Crusaders and Celestia
The laughter of the three Crusaders reverberated throughout the park as the foals bounced a ball between themselves, happy to be out of school for the day. They giggled merrily as TDiscord approached them with an evil smile on his face.
"Hey there, kids!" said TDiscord. "How are you doing?"
Instantly the Crusaders stopped their playing and turned to the approaching human. Their smiles widened and they eagerly trotted up to him. "Hey there, TD," said Apple Bloom happily. "How are ya today?"
TDiscord's smile widened and he knelt down to the foals. "Well I'm doing just dandy. And you three? I take it you're having a lot of fun?"
"Yeah!" said Sweetie Belle. "We're playing with this ball here and we're having a blast!"
TDiscord frowned and scratched his chin. "You're not crusading today? I thought you wanted to get your cutie marks?"
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Well, we do want to get our cutie marks," she said. "But we can't go crusading all of the time. Besides, we're just taking a little break and having some fun!"
Inside TD's mind, the real TD stared on in horror. He didn't know what Discord was playing at, but he didn't want to just stand there as Discord hurt them. Licking his lips, TD ran to the back of the room and turned around, facing the window. He cracked his neck and took a deep breath before charging at the window with all of his strength. He hit it with a resounding crash and a bounced backwards, flying back across the room.
His shoulder ached and he let out a groan of pain as he looked up at the window. All thoughts of pain instantly faded away when he saw what he had done: a large crack had appeared in the center of the window. His spirit renewed, TD jumped back to his feet and rushed to the back of the room once more.
Outside his mind, Discord flinched slightly when TD collided with the window but he shrugged it off as unimportant and turned his attention back to the Crusaders. "Well, I don't know about you, but isn't that a little lazy of you?" he questioned. "I mean, don't you want your cutie marks?"
The Crusaders glanced around at each other uneasily. "W...Well yeah," said Apple Bloom. "But like Scoots said, we can't go crusadin' all the time. We're just havin' a little fun."
TDiscord flashed a condescending smile and shook his head. "It hardly looks like that from where I'm standing," he said. "It seems to me that you're ignoring your one goal in life which is to get your cutie marks. Have you given up already, is that it?"
TD smashed into the window once again, widening the crack. It would be soon now.
Sweetie Belle's bottom lip began quivering and her friends glared at the possessed human. "What's gotten into you, TD?" scolded Scootaloo. "We're just having a little fun!"
SMASH
"Oh I can see that," said TDiscord. "But if you'll forgive me for saying so, I think it's because you've given up and realized that you're going to be talentless and directionless little fillies forever. You're playing with that silly little ball because it's all you're really good at." Now the other two looked like they were about to begin crying and Apple Bloom began backing away. TD widened his smile and advanced forwards. "It's tragic almost that you three won't be good at anything. I should know, you aren't on the show."
Sweetie Belle did begin crying at that moment and Scootaloo hugged her friend close while glaring death at TDiscord. "You... you... meanie!" she shouted. "You can just go away and never talk to us ever again!"
TDiscord smirked. "If I did it'd be no loss to me. Why--"
SMASH
TD lurched forward as if he had been bucked in the back of the head. He fell to his knees in front of the distraught Crusaders and groaned in pain. The three fillies looked at him uneasily as he slowly got to his feet.
"TD, are ya--"
"Run," whispered TD. "It wasn't me saying those things, it was Discord. He's back and he did something to the Elements." TD made eye contact with the Crusaders and they were surprised to see a solitary tear fall from his face. "You have to run and warn the others!" he said wildly. "I--"
A demonic growl escaped TD's lips and he lurched backwards, nearly falling to the ground. TD suddenly found himself back in his mind, the glass window repaired and the three fillies looking at him. Discord was back in control.
The possessed TD shook his head to clear it and looked at the Crusaders again, his evil smirk back on his face. "So sorry about that, kids," he said. "I'm having a rather off day."
Apple Bloom's eyes widened in terror as she looked into TDiscord's eyes. No longer were they the color that she was used to seeing when they made eye contact, now they were an evil red and yellow, something they hadn't been when he had told them to run.
"Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, we gotta get outta here!!!" screeched Apple Bloom. The yellow filly tore off in the opposite direction, followed closely by her fellow Crusaders.
TDiscord took a small step forward as if to give chase, but he stopped in his tracks and scratched his chin. "They're not worth it," he muttered. "Besides, I have a meeting with Celestia to get to and it wouldn't very well do to spend my day chasing after three worthless foals, would it?" Discord chuckled to himself and disappeared with a snap of his fingers.
