Thanks to Discord, Twilight has some new friends. Actually, they're her old friends. Now she wants her old friends back... that is, her new friends. It's complicated. But even Discord doesn't realize how far he's gone this time...
Thanks to Discord, Twilight has some new friends. Actually, they're her old friends. Now she wants her old friends back... that is, her new friends. It's complicated. But even Discord doesn't realize how far he's gone this time...
The next morning Twilight awoke, feeling somewhat better. She trotted downstairs, following the welcome aroma of pancakes. And found Spike busying himself in the Library's small kitchen, wearing his chef's hat and the apron with the heart on the pocket.
"Morning, Spike!" Twilight called.
"Hey, Twi!" he answered, flipping cakes on the griddle. "I had a hunch your favorite breakfast would get you down here in hurry."
"Thanks, that was thoughtful of you. Are the others here yet?"
"Huh? Are we having company for breakfast?" Spike shrugged. "No worries. I can always make more pancakes."
"Uh... don't the six of us always have breakfast together?" Twilight asked. "Before we... oh, wait. I guess we don't work on magic lessons together."
"Nope! You're pretty much it, as far as magic goes," Spike said. "Except, maybe for Rarity..." He paused, staring into space rapturedly. "Wowza!"
"Focus, Casanova." Twilight pointed at one of the pancakes, which was getting a little overdone. Then she blinked, realizing she'd taken Spike's hopeless infatuation with the fashionista completely for granted, like it was perfectly normal.
Which it was... now.
"So, where is everypony?" she said, to cover her uncertainty. "Maybe I'll wander round and visit them for a change."
"Well, let's see..." Spike said. "Applejack's probably already bucking trees in the orchards. Rarity said she'd be doing fittings around town today. Fluttershy will be checking up on the local animals and birds. Pinkie Pie? Who knows where the hay she is. And Rainbow Dash... she'll probably be hard at work..."
"...napping," Twilight chorused with him. "Okay, scratch that. I'll just have breakfast, and then, oh I don't know... wander around town. See if I run into them." She shrugged, resignedly. "It's pretty nice, living in Ponyville. No pressure, a tree full of books to organize, my Number One Assistant on hoof if I need anything." She exchanged a grin with the dragon. "It's a nice quiet life all round, Spike..."
Then she sighed. Her face fell.
"You okay, Twi?" Spike asked. "You've been kinda out of it ever since Discord showed up."
"It's... a long story, Spike," Twilight said. "I've had some things to sort out in my head. I should be all right in a bit."
"Well, go on out to the desk. I'll bring you a short stack to get you started. You want hash browns?"
"No thanks. Just griddle-cakes, with plenty of syrup."
"You got it, Twi!"
Twilight went out and sat down at the desk in the main room -- her desk, her librarian's desk. She looked around at her snug, cozy little library. At least there were some changes in her life that weren't all that hard to get used to.
She looked at her desk. Amongst the books and scrolls, there were three quills lying side-by-side, one of which was out of alignment. Almost absentmindedly, she nudged it back into place with a hoof.
Her gaze fell on the portal, still hovering in midair in the middle of the room.
Have to ask Discord to close that, she thought, so nopony wanders through it by accident. There's been more than enough of that craziness around here lately...
And then she blinked, realizing. She'd decided: this was the way things ought to be. She'd made her peace with it. So, she should just accept it and move on.
No sense putting it off. Clearing her throat, she raised her voice, assuming the draconequus could probably hear her from whatever weird dimension he disappeared off to. "Dis--"
SLAM! The library's front door was suddenly thrown open...
... by Cheese Sandwich. The party pony's curly hair was practically fizzing with excitement.
"Twilight! The places I've been! The things I've seen!" The curly-haired, yellow-shirted pony shouted. "You just have no idea! I went all round the world to find myself... and there I was, all along!"
Whipping out his accordion, he began singing:
A Super-Duper Party Pony, That pony is me! I've always known that was the kind of Pony I should be!
For when I was a little colt, I just wanted to clown. But everypony told me, Cheese, shut up and sit back down!
But when I threw a party And I busted out some moves, The ponies finally saw the light, And got into the groove!
A Super-Duper Party Pony, That pony is me! You'll never meet another party-ponyyyy Quite like Cheese!
"And Pinkie!" yelled Pinkie Pie, turning a cartwheel through the doorway right after him. Then she ran over to the desk to stare wild-eyed at Twilight.
"Twi! You'll never guess who I ran into -- literally! We were running opposite ways down Trotter Avenue, and BOOM!" Tossing her forehooves in the air, Pinkie fell backward, laughing hysterically.
"Hey, Twilight! Sorry I'm a little late," Cheese said. "The 'ol cheesy-sense was a-tingling, telling me there was a pony here who needed a party. And I knew I'd need help, so I roped in Pinkie." He grinned at her. "Reaaaady, pardner?"
She bounced up onto her hooves. "You know it, Cheese!"
Before Twilight could say anything, Pinkie had hauled in her party-cannon and, with a single confetti-blizzard blast, decorated the entire room in streamers and balloons. Cheese Sandwich was already dancing around the room, playing a fast-paced jig that made it difficult to hear or think coherently.
Hearing the noise, Spike trotted out from the kitchen carrying a dripping spatula.
"What the hay?"
"Spike!" Pinkie shouted. "Go get Rarity and Rainbow! We need the whole gang for this -- stat!"
"But... the pancakes..."
"Go on! I got this!" Pinkie shouted. Her mane wrapped around the spatula, jerking it out of his claw as she raced past him and vanished into the kitchen.
"Well... okay!" Spike yanked off apron and hat and hurried out through the still-open front door.
"Uhhh... somepony wanna tell me what all the noise is about?" Rainbow Dash leaned in through an upper window. "I was takin' a snooze up on the balcony here. Ya know, just in case Twi needed anything. Did I miss a birthday invite or something?"
"Rainbow!" Cheese shouted. "Just the pony we need! Fastest pony in Equestria! Go get Applejack and Fluttershy! We need 'em here, pronto!"
"Wha? Okay, I'm on it!" Rainbow flung herself away, vanishing upwards in a flash of rainbow contrail.
"Cheese?" Twilight asked. "What are you doing here? I thought we left you working at that sandwich shop?"
"You did."
"Well, how did you get here?"
"I walked."
Twilight stared. "From Manehattan?"
"No, silly!" Cheese laughed. "Through the portal. I actually got back earlier this morning. I was a little turned around at first, because this end had moved. But after wandering around a while I recognized Ponyville from the time I visited here before. And then I ran to find Pinkie Pie. And here we all are!"
"But... what about the sandwich shop? I thought you loved working there."
"I did, at first." Cheese shrugged. "But after a while, it dawned on me: I wasn't really making ponies happy. Not for keeps. I was just a distraction in the middle of their workday. They'd smile, wolf down their lunch, and then go right back to the grind, no happier than before. It wasn't enough, Twilight. It didn't stick! They needed something more, something big, something lasting. They needed --"
"A par-tyyyyy!" Pinkie chorused with him, leaning out from the kitchen. She was already half-covered in flour and blending something furiously in a mixing bowl.
"And that made me realize," Cheese went on, "that I wasn't really happy there at all. I need to put joy in ponies' hearts, Twilight! Lift their spirits! I'm a PARTY pony! And that's never gonna change! Wahoo!" He danced around again, playing a fierce rhumba that had his accordion wheezing and squealing perilously.
"You weren't really happy..." Twilight repeated, just to be sure she'd heard it right. "But I just assumed you were..."
She gasped. Her eyes went wide, her blood ran cold. Suddenly, the wall of self-control she'd carefully built up, piece by piece, brick by brick, out of a sense of responsibility and duty to her friends...
... shattered like glass, leaving her feeling terrified and panicky.
"Omigosh... I just assumed it was true for all of them! I didn't really check! Maybe the others weren't happy either!"
"Maybe..." Cheese allowed, as he swung by her desk. "Or maybe I was the only one?"
"I don't think you were, Cheese," Twilight said, desperately. "And that means... Cheese! We have to go find them! We have to get them all back!"
"Get who back?" Applejack trotted in through the door. "What's all the commotion 'bout? I was pulling a load of apples to market and Rainbow come blastin' by, told me to high-tail it on over here. Then she shot off towards Fluttershy's. What's goin' on, Twilight?"
Twilight gritted her teeth.
"I'll explain everything, A.J. But... let's wait until everypony's here, all right?"
"Okay..." Applejack glanced around at the decorations. "Huh. Somepony havin' a birthday I didn't know 'bout?"
------------------------------
"But Twilight, dearest!" Rarity said. "You're saying none of us are the ponies we started with? Discord replaced all of us? I mean, all of them? These other ponies you mentioned?"
"I'm afraid so." Twilight nodded.
"And that means," Pinkie asked, tears in her eyes, "we're not really your friends?"
"Pinkie!" Twilight said, quickly hugging her. "Of course you're my friends. All of you are! We're just not the bearers of the Elements. I mean, we are now. But that's not how things were, when this all started."
Rainbow scratched her mane in confusion. "So... we're livin' a lie here? Is that what you're telling us?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying. Only that this wasn't the way things were when we started."
"Oh! Why didn't you say something, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.
"Because..." Twilight grimaced. "Well, if everypony seemed happy with how things turned out, what good would it do to know?"
"I do take your point, Twi." Applejack nodded. "It is a bit of a shocker, now you tell us. But now you're sayin' that everypony wasn't really happy?"
"Cheese Sandwich here," Twilight said, gesturing to him, "he somehow found his way back. And his new life wasn't what he or I thought it would be. The same may be true for the others. I have to find them, A.J.! I have to bring them back... and that means..."
She winced.
"Look, I want you all to know, you're some of the best friends a pony could have. With everything we've been through -- finding the Elements, defeating Nightmare Moon, all of it -- I wouldn't trade any of you for the world! But these other ponies... well, we discovered the Field of Harmony together, we rescued Princess Luna together, we've studied and worked together, and they're just... well..."
