62. Return of Chaos
Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer were assigned to help to build a barn in Sweet Apple Acres. However, things got a little complicated because the orchard was being flooded by water. Applejack accompanied the two ponies to the source and found out that a beaver was building his dam right in front of the orchard. The three Earth Ponies tried to talk with the beaver but because of the obvious language barrier they had to bring Fluttershy to do some translation and after some negotiations, there seemed to be some progress.
The beaver seemed to be complaining about something but nopony except Fluttershy understood him. “What's he goin' on about now?” Applejack asked confused.
“Good news. Mr. Beaverton Beaverteeth has agreed to take his dam apart and move it,” Fluttershy explained.
“Well, it's about time. My apple trees are so waterlogged, I can practically hear 'em gargle!” Applejack said, obviously pointing out the fact that all her trees are drowned in water.
But then Mr. Beaverton Beaverteeth turned around and crossed his arms, clearly angered and still complained about something which Fluttershy translated again. “But he says first Steel Hammer has to apologize for calling him "a nuisance",” Fluttershy said.
“Never!” Steel Hammer said angrily determined.
“Steel Hammer!” Star Twinkle exclaimed angrily, reminding him that he doesn't want to stand there with a beaver arguing the whole day. “We still have to continue our work here!”
Steel Hammer was acting a little stubborn but after thinking about it a little, he finally gave in. “Alright, alright, I apologize,” he said heavily forced.
After that, the beaver was sticking his tongue out, causing Steel Hammer to get angry again. If it wasn't for Star Twinkle holding him back, Celestia knows what he would have done to the little critter.
Moments later, the beaver removed one tiny twig, causing the whole dam to fall apart surprisingly quick and releasing the orchard of its flooded state.
Applejack, who was annoyed by the situation as well, turned to Fluttershy to express her thanks. “Thanks, Fluttershy. Don't know what I would've done without you,” Applejack expressed being relieved that this was finally over.
“Glad I could help,” Fluttershy returned.
For Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer this finally meant that they could return to their work of building a barn but before they could go back to work, Rainbow Dash came by. “Hey, slackers! Double time it on over to Ponyville, would ya?! We're all waiting on you!”
Apparently, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, as well as Princess Celestia, were waiting in Ponyville for Star Twinkle, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Star Twinkle did remember that Princess Celestia was visiting Ponyville today but she didn't explain for what reason she would come over so Star Twinkle thought that it was something minor. But it looks like as if he and his friends needed to be present for something. Star Twinkle just hoped that it was not something dangerous like dealing with some Changeling Queen, an Evil Unicorn King, a dark magic using Unicorn or the Lord of Chaos.
But, things usually don't tend to go the way how Star Twinkle wished.
“Is that...Discord!?” Star Twinkle said in shock after he saw the stone statue of the Draconequus Discord, the Lord of Chaos who was defeated by him and his friends before with the help of the Elements of Harmony.
“What is this all about?” Applejack said, asking the most obvious question that everypony asked themselves right now.
“Princess Celestia wants us to reform Discord so that his magic can be used for the good,” Twilight explained.
“This will never work! This is a disaster! How will we ever control him?! We're doomed!” Spike said in a panic, literally speaking out what Star Twinkle was thinking in his mind.
“Yes! What he said!” Star Twinkle agreed as he pointed toward the little dragon. “Didn't you said that he once ruled over all of Equestria? How are we suppose to reform someone like that!?” He further pointed to get across that this was a really stupid idea.
But Princess Celestia didn't show any worry at all. “Need I remind you that you are the ponies who turned him back into stone like this in the first place?” She reminded.
Twilight, who didn't think that this was a good idea either, started to give Princess Celestia's idea a shot. “I suppose we can just use the Elements of Harmony against him again if it gets out of hoof,”
It was true that they still had the Elements of Harmony on their side if Discord would try anything stupid. But they had those against the battle against Fade too and still ended up in a bad position. Thinking back about that, reminded Star Twinkle to something. “You know, shouldn't we start with Fade? Discord is much more powerful, right? So shouldn't we start a little smaller? To make sure that we are up to the task?” Star Twinkle pointed out, which got some of his friends to agree with what he said.
But Princess Celestia shook her head in disagreement. “I know you still feel a little responsible for what happened to Fade but...” she stopped all of the sudden, which made it look like as if she was searching for an excuse. “It is true that Discord's magic is more powerful. But when it comes to dark magic, there is still much to be known of. I myself only met three ponies who were able to use dark magic, two of them who you have all met as well. You saw how strong his magic was, right?”
