Minds restored to Harmony
Minds restored to Harmony
“I reckon we should do summit, she’s been sittin there starin at nothin fer minutes now,” Applejack’s worried voice broke the tense silence that had descended on the library.
After the unveiling of Twilight’s masterpiece and her subsequent laughing fit, the draconequus hadn’t done anything other than stare at the jumbled collection of brick-a-brack. None of her friends had dared to interrupt Twilight in case they sparked off something far worse.
“I think we should just sit and wait it out, Twilight always knows what she’s doing,” Fluttershy said in a small voice, her eyes never leaving the floor. The parasprite had ceased its soothing 'cooing' and Fluttershy was on the verge of hyperventilating once more.
“Now now, I have faith in our Twilight Sparkle, but a draconequus Twilight? That’s a totally different matter, who knows what goes on in the head of one of those creatures?” Rarity mused in a pensive way.
As one, the ponies and the dragon looked at Discord who was just sitting there 'tutting' to himself as he perused another book from the Library’s collection. The alicorn seemed to feel the gazes upon him and looked up, boredom etched deeply into his face.
“A-yesss? I assume by your vacant expressions that something is required of me?” Discord couldn’t have sounded less interested.
“You’re the expert here Discord, what’s wrong with Twi and how do we snap her out of it?” Rainbow glared at the grey pony with undisguised irritation.
Discord turned his condescending eyes to look at Twilight who was still just sitting there, the only indication she wasn’t a taxidermist's model was the rise and fall of her chest as Twilight took slow shallow breaths.
“Oh that, she’s just encountered a mental impasse from an overload of cognitive processes,” Discord commented dismissively.
“Speak plain yer stuck up feather brain,” Applejack snarled through gritted teeth.
“No need to be so rude, I was stating the facts plainly. I didn’t know I had to use filly speak for you to understand." Discord replied mockingly before returning to his book. Radiating contempt and arrogance with every syllable.
“Hey! You caused this mess, so you’re gonna help clean it up Dipcord,” Rainbow smacked the book from Discord’s grasp and glared at the seated pony.
Discord merely cocked an eyebrow at this. “Oh Rainbow, you're always thinking with your hooves, very well. “ He made a big deal of clearing his throat before going on in simpering voice, “Poor wittle Twily has a broken heady-wedy. Too many thinkies trying to be heard at once,” Rainbow felt the tight pinch on her cheek as Discord’s unicorn magic flared, making up for his own lack of fingers.
“Hey cut that out!” Rainbow shouted in embarrassment.
“Aww poor Rainy-boo boo” Discord went on before Rarity stepped in.
“That’s enough Discord; you’re saying that Twilight’s mind has, for want of a better term gotten blocked up?” Rarity looked to Twilight and nodded.
“Yesy wesy, my wittle white marshmallow, poor wittle Twi-isms is having a mental twaffic jam.” Discord continued in his patronizing way.
“Awww so how do we fix it?” Pinkie Pie chirped up, her attention being drawn away from waving her pink hoof in front of Twilight’s lopsided eyes.
Discord resumed his voice to normal before replying, “Oh it’s very simple really, but I don’t really feel like helping you see, it’s been so long since I have had my thoughts so ordered and I am in no rush to put things back the way they were.”
You could have heard a pin drop after this comment and they all looked at Discord as if he had suggested they all fly to the moon.
“You don’t want to be yourself again?” Rarity asked in a small voice, the notion taking some time to sink in.
“Why no, of course not. To have my brain full of crazy ideas all the while, not being sure what will pop in there next, it would be quite unacceptable,” Discord winked in a suggestive manner, “Plus this way I can be with my dear Fluttershy, were both ponies now you see,” Fluttershy visibly quailed at this.
“What!” Fluttershy squeaked out and did her best to hide behind the others.
“I’m a stallion now and you’re a mare. I don’t need to spell it out do I?” Discord waggled his eye brows.
Fluttershy’s pupils had shrunk to pin points, “I-I you’re a good friend and everything but....”
Discord didn’t have time to respond to this because at that moment a large bucket of water clanged onto his head, soaking him.
“That’s enough vulgarity out of you,” Rarity announced in a reproachful tone. The lingering traces of her magic faded as she released her hold on the bucket. “It seems we’re not going to get much help from him any time soon,” Rarity snorted before turning to the others as little clouds of steam curled from under Discord’s new 'hat'.
“Well he said it was summit simple, maybe we could splash some water on Twi too?” Applejack thought out loud.
“Maybe, or just a really loud noise? That always gets ponies jumping,” Rainbow added.
