Twilight and Spike fell out of the time portal, back in Cloudsdale in the past. The Princess was ready. She would talk to Starlight, explain what she saw, this horrible future she…

And then she and Spike were encased in magical, pink crystal.

"Getting careless, aren't we?" Starlight chuckled, coming closer to them. She was far from the heroic pony they met moments ago in the future, the leader of the resistance willing to give her life for Equestria. The mare smiled with sadistic pleasure. "Really, you need to work on your combat magic. And some situational awareness. I have no idea how you managed to come back, but trust me, it won't help you."

The crystal Twilight was in started sinking through the clouds. She was desperately trying to figure out a way to get of the prison, but she didn't even recognize the spell, and quickly found out it made her own spellcasting much, much harder.

"Just so you know, Princess." Starlight spat out with disgust and satisfaction, watching Twlihgt and Spike slowly falling through the soft ground. "We can do this all day, and I will always win. No matter what. So, just get back to the future, and don't try to come back this time, or I may decide to do something more… drastic."

Twilight and Spike fell through the cloud, and started rapidly accelerating towards the ground. They would hit it soon, and at their speed they would be killed! Panicking, Twilight forgot about all subtlety and just tried blasting the crystal prison away with her magic. To her surprise, after just few moments it shattered. They were free!

Twilight barely caught Spike and flew up, avoiding meeting the hard ground below. "Quickly, Spike! We need to…"

Whatever she wanted to say, she never did. The time portal appeared suddenly, and sucked them in.

Twilight fell out of the portal, tumbling on the ground, but this time she was ready. She put a shield up as fast she could, making sure to also secure Spike. If Nightmare Moon was here, she would not get them so easily!

But not attack came. Instead, a brown-black rain (wait, chocolate...?) splattered harmlessly on her shield. The ground was green, not with grass, just green like someone spilled paint on it; and the hills and distant mountain were bananas. Not just a metaphorical way to say there were ridiculous, either. They were literal bananas.

"Twilight…?" Spike said, worried and scared. Confused, Twilight look to where he was pointing, and gasped.

Celestia and Luna were there, but for some reason, they were wearing… clown make-ups? And running in circles, panting and visibly exhausted. They were so close Twilight could hear the sound of their hooves running, and while they were making another circle, she managed to catch a glance at their eyes.

It was the worst thing she saw, even worse than the future where Nightmare Moon won. Celestia's eyes were dead. There was no recognition of Twilight, or even awareness of where she was. Nothing. She lost all hope, and slowly but surely all reason, trapped in this eternal hell.
Luna still seemed to have some spark of reason in her, but it was fading fast. Her eyes were full of fear and terror, and she also seemed to not recognize Twilight. Or even anything around her.

And behind the two broken ponies, riding a unicycle, was a draconequus with old Equestrian crown on his head, laughing crazily. "Faster, my little ponies, faster!"

Twilight gulped, trying to not make a sound and not get the attention of Discord. "Spike," she whispered, "be quiet. We need to hide. Follow me."

All three of them started to move away, sneaking quietly and very slowly. Twilight made sure her hoofs were not making any sound on the ground – fortunately, whatever it was they were walking on was very soft and made almost no sound – while Spike and Discord both walked very carefully, in order to not, wait, Discord?!

"Ta-da!" Discord stood right next to them, smiling happily. "So, are we done sneaking?"

Twilight panicked. She knew well that even as an alicorn, she had no chance fighting Discord. Instead, she grabbed Spike and teleported away.

Only to teleport into a sea of honey. She was surrounded by the golden liquid; she could only see more and more honey around her. She sputtered and spat out some of it when she realized it tasted like pepper, not actual honey, and then she noticed bee-shaped fish swimming in it.
And then she realized she can't breathe. There was no air there.

She teleported away, ending up in the same place she was before. She tried to shook away the golden, sticky substance, only to find out it suddenly changed into grey stone. They were trapped!

