A brilliant flash lit up the area for a split-second before dying away just as quickly.

They all stumbled slightly as the last of the light vanished, plunging them and their surroundings into total darkness. For a few tense seconds nopony even dared to breathe. Pinkie was the one to break the silence as she whispered loudly, "Twilight? Fluttershy? Discy? Angel? Pinkie? Oh, wait, that's me... Twili-"

Twilight rolled her eyes in the darkness and channelled a small measure of magic, "Yes, Pinkie, I'm here." Her horn glowed and illuminated her immediate surroundings, revealing Pinkie's muzzle to be only inches away from her own, "Gah!" She backpedalled before collecting herself whilst Pinkie just stared in confusion, "Pinkie, where's Fluttershy?"

Pinkie shrugged, "I dunno, she's probably here someplace."

A small voice from the darkness cut through the silence, but only just, "I-I'm over here..."

Unfortunately, with the light Twilight was currently producing, neither of the other two ponies could see more than a few feet in any direction, leaving where 'over here' was to be anypony's guess. Twilight lowered her head and focused slightly harder, causing the light emanating from her horn to intensify into a small beam. She slowly turned on the spot until she spotted a yellow object in the darkness, currently curled up defensively on the ground, "Fluttershy, we're here." Twilight called out.

The pegasus lifted her head, then stood and trotted nervously to Twilight's position. Upon reaching them she sat down once again, "Twilight, can you shine your light down here for a second, please?" She did so, allowing Fluttershy to perform the task at hoof.

The pegasus reached back and opened her saddlebags, "Angel? Are you alright?" Briefly, shuffling from inside the bags could be heard, then Angel clambered out onto his owner's back. Fluttershy gave an audible sigh of relief, "Thank goodness." She closed her saddlebags and stood once again, glancing around quickly as she did so.

"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight enquired.

She gave a few more searching glances out into the darkness before turning to Twilight, "W-Where's Discord?"

Everything went silent once again. Twilight's expression began to mirror Fluttershy's, which, in turn, grew more and more worried with every passing second. Just as the mares began to show signs of panic, one about losing a close friend, the other about being left alone in a dark, unknown location, a single word was uttered from the blackness, "Here."

The three mares looked between one another nervously. There was something about that tone that sounded... wrong. It belonged to Discord, obviously, but he almost sounded weak, as if he'd been injured, and even Pinkie had picked up on it, "Discy? Are you alright? Where's 'here'?"

A small groan was all that Discord gave in response, but it was enough for Twilight to pinpoint his general direction. She turned, intensifying the beam of light so that it would stretch further as she did so, and finally stopped as she located what she was searching for. Discord was slumped against what Twilight presumed was a wall, though his neck was tilted so far forward that his head was touching the ground. Fluttershy gasped and darted over to him, skidding to a halt just beside his head and prodding him gently, "D-Discord! Are you okay?"

He drew a shallow breath and lifted his head, "Fine... just... tired..." From atop Fluttershy's back, Angel rolled his eyes at the theatrics. "Just give me... a minute..." Fluttershy nodded and waited patiently as the other two sat beside her.

A few minutes later he inhaled deeply, "Okay, ask away."

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Fluttershy spoke first, "Are you alright? What happened?"

Discord smiled, "I'll recover shortly. Seems like I used up more magic than I thought..."

"Oh, you poor thing..." she glanced up at him sympathetically.

Twilight couldn't help but interject, "Hold on... Not ten minutes ago you said that you can raise the sun and moon with a snap of your fingers, what gives?"

He sighed tiredly, "I knew you'd ask that. Think about it, I channelled chaos magic for a month just to escape, destroyed a top-tier barrier spell - and looked good doing it I might add - and teleported the five of us all the way here. All while running on next to empty on chaos. Good luck finding anypony else who can do that."

Twilight nodded but held her questioning gaze, "And where's here exactly?"

The draconequus waved his claw, and the area was instantly awash with bright light, revealing that they were in fact in a large cavern, with small piles of sand scattered across the floor, "My little ponies, I present to you our temporary luxury abode, situated in the beautiful, tranquil and certainly secluded San Palomino Desert!" From out of nowhere the sound of applause could be heard, which Pinkie quickly joined in with.

"I thought you said you were exhausted?" Twilight tilted her head accusingly in response to the applause.

He shrugged, "I'm just that good, I guess."

Fluttershy glanced around nervously, "We're in a desert?"

"Yes, but don't worry about the details. I'll ensure we're all well looked after, and I'll be sure to spruce this place up a bit once I feel better, plus we won't be here for long, a week at the most."

"You have a plan?" Twilight asked as if she was expecting as much.

"Of course! Devious mastermind over here, remember?"

She blew her mane upwards exasperatedly at his bravado, "Care to fill us in?"

He grimaced slightly, "It's... still a work in progress."

Twilight nodded her head deliberately slowly, "Uh...huh..."

"Oh for crying out loud! I'm pretty exhausted if you haven't already noticed! Just give me some time to recover and maybe I'll be able to think straight for long enough to get our affairs in order, alright? Unless you have a better plan?"

The unicorn shrugged, "As you said yourself, you're the 'devious mastermind', and you seem to be the expert on making Celestia's life difficult. I think I'll leave it to you for now, thanks."

Discord stretched out and fell backwards onto a cloud that had appeared beneath him, "Then step one is simple: One of you give me a nudge in about, say... ten minutes." Before anypony could ask what he meant he was already snoring obnoxiously loudly, miniature gusts of gale-force wind escaping every time he exhaled.

The three ponies, and rabbit, looked at each other briefly, then back at the draconequus. Angel rolled his eyes once again and pressed his paw into his forehead before wiping it down his face. "I-Is he really asleep, just like that?" Fluttershy asked, half-expecting him to jump up and startle them.

He rolled slightly on his cloud, and a trio of visible black-printed 'Z's escaped from his mouth, only to be retrieved by a greedy snore. Pinkie focused on him for a moment, "Looks like it. He's certainly giving an entirely new meaning to 'catching some 'Z's'... Look at him go! Yaaaay Discy! Round up ALL the 'Z's!" How he had managed not to even stir was a mystery to the others.

Twilight mimicked Angel's version of a facehoof, trotted over to one of the edges of the cave, and sat against it in silence. 'Something this serious, and I leave Discord in charge and bring Pinkie along for the long haul, maybe I'm the one who needs some sleep...'

