Remember Discord's struggles with being class president? Well, now, he's up for a life-threatening battle.
A human Discord has finally gained the support of the whole Canterlot High. A couple months later, everyone is set for Spring Break, a week-long celebration for the end of Winter. However, a new girl with a striking resemblance with an old friend arrives and complicates things. Meanwhile, an old enemy of Discord returns with a hidden agenda and an unknown ally.
Got a new cover art. Gives a more tie between MLP and Spring.
A teenage boy slid his feet across his dressing room. He tore his different-sized eyes toward the mirror behind him and snapped his skinny fingers. Suddenly, in a flash of light, he wore a gray, blank T-shirt and jeans with ripped openings. He stroked his small, white beard at the sight of it.
"Nah." he said. "I look like a street punk." He snapped his fingers again and he had on a tuxedo. "Too formal... and I look like a penguin." His outfit changed into a colorful, baggy attire with a peace necklace. "Too Woodstock." He then had on a yellow shirt with a brown jacket, black tennis shoes, and red pants. "Why deny a classic?"
He walked out the door and met up with his butler waiting by the hallway.
"Are you ready, master Discord?"
"It's the end of the third term, baby!" Discord exclaimed. "Black Tie, I need you not to worry."
"Well, it's been a month since your little light-show drove Starlight Glimmer to prison," Black Tie said, "And you haven't done anything frantic since then... and I'm getting nervous."
"Hey, it's almost Spring Break, B.T." Discord said. "We're supposed to go nuts. We're also going to have a Springtime Celebration Field Day today, so I know what I'm getting into. In the meantime, let's boogie.
"It's been a very comfortable month
Always keeping to the plan
But still, managing a bit of chaos
Well, that's how I am
But I got my magic in control
Thanks to the friends I met
And that's definitely something
That I will never forgeeeeeeeet"
Discord ran outside the door with his backpack strapped to his shoulder. He cheered into the air on his way to school.
"Yeah, that's definitely something
That I will never forgeeeeeeeet"
Meanwhile, on the far side of town, a prison held some unfortunate people. Next to the federal prison, the juvenile prison stood beside. One of the cells in the juvie had an irrational girl who despises Discord more than anything. Starlight Glimmer growled in anger while looking out her cell window.
"Why am I the one punished
I was doing what was right
Equalizing the whole campus
Making my peers see the light
Now, I lost everything
To Discord the fool
In the end, I get this filthy prison
While he gets the school
He says he can make it better
Thinking he's some golden rule
The very thought makes me so upseeeeeet
And that's definitely something
That I will never forgeeeeeeet"
After Starlight hit the wall behind her with the back of her head, she heard a chuckled from the cell next door. She heard her deranged neighbor chuckle.
"Keep doing that and you'll lose all your hair. And I should know, I used to work at a shampoo factory. Care for some tips?"
"Shut up!" Starlight shouted full of rage. She looked outside and even more anger found its way to her eyes as she recognized Discord's hairstyle, even from the distance. "One day, Discord. One day, I'll make you wish you were never born."
Little did anyone know, a taxi pulled into the small town. The door opened and two living things walked out. One of them was a small, purple dog. The other was a purple, teenage girl with a white jacket and black-rimmed glasses. Her name was Twilight Sparkle and she was on an investigation. She observed the town and rubbed her chin.
"All right, Spike. Let's see
The answer to this mystery
We're both gonna discover what it's all about
Before the night is done, we will find out
We just have to see and that will be enough
What do you say, Spike"
"RUFF," the dog barked.
Twilight and Spike ran across the neighborhood until they came across the Canterlot High soccer field. The both of them sneaked under the bleachers and observed the six top girls in Canterlot High organizing the entire field day.
"We're getting ready for Spring Break," Sunset Shimmer sang.
"This is definitely gonna rock," Rainbow Dash sang.
"I'll start on the party decorations," Pinkie Pie sang.
"Enough small talk," Applejack sang.
"Everyone's in position," Rarity sang.
"Don't count our president out yeeeeeet," Fluttershy sang,
"He's another guy
That we'll never forgeeeeeeet"
"A long week of fun," the students sang,
"With our enchanted essence"
"And who better to start it off," Sunset Shimmer sang,
"Than the friendship Elements"
Suddenly, the six girls got very excited and their bodies started glowing. Their hair grew longer and they developed pony ears and tails. They floated in the air and hovered over the rides.
"Now, I suppose we can use our magic to finish up here." Sunset Shimmer said. "Let's go."
"So that's what the disturbances came from?" Twilight Sparkle asked in shock. "Magic? Fascinating." She pulled out a camera from her purse and snapped a few pictures. There was no need for flash, so she turned them off as she kept shooting while the students kept singing.
"NOW, WE CAN ENJOY SPRINGTIME
WITH A MAGIC BOOST TO ADD"
"WOW! THIS REVELATION'S BETTER," Twilight sang,
"THAN ANY THEORY I HAD"
"WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN," the students sang.
"QUITE A LOT, I BEEEEEEET," Twilight sang.
"THIS IS ONE YEAR," Sunset Shimmer sang,
"THAT WE'D NEVER RESEEEEEEEEET"
"EVEN THEN, IT'S SOMETHING," everyone sang,
"THAT WE'LL NEVER..."
"EVER..." Twilight Sparkle sang.
"WE WILL NEVER FORGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET"
"Never!" Twilight exclaimed. She didn't mean to be so loud, but she just caught the attention of the musical guitarist, Flash Sentry. As soon as she realized her mistake, Twilight ducked out of the way before Flash saw her.
"What's up, Flash?" one of his friends asked.
"I thought I just heard..." Flash said. He thought for a moment, and he shook his head afterwards. "Never mind. Let's continue."
Flash and his friends walked away from the bleachers. As soon as she knew Flash wasn't there anymore, she poked her head back up.
"Let's see if we can't learn any more, Spike." Twilight said.
Meanwhile, at the prison, a police guard approached Starlight Glimmer's cell and opened it. The crazy girl poked her head up and turned her attention to him.
"All right, Glimmer." the guard said. "Your bail is here."
"About time my parents came to their senses." Starlight grumbled to herself hopping out of the cell. As she continued down the hallway into the lobby, she kept whispering to herself. "I told them that I was doing the right thing. I tried to make the students' lives better by getting rid of all their clubs and sports teams and after-school programs. In fact, I..." She stopped when she saw her bailer. She was incredibly confused and scratched her scalp looking up at him. "You're not my parents? Wh-Who are you?"
The skinny man watched the guards with his yellow, beady eyes. His silent chuckle vibrated his silver beard. He turned back to Starlight and extended his red, claw-like hands.
"Someone who's very interested in your passion. My name is Professor Tirek, and I've got something I need you to do."
The pitch-black wheels on Tirek's car stopped in his driveway. Both he and Starlight Glimmer walked out of the car and into his two-story house with red bricks and a black rooftop. Tirek opened the door and they both entered. Starlight Glimmer searched the room, but nothing looked special. There were no animal heads on the walls, no antiques, no interior decorating, etc. Starlight sat at a chair across the table from where Tirek sat himself.
"Enjoying yourself, young one?" Tirek asked tapping his red fingers together. "I do hope you're not overwhelmed."
"Actually, I'm confused." Starlight said. "What did you say you were?"
"A psychiatrist. Why?"
"This place doesn't look like it belongs to a psychiatrist's place." Starlight said. "No offense, but if there was a prize for 'World's Fanciest House', you wouldn't win it. I mean, you don't even have any diplomas hanging on the wall."
"Who has time for expressing one's specialties these days?" Tirek asked. "I don't believe that one should have the right to show off their differences; something I believe we have in common."
"Look--Professor Tirek, was it--I appreciate you getting me out of jail," Starlight said, "But I still don't see why?"
"Like I said, I can't stand differences." Tirek said as he reached below his chair and pulled out a suitcase. "That is why I've come up with a plan to put an end to that."
Starlight didn't react to the statement, except rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that. I've tried."
"You tried doing it the political way." Tirek said. "I've got a another method that requires you return to the school and get me the final element that I need."
"Are you out of your mind?" Starlight gasped as she jumped out of her seat. "As soon as I set foot back at that school, I'm setting the other back in prison. Besides, whatever I'm looking for will be blocked by that idiot Discord, unless that twit is the one you want."
"Not remotely." Tirek said. He slid the briefcase across of the table and in front of Starlight. "But once you see what I've got in here, you're going to see that Discord boy won't be a problem."
Starlight started to sweat as she slid her hand across the top. She slipped her thumb in the case crack and slowly raised it up. When the light shined on what was inside, Starlight Glimmer stopped breathing for a second and couldn't look more surprised. As soon as she was able to breathe again, she turned back to Tirek's confident grin.
"What do I have to do?"
"All right, Discord." Principal Celestia told the school class president. "As president, you're in charge of the organization of the Field Day." She reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She then passed it to Discord. "Here is a list of everything you should check before the festivities begin."
Discord unfolded the paper. He was astonished at the fact that the paper was almost as tall of himself. He shook his head and breathed in and out. "Uh, principal, how many errands are on here?"
"Almost 20." Celestia replied. "Don't worry. You should be done by the time the Field Day starts in an hour." She then turned and walked down the hallway sighing.
Discord looked at the list and walked away. Discord unzipped his backpack behind him and a white Persian poked its head out and meowed.
"Yes, yes, Fluffy." Discord said. "You can roam around. Just don't let anyone see you, all right?" The cat hopped out of Discord's backpack and walked away. A familiar, pink-haired girl in a grassy dress arrived and passed the cat before it left around the corner. "She's an exception."
"Hey, Discord." Fluttershy greeted. "How's life treating you?"
"With a newspaper on my head!" Discord replied. "And I'm not talking about any ordinary newspaper; the Sunday edition."
"I don't understand." Fluttershy said.
"I thought being class president would make me feel top of the world." Discord explained. "Instead, I feel like I hit rock bottom. Why couldn't I have just recommended Sunset Shimmer for the role instead of taking it? She's more interested in organizing."
"Discord, you saved the school." Fluttershy said. "We could've been the worst school in the world without anything special without you."
"I know I should be excited Flutters," Discord said, "But I don't feel the love. This whole president thing is just... I don't know. This is...
"This is just not me
I can't ignore this feeling in my head
All this order. I should consider myself dead
As you can plainly see
This is just not me
It's too neutral for words
They say this president thing is considered their thanks
But I'm not allowed to pull the most simple pranks
I know I should feel free
But this is just not me
I oughta break it. Yes, I oughta
I can't even sing for a little glass of water
Some chocolate rain and some cotton candy clouds
But they don't seem too right for these crowds
This is just not me
I'm like a monkey wrench that's been thrown
I'm one of a kind. I'm chaos-prone
I can't be acting perfectly
This is just not me
What good is chaos without some strife
They want me organized when chaos is my life
Well, at the end of the day, this living deathtrap'll
Show he's got more mischief than any Golden Apple"
Discord stepped into the soccer stadium and saw the students working on the attractions. He sighed when he heard the students sing much to his chagrin.
"This is definitely us
Working together until the very end
Hand in hand and friend in friend
No need to make a fuss
This is definitely us"
"This is ridiculous! I can't stand it any more," Discord sang,
"This is unlike any disgust that I felt before
Behold, the world's most mischievous teenage boy
WHAT GOOD IS HAPPINESS WITHOUT ALL THE JOY
THIS IS JUST NOT ME
IT WASN'T SO STRICT LAST TIME I CHECKED
THIS IS TURNING TO A PAIN IN MY NECK
MY DEAR FRIEND, FLUTTERSHY
BETWEEN YOU AND I
I GAVE THIS THING A SHOT
BUT THIS IS JUST NOOOOT...
IT'S JUUUUUUUUUST NOOOOOOOOOOOT...
MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"
"Discord, no offense, but you gotta see a doctor." Fluttershy commented.
While Discord traveled through the aisles for the events, Twilight Sparkle continued taking pictures from the other side of the park. She was so focused on what she witnessed, she didn't notice her dog sniffing the air. Spike growled and snapped his head toward the direction of the white Persian that Discord released earlier.
"BARK, BARK, BARK!" Spike shouted. That got Twilight so excited, she dropped the camera. It broke apart on the ground and she panicked.
"Spike, what's the matter with you?!" Twilight shouted digging through the broken pieces and pulled out a small piece. "At least the memory drive's okay."
Suddenly, Spike continued barking and ran through the bleachers. Fluffy reacted to seeing the purple dog chasing towards him and shrieked loudly. The old, classic dog-and-cat chase began and Twilight panicked from behind the bleachers.
Meanwhile, Discord watched the events writing check-marks on his list.
"Come on, Discord." Fluttershy said. "You didn't know there would be organization skills needed for this."
"I had a lot of things on my mind that day, Fluttershy." Discord said. "I grew different animal parts, rescued a living computer program that's currently flowing through the school system, got a psychotic student sent away, and struggled out of being arrested in front of my parents. I didn't really have time for any thoughts about the downsides of being president. I can't possibly know of anything more stressful than that!"
He ate those words when he heard a crash from across the aisle. Everyone saw the purple dog barking and chasing Discord's cat. Fluffy leaped up and landed on Discord's face. He dug his claws into his cheeks and didn't let Spike catch her. Discord just yelled in pain.
"MY FACE!" Discord shouted in pain. "FLUFFY, GET OFF OF MY FACE!"
The riot caught the attention of a whole bunch of other students. Fluttershy saw the dog and widened her eyes. "Spike?" The sound of that made Spike stop barking and look confused.
"SPIKE!" a voice called out sounding familiar to everyone. Twilight Sparkle ran through the crowd and approached her dog. Everyone gasped at her. "Spike, no chasing cats! I'm sorry, everyone! Spike here just can't help himself sometimes!" Twilight saw everybody staring at her. "What? Why are you all staring at me?"
"More importantly, WHY ISN'T ANYONE GETTING MY CAT OFF OF MY FACE?!" Discord shouted with his voice near muffled from the white fur. "SERIOUSLY, FLUFFY, THIS IS WHY I'M SCHEDULING YOU TO BE DECLAWED!"
"I'll help you with that!" Twilight gasped. She wrapped her purple fingers around Fluffy and tugged.
Soon, the cat was pulled off. Discord tripped back and rubbed his face with his hands. He groaned.
"Uh, Sunset, how come Twilight or Spike aren't remembering us?" Applejack asked.
"I... don't think that's Twilight Sparkle." Sunset Shimmer said. "Or, at least, not the Twilight Sparkle we know. Every Equestrian has a human counterpart in this world. I think... we may be meeting the Twilight Sparkle of this world."
"So we get to meet her all over again?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Sounds like a hoot-and-a-half!"
"Are you all right?" Twilight asked Discord.
"A little." Discord replied getting up. As soon as he removed his hand from his face, Twilight gasped loudly.
"Discord?!" Twilight asked in complete shock.
Discord turned to the purple girl and widened his eyes, which then grew angry with his growl. "Sparkle!"
Twilight then grew angry back at him. They turned to each other and displayed anger towards one another.
"The plot, like gravy, thickens." Pinkie Pie said awkwardly.
Inside the office, Principal Celestia approached the two students pointing their backs at each other while everyone else watching. Discord and Twilight didn't move their heads one bit toward each other.
"Discord, Twilight, is there something I should know about?" Celestia asked.