She hung her head, ashamed. And then felt a hoof settling around her shoulders.
"Say it, Twi," Applejack encouraged her. "It's the truth. It may hurt some, but in the end, it always helps to say it. They're your friends, right?"
"They're my friends, Applejack!" Twilight agreed desperately. "They're the friends I grew up with. I need to get them back! I didn't say anything because I thought I was doing the right thing. But I've made a huge mistake, and now I need to fix it. Assuming I still can..."
"Of course ya do!" Applejack nodded. "And you'll have all of us helpin' ya. Right, gang?"
The others nodded. "Mm-hmm... Absolutely!... Yes, indeedy!... Heck, yeah!"
"But, Applejack..."
"Twi, you said it yourself: we're your friends too! We don't need the Elements or whatnot to know that. We'll always have that connection, no matter what. But from what you're sayin', this is important. And you've never steered us wrong yet. If you say these other ponies are the ones who should have this Field thing in place of us and the Elements, well... then that's the way it ought to be! And we'll help you set it right."
"You said it!" Rainbow added. "Just tell us what we gotta do!"
"Thank you, everypony," Twilight said, smiling. "You don't know how much this means. Well, the first thing we need to do is figure out how to find them all again."
"Um, why not ask Discord?" Fluttershy said. "I'm sure he'd be able to find them."
"No offense, Fluttershy?" Twilight said carefully. "I'm not sure we should rely on Discord. He might decide to do something that makes things even worse. Like making the portal go away altogether."
"Yeah." Pinkie Pie nodded. "From what Celestia told us about him, that is kinda his M.O.!"
"Okay..." Fluttershy nodded sadly. "I guess you're right."
"Speakin' of the draconequus," Applejack said, "where's he at, anyways?"
"I'm not sure," Fluttershy said. "We had a cup of tea, and chatted for a bit yesterday. And then he mentioned something about needing to go put his own home dimension back in disorder." She giggled. "I was sorry to see him go. We'd had such a fun time! He made the teapot dance, and conjured up ginsing that really sings, and there was this piñata that sneezed... I still don't know why, but it made me laugh. And..."
She looked around, blushing.
"Well... I was sorry he had to leave, that's all."
"Don't get too attached, dearest," Rarity warned. "We might end up having to put him back in the Sculpture Garden after all."
Fluttershy winced. "Is that really necessary?"
"It might be." Twilight nodded. "Though it's a last resort, I agree."
"And if he does show up," Applejack added thoughtfully, "might be best, Fluttershy, if you kept him lookin' the other way for a bit. Seein' as how he's taken such a shine to ya."
"Oh! That doesn't sound very honest..."
"Not askin' ya to lie, hon," Applejack said. "Not at all. Just... keep him out of the lariat, like. So he don't catch wind o' what we're up to."
"I see." Fluttershy nodded. "Okay, I'll try."
"Well, that's Discord taken care of." Rainbow swooped over to the portal, examining it from both sides. "So now we need to make this puppy work, all by ourselves. Annnnd... somepony wanna tell me how we do that?"
"Sunset might know," Twilight said, thinking out loud. "Or Starlight. Or even Trixie, maybe. But they're over on the other side. And we don't know how to get to them, and..." She suddenly looked puzzled. "Wait a second... Cheese! How did you get back through the portal? How did you even remember it was there?"
He thought about it for a moment. "You know, Twilight, I have no idea. But hey, I'm a party pony!" He shrugged. "No one told me I couldn't do it, so I did!"
Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yep! He's a party pony, all right!"
"I followed my cheesy-sense, just like I always do," Cheese went on, "and it led me straight back here."
"Do you think, maybe..." Twilight asked cautiously, "... you might use it to find the others?"
Cheese shrugged. "Never hurts to try, right? So who should we look for first?"
They found Moondancer by a lengthy process of elimination. She wasn't in the Observatory's telescope dome. She wasn't in the Astronomy room of the Canterlot Archives. She wasn't at the Canterlot public library, or the School's library. By splitting up, Twilight and Cheese quartered every reading spot and nook in and around the Archives and the School that Twilight knew of. No dice.
Twilight eventually found her in a place she hadn't expected at all: a rundown, nail-house cottage in a shadowy half lot between two larger shops on Emporium Avenue. And Twilight had only heard about it by bumping into Minuette, who mentioned it was where Moondancer spent most of her time these days.
Twilight hesitantly rapped on the purple door, with its inset crescent-moon window. There was no answer. She rapped a little louder. And without meaning to, put a hoof straight through the cheap painted plywood. Worried, she leaned down to peer through the hole into the dimness beyond.
And gasped in shock. There was an eye, looking back at her.
The door creaked open. A beige, top-knotted mare, wearing thick-lensed glasses with tape on the bridge and an old cardigan sweater, glared at her furiously and myopically. "Yes? What is it?" She demanded. "I'm trying to study."
"Moondancer?" Twilight said. "It's me, Twilight!"
"Twilight?" Moondancer lifted her glasses, stared at her in shock.
And then suddenly she wrapped her forehooves around Twilight, hugging her and sobbing.
"Twilight, it is you! I thought I'd finally gone round the bend here!"
"What happened?" Twilight asked. "Why are you living here? What about the School? The Observatory?"
"Oh... the Observatory." Moondancer rolled her eyes. "Come on in, Twilight. It's... kind of a long story."
They sat down together, in the candle-lit gloom at Moondancer's desk, piled high with books and scrolls. Moondancer explained... and Twilight's eyes went wide.
"So," Moondancer finished, "I eventually realized what every young academic realizes. That you're not special, no matter what they tell you. That you don't have friends. Just... colleagues. Who don't do friendships, just networking. They may not dislike you personally, but they won't hesitate to use any advantage they have to get ahead of you."
"But what about the star-charts?" Twilight asked. "And working with Princess Luna?"
"Princess Luna?" Moondancer laughed humorlessly. "That's another thing to watch out for. Senior researchers will tell you anything you want to hear, promise you anything you want to have -- until they've gotten the work they need out of you. And then it's the gate, or worse, and thanks so much for playing!"
Twilight winced at the bitterness in her friend's voice.
"In the end," Moondancer said, "I discovered the one solace I had was reading, studying. Just like we used to do at the School. I found this place, which was cheap and out of the way. And I guess I just stopped bothering with anything else, with anypony else. Because it just wasn't worth it to me anymore."
"I'm sorry, Moondancer." Twilight said. "This is all my fault. I should have been more thorough. I should have made sure you'd be happy. But, I'm here now. And I'm going to make up for all that."
"Uh... how?"
"By bringing you back with me. Back through the portal. We're putting the Advanced Projects team back together."
"How are you gonna manage that? I don't see that Discord character around here anywhere."
"I brought the next best thing," Twilight said. "I brought a party-pony!"
She gestured to Cheese, who rattled off a quick march on his accordion.
So pack your books, And make your bed! We're goin' somewhere else, instead!
Where there's sunshine all the while, 'Cause all we want is to make... you... smiiiile!
Moondancer stared at him. "I have gone round the bend." Then she shrugged. "But if it gets me out of this rat's nest, I don't mind. Let's go!"
------------------------------
They stepped out of the portal into the Golden Oak Library, and Moondancer discovered she was back to her old student self. The top-knot, taped glasses and cardigan had been left behind on the other side.
"Wow..." she breathed. "I still remember it all... or some of it, anyways. Bits and pieces. It's all fading away, sort of, like it was just a big long dream..." She shivered. "Or a nightmare!"
Then she looked at the other ponies, gathered around smiling at her. "Hey, you know, I really missed this? Being part of the Advanced Projects group? Being one of the Heroes of Equestria? Being able to do stuff that matters, without having to ask anypony's permission? This is what I've wanted to do with my life!"
"Don't worry, Moondancer," Twilight told her. "We'll be a team again. We're going to find them all, bring them all back."
"Don't count your chickens, dearest!" Rarity warned. "We've only found the one pony so far."
Unfazed, Cheese clapped a deerstalker on his head, and held up a magnifying glass.
"So," he growled, "who shall we look for next?"
Beside him, Pinkie was suddenly wearing a bowler and mustache, and smoking a bubble-pipe.
"Because...," she added sternly, "... the game's ahoof!"
------------------------------
"Excuse me?"
The shout was loud, and cross, and echoed up and down the length of the palace corridor. Twilight glanced worriedly at Cheese and Moondancer. Then the three of them leaned around a marble pillar to peer at the source.
Sunset Shimmer was standing foresquare in the middle of the corridor, with a group of Palace staff ponies cowering before her. "What did you say?" she demanded. Hearing no reply, she nodded. "Yeah. That's what I thought. And the answer is no." She ground her teeth and stamped a forehoof. "We've been planning this thing for weeks, and we're not pushing the date just because somepony's supermodel girlfriend feels like getting a hooficure that morning!"
"But, Miss Shimmer..." The white-haired official in front swallowed, then went on. "Mr. Fancy Pants only suggested moving the event to the Royal Gardens in the afternoon. That's doable, if we..."
"Do I look like Fancy Pants' social coordinator?" Sunset growled. "I don't think so! I work for Princess Cadance. Does the word 'Princess' ring a bell at all? And if we move the time for even one pony... just one single pony... urghh! There'll be no end to it!"
She dropped into an arch, over-entitled tone. "Oh, my dear Miss Shimmer, we simply cahn't do one o'clock, can we do one-thirty instead? Oh, we cahn't possibly do one-thirty, can we do two-fourty-five? Grrr! Are you freaking kidding me? If they want to be seen sneering at bidding lots at Princess Cadance's charity auction, they can be seen there at the time and place that we scheduled it! Period! End of discussion!"
"But..."
"No! No changes! You heard me! Look, why are you even still here? Go!"
The staff ponies jumped, scattering like panicked chickens. They ran in all directions, bumping into each other in their haste to depart. In mere seconds, the corridor was empty, save for a single flame-maned pony who pressed a hoof to her forehead, muttering to herself under her breath.
"ARGHHHH!" Sunset suddenly yelled. "What do you want from me, huh? Tell me what you NEED!"
