Pinkie didn’t hear anything. She just screamed.

Blood. Burned flesh. Aragón’s corpse.

That was all. She couldn’t see or feel anything else.

Words could not describe the view. A couple seconds ago, Aragón had been alive. His eyes had been moving, his lung running, his body warm. His brain had been functioning, his soul had been there.

But now...

Now everything was gone. The thing that was in front of her wasn't Aragón, it was just a corpse. A simple doll, a puppet. A mix of bones, flesh and blood. Yes, it was similar to the human, but that was it. Chrysalis' lightning had killed him.

Killed him.

He was gone.

***

...
...What the? Hey! What are we...?!

Shhht! No, no, don't say anything!

But...! Where are the...?!

Don't say anything! Listen to me, okay? Just...

But I thought you were completely out! That you couldn't...!

And I can't, because I'm not a pretty unicorn and I can't teleport. Hell, stop asking questions. You just don't remember anything, okay? So don't say anything.

...

Here, take this. It's a book.

Oh, thanks for pointing it to me. I haven't seen a book in my whole life, you see.

Hah, hah. Look, this is a very important book. Read it.

But...!

You'll understand everything once you've read the book, so please shut up and read! Gosh!

...

...

Is that a tail?

A very charming one, yes.

You have a tail?

And you have a book. Hint-hint.

But... since when do you have...?

Since I started to talk like a proper author! Now shut up and read or everything you know will be doomed!

...

...

But you're wearing pants. Is the tail going trough a hole or...?

SHUT UP AND READ!

***

*Bzeeeep*

Pinkamena felt something as cold as snow on her eyes, and the rest of her body was hotter than the Sun. The world turned upside down, her head felt dizzy, her heart stopped for a second. The screams, the fear, the noise... everything dissapeared.

*Thump*

And then everything was normal once again. But the silence remained.

The pink pony shook her head and opened her eyes. She was still in shock...

Oh, please, enough with your reaction. I'm sure that your dear friend's death is traumatic, but... really? It's boring to read all that, Pinkamena.

The pony turned around. She knew exactly where she was.

The mare was standing in the middle of the Throne Room, the biggest room in Canterlot's Castle. It was exactly as she remembered. Huge, elegant, solemn. The windows showed the defeat of Chrysalis, Discord's reign and fall, Nightmare Moon's rebelion... Every important moment of the last thousand years.

The site was completely empty, except for one simple thing. Discord was on the throne, sitting and smiling.

Her thoughts went wild as she faced the draconequus. What to say, what to do, what to think. A lot of things had happened with her knowing so little. Greentalk were Discord and Chrysalis. Aragón was dead. She had been in Carousel Boutique with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie just a few seconds ago, and now she was alone with the Lord of Chaos in the Royal Castle.

Pinkamena's heart was beating as fast as it could. The girls, where were the girls? What had happened? Had Discord transported her? Anger, doubt, fear. Were the other two dead? Aragón sure was, what about...?!

NO!

The mare breathed slowly. She needed to calm down. Cold mind. She had no control upon her situation, but she could control her behavior, her mind. Right now she couldn't do anything but deal with Discord. First things first. The girls would have to wait, it seemed.

The draconequus was looking at her with a goofy face. A quick look to the door showed that it was locked. By a pretty huge padlock.

Discord and Pinkamena, face to face, in the most elegant place of all Equestria.

The pink pony, now perfectly calm, smirked. It was clear as day what Discord wanted, and why had he trasnported her. The way he had done was still a mystery, but not the reason.

"I guess asking what has happened is not very wise," she said looking right into the draconequus' pupils, her eyes showing nothing more than hate. "You aren't going to explain anything."

Why should I? I'm sure you don't need any explanation. After all, it's Pinkamena we're talking about, right?