"Ah, it feels so nice seeing other understanding my suffering. After all, everyone is empathetic toward suffering of other when they also went through it, right? I think I got it right." She heard Discord right next to her, even if she couldn't see him. Somehow, she found out she didn't need to breath. And it also felt like she didn't need to eat or drink anymore. "Don't worry, I'll let you out in a thousand years. Unless I forget. That happens sometimes, you know, comes with old age." Discord suddenly had a beard, and was walking using a stylized cane.

Twilight had no idea how she knew it. She still couldn't' see anything but grey stone, but somehow, she could perfectly imagine, or 'see', Discord next to her.

She could also see that the 'cane' he was using was white, with beautiful, purple streaks on it. It ended with a perfect replica of a unicorn's head.
And the head was crying. Rarity, long ago losing all hope, could only cry helplessly now, being tormented and forced into whatever shape Discord found amusing. "Oh stop it, canes are not supposed to cry! Besides, believe me, you look fabulous. Isn't that what you always wanted? Really, you ponies should watch what you wish for!"

Twilight, now furious at seeing her teachers and friends treated like this, finally had enough. Just like with crystal prison she was in minutes earlier, she blasted the stone prison to pieces. If she was going to lose, so be it, but she will not stand for this!

She blasted Discord away with a powerful beam of magic. To her horror, draconequus just smiled, and covered himself with a cane. Rarity, now screaming in fear, was hit head-on by the magic.

Twilight stopped the spell, but it was too late. Rarity shattered. Pieces of her fell everywhere around, leaking green, blood-like substance. Hear head, still alive but badly burned, made horrible choking sound, spitting out more of the green substance, before laying still on the ground. Unmoving.

"You broke my cane! How will the poor old Discord walk now?" The monster, far from the reformed creature from the future, sighed ostensibly. "What a shame."

Twilight did not answer. She was just in shock. She looked at her dead friend, and her brain just couldn't take it. With this added on top of the old Equestria dying, and the horrible future of Nightmare Moon, Twilight's mind broke. Spike tried to grab her and shake her out of it, but it was hopeless.

"Oh, broken so easily? Huh, now I think about, weren't you supposed to be a unicorn? Here, let me check." Discord took off a big magician's hat – wait, since when he was wearing it? – and reached deep into it, searching for something. Moments later, he pulled out… Twilight.

This Twilight was a unicorn, not an alicorn. Princess looked at her double, still not really there, and offhoofedly noticed some more differences. For example, the completely dead eyes. They reminded her of Celestia. Even seeing herself as an alicorn was not enough to make the old Twilight Sparkle come out from the deep darkness of her mind.

"Interesting." Discord put the unicorn back in the hat. "So, how are you different? There is something about you… hmm." Discord suddenly looked like a stereotypical detective, holding a magnifying glass. He looked over the alicorn, thinking out loud. "Not a clone. Not a copy. Not Mirror Pond. Interesting. And it feels like you should not be here, at all. Wait, no. I shouldn't be here? But that's absurd." He turned to Spike who was crying now, trying to somehow make Twilight respond. "You, dragon. Explain."

"Go to hell, Discord." He answered, focused only on Twilight. "Do your worst, you, you monster!"

"Ah, yes. Four hundred and nineteen. That's how many times I heard this. Come on, at least give it a try. Be hilarious, lie me! Every line I say is original, and that number before was totally not shamelessly stolen from something else." Discord shook his head with disappointment. "Come on, whatever your name is, just spill the beans!" Discord spilled the beans. Literally. Just turned a can around and spilled beans on top of Spike, some getting impaled on his spikes.

The little dragon ignored them, and just gave Twilight a hug. Discord sighed. "Alright, random dragon, let's do it the other way. Maybe something in her bags…"

That gave him a reaction he hoped for. Twilight, feeling him reach into her bag – and therefore getting close to the scroll, the only thing that could save Equestria now – instinctively pushed his claw away. Spike took a deep breath, and breathed out fire, burning Discord. He was suddenly on fire, comically screaming and falling, before he turned into ash.

Twilight wasted no time. She grabbed the scroll, holding Spike with her leg. Even if spell fails, she would take it. Everything is better than this hell.