"Sunset?"
"WHAT!" Sunset swung round, her eyes wide with rage.
And then the anger vanished, leaving only scared shock behind. "Twilight?" she said. "Moondancer? Cheese?" She edged closer, prodding Twilight with a forehoof. "Phew... you're actually there. Thought I was losing it there for a minute."
"What's going on here?" Twilight asked.
"Um..." Sunset scuffed at her mane with a hoof. "How much of that did you hear?"
"More than I wanted," Twilight replied. "How long's it been like this, Sunset?"
"A while." Sunset sighed. "Come on up to my office. I'll explain."
They all trotted up the corridor together, then past the guard ponies stationed at the doorway leading into the Royal Wing. At the top of the stairs beyond Sunset turned left, and pushed through a pair of doors into a grand-looking office, with a marvelous vista of the western plains below.
"Nice, huh?" Sunset grinned. "Princess Cadance insisted on it. She said only the best, for her Princess of Empathy. She's been totally wonderful, really she has..."
Sunset's shoulders sank. "And then I find out the job is less about empathy, and more about baby-sitting." She trotted around behind the room's desk and thunked down in the chair. Twilight and the others followed and sat down in the guest chairs in front of it. "I mean, seriously, Twilight? A lot of these students come from noble families. They think they can just slide through school on their family's reputation. I keep trying to encourage them to explore a bit, reach a bit, take a chance on learning something they didn't already know. And all they wanna know is, will this be on the test? What's the minimum I need to do in order to pass?"
Sunset shook her head.
"One thing I loved about our group, Twilight, is we were all there, together, to learn. We were at Celestia's School because we wanted to learn stuff. I could get up in the morning, have breakfast with all of you, and have no idea what would happen that day. But I'd be certain that we'd tackle it together. Everypony works, nopony shirks!"
"I liked that too." Twilight nodded. "I just didn't realize how much, until I found myself missing it."
Sunset growled. "And then, on top of that, I find the charities and other social events Princess Cadance wants to hold are being constantly sabotaged by the three I's: indifference, incompetence, and entitlement -- and if you try to tell me 'entitlement' doesn't start with an 'I', you haven't met some of the ponies to whom the word applies!"
She tossed her forehooves.
"So, I find that to do my job, I need to do the job of like six other ponies, just to be sure it doesn't all fall to pieces when my back is turned. You know the old saying, Twilight, about how if you want something done, give it to the mare who's already tearing her mane out? Totally true! Take my advice. Don't ever do a good job at something you'd rather not be doing. Because the only reward they'll ever give you is to ask you to do more of the same -- because, hey, you've got experience now!"
Twilight nodded. "I see why you're so cross."
"Cross? This is not cross, Twilight!" Sunset objected. "This is just mildly stressed out. You don't want to see me when I get cross! I leave scorchmarks on the walls!"
Her head thunked down on the desk. Then she sighed, and lifted her head, looking ashamed. "I don't mean to be like this," she said. "It's just... I think it's my old competitive spirit coming out. I just can't stand seeing others fail. Because that makes me feel like I've failed. So, I kinda lose it a bit, and lash out. I really don't mean to be like this..."
"I know you don't," Twilight nodded sympathetically. "Maybe you just need to take a break. What about your music? You were going to write some songs, play some gigs..."
"Who has time for that?" Sunset shook her head. "Really! I've never had time to focus, really focus, and build up my chops. And you know what else I learned, Twilight? In this town, it's not how well you play, it's who you know. Ponies who can whisper in the right ears, open doors for you. And Princess Cadance? Don't ever tell her I said this, Twilight, but she is not a tour promoter. She's the Princess of Love, and she's really good at it. But greasing the skids? Not something she does very well at all. She's just too... nice."
"So you feel you have to be... not nice, on her behalf?"
Sunset sighed. "Does it show?"
"I'm so sorry, Sunset," Twilight said. "I should have stuck around, should have made sure it would work out before I left you here."
"It's not your fault." Sunset shook her head. "I walked into this with my eyes wide open. I thought it was going to be great, too."
"Well," Twilight went on, "at least I can do something about that."
"Like what?"
"Like bringing you back with us." Twilight gestured to Cheese and Moondancer. "Back through the portal. We're putting the team back together." She smiled mischievously. "Unless you're determined to stay here and try to make this all work?"
Sunset gave her a flat look.
"That's a joke, right? Seriously, Twi. Show me the doorway out of this. I'll probably beat you through it."
------------------------------
Once they'd returned to the Golden Oak Library, Sunset found herself back to her old student self again. She exchanged hugs with the other ponies, including the five from Ponyville.
"Wow! I never thought I'd be so glad to get back here from anyplace. And I say that having done it before." She grinned. "Okay, so it looks like we've got three of us back so far. Let's split up for the next two, Twilight. We can cover more ground that way. We have two party ponies, let's use 'em. You take Cheese, and I'll take Pinkie."
"Ooh," Fluttershy said. "Are you sure you know what to do, Pinkie?"
"No problemo!" Pinkie waved a hoof. "Just go through a magical portal to someplace I've never been, looking for a pony I barely know, when I don't even know where they are anyway?" She shrugged. "How hard could that be?"
"That's the spirit!" Cheese said. Suddenly he was wearing his flat-brimmed hat and patterned poncho. His eyes narrowed, scowling determinedly. A faint sound could be heard in the distance, like somepony whistling...
"Just... follow my lead, little pony..." he growled.
Pinkie slapped a cowpuncher's hat on her head, and blew on a noisemaker.
"Lead on, mi fiesta poni compadre!"
------------------------------
On the bank of a river, in the darkness of late evening, the Great and Powerful Trixie sat huddled, staring down at the water.
She was minus her magician's cloak and hat, minus her wagon, minus everything. And all thanks to...
"That no good, miserable Twilight Sparkle!" she yelled. "It's all her fault!" She scuffed the ground with a hoof angrily. "Why? Why does she always do this to me! Why does she have to be so... so perfect! So good at everything. Especially magic!"
She stared up wistfully, at the light-purple night sky overhead.
"Couldn't Trixie have that one thing? Adoring crowds hanging on her every performance? In awe of her skill and prowess in the arts of prestidigitation? Without oh-so-perfect Twilight Sparkle coming along to mess it all up? With better tricks... stronger power... a more captivating performance..."
She stared down into the river, at her sad, scared reflection.
"A better show..."
She felt her heart sink. She sighed hopelessly. "So much for the Great and Powerful Trixie..." she murmured sadly. "Maybe Dad was right. It's hard to make a living out here... all alone..."
Then her face suddenly set, in an angry, determined scowl.
"No! Trixie may be down, but she is not out! She just needs a bigger trick, a better trick! Something that will really prove to those insufferable, easily-duped, narrow-minded Ponyvillians that Trixie is the greatest, most powerful unicorn in all Equestria! Yes! A force to be reckoned with! A show beyond shows!"
She lept up onto her hind-hooves. "Behold, cowering ponies! I give you the triumphant return... of the Grrreat... and Powerful... Trrrixie!"
She flung her hooves wide, sending fireworks blasting into the sky, in a glorious, prismatic display.
And then she looked down...
... and saw a pony staring at her, across the river. It was her nemesis. Twilight Sparkle, herself.
"Hah!" She pointed a hoof. "Have you come to finish the job? To tell me off yourself? To make certain poor, miserable, downtrodden Trixie never blackens your provincial hayseed doorstep again?"
"Trixie, I..."
"Well, guess again! Trixie will return! And when she returns, you'll wish you'd never tangled with the greatest, most powerful, most puissant of all magic wielders in the land! And I... I... uh..."
Trixie came to a halt, looking at Twilight, finally registering the look of utter confusion on her face. And then Trixie noticed the other ponies standing behind her: Moondancer and Cheese Sandwich.
"Wait..." Blinking, Trixie stared narrowly at Twilight. "You're not her, are you? I mean, you're not the Twilight from Ponyville?" Trixie waved a hoof vaguely at the forest track behind her. "I mean that Ponyville. Whatever!" She rolled her eyes. "You know, messing around with alternate dimensions is totally murder on being able to say things clearly? I mean you... you're... uh..."
She abruptly sat down hard, looking very sheepish.
"How much of that did you hear?"
Twilight smiled sympathetically. With a flash of her horn, she teleported herself and her friends across the river. Then she sat down next to the showpony. Cheese and Moondancer sat down with her, being company but otherwise remaining quiet.
Twilight smiled. "You know, Trixie, I never realized how much I'd gotten used to that?"
"To what?" Trixie asked cautiously.
"Having a friend who never gives up, no matter what happens. Who has enough ego to bounce back from pretty much anything. I never realized how much I'd come to rely on that. Until I had it taken away from me." Twilight nodded. "And then I knew I wanted it back."
"Huh," Trixie said, dryly. "Now you tell me..."
"What happened?" Twilight asked. "I thought you and your father were doing sold-out shows in Las Pegasus."
"Oh, we were!" Trixie snorted. "Jack Pot the Magnificent and his darling little daughter!" She put her hooves beneath her chin, fluttering her eyes endearingly. "Little Trixie... so cute, so adorable, so bright-eyed --"
She snarled.
"And always the assistant! Always second billing! Always off to the side, working the audience -- never center stage! Trixie was never permitted to present an act, never allowed to work a trick on her own. Oh, the audience wouldn't like it, Trixie! The polling and focus-groups say they love the father-daughter thing, Trixie! Don't mess with success, Trixie!"
She huffed, angrily.
"Trixie was fed up! She'd had enough. So one day she drew a line in the sand. She demanded equal billing, her own acts in the show. Demanded the respect and recognition her skill as a magician ought to have earned her! Trixie said if she was not treated as an equal, she'd leave the show, set out on her own. She'd create her own competing performance, make a name for herself!"
She pounded the bank with a hoof. "Trixie laid down the law!"
"And?"