After being vigorously shaken awake by Pinkie precisely ten minutes later, Discord had made several notable renovations to the cave. The fact that it wasn't really a cave by definition anymore was probably the most significant one. Plush carpeting covered the floor, the walls and roof were replaced by smooth wooden planks, and five comfortable looking armchairs plus a large sofa now occupied the floorspace. A door in the back wall of the 'cave' led into a small bathroom of sorts, which, by one of Discord's many mysterious magics, now had fresh water flowing through it. Another door stood opposite it, near the 'cave' mouth, though it seemed that the purpose of it was merely cosmetic, or at least to keep out the sand; the chances of anypony stumbling across them out in the middle of a desert were almost zero at best. Not even Pinkie could accurately speculate where the light was coming from. There were no lighting fixtures anywhere, yet the entire room was equally bathed in warm light, much to the confusion of the two ponies and one rabbit who didn't defy physics anywhere near as often as their companions did.

Discord stretched as he lay across the entirety of the sofa, folding his arms behind his head and smiling, "Thank heavens that's over with. You honestly have no idea how difficult it is to create chairs that don't walk away on their legs." Pinkie giggled slightly at the thought of it, but the others remained expectantly quiet, "Okay, fine." He donned a pair of spectacles, putting on his best 'accountant voice', "Let's talk business, shall we?"

Twilight glanced irritably from her seat over to her saddlebags, able to just make out the tops of the Elements they had brought, 'If we only have half a set, will they only half-turn him into stone? All we need is enough to cover his mouth and fingers...' She glared at him, "Yes already! Just get on with it and stop fooling around!"

The spectacles cracked as she finished, prompting him to scowl and discard them, watching with mild interest as they melded with the floor seamlessly, "Fine." He sat up and extended a single finger, "The first thing is pretty straightforward, we're going to move at the end of every week. I have a general route in mind, and it will help us avoid detection."

They nodded in response, though Fluttershy seemed puzzled, "But how will we go anywhere? We're in the middle of a desert now."

"Not to worry." he smiled, "I'll simply teleport us around. It's much faster and safer than trekking across the desert, or anywhere else for that matter. Discord travel really is the future of transport, ladies."

"But doesn't that make you like, really tired, Discy?" Pinkie tilted her head in confusion.

He gave a half-sigh half-groan at the nickname, "Yes, Pinkie, but only after I've used lots of magic." He spoke as if he was lecturing a foal, "As long as I don't use up nearly every ounce of my magic casting tedious spells again then no, it won't be a problem. And STOP calling me that!"

"Okie, dokie, lokie!"

He held up a second finger whilst pressing his claw against his head, "Two, I'll be leaving occasionally, probably twice a day, to cause chaos elsewhere." He glanced over to Fluttershy, "For your benefit, and Pinkie's, I'll give you both a quick, simple explanation. Discord no cause chaos for long time, Discord go 'BOOM', understood?" Fluttershy nodded timidly, whilst Pinkie just rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Pinkie?" he deadpanned, "Please tell me you understand!" his expression at that moment was, as he would so aptly put it, priceless.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, no, yeah, I understand. I'm thinking about something else... But it's not important right now anyways. Carry on." she smiled up at him.

He gave up trying to understand, and waved his claw to make sure he had her attention before holding up a third finger, "Number three, we have a deal to discuss, Pinkie."

Her expression sobered for a moment, "Yep. What needs discussing?"

"Well... I can perform the spell here and now, if you give me a few minutes, but that's not the issue." He waited for his words to sink in, half-expecting the mare to bounce off all the walls and start showering him with praise, but all she did was sit there and listen attentively, her expression forced flat, as if she was awaiting something, but didn't want to get her hopes up. For reasons unknown, he found it quite unnerving, "Uhm, well the issue is that there's nothing to stop you running off at the first available opportunity." Still she sat, passively awaiting his verdict, "Now I know that doesn't sound very 'trusting' of me, but it's a precaution I'll have to take I'm afraid." Not even a twitch betrayed the mare's emotions as she sat perfectly still. "So... Pinkie, is there anything I can ask of you to ensure that you'll keep your end of the bargain? Perhaps a treasured possession? Or-"

"A Pinkie Promise." was her reply, her voice held an edge of seriousness that made all present shudder, Discord included.

"Come again? A... Pinkie Promise?" he looked at her sceptically, "Promises are all well and good, Pinkie, but they can still be broken."

Suddenly he found himself wrenched down to eye-level with the baker, her eyes burning with the intensity of the infernal bread stoves of hell, "This is a Pinkie Promise." He was sure her voice had dropped a few octaves, but he was too transfixed to be sure, "And nopony. Breaks. A. Pinkie. Promise..."

And there it was. For the first time in nearly a thousand years, Discord felt yet another emotion he had long since locked away. Pure, unadulterated fear. There was no rationality, no viable reason for it. But right then and there, Discord feared for his immortal life as he stared into the depths of the abyss, and the abyss, quite literally, stared back.

He hid it well, with only a few stray droplets of sweat trickling up his face and hitting the ceiling. Gently detaching her forelegs from himself, Discord coughed lightly and stepped back, looking over to the other two, who were staring at him wide-eyed and nodded slowly. Even Angel seemed awestruck by the visible fire in the mare's eyes. Fluttershy eventually found her voice and said all she could think to say, "I-I-It's t-true, Discord. Nop-pony can break a P-Pinkie promise, it's i-impossible..." He looked over to Twilight, who simply nodded her head in agreement with the pegasus.

He didn't need much more convincing, "... Alright, I'll make this 'Pinkie Promise'." Though the only thing to change on Pinkie's face was her smile as it turned up ever-so-slightly at the corners, the amount of sheer willpower it took for Discord to stand his ground without betraying his emotions was incredible; deals with the Pony Devil himself were less intimidating. A small cough escaped him - and dashed out the door - as he tried to clear his throat, "In return for sparing your future foals of the affliction, you are obliged to stay with us until either the job is done, or we no longer need your help. Are we in agreement?"

"Yep. Now, repeat after me." She held up her hoof, and Discord slowly did the same. "Cross my heart."

"Cross my heart."

She waved the hoof, "Hope to fly."

"Hope to fly."

