Flames of Disharmony

by Prismfire Productions

For now and Evermore

“Come on girls, this time must be the right tune!”

Fluttershy's remark was met with deaf ears, each of her friends being exhausted from non-stop playing trying to find a counter song to Discord's own magic frequency. So far, none seemed to work, a fact that was visible by the chaotic landscape outside the castle.

Rivers had turned red, nopony being brave enough to test what liquid now flowed between the banks. The gentle rolling hills on the outskirts of town were now melt-proof mounds of rocky road ice cream, which fillies and colts enjoyed until an unfortunate accident to Scootaloo revealed
the 'rocks’ were actually boulders of marble. Meanwhile, the sky rained down a seemingly endless storm of chocolate milk and hail made from black licorice, a combination that made several ponies sick to various degrees as an order to remain indoors was put into effect.

“Fluttershy,” Rarity said, using her magic to gently levitate a cup of hot tea. “I don't want to sound rude, but we have been trying for four days to find something that will make your plan work. We’re exhausted, perhaps it is time we formulate a different tactic.”

“Fine,” Fluttershy said, disappointment in her tone as she sighed. “But can we give it one last try? If this doesn't work then we will try something else.”

”I don't think that would be a problem,” A deep male voice said, the room suddenly being invited by a fine red mist that made the mares jump to their hooves in a defensive position. ”And you may all relax, I am actually here to help you on your little endeavor.”

“We won't fall for that trick Discord,” Twilight said, fury in her tone as she got ready to fire a spell. “Here to finish the job? Killing us won't solve your problems, Friendship and Harmony will always exist!”

”That statement was both true and false, but that is not important at the moment,” The voice said again, the mist starting to condense into a solid, bipedal shape that was blurry at the edges. ”I suppose introductions are in order as well. I am Chaos Bearer, the original Being of Chaos, and I am here to give you the means to beat Discord.”

“Why can’t you just beat him yourself?” Twilight asked, raising her eyebrow into an arch. “If you know about his condition then you know how to stop it.”

”Wrong type of magic frequency, just because I know how to use every type doesn't mean I am the master of all of them” Chaos Bearer said, making a seat of popcorn materialize out of thin air before sitting in it. ”However, mine combined with your own Harmonic frequency should do the trick. Unless you want me to rid him of chaos entirely, but one of you will have to take his place.”

The group went quiet as they contemplated the offer. On one hoof, Discord would be free of the corrupted magic, but on the other hoof one of them would have to succumb to it. It was a fine, double edged sword that was both tempting and dangerous.

“I’ll make that sacrifice…” Fluttershy said, a firmness in her tone that appeared from seemingly nowhere.

“Fluttershy please reconsider,” Twilight said, fighting back tears as she put a hoof on her friend's wither, “Can you at least give making a song one last chance like you wanted us to do? You held the Element of Kindness, would you really want to lose that part of yourself?”

“You just proved my point,” Fluttershy said, in the same resolute tone as before. “My Element was Kindness, and I will forever hold that virtue close to my heart. It was my personal goal to show Discord the ways for Friendship, and for awhile I succeeded. However, I owe it to Princess Celestia, Equestria, and Discord to ensure that goal is squared.”

”Is this your final decision?” Chaos Bearer asked, in all his time never coming across an individual so willing to give everything up just to ensure everyone's well being, earning his respect. ”There will be no going back once I do it. In addition, I can't promise that it will be completely painless, because chances are it will be very painful.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Do it, but don't go and strip Discord’s magic afterwards, I want us to beat him personally.”

Chaos Bearer then called upon his full power, which was Discord’s own raised to the power of pi, and soon it materialized into a visible form. The chaos magic ebbed and flowed around the room, going between each of the ponies before absorbing into Fluttershy like a sponge.

Her body quivered as the foreign magic seeped into her core, her normal pegasus magic getting consumed and replaced. The moment it finished, it pulsed outward through her body, making her grit her teeth as her spine audibly started to stretch.