* * * *
TD laid on the floor of the room with his head in his hands and wondered what to do next. He had escaped the confines of his own mind and warned the Crusaders away. Hopefully they wouldn't be too upset with what Discord had said but with how Sweetie Belle was crying... still, Apple Bloom seemed to have understood his warning that he was being possessed by Discord so hopefully she would be able to explain to her friends that it wasn't actually him that had said those nasty things. He would never say that to any of them. Ever.
"Well, TD, that was exciting, wasn't it?" said a familiar voice.
TD groaned and forced himself to sit up. "Buzz off," he growled. "I have nothing to say to you."
Discord laughed and leaned against the glass wall. "I'm sure you don't," he said. "The fact remains that I would like to congratulate you on your brief escape from the confines of your own mind. Not many beings out there would have the ability to do that." TD remained silent and Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh the silent treatment won't hurt me. What am I, a teenage filly?" Discord shook his head. "I suppose all I want to say is that it was a good effort, you getting out and all, but don't expect it to work again. I admit that I wasn't expecting it to work but you have a spirit to you that somehow broke my defenses. Well it won't happen again and I wouldn't even bother trying if I was you. You'll get your mind back when I'm good and ready."
TD looked down at the floor and turned so his back was to Discord. "I'd kill you if I could," he muttered. "You don't get to say that stuff to the kids."
Discord chuckled. "And who's going to stop me, you? Would you stop me, human? You saw what I did to the Elements. I know you know that I could show those worthless foals suffering and chaos that they couldn't even begin to comprehend." TD felt a cold hand on his shoulder and he felt Discord's warm breath on the back of his neck as the god of chaos leaned in to whisper into his ear. "And if you ever try to escape again, I will. That's a promise."
* * * *
Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun and ruler of all of Equestria, was worried. Now, everypony became worried every now and again, it was simply equine. However, Princess Celestia had lived long enough and had seen enough to know that only the most horrific of things are worth getting worried about so when she got worried, something was definitely wrong.
In this instance, Princess Celestia was worried about Twilight and her friends. She had received a letter from Spike saying that Discord was holding them hostage and was demanding the Elements, but nothing had been sent since then. Now considering that Discord was holding them, that was not unusual, but Discord was a being of action and if he wanted the Elements for whatever reason, he would let Celestia know. This kind of silence from him was unusual. The clouds weren't even cotton candy yet! No, something was going on, something terrible.
Celestia had sent Luna to Ponyville with a detachment of troops to see if they couldn't free the Elements and she had gone personally to move the actual Elements of Harmony from their hiding spot and move them to a far safer location. She had even placed a spell on them so Discord could not simply summon them to him, even if he knew where they were which he likely didn't. Still, she had to remain in Canterlot to protect them.
Princess Celestia sighed and looked sadly out the nearest window. On any normal day, she would have been able to see the petrified Discord right where he always stood. It was grimly comforting, knowing that he couldn't get out to cause havoc to her ponies while he was in stone like that. However, whatever comfort came from seeing him petrified was gone when looking at the empty base where his statue once stood.
She didn't understand it, she didn't understand how Discord could have gotten out! Did it have something to do with what happened at the Gala? It had to, how else could Discord have escaped now? On that vein, where was TD? She hadn't seen nor heard from him since he had walked out after she had repaired his spine. He would have likely gone back to Ponyville, and maybe he was still there, but what if Discord had gotten to him? What would he do with a being like that?
Celestia shook her head and turned back to the large double doors that granted access to the throne room. Since she had sent Luna out, there was only a paltry guard there to protect her in case anything went wrong, but how good would they be against a being like Discord? For that matter, how well could she protect her ponies from him without Twilight Sparkle and her friends to wield the Elements? They were nothing more than pretty necklaces without ponies to control them.
She didn't have to brood for much longer as the doors burst open and a harrowed messenger scurried into the room. "Princess Celestia, I have come to inform you that the human who was at the Gala last night has returned! He is demanding an audience with you!"
Celestia gasped. "Send him in!"
"Already here, Celestia, you don't need to waste any more of your regal breath."
Celestia's eyes snapped up just in time to see TD walk into the throne room with a staff in one hand and a smug smile on his face. She frowned at the approaching human. Something was off... something was definitely off.
Their eyes locked and in a second Celestia knew why TD unsettled her so much. "Discord!" she cried.
"In the flesh!" crowed Discord. A shiver went down Celestia's spine at the sight of Discord's voice coming from TD's mouth. This wasn't TD, not the one that she knew. No, that TD was gone, possibly forever.
Still, Celestia was nothing if not resilient. "What have you done to him?!" she growled.
