The Mane 6 were having a picnic when a gust of wind suddenly picked up out of nowhere. While her friends struggled to keep the picnic blanket and food from blowing away, Twilight noticed a ball of light forming a short distance away at the source of the wind. The light grew brighter as the wind grew stronger, and Twilight gasped when she recognized what it meant. “Somepony’s using that time-travel spell!” she exclaimed.
“I thought you could only use that once,” Pinkie shouted back over the wind.
“Once per pony, yes,” Twilight responded, “So this isn’t going to be me, but it might be important. Whoever it is, don’t interrupt them; they’ll only have a short time to-” She was cut off as the spell completed in a blast of wind, light, and sound. When their vision cleared, everypony looked toward the source and gasped. Standing in the center of a blackened circle of burnt grass and dirt stood Discord, and he looked like he’d been in a serious fight. His griffon-claw arm was tightly bandaged, his tail was in a sling, one of his horns had been broken off, and he was wearing a torn leather jacket, most of a rainbow tie with pink polka dots, and two eye-patches. His lion-paw arm was wrapped protectively around a giant pink egg.
“Discord!” Applejack exclaimed angrily, “what are you doing here?”
Discord lifted one of the eye patches and looked at the six ponies, who had lined up side-by-side to glare at him. He sighed in relief and glided forward, happily exclaiming, “Oh thank goodness it worked. Listen close girls, you see this egg? It’s of vital importance that you take care of it and make it sure it hatches safely. Your future depends on it!” He held the egg out toward the ponies, but none of them moved to take it.
“Why should we trust you?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t have time to explain,” Discord said urgently, “Just take the egg already.” He set it down on the ground and then turned around and ran off, vanishing in another windy blast of light a few seconds later.
“What the hay just happened?” Rainbow Dash asked, scratching her head.
“I don’t know,” Twilight said, aiming her horn at the egg, “but I’m getting rid of this thing before whatever Discord has planned comes to fruition.” Her horn started to glow, but Pinkie Pie suddenly threw herself between Twilight and the egg.
“Wait!” the pink one said, “What if he was serious?”
“It’s Discord,” Twilight said flatly, “Why would he want to help us?”
“Maybe in the future something even bigger and meaner than Discord will show up and the only thing that can stop it is in this egg,” Pinkie said, hugging the egg protectively.
Twilight exchanged looks with her other friends, and then rolled her eyes. “Ok, fine,” she said, “you can keep the egg Pinkie, but we’re all going to be there when it hatches, with the Elements of Harmony, ok?”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said happily. She somehow got the egg onto her back and bounced back to Ponyville.
Three weeks of care, love, and parties later, Pinkie summoned her friends to witness the egg’s hatching. The six, each wearing their respective Element necklace or big crowny thing, stood in a circle around the egg and at a safe distance back, Pinkie included. The pink egg was shaking as whatever lay inside struggled to break free. Gradually, cracks began to appear along the top, and as they spread Pinkie began to squeak in anticipation. Finally the egg shell could take no more and it burst open with a blast of confetti, the sound of a party horn and trombone quartet, and Discord popped out and landed with a cheery “ta-da!” The energy quickly drained out of the room as Pinkie’s ears drooped and several hooves met faces. Discord looked around, saw that he was surrounded by the Elements of Harmony, and pouted. “Girls,” he said, “I am disappoint. Suppose I had been telling the truth? What would the savior of Equestria’s future think if he’d been born surrounded by hostile ponies?”
“Well, you weren’t telling the truth, so it doesn’t matter,” Twilight answered, already starting to focus her magic into her Element, “All right girls, let’s do this.”
“Some people just can’t take a joke,” Discord said wearily before being turned back into stone.