Deep within a secret location, Discord and his gang brooded.
“Well that didn’t work.” Carrot Top grumbled.
“Shut up, Carrot Top.” Discord grumbled. “I’m trying to think.”
“You…” Luna raised an eyebrow. “Thinking? That would be a first.” She chuckled when he sent her a glare.
“Why are we in Twiblight’s library anyway?” Trixie said, spitting out the name in pure disgust. “This place is hardly inconspicuous.”
“Well, I promised the Dart I’d have his place done over.” Discord grumbled, tapping his fingers on his chin. “I’m a spirit of my word.”
“But why Twilight’s house?” Luna asked. “She is one of the Elements of Harmony, not to mention the leader of said group.”
“Yeah, but how is she supposed to stop me, with Pinkie Pie on our side.” Discord motioned over to where Pinkie was gulping down a gallon of chocolate milk. Quizzler and Surprise were urging her on. ‘Go, Go, Go.’ “And to answer your second question, we needed a place no one would ever suspect.”
“In the middle of Ponyville?” The Master asked.
“Exactly.” Discord said. “We’re hiding in plain sight. Everyone will assume we’re librarians.”
“Oh come now,” Trixie said. “We’re not that boring.”
“By the way Trixie,” Discord said, eyeing her. “You’re costume needs a little work.”
“What?” Trixie’s eyes widened a bit.
“I don’t like to criticize but it looks like your mother made it for you.” Discord said.
“She did.” Trixie told him.
“Oh,” Discord scratched the back of his head. “Good for you.” He turned to the others. “Now, let me call this Council of Doom to order.”
“Council of Doom?” The Master scoffed. “I had better names for my secret societies.”
“It’s a working title.” Discord growled.
“Title, smitle.” Gilda chimed.
“Bitle, fitle.” Pinkie put in, before giggling. “This is fun.”
“Look, will you all stop acting like children and help me figure out a new plan.” Discord snapped.
“But we’re little ponies,” Sweetie Bell said. “We can’t help it.”
“Sweetie Bell,” Apple Bloom said. “He wasn’t talkin’ about us.”
“Oh,” Sweetie Bell realizing her mistake.
“The first issue we’ll address is what happened to our last plan.” Discord said. “It was a total and utter sham and that’s a word I don’t often use.” He scratched his chin. “Sham, shammity sham sham.”
“Well, I think…” Blueblood started.
“Sham.” Discord interrupted him.
“Are you finished?” Quizzler asked.
“Perhaps.” Discord responded.
“I think it failed because Celestia has the whole palace booby-trapped.” Screwball stated. “And now with her new pie cannon, we can’t even get closed to it.”
“Did she now?” Discord asked. “Then why didn’t you bring this up at the last meeting?”
“Well, you left me alone in the middle of the city to fend for myself.” Screwball glared at him.
Discord gulped and nervously looked around. “Oh, right.” He said.
“Didn’t you know about the booby traps?” Luna asked. “You were all over the palace the first time you got out. Didn’t you plan for how to deal with them?”
“Well,” Discord scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”
“No,” Trixie complained. “You just thought up to where everyone’s in charge and you were king of the whole world.”
“Yes.” Discord pointed a finger at her.
“Well you can’t just do that, Discord.” The Master tried to explain. “You have to plan these things out. You have to have a strategy, for Celestia’s sake.”
“Yeah, but that takes hard work.” Discord whined. “Hard work that we do not have.”
“I declare this, sucking.” Gilda said. Everyone nodded along and started trotting off.
“Wait!” Discord called after them. “Do you dare leave now in your moment of victory?”
Surprise and Pinkie Pie smiled up at him, standing by his side. “We would never leave you, Discord.” They said in unison.
Discord looked rather creeped out by them. “I know that.” He pushed them away. “We just need a plan.”
“Well, I say we go with my plan.” The Master said, smiling. “I’ve been concocting quite the doozy over the years.”
“I’m liking it already.” Quizzler nodded his head.
“Nah, it seems unnecessary.” Discord waved his hand about, as if to dispel the idea.