"Oh I just decided to take his body for a little bit while I do a few things around Equestria," said Discord. "You know, you really had better hope that your sister is able to free the Elements from Twilight's library, otherwise how on Earth are you going to stop me?"
"You'll never get away with this!" said Celestia angrily.
"And why not?" asked Discord. "What exactly is going to stop me from doing whatever I want to these pathetic little ponies that you rule over? They're playthings Celestia, that's the whole point of their existence. Why bother denying it?"
"They are not playthings, Discord!" Celestia insisted. "They are their own beings and they don't deserve to be subjugated by the likes of you!"
"Or you if you think about it," said Discord. "Who gave you the right to rule instead of me? Nothing more or less than those precious Elements." Discord's grin slid from his face and he took a step forward. "Speaking of those, I'd like them please. You and I both know that not even I can flat out destroy them so if you would be so kind as to give them to me I would highly appreciate it."
Celestia flew up into the air and spread her wings out as far as they would go. she fired up her horn and fired a blast of pure magic that hit the floor right next to TD's left foot, leaving a sizable crater. Discord merely looked up at her with an unimpressed smile.
"What was the point of that, Celestia?" he asked. "Why bother with something as petty as a warning shot?" Discord pointed at his chest. "I'm right here and I haven't moved yet. You could have used that blast of magic to send me to the moon if you wanted to! You could have obliterated me right where I stand, could you have not?"
Celestia's eyes narrowed and she landed in front of Discord. "You will never get the Elements," she whispered.
"You sound like such the cliché hero right now, do you know that?" said Discord. "You don't even know what my plan is but you know what? I think I'll tell you!" Discord began circling Celestia. "I want you to give me the Elements of Harmony right now. If you do not, I will bring chaos to you that you wouldn't believe possible. Not physical chaos, mind you, I won't make bigger chocolate rain cotton candy clouds if that's what you're wondering. No, for you I think emotional chaos would be far better and a lot more fun for me! I will make you beg for release but I will not give it, not for the rest of time.
"Of course, that can all be avoided right here and right now if you simply give me the Elements. If you do that, I will leave this place and not return until a moment of my choosing." Discord stopped his pacing in front of Celestia and met her venomous glare. "You will be guaranteed nearly a hundred years of peace and prosperity without my interference. I will leave and I will not cause chaos of any kind while the wielders of the Elements are alive.
"I'll never give you the Elements, Discord," said Celestia. "You'd use them for ill purposes!"
"You cut me to the quick, Celestia!" said Discord. "I wouldn't because I can't. I can't turn them into the Elements of Disharmony, no matter how much I would simply love to! Give them to me now, and this can all end for a long, long time. I promise to not return to Equestria until the wielders of the Elements are dead and the Elements useless. I'll even make it so that I don't return the day of the death of the last Element. In fact, I won't say when I'll return but that will be the one constant in your mind after their deaths: You'll always wonder when I'll return. The last Element will die and you'll build up your defenses, waiting for me to return but you won't really know when. It'll be a quiet thing, your fall. You won't really know it's happened until its far too late."
Celestia continued glaring at Discord, the gears in her mind turning at every word he uttered, hoping that she could come up with a plan to stop this psychopath before he did more damage. Discord noticed and raised an eyebrow.
"You want to destroy me, don't you? Well I don't have to tell you that any of your more powerful spells would result in the untimely death of the human whose body I now share." Discord chuckled. "It was him who released me, did you know that?"
Celestia's eyes widened and she took a step backwards. The momentary display of weakness only served to egg Discord on. "It's quite tragic really, if you had just even tried to send him back to Earth then I wouldn't be here right now and the Elements would be safe. I'll bet you regret not sending him back now!"
"It would have killed him, Discord!" said Celestia. "The portal doesn't work both ways!"
"Oh I know that," said Discord with a wave of his hand. "I know that you'd only be left with his remains if you tried to send him back through, but if you had tried then I wouldn't have gotten out of my stone prison!
"Think about it, Celestia, if you knew what you knew now, that the human would lead to my release and you would find yourself in this precarious position then would you have sent him back through? Would you have let that car turn him to roadkill? Or better still, would you have imprisoned him in Ponyville, never having him leave so that he couldn't come across my statue? Would you have made it so that the first things you said to him were commands that he stay right where he was? I guess what I'm saying is, would you have killed or imprisoned the human to prevent this?"
"All life is precious," said Celestia. "Even if he did this I would still not kill or imprison him given the chance."
Discord rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you wouldn't have," he said. "But that means that we end up right where we are now, with Twilight and her friends incapacitated and you slowly beginning to realize that you have failed. I see now that you aren't going to hand the Elements over which honestly makes little difference to me. In all honesty the way things are going to play out will be far more fun."
