//------------------------------// // 36: Discord’s Wonderful World of Chaos! // Story: Static World // by Kendandra //------------------------------// Discord let the saxophone fall to the ground and it exploded into a pile of plums. The parade marched on without the strange creature until it vanished from view. He slithered around the six mares and Spike briefly before coming to rest behind them with a hearty laugh. Twilight Sparkle turned to face him and growled silently at the beast. Discord leaned down and smiled. His eyes ran across all of the ponies faces, noting the sour expression on each one. He flicked the snout of one angry pink pony. “Now don’t look so sour, Pinkie Pie! I thought you liked parties!” He turned to the white unicorn. “And Rarity, perhaps you didn’t notice, but those outfits during the parade were just your style. Yes it’s a fantastic celebration, mes petits poneys, I’m back in force! Party favors for all!” The draconequus snapped his fingers. With flashes of light, a peppermint stick appeared in Twilight’s mouth, Pinkie Pie was adorned with the silliest of hats, Rarity was suddenly standing next to a large diamond, and on either side of Applejack two beautiful mares appeared, hugging the orange pony suggestively. Applejack struggled against the mares that were hugging her and attempting to smother her with kisses. “Take these poor brainwashed mares away!” “Oh! You’re so boring, Applejack. What’s the matter? Don’t want to… oh, how did you put it back during the princess’s party? Oh right. What’s the matter, don’t want to ‘cause a ruckus in front of Discord?’ Very well.” Discord snapped his fingers and the mares vanished into thin air. A second later they reappeared on either side of a surprised Rainbow Dash and proceeded to continue their cuddling. “Discord! Enough!” Twilight said, spitting out the peppermint stick. “But I feel like celebrating! Come, rejoice in chaos with me! My good fortune is your good fortune after all.” “Stop it right now. Put Ponyville back the way it was!” Twilight shouted. “Ugh. Alright fine. If you so wish it, Ponyville can be eternally boring; consider it a gift.” He snapped his fingers. The town rumbled as the dancing houses settled back into place. The diamond Rarity was leaning on vanished. The hat Pinkie Pie was struggling to remove faded away. The mares on either side of Rainbow Dash, in mid-kiss, disappeared. The cyan pegasus’s jaw dropped slightly. “Aw….” Fluttershy poked Rainbow Dash’s extended wings with her hoof. “Ew…” Discord burst out laughing. “I will say though, with the changes I’ve made to the rest of the world, Ponyville is going to stick out like a sore hoof.” Twilight growled. “What have you done to the rest of the world?” “Oh, you know…. This and that… and a few things with pumpkin soup too.” Discord laughed. “But, if you really are curious… perhaps you’d like a tour?” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, boo-ook!” He said in singsong. A from the sky descended a book, large enough to fit three ponies on top of it. “They say books can take you off to fantastical faraway places. This one is no different.” Twilight found herself floating through the air. She landed on top of the book and the pages sprung outward to wrap around her securing her to the tome. “The rest of you ponies don’t mind if I borrow your friend for a bit, do you?” “Give her back!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she took to the sky. One of the pages of the book reached out and swatted her back to the ground. “Not to fret, my little ponies, she’ll be back in a jiffy. Or not. That’s entirely her decision.” Discord smiled. “Now then! Up and away we shall depart! Keep your hooves and horn inside the pages at all times, dear Twilight; you’re in for the ride of your life.” The book began to lift off into the sky. Soon the ponies below were little dots, hardly visible. “Oh, Twilight. I think you’re really going to love this. I’ve put a lot of effort into putting this all together and I’m eagerly awaiting your reaction!” Soon the book had faded away from sight. Down on the ground, five ponies sat with frustrated looks on their faces. Most of them turned to Applejack. Rarity snarled. “This is all your fault, you dirty farm pony. Twilight’s gone, and the world’s gone to Tartarus and back! Are you happy?! Discord probably won’t ever bring the poor unicorn back to us!” Applejack dug her foot in the ground, kicking up a pile of dust. “And what else were we supposed to do? Freeze to death?!” “Um… girls…?” Fluttershy said behind the safety of her mane. Pinkie Pie bounded forward. “Eternal chaos, Applejack! And there isn’t even any chocolate rain this time!” “Hey, leave her alone!