“Oh, right.” The Master retorted. “Let’s just diss the Time Lord’s plan. It’s not like he fought in ‘The Great War’.” He eyed Discord. “Unlike some people who cowered in their precious castle, while we spilt our blood, only to have him back stab us.”
Discord smiled sheepishly. “Well, you know me.” He said. “I never had the gall to kill anyone.”
“Except Uncle Havoc.” Luna growled. Her left eye twitched a bit.
“He deserved it.” Discord shot at her.
“I say we cut her off from the fashion world.” Photo Finish said.
“Nah,” Discord shook his head. “Celestia doesn’t wear clothes.”
“I say we take Canterlot,” Pinkie said, gesturing with her hooves. “And push it somewhere else.”
“Nah,” Discord said. “They’d see that coming.” Pinkie’s head sagged in defeat.
“Well, how about a giant legion of spiders?” Dr. Smith suggested.
“I already told you,” Discord pinched the bridge of his nose. “No spiders.”
Dr. Smith sighed sadly. “Why doesn’t anyone like the plan about spiders?”
“Because a giant legion of spiders is stupid.” Silver Spoon scoffed. “Only a blank flank would think that up.”
Dr. Smith glared at her. “When we finally agree on the giant legion of spiders, you’ll be the first to go.” Silver Spoon gulped and started to sweat.
“Hey,” Surprise spoke up, popping up beside Blueblood. “Why don’t we use the prince here as a battering ram.”
“Hey!” Blueblood glared at her. She smirked.
“Nah, his head is too soft.” Discord shook his head.
“Hey!” The Prince said.
“Hey guys,” Carrot Top got up in front of them. “I have an idea. This might seem like a shot in the dark, but what if we just used weapons.”
“Nah, nah” Discord waved her off. “It’s a terrible idea.” Carrot Top groaned in frustration. Suddenly, a light bulb appeared over his head and turned on. “Wait! I have an idea.”
“Gee, does it involve using wea…” Carrot Top started.
“It involves using weapons.” Discord said, triumphantly.
Just then, Surprise flew over his head and grabbed the bulb. She went over to the ceiling and unscrewed the previous one and put in the new bulb. The room seemed to get brighter.
Meanwhile, Carrot Top rolled her eyes. “Yeah.”
Discord rubbed his hands together and chuckled menacingly. “Yes, my plan is going accordingly.”
Just then, the door opened up to reveal two young unicorns. “Muffins.” Ditzy cried happily, flying right into them.
“Mom.” Sparkler and Dinky said laughing as their mother gave them both a fierce hug.
“Oh, mommy missed you both so much.” Ditzy said, shedding a couple of tears.
“You were only gone for a few hours.” Sparkler said.
“But it felt like an eternity since I saw your cute little cheeks.” Ditzy squeezed both of Sparkler’s cheeks in her hooves.
“Mom.” Sparkler cried out. She blushed slightly. “You’re embarrassing me.”
Ditzy ignored her and turned her attention to Twilight, who had her hooves full, carrying all the bags she carried. They were quite large and the unicorn obviously couldn’t see anything in front of her. “Thank you so much, miss Sparkle. I’m glad you could look after them on such short notice.”
“There’s no need to thank me.” Twilight said. “I would have done it for anypony.”
“Anypony?” Discord asked. “Seems rather limited, don’t you think?”
“Oh no,” Twilight started correcting herself. “I would have been glad to help non-pony citizens…Wait!” She put down the items she was carrying. Her jaw dropped, looking like it was going to fall of its hinges.
“Wow, she’s speechless.” Discord smirked.
“I prefer her that way.” Trixie giggled.
“Discord,” Twilight growled, regaining her composure. “How did you escape? Why are you in my library? Why are you all in my library and Pinkie…” She turned to her friend. “Why are you helping him?”
“Well duh,” Pinkie answered. “He asked me too.”
“But he’s the spirit of Chaos.” Twilight tried to explain to her friend. “He’s evil.”
