Octavia was coming to. As she sat up, she felt her head throbbing with pain. Her mouth was dry, her tongue feeling like a piece of sand paper in her mouth. She coughed, using her forelegs to sit up and get a look at her surroundings. With her vision still blurry, it was difficult to see where she was. All that she really could see was painfully bright light that caused her to squint.

"Urrrrrgh..." Vinyl moaned, apparently only a few feet away. Octavia turned, seeing the white mare sit up, though it was difficult to see her properly due to Octavia's squinting.

"Vinyl?" The mare asked, "What happened?"

Vinyl groaned in pain, "I don't know, but man is it bright! My head is killing me..."

"That Alicorn..." Octavia spoke, trying to stop squinting, "Maybe she had something to do with it. She kept blaming something on us..."

"I don't know, let's just go home..." Vinyl sighed, now standing on all four hooves.

Octavia manged to crack her eyes open, finally able to see her surroundings once her eyes adjusted, "I... Don't think we can."

"What?" Vinyl asked, her eyes straining to focus in the bright light.

"Because. We're on a floating island."

Vinyl's eyes adjusted as she joined Octavia. Her jaw dropped, seeing where they had been transported to. Standing before them on a large, floating piece of land was a tower similar to the Tower of Midnight, except this one was yellow and white instead of black and purple. All around them was a land bathed in bright daylight, overwhelming them and blinding them. The sun sat directly over the top of the tower as if said tower was holding it up.

"The Tower of Noon," Vinyl breathed in awe, "Celestia's tower. Celestia... Celestia! The Alicorn in our dream! She must have brought us here!" She paused, "But why did she look so... Colorless?"

"I don't know," Octavia said, an unsure tone in her voice, "But whatever it is, I'm sure Celestia will give us answers once we get up there."

"I don't know," Vinyl whimpered, "If that really was her in the dream, then I don't think she's going to want to talk about it..."

"Only one way to find out."

They started up the walkway to the tower, slowly going into the entrance. Inside was almost like an old, Greek building with marble columns and beautiful frescos upon the walls. The ceiling was painted to appear as a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

"At least it's not collapsing." Joked Vinyl.

"Not yet," Octavia said, "If we don't find out why Celestia summoned us here and why she's so angry at us... History could possibly repeat itself."

"Nightmare Sun?" Vinyl asked, giggling at her own statement.

Octavia glared at Vinyl, "This is no time for jokes, V. We need to figure out what's going on before it's too late." She looked around, her sights setting on a staircase in the corner, "There's the stairs. C'mon, let's go."

They started to ascended the stairs. Octavia figured since the Tower of Noon was the Tower of Midnight's reversed counterpart, then it should have the same number of floors.

"You're starting to sound like Whooves." Vinyl stated. She looked down, "Oh great, now I'm going to get all sappy over him."

Octavia's violet eyes were hidden behind a curtain of brown hair, making it difficult for Vinyl to guess what she was thinking. Whenever she brought Whooves up, Octavia always fell silent, as if the memory was still painful. It 'was' painful, but Vinyl would have figured that Octavia would be over it by now. Apparently she was not.

"You know Octavia," Vinyl began, "I... I know you liked him. Like, really like liked him. We all miss him too, but we've got to let go of the past at some point. You can't keep mourning over him. What if, say, we face someone who offers the safety of Equestria or the return of Whooves... What would you chose?"

Octavia didn't answer, causing Vinyl to feel very pained.

"You... You would chose Whooves, wouldn't you?"

Octavia still didn't answer.

"Octavia..." Vinyl sighed, "You... Why?"

Octavia stopped dead in her tracks, turning to face Vinyl with fiery violet eyes. For a moment, Vinyl thought her friend was going to punch her, but the enraged look on the cellist's face disappeared soon after.

"Vinyl, I doubt we would ever face an enemy like that," She growled, "They'd have to have stalked me in order to learn about my love for Whooves. Let's just stop talking about it and keep going."

By the time the conversation had ended, they were at the top of the tower. It was eerily simlilar to the top of the Tower of Midnight, except this top was brighter and slightly more welcoming.

"Where's Celestia?" Vinyl asked, glancing around the tower.