"First of all, I need to know how you all know my name?" the purple girl asked.
"More importantly, what are you doing here, Sparkle?" Discord asked. "Come to pop even more of my bubbles?"
"Believe it or not, Discord, if I had known you were here, I would never come here." Twilight said.
"Discord, what's she talking about?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "How do you know her?"
"Sparkle used to go to one of the schools I attended." Discord described. "She was the smartest girl in class and the biggest tattletale."
Twilight responded by turning to Discord harshly. "You messed with the chemicals in the science lab!"
"Hey, I created life!" Discord said. "I made a green goop alive. I called it... the Smooze."
"That thing gobbled up every shiny object it could find and kept growing!" Twilight shouted. "It took a hazmat team to get it under control!"
"Anyway, after that, she got me expelled." Discord continued. "I've never forgotten what she did since."
"Discord, we've mentioned Twilight a dozen times over the past month." Fluttershy said. "Why didn't you recognize her before?"
"You only said 'Twilight'." Discord explained. "You never told me her last name and I didn't know this girl long enough to know her first as much as I never even met the version of her that you met!"
"Let me stop you right there." Twilight interrupted. "What are you all talking about?"
"It's... a little hard to explain." Rainbow Dash said scratching the back of her head. "Sunset, would you please explain?"
"All right. You see, Twilight... I'm not a normal girl. I'm from an alternate world called Equestria where we are all ponies. I ran away to this world and brought a bunch of trouble with me. I tried to use Equestrian magic to become more powerful, but I was stopped... by the Equestrian version of you. She kinda... followed me."
"I what... I mean, she what?" Twilight asked.
"And that wasn't the end." Sunset Shimmer continued. "You see, we needed her again. Another mess found its way to us and she helped us stop it. Some time later, Discord arrived and helped us out of another mess."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Twilight laughed loudly. Spike barked his laughter as well. "THAT'S HILARIOUS! DISCORD... HELPING PEOPLE!"
"Hey, I resent that remark!" Discord snapped. "Twilight, I've changed since you last saw me. I rose from my cocoon."
"It was less of a cocoon and more of a time bomb!" Twilight said. "I've moved to this town trying to investigate."
"And you moved here on your own?" Celestia asked.
"Not entirely." Twilight replied. "My brother's gonna join me tomorrow morning. Look, I'm having a hard time believing that there's a world full of ponies. I saw the magic you were using earlier, but the fact about a pony world and Discord in self-control are pathetic."
"Nope. It's all true."
Twilight and Spike jumped up and followed the voice to the computer screen on the wall. A black figure appeared on the pale-white background on the screen.
"What the..." Twilight asked in shock. "What.. Who... Where..."
"That leaves out why and when, I guess." the figure on the screen said. "Name's Devastator. I'm the artificial intelligence that controls the school's network system. I also have security footage of every adventure that happened at this school if you want to see it."
"I did not see that coming." Twilight stated. "How are you alive?"
"Ooh, teacher!" Discord said holding his hand up. "Me! Me! I brought him to life!"
"You?" Twilight asked raising an eyebrow. "You can't make life. You make mistakes."
"Does a mistake-maker make this?" Discord asked with a grin and a snap of his fingers. Suddenly, a stick of cotton candy materialized in his hand spooking Twilight and Spike. "I don't know why I didn't show you this seconds ago."
"You?!" Twilight gasped. "You're the chaos factor?!"
"I've been called worse." Discord answered. He pointed the cotton candy to Pinkie Pie.
"Don't mind of I do." Pinkie said taking the cotton candy out of Discord's hand and started eating it bit by bit.
"So... there is magic from a pony world that I've been researching?" Twilight asked. She turned to head to Flash Sentry who was watching her the whole time. She pointed at him. "Is he magic too?"
"Seriously?" Discord asked in a chuckle. "Look at him."
"Hey!" Flash reacted.
"BARK, BARK, BARK!" Spike exclaimed loudly toward Discord. He kept yapping causing Discord to cover his ears aggressively.
"Ai, ai, ai!" Discord screamed. "I forgot how annoying that mutt is! Seriously, what is it you're saying?!" Discord made a break to snap his fingers.
"BARK, BARK, AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVE TO MAKE SNAP-DECISION ONE-LINERS AGAINST EVERYONE!" Spike shouted. Suddenly, he realized what he just said and gasped. His expression was shared with everyone else but Discord.
"Spike?!" Twilight asked in surprise.
"What the..." Spike gasped. "What just happened?! Discord, what did you do?!"
"I always wondered what you had to say to me." Discord said. "Now, I can hear you. And don't give the whole if-you-can't-say-anything-nice line on me."
"This is ridiculous!" Twilight shouted. "What else could go wrong?!"
It was very convenient she'd say that. At that very moment, Trixie's scream was heard when she hit the crowd in front of the office. Discord, Twilight, Celestia, and the others walked out and saw Trixie panicking and breathing heavily.
"Trixie, dear, what's the matter?" Rarity asked.
"Sta-sta-sta-sta-sta-sta..." Trixie stuttered in fear. "Gli-gli-gli-gli-gli-gli... Sta-sta-sta-sta-sta-sta... Gli-gli-gli-gli-gli-gli..."
"TRIXIE!" Sunset interrupted. Trixie stopped talking. "What is the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Might as well, considering I'm dead to you all." a familiar voice said. Everyone followed it to the outside with the door opened. Discord walked through and gasped.
"It can't be." Discord gasped.
"Honestly, everyone," Starlight Glimmer said, "Did you think I'd be gone forever?"
"Starlight Glimmer." Discord growled.
"Glad you remember me, Discord." Starlight said. "Yes, one should remember his arch-nemesis."
"Oh, is that what you are?" Discord shot back. "I thought you were someone who failed to defeat me once with her evil genius plan."
"That's what an arch-nemesis is!" Starlight said.
"Enough mind warfare!" Discord shot back. "Honestly, today, my two least favorite girls just pop up out of the blue! Seriously, Starlight, why are you here?"
"Contrary to what you'd think I'd do in a million years," Starlight sighed, "I'm here to... apologize."
Nobody kept a straight face after hearing that. No one understood the situation.
"Come again?" Discord asked confusingly.
"You hear me." Starlight said. "I know what you're thinking. 'She can't be trusted'. Just listen to me.
"Friends, peers, fellow students
I'm not who I used to be
I've turned over a new leaf
Now, I finally see
I'm not here to mean you harm
I'm a whole different girl
Ever since what I've been through
My mind's been on a twirl
You know, you were right to stop me
I couldn't be more proud
Of being part of the different folk
And joining in on the crowd
I'm me. You're you
It couldn't be more clear
I'm me. You're you
You've got nothing to fear
As of right now, I promise
To make amends for my wrongs
Now that all I tried to throw out
Are right where they belong
I was a shortsighted woman
And you're an obviously proud school
If you want, I'll repeat what you said
I WAS STUBBORN AND CRUEL
Show me the right way
And then, I'll stay track
I would never change anything
IF YOU WOULD TAKE ME BACK
I'm me. You're you
I finally see that now
I'm not some dictator
Who can force you all to bow
I'm me. You're you
My chances were already slim
And someone helped me see that
IT WASN'T HIM OR HER OR HIM! IT WAS HIM
Discord... thank you
Because of you, I've seen the liiiiiiight
Now that I understand friendship
I'll take the chance to actually set things riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight"
"That's very fascinating." Rainbow Dash sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "Still, that does not excuse the fact that you tried to ruin our school."
"I know," Starlight said, "And I don't know if you can forgive me. I tried to change who you are and I shouldn't have? Thankfully, I am rehabilitated."
"I'm going to need some proof of this claim, Ms. Glimmer." Celestia said.
"The psychiatrist who treated me will mail you his report later." Starlight said. "But in the meantime, I'm going to have to wish you'd forgive me. And, if you would, take me back into the school."
"Give us one good reason." Flash Sentry said.
"I'll give you two," Starlight replied, "Sunset Shimmer and Discord."
Discord and Sunset both widened their eyes. They looked at the others and started to consider their decision.
"All right." Principal Celestia said. "I will... consider reapplying you to this school."
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted.
"Thank you." Starlight said. "I promise, you will not regret this."
"Too late." Discord grunted angrily. "I really hate this day."
"Did I miss something?" Twilight asked.
"I'll explain it to you later." Sunset Shimmer said. "I've got a lot of ground to cover."
Discord had gotten more discontent with the day. Whenever he even heard the mention of Twilight and Starlight's names, his teeth gritted against each other. It didn't help when his six friends approached him in front of the rubber slides asking questions.
"Was Twilight anything like the one we knew?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Did she always wear glasses? Has she ever visited Canterlot? How long did you know her?"
"Stop asking about her!" Discord growled. "That's in the past."
"Can I ask a question?" Sunset asked. "Why didn't you mention Twilight if she got you kicked out?"
"I happen to get a dozen of other kids mad enough to have me expelled." Discord said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to continue with my inspection and try to enjoy this Field Day while it lasts. And I still need to avoid Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer."
"Okay, Starlight, I understand," Rainbow Dash said, "But you've got to befriend Twilight. After all, we did."
"To be honest, I don't see much of a difference between the two." Discord said. "They're both perfectionists, I messed with the both of them, and they both ratted me out when I misbehaved. If I avoid one of them, I'm avoiding the other."
"You can't honestly compare them." Sunset Shimmer said. "Discord, Twilight's nothing like Starlight. And we should know; we met her."
"You met the Equestrian her." Discord corrected. "Think about it. What if this Twilight is entirely different from the one you met? Sunset, you told that I had an Equestrian counterpart who was evil. And yet, I am good and have learned my mistakes. What do you think of that?"
"Look, I don't have all the details yet. Discord, you're barely even giving her a chance. Look, what if one of us talked to her and try to settle an apology between the two of you."
Discord scoffed at the idea. "...Fine. I guess I can give it a shot."
"I wanna do it! I wanna do it!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "I wanna talk to her!"
"I don't think so, Pinkie." Sunset said. "I think she should hear it from someone who can better relate to her..."
"Too late." Applejack interrupted. "Pinkie done disappeared when you blinked."
Sunset looked around and couldn't find any trace of her pink-haired party-girl. "How can one high-strung girl disappear so fast without any trace?"
Inside the school building, Starlight had just moved to the main power room. Once she closed the door behind her and faced a large panel at the side of the wall, the screen next to her lit up and Devastator glared at her suspiciously.
"Hello, Starlight Glimmer." Devastator said.
"Oh, it's you." Starlight chuckled awkwardly. "Didn't we meet on some bad terms?"
"You threw me off a rooftop!" Devastator shouted. "Anyway, what are you doing in the main power room?"
"I was just exploring my old school. I am back in, after all, and I want to make sure everything's the same as I left it."
"Well, it's not." Devastator said. "That panel there displays my network connection to this school. Ricky and the other guys built it."
"You don't say." Starlight said approaching the panel. "Speaking of, where is the Computer Club?"
"Oh, them?" Devastator asked. "They're off on a field trip and won't be back for a couple more days."
"What a coincidence." Starlight Glimmer reached into her pocket and pulled out a black, square, mechanical patch. "This little gizmo lasts almost that long."
"What's that?" Devastator asked.
Before Starlight could answer, she spun around and slapped the patch onto the side of the consol. Suddenly, the lights on the panel began to diminish. Devastator yawned as his screen began to darken.
"It's an EMP patch." Starlight said. "It shuts of any electronic device it's attached to as well as the network it powers for a while. Just a little something my new partner cooked up. And with the Computer Club away and everyone leaving for Spring Break after this day, no one will even notice until I get what I came for."
"You... won't..." Devastator said slowly before his screen blacked out.
"Oh, don't worry." Starlight said. "You'll come back in a day or two. That's just enough time for me to complete my job. We just don't want you to warn anyone of who I'm working for. Believe me, I do wish there was another way to achieve my goals, but you all forced my hand. I'm merely doing this for your own good. You should be thanking me."
Starlight opened the door behind her and walked away with a half-grin on her face.
Ten minutes later, while all the rides started to deflate, Discord and the girls waited near the exit. The chaotic teen looked at his wacky watch and sighed heavily. He didn't get any happier when he saw Pinkie heading his way with Twilight following.
"Pinkie, you actually brought her?" Rarity asked.
"She kept singing a random song." Twilight said. "Couldn't stop until I agreed."
"All right, Twilight." Discord sighed. "You first."
"What about me?" Twilight asked.
"You apologize, and then, I will."
"No way. You apologize first."
"Please." Discord scoffed. "What kind of fool do you take me for?"
"What are my options?" Twilight returned.
"Hey, you two!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "Apologize now! At the same time!"
Discord and Twilight looked at each other and groaned. "I'm sorry." they said simultaneously.
"Good." Pinkie Pie said wrapping her arms around Twilight and Discord. "Now that we're all friends, we can ride roller-coasters, climb mountains, find buried treasure..."
"Well, as memorable as they sound," Discord said phasing out of Pinkie's arm, "There really is no need. Just because Twilight and I are burying the hatchet, it doesn't mean we're making friendship bracelets."
"Aaawwwwwww." Pinkie Pie said.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way." Twilight said. "As I heard, we all have Spring Break."
Twilight and Discord walked in different directions. Spike stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at Discord. Discord snapped his fingers and Spike's tongue twisted into a knot. The dog ran back to Twilight who scoffed at the class president. Twilight had her eyes closed, so she didn't see Flash Sentry until she bumped into him. Twilight was about to fall, but Flash caught her and set her up straight. Twilight blushed a little at him.
"Sorry about that." Flash said. "Although, this does bring back a few memories. By the way, I'm Flash, Flash Sentry."
"Twilight Sparkle."
"Yeah, I know who you are. I knew the pony you when she visited."
"Oh, anything happen?"
"Not too much."
As Twilight, Flash, and Spike walked away talking, the other girls walked out of the stadium, said "see ya" to each other, and walked in separate directions. Pinkie Pie hopped in her direction until a black car parked in front of her in the curb. She stopped and stared at it. The backseat window opened and Starlight was sitting inside of it.
"Hello, Pinkie Pie."
"Starlight? Nice car."
"Oh, this isn't mine." Starlight chuckled. "A friend of mine is picking me up from school."
"Someone's willing to be a friend for you?" Pinkie Pie asked confusingly. "I gotta meet him."
"What a coincidence." Starlight said. "He wants to see you too. Maybe you can hop in and we can go by his house to meet him."
"I don't know." Pinkie Pie said.
"Did I mention I have something extraordinary that you have to see?"
Starlight blinked her eyes, but after, she didn't see Pinkie Pie outside. She turned to the seat next to her and Pinkie Pie was excited as a squirrel on caffeine.
"I wanna see it!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "I wanna see it!"
"Whoa, you're fast." Starlight said. She then pulled out a black briefcase. She opened it up toward Pinkie, who stared at it astonishingly.
"Nice." she complimented. "You know, that looks exactly like..."
Quick as a flash, Starlight revealed a handful of dust and blew it at Pinkie. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. She fell back at the upholstery and slumbered soundly.
"Finally." Starlight said. "She was getting very annoying."
"Don't talk to me about annoying." a voice called from inside the briefcase. "Discord started being annoying since before I came to life."
