//------------------------------//
// Chapter 95: Discord 
// Story: Marshmallow Dreams 
// by Halira 
//------------------------------//

"Thank you for your cooperation, Melvin," Discord said as he snapped his fingers. 

The tent with all the lamps vanished, leaving several confused ponies standing there, including the lamp vendor, still leashed to the manticore, who gave Discord an outraged look. "Hey! My name isn't Melvin!"

"It's not?" A look of confusion crossed Discord's face. "But you look like a Melvin. Bah! Whatever, you got the manticore you wanted and couldn't trade for, while I got to have a little fun." 

A towel appeared floating in the air behind the manticore, twirled itself into a tight rope, and then with a sharp crack, whipped it in the butt. The manticore roared and took off running with the pony called Melvin still attached to it by the leash. I watched as he was dragged off into the distance.

Discord turned and grinned at them. "Now that my trade is completed. I can spend time with you three much more interesting ponies."

Scootaloo stomped a hoof and flared her undersized wings. "Discord! Why did you do that to that pony? Give him back his lamps!"

Discord's paw disconnected from his arm and scratched his head. "But they weren't his lamps. I was just being my generous and benevolent self by helping him get what he wanted. All he had to do was help with my little game, and he would be compensated with the friendly little monster he so desired. He didn't even have to lift a hoof," the mismatched creature scoffed. "Find me a better deal than that, and I'll eat my hoof. I might even do that anyway; I know this fantastic recipe for hoof shavings. You need to marinate with...."

"Discord," Scootaloo snorted.

Sunflower and I continued to gawk at him. This was one of the most powerful beings in either universe, one that we had only heard stories about. Sure, most of those stories were about the Dreamwardens chasing him out of the dream realm, but the fact that there was even a chase or that it was repeated incidents was awe-inspiring. Nothing should be able to escape the Dreamwardens in their dominion, but somehow he did, and he did it for fun. 

Discord bent down and started Scootaloo in the eyes. "You seem unhappy. I don't understand. It was just a bit of fun." He snapped his fingers, and Scootaloo was suddenly sitting in a rocking chair with glasses on, and a wig on that gave her an old mare appearance. "You've gotten more grouchy since you got older. Next, you'll be yelling at foals to get off your lawn."

Scootaloo jumped out of the chair and shook the glasses and wig off her head. "What about the ponies that bought lamps at his tent? They paid bits for something they don't have anymore!"

Discord gasped, and a hefty price label appeared next to his head, listing a hundred thousand bits. "You think he sold any lamps at these prices?? I know I did quality work, but come on!"

"You missed your opportunity to create a pony made entirely out of money and say what do you think these ponies are, made out of money?" I said with a giggle. 

Discord pointed at me. "See! Reta here gets it! Probably because she isn't as old."

Scootaloo stomped a hoof. "I'm not old! I'm not even close to thirty yet!"

"And my name isn't Reta!" I protested. 

Discord turned and stared at me. "Are you sure about that?"

I backed up a step or two. "Um...pretty sure. It is my name. I should know it."

"Hmmm, I heard a pretty and a should. Those aren't absolutes. I think you should refrain from inserting your opinion as fact as if my opinion doesn't hold as much value as yours. It's rude," Discord scoffed.

My jaw worked as I tried to manage a reply. 

"Hey! What about the lamp!" Sunflower shouted in horror. "I needed that lamp to trade for the book. I don't want to get stuck with this pillow, and most of my money gone for nothing!"

"Oh, fine," Discord said with resignation. He snapped his fingers, and the lamp the bore his likeness appeared once again in front of Sunflower. "At least someone appreciates my grinning face."

Sunflower grabbed the lamp, put it on her back, held in place by her wings and the pillow, and scampered off without a word. I was unsure if it was the eagerness to get the book or the desire to rid herself of the pillow that drove her legs faster.

"What kind of game were you playing, Discord?" Scootaloo demanded, still sounding and looking like she wanted Discord gone. 

