//------------------------------//
// Corruption of the Elements Pt. 1 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle the Dragon 
// by PlutoMilo 
//------------------------------//

The moment her friend peered into the pool, Twilight glanced back at Discord.
“I don’t suppose I can convince you to stop this?” Twilight asked as Applejack recoiled as if burned and stumbled away from the water.
“I could ask the same thing,” Discord replied absentmindedly, focusing on the spell that ensnared Applejack.
“How do you mean?” 
Applejack cried out before going still. Twilight wasn’t sure if it was the sudden cloud cover but it was almost as if Applejack’s coat color dulled.
“I don’t suppose I can convince you to drop this mission?” Discord quoted part of Twilight’s question back to her.
“Fair point. I’d thought of it before, but no. We accepted the mission and will see it through,” Twilight conceded, inspecting Applejack’s still form, “Impasse it is, then.”
Discord turned his full attention back to her, “You are remarkably calm for a mother whose kid was taken away. I expected pleading and bargaining,”
“Spike is safe for now. For how long, that remains to be seen,” Twilight responded, balefully glaring at the mist next to her.
“I am not Celestia. There is no Greater Good. Your child will remain safe,” Discord promised, “As will the yellow pegasus. Chaos has some order after all,”
Twilight watched as Fluttershy and Spike met up with Applejack. She mulled over Discord’s promises. It had been a long time since a being confused her so much. Not to mention his complete disdain of Celestia and the hunting down of her friends, while at the same time promising not to hurt her child.
“Oh Applejack, thank goodness,” Fluttershy sighed thankfully.
“I heard voices. Were you talking to somebody?” Spike asked, still standing tall next to Fluttershy.
It seemed Spike was taking his guard duties seriously and Twilight’s currently non-existent heart warmed.
“Why yes! The hedges are absolutely wonderful conversation partners!” Applejack sarcastically responded in a voice bordering on hysterical, “Cmon! Best be going!”
Fluttershy balked, “Applejack?” one of her forehooves kept Spike from following the earth pony.
Twilight’s rage flared, losing her train of thought in the process, “What did you do to her?”
Somehow, she could tell Discord shrugged despite only being colorless mist, “I simply put her out of commission. No lasting damages done,”
“Applejack, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked in a rather timid manner.
“Everything! Life! Cmon now!” Applejack snapped, trotting off into the hedges.
Fluttershy and Spike scrambled after the brusque earth pony, not wanting to get left behind. The pair hung back slightly, enough to keep Applejack in their sights but not near enough to be at the receiving end of her tongue lashing.
Twilight’s agitation grew when her gaze switched to Pinky and watched her fall into an illusion as well.
“What did you do to get petrified?” Twilight asked, not liking the silence that befell them.
“Celestia and Luna hated my corner of Equestria and set out on a journey to vanquish me,” Discord explained bitterly, “Since they took my home, it is only fit I take theirs. The Chaos Realm doesn’t count,” he forestalled Twilight’s question, “I stayed well within my boundaries. I did not set out to conquer Equestria,”
“That doesn’t make any sense?” Twilight asked baffled, “The Princesses wouldn’t just go and attack another being without good cause,”
“Granted, this did happen over a thousand years ago, dear Twilight. Immortals evolve with time,” Discord reasoned.
Pinky collapsed to the ground, covering her eyes with her hooves.
“You kind of remind me of her you know,” Twilight absentmindedly said, carefully observing Pinky, “Did you tailor a spell specifically for each of us?”
Discord gasped so dramatically, Twilight somehow managed to flinch while incorporeal. A snap later, Twilight hung in the air, back into her own body. For a single moment, it felt as if she were suddenly bearing an entire boulder on her entire existence before her brain caught up to the sensation. The heavy muscles reconnected to her brain and the weight was suddenly no longer so uncomfortable. 
Reflexively, she attempted to flap her wings. Panic seized her as her wings strained against the restrictive iron bands on her back and her wings were rendered ineffective. She flailed like a fish out of the water before she realized she was being watched and she wasn’t obeying the laws of gravity.
Discord reclined back on a lawn chair that floated mid-air and eyed her strangely.
