Endgame of Chaos

by Azure129

Some Friendly Advice ('2,4,6 Greaaat')

“Enough merely studying the magical sources running through Equestria. I need to observe our enemies again. They spend so much time on seemingly mundane tasks, but that may only mean their serious actions are veiled.” Hunched over his crystal ball, Grogar mumbled to himself with a laser-focused look in his eyes. “I’ll reveal every secret; I’ll know ever defense and every weakness before my final strike. They must be hiding something. And if I keep looking closely, I’ll find it. I’ll—AH HA!” Grogar’s scream of triumph reverberated throughout the empty cavern of his lair. And then came his maniacal laughter followed by an explosion of magic that made Grogar and the crystal ball disappear.

---

Grogar reappeared in a larger cave, and with three bursts of magic his three fellow villains appeared as well…in various unexpected states. Tirek had a hand mirror held out in front of himself while he struck a dramatic pose, Chrysalis wore an eye mask and was cuddling her purple Twilight stick in a napping posture, and Cozy Glow sported curlers in her hair and a white face mask. Needless to say, the three bad guys experienced a rather chaotic moment when they suddenly found themselves all face to face.

“Oh, er… where did this mirror come from, heh!” With a sheepish smile Tirek tossed the mirror away then put on the best stern look he could manage. “We’d better be under attack…”

“Indeed! Who dares to wake a queen!” Chrysalis ripped off her eye mask, hissed, and held her Twilight stick close.

“Oh my gosh, no one look at me! I’m only half done with my beauty regiment!” Cozy Glow half hid behind a rock. “And what’s the big idea interrupting me? Do you know how much effort it takes to maintain this cute appearance so I can be at my most manipulative?”

“SILENCE!” Grogar roared with a stomp of his hoof. “Enough of your insolent shenanigans! I have made an important discovery! And since you three have observed the modern reign of princesses first hoof, you will explain it to me!”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Is this ‘modern discovery’ about photography again? I told you, the black box is a just a camera, and what comes out is just a picture. A mere image! And, no, you can’t use photography to capture creatures’ essences on paper! That’s simply not how it works!”

Tirek’s look went dry as he answered Grogar now. “Or is this about plumbing? In which case we’ll be happy to explain everything to you about that particular technological advancement. One good thing about Tartarus was plumbing. And the changeling could stand a bath.”

Chrysalis bared her teeth, hissed loudly, and twisted her head in Tirek’s direction though he didn’t flinch.

“SHUT UP!” Grogar boomed. “This meeting is not about useless ‘inventions’ or your own pathetic creature comforts. It’s about war!” Grogar held up his crystal ball, and in a flash an image projected for all to see.

There was a stadium of creatures (including Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight) watching two teams of young ponies pass a ball back and forth over a field. Some viewers would easily recognize this projection as the buckball game between the School of Friendship and the School of Magic. Other viewers, however, like Grogar…might not.

Grogar’s nostrils flared. “I knew these sappy ponies couldn’t really just spend all of their time and resources frolicking. And here’s the proof—public combat training, and for creatures barely more than foals no less!” He thrust his hoof at the projection, eyes narrowed. “These ponies are much more actively engaged than the guards that spend their time trotting in place and watching doors in Celestia and Luna’s castle, and I must understand their role in Equestria’s defenses! You three, explain everything you know of these military actions—now!”

There was a long, strong silence throughout the room. A sound almost like a faint snicker occurred, though Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow glanced at each other, all uncertain of who had made it.

Grogar thrust himself into the center of the three, red eyes aflame. “Who DARES ‘laugh’ about our preparations for world domination!? Now, tell me, what is this battle exercise!?”

Cozy Glow wiped away her face mask and raised an eyebrow with a half grin. “But…that’s just a buckball ga—“

Tirek put his hand over her mouth and grinned as he addressed Grogar. “A Buckball Gambit—yes, that’s what it’s called. But as for details, ignore the child, Grogar—she has no military training. Right, Chrysalis?”