Remembering back, the Elements of Harmony seemed to not work probably against Fade. He was turned to stone, just like Discord but his dark magic seemed to be so powerful that it even resisted the Elements of Harmony for a while. He was able to move a little longer even after being exposed to them. Discord, however, did turn to stone immediately after he got hit by their magic. This fact may worry Princess Celestia that dealing with Fade might be a bigger risk.
Princess Celestia admitted that she was asking for something really risky but she also said that she trusted every one of the group to handle the situation well. For some reason, she believed that Fluttershy was the best candidate to reform Discord. Of course, being Fluttershy, she was a little worried to disappoint the Princess but she couldn't just say that she didn't want to and in the end agreed to do her best.
Princess Celestia had to return to some of her businesses to Canterlot and what was left was a group of ponies who were about to release the Lord of Chaos from his prison. Needless to say, nopony was really looking forward to this. Star Twinkle was definitely one of those who had some really big doubts.
“I am not the only one who thinks that this is a stupid idea, right?” Star Twinkle asked towards his friends.
Of course, Twilight was the first one to defend the Princess in that matter. “You heard Princess Celestia. She believed that we can do it,” she reminded once again.
“Yeah! And she also thought it was the best idea to let Fluttershy handle it!” Rainbow Dash said a little too direct in a doubting tone in her voice.
“Yeah...” Fluttershy added hesitantly, however it was unclear if it was because of Rainbow Dash's statement or Princess Celestia putting pressure on her like that.
Princess Celestia left the Elements of Harmony with the group so that they could put them on anytime they wanted to free Discord. There was no point of not getting this over with as fast as possible so everypony put on their respective element and stood ready to free Discord.
“Are you all ready?” Twilight asked one last time before it started.
Everypony nodded confidently and got ready to let the magic of the Elements of Harmony do their work. They all concentrated and closed their eyes until they were all engulfed by the magic of the elements. The magic traveled towards Discord and began to make his stone prison slowly crumble away. Only after a few seconds, Discord was free again, making the first step complete.
Discord began stretching after being freed from his stone prison. Of course, instead of being thankful, he actually had the nerve to complain. ”Well, it's about time somepony got me out of that prison block. What a relief!” He said followed by him snapping one of his fingers and releasing some of his magic as well, causing a nearby squirrel to turn into a more muscular and creepy looking one.
“Well, that didn't take long...” Star Twinkle thought after seeing Discord seeing out of control already.
“What do you think you're doing?!” Twilight exclaimed angrily at Discord.
However, Discord did not seem intimidated by Twilight. “Why, stretching, of course. When you're a creature of chaos, stone bodysuits aren't your typical go-to fashion choice,” he said, followed by him snapping his fingers once more, this time to cause a nearby bunny to transform to a more creepier looking one that let out a scary screech.
“Hey! Make that bunny cute again! Now!” Pinkie Pie demanded.
But again, Discord did not listen and “Oh...He's adorable the way he is,” he said as he tried to pet his little creation. However, not surprisingly, the bunny tried to bite Discord, much to his dislike, causing him to stick his tongue out. “You know what else is adorable?” He then started. “You ponies truly believe that you can reform me and that you're putting your faith in this one here to make it happen. Makes me wanna pinch your little horsey cheeks...” he said as he literally pinched Fluttershy's cheek.
“How'd you know about that?!” Twilight asked.
“Being turned to stone doesn't keep me from hearing every word Celestia says. Although I admit it makes rolling my eyes a challenge,” he explained while pulling his eyes out and literally rolling them on the floor.
"Well, unless you want us to turn you back to stone, you'll zap those animals back the way they were, pronto!" Twilight demanded as well.
"Oh, you wouldn't dare turn me back to stone and risk disappointing your precious princess," Discord pointed out which was not too far away from the truth.
“You think you can treat poor defenseless animals like that and get away with it?!” Fluttershy finally stepped up angrily.
“You go, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cheered on.
“You'd best watch your step, buster, or I'll give you...the Stare!” She threatened.
“The Stare? Oh no, please, not that! Anything but your disapproving eyeballs!” Discord replied sarcastically and a little amused, causing Fluttershy to actually stare at him angrily.”Oh no! No no no, stop! No, no!” He said as put on a really obvious act. “I can't! Stop! I can't take it anymore! I'll do whatever you say! Because...” However, he did start laughing after a while amused by Fluttershy's attempt.
