Somewhere on the eastern coast, a rock slide that could have became an avalanche with enough force to squash a trading town in the valley below had been abruptly halted. The red strings of fate were protected from the laughing scissors which snipped at the lines every day. It was a cloudy afternoon in the outskirts of Winniapolis that the four hundred pony town which served as a way station of trading with mountain ore ponies of the Yaket Range had come under siege by nature's destructive forces. A distant explosion set off by a new mine being created had triggered a slow and gradual clip off an overlooking mountain's steep face, the bedrock below assisted the disaster in the making as tons of stone picked up pace in is thunderous descent.
Yet as the dust and debris kicked off from the initial tumble of earth, a pop of pink magic washed over the boulders and shards of mountain. Sparkling white blasts occurred along each of the numberless pieces of looming death before the wave dispersed entirely, leaving a plume of butterflies and balloons in the wake of the avalanche. To the town that had only moments ago began to panic from the unstoppable force which was set to annihilate their homes, ponies were soon hollering and hooping in jubilation. Hard hats and sun covers were tossed into the air as cries of pure relief swallowed the trading town for a short lived festive occasion, spouting gratitude to the one they believed was their savior in such a spontaneous incident.
Unknown to them however the act as not of the Princess's doing nor the former element bearers, but by the boundless power that Discord the Reformed had used for good and all that was fluffy nice. The former Lord of Chaos hovered far up in the clear blue sky in a desk like a bank teller, a green shielded lamp shone over papers he stamped with a bored complexion literally written across his odd muzzle in cake icing with sprinkles. Even going so far as to wear the self imposed stripped vest over a white cuffed dress shirt complete with a red bow tie, and a green translucent visor sat on his head for no real reason other than to complete the costume. The look of monotony which was the antithesis of who the Draconequis was at heart spoke volumes to those who might gaze upon him.
"Another day another bit as some ponies say." he mumbled before taking a lit match he snapped magically into his claw and lit the icing on his face, shortly proceeded by a small detonation that cleared him of the sugary coating as if it were door blasting explosives.
His already strangely horned face scattered into pieces on the desk as a final stamp on the report slammed home in tune with the miniature blast. The pieces bounced about before making their way like a procession of a parade in Canterlot to reform once more into their glorious image of the Draconequis, the last of the furry orbs and the two eyeballs leaped up as the stamp lifted. To further the narcissistic tendencies he had was an impression of his happy cheerful self just below the farewell words to the diarchy as his signature. The sheet flew of its own accord off the table and rolled up for a red ribbon to swoop in and tie it shut, a snap of the talon and it vanished with a burst of confetti. The colorful display did little to bring a smile to the presently helpful entity as he sighed in discontent, but a quick glance at a small portrait at the upper right corner of his desk did something to curb what he essentially did as a complete opposite to his nature.
A small photo of him and Fluttershy sat in a swirling array of colors that spun upwards like a northern lights made into a camp fire as the frame. It was the scene after a cake baking party with Pinkie Pie that ended in the kitchen somehow covered in sugary goodness and thick smoke from burning bread. The two of them were quite caked in fluffy frosting and a multitude of cream, sprinkles, and all sorts of Pinkie's favorite toppings to any dish she made. In small letters around the frame did the phrase spell out haphazardly in gold letters that read, 'Do it for her.'.
"You know? It's always the little things that make this job worth doing. At least I'll always have Ponyville as a little break spot besides the trips to the outer realms." he told himself as he fought the utter lack of joy he took in helping all of Equestria as its steward, then again he also didn't appreciate the loss of an audience to mayhem. What was random destruction if no pony was around to appreciate it?
Discord smiled at the photo before it melted instantly then reconstituted itself into a crinkly shaped image of the two having fun in another one of his many memories somehow involving Pinkie Pie's antics, "Ahhhhh... like a cold refreshing sip of the best malt you can afford! I think I can call it a day for now wouldn't you say my little nature loving friend?"
He peered at a watch on his lion's front limb which blew a party whizzler at the start of the hour, the flat circular chronograph had opened up to let loose the annoying sound. It was his stopping point in the day where he let his magic take over the watch post that Celestia decreed he'd guard every day. Freed from the prison of monotony and heroics the chimera went straight to the one thing he enjoyed most every day, his favorite TV show which had only gotten better each passing day.
"I wonder how my soap opera's doing at this hour?" he tapped his chin.
