1: A rather abrupt choice

"There. Should be good as new!" A voice said, holding up a shimmering necklace. It glistened like a diamond in the sun, probably cause it had diamonds on it and it was in the afternoon.

"Excellent! Thank you Zelo, you're a life saver!" A feminine voice said, taking the necklace with care from Zelo's hands.

"No problem rarity. It's my whole thing after-all!" Zelo replied, before turning back to his work-desk. Rarity was a common customer of his jewelry shop, mostly just for the gems themselves. Rarely would she ever ask for an actual piece, either to be created or repaired, but whenever she did ask for it, he knew he would have a fun time. He loved his profession, that being jewelry crafting. It was just a fine thing, you know?

"By the way, are the sapphires on route?" Rarity asked from around the corner, and Zelo rolled his eyes playfully. She was generous, but she was still forgetful. This must've been the fifth time she's asked about gems after she left the shop.

"Should be here by Tuesday!" Zelo shouted back, receiving thanks in advance from outside of the store. He was glad he moved to Ponyville for ponies like rarity or twilight, not to mention plenty of others like bon-bon or filthy rich, instead of staying in manehattan. His career was going nowhere, so he was glad he made some progress here. Sometimes he would even get grand visitors like Fancy Pants, fleur de lis, and once even Princess Luna! Tell him that wasn't the greatest things somepony could get in their tiny little store. Of course, he couldn't forget the little ones like spike or Sweetie belle, the former wanting for consumption, and the latter wanting to give to the former for consumption.

After day dreaming about how good his life was, the bell on his door rang, signifying someone had entered. He snapped out of his daydream, put on a pleasant face, and went to face the new customer. "Yello?"

"Nope! Pinkie!" A hyperactive voice answered, and Zelo slightly grimaced. He liked pinkie pie, but sometimes she messed up some of the jewelry, even if it was ever so slightly. He knew she never means too, but that crunch sound of a ruby being cracked rings in his ear too much after it happens. "Hello Ringy!" He also wasn't a fan of her nickname for him.

"Hello Pinkie. What can I get for you now?" Zelo asked for the pink blur, as she looked around the store, zipping from one piece to the next.

"Silly Ringy! You know that I can't just say what I want right away! Maybe I could if I was a unicorn! Or maybe if I was psychic! Could you imagine that? Imagine me having psychic powers! I could make parties happen without even being in town! Oh it would be so cool! Not to mention useful! I've missed 3 separate parties this year! 3! I obviously made them up, but I mean, wouldn't it be so cool if I'm in yakyakistan, someone comes to town, and all of a sudden a party just appears! Oh it would be so awesome!" Zelo also wasn't the greatest fan of her whenever she goes off on a tangent. Other than those characteristics though, she was completely fine.

"Well, how about you look around and see what you would want?" Zelo motioned to the glass cases, full of gems, jewels, and plenty of jewelry, from rings, to amulets, necklaces, cuffs, watches, even some crowns and tiaras. Spoiled rich frequented this place often.

"Oh, right!" Pinkie stammered, starting to look around the store, putting her face onto the glass and looking at each one very intently. Before she could point at one, a yard stick appeared at the side of her face, poking her. "Oh, right again Ringy!" Pinkie said, as Zelo sighed and pointed to the "Don't touch the glass," Sign on the top of the glass. He's done this dance plenty of times, and pinkie always forgot halfway through. "This one!" Pinkie said, pointing her finger at a simple yet delicate piece. "It's pink like me!"

"Alright. Out of curiosity, what do you want jewelry for this time?" Zelo asked, picking up the necklace with his magic, as pinkie reached into her satchel.

"What, you haven't heard? Rarity's having a party this wednesday to make up for the disastrous grand galloping gala. It was supposed to be a week ago, but then Eris was released, and we had to get our elements, and shoot her with a big rainbow laser! You should've seen it, it was so cool. Eris was like, 'we got a big storm of chaos,' but twilight was like 'pew pew!' and then we all went 'PEEEW!' with a big laser! Anyways, everyone going has to look refined, just like the gala!" Pinkie answered the question quickly, as Zelo connected the dots.

That explains the sapphire and gem needs. I was wondering why she needed over 40 pounds Zelo thought, as Pinkie handed over the bits, and the necklace was hers.