Still, once Twilight reminded Discord that they had the Elements of Harmony equipped and that they could convince Princess Celestia that they could have a good reason to turn him back to stone, even the lord of Chaos had to admit that he wasn't in a perfect position right now. With that realization, he did return the two little critters to their previous state with a snap of his fingers.
“Well, it looks like I know where I'll be crashing while I'm being "reformed"...” He said as he pulled Fluttershy towards him. “With you, Fluttershy,” he said amused, making her realize just now how much in trouble she might be.
Even though Fluttershy supposed to reform Discord, there was no way that her friends could leave her alone with him so they followed the two as they went to Fluttershy's house. Fluttershy actually went to the trouble to make her home more comfortable for Discord.
And of course, Discord was fully taking advantage of Fluttershy's hospitality and made himself comfortable, much to Fluttershy's little pet bunny, Angel, dislike. But Discord didn't seem to be bothered by him and relaxed on Fluttershy's couch. “Oh, I'm sorry about Angel. Are you alright?” Fluttershy even apologized.
“Oh, yes. Thank you, Fluttershy, for your concern. If only your pony friends could be as considerate...” he rubbed in, hinting at Star Twinkle and the rest of his friends as they stood close by watching this scene occurring.
Even if Fluttershy was trying to show her friendly side towards Discord, the rest of her friends quickly saw through the act that he was putting on.
“Don't listen to him, Fluttershy! He's just trying to drive a wedge between us like he always does,” Rainbow Dash said angrily, referring to the time where Discord corrupted everypony.
“Now why in the world would I ever try to do a thing like that?” Discord replied in a fake oblivious voice.
“So we can't unite and use the Elements of Harmony against you, that's why!” Rainbow Dash returned angrily.
“I never thought of that...” Discord said, again in a really fake oblivious voice.
Discord already proved to be really hard to deal with. Imagining him being reformed by Fluttershy was something that Star Twinkle couldn't even begin to think that it would work and judging from the expressions on his friends faces, neither were they.
“I can't watch...” Applejack said as she pulled her hat down to cover her eyes.
Twilight, however, walked up to Fluttershy once more to ask her if she was certain about all this. To her surprise, Fluttershy seemed confident about reforming Discord. “I know it's not gonna be easy, but Princess Celestia's counting on me. And... I think I actually know what to do,”
“You do?” Twilight replied surprised.
Fluttershy explained that befriending and being kind to Discord would be the best solution to reform him. But while Fluttershy explained, Star Twinkle could help but to look at what happened behind her back. Discord was being really rude towards Angel Bunny and kept annoying him in any way possible, making Star Twinkle not feel too convinced about Fluttershy's optimism.
“And you really think that'll work?” Twilight asked, making Star Twinkle focus on the conversation between the two mares again.
“I think it's worth a try,” Fluttershy replied confidently.
“Okay, but if you need us, all you need to do is whisper "help", and we'll be back here with our elements,” Twilight assured before she glanced over to Discord. “So watch that goat-legged step of yours, pal!”
“Wh-what?!” Discord replied shocked before he changed himself into a light blue suit to make it look like as if he already was reformed. “ Look at me! I'm practically reformed already,”
This last sentence caused Fluttershy to grin at the group in uncertainty before she closed the door. The group had no choice but to believe in Fluttershy's idea of befriending Discord.
“She's really alright with him staying there?” Rarity asked, being concerned about Fluttershy.
“Well, to be fair, Fluttershy once managed to talk down a dragon...” Star Twinkle pointed out, even though it may not be even remotely comparable with what she was tasked now.
“Personally, I think we should come up with a backup plan, in case this whole "befriending" business doesn't work out,” Rainbow Dash then suggested, which definitely wasn't something that anypony would disagree on.
“Rainbow Dash is right,” Rarity added. “This is Discord we are talking about, girls. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have another trick up our sleeves,”
Twilight already seemed to have something in mind and assured everypony that she would come up with some kind of spell that could become helpful. She returned to her library to find some kind of reforming spell, in case Fluttershy's plan would fail.
There was nothing else what Star Twinkle could do so he was about to go home again and put his trust in Fluttershy. Hopefully, on the next day, he would find Discord actually reformed. However, before he arrived home, he met Steel Hammer and talked a little with him. Of course, the subject quickly turned towards Discord, once Star Twinkle mentioned him.
“Oh yeah, I can vaguely remember what happened back then when this Lord of Chaos fellow appeared in Ponyville,” Steel Hammer said as he rubbed his chin in order to remember what happened. Granted there was a lot of confusion in Ponyville at that time so Star Twinkle couldn't blame Steel Hammer to not remember. Steel Hammer's attention then turned towards Star Twinkle's necklace. “Is that why you are wearing this thing?” He then asked curiously.
