//------------------------------// // Chapter II: The disrespected // Story: A matter of principals // by Melani-Nexus //------------------------------// Not much time had transposed since the unicorn and dragon duo entered the school. Luckily for them, classes would start again tomorrow so they could properly go through their to-dos on Twilight’s list. As they walked through the school making sure that everything was organized and all the special artifacts were hidden for the spellvenger hunt, Spike looked up at slightly distraught Starlight while the mare read the exceedingly packed list. As if reading her thoughts, the dragon spoke up. -“So… Yeah, I know it’s a long list but if we do it as Twilight said, I’m sure we will manage. Let’s head to your room to think it over? We could maybe organize it further for efficiency. Besides, I hid the artifacts for the spellvenger hunt and I ordered school supplies for the week already.” Smiling at him, Starlight sighed lightly and rolled the scroll to close it. – “Thanks, Spike, and sure thing… I’m not gonna lie, this is a bit of a tall order, but maybe we will get through this okay.” – Closing her eyes for a moment, Starlight pushed the door of her office open… To be greeted with the buzzing of twitter mites, the Abyss Peacocks, the random clash of thunders echoing through the room and the sound of rattling spikes from cacti that waved back and forth as if they were made from cloth. Discord typed frantically on a typewriter, printing actual text on top of loaf bread and then feeding it to the peacocks; as they tore the loaf to tiny pieces it revealed an actual letter inside, already folded and sealed. Discord picked it up and sent it away with a tiny blow of purple flames from his lips before he leaned back on the chair – “Come in, come in, you’ll let the twitter mites out.” As the duo looked to the altered room aghast, Spike flinched when a familiar swarm of electrical bugs flew low to the newly formed pond in front of them. As Spike looked around, he was able to spot the bug repellent in a nearby displaced shelf, quickly going for it in order to spray the swarm away. -“Discord! What do you think you’re doing?” – Starlight questioned in exasperation as her room had been warped senselessly. There were even large trees growing from seemingly nowhere. The biggest held her desk much higher into the room, where Discord lay while typing out documents, enveloping them and sending the letters away via magical flame. -“Why; you seem like you have an awful lot of things to do in your hands, I just gave them a head start. Besides, no one was at your desk.” – A bit of malice shown in Discord’s smile as he finished typing yet another loaf of bread. However this time he ate the thing swiftly after throwing the bread inside his maw. A few seconds later one of the peacocks burped a letter from its mouth, and it promptly set itself on fire and vanished as the reptilian bird was left looking a bit discombobulated for a few seconds. Dodging the skylights on the floor and the downpour they brought in afterwards, Starlight stepped forth and used her magical aura to levitate herself to her desk, putting her hands upon it and staring at the spirit of chaos with unspoken temper and a bit of irritation to her features, despite trying to hold a bit of a smile in order to seem cooler towards this whole situation. – “That’s because I’m the one running the school as Head mare; now if you would excuse us Discord, we have a school to run. Why don’t you go relax…? Have some tea, at home.” – Unceremoniously Starlight picked up the chaos spirit despite his physical weight and set them both in front of the doors, pushing him outward with her hands on the lower part of his back. Once he was out of the door, she tried to close it, only to have him put a hoof in the middle to stop the motion. -“Oh… Some thanks for all my help. Especially after I started to hire all of those substitute teachers for you, and got a monthly supply for the teacher’s lounge.” – Grabbing at the opposite door with a talon, the draconequus let his ears get droopy and gave the purple mare an exaggerated look of a puppy that had been kicked. -“You did… W-what? Those letters you sent were to call others- Without my consent? Twilight put me in charge, not you, and for a good reason.” – Exasperated, the unicorn put a finger directly upon the draconequus’ chest, poking him while staring into his golden/ruby eyes. A bit of a displeased expression crossed his features for a moment before he gently slapped her hand away from him. -“I would just love to hear that reason. However, I must state why I jumped at the opportunity. You see dear Glim-Glam; Twilight’s list is not only awfully long, but it also brought to my attention several minor complications that you might have to deal with because our dear purple pony princess prodigy principal didn’t quite take care of them yet, not to say at all.” – Floating forward and into the room again, Discord surrounded her, idly giving one or two flaps from his mismatched wings. – “I just didn’t want you to feel… Overwhelmed.” – Putting his talon and paw together crossing most of his fingers, the spirit of chaos tapped the fingertips of his indexes against each other and pointed both towards Starlight as a sly grin cracked upon his features. A groan caught in the back of her throat as her expression soured, but before the unicorn managed to retort his tease, Spike answered looking at the tension that had formed. – “That actually does sound kinda helpful Starlight… It was next on our to-do list.” Silence fell upon the trio except for when the thunder invaded the room and the leaves of the grown trees shook from the currents of wind, the peacocks’ calls being heard afterward. With a deep sigh as she tried to calm herself and overlook how stepped over she had been, Starlight decided to give him the benefit of the doubt despite his meddling.