"You won't win, Discord," said Celestia. "Let's say that you do begin to bring chaos to the world, the ponies will endure as they always have. Eventually you will be defeated as life must have a balance. Chaos cannot reign in such a pure way."
"And it won't, Celestia," said Discord simply. "I agree that would be boring. Life must have a balance in order to continue and if I only created chaos then your ponies would simply give up and I would be left without beings to share chaos with. That's why when I take over; I will balance out my chaos with shreds of harmony, logic, and order, just as I did when I first ruled. Your ponies will thrive on these times to balance out the chaotic world that they live in. It will be those moments that keep them sane and moving forward in their lives. The longer they're sane, the longer they can register the chaos, right?"
"The Elements will stop you," growled Celestia. "No matter what you've done to them, they will endure and defeat you as they did last time."
Discord laughed and shook his head. "Oh I hardly think that's true, Celestia," he said. "You should see what I've done to them!"
Celestia's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp before her glare returned and her horn fired up once more. "What did you do to them?"
Discord chuckled and reached behind his back and pulled out the black box that he had taken out of Twilight's library. "You heard from their stories of our first battle in the maze that I had taken their wings and horns, correct?" Discord's evil smile widened and he slowly took the lid off of the box. "Well, the classics never die!"
Discord grinned and reached into the box and pulled out a pair of unicorn horns, one white and the other purple. Celestia gasped and fired up her horn to retrieve them, but Discord put them back in the box and waggled his finger. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he chided. "I mean, you wouldn't want me to disintegrate them, would you? I assure you that I will."
Celestia's horn powered down and she took a menacing step towards Discord. "Give them back, Discord!" she commanded.
Discord snorted. "Or what? You forget, you're not holding any cards here, Celestia." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, unless you wanted to obliterate the body I'm in, then I'd be out in the open and you could use some of your more brutal offensive spells to at the very least give the Elements their wings and horns back so they could stop me. Well, those and the other things I took from them."
Celestia took another step forward. "What did you do?" she whispered threateningly.
Discord chuckled and reached into the box once more. To Celestia's surprise, he pulled out what appeared to be a small glass orb and began tossing it up and down. "You should have seen the expressions of your student and her friends when I took these from them," he chuckled. "Poor Fluttershy was a sobbing mess on the ground and that loyal ex-pegasus Rainbow Dash was trying her best to calm her down but me oh my, she was seconds away from breaking out into the most delightful little sobs."
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but Discord smirked and levitated the orb over to her and floated it in front of her face. Celestia frowned and squinted to see what was inside. The realization hit her like a brick and she let out a loud gasp. Inside the orb fluttered three pink butterflies, each desperately trying to get out of their prison but unable to do so.
"Her cutie mark," whispered Celestia in pure disgust. "How could you do that to them?!"
Discord shrugged. "They're too distraught to use the Elements against me," he said, levitating the orb back to him and placing it back in the box which promptly disappeared. "So even if you got them to those cursed ponies, they wouldn't be able to use them against me! They need to be harmonious in order to use the Elements, Celestia."
Celestia could only stare in horror at Discord for a brief moment before she closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm so sorry, TD," she whispered. She opened her eyes and fired up her horn.
"What are you--?"
A beam of magic shot from Celestia's horn and hit TDiscord directly in the chest, knocking him back and slamming him against the wall. TDiscord let out a howl of pain and struggled to get back to his feet but was knocked back by another blast of magic.
"You're only hurting him, Celestia!" said Discord. "Every attack forces him to endure pain that he never knew possible! Those spells are meant to subdue gods!"
"It is a sacrifice that I must accept," said Celestia sadly. "I cannot let you continue on the way that you have!"
Discord let out a caw of a laugh as another spell slammed into him. "Isn't it tragic?" he said. "You brought him here and he let me out so now you have to destroy him! It would have been better just to let him get flattened!"
"Enough of this, Discord!" yelled Celestia. "You will not hurt my little ponies any more than you already have! Now give me that box!"
Celestia fired another spell at Discord that he side stepped leaving a crater in the wall behind him. "No dice, Celestia," said Discord. "I know you think this is whittling down my resolve, and I admit that it does hurt, but it's as I said before, you are not holding any of the cards here!"
Celestia let out a loud shriek of anger and let loose an absolutely gigantic blast of magic that slammed directly into TDiscord's chest, slamming him into the back wall so hard that it left a large crater where he impacted. She was grimly satisfied as she heard him utter a howl of pain but her small smile faded when she realized that it wasn't Discord's howl, it was TD's.
