Discord Cannot be Reformed

by Psyonicg

Chapter 1: You Can't Reform Chaos

It was another perfect day in Ponyville thanks to the brilliant work of the pegasi, with the sun high in the sky and not a single cloud in sight. The inhabitants of Ponyville were happily going about their normal day-to-day tasks, and nothing seemed out of place. Outside Ponyville, in one of the many wide-open fields stood a group of 5 friends. Most of the group stood calmly near the centre of the field discussing the upcoming day; however, as always, a certain pony just could not stay still, and, with an overly enthusiastic bounce, she sprung forward, startling one of the others and causing her to sigh in exasperation.

“Oh, I just love it when Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville! I got my hooves shined just like Rarity for the occasion, you like?”

Admiring herself in the somehow reflective shine of Pinkie’s hooves, Rarity gave a proud smile, and said “I certainly do.”
Raising an eyebrow, Rainbow Dash nudged Rarity and ended her self-admiring session “You like the shine or you like what you see in the shine?”

Giving a bashful grin, Rarity raised a hoof to hide the embarrassed blush on her cheeks. “Well, obviously I… hmm, well—”

“I knew it!” Rainbow dash let out a laugh and gave Rarity a playful shove. “It doesn’t matter, besides, if anyone should be admiring themselves it should be me! After all, I’m the coolest pony in all of Equestria!”

Cutting off the two’s conversation, Twilight trotted to a nearby hill and sent a worried look up to the sky. “I’m surprised she’s not here yet,” she said, wondering where Celestia could be.

Always looking to back Twilight up, Spike nodded. “Yeah, I wonder what’s taking so long. It’s not like Celestia to be late.”
“No it’s not; it’s not like Fluttershy or Applejack to be late either… Where are they?”

Continuing to admire her complexion in Pinkie’s hooves, Rarity muttered something about Fluttershy helping Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres before looking over to Twilight with a reassuring smile. “I'm sure they’ll be along any minute.”

Spike clenched his claws together in panic. “But I still don’t get why the Princess would be late!”

Turning to face the young dragon, Twilight shrugged. “She’s supposed to be bringing along an important visitor. That could be part of it.”

Rainbow Dash flew over in a rush, leaving a glowing rainbow streak in her wake and a very flustered Rarity where she was a moment before “Yeah, important and slooowww, I mean—”

“Maybe it’s somepony so terribly important that she still had many terribly important things to attend to before she got here, or maybe”—Rarity started, before throwing a haughty look in Rainbow Dash’s general direction—“she’s just more patient and collected than some of us.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “It’s not my fault if most ponies can’t keep up with my awesomeness!”

“It’s not a matter of keeping up, it’s-“

Letting out a gasp of fear, Spike pointed one claw skyward while grabbing Twilight’s mane, trying to draw her attention away from their bickering friends. “Maybe the visitor has a deer antler, a goat’s leg, a bat wing and a snake tail!”

The nonsensical comment quickly and smoothly shut down the petty argument as all three ponies stared in confusion and, in Rainbow Dash’s case, amusement at Spike. The first one to actually get over their confusion and respond was Twilight “Yeah right Spike, that’s Discord.”

Over her initial shock Rarity nodded in agreement “Why in the wide wide world of Equestria would Celestia bring along someone like that?”

Finally bored of admiring her hooves, Pinkie Pie bounced along just in time to hear the end of the conversation. “Yeah, silly, Discord’s a big old meanie grumpy pants, Celestia wouldn’t bring him here.” Letting out a gasp of excitement she continued “Unless… She wants us to throw a super duper big ultra-special happy welcome-to-the-good-guy reform party!”

Rainbow Dash let out a groan and facehoofed, while Rarity turned to face Pinkie, an irritated look in her eyes. “Now really dear, why would someone as smart and graceful as Celestia want us to do something as drab as that?”

Huffing in frustration, Spike yelled, “Maybe you should ask her!” This finally got the ponies’ attention and, turning simultaneously, they watched Princess Celestia’s chariot land smoothly on the field before gradually coming to a stop. The sight would have been awe-inspiring if not for the duplicate chariot that landed shortly after.