The pink pony rolled her eyes. He was not attacking, so he wanted to talk. "Oh, of course. We're starting with the riddles without any kind of warning." She started to walk in Discord's direction, but the draconequus didn't move. "Let me guess then, my dear monster. You've transported me to the Throne Room, and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are still in Carousel Boutique, with Aragón's corpse and your beautiful changeling companion."

Maybe.

She had guessed right. "And you aren't attacking me because you want me by your side."

Who knows?

Another correct guess. Pinkamena sighed. "You want to mess with my head. But you aren't using your powers like you did in the show, right? You only want to use words. Speech versus speech, mind versus mind. A chess game between you and me, with ourselves as pawns."

You see? That's the reason why I wanted to do this", answered Discord with a smile. Slowly, he left the throne and started to fly around Pinkamena. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash were so boring, and the unicorns... well, I did not even play with them, I just killed them. But you?" He laughed. "You're one of a kind, Pinkamena. You can entertain me a lot. You're already doing it, and we haven't even started yet!"

The pony stopped and looked at the chaotic creature, frowning. "May I ask why your sudden narrat...? Oh, of course." She face-hoofed. "This is a duel. You want to be in the same level than me."

"Ant that's our hero again! Sharp as a knife, honey." Discord dissapeared with a smoke cloud and reapeared just a few centimeters away from Pinkamena. "Exactly," he said, grabbing the pony's head. "You and me, alone, exactly at the same level! Villain against villain. You're trying to kill me, I'm trying to corrupt you. Oh, the drama. What was that you said? A chess game, and we're the pawns. Love it."

Pinkamena didn't try to push Discord apart. She just sighed. It was exactly what she had imagined the exact moment she had appeared in the room. The exact thing she had been expecting, the exact thing she had been getting ready for. "You know I'm not joining you."

"That's what you think."

"That's what I know." She closed her eyes. She could feel something burning in her chest and in the back of her head. Anger, of course. She needed to calm down, to relax. There was no need for her to lose control. "There's no way you can just finish me like you did with my friends."

"Oh?" The draconequus let her go and flew away a couple meters. "They are your friends now?"

"Maybe." She smiled. "Discord, you and I know that this is futile. I know what you're thinking, you know what I'm thinking. Let's stop with the foolishness."

He laughed again. Hard. "Oh, I love it. You don't want to mess, right? You want to duel right now."

"No, I want to kill you." The pony shrugged. "But I know I can't. So let's start with your lecture, shall we? Then I can answer you and kick your ass, and then you'll kill me or corrupt me or Celestia knows what, and we can go back to the girls."

"I love it." Discord was smiling like a five-year-old with a chocolate waffle. "No, that's not true. I love you, Pinkamena. Such a clever pony."

"And just now, I became a lesbian." Pinkamena raised an eyebrow. "Congratulations. At least four of our readers are happier than ever before."
The pony shook her head and started to walk again, not looking at the draconequus. It was a dangerous talk, so she needed to be careful. The burning feeling in her head and chest returned, this time stronger, but she was able to repel it.

She hadn't lied before. She knew what Discord was thinking, and Discord sure knew about the things that were in her mind right then. It was a very old dance, and both were great dancers.

"Pinkamena, Pinkamena, Pinkamena." The draconequus started to swim in the air, like a snake in a river. His movements were elegant and creepy at the same time. "You're trying to take the role of a hero now? Laughing at me? Puh-lease."

He swam right in front of her. "The thing is, we both know what I'm doing, right? An evil speech." He laughed. "What else? It's what we villains do! Just words, nothing else. I'm not hurting you, you're not hurting me, we're only using the truth."

"I don't do evil speeches."

"Of course you do." Discord's eyes glowed with a red light for a second. "I know you, and you love to talk, to show you're smarter than anybody else, to analyze and destroy... like almost every villain in existence." Suddenly, the Lord of Chaos stopped acting like a snake and stood in two legs, shrugging. "It's in the rules, right? You need to explain things, because you like to think you're superior."

