He's Back!
“Ah don’t know, Twi.”
The orange farmpony pushed her Stetson back and sighed.
“Our counts’re comin’ up off, but there ain’t any sign of varmints. If there were, I’d have called Fluttershy instead o’ you.”
The lavender unicorn hummed.
“Applebloom and the girls know better-or at the very least, she’d tell you so you or Big McIntosh know and can adjust your numbers…it seems like the only answer is that somepony is stealing apples.”
Applejack shook her head.
“Cain’t be... There ain’t any signs of forced entry, and besides…Ponyville ain’t that big. If’n somepony were in such a situation that they’d feel the need to filch apples…somepony would’ve found out by now and the town would’ve done somethin’ ta help them.”
“I don’t know then, AJ. I really don’t.”
As the two mares walked away, they failed to notice the pair of eyes watching them, waiting…
A shadowed figure crept through the orchard, silent as the grave, approaching its goal. The sound of a dog growling caused the figure to freeze.
“Hold it right thar, pal!”
A yellow filly stood fearlessly between the figure and the storage bins.
“Sis! Come here, quick!”
In the farmhouse, lights went on.
“Applebloom? Do you have any bucking idea what time it is? Get back inside an’ go back to sleep!”
“Applejack! I was lettin’ Winona out an’ we caught the thief red-hooved!”
The last syllable had barely left the filly’s mouth when her sister and older brother were outside, McIntosh coming out of the barn, where Cheerilee stood in the doorway.
“Bloom, git inside and stay there, now.”
The tone in her brother’s voice brooked no protests. Applebloom got. In a hurry.
“Cheerilee, you go inside too. Make sure Bloom an’ Granny stay put.”
The schoolteacher nodded, before giving the stallion a brief nuzzle.
“Be careful,” she whispered. McIntosh nodded, not taking his eyes off the figure.
“Now…” Applejack said, lighting a lantern, “let’s see who…who the buck are you?”
The thief was a filly, barely older than the Crusaders-maybe a year at most-, emaciated, her ribs showing through her dark pink coat, her white-and-purple mane raggedy. Her Cutie Mark was of a screw and baseball, and a propeller beanie seemed to be permanently affixed to her cranium. It was her eyes however, her eyes that threw the two adults for a loop long enough for the filly to make a break for it. Her eyes…had no pupils, instead possessing spirals, one clockwise, and the other anti-clockwise.
“Hey, wait…!”
The filly was fast, despite her obvious starvation, able to effortlessly anticipate and dodge the Border Collie and two adults. Applejack cursed as the filly slipped into the growth bordering the Everfree.
“Big Mac. You and Winona stay here in case she doubles back. Ah’ll get the girls, and we’ll follow her.”
McIntosh nodded.
“Eeyup.”
Applejack sighed.
“Ah just hope we can catch up to her afore she gets herself hurt…”
Scant minutes later, six mares were moving rapidly in single-file. To everypony’s surprise (or perhaps not…), Fluttershy was in the lead, her knowledge of animal care somehow giving her skill in tracking (nopony questioned it. In a town where Pinkie Pie lived, this was nothing). Twilight was right behind her, horn glowing to provide light. Rarity, likewise glowing, brought up the rear.
“She’s close,” Fluttershy said softly. “The poor thing is so panicked she’s not even trying to hide her trail.”
“The trail ends at that cave,” Twilight noted. “It’s big enough for a pony, but too small for any predators…I’ll bet anything that she’s hiding there.”
The six where aghast in awe as they entered the cave.
“That poor dear…she must have been hiding here for months,” Rarity murmured.
Indeed, the small cave was filled with the detritus and debris one would associate with prolonged habitation.
“Well, she’s not here,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Looks like she gave us the slip.”
“No.”
Everypony gave Pinkie odd looks as she stepped forward, ears cocked.
“My Pinkie Sense is tingling… She’s here. Watching us.”
“Tingling? I thought they were twitches,” Twilight whispered, suspicious.