Trixie's shoulders fell. "Dad called my bluff. He refused. So, I left. I took my share of the earnings from the show, bought a wagon, a costume, some props. And I set out to present my own travelling performance, somewhere other than Las Pegasus. Because obviously, there was no way I was going to be able to compete on the Strip, not without the connections Dad has."
She sighed. "And it all seemed to be going so well. Town by town, hamlet by hamlet, building up word of mouth, a reputation. And then I made the mistake of coming here... to Ponyville..."
She gestured around her. At everything that was not there.
"And, well... Trixie blew it. Trixie overdid it, and it all came apart at the seams. Trixie ended up a laughing-stock, driven out of town. Without her wagon, her props, her hat, everything..." She shook her head. "And all I wanted..."
She looked up at Twilight.
"All I ever wanted was to be respected for who I am, Twilight! For what I can do. That's all I've ever really wanted!"
Twilight hugged her with a forehoof. "I know, Trixie. And I'm sorry I put you through all this. I should have paid closer attention, should have talked to you. Should have made sure this was right for you."
Trixie crossed her forehooves. "Well of course you should have, Twilight. You expect the Great and Powerful Trixie to have to explain everything?"
Twilight laughed. "It does help, sometimes. Now come on, Trixie. We're putting the Advanced Projects team back together. And we can't do that without our showpony and Element of Honesty."
"Well! Trixie can't do it without her hat. And her cloak. And her wagon, and..."
"It'll be there."
"Not finished. And her friends... especially Starlight!"
"We'll get them back, Trixie. I promise." Twilight smiled at her. "Are you going to want top billing in the team, too?"
Trixie sniffed. "Of course not! The Great and Powerful Trixie hardly needs to advertise her skill, not in such good company. After all, Trixie is one of the Heroes of Equestria, is she not?"
Twilight just eyed her, amused.
Trixie worriedly nudged her with an elbow.
"Come on, Twilight..." she muttered. "Let me have this? I'm feeling a little downtrodden right now..."
------------------------------
"So..." Applejack asked. "Where are we, exactly? You sure this is the right place, Pinkie?"
"Absolutely! The Pinkie-sense never lies!" The party pony stared around. "But as for where we are..." She shrugged. "Eh, beats the heck outta me!"
"What's a village doing, way out here in the middle of a desert?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "Just two rows of houses, and nothing else for miles?"
"And... why is everypony smilin' like that?" Applejack asked, uneasily.
"Yeah..." Pinkie looked around suspiciously, at the townsponies passing by. "I know smiles. And these smiles? They're just not right."
"And something else, have you noticed?" Sunset whispered. "They all have the same cutie-mark..."
"Woah. Don't that beat all!" Applejack said quietly.
"Welcome!" A white-coated, wavy-maned stallion trotted up to them. "Welcome to our village! I'm Double Diamond."
"Double Diamond?" Sunset stared at him. The drab, off-white stallion had only a passing resemblance to Starlight's old home-town friend.
Applejack touched her hat. "Well howdy, Double Diamond! I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer. We all just arrived."
"A pleasure to meet you all. And you all still have your own individual cutie-marks, I see."
"Um, yeah..." Sunset said, uneasily. "We're... not from around here."
"Well, all are welcome in our little village. What brings you our way?"
"We're looking for a friend," Sunset replied. "We... think she might be here somewhere."
"Oh, we're all friends here. So you've come to just the right place!"
There was an awkward pause, while Sunset tried to come up with a careful, subtle way to find out where Starlight might be. But then Double Diamond, misreading her hesitation, went on.
"Perhaps you'd care to speak to our founder, Starlight Glimmer?"
Sunset blinked. And then nodded. "Yeah... that would probably be a really good place to start..."
Double Diamond willingly turned about and led the way along the town's main street, to a larger house at the end of the dual rows of dwellings. He knocked politely on its door.
"Starlight! We have some new visitors!"
"Ah, just one minute." After a pause, the door opened, and Starlight Glimmer looked out. "Welcome! We're so pleased to have you here. And I... uh..."
She froze, eyes wide, staring at Sunset and the others.
"... I just know you're going to love it here!" she went on hurriedly. "Double Diamond, would you go find Party Favor? I think our new friends might want a tour of the village later. I'll take it from here."
"Sure thing, Starlight! Be seeing all of you!" Turning, the white stallion trotted away.
Starlight glanced around, then waved urgently.
"Come inside, quick!"
The three ponies did, and Starlight shut the door. Then she collapsed against it, hyperventilating. "Tell me I'm not just dreaming this? Or am I having a panic attack? I'm having a panic attack aren't I? Is it really you, Sunset? From... the other side of the portal?"
"It's us, all right," Applejack confirmed.
"What's been happening here?" Sunset asked, shocked.
Starlight put a hoof to her forehead, shaking her head. "Oh, nothing much. I just founded a cult of equality and replaced everypony's cutie-marks with equal signs! Sunset, am I cursed? This is exactly what happened in that alternate timeline Nightmare Moon showed us! Well... more or less."
"I was going to ask. Twilight said that she left you and Sunburst as students at Celestia's School."
"Oh, she did! And that was just going great. Until... suddenly it wasn't..."
"What happened?"
"This." She pointed at her cutie-mark... then remembered it was an equal sign like everypony else's. She scrubbed it furiously with a hoof, rubbing off the makeup and revealing her own mark: the purple lozenge with trails of blue fire.
"I assumed that like Sunburst's mark, it meant some kind of general skill with magic. But even with Sunburst helping me, I still was getting nowhere in my studies. You know me, Sunset, how I work: I go with my gut, throw stuff at the wall, mash abstractions together until it blows up from sheer complexity. Rote learning drives me bananas. But that's all the instructors at the School wanted us to do!"
She sighed. "It's not like it was in the Advanced Projects group. As Celestia's personal students, we were allowed to follow our noses, study what appealed to us, learn from each other. But as a regular student at the School, with standard classwork, by-the-book lessons... I just couldn't stay focused enough."
"And Sunburst?" Sunset asked.
"For him, it was no better," Starlight replied. "You know how easily he gets distracted, runs off on tangents. Between that and trying to help me, he was falling behind too. And it was killing him! He felt he wasn't measuring up. Eventually it got to be too much, and he... left. Rather suddenly, actually. He went back home to Sire's Hollow."
She frowned. "And that was pretty much the last straw for me, too. Without Sunburst to keep me focused, I started falling way behind. And that made me feel like an outsider all over again, even with my cutie-mark! Everypony else seemed to know what their cutie-mark meant. Who they were, what they needed to do to succeed. But me? I had no freaking idea! I felt like a total fraud, Sunset. Like I was making it all up as I went along. And I was terrified that one day somepony would call me on it."
"Imposter syndrome." Sunset nodded. "You're not the only one, Starlight. I've been there myself."
"You? Really? When?"
"Like, always!" Sunset laughed. "Isn't it obvious? It's the curse of every pony who's smart enough to make up her own mind. Realizing there's no obvious plan, no simple rules to follow... and nopony can tell you what to do, because they don't know either. We're all making it up as we go. Especially those of us with real skill. It just feels like you're the only one, because we're too scared to let it show. But go on... what happened next?"
"I, uh... kinda went off the rails." Starlight winced. "I locked myself in my dorm room, started writing, and came up with this." Moving to a nearby table, she picked up a thick volume in her magic and held it out. "It's... kind of a manifesto. A three-hundred and sixty point plan for making the world a better place. Starting with eliminating what I saw as the problem: cutie-marks! The differences between ponies that meant everypony else was perfectly suited to their lives, while I still couldn't figure out my cutie-mark even if it came with a diagram!"
Sunset took the book in her magic, paged through it. "Wow," she finally said. "And I thought Twilight was detail-oriented..."
Starlight grinned sheepishly. "Working it out was, well, kind of theraputic. But then I put it into practice. I found that my friends from Sire's Hollow -- Double Diamond, Party Favor, the rest of them -- had all come to Canterlot seeking their fortunes. So I roped them into my plan. Along with some other ponies that they'd met on the way, we all came out here and founded this place: Our Town."
She moved to peer out through the window, shivering.
"And until I opened that door, and found you three on my doorstep..." She grimaced. "I was totally lost in it all. I was totally convinced it was the right thing to do. Sunset, what have I done? This is all my fault!"
"No. It's not." Sunset slapped the manifesto shut, let it drop to the floor. "This is our fault, all of us, for not following through. You're not the one to blame here, Starlight. You never would have done this, not with all of us around to help. And we weren't there for you. We should never have let this happen. We should have double-checked, made sure you were really happy before we left you here. But at least we're here now, to fix that. We're going to set things right."
"But, Sunset..."
"But nothing!" Sunset replied. "Starlight, we're here to bring you back with us, back through the portal! Isn't that enough?"
Starlight stared at her, miserably.
"Well... even if we go back, Sunset... I'm still not sure what my cutie-mark means. I've never known! Never been able to figure it out, ever since it appeared. What if Discord was right, about me at least? What if I am just a fraud, a replacement for the real Element of Magic? I mean, a pony who doesn't have a clue what her mark represents, who she's really supposed to be? What kind of Element of Harmony does that make me? What does my cutie-mark mean, anyway?"
Sunset nodded, thinking about it. And then she grinned. "Maybe that's it."
"Maybe what's it?"
"Maybe," Sunset suggested, thinking aloud, "you're the only pony in Equestria with total freedom. The only pony whose cutie-mark means exactly what she wants it to mean. A pony who has to invent a meaning for it, every single day of her life. Because that's how you operate, Starlight. I've seen you, when you're studying and working magic. You toss spell components together to see what happens, invent new spells like it's nothing at all. You throw stuff at the wall to see what sticks. You're so creative, so inventive, so spontaneous! You scare me sometimes." She shrugged. "So... maybe your cutie-mark is like that, too. Maybe you get to decide what it means."
"How?"
"By choosing something, anything, and saying that's what your mark is for. Seeing if it works." Sunset grinned. "What do you like to do, Starlight? I mean, assume we're not trying to save Equestria or anything like that. If you had an entire afternoon, and your choice of what to do with it, what do you really like to do?"
