• Member Since 6th Mar, 2013
  • offline last seen Jul 3rd, 2019

Ironskull


Sequels1

T

Discord is brought to Ponyville to be reformed. As a safety precaution, he is deprived of his magic before his release. Naturally, he is upset by this, but...
No one thought that the powerless spirit of chaos would actually run away! Twilight Sparkle won't let him get a way with it!

A word of warning: If you read for the Twilight x Discord, be aware that the buildup to actual romance in this story is extremely long. You will have to read for a long time before receiving gratification romance-wise. However, once it is established, the romance will be ongoing from then on.

Chapters (28)
Comments ( 449 )

My issues with this? I'm not fond of the trope of a godly entity automatically being helpless without its powers.(I wasn't fond of it in the episode where he did lose his powers either) Especially something like Discord. Partially because that could have HUGE consequences for the world, but mostly just the way Discord is designed. I mean, LOOK at the guy! He looks like a chimeric Super Predator. His tail alone could probably crush the timberwolf.

Still, I do like it as it doesn't come off "completely" as Discord being helpless, more as him being in a new situation and having to bumble his way at first while his mind adapts to it. And if those holds up, he might actually be more dangerous now than he was before: He's pissed, he's in a corner, and there's no telling what he might do in retaliation. Considering that he has sharp teeth and three of his four limbs(minus wings) have claws, I'm not sure I want to be the one that finds out.

7398265 I do see your points. However, I would like to say that while I have seen several fics about him losing his power and him being forced to play along in order to get them back, I don't remember seeing Discord willingly refusing to cooperate even though it means abandoning his powers for the long term. This opening chapter is kind of a commentary on how hypocritical the tactic that the ponies are attempting to use really is, so in that regard, I agree with you completely.
Also, if you look at the tags, you can figure out that there is a little more than just that planned here...
Maybe some people think that he should be able to win in a fight with a timberwolf despite the lack of magic. If it makes you feel any better, just pretend that he didn't think of doing whatever it was that you think he ought to have done. I mainly wanted to convey that he previously relied on magic for absolutely everything, and therefore has almost no experience with solving problems in any other way. Naturally, this must change soon.
I'm glad that it comes off in a way that isn't off-putting to you despite your doubts about the setup. He'll be stirring up trouble soon enough, in more ways than one.

7398298
Oh, I completely missed the romance tag! Well, that explains a few things and makes this even more interesting.

If it makes you feel any better, just pretend that he didn't think of doing whatever it was that you think he ought to have done. I mainly wanted to convey that he previously relied on magic for absolutely everything, and therefore has almost no experience with solving problems in any other way.

This is actually what I mean by it feeling less like he's helpless and more that he's new to the situation. In other words, I'm in agreement.......Ohhhh! Idea that you are free to use: Discord uses his claws for the first time, killing or crippling whatever is attacking him, and realizes for the first time he has claws. "Well, now I feel sheepis- CHAOS DAMN YOU PONIES FOR TAKING AWAY MY MAGIC!"

As for your bit about fics like this, minus the runaway........huh, now that you mention it, you're right. Kudos, you made a Discord concept I hadn't considered in some way- that's not smugness, that's me being an idea spawner and a massive Discord fan.

PS I actually did something similar to this, but with the Reforming spell. Twilight managed to copy one and ended up mind wiping Discord- who is not happy about this, nor is anyone else, including Twilight herself.

This looks promising, and its Twicord... I think?

Nice start, will keep it on my track

Are the animals bringing discordmback to FS's home?

7399217 They aren't going to betray him, if that's what you mean.
But I'll be honest. I've already thought very much about the potentially hilarious possibilities with Discord and Fluttershy both having their own gang of rabbits...

The first chapter got a pretty good reception, so I decided to put this out early, as a little extra. A lot more adventure/exposition than comedy this time. It's much easier to write comedy when Discord is interacting with ponies, but there will be lots of that pretty soon.

I'm currently on vacation, which means I'm not letting video games consume my free time for once. So I'll probably have plenty of free time to continue this for a little while.

is this going to be Discolight?