The entire skit of his job blinked out with the sound of a whoopie cushion deflating at the snap of his tail tuft. Everything from the furniture and paperwork to the attire he had on vanished as if it never were. A small book then materialized at his whim which he grasped with his mitts like a caring mother would its foal, only to follow by a slap on the hardcover which sent the pages spewing out and around him. Papyrus sheets flew without being affected by the natural air currents of his altitude, behaving as he saw fit they danced about in a choreographed pattern until order was somewhat restored. A few of interest hovered before him with texts glowing as bright as a fresh branding iron straight off the coals, their brilliance physically extracting themselves off the paper and into the space between him and the textbook.
"Though I will always ensure to see that you are always the happy little mare I know, alas even I cannot simply stop everything from going wrong... much to Celestia's view of the world." he whispered the last portion, "It's just the way of the universe my dear. And sometimes... you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride..." his mouth curled into a grin as images began to swirl out of the suspended lights.
Three bulky shapes soon warped into viewing screens that could be discerned by there forward facing manner, the far left rectangle coming too first of the batch. Like a collide-scope of colors that sank into a black hole in space, the intangible became a vision of what had come to pass with Twilight Sparkle of the Human Realm. She seemed strangely unrecognizable for a few seconds until the reality bending deity finally realized what was going on.
He gave a hearty laugh and a slap on the hoofed knee to see the conundrum that had befallen the girl to whom Harmony had to see through to the end, "Oh my! This is just too rich! I can't believe she even looks like that?! I mean seriously did she lose a bet or roll snake eyes!!? Gwwaahhhahahahah!!"
Through watering eyes from the sheer hilarity, he nit picked the pseudo-siren in all her glory from her leathery wings, the sharp cloven hooves, to the fish tail. Even a being such as himself there were so many puns and jokes to be said, but alas it was still too soon to relish in the machinations of fate. Where as soon as he wiped his yellow eyes and stifle the still flowing river of chuckling wheezing had his attention take in the scene itself.
There lay the strangely altered girl with another siren who looked the worse for wear, "Hah ha... oh boy, wait a minute?" he drew his head closer by extending his noodle neck, "My... my... my... seems like someone lost a fight with a blender? What have you been up to child?" he pondered to himself as his eagle taloned arm dashed across the viewing portal.
Everything from the start had been shown to him without any detail left unseen, from the arrival into Equestria to the destruction of Twilight's home for a second time. He could only whistle from the marvelous disaster that had been the arrival of the other Spangled Sparkle, among the rest of the rabble caught alongside her. He quickly deduced the damages and hummed in delight, a little zero appeared at the bottom right to which he nodded to himself as if he knew what it meant. Clapping his paws and claw together with a high and mighty look, a tally board poofed into existence next to his head where a single line was drawn between two titles marked Discord Rules and Cosmos Drools. One tally etched onto the white glossy surface of the latter while he earned two himself, content with the points distribution he banished the item away before moving onto the middle screen.
"My trusty little insurance really paid off this time, just goes to show ya that place really was perfect for my Kingdom of Chaos back in my hay day!" Discord grinned, "Shame really they all forgot what I told them when they entered the gate, rather sad I wasted my time trying to warn the five of them. Though I guess it was still worth it to get front row seats to the universe beyond Luna's range? You know I always did fancy myself that Hourglass Nebula. It just seems like my eye is always watching the pandemonium from there?"
Three other illusions of himself exploded in being in a splash of chocolate milk and marshmallows beside the original, after their spectacular entrance they all agreed simultaneously with his comment. Each clone nodding as if they were admiring a piece of fine art finely hung in a famous museum, glasses and coats in tow.
"Oh I do say you really pushed the envelope my good sir!" the one on the left lauded clapping dainty with the talons on the paw pad.
"No pony was harmed in the making of that kind of chaos. You sir are a genius of manipulation!" the clone on the right fancied himself a pair of black shades and took a magnificent pose fit for a chimera of his stature with a camera summoned into his grasping digits that took instant photos.
The third presented a medal and hung it around the real Discord that sported his own wide smile with a thumb up engraved into the metal, "Score is seven to four, round one is rightfully yours!"
A group applause of the mismatched appendages erupted for a few seconds before he dispelled the replicas, content that his labors since the start were richly rewarded by the first victory. Though the joyous celebration only lasted for a passing trek once he gazed upon the black screen that was to be Sunset Shimmer next in line, he hummed in curiosity at the obvious defective spell yet he spurned the fault on himself. White dense brows furrowed at the denied sight as he snapped the clawed fingers once to no effect, then twice, followed by a third and fourth time to no avail. Frustrated that his magic failed to make it function correctly at first, he folded his arms and let a talon tap the bulky furred appendage as he thought deep upon a solution. Steam began to lift off his scalp between the cone spiral horn and the antler for a few minutes before a small flying pig sparked above him, it squealed and flew off. With an amazed expression of realization the former Lord of Chaos did the next best thing for a malfunctioning All Seeing Eye spell, in the only manner he knew best. The lion's paw slammed onto the top of the two dimensional magical screen as if it were a busted television set, earning only bars of snow for his effort. A few more salvos of abuse and the black square simply sizzled with static before it abated, it seemed as if something was forcing it to remain inactive. Strangely enough the first and third of the shapes seemed to cower away from their middle child who angered their maker, the inanimate objects edged a foot out of the splash zone.