Chrysalis’s eyes were wide as she hesitantly replied, “Er…yes.” A brief moment of eye contact with Tirek made the grin return to her face though, and she addressed Grogar. “Celestia, and later Twilight, started these schools with the idea of modeling future generations. They train the young ones early to see who the military standouts will be. The ball…er, represents an enemy brought into submission by the three breeds of pony working together in friendship—earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus.”

Grogar eyed the game carefully. “Then why does one squadron of these ponies consist entirely of unicorns but with one only using hooves and the other bearing…wings! Is that a new princess!?”

Cozy Glow flew away from Tirek and shrugged with a smile. “Uh, they probably just gave her wings because the buckball rules say—“ Chrysalis wrapped up Cozy Glow’s mouth in her tail, effectively silencing the little pegasus again.

The changeling queen approached Tirek with an innocent shrug as she eyed the game. “Oh, of course not, Grogar—a princess wouldn’t have such flimsy wings. And she would be trained as a general, not a common soldier. But you’re right, all three on that side are unicorns. It doesn’t make sense, unless…” She gasped (probably a little too dramatically) and turned to Tirek. “Tirek, do you think…?”

Tirek raised an eyebrow but then cleared his throat and approached too (batting away Cozy Glow as she struggled to free herself from Chrysalis’s tail). “Er….I don’t know. It seems impossible.” He scratched his head. “Unless you really think it’s….you know…?” He waited.

Chrysalis looked to Grogar, a hoof to her mouth. “It could be!”

“What?!” Grogar’s head whipped back and forth between them.

Chrysalis lowered her hoof. “Perhaps Celestia and Luna are training new recruits to see if they can handle temporary enhancement to their powers on the battlefield. Imagine, a unicorn or a pegasus with earthy pony strength too! Or worse…an army of makeshift alicorns!”

“Impossible!” Grogar bellowed, and the cave shook.

The shaking freed Cozy Glow, and she scowled and flew up. “What are you guys talking about? Those wings are just from a spell that—“ This time Tirek grabbed Cozy Glow in a headlock and Chrysalis stuffed her Twilight stick into Cozy’s mouth.

“Cozy Glow,” Tirek cooed (firmly), “you don’t need to soften the reality. Grogar isn’t intimidated by any pony tactics.” He looked to Grogar. “All pony magic is based in spells. And a spell that grants automatic alicorn status, even temporarily, must be a very powerful one indeed.”

“Agreed!” Chrysalis scowled in determination. “And who knows what else they have planned beyond this Buckball Gambit!”

It was around then that the halftime show started in the projection.

Grogar staggered back as the music played and the cheer squad took formation. “What is this now? A multi-creature attack, perfectly-executed sequencing, a battle cry to arms, and a canon!”

Tirek and Chrysalis shared a brief look, biting their bottom lips (as smiles struggled to form at the corners of their mouths). Then their eyes went down to Cozy Glow who was scowling with a defeated look. She spit out the Twilight stick (which Chrysalis promptly scooped up and held close). “Don’t worry, I get it,” she grumbled, “we’re ‘helping’ Grogar.”

Chrysalis stuck out her tongue at Cozy Glow as Tirek finally released the little filly. Cozy Glow shook the curlers out of her hair and flew over to the projection, her tone quite dry. “Oh yes, this is one of the School of Friendship’s more advanced areas of study. Notice how the yak’s stomping is like the drums of war, see how the dragon’s smoke provides cover, and how easily maneuverable the party canon—uh, the canon is. And those two dance ponies have been trained since birth to be in perfect harmony: like a double-bodied warrior with one mind. Observe how effortlessly they rally the crowd to a battle frenzy.”

Grogar growled under his breath. “I knew only fools would create academies without any defensive purpose. Those six mares and that sun and moon princess are preparing an army of friendship and magic!”

As if to confirm Grogar’s theory, the crowd rhythmically chanted ‘School of Friendship!’ and then Celestia bellowed out ‘School of Magic!’ once more, and the stomping of hooves in applause followed. Grogar’s yellow eyes were aglow with fury as he ended the projection and held the crystal ball close. “I’ll be in my lair considering how to best combat this situation. Facing a few princesses and their friends was one thing, but if they can amass a fully-trained army, I’ll have to revise my tactics.” He considered then glared at the villainous trio. “If only you three fools hadn’t failed to retrieve my bell! One jingle could hypnotize hundreds of potential ponies for us!”

