I looked out the window. We were almost to Canterlot.

"Twilight, did Princess Celestia say why she wanted to see us?"

I looked at Fluttershy and shook my head. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. She didn't It's not like her to not say." She nodded and went back to her seat. I looked across at Rarity. She and I had agreed not to tell Fluttershy anything. I hated to do it, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her about Speedy. It would upset her so much.

I made sure that Fluttershy wasn't looking in my direction and pulled out the letter once more.

Dear Twilight,

It is urgent that you and Fluttershy come to Canterlot at once. There's been a disturbing development with Speedy that will require your knowledge. Please hurry.

Celestia

The last sentence and the signature disturbed me the most. The princess sounded....desperate. I knew that she hadn't asked for Rarity, but since she knew about the situation too, I let her come. That and I didn't think she would keep her mouth shut about Speedy with Fluttershy and me out of town. The train began to slow down. We were close. I looked from Rarity to Fluttershy and gave them a reassuring smile. "Let's see what Celestia wants."

The guards escorted us into the castle. We paused when the sound of something crashing echoed from upstairs. The guards shook their heads, most of them mumbling under their breath. What was going on up there? I looked to the opposite end of the hall to see Princess Celestia walking towards us. I was also surprised to see that Luna was with her as well. They seemed to be talking, but we were still too far from them to hear anything. Before we got any closer, Celestia noticed us and nodded to Luna. Luna walked away without another word, looking very sad.

Celestia met us halfway in the hall and nodded to the guards, letting them leave. "It is good to see you three. I wish it were under better circumstances." She began leading us towards the grand staircase. "Luna and I haven't been able to figure out what's happened yet, but if he gets any worse we may have to move him into the dungeon for his own protection." Rarity and I were shocked. Celestia was talking about Speedy? Fluttershy stepped forward timidly. "Um...who are you talking about your Highness?" Celestia seemed surprised. She glanced at me and I gave a quick shake of my head.

Before Celestia or I could respond, Luna reappeared. "Fluttershy, my dear friend. I have been meaning to speak with you for some time. You do not mind sister?" Celestia stared at Luna for several seconds before nodding slowly. Fluttershy followed Luna, looking back in confusion. I nodded encouragingly to her and then turned back to Celestia. She continued watching them go until the sound of a closing door announced their departure. She then turned to me. "Luna will be as gentle as she can breaking the news." She turned to Rarity. "I was surprised to see you here Rarity. Am I to assume you already know of the situation." Rarity nodded. "Is it really true then Princess?" Celestia slowly nodded. "It was." My ears perked up at that last word. "Was?" She nodded again. "Follow me." She started up the stairs as another noise echoed from the next floor.

We reached the doors to the castle's library. I had been here several times before. And now it was the source of all the noise. Was Speedy making all this noise? The doors slowly opened to reveal the largest mess I've ever seen. Books were littering the floor. There were several stacks that must have stood at least twenty feet tall. The only thing tat outnumbered the books was the amount of paper everywhere. Random pieces of parchment an the walls and the floor, all with scribbled writing on them. I looked back at Celestia. "What happened in here?" She didn't speak. She just walked further into the sea of books.

We followed her past a few of the towers and came to a desk in the middle of the library. There he was. Speedy was flipping frantically through books and scribbling notes on paper, all the time muttering something under his breath. Before anything else could happen, Rarity walked up to him. "You! You horrid, two-timing monster!"

SLAP

Speedy paused, feeling his cheek and looking at Rarity. "I deserved that. Thanks." Without another word he returned to his work. Rarity's mouth hung open. Celestia and I joined her. The princess put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "That's the first time he's directly responded to anypony in two days." I looked at her in shock. "Two days? But what is he even doing?" She shook her head. "He keeps going on about finding an answer, but we don't know what he means by it."

"Must find it. This equation is useless. Perhaps one of Starswirl's scrolls."

Speedy disappeared behind one of the book towers. The sound of rustling parchment told us he was looking through scrolls. Rarity came to her senses and turned to us. "I am so sorry about that. I don't know what came over me."

"Starswirl you idiot! How could you not have it?!"

