A crowd was gathered outside the library. Something was wrong; something was very wrong. What had once been a simple tree that housed the library was now just a tree with a few lamps hanging off of it. There was no indication that it had ever housed anything.
The townsponies were vaguely used to oddities, of course. It came with all six Elements of Harmony living in Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle alone had caused many an explosion with her magical experiments and the library basement had to have repairs done more than once as a result.
This...this was different. This wasn't just the result of some wayward spell; something evil was at work here. Even Twilight couldn't pull something like this off, right?
A few of the braver unicorns in town walked up to where the door might be and tried to see if they couldn't reverse whatever it was that had done something like this to the tree but with no success. Even when as many as six unicorns at a time tried, the tree remained only a tree. It was more than a little unsettling.
"What do you suppose happened?" asked Berry Punch. "Do you think that the Changelings attacked again?"
"I don't think so," said Bon Bon. "I'm not even sure that Celestia herself could pull something like this off."
"I thought I saw Princess Luna flying away from the library," said Cheerilee. "Do you think that has anything to do with it?"
"Possibly," said Bon Bon. "I--"
"Hey, isn't that TD?" said Derpy.
The crowd looked where the town mailmare was pointing and sure enough, Ponyville's resident human was walking down the road towards the library with a rather satisfied smile on his face, a smile that only got bigger once he saw the large crowd that had gathered at his destination. "Hello everypony!" said TD cheerfully. "How are you this fine afternoon?"
The crowd watched silently as TD got closer to the library. He reached the spot where the front entrance used to be and leaned against it. "So, you're admiring my handiwork then, yes?"
"Your handiwork!" said Lyra in shock. "You mean that you did this?!"
"That's kind of what 'my handiwork' implies, does it not?" said TD, idly examining his fingernails. "I mean, I'm hardly the type of guy that would take credit for the works of others; it's just bad form."
The crowds stunned reactions only served to amuse TD all the more and he straightened up and walked in front of them. As he did so, a suspicious look crossed Lyra's face. She eased her way through the crowd and stopped when she reached TD's position. The human stopped in his tracks as the mint green unicorn approached him. He turned to face her and flashed her another smile. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Lyra looked up at TD and examined him for a few seconds before her eyes narrowed. "You're not the real TD," she growled.
TD threw his head back and let out a caw of a laugh that frankly did nothing to make the Ponyvillians gathered at the library think that Lyra was mistaken in her assessment. Now that she mentioned it, there was definitely something wrong with TD, something that they couldn't quite put their hooves on.
TD for his part didn't lose that unsettling grin. "And why do you think that I am not your resident human?" he asked.
"Because the real TD wasn't this creepy and he certainly didn't have these kinds of weird powers!" Lyra insisted. "What did you do with the real TD?!"
TD raised his eyebrow and his smile faltered for the briefest of moments before it returned full force and he took a step towards Lyra. "While those are obvious markers so I can't call you 'perceptive', I must admit that you have done well in your reasoning." TD shifted his gaze from Lyra to the whole crowd and took another step forwards. "Mares... gentlecolts... sheep..." TD's smile widened as he relished in calling them that last word. "As your green friend has deduced, I am not TD!"
A collective gasp ran through the crowd. "Then who are you?" asked Cheerilee.
TD let out another laugh and to the horrors of the ponies watching, his voice changed to one that they had not heard before, but they knew it had undeniable malice in it. "As I said, I am not TD. I just borrowed his body for a little bit while I enact my plan." His eyes scanned the crowd, basking in the fear of the crowd for a moment before continuing. "Doubtless you have all heard of me thanks to Twilight Sparkle and the rest of those pesky elements, but if you haven't then allow me to introduce myself. I am Discord, god of chaos and disharmony and let me tell you, it is my pleasure to meet all of you!"
If the crowd was stunned before, it was nothing compared to the silence that came from this newest revelation. Discord, the literal god of chaos and disharmony, was standing in their midst. Not only that, but he seemed to have trapped the Elements of Harmony as well.