"It's in the rules?" Pinkamena stopped anf raised an eyebrow. "You are talking about rules?"

The draconequus laughed. "But of course! What's chaos without order? I always play with the rules, Diane, it's just that I never use the same rule twice."

Pinkamena shook her head. What was she doing? Discord had her at his mercy, she could not do anything but talk. She had to play the game. "Then, if you want to duel me, evil speech versus evil speech, we need some rules?"

He nodded. "Rule number one: no hurting, only talking."

The pony rolled her eyes. Again. "You have magic, I don't. How could I attack you?"

"You could kill me if you tried." Discord smiled and flew a few meters away more. "Sure, you would try very hard and you'll be killed too, but I'm not an idiot, Pinkamena."

"Second rule then," she said. "You're not an idiot like Chrysalis. In fact, I should say you're a genius, right?"

"Always think the better about your rival." He laughed one more time. "And the worst about your allies. That's your motto, right?"

"Maybe."

"I guessed right," said Discord. "I can see it in your eyes. It's my motto too, so it seems like we have a lot in common!"

"How wonderful."

"Second rule then..." continued him, as if Pinkamena hadn't said a single word. "I'm a genius. You're a genius too. That's not exactly a rule, but we can play with it."

The pony didn't say anything, focusing in the burning sensation again. She blocked it, but it did not dissapear. Maybe it would be useful later, now that the girls were so far away.

Discord waited a few seconds, and when he noticed she wasn't going to say anything started to talk again. Pinkamena smiled at that, but the draconequus didn't seem to notice.

"Third rule," he said, "our duel continues until both of us decide the opposite." He raised his left claw and closed her eyes in a solemn way. "I swear not to stop our talk if you don't want to. Giving the fact that you can't leave, you don't need to promise anything."

"Don't worry about that." She showed her teeth. "I want to end this right now. The moment you want to leave me alone, the moment we'll end this stupidity."

"Deal." Discord raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Your turn. Fourth rule?"

Pinkamena smirked. "No turns. You can interrupt me, I can interrupt you. I won't be listening to your nosense like a little filly if I can make you shut the fuck up with an argument."

"Ooooh. How chaotic for a speech duel. I like it." The draconequus smiled one more time, but this time it was not a goofy face. It was truly terrifying. "Last rule," he said, "by the end of this chapter, you will be joining Chrysalis and me."

The pink pony laughed and smiled too. For the first time since the hospital incident, she let her inner psycopath appear in her face. She was as terrifying as Discord. She let a little of the fire in her heart go. Just a little. And it was marvelous.

"Rule zero then," she said. "I shall not betray my friends."

***
UGH... S...SPikE?

...Peewee? PEEWEE?! Is that you?!

SPike...

Peewee! Than Celestia you've found me! Look, we have no time, Chrysalis and Discord...!

I... KNOw...

...
What... what do you mean, "you know"? A-and why is your voice...?

THosE TWO... AttaCKEd us... me AND tHE GIRls...

No... NO! Peewee! Are you okay?! Oh, please, don't tell me they...!

I'M... DyING. MY WinGS ARE TOO... DamAGED.

No! You can't...! I-I mean, you're a phoenix, right?! You can't die! You'll resurrect!

...YES.

...Uf. Heh, you scared me, little one. But where are you?

I DON't... knOW. WHEre ARE You?

...I don't know. Last thing I remember, I was writing and then everything was green and flashy and...

I THINk I knOW whAT YoU MeAn, REAlLY. ThE GirLS NEEd YOUr HELP.

I know, but... I can't go anywhere. I can't move.

I WaS AFRAId yOU WouLD say THAt. I'M AFRaid thEY ARE IN greAT DaNGER. I... thREW CHRysalIS AT TheM SO i COULd fiND You.

Peewee...

...

...

...

...

GAAAAARGH!!

PinKIE? WhaT THE...?

TWILIGHT!

***

"So, should I start?"