Resting on the chariot was, just as Spike had said, the solid stone form of a certain Draconequus stuck in his final pose. The sight brought forth gasps of shock and fear from the group of ponies and, once again, it was Twilight who recovered first.

“Princess Celestia, with all due respect,” she forced through clenched teeth while trotting over to look her mentor in the eye, “HOW COULD YOU BRING DISCORD HERE?” Quickly noticing the shocked look emanating from the Princess and the guarded stares she was receiving from the royal pegasi, she covered her mouth with a hoof and said in a much quieter tone, “Ahem… your majesty.”

Celestia nodded, and gave that knowing smile she did so well “I'm well aware that the last time Discord was here, he wreaked serious havoc bu-“

Rainbow Dash flew forward with a look of outrage on her face. “Havoc? Havoc! If by havoc you mean turning Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world, flipping Equestria upside down, and forcing us to be the opposite of our true selves, then yeah, he caused havoc!”

Stepping forward with an angry look in her eyes, Rarity nodded in agreement. “While ruining our friendships and my perfectly styled mane!” she added.

Putting her hoof down, Pinkie Pie glared at the Ruler of the Sun. “And making it rain chocolate milk with not a dollop of whipped cream in sight! Not one dollop!” she moaned, shivering at the thought of chocolate milk without whipped cream.

“Yes, yes, I understand,” Celestia nodded, and turned to look at the statue that had caused so much pain in the past. “But I think we can find a use for Discord’s magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil.” Turning to face the ponies, she told them, “This is why I have brought Discord here, because I believe you are the ponies to do just that.”

The group was still staring askance at the statue with looks of disbelief on their faces, but after hearing the news, Spike quickly descended into panic. “This is never going to work, this is a disaster, how can we possibly control him, we’re doomed!”

Celestia shook her head and, giving a motherly smile, tried to calm them down. “Need I remind you that you were the ponies who turned him back to stone?”

Twilight frowned and spent a moment collecting her thoughts. ‘I can’t believe she is actually trying to get us to do this! She knows how badly he hurt us before… but I guess Celestia knows best.’

“Well, I guess we could just use the Elements of Harmony on him again if he gets out of hand.”

Noticing a way out, Spike nodded with a little too much enthusiasm. “We probably need somepony to run away really quickly and get them, I’ll do it!”

However, before he could get more than a step or two away, Celestia intervened. “There’s no need for that Spike, I have them right here. I knew you’d need them so I made sure to bring them along.” As Celestia said this, a group of royal guards placed an ornately crafted chest in front of Celestia. The chest was gilded with precious metals and gems and glowed with a shimmering aura of golden light.

A worried look spread across Twilight’s face. “W-wait, they’re in there? What if Discord just makes them vanish again?”

“Calm down, my pupil, I’ve put a spell on the Elements so Discord cannot get rid of them like last time.”

Grinning up a storm, Rainbow Dash rushed over and stared at the box with an expectant face. “Aww man this is so cool, I don’t know about you guys but I just feel so… so… amazing, when we have these. It’s like everything is…just… awesome!”

“I know, right! It’s like a superduperawesomespecialwarmglowy feeling in your body that just fills everything up and makes you go wheeee!” Springing up into air Pinkie Pie began to bounce around in ecstasy. Showing no signs of stopping, the task of halting her came to her friends, and it took both Rarity and Twilight to get her to come back down to earth.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Dash. I wonder if that’s just the feeling we get or if it’s a feeling that the Elements of Harmony actually create to make us work together. Hmm… maybe I should do some research.” At the thought of research Twilight seemed to come alive, eyes sparkling and body tingling with energy.

Putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, Rarity sighed. “I know how much you love your experiments darling but now’s not really the time is it?”

“I guess not… Oh well, maybe another time,” Twilight nodded and seemed to slump with a sigh.

“Fear not, my faithful pupil, after this I am entrusting the Elements to you for safekeeping, so if anything ever happens you’ll have instant access to them. I’m sure you will be able to experiment on them then.” Turning to face the chest, Celestia leant down and placed her horn on the lock. With a brilliant golden light, the magical glow that had surrounded the box faded and the chest opened.
A gasp of awe was the only sound heard as the radiance of the Elements was revealed, bathing the entire area in an aura of tranquillity and peace.

