Apologies for lack of updates recently. I lost my PC, and was cut off from writing for a while. Next time, I will try to keep more in touch with my readers when something happens; but for now, I have a new PC and should be back to writing.

Speaking of which, I have my first supporter on the place-that-cannot-be-named-here! It's a really nice feeling.

Twilight tumbled out of the portal once again. Instinctively, she raised her shield up just in case of a sudden attack, but no magic bolt came surging towards her and Spike. Good. Maybe this time, she would have an option to just talk this out…

And to her surprise, Starlight wasn't hiding. She didn't even have a shield up. Instead, the smug unicorn just stood there… in the middle of the camp. Perfectly situated so that Twilight couldn't attack without risking the lives of the foals all around them.

The alicorn slowly flew down, Starlight moving equally slowly to the side, ensuring there were always multiple innocents between her and the Princess. "Starlight." Twilight spoke to her opponent, some foals looking at them both with surprise as if they only now noticed two adults standing there. "We need to talk."

"About what? You trying to attack me, again and again?" Starlight shook her head with amused smile. "Let me guess, more doom and gloom if I won't give up? What is it this time?"

"… you won. In that future I've seen." Twilight simply said.

"Oh? And what kind of trick is that? You expect me to just give up so I can see that future you supposedly know of?" Everypony around them was now paying attention to them, including some very worried adults. Neither Starlight nor Twilight cared for now, both focused only on each other.

"You weren't truly happy." Twilight said quietly. She could see Rainbow Dash and the bullies, even Fluttershy, looking at them instead of racing, but for now it didn't matter. She couldn't win this fight with magic, no matter what. She had to do it with words. She reformed many villains… technically it was mostly Elements or Fluttershy… still, she had to try. She was a Princess of Friendship, right? If anyone could achieve that, it was her. "You ruled the world you created, and you hated it. What even is your plan, once I'm gone? How are you going to deal with all the dangers that me and my friends defeated?"

Twilight omitted the fact that in her last timeline it was her, not Starlight, that broke the world. It was not real, not right, she told herself, and in reality she would never become a danger to Equestria like this. It was all Starlight's fault, and nopony else. She just needed to convince her of that, somehow!

Starlight hesitated for a short moment, and Twilight held her breath, hoping for something, anything… but then that moment passed. The unicorn laughed mockingly, and the last hope the alicorn had of solving this peacefully was gone. "If you and your pathetic friends can deal with it, I can do that as well. I know what's coming, remember? I have all the time in the world to prepare." The unicorn's smile grew unhinged and sadistic. "And about your claims of how horrible it is to rule… let me guess. I was lonely, and sad, and without friends? What a joke."

The portal opened again, accompanied by unicorn's mocking laughter. It never took the same amount of time for it to open, sometimes they could have a long discussion, sometimes it would open shortly after arrival. Twilight idly wondered why as both her and Spike were sucked up, disappearing into the void and darkness of time.

When they fell down this time, they were presented with… nothing. They could breathe, but the air was stale, and they could feel no wind or rain. They couldn't see anything, too; they could feel the Map under them, but all around was just darkness and deathly silence. "Twilight?" Spike asked, hugging his best friend. "Where are we?"

She cast a shield spell, just in case, but it barely helped, providing only a weak illumination. In its violet light they could at least see where they were. It was a small dome, surrounding the Map; inside it was a barren ground, no grass, no flowers, nothing. Just dry dirt.

Outside of the dome was darkness. Twilight lit her horn, and only then they could see that it was in fact some kind of material – but one none of them recognized. Some kind of black wood? Whatever it was, it wasn't uniform in appearance, but that was all they could see. It reminded Twilight of something, but what?

"You think we're underground? Are we buried alive?" Spike asked, trying to stay calm. But the stale air, the limited space around, and no way out was causing him to be nervous. "I can't see any way out of here."

"Spike. I can teleport." Twilight smiled weakly at her assistant's blush as she gently reminded him if her magic. "Can't believe you forgot that." She teased him, conveniently not mentioning the times when she had forgotten some useful spell in the heat of battle.

For a moment, it all felt so… normal. Just her and Spike, talking and trying to figure out something. It reminded Twilight how much she missed her home.

