The Secret of Harmony

by Brassboy212

Chapter 5: The Chaos Has Been Doubled!

Footnotes are numbers inside parentheses. Example: (1)

Discord was thrilled at the idea of facing someone who was almost exactly like him. It had been over a millennia since he had faced off against a fellow draconequis. Havoc was also intrigued at how this fight would carry out, even though he was sure of himself that he would win.

"So, Discord, are you ready to be reeducated by a REAL chaos master?" Havoc asked.

"We'll see about th--" Discord responded, but something came to his mind. "Hang on a sec, if you're a part of me, and you're just as strong as me, that means you know everything that I know which also means that you don't know anything I don't know. This means that you couldn't really reeducate me in anything because you don't know anything that is beyond my knowledge. Now, perhaps if you had a different variation of what I already knew--"

"Someone like you shouldn't be thinking about these kinds of things so hard. You might hurt yourself. Now, do you wanna talk all day, or do you wanna fight?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

Havoc opened his bat wings and readied his interspecies arms for snapping. "Okay, Discord, prepare to witness TRUE CHAOS!!!"

"WAIT!! WAIT!! WAIT!! WAIT!! WAIT!! WAIT!! WAIT!! WAIT!! WAIT!!"

"What is it now?"

Discord smirked. "A battle this epic...needs an EPIC INTRO!!!"

SNAP!

The two adversaries were standing in opposite corners inside a large boxing ring; complete with spotlights, loudspeakers, and even a jumbo screen above the ring. A tall brown podium sat on the outside of the ring.

"And now, for the announcer!"

Discord snapped his fingers again and this time a small explosion went off around the podium. As the smoke lifted, a figure was revealed standing behind the podium. The figure was a small, humanoid, felt puppet. He had orange-yellow skin, a pill-shaped head, a large pointy nose, round ears, a large chin, pure white eyes with black pupils, thin black eyebrows, and perfectly-combed black hair. He was also wearing a white bathrobe and holding a pink bar of soap in his one hand.

"Hey," said the puppet. "this isn't my shower. Where am I?" He turned and saw Discord and Havoc standing in the ring and was very shocked by their appearances. "AAAAHHH!!! And who or what are you two?!"

Discord tossed him a small laundry bag with a little index card pinned to it. "Just put your clothes on and read what's on the card when you're done."

The puppet caught the bag and ducked behind the podium.

Havoc felt ripped off by this part of the arrangement. "A puppet? Really? You want to put together an epic intro and you choose a PUPPET as the announcer?"

Discord laughed. "He may be a puppet, Mr. Havoc, but he's not just any puppet!"

"That's right competitors! We have a very special guest here with us today!" said a booming male voice over the loudspeakers.

The voice was followed by a roar of clapping and cheering from an unknown source.

"And what's all that?" Havoc asked.

"Oh, that's just the voice that introduces him and the live studio audience that comes with him. You don't usually see them."

The voice continued as a thrilling timpani roll was played while spotlights moved throughout the ring. "And now, here's your host for today's show, all the way from Sesame Street, USA in the human universe, 'America's Favorite Game Show Host' for over 46 years, GUUUUUUUUUY SMIIIIIILLLEYYYYYY!!!" (1)

The crowd roared with excitement and epic fight music was played as Guy Smiley popped up from behind the podium wearing a white collared shirt, a navy-blue blazer, and a red necktie.

"Yes, yes, thank you, thank you very much!" said Guy Smiley. "I'm your host, Guy Smiley, and welcome to everyone's favorite show, CHAOTIC CLASH!! Now, without further delay, here are our two challengers!"

He turned towards Havoc. "In this corner, he's a dark minion created by Tartarus escapee, Tirek, he's a physical manifestation of chaotic magic, heeeeeeeere's HAVOC!!!"

A chorus of boos was heard from the invisible crowd. Havoc rolled his eyes.

"And in this corner, the original Lord of Chaos, one of Equestria's greatest foes, turned great protector, close friend to the princesses and the Mane 6, the Sultan of Snapping, the Ruler of Random, the Meister of Mischief, the Count of Crazy..."

"GET ON WITH IT!!!" shouted Havoc.

"It's DIIIIIIIIIIISSSCOOOORD!!!"

The crowed cheered as Discord waved and blew kisses to the air.

"There's only one rule in Chaotic Clash," said Guy. "whoever is left standing wins! Havoc, are you ready?"

"Yes, yes, whatever, just start already!"

"Discord, are you ready?"

"After an intro like that, I feel like I'm ready for anything!"

"Alright, here we go! 3...2...1...CLASH!!!!"

Havoc was the first to make a move. "Let's see what I have to work with."

SNAP!