Pinkie answered distractedly as she began scanning the cave.
“Normally…yes. But if somepony is hiding from me…or trying to avoid me…those twitches turn into a pins-and-needles tingling in the back of my skull. The stronger the sensation…the closer the pony.”
Rainbow Dash leaned over to Applejack.
“In hindsight…this explains oh so much,” she muttered. Applejack could only nod.
“The cave doesn’t go any deeper…she’s not left…right…that leaves…above!”
Almost as one, the six mares looked up to see the filly, clinging to a stalactite. Realizing she’d been spotted, the filly dropped, landing on Twilight’s and Rarity’s horns, stunning them, before running off once more, bodily shoving Rainbow Dash into one of the walls as she passed.
“Twi, you okay?”
Twilight shook off the cobwebs.
“Yeah. Let’s go, girls. We can’t lose her now.”
The filly screeched to a stop as a sheer cliff face appeared inches from her nose. Panting heavily, she looked around wildly, searching for a way out. There was none. The cliff enclosed three sides of the clearing, too steep to climb. She was trapped.
She spun as the six mares entered the clearing, fanning out to cut off any avenue of escape and slowly approaching.
“It’s okay, little one,” Fluttershy called gently. “We’re not going to hurt you. Come with us, and we’ll get you cleaned up, give you something to eat…”
The filly shook her head frantically as she scrabbled back, as if trying to fuse with the cliff.
“Whoah, easy, kid,” Dash said. “We’re not going to…”
An unearthly howl cut her off mid-sentence.
Rarity looked at her friends.
“What was that?”
“They have the Mark…!”
“The Curse is upon them…”
“They must be…cleansed…”
Twilight’s eyes went wide as burning crimson eyes winked into view around them.
“Oh buck…she was telling the truth…” she breathed.
“Who was? Twi, d’ya know what these things are?”
Twilight looked at Applejack, who took a step back at the sheer, panicked terror in her friend’s eyes.
“Do you remember two months ago…when Applebloom tagged along when I went to visit Zecora…and we got separated coming back? What she was babbling about afterwards?”
Applejack blanched.
“Sunny Town?”
Twilight nodded.
“Sunny Town.”
“Not to be rude, but…care to fill us in, dear?”
Twilight gulped.
“Coming back, Applebloom and I discovered that trees had fallen across the path. While I was clearing them, Applebloom says she saw a filly, roughly her age, in the foliage. She followed the filly…and found an entire settlement in the Everfree, called ‘Sunny Town’. What struck her as odd was that the inhabitants were all fully grown, but none had Cutie Marks. Didn’t even know what she was talking about when asked. Eventually, Applebloom found out why. She…she discovered the bones of a filly in a fireplace. The adults had…murdered the filly when she earned her Cutie Mark. From the number of bones described, they must have been doing so for a very long time.”
Horrified gasps punctuated her story.
“As…punishment, I guess, or judgment…the ponies had been cursed to become Nightmares-undead, zombie-like abominations. They weren’t even aware of it, instead living the same day on an endless loop.”
“It was only thanks to the filly Applebloom followed-the ghost of the murdered filly, Ruby, and one of the Nightmares, Mitta, the only one who knew of the curse and who was wracked with guilt over her role in Ruby’s death-that Applebloom managed to escape. Afterwards, I did some digging. Sunny Town was an actual village that disappeared without a trace around the same time Discord was defeated…leaving the empty plain where Ponyville stands now.”
“Mitta…That traitor has been dealt with.”
The six mares formed a defensive half-moon around the filly as five beings that could only be described as “equine abomination” came out of the forest. They were tall-about the same height as Luna or Cadance. Their flesh was charred black, hanging off their ebony bones in strips and tatters, glowing with a crimson inner flame. Their muzzles were filled with fangs in place of teeth, and their eyes were blazing crimson voids, without any visible iris, pupil, or sclera.
The tallest-the one Applebloom had said was the leader, Grey Hoof-took a single step forward.
“You bear the Curse. You must be cleansed.”
