The Cutie Mark Thief

by Zee The Freeman

A Trickster's Curse

Discord hung from the main hall ceiling in Canterlot Castle, half staring out a window in disinterest. A royal voice danced across his ears which refocused his mind. "Discord, what did you do to the castle windows?" Celestia inquired, glancing around at the shifted windows. She strode into his central point of view, and firmly set her hoof upon the window. "Discord, what is this?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just my old throne." Discord muttered in a half-brained haze.

"And you see nothing wrong with this being in Canterlot Castle?" Celestia prodded, her eyes piercing through his fog.

Shaking the haze from his mind, he snapped his finger and was upon the ground facing his hostess in a flash. "Well, I suppose it doesn't quite go with the drapes." With another snap, the window shifted back to its original state, that being the purification of Princess Luna. "Was there something you needed, Celestia?" He asked, snark lodged in his voice. "Perhaps an alicorn prin-" All movement paused around him, his eyes darted about in justified paranoia. "I'm the only one who can stop time in this dimension! Who's doing this?" He began a slithery exploration, for a small time crawling on his belly to discover the source of this magic. Standing upright, he walked past a window and noticed a slight glare in the stained glass. He turned his full attention to it, the stained glass depicted his second downfall, to his new and only friends. The glass eyes of each pony glowed a different color, one a searing orange, another a color that brought his full attention. It wasn't merely a color, but a shifting undulation of them, randomly changing between all colors, even those not known to ponykind.

"Discord..." the undulation moaned, "The price for your freedom is great, you endanger all of Equestria. You shall fall, harbinger of Chaos."

"Whatever do you mean? Wait...Harbinger of-" He was interrupted as time resumed. Celestia's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Discord's new location, but remained resolute and approached him for a second time.

"That's not something I've seen you do before," Celestia remarked, "which is troubling, given our history." Discord remained silent in contemplation, staring at the now glass eye of Rainbow Dash, where the undulation spoke to him merely a moment ago. After a strained and awkward silence, Discord dropped to the floor, sitting in a deeper remembrance. Celestia sat next to him, and wrapped her hoof around his shoulder. "I know it's been difficult to adapt to reformation, but I know that with the help of your new friends-"

"I need to go. Something has caught my attention." Discord said stiffly, rising to his feet.

"What's the issue? I'm sure I could come along and help you."

"The assistance of Princess Celestia? That's a rarity. Oh, I do love making double puns," Discord chortled, but quickly shook the silliness from his face, "Nevertheless, I must go alone. An issue from long ago has come up."

"Discord, why aren't you telling me what it is?"

Discord shuffled his feet, moving around the ornate royal red rug, and reconstructed his foolish grin, "Oh nothing, it's just an issue with Rarity! I took some of her fabric," he manifested a bolt of swiss cheese, taking a bite from it, "and I really must return what's left." He muttered while chewing cheese.

Celestia glared at Discord, finding his explanation just an excuse. She sighed, "Do what you must. Just don't turn Equestria upside down on your journey, alright?" Discord winked at her, flashing out of the room before Celestia could blink. She sat, hoofing a gilded window frame alone in the now stale royal hall, contemplating the Spirit of Chaos, and his strange behavior.

Over the soaked market Discord glided, and he wondered for a moment why he has wings if he can float without them. This thought was purged with the sight of a certain pink maned pegasus. She looked to be shopping, but had no money for some of the things she needed. He flashed nearby her, though stuck out of sight to see what she did. Who knows, he thought to himself, he might be able to come the rescue and become even better friends with the beastmaster pony. He watched as a hooded figure tossed a large gem to her, and glared as some ruffians galloped by, swiping the fortune for themselves. The heist had startled his confidant, and she squealed in fear, hiding her face in her hooves. The rain persisted, shrouding the thieves, and the hood pony was also absent, and not a trace of them showed.

"Fluttershy, are you alright?" He said, bringing a face of concern close to the cowering pony. "Why are you here on such a gloomy day?"

She released her face from its hoof bunker, and immediately hugged Discord. "Angel wanted a rare vegetable not found in Ponyville, Twilight said I could find it here."

"You could've asked me, my dear. I'm always happy to help you." He said, patting her back in reassurance. An electric thought shot through him, twitching his face. "Can you keep a secret?"

She unlocked the hug, and landed firmly on the shiny cobblestone. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," She said, covering one eye with her hoof.

Smiling, Discord sat to Fluttershy's eye level. His usual giddy smile washed away, and he spoke very sternly, "All of Equestria is in grave danger. Moreso than my initial return. The changelings? Nothing compared to this. He will try to trick you, but remain resolute in your trust of me, Fluttershy. I'll need your vote of confidence when the crisis arrives. Do you promise?" A spark of hope shone in his eyes as he stared at his best friend.