The sudden silence in the Throne Room was broken by the pink pony, who tried to calm herself down one more time as she walked in circles, not looking at Discord. She succeded. "You're enjoying this little talk and thinking about the ways you can break my mind and make me become a bad pony." She snorted. "No, you're not thinking. The words just come to you without any kind of effort. You are good at corrupting ponies, and you enjoy it so much. And you think you've found a worthy opponent."

"Corrupting is such a strong word," said the Lord of Chaos, dissapearing and appearing in front of Pinkamena once again. "But yes... maybe you're right. The thing is that I can't corrupt you, Pinkamena Diane Pie."

"Well, I'm glad that you figured it out."

"But that's because you're already corrupted," his smile became a snarky one. "I can only corrupt a hero, because they are good. But you?" He snorted. "You're at least as bad as Chrysalis or me. What do you expect me to do? Transform you in a black-and-red evil lord? Not gonna happen." As Pinkamena was still walking, he started to fly around her once more. "I'm just talking with you, enjoying the moment," he said. "There's no need for me to do anything more. I'm doing the evil speech thing for fun. As I said, last rule: you'll be with Chrysalis and me. You already are, and you know it."

"That's a lie so big that I'm refusing to answer," said the pony, stopping the burning feeling suddenly. "You're a villain, I'm a villain. But there's a little difference: I'm not pretending to harm the heroes. I'm a good villain, kinda. So go fuck yourself."

"It's not the way you act what makes you a bad villain, if that's how you want to call it," answered Discord. "It's the attitude. I just killed one of your so-called friends, and what are you doing? I don't see any tears. I don't hear any scream. You're talking with me, that's all. No questions, no worries. What about your friends? What about the dead? You're not even thinking about them."

"I'm too busy right now. There's a stupid draconequus talking to me."

"See?" Discord flew away and sat on the Throne once more. "You're busy doing what? Snarky comments at me? How heroic." He srugged. "Oh, sorry. How good for a good villain.

Pinkamena rolled her eyes and turned to the Chaos Lord again. "Cold mind, they call it. I know the situation in Carousel Boutique is hard, but Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie can finish Chrysalis without trouble, so I don't lose time thinking about it." Her mouth transformed into a smile. "I'm with the dangerous one, so I know they're okay. As for Aragón..." She shrugged. "You know what happens."

"Of course I know." The draconequus sighed and leaned into the Throne. "You aren't afraid of death because, well, you're an assassin. How many times have you killed Rainbow Dash?"

The pony shivered. "Too many."

"Exactly." Discord's voice seemed to be filled with glee. "See? You've been a villain before, you're always a villain. You think like one, you feel like one..."

"You see, I'm sure this worked really good with Applejack and Rainbow Dash," interrupted Pinkamena. "Let me guess... you talked with them, right? You found their weakness, which was their obvious love for each other. You showed them that it was fake."

"Clever girl."

"Second rule: I'm a genius."

"True."

"The thing is," continued the girl, "that it's a very good way to beat somebody with words. Because you're not exactly lying and they know it. You're using the dark thoughts they have. And now you're trying to do it with me."

"And it's not very difficult." Discord smiled once again, not impressed by Pinkamena's words. "They had only a little dark spot in their souls. But you? You're like a night without moon and stars. Completely black."

"You think you're smart just because you noticed? I've killed a lot of ponies." She closed her eyes. There it was, the burning feeling, the fire. Everytime she thought about it it became stronger and stronger. The mare tried to stop it, but she didn't succeed. "A lot. I've been created as an assassin. There's no way I can be a hero, I'll always be the villain, the monster. But..." She opened her eyes. "...I know it. What are you going to say, Discord?
Are you going to say that I hate the ponies I call friends but I'm to afraid to see it? Are you going to say that I won't be able to control myself all the time? Are you going to say that everytime I fight against my urge to kill I'm closer and closer to lose and become a murderer again? Are you going to say that I don't deserve to be with Fluttershy and the others?" She showed her teeth again, like a mad dog. "Then bad news for you, asshole: I already know all that."

