> Tirek's Shadow
>  by LiterarySerenity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One—Where Ponies Celebrate Freedom, Debate Interior Design, and Read Letters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight soared high above Ponyville, letting the wind wash against her face and seep through her broad feathery wings. More often lately, the young princess had taken to the skies in fast-paced flight. Doing this cleared the mind, and somehow she thought she could see why Rainbow Dash enjoyed racing so much. Up here a pony was free to move unfettered and simply be herself, without any special titles or obligations, although Twilight also understood the importance both these responsibilities had in her life.

She was the Princess of Friendship, one of four alicorn princesses in leadership positions within Equestria. That role had once frightened her, admittedly. But as Twilight broke through a particularly thick cloud layer, lunar crispness giving way to celestial warmth, a great fondness for the town below overtook her.  It many ways Ponyville was the same cozy place as when Princess Celestia had first sent Twilight and her number one assistant Spike there to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration. At that time, all she had wanted was to dash to the closest library and research the possible coming of Nightmare Moon, a great threat that she worried would attack Equestria.

Twilight chuckled at the thought, of how Nightmare Moon had turned out to be an imperiled Princess Luna. A friend out of a perceived danger. That is what she had discovered with ponies who wielded the Elements of Harmony alongside, and would become, her best friends. 

Her friends.

They would be waiting for Twilight at her new palace, gleaming tall and proud in Celestia’s sun beside the lake. The resemblance to the Tree of Harmony was clear, with a broad trunk and crystal branches. Yet what Twilight thought of when she saw it was—

No. 

Twilight had to put that behind her for the time being and simply enjoy the moment, especially for her friends’ sake, and after getting sidetracked by the mayor. She had indeed spent many hours during the past night creating tentative plans for how to design and divide the counsel room, taking into consideration what each of her friends would probably like to have there. Striving to create that balance had been fun and made her unfamiliar, spacious bedroom disappear just a little bit.

And then the mayor’s message had come, sounding so urgent Twilight feared another terror had unexpectedly crept upon Ponyville. Strange beings and villains had the tendency to come around when Equestria seemed the most peaceful. Usually, these warnings came in some form from Princess Celestia. But perhaps the mayor had noticed something that could become a problem.

What Twilight hadn’t expected was to sit in the mayor’s office for over an hour, listening to a possible election and acceptance speech, followed by needing to assure the mayor that hers was still an important role in Ponyville. The confession had surprised Twilight, since the mayor had never acted this way when she first became a princess. It was only the appearance of her palace that had become worrisome. 

“Everything is the same as before.” Twilight had told the mayor, which had earned her another half hour-long speech begging for her support. 

Now Twilight was free at last, winging it towards the palace. She supposed things like this would happen once in a while, yet nothing could keep her from her friends. Ah. Twilight could hardly wait to spend a quieter afternoon in their company, simply having a good time and discussing all the things only the closest friends shared.


A movement out of the corner of her eye caught Twilight’s attention.  Turning her head, she saw the vast tangled maze that was the Everfree Forest. 

Huh. Nothing wrong there.

That is, until Twilight noticed a serpentine being spiraling downwards towards the area near where the ruins of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s old castle stood. A pony with an assortment of body parts, including a bird’s wing, snake’s tail, and eagle’s claw.

Discord? 

***

“Spikey-wikey, would you be a dear and move my chair just an inch to the right?” Rarity asked, standing before a high-backed marble chair with her diamond cutie mark at the top. She wore her red sharp-framed glasses, the kind she usually used when scrutinizing the details of the stitch work on a dress or other fashionable accessory. In fact, the white unicorn had levitated several boxes of fabric into the circular counsel chamber in Twilight’s palace and stacked them behind her chair, which had magically come with the building.  

“Right away, Rarity.” Spike responded with a dreamy sigh, the way the young purple dragon did whenever Rarity asked him to do anything. The top of his head, excluding the green frills, was only a little higher than the armrest, and the chair towered above him. Yet Spike shoved its side with all the strength he could muster, until sweat sprinkled down his brow and his feet slid backwards across the slick floor. 

“Ah, Spike?” Applejack, a gingery earth pony, entered the room carrying a crate on her back. “What’re you doin’?” 

“Just.” Spike strained. “Moving.” He groaned. “Rarity’s.” The dragon grunted. “Chair.” He plopped onto the ground, gasping for breath. 

“Sorry to tell ya this, but I don’t think it’s gonna budge.” Applejack said, pausing beside the chair designated with her apple-shaped cutie mark. In a single swift motion, she half-bucked the box onto the floor alongside. A noticeable aroma drifted up from it. “I think it’s rooted firmly as an apple tree.”

“Unfortunately, I think Applejack is right.” Rarity agreed, resigned. “I suppose I will have to do my best to make it fabulous.” Here she trailed off, sniffing the air. “Applejack! Did you bring in a bunch of apples?”

“I sure did.” Applejack said, wrenching off the lid to the crate and showing Rarity the bounty inside. “I grabbed some of the best apples from Sweet Apple Acres. After all, we did agree to each add our own touches to this here counsel room.” Her smile faltered on seeing Rarity’s indignant expression. “Is somethin’ the matter?”

“Well, I have no issue with your family’s apples.” Rarity seemed to grope for the most tactful way to put what she wanted to say. “Yet did you have to bring quite so many? The smell will fill the whole chamber.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Applejack asked. “You like the smell of apples, don’t ya?” 

“Not all the time.” Rarity blurted out before she could bite her tongue.

“Is that so?” Applejack’s eyes narrowed.

“I didn’t mean it quite like that.” Rarity backed a step back before her friend’s glance. 

“Well, then what the hay did you mean?”

“Well….”


“Hey, guys!” The blue and rainbow blur that was the Pegasus Rainbow Dash burst into the room, loaded down by T-Shirts, medals, hats, and other Wonderbolts memorabilia. “What do you think would look better on the wall right my chair, a “Join the Wonderbolts” poster, or the medals I won in the Best Young Flyer’s Competition and the Equestria Games?” Rainbow Dash zipped about, her voice growing shriller and more enthused all the while. “Maybe I can put in a bookshelf with my whole collection of Daring Doo books, including my very special first edition of Daring Doo and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue.” 

“I think that’s just fine, RD.” Applejack said. “How about you, Rarity?”

“Yes. It’s all right.” Rarity replied. “Listen. Applejack, about the apples.”

“Yes?” 

“I wanted to apolo—“


“Hello, everybody!” Pinkie Pie, an earth pony pink as bubblegum (and often just as flexible), flounced into the room with a party hat on curly mane. Her tail held onto a small group of balloons, which added height to her bounces. “I’ve got a super duper idea for the counsel room.” In typical Pinkie fashion, she reached behind her back and pulled out a party cannon. Aiming it at the ceiling, the pony tugged the string. The high-pitched squeal echoed throughout the room, and streamers stuck to the room’s highest point and rolled downwards until the frilly ends tapped the ground. 

One streamer flipped right over a photograph of Rainbow Dash standing alongside the Wonderbolt’s team.

“Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash flew to the offending streamer and tugged it off. “Your party supplies are going over all my stuff.”

“Oops. Sorry, Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie Pie said. “Although, you do have a lot of stuff.”

This was true enough. In the last minute or so, Rainbow Dash had managed to cover a great section of the wall behind her chair (and beyond it) with Wonderbolt materials and Daring Doo merchandize. They hung cobbled together in a tight-fitting collage.

“Huh.” Rainbow Dash allowed herself a slight blush. “I guess I might have gotten carried away.”

“That’s okay.” Pinkie Pie said with a grin. “I have a lot I want to put in here too, like balloons, and cakes, and board games, and bubbles, and—“

“I get it.” Rainbow Dash interrupted her.

“Oikey-dokey lokey!” Pinkie Pie sat down, reached into her mane, and began pulling out strings of taffy. “I hope we can find plenty of space for the candy I’m going to bring here. You can’t have a fun meeting without sweets, right?” The hyperactive pony sprang into a pile of wrapped candy that seemed to have suddenly manifested on the floor. No pony knew how Pinkie did this. Of course, they had stopped trying to do so ages ago.


“We certainly do have different ideas for the council chamber, and we need to figure out the best way for our elements to flow together.” Rarity said, turning back to Applejack. “I’m sorry for snapping at you over the apples.”

“Already forgiven, Rarity.” Applejack and Rarity shared a hoofbump. “I know you’re gettin’ stressed as the rest of us about putting together the council room. Maybe even more so, since you understand a ton about fashion and style.”

“Aww.” Rarity chuckled. “I do have a talent, and you are right. We need to figure out the best way to make our individual styles complement each other in this important place.”

“Ooh.” Pinkie Pie piped up, bounding around the room in a wide circle. “We should ask Twilight. She’s great with organization, and the Princess of Friendship.”

“Where is Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I thought she would be the first pony here, with plans drawn up and everything. She’s the one who wanted us to meet this afternoon.”

“Oh, that’s right. The mayor sent a message asking to see Twilight right away.” Spike brushed himself off, giving Rarity’s chair one last tentative push. He shrugged his shoulders. “She sounded worried about something, though she also said it shouldn’t take long.”

“Huh. I guess Twilight has been pretty busy ever since the palace appeared.” Applejack mused, calling to mind the rowdiness surrounding the past week. Twilight’s new home had seen guests and visitors day and night most of that time. And although Applejack and the others had helped in every possible way, the purple alicorn princess had needed to live amid those bustling hallways. “Especially after losing the Golden Oak Library, it’ll take her the longest to get used to things, I think.” 

All the ponies agreed on this point.

“It isn’t like she’s late or anything.” Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders, as if to say when has Twilight ever been late? “Twilight said ‘noon exactly’.” 

“And my watch says noon is still half an hour away.” Pinkie Pie chirped. She had crayoned a watch onto her leg again. However, none doubted this was the correct time. Knowing the hour was right up there with her Pinkie Sense. It never failed and made no sense whatsoever.   

“She will be along shortly.” Rarity stated. “We need to have some patience, as her best friends.”

“Right.” The ponies declared.


“Hmm. Excuse me?” A pony whispered.

The friends’ attention turned to a yellow pegasus half-crouched in the doorway, her pink mane and tail cascading upon the floor as much as Pinkie Pie’s streamers had. 

“Fluttershy, sweetness.” Rarity said. “Where have you been? You haven’t even started personalizing your part of the room yet. We were discussing our plans for it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy said. “I was going to come right away, but I had forgotten Angel Bunny still needed his weekly ear massage.” 

The small white rabbit poked his head out from Fluttershy’s mane and flexed his ears.

“Also, the mail pony was at the door to the palace.” Fluttershy continued. “She was delivering the mail, and…” At this, the soft-spoken Pegasus bit her lip, hesitant to press onwards.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, darling.” Rarity came over and laid a comforting hoof on her friend’s shoulder.

“That’s right. Was there some sort of problem?” Applejack added.

“Not exactly.” Fluttershy answered.

“Did the mail pony deliver mail to the wrong place again?” Rainbow Dash guessed.

“No.” Fluttershy stepped to one side. “The right mail is here, as well as the mail mare.”

As if on cue, a grey cross-eyed pegasus pony with bubbles on her flank appeared in the doorway, dressed in the traditional mail carrier uniform.

“Here’s your mail!” Derpy Hooves announced, followed by a rumbling sound that reverberated throughout the chamber. 

The ponies barely had enough time to cry out in alarm before an avalanche of letters came sweeping into the room, rushing across the floor, burying Spike, and pushing the recipients off their hooves (except for Rainbow Dash, safe overhead). 

A collective groan arose from the ponies.

“My work is done.” Derpy rejoined in glee, before flying away towards her next destination.

***

“I can hardly believe it.” Applejack said, after the ponies had pulled themselves out of the letter landslide and begun shifting through the contents. “There must be ponies writing from as far away as Manehattan. Some of them are to Twilight, others are to each of us, and yet more are for all of us. ‘The Rainbow Ponies,’ huh?” 

“We have a nickname.” Pinkie Pie giggled, digging through the letters. Then she paused, eyes widening at the sight of one letter in particular. Pinkie gasped.

“What do you see?” Rainbow Dash asked. 

“It’s a letter from Cheese Sandwich!” Pinkie Pie hugged the yellow envelope smelling vaguely of limburger to her chest, coiling her tail underneath and using it to spring her high into the air. “And he addressed it to Boneless and me.”

“Hey, here’s one from Silver Shill.” Applejack pulled out a regular envelope, written upon in fine calligraphy. “Well, what do you know?”

“Ah. Coco Pommel sent me one as well.” Rarity reported several moments later. A smile tweaked her lips.

“Oh, yeah.” Rainbow Dash swooped down and snatched a letter jutting out of one small paper hill. “Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts, wrote to me.”

“I hope Seabreeze is doing well.” Fluttershy said. “In his cozy home with all the nice breezies.” The pegasus knew, as did her friends, that Seabreeze lived in another world altogether. Yet even if she had not received a letter, Fluttershy could somehow sense her breezy friend was well and thinking kindly of her. 

So Fluttershy smiled nonetheless, and for several moments the incomplete circle of friends revisited the memories of those special ponies they had met while trying to unlock the chest from the Tree of Harmony. Each one had needed help in some way, and following a hard choice in favor of the elements they represented, the ponies had managed to set these newfound friends on the right path.
With the letter pile forgotten, the ponies sat and enjoyed their letters.

After all, they could not start decorating until Twilight arrived.

> Chapter Two—Includes Discord with Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dense fog enshrouded the castle ruins on a hilltop deep in the Everfree Forest, as if in an effort to bury the past evidenced therein. It hid dangers like a rickety bridge that seemed ready to give way beneath the slightest pressure, along with a myriad of not-so-friendly plants and creatures who used the thick cloak to their advantage. The same magic found throughout these woods—and which kept the clouds, plants, and animals thriving without pony intervention—now inhabited the dilapidated palace.

Where order had left, chaos prevailed. It was only natural. Still, a certain stagnancy existed here that gave Discord Goosebumps along his long, slender back. He shot these away quickly enough with a water pistol, yet the unnerving sensation remained. 

Discord didn’t care for stone fortresses. They reminded him too much of his cold statue days spent in the Canterlot gardens, and afterwards in some unknown place, which must have been deep in Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s present castle. 

The second entombment had seemed worse. Locked up after a taste of creative freedom with nothing to do. 

In hindsight, Discord had probably deserved it. Although the draconequus wouldn’t have confessed this feeling to anypony.

His griffin claw lifted, talons itching with an inner urge to change just one detail of the castle ruins—perhaps to a lovely shade of lavender that boasted pink polka dots, and featuring rubber walls that would essentially convert the dismal location into one giant funhouse. It could look out onto a waterfall and spring of chocolate milk, making the perfect vacation spot. And this was only the outside.

Ah, Discord could make the place a lot better…

But then his lion paw yanked his griffin claw down, because somehow Discord figured his handiwork would attract too much attention. And for the first time, he far preferred to lay low for a while.

Besides, he had a date.

So Discord ignored the ruins and drifted down past them, into the gorge winding in a tangled mess about this section of the Everfree Forest. On the way, he tried to spruce himself up a bit, spraying a breath freshener into his mouth, brushing his teeth, combing his dark mane, curling his eyebrows, and doing his nails.

Just a few small courtesies.

It wasn’t like he was meeting up with Fluttershy, after all.

“I’m here, my dear.” Discord intoned upon reaching his destination. His voice echoed about the large cavern, finding no pony but a grand crystal tree towards the back. Upon the bark were marks of the sun and moon, and it carried the Elements of Harmony on the tips of each branch—except for the sixth, star-shaped element that occupied the center and joined all the parts. Small white flowers, transparent and radiant, covered the surface at odd points, matching their host in beauty.

Yes. Discord had to admit the Tree of Harmony was easy on the eyes, although even the lord of chaos had trouble defining exactly why he felt drawn here more often over the last several days. Years ago, the very concept the tree embodied would have repulsed him—and Discord should have thought nothing of plucking the Elements from their respective places, scattering them, and enfeebling the magical plant. That is, if the Tree of Harmony would have let him come close enough to do so, which it hadn’t during the period before lending the Elements out to the princesses.

Now the Tree of Harmony greeted him like an old friend, seeming to grow a little brighter at Discord’s approach. A faint musical melody filled the thin air, warm and inviting, while the fragrance produced might have been a mix between honey and blueberry muffins. This was particularly strong at close range. However, this sweet sound and scent had first lured Discord here around a week ago, right after the whole Tirek incident.

***

Guilty pangs still gripped the draconequus whenever his mind ventured back to the foolish alliance made with the escaped prisoner from Tartarus, when Discord thought he had chosen a future with the freedom to reap unlimited chaos over friendship. Instead, Tirek had used him to tear Equestria apart before turning on him as well. 

He had never felt so vulnerable. 

That incident had opened the spirit’s eyes in many ways, least of all what to he owed to Fluttershy, Twilight, and the other ponies (another hard-to-admit fact). Untold joy really had overwhelmed him at seeing the ponies restore balance to the land, and something that might have been pride at their collective strength—and then gratitude when Twilight had included him in a group hug. 
That should have ended everything, with the friendship lesson learned and Discord returning much wiser to his free-wheeling lifestyle touring Equestria (and parts beyond). He was used to letting things remain in the past and pushing on ahead in a relentless, carefree way. 

Then the shadows started to come.

This was the only way Discord could have described the phenomenon. His dreams had always been chaotic, which was how he liked them. But beginning on the evening after the ponies banished Tirek, the strangest things would happen. It was suddenly hard to fall asleep, even from up high in his thinking tree. And when he at least managed that part, Discord would dream of vague shadow things drawing close about him, only to jerk awake with in a heavy sweat and pulse racing. 

Odd indeed. 

Furthermore, the same troubling and uncharacteristic question would await him upon waking:

Who are you, Discord?

Discord was Discord, of course, the lord of chaos and spirit of disharmony. He had the power to do many incredible things most ponies couldn’t fathom, and he had seen wonders galore throughout the centuries.

But somehow this didn’t seem to satisfy the question. It kept assailing him like a pesky paraspite, refusing to leave no matter what response Discord tried. And each time, he came away feeling something was wrong.

This question, combined with the peculiar dreams, had made the next two or three days and nights hazy affairs. Discord couldn’t remember whether he had just drifted about in a slow-moving daze or actually done anything. It was true he often surprised himself, but usually Discord would enjoy the surprise afterwards. And he couldn’t trouble Fluttershy or the ponies about these issues. They were having well-deserved fun amid their celebrations, and Discord would feign have disrupted his friends or caused unneeded worry for them again.

It was on the third night when the Tree of Harmony first called out to him. The vague shadows had tightened around Discord again in a tortured dream, when soft music broke apart these visions. He remembered a shapeless light appearing, reaching out a tendril-like arm to grip his lion paw and led him away.

Discord came to his senses the following morning, curled about the base of the Tree of Harmony and feeling refreshed at last.
Since then, he had slept in the cave—which seemed to keep the shadows at bay most of the time.

In addition, the Tree of Harmony seemed to want to tell Discord something important. Its melody was gentle and kind, yet he could sense a certain urgency as well. 

What was it trying to say?

That is what Discord meant to uncover.

***

Meanwhile, Twilight soared over the EverFree Forest. If Discord had business near the Castle of the Two Sisters, she wanted to find out what was happening. For whenever the chaos spirit appeared in or around Ponyville, major events tended to follow. His mischievous ways always kept you guessing as to what might come next, although Twilight found nothing particularly wrong with this. Pinkie Pie was the same way, along with the rest of her friends.

It kept things interesting.

What concerned Twilight, while she descended through the fog and shivered under its sudden chill, was how Discord had disappeared soon after the main celebration right after her palace had emerged. With all the activity surrounding the visiting ponies and countless festivities, she had assumed he was off somewhere in raucous glee alongside Fluttershy, or causing light-hearted havoc for Celestia or Luna in Canterlot. It was only much later that Twilight had realized Discord had been nowhere to be found during these events, which was worrying.

The incident with Tirek must have been particularly traumatic for him. What if something was wrong?

About 15 minutes remained before Twilight was due to meet her friends at the castle. Perhaps she could invite Discord to join them in decorating the counsel room. The palace may not have provided him with a chair, but he could still add some touches to the place. Afterwards, perhaps they could talk. 

He was her friend too.

Twilight landed at the bottom of the gorge, where she heard a subtle melody coming from the cavern where the Tree of Harmony stood. It began low, started to grow, and then continued to vary in frequency. Drawing closer, she thought she could smell wildflowers, honey, and was that soap?

The fog gave way, and Twilight peered into the cave to find—

Discord humming as he flew about the Tree of Harmony, scrubbing its various parts with the utmost care. A bucket of water, from which nice, large bubbles drifted upwards, stood upon the chest Twilight and her friends had opened to access Rainbow Power. A flowerbed stretched along the wall, and a picnic blanket and accompanying tea set lay across the floor.

Huh. You never knew what to expect from Discord.

“Do you enjoy that, TOH?” Discord asked, using the tuft of his tail to brush off some dust along the trunk. 

In fact, Twilight wasn’t sure what to make of this sight. When had Discord started to clean the Tree of Harmony?

How long had he been doing it?

Regardless, he seemed to enjoy the work. The Tree of Harmony glistened under his care as well.

Discord dropped the rag into the bucket. The bucket lifted. And in a single swift motion, the water inside lurched towards Twilight.
Thankfully, the alicorn was able to avoid getting splashed by dropping to the floor and letting the current swish past overhead.

“How very becoming, Twilight Sparkle.” Discord said, a smile tweaking his lips. “Sneaking up on ponies and gawking at them. What would Princess Celestia think?” Another rag appeared in his lion paw, which he used to begin drying process. “How about you, TOH?”

“TOH?” Twilight asked, reaching her feet and coming inside.

“The Tree of Harmony, of course. Apparently, she enjoys a proper polish. No pony has done so in years, though, much to her dismay.” The rag vanished, and Discord turned to Twilight. 

“I see.” Then Twilight started aback. “You can speak with the Tree of Harmony?”  This was a possibility she hadn’t even considered, that the Tree of Harmony could communicate.

“In a sense, I suppose.” Discord replied, gesturing to the flowers and picnic set. “As you can see, I am making good headway.”

There must have been some method to this madness. Twilight studied the arrangement, pausing when she noticed Discord giving her a calm, quizzical look. It caught her off-guard—having gotten used to his nonsensical demeanor—to find him suddenly studying her in such a serious manner.

“Can you hear any music?” Discord asked. “Or smell anything unusual?”

Unusual. Twilight threw another glance at all the stuff. What did Discord mean?

“I don’t hear any music.” She answered at length.

“Interesting.” 

An awkward pause followed. Well, that is, awkward for Twilight. She couldn’t have spoken for Discord, stroking his small white beard and studying her like she had turned into some sort of puzzle to figure out.

But then Twilight remembered why she had come in the first place.

“Discord, listen. We’re getting ready to do the interior design for the counsel room at noon, and I wanted to come invite you to join us.” 

For a moment, Twilight thought Discord would accept. Enthusiasm glimmered in the red irises of his yellow eyes—and a wistful expression crossed his face. His bat and bird wings fluttered. And then, for some reason, his gaze slipped back toward the Tree of Harmony and all this faded.

“Why, thank you very much for the offer, my dear Twilight.” Discord said. “But the palace gave each of you honored places in the council room, to organize as you choose. And you know how I feel about order. I will kindly pass this time.” His arms detached, ushering Twilight back toward the mouth of the cave. “You’d best be on your way, before I get blamed for keeping you. It is almost noon. Off you go.”

“Ah. All right.” Twilight hesitated, and then realized she had only a minute or so left to rush back to the palace. “I’ll see you around then, Discord.”

“Likewise.” Discord sounded distracted, lifting an ear to listen to some tune only he could apparently hear.

So Twilight flew off to meet with her friends, wondering to herself all the while.  

> Chapter Three—In Which Twilight Makes an Important Decision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight reached the palace with seconds to spare, entering through her study that looked out onto the main balcony. Hooves echoing on the smooth crystal floors, the princess proceeded at a full gallop towards the tall double doors, behind which lay the counsel room. All the while, the brief encounter with Discord and his question regarding the Tree of Harmony seemed to swirl around her like a lingering accusation.

In truth, Twilight thought she might have discerned music, though just for a moment while descending to the cave. But then that could have been Discord humming as he tended to the tree, and she had heard nothing afterwards—well before he had asked if she did. It would have been a lie to say she had amid such uncertainty.

Yet had she?

There was another prickle of guilt.

Discord had also been calm and serious. This frightened her. What had he meant? Twilight still had no idea.

She needed to calm down.

So before opening the doors, Twilight forced herself to pause and take a deep, cleansing breath. This was a technique learned from Candace, her sister-in-law, to relax when feeling pressured or overwhelmed. It had helped many times since then and seemed to do the trick even now.

Yes. That was better.

Everything would be fine. With the help of her friends, Twilight could figure out how to handle this latest development. While beginning to arrange their counsel chamber, they might have a quiet discussion on the topic, which should ease her mind and help put matters back in perspective.

The doors stuck fast for a moment, until Twilight used her magic to shove them open—and then wished she hadn’t a split second later when what seemed a wave of paper came crashing down upon her. Surprise overtook all other thoughts, alongside a struggle to break the surface. The letters parted with some difficulty, and at last she burst free headfirst to find utter chaos.
Twilight took in the scene. Aside from the letters crowding the floor, there were streamers (some long and bouncing gently besides others torn and hanging forlornly), Wonderbolts memorability (scattered across the walls in odd spot-like clusters), boxes crammed against the walls (spilling reams of cloth everywhere), birds and squirrels (playing about in the rafters), and intermittent apples (which smelled somewhat overripe).

Framed by all this confusion sat her friends, each holding letters and clearly finding great delight in them. 

However, they did turn when Twilight’s head popped out of the pile.

“Twilight!” The ponies rushed over to help set Twilight free.

“Twi, are you all right?” Applejack asked.

“Yes. I’m fine.” Struggling to regain her footing atop the mess, Twilight scanned the room once more. “Huh—but what happened here?”

“We got mail from ponies all across Equestria.” Pinkie Pie beamed, bouncing on her puffy tail close to Twilight, she held up a cheese-scented (and hued) piece of stationary. The words were in bright red, loopy letters. “And guess what? Cheese Sandwich wrote to congratulate us and mention this great polka contest being held in Seaddle, and he wants me to join him for it tomorrow afternoon.”

“Well, I heard from my friend Coco in Manehattan.” Rarity displayed her letter, clean and embroidered in silver swirls. “Her business is really taking off, and she invited me to come see a special exhibition of her work at the Manehattan Museum of Art. Can you imagine? The poor dear says the thought of discussing her fashion before an adoring audience makes her nervous, and she wants me to be there for the opening night, tonight.”

“You oughta hear what Silver Shill has to say about his business.” Applejack looked proud, clutching a plain letter in her hooves. “He’s already earned a reputation as an honest, down-to-earth pony concerned about his customers. In fact, he plans to open an antiques/dress-up shop right here in Ponyville and wants my help setting it up soon as possible.” 

“Spitfire sent me an order to report tomorrow morning in Cloudsdale at 0600 sharp for some special training.” Rainbow Dash crowed, zipping about so Twilight couldn’t even see her letter (although she could guess at its design—formal and printed in clear-set type. “She called me one of her top recruits. That means I’m practically her wingpony.”

“All so soon?” Twilight asked. At the same time, she couldn’t help but notice another coincidence. The ponies who had invited her friends to various functions had each given them their keys for the chest—and they wanted to celebrate their newfound friendships doing things they enjoyed together.

Meanwhile, Discord—the pony who had provided her key—was cleaning the Tree of Harmony and trying to communicate with it.
What if it were possible to understand the Tree of Harmony? Twilight had to admit how exciting that would be to discover.

Hmm. 

“We would have known about them sooner.” Fluttershy spoke up. “But it seems there was a bit of a backlog at the post office. They received a great deal of mail, and the celebrations were like a long holiday, so they only just began sorting and passing out all the letters—” Something of Twilight’s absentmindedness must have shown through, though her friend misinterpreted it. “Goodness!” Fluttershy said, looking around at the letters cluttering the floor and the hodgepodge of decorations. “We really should clean up the counsel room. It’s a mess.”

“Ah, yeah. I guess we kinda forgot about it with everything goin’ on.” Applejack blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry about that, Sugarcube. No wonder you look so frazzled, or perhaps it’s from something the mayor had to say?”
“The mayor?” It took Twilight a moment to remember what had first kept her this morning. Using her magic, she began to gather a great portion of the letters and stack them, neatly, along the clearest wall. “Oh. The mayor just wanted somepony to listen to her speech for the coming elections. That really didn’t take too long.” She found Spike under a particularly heavy load, and the baby dragon reached his feet, looking grateful. 

“If I may ask, Twilight.” Rarity put in, beginning to help stack the rest of the letters. “But it sounds and looks like something is bothering you.”

“Well, I don’t know if this is bothering me. On my way back from the mayor’s this morning, I saw Discord.” Twilight said.

“Discord is in Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash’s voice gained a harder edge, but she sounded less wary than usual whenever they had spoken about the chaos spirit in the past. “Okay. What is he up to this time?”

“He didn’t come to Ponyville.” Twilight continued. “I followed him to the cave where the Tree of Harmony stands. Discord said he was trying to communicate with it, somehow.”

“Sounds reasonable to me.” Pinkie was using her tail to sweep the letters into a corner. 

“Trees can hear ya.” Applejack said. “I talk to my apple trees all the time. It helps ‘em grow. But do ya really think the Tree of Harmony is like a regular tree in that way?”

“I couldn’t say.” Working together, they had almost cleared the floor already. So Twilight began to pace, which seemed to make it easier for her to reason out tough questions. “But I suppose stranger things have happened, and the Tree of Harmony has given us a lot. The Elements of Harmony. The chest with its keys. This castle. Perhaps there is more the Tree of Harmony has to share with us.” Twilight paused, trying to sense make of the situation. There had been links between everything the Tree of Harmony had provided, and it had indirectly supplied the means to defeat serious threats to Equestria like Tirek. “Think of all the things we could learn.”

A vision of Discord with his odd assortment of materials before the Tree of Harmony (“TOH”, as he had called it) flashed through Twilight’s mind. He had been studying the tree in his own way.

“Is Discord doing okay?” Fluttershy asked then. “When you spoke with him?”

“Yes. He seemed to be enjoying himself.” Twilight managed a smile. “Actually, when I saw him, Discord was humming while cleaning the Tree of Harmony.”

It was interesting, seeing the surprised looks that appeared on almost all her friends’ faces. That is, except for Fluttershy. She simply nodded her head in a knowing way.

“Discord can be very helpful.” The yellow Pegasus agreed. “He really is trying his best to be good—I’m sure now, more than ever. 

He’s just learning what being a true friend means.”

None of the ponies could dispute this, given the draconequus’ sincere apology after Tirek had drained most of Equestria, and him, of all their magic. He had appeared older and wearier than Twilight had ever known him at that point, and there was a vulnerability that must have been present even before the event occurred.

Now he was tending to the Tree of Harmony all alone. Overall, Discord had acted goofy as always. He had practically pushed 
Twilight out of the cavern. 

Still, Twilight had the nagging feeling she was missing something important, not only about the Tree of Harmony, but about Discord as well.

“You know how I feel about order.” He had said, while encouraging Twilight to rejoin her other friends—who would soon spend time with the ponies they had encouraged toward brighter futures.

She threw another glance around the council chamber.

The Key of Friendship, and Magic.


Suddenly, Twilight’s path became clear. The princess knew exactly what she needed to do.

“Hey, girls?” Twilight said, amid the meditative silence brought on by the turn in their conversation. 

“Yes?” They replied.

“I have a favor to ask.”

> Chapter Four—Explores Research Methods and a Key Understanding
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord was running in his dreams.

He ran because the chaos spirit hated being confined, despite the warmth and security afforded by the Tree of Harmony. Amid those night visions, the draconequus wanted to break away into the world again and stand on his own two feet—wherever they happened to be in relation to the ground.

And the shadows took chase.

Discord would have snapped them into something more appealing (like popcorn or chocolate, perhaps), or at least transported himself to a different place. But whenever he tried to do so nothing happened, and the spirit felt as much a prisoner in his mind as he had when in stone. He sent candy corn hail upon the pursuers, created a giant vacuum to suck them up, and even erected a wall of horned vines.

The shadows overcame and passed through these impediments with ease.

He could not escape.

Trapped again.

Now Discord fled through lavender skies tinged with a blood-red hue, and the shades matched his serpentine spiral over the Everfree Forest. More of them seemed to lift from those woods, though he soon noticed the heaviest plume swirled up from the castle ruins—which formed skeletal fingers that reached out and swatted him with great force toward the vegetation below. Pain radiated along his shoulders. He fell toward the forest that always moved on its own and never ceased, while Discord was stuck.

He wanted it to stop.

It had to stop.

When a dream became this intense, it often ended. 

This time, Discord remained asleep.

He landed hard on his back on the mossy pathway that wound through the forest, wings aching. A glance found them broken with a pale gray hue, a boring color. The draconequus tried to fix them to no avail. They remained ugly and bent. 

A rustling sound came from behind, and Discord looked over his shoulder.

