The Daleks have invaded Equestria, but the Princesses and a mysterious stallion with a box made short work of them, but one of the Daleks survived. Fluttershy pitied the monster, and took it into her home. Add 1 Discord and bake for twenty minutes.
The Daleks invade Equestria, but the combined power of the Doctor and the Princesses was enough to dispose of the ship and it's monstrous crew... that is, except one. Dalek Sar disgraced himself, and as punishment had his self-destruct disabled, had his connections to the rest of his race cut, and was stripped of many of his armor's powers. The fallen cultist of Skaro was then left to die, facing the Doctor head on while the others remained safe on the ship. Never have they been so wrong. Alone and powerless Dalek Sar is captured, and then taken in by a small, cowardly, pegasus to live at her animal home. Through events no one could explain, he has made Fluttershy his eternal commander. And him, her eternal protector. But when Celestia needs to have Fluttershy reform another powerful monstrosity. Discord, the spirit of chaos. We've all seen how Discord wrecks her home, pushes her to the limit... but what would her own alien death machine have to say about it? Based on the terrible beginning to one of my other stories, Vortexes are Magic (it gets a lot better later on), but it'll play out very different. Warning, may(I'm undecided) contain lethal levels of Fluttermac in later chapters.
"NO!" Dalek Jeck screamed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"
The dalek looked back at the screen, shocked to see the Tardis phase through the hundreds of black holes unharmed. "IMPOSSIBLE! WITH KNOWN TARDIS CAPABILITIES THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE! THE DOCTOR SHOULD BE EXTERMINATED!"
The black-purple Dalek moved forward, putting his suction cup on one of Sar's own spheres. "YOU HAVE FAILED THE DALEK RACE. YOUR GENETIC SUPERIORITY HAS PROVEN TO BE A FLAW. YOU WILL FACE PUNISHMENT!"
"YES." Sar responded. Accepting his fate he dropped his shields,expecting to be incinerated. To his surprise he saw that key systems were being destroyed, but others were left in place. "I DO NOT UNDERSTAND."
"YOU WILL FACE THE DOCTOR ALONE. IF YOU EXTERMINATE HIM, WE WILL ALLOW YOU TO RETURN, YOUR HONOR RESTORED."
Sar quickly went through his systems. "I WILL COMBAT THE DOCTOR WITHOUT ADVANCED SHIELDS, WITHOUT FULL DESTRUCTIVE CAPACITY, WITHOUT TEMPORAL SHIFTING CAPABILITIES. AND I WILL EXTERMINATE HIM!"
"HOWEVER. IF YOU DO NOT I WILL ALERT THE SUPREME DALEK THAT YOUR GENOME IS SEVERELY IMPURE. YOU WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE DALEK RACE IF YOU FAIL ME AGAIN, SAR."
"I UNDERSTAND! I WILL NOT FAIL! I AM PURE DALEK!" ~~~~
He had failed. He watched in despair as the ship was covered by explosions, then consumed by a helix of what appeared to be refracted light. Double rainbows were destroying the ship of the New Cult of Skaro. The blue box disappeared as the Dalek ship phased into two matrixes, one yellow, one blue, and promptly flew off into two different directions inside gigantic beams.
He couldn't move. The Doctor had barely looked at him when he froze his remaining systems, cruelly leaving him immobilized and unable to die. The Doctor hadn't even bothered with him! He simply wasn't worth anything. He was obviously impure. The tiny genetic mutations that had the Supreme Dalek single him out weren't signs of superiority. They were disguised flaws. He failed, he failed.
It was several hours before two of the indigenous species of the pocket dimension noticed him. They were wearing primitive armor, so some kind of weakling military. He watched as they dragged him through the town, until they got to a similarily-armored horned variant of the species. It did a strange teleport, and he was brought before a larger mammal. One with both wings and a horn. It had a flowing mane of ethereal power. The Doctor had cruelly allowed him to keep his vision, but it was not enough to understand what was happening. There were no scanners, no sounds, no x-ray, no temporal sensors, psychic detectors, nothing.
Just plain-old fashioned sight.
The big one was speaking to him, but Sar could not show a way to it, no, her, that it was futile. Besides, he didn't care. If the mammals didn't have the technology to destroy him, which was unlikely considering their massacre of his comrades, he would simply ignore them. Six more mammals came forward, along with another creature that Sar could simply... feel was dangerous. The 'feel' was confirmed as the mammal-like creature pulled out a sonic screwdriver.
Sar sighed as he was completely blinded. But then he was interrupted by a blast of cold, of strange dry air, and light that burned his eye. ~~~~
"Is it alright?" Fluttershy asked as the strange machine began screaming. "It sounds like it's in pain..."
"Oh, it is." The Doctor assured. "Nothing like a bit of fresh air to make a Dalek scream."
"Doctor." Celestia growled. "You may now stand down, I'll handle what comes next."
"No. None of you understand the force you're dealing with. I'm going to kill it."
"No!" Fluttershy yelled. "I.. mean, do you have to?"
"Yes, it certainly has killed plenty of others. And once it figures out how to get free it'll kill as many of you as it possibly can."
Celestia frowned. "Doctor. It is my prisoner. It will not be harmed, stand down."
"You don't understand!" The Doctor pleaded. "It's a killing machine, who's entire mind centers around destroying everything that's not like him!"
"Doctor... you will not kill one of my prisoners! The creature will be given a fair trial, and then receive it's punishment. And Equestria does not have a death sentence. We aren't like you or them."
"Princess, I'll be behind you no matter what." Twilight assured.
"And us too!" Rainbow Dash confirmed, the six mares coming together nearer to Celestia.
"I... really? Knowing what it did, what it almost just did to you!?"
"Yes." The Princess said, nodding.
The Doctor looked between her and the screaming Dalek, who was beginning to quiet down. "S-s-so... the great and mighty Predator of the Dalek fears me?" Sar gasped out. "It is an honor Doctor, my last honor. Destroy me."
The ponies in the room stared in shock as the disgusting creature inside the armor asked for it's death.
"What are you waiting for Doctor? Destroy me like you did my comrades. Destroy me! EXTERMINATE ME!" Sar roared. The Doctor then grew a frown that turned into a savage false smile.
"You know what, Darrrrleeck? I just thought of something even worse..." He pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver, and before any of the ponies in the room could move forward Sar's armor began sparking. "Far worse."
Sar wriggled his tentacles furiously, impatient for the end.
But the screwdriver turned off, and nothing had changed. That is, until his systems began turning back on. "What have you done?!" Sar asked.
"Simple. I've turned off your weapons, your laser isn't powerful enough to burn somepony, let alone do something lethal. I doubt you could light a candle with it. And as for your sucker there." He motioned toward the suction cup. "It's on the very lowest, you can carry a few pounds, sure, but don't expect it to be able to suffocate anyone."
