Dear Princess Celestia,

Well, it's been a long time since my last report, hasn't it? Then again, I'm sure you'll understand; what with all your consideration for others and truly endless benevolence. Regardless, for one reason or another I get the feeling that even if I did have the inclination to write you one over these past few months, I'd have found it a tad difficult to send it via dragonfire. I can't quite put my hoof on why that might be though. Can you?

It makes me quite upset really. Almost feels like I've had someone irreplaceable ripped from my life forever by some manipulative, deceitful bitch.

Strange, don't you think?

But I'm sure you're wondering about all the wonderful lessons I've learned since last time, aren't you?... Where do I begin? Over the past few months I've learned more than I could ever imagine, it hardly seems right for me to condense it all into one little letter. I suppose I'll just have to send several in that case, that'll be fun, won't it? Just like old times! For this one though, I think I'll start out with my most substantial lesson.

Everypony has the capability to do terrible, unthinkable things to others, and in the end it all comes down to a pony's character to determine the circumstances under which they'll do those things.

I'll use Fluttershy as the first example here, since her pain is so clear to us - what with her crying, looking as if she'd rather be dead right now; congratulations if that was what you were aiming for. The kindest, most caring mare I've ever met in my life killed one of your guards because you had them attack us, back us into a corner, and attempt to take our lives as soon as it became apparent that they couldn't capture us. You forced her to do that, she had no choice but to do what she did. She didn't even attempt to protect herself, either, it was only when the rest of us were in danger that she even reacted.

Some ponies do terrible, unthinkable things only when no other options are available, and even then, only to protect those they love; sacrificing a part of who they are in the process. Fluttershy is now one of those ponies, thanks to you.

Then there's your guards. Truly good ponies with truly bad leadership, unfortunately. Ask yourself, Celestia, what do their lives mean to you? I'd say somewhere in the realms of very little, considering that you'd so haphazardly throw together a group of whoever you could find - my brother included - and send them at us without a second thought as to the dangers of doing so. What about the one that didn't go home? What about his loved ones? Did you even ask if he had a family? Did you even care? Somehow, I think I know the answers to those questions already.

Ponies like them do such things out of a sense of duty and righteousness; that, despite the nature of their task, or how harrowing and daunting it may be, they're ultimately doing the right thing. They blindly follow the commands of the princess they so foolishly adore and revere, happy to dedicate their lives to her. I can relate to them in that regard, and they have my every sympathy.

Finally, there's the ponies that do such things on a whim, with no rhyme or reason to their games other than the pleasure they derive from seeing others suffering. Needless to say, you fall into this category, right at the very bottom of the heap, beneath all the rapists and psychopaths and monsters in the world. In terms of your sick, disgusting games, you and Discord aren't all that different, not really. The only differences between the two of you are your methods of causing anguish and your outward appearances, but I've seen through that shroud now, and all it will take is time until everything you've built up to play with comes tumbling down around your ears.

But here I am, going off on a tangent and running out of space to write. Let me sum this up in as few words as possible, since you're probably itching to masturbate to the tears of your subjects as you're reading this.

By learning the true extent of your evil, you're teaching me to hate you that little bit more every single day, and that's something I can make use of in my new studies; an ongoing lesson that you'll see the results of, sooner or later.

So thank you for your continued tutelage, my vengeance wouldn't be possible without it.

- Your Ever-Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle

Luna looked between her sister and the letter with growing unease, though it was difficult for concern to take priority in her voice when her entire being encouraged her to cry out in anger, "Celestia?"

Celestia blinked, fixing her gaze back upon the letter and trying to collect herself as best she could, "L-Luna, we need to track it." Celestia's horn flared into life before Luna could voice her concerns, a golden glow enveloping the letter for only a moment before fizzling out as it was sucked into the parchment itself. With no magic suspending it, the letter glided from side-to-side until it met the floor.

Both sisters took a startled step back when the letter spontaneously caught fire, emanating a loud, high-pitched whine. Luna, having came to her senses faster, hastily erected a shield around herself and Celestia a mere second before the letter exploded with incredible force. They could only watch as their only solid lead vanished into an all-consuming ball of fire.

A huge section of the corridor wall was outright destroyed by the blast, several huge chunks of marble and stone sent barrelling outwards and onto the grounds below; the shattered glass from the nearby windows following in the same manner as the shock wave flung them from their frames in shards. A number of dislodged chunks of stone collided with - and were easily deflected by - Luna's barrier, before vision of the blast site was obscured by a veritable wall of fire washing over them, sweeping down both ends of the corridor until Celestia extinguished the flames with her own magic.

Everything stopped as quickly as it had started.

The following few seconds were relatively quiet, save for the sound of crumbling rubble falling from the newly-formed hole in the wall. A cool breeze swept down the corridor, the quiet yet unmistakable sound of laughter drifting along with it. Neither Celestia nor Luna paid it much heed as they looked over one another worriedly. Upon the realisation that the barrier had not been penetrated, and that they were fine, the two gave a sigh of relief. The shouts of the guards as they approached their position could be heard throughout the castle.

Luna took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she fixed her older sister with a disapproving stare, "Regardless of the contents of that letter, that was a stupid mistake to make, Celestia. It could have been a costly one, too..." She flicked her gaze to the huge gap in the wall, and the sizeable crater burned into the floor, walls, and roof, "Well, costly in terms of life, in addition to the damages." Luna approached the hole in the wall, taking a deep breath of the smoke-free outside air and looking up at the moon briefly.