"Well..." Starlight considered it. And then looked sheepish. "I like... kites?"
"Okay! So maybe your mark means you like kites," Sunset said. "But it's more than that," she said, nodding. "Celestia's the Princess of the Sun, and Cadance the Princess of Love. Each of them pretty much defines who they are and what their role is every single day of their lives."
"So?"
"So, maybe your mark means that you're the Princess of Kites. So you get to define what that means. And no one in Equestria can contradict you -- because you're the only authority there can be."
"Really?"
"Eh, it'll do for today." Sunset shrugged. "You can come up with a better idea tomorrow."
Starlight stared at her cutie mark, the purple lozenge trailing blue swirls... just like the tails of a kite.
"Princess of Kites..." She whispered. Then she smiled and nodded. "That works for me!"
"Great!" Sunset said. "Now, let's get out of here and back to the portal. We're putting the team back together, and we need you, Starlight."
"Thought you'd never ask," Starlight peered out through the window. "But first, we have to get past all my loyal followers. They might not understand me suddenly wanting to give up on our quiet little village here..."
Then she tilted her head, looking thoughtful. Grabbing up a piece of paper and a quill with her magic, she jotted a short note, then left it on the table near the door.
"Just letting them know I've had a change of heart. They're free to go get their cutie marks from the vault in the cave, and make up their own minds what they want to do from now on."
Then, crossing the room, she cast a levitation spell on the bed, hefting it aside with ease. And revealed a hidden trap door. Below it was a flight of stairs leading to a tunnel underground. "Step three hundred and fifty-six!" she said proudly. "Always make sure you have an escape route. Come on!"
Casting a luminance spell, she charged down into the darkness.
Applejack exchanged a look with Pinkie and Sunset.
"I'm just glad she's on our side. Know what I mean?"
------------------------------
In the Golden Oak Library, Sunset stepped out of the portal, with Starlight and the others right beside her. She glanced around, smiling. "It's getting a little crowded in here, isn't it?"
Between the ponies from Ponyville, the group from Canterlot, and Spike as well, it felt like more than enough for a party, more than enough to justify the party streamers and balloons still decorating the library's main room.
Sunset also saw that the Advanced Projects ponies, herself included, were wearing their Field gems again. "Nice to see these back again," she said, tapping hers.
"They came back," Twilight explained, "when we brought Trixie back through the portal. I'm not sure why we're not all back in the tower in Canterlot yet. But maybe we need all of the Canterlot group here for that."
"We drafted Cheese for the moment," Moondancer explained. "So we'd have enough ponies for the six-gem solution."
Cheese tapped the gem he was wearing proudly. "Glad to help, gals! Just tell me where to stand, and what button to press."
"You shouldn't need to do anything," Starlight said efficiently, as if she'd never left. "With the adjustments I made to the spell, it should self-balance based on the magic sources available... earth ponies included." Then she looked sheepish. "Well, I say it should. Obviously, we haven't had a chance to test it."
"You're the Element of Magic, Starlight," Sunset Shimmer told her. "If you say it'll work, it'll work."
"Well, what are we waiting for!" Rainbow said, flapping her wings impatiently. "Let's go get our last pony!"
"Hold up, Rainbow." Applejack said. "What do you think, Twi? Do you want us with you? Or should we stay here and hold the fort, while you go find Tempest? Fluttershy's off somewhere, prob'ly keepin' an eye out for Discord. Maybe we should do the same, just to be safe?"
"That does makes sense," Twilight replied. "If you four wouldn't mind?"
"Nary a bit!" Applejack replied readily. The others nodded agreement.
"Then all right, everypony," Sunset called. "We know what to do. Let's move out!"
"Hold it! Hold it right there, everypony!"
It was the last voice they wanted to hear ringing out through the room. The group turned to look at the portal. Discord was standing in front of it, Fluttershy standing right beside him.
Applejack face-hoofed. "Aw, for the love of... ya had one job, Fluttershy! One job! Keep Discord away from here! Don't ya 'member?"
"Yes," Fluttershy said, uncomfortably. "And I didn't think it was right. If we want Discord to trust us and change his ways, we need to show that we trust him too. So... I talked with him about it."
"Aw, geez!" Rainbow glared at her. "Seriously, Fluttershy?"
"And a good thing she did," Discord said. "Or I might not have been able to warn you --"
"Warn us? Of what!" Starlight interrupted. "That you sent each of us into an alternate life where everything we ever wanted falls to pieces, and we each turn into the worst possible version of ourselves we could imagine? Hate to break this to you, Discord, but we kind of figured that one out already."
"Oh, that?" Discord looked surprised. "That was just a bonus! Uhm... sorry, that came out wrong. I mean, you don't think I planned for that to happen, do you?"
"In a hot second!" Rainbow snarled.
"You trying to tell us you didn't?" Trixie growled.
"Truthfully!" Discord held up his claw. "When Fluttershy told me, I was devastated! Had I known, I would have helped set things right at once. I assumed I was giving each of you a new life on this timeline. That's how it initially appeared. But from the sound of it, I was actually letting the timeline itself snap back to the same set of fixed points it had before... though by a slightly different route..."
Twilight stormed up to him. She was beyond livid.
"You mean we were meddling with our timeline, all along? And you didn't bother to tell us? That is it, Discord! Give me one good reason why we don't turn you back to stone, right now!"
The other five gem-bearing ponies moved to stand with her. Discord suddenly found himself the target of a roomful of intensely vindictive pony eyes. Tapping his fingertips together, he looked back and forth nervously, from pony to pony, as if seeking some way out... any way out...
... and then he sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." he whispered.
"What?" Twilight asked, staring at him. "I can't hear you."
"I said, I'm SORRY! All right?" Discord shouted angrily. Then he sat down and put his chin in his hands, mournfully. "And I was so sure I could make it work this time..."
"Make what work?"
"Well, the lesson, of course!" Discord stared at Twilight, sheepishly. "And I was so certain I had it right this time. So certain I could offer each of you a real learning experience without it going all pear-shaped on me. But alas, it seems I'm just as much a prisoner of who I am as all of you."
He looked up and around at all of them.
"You mean you didn't notice?" he asked. "Well, no reason you should have. I suppose I'd better come clean with you all. This isn't my first time on this merry-go-round. And do you know why?"
He sighed, and waved his claw grandly. "There are countless worlds, countless possibilities in reality -- even, it turns out, multiple streams of time to explore...
"... but only one me."
Twilight was astonished, despite herself. "Really?"
"Really, Twilight!" He nodded. "I'm the Lord of Chaos! I mean, how could you have two embodiments of pure chaos? They'd be indistinguishable! So in all the possible, rational flows of time, arising out of the sea of chaos, there's but one Discord. I was here from before the beginning. I'll be here until after the end... and then some!" He gazed around at them, sadly. "And that other timeline? The one Nightmare Moon showed you?"
He sighed.
"It's where I came from."
Moondancer stared at him. "So that is the real timeline? Not ours?"
"Oh, who's to say which is the real timeline," Discord scoffed. "To me, they're all pretty much the same. Well, with certain exceptions... which is why I'm here. I lived through that entire stream of events, Twilight. I saw you find your friends, learn your lessons, defend Equestria, take your place as its Princess. Very fetching you were, by the way, in your crown and all. Anyway, I followed that timeline all the way to its end. And then, before I knew it... it was over."
He waved paw and claw, miserably. "It all just... ended. So what was I to do? Go back to my own chaotic dimension, and hope another enchanting little reality would pop up, where I could spend time with friends even half as welcoming and understanding as you ponies?" He shook his head. "I had little hope of that happening any time soon. But then, just as I was about to go back to bed for a kalpa or three and wait it out, I chanced to glance around at the neighboring timelines. And noticed that Nightmare Moon had somehow managed to create a stable spur timeline, with its own set of fixed points and no self-destroying paradoxes. One that held the possibility of some new adventures with all my old friends."
"So..." Starlight asked, intrigued. "You went back in time, and took a different path?" She looked around at the others, who were staring at her. "What? I'm just curious."
Discord snorted. "If it were that simple, any of you girls could have managed it. Loathe though I am to admit it, despite my many talents I don't actually have the ability to travel in time. I don't even like walking from place to place, because it takes time! All I can ever do is change things in the present -- my present, wherever I happen to be -- and let the timeline adjust itself to suit whatever local distortion I've conjured up. As you can see," he added morosely, "I don't have much control over the results."
"Ain't that the understatement of the millennium..." Applejack muttered.
"But!" Discord went on, striking a brave pose. "I was determined! And there was a way: one far more challenging and risky, something I'd never attempted before. I had to alter myself, down to my very essence. I had to remake myself to suit the point in time I wanted to exist in. And hope non-chaotic reality took the hint and played along. In a sense, a very real sense, I unwound myself back to the branch point, and then forwards a bit. I'll spare you the technical details, they'd only give your tiny pony brains a headache. But in the end, it worked. I found myself in this timeline, just before you girls shattered the statue. Which is why I wasn't in it, you see. Because the me that had been frozen in stone had already gone the other way."
"That's twisted, even for you..." Sunset said, in awe despite herself.
"Lord of Chaos." Discord smirked. "I've been around. But even though it worked, there was a cost: my memories, of the fun times I'd spent with all of you. Even though I've lived through that other timeline, and in a sense, still exist there as part of it, I only remember fragments of it: interesting moments, memorable experiences. The rest..." He gestured sadly. "Gone, like a dream!"
"Like when we stepped out of the portal," Moondancer said. "And came back here. We unwound back to the point where we'd entered it... and our memories faded away..."
"Crudely speaking," Discord sneered. "Though for you it was but a few brief months, or years. For me, it was eons! But the one thing I held onto, the one thing I did recall with crystal clarity, is how much fun I had, hanging out with Twilight Sparkle and her little pony friends... from Ponyville."
