~Flashback~        

A sparkling layer of fresh dew coated the grass in front of the chariot. A sweet scent that could only be enjoyed in the crisp morning air was brought in by a gentle breeze. Celestia’s mane careless waved in front of her eyes. Better it did though; this way Discord didn’t have to see her cry.

Today was the day Celestia was to return to Equestria to join her father at the castle. It was difficult for the alicorn to leave, as she had developed a very deep relationship with a certain draconequus over the past five years. She had been madly in love with Discord ever since the first time they kissed. It killed her inside to leave him, but she really had no choice. This was always bound to happen; such is the life of a diplomat after all.

        As Celestia went to board the chariot, she was suddenly pulled into an unexpected, tight embrace from behind. Discord had wrapped his arms around her neck and wouldn’t let go. He lowered his head, so his lips just barely touched her ear and whispered, “Please, don’t go.”

Celestia stood still for a bit, pondering what one could possibly say in a situation like this. Finally, she came to the conclusion that there was no right thing to say. She turned around to get one final look at him. Discord’s eyes were gleaming from a thin film of tears that had yet to fall. She placed her hoof on his cheek and kissed him lightly, hoping that her actions could say what her words could not.

“I fear for our future...” Discord whispered, nuzzling his face against hers. “If you leave...something terrible will happen, I just know it.”

“Discord...-”

        “Celestia...goodbye.” Discord released his hold of the alicorn and extended his paw towards the chariot. “I’m sorry...I shouldn’t keep you from your father.”

        Celestia smiled weakly and gently kissed Discord on the cheek before retreating to the chariot. It broke Discord’s heart to watch her walk away. He knew this was truly the end between the two of them.

One by one, the pegasi who ponied the chariot began flapping their wings until they had enough power to lift the chariot, and fly off towards Equestria.

        “For a second there I really thought you were about to ruin everything we’ve worked for just to be with that mare...” A mystic voice came from the shadows, sending shivers down Discord’s spine.

        “Of course not, father.” The slender figure of Rashlah emerged from the shadows. He casually floated through the air and landed on his paws next to Discord.

        “Good, good. One must always put their country first, correct?” Discord rotated his head to meet his father’s gaze. A single tear rolled off Discord’s cheek onto the ground below.

        “Always.”

--------

        Celestia landed at the gates of the castle three days after leaving Dracone. She was thoroughly surprised when she was not greeted by her father. In fact, the entire area seemed to be void of pony life at all. There were no gardeners, no passing town ponies, not a single pony other than herself.

        She pushed open the gate and began her lonely journey down the abandoned path that led to her home. Something was up, though Celestia couldn’t figure out what it was. Perhaps her father had planned some kind of surprise party for her return. As she made her way into the gardens, she quickly realized this was not the case. Several of the hedges had been ripped to shreds, and numerous plants had been completely uprooted. There were obvious signs of trouble all around. She instantly began to worry about her family, and galloped off towards the castle as fast she could.

        When she made it to the grand doors, it became abundantly clear that the castle had been attacked. Two of the guards lay dead, and the other three were missing. Celestia gagged as the smell of blood infiltrated her nostrils. Fearing the worst, she eased her way through the corridors. A soft sobbing sound could be heard coming from the direction of the main hall. As she entered the main hall that housed the two thrones, the sobbing became predominately louder.

Celestia searched the room for the source until she spotted a light blue mass far away, huddled on the floor, clutching something tightly in their hooves. She felt her chest tighten as the warm glow of a torch slowly illuminated the mass, revealing a hideous sight. Her little sister, Luna, lay covered in blood, wrapped tightly around the dead body of their father, Nightrend. Breath escaped her and every muscle in her body went numb. “L-Luna...what h-happened?” Celestia said, tears streaming from her eyes.

The wreck of a mare that was Luna gently raised her head from Nightrend’s body. Her eyes had huge bags underneath them from crying, and her mane was disheveled. She opened her mouth to speak, but words eluded her and she began to sob again.

Celestia, understanding Luna’s pain, quickly wrapped her hooves around the tiny mare. She was a fair amount older than her Luna, so was more equipped to handle a situation like this, though her heart still ached. She gentle ran her hooves through Luna’s mane in an attempt to calm the frantic alicorn. Finally, after what seemed like hours of this, Luna managed to find words. “It was the draconequus..."

Celestia felt her heart drop out of her chest at the mention of the draconequus. “D-don’t be silly Luna...they’re our allies, they would never betray us like that.”

