It might have been safer to stay in Canterlot with Discord...

Just what kind of world was she looking at now? No...'world' was the wrong word to use for this place. It had too much...thought, too much definition for the utter madness staring her in the face.

Nothing made any sort of sense to Twilight, and once she had managed to figure out at least one constant, it would go and change. At first there had been two suns, swirling around the sky in a devious sort of dance. She had just started to follow them when they had collided together into one massive orb of fire. Now it stayed locked in the sky, casting not light, but shadows over the land.

But land was not an appropriate word either. The dirt and grass rippled underneath her hooves like a massive ocean, constantly reforming itself or dropping away in deep black pits. Twilight had passed by several of those, and she could swear the shadows inside were reaching out for her.

She made a point to stay as far away from them as possible.

She'd lost Pinkie Pie almost as soon as they had entered this place. A massive hills had sliced through the ground, growing up out of nowhere right between them, forcing the two of them apart. Then, it had simply continued moving up, lifting off the ground and up into the sky. Soon it just sat there, like some strange miniature moon, and Pinkie was nowhere to be found.

Twilight had tried to call her name but she had given up on that approach soon. This place would probably make her voice sound like it was coming from the wrong direction and force the two of them further apart.

In desperation she finally tried a spell, hoping against everything that her magic would still work here. The spell should have produced some light, making this crazy landscape at least a little bit easier to navigates.

She focused, her horn gaining its characteristic glow. But instead of condensing into a glowing ball of light, the magic flew from her horn and shaped itself into a cloud of butterflies that began to swirl around her...

And then promptly exploded into bunches of confetti.

The worst part was the laugh she couldn't stop from bursting out of her mouth. This whole place was just crazy! She was just so desperate for something normal to show up, just one thing! Then maybe she'd have enough peace of mind to figure out what to do next.

Strangely, she found herself wondering if this was what is was like for Discord in their world. If every single little peace of order, the streams flowing downhill, the birds flying safely through the air, or even the changing of day to night tore away at him like everything here did to Twilight.

No wonder he wanted to bring chaos over all of Equestria...

Still...she shook her head, that didn't matter. Even if it would make things better for Discord that didn't make it right, it didn't excuse all the pain he brought to Equestria.

Right now, she needed to focus on finding Pinkie, and then Sunny, and then getting out of here as soon as possible.

But to do that, she needed a sign, just some symbol of what to do next.

As if on cue, the ground next to her began to rumble, the dirt rippling and throwing her off balance. Twilight thought that maybe another hill was going to rise up to join its brother in the sky, but of course it wouldn't be that simple.

Whatever was rising up now looked like it was made of solid wood, and it had a perfect rectangular shape. In fact, as more and more of it was revealed Twilight could swear it was...

No...

Not even this place would do something like that...

But she could not deny what was staring her in the face.

It was a gigantic wooden sign, carved and sanded down to smooth perfection, towering over her diminutive form. Painted on the front, in thick black paint...at least, Twilight hoped it was paint...was a simple phrase.

Twilight had just finished reading the mocking phrase, when an ominous creaking noise came to her ears.

The sign was tipping forward!

Immediately, she tried to get out of the way, to dash to the side. But she wasn't standing in a patch of grass anymore. The grass had lengthened into a patch of vines, wrapping around her legs and trapping her to the ground. She tried to pull herself free, but the more she struggled the tighter the vines gripped her.

She could not nothing except watch as the sign fell, filling more and more of her vision.

The paint on the sign shifted around, forming a new message.

Twilight couldn't help herself, she closed her eyes, turning away from the inevitable.

Only to feel something very heavy crash into her. The vines released her almost at once, like they had simply given up on holding her.

Twilight couldn't believe how far and fast she was moving, but she didn't know if it would be fast enough...

Finally, she and whatever was pushing her collapsed on the ground. Or at least...a piece of this place that had decided it wanted to be ground.

Still, she could still feel the rush of air and the powerful crash as the sign finally collapsed to the ground.

"I really don't want to be here any more..." was all she could think to say.

"You know, I believe a thank you is in order..." a voice to her side said. A very recognizable voice...

