"You do realize I've essentially freed you from your dimensional prison, right? I think you could stand to be a little more grateful y'know."

But, much to his disappointment and slight annoyance, Discord's guest remained resolutely sour about her circumstances. Still, it was a step up from unwarranted homicidal rage, so Discord opted to let it go for the time being. Besides, there were other, far more pressing issues to discuss.

"I don't know what you did, Discord," Twilight replied in a measured, but bitter tone, "but I can think a bit more clearly, and I know, intellectually that what happened to me wasn't your fault," she paused, closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath before speaking again, "that said, I also know about you and what you're trying to do."

"Of course you do," came Discord's flippant reply, "that's part of why I decided to whisk you away from your plight and bring you here to my humble abode."

"And what about Salvatore?" Twilight asked, glaring at the draconequus as he took a dainty sip of tea, "where is he? Why isn't he here? Isn't he supposed to be your pawn?"

"And it all comes back to our good friend Sal," Discord chuckled, "he's the other reason you're here, and as for why he's not, well..." he shrugged and took another sip of tea, "I have no need to talk to him right at the moment, just you," he raised an eyebrow, "your tea's getting cold by the way."

"Discord, what happened to Salvatore?" Twilight demanded, "if you want this discussion to go anywhere, I need to know what happened to Salvatore."

"Oh very well," Discord groaned before putting his cup down and frowning irritably at the mare across from him, "if you must know, he's back where I left him in your Equestria," he leaned back in his chair and picked at one of his talons, "right about now he's probably freaking out about where you went."

"What? No!" Twilight cried, pushing herself out of the chair, her eyes wide and her face growing pale beneath her fur, "without me there to monitor them, the wards around the library can't sustain themselves!"

"Really?" Discord asked, raising a curious eyebrow, "if I remember correctly, it was Moonbutt who put up those wards wasn't it?"

"Yes, most of them, but they just... vanished one day," Twilight explained, close to hyperventilating, "I don't know what happened, but I managed to recreate the wards before any of my friends could be attacked, but I have to be there to make sure they stay active!"

"Then I suppose he'll be mauled to death by the thing that used to be your little assistant," Discord responded simply, "a shame, but what can you do?"

"You can send me back!" Twilight retorted angrily. Before she could get too worked up, another sudden calm overcame her and her tight, angry expression slackened into one of desperate pleading, "Discord please, I don't know what happened to him when I tried to fix his eyesight. He could be helpless, and I left him alone with that... with..."

Her voice hitched and she dropped back into her seat, her head hanging low and her ears folded back in dismay.

"If he dies, then I'll have lost not just the only friend I've had in what feels like ages, but my whole world," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. She looked back up at Discord with watery eyes, "send me back, Discord... I'm begging you."

Discord eyed the distraught mare for several long seconds, his face an unreadable mask. Then he gave a long, weary sigh, picked up his cup of tea, went to drink, thought better of it, and lowered it back to the table.

"You've managed to yank the information about my plans out of Sal's head," Discord began, his face hard, but his eyes oddly understanding, "but clearly there's still some things you're overlooking here."

"W-What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, trying to collect herself. She wiped her eyes and gave the draconequus another glare, "from what I understand, you're using Salvatore to try and wipe out every horrible universe for your own needs. I know why you're doing it, but that doesn't make it right," she shook her head, "and even aside from that, it's an impossible task. There's no way Salvatore can save, or even destroy all of these 'grimverse' worlds, not when more will just take their place."

"True," Discord conceded, "but I don't necessarily need all of them wiped out, just the ones that are influencing my own Equestria, the ones that pose a threat to the peace my friends have worked so hard to obtain. Once I've deemed my world safe, then Sal is free to do whatever he wants."

"And when will that be?" Twilight shot back, "how many universes are going to force him to try and save or destroy? How many times is he going to have to die until you're satisfied?"

"As many times as it takes!" Discord growled, leaning forward over the table, "despite what you might think, and despite whatever else I might say about the human or however I might act, I have full confidence in Salvatore. He might be weak in body, and he's no genius, but he has a few things going for him that make him perfect for the job."