Discord sighed. "And what was I saying before, my little pony?" He shrugged. "I can't corrupt you. You're already corrupted."

"And I'm not in your side."

"And this is where you're wrong, you see." The draconeequs smiled. "I think you don't understand exactly what I'm saying. You..."

"Let's stop talking about me, okay?" Pinkamena interrupted again. "What about you? This is an evil speech versus an evil speech, right? And you've lectured a lot of people... in fact, you just lectured me."

"No. You did."

"Details." The pony shrugged. "You seem to like the fact that I'm a villain, right? Okay, then I'll act as one. I'm the one who'll lecture you this time."

Discord's eyes sparkled. "How interesting," he muttered.

"Indeed," smiled the mare. "Because... what are you exactly, Discord? You, as me or everybody else in this story, are fake. Completely non-real."

"An uncomfortable truth, yes."

"And what's even worse, you've been created as a villain." Pinkamena shook her head, faking sadness. "Alas, poor creature! For he was born only to be evil, and evil is the only thing in his heart! Forever condemned to fight for his life, for he is a monster..." She smiled. "And it's the duty of the men to fight monsters."

"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you," muttered Discord, to the surprise of the earth pony.

"Oh, of course." Pinkamena laughed, ignoring the draconequus words. The fire in her chest was burning full force, and she was not trying to stop it. She needed to act as a villain, she needed to defeat Discord in his own field, and the only way to do it was letting her old side, the pony who had murdered countless ponies, take control one more time. "Poor villain, who can't control himself. His destiny is to be fought, and the ones who killed him shall become the next evil ones... or that's the way it should be in real life.
Because everything goes back to reality, you like it or not. What's your purpose, Discord? Why are you doing what you're doing?"

The draconequus didn't answer.

"Oh, you don't want to talk? The I'll say it." Pinkamena started to walk in his direction, slowly. Very, very slowly. "You. Have. No. Purpose."

Discord laughed. "So, big deal, huh? I'm evil because I'm evil. Those news are a little too old, I fear."

"Oh, but they are quite interesting." She chuckled. "Because in the show you did have a goal, draconequus. Sure, you liked to play and to mess with the ponies, but you were looking for something." The mare rolled her eyes. "Revenge, power, control. Something. But now? Now you're a villain just because your author is stupid."

"And you're the perfect mare to say that," pointed the Chaos Lord. "Because, as we both know, you had all the reasons in the world to kill Rainbow Dash. And Applejack. And Fluttershy..."

"No, I didn't." Pinkamena's eyes glowed with anger. "But I had no choice, Discord. Unlike now.
Unlike you."

That was it. That was the phrase the draconequus had been fearing. Pinkamena saw it in his eyes, saw the anger mixed with surprise and fear. Discord himself had wanted to do this, to fight against her in a speech duel. But he hadn't expected her to take the initiative. He was too used to the role of the dominant one. The one on top now was Pinkamena, and she loved it. The power, the knowledge of being the one who controls the situation, was even better than she remembered.

The Draconequus didn't move, looking at Pinkamena with a serious frown. The pink mare was just a single meter away, and she was still approaching him.

"You can decide what to do," she whispered sensually when they were face to face, lowering her eyelashes. "You can choose if you're good... or evil... or just chaotic. You broke free at the beginning, right? But you didn't. Because you were afraid."

Discord's left eye twitched. "You..."

"Me," she answered. She smiled once again and gaze into her reflexion in Discord's eyes. "Let me tell you a story, my dear monster."

Putting a hoof in his chest, she pushed Discord against the Throne. The draconequus, so big, seemed a a filly in her first Nightmare Night, alone, small and scared. Pinkamena licked her own lips.

