Friendship is Card Games: Discord and the Ponyvile Player Dramarama · 12:36pm Sep 25th, 2022
Rather appropriate spot for a novel focusing on Discord, honestly. An unexpected intrusion to G5 with startlingly little actual impact on it perfectly describes his actions in the comics thus far. But since the Make Your Mark series isn’t available until tomorrow, it’s noodle novel time.
The dedication is “For Banzai, who was the best kind of chaos.” I’m assuming this is to one of G. M. Berrow’s old pets.
Wonder of wonders, we don’t open on a beautiful day in Ponyville. Everything’s just a little off-kilter. “There wav a slight crookedness to the position of the sun, an intangible strangeness to the shape of the clouds, and a funny feeling going around.”
The day started normally enough: Celestia raising the sun, foals going to the schoolhouse, adults “trotting to their various social and work engagements” in a bit of weird phrasing. Then Discord’s laughter echoed throughout the town, understandably sending ponies fleeing back into their homes until something else catches his interest.
Mind you, this is after Discord began his reformation, but most ponies still aren’t his friends. And even the narration is only willing to say “he was still unpredictable, but a little less of a terror.” That said, he manages to frighten the students just by floating past the schoo. Even with the Bearers’ reassuring everypony, the town’s still (somewhat understandably) leery of him.
But Discord isn’t here just for random mayhem. He’s on a mission from Celestia. A secret one, no less. If he can work with others to make Ponyville’s Spring Musical a success, Celestia will “gladly return a token of [his] from days past.” This act of flagrant bribery will somehow assure Tia that Discord is committed to using his abilities for good. (Or, at the very least, that he’s psychologically capable of doing so and can’t fall back on the “I’m just following my nature” excuse.)
The scroll also establishes a few temporal touchstones, with references to both Tirek and the Smooze providing some sense of when this is taking place. All six members of the main cast may indicate this is happening after “What About Discord?” but that’s more nebulous at the moment. Most disappointingly, Discord’s home realm of madness and mayhem gets the closest thing it has to a canonical name… “Chaosville.”
Yes, really. I’m sticking with Limbo myself.
I do appreciate Discord objecting to doing what someone else tells him to on principle for a moment before realizing that there was no part of this that he wouldn’t enjoy… in theory. The townsfolk’s reaction is making it clear that this will be trickier than he thinks.
Also, apparently the plunder seeds were merely the last of “several personal treasures and relics” Discord had scattered about Equestria during his unreign. (Interestingly, said reign is described here as brief, when we’ve never really gotten any sense of just how long Discord spent tormenting all and sundry for the fun of it.) He’s rediscovered most of them since his release, but a few still elude him. He believes Celestia “had accidentally found a simple-looking stone orb marked with the Crest of Chaos somewhere in the depths of the castle dungeons,” which he’ll do anything to reclaim.
Yes, not only does Berrow appear to be hinting at an Element of Disharmony, she’s also confirming that Castle Canterlot does, in fact, have dungeons. Also, while I can’t confirm this yet, it looks like we’re drawing inspiration from Michael Moorcock’s Star of Chaos. Wouldn’t be the first time G4 would draw from that particular well.
In any case, with Discord’s motivation firmly established, he drifts through Ponyville until he corners finds some of the locals to great… who are, unfortunately, two of the florists. Discord, affronted, exclaims that given all his visits, he might as well live in Ponyville… which prompts Martingale, a unicorn real estate agent, to introduce himself and offer Discord a place to stay.
Yes, really. No, I don’t know why Discord couldn’t bunk with Fluttershy, or even just teleport into town every day.
Regardless, this is actually Martingale’s first opportunity to get a sale in weeks, hence why he’s even offering his services to the spirit of chaos and disharmony (though in this book, Discord is just referred to as “the king of chaos,” which, you know, kind of contradicts the whole concept.)
The first house is, in Martingale’s words, “a bit of a fixer-upper, but the place has great potential.” So yeah, it’s a dump.
While examining the view, Discord channels Marvin the Martian, complaining about a nearby house blocking it. So he shifts it to another street. While it’s occupied. The reformed spirit of chaos, everyone!