“Oooo oooo I know!” Pinkie Pie shouted in excitement and before any pony could stop her she produced her party cannon out of thin air.
“Worth a shot,” Rarity agreed, “Stand back Spike.”
The small dragon hadn’t left Twilight’s side since her breakdown and looked up at the others with pleading in his eyes. “You think this will work?”
“Only one way ter find out.” Applejack confirmed as Fluttershy drew Spike away from Twilight’s side.
“Just in case Spike we don’t know what may happen,” Fluttershy whispered in his ear as she gave him a comforting hug.
The collection of friends all covered their ears as Pinkie primed, lit and fired her party cannon right past Twilight’s head. Confetti and other party regalia fountained upwards, but to every pony’s disappointment Twilight didn’t react at all.
“Tarn Sarnit!” Applejack cursed.
As the streamers circled downwards they all heard a tinny chuckle from Discord. He still had the bucket stuck on his head which, despite his best efforts remained fastened around his chin. The small dent from where his horn had deformed the metal was visible, Rarity had been quite forceful.
“Oh my dears it will take far more than that I’m afraid,” Discord commented as he continued to wrestle with his new headgear. “How do you manage without claws?” He asked the world in general, as the assembled mares drew Spike into their small huddle and began whispering.
The conversation dropped to the level of hushed whispers, followed by a brief ‘mewwp’ sound from Fluttershy before the conspirators broke apart and all gazed at Discord in a predatory way. He had finally managed to remove the metal container off his head and eyed the circle of friends who surrounded him like a hunting pack.
“Oh Discord darling, you’re completely soaked. I’m so sorry but it really was for the best,” Rarity batted her eyelashes at him in her most gentle way.
Discord just snorted and did his best to wring out his mane, water still dripping off him. “Don’t try that one on 'me' Rarity, You knew perfectly well what you were doing.”
“Of course I did good sir, but you really were behaving like a brute you see and I-we couldn’t have that now could we. Not from the world’s newest alicorn,” Rarity had levitated a towel from spikes eager claws. “We see now that we’re not going to convince you to help, so we’re going to have to make the best of things.”
Discord looked over the assembled ponies with suspicious eyes, “I know you’re all planning something, don’t forget I wrote the book on underhanded tricks so don’t think you’re going to catch me out.”
“Perish the thought Discord, as if we could outwit such an intelligent stallion as you. No we’re going to have to wait for Princess Celestia and Luna to return before we can set things straight. We've talked things over and decided to make the best of it.” If Rarity looked any more innocent then a halo would have floated about her head.
“Well as long as we have got that point sorted out,” Discord mumbled as Rarity fluttered her eyelashes once again.
“Indeed Discord, but as a pony we’re going to have to show you how to behave as such,” Rarity’s smile morphed into a grin that could have sliced steel.
“What?” Discord sounded slightly panicked now.
“We simply can’t have you behaving like some sort of ruffian, especially if you want to win the favour of Fluttershy,” Rarity pressed on, as Discord’s eyes looked past her to the trembling pegasus behind.
Fluttershy looked so lost and troubled; he would do almost anything for his friend, but the white unicorn drifted into his view once again, “Now we are going to have to start with your mane.”
Discord knew this was some scheme by the ponies to make him tell them what he knew, but despite this he couldn’t help but ask defensively, “What’s wrong with my mane?”.
“Why it looks simply terrible, ponies would never dream of spending time with a stallion who didn’t take proper care of himself. Then there is your hooves, they are going to need to be sanded, buffed, polished oh and don’t make me start on your tail,” Rarity had taken out her glasses, measuring tape and worked them over Discord in a professional manner.
Discord began to have a creeping feeling of self doubt; He looked down at his bedraggled form and saw he really did look a mess. As a draconequus he had never had to take a moment to study his form, but now suddenly Discord needed to worry about his appearance it seemed.
“I don’t see what this has to do with anything; I think I look perfectly fine, just a bit well 'wet',” Discord's tone was full of confusion.
“My stars no!” Rarity almost swooned at this, “It would be totally remiss of us to let you stand another moment in that state, isn’t that right Fluttershy?” She looked over to her timid friend who wore a forced smile.
“Erm, yes that’s true. I-I think Discord would look better with a little help.” She cringed at admitting something so frankly and Discord's heart melted.
“You really think so Fluttershy?” Discord’s resolve crumbled as he looked into those blue eyes that couldn’t hold his gaze. “Very well anything for you my dear!” He stood up straight and stuck out his muzzle in a dramatic pose. “Rarity lead on, I am in your capable hooves,” All the while a little voice in his head told him he was being tricked, but Discord had listened to hundreds of voices in his own head over the years, as a pony and he was going to make his own choices from now on.
