Chapter 1: Changes Of Grandeur
“Spike, do you have the book with you?” Twilight asked, staring up at the spinning cottage in the sky that was Fluttershy’s home.
“Yeah, right here,” Spike said, hefting the book up and flipping to the correct page.
Twilight lifted the book in her magic, her eyes quickly scanning it. “I just need to make sure I get this spell just right,” Twilight murmured, reciting the spell mechanics one last time in her mind. “If I don’t, this could end badly.”
“Are you sure this is the best idea?” Spike asked, holding the book for Twilight as she made her way to the bridge before Fluttershy’s home. “I mean, do we even know this spell can work on Discord? He didn’t even flinch when Fluttershy used her stare on him, so what’s to say regular magic can affect him?”
“That’s the thing, Spike. This isn’t regular magic,” Twilight answered, stopping beneath Fluttershy’s home, still turning in a clockwise motion in the sky due to Discord’s trickery. “Fluttershy! Fluttershy, can you hear me?” Twilight called out.
Fluttershy exited her house, carrying Angel along with her. “Fluttershy, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Twilight asked.
“We’re fine. Everything is going great,” Fluttershy assured her, hovering over the earth as she set Angel down. “Isn’t it Angel?” The white furred bunny toppled and stumbled forward, so dizzy he could barely walk as he departed from the group.
“We’ve come to get you away from Discord,” Twilight explained, Spike crossing his arms and scowling as he still held the large book at the mention of Discord’s name. “He’s just terrible, and from the looks of it, completely out of control,” Twilight said, pointing out her house which was currently ignoring the rules of gravity and physics.
“Oh, but you’re wrong,” Fluttershy assured her, “we’re making great progress.”
A silence hung over the group, until Spike and Twilight blurted out simultaneously, “Seriously?”
“I’m earning his trust by giving him a little space to be himself,” Fluttershy said, pointing to the cottage.
“Fluttershy, this space to himself is turning into him going mad with power. Again,” Twilight deadpanned, lifting the book up she grabbed from the library for Fluttershy to see. “Which is why I brought this along to solve the problem once and for all.”
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, tilting her head to the side as she stared at the ancient tome.
“A book that holds the answer to reforming Discord,” Twilight said, flipping to the bookmarked page. “By actually giving us a reforming spell. I use this on him and then we don’t have to deal with his craziness any longer.”
“Twilight, are you sure this is safe?” Fluttershy asked, casting an uneasy glance at the spell in the book. “Convincing him to reform is one thing, but forcing him to is another.”
“Fluttershy, look at your house,” Spike said, pointing up above at her abode. “It’s not even situated to the ground anymore! How else can we get Discord to stop this, because as far as any of us can see, nothing is changing!”
“Hey, I can change just fine,” Discord said from the doorway, waiting until the house spun back around for him to see them so he can add on, “and I’m already reforming wonderfully by Fluttershy’s expert hoof, thank you very much.”
“Yeah, sure does look wonderful,” Twilight said as she glared at Discord, nodding her head to the still spinning house.
Discord looked back, shrugged, then with a snap of his fingers returned to the hole it made in the earth. Roof first, anyways. “See? Problem solved.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, not problem solved. None of our problems will be solved until you learn to change!”
“Into what, specifically?” Discord asked her with a raised brow, leaning on Fluttershy’s head while the pegasus winced. “You never really were clear on what I would have to change to be considered reformed.”
“Well, for starters, stop being so chaotic all the time,” Twilight replied, holding her hoof out to show the upside down cottage. “And using your magic for good instead of… this.”
“Ah, but you see, that’d be impossible,” Discord pointed out, leaning closer to Twilight with a hand raised to his face so he can whisper to her, “because I am chaos itself. Spirit and all that razzle dazzle. So I can’t stop being chaotic, because then I’d stop being me.”
“Then can you at least tone it down?”
Discord chuckled, pinching Twilight’s cheek much to the unicorn’s chargin. “Would you tone down being a nagging critic all the time then? I can only change when you do the same.”
“Can’t everypony just get along?” Fluttershy asked, scooting under from Discord’s elbow digging into her head.
“You heard her, Twilight. Everypony needs to get along.” Discord pointed both his thumbs at himself with a smug grin. “But I’m a Draconequus, so I don’t count. Now, do try to be more considerate to me in the future.”