I sincerely hope that Discord actually gets his comeuppance, not in the sense of his usual antics, but from actual righteous indignation. He's chaotic-neutral of course, with a mindset completely alien to most ponies, but the ponies certainly aren't coming off very well here. Taking all his powers away, then telling him that he'll either accept their ideology or else be sentenced to stone again? Yep, ripe for a plot-kicking :twilightangry2:

“Yes! It will give him a taste of what life is like when you can’t just solve all of your problems with a snap!” shouted Twilight.

Seriously Twi? This coming from the gal who uses magic for every little thing, and even used magic during Winter Wrap-Up after being specifically told it was tradition not to?

Methinks if Discord gets his magic back, he's going to strip you of yours for a while to see how you likes them apples.

i2.dealtwith.it/i/n/1a92c334b0587cb2bc6b410c62a92b64/lollol.gif

I'm finding Discord's rambling point-of-view pretty hilarious here, especially since I have the feeling his antics are going to cause even more chaos than he did otherwise.

Now let's see how long it takes Twilight and Celestia before they realise they bucked up.

You know what's really creepy? That note that Discord wrote Twilight in this chapter.

I laughed at it. I think its funny.

And then, Twilight's reaction just kind of wrote itself.

And I realized just how crazy-much of an effect it had, in quite a big way.

I think my mindset might be disturbingly similar to Discord's.

7401307 I hope you realize that Twilight made that statement while she was enraged.

Nice, also love the ending.

7402424

Imagine if Twilight ever discovers Discord spent the night in her bedroom. :twilightangry2::twilightangry2:
Worse, imagine if Rarity discovers it :raritystarry::raritystarry:

7402536

Rarity discovering it would be pretty amusing.

Discord wasn't really wrong I felt. It was a form of extortion. "Do what we say, or your not getting your magic back" That's what I've always felt, and before everything that happened currently; if Celestia didnt think she could make use of his powers. Well then, he would have remained a statue

I think I can see the ending.

After Discord continues to get her angry, Twilight no longer becomes an alicorn, but instead becomes the first-documented fire-mane pony in several thousand years, an even more unique phenomena than an alicorn :twilightangry2::trollestia:

7402960
It's not really extortion, though -- not in the show, where they didn't take his powers away. Holding "we could turn you to stone" over his head is really more like "you've been paroled, but don't rob any more banks or we'll throw you in jail again." I mean, his chaos is not harmless. Just because nopony dies doesn't mean he doesn't do a lot of damage.

In this, I gotta wonder, if they have the power to take his powers away, why didn't they do it before? Letting him free without his powers seems far less cruel than putting him in stone; in the show it's pretty clear stone was the only option.

7405649 Some people are too perceptive for their own good... It's like you can see the future. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though, considering that you are pretty much responsible for shaping my vision of Discord in fiction. Good on you for being the first to look at things other side of the coin.

Technically, removing Discord's power was like taking away the credit card of a spoiled rich brat until he learns to behave. Nothing wrong with that choice, Celestia.
The only mistake was not accounting his resourcefulness and putting him under better vigilance.

y'know, wouldn't destroying Discord's magic totally throw of the Harmonic Balance.

Discord + Chaos x Ponies = Harmony?

7408644 Oh yes, destroying it would be disastrously stupid. Thankfully, the illusion Celestia who claimed that that was what happened was lying.

7408290
No, its more akin to taking the wings off a bird or removing someone's thumbs. Its stealing away a very important and personal component of their being. While they could live without it, they would do everything to prevent it from happening or undo it, and become very untrusting and violent to the person(s) that violated that part of them.

So, wrong choice Celestia, but right choice in not personally confronting him. If he's mad enough, he might just try to kill her. Depending on what he's managed to do up until then, he might succeed or leave Celestia with something to remember him by.

7408290
7408720
This seems to be quite a point of controversy. I won't stop people from debating it just so long as things remain civil.

However, I do have a piece of information that you should find interesting. I recently read quite a few Discord stories in order to pass the time on my vacation, particularly Reformation stories.

Most notable of these is a fic here on this site called Learning ABCs, a fairly old and well viewed one too. It's another Twicord story where Discord is stripped of his powers before being reformed, but unlike what I have done here, he decides to cooperate, more or less. He is given back partial power pretty quickly as a reward and a symbol of good faith. That fic is probably the heaviest influence for this story, although it is definitely not the only one.