She brought her hoof to her face deliberately slowly, "Stick a cupcake in my eye." With a 'squish' she poked herself in her right eye.

Discord just stared for a moment before tentatively drawing his paw towards his face; with every inch Pinkie's smile distended further. "Stick... a cupcake... in my... eye." He quickly jabbed himself in the eye, expecting all hell to break loose as he sealed the pact.

It didn't. Pinkie just smiled at him in her usual cute, not-at-all demonic fashion, "Okay, ready when you are!"

"Right... Everypony might want to take a step back though... just in case." The others looked at him to see if he was joking, but his face was unusually expressionless, so they simply complied and gave him a wary look. Discord rubbed his mismatched hands together absent-mindedly as he prepared to work his magic.

Though he couldn't help but wonder, 'What the hell have I just gotten myself into?'

Pinkie stood in the centre of the room, her friends standing against the wall behind Discord, who was currently sizing up the angles from which to cast the spell, "Pinkie, you have to hold perfectly still, understood?"

"Can do!"

He gave the mare another look before shuffling to the right a few inches, "You do understand that there's no guarantee this will work, right?"

Pinkie drew her lips in tight, "I know, but I've got to take that chance."

Fluttershy nudged Discord gently, "I-It's not going to h-hurt her, is it?" the pegasus looked terrified on behalf of her friend.

He closed his eyes for a moment, "I don't know. There's no way to be sure beforehand." He looked back to Pinkie as Fluttershy's expression became even more frightened, "But once I begin, I cannot stop until the spell is finished, no matter what happens, understood?"

Pinkie nodded, "Whatever it takes."

Twilight shook her head, "I've seen this before. This is too much like... what happened to Spike. Pinkie, are you absolutely, one-hundred percent sure you want to go through with this?"

The mare in question nodded, "I need this, Twilight. I'd never forgive myself if I put my foals through this too."

Biting her lip in response, Twilight gave a single nod, 'This is not your decision to make, Twilight!' She scrunched her eyes shut tightly and tried to block out the all-too-appropriate memories of Spike's transformation.

Discord hummed to himself momentarily, "Alright, I think I'm just about ready. Ladies, and rabbit, I need absolute silence whilst I do this, one mistake could spell disaster here." They backed away apprehensively, save Pinkie who remained in the centre of the room, "Pinkie, I know this must be grating on the old nerves a little, it's starting to annoy even me, but I have to warn you. This is the last chance to opt out now, are you completely sure you want this?"

She gulped, "Yep. Let's get it over with."

"Very well." Silence filled the area, even the breaths of the room's occupants were shallow enough to go unheard. Discord slowly closed his eyes, raised his paw slightly.

And snapped his fingers.

So many individual components. Millions upon millions of microscopic building blocks making up the anomaly that was Pinkie Pie. And, in a similar fashion to building blocks, Discord knew that removing a single wrong one would cause the entire structure to collapse violently. 'No pressure.' he thought sarcastically. 'Location, location, location... Meiosis, meiosis, mei- oh, there it is.' He found what he was looking for and gritted his teeth as he began the tedious process of individually rewiring each affected cell; knowing that his margin of error was exactly zero didn't make things any easier.

The silence was deafening, the only sound to be heard was the far off rustle of sandy winds blowing across the dunes outside. Several minutes passed, and no notable changes had overtook Pinkie, she just stood perfectly still in the centre of the room facing Discord, who still had his eyes closed and paw held in the same position at his side. Despite the severity of the situation, her friends were becoming increasingly unnerved by something other than the spell: Pinkie's unmoving, unblinking stare. Were it not for Discord's warning, the three would have already dashed behind the furniture around the room just to break line of sight with her. The stare seemed to permeate everything. The ponies themselves, time, space, her blank expression gave the impression she saw through them all.

So after nearly another half hour of wilting under her unforgiving gaze, the three almost had a collective heart attack when Discord shot up into the air and span wildly, "Finished! Finally!" He turned to Pinkie, "How do you feel?"

Pinkie shook her head and blinked rapidly before resorting to rub her eyelids upon the realisation that they wouldn't close of their own accord any more, "I... don't feel any different, actually."

Discord released a mighty sigh, "That's a relief, it means I'm much less likely to have pulled out anything that I shouldn't have. It's pretty difficult after over a thousand years, you know?"

Pinkie stopped rubbing her eyes and looked up at him hesitantly, "Does this mean that... I won't... I mean, my foals won't... They'll never..." her tone was almost one of disbelief.

Discord took it upon himself to finish her sentence, "Your foals will never have to deal with the hardships you have faced."

He was astounded when he saw tears form in her eyes, but didn't have time to ask what was wrong before she pounced on him, "Thank you! Thank you so much! I'm sorry for ever doubting you and turning you into stone! I'm really, really sorry! You have no idea how much this means to me! I promise, I won't ever, EVER leave you guys! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The other two mares looked on and smiled warmly at Pinkie's display of gratitude, truly glad for her; even Angel didn't give the usual roll of his eyes at the heart-warming scene before them.

But Discord wasn't having any of it.

"Ugh!" he stuck out his tongue, "Way too much mush here!" With a flash he vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room, only to find himself enveloped by her again a split-second later. The following minute consisted of nothing but this process repeating over and over again, as if time itself had finally given up on trying to function properly when it concerned the two, instead opting to set everything on 'loop' whilst it went to clear its head.

"Enough already!" he bellowed across the room, creating a pool of quicksand beneath his pursuer before she could dash to him again, and smiling smugly as she sank into it and pouted at him. He span in the air to meet two sets of amused smiles and sighed, "Alright, who else likes quicksand?" The two mares giggled regardless of his obvious irritation as he dropped himself down onto the sofa, "Fine... Laugh it up, I'll repay you in kind later. When you're both finished, take a seat." They continued for several seconds before settling down. With a snap of his fingers, Pinkie found herself clean and standing on the floor once again, though she just stared at Discord intensely. The draconequus rolled his eyes, "Pinkie, don't try it. I'm warning you!" She didn't move from her position, even as the others all took their seats around her. Discord let his shoulders droop, "Just take a seat already, Pinkie..." he blinked at her disapprovingly.

Only to find her a few inches from his face a moment later, causing him to recoil wildly in his seat, "If that's how it has to be, fine!"

The mare suddenly found herself chained to one of the chairs without an inch of give on her restraints, "You're no fun today..."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "So what is it anyway?"