Speedy reappeared and walked over to one of the towers. He pulled a book from near the bottom of the stack and the tower came crashing down. I stopped the avalanche with simple shield spell, saving us all from the collapse. Speedy hadn't seemed to notice what he had done. I shook my head. "I've never seen him like this before. He's completely oblivious." Celestia nodded. "I've tried to ask him what he's looking for, but he never responds. I can't even follow what he's doing. He goes from magic theory to art history to geometry. He could be looking for anything."

"There must be something. It has to be here."

The doors opened behind us and Luna and Fluttershy walked in. The rustling of pages stopped and Speedy appeared. He looked at the two mares. And then he flipped.

"GET OUT! IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT I'M HERE! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME YOU NIGHTMARE?!"

Luna stood frozen in place while Fluttershy began to cry. Speedy walked up to Luna.

"GET OUT!"

She slowly backed away and left the library. Speedy looked at Fluttershy. She was still crying. "Speedy...." Speedy's eyes widened in fear and he ran back into the books.

"Must find it."

Celestia motioned for all of us to follow her and we left Speedy alone to his work.

We all sat in Celestia's personal study. Luna sat in the corner away from the rest of us. Fluttershy continued to cry quietly, Rarity with a hoof around her. I sat with Celestia as we came to terms with what had just happened. Luna sighed from her corner. "I should not have come to the library." Fluttershy whimpered slightly. Rarity pulled her a little closer. Celestia lowered her head. "I fear that we won't be able to help him without knowing what he's after." I began to pace. "He got really mad when Luna and Fluttershy came, but he directed his last sentence right at Luna. What if he was speaking to her the whole time?" Rarity shook her head. "Why would that matter?"

"Because he called me a nightmare."

We all turned to look at Luna. She stood up and walked towards us. "He thought I was Nightmare Moon." I mulled it over in my head. She could be right. But why would Speedy think Luna was Nightmare Moon? "Did any of you notice how scared he looked when Fluttershy spoke to him?" Everypony nodded. I continued to pace. "He didn't want Luna there. He blames her for something. And then he sees Fluttershy and runs back to find...whatever it is he's looking for." I looked at Fluttershy, her tears starting to dry against her cheeks. "He's trying to find something for you Fluttershy. He was scared when he saw you looking at him and crying." I turned to Luna. "He blames Nightmare Moon for something. But what?" Luna shook her head.

Celestia looked to Rarity. "Rarity, would you take Fluttershy out? I think some fresh air would do her well." Rairty bowed her head and led Fluttershy out. When the door was closed, Celestia turned to Luna. "I believe it is time I knew the full extent of your feelings sister." Luna lowered her gaze and sat down. "I didn't expect to fall in love with him. After our first though, something began to stir in me. We have a connection between us." Celestia nodded. "Because of your pasts." Luna nodded in agreement. "We've both had our darker moments, but we were able to forget them together." Something clicked in my head at that point and my mind began to work over the facts:

- Luna had once had a very evil side to her.

- Speedy had acted as Discord's body for a time.

- They both had had evil souls in them.

- This common ground had attracted them together.

That was it. It wasn't Speedy and Luna, or at least not fully them. "I understand." The princesses looked at me in confusion. "What was that Twilight?" I looked at Luna. "You and Speedy both still have some remnants of your darker sides. Nightmare Moon and Discord are why you fell in love!" She recoiled slightly. "I refuse to think that those creatures made me love Speedy!" I shook my head. "They didn't actually do anything, but some part of them exists within you still. The two pieces met and fit together." Celestia began to nod. "It would make sense. But what about Speedy's behavior?" This took me a few seconds to consider.

Finally I had my next theory. "Speedy got mad when he saw Luna. He didn't want anything to do with her. What if he's realized that the piece of Discord in his head had something to do with the relationship? He hate's Discord! How would you feel if you found out your love life was his plaything?" Luna shuddered. We now had something to go on. But it left one question unanswered. What was Speedy looking for?

We walked into the library. Speedy was still rummaging through papers and books. He paused as he saw the princesses and me. "I thought I told you to leave." I hurried over to Speedy and turned him away from Luna. "Speedy. You're trying to find something. What is it?" His eyes seemed to stare right through me. "The answer. Must find the answer." He tried to move away, but I tightened my grip. "The answer to what?" His eyes slowly began to focus. "To my problem. My horrible problem." I wanted to cry, but I forced the tears down and smiled. "I'm your friend Speedy. Let me help you find the answer." He was actually looking at me now.