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow shared a wide-eyed look. Then they carefully turned back to Grogar. Cozy Glow put on her best pitiable frown. “Oh yes, we’re really sorry again about the bell, Mr. Grogar. But I’m sure you’ll think of something. You’re so smart, after all…” She nudged Tirek.

“And powerful,” Tirek quickly added, rubbing his side.

Cozy nudged Chrysalis.

“And clever,” Chrysalis added, grinding her teeth.

“Well, somebody in this group has to be,” Grogar mumbled as he turned around. “I’ll be in my lair pondering this latest problem. And continuing to gather information on the magic of Equestria. And honing my own powers for our final attack. You three…ugh, I’d say do something productive, but somehow I think even that would be asking too much. Just try not to disturb me.” And with a quick explosion of magic he disappeared with the crystal ball.

The three villains glanced around, making sure he was really gone.

And then they promptly burst into laughter and collapsed against each other.

“Buckball Gambit!” Tirek chortled.

“Army of Alicorns!” Chrysalis howled.

“That part where he thought the cheerleaders were sounding the calls of war!” Cozy Glow tumbled in the air then wiped a tear from her eye. “I’m sorry I didn’t get it at first, you guys, but I didn’t think even Grogar could be stupid enough to see a school buckball game as a military uprising!”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, sometimes it is rather difficult to believe our fearless leader is as stupid as he actually is.”

“Indeed.” Tirek stomped the floor. “Thankfully none of us were ever such fools as leaders of an uprising.”

“Of course not.” Cozy Glow waved him off. “We all just got beat because the others were working together, like Grogar said. Though…” she brought a hoof to her chin, “Chrysalis, replacing everypony close to Twilight except Starlight with changelings was a pretty big oversight during your last attack. And Tirek, actually releasing Twilight’s friends in exchange for her magic instead of just keeping them trapped once you had the power of Equestria’s final princess was pretty sloppy.”

Tirek and Chrysalis both glared at her and swatted, though Cozy flew just out of their reach.

“Oh, and like you did any better!” Tirek challenged. “You couldn’t even convince a bunch of fillies and colts to keep following your orders as school Headmare!”

“And you should have just sent the chancellor away entirely once he stumbled into your plan!” Chrysalis added. “I mean, really, who keeps a hostage just sitting around in an office. You knew the castle had underground caves—just shove him in there!”

Cozy Glow flung out her forelegs. “Give me a break, I’m a kid! You two are the ones with like a bajillion years of experience!”

“I spent a thousand years weak and sick in Tartarus before my last great attack!”

“And I’ll have you know I’m not a day over 476!”

Cozy Glow sighed deeply and flew down between them. “Okay, calm down, we’re fighting each other again when we should be fighting Grogar!” Her grin returned. “And right now we three just did a great job at messing with him. He’ll be so distracted trying to strategize the secret powers of buckball that he won’t bother us for days!”

Tirek and Chrysalis finally smiled a little again too.

“Yes, we did work together impressively.” Tirek twirled his beard.

“Agreed.” Chrysalis nodded. “Not as ‘friends’, of course, but as accomplices in our plan.”

Cozy Glow’s eyes narrowed. “And we still have the most important thing of all…” she said in a low, singsong voice, which elicited some low chuckles from her compatriots that eventually started growing into full maniacal laughter at their shared secret about a certain bell.

Then they heard a sound—something like a hoof fall against one of the rocks. Quickly the trio clammed up. Cozy Glow whispered to Tirek. “Do you sense Grogar’s magic? Is he coming back?”

Tirek sniffed the air deeply. “No, he’s still off in his lair. It was probably just a vampire bat or…” He paused and inhaled deeply again.

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. Cozy Glow glanced around, an eyebrow raised. Tirek grabbed Cozy Glow and moved her over by the far wall then turned to Chrysalis…but the changeling was already one step ahead of him. Her eyes glowed as she stared at the far wall and licked her lips. They shared a quick glance then looked to Cozy Glow who still looked confused until there was another sound like a hoof fall against rock and her eyes narrowed.

