Sophisticated murder, such a passing was deserving of the ones who dared to meddle with his plans. A completely deserted room surrounded the being of eternal chaos, his lion's paw underneath his chin while thoughts moved through his mind. One contracted pupil stared ahead at the light that shone through the small cave entrance. The light fell short of Discord's goat hoof, and he refused to move due to the hypotheses which ran through his head. He was free, he knew why he was free, and due to it, he had a desire to be quick with his plans. Harmony was disrupted in Ponyville, and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony have been dispelled. All due to one condition, which friendship was not able to prevent: Death. A small smirk moved across the features of the hybrid, as his eyes closed to reiterate the victory which he knew he already acquired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A solid concrete gravestone remained erect in front of Discord. It was painted hot pink, which gave him a clue as to exactly who this gravestone was for. He remembered the confusion spreading through his mind like a poison when the concrete broke around his body, and he was finally able to enjoy his chaotic thoughts. The tour he took of Ponyville while every pony was sleeping gave him all of the information that he needed. He distinctly remembered Pinkamena Diane Pie's empty room, the dust that started to collect on her blankets due to the lack of use, and some kind of cannon that he wanted to use if it wasn't so pink. Now as he floated in front of this new addition to Ponyville, a mare's corpse six feet underneath the ground, a small laugh was emitted from his lips. “Never Stop Smiling” the gravestone read, as his vision ran over the three balloons carved into the ornament. “Words of wisdom.” Discord said, and he couldn't hold it back any longer. A large and long laugh came from him, as he leaned back and pointed at the gravestone. “You are right Pinkie Pie! I will never stop smiling!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red hues stared back at the tree outside his temporary dwelling. Apples were hanging off of the branches, completely succumbing to the laws of nature and gravity. His smile turned into a frown, as he raised his eagle claws and it started to glow with a yellow light. The apple glowed for a few seconds before it turned inside out and fell to the ground. The rest of the apples on the tree followed suit, and he smiled at his new pile of apples. They were a nice target practice, before he would focus his efforts on the ones who deserved his wrath. Princess Celestia, one of the first betrayers who froze him with the Elements of Harmony, she deserved to have the first bout of his revenge. As much as he wanted to plan his revenge out, his lack of patience was quickly getting the better of him.

Discord knew what he wanted to inflict on that alicorn. Pain, misery, anguish, anger, hate, depression. The Elements of Discord. He knew every fault of hers, and the insecurities which affected her mind. He slowly rose from his chair, and his body glowed with a white light before he disappeared from his cave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Failure, this was the word to use. Pink eyes stared down at four scrolls, which were currently unwrapped, the contents swirling around Princess Celestia's mind. Billowing hair covered her vision as she bent her head down, the comfortable contents of her pillow failing to relax her this time. Her horn produced a faint glow and a blank scroll was unraveled in front of her. It was placed on the ground, and a quill was softly pressed against the paper. Despite her preparations, she was unable to form words on the paper. How exactly did you write back to someone, who watched their own friend's funeral? Her horn's glow disappeared, along with her control on the scroll and quill. She slowly pushed herself onto her hooves, and looked over at the night sky, a splendorous work provided by her sister. She needed to take a walk to release her thoughts, and maybe a tear or two.

Celestia's hooves were the only audible sounds coming from the castle. Guards stood at attention in every doorway, whether it was the entrance to another room, or the castle as a whole. Each guard was alert and at the ready, despite the depressing news which afflicted the Princess. Unfortunately for them, Pinkie Pie was not a part of their lives, and the fact that a mare died was sad, but not enough to warrant a tear. Celestia closed the door to her room and slowly walked down the hallway to the center of the castle. Her head remained high, her facade hard to keep up. One of her subjects, a mare who spent the entirety of her life helping other people, was unable to be saved by her Princess. The one thing that was unable to be prevented by magic was death. It could take away the appearance of age, just like many herbal remedies cooked up by Zecora. But death was not preventable. It was inevitable.