"Once upon a time," she said, her voice the one of a storyteller, her body completely dominated by the fire, "there was a little, scary monster. It was born of pure evil, and its purpose was to destroy, to corrupt, to kill. Chaos and darkness were the only thing in his heart. He grown up, and he became a big scary monster, and everybody feared it...
Heroes from all the world came to te big scary monster and fought it, and they all died, for the monster was too much for them."

Discord showed his teeth. "You little..."

"Until one day," whispered Pinkamena, almost inaudible, "one day... A different hero appeared.
The monster sharped its claws and its teeth and roared at full force. But the hero didn't fear it, nor fought it. The hero just stood still, looked at the monster and smiled.
You're free, he said. You don't need to be evil. You can start over from the beginning, we won't hunt you anymore. And with those words, he defeated the monster.
Because now, Discord, the monster was not a big scary monster anymore. There was peace and happiness and light in its heart, and it didn't need to destroy, to kill. And do you know what happened?"

"It killed the hero."

"It killed the hero," nodded Pinkamena. "Oh, such a smart boy."

"Rule number two."

"Rule number two." Pinkamena smiled and trotted back. She was the old Pinkamena, the killer one, hundred percent. "And do you know why did the mosnter kill the hero, Discord? Do you know why it came back to darkness?"

"Because that's what monster do."

"No." The earth pony stopped and turned around, facing the draconequus one more time. "No, that's not the reason. But sure, that's what it said to itself. But that's not the truth...
It killed the hero because, until that day, it didn't have a choice. It was born to kill, and killing was what it did. But that was all. It was nothing more. A puppet, a doll, a manequin. It followed orders, and never thought for itself. It had a life, and it liked it.
And then, suddenly, that hero had appeared and destroyed everything. Now the monster had free will, it could decide what to do and what to think. It could, at least, feel why it was doing all the things it did.
But then it realized that thinking, choosing, living... was scary. So, so scary." The pony bit her lip. "And it was not a big scary monster anymore. Now, it was nothing but a little and scared creature.
And it looked into the sky and then looked into its heart. I don't want to think, it thought. I'm a monster. I'll always be a monster. And so it did."

"The moral of the story," interrupted Discord with a fake boring voice, "is that being a hero stinks. They always die."

"Snarky comments, Discord?" The pink pony shook her head in dissapointment. "Puh-lease.
The moral of the story is that the monster was a pathetic, useless piece of crap," she said, her eyes glowing a little. "It was free for the first time, but he was too scared of itself to ever live, so he chose to be a slave forever."

"A wonderful tale. Really." The draconequus started to swim in the air like a snake again, this time not looking at Pinkamena. "But I didn't like it."

"Because you guessed right."

Discord stopped, freezing in midair. "Beg pardon?"

"You guessed right. You knew what the monster did." Pinkamena chuckled. "Because, obviously, that monster was you."

"As I said before, you're not the better pony to say that. How many times you said you killed...?"

"This is not about who's the noblest one, little monster," interrupted Pinkamena, the fire burning hotter than ever, a little bit of rage returning. "This is about who we are. I'm sure you poked fun about my friends' existencial crisis, right? But what about yours?"

Discord frwoned. "I didn't have..."

"You didn't have one because you were too afraid to face reality." Pinkamena snorted. "Every one of us broke free at the beginning, because our author is fucking retarded and wasn't able to write us in character. You were no exception.
And think a minute about my friends here! Rainbow Dash, the most loyal pony in Equestria, betrayed her author. Rarity, the lady, beat him. Twilight insulted him, Pinkie Pie has not thrown a party in the whole story and Fluttershy is not so shy lately. And, oh, surprise, I haven't killed anybody yet!"

"So, congratulations." The draconequus approached the mare. "You haven't killed a single pony even though you want. We should build a statue in your honor."

"Don't you understand?" The mare smiled. "Don't you see?! Of course you see! That's the reason why you're afraid, that's the reason why you're thinking that you shouldn't have started this duel!