Celestia hung her head and gritted her teeth, infuriated by the loss of their only lead due to her own carelessness, "Luna." her voice rose threateningly. It took her a moment to compose herself sufficiently enough to continue, "Thank you for protecting me, but please, don't salt the wound..."

Their eyes met, and despite Celestia's recklessness, Luna couldn't help but soften her approach slightly, especially given the contents of the letter, "I understand, Celestia, but promise me that if the contents of that letter hold true, and she does indeed send more, you won't act so hastily next time."

Celestia nodded, "I won't fall for the same trick twice."

Several guards rounded the corner, spears at the ready. Upon recognising the sole two occupants of the hallway, all lowered their weapons and darted towards them.

Celestia sighed quietly, in no mood to explain what had just conspired, "It's almost sunset." Without another word Celestia trotted past the approaching guards, ignoring their bombardment of questions as they stopped before her.

Luna fell in beside Celestia and answered several questions on her behalf, only for more guards to round the corner and ask the same questions barely a few seconds later. Hardly in the mood to be repeating herself, Luna ordered that they be left alone. The two royal sisters made their way to their chambers in grim silence, leaving a number of concerned and confused guards behind them.

"Dawn, finally... Way to take your time, Celestia." Discord re-opened his eyes, closing off his remote view of the outside world and the sun steadily rising over it. He glanced between the other occupants of the room, each packing away the last of their belongings with varying degrees of sluggishness, "Alright, it's go time! Everybody ready?"

Twilight rubbed a bit of sleep from her eye tiredly, "I think so, but why're we..." She gave a loud yawn, "Leaving so early?"

Discord checked his periphery to ensure no one had left anything behind, stowing his sleeping cloud into his ear as he did so, "Well, after our little 'delay' that ended in tragedy, and subsequent backtracking in the opposite direction, we've fallen behind schedule; something I would've thought you'd be more concerned about, honestly."

Twilight shrugged, "I'm usually all for adhering to the schedule, but after everything that's happened, why the rush? So long as we keep moving out of Celestia's reach we should be able to take our time, shouldn't we? I mean, at least to a reasonable degree."

Discord nodded, "Yes, but the time we're to spend in the swamp is going to be used for recuperation, as planned, and we can't really skip that considering the state we're in already." he waved his paw across the room's inhabitants.

Twilight followed his gesture, paying close attention to her friends for the first time since she'd woken up ten minutes prior. Tiredness was apparent on their faces, clearly not caused solely by the early start. Pinkie's eyes seemed slightly sunken in comparison to their usual appearance, and Fluttershy's had sizeable bags beneath them, and were rimmed red.

"We'll need to recover the lost time wherever possible, even if that means only saving a couple of hours each morning. Winter is fast approaching, and believe me we do not want to be dealing with any excess cold where we're going. Unless we're going to wait it out until spring - something I really would like to avoid - then we need to get a move on."

"Winter?" Pinkie chimed in, stroking her chin thoughtfully, "Can't you control the weather though?"

Discord sighed, "Normally, yes. Under the circumstances to come, no." He held up his paw to prevent any questions, "I'm not going into the specifics yet, don't bother asking."

Twilight yawned again and stretched, arching her back until a quiet 'pop' was heard, "If we need to cut our time down, why not just travel at night instead of waiting until dawn?"

He hummed to himself briefly, "It might work, but I'd prefer not to risk it. One of my main concerns is Luna's Night Guard. I've done enough digging around to know that they can see a lot better in the dark than most ponies can; farther too. I'd prefer not risking us being caught by thinking the night is on our side, when in reality... Well actually, in reality neither the day or night are on our side, so I guess we're pretty much screwed either way in that regard." He shrugged casually, "Oh, and stereotypical villains slink about in the darkness, and I'd like to think of us as the heroes here if at all possible; haven't had much chance to play the hero's role in a long time."

Twilight deadpanned, "Chaos, death, destruction, war? A bastard of a pet named Calamity, arguably responsible for even more death and destruction? I wonder why you've never pinned down that role..."

Discord shrugged and sighed wistfully, "Me too, Twilight, me too..." A small smirk broke his mask of seriousness as he raised his paw, "Anyway, enough time wasted already. Ready to teleport?"

"Yep." Pinkie nodded.

"Yes." Fluttershy spoke, her voice as tired as the rest of her.

"Yeah." Twilight braced herself for the imminent teleportation.

Angel nodded, edging towards Fluttershy and nuzzling her foreleg gently.

Discord snapped his fingers loudly, "Haysead, here we come."

The five vanished, the room they were previously occupying following suit not long after.

It had taken them longer than usual to set up their next hideout within the swamps. The treacherous terrain, often waterlogged or completely submerged, had made it exceptionally difficult for them to find an area where they could situate underground without being at risk of flooding. Eventually, the five had stumbled across a patch of solid ground just large enough for them to situate beneath, and Discord had decided that it would have to do. The subterranean room they were now housed within was the same in layout as the previous hideouts, but was significantly smaller. Whilst it was by no means ideal, none of them had complained after trekking through the dank, murky depths of the swamp for over two hours.

After being given enough time to recover from their tedious search for a suitable location, as well as properly clean away the grime from their journey and dry themselves off, Twilight had promptly approached Discord with a matter of huge personal importance.

"We're safe here, right?"

Discord waved his paw from his reclining position on his cloud, "About as safe as we're going to get, yes."

"So can we get back to my training?"