"Oh, um, yeah, of course you can. So, could you?" The dragon looked around, seeing nothing but the black wood around them. "I don't like this at all."

"Hop on." Twilight answered, and waited until he climbed on her. Then, she teleported up, trying to guess how far she needed to go; hopefully they weren't that deep under whatever it was.

They teleported into the air, among thick, black clouds. They looked around them in stunned silence, as below thre was nothing but a vast, dark forest. Or rather, not just a forest; it was a mass of black, writhing, spiky… vines… and the sun and moon were both in the sky at the same time..

"Wha?!" Spike screamed, barely holding on as Twilight suddenly dived, realizing just in time where they were. "What…" A lightning hit the place they were a second ago. Then another, but this time closer to them. And another. They were surrounded by spiky clouds, and the clouds were shooting at them! "It's Discord's vines and clouds!"

"I know!" Twilight shouted back, doing her best to apply every single one of Rainbow's lessons on dodging. But the clouds were gathering closer and closer, cutting her off, and lightning was so thick it became like a living, moving net around them, impossible to dodge…

And then, she just teleported away.

Next few minutes were exhausting. It was a combination of dodging, teleporting, and trying to avoid falling down – or Twilight had no doubt that once they fell down, they would never fly again. Or do anything else. The black sea of spiked wood came to life as they flew above it, writhing in anticipation.

Somehow, she managed to spot some breaks between the clouds. Places where she could fly through, barely avoiding the relentless attacks and not hitting the very sharp spikes on the clouds. There were no birds in the air, and no sign of anything alive arounds them – the black, living mass spread below them as far as they could see, as they slowly moved north. Fortunately, Twilight could fly above the spiked clouds, but it didn't change the fact that the world around and below them was worse then dead. Devoid of anything but the destruction, as both sun and moon shined from above, unmoving, uncaring; only the thick black clouds protected the surface from being scorched and burned, and Twilight could feel the unnatural heat burning through her as she flew ahead, seeing a single hole in the surrounding darkness. Whatever it was, she dived into it, this time easily avoiding the sporadic lightning bolt.

It didn't occur to any of them that they were being slowly corralled.

Finally, the black clouds seemingly gave up on chasing them, and the vines were replaced with a familiar sight. "Look, Twilight ! It's Canterlot!"

"I see it, Spike." She answered, diving further down. For a moment, she hoped it would be untouched, but these hopes were quickly squandered as they approached. She slowed down and landed in front of the main gate, looking in sadness at the destruction in front of her.

The walls were half-broken, slabs of magically-enhanced rocks ripped out or collapsed inwards. She couldn't see the black vines here, but she had no doubt what caused this destruction; it could only be one thing. She swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling thirsty. The waterfall next to the castle dried up, and there was no sign of any water anywhere; she quickly realized that this would prove to be a big problem for them, sooner than later. As she walked through the broken gate, she absentmindedly noticed that even the magical fountains were empty. As if all humidity in the air and underground was slowly sucked out by the parasitic clouds and wiggling vines, or evaporated by the endless, cloudy day.

In fact, she realized, even the sun and moon felt wrong here. Here, in this small break in the black clouds, she could feel it clearly. The left part of her body could feel the scorching heat of the sun, and it almost burned; but her right flank felt… cold. Like this moon was tainted somehow, sucking the warmth from everything it touched. It was neither eternal day, or eternal night. It was something horrible and unnatural, a nightmare made manifest.

It felt like Discord's world, but darker. More sinister. As if it was not just the work of Chaos, but a seed of pure evil blooming in the dying world. She shivered as she imagined the tainted plant spreading all over the planet, until nothing remains but a blanket of black, writhing death.

But that wasn't the main thing she noticed as she moved deeper into Canterlot. Weather, sun, moon, it was all something she was aware of, but it paled in comparison to what was in front of her.

"Twilight…" Spike whimpered, hugging her. He shook, his eyes closed as he realized (too late) what surrounded them.

"I know, Spike." Twilight answered quietly, slowly moving forward, avoiding the small, four-legged objects all around them.
Bodies.

