. She made a smile appear to her face as she remembered what day it was. It was visiting day again. She could finally see her friends and family once more. They could only visit twice a month, but she savored every visit she had with them. Dealing with Discord everyday, they too, along with her books and dreams, were her only solace. “Lovely hair do you have there, Spiral Butt. Going to see old boring Princess Sunbutt?” Discord teased as Twilight tried to pay no mind to him. “Oh, pretending again that you can't hear me? I know, I know. I'm bothering you.” “Just go away, Discord. Besides, you already know what day is today.” she stated, not once turning around to show her face to him. Looking down at herself, she made sure that her green garment was presentable before she saw anyone. She soon felt the cold feeling that she had finally disappear, she letting out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that's right. Its the day that all your little friends are gonna see you at the crazy house!” he laughed. “Oh Rarity, isn't it just what we wanted to do today? Go visit Twi in her crazy hospital!” he spoke as he started impersonating Applejack. “Hey, that isn't funny!” Twilight yelled, finally turning around to face him. “Don't make fun of my friends! They didn't send me here for the last time, you did!” “I know I did but that doesn't stop me from spending all of my loving time with you, Spiral Sparkle Butt.” he snickered. “Besides, what would I do trapped in stone? Its more fun bugging you anyways. At least here I have somepony to talk too, even if she is boring.” “I am not boring! I am just too educated for your stupid tastes!” Twilight said as she stuck out her tongue at him. “Besides, I am not a spiral sparkle butt!” “You are now.” he laughed as he snapped his fingers, making Twilight's cutie mark start shining brightly and spinning rapidly so that it looked like a spiral. “Nice cutie mark you have there.” “I am not even gonna start with you today.” Twilight shrugged as she walked over to her table and picked up a small fake crown, which was made out of soft materials as she wouldn't hurt herself with it and was too big for her to swallow. She placed it onto her head and looked in the mirror once more. “There. At least I look like a princess of Equestria.” “More like the crazy princess of Equestria.” Discord giggled. Twilight glared at him hard. “I am not crazy because of my own devices. I have been labeled with schizophrenia because of you! I know you're not actually there now, but as long as you're here, I cannot leave!” “Oh boo who. Poor Princess Sparkle Butt. What in Equestria is she going to do?” Discord smirked at her once more. “I don't care what you say I-” “Princess Twilight, its Dr. Entropio. Is he bothering you again in there? I could hear you shouting as I was coming up the hallway. Can I come in?” Dr. Entropio called out from the other side. Twilight turned around and smiled at the door. “You can enter.” With given permission, the doctor pony entered the room, along with Nurse Redheart. The two gave her a warm smile as Dr. Entropio wrote something down on his clip board. “But yes...he is bothering me again.” “What did he do to you this morning?” Nurse Redheart asked, walking over to Twilight to adjust her crown, which had become slightly lopsided. “Well, I was shocked awake by having a bucket of chocolate milk dumped on me. And then he proceeded to make fun of my friends.” Twilight explained as the doctor wrote down these new developments. “I see but you must remember that...” “...that he isn't real and thus his actions aren't either.” Twilight recited perfectly. After hearing the same thing every single day from him and the nurse, she could easily say it in their tone. “I know he isn't there, but he still hasn't left my mind. Until he's gone, I can't be given clearance to leave the mental hospital.” “Its better that you stay here until we can get rid of him. You're in safe hooves here, Princess.” Dr. Entropio said as he gave her a warm smile. “And I have good news for you today. It's visiting day and your family is waiting for you in the visitors' area. Perhaps talking to them for a few hours will get your mind off of Discord?” “It would definitely help a lot. Can we go now?” Twilight asked before she glared up at Discord, who was hovering above Dr. Entropio's head, in his eagle talon he carried what looked like a specter of her head. “Please, like now if its not too much trouble?” Dr. Entropio and Nurse Redheart walked to Twilight's sides and led her out of