Oh TV Tropes, you give me so many fanfic ideas! Anyway, yeah, this oneshot is a bit of a sequel-in-spirit to my earlier fic Twisting Twilight, and it makes a few references to it, so you might want to read that one first. It's not necessary, though. Discord will not invade your dreams if you leave a review! :D

I didn't know where I was. All I could see was black, everywhere I looked, even under my hooves. There didn't seem to be any kind of ground or floor, and yet I was still standing just as normal. But all there was, no matter how hard I squinted, was darkness.

My hooves didn't make a sound as I took a timid step forward, and then another.

"W-where am I?" I squeaked, knees locking as I stuck my head out slightly to take one more look around.

"You, Twilight, are with me," a deep, darkly amused voice echoed through the oblivion. "I've missed you. Did you miss me?" I knew that voice. I knew that voice all too well.

"Discord," I whispered, just stopping my legs from giving way and toppling me to the non-existent ground. "No! You're in stone! You can't be—"

A sinister laugh rumbled, "Oh, Twilight, how naïve you are. But I still plan to fix that." The laugh seemed to get closer and closer…no, not closer, more surrounding. Every moment the laughter seemed to come from more directions until it was all around me, engulfing me and drowning me. I shrunk into myself even more, feeling so, so very small and so, so very scared. My heart galloped in my chest, and I let my bangs cover my eyes as I closed my ears from the sound. It did little to help.

"Discord, what am I doing here! ? Where is this place! ?" I cried, feeling tears well in my eyes. I didn't want to cry, not for such a childish reason as being a little scared, and especially not in front of the likes of him. But I couldn't help it…last thing I remembered, I was just going to bed in my library…

This was just a dream!

I instantly relaxed. This was just a nightmare about my worst, most frightening enemy, perfectly normal. Now, all I needed was to wake up. With a relieved sigh, I opened my mouth to call up a dismissal to "Discord."

"Why yes, Twilight. This is a dream. That doesn't make this any less real. After all, the mind can be broken just as harshly as the body…"

"Ah!" I shouted, smothering my snout with my front hooves. "How did you know—" My tail shivered behind me, and I knew I must have looked quite silly. I didn't care. All I cared about is the cackling laughter that still struck me from every direction I turned.

"What you were thinking?" He chortled again, the voice just getting louder and louder…I shut my eyes so tightly they ached. "My Twilight, don't you know? I'm in your head. Ever since we last encountered each other, ever since my power got the best of you, I've been here in your head. Do you think I would make up a place as dark and blank as this? Psh, that insults me a little. No, this is all in your mind."

In my mind?

I was helpless in my mind. There were no elements, nothing magic to help me…do I even have control over what I dream? If I did, he wouldn't be here right now! How was I going to protect myself?

"We have a connection, you and I. A special, special connection." I shuddered at the slow, deepened way he said "special"…something about his tone made my blood run cold. "And, if today was any indication, we have that connection in more ways than one."

Eyes bursting open, I looked up to the blank sky, "What do you mean by that?" He couldn't know about today, could he? He couldn't know how I tore the town apart to get a problem to fix, how I had turned everyone against each other with my spells…Not one of my proudest moments, not at all. I winced at the memory alone.

"I can see what you did today; it's all in your mind. The Golden Apple technique…classic. And using your magic to make everyone that obsessed and crazy? Wow, I didn't think you had it in you. At least, not yet. It seems you learned a thing or two from me after all."

"No no no, it wasn't like that…"

"Was it? Was it Twilight? I can see how you acted. Did you seriously not notice yourself? The teleporting, the spells, the general insanity? Oh, you must have been just marvelous! I could never get Celestia this far…No wonder I found that I liked you much better."

"No!" I screamed.

"I wish I could have been there…though," I could almost hear his mouth twisting into a sinister smile, "I guess, in a way, I was."

I squeezed my ears shut as tightly as I could, but it did little to help. He was wrong! I was nothing like him!

Was I?

No, no I was not! I was good, I was nice…I make mistakes, yes, but I'm not some maniac trying to hurt people for my own sick amusement!

"You're right, Twilight."

And then I saw him. Him, and his glistening, uneven scales, scruffy brown fur and slinking tail, his twisted horns, sharp claws and infuriatingly smug grin. Him, who made the fur on my back stand up and my skin crawl. He was coming right toward me.

I backed away as fast as I could, but he was faster. Before I knew it, he was right in front of me, sticking his face into mine and looping his tail behind me to block my way. He loomed over me, smiling, chuckling, his eyes glinting with mischief.

"You aren't like me. Yet."

My breath wheezed back and forth faster than I think it ever had. My body was wobbling, from my horn to my hooves, and yet I couldn't close my eyes again; my sight was locked on his wicked face. Oh please, Twilight, just wake up…

"But you will be, someday. Someday when you finally wake up and realize just how much fun madness and chaos is. And I'll be there, awakened. And then, oh, what a team we'll be! Can't you see it? You and I, ruling over Equestria…"

I stomped my foot with all the might I could muster at the moment, which was admittedly not much. "I'm not afraid of you!" Unfortunately, my voice cracked in fear and he burst out laughing again, "I defeated you once, I can do it again!"

"But here's the thing, Twilight." He wiggled his finger in my eyes. "When that day comes, you won't want to." His claw paused, staying in the air as his grin fell. He stared at me for a few moments, mouth resting as a small smirk.

"You are a fascinating one." He reached forward to run his claw down my back.

"GET OFF OF ME!" I shot up from my pillow on the bed, breaths racing and hooves trembling. I blinked twice as the blurs around me slowly formed the shape of my familiar library. Everything was quiet, but in a calm, comforting way. The light of the moon shown over my covers.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike's small, barely-awake voice called up to me from his little basket bed.

I closed my eyes, but all I could see was Discord's face staring down at me. I shuddered again, opening them back up.

"I-I'm fine. Just a bad dream, that's all. Go back to bed." When no other sounds came from him, I assumed he had.

Silently, I climbed down from my bed and the floor it was on. I crept over to a bookshelf, taking out a simple children's ponytale to comfort myself with. As I read over the hoofprint-stained pages, Discord's words continued to echo in my mind.

"…when you finally wake up and realize just how much fun madness and chaos are. And I'll be there, awakened. And then, oh, what a team we'll be!"

He's wrong, I told myself. That day would never come. What a stupid thing to even consider. That was…that was just impossible!

I hoped.