Mental Discord

         It was a bright and shining morning and Princess Celestia was wandering the halls of the royal palace in Canterlot, as she often did. There was nothing different about this morning. To her, it was the beginning of a day like any other. She woke up, had her morning bath with lavender bath crystals, sat on the veranda outside her study overlooking the Saddlehorn mountains and consumed her royal breakfast of tea, alfalfa, and sugared plums with rose petals while pretending to listen as an attendant read to her the daily schedule. She went out to the main balcony for a minute or two of worshipping by the various adoring citizens of Equestria, then back inside to sign some important documents. The afternoon would bring such activities as hoof-shaking, foal-kissing, flank-kissing (from assorted underlings) and a match of tennis with the Duke of Trottingham. In the evening, she would attend a performance of "H.M.S. Ponyfore" presented by the Grand Canterlot Opera. But right now all that mattered was her royal putter-about in the Halls of Eternal Majesty, which showcased her glory in marble. No adoring fans, no affairs of state, no auspicious events, just her surrounded by impeccably hoof-sculpted statues of her. The warm, gentle breeze of the valley blew in through the open windows, caressing her beautifully groomed mane. She stopped to savor the moment, the sounds of the birds chirping and the rushing river below permeating through the open halls. Her peaceful solitude was suddenly broken by a young filly galloping past her. She recognized the purple figure rushing by as her protégé Twilight Sparkle, and the cyan blur that soon followed in pursuit as Twilight's friend Rainbow Dash. Celestia watched them for a few moments as they faded down the hallway. She smiled.

"Twilight Sparkle," she said to herself, "You've learned so much since I sent you to live in Ponyville." She continued on her walk. "You show such great talent in magic. You may very well be the next ruler of Equestria."

Luna walked up behind her.

"Luna, you're up early," Celestia said to her without turning around. She could always sense her sister's presence.

"The sun hurts our eyes," the night mare replied, in a normal tone but still using the Royal Canterlot plural. "We are not used to the brightness that comes with day."

"Why are you up, then, dear sister?"

"Our job is to assist in the keeping of harmony. We sense that one is falling out of balance."

Celestia turned around to face the empty space behind her. A sudden state of sadness overcame her as she recalled the untimely death of her sister. Although she had been reformed in her ways, there were still factions of ponies who opposed her sister. The assassination was quick and unexpected. Since then, Celestia had taken on the responsibility of raising both the sun and the moon. To do both was a feat of magical endurance and had slowly taken its toll on her, both physically and mentally. There would come a time when she would need to hand the crown to a new-

"Celestia?"

The mare looked up to the sound of her name being called.

"Princess, what are you doing out here? You really mustn't wander off without your aid," said the fully grown purple mare.

"Twilight?" The princess squinted. "Oh, my dear Twilight, it's such a beautiful day. I thought it would be nice to enjoy it out here."

Twilight Sparkle approached Celestia. "It is a beautiful day. Who were you talking to?"

Celestia looked out across the valley. Perhaps later on she would go for a swim in the lake.

"Oh, nopony, dear."

Twilight put her hoof on Celestia's shoulder. "You must come inside, Princess. The doctor is here."

"Twilight?"

"Yes, princess?"

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday."

Celestia thought for a few moments then looked back up at her former student. "Of course it is."

"How are we feeling today, Princess?" The doctor examined her.

Celestia was not known to hate anyone. She was a benevolent ruler who loved and cared for all. But she hated the doctor. Doctor Stable, the geriatric care physician, was highly condescending and obtrusive. She felt that in most recent times she was treated like a filly as opposed to the high ruler of Equestria. And Doctor Stable was the worst.

"I'm fine, doctor," Celestia answered him begrudgingly. "Tip top form, in point of fact."

"Sleeping okay?"

"Perfectly," she lied. She'd be suffering from insomnia for the past few months, but mentioning it would only invite more prodding.

"Princess, lying to me is not going to help you."

"There's no need to fuss! I promise you, I've never felt better."

Doctor Stable tied a tourniquet around her arm and took a needle from his bag.

"What's that for?" Celestia asked, eyeing it cautiously.

"I'm just going to draw some blood."

"Will it...will it hurt?"

Doctor Stable looked at her quizzically for a few moments then tried to give her a reassuring smile. To Celestia, it looked more like a smirk than a smile. Stable was not known for his bedside manner. The princess winced as the doctor inserted the needle into her forearm.

"Look at you now, Princess. You were so high and mighty, keeping order throughout all Equestria," a deep, familiar voice mocked her.

"Discord!" Celestia cried, yanking away from the doctor, blood trailing down her arm.

"Princess, please!" yelled Doctor Stable.

"I defeated you twice before, Discord, what makes you think I can't do it again?"