Applejack opened the door so Rarity could lead Discord out into bright Ponyville sunshine. She quickly turned, flashed a little grin and winked to the rest as the door closed behind her.
“Are you quite sure this is totally necessary?” Discord asked in an almost pleading way.
“You want to look your best don’t you? You don’t want to let Fluttershy down do you?” Rarity had been giving ‘encouragement’ along with ‘advice’ for over an hour now and Discord’s head was spinning. He dared not move an inch in case Rarity ‘corrected’ him once again.
Discord sighed in defeat as Rarity ran his mane through yet ‘another’ washing and styling. His thoughts were moving so slowly and he could feel that dreaded Boredom creeping back upon him. The other thing that troubled him was that he needed to walk to Rarity’s Boutique actually walk along the ground! Discord had never walked more than few meters in his life. Normally he just imagined where he wanted to be and he was there.
He had briefly considered teleporting, but Rarity insisted that it was “Not the done thing,” and after his last few accidents he wasn’t willing to put himself in more danger. Flying, that was another thing that irked Discord, he was sure he could have flown. Having wings just like before the accident, but now he had to obey all the boring laws of lift and air resistance.
Discord’s first few attempts at flight had seen him colliding with trees on a regular basis and after the fourth crash he had limited himself to his hooves. Now it seemed to take forever to get anywhere, how did ponies cope with life moving so slowly? Discord pushed these thoughts from his mind, he was doing this to impress Fluttershy and the mere thought of her made him break out in a sweat.
Rarity levitated a mirror up to Discord who regarded his much changed appearance. He now wore a full suit, with massive ruffs and some sort of strange neck brace that looked very old fashioned to Discord’s mind, but Rarity assured him that it looked great.
“Are you quite sure she will like it?” Discord asked in the most sincere tone that Rarity had ever heard and her heart crumpled a little. The plan had been...well the plan was to make Discord’s life as a pony a right nuisance, but now it came to it Rarity was having second thoughts.
She had swallowed her pride to make Discord look as stuffy and old fashioned as ever. Pulling out every clashing colour and out dated style she could find. Her eyes ached when she looked at the alicorn before her, but Rarity saw the longing in his eyes and she realised she just couldn’t do that even to him. He was a victim here, just as much as Twilight.
After taking a deep breath the fashion conscious pony made up her mind. Rarity looked into Discord’s earnest eyes and knew what she had to do, “You know what, this outfit may have been all the rage last season, but I think you would do much better with something a little more modern.”
Discord’s face fell and he looked at the floor with a dejected expression and mumbled; “great, more waiting”, but to his amazement Rarity took far less time and the stallion watched as she levitated cloth, scissors and thread which enveloped him in a whirlwind.
It took less than half the time of the first outfit to create and soon Rarity was finishing off the last stitch and fastening the final button. She took a few steps back and gave her work a final critical eye.
Discord just stood there trembling and awaiting the shake of Rarity’s head to announce some other small detail was wrong, but to his immense relief she nodded to herself.
“Now you look smashing my dear, I do believe you will turn some heads with this outfit Discord,” She levitated a mirror up to him once again and showed him her work.
The ‘uniform’ looked very smart, it’s dark green shade with warm yellow thread around the buttons gave Discord a slightly roguish charm, there was even a small scabbard at his side held on by a simple black belt and though it lacked a real blade, the flourish looked perfect for the get up. Discord could have passed for an air ship’s captain and it certainly looked far better than the previous outfit.
Discord smiled and bowed, causing Rarity to smile in a supportive way. He really did look fetching Rarity told herself. Now very proud of her work and far happier with this than the previous plan Rarity hustled Discord out of the shop and headed back to the Golden Oaks library.
As they trotted along Rarity kept biting her lip, worry and unease on her face. Discord saw the worried look in her blue eyes. “Oh please tell me there is nothing else to do!” He cried out in frustration.
“Hmm? Oh no Discord, you're looking absolutely perfect,” Rarity sounded distracted and her eyes drifted to the distant outline of Twilight’s library. What ‘was’ she going to tell the others?
Discord nodded and visibly relaxed as Rarity despite herself couldn’t help but notice he really did cut a dashing figure. Twilight was depending on them to make her an alicorn again, but Rarity saw the loneliness in Discord’s eyes and the pleading way he spoke and she knew that she just couldn’t make things worse for him.
