Discord and Celestia try to deflect Comet Flip-Flop from hitting Equestria. They succeed, but with unexpected results.
When it becomes apparent that Comet Flip-Flop will hit Equestria if it isn't diverted, Luna ascends to space and Discord and Celestia remain on the ground in case she is unable to succeed in deflecting the comet. With Luna unable to stop the flaming ball of ice, Discord and Celestia combine their energies to blow it to pieces. Equestria is saved from a tragic disaster, only to fall victim to a humorous one.
Discord and Celestia stood together on the grand balcony at Canterlot Palace. Celestia gazed through a telescope.
“Can you see it yet, Celestia?” Discord asked, his voice filled with anticipation.
“Yes I can. It’s approaching very quickly. Luna slowed it, but she wasn’t able to stop it. Stand ready, Discord.”
“Ready and willing, Celestia. I see it even without a telescope. How amazing that a ball of ice can catch on fire!”
“There are many amazing extraterrestrial objects. I’ll be happy to discuss each and every one of them with you, Discord, after we’ve taken care of redirecting Comet Flip-Flop back into space.”
“Celestia, I do believe we are standing at ground zero.”
“Take aim, Discord. If we can’t deflect it, I fear for what will happen to Equestria.”
“Blazes, but it’s bright!”
“Now, Discord!”
The pair shot magical energy towards the rapidly approaching comet. The energy from Celestia’s horn combined with the energy from Discord’s front claws. The energies struck the comet, but rather than deflecting it as planned, the blazing ice ball shattered into multiple pieces. A blinding burst of light rocked Equestria. Discord and Celestia were sent flying.
When Celestia came to, she felt strange. Her body felt as if it was made of rubber. It seemed to wobble this way and that. She supposed it was the force of the impact causing her to feel shaky.
“Discord, are you all right?” Celestia asked.
A whinnying cough came through the smoke.
“I’m fine, Celestia, but that blasted comet seems to have affected my voice. Hang on, I’ll make my way to you. Oh my, I feel strange!”
“I do too. I’m sure we’ll be all right, but I’ve never felt like this before. I really don’t feel quite myself.”
“Oh good heavens! Celestia, I do believe I see our problem. It seems that I’m you. What I mean is, it looks like I’m in your body.”
“Which would mean I’m in yours. No wonder my spine felt like it was made of rubber! “
“No wonder my legs are so long and so stiff! Celestia, however do you manage?”
“I could ask you the same thing. Never mind that right now. We need to find out of the other citizens of Equestria are all right. I hope those bits of the comet didn’t do too much damage.”
Celestia and Discord surveyed the damage as they made their way towards Ponyville.
“Celestia, I’d like to make a suggestion,” Discord said. “While we’re passing over the Everfree Forest, perhaps we could stop by that enchantress Zecora’s place and see if she might have a method for switching us back into our bodies.”
“Very well, Discord. I’d like to be sure that Zecora’s all right anyway, so we’ll stop by and see her.”
When the pair arrived at Zecora’s hut, they were greeted by what appeared to be Fluttershy. Then Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, and out came Zecora’s voice.
“Greetings, Discord the Mighty and Celestia the Wise. I am certain my speech will cause you surprise.”
“Not especially, Mystical Zebra,” said Discord as Celestia. “For you see, the same thing happened to us.”
“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy’s voice from Zecora’s mouth. “What are we going to do?”
“We’ll have to work on that later,” said Celestia as Discord. “In the meantime, we need to get to Ponyville and make sure that everyone’s all right.”
“This plan is wise, I must agree. Let us pay a visit to Twilight’s tree,” said Zecora as Fluttershy.
With that, the mixed-up foursome set out for Ponyville.
When the group reached Twilight Sparkle’s home, a distressing sight met their eyes.
“Whee! This is fun!” declared Pinkie Pie’s voice from Rainbow Dash’s mouth as the blue pony made repeated loops in the air.
“Cut it out, Pinkie Pie, you’re making my body dizzy!” grumbled Rainbow Dash’s voice from Pinkie Pie’s mouth. “Ugh! I don’t know how you stand being stuck on the ground like this! I’m going koo-koo!”