“It's not a thing. It's one of the Elements of Harmony. You know, the most powerful Magic in all of Equestria,” Star Twinkle explained.
“Oh, yeah! I remember you telling me about this when this whole eternal night thing was over,” Steel Hammer recalled. “There were six of them, right?” He then added.
“Seven,” Star Twinkle corrected.
“Seven?” Steel Hammer replied a little more surprised as Star Twinkle expected.
Star Twinkle didn't really understand why Steel Hammer was so confused by this. He noticed how Steel Hammer was trying to collect the pieces inside of his mind as if he tried to come up with an answer. However, Star Twinkle was confused by the next question that he was asked. “Are you sure?” He then asked in a way more concerned voice as if he was really worried about this question.
Needless to say, Star Twinkle wasn't sure what this concern was causing but he tried to explain things the best he could. “Well, there were originally six of them. Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic. But for some reason, this one appeared out of nowhere so now there are seven,” he explained as he pointed to his necklace.
“Alright...” Steel Hammer replied, even though he didn't sound too convinced. “And what does your element represent?” Steel Hammer asked.
Star Twinkle did not expect to hear this question pop up all of the sudden. “Yeah, about that...” he replied a little bothered.
However, before Star Twinkle could answer, Steel Hammer remembered that he actually had something to do and left Star Twinkle on his own again. Star Twinkle decided to continue his walk towards his home slowly but Steel Hammer's last question still kept him bothered. There were originally six Elements of Harmony but Star Twinkle was chosen by a seventh one that nopony knows about, not even Princess Celestia. He had no idea what his element represents and for a while, he had nothing in his mind, except thinking about what it could be. He didn't want to worry about it anymore but now with Steel Hammer asking that last question, he couldn't help but think about it again.
Furthermore, with Discord's return, there was still another question that he remembered. Back when Discord corrupted everypony in the maze of Canterlot, he tried to corrupt Star Twinkle as well. But for some reason, it didn't work. Discord then mentioned something that confused Star Twinkle even further.
“I have every Element of Harmony inside of me. All except the new one. That is what he said back then...” Star Twinkle remembered as he slowly continued his walk home, looking at the ground. “First, I thought that he meant my element, which wouldn't even make any sense...but when I confronted him, shortly before we defeated him, he said that with “new one” he meant the element of magic,” he further remembered.
Star Twinkle began to stop on his track and stood still. He began to think about all those things that he swore to not bother about anymore. But with the return of Discord, he probably didn't even have to anymore. If Fluttershy actually managed to reform Discord, then he could probably explain what he meant back then. But if she couldn't do it and he and his friends had to turn him back to stone again, then there was also no chance of getting an answer.
Realizing that this might be his only chance to get some answer, he decided to return to Fluttershy's cottage in order to talk with Discord, even if it would be pointless talking with the Lord of Chaos. Upon arrival, there was clearly something wrong with Fluttershy's cottage. “That doesn't look good...” Star Twinkle said as he looked up and saw Fluttershy's cottage spinning several feet above the ground.
“Star Twinkle!” Twilight said, making Star Twinkle turn around and noticing Twilight and Spike approaching Fluttershy's cottage as well. “What is happening here? Is Fluttershy alright?” She asked in a panic as she looked at the cottage above her as well.
“I don't know, I just arrived here as well,” Star Twinkle replied.
“Fluttershy! Fluttershy, can you hear me?” Twilight shouted towards Fluttershy's cottage to make sure if she was alright.
Shortly after, Fluttershy came flying out of the cottage with Angel Bunny in her hooves who seemed to be really dizzy coming out of this spinning cottage and walking away.
Twilight quickly approached Fluttershy and asked her if she was alright. “Fluttershy, what's going on? Are you okay?!”
“We're fine. Everything's going great,” Fluttershy assured.
“Is this part of your plan too?” Star Twinkle asked as he pointed towards the flying spinning cottage of Fluttershy.
“We've come to get you away from Discord! He's just terrible and, from the looks of it, completely out of control!” Twilight advised.
Even though Star Twinkle didn't exactly come to get Fluttershy away from Discord, he had to admit that Discord was probably a little much to handle for her. Surprisingly, Fluttershy gave replied rather calmly. “Oh, but you're wrong! We're making great progress!”
“Seriously?!” Star Twinkle, Twilight, and Spike said in unison.
“I'm earning his trust by giving him a little space to be himself,” Fluttershy explained.
