Out of Cadance

by David Silver

12 - Chaotic Touches

It would be impossible for Tempo to know, but her life would brush upon another that day. She walked calmly down the hallway of the castle, minding her own business, when a curious creature stared at her from the stained glass. He was casually taking over, and she hadn't noticed yet.

"What's this?" he asked with dulcet tones. "A little doll, lost in the halls?"

Tempo froze, whirling around. No male other than Blueblood knew all her secrets, and she was sure that wasn't Blueblood. "Who are you? Come out."

"Such firm demands." Discord was suddenly in front of her, hand curled under her chin. "But I don't respond well to demands."

Tempo bit at his hand, but he drew it back far too quickly.

"What a temper... Little Doll, if you're so angry, they'll throw you out." He chortled, amused with himself easily. "Wouldn't that be a shame?"

"You are not supposed to be here, whatever you are." Tempo glared at the intruder in the castle. "Who are you?"

"You keep asking that." Discord waved a finger in a tutting fashion. "I am Discord, master of chaos. You... mmm... are a doll pulling its own strings. Let's follow them." He tapped at her head, and everything went blank a moment. "Ah, there we are, you have a puppet master. Little doll with its own master, hovering just overhead, how interesting..."

Tempo reeled back as chaotic visions swirled darkly through her mind at Discord's touch - herself as an expressionless marionette, the cruel cultist gleefully tugging at tangled strings binding her motionless form...

She shook her head fiercely, dispelling the disorienting mental assault. "My past chains do not define me, trickster," Tempo bit out, horn flaring. She had fought too long for her independence to tolerate this mad creature's games.

"I answer to no puppet master but my own conscience now. Whatever you seek here, demon, I suggest you slither back to the shadows that birthed you!"

Her radiant blast of magic should have turned Discord to ash...yet her furious attack passed right through the chortling spirit, bursting a defenseless vase instead.

"Such fire!" Discord taunted, now reclining casually atop her horn. "You may pull your own strings, little toy soldier, but can you control your destiny, I wonder?"

He vanished in a pop, materializing to block Tempo's path ahead, leering down imperiously. "Or does your dream of freedom come with...strings attached?" He dangled glowing filaments before her face mockingly.

Tempo charged forward with a cry, head thrusting to skewer him through - yet her horn met only empty air, her momentum sending her crashing into a clumsy heap. As Discord's howls of laughter echoed down the hall, Tempo trembled with rage and hated helplessness.

"Oh, wait." Discord cocked his head. "I'm needed elsewhere. Keep it 'real', puppet." He vanished with a puff, off to cause chaos elsewhere.

Tempo stamped the ground with a grunt of frustration. "Cadance!" She rushed to find her sister. "I will protect you, at least."

As luck would have it, Cadance wasn't even in the castle. A maid was happy to report that. "And good thing too. Have you heard it, that laughter from nowhere? Something foul's ahoof in the castle!"

"I met him." Tempo glared without a target for it. "Be on guard. I'm glad sister's not here."

Without Cadance to guard, she went down her list of important ponies. Celestia surely had guards, so Blueblood won out. She found him in his room, looking quite distraught. "What's wrong?"

Blueblood directed to his normally stylish type. "Look!" It was polkadotted in wildly clashing colors, as were all his others, each a different garish blend of hues. "I woke up and they were all like that!" Elsewhere in the castle, someone laughed at their clever joke. "I don't understand it!"

Tempo closed with her boyfriend. "The castle is under attack. I am sorry... that happened, but I'm more happy you're alright other than that. Are you okay?"

"Other than that..." He sighed gently. "I suppose I am, dear. My day has improved for your presence." He leaned in to gently rub snouts with her. "It's hard to stay upset with you at my side." They paused in their worries for a good hug, both feeling better for the exchange. "Now, what horrible presence is this, that befouls my wardrobe and the rest of the castle?"

Tempo closed her eyes, letting Blueblood's embrace soothe her rattled nerves. The simple comfort of contact with one who knew her truth was a bulwark against chaos.