“Twilight Sparkle, do I look like a large pony princess to you?”
The air around them seemed to come alive in agitation. Twilight shook her head, her heart still beating wildly.
“So how in all of Equestria do I remind you of that egotistical Lucky Charm marshmallow?”
Twilight blinked, and slowly raised a claw to gesture at her muzzler. Her wing shoulders still reflexively spasmed every so often. 
A snap later, Twilight wondered, pushing her fear to the back of her mind, “A lucky charm?”
“A reference you wouldn’t understand,” Discord narrowed his different sized eyes at her, “Now tell me how Celestia and I are alike so I can immediately modify my behavior accordingly,”
A chill slowly crawled up Twilight’s spine the longer Discord glared at her. The prickling at the back of her head that she associated with the draconequus, grew sharper, more insistent. The scales there felt like they were going to peel themselves off and start her molt early.
Her mouth went dry the moment she opened it to speak, “Er- Well, you’re both immortal so you’re both the weirdest beings I’ve ever met,”
Discord’s glare morphed into one of boredom and disappointment, and the charged air slowly dissipated, “Is that all? I highly doubt that is all, Twilight Sparkle,”
Her hackle scales raised inadvertently as Discord leaned in closer. Until that moment, Twilight hadn’t known that Chaos had a scent. The smell clung to Discord like a large winter coat. It smelled spicy and overly sweet at the same time. It was subtle and overpowering but somehow made sense.
His red irises bored into hers as he waited for a satisfactory answer, “You both have these weird quirks about you and neither of you makes any logical sense. And you’re both so set in your ways. It gets really frustrating sometimes,”
“Really now? Has Celestia changed so much in the last thousand years?” Discord retreated, one talon on his chin as he thoughtfully reclined back on the chair, “She finally let loose and allowed herself to be a little more chaotic and not the stuck up noble she is?”
“I’d call her more eccentric than chaotic,” Twilight hedged, wings rustling with unease.
“Marvoulessly interesting,” Discord hummed thoughtfully as Twilight looked back down at Pinky.
Pinky wordlessly snarled at the hedges when the spell completed, right before Applejack and Fluttershy found her. Pinky’s normally poofy hair deflated and dulled in hue.
“Pinky! Are we glad to see you!” Spike exclaimed, hurrying over to the mare.
“Why? Need Pinky around to laugh at?” Pinky aggressively barked into Spike’s face, “Well guess what? No more laughs!”
Spike stumbled back in shock, gasping as Pinky raised a hoof as if she was going to strike him. Twilight instinctively twisted around, attempting to go after the creature that dared to raise a hoof against Spike. 
Fluttershy shoved Spike behind her and glared at the earth pony. Fluttershy stood so close to the taller earth pony that she had to crane her neck to meet her eyes. The pegasus’ eyes burned with indignation and caution.
“What is the matter with you?” Fluttershy demanded in a soft but firm voice.
Pinky just snorted and turned to follow Applejack, who’d already set out. Fluttershy exchanged a look with Spike when Pinky bypassed Applejack and tripped her.
Smoke poured out of Twilight’s snout at an alarming rate, prompting Discord to ask, “We don’t need the muzzle anymore do we?”
Twilight swung her head around. Her eyes were once again slitted and glowing. If looks could kill, Discord would’ve been six feet under. The smoke was so thick, Twilight could barely see the being next to her.
“I just watched a friend of mine threaten my son,” Twilight barely managed to enunciate her words through her growl, “And I could do nothing about it,”
Discord slapped his paw to his forehead causing his head to wobble like jelly, “Ooh, right. Hard to remember. I suppose I will overlook any threat you pose from now on,”
He magicked a notepad, wrote something down on it with a pencil larger than Twilight’s head, and then threw the notepad behind him, which exploded like a grenade, mid-air. The pencil was then tossed up and it turned into a dove, which flew away with a confused hoot.
Twilight could feel the headache coming on since Discord’s newest display of magic violated half of the set magical rules in existence. She shook herself, choosing instead to focus on watching her friends slowly convening into a group once more. She prayed that no one else would fall into another trap.
Her prayer was decidedly ignored by whatever higher deity since Rarity fell into one, moments after her hope.