"I... I... DOCTOR!" The Dalek cursed.
"You're without weapons, you're on the lowest of your shield settings, a few well-aimed lasers can end you. Something almost every unicorn should be capable of. Disarmed, weakened, and left alone, at the mercy of impure creatures. That's your punishment, Dalek."
Sar screamed. ~~~~
Fluttershy flew up to the Dalek, who had been silent for several minutes after the Doctor went away to his own universe, closing the vortex that had brought him there. She looked with sympathy at the sad mutation and reached a hoof up to him, but flinching back when the Dalek suddenly jerked slightly backward. "Don't worry... I won't hurt you."
"Then you are useless to me." The Dalek responded.
Fluttershy frowned and moved her head a little closer, examining the pod and giving it a sniff. "Can you smell it?" She asked. "Does it bother you at all?"
The Dalek looked at her with his single reptilian eye. "What? Explain!"
"The smell, of all the gunk you're sitting in. Is it your food?"
"No. Dalek are above needing things like food. We are the pure race! We can synthesize our own sustenance from almost any energy. We are the ultimate soldiers!"
"So you wouldn't mind if I cleaned all that out?"
He blinked, the movement of his lungs stopping for a moment. "Explain!"
"Just a second, I promise I'll be quick."
"Fluttershy wait! It could be poisonous or something!" Twilight warned.
"Ew..." Rarity winced. "I hope you're planning on washing those hooves Fluttershy."
"Gross." Rainbow Dash said with a disturbed expression as Fluttershy pulled Sar from the gooey webs and sludge of his pod.
"Could I have some water?" Fluttershy asked. Every pony there turned to the Princess, who was watching on with a similar expression to Rainbow Dash.
"Uh... yes, of course."
Fluttershy set Sar down gently on the marble floor, and shielded his eye from the light with her wing as she worked. Within a few minutes she had cleaned out the compartment and was gently placing Sar back inside. He simply stared at her back, a confused look in his eye.
"Is that better?" Fluttershy asked.
He stared at her for several seconds. "It is..." he started, before actually stopping to think. He had never really realized that he was in filth before. He had never physically touched something... clean before, beside the marble floor and the pony's hooves. It wasn't that bad, sitting somewhere clean. However, it also alerted him to the filth that covered him. "acceptable..." he finally finished. "But why would you waste time cleaning my chamber? Some kind of senseless ritual among your species?"
"No, just... a simple kindness."
Dalek Sar was about to give a speech on the uselessness of ideals like kindness, and how her treasuring it made her impure. But then again. He enjoyed his clean chamber.
"Well, here we are Mr. Dalek!" Fluttershy said cheerfully, leading the machine into the house.
"YOU SEEM TO HAVE QUITE A FEW INFESTATIONS." he said, noticing the many, many animals mulling about. "IF I STILL HAD MY LASER, I COULD REMOVE THEM FOR YOU."
"No! No!... uh, I mean.. these are my pets, my friends. I run an animal home and take care of all the animals in the area..."
The Dalek frowned and moved forward through the cabin. The animals in the house stopped their chaotic activity and turned to see the newcomer made of steel.
"Alright, this is mr. ferret, this is dave, that's eloise, that's sprinkles, that's bluebottom, that's-" Sar couldn't exactly tune Fluttershy out, but he stopped caring. He observed the surroundings, evaluating its strengths and effectiveness as a dwelling place.
"WOULD A DWELLING IN THE SKY PROVE TO BE MORE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE FOR A PEGASUS?" The Dalek asked.
"Oh, well... I'm kind of... afraid of heights..."
Genetic failure at it's finest. The Dalek scanned every creature in the house one by one. "THIS ECOSYSTEM COULD NOT POSSIBLY WORK." The Dalek concluded. He scanned the countless bags of food and material for all the animals there. He moved over and examined the label on one of the bags. "HOW DO YOU AFFORD TO CARE FOR ALL OF THESE?"
However, at the Dalek's screeching voice many of the animals in the house began panicking, running and flapping in every direction, and the entire cabin was pure chaos. Sar couldn't care less. He began to scour the house for something interesting or useful.
After about twenty minutes of Fluttershy calming the animals down she began to search for the notably missing dalek. "Mr. Dalek?" She called out. She fluttered up the steps and gave out a tiny shriek as the Dalek rammed into the shelf next to her.
"EXTERMINATE!" Sar screamed at the rabbit that had dodged the tackle and was now back on the other end of the room, panting.
"Mr. Dalek! What are you doing?!" Fluttershy demanded. "Angel Bunny couldn't have possibly done anything to hurt you."
"THE RABBIT IS ANNOYING. IT MADE AGGRESSIVE GESTURES."
Fluttershy set the rabbit down and marched up to the Dalek. "Now then Mr. Dalek, this is my house, and Angel has been here a lot longer than you, and is so much smaller than you-"
"I DON'T CARE." Sar responded simply. "I AM A SUPERIOR CREATURE. ANYTHING THAT IS NOT USEFUL IS MEANINGLESS. THAT RABBIT HAS INCURRED THE WRATH OF THE DALEKS. IT MUST BE EXTERMINATED."
Fluttershy looked hesitantly away, but shook her head and stomped her hoof. "No. This is my house, and while you are staying here you will behave-"
"THIS HOUSE CAN BE COLLAPSED EFFICIENTLY IN LESS THAN THREE MINUTES WITH MINIMAL EFFORT. I CAN DO THIS AT ANY TIME. YOU HOLD NO SWAY OVER ME."
"Apologize."
"WHAT? NO."
"Apologize to me and Angel Bunny right now or I'll... I'll..." Sar moved forward.
"YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY THREATEN ME. EVEN IF YOU GO BACK ON YOUR WORD THE PRINCESS CAN MERELY KILL ME. I DO NOT FEAR DEATH, I AM FLAWED, NOT A TRUE DALEK. BUT I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE COMMAND TO LIVE, AND THE ABILITY TO SELF DESTRUCT REMOVED. THIS IS A FORCED EXISTENCE OF NOTHINGNESS. A WAR WITH YOUR PRINCESS WOULD BE DESIRABLE! YOU CANNOT THREATEN ME, YOU CANNOT FORCE A DALEK TO DENY HIS PRIDE!"
"I... won't ever clean out your compartment!"
The Dalek stopped. He wondered why he would care about that, but the statement had left an impact on him. He cared about whether he was clean. However this... amenity... would not be enough to sway his judgement. He would not deny the pride of the Daleks. He was in the right because he was genetically superior!
"...NO..." He said, more hesitantly than he would have liked.