the room and stepped into the hallway, which was the same pale white color as her room. It defiantly screamed hospital as the atmosphere did seem to be very sterile and clean. The three walked up the hallway before turning a corner. They walked up a few more hallways, to Twilight were all the same. The only way she could tell where she was going was for the occasional signs that pointed to the different areas in the place. They reached a large brown door as Dr. Entropio pushed it open and lead Twilight into a brand new area. It was much different from where she had been. The room was very inviting. Soft chairs lined the area and there were several tables scattered about, each one having about six to eight chairs surrounding it. The thing that quite caught Twilight's attention however was the center table, in which her parents, her friends, and her sister in law were waiting for her. “Twilight!” Cadence said happily as she stood up and went over to hug her. This usually wouldn't have been allowed, but in Twilight's case, it was perfectly alright. “I haven't seen you in a month. How are you? Has Discord been causing you trouble?” “Yes. He decided to greet me by dumping chocolate milk on my head this morning.” Twilight said as her wings flapped in annoyance. “I just wish he'd go away.” Cadence gave her a sad smile. “I'm sorry that you have to deal with him, but you know that the doctors here are the best in Equestria. They'll make him disappear from your mind and you can come home once again.” “What I wouldn't give to come ho- Discord, don't you dare!” Twilight screamed suddenly, glaring up at the space above Cadence's head, in which Discord was occupying, a bucket in his hands. “I'd move over to the right if I were you.” Cadence did as Twilight asked as Discord tipped his bucket over. The contents, which strangely looked like some type of soda dropped but missed Princess Cadence. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as Discord moaned how he had missed her. “Did he try to dump something on me, Twilight?” “Yeah, grape soda.” Twilight shrugged. “He's such a lovely roommate sometimes.” Twilight walked over to everyone else that was sitting at the table and smiled at them all. “I am so sorry about that, everypony. I didn't expect him to pour buckets on anypony else besides me. I know he's not there, but if I don't yell at him, he won't listen to anyone else.” “Its ok, Twilight. From what you tell us, he can be a hoof full.” Twilight Velvet smiled at her daughter and patted the seat that was next to her. “Why don't you sit down next to me and tell me about anything new that has happened with you.” Twilight walked over and sat in the seat next to her mother. Glaring for a moment at Discord, who was simply hovering on the ceiling above the table, she returned her look to a calm one. “Well, there's the usual Discord bugging and annoying me but Dr. Entropio's given me a new medication that at least prevents me from seeing him in my dreams, so I do get a little solace there.” Twilight smiled at them. She didn't wanna tell them about the dream she had last night, she wasn't sure if it was him or what was going on. “That's good to hear.” Rarity smiled. “What have you been doing with your lucid dreaming, darling? Reading in your dreams like you do when you're awake?” “The egghead has gotta be reading in her sleep and when she's awake!” Rainbow joked. “At least its something to do. Its gotta be boring in here. There probably isn't much to do here.” “As long as I have some books and they bring me new ones regularly, I'll be fine.” Twilight smiled. “But I'd go through more of them faster if Discord hadn't decided to use one of them like a personal Twilight smacker!” “Oh my.” Applejack said, placing a hoof in front of her mouth before moving it away. “When did he do that?” “Just yesterday actually. And almost everyday before that.” Twilight said flatly. “I swear, he annoys me way too much! But enough about my issues, what about you guys? Anything been happening in Ponyville? Canterlot? The Crystal Empire?” “Well, Shining Armor got called out for a diplomatic mission to Saddle Arabia. That's why he couldn't visit, Twilight.” said Cadence. “They wanted the Prince of the Crystal Empire to oversee one of their biggest events of the year.” “Oh, that sounds fascinating.” Twilight smiled before she turned to her parents. “Mom? Dad? Anything new with you guys?” “Well, your mom and I are going to be going on our trip to Manehattan soon.” Night Light smiled at his daughter. “You know, for the big