-“… Which teachers did you hire?” -“Let's not spoil it, shall we? Do not fret dear; they are more than qualified to teach quite a few friendship lessons!” – With a devious chuckle, Discord’s tail flickered back and forth from the sheer enjoyment he was getting at seeing her reaction. Despite their friendship, at the core, the spirit of chaos relished in strong emotions… Besides, he wanted her to realize how wrong she was. She couldn’t fix a problem which she had been set to fail… Even if it wasn’t Twilight’s intention, it was exactly what had happened. – “Talking about spoiling, I hope you like Limburger’s cheese, salmon, and mangos. There are quite a few crates of it available in the lounge.” An expression of mild disgust crossed Spike’s and Starlight’s face at the same time as they winced at the idea of the strong smell of that particular cheese. Its stench would probably impregnate the entire room in a matter of seconds and be quite difficult to air out afterward. Pinching the bridge of her muzzle, Starlight closed an eye and looked up at Discord with the other. – “… At least please tell us you ordered sealed crates.” -“Nonsense! Everyone knows that cheese ages more finely when exposed to the elements. Also, the salmon is deeply packed into ice so you don’t need to hurry to eat it. No need to thank me, the acids will do well for a sharp mind.” – waving a hand downwards, he had a cheeky smile plastered across his lips as Starlight groaned in exasperation. -“I’ll handle it. Worry about getting through the next items before any other intervention.” – Spike was quick to save the situation as he headed off towards the teacher’s lounge, hoping that the mare could keep her cool around Discord. He had learned that at times Discord could be a real friend, but most of the time he would manage to worm his way under your skin if given the chance. He didn’t know what had set him off, but he knew that both the target and the perpetrator were short-tempered, so this smelled like a recipe for disaster. And talking about smells… Spike almost didn’t need to remember the school’s map as the strong scent of raw fish and cheese gave off its location in a very large radius. – “U-ugh… I hope it’s tasty at least.” Meanwhile back at the counselor’s room, Starlight had made Discord fix almost all of his additions and changes to her room; almost all of them. Although every time she would tell him to change something back without giving enough details, the chaos spirit would exploit the chance to make even more baffling changes. Eventually, getting feed up she massaged her temple and looked up at him. – “Listen, I know it’s your thing to do these changes Discord, but I really gotta get to work on this list. Classes will be up tomorrow and I need to get most of this work down, so could you just return everything to normal?” – This time her expression held more frustration and pleading than anything else. Raising an eyebrow at her anguish, the draconequus waved a hand dismissively. – “If I must… But try to not wear yourself out dear, tomorrow is still coming and I doubt the plot holes in that list can be filled up so quickly. Get a few mangos to calm your nerves, take breaks, won’t you?” – Patting her hair twice in a patronizing manner, finally, Discord turned to leave as he floated out through the door and snapped his fingers, returning the council room to how it once was; at least for the most part. Now alone Starlight huffed in exasperation as a groan caught in her throat. Walking up to her desk she brought all needed materials closer so she could do some notes and plans on how to follow through with each elaborate topic of the schedule. – “Ugh, finally… Now let’s see this. Hire teachers? I should call more for backup just in case his happen to be what I think they are-” – and just as Starlight touched the pencil down upon the paper, not a single trace of color came to be. Checking the pencil’s lead, it was black. Confusion hit her for a split moment before she came to the natural conclusion and grabbed an eraser… As soon as she tried to erase the invisible traces from the pencil, several trays of graphite made themselves visible on the former white sheet. Dismayed, she stared at the dysfunctional materials, levitating the sheet of paper with her magical aura and holding it with her hands. When she tried to crumple the dirty paper, however, it collapsed between her fingers like sticky gelatin. The entrance door creaked open slowly as Spike came in to check upon Starlight. Discord was nowhere to be seen for the moment and although the room looked like it was back to its former self, the disgruntled look of dismay on the unicorn’s face made Spike grit his teeth and suck in some air before raising a brow and then a claw, asking with low hopes. – “I finished the work with the lounge, so how are things on your end?” Startling the young dragon, Starlight face-planted on her own desk while raising a hand aside and letting the gelatin-like paper sheet slowly slide off from her hand and gain its consistency again as it softly floated downwards. -“Not good, I take it… But look at the bright side-” – Spike came into the room with his arms raised and a bit of a smile despite the lack of physics he had just witnessed... -“There is any?” – Asking with false hope and mostly sarcasm, Starlight supported her chin upon the back of her hand. The pungent smell of cheese and fish on spike made she shiver and gag for half a second as she covered her muzzle with her hands and one of her eyes watered. -“At least the cheese is actually