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “At least somepony had the horseshoes to actually do something! I mean, Applejack’s right! Why should everything fall on Twilight?” “Girls… um… if I could just….” Fluttershy squeaked. Rarity pushed herself forward and shoved Rainbow Dash out of the way. “Don’t defend her, Dash. Applejack threw the whole world into chaos just because she was worried about her grandmother. Not to say I’m not worried about my own kin but do you all honestly think anyone is safer now?” “GIRLS!” Fluttershy shouted. The other ponies around her all flinched. “Um… sorry. I don’t think we should be fighting right now. It’s just that isn’t this all what Discord wanted? Us fighting against each other instead of against him? I honestly don’t know who’s in the right here. Eternal winter versus eternal chaos, obviously I don’t think anypony wants either. But in times of crisis I think we need to work together. That’s what Twilight would say if she was here. That’s what Princess Celestia would say if she was here.” “Perhaps she has a point.” Rarity sighed. “Applejack, I apologize for my… rudeness.” “No hard feelings Rar’ty.” “Eternal winter or eternal chaos doesn’t matter now. What we have is eternal chaos. So… any ideas?” A magical whoosh startled the ponies. Spike groaned. “Oh… I think I just coughed up one.” The young dragon held up a slightly scorched and very old book. “Princess Celestia just sent this very heavy tome….” The book, guided by Discord’s magic, soared through the sky. Twilight Sparkle found herself tossed from left to right as she struggled to maintain balance on the ever shifting giant tome. Discord hovered along next to the book, smiling widely. “Oh I have so much to show you Twilight. Sadly our field trip-avocado dilemma is still not solved. I assure you I am working on it, but I can’t make any promises on when I’ll have a prototype to present. You know what they say though, ‘you can’t rush art!’ It’s going to be wonderful though.” “You make ponies suffer for your own amusement. There’s nothing wonderful about what you’re doing here.” “Oh, but the wonderful thing about chaos is chaos is a wonderful thing.” Discord was practically singing. “That’s a tautology!” “Oh, Twilight, don’t lecture me about the-ologies. I am a god, after all. I know all about them. For a basket case like you we’ve got the psychology of the neurology. For your interactions with Luna, that’s strictly the sociology of physiology! I’d say it’s bi-ology, but I’ve yet to see you show interest in stallion philematology! But I digress, despite my works in hippology, I’m sure to defer to you on some things. After all I’m sure you’ve had ‘hooves-on’ experience in selenomorphology. Which considering how old she is it might as well be gerontology! See Twilight, I know everything about you and what you are. That’s U-R-ology, in case you were wondering. You don’t have to use the little fillies’ room do you? I’m not stopping this book every five minutes.” “I hate you.” “Now then. What should we start with, hm? Any preferences? I can show you the whole world. In fact, that’s just what I’m going to do. I’ll be perfectly honest. I’m just so eager to show off what I’ve done with the place. I think you’re going to like my… redecoration. Let’s see, how about we start with Cloudsdale! That wonderful city in the sky. You’ve been there once, correct? You’re one of the few unicorns to actually visit the cloud city?” Discord smiled and waggled his eyebrows. The book fell into a dive and soon Twilight was gripping at the pages with her teeth as they plummeted downwards with increasing speed. The ground approached her faster and faster and the wind tugged at her mane. Centimeters from the ground the book righted itself. Twilight stared in awe. Before here was Cloudsdale, sitting in ruins on the grassy ground. Her heart sank at the thought of Rainbow Dash seeing her hometown in such a terrible state. “Like it?” “Great Celestia… what have you done?” Twilight gasped. “Oh a better question would be what haven’t I done?” Discord swooned. “Gaze upon it, my little protégée. Chaos in its prime form!” He threw his