She hoped some escaped. She didn't know how many ponies exactly were in Canterlot at the time of the attack, but she only saw bodies of the royal guards and other armed ponies; she could only hope the rest managed to abandon Canterlot, go… somewhere else. Anywhere. She shuddered when she remembered the endless, black, writhing see around them. But no, the vines couldn't be everywhere. They could take Ponyville, Canterlot… but not entire Equestria, right?
… right?

Some part of her subconsciously noted the wounds on the dried-out bodies, surprisingly well-preserved. Perhaps the lack of humidity helped. They didn't even smell of rot or anything she would expect; there was a smell in the air, but more like old papyrus than anything more unpleasant. Could these vines somehow stop even the process of decay?

Lightning seemed responsible for many of the dead bodies, burned black; mostly pegasi, although some earth ponies and unicorns, as well. Others were crushed by the vines, thrown against walls, ground and buildings. Signs of magic and widespread destruction, broken and abandoned weapons scattered around, spoke of the great battle for Canterlot… the battle ponies lost.

Spike was still shaking and whimpering, refusing to open his eyes; Twilight used her magic to gently pat him on his head. There was nothing she could say or do to make this horror better, for any of them, as she slowly continued her trot into the dead capital of Equestria.

Guards and other ponies fought bravely. When streets were lost, they retreated to the buildings, and when these were taken, they took to the roofs. They sold their lives dearly, but in the end, it was all in vain. Part of her wondered what happened to the vines and clouds – Canterlot seemed free of them right now.

But most of her mind just shut down. She didn't even know what she was doing, where she was going. There was no way out that she could see; Canterlot was surrounded by these horrible vines and black clouds.

But she was going somewhere, in the end. She realized it when she reached her destination, but even then, the tiny sliver of hope she still had shattered like the statue in front of her. She just stood there, her eyes locked on the white, broken stone.

"Twilight? Why did you stop?" Spike asked, nervously uncovering and opening his eyes. They were in the Canterlot gardens; to his immense relief, there was no sign of any bodies. Garden was now an empty patch of dirt, with all plants dead long ago, but statues remained… all but one.

"Oh Twilight…" He whispered as he fully took in what she was looking at.

The statue of Discord was shattered into small pieces, none bigger than a hoof. Somepony destroyed it thoroughly, and with it, their only hope of stopping the vines.

Twilight just… sat down, in silence.

It took almost an hour – not that they could measure the passage of time – before Twilight spoke. Part of her was sweating, the other part was cold, but she paid no attention to her body's discomfort. "I hate it. All of it."

"Twilight?" Spike worryingly asked.

"She… she destroyed Equestria, and now, now we're STUCK HERE!" Her anger flared again, frustration, trauma and fear combining into fury. "I hate it! I HATE HER! Why did she do it? Why is it always something!?"

"Twilight…" Spike stopped. What was he going to say? They were going to die here. Equestria was doomed. He doubted anything he said could help, and he knew well that their chance of finding Starlight were now abysmally small. "We can still try to go to her village, maybe the vinas don't reach that far…"

"I just can't take it anymore! I did all I could, I defeated all of them! Nightmare, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, and all the others!" Twilight ranted furiously. "And all this was for nothing?! I hope Starlight died horribly, painfully, and slowly for this!"

"Twilight, stop, please!" Spike was really scared now. Was it only him, or the air around seemed to darken a little? "Don't do this!"

"Why?!" She screamed at him, and he whimpered in fear. "I tried everything, did all Celestia told me to, and look where it got us! I should have killed Starlight when I had a chance, back in her stupid village!"

"Twilight, that's not you! Snap out of it!" "Spike tried to say something, anything, to help, but it was all in vain. Twilight's mind, fragile and barely holding together, was finally falling apart. She screamed and cursed, her fury and hatred unleashed as the light around them slowly changed to eternal twilight, neither day ,or night.

"Oh it's me, it's REAL ME! Me that had ENOUGH of it all!"

"So you're just going to turn into another Nightmare Moon? How does it help?!"

"How does ANYTHING help right now?!"

"Well, for starters, you are definitely helping me." A weak voice sounded next to them, causing both the alicorn and dragon to jump and scream in fear; Twilight put up a shield on reflex. "Screaming already? I'm honored, but I don't think you need to fear me now, Princess."