"Thank you ringy!" Pinkie Pie said, before zipping out of the room, leaving behind a delayed reaction from Zelo.

"Remember to not slam the...door closed," Zelo said too late, leaving a sigh, as another glass cup was shattered, fallen to the ground. The door opened again, and a small but sharp noise made itself apparent, as Zelo looked up to see pinkie looking apologetic.

"Oh my Gosh! I'm so sorry Ringy! I keep forgetting about where you keep your cups. I'll send you another bag of bits tommorow. Also, Twilight asked if you could make this!" Pinkie quickly said, throwing a scroll inside, before she very very slowly shut the door.

"Uhm...pinkie you know you could...nevermind," Zelo dismissed his message, watching Pinkie continue to slowly close the door. Zelo walked to the center of the viewing area, picked up the scroll, and unrolled it. He looked at it with happy intent. Now this is what he became a jeweler for.

"Surprised that twilight would ask for something like this, but sure not the weirdest thing she's asked for," Zelo told himself, thinking back to when she asked for another rather complex ring for the grand galloping gala.

As he made his way back to his work desk, he made an effort to see what things he would need for such a piece. Sapphires would be a definite, and quartz might be an easy choice for the covering. Maybe diamonds? It seems designed to be able to be opened like a window, opening to put a ring around the finger.

Setting the scroll down, with his magic carrying it open, he noticed something odd on his desk. It looked like a miniature statue, of what he could only assume was eris, but he couldn't tell. It was detailed, but uncolored.

He moved it off his desk, placing it on a nearby shelf. Maybe pinkie put it there? Wouldn't be the first time she put something in his shop without him noticing right away. She's a very fast pony.

"Well, I assumed that someone like you would be more perceptive," Zelo jumped as he heard a voice to the side of him, and he was stunned as he saw the figurine moving around, like any other creature. "I know, I know figurine is moving when it shouldn't be, animate inanimate, but I need you to listen to me."

"What...uh...okay?" Zelo let out his mouth, still shocked at the fact of the figuring talking to him. It wasn't just the mouth either, the entire figure was just wandering around the top of a cabinet.

"Look, I know you don't know who I am, and I doubt you know anything about Eris either, am I right?" The figure asked, as zelo started to think.

"I know she's the goddess of chaos, she's a species called a draconequus, and...no that's about all I know," Zelo answered, trying to remain calm.

"Okay, so yeah you know nothing, got it," The figurine said, before teleporting onto Zelo's head, now wearing a pin-stripe tie and glasses. "Here, let me educate you about this situation," The figurine said, as Zelo started panicking again, but before he could say anything, everything went black.

"Faust, it took you long enough," Zelo heard as he slightly opened his eyes. Expecting to see the figurine in his face, instead he saw what looked like the starry night, just like the ones he always saw.

"What...where-" Zelo started, but suddenly had a random hand shut him up as it came from out of nowhere beneath him, silencing him with the universal sign for shush.

"Heard that plenty of times too, 'where am I? How'd I get here? What is this place,' Let's just get down to brass tax," A familiar voice said, before zelo heard what sounded like a bunch of metal being poured out a box. He followed the sound to the side of him, to see the figurine, now nearly 21 feet tall, pouring out a container filled with brass tacks. "Personally, I think they make wonderful music, but everyone has different tastes," He said, before throwing the box like a ragdoll into the night.

"Uhm...so...obviously I can't ask many questions. You'll just interrupt me, but can I just ask, who are you?" Zelo asked, as the figure signed slightly.

"I guess you get one question, so let me answer it for you. I am discord, lord, god, king, servant, and jester of chaos, not at your service," 'Discord' answered the question, leaving zelo very confused.

"Wait, but I thought that eris is the god of chaos, or I guess I should say goddess. Are you like her older brother or something?" Zelo asked, as Discord scoffed, but also chuckled at the same time. It was a strange sound.

"Yeah, right. You see, eris and me aren't family, but we are basically each other. Do you know the multiverse theory?" Discord asked, knowing what the answer was.