arms outwards and gestured to the city. “First of all I grounded the city. I mean, why is it fair for there to exist a city that only pegasi can reach? That’s discrimination, you know. But really grounding the city isn’t chaotic at all. Although, the fall was pretty entertaining to watch.” Discord chuckled. “But I’ve also turned Cloudsdale into backwards-town! Everypony here who tries to fly up falls down. If you trip down a flight of stairs you trip up! Trying to go the right way? Doubt it. I think you’ll be left with only one course of action.” The draconequus fell into a fit of laughter. “That’s not all though. Take a look over there! What do you see?” Discord pointed to a structure in the distance that was spitting out clouds and rainbows from a smokestack. Twilight sighed. “That’s the weather factory. Let me guess, cotton candy clouds forever?” “Oh, why no! Too predictable, my dear Twilight. You see that’s the rainbow factory. Take a look at all the pretty colors. Aren’t they just simply beautiful?” Discord smiled. “Say, I bet you can’t name all of the colors of the rainbow.” “Discord, I’ve had enough of your games.” “Twilight, I’ve got all the time in the world. It’s called eternal chaos for a reason. Please, indulge me.” “Every pony knows what they are: turquoise, turquoise, turquoise, and… wait… no… I meant to say turquoise. Wait…! R…. turquoise.” Twilight’s face scrunched up for a moment. Discord broke out laughing. “Now… Turquoises are made of seven turquoises… which are… turquoise… and… tur…! For the love of Celestia what the hay is going on here?!” Discord was rolling on the ground. His face streamed with tears of laughter. “Oh! I’m sorry! It’s too much! The look on your face! Your cheeks are positively turquoise with rage!” “This isn’t funny! Why can’t I say turquoise?! I mean…! I…! I’m trying to say the turquoises of the…!” Twilight stuck her tongue out. “Something’s wrong with my tongue! Every time I go to say a turquoise it comes out turquoise!” “Like it? I’ve reassigned the equestrian language so all the words associated with color are now ‘turquoise.’ It simplifies things, don’t you think? So instead of a rainbow factory we just have a turquoise factory that produces bands of light in seven different turquoises!” “That makes no sense!” “Why thank you!” Discord smiled. “I was looking for a way to reconfigure how color works. I saw the rainbows coming out of Cloudsdale and thought… rainbows really shouldn’t have seven colors. I only ended up reassigning the names though…. Turning everything one shade looked too boring.” “Why?!” “Silly unicorn! Chaos isn’t about ‘why!’ It’s about ‘why not!’” Discord raised his claw to the air. “Still we’ve got places to see, things to do. We can’t dilly-dally in this city forever! Onwards!” Discord snapped his fingers. The world vanished in a flash of white light. Soon Twilight’s vision came back into focus. “Manehatten?” She asked. It was true she recognized many of the landmarks, but the whole town had changed. “Good! I was hoping I didn’t change too much. I’m glad ponies can still recognize this place. The joke falls flat if no pony can tell this is Manehatten. You know what the nickname for this city is, don’t you, Twilight?” “You didn’t….” Twilight winced as she scanned the horizon. “They called it the Big Apple…. Not really sure why, there were not very many apple trees around here when I arrived. So I fixed that. All the buildings are now giant pieces of fruit! Mostly apples, but I went for more of a balanced diet. You know fruit salad is good for the digestive system.” “All this suffering for a terrible pun.” Twilight’s lower lip quivered as she watched a group of ponies run down the street, terrified at a giant rolling peach chasing them. “Don’t disrespect the pun. I love a good pun. I love a bad pun. The pun’s the thing!” Discord smiled. “But don’t worry, that’s not all I’ve done. Consider this a sort of themed attraction. I’ve got jelly and jam sidewalks, dry hay toast for billboards, and all the hats are made of cheese. Be sure to tell Rarity that cheese hats are all the rage right now. I might even say cheese is the new turquoise.” Discord laughed for a moment before his face fell completely stolid. “Don’t laugh though. Dairy products are serious business. Anyway, let’s keep up the pace! Wave goodbye to Manehatten! Vamanos!” Snap! Again the world faded into a brilliant flash of light. Twilight blinked her