The sun rose from the horizon, signifying the start of a new day, and a special one for the town of Ponville's weirdest and most interesting resident, Jackie Jester.
"WOOO HOOO! THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME!" screamed Jackie in a triumphant tone, as he jumped out of his bed and grabbed the digital clock floating a few inches above the bedside table."Today's the day. Today's finally the day that I finally come home!"
The excited boy flew downstairs, crashing into his roommate in the process. "OW!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry, Jeffrey," Jackie said, getting on his feet and floating Jeffrey on his. "But I just can't contain my excitement! Today's the day that I finally return to Equestria!"
As he said this, party confetti shot up from behind Jackie and the flags bearing the words EQUESTRIA appeared out of nowhere.
"But Jackie," said Jeffrey, patting his pajamas to get the dust off, "people here are sleeping, aka, MY PARENTS! They'll flip out once they find out that we've woken them up at 6 in the morning again."
"But-" started Jackie, but Jeffrey stopped him.
"Look, I know your excited, but it's too early to be busting out your celebration, mischief-style," said Jeffrey.
Jackie sighed as he snapped his fingers, making the confetti and flags disappear to thin air. He sat down with Jeffrey on the sofa, and summoned a glass of chocolate milk for both of them.
"I've always wondered," Jeffrey asked."Why did you get kicked out of your homeworld? And why for a thousand years? It's not like you did something extreme like world domination, right? I've been around you for a couple of months, and your not the type of guy who would use your powers for something other than real life dank meme references."
Jackie glared at him, as if to remind Jeff about one small detail he missed. "Um, I tried to take over your town back in the Philippines, how is that not extreme to you?" he asked, taking a sip from his chocolate milk, but drinking the whole cup without the milk instead.
Jeffrey then remembered the time when they first met. The weird things he saw in his school, the battle in the spinning chamber, then finally, the unexpected pleading for forgiveness. It still seemed too good to be true that the creature who turned his town into the world's weirdest landmark yet is the teenager in front of him, sipping a glass cup instead of the contents inside it, and refilling it over and over again.
"Oh, right," Jeffrey said, " but tell me, why? Why were you sent to this world with the doorway back closed for another thousand years?"
At this point, Jackie made his cup float in midair, and teleported to another couch, lying on his back."Oh, I don't know, dude, it's kind of a long story."
Jeffrey straightened up his posture, and turned to his friend, sipping from his cup. "Try me," Jeffrey said.
Jackie smiled, for he had been expecting this. "Oh, alright," he started,"here it goes..."
...
"There it is, ladies," Jackie said, pointing at the cave below the cliff, the light inside it illuminating the area. Jackie turned to the two alicorns behind him, and gestured them to follow him. As he dropped down, Celestia followed, right before Luna made her way down as well.
"Tia," Luna said to her elder sister,"Are you sure we can trust a draconequis? He might as well as leading us into a trap for his brother."
As Celestia was about to reply, Jackie appeared behind her, startling the white alicorn."Oh come on, ponies. Your not the only one who thinks big brother Dizzy has lost his mind over power. I wanted to fit in among you, guys, that is, until Discord went up and ruined everything."
They continued until they reached the cave entrance. Inside was a majestic crystal tree, with six symbols, one for each branch."There it is, gang," announced Jackie,"The Tree of Harmony, Equestria's most powerful source of energy for all things good. This is the very tree which the Pillars of Equestria have planted a few years ago, and now, it has grown into a majestic work of art, with magic as old as time itself, and power strong enough to banish even the strongest force of evil."
Celestia turned to Jackie."Only to banish?" she asked.
"Well, yeah, otherwise it would be called-" Sinister lighting surrounds Jackie"- THE TREE OF EXECUTION."
As he turned off the lights, Jackie noticed that he startled the two sisters slightly, causing them to plant their hooves firmly on the ground defensively. "Hey," Jackie said, approaching Celestia before stopping just far enough."I just can't help it. Us draconequis brothers have a certain taste for flare and dramatic atmosphere."
"I'm sorry," apologized Luna. "It's just that, we are not used to the presence of a draconequis willing to help us, and you did look sinister with the stunt you pulled."
