I appeared inside my recently built home, a small cottage residing on the outskirts of the town, decorated with things I picked up at a local trade festival in downtown ponyville the week after I arrived, along with little trinkets I had gotten from the ponies around town as housewarming gifts. I quickly scrambled up and looked myself over, my coat thankfully back to its dull brown and rest of my body intact. I looked up and immediately began fuming at the laughter resonating from inside one of the paintings hung up on my wall, Discord’s gray head phasing out as he clicked his tongue.
“Tsk tsk, you really thought you were gonna get away with this whole trap? How adorable..” He giggled slightly, his smirk widening a bit in as I charged at him full force. I was seeing red, my body barely registering the pain when I slammed face first into the blank space in the wall where he was.
“Now I know why they locked you in stone, you monster…” I hissed, pulling my head out of the small dent in the wall I made. Vision a bit blurry, I spun around to face him once again and got ready to try again before he yawned, grabbing luggage he pulled from behind his back as he headed towards the door.
“You know.” He stopped and looked back, “we should really get going. The royal guards are making their way here as we speak, and you definitely don't want to get caught by them. If I merely threw a whole town into chaotic fun, imagine what they would to do you!”
“M-me!? All I wanted was to live happily here and just enjoy this! Why would they lock me up?”
“So hiding vital information about the future and tricking 8 of the most powerful mares in Equestria is no reason to be punished to you? Especially when you caused tons of collateral damage all over the land?”
I was about to speak when it finally hit me; The natural disasters Twilight was talking about, the mini tornado at the fair Dash had to take care of, the huge chasm I almost fell into during the maze, the havoc during the ceremony and Discord being freed.
“W-wait... So you mean I was the one that..”
“Exactly. Besides, most dark magic is influenced by the bearer, and since you are an earth pony..”
I gulped, the whole situation just now dawning on me as I began to rush around my abode, grabbing and stuffing things into bags as fast as I could. After everything important was cleared out, I turned to leave. Before I could leave though, I froze and weighed my options, before sighing and turning to the creature now wrapping itself around me and looking me dead in the eyes.
“So, since you are going on the lam, and since I am rather interested in seeing on how this will play out…” He wiggled his eyebrows somewhat, me taking a deep breath as I mentally kicked myself.
"Alright...fine, I guess you can join me, but no more funny business, got it?"
He snapped his fingers and shrank in size, hopping onto my back as he rubbed both of his hands in excitement. “Excellent! You won't regret this! Now, we must get a move on if we’re gonna-
A sudden blip cut him off, him jumping back as a black, paperlike strip of darkness shot out of my coat and stretched over me, letters forming on it.
Discord joined your Party!
I looked back, him shrugging as we both looked around confused.
"...What?" The text advanced.
This sly trickster can be useful to trick and confuse opponents, also being able to use short-range teleportation when necessary! He is a bit on the lazy side though, so don't expect much and try not get on his bad side!
The box closed, it going back into my boy as I couldn't help but shudder and run out into the vast woods, Discord peering over my head. If I was gonna get cured and fix this mess, only one person I knew could deal with this mumbo jumbo.
“So.. that whole thing back there makes me guess you like those childish video games that are starting to catch on?”
“H-hey! They're fun, alright?”
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“Ya know, this place isn't so bad.” I was back where it had all began, walking on a barely visible trail deep into the Everfree Forest. “Sure, there are some weird wood wolves from time to time off in the distance, but it's actually pretty peaceful out here.”
Discord trembled a bit as an animal howl resonated from the woods left of us, crows flying off across the sky, “Speak for yourself, the only reason I can even tolerate this place is because I could take on anything that comes at me. Although, why are we even going through here anyways? We could have just bought train tickets.”
I shook my head, “No time, I have to see someone who can help me with this curse, and I know the perfect gal. The only problem is gonna be finding her house in the middle of all of these woods.”
After a bit, I spotted something a familiar patch of blue flowers, seemingly recently stepped on. As I got closer, they had many hoof-shaped indents scattered around them, not even reaching the other side as they seemed to just stop and turn the other way.
“Poison Joke! We must be close!”
A set of low growls stopped me in my tracks as I slowly turned around, whispering a bit as a pack of 3 timberwolves approached me as Discord held his breath.
“N-nice doggies… i'm not here to hurt you…” I started backing away slowly, them still trailing in front of me. As I was about to leave though, a howl resonated through the silent and tense air, the source being a now laugh-stifling companion as the Wolves went into a frenzy.
I bolted, hearing ravenous snarls and barks as I randomly skidded left and right through the dark forest as I could feel my heartbeat pound through my skull in exhaustion. As my legs felt as if they were about to give out and vision was about to fade, I spotted a door with lights inside, almost as if it was a gift from the goddesses. I didn't care who it was, I just barged in and shut the door shut, thumping and scratching emanating from behind the door.
Before even getting the chance to take a deep breath, a familiar rhyming filled my ears and filled my body with a sense of hope.
“What are you doing here, waking me up with a scream!? It is 1 AM and I need to dream!”