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She Was There

by JDLENL

Chapters

1: And She Was The First

Twilight Sparkle was bored. Normally, this would be no problem for the Alicorn of Magic. As the newest princess of Equestria, certainly there was something that could occupy her time. However, she had completed her checklist for today earlier than she had predicted, so she had nothing scheduled to be done.

"Maybe I should take a walk," she mumbled, mostly to herself. "I could do with some fresh air, now that I've re-re-organized my Liberal Arts section."

"That's a great idea, Twilight! You hardly get out of the new castle, you know," Spike interjected, a wry grin on his face. "Your 'court' is closed for today, so I'll just make sure Owloysius doesn't make a mess of things when he wakes up."

Twilight paused, considering whether or not she should actually trust Spike to keep her owl happy. She then remembered how he had taken care of Peewee, who was arguably harder to care for, being a phoenix. Plus, she hadn't gone out at night in a while. It was a quarter to ten, according to her wall clock, and she gleaned from her newly-attained Pegasus Magic that the air outside was warm and in perfect condition for a short flight.

"Okay, Spike. I trust you'll do fine for an hour or so. I will be back soon!" she said, smiling in thanks at her Number One Assistant. She trotted over to the door, and was about to Magic it open, but she quickly realized that something was off. A strange sense of dread filled her as she looked towards her door handle. Immediately upon seeing it, a simple, innocent thought occurred to her.

Why do we call them that, handles? That implies that we have hands, when we clearly don't. And yet ponykind invented them...

"On second thought, Spike, I believe that I may be taking a little longer than usual. I'll still be back soon."

"Okay, Twilight. Is something the matter?" Spike asked, worried at the strange look of consternation on Twilight's face.

"No, Spike. Everything's fine. I just had a strange thought, that's all," Twilight assured. Without another word, Twilight fired up a Teleportation Spell directed to the Princesses' throne room.

In a flash of blinding white light, she was gone. The familiar feeling of teleportation, akin to diving into a lake of warm water, washed over her as she appeared in an instant at her destination. She was not at all surprised to see Princess Luna on her throne, looking slightly bored as she awaited petitioners to her Night Court.

"Hi, Luna. Is Celestia nearby? I have a question for her," Twilight asked, as Princess Luna glanced over at the commotion she had caused teleporting in. Her thestral Night Guards had jumped at the sudden disturbance, and had looked ready to draw their spears before they recognized the object of Luna's gaze.

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle. We are glad that thou art here, tis not often We get to see thee. However, judging by the look you're giving Us, something has gone awry and thou seeketh thy mentor's comfort. Thou will find Celly in her study, going over some financial report or another. We wish thee luck with whatever problem is plaguing thee," Luna said, her stare softening at the familiar sight of the country's newest Alicorn.

"Thanks, Luna! Once I resolve this matter, we can speak. I hope it won't be long," Twilight called, flying out of the throne room and into the hall leading to the spirally Dawn Tower where Celestia resided.

Twilight arrived in short order at her new destination, eager to absolve her confusion. She knocked on the large oaken door that led into Princess Celestia's study. A simple "come in" was heard from beyond the door, and Twilight Magicked the door open, trotting inside.

"Princess Celestia, I have a question. It's a little silly, really, but it won't stop nagging at me," Twilight began, sighing. "Why do we call door handles 'handles' despite us having no hands of our own? If they were invented by ponies, shouldn't they be called 'hoofholds' or something?"

The look Celestia gave her could have frozen salt water, but it barely lasted a second before the Day Princess sighed heavily. "My faithful student," she said, standing up from her much-less-interesting paperwork to address the Princess of Magic. "That question would normally go with a simple answer designed to subtract from the real truth, but I believe as an Alicorn you now have the mentality required to understand what really happened so long ago...do you remember the Hearth's Warming Eve play you took part in the year before last?"

"Of course I do, Celestia. What could that possibly have to do with doors, if I may ask?"

"Well, Twilight, ponies weren't always the dominant species on the planet Equus...nor were we really anywhere near as complex as we are today. Come, have a seat by the hearth. What you're about to hear has only been shared among a select few individuals, for posterity's sake," Celestia began.

"Princess, what's going on? What could you possibly mean by 'ponies weren't always the dominant species'? I thought we were the main species on the planet since the First Generation..." Twilight said, now even more worried as her fears seemed to have run deeper than she had first imagined.