But moment later she screamed and jumped back, as the scroll grew eyes. Discord's head emerged from the scroll, smiling happily. "There it is! Evidence! Detective Discord wins, fatality!" The God of Chaos morphed back into himself, and read the scroll.

And stopped.

He became immobile, like a statue. And his worlds stood as well. The houses swirling in the air stopped. Magical ball of honey nearby stopped spinning. The dancing half-bears, half-unicorns, half-dragons, quarter-trees stopped dancing, paralyzed mid-step. Only Celestia and Luna, conditioned by years of torture, continued to mindlessly run in circles.

Discord felt something he barely ever felt in his life. He was a God of Chaos. An actual, real God, not like Celestia or Luna. He was a force of nature, a power rivaled by few. But even in his life – which stretched before Equestria was even created – he barely ever felt anger.

Now he did. It was very, very unpleasant.

"Twilight. Sparkle." Discord said slowly. The mountains started to melt. The sky was turning crimson. "What. Did. You. Do."

There was no answer. Only Spike, looking at his tormentor with teary eyes. "She won't answer you, can't you see?! You hurt her too much!"

"Don't be silly." Discord appeared in front of Twilight, and look into her eyes with all his eight eyes. "Hey, you, wake up. I said, WAKE UP!"

Discord's voice was like Royal Canterlot Voice, but even stronger. Spike held to Twilight with all his might, the wind so strong and hot it instantly dried his tears. Everything around them was blown away, including the two sisters. Celestia and Luna slowly stood back up moments later, and returned to their routine of running, blind to everything around them.

Twilight did not react.

"Don't you have any empathy in you?!" Spike screamed at Discord fearlessly. The sight of all these horrors was so great, he found himself way beyond any normal fear. "She won't answer! And I think it's a good thing, you would probably only want to make everything worse! It's not enough you ruined this Equestria, you want even more?!"

"More? Don't be ridiculous! This stupid pony broke everything. She broke time! Everything I do here is meaningless, even my chaos is pointless!" Discord said, still angry, although now also looking a little… lost? "This is not the normal timeline! This is not what was supposed to happen!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe if you didn't RUIN EVERYTHING, things would be better!"

"Shut up." Discord grabbed Spike's mouth, and literally took it away, leaving only smooth skin in its place. "One more word, and I will actually hurt you, you stupid dragon!"

To his surprise, he suddenly felt pain. He looked down, and saw Twilight, now furious. Her horn was wrapped in black energy, and a small lance of black power was piercing right through his heart. It was a minimal pang of discomfort, rather than real pain, but he still reformed a step to the right to get out of its line of fire. "Of course, threatening someone you care about would work! Discord, you're a genius." When Twilight tried to fire a beam of magic at him again, he simply grabbed her horn and took it away. "Now, let's be civilized, Princess. Tell me how you got this scroll."

Twilight looked at him, still furious. But then, she just deflated. It was hopeless. Even the strongest offensive magic she knew, a spaecial spell she only learned after Sombra, and attacking a surprised Discord failed.
She would be here forever. In this hell. She looked at Celestia and Luna, now further away, but still mindlessly running around, and she shuddered. If she gets her horn back, she swore to herself that she will make sure Spike won't suffer this fate. That was the least she could do for him.

"Hey, sparkling girl that's not a vampire! I'm still here! Hello?" Discord grew a beard only to tear it off in frustration. "Why oh why can't I read your thoughts! Make your mind more chaotic, please, so I don't have to ask you any questions anymore!"

Seeing that it doesn't work, he sighed. Great. He sucked at this. He could try to turn her mind around with magic, but he knew from experience it did not make broken ponies work. He needed something else.

"Look, Twilight. Can I call you Twilight? Friends call each other by name, and we can be friends." No answer. "Blasted… come on, I want to be your friend. I want to fix it! Alright, here you have it, I swear it. Answer me, and I will send you back to wherever you came from so you can fix it!"

That got a reaction. Twilight slowly lifted her head, looking at the God of Chaos in front of him. "Yes, perfect! Now, how did you get this scroll?"