“Hate to break it to ya, but he used that "space to be himself" to tear out all the reforming spells from the library!” Spike then explained.
“That does explain the paper eating...” Fluttershy mumbled to herself.
“He ate them?!” Twilight said in shock after realizing what happened to her beloved books.
It was obvious that Discord was trying to prevent any means of getting reformed. Princess Celestia protected the Elements of Harmony with a spell so that Discord could not hide them anymore. So he made sure to remove any spell from Twilight's books. Despite acting so silly, he was still powerful and smart enough to not get reformed that easily.
“But we aren't gonna need a spell. He's already really considering being reformed! He said so,” Fluttershy assured.
“And...you believed him?” Star Twinkle replied, not even believing any second that Discord was telling the truth.
“If I'm going to be his friend, I have to start by giving him the benefit of the doubt! Tell you what. Bring all the ponies over for a dinner party this evening, and I'll bet his manners will have really improved by then. I'll even get him to put the cottage back on the ground first,” Fluttershy suggested.
Star Twinkle, Twilight, and Spike looked at each other and had their doubts that this will work but it's not like as if they had any other choice at this moment so they did agree to come to this dinner party to see if Discord really has changed that much.
Later that day...
Star Twinkle and his friends were on their way to Fluttershy's cottage to attend this dinner party with her and Discord. Needless to say, nopony was looking forward to the Discord part of the party and came equipped with the Elements of Harmony to be sure that nothing bad would happen.
“So...can somepony please explain again why we are having dinner with Discord?” Star Twinkle asked, clearly not looking forward to this.
“This evening is sure to be a disaster. Glad I didn't bother wearing my fanciest outfit,” Rarity added even though she was wearing something at all and stood out with her dress more than anypony else.
“Fluttershy thinks this is the way to reform Discord and asked us to give it a chance,” Twilight explained to her friends.
Everypony just secretly hoped that Fluttershy was right about Discord and that he really changed but deep down everypony knew that this was really unlikely. When they arrived at Fluttershy's cottage, Discord was already waiting for them and greeted everypony by making his tongue transform into a red carpet that leads to Fluttershy's cottage. “We're so delighted that you've come. Please, do come in,” he said as he waited at the door for everypony to enter.
To everyponies surprise, the inside of the cottage actually looked pretty well decorated, despite having this little Discord touch, which made it look similar to what Ponyville looked like when he tried to take of Equestria, back then.
“May I take your... hats,?” Discord offered as he attempted to take of Twilight's crown from her head.
Of course, Twilight quickly realized what he was trying to do and moved away. ”Hang on to your elements. It's gonna be a bumpy night,” she advised.
Keeping an eye on Discord was a must before they even entered the cottage. Everypony too a seat on the table in Fluttershy's living room for the dinner party to start. Fluttershy took upon herself to begin. “As you all know, Princess Celestia hoped we'd help Discord use his magic for good instead of evil so let's all have a good time at this dinner party,” she said in order to begin the dinner party.
This was a signal for Pinkie Pie to dig right into her food, causing her face to get all messy in the process. “Pinkie Pie, care for some gravy?” Fluttershy offered, seeing how Pinkie Pie enjoyed her food.
“You bet,” Pinkie Pie replied.
“Allow me,” Discord then said before he made the gravy boat on the table come to life which then walked over to Pinkie Pie and poured down some gravy on her meal, causing her to pet the thing like a pet dog.
“That's one creepy little gravy boat if you ask me,” Rainbow Dash stated after watching this scene occur in front of her.
Fluttershy didn't seem to like Rainbow Dash's words. “Oh, come on now, Dashie. You're not even giving this a chance,”
Only moments later, the gravy boat poured some gravy on Rainbow Dash, causing her to get up from her seat. Discord quickly apologized while also giggling at the same time.
“He did that on purpose!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily before she flew up above the table, pointing at Discord.
But Discord played innocent. “Oh, well, I don't know about that. Mistakes happen. Oh, look, everypony, dancing candles!” He said, quickly trying to change the subject, making a few candles dancing on the table.
Rainbow Dash seemed to become angrier by Discord's behavior and blew the lights out of from the candles. “I'm not falling for that! Discord's just trying to distract us from–“ but she stopped in the middle of the sentence when she noticed how the candles began to levitate above her before they began to poke her, making her crawl down on her knees. “Hey! Knock it off! I suppose that's another mistake?” She asked annoyed as she tried to protect herself from the candles.
“No, I think you just made them mad,” Discord replied casually, making it look like as if he didn't have anything to do with it.