Starlight reached into the briefcase and pulled out a small, handheld mirror. On the reflective surface, instead of Starlight's reflection, there was the living reflection of Discord.
"Remind me again," Starlight said, "How did Tirek find you?"
"It's like this." the Reflection said. "I was the one who revealed to you that Discord hypnotized your principal. After you got him expelled for it, he blamed me and threw me in the trash locking me in this cramped mirror. I rode all the way to the dump where I was found by an old hermit who tried to sell me with a lot of worthless junk. Thankfully, our mutual benefactor found me and bought me for $1.99."
"I just hope you're not as irksome as the real Discord is." Starlight said. "He is too uncontrollable for his own good."
"But that's why I'm here." the Reflection continued. "I'm the only one who knows how Discord thinks and what he's capable of doing. I'm the only one who can predict the unpredictable. Now, let's take this girl to Tirek for his plan."
"All right then." Starlight said. She looked at the sleeping Pinkie Pie and grinned. "One down. Five to go. And once Tirek shows the town what we can do, they'll all be treating each other finally as equals."
Starlight's car stopped in front of the building. She lifted the black briefcase while the driver exited the car and went to Pinkie Pie's side. He carried her over his shoulder as he and Starlight looked at the front of the old factory. They approached the doors and slightly opened them. Once they were inside, they saw working conveyer belts with many employees working their jobs simultaneously.
From above, Tirek looked down from the railings. His eyes caught Starlight and Pinkie and he smiled. Starlight and the driver walked up the stairs toward their boss, but Starlight still couldn't help but notice the workers working in equal amount of work. Tirek welcomed his allies with open arms. Behind him stood a large, human-sized capsule hooked to half-sized machines.
"Ah." Tirek sighed. "I'm glad you made progress this soon, Ms. Glimmer. Uh, Raul, could you set Ms. Pie into the siphoning chamber?"
The driver nodded and carried her to the capsule resting against the wall. As he gently rested the sleepy party girl inside, Starlight stepped up.
"Siphoning chamber? Tirek, what is that?"
"Simply put, it will harvest the Equestrian magic that's been bestowed upon her since the Fall Formal. It's an invention of my own making."
"Your own making?" Starlight asked. "I thought you were a psychology professor. That's what you said."
"Getting into people's heads is... more of a hobby, really. I am also the anonymous CEO of Tartarus Industries, the most efficient company in the US. It's a tough place to work, but that's why I have the most focused, most cooperative worker drones. It takes a lot of work to get them to stay in sync."
"I see." Starlight said nervously. "So... Tirek, if you need Equestrian magic, why would you specifically ask me to capture Pinkie Pie? This whole town is swarming with that magic."
"May be," Tirek agreed, "But according to our purple, Equestrian visitor, the most powerful form of magic is the one shared by her friends. In order to truly accomplish my plans, I need all six of those friends. All that's left is Rarity, Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Sunset Shimmer."
"Well, why did you want me to capture Pinkie first?" Starlight asked as she saw the capsule close in on the pink girl. "Couldn't Fluttershy have been a safer first choice?"
"Because," Tirek explained expressively, "I'm taking them from most to least dangerous. Pinkie Pie has the mind, attitude, and luck of a 6-year old girl at a county fair. That makes her an unpredictable wildcard. Now, you just need to acquire Rainbow Dash next."
"Makes sense." Starlight said. "Her athleticism can pose a bigger problem now."
"Hey, Red Guy!" the Reflection shouted from inside of the briefcase. Starlight opened it up and presented the hand-mirror to Tirek. "What about me? You said..."
"I know, I know." Tirek said. "I promised I'd release you from your hand-held prison."
"You can do that?" Starlight asked.
"I can now." Tirek said approaching the capsule. "I have to test my siphoning chamber somehow. Just hold him up in the air."
Starlight did as he commanded and raised the mirror high above her head. She closed her eyes as to not look. As Tirek types on the control panel, a small antenna popped out from the top and the inside of the chamber begin to glow pink. The antenna glowed the same color. A blast of pink lightning zapped out of it and hit the reflective surface on the mirror. As the impact struck, the Reflection screamed loudly which lasted a few seconds before the machine powered down. Steam hovered above the capsule and the mirror. Starlight looked into the mirror and gasped when she saw only her reflection.
"What was that?" Starlight asked in a panic. "Where'd he go?"
Suddenly, a familiar laugh echoed through the whole room. The Reflection appeared on the window pane excited and giddy. He roamed through the room jumping from one reflective surface to another.
"At last! I am finally free! Now, I can have some real fun! HAHAHAHAHA!
"Universe
Guess who's back
Discord's reflection
HA! Take that
Oh, he thinks
He's tougher
Well, he'll regret
Making me suffer
Oh, he thinks he's perfect, but wait until he'll see
That I'm very free
Very free
When he threw me in the trash
In my tortured, scarring past
THAT MISTAKE WAS HIS LAAAAAAAAST
NOW, I'LL HAVE
WHAT I CLAIM
DISCORD PLAYING
THE RULES OF MY GAME
HE MAY THINK
HE GOT AWAY
BUT NOW I'M BACK
AND HE WILL PAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY"
Suddenly, he started to fade slightly and he was confused.
"What?" the Reflection asked observing his clearer self. "What's going on?"
"Quick!" Tirek shouted. "Get back inside your mirror!"
Immediately, the Reflection vanished from the window and reappeared back in the handheld mirror. He breathed in and out heavily and loudly.
"What was that?" Starlight asked.
"It's just as I imagined." Tirek said. "I thought there might be some side effects of crossing friendship energy with the chaos energy Discord left you. You can only leave your mirror for a short amount of time before you have to return; otherwise, you'll disappear completely. Using up 1/6 of the girl's energy wasn't enough to break your seal permanently."
"1/6?" the Reflection asked. "Well, then, don't dial it down. Why don't you just give me a stronger dose?"
"No way. The human body can only take so much harvesting. If I use too much, she's going to dematerialize, and every element counts in this plan. I dialed it down to using 1/6 because we need all six girls."
"That still doesn't solve the Discord problem." Starlight added. "We need the Reflection to deal with him, but he can only be out of his mirror for a few minutes."
"That's all the time I need." the Reflection said. "Just continue luring in the girls. With each girl we've captured, my leave over my imprisonment will be even longer. And then, Discord will regret the day he threw me out."
"So... about my pony princess counterpart..." Twilight said, "Did you, by any chance, get to know her?"
"A few minutes each time she visited." Flash answered. "We bumped into each other, shared a dance, gave hugs."
"Sounds wonderful." Twilight said. "So... if you ever want to get another cup..."
"Flashy, my man!" a familiar voice shouted. The two of them turned and saw Discord dashing toward them. Twilight rolled her eyes and Flash breathed heavily.
"Discord, hey." Flash said awkwardly. "This isn't really the best time."
"But I've been searching over town for you." Discord said. He held out a decorated card and passed it to Flash. "I'm in need of your services."
Flash held up the card to his face and read it aloud. "'Discord's Spring Break Introduction Extravaganza'?"
"Yep, the DSPIE." Discord asked. "Since my parents are negotiating a business deal in Denmark, that leaves my mansion free for a Spring party. It's tomorrow and I've got it all covered. Rarity can work on the decorations, Fluttershy is working on the Spring themes, and I've been trying to get ahold of Pinkie Pie, but for some reason, she's not answering. Anyhow, all I need now is a band to represent."
"And you need mine?" Flash asked.
"Well, I'm not asking you to operate my roller coaster." Discord answered.
"You have a roller coaster?" Twilight asked.
"I bet I have a lot of things you don't know about." Discord said. "So, Flash, what do you say?"
"Well... I don't see why not." Flash answered. He turned his head to Twilight and they smiled at each other. "Can I bring a Plus-One?"
"By all means." Discord said. "As long as you're not bring..." He saw the two of them looking at each other and sighed. "You are. Honestly, I can't believe what... I'm... seeing." He stopped paying attention when he saw the window on the other side of the street. On the reflective surface, it looked exactly like Discord placing his thumb on the tip of his nose and wiggled the rest of his fingers. The real Discord squinted with suspicion and walked past the couple.
"Discord?" Twilight asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Uh, no." Discord lied. "Just need to check something out. I'll see you at the party."
Before Flash could say anything else, Discord already left the area and inspected the mirror. All he saw from it was his actual, nonliving reflection. He scratched his scalp and couldn't help but be confused.
"What's going on?" Discord asked himself. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say I just saw... No, it couldn't be... couldn't it?"
A couple nights later, the party lights and music boomed from inside Discord's family mansion. Plenty of Discord's peers danced in their party clothes. But while everyone enjoyed the night, Discord just shifted his eyes left and right. Suddenly, he felt a hand rest instantly on his shoulder and he literally turned pale-white.
"Discord?" Fluttershy asked behind him. Discord turned and saw his friend. He changed back into his normal color in relief. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Might as well." Discord whispered. "Listen, don't tell anybody this. I don't want to cause a panic. But I think I saw... my Reflection."
Fluttershy didn't respond to it. "Uh, Discord, we all see our reflections. It's what happens when we look into a mirror."
"No, no, no." Discord groaned. "Not a reflection; THE Reflection. I'm talking about the one I told you about, remember?"
"You mean the one who told Starlight about your mistakes that got you expelled for a couple of days?" Fluttershy asked. "I thought you said you got rid of him."
"I did." Discord said. "I trapped him in his little handheld mirror and threw it away. But the other day, I've saw him. And now, I can't help but wonder if he's following me."
"It's all right, Discord." Fluttershy said patting him on the back. "Just know that if he is back, I'll always be at your side."
"Really?"
"That's what friends are for."
Suddenly, Flash Sentry and his band took the stage and everyone turned their eyes at them. Discord sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes.
"Is something wrong, Discord?" Fluttershy asked noticing his resentment. "I thought you and Flash were buddies."
"We are." Discord said. "It's just that, well, if he's here, that means he's bringing that strict, relentless, rotten party-pooper along as his date."
It took a moment for Fluttershy to interpret. "You mean Twilight Sparkle?"
"No, I meant Fluffy." Discord answered sarcastically. "Who else would I be talking about?!"
"Discord, I thought you buried the hatchet with Twilight."
"Oh, not yet, but I will." Discord said. Suddenly, he materialized a small axe in his hands. "Do you think it'll look better in her back or her head? Be honest."
"Discord, no!"
"Yeah, you're right." Discord made his hatchet disappear. "I should send her into another dimension."
"Discord, you've got to learn to be more friendly towards her." Fluttershy responded. "If not for her, then for me? Please?"
Discord tried not to look, but a quick peek at her adorable eyes was enough to make him submit. "Oh, I can't say no to you. Fine, I'll give her another chance."
"Thank you." Fluttershy said. She grabbed his hand and turned her head to the stage. "Now, please, it's rude to be moody at your own party."
"All right, everybody!" Flash Sentry announced. "This is in dedication to our growing trust towards each other and the lessons we've learned!" He turned his head to his Plus 1 standing at the front row. The purple girl smiled in her purple dress. "Twilight Sparkle, here's what we all learned! Two, three four!"
While the first few moments of instrumental music played, Spike turned and saw Discord's pet cat and squinted aggressively. Spike sneaked away from Twilight and crept through the crowd while Flash Sentry sang while playing his guitar.
"Being separate is how we used to live
Getting many with nothing to give
But now, fate as turned
Now that we all learned
An equine statue got us a heroine
Who got us out of the mess we were in
Bringing us together
We'll all remember
Thanks to her, we left our strife
And were shown a new way of life
Livin' as one
You and me
Sticking together
In harmony
Never forget
Through thin and thick
I'll always have you
No one I'd rather pick
We're always going to have some fun
When livin' as one
There are those who'd drive you apart
But no one can reach inside your heart
No matter how we are
We've come so far
So we're not equal. So we're not the same
We're still here in this game
LIVIN' AS ONE
YOU AND ME
STICKING TOGETHER
IN HARMONY
NEVER FORGET
THROUGH THIN AND THICK
I'LL ALWAYS HAVE YOU
NO ONE I'D RATHER PICK
WE'RE ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE SOME FUUUUUUUN
WHEN LIVIN' AS ONE"
In the far side of the room, Starlight Glimmer pulled out her mirror. She opened it up and the reflection grinned in excitement.
"Is it time, yet?" he asked. "I'm itchin' to do this!"
"Well, have you seen your hair? Go ahead. But you gotta come back after a few minutes to recharge."
"I know the drill." the Reflection said. He faded away.
Meanwhile, Discord approached Flash Sentry behind the stage to congratulate him.
"Well done, Flash. I want to thank you. If it wasn't for your music, this party would've been a bust."
"Thanks." Flash said. "And I wanna thank you for giving Twilight a chance. It means a lot to me."
"Yeah." Discord sighed. "Whatever. It's hard to be likeable when everyone I encounter gives me a migraine. Twilight. Starlight."
"Discord, you don't become friends by making everyone like you." Fluttershy said. "You do it by..."
She was interrupted by a loud, echoing laugh that silenced everyone in the room. Suddenly, the Reflection was projected at a large window for everyone to see. Discord couldn't believe his eyes, but everyone saw it.
"Hello, everyone!" the Reflection declared. "Hey, Discord, did you miss me?"
"You ARE back!" Discord gasped. "How?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" the Reflection returned. "Anyway, I heard there was a party. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail."
"Why are you even bothering anymore?" Discord asked. "I'm clearly getting along just fine. There's no reason for you to be here anymore."
"And what?" the Reflection asked. "I'm supposed to forget how you threw me away, abandoned me, humiliated me?! No! I'm going to make you pay for that. I'll terrorize this whole town and there's nothing you can do to..." He suddenly started to make shivering sounds. "One second." He faded away and the room fell silent for a moment.
"Well, that was anticlimactic." Rarity commented.
"That's weird." Discord said.
Just then, the window was filled with the Reflection again.
"I'm back! Now, where was I?"
"You were leaving." Discord said. "Look, how do you even plan on getting revenge?"
"Oh, what happened to the fun-loving, care-free Discord I taught?" the Reflection asked. "Fine, I'll tell you. But I'll only tell you my way.
"To understand exactly what I'm up to
You just have to think this whole riddle through
You're all bees that are about to be led
And what you don't have are practically dead"
The Reflection disappeared completely and the crowd started to panic. Discord tried to stop them, but he fell to the ground flat as a pancake getting trampled with footprints. As everyone ran outside, Rainbow Dash fell sideways out of the crowd. She had some help getting back up by someone she didn't expect.
"Starlight Glimmer?"
"Come with me." Starlight said. "I've got someone who can help."
"Why should I?" Rainbow asked.
"It's either me or Discord's reflective double!" Starlight said. "Take your pick!"
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment and realized Starlight was right. She followed her to the black car waiting at the road, but didn't realize she was heading for her doom.
The Reflection laughed his lungs out from his handheld mirror while Starlight Glimmer placed Rainbow Dash unconscious in a capsule beside Pinkie Pie. She looked and saw four empty capsules further down the row. Tirek couldn't help but smile at his progress.
"THAT WAS HILARIOUS!" the Reflection cackled. "I NEARLY BUSTED A GLASS GUT! HAHAHA!"
"Yes, yes, that was very intimidating." Starlight said without emotion. "Look, I don't care if it was funny or not. As long as the plan keeps going, we need to focus on that."