Celestia's muzzle was chilled by the night air, as she moved out onto the grassy fields. Her hooves grew wet from the sidewalk, due to the rainy weather during the day. Her mind continued to assault her with guilt, as she stood over a majestic lake outside her castle. Animals were apparently not affected by the passing of Pinkie, since frogs were still hopping across lily pads, while crickets emitted their song of the night. “How nice it must be, to have the ignorance that these creatures do. To not be afflicted with the complicated problems of having a mind.” Celestia mumbled to herself, before she focused on the moon.

The sky's stars were a work of art, and guilt started to poison the princess once more as she realized her lack of appreciation for her sister's night. Ten years ago, she offered her friendship to her sister once more, in order to rule together. Despite this, the two of them sporadically spoke to each other. Both princesses had completely different sleeping schedules, and their messages to each other were usually suggestions to get some rest, and let the other take care of the day or night. Celestia remembered one of Pinkie's letters of friendship, her recollection of Cranky Doodle Donkey. Celestia wished that she was capable of assigning Luna in this same category, but the older sister knew such ignorance could not be carried out. Quite simply, the lack of communication between herself and Luna was self inflicted. It was her fault, and she needed to apologize.

Princess Celestia turned to the top tower in the castle, and she contemplated flying up to her sister in order to talk to her. However more guilt started to pile on top of her, as memories started to flare up. She was completely unsure over Pinkie's death. The mere fact that Pinkie passed away was enough to depress anyone who knew the mare. Because of this, no one asked why she died. Her body in the coffin was enough information at the time. But now, as Celestia stood out in the cold air with a repetitive ambiance, she wished she knew it all. Celestia remembered a friend letter that appeared in her room eight days before the funeral. The penmanship told her that Pinkie sent the letter, and she elaborated on the joys of spreading friendship and happiness through her catering business, which brought a smile to Celestia's face from such a read. Now, it only stressed the neutral expression on her face. If she looked over the letter a few more times, maybe it would have been possible to prevent her death?

Her subjects were hurt, maimed due to the inevitability of death. Pinkie Pie had one of the most fun lives, and she made it her goal to spread the fun and happiness to every pony. Even Celestia loved attending her parties, since it would be a nice change from consistent amounts of royal duty. Now, as if a candle was blown out, the fire within the citizens of Ponyville disappeared. Ponies only came out sporadically, except for those who ran businesses and needed to talk to others. It felt as if conversation was avoided, due to the fear of confronting the city's loss, even though one could do so by walking up to her grave. She needed to talk to her student. Out of the remaining five, Twilight was one of the ponies who did not send a letter to her. While a letter was not expected, a lack of one was certainly odd. If she had the chance, she would have sent one.

Celestia avoided trying to get into the affairs of other cities, especially if the city was capable of taking care of their own problems. But in this case, what if the problem could not be avoided? Harmony was a status among Ponyville which every pony struggled to keep, and managed to do so with Pinkie Pie. But when a lifeline such as the pink pony was gone, then how exactly did you keep up the smiles and the hope? Even now, as Celestia's pink eyes stared among the dark horizon, she was drawing blanks. She had to talk to her subjects, one way or another, proof of her love and adoration must be presented. Celestia's horn started to glow, and she straightened her back, closing her eyes so that she could focus on her destination. Her focus was broken however, as a large flash of yellow light assaulted her closed eyes. She opened them and a gasp moved past her lips, as her archenemy stood before her. Both pairs of eyes kept their stare, as Celestia's horn slowly started to glow.

She was dreaming, this wasn't possible. For the first time in years, fear moved through her veins as the chimera raised his lion paw, and pointed directly at her. Celestia stood her ground, and she hoped that she could buy some time with a conversation. She couldn't yell out for her guards, because Discord was capable of taking control of them, and instantly turn them against her. “Discord... how did you break free?” she asked.