"I think so. This stallion named time turner told me about it while I was making him a key. Not sure why he came to me for that, but if I remember correctly, it's like, there's an infinite number of realities-MORTY,"

"-there's an infinite number of realities, and every choice that happens in them creates a new one?" Zelo guessed based on his limited knowledge.

"Well well well, talk about a jackpot," Discord said, his eyes displaying two 7s. He then pulled his own arm like a lever, and his eyes spun around in his own head, before his pupils came back into sight. Zelo found this disturbing, but funny. "Anyway, yes. I'm sure you could guess this too, but while me and eris aren't blood related, we are copies of each other. The only difference is our gender," Discord said, before summoning another figurine, this one being of eris, which Zelo did recognize. If it weren't for the havoc she caused him, he probably would've said she's cute. But what she did was unforgivable. She took every single bracelet and anything with a strap- not just one. Every, single, one, and tied them up in a ball, which she then made come alive to chomp on houses. It took him 8 days to untangle the mess.

"Okay...what am I-" Zelo started, before getting cut off again.

"Sheesh, talk about an interrogation. I told you only one question!" Discord interrupted, having a disemobdied hand pat Zelo, ruffling his mane as he swiped above his head.

"Uh-hey!" Zelo said, grabbing onto the hand and crumpling it like paper, throwing it at the draconequis.

"You are surprisingly calm during all this. Has eris contacted you before? Wouldn't be so surprising," Discord asked, rolling his eyes at his other self.

"Oh no, I'm freaking out. But being paranoid and cautious for years tends to build up a good poker face," Zelo said, thinking back to his time in manehatten. "Also, you said one question, but you've answered two so far. If you're going to make up rules, the least you could do is actually play by them."

"Well look demands of someone who doesn't know when to keep their mouth shut!" Discord yelled, as zelo backed up, eyebrow raised. But before zelo could retort, discord began laughing. "Just like any good lord of chaos!" and just like that, zelo froze up.

"New...what?" Zelo could manage to get out of his frozen over face, as discord cackled at the view.

"Oh, now this is a grand image! Yes, you, Zelo ring, not so important jeweler from manehatten, close friend to members of the elements of harmony, and keeper of one of the coolest mane colors I've seen, were chosen to become the new lord of chaos!" Discord monologued, as Zelo's pupils rapidly dilated. What the heck did this god mean when he said he was his replacement?

"Wh...why?" Zelo forced out of his shocked state, still pondering on any discernable cause to why he would be the new lord.

"WELL, it's pretty complicated, but I don't really care about time here, so let's get to the point," Discord said, as a giant arrow appeared in his arms. He pointed it down below them both, and the arrow started to spin as an incredible speed, becoming a drill in the process, and creating a hole big enough for the both of them to fall down, which they did. Zelo, as you do, started to scream, thinking that there was some painful initiation to becoming the new lord, but that thought ceased whenever he looked around and saw images of ponies and creatures he knew, discord appearing in a monochrome format through them all.

"You see, the lord, or I guess I should say lady, of chaos in your world is eris, goddess of chaos, and she's been doing this gig for quite sometime," Discord started, as the image switched to the female draconequis that Zelo knows too well, rocking out on a stage with chocolate milk raining from the sky above. "So much time that she's become bored of being said lady of chaos, so she decided to retire," the image switched once again to an image of eris in a slouch hat, dragging a large suitcase through a star shaped door.

"Wait, so your saying eris just up and left?" Zelo asked, seeing if he could put the pieces together.

"Close. She was tired of her position, but she knew she couldn't just leave the position of god of chaos to some rando," Discord answered, showing an image of a pony with a question mark for a face. Discord chuckled at the image. "Like she would leave it to him. Anyways, she messaged me through space time, asking if I could take the position, and I, already lord of chaos, was delighted and accepted straight away, thinking I'd be able to cause twice as much chaos!" Discord switched the image to a picture of himself on a multicolored and textured throne. "Oh, I look good," and the image moved, as the image discord looked at the monochrome, and said, "Right back at ya."

"Okay...so if you're god in both places, wouldn't that be good for you? I mean, I'm not god in either, but I can conclude that it would be pretty fun to experiment with the worlds, wouldn't it?" Zelo asked, still trying to wrap his head around the whole, multiple worlds thing.

