Rainbow Dash, best flier in all of Equestria, was flying around her cloud home, kicking clouds and clearing the skies. She flew faster than the speed of light, dodging this way and that through the clouds, leaving a streak of rainbow light behind her. She knew she was awesome and she liked it.
Looking below at the ground, she could see a pony standing there, smiling. She couldn’t quite make out the details of his face from all the way down there. She saw him waving and flew down quickly.
“Who are you and why are you watching me,” she asked when she glanced at him. He looked somewhat familiar…
He smiled brightly. “Don’t you remember me, Rainbow?~”
Her eyes widened as she heard his voice. Deep inside, Rainbow was still somewhat untrusting of the God of Chaos. He could be playing us all for foals… Still, her friends trusted him, and Rainbow Dash stuck by her friends. Her expression turned to cheerful as she smiled at her friend. “Nice to see you again, Discord. What’s with the get-up?”
Discord rolled his eyes, grinning. “Ponies start to go into a panic whenever they see a draconequus around town. If one more pony screams ‘the horror, the horror’ to me, I’m going to be the one screaming.” To this they both laughed. Dash knew all about ponies running away from you. You don’t crash into buildings as many times as her without a few ponies getting cautious around you.
“What brings you all the way down here, Discord? Shouldn’t you be up in Canterlot, helping the Princesses?”
Discord rolled his eyes, smiling. “Oh, the Princesses can handle without me for a day. Besides, things are happening here that I don’t want to miss.” Time for round 3 he thought.
“What things? What’s happening,” Rainbow said quickly, excited. Anything that had even the old God of Chaos walking around as a pony sounded awesome and Dash wasn’t going to miss something that sounded that awesome for a minute.
Discord shook his head slightly. “Well, I wouldn’t want to worry you, Dash.”
Rainbows eyes widened slightly. Saying that to somepony was one of the best ways to make them worry. “What do you mean? Come on, Discord, you can trust me with anything. I AM the element of Loyalty after all.”
Discord smiled slightly and made a few glances around, as though checking to see if anypony would overhear. No one was around, however. Dash typically loved having ponies watch her practice, but today everyone had been at home or at work. “Alright… Well, Twi and the others have me a bit… concerned.”
Rainbow tilted her head slightly, finally landing and folding her wings. “Concerned? Why would they be making you worried?”
Discord made a small frown. “Well, it’s just that everypony seems to be acting very strange today. I’m fairly certain Pinkie was FROWNING today.”
Dash got a bewildered look. “You sure we’re talking about the same Pinkie here?”
Discord shook his head sadly. “That may be just the problem.” When Rainbow looked confused at this, he glanced around once more. “Well, I wasn’t the one who told you this… but I think the changelings are back.”
Dash’s eyes widened greatly. She could still remember the changelings in perfect detail, from their insect wings to their holey hooves. She hated to admit it, but they actually managed to get under her skin slightly. Dash was loyal to all of her friends, but what if they WEREN’T her friends? How could she be loyal to somepony she couldn’t trust? “Are you sure, Discord? I would think we would know if an army of Twilights or Pinkie Pies were walking around.”
Discord sighed slightly, making a pained face. “That’s just it. They’ve gotten smarter. They become ONE pony now, and replace the pony. It’s getting harder and harder to tell everypony apart. I’m worried they got to Pinkie and Applejack already.”
Dash flared her wings in anger. “They got Applejack too?!”
Discord nodded slightly. “I have yet to find Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight. In fact, I can’t even be sure if I’m talking to YOU, Rainbow Dash.” With this he glared at her, inside laughing with glee. Everything is going perfectly to plan…
“W-what do you mean??! Of course I’m me!”
“I can’t be certain of that, Dash. I can’t trust ANYPONY. Not even Loyalty.”
As he said this last word, Dash felt something slip inside her. Her friends couldn’t trust her? But that went against EVERYTHING she was! Now that she thought about it, however, she couldn’t even trust Discord. Discord was everyponies friend now, though. Was she no better than the ones who doubted her?
Discord hid a smile behind a glare as her cyan mane steadily turned to a grayish blue. He sighed slightly. “It’s nothing personal, Dash, but I can’t tell you anymore about it. You understand, don’t you? I’m just trying to be here for my friends.”
Dash nodded slightly, her head feeling fuzzy with these thoughts of distrust and fractured loyalty. “Um… Y-yeah, I think I get it. Wait…” She glared at him slightly, flapping her wings. “How can I tell if YOU’RE the real Discord?!”
His expression turned to one of shock. “Really?! You would suspect ME?” With that, he clapped together his hooves. In a flash, he had grown wings and was flying himself, looking Dash into the eyes. She shrunk back slightly, startled by his sudden anger. “I’m a GOD, Rainbow Dash! You cannot impersonate TRUE godliness!”
Dash grimaced slightly. She had just managed to blow it, showing her doubts to him. Now he HAD to know she was being disloyal. “I-I just want to be sure all of my friends are safe!”
Discord glared at her. “I’m not sure about that. You could be a changeling in disguise, or worse.”
She looked at him, somewhat bewildered. “Worse? What could be worse than being unable to trust your friends??”
Discord straitened back up slightly, his face untrusting. “What if you ARE Rainbow Dash? What if my own friend suspected me of being an evil being? I mean, how else WOULD I react but not being your friend?” Her eyes widened and he continued. “I can’t even trust the great Rainbow Dash to be there for me. Maybe you should go check on the others, if you REALLY care about them so much. I mean, somepony as AMAZING as the REAL Rainbow Dash would be able to help our friends.”
Rainbow felt dropped a peg by this God. She landed softly, feeling somewhat woozy. Discord stifled another smile as her coat became fully grey, unseen by her or her friends. Only beings of high power or beings with higher sight could see the change. Having dragon – like sight, he himself could see the change as clear as day. Rainbow looked up at him, a bit broken. “Y-yeah, I’ll go check on the others…” If they’re even who I think they are she thought to herself as she flew away in the direction of town.
Discord grinned and clapped his hooves together once more, losing his wings. He poofed up the figurines again, smiling at his work. Pinkie, Applejack and now Rainbow Dash were all turned grey. All that remained was Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and the Princesses. He may throw that pest Spike in there as well, if he had some free time. “Lovely elements, all in a line. The next to fall will be the divine~” He chuckled at his short quip, magicing away the figures. For good measure, he created some dark storm clouds above, knowing Dash would be so concerned about who her friends were and who to be loyal too that she would forget about her cloud duties.
He began to walk towards Rarity’s boutique as the day darkened. The few ponies who milled about today, either working outside or wandering around the shops, stayed out of this new ponies way. For some reason, he seemed to be a powerful pony in a small town, and ponies here tended to stay away from types like him.
Discord smiled as he reached the boutique. Round 3 had been rather short and easy. Round 4 promised to be more challenging, or so he hoped. He raised his hoof and knocked on the door.