Visiting Chaos

by Ink Well Inks Well


Reformation Discussion

“Okay, girls, we need to be careful about this,” Twilight looked at the girls behind her, turning around and facing them. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as she thought- the building was still standing, after all. Still, it hadn’t even been 24 hours, so it wasn’t saying all that much. “Remember, we need to make sure Pinkie knows that we trust her, and think she’s responsible.”
“Yeah, yeah, Twilight, we know,” Rainbow rolled her eyes and flapped her wings lazily. “It’s Discord we don’t trust, not her.”
“I know that, and all of you know that, but she might not see it that way. We need to make sure she knows we’re offering this to her as a precaution, not because we doubt her,” the purple mare held up the book with the reforming spell in it.
“Aw, don’t worry about it too much, Twilight. Ah’m sure she’ll just be thankful fer the help, s’long as ya don’t mention the word ‘responsibility,’” Applejack smiled, shrugging. Fluttershy and Rarity both smiled and nodded in agreement.
Twilight smiled at the reassurance and opened the door to Sugarcube Corner.
It was filled, which was to be completely expected, as it was breakfast time. Unsurprisingly, breakfast was the busiest time of day for the bakery, and the girls watched for a few seconds as Pinkie zipped around, handing out muffins and croissants and even a few cupcakes and milkshakes, giving each customer their order with a bright, warm smile. When Pinkie saw them, however, she stopped in her tracks, and her already enormous smile grew bigger.
“Hiya, girls!” she bounced over happily, a tray of muffins in her mouth. “Are you here to taste the new muffin recipe? You wanna get a table? Or I can get you the booth! Or I could split you up so some of you get a table and some get a booth, but I don’t think-”
“Actually, Pinkie, we wanted to talk to you,” Twilight said gently, cutting off her perpetually overexcited friend.
Fluttershy squeaked, “U-unless this is a bad time... Is this a bad time? It is, isn’t it?”
“Nope!” Pinkie beamed. “Mrs. Cake said I could take a break to eat a few minutes ago, so I’ll just join you guys!” she led them to a table and set down the strange, purplish muffins. “You really should try these, they’re great! I’ll be back in a second.” Pinkie walked up to the counter. “Mrs. Cake, I’m taking my break now!”
“Okay, dear, just keep an eye on the clock!” Mrs. Cake smiled. The girls noticed she seemed a bit more tense than usual, but honestly, they couldn’t blame her. After all, having to play host to the spirit of disharmony had to be at least a bit nerve wracking.
Pinkie grinned and grabbed a few more pastries and drinks to share with her friends, before she hopped back and joined them at the booth, grabbing a muffin and shoving it into her mouth. “So, what’s goin’ on?”
Rarity took a muffin gingerly and started to unwrap the paper cup, taking a small bite. The taste was very, very strange- sweet and tangy, with a bit of a kick. She couldn’t tell what was in it, precisely, but it wasn’t bad. “Pinkie, darling, what’s in this, if you don’t mind me asking?”
She shrugged. “I dunno! You’ve gotta ask Screwy! I mean, you can’t ask her now, since she’s at school, but I’ll bet you can ask her later!” She put a hoof to her chin. “Or you can ask Dissy, he helped a bit, too!”
Rarity’s eyes widened and she stopped mid-bite. “...Discord made these?”
“Weeellllll, kinda. He really just poofed up hot sauce for Screwball to use,” she smiled. When Rarity put the muffin down, she frowned. “Aren’t you gonna eat that?”
“No, I’ve found I’ve... lost my appetite.”
Pinkie blinked. “Oh, well. More for me!” she laughed and downed the rest of the muffin.
“Actually, that was what we wanted to talk to you about,” Twilight started.
“The muffins?” Pinkie cocked her head to the side inquisitively. “Why would you wanna talk about the muffins, Twilight?”
“No, no, we wanted to talk about Discord-”
“Where is he, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, bristling a bit. Her question was answered not a second later when a loud crash and a small explosion resounded through the bakery, coming from Pinkie’s room. The Cakes jumped, and looked up nervously, but shook themselves and continued working.