Manehattan Gala? We finally got tickets to attend this year.” “That's right. It's this weekend, isn't it?” Twilight pondered. “Oh, and while you're down in Manehattan, do you think you could buy me a few books on Manehattan? The big city and its history has always fascinated me, but I hardly have any books on it.” “I'll make sure to remember.” Night Light laughed. “And if I do, try to make sure that Discord doesn't smack you in the head with them.” “Trust me, I'll make sure of it. At least he's behaving for the moment.” Twilight glared up at him, in which Discord simply faked a look of innocence. “But thanks Dad. Girls, what about you? Anything new? “Well, I've created a new fashion line.” Rarity said proudly. “Pony Chic. It has such a nice ring to it, don't you think, Twilight dear?” Twilight shook her head at Rarity and smiled. “I thought you'd like the name. My new line is supposed to being out your inner true self and allow it to shine!” “Your clothing line is great and all Rarity, but I've been invited to attend an event with the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow spoke excitedly. “They actually want me to perform with them in Saddle Arabia! How awesome is that?” “We know how awesome it is, sugarcube.” smirked Applejack. “You've only been going on about it every single day for the last week and a half.” “Oh come on! Its not like everyday you get to perform with your heroes and they're the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow quipped back, only to have Applejack simply chuckle at her. “Relax, sugarcube. Ya know I'm only messing with you. I'm glad you're gonna perform with them. Live one of your life dreams, ya know?” “I know. I know.” Rainbow said as she stuck out her tongue at Applejack, who repeated the gesture back to her. Pinkie Pie simply giggled happily at the two girls. “Pumpkin and Pound Cake just turned a year old last weekend! I threw them a special birthday party and I made sure to save a special party favor just for you!” Pinkie reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a small party hat and noisemaker and handed them over to Twilight. “I know it can get kinda boring in here, so I thought these little party favors might cheer you up!” Twilight took the objects into her hooves and smiled at Pinkie. “Thank you so much, Pinkie Pie. I'll make sure to keep this noise maker away from Discord. Who knows what time he'd wake me up at if he got his claws on this!” For the next few hours, they all simply talked and Discord didn't cause any trouble. When Dr. Entropio informed the group that visiting hours were over, Twilight gave everypony a hug goodbye before she was escorted back to her private little bedroom. When they arrived back in the room, Discord opened his mouth. “Oh, it seems you're gonna be getting new toys for me to play with you soon. How exciting!” he smirked. “But for now, I think I'll just borrow this.” He tried grabbing for the noise maker that Pinkie Pie has given Twilight, but she turned her body away from him, taking the noise maker with her. “NO! This is my noise maker! Not yours and like Tarturus I'm going to let you get your claws on this!” Twilight growled. “You'll just wake me up at random intervals in the night if I let you have it. I know you will and have done it before.” “Who me? I would never.” Discord faked innocence. “Whatever.” Twilight shrugged as she glanced over at the clock. It currently read 2pm. As soon as she glanced at the clock, Twilight let out an exhausted yawn. She already knew Discord was gonna wake her up in the middle of the night, she might as well get some rest now. Even with an idiot draconequus floating around the room. Placing the noisemaker under her pillow, Twilight snuggled up to the pillow and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. Focusing her mind to block out Discord long enough, she managed to slowly drift off to sleep. ~~*~~ Twilight awoke back in the misty forest that she had been in last night. With a sigh, she stood up and and looked up at the statue base. The statue that had usually been there wasn't there now. She blinked surprising up at the base, actually shocked that the statue wasn't there. “Was that dream last night actually real?” Twilight questioned. “Is my Discord back?” “Of course I am my dear.” came Discord's voice as he appeared in front of her and smiled. “Have you been having to deal with the torment of your mind today?” “You would know. You're the one tormenting me.” Twilight stated. “What do you want to do me now that we're in my