A large cannon appeared behind him. He lit the fuse on the back and shouted:

"SUCK CANNONBALL!!"

The cannon fired a large cannonball at Discord.

Luckily, Discord was quick on his mismatched feet and came up with a counter move.

SNAP!

Nothing appeared to happen until he reached out his paw and caught the cannonball. He smirked at Havoc as he dropped the cannonball on the ground; it bounced like it was made of the same material as a basketball. Discord began dribbling it and performed various tricks with it like he was a player on the Harlem Globe Trotters before chucking the ball across the ring and back into the cannon. Suddenly, the cannon exploded in a display of bright streamers and shiny confetti. Despite the startling explosion, Havoc didn't so much as flinch.

"What an amazing counter move by Discord!" shouted Guy Smiley. "Not only did he stop Havoc's attack, but he blew up the cannon in the process!"

Havoc was not impressed. "Matter change? Really? Preschool stuff, Discord! Honestly, I expected more from you. I think that reformation of yours is slowing you down."

Discord laughed. "Slowing me down? And why on Earth would you think something like that?"

"Just look around you. You want to make an 'epic intro' and you use some of the most predicable elements for the setting. The only real crazy thing you did was get some puppet as the announcer, and even that wasn't too impressive."

"Hey!" protested Guy.

"Shut up! Like I was saying, I think your reformation has led to you abandoning your old ways. Now, you're no longer as chaotic as you used to be."

"Now wait just a second!" objected Discord. "Maybe I don't have as much freedom to do what I please as I used to, but that doesn't mean my power has diminished as a result."

"Is that so? Well then, let's test that theory, shall we? It's time I took control of this fight!"

SNAP!

The boxing ring transformed into a small stone Japanese street. There were even small stores and equine pedestrians on one side watching and walking along the sidewalk. Guy Smiley, to Discord's dismay, was nowhere to be seen.

However, his dismay turned into sheer excitement as he realized the setting of their battle.

Havoc opened his arms. "Welcome, Discord, to the world of--"

"STREET FIGHTER!! YES!!!" interrupted the geeking out draconequis. "Oh, Havoc, did you ever make a mistake to bring us here! I used to kill at this game back in the day! OO, and I know just who to pick!!"

SNAP!

Discord had donned a white sleeveless karate uniform with a black belt, red gloves, and a red headband. "You're in for it now, buster! Ryu was always my best character, and now I can harness his power without the need of a controller!! So, who are you gonna choose, huh? Ken? M. Bison? Guile? CHUN-LI?!"

"I've got a better idea."

SNAP!

Havoc was wearing what looked like a black and yellow ninja outfit with a black hood and a golden facemask.

"Scorpion?!" questioned Discord. "Hey! No fair! He wasn't in Street Fighter!"

"FAIR?! Did I hear that correctly? The so-called 'Lord of Chaos' just cared about fairness for a second? Who said anything about this fight being fair?! If you were a real Lord of Chaos, fairness would mean nothing to you!"

"NO! I just...well...I just...thought we would be sticking to Street Fighter. Yeah, that's it! I just didn't expect it to be a free-for-all in terms of characters. Well, regardless of this technicality, I'll still beat you! I was better at playing Street Fighter than Mortal Kombat anyway!"

"Fine, now get your butt over here and fight!" Havoc flung a chain with a pointed blade at the end of it which stabbed Discord in his midsection.

While Discord felt no pain, it did allow Havoc to yank over his opponent. While Discord was aware of the situation he was in, he knew exactly what to do. At just the right moment, he said tauntingly:

"Thanks for helping me get close to you!"

He clenched his fist and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"SHORYUKEN!!!"

In and instant, he jumped off the ground and punched Havoc with a powerful spinning uppercut. He wasn't finished yet. Discord flipped through the air landing behind Havoc and went crazy on him with a series of punching and kicking combos all while accenting each hit with a loud grunt. After knocking Havoc a few feet away with a strong punch, he leaped forward, and shouted:

"TATSUMAKI SENPUU KYAKU!!!"

He lifted one leg up and began to spin towards Havoc with a whirling mid-air roundhouse kick. Havoc seized the opportunity and threw his pointed chain at Discord again. This time, Discord's attack caused the chain to wrap itself around him and stop his attack.

"COME HERE!!" Havoc yanked the chain hard, pulling the stunned Discord over to him. As soon as he stopped, he flipped Discord over and swiped him in the shoulder on the way down with his lion paw. As Discord turned around, Havoc gave him a slash to the chest with his eagle claw followed by a smack to the face with his right wrist and a kick to the head with his hoofed leg, which knocked Discord off the ground. Fire began emulating from Havoc's body. Before Discord even began falling downward, Havoc bolted in the opposite direction in a fiery blaze, only to reappear on the other side of Discord and kept the target mid-air with three more kicks. His limbs looked like speeding balls of fire as they moved and even made small explosions as they made contact. On the third kick, he did his fiery dash move again and slammed Discord hard on the ground with a strong downward punch (2).