"Ah, my faithful student. The First Generation was the first documented account of ponykind's history. The real truth runs far deeper than even you could imagine, Twilight. I will now proceed to tell you a little about the strange, bipedal, omnivorous creatures known as 'humans' in older mythological books. They aren't a myth, in fact, but they are -- or rather were -- real creatures."

2: What Started It All

 

"In a land far, far away, known then as "The United States of America," those humans that I mentioned before had built a large machine. For, you see, they had no Magic with which to work. Instead, they harnessed the power of lightning itself into little motes of energy that they called 'electricity.' Consider it extremely similar to our Magic power grids that power our appliances and provide us with lighting at night. As for the machine, its purpose was to completely display the entire genome of their race. They called it the "Human Genome Project." Upon mapping out their entire genetic code- "

"Wait, wait wait...you mean to tell me these 'humans' had no Magic, and yet they were able to create a machine using electrical currents that told them their ENTIRE genetic composition?! But, Celestia, that's absurd! Not even Magic can do something that complex, can it?" Twilight asked, completely mindblown.

"Ah, my dear Twilight, what you don't realize though is that these people were even smarter than ponies, and possessed a tenacity unmatched among any intelligent species that followed them," Celestia answered with a knowing smile. "Now, I where was I..?"

"Right, so, the humans mapped their genome with a machine. At one point in time, the head scientist of the team decided that it would benefit mankind to begin doing the same with other animals. I'm sure you're aware of the Horses, our genetic ancestors. What you may not have known, though, was that the Horses had been tamed and bred by humans almost since they gained intelligence thousands of years prior to the mapping of their genes. They mapped the genes of cats, dogs, songbirds, apes and horses and cross-referenced them with those of humans, only to find many things they already knew. However, they noticed a discrepancy in the horse genome; dormant traits that astounded and confused them to no end. They found that horses had the capacity to be born with horns, wings, fish tails or even with a combination of all three. These humans, known by history long lost in Equestria as the Founders, did what many other scientists had thought impossible in that time: they created unicorns, pegasi and hippocampi. "

"WHAT?!" Twilight yelled, completely shell-shocked. "Our ancestors, you mean to tell me -- Pegasus the Winged, Arcturus the Horned, and Marinus the Webbed -- were created in a lab by an extinct and/or mythological species?"

"Exactly that, dear."

"But...but...how?"

"The original three Horses were, to the astonishment of the Founders, as intelligent as one of their own species. They were raised as humans, albeit in a laboratory environment, and taught to speak English. English is exactly the same as Modern Eqish, only they didn't use symbolics as we do, rather preferring an alphabet much like the Griffons. And no, before you ask, I have forgotten it. Immediately thereafter, they began to observe the Horses as equals to themselves. Alas, the peace that had lasted during that era of creation was soon to be broken. Soon after the Horses became "adults" in the humans' eyes, a large-scale war broke out between two nations using incredibly powerful weapons that we only know today as "H-Bombs." Cities were annihilated, nuclear war broke out, and soon mankind had all but destroyed itself. Most of the land on Earth -- this planet's antiquated name -- was poisoned by radiation. What little remained was warped and bent by the forces of nature and the H-Bombs into unrecognizable masses. That is how Equestria took on its basic shape; a shape we helped to refine over the next ten thousand years."

"As for the Horses, the laboratory they were housed in was left intact. The land around it, however, was scarred and broken. The trio of Horses set out to find 'greener pastures,' as it were. It turns out that Arcturus could use his horn in conjunction with a previously-overlooked organ in his forehead to manipulate the levels of radiation in the air around him. Thus, the purest form of Magic was born. All he could do was provide light and lift small objects, at first, but he soon began to hone his power to help defend his trio of brothers-and-one-sister from mutated predators. It was during this time that creatures such as dragons formed from lizards, minotaurs from bulls, manticores from a slew of creatures, and so on. Pegasus used his wings to scout out areas, Arcturus defended, and Marinus gathered food for the group. They soon came across what could only be described as the first true Earth Pony; a small mare who appeared to be intelligent but couldn't speak. She had been born as a mutated offspring to a group of wild horses, due to the Magical radiation in the air. She was incredibly in touch with the Earth, was built like a tank despite her small stature, and seemed to know which plants were safe to eat and which were not."