He gestured to Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow. "The ponies Celestia sent you to find, Twilight, to help you recover the Elements of Harmony and save Equestria. Together with my particular special friend, Fluttershy..." He smiled sheepishly at her. "The one pony amongst the lot of you who was able to get me to finally see how much I really appreciated friendship, even though it's not in my nature."
He sighed. "But... as you can see, even as much as I've learned about friendship, I can still get it wrong."
"I'll say!" Rainbow demanded. "You tried to change things? Make all of us be Twilight's friends again? Make us the bearers of these Elements? Just so you could have things back the way you remembered them?"
Discord nodded glumly. "As I said, I thought I could make it all work. I thought by giving each of Twilight's new friends from this timeline a better, pleasanter life, they wouldn't need to be her friends anymore. It seemed the perfect solution: no one gets hurt, everypony's better off. It seemed so perfect, so simple. But apparently, it's not so simple. Maybe it never was. As I said, there are some things even I can't do."
He slapped his lizard leg, determinedly. "But I'm going to make it up to all of you. I'm going to keep my word. We'll get everypony back, put things back as they were. And then... well... we'll decide what to do next, all right?"
"You're a bit late pitching in," Twilight pointed out. "We've pretty much got them all back already."
"So I noticed! And very resourceful of you, Twilight. You're learning already, see?" And then he hunched in shame. "Uh, no no no, that's not what I meant. I'm here to help. For realsies, this time. So let me just... just warn you, Twilight. From what Fluttershy tells me, the new lives I gave your friends from Canterlot have been reverting to something like the timeline that I came from. And the further back your connection to each of them goes, the more strongly they're hewing to the same outcome. So you might find this last one will be more than unusually difficult..."
"Why?" Twilight said. "We go there, we find Tempest, help her remember who she was, and bring her home, right?"
"Wellll... you remember that armor of hers? This timeline isn't the only one where she came across it. And you may find its effect on her in that other timeline was not nearly so pleasant."
Twilight nodded uneasily, recalling what little she'd seen of it. "Can't you come with us?" she asked. "Help us talk to her, persuade her to come back?"
Discord hunched fearfully, shuddering. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Twilight. Really, I don't. Just seeing me might set her off, turn her against you. As you've seen, there's little I can do to stop her. That mage armor of hers was crafted by Sacanas," Discord pointed out. "Which is why it's able to block and absorb my magic."
"And why Tempest was able to mop the floor with you," Sunset Shimmer added mischievously.
"Oh thanks, Sunset." Discord looked sour. "You know, I had almost put that out of my mind. So, Twilight, if you'll take my advice, you may want to take the rest of your Canterlot crew with you for this one. You may need this Field of Harmony you created, just to be on the safe side."
"Which..." Trixie pointed out, "conveniently puts all of us on the other side of the portal? So you can just shut it on us?"
"What!" Discord stared at her, outraged. "And trap Twilight on the other side, unable to get back?" He looked ready to explode in righteous indignation. Then his face fell. He nodded, unhappily. "You're right. That is the sort of thing the old me might have done. And I can't offer any proof I've changed for the better. I'm not sure I've changed, not even after all this time. I'm not sure I can change. How can chaos itself ever be distinctly different? All I can say is, I promised I wouldn't touch the portal until we were done with it. I intend to keep that promise. And I just hope that even after all I've done... you can still trust me, that's all."
The ponies all looked back at him, in every shade of doubt on the spectrum.
Except for Fluttershy. "I trust you, Discord," she said. "You're apologizing, and you're trying to do the right thing." She looked around at the others. "We should accept that, give him the benefit of the doubt. It's what ponies do, isn't it?"
After a moment, the rest of them nodded. Very reluctantly, but they did.
"I guess Twilight's not the only one who can school us on the right thing to do," Sunset said, grinning.
"All right," Twilight said. "My friends and I will go find Tempest. Applejack, I'm not sure what'll happen here as a result. Just... wait as long as you think is reasonable. And be ready for anything."
"Will do, Twi," Applejack said. "We're your backup here. You can count on us."
"And we're your backup, coming with you," Sunset added. She and Applejack exchanged an understanding nod with each other.
Twilight turned to Cheese. "Once more unto the breach?"
But when they arrived, it looked very much like the party had already ended.
They were in the Celebration Area in upper Canterlot. Beneath looming, cloud-filled skies, fierce winds tore across the marble plaza, ripping away the last of the bunting and carrying off anything that hadn't blown away already. Confetti and other scraps of paper whistled through the howling air like flying knives.
The six ponies skulked in the lee of a statue, peering up at the huge roaring cyclone enshrouding the Royal Palace.
"I think we know where Tempest is," Twilight shouted over the wind. "But how do we get to her?"
"Especially since none of us have wings," Moondancer agreed. "And levitation would be useless against this wind! We'd burn out our reserves before we got a dozen yards."
"What do you think, Starlight?" Twilight asked. "Could we teleport up there?"
Starlight shook her head. "Wouldn't want to risk it. Too much flying debris for a clear signal. We'd end up scattered over half of Equestria."
"Never enough bars in an crisis..." Sunset grumbled, then grinned at the others. "Remind me to explain cellphones to you some day. Maybe we could use the Field of Harmony?" she suggested. "Punch a hole through the storm, teleport us all up there?"
Twilight shook her head. "That might make her feel we're attacking her. We need to get up there quietly, if we can."
"So..." Moondancer said, "maybe we go back through the portal and try again? Cheese, what do you think?"
He shrugged. "My cheesy-sense should have brought us to wherever Tempest was in the first place. Something here must be blocking it."
"Her armor..." Twilight whispered. "Just like with Discord."
"Oh great!" Starlight said. "And how are we supposed to deal with that? Even assuming that by some miracle we manage to get ourselves up there in one piece?"
Trixie blinked... and then grinned.
"Oh, who needs a miracle, bestie? Not when you have the Great and Powerful Trixie! Now, for this trick, I'm going to need a few helpful assistants from my audience. Like all of you. And I'm also going to need... that!"
She pointed at the huge party cannon, still standing on the edge of the Celebration Area, encrusted with stray cake icing.
Sunset stared at her. "You're not serious, Trixie?"
Trixie ignored her. "We are going to perform..." She gestured with her hoof. "... the Moonshot Manticore Mouthdive!" Then she looked around and shrugged. "But, since we don't have a live manticore, the cannon part of the trick will have to do..."
"Trixie..." Starlight said nervously, "tell me you've done this before..."
"Nope, never have!" Trixie giggled. "Always wanted to, though! Oh, come on!" She nudged Starlight with an elbow. "Together, we can make it work!"
"We?"
"Sure! I'll use my firework spell to fire it off, and you provide the extra oomph! Just like with the statues!"
"The ones that wound up in a million pieces?"
"That was practice!" Trixie waved a hoof dismissively. "I'm sure we'll get it right this time."
"Anypony have a better idea?" Moondancer asked. "Seriously -- like, anypony have a better idea?"
None of them did. Struggling across the Plaza, the ponies managed to reach the cannon, get it pointed in roughly the right direction, then load themselves into it.
"Everypony ready?" Trixie asked.
"Gimme a minute, Trix..." Starlight grumbled. "My life's still flashing before my eyes and I'm only up to this morning."
"Look, just do it, already," Sunset said, her eyes shut tight. "Put me out of my misery."
"I'm not sure we're lined up exactly." Moondancer peered up at the Palace. "A little more to the left?"
"We only need to get up there," Twilight said. "Through the storm-wall. We can use our levitation magic to fine tune at the other end. Spells at the ready, everypony! Sunset, you and I'll look after Cheese."
"Got you, Twilight!"
"Starlight?" Trixie hinted, nudging her.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Just... don't go ga-ga, Trixie." Starlight's horn flared, as she remote-cast from her reserves.
Trixie grinned at Cheese. The party-pony grinned back at her excitedly.
"Let's light this birthday cake!" they chorused.
Trixie raised her hoof, brought it down sharply.
------------------------------
It was dark, in the Grand Audience Hall of the Royal Palace. Cold, gloomy, and echoing from the howling wind outside. The gloom perfectly complemented the mood of the hall's single occupant, seated on the one undamaged throne on the dais.
Its single ambulatory occupant, to be precise...
"All that power..." she murmured, "wasted on parties. When there are far greater uses..."
The maroon unicorn suddenly paused, lifted her head, flicked an ear. There were voices down at the far end of the Hall, coming though the half-open doors from the corridor outside.
Annoyed voices, by the sound of things.
"Ow. Could somepony please turn off the ringing in my head?"
"I said we weren't lined up properly!"
"Details, details! The tree in the garden broke our fall."
"Trixie, our magic was supposed to break our fall. That branch nearly impaled me!"
"You're saying we should go back and try again?"
"Do you mind, Trixie? I'm trying very hard not to think of the word 'again' right now!"
"Shhh! We're here. Now let me do the talking."
Six pairs of eyes nervously peered around the undamaged half of the door frame.
"Tempest?" Twilight called. Cautiously, she stepped into the Hall, followed after a moment by the others. They made their way through the chilly gloom, up the length of the scorched, torn red carpet. Then they abruptly collided and came to a stop. Twilight had suddenly halted, and was staring up in shock at the four petrified shapes looming before her, two on either side of the Hall.
It was the Princesses: Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, frozen in crystal with expressions of dismay and horror on their faces. And with them, there was a fourth Princess. Twilight gulped. It was herself, as an alicorn Princess, wearing a star-shaped crown much like the one Discord had materialized on her head. And she was petrified, frozen in crystal, just like the others.
From the shadow-shrouded throne on the dais, a voice spoke, warily.
"Princess?"
Twilight gasped. That voice... it was both welcomely familiar and coldly, brutally unforgiving.
A gem-tipped staff hung in the air beside the throne, suspended in a chill, electric-blue magic field... a field projected by the whole, unbroken horn of the throne's occupant. The staff tipped down, aiming like a spear directly at the group of ponies. It twitched back and forth agitatedly, as if seeking a target.
"Tempest..." Twilight breathed, "It's me."