"Starlight, honey, you're not seeing the big picture here." the Reflection said. "We need this to be funny. We need all attention on me."
"Of course." Tirek agreed. "How else can we make sure Discord doesn't miss our prisoners?"
"Prisoners?" Starlight asked in reaction. "Tirek, isn't that a little harsh for you?"
"You seem to forget, Ms. Glimmer," Tirek explained, "Until we get what we need, we have no time for charity. We need to keep Discord distracted so much, he won't notice the girls are disappearing. Only his Reflection can get his attention. Now, with 1/3 of the magic, his leave from his mirror can be extended."
"That'll be a much longer time to carry out my threat." the Reflection added.
"Carry out?" Starlight asked. She chuckled. "I'm sorry, Professor Tirek, but it sounds to me that you're going to let this reflective clown terrorize Canterlot."
"I am."
Starlight was obviously hoping for a different reaction, and that's why she gasped. "What? Tirek, you never said anything about endangering everybody."
"Like you should talk." the Reflection said.
"Okay, I admit, I'm not an angel," Starlight returned, "But even I agree this is nuts. You said it yourself, you believe in equality."
"I do." Tirek said. "Like you, I believe that all people--big and small, young and old---should be acting the same as everyone else. And with what I have in mind, they're going to do just that. However, you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. This is what you agreed to do. Now then, I believe Applejack is your next..."
"No!" Starlight stood up. "Lying, kidnapping, and letting six girls get turned into experiments, I can handle. However, I draw the line at endangering everyone in town. To that, I say, farewell."
Starlight turned around and approached the stairs. However, right before she could grip onto the rail, she felt Tirek's cold grip on her shoulder. He turned her around and she was petrified at seeing the anger in his eyes.
"Don't even try it, Starlight Glimmer! No one walks away from me!
"Don't turn your back
Hahahaha
Don't turn your back
Hahahaha
My marionette
Don't let me get
A heart attack
Don't break our team
Don't be a fool
You can't begin to dream
How much I can be cruel
Don't turn your back
Hehehehe
Don't hide your face
Hehehehe
It was your sin
That started in
The first place
If you leave, my friend
And slam the door shut
Then you're a loose end
That I am forced to cut
Just stay, child
And please, don't spurn us
Believe you me, that's the last thing you need
If you run wild
Than I'll pull out the furnace
And shove you in top speeeeeeeeed
HAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHEHE! HAHAHAHAHAHA
Do you concede
Don't turn your back
Hahahaha
Or turn away
Hahahaha
You know it's right
So, dear Starlight
What do you say
YOU'VE ALREADY SEALED
THE DEAL
SO YOU BETTER STAY ON TRAAAAAAACK
HEAR WHAT I SAID
DON'T TURN YOUR HEAD
AND WHATEVER YOU DO...
DON'T TURN YOUR... BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK
HAHAHAHA"
"You... make some excellent points, Professor Tirek." Starlight replied with fear trembling in her voice. "I'll just stick to the plan." She picked up the Reflection's mirror and walked away. As soon as she left, Tirek stroked his beard down.
"She's becoming a bit of a wildcard. No matter, I have ways of dealing with wildcards."
Starlight approached Discord's mansion where she found the rest of the girls, Twilight, and Flash Sentry tending to the footprints implanted on Discord. She approached them and stopped behind them.
"Say, where's Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked. Starlight suddenly got nervous at the sound of it.
"I don't know." Sunset Shimmer replied. "Perhaps she went home to rest. That other Discord really got us all nervous. Discord, what was that thing anyway?"
"That was his Reflection." Fluttershy replied.
"His what?" Rarity asked.
"Oh, pardon me." Discord said with a hint of embarrassment in his tone. "I only told Fluttershy about him and I assumed she already told you."
"I didn't have the time to talk about it." Fluttershy said.
"You two share things?" Twilight asked arcing an eyelid.
"Why, of course." Discord replied. "We're friends. Anyway, here's the story. Around the time I got my powers, I also gained a living Reflection. He seemed to be an expert on my powers and helped me learn how to control them. However, when I started making friends, he felt like I was betraying him and told Starlight I hypnotized Principal Celestia to get me expelled. Of course, I took it personally and threw my Reflection in the trash. I thought he was gone for good."
"I... had no idea." Starlight lied. "If I had known who told me, I'd..."
"It's all right, Starlight." Fluttershy said. "That's not the issue right now."
"Yeah." Discord agreed. "Right now, I gotta teach him a lesson!"
"How?" Flash asked. "Your Reflection is untouchable. All you can really touch is glass. We need to think this through."
Starlight got nervous, but she still worked in secret. She pulled out her handheld mirror without anyone looking and opened it. The Reflection grinned wickedly and nodded at her. She closed the mirror and stuffed it back into her pocket. Starlight approached the conversing crowd and spoke up.
"Why don't you face him?"
"What?" Discord asked confusingly.
"Obviously, this guy is going to keep to his word and terrorize Canterlot." Starlight explained. "The only way to stop that from happening is if you teach him a lesson."
"Haven't you been paying attention?" Twilight asked. "He can't hurt him. All he can do is break some glass. I haven't been learning about this magic for long, but I know what the problem is."
"That's not what I meant." Starlight said. "The Reflection has to be communicating with our world from somewhere. I've watched a horror movie once and saw that reflections have their own parallel world. Discord's Reflection seems to be breaking all that and terrorizing us from his world."
"That can't possibly be true... can it?" Sunset Shimmer asked.
"It's like a regular Monday for us." Discord said. "I suppose, with my powers, I can enter this parallel world and fight him on his turf, but I have to enter exactly where he is."
"So we've got to find him, keep following him, and let Discord handle the rest." Sunset Shimmer said. "We're going to have to pair off if we're going to cover more ground in this city."
"All right." Discord said. "I'll take Fluttershy."
"Okay." Fluttershy agreed.
"Twilight, you're with me." Flash Sentry said.
"Right." Twilight agreed.
"I might need Applejack." Starlight said.
"If you say so." Applejack agreed nervously.
"I guess that leaves Sunset and I." Rarity said.
"Okay." Sunset declared. "We've got to find the Reflection and lead him towards Discord. Ready?"
"BREAK!" everyone declared loudly.
Everyone turned to leave, but Twilight stopped to look around.
"Hey, has anybody seen Spike?"
In another part of town, Fluffy the cat ran around a corner and into an alleyway. He screeched loudly when he ran into a dead end. He turned and Spike the dog walked slowly towards him.
"All right, wise guy." Spike growled. "Now, I get to get all vicious and..."
The cat meowed and pointed at the street.
"Starlight entering a black car with an unconscious Applejack?" Spike repeated in a question. "How dumb do you think I am?"
Fluffy grabbed Spike's head and spun it around. Spike dropped his jaw when he saw Starlight Glimmer holding Applejack over her shoulder. She entered a black car that started to turn its wheels. Spike ran to its back and saw a series of letters on the license plate: "TRTRS NDSTRY". That was the only thing Spike could see before it drove off. Spike was too confused to go after it or notice that Fluffy was still next to him.
"What the..." Spike asked. He saw Fluffy beside him and didn't react. "Truce?"
Fluffy meowed.
"All right." Spike said. "Let's figure out what's going on."
Discord looked through his binoculars over the town and its reflective surfaces. As he lowered his specs under his chin, he sighed and turned to Fluttershy.
"Still no sign of my Reflection."
"Don't give up, Discord." Fluttershy said. "We'll find him soon."
"I know." Discord still spoke with discontent. "That's another event I planned turned to mush."
"Huh?" Fluttershy asked.
"I feel useless right now, Fluttershy." Discord explained. "I was in charge of the Spring Field Day and I got interrupted by the return of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer. I tried to make up for it with my party last night, but my Reflection just showed up out of the black."
"You mean blue?"
"No, black. I was looking in his soul."
"Discord, why was that all so important to you?" Fluttershy asked. "Hosting parties left and right; that's Pinkie's job. Why are you making a big deal out of it?"
"Because..." Discord sighed heavily. "Because I was trying to raise everyone's standards of me. I made a promise to be a better friend and I have to keep getting better and better..."
"Discord, hold on." Fluttershy interrupted. "You don't need big parties to show you're a good friend. You're actually willing to fight a mirrored version of yourself so you can protect us. We couldn't ask for a better friend out of you."
"Really?" Discord asked.
"I'll show you." Fluttershy bent down and plucked a flower from the grass below. She opened Discord's shirt pocket and tucked it with the pedals sticking out. "There you go."
"A flower?" Discord asked awkwardly. "Really? A new video game would've been nice."
"No, Discord." Fluttershy laughed. "It's my gift to you. You can wear it as a good luck charm. Also, you can call it a symbol. This will show everyone how much you've blossomed into a gentle thing.
"You've started off wrong
With no one to help you out
But after so long
You finally know what friendship's about
You've changed so much
And I couldn't be more proud
How much you've defined
Someone like you
Is definitely one of a kind"
"Well, it wasn't easy," Discord sang,
"I've had some trouble along the way
But that's how I became
The semi-well-behaved kid I am today
If it wasn't for you
I'd still be the same
A creep with a one-track mind
You're definitely right
I'm certainly one of a kind
Thank you for all you've done"
"It's less than what you earn," Fluttershy sang.
"Now, I've got to save everyone," Discord sang.
"And I look forward to your return," Fluttershy sang,
"I give you this flower
As a sign of luck to you"
"And when I return," Discord sang,
"You'll see me good as new"
"AND IN THE END," both sang,
"WE WILL CELEBRATE"
"Imagine what we will find," Fluttershy sang.
"If we have our skills combined," Discord sang.
"And when we work as one," both sang,
"We'll work as one of a... kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind"
Suddenly, Discord's ringtone interrupted and Discord groaned answering it. "Hello?"
"It's Sunset Shimmer!" the voice called out. "Rarity and I found the Reflection! It's traveling through the windows in Main Street! Hurry!"
"I'm on my way!" Discord answered boldly. He hung up and materialized a two-person bicycle. He and Fluttershy got on different seats and peddled into the heart of the town.
Starlight Glimmer stood in the alleyway all alone opening her mirror. Suddenly, the Reflection appeared in it and breathed heavily.
"Man, time flies when you're having fun." the Reflection said.
"Maybe it's just me," Starlight said, "But I don't think going around terrorizing the townspeople could be any definition of fun."
"By now, she's probably in her capsule dreaming of cider and rope tricks." Starlight replied. "According to Tirek, by now, your absence from this mirror should be long enough to deal with Discord."
"Excellent!" the Reflection cheered. "You deserve a Vader."
"A what?"
"It's kind of like the Oscars, except for traitors, but that's beside the point. Just lead Discord to my world and I'll handle the rest. Hehehe. He won't know what hit him."
The Reflection squatted and leaped out of the mirror glass. Starlight chased it out of the alleyway and down the street's windows. They soon found their way in front of a furniture store where the others caught up.
"HE WENT IN THERE!" Starlight pointed into the store.
As soon as they were there, they scattered all across the store.
"Found him!" Twilight shouted. She picked up a mirror where the Reflection was at. He tried to move, but he couldn't get out.
"What?" Twilight asked. "What's up with you?"
"I need another reflective surface connected to this mirror to move." the Reflection answered. "I can't escape."
"Odd." Discord said approaching him. "You never had that restriction when you were with me."
"So I've lost a few tricks after you cut me off." the Reflection scoffed. "Big deal. I still got a few more up my sleeve."
"I'll have to see them for myself." Discord said. "Wish me luck."
"Be careful, Discord." Fluttershy warned.
"Rock his world." Flash Sentry expressed.
"Teach that ruffian a lesson." Rarity said.
Then, without warning, Discord leaped toward the mirror and shrunk upon impact. When he opened his eues after a flash, he saw a blurry background. Wherever he looked, it was all fuzzy. The only thing that looked normal was the Reflection taking a sip of tea.
"Welcome to my world, partner." the Reflection said. "Here, everything has to move exactly as the real versions would. They have no minds of their own. But then, you got your powers and gave me my very own mind. I couldn't thank you enough."
Discord stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry. "I don't need your kind of devotion. I've gotten along just fine without you. There's no chance to breaking me up from my friends just to prove a point anymore."
"This isn't about making a point anymore!" the Reflection exclaimed. "You threw me in a literally stinking trash can! That's not easy to get over, and don't think I haven't tried."
"Well, now, you've got nowhere to go." Discord said. He then materialized a pair of boxing gloves on his hands and punched the air towards him. "Come on, you phoney-baloney! Give me everything you've got! I'm a wrecking machine!"
The Reflection only reacted with a slight chuckle that grew louder. "This is too precious. Tell me, does this sound familiar: 'Please, take me back. I've learned the error of my ways.'"
"I... don't get it." Discord said keeping his gloves up.
"Oh, I can't drill through this wood." the Reflection groaned. "Look, she scammed you. She played you like an instrument."
"...Who did?"
"Okay, now, it's just getting sad." the Reflection sighed. "I'm talking about Starlight Glimmer. She brought me back here. She's responsible for my rampage. And moreover, she's responsible for the disappearances of your friends; the silly one, the athlete, the farm girl."
"What?!" Discord gasped making his gloves disappear. He looked up and saw the border above them. "I've got to warn them!"
Discord leaped up towards the exit, but he felt a tightening and a tug around his wait from the lasso wrapped on him. Discord landed on the ground in front of the Reflection wearing a cowboy costume.
"YEE-HAW! I'M GONNA HOGITE ME A HALFWIT! Don't leave yet, Discord! I've got something planned for you!"
Outside the mirror, no one could see what was going on inside. They couldn't see or hear Discord at all.
"Do you think he made it?" Fluttershy asked.
"Don't ask me." Twilight said. "I've only learned magic existed for a couple of days."
"Hey, it has been a couple of days, hasn't it?" Starlight asked. She then thought inside her head, "That means the EMP patch should shut down and Devastator should come back online any minute now. I've got to work fast."
Suddenly, a white glow escaped the mirror. As soon as it dimmed, Discord was seen lying on the floor across of them. The other people inside the store stared for a minute before returning to their usual business like it wasn't noticeable. Discord raised his head up and shook the dizziness out of his head.
"Discord, are you all right?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm okay." Discord said. "It wasn't easy. That handsome devil really put up a fight. But eventually, I turned the tables on him. He won't be bothering us again."
"You sure?" Sunset asked. "That's what you thought before."
"Trust me." Discord said. "He won't be that much trouble again."
"Well, did you learn anything?" Twilight asked. "Did you learn how he came back? Anything else at all?"
Discord turned his eyes to Starlight and grinned before turning back. "Nope. I guess that's going to be an unsolved mystery."
"All right." Flash Sentry said. "Let's celebrate this evening. My treat."
"I'll catch up later." Starlight said. "I've got somewhere to be. Hey, Rarity, how about a carpool?"
"Well, I don't have any other means." Rarity replied before following Starlight out.
"I'm proud of you, Discord.." Fluttershy said. "You really came through today. You're a true friend."
"...Yeah, right." Discord replied awkwardly. "Listen, I've got somewhere to be. I'll meet you all later."
Before anyone could say anything else, Discord had already bolted leaving only a cartoon cloud shaped just like his last position.
"That was weird... even for him." Sunset Shimmer said. "Who has to be in a hurry somewhere after defeating his enemy?"