"And what's that?" Twilight asked, still angry, still worried, but curious despite herself, "what could possibly prepare him for what you're putting him through?"

Discord folded his arms and smirked.

"His luck, his optimism, and probably the most important trait of all, his uncanny ability to simply take things in stride."

Twilight blinked and frowned, Discord's words having caught her off guard.

"What... that's not..." she shook her head and her frown deepened, "Salvatore isn't... he doesn't really strike me as the optimistic type. In fact, a lot of what he says seems to suggest otherwise, and luck?" Twilight would've laughed out loud if she didn't think it horribly inappropriate, "the only thing I can even remotely agree with is his relaxed attitude, and even then I'd say it's more lackadaisical than anything."

"Believe what you want, but I know better, Miss Sparkle," Discord replied with another careless shrug, "more to the point, I'm not sending you back. I need you here, so you're staying here."

And just like that, the anger, dread, and panic Twilight had been trying to suppress came rushing back with a vengeance. She made to rise again, her mouth open and ready to retort, but Discord spoke before she could even utter a word.

"Why go back at all?" Discord asked suddenly, his arms folded on the table and his mismatched yellow and red eyes half-lidded and patient, "what's left for you there really, Twilight Sparkle? A lonely life in a dimensional prison of your mentor's own making? Constantly living in fear and despair without your friends or loved ones to save you or keep you company? That twisted monstrosity that used to be Spike?"

Twilight made an odd choked noise and her mouth snapped shut. She fell back into her seat and lowered her gaze to the table, unable to look Discord in the eye.

"You're right... there isn't much for me to go back to anymore," she conceded quietly, "Celestia abandoned me, all my friends are gone, the Discord of my world is free and doing who knows what to Equestria... and Spike..."

She clenched her eyes shut and fell silent for a long moment before raising her head and looking Discord in the eye, her own eyes suddenly brimming with newfound determination.

"There's a lot of things wrong in my Equestria, and I have all kinds of questions," she continued, her voice growing a bit stronger as she went on, "but Salvatore is there. He's been there for me when I had nopony... no one else to turn to, and together, once I unlock the chaos magic you gave to him, I know we'll be able to fix—"

"Fix? Oh, that's rich!" Discord interjected, laughing uproariously, as though he'd just heard the funniest joke in existence, "Twilight, you can't fix anything! Not by yourself, not with Salvatore's help, and certainly not with chaos magic!"

"And why not?" Twilight snapped, "chaos magic—"

"As the Lord of Chaos, I'm going to let you in on a little something about chaos magic," Discord said, still chuckling as he wiped his eyes, "chaos magic will almost always betray your expectations. Not even I can fully control what'll happen when I use it. That's part of the reason why Salvatore is so unstable. What happened to him the last time I brought him here wasn't simply just incompetence on my part."

"But... I've done the research," Twilight argued, "I know there's a pattern, a formula, some set of rules chaos magic has to follow. Every type of magic does, no matter how obscure and nonsensical. I've seen the commands you've placed within Salvatore, and that alone tells me chaos magic is no exception."

"I suppose you've got me there," Discord admitted, hovering over the table with his arms behind his head, evidently bored of sitting in a chair, "but I'm somewhat of an exception to the rule, or lack thereof, being the Lord of Chaos and all," he jabbed a clawed digit down at Twilight, "magic users like you ponies though? There's no chance in Tartarus that you'd be able to control chaos magic like I do, you weren't meant to."

"But, Salvatore—"

"I'll get to Salvatore and chaos magic in due time," Discord cut in, his voice and expression once again serious as he looked down at the mare, "for now, let's return to the topic of your Equestria and why you shouldn't go back, shall we?"

He snapped his talons and the strange music and dancing furniture that Twilight had somehow managed to push to the back of her mind suddenly vanished, along with everything else. Twilight looked around and saw that they were in a blank white space completely devoid of anything save for the table and chairs they sat at, and Discord was indeed sitting in his chair once more, staring back at her with a grim look.

"When I said you couldn't fix anything, it wasn't simply because you lacked the means to do so, or because I was just being an antagonistic jerk—well, not completely anyway," he slowly shook his head, "no, it was because everything was rigged against you from the beginning."

