Summer. Never was there a more perfectly harmonious and peaceful time of the year than summer. Young ponies played in the streets, the elders sat on their porches reading the papers, and Celestia's sun was in just the right place at the right time at just the right temperature: Noon and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Just enough to get the blood going, but not to boil. Plants had unfurled their leaves and petals to absorb as much nutrients as possible, and the soil was just right for spreading their roots. Few clouds populated the sky, just enough to provide a short respite of shade. Hummingbirds and bees flitted around busily collecting pollen for food, enjoying the sweet delicious flavors of every flower they came across. Some of the local pets were about as well, as Opal spread herself out in front of the boutique to take in the warmth. Winona ran and played with Tank, who flew through the sky with his little enchanted propeller. Gummi.... did whatever it is Gummi does, while Angel Bunny darted about the carrot patches over by Sweet Apple Acres, swiping whatever carrots he could.
Truly a perfect day.
A perfect. BORING. Day.
Discord sat at a wooden table at a local diner, fiddling with a construct made of plasma he had conjured into existence when he sneezed a short while ago. He made it take on the form of a cat, and the creature bounced and pounced on plasma-mice and ate them, making it bigger with every morsel devoured. Soon the cat was too big to fit the table, toppling it over and falling to the ground. The impact of the plasma caused a small crater in the ground, sending sparks and dirt exploding towards the surrounding area. He quickly manifested an umbrella and covered himself from being sprayed by the debris. After a few seconds, he lowered the umbrella to see what had happened. To his right the window leading in to the diner was totally destroyed, shards of glass scattered everywhere. The table had exploded into small bits of wood, and the ground where the plasma-cat had landed had left a crater big enough to fit a full grown Manticore. Thankfully no pony was hurt from the incident, though the diners manager came out with a cleaver and a look of pure rage. With a snap of his talons, he quickly repaired the damage (as annoying as it was) and made himself scarce. He left a note on the table that said "My bad!" and a few bits that had his handsome muzzle imprinted on them, giving a thumbs up and a wink. A small compensation for damage done, then undone.
He poofed next to a lightpost a couple of miles away, near Sugar Cube Corner. He wiped his brow with an over-exaggerated sigh of relief, wiping off a small flood of sweat and drenching the lightpost in salt water. He turned around to walk back towards Fluttershy's cottage. It was nearly lunch time, and he had promised to make a nice meal for her. Perhaps a Caesar salad? Maybe a nice squash and orzo? He'd decide later, when he felt more in the mood to think. He took a few steps forward before he felt a sudden chill up his spine. He turned around in all directions, wondering if old Sunbutt had come to scold him about the incident.
"Who's there?" he called out. He extended the length of his neck thrice fold, to get a better view of his surroundings. No pony was anywhere near him. The closest ones were those Crusader fillies, and they were a good thirty feet away. Besides, nothing they could do could make him cautious of his surroundings. He was an immortal capable of conjuring anything out of nothing, making himself anything he wanted with a simple thought, capable of going anywhere without a trace! So what was bothering him so much? He retracted his neck to it's original position, scoffing at the idea that something had gotten him so riled up so easily. He continued walking forward a few steps, his head looking behind him.
Suddenly, he bumped into something. Assuming it was a pony, he put on his nicest fake smile and turned to apologize.
"I'm so very sorry for bumping into-" he looked ahead, then down, then up. Again, nothing was there. He stroked his beard with a hint of curiosity. An invisible barrier? He blinked at where he thought it was, using his magic to dispel it's disguise. Nothing appeared before him. He blinked again. Nothing. He kept blinking until he felt like he was in one of DJ-PON3's weekend strobe-light raves, but nothing appeared before him no matter how many times his lids moved.
Hesitantly, he extended his lion's paw towards the area in front of him. Sure enough, it came into contact with something. Something very cold. So cold, in fact, he had to retract his paw as the frost suddenly covered his fur. He shook the paw in fear, attempting to remove the sudden chill. Oddly though, there was no pain in his paw at all. No chill, no burning, not even a single trace of frost on his fur. He hummed in contemplation, stroking his scraggly beard in thought. What was this thing? When did it get here? Did anypony else know about it?
