Discord sat in Fluttershy's home in Ponyville. He sighed, bored. This was no way for a God of Chaos to live! Where was the corruption? The destruction? There were only three pluses to living like this. The first one was immunity from the Elements of Harmony, meaning he didn't have to spend thousands of years bored out of his mind as a statue. The second was that it was unusual and interesting, being the good guy for once. Chaos is random, meaning it isn't always bad. It wouldn't be very chaotic of him to pick one side and stay there, now would it? The third advantage, was, well... Fluttershy. Discord hadn't had a friend before, and it was an experience like no other. He couldn't even begin to describe how much he enjoyed the feeling. However, he felt the loss of chaos deep in his heart. Chaos had been who he was, his very soul and being, for all of eternity. To step away from that path, even for a metaphorical eye-blink in his life, was a horrifying experience. It was comparable to ripping your own soul out for your only friend. He snapped his claws, and appeared on top of Fluttershy's cottage. He couldn't help the way he felt, and he just couldn't stand having his very essence absent from his life. He needed to cause some entropy.
"I'm so sorry, Fluttershy." he whispered to the wind and the starry night sky. "I just can't take this any longer."
With one snap of his claws, the moon lowered from the south and the sun rose from the west. With another, the clouds changed to cotton candy and rain to chocolate milk. He resisted the urge to turn the animals wild, however. Despite turning his back on his reformation, he couldn't quite bring himself to leave behind the only friend he had ever had, and he knew that the instant he started messing with animals, Fluttershy would... well... best not to dwell on that. Anyway, it's different from the last three times. I could use a change. he told himself, refusing to let himself believe that Fluttershy still played such a huge role in his life. After all, he was chaos embodied, the very opposite of friendship and all it stood for! He snapped his fingers and vanished, entering one of the stain glass windows of himself in Canterlot Castle. He looked on at Celestia, who had already sent a dragon-fire scroll to Twilight, and was waiting for their arrival.
"Discord, I know you're watching. Show yourself!" Celestia demanded.
Discord winced mentally. Was he really so predictable? Then he thought for a moment, and stayed perfectly still. If Celestia thought that he wasn't really there, it would be really embarrassing to catch her yelling at walls! I wonder how many times she's done that... he grinned mentally. Sure enough, after about fifteen minutes Celestia began to blush.
"I thought he would be here. Where is he?" she muttered to herself. "Good thing Twilight should arrive shortly. I probably shouldn't have left Luna alone at the station to wait for them, though. Now that Discord can't mess with the Elements, what could possibly go wrong?"
Discord grinned mentally. Almost everything that can possibly go wrong will do so. he thought to himself. He waited patiently for the Mane Six to arrive, contenting himself to watch Celestia pace back and forth. Soon, Luna entered the room, followed by Twilight and her friends.
"I believe you can tell why I summoned you here." said Celestia, her face grave. "Discord once again roams free, and we must entrap him again. Apparently the reformation didn't work."
"I-I-I'm sure he had a perfectly good reason. The Discord I know wouldn't do this." said Fluttershy quietly. "Right?"
"I don' know 'bout that, Fluttershy." said Applejack. "I always knew he was up ta somethin'."
"Yeah. He never changed a bit!" said Rainbow Dash, hovering above the ground. "We need to find him and stop him, fast!"
"But, what if he's not bad?" asked Fluttershy timidly.
"Uh, Fluttershy? If he's causing all this chaos, how could he possibly be good?" asked Twilight, an unsure look on her face.
Discord's emotions varied throughout this display. Fluttershy's first comment almost broke his heart, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash made him furious. Twilight's comment didn't help, either. It just goes to show how very little they understand me! Discord growled to himself. Dash doesn't think I changed at all! Applejack thought I was planning this all this time, when I honestly attempted to give up chaos for a time! Twilight can't see that I can't just leave my essence behind! he was so angry that he missed the next bit of discussion.
"-eed to get the elements of Harmony!" Discord heard Twilight say as she walked out the doorway. Discord teleported to the place in Twilight's house where the elements were kept.
"What can I do, what can I do..." said Discord, frustrated. Now that he couldn't mess with the Elements, this was going to be a lot harder. "I need to keep them from the Elements. But how can I do that without messing with the Elements?" a smile rose on his face. "I mess with the Bearers! But I don't want to mess with Fluttershy..." his face fell. Literally. He put it back on his head, then smiled again. "I just need to make it so they can't see the elements!" he said, happy again. With a simple snap of his fingers, the Bearers couldn't see the Elements. Discord chuckled and teleported to Celesta's hall. They were due for a chat. He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt the need to explain why he did this to his former fri-Ally! Not friend! he thought to himself. It was disturbing to him that he almost called Celestia his friend. I guess it was pretty fun staying at her castle... Oh, and I just love Philomena. She's a great prankster!
Celestia watched the chaos-changed land from one of her windows, when she heard a cough from behind her. She turned to see Discord standing there, with... somehow, sadness in his expression?
"Celestia, we need to talk." said Discord.