"Princess?" Tempest repeated, glaring at her. "But... that's not possible. I petrified you. You're..." Her gaze took in the other ponies behind Twilight. "No... I thought it was only a dream. Only a very pleasant dream..."
"It's not a dream, Tempest. It's real! We've come to bring you back with us... back through the portal."
Tempest growled. "You mean you've come to rob me of my dominion? Now that I've finally taken what should have been mine by right?"
"Tempest!" Twilight stared at her, mouth open. "What... what's wrong with you?"
"It's Sacanas," hissed Moondancer.
"What?" Twilight looked at her.
"The armor, the spells on it... she's acting out the sorceror's last wishes..."
The maroon pony scowled down at them suspiciously. The staff twitched threateningly.
"What are you two whispering about?" she demanded. "Plotting, scheming against me. Just like Celestia and Luna! Just as they did, right before they... before they..."
She gasped, her eyes wide.
"... before they took her from me." Her face twisted in agonized loss, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Princess! I couldn't stop them..."
"Tempest, listen to me!" Twilight said. "You don't have to stay here. It doesn't have to be like this. We can go back, back to how things were. All you have to do is come with us!"
Tempest shook her head, then looked away. "I wish I could, but..."
"But what? Tempest, why don't you --"
"Because I want this, Twilight!" Tempest snarled, glaring angrily at her. "I finally have what I should have had, ages ago! I have my horn back! I have power once again! I've finally taken what should have been mine."
She laughed, long and harsh and unrestrained.
"The 'Storm King' thought that he could trick me. He thought he could use my magic, my army, my mark! What a pathetic fool. He's out on the balcony. He'll make a nice conversation piece. I really should have him moved to the Sculpture Garden, though, just so no one trips over him. Have to think about that, pick a really good spot. Maybe right next to Discord, once I finally track him down, the traitor! They'd make a nice matched set..."
Twilight edged cautiously nearer, trying furiously to think of what to say, what to do, to bring her friend back.
And then she froze, seeing the staff swing round to aim directly at her. It thrummed dangerously, magic overspill building up and wreathing the gem's surface like glowing steam.
"No more games, Princess..." Tempest glared down at her. "No more lies. No meddling pony Princess will ever get in my way again! Give me one reason why I shouldn't turn you back to stone right now!"
Twilight stared up at her. Then she hung her head, her voice quiet and helpless.
"I'm... I'm sorry, Tempest."
"What?"
"This is all my fault," Twilight went on. "I should have paid more attention, should have listened. Should have made certain you were happy. Should have made certain for all my friends. But I didn't. I let Discord rush me." She shook her head. "No, wait, that's not right. I did this. I wanted it to end. Wanted it to be all over, because..."
She stared up, at the cold glare of Tempest's eyes.
"Because I thought I was losing my friends, one by one. Including my first and very best friend... you, Tempest."
Tempest stared back, astonished.
"Twilight..." she whispered.
"Please, Tempest." Twilight grimaced miserably. "Let me help! Let me make it up to you."
"But..."
"I... I just want to bring you back home!"
Tempest's eyes went wide. She gasped.
And the staff hit the marble floor with a thunderous crash. In an instant, Tempest was down off the throne, her forehooves wrapped around Twilight, hugging her fiercely, protectively.
"Twilight, I'm sorry!"
"Tempest?" Twilight asked, a little muffled. "Is it really you? Not..."
"Yeah." Tempest replied. She sat back and smiled weakly at Twilight. "It's me."
"What happened?"
Tempest shook her head. "I'll explain later, now's not the time. But, you have to know, Twilight, I would never harm you. Not in a million years."
"I know that, Tempest. But... you've been wearing that armor for like forever. Why hasn't it affected you before?"
Tempest looked puzzled by that. Then realization dawned. She peered up at her horn -- her whole, unbroken horn.
"Because of this," she said. "With my horn broken, magic doesn't come easy to me. I have to think about it, whenever I use it. It's enough to keep the armor's magic from twisting my thoughts around. Though I suppose, over a long enough time without friends like you around, it might have some effect..." She looked at Twilight again. "But you don't have to worry. It's me again, Twilight."
"Good," Twilight said. "Because I wouldn't want to head back without you."
Trixie looked around at the others. "Is that it?" she asked. "Did we just win?"
Starlight smiled. "You sound disappointed, Trix."
"Just making sure," Trixie said, "there's no last-minute villains popping up from behind the scenery to take a pot-shot at us."
"That only happens in the movies," Sunset said. "Uh... doesn't it?" She glanced around worriedly.
"Let's go home, just to be on the safe side," Twilight suggested. Then she looked up at Tempest's horn.
"If you're okay with that, Tempest?"
"Totally okay, Twilight. But there's one last thing we should do," Tempest said. "Just to fix everything."
Taking up the staff in her magic, Tempest trotted over to the central slot of the mandala that she'd chalked on the chamber floor, with the four Princesses set at its corners. Slotting the staff into place, she twisted it, triggering the return flow of its stolen magic, back to its rightful owners.
"I think we should leave now," Tempest added. "Quickly. To avoid any awkward questions."
Then she glanced around. "Where's Grubber got to?" She grimaced. "Oh, crap! We'll have to swing by the kitchens on our way out..."
------------------------------
On their return through the portal, Twilight's team found, instead of the Golden Oak Library, the main workroom of the Advanced Projects tower in Canterlot. It was waiting for them, every book, every scroll, every exam-paper, just the way they'd left it. The ponies from Ponyville were there as well, as were Spike and Grubber. So was Discord, though the draconequus had been unusually quiet ever since Tempest's return.
After a round of greetings and hugs, everyone gathered around the main worktable. And they held an impromptu ice-cream party, each of them provided with a bowl or cone of her or his favorite flavor, which Pinkie Pie had ordered in from the local sweet-shop.
"So," Sunset asked Tempest, "how did that happen anyways? How'd you go from a happy childhood with your horn restored... to that?" She gestured at the mirror portal, and by extension the ruined-then-restored Canterlot beyond it.
"It happened..." Tempest sighed, "because I wasn't really happy. It's what I was worried might happen, when this all started. Sure, it was nice for a while. I thought having my horn back would be the best thing ever, and for a while it was. But it wasn't, really. Having my horn back, having my friends back... it didn't change who I was. I was still an abandoned filly, living in a small-town Foal Center, with too much magic and nopony to teach me how to use it properly. Still the weird pony, the outsider. Still frightening to the other kids. No matter how hard I tried to fit in, that didn't change. I was exactly the same pony I've always been."
She sighed.
"I am not a nice pony," she said. "Not a kind pony. Not a gentle pony. I don't think I ever will be. It's not who I am. So, one day, it all got to be too much and I ran away. And then I fell right back in with the wrong crowd, just like I did before. And when the Storm King showed up, looking for someone to serve as commander of his army, I went with him. The only difference was that this time, without my broken horn to hold me back, I fell completely under the sway of Sacanas's armor. I took down the four Princesses of Equestria... including you, Twilight. I'm so sorry about that."
Twilight nodded. "I know, Tempest."
"And I took down the Storm King," Tempest went on, "when he tried to betray me. With my full magic available, he didn't stand a chance! In fact, if you hadn't shown up, Twilight, I'd probably still be there. A magic-wielding despot, ruling a shattered capitol city, my armies in charge of the entire dominion of Equestria... and that would just be for a start."
She laughed, humorlessly. "Sacanas, in all but name... restored to life again..."
At that, Discord stared at her uneasily, but he said nothing.
"So, what brought you back?" Twilight asked. "How did I get through to you? Uh, just so I know for next time?"
Tempest nodded. "You reminded me that when I met you, Twilight, when the two of us became friends, I finally had the one thing I'd been missing all along." She smirked. "A home. A place I can call home, somepony I can regard as family, even if only informally. I needed that, Twilight. And, in a way, so did Sacanas. I could feel it, almost. When you offered to bring me home, to give me back the home I'd wanted, all my life... suddenly, the armor had no hold on me. The blinders were off, I could see clearly again. Because this is where I feel the happiest, Twilight. As your guardian, and B.S.B.F.F."
The Ponyville ponies stared at her, puzzled.
Tempest rolled her eyes. "Big Sister Best Friend Forever?"
"Oh!" they chorused, smiling understandingly.
"Well, that goes for me, too," Starlight said. "Because this is where I'm happy. Being able to cut loose with creative spells, and help save Equestria in the process. Yeah. That's what I've really wanted."
"The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrixie is happy wherever she travels with her spectacular magic show!" the showpony intoned. "So long as it's Trixie's magic show, and nopony else's. But, even so, I am happiest here, with ponies I can wow with my amazing feats of legerdesabot. And ponies I can be besties with!" She hugged Starlight with a hoof.
"And I'm happiest," Sunset added, "being able to pitch in with a group of like-minded ponies who are just as much into magic and learning as I am. Being able to provide advice and support, and have it actually do some good! And yeah, being able to save Equestria while I'm at it -- that's a nice bonus."
"Hear, hear!" Moondancer said, with feeling. "My research means nothing to me unless I'm using it to help ponies. And as part of this group, I can do that. I can make it happen. I can make a difference. That's happiness to me!"
Cheese looked around at them all, and grinned. "I'm just a party pony," he said. "So I'm happy pretty much anywhere I am -- it's part of the job. But I do need to make as many other ponies happy as I can. And keep them happy, even when life is boring or hard. And if I can do that with all of you, and help save Equestria from time to time... yeah, that works for me!"
"And we're happy to be your friends too, Twilight," Applejack said. "Sure, maybe we're not the Heroes of Equestria like y'all, not the Elements of Harmony. But that's okay! We got our own homes and families and lives to look after. We'll always be glad to pitch in, if and when you need extra hooves around here. But the rest of the time, it's good for us to know there's a dedicated bunch like y'all lookin' after things up here, so we don't have to worry."
"So," Twilight summed up proudly, "It sounds to me like we're all happier as we are. And Equestria is certainly better off for it. We may not be the bearers of the Elements, not exactly. But we're the next best thing. And we're the ponies Equestria needs when there's a problem that needs solving."