tasty.” – Spike tried to give his most sympathetic smile. But despite his efforts, Starlight pouted and leaned back into her chair while looking at him. -“Thank you for the help, Spike… And that’s great to know. I feel like these are going to be some long days, but at least we got food thanks to Discord. What else can possibly go wrong?” – Starlight cringed at the realization of her words. Unfortunately, tempting fate was never a good idea. --School of Friendship, next morning, 08:49 AM-- As the students left the dormitories and had taken breakfast, readying themselves for a new day of classes and learning about friendship, the new head mare and her assistant discreetly tagged along to check upon each class. The teachers they also hired should be already integrated with classes and expecting for the classes to be in session. -“So, who did you hire to fill in for the other three teachers that Discord didn’t cover?” – Spike questioned as he and Starlight headed towards Fluttershy’s classroom to check the substitute teacher’s work. -“I got in contact with Spitfire, Maud, and Trixie. I bet that they can be great teachers.” – Although Starlight’s excitement and confidence in her choices were obvious, Spike had to hide a bit of an expression of doubt that fell upon his features. -“Oh… Those are some interesting choices, that’s for sure.” – He made his best effort to put up a smile in agreement as they came closer to the classroom; the sound of a booming voice and heavy hooves suddenly getting louder just around the corner. Starlight had actually noticed the dragon’s hesitation in congratulating her for her choices in hiring; nonetheless, before she could question him about the lack of excitement, she immediately hurried her step as they closed in just in time to hear the screams of both teacher and a student. – “… What is going on-?” -“BE! MY! FRIEND!” – As Yona shouted, several students of the class came pouring out of the room before the rampaging young yak burst through one of the thin walls by bashing her horns through it. Iron Will looked through the hole with an impressed expression as he stroked his huffy goatee. Staring in horror both Starlight and Spike stood there with their mouth agape at the destruction caused in such a short notice. -“You… Who are-” – Starlight tried to blurt a barely comprehensible question as Iron Will came through the door instead and posed in front of her, flexing his impressive bulk. -“I’m Iron Will! Turning pushovers into turnovers! Also working part-time as a substitute teacher in self-assertiveness. 100% satisfaction or you won’t have to pay a single bit.” – Quickly turning his arm, the Minotaur handed the unicorn a business card with his face on it, and advertisement about his seminars. Crossing his arms, he smiled to himself in satisfaction. – “Iron Will sees that we got quite promising students, so promising that they even ended the class early! Ha!” – Walking down the hallway following Yona’s path of destruction, the Minotaur strut away without batting an eye at all the damage left behind. Spike had to push Starlight’s jaw shut as their eyes switched between the debris and the gaping hole in the wall to the hallways and probably the rest of the catastrophe they had to witness. – “… Uh, at least the guy is sort of a teacher?” To that statement Starlight groaned deeply as her horn fizzled with magic and unbridled anger, a bit of a red cloud of vapors forming above her head before she took a deep breath and closed her eyes letting it dissipate as she pinched the bridge of her muzzle and looked at the young dragon who had winced at her minimal burst of anger. – “Sorry, sorry… Ugh, let’s just get this done with. I can only hope that the other two won’t be as bad as this one. We will fix the damage later, for now, let’s calm down some of the students.” – Stomping down the hallways and towards where every creature scattered to while entering a power walk, Starlight was followed meekly by her assistant. Despite Spike’s silence, he could kinda understand the reasoning behind this choice as Kindness was very important, but not being pushed around for being kind in a wrong way was too… Unfortunately, the results spoke higher than the intentions. Following her with a sigh, he could only hope that Discord’s next choices would be better and not tick Starlight off even further. The next hour could be summarized by trying to calm down the students and actually sit through the rest of Iron Will’s class once they were gathered. Despite the Minotaur’s imposing aura and the fact that his temperament often rubbed off upon the others in a very fiery manner, this class wasn’t insufferably bad. Before, all that the unicorn wanted was to see Discord gone, but just for a glimpse of a moment, she also desired that he could be right there in front of her so she could possibly yank an explanation about WHY he would pick that guy out of everyone. And just as the duo was heading towards the next “soon-to-be-disaster” of a class after the first one was done with and the tiny 10 minutes break was over, Starlight’s wish, and nightmare, came true. She saw an irking familiar long crimson draconian tail with a tuft of white hair at the end slithering through the air defying physics just as they strolled by; gasping and changing directions suddenly, Starlight’s horn flared up and half a second later Spike could feel his body be immersed in a tingly electrical sensation. -“Discord! Explain yourself!” – She spat boldly with her arms crossed over her chest; the duo had blinked out of existence and reappeared right beside the spirit of chaos with a bright light blue flash. Spike shook his head in slight dizziness as Discord had landed and stood right in front of the hole