The silence was broken when Roseluck let out a piercing shriek that set off a chain reaction throughout the crowd. The towns ponies all tried to bolt in opposite directions to escape whatever cruel tricks Discord had in store for them, but the draconniquus was one step ahead of them. He gleefully snapped his fingers and the grass on the ground grew into thick vines that wrapped around the forelegs of everypony in the crowd, trapping them.
TDiscord calmly began walking amongst the trapped ponies, many of whom were whimpering in fear while others were trying to free themselves from their vines. "I suppose you all are wondering why I've called this town meeting," said Discord with a chortle. "Well it's quite simple really. You see, I have recently been freed from a stone prison that I am not quite keen on returning to. As such, I have enacted a plan that will ensure that I rule Equestria like I did in the years before the reign of those two pesky alicorns."
"You'll never win!" shouted Lyra. "The Elements will trap you in stone just like last time!"
A cheer went through the crowd at this but Discord only smiled. "A cute sentiment, Lyra Heartstrings, but a foolish one indeed. How can the Elements defeat me when they cannot even free themselves?"
With another snap of his fingers, Discord materialized a window of sorts where the library door used to be. A collective gasp went through the crowd at the sight. There, lying on the floor in various states of pure sorrow, were the wingless, hornless, and blank flanked Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy had her head buried in Rainbow Dash's shoulder and both were openly sobbing. Rarity was rocking back and forth on the floor and stroking her mane while Twilight hugged a mouthless Spike close. Pinkie Pie's mane was deflated and she was staring at the floor, unmoving next to Applejack who continuously acted like she was going to stand up, but never did so.
Discord let the ponies drink in the sight of the defenders of Equestria degraded in such a manner for a few minutes before he snapped his fingers, causing the window to vanish. "If they cannot stop me than nopony can," said Discord coolly. "Your precious princesses could never beat me in a fight when they are bound by the laws of reality and I am not. Make no mistake, Ponyville, I will win and I will rule Equestria as I did in the past."
Discord took a deep breath and walked next to Lyra. "But this does not have to be your fate, Ponyville!" he said. "Equestria will be plunged into eternal chaos, but you do not need to be subjugated in such a manner. I can make your town the order capital of the entire planet, a place where everything runs as it should and you do not suffer. All you have to do is renounce Celestia."
"We'd never renounce the princesses!" said Lyra defiantly.
"Yeah, do your worst, we'd never betray Equestria like that!" Nurse Redheart called out.
Discord raised an eyebrow. "Did you seriously just tell a god to whom the laws of reality do not apply to do his worst?" Discord scoffed. "Your sad devotion to Celestia has made you even blinder than even I had imagined. I suppose a demonstration of what I'm going to do to you if you do not accept my generous offer is in order."
With that, Discord grabbed Lyra by the throat and violently lifted her up into the air.
"LYRA!!!" screamed Bon Bon.
"I hope you enjoy what is about to pass," Discord told the gurgling unicorn. "You'll be like this forever."
Discord raised his hand to neck level and snapped his fingers once again. In a flash Lyra's horn and cutie mark both vanished from her body. Lyra would have let out an ear piercing shriek if she could as her very identity was taken away from her, but with Discord's hand wrapped around her throat noise was almost impossible. Bon Bon did enough screaming for the both of them, though.
Unfortunately for the green ex-unicorn, Discord wasn't done. He slowly reached his free hand towards Lyra and placed it on her forehead. The second his hand made contact, the tip of Lyra's tail lost all color, an effect that quickly traveled up Lyra's body. Lyra convulsed in Discord's grip as the color was literally sucked out of her while the entire town watched, absolutely unable to do anything about it.