Discord lazily lifted his head to look at her, "Well, I suppose so, but the entire point of us being here is to rest and recuperate, and we're not going to get another opportunity to do so in a while."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Rest? We've not had much of that since we got here..."

Discord shrugged, "Yes, it was tiring, but think about it this way; the terrain was nearly too difficult to navigate for just the five of us, and we're packing light. A group of guards clad in heavy armour wouldn't have a prayer of following us in here, even if they wanted to."

Twilight mulled it over for a moment, "I guess that makes sense... but you still haven't answered my question."

Discord sighed, "I was hoping that if I kept you talking you'd forget and I'd be able to get some much deserved down time..." He examined her for a moment and tilted his head back in resignation, "But very well then... If nothing else, it's good to see my student is eager to learn, even if her teacher is on the brink of exhaustion..."

Pinkie turned her attention from her saddlebags to the pair, "So are you two leaving right now?"

Discord stood up wearily, "It certainly seems that way." He saw Fluttershy in his periphery and leant in close to Pinkie, gesturing for her to step closer. When she did, he whispered quietly into her ear, "Keep an eye on her, alright? We don't want her doing anything drastic."

Pinkie nodded and whispered back, "Okay... but you don't think she might actually do that, do you?"

Discord's flat tone and expression didn't waver, "I don't know, but from what I've seen so far, I'd rather not take any chances."

The draconequus drew away and met Pinkie's eyes briefly, then snapped his fingers without ceremony, causing himself and Twilight to vanish.

Pinkie switched her attention back to Fluttershy, who had looked up in response to the flash of light, "Fluttershy?"

She dipped her head so as to cover her face with her mane, though Pinkie doubted it was due to embarrassment given her unchanged, pensive tone of voice, "Yes?"

Pinkie remained quiet for a moment before speaking, her voice lowered almost to the point of a whisper as she attempted to console her friend, "You've got a lot on your mind, haven't you?"

Fluttershy nodded from beneath her mane but did not respond otherwise, even as Angel snuggled up beside her.

Pinkie trotted over and sat down quietly in front of her, lowering her voice even further, "Do... Do you want to talk about it?"

Fluttershy remained still for a few seconds before shaking her head rapidly.

Pinkie briefly hung her head in a similar manner to Fluttershy, but raised it after little more than a few seconds, "Fluttershy... I just want you to know that, whatever happens, I'll always be here for you."

Fluttershy remained still, her mane still veiling her muzzle.

After gaining no response for several seconds, Pinkie gradually leaned forwards and gently hugged Fluttershy as she continued, though a hint of sadness was creeping into her voice at her friend's unresponsiveness, "I'll be here for all of you, right up until the very end." Her voice cracked slightly, and her forelegs tightened around the pegasus, "I Pinkie Promised, remember?"

It took several seconds before Fluttershy finally responded. She loosely wrapped her hooves around Pinkie and allowed her muzzle to rest on her shoulder, her face still completely obscured by her mane.

Pinkie heard no sobs, nor saw any heaves to indicate that her friend was indeed crying, but the moisture steadily accumulating around her shoulder left little doubt as to whether Fluttershy wept.

Pinkie bit back her own sadness and forced it from her voice as she spoke, gently rubbing her friend's back and making comforting noises as she did so, "I'll always be here for you, Fluttershy. Promise me you'll never forget that."

Fluttershy's grip tightened around her ever-so-slightly. For Pinkie, that was good enough.

Twilight stood atop a small patch of muddy ground, attuning herself to the chaos energies she would soon be using. Discord levitated nearby, setting up the last of the necessary countermeasures by surrounding Twilight with the usual barrier.

Twilight took a deep breath and focused on the energies once more, closing her eyes as she tried to slow the beating of her heart. The simple first-hoof knowledge of the destructive capabilities of chaos magic had instilled a certain level of apprehension within her that she couldn't shake off; it certainly didn't make focusing once channelling the energies any easier, 'Okay, Twilight, relax. Breathe. I can do th-'

"Waiting on you, Twilight!" Discord's voice derailed her train of thought and ensured that the entire locomotive would never be rail-worthy again.

Twilight snapped her eyes open and promptly frowned at the mud beneath her, "Yeah, yeah. I'm ready."

She gained as firm a hoof-hold as she could manage, closed her eyes once more, and focused.

A rising crackle filled the air, and when Twilight opened her eyes they blazed a familiar crimson. Her horn shone a deep hue of purple, almost indistinguishable from black, as she tried to maintain control of the growing energies, 'Focus...'

Discord watched closely, "Now, recall the pain of the past. Let your emotions fuel your magic, but do not let them control you." He watched as the sound of crackling intensified, and sparks of magic began to shoot around in her immediate area, "Think of all that Celestia has done to you, and to your friends. What she's doing now, and what she will do in future. Think of the loss, Twilight, and the hurt, the shame, the anger, everything!" He lowered his voice to a serious monotone, "What will you do, Twilight? If she finds you? Your friends? If she puts more innocent lives at risk in her bid to find you? Will you stand by, powerless to stop her?"

"No!" Twilight gritted her teeth tightly as she tried to establish control over the chaos energies building up within and around her, 'Keep it together, Twilight!'

Discord stroked his beard as Twilight's emotions began to fuel the energies building in her vicinity, "Good... Let your turmoil become one with the chaos within you." He watched as Twilight hissed through her teeth due to the strain, the sound of her doing so barely audible over the crackling of magical sparks, some of which lashed against the barrier violently, "Now, maintain control. The chaos is yours, you are its master, don't let it overwhelm you."