"Well, normally yes. But unfortunately, being god in two different worlds is tiring, and very boring half the time. Because of the amount of tasks going on in both worlds, I barely have any time to myself. A god of chaos needs lots of time to themselves for, well, I'm sure you can guess," Discord asked, as Zelo rolled his eyes and nodded. "No need to be agressive. If you want to roll your eyes, go bowling or pinballing with them," Discord said, before plucking an eye and using a pinball machine lever to hit a strike on bowling pins. "Or both!"

"Sorry, it's just I've heard that word so many times, it doesn't even feel like a word anymore," Zelo apologized, as discord smirked slightly.

"Yeah, you'll get used to that. Anyway, while eris and I had a verbal contract, nothing in that contract said I could bring in a substitute, and that's where you come in!" Discord said, as the image switched to an image of Zelo pointing at himself, as discord followed suit, pointing at Zelo. "While you are inexperienced in being chaotic, we can work on that another time. What does matter is that you were the one chosen at random with the qualifications needed!"

"What exactly were the qualifications?" Zelo asked, already dreading what might be said about him.

"Let me read them off real quick...
1: Must not be an Element of Harmony
1+1: Must not be an alicorn.
Third: Must not be related to an alicorn or element of harmony
2²: Must not be someone supremely close to an alicorn or element of harmony.
E: Must be someone organized
7 - 1: Must not be important
Slot Machine: Can make things easily
2 x 4: Can be any creature
315 / 35: Everything else is random."

"So...not only am I not important, but I don't even have any close relationships?" Zelo asked, dumbfounded. While he knew he wasn't anywhere close to an actual relationship with any of the mane 6, he felt his connection with rarity was the best relationship he had with anyone. "And on top of that, I was just chosen at random after a couple of black and white listings?"

"It's chaos, I can't have someone with harmony in their heart control it, but yes, you were chosen random out of a total of 51. Be grateful, those were 50 - 1 odds," Discord stated, making zelo feel a little guilty at insulting a literal god, then realizing he had no idea why he was feeling that way. It was a lottery, and he struck the gold. It's just he doesn't know if it's real gold or fool's gold.

"Either way, we need to get you situated as the new lord of this world," Discord said, snapping his fingers, and suddenly they were at a desert area, a parasol over the both of them, and two lawn chairs underneath. "Come! Sit down and let's discuss your job. Think of this as an interview, except you already know you'll get the job." Hesitantly, Zelo did so.

"So...what exactly would I be doing during this. Would I still be able to do my jewelry business? I love doing that!" Zelo asked, finally showing a bit of panic at the thought of throwing away his own talent, and he sighed in relief as discord shook his head.

"No, no, no. You can continue that thing. Speaking of which though, I do love some of your work. My favorite is most certainly-" Discord started, before, for the first time, Zelo cut him off. He already knew what Discord's favorite, it wasn't even a question. It was...

"Chaotic Hallucination, right? That watch took forever," Zelo spoke, surprising the draconequis. He made a great choice after all.

"Impressive! Did you have any mind powers or did you just guess it?" Discord asked, and Zelo shrugged, grinning slightly.

"Just a hunch. I don't have your powers, nor do I have any mind reading abilities...or at least I haven't had any yet," Zelo answered, as he put his arms down, having a sip of a nearby cocktail. "This doesn't have alcohol, does it? I'm still 17," Zelo asked the draconequus, as he snapped his fingers.

"Not anymore. You look older than you appear, has anyone told you that?" Discord asked, drinking his own cocktail, which looked like it contained everything you wouldn't want to put in a cocktail.

"Plenty, but usually only people that know. Anyways, what do I do? I get that I just need to make havoc and such, but how exactly? It's not like I can just take eris' place, I mean, we're different species and genders...you're not going to turn me into eris, right?" Zelo pleaded, as Discord cackled, leaving Zelo's dreading the outcome.

"Of course not! How ridiculous! That wouldn't be chaotic at all! That's just boring. It's already been done in so many stories before, no way. I'm doing something a lot more original than just putting you in someone else's body," Discord answered, as Zelo let out a sigh of relief. "You're just going to take over her position, not take over her. Besides, you couldn't pull us off at all."

