//------------------------------//
// The Odd One Out 
// Story: Oddball 
// by Crescent Pulsar 
//------------------------------//

Discord released a weary sigh after the montage of his education and training came to an end, which he had asked for in light of being unable to do it himself. "Did you really have to show every time I looked funny — and not in a good way, I might add — when I was learning how to sincerely say 'sorry', 'please', and 'thank you' naturally?" He crossed his arms with a huff. "Can it even be called a proper montage if a small fraction of my experience is half of the whole?"

In response, the Tree of Harmony displayed an image of Shrek's Puss in Boots putting on an act of innocence.

Discord looked unamused.

"You did ask for it," Oscar pointed out, who was quite accustomed to their friendly prank and joke war by now.

Jabbing a talon at the Tree of Harmony, Discord declared, "Just you wait until I have access to my power again! We'll see how you fare when I'm no longer at a disadvantage!"

Puss in Boots was replaced by a scene that featured Dr. Evil, who said, "Oh, look at me, I'm shaking in my little space boots."

A silence fell over the trio when Discord saw no point in making a retort to that, partly because — with his reformation complete — there was no longer any business driving their activity: now it was just a matter of waiting for a certain princess of Equestria to arrive and hear about his status. Usually, when Oscar fell asleep and could thus be invited to their nook of the astral plane, that was when he would be invited himself and get to work, since he wanted to be free of his prison as soon as possible.

It wasn't until then, after everything that he'd learned through that work, that it occurred to him that he knew next to nothing about Oscar. For the most part he'd seen the human as a means to an end, and a translator for the Tree of Harmony when more complex ideas needed to be conveyed, but much of what he knew about him had been gleaned from what the Tree of Harmony plucked from his brain for its own use. If he only had that to go by, he would have thought that they were fairly similar in character, but he was somewhat aloof and reserved otherwise — very deliberate.

That, and Oscar had never seemed to have an issue with spending most of his time working for his sake when he was in the astral plane. It was all rather curious, so he decided to try and learn more about him, since he had no idea how much contact they would have after his release, if any.

"So," he casually began while turning his head to regard Oscar, as if he weren't breaking an awkward silence, "what are you doing after this?"

Oscar shrugged his shoulders. "Go back to being bored all the time, I guess."

Discord raised an eyebrow. "This was your idea of having fun? It looked like all work and no fun, to me."

"It's nice being productive," Oscar replied, who stared out into space, both literally and figuratively. "And it was a lot more interesting than what awaits me in my waking life."

"Oh?" Discord prompted.

Oscar's gaze deliberately drifted to Discord until they made eye contact, at which point he calmly listed, "No magic or fantastical creatures; a world overrun by corruption and greed; living in poverty; having no friends, or family worth mentioning; being a shut-in; escapism through the Internet; not being able to express myself." He paused for a second. "Just to name a few things."

"...I see," Discord lamely replied.

As silence descended upon them again, Discord glanced over at the Tree of Harmony, wondering what their thoughts about the alien were, what with knowing Oscar longer and — he assumed — better. What he didn't expect was to see a screen appear outside of Oscar's view, near to where he had been looking, and on it appeared Uncle Sam, sans the recruitment message. Furrowing his brow, he tried to divine exactly what the Tree of Harmony was trying to convey to him.

Before he could figure it out, Princess Celestia faded into view at a leisurely gait. He noted her smile, and how it vanished when she saw him and Oscar, as if she had been expecting something — or someone — else.

"Oh," she voiced her surprise, as reined-in as it was, her curiosity evident as her attention fell upon the Tree of Harmony. "What is going on?"

"We reformed Discord," Oscar answered for the Tree of Harmony, gesturing toward the aforementioned draconequus.

Celestia blinked her eyes at the unexpected statement before she regarded Discord and said, "Is that so?" Upon receiving a nod of affirmation, she continued. "What a coincidence: I was thinking of giving that a try, myself." Turning her attention to Oscar, she asked, "To what extent was he reformed?"

Oscar replied, "Harmony can show you a training montage if—"

Interrupting with a forced cough, Discord said, "That won't be necessary," then proceeded to give Celestia a rundown of what he had gone through and why.

When he was finished, Celestia considered what she had learned for a moment before saying, "While that wasn't what I had in mind, I can see the wisdom in it." She offered him a smile. "Please be sure to make things interesting at the castle every now and again."

While Discord was stunned by that invitation, and the Tree of Harmony displayed an image of prince Blueblood covered in remnants of cake, Celestia focused on Oscar and offered him a warm smile. "Now, who might you be? I'm Princess Celestia, but you may drop the title in present company."

"Oscar," he responded, who briefly raised his hand in greeting. "A drifter of the astral plane."

Her interest piqued, Celestia tilted her head and inquired, "A drifter, you say?"

Oscar shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently I'm too detached from reality for my spirit to remain in my body while I sleep."

"Do you suffer from a malady of the mind?" Celestia asked, concerned out of sympathy.

"Nah," Oscar answered, casually waving the notion away. "Life just sucks."

Celestia, who had more years of experience as a public speaker than most ponies got to live, barely missed a beat before she spoke, her expression sad. "I'm sorry to hear that. If there's anything I can do to improve your situation, feel free to ask. It's the least I can do for your help."

Oscar nodded his head, but said nothing.

"Well," Celestia continued, deciding to move on when it became apparent that Oscar had no immediate requests, "I'll go and gather the girls so they can release you, Discord." She raised a hoof to her mouth and allowed herself a modest giggle. "They're going to be so surprised."

Because her brief exchange with Oscar had helped Discord figure out what Uncle Sam might have been used for, he didn't notice her final words, which he might have found interesting. Instead, while Celestia left to put actions to words, he went over to the Tree of Harmony and whispered his idea to it while Oscar simply stayed put and stared at the space where Celestia had vanished, unconcerned.

The Tree of Harmony responded with an image of Jay Gatsby, raising his wine glass.