7408720
Removing wings and thumbs off of someone if they used those exact things to cause harm and trouble to people, twice.

Well, Celestia is right about one thing, Discord would certainly attempt to kill her currently the moment he gets his magic back.

After that, he doesn't even have to do anything to cause chaos. Even with Princess Luna around, the ponies would probably riot and Equestria would fall apart because they've been so ingrained to having Princess Celestia around to rule them. Democracy, what's that, is that something you can eat? (Well OK, even if Mayor Mare is appointed or something, we still see the foals voting in Crusaders of the Lost Mark)

7408969
Second time doesn't count. He never physically harmed anyone and the only ponies whose minds he inverted were the mane 6, the ones trying to get the elements to turn him back to stone. Note that Celestia was unharmed in that episode, and left unsupervised enough to send dozens of letters. Besides them, he just made things...weird, not harmful. Granny Smith was dancing somehow and Big Mac was acting like a dog-worm. Again, weird, but not harmful. Even the altered animals just ran with it when their forms changed.

As for the first time he did it, we're never going to know the fully story that. In the only flashback to that scene, its all very much the same. Strange, unnerving, but we didn't even see any ponies besides the princesses. Them and the tree, his direct enemies, are the only ones we know he had any malicious actions towards back than.

My personal headcanon is that Discord always used the land in Pre-Equestria times as either his home or playground, which would explain the lack of residences before the three tribes moved in. Once ponies tried to make homes there, well, he just kept playing. He probably assumed they would leave- and if not, they were the ones deciding to live there.

Again, headcanon- which is all we have since canon never gave a direction explanation for what prompted this apparent Tyranny of Chaos.

7409356
Even if he hasn't harmed someone the reality is that on two separate occasions he has brought massive trouble to Equestria using his absurd powers.

Allowing him to have his powers, which he abused the hell out of on all of Equestria, is a massive security risk and is very understandable to disable/strip them of those powers if he can't show that he's willing to play nice with them in the rest of Equestria.

7409376
"Massive Trouble" is too loose a subject here to discuss. He made the world into a Dr. Seuss book? Big Whoop. He made it rain chocolate milk and corn pop into popcorn? He basically just changed the ecosystem around to cartoonish effects. Only difference between that and a regular big eco-shift is that Dscord is more sudden and doesn't leave a body count.

Also, from Discord's stand point, that'd be very much the same as pigs or ants trying to order us to play nice with them. Even if we could understand them, a majority of us would laugh just as Discord would. You're talking about trying to get what amounts to a nigh-omnipotent god to obey the laws of mortals, laws that he predates several times over. The folly of such a thing is matched only by the consequences.

Truth of the matter is that Discord is on top of the food chain there, with few things that could contend with him. That he's pro-life enough to not permanently put down any threat to him is both his greatest fault and best quality. Disabling/stealing his powers, in full honesty, is the last thing you want to do: Because he might just be willing to kill to get it back and keep it. Few things more terrifying that a desperate god.

7409356
7409376
The ponies didn't take well to his chaos. For us it may just be weird, but for them it was very disturbing. And, if nothing else, Discord definitely has been shown to alter pony's minds and leave them in dispair. He was undeniably evil. The elements saw fit to seal him in stone twice, and Celestia, the sole witness to ancient Discord's exploits who we actually see react to him, is annoyed by him and fears for the country, so he was probably evil and childish the first time around too.

In the face of that, taking away his powers is... justifiable. It's a relatively small punishment in the face of what he did. It's merciful of them to give him a chance at all, and a risk on their part. And and if they can reform him without taking his powers? That's even more merciful, and admirable.

The problem is NOT, however, whether or not he deserves it. They're not trying to punish him. They're trying to befriend him. Taking his power might be justice, but it will hurt their efforts to befriend him. Now the problem becomes this: how much are they willing to forgive, and how much are they willing to compromise? Dropping the evil attitude is, of course, non-negotiable. And they still have to ensure their own safety.

And now it becomes a lot more complicated.

7409523

He was undeniably evil.

We're going to have to disagree with that, Author. Which is sad as it is very telling of how this portrayal of Discord might go.