He coughed slightly, "Believe it or not, I think I may have something valuable to teach you, and Pinkie too, provided she behaves herself." He smirked over at her slightly as she wrestled with her chains.

"Something to teach us? What does that mean?" Twilight asked warily, "And why only me and Pinkie?"

Discord rubbed his hands together and lent forwards slightly, "Because one of you can use it to an extraordinary standard, and it's quite literally a part of who the other is." He paused for a moment and allowed realisation to dawn on each of their faces before continuing, "That's right, my little ponies! I'm going to mentor you in the magic of chaos!"

The six still stood in the Sculpture Gardens, even after all the guards had scrambled at the Prince and Princesses' commands. Celestia stood beside Luna, with Shining Armor standing just off to the side of them. Facing them were the three Bearers that had remained. Each and every one wore a different expression. "What now, sister?" Luna asked.

Celestia wore a look of absolute determination, "We wait and let the guards search. There will be no stone in Equestria left unturned if needs be. We will find them, I promise." The last sentence was directed more towards the other four than Luna.

Shining stomped a hoof, "That's not good enough! There must be something we can do other than stand around idly and wait for reports!"

Rainbow Dash jumped forwards, "I'm with him! Let's get off our flanks and find them ourselves! I'll knock some sense into Discord for what he's done!"

Celestia turned to Shining, "I'm afraid it wouldn't do anything to keep the peace if you were seen searching high and low all across Equestria. Ponies would make assumptions of your intentions as a Prince of another nation, after all." At that moment in time, Shining couldn't have cared less about the assumptions any ponies would have made, but he held his tongue regardless, years of conditioning as Guard Captain beneath her subconsciously influencing him to obey. "But... as for you three." She turned to the Bearers, "I'm sure you could significantly improve our chances of finding them. That is... if you'll actually listen to anything I ask of you now..." Though her determined expression never wavered, her voice was laden with guilt.

"Of course we will!" Rainbow Dash nodded before turning to those beside her, "Right?"

For a moment there was silence, but Applejack quickly adjusted her hat and nodded, "Whatever might've happened, our friends are in danger every moment they spend with that snake. Their safety comes before anythin' else right now."

A much longer length of time elapsed before Rarity finally spoke, her voice an unpleasant monotone, "I'll go, just to make sure they're alright. That's all."

A light flashed on Celestia's horn, and a similar light appeared on the heads of each of the Bearers just as briefly. "You may begin the search whenever you're ready, but should you find them you are not to reveal yourselves. You will inform me of your whereabouts and do as I say, it's for your own safety as well as theirs."

"Is there anything else we can use to find them?" Shining asked.

Celestia sighed, "With Discord involved, probably not, but I'll see what I can do in the way of magically scanning for them."

Luna remained silent, it would be better not to get their hopes up too early; she would know whether or not she had succeeded soon enough.

"Then if they find them, I'm going." Shining's tone left no room for argument.

Nor did Celestia's, "Shining, I know that Twilight is your sister, and you're probably worried sick, but I don't expect Discord to come quietly, and allowing you to lead a regiment of crystal guards to their location would almost certainly cause panic; never mind the consequences for your empire if you were injured, or worse. I can't allow you to get too involved in Equestria's affairs for exactly these reasons."

Shining gave no ground, "With all due respect, Princess Celestia, I believe that I have legal immunity as the Prince of a neighbouring country, do I not? Furthermore, the Crystal Empire is unquestionably at peace with Equestria, so I see no reason why our presence would cause any unrest. And I'll have you know that Princess Cadence - my wife - is more than capable of managing our Empire alone!" He reigned in his self-control before he said anything he'd regret, "I'll respect your wishes in the best interests of Equestria, Princess, but as soon as we find them, I'm going, and that's final. I won't let anything, or anypony, stand between me and my sister when she needs me, Princess Celestia.

Celestia regarded him critically for a moment, mulling over what he had said, "I... I'll allow it, Shining. I know you're more than capable of handling yourself when things get tough, and you probably have the best chance of getting through to her out of any of us. But you will wait until we have an exact fix on their location. I'm not prepared to risk any shots in the dark here, understood?"

Shining bowed his head in gratitude, "Of course. Thank you, Princess. I won't fail you, or her."

Celestia smiled slightly, "I know you won't. After all, you weren't the best of the best for no reason, were you?" She turned to the Bearers, "Did they mention where they might be heading to any of you beforehand?" They shook their heads, "Then search wherever you deem likely, but remember," she looked sternly between each one in turn, "No matter what, do NOT approach them if you find them. We have no idea what Discord might do to them should he find himself cornered. This is absolutely imperative." They nodded in response, "Remember, if you do find anything, all you need to do is think of telling me," she raised a hoof and tapped her head, "and we'll be in touch."

Luna turned to her sister, "Shall we go? We need to divide the guards into search parties capable of scouring the area beyond Canterlot as soon as possible."

Celestia nodded, "Yes." she turned along with her sister, but cast a glance back to the ponies behind her, "Good luck, all of you." The sisters left the garden, leaving the four remaining ponies to ponder over their predicament.

After several seconds of silently staring in the direction the two had trotted, Rainbow approached Shining, "We'll find your sister and the others, I promise."

He nodded, though his expression was unreadable as he spoke, "Thank you, it means a lot. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a squad to assemble," He turned and began trotting away with his head hung low, "and two soon-to-be heartbroken parents to inform..."

They watched him go sadly, remaining where they stood even as he vanished back into the castle. No further words were spoken, even as they collectively shuffled towards the castle, their many troubled thoughts, distant optimistic hopes, and all-too-real fears stealing away their ability to speak.

But, in the end, there really was no need for talk. There was one crucial thought that all three shared as one, albeit for their own unique agendas: "We WILL find our friends!"

"The magic... of chaos?" Twilight stared at him incredulously as he cautiously removed Pinkie's restraints, breaking the silence that had swept over the room.

He nodded.

"You can teach us to control it?"

He nodded.

She raised an eyebrow, "Despite Pinkie being an earth pony?" Pinkie just shrugged in carefree acceptance.

He nodded.

"How is that even possible?"

He nodded.