in Fluttershy’s classroom. -“About?” – Questioning nonchalantly with a calm tone, Discord had not a single care in the world as he snapped his fingers, generating a bright white spark and then a flash. The hole on the wall was replaced by a large window that maintained the same shape from the hole prior, making a yak shaped window. Meanwhile, the debris all became mini-cement golems, walking around and searching for any other trail of destruction to implement to their bodies. Feeling her lower eyelid twitching at the sight, Starlight gave what was to be her tenth exasperated sigh in the day. –“The Minotaur. Look at what he did! If you’re trying to sabotage us Discord, you can cut it out right now!” – Slapping her hand to the wall, she instinctively floated upwards to be in Discord’s eye level, her expression livid. Raising an eyebrow with quite the unimpressed expression, the draconequus’ expression soured as he grimaced at the mare and put a talon to the top of her head, weakening her levitation spell and pushing her downwards to be earth-bound once more. – “It’s insulting that you would think I’m up to such ill intentions when I have the successful outcome of these classes in my best interest. Iron Will is an expert at standing his ground as the name implies, so he is obviously a very interesting choice to show a solution to one of the main logical gaps in kindness. Being too kind can get you to be thrown around, you know.” -“Still! He is not qualified to be a teacher for kids!” – Starlight basically shouted at him in annoyance. -“I see… Then we should check if the crew you hired is more qualified perhaps?” – His grimace turned into a sarcastic grin before he walked past her and put his hands behind his back, starting to float up in the air and sliding forward down the hall. – “Besides, we’re late for the next class. Chop chop Starlight, that’s not very attentive of you.” A moment of deadly silence passed as Spike could feel Starlight’s anger practically emanating from her. Gulping at the notion that a powerful egocentric being and a powerful easy to temper unicorn might snap at each other, the dragon intervened again and hushed her forward by following Discord at a hurried pace. -“Y-yeah! We’re not that late, let’s go… We can talk more about this later.” – he then mumbled under his breath just for himself as he saw the unicorn catch up and walk past the floating spirit of chaos with determination fueled by her anger. – “Preferably not…” The second class of the day was going to be taught by Spitfire from the Wonderbolts supposedly over professor’s Dash class. For this particular event, the students went outside and were put under a drill dignified for the Wonderbolts themselves. However after the students were exhausted, which didn’t take very long especially after the lap they gave around the field, unfortunately, Spitfire had to take her leave; her packed schedule didn’t leave much time available to really double as a teacher. With about half a class left for the students to do nothing more than pant and wait for their hearts to stop racing by the benches, the tense trio observed from the sidelines as Discord stroked his goatee deep in thought while Starlight took the moment to go ahead and praise her own success. -“See? She taught the students a class properly with no damage to property.” – Gloating about her success with hiring a teacher compared to Discord’s previous pick, Starlight smiled and looked up at the draconequus, only to be taken slightly aback by his unimpressed expression. -“She surely did; a Physical Education class. That is hardly what we were looking for in loyalty class. Besides, she left in the middle of it and now the students are completely idle and free to roam.” – Extending a talon towards the group, Discord rolled his wrist in the air to emphasize his words as he looked down at the unicorn, breaking her previous bravado as she winced discreetly. -“… No, they’re not; they should just rest and prepare for the next class.” – She tried to find a way around his accusations, but it was just not working. -“That would hardly take 30 whole minutes, would it, Hm? I don’t recall any half-hour breaks being unsupervised and between classes or within the detailed plan Twilight left for you to follow to heart. Furthermore, there are other classes that won’t have a teacher to fill in the role for this particular class later on the day, since she just headed back to her real job.” – Putting his paw and talon together, the towering creature leaned down so he could invade her personal space. Despite all the denial that bubbled within her, even if Starlight was taken off her guard. She couldn’t argue against the spirit of chaos this time, he had a point. She thought it would be a great idea to call in a Wonderbolt, even though Spitfire had warned her that she may have to take her leave soon after the class even began due to unfinished business and practice at the academy. Looking down for a moment Starlight wondered about her other choice in professors. Maud was supposed to teach about geology at Rarity’s class, and Trixie about magic in Twilight’s class… Did she do the right decision? -“Hey, don’t beat yourself over it. I think Discord is trying to test you; don’t take it too personally.” – The young dragon lightly touched her hand to snap her out of her deep trance, effectively surprising Starlight as she looked down at him with wide eyes, but then smiled. -“Thanks, Spike… But he really had a point-” – Realization beamed upon her. She frowned in mild confusion at both his statements and the way the young dragon spoke. – “Wait, why are you talking as if he wasn’t listening-” – Looking around, the unicorn had lost Discord from her sigh. He was nowhere near