“I would if you acted good every once in a while,” Twilight snapped backed, her patience running low with Discord.
“But what is good?” Discord asked, holding out his hands by his side in question. “How can you properly stick a label like good to anything, when the term itself is so subjective?”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, raising her brow.
“Well, according to you ponies, good means order and law,” Discord gagged, his snake like tongue rolling out a couple of feet. “Seriously, you ponies just can’t handle anything that is unknown or uncontrollable.”
“That’s not true,” Twilight protested, until Discord shushed her with a claw poking her muzzle.
“Oh, but it is!” Discord said, flicking Twilight’s nose as he chuckled a bit. “Celestia and Luna control the sun, dictating the days themselves. The pegasi control the clouds, making them masters over weather and even mother nature! Heck, the ponies in this town even change the seasons by themselves!” Nudging Fluttershy with his shoulder, Discord winked. “And do I even have to remind you about how Fluttershy here takes care of animals? To the point where I’m betting them now have to depend on her and can’t live in the wild by themselves.”
“So? What’s your point?”
Discord snapped his fingers, this being one of the rare times that nothing magical happened from the action. “So, how can I be good when I’m supposed to be chaos? What, I become orderly yet chaotic at the same time? So then I’m chaotic order? Isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron?” Discord asked, tapping Twilight’s forehead. “Or some type of moron, anyways.”
“Hey, now you’re just being rude,” Twilight said while slapping away his hand, but Discord merely rolled his eyes at her statement.
“No, I’m being honest. And to think one of your own should already be doing that job.”
Twilight groaned under her breath and facehoofed with a loud smack. Fluttershy flew to her side and offered a supportive hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Please, Twilight, it’ll be alright. Discord assured me that he’ll reform, so just give it some more time.”
Discord looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder and stuck his tongue out at Twilight, wagging his hands on either side of his face.
“Somehow I highly doubt that,” Twilight said, eyelids drooping at Discord’s behavior.
“Then we should just use the spell on him then,” Spike suggested, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s worth a shot.”
“Oh, you mean this spell?” Discord asked, wagging the spell’s page he held in his fingers at the group. Crumbling it in a ball and popping it in his mouth, he hungrily chomped it up and swallowed, licking his fingers in content. “That reforming spell I meant to get rid of. Too bad. I’m sure it would’ve worked.”
Twilight’s face broke out in small smirk as Discord started laughing with malicious glee. “Actually, Discord, I already memorized the spell.” Discord immediately stopped his chuckles, staring back down at Twilight with wide eyes, her horning already inflamed with light from her magic building up. “Time to see if it works!”
With a magical blast the spell was activated, forming itself into a ball of magic that struck Discord on his elongated belly. It immediately was absorbed into his body, a brief wave of purple light passing over himself. Everyone stared with intent at Discord, no obvious changes yet visible on his freakish form.
Discord scratched his armpit, bringing his claw up to take a whiff at his body odor. “Was something supposed to happen, or did you just screw up?”
“B-but I followed the spell exactly,” Twilight stuttered, tapping the side of her head. “I did a perfect execution of it as well. Why isn’t it working?”
“Ha, I knew it’d be hack!” Discord laughed, pointing his finger at Twilight’s as he fell on his back. “And you call yourself the Element of Magic! Princess Celestia’s personal student! As if! You’re nothing more than a–”
Suddenly, Discord dropped down to the ground, out cold in an instant as he face fell right into the dirt. Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike stared at his body, then at one another, then at the body again, the only sign Discord was even alive was the fact he was breathing.
“Um… this isn’t good, right?” Fluttershy asked, hesitantly going to Discord’s side to nudge his shoulder.
Chaos. Beautiful and unblissful chaos. How it perpetuated his mind with thoughts abound with an incoherent mess of conflicting notions and views. Change this, alter that, just flip the entire world on its head for his demented glee. Oh, how it put a smile to his face.
Discord had always been like this. Before he could remember, or bother to recall, he was chaos incarnate of itself and everything related to it. Disharmony, war, confusion, wickedness and uncertainty of all things peaceful or nice. This was what made Discord Discord. And he loved every second of it.
Even when trapped in stone he never changed. Always chaotic, always willing to tip the scales of balance from harmony to his own favor. Even Fluttershy’s greatest efforts would amount to nothing as long as he was still in control and free.