Twilight looked around, not seeing anything… but then she realized who was speaking. She slowly looked down, and saw a piece of Discord's stony mouth. It was now smiling slightly. "Discord?"

"One and only… or rather I was. I'm afraid that my confidence is in pieces right now." The God of Chaos laughed at his own joke. "Alongside other things." The mouth said without moving, which was beyond creepy. "I see you found me… or rather I would see that, but I currently have no eyes. I think I almost completely lost my head. Must have been stress."

"Discord… you don't remember me, do you?" Twilight asked, shaking off her surprise.

"Which one of you? You know, this reminds me of a joke." Discord's voice was weak, and strained, but there was still his usual amusement in it, even if muted. "Three Twilights enter a bar. One of them orders bartender to be shattered, the second one wants him tortured, and the third one wants him to help her." He chuckled. "It sounded funnier in my head."

"What happened?" Twilight asked, confused. The unnatural light slowly diminished, leaving just tired, confused pony, to spike's imminent relief. "And who's the second me? And why did the first me shatter you?"

"Oh, that. See, the first Twilight decided she bit more then she can chew, so she decided to make me more manageable. And the second Twilight decided to take me out on a date, but instead she just took my heart and run off with it. A tragic story, really."

"Discord…"

"Alright, alright, I forgot you have no sense of humor. With my vines sprouting and taking Celestia by surprise, there was a lot of conflict, arguing, chaos. So much of it, and it was so tasty, a full-course meal! But I did not count on you, the first you, panicking a little."

"How was this surprising? Do you even know Twilight?" Spike asked, and Twilight winced. "Sorry Twilight, but you do panic sometimes. A lot."

"I do not!" she weakly protested.

"Lesson Zero?" Spike pointed out. "Also, this freak-out moments ago?"

At this, Twilight had nothing more to say. Discord chuckled.

"No, please, keep arguing. It's the only thing that keeps me alive… literally, in my case. I wish the other you would have some sense of humor, or a smart assistant. She, the first you (and that really sounds like the beginning of a great joke) panicked and decided to shatter my head. Literally. Alongside all other parts of me. I think she hoped that my magic will just stop if she kills me."

"But… you're alive." Spike pointed out.

"Am I?" Discord feigned surprise. "Oh my, you're right! Thank you for reminding me that I'm alive. It's so easy to forget it." None of them laughed. Not even he did. "Tough crowd, as usual. The first you panicked some more, then ordered everypony to run while she tried to find something in the Canterlot Archives that could help."

"I'm going to guess she failed." Spike said, looking at the abandoned, destroyed castle.

"What makes you think so? No, it's all sunshine and rainbows right now… right, I can't snap. I was hoping to just snap out of this, but it seems to be beyond me right now."

"Where did she go?" Twilight asked, hopefully. After all, together, the two of them may figure something out…

"Nowhere. She's still there. Or at least, her body is, I think. I heard some guards saying she locked herself in and refused to leave."

Silence.

"Who was the second me?" Twilight asked, trying to ignore the thoughts of dying from hunger and thirst, deep in the Archives. Part of her wanted to go and see her own body; she forced that part down into her subconscious, hoping to never see it again.

"Ah, that one. See, one of local unicorns had a brilliant idea. If I'm still alive, maybe she can get something out of me that would help fight my magic. So she stole my heart and took it away." Discord said in a dramatic fashion.

"You already made that joke." Spike pointed out.

"Well, I can't see you making jokes right now. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make enough jokes for all of us? There is ninety nine of me, and two of you, I need to make at least one hundred and one dalmatians out of it."

"Dalmatians? Wait, no! Is it really time for jokes?" Twilight asked angrily. "Not sure if you noticed, but Equestria is gone! Again!"

"Spoilsport. Let the dying god have some last joke, would you?" Discord grumbled.

"… Dying?" Twilight's anger vanished. The rollercoaster of emotions inside her sped up, going through so many feelings at once she could only feel confusion. "But… you're Discord!"

"And?" The draconequus asked. "Twilight, I was hit by the Elements, spent a thousand years in unchanging stone, then you shattered me and Starlight is experimenting on my body right now. And the world is dying, Twilight. There is no chaos without life, and there is barely any life left."

Too much information. Twilight tried to focus on the last part of it first. "Then just stop it! Stop your vines, and clouds!"