Fluttershy frowned. "Don't worry Angel, he really is sorry, he just won't admit it." The rabbit made a series of noises, that Fluttershy somehow understood.
"I AM IN THE RIGHT. THE DALEKS ARE SUPERIOR, THE DALEK WAY IS BY DEFINITION RIGHT!"
Fluttershy sighed. "Alright, this is just the first day, why don't we find you somewhere to stay?"
"I WAS TOLD I WAS STAYING HERE."
"No, no, I mean in the cabin, a little spot in our home you can call your own."
"I DO NOT NEED A 'LITTLE SPOT'. I WILL STAY OUT OF THE WAY. NO DESIGNATED AREA IS NECESSARY."
"You don't want a place to personalize? Someplace to make you feel more at home?"
"I DO NOT NEED TO FEEL 'AT HOME'. WHERE INSIDE THE DWELLING I AM STAYING IS IRRELEVANT."
"Alright, then. It's getting late, we'll have you meet everyone in the morning..." Fluttershy looked around for a second, deliberating. The Dalek watched the Rabbit move over to the bunch of pillows in the corner of the room.
"I WANT TO STAY THERE." The Dalek said with finality, moving toward the pillow pile. He felt a twinge of satisfaction when the rabbit ran for it's life. He pushed through the pillows and circled around.
"Oh... um, okay. Just let me feed everybody and get them ready for bed, then I'll come back up here. Try and get some shuteye, alright Mr. Dalek?"
"I AM INCAPABLE OF SLEEP."
"Oh? Do you need a lullaby? Some milk?"
"DALEKS DO NOT SLEEP. YOUR LULLABY IS USELESS."
But as Fluttershy began to sing softly he felt his eyelid drooping softly. He recieved a warning that he was losing consciousness... but he hadn't realized how... what was this? Weakness! No! "DALEKS DO NOT NEED REST! WE ARE STRONG ALL OF THE TIME!" But Fluttershy kept on singing, undaunted by Sar's outburst. "THEN... AGAIN... IT IS... WISE TO Conserve... energ...." He became quieter and quieter as the Dalek drifted off to sleep. Fluttershy considered throwing a blanket over the machine, but he was safe on his own, and he might get confused if there was something on him in the morning.
"Oh well, goodnight Mr. Dalek." She gave a tiny kiss goodnight on the eyestalk and continued her walk downstairs to prep a cabin's worth of animals for sleep.
"How dare you put me to sleep!!" Sar shouted, swinging Fluttershy one way and then the other. "Daleks do not require rest! you have weakened me! You have corrupted me!!!!" He screeched, flinging the Pegasus to one side.
"Stop it Mr. Dalek!" Fluttershy whispered, afraid. She winced as the red suction cup mark on her coat was touched by her hair.
"I will not stand for this! I will exterminate you!" He shouted, shooting towards her. Fluttershy gave an 'eep' and ducked out of the way before the Dalek pushed through her flimsy wooden wall and landed upside down in the mud of her back yard. "YOU HAVE HUMILIATED ME FOR THE LAST TIME!"
"Stop it!" Fluttershy yelled, making every animal in the area turn to look at their mistress. "How dare you, you should be ahamed! This is no way to act around your host!"
The Dalek managed to use his limited flight to pull himself from the mud. "You cannot give me orders! I am not your soldier! I will not obey!"
Fluttershy fluttered down to the ground and stood in front of the dalek. "But this is my home. You can make yourself comfortable, but I will not tolerate rudeness!"
"I will decide what can be tolerated! This is now a DALEK base! All vermin will be exterminated!!" He turned around, searching for Angel Bunny. Fluttershy took the opportunity to flutter on top of him and balance on his head. She frowned and put a hoof over his stalk eye. "And now you have blinded me. BLIND! I CAN'T BE A BLIND DALEK!!! I AM UNPURE!" He screamed, charging through the yard, through the fence, and into the forest. Fluttershy ducked under branches, flying around and to the side, all while keeping her hoof over his eye stalk. It was about two minutes of charging through the forest that she decided to let go and simply cling to his backside. Sar stopped suddenly, killing a small tree. "I... am not blind?"
"N-no... y-you were rampaging, so I had to stop you."
"Y-you blinded me?!"
"...Yes."
"I will destroy you! EXTERMINATE YOU!" Fluttershy sighed.
"I didn't want to resort to this, but you leave me no choice...."
"Huh?" Fluttershy put her hooves under the top of the Dalek's head and lifted the metal shell off, exposing the mutant octopus-ish thing inside to the sunlight and sounds of the Everfree. "What are you doing? I DEMAND YOU TELL ME! EXPLAIN!"
Fluttershy's eyes dilated. The Dalek's single eye winced as a feeling went through his very core. A feeling he was familiar with. The feeling of compulsion. When a superior Dalek gives an order to an inferior one, the inferior Dalek must obey as long as the superior Dalek really is superior. And at that moment...
Fluttershy was the superior Dalek.
"WHAAAAAAAA- the scream continued all the way back to the cabin, and all the animals watched with fear and caution as Fluttershy slowly led the Dalek inside. Angel Bunny frowned as Fluttershy guided the Dalek onto his side and on a couch.
"Mr. Dalek... are you alright?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
"Is that a no?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!" The Dalek finally finished. Gasping sounds coming through the Dalek's voice filter. "....how...?"
"How what?"
"You gave me orders! And I was compelled! I am compelled! You are the superior Dalek! But you aren't even Dalek in the slightest!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHKKKK!"
"Stop." The Dalek shut up immediately. Fluttershy rose an eyebrow. "Uh... go?"
"KKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!! ~huff~ WHY?! WHY DO I HAVE TO FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS?! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TENTACLES!!"
"Hmm... I only gave you the stare once... you shouldn't have to follow my orders any more.."
"Yes I do!! If I followed your orders even once, you're superior to me! Tell me you aren't superior! Tell me you are not my commander!!"
"...If I was your commander... could we still be friends?"
"The relationship between soldier and commander is the closest thing a Dalek can have to friendship! But it isn't real friendship, because friendship is useless and an impure idea!!"
"No it isn't."
"GAH! Whywhywhywhywhy?!"
"Mr. Dalek? What's wrong?"
"Stop giving me orders! You are not my commander! You are not Dalek!"
"Sorry..."
"There! Admission of weakness! Extermination MAY NOW COMMENCE." his eyestalk glowed bright red as he began re-wiring it into a laser.
"No! Saying sorry isn't an admission of weakness. It just means that you want to make sure that the two of you are okay with each other! It means you feel sympathetic!"
"Sympathy is weakness!"
"No! No it isn't!"
"grrrr...." The Dalek began. "I... I... I can't do this!! You are ordering me to change my ideas, and they have been permanently changed! I am even more impure than before!!! You aren't my commander, stopstopstop!!"