But he wasn’t in control now. He wasn’t free. He was…
Transforming.
Something was in his mind. Crawling in his brain like a invascious insect that knew just where to scuttle. He vaguely knew why it was here. Twilight caused it. The reforming spell. It worked.
And it was continuing to work on his consciousness. Worming its way into his thoughts, invading his personal space with its clinging grip. He couldn’t remove it or even get it to budge, it completely overwhelmed his mental defenses as it defiled his very being. His conscious shivered in dread when the spell took advantage of his thoughts.
He fought, of course. Fought bitterly, savagely, ferociously to the very end, but it was like throwing rocks at a brick wall. Not a dent was made against its imposing takeover of his mind. All he could do was resist pathetically as he was completely overtaken.
It first began with his memories. As lacking as they were, they were being completely converged into a whirlpool of magical energies where at the other end they shot forth as something… different. Him being chaotic, ruling Equestria under an iron fist, destroying the fundamentals of harmony for his own twisted vision of how the world should be ruled, all of it changed. The bits and pieces of his memories that involved anything related to that was quickly destroyed and replaced with order, harmony, being nice, and just cute and colorful images of kittens.
He’d have prefered to be left an empty shell. Anything but this. Anything but the memories that made him Discord being thrown off the table to be hastily replaced with… with… this. It wasn’t right. It was like he was just some bookshelf being restocked with the old books thrown in the trash and burned, while the newer selection was something he didn’t even agree with.
If it had ended there, maybe, just maybe, he would’ve been able to handle it. The spell couldn’t change his personality, the fundamentals of what made him him.
Oh how wrong he was.
With a sharp tug it pulled out his very being from the confines of his mind. Without it, he was naked, more vulnerable mentally than he ever could be physically. He was just a barely conceived representation of his own personality, and it was here that Discord realized how truly helpless he was. Sure, he wasn’t the nicest of guys, but to be truly regarded as evil was pushing the letter. But no matters how big or robust or even ego driven he was like before in his body, out here, in this mental prison where his thoughts were slowly deteriorating inside his mind, Discord was truly powerless.
He tried to crawl away or escape, but how could he? He couldn’t leave his own mind, much less fight back against the spell that was now reworking his thought process in its own image. Soon it set its sights on him directly, trapping him down as it forced itself upon his mental person.
Struggle all he could, it was a useless fight. He couldn’t bend reality to his will here. The spell took away his will. All he could manage was to watch with horror as the spell did its job.
First it got rid of his egotistical side. Humbleness was best, to better promote kindness and generosity. He no longer thought of himself as the best or someone who was powerful and better than others. Now he was content to only be helpful, to put others before himself and care about another’s well being before himself.
Then came the part of him that mischievous and a trickster. Why not put better effort into being considerate and nice? No need to misguide others with his magic. Pranks weren’t necessary, but servicing his magical talents for the greater good was a much better option.
Arrogance was a thing of the past. The new Discord didn’t need that. Why not try being an individual of affection and kindheartedness instead? There are others who are better at certain things than he was at, so what better way to celebrate their talents than to encourage them to their fullest abilities?
This went on for some time, Discord changing through the reformation process each step of the way. His thoughts were mended to the reform’s way of thinking. His personality forced to become what the reform spell deemed worthy. Every part of himself, from his conscious to his unconscious and every other corner of his mind was slowly transformed by what the reform spell deemed to be good.
At first Discord was terrified at what was happening to him. His entire being that was related to being Discord was falling away underneath his feet and altered to what a reform spell deemed worthy. It was brutal, it was totally against his will and he fought metaphorical tooth and claw to desperately make it stop.
Eventually, however, he learned to love it.
The swirling black cloud that used to be his mind was finally uplifted by a backdraft of clarity that was the reforming spell. No longer did his thoughts stray into the wicked or wrong. Now he was good. Now he cared about others. Now he wanted to use his magic to be helpful to others. Now he wanted to be the best that he can be so that others would love him as much as he loved them.
Just this entire new feeling made Discord feel ecstatic. For the first time ever, he wanted to be good. Sure, it took a bit of convincing and a forceful push, but now that he was out of the valley of darkness he had inhabited for so long and on the hill of light that the reforming spell had placed him on, he could finally see for miles around at the unending possibilities the world now held for him.