eyes rapidly; her vision was a mess of colored spots from the brightness. She frantically clutched to the flying book, scared she would walk off the side in her blindness. She felt Discord’s claw lift her chin up. Her vision returned to Discord’s smiling mug, staring at her with the happiest expression imaginable. She felt uneasy. “Now this little number,” Discord began, “used to be Trottingham.” “Oh for pony’s sake! What did you do to the pigs?!” She cried out as she frantically surveyed the city. “Pigs? Why would I…? Oh! Oh! Because it’s Trottingham? That’s brilliant. Let’s file away that for future use. But seriously, no this place I’ve actually done something much worse. Something special. Take a look….” Twilight’s lip twitched as she leaned over the edge of the floating book. She glanced around the city looking for anything unusual. After what she saw with Manehatten and Cloudsdale, she was not sure what to expect, but she certainly did not expect this. “I don’t… I don’t see anything….” “Oh this is one of my favorites. I’ve placed the city in a special magic field. Anything within the city bounds is instantaneously increased to one million times its original size. A whole city of giants!” “But… everything looks the same….” “Well, like I said, everything is giant. So by relative comparison, everything looks the same. But just try to buy fruit by the pound! And don’t even get me started on what your dress size would be. Fatty.” Discord poked Twilight in the stomach; she felt a giggle burst out of her despite her dour mood. “Moving on! Andiamo!” Discord snapped his fingers. “Ah smell that old Baltimare air!” Discord sighed. “This is what it’s all about, really. Relaxing with friends; enjoying a nice hot cup of chaos.” “You’ve turned it into a frozen wasteland!” “Well… winter does have a certain appeal, don’t you think? But actually this place changes seasons every time a bird lands on a log and spins around. You have no idea how long it took to train those birds.” “It doesn’t matter. I’m still going to fix this.” “Talk, talk, talk!” He laughed. “Wouldn’t you rather hear what I’ve done to this city? The improvements I’ve made? The fantastical fantasies I have crafted?” “Yes.... I see them. Multi-turquoise livestock running rampage over what used to be a very beautiful city. A clock with fourteen numbers made of sponge, literal houses of cards, frozen over, and various other ice themed strings of nonsensical attributes juxtaposed with reality.” Twilight looked to up the spirit. “Honestly, this is hardly chaos. It’s just a bunch of random objects slurred in a blender.” “Hardly cha…!” Discord’s face crumpled to pure anger for a brief moment. “Twilight, my dear.” His face faded to a soft, gentle smile. “While I admit I may be a bit rusty, I assure you the best is yet to come. Lady, prepare to be dazzled!” Snap! “Tada!” Discord shouted as they reappeared in a different location. “Welcome to Fillydelphia!” “What in the name of Celestia is this?” “Stick figures!” “I think I’m going to be sick.” “Well in all honesty this concept seemed better on paper…. Anyway can’t dwell on the mistakes, sometimes you just have to run a pen through it, strike it out and start over. Back to the drawing board, they say. We’ve got chaos to cause, chaos to see. Allons-y!” Snap! Twilight’s eyes took a moment to adjust. “Now where are… oh my gosh! What in the name of Tartarus is that stallion doing to that mare?!” Twilight winced and covered her eyes. “Ah, this must be Dodge Junction. You see I’ve replaced the water supply with a heavy aphrodisiac. So what you’re seeing here is…. Oh my. I don’t believe that’s entirely sanitary.” “Yes I’m definitely going to be sick….” Twilight said as she felt her stomach lurch. “Well… yes… I’d admit this was…. OH GROSS! This was not expected. But that’s chaos for you. Hey! Ponies eat on there!” “Get us out of here!” Twilight said, taking a quick peek out from under her hooves. “As you wish.” Snap! Twilight’s face fell to horror. She could feel all four of her knees shake. “Is this…?” “Welcome to Tartarus. Well what used to be Tartarus, you know. The place is empty now. I set all the demons free. In fact, one could just waltz right in and not have to worry about a single pony-eating monster.” “WHY?” “Well so they could enjoy in the chaos of course. I am an equal opportunity despot.” “Do you have any idea the havoc they will wreak? The destruction those monsters will