Sentient creatures don't take well to change quite often. Discord is about as evil as the passage of Time. And if they consider Discord evil than ponies are far too close minded.

You say its merciful in the case of what he did. Exclude the self-defense against the Mane 6, I don't see much that warrants thousands of years in stone, being fully aware of the world but unable to do a single thing. You don't throw something into that once and expect him to NOT prevent that from happening again- getting some payback along the way is just fun.

You say he deserved that, that getting his powers taken away was justified. If that is true, than every action he takes now is equally justified in his quest to take what was stolen. They have brought him down to their level- now they have to reap the consequences as he adapts to that. Because when you're omnipotent, its easy to get what you want without killing or injurying others. Now that he's potent? Not so much.

7409562 Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't say he's irrevocably evil, nor do I think he considers himself to be evil. I just think he has somewhat different values that regrettably put him at odds with everyone around him.

7409608
THAT I will definitely agree with. Old goat probably gave up trying to keep track of moral codes when Griffons and pegasi started to get along.

Of course, this all falls under the assumption that Discord isn't a grand manipulator who has been plotting a lot of things that happened in canon. Or that he didn't just go insane from the chaos magic.

One thing you got to love about Discord: You can paint him many different ways without being wrong.

7409630 Cool. I'm actually pretty happy we came to some degree of understanding. I hope you stick around.
And no, I don't think Discord is a master manipulator. I don't think he has the time and patience for that, at least for plans that span across multiple years. He might go for a months long plan if he has to, or if he knows that the payoff will be worth it.
Edit: And the plundervines don't count. He didn't exactly plan that, beyond having a simple plan he could execute and then walk away from.

7409650
Don't worry, I intend to.

Eh, depends on the version of Discord- though, I largely support that line of thought because of Twilight's Kingdom, with how he SPOON FED them the answers to the keys to the Chest of Harmony and how his "betrayal" resulted in the final one being found. That whole thing bugs me as "something is going on here." Though, that could be him knowing the answers and "going too far" to help a friend, Twilight in this case,....which is kind of hilarious in that context. XP

To your PS- I can't help feeling he was amused that those things were actually still around. And, plus, he did motivate Twilight to go after them, which resulted in them saving the tree....And he fessed up to it all when no one would have known it was him.

7409489
Its no loose definition. He came into Equestria. Took it over and make life practically unbearable for those already living there for his own personal amusement and did not care for those he purposely inconvenienced. Just because he didn't leave behind a body count does not make it any less worse.

Doesn't matter how he views it. They told him to stop and when he didn't they fought back as is their right and he lost. So everything is on his head.

He was on the top of the food chain. He invaded. He lost. So its either submit to the victors or leave.

You also seem to be injecting a lot of your own personal headcanon into this. You shouldn't.

7409691 Alright, now I'm starting to get uncomfortable here. A debate doesn't go anywhere when both sides start repeating themselves in different ways, and I'm starting to see that now. Perhaps you can find something else to discuss?
I noticed that nobody said anything about the illusion for instance. I was kind of hoping someone would... :twilightsheepish:

7409691
Headcanon is all we have. You don't know that he invaded. For all we know, he was there first and the Ponies are the invaders. Canon is equally likely towards both cases. And no, he is still on top of the food chain. The elements of harmony are the only thing that can even just hold him back. holding him back isn't a victory, its a stalemate. Therefore, ponies are still below him on the foodchain- up until rainbow powers possibly, but that's not here or there and only applies to the mane 6.

Your argument also goes both way: By that logic, the ponies should have submitted or left when Discord soundly conquered them. They had the right to rebel, same as he has the right to overthrow them again.

Also, yes, it does make it less worse. You say he made it unbearable. We have no proof of that. Besides his direct enemies, the mane 6, no one seems to be suffering. To say otherwise is as much headcanon as anything else. You say he purposefully inconvenienced them. A drought, blizzard, or a climate change inconveniences people too, they adapt to it or leave.

Claiming Discord is just a villain is the easy way out of siding with the victors.