“I’ll never get over seeing these, they’re beautiful,”

“…magical,”

“…amazing,”

“…and so cool!”

All four ponies moved forward and, as they approached, the Elements began gravitating towards their bearers. Seconds later the four ponies stood together, magical energy emanating from them as they attuned to the Elements and, in turn, the Elements to them. As the energy dimmed, Celestia stepped forward and looked over the group with a frown. “Now where is Fluttershy, I believe she may best know how to reform Discord.”

With a look of disbelief on her face Rainbow Dash flew to Celestia’s side “Fluttershy… really?”

“Yes Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy.”

Dropping to the floor, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shook her mane in annoyance “Okay… I guess you know best and It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to say Discord’s an animal... which means Fluttershy would know how best to deal with him.”
Gasping in shock, Twilight looked at her friend. “You can’t say that about someone Dash...” the look of shock turned to giggles as the thought went round in her head. “Although I guess he is a bit primitive…”

“Primitive? Darling, he’s an absolute savage!”

And with that, the conversation left the serious topic of the upcoming freeing of Discord and turned to more trivial matters.

Snarling in anger, Discord raged inside his shell of stone, his dream form resting on a bed of ethereal energy and observing the ponies as they mocked him. HIM! ‘I’ve toppled kingdoms, lived for millennia, destroyed anyone foolish enough to challenge me and yet this is the second time in a single century that I’ve been beaten by these pathetic, snivelling… ponies! ‘

He reached out in rage and grasped a handful of energy, moulded it into a small replica of Twilight and stroked it softly. “Oh my little pony, when I finally escape this wretched place, I will take no chances…” Placing his claw on the replica, he turned its vibrant violet to a dark, dull grey, covered in black and purple energy. “Yes… Next time your corruption will be complete.”

Looking back, he still couldn’t understand how it was possible, even with the help of those blasted Elements that they’d managed to shrug off his corruption so easily. No one had ever resisted the corruption of their true self and he had made sure to personally deal with each of them. Slowly but surely, as it always did during his moments of retrospection, his mind drifted back to that accursed day when his freedom had been taken from him. And due to his location the events of that memory began to form around him, forcing him to relive it.

Again.

There he sat, on his throne of chaos, looking out over his domain. Celestia and Luna were powerless, those pathetic bearers had been dealt with and he could finally start shaping this world to its original form.

His form.

A group of ponies jumped out from behind a building and, within seconds, a horde of long legged bunnies had carried them off into the distance. Laughing, he leant back in his throne.

“Oh it’s good to be king, but all this work is making me thirsty…” Reaching out, he summoned a candyfloss cloud along with a simple glass cup and, with a flick of his wrist, chocolate rain began to move upwards into the cloud whilst simultaneously manifesting in the cup, filling it from right to left in direct defiance of the natural order. “Oh, chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing,” he chuckled to himself, sipping from his drink and getting glass rather than chocolate.

“Not as wonderful as friendship!” Eyes narrowed, he turned to face the fools who dared argue with him in his domain. To his utter shock, he saw the six ponies whose friendship he had broken and corrupted. However, no one ever called Discord jumpy and with a smooth grin he leant to the side and raised an eyebrow cockily. “Ahhh, this again…”

Ignoring the assembled “friends” in front of him, he smirked and finished the drink in his hand. As the glass was sipped away the chocolate was left hovering, without any glass, and with a shrug he threw it away, and promptly heard it explode into shards of glass and mud.

The small orange pony stepped forward and stomped her hoof down. “That’s right! You couldn’t break apart our friendship for long!”

“Oh Applejack, don’t lie to me.” Raising his claw, he summoned his magic and with it grabbed her Element and dragged her upwards to face him. “I turned you into a liar, and I can tell when you’re lying.” He sneered, grinning manically.

Channelling his magic he clenched his claw into a fist and, using the motion to control said magic, pulled the puny Elements and their bearers to his side with the exception of Twilight, who stubbornly remained standing, the Element of magic atop her head. “Will you fillies ever learn?”