"Trixie?" Twilight said, opening her eyes to see the very smug face of the former magician. "Please tell me you're real and not the next crazy thing this place is going to throw at me..."

"What? How could you even suggest such a thing. Nothing, not even Discord's magic, could copy the perfection of the Great, and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie reared back on her hooves, trying to add some flair to her words. Though without her distinctive hat and cloak the effect was diminished.

"Yeah, it's you..." Twilight said, shaking her head while pulling herself off the ground. "But you're right. Thank you for saving my life. I don't think I've ever felt so powerless."

"You are welcome," Trixie settled back to the ground, nodding her head. "And do not feel bad about your powerlessness. Nothing here has any real power."

"But what about what just happened?" Twilight replayed her rescue in her head. "The vines just let go of me, and we flew way too far for a simple jump, you had to use some magic for that."

"Well...do you remember those ponies in the woods? How they could use Discord's magic? Well they brought me here, brought me to them and..." she paused.

"You can use this places magic as well?" Twilight said, her eyes widening.

"I can't not. They made me a part of this place, just as they are. But chaos magic is very dangerous, even for one such as I..." Trixie paused again. "Every use cuts away at my mind. It makes me forget things...and remember others. It doesn't last long but I know it won't stay that way." She shook her head.

"Trixie used it to find and save you. With that out of the way, Trixie needs to know something, what are you doing in this place of madness?"

"We came here to save Sunny," Twilight said quickly. "After you saved him in the woods we thought we could help those ponies in the woods, but you accidentally released a part of Discord."

"You what?" Trixie could only stare in horror.

"We didn't mean to, it just sort of happened! Anyway, as soon as he was free Discord took the Elements away from us and grabbed Sunny in the blink of an eye!" Twilight tried to explain.

"Well how did you even get here?"

"We used you since you'd already been taken. I came here with my friend Pinkie Pie. We were going to try and pull Sunny out of here," Twilight continued.

"You jumped into a world created by Discord, with no plan, to save Sunny?" Trixie said after a moment. "You really would do anything for your friends." A small smile touched her lips.

"Of course. Do you have any idea where I could find them? I was separated from Pinkie as soon as I got here, and I have no idea where to look for Sunny," Twilight said.

"I...may have an idea of where to look," Trixie told her. "It's the one place here that everything is drawn to eventually..."

"Where?" Twilight said softly.

"The resting place of those sad forgotten ponies..."

Even with Trixie leading them the dangers refused to let up. Snow would fall from a cloudless sky, only to ignite anything it landed. The only solution the could find for that was to run as fast as they could hoping the snow would stop eventually.

They made it out, barely, with a few new scorch marks covering their coats.

"I thought you said you knew the safe way to this place!" Twilight couldn't stop herself from saying.

"Trixie said it was the safest way, not that it was completely safe. We're lucky we're able to travel at all in this place," Trixie replied, trying to brush some of the ash from her mane.

"What do you mean?" Twilight said back.

"Those things I told you about earlier...the things I remember if I use chaos magic? This place was so much worse before you and your friends used the Elements. I saw a place where you were lucky to be able to walk for only a few steps before the gravity would shift or the ground would change into a gaping maw, dragging you down into blackness," Trixie shuddered. "It's no wonder they look like they do now..."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see, we're almost there. The one place here that stays constant..." Trixie brought Twilight over over to the edge of a hill and gestured with her hoof.

Below them rested a simple town...or at least, what used to be one. The homes stood empty, but whole. Not a single brick or roofing tile was out of place, yet the entire place was covered with a thick layer of dust. It seemed as if nopony has set hoof in there for a long time.

Slowly, the both of them edge their way among the houses, staying silent.

"I don't understand, where are the ponies who-" Twilight started to say, and that's when the noise started.

It seems like just a simple hum at first, but then it began to grow, burrowing deep into her mind. It dragged her down, filling her with dark emotions. She'd tried to cover her ears, but it was no use.

The wracking sobs of an entire village echoed around them.

Soon the noise became bearable, but only just. Twilight began to notice small shapes moving around the buildings, like heat shimmers in the air. Some became more distinct, gaining color and form...

Becoming ponies...