It was only for a few weeks at most right? Surely it wouldn’t do any harm to let Discord have a small taste of being a normal pony for a while? Rarity was at war with herself and didn’t know what the right answer was here. As they came to the door of Twilight’s home she still didn’t have the answer.
“Shhhh, they’re coming.” Rainbow had been watching at the windows for Discord and Rarity for the last ten minutes. The pair was running late and the conspirators were beginning to think something awful had happened. Looking back inside Rainbow saw the others were all taking their positions.
The ponies had shifted Twilight into a corner and left her facing the wall, her vacant stare had begun to unnerve them and she didn’t seem to mind. It had taken them some time to convince Fluttershy to play her part in this little scheme but now the pegasus stood trembling awaiting the return. They would make it clear that Discord’s life as pony was far worse than as a draconequus and then he would tell them how to fix Twilight.
They held their breath as the sound of approaching hoof falls came closer, then after a short pause the door opened and Rarity called out, “We’re here and I must say I think this is my best work ever!” The collective gasps of her friends would haunt Rarity to her dying day she was sure. They all stared at the pristine Discord standing in the doorway, looking like a brave sailor coming back from a long voyage. The four ponies and one dragon stood there opened mouthed and Discord felt a blush forming on his muzzle.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause a scene, maybe I should go...." Discord began before Fluttershy shuffled forward and made a feeble attempt to slap him in the face which translated into a tiny tap on the cheek.
“Um er....well I think you look dreadful Discord, how dare you show up looking like that....” Fluttershy’s poorly acted reprimand caused Rainbow and Applejack to face hoof. Fluttershy looked up into Discord’s handsome face. “Sorry I er.....” Her words trailed off and without completely knowing why she leaned forward and kissed Discord on the cheek.
Discord’s eyes lost their focus, his horn gave off little sparks and for once in his life the creature’s mind was totally still. When he was aware of the world around him once again he found himself on the floor with a ring of concerned pony faces and one little dragon looking down on him.
“What did you do that for Fluttershy, are you crazy he’s Dipcord?” Rainbow’s voice could be head berating.
“Sorry girls, he just looked so scared and confused; I didn’t know what else to do. He had made such an effort to get all dressed up I didn’t want to disappoint him,” Discord recognised Fluttershy’s worried tones replying.
“Why didn’t ya stick to the plan Rarity? Yer were meant ter make him look a ‘buffoon’ n then we could get him to tell us how to fix Twi when he didn’t wanna be a pony no more!” Applejack’s angry voice called out over Discord’s head.
“Oh I’m sorry, I just couldn’t do it. Look at what this brute has nearly turned us into, it just wasn’t us,” Rarity scolded back. “Plus he does have such a fine coat I just had to make it work,” She added as an afterthought.
“I still say we should have just thrown him a “Please turn Twilight back party.” Pinkie Pie added her two bits into the mix and Discord felt he had heard enough.
“Ladies please, enough of this, Spike be so good as to help me up will you?” Discord asked in such a polite way that Spike found himself moving to obey without thought.
The mares all took a step back as Spike helped Discord to his hooves, “Now ladies, I understand there was an attempt to deceive me just now, but that’s alright. You were just worried about our friend Twilight."
They all looked at Discord as if he had suggested Nightmare Moon was a kind and loving pony. The voice was the same but the tone and feelings behind it didn’t sound like Discord at all.
“Pardon Discord? It almost sounded like yer were bein all polite there for a moment,” Applejack said in a suspicious way.
Discord nodded at this and did a quick mental survey of his head. His thoughts were organised and fine, he felt ‘ordered’. The pony rubbed his chin with his hoof and thought deeply about things.
“If I were a betting pony, then I would say that it was a little more than just our species that swapped in our little ‘accident’, maybe a bit of personality came across too? I did wonder why I had such a craving to read books,” That seemed to be a logical train of thought and it caused Discord to shudder.
The others looked really worried at this idea. “You mean Twilight will be just as loco as you before long?” Pinkie asked as she held her fore hooves to her head and rolled her eyes to emphasise the point.
Discord shook his head, nodded and then shook it again. “Sort of, by default a draconequus literally drive themselves mad and seek to cause chaos, whereas a standard pony is a calming and ordered creature seeking out harmony and peace,“ Discord had taken on a lecturer’s tone now, that all those present felt uncomfortably familiar with.
“I would guess that at points of high stress or emotion, the basic underlying tendency or instinct will become more pronounced as the body falls back on it’s natural state. Therefore it would be simple to assume that the longer we are both stuck like this the more prone to order or chaos we will respectively become.”
