Adam shook his head, rather bemused at just how rapidly a massive, town wide party had been setup to celebrate Spike's victory over Nightmare Ridley. Given the devastation of the town - only the Crystal Castle, Sweet Apple Acres, and Fluttershy's cottage were still standing, untouched by the battle - he had been certain that the ponies who lived there would be too dumbstruck to celebrate anything. He had actually voiced this to Rainbow Dash, which had led to a rather...enlightening discussion.
"Why would anyone be like that?" she asked easily. "It's Tuesday."
Adam blinked in response. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Ponyville has something crazy like this that destroys some or all of the town every Tuesday," Rainbow explained readily. "Ponies here are used to it. Heck, Applejack's even managed to arrange a town raising over there as a party activity."
Adam shook his head as he wrapped his mind around that. He could see Applejack leading a large group of citizens in rebuilding the town in the midst of the party, leading them through it while singing what sounded like a square dance song called 'Raise This Town'. "If it happens that often, why are ponies still living here?" he finally demanded.
"Well, a lot of reasons," Rainbow answered thoughtfully. "Some are just too stubborn to leave. Some have lived here for generations. And some just don't feel at home anywhere else. I mean, this has led to a pretty close-knit community." She shrugged her shoulders. "Personally, I think the cost-of-living ratio might have something to do with it. With a farm on the edge of town and Ponyville being near all the trade routes, you can get just about anything you need cheap at the markets, and the frequent crises mean that houses are cheaper here than anywhere else in Equestria. It's actually cheaper to buy a house here for a month than to rent a hotel room. Plus, there's a company dedicated to just insuring Ponyville citizens against disasters like that."
"How could such a company recoup its losses?" Adam mused thoughtfully.
"By holding betting pools for the rest of Equestria over what's going to destroy Ponyville this week," Rainbow answered easily. "It's really profitable for the company and whoever happens to win any given week."
Adam once again shook his head in wonder. "And here I thought humans were the most adaptable species..."
Of course, Adam wasn't the only one having an interesting discussion as the town celebrated. Behind the Crystal Castle, Discord, Celestia, Luna, and Ember had gathered to discuss certain matters pertaining the event. Ember was clutching the Bloodstone Scepter nervously. It had promptly returned to her the moment Spike released it after it had amplified him for dealing with Ridley, but she still didn't like the fact that it was doing things it wasn't supposed to.
"Very well, Discord," Celestia spoke up. "Perhaps you could explain why you contributed so little to aid Samus and Spike in this last battle?"
"Pssh!" Discord countered, blowing a raspberry. "Just because you didn't see me do anything doesn't mean I didn't, Celestia. You should know me better than that. I did quite a bit as far as this battle...but even I have limits."
"What sort of limits?" Luna asked curiously. "I had thought that, aside from the Elements, the only thing that limited you was your own decisions."
Bells rang around them as Discord pulled a cord, dropping a paper mache duck on strings to in front of Luna, who looked very nonplussed. "Got it dead on, Luna!" Discord proclaimed. "That is exactly right. My own choices are the biggest limit I am forced to deal with, at least as far as my choices made with Chaos. It's why I'm rather careful about making any sweeping choices with my magic, since I hate being limited, even by myself." Noticing the confused glances directed his way, he sighed. Snapping his talons, the duck vanished, along with the confetti and noise it had brought with it. "Simply put, I can't go against a decision I've made with my Chaos, only alter or undo it. A short example: once I've flooded a field, I can't just drain the water away, but I can freeze it, evaporate it, or turn it into a giant snowcone...or I can undo the flood, leaving it as an event only in memories." He sighed as he lay back in the air. "That's what happened here. I was trapped by a chaos decision I'd made long ago, where undoing it was my only option, but would cause more damage than I was willing to do."
"I'm sure this is all rather interesting," Ember grumbled irritably, "but I was hoping one of you could tell me what was going on back there with the Bloodstone Scepter!"
"Actually, that's part of this," Discord pointed out. "Earlier, someone asked who could have designed dragons of this world such that they became a natural defense against Phazon." He smirked, laying back in the air. "Feel free to applaud."
Celestia's eyes widened. "You did that?" she gasped out even as Ember's jaw dropped.
"That's right," Discord confirmed. "Long ago, before any civilized life existed on this world and I was the only creature running about who could do more with my brain than eat, sleep, and fuck, a Phazon Leviathan landed on this world. Now, at first I was intrigued, since I'd never seen anything like it before...but then I saw what it was doing. Now, I'm all for chaos, but this wasn't chaos...just an unpleasant order where everything was either a Phazon creature or dead, and as entertaining as the Phazon creatures looked, this was just boring! So I decided to do something about it...but my first attempt ended up..." He shivered all over, his different parts flipping independently of each other. "Well, that's why I look like this now. No idea what I looked like before it anymore.
"Anyway, I decided to take a different approach," he continued, ignoring the sympathetic glances sent his way by Celestia and Luna. "I cast through space-time and found a template I could use to alter a native race - the dragons - to be able to keep Phazon contained, and even eradicate it. I created one to reshape the race through breeding and Phazon absorption. That one was the first Dragon Lord, whose Bloodstone even now sits at the top of the Scepter you hold so tightly Ember."
"What does that have to do with how it was reacting to Spike?" Ember demanded angrily.
Grinning, Discord leaned in close. "Where in space-time do you think I found such a template creature, hmm?" he asked, gesturing to where the dragon in question was stuffing his face with cake.
Ember's eyes widened, and she slumped backwards onto her rear as she stared towards Spike. "Then..."
"The reason the Bloodstone Scepter reacts so strongly to Spike...is because the Dragon Lord who made the Scepter from his own Bloodstone and Spike are reincarnations of each other, depending on which way you're looking," Discord explained. "Of course, this never would have been possible if Spike hadn't been sent through time to be raised by Samus and encounter Phazon. Don't you just love how convoluted time travel can get?"
"What does that have to do with you not fighting today?" Celestia asked, deciding to get back to the original subject before her headache over that particular revelation had her seeking a barrel of cider.
"Simple, Celestia," Discord explained readily. "After I made the first Dragon Lord, I realized if I did anymore, the outcome would be too obvious...so I left it at that. This meant that the creation of that Dragon Lord was now the only direct action I could take against Phazon or anything directly related to it...which is why I couldn't do anything when the Umbrum first showed up, since they derive from the Ing which were born of Phazon." He shrugged sadly. "Back then, not being bored was my biggest concern. This...is the first time that's come to bite me so viciously. I was left unable to act to protect Fluttershy or anyone else...and the only action I could take would have so drastically altered the timeline that they'd never have existed in the first place...which meant I never would have come to care about others and thus wouldn't have wanted to undo the choice-"
"Please stop now," Luna groaned, clutching at her head. "Even Starswirl's explanations of time travel were not so convoluted."
"So...you mentioned you did take action here?" Ember asked curiously. "What sort, if it drained you as much as you suggest."
Discord smirked. "Have you any idea how much chaos it takes to retroactively gather anyone that a Dark Magic reality warper might have used as a hostage against Spike into a castle that by its very nature prevents anyone from being removed by force, and do so from within said castle when it actively resists Chaos magic above a certain scale...and all without creating a causality paradox?"
"Gangway!" Celestia shouted out as she raced off and leapt into a large barrel of cider before starting to drink her way out.
Discord chuckled to himself as the other two went to deal with their own headaches(1). "Can't wait to see what comes of this party now..."
(1) Note that Celestia and Luna's headaches aren't because they can't wrap their heads around what Discord's talking about...it's because they can, and are actively conceptualizing it.