“You think you have it hard?” demanded Rarity’s voice from Applejack’s body. “Why, I haven’t the magic from my horn to help me in designing my one of a kind fashions! I’ll be completely unable to locate gems this way. It’s simply unbearable!”
“You think that’s unbearable?” Spike’s grouchy voice came from Twilight’s mouth. “I’m unable to eat gems in this body! I was enjoying a particularly nice one too, when that light flashed and suddenly I found myself here.”
“Princess Celestia, can y’all help us?” said Applejack’s voice from Rarity’s mouth. “No offense to Rarity, but her pampered hooves ain’t used to farm chores. I’m gonna feel dang exhausted tryin’ to do what needs to be done on Sweet Apple Acres in this body.”
“Well, we’re here to enlist Twilight’s help in this difficult matter,” said Celestia as Discord.
“Oh no, you too?” groaned Twilight from Spike’s body. “I don’t have my horn’s magic in Spike’s body! We’re doomed!”
“Now see here,” declared Discord as Celestia. “I refuse to use the word ‘doomed,’ except in cases where I’m making threats. Such as ‘you’re doomed, you’re doomed, you’re all doomed, bwahahahahaaaaaaa!’”
The others gave Discord a sidelong glance. Celestia’s disapproving gaze distorted Discord’s features into an angry grimace as she tapped her own body on the shoulder with his eagle talon.
“Um…of course I don’t do that sort of thing anymore,” Discord said. “Now, as I was saying, we are not doomed. Why, my chaotic magic is just the thing we need! I need only do a spell of reversal! Of course, why didn’t I think of it before?”
“Well, git to it!” Applejack demanded. “I’ve got fields to plow! I’m gonna need my own hardworkin’, muscular, Earth pony body, not some prim Unicorn body with a perfect hooficure. No offense, Rarity.”
“Hmph!” snorted Rarity as Applejack.
Discord as Celestia reared up. Celestia’s front hooves clove the air awkwardly and a burst of energy shot forth from her horn.
“I command that everything be reversed!” Discord cried.
A moment later, each pony stood looking in the opposite direction.
“Are we back to normal?” Discord asked hopefully.
“No!” Rainbow Dash complained. “We’re just looking in a different direction. I’m still stuck in Pinkie Pie’s body.”
“And I’m still stuck in Celestia’s!” Discord wailed. “That’s it, we’re doomed!”
“Calm down, Discord,” said Twilight as Spike. “There has to be something in one of these tomes. If you’ll all help me look through them, the research will go much faster.”
“Begging your pardon, Princess Discord…um…Celestia,” came Fluttershy’s shy voice from Zecora’s mouth. “But you seem worried.”
“I am, Fluttershy,” Celestia sighed. “Luna went into space to try and deflect the comet, and she hasn’t returned.”
“Oh, dear. Well, I’m sure she must be all right. Perhaps there was something she had to do before she could come back. Or perhaps she got a little lost when she landed. Maybe she’s even back at the palace now.”
“I suppose those things could be true. Well, I guess there’s nothing to be done about it right now. I feel so awkward in this body that I’m almost afraid to go into Twilight’s home for fear that I might accidentally knock something over.”
“Oh, it will be all right,” Fluttershy said reassuringly.
“Celestia, if I can manage in this rigid body of yours, surely you can manage in my lithe form,” Discord declared.
“It’s not rigid, you just don’t know how to manage it!” Celestia snapped. “I don’t have the energy to argue with you, Discord. Let’s get researching. Hopefully we can find a solution to this mess.”
Four hours passed, and no headway was made. The group was beginning to feel discouraged. Fortunately, being in Fluttershy’s body did not hinder Zecora’s culinary skills. She made a delightful soup of various roots, herbs, and flowers, which renewed the spirits of the knowledge seekers.
“This soup will brighten body and mind. It makes one feel sharper, and also more kind,” Zecora as Fluttershy declared.
Twilight as Spike sipped the soup and sighed contentedly. She suddenly seemed to have an idea. She took up a tattered book with a frayed white cover emblazoned with azure stars. She flipped through the book and gave a shout of glee.
“Yes! This is it right here!” she said. “All we need to do is get our hooves on some Quixotium! It was this element that was activated when the comet exploded, causing us to switch bodies. If we can find some and cause another explosion, everything should go back to normal.”