Discord looked up at the sky, twirling his hand. "Oh, I whispered a few suggestions to ponies about what they should seek in trade. Nothing dear Lulu would get mad about. Ponies can be so open to suggestions with just a whisper. Most of these ponies don't know what they want and grasp onto the first suggestion they hear. It was all in good fun."

"Fun?" I asked, confused at how this game worked. 

"Yes, fun," Discord asserted. "It was fun watching my dear pal, Scootaloo, run all around trying to trade for one thing after another. It was fun watching our friend who just exited without a word—very rude, by the way, not even saying thank you or goodbye— get flustered about a pillow. It was fun watching you get up close and personal with a manticore—you know, I think he's single, and I heard you were open to dating outside your species. But anyway, no pony got hurt, and I got some laughs."

Scootaloo stared at him for a moment, then turned, shaking her head. "I'm not dealing with you right now, Discord. I need to get that music before that vendor goes away. Thanks for the help, Rebecca. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip."

"Hope your friend enjoys it. Thanks again for saving me from being a manticore bedtime toy," I replied. 

"Anytime. See you if you ever pass through Equestria again," Scootaloo said. She then hurried off on her errand. 

Discord sighed. "Nopony wants to hang out with the Lord of Chaos?? I'm the most entertaining thing anywhere!"

"Seems like you lost your mojo," I observed.

"My mojo?" Discord said, incredulous. He then spun and had an Austin Powers getup on. "I've got plenty of mojo, baby. Hwwarr!"

I looked at him in confusion, and he frowned at me. "What? Are you too young to get the reference? Kids don't appreciate the classics!" 

I shook my head. "Oh, I get it. I'm good friends with Yinyu Wu Yan, and if there is any sexual reference, I've probably heard or seen it. What I'm confused about is how do you even know that reference?"

He went back to his normal appearance. "I'm Discord. I know a lot of things, such as you have some fascinating dreams. I loved the hedgehog decor. You're a pony I could have a good time with."

"How do you know about my dreams? Shouldn't Luna have stopped you?" I asked. 

He changed outfits again And was now wearing a SWAT team uniform. "Luna is less of an authoritarian about dreams and things than your Dreamwardens. Not a drop of humor among them. Yinyu used to be fun, but since she died, she's been such a stiff."

He got close to me and grinned. "They need some new blood. What kind of new blood might they be getting? Someone fun, I hope. Playing whack-a-Discord with them has some charm, but it can get old after a while."

I gave him an edgy look. "I'm not sure there is any evidence that you can be trusted and plenty that you can't."

He gave a big bow. "The Dreamwardens would say that. They're agents of order, cold, brutal, unforgiving, boring order. I'm an agent of chaos, and without me, there is no creativity. Isn't creativity your thing?"

"Creativity being dependent on you sounds a little far-fetched," I countered. "I do value creativity, and guess what? You weren't on Earth at any point to make it. I guess I'm just as powerful as the Lord of Chaos! Behold, the power of the marshmallow!"

Discord didn't seem impressed. "I can turn you into a marshmallow. All it would take is one snap."

"Then you'd be out the hope of a Dreamwarden that liked you enough not to whack you and might advocate for others to let you be free to wander the dream realm," I smugly reminded him.

He rubbed his chin. "That is a good point." His eyes went wide with shock. "Wait… you'd do that?"

"Well, if you didn't break the rules," I said thoughtfully. "I know that can be tough for you, but you seem to manage to hold to some over here."

His tongue stuck out in disgust. "Oh, very well. There's plenty of room to bend them, as dear semi-departed Sha'am proved. By the way, how is she doing now that she's a he and considerably less wrinkly? Any less of a party-pooper? She always loved foals, so being one should have improved her mood. Even if her memories are all locked away."

I blinked. "Are you confirming Sha'am is now Moses? How do you know for sure?"

He grinned. "I'm not confirming or denying anything, but the Narrative and I have a good relationship, and we have places other than your dream realm in which to talk, so I hear some things—and give little suggestions."

