//------------------------------// // Discord: It is never too late // Story: The love of chaos and harmony or the romantic adventures of the O&O gang // by Shadowlight Wanderer //------------------------------// Chapter 5 Where we discover the possibilities of Jacuzzi and chaotic quesadillas... Twilight Sparkle snored quietly on the pile of books in her house, that was a library, where she could find every book imaginable. She mumbled quietly and then her ear perked up. What... Suddenly, she heard it. The cacophony of sounds, screaming and twisting in the air. Twilight opened the nearby window and her eyes snapped opened It was very early in the morning but through the valley between the camping houses marched the army of Discords. Though it was obvious that all of the members in the marching group were the one draconequus, they weren't looking the same by any means. The group near her house was dressed up in a red and black suits and jumping with energy to the rhythm of saxophone, howling "WE ARE NUMBER ONE !!!". The other group was dressed up like a North Neighreans and were playing with pen, pineapple, apple and pen. The other group were in a shirts, exposing their chests and holding roses, singing about love that will carry on. Another was playing the suites of Bethooven, one was dressed in a cat costume and was playing on keyboard. Another group was emo-like and singed about darkness and lack of acceptance. One of the Discords was holding a banner with...what was that called ? Ah, trollface. Astonished Twilight noticed that some Discords were resembling herself and her friends, screeching the parodies of the songs that they sang throughout the years. All of the clones were shared one thing. They were singing and playing terribly off key. The march of the Draconequui didn't remain unnoticed as the more heads appeared in the windows. Rainbow Dash flew near the window of her cloud-like house, keep blinking, to assure herself that she is not hallucinating. Rarity's usually perfect hair looked like a crow's nest as she kept yawning, cringing at the sounds of the music. Princess Celestia's horn started to charge with energy as her eye was twitching. Limestone Pie was cracking her hooves with furious look on her muzzle. Even Princess Luna, usually tolerant of Discord's antics, was repeatedly banging her head on the pillow in her gothic house made out of obsidian and silver. Finally, all the participants of the chaotic march reached the end of the "horseshoe". They ended their music pieces simultaneously and at once, and when Twilight thought that she won't be able to bear it any longer, the clones disappeared in a flash, leaving only the original Discord. "Good morning fellow campers, what a glorious day !" draconequus exclaimed cheerfully The ponies slowly started to appear in front of their houses, giving Discord very grim looks. "Discord, what the heck was that ? Why are you trying to kill us with this music ?" growled Rainbow Dash Discord inhaled deeply as his eyes glowed red "I love disharmonic music. It is full of surprises. And what do you mean by what was that ? As finite as your pony brains are, you surely have to remember Applejack's request from yesterday." All the ponies went silent for a moment and then all moaned in unison. Now they remembered that Applejack, that always got up early because the farm life demanded it, volunteered to conduce "The Welcome of the Day" by the sunrise with some exercises. "Dang it, we actually agreed to this" Rainbow growled. "But-but-but Applejack said she will wake us up personally and..." Rarity begin "...I was such a good and thoughtful friend I am to do it for her " Discord looked at the ponies, twirling his beard and smiling sarcastically "Isn't that what good friends are supposed to do, hmmm ?" "I don't feel too friendly towards you right now, you little piece of- " Limestone started walking towards the draconequus in a murderous rage but was stopped by Pinkie Pie "Hey there grumps, hold it. I think that this was splendorific, I didn't see such a fantastic performance in a reaaaaaally long time. I especially liked your Deadpool costume" the pink mare chatted quickly Discord chuckled "So you know this old prankster too ?" Pinkie waved her hoof "Duuuh, we are besties. You have to listen to all my adventures with him. It all started on a tuesday..." "EKHM !" Princess Luna coughed dramatically "Not to interrupt but weren't we waken up for a reason ? Where is that yoga thy speakest of ?" "Oh, Applejack should be by the lake by now" Discord answered casually. "Now to check the presence. Pinkie Pie ?" "And one and two and..." the pink earth pony began to sing but was silenced by Rarity's hoof "She is present, darling, as well as I" the alabaster unicorn said to Discord. After a minute, Discord gathered all the campers. All but one. " Come on Twinkle Sprinkle. Join in welcoming el dia with us" Discord levitated himself to