7409745

Apologies, but someone has to be on Discord's side of things. As for the illusion, it is interesting. So Celestia is part of Discord's fear- likely a more recent thing, but possibly the thousand years in stone played a part too. And Twilight too? Hmm, wonder if that's just shameless fluff for the budding romance or something else. And obviously he despairs over the idea of truly losing his powers forever.

.....And I just realized that these Fear-shrooms are going to be weapons of his in the future......

Poor ponies.....Oh boy, Luna and/or Celestia are going to have some Nightmare in their dreams.

7409489
As a major Discord fan myself, I have to say I think you're minimizing the damage he did.

Houses floating in air? Ponyville has very few pegasus residents, so most of those houses, he either trapped the ponies inside them, or he prevented ponies from being able to access their homes. Chocolate milk rain? Delicious to us (and presumably ponies), but for most animals, chocolate is poisonous. Puddles of sweet chocolate milk would be very enticing to a lot of animals who'd get awfully sick if they drank it. Also, milk goes bad before it evaporates, so everything that absorbs water that was exposed to the chocolate milk is going to end up smelling rotten. Dancing buffalo? Buffalo don't live anywhere near Ponyville. If those were real buffalo and not a construct, he just dragged three beings halfway across the country to perform for him. And don't get me started on Granny Smith and how dangerous the dancing she was doing could have been for her health. I'm 46 and dancing like that would throw out my hips.

He's certainly not ultimate evil and I think if ponies had accepted him and made a place for him in their society he could have learned to moderate his behavior millennia ago. But he's totally and completely inconsiderate of everyone else's wants and needs. In a world where the sun rises and falls on a whim... nothing's going to grow right. So all anypony gets to eat is what Discord provides... which seems to be a diet of sweets, mostly, though maybe one day he decides that broccoli are going to pop up everywhere and attack ponies and need to be eaten to be defeated. But the point is, no one gets to pick what they're going to grow or what they're going to eat -- they become dependent on Discord to feed them because he's prevented them from growing food. If winter can come in a moment's whimsy, ponies who were not dressed for it are likely to fall ill, but you can't go around dressed for winter because on a snap it could be a hot summer day.

In a world where no one can predict anything and ponies have no security and no control over their own environment... under such circumstances people and animals develop learned helplessness, a kind of situational mental illness that's basically despair and an inability to learn anything new or take action to improve their condition, because they've learned that nothing they do matters. Imagine an entire nation of ponies apathetic and despairing because they can't carve out any stability in their lives.

If you seriously think about how disruptive he was in Return of Harmony, and then imagine that every day is that disruptive, for years... yeah, they had to stop him and they were pretty much justified in using whatever means they could. Turning someone into a living statue is horrible, a fate arguably far worse than death, but they didn't have the option to send him to jail. Taking his powers away is actually merciful in comparison -- either way he can't use his magic, but if he's free, he can breathe and eat and move and feel and see and talk and interact with others, none of which he can do if he's a statue. Though it's a bad move if the goal is to try to befriend him.

I love Discord, but he's not harmless. He's arguably the least likely to kill you of all the villains we've encountered except Sunset Shimmer (Starlight would actually hold that position if she hadn't destroyed seven universes through time travel), but your quality of life may end up being so bad you end up with severe depression and PTSD.

7410893
The difference between what I do and most other fans do is stop looking at Discord as if he's a national criminal and look at him as the god-tier being he is.

To start with, chocolate rain: The ponies, including Fluttershy, are not at all concerned about the animals eating Cotton Candy Clouds with Chocolate Rain. As for the plants? Brief tangent: In the Nightmare Moon alternate timeline, the Everfree is definitely not dying or freezing, indicating that Nightmare Moon made the it so plants could survive on moonlight. If thatis true, it is not at all strange Discord could make plants and animals survive on his chocolate rain.

Floating Houses? There were numerous moments where Ponies could float or even WALK in the air without wings during his reign. Not only that, but there is also the obvious angle that he likely has it so that the checkboard ground is cartoonishly bouncy,

As for Granny Smith- I took that as his chaos magic repaired or improved her hip while it was in effect.

Dancing buffalos? Actually, let me go back to the animals in general. Did anyone notice that the ponies were the only ones freaking out?The animals, buffalos and long legged bunny, acted right as rain. And as his mind-altering is signaled by a greying of color, they obviously weren't mind controlled. Personal theory is that his powers are so retroactive that most things adapt to the changes. That ponies don't is likely a sign of their high alignment to order and a subconscious rejection of his chaos.