That sounded like confirmation to me. He had also said that Sha'am's memories were locked away; he didn't say they were gone. Her soul and memories were there, carried over to another life. I didn't know if it would be a good idea to unlock those memories, but it still meant this was a second chance at life for Sha'am. In a sense, Sha'am was still asleep and dreaming. How would Miss Seapony, Arbiter, and Ghadab react to that confirmation? The eternal dream had always been something that terrified the Dreamwardens, but if it wasn't so endless as they supposed, then maybe they'd more eagerly embrace going into it. They'd probably want to find out more about Moses and precisely what was locked away in him first, and if he still had knowledge of what he experienced in the eternal dream, but there was hope. 

There were still some confusing aspects to Moses. How did the doll work, and what did it mean? What had occurred to make his seemingly undead guardian back when he was living in that war zone? Was Sha'am's spirit not solely confined to him? Was she reaching out from the subconscious and taking action? What did that mean for Moses's powers? There had been a dead person defending him before; there was a word for someone who reanimated the dead; what was it?

It came to me—necromancer. If Moses really had reanimated a body, even subconsciously, then that meant he had the power of necromancy. According to everything I had ever heard, necromancy was dark magic, and that made it inherently evil. Did that make him evil by extension? I didn't think so; Moses was just a lonely kid. He was scared of his own magic and the impact it had on others. He didn't actively choose to do anything. 

"You know, you don't seem suitably impressed by me," Discord complained. 

I blinked and looked up at him. "Oh, you're very impressive. I'm just comfortable dealing with strange people. I want to be an advocate for the people that get treated like weirdos and outsiders. You get treated that way, which is why I want to advocate for you—if you avoid breaking the dream realm rules. It's also why I want to support Moses, who is way scarier than you if everything suspected about him and his powers turns out to be true. Unless one of you is trying to hurt people, I don't see a reason to be afraid of you."

"Hurt people? I would never! Dead things are about as dull as it gets!" Discord exclaimed in disgust. "I mean, you can try to have fun with a dead body, but taxidermy and zombies lose their luster so fast. Anyway, if I can't get a rise out of you, there is no shortage of Earthlings wandering around the area who will be perfectly willing to gasp at my brilliance… just as long as I avoid the ones near that one green pony with more magic than any earth pony has a right to. Would you believe she bucked me in the face?! Me, Discord, and it hurt! I don't remember the last time anyone managed to make me feel pain!"

That seemed an odd thing for Wild Growth to do. "What did you do right before she did that?"

He spread his arms wide. "I just offered to unblock her magic. I mean, it has to be causing her a lot of pain. Who wants to see someone suffer in pain? Pain isn't any fun. I was being helpful, and it is only a bonus that the result would certainly get a rise out of everyone and cause some chaos. And for my entirely good, completely benevolent,  and completely unselfish offer, I get bucked in the face! There's no justice."

I honestly couldn't think of a good reason why Wild Growth would do that. However, he did mention that it could cause chaos. I wasn't sure how her getting her magic back would do that, but I knew that causing chaos wasn't something she would approve of. The only thing I knew for sure was I didn't know the full details, and there was probably some vital detail I was missing.

"Maybe you can ask her why she did it?" I suggested. 

"And risk her hooves colliding with my face again? No, thank you!" Discord scoffed. "I think I'm going to go play with your human friends. If any of them get the big job, this might be my only chance to pull some tricks on me before they inevitably use me for a pinata in your dream realm. I can already tell them, in addition to that stallion, are all cut from the same cloth as your current sourpusses. That other pegasus at least gets flustered. Anyway, I'm missing fun opportunities at the moment. Ciao!"

He snapped his fingers and vanished, leaving me blinking at his abrupt departure. Should I warn the others? I thought about it for a second and then decided not to. Let Discord have his fun, and let me hear the stories about it later. It would give us something to talk about later. 

Now, where to find some more snacks? Chubby pony needs her lunch!