"I can't, Princess. They only grew stronger as I grew weaker. Nothing can stop them now, not even me. And besides, I won't be staying long in this world."

Twilight felt tears pooling in her eyes. Why was she crying? She didn't know that Discord, and even in her world he was rude and mean all the time, an endless source of headache…
But she was a good pony, and so she cried for yet another friend dying in an alternate future.

"Oh, stop it, Twilight." Discord said, for once happy that statues can't show emotions. Or cry. Seriously, stop it. We both know I'm nothing but annoyance to you most of the time. And if I won and ruled Equestria, you'd probably hate me forever. Or for a week. Not sure how time would even work if I won." Twilight tried to stop the tears. "Better. Now, I know you're from a different future…"

"Wait, you do"? Spike asked, surprised. He also felt sadness, but managed to hold back his tears for now. Twilight needed him. "How?"

"The other me left a mark on you." Despite tears, Twilight instantly cast a detection spell. "You know, Princess, your lack of trust pains me. It's only a small thing to help you, if you encounter me again." The dying god chuckled. "It's just perfect. There are ninety eight pieces of me, if not for him, I could never made that dalmatians joke earlier."

"I don't get it."

"I know you don't. But someone will, and that makes this joke even funnier. Back to you, Princess, I think I can help you."

"Help me?" Twilight asked, surprised. "But I thought you couldn't stop the vines?"

"Oh no, I can't do that. But you see, my body is still connected to, well, me. At least for a moment longer. And part of me is currently in Starlight's personal laboratory, far North."

"I can reach her through you." Twilight realized. "Convince her to help us!"

"I doubt that. But you can at least grab a small piece of her magic to use in that time magic of yours, if the other me was correct. Oh my, he was really powerful. How did you like the world he made?"

"I hated it."

"Twilight!"

"No, no, let her speak the truth, little dragon. Admit it, you hated it as well." Spike averted his eyes. "Dying or not, I'd rather still be me then someone else. Which is why I need to ask you something, Princess."

"What?" Twilight asked, torn between tears, joy at the fact that they could return to the past, and caution; it was, after all, still unreformed Discord.

"I want you to kill me once you get Starlight's magic. In my current state, I'm sure it won't be too hard for you."

"What?! No, I'm not doing that!" Twilight protested in shock. "I'm not…"

"Whatever you aren't, Princess, you're also not a monster like me." Discord interrupted her, his voice growing weaker. "I want to die. I am suffering the worst pain in my entire existence, and frankly, I do not look forward to it only growing worse. Are you going to just leave me here in agony?"

"No, I'm going to help you!" Twilight protested again. "There must be something we can do, some magic, anything!"

"Twilight, stop being so sentimental. It makes me almost feel sad, and I refuse to ever feel sad." Discord answered, amusement obvious in his weakening voice. "You know me, Princess. Do you think I want things to end? Of course I don't. There are no jokes and no fun if everyone is gone. But this world is ending, and I'd rather not wait here, literally dying of boredom, until it happens."

His voice betrayed no hesitation, no weakness. Nothing showed his true feelings. And without Fluttershy, there was no one left who could sense a tiny bit of fear deep inside the God of Chaos.

Starlight smiled triumphantly. It worked! It finally worked! It was a masterpiece of advanced spellcraft, something that would make her a legend in Equestria… if it still existed.

"Moondancer, get ready to switch the drain system into full power." She ordered her assistant, the unicorn who brought small pieces of Discord to her in the first place.

"Of course." Moondancer moved among the countless pieces of machinery and equipment in their lab, pulling levers, pressing buttons and turning knobs. "How efficient is the process?"

"Highly. We now have enough excessive energy to power automated defenses forever, and it's growing exponentially." Starlight answered, focused on the readings.

Both had their cutie marks. The idea of society without them was forgone the moment Discord's vines attacked Stalliongrad and spread in the frozen North. With Gryphus and Zebrica also under attack, both continents fell into disarray; the black clouds proved capable of spreading the seeds overseas. Last they heard, most of both continents, shrouded in ternal darkness, was covered in vines and shrouded by the unnatural clouds.

