"My, my, my... color me surprised!"
The here and now...
Everypony looked up in time to see Discord, hanging from the ceiling, his body cycling through every color of the rainbow. To Luna and Celestia, who had grown more or less numb to the master of chaos' antics, it was relatively tame, but to Morning Glory, who'd never seen such a spectacle, it was one of the most magical things she'd ever witnessed, and couldn't help but to applaud.
The draconequus floated down from the ceiling, a jolly smile on his face, saying, "Well, well, well... Luna, I honestly didn't think you had it in you, but here we are: You've surprised me! I didn't think that anypony had it in them to do that anymore." He chuckled, and then added, "An earth pony for a student. You couldn't have surprised me more if you'd painted yourself pink, put on a matching dress, and invited me to the Gala!"
Luna was not amused, as was plain by her expression. "And how did you find out about that so soon?"
A phoenix winged in, and landed on Discord's shoulder. "A little birdy told me," the master of chaos said with a smile, then handed the bird a cookie. The bird took it, and then squeezed its talons just enough to be unpleasant. Discord rolled his eyes, and then handed the phoenix two more, muttering, "Greedy little immortal feather duster..."
Luna gave the phoenix a look, and said, "I'm going to remember that, Philomena."
The bird looked completely unperturbed, which only seemed to annoy the lunar princess further.
Glory, on the other hoof, was giving Discord a look of her own. Discord seemed to take a moment to notice, and when he did, he asked, "Something on my face?" He pulled out an handkerchief, then wiped it on his face, causing it to disappear. Without a visible mouth, he was somehow able to asked, "Did I get it?"
"You're being rude," Morning Glory stated bluntly. "You're supposed to introduce yourself when you meet someone new."
Discord abruptly brought his face down to where he was looking the filly in the eyes, a flat, unfriendly expression on his face. After a moment, he cracked a smile, then said, "You're right, I was being rude." Extending his eagle-clawed hand, he said, "Discord, king of chaos, baron of bedlam, archduke of anarchy, master of mischief, and a plethora of other things besides." Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "And you are?"
Extending a hoof and shaking Discord's hand, she replied, "Morning Glory, an orphan from Cloudsdale."
With a chuckle, the draconequus asked, "And that's all?"
"I'm five," Glory replied, flippantly, "What were you expecting? Queen of Boardor?"
Discord chuckled, and said, "Fair enough." Retracting his claw, he asked, "So... Luna's new student... what did you plan on learning from her royal mooniness, hmmm? Proper planting techniques? How to move heavy objects? Her secret family recipe for apple strudel?"
Glory giggled, and said, "I actually made that joke earlier today." Her expression turned serious, and she said, "But no. I want to learn how to do magic."
Princess Celestia, who until now had watched all of this with an amused expression, looked surprised. Discord's expression was even more so, to the point that he could not have been more stunned if she'd said, 'Turn into an alicorn and fly laps around the moon while yodeling the Equestrian national anthem'.
After a moment, Discord snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Glory was in a dress, holding a bouquet of flowers, and wearing a tiara, with Discord standing nearby wearing a tuxedo and applauding. Over her head, there was a banner with the words 'World's Youngest Pony To Ever Surprise Discord' written on it. "Congratulations," the draconequus said, handing her a trophy, which she awkwardly took with her free hoof. "You've managed to beat Twilight Sparkle and her friends by more than a decade, from when they turned me to stone. Well done."
Glory looked up at Discord for a moment, and almost felt like crying. "Thank you."
His expression confused, Discord asked, "What for?"
"For not laughing," the young filly answered, smiling. "Almost every pony I tell that to does." She paused, and added, "And for the dress. I've never worn one before. And the flowers, oh, and the tiara!" After a moment, she asked, "...Um, can I keep them?"
------------------------------
Discord was old, older than alicorns, older than most countries, and some continents. Nations may rise and fall, but Discord is eternal. Admittedly, friendship was new to him, as was being anything other than... well, than being the way he used to be. He'd experienced many things in his life, and while his new lifestyle had caused him to encounter many things he'd never known before, there was one thing he had not yet experienced, and as such, it was something that managed to completely blindside him...