"The intruder calls himself Discord," she finally replied, pulling back to meet Blueblood's eyes grimly. "Some malignant spirit of turmoil and tricks. He taunted and eluded me with ease..."

She glanced away, vexed anew by lingering humiliation. "I could neither deter him nor determine his motives. But there is malice in his mischief, I am certain."

Blueblood nodded seriously, fussing to neaten Tempo's mane. "You are hardly the only one made sport for this troublemaker's amusement, clearly." He sighed, eyeing his garish new wardrobe in despair.

"But together we shall rally and face the knave! Such discord cannot be allowed to infest our noble halls." He planted his hooves staunchly, glaring at some imagined Discord...then deflated.

"Ah, but how precisely do we fight chaos incarnate, dear heart? If even your considerable power could not subdue him..." He trailed off helplessly, glancing back to Tempo.

She sighed, then straightened with sudden realization. "We find the one pony he cannot make mockery of - the bastion he breaks himself against." Her eyes flashed with dawning hope. "Princess Celestia."

She grasped Blueblood's hoof firmly. "Come! If any can shield us from this tempest, it is She..."

Thus resolved, Tempo led them racing down the corridors towards the royal chambers. Discord's twisted performance had only begun, but she prayed her adoptive aunt yet stood stalwart against his siege. This was not to be, finding Celestia not in her room, but in a hallway, frowning. "Ah, Tempo. I've called the girls."

"Girls?" Tempo cocked an ear. "Which girls? Me?" She didn't remember being called...

"Twilight, and her friends. You remember them, hm?"

Blueblood perked. "However are they going to assist?"

Celestia touched Blueblood on the back. "As much of a splash as they made at the gala, they are trustworthy warriors of Equestria. They will save the day. Do remember Twilight is my personal protege."

Blueblood pinned his ears. "She never let me forget it."

Tempo rubbed against his side. "Only because you kept asking why she was there, at school." That made him color and she nuzzled the warm spot, easing him. "If you trust her, than I do as well. She is a good pony. She was a good filly. A little studious, but that's hardly a flaw."

Celestia gestured down a hallway. "Once they are here, we will equip them with the elements."

"--Of Harmony?" finished Tempo curiously. "Why not have them now?"

Celestia smiled gently. "Because we are not the bearers, they are. They can make use of them. We could only enjoy their shine. They are safest where I placed them, where none other can reach them."

Tempo's eyes widened. She of course knew myths of the legendary Elements - said to channel the very forces binding their world in equilibrium. But for untested mares to suddenly be called worthy bearers?

As ever, her aunt's serene certainty was infectious however. Tempo smiled back tentatively. "I suppose if any souls still sing that first harmony, yours would know and guide them unerringly."

She squeezed Blueblood's hoof as he bristled, clearly unconvinced of this ragtag band's fitness for such glory. But Tempo trusted Celestia's wisdom implicitly...and found Twilight's clumsy foalhood tenacity rising bright in memory.

"Come, let us make ready to receive our champions then..." Tempo gently led her skeptic prince along after Celestia's billowing pastel mane.

Celestia looked over her shoulder as she walked. "Have you two forgotten? They used the Elements once already. That is how they put my sister to right, and returned her to my side."

Both Tempo and Blueblood started. Tempo huhed. "Is that how it was done? I hadn't heard that part..."

Celestia gestured to a window as they passed, showing that moment. "I have these created for a reason, my dears, so that we don't forget the great moments that shape this nation."

"Celestia!" There was Twilight, racing towards them with her friends right behind her. "We came as quickly as we could!"

"Twilight." Celestia leaned in for a little nuzzle time. "So good to see you. Let's get the elements, so you can do your part, hm? A little chaos stands no chance before you."

The ponies let out a cheer, falling in line with Celestia with not a scrap of doubt.

"Where are you going?" Discord popped out onto Tempo's back, small enough to ride there easily. "We weren't done talking."

Tempo gave an angry snort. "Get off me. Celestia is about to defeat you."