"What the heck did you do that for?!" screeched TD. "He left my body, Celestia! You didn't need to do that!"
Celestia gasped and ran over to the fallen human. "Oh TD, I'm sorry! I didn't know that he had--"
"You know, you're too gullible, Celestia," said TD, once again in Discord's voice.
Celestia screeched to a halt but it was too late. Discord snapped his fingers and the floor beneath Celestia became like molasses, trapping the solar goddess on the spot.
"I have no doubt that you can escape from that eventually," said Discord. "Still, I have other things to attend to for now so if you would be so kind as to stay there for a while I would appreciate it."
With that, TDiscord snapped his fingers and was gone.
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Glad to see you're continuing this. I'd started to wonder if you'd put it on hold after last week's episode where they took Discord's existing characterization and pissed on it.
Edit: Yay for automatic downvotes because you disagree with what I said. Real mature.
This is pretty much as I envisioned Discord before "Keep Clam and Flutter On": a cruel, amoral, sadistic Joker... not an spoiled overpowered brat concerned with having/losing a friend. By the way, how much can TD accomplish from the inside by forcing his will against the draconequus´? I wonder if Discord´s menace was a sign the human isn´t so helpless in his own mindscape.
But but CHAOS isn't evil why why make discord a sadistic evil bastad he just chaotic neutral neither evil or good, if nightmare moon and discord were too fight NM would be evil and D would be "good"
Wow this story of yours is dark, and I do hope that TD eventually wins, somehow. Like I dunno, convincing Discord that his "Chaos" isn't that significant in the grander scheme of things or that Discord will ultimately be alone when the last pony dies or that TD will keep on fighting Discord no matter what he does or somehow convincing Discord to kill himself?
Still waiting for TD to draw the Discord-GLaDOS connection here.
Funny thing, if this were to happen on Earth TD would have been lit up without a second thought. On that note, the world Discord was describing sounds just like our world.
2036728 Except they didn't contradict his previous characterization at all, he hardly had any beyond "powerful spirit who enjoys randomness". That, and a few words about his rule. Whatever else you believed him to be that isn't compatible with KCaFo is only fanon and overthinking it.
That's also why I'm finding this story's Discord to be a bit grating, I never saw him as that evil and sinister, just really selfish. He always wanted to play with his awesome powers (and it felt like he liked the ponies' reactions, too) and noone to be there to stop him, he wasn't some suffering elemental that was feeding on destruction and anguish.
2037863 Well my whole thing here is that he's only doing this to avoid being trapped in stone again. He thinks he needs to go about it this way otherwise the Elements will just trap him in stone again and that is something he wants to avoid at all costs. Believe me, he'd rather be doing it the way he did in the Season 2 opener, but he has to be this brutal to win.
2037876 Maybe it's because I'm sleepy, but I can't see how being this sinister is necessary and feel that acting this way is a bit OOC for him. I saw him as being childishly inconsiderate and mean, and also sort of overconfident at times (he was much more careful in KCaFo, probably because his defeat this time was surprising for him and still fresh in his mind). You're saying he is trying to scare everypony into submission and basically threaten them until they comply to ensure his freedom? Do I understand correctly? I guess I can see him merely pretending to suddenly be evil just as a means to achieve his goal, and because scaring ponies can also be hilarious. Then again, you have... other stories where certain characters are suddenly evil (although unwillingly), so maybe it's your thing
I still enjoy the story as I did those stories and TD's previous escapades (actually, "i'm not a brony get me outta equestria" was what led me to this site through a recommendation somewhere on Reddit, and into enjoying at least some fanfiction), don't get me wrong. 
2037863
Let's list the contradictions.
In The Return of Harmony, Discord is an almost omnipotent trickster who causes chaos, but also shows an extremely malevolent and sadistic side to him.
Example: Psychologically torturing the main characters, and delighting in it every step of the way. Similarly delights in terrorising ponies.
Example: Physically torturing the main characters by removing parts of their anatomy.
Inferred example: His actions in one of the stained glass windows depicting his rule, as well as Celestia's description of what the world was like under him.
This is not the mere actions of a prankster as you would like to portray the character. There is a large difference between messing with someone for a prank (or chaos), compared to psychologically torturing them for your own enjoyment.
In Keep Calm and Flutter On, Discord immediately lowers his aspirations from causing chaos everywhere for no particularly good reason (especially considering he was happy to mess with the girls last time while also causing chaos), and turns into someone who causes (relatively) small-scale chaos for his amusement.
There is a large contradiction between the two. One is a chaotic, malevolent being who wants to take over the world and reshape it for his own ends. The other is a fairly petty, light-hearted joker who enjoys causing mischief. If you cannot see the difference between the two portrayals, then that's simply wilful blindness. Either that, or you really didn't pay any attention to The Return of Harmony.