Spinal discs materialized along her elongated spine, as if she had always had them, just as her wings started to molt. Feathers gently fell to the floor as the skin membrane on her wings thinned and became gossamer in nature, soon looking like a pair of pale pink monarch butterfly wings identical to the ones on her cutie mark.

An ear-cringing cracking soon filled the room, Fluttershy having to bite her lip as her forehooves split apart, the right forehoof becoming a bear claw and the left a talon of a mighty Peregrine falcon. Her hindhooves soon followed suit, the left swelling and morphing into a rabbit paw, but the right hardly changed besides looking more deer-like with an unshorn fetlock.

Pain turned into pleasure, a fierce blush forming on Fluttershy’s cheeks as her teats started to crawl their way up her torso and settling on her chest and swelling. She knew from biology books, and a very embarrassing encounter with a female yeti who wanted to call her “Georgette”, that her teats were now mammalian breasts and by the feel of their weight they were full of milk. The fur that covered her breasts lightened, becoming the same pink as her mane, but also floofed up to cover any detail of them including her nipples.

Her dock vibtated and pulsed, Fluttershy unable to contain a small moan that had been building in her since the changes first started to occur. The hairs of her tail fell away as her dock lengthened, her reproductive entrance shifting to her front to make room for her growing tail. As for her new tail itself, it resembled a dragon's, but with a small tuft of pink fur sprouting at the end of it.

A sensation that felt like air being forced into her bones made her new appendages clinch, her whole body becoming more flexible as her nose felt like it had be dumped in a keg of black pepper. Her teeth started to change as her muzzle started to push out, a snaggletooth emerging when a powerful headache hit signaling that her skull was changing shape. Soon, it looked like a combination of a pony and dragon’s, but two bee antenna emerged between her ears to signal the end of the transformation.

“How do you feel Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, the who group looking at the new chaos wielder with mixed concern and nervousness.

“Ok,” Fluttershy said, as she had a mirror summoned to look at herself. She was surprised to see her cutie mark had remained despite the changes, but becoming a little larger in size. “Actually, better than ok, I think I know a tune we can combat Discord with. Rarity, I need you to trust me and hold still for a moment.”

Rarity didn't get the chance to respond, and with a snap of Fluttershy's talon, sheet music appeared in front of her. After a quick glance over the notes, the unicorn began to play, and the result was instantaneous. Rarity’s tail was engulfed in chaos flames,its length cut in half and turning into a tri-colored spike of purple, yellow and green with a studded bracelet holding it in place.

The fire spread and warped around her torso, briefly making Rarity scared until she realized the fire was not burning her at all as an open faced purple rocker jacket appeared. Just as it did, the fire lurched and wrapped around her left forehoof, leaving an identical bracket to the one on her tail before climbing up her head.

She could feel her mane restyling, part of it by her left ear burning away, while the rest became the same coloring as her tail and becoming multilayered. The fire wasn't done, however, and soon leapt to her guitar.
Moving from top to bottom, the normal wooden guitar was transformed by the magic into a classic Hoofder Saddlecaster with a deep purple base with onyx inlay. The tuning pegs, pickups, and bridge became pure silver, and her cutie mark appeared on the middle of the neck. Looking at the diamonds, they were not identical to the ones on her flank, but for the sides were curved and the points sharper, but there was no doubt in anypony’s mind that it wasn't her cutie mark.

“Woah,” Rarity remarked, looking into the same mirror Fluttershy had summoned to look at her own changes just moments ago. “I thought I would never use this look again, plus get an upgrade on my guitar as well.”

“Figured you would like it,” Fluttershy said, wrapping around her friends and giving them a hug, noticing that Chaos Bearer had left without a word. “Now, here is what I need the rest of you to do…”

---

Discord awoke from his sleep well rested, and the sight of his chaos brought a smile to his face. Several trees nearby were growing apples and oranges from its branches, flowers growing with sunny side up eggs for petals, and a convenient bush that was growing edible teacups made his breakfast easy to obtain.