The other ponies in the room had taken on a glassy eyed expression as Discord droned on and Spike was visibly swaying as he fought to stay awake, but Discord showed no sign of stopping.
“So it would be more accurate to state that Twilight will become more erratic as I ‘was’ Miss Pinkie. Whereas I will become more dull and ordered,” Discord’s face fell as he reached a conclusion he didn’t like. “However our basic personalities are very much incompatible with the base line of our forms.”
Only Rarity was awake now and she gently nodded as her eye lids drooped heavily. The rest of the group had sunk to the floor and were snoozing quietly as Discord continued to work his train of thought to it’s conclusion.
“Therefore we will not find happiness in the way we are and will slowly lose the beings we used to be. Not only that, we will both be in a far worse state than either of us would have been before hoof. I will be the dullest pony there has ever been, and Twilight the maddest draconequus the world has ever known!” Discord looked down at his cutie mark which had first been a chunk of burning ice, but was now fading to be replaced with what looked like the digit ‘zero’, “This will not do.”
As Rarity also slipped into unconsciousness Discord resolved to do what must be done, for himself, for his friends and for Equestria as a whole, he needed his madness back! Discord shuddered: That was the longest line of reasoning he had ever experienced and never wanted to go through that again.
Shaking himself down Discord put on his most winning smile and stooped to lift the slumbering Fluttershy to her hooves. She blinked drowsily before slipping into sleep once again, nevertheless Discord pressed on, “I am sorry my dear, but for the sake of us all I am going to have to do something you will not like.”
Fluttershy’s droopy eyes tried to focus on him, but her eyelids were so heavy. Discord raised his free hoof into the air with a theatrical flourish, planted his back legs to put himself on firmer ground before taking a deep breath.
It felt like the whole of creation held it’s breath with him and to the horror of all present, Discord the alicorn began to sing a love song for Fluttershy.....
It began as a nagging twitch, a feeling which slowly moved it’s way up the tail and spread into the lower legs and set off a full tremble. The tremble travelled up the spine and set the shoulders into a full shiver. As that shiver reached the neck it evolved into a full blown shudder that's when it met Twilight’s eyes causing to them spasm.
As Twilight became aware of her surroundings once more, she narrowed her eyes and focused on the wall before her. The last thing she remembered was looking at her creation and forgetting what it was for, then her long ears flicked up as she heard a dull droning monotone sound which seemed to be singing.
It must have been this terrible sound that had broken her out of her mental impasse, it was just so..... Twilight didn’t have words to describe it, but the sound grated on every nerve of her body.
Twilight’s uneven eyes widened in shock as she saw her friends all in a stupor and Fluttershy’s limp form being held in Discord’s fore hooves. It seemed he was the source of the dreadful dirge, which had less life in it than a text book on napkin protocols.
Twilight shook her head, that sort of book had always fascinated her, why ponies would have so many ways of folding the little paper tools, but now it seemed so...dull. She leant back on her haunches and rubbed her chin in deep thought while Her tail waved back and forth. Then with an unconscious command the fury tip of her tail snapped it’s ‘fingers’ and produced a pair of red and white coloured ear muffs covering Twilight’s tormented ears.
With the horrid noise blocked Twilight snapped her fingers once again and a small mug of hot chocolate appeared, “Now what was I doing?” She lifted the drink up and savoured the flavour, "fascinating". She downed the mug before tossing the liquid away which transformed mid flight into a small legged turnip which scuttled off into the recesses of the library.
“Ah yes that was it,” Twilight snapped her fingers yet again and the collection of clutter her friends had gathered appeared before her. Her lopsided and mismatched pupils focused on the contraption, scrutinising with a critical gaze.
“Oh, no, no, no, this will never do, it needs more colour.” With a vague wave of her mottled paw and with a bright flash the assembly formed into what looked like a giant candy cane. Twi shook her head, “hmmm no, just not quite right,” With another snap of her claw the confection vanished to be replaced with a yellow spotted elephant which ‘blarbed’ loudly, causing Spike to stir.
As Twilight continued her efforts to gain satisfaction, Spike blinked the sleep out of his eyes and wished he hadn’t. The room was filled with the sounds of hoots and honks all mixed in with an background drone of some terrible creature in full song.
Spike looked about in worry and saw the total chaos all around; books were flying off the shelves, flapping their pages gently in an unseen breeze, “Twilight you’re awake...um Twilight? Spike’s voice became concerned. She had all her attention focused on the changing forms before her. Spike drew himself up to his full height and bellowed at the top of his lungs “Twilight!”