"Here, here!" added Spike, gesturing with his spoon.
"Speaking of problems," Tempest said, evenly. "What do we do about the current one... the cause of all this mayhem?"
They all looked at Discord. The draconequus glanced around at all of them nervously.
Then he deliberately set down his ice-cream bowl, stood up, and adopted a resolute expression, his lion paw over his heart, saluting with his eagle-claw.
Trixie stared up at him. "Uhh, what are you doing?"
"Why, posing, of course!" Discord sighed. "So that when you turn me back to stone, at least I'll have a more photogenic look on my face." He looked around at them. "After all, I blew it again, didn't I? And somehow, even worse than the last time. I'll spare you the details, no point going into it. Like Tempest, I doubt I'll ever really change. So, you might as well lock me up again, just for safety's sake."
He materialized a target on himself, and a blindfold. "I'm prepared, ladies! You may fire when ready..."
"Oh!" Fluttershy said, sadly. "Do we really have to?"
The ponies all looked at each other. Then Sunset sighed, exasperatedly. "Just tell me why, Discord," she said. "Help me understand. And maybe I can get past it. Why did you put us through all that?"
Discord stared at her. "Well, as I said, I wanted to try to provide a learning experience for all of you. The same way Princess Celestia does. I envy her skill at that, I really do. And even with my eons of experience, I still don't have her knack for it." He shrugged. "I may be able to rip the fabric of reality to suit myself, but even I have a thing or two to learn about being a teacher and mentor. And apart from that, I really like feeling needed from time to time. And having a gang that I can pal around with, now and again. You ponies certainly fit the bill."
He became somber, and looked at Fluttershy.
"But more than anything else, I missed having a friend. The first real friend I ever had. And now I feel like I've lost her forever..."
Tempest and Twilight looked at each other.
"I think I know how that feels," Twilight said quietly.
Discord nodded. "You're a perceptive pony, Twilight. I've always thought so. But even so." He looked mournfully at Fluttershy. "After what I did, I don't suppose I can really ask you to be my friend now, can I?"
"You don't have to." Fluttershy smiled. "I already am."
"What?" Discord stared at her -- as did everypony else. "You... you mean it, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy laughed, in her quiet, hummy way. "I can't remember my home being so lively, not until you came along. And I do like having such pleasant company for tea. When the two of us are chatting, somehow I don't feel at all self-conscious. I can just be myself. And I'd be glad to do it again sometime."
"Like... maybe Tuesdays?" Discord asked carefully, clearly worried that he might be pushing his luck.
"Yes, that sounds fine," Fluttershy said. "Provided you behave yourself from now on," she added seriously. "You are supposed to be reformed, you know."
"You mean it, Fluttershy? Tuesday tea is back on?"
"Mm hmm!"
Discord boggled. And then he leapt in the air, turning a somersault.
"Yahoo!"
And suddenly, in quick succession, the ponies were... ... lying on deck-chairs at a sea-side resort... ... sitting on couches and chairs in a suburban living room... ... standing at the railing of a cruise airship... ... sitting at control consoles on a huge space cruiser... ... and finally being chased by bizarre alien-looking creatures through an ancient and crumbling temple on a planet with three moons... ... before Discord suddenly went wide-eyed, and hurriedly snapped his claw.
They were all back again, sitting around the table in the workroom. And everypony somehow wound up with a fresh serving of ice-cream.
Discord coughed into his paw, apologetically.
"Sorry. Bit of high spirits there. Won't happen again..."
------------------------------
Later that day, they were all assembled in the Audience Hall of the Royal Palace. Discord stood on the red carpet before the Sun Throne, surrounded by the ponies from both Ponyville and Canterlot.
"Yes, Princess," Discord said, bowing to Celestia. "I'm prepared to use my magic for good, instead of evil. Except of course," he added quickly, "when a good prank is what's really called for..."
"Congratulations on your success, ponies," Celestia said. "I definitely sense a significant change in Discord. Though I shall leave it to you, Twilight, to apply whatever disciplinary measures you feel are appropriate in future. And, Fluttershy, my congratulations to you in particular. I understand your befriending Discord was instrumental in resolving this whole matter so smoothly."
"It wasn't too hard," Fluttershy said. She smiled up at Discord. "He already wanted to offer friendship. He just needed somepony willing to return it." Then she nudged the draconequus.
"Go on, say it..."
"Oh, all right..." Discord drew himself up. "Friendship... is not Magic. Twilight and her group had it right all along. Friendship is making friends and being able to keep them. It really does stand alone, brings all the other elements together. So Twilight and her friends... her Canterlot friends... are the new Elements of Harmony." He shrugged. "Or near enough it really doesn't matter."
"You see?" Fluttershy said happily. "He can be a real sweetheart when he wants to be!"
The ponies all looked uneasy at that, Princess Celestia included.
Applejack leaned closer to Trixie. "Five bits says he don't last the week."
It was later in the evening. The Canterlot Archives was darkened and quiet, its many halls, reading rooms, and book stacks home to only shadows and stillness...
Except for the Restricted Section, in a secure vault at the rear of one of the sub-basements.
Celestia was there, staring intently at a tall, coal-gray crystal set under a dome of spotlessly clean glass.
Discord was standing beside her, peering at it as well.
"I did have a hunch, Celestia, that you didn't have me reformed merely out of the goodness of your heart. Though I admit that covers a lot of ground. Much as you do yourself..."
"Discord..." she warned.
He held up his claw placatingly. "Hey! Don't shoot the messenger, here. Though if you did manage to lay off the cake from time to time..."
"The crystal, Discord?" Celestia asked, patiently.
"Yes, yes! Let me see." He put on a pair of pince-nez glasses, and stared at it some more. "Hmm. And you're saying this is all that remained, after Sombra..."
"All of it," Celestia confirmed. "The entire Empire... and this crystal is clearly the key."
"Hmm. More like the lock, I'd say," Discord observed. "But yes, I believe I can at least unstick it for you a little..."
He gently snapped his claw. For a moment, dark magic bubbled and seethed around the crystal, then lifted like vapor and dissipated... leaving it apparently unchanged.
"It doesn't look any different," Celestia said doubtfully.
"Well, you know Sombra, my dear. Appearances can be deceiving. But the crystal is accessible, I assure you. It's simply up to you to figure out how..."
Celestia eyed him quietly for a moment. "And you're not even going to give me a hint? Just to watch me struggle with it? Because I will admit, I can't do this on my own. I do need your help."
It was Discord's turn to be quiet, out of surprise. "Even after everything?" Discord asked. "The Mage Wars, the Confused Era, being left alone and isolated, for a thousand years. I could hear you, you know, even frozen in the garden as I was. Crying yourself to sleep, on nights when you hadn't managed to overwork yourself to oblivion?"
Celestia nodded. "Like an old friend once said... if we're willing to put the past behind us, who am I to object?"
Discord looked touched. For all of two seconds. Then he did his best not to look smug. "Well, you know how I work, Celestia. I can't just give you the answer. But I can point you in the right direction. And what I would suggest is this: ask yourself how you feel about Sombra."
Celestia's cold, stern gaze was answer enough.
"Good, good! Now work with that! How do you feel about the Crystal Empire? And -- oh, who was it again? Ah, yes, dear little Princess Amore, your friend, ally, and mentor?"
Celestia's face fell, became sadly regretful.
Discord suddenly clapped his paw and claw, right under her snout. "No, no, no! I mean, when they were still here! Stop thinking like a mourning dove, Celestia. Because that's how the Umbrum work! That's how they want you to think."
The Princess glared at him hotly. And then, realizing, she nodded.
She concentrated, and on her face a smile grew: warm, happy, reminiscent. Her sword-like horn lit up. With a levitation spell she lifted the dome of glass, and then took up the crystal. Shutting her eyes, she projected the warm, happy feeling from her heart into the crystal, as a shimmering amber flood of magic.
And the crystal was instantly transformed. The coal-gray cast drained away, replaced by a warm, rich, roseate hue.
Opening her eyes, Celestia gasped, nearly dropping the crystal in shock. Gently, she prodded it with her magic...
... and on the floor before her, a holographic map appeared. A city of crystal dwellings, in a street configuration reminiscent of a snowflake. And at its heart, a tall, ice-white crystalline spire...
"The Crystal Empire..." Celestia breathed. "As it was before... before Sombra..."
Then she sighed.
"But it's still just an image, not the real thing. It's still trapped. Discord, are you certain..."
"Sorry, Celestia!" He shrugged. "There are some secrets Sombra chose not to divulge to anyone... not even me! Presumably there's a way to unlock whatever curse was put on the Empire. But maybe he was determined to take the secret with him."
"Maybe," Celestia agreed sadly.
"Of course..." Discord added with a mischievous look. "If you were really desperate, I could always give it a whirl..." He held up his claw, eyeing her speculatively.
Celestia sighed, and shook her head. Gently, she replaced the crystal under its glass dome. "No, Discord," she said, determinedly. "Every lock has its key. We'll just have to keep looking for this one..."
"Ah, well. Suit yourself. And now, if there's nothing else, Celestia? I'll just pop back to my own dimension for some long-overdue spring chaosing. Ta ta!"
In a flash of chaos magic, he disappeared. Leaving Celestia shaking her head, amused by the change in him. He seemed almost like his old self again. Almost.
Extinguishing the lights, she locked up the Restricted Section. Then she trotted back through the darkened palace corridors, returning to the Audience Hall to continue her re-education of Princess Luna in the peculiarly formal and overly dramatic intricacies of the Night Court. The irony being of course, that Luna herself was the architect of same...
And as she went, Celestia considered Discord. Lonely, solitary Discord, who unwound his life, his memories, his very self, just to be with a single pony who once offered to be his friend.
"Maybe..." she whispered softly, "maybe there is just a spark of decency in Discord after all..."
Then she heard the draconequus's voice. It boomed through the darkened corridors all around her, huge and ghostly, chuckling sinisterly:
Don't bet on it, Celestia...
The End
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, its characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro. No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.