Another shadow stood in the near distance, which was tall as a tree. Yellow orbs stared at him from where the face must have been, and the creature approached at a slow pace.

Discord had never considered himself a coward. He had always fought using magic and wits, knowing well that few could match or defeat him. Yet the sight of this shadow, whomever or whatever it happened to represent, caused an acute fear to shoot up his spine like electricity. He suddenly wanted something, though he couldn’t have said what—or if this reaction came from the shadow itself or some distant memory.

“Take me to them.” The shadow’s voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. “Give them to me and be free. That is all you ever wanted or were in the world. You were nothing more. Just a problem to fix. Why not give them to me?”

“No.” Given his terror and foggy thoughts, Discord couldn’t have begun to reason what the shadow meant. Still more intimidating was how he had lost control over his own dream—which had also never happened before—and his own reaction to this creature’s taunting. Normally, he would never have allowed anything to rattle him this much (or at least, to show these impressions to any pony). Now the spirit found that he wished to resist the request with every fiber of his being. Not only to resist, but to fight back. 

“You can’t have them!” He leapt at the shadow creature, blazing with power.

“And who are you to keep them from me, then?” The shadow responded. “Is that your nature? You know I will find them anyway, 
right?”

The questions were like direct hits.

“I am—” Discord trailed off, his energy waning. “I am—“ 

The shadow shot out clawed hands to strangle him. It was cold.

Only to have the familiar melody of the Tree of Harmony cut through everything. She dispersed the vision and filled his dreams with warmth. Light filled his head.

Discord awoke, just outside the cave in the fog in the early morning, gasping for breath. He rolled back over the threshold. After taking a moment to calm down, he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

Another dream filled with shadows, and a particularly nasty one as well.

At least it had been a dream.

Discord could handle a bad dream when he was awake and at a safe distance from the accursed thing, because they dissolved in Celestia’s sunlight. Take his damaged wings, for example. The chaos spirit reached back to touch them, and to give himself some extra reassurance.

And flinched, finding both his bird and bat wing crippled and gray as in his dreams. They didn’t hurt anymore. Instead, they simply looked twisted and indecent. 

It appeared the shadows in his dreams had been more than dreams.

Argh. He was tired.

What was happening to him? 

“Do you know?” Discord asked the Tree of Harmony, which (or so it seemed to him) let off an apologetic hum. TOH was trying to tell him something, yet he couldn’t hear it. He groaned, feeling flustered. 

A moment passed.

Well, there was no use letting such a thing bother him yet. Something indescribable told the draconequus that if he could just crack the code that would allow him to understand the Tree of Harmony better, she might provide him with the answers. 
In fact, Discord was counting on it, given that he was stuck sleeping in the cave until that happened.

He had time, and it wasn’t like he had anything else to do at the moment.

A tingle ran down his neck, yet this one was more familiar and quite gentle. And Discord knew right away that none other Princess Twilight Sparkle was on her way to the cave. He could sense her, even more so than with Fluttershy and the other ponies connected to the Elements of Harmony—who apparently were not in attendance. 

Poking his head out of the cavern, Discord could see Twilight coming his way with a determined expression on her face.
That curious little pony was coming to visit the Tree of Harmony, Discord was sure. He should have known Twilight wouldn’t have been able to stay away despite brushing her off before. 

Actually, this might have stoked her curiosity even more.

At least Twilight was easy to figure out.

So Discord tried to forget the bad dream for the moment (which he could consider on his own, later), tuck away his battered wings, and prepared to receive her. 

Time to give the princess his best reception, to make up for the other day. 

Hmm. What would Fluttershy do?

***

Twilight alighted at the bottom of the ravine and approached the cave in an easy manner. There was no need to hurry, this morning. The alicorn planned to simply enjoy herself, and she smiled at the thought of what might lay ahead. She had half expected Discord to be humming again, or perhaps to smell the fragrance of wildflowers. Or maybe—Twilight strained her ears to hear—the melody the chaos spirit had tried to prompt her with the other day.

The wildflower smell was certainly there, and mixed with a few other things, though for a moment she feared the draconequus might be elsewhere. Fluttershy had noted he hated to stay in one place for too long. 

As if on cue, trumpets sounded and a red carpet unfurled from the cavern.

Yeeeup. He was there, all right.

“Come in, come in.” Twilight heard Discord ring out (in that the sounds of several chiming bells followed his invitation). Confetti rained down on her as the pony walked along the soft carpet over the threshold. Crossing it, she saw an extra wide assortment of musical instruments—including cellos, xylophones, and thimbles—and a larger spread of flowers (including a few poison joke blooms). There were pink polka dots on the wall. A breakfast table stood fully laid out towards the center, closer to the Tree of Harmony, with food-laden plates shifting about and tea pots dancing to an obscure steam-tooting rhythm. 

Discord should have seen the counsel chamber yesterday afternoon. Twilight thought to herself.

Her host, meanwhile, sat in a high-backed cushioned chair while sipping tea. Wearing a formal dining jacket, he struck a refined pose and balanced spectacles on his snout connected by a golden chain that led nowhere in particular.

“My, if it isn’t Twilight.” Discord said. “Come to satisfy your curiosity about the Tree of Harmony, I see. Why not take a seat, or let it take you?”

Indeed, a seat had turned and run over to Twilight, bending down to stoop up the princess. But she hopped onto the chair in full willingness and allowed it to convey her over to the table, where hay flakes mixed with hollyhock petals sat in a bowl—alongside a menagerie of different breakfast dishes. A cheery pink pot filled her glass with tea. Despite everything, her stomach growled at the aroma of all this good food. She had actually rushed to the cave as early as possible, without pausing to eat in her excitement.

“You’re in a good mood this morning.” Discord noted, apparently having noticed the grin blossoming across Twilight’s face. “I was a little surprised you didn’t come charging back here with all the ladies in tow, when you saw me here yesterday.” He said this is an ineffectual way, though the princess could see him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

“I trust you.” Twilight answered, simply. Taking a sip of the tea. “Ah, this is delicious, and with a little twist of lemon—the way Fluttershy usually makes it.” 

Discord had seemed surprised when Twilight answered with such confidence, yet then he feigned clearing his throat and took on a proud expression.

“Fluttershy taught me the method herself.” Spectacles gone, he leaned forward on his elbows and looked at Twilight, straight on. “Where are the girls today?”

“They received letters from the ponies who helped us to open the chest, so almost all of them have left for events across Equestria. And they should be gone most of the day.”

“So you decided to learn more about the Tree of Harmony on your own then?” Discord was sipping his tea again.

“I decided to spend the day with you.” Twilight announced, followed by the sounds of the draconequus choking.

Discord had apparently been so surprised by Twilight’s words, he had sucked up the teacup. The princess rose as if to help—but the chaos spirit lifted a griffin paw to stop her. He grabbed his neck in both claws and squeezed upwards. The teacup came flying out of his mouth, crashing against the far cavern wall. 

“You wanted to spend time with me?” Discord was clearly taken aback. Touched, a trembling smile was marching across his lips. “You mean like for the sake of it?”

“Yes.” Twilight replied, pleasantly surprised. She hadn’t realized how happy the idea would make him, although she had hoped it might. “I want to get to know you better, since we haven’t exactly had the best opportunities to do so before.”

“And mostly my fault, I know.” Discord declared, in his usual light-hearted, joking air. “That changes things. Well then.” Just like that, the whole table and breakfast set vanished, and Twilight found herself sitting before a whole collection of board games. The chaos spirit burst from amid them, grabbing several—though he kept the dinner jacket he had worn before. 

Was he trying to be casual?

“I have a ton of games I’ve been waiting to try out on some pony, like Friendship: The Gathering.” Discord leaned in close to Twilight and whispered furtively. “Of course, I suspect you might have known about that one. Or perhaps Oubliettes & Ogres.” He scrutinized her for a moment. Twilight was about to respond when he pressed onwards. “There are other possibilities too, of course. Although I did think of matching wits with you in You Risk Your Bits. You might just keep up with me. Fluttershy tries her best, but you simply know more random facts—considering your obsession with books.”

“Actually, Discord, I—“

“Not a pony for games? I’m surprised. I knew you liked tests, and games are basically the same thing.” Rather than chastise, however, Discord simply nodded his head as if in solemn understanding. Yet Twilight knew he didn’t, because he failed to give her any chance to answer. “Ah. If you don’t want to hang around the cavern all day—and who would—we might just take a trip somewhere, ourselves for a while. Fluttershy can tell you no pony could take you on a trip like I can, and—“

“Discord!” Twilight cried out.

“What? Am I going too fast for you?” Discord had exchanged the jacket for a festive vacation shirt decorated with rubber ducks. He wore sunglasses and was halfway out of the cavern already, although Twilight noted that he hesitated for some reason on the threshold. A small shudder ran through him. “It’s chilly out there.” The draconequus indicated the encircling fog, seeing her glance. 

“It’s not that.” Twilight said. “I thought we could spend our time unraveling the mysteries of the Tree of Harmony. Together, I’m sure we might learn if it’s possible to communicate with us, and if there might be something it needs us to do next.”

“Oh, TOH.” Discord whirled about, seeming to refocus on the Tree of Harmony. He paused for a moment, as if listening to that same tune from the other day—the one only he could hear, at least for now. “You know, my dear Twilight, I got so excited and carried away as to completely forget about her. Pardon me, madam.” He bowed to the Tree of Harmony, which appeared to blink in answer. “You’re absolutely right. In fact, it might be even better with you here.” And for a brief second, Twilight thought a shadow passed over his vestige, although he quickly massaged it away with his lion paw. “Yes. We do both enjoy a good puzzle, I suppose.” 

The draconequus managed a winning smile.

The shudder and that expression had bothered Twilight a little. However, she couldn’t let it get in the way of their good time. Perhaps Discord would tell her what was troubling him later. 

“Right.” Twilight persisted. “There is so much we can learn from the Tree of Harmony. I’m sure of it. That is why I brought these.” 
With a small poof, a few worn tomes borrowed from the Canterlot Library and pages of notes copied from manuscripts in the Canterlot Archives appeared on the free space left upon the cavern floor. 

“What are these?” Discord asked, his face falling.

“They include everything with a mention to Tree of Harmony I could find in the Canterlot Library and Archives. I flew over there during the evening and grabbed what they had on record—and what I managed to locate while browsing works that might have had some information inside. It was difficult, because not a lot is known or recorded about the Tree or Elements. I did send a message to Princess Celestia, who is apparently away on business, but she hasn’t sent anything back yet. Still, I did it.” Twilight could feel the excitement bubbling inside her, the way it usually did when she was preparing to embark on a scholarly quest of discovery. “And we can go through them, analyzing each passage for clues. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” 

There was a pause.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Twilight finally asked at Discord’s blank look. “I thought you wanted to discover more about the Tree of Harmony.”

“Sorry to tell you this, Twilight.” Discord picked up one of the volumes, flipping through the pages without really reading anything inside. “But you cannot understand the Tree of Harmony by reading some old tomes.” With a laugh, he dropped it on the pile—raising dust that hadn’t been there before.  

“And why not?” In spite of everything, Twilight could feel her feathers ruffling a little. Here she had worked hard finding all these resources for this project, and the only thing Discord could do was set them aside without a chance. She had had to travel all the way to Canterlot for these types of books. “We can learn a lot from what ponies have observed about the Tree of Harmony in the past for the present.”

“Most ponies probably wouldn’t have known TOH with their limited perspectives.” Discord asserted, clearing the board games from the floor. “Many of the ‘mysterious happenings’ reported in Equestria folklore are no different, and I have seen those get misinterpreted time and again. Trust me. There is a much better way to go about this. No offense.” He added, seeming to catch a hint of her befuddlement.

“But—! All right.” Twilight took another deep breath. They had to learn how to compromise on a plan. This was what good friends did, even though she longed to insist on flipping through the books to the pages she had bookmarked for the occasion. Then again, Discord had been around for a long time—and he claimed to be able to hear music coming from the Tree of Harmony, at least. So he must understanding something about it. “What would you like us to try?”

***

“Discord. I’m not sure this is working.” Twilight said, clanging two thimbles together. They had gone through a menagerie of instruments during the last hour and a half, moving through the collection assembled in the cavern. Upon her head, she wore a wreath of flowers, a lei, and several blossoms entwined in her feathers and mane. 

“Nonsense, my dear Twilight.” Discord responded, dinging bells and rotating around the Tree of Harmony with her—as the chaos spirit had suggested, of course. “It is all about finding the right frequency, knowing how to listen, and having the right sense of smell.”

“Well, I’m kind of finding it hard to listen when we keep banging or blowing instruments without a break.” And, Twilight wanted to say, hard to keep up. “The sound we make comes out disjointed and harsh. Maybe we should try something else.”

“You’re right.” Discord proclaimed, and for a moment Twilight felt like they had finally come to an understanding. “We should be playing instruments that complement each other, somehow. TOH seems to favor a much quieter and sweeter melody. You take the flute.” A flute popped into Twilight’s mouth. “And I’ll try the violin.” 

“That isn’t quite what I meant.” Twilight said, levitating the flute with her magic. “Hmm. What does the Tree of Harmony sound similar to a flute, or a violin?”

Here Discord paused for a moment, as if carefully considering the question. He stroked his beard, and then said a musing way:

“Not even close.”

“But I thought we were trying to match frequencies.” Twilight protested. “If you know the Tree of Harmony doesn’t sound like a flute or violin, why are we trying them? Why have we been trying the instruments?” She was trying so hard to understand his methods, but there just seemed to be nothing to them Twilight could quantify or even grasp now.

“Well, Twilight.” Discord replied. “TOH is all about harmony, which you should know very well. It is all about connection, and music is a good way to promote just that. Or, perhaps you would like to try a romp through the flower patch instead?” He seemed to pause for a moment, appearing to ignore the frustration Twilight could feel building inside her. “You know, maybe the board games would have made more sense.”

“Wait a minute.” Twilight interjected. “You’re not making any sense. I have no idea where you’re coming from, or what you mean. 
How are you reaching these conclusions?”

“I am doing my best to make you understand.” Discord said, shooting Twilight a somewhat aggrieved expression. “You simply need to listen to what I’m saying.”

This was too much. 

“You haven’t been listening to a single thing I’ve said or suggested for the Tree of Harmony.” Twilight exclaimed. “You keep talking about all the things you want to do, without trying to consider something we might both agree upon. Harmony and friendship both depend on ponies taking the ideas of each other into account.”

“What do you mean?” Discord shot Twilight what seemed to her a look of mock surprise. “This is exactly what I was trying to do.” He hovered towards her, but the princess took a step back. The chaos spirit froze, like he was walking on thin ice. And indeed, the cavern floor beneath him crackled a bit as he landed. “Why are you getting so upset?”

“I know you mean well, Discord.” Twilight said, striving to force some composure back into her tone—while willing herself to calm down. It was particularly difficult right now. How had their meeting turned out this way? “It’s just that I had some ideas of what might work too, and I went through a lot of effort to gather these possible guides for us.” She indicated the neat piles of books. “And I wish you would give those ideas a chance as well.”

“Yet it is as I said, Twilight. The ponies who probably wrote those books could not have known much about the Tree of Harmony. If they had, don’t you think a lot more would have been written or available on the subject?” 

“Many of the ponies who wrote these books were great scholars, and they might have uncovered more than we suspect.” 

Discord was giving her such a quizzical look now. How could she convince him? 

Then her mind turned to the journal—the one Twilight and her friends had kept over the past several months. She had that volume on hoof now, in fact, and summoned it. 

“When my friends and I began writing the journal, we couldn’t have known how it would help us to unlock the chest. The clues were there as we went along, even though they weren’t clear to us even while receiving the keys. You were the one who pointed out the connection between our experiences.” Twilight glanced at Discord, before turning her attention back to the journal. She flipped through the volume—and it made her remember all the good times that had happened while writing different entries. They had learned so much, and in the evenings she would retire to her bed in the Golden Oak Library feeling happy. “Perhaps we won’t find any new clues in books like these. Still, it’s worth a chance. Of course, if the library was still around, there might have been something that could helped us and—“ 

Twilight trailed off, a quiver having entered her tone. Why had she mentioned her library now, of all times? Despite everything, she could feel tears beginning yet forced them down. She hadn’t realized they were there, waiting for a moment to spring loose.

“I guess you never fully appreciate what you have until it’s not around anymore, and it’s hard to let go of those regrets.”

Twilight stood there in silence for a while, head bowed, half expecting Discord to make some wisecrack about her being unlike a princess. Nothing of the kind happened. Instead, she heard and practically sensed him drawing close. His shadow loomed over her, and then after what seemed an eternity, a large and soft lion paw patted her across the shoulders.

“My apologies, Twilight.” Discord said in a much gentler and quieter tone. “That library and its books meant a lot to you.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “Fluttershy keeps warning me to be considerate time and again, and I haven’t really gotten the knack at this point. I’m not that good at understanding the needs of others, I suppose.”

“Well, several ponies have told me I need to loosen up and keep an open mind.” Twilight sniffed, raising her head to meet the chaos spirit’s concerned gaze. “A few years ago, I probably would have been just as lost as you are at understanding ponies.”

“You, not understanding ponies?” Discord chuckled. “Miss Princess of Friendship? You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not.” Twilight retorted. “Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville to learn about friendship and everything.”

“Ah, Princess Celestia strikes again, I see.” Discord nodded his head. “Okay. I hear you.” He moved over and grabbed a book. “Let’s 
see what we can find. I bet I find the first clues.”

“You wish.” Twilight said, feeling relief wash over her and grabbing another book.

She couldn’t let Discord beat her at bookwork, after all.

> Chapter Five—Begins Valuable Quality Time by Revisiting the Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whenever Twilight revisited the moment later, she had to marvel at the surreal nature studying texts with Discord in the cavern held. In a way, it reminded her of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns—where she had spent many precious hours going through the latest magic lessons contained in various books while seated alongside her wise mentor each week. Celestia had always been such a patient guide, assigning materials for Twilight to read and listening in an understanding way to the overabundance of enthusiasm her pupil had exhibited over every step. 

Their discussions had been comprehensive yet inspiring.

Understanding magic in all its forms had become a lifelong passion for Twilight then, due in part to her respect and admiration for the princess—as well as what she had read of the legendary Starswirl the Bearded. And as a filly, she had vowed to make the most of any learning experiences from ponies who had vast stores of knowledge gathered over their lifetimes, and especially those with great magical prowess—believing she would come away richer, wiser, and grateful for receiving such special help. 

In addition, Twilight could form a special connection with such ponies.

But even as a filly, she could never have imagined being in this particular situation.

With such thoughts in mind, Twilight ventured a look at Discord. The draconequus lay on his back, suspended in mid-air, slowly flicking through one of the thicker volumes. Now he wore academic attire, a shirt covered by a green vest that sported a red bow tie. The set of spectacles rested on his snout yet again. He had remained silent as Twilight had begun reading through a few promising scholarly works—only to find frustratingly scant remarks to the writers having heard tell of a miraculous tree that shone like starlight—and it occurred to her that over half an hour had probably passed in this way. Then again, time seemed to fly past whenever she sat down to read anything, particularly interesting research.

It was only now that Twilight discovered, with some dread, how bored Discord had grown in the meantime. Or, perhaps it wasn’t boredom so much as a distracted daze, where he fidgeted on occasion and seemed on the verge of dropping off to sleep. Perhaps he was listening to the Tree of Harmony that she still couldn’t hear. The alicorn suddenly became aware of the stillness dominating the cavern, which clashed stridently with the usual flurry of activity Twilight had known from the chaos spirit. This felt almost unnatural.

Yes. Staying quiet and motionless for so long would be uncomfortable for Discord, like it had been uncomfortable for Twilight to do a bunch of random things in trying to understand the Tree of Harmony. During her school lessons, Princess Celestia had often broken the silence every once in a while to ask for Twilight’s impressions or even to discuss other matters related to the task at hoof.

Somehow, Twilight had assumed Discord might approach the process in a similar way—or at least have spoken up. He was Discord, after all.

Maybe she was trying to compare him with Celestia too much.

“If you’re trying to have a conversation with me through your eyes, my dear Twilight, I would be more than happy to give them the ability to talk aloud.” Discord said, licking his claw tips before turning another page. He kept the same bored and aloof demeanor, as if Twilight was the one disturbing him in his work. But she could see the hint of mirth tweaking his lips.

“Sorry.” Twilight cringed a little at the imagery but realized she really must have been staring at him for a bit. “I was just thinking of how much I love studying magic, and how other ponies have always helped me to grow stronger and wiser through my life—even before I understood the true importance of what this meant.”

“Oh?”

“Growing up, I guess I considered Princess Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded as my main magic teachers—even if meeting Starswirl the Bearded would have been impossible. But that’s strange, isn’t it?”

“Honestly, Twilight. It surprises me you would consider a small thing like that impossible or strange, specifically when you have a lord of chaos not five feet away.” As if to drive the point home, Discord sprouted branches from both ears, a red nose, and then inflated his eyes—which made him look so goofy Twilight could barely stifle a laugh. “’Expect anything, and the unexpected never happens,’ after all. Haven’t you learned that yet?”

“Actually, that sounds like something Starswirl the Bearded might have said. At least, according to what I’ve read about him.”

“Then Starswirl must have had more than sense than I’d given him credit for before.”  Discord said, grabbing up another book to thumb through. “It makes me wonder how much of him rubbed off on the princesses, considering the way they turned out.” Twilight couldn’t tell if the last part was a veiled poke at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, given the light-hearted delivery. Although she suspected it might have been his mischievous ways shining through again. 

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appreciated Starswirl the Bearded very much, particularly Celestia. She used to tell me how he was her mentor to her, magical advisor, and one of her closest friends. In addition, she would say how he seemed to know everything there was to know about Equestria’s History—which is what Celestia was like for me.” Twilight sighed, and then smiled a small, thoughtful smile. “Still, it would have been nice to have learned from a pony like Starswirl. He probably would have known all about the Tree of Harmony.”

“Yes, Starswirl did seem knowledgeable for a pony at that time.” Discord was stroking his beard again, eyes closed as if mediating on the matter. For a moment, Twilight thought the chaos spirit seemed ancient as he must have been—and somewhat worn.

Twilight had promised to make the most out of any learning opportunity with wise ponies…

“Discord.” The princess asked, in a quiet tone that surprised her. “Did you ever meet Starswirl the Bearded?”

“Once.” Discord breathed.

“What was he like?” 

This time, unlike the twitching unease Twilight had seen only a few minutes ago, the draconequus, this stayed still for a long while.

***
Discord had been at his most chaotic, wandering through the vast wilderness that dominated Equestria during that time long ago. He could sense the subtle magic possessed by every creature and plant that resided within the undergrowth, which seemed there just to please his tastes with variety of shapes and natures. The chaos spirit had known late nights when the Timberwolves howled at the full moon in grand packs, before they began hunting their favored prey of vampire rabbits—who had antlers and liked to bite any pony into which they could sink their buck teeth. Crocodiles snapped at quarry foolish enough to draw close to the rivers, and the numerous rainbow trout painted certain streams and waterfalls across the region to multi-colored hues.

After spurring a few revolutions in the far north, and causing mayhem for fun in various other medieval kingdoms peopled by Griffins and various beings, the draconequus had been somehow drawn to this wondrous land—where a feeling deep inside had told Discord this was the place for him at last. It had seemed strange and a natural haven for chaos, which were promising residency requirements. However, there was a familiarity to these settings he couldn’t shake. It was as if he had been here a long time ago and been searching for the place again ever since. Besides that, there was also this uneasy feeling he sometimes got while watching the groups and packs of creatures that roamed around.

Such sensations bothered and irked him. And whenever Discord got irked, he had had the urge to wreck some chaos to ease his 
nerves and bring some measure of relief.

His prime targets, though, were the ponies who not only cut into the forests to build their homes and communities but had the greatest group mentality imaginable. They fashioned communities and worked together to fend off threats from the surrounding forests and beyond. In many instances, they even succeeded in driving away the beautiful, chaotic beasts or tangle growths that might have destroyed or rampaged through the settlements.

Still, none of them could possibly contend with Discord, lord of chaos. The ponies were his alone with which to play, and he had found a measure of enjoyment in misleading them through the forests, introducing poison joke to cause endless havoc, and many other inventive ploys. He thought he did quite well at this—not that the ponies themselves appreciated the attention. It wasn’t like he hurt them. And they did find ways to find ways to overcome most of his tricks, which Discord did have to applaud. Then he would devise other things to try out on them, and to watch what they would do next.

It became a game, played between the ponies and himself. Although, Discord would sometimes wonder why the ponies didn’t seem to find the game as amusing—considering how much their civilizations seemed to grow as a result. Really, the ponies should have been thanking him for making such quick progress. 

Hadn’t they been grateful to him at all? Where was his respect?

Well, Discord didn’t care about that. Not at all. So he had continued across the region, causing problems for ponies, who built up their communities as if in an attempt to shut him out. Before long, they would form larger towns—and Discord had an idea of exactly what to do when that happened.

Yet one night, while preparing to entrap a hapless caravan of ponies traveling through the woods in a tangle of thorny vines, Discord had felt a massive wave of magic jiggle through his entire form. And in the next moment, there was a wide opening in the vines through which the ponies proceeded without incident or knowledge of the danger they might have faced. 

Then he had heard the jingling of bells, and turned to see an old stallion in blue robes and floppy hat coming through the darkness to pause and stare at him with a clear, golden gaze.

This pony had some nerve, ruining what could have been a perfectly delightful evening.

“You are Discord, if I am not mistaken.” The stallion said. He spoke in calm and even tones, without fear. This irritated Discord even more than the escaped caravan. “Spirit of chaos and disharmony?”

“I see you know me.” Discord manifested before the pony, doing his best to loom and intimidate. Yet this failed to work on the wizard, whom he could sense indeed had more magic than any other pony the chaos spirit had come across. “Here I thought no pony understood I even existed. Then again, you are an exception, I suppose.” His grin belied thinly veiled animosity. “And who do I have the pleasure of speaking with this evening?” 

“I am Starswirl the Bearded, at your service.” Starwirl the Bearded reached up, removed his floppy wizard’s hat—out of which dropped several packs of playing cards and a few rubber balls—and gave Discord a small bow. 

It was the first time any pony had bowed to Discord. He quite enjoyed that.

“At my service? You should see how you look right now.”  Flattered despite himself, Discord barked a laugh. “Dressed all in bells like you could drive away all the evil spirits in the world. And what do you hope to accomplish to messing up my night’s pranking?” He would have to be good, especially since the draconequus had a few ideas to make up for the caravan incident.

“Well, one thing I came here to do was save that poor pony family from a terror-filled night.” Starswirl said nodded his bearded head toward the thorny vines now retreating back into the forest. “But I also came to check something. Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Why not?” Discord returned. “A wizard pony in bells asking me a question sounds wonderfully chaotic. Go ahead.”

“Do you know who you are?” Starswirl asked, which caused Discord to jerk back in shock at the unexpected stab of those bothersome sensations he hated so much. Why did they have to bother him now, of all times? “Or what you are doing here in Equestria?”

The nerve! This pony was obviously asking for a Discord prank tonight, or perhaps something far more lasting than that.

“I would advise to watch your tongue.” Starswirl’s tongue appeared in Discord’s eagle claw. The chaos spirit wiggled it, striving to enjoy the incredulous look on the pony’s face—even if he appeared more amazed than terrified. “You said it yourself, and I’ll remind you.” Thunder clouds gathered, and lightning streaked down around them as the draconequus cackled. “I am Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony—who plays with ponies for my own amusement and gets overjoyed by the conflicts between them. All places are alike to me, unless they lack much-needed chaos.”

“Ah, I see.” Starswirl murmured. “You’re like that right now.”

“Speak up.” Discord glared at the wizard. “I cannot hear you well.”

Then Starswirl met Discord’s gaze, and the latter got another shock—what he saw in the old wizard’s look was nothing short of a great sadness. 

Sadness? Was this pony feeling sorry for himself?

“It must have been difficult for you.” Starswirl said. “Being so lost and alone, all this time. But don’t worry. Someday things will be different, and you will find true happiness at last, renewed purpose, and lifelong bonds.”

Discord stood frozen, aghast at the statement and trying to process its implications. 

“And that is mostly why I came to find you tonight.” The old stallion continued. “To tell you this and give you hope while I still can.”

The pony was insane. Discord didn’t understand his cryptic message at all.

“Is this supposed to be some kind of prophecy?” Discord asked instead.

“Yes.” Starswirl said. “Now I must take my leave. For there are other important things I must wrap up soon.” Then the wizard turned on his hooves and walked away.

For a moment, Discord thought of lashing out at the odd old pony. But something made him pause. Even years later, he couldn’t have justified it. He had trouble deciding if he had simply believed the wizard too easy a target for his games, was tired that evening, or didn’t want to contend with whatever hidden magical power Starswirl clearly had.

Now both the question and prophecy bothered Discord as well, which eventually led him to cause more chaos than before, and then to his ultimate imprisonment.

***
Twilight listened while the draconequus told his story, eyes closed all the while as if that helped him to better remember the sequence of events. There was a sharper edge to his tone at various parts, specifically the parts where Discord recounted his mindset or treatment of the ponies. She had the impression he was berating himself in many ways, and his foolishness.

Closing her eyes, she could see the story as it happened—as if Discord were using his magic to help her visualize that historical period in Equestria. In this way, Twilight could understand the rush of excitement that came with taking in such a beautiful landscape, and even appreciate the creatures who had lived there in more abundance in times past. The section about the discomforting sensations made her squirm inside, yet Twilight thought she understood what those must have been—and then she practically gasped at the sight of Starswirl the Bearded in her mind’s eye. It was different to see her favorite wizard as Discord had seen him, worn and hobbling from place to place but still strong as ever in spirit.

Then there was his prophecy, which Twilight thought she knew as well. Even though Discord hadn’t known it back then, Starswirl the 

Bearded must have predicted his eventual place among her friends. Twilight felt that truth keenly, a warmth blossomed within her, and she thought:

Ah. That’s how it was. I think I’m finally coming to understand Discord a little better.

This is when she noticed a low humming sound, similar to a purring cat. It was a little sad like a violin, jerked like a fiddle played too sharply, mixed by a tune that almost reminded Twilight of a harmonica or kazoo playing.

Twilight’s eyes flew open, hardly daring to believe what she was hearing. 

The Tree of Harmony shone, and Twilight knew without question that she could hear its odd music. She could even smell an odd mixture of fragrances, which reminded her of trips through the Everfree Forest. She came to sit before the tree, enthralled. 

Then the music faded.

“You heard TOH at last.” Discord said, coming to stand beside her and regard the tree. “It took you long enough.”

“I guess I did.” Twilight agreed. “Why did I hear it now, though? I was just thinking about the story you told, and—“ She trailed off, revisiting the thought she had had at the end. She couldn’t have described it if Discord had asked, but she wouldn’t have tried to classify the melody in the same way Discord had tried to do. This still didn’t answer everything, but at least they had made some progress. 

Matching frequencies…

There didn’t appear to be much written in the books they had gathered about the Tree of Harmony, and playing instruments also hadn’t done anything. 

Yet now Twilight had a crazy idea, and she wanted to test it out as soon as possible as the afternoon pressed onwards.

“Maybe we’ve been going about this the wrong way.” Twilight stated. “But I do have something I’d like to try, and I think we might both enjoy it a lot.”

“All right, let’s hear it.” Discord said.

“We’ll exchange stories.”

“Stories, you say?” 

“Yes.”

“Hmm. That is an interesting turn of events indeed, my dear Twilight.” However, Discord seemed ready and willing to test out her theory.

“You told me about your encounter with Starswirl.” Twilight persisted. “So now I’ll tell you how I got into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“Oh, this is already promising.” Discord said, a hint of sarcasm entering his tone despite it all. Still, he snapped his fingers, and soon they were each sitting on mats around a miniature campfire in the cavern. The books Twilight had brought sat on the shelves of a bookcase along the far wall.

“You’ll like hearing this story.” Twilight insisted. “I turn my parents and some faculty members into plants by the end.”

“Really?” Now Discord seemed especially eager to hear the tale. “Do tell.”

And Twilight did. 


> Chapter Six—Involves Stories, Magic, and Surprises
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In storytelling, princess and draconequus seemed to have struck a perfect balance at last. Twilight had always enjoyed sharing her favorite tales with any pony who would listen, whether they came from books or personal experience. And she knew the many nuances that most professional storytellers understood, including the need for detailed descriptions and when to pause for dramatic effect. There was also the consideration or attention paid to the audience, and given the present company Twilight found herself emphasizing—for example—such things has the wide-eyed surprise on the faces of the faculty members turned into common houseplants during her evaluation for the magic school, or how her parents had debated why they got turned into cactus plants afterwards.

This approach worked wonderfully. Judging by the way Discord’s face lit up during her narration, and his snickers and guffaws at all the appropriate places (and sometimes unexpected moments)—Twilight had hit the mark. What also helped was how the Tree of Harmony added musical accompaniment to the tale, merry and almost twisted at parts. In some ways, it reminded her of the chaos spirit, and by the end the alicorn felt ready to burst out laughing as well. Never before had the memory appeared so comical in her mind. Twilight could only wonder at how she had missed that obvious fact before.