Within seconds the unicorn that had once been Lyra Heartstrings was nothing more than a colorless husk in Discord's hand. Satisfied, the god of chaos threw her to the ground where she lay still. "Don't worry, I didn't kill her. That would have been far too boring." Discord knelt next to Lyra and examined his work. "Having said that, I'm guessing she wishes that I had killed her instead."
Bon Bon let out a loud wail of sorrow at the sight of her best friend lying on the ground. A few ponies close to her tried to comfort her by nuzzling her sides, but all of them were too far away to do anything.
Discord stood up and scanned the crowd again. "Does anypony else think that not doing what I tell them to do is a good idea?" he said. "That's only the tip of the chaosberg. Anything I can imagine I can do and let me promise you, I have quite the extensive imagination."
The menace in Discord's words sent shivers down the spines of the towns ponies, with the exception of Bon Bon who was still trying to reach her friend. Discord paid her no heed, instead scanning the crowd for a new potential victim.
He took a deep breath and walked over to the closest child he could find. Yes, she would be perfect. "Hello there, little filly." He knelt down close to the filly who was doing her best to curl up into a ball away from Discord. "If TD's memories are correct then your name is Dinky, am I right?"
Dinky squealed in fear and tried to move away from Discord even more.
"How about you, will you renounce Celestia and Luna? I promise you that you'll be safe if you do."
"Go away," she whimpered. "Please leave us alone."
Discord sighed and shook his head. "I guess there's nothing else for it, then. You'll have to end up like Miss Heartstrings over there and--"
Discord never finished his sentence. He was cut off when a wall of solid grey collided with the side of his head. Before he hit the ground three blows had already landed on his face and the flurry continued even after he had hit the ground.
"YOU DO NOT EVER GET TO TOUCH MY FOAL YOU BUCKING PIECE OF SCUM! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART PIECE BY PIECE UNTIL YOU ARE BEGGING ME TO END YOUR PATHETIC LIFE!!!!"
The Ponyvillians in attendance looked on in sheer awe at the sight of Derpy raining blow after blow upon the hapless being underneath her. Some even guessed that such an assault would reduce a dragon to a weeping pile of scales. Derpy didn't let up. Such was the intensity of the fire in her fueled by pure maternal rage. It was more than a little unsettling to see such rage from an even tempered pony, but none could blame her.
However, before Derpy could hurt him further, she heard the sound of clapping behind her. Not the kind of clapping that came from somepony applauding your efforts, but rather the kind that dripped with condescension. Derpy stopped her assault and looked up to see the most horrifying creature she had ever seen in her life. It looked like a mishmash of several different creatures sewn together.
"Well done, Ms. Hooves, I must say I am impressed with how you broke free of the vines and attacked poor TD like that. Why, I daresay that in another moment or two somepony would have had the blood of an innocent human on her hooves."
Derpy looked down and was horrified to see what used to be TD's face hidden under a plethora of cuts and bruises. "Oh my Celestia, what have I done?" she whispered. She whimpered in sorrow and wrapped TD's head in her forelegs. "Please forgive me, TD!"
TD spat out a fair amount of blood before chuckling slightly. "'s okay, he whispered. "I punched him in the nuts when he threatened the Crusaders. I don't bl--" TD was cut off as he coughed up more blood. Derpy let out a wail of sorrow and began gently stroking his hair.
"Dawww, isn't that a touching scene? A repentant attacker apologizing to the one she nearly killed. It’s really quite beautiful if you ask me," said Discord.
Derpy's eyes shot up and she gave Discord her best glare. "What I said still stands, I will tear you apart,' she growled.
Discord scoffed. "You know it really isn't smart to threaten the god of chaos, especially right after you've gotten done brutalizing an innocent being," said Discord. He walked closer to Derpy and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I took Lyra's cutie mark, horn, and color for defying me so I wonder what we'll do with you."
Derpy squealed in fear and bolted towards Dinky. She wrapped her foal in her forelegs and tried to pull her out of the vines that trapped her, desperately hoping that she could get away from the madness.
Discord snapped his fingers.