After a second of lying on the ground, Discord rose to his feet.

"You know," said Havoc. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I don't think I'm getting the full experience of this fight. Perhaps I'll changed the rest of the battlefield too. Maybe everypony fighting on a giant lava pool will spice things up a little. It'll be interesting to see what everypony else does after this! I'll bet Searing Nova will have a ball."

Discord was worried now. Though he thought a change in scenery would be nice, he was afraid of how that would effect the rest of the other battles around him. He couldn't tell for sure which side was winning, but he didn't want any of his randomness to affect anything, just in case.

He tried to reason with Havoc. "Hey, come one now, the other's look busy enough as it is. We don't want to anything to interrupt them. Besides, wouldn't your boss have a problem with this?"

"I'm sure Lord Tirek won't mind as long as it's a benefit to us. Now let's do some redecorating!"

"Not today you won't!" Discord put his wrists together, threw them outward, and shouted:

"HADOUKEN!!!"

Out from Discord's hands shot a large blue fiery ball of energy. At the speed it was going, he had a sure feeling that Havoc wouldn't have enough time to counter it, but just when it seemed success was confirmed, Havoc twisted his body like a bendable doll to evade the attack without even moving his feet.

Still determined to land a blow, Discord continued to spam the attack.

"HADOUKEN!!!"
"HADOUKEN!!!"
"HADOUKEN!!!"
"HADOUKEN!!!"
"HADOUKEN!!!"
"HADOUKEN!!!"
"HADOUKEN!!!"
"HADOUKEN!!!"

Just like before, Havoc twisted and contorted his body this way and that; slipping by every blast without a scratch on him.

"If that attack didn't work the first time, why keep doing it over and over again?" he asked.

"It used to work pretty well in the game."

"For shame, Discord. Now if you don't mind, I need to charge up the transformation spell." He held up his eagle claw and began concentrating his magic. The limb became more and more illuminated as it slowly charged up.

Discord had to think fast. He knew a spell like that only needed a minute or two to fully charge. There had to be something he could do to interrupt it. Suddenly, he remembered something. Using his one hand, Discord stretched open one of his nostrils wide as if it were made of rubber. He shoved his other hand into the nostril and began digging around. After a few seconds, he pulled it out and it was holding a cannon just like the one Havoc used earlier, but covered in green snot.

"Hey look!" he said to no one in particular. "Here's my cannon! It was up my nose the whole time!" He fired the cannon and out shot a snot-covered cannonball.

Havoc, still focusing on charging his spell, didn't move, but he wasn't going to let a giant snot-ball get in the way of his spell casting. His red tail sprang to life and the spines on the end of it moved like fingers.

SNAP!

"Wipe your nose, you oaf!"

A giant white handkerchief appeared and flew toward the ball catching the ball and covering the cannon in the process. The tail picked up the edge of the handkerchief and yanked it away revealing the cannon and the ball to be gone. Discord looked at Havoc's claw, the spell was just one second away from being ready. In his panic-thinking, he came up with only one more idea. His instincts yelled at him to not do it, but his conscience was yelling just as loud for him to do it. The sudden wave of stress in that one second was driving him crazy. As he watched Havoc start to move his fingers to make a snap, his mind blanked letting his body move on it's own.

"STOOOOOOOP!!!"

SNAP!

A giant flash of white covered the area. It only lasted for a second, but it was enough to get everypony's attention. Even the duplicates and the dragons stopped fighting for an instant. When the flash faded, a lava pool was present, but it only covered the area inside the large pink bubble that surrounded Discord and Havoc's section of the battlefield. Discord was standing on one of the rocks panting with his arms spread out. It seemed that at the very last instant before Havoc casted the spell, Discord created a bubble reality to keep the spell from affecting the rest of the battlefield (3). Since the bubble had to match the strength of the spell, it left Discord exhausted.

Havoc looked at Discord with an expression of anger and disappointment like a father would have if his child did something wrong. "Do you realize what you just did, Discord?"

"I...*huff*...told you...*gasp*...don't...*pant*...get them...*huff*...involved!"

"Is my mind playing tricks on me? Did you, Discord, of all creatures, choose ORDER over chaos?!"

"So?"