Then came to the realisation that he wasn't answering a yes/no question, "Oh... Sorry about that. Must have zoned out during the questioning, interrogator." Twilight scowled at him, causing him to raise his arms in a semi-defensive shrug, "Well, for Pinkie it's going to be quite different from conventional unicorn magic, to put it lightly."

"How so?"

He briefly considered nodding just to see her reaction but decided against it. There would be plenty of less-serious issues to make light of in the future. Instead he sighed and waved to the vacant chairs, "You'll probably want to sit down again for this..." After they had done so Discord addressed Fluttershy, "I'm sorry, Fluttershy, a lot of what I'm about to explain won't apply to you, or Angel." He smirked at the rabbit, who glared back.

"I-It's fine."

"Of course, I could just give you a good zap of chaos magic to include you in the 'fun'," He grinned as Angel snarled at him defensively, "But in all honesty I'd prefer not to do that to my only friend. I'm sure you'll agree you don't need changing anyway, you're fine the way you are."

She blushed and hid behind her mane slightly, "If you say so..."

He clasped his hands together, "Alright, I'll explain things to you first, Twilight; it'll be easier to explain things further down the line that way."

"Okay."

"First off, let me go over the basics. Chaos magic is influenced by two main principals: Chaos within, and chaos without." Twilight was already leaning forwards in her seat, eager to learn more on one of the few subjects that even the royal archives held little information on. "Chaos without is simple enough to explain. Any chaos magic will always be amplified by the presence of more chaos in the immediate area, provided the caster wants to amplify it, of course. This makes chaos magic an excellent tool to use when - excuse my Griffonian - shit hits the fan, or you're in a tight spot."

Fluttershy was blushing deeply now, and Pinkie desperately trying not to laugh as she envisaged exactly that happening wasn't helping. Twilight didn't even seem to notice, her attention focused solely on Discord.

"Chaos within is more difficult to explain, never mind achieve. In short, chaos within is found through inner turmoil. By this I mean something really out of place, such as total emotional detachment, or, as you're probably aware of by now, Twilight, extremely potent emotions." She nodded slowly, recalling both Spike's death and the encounters with Celestia, "In this case, the most turbulent emotions always seem to produce the best results: Rage, fear, envy and despair being the most prominent of the bunch. Casting with a complete lack of emotion is obviously difficult to do - especially in a combat scenario - and is generally less powerful than drawing upon these emotions, but it's a lot safer than relying on impulse and losing all self-control each time you need to use it. I'm sure I haven't lost you yet, have I?"

Twilight shook her head attentively, "Sounds simple enough so far."

"Good. There is much more to it than just that brief overview, but it starts us off nicely. I'll explain more to you once we begin training, that is, if you actually want to learn how."

She almost jumped out of her seat, "Of course I want to learn!" She noticed everyone staring at her and sank backwards a little with a nervous laugh, "I mean, this could prove valuable in the future."

"Alright then, though it would probably be best if we start tomorrow rather than right now. I'm still pretty exhausted, and I'm sure the three of you have a lot on your minds." Each gave a nod to confirm such, "But Twilight, I must warn you, chaos magic is VERY dangerous. If I agree to teach you how to control it - as opposed to it controlling you, like it has in the past - then you must NEVER, EVER practice without my supervision." She gulped at the severity in his voice, "Especially not around your friends. Remember what happened when Calamity interrupted your spell? Imagine that happening with your friends in the room." Her eyes widened in panic as she envisaged such devastation being visited upon her closest friends, "Don't worry. As long as you follow my instructions, and never practice without my supervision, there's no risk of that ever happening; and you can do so somewhere safe if you wish."

Twilight stared at the floor between them, "And there's absolutely no risk to my friends if I do?"

"None."

She voiced her concerns rapidly, "B-But what if I use it one day a-and I can't control it and I end up hurting m-my friends and-"

"Twilight?" Discord seemed surprised by the ramblings of the usually collected pony.

"-What if something goes wrong and I use it where it could hurt lots of ponies and I give us all away and-"

Discord sighed and snapped his fingers, causing a zipper to seal her mouth shut, "Enough already, sheesh! You worry far too much. You've already summoned up chaos magic before, and proven skilful enough not to blow yourself up with zero training, that has to count for something at least."

Pinkie leaned towards her, "He's right, y'know. If anypony can do this right, it's you! You're awesome at magic and stuff!"

"A-And magic is your t-talent... And your cutie m-mark... And your Element..."

Seeing her relax considerably, Discord dissipated the zipper and shrugged, "See?"

Twilight looked between each one in turn, smiling weakly as she did, "Thanks... But I'm still unsure."

Discord rolled his eyes, "Fine, if you're so unsure, sleep on it. There's no need to be making these decisions so quickly anyway."

She nodded in agreement, and Discord clapped his hands happily, "And so ends 'conventional chaos 101'! Next up," he looked pointedly at Pinkie, "'unconventional chaos 101'!"

Cheers and thunderous applause erupted from nowhere at his behest, and Pinkie erupted from her chair in turn, "Yippee! So, what can I do!? Can I move mountains!? Or make things disappear!? Or raze barns with mega laser vision!? Or can I-"

Discord held up his fingers threateningly, though he smirked at her antics as he did so, "Pinkie, zip it would you? Or else I'll have to do it for you."

She just giggled and relaxed in her seat, "Okie dokie!"

"I hate to disappoint you, Pinkie, but there won't really be any magic as in casting spells, or any of the stuff you just mentioned for that matter."

"Aww..."

"Exactly. No, this has more to do with making use of your... 'gift', and learning to wield it properly."

At the mention of using the 'gift' she became very on-edge, and it showed, "What do you mean?"

"Think of it this way, the likelihood is that Pinkamena has fighting abilities close to those of Reginald himself. If you could utilise that power on the battlefield there would be very few opponents indeed who would be able to best you in single combat.

She spoke seriously now, "And how would I tap into that power safely?"

"Well, I'm willing to bet that you've got Pinkamena locked away securely somewhere in your mind, don't you?"

"Correct."

"Then you let her out."

"..."

"..."

"... You're actually serious?"

"Absolutely."

"That's the single most fucking terrible idea I've ever heard in my entire life." All the others in the room reeled at both her tone and suddenly colourful choice of language.

Discord half-coughed, half-choked, "Hey! Hear me out at least!"

Pinkie sighed heavily, "I'm hearing. Speak away."