Rainbow Dash glared.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. All we want is to leave.”
Grey Hoof pointed at her Cutie Mark.
“Those. Those Marks are a sign you are under a curse, one that shall bring the wrath of The Divine upon the world. If we let you leave, we damn the world to destruction.”
“These aren’t a curse! They appear when a pony finds out what his or her unique talent is-what their role in life is to be!”
Another Nightmare spat.
“Blasphemy! To say you are unique is to declare yourself superior to others! It is not the place of mere mortals to possess ‘special talents’! Mortal ponies exist only to serve The Divine! Our role is to toil, and labor, and suffer on behalf of our neighbors!”
“Great,” Twilight mumbled. “Religious zealots.”
Without another word, she fired off an attack spell.
Grey Hoof shrugged it off as if it were a splash of water.
In Canterlot, a statue began to crack.
“Protect the filly!” Twilight shouted. “Whatever you do, don’t stop fighting! Girls, it’s been an honor.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, and then looked at the moon.
“Nos morituri te salutant, Luna, princeps dea!”
Fluttershy bowed her head and flared her wings, The Stare instinctively activating.
Twilight grinned and gave an intonation of her own, Rarity glancing at her and nodding.
“Ar gyfer Celestia! Ar gyfer gogoniant!”
Applejack and Pinkie looked at each other before speaking in unison, completing the invocations.
“Dansa með okkur, Death, við erum tilbúin!”
With these blessings, the battle was joined.
The statue began shaking as the cracks spread, saffron light issuing forth.
Twilight grunted as she released another spell. As before, it barely did any damage.
Rainbow Dash spat a curse as one of the Nightmares knocked away a lightning bolt.
“Twi, we’re not making any headway here…”
“I know! Talk later, concentrate now.”
One of the Nightmares broke through the line…and stopped cold.
“Grey Hoof…this one…she’s…”
Grey Hoof knocked the Harmony Bearers aside and came over to investigate.
“Yes, you’re right, Three-Leaf. She is…I see. Kill her first.”
“Why?”
Twilight collapsed as she attempted to rise once more, and failed.
‘This isn’t good…I can’t move.’
“What could this filly have done to warrant such hatred from you?”
The Nightmares sneered.
“You don’t know? You can’t tell?”
“Enough.”
Grey Hoof raised one hoof.
“It ends now.”
The filly squeezed her eyes closed and screamed a single word, the first sound the ponies had ever heard her make.
“DADDY!”
The statue exploded.
Grey Hoof grinned.
“Nothing can help…”
He was cut off as a sound shook the very forest, a sound combining the roar of a lion, bellow of a dragon, scream of an eagle, and whinny of a pony.
A blinding burst of light filled the clearing, blowing the Nightmares back and making the six feel revitalized, their wounds mending, a feeling of peace and calm descending over them.
The flare faded…and their blood ran cold as a horrifyingly familiar form became visible.
Discord rose to his full height…and kept rising, his body growing and shifting. His torso and neck shortened and thickened; his tail, limbs, and wings becoming larger and longer, giving him an overall more proportionate look.
Roneo grinned.
“You came. Now you will pay for…”
He was cut off as Discord vanished-not teleported, simply disappeared-only to reappear with his eagle talon curled into a fist that was buried in Roneo’s cheek. Roneo flew backwards, crashing into a tree.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened.
‘Fast…’
Discord spoke, his voice filled with rage.
“Leave the little ponies out of this. If you want revenge…here I am.”
Grey Hoof snarled.
“You call yourself a spirit, yet you refuse to yield to the authority of The Divine. You are no god,” he spat this last word as a curse, “you are a demon. As servants of The Divine, we will…”
He was cut off as Discord roared again, the shockwaves sending them skidding back several feet.
“You talk too much,” the Spirit of Chaos snarled. He cocked one paw in a ‘bring-it’ gesture.
“Time to see if the dead…can die.”
“You first.”