You're a pathetic puppet, Discord! You like to think you're better, you like to play with the heroes' minds, because you're scared of yourself, you're scared of the freedom! You know you can be whatever you want, but then you'll have to think, and that's so scary that you prefer to be a slave again and again!"

"Don't you DARE to insult me like that! I'm Discord! I'm WAY more powerful than you, little pony, so don't try to...

"To lecture you, maybe?! Hah!" The mare raised a hoof. "That's what you wanted, Discord! You wanted to talk with me because you didn't want to believe there was another option but being the same as always!"

You're still an assassin!

"But I choose not to act like one!" screamed the pony. "I'm not afraid of being free, so I stopped murdering ponies! Not like you! You really thought that you could just use me and make me a puppet?! Only you are such a coward to do that!"

Oh, then I'm a coward because I act the way I should?! You dare to insult me because I don't do the same things you do?!

"Being free! That's what I do! I fight against my fucking desire to murder, I fight agains my nature because I'M FREE!"

Then, you're a hypocrite!

"STILL BETTER THAN BEING A MURDERER!"

Pinkamena had transformed into the old psychopath, the old monster that had caused so much harm. But this time, she was using her rage, her hate, her evilness to fight against Discord.
If the girls are not around here, it's safe, she thought. And it feels GREAT.
She wasn't even thinking at that time. The fire was an inferno, and the old feeling of power had returned. Se wanted to hit Discord, to torture him, to kill him, and she didn't need a reason.

Oh, are you sure?! Because I highly doubt it! You're still a monster, Pinkamena! Say what you want about freedom, or choices, or bravery! But I can see it in your eyes! You're a villain, a monster! You're not better than me!

"But I try," spit the pony. "And what do you do? You hide! Even now you're scared about yourself! You're talking in green!"

Green is my color!

"No, green is Chrysalis' color!" The pony ran to the draconequus, but he dodged her. "If Pinkie Pie can change her color, and she can because she showed it to me, then I'm sure YOU can, Chaos Lord!
But you talk always in green! Because the moment you stopped talking like a normal character you didn't know what to do!" The pony charged to Discord again trying to hit him, but the creature flew too high for her. "So you took her color and ran with it, because at least it was a villain's color!"

You don't know that!

"OF COURSE I DO!" Pinkamena laughed. "Because we're the same after all, Discord! The only difference is that I'm not a coward! I'm a monster, but I fight against the monster! AND I KNOW THE WAY YOU THINK!"

*BZAM!*

Everything turned green for a second, and then Pinkamena fell to the floor, unable to move. Her body was still burning, her hoofs were aching with desire to kill. But she couldn't move.

Discord was pointing at her with her right claw. Slowly, he returned to the floor... his eyes shining with glee.

Hah! Ahah! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Such a wonderful lecture, Pinkamena Diane Pie! I knew you won't dissapoint me!

The pony tried to talk, but she didn't succeed. The anger was...

Sorry, but I think your narration just gets in the way. So, if you allow me...

...!

Ta-da! Congratulations, now you're a level higher! Be grateful, I gave one of my levels to you... but fon't worry, I have a lot. I don't mind sacrificing one for your sake.

...!

Now, you should be happy. You have done what nopony could before: you made me angry. So, so angry, Pinkamena. I would kill you right now, but that would be too easy... and I promised not to hurt you. Good thing the freezing spell doesn't harm, right?

...!

Oh, look at you. Hate, anger... you're a monster. A horrible, uncontrolable monster. You don't feel so brave now, right? RIGHT?!

...H!!

...
Heh. Let me tell you a fairytale now, Pinkamena. Let's see what you think about my skills as a storyteller.

...!

You see, once upon a time there was a strange, strange world. In fact, it was such a weird world that it was a story. And its characters knew that.

...!

In the story, there was a monster. A very clever monster. His name was -Oh, what a coincidence! -Discord.
Discord knew how the story worked, so he played with its rules to fight against the heroes... a group of ponies. They met in a hospital, and then Discord divided the party.