Octavia calmly walked around, examining everything. There was something very off, and it wasn't just the fact that the "being-watched" feeling was back and stronger than ever... There was just something...

"Octavia!" Vinyl screamed. Something landed hard right behind Octavia, throwing her foward a couple of feet. She turned, discovering the familiar, gray-maned Alicorn now standing only a few yards away from her.

"You!" She roared, "You did this!"

Vinyl ran to Octavia side, defending her, "Celestia, please! We don't know what you're talking about! What did we do?"

"You changed my poor sister!" Celestia answered, pawing the ground with a golden hoof, "You hurt her! You turned her into a monster!"

"What?" Octavia questioned, cocking her head, "We didn't do anything of such! We saved Luna!"

"Lies!" Roared Celestia, "All lies! You hurt her, and it's my job to protect her! I will avenge her!"

Octavia and Vinyl were forced to jump out of the way as Celestia fired off a beam of golden magic. With teeth bared, she spread her large, feathered wings and took to the skies, flying just in front of the sun. Octavia and Vinyl took this time to draw their instruments as Celestia flew higher.

"What is she doing?" Vinyl asked, craning her neck back and shielding her eyes from the sunlight.

"She's going for another attack." Octavia explained. Her eyes widened, seeing what Celestia was doing, "She's getting energy from the sun! It makes her stronger! Get down!"

They ran away from Celestia's aim. It was no use, for she charged up a beam of magic and fired it. The beam was much too large for the mares to avoid. It hit them at full force, blasting them backwards about ten feet and hitting the tower's edging at high speeds that weakened them severely.

"Ow..." Vinyl groaned, "That... Was not expected..."

Neither Octavia nor her buddy could get up after the hit. Celestia approached, baring her teeth. She started to charge up for one last attack, but they heard the breath in her throat catch. She clutched her chest, gasping for air as if had just been snatched away from her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head before she toppled over, landing on her side with a loud thud.

"Oh my gosh!" Vinyl gasped, "What did we do?! Did we kill her?!"

"No," Octavia answered, "I can see her chest rising. She's still alive but... What happened?"

"You happened." A voice answered. Just then, in a flash of bright blue light, the familiar ebony Alicorn that was Princess Luna appeared. She appeared to be very angry with the two.

"Wha... Luna?" Vinyl asked, mouth open agape, "What did we do?"

"You hurt her severely," Luna explained, "It's because of your being here when you shouldn't be. I'm sorry, but this is just one of the many reasons I must destroy you."

Vinyl and Octavia stared at the broken form of Celestia lying a few feet behind her sister. They couldn't believe that they had just damaged her greatly.

"I don't understand..." Octavia said, looking into Luna's eyes, "How is our being here harming others? If anything, we're helping others!"

Luna shook her head, "I'm sorry. You're harming the universe as a whole. For that, I have to rid of you." Her horn started glowing, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."

Vinyl squeezed her eyes shut while Octavia stared in horror at the Alicorn about to kill them. However, she noticed while Luna was conjuring up the spell that would end them, she didn't look very sorry. In fact, she was smiling, showing off a mouthful of sharp teeth. Her instincts were about to kick in, but a voice interrupted her before she could fight back.

"LEAVE THEM!"

A light blue and a dark blue flash appeared between the two mares and Princess Luna. Vinyl and Octavia nearly had a heartattack, seeing that their protectors were Princess Cadance... And another Princess Luna.

"You two!" Snarled the first Luna.

"Two Lunas?!" Vinyl asked, her eyes dilating with surprise.

"Correction," The second Luna said, "One Luna." She pointed her hoof at the other Luna, "This Luna is an imposter!"

"What's going on here?!" Vinyl questioned in a panicky voice.

"This Luna is clearly not the true Luna," Cadance began, "I knew something fishy was up when you said Luna was in Dinky's nightmare, yet, she wasn't curing her. I knew someone had to be posing as Luna in order to get closer to something..." Cadance narrowed her eyes at the imposter Luna, "Why don't you reveal who you really are?"

For a moment, fake Luna stood there staring at the two Alicorns, baffled at what had just happened. That surprise quickly melted away, being replaced with a malicious smile that quickly curled its way onto her face.

"You asked for it." The fake said.