the level of library's window. "Forget it. I am perfectly with where I am. I've been reading almost all night and it is my wish for me to rest." shouted Twilight. "Do I have to remind you that you said yourself that you will be joining us ?" Discord snapped back. "Thanks but no thanks. As I said, I am in control of my destiny. So there is nothing you can do to make me" the lavender alicorn replied Discord's lips stretched into an evil grin. "Oh dear Twilight, I am rather disappointed. You should know better than to tell a being that can do anything that he can do nothing. On the contrary, I think I can do this and I will" He crossed his claws, ready to snap them "Last chance to go out" There was no answer. Discord looked at the others. "You are the witnesses that I tried. I mean come on, she is the Princess of Friendship" he gestured with a Twicane in his paw" she can't miss such a wonderful morning bonding experience". And with this... SNAP ! Twilight's house disappeared and changed into a big quesadilla, lying on the hill. The scream that was heard in the next moment scared nearly all the birds in the forest and was so high pitched that it almost shattered the windows in other houses. Everypony's jaws dropped. Pinkie Pie gasped, remembering from her secret files, that quesadillas were Twilight's biggest fear. The quesadilla trembled as if hit from the inside in some places. And then the bolt of purple light emerged from the treat and it turned out to be Twilight. The alicorn flew with incredible speed, like when the other Princesses gifted her their magic for safekeeping. Twilight landed, covered in molten cheese. "GET IT OFF MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!" she started to run around, all of her coat standing straight, like an angry cat. And then came another snap and the cheese and quesadilla disappeared. The house returned on its place and Twilight became clean as well. "Do you still feel sleepy ?" asked Discord innocently. "This wasn't funny. That cheese could..." Twilight begin, breathing heavily, only to be interrupted by Discord. "Are you saying that one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria, the Element of Magic, who defeated Nightmare Moon, Sombra, Tirek, Chrysalis, Storm King and myself, fears of being defeated by cheese ?!!!" Discord fell to the ground in a shaking laughter. Twilight bit her lip as she blushed in embarrassment. She used her magic to levitate still laughing draconequus and take him along with her friends, who were heading to the edge of the lake, where Applejack was waving at them impatiently. ********************* Discord took his head off his neck, spin it 360 degrees, and placed it back, sighing. "Well, I have to admit that Applejack is really good in this. I finally got through that pain in my back that I had throughout last 300 years. When you are a statue, you get a lot of body tensions." He smiled. Now was the moment to take action. He reappeared near Fluttershy, making sure not to startle her. "Hi Fluttershy, I was wondering if you are free to go for a walk. I have something I really wanted to show you and..." The yellow pegasus smiled warmly to draconequus "Oh, I would love to ! I was going to go on a nature walk anyway..." Discord brighten up as the ray of light descended, illuminating him and pronouncing his good mood. "Yes, me and Angel was just heading to the forest..." Fluttershy explained, turning a little to show the white bunny on her back. Fluttershy's pet stared daggers at Discord, who responded in the same way. Angel. Of course that this snobbish, jerkish, spoiled caricature of the Easter Bunny is here" Discord thought, his teeth squinted and his eye twitched. The only problem with loving Fluttershy were the ones closest to her. Fluttershy's pet bunny, Angel, and her brother Zephyr Breeze were the creatures most disliked by Discord in all of Equestria. Sometimes Discord thought that switching their bodies and minds won't make any difference. Fluttershy had a tendency to hang out with enormous jerks and Discord simply couldn't explain to himself how she could stand their behaviours. He wouldn't say that out loud, but in his reformed lifetime, Angel was his greatest enemy. Discord considered him as a quite big villain. Seriously, sometimes he was more jerkish than prince Blueblood, more dark and cunning than Sombra, more craving and greedy than Tirek or more devious than former villain Starlight Glimmer. Then again. he was a jerk too when he met Fluttershy, the biggest one of them all. And she helped him change and adjust...a little bit at least. She didn't hang out with bad behaving individuals because she wanted to, but because she believed that she could change them and helped them be better. That's what made her an Element of Kindness. And that was what Discord loved about her. But Angel had to go somewhere else, so Discord decided to put up a small act. "But Angel, Cutie Mark