cause? Whole cities will fall! How is that even fun for you? What is there to rule over if it’s all dead?” “Hm…. I haven’t thought of that. I guess I’ll have to watch them and do something about it if it gets out of claw.” Snap! “Viva Las Pegasas!” Discord said as he clapped his claws together. “They say luck be a mare and I think she’s smiling on me tonight! Actually luck is a tadpole. I have to tell you making luck a physical entity was not an easy task. I was going for a frog initially, but you know… baby steps. So take a look around, drink it in. That’s really the only way to enjoy Pegasas.” Twilight glanced around. Ponies were running frantically from a stampede of purple and orange chickens that were running through the streets. Buildings were swaying to an unseen beat and she could have sworn one of the street signs was playing a banjo for a moment. “Discord…. You’re not going to get away with this….” “Tisk, tisk, Twilight. And here I thought you were the top of your class. The top percentile of unicorns. Your misuse of grammar makes me ashamed. I believe you wanted to say that I shouldn’t have gotten away with it. Past tense, you see, because I most certainly have already gotten away with it.” Discord chuckled. “Not only have I gotten away with it but we’re in the gloating stage now. Any chances you had to voice your opinion have long since past.” A flock of flying potatoes encircled Twilight’s head. “That doesn’t mean I won’t stop you.” “Shh! Shh! Shh!” He said. “Quick! Roll these!” He shoved a pair of dice into her Twilight’s mouth. Her cheeks puffed up as the dice rolled across her tongue. Discord pulled his claw out of Twilight’s mouth and cackled. “Roll ‘em!” “Phbbt! Blah!” Twilight spit the die out of her mouth and onto the surface of the floating book. The die rattled around, covered in slobber. Discord smiled widely as he placed his claws on either side of Twilight’s face. “Well? Well? Can you tell what I’m thinking?” Twilight looked bewildered for a moment then narrowed her eyes. “You’re… you’re thinking… you’re going to put the world back to the way it was and restore the Princesses’ power so they can control the sun and moon again!” “Blast!” Discord released Twilight’s face from his grip. “You see I changed the laws of probability so that every time you roll a die there’s a one in eight trillion chance that you get telepathy!” Discord shook a red cup in the air. The cup rattled until he poured its contents, a dozen or so dice, rolled all over the pages of the book. “I’ve been rolling all day… still no mind reading powers.” “Can’t you just give yourself mind re...?” “Where’s the fun in that? Oh and nice try, by the way, with the whole ‘going to put the world back together’ thing. I respect that. But I’m still in control. Sorry. If you dislike this so much then do something about it.” Discord crossed his arms and pouted. Twilight pointed at the creature with a hoof. “I will. Mark my words, I will stop you.” “Consider them marked. But that begs the question… how? You can’t use the Elements of Harmony against me, you made a deal. I suppose you could try asking nicely, but let’s face it I’m not a very understanding guy.” He put on a sad face and shook his head mockingly. “Oh, what a terrible fate!” He threw his arm up against his forehead and sighed melodramatically. “If only you had the power to just wish it all away.” His fake crying gave way to uproarious laughter. “If only you could just clap your hooves together three times and the whole world would be just as you saw fit. Sorry sweetie, only I have that kind of power.” He looked at the purple pony with a sly smile. “There’s an interesting idea. What if you had my power?” “What?” “What if you could just clap your hooves and have the world the exact way you wanted it? The sun would rise when you saw fit, the moon would set on your whim, and the grass would grow any color you wished. All with a simple nod of the head. A twitch of the snout.” He nodded thoughtfully to himself. “I’m not talking your run of the mill unicorn magic here. I’m talking the powers of a god! The very laws of the cosmos would be yours to command! You could bend physics to your will! You could save the world with a yawn!” “No pony should have that kind of power….” Twilight shuddered. “Then don’t be a pony. With my powers at your command you could take any form you wish. I personally recommend the draconequus. I find it just