With a loud, explosion-like sound, the four were blinded by a golden light that enveloped the fake Luna. Octavia squinted through the light, seeing that the imposter was changing into something unnatural and beastly... Something that chilled her to the bone and caused her to hide closer behind Luna and Cadance. Vinyl was, as expected, cowering behind the two Alicorns, watching as the imposter took on a new form.

When the light faded, the imposter dropped down, landing with a loud 'thud' that left cracks in the floor. Rising up on its hindlegs, Octavia could get a better look at the beast that had masqueraded as Luna. What she saw caused her mouth to drop open and her limbs to lock up in terror.

What Octavia noticed first was that this creature was severely deformed a mismatched. Each one of its limbs corresponded to that of a different creature, such as its left foreleg being that of a bird of prey, and its tail being that of a serpent. This creature was also ridiculously tall when standing on its hindlegs. In fact, it towered over Cadance and Luna both, even if they were standing on top of each other.

Octavia didn't have time to see all of the creature's oddities before it threw its head back and cackled to the skies in a throaty voice -apparently male- that rocked the tower. Cadance and Luna stood strong though, protecting the two mares who were cowering behind them.

"Holy cow...!" Vinyl squeaked, "Wha...?! What is that thing?!"

"That thing is Discord," Growled Luna, both she and Cadance getting into a battle stance, "An enemy to all of Equestria!"

"And ten times better looking than you," Added the beast known as Discord, "And to think, I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling Alicorns!"

"Save the references!" Luna snarled, "Why did you want to get rid of these innocent mares?"

"Maybe I found them annoying; what, with their whole hero act of saving the Tower of Midnight," Replied Discord, now floating leisurely on his back as if the angry Alicorns were no big deal, "Hero-types annoy me, after all."

"So you just wanted to kill them because they are heroes?!" Cadance questioned, now thoroughly appalled. Her horn started glowing a bright blue, "You monster! I'll give you a taste of your own medicine!"

"No! Cadance!" Luna cried.

Cadance was already charging, horn glowing violently. She aimed her horn at Discord's stomach, hoping to impale him on the spot. The only thing her horn ended up hitting was the wall, which knocked her clean out. Discord had disappeared at the last second without a trace. Now Luna was alone, protecting Octavia and Vinyl by spreading her wings out in front of them.

"Oh Celestia, oh Celestia, oh Celestia, oh Celestia!" Vinyl whimpered, hugging Octavia tight, "Where did he go? Please tell me he can't turn invisible!"

"If I told you, I would be lying." A voice said in Vinyl's ear. She turned, her terrified red eyes now staring into amused scarlet and yellow eyes.

"SWEET CELESTIA ALMIGHTY!" Vinyl screamed, jumping into Octavia's arms. The gray mare stumbled, trying to keep her balance as she held her shuddering buddy in her arms.

Luna covered for them, jumping between them and Discord with her wings still outstretched, "What is your intentions of posing as me?" Her horn started glowing, "Give me a straight answer or I will force you to."

"To send a message." Discord said rather blankly.

Luna raised a skeptical eyebrow, "What is this... Message?"

"A message concerning the safety of Equestria," The multi-beast continued. He started smiling evilly again, "From yours truly, that is."

Luna kept her guard on high as Discord started to pace in midair, babbling on about his message.

"You see," He began, "Since the Harmony Gears are no longer implanted in Equestria's soil, I can now return with ease. Fortunate for me, but not so much for you." He shot foward, obnoxiously putting his face right up against Luna's, "But! I will you give you a chance to stop me." He backed up, now floating a few feet above the ground, "All you must do is come to my domain in the ocean south of Equestria. There, you can fight me and insure Equestria's safety. You have exactly three days starting tomorrow until I unleash my long-awaited wrath on Equestria."

Luna didn't say anything. She stared resentfully at Discord, refusing to relax from her battle stance.

Her opponent smiled smugly, "I'll be waiting for whoever cares to come, my dear. Whether it is you or a wimpy rescue team, I won't care one way or another."

And with that, their attacker was gone in a flash. Luna allowed herself to relax before turning to Octavia and Vinyl. Vinyl was still in Octavia's arms as they both trembled with fear.

"You have exactly five seconds to start explaining what just happened before I start screaming like a little school filly." Vinyl said.