"Now, I'm sure it's pretty important." Fluttershy said. "Otherwise, he wouldn't go so soon."
Rarity sat in the middle seat right next to Starlight Glimmer. Suddenly, the other door opened and Discord hopped right in.
"Discord?" Rarity asked. "What are you..." She was interrupted when a white lightning bolt shot out of his fingers and right to her. Rarity then collapsed forward while Starlight gasped.
"Bada-bing, bada-boom, kapow!" the chaotic kid expressed.
"So... it worked." Starlight said feeling the car drive. "It actually worked."
"Of course, it did. Just open your mirror and see for yourself."
Starlight followed what she heard and opened up her handheld mirror. The Reflection pounded on the glass and shouted.
"LET ME OUT OF HERE, STARLIGHT! YOU LIED TO ME AND MY FRIENDS!"
"I don't believe it." Starlight gasped in shock. She then turned to her partner. "You switched."
"Now, Discord's physical body is mine." the Reflection replied. "With these new powers, capturing Sunset and Fluttershy will be a real walk in the park."
"But we've got to jury this up." Starlight continued. "The EMP patch at the school should turn off and who knows how long until Devastator waked up."
"Don't worry about it." the Reflection said. "He'll always trust Discord, no matter where he is. Now..." He looked out the window and grinned at the passing houses and trees. "...Let's enjoy being real."
The Reflection (now in the physical world) opened the handheld mirror and presented it to Tirek. Discord gasped at the sight of the red villain while Starlight Glimmer rested Rarity into her capsule.
"Whoa, momma! Talk about a face only a mother could love! And even then..." Discord lifted his hand and made a 50-50 gesture.
"Pleased to meet you, Discord. My name is Professor Tirek. I'm the man responsible for this little adventure."
"I don't care if your Ol' McDonald, pal!" Discord shot back. "Tell my handsome body-snatcher here to let me out."
"Well, let's ask him." Tirek said. "Reflection, would you want to let him out?"
"I could let that happen, I suppose. But then, one of us would have to take your place. It's a law of equal trade."
"I see." Tirek said with a smile. Without any of them knowing, two miniature figures sneaked from the side door and peeked over the ledge. Spike and Fluffy were spying on the villains. "You see, Discord, we need your Reflection to finalize the retrievement process."
"Huh?" Discord asked.
"We're going to kidnap the rest of your friends." the Reflection translated.
"WHAT?!" Discord shouted in shock. "But that makes no sense. Why would you do that?"
"With the advancements in Tartarus Industries, I can fully control the energy the girls share during their bond." Tirek explained.
"Did you hit your head against a wall or something?" Discord asked. "There's absolutely no way anyone can control friendship! And besides, what do you plan with all that energy?"
"Precisely what I promised young Starlight here." Tirek answered. "Equality among everyone; big and small, young and old, etc."
"Starlight, is this true?" Discord asked glaring angrily at the girl watching Rarity's capsule light up.
"I... don't exactly approve of their methods," she said, "But they often remind me of the results this will end in. Tirek promised that in the end, everyone will be thinking and feeling the same."
"Indeed." Tirek said. "But in order to fulfill such a deed, I must have all 6 girls. And right now, we're on a short time limit before the school's system comes back online."
"You mean Devastator?" Discord asked. "What did you do to him?"
"Relax, wimp." the Reflection said. "He's just a shut down temporarily. You see, ever since he became plugged into the school, he also gave pagers to you and the girls. He gives out an alert to everyone when something happens to one of them. Naturally, we can't let him spoil the surprise just yet."
"But we still need to hurry this along." Tirek said. "That's where you come in, Reflection. You're going to use Discord's close friendship with Fluttershy to convince her to follow you here. Meanwhile, Starlight will do her part on Sunset Shimmer. We can hit two birds at the same time."
"What about him?" Starlight asked pointing at the mirror holding the real Discord.
"I know the perfect fate for him." the Reflection said. He opened the door beside him and flung his arm. He released the mirror and Discord was hurtling out with a Goofy scream.
"ARE YOU NUTS?!" Starlight asked. "I never wanted him dead! I just wanted him out of my life!"
"Beggars can't be choosers." the Reflection said. "Let's just get to work."
At that moment, the dog and the cat saw an opportunity and ran down the stairs with their footsteps drowned by the machine noises on the ground floor. They saw the door left open a crack and jumped through it. They looked around.
"Where is he?!" Spike asked in panic. "He should have fallen here!"
"REOW!" Fluffy yelped pointing at a nearby stream. Spike squinted his eyes and saw an open mirror drifting down the river.
"FLUFFY, WHAT'S-HIS-FACE!" Discord shouted in panic seeing the two pets. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"I'll save you!" Spike shouted. He jumped up and flew over the river. He splashed down and emerged to the surface. Suddenly, he couldn't stop spitting and kicking and yelling. "HELP! HELP! I CAN'T SWIM!"
"WHAT?!" Discord gasped. "But what about the doggie-paddle?! It has the word 'dog' in it!"
"That's a hurtful sterotype!" Spike shouted.
"If you knew you couldn't swim, why did you jump in anyway?!" Discord shouted.
"I don't know!" Spike replied trying not to sink. "I saw an opportunity to be a hero and acted on instinct! I wasn't thinking! Right now, HEEEEELP! SOMEBODY, HELP US!"
Suddenly, both Spike and the mirror were scooped up. They were carried by a large, white paw covered with fur. Fluffy was gigantic, Spike was surprised, and Discord was grateful. As soon as the cat set the two of them down on the grass, he shrunk down back to his original size.
"Did... that cat... just grow?" Spike asked.
"Yeah." Discord replied. "He used to belong to a group of sirens. Now, no more dilly-dally! We need to head back to town and warn the others! Let's go!"
Fluffy turned his head to Spike and blew a raspberry towards him. He then picked up the mirror by his mouth while Spike growled in anger.
"Hi. My name's Pinkie Pie. I'm either on another line or planning my five-months-after-my-birthday party! Please leave a message after the beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
Aggravated, Sunset Shimmer hit the hang-up button on the phone and placed it back in her pocket.
"I don't get it." she told herself. "Pinkie Pie hasn't been seen all weekend. Come to think of it, some of the other girls have been missing too. With everything going on, I guess I didn't even notice. Still, if something had happened to them, Devastator would alert us. Oh, I hope they're all right.
"I know you are my friends
Sticking with me to the bitter end
There's no one I'd rather trust
I wouldn't be complete without us
Even in the roughest weather
I know we can get through anything together
We share a bond no one can break
Whatever life will throw, we can take
So why are we so faaaaaaar
No matter how close we are
Even though you're my hooooooome
Why do I feel so alone
I started off alone and cold
Before those words that I was told
'The magic of friendship is everywhere'
Whatever obstacles will come, I'll be prepared
And I'll be prepared right with you
Old and new
Hand in hand, we'll always
See in the darkest days
So why are we so faaaaaaar
No matter how close we are
Even though you're my hooooooome
Why do I feel so alone"
Meanwhile, plenty of other kids have figured out the girls were missing. Even minor characters have joined into a search party.
"Why are we so close, yet far to me," Derpy sang.
"How can something with joy fill me with sorrow," Dr. Whooves sang.
"How come the joy around," Lily Valley sang,
"Only hangs my head down"
"How come I don't want to see tomorrow," Octavia sang.
"How come this dark cloud has no silver lining," Lyra sang.
"After all we have done, after all these years," Bon Bon sang.
"Is it happening right now," Steven Magnet sang.
"Meow, meow," Rarity's pet cat, Opal, sang.
"HOW COME WE HAVE NONE OF OUR CHEEEEEEEEEERS" everyone sang,
"WHY ARE WE SO FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
NO MATTER HOW CLOSE WE ARE"
"Even though you're my hooooooome," Sunset Shimmer sang,
"Why do I feel so... alone"
As soon as the song ended, Sunset Shimmer heard a familiar voice. "I can tell you why?" When the redhead looked, she saw the former school president approaching her and looking all around.
"What do you want?" Sunset asked.
"I'm not here, understand?" Starlight asked leaving Sunset confused. "The Reflection switched places with Discord during their fight. He's been kidnapping your friends."
"What?" Sunset asked. "How do you know?"
"Because..." Starlight said before sighing in regret. "Because I helped him. I talked Discord into entering the Reflection's world so he they can switch. And I took all your friends and hid them in Tartarus Industries. We've been working together."
"What?!" Sunset asked in an infuriated tone. "Well, why are you telling me?"
"I didn't believe it was possible, but the Reflection is actually worse than Discord." Starlight said. "He's doing things that we never agreed would have to happen. I just want the madness to stop."
"Why should I believe you?" Sunset asked aggressively.
"Because is the Reflection knew I was telling you this, he'll transform me into a fly and feed me to the spiders. Besides... I told you, I'd never lie to a friend."
After a moment of thinking, Sunset Shimmer smiled and looked back at her.
"Thanks, Starlight. I'm going to go to Tartarus Industries and get my friends back!" She shot down the street leaving Starlight in the corner. Starlight sighed remorsefully and turned away.
"I'm the worst friend that ever lived in history."
Starlight heard a foot tapping beside her and saw the Reflection slouching on the wall.
"Save the acceptance speech until after we kidnap Fluttershy." he said. "Come on."
Reluctantly and full of self-doubt, she still followed the Reflection down the black.
"There you go." Fluttershy said passing the parakeet to its respectable owner. "And take better care of him. Come back soon."
The pet owner exited the kennel just as soon as Twilight Sparkle entered.
"Hi, Twilight." Fluttershy said.
"Hey." Twilight responded. "Nice workplace."
"Yeah. I'm hoping to be a veterinarian one day. Animals wait for no one. Anyway, what can I do for you?"
"Actually, I need your help." Twilight said. "I've been looking around town for Spike, but I haven't seen him for a few hours. I think, since you're good with animals, can you help me please?"
"That may have to wait." a familiar voice declared. The two girls looked at the front door and saw what looked like Discord (when in reality, it was actually the Reflection).
"Discord, what do you mean?" Fluttershy asked suspiciously.
"You would not believe what I have discovered! Apparently, some guy named Tirek has kidnapped Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and all the other girls!"
"Even Sunset Shimmer?" Fluttershy asked in shock.
"Especially Sunset Shimmer." Discord replied. "Look, I saw them being taken to an industrial factory called Tartarus Industries. If we can hurry, we can still save them."
"You're kidding... right?" Twilight asked. "Why don't you just use your powers to save them yourself?"
"...L-Let's not get talk about the details!" the Reflection replied with a bit of stammering. "All you need to know is that Fluttershy and I need to save them."
"I'm not sure." Fluttershy said. "Why didn't Devastator alert us if something happened to our friends?"
"He probably has a few glitches in his system." the Reflection said. "Come on, Flutters. How can you not trust this guy?" He pointed both his thumbs at himself.
Fluttershy waited for a minute while staring at Discord. She squinted her eyes for a moment until she widened them.
"Wait a minute!" she pointed at the Reflection's front pocket. "My good-luck flower! He's not wearing it! That's not Discord!"
"What?!" Twilight gasped. The Reflection just looked incredibly nervous and stunned.
"All right." the Reflection said in a deep breath. "I tried doing this the gentle way..." With a snap of his fingers, a human-sized butterfly net appeared in his hands. "...But the fun way works too!"
The Reflection hung the net over his head ready to strike, but Fluttershy and Twilight jumped backwards at the last minute. Fluttershy opened as many occupied pet cages as she could before the Reflection lifted the net again. Before he could throw it down, however, all the animals Fluttershy released swarmed over him and attacked in their own way. While he was getting attacked, Fluttershy and Twilight ran to the back door.
"THERE IS NO WAY I'M GOING TO BE OUT-SMARTED BY A SNOW WHITE BARBIE-DOLL!"
The Reflection escaped the animal swarm and ran out the back door. All he found was an empty alleyway. All he could find was a dumpster can. He shouted angrily down the alley.
"YOU'RE ONLY MAKING THINGS WORSE FOR YOURSELVES!"
As soon as the Reflection left the alley, Fluttershy and Twilight opened the dumpster lid from above them and saw the coast was clear.
"This reeks!" Twilight exclaimed.
"I know." Fluttershy said. "This guy's impersonating Discord."
"No, I meant, it really stinks." Twilight said. "We're just lucky this dumpster was empty."
"We got to find somewhere to hide." Fluttershy said. "Somewhere that guy won't be able to find us."
"I think I know where to go." Twilight said rubbing her chin.
Tirek's office was empty except for the capsules with the girls there. Sunset Shimmer sneaked in and gasped when she saw what became of her friends. She approached Rainbow Dash and placed her fingers under the glass. She tried to pry it open, but she had no luck.
"Now, now, Ms. Shimmer." a snarky voice rasped from the desk and the chair with its back facing her. "Let's not ruin the surprise."
The chair spun revealing the twisted, bearded, red man grinning at her. At the sight of him, Sunset gasped.
"T-Tirek?" Sunset asked in shock. She looked like she was seeing a ghost.
"Yes." Tirek said standing up from his desk and staring back at the terrified Sunset Shimmer. "And I might say, it is wonderful to see you again."
"Why the surprised face, Sunset?" Tirek asked. "You should've known you'd see me again. After all, what you told me turned out to exist; Equestria, the pony magic, everything."
"That's why you're doing this?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "Because of what I told you? You should've faced prison instead of running off."
"Whoa!" Tirek exclaimed. "Why the hostility? For someone who's learning how to treat her friends, you seem to be assertive towards me."
"We are not friends!" Sunset enunciated. "You tried to convince me that I was crazy; that I only imagined Equestria to better deal with reality! You were actually willing to destroy my mind!"
"Yes," Tirek said, "But life isn't all just fun and games. I had some real work done. You would not believe what I've done since you got me kicked out of town. These capsules are run with the very notes I collected during our sessions. With what you told me, I was able to harvest the energy of friendship to better suit my needs. After you, all that's left is Fluttershy, the easiest."
"Wait a minute..." Sunset realized. "This was all a set-up! Both Starlight Glimmer and the Reflection work for you! And you had Starlight trick me into coming here right into your claws!"
"Figured that out on your own?" Tirek asked. "Well, let's get you in your capsule and wait for the kind one, okay?"
"No way!" Sunset Shimmer shouted. She dashed to the door and slammed it open.
The red-haired girl was looking back at Tirek behind her, but she hit someone else and fell back. She didn't see Starlight Glimmer blocking her path. Two guards emerged from behind her and grabbed Sunset Shimmer's arms. She tried to struggle out, but had no lock being dragged across the room. Starlight watched with regret while Tirek approached her with a soda can.
"Excellent work, Ms. Glimmer." Tirek congratulated. "You've done the company proud."
"Starlight, you've got to listen!" Sunset shouted trying to escape the guards' grips. "Whatever Tirek promised you, he's going to break it! He's going to stab you in the back the very second he gets his chance! Even you must realize this is going to far! This is wrong!"
"Don't listen to her, Ms. Glimmer." Tirek said. "Let's make a toast to equality."
"Of... course." Starlight said with no enthusiasm in her voice. She opened her soda can and a flash of light escaped from it that surprised her. When the flash ended, Starlight found herself tied up with a jump-rope. "What the... what's going on?!"