"I'm a jeweler, not an actor, so I'm grateful for that. But, do I just, like, turn into someone else whenever I have to cause chaos or something?" Zelo asked, as discord formed himself into a question mark.

"Excellent question my friend! That's entirely up to you, but I do have something to help with your chaos," Discord said, disappearing from his location, only to reappear behind him with a golden glowing chest with yellow eyes all over it in his hands. "Inside this chest is something to help you release your inner chaos!"

"Um...what's with the e-eyes?" Zelo stuttered at the insane look of the chest.

"What? I gotta have 24 hour surveillance on this thing somehow! Never know when some lowlife tries to find it. That'd be catastrophic!" Discord answered, as zelo slightly chuckled. The surveillance joke was enough to get him to laugh.

"Okay, I'll bite," Zelo said, sitting up from his chair to walk over to the draconequus and his box.

"Careful, it might as well!" Discord said, as the chest's eyes looked over to Zelo, and he could hear it audibly growl. "Shh, shh, it's okay. You'll be okay," Discord said, rubbing the chest like a puppy.

"So...just open the...chest?" Zelo asked, close enough to where he could reach it. Discord nodded, as Zelo reached his hand out and the eyes all looked straight into his soul. He pushed pass the terror, and continued opening, and inside was something he could never have guessed.

"Okay...what is it?" Zelo asked, his hand touching the mysterious object.

"This is the Tool-gun. It's used by gods, namely chaos and party gods, to practice their abilities in a safer way. Also, you might want to move your hand back," Discord answered, as Zelo looked down to see the chest growling again. He quickly grabbed the "tool-gun," and jerked back, as the chest snapped down onto itself.

"Sheesh! You couldn't calm it down further?" Zelo asked, goosebumps working up his skin.

"Hey, you try becoming an owner of a mimic! It's not easy!" Discord said, returning to rub the chest like a dog again, before he snapped his fingers and it went away. "Anyways, with that device, you'll be able to do whatever you want!"

"Really? With this?" Zelo asked sarcastically, not believing this small thing could do anything in the world.

"Indeed, the winner for the most sarcastic stallion award!" Discord stated, before Zelo blinked and suddenly he was on a stage, with tons of discords in the audience, and a discord in a flapper dress walked up to give him a thumbs down golden trophy.

"Do you have to sell this bit this hard, Mr. Lord of chaos?" Zelo asked the flapper dressed draconequus, who snapped his fingers and they were back under the parasol.

"For your information, I wear what I want, and I like to express myself through what I wear!" Discord stated, as Zelo nodded slowly.

"Uh huh. So, how does this thing work?" Zelo asked, rotating the device with his magic, looking at it all over. It was an ugly device, but he wasn't going to insult it right then and there. He'll do it in the mirror later.

"Well, look at the front of it, with the black square," Discord answered, and Zelo did so, now holding the device in his hands, as he looked at the black square. "Now flip the little switch below it." Zelo did so, and suddenly, the black screen sprang to life, and a large screen appeared in front of Zelo's eyes.

"WOAH! That was fast!" As zelo looked at discord, but the screen seemed to follow him.

"Well, what do you see?" Discord asked, as zelo continued looking around, seeing that the screen was always in front of his eyes.

"I see a white box, with a bunch of other boxes, each one has another object in the box?" Zelo answered, continuing to look and turn around. "Wait, do you not see it?"

"Nope, only the user can see the screen, which btw, you're in the spawn menu right now. Do you see the box with the chair on it?" Discord answered and asked, as Zelo looked the screen, his eyes drying slightly, before noticing the box with the Tag

"Office Chair"

"I see an office chair, yeah?" Zelo answered.

"Blink at it, then pull the trigger on the tool gun," Discord instructed Zelo, as zelo looked at the tool gun to find a 'trigger,' before discord pointed it out at him. Zelo blinked at the office chair, and pulled the trigger. Suddenly, a blue beam came from the output and landed on a nearby cliff face, with a cliche office chair appearing and falling from the cliff face, landing on some sand.

"Wo-what?" Zelo asked no one in particular, as Discord started air fisting.

"Yes! It does work!" Discord yelled, joy emanating from his smile.

"How...you know what, I'm not gonna question it. So...it just spawns in things?" Zelo asked, as Discord wheezed.