Twilight adjusted her stance slightly, wincing as she attempted to maintain control, visibly taking a deep breath as she steadied herself. Ever so slowly, her expression transitioned from strained to calm, her eyes closed in concentration as she focused on her emotions and the magic around her. Gradually, the sparks in the air around her slowed, no longer ricocheting off the barrier as they came to a stop in mid-air. Twilight focused solely on her task, tuning out even the horrendous crackling around her, 'Not this time... I will not fail this time.'

The sparks began moving once again, though this time they did not jump around erratically. They moved fluidly, steadily orbiting around the unicorn controlling their energies. Discord nodded to himself as he felt their energies stabilising, "That's it. Now maintain it."

Twilight was beginning to feel the strain upon both her magic and mind. Her emotions fought for dominance over the volatile chaos energies, whilst every ounce of her magic was focused into holding said energies stable. She felt her efforts beginning to slip.

Discord watched as Twilight grimaced, and plates of armour began to form around her legs. He kept his voice quiet, understanding the need for absolute concentration at this point, "Concentrate, Twilight..."

She felt the weight of the armour beginning to materialise on her legs, 'No... I can do this. I have to do this." She subconsciously thought back to being held within Shining's prison, unable to do anything as her friends were almost dragged away from her, all because she couldn't trust herself to use the very magic she was currently tempering, 'Because I didn't use it, Pinkie and Fluttershy had to do things they shouldn't have had to. They suffered because of my weakness...' She drew a deep breath, dug her hooves into the mud beneath her, and spoke out loud as she doubled her efforts, "Never again!"

The sparks around her thrummed with energy as they revolved around her, the sound of crackling magic slowly fading away as the energies were fully brought under control. The armour on her legs faded into nothingness as she continued to uphold control over both her magic and her emotions. Twilight realised that this was the farthest she had ever gotten in terms of her training, and the knowledge spurred her on further.

Even so, it wasn't long before the continuous strain began to take its toll. Her reserves of magic slowly depleting, Twilight's breaths became heavier, and with tiredness came lapses in concentration, each one almost costing her control over the chaos she had worked to hard to tame.

She swayed slightly on her hooves as the magical fatigue began taking its toll. That small error was all it took for the magic to break free of its restraints. She tried to salvage the situation as quickly as possible, but the sparks had already gone back to their mad dance, and the chaos energies rapidly began overwhelming her, "No! No, NO, NO-AAAAAAAAAAAGH!" A shrill shriek escaped her as a powerful pulse of chaos magic shot from her horn, only to be devoured by the barrier. Exhausted and slightly disoriented, Twilight toppled onto her side, fully expecting to land in a pool of stagnant swamp water and filthy mud.

Instead, she landed on a mattress.

She glanced up in confusion to see Discord smiling down at her, "Twilight, I'll admit it, I'm impressed! I dare say you're ready to move on to the next stage!"

Twilight laid her head flat on the mattress, her tone defeated, "Don't rub it in..."

Discord held up his hands calmly, "I assure you I'm doing nothing of the sort. I'm serious."

Twilight flicked her gaze up at him, though her head remained still, "What? But... I failed..."

Discord shook his head, "You stabilised your magic and held it for over forty seconds, Twilight. The progress you've made is nothing short of remarkable, I'd call that a success in my book... Before I ate half the bloody thing, at least."

Twilight snickered dejectedly, "Yeah, some success, I can't even get the basics right."

Discord shrugged, "You'll have time to work on maintaining stability as you go. The important thing is that you've achieved it for the first time, it'll get easier as you get used to doing it; faster too, hopefully. In the mean time, I think you're about ready to begin applying your knowledge."

Twilight groaned with effort as she sat up, "Wait, so you mean I'll actually be able to..." she paused, trying to think of an accurate description that encompassed the variety of functions chaos magic served, and falling cripplingly short.

Discord chuckled at her predicament, "Cause chaos, exactly! Of course, it'll only be the small stuff until we can build up your endurance, but still, practice in the field and all that. Anyway, we'll get started with the new stuff next time. I'm tired, and you look just about ready to drop any second now." A devilish smirk plastered itself across his face

Twilight didn't like it, "What? What is it?"

Without hesitation, Discord snapped his fingers, and the mattress beneath her vanished. She gave an audible gasp, the lurching feeling of falling seizing her momentarily before she plopped into the mud with a loud 'squelch'.

Discord clutched his sides as he laughed, her glaring only spurring him on. His laughter would subside, only to begin anew as he took a quick glance at her stony expression. After almost an entire minute of such, and Twilight visibly becoming flustered, he gave a loud sigh and snapped his fingers, removing the sticky mud from Twilight. A second snap and they were back in their hideout once again.

Twilight shot Discord a glare as she seethed, but his attention was directed elsewhere, and his demeanour had shifted instantly upon their return. She traced his gaze and felt some of her spite leave her, a small smile finding its way onto her face at the sight before her.

Fluttershy, her head on Pinkie's shoulder as they hugged each other tightly.

Pinkie looked up, immediately giving a small nod to Discord before she gave a sad smile of her own.

Twilight looked between Pinkie and Discord in confusion, but didn't press the matter further. She slumped onto her bed as quietly as possible and felt sleep begin to take her not half a minute afterwards.