“Bravo, my dear Twilight.” Discord clapped his lion paw and griffin claw together, which somehow produced the same applause as a filled auditorium (alongside a few whistles). “But—” Here the cavern fell into abrupt silence, and his eyes met Twilight’s and narrowed with mischievous intent. “Can you match a story like mine?”

Despite everything, Twilight tensed at the latent challenge. However, soon her nerves eased, and the princess got lost in the same enraptured spell that sometimes overtakes those absorbed in a story. Discord must have been weaving a tale similar to his flashback where Twilight found herself amid a vivid narrative, where the chaos spirit told of his expedition to the city of Coltlantis, which at one time had stood along the distant coast in Equestria. Many of the houses and other buildings there had seemed as if they had been carved from smooth marble, or perhaps pale undersea coral—with the main palace being the most spectacular sight of all. However, what Discord had found here was nothing less than a tyrant king who had enchanted sea ponies to bind them to the land to labor upon his grandiose castle. Being opposed to such order, the draconequus set about inspiring a revolutionary spirit in the subjects. Eventually, the anger of these masses grew so intense that they laid siege to the castle, which Discord ultimately caused to fall behind the waves while the sea ponies returned to their watery homes.

Learning this reminded Twilight of King Sombra, who had enslaved the ponies in the crystal empire. Despite herself, while Discord began to wind down his story, the princess thought of the shadowy magician turned tyrant—and she began to perceive something in the haze of magical memory and narrative between the two participants. Twilight thought, for a terrible moment, that she saw a dark shape rising from the back of the draconequus, spreading clawed fingers. In another, the draconequus began to reel backwards as if in pain.

And then the Tree of Harmony brightened, and the its glow filled Twilight’s mind with a story—which was nothing less than an adventure about Clover the Clever who, along with her mentor Starswirl the Bearded, had taken a pilgrimage across present-day Equestria to a distant location to find the multi-hued Prism Flower for an important spell. All this Twilight somehow knew, right away.

Except Twilight wasn’t listening to a tale about Clover the Clever. 

She was Clover the Clever, sent into the bitter winter chill with nothing except a ragged woolen cloth to keep warm.
In this way, everything else disappeared while Twilight/Clover went forth into a fairytale.

***

Clover the Clever trudged through the winter snow lying upon the surrounding forest like a heavy blanket. Her hooves had grown numb too soon after Starswirl the Bearded and she had started on their way loaded down with pots to use when gathering the Prism Flower. She did not even know where such a bloom grew and could only follow her mentor there, since he refused to tell her directly. But the place was a thing Clover had to travel to herself to understand, Starswirl had said. He had also added how having patience and the endurance to overcome great obstacles was vital for the growth of any magic practitioner. Still, as miles began to separate Clover from such luxuries as a hearth fire and hot meals it became harder to keep faith or even remember why doing this mattered. 

Why couldn’t she have stayed home, learned the formula to duplicate the Prism Flower, and brewed up a batch for her mentor to use in his potions? What would Starswirl the Bearded accomplish by sending Clover to become a frozen pony somewhere in the snow? At least, they could have waited until the springtime. Flowers usually grew in the sprint, and during that season her breath wouldn’t turn into icicles the moment it left her mouth or nostrils—or cause the meals on the road to get so frosty they sometimes stuck to her tongue.

Why me? Clover thought.

“What is the matter, Clover?” A cheery voice rang out, and the unicorn raised her head to see Starswirl the Bearded pause from up ahead and shoot her what usually would have been a warming grin. “Don’t tell me you’re tired already.” Like his pupil, the stallion had loaded himself down with pots—although he had filled one of them with scrolls or other supplies brought along at the last minute. Given his age, the cold should have bothered him most of all. Instead, the wizard practically pranced along in enthusiastic anticipation, like always when there were magical materials involved.

“M-M-Mentor.” Clover the Clever stammered, for she was shivering. “You know I trust your wise judgment, but are you sure this trip is necessary? With your knowledge and magical talents, wouldn’t it be easier to create the flower ourselves?”

“Nonsense!” Starswirl chided, albeit in a carefree manner. “Haven’t you learned by now there are some things you cannot achieve using regular unicorn magic? Even a high-level wizard like me has to go directly to the original source sometimes. Otherwise, the magic won’t work right or fade too soon afterwards.  A lot can go wrong. Remember that—“

Oh, no. Clover groaned inwardly. He’s started to lecture again. There will be no speaking with him for a while.

So while Starswirl continued on, discussing the vitality of magic and tapping into its original source. Meanwhile, Clover slogged on behind, striving only to put one hoof in front of the other and re-elevating her chosen profession. It was hard to work with this wizard, despite his jovial air and magical talents. Sometimes he made no sense whatsoever but still expected every pony to follow his lead. If he paused to explain things even on occasion, at least Clover wouldn’t have felt quite as put out. 

But she had wanted to learn from the best wizard around, and to perhaps even help to raise the sun and moon a few times—despite the risk of losing her magical abilities. 

“Any questions?” Starswirl asked so suddenly that Clover jerked. He had paused yet again, and the apprentice had been so caught up in her misery she had almost run into him from behind. 

“None.” Clover exclaimed, automatically.

“You weren’t even listening to me, were you?” The wizard trained a firm gaze on his student, who hung her head in shame.

“Not exactly.”

Starswirl the Bearded looked stern for a moment longer, and then broke into a knowing smile.

“Well, don’t worry about it.” Starswirl patted Clover on the shoulder with one hoof. “To tell the truth, I ramble so often and at such length that oftentimes I don’t even listen to me.”

Consoled by this, Clover managed a small smile in return.

“Hmm. The weather does concern me, though.” Starswirl noted, and the pair turned to peer towards the ice clouds high above. The sprinkling of flakes was starting to grow into heavy snowfall combined with a steady breeze, and both ponies understood they shouldn’t risk moving through the blizzard that was gradually developing. “We need to find a place to wait out the storm in relative comfort.”

Clover peered around the frosty forest, teeth chattering and completely disoriented. It might have been easier to find somewhere safe, or perhaps to figure out where they were now amid this strange location if they had—

Wait a minute. That was it! Surely, they could use the map Starswirl had once drawn out of the whole region to discover where they were, and to find the closest village.

Hope swelled within her.

“Mentor.” Clover declared. “Please let us take out the map, and we might be able to find our way to safety.”

“The map?” Starswirl mused this over for a moment, like it was an absurd concept. He ruffled among the scrolls and other materials rolled up in his pot, only to scratch his head afterwards. “Do you know what, my little Clover? It is the funniest thing. I must have left the map back in my study.” He then chuckled like the wind wasn’t picking up, or the snow becoming heavier. “I’d lose my beard it wasn’t attached to my chin.”

Now the snow and freezing wind blasts were not the coldest things Clover knew. She stood there stunned for a moment, expression inscrutable yet wavering. A slight quiver was the only evidence the unicorn was still conscious.

“Well, every trip is bound to have its hiccups. Wouldn’t you say so, Clover?” Starswirl clapped a hoof on Clover’s back, the bells of his robe jangling in time to the clanging pots on his apprentice’s back. “Fortunately, I have just the solution to our predicament. If you will allow me to explain—.”

“Argh.” Clover groaned, causing Starswirl to stop mid-sentence. “I apologize, my great mentor, but I cannot take it anymore. From now on, how about I lead the way?” The unicorn stalked past the wizard, moving toward the gathering mist. “If we search carefully, perhaps we may find some alcove or den in which to stay warm for the evening.”

“Huh. Clover, perhaps you should slow down.” Starswirl raised a hoof as if to stop her, yet Clover wanted no part of it at the moment.

“We have to rush ahead and find a suitable place to shelter soon, or else—“

“I’m only looking out for you.” The wizard interjected. “You will regret it if you go forward too quickly.”

“Forgive me, Mentor.” Clover continued onwards, feeling in some selfish way satisfied at finally asserting herself. “The winter storms will wait for no pony. So you can just—Woah!” The ground beneath her hooves seemed to give way, and Clover plummeted down what appeared a deep chasm with snow, bits of stone, and dirt falling about her. 

In her desperation, Clover hadn’t noticed the drop. Starswirl the Bearded had probably seen it up ahead and tried to stop her. That would be just like him, to know everything. 

What had she done? Ponies considered her mentor wise for a reason.

“I am sorry, Mentor.” Clover murmured in genuine regret, dropping into darkness.


When Clover regained awareness, she lay before a glistening crystal tree. Life-giving warmth radiated from the great start at its center, as did the bright gems attached to the ends of each branch. It was nice and peaceful here, though the unicorn could hear the faint howl of wind in the near distance. Before the tree, form dark as a silhouette, was Starswirl the Bearded—standing among a wide patch of flowers that shimmered as a whole like a flattened rainbow. Waves of color moved across the petals, bathed in the light produced by that arbor. Perhaps it was this, or sheer gratefulness to still be alive to see such a sight, but Clover felt happy from the very depths of her being. Never again could she feel the same joyous thrill as among these Prism Flowers, for they could have been nothing else. 

A glad whinny escaped her lips, which she slapped a hoof across in embarrassment. Yet Starswirl the Bearded heard, lifting his head as if in deep thought. However, when they saw each other, Clover could tell the old wizard had been worried sick.

“Clover the Clever, my dear pupil.” Starswirl said.

That sealed it. Starswirl only called Clover by her full name whenever he got concerned over the unicorn’s welfare.

“I am all right, Mentor.” Clover assured him, reaching her feet. “This is the place you were looking for, wasn’t it? The original source where the Prism Flowers grew.”

“Yes. This is the cavern wherein resides the Tree of Harmony, a remarkable site in Equestria.”

“The Tree of Harmony.” Clover mouthed the words.

“There exist in our world a menagerie of different magical resources, which are ancient and take many forms. But for Equestria, the Tree of Harmony is among the most important. It affects the lives of every pony here in subtle ways, helping to move us in the right direction.” Clover could discern the star from the Tree of Harmony reflected in Starswirl’s gaze, and her mentor spoke as if from a dream.

“You speak as if the tree is alive.” Clover said. “If what you say is true, then why do so few ponies know about this wondrous tree?” 

“Because ponies are not ready for the magic the Tree of Harmony possesses, and they do not need it yet. The tribes themselves are still relatively new to this land. Your friends and you guided them here together.” Her mentor responded, sounding proud. “And the true impact of what you have done will take time to unfurl. But I believe that someday, the Tree of Harmony will begin to make its presence and magic known in order to protect Equestria as ponies continue to thrive and need more of its guiding light the way you did. And when that happens, this will be a time when great entities must thrive here and learn how to defend it against powerful foes who would seek to snuff out everything it represents. This, I predict.”

Once again, Clover failed to understand what Starswirl meant. However, she let his prediction go unchallenged. In fact, she accepted his cryptic answer and used her magic to begin gathering flowers.

“Equestria is such a strange land.” Clover commented, while her mentor and she worked. “I hope we can clear away all this wilderness and make ponies feel safe. It moves without any pony working spells or doing anything, which—if I may say so—is a little intimidating.”

“This wilderness contains a great deal of magic.” Starswirl replied. “That constant change and sense of individual will are as much a part of harmony and this land as the tree—though neither can be without the other. It is important to maintain a balance between the two.”

“I suppose you are right. Hmm. What are you doing, Mentor?” Clover asked, for the wizard had gone to a corner of the cave, a little beyond the Tree of Harmony, and was using his magic to remove an odd tangle of vines from something. She came over in time to see Starswirl uncover another star, similar to the one that adorned the tree yet dull and dirty. “Wha—what does this mean? Is there supposed to be another tree?” 

“Of course not, my faithful pupil.” Starswirl drew close to the star. “This is a part of the Tree of Harmony as well. However, I can tell the magic must have left here a long time ago.” 

“Where is it now?” 

“Even I cannot say.” The wizard said, seeming to mediate on the matter for a while longer. An eternity passed before Starswirl turned back to Clover. “A great wizard must admit when he doesn’t know how things will turn out. It keeps a pony honest.”
They shared a laugh over this, and after filling their pots with Prism Flowers they shared their tale with the Tree of Harmony before spending the rest of that night as only the closest of companions can do—talking of matters simple and grand until they each fell asleep under the tree’s protective branches.

***

Twilight came to herself, sitting upright in the cavern before the faded campfire. It took a few moments to remember why the princess was here, or even who she was after being part of such a vivid story. How or why it had happened was still hazy. The last thing she could recall was telling stories with Discord, and his account of Coltlantis.
Discord.

The chaos spirit was in a similar position opposite her, eyes bright yellow as if in a trance. Twilight rushed to him without hesitation.

“Discord, wake up.” Twilight shook the draconequus. “Can you hear me?” Thankfully, this movement seemed to do the trick, and 
Discord blinked back into awareness with a bit of a groan. He rubbed his brow.

“What an experience.” Discord said. “My head is pounding.” Miniature mallets beat upon his forehead in illustration. “Remind me to tell TOH to warn us before she does something like that again. Maybe if I can get my head on straight, I’ll feel better.” He twisted his head around on his neck. “Ah. There.”

“I can’t believe it.” Twilight murmured, focused on the story they had just seen. “The Tree of Harmony sent us a vision about Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever, visiting this place so long ago. And I even thought that I was Clover.” She shivered, despite the cavern being quite warm. “Did that really happen? Did Prism Flowers really used to grow in this cavern? Where did they go?” There was something else. Another detail she was still struggling to recall. She couldn’t so she tried another question instead. “We received a vision. But how? It didn’t seem to come right from the Tree of Harmony. It was almost as if—“

“The Tree of Harmony filtered the story through me to you.” Discord finished for her. “Taking advantage of the magic I was using to relate my other tales. Argh.” He rubbed the bridge of his snout. “If I had known TOH would do that, I might have stuck to telling you my story out loud.”

“That was interesting magic.” Twilight said, wonderingly. “You were putting images, sights, and sounds right into my mind. It was a little like when I drank the recall potion Zecora gave me to see the past, though I wasn’t lost or simply watching the events as they happened. I kind of understood them better with your narration. How did you do it?”

“Well, it is one of my many talents.” Discord puffed out his chest in pride. “Perhaps I could teach you sometime, among several other tricks.”

“I would like that.” Twilight bounced on her hooves, feeling a little giddy. Learning magic like this, with which she could tell a story or recall a memory in such a vivid way, was truly an exciting idea. “I would like that very much, Mentor.”

The word slipped out by accident, causing Twilight to blush despite herself. It must have been due to the story told by the Tree of Harmony, which she would have to consider later. The vision had been overwhelming, and she needed sometime to process everything she had seen within it. And, Twilight could tell, did Discord from the icepack atop his head. Apparently, he had missed her slip of the tongue, which was relieving—although, for some reason, a little disappointing.

Even so, Twilight might have asked for a short lesson right then and there, until she noticed with some shock that it was already late afternoon. Princess Celestia would be getting ready to retire anytime now, and have Princess Luna take over for the evening. 
It was time for Princess Twilight to act.

“Discord, let’s go to my palace.” Twilight announced. “There is something I want to show you, and I think you’ll enjoy it very much.”

“Ooh. What is this?” Discord looked smug. “Are you inviting me for some kind of slumber party, perhaps? Fluttershy often asks me to do that, and we stay up baking, knitting, giving each other makeovers, and playing games most of the night—you know, as good pony friends apparently do.”

Fluttershy had had Discord over for slumber parties? Twilight remembered how excited she had been to have her first slumber party with Rarity and Applejack, and how little she had known about them. But knitting and baking? Oh, well. This was Fluttershy after all.

“Well, not a slumber party.” Twilight said at last. “But you will still enjoy it, all the time. We’ll fly over there.” She went to the cavern mouth, spreading her wings and preparing to take off, only to realize a moment later that Discord hesitated to do the same. “What are you waiting for?” She shot him an encouraging smile. “Come on, friend.”

This appeared to be the right thing to say. Discord took off after Twilight, although she noted with some perplexity the chaos spirit flew with wings folded tightly to his sides. By the time they arrived at the palace, however, Twilight had set this aside and felt giddy for an entirely different reason while leading Discord to the doors of the council room. She caught a quizzical look on the draconequus’ face from the corner of her eye, and then used her magic and swing open the doors wide.

***

“Surprise!” 

Came the resounding chorus, with party favors exploding and squealing. And what Discord saw inside the council room was nothing less than utter chaos. A creative mash-up of colors and memorabilia decorated the walls, along with streamer hanging down at odd angles from the ceiling and small woodland creature running about. Some pony had set up tables along with punch bowls and party favors, alongside a huge cheese log at the end. He saw racks of clothes, a medal display case, and a barrel of what smelled like apple cider. 

Most surprising of all, however, were Twilight’s—and his—friends greeting Discord with huge grins on their faces. 

“What is this?” Discord heard this muttered, only to realize soon afterwards that it came from his own mouth.

“Why, it’s nothing less than your super, duper special friendship fun party!” Pinkie Pie bounced around him once before springing up to put on Discord’s party hat. In one more spring she had stuck a small plastic horn in his mouth as well. “You won’t believe how long it took us to put everything together. But we did it all for you!” 

“You should have seen what a commotion it was in here.” Rarity added. 

“We had to put all our heads together.” Applejack said.

“Even though figuring out what you would like was easier than you’d think.” Rainbow Dash interjected. “Fluttershy helped.”

As if on cue, Fluttershy flew forward and right into Discord’s arms. “Oh, Discord. We got so worried when we realized you had disappeared during all the festivities, and we wanted to make sure you were okay.” She gave him a final squeeze before pulling back and gaining a slightly sterner expression. “Don’t do that again, please. If something bad had happened to you, and we didn’t know about it—I’d feel just awful.”

“I’ll try not to make a habit of it, Fluttershy.” Discord said, truly repentant. He still clearly had a lot to learn, although saying this clearly appeased the yellow Pegasus.

“I thought all our friends were busy today. Didn’t you say so, Twilight?” Discord glanced at the princess. 

“They were.” Twilight agreed. “Almost every pony went to spend the day with those who had given them their keys for the chest.”

“And we came back, with souvenirs and gifts.” Pinkie Pie flung streamers into the air, some of which landed on Rainbow Dash. 

“Pinkie.” The blue Pegasus warned. 

“Oopsie.” Pinkie returned, before pressing on. “But Twilight asked if we would be able to come back to the palace in time to throw you this party.”

“Meanwhile, I started the preparations and checked to make sure the design was just right.” Fluttershy said. “The baking also took a long time.” She pointed a hoof to a buffet-style layout atop one of the tables. “It was so much fun, though.”


Twilight had known about the event the entire time. When Discord reflected on this, he should have known. That must have been the reason she was grinning from ear-to-ear earlier that morning. It was the undeniable mark of mischief ahoof. 

“Perhaps you’ll make a good student of chaos yet, Twilight Sparkle.” Discord simply commented to alicorn, low enough that only she heard.

“I look forward to learning what you have to teach.” Twilight responded, guileless. 


The celebration that followed was among the most memorable Discord would ever have. Alongside the ponies, he played any number of games from pin the tail on the donkey where all of them had to chase Pinkie Pie around the room to pin her tail back on, to apple-bobbing (which Discord easily won every time without resorting to his magic). Then there was a cider-jugging contest between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, which Rarity declaimed as a little gross to watch yet Discord thoroughly enjoyed. In the end, Twilight judged that they both dropped at the same time and had tied. 

Fluttershy regaled the draconequus with updates on her animal friends, such as how certain bird chicks had finally hatched from their eggs, and the fact that she had a new fruit bat pet. She even invited Discord over for another slumber party the following week.
In-between all this, they ate, laughed, and had fun in general. Discord would never have created the ponies with causing such mayhem and loving it. Each pony also told of the wonderful day she had had with their key-giver, sharing the souvenirs they had brought home. 

By the time they had gone from panting in excitement to yawning from weariness, Discord thought his happiness complete.
But then Twilight and the rest took him downstairs, where there were a series of rooms. The princess opened the door to one spacious room and said:

“By royal decree, I am giving your own special guest room to stay or live in if you choose. We left it empty so you can do whatever you like inside.” Twilight must have seen how gratified this gesture made Discord, despite everything. “Fluttershy said you kind of wander around Equestria without a steady home, but we hope you can come to think of Ponyville as your hometown.” Discord remained still. “What do you think?”

The huge hug Discord gave the ponies was his response.


Even so, long after the ponies had left for their homes and Twilight retired to her personal chambers, Discord left for the cave where the Tree of Harmony stood. But a truly glad feeling surged through him, at the kindness of his pony friends.

“I don’t deserve it.” The chaos spirit said, shaking his head.

And somewhere, deep in his mind and the shadows, an echo stated:

“You don’t deserve it.”

***

In her hut, deep in the Everfree Forest, Zecora the Zebra made the final preparations to brew a large cauldron of potion for ponies in need of some botanical help. She had spent all day collecting different herbs and plants from the woods, along with some water and other ingredients from the shops in Ponyville. However, something in the air had bothered her all the while, which even one as wise as she had trouble defining. The forest seemed far too still and quiet. 

To create the potion she needed, Zecora had to first mix together certain liquids into a light broth. The magic inherent in both of these gathered from amid the vegetation was supposed to (with a small poof) turn a light greenish hue and bubble when combined. But tonight that poof failed to happen, and the colors from the liquid were dull and lifeless.

“This is troubling, when my cauldron isn’t bubbling.” Zecora muttered, pouring the other ingredients in the cauldron. Yet the magic, for some reason, wouldn’t work quite right. Testing the bottled sample of the potion on a houseplant, it caused the sprout to jerk a little without any other effect. “Strange, this is indeed.” The zebra noted. “Perhaps some mischievous deed?” That would explain the stillness in the forest.

Moving to a shelf filled with the books that comprised her private library, Zecora pulled out a volume that had never failed to help her when encountering such difficulties and began to read.

> Chapter Seven—Where Fairytale Bliss Gets Interrupted and a Shadow Emerges
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord curled upon the flowerbed that night, serenaded by the Tree of Harmony. Each Element on its branches chimed a gentle melody, which the one at the center united into a single tinkling tune. The music was almost beautiful as the lullabies Fluttershy sometimes sang to restless baby animals in the evenings, when the chaos spirit happened to wander nearby, unbeknownst to the yellow Pegasus. He would stretch throughout a tree at the edge of the Everfree Forest and listen to a voice reminiscent of babbling brooks, birdsong, and the first breath of spring.

Fluttershy was like the wild forests of early Equestria in many ways. Perhaps this was one reason Discord felt more comfortable around her, besides the kindness she had always shown him, and the time they had spent together.

Marveling over such thoughts, alongside happy memories from the party, the draconequus fell asleep without the same worries about shadows that had plagued him for over the past week. 

In his dreams, they were having a picnic—Discord and the ponies—upon a large checkered cloth in a wide-open meadow. Dandelions drifted in the breeze, which shifted the rich green grass in noticeable waves. Meanwhile, the spread laid out had an exquisite selection. Every pony had contributed some dish or drink, including apple pie from Applejack, muffins from Pinkie Pie, spicy dipping sauce and hay chips from Rainbow Dash, Chamomile tea from Rarity, fruit salad from Twilight, and cucumber sandwiches from Fluttershy.

The scenery was a little too peaceful for Discord, though preferable to stressful visions. Perhaps the company of his friends had been the only thing necessary to disperse them—although the dark clouds bobbing in the skies concerned him.

But Discord tried to forget this for the moment and focus on what he could contribute to balance out the feast. He had several ideas in mind, from a strawberry upside-down (literally) cake to a triple-layer fudge brownie cake with vanilla pudding concealed inside. It was a hard decision to make. Still, the ponies were in no hurry, laughing over small daily matters in Ponyville and laying plans for events they could all attend as a group.

They wanted more quality bonding time, apparently, which continued to amaze the draconequus. Considering how much Discord had tormented most of them in the past, and especially his betrayal during the Tirek incident, he wondered why these ladies even chose to put up with some pony like him.

The dark clouds were gathering now, and spreading further across the skies in the dreamland. Furthermore, now Discord was aware of a keen pressure building within him and setting his skin tingling. In truth, he had felt it in varying degrees since shadows had started to appear, this mounting imbalance. The chaos spirit understood magical imbalances. His body seemed hot-wired to detect such things, somehow, though he had often thought of it as nothing more than an amusing quirk until more recently. So when he noticed an imbalance in himself, Discord had known it almost right away—although he had kept this quiet.

His friends were enjoying themselves as they had been in real life. Discord could sense the mixture of their Elements, positive and overwhelming, and he wanted to keep them like that. He definitely treasured their friendship and realized there was “nothing worth more.” But what good did this do for an entity who seemed to embody the polar opposite of everything for which friendship stood? 

What if, Discord being what he was, he caused another Tirek-level catastrophe to happen?

His wings were aching again, the clouds were getting thicker, and the imbalance was becoming intolerable. 

Bells rang out, sunshine broke through the clouds, and the pressure eased a bit.

“Would you mind if an ‘old wizard pony in bells’ joined you for lunch?” A familiar voice rasped from behind Discord. “I brought one of my favorite dishes: warmed vegetable pasta casserole.” It had quite a pungent aroma, with the undertone of some other spicier ingredient. Probably chili peppers.

A brief pause ensued.

“Be my guest.” Discord extended the space off to his left (Flutter sat to his right) to give Starswirl the Bearded ample space to place his contribution, and for him to sit down. The unicorn sage hobbled over and levered his weary form down upon the grass. His bones creaked and squeaked so loudly they reminded the chaos spirit of a hundred rusty hinges twisting at once. In fact, a chortle half-escaped his lips before Discord could suck it back in again. But then, because it suddenly struck him how this was his dream, he added. “You know, I could have that checked for you.”

Hearing this, Starswirl burst out laughing.

“I guess it would be wise to have a check-up, at least. Unfortunately, I cannot countenance doctors.” Starswirl’s beard rolled and unrolled in time to his heaving sides in a manner Discord found hilarious. “They poke you with cold implements all over, and then ask if there is something wrong with you. Rather barbaric, if I may say so.”

“I’ve poked doctors with cold implements.” Discord returned. “They never cared for it yet still asked the same question.”

“Good, good.” Starswirl appeared tickled by his answer. “Perhaps your visit caused the doctors to rethink their methods.”

“But you’re not here to discuss ‘medical professionals’, or even to simply have a picnic lunch, are you?” Like their first encounter, the old pony maintained a calm and knowing air. Even after all these years, that was still somewhat irritating. Despite this, Discord had to admit to being grateful for the distraction. “You’re probably here because of the prophecy made during our last meeting, which as you can see—” Here Discord made a sweeping gesture towards the assembled ponies. “Has come true. So congratulations.” Confetti sprinkled upon Starswirl from above. “Everything is fine now, ponies are my friends, and you can go home satisfied.”

Starswirl said nothing for a long while, letting the question hang in the air.

However, Discord could wait.

***

Meanwhile, Twilight had sat hunched over the work desk in her personal study, which adjourned a spacious bedroom where Spike and she now slept. The princess could hear her number one assistant snoring in the small bed beside her much larger one—provided by the palace alongside so many other features. But she preferred the smaller and cozier study, just big enough to accommodate the desk, a bookshelf with volumes proffered by her friends, and a lamp that could bend for whatever angle she needed.

Here, enveloped in the calm shroud of Luna’s night, Twilight could write an uninterrupted account of the experience she had had with Discord in the cavern where the Tree of Harmony stood. This was not the same journal in which the alicorn and her friends had discussed their adventures while learning more about the chest. It was a new volume that she planned to fill with all their discoveries related to the Tree of Harmony—or “TOH,” as Discord had called it. 

Ah. Twilight still got a thrill whenever she remembered hearing the Tree of Harmony—even if just briefly—and the stories they had shared. 

And when it came to recounting the vision from the Tree of Harmony, Twilight found that the more she wrote, the more she truly recalled. Until then, so many things had happened it was hard to absorb the whole narrative or its implications. But now she seemed to relive it again, specifically the part where Starswirl the Bearded prophesized in the cave beside Clover the Clever. She also had time to begin thinking through what the legendary wizard had said, regarding the spread of TOH’s presence, and the need for protectors in the future as Equestria continued to grow.

Of particular interest to Twilight was the part about balance. Starswirl had stressed the importance of change and individual will, which somehow abounded in the wilderness.

Well, that made sense. The Everfree Forest moved on its own, seemingly without any pony to help make things happen. 
Then there was the second star.

Ah. Twilight had forgotten that detail. There had been the second star, on the ground, to the right of the Tree of Harmony—the magic from which had apparently disappeared.

But had it been there in the cavern while Twilight and Discord were investigating the Tree of Harmony? Discord might have noticed it, at least, although he hadn’t said anything.

The chaos spirit had acted odd at points…

Hmm. 

Oh, well. 

Twilight yawned. The second star was a matter they could find out tomorrow, if Discord was still around or wanted to continue helping her. It still wasn’t clear to her why he had been there in the first place, except maybe out of curiosity. 

Major events tended to occur when the draconequus was nearby.

Today could have been the exception, unless Twilight counted how they had spent time on a task together for the first time as extraordinary (and it certainly was for her).

Twilight hummed the little tune she had heard from the Tree of Harmony, struggling to stay awake.

She must have dozed off at some point, because in the next moment Twilight found herself in a dream. It wasn’t often that the princess realized this while actually sleeping, but this time she did—seated around a picnic in a gorgeous meadow with some dark cloud cover overhead. Her friends were laughing and snacking on various treats, and Twilight might have done the same if she hadn’t seen who sat at one end of the picnic blanket: Discord and Starswirl the Bearded. 

Discord seemed to be studying Starswirl, while Starswirl seemed to be studying the skies, the surroundings, and everything else.
When the wizard’s look turned her way, the breath caught in Twilight’s throat. All she could do was gawk and listen.

***

“You indeed have some true friends.” Starswirl noted quietly, refusing to take the bait Discord had offered and instead throwing a look around at the circle of ponies, resting on Twilight. “All of them, and even Princess Twilight Sparkle, want to become closer to you as well.” He sighed. “My, how that little pony has grown. Celestia must be proud.” There was a definite fondness in his tone. Discord could not tell for sure whether Starswirl was talking about Princess Celestia or Twilight, though he had a fair idea.

“Well, Twilight adores you.” Discord muttered. Their settings grew quieter, and even the volume of his friends’ light-hearted banter faded to a muffled undertone. They stayed jolly as before and went on, seemingly oblivious to Starswirl’s presence, except for Twilight. In the way of dreams, she stared towards them in dumbfounded wonder, as if to illustrate the chaos spirit’s point. “While comparing notes in an attempt to understand TOH better, she spoke quite highly of you.” He crossed his arms, brows knitting together. “Actually, Twilight pretty much worships you. I’m sure she would have loved for you to be her teacher, aside from Princess Celestia, far more than any other pony.”

He paused here because the pressure was building again. Discord massaged his temples.

“Careful.” Starswirl the Bearded said low enough for Discord to wonder if he had misunderstood him. He used his magic to gather helpings from each dish, taking his time munching this and that. “It is true I have known about Princess Twilight for a long while.” He sipped a little chamomile tea. “In many ways, you might even say I was able to watch her grow into the lovely young wizard and princess she is today. Yet you must understand, despite everything, we belong to different times.” The wizard’s tone was firm yet pensive. “My world and work resided far in the Princess of Friendship’s past, and this is how it is best for her to learn from me.”

Then he turned his attention back to Twilight for some reason.

“I could not, and would never, teach her in the same capacity as those ponies active and important in her life. It would have been unfair to take away from the experiences dear Celestia had as her mentor. Princess Twilight doesn’t need me like that, which I suspect she already knows well.” Starswirl smiled at dream Twilight, who sat with one hoof placed on her chest, mouth slightly open as if she weren’t a figment of his imagination at the moment. Before Discord could give the matter any real thought, however, the wizard continued. “What she does need, and has chosen to do, is to learn from her own real-life mentors. Understand?” 

Silence prevailed in the meadow. 

Discord rolled his eyes.

“You really know how to lecture and talk somepony’s ear off.” The chaos spirit’s ear popped off his head and dropped upon the ground beside Starswirl, where the bit wiggled like a worm into the soil. “Now I realize where Princess Celestia learned to give her moralistic rants. You ought to be ashamed.” He said this not in an unkind fashion.

“Very much so.” Starswirl replied. “And thank you for the compliment. Now, what are you going to bring to the meal?” The query was such a sudden one—after the serious turn of events—that even Discord got taken aback. “I’m sure your friends are eager to see what you have to share, although they have the patience to wait for a long while if need be.”

“I know. Nowadays, I don’t know how any of them can stand a bother like me.” Discord had tried to say this jokingly, yet it felt heavy on his tongue and grated on his teeth on the way out. Then many things happened at once, beginning with a distinct lost sensation that washed over him, which caused the whole dream world to twirl. His head cried out in agony, and his body tingled and jiggled harshly. An intolerable moment later, the chaos spirit was struggling to stop his pupils from rolling about in his eyes. “Argh! That was worse than the vision TOH filtered through me to Twilight.”

The ponies were still present at the picnic, but Discord wasn’t paying much attention to them right then.

Starswirl, of course, was still there too—and he shook his head at the draconequus with something akin to the same sadness he had shown long ago.

“You have found a great deal.” The wizard said. “But it appears you are still lost in a few fundamental ways and have held a lot inside. That has been detrimental, since issues afforded tend to find their own way out. You’re almost at your limit now, I’m afraid. It might get messy.”