"What do you think?" Tirek replied. "You brought the Reflection back. You set it up so that all the Equestria girls could be in my clutches. And now, you have no use to me."
"But... you promised that you and I had a mutual goal." Starlight said. "You and I would bring equality to all of Canterlot."
"I did say that. Yes, I do want equality almost as much as you do. However, it's not the sort of equality that you want."
"W... What else is there?" Starlight asked.
"Forget it, Starlight." Sunset called from inside her sealed capsule. "He's not playing with a full deck. Compared to him, you're sane."
"Make all the comments you want, but you're helpless to do anything about it. And Sunset, since you're my favorite, I'll leave you awake, but still trapped, in that capsule until the Reflection delivers Fluttershy to me." He walked out of the office with his guards.
Sunset gave a pitiful look towards Starlight. "Surely, you saw this coming."
"I didn't." Starlight sighed in sadness. "I truly didn't."
"Devastator!" Fluttershy called to the front door of the closed school. "Come on, we need some help! Let us in! ...He can't hear us. That's weird."
"No problem." Twilight said pulling out a hairclip. She opened it wide and slid it into the lock.
With a few slight twists and turns, Twilight was able to make the lock click and opened the door. They both ran through the door and entered the principal's office down the hall.
"Remind me again," Fluttershy said, "Why are we here?"
"You said the computer here alerts you when something happens to your friends." Twilight explained. "Since we haven't heard from him, something must be wrong. I'm hoping I can fix him."
Suddenly, without warning, a haunting screech was heard in the hallway. In panic, the two girls picked up random objects and prepared to strike. The door handle jiggled before the door slightly opened. Two shadowed figures walked through the door arch and in a quick reaction, Twilight and Fluttershy repeatedly whacked on them with their weapons. Grunts were heard until the light came back on when the two girls looked down at the two pets with a mirror.
"Spike?" Twilight gasped.
"Twilight!" Spike shouted.
"Fluffy?" Fluttershy gasped.
"Meow!"
"Discord!" the boy in the mirror shouted.
"What are you doing?!" Twilight asked loudly.
"Us?" Spike returned. "You hit us with... Are those a nameplate and a computer keyboard?"
"We saw you coming in here and followed you in." Discord said. "What happened?"
"If I had a guess, your Reflection switched places with you and tried to kidnap me." Fluttershy said. She stared at the flower in Discord's shirt pocket. "Luckily, I saw through his charade."
"It's not just him." Discord said. "He's working with Starlight and some other guy called Tirek."
"Starlight's in on this?" Fluttershy asked. "But... I thought she had changed."
"I kinda saw that coming," Discord said, "But nobody listened. 'Discord, give her a chance. Discord, I'm sure she's okay now.' Wool, eyes, pulled over!"
"I don't know who this Tirek guy is," Twilight said, "But I know that he can't be up to anything good."
As the crowd started talking over each other, the screen behind them started to brighten. Soon, Devastator's digital face appeared all woozy and dizzy. He saw his friends talking and made a throat-clearing sound that got their attention.
"What happened?" Devastator asked. "All I did was go to sleep."
"Devastator!" Fluttershy expressed. "What happened to you?"
"I don't know. The last thing I remember, Starlight Glimmer did something to me. She must have shut me down for a few days. I feel so violated!"
"Of course!" Discord shouted. "That's why you didn't alert us when the others got kidnapped! This Tirek guy is always a step ahead of us."
"Tirek?" Devastator asked. "I think I've heard that name before."
"You have?" Twilight asked.
"Sure. Give me a minute." Everyone fell silent for a few moments while the screen had a loading logo on it.
"So..." Twilight broke the silence. "Discord, what's it like in a mirror?"
"I'll tell you this," Discord said, "When Alice went through the looking glass, I bet she's never seen this side of Wonderland."
"Found it!" Devastator shouted. "A newspaper headline from a few years ago. According to this, Tirek was the town psychologist and professor at Canterlot University. He even worked on a few crazy teenagers, including... Wow!"
"What?" Discord asked.
"One of them was Sunset Shimmer." Devastator explained. "According to this, around the time she arrived in town, she kept claiming to be from Equestria and having incredible power. Thinking her insane, the town assigned her to Tirek and they had three months of sessions. One day, Sunset revealed to the city council that Tirek was using illegal methods on her as well as a few other patients. But before they could arrest him, he disappeared. That was about the time Sunset stopped talking about Equestria."
"Of course!" Twilight shouted. "Tirek must have come back for the same reason I have: the magic. Of course, he wants something from it."
"We can't let him get away with this!" Fluttershy shouted. "We've got to stop him!"
Spike looked up at her with half-open eyes. "How exactly are two pets, a nerd, a wimp, and a mirror-bound magician going to stop three bad guys with their own industrial crew?"
"If I wasn't in here, we'd have no problem." Discord said.
Twilight scratched the side of her head for a second. Suddenly, she smiled and pointed her finger up. "That's it!"
Everyone looked at her with confusion. "What's it?" Fluttershy asked.
"I know someone who can help! And I know just where to find her! We've got to find Lyric!"
"What do you mean, you lost her?!" Tirek shouted in the phone. "She was the weakest of the six! She shouldn't be so hard!"
"I couldn't even fool her." the Reflection replied from the other end of the call. "She saw right through my disguise just because I didn't have a stupid flower. This Fluttershy girl's more resourceful than we thought. And I lost track of her."
Tirek sighed in discontent. "If she puts two and two together and Devastator is already online, my plans will be ruined! I can almost see that grin on her face." Then, he grew an idea that slowly turned his despair into a wicked smile of pleasure. "Yes... I can just see it."
"Tirek?"
"It seems, despite your failure, you've lead her straight to me. All we have to do... is wait."
Flash Sentry's car parked at the curb in front of an apartment building. Twilight, Fluttershy, Flash, Spike, and Fluffy walked out and towards the front door holding Discord's mirror.
"Thanks for giving us a ride, Flash." Twilight said. "I know it's a little late..."
"Hey, it's all right." Flash Sentry replied. "I'd do anything to help you."
As soon as they entered, they only saw a one-man desk with a sloucher. He saw the kids and sighed. "What do you want?"
"We've come for a certain tenant here." Twilight explained.
"You mean that old ghoul?" the landlord asked. "Her special hobbies crept all the other tenants out of here. She practically has the whole apartment to herself. You'll find her in room 126."
"Thank you." Twilight said.
The crew walked up a flight of stairs that would lead to a hallway.
"So... what's up with this Lyric?" Fluttershy asked. "I never got to ask."
"Well, she's my contact from this town. Every time I picked up a strange reading, she would give me some more information. I always knew Lyric knew more than what she was leading on. As soon as I decided to come here, she gave me her address and told me to come to her anytime I truly needed her. If anyone knows how to fix Discord, she's our best chance."
They arrived at the door number and Twilight raised her fist to knock. She stopped when she heard an exotic voice from the other side of the door.
"No need to knock and no need to fear. The door is open. Come in here."
Discord shrugged and Twilight just opened the door. They all walked in and started to shiver at the sight of the room. It was full of candles and exotic masks hung on the walls. In the middle of the room, a grown woman with black and white hair sat in a skeleton-like chair. She had gray skin, a black robe, golden bracelets, and black stripes reaching up to the cheeks. At the far end of the room, there was a computer in the corner, a cauldron in the center, and a few rats watching from the edges.
"Yikes." Fluttershy gasped. "If Rarity were here, she'd call this a 'crash in fashion'."
"I know it's not fanciest, but just understand, the relics you see here are tokens from my homeland."
"Are you.. Lyric?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, I'm Lyric, but if it's all the same, call me Zecora dear. It is my true name."
"Uh, what's with the rhyming?" Discord asked.
"The explanation for that's a bit hard to explain. Needless to say, an impulse tic in my brain." She observed Discord inside the mirror. "This could be real... or just too much candle scent. Are you the one, chaotic gent?"
"If you were asking if I'm Discord, you got that right. Except now, I'm very useless and our friends are going to be turned into lab experiments. I tried using all the Equestrian magic I got to break out of here, but it's not enough. So..."
Zecora interrupted with a chuckle. "My little Discord, of course, it's not enough. You just don't have the right amount of stuff."
"Hey, I've got plenty of stuff!" Discord replied.
Flash Sentry leaned in next to the mirror. "Do you even know what she's talking about?"
"Not in the slightest."
"What I mean is, the only right trick," Zecora said, "Is to use the other form of magic."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Discord asked. "Equestrian magic's the only magic in this world, right?"
"Of course, it's not. Can't you see? There's so much more. Just take it from me.
"It's not just abracadabra
Not just alakazam
I'm going to clear the air right now
And it's no scam"
"It's no scam," the rats sang.
"It's not just hocus pocus," Zecora sang
"Not bibbitti-boppitty-boo
You just have to know where to look
And it will come to you"
"It'll come to you," the rats sang.
"It's not what you're used to," Zecora sang,
"But it's something you can share
It's in the past, present, and future
And you can find it anywhere
It's a whole other magic
Something new to find
It's a whole other magic
And it starts with being kind
Nobody can possibly miss it
If they know what to look for
Endless possibilities galore
It's another...
It's another...
Discord, you thought it was best
To never have to ask for help
Look at everything you accomplished
Did you do it all by yourself
NO
You can't abandon your friends
You can't go on your own
If you remember what's important
Then you're never truly alone
It's a whole other magic
Overcomes everything
It's a whole other magic
Blooms like the flowers in Spring
I can't tell you what's for sure
That can be in your future
But you'll be surprised what it will bring
Ms. Sparkle, listen real close
You're blooming into a dazzling rose
I didn't just bring you here
For the magic lights and show
You needed to learn something
Now the seed of friendship will grow
IT'S A WHOLE OTHER MAGIC
YOU'VE LEARNED IT THE HARD WAY
IT'S A WHOLE OTHER MAGIC
THINK ABOUT YOUR ENTIRE STAY
NOW, TELL ME YOU DON'T FEEL IT
DEEP WITHIN YOUR VERY CORE
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES GALORE"
Suddenly, the candles started to light up and made the whole room beautiful. Everyone was amazed at the change in n scenery and danced to the music while the creatures started singing.
"Well, Discord, without any doubt," Zecora continued, "Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?"
"Yeah." Discord rolled his eyes. "I learned that this singing has been a waste of time and I'm not one step closer to being out of this mirror!"
Zecora slapped herself in the face and exasperated. "All right. I'll give you this. But know that you're taking a big risk."
"Did that rhyme?" Flash Sentry asked. "It seems close."
A couple hours later, Zecora stepped away from her glowing cauldron and approached the kids with a handful of green dust. They jerked their heads when she got closer.
"Will that help me?" Discord asked.
"A sprinkle of this, and you shall pass." Zecora replied. "You'll be free from your confines in the glass."
She held out her hand and blew the dust toward the mirror. The glass started to glow and Discord laughed as he changed into a blob-like phantom exiting the mirror. He returned whole and laid across the floor. He got back up and cheered. He materialized with noise-makers and party-blowers.
"I'M FREE!" he cheered. All his friends joined in on his celebration. "I'M OUT OF THE MIRROR! AND NOW, TIREK WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT HIM!"
"Don't think it's over for your Reflection's curse." Zecora interrupted earning everyone's attention. "You're just risking something much worse."
"What?" Discord asked. "What are you talking about?"
"You may be out, but you're not yet free. If not fixed, you'll disappear completely. Two parallel counterparts can't coexist in one realm. The clash you create will overwhelm. So if you don't put the Reflection back in the mirror, then by sunset, you will disappear."
"...AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Discord screamed in utter panic. "WHAT DO I DO?!"
"You heard her." Fluttershy said. "All you have to do is beat the Reflection and push him back in the mirror."
"Yeah." Spike said. "And we know where Tirek is. We find him, we'll find the Reflection."
"Okay." Discord calmed down. "All right. And this time, I won't face him alone. I'll have you guys with me. It's time to get our friends back."
Only six hours 'til sunset, and then, Discord's time will be up. He had to find his Reflection and force him back into the mirror before that happens or he's a goner. That's why he, Fluttershy, Twilight, Flash, Spike, and Fluffy sneaked through an open window in Tartarus Industries.
When they crouched behind a stack of crates under the windows, a couple of them peeked above and saw the workers laboring over the conveyer belts. They were placing cold, gray, metal parts on the components headed their way.
"I can see why they call this place Tartarus." Twilight said. "Discord, where do you remember seeing the girls?"
"Up there." Discord pointed up. "In that office up there."
The five of them sneaked up to the higher level and creaked the door open. Spike looked through and turned his head.
"It's okay. No one's here."
Suddenly, the rest of the gang kicked the door open and charged in. Their expressions changed to confusion when they saw six life-sized indentions on the walls. Discord was the one who was most confused.
"I... I don't get it." Discord said. "They were just here."
"I did say no one was here, didn't I?" Spike reminded.
"Perhaps, they moved the girls to somewhere else after Fluttershy ran off." Flash theorized.
"Well, that's just great." Spike said sarcastically. "What now?"
"Hold on." Twilight said sitting at the desk and starting to type on the computer. "If Tirek does have a secondary hideout, then he must have put it in his computer somewhere."
"Good idea." Fluttershy said. "See what you can find."
"Already done." Twilight cheered on. "He seems to own a warehouse downtown big enough for another production line. That might be the place."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Discord said. "Let's stop Tirek, save our friends, kick the Reflection's handsome face, and make sure I don't disappear--not necessarily in that order."
"Hold on." Twilight interrupted seeing an open file. She clicked on it and looked at the documents. She widened her eyes. "Gang, this is Tirek's plan!"
"What?" Fluttershy asked. "What does it say?"
"Well, according to this," Twilight said, "Tirek's been studying the foundations of the Equestrian magic since your school's Fall Formal. He had a particular focus toward that one spell that turned the students into Sunset Shimmmer's teenage zombie army. According to these notes, Tirek has found a way to recreate and repurpose the spell to extend his will over everyone in the town. But he needs the magic of the very bond that defeated it to use this hive mind."
"Hive mind?" Spike asked. "What's hive mind?"
"It's like mind control." Twilight said. "With it, everyone in Canterlot will be acting and thinking under a single voice."
"I hear a single voice." Discord said. "It's saying, 'run'."
"Oh, dear." Fluttershy said. "I know Starlight wants equality, but I didn't think she'd go through this much extremes."
"What if she didn't even know?" Flash said. "To me, it seems like Starlight wasn't even aware that Tirek's going to use mind control. All she knows is, he's working for equality. We've got to get to that warehouse and save the girls before it's too late."
They were about to leave, but they saw a familiar face standing at the door. It was the same face as the chaotic boy beside the group. The Reflection chuckled at them.
"Well, well, well, well... well."
"That's a pretty deep well." Spike said.
"You!" Discord shouted pointing at him. "You stole me! I'd like it back!"
"You again?!" the Reflection asked in an annoyed tone. "You're beginning to bug me!"
"That's not bugging you." Discord said holding out closed hands. "This is bugging you." He opened his hands and a whole swarm of locusts blew out and launched themselves to the Reflection. The evil double snapped his fingers and the locusts changed into bubbles.
"Is that the best you can do?" the Reflection taunted. "Come on. Show some effort!"
"Okay." Discord returned with a grin. If you say so."
