This Was A Bad Idea... Or Was It?

by GoddessofChaos

Behold, Eris...

Princess Celestia walked through the castle gardens on a sunny afternoon. Her younger sister, Luna, was at her side and they were deep in conversation as they strolled along the path. Statues were placed at various posts along the edge and ,as usual, Luna turned left instead of going straight ahead. Celestia stopped her.
"Let's go this way for a change," she suggested, nodding at the trail in front of her.
"Alright," Luna agreed. They continued and reached an unusual statue at a curve in the path.
It was very peculiar indeed. Made of mismatched animal parts, its posture was bent at impossible angles. An expression of terror was frozen across its face and it stood on a granite pedestal, marked with a brass label. Carved into the scrap of golden metal was a single word: Discord.
Celestia stopped and looked up at the beast's form. Luna did the same.
"A bit for your thoughts Celestia," She said quietly.
"I'm thinking about the faults I made when I created him," She nodded toward Discord. "I'm thinking about improvements I could make."
Luna turned to her sister. "Could make? Celestia, you aren't suggesting that-"
"I create an improved version of him?" Celestia pondered this for a moment. "That might not be such a bad idea."
"Celestia," Luna warned.
"What?"
"When Discord wreaked havoc on Equestria the last time and even the time before that, you promised that you weren't going to practice that kind of magic anymore."
"It was an agreement," Celestia countered. "Not a promise."
"It's a bad idea is what it is. What if the new one turns out like him?"
"It won't," Celestia promised. "I learned from my mistakes when I was young."
They continued their walk until they reached the castle. After dinner, she bid Luna goodnight and walked to her own room. Two guards stood at attention at her door, bowing as she passed.
"I wish to be alone tonight," She told them. "I will give you the night off."
"Thank you, your highness," they mumbled and trotted off down the hall.
Celestia closed her doors behind her and locked them before walking to her bookshelf and sifting through it. At last, she found the one she needed and carried it to a stand. The book was dusty and dog eared, and Celestia was careful as she flipped through the pages. She stopped at a page with a title written in fancy writing at the top: Creating Life. The ingredients seemed near impossible to get: a star from the sky, a rainbow's beam, a ray of the sun, it went on and on.
Celestia levitated a cauldron from a dark corner and filled it with water. She left it to simmer on a floating flame and pushed outside onto the balcony. Time to lower the sun, but not just yet. She thought. Celestia pointed her horn toward the setting sun and felt a warm feeling ignite on the tip. Straining her eyes upward, she saw that it had worked. An orb of light floated at the tip of her horn, and she walked slowly beck to the cauldron, carefully setting it in the water. The ray of sun hissed as it touched liquid and Celestia watched as it floated at the top for a moment, before fully submerging itself. Steam rose of the surface, and Celestia quickly galloped outside and summoned water from an endless waterfall below, levitating the blob of water for a moment.
This was a difficult process, making a natural rainbow, and must be precise and quick. Celestia flicked the water up into the air, and caught it. The essence of the rainbow swirled in the small sphere of water as Celestia carried it back to the cauldron. Ignoring the plethora of colors that spun hypnotically, she focused on her next task: Getting a star from sky.
Celestia lowered the sun and waited while her sister raised the moon from her location. The stars appeared one by one, and Celestia surveyed the heavens until she found the perfect star. She pulled it out of the sky the same way she did the sun ray, only instead of a warm feeling, it was cold. She dropped it in the cauldron, making the water freeze over. Celestia left it to thaw naturally like the directions said and went in search of her other ingredients.

The game hall was Celestia's least favorite room in the castle. Prince Blueblood loved exotic pets, sending out guards to bring him new ones every time the desire struck him. When they died, he would stuff them instead of burying them, keeping them in the game hall.
The room had long since received a dusting- Blueblood hadn't visited in quite a while- and Celestia figured he never would again. Celestia selected a deer antler and a tuft of fur from a lion. She worked a eagle's talon loose and broke off a goat's horn, followed by its hoof. She shuddered at the snapping sound it made and began her search for a dragon; she needed its fang.
Rounding a corner, she found herself face to face with one. Letting out a yelp in surprise, Celestia dropped the objects with a clatter. The snarling dragon crouched motionless though, and Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. She dismantled a fang from its terrible mouth, gathered her various animal parts and continued her hunt. After finding the snake's scale, Celestia carried the objects back to her room, when she found that the sheet of ice now clung to the edges of the heating cauldron.
She waited until the ice was completely gone and dropped in the animal parts, one by one.
"Just needs one more thing," She murmured and turned to the desk, littered with scrolls, quills and ink bottles. She opened the drawer beneath it and pulled out a pair of scissors.
Holding her mane over the cauldron (which had begun to bubble) she snipped of a small chunk of her mane. It was barely noticeable and the pastel colored snippet disintegrated as soon as it touched the water. Celestia returned the scissors to their drawer and began to stir the mixture with a spoon.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Celestia? It's Luna."
"I'll be right there!" Celestia called back and laid the spoon on the table. As Celestia went to open the door, a sudden breeze blew through the balcony opening, hitting a necklace that had been dangling from a shelf directly above the cauldron. It wasn't anything elaborate; it was just a simple pink, wood beaded one she had kept from Maredi Gras (Mardi Gras). The wind swirled the necklace around for a moment before it lost its grip on the shelf and dropped into the cauldron with a dull plop. It disintegrated like all the ingredients had, unbeknownst to Celestia. Luna walked over to the cauldron and peered into the mixture, now a transparent pink color. Assuming that Celestia intended on making a girl version of Discord, she said nothing and instead sat on the rug in front of the fireplace. Celestia came to join Luna and levitated the book over to them. We should have a new Discord any minute now," She told Luna. Noticing that the balcony doors were open, she shut them just as the cauldron began to tremble.

"It's time!" Luna stood and watched in awe as the cauldron bubbled and shook. Finally, it ceased and a very large bubble rose from the surface. It was a bright pink resembling a bubblegum bubble. it floated out of the cauldron and came to rest on the floor and exploded after a few seconds. It wasn't a huge explosion, but a small one, with the residue splattered across the floor. In the center of it all, was a very odd creature. It seemed to be alseep, until Celestia stepped forward and gave it a prod with her horn. It stretched its figure out and Celestia smiled.

"I did it!" She exclaimed. "I created another Discord... only better and not so evil!" her joy quickly turned to confusion as the new Discord rolled over, showing its face.

"It's a... it's..." Celestia was to shocked for words, so Luna finished for her.

"A girl!" She stepped forward and said to nobody in particular: "Behold, Eris!"