them. -“Because he isn’t.” – Pointing towards the bench where the students rested, they could see from a distance the surprised expressions most creatures held as soon as Discord intercepted them. However, nervousness and shock were quick to dissipate once the spirit of chaos seemed to play around with them, offering drinks of refreshment that had pretty funky colors and fizzling effects, sometimes even turning the student’s tongues a different color; other times changing their coat colors. Silver Stream seemed particularly thrilled at the concept, drinking her smoothie repeatedly and changing colors intermittently while she didn’t run out of her drink. The other students laughed a bit at the event as Discord stood nearby with his casual playful grin. -“… Spike, why would Discord test me? I thought we were friends.” – The fact that the spirit of chaos pitched in to fill in the void felt both like a relief and a feeling of defeat for the mare. It felt as if she was somehow letting Twilight down… She clenched her fists. –“Discord seems particularly good with children, huh?” – She blurted her question without giving it much thought. -“Well, for starters, that’s kinda what he does, even to ponies or dragons he cares about. And for seconds, he always hangs out with Fluttershy and at times, also hangs with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I know you look at the guy and you don’t see “caring” plastered all over, but he is kinda good at handling children... Most of the time.” – Using air quotes with his claws when he said caring, Spike crossed his arms and looked up at Starlight. He was kinda glad that she wasn’t particularly mad, but it was still difficult to see two of his friends having such a clash. Perhaps it could die down from now on? He hoped so. -“Well, fine. I’m ready for him. I told Twilight I would run her school right, and I’m gonna keep that promise no matter what.” – With new resolve, Starlight picked herself back together and started to walk towards the group, calling Spike with a smile. – “Come on, let’s join them… We kind of have an unplanned break anyways.” – Even though she still felt a bit bad about the fluke with Spitfire, the class had gone quite well nonetheless and no one had been startled or hurt, and that’s what counted. Despite Discord’s criticism, she would keep her wits sharp for HIS next teachers. After the short break was over and the students were both well rested and naturally colored once again, for the most part; everyone followed on for the third class of the day, Generosity. Luckily for Spike’s sanity, the class was overall uneventful despite’s Maud wide knowledge about rocks. Unfortunately, she was not the most adequate to teach due to being in a social situation and the way she expressed herself being quite vague and methodical at times. Even though Discord kept his commentary to a minimum, once again he pointed how the teacher had nothing to do with the theme at hand, despite her obvious wide knowledge about geology. This didn’t help much as the animosity between him and Starlight only grew exponentially, turning in a cold war of sorts. The fourth class in session, they had Honesty. It was a class having a teacher that Discord had hired, and for this round of surprise he brought in: the Flim and Flam brothers. It was a compliment to say that the class lasted for at least 10 minutes without the duo breaking out into a highly energetic and influencing song. It was an achievement to say that the arguments were kept mildly reasonable for the next 20 minutes. It was an understatement to say that the outcome was contained chaos. As the arguments within the class kept escalating further and further, with the help of the brothers as they amiably threw more fuel into the pyre, eventually said arguments became full-blown clashes between the students and the class had not only to be dismissed but contained altogether. Turns out that naïve and easily influenced kids picked up fights out of the blue if nudged far enough and their nerves had been riled up. Flim and Flam tried to be the mediators of the conflict, playing innocent and making tries to appease the situation, only throwing more tension upon the students in a discreet way. In their way out, the brother’s were intercepted by Discord, who waved a dismissive hand at them and spawned a heavy bag full of bits much to the brother’s immediate delight. Starlight witnessed the act as she just finished dispatching the remaining angry students and trying to clean up the mess left behind. At least the damage to property had been kept to a minimum this time. Once finished, Starlight teleported right in front of Discord once again; her anger was amped enough by this point that her expression was more cold and impatient than anything else as she raised an eyebrow. – “Care to explain your reasoning behind this one? Especially since Twilight and the girls have a bit of a story with them… So you know exactly how those two function.” Barely acknowledging her, the draconequus looked down with almost the same expression, but his features always had a bit more menace and sarcasm than hers. -“Oh, I do know their past stories together… And who better to teach the downside of certain types of honesty than the main antagonists of Applejack themselves? Of course, they asked to be paid up front for their class, but it’s not like I care much for such trivialities.” -“You do realize they made a whole class spin out of control and jump at each other’s throat, right?” – Starlight questioned almost rhetorically, her horn sparking up with fizzles of energy. -“Indeed, I did realize that. Perhaps that will teach our dear sprouts to grow thicker stems… If they’re really gonna be friends, they have to learn