Discord stared down at the back of his claw in deep thought, idly snapping the fingers on his paw every so often, producing a different anomalous effect each time. He briefly raised his head to catch a glimpse of Pinkie, but the sight of her only served to perplex him further. He went back to staring at his claw, snapping his fingers after a few seconds of doing so, causing his paw to spontaneously combust. The flame didn't burn him, and he paid no attention as it cycled through an assortment of colours; though Twilight and Pinkie watched curiously as it did so.

Yellow, orange, green, black, brown, violet, back to green.

Discord snapped his fingers again, and the flame sputtered out of existence. He glanced up at Pinkie once more, who tilted her head curiously in response, "Something on your mind, Discy?"

He hummed to himself for a moment, "Yes, actually. Could you do me a favour?"

Pinkie gave him a small smile, "Sure, what's up?"

"I need to take a look at your party cannon, as odd as that sounds." He caught her questioning expression, "I'll explain afterwards, just trust me, okay?"

"Okay..." Without a moment's hesitation she reached a forehoof behind her back and withdrew the object in question, setting it down on the floor before her with a dull thud, "There you go!"

Discord circled Pinkie before coming to a stop back in his original position and examining the cannon closely, "Interesting... That confirms a hunch, at least."

"What is it, Discy?"

Discord sat back down as he spoke, "I felt the chaos around you shift just now. It seems that Pinkamena wasn't the only thing to manifest from those chaotic genes of yours... At least, I hope this has originated from your genes, and not my recent meddling." He frowned to himself and rubbed his chin in thought, turning his attention to Twilight, "Has she always been capable of pulling things out of thin air like that?"

Twilight nodded, "Everyone just accepts it as the norm back in Ponyville, so I think so. Then again, I haven't known her and the others for as long as they've known each other, so I could be wrong."

Discord glanced at Pinkie questioningly.

"Yup," she nodded, "I've been able to do that for a long time now."

"That's quite a relief." he chuckled, "Thought I might have screwed things up big time for a moment there."

Twilight spoke up, "So why are you checking this now, anyway?"

Discord pointed at the cannon, "Ever since she pulled that from nowhere in the middle of that incident, it's been nagging at the back of my mind." He turned to Pinkie, "Is there anything else you can do that with?"

Pinkie hummed in thought, "One or two things, but other than that, not really. I usually just use it for my cannon."

He sighed, "And here I was hoping for a practical application... Still, maybe it's something we can look into in future if we get Twilight's training and your other chaos issues dealt with." He sank his face into his paw, "How are things between you and Pinkamena, anyway? I'm guessing she's still not warming up to the idea of sharing the 'magic of friendship' with you?"

Pinkie sighed, "I told her I wouldn't pressure her into being friends with me. If she hates me, so be it. Then again..." She spaced out for a moment, apparently gaining Pinkamena's insight from inside her mind. When she snapped back to reality she let out a long whistle, "Yeah... According to Pinkamena the only way I'll get to ride the 'friendship express' with her is if she gets to drive it over a cliff..."

Discord smirked to himself, "Charming. Although in all seriousness the two of you could do with finding some common ground, and soon." He chuckled humourlessly as he thought over his plan, "There's something coming up soon that's going to be quite taxing for the both of you, and probably you three as well." he spoke to Twilight, Angel, and Fluttershy. "Better that you're on good terms with her by then, or at least not in a position where she still resents you."

Pinkie stared at the floor, "Common ground, huh? I think we might be able to manage that..."

Discord nudged her with an elbow, "I should think so! The two of you are already much closer than the majority of ponies are with their other halves."

Pinkie glanced up at him blankly, then snorted as she tried to hold back her laughter, speaking quickly between bursts, "That- That was terrible!"

"After everything 'terrible' that's happened recently, we might as well just make it the in-thing this season." Discord shook his head with a smile, snapping his fingers and conjuring up a suit with multiple holes and torn sections, strips of fabric hanging from the tattered outfit in several places. He caught Pinkie's confusion and glanced down at himself before releasing a hefty sigh, "I said terrible, not tear-able! For the love of..."

Pinkie and Twilight - to her surprise - found themselves laughing at the display as he fought to rip the suit from his body, only to be met with fierce resistance as it clung to him tightly, "You're supposed to be tear-able! Get off me!"

"But I love you!" Suit replied. Even Fluttershy found herself smiling now.

"We're through!" Discord barked, "Now get off me before I send you to the launderette!"

Suit trembled, "B-But I'm dry clean only!"

Discord gave Suit a wicked smile, "I know."

Suit gave a loud sniffle, "Y-You really don't love me any more, d-do you?"

"Oh, come now..." He placed a comforting hand on Suit's shoulder - coincidentally placing it on his own, "We can still be friends."

"Friends? Friends!?" Suit took an audible gasp.

"Oh, boy..."

Suit wailed at the top of her lungs, causing Discord to clasp his hands over his ears. She tore away from him and ran across the room towards the bathroom, opening the bathroom door - with great difficulty - and darting in, leaving it wide open behind her as she approached the stream within.

Discord literally followed Suit and came to a stop as she turned to face him barely an inch away from the water's edge.

"One way or another, I'll teach you to love me! This isn't that last you'll see of me, Discord!"

Discord sighed, "I know, I'm not that lucky..."

"Always the joker. We'll see who has the last laugh, My Love." Suit took a step back

There was a loud splash, followed by silence.

Discord sank his face into his paw and shook his head before exiting the room, "The oceans have her now..." He looked almost sombre for a moment before giving a disinterested shrug, "She was getting far too clingy anyway..."