"No she isn't," he laughed out. "I already took care of the Elements, little toys... I have games planned for those ponies, but forget them. I'm far more interested in--"

Blueblood swatted at Discord as if to swipe him free. "Unhand Tempo right this instant!"

Discord flickered out of reality a moment as the hoof passed through him. "Rude. I'm just talking. If you won't be polite, I'll have to play with you too, do you want that?"

"No!" Tempo bucked and reared, though it had no affect on Discord. "Leave him alone. I'm listening."

"Good, good... Now." Discord stroked over her mane with a smirk. "Little doll, such a curious thing... Not the first doll I've ever had, but most are more... living."

Blueblood huffed at the interloper. "She is quite alive, made of metal or otherwise."

Discord waved him away. "You're a bit biased, don't you think, loverboy?" He leaned in towards one of her ears. "He really does--"

She grabbed him with her magic, yanking him in front of herself. "Stop! You will not sour my thoughts of Blueblood."

Tempo glared fiercely at the cackling spirit dangling in her telekinetic grip. Though her magic squeezed tight enough to throttle any mortal beast, still Discord's infuriating smirk never wavered.

"I am through tolerating your attempts to poison what you cannot comprehend, cretin," she ground out. Blueblood stepped closer, supporting her with a steadying hoof on her back.

"So speak your business plainly before I feed you to oblivion piece by piece..." Tempo's eyes blazed, but Discord merely tsked.

"Such impatience from one so pretty! Still, perhaps we got off on the wrong hoof..." He twirled idly as if lounging on a sunny cloud. "I simply hoped to uncover what makes you tick, my dear! It's not every century one meets a doll with aspirations."

His form smoothed into polished wood grotesquely. "Perhaps I overstepped - we carved creations ought to stick together, no?" Discord leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper as Blueblood bristled.

"What I mean to say is...I understand the aches of those yearning for impossible things." His eyes glinted as he patted Tempo's hoof patronizingly. "Why wish so fiercely for love and freedom...when we are but playthings of crueler powers?"

Tempo stiffened, unreasoning dread trickling down her neck before outrage flooded in, hot and clarifying. With a burst of magic she hurled Discord bodily away down the corridor.

"I am no creature's plaything, demon!" she cried after his crashing form. Blueblood steadied her as she trembled, smiling in pride.

Discord's distant cackle echoed back mockingly. But Tempo had weathered crueler mockery than his in her short life. She raised her head unflinching as Celestia and the Elements' bearers raced back towards them, golden hope rising like the sun.

Blueblood leaned against her. "Pay him no heed, m'lady. You are a lovely pony, and my partner. Ever shall I praise every bit of ground your hooves alight upon!"

Tempo blinked at him, then cracked a smirk. "You don't have to get poetic... But I appreciate it. Come, let's see if we can help with this chaotic menace."

Author's Note:

Discord, howling at the moon, you know the rest.

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Comments

[Emtu]

For anyone who missed it,

(This is the remix but it's far more popular than the original, to the tune [heh] of 10x as many views.)

[Samellan]

She leaned in towards one of her ears. "He really does

Either Dissy r63'd himself for this moment, or this is a sneaky typo

[MooseWhisker]

"I am no creature's 'S plaything, demon!" she cried after his crashing form. Blueblood steadied her as she trembled, smiling in pride.

Small typo. I’m loving these interactions between Discord and Tempo, it’s always so interesting when a character who is incapable of levity meets a character incapable of gravity.

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

"I am no creature's 'S plaything, demon!" she cried after his crashing form. Blueblood steadied her as she trembled, smiling in pride.

Should be
no creature's plaything,

[David Silver]

11809827

11809834
Chaos brings typos...

[Quirky View]

11809846
Every typo that is pointed out must be made worse

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

So Discord is hinting he too was artificially created.

[lainverse]

11813085
Afraid not. He just spent a while as a statue, so it kinda counts for the resume. -_-

[DarthMaul22]

"Have you two forgotten? They used the Elements once already. That is how they put my sister to right, and returned her to my side."

Where is Luna, anyway?

[tsaukpaetra]

Tempo isn't playing games! 😂