Glaring angrily, Twilight channelled her magic through her Element and teleported herself into the middle of her friends as a shield of purple energy manifested around the group.

Seeing this, Discord growled in anger. Leaning back in his golden throne, he glared at the six ponies and waited for their next move. His interest was piqued and, although he would deny it, fear came with it when the shield connected with the ground and dispelled his chaotic influence.

“I’ll tell you what we’ve learned, Discord! Friendship isn’t always easy but there’s no doubt it’s worth fighting for!” As Twilight’s rant continued, her five friends gathered around her, eyes narrowed and sending looks of venom in Discord’s direction. He gave them a sly smile, but in the back of his mind the image of Celestia and Luna banishing him to stone flickered, like a distant nightmare, warning him of the possible danger. Ignoring his instincts, Discord glanced over at them with a look of disgust on his face.

“Urrgghhh gag, fine, go on, use your little Elements, just make it quick, I'm missing some excellent chaos here.” He grinned devilishly, resting back on his throne.

“Alright girls! Let’s show him what friendship can do!”

“Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!” Groaning collectively, the ponies looked over to see Pinkie Pie sitting under a cloud, slurping up as much chocolate rain as she could.

Seeing the whole scene, Discord shook his head and banished the memory of his imprisonment. These ponies couldn’t touch him.
After having her fill and letting out a slightly disturbing moan of happiness Pinkie Pie skipped over and joined her friends. As she took her place, Twilight began to channel the Elements, and with a harmonious ring, the magical energy started to charge. After a few seconds it gathered so much power than it caused the six ponies to raise of the ground, practically vibrating with energy.

Discord, unimpressed, continued to stare at them, yawning loudly.

Finally, the Elements finished attuning to their bearers and stared to glow, sending bolts of iridescent energy flying towards Discord. Frowning, he dodged the first few and looked at the ponies in confusion. “Huh… what’s this, they can’t possibly be…” Eyes widening he gripped his throne and called out to the chaotic energy surrounding him, black mists forming and all manner of strange items appearing. “No!”

It was too late to do anything as Twilight opened her eyes and the energy of the Elements flowed through her, banishing the chaotic magic he had summoned. Seconds later, a beam of energy flowed out from her Element and rose into the sky, glowing brightly for all to see before crashing down towards him in a burst of multi-coloured light.

“No! You can’t do this! Nooooooooooooo…” Growing desperate, he called forth his full powers and dark cracks began to appear in the very fabric of reality itself. But he was too late to stop the petrification.

Roaring in pain Discord did everything he could think of to stave off the pain of being forced into one form but nothing worked. And as he was wrenched back out of the memory, gasping in pain, his rage grew ever higher.

Banishing the memories for now he leant back and started to plan his revenge once more. He was brought out of his planning when he heard a pony shout in anger and rotated the collection of dreamscape windows that he had arrayed about himself so that he could see where the shout emanated from.

He was pleasantly surprised when he saw Applejack and Fluttershy standing next to a beaver dam arguing over something or the other. “Hmmm… It seems like the perfect friends are not so perfect after all,” Summoning some popcorn he leant back in his now extremely comfortable armchair, and turned to face the screen.

‘At least this will relieve some of the boredom this frustratingly singular realm brings…’ sighing in annoyance he let the thought fade ‘Oh well, on with the show!’

“What’s he goin’ on about now?”

Applejack turned to look at her friend and tried to rein in her anger once again as she contemplated just kicking this stupid beaver’s dam down and releasing the water that was flooding her precious orchard. However, seeing Fluttershy’s kind face smiling back at her caused her anger to disappear. “Good news! Mr. Beaverton Beaverteeth has agreed to take his dam apart and move it.”

“Well, it's about time. My apple trees are so waterlogged, I can practically hear 'em gargle!”

Seeing the look on her friend’s face, Fluttershy hesitantly added “But you have to apologise for calling him a nuisance.”

In a flash all of her anger returned, and Applejack stomped her hoof down, turning to face the… the… creature that had dared to damage her orchard “Apologise! He’s lucky I didn’t call him a varmint!