the right blend between dashing rouge and malevolent trickster with just a naughty touch of lingonberry.” A large table lined with green felt appeared out of thin air. “Sit down at my table, relax and hear my proposition.” “Oof!” Twilight exclaimed as a chair pushed her up to the table. A small green visor plopped down on her head and a peppermint stick slid into her mouth. Discord stretched his arms out wide. “You want to play in the games of gods and goddesses?” A waterfall of playing cards flowed between his claw and paw. “Sit right down. I’ll deal you in.” He tossed a few cards quickly to the purple pony. “You know you have so much potential, Twilight Sparkle. Don’t think I haven’t been watching. Hypnotizing a whole town. Making the Parasprites eat said town. You have such a disposition for chaos, Twilight. Such a disposition for… power.” “I’m just a student….” Twilight shook her head. The cards floated in front of her, she had a good hoof. “A student that was just recently put in charge of a whole nation. Tell me… what was that like?” Discord tapped the table surface twice. A few plastic chips fell to the center of the table. “It was… terrible. So many ponies were angry. I couldn’t fix it. So many ponies in pain.” Discord flipped a card over from the top of the deck. “But that’s not your fault. You didn’t have the power to help them! Only Celestia has the power to raise the sun. You had some big horseshoes to fill.” “Well…” Twilight gulped as she drew a card. She could not believe she was about to agree with Discord. “Princess Celestia never did do much preparation for a successor…. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no way to raise the sun.” Discord pushed a set of chips to the center of the table. “Well. You know such a thing would have never happened to me. And such a thing would never happen to you again if you had powers like mine.” “I can’t help but think what terrible drawbacks would come with those powers.” Twilight spit out the peppermint stick. “Enough, Discord. I’m not going to play your game.” Discord leaned forward and tapped his claw against Twilight’s cards. “Looks like you already are. But tell me, Twilight, now that I’m free what do you plan to do to stop me?” “Like I’d tell you that. I know, why don’t you roll some dice and read my mind?” “Cheeky little pony. All I’m saying is I know what’s up your sleeve. What cards are in your hoof.” He tapped his claw against Twilight’s cards before pulling one away from her and taking a look at it. “First you’ve got the Elements of Harmony. A tad shame that won’t work on me anymore.” He crumpled the card up and ate it. He reached forward and pulled another card away from Twilight. “Next you’ve got your five little friends. They might be useful, but they alone are not powerful enough to defeat me, no matter how much you chant ‘Friendship is Magic’!” He dropped the card on the table and then pulled another. “Oh and let’s not forget little Woona. She’s got all the knowledge you could ever want, but even she doesn’t know how to stop me.” He laughed and placed the card next to the one that represented Twilight’s friends. “Stop it Discord!” “Oh!” He exclaimed as he drew another card from Twilight’s hoof. “Then there’s Celestia. Now she might actually have an idea to defeat me, but she’s gone mad!” He folded the card into a paper airplane and gave it a toss. It spiraled around in the air before crashing into Twilight’s eye. “Ouch!” “That leaves you with one card left, Twilight.” He gestured to a card she was holding; a card adorned with the image of a large old tome. “And without even looking, I highly doubt it’s going to be your trump card.” He then pushed her hoof away and flashed his own hand of cards. “But if you play with my deck. Imagine!” He smiled as she pushed the pot of chips towards Twilight. “The universe could be yours. Think of what you could accomplish! The raw power you could command. What is so great about your world of order anyway? You think it’s better because Princess Celestia says so? Well, perhaps you forgot how unaccepting and destructive she was about your relationship with Luna. What do you need her for anyway? To raise the sun? Twilight, with all the power you would have you could raise a million suns! You could set the world aflame!” Twilight frowned. “Chaos only causes misery. Look at how miserable you’ve made every pony.” “That’s my chaos. If you had my powers you could