The glare in his vision finally managed to dim to the point where he could open his eyes. Sunny saw what had frightened Twilight and her friends, and he wished he had kept them closed.

At first he thought it was a dragon...but no, that was a lions paw, and an eagle claw. A pair of mismatched wings spread from its back, not flapping, yet he still floated in mid-air. It had what might have been identified as a pony head, but it was topped with two strange horns.

Yet, the one thing that stood out to him the most was the single vicious fang that jutted from its mouth as the creature laughed at them.

Just looking at it, Sunny knew what it was.

It was madness, it was chaos...

It was Discord.

"I must admit I had some doubts that you'd be able to pull this off," he continued. "But it looks like I was right in putting my faith in you all. Again, well done!" He mockingly clapped his eagle claw and lions paw together.

"Discord?" Twilight gasped, stuttering for a few moments. "How did...where did...why are you...you're supposed to be stuck in stone back in Canterlot!" She finally managed to say.

"Oh Twilight, and here I thought you were supposed to be Celestia's prize student," Discord shook his head. "Don't you pay any attention at all? I am chaos and chaos is me! All chaos magic is simply a part of me. I've been trapped with those sad little ponies for so long, but now I'm free thanks to all of you." He spread his arms open wide, as if intending to wrap them up together in a giant hug.

"Well not for long!" Rainbow Dash shouted, stepping up next to Twilight. "Didn't you notice? We've got the Elements ready this time. Hope you like gathering moss as a statue!" Her words emboldened her friends as they gathered together. Discord merely raised an eyebrow at them.

"Oh really? Perhaps you should all take a closer look," he snapped his fingers and there was another flash of light. As the light cleared, the ponies couldn't believe what they saw, the Elements had vanished! "You really should keep better track of your things, but don't worry, I'm here to pick up the slack." Out of nowhere he hefted a large brown sack, stuffed full with what had to be the Elements.

"Give those back you ruffian!" Rarity shouted at him.

"Well...I'm not sure if I should," Discord replied. "Whenever I'm around, you ponies always seem to lose these important items. I think it would be best for everypony if I stored them away somewhere safe. But where's the best place..." he rubbed his chin for a moment.

"Aha, I've got it! It's someplace you should know very well Twilight. It's where your precious princess stored her little sister when she became too much to handle," he announced.

"No...you don't mean..." Twilight muttered, shocked.

"Absolutely! Full points to the purple unicorn!" Discord pulled his arm holding the bag back.

"The moon!" he gleefully shouted, launching the bag up into the sky faster than Sunny could have believed. For only a moment it was a tiny speck in the air, and then it vanished.

Nopony knew what to say.

"I don't...did he jus'..." Applejack finally broke the silence.

"I-I think he did," Fluttershy added.

"Oh the looks on your faces, just perfect." Discord chuckled. "But I've got so much to catch up on! So much chaos to bring back to this world, oh I bet Ponyville has missed me just as much as I've miss ed. Still, I think I'll take a quick souvenir." He eyes scanned their group quickly before falling on Sunny, even as the small earth pony tried to hide himself in the foliage of the forest.

"Oh no..." Sunny whispered.

"Oh yes," Discord replied, and Sunny suddenly found himself being yanked from the ground, levitating over to the cackling god.

"Well then my little ponies, arrivederci!" he gave them all one last mad grin before vanishing in another burst of light with a snap of his fingers.

"This...this..." Pinkie was too stunned to form a single sentence.

"This is really bad, isn't it?" Rainbow Dash finished for her.

"Yes," Twilight flatly agreed. "Spike, are you still here?"

"Over here Twilight!" Spike called, pulling himself out from behind some trees. "Sorry, I just...well...it was Discord!"

"I understand Spike, but listen, we need to send a letter to Princess," she quickly told him.

"Right now."

Now where was he?

Sunny had imagined countless horrors the second he head Discord snapping his fingers. The last thing he had expected was...this.

He stood, alone, in a field of tall grass with the bright sun beaming down at him. Straining, he could barely see over the top of the grass.

Sunny wondered for a moment if he had been pulled back into his dreams, but this felt too different...too off.

The grass was rough and coarse, it almost seemed to be reaching out towards him. And the sun...while before its light had always comforted him, now it seemed so harsh, nearly blinding him wherever he looked. And it almost seemed to to burn him through his coat.

Sunny had never known the sun to be like this...

He had to get out of here...wherever here was.

Sunny started moving forward, his progress hindered by the grass which seemed to take every opportunity to yank at his mane or get tangled around his hooves.

But he had to keep moving, something in the back of his mind told him to keep moving.

It wasn't long before he was utterly exhausted, drawing on every bit of strength simply to drag his hooves forward. Yet...he noticed that the grass seemed to be thinning...and there was something ahead.

Sunny squinted, trying to make out what it was, but he couldn't see anything through the sun's glare.

A few more steps forward and he was able to recognize something. It was...another pony. Somepony was walking towards him.

Sunny tried to call out, but his throat was so dry he couldn't get out anything more than a whisper. Instead, he tried to wave, and the other pony immediately waved back, almost completely in sync with him...

Wait...was that...