Twilight's eyes narrowed, her growing dread hidden behind wariness.

"What are you saying, Discord?" she asked, "what do you mean everything was 'rigged against me'?"

"I mean that Discord—your Discord, was never the real threat," he smiled an amused smile, "would you like to guess what the real threat was? Go on, you'll never guess, I guarantee it."

Twilight didn't like the wicked grin on Discord's face, nor did she care for the implications that her suffering could've been caused by anything other than her Equestria's Discord... and Celestia.

Celestia, in all her fury and carelessness, had left her and her friends to die within that barrier. Luna had a hoof in it, she hadn't done anything to stop her sister, but it was ultimately Celestia's decision to abandon her. In a sense, Celestia was just as much to blame as Discord... but could she really have been behind everything from the start?

"No, that's... I..." Twilight swallowed and tried to speak again, her mouth feeling suddenly very dry, "Celestia, she... I knew something was wrong, that something was off about the way she handled things... but she couldn't have been against me from the very beginning before this... before Sombra and the Crystal Empire, she—"

"Wrong!" Discord shouted gleefully, "it wasn't Her Royal Foolishness or her sister. Try again, Twilight."

Twilight knew even before she opened her mouth that she had no other guesses to make. If this Discord was right, and the real culprit wasn't her Equestria's Discord or Celestia but someone or something else behind the scenes, then who else could it have been? It couldn't have been Sombra, she'd taken care of the shadowy stallion back in the Crystal Empire.

"Stumped aren't you?" Discord laughed, "well, that's not surprising, considering the two of you have never met... at least, in your universe," with a savage grin, Discord snapped his talons, "in your universe, she was a far more competent villain."

The white void vanished, replaced by another location that seemed to waver into existence around them. To Twilight's shock and confusion, she found herself and Discord seated right in the middle of the throne room of Canterlot Castle. Around her were what looked like dozens, maybe hundreds of ponies on either side of the room.

They all seemed to be dressed up for some kind of event, and as Twilight looked around at all the ponies in snappy black tuxedos and fancy white dresses, her heart began to race and her eyes began to water. Standing together near the two thrones and looking just as happy as they'd ever been were all of her friends.

On the thrones themselves sat Celestia and Luna, both looking just as regal and composed as ever, a small smile across their faces. What caught Twilight's attention the most however, was both her brother, dressed in his red military uniform, and Twilight herself, adorned in one of the most beautiful dresses she'd ever worn and a small open black box bearing a ring at her side.

Shining Armor stood straight, looking horribly nervous, and Twilight couldn't have been more excited or proud of him and what was happening. Twilight was struck nearly speechless, her own emotions rendering her almost silent. She was so focused on what she was witnessing, that she didn't even register the fact that she and Discord were still seated at the table right in the middle of the aisle.

"This is..." she croaked, "Discord... why did you bring me back here?"

"Just watch," Discord whispered, grinning like a foal on Hearth's Warming, "you're going to love this..."

His eyes weren't on the groom, or any of the other ponies, but rather the entrance to the throne room. Twilight, with a titanic amount of effort, tore her eyes away from her friends and her brother and followed his gaze. She didn't have to wait long to find out what Discord was waiting for as the tall doors creaked open and admitted a very familiar mare in an immaculate wedding dress.

Cadence strode into the throne room at a leisurely, yet refined pace. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo trailed some distance behind, enthusiastically showering the crowd with flower petals. Her head was slightly bowed, her face a mask of happiness and serenity as she made her way to the other end of the throne room. She looked every bit as beautiful now as she did then, Twilight thought, the perfect bride for a perfect groom.

"And there she is, the pony of the hour!" Discord shouted joyously. He turned to Twilight and gestured dramatically towards the pink alicorn, "Twilight Sparkle, may I present, the true mastermind behind your horrible, horrible fate!"

Twilight blinked and looked from Discord to Cadence, then back to Discord, horror and disbelief clearly written on her face.