"Aw, no biggie, Lulu," said Jackie, surprising Luna with his knowledge of her nickname used by her sister. "Some ponies don't appreciate the talents of a creature as powerful and imaginative as me and my brother, and chaos magic can't really hurt people, just to annoy, pranking others, making the land weird and chaotic, punishing those in our... way. Oh, I guess that's your reason why you need to stop Dizzy, isn't it?"
The sisters looked at each other, slightly concerned, and turned back to Jackie. "Well, if you don't want us to harm your brother, then we understand. Perhaps you could persuade him into seeing the wrong in what he has done, and forgive each other." suggested Celestia.
"You think I didn't try that way already? I call myself the prince of mischief not just because the title 'Lord' and 'Chaos' is taken. My magic is much weaker, so I won't stand a chance against Discord when I decide to rebel against him. The Elements of Harmony has the only magic strong enough to counter his."
"And your sure you know how these elements work, Jackie?" asked Celestia.
"Of course," said Jackie in a cocky tone." All you have to do is to have traits that each element represent, and then..."
But as soon as he was about get into the important part, he was cut off as a familiar voice rang in his head, a voice he is certainly not in the mood to hear right now.
"BROTHER! RETURN TO THE CASTLE THIS INSTANT! WE HAVE MATTERS TO TALK ABOUT."
"Oh, poo," said Jackie grudgingly."I gotta go, bro's calling me. Don't worry, though, I'll leave the instructions on how to use the elements with you guys, and hopefully we'll see each other again."
And with that, Jackie disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a small manual behind. As Celestia picked it up, seeing that it was entitled, INSTRUCTIONS OF USAGE OF THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY FOR DUMMIES By Jackie Jester, Equestria bestseller since never.
"Well sister," asked Luna, reading the title on the manual's cover. "Shall we get started?"
...
Jackie managed to teleport right at the entrance of his brother's castle, and made his way to the front doorway. They opened right before he touched the handle, only to be greeted by his brother's towering form looming over him.
"And where have you been, brother?" asked Discord, his arms crossed and his voice serious.
Jackie gulped down his throat and replied, "Nothing, bro. Just went around, doing... stuff."
Discord raised an eyebrow, and eased his glare on his little brother. "Well, if doing stuff means you've been out terrorising ponies in their miserable lives, then I guess that's fine by me."
He let Jackie enter, and they walked down the hall into Discord's throne room.
"So," Jackie said."How was your day? Any problems with your, er, subjects?"
Discord turned to Jackie,smiled. "Oh, I've had a wonderful day, I didn't really have any problems with my loyal errand ponies, although they keep complaining, saying that their family needs crops instead of sweets to eat, and that their getting annoyed by the numerous holes that keep appearing around the place, swallowing anypony unlucky enough to be caught in it's depths." He leaned over to Jackie, and continued in a whisper."Although,it was actually I who's been making these holes appear, but don't worry, I'm only sending them into the safest pits of tartarus, where we can mess around with them, together, as brothers."
"Yeah," started Jackie."about that. We need to talk about our... authority here in Equestria."
Discord looked at his brother, the grin on his face fading slightly. "Hmm, and what about it?" he asked.
"Well, don't you think that these ponies aren't really... ok with what we're doing with their lives? Isn't all this a bit... harsh?"
"Well," Discord replied."I think your forgetting what we are and what we can do. Ponies serve us, and they are nothing more than brief additions on the very fabric of reality, whereas us, draconiqui... draconequises, whatever our kind's plural name is, we are immortal, and we bend and reshape reality as we like."
As he said this, he summoned a floating green blob, and started making various shapes with it.
"That's the thing, we're powerful beings who could make almost half the world ours to reshape, but... won't this be bad for us, the power, the strength, the authority? You've changed ever since we took over Equestria and... your not the same kindhearted, funny, and enjoyable draconequis I grew up with."
As Jackie said this, he made the blob Discord was reshaping, and made it surround his head, almost covering his view. Discord made the blob disappear, and turned to his brother.
