“But I don’t understand? Why would Discord do any of this?” Spike asked Starlight.
“It’s not our Discord who’s doing it, Spike,” Starlight replied, still staring up at the sky.
“Huh?” Spike tilted his head.
Starlight continued looking up at the sky, but when nothing happened she clicked her tongue, sat down, and defiantly folded her hooves. “Well joke’s on you because I’m not moving from this spot until you answer. I’m not giving you anymore entertainment. The show’s over, I know you’re behind this and I bet you’ve been laughing your head off the whole time Spike and I have been here. But it’s over now. Neither of us are indulging you anymore. So come on down and talk to me because that’s it.”
Clouds continued to drift by, the two of them heard a pair of birds tweeting, the courtyard and the castle remained nice and quiet while a breeze came through. Spike looked around to see if anything was happening, while Starlight kept to her proclamation and didn’t move an inch.
“Oh you’re no fun...”
Both Starlight and Spike’s eyes widened but before anything else could happen, Starlight felt the world spin around her and everything went black for a moment. The next instant she landed on her flank with a thud—right onto a wooden floor.
“What the?” Starlight stood up and looked around, her vision swimming as a sense of dizziness left her head. She had to blink a couple of times and rub her head before her vision returned to normal, finally seeing where she was.
She was in some kind of theater, with rows of seats descending in front of her all facing a large screen. Behind the seats, right next to her, was a projector running with a mechanical whine, a picture flickering on the screen at the front of the theater. Starlight stared in confusion at it for a moment—not quite understanding what she was seeing. It looked like a picture, static, of where she had just been sitting in one of the castle’s courtyards. With a small purple dragon facing the screen.
“Spike?” Starlight said.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it on pause while you’re here talking.”
Starlight swung around at the source of the voice.
A Draconequus was standing by the projector, lion’s paw resting on it while a smirk graced his face.
“Pleasure to meet you,” he said.
“I guess I can say the same—since it means I’ve gotten to the bottom of this,” Starlight said.
“And bravo on that, I figured you’d be stuck for weeks before I finally got bored and brought you here myself,” he clapped for her.
Starlight frowned. “So you are Discord, aren’t you? This world’s Discord?”
“That’s right,” Discord smiled and took a bow. “The not one and only. But I’m no illusion or trick, it’s not like I’m the first alternate Discord you’ve seen or heard about anyways.”
“True...” Starlight continued to frown suspiciously at him, she didn’t exactly know how friendly he was.
“Upset? I still brought you here so things could be resolved. I even changed you back to normal,” Discord pointed at her.
Starlight blinked and looked to her sides—her unwelcome wings missing. She felt around for just a moment to make sure she had turned back to her normal size too. He was telling the truth, she wasn’t an Alicorn anymore. “Thanks, but that was your fault I was an Alicorn in the first place wasn’t it?”
He shrugged. “This time. Not the first time though. Even I was surprised when that happened. Which is why I let things continue on like this—I normally don’t get surprised or see unexpected things happen. Whenever they do I treasure them.”
“What do you mean?” Starlight asked but then shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him—a far more pressing concern coming to mind. “Forget that—where’s our Discord? And where’s the Princess Starlight from this world?”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Just as I said, you’re absolutely no fun at all.”
He snapped his fingers and two glowing pink balls of magic appeared behind him at the back of the theater. Starlight gasped as she saw what they contained. One ball, no bigger than a bowling ball, contained Spike’s bag and her Discord—still in flute form—floating inside it and still in stasis. The other contained a more startling sight—herself, almost, herself—floating and curled up, fast asleep. The Princess's wings were wrapped tightly around her body in comfort.
Starlight immediately lit up her horn and faced off against this world’s Discord. “What did you do to them?”
“Calm down, they’re fine,” Discord said dismissively. “First of all you’re at least halfway responsible for this.”