"Look, Pinkie, whether you like it or not, the fact of the matter is that Pinkamena is a separate being to you. She thinks in the same way any other pony does. Only, she doesn't have a body of her own, and the owner of the body she's in has imprisoned her."

"..."

"How would that make you feel?"

"... Bad."

"Understatement of the century, but yes, it would make you feel bad. Very bad. Tell me, when was the last time you let her take control completely, instead of suppressing her?"

"When I was still a little filly, working day-in day-out on a rock farm."

"So that's several years now. You've imprisoned and suppressed her for years."

"Where exactly are you going with this?"

"You need to make amends with her, apologise, and agree to let her free; from time to time, at least."

"Are you absolutely BATSHIT CRAZY!? She's INSANE! She DESPISES ME! She constantly tries to make my life a misery! She's been trying ever since I was small, attacking me when I was at my weakest! After Spike died she almost succeeded!"

"What would you do if you were in her situation?"

"What?"

"What would you do if somepony locked you away and pretended like you didn't exist? Be nice to them on a daily basis? Sit happily in the back of their mind and never try to escape?"

"No..." Pinkie lowered her eyes and stared at the carpet, her eyes glazing over slightly as she thought about things from Pinkamena's perspective.

"Tell me, did Pinkamena start making things difficult for you right from the day you regained control?"

There was a long pause before Pinkie finally spoke, "N-No... She started off by asking when I would let her out for a while, but I was having too much fun to find the time... Then she started begging, and she... She kept telling me it was getting dark, and she was scared. I thought she was just trying to scare me into letting her out... Then she gradually got how she is now... Full of sadness, and hate towards me... So I shut her in completely..." Tears started to brim in her eyes as she looked up at Discord, "Was that... Was that all my fault?"

He kept his expression and tone as neutral as possible, "There's a strong possibility it was, unfortunately."

"B-But I never... I didn't mean... I'm... I..."

Just as she looked on the verge of breaking down into tears Discord intervened, "That's why we're having this conversation, Pinkie. If you want to, you can begin setting things right, starting tomorrow."

She just nodded pensively, mulling over the mistreatment of her alter-ego over the years, "O-Okay..."

"Excellent. If you two make amends we can move on to the more complicated stuff." He stood up quickly, "So ends 'unconventional chaos 101'!"

An awkward silence filled the room as all present looked at Pinkie, who had yet to shift her gaze from the floor. Eventually Fluttershy moved over to Pinkie quietly and gently wrapped a wing around her, "It'll be okay, Pinkie. You'll be able to put things right somehow, I know it."

Pinkie scrunched her eyes shut before looking away from the floor and to her friend, all indications of sadness and guilt gone from her features as she smiled slightly, "Thanks, Fluttershy."

Discord stretched and yawned loudly, "I think it's about time we all got some much needed rest, don't you think?" After a murmur of agreement from the others he snapped his fingers, conjuring three beds, a cloud, and a small pile of straw for Angel to sleep on. Once they were all comfortable, Discord grinned and whispered, "Lights out." He clapped his hands, causing the mysterious light source to disappear, plunging the room into total darkness.

For about three seconds until somepony clapped, turning the lights back on. Everypony looked at each other in confusion before collectively shifting their gaze to Discord, "Hey, don't look at me, that was one of you!" He huffed before clapping his hands again, shutting off the lights.

Only for somepony to clap again, flooding the room with light. Discord stood upright and glared down at them intimidatingly, "Okay, I'm usually all for a good practical joke, but if you can't tell, I'm really damn tired! Who keeps doing that!?"

"It wasn't me."

"N-Not me..."

"Doing what now?"

Angel shrugged.

He slumped, "Alright, if that's how it is, fine. Just stop already!" He clapped his hands, "GOODNIGHT!" The light faded out of existence.

*Clap*

The light faded back into existence. Discord roared and jumped into the air, his landing causing lightning to jump from the floor to the roof, where it liquefied and dripped back down, "PINKIE!"

"Yeah?"

"THAT WAS YOU! I SAW YOU DO IT!"

"Oh, that? Yeah, I've never lost a last-clap contest in my life, and I don't intend to start now."

"Oh for the love of..." He stopped abruptly as an idea struck him, "Never mind. Seriously though, go to sleep." He raised his paw and made a show of snapping his fingers before them, snuffing out the light.

Pinkie cried out in the darkness, "Hey! No fair! I can't do that!"

Discord's laugh reverberated all around them, "Exactly. I win."

"But you can't win if I never said I was playing!"

"You never said you weren't playing either."

"Well it's pretty self-explanatory, seen as though I don't even have fingers!"

"Excuses, excuses. A little creativity would get you much farther than-"

Twilight screamed and the sound of a pillow being punched repeatedly was heard, "JUST SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP ALREADY! BOTH OF YOU!"

Quiet mercifully descended on the room, the only sound was that of steady breathing as everyone finally settled down to sleep.

Though Twilight could have sworn she heard the words 'slave driver' uttered in the darkness.

Celestia smiled down at her. Twilight glanced around and saw Spike, similarly smiling at her. He was speaking, but she couldn't hear him. As the confusion passed, Twilight came to her senses and struggled as hard as she could to do anything that could prevent what came next. She failed. Celestia sauntered slowly towards Spike from behind, smiling all the while.

'Oh no! Please no! Don't make me watch this again! Please no! Stop! Stop! Please!' She could feel the waves of fear washing over her with every step Celestia took towards her brother.

She was close now, very close. A few more steps and she would reach him, 'PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST STOP! STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!'

She didn't.

Celestia loomed behind Spike now, her grin distending grotesquely as her horn began to glow, 'Oh no! No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!' Whirring saw blades materialised on either side of an oblivious Spike, slowly inching closer and closer. All semblances of hope had left her as she gave one final futile attempt, 'Please... Just stop...' Celestia winked at her playfully, a final glow enveloping her horn as the blades jumped across the last few inches and began to draw blood.

Twilight knew she was crying. She couldn't feel the tears, or the racking sobs, but somehow she knew she was crying. Although she couldn't hear his voice, Spike's now panicked expression, and his rapid mouthing of the same words allowed her to figure out exactly what he was saying.

'Help me!'

She couldn't.

Everything froze.

Twilight looked on in disbelief, expecting some sort of horrifying trick, but everything remained still. The saw blades no longer rotated, Spike was stuck in mid-speech, and the few stray drops of blood that had been flung through the air were now suspended in place by some unseen force, 'W-What?'