Everything happened very quickly then.

Tirek turned and smashed the highest part of the wall with his fists, Chrysalis activated her magic to compel the nearest source of love to come toward her, and Cozy Glow took up a position to catch whatever spying creature (who Tirek had clearly detected and who had enough love for Chrysalis to sense) fell out of that wall.

Cozy Glow quickly dropped to the ground though when that creature turned out to be Discord who promptly collapsed on top of her. He was up in an instant though and caught from behind by Tirek's grasp and in front by the pull of Chrysalis’s magic.

“Discord!” all three villains yelled at once.

With a snap of Discord’s tail, a cream pie flew into each of their faces. Using the surprise to his advantage, the chaos master snapped himself free, made a lasso out of licorice, and tied his three attackers together with it. “Be quiet! And do NOT say my name!” he hissed. Then he held up a finger, listening.

When the sound of Grogar’s hoof falls didn’t meet his ears, Discord let out a sigh of relief and slumped on the floor. “Oh crystal berries, I knew I shouldn’t have come into this part of the cave with the magic connoisseur and the love vacuum and the small screaming one. Couldn’t Grogar have had his little fit about buckball back in his lair? I swear, this entire experience is going to sour me on the fun of eavesdropping for life.”

By now the three villains had eaten through their face pies.

“Discord!” Chrysalis hissed, wriggling in the lasso.

“Discord…” Tirek narrowed his eyes, puffing his chest against the lasso.

“Former Vice Headmare Discord…” Cozy Glow pouted.

Tirek and Chrysalis glanced at her with dry looks. “Seriously?” they said at once.

“What?” Cozy Glow shrugged. “It’s hard to stop calling your teacher’s by their titles even after they stop teaching you. Ask any kid.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “What part of ‘be quiet’ and “stop saying my name’ just compelled you three to yell out my name?” He rubbed his temple. “Please tell me I wasn’t this bad of a listener when I was a villain.”

“Grogar!” Cozy Glow yelled as loud as she could with a big grin. “We have an intruder! It’s Dis—“

Cozy Glow quickly found her mouth stuffed with cotton candy. She started eating her way through it, but the journey would clearly be a long one.

“Give us one good reason why we shouldn’t call Grogar?” Chrysalis smirked. “Other than the fact that whatever he does to you might prevent me from consuming some of that squishy soft love inside of you.”

“Yes, I’m curious to see what would happen myself with Grogar here.” Tirek grinned. “I sense so much power when I’m near each of you. But is that fear I see in your eyes, Discord? I remember that look from when you betrayed your little friends and they had to save you…”

Discord rolled his eyes (and did his best to hide a swallow). “You shouldn’t call Grogar because if you do tell him I’m here I might have to take advantage of the meeting to explain what buckball really is. And while I’m at it, maybe I’ll show him a little magical projection of my own of the three of you laughing over sending him on a wild cockatrice chase.” He snapped, a cockatrice appeared, Chrysalis flinched, Cozy Glow tried to fly up, and Tirek back-kicked it far away into the cave.

“Fair enough.” Tirek grumbled. “Now what are you doing here?”

“Spying for his little friends no doubt.” Chrysalis blinked. “Which means our whole mission could be compromised! Forget whatever Discord could tell Grogar—we have to act now before we’re shot full of rainbows or something by princesses!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Cozy Glow started, finally done with her cotton candy. “If there’s one thing I know about Discord from studying his history in class, it’s that he’s a lone wolf unless he’s forced into including friends. He acts like it’s because he’s superior, but really it’s because he worries about his friends getting hurt.” Cozy Glow smiled and eyed Discord. “They don’t know you’re here, do they?”

Discord gave her a dry look. “I never liked you. Twilight really needs to start vetting her students better.”

“But I’m right!” Cozy sang.

Discord crossed his arms. “The work I’m doing is above their pay grade. And maybe I just had to see if Grogar was still as much of a paranoid hothead as he’s always been. He’s worse, by the way. Nice play with the ‘Buckball Gambit’ thing.”