"The group of four quickly settled in an area we now know to be Dream Valley. I won't go into details into how exactly they reproduced, for everyone's sake, but let's just say no in-breeding was involved. It was later, but before the arrival of Tirek, that the settlers of Dream Valley came across a young human female known as Megan. She, and her favored pony Sundance, are where ponykind derives most of its morals. The rest is Pre-Discordian history. "

"But wait...how do Alicorns fit in to all of this? And why are there no more Sea Ponies?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, Discord wiped out the last of the Hippocampi when he created the Badlands. He reduced their sea to a single lake, which eventually dried up. The last Sea Pony died exactly two thousand, seven hundred and twelve years ago."

"What?! Discord, committing genocide? How could he possi -- wait, what am I saying? Discord used to be cruel," Twilight reasoned.

"Ha ha, my faithful student. You certainly haven't become less sharp since we last spoke. Discord used to be cruel, yes, though less by intent and more by impartiality. He didn't actively seek to wipe out an entire species, but his neglect caused the unfortunate event anyway," Celestia explained, a wistful look in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed by Twilight.

"You still haven't explained Alicorns, yet, Celestia..."

"Ah, but that's for the next chapter my dear!"

"...What?"

3: The Alicorns

"Eventually, the three Founders and their adopted sister died of old age. Before they did, however, Arcturus used his now-honed magic to remove a small part of his, his brother's, and his two sisters' life forces. He pooled the small Sparks into an ancient ruby and had it set into an amulet as his dying wish. Around this time, the four pony tribes had lived in relative segregation. The Breezies were discovered shortly after Arcturus died. A powerful wizard took a part of the leader of the Breezies' life force and imbued it into the amulet, which we now know as the Alicorn Amulet. It was through wearing this that many great and not-so-great leaders rose and fell before my sister and I were born into our mortal forms."

"Princess Celestia, what do you mean by 'mortal forms'?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, I have Magical control over the sun. What mortal body could possibly contain that much power, but for that of an Alicorn? That is how the first Alicorns were born, dear. The high amount of Magic caused many strange side effects, but the most prevalent was that of the first six Alicorns being born. You know them as --" Celestia began, only to be cut off by Twilight.

"-- Sol, who controlled the sun, Stellar, who controlled the moon and stars, Gaea, who controlled Equus herself, Titus, who controlled the seas and tailwinds, Cosmo, who commanded the skies, and Magnus, who directed the world's flow of Magic?" Twilight finished.

"Indeed, my faithful student. You, as a matter of fact, are a descendant of Magnus. That is why you so expertly command Magic and why you are its Element."

"But, wait, how could you know all of this? I mean, yes, you are...er...old," Twilight shuddered, as if calling the millennia-old Alicorn old were a sin. "...But even you of all ponies came after the original Six, right?"

"You would think that, yes," Celestia chuckled at her friend's reluctance to call her 'old.' "However, I am in fact even older than them. I have existed in one form or another since the beginning of the Magic age. You see, there was a solar flare a few days after the Fall of Man. When the flare hit the newly-irradiated Earth, the solar energy and the 'Magic' clashed, forming a new sort of Magic. This Magic, somehow, was sentient, and actively searched for a host with a body strong enough to contain it. However, no Alicorns had been born at the time, so the Magic was forced to create a mortal form. That mortal form was me. I was the first Alicorn."

"You're kidding me. You're kidding, right?" Twilight asked, aghast.

"I am not kidding, Twilight. I may not explicitly remember what happened to bring about my personality, but what the Magic had formed was only a vessel for itself. It had no wants, no desires, no feelings, but it had thoughts. Now that the Magic had a host, it bonded to and became one with my original form. I would not become the compassionate mare I am today, had the Magic not given me a sense of empathy when it realized that it was necessary."

"So how did you come to find the other tribes? And when did Luna come along? What of Cadence, and the Crystal Empire, and King Sombra, and Discord?"

"I will only say of Discord that he has always existed. The natural Chaos Magic of the newly-recreated planet gave itself a form much as my Solar Magic did for itself. However, he formed on the other side of the planet from me, and did not actively seek out his particular, off-brand 'merriment' at first. Discord draws power from Chaotic events happening in close proximity to him. As his power grew, so did his desire to have more. He became the embodiment of Disharmony."

"But, wait, what about Luna? If you were born from a solar flare...well...the moon doesn't give off flares."

"I created Luna from my own willpower and Solar Magic, but because I was trying to harness such power at night, I got Luna instead of another Celestia. I came to see her as a sister, because I had split my power in half to give rise to her. It was through such a process that I began to rationalize and become more than just a conduit for Solar Magic."

"You...created Luna? Through raw Magic?"

"Yes. I created life at the expense of my own life force. It is not something I have ever repeated."