“Uh, Pinkie?” Applejack looked at her fellow Earth pony, concerned. “Ain’t ya gonna go see what that is? If that was Discord, he coulda done just about anythin’ up there...”
“Nah, it’s all good!” Pinkie said. “I made him Pinkie Promise not to mess with any room other than mine, and not to hurt anypony or anything!” she laughed. “Don’t worry, if he does anything bad,” her expression turned a bit dark. “I’ll know.” she giggled, her demeanor changing and brightening. “Besides, he doesn’t have all that much power, since Celestia did some spell on him, so he can’t have done too much. It’s kinda sad, he gets really, really tired if he tries anything big!”
“Oh, well that’s a relief,” Twilight smiled, taking a tentative bite of one of the purple pastries. “I’m a bit surprised Celestia went to that length, but I suppose the benefit of having him under control outweigh any risks.”
“Risks?” Fluttershy asked, eyes widening.
“Well, yes. Magic draining spells can be really dangerous. Not so much for the casters, more for the subjects. But it’s less dangerous the more magic one has, especially if you leave them with a fraction of their magic still in their possession, so since Discord’s basically a god, and he still has some power left, he should be fine.”
Applejack shuddered. Twilight looked surprised. “Something wrong?”
“Ah dunno. Ah don’t like Discord more’n any of you girls... ‘cept Pinkie, I guess, but... usin’ dangerous magic on anypony just gives me the willies.”
“If it helps reign Discord in, then what’s the big deal?” Rainbow asked, rolling her eyes. “Besides, the Princess knows what she’s doing.”
“Ah never said she didn’t, Rainbow!” She stomped her hoof on the table, annoyed.
Fluttershy quivered. “Um, girls? I don’t think we should be fighting like this... we should really stay on topic...”
“You’re completely right, Fluttershy,” Rarity nodded. “We should get back to the matter at hoof."
"Right," Twilight nodded affirmatively, placing the book she'd brought on the table.
Pinkie looked at the tome curiously. "Whatcha got there, Twilight?"
Twilight levitated the book and started to flip through it, stopping when she got to the spell she was looking for. "Now, we trust you completely, I want you to know that," Pinkie nodded, and the unicorn continued, "but I thought you might want a backup, just in case dealing with Discord doesn't go as planned. This is a reforming spell, and-"
"No."
Twilight stopped, and the girls looked at her, shocked.
"Why ever not, Pinkie?" Rarity asked, blinking.
"Because if we use a spell, then what's the point in trying to help him and be his friends? I don't wanna make him do anything, I want him to do it because he wants to! I want him to like us and be happy and everything because that's what he really feels like! I'm not going to use a spell." She looked very firm, something that didn't really fit Pinkie all that well.
"Ugh, Pinkie, come on!"
"No, Dashie. I'm not using magic. It's just not fair, and it isn't right."
Twilight blinked, and cleared her throat, putting the book down. "Well... Okay. Just remember we have the spell if you ever change your mind."
"Thanks, Twilight. But I won't."
Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to speak. "So, um, do you have any ideas about how to change Discord, then?"
Pinkie shook her head cheerily. "Nope!"
"What?" Twilight's eyes widened. "Then why are you-"
"Because I'm not going to change him, silly!"
"But that's what you're supposed to do!" Rainbow exclaimed, exasperated.
Pinkie blinked in befuddlement. "No it's not. I'm supposed to reform him. That doesn't mean I need to change him! I just gotta be his friend, and he'll change on his own. You all did."
Twilight looked at her, slightly appalled, and kind of offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, when we all became your friends, you were grumpy and you only cared about your studies and you didn't even want any friends! And we didn't make you change any of that! We still know that your studies are really super important to you! And we still know that family and the farm come first for Applejack, and that she can be super stubborn, we totally respect Rarity's business and we get that she throws herself into her work and into maintaining her image, we don't wanna keep Dashie's heads out of the clouds and we try and help with her dreams, and know she can get a bit hotheaded, but we love her anyways, we don't try and push Fluttershy more than she can take it, and we totally get that there are some things that she doesn't wanna do and we don't get angry or annoyed at her for it. But that doesn't mean we haven't still all improved! Twilight's friendlier and more social, Applejack's more willing to accept help, Rarity's less worried about her image, Dashie's more humble, and Fluttershy's more bold and confident! And you guys help me be my best, too! You help me slow down, and stop me from getting really worried about small stuff, and make me feel more secure! We make each other the best we can be, and we help each other out with our flaws and problems, but none of us force it onto each other. That's not what friends do. I'm not gonna just force him to change. What would be the point in trying to be his friend, if I'm gonna make it so he's not even really himself?"