”Oh such a marvelous day!” Discord thought, biting into a teacup. I can make this world into something out of my chaotically pure imagination. Perhaps I should-”

He was cut off by a cold crawling sensation covering his body, the morning dew increasing in thickness until it was fog and cutting visibility to just a few hundred meters as a figure approached him through the fog.

“Your time is up Discord,” The figure, whome Discord recognized as Rarity, said as she got close enough for him to see her. “You got one chance to surrender.”

“Ha!” Discord laughed, literally shaking his butt off before reattaching it. “I beat you even with your friends helping, you think a simple restyle will help you beat me by yourself?”

“I never said I was alone darling,” Rarity said, a grin forming that actually gave Discord pause as she got ready on her guitar. “Nor did I say I was going to be the one to defeat you.”

The moment she struck the first few notes Discord paled. Chaos magic poured on every note, the magic carrying the notes further than they would have on their own and made Discord stagger. The tempo sped up, and a flash of purple magic revealed both Twilight and Pinkie standing on one of the party mare’s largest speakers that provided the notes with a deeper bass.

The longer into the intro Rarity got, the more nervous Discord became, briefly considering to retreat and formulate a new plan until he found himself tied to a large tree stump. Applejack, using the distraction to her advantage, had snuck up behind the draconequus and lassoed him in place and making sure he was looking behind Rarity as she finished her intro. Right before she did, however, a sight that burned away all of Discord's ego appeared in the mist.

A pair of beautiful, vibrant turquoise eyes that gave off chaos like a fiery supernova.

To Discord's absolute shock, the new form that Fluttershy now wore felt intimidating, and the stare that he was immune to for so long now had him firmly in his clutches. All efforts to avoid looking into those eyes were stopped cold once Fluttershy began to sing.

”You’ve awoken my stare, this is not a game.

I can make you think anything I want, even forget your name.

You're a very special case, special indeed,

so I'm going give you just what you need..."

Fluttershy then unleashed her newfound power behind her Stare, getting in Discord's face and planting her eyes against his. The male draconequus screamed and thrashed, trying his hardest to resist the pull Fluttershy was having on his own magic, but it was pointless. The excess magic flowed through his pupils into her’s, his urge slowly retreating the longer he was locked in place as if his very will was starting to truly become afraid of his first friend.

Friend… The suppressed part of his consciousness started to stir once more, the bonds that had been in place snapping the more his magic flux returned to normal levels like a magma chamber after a volcanic eruption. His senses poured back to him in quick succession, and only when did his mind become clear did he actually realize how Fluttershy now looked.

“Fl-Fluttershy?!” Discord asked, still trembling like a newborn foal under Fluttershy's most deadly weapon. “Why are you are draconequus like me?”

“Seems like he is back to 'normal’ for now.” Fluttershy said, putting extra emphasis on 'normal’ as Applejack loosened the lasso’s grip. “As for your answer, Chaos Bearer made me like this after I asked him to in order to stop you.”

“Chaos Bearer paid you a visit!?” Discord said, a look of shock forming on his now-pale face as he slightly shrunk away. “That alone is more chaotic than I want to even deal with, glad you stopped me and not him. I mean, even I am scared of what I can truly do, but the things he can do make me look like a figurative one trick pony. Why would you give up Harmony to chose Chaos?”

“That is the thing Discord…” Fluttershy's tone was level, her expression flat as she snapped her claw. The world around the two draconequi then turned into monochrome, the lighter shades clinging to Fluttershy and the darker ones around Discord. “Harmony never left me, even after my transformation, and now provides a key role. Both of us are chaotic neutral, with you leaning towards evil and me good due to our respective paths. Look around Discord, everything including good and evil are just simple shades of grey, so we are the same but also different. Harmony will guide me for saving Equestria with my friends, and Chaos will guide me to help keep you in check, for I now represent the 'grey area’ in the balance and must keep it in check.”

Fluttershy channeled the chaos magic she had took from Discord and focused it on her antenne, both bulbs glowing in the all to familiar pattern of red and yellow before releasing it as a pulse. The pulse spread like a Rainboom, spreading far away from where the group was standing, and undoing every bit of chaos Discord had caused before it had subsided.