“Meaning?” Discord liked riddles. However, at this befuddled moment, he wasn’t exactly their biggest fan.

Starswirl didn’t answer. He simply pointed a hoof.

Discord followed his line of sight to see a peculiar change had come over his own shadow. It was trembling, quivering, and jiggling about. To his horror, the shade began to grow and take on another form, growing bent horns and brawnier arms. It zipped along the ground, an icy chill shot up his back, and the chaos spirit felt as if his wings were pulling free from his back. He could see their shadow extending outwards, and then a shape breaking free from between them and detaching itself—the same shape reflected on the ground a second before, yet with considerable more mass. The pressure was draining outwards as well, and had the imbalance not made him shudder involuntarily, Discord would have done it on his own. 

Twisting around, he found himself looking right into a terrifyingly familiar face.

“Tirek.” The centaur appeared made from shadows, yet his torso, head, and curled horns were clear and well-defined. Discord started back, only to have this frightful visitor seize the chaos spirit’s griffin-clawed arm, turning it a pale grayish hue like his wings.

“As you say.” Tirek glowered at him, beady yellow eyes burning into Discord’s own. “And I have come to take my revenge.”

Then, unbidden by Discord, the dark clouds amassed and filled the skies with thunder and lightning. The gentle breeze turned into a fierce gale. Meanwhile, his friends were viewing the surroundings, probably with the same panic he felt. 

Starswirl, conveniently, had vanished in a series of sparkles.

The natural elements were coming down on them all.

Discord snapped the fingers on his lion’s paw, willing the dream to grow light and cheery once more. But the scenery remained unchanged, and a dark foggy wall was even sweeping towards them now. 

“Give up. You cannot beat me.” Tirek rumbled, matching the thunderclaps. “I am too clever.” He gestured to the smoky wall. 

Trying to affect this wall did no good. Discord settled for putting a protective magical shield around the ponies before turning back to Tirek. Lifting his lion’s paw, he prepared to attack. But his paw was shaking, and his mind was a terrible blank.

Why was it a terrible blank?

“Trapped again.” Tirek swatted Discord to one side easily as a horsefly. “Now for the Elements of Harmony.” The wall was almost upon them now.

None of the ponies were reacting how the draconequus would have known them to do. They cringed on the ground, as if tethered there.

The only exception, once more, was Twilight. To her credit, and Discord’s dismay, the princess left the boundaries of the magical shield—which was already deteriorating—and charged Tirek, horn bursting with power. She unleased a blast so wide-sweeping and strong that it could have debilitated an entire army. 

Until the smoke cleared, and Tirek stood there unfazed. Now he was reaching down for Twilight.

Discord had to end the dream. If there was one nightmare he didn’t want to have, it was this one—and so he willed with all his strength for this to happen. But it was hard. Cracks formed across the dreamscape, and he didn’t do it in enough time to keep from seeing the foggy sweep over the screaming ponies—with Fluttershy’s the loudest and most heart-rending—and Tirek clutching 
Twilight in a tight fist.

“Where are you, TOH?” Discord practically screamed, and the light at last broke through the cracks and burst the dream apart.

Discord awoke in the cavern, sweat drenching his form. 
Oh, what a dream!
But only a dream…

The fact Discord had cowered like some tiny colt before a threat stung his pride, and the dream had gotten out of control in an even worse manner than any that had come before it. But at least it had all been contained within a dream.

“Perhaps I should have my head examined.” The chaos spirit reached for his head, to perform the procedure himself—only to realize his lion paw was pale gray.

Then Discord looked down, trying to find his shadow.

It wasn’t there.

Laughter filled the cave, echoing upon the walls. Reaching his feet, Discord tried to discern from where it came. However, the direction kept changing. 

“All right.” He said, struggling to regain some measure of composure. “Show yourself.”

“Very well then.” One of the shadows in the cavern seeped into the light of the Tree of Harmony and shot up into the form of Tirek, who shot the draconequus a nasty grin. “Did you miss me, Discord?” 

***

A harsh cacophony of sound, which could have best have been described as violins screeching, harmonicas bursting, and fiddles getting broken in two.

Twilight jolted awake, soaked in sweat. She looked around frantically, taking in her study and gasping for breath. Jumping out of her chair (apparently, the princess had fallen asleep at her desk), she raced into her room.

Spike lay curled in the bed, safely dozing away. 

Had it all been a dream? Twilight wondered, trying to calm herself. It had seemed so real at the time, with the encroaching fogbank, the storms, Tirek, and—

Discord.

“Twilight? What’s going on?” Spike murmured, rubbing his eyes. Yet Twilight was already through the doors of her bedroom, galloping along the hall, leaping down the stairs, and finally teleporting across the final stretch to the guest bedroom they had provided for Discord only a few hours ago.

Please be here. Twilight wished, even if the dread in the pit of her stomach suggested otherwise. 

She flung open the doors on an empty, untouched room. 

Plopping onto the floor, Twilight panted while considering her next move.  

“Twilight.” Spike called, racing to her side. “What happened? Are we under attack?” Seeing Twilight’s worried expression, the little dragon stared into the room. “And what—are we looking at? Discord’s guest room?”

“I had a terrible dream.” Twilight said. “Well, it felt closer to a vision—but it was definitely a nightmare.”

“And?”

“I get a feeling that something has gone terribly wrong.” 


> Chapter Eight—In Which Tirek (?) Returns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In full awareness, Discord could finally confront the spectral intruder with something akin to his usual calm scrutiny. Being awake had failed to erase the undeniable impact from the night fright, which continued to propel tingling aftershocks through his already frayed nerves. However, the simple sight of the Tree of Harmony—each Element vibrant and in place—reminded the chaos spirit his friends must have been safe at home and warm in their beds. It was dark outside, yet not long before Princess Celestia should raise the sun.

Perhaps the shadow might melt in the first rays of dawn, although Discord suspected the matter would be so simple to resolve. He felt the magical imbalance caused by the shade, keenly as he had known the release of power when it burst free from in his dreams. Somehow, it had carried away a portion of his own magic—and Discord’s lion paw, as with his wings, felt quite weak now.

Just like a leech.

Discord hated leeches.

“Free at last.” The Tirek-shaped shadow threw back it head and belted out an exaggerated laughing fit that turned the draconequus’ stomach, and this must have shown on his face. “My, what an angry expression.” The creature exclaimed in mock surprise, despite its glower and a voice thick with sarcasm. When the centaur moved, it was like watching smoke shift—based around the blaze of the creature’s red upper body. The smoke itself seemed to drift everywhere in the cave, and Discord noticed with a prickle of concern that some of it was twining about TOH, who was producing low chimes as if echoing his worry. 

“Is that any way to treat an old friend?” The shadow taunted. 

“You were never a friend to me.” Discord’s retort cracked as a whip amid the tension-thick air, white tail bristling in agitation. The chaos spirit manifested between the centaur and TOH, creating a fan to blow away the gaseous tendrils. Unfortunately, this seemed to have little effect against them. Swatting them did no better. “Besides, I have my doubts you are who you appear to be.”

“Oh? But you said it yourself. Call me ‘Tirek’.” Tirek, for such was the only name Discord had to know him by, leaned forward in a way both menacing and self-satisfied. It practically pressed the latter against the surface of TOH. The smell of sulfur invaded Discord’s nostrils, making his eyes water. “What makes you think my appearance is in any way deceitful, huh? I am right here before you.”

Before Tirek would come any closer, the draconequus did the next best thing he could devise. He blew green flames into the shadow’s face, causing it to flinch back. 

“You should know as well as I how the ponies banished Tirek to the depths of Tartarus about a week ago. Of course, that was before stripping him of his energies and releasing Equestria from his oppression.” Discord used his griffin claw to whirl up a recap of the event, played upon a small cloud. The imagery and action came out choppy, however, and it was hard to continue until the end. That wasn’t a good sign. It meant the centaur had taken enough of his magic to make creating things problematic. Still, he pressed onwards. “Even when Tirek managed to escape the first time, it took him months to muster enough energy to begin draining ponies.”

“I suppose you believed that was supposed to make everything better, especially for some pony like you?” Tirek’s eyes bore holes into Discord’s soul. “The pony who chose a being such as me over friendship, in accordance with his true nature?”

This stung.

“I learned my lesson.” Discord returned. “In the end, I even helped provide a key to your defeat—not that you would understand its significance.”

“There is no escaping what you are, ‘Lord of Chaos’.” Tirek was bearing down on him again. “I’ll bet your so-called friends thought you could change for good when the weak little Pegasus ‘reformed’ you. Ha! But you still betrayed and left her in tears, didn’t you?”
The memory of Fluttershy—sweet, innocent Fluttershy—sobbing at Discord’s actions smacked him like a blow to the stomach. 

“Why are you doing this?” Her words had echoed in the chaos spirit’s mind. “I thought we were friends.” 

“I have grown stronger by feeding on your thoughts and remembrances, fears and failings.” Tirek interjected. “And do you know what I’ve found? Your magic, and everything you are, can amount to nothing but anguish for any pony who gets close to you. Look at how powerful it has made me.” The smoke from Tirek was surrounding Discord, choking him. “No matter how hard you try, there is no running from who you are in the end. You will always ‘turn the world upside down’ and cause nothing except trouble. That is your purpose.”

“It can’t be true. I—” Why was he blabbering? 

Tirek whacked Discord off to one side, approaching the Tree of Harmony with obvious cruel intent. The tendrils were beginning to curl around the branches. 

“Now that I am so mighty, I will use your magic to punish you and take my revenge—by getting rid of your ‘friends’ one by one, and reducing you to nothing in the same way.” Tirek cackled. “That will prove how much use your magic is to any pony.” By the way the centaur said this, it was clear he believed that Discord’s was no good at all.

What could Discord do? If what Tirek said was correct—and he could feel the flow of magic—then the shadow commanded a great deal of the chaos spirit’s abilities. It was indeed pulling his magic, even now. When the villain was at large in Equestria before, he had used his own kind of magic after stealing energy from various ponies. But this Tirek seemed focused on taking Discord’s powers, slowly, tormenting him all the while. 

What couldn’t TOH repel this threat as she had others?  

“My shadows will corrupt the Tree of Harmony given enough time.” Tirek indicated the dark tendrils. “And in case you are wondering, your magic gives me all the protection I need to do as I wish.”

Ah. So that was it. Biting his tongue, Discord tried to think quickly.

What could he do against his own magic?

“I could speed up the process, though, with some direct contact. Should I start with your favorite little pony?” Tirek’s sharp red finger hovered over the pink butterfly-shaped Element on TOH, and Discord felt something snap inside him.

How dare he!

Laughing manically, the centaur reached towards the Element—

To get driven back by a candy corn hailstorm from Discord.

“Argh.” Tirek tripped in the flowerbeds against the cavern wall, but Discord continued his volley without remorse from a portable cannon. It was really a miniature version of Pinkie Pie’s party cannon. The chaos spirit had taken to borrowing the device for just the right occasions.

He often used it for having some fun.

Today was different.

Discord still had his doubts about the identity of this shadow, and questions. For the moment, though, all he wanted was to get rid of it.

“This time—” Discord pounced, tail snapping. “I’ll send you straight to Tartarus, or wherever you came from, myself.” He bound the creature up in chains and padlocks, with all the trimmings. Tirek would see what his magic could accomplish. He wrapped the centaur so tightly it should have been impossible to budge.

Yet then Discord heard a series of snaps, and the bindings turned into poppies in a bright flash of star-shaped light. 

His magic in action.

Then Tirek exploded from the flowerbed, ramming Discord hard in the gut.

Things were quickly escalating into a violent struggle.

Discord only hoped it was one he could win. 

***

From her home high in the clouds above Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was deep in an awesome racing dream. She had almost made it to the finish line ahead of all her competition (with a mile lead, of course) and could see Captain Spitfire waiting with a golden trophy that had Rainbow’s name escribed across it. Her fellow Wonderbolts were cheering, as where the rows of fans in the spectator stands on either side. 

Her pals were in the front row off to the right, holding up signs and screaming praise for Rainbow Dash. She even got a glimpse of a sign held by Applejack that read:

Rainbow Dash: #1 Athlete in Cloudsdale and Ponyville

Oh, yeah. In approximately two seconds she would get carried by a crowd of adoring ponies.
Rainbow Dash snuck on a pair of black sunglasses, ready for the onslaught. She had almost touched the finish line—
When the nudge of a cold turtle head startled her awake. 

Rainbow Dash lay there for a moment, staring at the wispy white ceiling—feeling the race leaving her behind. 

“Oh, come on.” The blue Pegasus cried out, squirming beneath the covers of her bed. She might have protested further, but Tank chose that moment to land on her belly. The turtle wore a magical propeller strapped to his back at all times, since the turtle couldn’t walk on clouds like his owner. Yet he was cool enough not to care about this fact, and Rainbow Dash immediately softened. 

“Don’t tell me it’s 0500 already.” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “I guess we ought to get started on our early morning practice training session, shouldn’t we, Tank? We have to clear the skies above Ponyville, because it’s going to be a sunny day, and every pony is counting on us.” 

Tank simply bobbed his head, yet rather than drift to the spacious corner where they usually did their stretches together, the turtle flew to the window and landed on its ledge.

“Hey, where are you going?” Rainbow Dash made her bed in record time, and zipped over to her companion. “I know you’re eager to get a move on, but we have to stretch first.” Then she paused, noticing dense cloud patches over the Everfree Forest. Normally, any clouds above these woods would move and sometimes coast into Ponyville, which made for excellent practice on the side. But these particular ones were still and somehow clumped up. 

Now that Rainbow Dash thought about it, the Everfree Forest (in general) seemed frozen and strangely faded. This could have been a mistake, but she didn’t forget such details. 

Then came the oddest thing of all. 

Bursting up through the clouds, farther back in the forest towards Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s old castle, was none other than Discord—as if he had been blown back by a fierce gale. The draconequus summoned (or whatever Discord did) a whole slew of thorny vines and sent them sailing down into the open ravine near where the cavern holding the Tree of Harmony stretched out. 

What was that goofy guy up to now?

But then the thorny vines reared back, forcing Discord to dodge their grip. Rainbow Dash stared, mesmerized, as another figure emerged and grappled with the chaos spirit.

It couldn’t be. Yet Rainbow’s eyes didn’t lie.

Tirek? 

“Go get the others, Tank.” Rainbow Dash instructed the turtle, not waiting for him to salute before speeding off towards the fight. 

> Chapter Nine—Brings Forth the Vortex and Assembles the Ponies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord had never been one for direct confrontations. Enjoying immense magical prowess tended to reduce most obstacles and potential foes to mere diversions at best, so the chaos spirit had seen little fun in getting rid of any pony in such a way. In the past, he had preferred to mess with his targets through indirect means or mental games—getting into ponies’ minds, finding what made them tick, and playing to their shortcomings. Oftentimes, watching an opponent work her or his way out of a problem Discord had crafted would give him untold pleasure. For the solutions could be surprising as the ingenuity needed to perform these feats.

Unfortunately, this same technique made the struggle against Tirek all the more dangerous and unnerving. The shadow had preyed on Discord’s thoughts and fears, and it showed. He attacked using a combination of brute force and the draconequus’ own abilities. He seemed able to guess and neutralize whatever tactic Discord tried, making each one to blow up in his face before coming in to deliver a hard blow.

If Discord launched a 100-party cannon salute with rockets in place of confetti, Tirek would create 100-rounded pipes to send them hurling back. When the chaos spirit willed a league of thorny vines to entangle the threat, his opponent could not only spray them away with plant killer but cause the majority to attack their originator instead. Discord had failed to realize what a glass jaw he possessed, until the shadow shattered it again and again. Of course, he also would not have credited the centaur who tried to conquer Equestria with being this inventive.

More worrisome still was the fact Tirek continued to drain his victim, growing steadily stronger as a result. Discord could feel the flow and imbalance shifting. Before much longer, he would not be able to fend off the blasts of power and relentless series of chaotic occurrences, from flying shrubbery that spewed sneeze-inducing pollen to clouds that shot through the air like cannonballs. Furthermore, panic was constricting his movements and concentration. 

He kept having to shove aside thoughts of Tirek winning the battle, or getting drained to the dregs of his magic, or succumbing to the dark tendrils the shadow claimed would destroy his friends one by one. 

Argh. They would have been fine if Discord hadn’t given into the centaur’s temptations in the first place. 

That was when, of course, Tirek managed to catch the draconequus in a taffy puller, curling and stretching him out in a very uncomfortable fashion. Discord sagged in these confines. The fiend drew closer with magic blazing around his claws.

The dawn was just beginning to break, which did nothing to deter Tirek. Discord had a bad feeling the wish that the shadow might melt in sunlight wouldn’t come true.


Then the draconequus heard a faint whistling sound and noticed a small flash of blue shooting high into the sky. He couldn’t help a short-lived swell of anticipation at this sight, dampened only by the fact his unexpected backup appeared to have come alone into a very tense situation.

Oh, dear.  

Despite this, when Rainbow Dash dived at such a great speed—creating a noticeable sonic rainboom effect that gave off a high-pitched whistle—she even caught Tirek by surprise. In fact, so intent was the centaur on having Discord all tied up that he only began to glance upwards as the speed-demon came sailing down, twisting in mid-flight so her hind foot smacked Tirek right between the eyes. 

This impact sent the shadow shooting into the hard bedrock at the bottom of the ravine. There he lay still for at least a moment, allowing Discord an opportunity to slither free from the taffy puller. 

“Oh, yeah!” Rainbow Dash did a flip. “That’s how it’s done. How did you like that, Tirek?”

“Reckless as ever, I see.” Discord cracked a few misplaced joints in his spine back into position. “I don’t suppose the others are coming?”

“Don’t worry.” Rainbow Dash replied, smug yet resolved. One had to admire those traits in her. “I sent Tank to go get them. He won’t leave us hanging.”

“Isn’t Tank the turtle?” 

“Yes.” The Pegasus replied, unabashed. However, she must have read something in Discord’s expression, or maybe simply read the giant why? that appeared across his face, because then she added. “Don’t underestimate Tank. If something needs doing, he’ll make it happen.”

“Of course, the sharp report from that sonic rainboom no doubt helps.” 

“Kind of.” Rainbow Dash looked a little embarrassed. “Come on. You just need to have some faith, all right?” 

That was easy for her to say.

Discord sighed, keeping an eye on the broken up rocks deep in the ravine. The blow Rainbow Dash had dealt would have taken most opponents out of commission, yet the shadow’s silence bothered him nonetheless. He could sense magic welling from deep in the earth. It wouldn’t be long until the shadow emerged again, doubtless in retaliation toward the feathered pony.

“Okay. So do you want to let me in on what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash grew serious. “Like, why is Tirek here, and how did he get free? Also, what’s up with your arm and wings?” 

This reminder made Discord draw in his wings self-consciously, although the bird wing popped out again almost right away. 

The stones began to rumble.

“A shadow that claims to be Tirek has syphoned off some of my magic, weakening me as a result, with the apparent intent to take revenge on you ponies and me.” Discord stated.

There. It was perfectly concise and quick answer, though Rainbow Dash looked as if she would have liked a better explanation.

However, that was the least of their concerns. For the stones exploded into dandelion fluff, and a dark streak spiraled up, spinning into a dark tornado of sorts. Both Discord and Rainbow Dash could feel themselves getting drawn towards the giant vacuum. 

“Element of Loyalty.” Tirek’s voice echoed amid the developing storm. “You will be the first pony to know my wrath.”

“As if!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “You should know I’m an expert at handling tornados and blowhards.” 

“We’ll see about that.” Came the response.

“I just have to fly with the wind.” Rainbow Dash said. “And this tornado is history.” She started to zip off to do exactly that, if Discord hadn’t blocked her way with a pillow. The pegasus found herself spitting out goose feathers, and sitting up on the cushion like a cloud. 

“Forgive me for cutting short your heroic charge.” Discord said, raising his voice above the din. “But you cannot treat this tornado as you would others. It’s far too chaotic.”

“Chaotic?” Rainbow shouted back.

“Tirek is using my magic.” The draconequus explained. “I recognize this kind of tornado from a past—” He cleared his throat. “’Game’. The idea was meant to throw off and baffle Pegasi who try to disperse it in the usual way. They tend to get chucked out while avoiding the numerous obstacles inside it.”

“Huh.” Rainbow Dash considered this information. “That sounds like one intense thrill ride.” Her smug deepened, and Discord could discern, of all things, enthusiasm glinting in her eyes. The pegasus grabbed out a pair of googles from her mane and slipped them into place. “Okay. Any tips on tackling it?”

Discord could hear Tirek laughing from deep in the tornado and realized the shadow had probably counted on the headstrong Rainbow Dash reacting in such a manner. If the centaur was handling the situation in any way similar to what the draconequus might have done, there would be some additional nasty surprising waiting—and that was even if Rainbow overcame the complications in the lining of the vortex. Attacking from above wouldn’t work. Discord himself would have prevented this using some other measures so his victims couldn’t “cheat.” 

All the chaos spirit could see was Rainbow entering the tornado and getting enveloped in shadows…

“So we’ll have to go right through after all.” Rainbow Dash said at length, simultaneously guessing at Discord’s thoughts and breaking into them. She clapped her hooves together, obviously pumped.

“It’s a trap.” Discord warned.

“It’s an obstacle course.” Rainbow Dash said. “And there isn’t an obstacle course yet that could beat Rainbow Dash. Of course, I’m sure Tirek wasn’t counting on me having a little help.” She winked at Discord. “Trust me. We’ll show him how it’s done.”

“Very well.” Discord became small and wound around Rainbow Dash’s neck like a scarf.

“Just long enough for the others to get here.” 

“Yes. Just long enough for them to come.” The draconequus was unsure if he hoped for this to happen or not. Perhaps Rainbow Dash’s pet turtle would indeed fetch the ponies, or the sonic rainboom would have alerted them. All he knew was the necessity to end the conflict quickly before Tirek could make good on his threats.

And so the pair plunged into the storm.

***

In the end, it was a combination of sky-piercing sonic rainboom and sputtering Tank that alerted ponies throughout the town, including most of the element bearers. Hearing a shrill screech had awakened and brought many Ponyville inhabitants to bedroom windows or out upon front door steps, where it was possible to see the strange phenomenon occurring at the Everfree Forest. Clumping clouds, mixed with the graying foliage and the sounds of a conflict further inwards caused instant concern. Wildlife from the woods fled from its confines. Birds flew for parts unknown. Squirrels and small critters headed for the distant hills. Even the predatory creatures, who refused to forgo the forest, hung around the outskirts or seemed to hide away into its deepest recesses for protection.

Tank shot through the air overhead, smashing into clock tower—and causing it to let off a resounding donging sound—crashing against the bell above the schoolhouse, and finding Applejack’s head all the way at Sweet Apple Acres.


Twilight rushed outside to find a crowd of frantic ponies on the front palace doorstep, and her friends pushing through the bustle. Applejack had an ice pack atop her head and carried Tank on her back. In the skies, the princess could see the multi-hued remnants of Rainbow Dash’s maneuver dissipating. She could sense (this was the only way to describe it) that whatever was going on in Everfree Forest also involved Discord, which unsettled and reminded her of the nightmare.

“Twilight.” Rarity said, climbing the steps along with her other friends. “We came as soon as we heard the commotion. Do you have any idea what is happening?”

“I think so.” Twilight answered. “Although I hope I’m not right.” She might have headed off right then with friends in tow, except she noticed the mayor breaking free from the throng. 

“Princess Twilight, tell us what we should do.” The mayor begged, and the assembled crowd clamored in anticipation. She needed to calm down them down.

“Every pony, I regret to inform you that Ponyville is at risk once again. We’re going to face whatever it is and hopefully resolve the situation.” Twilight indicated her friends. “Until further notice, every pony is to go home, lock the doors, and seek as much protection as possible. Retreat into your cellars, if possible, and stay quiet. We will let you know when it is safe to come back outside. Mayor.” She turned to the mayor. “Make sure that all the residents have sturdy shelters, and use the storm cellars in Town Hall and the palace for any pony in need. Ensure everyone is secure.”

“Yes, your highness.” The mayor said. “You heard the princess.” She called to the ponies. Take shelter, now.”

The crowds dispersed, heading for their homes and the appropriate shelters. It still amazed Twilight that ponies would seek her guidance, which they had done even before she had become a princess. And, racing off with her friends toward the Evefree Forest, she dreaded that the danger waiting up ahead would match the fierce nightmare she had seen. Because if this was so, they might have to face their greatest foe yet.

> Chapter Ten—Riding the Windstorm 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the moment Rainbow Dash plunged into the chaotic storm, she indeed had to content with on obstacle after another. The pegasus dodged barrels, shot through hoops, zigzagged between vertical poles, loop-de-looped along curvaceous slopes, and slid down water slides. Although these were only a few of the many challenges Tirek threw at her, Rainbow overcome each one with skillful ease—determined yet clearly thrilled by the experience overall.

Despite the latent danger, Discord realized he quite enjoyed seeing this blue daredevil tackle these impediments. They came at a rapid rate, and it took a well-trained mind and body to accomplish what Rainbow could without breaking a sweat. The draconequus made a mental note to create a simpler version for her to use (though his would be much nicer than this copycat shadow), since she was obviously delighting in it so much. And in fact, Rainbow appeared to grow more self-assured after every success, while as they continued to move deeper into the vortex.

But therein rested the danger.

The problem was that Discord had usually approached pegasi like Rainbow Dash with his tornado in the past, who—favoring themselves excellent athletes—would enter and get overconfident when handling these initial trials. At that point, the chaos spirit would begin hurtling far more troublesome difficulties their way and thrown them off-balance.

Rainbow Dash was becoming too cocky for her own good.

“No, I’m not.” Rainbow Dash retorted at Discord’s accusation, both out of indignation and to make herself heard over the thunderous gale. “And I can deal with whatever this storm can dish out.”

As if on cue, a peppermint boulder sailed past, followed by large bubblegum balls.

Rainbow managed to avoid the first few assaults with startled yet relative success, yet when a gumball avalanche emerged, Discord had to intervene. A giant paddle was just manageable and useful to smack the bits further into the vortex, where the draconequus thought he heard Tirek cry out in frustration.

Good.

“Okay. I get it.” The pegasus groaned, misinterpreting Discord’s smirk as a critique of her actions. “I’ll be more careful, all right?”

Although this was exactly what he had wanted Rainbow to do, Discord might have still made some explanatory remark when the brown sugar dust hit them at full blast. It was like some pony had tossed the ingredient right into their eyes, where such a thing had no business venturing. The chaos spirit had little trouble wiping off the irritants (using a sponge), but the additive seemed to be what threw off Rainbow—who started back in momentarily alarm and got side-swiped by a crate.

The pair began to get dragged along by the tornado, twirling about even when Discord wiped the brown sugar caked onto Rainbow’s goggles. In addition, the candy still came at them in droves, which the draconequus fended off in various small ways. Despite this, the storm was starting to force them out.

“Come on.” Rainbow said, though she appeared to be saying this more to herself than Discord. “We can’t get beaten like this.”

“Ha.” Tirek laughed from deep in the vortex, sending forth a gumdrop volley. “Give up, and admit that you will never conquer a great being like me.”

“Never.” The pegasus answered. 

“Then perhaps you could just throw me the nuisance about your neck, and we will call it a draw.” A trophy manifested before Rainbow, large and gleaming. “You can even get this sizable award to add to your collection.”

“No deal.” Rainbow said, living up to her element. “Nothing is worth more than a friend. Right, Discord?” The lack of hesitation warmed the chaos spirit. 

“Of course not.” Discord answered, after the slightest fraction of a pause. For he couldn’t help being a tad envious. If only he could have been a little more like that, much sooner. However, the brief lapse during Tirek’s taunting had given the draconequus a simply chaotic idea—and something that perhaps would excite Rainbow even more than the obstacle course itself had. “Hey, Rainbow. How would you like to reverse a tornado, and perhaps to even burst it apart?”

“You mean like making it spin the other way?” Rainbow dodged rock candy peddles sailing, as the rest had, from the very heart of the vortex. 

“Exactly. As I’ve said, this tornado does not work like others you know. It stays in one place, forcing objects from the center—as well as any challengers—outwards from the center, and is rather self-contained. However, there the possibility of sending those same objects back towards the center by getting the tornado to spin in the other direction.”

“Sounds great, but—” Here Rainbow did hesitate, yet only to venture a glance back at her wings. “I might need extra help to fly against the wind here.” 

“Turn around, and leave those preparations to me.” Discord said.

Rainbow did as instructed.

The magic wouldn’t be too hard to do, even in his weakened state. Discord could feel the strength of the pegasus’ courage, and her confidence—in him of all ponies. There was nothing to say the draconequus couldn’t use just a bit of magic to bring out that energy surging in Rainbow Dash and make it flow to the appropriate spots. For instance, with one simple snap the pegasus’ wings grew, sturdy enough to hold up in the forceful gusts. Another snap created an appropriate cover over Rainbow Dash’s snout to make it easier for her to breathe. Then there was the rocket attached to her back and powered by her resolve. 

No. Discord didn’t need to do much at all, except flick a switch on the side of the rocket. And then they were off, speeding along the tornado in the opposite way.

Rainbow had clearly noticed her wings growing, and that surge of renewed strength. But the athletic pony got a kick out of the rocket.

“Oh, yeah!” Rainbow exclaimed, speeding along faster than ever before, and leaving a glossy rainbow trail in her wake. 
There was a moment where the chaotic vortex appeared to freeze, until it started to twirl in the other direction. All the candy and other hurtles pushed towards the outer stretches of the tornado started to sweep back in, and Rainbow dodged them with glee.

“This is awesome.” The pegasus said several times as the candy shot past the other way.

Meanwhile, they could both hear Tirek shouting in agitation, getting pummeled by his own attacks. Actually, it was easier to listen to the shadow cry out because Rainbow Dash and Discord got drawn further in as well. Soon, they would come into the eye of the storm. 

The eye of the storm—

No pony had ever made it to the center of a chaotic tornado, and Discord himself had been so sure this was an impossibility that he hadn’t planned what would happen if one got through.

What would he have done? In the heat of the moment, the draconequus couldn’t have said.

So when Rainbow Dash and Discord burst free from the lining to see Tirek looming above them, hundreds of candy bits collected in an integrated mass above his head, they got taken by complete surprise. The sight must have concerned or made the pegasus doubtful despite herself, for the rocket vanished and Rainbow’s wings shorten. Discord couldn’t make the flow return now to save them. He tried to teleport them away, yet the magic failed.

“Trapped again.” Tirek barked, and the candy came at them.

***

Twilight Sparkle and other ponies dashed along the narrow pathway through Everfree Forest. As they went, the princess tried to explain the strange nightmare she had seen, including its possible connection to whatever might lay ahead. Unfortunately, she was positive one must have led to the other. All the while, Twilight noticed a curious thing—it was like she could hear the Tree of Harmony singing out as she had the previous afternoon, and right after awakening not an hour ago. Yet now the sound was far more cacophonous and made chills run down her spine. It reminded her of something winding up, going so fast something was sure to break or go wrong.

“Goodness.” Fluttershy interjected. “Something is wrong with the forest.”

“Ugh.” Rarity added. “You’re right. They’re limp, lifeless, and so uninspired.”

They were right. Looking around, Twilight could see a terrible change had come over the Everfree Forest. The trees looked petrified and gray, and the vegetation sagged. Setting aside the drumbeat of her pulse, or the quick candor of her breaths, it was too quiet here. 

“I sure hope nothing like this spreads to Sweet Apple Acres.” Applejack added. “Twi. Was the Everfree Forest gray in your dream too?”

“It wasn’t in my dream.” Twilight answered, but Applejack had brought up a good point. She was expecting to see a villain ahead, true. However, there had been nothing in there about the woods.

Twilight would have to consider the matter later, though, because at this time they came out of the Everfree Forest to the ledge overlooking the ravine and the ruins of the old castle. And it was just in time to see a massive dark tornado shatter apart. What appeared rocks and peddles came shooting their way, thought Twilight managed to deflect these with a shield. 

“Yum. It’s candy.” Pinkie Pie scooped up a wad of bubblegum. 

Candy? But Twilight’s attention quickly refocused onto other flying forms. One was Rainbow Dash shooting towards the ground, although the alicorn noticed Discord appear about her and create a mattress on the spot where they landed. Yet it didn’t seem to do much to cushion the crash.

The other was a great dark shadow, in the shape of a dark centaur.

“It’s—” Twilight trailed off. She didn’t need to say anything more.

Tirek was back.

***

Discord ached all over. He spat out candy canes, blinked sugar from his eyes, and bonked caramels from his ears. It was a different experience, being on the receiving end of such an attack. The shadow hadn’t even had the taste to at least throw softer choices at them instead, like marshmallows or cotton candy. One could only have so much of the harder stuff. This reaction, as it was, only helped to take an edge off the jolt he had received after getting hurled like that.

Vision still whirling, Discord perceived Rainbow Dash’s head popping free of his coils. The chaos spirit had grown to wrap about the blue pegasus on the way down, manifesting the cushion for added protection. And thankfully, by the cross way Rainbow looked, rubbing her head with a hoof, she would survive.