dreams? You have full range to do whatever you want. You might as well get it out of you now.” “Well, in that case then.” Discord snapped his fingers and changed the misty forest into Twilight's bedroom back in Canterlot. “I thought a more familiar scenery perhaps would cheer you up. As much as I quite enjoyed that forest back there, it was growing to be quite boring. There wasn't even anypony there to bother!” “Besides me that is.” Twilight stated simply. “While I love to annoy you, I'd rather bug somepony else for awhile.” A knock at the bedroom door caught Discord's attention, in which he smiled. “And speaking of somepony else. Come in! Come in!” he said, faking sincerity. “Twilight, we need to talk.” said Princess Celestia as she walked into the room. “Its about Discord.” “What about him?” Twilight asked, her curiosity peeked. “I have news that he has been located not too far from Appleloosa.” Celestia stated simply. “He's been placed in a state of dormancy and is weak, but he is alive. I already have guards on their way there to retrieve him so he should be placed in care very soon.” “W-What?” Twilight said, her mouth hung wide open. “What do you mean you found him? I thought he was here right now!” “You are mistaken, my student. I know you've been upset about almost losing him, but I assure you, we have found him and he'll be alright.” Princess Celestia smiled at Twilight. “The pain, the troubles. Its all over now, my student. Its all over.” Twilight wanted to believe Celestia's words, oh how much she wanted to believe the Princess' words, but she knew she was dreaming and this was simply her mind's way of comforting her. She knew when she woke up, it would all become a simple dream and the Discord that constantly plagued her would be back again to bother her. She let out a sigh as she fired up her magic and aimed it at Celestia. With a simple hit, Celestia was gone. Twilight let out an unhappy sigh. “Oh, I was gonna do something to me laugh.” Discord pouted. “It probably could have made you laugh as well.” “I've had this dream so many times already. I believed it in the beginning, but every time it kept playing, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I woke up again and reality set back in.” Twilight sighed. “I just can't relive this dream again. Its just too tormenting now.” A snap of fingers could be heard and Celestia reappeared back in the room. Twilight just simply turned away from the dream, walking towards the bed in hopes she could actually just get a little rest while she was here. “Now, this shall be hilarious!” With a snap of his fingers, Discord instantly made Celestia's mane and tail disappear, making her completely bald. “What the? My tail! My mane! They're gone!” she panicked. “What happened to them? Where did they go?!” She soon started going in circles, chasing her non existent tail. Discord simply rolled onto his back in midair and laughed. “Oh my goodness! Her face is just hilarious! Twilight, you have got to see what I have just done! Its hilarious!” Twilight glanced over with an exhausted stare and saw the bald Princess Celestia in a panic. She couldn't help herself when she burst out laughing. “Oh my goodness! Princess, you've gone bald! Maybe Discord is better then you thought!” Twilight giggled when a thought hit her and she stopped. “Wait, you've never made me laugh before.” Twilight said simply as she stared up at Discord. “Are you starting to change for the better perhaps?” “Like I said my dear, I am not your mind's illusion. I am weak, but I am here with you.” Discord said simply. “I will always make you laugh when you need it and I will come back and get you out of that mental hospital, I promise. Just hang on there for me, my dear. Just hang on...” “Just hang on...” > Just Hang On > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight sleepily opened her eyes as the world slowly started to come back into focus. Her head felt it was spinning as she slowly sat up and looked around the room. The sun had lowered, meaning it had became late afternoon. Twilight looked up at her her clock to see what time it was. The clock read 5pm, meaning she had been out of it for three hours. “Uggh...my head really hurts.” she said as she sluggishly moved herself to the other end of her bed. “At least I got a solid amount of sleep for once.” Placing a hoof at the end of the bed, she reached for the table that wasn't too far from it. Grabbing a hold of it, she pulled herself up and landed her back hooves onto the floor, her whole body landing onto the