“There,” Fluttershy said, a small smile on her face. “Everything is back to the way it was before the urge hit you. If at any point you feel like it will happen again, come to me and I will siphon off the excess.”

“Thank you so much Fluttershy,” Discord said, giving Fluttershy a hug. “I will be forever grateful for what you have done, now if you all will excuse me I have someone else to apologize to.”

---

Princess Celestia was a mess.

A few hours had passed since all the chaos was mysteriously fixed, and both Luna and Chrysalis had departed to get some sleep, but her heart was still heavy. With her afternoon court done, she had retired to her bedchamber with orders not to be bothered unless it was top priority like Tirek somehow escaping again or a diplomat making an unscheduled visit. A gentle breeze blew in through the window as the late afternoon sun casted her bedchamber into shadow, and she knew that she would have to head to the balcony soon to lower her solar body. Yes, she could do it from her room, but even with how bad she felt there was no way she was going to break the daily tradition she had made with Luna. Just as she was about to doze off, she heard the ruffling of feathers and a quick glance revealed Philomena resting above the door.

“Hey Philomena,” Celestia said with a small coo, earning a content chirp out of her pet. “Is it that time of the year again for your rebirth? I apologize for not having your room already made, but with Discord's latest rampage I have let minor details slip.”

Philomena chirped in an off putting manor, brushing off the minor inconvenience, but Celestia froze. Discord had given her the Phoenix on their first anniversary, and she knew exactly when the bird was speaking to her, as well as what Philomena was saying. The word that was chirped rattled her to the core. “Evermore.”

“Evermore?” Celestia said, her voice quivering as she sat up. “Just like my marriage to Discord? Philomena, you know that both me and him are ageless, and I would give up my crown to ensure he survived a fatal accident, but sometimes I feel he wouldn't do the same for me.”

A squawk and a chirp. “Love, evermore.”

“Philomena please,” Celestia said, no begged, her favorite possession as she got up and moved over to where the Phoenix was roosting while preening its’ wings. “I am not in the mood for such foolishness! I love Discord, I really do, and it pains me with every fibre of my being that we are on opposite sides of fate. Yet you sit there and preen yourself above my bedchamber door, while mocking me by saying 'evermore’.”

“My my, my dear Tia, I haven't seen you snap at her like that since she accidentally burned your tail off.” A voice behind Celestia said, the alicorn jumping in place before turning to face Discord as Philomena landed on his shoulder. “I am sorry if I put you on edge the last few days, but thankfully it is literally out of my system and I think we never have to worry about that happening again.”

“How can you be certain of that?” Celestia asked, nuzzling under Discord's chin. “It has been a long time since you had an outburst that severe, and it will certainly happen in the future.”

“You can personally thank Fluttershy, she had Chaos Bearer turn her into a draconequus in order to match my power.” Discord then leaned down and picked up his wife bridal style before setting her on the bed, petting her mane as he was explaining. “Although, unlike myself, her chaos magic is in tune with Harmony as well so she won't snap like me. After I came to my senses she explained to me why she did it, she felt as if she owed it to all of Equestria and everypony to do it. Now here is a dilemma I didn't mention to her that I realized, two of the four Harmony Guardians are now ageless, has Destiny altered the other four to have their own paths to achieve it?”

“I owe that mare a thank you, as well as explaining why you mean so much to me.” Celestia said, levitating over a box from her closet. Using the skeleton key she kept hidden in between her bed and wall, she lifted out a flawless diamond ring and slid it down her horn until it reached the base. “I think it is time the truth comes out dear, times and circumstances have changed, and I think our little ponies are ready for it. It will take some getting use to my Prince, but everypony will eventually come to accept it as the norm, just like Twilight getting used to Fizzlepop Berry twist being her Captain of the Friendship Guard. As far as your question goes, who knows? Twilight's ascension was a huge curveball and now Fluttershy is a draconequus… guess we will find out together my love.”