"Correction, Celestia, you defeated me once before. The second time you got your assorted collection of little ponies to do your dirty work."

"Because those little ponies are connected to the Elements of Harmony!"

"You're bleeding, Celestia." Discord cackled.

Celestia looked down. She was bleeding, quite profusely.

"Doctor!" she cried out in panic.

Doctor Stable pressed a square of gauze onto the injection site and dabbed what little blood there was. Celestia looked down at her arm. There was no major wound, she was not bleeding out. She looked behind her. Discord was gone.

"Discord! Where are you? Show yourself!" she shouted.

"Princess, there's nopony there," Twilight said softly with a look of deep concern on her face.

Celestia looked back at her. When did her tiny protégé grow to be so big? It seemed only yesterday that Twilight had hatched baby Spike from an egg during her entrance exam to her own School for Gifted Unicorns. She closed her eyes tightly.

"I know..." she whispered to herself.

"Princess?"

"I know!" Celestia stormed out of the room.

That night was the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, the most anticipated night of the year. Princess Celestia did dread it. Every year it turned out to be the same thing: Hundreds of Equestria's most elite, stuffy, nobles queuing up to kiss the royal flank. Celestia sighed as she applied her makeup. As naturally beautiful as she was, there was always room for improvement. As she carefully applied color to lips, music flowed through her head. She recognized it as from an operetta she had seen in her youth:

"Braid the raven hair

Weave the supple tress

Deck the maiden fair

In her loveliness

Paint the pretty face

Dye the choral lip

Emphasize the grace

Of her ladyship"

Celestia stood up as the music faded. Silence filled the room momentarily and was quickly replaced with the clattering and clinking of plates and cutlery being set up at the buffet tables in the garden that her bedchambers overlooked.

"The dreaded hour approaches," she said quietly to herself as she opened the box containing the royal jewels. Her horn glowed as an amulet floated out and fit itself around her neck.

"Oh, I quite agree with you, Celestia," came a venomous voice. "It is most boring, never any chaos at all. All order and protocol and civility."

Celestia looked at her reflection in the mirror to see Discord standing behind her. She swiveled to face him.

"Have you no shame, Discord? Entering a lady's private bedchambers...uninvited?"

"Must you always be so controlling, my dear Celestia?" he seethed as he stroked her mane. "You simply must learn to give in to the darkness of chaos once in a while."

Celestia recoiled from his touch. His hand inexplicably smelled strongly of oysters, a scent she could not stand. Discord, seeing her revulsion, scowled and snorted.

"I really don't know what you see in all this structure," he said, grabbing a bottle of champagne from the ice bucket by the vanity. "Of course, there's something inherently dissatisfying about harmony, isn't there?"  He carefully peeled the gold foil from the cork, then removed the wire cage. "When everything is structured, there's no room for excitement. Take away that order, and you're left with a much more interesting world." He produced a sabre from the air and in one swift motion, swiped the blade up the neck of the bottle and broke it open, champagne spraying forth. He produced two glasses and filled them both, then handed one to Celestia. She took it, reluctantly, and drank the entire glass in one shot. Discord smiled and refilled her glass. She drank it just as quickly.

"Your mind is so weary, Princess," he spoke softly as he filled her glass for a third time. "All these years. I can offer you relief."

Celestia took the bottle from him and drank from it. Discord stroked her mane again.

"Go to sleep, dear Celestia," he whispered into her ear. "Equestria will be in good hands." He kissed her on the cheek.

Celestia broke the champagne bottle against the table and drove it swiftly up into Discord's chest.

Luna fell to the floor, bleeding.

"Sister," Luna gasped. "Please help me..."

Celestia knelt down and held her dying sister. "I'll find whoever did this." She kissed her sister's forehead. "I'll find them and bring them to justice."

Luna faded from her arms as she sobbed.

The Gala was in full swing as Celestia entered the grand hall to much fanfare. Guests were lined up for their moment of audience with the Princess. Celestia greeted each of them as they stepped up to her, just as she had done for countless years before. Her faithful protégé Twilight Sparkle stood at her side. She had promised Twilight the opportunity to converse about the lessons the young mare had learned about magic and friendship, but, as she much expected, most of the evening would be taken up with hoof-shaking. She could feel her student growing ever restless and impatient.

"Are you alright, Twilight?" the Princess said, looking down to her.

"Yes, Princess. It's just that I've been so excited to spend time with you..."

"Yes, me too, Twilight," Celestia cut her off and turned to a blue pony with white hair and wearing a blue and white dress designed by Rarity. "Oh, good evening! Welcome to the Gala..." She turned back to her pupil. "Which is why I wanted you right here beside me." She turned back to a pair of ponies bowing to her. "Ladies! Lovely to see you again."