Honest gratitude.
-------------------------
The stunned silence that followed was broken when Celestia began applauding, saying, "Well done, young lady. I can honestly say that this is the first time I've ever seen Discord at a complete loss for what to say."
Discord shot a look at her that might have been intimidating, were it not for the fact that he was blushing furiously in embarrassment. After a moment, he looked back at the young filly, and said, after a brief pause to collect himself, "Yes, fine, keep them. And you're welcome." After a moment, he snapped his fingers, and a pair of glasses appeared in his lion pawed hand. "An earth pony using magic may be impossible, or it may not be. I'm interested to see what the answer to that question is, myself. And, since I'm in such a good mood, I suppose I can tell you which kind of magic you might be able to use."
Glory nodded excitedly, almost causing the tiara to fall off of her head.
Discord put the glasses on, revealing the lenses to have some sort of spiral shaped pattern to them. He took one look at Glory...
...And the glasses abruptly burst into flames, and then exploded. And then exploded again for good measure.
"Are those supposed to do that?" Morning Glory asked, while everyone looked on in surprise.
As the glasses reformed themselves in Discord's hand, he said, "Normally, only when I say the words, 'It's Over Nine Thousand'." The glasses abruptly exploded again. "It's not a bug, it's a feature," he added, as they reformed a second time.
Looking at the young filly, the draconequus said, "Someone put some manner of protection spell on you, and it is a powerful one. I don't know what it is, or what it does, but it is so... overprotective that I can't even use my magic to determine what kind of magic might work best for you. Probably so that no one can try to figure out a way to bypass it. So, I'm sorry to say I can't even point you in the right direction. At least, not until the protective spell is removed."
"That's okay," Glory said, pushing back the disappointment she felt. "It just means I'll get to be surprised when I find out what it is." It was a bit of a mystery to her, where that protective spell came from, but she didn't mind it much, she supposed. It felt kind of nice, knowing that somepony out there felt she was worth protecting.
With a chuckle, Discord said, "Well, I'd rather be surprising, myself, but that's my preference. And you've proven quite surprising today, yourself" With a bow, Discord said, "Well, young lady, it has been an interesting encounter, but I must be off. Places to go, things to do, and all that." With a wink, he added, "But I do hope to see you again soon."
And with that, Discord vanished in a puff of smoke.
NEW CHAPTER UP!!!
6727715
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!
There's a CONSPIRACY ahoof!
6727724
…what
I smell snowflakes...
That aside, I too, must add to the praise of Discord's characterisation here. A nice combination of flippant, ernesist and unsure, and playfully needling.
And some say that Discords heart blew up three times that day...
...... That is one hell of a protective spell......... and I got nothing.
Huh, this is a VERY good display of Discord; very chaotic, vaguely nonsensical, happy to be appreciated, and somewhat inexperienced with two way interpersonal interactions. Also, vague references to consequences for helping out a Fey creature.
And in few days, Morning Glory has already befriend a Fae, the daughter of Canterlot 's archmage, an alicorn princess and the Spirit of Chaos.
You move, Twilight Sparkle.
I love how Morning Glory just sasses Discord. Bold little filly...
This scene tangentially reminded me of the chapter from "A Spell for Chameleon" (Very entertaining old novel, I highly recommend) Where a magician is attempting to help the main character discover what his magic does, only for increasingly bizarre and random coincidences to pile up one after another, all to interfere with every test. His magic protects him from being hurt by magic, and it considers failing to protect him by inaction to be harmful, therefore, it manipulates random chance to protect him from everything including itself, which only works if nobody knows how it works. It only started doing that after he accidentally cut off a finger while playing with an ordinary knife, meaning it's self aware to an extent, and he has absolutely no control over it. It even kilted the king! (who was a senile **** who wanted to exile/ execute anyone without magic (exile basically involving waking through a barrier that kills you if you don't time it correctly))
6727770 you forgot the changeling
EVERYPONY RUN FOR THE HILLS RAGNAROK IS UPON US! DISCORD WAS BROKEN BY A 5 YEAR OLD FILLY!!!