“We knew this moment was a long time coming love,” Discord said, manifesting his own wedding band around one of his fingers. “Although neither of us knew it would be during this generation of ponies. At least now we both know that I have a somewhat clear path for the future, helping ponies instead of being against them, with you by my side.”

“You talk a sweet game D,” Celestia said, fluffing up her feathers and batting her eyelashes as she smirked. “Question is, can you back it up?”

“You challenging me, Discord the Lord of Chaos?!” Discord said, a poorly done imitation of scowl on his face, his eyes shining with mischief. “You want the D, I’ll show you what the D is capable of.”

Celestia giggled and pulled him in close, completely oblivious to a faint blue glow shutting the door. Luna was stunned, after her and Chrysalis had left Celestia alone, the changeling had told her about how rich the love was between the couple. Since their affair had happened after Luna was banished to the moon, the Princess of the Night thought Chrysalis was just pulling her hoof, and even wagered a bet on the matter.

“Let me guess,” Chrysalis, who was undisguised and brushing her mane in front of the vanity mirror, said as Philomena decided to leave the lovebirds alone and come in through Luna’s window. “I was correct, you should have thought twice before betting a changeling on matters of love.”

“You were correct Chryssy,” Luna said summoning a bag of bits and putting it in front of the changeling. “And I was foolish to question you, but you have to understand that this is my sister we are talking about. So much happened while I was gone that I don't know, won't know, or want to know… but at the same time I can't help but feel caught off guard a bit. He beat both me and Tia when we were younger, and we both carried a grudge, so I'm surprised she ended up falling for him.”

“Isn't it pony nature to forgive those who wronged you?” Chrysalis asked, standing up and moving over to where Luna was standing. “Look at Starlight, Tempest, and Trixie, they each threatened to bring the very fabric of Equestria down, yet look at them now. I guess after the events that transpired you can add me to that list, but I want you to promise me something Lulu, promise me that you will set the time aside to get to know your brother in law better.”

“You know, I just might do that,” Lulu said, after thinking it over for a few minutes. Although I am not going to Pinkie Promise, that Earth Pony shouldn't know until Tia makes the announcement, but knowing her she would throw the mother of all parties when she is told.”

“I have been to several of her parties, in disguise of course, because her cupcakes are made with the pure love she has for her craft.” Chrysalis said, salivating at the thought of a rich dark chocolate pastry. “I will look forward to that part when it does take place, I just might gorge myself on chocolate.”

“I don't blame you, but we are getting off topic,” Luna said, snapping Chrysalis out of her mini daydream. “It will take time for Discord, and yourself, to gain my trust but I am sure it will come in time.”

“Celly practically hoofed me the keys to the kingdom by ensuring that my children will no longer starve,” Chrysalis said, a small smile appearing at the corner of her muzzle. “No way am I going to look that gift pony in the mouth.”

“But I thought-”

“It is just a figure of speech nowadays Lulu,” Chrysalis said, clarifying before the Princess of the Night became confused. “It means to be grateful when a mighty gift is given to you and nothing is asked in return.”

“I see…” Luna said, finally letting the meaning sink in. “Just like when Tia forgave me after I was cured from the Nightmare?”

“Precisely,” Chysalis said, turning and shaking her head at the fact the sun was wobbling just a tiny bit, unnoticeable to the untrained eye. “Now Discord can actually enjoy his relationship, he seemed bursting to the brim with happiness and love when he first teleported, and I could feel it all the way in here. May their love be bountiful, plentiful-”

Philomena squawked once, nodding in approval and making Chrysalis giggle before adding to her remark. “and quoth the Phoenix… evermore.”

Author's Note:

All done and tied up with a nice fancy bow. This went longer than I intended to, but still worked itself out along the way. I had several ideas in mind for Fluttershy's counter song, including "Thunderstruck", but I eventually settled on "Welcome to the Jungle".

I've given my editor Penalt some time off in order for him to regroup after accidently putting him though editor hell with an earlier update of another story, so this was done solo. Although, he did come up with me ending the story with that closing line, so thanks to him for that.

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