The beaver in question took offense to that and began to chatter aggressively, staring defiantly at Applejack. Fluttershy was having none of it however and proceeded to give him a piece of her mind. “Mr. Beaverton, such language!” Having chastised the beaver, she turned to face Applejack and gave her a firm stare.

Her patience at an end, Applejack swallowed her pride and looked at the beaver, sighing in frustration before saying, in as nice a tone as could be managed, “Fine, fine… I apologise.”

“Now what do we say Mr Beaverton?” Fluttershy said kindly, looking hopefully to the beaver. The only response that was given was a rude raspberry. Shocked, Fluttershy was about to intervene but before she could say anything Applejack growled and took a step forward, her eyes narrowed in anger, staring directly at the animal that was so rude to insult her on her own orchard! Quickly seeing the mistake he had made, the beaver began to pull the dam apart and very quickly the offending structure was disassembled and the water began to flow out. Letting out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding, Applejack smiled. “Thanks Fluttershy, I don’t know what I would’ve done without ya.”

“I'm just glad that I could help my friend.”

Applejack’s reply to this was cut off as a streak of rainbow lit up the sky and, without warning, a very flustered and irritated Rainbow Dash hovered above them with a stern expression. “Hey slackers! Double time it on down to Ponyville would ya? We’re all waiting on you!” And with another burst of speed she was gone again before either pony could respond.

“Well, I guess we’d better get going, Fluttershy!”

Nodding her assent, the two began to walk down to Ponyville where their friends were waiting.

Finally, the six ponies had gathered and as one they stood before the statue of the Draconequus. Princess Celestia stood next to the group as she calmly tried to reassure Fluttershy that she would be fine. “I realize that this is a tall order, but I wouldn't ask if I weren't confident you could get him to use magic obediently of his own free will.”

Looking slightly mollified, Fluttershy stared up at the radiant princess beside her, “And you really think I'm the pony to do that?” she muttered weakly.

Realising the fear her little pony felt, Princess Celestia gently tilted Fluttershy’s head up with her hoof. Looking into her eyes she smiled warmly and nodded “I do.”

Seeing the support that her princess was giving her Fluttershy blushed and smiled happily.

“Now I must return to Canterlot for the Royal Summit. You may release Discord whenever you’re ready.”

With that the Princess’ chariot was pulled away by her royal pegasi and the friends were left alone with the statue.

Twilight turned to face the statue and looked up at it with a determined glare. “Alright ponies let’s get started; and hope that the releasing spell works.”

Looking over Twilight’s shoulder with a confused face, Spike shook his head. “Or we could not?”

“Spike, now’s not the time to back out, we’re going to do this and we’re going to do it right.”

Drawing the chest over with her magic, Twilight opened it, and the remaining two elements practically leapt to their bearers as all six ponies took up positions around the statue. “We’d best keep our elements on at all times until further notice.”

A chorus of “checks” came from the group. Seeing everyone was ready, Twilight closed her eyes and searched inside herself for the power to activate the power of the Elements. The initial struggle was difficult but as soon as the Element detected its counterparts its energy began to spill out in waves.

All around her the other Elements were activating and releasing the auras of energy that signalled their use. As the six Elements began to power up the background level of magical energy began to skyrocket, and soon the very ground was shaking with the power wielded by these six ponies.

Looking on in awe and fear, Spike backed away slowly as the rainbow energy that was the Element’s mark began to link the ponies and complete the spell. Opening her eyes to reveal the white light of the energy searing through her, Twilight took the beams of power and directed them towards the statue of Discord. As the light swirled around the statue a certain Draconequus’s face dropped in amazement before lighting up in excitement.

‘You have got to be kidding me! When Celestia came up with this plan I thought she was just torturing me.’ Grasping the sides of his throne Discord pushed himself to his feet and stared through the main screen that had enlarged to give him a detailed view of his surroundings.

‘I know she knows I'm aware… why would she possibly…’ Shaking his head, he grinned and stood up, stretching himself, and looked to the screen. “Well if she’s going to give me this chance then I'm going to take full advantage… Prepare yourself Equestria,” flexing his suddenly huge muscles, Discord smiled darkly and flashed a black grin, “Discord’s back, baby... And this time I mean business!”