Pinkie wiped a hoof across her face, even as her guffaws reached a crescendo, "Terrible!"

"Terribly entertaining!" The four turned to see Fluttershy giving them a sincere smile the likes of which she hadn't shown since the incident, and all returned it with little conscious thought, each happy to simply see their friend smiling again.

Discord smiled back along with the others, but tuned out of the ensuing conversation relatively quickly, 'Mission accomplished, it seems. Provided we avoid any more tragedies, we might actually be able to keep spirits high this time around...' He thought over the upcoming stages of his plan and gave an inner sigh, 'Probably not. Then again, I could do with not being in a good mood for this next part anyway. Hopefully she doesn't try to gain access when those four are asleep, I've got enough on my plate dealing with Luna...'

"Could you make sure the guards know that I'm not to be disturbed?" Celestia asked as she made the final preparations to seek out Twilight in her own way.

"Of course." Luna briefly rested a hoof on Celestia's shoulder before making her way to the door, "Good luck, Celestia."

Once the click of the door was heard, Celestia closed her eyes, her horn shining briefly as she transferred her consciousness into the Mirror Hall that contained the defining moments of Twilight's life. It took only a moment before she felt everything around her shift, and when she opened her eyes she found herself at her intended destination. Two rows of floating magical mirrors stretched off into the distance before her, fading into a brilliant white light. The stars of the cosmos twinkled above, their shine reflected by the similarly luminescent path beneath her that led between the rows, forming a giant corridor of sorts for her to proceed down.

She trotted in silence, pointedly averting her eyes from the mirrors around her. Each contained a different memory of Twilight's, some displaying her greatest moments of triumph and crowning achievements, others the harder times that had shaped her into who she was, and several more showing the less significant but nonetheless influential moments of her life. Despite her best efforts to the contrary, Celestia found her gaze consistently drawn to them as she went. Each time she caught a glimpse of the images within, a sharp sting of sorrow would pierce her defences, chipping away at her focus before she could ward it off and focus back on the task at hoof.

Celestia drew in what she had let slip of her composure as she neared her destination. The mirrors around her began to lose their clarity as what seemed to be smoke began to shroud the view of the images within. The further forwards she went, the more clouded the mirrors became. Celestia took an intentional glance at the mirror beside her, a grim shadow passing over her face as the smoke cleared long enough for her to see the event within.

Twilight snarled, fury evident within her blazing irises as the chains pulled taught around Calamity's weakening form. With a flare of her magic the chains began to glow red, then white hot, slicing with ease into the monster as it writhed frantically beneath them. Twilight smiled for only the briefest of moments before opting to continue Calamity's bloody torture. Her horn shone with magic once more and a subsequent torrent of gore flowed from Calamity's eye sockets.

Celestia turned away, unwilling to watch any more. She pressed on, passing by the ever-darkening mirrors as calmly as she could. It wasn't long before they had became so clouded that she couldn't even guess at the events transpiring within; only the occasional image could be seen swimming through the pools of black.

Twilight's sleeping form, a sinister smile looming over her.

A chessboard.

The Element of Kindness, clutched tightly by its Bearer.

Celestia shook her head, still just as confused and no less upset than she had been the previous four times she had tried to track Twilight through use of the Mirror Hall. She hadn't dared to interfere with whatever was corrupting the mirrors beforehoof, for fear of the repercussions of doing so, but that was back when her options weren't running thin. The mirrors towards the end of the corridor curved inwards, forming an arch that blocked further passage. Celestia came to a stop before them and squinted. Behind the darkness that cloaked them were Twilight's most recent defining moments, 'Even if I can only clear one, it might be enough...'

She cautiously prepared her spell, unwilling to be caught in any of Discord's traps after falling for the last one so easily. A beam of bright light shone from her horn and onto the mirror just above her, causing the darkness within to gradually seep out. Celestia took a step back from the wisps of smoke that crept across the floor and made sure to keep an eye on them as she continued draining the remaining darkness.

Celestia caught a glimpse of something yellow in the mirror, but before she could discern exactly what it was the mirror began to fill with smoke once more, and at a faster rate than she was draining it. Celestia glanced around, watching as the darkness from adjacent mirrors seeped into the one she had targeted, preventing her from seeing anything within once again.

She ground her teeth briefly as she tried again, only to produce the same effect, 'I was hoping for something less noticeable, but I've not really got much to lose here anyway...' Her horn shone radiantly, and after a few moments of charging the energies that swirled around it Celestia released a great pulse of magic, obliterating several shadows. Her horn pulsed again and a second layer of darkness was stripped from the mirrors. After the third pulse, clarity slowly began to return to many of the mirrors around her.

To her confusion, each mirror seemed to contain the same object, and the realisation of what it was only dawned upon her once she had almost finished stripping away the layers of shadow.

A giant yellow eye with a familiar red iris, "Surprise!"

Celestia backed away from the mirrors, horn levelled to defend herself as Discord's eye was joined by the rest of him in several of the mirrors around her, "Discord..." The irritation in her voice vanished quickly enough as he smirked down at her, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of riling her, "What do you want?"

All the Discords vanished, save the one in the mirror directly before her. He examined the back of his paw and smirked to himself, "Oh, this and that, but it can wait for now. I mean, when was the last time we just talked, Celestia?"

Celestia kept her tone level, "I've got nothing to say to you."

