[A/N: Well, this is it, as promised! A few of the dialogues between Celestia and Discord that didn't quite make it to air in the Season 2 premiere. Specifically, this bit starts immediately after the Mane 6's first encounter with Discord in the hall, after they have already left for the maze. Discord takes a few moments to have a more private discussion with his old enemy.

The similarities between Celestia and Discord are going to be a major theme throughout this continuity, and as such they will be meeting several times, sometimes rather unexpectedly. Each time, I thoroughly enjoy writing their encounters. Please do enjoy this special sneak peek of what's to come!]

The Return of Harmony

With Twilight and her friends gone off to the maze, Princess Celestia strolled aimlessly about the regal hall for a time. Centuries ago, she would have been right in the thick of this fight, but now that the Elements were no longer hers to command, she had been relegated to the sidelines. Still, she was confident in her chosen heroes. That friendship had survived some tough scrapes before, and surely as long as they stuck together, they would get through this one as well.

Celestia was not the least bit surprised when Discord materialised inside the room with her. His horrifically twisted form seemed to build itself in wisps in one of the shadowy corners of the hall. It had been more than a thousand years since Celestia had seen him last, and in the meantime, the country had changed a great deal. The Princess herself had changed a great deal as well.

Without turning around to face him, Celestia continued to admire the stained-glass depiction of his first defeat. "Shouldn't you be preparing for the next phase of your oh-so-dastardly plans?"

Discord replied without any delay. "Perhaps I should be, but I absolutely had to take some private time aside for my absolute favourite Princess in the whole world. Come, my dear, there's no need for such hostility. Frankly, I got enough of that from Luna back in the day."

Slowly, Celestia turned to gaze at the shape of her one-time enemy. During her formative years, Discord had been the object of her hate, the signpost of her ambitions. Removing him, she had thought, would solve all the problems facing Equestria. Since then, things had changed considerably, but she was not quite ready to be on friendly terms with her old enemy just yet.

"Ah, there you are at last," stated Discord as she came forward to face him. "A thousand and a half years, and still as radiant as the first day we met. Tell me Princess, what is your secret?" With a chuckle, he floated into the air, swirling in lazy loops about the ceiling. "You don't have to answer that by the way," he added nonchalantly. "Despite all the warnings I gave you about dark magic, there are some wonderful perks. Immortality among them. Honestly, I am surprised you have fought so hard to stay connected with the Light."

Celestia turned away in embarrassment. She was certain that none of the ponies had noticed her personal battles with the dark energy inside her, even on the worst of days. Sometimes she felt as though she was being torn apart, as the two forces, polar opposites of each other, battled for control of her mind. It only occurred to her then that Discord would likely understand. He had probably gone through the same thing during his final months as a unicorn.

Coming down right in front of her, Discord looked at her calmly. For an instant, Celestia drew back, until she saw the look in his eyes. Gone was that terrifying, maddening sparkle that so often lit up his face. Instead, his eyes were placid, fills with centuries of doubt and despair. When he spoke, his tone was warm, almost paternal in fact.

"Princess," he began slowly, reaching out with his talon to stroke her mane. "I can see it in you. The darkness and the light fight each other eternally, just as you and I must always be at odds whenever we should meet. You cannot forever stand with one hoof in either world. Either submit yourself fully to the cause of one force, or else the conflict will eventually destroy you, as it almost did me."

In that instant, Celestia knew that indeed that he was right, and she would have to make that choice. But what could she choose? Choosing light meant sacrificing personal power, and the sureness of immortality. Her reign would end, and The Emperor would surely arrive to enslave Equestria. Choosing darkness meant she would be no better than Discord. Silently, she waited for some advice, but for once none was forthcoming. In that instant, Celestia was truly alone.

The moment dragged on for a tense instant, before being shattered by a tiny white bolt of lightning that sparked up from Discord's talon, dealing both him and the Princess a mild shock. Pulling back, Discord bowed once, apologetic. "Excuse me, Princess, that was just a little notification spell of mine. It seems I must be off, as the games are about to begin. It does sadden me somewhat that you and I can no longer match our skills directly, but I will be sure to give your envoys a true taste of my old glory."

Pausing momentarily on his way out, Discord snapped his fingers with a flourish. All at once, six of the salubrious windows transformed into flowing, luminescent displays. Each one showed a live image of one of the party of Celestia's heroes, from the calm and stoic Twilight on the far left to the terrified (but hiding it fairly well) Fluttershy on the right. For the moment, the six stood together outside the Canterlot maze.

Addressing her one last time, Discord stood just inside the threshold of the hall's entryway. "Regrettably, you won't be able to join us for the festivities today, Princess. But, fair is fair, and after all you did beat me last time. Consider this my own little personal revenge, a front-row seat to the fall of your kingdom, as you can only sit by in impotence. When chaos reigns again over this land, remember this, and think on its meaning. You must realize that I will always win in the end." Having said his final words, Discord twirled about in a final grandiose gesture, disappearing into nothingness.

Recovering her composure, Celestia knew that now all she could do was wait and hope. With luck, her view would not be that of the fall of her kingdom, instead that of the triumph of the forces of harmony.

Approximately half an hour later

Suddenly exhausted, Celestia collapsed upon her throne on the dais of the room. Not only was Discord back up to his old tricks, it seemed that her old foe was being cannier than ever this time around. His words from earlier rang through her mind. "You must realize that I will always win in the end." Was there something Discord knew that she didn't? In another sort of situation, she might have liked to question him about it, but for now there was a battle to be fought.