floor upright. Twilight walked over to the mirror to see her hair had become a disarray again. “Well, there goes all my hard work for visiting day today.” she joked to herself. “I think the look is actually an improvement.” came Discord's voice. “It looks like you aren't boring for once. But no change in appearance can change that about you, Sparkle Butt. You'll always be boring Princess Sparkle Butt.” Twilight glanced in the mirror to see if she could spot him, but she simply couldn't. It was one of those times again when she awoke, she couldn't completely see him, but only could hear him. He would reappear back up in a few moments, he always did. “I think a look of order might do you some good.” Twilight quipped. “You look like some child yanked apart all of their animal figurines and pasted them into one big mess! A little order could do you some good.” “And what, lose all of my attractive good looks?” Discord stated, he appearing besides her and looking in the mirror, a diva look on his face. “You're just simply jealous because you can't achieve such looks, even with your magical powers, Sparkle Butt. Oh wait, you can't even use your magic!” he laughed. “Why you annoying little-” Twilight started when she stopped and turned her muzzle away from him. “I am not even gonna get started with you right now. I'm just gonna try to have a little fun while I can.” “A little fun, eh? And what is so fun to you, a la Sparkle Butt?” Discord smirked. “Oh that's right, its reading all of your boring little books, isn't it? I on the other claw, have found a much better use for your books instead of reading them.” A quick snap of his fingers and Twilight felt one of her larger books land on top of her head. “Its much funnier when they decide to grace their presence upon your head. Or they could grace their presence on your flank.” Twilight felt a large smack to her flank, in which she blushed. “These books are not doing this of they're own accord! You're the one whose doing it!” Twilight yelled at him before turning around, using one of her hooves to grab one of the books that had smacked her, and walk back to her bed. The book stopped moving as Twilight opened it up to the first page. “I'll just be reading, so could you give me at least five minutes of peace here?” “Give you peace? But if I ever gave you a slight smidgen of peace, old boringness would set back in, wouldn't it? You might soon be driven crazy from the boringness! Oh wait, you've already been driven crazy!” Discord laughed at his own joke. Any comments about her sanity was enough to make her anger instantly start boiling. “No, you're the one that has driven me into insanity! If you would just go the heck away, I could get out of this damn mental hospital! But no, its too boring for him in his lowly stone prison of his. He can't handle the lonesome nights in stone, can he? Maybe if you went back, you could see what it is like to be driven into insanity! Maybe your stupid mind will create a me to torment you every single day for the next many months just so you could see what its like! Maybe then you would understand what in Tarturus you put me through!” Twilight yelled at Discord, who simply looked back at her, a bucket of popcorn in his lion paw. He simply clapped his hands together at her. “I'm actually impressed how much you yelled. Work on it some more and you might be able to have that be a sub par act.” he smirked. “Besides, if I went away, you would miss me too much.” “Like Tarturus I would-” “Dinner time, Princess Twilight!” came the sweet voice of Nurse Redheart, whom walked into the bedroom and in her mouth, she pushed a cart that carried a warm meal for Twilight. “I have something very special for you to eat tonight. Its your favorite, a daisy sandwich. You've hadn't had one in weeks. Today is just being a good day for you.” “The little things are making it better and- HEY! Discord! That was my sandwich!” Twilight screamed at Discord, who had taken the sandwich and started eating it. “What? Being a full god of chaos makes you hungry. I thought as the Princess, you would happily share your dinner with me.” “Nurse Redheart, Discord has stolen my food again!” Twilight whined to the nurse, a look of unhappiness spread on her features. “You have a back up sandwich, right? Right?” Nurse Redheart looked around the cart for a moment before she pulled out another sandwich that had been supposedly hiding away. “Oh look! I found another daisy sandwich!” she smiled nervously, for she was actually holding the same sandwich that Discord