Night fell on the peaceful city of Canterlot once again as Luna raised the Moon over the skies above. As she looked over at the sleeping city, very grateful to be free of her past as Nightmare Moon, Luna retired to her quarters. As she made her way to her room, she passed by Princess Celestia, frantically reading a letter sent to her by Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh no. Oh no no no no no no!" Celestia muttered to herself, scrolling from top to bottom seeing if a mistake was made.
"Sister? Is everything alright?" Luna asked. She never saw Celestia this terrified. Even when she was turned into Nightmare Moon, she wasn't this scared.
"Quite the opposite, Sister. If what I understand is correct, we have more to worry about than the Sith Lord Darth Maul," Celestia explained as Luna took a look at the letter herself.
"What are you talking about Sister?" Luna asked as she scrolled through it.
"Twilight believes that Discord is planning a return. And even Maul is worried about it," Celestia explained as Luna's eyes bulged out of their sockets reading the scroll.
"What? But how...? Even if Maul is planning to oppose Discord himself, we can't possibly hope to face them both at the same time. We're gonna need some old friends, Sister," Luna said, handing the scroll back over to Celestia. Celestia glanced once more at Luna and sighed.
"I have no choice but to agree, Luna," Celestia said as she pulled out some parchment and a pen and began writing a letter.
"You're writing to them, aren't you? The Pheonix?" Luna asked as Celestia sighed and continued writing.
"She helped us face off against the forces of Darth Strayn once before years ago. I have no doubt she'll gladly help our little Equestria once again," Celestia said as she finished writing her letter and sent it far off, into the stars and fading into nothing. Celestia sighed as she hoped the letter would reach their old ally.
Meanwhile, outside of the palace walls, in the garden labyrinth, the statue at the center began to crack and later animate. And in a big puff of ceramic dust, Discord had broken free. The Draconeques let out a big yawn and cracked his spine, hips, and limbs.
"Guess a thousand years would give you such a crick in the neck after all. Mr. Williams, you ain't lying," Discord muttered to himself as he continued stretching.
"You're out earlier than expected," A familiar voice called out. Discord's ears perked up as he looked around. He thought he was alone in the Labyrinth. He was supposed to be alone, at least. Then he turned around and found...Discord.
"Hello, Discord," The Other Discord introduced as Discord reoriented himself.
"My my. Twice the Discords, twice the fun," Discord said as he pondered the chaos the two of him could cause. The Other Discord pondered the idea with such delight before refocusing himself.
"As much as I'd love for that to be the case, you have...a bit of a problem. Your world's script has been tampered with!" Other Discord said as Discord scoffed at his variant's claim.
"Bah, the script! Who needs it when you can improvise?" Discord asked as Other Discord was more concerned about the situation.
"There's...another villain in this world. One who shouldn't be here. He's already captured Nightmare Moon and caused so much underground chaos, that I'm starting to think it set you free earlier than anticipated. And, forgive me for saying this, but I think his chaos would not mix well with yours," Other Discord explained as Discord's expression shifted from excitement to confusion.
"Wait. Someone who isn't supposed to be here? Wouldn't that make...I take it you have made a designation for this new universe?" Discord asked as Other Discord checked his notes.
"Until further notice, we have designated your universe as Equestria-501. And on behalf of all of your variants across the Multiverse, I ask that you take out this other villain before you begin your reign of chaos. If you don't take this guy as seriously as we do, we legitimately fear the worst," Other Discord warned as Discord scoffed.
"Or it could just be that I'm talking to the Scaredy-Cat Discord," Discord mocked as Other Discord flashed a glare of annoyance at his variant.
"If you keep talking like that, then none of us are going to help you take him down," Other Discord warned.
"I think I can take down one rogue competitor myself," Discord replied. Other Discord sighed a sigh of defeat and turned one last time to the clipboard he carried with him.
"If you insist, then you're on your own. Don't say I didn't warn you," Other Discord said, before snapping his fingers and returning to his home universe, leaving Discord of Equestria-501 by himself to find the villain.
Within the murky swamps of the Spirit Realm of the Dark Side, Maul and Strayn watched Discord's release through a viewport in the Force. Maul stroked his chin and pondered what he had learned from Discord's conversation with his variant.
"Equestria...501? Fascinating," Maul said as Strayn looked back at his new student.
"Indeed. Learn anything new from this?" Strayn asked, testing the Sith Lord.
"They mentioned...a script. Even for an entity of chaos, they followed a script. If I had not shown up and made Equestria-501, then what exactly was it Discord was supposed to do?" Maul asked as Strayn pondered Maul's query.
"Now that's a very good question, my friend. You're gonna need to tune in to the Dark Side and your elements to really see what's going on. Find the scripted timeline they mentioned, and learn how the series of events was supposed to go. Maybe we can use it to our advantage. And maybe we can change things up. The perks of building your own universe. One step at a time," Strayn instructed as Maul listened intently to his instruction. But Maul had to hurry, as Discord's freedom also meant that he didn't have a lot of time.