"Things? This thing can Spawn in ANYTHING! Look at the top of the screen. Do you see the "PCS" box?" Discord asked, as Zelo nodded, blinking at the box with the label.

"WOAH! What the heck!?" Zelo screamed in confusion, as Discord laughed again.

"Are you starting to get how powerful this thing is?" Discord asked, knowing exactly what he was seeing. From Zelo's point of view, he saw a list on the left that listed species he knew. Ponies, with sub-categories, dragons, griffons, and some others he didn't know. While he was interested in those other species, he was more concerned about the fact in the unicorn category, which was the default opening, he saw plenty of ponies he recognized. Rarity, Vinyl Scratch, Trixie, Twilight sparkle. How would this work at all?

"In the PCS menu, you can teleport anyone you want from anywhere at all, right to your face! It's hilarious!" Discord cackled, as Zelo's heart couldn't take the look, and he went back to the "Spawnlist" tab.

"Okay...I think I get how this works. Is...is that all this thing has?" Zelo asked.

"Nowhere near, but I'll let you discover those on your own," Discord stated, transporting himself into Zelo's vision. "Neat, is it not?" Wearing a monocle.

"Absolutely...well...what do I do?" Zelo asked, looking at the tool in wonder.

"Well, as lord of chaos, you would need to occasionally cause havoc, make some chaos, do the usual chaos things-" Discord started to explain the position.

"No, I mean what do I do to start? Is there a contract, a verbal agreement, a handshake, like...what?" Zelo asked the draconequus, who was stunned. He was onboard relatively quickly, much faster than he expected.

"Well, someone is eager! Might I ask why?" Discord asked, twirling towards the pony, who raised an eyebrow.

"Who would pass up an opportunity like this? I mean, it's not every day that you can get the powers of a god and do basically anything you want for zero bits! Wait...is this free?" Zelo asked, a bead of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Well, I'm going to charge you about 7 bits for it, but I feel like that's a pretty big bargain, am I right or am I not?" Discord asked, a slight grin appearing on both of their faces.

"7 bits to be a god for eternity. Now that is a deal and a half. So...should I get a quill or..." Zelo asked, pointing at his empty hand, as Discord chuckled slightly, snapping his fingers. A quill appeared in Zelo's right hand, and a paper appeared in Discord's left.

"Just sign on the dotted line. I've basically told you everything on the contract, but if you want to read through it again, feel free. I've got all day," Discord stated, laying the paper on a table he also summoned. Zelo approached and looked it over. He was right. It was basically a one to one script of what they had just discussed. Nothing really stood out to him as different. Motioning over the dotted line, Zelo's shaky right hand moved the quill over, and he prepared to give the most important signing of his life.

Zelo Ring

Lord of Chaos

"Now ain't that something, my fine friend," Discord stated, looking at the page in relief.

"Well...when do I get started?" Zelo asked, looking at his new arsenal all-in-one tool, pondering what he could do to make it less ugly later.

"Well, first off, we need to transport you back in time. Before you yell, I know it may seem unorthodox, but we need to get you accustomed to your powers, and the best time to do that, is when other chaos is happening," Discord stated, as Zelo raised an eyebrow.

"Other chaos...when was that-Wait. So, you just made me lord of chaos, and you're bringing me back in time to where the lady of chaos was frolicking about?" Zelo asked, trying to clear the conversation for himself.

"To simply put it, yes. If you'll remember, it was only a few weeks ago. All you need to do is not encounter eris during this, and you can basically do whatever, as the blame can all be put on her," Discord stated, as Zelo felt a pain in his chest. He didn't like assigning blame, nor did he like lying.

"Ehm...okay. So, should I interfere in any, like, major events? Like, could I go back in time and help fight off nightmare moon?" Zelo asked, wanting to see what good he could do with his newfound powers.

"I suppose you could, but I don't believe that would be good. Despite how I may seem, even I know too much chaos is a bad thing, so you will want the elements of harmony around, and you can't have them, without-"

"Nightmare Moon showing up, and them working together. That makes sense. Okay...I...I think I'm ready," Zelo said, already shaking with anticipation and worry.

"Alright then. Zelo ring, Welcome to your first day on the job as the LORD OF CHAOS!"

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