Patience of a Mad Stallion:
Major Arch was a patient pony. A part of that patience came from being in control of situations, but times like these, when he was wanting options and a fork in the road he could stop at. Instead, all he had was an hourglass, and definitely wasn't a half full one. Time was running out on both him, and the niece he was keeping in the dark.
It wouldn’t be long until Major Arch would have to tell Fluttershy what was happening around them. There was no getting past her sometimes, she was more observant than she showed. He had forgotten that himself as of late.
His niece, considering whose daughter she was, wanted to go out and see her animal friends again. Honestly, Arch had the speculation and the light heartedness to joke about her mother being a forest nymph, while her father’s domain was of pure cloud. Polar opposites that showed in their daughter from a young age. Though, her mother was stronger, more determined... he hoped to see that in her, but he may not get the chance. Thinking about it now he should have let her go, he’d overreacted . Afraid that at any moment danger would climb up the precipice and rob the happiness he tried so hard to shield Fluttershy with, Arch was isolating her from what made her strongest and happiest. Funny that you could only do so much to make somepony content without risking their safety, and to deny them that is to keep misfortunes from reaching them. Whether it be broken limbs, fevers, even sorrow and still it all finds those you hold dear. She never saw when her animal friends died, or lost anything that could be replace, built she always noticed it, sensed it somehow that something wasn't the same. Was ignorance really bliss then when fate dealt her a crushing blow of reality? Surely he knew better than that?
Eventually he would have to learn to stop trying, there was only so much time left, and his only answer was throwing himself into his paperwork. Arch clenched his teeth and knocked the papers of his desk. There were no answers, no real options, and nopony to trust with this kind of information. They would either take him for a loon, or think he was suffering from lead poisoning from the old top hat he used to wear, so to put it lightly. In either case they would undoubtedly, and without fail, blab and not to just any one pony, but the whole town. What would Fluttershy think? She was already worried about him, and perhaps, some part of her knew what was in store in the very near future. He saw her staring into the great expanse of nothing at times as she was drawn into her thoughts by some unnamable fear or insecurity. What else could be eating at her, but the - No, she couldn't know, not even her parents knew until they were well older than she was now. "But they weren’t prepared for the fate that fell upon them and their bloodline throughout the countless centuries since this world fell into peril and strife and Discord.” Arch spoke aloud without thought to it. He wanted to believe that Fluttershy was safe for another few years at least, but he knew there would be no such hope when time was of the essence. Before him stood two paths, keep her uninformed, or train her in the only way he knew how. He had chosen the latter, and would continue to do so no matter what it meant. Of course than meant disregarding his own health, but it would be short lived once the time came. Her parents only knew of their destinies because of him, just as it had been for longer than anypony could trace back to their heritage. He never married though, and so the ties between the two families would die with him. She would be the last. She had to be the one to end this cycle, the beast was awakening and soon it would rear it’s ugly head and break apart the world of logic and community worse than before. It would finish it’s job. Discord would truly be the end of the world, just as it was the beginning.
Town drunk claims to have seen all of his rabbits turned into celery and cabbage before his very eyes!
Loggers witness a great river form out of chocolate rain and drive all their logs across hills in it's current, until their timber was splintered. The wood for trading with the neighboring villages has been rendered completely useless as you'd expect. No culprit can be found and the odd magic has left everypony announcing the protocol to stay indoors until the proper authorities have resolved the situation.
Discord read the headlines outloud, and then the articles, and of course recognized many of the faces on the "Gazette". It was all rather hilarious. He'd had a busy morning, and the newspaper didn't come close to covering the half of it! There was also the fact that while he was last conscious there hadn't been a newspaper to speak of. Time had truly changed. There was so much more he could do now, it was... it was boring. There would be no other love for him while he had chaos, however, things were different now, and his entropy didn't receive the same reactions as it had before. Sure, the ponies were scared out of their wits, and their expressions priceless... There was still something off...
He had flooded random areas, only for them to recede like it was low tide and repeat for a time until little over a handful of ponies noticed. caused havoc and wel, Discord, yet he still found the same results. Most of the illusions and chaos he used however, were merely defending his territory. Those loggers were attempting to cut down trees in his side of the forest, and not to sound baby , but the drunkard was insulting him by just being there. Not to mention they weren't his rabbits, those were as wild as one could find them these days. If only they had been, perhaps that would have been funnier than just seeing the stallion run off like a foal on nightmare night. Of course, even Discord stayed out of that Nightmare's hair on those unfortunate hours.
Perhaps... Discord thought as he propped his chin on his paw, it was time to try something new. These tactics were some of his usual work. It seemed he only really surprised those stallions, but he could do better than that. The only thing he needed to beware of was drawing undue attention to the surrounding forests, and keep anyone from asking questions about the connections between incidents. Except for well, you know, the drunkard's case. That one had no correlation. Not. at. all. He just so happened to be in the area and a n easy target for whomever was hiding out in the woods with untraceable magic origins. It would have to be awhile before he could or would have to strike again. He could wait to have his fun. It was no trouble when it meant he could plan out his next warnings. After that, it would be time to reclaim what was his. By rights it shouldn't have been taken away form him by the likes of ponies, much less self-proclaimed royalty.