“Ouch. Remind me to wear a helmet the next time I enter a chaotic tornado. The rocket was incredible, though. You’ll have to tell me how you did that.” Rainbow Dash said, and then considered him. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” But in truth, Discord felt exhausted. He was also finding it harder to get moving again—even when Tirek began to descend, laughing all the while. That shadow had apparently enjoyed the show and was coming to finish them off. With the amount of energy he had now, it was clear who would emerge victorious. “You should get out of here.”

“And leave you to have all the fun?” Rainbow replied, wiggling free. “No way.” 

“Move, unless you dare to face me head-on.” Tirek said, glowering at the pair, but specifically on the pegasus. “Rainbow crash.”
Not only was Tirek using Discord’s magic and copying his tactics, but now he was throwing out subtle insults (which were simply more mind games).  

“You just said the magic words.” Rainbow shouted, zooming recklessly at the encroaching shadow before Discord could stop her. 
Tirek swiped with one of his great claws, faster than either Discord or Rainbow could have anticipated, and struck Rainbow. It wasn’t a physical blow, but more like watching the pegasus pass through a plume of smoke.

The image reminded Discord of his night fright, where every pony got enveloped in darkness.

Rainbow paused in midair and fainted, dropping down. Discord managed to lunge forward and catch her. His friend appeared as if in a deep sleep, enshrouded by magic.

His magic.

It was causing nothing but harm again.

That’s when Discord heard TOH play a high-strung melody, frenzied yet somewhat heroic in tone. And that undeniable tingle went through him, signaling the approach of none other than the other ponies.

Leading the charge was Twilight.


“At last, the other Elements are here.” Tirek’s voice echoed. His eyes flashed a sickly golden at Discord. “Shall I give them a good show?” 

He came crashing down, hooves first, on the stones upon the stony ground, which started to shift and change—forming a checkerboard pattern that quickly spread throughout the ravine and encapsulated it. Discord recognized the shapes. How could he not? They were his own magic, after all. And now Tirek closed off the ravine so they couldn’t escape.


Oh, dear.

> Chapter Eleven—Has Several Chaotic Twists 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A million questions flooded Twilight’s mind upon sighting the scene unfurling in the ravine, though chief among them involved the well-being of her friends and the dark presence that hung over them. Her wings were a blessing, speeding the princess towards the conflict, though Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie coursed down the narrow stone staircase at a rapid pace below. Fluttershy, for her part, might have matched Rainbow Dash in speed at this moment, shooting past Twilight with wings humming on the thin air—it was all the latter could do to keep up. 

Then again, everything seemed to begin moving at a faster rate. Twilight caught a horrifying glimpse of Tirek swatting Rainbow Dash, her friend falling, and Discord lunging out in a way that let the pony know the draconequus was also in poor shape. In another eye blink, Tirek slammed hooves first into the ground, shaking the world and sending out harsh magical waves throughout the area, tracing checkerboard patterns across the stones. Bits and pieces of which lifted and hung suspended in their way. 

Twilight brushed these aside without much problem. However, then the same pattern continued high above the ravine, closing off into a dome shape. The Tree of Harmony echoed a woeful tune, and the princess realized in well-founded alarm the villain ahead had entrapped them all. That same monster was coming down at her friends now, Discord with Rainbow Dash gathered in his arms, trying to snap the white tuft on his tail like fingers. Unfortunately, nothing the chaos spirit did appeared to make an impact.

At last, Discord snapped the talons on his griffin claw instead. A lever shot up from the mattress, which the draconequus seized and shoved downwards. The mattress itself took off just as Tirek made a grab at them. 

But then Tirek snapped his fingers, and the ground before the fleeing cushion swelled up like a giant wave—capsizing the pair and sending springs flying while the centaur laughed in glee.

Well, there was something Twilight could do, at least. She sent an offense beam right into Tirek’s eyes, stunning him long enough for her to teleport both Discord and Rainbow Dash out of his direct path. She landed beside them—keeping watch on their foe—intending to ask at least one or two of the questions buzzing inside her.

But Fluttershy got there first, followed by the rest of their group.

“Goodness! What happened? You’re hurt. Is that strange blackness around Rainbow Dash magic? Is she breathing?” Fluttershy sounded frantic and concerned, with good reason, though Twilight noticed this seemed to ease a bit of the weariness in Discord’s expression. He creaked into a sitting position, laying Rainbow Dash gently upon the best part of the mattress. “Rainbow Dash is okay. She’s just asleep.”

“And what about you, darling?” Rarity interjected. “You don’t look much better.”

“I’m fine.” Discord gave them a small pained smile. 

“No, you’re not.” Fluttershy said, then gasped. “Your tail is turning gray!”

It was true. Twilight and the ponies watched it happen, horrified. Discord’s snake tail transformed into a slate gray, to match his wings and lion arm—and the magic itself flowed upwards and into the palm of Tirek, who was still wiping at his eyes with his other arm. The draconequus shivered.

“Goodness!” Fluttershy cried out again, hugging Discord about the neck—who tried to reach up as if to pat her head with his lion paw, only to let the oddly-colored arm fall back. “Please tell us how this happened?”


“Yes, Discord. Tell them who caused all this misery and chaos.” Tirek boomed. In truth, he was not tall as when Twilight and her friends had last seen them—perhaps around twice the height of Princess Celestia. Regardless, Twilight could tell he was probably just as dangerous. Yet there was something odd about him as well, although she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. In any case, it turned her stomach. “Let them know how is responsible for inflicting pain on every pony.” Tirek persisted, cackling. The landscape shivered underneath.

“That’s enough.” Twilight stepped forward. “I don’t know how you escaped from Tartarus, or became capable of doing all this, but—”

“Oh, I’m sure you have an idea how I got here, Princess.” Tirek interrupted, snapping his fingers. “Or did you already forget?”
Instantly, Twilight was once again in the midst of her nightmare. More specifically, she saw the moment when the shadow erupted from Discord’s back and gained shape, and the terror the princess had seen break out upon the chaos spirit’s face. Then she was back in the ravine, though a bit wobblier on her legs. And by the way her friends cried out, Twilight could tell they had seen the same thing.

“What was that?” Applejack said, anger pinching her tone. “It was downright disgusting.”

“This shadow—” Discord spoke up. “Or ‘Tirek’ claims to have been feeding on my magic for a while, probably since the incident over a week ago.”

“Do not forget your fears and memories, of which there was a bountiful supply.” Tirek said. “And growing stronger the whole time. It has truly been too easy.”

“But how could that happen?” Pinkie spoke up. “We blast that big meanie pants Tirek away using Rainbow Power, right? He couldn’t get free and be a huge, nasty problem already.”

“It helps when you feed on such a miserable creature.” Tirek sneered.

“How dare you speak about our friend like that. Apologize now.” Fluttershy flew up, apparently ready to take drastic action—until Discord grabbed her with his stronger eagle claw.

“Calm down, my dear.” Discord stated, although it was clear he was anything but calm. “He’s basically right, anyway. Look at how powerful he has become within a short time, and still going. I can feel it, and you ladies witnessed it. The matter has to do with balance and flow, and before long he will have most of my power. There’s not much we can do right now.”

“Discord…” Fluttershy said, sadly.

“Well, that attitude just won’t do.” Rarity said. “You simply don’t sound like yourself at all.”

“Rarity’s right. We can’t just give up.” Applejack said. “No matter what you mean by this here ‘balance and flow’. Right, Twi?”

Her friends were watching Twilight in expectation, waiting for her to bring all the pieces together and take charge against this threat. Yet hard as it was to admit, a lot of things still didn’t add up. When they had sent Tirek back to Tartarus, their rainbow powered magic should have swept throughout Equestria and banished all traces of him there—unless Tirek had had some other trick or back-up plan at the end. Then again, the centaur hadn’t struck Twilight as the kind of villain who might not take that kind of thing into consideration, with his selfishness and confidence that he would win in the end. 

This Tirek was more like a giant shadow, and his magic was somehow even more oppressive—despite claiming to have only fed on Discord.

What was Twilight missing?


The sounds of a clock ticking, and then an explosive dong broke in on her thought process. Twilight looked up to see a huge grandpony clock hanging high overhead, ringing out.

“Time is up, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Tirek said, rising up into the air and smash the clock to pieces. The bits of clockwork rained down on every pony. “You are no nearer to an answer, and I don’t have all day to wait. As I have informed the ‘chaos lord’, I have returned to wreck my vengeance and punishment, by getting rid of all you ponies—just as I did for Rainbow Dash.”

“You sure like to hear yourself talk, don’t you?” Applejack marched forward, trembling with rage. “You overgrown varmint.”

“I do, very much so.” Tirek responded. “And you will have to take it, because I can do this.” The centaur snapped his fingers, and the whole world inside the sphere began to roll similar to the inside of a hamster ball, with the ravine cliffs shifting under their feet, and the skies sliding past them like wallpaper. The ponies were running along it until Twilight, Fluttershy, and Discord got airborne, grabbing up their earthbound companions.

“Or this.” Tirek said, and suddenly gravity was working against them, throwing the group upwards. “Or even this.” Bouncy balls joined the rest of the chaos and confusion.

Then the world suddenly righted itself, and most of the ponies came flopping down to the ground. Twilight was trying to orient herself as well, working to focus enough to launch one of a number of offensive spells—when she realized Tirek had stopped turning the setting inside the sphere for a reason.

It seemed that somehow, from astride Twilight’s back while in the air, Applejack must have brought out her trusty lasso and made a toss. And now a noose was around Tirek’s neck, and the centaur looked surprised as the rest of them felt. With how tightly it was wound, the rope should have been choking the centaur. 

Applejack was hanging, teeth biting into the other end of the rope.

“Impressive.” Tirek said instead, raising the rope with his powers so Applejack swung in front of him. “Perhaps I will take you next.” Shadowy tendrils swept down the rope’s length.

“Applejack!” The ponies called out, and Twilight threw off once more. Preparing the best attack spell she knew.

Yet even when she launched it off, the princess saw the shadows wrap about Applejack as they had about Rainbow Dash, causing her to lose consciousness and drop. The attack did strike Tirek, rolling in almost electric waves throughout his form, which shivered as a reflection disturbed on a pond by a stone. However, he soon came back together again.

Twilight, meanwhile, had caught Applejack and send her down beside Rainbow Dash.

There had to be something they could do.

If offensive spells wouldn’t work, they would need something greater. 


Rainbow power.


But then Twilight caught sight of the Tree of Harmony, in the cavern. In truth, the princess wasn’t sure why it had taken so long for her gaze to travel over this way, to TOH. Maybe some part of her mind had been attempting to avoid doing so. Yet now she saw, quite clearly, that shadows had wrapped about the tree, and the elements Rainbow Dash and Applejack had held were a terrible dark hue.

Would they still be able to activate that magic?


“This is dragging on far too long.” Tirek said then. “And I am already bored. So I will tell you what.” Each word seemed to strike them down in massive sound waves. “Let me get the other ponies out of way now, and then we’ll be all done. Okay?” 
Twilight couldn’t believe the almost jolly way the centaur said this, or snapped the fingers on his hand. But in the next, her attention flew elsewhere. For shadowy tendrils were beginning to seep up the hooves of Twilight and her friends—except for Discord, who looked utterly terrified. The princess had never seen the chaos spirit look that scared, even when they were facing down Tirek the first time.

If this was Tirek.

But then Discord caught Twilight’s glance, and a certain resolution seemed to enter the draconequus. 

Discord?

Fluttershy had been keeping close to Discord’s side the entire time, and although she was looking at the oncoming tendrils in great alarm, she still looked up when Discord patted her on the head.

What was he doing?

A second later, Discord was flying towards Tirek himself.

Twilight tried to follow, but her wings were heavy, and it was like every pony was sinking into quicksand. 

***

Discord forced himself through the air towards Tirek, who let him come unhindered.

And why should the centaur worry, when his opponent was having trouble just getting around and couldn’t do him bodily harm? So Tirek sneered and waited for the draconequus to draw close as he dared, which would have to be close for what Discord intended on doing.

For if things kept going the way they were, Discord was going to lose his friends to the shadows—and all because of his magic, and this despicable villain.

Tirek was right, the chaos spirit thought. Discord couldn’t escape what he was, and his magic brought nothing but harm to every pony. That much was plain to see by what had happened in the ravine.

But he hated this notion. Some part of him still hoped it wasn’t true.

Regardless, if Tirek was using Discord’s magic to wreak havoc, and they were still connected as the draconequus could tell by the continuing growing imbalance, it might just be possible to sever the ties so the centaur wouldn’t have access to them anymore. 

“What do you plan on doing, Discord?” Tirek taunted again. “There is nothing you can do to stop me now, as you have pretty much said already.” Discord didn’t respond, concentrating on his plans. When he had used the technique to come on the ponies, many moons ago, it had disrupted their connection to the Elements. Hopefully, the same thing would happen here—because the chaos spirit had run out of ideas, otherwise. 

Of course, it would only work if Discord could figure out what Tirek’s insecurities were—and he knew, at least, what they had been for the centaur who had rampaged across Equestria. He couldn’t have pulled off messing around with Tirek, which would have weakened his defenses. He also couldn’t touch him as he had—regrettably—to Fluttershy. 

So when Discord attempted to hypnotize Tirek, it was face-to-face, where the chaos spirit sought to enforce what was left his reality-wrapping prowess through sheer willpower. As a result, perhaps he could trick Tirek into not harming his friends any further.
However, Discord’s own hypnosis had not gone too far when Tirek began copying the same technique. The centaur was leaning forward, wrapping his claws around the draconequus’ throat.

“At last, it comes to this.” Tirek’s thoughts echoed into Discord’s mind. “You cannot win against me, and you never could.”

“I’ll give it a shot, at least.” The chaos spirit responded.

“Then perhaps who can answer this riddle for me.” Tirek said, and Discord could already feel himself losing control, as he had in the dream, and even in reality now. 

“How do you solve Discord in discord?” The centaur’s voice echoed throughout the ravine for all to hear.

When Discord couldn’t answer, it just made Tirek laugh. 

“You foal.” The centaur said, before pressing on, his magic curling about Discord. And in the draconequus’ mind, Tirek wove this spell:

“When you’re afraid of making a mistake,
Freeze everything, and there will be no more at stake!”


Discord was losing himself. He could feel his memories evaporating, and getting locked away. 

Yet perhaps there was one last thing he could do.

Behind his back, a card appeared.

A very special, chaotic card.

Before the change swept over him entirely, Discord dropped that card.

And Discord thought, in this last-minute—when he felt a wall erecting between his magic and Tirek—how the hypnosis had worked as he had wanted after all.

Just not in the way he would have preferred.

***

A bright white light filled the ravine, spreading outwards. Twilight and the ponies had to shield their eyes while it happened, huddled together, until they could see again. And what the princess discerned was a wisp of darkness flying away somewhere amid grayish-white skies. In fact, now that she looked around, it was like the ravine had faded in color as well. 

The ponies looked around at this strangeness, yet realized a moment later that the shadowy tendrils had disappeared from about their legs. 

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the only exception, asleep and enshrouded by that dark magic.

But where was—?

“Discord!” Fluttershy shouted, and Twilight saw him too. He lay on the ravine floor and was getting to his feet.

They raced to him, questions already upon their lips.

Then Discord turned around as if to greet them, and what they saw was a gray version of the draconequus, who perceived the ponies with all the regard of a gentlecolt from Canterlot. That is, somewhat aloof and with a hint of exasperation.

“Oh, my dear friends. It’s good to see you’re alive and well.” This gray Discord said. “I do seem to be in a bit of a predicament, and perhaps you might lend me a hoof. For I believe I may have dropped my card hereabouts.” 

Twilight and the ponies were so astonished by the peculiar spectacle Discord presented that they couldn’t say anything for a moment, until Twilight saw something sparkling on the ravine floor. She picked it up with her magic and examined it.

Along one side of the card, these words appeared:

“Help me.
P.S. More to come, I hope. Until then, perhaps you could begin working on this riddle for me, because it must be important: How do you solve Discord in discord?
P.S.S. Good luck, Twilight. By the way, say hi to Fluttershy for me.”


Twilight stared at this chaotic message, and stared at the gray Discord, and stared after where she had seen the shadowy wisp escape against the bizarre whiteness that had spread throughout the area.

“What should we do now, Twilight?” Rarity whispered.


And Twilight stood as if frozen, wondering how to answer her.

> Chapter Twelve—Revolves around Inverted Chaos and Spells Gone Wrong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was cold in the cavern. Twilight shivered, although she had trouble deciding whether this came from the temperature or recent experience facing Tirek in the ravine. Wilted flowers, crushed candy corn, and noticeable claw marks lay strewn about the interior and gave evidence to what had preceding the confrontation. Only the main throne room in the old castle, where Luna had transformed into Nightmare Moon and grappled with Celestia, gave the princess the same feeling of utter ruin or turmoil. Actually, the sensation perhaps struck her in a far keener way, because it was so personal and close to home. 

Yesterday, Twilight and Discord had spent quality time in this very spot, discussing how best to study the Tree of Harmony. They had argued (or, at least, Twilight had), and found a warming compromise in sharing stories. As in the vision of Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever, this opportunity seemed to help the two friends connect in a new way. That is what Twilight had believed, especially after she managed to hear music from TOH. 

Now two of her friends, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, lay in an enchanted sleep amid the debris. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy had done their best to make the spot more comfortable and tried in small ways to get them to stir (all to no avail)—and they examined the cave in the same stupefied silence as Twilight, throwing gazes over at the not-so-chaotic draconequus.

After the initial question regarding his business card, the gray version of Discord had seemed to lose interest in the whole affair. And upon entering the cavern, he had strutted to the bookshelves holding the selection Twilight had borrowed from Canterlot and begun flicking through the volumes in total disregard for their harrowing situation. In fact, this callousness was so strident compared to whenever the chaos spirit had appeared uninterested in what Twilight had had to say in the past, the pony realized with a slight shock how he actually must have been listening to her during those times. 

More distressing yet was the Tree of Harmony, with shadows curled about the base and branches. They enclosed the tips holding the elements of loyalty and honesty. The rest of the tendrils stretched towards the remaining elements yet were still at the moment—perhaps due to whatever Discord had done at the end of the battle. He had somehow stopped the shadows from swallowing the rest of their friends, in exchange for himself.

It probably had to do with the way Tirek had used Discord’s magic during the fight, and the draconequus must have somehow severed the connection. But that shadow was still roaming around somewhere, in the white globe surrounding the area.

If Tirek was on his way into Ponyville—

Perhaps Twilight could free her friends. Then they could use Rainbow Power and disperse the threat. She had had a bit of experience dispelling dark magic, when Rarity had—under the sway of a spell—used it to transform the town. This had taken calling on Princess Luna and Princess Cadence to put things right, but they had taught her a useful purification spell in the process.

So Twilight focused, feeling magic swell in her horn and spread throughout her form. She heard her pony friends give hopeful gasps, while Discord grumbled something about flashy displays. Energy coursed about the shadows surrounding the Tree of Harmony, spreading to the tips where her friends’ elements had been imprisoned. It was so hard to hold onto such high-level magic, and taxing on the mind and body. To be fair, the spell did start to force back the tendrils, and to turn them a lighter, purplish hue. 
Twilight grunted with the effort, feeling the world start to spin. She might have fainted at this rate, except her horn gave out instead—being unused to handling such magic for that long. 

“I think it worked, a little bit.” Rarity consoled, offering Twilight a wet washcloth, which provided some small cool comfort for her horn. She had placed others on each of their slumbering friend’s heads, while Pinkie Pie had blown up an air mattress of sorts—apparently inspired by the regular mattress Discord had created earlier—to lay them upon. This drifted a bit like a balloon, with a string attached so Pinkie could move the bed around. Yet even the happy-go-lucky party pony had a fragile smile at best. 

“Maybe if you took a short rest, it would make a difference?” Fluttershy spoke up. “You did use a lot of magic, before.”

“That would do wonders. But even if we had the time, I might not be able to do it without more practice.” Twilight said. “It’s at such a high-level that Luna and Cadence had to assist me last time. Unless—” Here she turned her attention to Discord. Despite everything, the draconequus might still have enough magic to supplement her spell. And if Tirek had been forced to return any of his powers that would be even better.

“Discord, I need your help.” Twilight announced.

“Oh?” Discord said, continuing to browse a book on early Esquestrian botany. The scholar who had written this volume had made a passing reference to the Tree of Harmony, alluding to the way magic flowed through the wilderness. 

The wilderness, and the Everfree Forest. Somehow, Twilight knew these must play a part in the solution, given how they had looked so faded and worn.

Just like Discord.

Hmm.

“And what could I possibly do to assist you, Princess Twilight Sparkle?” The draconequus glanced at Twilight out of the corner of his eye, apparently more concerned with the book than her request. 

“Please. I believe we need to cast a purification spell on the Tree of Harmony, which means combining our magical abilities.” Twilight explained. “By doing this, we might be able to free the elements, wake our friends, get you back to normal, and expel Tirek.”

“Ridiculous.” Discord closed the book he held with a snap. “I suggest you drop the whole issue and enjoy a pleasurable read instead.” Then, he promptly dropped the volume on the floor before the princess. 

“This is serious.” Twilight said, refusing to let him goad her. “We have to set everything right.” 



“Oh, Princess Twilight. Normally, I would happily oblige. But I don’t care much for magic anymore, although I do dabble in it.” The draconequus reached for another book, but Twilight yanked it out of his hold. “How rude. See what magic does? No. I far prefer having things as they are now, with us altogether and happy, in this gentile place.” He swept a claw around the cavern, apparently seeing a fine room where the rest saw shambles. 

Twilight shook her head. Discord was truly far away. She glanced at the card he had dropped, only to find nothing on that had changed. The riddle on the card still eluded her.

What could it mean?

“In my opinion, this ‘Tirek’ did us a favor.” Discord continued. “He took a big weight off my mind, and I have never felt better.” 

“You don’t meant that.” Fluttershy flew in his way. “Our friends are important, you enjoy magic, and you need to help Twilight to save every pony.” She moved as if to take Discord’s paw in her hooves, but the latter pulled away.

“Really, my dear Fluttershy.” Discord chided, indicating the other ponies. “You must not engage in such public acts of affection. It’s common decency.” 

Fluttershy sagged in the air.

“And you just need to remember what it’s like to cut loose.” Pinkie Pie bounced around the chaos spirit, party twirlers popping out of her tail. “Come on. Turn that frown upside down and laugh.”

“Stop that.” Discord said, instead. “Parties are fine, if they are at the proper time and do not get too wild.”

Pinkie Pie gasped, her mane deflating.

“Don’t worry, girls.” Rarity interjected, addressing Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. “You have to remember this isn’t what Discord is like. He’s been brainwashed by that nasty Tirek character. Right, Twilight?” 



“Right.” Twilight agreed. Her other friends had been so less difficult to work with when Discord had tricked them into being the opposite of their true selves. Weeks ago, it would have seemed strange for the princess to say, but the lord of chaos they knew had been more cooperative. Seeing this reversed version just proved it. “He probably doesn’t even hear the music form the Tree of Harmony anymore.”

“Music from a tree?” Discord shook his head, incredulous. “I could never conceive of that. And just how is such a thing supposed to sound?”

“It’s—” That is when Twilight realized even she couldn’t hear the Tree of Harmony. She paused for a long moment, straining to hear even the faintest tune as she had during the fight. The last time she recalled hearing it was right before Tirek changed Discord. “The music is gone.” The pony breathed, causing most of her friends to cry out in dismay.

“Why is every pony so worried?” Discord considered the ponies with a hint of agitation. “You truly are a puzzle.”

Not so big a puzzle as you, right now. Twilight thought. 

But at least she could change that.

“I just need to restore his memory, and everything will be fine.” The memory spell was easy enough, and Twilight could definitely manage it. 

She flew up.

“Princess Twilight, I would prefer it if you left me as I am now.” Discord said then. “Whatever I was, a while back, must have been dreadful.” A certain fear entered his features. 

Well, that was a first. When Discord had hypnotized her friends, none of them had seemed to recall being anything other than their altered selves. Even Twilight had forgotten before Princess Celestia sent her own letters through Spike. 

Twilight came in, and Discord began backing away, trembling.

“I—I beg you, Princess Twilight. Think of your subjects. Think of our friends with the being I used to be on the loose.” The draconequus was throwing nervous glances around the cavern, trying to make his way toward the cavern entrance. Yet then Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity blocked his path, and came up from behind, pushing him forward. “Nothing good will come of it!”

There.

Twilight touched her horn to Discord’s forehead, with the spell in full swing—expecting to feel the release of memories and the wash of colors return to the draconequus. 

“I won’t let you!” The chaos spirit protested, and it was like a door getting slammed in her face. Twilight fell backwards onto the cavern floor.

“What happened?” Rarity asked, helping Twilight to her feet.

“The spell failed.” Twilight almost added, again, because it felt like a lot of her magic lately had been having little to no effect. Had this been how Discord had felt against Tirek? “Either he has enough magic to repel me, or his mind is so protected I can’t get through.”

“You need to trust us, Discord.” Fluttershy said. “We’re trying to help.”

“Then don’t help me.” Discord was against the wall now, utterly alarmed. “Perhaps I should simply retire to my accommodations at the palace.”

The palace.

That was it! Twilight mused on the matter for a moment. While it was true they had activated Rainbow Power before the Tree of Harmony last time, the chest that had unleashed the magic had become her new home and castle. And in the council room, her friends had stood around the central star and felt the rainbow move through them and on towards all the new friends they had made along the road there.

And in truth, Twilight hadn’t quite known how they were supposed to access the level of Rainbow Power they had at that time. But maybe, if they brought every pony into that council room, the magic would take hold and free her friends.

“You’re absolutely right, Discord.” Twilight said. 

“I am?” Discord sounded surprised as her friends looked.

“Yes. We’re going to the council room at the palace, to see if we can unleash Rainbow Power there.” 

“Oh, dear.” The draconequus muttered.



“Do you think that could be the solution?” This seemed to bolster Fluttershy’s spirit a bit. 

“I think it’s a splendid idea.” Rarity rejoined.

“Council room, here we come!” Pinkie Pie hopped, grabbing the string to the air mattress in her teeth and already moving outside.


“I think I’ll stay here.” Discord said.

“No, you won’t.” Twilight returned, grabbing the flailing chaos spirit with her magic and carrying him along.


***


The trip back to Ponyville was a strange one. Aside from having to carry Discord and the air mattress with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, the ponies found that the whiteness encircled most of the Everfree Forest and their hometown. Not only that, but a certain still grayness had suffused everything within as well. 

If the Everfree Forest had appeared drained and still before, it was now completely petrified with varying shades of gray.

Ponyville was no better. All the buildings and objects shattered throughout the streets were also gray, and it was actually difficult to tell one house from the next. 

Twilight hoped the mayor had gotten all the ponies underground or into safe locations, where they might be out of harm’s way. Although, seeing how extensiveness of the whiteness, she feared it might have touched the ponies anyway.

But no. She couldn’t let get distracted. They had to fix this situation, quickly.

So the ponies raced to the palace. 



“Twilight. You’re back.” Spike creaked open the door, getting taken aback at the sight he beheld. The poor baby dragon had apparently been worried sick, and he hugged Twilight. “But what—?” He began.

“I’ll explain later.” Twilight said. “We need to get to the council room, right away.”

“Right.” Spike opened the front doors all the way to allow them ample space to enter, and Twilight with the other ponies practically flew up the steps.

Meanwhile, Discord was squirming with all his might—refusing or unable to resort to his magic to get free.

“Here we go.” Twilight burst through the council room doors, with Pinkie Pie whopping from behind and helping Rarity and Fluttershy to off-load their friends onto the floor beside the star upon the floor. “Make sure Discord doesn’t leave.” The princess instructed Spike, setting down Discord, at which the dragon saluted and draconequus scowled. 

Then Twilight joined her friends around the star, in what should have been the appropriate positions before their chairs. 

“Ready, every pony?” Twilight asked, and every pony who could nodded her head. Then she reached out a hoof above the star, waiting for it to shine and send forth a bright rainbow. 

The seconds trickled past, leaking into minutes. And the longer they wanted, the more dread tore at Twilight’s insides.

It wasn’t working.

No.

It couldn’t be so!

“Let’s try something different.” Twilight asked.

So they did. They ponies positioned themselves differently around the star, with no better effect. Here, there, and everywhere, they posed and beckoned, bounced and hoped. At one point, Pinkie Pie even tried to insert a song cue into the matter, yet none of the other ponies took up the cause.

“Okay.” The princess said, getting frazzled. “This is fine. I’ll just send a letter to Princess Celestia to ask for help. In fact, shadows are something Princess Luna might know about. Perhaps she even saw it coming and has already come up with a plan.” She was pacing now. “Spike, take a letter.”

“Will do, Twilight.” Spike took out paper and quill, writing down the message Twilight composed right then and there—telling the princesses of their need for help, and seeking guidance. 

“All right. Time to send it off.” Twilight said, struggling to remain calm.

“Sending.” Spike said, and blew upon the scroll with his dragon’s fire. 

This should have sent away the message without further delay. But instead, a very odd thing happened. 

The scroll went up in flames, and its ashes fell to the floor.



Twilight watched the ashes fall, and sat down before the small pile. The tears gathered along the rims of her eyes, threatening to drip down.

“What do I do now?” The princess whispered.


The card dropped to the floor, with its surface blank.


And these words began to appear across the surface:
“Giving up already, Twilight? I expected better.”

“Discord!” At Twilight’s exclamation, the other ponies gathered around. “It’s the card he dropped earlier.” She said to her friends. “I think he might be able to communicate with us this way.”

“But isn’t Discord here?” Rarity asked.

“Nope.” Pinkie Pie said, at which they did look up. 

The door to the council room was open, and Discord had apparently snuck out amid all the commotion. 

“I’ll find him.” Spike ran out.

“Goodness! Are you okay? Can you hear us?” Fluttershy asked.



There was silence for what felt an even longer while than the ponies had stood around the star, but then the first set of words disappeared and more appeared:

“Faintly, darling Fluttershy. I can hear Twilight the best. It seems I am in a dreamscape of some sort. I won’t be able to maintain this connection for very long at one time, though.”

“Are you aware of anything that’s happening with us?” Twilight asked.

“In a vague way. It is like watching yourself sleepwalk, while also being elsewhere and doing other things.”

Twilight wasn’t going to ask for clarification on this point. She was just happy to actually hear from their Discord again.

“Discord. What exactly did you do with Tirek? I know he hypnotized you into being the opposite of your true self, but what was your intention?” She asked.

“I wanted to hypnotize him, and cut off our connection.” Discord answered. “But he overpowered me, will-wise. Perhaps it was for the best.” These last few words came slowly, and as if he were running out of ink.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“When I come back—” The words were even thinner and fainter now. “I will try to give you a short magic lesson that may help you. So don’t you dare give up before—”

The words stopped.



Twilight heaved a heavy sigh, learned her head back, and looked at the ceiling—mulling over what had happened, and what Discord had said.

The council room door opened again, and Spike entered. 

“Hmm, Twilight? I didn’t find Discord, but you do have a visitor.”



“It seems you are in trouble indeed.” The ponies looked up to see Zecora entering the room. “But I may have something you need.” She reached into a pair of saddlebags and withdrew an old book, laying it down on the floor before Twilight.

And the title read: “Everfree Forest Lore.” 

> Chapter Thirteen—Concerns Many Types of Trees
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being caught between deep sleep and complete wakefulness might have disoriented many ponies, lost in a mental limbo while aware of moving around in the physical world. To feel paralyzed yet not be, really. Or to understand who you are has been split off from a contrary twin, although indescribable ties to the presence of that other side remained or prodded like a thorn in the foot. At the same time, a certain liberty came from this detachment—especially for a chaos lord—where none were around to judge or criticize any creations.

Discord had seen and known states of existence in his lifetime that could daunt even the most courageous spirits, including insane monarchs driven to gruesome acts or his own 1,000-year stone confinement (during which all he could hear were sounds from the outside). In such a fantastical world, back in early Equestria and up to the present day, such things were commonplace enough—though he had noticed those who stood against these darker forces had grown in number and strength. Mindsets had shifted along with the land, while more of the inhabitants had learned how to manipulate or wield magic to influence their surroundings.

The Tree of Harmony had also spread in influence, helping to shape the realm as much as the ponies.

Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and his Ponyville friends were shining examples of that point. They could take care of great threats with their bonds and had blown Discord away initially with the elements provided by TOH. Somehow, Equestria had gone from a brutal and fear-ridden place to a kinder and more magical one for them.

Ponies also faced, rather than ran, from Discord. They had even gone out of their way to befriend him. This was completely nonsensical and boggled the imagination, which meant the chaos spirit enjoyed it. Overall, the whole thing made for a pleasant change.

Even if he seemed out-of-place here now.

Furthermore, now a dark shadow hung over the ponies and TOH, using his magic to disrupt the peace and tear them apart. And Discord had to teach Twilight how to dispel it, or at least enough to release the elements and wipe away the chaos.

Discord fingered the card in his paw. Twilight would be expecting a written spell, or something she could quantify. So the draconequus had to find some way to express what she needed to do without telling her, in short:

“Just do it.”