Starlight continued to glare at him but slowly relaxed and let the magic from her horn die down. “Alright. Fine. If Discord and the Princess are okay then let me ask something else. What is going on in this world. What did you do?”
An amused smirk came to Discord’s face. “I won.”
“You won?”
“This was a long time ago now—technically speaking,” Discord snapped his fingers and the projector started to show something different. “Take a look.”
Starlight turned around, now seeing another familiar image on the screen. That of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. They looked exactly like how she knew them in her world aside from the fact that Twilight was still a unicorn. “I… I don’t understand.”
“Originally this world was almost exactly like the world you came from. After you accidentally bounced in here the first time I did a little looking around and learned what I could about your home. Funny to think about how things ended up there,” he said and snapped his fingers again. The screen changed to show a chaotic scene—Ponyville in the throes of his power. Buildings were floating upside down, the ground had been turned into cookies, flowers were sprouting bubbles, clouds had become heads of lettuce, springboards and trampolines bounced around like they were alive, and more. “And this is what it looked like for many years after this world’s Elements of Harmony failed to stop me.”
Starlight’s jaw dropped. “They failed? It wasn’t that they were stopped from being formed like what I did—you’re telling me Twilight outright failed here?”
“Even I don’t know what the catalyst was for that change,” Discord shrugged. “But yes—I won, they failed to use the Elements against me, and I destroyed the Tree of Harmony right after too and brainwashed them all so they’d never get the chance again.” He rubbed his chin. “In hindsight I feel a little bad for it but this was thousands of years ago now so, eh, whatever.”
“Wait. What? Thousands of years? How?” Starlight asked.
“Well you see—after turning Equestria into a world of chaos for several years, I realized something,” Discord said.
“And that is?” Starlight pushed.
“Winning. Is. So. Boring,” Discord sighed and slumped. “I had absolutely no idea how bored I would get without any sensible ponies around to play with. By that point I had driven them all crazy either accidentally or on purpose. There was only me to appreciate the wackiness of the world, such a disappointment. But even worse than that—do you have any idea how frustrating it is when your own chaos becomes predictable?”
“Can’t say that I do.”
“Well that’s what happened. Years spent in a world like that only made me realize that nothing I could do could surprise me anymore. So what if things were chaotic if they weren’t fresh and interesting anymore? Sure something random would happen every now and then but I knew something random would happen so it wasn’t as fun! Ugh!” Discord twisted around the projector and looked at the screen with a dour expression. “I couldn’t stand living in that boring world of predictable chaos anymore. Or else I might go crazy too.”
“Might?”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Yes, very funny. Either way I had a bit of an epiphany. I realized I was wrong about chaos and how it was only the truly unexpected that could entertain me now. I realized how ponies just living their lives and a world moving on its own in a way I couldn’t predict was so much more chaotic than simply turning the streets into checkerboards.”
“So you changed the entire world somehow?” Starlight asked.
“I rewound the entire world,” Discord smirked.
“Oh. Time travel. Because that’s a good idea,” Starlight flatly frowned at him.
“Not exactly. I didn’t travel back through time personally, I just reversed time for the entire world back thousands of years. All the way back before Celestia and Luna, before the Tree of Harmony, before the Pillars, before anything like that. Made a few changes so things would progress differently, sat back, and watched it all unfold. I’ve found being a viewer of the world and pony civilization has been quite the show. It’s far better than if I was out there changing things myself—the Flower of Unity being made instead of the Tree of Harmony? Never saw it coming! Luna being the older sister? A gas! You becoming the Princess of Friendship? Remarkable! Not to mention all the other little changes that keep things fresh and interesting. I’ve been watching for thousands of years as this totally new world progresses, it’s been great,” Discord smiled and nodded.
“You’ve completely changed how this world should be… so many lives have been altered because of you,” Starlight said.
“True, but it’s not like this world is bad or anything. It’s still pretty much as happy and successful as the one you come from. In fact—things were going perfectly fine until you showed up. Also, would you want me to undo things again? Erase all these lives and memories? That would be quite horrible, wouldn’t it?” Discord smirked.