Applejack sighed, then smiled softly, shaking her head. "Now, all that's true, and it's a real sweet thought, sugarcube, but Ah reckon this is a bit different. We all have our flaws, sure, Ah ain't denyin' that, but-"
"But we never tried to destroy Equestria, darling," Rarity interrupted, frowning.
"And we're not completely evil!" this, unsurprisingly, came from Rainbow.
The party pony frowned. "Dissy isn't either! He's not really nice or anything, but he's not evil."
"Pinkie, he hurt a lot of ponies-"
"No, he didn't! Nothing he did actually really hurt anypony but us!" She looked at all her friends. "Yesterday, he was talking to the CMC, and he said something that made me put my thinking cap on. He really really thought that everything he did was okay- he was talking about how much he was helping everypony, except us! I don't think he knows what he did was really that bad. He might not really care if he found out, but he seemed super duper convinced that everything he did was okay! He was talking about how Big Mac seemed happy as a dog, and Granny Smith was happy dancing around, and how it was good that Applejack's apples were bigger and there was popcorn everywhere..."
Rainbow's eye twitched slightly. "So he thought what he was doing was good?! He's even crazier than I thought!"
"Actually..." Twilight thougt for a second. "That might make sense. I've actually been reading about different moral codes, and I wouldn't be surprised if Discord's morality was a little skewed... He might even qualify as having blue and orange morality!" She looked thrilled at the prospect, but everypony else seemed confused.
"Blue an' orange what now?"
"Blue and orange morality," the unicorn explained. "Most ponies see things in black and white, with shades of gray. They know what society deems as right, what it deems as wrong, and what falls into gray area depending in the circumstances. They might have differing opinions on certain things, or choose to ignore what's right, but they know what it is. Their moral compass makes sense, but someone with blue and orange morality might not see things as right and wrong at all. They might see things and right, wrong, and... Tuna fish!"
"I-I'm sorry, Twilight, I don't understand..." Fluttershy said, hiding behind her salmon locks.
"Makes sense to me!" Pinkie chirped.
"No, Fluttershy, you're right. You shouldn't understand. It doesn't make sense! That's what I'm getting at! Discord might have a morality that is literally incomprehensible to ponies! The reason he wouldn't feel bad about the stuff he does, the reason he can justify his actions to himself, is that they fit into his moral code! His morals might make him believe that everything he's doing is okay!" She clapped her hooves excitedly. "Pinkie Pie, you're a genius! This could lead to an understanding of not only him, but draconequui as a whole, if this is true!"
Fluttershy blinked. "Draconequui? You... You mean that he's not the only one? He's a part of a whole species?!" He wings fluttered with excitement as the prospect. "Oh my gosh, that might just be the most amazing thing I've ever heard! A whole species I never even knew about!"
"Hold it, Flutters," Rainbow said, "Discord isn't just some animal you can study- I know you've dealt with dragons before, but this guy's a whole different kind of dangerous."
"And besides, he's the last known draconequus left," Twilight shrugged, taking a bite of a muffin. "So there's really no 'species' to study. It would just be interesting to know, for historical context. After all, they were an important part of Equestrian history, but historians never really understood their society. Nopony did. But knowing the moral code of the species would be an excellent step to take in deciphering them..." She took another bite. "You know, it'd be really fascinating to talk to him about all this. I wouldn't be able to trust him, or what he says, of course, but it would be an interesting talk all the same."
Fluttershy and Pinkie both looked at Twilight, eyes wide.
"He's... He's the last one left? Oh that's horrible!"
"Aw, c'mon, Fluttershy, for all we know it was all his fault!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie's gaze turned steely. "How could you even say that?"