had supposedly taken. “Ready to eat up, Twilight?” “More then you'll ever know.” Twilight smiled at her. Nurse Redheart pushed the cart over to the table and set up the meal for her. Assure that everything looked perfect, Nurse Redheart gave Twilight a warm smile, in which the purple alicorn gave her one back. “Thanks for bringing me dinner tonight. I need a little food since I hardly had breakfast.” she said, referring to the warm porridge from the middle of the night. “No problem, Twilight.” Nurse Redheart smiled as she pushed the cart away from the table and towards the door. “You have fun eating and try not to let Discord eat your meal, hmm?” She smiled as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Twilight sat in the chair and began to nimble on her daisy sandwich. The bread was a little stale, but it still was a daisy sandwich nonetheless. Taking a bite from it, it made her smile and moan slightly from just how much she had missed the taste of this sandwich. She nibbled on the sandwich slowly and finally finished the last few bites about twenty minutes later. As she ate the last few bites, she soon realized that she hadn't heard a peep out of Discord. Looking around the bedroom, she couldn't spot him anywhere. “Is he gone?” she questioned to herself, waiting for some type of response. She waited for another moment, but she was only meant with silence. Twilight gave a rare small smile. “Maybe he might actually be gone for once. Maybe I-” “BOO!” came a sudden loud voice, causing Twilight to scream and bounce up in her seat, she now near the ceiling as her wings flapped nervously. Discord soon reappeared and began laughing his head off. “Oh my! That was so worth it! You should have seen it! You jumped five feet into the air!” “I thought you were gone!” Twilight yelled at him, lowering slowly back down to the ground. “What? Can't I take a twenty minute nap without getting bothered?” Discord questioned. “You were quiet for a whole twenty minutes!” Twilight yelled at him. “That's like an eternity to you! An eternity!” “And you were actually wondering where I was?” he questioned when he grabbed her, hugging her very tightly. “Oh Sparkle Butt, you were actually worried about me for once!” “As if!” “Oh, I knew you cared about me. I knew you had a soft spot for my chaoticness, under all of that boringness! I knew you cared about me, Sparkle Butt.” “Why would I care about a guy who is always tormenting me? I thought you were finally gone, but I was damn wrong! I should have known.” Twilight said as she dropped her head. “You'll never leave me alone, you just never will.” “Just hang on...” called out a small voice in the back of Twilight's head, making her look around the room in surprise. It sounded like Discord's voice but...it just sounded too caring. “Hang on, my dear. All you have to do is hang on. Endure him and I will soon free you. Just hang on...” “Just hang on...” Twilight muttered to herself when Discord looked at her unusually. “Hang on? You mean you hang on to this rope? Alright then!” Discord mused as he snapped his fingers again, causing Twilight to start hovering in the air, the only means of protection was a single rope she was attached to as her wings were suddenly gone. “Discord!” Twilight screamed at him, clinging to the rope hard. Down below, she could see a bottomless pit, which seemed to go on forever. She felt a sense of vertigo come over here and had to cling to the rope extra hard to make sure she didn't fall and lose her dinner. “Get me back to my room and give me back my wings!” she yelled, keeping a hoof over her mouth. “Oh...you are just no fun, Sparkle Butt.” Discord sighed, snapping his fingers and returning the room back to normal. Twilight landed on the ground with a thud and did a quick flap of her wings to make sure they had returned. Feeling them flap, Twilight flew upwards and stared at Discord hard. “Now listen here, mister! I have had enough of your shenanigans! I'm going to make you finally le-” “See you later, Sparkle Butt.” Discord simply smirked at her when Twilight's head began to feel woozy and her world started spinning. Twilight grabbed a hold of her head as she barely managed to land back onto her bed when the last thing she heard out of Discord was his signature laugh. ~~*~~ Opening her eyes yet again, she was meant by Dr. Entropio and Nurse Redheart looking down at her, worried expressions plastered onto their faces. Twilight slowly sat herself up, a sharp pain from her head erupting as she did so. Placing a hoof on her head, she