"I... I didn't mean to change your ideas..." Fluttershy frowned. "But... you said your name was Sar... right?"
"yes."
"Sar, my special talent is taking care of animals, finding the best way to figure out how to make them feel comfortable and safe... Sar.. you're not an animal, but you're not a pony either. You don't think the same way. But... I know how to make you feel comfortable and safe Sar. Could I be your Commander?"
Sar's eyestalk remained red, but the glow was not increasing. She stood in front of it bravely, not wincing or showing fear in the face of a potential laser. Several seconds passed, and it slowly shifted back to blue. The Dalek backed away and lowered the eyestalk. Fluttershy waited patiently for a few seconds. But she put a hoof down, making an emotionless face. "Well Sar?!" She croaked. Don't worry, even her Dalek impression came out adorable.
"...I... I... of course Commander! I apologize! Commander, I accept any punishment for my previous actions!"
Fluttershy frowned and took a step back as well. "I wasn't your commander until a moment ago, all your actions before then are... what's the right word... you wouldn't like the term 'forgiven'.... your past transgressions are irrelevant."
"Commander!" Sar squealed, spinning in a circle. "I have a commander! I am not a complete failure after all!!" There was a whooshing sound and the two turned toward the blue box that formed outside their yard.
The door creaked open and a brown earth pony with a peculiar hairdo, a bowtie, and an hourglass cutiemark, stepped out with a cocky smile. "Hey there darlec! Just here to remind you before I go; you're the last of your kind on this world, you failed your last mission given by a real Dalek, and I'm still alive! Well, bye Fluttershy, keep a close eye on that one! Geronimo and all that." He went back into the box and if faded away.
Fluttershy gaped at the empty space and slowly turned to Sar, who was huddled in a corner, making whimpering sounds.
"Well... that wasn't very nice at all." she understated.
"Line up!! Your daily rations are being provided, you will consume the set amount in it's entirety and you will be eternally grateful to Commander Fluttershy, who has seen fit to make monetary sacrifices to provide sustenance for you vermin! Understood?!"
The animals by now had gotten used to the routine and begrudgingly allowed the soldier to feed them. He fed each of them from the bag of animal feed in turn and then emptied the remained out in a dish. "All of you understand that this is not for your immediate consumption, and is to be used as snacks later on in the day. You are prohibited from eating from it after five o'clock, or your appetites will be ruined. This will... displease Commander Fluttershy, UNDERSTOOD?!"
A somewhat irritated chorus of agreement from the animals was his answer and he rolled back toward Fluttershy, who was watching happily. "Good work Sar."
"Thank you Commander... permission to speak freely?"
"Of course."
"Commander, you have stated to this soldier multiple times that the reason that you care for your animals is to fulfil some useless need that brings you momentary pleasure... correct?"
"Yes, because it's fun."
"That's what I said, Commander. But... in order to ensure the maximum output of your fun, would it not be better for you to care for the animals personally?"
Fluttershy nodded. "But I have to think about what's best for you too."
"I will gladly stop feeding them."
"I know, but for you, having fun is working hard for your Commander, right? I'm sorry that we're not fighting anypony right now, and that it's unlikely we'll ever have to, but you still want something important to do, right? This might not be an activity you think is important, but it really is. And I gave you responsibility for it. And that's something you enjoy. Doing important jobs."
The Dalek considered it. "...Understood. I will continue to feed them. But I'd prefer a job such as patrolling our territory, or building shelters for-"
"Oh! That's a wonderful idea Sar!"
Sar stopped for a second. "It is?"
"Yes, you should have told me you wanted to build things, you see, I thought that it was getting crowded in the yard, and sometimes when it rains it gets so cluttered in the cabin with everyone inside all at the same time, we should build shelters from the rain in the side of the yard!"
"...bomb shelters..." He said, but the Pegasus was already on her way, her animals friends following her excitedly as she went off to look for some tools and some lumber. The Dalek couldn't sigh, and honestly, that had never even been an emotional response to anything before. Coming to the pony world had a pretty deep effect on him and the other Daleks. Possibly deeper than the Doctor's.
When they all went through the vortex and came to Equestria... something, changed. The Doctor became a pony version of a Time Lord, and the Daleks... they began to doubt. Themselves, what they stood for, their genetic code, their needs, their possession of emotions other than hate and fear... which was all that was necessary.
Sar had never felt like he should sigh before. If a Dalek Commander did cut him off mid-sentence before, then he would either finish it after the Commander finished speaking, or dismiss his own thoughts. But now... his emotions found a middle ground, a disturbing middle ground. Daleks did not find a middle ground, he thought to himself, Dalek are always the most extreme.
He expressed some regret that he couldn't finish his words to Fluttershy, but he found the words not important enough to interrupt and clarify it to her. So he was left with what was mild annoyance. He wasn't sure where that was on the hate-fear scale... but he was sure it was in the middle somewhere. He didn't like it. He was compelled by Fluttershy, but he didn't... fear her. He respected her, he obeyed her, he would self-destruct at her order without a second thought, if he still had the ability, but he didn't fear her.
Emotions were so confusing. He decided to not dwell on them, considering how unimportant they were to him. Fluttershy's emotions were more interesting anyway. Sar's attention shifted as Fluttershy came back, her and her animal friends carrying various tools and wood and some metal towards him. "So where should we build it?" She asked.
Sar scanned the yard, doing complex patterns in his head. He went through his list of the animals, their ability to move, the size required for the shelter, the materials, the size of the yard. Two seconds passed and he came up with the optimal location.
"I have found the optimal shelter position. However, our resources our below what is necessary to make a safe and suitable shelter."
"Oh? What else do we need?"
"Three metric tons of tampered steel beams, four tons of wet cement, several wooden molds, cut stone-"
"We're building a shelter so that the animals can have a place to hide from the rain, not a castle."
"...then we have enough." And so they set to work.
Rainbow Dash came down the path, checking on Fluttershy again. The five friends had been making rounds of checking up on Fluttershy and the alien. During their visits the Dalek was always silent, watching from a corner usually. Rainbow Dash was unnerved by the strange machine, but she had grown to accept it. Their visits were getting shorter and more in-between over the past two weeks.
Rainbow stopped when she heard an unfamiliar sound. "SAR! Angel's telling me he didn't get a carrot today. Feeding the animals is your job, you need to do it right! Angel needs his vitamins. As your commander I order you to pay more attention. I know you don't like it, but this is your new duty, understood?"
"Was that Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked hesitantly. She had never heard the pegasus bark orders like that except when Iron Will gave her those lessons, or when she was furious. "no... no, that couldn't have been."