"Besides, that wouldn't make sense. According to all accounts I've ever read, the draconequui all disappeared 10000 years ago. Discord's maybe 10500, 10600, maybe, by most historical estimations, so he'd have been a toddler, basically. A bit older than the twins, actually," Twilight took a sip of her drink. "Can you imagine Pound and Pumpkin destroying a whole species?"
"An evil Pound and Pumpkin? Why not?"
Twilight quirked a brow.
"... Okay, maybe not."
"Speaking of children, I have a question for Pinkie," Rarity looked at Pinkie. "Obviously you won't be able to hide Discord from Ponyville forever, and I doubt you actually want to-"
"Nope! Why would I do that, silly?"
"Uh... So ya don' cause panic?" Applejack's eyes widened. "Yer... Yer not plannin' to throw him a party, are ya?"
"Well, I was thinking about it, but I think it'll be better to have a super duper big party once he's reformed to celebrate! That way we can have one big 'welcome to Ponyville and we're so glad you're good now' party!"
"... Well, I'm sure it will be lovely," Rarity nodded. "But I was going to ask if you were going to allow Screwball to continue to call you her mother."
She blinked. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Well, obviously word is going to get out who her father is..."
Pinkie nodded.
"And if she's calling you her mother, and she's calling Discord her... father, ponies may make... Assumptions..." She cleared her throat. "Now, I know that your image isn't exactly your top priority, but I'm sure you don't want to give off the impression that you and Discord..." She grimaced. "...Have a child together..."
"But we do," Pinkie said, confused.
"Yes, but Screwball isn't actually your filly..."
"Now, Rarity, that ain't fair. Blood has t'do with kin, but kin has nothin' t'do with blood. Screwball's Pinkie's filly just as much as Applebloom's my sister... And as much as Scootaloo is Dash's. You'd never say that Scoots ain't her sister, would ya?"
"Of course I wouldn't!" Rarity looked appalled.
Applejack gestured with her hoof, as if to say, "See?"
"Alright, point taken," the cream-colored unicorn sniffed. "But that doesn't mean ponies won't assume things."
The pink mare quirked a brow. "Like what?"
"... Well, darling, people still may think she's... Biologically yours. You must have heard those nasty rumors, since she looks so much like you."
She laughed. "She's not biologically anypony's! She's just chaos magic!" Then she stopped. "And anyway, would that even be possible?"
Fluttershy perked up. "Oh, I'm not sure! Wouldn't that be fascinating, though? Would the offspring be more pony like, or more draconequus like?"
"I dunno! Twilight, what do you think?"
"I'm confused and a bit disturbed that we're discussing this... Theoretically, though, it should be possible. It would actually be a very interesting thing to research, especially if we could actually produce a hybrid, but it really wouldn't be an ethical study..."
"Why are you all still talking about this?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, horrified.
"Well, any new species is important to study, and these are the sort of things you need to consider when you find one," Fluttershy explained.
"It's still creepy!"
Twilight shrugged. "It's biology... Sort of."
"Ah gotta agree with Dash here. This is really creepy."
"Well, I find it quite flattering, personally," came a familiar voice. The girls looked up to see that the light fixture above the had transformed into a very familiar draconequus. Ponies in the bakery took notice, and many of them screamed, cowered or left the bakery. Discord simply cackled.
"Discord!" Twilight glared at him, horn alight. "How long have you been there?"
Discord blinked. "Something about Pinkie having no idea how to reform me. Why?"
"Dissy, you can't just spy on other ponies!" She pouted. "And I do too have an idea!"
"Ah, yes, being my friend," he rolled his eyes and crossed his mismatched arms. "Before I open that can of worms," unsurprisingly, he produced a literal can of worms, which was currently sealed tight, "I have to ask- why I can't eavesdrop? I don't like being left out, you know..." He scowled.
"Because that's not how you find things out, you silly filly! You ask other ponies what you wanna know! I'd have told you, if you wanted."
"Hmmm," he stroked his beard. "I hadn't thought of that..."
Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"Now, now, Rainbow, don't be rude," Discord tapped her nose. "Although I'm sure that will prove to be quite the challenge for you."
"Dissy..."
"What? I'm just being honest!" He smirked and looked to Applejack. "I'm sure you can appreciate that, at least, my dear?"