"So how did the Six Alicorns of Legend come into play?" Twilight asked, somewhat anxious at not having the important questions answered.

"I will save that story for the next chapter," Celestia replied, with a knowing smile.

"You keep saying that! What does that mean?!"

4: Six

"You might think that the original Six came before me, seeing as how Sol had control over the sun much as I do today. However, Twilight, before I explain just why that's not entirely true, what do you know about how the Elements of Harmony work?" Celestia asked.

"Err...they activate when worn by their respective Bearers, and when all of the Bearers focus on a true example of their element that they have done in the past. When activated, they proceed to conjure a really bright rainbow of Magic that cleanses the Disharmony from whatever is being targeted at the time. They appear to have a short cooldown of only two hours," Twilight said, launching into lecture mode.

"That is correct. Do you know what exactly that "really bright rainbow" is, though?" Celestia pressed, watching for any sign of realization on her student's face.

"...I'm sorry, Celestia, I'm afraid I don't understand..."

"Twilight, the Elements of Harmony are the six pieces of the Rainbow of Light. Surely you know about the most powerful ancient artifact ever to exist?"

"I can't say that I do."

"Oh, I really need to look at what they're putting into modern history books," Celestia said, her expression darkening.

"Princess..."

"The Six Alicorns of legend each represented one of the six fundamental aspects of Harmony, Twilight. Magnus represented Magic, Sol represented Kindness, Stellar represented Honesty, Cosmo represented Loyalty, Titus represented Generosity and Gaea represented Laughter. Each of the Six had their own unique personality, but their personalities combined created the basic idea of Harmony. When the Rainbow of Light was lost, it fragmented into six shards that embedded themselves within the Six Alicorns. They became the purest aspects of their respective Element, as well as the commander of their worldly elements. When Dream Valley was lost to a time vortex ages ago, the bearers of the Elements had long since gone on to become their elements in their entirety. They abandoned their worldly powers to become one with the Rainbow. As a result, the Elements of Harmony took on the form of stones in which their souls were sealed. When you use your Element, you are essentially asking Magnus himself for permission to use the power of the Rainbow. That is why you have to focus on a time in which the Magic of Friendship has helped you."

"So you're saying that the souls of the original Six are trapped in the Elements of Harmony's worldly forms?"

"That is correct."

"...Should we be trying to free them?"

"Their souls are bonded to the Elements now. It is Magically impossible to cleanse the gems of their souls, because the souls aren't actually in the gems. Their souls are now the Elements themselves, in a sense."

"Oh." Twilight was silent after that, a look of concentration adorning her face. Celestia took that as an opportunity to continue with her tale.

"It was from the Rainbow of Light that the Elements were born, and it was from the Six that the Rainbow of Light was split, but who gave rise to the Six, you may ask? As a matter of fact, it was me -- before I had a conscience, before I had morals, back when I was a purely Magical construct. I didn't create the Six like I did Luna, with my own lifeforce, but rather, I created them using Magic from various places. The reason they were Alicorns is because I was one, and I didn't yet know what the other species looked like. I modeled them after myself."

"Wait, princess, I have another question..." Twilight began, seeming hesitant.

"Yes, my faithful student?"

"Where did Cadence come from? And Sombra, for that matter?"

"Sombra was a mere unicorn who tried to harvest the power of the Alicorns to do his bidding. The Alicorn Magic corrupted him, for, as a regular pony, his body was never meant to contain such raw power. He became stronger at the cost of his sanity and willpower. All he wanted was to rule, so the Magic made the only thing on his mind 'ruling.' As for Cadence, well...her story is a bit different."

"Different how, princess?" Twilight asked.

"I think I should save that story for the ne-" Celestia began.

"I swear, if you say "the next chapter," I'm going to call in Discord to 'help' you."

"...You're deviant, do you know that?"

5: The Crystal Empire

"Just over a thousand years ago, Princess Cadence, then known as Queen Cadence of the Crystal Empire, was the pegasus ruler of the land, heir to the throne in a long line of previous queens. Her partner, but not lover, Sombra, was the unicorn ruler. The Crystal Empire had always been led by a king and a queen; a unicorn and a pegasus. It represented balance, to them, since no earth ponies had lived in the Empire so long ago. Their compassion as rulers, doubled via their loving subjects, fed the Crystal Heart and kept its Magic sustained."

"Wait, Celestia, King Sombra actually used to be king of the Empire?" Twilight asked, more than slightly shocked.