Twilight vanished and reappeared floating upside down in front of the bemused little dragon. “Oh hi Spike you’re awake, that’s good I could use your advice,” Spike watched as his sister’s eyes spun in their sockets. “I need your opinion; I can’t seem to get this right,” She waved at the still changing form in the middle of the room.
“Um Twi, are you sure you should be playing with that magic. It’s having some other effects too,” Spike waved his claw to show the general pandemonium that the library had become. “Your books, they’re.....” Spike trailed off as Twilight vanished again and the dragon heard her reply from above.
“You’re right spike, it seems the more I try to control this draconequus magic the less tamed it becomes,” Twilight was pacing back and forth along the ceiling on her hind legs. Small flowers sprouted after she passed. “By it’s very nature chaos magic doesn’t ‘want' to make sense.”
Discord finally finished his singing and looked to Fluttershy with an enamored expression, “So very sorry my dear, I had no other way of snapping you out of it,” Discord with great care placed Fluttershy on the floor and looked up at Twilight above him.
“Twilight we have to fix this, we won’t last three days let alone three weeks in our present forms,” He replied in a level way, his voice still dull monotone that caused Spike’s eye lids to feel heavy once more.
Twilight vanished and appeared coiled about Discord with a grin on her face, “Very true, that’s why I have been working on that,” She pointed a paw in the direction of the blur in the centre of the room. The object of her attention didn’t stay the same from one moment to the next.
“It won’t do what I tell it too!” Twilight snapped angrily as she glared at the offending claw, “How-did-you-manage-to-get your magic to obey?” Twilight was gently knocking on Discord’s horn with the back of her knuckle in time with her words.
Discord shook his head, and a little of the wild glint returned to his vacant eyes. “Miss Twilight, our magic is not like your simple unicorn spells. It doesn’t come from study and learning, but comes from the way we ‘feel’. Until you understand that it will never behave, you have to ‘encourage’ it to do something ‘fun’, something which that happens to 'work' for you.”
The pony indicated the pair of mufflers on Twilight’s ears, “Mutually beneficial you see, I doubt your body wanted to hear that ghastly noise I made, any more than your mind did.”
Twilight’s eyes crossed to stare at the ear protectors on her head and nodded in a vague way, “Okay, so I need to find ‘fun’ ways to make it do what I want?” She smiled as relief washed over her face, “I know lots of fun things to do, this will be simple.” Twilight limbered up only to have Discord cut her off.
“Um no Twilight, I think I should handle this one if you don’t mind,” Discord took a couple of steps forward and his horn glowed: A grey glow surrounded the changing mass in the centre of the room and it visibly slowed. After a few seconds the creation stabilised once again as the original contraption that Twilight had assembled.
Twilight looked put out, vanishing again, only to reappear on the ceiling among her beleaguered books, “Well if that's how you feel about things I'm just going to stay up here, as you ‘obviously’ don’t need me,” Discord shook his head and continued with his magic.
“Yer mean yer know what this doo-hiki of Twi’s is Discord?” Applejack watched him with a suspicious gaze.
“Why of course Miss Applejack, I do believe it is a hypnotic device built to aid in ones recalling of memory,” Discord cleared his throat. “I mean it will help Twilight remember what was happening when the accident occurred.”
This simply earned another growl from above as Twilight made sure the ponies below knew of her continued displeasure. The temperature dropped and snow began drift down, “Now now Miss Twilight don’t be like that, your machine is very good, considering what you had to work with,” Discord reassured in a soothing tone.
“Well it ought to be, I designed it.” Twilight announced with a touch of pride.
“Another drawback, we do tend to get a little big headed too,” Discord whispered to Rarity, motioning upwards with his eyes.
“I heard that,” Twilight growled.
“Now my dear, if you would be so good as to come down, we can begin,” Discord had arranged the 'clutter' to look like some sort of chair. The manikin rarity had brought forming the seat, the wood from the plough made up the framework and the blade had been painted in multi-colours hues.
That wasn't all, there was now far more to it than just what other ponies had donated for it’s construction. Discord had added cogs, pulleys and a variety of mechanical components which all lead to a large crank set behind the manikin. With a final flourish of magical power Discord connected these altogether and waved a hoof for Twilight to sit down.
“I am 'not' getting in that thing,” Twilight's petulant voice informed them all.
“Awww come on Twilight, it'll be funa fun fun,” Pinkie Pie had produced a long length of yarn from nowhere.
“Pinkie Pie, what in the name of Celestia is that for?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion before Rarity pointed up at Twilight.