“Why does everyone say that?” Discord pouted.
“Because you are evil.” Twilight said, throwing her hooves up in the air in frustration. “You’re trying to take over Equestria and force your own chaotic ways on everyone. To top it off, you tried to destroy our friendship.”
“He said he was sorry.” Pinkie tried to explain.
“Sorry?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Sorry doesn’t cut it. He’s a monster. A giant, destructive, unfeeling monster.” She glared at the spirit. “And I’m going to march right over to Canterlot, get the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses, bring them back over here and…”
Discord wasn’t paying her the least bit of attention. He just found her rather annoying and dull. So, he snapped his fingers and in an instant, Twilight was wearing a show girl’s outfit. The music of ‘The Can Can’, started playing and Twilight couldn’t help but dance to it. Quite of few of the council started laughing at her, while she glared at Discord. She started dancing all the way out the door, before it shut behind her.
Discord tried to hold in his laughter, but when he heard her scream ‘DISCORD!’ he couldn’t’. He fell to the floor, clutching his sides.
“Oh, you must teach me that trick.” Trixie said.
“Later,” Discord answered, in between laughs.
_________________________________________________
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Applejack, Caramel, and Big Macintosh were busy pulling along a few carts full of apples. “Whoo-whee, we certainly got a big load this time around, aint we Big Macintosh.”
“I reckon you’re right, little sis.” Big Macintosh said. “All the better with those new ponies in town. They sure got an appetite.”
Applejack chuckled. “They sure do.”
Just then, the trio could hear ‘The Can Can’ music playing. The farmers then spied Twilight, of all ponies, dancing on by, wearing a show girl’s outfit. She had a bored expression on her face. “Don’t ask.” She said, before dancing off into the distance.
Applejack’s mouth was slack-jawed. Big Macintosh just raised an eyebrow, not really surprised by it. He then turned to Caramel, who was blushing heavily. Big Mac waved his hoof in front of his face, but he didn’t budge. So, he wacked him upside the head. “Ow,” Caramel said, rubbing his head. “What was that for?”
“Ya zoned out after Miss Sparkle danced over here in a fancy dress.”
“Oh,” Caramel chuckled nervously. “I did, didn’t I?”
_____________________________________________________
All of the participants had gone off to gather weapons and supplies. Quizzler rubbed a cloth along his cane, making sure to clean every single spot of his treasured item. The cane need his time and patience. After he was finished, he looked into the gem on the top. He couldn’t help but get lost inside it. Little memories played out on the surface. He stood and watched them, like they were a movie. He smiled as a familiar unicorn came into view.
“Hey, Quizzy.” Surprise flew down beside him. “Cleaning that old staff of yours again.”
Quizzler sent her a glare. He pulled the cane to his side. “You know as well as anyone that this isn’t some old staff.” He shot at her.
Surprise looked away, sheepishly. “Sorry,” She said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Quizzler sighed. “And I didn’t mean to snap at you. Why did you come anyway?”
Surprise smiled brightly. “I wanted to show you my weapons.” She pulled out a pair of colored pipes, seemingly out of thin air. “Confetti shooters.”
“Impressive.” Quizzler nodded.
“Neato.” Pinkie Pie said, jumping out from behind him. Most ponies would have been startled by her sudden appearance, but they were family, so he was used to it. He even pulled stunts like that occasionally.
“What did you get?” Surprise asked.
“Oh, I never I never storm a castle without my,” Pinkie pulled to her side a small cannon. “Without my party cannon.” She fired, which sent a stream of materials into the distance.
It nearly missed Blueblood, who had to duck to avoid it, and fell on a table that Upper Crust and Jet Set were sitting at. Instead of the usual festive stuff that Pinkie Pie usually carried, it was a lit candle and a nice, romantic set up.
Upper Crust just smiled. “Oh, this reminds me of that time we vacationed in Prance.”
“Ah, yes.” Jet Set nodded his head. “We had such a nice time there.”
“When this is all over,” Upper Crust started. “I think I’d enjoy another visit.”