"Of course, Twilight. The reason for your doubts, however..." Celestia began.

"But Sombra grew weary of the constant demands of being a leader. He began to long for the power of a ruler with far less accountability. He began to desire to be a dictator, just so that he could skip the politics and get straight to the power. Sombra began experimenting with Hate Magic. It twisted him, forcing him to become a monster rather than a mere pony. He lashed out at Cadence, and sealed her within the Crystal Heart. It was there that she became an Alicorn; the sentient Love Magic within the Heart awoke her dormant power, transforming her mortal body into that of an Alicorn so that she could continue living. Her Cutie Mark looks like the Heart for this very reason; it used to be just the golden laurel signifying leadership."

"Magic can change Cutie Marks?!" Twilight shouted, completely bewildered. "But I thought that Cutie Marks were permanent!"

"Twilight, if you'll recall, Cadence's Mark still has the golden laurels wrapped around the Heart. It added, not subtracted, from her Cutie Mark. As you might also know, Cutie Marks are given by Magic. They can be altered by Magic as well, though they can never be taken away," Celestia explained, worried at the strange look her student was giving her.

"I...I guess that makes sense..." Twilight stuttered, still somewhat at a loss. "Continue, please..."

"After Sombra took over the Empire and sealed Cadence, my sister and I caught word of it from a crystal pony refugee. He explained that Sombra had gone mad with power, and Cadence was 'indisposed' at the time. By the time Luna and I arrived at the Empire, dark crystals of Hate Magic had grown all over the citadel, and the crystal ponies had been enslaved. We fought long and hard, and I almost fell to Sombra's evil Illusions -- Luna wasn't nearly as susceptible, and snapped me out of my fears -- before we combined our Alicorn Magic to Banish Sombra for...well...we didn't really know how long it would be, but we knew in our hearts that he would be no trouble for a long time. As soon as his power was dispelled, Cadence was freed from the Heart. However, a portion of his Dark energy remained, and it managed to cast a Time Lock spell on the entire Empire. Cadence barely escaped in time, and she came to live with us in Canterlot, wracked with grief for her Time-Locked subjects. "

"Wait, you said this was just over a thousand years ago. I know it was recently that the Empire returned and Sombra was completely destroyed. But, a thousand years ago, you also had to seal Luna on the moon as Nightmare Moon. When did that happen? Was it before or after the Crystal Empire incident?" Twilight asked, still attempting to grasp Celestia's timeline.

Celestia gave her a knowing smile, causing Twilight to groan. "Next chapter?" she asked.

"Next chapter," Celestia answered.

6: The Nightmare

"Nightmare Moon is a completely separate entity from that of my sister. She is the physical and Magical manifestation of Luna's jealousy, hatred of me, and desire for respect. My sister started acting strangely mere days after the Crystal Incident. At the time, I thought nothing of it; Luna had always been moody and brooding, so why should I suspect that her becoming more aloof meant that something was amiss? It was this line of thinking that led to me neglecting to see the signs of Dark Magic use in my sister. Naturally, Dark Magic is my sister's domain, as she represents the Night and all of its practices, whereas I represent the Day and its customs. When you and your friends used the Elements on Nightmare Moon, you were robbing my sister of the Dark Magic that had corrupted her mind and body. The remains of Nightmare Moon are sealed within her broken armor, sealed away in a hidden archive deep within Mt. Canter."

"So Nightmare Moon is her own pony, while Luna is the original? And Luna's jealousy gave rise to life?" Twilight asked, understandably confused.

"That is correct. A lot of dark constructs or creatures are born from Magic. When a Conjurer summons a creature, for example, that creature is, more often than not, made entirely of Magic. Depending on the type of creature, the Magic it consists of varies," Celestia explained.

"I've also been meaning to ask...what happened to the Changelings? Where did they come from, in the first place?"

"Well, the Changelings have always been around in one form or another. They started as little more than Flutter-Pony-sized insectoids that fed off of positive emotions. You see, emotions to a Changeling are a bit like pheromones. They can sense, taste and even create them themselves. However, ponykind's knowledge of even modern Changelings is somewhat limited; until recently, they lived in relative seclusion deep within the Everfree Forest. I think that, next chapter, we will take a trip to the Canterlot Dungeons to speak with someone that may be able to answer your questions," Celestia said, a sly grin on her muzzle.

Twilight groaned.

"Is this the part where you stop talking for several hours on end while you think of what to say next, Celestia?" Twilight questioned, frowning.