The draconequus stared hungrily at the simple length of string as Pinkie Pie slowly waved it back and forth. In the end Twilight could hold herself no longer and vanished. Pinkie gently placed the cord on the chair just in time for Twilight to materialise. Collectively the friends watched as Twilight’s eagle claw and lion’s paw began working the string into ever more complex patterns.
“Very clever Miss Pie,” Discord commented with approval. He stepped around the large form of Twilight and used his magic to begin turning the crank. The cogs and drives began to move and in turn spun the brightly coloured plough blade. Twilight’s attention was drawn from the now very tangled cord and her eyes began to spin in time with the rotating metal. The fore legs of the manikin closed in, holding Twilight in it's comfortable embrace.
“Now Miss Twilight, I want you to think back to when I first came into the library. Think back to what you were doing,” Discord’s voice had taken on a teacher’s tone.
Twilight nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving the flashing colours before her face, as Discord pressed on, “Very good, now when you reach the moment just before you dropped everything I want you to freeze the image in your mind.”
After a short time Twilight nodded slowly and Discord smiled, “Wonderful, now I want you to point out to us all the vials and then tell us what spells you were channelling.....
Spike chewed his claws in worry as Discord directed the assembled ponies in the room to gather what was needed. Twilight had remained in her trance-like state as Discord continued to crank the handle of the machine, she had pointed out the various potions and magical items for her friends to amass.
It took a long time, but thankfully there were enough chemicals remaining in the Golden Oaks library to recreate everything that was needed to repeat the event. Finally Discord ushered the five other equines out before turning to Spike, "Come now Spike," the little dragon held Twilight's claw in his own and sniffled.
"She will be okay right?" Spike's pleading eyes looked into Discord's confident ones with undisguised worry.
"Well this is our best chance, failing that we will just have to wait for Luna and Celestia's return," Discord gently nudged Spike with his muzzle and gave him a little wink, "She will be fine Spike."
With an effort Spike released his hold on Twilight's claw and shuffled out of the room. With a final wave Discord reattached the door before turning his attention to the problem at hoof. The others therefore didn't see his face move from one of confidence to one of concern.
"Well my dear let's see if this works..."
The six friends all waiting in varying states of anxiety, the basement laboratory had been very quiet for the past few minutes and all feared something else may have gone wrong. Spike’s resolve was crumbling, just as he was about to rush forward and fling the door open there was a muffled ‘Boomph’.
Multi-coloured smoke began to seep around the edges of the wooden door, just as before and the collected friends all looked at each other with a mixture of hope and fear. Finally Spike leaped forward, yanked open the door and dived into the smoky haze calling Twilight’s name the whole while. He was soon lost from view and closely followed by the others.
“Twilight! Twilight! Did it work?” Spike shouted out in between coughs.
“Spike!” Came the answering call from somewhere in the murk and his heart leaped: That sounded like the Twilight he knew and loved.
Spike spotted the vague outline in the smoke and rushed forward to embrace it, “Oh Twilight I was so worried, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Spike buried his head in the furry chest of his big sister.
“As touching as this all is, I think your aim is a little off Spike,” Discord gently patted the dragon on the head with a paw. With a snap of his fingers Discord caused the smoke to transform into custard which fell to the ground with a ‘splop’.
Spike pushed himself away as the looming form of Discord who grinned in a happy way, “Ah back to my manic self once again, I can’t say I missed all the voices in my head, but they sure missed me.”
Spike looked about the messy space and saw one of Twilight’s wings poking out from a mound of yellow goo. He ran forward splashing the confection everywhere. Before he could stop himself, slipped and travelled the last few meters on his belly before finally colliding with the stirring form of Twilight.
Twilight’s bemused eyes filled with happiness as she saw the prone form of Spike lying before her, his purple and green scales almost completely hidden under a mask of custard. The restored alicorn lent down and hugged her adopted baby brother in with joy in her heart.
Very soon Twilight and spike found themselves under a pony pile as the other five fillies joined in the celebration. Even Rarity didn’t seem to care that she was waist deep in custard as she plunged in. The laboratory was in utter chaos, smashed vials and broken beakers everywhere.
Discord stood a little way apart from the rest and looked about the room with a contented sigh, Such disorder made his draconequus' heart bounce with glee, but his mismatched eyes had a slight melancholy.
“Oh Discord, come here. We couldn’t of fixed this without you,” Fluttershy’s gentle voice drew Discord’s attention back to the huddle and he saw his friend’s yellow hoof beckoning him over.
With a sheepish grin Discord vanished and reappeared coiled around the ponies with his head just close enough to hear Twilight whisper something about them, 'Not being in this mess in the first place if he hadn't bothered her to start with'. Discord winked at Fluttershy who gave him a reprimanding look.