"You are supposed to be the Lord of Chaos! Fairness, control, and especially order should be the last things that comes to mind when creatures hear your name. Even though I knew you would be no match for me, I still gave you the chance to prove me wrong. I really did. I gave you the chance to prove yourself as the better Lord of Chaos, and what you give me is...this. See what your glorious 'friendship' has done to you? Look at yourself! You've grown predictable, tame, and above all, weak! Plus, you let these equines make you think that friendship is supposed to make you stronger! How can you even call yourself the Lord of Chaos after everything that has happened since your reformation?!"

Havoc shook his head in disapproval. "Lord Tirek was right, you really are nothing more than a pony-errand-boy. You're just as weak minded as Scorpan!"

Discord wanted to speak out against all this, but as each word worked its way through his brain, the undesirable truth slowly drowned out his voice of reason. Ever since Fluttershy had taken him in, everything had changed. Before, he never had to think about the consequences of his actions. Since his reformation, he realized them several times now. Back when Tirek made his second escape, he could have turned the tables and stabbed Tirek in the back rather than the other way around. Instead, the manipulator, who once bested the Mane 6, was beaten at his own game.

What good was he even getting out of this friendship thing? Even with the acceptance of Fluttershy, the rest of her friends still treated him like he hadn't changed at all. For the most part, they were right, but even when he was willing to try and be a good friend, most times it would end in him making more a fool of himself and less of friend to the ponies around him. What was the point in trying to change if every attempt to do so ended in failure?

"Havoc is right." he thought to himself with a tear in his eye. "Ever since my reformation, nothing has gone well for me. Maybe the only reason they think it's good is because I'm no longer a threat to them. I'd bet my ability to snap that they wouldn't even care if I fell in this battle."

Havoc watched with satisfaction as the distraught Discord's body color turned slightly greyer than normal. (4)

"You're a rate amateur compared to me!" said Havoc. "Watch a true Lord of Chaos take the wheel!!"

SNAP!

Everything inside the bubble turned into darkness. However, Discord couldn't see Havoc anywhere. Suddenly, he heard his booming voice coming from every direction.

"Now, for something I'd like to call, CHAOTIC OVERLOAD!!!"

SNAP!

Discord was now in the middle of a shoe factory. A clown wearing a business suit made out of pasta and a tie made out of silly putty came up from behind him and smacked him in the back of the head with a wooden rod shaped like a stalk of celery. He tried to grab the clown, but it disappeared before he could reach him.

SNAP!

On the banks of the Nile River, a pine tree wearing designer shoes fell out of the sky onto Discord and did a Cossack dance on top of his body. Discord was once again unable to grab it.

SNAP!

In the Artic North, two giant elephants wearing biker outfits played a fast game of patty-cake throwing Discord around in the middle.

SNAP!

Discord was being closed in on by an army of giant fried chicken legs wearing pajamas in a gym.

SNAP!

Now, he was being chased across a bridge near a fountain by a band rocking horse people with marshmallow pies driving a newspaper taxi(5).

SNAP!
SNAP!
SNAP!
SNAP!

No matter how much he tried, Discord couldn't get a chance to fight back without having the scene completely change. All the creatures were getting their share of hits, but he could barely get any. His exhaustion and his growing doubts were only making things worse for him.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the bubble, Havoc was lounging on a floating recliner chair laughing his head off as he continued whipping up more bizarre things to hurl at Discord. He watched as the bubble slowly increased in size with every creation he shoved in. Not only was he trying to overwhelm Discord, he was also trying to the bubble large enough to cover the rest of the battlefield. He knew that a downside to the spell was that it expanded with the more chaotic energy it was given. With enough energy, he could get it big enough to cover the rest of the battlefield and weaken his opponent at the same time. He could tell by the voices inside the bubble that time was growing short for the draconequis.

---

Elsewhere, a large group was watching the fights from the hilltops not too far from the battlefield.

"Alright, I'll go in alone while they're busy." said one of them. "Once I make my move and give the signal, you all come in and give 'em everything you got!"

"Yes, sir!" responded the rest of the group.

"Have the others arrived?"

"They're all here, sir, and ready to fight!" answered another group member.

"Good, because I think it's time we made our presence known."

Author's Note:

NEXT CHAPTER: An ancient darkness will awaken

1. You heard it right. Guy Smiley from Sesame Street was the announcer for Discord and Havoc's fight. He was the most random announcer I could think of for this fight. I also consider it a little shout-out to my autistic older brother; Guy Smiley was one of his favorite Muppets.

2. These descriptions were based off of actual Scorpion movesets from "Mortal Kombat X".

3. Bubble reality seen in MLP IDW comic Friends Forever #2

4. That's right. Discord got Discorded!

5. A scene made up from some of the lyrics from the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

Comments

[CloverStarshine]

Nooooooooooooooooooo! Then if Discy got discorded, then that means, no! No! No! No! I refuse to think that!

[Dragon of Shadows]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LitDGyxFh4