“I know what I saw Celestia...I entered the room to greet father for our morning breakfast, and I see one of those...freaks standing over his body. When he saw me, he fled.” Tears once again began to fill up in the young mare’s eyes. “Th-then when I went to check on mama...I found that she was...she was-” Celestia wrapped her hooves around Luna and pulled her tightly into her chest.

“Shh Luna...it’s okay now.” Celestia wanted to break down and cry herself, but somepony had to be strong -- for Luna.

---------

        Discord hovered over the bloody figure of his father, Rashlah. He had a peculiar grin plastered across his face, yet his eyes showed great sorrow. With his last remaining strength, his father raised his head to be face to face with his son.

        “Wh-why...would you do this? We had so much going...why would you throw it away for her?” Discord chuckled slightly and turned away from his father.

        “I did it not for her, but because I am dog without honour. I...allowed you to proceed with your cowardly plans, and even went along with it. I am worthless, and as such do not deserve her.” His father grimaced in pain and spat in Discord’s direction.

        “Then why?! Why would you betray me!?” Discord’s guffawed and snapped his fingers. A cage apparated next to the two of them, a tiger nestled asleep in it.

        “Have I not answered that? Because I am a dog without honour. You see, you’ve taken almost everything from me. You know what I’m left with?” Rashlah generously shook his head.

Discord responded by smacking the tiger cage loudly, waking it up. The entire frame of the crate shook from the violent smack, causing the tiger to awaken. “Chaos,” he chuckled. “It’s all I have left to call my own now.” Another snap of his fingers, and the cage door swung open, allowing the angry tiger to roam towards a downed Rashlah.

“Goodbye, father.”

----------

        The two sisters had finally been able to compose themselves enough to confront the national tragedy with their advisers. An elderly unicorn, with a long grey beard entered the room holding a large text book in a magical aura. “You called for my aid, Celestia?”

        “Ahh, Starswirl. As you know we have suffered a great...tragedy. The draconequuis have betrayed us. As my father’s most trusted adviser, I look for your aid in this delicate matter.” Celestia smiled weakly, and waved a hoof, inviting Starswirl to the adjacent seat. He returned the smile, and took a seat next to her.

        “Well then, I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I have to say. Not only have we suffered the loss of our king, but several of our cities have fallen under siege. We are doing the best we can to hold them off, but their numbers are staggering. I’m still not sure how they managed to move such a massive number of troops right under our noses.”

        Celestia cringed. She knew it had to do with the time she had spending with Discord. With everything that had happened, she could help but she had been used by him. Over two years she had fallen completely in love with him, and he had betrayed her beyond reason. To her, the sting of heartbreak was almost as bad as her fathers death. “So, this is war then?” she said, grimly.

        Starswirl casually shifted his gaze to the cover of the book he had brought in. “Yes, m’lady.”

        “Well, I’d say so as well,” chimed Luna, “but the real question is what are we going to do about it? I know their species, they will fight until one side is completely destroyed.”

Celestia frowned and closed her eyes. “Then we must fight for our survival. They be more powerful than us, but our fighting force is much larger...”

        “What about Discord?” Luna said, boldly. “He had to have a big part in this. You have told me so much about him, how could he do something like this?”

        Celestia’s frown deepened. “I do not know sister...” The saddened Princess looked down to the necklace that hung lazily across her breast. “I must retreat to my quarters. Luna, you are fit, please discuss the upcoming matters with Starswirl...”

        She hastily stumbled out of her chair, and ran out of the room, tears escaping from her eyes. Starswirl, who was greatly confused by the whole ordeal, turned to Luna with raised brow.

        “I fear she has suffered the most from this. It surprises me that she would actually allow me to handle the situation, though I am most grateful for the opportunity.” Starswirl acknowledged the Princess by grinning slightly through his large, tangled beard.

        “Age is just a number; it is the state of one’s mind that is the measure of experience,” he said, mystically, “so I imagine it is now you that I must rely on.” He flipped the book open to the first chapter and cleared his throat. “Let us go over some plans then.”

---------

Celestia flung herself to her bed, and rolled over so she could face the ceiling. There was a burden in her heart heavier than any other she had felt before. She felt a burning desire to go and find Discord to confront him. So many questions lingered in her head that she felt could never be answered unless she met him face to face, alone.