---

Luna, Cadance, Vinyl, and Octavia were gathered around a still knocked-out Celestia. Cadance was okay except for a nasty bump on her head. Vinyl and Octavia's fur was singed in places from Celestia's attack, as well as their manes. Luna was using her magic to very slowly reverse the gray on her sister.

"I remember who that guy was." Octavia began. She gently elbowed Vinyl, "Remember? The Hall of Legends? Whooves told us about Discord's picture."

"Yeah, I remember," Vinyl said, "Whooves was right; and so was I. He is a freak show." She looked at Celestia, "So... It isn't our fault that Celestia's hurt, is it?"

"No," Luna quickly replied, "This grayness indicates my sister has been corrupted by Discord's magic. He knocked her out in order to finish you off himself. Hopefully I can reverse his influence and free her."

"Dinky was gray too," Vinyl stated, "But... She was in a Permanent Nightmare. Why her?"

"To get closer to you, I presume," Luna answered, "Being a young filly, she was probably the easiest to manipulate. He seems dead set on getting rid of the both of you."

"Why though?" Octavia asked, "What did we ever do to him?"

Luna shook her head, "That is something that's beyond my knowledge. Discord's motives are something that not even the wisest of ponies could figure out."

"Why was he talking about the Harmony Gears not being in Equestria's soil anymore?" Vinyl added, kicking a rock between her two front hooves.

Luna looked down, "It's a very long story. You see... A few years back before the bearers of the Elements of Harmony became Guardians, Discord was actually on Equestria's side. He was good friends with Fluttershy, Bearer of Kindness. We don't know why... But when the six all became Alicorns and Guardians, he just... Snapped. He went crazy again and started tearing Equestria apart at its very seams. However, when the Elements became the Harmony Gears, they didn't turn him into stone as the Elements did, but instead banished him from Equestria, casting a force field over the land that prevented him from returning. Instead, Discord found an island thousands of miles south of Equestria. Why he wasn't turned to stone as he was the first two times, we'll never know."

"I remember the story," Vinyl said, "Discord ruled Equestria and you and Celestia stopped him by turning him into stone with the Elements of Harmony."

Luna nodded, "Correct."

"Then he broke out," Vinyl continued, "And the Element bearers stopped him again."

Luna nodded again, "Yes."

"And since the Gears are in the Tower of Midnight," Vinyl paused, "That means they can't..."

"Protect Equestria," Luna finished, "Despite being in the tower for over a year now, it is taking the Gears a very long time to repair it. We can't take them out without the tower collapsing again. It will be other year before we can."

"And we only have three days before he attacks." Vinyl reminded.

"Exactly, what's so bad about Discord that he has to be kept out of Equestria?" Octavia asked.

Luna looked down, "He is a spirit of chaos and disharmony. He needs it in order to stay powerful. When he ruled Equestria, he tormented ponies with neverending mayhem and confusion. He tore friends and families apart with his manipulative magic. He... He came close to driving a wedge between me and my sister as well as the Guardians. My sister and I thought that Fluttershy's kindness could change Discord's stone-cold heart so that he might use his powers for good... We were so very wrong."

"How do we stop him?" Vinyl asked.

Luna shook her head, "The only way to stop him is with the Harmony Gears. They are his only weakness."

"Jeez, that helps." The white unicorn said sarcastically.

"He wants us to come to his domain," Cadance piped up after being silent for so long, "Even though he says we can defeat him if we go, it's clearly a trap. He's too clever and manipulative just to let us defeat him."

"So what can we do?" Insisted Vinyl, "We can't just let him attack Equestria and take it again!"

Luna refused to meet her gaze, "For now, I must heal my sister. We shall return to Ponyville and enlighten your friends at the guild. Maybe I can figure something out on the trip there. Hopefully."

As Octavia watched the gray sluggishly vanish from Celestia's body, she glanced up at Luna's face. She didn't look too hopeful.

In fact, she looked unsure and terrified.

---

Why Discord for Darkrai? Mainly because Darkrai was behind everything, and Discord tends to be -like the song- the one behind it all. Probably not my best character choice, but I'm kind of running out of character choices for villains. Ah well.

Hope you enjoyed! Another chapter will come your way sometime in the future! I know because my future self told me so!