Crusaders invited you to do a face painting " Discord gasped in a false surprise and put a claw to his mouth "They would be so disappointed if you won't show." Fluttershy's face lit up "Oh Angel, you are making a new friends ? Why didn't you tell me ? Of course you can go to have a face painted, you will look so cute". Angel wanted to protest but was silenced by Discord, who grabbed him into his paw and whispering "Sayonara, fatass !" threw the bunny into the air where he disappeared in a flash. Fluttershy gasped "What have you done ?" "Relax, I just sent him to Cutie Mark Crusaders."Discord rubbed his hands " I am sure they will take a good care of him." Fluttershy sighed in relief "I hope he will be okay without me. That he won't get lost, or get hungry, or fall from somewhere, or encounter a hungry Timberwolf..." the mare dramatized Discord was tempted to say that each of those scenarios will be the reason for joy and relief for the most of the equestrian society and brony fandom. But he stopped himself and grabbed Fluttershy by the hoof, dragging her deeper into the woods. "Yea, yea, he will be fine. Now, about my surprise..." **************** The hole in the ground was spacious and filled with bubbling, hot water. Discord nodded with appreciation. He looked up and noticed Spike, covered in dirt and mud. The dragon gave him thumbs up before saluting and flying away. Discord was grateful that Spike took time to dig up the hole and leave a fire to keep the water warm for quite some time. Discord could easily create this natural jacuzzi by one simple thought, but Spike insisted on helping Discord because of their "gentlemen" deal to help each other to prepare dates. This dragon was actually worth the loyalty. Fluttershy gasped "Oh my, this is wonderful ! This jacuzzi looks wonderful. And in the middle of the forest. " The yellow pegasus dove into the hot water and moaned with pleasure. Discord sneaked his sinusoidal body into the hot liquid as well and for a few minutes neither the pony or draconequus said anything, enjoying the relaxing warmth. Fluttershy watched the butterflies and bees fly above the warm mist. "Must be nice be a free creature and fly merrily" she whispered. Discord pointed at her wings and Fluttershy blushed. Even though she was a pegasus, she rarely flew due to her fear of heights. Discord licked his lips and narrowed his eyes as he thought intensely. "I think I know how to be in comfort and help you be more with them. Suddenly, Fluttershy felt that her body becomes light and she floated in the air along with all the water and Discord. The gigantic droplet levitated, keep changing shape, till it stabilised itself in the air. Fluttershy swam through the water and stick her head at the bottom of the sphere and pulled her head upside down, her rosy mane flowing and defying gravity. "Well, this both scary and amazing." Fluttershy exclaimed, watching the water shaping on its own with amazement. "Glad you think that" Discord grinned at her. "This why I love to spend a time with you. You always think of something that can make the trip interesting" Fluttershy half said, half bubbled under water. Discord winked at her and said "Let's move then" the sphere started to move quickly through the forest and soon enough, they found themselves over the edge of the lake. Discord grabbed Fluttershy by the waist and she squeaked in surprise "Fluttershy, do you trust me ?" "I would rather say that I am not "not trusting" you" "Meh, good enough. So,, say weeeeeee!!!!" "Discord, whaaaaaaa!!!!!" The sphere of water was caught by gravity and fell into the lake Fluttershy found herself falling deeper and deeper into the cold void of water, till she reached the bottom. Soon she started to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen. Why couldn't she reemerge to the surface ? Her vision became blurred, her throat burned. Discord, where are you ? Finally, she couldn't take it any longer and she gulped. The water flooded her lungs. She didn't die though. The timid mare opened one eye and slowly inhaled, exhaled and inhaled once more. She was breathing. Breathing under water as it was a clean air. She quickly examined herself to discover one more shocking fact. Though the masses of water swirled above her, she was completely dry. "How is it ?" Discord swam near her with grace "I hate when you scare me like this" muttered Fluttershy "You know you like it" Discord played with his eyebrows, causing Fluttershy to blush. "This is actually quite nice, but may I asked why you brought me underwater ?" Fluttershy asked, looking around in confusion. "I know how much you love nature and animals. But you never saw an underwater ecosystem. Good thing I had the powers to give you this" Suddenly, the water became brighter and clearer. Fluttershy's eyes widened when she saw that they were actually standing in a beautiful garden, with the trees made of underwater plants and with