"Apologies Commander Fluttershy! It was my own incompetence, I misunderstood your directions. I was not aware Angel needed the carrot daily, as you addressed it as a 'special treat'. This will not happen again!!"
Rainbow stopped in her tracks, lowering to the ground and sneaking closer to the cabin. That sounded terrible! The alien seemed terrified... and he called Fluttershy his Commander... what was going on?!
Rainbow jumped out of the bush, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Fluttershy?!!"Sar's eyestalk swiveled toward her and he charged in her direction.
"INTRUDER DETECTED! EXTERMINATION IN PROGRESS!!!" He screamed, Rainbow barely dodging in time.
"SAR! You stop that this instant, apologize to Rainbow."
To Rainbow's surprise the Dalek turned around, she tensed, ready to jump if he charged at her. "...I apologize. Announce your presence so you will stop being an intruder!" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. Sar glanced at her expression and turned back to Rainbow. "...I apologized for scaring you. I am naturally terrifying to all inferior beings, would you...please... announce yourself so I can stop considering you an intruder, and recognize you as a guest?" It asked, trying to be polite.
"...Welcome. Please use the front door next time."
"Uh.. sure... Fluttershy, what gives? You're giving him orders! You're yelling at him, I don't really think this is what Princess Celestia meant when she let you take care of him..."
"Well.. It's mostly for Sar."
"Who?"
"Dalek Sar is his full name. He prefers I call him Sar, rather than Mr. Dalek. So that's what I call him... anyway. Rainbow, Sar's not a pony."
"Well, yeah."
"He doesn't think like a pony. He likes being ordered around. If I'm not ordering him around, if I'm not strict, he won't feel as good about himself."
"That... that's pretty weird."
"No, it's just the way Daleks are. They need a chain of command."
Rainbow Dash frowned. "They 'need' one?"
Fluttershy nodded.
"So... can it even choose not to follow your orders?"
Fluttershy stopped and looked down. Before flying off to where Sar was, scanning the garden for a carrot. "Sar?"
"Yes Commander?!"
"Sar... can you choose not to follow one of my orders?"
"Why would I ever choose not to follow an order? You are my Commander. I am genetically impure. I have no right to refuse."
"But... can you?"
Sar looked at her for a second. "...no." He lied.
"W-well... I just want you to be happy here... I don't want you to stay if you can't be happy... I don't want you to follow my orders if you don't like them..."
"I am a Dalek! We can never be happy." He stated.
Fluttershy looked down, and Sar shifted as he saw her eyes water, her nose sniffle, and her beginning to shake. She was extremely displeased, he had said the wrong thing. "...but..." He began, she looked up suddenly, hopefully. She was still on the verge of tears though. He was furious with himself, he had almost made his Commander cry! His mind raced, trying to find the right thing to say. Several seconds passed by and it looked like Fluttershy might begin to bawl. 'Curses!!' Over a million computations per second, enough knowledge of temporal shifts to out-maneuver the Lords of Time, and the intelligence of a supercomputer beyond anything that would ever be built on earth... and he couldn't think of a single good thing to say. Fluttershy was beginning to groan, her body getting ready to cry. But then something struck Sar, perhaps just the right neuron fired off at that moment. "...but I am content here. It would be acceptable to spend my life here. And even though I cannot refuse, I trust you implicitly. I don't think you can give bad orders, you are a fine Commander, you have found the loyalty of treacherous creatures such as rabbits, who am I to think you do not deserve mine?"
Fluttershy's face contorted, and he couldn't tell what emotion was displayed now. She then began crying heavily, and rushed forward to embrace the Dalek. He didn't turn the rest of his body, and his arms couldn't bend to embrace her either, so he had to do with looking at her with his stalk. Her wails brought Rainbow Dash there immediately, "What did you do?!"
"I said the wrong thing..." Sar said sadly.
"No, ~sniff~... no, you said exactly the right thing.... I-I'm sorry for crying so much... I'm just relieved... I was worried you didn't like it here..."
"Commander, I must serve my purpose, and I have decided that purpose is to serve you. What more could a Dalek ask for?"
Sar noticed it first, after all, he noticed almost everything. His sensors were beyond the senses of any living thing. But he didn't need his super-advanced sensors to notice this. It arrived on the air, and then things just started happening. It affected the weather first. Commander Fluttershy was at Applejack's farm, and left Sar in charge of the cabin. The clouds began to turn pink, and almost all at once, began sprinkling chocolate rain.
His brain tried to comprehend why this was happening for a solid twelve seconds before deciding to stop in self-preservation. His eyestalk turned as he noticed the animals begin to notice the candy in the sky for themselves. The birds were making the motions of taking off, but a screech from Sar got the attention of every animal in the home. "Attention vermin! I am going out to investigate the strange occurrences. Angel is in charge. If any of you leave and begin to gorge on the magically-created calories, Commander Fluttershy will be disappointed with you, and I will be angry with you. Stay and behave, or face my eternal wrath. That is all, resume your mindless motion."
The animals rolled their eyes and sighed, but they took the command seriously. Over the months that Sar had been staying with them they had begun to respect the death machine.
Sar flew off toward Applejack's farm, scanning for Fluttershy. He located her trying to convince some squirrels to stop gorging on the gigantic apples. The cornfield was somehow drying, combusting and salting itself instantly, the clouds were a sticky-sweet candy, and it was somehow producing limitless amounts of chocolate milk. Sar was familiar with the pony magics, but this was ridiculous.
"Please stop, those aren't for you... oh dear... please don't ruin your appetites would you-"
"Commander Fluttershy!" Sar shouted, flashing his lights and thrumming his levitators, scaring off the squirrels.
"Oh, hello Sar, thank you, they just weren't listening to me..."
"Thaht's not all they're doing!" Applejack warned as the rabbits' legs suddenly extended and became hoofed.
"Don't worry everypony! I've learned a new spell that can fix everything!" Twilight said proudly, eyeing a blue book for a second before lighting her horn. A huge wave of pink energy covered everything. Sar shielded himself and watched Fluttershy just in case the spell was harmful. The wave passed with no effect. "My failsafe spell... failed... what do we do now?!"
Sar paced, nervous, Commander Fluttershy and her pony friends had gone to the capital to investigate the strange magic, but about an hour later the landscape had began shifting, colors changing, gravity acting strangely. His sensors were beginning to overload just trying to understand what was occurring. Just another half hour later, and nursing a sensor-overload headache, when Fluttershy came back home.
"Commander Fluttershy!" Sar greeted. "What news do you have about the chao-"
"Stuff it robot." She said snarklily, marching inside and shoving Angel to the side.
Sar blinked, staring at his Commander. "Commander, what happened to your light refraction?"