(Also, turns out Ponyville’s had a housing boom since Namepending Castle sprouted, which makes some sense. My question is how long most new residents last when things like, you know, draconequi rearranging the residential layout keep happening.)
The good news is that, as far as Discord’s concerned, the house is perfectly imperfect, drooping shutters and all. He doesn’t have any bits on him, and thus gives Martingale an IOU… which promises “one unique payment of my choosing, payable upon my full satisfaction of the premises and experience here.” He then literally zips Martingale’s mouth shut and forces the poor stallion to sign the deal.
Again, our hero, who has been sent ot Ponyville to demonstrate his capacity for empathy and teamwork.
Also, Discord straight-up calls Martingale “Random Inconsequential Pony,” which may end up being a dig at Berrow’s own style that I can’t help but appreciate. It definitely has a nice, metafictional tang to it.
Martingale, insisting that the contract can’t be legally binding what with all the magical and physical coercion, says he’s taking this to the mayor. Discord isn’t the least bit intimidated: “Tell her I can’t wait until our bridge gam on Thursday afternoon. I’m bringing the seven-layer dip.” I’m mostly certain he’s joking, but one never can be sure…
In any case, Discord quickly sets to work making the property even worse, with garish paint, broken kitchen sinks on the front lawn, a cacophonous chorus of floorboard squeaks, and more. As he unpacks a Hearth’s Warming gift—a tea set he finds hideously lovely, but keeps because it’s from Fluttershy—he decides to announce the good news to her… but she’s not at home since it’s naptime for all the animals therein.
Angel Bunny shoves a piece of paper at Discord, letting him know that Fluttershy’s rehearsing for the musical. Also, the cottage has “a big red button” that Angel can jump on to close the door in visitors’ faces. Make of that what you will.
Discord is eager to make mischief at the musical, never mind the actual nature of his appointed mission. To be fair, this would tell Celestia how committed he is to the side of the angels, but I doubt Ponyville appreciates being the testbed.
Discord opts for full Victorian ensemble as he preps for his audition, complete with a neck ruff that goes far past his shoulders. Aside from scaring Sea Swirl out of her script, he somehow manages to make it into the auditions unnoticed.
One of the other ponies auditioning is Cheerilee… which is odd when one considers that it’s explicitly a school day. Yes, Discord took time to adjust his house to his taste, but still. Also, Cheerilee’s in fulll 80’s mode, belting out “Fillies Just Want to Have Fun” with her mane “crimped in a style that Discord hadn’t seen in a long time.” Which implies he was conscious during that decade. He also declares himself to be thousands of years old.
I may be overly detailed here, but it’s honestly fascinating to see what random tidbits Berrow slips in, and few characters are suited for random tidbits more than Discord.
In any case, after Cheerilee’s performance, Discord realizes he doesn’t actually have a song prepared, which is a bit of an issue when auditioning for a musical.
Pinkie shows up suddenly enough to startle Discord, for which he commends her. She then asks for chocolate rain, flawlessly intuits both Discord’s nervousness and the reason for it, and suggests singing “Glass of Water,” a song for which she wasn’t present. Berrow just managed to hit Brainless Lolrandom Pinkie, Grounded Empathetic Pinkie, and Eldritch Meta-Aware Pinkie in under two pages. I’m honestly impressed.
With multiple facets of the Ponk to consult, Discord settles on “the one classic award-winning musical favorite that’s sure to impress and delight everypony in all of Ponyville… ‘Singin’ in the Chocolate Rain’!”
Pinkie, naturally, approves.
We cut to the judges: Twilight, Rarity, Toe Tapper of the Ponytones, and… huh. The fourth member, Senior Mint, is actually a guard from Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, who also happens to lead the Ponyville Choir. Wherever that might be based.
Ah. And Fluttershy isn’t trying out, she’s just coordinating the auditions. That makes sense.
Discord’s blue, feathered wing is explicitly identified as pegasus in nature. He also relishes trolling Twilight despite her reassuring the rest of Ponyville that he was harmless (well, mostly harmless) earlier that day. To be fair, consistency has never been Discord’s strong suit, but it’s only been 42 pages since that scene.