Side note: also worth pointing out that Lauren was in charge of the show for Discord's original portrayal. I think it's safe to say she knew how she wanted Discord to come across to the viewer, compared to a writer whose strength is sight-gags and light-hearted episodes.
2038299 Were we watching the same RoH? I didn't see a single glimpse of sadism. "Psychological torture" was for the sake of disabling their elements, and it wasn't torture at all, simply manipulation and a bit of a spell. They didn't have PTSD or even were particularly upset, only Applejack was ashamed of being tricked. Zero torture. Then physical, where's torture there? Did any of the ponies look hurt for even a second? It was a mere prank, with a purpose, and on a scale of a very powerful being. Again, zero torture.
The stained glass doesn't infer anything sinister either, it just shows him manipulating ponies, most probably to literally spread discord between them to have fun watching them argue or something. We can also assume he was playing with the world like he did Ponyville, but was anything really shown to be cruel for the sake of cruelty? Any cruelty was a side-effect of his lack of self-restraint. He didn't even manipulate anypony except for the mane 6 in RoH. He was basically a troll with his own way of expressing creativity. Are trolls evil and cruel? Nothing implies any direct cruelty, only disregard for their happiness. In KCaFO he was merely very careful, because he could only afford so much and he took the mane 6 seriously this time after they defeated him. He was still being creative with his powers and having fun, only on a scale that he was able to.
You are seeing a lot in RoH that wasn't actually there.
2038299>>2038438 It's really just interpretation. I personally always saw Discord with a meaner side but that's just me. Just because you didn't doesn't mean your opinion of the character isn't valid and I respect it.
One thing to keep in mind, though, this is merely fan fiction. I'm not writing for the show, I'm writing a different take on the character. If the Discord of the show escaped (escaped, not set loose) again would he be this malicious? Who knows? My interpretation of him is that he might just to avoid going back into a statue. Also keep in mind that this was started before KCaFo so I didn't have that episode to work with.
2038493 It really is interpretation, but I don't think both ways are equally valid. What's more likely: a) troll discord, which contradicts nothing in the episodes, fits with both of his appearances, and fits into a children's show, or b) cruel discord, which is never actually implied (i mean come on, how on earth is any of that torture and where was he even once shown gaining enjoyment out of harm he caused to others? nowhere!), makes the second appearance of his seem like a different character and wouldn't fit the spirit of the show as a whole?
I respect respecting opinions and all, but not all opinions deserve respect. THis particular story is clearly AU, even has a tag, so I was treating it like an alternate discord story, once again like your rarity stories. Even before KCaFO aired and before I knew the synopsis, this Discord didn't seem right to me, it always felt like, indeed, a different take on the character from the one the show itself had. It's not like KCaFO changed anything for me.
2038544 He seemed pretty happy after he broke Twilight, although that could have just been because he won and didn't have to worry about the elements anymore. Really, I think this interpretation and the canon one are both justifiable. I prefer canon Discord, who turns out to be a lot less of a jerk when he discovers how nice it is to have a friend. Being nigh-omnipotent, he never had any need to cooperate with others, and lived for nothing but his own (somewhat sadistic, perhaps) amusement; when somepony reaches out to him, he learns how good it is to share his fun with another.
2037022 I know this isn't what you meant, but...
TD:"This empty room is how you see my mind? So you think I'm a moron? Could a MORON PUNCH! THROUGH! THIS! WINDOW! Huh? Could a MORON do that!?
2038544
An excellent example is where he takes joy in Twilight being corrupted and depressed, having engineered the situation so she'll slowly break (something there was no actual need for; the episode readily shows he could have done it quickly), completely refuting your claim that there's nowhere where he is shown to enjoy the harm he causes. That's not the only example, but it is probably the most obvious one.
Additionally, plenty of Wikis out there (including Wikipedia and TV Tropes) list the character, as evil, cruel, and malevolent, so implicitly quite a few agree with my assessment of the character. Wikipedia notes that "His personality is chaotic, his outwardly playful and teasing attitude hides the malicious and sadistic aspect of his character", a sentiment shared by TV Tropes under the trope Faux Affably Evil.
It's also right there in the name: Discord ("the mischievous spirit of disharmony"). Disagreement. Dispute. Strife. There are plenty of names out there the showrunners and scriptwriters could have chosen for someone purely chaotic, without the evil connotations.
There's also plenty of scope for interpreting the character, but trying to pretend there's no cruelty or malevolence anywhere in the show is flat out dishonest and wrong. It's not reading anything into things, it's right there in plain sight for all to see.