Then everything faded, Spike, the blood, Celestia and her instruments of torture. All that remained was Twilight and the throne room itself.

"Twilight Sparkle!"

She whirled around, and was immediately shocked to find that she could actually move, and that Princess Luna was staring down at her condescendingly, "P-Princess Luna?"

The Princess frowned at her, "You overstepped your bounds greatly today, Twilight."

She shrunk back at the severity in her voice, "Princess... How?" It clicked, "That spell earlier? That's how, isn't it?"

"Where are you?"

"W-What?"

"WHERE. ARE. YOU!?"

Twilight shook her head rapidly, trying to fight off the re-emerging fear, "I c-can't t-tell you th-that, P-Princess."

Luna snarled at her, "I'm not going to play games with you, Twilight! What you did today rolls treason, terrorism and conspiring against the nation as a whole all into one! Besides, I'm not about to let you become one of the pieces in one of Discord's games, or allow you to lead your friends into something so terrible! You WILL tell me where you are, or I'll MAKE YOU!"

Although she was constantly retreating to counter Luna's advance, Twilight still held her defiance, "No! You'll n-never understand what I'm g-going through! There's n-no way I'll t-tell you where we are!"

"Then you leave me no choice."

Twilight jolted as she bumped into something behind her. She turned to find a wall towering over her that hadn't been there seconds ago, "What!?" She glanced around and darted to the left quickly to avoid Luna, only for the wall to bend before her, closing her in, "What's going on!?" She backed up against the wall as Luna drew closer, and shrieked as she was pulled against it by some unseen force, metal clasps materialising around her legs, securing her in place.

Luna trotted towards her calmly. Though her voice was full of anger, Twilight was sure it held undertones of sadness as she spoke, "I won't hurt you, Twilight, I'm not so cruel as to do something like that to a friend. But if you won't give me your location willingly then I'll have to extract it from your mind directly." Luna's horn glowed deep blue as she tipped her head so that her horn would touch Twilight's when she was close enough.

Twilight began struggling frantically against her restraints, but they didn't give an inch, "I thought you were my friend, Luna! You can't do this to me! You can't just steal my thoughts from me! It's horrible and cruel!"

"So is what you're planning to do in the not-too-distant future if you're left unchecked."

"This goes against everything Luna! This breaks our trust! Our friendship! Even the basic rules of magic! This is unfair and wrong! She shrieked and thrashed with all her might against the restraints. They didn't budge.

Luna was only metres away now, "I'm sorry, Twilight, this is for the best, even if you don't see it. If I let you go, you'll ruin your life, as well as the lives of two of your closest friends and countless others through your actions." She stopped before Twilight, who had ceased struggling, instead tilting her head as far from Luna's as possible, "And despite what you might say about this being wrong, this is the dreamscape. The dreamscape I roam every single night. The dreamscape that bends to my will. I, and I alone, make the rules here.

A third voice boomed over the area, "Too bad I'm really terrible at following the rules."

The wall and restraints holding Twilight cracked and shattered, dropping her to the floor messily. She seized her opportunity, quickly righting herself and scampering away from Luna's still glowing horn.

Luna whirled around quickly, seething with rage at the new arrival's presence, "Discord! Where are you!?"

His mocking laugh spiralled around them, "Right under your nose!"

She looked down to see Discord's two-dimensional form wiggling around on the floor, and tried to stomp on him promptly, causing him to disappear and reappear before her in his full three-dimensional glory before bopping her on the nose playfully. She growled at him threateningly, "Stop this now! You will bring these mares home at once!"

Discord shrugged, "I was going to ask them out to dinner first, but if you're that enthusiastic I'm sure I can move things along a bit. Though I would've thought you'd seen enough of those kinds of dreams by now." He gave Luna a sly wink, though Twilight shuddered uncomfortably at the thought as she trotted around to Discord, staying well clear of Luna's immediate area.

Luna wasn't amused in the slightest, "If you don't stop this now I swear I'll make you suffer the consequences!"

Discord slumped slightly and sighed, "You're usually up for a good joke, this is disappointing... Really though, Luna, let's not make enemies of each other again; we're kindred spirits, you and I. After all, it's the very reason you were so much faster than Celestia to forgive me for what I did all that time ago. You've been there. You've been rejected and shunned by ponies to whom you did no wrong, as I was. You've been in the villain's horseshoes and done terrible things that you regret, as I have. We understand each other."

"I'm not here to talk about us. I'm here to find your location and stop you before you drag these mares down a dark path."

"Oh, Luna, you offend me. Each and every one of these mares is here of their own volition. Yes, I'll be providing quite a large helping hand, but their motives and intentions are solely their own."

Luna scowled at him, "Then why even bother!? It's not like you to go around offering genuine help to those in need, even on a 'good' day."

He smiled, "Because there's going to be one metric tonne of chaos along the way! Oh, and because I miss being able to actually create real chaos, instead of playing 'chaos vegetable' with Celestia. And because I don't miss being sealed in stone for something that WASN'T MY FAULT!"

A flash of pity appeared on her face. Though it faded quickly, her tone was notably softer when she next spoke, even if it did still hold an edge of firmness, "Listen, Discord, I heard about what happened, and I'd convinced Celestia to release you right after we'd solved the issue with Twilight after their fight so that we could hear your side of things. If you stop this now I promise we can come to a better compromise."

He shook his head, "No thanks, Luna. I prefer total freedom over limited freedom any day."

"If you're so hell-bent on becoming the villain here then at least send the others back to us. Fluttershy is your friend! Why would you intentionally put her through something like this!?"

Discord's tone and expression became deadly serious, "Do not make such accusations of me again, Luna!" She recoiled slightly at his sudden outburst, "That pony means more to me than all the chaos in Equestria and all the gold beneath it! I TRIED to dissuade her from this, and made all three well aware of the risks involved, but each insisted upon their involvement. I forced none of them, nor would I ever consider manipulating my only friend into partaking in something so grim!" Twilight stepped up to Discord's side and gave him an approving nod.

Luna just stared at Discord as she took in everything he had just said, "She really did change you, didn't she? Fluttershy, I mean."

Discord nodded slowly, "More than you will ever realise."