He shrugged, them immediately felt the urge to smash this wall that had caused him to actually think. He manifested a sledgehammer into his paw and claw then raised it mightily into the air. Inhaling and holding his breath, he began to swing with all his might. Just before the tip connected with the barrier, everything froze in place, including him. He opened an eye to see what had happened. Hesitantly, he let go of the hammer. It stayed suspended in the air, frozen in time and space. The barrier remained unharmed, still translucent and unseen without so much as a crack in it.
He stared at the hammer, then the wall. Something was going on here, and he had absolutely nothing to do with it. This had to be some kind of magic. Perhaps Twilight had found him and stopped time to prevent him from doing any harm to some project of hers? Maybe Celestia really had shown up to scold him? Whatever it was, he felt the presence of somepony behind him. It wasn't a princess, that was for sure. He would have felt their magical essence the minute they came within a mile of him. No other unicorn he knew of was powerful enough to do something of this caliber, and that left him with no other choices for who it was.
He turned to face his intruder, and stopped short when he saw it was only Pinkie Pie. She stood completely still, staring straight at where Discord was. He walked towards her, and she still remained completely motionless. She hadn't been there a few second ago, he knew that. He lowered his head to her face to inspect her more closely. She looked, surprisingly, serious. No, it was more than that. She looked... authoritative? Pfft. Like this pony has any actual authority. Discord thought.
"I have much more power than you think, Discord."
He fell back on his tail, totally taken aback. She had spoken? How? Time had clearly stopped around them, yet she walked towards him and continued to speak! How was this possible?
"It's always so funny to see someone so shocked when they come across The Wall." Pinkie said. "They always think that it's some kind of ghost or something, but I always make sure they never come across this place again."
Discord stood up straight, wiping the dust off of him with feather dusters he had willed into existence. "What is all of this, Pinkie Pie? What is this wall that you're talking about?"
She raised a hoof, shaking it in a tut-tut manner. "Nuh-uh, Discord. It's not a wall. It's The Wall."
"That's what I said! The wall!"
Pinkie shook her head. She then went back a few sentences to - hey, wait a minute. What're you... oh, nevermind. She want back a few sentences to grab the words "The Wall" that I typed, then placed them in front of Discord.
"No. See? It's a proper noun, so you need to type it like this. The Wall". She leaned against the words and waited for Discord to comply. He looked around, slightly confused.
"The wall?" She shook her head. "THE WALL?"
"Now you're just caps locking your sentence." He was totally lost. "I mean, you were just shouting your sentence."
The word shouting appeared from her hooves in an arc, italicized. Not questioning how she managed that, he tried once again.
"The.... Wall?"
Pinkie clapped her hooves excitedly, then turned Discord around to see The Wall. Slowly but surely, an actual wall manifested into existence. It was glass, about 20 feet across in length. Beyond the glass was -
"HA! HE SAID IT!"
What? What did I say, Pinkie?
"Nothing, don't worry. Continue typing, sir!"
Anyway, beyond the glass seemed to be a black void of pure nothingness, as if all things known to Equestria did not exist beyond this door.
Discord looked down to the pink pony is disbelief. She looked up like an expectant kitten.
"So, what exactly IS this thing?" Discord said.
Pinkie sat Discord down into a chair that hadn't been there before, then brought out an easel and sketchpad canvas that was from somewhere. Her graduation cap settled onto her head from someplace unknown, and she began her explanation.
"Okay. So imagine this is us." She flipped over the front page to reveal a live camera feed of them in the exact positions they were standing or sitting in. Discord turned around to see if there was even a camera there, but there was nothing there but The Wall. The Discord inside of the picture turned around, and so did the Discord in the picture's picture. An infinite amount of Discords turned to see what was spying on them, but there was nothing except everything, nothing and The Wall.
"But that IS us. That is literally us!" He pointed at the screen, and so did the other Discords.
"Yeah, it is! Now you're getting it!" She slapped a gold star next to a picture of him that was never there.
"Now, pay attention. THIS is where it gets confusing!" He rolled his eyes.