"It got lost, just like those loser friends of mine." She said smugly, reclining into her couch. Using the pillow for Angel she would always treat so preciously as a hoof-rest.
Sar's sensor overload headache got worse. Less physical laws were being broken. But Fluttershy acting like this was... unprecedented...
"Commander... what happened?"
"What happened? What happened? Simple. I just realized how lenient I am with everypony, and I'm fed up with it." She said simply. "No more miss nice me, from now on I do whatever I want, when i want it."
Sar shook in place for a second. "....Commander?"
"What is it? Spit it out, you should have more nerve than this, I'm disappointed in you." Sar shuddered at the words, a sudden pain that coursed through his very genes, bypassing his headache. Fluttershy was disappointed in him.
"Commander, you're acting strangely in accordance with your past behaviour, your coat has changed color, and I am curious about what occurred while you were in Canterlot. I would like answers and explanations."
"I gave you all the explanation you need." Fluttershy said, waving him off. "Now go get me something to drink, I'm parched."
Sar nearly flew into the kitchen, and with the speed needed to pilot a ship mid-lightspeed, filled a glass of water and brought it back to her without spilling a drop. Fluttershy looked at it for a second before picking it up and dumping it on Sar. She placed the glass over his eyestalk and tapped it a few times, making the eyestalk flinch. "I want a smoothie, idiot. Now go back and do it right, and don't you dare drop that glass. You're already so worthless, if you dropped it you'd dip into negative points."
Sar shuddered, almost brought to screaming by the comment. "Yes Commander!" He said enthusiastically. He had to be useful, he had to be useful, he had to be useful!! Sar went back to the kitchen incredibly quickly. "What flavor do you desire Commander?!"
"Hush. You're hurting my ears, I mean sheesh, you're one of the worst servants I've ever seen! And please, you've lived with me long enough. You should know what kind of flavor I want, Angel would know... but I guess a stupid Dalek can't even compare with a stupid rabbit, huh?" Sar stared at her for a full second, visibly twitching.
"...of course, Commander! My eternal apologies!" He turned back into the kitchen. Discorded Fluttershy smirked. She was going to make that Dalek cry before the day was through, she decided.
"Useless!" She hissed, tossing the glass on the growing pile on top of Sar's eyestalk, which was now twitching, making minute differences to balance the tower of glasses. "Get it right this time, are you so incompetent you can't make your master the right smoothie?!"
"Please, please tell me what you want!" Sar pleaded.
"I didn't hear a 'Commander' in there you worthless sheep!"
"Apologies Commander! Apologies Commander! My eternal apologies Commander!"
"You're overdoing it. Now get me the right smoothie! My throat's getting parched. Or don't you care? You don't give a ponyfeather about my well-being do you? You don't respect me in the slightest."
"Commander, I'm sorry! I am devoted to you! I'll die at your command! I will declare war on the universe at your slighest whim Commander! I respect you more than anything else in the universe! I hold an incredible metaphorical amount of respect for you Commander!!" Sar pleaded, shaking, but keeping his armor still so as not to upset the pile.
"Are you saying I'm wrong?" She asked slyly.
"nononononono!" Sar crooned. "Nononono! You are not wrong! I need to respect you more Commander! Commander is always right!! I'll declare war on the multiverse for you!!"
Fluttershy thought for a moment before smirking. "Would you go to war with your fellow Daleks?" She asked.
Sar stopped. Everything stopped. His body inside his armor began shivering. His loyalty to the Dalek race and his loyalty to his Commander had always been one and the same. How could he choose between them?
"Well Sar?! Hmph. I guess an oath of loyalty doesn't mean as much to you Daleks as it does to a pony."
Sar stopped shivering. His eye, his real eye, closed. And he took a deep breath of his recycled air. "....Commander... please, please don't say that."
"Oh? You can't choose between me and your dead friends who hated you, what does that say about your loyalty to me?"
"Commander... please stop...y-y-you are... not wrong, never wrong... misinformed?" He quivered for a moment. "..y-yes... you are misinformed from my own incompetence! Commander Fluttershy, a Dalek's loyalty is complete. I am completely loyal to you and the Dalek race. Both! Equally! Please stop questioning it! You have misunderstood though my own error!"
Fluttershy rolled off the couch, and fluttered up to Sar's eyestalk. She whipped her hoof across it, sending the glasses to the floor. "I don't misunderstand Sar. I understand completely. I'm always right, so when I say that, I must mean it. And I still press it. You have given me your explanation, but I still stand by that you're less loyal than a pony, because you won't pick your Commander over your race. Understood Dalek? Understood? I understand."
Sar shivered, he attempted to activate his self destruct, but it wouldn't work. It had been deactivated. By his previous Commander. As punishment.
For his inferiority. For his disloyalty. He had questioned Dalek Jeck. And so he was stranded without laser, without temporal shift, without self destruct.
He had failed before. He was failing now.
He just stopped. His breathing was irregular. He felt like screaming, but it wouldn't come out.
Fluttershy smirked. "For a killing machine you sure are sensitive. Are you crying Sar?"
"I-I-I-I... don't know..."
"Lift up your lid. You already failed at balancing the glasses, so you have no reason not to."
He was in the negatives, he thought hopelessly. Did Fluttershy keep a point system? Did every glass count as another point? Did each glass count exponentially? He shuddered as his shell opened, revealing his weak, fleshy, mutated body to Fluttershy.
"How ugly." she said with a wide, evil grin. "Are you crying Sar?"
"I... don't know..." He croaked with his natural, high, throaty voice.
"Can Daleks even make tears?"
"...y-yes..." he whispered.
"Cry for me."
Sar began wailing.
The door burst open and Twilight and Applejack rushed in. "Fluttershy we're here to-" Twilight stopped as she took in the scene. A gleefully smiling Fluttershy standing over a wailing, exposed Sar. "...Fluttershy? What's going on?"
"Oh? Well, Sar here realized how terrible he is at being a Dalek. So he started crying like a wimp."
Applejack frowned. "Sorry bout' this Fluttershy." She whipped the rope at the gray Pegasus.
"Sar, defend me!" Fluttershy screeched, and the Dalek was suddenly in the way of the lasso.
"I-is this acceptable, Commander?" Sar whispered, trying to stop crying.
"We'll see. Now then, these two aren't welcome here. Boot them out."
"Yes Commander Fluttershy." The armor closed around him and he turned on the unicorn and the earth pony.
"Whoah! Hold on ere', you can tell that there's something wrong with her, right?!" Applejack tried hopefully. "We're here to help Fluttershy, she's not well, Discord put a spell on her!"
"Sar, she's still in my house." Fluttershy clarified.
"...A spell?"
"Yes! Can't you tell she's acting differently?!" Twilight motioned toward the angry gray mare.