make chaos mean whatever you want! Reality is not a limitation, it is a canvas!” “What makes you think I’ll cause chaos if you give me your powers?” Twilight chucked. “Why wouldn’t I make the world orderly? Sort it, clean it, and shelve it appropriately like I take care of my library? I think you’ve got the wrong mare when it comes to chaos, Discord.” Discord shook his head. “Twilight, I don’t think you understand. If I gave you my powers it wouldn’t matter what you did. Chaos isn’t about dancing buffalos or… or cotton candy clouds. It’s about change. Which making the world completely orderly is just that, change. Whether the change is benevolent, irrelevant, or a detriment is entirely subjective. If you want to use my powers for good, then by all means do so. I sure as Tartarus tried. Change is the heart of the world. Change makes the world… dynamic, livable… interesting. Without it the world would be….” His sentence trailed off. “Static…?” “Funny how that word keeps cropping up.” Discord giggled. “What I’m offering you is a way out, nothing more. What happens afterwards is up to you. It’s your own moral fiber against the world. Good… evil… those are just a bunch of meaningless letters to gods like Celestia and myself. To gods like you.” “Why give me your powers anyway? I don’t see why you’re so keen on it.” “I’m old, Twilight. I’m so… unbelievably… terribly… old. This whole chaos… harmony… sun and moon thing could be over and done with in just a clap of your hooves.” Twilight shook her head. “I don’t want that kind of power!” She shouted slamming her hooves on the table. “It’s too late, Twilight.” Discord smiled. He pointed to his cards that rested under Twilight’s hooves. “You’re playing with my hoof now.” The table dissolved into ash and they found themselves flying high in the sky, overlooking Ponyville and Canterlot in the distance. Twilight gasped. “What?” “You have all the power I possess, Twilight.” Discord smiled. “Everything Celestia could teach you is now just an insignificant pile of worthless words.” “Your power?” Twilight said blankly. “Do you wish the world was back to the way it was before? Do you want Luna back by your side? Do you want all of the events this past week erased? The clap your hooves together and it will be so.” “I…” Twilight stammered. “I can feel it. All the power you possess. It’s… maddening.” “Yes, but it’s just a lovely madness. Go on. Show me what your first wish would be. Clap your hooves together. You have the power. Change the world.” “I…. But it would be wrong. I don’t want this.” “So make it right. Morality is subjective and you are the ultimate judge now.” Discord laughed. “We’re so close now, Twilight. The resolution to everything that’s wrong in your life can be but a clap away.” “Then I….” Twilight shook her head. “I…” Twilight lifted her front hooves up and winced. Clap! Discord bellowed a laugh. “I’ve done it! And Celestia said I underestimated you! HA! Cheeky little sunburnt twat, look what I’ve gotten your student to do!” He smiled widely as he snaked around her in the air. “What did you change?! What did you change?! I don’t see it! Where is it? Where is it?” Twilight smiled sheepishly. “I’ve used my power…” “Yes? Yes?!” Discord was beaming. “To remove the power you gave me.” Twilight’s words hung in the silent air for a moment. “I don’t need your help to fix the world, Discord. All I need are my friends. No more of your deals. They only end in sadness.” Discord’s expression scrunched up. Steam whistled out of his ears as his face turned red. “You little…! Fine.” He let his arms sag in defeat. “Well played, Twilight.” Discord sighed and ran his claws through his mane. “Don’t think I’m beaten though. I guess it’s time for Plan B. But remember, I offered you a way out. Everything from here on is your fault, Twilight Stumble. If you do happen to change your mind, I’ll be in Canterlot, sitting on my throne. Waiting for you.” “I don’t regret my decision.” Discord snapped his fingers. The floating book Twilight had been standing on vanished and she soon found herself hanging in the air. “To commemorate your hollow victory here, I’ll make gravity work as intended. Consider it a gift.” He snarled. “Have a nice trip, Twilight. See you next… fall.” Twilight felt her stomach lurch as she plummeted downwards. As the roof tops of Ponyville grew ever closer, she found herself shouting the names of every pegasus she had ever met.