"What kind of danger? It can't be worse than-"

"No matter what you might say, it is worse. Worse than a dragon infestation," the mare's eyes widened at the word 'dragon', "But you cannot tell anypony about this, ok? It's my duty to stop what I couldn't before." Her pink mane bounced slightly as she nodded in agreement.

"You'll be alright, won't you?" She questioned, a few tears welling in her shining cyan eyes.

Discord quickly wiped them away with his paw, embracing his pegasus friend, "I sure hope so." He whispered, clutching her harder. They sat attached to one another, rain messing both of their manes as they silently rocked to an fro, eventually slowing to a statue like stillness. A prolonged motionless state ended with the break of their hug. Discord stood up and smiled weakly at her. Fluttershy returned only half a smile, worry filling the rest of her face. He turned away towards the road, fading away in the rainy haze. Walking a few blocks, he checked behind him to see if he was followed. The only thing following him stalked everypony that day, the rain. He wiped his brow in relief, whipping the rain and nervous sweat aside. Regaining a wicked smile, he muttered to himself, "Now that Shutterfly and her friends are out of the way, now the real fun may begin." With a muffled laugh and a flash, the Spirit of Chaos disappeared from sight.

Out of the flash dashed a shadow, splashing small puddles in the cobbled streets as it ran from the city limits. Past the business district, he galloped silently, gathering rainwater on his cloak. He took shelter inside an inn at the very edge of the residential area. It was probably put there to give the foreign visitors a feeling of home while in the imposing imperial city. He ponied up to the bar, swiping one of the bar stools for a seat. "What'll it be, friend? We got in a fresh shipment of hay a few hours ago if you're hungry." A cheery voice offered the hood. He looked up, and saw the barkeep. He seemed rather stereotypical, a larger frame and a sizable belly, suited for hauling kegs and having pie eating competitions. A well-fed smile was slapped across his face, he poured a glass from one of the kegs under the bar, and slid it down the bar. The hood caught the glass with his magic, the shifting colors hoisted the glass to his mouth. "A unicorn, eh? That's some funny looking magic you got there. Never seen anything like that." Wiping down the bar, the bar pony lifted another keg from under the bar, and brought it through the swinging wooden doors to the back, presumably storage. The sweet cider started tumbling down into his throat, quenching a forgotten and long ignored thirst. He forgot the last time he drank anything besides the droplets of rain outside. The bar pony stepped out from storage, and rested his strong foreleg on the bar, a talkative mood caught him as he spoke. "So where do you come from, stranger? You look like-" His mouth kept moving, yet no words came out. Not only did his words fade out, all sound halted. A slight head-shake did nothing to clear the silence, the bar pony suddenly erupted a devilish smile. The bar top transformed into viscous and slime-dripping fiery colored goo, and ashes cascaded from the planked ceiling. The bar pony's eyes began to shift in hue, they became more yellow as he slowly initiated a chilling cackle.

A short blink of the eye and everything was back to normal, sound filled his ears once more, and the bar pony stood with a look of concern on his face. "You alright? It looked like you were in a trance, seeing something that'd spook Nightmare Moon." The hood shook his head slightly, both to dismiss the question, and to clear his head. "You dropped your drink, in case you didn't notice." He added, turns out the muscled pony was right. A sodden patch of wood beneath him, decorated with his now empty glass. It lay on its side, yet it sat strangely unshattered. The sound of pouring liquid entered his ears, and he peered up to see the bar pony pouring another glass. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's on the house. Nopony has been in here all day, I appreciate a little company from time to time." He set down the new glass, the shifting magic grasped the glass as it tipped into the shadow of the hood. Just as sweet and perfect as the last glass, it compelled him to finish the entire glass in one drawn out chug. As the glass settled to the bar top, the magic faded from it and was no longer animate, prompting the bar pony to grab it and step towards the keg. "You want another one?" He offered, his strong hoof hanging the glass under the spout. The hood raised his hoof, and a slight shake of his head gave the bar pony the signal to stop the free flowing of cider. A colored glow shone barely under the cloth of the hood, as a large dark green gem now hovered above the bar top, illuminated in the same contorting hues. The bar pony stared at the gem in stunned silence, not able to bring any words of thanks as the gem fell to his possession. Before he could gather his wits, his inn grew dark, though the dark gem sparkled in the moonlight. The torches slowly revived, and he found his newfound fortune lacking something. He wouldn't be sure what it was missing until it was far too late.