"Playing possum are we?" He hissed and yanked a water pistol from a tear in the fabric of reality overhead, "Maybe a little boost in the receiver will make you work!"
Discord backed away a few steps as he giggled maniacally to himself in a seething mass of crazed enthusiasm, a tiny little sight on the gun snapped up and blossomed into four times its original size. Coupled with a laser pointer and tiny pointer hound that barked on the left of the barrels tip made of copper he had everything he needed for a bulls eye shot of a lifetime. Feeling sound that his shot would hit home he did not pull the colorful trigger, as a being of unpredictability he simple yanked back on the pistol grip which separated the little hydro shooter in half.
Casually he tossed the back end away without a care and slammed an open paw onto the exposed back half which activated the mini weapon. A zap of lightning shot out of the tiny barrel striking the black shape with raw mana in the fury of a lively electrical storm condensed into a single pulse. The chaos magic that hadn't failed him for the last thousands of years had been poured into the offending spell full blast, a bright blast of light blossomed for a blink of an eye. The very energy that overtook the famous heroines when they first met him upon his break out, bearers of the infamous elements of harmony and there it was being applied to a dead connection out of spite. The attack passed in an instant as white hot cinders fell to earth as a sizzling smell of ozone filled Discords swirling nostrils. Once the thunderous clap vanished into the sky he assumed it likely spooked the villagers below much to their chagrin and mixed tension to their already stressful day.
"I made you... and I can make you work!" he fumed as he dumped the cartoonish tool away before it broke apart into blue sand.
The other two obedient screens still maintained their distance from what was essentially a father punishing a rambunctious foal, even if it was rather excessive. They even quaked like vibrating rocks during an earthquake, if they were anything else they would be sweating profusely at what was to come.
He closed distance with the electrified spell silently stomping all the way content that his attempt solved the failure, "Now! Play nice and papa Discord won't have to lay down the discipline."
His right paw was brought up to the unmoving blank rectangle and swiped to the right, but again it failed to behave properly. Discord stood unwavering and swiped a few more times, then snapped his clawed arm as he took a less unrestrained method to his madness. Pulling a pair of reading glasses from on rip in reality, the draconequis adorned them upon his ancient eyes as their pearl lined wire that clung to his neck shuffled quietly. With the avian limb he whisked a local portal and jammed the digits through the vortex to an unspecified location, efficiently as always he gave himself only a moment before whatever he needed had been had.
"Ah! There you are you little rascal." he said as a white sun bleached feather emerged with his claw from the way gate that shut closed behind it.
Using his specks to fine tune his sight the Deceiver of Trust studied every band and ever sheen of the spectral glimmer in the light of the midday. He hummed delightfully seeing nothing out of line, taking the thick librarian glasses and eating them as if they were a quick snack to partake in like any old joe would.
"Perfect, now let's see if this is really what I think this is?" he casually announced before using the feather as a writing quill and tapping the tip on the wayward spell.
A wisp of wind passed by just nearly enough to mess with his little task, but he held firm and softly contacted the two surfaces. With a tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth he quickly without any ink wrote upon the view port in some ancient forgotten language, sigils of some kind which seemed to burn upon the shape like the coils of an electric stove top. Three lines were quickly completed before he withdrew the white feather, waiting for the marvelous reaction to occur where it was needed the most.
"Consider this my early Hearth's Warming Eve gift will you?" he chuckled darkly as black smoke began to flow from the void in the air.
Discord swung backwards till he floated on his back, a content smile claiming his muzzle in a smug fashion to the unfolding scene. The fuming cloud of exhaust grew into a dense smog as if something were burning like an oil fire. Soon enough the small flameless conflagration took off as pressure built up to the point where it almost seemed as if a geyser had erupted.
A small trickle of sound came through as it gradually picked up in volume, it was a rumble of some kind like gravel crunching on concrete on the other side of the street. Quickly building momentum along with the toxic stream of smog, out of the barely audible came forth an obvious roar that boomed from some kind of angry beast of the nether. Hate and pain gave awful notes to the suffering which only made the sneer ever wider on Discord's lips, his eyes half closed in delight as he applied fluffy violet earmuffs once the cacophony reached its climax as well as its depth. Birds that had flown nearby had instantly dropped dead and fell to the lands below once the cry had stopped, for miles around the scene nothing existed in the air not even an insect. As if the haunting horn of a new cruise liner had spooked all life all that remained was the chimera and his magic, the smoke evaporated along with the echoing shout.