They didn't lasted long, becoming stable just long enough to focus on Twilight before dissipating back into the air. One pony formed, first with wings, then a horn, and then with neither. He constantly shifted between the forms, completely unsure of what he was supposed to be.

Another pony, barely half formed, would wander to the various homes. Her eyes would scan the front entrances but she never seemed satisfied with what she saw.

In one corner of the village she saw a pair of ponies, a young colt and what may have been his father. Whenever one formed the other would disappear, looks of desperation frozen on their faces. They were locked in an endless cycle of reaching out for something they'd never be able to grasp...

Twilight couldn't bear to watch them.

"How long...how long do they keep this up?" she tore her eyes away, focusing all of her attention on Trixie.

"I...I don't know," was all the magician could say. "They all simply gather here, trying to remember who they were, in any way they can. They try to find their families, their homes...even their simple race. They think that if they can just remember one thing...it'll all come back."

"But it won't, the memories of Discord's magic are too strong, too ingrained in their minds. Eventually, they lose everything again, and fall into madness." Twilight had never thought to see Trixie like this. Exactly how much time had she spent with these forgotten ponies?

"And there's nothing we can do to help them?" Twilight couldn't help but ask.

"Not unless you've got a book with the names and histories of every pony who's ever lived in that library of yours. Sunny was their only hope, for some reason they thought that he could remember everything for them. But looking at them now...I'm not sure it would even be enough..." the ponies were starting to fade completely away now. As they did the sobbing began to die down, until the two of them were left once again in an empty village.

"So now...we just wait?" Twilight said after a few moments.

"This is the safest area to be in this madness. Eventually your friends will find us..." she paused.

"I hope."

So many thoughts...so many memories to go over, to relive.

There were still a few blank spots scattered everywhere, little blinks that continued to elude him. But even with that it was almost overwhelming.

But he couldn't let that happen, he couldn't let himself be weak anymore. His friends had given so much for him, now it was time he gave something back.

The door in front of him opened so easily, like it had been waiting for him. He quickly stepped through and was immediately greeted by...

Laughter?

He stood in a small room absolutely covered in garish decorations. There were no less that a hundred balloons obscuring the ceiling along with streamers of every color spread from wall to wall. It even looked like there was rainbow colored paint smeared over anything else. It was all so obnoxious and bright he could barely stand to looks at it.

But the laughter wasn't coming from this room, it was from the room next to it. Sunny stepped through a small doorway, pushing past the multiple decorations blocking his path.

This had to be the main room of whatever house he'd walked into, and somehow, the decorations were even worse. The balloons and streamers were still there but now they were joined by a pile a presents stacked in a corner of the room, and opposite it was a cake that looked ready to topple over at any moment from the thick layer of frosting and candy covering it. It was like somepony wanted this to be the greatest party in Equestria...and hadn't known when to stop.

In the center of it all, a lone pony sat in a crumpled pile of confetti. Her normally vibrant mane lay flat against her head as a collection of photographs fluttered in front of her.

The laughter in here was so much louder, and Sunny somehow knew it wasn't directed at him...

Pinkie didn't even notice Sunny as he stepped into the room. All her eyes were focused were the pictures.

Sunny found himself walking to her side, his own eyes drawn to the strange pictures. They hovered in the air, shifting and moving around each other. Looking closer, he saw that the pictures were of something he knew very well.

Twilight and her friends.

Each picture contained an image of those ponies accomplishing some great feat. There was Twilight using her magic to carry an Ursa Minor out of Ponyville, Fluttershy staring down a fully grown dragon, Rainbow Dash breaking into a sonic rainboom to save her friends, Rarity outwitting an entire tribe of Diamond Dogs, and Applejack bravely riding on the back of a crazed manticore.

It was a strange collection of their achievements, of the great things they'd done.

But there was a problem...not a single picture showed Pinkie Pie.

"There's more to me..." a small quiet plea escaped the earth pony. "I'm not just parties and laughter..."

"Really?" the miniature Twilight in the picture began speaking, turning her gaze towards Pinkie. "Just what have you done besides following everypony around with you annoying endless parties?"

"Have you ever done anything worthwhile? Anything with meaning?" now Fluttershy was joining in.

"Don't you remember? I was there with you when we stopped Nightmare Moon and Discord!" Pinkie said in desperation.

