Diamond Tiara had refused to be cowed. She did not care how weird things were, whether it was pink clouds with chocolate rain, grass turning into blue carpeting, or sticks of butter flying around on bug wings. If she wanted to go outside and walk around, she was going to do just that. If it so happens to be at a time when most ponies are staying inside, all the better. Everypony that saw her out would see how tough and brave she was. It would show that she was a fearless pony that would make a great leader. Admittedly, she would feel a lot better about it if Silver Spoon had come out with her, but whatever.
Besides, Diamond Tiara knew exactly who was behind all the weirdness. If a certain blank-flank unicorn had enough magic to stick Tiara's head in a toilet -- and had a brother that claimed to be the personal student of Princess Celestia (Tiara had her doubts) -- then that same blank-flank could probably do something like this. Add in the fact that there had been no proper punishment for such a horrid act (say life in prison, hard labor in some deep, dark mine, or banishment from Equestria to some dark, cold place nopony has ever heard of), and it made total sense that the same pony that would do such a horrid thing would totally behind such weirdness.
Now was Diamond Tiara's chance. She was going to be the one to confront the pony responsible, bring an end to... whatever this was, save Ponyville and become a local hero. Then she could probably become a celebrity. Maybe she could use it to become a supermodel, or an actress. Maybe she could even become Princess Celestia's personal student, and then a baroness, countess, or duchess... maybe even another princess.
All because she was smart enough to figure out who was responsible (even if she could not remember her name), and brave enough to go face them despite everything going on around town. She just had to get to the library, and she would be able to put an end to this whole thing.
"My, oh my," a voice said as a weight was suddenly removed from her head, "what a lovely little crown."
Turning toward the source of the voice, Diamond Tiara could not believe what she saw. The strange creature stood up on its hind legs, and looked like it was as tall as a doorway. It also looked like a bunch of random body parts thrown together. The body was long and snake-like, but covered in fur. All four of its legs looked like they came from different animals. It also had wings, with one of them having feathers. The head looked like it came from a goat. On top of its head was a horn, an antler, and Diamond Tiara's namesake.
"How do I look?" the thing asked, posing with a grin on its face.
"Who, or what, are you?" Diamond Tiara asked, glaring at the thing in front of her. The reaction caused it to droop down, its face literally sagging. After re-solidifying, it crossed its arms and glared back.
"Maybe you should pay more attention in class, kid," it said. "After all, your teacher did introduce me to your class in the garden just yesterday."
"Yeah, right," Diamond Tiara huffed, rolling her eyes. "That was just a bunch of boring old statues. No reason to even have gone except to get out of that dumb classroom." And the fact that those three stupid blank flank friends ended up getting in a fight with each other.
"Fine," the creature huffed. "Whatever." It snapped one of its front limbs and everything went dark.
Diamond Tiara blinked in confusion, looking around. There was nothing for her to see. What was going on? Where had whatever that was gone with her tiara?
A click caught her attention. The creature's face was now eye level with her, a flashlight held under its chin.
"I am Discord!" he announced, "the embodiment of chaos and creator of disharmony and a mighty and ferocious Draconequus. Now, after a thousand years, I have returned to throw Equestria into chaos once more." There was a flash of lightning and boom of thunder as Discord threw his head back, letting out a maniacal laugh.
Diamond Tiara stood there, staring at him. That was disappointing. She had really thought that the purple unicorn blank flank was behind all this. It would have been real easy get whatever her name was to stop. After all, Tiara was older, bigger, and physically stronger than her. Tiara would just have to make sure that the blank flank never got the chance to use her magic.
This... Draco-whatever-stopped-listening thing was another matter. It was bigger than her, really weird, and it seemed to be able to cast spells pretty quickly. She had no way to physically threaten it, and she doubted that she could intimidate it into doing what she wanted. That meant Diamond Tiara was going to have to do something that she abhorred, back off and give up. That did not mean that she would have to let the Draco-ma-jigger know that. No reason to show any sign of weakness.
"Whatever," Diamond Tiara huffed, rolling her eyes. "Just give me back my tiara already you... you... weird screwball."
Discord's jaw clenched as he narrowed his eyes, glaring back at the irritating little filly for a moment. He took the tiara from his head, drumming his fingers along the surface. The scowl shifted into a smirk, then a full grin. He continued tapping his fingers, letting bits of chaos magic seep in.
"This?" Discord asked innocently, holding it up in front of him. "You mean you want me to just give this back to you."
"Yes!" Diamond Tiara snapped, stamping one of hooves against the ground (which made a rubbery squeak for some reason). "Give me, my tiara, back, now!"
"Fine, you can have it." Discord stuck it back on Tiara's head. "I prefer beanies anyway."
As soon the tiara touched Diamond Tiara's head, something strange started to happen. The tiara shifted, turning into a beanie just as Discord said the word. A small propeller then popped out of the top of it and began to spin. Diamond Tiara's normally well groomed and maintained mane and tail, twisted and curled until it became a wild mess. Her irises began to twist and spin, turning into a swirling pattern.
Diamond Tiara was not completely aware of these changes, she just knew that something felt weird. It was like something was taking her brain, pulling it into thousands of tiny pieces, then slapping them back together at random and seeing what happens. Not just memories either. Concepts of language, colors, shapes, even her senses were all being mixed together. She could taste purple and hear a cube.
Some portion of Diamond Tiara that was still sane began to panic. Turning toward Discord, she tried to cry out "what have you done to me?!"
Instead, all that came out was an audible "pblpblpblpbl" as the air escaped between her lips.
Discord raised and eyebrow and smirked.
"Now who's the screwball?"
That is awesome!! I never realized how similar they looked. Great job. I loved this chapter.
I'll wait until the weekends come before I come back to read the rest of this. Hope you understand that.
Screwball is a Discorded Diamond Tiara? Headcanon accepted.
So that's where screwball came from
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And considering it now, it does seem to fit into Discord's way of thinking. After all, if you have a pony that like to talk and enjoys mocking, teasing, and laughing at others, what better way to mess with her than to make it so she can't say anything while being a big joke?
Perfect! Just perfect! Headcanon accepted. Loved Discord pulling that mindscrew on her. And now I'm picturing Discord's voice shifting back and forth between his usual one and Bart Simpson's for some reason.
And when did Twily give DT a swirly? Am I forgetting something THAT awesome?
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Back in Cutie Mark Rising, more specifically in the chapter Drastic Measures. Although it was mostly an accident.
5534236 Ok, now I *really* have to go back and re-read the whole series.
Great chapter, but there's something I noticed.
Now I'll admit that I may be wrong on this since my knowledge of noble titles comes from Pokemon, but I think that baroness is actually the lowest ranking of those three titles, with duchess being the highest. Also, there's no "t" in duchess.
OMG Screwball does have the exact same colors as DT Headcannon accepted
...
Why do I always have that feeling when it comes to you making parts that made it more Sad, Comedy, or the other two (don't know what it is), it makes me feel nervous about what's going to happen next?
Do you know the answer Hopeful? Cause I do feel nervous about this whole thing, with the chapters and what not. (Note: When you think about, it gets intense, surprising, or just plain out unknowing.)
This is actually pretty dark, since Diamond Tiara is still in there, but she can't do anything, trapped in this body.
5534074 That... is absolutely perfect
Also, I love the idea of Screwball being a Discorded DT
I've got to find a way to work that into my Sonataverse o.o