The hood, now relieved from constant rainfall and content with a belly full of cider, continued on his journey to exit Canterlot. He completed his objective, now knowing the Harbinger lingered somewhere in the realm. The clouds above threatened more rain soon, which seemed a higher alarm now as his body and cloak now held a comforting warmth, borrowed from the Inn and its keeper. Above him roared thunder, the first time it had done that in his time here. Just after the battle cry, rain began to pour from a cloud just above him. Riding his hood higher over his head, he trotted at a quick pace to reach the edge of Canterlot. His preparations appeared to be in vain, as no rain fell upon him. It did not fall upon the street around him or even on the grass nearby. He looked around in frustration, first the inn silence and now this, he thought. Examining the area, he found something rather troubling disguising itself as a cobblestone. A yellow shaded eye, with a ruby red pupil, stared directly at him. It blinked, then rumbled roughly in its paved cage in an attempt to break free. As it levitated after breaking free from the rest of the stones, a form began to appear around it. There were no matching parts on this form, a lion paw and a griffin chest, contradictory horns, two mismatched wings and a face fit for a jester, giggling at him as he stared at the strange creature.

"So," the creature chuckled, "you're the pony behind this little heist? I hope you don't mind the rain, I'd rather not get my horns all wet, just had them polished!" He laughed as a polishing rag swept by the cloak, ripping it right off the hood's face and whirled around his horn until it shined. "I see yours is all done up, too! Oh, how wonderful. Say, I never caught your name. I'm Dis-"

"I know who you are, Harbinger. Creator of all chaos and torturer of ponies. I had hoped they would be wiser than to free you, seems my positivist attitude was misplaced." The hood scoffed, looking away from Discord.

"You still never told me your name, I don't know what to call you other than well," he peered down at the cloak, "as 'The Hooded Stallion' or something silly like that." Discord's fingers waved in the air, mocking the title he just gifted to the hood. "Or perhaps you're the 'Pony Of Shadows' that Applejack was talking about?" He laughed excessively, nearly losing his balance. Silence covered the hood as he ignored Discord's joking. "Seriously though, what is your name? You've told nopony, from what I'm guessing. Oh, it can't be that bad. Are named Cutie Wufflekins or something?" He got a short snortle out of his own joke, but his eyes remained fixed on the hood.

"If you really must know, Harbinger," The hood concluded, meeting Discord's uneven gaze, "seeing as I will end you, it would be best to have a name to scream out as life abandons you." Discord grinned at this threat, remaining silent as he continued on. "My name is Deep Pockets, you can understand why most normally do not know."

Discord grew a jester-ish smile, "Deep Pockets, so," he paused and scratched his beard in quick thought, "Poxie! That's what I'll call you. How's about Pox? Anything you like in there?" Only a glare emanated from Deep Pockets as Discord mocked his name. "You're up to quite a bit of trouble, Poxie. I doubt you really understand what you're bringing about. If anything, it should be I calling you Harbinger, what you're doing will lead to a new reign of darkness here in Equestria."

"Similar to your rule in ages past?" Pox remarked, a snarky grin flashed on his face for a short moment.

Discord chuckled, "Well plaid," A plaid cape manifested over his shoulders, "I'll let you go about your business, if you're going to be so rude as you are. Though a word of warning," His face grew more hostile, yellow eyes glaring into Pox's very being. "Do not set hoof in Ponyville. And don't you worry, I'll have my eye on you." His threat administered, Discord's eye disconnected itself from his head, still staring at Pox as he dissipated. Pox sat uncomfortably staring at the disembodied eye until it blinked and was no longer in sight. His horn activated, shifting his hood back over his face just as the rain resumed. A large gush of water fell upon him, since it was being held by chaotic magic for the duration of his 'conversation'. The words of Harbinger still rang in his ears, 'I'll have my eye on you'. Whether through fear or impatience, Pox began trotting through Canterlot, dodging the few ponies on the path to their various destinations. He dashed towards the train station, but suddenly collided into somepony with a quite a load in some saddlebags, as a few bags of vegetables tumbled as they met eyes, both flat on the ground.

"My apologies, miss. Allow me." Pox used his magic to pick up the scattered vegetable bags. She stood up as he set them in her saddlebag.

"I think I saw you at the market..." The pinked haired mare trailed in her soft voice. Pox nodded, rising with her help. "It was a nice gesture...um, thanks for it. Sorry it got stolen." She offered him a hoof in assistance. He stood with her help, and she seemed strangely emboldened as she spoke, her hoof extended in what appeared to be formal greeting, "I'm Fluttershy, what's your name?"

Author's Note:

And thus marks the end of Chapter 2. Hope you guys are enjoying the ride, I certainly love writing it.