Cadence?" she asked incredulously, "you're saying Cadance was behind all of this? That doesn't—"

"What? No, of course not!" Discord snorted, "she and your brother are just pawns—well, your brother is food, mostly," ignoring Twilight's growing confusion, he jabbed a thumb towards the fillies making a mess of the aisle, "I'm talking about the white unicorn runt, I believe she was Rarity's younger sister, oh what was her name?"

"Sweetie Belle?" Twilight cried, her sorrow completely pushed aside in favor of sheer shock, "you expect me to believe Sweetie Belle was... she's... that's..." Twilight watched the filly in question closely, but the only thing she saw was an innocent filly enjoying herself along with her closest friends. She rounded on the draconequus, her confusion turning to anger, "Discord what are you trying to pull? Your sick jokes are the last thing I—"

"Ah," Discord cut in, raising a talon in front of Twilight's face and causing her to lean back slightly, "look again."

And with that, he slowly dragged his talon, and Twilight's gaze, over to where the fillies were once more, only two of the fillies were gone. In fact, everything else aside from Sweetie Belle had disappeared, leaving the one filly, Discord, and Twilight once again in a white void.

Sweetie Belle sat a few hoof-lengths away from the table, eyeing Twilight and Discord with a curious, innocent smile. Twilight, for her part, sat frozen in horrible anticipation of what would come next.

"You see, our dear, sweet little Sweetie Belle isn't exactly what she seems," Discord explained, "in fact, if you were to pay close attention..."

Discord snapped his talons and Twilight gasped, nearly falling out of her chair as she tried to scramble back from the thing that had, in a sudden gout of emerald flame, taken Sweetie Belle's place.

"...you might think she was a completely different creature altogether."

Twilight stared in open mouthed horror at the sight before her. It was something akin to a pony, yet far from it at the same time, with it's black chitinous shell, bluish green carapace, and translucent bug-like wings it reminded Twilight more of an insect. It was as tall as Celestia, and its thin, almost emaciated looking frame made it look even taller.

Holes riddled the lower half of its legs and its long dark cerulean mop of a mane and tail. It seemed to stare straight through Twilight with its cold, predatory jade eyes and cruel fanged grin, making the lavender mare shudder in fear and disgust. It wore what Twilight assumed was some kind of black crown atop its head, though she couldn't tell whether it was actually part of her body or not.

"Who... w-what is that?!" Twilight cried, "I've never... Discord, what... what happened to Sweetie Belle?!"

"Who knows," Discord replied flippantly, "maybe she's trapped in some kind of prison made of icky green goop, maybe the poor filly was done in by the very thing standing before you. Whatever the case, that isn't Sweetie Belle standing there," he chuckled darkly, "that, my dear... is a changeling."

"A... changeling?" Twilight nearly whispered, something stirring in the back of her mind, "that's... a changeling?"

"Indeed, and not just any changeling either," Discord answered, poofing out of existence and reappearing next to the creature. He wrapped his leonine arm around its withers, and together they gave Twilight a toothy grin, "this here is the head honcho, the big boss, the mistress of disguise and deception, the ruler in every sense of the word."

Twilight stared back at the two of them, completely dumbfounded. Salvatore and whatever ordeal he was now facing alone had been shunted aside in light of this new and horrifying revelation. She didn't want to believe it, she wanted to tell Discord that she didn't believe a word of what he was showing and telling her, and yet something in her memory had begun to stir.

There was something about that creature—that changeling, that tugged at her mind, like she'd read about them somewhere before, but couldn't quite remember. She wanted to deny everything, and yet she knew—somehow she knew Discord was telling the truth, or part of it at the very least. She tried to wrack her brain for answers, clues, anything to help her put the pieces together, but was distracted as Discord spoke again, his sickly yellow and red eyes alight with mirth and his smile eerily wide.

"Twilight Sparkle, I'd like you to meet Chrysalis, Queen of the Changeling Kingdom, the source of all of your pain and suffering, and the instrument of your Equestria's downfall."

This probably wasn't all that hard to figure out, and I'm sure some of you are probably thinking 'of course it was Chrysalis!', but I don't mind if my choice of villain get criticized, this is honestly where things get fun for me.

Up next, more exposition and a very special offer from our favorite draconequus.