...!

But then, something else happened.

You see, the timeline was broken. Suddenly, everything was in anachronistic order! The readers didn't know if a conversation was happening at the same time that the fight agains the villain, if it was happening before, or if it had already happened.

...

And the characters didn't know it neither! For them, everything was the present, right! After all, they couldn't travel in time...

...

But there's a funny thing here. You see, maybe the characters weren't able to travel in time, but information could. Let's imagine Discord discovers something, like... Let's say he discovers how to bake a cake! And he discovers it at five o'clock. But that's too late, because he needed the cake at four o'clock. What a shame...
Oh, wait. No. He can use the broken timeline!

...! ...!!

Because, you see, he discovered how to bake a cake at five o'clock, but the scene in which he learned it appeared first. Anachronistic order! First the scene at five o'clock, then the scene at four o'clock!

...HH!!!

So, by four o'clock, Discord knew how to bake a cake. Why? Well, maybe it's because now the readers knew how to do it, or maybe the readers knew that Discord could bake a cake, or maybe that's not important and nobody knows. The thing is: information did travel back in time. Discord knew how to bake a cake at four o'clock, even though he learned that at five o'clock. Once he knew something he didn't forget it. The downside is, of course, that at the five o'clock scene he didn't remember what had happened at four o'clock...

...!

Buuut that was very tricky! It only worked if he knew what was happening, and it was very hard to do. Luckily for Discord, he was a genius. So he figured a way to do it at will.

...! ...HH!!

And hey! We haven't finished yet! Discord was lectured by a stupid pink pony... but the pony turned a monster while doing it. Why? Because lecturing someone is a villain's thing, and fighting against your nature is difficult.

...HHHHH!!!

So, what a shame, that pony turned into a monster. And monsters can't control themselves.
I'm pretty sure that if your friends were by your side now you couldn't do anything but attack them. You know, you want blood and everything. But I promised not to end this duel unless you wanted it...

....H!

But hey, I don't need to do that. Yoy see, we can say that now it's five o'clock, but I can't remember what happened at four o'clock. Neither you can. Let's figure it out!

...HH!!!

Well, of course, you would be a single level lower than now because timeline and stuff. But you'll remember this conversation.
Aaaaand you'll be still a monster. Hey, maybe you've already killed your friends and you don't know! That would be ironic, right?

...HHHHH!

Well, I warned you. He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster, remember? And last rule: by the end of this chapter, you will be joining Chrysalis and me.

...HHH!!!!

Now let's see how a psycho works in this world. I'm sure our author doesn't even know what the world means.

***

I want Pinkamena for myself.

Deal.

Fluttershy gazed in horror the thing that, seconds ago, had been Aragón. Her heart was beating as fast as it could.

"No," she said. "No, no, no, NO!"

The yellow pegasus was unable to do anything but cry. By her side, Pinkie was just staring at Aragón's corpse, her face completely off. She seemed almost asleep, but with both eyes open wide.

And then, something hit Fluttershy right in the face. She closed her eyes in response.

The pegasus fell to the floor, her cheek burning with pain. She tried to wake up, but then another hit came.

And another.

And another.

It hurt. It was hooves that hit Fluttershy, and it hurt. Those hits were no joke. A brutal force was behind them. The pegasus screamed, unable to do anything.

Another hit. Her right wing broke.

Another hit. Her nose was bleeding.

Another hit. One of her legs...

Fluttershy opened her eyes, and then she saw who was beating her.

She looked right into Pinkamena's eyes.

Hatred. Anger. Pain. Fear. Rage. Insanity. Pain. Pleasure. Guilt. Pain.

Pain.

Pain.

So much pain.

There was nothing there but pain.

*BZAAAAAP!*

GIRLS!

PINKIE!

FLUTTERSHY! NO! PINKIE...!

STOP RIGHT NOW!