Chapter 5
"Acting as a Dizzitron"
Discord followed Scorpan as far as his wings would carry him as the retired master of chaos had no idea where he was going to make up for his actions first. But, Scorpan knew what he was doing in the sense that he was a friend and an idol to all of Equestria. Soon, they arrived at a large cliff on a high rock overlooking the outer bands of Equestria's borders.
"Where are we, Scorpan?" asked Discord as he landed and shedded his bird's disguise. "I've never been to this place, but I feel like I know it."
"The first of your many atonements," replied Scorpan and Discord realized where they were. It was a place that he heard of thanks to Rainbow Dash's constant conversations. "This is the Wonderbolts Academy, where the elite of Equestria's flyers train to one day defend their home from creatures like brother."
Scorpan led Discord through the gates and it seemed like they would be getting by without any problems. Then suddenly, several Pegasus ponies in Wonderbolt gear jumped out and tackled the two creatures and restrained them.
"Hold them down!" cried a Wonderbolt cadet as he held Scorpan down with all his strength. "No one is allowed on Wonderbolt grounds on their own free will!"
"Get off of us!" groaned Scorpan, roaring as he bolted himself up and sent several of the cadets flying. "We are not here to harm you in any way! I have brought Discord here to help him atone for his actions. Where is your commander?"
At that moment, a yellow Pegasus in a Wonderbolt's drill sergeants uniform came over, her eyes glaring at the two creatures that laid before her. She then gasped at Scorpan's presence almost as if she had heard of him in stories from a while back. Then again, Scorpan was famous for betraying Tirek to Tartarus and becoming a friend to Equestria.
"That commander is me," said the pony, letting her guard down as she landed. "I am Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts. Welcome to the Wonderbolt Academy, Scorpan. I have heard many stories about you."
Spitfire then motioned to the other cadets to back away, now knowing that they were messing around with a hero and an ally of Equestria that wasn't even a pony at all.
"I want you to know that I come in peace, Captain Spitfire," said Scorpan, lowering his wings. "We understand the heightened sense of security that has been put into effect after my brother's rampage."
"But, I can't help but wonder, Scorpan," remarked Spitfire, her mood changing she was now looking in back of the gargoyle and recognizing the creature that aided Tirek in draining all of the Pegasus ponies ability to fly. "Why would you bring him, here?"
Discord gulped nervously as he trotted over next to Scorpan. He remembered from Rainbow Dash that Spitfire was a very tough pony to deal with as a drill sergeant. All he wanted to do was not do anything foolish and one wrong move could be a catastrophic consequence that would result in his attempts at reformation come to a sudden end.
"I've come to apologize for my actions," said Discord, nervously. "If there is anything I can do to say I am sorry for my actions…"
"He means you no harm, Spitfire," added Scorpan. "Discord is no longer an enemy of Equestria and he wants to prove it to you. If there is anything you need to have done, he will do it for you."
Spitfire then smiled at the idea that Discord would do anything for her and it seemed that she had an opportunity for the master of chaos to redeem himself.
"Well, since you can do anything to say you are sorry," said Spitfire. "Then, our Dizzitron has not been working properly and so, we can't use it for our cadets' training purposes. And since you are the creature of chaos, I'm sure you can find a way to act as our Dizzitron."
Now, of course, Discord could simply change into a dizzitron and pretend like it was never broken. But, he felt that if there was any chance of being apologetic to the Pegasus ponies of Equestria, then he would have to show his true self. A little while later, Spitfire had all of the cadets lined up at the spot where the Dizzitron is normally used as Discord looked down nervously at the cadets while Scorpan stood off to the side.
"Today, you will be demonstrating your abilities to recover from a spinout," explained Spitfire as she paced back and forth in front of the cadets. "A Wonderbolt must be able to recover from a spinout and fly in straight again as soon as possible. Now, normally we would have our Dizzitron, but since the Dizzitron is out of service, we happened to have a volunteer in the form of the creature who aided Tirek in stealing our ability to fly."
Spitfire then directed the cadets to look over towards Discord, who merely waved his lion's paw meekly while the cadets gave him a hard stare, almost as if they wanted to tear him limb from mismatched limb.
"Keep it in, Discord," he thought to himself. "This is how you should apologize, by doing instead of saying."
Just then, Spitfire pointed out to a cadet who nervously flew into Discord's lion paw, not knowing how this was going to turn out. Once Spitfire gave the order for Discord to start rotating his arms, the cadet closed his eyes as Discord spun his arms around like a windmill as faster and faster as he could go. Discord was wondering how far he was willing to go, but he knew that Spitifire would have the final say. Round and round Discord went and where he would stop, nobody would no.
"Release!" called Discord and the creature of chaos released his grip on the Pegasus pony, but rather than regaining control like he was supposed to, he instead flew farther and farther from sight and soon, he ended up in another cliff, splattering against the side like flypaper.
"Oops," chuckled Discord nervously, looking down at a disgusted Spitfire and her equally disgusted Wonderbolt cadets knowing that he had really goofed up. "I guess that wasn't supposed to happen."
"Ohh," moaned Scorpan, not believing what he was seeing and Spitfire was about to let Discord know how see and her fellow Wonderbolts would feel.
"Well, it is highly unlikely that you have a future in Equestria," she said coldly.
It appeared that Discord had supposedly blown his opportunity, but was surprisingly given another chance at the behest of Scorpan, who would not rest until Discord fulfilled his apologies to the Pegasus ponies.
"Before you decide to give up on Discord," the gargoyle suggested. "I've always believed in second chances and it is my belief that Discord deserves a second chance. Have him try again and see if he learns from his mistakes."
This was further justified when a random Wonderbolt flew into Discord's paw and closed his fingers around the cadet's body. Discord was amazed by this act of compassion that was being demonstrated in front of him.
"I wish to give him a second chance," said the cadet. "Just as you gave me once, Spitfire."
"Very well then, Hurricane Eye," she sighed and producing a small smile. "I suppose second chances have become too far common in Equestria. Discord, prepare yourself again! Ready?"
"Ready," replied Discord, his arms in their windmill position again.
"Then, Go!" barked Spitfire and Discord began his rotations, trying to be more careful than the last time he had a Wonderbolt in his grasp.
After a few moments, Spitfire ordered Discord to release Hurricane Eye. The blue Pegasus tumbled through the air for a few moments and it seemed like Discord had blown his second chance. Then, suddenly, Hurricane Eye regained his durability and flew straight again, coming in for a smooth landing.
"Very impressive, 6.5 seconds, Hurricane Eye," remarked Spitfire, looking down at her stopwatch. "You are going to go far in this academy, I can guarantee you that."
"Well, I'm thanking Discord for helping me," replied Hurricane Eye, happily. "He's not evil when you get to know him up close."
This remark by a promising young Pegasus made Discord feel like this was only the beginning to earning the respect of Equestria once again. Now, he just had to take that momentum to the next location wherever it was.
Meanwhile in the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor was still holding his grudge on Discord, wanting to destroy him for putting Cadence and Twilight in mortal danger. But, he would have to eventually get over his grudge eventually, but when he would do it would be told in time…