"Psh, only 'cause you had to be to make the Elements work," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, frozen in mid-flight. "And when Discord showed up, you didn't even want to stop him! You were happy with all the crazy stuff he was causing. You wanted everything to stay that way!"

"No! I'm not like that! I'm not just a crazy party pony...I'm your friend. I just want everypony to smile..." Pinkie was so quiet now. Sunny tried to get her attention, raising a hoof to place on her shoulder, but something stopped him. A strange force surrounded Pinkie, keeping him away.

"Well frankly, I ain't ever seen any proof of that," Applejack said. "Just what have you given us? There's nothing special about you! To tell you the truth, laughter ain't worth anything..."

"Quite true, you even got injured running away from Discord. How could you hope to protect Sunny if you can't even protect yourself!" Rarity said with a huff.

"No, it...you're wrong. You're wrong, you're wrong..." Pinkie's voice fell into a near whisper, repeating that same phrase over and over again. The laughter grew louder, closing in around them. Pinkie Pie just kept repeating her phrase, as if somehow it could drive away her friends, drive away the noise.

No, Sunny could not stand to look at this any longer. He moved forward, but still the barrier stopped him...

Well...not for much longer.

He was old, older than anything in this world, and with that age was his power. He had seen things considered timeless fall to dust...

Everything would fall before him...

He tapped the barrier with his hoof and it shattered, allowing him to reach Pinkie.

"Pinkamina..." he said, and her surprised gaze snapped towards him. That was the one word he knew would always grab her attention. "You are so much stronger than this. Your laughter...you unending need to see the world smile, it saved me."

"Sunny..." was all she could say.

"Remember what you taught me? As long as you have friends that care about you..."

"You can't have a bad day," Pinkie finished. "It's really you..." She turned back to the photos.

"I know I'm not that powerful, but I still make a difference. Every pony I bring a smile to...it's another pony whose life I make just a little bit better. It's another chance for friendship. And you know what they say about friendship..." The photographs had no response to make, simply falling to the ground with a gentle sigh as the laughter came to an abrupt halt.

"Oh well, I think I've heard it enough times anyway," Pinkie shook her head, her mane fluffing back to its original state. "So what now?" She said, looking to Sunny.

"We get out," he said simply, gesturing towards an open door that had appeared on a far wall. Pinkie nodded at him and together, they stepped out of the mad party.

And right into Twilight and Trixie.

"You're okay!" Pinkie and Twilight said simultaneously, quickly coming together in a happy embrace.

"Sunny..." Trixie raised an eyebrow at him. "You certainly look different."

"Had to grow up sometime," he shrugged.

"I suppose that is one way to put it," she turned to Twilight. "But it seems that you can leave, now that you've found your friends."

"You're right!" said Twilight, pulling away from Pinkie. "We can all go back home now!"

"Yes, you all can go back," Trixie muttered.

"Well there's no need sound so down. You're coming with us too Trixie," Pinkie said back to her.

"No...I'm not," the blue unicorn shook her head.

"What do you...oh," Twilight paused.

"You remember...I'm a part of this world. I can't leave here, no more than...they can," she waved a hoof around at the village.

"So there's..."

"Nothing we can do, not now," Sunny interrupted. "But soon, the end of this is almost here...just stay strong for a little while longer."

"That should be no problem. Just make sure you don't forget about Trixie," she gave them all a small smile.

"You have our word!" Pinkie promised. "But Sunny...just what is your plan?" The question was barely a whisper.

"You'll see, it's all almost over," he nodded at Twilight. "Now please, take us home."

"Okay...I hope this works," she said.

"It should, this is the one place where things actually work the way they are meant to," Trixie reassured her.

"Okay, stay close everypony..." her horn began to glow, its light engulfing them.

The last thing Sunny saw was Trixie giving them a final nod.

One last wish of good luck.

Then the world faded to white.

"Hey, I think they're coming around...and now there's another pony with them," Twilight opened her eyes to see Fluttershy staring worriedly down at them.

"Wait, do you mean than-"

"Yes Rainbow Dash, they brought me back," Sunny said, looking around the room. With eight ponies inside it was now quite crowded.