Grey Hoof stomped one hoof, the ground cracking and shattering as the skeletal, zombified remains of their various victims were ripped from whatever uneasy rest they had been condemned to, and summoned to the aid of their killers. Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, Griffons, Diamond Dogs, even Changelings, called forth as mindless cannon fodder.
What followed filled the mares with absolute terror.
This was not the Discord they had faced.
This was not the “mischievous spirit” Celestia had told them about.
This was not a trickster.
This was pure, raw devastation. Sheer power.
Wrath incarnate.
A vengeful god protecting his child.
Discord didn’t crack any jokes. He didn’t mock, didn’t fool around.
Every move brought destruction. Every twitch, destroying the Bone Walkers and releasing glowing orbs that had to be souls. He didn’t snap his fingers; every thought was instantly transformed into reality.
A Unicorn shot off rapid-fire spells. Discord caused them to rebound back at their source with a glance.
A pair of Griffons screamed their defiance as they charged. Discord snatched them out of the air and slammed them head-first into the ground.
A massive Diamond Dog swiped at him; Discord flowed around it like water and cleft it in twain with his claws.
An Earth Pony charged forward, leaping into the air and twisting around to deliver a flying kick. Bolts of lightning, larger than anything ponies could produce, shot from the clear sky to reduce the undead to ashes.
Within moments, the Bone Walkers were gone. Discord’s expression finally morphed out of a snarl into a cruel grin.
“My turn.”
He warped again, reappearing before one of the Nightmares, who stumbled back.
He raised a paw, Starlet struggling wildly as she was levitated into the air.
“Please…no… I’m sorry, please…mercy…”
“Mercy?” Discord growled. “DO I LOOK LIKE A SPIRIT OF MERCY TO YOU?”
“Starlet!”
Roneo charged forward, only to be knocked back with the flick of a tail.
“Wait your turn, colt.”
Starlet’s begging changed into an endless scream as her body began to twist and warp in on itself. The blood-chilling cries abruptly cut off as she imploded.
Grey Hoof took a step back.
“What…?”
Discord’s grin turned feral.
“Have you so soon forgotten? It was I whom judged you, fool. Do you truly think I can’t negate what I did?”
He took a step forward.
“I am the first to admit I have many faults. The throne suits me ill. But I was Equestria’s ruler. Even if it weakened me enough for dear, dear Tia and Woona to seal me away, dealing with you was my job.”
As he spoke, wind began to swirl around him, lightning flashed, and his eyes began to glow, his voice deepening and growing louder.
“You deny my divinity, and you may be right. I am Chaos itself, and Chaos…is beyond the realm of mere ‘gods’. It is change and progress. It is what makes every ‘today’ different from the ‘yesterdays’ and ‘tomorrows’. It is what allows innovation and permits life to adapt to ever-changing circumstances. It is anything that cannot be quantified, predicted, or scientifically measured. Love. Friendship. The weather, before the Ponies irreparably damaged the world’s ability to govern itself. The turbulence of flowing liquids. It is the primordial Void from which all things were formed, and the entropy that, inevitably, will consume all. The world…the universe…exists because I allow it to.”
Twilight gulped.
When Discord continued, his voice was normal once more, but quiet. Calm. Cold as ice.
That scared the Harmony Bearers more than anything else that night.
“Grey Hoof. Roneo. Gladstone. Three Leaf.”
The Nightmares were lifted into the air as the Lord of Chaos spoke.
“You have been judged once, for atrocities against your race. If you had merely repented of your crimes, your torments would have ended.”
A great chasm ripped open the ground beneath the remaining undead, ebony flames licking forth.
Twilight and the others took a step back as an unearthly heat washed over them, somehow leaving them shivering as if doused in ice.
“Yet you refused. You slew countless others in the centuries since, compounding your transgressions. The pits of Tartarus…are too merciful for you. No, you shall be condemned to a realm of eternal tortures, the likes of which would turn the stomach of Grogar himself. And oh, how you shall long for the light of dawn…”
“Who are you to judge?” Grey Hoof growled. “There is just as much blood on your soul! More! What gives you the right to condemn?”