Chrysalis smiled. “Well, thank you…”

“Yes,” Tirek nodded, “it was pretty funny…”

“Hey!” they said at once with scowls.

Cozy Glow sighed and looked to Discord. “Okay, how about we make a quick deal—we won’t tell Grogar you were snooping, you don’t tell him we’re plotting against him.”

“Only if you’ll answer one question,” Discord countered.

“Only if you’ll spare us some speech about how we should reform like you did.” Chrysalis cringed at the notion.

“Deal.” Discord held out his paw to the three of them but hesitated and glared. “I know none of you are in the habit of keeping promises, but know this: if Grogar even thinks you’re betraying him, he’ll end you as quickly as any goody-goody pony. So I’d suggest you keep this one promise for your own good.”

The three villains shared a glance then nodded. “Very well,” Chrysalis replied as they turned back to Discord.

“Is that why you’re afraid of Grogar, Discord?” Tirek’s grin picked up on one side and he raised an eyebrow. “Because you betrayed your evil ways?”

Discord looked right into his eyes. “All I’m afraid of is how much boring work it’ll take to clean up whatever mess you four make of Equestria before you inevitably fail at conquering it. I don’t like Grogar, and that’s all you need to know.”

The chaos master shook hands with Tirek, Chrysalis, and finally Cozy Glow who rolled her eyes. “All right, sheesh, enough with the dramatics. What’s your one question?”

“Where is the bell?”

The villains’ eyes widened.

“Bell?” Tirek tilted his head.

“What bell?” Chrysalis brought a hoof to her mouth, aghast.

Cozy Glow shrugged. “Golly, jee, I don’t know about any—“

“Oh sweet chaos, can you three please just save it?” Discord flung out his arms. “You’re talking to me now, not Grogar. I didn’t just ‘come close’ to ruling Equestria, I conquered it! And the first time I was defeated, half the reason I let myself get put into stone was just for fun so I could use my plunder seeds! I could have beat Sombra with two snaps of my fingers, and that goes double for you three when you’re tied up like this! Now answer the question—where is the bell?” He took a deep breath. “The bell’s no use to you three, and if Grogar gets it he’ll be able to destroy each of you as soon as he’s bored of your antics. Give the bell to me, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

Their eyes narrowed.

“We’ll take our chances,” Tirek replied.

“We earned that bell together,” Chrysalis snarled.

“We put it some place you’ll never find it, Discord.” Cozy Glow smiled sweetly. “No one’s ever getting it but us.”

Discord’s stern look faltered, and he grinned a little. “A lot of ‘we’ and ‘together’ talk. You three are friends, aren’t you?”

“NO!” They all yelled at once.

“QUIET!” Grogar boomed from his lair.

Everyone lowered their voices.

Discord couldn’t resist a chuckle. “Next thing you know you’ll be breaking into song together.”

The villains’ eyes widened and they glanced away awkwardly.

“It’s already happened, hasn’t it?” Discord’s jaw fell. “Oh this is too much—I should have pretended to join this ragtag group just for the buddy moments.” He snorted.

“Ugh, Discord, you’re not getting the bell, so leave!” Chrysalis spat.

“Fine.” Discord flew up. “But only because I have better things to do. And only because I already said to you everything I had to say. Except for one thing.” He leaned in close. “You three don’t deserve to be living in a cave or Tartarus or in the woods alone. You could have something better, and getting it is really not so bad.”

Tirek groaned. “You promised no reform lectures.”

“I’m sharing my life experiences. That’s slightly different.”

“Hey, before you leave, can you at least get us out of this rope?” Cozy struggled against the restraint.

Discord waved her off. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll eat your way out in no time: consider the licorice a peace offering.” Discord smiled and reclined back in the air. “Ta ta! And, as a bonus, Chrysalis, I won’t tell anyone about your little Twilight stick.”

The changeling queen hissed as Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared.

The three villains were left alone.

Tirek started eating the licorice rope then looked back to his two companions who were just sitting there doing nothing. “Aren’t you two going to help?”

Chrysalis held her head high. “I refuse to eat the makings of that draconequus’s magic. Also refined sugar doesn’t sit well with me without a full stomach of love first.”