Twilight justifies her suspicion of Discord by noting the last time he was on stage, which was a setup for Tirek draining the unicorn audience of their magic… not that Twilight has any reason to know that. Berrow doesn’t seem to understand that the characters don’t necessarily have encyclopedic knowledge of everything that happened onscreen.
Rarity tries to support Twilight, but she has to force herself to ignore Discord’s new outfit, with its “intricate stitching and matching pocket square.”
Ah. Discord reveals the real reason for moving into his new home: The rules of the audition say that all residents of Ponyville are welcome. I do enjoy rules lawyer Discord using ponies’ love of needlessly restricting themselves against them.
Also, apparently he sometimes needs a nap on Fluttershy’s couch after their Tuesday tea, which makes me wonder just what she’s putting in that stuff. 
When the judges doubt Discord’s claims, he asks Pinkie to back him up, which she does… though there’s no indication of how she’d know. It’s not like he told her last chapter. Is Berrow’s logic here “Pinkie knows everypony in Ponyville and thus can instantly detect when someone moves in?” I’ve admittedly seen that before, but a more explicit explanation would be nice.
Discord is, if nothing else, a showman, and leaves the judges cheering. Though Twilight empasizes that they’ll call him, not the other way around.
Of course, that means waiting, which drives Discord up the walls and across the ceiling. Martingale comes by to try to undo the sale, but Discord transforms into a giant spider to scare him off, which occupies all of a few seconds. By late afternoon, Discord is contemplating who in town to mess with, when the Bearers (and Spike!) call him out of his now floating, slowly rotating home.
Berrow takes the time to make a few references… with concerning implications. Les Miser Stables implies all the mess of the French Revolution at some point in pony history, and while Manespray has less blood, it still carries the cultural and racial tensions of the early 60’s. (Once a month we have our Zebra Day?)
In any case, Discord’s part of this production of The Singing Stallion, but he’s not the lead.
Big Macintosh is.
Discord takes this surprisingly well, given that reality is still the way he left it when he first finds out. He still throws a tantrum… up until the others explain that most of the town didn’t want him in the play at all. The only reason he has any role is because they went to bat for him. (Yes, including Twilight.)
Discord is dumbfounded, thinking that reformation is basically a stamp on a license to behave however he pleases, more or less. This does feel true to the character.
In any case, he’ll be in the ensemble, which he finds unacceptable, not least because Celestia won’t notice him. Because obviously he’ll blend right in. (Well, it’s not like I expect Discord to be completely rational.)
There appears to be a running gag where Discord makes a joke, nopony laughs, Discord explains why the joke is funny, and nopony laughs even harder. It’s honestly pretty amusing. Also, Dash asks about the proper plural of “draconequus” and we never get a concrete answer about that, or if there even are any other draconequi out there. (The comics have their say on the matter, of course, but that’s another matter.)
Discord is about ready to give up on the whole endeavor… until Fluttershy tells him she’s proud of him for joining in even if he didn’t get the lead role. That’s enough to get him to the first recital… though by the time he gets there, he plans on making things less dreadfully boring.
Mind you, it’s a bit hard when the entire cast and crew go running the moment Discord shows up.
Also, he says “The cheese stands alone” as he takes that in, prompting Pinkie to scour the theater for Cheese Sandwich. I’m not going to say anything more there.
Only after a mention of “fifty-six trombones in the huge parade” do I realize that the play is meant to be a riff on The Music Man… which is kind of funny when you consider that that musical is the main inspiration for the Flimflam brothers. Makes me wonder if seeing it was a formative experience for those two… and if they got kicked out of the theater before they saw the ending.
(Also, it means that Big Mac is cast a fast-talking conman, which is frankly hilarious. And yet, given his blabbermouth phase, strangely feasible.)
Oh, also, Discord turned Big Mac into a trombone. Fifty-five to go.
He does turn Mac back after Apple Bloom yells at him, but the rest of the town is convinced that Discord will only ruin things if left in the cast. (To his credit, Mac is taking the transformation very well.) Also, one of the ponies shouting for Discord to get the boot is Minuette, which really makes me wonder when this was written. Berrow’s usually a stickler for the fine details, so having a Canterlotter in the cast kind of undermines the whole Ponyville musical thing. Minor quibble, but still.