“I am what I am, and that’s all that I am. Tell me, Grey Hoof, do you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair. It does not discriminate, does not distinguish between rich or poor, wicked or righteous, mare, stallion, or foal. In the end, it affects all equally. I bear the ponies of Equestria no more malice than they bear malice for the insects they tread under hoof every day. Their lives are literally beneath my notice. I have seen the birth of suns and the death of galaxies. The workings of my mind are as far beyond yours as yours is beyond that of a clam. And yet…even eldritch abominations from the icy, infinite depths of space love their children.”
His face grew solemn.
“And now…atone for your sins in Hell!”
Chains shot out of the Abyss, wrapping the Nightmares like a mummy’s bandages.
The four abominations screamed as they were dragged into the Pit, their pleas echoing through the forest as tendrils of pure darkness grabbed them, dragging them into the chasm, which slammed closed as if it had never existed.
Twilight and the others took a reflexive step back as Discord turned to them.
‘Without the Elements, we don’t stand a chance,’ Twilight thought fearfully. ‘And after this, I’m not certain we would even WITH them.’
Discord regarded them silently for a long time, face unreadable, having assumed his regular form. Eventually, he turned to the filly, who smiled sheepishly and began backing up.
“Screwball. Come here.”
“Eh, hehehe…hi, Daddy…”
“Come. Here.”
The filly’s head drooped, and she trudged forward to stand before him.
“Screwball. What did I tell you about interacting with ponies?”
“You…You said…”
“Well?” Discord pressed, arms crossed over his chest.
“You said…not to.”
Discord nodded; his expression still inscrutable.
“And do you remember why?”
“Because… Because they wouldn’t understand. Because they hate, fear, and despise what they don’t identify with. Because if they found out who I am, who my daddy is, they wouldn’t rest until they had hurt me.”
Pinkie began to speak up, but Discord held up a paw, indicating silence. His gaze never left his daughter.
“So why, then, did you deliberately disobey me? You stole food, which drew their suspicions. Every time you snuck into town, you risked exposure. You needlessly put yourself in danger. Why?”
“Be…Because…”
“Screwball, look at me. Why did you go against my fairly simple and extremely explicit instructions?”
“Because…I…” she stammered, still unable to meet her father’s eyes.
“Screwball, look at me.”
“BECAUSE I WAS DESPERATE!” she finally shrieked. Discord recoiled as if struck. “When…when they took you away from me…I…I lost my powers! I couldn’t create food; I couldn’t make myself more comfortable… I was…scared, and all alone, and…”
Discord’s expression softened.
“Oh, Screwball…”
He opened his arms and dropped to his knees, the filly racing forward and almost tackling him in her desperation to be held once more, burying her face in the feathers and fur covering his chest. The events of the night caught up to her as she began sobbing brokenly.
He stroked her mane and held her close.
“I’m so sorry, Screwball. I’m so sorry,” he murmured over and over, eyes closed.
“I missed you, Daddy.”
“I love you, my little abomination. And I promise…I won’t let them take me from you again.”
As he said this, his eyes opened to give the Six a look that spoke fairly eloquently.
“No.”
Her friends gave her looks as Twilight spoke.
“He won’t be. I promise you.”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Discord said.
“Um, yes?”
“Tit for tat.”
“Say what?”
“You six sealed me away. You six risked your lives to protect my daughter. Tit for tat.”
Any further discussion was abruptly put to a halt as a voice from on high boomed.
“DISCORD!”
Celestia and Luna slammed down into the clearing, their hooves creating craters.
The Element Bearers found their Elements materializing around their necks, as Shining Armor and Cadance rushed into the clearing, a full contingent of both branches of the Guard on their heels.
“Hi, big brother! Hi, Cadance!” Twilight chirped happily.
“Twily! You’re alright!” Shining exclaimed in relief.
“Put the filly down, Discord,” Celestia snarled.