"No, my dear student, this is not. I haven't quite said enough yet."

"Fine. Explain the Everfree Forest, I suppose. Please?"

"Long ago, during the Era of Disharmony, Discord ate some seeds. You recall that the seeds he ate grew into evil Vilethorns when he tossed them onto the ground. They did more than that, however. The Everfree Forest, as you know, borders the Whitetail Woods. This is no coincidence; the Everfree used to be a part of the Whitetails. However, Discord's seeds of Chaos took root. Along with the Vilethorns, the Chaos Magic inherent to the seeds began to warp and twist the area of Whitetail we now call the Everfree into what it is today. That is why the weather doesn't behave there, the wildlife takes care of itself, and so many unnatural predators call it home."

"So the Everfree Forest is that way because of Discord?"

"Indeed, Twilight."

"Can we also talk to him tomorrow? As much as I dislike him, he has been around as long as you have. He might have a better perspective of what happened during the Era of Disharmony, seeing as how he was its cause," Twilight asked.

"Of course, Twilight. Discord has set up a pocket-dimension room within the castle. Fortunately, it is close to the dungeons. We can stop by on our way there," Celestia agreed.

"Oh, and by the way, my faithful student..."

"Yes?"

"Next chapter."

"Ugh."

7: Discord

Princesses Celestia and Twilight trotted down the hallway at a leisurely pace the following morning, Twilight having had stayed in her old room in the castle overnight. She had sent back a message to Spike, letting him know that she would be in Canterlot longer than previously expected. She wasn't too worried about being gone; after all, Spike had proven himself able to take care of things for days on end. As a result, she was in no hurry to return when she could be learning of Equestria's history with Celestia.

"Ah, here we are, Twilight. This is the door to Discord's room," Celestia said, stopping in front of a large door that looked to be made of peppermint candy, but was in fact wood with a simple Illusion spell.

"This is...surprisingly plain for the Lord of Chaos himself..." Twilight said carefully.

"Oh, I know, I've been meaning to spruce up the décor around here, but Stick-In-the-Mud here -- I mean, Princess Celestia -- would rather I keep all of my beauty behind this door," Discord quipped, his face suddenly adorning the peppermint door in front of the two princesses. Twilight startled at the sudden intrusion, but Celestia merely blinked.

"Ah, Discord, we were just coming to ask you something. Or, rather, Twilight wanted to ask you something. Go ahead, Twilight," Celestia said, eyeing the other Alicorn.

"Oh! Um...yes, I did have a question. Discord...Celestia and I have been talking about early Equestrian history, and it was mentioned that you took on your worldy form shortly after Celestia. I was wondering...how does Chaos Magic work? It's not documented anywhere that I'm aware of, seeing as how you're pretty much the only source of it on Equus..." Twilight said, nervously.

Discord stroked his peppermint goatee for a moment, contemplating his answer. After a moment, he stepped out of the door entirely, Conjuring the three a set of chairs and a small patio table. Discord's chair was, of course, made of chocolate.

"Well, Princess, my Magic doesn't work. That is, to say, I don't make it work. It just does. All I do is consider an effect, probably change it mid-thought, and my Magic finds a way to carry out my wish when I snap my talons," Discord explained. "I will demonstrate," he added, a moment later. "I wish for some sort of beverage to appear on the table in front of me," he said aloud, punctuated by a snap. With a flash of light, a tall glass of chocolate milk appeared, complete with a silly straw in the shape of Princess Celestia's head. Celestia rolled her eyes.

"Oh! I see...so you don't directly control the Magic, you just sort of tell it what you want and it finds a way to comply? How is that chaotic?" Twilight asked.

"It may not seem chaotic at first, but it didn't have to produce chocolate milk. It could have easily produced lava in a stone bucket, or some sort of acidic, carbonated beverage. I just have a preference for all things chocolate, and my Magic takes note of that fact. Its whole purpose is to please me, after all, but in the most chaotic way it can depending on what I tell it to do," Discord summarized, sipping from his glass. The milk cycled through the colors of Celestia's mane as it passed through the straw's mane. She rolled her eyes again.

"Oh. I get it. That's surprisingly expected, actually, what with it being Chaos itself..." Twilight had already shut out the outside world, retreating into her thoughts to meditate on the true meaning of Chaos. Discord would be pleased, were he not too busy drinking the glass of his milk. He tossed the now-glassless milk behind him, where it shattered with a "quack" into glitter dust.