She grasped her necklace in her hooves and squeezed it tightly. Discord had given it to her shortly after they began dating. He told her that whenever she needed him, all she would have to do is give it a squeeze, and think of him. “I wonder if he knew about all this when he gave it to me...” Burning questions tempted her to go ahead and use the gem, yet another gave her pause. What would actually happen once they were together?

“I’ll need to confront him eventually anyway...” Celestia looked down at the topaz crystal, “why not now?” She closed her eyes tight and whispered her ex-lover’s name. Almost instantly, she could feel the gem in her hooves warm, and slowly the warmth spread all throughout her body. The feathers on her wings began to tingle, forcing her to extend them. She opened her eyes to see what was happening, only to find herself on the edge of a large cliff, standing next to the very same draconequus she had been searching for.

Celestia’s gaze fell upon the pensive figure of Discord, who was simply staring out at the great ocean that lay before them. Whether or not he even knew of her presence was still unknown to her, which was a good thing. Now that she was face to face with him, all words eluded her. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t envision a heartless monster; just the kind, caring Discord that she had grown to love.

She felt her knees grow weak as she glanced across his features. She felt like there was a great pressure pushing down on her, forcing her to become smaller and smaller. Finally, Discord released her from her torment with a simple question. “Celestia, what is the meaning of our existence?”

Celestia raised her head so she could stare into Discord’s shining eyes. “How do you mean?” she questioned, softly.

“Why is it that we wake every morning? What is your motive for crawling out of your warm bed each and every morning?”

Celestia exhaled, and took a deep breath of the fresh ocean air that was rolling in from the beach. “I used to believe it was for you. The knowledge that I would be seeing you in the day allowed me to move on...but now-”

“Tell me, how well has this turned out for you? How bad have I hurt you? That is the flaw in trusting your soul with another; they are ultimately bound to tear it to shreds.” He spoke with an unwavering stillness in his voice that Celestia had never seen before. It wasn’t as if he was sad, but rather, empty inside; like everything that made him, him, had vanished.

“Well, why? Why did you choose to do this to me? Did you ever even love me!?” she shouted, causing a flock of nesting birds nearby to fly away in fear.

“It is not always our choice to make, Celestia. But know this, I have always loved you, and always will. This world just isn’t meant for us, and honestly, we should have seen this coming from the start.”

“We always have a choice, and you chose to take everything from me.”

Discord chuckled, his gaze never faltering from the falling sun on the horizon. “Where have I heard that before?” he asked while chuckling. A silence loomed over the two, allowing break for the sound of the waves crashing below against the cliff base. Celestia closed her eyes and allowed her body to rock to the calming sounds of the ocean.

“So, where do we go from here?” Discord asked, snapping Celestia out of her daze.

“I do whatever it takes to stop you and your father, I suppose...”

“Such uncertainty in your voice. Could you really face me? As for my father, well...let’s just say he is no longer in the picture. I have handled him.” Celestia gasped and stood wide eyed.

 “You k-killed your own father? You are a monster! Why are you doing all this!? What are you hoping to gain? Power?”

        “As you said, I am just a mindless monster in search of the one thing he can honestly still say is his own; chaos.” Discord extended his arms out towards the ocean, and closed his eyes. The ocean and surrounding rocks turned to jello; green jello. “There is nothing more invigorating than creating something that is truly yours. This is just the tip of the iceberg though, I have much bigger plans for this world.”

        Celestia was awestruck. She had seen him perform such stunts on a much smaller scale, and they had always simply amused her. However, this was an entire section of the ocean, something ponies and draconequus alike needed for survival, and he acted as if it was nothing. “When did you change...?” she asked, tears now making her eyes glisten in the dimming light of the sunset.

        “I have always been this way, my dear. It has always been you that kept me in line; that prevented me from doing what I was born to. I truly cared for you, so I allowed myself to succumb to the inner desires of my heart, and withstand from causing chaos. It was for you I lied to myself each and every day. But please, this conversation grows dull. Close your eyes...and be gone from this place.”

        Celestia watched as the sun continued to descend, until only the faintest traces of it’s glimmering light remained. She wanted to stay, and stop Discord, but she knew she alone would not have the power. Celestia obliged, slowly allowing her eyelids to drop over her watered eyes. As she did so she could swear tears were beginning to fall from the draconequus’ face, but the time went by too fast for her to be sure. The alicorn once again experienced the warmth she had felt when first coming here. As she traveled between locations, she heard the faintest whisper, “Perhaps the truth shall shine through in a distant future...”

~Flashback End~