“There's something fishy going on,” Twilight pointed out towards the soup tureen before it plashed some of the soup towards Twilight causing her to fall backward from her seat.
This caused Fluttershy to ask Discord if he was responsible for this. ”Well, it's hardly my fault if the soup tureen finds the term "something fishy" to be offensive,” he replied, once again playing innocent.
The soup tureen and the candles continued to create havoc on the table and attacked everypony on the table. Despite all this happening right in front of him, Star Twinkle continued to calmly take a sip from his glass of water. In front of him.
“As if this dinner party could have turned out any other way...” Star Twinkle thought as he avoided everything that came flying towards him at the same time. “I doubt that Discord would tell me anything about my element if I just walk up to him and ask him,” he figured just before he ducked to avoid the soup tureen spilling some soup on him in the process.
Rainbow Dash managed to trap the candles and once again accused Discord of controlling everything that happened on the table. “Fluttershy! Can't you see what he's doing? He's playing innocent with you so you'll never agree to use the Elements of Harmony against him!” She said, which was pretty obvious from the very start. “You see what I'm saying, right, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy looked down for a second to think but soon raised it up again in realization. “You know what I see? I see that Discord's far from perfect, but I also see none of you giving him a chance!” She said a little offended by the behavior of her friends.
This caused everypony except Star Twinkle to complain because Fluttershy was being so considerate towards Discord. Star Twinkle knew Fluttershy for a while now and figured that she was probably too naive to see through Discord's act. “This is all a waste of time,” Star Twinkle thought. “There is no way that the Lord of Chaos would help Equestria with his magic. We should turn him to stone again. But how am I suppose to get may answers from him then?” Star Twinkle struggled.
“What's gotten into you?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed once more. “Why do you keep cutting him so much slack?”
“Because that's what friends do,” Fluttershy replied as she began putting her front leg around Discord.
Discord didn't seem to know how to react to this gesture and looked puzzled. “We're friends?” Discord asked a little confused.
“Why, of course! I can't remember my house ever being this lively before you came along,” Fluttershy explained almost relieved.
Again, Discord seemed confused and was not sure how to react at first. “Oh... Well, I've... never really had a friend before,” Discord admitted with his eyes tearing up a little.
For the first time, Discord surprisingly looked genuinely touched by Fluttershy's words. Of course, it wasn't surprising that he never had a friend before, not the way how he behaves but seeing the Lord of Chaos be happy called a friend was sure something nopony in the group expected.
“Well, now you do!” Fluttershy assured happily, causing Discord to make a happy face as well.
The rest of the group were now surprised as well and looked over to the two in surprise to see the Lord of Chaos being affected by Fluttershy's words.
However, this beautiful moment was interrupted by Angel Bunny who climbed through the window and walked to the dinner table with a panicking expression on his face. “Now is not a good time, Angel. We're having a dinner party,” Fluttershy said, unaware of Angel's expression.
“Hold up! I-I think he's tryin' to tell us somethin'!” Applejack said after noticing Angel's strange behavior as well.
First, Angel spilled some water on himself and swam on the ground, then he picked up an apple.
“Apple!” Everypony said in unison. Then Angel pointed towards Applejack. “Applejack!” Everypony then guessed but judging from his disappointing expression, that wasn't it either. He then dragged a bowl with apple juice inside of it in plain sight and threw the apple inside of it.
“Oh, oh, oh! Sweet Apple Acres?” Rarity then guessed which judging from Angel's expression seemed to be right.
“Flooding at Sweet Apple Acres!” Rainbow Dash then figured. “And we all know who's behind that now, don't we?!” She said, instantly accusing Discord.
“Who, me?” Discord replied innocently, making a halo appearing above his head.
The group wasted no time and went straight to Sweet Apple Acres to see what was up there. It was just like Rainbow Dash guessed. There really was a flooding at Sweet Apple Acres just like before but to a much bigger extent. Almost only the tips of the apple trees were visible because of the water. “I've never seen the floodin' this bad! They've built dams 'round here before, but never like this! What's goin' on?” Applejack wondered.
“Well, having cranes and construction sites, all of the sudden might be one reason...” Star Twinkle said as he pointed towards the cranes and the construction site that were controlled by some of the beavers.
Fluttershy tried to talk with her little critter friends but from the looks of it didn't work and she returned to her friends where she was approached by Rainbow Dash again. “You see Discord's behind all this, right?” Rainbow Dash said annoyed, again trying to convince Fluttershy that her so-called friend was just playing her.