Discord shrugged, "Pity. I've got plenty to say to you. Then again, I'm sure you'll find yourself more invested in our conversation once we get going..." He brought his paw away from his face and cocked an eyebrow at her, "It's odd, really. After what you did, I wasn't sure how I'd react to seeing you face-to-face again. Now that I'm here, I don't really feel the need to do anything out of the ordinary - relatively speaking, of course. You're in far worse a state that I am, that's for sure."

Celestia kept her jaw clenched firmly shut and her expression neutral as he spoke.

Discord smiled as she tried to retain her composure, "Aww, seems like somepony's a little upset over something. Did Twilight's mean little letter have some bite to its bark? It must have taken a great deal of carelessness for you to so easily lose it."

Celestia gritted her teeth, but did not allow her anger to show through.

Discord turned and walked through the right side of the mirror, vanishing for a moment before appearing in the mirror beside it. His tone turned from mocking to serious as he continued in this fashion, moving from mirror to mirror around her, "She's brilliant you know, Celestia. Such a fantastic student, you wouldn't believe the progress she's already made; I'm sure you'd be so proud of her."

Celestia's lip twitched slightly, and though her face remained otherwise passive, her eyes were full of hate as she tracked his movement through the mirrors.

"And there's the slip." He chuckled darkly as he stopped moving between the mirrors and faced her, "She was important to you, wasn't she, Celestia? Of course she was! Otherwise this wouldn't exist." He waved his arms outwards, pointing between the other mirrors before drumming his fingers against his chin thoughtfully, "I wonder what your intentions for her really were... Was she to be your champion, of sorts? A bastion of light to carry Equestria through dark times?"

One of the mirrors flickered to life as it depicted the image Discord had described. The light in the sky over Equestria faded as the sun itself burned away into nothingness. The moon, having no light source to reflect upon the planet below, faded from view in a similar fashion, plunging everything below into an abyss that spread across the planet as one wave of freezing darkness.

Just as the last vestiges of light vanished, a blinding flash shone from a distant hilltop, the silhouette of a familiar unicorn barely visible as an incredible burst of magic enveloped her. Behind her stepped five other figures, each glowing with similar light as they unified their power. With an almighty roar of pure magic, a colossal, rainbow-hued beam of magic forked to the heavens.

Celestia watched in well-masked awe as a new sun rose above Equestria, bringing a new dawn to banish the all-consuming darkness. It rose gloriously over the hilltop where the six were standing, and each took their position before it, standing proud as they surveyed the land beneath them and the thousands of ponies cheering their names.

The image unsettled Celestia slightly, though she couldn't decide whether it was due to her apparent absence in her subjects' hour of need, or the long shadows that the six cast onto those below as they stood regally, almost aloofly, above them.

Discord spoke again, and the scene that had been playing out it the mirror vanished, "Or perhaps your intentions were a little more intimate?"

Another mirror began illustrating exactly what he had meant. Despite her situation and strong resolve to betray as little emotion as possible, Celestia couldn't do anything but frown and let her jaw hang open in shock at the scene before her.

Twilight and Celestia passionately caressed one another, melting into one another's embrace as they kissed. Longing moans could be heard from both as they rolled over one another playfully, never breaking apart for any longer than necessary to catch their breath. Celestia ran her hooves over Twilight's form, eliciting a long, contented moan from the unicorn and causing her to reluctantly pull back for air after only a few seconds. They broke the kiss, and Celestia made sure to roll herself on top of her lover, watching with a playful smile as Twilight panted for breath beneath her. Once each had taken their fill of air, Celestia slowly lowered her mouth to meet Twilight's once again, gently raising Twilight's hoof with her own as she did so, encouraging the unicorn to explore her body.

Slowly, tenuously at first, Twilight took the hint and began running her hoof through Celestia's fur, rubbing gentle circles around her partner's stomach as she gathered her nerve. Celestia drew back once again, not saying a word to pressure the unicorn beneath her, but the longing in her eyes gave Twilight the final push she needed regardless.

"That's quite enough of that." Discord cleared his throat as the image disappeared, smirking gleefully at Celestia's horrified expression before she turned to face him and snarled, "Was she to be your successor? To take your position once the stress of it all became too much for you?"

This image was relatively calm in comparison with the others. It showed Twilight in royal attire similar to that of the other princesses as she smiled down at her subjects from her balcony in Canterlot Castle. The crowds below her cheered her name repeatedly, the brass band playing her fanfare barely audible over the incredible din.

Twilight turned to face her friends behind her, each of whom smiled back at her encouragingly. Beside them stood her parents, tears of pride in their eyes as they realised, for the second time in their lives, that their child had ascended to royalty. To one side stood Cadence and Shining; to the other, Celestia and Luna. Twilight turned her attention to Celestia, seeking approval from the mare who had been her mentor for almost the entirety of her life up until this point.

Celestia nodded once and gave her a gracious smile.

Twilight nodded back and turned to the balcony's edge once again, hesitating sightly as her nerves took hold. She took a deep breath, spread her newly acquired wings, and took flight towards the crowds below; the chanting of thousands filling her ears as she went.

"ALL HAIL PRINCESS TWILIGHT!"

Discord waved his claw, wiping the image from the mirror as he did so, the chants slowly echoing into nothingness around them, "So many outcomes, Celestia, so many possibilities that will never become a reality. Your original intentions? Whatever your little plan was for her? They don't matter any more! They never mattered!" He smirked manically as she bore her teeth at him, "And do you want to know why?"

Celestia drew a breath through her teeth with a hiss.