The first being to share his new way of mind with everyone in the entire world. Everyone should be like how he is now. No longer would there be quarreling. No longer would pointless bickering and meanness exist in the world. From now to forever, everyone will be happy. Everyone will think like he thinks.
And he’ll be damn sure to assure that everyone had a smile as wide as his when he was done with them.
“It is good,” Discord interrupted Fluttershy, grasping her hoof suddenly in his claw. Twilight and Spike stepped back in shock while Fluttershy stared wide eyed at her hoof trapped in Discord’s grip.
Discord lifted his head up from the dirt, turning his head to gaze upon the group. His smile was unnaturally wide, even for him, with his eyes having a glazed over to them that made it seem he wasn’t even looking directly at you.
“D-Discord, are you okay?” Fluttershy squeaked, her hoof trembling in his hand.
Glancing back sharply at Fluttershy, Discord only smiled, releasing her hoof. “Why, of course, Fluttershy. Never better.”
“Are you sure? You look kind of… strange,” Spike noted, grimacing as Discord’s immense grin.
“Well, I have changed. But it is not my outward appearance that has taken a turn for the best. Rather, it is what is inside me that has changed for the better.”
“So the reform spell was a success?” Twilight asked, taking a hopeful step forward.
Discord nodded, smile never leaving his face. “Quite so. I am a new person thanks to you. I am finally good, instead of the evil I used to be before.”
“Wait, how do we know this isn’t just some trick?” Spike asked, going by Twilight’s side to glare at Discord’s creepily grinning mug.
Discord snapped his fingers, Fluttershy’s house instantly returning upright and normal. “I assure you two, I am now fully and truly reformed.” Discord spread his arms wide, boasting a grin so wide his face threatened to burst at the seams. “I have been enlightened beyond belief! For so long I have been trapped in the darkness, I am now revered in the light! Forgo the times of chaos, and welcome the never ending rule of harmony! May harmony rule over each and every one of our lives in its immaculate glory!”
“Um… yeah, okay then,” Twilight muttered, everyone taking a few steps away from the reformed Spirit of Chaos. “That’s just… wonderful, I guess.”
“It’s better than wonderful!” Discord replied, leaning incredibly close and trespassing Twilight’s comfort zone. “I am a brand new Discord! Completely rechanged for the better! How can I ever thank you?”
“You just being happy is all the thanks I need,” Twilight said, backing away slowly as she crossed the bridge to make a hasty retreat.
“Oh yes, I am most definitely happy!” Discord said, holding Fluttershy in a tight, one-armed grip. Fluttershy in turn winced at the sharp tug on her neck, but smiled nonetheless. Discord waved goodbye to a rapidly retreating Twilight and Spike, calling out, “So, so happy!”
“Sheesh, was yesterday weird or what?” Spike asked, opening the front door to the library.
Twilight followed close behind, closing the door behind herself and nodding her head. “Agreed. I never knew the reforming spell would that quick and profound effect on him. It took less than ten seconds for it to change him.”
“I still think he may have been lying,” Spike said, walking along Twilight’s side down the street.
Twilight shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. There’s no guarantee that it would’ve worked on someone like him. But we can only hope, right?”
“I guess,” Spike reluctantly agreed. “When we’re at Fluttershy’s cottage, we’ll probably see for ourselves then whether it worked or not.”
The pair continued to make their way down the streets of Ponyville. Strangely enough, the streets were abandoned, the normally bustling streets filled with ponies empty. It wasn’t too early for no one to be out, and at least a couple of ponies should be converging near the market or going about their daily business. But still, nothing.
“Weird how quiet town is, right?” Spike asked.
Twilight gulped, nodding her head slightly as her eyes scanned desperately for a sign of movement of any sort. “Yeah. Where do you think everypony went?”
"Maybe a festival is going on?" Spike guessed.
“Maybe. I’m not sure. Somepony would’ve told us if there was a festival or ceremony of some sort. This just feels… weird.”
But since Twilight nor Spike had anything else to go on, they continued down the town streets until they reached the border of Ponyville leading up to the Everfree Forest and Fluttershy’s cottage. All throughout their short trip a dreaded silence hung over the pair, adding onto the bleak desolate nature the town now took upon itself with no inhabitants.
“Man, it’s like a ghost town back there,” Spike said, pointing his thumb back at the abandoned town.