Cozy Glow shrugged. “I already had to eat a whole bunch of cotton candy, and I have a tiny tummy—I’m stuffed.”

“Oh fine,” Tirek dug into the rope. “But you two are going to spot me while I do more weight training reps to make up for all this extra dessert.”

“Okey dokey!”

“Whatever.”

Cozy Glow considered. “So are we really going to keep Discord’s visit a secret from Grogar?”

“Honestly, the less I have to talk to Grogar, the better,” Chrysalis replied with a bored look. “Plus he might want us to go after Discord, and I’m in no mood to deal with that request.”

Cozy Glow nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. And anyway, what can Discord do—we have the bell!” she announced proudly.

Tirek finished a large bite of the rope that finally freed them. “Yes, and now we know more than ever that we should hold onto it. If Discord wants it, maybe its powers really can be used by someone else besides Grogar. We just have to figure out how.”

“Discord’s gone so soft, he doesn’t deserve the bell. You should have felt all the love I sensed inside of him—pathetic.” Chrysalis wrinkled her nose.

“Yeah,” Cozy flew up, now free, “but I do kind of regret that we don’t have him on our side. We’re already a pretty unstoppable group, but he’d be the perfect secret weapon against Grogar.”

“Trust me, not going to happen,” Tirek replied dryly.

Chrysalis kicked away the licorice remains.“So, what should we do now?”

“I say we go back to our mutual corners where we were before Grogar interrupted us.” Cozy Glow smiled. “And then later maybe we can do some plotting over fresh cupcakes. And we can make fun of Discord some more—and then plot to attack him all at once when they timing is right.” She rubbed her hooves together with an evil smirk.

“Sounds good,” Tirek and Chrysalis agreed, both smirking as well.

The three villains laughed and separated, going back to their tasks.

---

Discord needed a moment. Being around villains made him cringe to remember how arrogant and ridiculous he must have sounded back in his former evil glory days. He stretched out on the grass under the empty bleachers at Twilight’s school. Ideally he would have been here right now with the bell in hand, ready to destroy it (possibly with help from some of the artifacts Twilight kept around the campus). But at least his mission had turned up some useful information—Grogar was definitely back; Grogar was still a paranoid drama king; Grogar didn’t have the bell; but Grogar’s team did have the bell and they were ready for a mutiny. All helpful points. The question on Discord’s mind was should he share this information with anyone, and if so, whom?

The problem with sharing was that then he would lose control of the information and something could change. Right now the balance of power in this situation was delicate. If only he’d gotten the bell, then he could have ratted out the bad guys to Grogar and summoned the princesses for a quick strike against the villains while their little group was in disarray.

Discord sighed and snapped to make a few pies rain up from the ground—he was hungry, and pie and chaos always hit the spot.

“Whoa! Wait, pies? From the ground… Discord?”

Discord blinked and sat up then glanced around—through the slats in the bleachers he could see the buckball field where Twilight Sparkle was now present. She wiped pie off of her chin as she glanced around, clearly in search of him.

Discord snapped himself in front of her. “Twilight, really, you shouldn’t sneak up on me when I’m making chaos. You know things can get messy.” He snapped up a hose, sprayed her off, then snapped up a large fan to dry her (which left Twilight’s hair a little frazzled).

She shook out her mane. “Hi, Discord. I haven’t seen you in a while—not since Sombra actually. How are you? Is everything okay?”

“Er…oh, I’ve been busy.” Discord glanced to the side and shrugged. “And I just wanted to pop by and congratulate you on the first buckball game.”

Her smile grew. “You watched? I didn’t see you in the bleachers.”

“I have my ways.” He held his head high, going for a mysterious vibe.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But if you saw it why aren’t you in Canterlot congratulating Celestia? Her team won.”

“Don’t remind me.” Discord scoffed. “She’s going to be passively smug for at least two weeks after a last=minute victory like that, and I won’t be going near her until she’s over it. Besides, you’re the one who hosted the game and put on that cheer show, so of course you get a congratulations. Just make sure to pummel the School of Magic next time—passively perturbed Celestia is fun.” He grinned.