"Ah don't appreciate nothin' that comes from you."
Pinkie nudged Discord. "Honesty's a good start, but ponies don't really like it when you're really blunt like that!"
The chimera looked annoyed. "Ponies don't like bluntness, ponies don't like riddles... It's not my fault you don't like me, you're impossible to please!"
"Aw, don't worry, you'll figure it out!"
"And until you do, I'm out," Rainbow scowled. "I should get to work anyway."
The other girls nodded, and, yet again, started to cite reasons they had to go.
"You know, I'm offended," Discord "pouted," "I thought you were all trying to be my friends."
"Yeah, yeah," Dash rolled her eyes. "Look, Pinks, can we talk for a second?"
"Sure!" She smiled and followed Rainbow to the doorway. "What's up?"
The Pegasus looked concerned. "Why do you keep cutting him slack? You know he doesn't deserve it..."
She looked at her friend seriously. "Everypony deserves a little slack-"
"Pinkie-"
"And he kinda reminds me of me as a filly."
Dash stopped. "Pinkie, you can't be serious. There is no way that-"
"When I first got my cutie mark and realized that I could make ponies laugh and smile with my parties, I was so, so excited! I was having so much fun, that I threw parties every day! I thought that my family was, too- every day I had more and more fun, did more and more to make them happy and smiling and laughing!" Her smile quivered. "But... I was having so much fun, I didn't think about anypony else. I just figured that if I was happy, Ma and Pa and Inkie and Blinkie and Maude were, too. But... They weren't. I spent so much time with baking and parties and pranks that I wasted time they needed for upkeep on the farm. They liked my parties, but I was doing too much... So much that they started hating my parties. I- we still don't celebrate things together as a family. Not because they don't like me, but because they don't like the kind of fun I have. I went too far with it, and..." She frowned. "The things Dissy did weren't bad, just like my parties aren't bad. There was just too much of it."
Rainbow Dash blinked. "... You're sure?"
"I am."
Dash sighed. "Then I'm behind you, okay? I just... I don't trust him."
The party pony smiled. "That's okay! You just gotta trust me!"
She nodded, then yelled back to Discord, who was busy occupying himself at the booth, "You watch your step, pal!"
"Who, me?" He fluttered his suddenly overly long eyelashes and stuck out his bottom lip. "You wound me, Rainbow Dash!"
"Pfft, good." The pony turned hoof and left then, giving one last look to the draconequus.
Discord glared right back, turning to Pinkie, the moment she was gone. "How do you stand those ponies, Pinkie Pie? They're so droll..."
"Aw, they're not so bad, they're just worried!" She looked at the sealed tin can. "So, about that can of worms?"
"Ah, yes, that," he snapped, opening the can. Worms wriggled out, very much alive, but also of the gummy variety. Both pony and draconequus popped a piece in their mouth, before he continued. "I'm just surprised how confident you are."
"Of course I am!"
"Especially since you basically admitted right in front if me that you only want to be my friend to reform me," he continued, placing another gummy in his mouth.
She blinked. "No, I didn't say that! I-"
"I'm not sure I want to be friends with anypony who doesn't truly want to be my friend. I can't say I'm surprised, of course, but-"
"Dissy, I wanna be your friend!"
"Oh you do?"
"Yes!"
"Because it seems to me like you're only doing this to make me change sides-"
"If I was only doing that, then why did I visit you for months in the gardens, before you being reformed was even mentioned?"
He blinked. He... Hadn't thought of that.
And he actually meant it this time.
"Hmmm..." He furrowed his brow. "I'm really not sure..."
"See?" She smiled triumphantly. "I really, really, really, really, really actually wanna be your friend! Pinkie Promise!"
His eyes widened.
She Pinkie Promised?
Now that... That was serious business, that was!
"Well then, that changes things."
"Really?" She looked at him hopefully.
"No." Yes. He scowled at the little voice in his head. "But you surprised me, Pinkie. I'm impressed."
She smiled.
"Soooo..."
He rolled his eyes.
"You're more tolerable than you already were. Which was already very tolerable," he shrugged. "As opposed to everypony else, I mean."
...Well, it was a start.