how to deal with these situations. After all, some unwelcome honesty shouldn’t shake their cores, should it, Starlight?” – Leaning in closer, Discord had his arms crossed above his chest and an eerie sly smile that contrasted against Starlight’s penetrating cold gaze with raw animosity. -“That doesn’t excuse the riot and the property damage, again.” – Her tone was the furthest you could fit into passive-aggressive. She knew those words were directed at her instead. But before the two could claw each other’s face off, Spike came in between them and pushed the duo apart, calling their attention by speaking up. –“Uh oh-ho-ho, you two… There are still two classes left, come on.” – Managing to push each other off, Discord just raised an eyebrow before he turned his gaze away, lifting his muzzle and disappearing in thin air by teleporting. Starlight felt her horn heating up with the tense magic that was accumulating within it… It would only take one more push, and she swore it would all go downhill from there. The next class up was about the element of Magic. Trixie’s cue to dazzle and bewilder all of the students. Trusting Trixie the most to manage her class without external help, Starlight decided to sit this one off unless she was called once again to solve the disaster’s left after the class’ duration. Much to the unicorn’s surprise, for the first time in the day, students didn’t riot or ran around the corridors arguing or screaming; no property damage seemed to have been caused, and everyone came out of class fairly satisfied. Sighing in bliss, Starlight gave a look of glee to Spike who faithfully tagged along with her and smiled right back, and after the chatty and happy students had all gotten out of the classroom, Starlight came in to meet Trixie. -“So I see it all went better than expected. How did you hold up?” – Starlight asked once she stepped up on the class’s main stage with a broad smile, but much to her confusion Trixie held a grumpy expression when she turned around from cleaning the blackboard. -“I didn’t.” – Tossing the chalk eraser on the bottom part of the board, she crossed her arms above her chest and pouted with an angry expression. Trixie’s hat was adorably tilted to the side upon her head, barely hanging. -“What? How? The students all looked so happy. It’s alright if you felt nervous” – Starlight stepped forth wearing her best reassuring smile, somehow feeling that her high hopes were all for naught but also hoping against it. -“I didn’t! Because Discord stole my class!” – And there it was. The spirit of chaos interfered without any request and managed to step over everyone at the same time, again. Trixie had thrown her hands to the air in frustration before placing one on her hips and starting to count with her other hand. – “First he challenged me to teach him about magic; second, he told me that nor was I only not teaching magic, I was doing a magic show instead. And although I can partially agree with the notion, he just went ahead and took over the class as if I were his assistant! Trixie is the star, not a stage assistant! Much less for him of all creatures.” -“… And the students enjoyed themselves?” – The unicorn had a deep look of confusion plastered across her face. Trixie huffed deeply and rolled her eyes. -“… Unfortunately, yes. He gave a whole lecture about different types of magic, conjuring actual holograms and demonstrations, eventually calling me to participate from time to time.” – Pouting in a way that could only be described as adorable, Trixie gritted her teeth and turned her head to the side. – “The visuals were attracting enough to keep the students entertained I suppose. BUT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE TRIXIE’S LECTURE! Who even called him?!” -“… I didn’t, I specifically told him to stay out of this because I would run Twilight’s school the way she told me to.” – Holding one of her arms with the other hand and her other arm over her chest; Starlight looked up at the auditorium’s seats, where Spike waited idly checking out his scales. -“Well, then its high time you stop him already, isn’t it? Hmpf.” – playing the offended part, Trixie rose her muzzle to the air and collected her stage props, floating them away and strangely picking up a banana phone in her way out; probably a reminiscent of Discord’s chaos magic. As much as she didn’t want to agree, Trixie was correct… She had allowed Discord to go too far and for far too long. There was only one class left in the day, and the moment it started going haywire she would put her hoof down. -“Let’s go, Spike. We got one more of Discord’s class to survive through.” – Coming back up through the stairs between the seats, Starlight called out to the young dragon. Promptly he jumped from his seat and followed. –“Is it much to ask that maybe he already got bored and left?” – Starlight’s tone was pleading by now as if some superior deity could hear her call. -“Hmmm… Yeah. I really doubt it.” – Looking up at her, Spike’s expression was doused with skepticism. -“I can dream.” – It was her turn to pout before they took their leave. As the initial surprise, the class that was most likely hosted in Pinkie’s classroom had been all taken somewhere else, so when the duo in command reached the class it was completely empty. This already raised several questions as to who was the last teacher that Discord had hired. But this time the duo in charge didn’t have to search for long; as the very walls of the school vibrated with the blasts of sudden music at the highest volume feasible. Cringing at the rave party music, Starlight and Spike exchanged a worried glance before the unicorn teleported them to the source of the sound, the Campus’ Grounds. And they would regret it. At