Twilight laughed. “I’ll see what we can do, Discord. Anyway, I have to head inside for a meeting. Would you mind cleaning up the field?” She gestured to the pie remains.

Discord rolled his eyes but snapped things back to normal.

“Thank you, Discord. I’ll see you later.” As Twilight walked away though, the chaos master hesitated and got in front of her. “Wait, Twilight…” He bit his lip.

“Yes, Discord?”

He took a deep breath. “I may regret saying this, but I think I have a friendship problem.”

Twilight’s eyes glittered in anticipation.

Discord’s look went dry. “Forget it.” He raised his fingers to snap.

“No!” Twilight latched onto his paw. “I promise, I’ll be calm.” She took a breath. “Now, tell me your problem, Discord.”

Discord flew up and crossed his arms. “Let’s say I know three creatures who are hanging out with a bad influence. And I tried to tell them to stop, but they won’t listen—and they don’t want to hang around me. And I’m afraid they’re all going to do something stupid. What should I do?”

Twilight’s eyes hazed as she smiled gently.

“What?”

“The girls and I all felt the same way about Fluttershy hanging out with you when Celestia first asked her to reform you. But now you’re not the bad influence, Discord—you’re the good influence.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She went on. “Discord…you tried to talk to these three creatures, which was the right thing to do, but they won’t listen. Have you tried talking to the bad influence?”

“Things could get worse if I do; trust me. He does not like me.”

Twilight nodded, her brow furrowed pensively. “Then, Discord, I think you have to let these three creatures make their mistake and realize they deserve better in their own time. You can’t control creatures—they have to find their own way, even if it takes some creatures longer than others.”

“But I can’t just wait around and watch! What if someone gets hurt!” he countered as he threw up his arms.

Twilight reached out and put a hoof on one arm. “You can watch over them, and if you see anyone about to be seriously hurt then of course you should intervene, Discord. But if your friends are really determined to make a bad choice, it may be what they need to do before they can move on to something better.” She sighed, her voice quiet. “It’s like what happened between you and Tirek, Discord. Until you made a bad choice with him, you weren’t ready to take your reform seriously. And now you’re one of our best and most trusted friends.”

Discord’s brow was still furrowed in worry as he looked down at Twilight. He glanced left, he glanced right, then bent down and hugged Princess Twilight Sparkle very tightly. Her eyes widened in complete surprise until the chaos master quickly put her down. He scowled, crossed his arms, and whispered, “We will never speak of what I just did again, got it?”

She smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks for the advice, Twilight. It helps.”

“I’m here any time, Discord, just like how I know you’ll always be here for us.”

A wince went through Discord. But then he put on a smile again. “Like you could ever get rid of me.” He flew up. “Well, ta ta, Twilight. I really must be going. Enjoy your boring meeting. And, seriously, at the next buckball game take Celestia down!” He winked, and as Twilight laughed and waved he flew into the clouds and away from the school.

Discord’s smile fell when he was alone He had to agree with Twilight’s advice even if all the waiting it would involve was agonizing. But he did decide to take action regarding two things: he would continue to keep an eye on Grogar and the others despite the risk to himself, and he would fight to save Equestria…and maybe those three misguided but sort of friendly villains…with every ounce of magic he could summon if the time came.

Author's Note:

A/N: Here you go, a new chapter based off the content of "2, 4, 6...Great" I really love writing Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow together lol. Still not sure how many more installments of this story there'll be before the finale, but I have a feeling next week's episode will give me some material to work with. Please review if you can, and thanks for reading!

-Azure129

Comments

[Spiritofchaos227]

I wish I could upvote single chapters; I'm trash with commenting, but I can't DARE leave a single chapter of this wonderful story bare of comments! You're writing it just so enjoyable

[Azure129]

9790781
Awww, thank you so much for saying that and for the comment! I know this fic isn't getting as much traffic as others I've worked on, but it's been really fun for me to write and it helps encourage me a lot to hear you're enjoying it :)

Have a wonderful day! I hope you like the next update ^_^

[Fury of the Tempest]

We're really building up! And Grogar, while Comedic... I wonder just how powerful he might be...