He drew closer, and he recognized the pony heading towards him.

It was him...rather, it was a mirror. He raised a hoof and placed it against the surface of the reflective glass. It stretched out to the sides, Sunny couldn't even it ever stopped. The glass simply stood in the middle of the field, no border or anything. It was just...here.

"Why?" he found himself whispering.

"Why not, my little faker?" a claw fell on his shoulder, digging in to his skin. Shocked, Sunny turned his head and Discord was standing next to him, but he gave no reflection in the mirror. "But I suppose it's because you don't always need to go big or go home. Sometimes, all you need to do is start with something small, just a hint of chaos. You'd be surprised at how many ponies lose themselves if they're forced to see what they really look like. Except... there's something wrong here, you're still seeing what you want to see, have you really deluded yourself that much? We should fix that..." Discord rapped his knuckles against the glass, and Sunny's reflection seemed to blur, growing hazy.

"Now there we go! Let's get rid of all those little extra pieces, the parts of you that you borrowed," Discord commented.

"What are you talking about?" Sunny tried to step away from him, but Discord's grip tightened further, locking him in place.

"What else? You've got to see exactly who you are. I mean, let's face it, This whole time, you've just been pretending to be something you're not, borrowing aspects from those silly ponies who you call friends. I mean look at this! You've got your bravery, happiness, friendliness, inquisitiveness, every single little part of it stolen!" with every one of those words Sunny felt something brush through him and his image became more and more hazy, losing color, losing focus. "And still under all of that, we haven't found the real you!"

Sunny could barely see himself in the mirror now, if he looked closely he thought he could recognize the outline of a pony...the simple idea of one.

"You're just made of so many little thoughts and dreams! Under it all, are you even a pony? Are you even alive? Or are you just a simple dream that's been going on for far too long?" the outline wavered and collapsed in on itself, becoming nothing more than shadows. "I think it's time for the dream to end, my little faker."

Sunny could not pull his gaze away from the image in the mirror, subconsciously, he drew his hoof up, moving it closer and closer towards the image. He could almost touch it...

No...

Sunny managed to stop himself, forcing his eyes away.

"My friends told me about you Discord," he said. "They said how you turn friends against each other with your lies. Well it won't work, I trust them."Sunny defiantly stamped his hooves into the ground

"Oh, there's that silly notion of the 'Power of Friendship' again, don't you people have any other songs to play?" Discord stared down at him for a moment, before finally giving a shrug. "Well how about this, let's take a look at your friends right now." He snapped his fingers and the image in the mirror shifted again, this time clearing to show Twilight and her friends walking through the forest. Twilight and Pinkie Pie were in the lead, talking among themselves while Twilight levitated a letter in front of her.

"So what did the Princess say Twilight? She knows some amazing magic that'll bring back the Elements and Sunny and save the day right?" Pinkie asked, trying to lean in front of Twilight to read the letter. Her voice sounded so desperate, and it almost looked like some of the brightness had faded from her coat.

"Not exactly Pinkie...not even the Princess can stand up to Discord. Even though this is only a part of Discord, we don't know just how strong he is. All she and Princess Luna can do right now is erect a barrier around the statue in Canterlot. Hopefully, they can stop Discord from regaining his full power," Sunny thought he heard Discord chuckle at that. "Right now we're heading back to the library. I've got to do the only thing I have left."

"And...what's that?" Pinkie asked hopefully.

"Research! There's got to be a book or something in the library that can help! Something about Discord. I don't know what, but something about what he did just doesn't seemed right..." Twilight explained.

"He's a crazy god a chaos! Nothing he does is right!" Rainbow Dash called up from the back.

"I mean aside from that...oh, I don't know how to explain it. But we've got to do something," Twilight rolled up the scroll, exasperated.

"Well what about that spell you used to find Sunny last time, since we're all connected and everything?" now Applejack was joining it.

"I already tried that, but I couldn't find anything. Either Discord took him too far for the spell to find or...or he simply can't be found..." Pinkie seemed to grow even gloomier upon hearing that.

"But we've just got to find him! Sunny's got to know...he's got to know that...I lied to him," that last part Pinkie barely whispered.

"What are you talking about Pinkie?" Twilight questioned.

"Before, we I was a sleeping, I talked to older Sunny...well actually it was dream Sunny...or maybe memory Sunny makes more sense. Anyway, he told me that I needed to tell new Sunny that...that his nightmares are real! That...that he's not what we told him he is..." with that the mirror shifted back to his dark reflection.

Sunny didn't know what to do, what to say. All he could do was stand, stunned, as he felt his gaze being drawn further into the shadowy mirror.

"My my, you really have the best of friends don't you? I wonder just how many lies they've told you..." Discord mused.

"Y...you're lying!" Sunny finally managed to force out. "That wasn't real!" Discord just laughed.

"This story needs no more lies little faker. I will add none...and neither should you," Sunny could no longer feel the claw on his shoulder...in face, he could barely feel much of anything anymore. "It does no good to run from the truth, especially when its staring you right in the face."

The shadows in the mirror seemed to be growing larger...or was his vision simple growing darker?

