Silence. Painful, ungodly silence.

Twilight cringed as nine pairs of eyes stared directly at her. No, directly through her. Over the years her appearance had changed dramatically. The lavender alicorn now stood nearly as tall as Celestia, and her wings were of the same ratio. Her mane had darkened slightly, but it was obvious that the mare standing there was none other than Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight felt smaller than she ever had. Her lip quivered and she trembled uncontrollably in place. Looking up, she saw that Celestia was slowly approaching her. Involuntarily responding, Twilight backed up in fear and stared wide eyed at the sun goddess. Her face lacked the regular fake divine smile, replaced with utter confusion.

Soft whimpers and sniffling broke the silence as tears fell from the lavender alicorn. All the confidence and poise she had when she interrupted Celestia's tyrade was shattered and unrecognizable. The emotional wall that Twilight had built around herself for thirty long years had finally crumbled.

It was too much.

As Celestia reached out a hoof to stroke Twilight's mane in disbelief, the young princess yet out a suppressed yelp and teleported away with a bright flash of pink light. The whole experience left Celestia sitting on her haunches and staring at the ground, eyes ever wide and jaw hanging loosely below her.

"How could I have been such a foal?"

All eyes turned to Spike as he hung his head and sighed. "Aquarius. Discord. The Elements of Chaos. Those creepy forbidden books. It was so painfully obvious... I think I knew it all along. The messages that my subconscious kept giving me in the dreams. That's why I thought I was being possessed. It knew something I didn't know. Something I refused to believe."

Epsilon stared at the dragon quizzically and raised a brow. "You... Who did you think she was?"

"Luna." interjected Discord.

The white stallion lowered his gaze. "All of you?"

The proceeding silence answered his question for him. Epsilon sighed and looked around at the group, weighing his options between shouting at them, throwing comets at them, or simply sending them all to the moon. He chose a much simpler course of action, however.

"You all don't know anything. Do you?"

----------

Twilight re-appeared under an old hollow oak tree.  Still sobbing, the alicorn gently raised a hoof to wipe away her tears. She had always expected for things to go bad between her and Celestia, but a complete mental breakdown just by seeing her mother? Also, come to think of it, she hadn't even a clue where she had teleported to. She just needed to leave.

The lavender mare went slack jawed as she gave the oak tree a second glance. It wasn't a regular tree. This one had a door. It had windows. This isn't possible.

My library.

Twilight cautiously opened the door and walked inside her old home. She looked around at the walls, her furniture, all of her books... It was all there. Everything was there. In utter disbelief, the alicorn climbed up her old stair case and peeked inside her bedroom. It was if she had never left the house, not even for a day.

Feeling heavy and exhausted from her recent emotional struggle, the depressed mare slowly climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her. She was just about to fall into a deep, peaceful sleep... When something caught her eye.

On top of a book shelf sat a small picture frame, it's contents invisible due to the glare within the room. Twilight sighed as she levitated the photograph over to the bed and viewed it. It was the first group photo of her and her five friends, all standing together and smiling. The thought of it brought her to tears. Not because of her mistakes... But because any love or friendship she could ever have would fade in time. She led a life of despair and loss. What would she have to even display for her first friends? How she destroyed everything?

When did we grow so far apart? I can't be the only one who's noticed...

... I can't be the only one who's learned?

Her thoughts were interrupted as a faint, nearly inaudible creak in the wooden floor rang through her ears. Having been any other pony, she wouldn't have even noted it, but the thirty years of isolation, insomnia, and paranoia has taught her otherwise. She grinned and placed the picture on the floor below her.

Twilight spoke in a lecture as if she was teaching a magic class. "Substitution. Using physical magic to bend light and gas in order to create a corporeal clone of yourself, one with no thought or emotion. The clone can answer simple questions and do certain tasks, and is perfect when you want to get out a sticky situation. One of my favourites, but I assume you know it better. It is a spell of your own invention, anyways."

Discord snapped his claws, materializing in front of the alicorn. He chuckled softly. "You never cease to impress me, Twilight Sparkle."

"Such a charmer. Oh, how I've missed you Dissy." she said, getting up out of the mattress.

The draconequus sighed as he sat down on the now unoccupied bed. "For someone ever so interested in telepathical and psych magic, you were thinking very loudly and vulnerably."

"How much did you hear?" she asked.

He softened his gaze. "Everything."

She laughed and shook her head, a few fresh tears falling to the ground. "I really messed up, didn't I?"

"Everypony makes mistakes. Though, us divine, ours tend to make a greater impact then we desire." he said. "You are not the only one who's learned, Twilight. I have made my share of messes, such that locked me in stone. Luna turned to envy and became enveloped in hatred. Celestia... She was probably the worst of all. But that is a story for another time."

The alicorn sniffled as she walked closer to, and finally sat down next to Discord. "Why do you know exactly what to say, all of the time?"

"Well," he began. "I have quite the personal experience. Most recognize me for my creation of the classical era, however that is but a small fraction of my lifetime."

"Wait..." Twilight's curiosity and recent contemplation of her immortality forced her to interrogate further. "Mother never told me... Discord, how old are you?"

He laughed heartily. "That is a good question, and Celestia has not told you because she has never asked. I am older than the mountains, yet younger than the seas."

Twilight repeated the statement in her head a few times. "Beg your pardon?"

"Seventeen million."

Twilight eyes shot open at the sudden realization. "That's... You're..."

Discord met the alicorn's stare. "Celestia herself is but a child, as you are. The immortal think of immortality as a curse, a burden for those who must carry that title. The mortal think of immortality as a blessing, a gift to anypony who gets the chance to live forever. It is neither of those things, but it is also both of those things at the same time."

"I don't get it." said Twilight.

The draconequus sighed in response. "As you should know by now, good and evil do not exist. Neither do harmony and chaos. They are not actual forces or traits, they are just ideas created to explain what we do and do not desire. There is no such thing as black and white, only many shades of gray. Immortality is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, it hurts to see those you love pass away. Yes, it is great to be able to spread your influence for an eternity. Do you know why I took rule of Equestria? Do you know why I spread chaos?"

Twilight didn't respond, but simply shook her head. Discord continued his speech after noting the gesture. "Because I understand life. I understand the world. I know at the end of the day, all the worries that we have are irrelevant and minuscule. Death is sad, and grief is necessary in times. But you cannot let it consume you. You must accept life for what it is, and use your influence to shape it for the better. Immortality is about the ability to see time pass. To prevent history from repeating itself. Harmony shall loop events, and play them over and over. Chaos shall change the future to something new. It is why on occasion I would edit ponies lives for my entertainment - never was it in the idea of harming them."

"And I thought Epsilon was wise." joked Twilight.

Discord laughed. "As ironic as it is, I brought about chaos to restore harmony. Celestia was too young to understand what I had been doing, therefore I forgive her for the error of her ways. She was only two thousand years old then, the smallest of fillies compared to my lifetime. Now you may be wondering why I told you all of this. You carry a responsibility, and that is to not forcefully shape the world as you have been doing for thirty years, but to gently nudge it in the right direction. Life is hard. But those who die are in a better place."

The young alicorn hung her head as Discord finished. "I'm sorry."

The chimera wrapped his wing around the alicorn to comfort her. "I forgive you. I'm curious though, what exactly happened after your fight with Luna?"

Twilight laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess after all of these memories it's finally time to tell my story. But you must know one thing before I begin."

Discord raised a brow. "And what would that be?"

"I never intend for Luna to kill herself."