"You lie." She whispered instead. "All is lost. Everyone is dead. I am alone."

"No, you're not! You still have your stupid dragon!" Discord pointed at – still muted – Spike, who was holding Twilight's hoof and crying wordlessly. "Here, there you go, you can talk now!" Discord glued Spike's mouth back on.

"Gnihtemos yas, esaelp, Thgiliwt!" Spike tried to say, but all he said was gibberish. Discord sighed, grabbed his mouth and turned it 180 degrees to correct position. "Twilight? Twilight, it's me, please, I need you!"

Princess slowly hugged her assistant, before answering. Her voice was now cold. "Starlight Glimmer made it. I cannot go back unless she uses her magic to help me. Now you know. Go back to torturing everyome, or whatever you want to do." She hugged Spike with all her strength.

Discord did not answer. Instead, he snapped his fingers, and a light purple pony they knew so well appeared next to him. Her mane was disheveled, but her eyes were furious, instead of dead. "You! What else do you want?!"

"You were a very naughty mare, Starlight Glimmer." Discord answered angrily. He showed her the spell her alternate self created, while his other seven hands gestured widely. "You broke the timeline. Now, you will fix it, understand?"

Starlight looked at the spell, then and Discord. And then she smiled.
It was not a nice smile.

"No. Go to whatever hell spawned you and die there, instead."

"What did you say to me, you little…" Discord suddenly grew in size to a small mountain, and his voice sounded like an earthquake. "You will fix what you broke!"

"No." Starlight answered without any sign of fear. "If you want to do it, you clearly care. For the first time, I found something you care about." Her smile grew into an evil, psychotic grin. "If you need me to fix it, and you can't do it yourself… I can finally hurt you. Vengeance is so sweet, you know?" she laughed now, a crazy laugh without any happiness. "Do your worst. But at least I will suffer knowing you suffer the same."

"Starlight." The light purple pony turned to Twilight, surprised to hear anyone else then Discord. "Please. I have seen that you have this, this spark of good in you. I've seen you sacrifice your life for Equestria. Please." Twilight asked, shaking. "Please help me fix it all."

The world stood still. Everyone and everything awaited the answer.

"No."

"No?" Twilight couldn't believe what she heard. "But if you do this, I can fix it! Make everything right! Make Discord lose!" Said God of Chaos seemed unhappy about the mention of himself 'losing', but he didn't stop her.

"Or so you think. He lies. He never says anything true." Starlight laughed again, shaking so much she fell on the ground. "He won't get it. He took everything from me, now I will take everything from him!" She didn't even bother getting up, all her thoughts focused only on her vengeance.

It was so eerily similar. Twilight looked at the half-crazed mare on the ground, now understanding everything.

The same willpower and determination Starlight had when fighting Nightmare Moon. It was the same one she had now, defying furious Discord. And the same she had when she tried to stop Twilight from fixing the timeline.

How can Twilight convince someone like that?
Is it even possible?

And, more importantly. Can she risk the entire world just to try?

"Oh, you little… fine. I wanted to be nice." Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a new creature appeared among them. A centaur, once powerful and arrogant, now small and humble.

"You called, master?" Tirek asked timidly. Deep inside him, a small part of his former self still existed, raging against his new 'master' and humiliation he suffered, soundly defeated by the God of Chaos. But that part was long gone and forgotten. He was now just a small, humble servant.

"Yes. Take her power away, and put it in this scroll." Discord ordered angrily.

"Wait, no!" Starlight tried to say, but it was too late. Her power suddenly started flowing out of her. She did all she could to stop it, but it was too late; to her horror, her magic left her. She was now powerless. She just lay still on the ground, looking hatefully at Discord. At Tirek, who now put her magic into the scroll. At Twilight.

"Now go and fix it, Twilight Sparkle. And don't you dare come back here if it's not fixed!" Discord ordered angrily.

"I hate you!" Starlight screamed at the world. At everything and everyone, and especially those around her.

This hateful scream was the last thing Twilight heard, before the portal sucked her in again.