the center of the grounds, near the fountain stood an extremely impressive set of speakers, with a remix table in between them and DJ PON-3 blasting some sick beats for the students. Meanwhile said students’ opinions diverged wildly about what was just taking place. Some, for example, liked the music and were able to have fun with it, dancing and going with the flow as they danced around and laughed; meanwhile, some seemed to dislike the music and it’s volume overall. Eventually, the students tried to engage in a discussion about both the music and the volume, despite the fact that arguing above the sound was almost impossible, and since Vinyl Scratch always wore large headphones, she was pretty used to not being able to listen to others over her music. Spike used his claws to cover his ears as best as he could, squinting his eyes as he felt even his body rattle slightly from the intense bass vibrations. Looking around he tried to call out to Starlight in order to try and maybe appease her temper… After all, Discord kept in mind the overall themes of the classes and things related to it, despite his underachieving results at the end of each class. But as soon as he spotted her it was far too late. Starlight shot a ray of magic towards the main table of the speakers, forcing the volume to decrease exponentially, then teleported herself right in front of the spirit of chaos, floating slightly above with her levitation spell as she stared at him with her temper showing clearly, all manners of subtlety thrown off as her horn flared up with fizzling magic. –“Discord. I know how much you like jokes and to play around just to your own amusement, but this has nothing to do with the element of Laughter.” Raising an eyebrow and pulling off the sunglasses he had upon his muzzle, the draconequus that was previously relaxing lying down upon a whole bench decided to stand up as his eyes meet with the unicorn’s gaze. His voice was stern, deep and not in the very least amused. – “Oh, I’m very sorry you cannot see the clear lesson here, Glimmer; but just because of that doesn’t mean that I have to stop applying it.” – With a snap of his talons, he unhinged her magical fix on the audio set, allowing the DJ to turn it back to its original volume. Some students groaned in response, and some cheered. -“Applying what?! Every failed class that happened today was your fault! You’re just trying to ruin Twilight’s school!” – Daring him once again, the floating unicorn shot a small stream of magic towards Discord’s talon; it felt like being hit by a very small lightning. -“Me?! How could I possibly be the one to blame when Twilight left YOU in charge! If anything, you’re the one that’s in waaay over your head. Twilight is gonna be so thrilled with the way YOU’RE ruining- I mean, running her school.” – Wincing and shaking his talon in reflex, his focus had been shifted entirely to the purple unicorn, his features shifting with equal or worse temper as he bared some of his teeth in a grimace. Due to Discord’s magic being connected to his emotional state, the tunes raving from the speakers started to sound disharmonized and falling apart altogether. The students, slightly fearful of the change and now seeing the clash that was going on, backed off and headed towards the entrances, still observing the argument but at least out of reach. -“Because I didn’t ask for your help!” – Shouting back at the spirit of chaos, she cast a spell on the speakers that completely disabled them from playing anything. DJ PON-3 shrugged and left the set behind as soon as it became inoperable. – “I had this situation entirely under control before you shown up and hired a raging nutcase, scammers, and a DJ! You may think you’re teaching something with all this convoluted nonsense, but you’re just causing havoc and destruction all around! Why are you trying to make me fail?!” -“I set you up to fail?! Under control? Oh please! You’re the only one that doesn’t notice how this school is completely understaffed, unprepared to receive, and set up to fail from the very start. I didn’t put you up to this, Starlight, Twilight did.” – With a motion of his paw, he deactivated her magical Aura, forcing the unicorn to drop to ground level as he glared at her from above. Spike suddenly pushed both apart, with a claw upon Discord’s thigh and the other upon Starlight’s shoulder. – “Wait! Let’s calm down! I’m sure we don’t need to get hasty.” – Looking upwards, he shivered unconsciously when he was met with fervent glares. -“You’re just saying that because this school is not the way you like! A riot!” – Her horn now sparked up with raw might from her magical aura, her scowl deepening. -“Perhaps my teaching methods weren’t crystal clear, and my crew might not have been the most adequate at the start, but it doesn’t change the fact you choose teachers that were incapable of completing their turn, socially interacting and presenting a proper class. On top of that, none of your teachers had absolutely anything to do with the classes’ themes. Strife may not be a beautiful side of friendship, but it happens.” – To her display of aggression, Discord raised his muzzle and looked down at her with a snarl, swiping his tail around and suddenly pushing Starlight further away from him. A grin shifted on the place of his snarl as he suddenly shifted the angle of his head and shrugged with his shoulders. – “But well, don’t worry if you can’t handle the decisions. I’m happy to pitch in if you need me.” At that taunt, the very air around them charged up with raw magic as she lowered her head, her horn glowing stronger by the second. -“Hey-hey-hey! Take it easy, Starlight! Discord's your friend, remember?” – For the last time, Spike tried to interrupt