Discord held in a really heavy breath for a moment. A few seconds later, he released the air into a gray, unclear smoke that spread across the room. The only sound was the Reflection's chuckle.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you smoking was bad for you?" He did the same thing Discord did and held blew all the smoke into his mouth. When he completely consumed it, he smiled at the teens in front of him, but his expression changed when he saw that they were all wearing gas-masks.
"It's not smoke, sunshine." Discord said. "It's sleeping gas. And you just inhaled all of it."
"WHAT?!" the Reflection panicked. "BUT THAT MEANS..." He couldn't finish his sentence. The Reflection immediately collapsed to the floor. He snored while the others removed their masks.
"Okay." Discord said approaching his fallen doubleganger. "Help me get this guy out of here! And quickly! If I don't get him back in his mirror by sunset, I'm gone for good!"
All of a sudden, the Reflection's eyes opened wide open and his grin returned. "Is that a fact?" He changed his body into a giant octopus and wrapped his tentacles around everyone. "Gotcha! You three-dimensional people are so gullible. I believe it's called 'playing possum'."
"Just you wait, you sadistic squid." Discord threatened. "When I get done with you, you'll have to eat soup with a straw."
"Ooh." the Reflection shivered in sarcasm. "What are you going to do? Throw the dog at me? Face it, Discord. I taught you everything you know. I know everything you're going to do."
"You might know everything I'm going to do," Discord returned, "But that's not going to help you since I know everything you're going to do. Strange, isn't it?"
"Oh, yeah?" the Reflection asked. "Bet you didn't know I was going to do THIS!"
The octopus threw his tentacle holding Discord and carried him to the industrial floor. The original looked and saw that the workers had already gone and he was pushed and magically strapped onto a conveyer belt. He looked ahead of him and saw an electric buzz-saw five feet in front of his head. The belt stopped every few centimeters, but he knew it was a matter of time before his head would be next.
In the meantime, the Reflection gently set the rest of the team (except Fluttershy) on their feet and let go. "You can try to save him or you can try to stop me. Make a choice!"
His evil laugh echoed as he changed back into his real form and tied Fluttershy in a rope. Helicopter blades buzzed above his head and he flew with her out the window.
Discord scoffed as he saw his counterpart leave. "And he wonders why I threw him away."
"Flash and I will try to save Discord!" Twilight said. "Spike, you and Fluffy try to follow the Reflection and seei f you can save Fluttershy!"
"Will do!" Spike agreed.
"Meow!" Fluffy added as he left the building with Spike.
Twilight and Flash ran down to the conveyer belt and met up with Discord, who was almost next to being chopped cut open.
"Say, Twilight, do you have an aspirin, because I am about to have a SERIOUS headache!"
Twilight knelt down and examined the cuffs. "These seem to be an unknown piece of metal. Normally, I'd only believe such an element exists in comic books, but with everything going on, logic flew out the window. I suppose I could open them up by.."
She stopped talking when Discord's hands and feet started to shake until the cuffs broke open. He jumped open at the last second before landing in a perfect somersault. Random score cards materialized in front of him. He had a straight 10.
"...Or that." Twilight said.
"Come on." Flash called out. "We've got to catch up!"
The black car was driven right into downtown Fluttershy was tied up in the backseat with the Reflection humming next to her.
"I've got no strings to hold me down." he whispered in a catchy rhythm.
"Just you wait." Fluttershy said. "When Discord gets through with you..."
"Zip it, happy meal! Discord won't be saving you. By now, he's in that big circus in the sky."
Fluttershy glared at the back window and smiled. "Maybe he's lower than you thought."
The Reflection was confused until he heard police sirens. The vehicle began to slow down and he growled when he saw Discord driving a police motorbike and wearing a police uniform. When the both of them stopped, Discord approached his Reflection.
"Okay, buddy. Where's the fire?"
In response, the Reflection shot an entire burst of fire at him. When the flames dissipated, Discord was covered in soot.
"Is it hot or is it me?" Discord asked before shaking the soot off.
"DRIVE, YOU MORON!" the Reflection shouted at the guy in the front seat. "DRIVE!"
Quick as a flash, the car drove off leaving Discord in the dust.
"Oh, no!" he gasped. "I've got to catch up."
Suddenly, a blue car appeared and Flash Sentry was at the driver's seat. Twilight was in the passenger's seat and the pets were in the back seat.
"Hop in!" Flash shouted. Discord did just that.
The next five minutes were Flash's car hurrying behind the Reflection's car. When the evil doubleganger saw his tailer, he commanded his driver to go faster.
"They're accelerating." Twilight said. "Can you drive any faster?"
"I'm driving as fast as I can!" Flash Sentry replied. "This car can't go any faster!"
"Nothing that rocket boosters won't fix." Discord added.
"Discord, if you touch my car, I'll..." Flash started to say. He was interrupted when Discord snapped his fingers and fiery engines appeared at the side and the car went a whole lot faster in an instant. They were gaining on the Tartarus car.
"Okay, now, he's just getting annoying!" the Reflection growled. "Driver, make a sharp turn at the intersections! Use serpentine!"
The long car chase went from one block to another. The pedestrians were panicked and confused at what they were seeing. It all ended when the Tartarus car drove off of a ramp and over a giant wall. In panic, Flash hit his brakes before the wheels could even touch the ramp.
"What are you doing?!" Discord asked. "Fluttershy's over there!"
"Wait!" Twilight said looking around the street. "This is it! This is Tirek's warehouse! It must be over that wall!"
"No problem." Discord said pulling out a giant drill from behind him. "Let's go save our friends."
"How are you fitting that in the car?" Spike asked.
Believe it or not, the inside of the warehouse was even worse than Tartarus Industries. Inside the main floor, Tirek and the Reflection were with Fluttershy and the rest of the hostages. While Fluttershy was forced into her capsule, all Starlight Glimmer could do was watch from her corner all tied up.
Tirek was so distracted at victory nearly in his grasp, he didn't notice anything moving from underneath the bearskin rig on the floor. Discord had drilled a tiny hole underneath the rug and slipped through like an elastic object. As soon as he was completely through, he looked out in front of the bear suit and saw Fluttershy's capsule in front of him. He scooted himself and the rug toward the capsule when he heard Tirek's monologue.
"This is it, my partner." Tirek said. "With the powers of another world, all of Canterlot will be subject to my will."
"You... you can't do that!" Starlight protested. "You promised me you would equalize everyone! That everybody will be thinking and feeling as one!"
"I did, and they'll be thinking and feeling as I think and feel. And that's only the beginning. Once I gain complete control over the city, I'll turn it into a Tartarus Industry site to extend my research. Within days, the whole country will be one nation under Tirek. And believe it or not, none of this would've been possible if dear Sunset Shimmer wouldn't leave her world. So, the person you have to thank for all this is... Does anyone else notice the moving bear?"
"That's a weird name." the Reflection replied.
Tirek pointed his red claw to the moving bear and the Reflection followed. He reached down and pulled the bear off the floor revealing Discord laying down. He chuckled and jumped up in front of everyone.
"Discord." Fluttershy whispered in pleasure from inside her capsule.
"Thank you!" Discord cheered. "Thank you for saving me! You see..." He tried to think of something. "That bear ate me on a camping trip two years ago."
"This is a fake bear." Tirek pointed out.
"Oh, well, I guess my story makes no sense whatsoever." Discord said awkwardly.
"I'm afraid you're too late, Discord!" Tirek said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a handheld contraption with a red button. "When I push this button, the final capsules will activate and the whole town will receive a radio signal to do what I think. Even you will be under my control."
"No!" Discord gasped. "If you push that button..."
"Which one, this?" Tirek asked quickly before pressing his thumb on the red button causing Discord to duck his head.
Discord shook his head in fear covering his head with his hands. He was preparing for the worst. When a few moments passed, nothing still happened. Even Tirek was confused. He pushed the button half-a-dozen times before growing furious.
"WHEEEEERE IS THE MAGIC?!"
"If you want some magic, I'd suggest you get a girlfriend." Discord said. "Although, I'd shave first if I were you."
"I don't know where I went wrong, but I know you had something to do with it!" Tirek shouted pointing his claw at Discord.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Discord said. "Slow your roll, crazy troll."
"Don't play dumb with me, child." Tirek threatened.
"He's not playing." the Reflection said. "He really is this dumb. Don't worry, I'll take care of this poser. At least, until sunset when he pops like a balloon."
"Bring it on, copycat!" Discord said.
As Tirek began to back to the wall, the Reflection started to chuckle and talk in a French accent pulling a fencing sword. "Bring it on, but you are slow as ze escargot."
"You call that a sword?" Discord asked. With a snap of his fingers, a blue lightsaber appeared in his hand. "That's a sword."
Without warning, the Reflection raised his sword and prepared to strike at Discord. He blocked it and expected it to burn, but it was still there in one piece like it was fighting another sword.
"Strong sword." Discord commented.
"Oui."
The two doubles clashed their sabers and swung them in every direction. With the capsules turned off, the girls started to wake up one at a time. Pinkie was the last one to wake and see the swordfight between Discord and his copy.
"So... which one do we root for?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"The one with the flower!" Fluttershy answered.
"I still have this thing?" Discord asked.
Observing his flower was a mistake. While he let his guard down, the Reflection took the opportunity and thrust the sword into Discord's chest. The original gasped as well as the six girls.
"Out with the old and in with the new." the Reflection taunted twisting the sword further in. "What do you think of that?"
Everyone expected Discord to collapse and fall to the ground, but all he did was raise his head up with a victorious smile.
"I think, if you try to waste someone, watch where you point that."
Everyone was confused until Discord opened his jacket. The sword wasn't thrust into his chest like everyone thought, it was pointing inside the handheld mirror strapped on it. By the time the Reflection knew what was going on, his hand was already being pulled into the glass. He tried to pull away, but he was no match.
"NO!" he gasped. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He turned to run, but he lost his feet to the reflective surface. In a bright flash of light, the Reflection was back where he belongs.
"Ha, ha!" Discord taunted. "Chaos magic is funny, but nothing beats good, old-fashioned, quick-handed trickery." Those were the last words he said before he closed the mirror on his defeated foe.
"Very clever, Discord." Tirek said approaching the capsules. "But it's not clever enough. I'm still here. And if I pull a few of these switches, and these girls will be blown sky high."
"I'm confused." Applejack said. "How do you two know each other?"
"He was my crazy therapist." Sunset Shimmer said. "Now, he's just a crazy businessman trying to copy my old, crazy plan."
"Speaking of crazy." Discord said. He materialized a blowhorn and pointed it to the sky. "CA-CAW! CA-CAW!"
Suddenly, a gigantic monster-cat broke down the wall forcing Tirek to duck to the ground. Fluffy's purrs were loud at that size. Twilight and Flash jumped off Fluffy's back, and started opening Sunset's capsule. Spike stayed on the cat's head.
"Nobody move!" Spike declared. "I got a monster-cat here and I'm not afraid to use it! I'M A PUPPY ON THE EDGE!"
"Thank you, Twilight." Sunset congratulated jumping from her capsule. "You're just like the other you; loyal and sticking to your friends. I wonder what the other you did to earn her friends."
Hearing that, Tirek widened his eyes and whispered to himself. "That's it! That's the variable I've been missing! Sunset's from another world, so she wouldn't be compatible. But if this Twilight shares as strong of a bond with her friends as the other one..."
Tirek took the opportunity and ran toward Twilight.
"Look out!" Flash shouted.
But it was too late. By the time Twilight looked, Tirek pushed her to where Sunset used to be. Before anyone reacted, Tirek closed the case and pushed the button in his hand. The capsules started to glow a rainbow and the girls started to scream. In anger, Discord grabbed Tirek and pushed him to the machines.
"Shut it down, tomato-face!" Discord threatened.
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't." Tirek answered in a grin. "I never installed a kill-switch. In a few moments, you and all of Canterlot will be a subject of..."
Tirek was interrupted by a handful of colorful fluid falling on his face. Discord stepped back in shock while Tirek screamed in discontent.
"WHAT IS THIS GUNK?!" he shouted. "IT TASTES SWEET! I HATE SWEET!"
"What is that?" Flash Sentry asked.
"It looked like the Equestrian magic Tirek's harvesting." Sunset Shimmer said. "Discord, you must have cut a link during your little swordfight."
"Then I got an idea!" Discord declared. He sprung behind the leaking pipe and pointed the rupture toward Tirek, who was wiping the colors off his face. Meanwhile, the machines started to calm down and the girls stopped screaming.
"Hey, Tirek!" Discord declared catching the therapist's attention. "Time to show my true... colors!"
"Seriously?" everyone commented simultaneously.
Before Tirek could speak out, Discord squeezed the pipe and a blast of colors splattered out and hit Tirek. He was flown right through a window and was launched over the horizon. There was still some colors dripping out, but Discord didn't care as he released the rest of the girls. Everyone cheered. Before Tirek could do anything, Fluttershy jumped to him and pressed her lips against his. Everyone paused at the sight of it.
"Oh!" Fluttershy gasped in embarrassment as soon as she realized what she was doing. "Sorry. I thought you were pretty amazing with..."
"Hey, it's all right." Discord interrupted giving a kiss back.
Tied up in her corner, Starlight Glimmer watched at how everybody is happy around Discord. She then thought to herself, "After seeing Tirek's brand of equality and how similar it was to what I almost did, I'm starting to think that I misjudged Discord. Maybe he's just what we need."
Suddenly, the sunset sky shook from a frightening roar that rattled the whole town. Everyone was both confused and frightened. Everyone looked out the broken window and saw a large, red figure glowing and growing. It was Tirek who grew with his clothes, but his arms became so muscular, his sleeves were ripped to shreds. He was now as big as any skyscraper, but looked twice as mean as ever.
"I was wrong." Starlight told herself in panic. "Discord's a human train-wreck."
"What happened to him?!" Rarity gasped.
"The Equestrian magic!" Sunset shouted. "It must have mutated him!"
"Discord, you have powers!" Twilight shouted. "Can't you stop him?!"
"I make jokes happen on convenient times." Discord replied. "I don't shoot giant gorillas off the Empire State Building."
"Well, here's an idea!" Rainbow Dash said. "Let's go all Equestrian rainbow blast on him like before!"
"We can't!" Sunset Shimmer shouted. "Those capsules harvested too much of our energy. And beside, even if we did have it back, I'm not sure if it'll be enough since Tirek's a mix of our magic and his rage!"
While everyone was debating, Flash Sentry saw the leaking pipe from the capsules and rubbed his chin. Suddenly, he had a brainstorm.
"Hold on, everyone! I got it! Maybe neither Discord nor your magic can beat Tirek, but what if they were to be combined just like he did?"
"We don't know what it'll do to us!" Sunset Shimmer answered. "And besides, knowing Discord, he'll probably give us some lame theme."
"Hey!" Discord protested. "Superheroes are not lame! Oops. Spoiler alert."
"I trust it will work out." Fluttershy said.
"I'm with her!" Rainbow Dash agreed.
"Count me in!" Applejack cheered.
"It's our only chance." Rarity said.
"I've always wanted superpowers." Pinkie Pie cheered.
Sunset sighed before saying, "Okay, I'll give it a shot."
"Hold it!" Twilight shouted. "Don't count me out. I want in on the action too."