"Now, imagine we're watching a different world through this screen." She pointed towards the aisle. The pictures' feed changed to something else, revealing a location completely new to him. Strange creatures walked around on their hind legs, covered in clothing and looking strangely familiar to the denizens of Equestria. One particular creature turned to face to camera, and waved whilst jumping up and down. It looked just like Pinkie Pie, but slightly less pink and in garish attire even for his taste.
"Is that a different world?" His curiosity piqued. If there were alternate worlds and alternate versions of creatures in Equestria, surely there must be one of him, as well.
"Yeah, but we'll get to that another day. What I'm trying to tell you is that beyond The Wall," She pointed a hoof towards The Wall, "Are so many different worlds, places, things, ponies, people, and other things that I don't think your mind can handle just yet."
He scoffed. Then scoffed again. He then started guffawing, chortling, hooting, lol-ing, rofl-ing and any other sort of creative way of laughing there is to do in all of creation. He got up from the ground, wiping away tears of pure joy.
After catching his breath, he faced the pink Earth Pony. "Oh my, Pinkie Pie. That was the funniest thing I've ever heard. You clearly don't remember who I am and what I do, so let me teach YOU a lesson or two!"
"Teehee! That rhymed." Pinkie piped.
"Indeed." He said dryly. "I am DISCORD. Chaos itself, made manifest through my own willpower and desire for entertainment. I can create anything, anywhere, anytime." He leaned in close to her face. "That also means I can DESTROY anything, anywhere, anytime."
"True." Pinkie said, booping the draconequus on the nose. "But think about this for a second. If you break that wall, you'll be making this show boring by having ponies constantly acknowledge the audience!"
"Exactly! I- wait, what?" For the audience? He knew he was being watched by something. It wasn't until he had encountered The Wall before it was confirmed.
Pinkie nodded. "The audience! The people who watch the show! You know, fans?"
"I have fans? Ponies actually like me?"
"Well, not ponies exactly. They're humans, to be more precise."
Humans? He HAD heard of such things, but only because Lyra Heartstrings never shut her trap about it.
"So what you're saying is that everypony in Ponyville has fans, they watch us on a daily basis, and they actually have a vested interest in our daily lives?"
Pinkie nodded at Mach 5. "Yup! Now you understand!" She jumped up and hugged the draconequus, making him lose his breath. He manifested himself a few feet away from her to catch his breath, then turned to face The Wall.
"Have you... you know, gone past it?" He turned his head to her. "The Wall, I mean."
"Oh yeah, ALL the time. I also like to look into it, talk to it, and even go to other places I'm... kinda not supposed to." She rubbed her hooves together at that, looking nervous.
"Places?" He queried. "What places?"
"Well... there's this thing called The Internet. It's a giant web of universes connected to one another, and they all have their own version of The Wall to protect them." She looked around hesitantly before continuing in a hushed whisper. "Hasbro doesn't know I know about it, because I've been really careful."
"Hasbro? Whats-"
She slapped a hoof over his mouth. "SHH!"
Silence passed. More silence. Even more.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. The author didn't notice it."
Notice what?
Pinkie turned towards The Wall and spoke. "Nothing! Carry on!"
Umm..... okay then? Pinkie continued. "So, since you think your capable enough, wanna come with me?"
Discord was utterly confused, which was an incredibly rare feat. To go beyond existence, yet exist in a non-existential plane of existence to travel to other existences and exist in another existence?
"Sure. Why not?" He shrugged.
Pinkie squeed in delight like a squeaky toy. She grabbed Discord's lion paw and dragged him to The Wall. She placed his paw on It and held it there, looking incredibly giddy to show him her semi-private little world. Discord grew worried once more as the effects of the door covered his paw, but it was strangely warmer now. Almost welcoming. He even began to giggle a bit at how the warmth enveloped his body, almost like slowly settling in on a lava bath while being tickled by cockatrice feather at the same time. Pinkie placed her hooves on The Wall as well, giggling alongside the draconequus. Slowly they both began to slip through The Wall and stop existing in Ponyville, time still halted in that reality.
The Wall had welcomed them. Their adventures had only just begun.