"But Princess," Twilight meekly protested, "The line of ponies waiting to see you is practically a mile long! It'll be the end of the evening before we have a chance to talk."

"Twilight, you must be patient. That was one of the first lessons I taught you." She turned to the next pony in line. "Sir Fancypants! What a pleasure, how is that darling daughter of yours? Do move along and I'll talk to you a little later, I've have other ponies to greet."

Twilight sighed and forced a cheerful smile. Pinkie Pie came bouncing into the hall, pushing her party cannon.

"Are you ponies ready to party?" she screeched with joy as she launched confetti and balloons from the cannon. A group of high-society ponies looked on in shock as Pinkie attempted to initiate a conga line. Fancypants set down his champagne glass and joined in.

"On second thought, let's not go to Canterlot," said a newly-arriving gentlecolt to his wife, "It is a silly place."

Around the halfway point of the evening, the line of guests waiting to see the Princess drew to its end. When Celestia had greeted and shaken the hoof of the last guest in line, Twilight gave a sigh of relief and eagerly looked up at her mentor.

"Can we have that conversation now, Princess?" she asked, eyes filled with hope.

"Of course, dear," the Princess said wearily. "We just need to mingle a bit first. It shouldn't take too terribly long."

Twilight opened her mouth, then closed it. She knew her protestations would get her nowhere. This is how it's been for the last thousand years and this is how it will be for another thousand. Patience, after all, was the greatest virtue Celestia had taught her. As they entered the ballroom, they were met with the site of toppling statues and an eight-layer apple cake hurtling through the air.

"Well, it can't get any worse," Twilight said softly.

Just then, a great rumbling was felt throughout the room as the doors burst open and what seemed to be all the wildlife of Canterlot flooded in, followed by Fluttershy in a haggard state.

"You're...going...to LOVE ME!" she bellowed as the stampede of animals filled the room.

"Run," Celestia said to Twilight as her student whistled for her friends and fled the scene. Celestia watched on at the chaos.

"You see how much better this is, Princess?" Discord said slyly.

The party guests ran screaming around the room, chased by the menagerie. Celestia shut her eyes tightly.

"You're not here," she said softly, "You're not real."

"I didn't quite catch that remark," replied Discord.

"I SAID YOU'RE NOT REAL! NONE OF THIS IS REAL!" she screamed.

"Princess?" came a soft voice.

Celestia opened her eyes and looked around. The ballroom was empty. No toppled pillars, no broken statues, no splattered cake, no screaming guests, no stampede of animals. The only other pony in the room was Twilight Sparkle.

"I heard you screaming, Princess," Twilight said as she rushed toward her. "Are you okay? Are you having a fit?"

None of it was real. The gala, the adoring ponies, the important documents, the pair of fillies running down the hall, the Lord of Chaos and her Sister of the Moon. They were all just figments of her mind, memories that refused to leave. She was living a waking dream day in and day out. Celestia fell to the floor in tears.

"Oh, dear Princess Celestia!" Twilight embraced her former teacher. "Doctor! Somepony fetch Doctor Stable!"

Celestia lay in her bed, despondent. The world she knew was fading before her eyes. Who was she? Was she still the ruler of all Equestria, or was she just a shell of her former self, slowly decaying in a controlled environment of medication and geriatric safety? She looked over at the IV hanging beside her bed. It slowly dripped some unknown substance into her body. Each drip was the passing of time. She had lived for well over a millennium, but nopony lives forever. Not even her.

"Dear sister," a gentle voice cooed, "what are you doing here?"

Celestia looked over to the window where Luna sat, watching over her lovingly. Her head was framed in a halo of moonlight and her deep blue, sparkling mane swayed in the night air.

"I don't know," Celestia said weakly.

"Why do you cling to this life when the next beckons you?" Luna replied.

Celestia closed her eyes. She could faintly here the doctor speaking to Twilight outside her door. "Advancement stage dementia" and "Not expected to live through the night" were the key phrases she picked out. What was there left for her in this? What could she do in this life where what was real and what was not was constantly an uncertainty? Her mouth was dry and sticky. She felt as though she had just staggered through the desert. She was lost in a world that should be familiar.

"You're weary, sister," Luna said gently.

"I am," Celestia acquiesced.

"Then come with me. Return to harmony." With that, Luna kissed her sister on the forehead and took her hoof. "Come, Celestia. It's time to go."

The door opened and Twilight walked slowly in, accompanied by Doctor Stable and Nurse Redheart. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie waited outside.

"Princess Celestia?" Twilight said softly.

Silence.

Only the gentle sound of the river below and the breeze blowing through the trees outside could be heard.