[i]Set in Starlight’s Tirekverse[/i] [hr] Twilight Sparkle forced her unwilling body to rise into a sitting position. “Did Tirek… [i]win?[/i]” She glanced beyond her cage, taking in all of Tartarus around her. The Princesses’ spire was off to the right, and Discord’s was to her left. “Yes! And Discord betrayed us!” bawled Rainbow Dash as she cried in the corner. “That good-for nothing traitor!” Rarity muttered with a snort. “What in Equestria do ya think got into him? Why, turnin’ tail on your friends like that should be a crime against ponykind!” lamented Applejack as she placed the back of her hoof on her head. Pinkie Pie grunted as she strained at the bars. “Could somepony give me a hoof here? These bars are stuck tighter than… molasses in a… pigpen—no wait, tighter than a… shoot. They’re stuck real tight!” “I wish I could help cheer you all up. I’m sorry I’m not very good at it,” said Fluttershy as she glanced at the balloons on her flank. “At least not since, you know—” “And if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry I can’t fix you all.” “[i]I’m[/i] the one whose magic doesn’t work right,” blurted Rarity. “What’s [i]your[/i] excuse, Miss Always-Good-With-Magic?” “First, I was [i]not[/i] always good with magic.” “You’re Celestia’s private pupil! What do you mean, ‘not always good with magic’?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I only became Celestia’s pupil a year [i]after[/i] I started at the school. You want to know what happened that first year? They almost made me retake magic kindergarten! If it weren’t for Dash’s Rainboom—” “Please don’t pull me into this argument,” whimpered Rainbow. “I don’t like arguments.” “Yes, Twilight, I know that whole story. The fact that I got mine late for my age makes it kind of hard for me to forget. I just thought, you know, I’d be [i]keeping[/i] it!” “I [i]said[/i] I was sorry!” “Words are cheap, Twilight! What did you [i]do![/i]” “I—I didn’t.” “Well why not?” “It wasn’t like I was mentally or emotionally stable! My assistant Owlowiscious wasn’t exactly much help. Besides, I’m a nervous wreck when it comes to things that are out of my control! You know that first year in magic kindergarten? I had a massive panic attack over the winter break when I got my grades back! I didn’t eat for three days straight!” she said as tears blurred her vision. “I’m not whole, Rarity! I’m—I’m broken! Broken and scared and useless—” “And hurting,” interjected Applejack. “Yer breathin’ fast again, darlin’.” Twilight stopped to realize that her breaths had become shallow and her heart was pounding. The whole world felt hostile towards her and she felt the urge to create some distance between her and the others. She spied an unoccupied corner and rose to her hooves. Her steps faltered, and her knees gave way just moments later. “Careful, Twilight,” Pinkie said, catching Twilight just in time. “Don’t go hurting yourself, now.” Fluttershy was beside her a moment later. “Please, Twilight, don’t be sad.” “I—I don’t want to,” she stammered between breaths. “I just want—None of you are right—And the whole world is—” “Just lie down, Twilight,” Pinkie instructed. “See if you can’t go to sleep,” Fluttershy advised. “Yes…. Sleep sounds… good.” Twilight closed her eyes and surrendered to Fluttershy’s wing hug as her breaths began to come more easily. [hr] Discord’s lonely days stretched into weeks, and weeks into months, each moment as uneventful as the last. Every so often, Rainbow Dash might call across the chasm to him, but he ignored her. When Fluttershy would call to him, he would flatten his ears and turn his back, not knowing [i]what[/i] to feel towards her. But when Twilight would try to talk with him, he would shout back angrily at the unicorn who took Fluttershy as he knew her away from him. It was immediately after one such shouting match that Discord suddenly felt a magical imbalance, as if more alicorn magic had appeared somewhere in the world. He instinctively glanced towards the spire holding the alicorns, but all three were accounted for. A moment later, the imbalance shifted again, and the alicorn magic vanished. Yet something previously unnoticed still remained. It appeared to his sixth sense as a tendril, a root sprung up from the Tree of Harmony. The alicorn might have spent mere seconds in his world, but that table remained.