I already answered the bit about food being able to grow. Also, while there are an abundant of sweets, it appears that he didn't out-and-out change Applejack's crops. In fact, he made giant apples. Thus, fruits and veggies are likely still around. In fact, he'd think it boring if there weren't.

Ponies only get dressed, minus personal choices, at special events and at the extremes of cold. Also, unless the winter is brought in on cotton candy clouds, there's no reason the pegasi shouldn't still be able to handle it.

As for the rest? Between everything else I mentioned, the fact that only the mane 6 and Celestia freaked out over the Chaos, and that they all have their magic? Ponies will do what all creatures do: They'll either adapt to the chaotic lands or leave for other lands.

I'm not downplaying the danger of Discord, I'm saying what he HAS done is tame compared to what he CAN do. That and once you start looking deeply at what he does, you stop getting the impression that

Honestly, the simplist way to think of Discord's chaos is that he drops you in another universe and you have to learn all the new rules. Only difference is, again, he's unlikely to let you die.

Please remember that Discord has apparently been free to roam for eons. Than remember that ponykind apparently didn't encounter him until they came to Equestria. That likely implies one of two things: One, Discord knows how to keep life going on with the changes he makes, otherwise the whole world would be dead. He probably even moved the sun and moon in the past, assuming there was a time before the Sisters. The other thing it could imply is that Discord's "reign of chaos" has always been limited to the lands of equestrias prior to its founding.

Apologies, Madam, but justifying the villains is always a more entertaining angle for me than just siding with the good guys. That it makes more sense to me is an added bonus. And Discord is one of the few I have sincere trouble painting the canon version in any serious dark light.

PS You say they were justified in stoning him? You are right. He is equally justified to exact his revenge. Just as a wolf or bear is justified in killing a human child to feed its young, as are the parents and rangers that go to put it down, and the protestors who are offended by the animal's death and hound the rangers for it. The moral? Justification does not warrant an exemption from retaliation on another party's end.

PSS Its late on my end, so if any of this does come off as snappish, I apologize. My abilitiy to recognize my own tone, in writing and voice, are the first to go. These are just my sincere counters to your points.

7411008
Actually, the long-legged bunnies didn't act fine. They ran. They stampeded. They weren't drawn as having expressions, but rabbits don't stampede when they feel fine. They're also grayed. The buffalo aren't, but the bunnies definitely are.

Of course Discord isn't going to deliberately get rid of the fruits and vegetables, but they won't grow properly if the length of days and the timing of seasons is random. Performing magic to enable some things to grow under moonlight would be a lot easier than getting things to grow under conditions of complete inconsistency. If Discord reigned for longer than a few weeks, the crops would typically have not survived or not end up edible. And the point is, no one can adapt to constant, unrelenting change, not of everything around them. Discord wouldn't have kept things a particular way for any significant length of time, and he had no compunction against randomly mind-controlling sapient beings (or in the case of the bunnies, non-sapient ones) to do what amused him.

The theory that Equestria belonged to Discord before the ponies moved in is interesting, but unless Discord is also helpless against windigos, doesn't bear out -- would Discord have allowed "his" nation to be consumed by snow and ice because a bunch of ponies moved into it and started arguing with each other? Also, the implication is that wherever in Equestria the three tribes first settled, it was a nice, fertile area with weather the pegasi could control and land the earth ponies could farm. Even if Discord considered Equestria his "territory", he didn't have to go torment the ponies -- he wasn't there in the region they were in when they first settled, or the region would have been utterly chaotic and they wouldn't have settled there. One way or another, he showed up when ponies were established and started making their lives hell. He's far too chaotic to respect boundaries anyway; whether it was "his" land or not he would have shown up, because new sapient beings to inflict his chaos on would amuse him. Remember, he also identifies as the Spirit of Disharmony, not just Chaos (it's the definition of the word Discord, and also, he calls himself the Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos in Return of Harmony.) Chaos doesn't require people -- either things are ordered or they are not -- but disharmony requires there be sapient beings around to argue with each other.

