Six soggy ponies trudged along the path leading out of Ponyville and toward the Everfree forest. The ground was covered in a muddy mixture of water and cocoa glop. Pinkie Pie strained to catch the last drops of chocolate rain that fell in ever lessening amounts. The storm was coming to a close and the chaos clouds had mostly turned a bright, fluffy pink. The Pegasi weather team continued to struggle in their efforts to corral the feisty clouds. The sticky mess of the new cotton candy clouds made for a sugary afternoon.
As they neared the edge of the forest, the path hardened under hoof and the glop faded from sight. Things looked strangely normal here in contrast to Ponyville—not really a thought that would instill confidence seeing as where they were headed was a pretty wild place under normal circumstances. A familiar face called out a greeting as they cleared the last little hill before the tree line.
“My little pony friends, a curious day indeed,
for you come traveling into the Everfree.”
“Zecora!” Twilight shouted in reply.
“Whatever brings you out this way while the chaos rain falls?
I can barely see the future, and the omens are not good at all.”
“We’re on our way to the Castle of the Two Sisters,” replied Twilight. “We need to get to the bottom of this whole chocolate chaos mess.”
“The castle of the sisters is your destination so you say,
but wouldn’t the Tree of Harmony be a better way?”
Zecora winked at Twilight and gave her a knowing smile.
A bit bashful and taken back, Twilight responded, “Oh, yes, we are going to visit the tree. I-I wasn’t sure anypony else knew it was even there.”
“Harmony and balance, for each must have their place.
The Tree will have your answers, but the dangers, you must face.
Hurry little pony friends, I fear the time grows short,
Chaos must be kept in check; this evil you must thwart.”
Zecora resumed her lotus position and let out a gentle hum as she fell back into her meditative state. Twilight knew Zecora could be cryptic, but this was strange even for her. It was obvious that they weren’t going to get much more in the way of conversation from the reclusive Zebra, so they said their one sided goodbyes and drove on into the forest.
Applejack leaned over towards Twilight and gave her a small nudge to break her out of the concentrative trance she was in. “What do ya think Zecora meant by ‘danger’, Twi?” The pair lagged a bit behind the others as they journeyed the now familiar path toward the castle and the Tree of Harmony that lay in the cave beneath it.
Twilight shook her head as she refocused on her friend’s question. “I don’t know, Applejack, but it didn’t sound good. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be another epic adventure where the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.” Twilight gave a small and shaky giggle. “I’m still recovering from the last one.”
“Right there with ya, partner. What I wouldn’t give ta throw up my hooves and kick back with a tall glass a Sweet Apple Cider—not a worry in the world. All this world saving business sure ain’t the stuff I’m used to.”
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “I have a feeling that we’ll have to earn that drink, Applejack. The Tree of Harmony wouldn’t call to me for no reason. We still don’t know for sure if this has something to do with Discord or not.”
“Guess we’ll have to wait and see what the tree has to tell us then.” Applejack picked up the pace.
Twilight nodded and quickened her step as well to catch up with the others. The Castle of the Two Sisters wasn’t far now. Soon they would find what the Tree of Harmony had called them for. Twilight had her doubts that this was just a friendly visit.
The group reached the edge of the cliff and slowly made their way down the narrow steps into the gorge surrounding the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. The Tree of Harmony gave off a rainbow light glow as they approached the cave entrance. As they stepped into the cave, they were greeted by the last person they would have thought to meet there—Discord.
The snaggle-toothed mashup of half a dozen different animal body parts waved passionately as he beckoned the ponies forward. “Come in, come in! We’ve been expecting you. Whatever took you so long? Never mind, we have so much to talk about.”
Twilight felt a little uneasy as she cautiously approached the tree and the odd welcome committee chairman. “Discord, what are you doing here?”
“Twilight, so good to see you. It’s been ages since we had one of our legendary chats. Oh, how I’ve missed you. Pull up a chair and let’s do some catching up.” Discord snapped his lion clawed paw and Twilight suddenly found herself in a comfy high back plush sitting chair being thrust toward the tree.
The rest of the group soon joined her; Rarity on a fainting couch, Applejack in a wooden rocking chair, Fluttershy on a padded footstool, Rainbow Dash in a foal’s highchair, and Pinkie Pie on a folding lawn chair. Soon they were all gathered together around the base of the tree.
Rainbow Dash struggled to free herself from the confinement of the infant seat she was strapped into. “What gives?!” she grunted as she finally worked her forehooves free of the much too small for her seat. “You better have a good reason for that chaos storm you just saddled Ponyville with!”
“Oh my dear, naïve little pony,” chortled Discord, “I had nothing to do with that little bit of chaos. I’m reformed—remember?”
“Well, if you didn’t have nothin’ to do with it,” demanded Applejack, “then why are my apple trees swimmin’ in chocolate puddin’?”
Discord replied, “If it were up to me, ‘chocolate rain day’ would be every other Thursday. But seeing as that notion is frowned upon by most ponies,” he turned and winked at Pinkie Pie, “I’ve kept myself rather restrained in the chaos department. Regarding this specific case, however, I’m just as baffled as you are.”