many fish and underwater creatures. "Go on, you can talk to them. " Discord smiled in way that he perceived as a warm one. Before he could react, Fluttershy jumped through the water and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much. You're right, I always wanted to talk to underwater creatures. But when we were visiting Seaquestria, we were so busy that I simply didn't have time. Oh, thank you Discord". "I know that you need some time to swim around. I will be back in two hours. If something happens, just shout my name and I will come." Fluttershy nodded gently, waved goodbye and swam carefully to all the creatures, introducing herself. Discord rubbed his hands as he pulled out a smartphone, unaffected by water. He put it to his ear. "Percy, Katara, you're up for a water fight ?" lord of chaos grinned widely. ******************* Discord and Fluttershy got out of the water. The liquid instantly evaporated as they laid down on a small hill nearby the water, watching as the clouds changed shape above them. "That was amazing !" Fluttershy cuddled closely to Discord, who chuckled "You tell me. I had a fight of the centuries against the greatest water masters. Such a shame that they are not from our dimension" Fluttershy rolled her eyes, listening to Discords bizarre confessions. She loved to spend time with him, even though he was often a little annoying and rather hard to understand. When he got involved, things always got the way they didn't plan. But Fluttershy got at least some excitement out of it. She couldn't complain about her job of taking care of animals. It was her special talent, part of her destiny and she loved it. But it wasn't a life that was bringing something new each and every day. "Look at this, a bunny" Discord waved at the patch of cloud. Fluttershy squinted her eyes "I don't think that look like..." "Oh, it doesn't matter what it looks like. It is about the potential it has to become something" With Discord's gesture, the cloud turned into a bunny, then into a symbol of chaos and finally into perfectly detailed face of Fluttershy. "Oh my" whispered the Element of Kindness. "No copy match the stunning beauty of the original. You are one of a kind my dear, I don't think even my magic can portray it correctly" Discord complimented her boldly. Fluttershy blushed madly and shook her head. The veil of pink mane shielded her face and covered her reddened cheeks. After a moment of silence, something occurred to Fluttershy "Discord ?" "Huh ?" "Remember when I said that I like you because you're so very different from me, back at your place ?" "Yes...I actually thought about this evening recently...why do you ask ?" "Well, I was wondering why were you so scared of being different for me and I thought that maybe...maybe you can show me the world through your eyes." Discord froze and after a moment turned his face to Fluttershy, blinking rapidly "Do you have any idea what are you asking ?" he answered after a while. "I know that you can do it and I just want to understand you, nothing more." "I am not sure about this. You know that I am usually the first one to stick to the unplanned scheme but that can simply be dangerous for you. I had the eons of memories and experiences in my head. If too much comes to you, your mind will simply burn" Discord exclaimed coldly. Fluttershy shivered when she heard that and tears appeared in her eyes "I had no idea...I just wanted to..." "I know. And that's why maybe there is a way that I can show you what you want without exposing you to my past." Discord responded in a more gentle manner " Are you sure that you want this ?" Fluttershy nodded "I want to know how you feel, Discord. This is a matter of trust" Discord gently grabbed Fluttershy's forehead and pressed it to his own. "Remember, if any of my memories will appear, and I assure you that you will feel that, just call my name and I will pull you out". said draconequus and closed his eyes. Fluttershy gasped when her eyes turned from a bright blue to a crimson red and the world around her changed. Discord disappeared. She was standing on a same place but the scenery around her were changing and melting with incredible speed. She looked at the lake, which became wine, then a big forest, which was then eaten by enormous bugs, that changed into the mountains. The world turned upside down, even though Fluttershy was still in the same place. The mountains became the sky and broke, rotating around the sky that became crimson, then turned into glass and finally melted into caramel. The sun set and rise, multiplied, died and collided with the moon, as the stars fell from the sky, and as they fell they were turning into a waterfalls that floated upwards into nothingness. The world around her was turning into dust and each of the dust particles became the universe, filled with stories. And even though the world ended, Fluttershy could see it through the veils of many