We have a timeskip to a week before the performance. Discord appears to be settling in nicely, though he’s plotting to steal the show.
“Predictably, Princess Twilight Sparkle was a bundle of nerves, eager to show her superiors how well the community in Ponyville was flourishing under the flag of friendship.”
This is especially awkward given how the mayor’s already been mentioned in this book. Just who is in charge around here?
We get a reference to Applejack’s set design work in “Made in Manehattan,” so yes, Minuette is definitely only here because Lyra lets her old CSGU friends use her house as a tax shelter.
Also, Dash has gotten Flitter and Cloudchaser to help her set up weather-based special effects. Nice touch. Interestingly, Fluttershy’s recruited the orchestra. After listing the contributions of the rest of the Bearers, Berrow may have just felt the need to say Shy was doing something, but it’s still an interesting choice.
The mention of “Mare-ion Pear” also highlights the awkward inspirational overlap. After all, we’ve already had a Marian show up in the comics.
Also, Davenport can apparently play the piano. No word on whether he uses a sofa in place of the usual bench.
Discord can’t help but break in on one of Big Mac’s numbers, prompting much grumbling over how much his intrusions have been holding up rehearsals and questions about why the local mad demigod is even taking part in a small town musical to begin with. Discord attests that it’s all to improve his approval rating (and because he loves showtunes) and promises to behave.
… but then Big Mac starts belching bubbles. And it’s actually not Discord’s fault. And nopony believes him. And he legitimately has no idea what’s happening.
He returns home to see Martingale pacing under it, demanding that he leave. Everypony blames the realtor for letting Discord into Ponyville in the first place, and he hasn’t been able to get any sales since. Discord insists that the show must go on, and it’s already clear who’s responsible for those bubbles, if not necessarily how, even before he mutters about taking matters into his own hooves again. So much for “Random Inconsequential Pony.” 
Dash, Pinkie, and Twilight cross pathv with the darkly muttering Martingale as he leaves Discord’s home… making Twilight worry that Discord is responsible for this trouble as well. And, well, she’s not wrong. (Pinkie likely already suspects the culprit, given that Martingale refused a cheer-up cupcake. Red velvet, no less.)
Oof. We have a moment where Twilight uses the library set to reminisce about Golden Oaks. Legitimately touching.
Everypony's been waiting for the other horseshoe to drop with Discord, but he’s been a model cast member since the bubble incident. Fluttershy is openly smug about his good behavior, which is honestly hilarious.
Dress rehearsals have begun, and Discord suggests a bit more pizzazz at th end of Act One. Others object that, you know, they’re in dress rehearsals and don’t have time to learn a new routine. The debate is interrupted by the lights going out.
There’s a lovely bit with Spike making sure no one’s in the way before breathing fire, just in time to see either somepony dash out of the room or simply a shadow. Then bulbs start burning out—let’s just overlook the madness that is pony lighting technology—and the piano starts playing itself. Discord puts a stop to it all, insists on his innocence, and jokingly suggests a ghost was responsible… which gets ponies panicking about the Pony of Shadows. 
Twilight gets everypony back on track… but a hissed bit of suspicion by Noteworthy gives Discord an itchy trigger talon, and he ends up turning the stage into an ice rink to get back at the stallion. Twilight dismisses him for the day, and Discord finds himself legitimately torn between chaotic impulse and duty to the rest of the players.
By the time the girls (and Spike) get to Discord’s house, the guilt has him twisted up enough to spill the beans about Celestia’s secret mission. Most of the others are nonplussed that he’d just say that without any prompting. Twilight is actually jealous. “Even though Twilight Sparkle was no longer the princess’s faithful student, she still couldn’t give up the idea of being the only teacher’s pet.” There’s a Sunset story in there somewhere…
Unfortunately, they all came here to tell him he’s out of the play, blaming him for all of the recent mishaps, even the ones he didn’t do. Discord decides to investigate who’s been farming him in disguise, using the same unicorn form he used to lure in Tirek, using the alias…
Tony Stanza.
I couldn’t make this up if I tried, folks. Twilight says he’s a Bridleway actor who was conveniently passing through on his way to a Les Mis revival in Manehattan, and nopony in the cast questions that.