"Oh, c'mon, Jackie," Discord said, wrapping around Jackie with his long body." I'm still your brother, and we still hang out. It's just that, times have changed. Back then, ponies looked at us like we're weirdos who don't belong to society. Now, they fear us, and they cower whenever I order them to do something I want them to do."
"And how is being feared much better than being considered an outcast?" asked Jackie." Back then, ponies just looked at us like we're mistakes, now their afraid of us, and eventually, they will hate us, maybe angry at us, and it might mean bad things for you. There's always a challenge whenever tyranny takes over."
"Oh really?" asked Discord."And you really think two unicorns with wings could end my reign?"
With those words, Jackie stepped back in shock. How could he have known? Has he been watching me? Does he know about the elements?
"You really think that you could just sneak behind my back and return with backup in you hands, just so you could overthrow me?"
"It's not like that!" shouted Jackie."Like I said, you've changed, not in a good way. I was doing this for your own good. You need to see sense, brother!"
Discord was furious. He prepare to send and electric shock to tase his brother to keep him from running, and just as Jackie made it to the front door, Discord hit him with a jolt of electricity. Immediately, he teleported to his unconcious brother.
"Well, as soon as you wake up, you won't be able to leave your room again, BECAUSE YOUR GROUNDED FOR A HUNDRED YEARS!" exclaimed Discord.
But as he turned his brother's form, Discord found that it was actually a lifesized ragdoll. Discord heard a loud, cracking sound behind him, and caught sight of Jackie leaving through the one of the windows in the room. "OH NO, YOU DON'T!"
bellowed Discord, and chased after Jackie.
Jackie landed in the garden, and tried to fly away, but then hit a solid barrier. He fell onto the grassy floor, and found Discord on top of him."Why, brother?" Discord asked."Why betray me?"
"Because," Jackie replied, struggling to get on his feet. "You were tormenting these ponies, and all I ever wanted was to fit in, not terrorise them. Please, don't do this, bro. Celestia and Luna are coming with the one thing you can't overpower."
"Oh," said Discord."I'd like to see them try. In the mean time," He ripped into the air in front of him with his talon claws, and opened a portal. "I think you should learn what happens when someone crosses with Lord Discord."
This horrified Jackie. He's about to be banished into another dimension."Please! No, Discord. I don't wanna go there. You know puppets give me nightmares," he pleaded.
"Oh, I won't be banishing you there," Discord replied, and took Jackie by the scruff of his neck. "You'll be in someplace much, much worse. You'll be in a place where friendship isn't really relevant and where magic is feared to the point where it is forbidden to be used, and doing so would result in you being an even worse outcast. In time, you will know what it's like to be hidding in a world where people slaughter each other, wars are waged, and peace is seldom."
"No,"Jackie continued, with tears forming on his eyes."Don't do this."
"Oh," said Discord."I already have," and with that, Discord chucked his brother into the portal, never to return for a thousand years...
...
"-Until now." finished Jackie.
Jeffrey sat, his mouth agape at the story's ending."Sheesh, dude," he replied."and you brother just chucked you into our world, for helping pony versions of Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna get what they need to stop him?"
"Yup," Jackie replied"It's a pretty stupid reason, I know, but then,It was a long time ago, so I don't really remember much, but when I got stuck here, it was only bad when I started out. After that, I saw some history's most memorable moments, and then some, then, I got stuck in stone by some ungrateful wizard. My brother was right about me cracking to the point where I might follow in his footsteps, but when I met you, I remembered what I believed in, and asked for an apology. Everything went a whole lot better since then."
"Because if you hadn't been banished," said Jeffrey."then you wouldn't have met me, or Pinkie, for that matter."
Jackie blushed at the mention of Pinkie's name."Yeah, I guess so. I'll miss her when I get back."
"Well, you don't have to stay there forever, you know," Jeffrey assured Jackie."Sunset can get back from your world any time, so you'd be basically living in two worlds."
"Yeah, I guess so," said Jackie. "Now, about that breakfast, 'cause I'm hungry."
Suddenly, Jackie teleported to the dining table, and prepared six plates for him and Jefrey and his family. Jeffrey then smelled bacon cooking in the kitchen. "I'll miss you when you go home, buddy," Jeffrey said.
"I know you will," replied Jackie." Because I will, too."