“We never thought you would stoop so low as to take a hostage,” Luna added, scowling.
“Princess…she’s not a hostage.”
Celestia didn’t react. Shining, however, did.
“Say again, Twily?”
The filly answered for her.
“You leave my Daddy alone, you mean old bi-!”
Discord flicked her ear.
“Ow…”
“Screwball. You don’t talk like that,” her father admonished.
“But…”
He set her down.
“Go on over to Miss Fluttershy, darlin'. It’ll be okay. I promise.”
Screwball nodded, scampering over to the butter-furred rosette, who folded her under a wing, murmuring consolingly.
“…Meet Screwball,” Applejack said, deadpan. “Th’ Daughter of Discord.”
“Sister…” Luna started, only to be cut off.
“Twilight, use the Elements, now!”
Twilight hesitated, torn.
“Twilight, hurry!”
“…I’m sorry, Princess.”
Celestia rounded on her.
“Why? We can’t afford to hesitate! Discord…”
“…Saved our lives, Princess.”
Cadance was taken aback.
“He…what…?”
“Even if he hadn’t…I saw that filly in Ponyville, shortly before we sealed him. She had to watch as we turned her father into a statue. She doesn’t have any pony magic. Her powers seem to be like her father’s, only much smaller in scale. She can create food for herself, and she can alter her environment to make herself more comfortable. Except…she lost those powers when separated from her father. She’s spent the past nine months alone, having to filch food just to survive and sleeping in a cave.”
Twilight shook her head slowly.
“I’m sorry, Princess. You…you’re a second mother to me. I will follow any instructions you give. I would die for you, if need be. But…I can’t take this filly’s father from her. Not again. Even if it’s Discord. Not without betraying everything you’ve taught me-everything I’ve learned since coming here.”
Celestia rose to her full height.
“And the rest of you? You agree?”
“It only takes a moment to see, Princess. In spite of everything he’s done, Discord…he’s a good father,” Rainbow replied. “Twilight is right. We owe him our lives, and I can’t seal him away again. Not after seeing the two of them together.”
The others nodded their assent.
Celestia raised her head to stare into the sky.
“So be it.”
The Six blinked.
“Princess…?”
Celestia looked at them.
“I would hear the events that brought you to this decision, my faithful student.”
Twilight bowed her head…and began.
Celestia looked back and forth between Discord and Twilight, her face a mask of shock.
“You…Luna and I, we…”
Her eyebrow twitched.
“WHAT?”
Discord chuckled.
“Surprised? The Tree and I are two halves of a whole, Tia. The Elements and I are equals. They can’t do anything beyond a stalemate unless I’m weak, or taken by surprise.”
His eyes hardened.
“And after being petrified twice, they won’t take me by surprise again. Would you like to know why our power is equal?”
Luna nodded.
“Please. Enlighten us.”
“Because, Woona, as I explained before you arrived…Chaos is a necessity. Unrestrained Harmony is just as dangerous as unchecked Chaos. My magic-my existence-is what permits life to progress. Without me, the Elements would cause life to stagnate. Harmony would become Order. Each being, identical in every way. Breathing in an identical, set pattern. Nothing to make them, or each day, different or unique. Yesterday identical to today identical to tomorrow. Oceans would shrink, as they evaporated. Fields and forests would wither and die, until the entire world wastes away, as if from a cancer. On the other hand, without the Elements, my power would rip the world apart. Hence, why I don’t simply destroy them.”
He grinned.
“So the Elements seal me away when my influence begins to upset the delicate balance of the world, and the seal breaks when my power is needed to restore the balance.”
Twilight blinked.
“Okay then…”
Celestia seemed pensive. Finally, she spoke.
“And if we seal you away again?”
“Screwball is almost immortal. She can’t die of old age. But it appears something went wrong when I crafted her. She can’t exist without my magic. Seal me away, and no matter how much care she receives, she’ll be dead in under a decade. Seal me away, and you condemn an innocent to death. A filly, whose only crime was being my daughter, dead because of you.”