"Because everything that's happened so far: Calamity's return, Twilight's loss and subsequent betrayal, our little 'quest'," He chuckled and waved his arms in a wide circle around him as if delivering a long-awaited punchline, "It was all part of the plan from the start!"

Celestia's eyes widened slightly, even as she shook her head and fixed him with a blazing stare, "No... That's a lie!" She stopped, making sure to calm herself sufficiently before speaking again, "Even you couldn't have planned this from the start. There were too many variables, too many unknowns for you to have planned this far ahead."

Discord smiled and tutted to himself, "I'd have thought you of all ponies would have figured it out, Celestia. I didn't need a meticulous plan, all I needed was a framework, a framework that could be filled by anypony." He hummed thoughtfully, "Or, as it turned out, any dragon..."

Celestia stared into the middle distance for a moment as she came to comprehend it all. When she next looked at him her eyes were full of terrifying fury, "You BASTARD!"

Discord scratched the back of his neck in thought as if he hadn't heard, "Admittedly it did take a lot of work. I originally thought about just killing her parents, but that energy field you've got around Canterlot and the surrounding area didn't quite allow for that, soooo..." He dodged to the mirror beside him as Celestia fired a beam through the mirror he had occupied, shattering it, "I had to improvise a little. Told Calamity to simply come and get me from where he had appeared instead-" He dodged again, "I never imagined that you'd use that spell on anypony, even to stop Calamity!" He teleported to the mirrors opposite him as Celestia crushed several around him with her magic, "Never mind Spike! And really, you've never done me a greater favour, Celestia!" He cackled and appeared in a mirror behind Celestia as she shot again, "And having your own sister cast it, well, that's just the icing on the cake, wouldn't you agree?"

Celestia roared as volatile energies swirled around her horn, "You honestly think you'll get away with this, you MONSTER!? Sooner or later, they'll find out the truth!" She smirked grimly despite her rage, "Even if they don't, you've just told me everything! I'll tell them myself at the soonest given opportunity!"

Discord shrugged, dodging as Celestia continue firing at him, "Everything? Hardly... And what makes you think they'd even believe a word you say anyway? If anything, they'd just see it as you trying to pin the blame on someone else again. I'm no fool, Celestia, I've played to my advantage at every possible turn. Although, I'll be the first to admit that not everything played out in my favour either. I was almost certain that Twilight was going to give the game away at one point, and we ended up with Fluttershy as opposed to some of the more headstrong ones, so that made it a little difficult, especially to start with. Oh, and speaking of Fluttershy..."

Celestia took a step back as a paw emerged from the mirror Discord occupied, catching her next blazing blast before hurling it back at her. She barely dodged the inferno as Discord continued to speak, "Her ordeal wasn't part of the plan, and believe me, you are going to suffer for what you've done to her."

Celestia tried to relocate him as the smoke cleared, but couldn't see him in any of the mirrors around her as he spoke, "But not right now. First, I'll take everything from you. Your kingdom will be mine once again. You precious student is already just that, all mine, and there's nothing you can do to change that."

She shook her head, "Only you are beyond saving, Discord! I'll find a way to bring her back! The others too!"

"Oh, that reminds me of why I'm here, actually." A snap of his fingers could be heard, and one-by-one the mirrors began to fall, explode, and otherwise destroy themselves around her. She tried desperately to grasp for those that she could with her magic, but those that she got close to would simply erupt in a spray of mystical glass, "That's one less way for you to find her. Hope you've got another ace in the hole, Celestia."

Celestia winced as she felt several deep cuts along her body, no doubt peppered with shards of glass, but she kept face and stared him down nonetheless, "Harmony will prevail over chaos, as it always has! We'll find you, Discord, one way or another, and when we do you're going to regret everything you've done!"

A yawn could be heard from somewhere behind her, "I doubt it, though it doesn't really matter all that much in the end anyway. I've already won, Celestia, the rest is just a waiting game, and you tend to learn patience when you've spent as long in stone in I have. Even if, by some incredible turn of events, you defeat me again, the worst you can do is seal me away!" His laughter circled her as his voice began to fade away, "But as for you... Well, as you and I both know, the sun will eventually burn itself out; it's only a matter of time,"

The laughter ceased, and Discord's parting words were little more than a whisper by the time they reached Celestia's ears, "And I have an eternity to spare..."

Author's Notes:

Holy crap, it's 23:59 here, but I did it! Anniversary chapter!

Wow... I can't believe it's already been a year. I'd thank you guys for your support, but you're probably getting sick of me doing it every chapter, eh? :P

It's been a fantastic year guys, and I hope you're still enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it :)

In other news, I will be taking a 1 MONTH BREAK (in bold so the A/N skimmers can see :P) from writing, meaning that a new chapter will probably not be out until around March. I'm really tired at the moment, and have been staying up until 4AM some nights just to fit in writing time (I get up at 7:30 for college). It's really not that good when I'm revising for mock exams and the like, so yeah, short break. At least I've outright warned you guys this time, so I won't be missing any deadlines :D

In other, other news, I'm thinking about writing a couple of one-shots during my break. You know, something chilled out and laid back that I won't have to fit into my schedule as much as I do with this story. So look out for those if you're interested!

It's midnight, I have a Business Studies mock exam tomorrow, and I'm way tired. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, feel free to comment and all that good stuff, and goodnight (from Britain, at least).

- Mike, not in any state to be looking down a scope at the moment, especially when it's pointed at other people.