“Anything for you, my dear.” Jet Set said, before leaning over and kissing his wife.
Surprise and Pinkie Pie covered their eyes and giggled. Quizzler chuckled along. He gently shook his head. “You two are just so immature.”
Pinkie Pie took her hooves off from her face. “Immature!” She glared at him. “I’ll have you know I took care of two foals all by myself.”
“Wow.” Quizzler said, with no enthusiasm. “Impressive.”
“Well, I’ll show you I’m mature.” Surprise said, raising her confetti blasters. “I’ll take on the whole castle by myself.” She then fired off her blasters. What she didn’t realize was that one of them was facing towards Blueblood. The confetti hit him full on, throwing him to the ground. “Oops.” Surprise giggled.
“You did that on purpose.” Blueblood seethed.
“No I didn’t.” Surprise said. “But it was funny.”
“You’ll pay for this.” The Prince threatened. He got back on his hooves.
“You already made me pay, you brat.” Surprise advanced on him, until she was in his face. Her wings flared out in anger, as she tried to stand up big and tall. This fell short as the prince was larger than her.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“NO IDEA!” She screamed, hitting him across the snout. “You ruined the gala for me. My first ever gala.”
“Oh, right.” Blueblood rolled his eyes. “I ruined your gala. If I recall, you were the one who couldn’t behave like a civilized pony.”
“Neither did you.” Tears started forming at the sides of her eyes. She flew off without another word.
Blueblood snorted and walked off. “Mares.”
Quizzler, meanwhile, was gripping his cane tightly with this magic. He had a fierce scowl, as he watched the prince upset his cousin. Pinkie Pie simply put a hoof to his shoulder to stop him from jumping Blueblood. He looked to her and she shook her head.
Meanwhile, Screwball was flying through the air, giggling like mad. Discord had finally given her the power of flight again. She loved flying. Her little sis was just staring up at her, in shock and awe. “Hey,” Silver Spoon said. “How does she do that?”
“I have no idea.” Diamond Tiara said, before a small smiled creeped up on her face. “But I’m glad she’s enjoying it.” Screwball then flew down and grabbed her. “HEY! Let me go!”
“No.” Screwball laughed at her sister’s expense. “You’re going to enjoy this.”
Scootaloo just watched Screwball fly by. She stuck a hoof in the air and shook it at them. “That’s not fair.”
“Oh, don’t worry Scootaloo.” Sweetie Bell said. “You’ll get the hang of flying someday.”
“’Someday’ is way too long.” Scootaloo crossed her front hooves. “Rainbow Dash can’t teach a poor flyer.”
The green dragon ‘Bob’ grumbled. The red dragon ‘Traxoric’ nodded. “Bob is right.” Traxoric said, to which the green dragon growled deeply at the name. “You’re just too young for that kind of flying.”
“But I want to fly now.” Scootaloo said.
“Stop whinin’.” Apple Bloom said.
“I’m not whining,” Scootaloo said. “I’m complaining. There’s a difference.”
“No there isn’t.”
“Yes there is.”
“Hey,” Traxoric put one of his large hands in between them. “Friends don’t fight.”
“He has a point, you know.” Sweetie Bell said.
Bob grumbled. “Do you think they can handle it?” Traxoric asked his fellow dragon. Bob nodded. “Alright.”
“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, Bob here has suggested that I teach you a few draconic words of power.” Traxoric explained.
“Really?” The three fillies said in unison.
“Yes.” Traxoric nodded.
“Then what are they?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Fur ro dah.” Traxoric said. “It means ‘Force balance push’.”
“Oh, please.” Luna said, walking up between the two dragons. “You can’t honestly teach these foals that shout.”
“Can’t eye?” Traxoric raised a scaly eyebrow. “Well, let’s see about that.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders mumbled over the words under their breath before they turned to the three greater entities. They all took a deep breath. “FUS RO DAH!”
The scream pushed both dragons back, toppling over. Princess Luna was caught off guard by the sheer force, but was able to counter it with a few quick flaps of her wings. “Well,” the Princess was speechless. “That was certainly…interesting.”