"Well, Discord, it has been...fun, I suppose...but I am afraid we should probably be going to meet with Chrysalis. We have some questions that only a Changeling could answer," Celestia said, pinging the patio set back to whatever dimension it came from. "You are welcome to join us if you want, thought I'm not sure you'll get anything out of it."

"I'll go for the sake of Chaos."

Meanwhile, in the Human Universe;

 

A man was standing in his doorway, looking out at his back porch. He scratched his head, confused, and said, "Now, I wonder where my patio set has gone to?" As if on cue, there was a flash of golden light, and his patio set appeared upside-down right where it used to be. Taped to the back of one of the chairs was a note that said, "Sorry!" The man shrugged, righted his furniture, and retreated back indoors before it began to rain.

Chrysalis

The Canterlot dungeons; dimly-lit, dirty, humid and generally quite unkempt. It wasn't Celestia's fault, honestly. She hadn't had to house anypony in here since the last major thieves' guild was disbanded...three hundred years ago. Now, the dungeons housed only two occupants: her nephew Blueblood, due to be released (ugh) tomorrow, and the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis.

"Chrissy, dear, I'm hoooome!" Discord called into the dungeon's depths, completely annihilating the dark calm that usually settled over the room. In the dim light, a pair of reflective green eyes opened, and a dark figure shuffled forwards.

"Discord? What in Tartarus do you want?" Chrysalis snapped, remembering the irritating spirit's last "visit" to her cell.

"Oh, but my dear former queen, it's not (currently) about what I want from you, it's what Princess Sparkle wants from you," Discord uttered, a positively Cheshire grin on his face. With a snap of his talon, the aforementioned Princess, followed by Celestia, were teleported outside of Chrysalis' cell. Celestia kept her face neutral, for the sake of formality, but Twilight had no such desires and immediately frowned upon seeing the Queen.

"Changeling Magic. How does it work? I wish to know," Twilight said, getting straight to the point.

"That's awfully forward of you, Princess," Chrysalis snarked. "I should think you could at least try to ask nicely."

"I could, but that would require being nice to the creature that attempted to dethrone my mentor and enslave my brother."

"Touché."

"Just answer the question already...please."

"Alright," Chrysalis began. "Changeling Magic doesn't function much like Equestrian Magic. Whereas you ponies have to focus and think carefully about how your Magic will form, Changelings can simply will their Magic directly into an effect. This means that, sadly, our Magic is somewhat limited; we can only perform one task at a time, and no task at all if it has more than one or two steps. I can cast a fire spell and a shield spell at the same time, much like a Unicorn, but sadly that is it. If I were to attempt a third spell, the first one I cast would simply fail to continue. As well, our Magic has a natural predisposition towards shapeshifting and illusory magic. A changeling can will themselves to copy any form they have seen with their eyes at any point in time, and we have an excellent memory."

"Ooh, special eyes," Discord interjected, a pair of silly glasses appearing on his face. "I have special eyes, too, see?"

Chrysalis gave him an unamused glare for interrupting her, but at the same time knew that agitating the Spirit of Chaos was generally not a good idea. She continued.

"All changelings have a green Magical Aura because we are all the same entity. We share a soul. That is why we are able to communicate so quickly; our minds are shared to an extent, so that thoughts addressed to each other can be shared instantaneously. We are not mind-readers, no, we are a Hivemind," Chrysalis finished.

"Hmm..." Twilight hummed, once more lost in thought. "Chrysalis, thank you for sharing."

"It's not as if I had a choice in the matter, is it?" she mused.

"No, not really."

With a flash, the three entities appeared back in Celestia's study.

"Twilight, did you learn anything?" Celestia asked, ignoring how Discord had miniaturized himself and was wading through her ethereal mane like a pool.

"I do believe I did, Princess. Who knows? Maybe I can reverse-engineer the concept of changeling shapeshifting to find a way for normal Unicorns to replicate its effect!" Twilight said, her voice steadily growing in volume.

"Before you do that, Twilight, can I just say something?" Discord asked.

"Erm, I guess?"

"Next chapter!~" Discord shouted, as everything faded to black...

Fluttering

"So, what about the Flutter Ponies?" Twilight asked. She recalled her friend Fluttershy's recent bout with her morals when she had to take care of a few of the small, insectoid creatures. "Didn't they come from the Old World?"

"As a matter of fact, they did." It was not Celestia that answered her, but surprisingly, Discord. "The Flutter Ponies have been here for about as long as the early Pegasi. Their race was an offspring of Pegasi and the original Changelings, as far as I am aware. I remember turning a lot of them into--" Discord cut himself off before he divulged a secret that he had yet to let Celestia know.