"What?" Discord asked.
"You heard me. I'm as much involved as you are. At least now, we'll have him overpowered."
"We probably won't make it." Sunset said.
"Well, I would rather miss out on my brother's lectures." Twilight returned.
"All right." Discord agreed. With a zap of his fingers, he shot multiple rays of light and connected them between himself and the girls. They turned and Flash was holding the pipe. "Flash, fire at will."
"Who's Will?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Ignoring Pinkie's question, Flash squeezed the pipe and a colorful blast burst out like a volcano. It hit the group, but nobody noticed Starlight Glimmer jumping out of her spot. She scoot herself toward them and joined them in their super transformation.
The sight of Tirek's ginormous size panicked everyone who saw him. In a matter of seconds, citizens were running down the streets away from him. He laughed at this.
"I could get used to this unforeseen turn of events!"
His moment of victory was short-lived, however. He saw a bright flash of light that flew his way and landed in front of him. When the light dimmed, everyone saw Discord and the seven girls behind wearing bright costumes of different colors. After a few moments of watching, Tirek chuckled.
"What is this?" Tirek asked. "You look like Dancing With the Stars."
"We've just become superheroes, villain!" Discord declared. "I am Anar D--you know, like anarchy, but with a bit of my name? Twilight has become the Masked Matter-Girl! Sunset Shimmer is now Sunspot! Rainbow Dash is Zapp! Pinkie Pie is Millisecond! Applejack is now Mistress Marvelous! Rarity is now Radiance! Fluttershy--the Rager!"
"The what?" Fluttershy asked.
"It will make sense later; trust me." Discord whispered.
"Still," Tirek scoffed, "You actually think you're going to stop me? That's so cute."
"How's this for cute!" Rainbow Dash shouted pulling out her lightning-bolt necklace and pointed it at him. A jolt of electricity shot out and knocked Tirek back. He shouted in pain on that one.
"How'd you know to do that?" Sunset asked.
"I saw the thing around my neck and thought it might be good for something."
"Good thinking, Rainbow." Rarity said. "Say, Discord, what can I do?"
"Point your jeweled bracelet and think about what you want!"
"You mean like a car?" she asked. Suddenly, a purple light shot out of her bracelet and created a giant car. She didn't see it coming, but she knew what to do. She made it rev up and it drive right at Tirek's face knocking him further back.
"Applejack, you're psychically connected to your rope!" Discord shouted.
"What rope?" Applejack asked. Suddenly, she noticed a glowing rope at her belt. It floated out of her holster and quickly, Applejack used it to tie Tirek's arm to the bridge it was lying on.
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie kept zipping at different sides of Discord at hyper-speed. "And me?! Come on, Discord! Tell me! What's my power?!"
"Seriously?" Discord asked gesturing his hand up and down her body.
"Ooooooh." Pinkie said finally figuring it out. "I just thought I had too much coffee. Be back in a flash!"
Before anyone could even blink, Pinkie Pie ran op the bridge and made it to Tirek's face. She kept punching, kicking, and pounding it until he opened his eyes in anger. Pinkie Pie quickly ran back to her friends before Tirek could get back up. There was only one problem: Applejack's rope was still binding him to the bridge. Whenever he tried to tug it, it just kept on getting tighter.
"Now, Twilight!" Discord shouted. "Freeze his feet!"
"What?" Twilight asked.
"Your eyes!" Discord explained pointing at his own. "You can shoot ice beams from it."
"Oh." Twilight said. "All right." She started straight at Tirek's feet standing side-by-side. A blue beam shot straight out and soon, the feet were covered by an entire blanket of ice. She stopped when she thought of something. "Hold on! Discord, what gave you the idea of giving me ice powers?"
"This isn't the time for me explaining how I always thought you were an ice queen!" Discord shouted. "Sunset Shimmer, you can fly with wings made of fire and shoot flames out of your hands!"
"Really?" Sunset asked before materializing burning wings on her back. "Let's try it out!"
She flew up and saw Tirek resting his free hand from trying to tug the rope free. Sunset took the opportunity and shot fire at the giant, metal signpost above his wrist. In just a moment, the metal melted and solidified around his wrist. Tirek was now completely immobilized.
"Fluttershy, now!" Discord shouted. "Finish him off!"
"What?" Fluttershy asked. "How?"
"Your powers! I gave you the ability to transform into a gigantic, nearly-out-of-control rage beast! All you have to do is get angry enough to grow!"
"Why would you give me that?" Fluttershy asked. "You know I can't be that mad!"
"I just thought you needed to be more assertive a little." Discord said. "Well, I suppose I'll have to di it myself." He jumped up with pogo stick shoes and landed right on Tirek's beard. The red Goliath struggled while he saw Discord materialize a gigantic spray can labeled "SLEEPING MIST!" "Now, don't you worry. This won't hurt... me."
"NO!" Tirek shouted. "NOT LIKE THIS!"
The one thing Discord didn't expect that time was Tirek's eyes glowing. He managed to duck away before the eyes shot out two beams of unknown energy. When they stopped, Tirek was amazed and inspired. He went to the melted metal around his fist and blasted it. Soon enough, the melted metal was chipped off until Tirek would break out. Within moments, his new power helped him back up.
"Well, well, well." Tirek said. "Time for round 2."
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash stepped up and pointed her pendant. Tirek pointed his eyes. They both shot their energies and they clashed for a few moments. Soon enough, Tirek's power proved too much and his eye blast knocked Rainbow Dash back at Rarity knocking them both out.
Applejack tried to tie Tirek back up, but his eye blasts knocked the rope back at her. She was tied up in her own rope. Twilight tried to blast back, but... well, you know. She got blasted back.
Pinkie Pie tried to run towards him, but Tirek shot an opening in the ground and she tripped. Tirek saw the movie theater next to him and ripped off the marquee. He shoved the open end down and used it to pin Pinkie to the ground. She couldn't move.
Sunset Shimmer flew up and threw fireballs at him, but she couldn't even provoke him. He held out his fingers and flicked her to a nearby rooftop. He then saw Discord petrified with fear and picked him up.
"Well... this didn't work." Discord said.
"Discord," Tirek said, "You've been too much of a pain this whole trip. But now, I have the upper hand and it's all thanks to you."
"This is not good." Flash Sentry said watching from the end of the street. He then cupped his hands around his mouth. "FLUTTERSHY, YOU'VE GOT TO USE YOUR POWERS! GET ANGRY!"
"I... I can't!" Fluttershy shook."
"IF YOU DON'T, DISCORD WILL BE WASTED AND TIREK WINS!"
That sentence got her attention and she grew more and more angry with each of the following syllables: "That... big... dumb... MEANIE!"
Tirek was about to blast Discord, but he stopped when he saw Fluttershy starting to grow. Within seconds, she became a hulking, muscular beast pointing her enraged eyes toward Tirek. She jumped toward him and punched him square in the face. The force made him let go of Discord and he dropped safely down. Fluttershy jumped more forward toward Tirek and kept pounding him.
"That's my girl." Discord chuckled.
"Hey, Discord," Spike said approaching him, "What new powers did you give yourself?"
"I didn't." Discord replied. "Think about it: I can already do everything. What else can I do?"
"Good point." Spike said. "Say... do you think you can give me some changes as well?"
"Seriously?" Discord asked with a laughter. "What kind of powers could I give to a dog?! Hey, if I just give you a cape and some boots, we can call you Hum Drum!"
"That's not what I meant!" Spike said. "What I mean is..."
They were interrupted by Tirek's roar and the blast that hit Fluttershy back and fallen down the road. She shrunk back to her normal size unconscious. Discord's hair stood in fear when Tirek stood back up.
"Well, that's it, Discord." Tirek said. "You brought your best, and you still couldn't defeat me. Now, you will..."
"You know..." a familiar voice cried out. Discord and Tirek looked between them and saw Starlight Glimmer wearing a bright-purple outfit and brighter outlines on her palms. "...You talk too much."
"Starlight?" Discord asked. "I didn't see you transform. What power did I give you?"
"Unlike you choosing which powers to give the others, I chose my own." Starlight said. "Rest assured, this is the real power you need. Call me... the Purifier!"
"Did she just say, the Pacifier?" Spike asked.
"Whatever you call yourself, you won't stop me." Tirek said. His eyes started to glow and, like everyone expected, they blasted towards Starlight.
Discord expected her to dodge, but Starlight didn't budge an inch. She held out her hands when the blast hit... and they stopped there. Tirek was confused, but he got even more confused when he realized something.
"What's going on?! I can't stop!"
Everyone got back up and saw Tirek starting to shrink. Within a few minutes. Tirek returned to his original size and his eyes started to dim. He collapsed to the ground and breathed heavily.
"That... was... radical!" Rainbow Dash commented.
"I've never seen anything like it my whole life!" Applejack said. "What happened?"
"I've given myself the power to erase one's powers." Starlight said. "I figured, if you all failed to beat him at his own game, I'd use a different approach."
"Oh, yeah!" Discord cheered. He stopped his celebration when he thought of something bad for him. "Oh, I get it. Now, you're going to use that on me, huh? *sigh* Give it to me."
"Actually..." Starlight said surprising everyone, "I thought you'd just use your powers to remove our powers."
"What?" Discord asked in shock. "But... don't you want me out of the way?"
"Yes, I did." Starlight said. "But if this past week has taught me anything, it's that there is such a thing as too much harmony. That is why, starting on the next school day, I'll begin fixing what's wrong and putting everything where is belongs."
"Really?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "Wow, that's really mature of you. Maybe things are going right after all."
"Uh, oh. Look out." Discord said seeing Tirek getting back up and running away. "Looks like someone's trying to make a quick getaway."
Tirek tried to run down the road, but once he got to a fork in the road, he stopped when he saw Fluttershy waiting for him. She was holding up a sign with arrows pointing at the two different directions. The arrow pointing left had the word "Yes" above it. The arrow pointing right had "No".
"Question 1," Fluttershy said, "I first met the Equestrian Twilight Sparkle when she stood up for me against Adagio Dazzle. Yes or no?"
"No!" Tirek shouted running to the right. He continued running until he saw Sunset Shimmer waiting for him with a sign similar to Fluttershy's.
"Question 2: everyone saw the good side of me at the final night of the Battle of the Bands."
"Yes!" Tirek said gown down the left. He stopped when Flash Sentry stood between another fork with the same sign.
"Question 3: my band is about to go on tour."
"No way, Jose!" Tirek shouted running to his right. As he expected, he saw another kid with a sign. Discord stood there, but his sign was slightly different; instead of the words "yes" and "no", the left side had Tirek's face and the right had Discord's.
"One last question, beardy." Discord said. "Get this right and you're free as a bird. SO think hard and carefully."
"Final question," Discord said, "Who's the coolest guy around; me or you?"
"WHAT A RIDICULOUS QUESTION!" Tirek shouted. "IT'S ME, OF COURSE!" He ran to the left.
Tirek was confident, but it was short-lived. He tripped down a steep hill and landed on a wooden plank above a mud puddle. He tried to keep his balance, even when he saw Starlight at the dry ground in front of the plank.
"Okay!" Tirek said. "Maybe I shouldn't have betrayed you. Come on, Starlight! Help me out! I'll give you the equality you want!"
"Fool me once, shame on you." Starlight said before growing a mad face. "But fool me twice..." She kicked the plank away making Tirek fall into the mud. "No way!"
"Good work, Starlight." Discord congratulated.
"That should keep him down until the police get here." Twilight said.
The kids stayed there for a few minutes until the police arrived. As Tirek was shoved into a patrol car, they heard the sound of someone clearing her throat. The mayor stood there sternly.
"Mayor!" Discord said. "What brings you here? Come to give us the key to the city?"
"What city?!" the mayor shouted. She pointed at the broken buildings. "You and your band of misfits just trashed half of it!"
"Oops." Discord expressed embarrassingly. "Guess we overdid it, huh? Don't worry. I'll pay for repairs. I'll throw in an extra thousand if my parents don't hear about this."
"Are you sure you can afford it?" Fluttershy asked.
"Have you seen my trust fund?" Discord replied.
The next Monday, school had started again. As soon as the Computer Club returned from their vacation, the girls told them everything that happened.
"That's some story." Ricky said. "Did that actually happen?"
"Believe it." Sunset Shimmer said. "Anyway, afterwards, Discord put his handheld mirror in a safety deposit box and locked it in the vault under his mansion. That way, no one can reach the Reflection again. Also, Twilight has become administered into this school. We'll be seeing a lot of her, even more if her Equestrian self comes by for a visit."
"Not just her." Discord said popping up out of nowhere. Behind him was a bunch of curtains floating in midair. "I'd like to introduce another new student!" The curtains opened and a purple boy with green hair, green eyes, and a purple hoodie jacket stood there.
"Spike?" Twilight asked. "Discord, what did you to to him?"
"It's all right, Twilight." Spike spoke "I asked him to change me. I've always wanted to be a real human being. Now, I am."
"Oooh." Rarity cooed. "That's adorable."
"You... You really think so." Spike asked with a red face. "Well..."
"Not so fast, Romeo." Discord said. "Looks like Spring Break is over."
"But it's still Spring." Sunset Shimmer said. "A time for new things to bloom and a new life to begin."
"Human fortune cookie." Discord said gazing in the principal's office. He halted when he saw a plate of hot, steaming cookies on her desk. He zipped in and picked one up. "Speaking of cookies, don't mind if I do." He was about to take a bite, but Fluttershy stopped him.
"Discord, wait! Principal Celestia hates it when students take her cookies without asking. You could get in trouble for this."
"Nothing to worry about." Discord said picking up a piece of paper next to the plate. "See? 'Please, help yourself, Discord. All you can eat'."
"Wait, that specifically says your name?" Fluttershy asked. "Hey, that's not even her handwriting. I think you were being set up."
"But who would..." Discord asked. He looked at the curtain and saw a camera lens peeking towards him. He snapped his fingers and the curtains sprung open revealing Starlight Glimmer holding a camera. "Starlight! I thought you were going to change!"
"Oh, I'll change all right," Starlight said, "Just as soon as I run you out of town! I said I would fix what's wrong and put things where they belong. And let's face it; you don't belong here. Never have, never will. I'll find a way to... What are you doing?"
Bearing a mad face, Discord zipped his backpack open and Fluffy jumped out. "Sic her." Within a few minutes, Fluffy grew to enormous size and growled toward Starlight. She screamed and ran out the window beside her. Fluffy was able to squeeze through the same window and chase Starlight around the field.
"A new life, indeed." Discord scoffed. "Yeah, right."
"Actually," Fluttershy said wrapping her hand around his, "Maybe we're not too far from a new life."
Discord grinned a little before leaning towards her. She did the same with him. Their lips pressed, When the kiss broke, Discord and Fluttershy sang a new verse from a familiar song.
"NOW THAT IT'S YOU AND ME
THIS IS DEFINATELY...
IT'S DEEEEEFIIIIIINAAAAAATELY...
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS"
"HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!" Discord shouted. He turned to Sunset Shimmer. "Sunset, we just met Twilight's human counterpart, right?"
"Yeah." Sunset replied. "So?"
"So... you're from Equestria just like the earlier Twilight. Where's your human self?"
That question widened the eyes of everyone in the group. There was no way they ever thought of that. But that is a question for another day.