Discord uncoiled himself and sighed again before snapping his fingers once more: In a bright flash the room was restored as it should be and he looked to Fluttershy who gave a big nod of encouragement.
Twilight began to lead the other ponies and Spike out of the room, having had enough of 'science' for one day. This would have left Discord standing alone in the now gleaming room, if Rarity hadn’t stopped to look back.
“You know my dear, you can be really charming when you make the effort. I recognise what Fluttershy sees in you now,” She gave a big sigh, “Such a shame you really did look good in that outfit.”
Discord gave an embarrassed smile, “Thank you Rarity, by changing that marvelous plan you really gave me a chance at being a good pony,” Tears forming in his eyes as he moved slowly over to Rarity. “Sorry about the 'marshmallow' comment, you really do look fabulous and not like a confectionery at all.”
Rarity blushed, “Why Discord I do believe a little bit of your charming pony self is coming through.”
Discord bowed before the unicorn. “If you tell any of the others I will of course deny it.”
Rarity smiled and held out a hoof to the creature of chaos, “Let’s make this the start of a new friendship huh?”
Discord looked down at Rarity’s offered hoof and very timidly reached out with his lions paw. After a hesitant pause his fingers closed about the unicorn’s hoof and he looked hopefully into those sparkling blue eyes before simply saying, “Ooopsie?”
There was a another puff of smoke as all the restored items about the laboratory ‘accidentally’ toppled over before crashing down.....
Twilight’s ears pricked up and her head followed suit as she heard the sounds of utter destruction coming from downstairs. She hadn’t noticed the door closing again and as Twilight pushed on she discovered it to be firmly locked shut. The five ponies and Spike rushed up to the portal as the sounds of shouting, roaring and the occasional ‘squeak’ of a rubber duck resounded from within.
“Twi, what’s going on?” Spike shouted in a nervous voice just as panicked hoof falls approached the laboratory door which was suddenly enveloped in a pale blue glow.
The ponies only had a moment to jump back before the much abused door was wrenched open again and a grey unicorn staggered out and slammed it shut behind them. The ponies went to ask Rarity what had happened before he noticed that her cutie mark looked wrong: To Spike’s dismay he saw it was a cube of burning ice.
The now 'unicorn' Discord flashed the watching equines and dragon another roguish smile, “Sorry ladies can’t stop I have an appointment with Miss Fluttershy,” With that Discord grabbed the pony in question and dragged the pegasus out the front door, just as the laboratory door behind him disintegrated into a cloud of candy floss.
“Discord!” A furious roar came from down the stairwell as Twilight, Spike and the others all turned back to see the enraged form of a blue and white draconequus snaking up the steps. They got the brief impression of two sapphire blue eyes burning with rage and a strange pink furry pamphlet hanging on for dear life, before the much larger Rarity barged past. Not stopping, she tore after the fleeing pair like an avenging angle leaving small piles of mushrooms in her wake.
“Discord, When I get my claws on you being dressed up in a foppish, out of date travesty of an outfit will be the least of your worries!” The Rarity draconequus snarled with words that took physical form and bounced onto the ground as small balls of yarn.
There was a stunned moment as every pony took in what they had just witnessed before Twilight shook her head with a weary smile, “Come on girls, looks like this day isn’t over yet.....”
The End
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Well, that was a nice short story. Pity its over. Also you forgot to mark it complete.
Queen damnit Discord...
3503576 1 more chapter for discords date with Fluttershy maybe? (plz let that be the case I want it so much.)
3503576 I did thanks for the heads up and I'll fix that shortly!
3504646 Well I may do a little spin off story on that at some point, I think it would be good fun too
lol that ending was awsome
definetly your best story yet 
3507810 Cheers, I put a lot of thought into it and I'm so glad it turned out well
3505785
This pleases me
3511617 Yep it's my big problem, I just seem to have a blind spot for them. I do my best to hunt down the little blighters but some always seem to make it past me. Any how thanks for the feed back and taking the time to read my story. I'll get em all eventually
3511958 Glad you liked it
Dat Ending!
3503577
STATE YOUR RANK AND TITLE.
3614338 Doubly awesome, thanks again!
[youtube=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fdvjLME4ve0]
This was good.
Entertaining story for sure. The material would make a nice epos; but a four-chapter romp works fine as well.
What really, really would have done the story a ton of good though would have been a proofreader. It's chock full of spelling and punctuation mistakes which can be quite jarring at times.
Still, the flow and entertainment value of the story does even that out to a very large degree.
All in all: have a green thumb