"Yup, and he's back to being his grown-up self," Pinkie said, struggling to pull herself off the floor. Sunny immediately walked over and helped pull her up.

"What about you girls, did you manage to get away from Discord okay?" Twilight asked them.

"That was no sweat, me and Fluttershy didn't see a single scale from that guy as we flew over here," Rainbow Dash said, a smug look on her face.

"Applejack and I fared about the same," Rarity said. "Though I could have sworn I'd heard that brute's terrible laughter, he never showed himself to us."

"Well that's good at least. He tried to track me and Pinkie down, we were able to get away, but Pinkie was hurt..." Twilight gave a worried glance towards Pinkie.

"I'll be fine Twilight, just as soon as I get a chance to nap..." she put on a reassuring grin.

"Okay, so what's the plan now Twilight?" Applejack squeezed her way through the crown to stand in front of the unicorn.

"We confront Discord," Sunny spoke up before Twilight had a chance. "He's expecting all of us to run now that you've saved me, he would never think we would face him now.

"But doesn't that seem a bit dangerous? We don't have the Elements, how are we supposed to stop him?" Fluttershy said.

"Don't worry, I have a plan. It's all going to be over," Sunny told her, keeping his expression flat.

"Well...if you're sure about this. But where will we even find Discord?" Twilight asked.

"Oh come on Twilight, that's easy. He's a crazy all powerful dragon-thing in the middle of Canterlot. Where do you think he'd be?" Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes a bit.

"...the throne room."

This throne had to have been the most uncomfortable thing he'd ever sat in. That silly Celestia must have never thought that she'd be overthrown and that the new ruler would want a comfortable throne of their own.

How inconsiderate.

Discord spent another few moments shifting around in the chair before letting out an angry hiss. This rotten throne was a perfect symbol of how his plans were going.

He was finally where he should be, he had power over all of Equestria from here, but he couldn't even enjoy it! His plans were proceeding wonderfully, but there was always one thing that ruined their perfection.

Those foul little ponies had escaped his grasp, roaming freely throughout his city, and those two princesses still held up that barrier to the rest of his power.

Still...he snapped his fingers and a soft cushion materialized on throne, that didn't mean thing weren't going to change.

He looked out one of his windows to see a formation of cotton-candy clouds happily doing figure-eights throughout the sky. Every second he sat here, a little more chaos leaked into the world. Every moments those ponies spent wondering about the horrors he may unleash on them, he grew stronger.

Soon he would have enough power to shatter the princesses and regain all of his wonderful glory. He could shut those six ponies away for good, and then reform the world into its rightful image.

Pure glorious chaos...

Oh how beautiful it would be.

"Discord..." a small voice reached his ears.

"Eh, now what's this?" a small surprise stood before him. It looked like his birthday presents had come early! Those silly little ponies had saved him the trouble of looking for them. And with them was that seventh strange pony...the one he'd been worried about.

"Your fun is over. You should go and rejoin yourself back in the statue," the gray earth pony stepped forward. His voice was so low and even, giving away nothing.

How boring.

"Or what? Do you really think you can do anything against me?" Discord transported next to them, lifting that strange pony up into the air with his eagle talon.

"Discord!" Pinkie Pie yelled, but he simply slammed the rest of them to the side with a thought. He wanted to focus all his attention on this fake pony.

"You know, I was actually worried about you at first. Those lost ponies I used to be trapped with knew quite a bit about you. They knew all about what you used to be..." he grinned, tightening his grip. "I thought that you might be able to hurt me with those powers of your. But in my spare time I saw a memory that had been stolen from you..." He hurled Sunny across the room, slamming him into a wall.

"You had the power to change the world, and you just gave it up!" he pulled Sunny back with a flick of his finger, surrounding him in a magical grip. "I bet you could stop me right now, but you won't."

"You...you are right. I can't stop you..." Sunny's face was twisted with pain. "But that doesn't mean there's nothing I can do."

Sunny took a deep breath.

"It is time I finally put those ponies to rest, the ponies you locked away so long ago," Discord felt...something reach out from Sunny and wrap around him.

It felt...cold.