“Oh, of course, I do!” Fluttershy replied annoyed as well. “Do you all think I'm a silly, gullible fool?”
To that, everypony talked over each other.
“Only in the sense of being silly and gullible...” Rarity said.
“Um, well...” Pinkie Pie said.
“Uh...uh, no, not exactly,” Applejack said.
“Maybe a little...” Star Twinkle said boldly after everypony was already finished, causing him to get poked in the sides by Rarity for that unnecessary statement.
“I've just been trying to gain his friendship any way I can, so he'd come to trust and listen to me!” Fluttershy explained.
And speaking of the Lord of Chaos, Discord could be seen water skiing in the distance, inviting Fluttershy to join her as well. “Time to see if it worked,” Fluttershy said as she waited for Discord to come closer
“Fluttershy, oh, there you are. A sight for sore eyes,” Discord said as he walked up to Fluttershy.
“As you can see, there's a big mess down here at Sweet Apple Acres,” Fluttershy pointed out as she literally pointed towards the flooded Sweet Apple Acres.
“Oh, yes. Awful business, that. Mm,” Discord replied not seeming to care one bit about what Fluttershy said while using a towel to scrub himself dry.
“It is awful. This is Applejack's home, and it's being destroyed by innocent creatures who would never be acting this way if it weren't for your reckless behavior. You need to fix this,” Fluttershy demanded.
“Oh, yes, very well, I will fix it. I only ask one thing in return,” Discord returned.
Hearing this already gave everypony a bad feeling. Star Twinkle even had a guess where Discord was going with that. Fluttershy asked what this condition was and just as expected, it was as Star Twinkle thought. “I ask that you never use your Element of Harmony against me. As a sign of our friendship,” Discord demanded.
For a moment, Fluttershy looked over to her friends for advice and of course, everypony shook their head in disagreement. However, Fluttershy did accept the terms, much to everyponies dislike. “I will never use my Element of Harmony against you,” Fluttershy said as she removed her necklace and threw over to Spike.
“Excellent!” Discord cheerfully said before he snapped with his finger and released a spell that engulfed the whole orchard in a bright light for a second. After the light faded away, the water was now turned to ice, much to the shock of everypony. ”There, much better! I do prefer ice skating to water skiing! Don't you?” Discord had the nerve to say before he jumped on the ice happily.
“Discord! That's not fixing it!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she angrily walked up to Discord to confront him.
“What's wrong, pal?” Discord asked, oblivious to what Fluttershy was so upset about.
“Don't call me your pal!” Fluttershy replied angrily.
“Oh, pfft, come skating with me, and we'll let bygones be bygones,” Discord said as he offered Fluttershy some skates to ice skate along with him.
Seeing how Discord was not listening at all to Fluttershy, Spike went over to her and offered her the Element of Harmony that she took of. “Here you go, Fluttershy! Game on!”
“He fixes this or he goes back to being stone! Princess Celestia will understand!” Twilight explained which really now was the only thing that was left to do.
However, despite hesitating at first, Fluttershy was not agreeing to that. “I made a promise not to use my element against him, and I'm going to keep it,” she replied before she grabbed the ice skates from Discord and walked away, much to everyponies dislike.
“Now, what do we do?” Star Twinkle asked which nopony had an answer for. Without the Elements of Harmony were the only thing that could stop Discord and now that he convinced Fluttershy not to use hers, there was probably no other way to stop him now.
And of course, Discord was the only one happy about that. ”Hahah! You see? She wants to have fun with me because we're friends. She can't use the elements against me because we're friends. I'm free forever!” Discord stated laughing happily about his newfound freedom.
But Fluttershy seemed not happy at all and began to growl in anger after hearing how Discord was saying all this stuff. Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore and threw away the ice skates in her anger. ”Not. Your. Friend!” She exclaimed before she walked away from Discord angrily.
Despite that outburst, Discord didn't seem to care one bit. “Who cares? Who needs friends when you can do whatever you want, whenever you want,”
Now there was a problem. With Discord on the loose again, it wouldn't take long until he would try to do something evil again so the group had to come up with a new plan. But for some reason, Star Twinkle could not think about that right now and had other stuff in his mind. His eyes narrowed in anger and he suddenly began walking towards Discord. “What are you doing!?” Star Twinkle asked in anger.
“Oh! Star Twinkle. Do you want to join me?” Discord said before he snapped his finger and summoned some ice skates on Star Twinkle's hooves, making him slip and fall to the ground. Star Twinkle couldn't get up again because he constantly slipped and eventually resorted to using his transformation to grew two wings on his back and lifted himself up on the same height as Discord's eyes. “Oh! What a nice little trick you got there,” Discord mockingly complimented after inspecting this new ability of Star Twinkle.