Come opening night, Rarity is starstruck by the audience, which includes the diarchs, the Wonderbolts, and… Coco Pommel. Why is Rarity amazed by one of her proteges in attendance? 
Discord wonders whether Celestia will recognize him in this form, but decides he’s just happy performing with his friends.
He then immediately interrogates Noteworthy about the fellow who had to leave the cast, decides the stallion is guilty, and plans the best time to embarrass him. Getting mixed messages here, Berrow.
After Act One, Discord spots a mysterious stallion going up to the rafters, but the cast is too busy prepping for Act Two to investigate, even though the only stagehoof they have is Bulk Biceps. The interesting thing is that Discord isn’t sure whether the shadowy figure “was a figment of his overactive imagination.” Given Discord, even if that were the case, it doesn’t rule out the figure actually existing.
Figment or no, he telekinetically upends a bucket onto the stage. Discord shoves Big Mac and Cheerilee—who is presumably playing the female lead, which must be awkward for those two—out of the way… as opposed to simply intercepting and possibly redirecting the payload.
Said payload is sneezing powder, and soon the entire cast in sneezing in time to the music. Discord even sneezed himself out of his disguise… but the show must go on. He gathers the powder and sends it into swirling patterns overhead, brings down the saboteur—it’s Martingale, surprise, surprise—and puppets him into joining the dance number. As far as the audience can tell, it’s all part of the show.
Discord ends hosting the after-party, with Celestia and Luna as special guests. Though Discord brings ciders out for both Martingale and Noteworthy, with apologies all around. Discord’s fascinated by an enjoyable experience where he wasn’t the center of attention, much to Celestia’s delight. She returns the mysterious sphere and…
It’s actually a fishbowl. With a clownfish. Named Quincy. “But I like to call him Q.”
… I can’t be mad, honestly. This wasn’t 100% logical, but what kind of Discord story would it be if it were? This kind of humbling experience would have been good to see in the show, to say nothing of Discord learning to appreciate equinity as a source of unexpected insight and not just an ungrateful audience for his antics.
In any case, let’s see what further madness I can make from this:
Floating Advertisement 1W
Artifact Creature — Balloon
Flying
Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to Floating Advertisement, you and that player each draw a card.
There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Or bad air support.
1/3
Burly Stagehoof 3WW
Creature — Pegasus Employee
Flying, vigilance
When Burly Stagehoof enters the battlefield, open an Attraction. (Put the top card of your Attraction deck onto the battlefield.)
Behind every great production, there’s an even greater crew.
3/4
Magus of the Cheese 4WW
Creature — Pony Wizard
When you control no permanents other than Magus of the Cheese and have no cards in hand, you win the game.
Solitude is a heavy burden to Camembert.
5/6
Reroute Reality 1UU
Instant
If tapped for mana this turn, Plains produce G, Swamps produce W, Mountains produce B, Forests produce R, and lands with no basic land types produce C instead of any other type.
No civic planning survives contact with the enemy.
Logistic Support 4UU
Instant
Draw three cards. Create three Treasure tokens. (They’re artifacts with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.)
“If money can’t help, it can probably buy what can.”
—Filthy Rich, business-stallion
Vengeful Humiliation 1BB
Sorcery
Kicker U (You may pay an additional U as you cast this spell.)
If this spell was kicked, up to one target creature gets -5/-0 until end of turn. Destroy all creatures with power 2 or less.
Discord learned forgetting easily enough. Forgiving was trickier.
Discord’s Coercion 2B
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals their hand. Choose a card from it. That player discards a card at random. If they didn’t discard the chosen card, return Discord’s Coercion to its owner’s hand.
“Look at all these thoughts rattling around. Surely you can lighten the load.”
Theatrical Geist 3B
Creature — Spirit
Flash
Flying
When Theatrical Geist enters the battlefield, draw a card for each creature that died this turn.
Drama is eternal.
2/1
Quincy, Gentle Madfish 1R
Legendary Creature — Fish
When Quincy, Gentle Madfish enters the battlefield, search your library and/or graveyard for a Discord card and exile it. You may play that card until the end of your next turn. If you searched your library this way, shuffle it.