“No, I’m not asking you to do that. I’m just frustrated. For what I think should be obvious reasons,” Starlight glared at him.
“Fair,” Discord shrugged. “You really shouldn’t worry so much about it though. I’ve been a passive observer until you mucked things up here, I’m not contributing to the chaos messing up the space-time continuum anymore than you are.”
Starlight sighed and dragged a hoof down her face. “Okay, I get it, I know I messed up when I came to this world but… but why exactly did things happen differently here? You said you were surprised too.”
“The best I can guess is that because of how I fundamentally altered things—this world reacted differently when you accidentally came to it. I was here in the theater when it happened, watching Tirek prepare to confront Princess Starlight, when all of a sudden you and your dragon friend appear on my screen and Princess Starlight appears here next to me,” Discord said.
“That’s what happened?” Starlight’s eyes widened in shock.
“It’s like what your friend Sunburst said. You took her place and pinched Starlight Glimmer out of their world and into the only other place nearby. My world. I guess that world on the screen couldn’t handle two Princess Starlight’s existing at the same place and time. It was really a shock to me too, I tossed my popcorn in the air and fell over the back of my seat. However—before Princess Starlight realized what had happened I put her to sleep, she’s been in that stasis bubble ever since,” Discord hooked a thumb at it. “And then I got to watching what was going on with you. That was quite the thing you did, sealing up Tirek’s magic. It was so unexpected and led to such a change in the world that I figured it would be more fun to watch them try to figure things out on their own and fix it. That’s why I’ve kept Princess Starlight here.”
Starlight narrowed her eyes at him. “Were you ever going to release her? Their world was close to falling apart!”
“Hey now, that’s my world out there too and I’m quite fond of it. If things ever got so bad I’d throw the Princess back in it at the perfect moment to save things. I’m not heartless,” Discord said.
“But when Spike and I came back here you took our Discord away, didn’t you? You did that so we couldn’t solve things as quickly,” Starlight questioned.
“Guilty,” Discord shrugged. “I had been keeping an eye out for you or any others in case you came back to this world, I wanted to be prepared. When I felt your portal opening up I drew your Discord out of that world and right into here with me. But I suppose the fun’s over now, you really had to call me out, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did, because there just so happens to be some really important things going on right now,” Starlight said. “It’s not just my mission—it’s the fact that this world needs and deserves its Starlight Glimmer back too. I want you to send her back where she belongs. And I want you to promise that you’ll never interfere like this again just for your own amusement either. Let this world keep growing on its own and leave the ponies alone.”
Discord chuckled in amusement, his eyes glinting as he peered down at her. “And what exactly do you think you can do if I don’t promise that?”
“You still need to let me go so I can fix the space-time continuum. Afterwards, I can always ask my Discord to check out your world. And if something’s wrong? We have the Elements of Harmony on our side. And my friends have proven they can beat you,” Starlight threatened. “Be nice and just keep watching from behind the screen like you were doing from the start.”
“Hmmm...” Discord pulled at his little tuft of a beard and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “Well okay, that sounds fair!” He smirked and winked down at Starlight. “This was just a special occasion anyways, I solemnly promise to not harm or mess around with my world whatsoever from here on out. Like I said, I am rather fond of it after all.”
“Send her back right now then,” Starlight commanded, still not fully trusting of this Discord.
“Done,” he snapped his fingers and Princess Starlight disappeared, the bubble popping right after. “Things are still on pause out there though while you’re in here. I’m going to have her wake up in the Everfree Forest by the Flower of Unity. Seems like a fitting place.”
Starlight sighed in relief. “My Discord too?”