So I think it's pretty incontrovertible that Discord was not present when the ponies moved in, and showed up later after they'd established themselves, and whether or not he had previously considered the area his territory is irrelevant because Discord doesn't respect boundaries in the first place. And randomly mind-controlling ponies to think they are dogs, making their houses float when they can't fly (yes, some of them managed to run on air, but what happens if Discord then changes his mind and decides screw it, gravity works today?), and in general destroying their ability to have any control whatsoever over their own lives, is a form of torture, and not something any creature could ever adapt to if it was happening all the time.

The thing is that in real life, when there is rapid change, things die. Humans survive because we use our intellect to adapt to the changes, but intellect works by identifying patterns, and Discord smashes patterns. No intelligence could adapt to Discord. Because he's fairly benign for a chaos spirit, he goes out of his way to make sure his rapid changes don't kill, but he has no problem with causing discomfort and mental anguish. And he didn't do it because ponies were in his territory and he was trying to drive them out. He did it because it was fun, and if ponies had tried to flee him, he'd probably have followed.

The thing about gods of an aspect is that they's not supposed to be unchecked by other gods of different aspects. Discord, if a god, is an aspect god -- a god of chaos, rather than a monotheistic god of everything -- and should have the rest of a pantheon balancing him out. He doesn't, unless you count the Tree of Harmony. Gods are not supposed to run loose all over creation warping it to represent only their own aspect. Having one doing so suggests either a supremely imbalanced universe, or that he doesn't belong there -- and Discord being a god of not obeying rules, odds are, he doesn't belong there. If the ponies use the Tree of Harmony -- who may, in fact, be the god-tier entity who is Discord's specific counter -- to banish his chaos, then the ponies are intermediaries and he doesn't really have the right to seek revenge on them. On the Tree, maybe. They couldn't have done anything to him without it. But you don't have the right to get revenge on someone because they stopped you from burning their house down.

Does he have the right to seek revenge? Well, he started it. If you move into an area and start making everyone's lives unlivable, and as a result they do something to you so you can't do that, you can't really argue that you are the injured party. That being said, it's almost irrelevant because in canon Discord has never sought revenge. He harassed Fluttershy when she was trying to reform him because harassing ponies and disrupting their lives is what he does, not because he wanted revenge on her. We didn't see him do anything to Celestia except taunt her a bit. We didn't see him do anything to Luna. We haven't seen him go to Tartarus to harass Tirek (maybe he can't, and maybe he has off screen, but the point is, Tirek hurt him worse than anyone else ever has and he hasn't apparently sought revenge.) We haven't seen him go take revenge on the tatzlwurms. Discord hassles ponies for fun, not to get revenge on them. So it's kind of irrelevant as to whether he has the right to do something that in canon he's never tried to do.

The conflict with Discord isn't whether he has the right to totally disrupt the ponies' lives. The only way he has the right is if you subscribe to the notion of divine right, that gods get to do whatever they want because they're gods, which personally I strongly disagree with. Your parents don't get to abuse you just because they made you; why should gods have that right? And Discord isn't a creator god. He may have created things, but he didn't create Equestria's world -- he's not consistent enough. We've seen what a world looks like when he's the only influence on it -- his chaos dimension.

No, the conflict is between his right, as a sapient being, to be himself and fulfill his life's purpose, versus the ponies' right to have stability in their existence. And thus far, in canon, it seems that Discord can be satisfied with small and transient acts of chaos that don't disrupt everypony if he's getting other emotional needs met at the same time.

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(sighs) Well, I can see this is going to get us nowhere. Honestly, I like this fic and I don't want to make the author more uncomfortable or anything by continuing to fill his comment section with a discussion that no longer has anything to do with his story, especially after another just ended. So, I'm going to end this with this comment:

I am still unchanged in my opinions just as you are likely unchanged in yours. And as fun as arguments can be, I'd rather use that energy for fics. So, ciao, and have a nice day.

PS Huh....just realized you wrote several of my favorite fimfics. Well, disagreement aside, nice to meet someone that does write Discord well.

Will Discord ever go to The Caste of the Two Sisters? I think it would be awesome if he made it his home and none of the ponys knew.

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