"The dream is over, I think it's time for you to return to the shadows. It's where you belong, and deep down, you know you always wished to return there." Discord's last words sounded...strange. They reverberated and echoed around his mind, growing louder and pushing away any thoughts he might have against them.

Discord was right...

Why should he stay here...those nightmares were true. That darkness, the endless void...all of that had been real. All of the pain, loneliness, and torment. It was where he had be born...

No more lies, no more false friends...

It was where he belonged...

He stepped into the mirror and wished for the dream to end.

"Anything yet Twilight?" Pinkie asked, digging herself out from a pile of books. "Please tell me you've found something..." Their other friends were spread throughout the library, desperately searching through the collection of books. The entire situation was filled with dreaded anticipation, as if they expected Discord to burst through the front door at any moment.

"Sorry, Pinkie," Twilight answered, reading four separate books from her own impressive pile. "I'm looking into everything I can, old mythology, studies on the Elements from Canterlot, even books on foreign magic from Zecora. But none of them can explain what happened."

"Exactly what're yah talkin' bout Twilight?" Applejack questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"When Discord attacked last time all he did was hide the Elements from us," she waved a hoof at her books. "Everything I read says that Discord can barely stand being near the Elements. He can grab them with magic, but never for very long, and he can't physically affect them. That's why he just hid them. But this time, he not only took every single one in an instant, he sent them to the moon! It shouldn't have been possible."

"But it has to be possible Twilight! He tossed the Elements away no problem and then grabbed Sunny," Rainbow Dash argued.

"That's the other thing," Twilight continued. "Why just take Sunny? Even when he hid the Elements last time he still stayed around to make sure that we wouldn't be able to use them. He used his magic to turn us against each other."

"You don't have to remind us about that darling," Rarity said, averting her gaze to the ground. "Personally, I still hate to think about it."

"I understand Rarity, but why didn't he do that again? I don't like this..." Twilight returned to her books for a few more moments when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Fluttershy meekly standing behind her.

"Twilight, I don't think this research is going to do us any good. Um, I think the best thing right now would be leave the books and try to get Sunny back. If Discord took him, then the last he would want is for us to get him back," the Pegasus explained. "Don't you think that's a good idea?" Twilight paused, looking over all the books in the library. It held so much knowledge, yet so often brought them little help.

"Well...you might be right Fluttershy, but how would we find Sunny? We've still got no idea where Discord took him," Twilight finally told her.

"Actually, I thought about that too. Don't you think it would make sense for Discord to hide Sunny away like he did all those poor ponies from the forest?" Fluttershy quickly replied.

"Of course!" Twilight exclaimed. "That explains why I wasn't able to sense Sunny with my magic!" Twilight grinned, happy to understand at least part of the mystery.

"But we still don't know how to find Sunny!" Pinkie added dejectedly.

"I was thinking...um, what if there was a pony that had a connection to those lost pony spirits. You could use your magic to follow the connection to Discord's world," Fluttershy said, trying to reassure Pinkie.

"Wait, you don't mean...Trixie?" Twilight realized. "That's...brilliant Fluttershy!" Twilight wrapped up Fluttershy in a hug.

"It's nothing that great really, I just thought about what you would think of," Fluttershy said, a small blush forming on her face.

"Well who cares who thought of it first, we need to get up to Canterlot!" Pinkie yelled, shoving all of her friends towards the front door.

The first thing Twilight noticed as she was pushed outside was Canterlot, or rather, the massive magical force field covering the royal city. Could that be...Shining Armor?

"C'mon girls, to the balloon!" Pinkie called out. Twilight looked around at her firends. They'd been running around so much these past few days. The woods, Canterlot, Ponyville, back to the woods...she wondered if anyone was as exhausted as her...

Hopefully, they were almost done with all of this.

Gray...

Everything was was a dull gray, like he had been trapped within an endless fog. That seemed...wrong.

No...no. That thought was brushed aside. He was exactly where he was meant to be. Everything would be quiet now. No more lies, no more shadows or memories.

For the first time that he could remember, everything finally seemed right...

What are you doing?

Part of the gray shifted to black, and Sunny could feel something heading towards him.

"No...that's not fair, leave me alone! How are you able to find me? I'm finally happy here..." he yelled at the shadows. The something in the darkness seemed to pause for a moment before moving forward again.

All Sunny could do was sit there and watch as...himself stepped out of the blackness.

He was taller, stronger, older...and he looked angry.

"If there is one thing you can never escape, it is your own shadow," his voice was so rough, so grating. Sunny covered his ears, he did not want to hear anything this other him had to say.

But then the other him was in front of him, pulling a hoof away from his ear.

"Have you finally let fear decide our fate?"

Author's Notes:

Humble grumbles...
Shorter chapter because of reasons. Mainly because this is the boring build-up chapter.
Also, I really wasn't sure what to do with this chapter when I started. Luckily my brain was there to help me out with that. Hooray imagination.
But the story is almost over, some scenes I've been looking forward to since the beginning are coming up soon. Hopefully they'll be a little emotional, guess we'll see.

And this image/comic/thing was a great piece of inspiration.
http://imgace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/life-asked-death.jpg