“Oh my aching head… wait was that my voice… Hah! I am free again… why does my whole body hurt?”
Discord slowly lifted his head. Only to pale at the first thing he saw. Himself, still in the undignified cringe as the elements struck him, turning him to stone.
“What!? No, I cannot still be stuck in this torture!”
The chaotic spirit collected himself before examining his current form. He came to the startling discovery that he was no longer a draconequus, but that his form was fully pony.
“Well at least I still have wings. Wait…” Discord glanced up at his forehead, spotting a very thin horn.
“Yes!” Discord fist pumped. “I can still use my powers!”
The alicorn concentrated, but nothing happened.
“What gives?”
He sent out a magical ping and saw what he most dreaded.
“No! My power is still trapped in that accursed rock.”
Discord aimed his most powerful shot at the statue, and, to his amazement, two pieces chipped off. He walked over to them to find they were not chunks of stone, but a matched head and chest piece each holding a gem matched to his eye color. Not one to question the chaos gods, he slipped them on with his magic, at least that still worked.
He had a sudden idea, what if he was to return to Ponyville; perhaps he could still manipulate the residual chaos to have a little fun. He unfurled his wings and took flight, bound for the former nexus of chaos.
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What he did not know however, was that his release had not been as instantaneous as he believed. As it stood, he had just missed the royal wedding, and all it’s glorious chaos.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Discord had just arrived at the town’s edge right before sunrise, when he realized he could have just teleported. He was incapable of massive reality bending, not his common tricks. A thought popped into his head, ‘what now?' He was at a loss, stroking his goatee, he pondered his options. On the one hoof, he could do his most dramatic entrance, but on the other, he was not at his strongest and did not want to get into a major conflict at the moment. Suddenly a wickedly brilliant idea formed in his head, one he immediately acted on.
Slinking his way through the groggy town, he wondered how long he could maintain the charade of a newcomer. It must have slipped his mind that alicorns were not all that common. He soon arrived at his destination.
He knocked at the wooden door, and it was answered by a small dragon.
“Can I help you with something?” Spike asked as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.
“Yes. You see, I am looking for a very obscure tome. Perhaps you may posses the volume I seek.” The mysterious colt asked.
Spike recognized his voice but could not place it.
“You’ll have to ask Twilight, she’s the expert. Follow me, I’ll get her.” With a yawn and a stretch, the young dragon led the rather tall stallion inside.
Discord was appalled at the organization of everything in the room. Alphabetized, color coded, dewy decimaled, even the trash bin was in neat order. He could have puked, until he heard the voice of the mare that had ruined his plans for chaotic domination.
“Who was it Spike?” she asked her assistant.
“Some colt looking for a weird book. I told him you were the one to talk to.”
“I’m in the middle of studying the long-term effects of changeling feeding... *sigh* send him in.”
Spike stepped out of the closed-off bedroom and waved the visitor in. The dragonling shut himself out of the room, hoping to get a chance to wake up before he had to do any hard work.
What Discord saw made his hearts (both of them) skip a beat. Around the lavender unicorn were scattered books, quills, parchment, and all manner of useful material, both on the floor and floating in a red-purple aura. The sheer chaos was a sight to behold.
“Sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting any company this early…” Twilight was almost bashful, until she truly focused on her guest.
She noticed the largest detail Spike had missed; her visitor possessed both wings and a horn. She added that to his accessorial vestments, and concluding that he must be royalty, she quickly tried to identify exactly who he was. He had a two-tone mane and tail not unlike hers; his was white with a black stripe. He possessed a short but tufty beard. His eyes were a shade of red, and she could have sworn one iris was larger than the other was.
“It’s quite alright Twilight, I was just hoping you could help me find something.” He gave what he hoped was a disarming smile.
Twilight recognized his voice, only infuriating her even more that she could not place his name. Then she saw it. He had a fang on one side of his smile, but not the other. The color drained from her face, as she scurried back until she was against the wall.
“Was it something I said?” He cupped a hoof to his muzzle to check if his breath was that bad. He stepped toward her, only to get hit square in the chest with a magical burst. The jewel in his chestpiece absorbed the energy and re-directed it toward it’s source. The blast struck Twilight dead on, stopping her heart.