“You never answered my question. Did you tailor a spell specifically for each of us?” Twilight tore her eyes away from the alabaster unicorn.
“Perhaps I did,” Discord grinned maliciously, “A magician never gives away their secrets,”
It took a moment for his words to register, but when it did Twilight sputtered, “We are mages! Not magicians! Magicians are smoke and mirrors,”
Discord snapped his paw, conjuring a large blackthorn wood throne, while simultaneously vanishing his lawn chair, “As you’ve seen, Chaos magic doesn’t fall into the realm of normal mages,”
Twilight nodded dumbly, noting the amount of detail in the woodwork.
“I can transmute inanimate objects into animals larger than the mass I had originally,” he conjured a pin which morphed into a very confused cat before vanishing in a flash of light, “I can give iron the properties of steel without increasing the mass,” he gestured to the restrictive iron bands, “I can do many things Twilight Sparkle. I am not limited by the mere label ‘mage’.”
He laughed at the rather upset look Twilight shot him, “Did I shake your entire magical world? I do apologize,”
Rarity turned away from the illusion, showing an impressive amount of resistance to the mind magic. Internally, Twilight cheered for her friend and felt pride flash through her at how long Rarity was managing.
“Only certain spells of yours don’t obey the rules,” Twilight observed, angrily scrunching her brow at Rarity’s painful struggle.
Discord grinned ferally, not bothering to respond.
Twilight winced when Discord’s spell forced its way into Rarity’s mind, “No lasting damage done?” She asked incredulously, knowing what had just happened could’ve been catastrophic if Rarity were more well versed in resisting mind magic.
“No lasting damage done, dear Twilight,” Discord promised once more.
Rarity began to dig into the cliff next to her with a crazed expression. It totally derailed Twilight’s train of thought as the unicorn scraped away stone and rubble with her bare hooves. Her mouth fell further and further open as Rarity slowly dug out a huge boulder. She was very worried that one of Rarity’s legs would shatter on impact rather than the rock. Rarity let out a demented sounding shriek of desire as the cliff gave in on itself.
“She won’t hurt herself?” Twilight hesitantly asked.
Discord scrambled out of his throne and hastily snapped his talons. This time, Discord had the grace to look sheepish when Twilight leveled him with a glare. She even peeled her lips back to growl lowly at him.
“No lasting damage,” Twilight scoffed sarcastically, “A broken leg definitely isn’t lasting damage,”
“Well…” Discord began only to quell under Twilight’s severe look.
So much dust coated Rarity’s mane and coat, that her entire self appeared to be dulled in color. Twilight watched as the frail unicorn struggled to heft the rock up. Right as the unicorn hefted the boulder upon her back, the rest of her friends rounded the corner.
“Rarity! I-” Spike stumbled to a halt, “Why do you have a boulder?”
“Boulder?” Rarity began in affronted tones, “What do you mean boulder? This humongous diamond is all mine! Don’t you dare take it away like everything else you’ve taken!”
“If that’s a diamond, then real gems must have you turning inside out for ‘em don’t they?” Applejack snickered, “If that’s a diamond, Twilight better have a stomach for rocks!”
Spike huddled under Fluttershy as their friends started to argue.
“That diamond’s the ugliest one I’ve ever seen,” Pinky declared grumpily, “I used to work on a rock farm so I would know,”
“After all we’ve been through together, this is how you all treat me?” Rarity demanded, letting the boulder roll back onto the ground, “This is how you repay me after all you’ve stolen?!”
“Come on y’all. We still gotta find Rainbow Crash,” Applejack took the lead again, seemingly already knowing the path toward Rainbow, “Let’s leave the Drama Queen while we’re at it,”
“If I find this has traumatized Spike, I will hunt you down and the body won’t be found,” Twilight spoke monotonously without turning her head.
She could tell Discord backed away slightly from the way his voice carried, “I am an immortal Twilight Sparkle, though I applaud the dramatics,”
The glare Twilight had on her face was much more dangerous than any other glare she’d shot him so far. It was as if she were looking into his very soul, picking a section that was weaker, preparing to brutally rip it out, chew it up, and then spit it back into his face as a charred blackened mess. And she’d do it without breaking eye contact.
Discord gulped, his body contorting into an accordion shape. He shuddered so hard, he visibly shrunk in and out in the accordion shape.
Twilight sighed unhappily as she watched Rainbow Dash chase after a cloud, activating another illusion. The pegasus turned the corner and smashed through a cloud so hard, it left a pony-shaped hole.