A low laugh emitted from his lips, as the hybrid allowed his feet to touch the ground. “I think you know Celestia. After all, your fears told you.” he replied.

Celestia's horn shot out a continuous beam of yellow light, and she focused her mind on trying to eradicate Discord. He was not impressed, and he raised his paw towards his chest before the beam hit him. His paw glowed, and the two magical forces made a crackling noise as Celestia found it harder to focus. Her eyes were wincing, and her back arched until her head touched the grass. Her horn still remained high up in the air, before a splitting pain shot through her mind. She let out a cry of pain and broke the connection between the two of them. The yellow light broke and Discord's paw discontinued the glow. The pain disappeared, along with a part of Celestia's pride. “You don't... belong in Ponyville, Discord.” she said, although her words were nothing more then slight insults to him.

Discord responded with a small seething sound, as if her words hurt him. But he only laughed again, before he started to take steps towards her. Celestia's head raised and she backpedaled slowly, while Discord spoke. “Equestria is my home. After all, you allowed it to be my prison for the past ten years, and thousands of years before that, Celestia.” he said, silent anger in his voice.

“Equestria is not made to be your source of fun and enjoyment, at other pony's expense!” Celestia fired back, as she stomped her hoof on the grass and stood her ground.

Discord was merely a step away from her, and he stopped due to a small amount of respect for her. She was still standing her ground, even though he was stronger then her. Commendable, but foolish. The two met eyes, and he kept the gaze going while his words became larger sources of vitriol. “Hypocrite. Who says that your rule is better then mine?”

Celestia broke the gaze, and she looked to the ground even though it was opening up her body for an attack. Discord didn't take it, he didn't need to. “My rule doesn't consist of playing with my subjects for my own gain.” she replied, although every fiber of her being was holding her back from yelling.

“Yes it does. You act like I don't know you, Celestia. After all, the two of us, know more then we want to know about each other.”

Celestia took a step back from him, her hair billowing in the wind while she struggled to respond. “You don't know anything about me... You were imprisoned.”

“And I thought you were smart, Celestia. You know as well as I do, that the Elements of Harmony spell is unable to completely freeze me in my place. It merely surrounds me in a prison, and silences my power. I was able to hear everything that you hear, since we both share a connection that you regret giving to me.” Discord's smirk grew even wider, and the pointer finger on his eagle claw started to glow. “You are a worthless Princess. I have no games to play with you, because you are not worth my time. You stood between me and my dream of turning Equestria into my own little chaotic playground. You failed to save Pinkie Pie from her murder, failed to save Equestria from Chrysalis, and couldn't even try and take care of me. Because you know that you can't. The element of... friendship,” he punctuated the word as if it was a scourge, “Is nothing compared to chaos.”

Discord grabbed onto Celestia's neck and pulled her up off of the ground, forcing her to stare into his eyes while his eagle claw started to glow brighter. “Become what you are, what you are afraid of being accused of. You are useless, afraid, undeserving of your power.” he said to her.

Celestia's hooves moved up to try and pry Discord's claws off of her throat, and her horn glowed once more to try and shoot concussive beams of energy at her enemy. But the energy only bounced off of his lion's paw, and ricocheted into the grass, scorching it. A gray color started to travel up Celestia's bottom hooves, as it slowly moved past her flank, and eventually up her cutie mark. Her eyes widened and a few tears slid down her cheeks, “Discord... please tell me one thing.”

“Anything for you, Celestia.” Discord replied sarcastically.

“Was it... a murder?” she asked, as the gray color moved up her abdomen and stopped at her head, while Discord placed the lion paw underneath his chin in thought.

“Hmm... You don't deserve to know.” He responded, before the gray color engulfed Celestia, and he released her. The princess fell onto the ground, her eyes staring ahead at the lake before her.

Discord looked up at Luna's tower, and chuckled lightly. “Next target... Nightmare Moon.”