With the spell finished the six ponies dropped to their hooves and stared at the cloud of stone dust that was currently swirling around the spot that the statue had occupied. Frowning, Twilight stepped forward and looked into the cloud, trying to discern what was in there, but the cloud was so thick it was practically opaque. Trotting closer, ever so slowly, her horn lit up and she began to clear the dust away.

It was at this moment that Discord burst out of the smoke, clearing it instantly, and sending Twilight scurrying back in a state of panic. Rising upward, he grabbed her neck with a claw before she could get further away and brought her up to look at him. Giving a smug grin he threw her backwards to land painfully on her flank and clutched his own neck, groaning melodramatically.

“Ahhhhh! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!”

Most of the ponies ignored the nonsensical comment, rushing over to see if Twilight was okay, however Rainbow Dash frowned and turned to face the Lord of Chaos. “Wait a second, ten thousand years? You’ve only been in that statue for a few months since we last sealed you away!”

“Oh my little Dashie…” Discord teleported towards her, in such a way that it looked as if he was slithering between the dimensions – a truly disconcerting site – and patted her on the head. “…you may not get it but they do!” Grinning he turned and waved an arm as if motioning to an invisible audience.

This just left Rainbow Dash more confused as she turned to look at the empty field. “But… there’s no one there?”

“That’s what you think. Now. Why have you brought little old me back from…?” –At this, he brought his hands into air quotes – “…‘eternal’ banishment?”

Behind Rainbow Dash, Twilight shook off the hooves of her friends and got to her own. “We’ve released you because Celestia asked us to.”

Realising where she was and how close to Discord she had gotten, Rainbow Dash scampered back, forgoing her wings in her panic to get away. As soon as she noticed what she was doing, in front her friends no less, she instantly took to the air and joined the other five ponies (and dragon) that were standing together glaring daggers at Discord.

“Good! It’s about time someone got me out of that prison block! What a relief.” Stretching out with a pleased smile on his face, Discord snapped his fingers and all around the edges of the field that they stood on grass began to blacken and turn into long sharp-looking vines.

Gasping in surprise Twilight stomped her hoof down. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Turning around mid-air in such a way that as many basic rules of the universe were broken as possible, Discord grinned maliciously. “Stretching of course, when one is a being of pure chaos solid stone forms are not the particular go-to fashion choice,”

The joking tone died and his grin became cold. “Especially when you are aware of your situation.” Snapping his fingers again the vines began to spread across the field, turning the normal grass black and capturing any small animals unfortunate enough to come into range. One particular animal caught was a small bunny rabbit that disappeared into the depths of the black vines. Seconds later it emerged, eyes dark and body grossly mutated.

Eyes wide, Pinkie Pie let out a growl. “You make that bunny cute again, now!”

Letting out a soft chuckle Discord floated over to the bunny and scratched its fur under the chin. “I think he’s adorable just the way he is.”The bunny promptly responded by taking a bite at his hand, which prompted a dark glare from the Draconequus and with a small snap of his claw the bunny ceased to be.

“Do you know what else is adorable? You ponies actually believe you can try to reform me.” Looking at each of them in turn he could see the courage they held knowing their precious Elements were there to keep them safe. The thought brought a rage-fuelled glare to his eyes and a menacing tone to his voice. “Or that you can stop me if I don’t.

The funniest thing by far though, is that you’re putting all your trust in this one here!” Teleporting over to said yellow mare, Discord looked at her through an oversized magnifying glass before throwing it away and teleporting again. This time he materialised on the other side of Fluttershy with the attire of an old grandmare. “It makes me want to pinch your little horsey cheeks.” Acting on his words, Discord grabbed one of Fluttershy’s cheeks and pinched it, hard, hard enough for two small pricks of blood to form and for Fluttershy to pull back with a cry of pain.

“Oh come now Fluttershy… Don’t cry because of me.”

With a huff Rainbow Dash rushed forward and put herself between Discord and Fluttershy. “Hey, stay away from her!”

Brought out of the daze she was in by Dash, Twilight took a step forward as well. “And how about telling us how you knew we were planning to reform you!”