Rainbow skidded to an unsteady halt.
Time. Twilight needed time. How to make more time?
Outloud, Twilight wondered, “What is chaos. What defines it?”
“My dear Twilight, I am offended,” Discord held his paw up to his chest as he answered, “Me, I define chaos,”
Rainbow reared up and began to punch the air wildly.
“So how do you define chaos?” Twilight probed once more, hoping to keep the draconequus talking.
“Chaos is anything outside the norm,” Discord proclaimed proudly, “If it doesn’t make sense, it’s chaos!”
Twilight made a face, but didn’t dignify his declaration with a response. Rainbow Dash froze in place, hooves still up. If the wind hadn’t blown through the pegasus’s mane, Twilight would’ve thought she’d been frozen through.
“But what is normal? Normality is just a concept isn’t it?” Twilight abruptly asked the draconequus, “‘A crowdsourced fantasy’?”
Discord opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it again. He raised a finger and then tried to answer again.
“I am a dragon raised by ponies who used to be one herself. By your definition, I am chaotic?”
Once more, Discord floundered for an answer.
“If everything is chaotic, wouldn’t that become the new normal and actually normal things become chaotic?” Twilight pressed her advantage, “Surely you’ve thought of this at least once since you’re an immortal?”
Rainbow let out an anguished cry and dove forward toward the blue gift box in front of her. She ripped into the box with a fervor Twilight had never seen.
“Is chaos even real?” Twilight questioned the catatonic being next to her with a growing grin, “Are you alright?”
Discord didn’t move, not even to blink. His eyes shrunk to pinpricks leaving it mostly yellow in color. Twilight managed to float herself closer and wave a claw in front of his face.
That snapped Discord out of it, “You have the nerve to ask if I’m alright after that?” he screeched, his neck elongating past natural means to shove his face into hers, “After my entire world has fallen out under me?!”
“Oh boy, that sounds chaotic,” Twilight smiled slightly, “Just returning the favor,”
Discord unhinged his jaw and let it fall to his knees. A second later, he picked it back up and shoved it back. Then, a finger snap, and the entire maze collapsed in on itself.
“Well played, Twilight Sparkle. Well played,” Discord said begrudgingly, “I have lost at my own game to a dragon that was taken out of the game. The first time in my long life. Very well played,”
The sun peeked out from behind the normal clouds and all her friends shook themselves before crying out. Discord gently lowered the two from the sky and removed the enchanted iron from Twilight’s body. To her, it was like a large breath of crisp clean air.
She took a deep breath in as the familiar leylines popped back into existence and her sense of magic rushed back. Never again would she take her magical sensitivity for granted.
“Bravo ponies, bravo!” Discord swept a top hat from his head and bowed, “Congratulations,”
He turned to shake Twilight’s claws, “I do keep my promises, my dear. Here are your Elements,”
The Elements popped into existence on the ground, safely back into the decorated box. Then he magicked a giant target onto himself.
“Fire when ready,”
Her friends wobbled around for a bit after Discord’s mind magic wore off. Pinky’s mane popped back to full poofyness and Rarity screamed softly at the state of her chipped hooves.
Spike jumped off of Fluttershy’s back and raced over to Twilight who caught him in her forelegs. Discord snapped again and their magic was restored.
Rainbow dashed over to the box and immediately donned her Element, Applejack followed suit.
“Now to put you back into the castle garden as you belong!” Rainbow shook a hoof at the draconequus.
The rest of Twilight’s friends put their Elements on, but Twilight didn’t move. She just plainly looked at the sad being.
“We are not turning Discord back into stone,” Twilight spontaneously decided, “He’s been in stone long enough,”
“What?!” Several voices screamed at once.
“Harmony needs to be balanced by Disharmony. Harmony has reigned for too long I think. Life is constant and changing. Society should be the same as well. After all, a little chaos never hurt anyone,”
Discord reeled backward as if something socked him in the face. Then, crocodile tears leaked out of his eyes and he dramatically sobbed into an oversized handkerchief.
“A dragon, beating me for the title Master of Chaos!” Discord blubbered, “How is this possible?”
Everyone stared as Discord slowly quieted. The handkerchief vanished and Discord gazed at Twilight with renewed interest.
“How would you feel about becoming my apprentice Twilight Sparkle? I would have much more to teach you than that overgrown marshmallow,”