“There’s a little problem with this idea, Twilight,” Celestia as Discord said. “Quixotium is only found in outer space.”
“That’s not a problem, Miss Gloomy Hooves!” Discord as Celestia scoffed. “There will be little bits of comet all over Equestria! We simply need to pick them up and, voila! We have Quixotium!”
“Yes, but that was a very big explosion, Mr. Not Grounded in Reality,” Celestia countered. “How are we supposed to recreate something like that?”
“I’ll think of something,” Discord sniffed. “I like making explosions. A big explosion would be right up my alley. Maybe Miss Twilight Dragon Breath could help me. At least this stiff body of yours has wings, so if we can isolate the explosive properties of the Quixotium, we can take it up into the atmosphere, and, kaboom!”
“Excuse me for sayin’, Princess Discord,” said Applejack as Rarity, “but I think this here plan of yours is missin’ a few steps.”
“And possibly even a minimum of common sense,” grumbled Rainbow Dash as Pinkie Pie.
“I didn’t say I had all the kinks worked out,” grumbled Discord. “Nevertheless, it’s a fine plan—perhaps even a genius plan. I swear, you are the most pessimistic ponies I’ve ever known! One little flip flop of bodies, and you all fall to pieces! You should try being flexible, like me!”
“Discord’s right,” Celestia said. “We need to stay positive. We have to try and be adaptable to our situation if we are to find a solution.”
“Maybe we need to make some kind of bomb from the Quixotium once we’ve gathered it,” Spike as Twilight said excitedly.
“We’ll need some kind of cannon to launch it!” declared Pinkie Pie as Rainbow Dash. “My party cannon could launch it into the atmosphere, and I could carry Twilight Spike up to explode it with her dragon breath!”
“Those are fine ideas, but none of them are necessary,” said a familiar voice.
The others turned to see Luna standing in the doorway with a dazzling pony whose shimmering purplish-white coat appeared to be sprinkled with diamond dust.
“Luna!” Celestia as Discord declared happily. She nearly knocked her sister over in an attempt to nuzzle her with Discord’s muzzle. The others caught various objects as the serpentine chimera body undulated through the room.
“Princess Luna, I’m pleased that you’re well,” Discord as Celestia declared. “For a time, we feared the worst.”
“Things were a little off kilter at first,” Luna said. “When the comet exploded, I was caught in the blast. Everyone, this is Ultraviolet. She is a star pony. She was attempting to reroute the comet as well, but I didn’t see her, because I was on the other side of it. The explosion caused our personalities to switch bodies. Luckily, the Star Ponies know about the properties of Quixotium. We don’t need one big explosion. A series of small explosions will do just as well.”
“Why don’t we start with this group?” Ultraviolet suggested. “Then we can help the other citizens of Equestria return to their proper forms.”
Within five hours, everyone in Equestria had returned to their proper bodies. Princess Celestia and Discord co-hosted a celebration in Canterlot to commemorate the happy occasion.
“That was a really weird experience, and I’m glad it’s over,” Rainbow Dash said. “But I think I learned something. Pinkie Pie is really flexible. She adapted a lot better to being in my body than I did to being in hers. There’s something to be said for having an attitude like that.”
“True,” Discord said, “but there may also be something to be said for being able to operate gracefully within limitations. I am a very flexible creature, but I am not a graceful one. I tend to rush into situations without thinking. Although I was still myself, operating within the limitations of Celestia’s body taught me something about looking before I leap. I wanted to be sure I didn’t harm her body in any way by taking terribly drastic actions.”
“Thank you, Discord, I appreciate it,” said Celestia. “I have to confess, I have sometimes previously thought of you as an ungainly creature. I was absolutely wrong. You are an utterly amazing being, completely unique and, indeed, very flexible. I thought it would be easy to navigate the world in this snakelike body of yours. I was wrong. It takes a lot of finesse.”
“Rarity, I’m sorry that I implied that your body was weak,” Applejack said sheepishly. “Just because you choose skills that don’t involve brute strength doesn’t mean you’re weak.”
“Applejack, all is forgiven,” Rarity said. “We each have our own unique skills, and all of us are necessary. Why, I wouldn’t want to deprive the world of any of us!”
“Cheers to that!” Discord declared. “Here’s to each of our unique selves—and to being able to be those selves again!”