“Well, if it wasn’t you,” Twilight continued, “Then who—or what—was it? That kind of thing doesn’t just happen on its own.”
Discord turned around and slung his arms behind his back as he began to pace back and forth. “I’ve been asking myself that same thing. It really is amazing how much we think alike, you and I. This morning I simply woke up from my little nap and the chaos was already happening—right there over Ponyville. I said to myself, who—or what—could be causing my good friends in Ponyville so much trouble?”
“We’re going to need a better answer than that, Discord. It seems pretty hard to believe that ‘The Lord of Chaos’ wouldn’t know anything about this at all,” snapped Twilight. “If this is another one of your friendship tests, then we’re not playing your games.”
“Twilight, I can assure you that I had nothing to do with your little rain problem today.” Discord stopped his pacing which had formed a small trench in the dirt where had been walking. He turned and pointed up toward the tree above them. “In fact, I came to the Tree of Harmony myself to ask what She thought about it all. I would assume that since you all just arrived that you did indeed get our message—did you not?”
“What do you mean, your message, Discord?” Applejack inquired.
“I mean exactly that. I came here just after I woke up so that I could have a chat with my old friend Una. She thought it best to involve all of you, and well, here you are. Surely you must have received our message.”
Twilight took a moment to compose her response. “How do you know out about Una, and why would she talk to someone like you?”
“Princess, how terribly insensitive of you to ask. Una and I go way back. In fact, you could say that we go back to the very beginning. It wasn’t until recently, however, that we became friends.”
The ponies sat in stunned silence taking in the full impact of this new revelation.
“Allow me to continue, seeing as you all seem to be at a loss for words,” grinned Discord. “You see, being the ‘Lord of Chaos’ isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. For starters, everypony always assumes the worst of me.”
“And they’re probably right,” interjected Rainbow Dash.
Discord glanced in her direction and gently snapped his claw. A pacifier appeared in her mouth—practically glued to her lips. “As I was saying, I’m not really a bad Chaos Lord, I’m just misunderstood. Una here is the only one who truly gets me—no offence, Fluttershy.”
“I think it’s wonderful that you’ve made new friends, Discord,” Fluttershy smiled back.
“Oh thank you, Fluttershy,” he mused. “I’ve been trying to branch out in my friendship circles. Who better to do that with than Una here?”
“Discord,” Twilight asked again, “how did you know she was more than just the Tree of Harmony?”
“Like I said, dear Twilight, Una is the only one that really understands me because we share the same point of creation.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack scratched her head.
“It means, the magic that was used to create the Spell of Harmony could only have done so by creating a balance of equal power. When Una became the Tree of Harmony, I was born.”
“I don’t understand,” commented Applejack. “What do you mean by bein’ born? Aren’t you the only one like you?”
“Take a moment and think, you’re all smart little ponies—well, some of you more than others—but still.” Discord made a nod towards Rainbow Dash who was still struggling with the pacifier stuck in her mouth. “I am Discord, Lord of Chaos. The very opposite of the Elements of Harmony and the magic they represent. Una here became the embodiment of the Elements of Harmony and by doing so, created me.”
“I think I’m starting to understand now,” said Twilight. “It’s just like what Zecora was saying to us just a while ago—everything exists in balance!”
Discord poofed a grey mustache which he began to stroke and spoke with an old time accent, “By Celestia, I think she’s got it!”
“The spirit of harmony,” she continued, “is on one side while the spirit of chaos acts as its balance.”
“We have a winner!” shouted Discord as a small explosion of confetti and fireworks shot out from his tail. “I knew you would understand.”
“But that doesn’t answer the question, Discord,” rejoined Applejack. “We wanna know why Ponyville was just attacked by chocolate rain dumpin’ chaos clouds.”
“Oh, honest Applejack, you do know how to cut to the chase.” Discord dramatically brought his lion paw up to his forehead and extended his other arm out to the other side. “I too share your pain. I came here seeking the answer to that very same question.”
He motioned back to the tree and continued, “She doesn’t usually say much, but when she does, I have to admit, she’s always right.”
“Spit it out already,” cried Rarity. “What did the tree say and how long is this adventure going to last?”
Rarity was clearly at her limit. The tension had risen to her boiling point and all she wanted was to sit back in a nice relaxing bubble bath and free herself of the sickeningly sweet smell of chocolate that clung to her still semi-sweet and sticky mane. Twilight wondered how much more adventure she and her friends could take.
“Discord, we really need some answers here,” coaxed an anxious Twilight. “Could you please try and help us figure this out?”
“Oh all right then, theatrics aside, so be it. What it all comes down to this—listen closely. You can’t have day without night. You can’t have hot without cold. Someone would simply not exist without no one and vice versa, of course. So, it follows—you can’t have harmony without chaos.”
“I understand that part,” Twilight replied, “but what does that have to do with the chaos storm back home. You aren’t saying that your chaos magic caused it are you?”
“No, Twilight. What I’m saying is this—ever since Tirek stole my magic, I’ve lost control over the Elements of Disharmony.”