the fight, standing between the offended parts as he spread his arms as far as they could go. -“Well, he is not acting like it!” – Starlight accused, her glare not budging from the draconequus. -“… She is right Discord, what is your problem?” – Looking up at the fellow male, even Spike was puzzled about Discord’s sudden aggression. Of course that they were sharing accusations, but he just felt like he was between the cross and the sword. -“My problem..?” – He said with anger coating his tone, suddenly leaning down and invading Spike’s personal space, before looking back up at Starlight. – “How is the fact that Twilight is barely holding this place together alongside the others, and just suddenly decides to put an incompetent and power-hungry unicorn in charge of her school, MY PROBLEM?!” And this was the breaking point. Spike barely had a moment to spare as he dodged out of the way to save himself. The air around the trio quickly sizzled with unbridled energy as the sound of her horn charging up exploded outwards alongside a blaze of searing light, hitting the draconequus head-on and engulfing him in enough light to make everything else obscured by the show. Amidst the shot it seemed like he had been disintegrated from existence; the remnants of energy blasted through a few trees and carved burns upon the nearest walls, provoking a few windows to break nearby from the sheer heat and vibrations. The students and the young dragon stared at the scene that played in front of them in pure horror, aghast and shocked. As the dust fell back down and the magical charge and lights faded away, Discord was no more. Staring with wide eyes at the results of her impulsiveness, Starlight swallowed dry and looked at the students, who immediately shuddered and placed their hands upon their mouths or chests. -“I… He is alright everybody! Don’t worry, I just… teleported him too far away from here; heh.” – The unicorn found herself in a very poor situation, despite the fact that her explanation managed to put the students slightly more at ease once they thought she had not blown the draconequus to death. After all, he couldn’t… He wouldn’t die of a harsh teleportation spell, would he? -“Oh; you hardly did.” – No, he wouldn’t. –“This is teleporting.” – Discord’s voice reverberated through the air venomously and menacing. Spike looked up in worry as his latest memory of Discord using that echoing voice was always linked to the times where he had been lashing out upon others. Clenching his fists, he bit his lower lip. – “If only I could stop them and make them talk this out..!” – The thought rapidly crossed his mind, as he scanned for a solution to this sudden crisis. And just as he pondered, white sparkles burned rapidly around Starlight as she was yanked out of existence and placed exactly 300 meters above in the air. The unicorn yelped at the startle and strength of the teleport but was rather quick to activate her levitation spell in order to not plummet to her doom. Thunder boomed towards her being emitted from the lightning of a dark pink cloud. Upon it, the spirit of chaos laid upon his stomach with a sinister playful smirk. -“You do realize you just proved my point, don’t you? Not only you cannot run this school by yourself, you also don’t have enough power to fend me off.” With a light growl of annoyance, the unicorn shot a laser beam that destroyed the cotton candy cloud in which he rested. The thing set on fire as soon as the energy blasted through it, burning exactly like sugar. Flapping his wings to get away, the spirit of chaos cackled with delight as he let his talons charge up with a golden aura. If this was the game she wanted to play, then so be it. On the ground, Spike helplessly watched the conflict unfurl to even worse levels as he nervously put his claws to his mouth out of nervous habit, chewing them lightly. As a magical explosion happened hundred of meters above looking very alike fireworks and sounding like them too, Spike suddenly felt someone pull him by the shoulder, giving a light scream before being turned around to face the student body. -“What is going on?! Why are head mare Starlight and he fighting? Although, the light show looks amazing!” – Silverstream asked at a rapid pace. - “And dangerous!” – Ocellus added. -“I don’t know!” – Spike threw his arms open in exasperation as another explosion went off in the sky. Suddenly orbs of light formed, one light blue and the other was purple, they bounced off each other and upon impact, creating magical lightning and thunder. – “Starlight and Discord are friends! But both are acting so unreasonable today! Eh; even more so than usual.” – He shrugged with a shoulder and sighed by the end. -“Maybe they just offended each other? It’s doesn’t matter who is really wrong. Even my parents manage to lose their cool when they get under each other’s skin… They become so not cool, so fast.” – Sandbar said as a gust of wind passed through the campus, shaking trees and making the water from the fountain fly off a bit from its spray. -“… That’s it.” –As if a ray of hope and sunshine had beamed upon him, Spike smiled and put a claw to his forehead. – “I have to get them to apologize!” A moment of silence passed; followed by another gust of wind and the crack of thunder again. Suddenly it started to rain grape juice. -“Cool… And how will you get them to do that?” – Gallus’ expression contorted as he saw the purple colored raindrops starting to change the fountain’s coloration, and it was also falling upon everyone. -“That’s… A work in progress.” – With that, Spike sighed, and everyone decided to run inside. Whatever he had to do, he had to get the message through… And even though it was going to be complicated, he had just the idea.