“Discord. We cannot allow you free reign of Equestria. And yet…if your story is true…if you really did save my student and her friends…if this filly is your daughter…”
She bowed her head.
“Your sentence: your daughter will be enrolled in Ponyville’s school. You two will remain with Twilight or one of her friends. The Bearers will be your parole officers. If we call you, you answer. Immediately. Once you prove yourself…”
Discord nodded…and surprised everypony by bowing.
“I yield to your judgement, old friend.”
Celestia was taken aback.
“Eh?”
“Everything I did was to get you two on the throne. I said it before-I’m no ruler. You two are.”
“Well…that was easy.”
Discord looked at his daughter.
“Let’s go home, my little abomination.”
The filly grinned.
“Okay daddy.”
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This part is hilarious to me because when I write Screwball, I always seem to make her such a pottymouth.
I reaaaaly love this fic btw
I love Celestia's reaction lol
I came into this fic expecting randomness.
While I didn't get that I'm not disappointed because SWEET CELESTIA ON A STICK THIS WAS AWESOME!... And slightly dark. (Murdered fillies? Are you sure this is E rated?) But aside from that, this is great! I'll just link this on /r/MyLittlePony since it needs more love!
5312383 ...How do you change the rating again?
Seriously though, you must have heard of "Story of the Blanks". Thus the dead foals.
5312685 I've never published a story on here so I can't help ya there. And no, I've never heard of "Story of the Blanks". I amdecently new to the fandom though, so that might explain it. Great story all the same!
5312805 Okay then. It's an 8-bit fangame. Twilight basically told the entire plot in the story. It is creepy as all fuck. A Google search can let you experience it yourself. Trust me. Don't.
Discord does not kill or permanently incapacitate.
The idea of doing so straight up morally offends him "I don't turn ponies into stone!", it violates his essential nature as the spirit of chaos.
5392894 ...And you must have skipped over a few things in the story.
One: how I view the nature of Chaos. Chaos is more than candy clouds that rain chocolate. Chaos is just as much destructive as it is random. From the research I've done, the closest thing we can get to true "chaos" in nature is this little thing called "entropy". Discord may CHOOSE not to kill; it doesn't mean he won't if he feels it necessary. Batman or Superman he definitely is not.
Which leads in to Two: HIS CHILD WAS IN DANGER. Ask any parent: if your child is in immediate, legitimate danger for their lives, any moral compunction about killing you may have IMMEDIATELY go out the window. Yes, he probably could have stopped the Nightmares without actually destroying them. But that would have left the risk of them continuing their depredations. Remember, these weren't predators. They weren't killing out of need. They were killing out of a twisted sense of religious altruism. They thought they were doing the RIGHT THING.
And finally, Three: the section of the story you quoted involved Discord fighting the zombified remains of Sunny Town's victims. The only way to free them, to send them to their eternal rest, was to destroy them. I don't see Discord's blue-and-orange morality as being okay with simply defeating them and leaving them trapped, for eternity, as mindless puppets. The whole "I don't turn ponies to stone" is saying he won't willingly subjects another to something he would consider worse than death. Sunny Town had a way out. They could have begged for forgiveness. The Bone Walkers had no escape beyond their destruction.
5393023
Entropy is a process of background information becoming too complicated for matter to exist. It's a pretty orderly process where the final state is literally nothing, besides occasionally random objects spawning from quantum foam because the universe has become too complicated for anything else to exist.
Also you are forgetting quantum mechanics.
Discord is in a mythical/magical world and embodiment of mythical chaos besides, so real world physics don't enter into it.
Could Rainbow dash use unicorn magic because her child is in danger?
5393042 Okay, your second point has absolutely nothing to do with the argument being made. You're asserting that because of one line Discord says in canon, he is literally incapable of anything beyond temporary measures. Instead of the more simple explanation that he CHOOSES not to.
My point was that if your child is in danger, you use every means at your disposal to save their lives. So no, Dash wouldn't be able to use Unicorn magic. What she COULD do is unleash a frigging HURRICANE on their hypothetical flank.