moaned. “Ouch...w-what happened?” “You had a little accident, Twilight.” Dr. Entropio explained. “You overexerted yourself and you fainted and hit your head on the wall as you did so. Princess, can you tell me what exactly happened before you fainted?” “I...I was yelling with Discord and hanging from some rope.” she explained as the doctor wrote down the notes as he usually did. “He finally brought me back to my room and I flew up to yell at him and he said 'see you later, Sparkle Butt.' The next thing I know is that I'm here with a painful headache and I''m talking to you.” “Oh my.” said Nurse Redheart. “Dr. Entropio, you don't think the Princess' condition is getting worse, do you think? Something like this hasn't happened before.” “I'm sure its nothing, Nurse Redheart, but I'm sure it won't hurt to give Princess Twilight a few tests. Is this alright with you, Princess Twilight?” asked the doctor pony. “I don't want to be rude.” Twilight looked around the room, but she saw no pony else besides Nurse Redheart and Dr. Entropio. She slowly nodded her head yes. “I seriously don't understand what happened back there. It all happened so fast...” “Hang on, my dear. Hang on...” came a small voice from the back of Twilight's head. The voice was enough for Twilight to open her eyes in surprise. “Hang on?” she mumbled quietly to herself, the two medical ponies not catching what she had said. Hang...on? Hang on..to my sanity? Hang on to what? Twilight thought to herself as she watched Dr. Entropio leave the room while the nurse stayed behind to keep an eye on her. Just what am I supposed to hang onto? “Please...just hang on for me. I'll get you out soon. Just hang on...” the voice repeated again in the back of her head. Twilight's eyes lowered a bit, almost trance like, as her body felt oddly calmed by the voice. It once again sounded like Discord's, but caring. “Princess Twilight, I'm going to have Dr. Flutter here take a small blood sample to make sure that everything is alright with your systems. Alright?” Dr. Entropio spoke as he came back, another doctor pony wearing a tan lab coat following him, carrying a small needle and kit. Twilight simply nodded her head at Dr. Entropio before her eyes winced as she felt the needle go into her arm. She never did like needles, they always hurt going in and made her wince. This why she always dreaded getting her injections ever since she was a little filly. Likely, her doctor very rarely injected or took anything from her like this, so she counted her blessings that she didn't have to encounter needles that often. Looking up above at the ceiling, Twilight's eyes widened ever so slightly when she saw Discord looking down at her, an evil smirk on his face and a bucket in his talon. “Please, no Discord...not here. Please...no...” she begged, her eyes pleading with him not to do anything. “Hang on.” went the voice again. Twilight looked up at Discord on the ceiling, but he still gave the same look that he had been giving. “Its alright...just hang on...” Meanwhile, Discord turned the bucket over, spilling the contents that were inside it all over Twilight. Strangely enough, she didn't move a single muscle. She didn't even seem to notice that she had anything dumped onto herself. She had the strangest smile on her face actually. “You can't faze me, Discord.” Twilight mumbled aloud, her voice sounding rather unusual. “I'll break the spell on her mind and get rid of you. You'll see.” “I'd like to see you try and do that, Sparkle Butt.” Discord laughed on the ceiling when his smile turned into a frown. “But why didn't you jump? You always jump at it, even when you expect it. And why do you sound so...not boring?” “I'm not her...just an old friend of hers.” Twilight giggled slightly. Discord looked at her oddly before moving to a different spot in the room, a confused look on his face. “Is she alright?” Dr. Entropio wondered, hearing Twilight mumble random musings, but couldn't make out what she was saying. Waving a hoof in front of Twilight's face, he caught her attention. “Are you alright, Princess Twilight?” “Just having to deal with Discord. I feel like he may finally be gone for good soon.” Twilight told Dr. Entropio, she still not sounding like herself. Placing a hoof to her forehead, he checked her temperature. He didn't feel anything unusual. “Princess Twilight, do you wanna rest for awhile? I think that bump to your head may have made you a little out of it.” “Sure, I could use the rest. After all.” Twilight muttered. “I just...have to...hang...on...”