“Also done,” he snapped his fingers again and the Discord flute and bag flashed away. “Once we’re done talking I’ll send you back somewhere else so you can leave quietly without a fuss… hm, how about the field where you confronted Tirek the first time you came here? That should work. The three of you can then go to your next world. Also though—I’d prefer you not tell your Discord about me, I don’t want him getting any ideas about us becoming chummy. I quite enjoy my quiet life of amusement in my theater.”
“Fine, that’s easy enough,” Starlight said and rubbed her temples. “I feel like I’m getting a headache after all of this.”
“Sorry to cause you so much trouble but if I can moralize for a moment? I think it was important for you to see the outcome of your actions here,” Discord said.
“Yes. Thank you,” Starlight flatly replied.
Discord grinned. “I’ll be sending you back now. And good luck saving the world.” Right before he snapped his fingers though he stopped and blinked. “Oh that’s right—I figured I should tell you this just in case, but you should probably watch out with that Harlequin on your tail. Who knows what it’s up to.”
“Wait, you know-”
Before she could finish her sentence Discord snapped his fingers and Starlight’s vision started to rapidly spin. All the colors in the world cascaded around her and went in like a whirlpool. The next second her body felt drawn into it, she could feel every inch of her stretching and stretching until she felt thirty feet long and then—pow! She was let go and snapped back together to normal.
“Oof!” Starlight’s pupils spun about as she sat on the grassy field.
“Starlight? What just happened?” Spike asked her.
“Huh?” Starlight stopped herself and looked at Spike—then at the world around her. The two of them were in that familiar grassy field that Discord had mentioned, far away from Canterlot or Ponyville. “Oh. Okay then.”
“Uhhh...” Spike continued.
“Sorry, Spike. Had to go away for a moment but everything is taken care of now. We can leave and move on to the next world,” Starlight said.
“What about Discord?”
Starlight smirked as she pointed at Spike. “What about him?”
Spike looked at his side and nearly jumped in disbelief—his bag right back where it should be. “What the?”
“Wake Discord up, Spike. We’ve still got more work to do,” Starlight smiled.
“Well okay, but are you going to tell me what just happened with you? Does it have to do with this world’s Discord?” Spike asked.
“It does,” Starlight nodded. “But honestly with all the crazy stuff I just heard… I kind of only want to have to tell the story once, and it’s something Twilight is really going to want to hear. Also I promised not to tell our Discord about it. Either way—everything here is taken care of now. We’ve brought some much needed harmony back to this world. I’m going to miss the ponies here but I think it’s probably better for everyone if we left now.”
“We’re still on a timetable too...” Spike said as he reached into his bag and pulled out Discord. He was about to whistle to wake Discord up when he paused and looked up at Starlight with a questioning gaze. “Uh, Starlight? You do realize if we’re going in order that the next world we’re going to is hers, right?”
Starlight winced, immediately understanding who Spike was talking about. “Yes… I had kind of been trying to not think about that. But we have to go there, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Alright,” Spike shrugged and whistled lightly for Discord. “Discord? You wanna wake up? We’re ready to go to the next world.”
The Discord Flute shifted about as he became animated, stretching his arms and blinking his eyes like he was waking up from a long nap. “My… for some reason I feel like I was resting for much longer than I should have been. And I can’t shake the feeling that I was dreaming about something important.”
“Uhhh, must be your imagination,” Starlight said. “Can you open the portal for us? Next world could be a bit of a doozy so I want us to get there as soon as possible.”
“Very well, I’d like to finish this up as quickly as possible too. The sooner we save the world the sooner I can get back to tea with Fluttershy,” Discord said and snapped his fingers.
Another glowing blue portal opened up in the grassy field in front of them, waiting to be entered.
“And thank you for being gentle with waking me up this time,” Discord said and floated back into Spike’s bag to rest.
“Not exactly looking forward to this but… at least it can’t be as downright crazy as this world,” Starlight said.
“Let’s try not to jinx things,” Spike said.
“Good idea,” Starlight said. She reached her hoof out to Spike and the moment he grabbed it the two of them jumped into the portal together.