"What was that, Discord?" Celestia and Twilight asked, Celestia's eyes slightly narrowed.

Discord appeared to physically shrink, which he probably actually did, as he let out a nervous titter. "Oh, Celestia, nothing important. Flutter Ponies! They're important! Let's talk about them..."

Celestia's eyes remained narrowed, but she said nothing else. Discord took this for a good sign and continued speaking. "The Flutter Ponies used to be far more magical than they are today. Their dust could cure diseases, or so I heard..."

"Wasn't there a fifth race? Seaponies, or something like that?" Twilight asked, suddenly remembering an old passage from one of her History books about ancient Equestrian legends. The mythical water ponies had been among the more obscure texts.

Discord suddenly looked pale.

"Um, well, yes...at one point..."

"Would you care to elaborate?" Celestia said this, noticing his reaction. "I believe Twilight would like to know why no more Seaponies can be found in most of the world."

Twilight looked shocked, not only at the rather dark tone her fellow Alicorn had taken, but also at what she was insinuating.

"Can...can I save it for the next chapter?" Discord pleaded. He readied his talon to click, preparing to knock the two princesses out as he made a run for the exit.

"I think not. Go ahead, Discord, explain to Twilight why the Seaponies are an endangered species." Celestia's tone was positively acerbic now. Twilight swore that she could see the dangerous spark in her mentor's eyes practically glowing.

With a nervous gulp, Discord began, "Well, as you know it, the Seaponies are the one true 'lost' race of pony. They used to be abundant, found in every ocean and a fair few lakes all across Equestria. However, when I began my thousand-year Reign of Chaos, I may or may not have accidentally turned every Seapony on the planet into a dolphin..." Celestia's glare did not let up.

Twilight's eyes, unlike her mentor's, were not filled with untold malice, but rather bewilderment. "You annihilated an entire race...on accident?" A single strand of her mane sprung out of place as she attempted to imagine the amount of Magic it would take to transform thousands, if not millions of creatures into a completely different creature. Her attempt failed; math failed her. Another little part of her mane became messier. Before she could have a mental breakdown about how she was currently having tea with a creature capable of genocide on such a massive scale, she forced herself to breathe and relax like Cadence taught her. It worked.

Discord, meanwhile, sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with his paw. "Erm...yes?"

Celestia sighed heavily. "That's enough for tonight, I believe. Twilight, you're free to sleep in the castle tonight. Discord, please retire to your room if you've got no further business within the castle. I need some time to cool down."

With a still-meek grin, Discord teleported off in a flash. Twilight did the same, still somewhat shocked, re-appearing in her old tower. Celestia shook her head, turning to her bed and collapsing onto it. It had been a while since she had last slept. That may, perhaps, have been because she had continually stopped and stared off into space, thinking of little for hours on end, multiple times over the past couple of days. She hoped she wasn't going insane. That was Luna's job.

The Aftermath

Twilight and her entourage were getting worried.

Princess Celestia hadn't moved from her spot for a week now. She had been staring off into space the entire time, her eyes glazed over, mumbling to herself in a language that nopony (or draconequus) could decipher.

Eventually, it was decided that Celestia had gone brain dead after she had realized a paradox in her storytelling, and had seemingly found no way out of it. Twilight Sparkle took over the mantle of Princess of the Day, learning to raise the Sun from Luna. As Equestria's newest ruler, much skepticism from the nobleponies was directed towards her newest plans, but eventually everything smoothed out. Celestia, who was still unmoving, was declared by doctors to be "in a waking coma of some kind." She was relocated to a large, marble tomb in a secret room behind where her old throne once sat. In her throne's place was Twilight's own, made of lilac crystals that she stole borrowed from the Crystal Empire. Celestia was placed on her throne and moved to her new sanctum, whose entrance only the living Alicorns know about. To this day, she remains there, locked in a stare with the wall.

A funeral was held in her honor by the remaining Alicorns, because none of them believed that she had any chance of recovering (they still don't.) Luna was sad at first, but then she took the opportunity to try Dream Walking with the comatose ex-ruler. What she found startled everyone: Celestia was alive and dreaming constantly. She was—and still is—locked in a constant battle with her psyche to fix the paradox she unknowingly created. The two ruling Alicorns visit her dreams often to aid her in her endless quest against her own mind.

Discord has taken to placing bets on who will win.

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