2/1
Denovation Team 2R
Creature — Chimera Warrior
Each nonbasic land enters the battlefield with a junk counter on it. As long as that land has a junk counter on it, it loses all abilities and has “T: Add C” and “1, T: Remove a junk counter from this land.”
“This place is a real breaker-downer.”
3/2
Revolutionary Barricade 3R
Creature — Wall
Defender
When Revolutionary Barricade enters the battlefield, gain control of target creature with power X or less until end of turn, where X is the total toughness of creatures you control with defender. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
0/3
Dramatic Demiurge RRRRR
Creature — Chimera Spirit Avatar
When Dramatic Demiurge enters the battlefield, if it was cast, put all other permanents you control on the bottom of their owners’ libraries in a random order, then reveal that many cards from the top of your library. Put all non-Aura permanent cards revealed this way onto the battlefield, then do the same for Aura cards. Then shuffle.
6/5
Dash of Chaos
(R) Instant
Cascade
This spell cascades as though its mana value were 3 greater.
Splice onto instant or sorcery 1RR (As you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card’s effects to that spell.)
In-Flight Meal 2G
Instant
Destroy target creature with flying. You gain 3 life.
Chaotic G (You may cast this spell for its chaotic cost. If you do, choose its target at random.)
Discord’s pets have little care for airspace restrictions.
Infested Backyard 2GG
Enchantment
When Infested Backyard enters the battlefield, mill four cards.
Whenever one or more land cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere, create a 3/3 green Insect creature token.
The house had an ant problem. Discord made it so the ants had a house problem.
Crest of Chaos 2
Artifact
When Crest of Chaos enters the battlefield or at the beginning of your upkeep, choose a color at random.
T: Add one mana of the last chosen color.
Symbolizing endless potential, the crest only goes on Discord’s most treasured creations.
Ponyville Stage
Artifact — Attraction
Visit — You may reveal a creature card from your hand. If you do, target creature you control becomes a copy of that card until end of turn, except it’s a Performer in addition to its other types.
Where every night is Amateur Night.
(2 lights)
Bold as Brass (rw)
Instant
Until end of turn, target creature gets +2/+0 and becomes an artifact in addition to its other types.
Compared to what his sisters put him through, getting turned into a trombone barely phased Big Macintosh.
Upstaging Urge RG
Sorcery
Target creature with the greatest power among creatures on the battlefield fights another target creature.
Being the best means never letting anyone forget it.
Overactive Figment 1UR
Creature — Illusion
You may have Overactive Figment enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it has haste and “At the beginning of the end step, return this creature to its owner’s hand.”
Discord’s imagination can run away with everyone.
0/0
Ponyville Realtor 1GW
Creature — Unicorn Citizen
When Ponyville Realtor enters the battlefield, search your library for a basic land card and reveal it. If an opponent controls more lands than you, put that card onto the battlefield tapped. Otherwise, put it into your hand. Then shuffle.
2/1
Discord, Drama Anarch 2UR
Legendary Planeswalker — Discord
+1: Draw a card unless an opponent has Discord, Drama Anarch deal 2 damage to them.
-2: Discord becomes a copy of target creature until end of turn, except he has haste and can’t be blocked.
-7: You get an emblem with “Whenever an opponent casts their first spell each turn, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.”
4
Armored Chorister 2RW
Creature — Pegasus Soldier
Flying
Enlist (As this creature attacks, you may tap a nonattacking creature you control without summoning sickness. When you do, add its power to this creature’s until end of turn.)
Whenever Armored Chorister enlists a creature, other attacking creatures get +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is that creature’s power.
2/2
Dress Rehearsal 3UR
Instant
Cast this spell only during combat.
Remove all creatures from combat and untap them. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase. If it’s your turn, creatures you control gain hexproof until end of turn. Otherwise, creatures can’t attack you or planeswalkers you control this turn.
Unknowable Horror 3BR
Creature — Horror
Menace
At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose an opponent at random. Unknowable Horror attacks that player if able this combat.
The most terrifying thing about Discord is never knowing just what he’ll do.