"Sar! Get them out of here.... I'll conquer Equestria with you, help prove you aren't useless."
Sar stopped, looking toward Fluttershy. War?! She was offering him war, and a chance to prove himself!
"Fluttershy stop! This isn't you! The real Fluttershy would never want something like that! The real Fluttershy wouldn't call him useless in the first place!" Twilight clarified.
Sar looked at the two of them before roaring, his plunger-arm locking onto Twilight's face as he dragged her outside. He then turned back inside and grabbed Applejack's tail as she tried to run, tossing her outside as well. Then he turned back to Fluttershy.
"Huh. I guess you aren't completely worthless. I might actually think you're more useful than dust for a few seconds-" She was stopped as Sar grabbed onto her hoof with the plunger and dragged her outside.
"CURE HER." Sar screamed.
"TRAITOR!" Fluttershy called. Sar gasped and stopped moving. But he shook himself and brought her closer to the other two ponies.
"cure her!" Sar demanded. Twilight nodded and lit her horn, putting it to Fluttershy's forehead and causing the mare to growl, but soon her colors reappeared. And she began to cry.
"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR" She yelled, jumping out from under Twilight and hugging the machine. "I'm so sorry! You're the most powerful, bravest, most loyal Dalek in the universe, and that means a lot, understood!"
"Understood!" Sar said, almost blubbering.
Twilight smiled at the scene as Fluttershy flattered and apologized to the Dalek over and over, but eventually she let out a groan of impatience. "As touching as this is, the rest of our friends are all like this too! We need to cure them as well and-"
"Sar, go after Rainbow Dash, we'll handle the others." Fluttershy commanded. "I trust you to capture her unharmed."
"Yes Commander Fluttershy!" And then there was a crater in the ground as the Dalek zoomed off into the distance, becoming not much more than a dot in the sky.
Twilight and Applejack gaped.
Fluttershy wiped a few more tears out of her eyes. "You're a good Dalek Sar!" She called, before trotting toward town.
"I must say, that was spectacular!" Discord said appreciatively from the background. "Ha! I should applaud myself for that, and to think, maybe forced Discordization is better? More potent?" He thought for a few seconds. "Meh, why should I care. Now then... what else can I do to a Dalek than what's happened so far-"
"Ello!"
"Huh?"
"I'm the Doctor, the oncoming storm. I've decided to protect this planet, understood? The ponies here are good, and I will defend them. Believe me, you have made the wrong choice by-" Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his talons, and with a flash the Doctor was surrounded by the floating pictures of past companions. "OH MY GOD THE GUILT!" He screamed, running away.
Discord chuckled as he flew off toward his throne to await his impending doom. All part of the plan after all. He couldn't touch the elements of Harmony, and Twilight had already proven that she could resist his Discordization, and that all her friends were able to be brought back, so it was only a matter of time before he was sent to stone again. Not that he cared, he would sleep another few hundred years and pop back up with nopony ready for him. And maybe that time he could swipe the Elements permanently. They were fun game pieces, but perhaps they could have other uses. Ah well. He summoned a pocketwatch that exploded the moment it opened. "Right on schedule." He said happily, turning toward the six friends and readying his speech.
Discord narrowed his eyes as he looked at the painting. It was absolutely exquisite. The colors complimented each other in every way, nothing was blaring or hard on the eyes. Every brush stroke seemed to be in the perfect place, expertly done with a skilled hoof or practiced spell.
The shapes seemed like they belonged nowhere else but in this painting. Every shadow played on every imaginary surface on the painting was almost as if it were a photograph, being in just the natural place. The ponies in the picture even, sat very naturally inside it, as if they were asleep, or at least completely content. If he were to bring them to life and offer them any experience in the world, they'd just say something along the lines of; No, thank you, but this is the place where we belong, we'd really like to be paint again now. It was like harmony on paper.
He could walk up to any would-be anarchist, show them this picture, and they'd decide they needed to have a long sit and think about what anarchy really meant for organized society in the long run. Discord raised a claw in front of his vision, and thought that the merest scratch or extra paint stroke would ruin the almost perfection of the painting. It would almost be a crime.
He turned around and walked away peacefully. He turns to you slightly and smiles. "What were you expecting?"
He strolled down the roads of Ponyville, houses got up and began having conversations, before being rudely interrupted by the roads trying to lift themselves up to the same level with only wheels that the houses accomplished with feet. He summoned an umbrella and opened it, smiling as a fountain of droplets began to erupt from the surface of the device. He waved good-naturedly at a orange salesman painting her wares purple, and Discord promptly summoned several poets with the order to take inspiration from the sight. He began chuckling as they all began to weep.
He climbed to the top of a hill and summoned his throne, a rather stylish, one that just screamed 'Villainous Scum'. He waited a few seconds and he sensed the six had shown up, "well, girls, have you finally prepared yourselves?" He asked slyly, turning back to them. His eyebrows rose slightly as a Dalek charged toward him at orbit-breaking velocity. By the time he woke up, he was a statue, probably sealed for the next few million years with a look of confusion and pain on his face. Not that anypony would see it, considering he had been knocked head-first into the ground, and managed to tie himself up into a ball before being petrified.
Darn it. he thought to himself. I didn't even get a clever line in or anything! I could have said something witty like 'friend me' or 'au revoir mon Capitan'! he pouted, mentally sighing. I'm losing my touch. That was a world record for how quickly I was beaten. Nopony remembers the days where 'reign of Discord' meant something important, like thousands of years of madness and irreparable damage to the laws of nature. He smiled slightly. I still can't believe Celestia managed to convince them all clouds aren't supposed to move on their own.
Discord watched the outside world with boredom, being a statue gave him some limited omniscience, in exchange for taking his limited omnipotence that came from his 'living' body. He could observe events miles away from his prison, he could laugh at the events of a child's practical joke in Zebrica while in the same moment be mentally plugging his ears in invisible defiance during court.
And yes, he was aware of the paradox that came with 'limited omni-anything'. That was one of the only fun parts of it.
Despite this limited paradoxical omniscience however, what occurred a few months later for him was absolutely unexpected.
"I believe we can reform Discord." Celestia said to the gathered mares in front of her. He laughed long and hard, all the way up to being released from the stone.
"So, you're the one responsible for 'reforming' me? Little you, the one who has so little pride she lets her friends walk all over her and calls it 'kindness'? My oh my, meeting you in the maze was interesting." Discord began, the house shifting and changing.
"My friends don't-"
"Oh Fluttersby, don't kid yourself, of course they do." Discord interrupted, pouring himself a glass of maracas. As he reached for the paprika he turned and smiled at her. "Why wouldn't they? They could ask you for any little thing and you'd drop everything you hold dear to do it out of a misplaced sense of kindness."