“Let’s just hope there aren’t any real ghosts around,” Twilight said, walking over the bridge to finally arrive at Fluttershy’s front door. Knocking on the wooden door, Twilight called out, “Fluttershy, are you in here? How is Discord doing?”
The door opened immediately the second Twilight’s hoof hit the wood, her hoof reaching out to air before Twilight realized nothing was there. Opening the door wide with an even wider smile on her face was Fluttershy, the normally timid pegasus seemingly eager to greet her friend.
“Why yes I am, Twilight,” Fluttershy replied, her voice showing no signs of the usual stutter or quietness. “And Discord is doing quite fine, ever since you fixed him yesterday.”
“Yeah, well, I’d like to see that for myself,” Twilight responded, glancing over Fluttershy’s shoulder to take a look inside. Twilight’s pupils shrunk at the sight before her. “F-Fluttershy, are your animals a-alright?”
“They are doing quite fine, Twilight,” Fluttershy answered in her monotone voice, seeming to never blink as she kept her eyes sorely focused on Twilight. This strange look appeared on each on of Fluttershy’s animals as well. The bunnies, the squirrels, the birds and every other animals friend to the pegasus were all gazing intently at Twilight with that creepy face Fluttershy was now sporting. “Thank you ever so much for asking. You’re always so considerate.”
“Fluttershy, what’s happening?” Twilight asked, taking a step back with Spike holding onto her leg in fright.
“Everyone looks creepy,” Spike said, glancing over Twilight’s back and instantly regretting it at the numerous faces of buggy eyes and perky grins.
“Oh, no, we’re not creepy at all,” Fluttershy said, stepping closer. Twilight and Spike just backpedaled further, not daring to stand too close to Fluttershy. “We’ve just been enlightened.”
“Enlightened?” Spike and twilight asked.
Fluttershy spread her hoof over herself and animals. “We have born anew and shown the light of good. No wicked thought or evil deed dwells in our heart. We are finally pure and truly at harmony.”
“Wait… did Discord do this to you guys?” Twilight guessed, remembering how Discord went on about yesterday. Groaning, Twilight shook her head and said, “I knew he was acting weird… or at least weirder than normal. The spell must not have worked, and now he’s brainwashing people again!”
“Quite the contrary, Twilight, the spell worked perfectly,” Discord said, standing directly behind Twilight and Spike. The duo nearly jumped out of their skin, turning instantly to gaze upon the horrific visage of Discord’s beaming face leaning in close. “Fluttershy speaks the truth. They are now reformed, just as I have.”
“They’re not reformed, Discord! You just brainwashed them like you did with me and my friends the first time we met!” Twilight shouted at Discord while pointing an accusing hoof at him.
Discord just shook his head, though his ever present smile never left his face. “It’s not brainwashing, Twilight. I just used the reforming spell you used on me.” Discord reached down his throat and pulled out a wet, wadded up ball of paper. Squeezing out any extra saliva and flicking the paper open, the spell can still be seen on the crumbled up page. “And voilà, instant reformation for however many ponies I please to use it on.”
Twilight stared horrified at the page. “B-but you just can’t do that!”
“Why? You used the spell on me.”
“That’s because you needed the spell! You were evil!”
Discord chuckled, a glint appearing in his eye. “Yes, I will admit I was evil. And so were Fluttershy and everyone else in town. But just look at them now.” Discord snapped his fingers, the entire population of ponies in Ponyville instantly appearing behind him. Every mare and stallion shared the same frightening smile and wide eyed look, even Twilight’s friends Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack standing front and center. “Not a frown in the entire crowd.”
Twilight was stunned for several seconds, unable to reconnect her jaw with her mouth to make coherent words. When she was finally able to utter a sentence, she had to resist screaming. “D-Discord, what h-h-have you done?”
“I made them good!” Discord said, spreading his arms wide to better show the scope of his work among the Ponyville population. “No longer will chaos prevail! Only good shall stand!”
“Only good shall stand!” everypony in the crowd repeated simultaneously, not a single one of them missing a beat.
“This is madness! None of you were evil or chaotic!” Twilight said.
Spike scooted closer to Twilight, holding onto her side. “Twilight, I’m scared. What’s wrong with everypony?”
“There’s nothing wrong. Wrong is chaotic, so that shall no longer stand,” Discord said. “Only right shall be allowed. And you’d be wrong in thinking that they all were pure good, Twilight. They all had evil in their hearts. Jealousy, vanity, stubbornness, insanity, timidness. All flaws in harmony that are considered chaotic. So they were taken away, much like my own flaws, until only pure harmony stood.”