2038825 Yeah, his exclamation of "Yes!" was pretty clearly expression of accomplishment, maybe "discording" Twi was a challenge for him, at least clearly a goal. I just don't see how evil and cruel Discord is justifiable at all from the show alone. Sure, he can make a menacing villain when spun this way, but as canon goes, I always saw him as probably the least evil out of the four main villains. It's just that you can't have such a powerful spirit playing with his powers when he only cares about his fun and possibly ponies' reactions. In KCaFO he was approached in a friendly way probably for the first time ever (and only because Celestia made them do it, they didn't think for a second to do that in RoH and presumably nopony did back 1000+ years ago) and he discovered other emotions and enjoyment from other sources. It's like me only playing singleplayer games and pretty much hating the MMO aspect of MMORPGs, but finding myself enjoying doing a group activity in one. It was a touching moment and a very awesome one. I couldn't get over the awesomeness of what happened in the episode for like a week. Of course, he will probably never show up again, but who knows, I thought the same about Peewee and Tank.
2038881 Oh Discord will be back. The princesses turned him good for a reason; I think they have a plan for him.
Still, in the context of the story, this is AU and mere fan fiction so at the end of the day I guess it isn't majorly important regardless.
2038828 As I just said about Twi, there was little more than being happy about being "all set" and free to roam. It isn't implied that he enjoys the salty taste of her tears, he is pretty clearly happy about winning and ensuring that the elements aren't a danger. So no, not refuted.
Then, wikis? Wow. That's a trustful source. Never have wikis about cartoon or videogame characters been known to be written by people in a way that makes their favorite character cooler in their eyes! I don't really care what the wikis say, it's all fan-written and fans can easily be self-deluded. If only there was any evidence in the episodes of his "malicious and sadistic characer", but alas, the wiki authors probably simply wanted to make him look cooler, and for many people, darker is cooler. And even the words you brought up, "the mischievous spirit of disharmony", even in them there isn't any malevolence! Could it be worded any more child-friendly and prankster-y, in fact? I stand by my opinion that people only see anything dark in his character if they want to see it and it's not actually there. Show me a single moment of cruelty and malevolence, a real one, not those pathetic attemps like trying to call him taking away ponies' horns and wings for a short while "physical torture" (which is a ridiculous thing to say).
2038911 I really do hope he returns, but from what I've heard about the episode's story, it was suggested pretty incidentally and the writers just said "sure, this could be fun". I have a nagging feeling that he will never be adressed and Celestia's "I have a use for his magic" is just an excuse to get the plot rolling, but I hope I'm wrong about this.
2038934 I thought his breaking of Pinkie Pie was pretty sadistic. Playing on established fears by making her believe her friends were laughing at her--which her relished in--was pretty cruel.
2038947
Second best example of his sadism IMHO. And you saved me from having to bring it up!
There's some rather beautiful irony in there.
2038947 Sure, it was cruel, as was pretty much everything he did, but the point I'm trying to make is that the cruelty of his actions is a side-effect and not his goal, and he doesn't enjoy explicitly being cruel, he enjoys having fun in a way that can be cruel to others. It's the same sort of cruel as throwing plastic cans away in forests, it's cruel to nature and it's pollution, but people only do that because they don't care. Even then, I only saw that as clever manipulation, he needed to disable the elements in some fashion, and he did that in the way that was most entertaining to him. Notice how all he does once he feels safe from the elements is only wacky and "fun" stuff, he even brags about some of it to Twi. And he did not kill, maim or imprison any of them, like, I dunno, Chryssie did? He probably thought it fun to have them all argue between one another, like a true troll.
2038982 And that's how he is in this story. Once he's taken over he's planning on going back to the wacky prankster stuff. He just feels he needs to go cruel to win but once he does he goes back to stuff he enjoys more.
2038994 I gathered that, but I hope you're not trying to say that he isn't more malicious in this than he was in the show
Cuz I still think that threatening ponies with such explicit torture and implying to enjoy it for itself wouldn't even cross the canon Discord's mind at all. I don't think he actually understands the impact his playfulness can have on ponies' lives enough to threaten others with it. But hey, that's what the AU tag is for
2038911
Yeah, Celestia had Twi save a magical empire, redeem a former foe, and is planning something huge involving Twilight. I personally want to see what it is she's planning. I'm guessing it's a threat bigger than Discord, and will see him actually help out with said bigger threat.