The city had to survive. New Canterlot was the only remaining piece of civilization remaining, surrounded by black, writhing death. Starlight managed to activate the powerful magical defenses at the last possible moment, shielding the remaining ponies, griffons, polar bears and penguins on their small island.

All of them praised her as a hero… and none knew exactly what powered these defenses. Knowing that the 'generator' was in a fact a piece of Discord being continuously (and painfully) drained of energy probably wouldn't make citizens of New Canterlot happy.

Moondancer hesitated before turning the last knob. "Are you sure there is no other way?"

"Still hesitating, Moonie?" Starlight asked, turning towards her marefriend. "You remember he did all of this, right?"

"Yes, but… he's suffering."

Starlight sighed slowly, walked towards Moondancer and kissed her gently. "I know. But there is no other way. Even with his magic, we can barely hold these thing back. We will need much more to find a way to control sun and moon, and save Equestria. But I know we can do this together."

"Together." Moondancer answered, a little flushed. She started to turn the knob, while Starlight stabilized the reaction. The device hummed as it drew more and more power of out Discord. Even shattered and weakened, he possessed almost endless amount of magic, enough to sustain the city for hundreds of years. And she already had designs for using this excessive power…

And then, a tiny bit of her magic was grabbed, pulled, and disappeared inside Discord. "What?" Starlight stopped, surprised, but nothing else happened.

"What happened?" Moondancer asked, worried.

"I think he tried to stop my magic somehow?. He failed, don't worry. Keep turning it up." She answered, carefully monitoring the shattered remains. But nothing more happened.
Probably just a fluke. Or some last, failed joke of his.

Twilight emerged from the sea of agony, shaking. She was sweating and trembling, hyperventilating as she returned to her own body, but she made sure to keep a small ball of light-blue magic in her telekinetic grasp.

"Twilight!" Spike hugged her, ignoring the wet mane sticking to him. "I was so worried about you! Are you alright?"

"I…" Twilight said, then stopped. What could she say? When she reached her magic through Discord, he opened himself to her. She thought it was a trick, a way to drown her in madness… but what she felt was even worse.

Oh, Starlight… what have you done…

You monster.

"You know, you would do the same, Twilight." Discord spoke to her quietly, in her mind. He no longer had the strength to speak to them both. "Why do you think I called her a second Twilight? You are very much alike."

"I am nothing like her!" She protested in the same way, the memory of horrible pain, of the feeling of being slowly drained, still fresh in her mind. "I would never do something like… this!"

"We shall see. Or rather, you will." The voice chuckled quietly in her head. And then, Discord said something she never expected to hear. "Please?" He asked quietly, his voice fading as his strength left him, a helpless piece of broken stone.

Twilight opened her eyes. She and Spike were alone, back in Canterlot, next to silent, shattered statue of Discord. "I'm here, Spike." She whispered. Twilight hugged her assistant, her best friend, and she felt tears. She was crying.

Spike cried alongside her, as she slowly prepared a last spell she would cast in this cursed world. Twilight made sure it was invisible and impossible to notice. She didn't want Spike to see what she was doing. He was smart enough to know that, but he didn't say anything, just hugging her desperately.

They needed to return home. She knew she would make it back to the Map; somehow, maybe it was the short time inside Discord's mind, or something else, but she had a feeling they would have no problems reaching it and returning home.

But for now, she cast the last spell of this timeline. Discord's body quietly shattered into dust.

"No!" Far away, Starlight screamed in fear as reactor instantly grew unstable, the powerful magic failing in an unstoppable cascade. Discord's laughter sounded in her ears as his last joke literally exploded in her face. New Canterlot reactor turned into a gigantic fireball, painlessly ending the last remains of natural life on the planet. Slowly, the remaining vines fell apart, and even the clouds turned back to their normal, fluffy white.

And Twilight Sparkle and Spike left the now thoroughly-dead planet forever.

Discord looked around, floating in the warm, inviting darkness.

"You know, they always say to follow the light, or not follow it, I can never remember. But I don't even see any light here! What a disappointment. You know, since I used the last bit of my strength to help (and to have my last bit of fun), I thought I'd get a hero's welcome! Afterlife is overrated."

And then, a tiny light flickered to life beside him.

Discord smiled and snapped his claws.

"I did not expect that! What a marvelous surprise!"