At least Discord could use magic in this place—even if he was totally gray now—probably due to the dreamscape quality. His thinking tree sprouted underneath and carried him to a great height. That is, it might have been a great height if there had been anything with which to compare it. Curled along the upper branches, he looked out and got distracted by all the emptiness—which made his claws twitch in anticipation. 

After a brief moment, he gave into the temptation. For Discord was somewhere in his mind, and this time the shadows were out of sight.

So Discord treated the surroundings like a blank canvas. And because he was feeling a bit nostalgic, the draconequus caused great sweeps of forest to rise in rich, verdant waves. Some of the trees were small and bony, while others were large and knobby. They came in a variety of chaotic styles and shades. 

This filled him with such glee that he added more details, from wildflowers winding throughout the undergrowth to exotic birds of breath-taking beauty chirping in great flocks. Timberwolves also rustled through the thickets. 

And then, because it suddenly occurred to Discord how ravenous he was, he decided to indulge in an old treat.

In one section of the woods, a grove emerged with trees that bore large, rainbow-colored apples. 

Discord flew to this area, plucked one of the apples, and munched it. 

The fruit tasted sweet as he remembered, back in the old days.

What fun! Fluttershy would have loved these woods, and—


Ah. That was right. Fluttershy was waiting, and Discord still had to figure out what to tell Twilight. He had gotten too wrapped up in being creative. But thinking of his friends put matters back into perspective. He held the card clutched in his tail, waiting for the next best opportunity to use it. The card, apparently, was the only thing that proved difficult for him to access. In a sense, he had to charge it—although this could have been due to Discord’s circumstances, in bypassing his opposite self and reaching out to the ponies.

These apples were refreshing, however. Perhaps they would make a difference on that front.

Discord was onto his third apple, leaning back upon a branch, musing on how to explain chaotic magic to Twilight, when he heard some pony gave a whoop—followed by the sensation of the tree in which he lay getting struck.

The chaos spirit falling out along with several apple, but he landed on something soft.

“That was peculiar.” Discord remarked.

“What the hay is—Discord!?” None other than Applejack squirmed beneath him. The pony looked reasonably befuddled, yet he could discern some measure of relief crossing her features. “Would you mind getting off of me?”

“Certainly.” The draconequus drifted back. “I see you found my little apple grove.”

“Your apple grove.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes. You should join me for a meal.” Discord picked up one of the rainbow-colored apples and extended it to Applejack. “These apples are my own creation, but I think you might like them.” He paused. “What?”

“You created these apples?” Applejack lifted one of the rainbow-colored apples between her hooves, turning it around as if in deep concentration. 

“Oh, yes.” Discord said, rolling several down one arm and into his open mouth. “It would surprise you what types of fruits I used to enjoy, back when Equestria was more like this.” He gestured to the surrounding woodlands. “These apples were some of my best ideas, I believe. I even had an agreement with the Timberwolves to howl and let me know when they were on their way each year.” Then he smirked at the pony. “Do you remember when we made that agreement for me to create an experimental orchard for you a while back? It wasn’t exactly my first time, although I guess that surprises you too.”

Applejack, at this point, was giving a small smile while still examining the apple. 

“Well, I’ll be.” Applejack muttered instead, tipping back her hat and meeting his gaze. “You really are something, you know?”

“I suppose so.” Discord said. Despite everything, it put him a bit off-balance. She seemed to be complimenting him, although this could have been because she simply admired the idea of a rainbow-colored apple. Applejack adored apples, after all. 

“Did you ever hear about how the Apple family first settled in this area?” Applejack asked.

“Err—”

“Never mind. First, you’d better tell me what’s been going on with this here Tirek fella.”


Well, there was nothing else Discord could do at the moment, and no pony except Applejack present (who might have been a part of his dream, for all he knew). 

So the draconequus sat down and talked about the last few days. 

***

Meanwhile, Twilight flipped through the old book Zecora had brought into the council room. The pages were worn and in serious need of restoration, yet the princess could see the text in the middle Equestrian tongue clearly enough. With her active friends gathered around, she moved to a page mentioned by the wise zebra, which contained a chapter on the magic inherent in wild plants and herbs. The picture opposite this showed what appeared to be a map of Equestria many years ago, dominated by the vast wilderness Twilight recalled from when Discord had shared his tale with her. Whoever had illustrated the volume had sectioned off particular areas with different colors, almost like a topographical map. But the section near where present-day Ponyville stood had the brightest division. 

Checking the key along the bottom, Twilight could see the cartographer had labeled this—in the old tongue—loosely as, “Origin Point.” 

“This book was given to me, passed down through my family.” Zecora explained. “Even though it is quite an old tome, it is with this that I chose my home. The magic in this part of the land, was perfect for any medicines I could plan.”

“So you came to live in the Everfree Forest near Ponyville because there are certain plants or herbs here you couldn’t find elsewhere?” Twilight asked.

“That is almost right, and they give me great delight. But this place has a particular history as well, which makes it possible to do many a spell. Stories in this book do state, how the wilderness nearby is the oldest to date. The magic it possessed flowed from this part of the land many years ago, farther back than any pony knows. So the title goes by that name—” Here Zecora indicated the title label. “Because the great magic here has much acclaim.”

Twilight thought then of the Tree of Harmony, standing there in the cavern deep in the Everfree Forest. In fact, it might have been right at the heart of the woods. They had eventually needed to return the elements to that tree to it would survive and not get overrun by the thorny vines. 

But the forest had not been in trouble then. In fact, it had been wilder than ever.

So what could be happening now?


“I never realized the Everfree Forest here was that old.” Rarity interjected.

“Neither did I.” Twilight returned. “But if this book is right, the wilderness in Equestria was supposed to have started here.” When she got an encouraging head nod from Zecora, the princess pressed onwards. “And the magic as well.”

“Old magic?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Wow. That blows the mind. Maybe Discord knows about it.”


Discord. Twilight had almost forgotten, in the rush of everything, but it did seem as if he fit into this somehow.

“I still need to find him, actually.” Spike admitted.

“Then I’ll come with you and ask.” And with that, both Spike and Pinkie Pie began to leave. “Maybe we can lure him here with a cup of chocolate milk.”

“Oh, I hope Discord is okay.” Fluttershy murmured.

“Don’t fret, darling.” Rarity laid a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “He could not have gotten far.”

“Why don’t you give them a hoof?” Twilight suggested, at which Fluttershy seemed grateful. “You know Discord better than any of us do, after all.”

“Thank you, Twilight.” And Fluttershy, zipping out after Spike and Pinkie.


“Princess Twilight.” Zecora continued, after the door had closed behind their friends. “You should know the Everfree Forest began to grow weak and become strange, during the past week or in that range.”

“The past week.” Twilight mulled this over.

“You mean since that matter with Tirek?” Rarity asked.

“Yes.  Indeed it is so, that is when the magic started to go.” Zecora said. “I noticed it in little ways back, but last night it was clear in my shack. The magic has gone out of the plants turning them still and gray, and now much of Ponyville is the same way.”


Gray. 

At that moment, Twilight thought of the vision she had had with Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever. There had been something Starswirl said, when talking before the Tree of Harmony. She had written about it in a journal. It had been late at night, and despite everything, the princess couldn’t remember everything she had set down on the page. 

But perhaps, if what Twilight suspected were true, they might be one step closer to solving what was happening to Ponyville, and to their friends. 

“Wait a moment.” She said then. “Let me get something.”

***

When Discord spoke of the past several days, he began right after the Tirek incident—when the shadows first became to come, plaguing him with bizarre identity questions that only the Tree of Harmony seemed able to soothe by sleeping in her light. Unburdening himself in such a way was a liberating experience, and almost gave the draconequus the same thrill filling the empty space had earlier. And in a similar manner, once he started each part of the tale tumbled off his tongue as if eager to leave. 
Of course, narrating these experiences also reminded Discord—painfully—of the fact the ponies were now in trouble yet again thanks to him. More than a few times, these reminders made him wince.

“Now we’re both stuck here in some dreamland, and I have to teach Twilight how to dispel my chaos magic so you ladies can use Rainbow Power to take care of the shadow.” Discord finished at last, feeling suddenly tired again and flopping against an apple tree. “So there you have it, honest Applejack.” 

A pause ensued, where Discord had trouble determining exactly what Applejack thought of the whole thing. She had remained quiet throughout the entire tale, listening with a solemn, thoughtful look the chaos spirit longed to mimic because it had such a serious effect. But even he knew this was not the appropriate time to do impressions, so he didn’t. 

“If you were having troubles, Discord, you should have told us.” Applejack said at last, meeting Discord’s eyes (why did she have to be so direct?). Hers was almost a chastising tone, and a little like Fluttershy’s when the chaos spirit had done something she found too uncouth or outlandish. But there was a certain firm, almost matriarchal quality to it too. 

“Oh, Applejack. Do you really think any pony would have appreciated me barging in amid all those fanciful celebrations to tell you about night frights?” Discord twirled an image into the air, of Ponyville as it had appeared during the weeklong festivities. All the ponies looked so happy and carefree. “Especially after I was responsible for causing such destruction in the first place?” He tapped the frame, and picture eroded into how the town had appeared amid Tirek’s rampage, as a dark and frightened place. “I would rather have swallowed my tail than disturb every pony again.”

“You still blame yourself for what happened.” 

“With good reason.” Discord said. “Because of my chaotic nature, I traded the true friendship of my friends for freedom—or, at least, what I thought was freedom. I thought Tirek was my friend, but he was just using my magic to wreak what havoc he needed before getting rid of me.” He sighed. The picture, seemingly unbidden, had run through his memories of that fateful evening the centaur had convinced him to change sides. “Just like he is doing now.”

The memory stream was fast-forwarding now, towards the moment when he had imprisoned the ponies.

“It’s true. What you did was pretty rotten.” Applejack said then, which was like a slap for Discord. The pony truly lived up to her element. “It also seems to me you didn’t know any better, although that doesn’t make what happened any less grave. But you learned your lesson about true friendship, and changed into a better pony. You even gave Twi the last key for magic.”

The visions became too painful to watch, and when the picture at last came to Fluttershy in tears, it was too unbearable.

“My magic.” Discord seethed, seizing the image from the air, ripping it up, and tossing the pieces high into the air. “Of disharmony.”

“Ah, Discord. I think you’re being too hard on yourself. You talk about your magic like you think it’s an evil pow—” Here Applejack cut herself off, but Discord didn’t see her face. He had turned away by that point, wanting to leave behind the pony, and to go somewhere where he would not be answerable to her. 

Why was he telling or showing these kind of things to Applejack in the first place? All the pony had wanted as an explanation, and Discord had always been good at hiding things. 

But something kept him teetered there. Perhaps it was guilt. A ball and chain had appeared, and Discord sawed away at it with a saw that refused to cut. For a brief moment, he even considered biting off his own leg like a trapped coyote. It would grow back.

“Say, Discord.” Applejack said, quietly and gently.

“What now?” Discord yanked hard on the chain, and the ball came popping up into the air and nearly landed on his head. 
If only he could break these bindings—

Then Applejack bucked them, with her strong hind legs. And for some reason, the chains gave way and dissolved.

Amazing. Now she had his full attention.

“How would you like to hear that story about the Apple Family?” Applejack offered. “I think you might like it.” 

> Chapter Fourteen—Regards Friend-Hunting and Hunting Shadows
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the time the ponies left the council room, Pinkie Pie began to lay a trail of chocolates and other candy she said might “sneakily” lead Discord back across the threshold. For no pony in her right mind would turn down a super delicious trotline of tasty morsels, regardless of where they might go. As Pinkie said this, her mouth watered at the thought, and it soon became apparent to Spike and Fluttershy that just as many sweets (if not more) went down the party thrower’s throat than upon the floor. But both friends, wisely, kept quiet about this.

In truth, Fluttershy remained more worried about finding Discord in general. He had not been himself since confronting the creepy shadow that looked like Tirek, and getting changed into his opposite. Having been afflicted in the same way, in which she had dreamt and been so mean, the kind-hearted pegasus thought just how frightened the draconequus must be now—lost somewhere in the palace that still intimidated her at its sheer size and labyrinthine interior. One corridor seemed to lead to another, and it was so easy to get turned around.

Not to mention—and Fluttershy quailed at the thought—that Tirek might still be hovering nearby. 

What if he was after Discord again? 

Her anxiety must have shown, as it usually did, because Spike slowed his pace (with Pinkie Pie being in the lead) to walk alongside her.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy.” The baby dragon said. “I’m sure Discord is fine. Most likely, he just went down to the guest room Twilight gave him. In fact, that’s where we’re going now.” 

“Y—Yes. You’re probably right.” Fluttershy managed a brave smile. “Discord is Discord, after all. He should be—okay.” Even then, doubts continued to cling to her like a winter chill.

Still, she had to believe in her friends, and what Spike had said made sound sense.

And sure enough, the ponies reached the wing of the palace where they had gone only the other night, they found Discord. His permanent guestroom was at the end of the hallway, just off to the right. But their friend sat hunched—or more half-curled, really—against the blank wall at the end, facing away from them. He was shivering, arms wrapped around himself.

This was a pose Fluttershy recognized, having done it herself numerous times in the past whenever she had wanted to hide from something particularly scary. 

“Oh, you poor thing.” Fluttershy flew over, already making gentle shushing sounds. “It’s all right. Everything is okay. We’re here now.”

“Run.” Discord’s voice was a mere squeak, yet Fluttershy heard it clearly. “It is too dangerous.” 

“Come with us.” Pinkie Pie said, either not catching the tension in the air or trying to dispel it in her own fashion. “We have loads of candy for you enjoy, every pony is together, and we’ll party all your troubles away.” 

“Please go.” And now they began to discern a darkness creeping around the base of the chaos spirit’s form. Fluttershy also realized with a start her friend was not casting a shadow like every pony else, but that this strange thing was moving all the same.

“Goodness!” The pegasus said. “Discord, we have to leave. Something horrible is here.” She was reaching for his claw when the draconequus whirled about to face her, pupils far smaller than usual and his entire being quivering.

“Get away.” Discord gasped out, pushing her back. “I am the most horrible thing here right now.”


“He truly is.” The darkness receded from Discord and stretched up the blank wall until it loomed above them all. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike craned their necks back—staring in unpleasant surprise—as Tirek took shape and spread his clawed fingers. “You ventured here to find him, and now you will pay the price.”

And the shadow came among them.

***

By that point, Twilight had reached her study and pulled the journal from last night off its shelf. The book on Everfree Forest Lore that Zecora brought had required caution while flipping through the worn pages of uncertain content. In comparison, the princess could glide through the present volume and knew exactly where to pause, which saved time and was reassuring. And indeed, Twilight did find the passage she had pondered over before falling asleep, and her thoughts during the period also returned. For a moment, it felt strange to have to read her own work again, as if she had not set quill pen to paper a few hours ago to write the text. Yet, perhaps most scholars who had written the works found at the Canterlot Library and elsewhere had had similar experiences at one point or another, after doing their research and revisiting notes. 

Journals like this, and the other Twilight and her friends had kept, would someday join those books for future generations to read.
But now, she had to deal with matters from her own perspective. And this felt kind of limiting.

Perhaps that was what Discord had meant, the other day when Twilight had presented the volumes for their investigation. 

Was all that really only yesterday?

Ah. Here was the passage Twilight had wanted to find—where she had recounted the conversation between Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever before the Tree of Harmony. There were even phrases or terms she, nodding off, had underlined and tried to note for reference purposes. These included the “second star to the right” and “balance.”

Balance. Twilight had heard that concept so often of late, from Starswirl and Discord. Even Tirek seemed wrapped up in the idea, which brought the princess back to the issue of the stagnancy throughout the Everfree Forest, and now Ponyville.

Starswirl himself had mentioned the importance of the wilderness to Clover, going so far as to say:
“This wilderness contains a great deal of magic. That constant change and sense of individual will are as much a part of harmony and this land as the tree—neither can be without the other. It is important to maintain a balance between the two.”

And the ponies had journeyed to the Tree of Harmony in the first place because Starswirl had wanted to collect Prism Flowers from the “original source.” He had also made a mention to the second star, where the magic had apparently left ages ago. 

The book Zecora had brought had discussed the Everfree Forest being the oldest to date, which Twilight had quickly discerned must relate to the Tree of Harmony. 

These notes flickered through her mind’s eye, and Twilight had to close her physical eyes to string them together. There was a connection, and she knew it. 

If what Starswirl said was right, then perhaps the magic that had left the second star had also caused the wilderness to pervade the landscape. Such a thing would have happened many, many years prior to when the great wizard arrived at the Tree of Harmony. There was always a disorder to the Everfree Forest most ponies found disturbing, because they couldn’t control it. That was because the woods kept changing, whereas Twilight and the other ponies in Equestria usually tried to stay in control of their surroundings and the seasons. 

Twilight had used to fear the Everfree Forest, because she did not understand and could not manipulate it as well with her usual magic. But ever since Discord had shared the vision of his time in ancient Equestria, the princess could not help but see them a bit differently. Apparently, so had Starswirl.

The Everfree Forest was not so much terrible as different—like the night and day—and if it had come from the Tree of Harmony, the force involved had helped to balance the land.

So to figure out what magic lay behind the Everfree Forest, it was a simple matter of asking herself what balanced out harmony and order.

What lay at the opposite end of the scale—and, if Twilight and her other pony friends embodied the elements, who represented—?

Twilight stopped there. The princess didn’t need to go on, because a possibility so disruptive and chaotic had occurred to her. Even the ground itself seemed to tremble beneath her hooves, or perhaps that was simply her imagination.

If she was right, then therein might reside the solution they desperately needed right now.

It really was all about balance and flow.

So Twilight grabbed up the journal and raced with all due speed out of her study. However, she did find herself slowing down at moments, since the idea coursing through her head was so absorbing.

The princess was moving along the same hallway Princess Celestia had guided the ponies right after the palace had emerged now, where there were several glassy-green windows along its length. 

Within a short time, Twilight would be back in the council room, sharing her theories. If Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were there with Discord, it would be even better. 

Yes. Twilight believed she had the solution at last.

“I think I even understand what Tirek meant with his silly riddle!” She hopped once, clicking her hooves together.


“Silly, was it?” 

The dark tone took Twilight by surprise and echoed throughout the corridor. Screeching to a halt, Twilight darted a look around, trying to find the source. And at last, there was a noticeable flash off to her left—and appearing from behind one of the branch imprints on the green windows came the shadowy form of Tirek himself.


“The windows in this hallway are so empty.” Tirek mused aloud, though the centaur was clearly just mocking her. “You might follow in the footsteps of that other princess, who showed off all of Equestrian history for me to find in her castle, including you, during your fruitless struggle a week ago.”

“What do you want, Tirek?” Twilight said, her swell of joy burst apart. She kept the journal under one wing, along with the card, where the shadow hopefully would not notice them. “How dare you enter my castle. You are unwelcome here.”

“’Unwelcome’?” Tirek laughed. “You should understand that I now have the freedom to go wherever I please, and to do almost whatever I like. The scales are in my favor.”

“They are not.” 

“Such confidence! Then perhaps I should tally what friends I have claimed?” Then Tirek waved a hand, and in several of the windows, stained-glass depictions of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and now—Twilight saw—Pinkie Pie appeared. Each one was well-illustrated, despite it all, to exemplify her element. Somehow, the centaur had reached Pinkie Pie but not Fluttershy.
Had they gotten separated, somewhere in the castle?

“My collection is already impressive, Princess Twilight.” Tirek pressed onwards. “All of them are resting peacefully under my sway, thanks to a certain draconequus. You can do something against such power. The magic is being drained from this land, and such a state will spread throughout Equestria.”

“You underestimate us, Tirek.” Twilight returned. “You treat magic as a weapon and think the friendship my friends and I have cannot overcome it.”

“What a sappy little statement.” Tirek tut-tutted. “In any case, I have effectively severed the connections to your friends. They lay around, doing nothing and unable to contribute anything to your cause. What can you hope to do now?”

“Much.” 

This made Tirek pause. Twilight could see he was eyeing her with a mixture of suspicion and distaste.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, seriousness pressed hard into every word. 


“I have had enough of these pleasantries.” Tirek said, instead. “My actions will make such a thing apparent. Besides, I have work to do. Next up is a certain white unicorn.” He laughed and swept along the hallway as a shadow.

“Come back here.” Twilight shouted, chasing after the centaur. 

Tirek was headed for the council room, which meant if Twilight reached the door first, she could cut him off.

So Twilight teleported to the front of the council room, flinging open the doors to warn of Tirek’s approach—

To find Rarity already asleep upon the floor, and Tirek looming over the room. Zecora was shouting something in her native language, standing protectively in front of Rarity. Then she called out:

“Be gone foul lingering shade, before your cruelties are paid.” The zebra reached into her mane and tossed out a haze of dust. 
Tirek hissed and disappeared.


“I was too late again.” Twilight sat down beside Rarity, who appeared to have swooned backwards upon the floor, with one hoof laid across her brow. This might have been comedic if the princess had known this was not a pretend faint but a real one. “Tirek keeps picking off my friends, one by one. I feel closer to an answer, but I’m still not entirely sure who he is, actually, or how he could be here.”

“Princess Twilight, do not blame your slow state.” Zecora said, consolingly. “That shadow made the mistake. You will no doubt set things to right, if you concentrate with all of your might.”

“Thanks, Zecora.” Twilight replied. “I guess I almost let Tirek rattle me again, but I do have an idea of how to defeat him and make everything better.”

The pair exchanged smiles.


“Oh, no. Rarity!” Spike had arrived back at the council room, and now he pushed past Twilight and Zecora to Rarity’s side. He dropped to his knees, took Rarity’s hoof in his claws, and wept. “I can’t believe any pony would do such a cruel thing to some pony so beautiful.”

Twilight came over and patted her assistant on the back.

“I know, Spike. She’s asleep, but Rarity will be okay.” It was her turn to be the consoler, and Spike leaned hard against Twilight. She could already feel some wetness coming from the dragon’s snout, so the princess took out a handkerchief and give it to him.

Spike blew his nose.

“Thank you, Twilight.” Spike said, offering it back. But Twilight ignored it and instead asked:

“What happened?”

“The shadow ambushed us downstairs.” Spike explained. 

“Pinkie Pie tried to fight back.” This was Fluttershy now, carrying the downed Pinkie into the room. “But Tirek put her to sleep.”

“And Discord?” Twilight asked.

“Discord went into his guest room and locked the door.” Fluttershy said, laying Pinkie beside Rarity on the floor. “He refuses to come out, saying he is too dangerous to be around. You have to help me, Twilight.”

“I will.” Twilight said.

“Oh, dear.” Fluttershy took in the room, and Rarity upon the floor. “Poor Rarity.”


But Twilight was headed for the door. She had an idea what needed to be done now, and they had to act fast before Tirek (or whoever he was) intervened again. 

“We have to get Discord out of that guestroom, and go to the Everfree Forest.” Twilight said, definite. Fluttershy fluttered along behind her, while Zecora and Spike chose to stay in the council room.

“You should stay with Rarity and Pinkie Pie.” Twilight told Spike, when the dragon looked uncertainly at her. Then he smiled and nodded his young head. 

“This is your duty to fulfill.” Zecora simply stated. “I will stay and ensure there is not further ill.”


“Right.” Twilight said. “Let’s go, Fluttershy.”

“All right.” Fluttershy agreed.

And off they went.

> Chapter Fifteen—Poses Questions on Locks and a Chaos Spirit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“If Granny Smith had never discovered these Zap Apples, then the Apple Family might not have been able to thrive on our land.” Applejack reached the end of her story at last, having gathered a small rainbow-hued apple pile at her feet. “So you see, everything turned out all right and the orchard helped to save us. Ponyville might not have come around if they were not here or somewhere else.”

“Yours was a nice little tale, Applejack. Good to know.” Discord said, reaching his feet and brushing off the leaves that had drifted upon him from above. “I even appreciated the part about ‘Zap Apple Jam’.” And he had, given how it sounded like a fun takeoff on his original idea. “But what exactly did you mean by telling it?” However, the draconequus had a feeling he already understood what the dutiful pony had meant. It was clear as Celestia’s day in her tone and on her face.

“What I mean is if your magic is responsible for making such tasty apples, then it can’t be all bad. Understand?” 

“I fail to see how a happy yet accidental discovery proves this.” Discord reached up and tugged on one of the branches holding the Zap Apples—for that was now their official name in his opinion as well—and stretched it out like a clothesline. “I intended the apples for myself and no other pony. They were a selfish creation, and the moment it got out (with my intervention, of course) these were ‘Apples of Discord’ none would have dared to venture near the fruits until I was little more than footnote in the annals of Equestrian history. Even gems hoarded by a dragon have some value to ponies who manage to carry them off. It is no different.”

“Well, even if you hoarded the Zap Apples, that doesn’t change the fact they were tasty and good.” Applejack returned. “You just needed to share. Ponies probably would have thought much differently if you had chosen to distribute the apples among them.” 

“What do you know of how ponies were back then?” Discord snapped. He leaned in, now eye-to-eye with Applejack. “The moment they saw a creature different then themselves, it would become a threat to block out or shun. The forest and all the wild beasts within were dangerous. Those with magic prowess were even worse. I was nothing more than a boogiepony in their midst. At least ponies like apples and appreciate farmers, no matter what the age. But they hated me, and most of the things I could do.”

“Whoa there!” Applejack exclaimed, flopping backwards and making Discord realize he had been effectively ramming her with his head throughout his small tirade.

Just great.

“Sorry.” Discord mumbled, straightening. He had to get out of here. 

So he did, taking off to move deeper into the dream forest with farewell wishes for Applejack to enjoy the Zap Apple orchard. 

“Wait a moment, Discord.” Applejack called after him. “Come back.”

***

“Discord.” Twilight knocked on the guestroom door, with Fluttershy hovering above. “It’s Twilight. Are you in there?”

A long pause, and then the chaos spirit answered:
“Yes, Princess Twilight.” He sounded exhausted. “I am here.”

“We need to talk.” Twilight said. “Come out.”

“My apologies for not receiving you properly, Princess.” Discord replied. “But I would feign open this door and expose you to more harm.” 

“The harm is already moving around the palace. Tirek is on the loose, and we need your help to get rid of him.” There was another pause, which meant the draconequus might have been listening. So Twilight pressed onwards. “I have a plan, but we need to get you back to normal first.”

“No.”

“What?”

“Something bad always happens to the ponies who are around me.” Discord explained. “But if I lock myself in this room and do not come out, I will not have to worry about that ever again.”

“That is because of Tirek.” Twilight said, striving to stay calm. Anxiety and fear pervaded every word her self-imprisoned friend said, and she had the distinct impression of talking him down from some precipitous ledge—which might not have been far from the truth. But similar circumstances with ponies in need of counseling or advice had inured her to coax, rather than be too forceful. “You should not blame yourself for what happened. Every pony is okay. They are only asleep, as you saw. We just need to wake them up, but we have to work together to accomplish it. So why don’t you open this door, and I can tell you everything?”

Twilight thought this was persuasive. Even Fluttershy gave her a hopeful smile. 

There was silence again. Yet unlike when Twilight was waiting for Rainbow Power to work in the council room, she knew the next move had to come from Discord himself. In the meantime, she could not waver in her own patience. 

“It is too dangerous.” Was the eventual response.

“Discord, you have to open this door.” Twilight said. 

“No.”

“All right, then.” Twilight said. Then she lowered her voice to so only Fluttershy could hear. “We will just have to go in after him.” 
Fluttershy nodded her head.

Twilight now tried unlocking the door, but therein she discovered another problem. Apparently, Discord had not merely locked himself in the room. Tirek had probably had a hoof in it as well, based on the shadowy substance around the handle. To get rid of it and go inside, the princess would have to first dispel the darkness as she had tried to do with the Tree of Harmony. Yet she could already tell a purification spell might not be strong enough to do the job. Twilight had grown into a much stronger magic user, and more knowledgeable about why certain spells might fail. And she thought back upon the lessons Princess Celestia had taught her on the subject. Solving a problem with one’s own magic required understanding the issue itself, or the nature of the magic a pony wanted to remove.

But wait. This was not “darkness.”

Tirek was using Discord’s magic.


Most likely, the purification spell had been the wrong spell to use in the first place. What Twilight needed was to affect the chaos in some way. She could remember trying a failsafe spell once, back when Discord’s magic had first gripped Ponyville. That was supposed to have brought everything back into order, but the magical inflection was different.

Order and harmony. 

If her theories were right, Twilight would have to find a way to work from this end of the spectrum, and to balance it out.

Balance.

“Think, Twilight.” The princess said to herself.

And now she stood in silence, wondering.

***

Meanwhile, Discord was coasting over his dream forests—and feeling a little guilty again because he had left Applejack behind. What had made it tougher was the fact she had actually seemed to want the chaos spirit to return. Before then, the pony would have muttered “good riddance” and been done with him. Not to mention, he had a vague impression that his other half had taken to the palace guestroom and barricaded the door. Twilight and the other ponies were probably trying to reach Discord at that very moment.

The card had had almost enough time to charge, and soon Discord could communicate with Twilight again using it. 

Unfortunately, he was still no closer to deciding what to say. Perhaps telling the princess to summon all the forces of good against him would do the trick, although besides the Rainbow Power from the Tree of Harmony, Discord had trouble determining what this might look like. Twilight would have to provide the counterweight to his chaos and disharmony.


It was then he noticed the balloons rising from one forest clearing. 

Strange. Discord could not recall having added balloons to these woods, even if they did add a nice touch to the surroundings. He liked balloons, buoyant and useful for making into animals. A few times over the past several months, the draconequus had even messed with ponies from afar by causing such shaped balloons to move around—causing the ponies to either run or draw closer until the object of their intrigue popped in their faces with a loud bang. In the latter case, though, he had quickly learned ponies did not appreciate having balloons pop at such a close range (even muscular stallions like that Bulk Biceps). 

Mistake after mistake.

Discord sighed, spiraling downwards towards the clearing, where he found quite a cheery sight. The whole glade had apparently been set up for a celebration of some kind. There were tables covered in light pink tablecloths, with various party platters, sweets, punch bowls, and the like. Balloons had been tied here and there, and confetti had been shattered over the grass. In the center, he even saw a small collection of wrapped gifts. 

Inserted in a spring resting upon the topmost present was a card:

“For Discord, 
A friend who needs to smile.
Hearts,
Pinkie.”

Yes, Discord considered. This type of party did have Pinkie Pie written all over it, though not in his usual literal sense. So the decorations remained unblemished and wordless. Perhaps he was missing the cheerful pony along with all his other friends, although the alternative that Tirek had gotten her as well seemed more likely.

Such were his thoughts on unwrapping the present.

And the moment Discord yanked off the lid—

A stream of long springs—the kind that sometimes emerged from seemingly airtight containers and made for a good prank—burst right at him. Despite this, it was like getting hit with several cylindrical pillows. Some wound up curled around Discord’s shoulders, while others bounced on the ground a ways behind him and bumped harmlessly against the other decorations. One even tried to worm its way up his nostril, though the chaos spirit snorted it out.

In the aftermath, Discord sat there with what must have been a stunned expression. Indeed, he had been wrapped up in everything going on at the moment, he had failed to take into account how much Pinkie also enjoyed a good joke. 

It was such a surprise, and shook him up.

Furthermore—Discord felt his lips tweaking, and a gurgling hum beginning to rise from deep inside—the whole thing was simply hilarious.

And he laughed, so hard his sides ached. Hyenas would have been jealous, seeing this sight. In fact, Discord willed a few to peer out from behind the trees, shake their heads in consternation, hold up signs that read “I quit,” and scuttle away. Balloons popped, but the chaos spirit hiccupped out more. Tears of mirth were coursing down his face. 

More laughter joined his, and Discord felt an arm wrap around his middle.

The draconequus glanced to the side, to see Pinkie Pie hanging onto him and also guffawing. She held a phonograph under her other arm, which was playing a laugh track.

Pinkie Pie looked at Discord.

Discord looked at Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie smiled at Discord.

And Discord realized his suspicions had been correct. 


“You—you also got attacked by Tirek?” Discord chortled out the question, even while trying to calm down. The mirth felt so good, he was reluctant to let it go. 

“Yeeup!” Pinkie Pie replied. “He wrapped me up in a thick, smoky darkness. And when I woke up, I was in this fun place.” She detached from Discord, and began to illustrate each thing she said with gestures and different motions. “Then I saw you flying overhead, and you looked so sad. And seeing my friends sad makes me sad, and I wanted to cheer you up. Every pony likes parties, especially you, so I threw together this party to get it ready for you and our friends.” 

“Hold on a moment, Pinkie Pie.” Discord said, feeling better despite it all. “This is—” He gazed around at the assembled decorations. “Sweet. But most of our friends are not available.” 

Thanks to me, he wanted to add.

“That’s not true, silly.” Then Pinkie Pie chucked a cream pie in his direction. 

Well, Discord had a counterattack for that. He created a catapult and set it off so a giant hand would smack the cream pie right back at the pink pony, who got it full-on in the face. 

Pinkie Pie bounced back with such force that for a moment Discord regretted what he had done. But then she poked her head up from the mess and giggled.