His head began to nod and I hugged him. As I pulled away, he visibly relaxed. "I've searched through the whole library. I've tried a thousand different spell combinations, but nothing works." I looked around the mess that was the library. I believe him that he had looked everywhere. "What are you looking for?" He pointed to his head. "I have to get it out." Did he mean his brain? No. That couldn't be it. Of course! The piece of Discord's mind! "You mean Discord?" He nodded. "Nothing in here is helping. But he knows. He must. He said he would take it back once he was free." I shook my head. "We can't go to Discord." He turned to Celestia and Luna. "Celestia. Where did you hide him?" Celestia seemed surprised by the question. "What do you mean?" Speedy stepped towards her. "Where is Discord?"

The light faded and we were in an all too familiar place. We were standing in the crystal caves that Queen Chrysalis had imprisoned me and Cadence in. And there he was. Discord frozen in stone at the far side of the cavern.

I wasn't expecting visitors.

The walls echoed with the voice. Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Be silent."

You can't keep me silent Celestia. Now why have you brought Twilight and Speedy here?

Speedy stomped his hoof against the ground. "You know why I'm here!"

Don't you like it Speedy? Chaos is in everything. Stick with it a little longer and you'll come to love it. Just like you love your two marefriends.

Speedy charged Discord, but stopped right in front of him. He turned and lifted his hind legs. I couldn't believe it. Speedy actually bucked Discord like he was back at Sweet Apple Acres bucking an apple tree. A wave of energy broke from Discord's body and shook the cavern.

You have my attention.

When he had caught his breath, Speedy looked up at Discord. "You're going to take back what's yours." The laughter echoed for several seconds, making it sound as if there were multiple Discords in the cavern.

The only way I can help you is if you free me. And besides, the process would most likely kill you.

Speedy took a step back. "Would I be here if I cared?"

How true. Then free me.

Celestia stepped forward. "Speedy, we can't. He'll escape the moment he's out."

Celestia, you have no idea how much I want that fragment of my mind back. And I have to give Speedy his fragment back as well. It's like poison! I'm beginning to have...emotions. I don't know how you ponies live with them.

Luna growled. "Enough talk!"

Very well. Speedy. Twilight. If you would do the honors.

Speedy's eyes grew wide. "What do you mean? I don't have magic."

When will you ever learn. You have a part of me don't you? Use that to help Twilight free me.

I looked at the princesses. Celestia slowly shook her head. Luna began to nod. I looked to Speedy. He smiled. "It'll be fine." I swallowed and stepped forward. "I hope you know what you're doing." I focused hard on Speedy. I could feel the smallest bit of magical energy within him. Discord. I focused on it. Nothing. And then it began to flow out of Speedy. He was channeling the magic to me. I let the energy flow into me and directed it at Discord.

The stone began to glow. And then it dissolved. Discord stretched his arms and yawned. "Ah! So good to be back!" He flew forward and grabbed Speedy. "Hold still. This is going to be extremely painful." His took his hand and reached into Speedy's head. The screaming was awful. I tried covering my ears, but the echoing was too much. Speedy's cries of pain were deafening. Discord didn't move. I could see that his hand was moving around like he was feeling for something in Speedy's skull. And then he paused.

"YES!"

He pulled out what looked like a thin trail of black smoke. Speedy collapsed to the ground. Discord placed the smoke in his mouth and swallowed. He stood perfectly still and smiled. "Ah, to be whole again." He reached into his own head and pulled out a green wisp of smoke. "Here you go Speedy. A promise is a promise." He pressed the smoke into Speedy's head. Speedy let out a groan and then was still.

Discord stood at his full height. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to go." He raised his hand to snap his fingers and....

Nothing.

Discord's hand had turned back into stone. We all stared at it. Discord looked it over in fear. "What is this?" And then his other hand changed back. And then his legs. Speedy gave a faint chuckle. "When will you ever learn?" As Speedy fell into unconsciousness, Discord's fear turned to anger. "How?! Only the Elements can imprison me!" Discord continued to solidify. Soon only his head could still move. "NO!" His head hardened.

It was over. Next Chapter: Waking Up Estimated time remaining: 2 Minutes