"How many years did you torment them? Over a thousand...you still have a connection to them. Something that could never be broken by a simple unicorn spell..." as he continued to speak Discord felt something else move. Something from those ponies across the room. The fake pony was pulling something from them!

"My last few bits of power..." Sunny told him, and the Discord felt that cold aura begin to pull at him, dragging him somewhere he knew he didn't want to see. "Those ponies bodies would have fallen to dust so long ago. It is time for them to move on, and you are going with them."

"I don't think so," he hissed, once more slamming Sunny against a wall, holding him down by the throat. "I am still stronger than you. I am the god of chaos!" Sunny did not struggle against the grip, only resting his hooves against Discord's claw.

The cold spread to Discord's limb, pulling his strength away.

"All strength ends, and even gods must die," Sunny whispered.

"But you're cheating! You said you would not stop me!"

"I gave you a chance, and I am not stopping you, not directly. It is your own actions that have brought you to this fate..." Sunny gently pushed the claw away. "But don't worry...you won't go alone. Someone has to be there to guide those souls."

Discord could not move at all, the cold had spread through his entire body. His limbs went numb and he collapsed to the floor.

He couldn't believe this, he could not be beaten so easily!

"I will not be beaten by a loophole in your rules!" he tried to push himself off of the ground, but his body refused to move. He was completely powerless.

"It seems you will be. Now then, it is time to go," Sunny stepped closer, his aura growing stronger, colder.

When suddenly...he stopped.

Pinkie was there, her hooves wrapped around his neck.

"I'm going with you Sunny!" her voice was so determined, just daring him to refuse.

"Pinkie...this is not a place you should go," he said to her.

"I know that, but somepony has to go with you to make sure that you come back!" her grip tightened.

Sunny just sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

"You really are something else Pinkie...very well," Pinkie positively beamed. "But please, loosen your grip, you're hurting me."

"Oh, right," Pinkie complied, releasing her grip.

And in that moment, Sunny shoved her away. Pinkie's expression turned to pure shock, she tried to run back but Sunny's form, along with Discord, had begun to fade away.

"I got you, I guess I'm the master prankster now," a sad smile formed on Sunny's face.

"But you forgot...pranks are never supposed to hurt anypony..." Pinkie said, reaching out towards him. Sunny only shook his head.

"Sorry...I guess I never really understood then. I am sorry Pinkie..." and with that, he was gone.

Back into this world of shadows. He was not happy to be back...but he could not deny that it somehow felt...right.

He was not alone here, he could feel the crowd of souls surrounding him. They were so confused, so lost...and in the center of it all, they pulled Discord with them.

Those poor souls needed to join the river, to be taken along, but they could not find their way.

They needed to remember.

He could help them, give them back their lost memories. But it wouldn't be enough, they needed more. They needed that spark of life.

The spark he'd been allowed to see.

He shared it with them, opening his mind to them. The images and emotions flowed outwards, spreading to all of those souls.

There was the sun, the way its radiance brought beauty to any day.

There were his friends, helping him along, giving him a place to live. Giving him a family.

There was everything! Every moment of every day. Every chance he had to live, ever second so filled with love and beauty.

Every second he would miss...

Finally, there was the simple image of Pinkie smiling down at him. The smile that had saved him...the smile that he'd taken away in the end.

But he'd saved...he'd saved all of them in the end, and he would take solace in that.

The souls seemed to pause, taking all of this in...and then they understood. They began to move, now knowing where they were meant to go.

They faded into blackness...all but one.

A stubborn boastful soul, a soul whose time had not yet come. He gathered that one up in his arms.

"Trixie..." he whispered in the black. "It's time you went home." With a thought he sent her back, leaving only one thing left.

Discord.

The god sat in the black, not moving, his eyes closed. Sunny moved up next to him.

"Open your eyes," he commanded. "This is the one thing you can't hide from."

The god obeyed.

"Now tell me, what do you see?"

"I see...I see an ending," Discord whispered, his eyes lost in the shadows.

"Good...then let's face it together."

Author's Notes:

So that happened.

I wanted this chapter to end on that specific line, but no matter how much I wrote I just couldn't get it there. So that's why it's a day late.

One more chapter to go, want to get it up before the new episode airs and destroys any possible canon this story may have in regards to Discord.