The situation was by now quite desperate, but she still had cards to play. If the old Lord of Chaos thought he was going to get her kingdom this easily, he most certainly had another thing coming.

Striding quickly through the castle now, Celestia knew that her time was rapidly running out. If she was to have any chance, she had to get to Twilight as soon as possible. Her student needed a little extra encouragement, and the Princess knew precisely how to get it out to her.

Bursting into the Royal Archives, Celestia called out for the librarian on duty. "Page! Page, I need you here right now!"

Page Turner, the current lead archivist on duty, was a young student of the Princess'. Several years previously, Celestia had noticed the young pony's incredible organizational skill, and recommended her for a position here. Now, the Princess was thankful for the archivist's alacrity.

Arriving at the main desk, Page exhaled a sharp breath. Obviously she had hurried from whatever she had been doing. Steadying her mane of loose blond curls, the young pony appeared eager to please. "Princess! What can I do for you?"

"I need the collected correspondence of Twilight Sparkle's letters, Page. Ponyville period." The Princess was being blunt for a reason, as she knew that time was of the essence.

Dutifully, Page pulled an archive box from the shelf, and carried it over to Celestia's reading table. The Princess was slightly surprised by the appearance of the container. A whole box? I don't remember Twilight ever being quite so verbose. Still, when she opened the box and examined the first entry, the handwriting was easily recognized as Spike's. She skimmed over the first few lines:

Princess Celestia: I am pleased to report that the implementation of our joint strategy for increasing the prosperity of the town of Ponyville is proceeding well. Second quarter tax revenues are up 7% on the year…

In a flash, Celestia realized her mistake. Calling the archivist over, the Princess knew she would have to be subtle, so as not to raise Page's suspicions. "Yeah, Page. Umm, this is good, but I actually just realized that I have a family engagement this weekend and I haven't decided what to make for supper yet. Twilight's letters can wait until next week. Could you put these back, and give me directions to the Recipes section?"

Not surprisingly, Page looked somewhat dubious at the request. "Recipes? Um, whatever you say Princess. The archive is alphabetical by aisle, so you'll probably want to start from the right. If you need to call up the quick reference spell, think of the number 46, then your query."

As Page shuffled off with the archive box, Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. In her haste she had forgotten that she had ordered the forged letters to be filed with Twilight's official correspondence, just in case the Senate decided to audit her affairs again. The real letters, though, were filed under ancient eggplant recipes, just to make sure no one stumbled onto them by accident. Arriving at the proper aisle, it took the Princess only several minutes to locate the discreet folder. Skimming over the words now, Celestia immediately recognized her student's pragmatic phrasing and hopeful subject matter. Friendship, honesty, loyalty; that's the stuff. It was the sort of schlock that one would expect to find in a poorly-written children's programme, but today, it was precisely what Celestia needed.

Exiting the archives, Celestia had a sudden thought: Spike is going to kill me after this. She would have to find some way to compensate him for the intestinal discomfort she was about to put him through.

When Discord returned to the throne room, Celestia was waiting for him, a knowing smile on her face. Nevertheless, the Lord of Chaos was positively ebullient as he sauntered up the aisle of the great hall. "You see how easy it is, Princess? So much for your 'chosen heroes'!"

Continuing to smile, Celestia did not respond, merely reclining further in her throne.

"I always did have a thing for finding the flaws in a personality," Discord continued. "And let me tell you, those six flew open like books! Personally, I don't see how you can avoid conceding the victory to me this time around."

"Nevertheless, I refuse to yield, Discord. In my opinion, you haven't quite subverted my rule enough to warrant abdication."

Discord stopped to snort. "Ha, that's a joke right? Have you looked outside the window lately? Equestria is back in the age of chaos, all thanks to yours truly. Resistance is surely futile." With that last line, Discord conjured up a large crown that he set upon his head. "What hope do you still hold to?"

"You know the rules, Discord. We play by the honour system, and if I refuse to admit defeat, you can either force me out or play the waiting game. Your choice, old friend." To emphasize the last point, Celestia let a little bit of dark magic coalesce from her eyes. From Discord's perspective it manifested as a slight crimson glow around her irises.

Throwing his arms up in mock defeat, Discord turned to face the exit. "Point well made, Princess. Home-field advantage, right? Well, in that case I guess I'll just leave you to your business. Any last requests?"

Before he left, Celestia had one burning question that needed to be answered. "Actually, yes, I would like to know something. I understand that locking the Elements behind a dark magic spell was pretty stupid of me, but I happen to know that beings with dark magic in them cannot handle the Elements. I have the scorched hooves to prove it. How in blazes did you manage to carry them off?"

Chuckling gently, Discord flew right up to where Celestia sat upon the throne. Placing one hand on her shoulder, he once again assumed an almost paternal posture. "You know I do care for you, Princess, but sometimes you take things so darn literally I almost start to worry. You're always so constrained by ritual and tradition that sometimes you can't see what's right in front of you. Handling the Elements was as easy as a pair of tongs."

Having answered the question, Discord again moved to the exit. Arriving at the door, he turned to address Celestia one last time with a grin. "Well, I would to love to chat some more, but if you'll excuse me, dear Princess, I have a kingdom to run, into the ground! Ha! So long, always a pleasure, Princess." And after adjusting his garish crown a final time, he stepped out.

"You too, old friend," Celestia spoke softly after him.