Discord spun his head around, body spinning the opposite way, and frowned. “Oh Twilight, being sealed in stone doesn’t keep me from hearing every word Celestia says. Although I admit it makes rolling my eyes rather a challenge.” His grin back, but subdued, Discord popped out his eyes and rolled them along the floor letting them fall into two small holes that had appeared out of nowhere.

“I mean, can you imagine it? Year after year stuck there with absolutely nothing to do. Every day forced to listen to that Princess’s nonsense about friendship and mercy.” The Draconequus let his shoulders slump and sunk to the ground, tears streaming from his empty eye sockets. “It’s ironic really… for so long I sat back and enjoyed my chaotic rule. Not once thinking about what I was doing. Now after so long with nothing to do but think, I seem to have changed.”

“That’s not ironic...That doesn't even make sense!” Twilight said with an insulted tone.

"Exactly!" Discord’s body vanished then rose back up from the ground, complete with eyes, to face the annoyed glare of Twilight. “And unless you want to be turned back to stone you’ll zap those animals back the way they were pronto!”

Clutching his sides, Discord let out a dark laugh. “Oh you wouldn’t use the elements on me and risk disappointing your precious Princess!"

Diving down from her position above the group, Rainbow Dash prodded him sharply with a hoof. “Try us, Dipcord!”

Flying close behind was Fluttershy. “Who do you think you are? You can’t just show up and start ignoring me and my friends, that’s just cruel!”

Shaking his head Discord merely smiled, eyes flashing menacingly. “Oh but I can. You see, you ponies seem to have missed something rather important.”

A worried frown crossed Twilight’s face as she stepped back. “And what’s that?”

With a mood change that that came out of nowhere, Discord teleported directly in front of Twilight and lifted her up into the air, his face a mask of rage and his eyes full of millennia of hate. “I am Discord…”

A flick of the wrist sent Twilight crashing into the floor. “Master of Anarchy…”

A wave of his arm and the black vines all around the field began to grow. “God of Chaos…”

A snap of his claw caused the sky to blacken with clouds of obsidian. “Ruler of this world!”

Rising up into the air Discord gathered chaotic energy to him and glared down at the ponies that were beginning to panic, his eyes awash with lightning, his body surrounded by an aura of crackling darkness. Discord threw his arms wide and a wave of energy surged across the ground, throwing the ponies and the dragon flying back in different directions. “And it’s about time that I ended you pathetic creatures!”

Staggering to her hooves, Twilight brought her magic up just in time to stop a bolt of chaotic energy. Expanding the energy to cover both her and Rarity, who had landed nearby, Twilight looked around, searching for the rest of her friends.

She found Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy first. The blast had sent them both flying off in the opposite direction to Rarity and herself, and it seemed that Fluttershy had been stunned by the force of the blast.

Always quick to react, Rainbow Dash had managed to right herself in mid-air. The move was just in time as barely a second later a projectile similar to the one Twilight had just blocked flew past her, missing by inches.

Gasping in surprise, Rainbow twisted to the side then launched forward and grabbed Fluttershy, pulling her up onto her back and away from the grasping vines that clawed at her from the ground as Twilight watched.

“Rainbow! Over here!” Galloping forward, Twilight levitated Rarity alongside her and moved the shield to cover them as they ran. Hearing Twilight’s shout, Rainbow made a sharp turn in the sky and dove towards the safety of the shield.

Seeing this, Discord growled and brought his hands together and from them launched a volley of grasping claws towards the pegasi.
“Rainbow Dash, watch out!”

Dash threw herself to the right, several claws flying past her. Up ahead, she saw Twilight on her way. She pulled out of the dive hard, another claw barely missing her hind legs. Two strong flaps brought her and Fluttershy over the next claw. A tight roll to the right narrowly dodged another, and before Discord could adjust his aim Rainbow threw herself into another dive. Her trademark rainbow streaking behind her, she forced herself to go faster; every single second counted.

Down below, watching her friend dodge the claws with hardly any time to spare, Twilight prayed for Dash to reach the shield in time. And reach it she did, but at the last second a claw grazed her hoof and with a horrible screeching folded in on itself, latching onto Rainbow’s leg.