"Ohhh... guess I hit a soft spot there? Now... let's try this one... more... time..." Discord slowly worded as he once more interacted with the manifested spying portal.
The image of obsidian finally gave way to his touch yet still tainted by blackened tendrils along the edges of the shape. They did nothing halt or delay his small scrying into Sunset Shimmer's new life, after all he had seen the possibilities prior and he had to know like a peeking foal would at their presents on their birthday. Pleased with the outcome of his latest attempt, he starred at the renewed link which gave him what he sought for out of curiosity for his future plans.
"Where's my favorite second Sun Butt?" he casually giggled with joy, the unicorn in question somewhere out in a forest wondering almost aimlessly before she stopped in place, "Right... she probably heard all that right from the source. Whoops!"
He swiped to the right and watched her fall into Equestria where she was to escape near death, her perspective was rather dull compared to Twilight Sparkle of the humans. What peaked his humor had been the magic she used to vacate the collapsing castle, the image was as clear as day and only served to solidify what he already knew coalesced around her new magic. Black Magic...
"Tut tut, now that changes things." he pouted before using his boundless powers to call upon a scroll and pen, writing themselves the words which he did not speak but typed in thought. The scroll soon received the message and folded, wrapped in a festive box no bigger than small present and soon poofed away to an unknown recipient.
Discord's mind boggling cogs of complex scheming churned like the wheels of a powerful locomotive chugging up a hill. He took his lion arm and treated it as if it were an imaginary pump shotgun, black pilot shades sizzled before his eyes until they became solid. A dark leather jacket spawned from a nearby cloud and latched onto his slender noodle body, freshly manufactured mushroom leather seemed to absorb all light that hit it.
He pumped the forearm with a backward and forward action of his eagle's claw just above the elbow, he took aim before him without care for sighting in the shot. Then one by one with a snap of the paw's digits he cranked out spell after spell in every which direction seemingly without a directional purpose. Bright white comets no bigger than a baseball sped from their maker with sparkling trails which could make any foal rave from the show of colors and sparks to behold. Nine were birthed by the Draconequis whose serious looking stern muzzle offered no emotions from his smoking tip of the furry appendage. Having made the sound of the magical shotgun blowing off each shot, the chaos enthusiast drew the limb close to his lips and bearded chin.
A quick blow of air blew out the white smoke that flowed from the mana digit, "I'll be back." he said in a deep dark tone.
A party favor went off followed by the little birthday horns foals used annoyingly right as the reformed villain vanished from the skies. The little light show had only served to scare the rescued town below and addle their nerves which were frayed enough as they were. They were left to their own mechanisms after his duty was seen to, Discord reappeared above Ponyville in its devastated state with arms on his sides while he surveyed the real disaster for the day. It was nothing he couldn't fix by tomorrow's tea time, at least for the village itself as the crystalline castle would be a little bit of a hassle. He could already see evidence of a fight having occurred which lead out to the Everfree, and the lingering taste of portals scattered about. So much had happened that he figured he could enjoy a quick splurge and watch the episode before going to work, after all it seemed the Arcana was on sight and not far off was a squadron of Royal Guards being flown in.
"My my my!! I missed the season opener. Guess I had that one coming with my part time job for Celestia. What better reward for what I've done than to partake in the very turmoil with my handy dandy Roku!" he gleefully swung an arm to his prize as his two wings blew up in size and flapped at the ends abnormally, "I've already seen the trailer for the next installment so why not catch up? What's a couple of hours worth when I can clean all this up in a jiffy?"
With that the chimera fluttered away towards Fluttershy's cottage through the columns of smoke and dust from the devastation below, his comical grin spread from cheek to cheek. No pony to call him out on his laziness, Discord left the world to its predicament for a little while longer.
Somewhere in the Everfree...
Birds chirped under the sunny skies as a fog bank to the south threatened to encroach upon the area, grasses and shrubs shook from a herd of boars turning the soil for tasty roots nearby. Flies and buzzing bees zipped through the air, striking yellow mud daubers loudly arrived on a muddy patch before a pool of water for fresh clay to build their nests. No breeze sailed through the thick trunks of the devilish forest or whistle through its snaking vines, twas a deathly quiet that could put the unwary to sleep for something to pounce upon.