"... There's still hope for you yet, Discord. It's never too late to do the right thing. Fluttershy would have a much better life if she left all this business behind her and came home."

He sighed, "I know, Luna, I know, but that's not my decision to make, it's hers."

Luna sighed too as she turned her attention to Twilight, "You're really going to do this, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Princess, but it's the only way Celestia can truly pay for what she's done."

"You're going to throw everything away: All but a hooffull of your friends, your family, your home, your hopes and dreams, everything you've ever loved and even your future, just so you can lose so much more of yourself in this pursuit of self-righteous justice!?"

Twilight took a heavy breath that shook with sadness, "Princess, in the past few months I've lost almost everything I've ever loved. Spike was my brother in all but blood, and Celestia wrenched him from me. The library isn't my home without Spike, it's empty now. A hollow tree, nothing more. My hopes and dreams? My future? Do you know what I always wanted? Do you know what my hopes were? Did you ever observe my dreams before they turned into these FUCKING DREADFUL NIGHTMARES!?"

She shook as she suppressed her sobs and stared at Luna through watery eyes, "I wanted to please my mentor. I wanted to make Celestia proud of me. I wanted to prove to her that I was worthy of her tutelage! I wanted to be like her in every single way I could! I thought she was perfect!" She hung her head as the tears streaked down her face, "Every single time she praised me, every single time she told me she was proud, those were the happiest moments of my life." She choked on her sobs and coughed wearily before continuing, "And then I found out that it was all a lie, a game for her own amusement! I found out that she was responsible for Spike's death, and she never even cared enough to tell me! She murdered him, and she didn't even care! Do you have any idea how that felt when I found out!? My hopes!? My dreams!? My future!? THEY DIED!"

She choked again, but her reflexive coughs were weaker this time, as if she was losing her will to live, "All I want now is justice, Luna, I just want her to pay... After that, I don't even care what happens, you can execute me for all I care."

Luna stared at her in disbelief, "Twilight..."

"I'm tired, Luna. Once I've accomplished that, once I have justice, I'll have nothing left. All this sadness, and hurt, and deceit... That's all I'll be left with, and I don't want it any more."

"And your friends? Your family? What about them? Surely you realise how much it would hurt them if you died?"

Twilight shook her head and heaved as more tears fought their way forwards, "I abandoned all but two of my friends, and left my family behind... By the end, they won't even love me any more..." She looked down at the floor beneath her in acceptance of the future she had just described.

"Twilight, no matter what happens your family will alwa-"

"Just stop Luna, please..."

"Twilight..."

Twilight shook her head solemnly, signalling Luna to stop trying. Luna bit her lip to hold back the rapidly welling sadness that was threatening to overflow within her, "It seems you've both made your decision, and I can't force any information from you whilst Discord is nearby to stop me, so continuing this conversation is pointless." The other two nodded to confirm such, "Twilight, no matter what happens, I'll always be here to listen if you ever need to talk to somepony, I promise. Even if we're enemies by day, we can at least dream of things being better between us, can't we?" Twilight understood what Luna was implying and nodded again, "And listen, Twilight, no matter what happens, there is never a reason terrible enough to justify somepony taking their own life."

"And that's where we have a difference of opinion." Twilight retorted pensively.

Luna shook her head slowly, "I'm leaving now. If you ever do change your minds you know where to find me. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Princess. I wish things could have been different, I really do."

"Good hunting, Luna. We're going to be far from easy to catch."

The Princess faded from view, accompanied by the echoing sound of a stifled sob. Twilight turned to Discord and bowed her head slightly in gratitude, "Thanks for saving me back there."

He waved his claw casually, "It's easy when you know how. Chaos really is a wonderful thing."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "You're right. I think I've made up my mind now."

He turned away from her, hiding his victorious smirk, "Let's get out of here, frankly you look quite a mess right now." She frowned slightly as he snapped his fingers and the dreamscape faded away into nothingness.

Twilight awoke to find her face moist with tears. Gently illuminating the area with her horn, she wiped herself off and looked around to see Discord standing beside his cloud, looking between the others. She trotted quietly over to him and followed his gaze. Pinkie was sleeping perfectly still - which amazed Twilight somewhere in the back of her mind - but a few stray tears were streaking down her face slowly. It felt wrong to look at, the Pinkie she was seeing was the complete opposite of the Pinkie she knew: Stillness, calmness, and sadness. Twilight felt a lump form in her throat at the sight and quickly averted her eyes to Fluttershy instead.

And felt her heart break. The pegasus' face was positively drenched with tears, and every few seconds or so she would convulse and whimper ever-so-softly, sending more tears trickling down into the small pool beside her muzzle.

Twilight couldn't take it any more and looked over at Discord, who glanced back at her sadly but said nothing. She moved up beside him and followed his gaze back to the others, whispering the only words that came to mind, "It's all my fault... I never should have brought them into this. I've taken them away from everything that's important to them..." She looked up at Discord, who was staring forlornly at Fluttershy, "Send them back."

He turned to her, "What?"

"Send them back. I've seen enough, they don't need any more to do with this. If they go back now they probably won't even be punished."

"That's not our decision to make, Twilight. You didn't force them to come along, they chose to stay with you, remember that. They knew what they were getting into, and they accepted it so that they could stay by your side."

"But they're suffering! Look at them!" she whispered as loudly as she dared.

Discord nodded, "Even in their dreams they miss everything they've left behind. Remember, they haven't experienced loss on the same level you have, leaving is harder for them, even if they don't show it when you're around."

"Is this going to keep happening?"

"Probably not, but it will take a while for them to get used to things. Try not to dwell on it... Get some sleep, you'll feel better in the morning."

She trotted over and climbed into bed without a word, and, once she was sure Discord wasn't watching, bit down on her hoof and wept for her friends, and the sacrifices they had made.

The sacrifices she knew they had ultimately made for her.

Author's Notes:

Hey all! That's right, I'm still doing this, I haven't disappeared or anything! :D Thanks so much for your continued patience everyone, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately I still have three more exams to go, but it's plain sailing from that point onwards!

[Old, irrelevant information deleted upon revising this chapter.]

Thank you very much for waiting whilst I've been doing my exams, and I promise you more frequent updates in the not-too-distant future.

- Mikemarksman, STILL bringing you guys the 'scope' of things to come, no matter how much worse that joke gets every time.