I'd like to use a different method from Superbowl in claiming Discord isn't just pure chaotic (of course, that doesn't really need to be said
) evil. Based on RoH, he might just lack empathy, or it could be that Discord really DOES take pleasure in hurting others. But even if the latter is true, he has feelings: happinness (most of the time), frustration (when his words fail to stir Fluttershy), and fear (when he realizes he's about to get stoned again). Why, then, would he not feel sadness at losing a friend? Is it not possible that such sorrow would outweigh his desire to make others miserable (most of the time)? For the first time in his life, someone accepted and liked him for who he was. Not some puppet magically induced to give him hollow praise, but a true friend. What would it be like, discovering that you want to have someone you can call a friend, that there's a void in your life you never knew existed? This is why I said both positions are justifiable; he could just be inconsiderate of how others suffer for his amusement, or he could actually enjoy their suffering.
Edit: Besides, aside from the Mane Six, the worst thing he did in RoH was play a little prank on Berry Punch. The elements were trying to turn him back into stone, and he fought back in a way that would leave them in suffering but still alive. Is this really different, in principle, from using one's gun to blow half a leg off of someone who's charging at you with (for example) an axe? Wouldn't such an action be a justifiable act of self defense in such a situation, and a rather moderate one considering you could have shot them in the head instead? I mean, Discord could have just killed them or something; I love your explanation for why he doesn't kill or otherwise permanently get rid of ponies (it was my headcanon long before this story), but why risk his enemies somehow making a comeback, unless perhaps it's just in his chaotic nature to take risks?
*sigh* This is the problem with trying to understand an eldritch abomination.
2039523 Well keep in mind that this was conceived before that episode so I had no idea it would go there.
2039608 Oh, I'm not complaining about your story at all. I think you're doing great. I'm just trying to say that it's not so implausible that Discord could be reformed.
I mean, from his original appearance, he could be interpretted as anything from a complete monster who views others as nothing more than his playthings (your story), to an omnipotent, hyperintelligent manchild who just doesn't know any better (somewhat like the new canon Discord).
I wonder…if TD is surrounded by chaos and we humans have this ability to adapt really quickly to new places. If he concentrate, will be able to absorb some chaos magic? After all even Discord was impress that he actually manage to escape his prison for a few seconds. Maybe that is how he manage to do it.
I hoped that TD, will find a way to break free, with all things happen aside, he is very concern about his students, hell I bet is at least a little concern about the main 6, even Pinkie.
I hoped TD, manage to bring more fight
2036804
Mind vs Magic. You, once inside a mind, become a part of said mind, meaning said mind can control/destroy you. You are a min/soul inside another mind, so its hard, but it can be done. Discord has to threaten TD so that TD does not realize that if he tried hard enough, he could hurt Discord because Discord is now a part of his mind.
In my mind Discord only pretended to be reformed to get Celestia to trust him, so this fits perfectly with that!
>>Starwind
I definitely agree with your opinion, plus, it should be noted that it is now official canon that Discord was aware all of the time that he was in stone, so when he was let loose, it was imperative that he did whatever he could in order to not be imprisoned again. After all, can you imagine the agony of the same nothing for 1,000 years? That's a lot of time to get lonely in, especially if you've never had a friend before. It was probably a bigger deal for him than it would have been for any of us. KCaFO had a little bit of an abrupt change to be sure, but it would've been perfect for me if they could have showed him enjoying Fluttershy's company more. But I know that they had time constraints and what not. On a little side note, I also think it says something that all the time he was in stone, he was probably planning his revenge on Celestia and imagining what he would do once he was free. And what were his wildest dreams? To incapacitate the Elements and then have a little harmless funny fun. Even taking away their horns and wings was done on the fly so that he could have some way to take them on one-by-one.
If TD is still TD, then he has the will to shatter the glass and keep it that way. I know it.
Stupid pyromaniac OC.
YOU CAN DO IT TD!!!!
...You know what? Not even commenting on that,Cloud. Told you not to add your own text into my comments while I wasn't looking.
Darkfire has something to say. Celestia shoulda made him Pinkie Promise. With the kind of power from Dipcord breaking it will allow Pinkie to return to her old self for a short time and escape.
IN this instance, Princess Celestia was worried about Twilight and her friends.
In*
im not even gonna lie this is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE form of intimidation the "you wont know when its going to happen or how" tactic and discord does it SOOOOO well here its simply gorgeous
3562010 I love that tactic aswell.
Eh, I only think he's a bit confused is all. He seems to confuse a "Personification of Chaos" with a "Manifestation of Chaos". If he was a manifestation of chaos, this would be over and done with. No meandering at all, it'd just be straight up chaos. But because he's a Personification, he's privy to mistakes. So, even if it'd be REALLY REALLY hard, Discord CAN be defeated.