The mirror-like surface of the isolated pond rippled only slightly to subtle movements from its occupants, otherwise it remained as stiff as glass. Caring nothing of the two sirens who rested in its fluid embrace, an injured one half submerged and her attending nurse with black wings folded out of the way.
"I really wish I could use a healing spell right now." Twilight sighed softly, of all the knowledge she could use to formulate even a flesh mending spell she had no mana to craft it with.
How painful it was that the ability simply teetered at merely envisioning the glyphs of the spell that came to mind, reciting them in her head, and if she had her powers they instantly acted upon the call to action. Yet there she lay with Oratoria using her own tail to keep the unconscious siren's head above water, unable to do anything besides guarding the body as it rest.
"At least... at least you can heal yourself with water as a conduit instead of your... own cells." she grimaced at the memory, though it was remarkable that such creatures could sacrifice health to regain magic which was likely a last ditch tactic for survival.
Two ravens cawed in the tree tops, loud enough to be picked up through the calls of so many others. With agile speed they glided down from some branch and hopped along the pond's edge for a drink to quench their thirst. Twilight caught their sudden arrival with a twitch of the head and turned to them, she innocently studied the avians seeing no harm that could come from them.
The first one which dared a scoop to drink tipped its head up to swallow, yet in doing so it kept its beady maroon eyes starring at the two helpless girls. The second joined in only to pause before indulging itself like a deer caught in the sights of a hunter, the poor birds appeared shocked by the winged siren waiting for her to make a move. Their black as night feathers puffed up in anxiousness like a bristling porcupine, but neither dared fly away.
Still adjusting to a world of more lively creatures Sparkle chuckled at the one thing that couldn't hurt them, "Don't worry! I won't bite? See?" she gestured to Oratoria asleep on her tail, "Harmless? No harm will come to you."
Her coaxing seemed to do nothing at first and she tried again only to keep a rather stunned audience. For all her attempts she just did not want them to fly away calling as ravens often did for predators and attract attention, she knew they couldn't survive another encounter even with something like a timberwolf.
An involuntary bob of her dorsal crest sent one of the black birds away though it did not caw in panic, "Darn it! I'm sorry!? That wasn't me honest! Ohh... look at me I'm trying to calm a bird looking like this!" she fumed from giving up and scrunched her lips.
She closed her eyes and dipped her face into the water for the chilly effect, nothing good would come from a frustrated mindset. Yet as she went to refresh herself, the other raven that remained had budged and moved closer with its light weight and tiny feet nearly inaudible. Twilight's splashing had done enough to cover its approach until it was just three feet from her left side which edged over the water and onto a grassy patch.
It waited as the winged siren blew bubbles from her nostrils, it waited still as she gasped a little for air when she rose, it even waited a minute more as the girl looked up to the clear air overhead fifty feet where the tree tops ceased to grow. Then as if in queue like it waited patiently enough, a clap of its beak closing against itself broke the sound around them in a way that nothing else came through. Sparkle realized the hastily vanished ambiance of the forest and craned her neck about slowly, for her she thought it was another hunter whose approach scared everything away. Desperately her two ears swiveled around trying to hear some kind of step or breaking twig, crunching leaf and breath let loose to hone in on the threat.
Yet what she heard next was not what she expected, not in all her days in Equestria was she prepared for much of anything anyways. A clap of the beak sounded a second time and it drew her hearing over to the bird on the pond's edge, where it had approached her inquisitively.
She squinted at the bird through the impeccable vision she thankfully had, "A raven did that? That's not right? Yellow's book never said a..."
"So you are the chosen ones." the black bird intervened in her vocal thoughts.
Twilight felt her muscles tense to the point she couldn't move, though her mind was abuzz and recording everything to hardened memory. Her full attention was on the little ball of feathers the color of volcanic glass, whatever it was it had spoke and it had no match in her superficial knowledge of Equis.
The bird in question seemed to realize its mistake and even cleared its straw wide throat, "Please, my apologies... where are my manners? Before I startle you even more I'm not a real one, this is just a disguise." it spoke with such a male voice unfitting of its physiology.
"Whaaaa...." Twilight replied in awe still paralyzed in place.
"If you'll let me transform back into my real body, promise me you won't go into a fear induced rampage?" the bird tilted its head.
Sparkle took a moment to react but she eventually nodded as her eyes shrunk with anticipation, where the bird hopped back after being given the go ahead. It stood there for a few seconds before a puff of smoke and light bloomed in its place large enough to cover a thorny shrub. A darker form began to emerge from the gray dust in the shape of a pony no less, every second of the magical act Twilight took in nearly down to a half second. It was a user of the arts and something deep within her was locked in sheer joy and hunger for the charm that was just performed.