“Pfft.” Dr. Smith rolled his eyes. “Dragon shouts are no match for a legion of ‘Spiders’.”
“Really?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Oh yes.” Dr. Smith nodded. “And I can teach you how to control your own legion of ‘spiders’.”
“That would be awesome.” Scootaloo said, pumping a hoof in the air. “We could be…”
“CUTIE MARK SPIDER LEGIONAIRS! YAY!”
Off a ways behind them, Trixie held her hooves over her ears. “Will they be quiet? Trixie is trying to concentrate.”
“You’re speaking in third person again.” Carrot Top pointed out.
“Trixie is practicing for her performance during the attack.” Trixie stuck her nose up into the air. “Trixie must be ready, or Equestria might not see how great and powerful Trixie is.” Carrot Top rolled her eyes.
Just then, Snips and Snail brought over another soda. “Your drink.” Snails said.
Trixie levitated it over to her and took a sip. “It’s fine,” Trixie said. “But Trixie has tasted better. Now, leave Trixie’s sight, before Trixie decides to turn you both into newts.” The two colts scurried away.
“You know, you’re being a little hard on them.” Carrot Top said.
“They ruined my image.” Trixie said, laying off her third person talk. “How am I supposed to live my life now that they ruined it…Darn it. It takes me forever to get back into that habit.” She scolded herself for talking in first person.
___________________________________________________
Luna stood in the library, staring off at the stars. She had just gotten back from the main group and was smiling. The others were so fun to hang around with and it sure beat the loneliness that came with her title. This group didn’t treat her like a princess. They treated her like another pony. ‘So did my sister.’ A twinge of guilt went through her. She was helping her arch enemy, Discord, defeat her own sister. She hated the thought, but she couldn’t live with the alternative. Discord knew too much.
“Star gazing, as usual I see.” Said spirit said behind her.
Luna sighed. “What do you want, Discord?”
“Oh, just checking up on my second favorite princess.” Discord said. He looked up at the stars and smiled. “You did excellent. Though, I would like to make a few suggestions.”
“Not interested.” Luna turned away, unwilling to converse with him. “Why did you really come here?”
Discord fiddled with his fingers. “Well, as you know, your sister is probably the most powerful being on the planet…Beside me of course.” He added in. “And, I was wondering if you could, you know, summon her.”
“Summon her!” Luna immediately turned around, glaring at him. ‘Did he just ask me to do that?’
“It would be just for this one time.” Discord said. “After this, you can go back to being normal.”
“Normal!” Luna raised her voice. “There is no normal. Not for me. Not for thousands of years. Oh, how I wish it could be so.”
“All you need is to let her free,” Discord offered. “And then once you have her under control.”
“Under control.” Luna laughed. “You obviously haven’t met Nightmare Moon.”
“Oh, come now.” Discord said. “She seems like a nice enough pony.”
“Oh, if only you knew.” Luna said. “You didn’t live during those dark days. There was only fire, hatred, and death. Nightmare Moon loved it like that.”
“Oh, so she’s like Uncle Havoc then.” Discord growled.
Luna nodded. “Yes,” She lowered her head, before lifting it up and glaring at him. “Don’t you ever bring him up again. I loved my Uncle.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Luna, I thought you’d let that go.” He said. “It’s been so long…”
Just then, Discord was sent hurdling into the wall by a wave of magic. He was held there, as though he was stuck. “Uncle was the only one who understood. The only one who knew what I was going through. And don’t you dare try to force me back. I won’t be used again.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Discord said, through closed eyes. A small pain coursed through his body.
Luna had cast a spell, a small one, but a painful spell none the less. She let him go. He tumbled to the ground. “I will not give in to the madness. Never again.”
The spirit of chaos got up and brushed himself off. “Sometimes, we all have to give in to the madness.” He then snapped his fingers and vanished.
Luna stood there, thinking over his words. ‘No. I can’t let her use me again. I hate her. She ruined me.’ She kept telling herself.