Ok. Two words. TOO CUTE!
5392894 he was protecting his daughter. I've seen mothers and fathers do superhuman feats to save or protect their children so whats to stop the GOD of chaos to do the same? hmmmm
5615473
The god part, when one is that powerful can't and won't stop being a meaningful distinction, especially in a world where magic is explicitly an expression of what you are.
Could rainbow dash use unicorn magic because her child is in danger? No.
5615498 true but she would be able to fly so fast that she would in theory perform a quadruple rain boom to save her child
5822010 Yup. "World of Cardboard" is my absolute favorite Superman quoteever, not counting the two Jor-El quotes from Superman the movie and Man of Steel. Expect me to try and work some variation in whenever I possibly can.
Another quote I love is one I can't find online. I can find references to it but not the quote itself. It's from when Marvel rebooted Thor post-Civil War when Tony is being an arrogant ass, saying Thor is required to register, and Thor basically kicks his can ("You've been working out." "No. There is only one difference. In this time and this place...I am no longer holding back.") and tells him that, after the whole "we need a Thor. Thor is dead. I know, let's make a cyborg clone" fiasco, he is beyond pissed. He then tells Stark to (paraphrased) "contemplate the meaning of the term "god of thunder" and what it really means". As in "I am fully capable of creating a hurricane so severe it cannot be measured on your scales...dropping it over Washington...and holding it there. Give me a reason."
6499684
Aww man! It would be amazing if that second quote were online! Also, I haven't read this story in so long...And, I forgot to favorite and give a thumbs up to it the first time around. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, author! I appreciate it, because I remember the Discord in this story being AMAZING!
5822010
What was really ironic was that, when I was watching that "superman--world of cardboard" clip, an ad popped up for a cardboard cutout of superman.
jm, if you EVER make another story, i'll read it in a heartbeat, 👏👏👏👏
well this certainly does NOT sound like Pony.mov’s Discord, i’m slightly disappointed, but okey.
Discord, my dude...
The Elements are the Elements of harmony. They are what restores balance! Chaos, Order... But in Equestria those things are balanced rather perfectly! The Elements keep you around, because, when chaos drops to zero... there is no excitement in life for thinking beings
! But without them... a terrible calamity will occur... The world will drown in chaos... Because you, Discord, are a spirit of chaos and disharmony! Ponies can be very chaotic and... discordant, but they need not be. Your presence, however... unless counteracted with something orderly... does not end well: wherever you go, there always is chaos! You spread it. This is not a thing you choose to do. Anyone could be chaotic enough to replace you in that case... But you... You ARE chaos! You turn things upside down. When you cease your existence, chaos stops.
Conclusion: without his chaos Discord is but a stone statue
. Literally just... a rock 
!..
I don't think there are any plot holes in this one
...
However: unexpected Cheerilee! And narration mentions names even before they are revealed!
Other, than that...
I've always believed in my relatively short time of being a fan of ponies that Discord's powers were watered down for the sake of a G/PG rating.
There was a writer who did a direct fanfiction on Story of the Blanks. In that story, it was suggested that a nearby village was found by a resident of Sunny Town. I can't remember the exact specifics but it involved a cutie pox plague. Your idea behind Sunny Town is much darker and more horrible in that as far as I can tell their "you only exist to serve" probably led to other horrible acts done in the name of the Divine without a circumstance that while not at all lessening the severity and depravity of said action makes it more...approachable if you will.
In any case, excellent story overall. Maybe a tiny bit rushed in places but otherwise not bad at all.
P.S. I definitely agree that some if not all ponies would happily consign the world to oblivion via perfect order. Not out of a ego-trip or desire for unlimited cosmic power, but out of base fear (The flower trio comes to mind). And on an an expanded look at Equestria as a whole, ponies of canon did have a tendency to view things like Friendship and Harmony as exclusively "for ponies, by ponies". Griffons need not apply and all that jazz.