Her concentration broken by the claw, Rainbow Dash crashed into the ground, hard, her body rolling over in the dirt as Fluttershy fell from her back. Instantly Twilight was by her side, horn glowing as she lowered Rarity down and focused on fighting the chaotic energy that Discord was channelling.

Rainbow cried out in pain as she flapped her wings frantically, panic setting in. “Get it off, get if off!”

“I can’t get it off if you don’t stay still!” Reaching forward, Twilight grabbed Dash’s tail with her mouth and yanked her to the ground. Placing her hooves on her friend’s leg, Twilight leaned down and pressed her horn to the black claw that was travelling along the cyan mare’s fur.

With a flash of light and the crackle of magic, the claw vanished. Noticing the claw was gone, Rainbow Dash immediately sprung into the air, the relief evident on her face. “I… I could have dealt with it, you know… but thanks, that was pretty scary”

“Don’t worry, I think we’re all a bit scared at the moment. Now, could we please get back to Discord?!”

The four ponies nodded in agreement and got to their hooves. What graced them when the shield faded was a sight to inspire awe. Discord was roaring in fury and launching waves of fire, bolts of chaos and volleys of grasping claws at Pinkie Pie. The force of the magic was immense, but that wasn’t what was so shocking. Standing in the middle of it all was Pinkie Pie. Laughing.

As the magic rained down upon her, Pinkie Pie was laughing. Her melodic giggles echoed beautifully across the field, and as each spell neared her it fizzled and vanished. On her neck the element of laughter was glowing brightly, the light shining from it reflecting in Pinkie’s eyes.

Twilight looked on in wonder, her anxiety allayed briefly by the amazing sight. “How… how is she doing that?”

Applejack stopped for breath and looked up at Twilight “I dunno, sugarcube, but it’s working!”

“Applejack! When did you get here?” Looking to her friend in surprise, Twilight glanced behind Applejack to see a trail of hoof prints leading from a patch of grass far away to where she’d landed to where she stood now.

“While Pinkie Pie was distractin’ him I thought ah’d hightail it over here and help ya’ out.” Twilight nodded.

“You’re right; with you here that makes all of us. Now Pinkie’s given us a chance. We need to use the Elements on him, now!”

Nodding in agreement the five ponies stood together and galloped towards Discord.

The Elements, already primed and ready, linked together and began to charge up. Seething in rage at his failure to kill even one of the blasted Elements, Discord spun around to see the other five together and ready.

Bringing his powers to bear, he sent a wave of black vines, shimmering with energy, lancing through the air to deal with them once and for all. His efforts were for naught, however, as the Elements reacted and brought up a shimmering shield of chromatic light.

Seeing his plan ruined and realising he couldn’t win this fight, Discord shrugged and snapped his fingers. The vines and clouds vanished, all of the animals that had been affected instantly disappeared and within seconds everything was back to normal aside from the shimmering form of the six Elements, radiating enough power to send him back to eternal damnation. “Okay, you passed my little test; I’ll give ‘reforming’ a try.”

“Oh no, your little stunt has shown us that you cannot be trusted. You’re going back to stone!” Twilight responded.

“No! I refuse to be trapped in that horrible form ever again,” Raising his hands Discord gathered the magical energy of chaos to him once again and clicked his fingers.

Eyes wide, Twilight brought the magic of the elements to her horn and, eyes glowing white with the stored energy, sent a chromatic beam in Discord’s direction. It was too late, however. With a spectral pop, and a puff of green smoke, Discord vanished; leaving no sign he was ever there at all.

“No!” Dropping to the ground, Twilight galloped forward, her horn flaring and sending waves of magical energy across the field; hoping, desperately, that she could somehow catch Discord in the middle of his teleport and disrupt his spell. It wasn’t possible, but she didn’t know what else to do.

Her friends merely stood where they’d landed, shock running through them at the events that had just transpired. Not only had Discord gone completely out of control, but they’d let him get away. And no one felt the pain of failing more acutely than Twilight; as her magic faded, she collapsed to her haunches, tears streaming down her face as the implications of their – her – actions sank in.