6727796 And the fact that she did all of this at age 5. Sparkle barely managed becoming Sunbutt's student at that age.
PS: She's also already befriended both celestial alicorns and been adopted by one of them. Not just befriended one of them.
6727795 Doesn't he not live in a cheese house.
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Rock_1837c5_970569.jpg
- Discord, what does the scouter say about her power level?
- It's over nine thousand!
*Double explosions everywhere.*
6727804 I don't know if you were being serious, but… it worked?
Don't judge me.
That was nice.
yay new chapter.
AWW it over
6727795
Is that Piers Anthony I hear? He's right, the Xanth series as a whole is fantastic, and if I remember correctly, Piers Anthony is one of the most prolific authors of our time.
For some reason I wasn't expecting Discord to be so surprised at an Earth Pony student. Is it really that strange?
Discord.exe has stopped responding. Press any key to reboot. Press any other key to close.
6727872 I feel so mysterious after pronouncing that.
I get the feeling that Discord would be one of the first in line to bring the "Beat a B*^%H!" if someone actually hurt or tried to hurt MorningGlory.
Discord came SO close to getting a BURN from our little magic student, and he handled it SO WELL!
MOAR, please.
I'd ask how something could blow up twice, but I forgot that logic goes out the window if Discord is even remotely involved.
Also, this is the only story other than The Keepers of Discord that I can think of that managed to have a touching scene with Discord. Extra points with it being unintentional (on Discord's part).
Well I suppose since there aren't any sensor types mages a scouter would be needed.
The land of Boardor where the shadows lie?
Can they even do that? Can something explode twice?!
6727795 My Dad has that book. It's quite interesting. Sadly either there isn't a sequel or my Dad never got ahold of it. Most of the books he has he was lucky to get in the first place.
IT'S A FEATURE
I love Glory's bluntness at him!It's like, I don't give a damn that you're a mismatched beast, you didn't introduce yourself.
Good guy Discord
200% HNNNNNG
All of my feels, oh god, it's too much cute!
6728236 Are you kidding? That book is the first in a whole SERIES of books. There's at least 10 or 15 sequels! I stopped keeping track when I realized that Piers Anthony was getting pretty formulaic with the series.
6728196
I know several people that can explode twice
HAHAHAHAHA!!! I love it!
I honestly think you got discord perfectly, the "reformed discord" who is still random and chaotic but still ok. Lots of moments where frustration and annoyance shows through to round off against him actually being helpful. Add in how Morning Glory reacts to him in a way that nopony else does is just great. Fantastic, magnificent, stupendous! and I can't WAIT for the next chapter!
6728236 the first "trilogy" was 27 books long (that's three cubed FYI)
Now I want a short fic where Bink visits Equestria.
6728236 Seriously? There's like two dozen sequels, and the first dozen or so are decent. Look up Piers Anthony in any library.
6728430 Lst I checked there were well over 30 sequels, and counting. I gave up not too long after you did, though. I just didn't find them that funny any more.
Plot twist!
Hm. Is it from the fairy, or has it been there even earlier?
This chapter was absolutely adorable. Also hilarious.
And it sounds like the mare who left her at the orphanage wanted to be certain she was safe. Plot twist.
THE PLOT THICKENS!!!
6727754 WHY D: , L's are purple, that is unpleasant trying to read whenm L's are suddenly the colour of p's and n's
6727812 A cottage cheese house. In Xanath a play on words can be quite literal.
6728631
I...what!?
WOW!!! Pratchett followed by Anthony, I don't know how much more I can take. Well done Sir, well done!
6728670 never mind if I tried to explain it it prolly wouldn't make sense to ya anyway. Google Grapheme synesthesia. Sorry shouldn't have commented. I find it easier to read by scanning the colours I see the letters than the letters themselves. Means when somebody changes the colours of a few letters it confuses me.
6728707
I'm familiar with the condition, however your comment still makes no sense, as I didn't change the colours of anything?
6727740
The mystery protection spell and the unknown caster
6728755 I smell snowflakes one l red one blue that comment was you wasn't it? XD