“You’re a lot of fun, Discord.” Pinkie said. “If Rainbow Dash, you, and I put our heads together, we could play any number of funny tricks on ponies.”


“Don’t be so sure of that.” Discord replied, at length. “I think my trickery days are over, Pinkie.”

“Over?” Pinkie Pie looked horrified. “But they can’t be over. You are a master at tricks, and great ideas, and they’re so much fun.”

“To you, perhaps.” The draconequus relented. “But not for any other pony.”

“That’s just because you need to find the right trick for the right pony.” Pinkie Pie stated. 

“The right trick?” Discord was unconvinced.

“Yep! You just need to be creative enough.” Pinkie Pie said. “Like me.” She grabbed several balloons and twisted them into the form of Princess Celestia herself.

The pony said this is just such a way as to be a little irksome. It was almost like she was prodding Discord and challenging him.


“Are you kidding?” Discord rose up. “No pony is more creative than I am.” A ripple of music echoed throughout the glade. The phonograph stood up, bowed to Pinkie, and danced to the echoing melody. All the food choices upon the tables began to hop in rhythm to the beat. And the Princess Celestia balloon flapped inflated wings and neighed out: “I’m a princess!”

Then the balloon shot off like a rocket. This was only the beginning of what Discord might have done, except that Pinkie began laughing again and said:

“I told you. I like you must better this way—not like that Discord imposter in the cave.”

That popped the swell of creativity Discord had experienced, and he pretty much deflated onto the ground.

“You mean the other Discord, I suppose.” The draconequus said. 

“I do.” Pinkie Pie answered, still looking joyful. “That Discord wasn’t much fun at all. He runs from everything and doesn’t want to help out. He doesn’t even like parties. Can you believe that?”

“That is surprising.” 

“Yeah. You have to come back. Then we can beat Tirek, and I’ll throw an ever larger celebration for every pony.”

“Pinkie.” Discord said. “How does the other me feel about magic?”

“He doesn’t like it one bit. Twilight asked him to help her ‘purify’ the Tree of Harmony, and he wouldn’t do anything.”

“I see. But Twilight will figure out how to free the elements soon. Then you will be able to wake back up in Ponyville.”

“We will.” Pinkie Pie stressed the “we” part, which worried Discord a little bit. “Right?”


For some reason, Discord couldn’t think of anything to say at that moment. Perhaps it was because he did not know if he wanted to return to Ponyville. After all, if the other Discord chose not to use magic, he would no longer cause trouble in Equestria. Meanwhile, in this space set apart from every pony, he could creative to his heart’s content without any worries. Twilight was a smart pony. She would figure something out, and Discord could help her by communicating through the card.

It would just be a bit lonelier. That was all. Discord had done lonely before.

“That’s not right at all.” Pinkie Pie said at this moment, and Discord realized with some shock these thoughts had somehow escaped from his head into a white cloud. He reached for the cloud, but then noticed a lasso sailing down around him. The rope tugged the draconequus hard onto his back.

“Finally.” Discord looked up to see Applejack come into view. “I caught up with you. Don’t run away this time, all right?”

“Applejack. You made it, Cousin!” Pinkie Pie gave Applejack a warm hug.

Cousin?

“It seems so. I had to wrangle some pony first, though.”  Applejack gave Discord a meaningful look, though not an unkind one.

“Ah, my friends!” Discord now heard another familiar and dignified voice ring through the glade. And indeed, he sat up to find Rarity had also entered the party area and was making her way over to them. “You won’t believe what happened to me.”

“I think I have a notion.” Applejack said, tipping her cowgirl hat in greeting to the unicorn.

Tirek had gotten Rarity as well. 

This day kept getting better and better.


“Hey, gals!” Now Discord and the assembled ponies looked up to find, of course, Rainbow Dash gliding down to the party. 


“Now every pony is here for the party.” Pinkie Pie said. She winked at Discord. “What did I tell you?”

Honestly, Discord had to give Pinkie credit for surprising him again. He half wondered if she might not be part-draconequus—or some other mischievous spirit. That would explain a few things.

“I guess the others are okay.” Applejack said. “Since they’re not here.”

“Gather around, every pony.” Pinkie Pie waved Discord’s thought cloud. “We have to talk about friendship problems.”

“Friendship problems, you say?” Now Rarity was coming to take a look at the cloud. “Do tell.”

Discord considered plucking the cloud away from Pinkie Pie and tearing it up, as he had with the image earlier when talking to Applejack. With the way things were going today, however, he doubted it would make a difference.

Besides, the chaos spirit could feel that the card in his hold had charged up fully.

So, to distract himself for a moment, he wrote on the card:

“Twilight. I am back with more time and space.” This was only half true. The other ponies were filling the clearing, and now they were turning with concerned towards him. 

Yet even they seemed to get distracted from whatever they were going to say when, from the card, they heard Twilight’s voice say:

“Discord. Thank goodness. The Discord that’s here will not listen, and I need your help for a very important plan to hopefully solve this crisis once and for all.”

> Chapter Sixteen—Crosses Boundaries and Taps into a Draconequus’ Psyche
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Go ahead, Twilight. I will listen.” Discord wrote, aware the ponies were gathering close about him and the card. Their closeness and warmth was comforting yet intimidating, since it was only a matter of time before his friends began to ask questions regarding the thought cloud. Keeping the communication with Twilight was hard enough without that kind of pressure. At least they were being quiet for the moment, even Pinkie Pie. “What do you propose?”

“I revisited the experiences we had the other day during our investigation into the Tree of Harmony, and a few of the discoveries we made there seem very relevant to what is happening now, especially in regards to what the vision had implied about the EverFree Forest.” Twilight paused, as if weighing her next words with great care. She tended to do this, the draconequus had noticed, when unsure of their truth—although the pony was usually right at this juncture. 

“TOH has been around for a long time and has a great deal of magic.” Discord put down, to urge her onwards. Honestly, his own memory of the vision was a little muddled, to match the headaches and whatnot from the past few days. Of course, having such a thing filtered through your head made it surprisingly hard to concentrate on the content. “A mystical tree like that acts for a reason, so I doubt she would have shown the vision just for the sake of it. In fact, it would not surprise me if she had seen the present circumstances coming and called out because of that fact.”

“Called out?”

“Yes, my dear. TOH first called out to me with her music a few days ago, when all this trouble with shadows began.” Discord said this aloud, yet the message still went through in written format. The card was essentially like a one-way letter. Whatever he wrote or said appeared to Twilight upon the card, whereas whatever Twilight said aloud echoed through to him. That was just what he had managed during its creation. 

“That’s why you were at the Tree of Harmony.” Discord thought he heard Twilight’s breath catch in her throat. “Now I am sure of it. We have to go back to the Tree of Harmony.”

“Didn’t we try that before?” Pinkie Pie interrupted. “You tried to purify it but it didn’t work, and then old gray imposter Discord wouldn’t do anything, and then you came to the palace for Rainbow Power.”

“That sure is strange.” With the discussion between Twilight and Discord broken in this way, Applejack seemed to feel the need to put in her two bits. “After all, Twi has gotten real good with her magic, and we’ve taken on dark magic and shadow creatures before.” 

“It seems she needed a teensy bit of help.” Rarity said. “But with Discord being brainwashed and scared of using magic, we decided to try something else.”

“When did this happen?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The last thing I remember is tackling one amazing obstacle course. You should have seen what Discord did. It was fastest I have ever gone—or close to it.” The blue pegasus added the last part as if it were an afterthought.

“Then I woke up here, and Discord and I talked about apples.” Applejack stated. “You’d never believe the secret history of Zap Apples.”

“Don’t forget the fun, ‘Secret party in Discord’s forest’ party.” Pinkie Pie laughed.

The ponies were pressing in closer now. They appeared happy, though Discord could sense more troubling questions preparing to reach the surface. Furthermore, they were digressing from the matter at hoof, and the draconequus still had not figured out precisely what to tell Twilight concerning how to counter his magic. The communication link through the card also would not hold steady forever. In fact, Discord could feel it deteriorating at a faster pace this time.  

If that happened, it might give Tirek enough of an opportunity to win. The centaur was picking off his friends one by one, with his magic.

He was sweating. Buckets materialized to catch the leakage. 

“Discord.” Twilight said then. “Is that still you? It almost sounds like our friends are there.”

“Yes, Twilight.” Discord answered, feeling a nervous twitch overtake him. He was losing control again. “Our friends are here with me, in my forest—I mean my dreamscape.” Twilight wouldn’t understand what Discord meant by “forest.” She might confuse the woods in his mind with the Everfree Forest. “Listen. There is no easy spell I can give you to dispel chaos magic, which itself is quite random, peculiar, and free-flowing. So my best advice is to shape it, somehow.”

“Shape it?” Twilight asked. “What do you mean?” 

Honestly, Discord was not quite sure what he had meant either. And he was getting very confused himself. His head was pounding. It was harder to think than ever.

Stuck again.

“Twi.” This was Applejack. “Is this anything like what we encountered when facing Sombra? It feels a bit like it, with fears and such.”

“Fears.” Twilight said, musingly. “But Tirek isn’t making most of us frightened, or using our fears against us. If he wanted to take his revenge on us like that, he would have done it. The only exception is Discord.” Another breath catch, even sharper this time. Then she pressed on, in a quieter tone. “Which means what we’ve seen relates to those fears.”

“Like his worries about his magic.” Applejack said. “Discord here thinks it’s terrible or evil, especially since everything that happened with Tirek last time.”

“I never said that.” Discord protested, and his statement was true. He had never technically said it was evil, though Applejack’s glance made him tack on, “exactly.”

***

“It’s too dangerous.” The Discord inside the guestroom cried out, surprising Twilight and Fluttershy. He seemed to at least have some awareness of the events taking place within the card, unless he had simply chosen to speak out like that.
But Twilight doubted it.

***

“That makes sense.” Rainbow Dash said, back in the glade. “Given how Discord tried to dissuade me from going into the ultimate tornado ride, and the way Tirek tried to make me give him up for a prize—like he was worth less than some trophy. He also doesn’t give himself much credit, amazingly.”

“Because it was a trap from the past.” Discord explained. “And all I did back then was mess with ponies for my own amusement.”  

***

“I only cause trouble for every pony, even now.” The gray Discord shouted. “Because of what I am.”


Amid these exchanges, Twilight noticed a certain magical tension beginning to fill the atmosphere. It was like an invisible looming presence that, all the same, made her horn tingle and the hair along the back of her neck stand up—even as each harsh exchange began piecing together a puzzle the princess had pondered ever since reading the journal entry, and in fact, since Tirek had appeared again.

Yet whatever happiness she might have felt at this dampened when Twilight noticed the shadowy substance around the lock bubble and start to grow, while the discussion of Discord by her friends continued to escalate.

Twilight now tried to encircle the sprouting tendrils with her magic, and to force them to retreat back closer to the knob. And she could tell now that the two were definitely related. The more frightened and wound up Discord became, it seemed, the more powerful the shadow grew. 

“Discord.” Twilight called through gritted teeth. “Calm down!”

But neither Discord nor her other ponies friends in the card seemed to hear her, based on the way the card kept filling up with interrogative dialogue. 

***

“And you should see this cloud.” Pinkie Pie piped up. “It’s like he thinks we would be happier hanging around with a boring gray Discord who doesn’t like parties, while he stays here alone and has fun making all this incredible stuff. You should see what he did at the party here. He’s super creative.”

“I never said I wasn’t creative, and it was an absent-minded observation that just happened to slip out.” Even as Discord said this, he knew it was far from convincing.

***

“Keep me this way.” The reversed draconequus begged. “Think of our friends and Equestria, Princess Twilight. We will be far better off this way, and my other half can be his vile self where no pony will get hurt.”


The pressure from the shadow-imbued lock was becoming too intense, and one of the tendril tips reached out and actually wrapped about Twilight’s horn. 

In that moment, it felt as if Twilight had lost all sense of direction and space. She even briefly forgot her name—the touch was so biting and struck such fear into her heart. And over and over, a single question echoed in her mind:

“Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?”

She heard Discord screaming, and thought, for one fleeting second, that she was Discord, lost and alone. And Tirek was laughing somewhere in the back of her mind, reaching for her with one huge clawed hand. Meanwhile, Starswirl the Bearded was staring at her in sadness and saying: “Someday things will be different, and you will find true happiness at last, renewed purpose, and lifelong bonds.”

***

“Discord, poor darling. You’re unwell!” Rarity said while patting the draconequus’ back. Or, at least, she might have said this—although Discord scarcely heard it. “Every pony, give him a little room.”

For by the time Pinkie Pie had made her point about parties, Discord had doubled-over, clutching his head. It was the worst splitting headache he had ever experienced, and he was ready to yank apart his cranium between antler and horn to relieve the pressure. 

Then a soothing melody suddenly began to play, easing the pain and starting to bring things back into focus.

At first, Discord thought TOH had somehow, inexplicably, came through again and filled his mind with calming light.

But a few seconds later, it occurred to the chaos spirit this could not have been TOH. The inflection and sensation—and other indescribable things—were familiar yet failed to come from the Tree of Harmony. They were like a lullaby.

Wait a minute…

***

“Hush now, quiet now,
It’s time to rest your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now,
It’s time to go to bed.”

This song brought Twilight back to herself, and she pulled free from the dark tendrils, which were calming down now. They had gone from almost engulfing the princess to ebbing downwards. And the pony to thank for that fluttered at the door, leaning against its smooth surface and singing the refrain with slightly different variations. Of all her friends, Fluttershy probably would have had the most to say concerning what was happening to Discord. Instead, she had decided to sing.

And that was the best thing Fluttershy could possibly have done.

The “Hush now, quiet now” lullaby was a common one to soothe young fillies at night. Twilight had memories of her own mother singing it, whenever she had trouble getting her mind to stop racing or calm down. However, the effect here was astonishing. The tendrils not only continued to ebb, but some of them changed in color.

Twilight watched these parts lighten to a dark purplish hue, with orange lines crisscrossing past light lavender bubbles (almost like a lava lamp). A whitish film about the edges caused it to gleam, with greenish flickers coursing throughout.

It was so strange yet fascinating to glimpse that Twilight had no doubts this was how Discord’s magic truly looked. She was also aware that the tension seemed to have drained from the air, and it was possible to breathe a little easier. 

Reaching out with her magic again, Twilight testing the bits of healthier chaos magic poking out from the shadowy substance, and how it moved gave her the impression of shifting sand, or perhaps a mold of some kind. It lifted apart when beckoned gently in this state, and moved about her magical grip.

Discord had told Twilight to shape his chaos magic.

Meanwhile, the card was mostly blank, so perhaps Discord had lost the connection again. All that was left on it was the riddle:

“How do you solve Discord in discord?” 

But what had happened, combined with the exchange between her friends and her own suspicions had confirmed something in her mind. 

And Twilight thought she might have the answer at last.

There was just one last thing Twilight needed to do to prove it, and she would start by unlocking this door. 

“Fluttershy, can you continue to sing your lullaby?” Twilight asked.

“Of course, Twilight.” Fluttershy said, beginning the gentle tune all over again.


Closing her eyes, Twilight concentrated her magic on the dark substance that still remained on the lock, praying she had the solution at long last—

Not only to unlocking this door, but to many other things as well.

> Chapter Seventeen—Opens Locks and Solves a Riddle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy.

Discord could still hear her lovely voice, filling him with a peace and wistfulness the draconequus had missed. Foolish ponies might have remarked there was nothing extraordinary about the melody or language, so soft and simple many took for granted its compassion wrapped in ordinary garb—but this made both singer and song all the more precious. It touched him deep inside, and he yearned to curl in a tree once more near Fluttershy’s home in the evening to watch over the pony while she rocked the animals to sleep.

Suddenly, his dream forest seemed empty and dull in comparison to the Everfree Forest during those moments when the yellow pegasus had inadvertently serenaded more than a few woodland creatures. If Discord stayed here, it would not be the same, and he might never see Fluttershy again—unless Tirek had his way and she got trapped here as well.

She was in danger. As was Twilight, of course. Without the Tree of Harmony, or the other ponies to activate the Elements, they could not access the Rainbow Power that had vanquished Tirek before. Twilight also had had only fleeting experience with chaos magic, which caused Discord a twinge of guilt and caused him to wish he had somehow had the foresight to try and teach her more about it. The princess had looked so pleased the other evening, at the prospect of learning from him.

What had Discord been thinking, hiding in here?

And then there was still the matter of their friends already imprisoned in the dreamscape, whose questions the chaos spirit had tried to avoid—which had only led to a headache and apparently ended the communication link between Twilight and him through the card, where only the riddle Tirek had posed to him remained in thick ink.

Very well.

Discord would not hide anymore, especially when these ponies kept chasing him down. There was nothing left to him except the truth and self-reflection, although the last was an intimidating prospect. So before his assembled friends could speak, the draconequus broke the silence hanging thick in the glade, although he did avoid looking at them directly—choosing instead to focus on the forest trees and the refrains from faraway Fluttershy.


“You are right, about everything.” Discord began, working to keep his tone steady. Despite these efforts, a quiver threatened to disrupt it. “I suppose I have trouble admitting these types of things to any pony, and especially to myself. But since the incident occurred with Tirek, and perhaps a long while before then, I have been restless and aimless.” He shuddered, and glanced at his eagle claw—flexing the talons. “For centuries, I wandered the land wreaking havoc where there was too much order and thinking of no pony’s pleasure but my own. Going around and spreading chaos came naturally, even if—in hindsight—something always seemed to be missing.”

The silence was so thick. No pony said anything, and the chaos spirit took a moment to compose himself enough to keep going:

“Then you ponies came along with the Elements, and Fluttershy introduced me to how good friendship felt. And I realized how lonely the centuries until that point had been, regardless of the power I wielded or things I could create. But even then it was more like a curiosity, and a new way to play around with ponies. My urge and tendency was to use my magic to make things just a little harder for every pony, with an exception or two.” Discord heaved a sigh that shattered flocks of birds throughout the forest. “Until Tirek offered me friendship and the ability to cause unlimited chaos, and I betrayed all of Equestria thinking it was possible to have both without consequences. He used me as a tool and played with my mind—giving me a taste of my own foul-tasting medicine.” 

The draconequus smacked his lips slightly, for he had an awful taste in his mouth now at the very thought of the incident. “Finally, I learned the true importance of friendship. Still, that does not change what I am as a Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. No matter what form I took, my real identity and true nature would eventually come to light and cause agony for those I am around. I cannot keep from being chaotic.” He bowed his tired head. “And I keep making mistakes that cost my friends dearly. So I fear I am diabolical as Tirek accused me of being, and my magic is just as bad. This is the truth of it.”

Now all Discord could do was await judgment, half-expecting (in spite of it all) to hear more chastisements or the hoof falls of his friends walking away. Yet nothing of the kind happened.


Instead, he got a consoling hoof on the back.

“Oh, Discord.” Rarity said, taking his confession surprisingly well. “We had no idea you were feeling that way.”

“I got hints of it a bit earlier when we talked in the Zap Apple orchard.” Applejack interjected. 

“It’d been too long since you smiled, like over five minutes!” Pinkie Pie volunteered. “It was terrible. I knew something was wrong then.”

Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to put in something, but a curt clearing of the throat from Rarity was enough to stop her. The results reminded Discord of one of Fluttershy’s “stares.” Then the well-quaffed unicorn went so far as to make the other ponies take two steps back at a mere gesture of the hoof.


“What I meant to say, Discord, is you shouldn’t feel bad about your special talent.” Rarity comforted, while their friends looked on.

“My talent?” Discord scoffed. “Somehow, I would not expect you to praise wreaking misery wherever I go.”

“Oh, darling. Your special talent isn’t causing misery.” Rarity said, then she gave a bit of a reflective pause. “Perhaps you haven’t realized it yourself, but I do—and I can understand where you’re coming from.”

“How could you? You’re the Element of Generosity. You give things to ponies all the time, whereas I’ve only taken or changed things to cause trouble.” Something in Rarity’s manner stopped Discord then. He could not have said whether it was the seriousness that darkened her mascaraed features or simply her rigid body language that brooked no further argument.

“Not too long ago, I agreed to use a spell that gave me the power to make whatever I wanted a reality. Poor Spikey-Wikey found it for me because of some inspiration troubles for a festival. But matters quickly got out of hoof.” Now Rarity looked embarrassed, and somewhat guilty. “I commanded such great powers, and it terrified yet excited me. But I didn’t have any control or idea of the consequences of my actions. I thought I knew what was best for every pony and turned Ponyville into something it was not. Only when Spike told me the truth, of how I was making things different but no better, did I get freed from the magic.”

Well, that was a shock. Discord must have been elsewhere, touring the lands beyond Equestria or another land during these events. This was the kind of thing he would definitely have remembered. 

“So I can see how easy it is to lose control or become fearful of having reality-altering magic like you do.” Rarity said.

Did Rarity sympathize with or pity him? Discord had trouble telling.

“But, the circumstances are also different.” Rarity persisted. “You have a better grasp of how to control powerful magic that can change things on that level, and more experience with the consequences caused by your actions.”

“Yes. By making one mistake after another.”

“Every pony makes mistakes, darling. My special talent is dress-making, but I still make errors in judgment and other such things. You just have to learn from them and move on.” Rarity said, striking a resolute pose—chest thrown up and head held up high. Discord almost felt inspired himself.


“Mistakes help you to grow into a better pony.” Applejack said, easing into the conversation. “I can’t count just how many things I’ve done that I’m not proud of, or wanted to do differently. But you shouldn’t let that cause you to stop from being you. You just have to make the decision of how to use what gifts you have in the right way.”

“Yeah.” Pinkie Pie grinned. “And like Granny Pie once said, ‘doing what you love is the key to happiness’. I laugh over it every day.”

“Besides, if you ever mess up again, we’ve got your back.” Rainbow Dash vowed. “We’ll also knock some sense back into you when necessary.” She smirked. “You just have to strive to be awesome, like creating incredible thrill rides.”

“Or putting together amazing parties and fun jokes.” Pinkie Pie said.

“Or making delicious Zap Apples.” Applejack winked at him.

“Creating things.” Discord said, gazing from his friends to the forest once more, with all its splendors and wonders. “Creativity.” He felt a slight spark from inside again, or perhaps just a crackle of magic from somewhere. But the draconequus liked the thought of it. 

Then he paused.
“Why?”

“Why what, Discord?” Rarity asked.

“Why would you do this for me? How can you be so kind and understanding after all the stunts I’ve pulled and things I’ve done?” Discord hadn’t realized how much these questions had bothered him until then, but this seemed like the time to get it off his chest while he was bearing his soul to the ponies.

“You’re supposed to help your friends.” Pinkie Pie said. “Especially your best friends.”

“Besides, friends are family.” Applejack offered, at which the other ponies nodded their heads in full agreement. “And you’re part of that now, Discord.”

***

Twilight had thought the connection through the card had been severed. However, a strange thing had happened as she began to work upon the shadowed chaos around the lock. While her magic flowed, the princess had started to hear Discord and her friends again—which perhaps had something to do with the contact the dark tendril had had with her horn. It was almost like she was there, listening to the chaos spirit confess his deepest worries, or to her friends when they consoled him.

This story played through her mind, vivid as the tale the draconequus had shared the other day. So powerful and thoughtful.

Twilight smiled, because everything was so clear and her theories had been correct. And she thought about her friends, and the experiences they had been through together. The princess could feel a certain energy welling up and flowing free. It was a warmth similar to Rainbow Power, brought on by thoughts of her friendship bonds.

Whatever magic this was came from deep inside Twilight, and she had the impression of feeling it before a few times in the past during moments when the princess had made important realizations about her friends. In some ways, she knew it to be the energy that flowed through the Elements, although this existed inside her rather than the gems themselves. Even now, it was a wondrous yet mysterious power. This was something she did not fully understand, but that was all right. For Twilight knew how she must use it at the moment.

Discord had worried his magic was something terrible, or evil. But this was not so. In fact, hearing the discussion between the chaos spirit and her other friends had made it clear his was not the type of magic Twilight needed to repel. She just had to shape it, like a mold—even if it was slippery and responded in bizarre ways at first.

Then when the rainbow-like energy came through, and Twilight heard Applejack tell Discord they were family, it radiated through her horn and mixed with the chaos magic around the lock. The dark tendrils lightened, and rather than dispel Discord’s energy, the two powers joined and took the shape of a lockless door handle.

Ah.

“How do you solve Discord in discord?” Twilight said, turning the handle. 

It clicked open.

“You bring him into Harmony, of course.”

Twilight and Fluttershy entered the guestroom. 

> Chapter Eighteen—Reverses Chaos and Begins a Race
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You bring him into Harmony, of course.” 

Discord heard Twilight speak these words, which jingled through his head and accompanied the fading strains of the lullaby Fluttershy sang. The chaos spirit recognized the answer for what it was, in response to the riddle Tirek had posed to them earlier. It sounded too simple, echoing out in the open, but something deep inside told Discord this was the right answer—and the implications of that resounded just as Applejack’s comment had only moments before.

These ponies.

Then there was the click of a door opening.

“Aw.” Pinkie Pie said at that point, apparently not having heard the solution or being aware of the events beyond the dreamscape. “He’s so happy, he’s speechless!” 

“Twilight unlocked the door.” Discord said, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate on what was happening with his other self. This he had largely avoided doing due to the lack of control, and the intimidation of what he might see or find.

Indeed, even now it was like becoming an observer in some odd story featuring himself. Meanwhile, his other friends chose to remain quiet and allow the draconequus ample opportunity to listen without interruption. Yet he could sense them close by, and that proximity helped a great deal.

The guestroom Twilight had given to Discord was spacy yet empty, without any color except for a smooth white uniformity. There were no chairs or furniture of any kind, pictures hanging on the wall, carpets, or anything else besides the single occupant who sat hunched in depression in the far corner. But the moment the door opened, this husk of a chaos spirit ventured a peek over his shoulder, though it was from the corner of one eye.
Discord could hear a slow, gentle melody playing when Twilight took her first steps into the room. Although, all that the gray version of himself noticed was the rainbow-hued aura encircling her form. The princess wore a calm smile, and stars sparkled in her gaze. The draconequus—from both sides—wondered if Twilight was aware of these occurrences. Her attention seemed more focused on him, though.

“Discord, I solved the riddle.” Twilight said, coming slowly closer. “And we’ve come to set you free.”

“No matter what I do, it does not change what I am.” The gray Discord murmured. “No matter how you treat me, I will remain a spirit of chaos and disharmony. Are you truly fine with having a creature who represents the opposite of peace and cooperation around to ruin things time and again?”

“Who you are is different from what you are, Discord.” Fluttershy glided to the floor. “I’m a pegasus, but that isn’t who I am.” 

“Of course not.” The gray Discord returned. “You are a compassionate pony who has a knack for communicating with animals and caring for their needs.”

“You’re kind, too.” Fluttershy said.

“That isn’t true.”

“Yes, it is. You’ve taken so much on yourself, especially over the past week, so as not to cause trouble for our friends. You fought Tirek to protect us.” The pegasus looked so happy then, the gray Discord turned his whole head to face her in outright awe. “That takes a lot of compassion.”

“But I keep hurting every pony, especially you.” The gray Discord protested. “I could never promise to not do it again.”

“You couldn’t.” 

The abrupt answer surprised both Discords, and Fluttershy pressed on:

“No pony could promise to be perfect, even to her friends.” Fluttershy said, gaining a certain wistfulness. “A while back, I went to a seminar to learn how to become more assertive. But the techniques learned from there turned me into some pony I didn’t care for at all. I even hurt my friend’s feelings, badly, and shut myself up to keep every pony safe.” She sighed a little sadly, recalling the event. Then she met Discord’s gaze and held it. “But my friends came and made me realize I couldn’t live like that. I just had to be myself, admit when I was wrong, and try to be the best pony I could be—because a true friend will always forgive you for mistakes like that.”
Discord found it hard to imagine Fluttershy hurting any pony, yet she had explained the situation with such emotion he knew her tale must be true.

“I’ve also struggled a lot with who I am, and my role in Equestria.” Twilight said. “Thanks to all my friends, I became the Princess of Friendship, but there is always more to learn. Come with us to the Tree of Harmony.” She extended a hoof. “We’ll find out who are you are together.”

For a long time, Discord wondered if his other self would refuse. There was still some doubt and fear (on both sides), even then. But perhaps this was normal. It just depended on what the draconequus chose to do with that knowledge.

Then, thankfully, the reversed Discord carefully turned around and reached out for Twilight’s proffered hoof with Fluttershy watching—hope was swelling within him.

But that was when the shadow appeared, spiraling through the open doorway in a fog, passing through Fluttershy in half a second.

Twilight started aback, and time slowed down as the glow faded from Flutterhy’s eyes, her smile fell, and she fainted. 

Discord and his other half cried out in alarm.

The gray Discord rushed forward.

Discord reached out for Fluttershy—


And Discord caught his friend in that guestroom, cradling her small warm body in his arms.

He dropped to his knees, with head bowed over the kind pegasus.  

***

Tirek’s laughter echoed through the room, and the centaur took form on the blank wall. Twilight stood in front of Discord, who was hugging Fluttershy and had his face pressed against her pink mane. He had fallen like a puppet whose strings have been cut, and the princess could only begin to wonder the draconequus was thinking now, if anything.

“At last, I’ve claimed the Element of Kindness. There is only the Element of Magic left now.” Tirek was triumphant. “How does it feel, Discord? To have your friends taken away one-by-one, while being reduced to nothing in the meantime thanks to your magic?”

“You have some nerve.” 

A cacophony of bizarre noises drew Twilight’s attention back to her friends, in part because she recognized them as the same sounds she had heard while at the Tree of Harmony yesterday. 

Discord had lifted his head, and Twilight couldn’t help gasping in amazement.

For Discord’s eyes were their usual bright yellow, with red irises—though now narrowed at Tirek. And Twilight knew, instinctively, that a portion of the chaos spirit she knew had returned.


“You dare to toy around with my friends for your own amusement.” Discord said, reaching his feet. He did this quietly, yet Twilight could sense anger pulsing behind every word. “Nothing gives you more pleasure than messing with their minds and hearts, out of a petty need for vengeance or self-satisfaction. You use chaos to cause mayhem and tear ponies apart. Just who do you think you are?”

“I am no better than you.” Tirek sneered.

Realization dawned on the draconequus then. Twilight could tell by the way his eyes suddenly widened, and his brows shot up.

“You’re right.” Discord said, and Twilight followed his glance to the floor—which lacked something the pony realized at once held the key to this mystery. “You are no better than me.”

Tirek paused in his mirth.

“Because you are me.” The chaos spirit declared. “At least, you are my shadow and no pony else’s.”


The shadow quivered, and the centaur’s shape grew distorted. It stretched out like a rubber band. The horns went from curved and symmetrical to straight and mismatched. In the end, a serpentine shadow with glowing yellow eyes glared at them.

“You figured it out at last, Discord.” The shadow creature hissed. “It took you long enough.”

“Well, when you spend over a week getting plagued each night by insulting shadows while suffering from an existential crisis, it becomes a bit harder to get your mind in order. Wouldn’t you say so, Twilight?” His smirk was so characteristic to how the draconequus usually acted, Twilight could only return it with a grateful head nod. She truly had missed it, despite everything. “At least I have some ponies to reassert that order when I become my own worst enemy, and they are always quite close.” He tapped the side of his forehead with one talon, which the princess took to mean their friends still locked in the dreamscape.

“We’ve revealed your identity, and Discord is back.” Twilight stated. “So give up now.”

“Oh, really, Princess Twilight!” The shadow said. “You forget that even if his consciousness has returned, the other elements are still gone and the balance of power is in my favor.” He whisked about the room, leaving a smoky trail in his wake. “I may have begun as a manifestation of your weak friend’s deepest fears, yet now I am quite above all that. Discord has little magic remaining, and you, my dear, are still too inexperienced in chaos to be much of a match for me. It took you several minutes just to unlock a door. I could annihilate both of you right now.”

“But you won’t.” Twilight shot back. 

“And why not, my little pony?” The shadow draconequus drifted down until he was face-to-face with the princess. However, Twilight refused to flinch.

“Because it would be no fun just to get rid of us.” Twilight responded. “Your game would end too easily.”

“Very good.” The shadow said. “It seems you’ve learned something after all. Well then, how about we enter the final round of our little game? Your goal is to find your way out of the castle to your precious Tree of Harmony before my magic imprisons the two of you forever, when I can then continue to drain the magic from this land until Ponyville and all of Equestria suffers.” He motioned to a dark speck on the wall of the guestroom, from the corner where they had found the gray Discord. This was starting to bubble and spread, at a much faster rate than the dark tendrils around the locked door had. 

That might not be too bad. Twilight was still relatively new to her palace, but she knew a few ways to get out without a problem.

“Oh, yes. One more thing.” This villain said, as if it were an afterthought. He snapped his fingers and everything shook. It sounded like some great stone monolith was shifting, while Twilight and Discord huddled together for support until they stopped jerking around so much. An odd musty smell pervaded the room, and Twilight could see corroded and moss-covered stone walls outside the door. 

She had only seen these types of settings, and taken in this fragrance of decay in one place.

“Welcome to the castle ruins, with a few modifications for my enjoyment.” The shadow disappeared, beginning from the tail up to his razor-sharp white teeth. “Have a good time.” 