"Kindness isn't ever-"
"Butterdye, please. Excuse me, could you move a few inches to the left, you're kind of blocking an inch or two of the sun."
"Oh of course, anyway I-" she blinked, frowning slightly. "That doesn't mean anything, it's common courtesy to-" she blinked again, glancing at a clock. "And it's nearly midnight." She frowned. "Discord..." She motioned for the Element. "You put the Sun and Moon where they belong right this instant!"
"Fine, fine. Pushy, sheesh." Discord said, snapping his claw and putting the celestial objects back in place in time that a certain blue alicorn didn't accidently say something she regretted to a white one. "Hey, garbage can, come over here, I want to look at my reflection!"
"His name is Dalek Sar-"
"Whatever."
"I HOPE YOU ARE GRATEFUL TO THE COMMANDER FOR HER GREAT AND UNDESERVED MERCY TOWARD YOU." Sar screamed as he came close, knocking Discord over with the sound.
"Yes, yes, eternal gratitude, mister tin can." Discord responded, frowning. "I happen to be an elemental force of chaos, of strife, disharmony, it is because of me and what I represent that you and your anger-management issues can exist! I am lord of space and time, for all you know, I've replaced Flutterbug with an exact duplicate Buggerfly while you weren't looking. I've rewritten your memories, I've caused your species to go extinct, I've caused every other species to go extinct, or you're now secretly a flower." He snapped his claw and teleported out of the way as Sar rammed through the couch and wall Discord was an instant ago. "I could have done all that, but didn't. You're welcome." He smiled as he felt the already almighty levels of rage present in all Daleks rise to a new, enlightened state of more rage. "Wow, you know what Flutterfly, this self-control thing took a whole new level of interest for me! Think of how much chaos I can spread with only suggesting what I'm not doing!" He got a gleeful maniacal look on his face. "Hey Shutterlie, guess who's not destroying the mantle of the planet, causing the continents to fall in on themselves, this draconequus, and you better remember it! And it's all thanks to you and mister plunger-arm!"
Fluttershy stared in absolute horror at him for five seconds. Discord's grin just kept getting wider.
Fluttershy shook it out of her and took in a deep breath, letting the breath back out with all the stress and fear. Two of Discord's top ten favorite emotions to invoke in others. "Discord, the purpose of this stay here is try and get you to understand the benefits of having friends, and using your magic to help others." She explained again. "You could be a great help to everyone if only you would think of how to make things better for other ponies."
Discord smiled even wider, showing more teeth than could possibly fit in his mouth. "So, I'd be a great help if I were a great help, wonderful reasoning capabilities yellow one."
"I see no error in her reasoning." Dalek Sar shouted at Discord. "Show respect to Commander Fluttershy or she will PETRIFY you!" Sar continued to screech.
"Oh please, Fluttershy wouldn't do that, after all, she wants to be my... ergh... 'friend'. And friends don't trap friends in stone." He floated over to her, Angel making a desperate leap for his position on the couch, only for Discord's bat wing to shoot out of the pillow and launch him away.
"You used my real name that time." Fluttershy said, smiling a little.
Discord stopped and gave her a strange look. "Really? Honestly I forgot for a little while there, and I was on such a roll too..." He looked sourly at the Pegasus. "But as I was saying, I'd never trap my friends in stone, would you, Fluttershy? After all, it's such a painful, humiliating way to go."
"...Painful?...Humiliating?" She repeated quietly.
"Oh yes, I'd never wish it on any living thing, in fact, I'd be hard pressed to turn anything into stone, which is why I'm planning on converting all pre-existing stones into forms of cake filling!"
"Oh! We'll have none of that, what will the plants eat?"
"Cake, of course. Everything likes cake. It's one of the laws of nature."
"No it isn't."
"Of course it is, name one thing in the universe that doesn't like cake."
"Dalek Sar."
"...You don't count, you're an alien from a universe, if there's anything that exists in this world from this world that doesn't like cake, it would be you."
Pinkie Pie burst through the chimney. "You don't like cake?!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes at the Dalek. "Now I see why you tried to exterminate Equestria!"
"These two things are completely unrelated." Sar shouted, but she was already gone.
"Well, as much fun as being here is, I think I'm going to leave. I mean, I'm pretty sure everyone agrees four seasons are boring, so i'm going to go change that a little."
"Wait, what did we say about altering the laws of nature-"
"You can't do anything to me little Fluttershy. Anything beside imprison me in stone, and you wouldn't do that to me, would you? Someone you want to be your friend? Would you do that to one of your little animal friends if they were a little uncooperative, or omnicidal, or grouchy?"
"What was that second word? I like that word."
Both turned toward Sar for a second before looking back to each other. "Discord, I know you don't like that, I don't want to have to turn you to stone either, so I think you need to at least try a little to reform. Think of how much happier you'll be when you can use your powers to help ponies, wouldn't you like to have ponies grateful for you?"
"If I wanted ponies to thank me for what I'd do, I'd cause eternal night." He smiled a little. "Or simply mind control them, or even simpler, just replacing their mouth with mine."
"So, you're not going to reform? At all?"
"Nope! But I'd like to see you try."
"Then we'll have to cooperate." Fluttershy said, standing up a little more. "You have to stay here and try your hardest, we're going to come to a compromise, and we'll get you to see the bright side of being good."
"Like you did for him?" He gestured at Dalek Sar. "And how did you manage to reform this charming little trash can of hatred?"
"I appealed to his better nature. He can be himself, and be kind."
"His 'better nature' is accepting you as his military commander." Discord said with a smirk.
"And he's happy, and peaceful, and he's okay with being those things."
"Accept Commander Fluttershy as your commander! Accept! Accept!" Sar growled.
"Why would I do that?"
"There's no need for that Sar, though I appreciate the help. What I'm hoping to do with you is the same thing I did with Sar. I want to help you find a way to follow your instincts, a way for you to be yourself, while not being destructive, and helping others. Sar's nature is warlike, yes, but really, he just wanted to follow orders. He and, from what I can tell, the other Daleks, aren't born craving destruction, but craving fulfilling their purpose. Sar just needed a better purpose, and a kinder commander. With you... I think you need a way to have fun and use your powers without upsetting or hurting ponies. So the first step is finding a way to do that. Discord, what do you do for fun?"
"Well, I like to start off every morning with a little turmoil, you know, collapsing a town's government, something small to tide me off til breakfast, then after I transform a few acres into breakfast matter I set up a little entropy, by three o'clock I've had lunch and a bit of anarchy, then afterwords I sew disarray into whatever system I can find, and then I spend the rest of the day creating a simple bedlam out of everything the light touches." He smiled. "And I never do anything the same way twice."