Twilight put a hoof up to her temple, unable to discern the events quickly taking pace before her. “No, no, no, no, no! This is wrong! Discord, these ponies weren’t evil! They didn’t deserve to have the reforming spell used on them!”
“Then what about me?” Discord asked, laying a hand on his chest. “If I deserve to be reformed, then everyone deserves to be reformed as well. This blessing you granted me, Twilight, is more glorious than anything I have ever experienced. And now I want to share this experience with the entire world.”
“The entire world? You can’t be serious?”
“Oh, but I am.” Discord snapped his finger. “Spike can attest to that.”
“It’s true, Twilight,” Spike said by her side, smiling back up at her just like all the others. “He’s going to turn the entire world into harmony.”
Twilight fell backward, crawling away from Spike and the rest of her friends. If they even were her friends anymore. She couldn’t tell one from the other, their smiles melding their faces into one. They all acted the same, smiled the same, and if Discord was right about using his reforming spell, thought the same as well. If they were all ‘good,’ then they must all be the same type of good. Meaning one wouldn’t be different than the other. All of them were basically exact copies mentally wise now.
“Discord, p-please… don’t do this,” Twilight begged. “I-I’m sorry for what I did to you, okay? I’m sorry! Just please don’t do this!”
“Oh, but it must be done,” Discord said, walking slowly towards Twilight with his hands behind his back and his neck bent downward to he was eye to eye with her. “Harmony cannot exist properly with chaos. Everything must be controlled. Order must stand. There foundations of chaos shall fall under the power of reformation. And you, Twilight…” Discord was now inches away from her, lifting her chin up so she stared directly into his eyes, “will join us.”
Twilight squinted hard, tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes. “No… please, no. I don’t want this.”
“At first I didn’t either,” Discord said in a sympathetic tone, patting her head with a gentle hand in support. “But then I was shown the light of goodness. I just want to spread that light to everyone else in the world. Is that so wrong?”
“Yes! It’s wrong to force this upon everyone.” Twilight hacked out a sob, opening her eyes a twinge to see her friends. They were soon becoming unrecognizable. The same in appearance as well as in mind. “You just can’t make everyone the same! They need to have a choice!”
“What happened to my choice?” Discord asked, squeezing slightly harder on Twilight’s chin. “If I couldn’t decide, no one else can. If I’m to be like this, everyone else will as well. Choice is useless in the name of harmony. All will be one, and one will be all, whether they like it or not.”
“Whether they like it or not,” the crowd of same thinking ponies said, thousands of pairs of eyes staring down at Twilight as she huddled up in her corner.
Twilight held her hooves over her head, breaths coming in quick gulps of air she couldn’t control. Everything was escalating too quickly. Her friends were no longer in their right minds, Discord was planning to turn the entire world into his own twisted image, and she had no hope in stopping him.
Strange how things came to a full circle, no?
Except this time she didn’t have a bunch of letters to make things better. But she still had magic.
Her horn started to glow, spell already on the front of her mind as she prepared it for use. Discord in turn just smiled wider, slowly backing away as she stood before her with arms wide open, almost as if he was enticing her to use the spell on himself, no holding back.
“Go ahead, Twilight. You can’t re-reform me!” he said with a slight chuckle at the end of his statement.
Twilight’s eyes drooped, fresh tears spilling as she knew this was true. She couldn’t reverse the effects of the spell. Discord was permanently reformed, whether she or he liked it or not.
“Twilight, just give up,” Discord spoke, Twilight’s horn still glowing with magic as the spell begged to be released. “You can’t fight it. Harmony always prevails, as you know so well. I’d prefer it if you joined willingly, but really–” Discord’s smile grew so large that it overtook his very expression, “–what choice do you have?”
Sniffling, Twilight wiped a hoof across her face, staring straight at the ground instead of Discord’s nightmarish visage. “None. There was never a choice in the first place.”
And with that, Twilight looked up at Discord, smiling just as wide as him. Her horn was no longer glowing with magic. She was with harmony now, just like everyone else.
“So good to have you, Twilight,” Discord spoke, looking back over the population of Ponyville that had been changed to fit his new bright and glorious vision. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