“Did you realize what you just did!?” Star Twinkle asked angrily towards Discord.
“Of course, I won back my freedom,” Discord replied casually. “And unlike you little ponies, I, Discord, do not need a bunch of ponies or some necklaces to be all powerful so there is no need to be friends with anyone,”
“What good is your power and freedom if you don't have anyone to share it with?” Star Twinkle replied. “You were imprisoned alone all this time and had the chance to change that! But what did you do? You choose to be free, yes, but in my eyes, you just changed your prison!” Star Twinkle continued in his anger. “Not only that but...you just rejected the only pony who accepted you the way you are...how could you...” Star Twinkle mumbled quietly as he lowered his head in sadness.
“You just lost the only friend you ever had,”
Those words seem to struck Discord. He looked over to the ice skates that Fluttershy threw away and began to tear up after the realization of what he just did. “Well played, you two. Well played,” Discord then said before he walked over to one of the apple trees and sat down on it while finally releasing a spell to fix everything in the orchard. The ice vanished and the beavers returned to their normal state again. Everypony cheered after everything went back to normal and walked towards Star Twinkle and Fluttershy who were the main reason for fixing everything. They were soon accompanied by Discord who teleported himself in front of everypony.
“I liked it better my way, but... I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?” Discord said with some regret in his voice. But Fluttershy was the first one to fly up to him assuring him that she would forgive him.
Later...
Princess Celestia visited Ponyville once more to see how Discord's reforming went. Much to her surprise, Discord was the first one to bow in front her with Star Twinkle and the others not too far behind. ”Princess, I'm ready to use my magic for good instead of evil,” he said as he bowed before the princess. “Most of the time,” he added under his breath.
“Congratulations on your success, ponies. I definitely sense a big change in Discord,” Princess Celestia said proudly. However, she did want Twilight to take care of the Elements of Harmony just in case.
“You were right when you said Fluttershy would be the one to find the way to reform Discord. By treating Discord as a friend, she got him to realize that friendship was actually important to him. And something that, once he had, he didn't want to lose,” Twilight explained to the Princess.
Star Twinkle overheard those words and could only think about what he said in front of Discord. The little outburst he had before was probably because Star Twinkle felt exactly like that. Losing his friends, who accepted him the way he is something that he would definitely not want. Deep down, Discord didn't want that as well which is why he choose friendship above power or freedom.
“Go on. Say it...” Fluttershy said as she poked Discord to get out some words.
Discord groaned for a moment but eventually said what Fluttershy wanted him to say. “Alright... Friendship is magic,” he said quickly which were some awfully familiar words for some reason.
Later that night at Star Twinkle's house...
Eventually, Princess Celestia returned to Canterlot with Discord to talk over about some stuff that he could take care of in the future. This again, meant that Star Twinkle had no time to talk about this question that he had in mind. “There are pieces of every Element of Harmony inside of me...” Star Twinkle mumbled quietly to himself as he laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. “Every element except the new one...magic...”
Those were the exact words that Discord said to Star Twinkle back when he was trying to take over Equestria a while back.
Star Twinkle never thought that he would worry about the Elements of Harmony again. He tried his best to forget about them and just accept the fact that he was chosen by one unknown Element. But back then, all he was thinking about was why he was chosen or why he was involved into all of this.
But now there is no point in thinking about that. He was chosen and thanks to that, he was able to meet his friends. There were times where he wished to return to his old life but the longer he spends time with his friends, the more he wanted to forget thinking like this.
Eventually, he came to one conclusion. “No more questions...” he mumbled to himself again. “I'm here...I'm Star Twinkle, chosen by an Element of Harmony and friend of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy...”
Worrying about the Elements of Harmony was no point anymore. It was just like with Discord. It was either the Elements of Harmony or his friends. If he had to choose one of them, then it was definitely his friends.
“My life has changed to the better so there is no reason to ask questions anymore. I'm not alone. All I have to know about the Elements of Harmony is that that I am one of six...” But Star Twinkle stopped once he realized he said something wrong. “I mean seven Elements of Harmony...” he corrected. “Thanks, Steel Hammer, for confusing me,” he said before he decided to go to sleep.
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AH! NOT THE SEVENTH ELEMENT! *dies*
8432647
I can't really tell if you are mocking this story or not, judging from that comment
I hope not since it was written under the most recent chapter.