5/4
Oddball Cottage
Land
Oddball Cottage enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add R or W.
2RW, T, Sacrifice Oddball Cottage: Draw a card.
There’s one on every street… though not all of them float above it.
Celestial Cause
Conspiracy
Hidden agenda (Start the game with this conspiracy face down in the command zone and secretly choose a card name. You may turn this conspiracy face up any time and reveal that name.)
Creatures you control with the chosen name have “W: This creature gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.”
For whatever reason, I decided to just read this blog proper rather then wait for maybe-probably-not getting access to the chapter book itself to read someday. Not too bad; I’m sure the holes in the plot would niggle much more if I reflected on it, or read it at the proper pace as opposed to these humorous cliff notes. But this was diverting.
Writing a Discord story that has randomness in a manner that fuels the narrative can’t be easy, and the show was never consistent with it. This isn’t a bad effort on that front. Never going to think about it again, but won’t regret reading it this way either.
Inside Baseball Alert: If you were trying to Reroute Reality into a twist... well, a careful comparison with the thing I linked says that you didn't get it quite right.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: While Discord is pretending to be a mere mortal, he isn't treated as a planeswalker. Damage won't remove loyalty counters, but it can kill him if it exceeds his toughness and he isn't indestructible. If he's copying a Gideon other than Gideon Blackblade, ignore this because he won't be a creature... and I don't even actually know whether the one-loyalty-ability-per-turn rule will remember that he activated one as Discord and prevent him from becoming one. Somebody rephrase the question using "two different Gideons including Gideon Blackblade, and Sakashima's Will targeting the one that isn't" and ask a Magic Judge.
And we're sure Pinkie isn't Discord's long lost relative or something. Because I've always wondered if the pink party pony form is merely the way mortal minds can comprehend the vast, mind-warping entity that she really is. Sorta a "form you are comfortable with" scenario.
5688432
It's Pinkie Pie. The only certainty is uncertainty, and I'm not even sure about that (Diane Lokisdottir conjecture).
Banzai was a Belgian Turveran who belonged to Caerdwyn, one of our local friends. Ms. Berrow and Ms. Ball both met him (at different times). He retained a puppylike personality his whole life, and he was a very good dog, if sometimes an agent of chaos. We all still miss him.
Gotta be honest, my initial reaction to a Discord-focused book coming up was along the lines of:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/12/2/170638.png
Buuut, if I'm honest, this does feel like at least a small improvement on some of my issues with how the character was handled - if only because, while it seems to have shown him acting as if his "redemption" was a permanent get-out-of-call-outs-and-consequences-free card, I don't get the sense that the work actually agreed with him, unlike how the show felt to me much of the time. That said, it seems far from making him the kind of character I'd want to read about and I honestly can't decide whether someone on the staff knowing about the problems with the character but no one fixing them makes it better or worse. Still, an improvement is an improvement.
Okay, hands up all those who'd love it if it turned out Angel was actually the real Spirit of Chaos and Discord merely a metaphysical pretender with delusions of grandeur?
In fairness, from an objective standpoint, having a major theatrical designer attend a small-town play would be pretty notable, if only to those in the know. Still, while I'm hardly without bias, I'd personally headcanon it as less "Oh my, The Coco Pommel is here?!" and more being amazed she took time out of her busy schedule and came all this way just to see Rarity's work which is... a very sweet gesture and I'll say no more on that.
Riiight, so... Discord magically forces this desperate stallion to sign a bad deal and, in the process, ruins his life (at least in the short term) and, when said Stallion attempts to get his definitely-wrong-but-still-very-understandable revenge, his punishment... is for Discord to do more magic control and turn him into a helpless puppet for a bit.
See, this is why I'd prefer Angel as the Spirit of Chaos. Also because, to me, the all-powerful draconequus getting owned by a rabbit is the funniest Discord's ever going to get, but I accept I'm in the minority on that one.
5688491
Letting mere mortals defeat the gods cleanly is probably more in line with the show's worldbuilding.
Mind you, I've also decided that Angel is the Prince With a Thousand Enemies, so there's not a lot of "mere" in this case. (Basically, imagine B'rer Rabbit with the same that's-my-species competence boost that causes HFY).