> Chapter Nineteen—Delights in Twists and Turns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the shadowy draconequus left, the darkness began to seep across the guestroom walls, and its tendrils branched toward the ceiling and floor. In this way, Twilight and Discord faced a writhing mass of corrupted chaos while a stone labyrinth filled with unknown perils stretched behind them. They had been thrown into a puzzle game of a more serious nature than Twilight could ever have imagined, especially when she had first made the decision to spend quality time with the chaos spirit.

“I could try using my magic to alter the chaos, like before.” The princess suggested.

“No good.” Discord remarked, cradling Fluttershy’s sleeping form. “It would take too long, and you might only manage to change a comparatively tiny portion before the shadows became overwhelming or cut off our means of exit.” 

“So we’ll have to go through the labyrinth after all.” 

“Yes. Looks like there is no getting around that journey, although I do so wish my shadow had chosen a better location.”

“What’s wrong with the castle ruins?” Twilight asked, carefully proceeding across the threshold into the hallway beyond while scanning the area. But the corridor itself appeared the same as ever, and she closed the door after them—in the hopes this might delay the progression of the magic in even the smallest way. 

“Because, my dear Twilight, I feel uncomfortable here to say the least.” Discord explained, walking alongside and examining the ancient architecture as if they might trigger a trap at any moment (which was a real possibility). “Stonework doesn’t suit me, particularly given my past experiences. It is like one massive prison, which might be one reason for its selection. That is why I have always given the place a wide berth. However, the shadow would apparently seek out any opportunity to torment its creator.”

“It’s weird, actually.” Twilight threw a glance over her shoulder. The darkness was creeping through the cracks in the doorframe and sweeping outwards. At a walking pace, they could keep ahead of it by many hoof lengths. “I know we need to stay vigilant, and that your shadow probably has some malicious trick planned just ahead, but right now everything is so calm.”

“My shadow wants to put us at ease.” Discord stated. “It would be just like me, or him, to catch us off-guard.”

“Well, at least these castle ruins are not unfamiliar to me.” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia asked me and our friends to start renovations here a while after the Tree of Harmony produced the chest.”

“Oh?” This sounded like news to Discord. “I suppose Celestia assigned the task to you while I was away, as well. In fact, I seemed to have missed a number of surprising events, from what the other ponies have mentioned.”

“So, where are they, exactly? You said a dreamscape, but is that—?”

In answer, Discord tapped his brow again.

“Can you speak to them?” Twilight yearned to know, despite the encroaching danger.

“I could interact with them while I was, well, divided.” Discord explained. “Ever since what occurred in the guestroom, however, my consciousness is mostly here—although I can still feel our friends’ presences. They might even understand what is happening right now.” He paused, and mused aloud to no pony in particular. “I wonder what Fluttershy thinks of my dream forest?”


Then is when the shadows began to progress faster. Twilight heard them rushing forward like a hissing ocean wave before the pair had reached the end of the corridor. Both Twilight and Discord turned and fled at the same time, although the princess noticed the draconequus ran a bit slower than she could gallop.

Twilight recognized the collection of portraits on the wall of the hallway they were about to reach, and she strove to remember where the main hall was from this point. She was sure if they turned left here and went straight, they would reach the chamber where—once upon a time—Twilight and her then newfound friends had transformed Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna.

Twilight’s hooves hit the carpet of the adjoining corridor—

And the princess sprang upwards with a noticeable twanging sound. Twilight’s wings went out, but she flailed awkwardly for a moment before Discord used his tail to right her.

“Hmm. Rubber.” Discord noted, easing onto the rubber. Even then, he bounced a little. “With pink polka dots along the way.”

The corridor had seemed normal while they approached it, yet now that Twilight could see the way had many new and chaotic details. The rubber floor was one. However, there were also polka dots everywhere, bits of what looked like flying candy, and—it hurt her eyes a bit—the walls appeared to bend in on themselves. Although, this could have been an optical illusion. 

Despite this, the shadows behind were speeding up as in reaction to their hesitation, and from Twilight could tell Discord still couldn’t fly. 

“Grab ahold.” Twilight said. Discord wrapped his tail about her neck, and they were off. Thankfully, as the princess had discovered once when the draconequus had leapt upon her to escape a giant Tatzlwurm, he was pretty light despite his size—and this fact had failed to change even when drained of most of his magic. The heaviest pony she carried was actually Fluttershy, but a small margin. Yet together, they weighed somewhat more than Spike, even when he stuffed himself with ice cream.

Racing through the air, Twilight tried to keep her goal clear. If they could just make it all the way down this hallway and into the main room, the entrance (or exit for them) should be in sight. They just had to get pass the candy, which Twilight could do easily enough, and thanks to her wings they were able to avoid the bouncy floors. 

It seemed so easy.

Too easy.

Something about that fact unnerved her.

“Remember, Twilight.” Discord said, as if he had guessed her thoughts. “This shadow likes to cheat, and he may have distorted or changed around the usual way out.”

“Right. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised your shadow didn’t lose all of his power or disappear once you unveiled him. Ah—!?”

“Dodge right.” Discord interrupted, turning Twilight’s wings so she avoided colliding with a section of the rubber floor that suddenly shot up as if to slam the pair against the ceiling. “My shadow is a great imbalance.” The chaos spirit replied, in-between instructions to move left, right, up, and down to avoid additional projecting stones. “He is too powerful to get disempowered in such a way. Our best bet is probably to free TOH somehow, although even then we would need the ladies to activate the Elements.”

“I do have a plan involving a part of the Tree of Harmony the shadow didn’t think of touching.” Because, Twilight considered, neither Discord nor herself had taken note of it throughout their investigation of the Tree of Harmony. “There was a second star to the right of the main tree, which Starswirl the Bearded noted in the vision. He told Clover the Clever it was part of the tree, but the magic had left there a long time ago.”

“So your plan is to pin all our hopes for survival on imbuing magic into a part so detached from TOH even most ponies who know about the tree have forgotten it?”

“Yes.”

“How chaotic, my dear Twilight.” Discord sounded impressed, and incredulous. “I didn’t think you would try something that reckless without a backup plan or two.”

Twilight was going to shoot back a comment about Discord and recklessness when the hissing noises from the shadows shifted into a peculiar whip-like whooshing—almost like many lassos getting thrown hard through the air at once. She ventured a glance over the shoulder and saw the darkness beginning to spiral around like a vortex, with the tendrils stretching out and growing sharp and thorny as the vines the draconequus had once caused to overrun Ponyville. And deeper in that vortex, flying toward them, Twilight could see the shadow with his glowing yellow eyes. 

“Focus on the path ahead, Twilight!” Discord shouted, and the princess twisted her head around just in time to narrowly escape from an avalanche of hard candy off to their left. How close they had come to getting buried underneath rattled the princess, admittedly. “If something comes up from behind we need to worry about, I will let you know. Okay? So concentrate on getting us out of here.”

“Okay.” Twilight said, allowing Discord to concentrate on the corridor behind them, and instead restricting her attention to all the little distractions and obstacles up ahead. It was easier to go forward in this way, trusting the chaos spirit to keep an eye on matters in the opposite direction, including the shadow still in pursuit. 

The pair could hear him laughing all the while.


At last, they had almost reach the end of the hallway. And just beyond it should be the opening to chamber where the ponies had confronted Nightmare Moon. 

Then the unexpected happened. 

The hallway began to bend upwards, forcing Twilight to make a sudden vertical turn, still aiming for the door way. This happened a few times, with the princess having to make sharp turns. The opening even began to close up, yet the princess struggled to put on more speed and sail through at the last minute.

Now they should be—

In another hallway.


“Argh!” Twilight continued along, sweat pouring from her brow. She did recognize this hallway as well. In fact, she had once read about this particular corridor in the journal kept by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when while growing up in the castle more than a thousand years ago. Disembodied stone pony hooves held burnt out torches along its length. There was also something about the mechanics here, or the secret passages.

Secret passages.

That was it! 

“Discord? Do you know anything about secret passages in these ruins?” Twilight asked.

“I must confess I don’t, Twilight.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” There was one passage here in particular that, if intact or overlooked by the shadow, might save them. The shadow should only know what Discord did regarding the castle, and one of the main reasons he seemed to have chosen the ruins had been to torture Twilight’s friend just a little more before trying to get rid of them both. 

But the shadow might not know about one small loophole in his labyrinth game.

The stone hoof they needed was around the middle of the hallway. 

“All right, Twilight. Don’t let this alarm you, but the shadows are closing in behind us.” Discord warned. Twilight could see them beginning to tower over them in a wave out of the corner of her eyes. Furthermore, at the other end of the corridor, she could see shadows sweeping towards them. It seemed the shadow was attempting to catch them between two crushing waves of darkness. 

The shadow’s laughter grew shriller and louder.


It was now or never.

Twilight shot ahead, straining to go faster than she ever had before. 

“Discord.” She gasped out. “Yank down the hoof just ahead of us.”

Discord didn’t ask questions. He stretched out, grabbed the hoof, and yanked downwards just as the shadows came crashing in from both directions.

The wall Twilight and Discord were against flipped, pushing the pair down a stone slide.

In the next, another wall opened in this—much more natural—darkness and sent them spinning onto the stone courtyard outside.


For a second, both of them sat there, dirty and disheveled from the drop down, and facing each other in awe. Amazement yet gratefulness filled Twilight since they had actually escaped from the palace. But more incredible still was the expression the princess saw on Discord’s face. He was watching her as Princess Celestia sometimes did whenever Twilight had mastered a difficult spell, and more recently each time Twilight and her friends had taken down a great threat to Equestria.

Pride.

Then a fresh commotion erupted from within the castle ruins, and a very deep, snarling version of the shadow’s voice echoed throughout the area:

“YOU CHEATED!” 

The top of the castle ruins burst apart in a hailstorm of debris, and a tall dark form snaked out from the top, spreading its great claws and wings. Then the shadow roared, spewing a great burst of green flame into the skies. Against the white and grayish surroundings, he stood out, and now the shadow was scanning the area for them.

Twilight and Discord made a dash for the ravine. They were so close. If she could glide down with Discord on her back, they would have a straight shot to the cavern where the Tree of Harmony stood.

“I SEE YOU!” The giant shadow raged. Gray and distorted vines sailed up from the otherwise petrified Everfree Forest and started toward them in a tangle.

Twilight managed to teleport out of their hold, but she couldn’t go too far. She had strained her magic and herself so hard over this day, and everything was crying out in agony. 

More vines came shooting to her right.

Then claws slashed them to pieces. 

The shadow cried out in agitation.


“What?” Discord asked, looking at Twilight with his lion paw upheld. His claws were large, sharp, and extended. “You didn’t think these were just for show, did you?” 

If Twilight wasn’t so exhausted, she might have managed a chuckle at this off-beat observation amid the chaos surrounding them.

Even so, the cavern lay right ahead. 

Twilight dived toward it.

But the shadows were already there, spreading out to engulf the pair.

Twilight should have known the shadow would have figured on trying to use the shadows about the Tree of Harmony to capture them.
And now they went shooting into the darkness.

***

Twilight awoke laying in the darkness, silent and unable to see any pony. She well-remembered the escape from the castle ruins, and her hopes of reaching the cavern where the Tree of Harmony stood—and also of activating the second star. These were things the alicorn had strove towards with the same faith and determination that had carried her friends and her so far in the past.

But this time Twilight had failed. The shadow had cheated using Discord’s reality-altering powers, and he had never planned on giving them the opportunity to win in the first place. He had allowed them to get as far as the cave before plunging them into this place where it was impossible to do anything else. 

She placed a hoof across her eyes, haunted by such thoughts.

There had to be something Twilight had forgotten or could still do.

But what?


A chime sounded, but Twilight didn’t care to look at that moment.

“What’s the matter?” Some pony asked, though since the tone was faint and echoing it might as well have been her own thoughts. In truth, Twilight had this impression. If this darkness was part of a dreamscape of sorts, perhaps she was hearing self-posed questions.

So Twilight explained, as best she could, what her day had been like, ending with:
“I thought if I could make it to the Tree of Harmony, and get the second star to start working, then perhaps that would help to fix the imbalance and save every pony. But, I failed.”

“Oh, my dear Twilight.” A slow, kind chuckle followed. “You have not failed, and you are close to your goal.”

“How can I be? The shadow won the game, and he must be stronger than ever now.”

“But don’t you remember? You have something the shadow cannot fathom, which is more valuable and powerful than any magic.”

This sounded so inspiring, prefixed by the sound of jingling, a thought occurred to Twilight. She dared to remove her hoof and raise her head—

To find Discord standing before her, holding a tiny, rounded bell.

Twilight saw him for a moment in astonishment, and then smiled.

“I found this on the ground.” Discord explained. “It looks sort of familiar, but that’s not important right now, is it?”

“No, I suppose not. But I know something that is.” For seeing Discord, and hearing his advice, had reminded Twilight of what was truly important. And in the heat of their struggle, the princess had momentarily forgotten it. 

But now Twilight did remember, and familiar voices echoed through the darkness:

“Don’t give up, Twi!” 

“Indeed, darling. We’re counting on you.”

“Smile, Twilight! Afterwards, I’ll throw the biggest bash ever.”

“You can’t let some dumb shadow take you down, Twilight. At least, not before I show you my latest daredevil techniques for the Wonderbolts Air Show.”

“Please do your best, Twilight. We believe in you, and Discord too. Stay safe.”



“Our friends.” Twilight could sense them close at hoof, even though she was not able to see them. They had been with her through the journey to the cavern, and no force in Equestria could tear them apart. This energy was filling and rejuvenating her.

A brightness appeared in the darkness then, in the form of the Tree of Harmony. Tendrils still hung about it, but the star at the center—representing her cutie mark—shone brightly. And further back, she caught sight of another star, laying on the ground.
Silently, Twilight and Discord ventured over to it.

“Well, here is the second star to the right.” The draconequus said. “Now what?””

“We have to activate it, somehow.” Twilight recalled how Princess Celestia had once opened the star on the Tree of Harmony and removed the Element of Magic from within. And this is what she did now.

But as suspected, there was nothing inside.

“No Element.” Discord murmured. “Perhaps it was an unwanted growth on TOH’s part after all. The Tree of Harmony does fine by itself.”

“That isn’t true, though.” Twilight said. “Starswirl said so in the vision, and it makes sense to me as well. The Tree of Harmony helps to maintain balance in Equestria. The Elements on the tree represent aspects of that order, centered on my Element of magic, which also symbolizes friendship. But there is more to magic than order. For it to work, there must be a balance between different forces.  Actually, like you said, it’s all about balance and flow. And we had to return to the original source to save the Everfree Forest, which possesses the opposite kind of magic that balances out Equestria. Yet it’s just as essential and belongs in Harmony just as much.” 

At this, Discord froze. 

Twilight could see the draconequus had caught onto the implications of her statement, and what she intended to do—although then he looked down at the star again.

“But that would take chaos magic, and as you can see, my shadow has drained that all away.” Discord said. “Unless—”

Twilight pulled out the card Discord had given to her, so they might communicate.

Wordlessly, the princess stuck the card into the empty space. She could sense that same energy from when she had attempted to open the locked door filling her now, and Twilight touched her horn to card and allowed that rainbow-hued power to radiate throughout the star. 

Then she thought of the solution to the riddle.

“Bring him into Harmony.”


The card began to transform, and Twilight caught sight of a strange swirling gemstone that kept shifting its shape before the star closed up and produced a bright purplish glow. There was such warmth coming from the stone, and behind her hooves, she noticed small flowers sprouting and blooming, catching the rays of light.

Prism flowers.

Twilight could see the dark tendrils on the Tree of Harmony beginning to get tugged into the second star, and she thought she could hear her friends crying out for joy. 

Then the star hung, as if awaiting for one last vital detail.

She turned to Discord, who had a wondrous look on his face.

“This is like a dream I had a long time ago.” Discord mused aloud. “It is so familiar.” He came forward and laid a paw on the very center of the star. “Though the memory is starting to come back to me.”

“Can you show me?” Twilight asked, drawing close.

At last:
“Yes. I will.”

And a story played in Twilight’s mind, filtered through Discord once more.

***

Everything began with the Tree of Harmony, of course, born from the magic in the land that would become Equestria—like the drop of ink splashed upon a blank page. The mystic entity grew from deep in the earth, thriving on the source of its creation until reaching the surface. 
What light the Tree of Harmony produced filled all who would draw near with great joy and peace, for therein resided the perfect balance between the forceful flow of magic and the guiding shaping of it to benefit the creatures found throughout this realm.

However, given shape in such a way, the Tree of Harmony was still quite young, and its influence was weak amid the harsh, dry landscape. For there was little actual magic except that found in the inhabitants’ hearts, but it was from this latter she grew the most. The Elements, like fruits, even appeared on it for the use of those with the appropriate traits to go out and spread its light through the world. 

Unfortunately, few knew of the tree’s existence. It was largely unknown and might have remained this way for ages. 

Until a portion of the Tree of Harmony broke off and ventured into the world, which was a flexible magic and the counterpoint to its order. It had to move, and as this magic journeyed forth, it imbued energy into the land, grew the vast tracks of wilderness, and spread powers about based in the Tree of Harmony that would become a valuable part of whoever resided there long enough. It kept the flow of magic moving along through these various actions, making sure it never became stagnant or too concentrated in the hooves of the few like tyrants, and slowly strengthened the Tree of Harmony as a result.

However, the farther the free-wheeling magic flew away from the Tree of Harmony, the less it remembered or kept to the task in Equestria. In truth, by the time this magic left Equestria, the land was as rich landscape as any pony could have desired. 

But the magic was lost, searching for home but continuing to change and develop all the while due to its nature.

Still, because it was the counterbalance to the Tree of Harmony, even if it failed to recall that connection, this magic started to assume a peculiar order of its own and identity. 


And a chaos lord was born.

> Chapter Twenty—Confronts a Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight listened until the story faded into silence, yet the content and final line remained vivid to her. It probably always would, during this moment and throughout her life. She had touched an essential memory from the Tree of Harmony and the history of Equestria as a whole. The message brought upon the princess’s soul a certain serenity, and she knew that everything would be fine now.

Rainbow Power had filled Twilight from the Tree of Harmony, and could feel their friends as though they were right there. And, in fact, they had somehow manifested in the cavern, from which the shadows had been driven—standing amid the Prism Flowers similarly imbued by the rainbow. Twilight could hardly contain her joy at seeing them, and she could tell the feeling was mutual.

The new activated star was orbiting the Tree of Harmony at an easy pace. Such color filled the cave now, which the Prism Flowers reflected in grand patterns across the walls, and the symphony of music Twilight heard was beautiful.

Then she at last ventured a gaze across to way, to where Discord floated. His expression of wide-eyed wonder had given way to a thoughtful pause, and Twilight noticed with relief that most of his color had returned, except for his lion’s paw and wings. But these things troubled him little, given how the draconequus caught her look and grinned. 


A rumble sounded overhead, and the circle of friends heard the shadow continuing to rampage and shout out for them like a filly throwing a tantrum. Rocks, stones, candy, and bits of forestland rained into the ravine.

Twilight turned to every pony and said:
“Let’s end this.”

A round of cheers followed, and Twilight headed for the skies with her pony friends encircling her and Discord encircling them. 


They must have made an impressive sight, raising up and over the colossal serpentine shadow. Twilight was struck by the similarities between these events, and when they had first assumed Rainbow Power to banish Tirek. This shadow had played on Discord’s fears, assuming the form of the centaur to intimidate and harm her friends. 

Now he would get defeated in the same way. 

Or, perhaps not exactly the same way.  

Their power arched upwards, crashing onto the shadow and holding him in place, despite his best attempts to struggle against these friendship bonds.

Then Discord came forward.


“You played a nasty trick on my friends and me.” Discord scolded the shadow draconequus. “Although, without this incident, I may never have confronted the question of who I am.”

“I suppose you want to thank me for that.” The shadow glared. “You are a fool.”

“No. I am the Lord of Chaos, with good friends, renewed purpose, and even a cozy guestroom of my own. Meanwhile, you are my shadow.” Discord said. “So I’ll just take back what you have taken from me.”

With a snap of the fingers, Twilight watched the shadow begin to shrink, with what she now recognized as chaos magic pulling free from his being and back into Discord—returning the color to his lion paw wings. 

“Then you can go back to being my shadow and ceasing to cause trouble.”

Another snap of the fingers—this time on both claws and his tail—and the Rainbow Power wrapped about the shadow tightly until a ball of energy shot free and exploded high in the sky like a grandiose firework. Magic came down across the Everfree Forest, and Twilight and the other ponies watched it return to life. Wild beasts returned to their homes, birds chirped in happiness, and they could see flowers blossoming.

Then, while still enveloped in Rainbow Power, Twilight and ponies fixed the damage caused by the shadow to the castle ruins and more, bringing together the roof until the outside of the building castle—at least—was whole. And that made for a wonderful change to witness. The whiteness surrounding Ponyville and the Everfree Forest dissipated, and Ponyville gained its usual vivacity. 
Ponies in town were coming out into the streets as Twilight and her friends landed on the front steps of the palace, gathering in a large crowd to cheer them as the Rainbow Power wore off. There were whoops and happy cries.


“Every pony in town is here!” Pinkie Pie leapt up. “You do know what this means, don’t you?” She danced across the steps. “We have to have a super special ‘Ponyville is saved again and we want to party’ party.”

This announcement received much acclaim from every pony, and the other Ponyville residents were now climbing the steps to swarm about their heroes. Twilight could see her friends enjoying themselves immensely—except for one. 

Discord.

Where was he?

For a moment, Twilight feared the chaos spirit might have disappeared again or tried to avoid this gathering altogether when Discord emerged from among the sea of ponies for a gasp of air. And the princess had to laugh.

Fillies and foals were clinging and climbing all over Discord, asking him odd questions about such things as his assortment of animal parts and the like. But Fluttershy saw his distress and flew to the rescue, where she seemed able to restore some normalcy to the situation.

Hah.

That is, if one could ever reach normalcy with Discord. 

Yet this was far from a bad thing, and Twilight could only think of how glad she was that everything had turned out all right.


The resulting festivities went on for the rest of the day. Pinkie Pie put together a town-wide celebration with the help of their draconequus’ friend, and the wide range of different games and rides—including Ferris Wheels and a miniature roller coaster—would become particularly memorable parts of the happenings for years to come. 

Rainbow Dash regaled all with her venture into the chaotic tornado, which in her version somehow sounded even larger and faster than in real life. 

Applejack sold Zap Apple cider (also with a little help) that turned out to have a little extra zing for their customers, and most agreed it was a taste they would not soon forget. 

Fluttershy gave several children a lesson on the wildlife in Everfree Forest, and how they needed to respect nature because it was important to maintaining balance in Equestria (and, of course, she had a lot of strong recent support for these statements).

Rarity helped with the decorations around the town, and enjoyed the festivities with Spike by her side—the dragon especially enjoyed their trip on the Ferris Wheel together—and then she announced that she planned to do a whole fashion line inspired by the natural world. 

Discord derived the greatest pleasure from these events. He seemed to be everywhere at once, creating more cotton candy, adding new carts to the roller coaster, popping in to say hi to Fluttershy, and many other things. Some of his ideas turned a few heads, or caused one of their closest friends to advise him on the dangers of certain things—for instance, he had a ride on a miniature rocket ship over Ponyville open to fillies and colts for a whole five minutes until Fluttershy warned him against shooting children off in such a way. 

However, the delighted way the ponies received the draconequus overall only heightened his enthusiasm and pleasure.  

Meanwhile, Twilight made sure every pony had a fun time and was safe—which was not so hard to do. Unlike the week-long stream of celebrations following Tirek’s defeat, it was possible for her to take it easier and enjoy the events.

Nothing made the princess happier than seeing all her friends and the ponies in Ponyville getting along and laughing, while strengthening the bonds between them.

Everything that had occurred with the Tree of Harmony would take a while to soak in as well, just like so many things had had to do for Twilight. However, right now she could afford to take that time.

If she had any questions or issues later, well, then Twilight could just turn to her friends for advice.

And their bonds had never felt more magical than they did then.

> Epilogue: Where we Leave Equestria in Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Twilight went to see Celestia in Canterlot the following day, they arranged to meet in the princess’s personal study. Indeed, this was a place the young alicorn had frequented while still under Celestia’s official mentorship at the School for Gifted Unicorns, and Twilight knew the way there so well she could have walked there blindfolded. But she decided against this, although the very thought simply reminded her of the reason behind the visit.

Celestia stood at her window, a tall white pony with a multi-hued, flowing mane, looking out upon the Canterlot Gardens as if in deep thought. A small white stand was beside her, and upon a purple cushion there sat what was clearly the letter Twilight had sent to the princess while trying to find research materials related to the Tree of Harmony. 

“Princess, is that—?” Twilight trailed off, even as Celestia turned to receive her warm nuzzled greeting. 

“Your letter?” Celestia lifted the parchment with her magic. “Yes, it is, dearest Twilight. I received it three days ago.”

Three days ago, before all the craziness began and Discord’s shadow took shape as Tirek. 

“I know you must have been pretty busy.” Twilight said first. “Perhaps meeting with a committee outside Equestria, or handling threats to the borders, or other matters of court.”

“Nothing more strenuous than usual.” Was Celestia’s calm reply. “I read your letter as soon as it arrived.”

“Oh.”

“It was a challenge to delay answering your letter, but I chose not to due to a promise made years ago.”

“A promise?” Relief washed over Twilight at the hint Celestia had avoided responding to her request for such a reason, followed soon by curiosity. “What type of promise?”

“As you know, Starswirl the Bearded was my mentor and one of the dearest friends I have ever had.” Celestia smiled at this fond remembrance. “In my mind, no pony was wiser than he, who taught me so much. Starswirl even helped to give Luna and me the confidence and training we needed to assume our positions as princesses of Equestria. So I would do anything he wished.”

Then before Twilight to ask the question eager to get free, Celestia persisted.

“A long time ago, around the time when we—” Here Celestia drew in a deep breath, as if the reminder still gave her pain. But she composed herself after a few moments. “Parted ways, he left me scrolls he instructed me to open only at specified times over the coming years. It was by reading these that Luna and I found out about the Elements of Harmony, among advice for many other situations that would arise.”

“I once read that Starswirl could travel through time and space.” Twilight said.

“That is correct. He unlocked this knowledge and went to various points throughout Equestria’s history, and most of the time my mentor went alone—though he would bring back valuable information that he would use to prepare for future events. In this way, one of the recent scrolls told me to send you Starswirl’s journal to attempt the spell inside, leading to your ascension as a princess. Yet another told me to send you Discord to reform, and that only “Kindness” would make this possible.”

“Wait a minute.” Twilight could only have imagined what Celestia had thought when she opened the scroll and saw these instructions, one year after the ponies had turned Discord back to stone. “Do you mean Starswirl the Bearded was the pony who wanted Discord reformed?”

“Dearest Twilight.” Celestia stroked Twilight’s mane back in a gentle parental manner. “Starswirl asked me to task you ponies, and Fluttershy as the Element of Kindness, with changing Discord’s ways for the better. Although I did have some doubts, I trusted him, and you have since proved him right.”

“Starswirl must have known Discord’s role in Equestria all along.”

“Yes. Did you ever wonder why the Elements of Harmony only turned Discord into stone, or why you were able to use them to summon him when needed? Discord is a very important part of the magic that exists in Equestria. His constant creativity and chaos actually helps to keep it flowing throughout the land, but now he also has some measure of control or understanding over these actions. Yet this is no less vital a role than the one you and your friends play as bearers of the Elements from the Tree of Harmony. All of you are its chosen representatives and connected to this magic in a way unlike other ponies.”

“What now, though?” Twilight couldn’t help except ask. “Where we go from here?”

“That is ultimately your choice, Twilight.” Celestia replied. “Other dangers will still exist that threaten Equestria and its Harmony, and probably from even more devious villains who want to take advantage of the magic found in abundance here. But now the Tree of Harmony has those who can defend it from harm.”

From there Twilight and Celestia moved onto other topics, and spent a pleasurable afternoon in each other’s company. The future was still uncertain, yet Twilight trusted Celestia and decided to enjoy every possible minute.

***

The loud shuffling of paper awoke Twilight that evening, while curled under her warm bedcovers. Sitting up, her snout bumped into a book in the air over her bed. It took the princess a few dazed seconds to recognize the golden unicorn bust that prefaced one of her favorite volumes on Equestrian myths and legends. 

But then Twilight noticed the upside-down draconequus holding it, giving her a look of pure mischievous glee.

“Odd.” Discord said, in mock confusion. “I thought the presence of a book would bring you to your senses immediately. Maybe I should have waved it under your nose like smelling salts.”

“Discord.” Twilight whispered just in time for Spike’s sake, snapping into full awareness. “What are you doing here at this time of the night?”

“Just making a special delivery.”

“I’ve read this book before.”

“Not that, dear Twilight. Although this volume is very fascinating.” Discord flipped through several pages, and then turned the volume sideways as a longer paper—that Twilight knew didn’t exist—folded out and gave a low whistle at whatever he had reportedly found there. Then he tucked his under his arm and coasted over to the bedroom door. “No. I had something far more chaotic in mind.”

“Discord. We’re friends, but you shouldn’t wake me up in the middle of the night unless it’s important.” Even so, Twilight slid out of bed and followed the chaos spirit out and through the palace. 

“Don’t worry. I promise you’ll forgive me.”

So Twilight followed Discord, trying to avoid yawning or simply dropping to sleep on the castle floor. A great deal had occurred, and she had been looking forward to a good night’s rest. After the week of shadow-filled nights, she had thought Discord would have as well.

They reached a door somewhere deep in the castle, although at first Twilight could not and did not care where. 

Then Discord snapped his talons, and the door creaked open.

Twilight had to squint against the brightness within.


But soon she couldn’t stop staring, wide-eyed at the amazing sight before her—and gave a happy gasp. There must have been a goofy grin on her face. Twilight could feel it pushing back her features, but she did not let this worry her one bit.
For in the room ahead was the grandest, largest library and collection of books Twilight had ever seen. Discord had distorted the space inside, apparently, to accommodate a far greater amount of books than even the Crystal Empire had in stock. They were on shelves that reached to the ceiling, and she could discern a staircase leading down into darker, basement rooms—perfect for archives or other light-sensitive materials. Several of these books, she noticed, were flying about the room.

“Welcome to the new palace library.” Discord said. “I thought you might appreciate having one of these again with copies of books from all across Equestria, since you practically live on them. In addition, if you need reference material on any particular subject, just call for it and the volumes with come flying.” He indicated the soaring editions.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Twilight warbled out in delight, hugging Discord around the middle in her ecstasy. It gave her a flash of satisfaction that this caught the draconequus off-guard, though all the same, Twilight realized she should probably calm down at least a bit. “I mean, thank you, Discord. This means a lot to me.” She gazed at the many volumes, imagining the joy of discovering what lay within each one. 

“Well, you were there for me when I was having a bad day.” Discord looked a trifle embarrassed. “So I gave each of the ladies something special to show my gratitude.”

It was true. Twilight would find out the details later, but Discord had indeed gone from friend-to-friend distributing gifts.

For instance, Rainbow Dash awoke to discover a stable, miniature tornado with ever-changing obstacle courses behind her home. And when the daredevil reached the center, she found a grand trophy with her name upon it.

Pinkie Pie found a pink cotton candy cloud in her room, with a sprout in the side. Turning it on, she could get as much chocolate milk as she could stand—and that was quite a lot based on the way the pony would slosh down the stairs the next morning.

Rarity got a magic pony mannequin, with instructions to its usage. Any design she drew out on paper she could project onto it, to see how it might appear if she created the dress. Beside this was box of rare sapphire diamonds.

Applejack discovered a new apple orchard on the property, which grew a menagerie of different types and flavors of these fruits. All of them were delicious and would make tasty snacks from then on for ponies in Ponyville at a good price.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy became well-known among all the creatures in Everfree Forest. They gained a magical understanding that meant even Timberwolves recognized the kind pegasus on sight and would feign tried to harm her in any way. Because in doing so, they instinctively understood a terrible shadow should overtake them, cast by her protector. But, in fact, Fluttershy would find more and more of them coming to her home, in the most peaceful possible way, to have her treat their ills.

***

In his dreams, Discord was having a picnic again with his friends. This time, all of them were trying part of the dream, and not the actual ladies—even Twilight, who chatted with the others over small matters related to books. 

There was only one exception, and the draconequus had left a place open for him from the beginning. This time, he didn’t even need to hear the bells before Starswirl sat down with much creaking.

“I see you made it.” Discord said.

“I see you made it.” Starswirl returned. “I brought another casserole, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t. In fact, you’re just in time to sample my own contribution to the picnic.” Discord pushed a seven-layer fudge cake in front of the old stallion. “What do you think?”

“Hmm. It’s a little plain.”

“If you think it’s so, then just try some.” Discord baited, and this time, Starswirl took it.

“Very well.” Starswirl leaned forward to cut a slice—

When the fudge cake jettisoned up and smashed into his face, where the old wizard sat there in surprise for a number of moments while Discord enjoyed being smug.

The cake fell off, exposing a merry gleam in Starswirl’s eyes. 


And the pair laughed, without any dark clouds in sight.