versions of reality, discovering one after another, all running around her like unfocused movies. She felt that she could watch the possibilities forever. Everything was everything But inside of her everything was nothing. Empty. She shrieked in surprise when the visions flooded her head. The silence that stretched through so long...so very, very alone... The light of the first stars, so bright after millenias of darkness... Watching as the planets formed from dust. The ignition of the stars and forming of galaxies. The visions speeded up... Observing as a small equine creature took few uneasy steps on the surface of the young planet and touched his claws with its muzzle... Thousands of wars and rivalries, death and rebirth in the endless cycle as the planet bloomed on... The young pink manned filly watching him with curiosity from the back of the stallion as dark as darkness... The white filly dragging him into the forest... The laughs and rotten fruits thrown at him, the reflection looking from beyond the water... The young adolescent alicorn presenting him her sister, a little indigo blue alicorn... Watching the meteor shower along with two fillies... Powerful feats of magic and a disorder that was lingering in his heart... The look that Pillars of Equestria gave him when they first met him... Helping young princesses when they were training... The scenes became darker and Fluttershy felt so much grief and pain that she flinched... The tall alicorn with mane as pure as light standing upon him, screaming... The explosion that made the castle burn into ash... The image of young mare with a moon as a cutie mark screaming at him as he ran... ran... ran... And he felt... grief... Anger... And unimaginable power... The flows of chaos... Tearing the world apart and turning it upside down... Torturing the ones that wronged him... Confronting Celestia and Luna, laughing at them, feeling only misunderstanding and arrogance... The cold but burning feeling of muscles being turned into a solid rock... Panic... Restlessness... And waiting... Waiting... Waiting... Celestia sending Luna to the moon, her mane becoming multicolour... Waiting... Waiting... Silence... Emptiness... Thousands of ideas and stories... So many different scenes before his eyes... So many passing generations... Waiting... Waiting... Revenge... And everlasting chaos... Waiting.. Waiting... And the feeling of something loosing hold... The argument of the three young fillies... The moment when the stone armour finally fell down... The fury, the world of Equestria changed in a fraction of a thought... Facing the Elements of Harmony... And Fluttershy... His reformation... Fluttershy, the only unchanged element... The warm feeling inside of his chest... The caring he learned to have... His shock and grief after Tirek's betrayal... The feeling, the feeling of lo- SNAP ! Fluttershy breathed loudly and coughed out a cloud of smoke as she saw Discord leaning over her. "Fluttershy ? Fluttershy, speak to me !!! I am so stupid !!! I shouldn't let you see that in a first place !!! No mortal creature should ever see this !!!" shouted Discord in mixture of worry and relief. Fluttershy got up. She felt a little dizzy and there was a smoked raising up from her skin but she was already feeling better. "That was...beautiful" she whispered " And so sad too. There were so many stories to go into." "That's because draconequui can see all time happen at once. All the infinite possibilities of the time and space are in front of us. This is an infinite potential and this is how I see the universe" "Doesn't that...drive you..." "Mad ?" Discord raised one eyebrow and smirked playfully " You know, for a few thousand years, when I became The Chaos, I actually got mad and insane. But after those millenias it got boring and I became completely sane." "I didn't mean to but I see your memories as well " Fluttershy told the spirit what she saw. She was shocked when she noticed a small tear flowing down Discord's cheek. She didn't recall any time that she noticed him tear up. And then she flew up, wrapping her hooves around Discord's neck and giving him a passionate and warm kiss on the cheek. "Discord, please don't forget that even after all this years you can be what you choose to be, especially when you have the ones that care for you" the yellow pegasus smiled" You should know best that everything on this world has unlimited and infinite potential to be something else. That includes you and me. It is never too late". They hugged each other tightly and after a while Discord dried her eyes and rose from the ground "Well, all this memory revisiting made me hungry "he grinned widely, his usual goofy approach returning " I would love to try Marble's famous diamond and quartz stew." Fluttershy chuckled "Maybe I would leave that out. I heard that Pinkie and Princess Celestia made delicious banana cake" The pair laughed as they teleported away.