The Laughing Statue

"You seem to be a mare short, Twilight Sparkle." Nightmare Moon said, cackling as she prepared to strike the final blow.

Twilight quivered as she looked around, her recently acquired friends staying relatively hidden behind her, attempting to use her as a shield from Nightmare Moon.

They shook as Nightmare moved and darkness began to engulf her horn. Shadows gathered at the corner of the room, slowly encroaching upon them as they stood petrified. Time growing ever shorter, Twilight turned to her friends.

"Okay, girls, we might be short an Element, but we still have enough to show Nightmare Moon that she shouldn't mess with us!" Twilight shouted out. A faint chorus of hopeful cheers met her, as her friends moved to once again stand by her side, no longer hiding in her shadow. With a little cheer of her own, she once again tried to call upon the power of the Elements.

Twilight and her friends found themselves lifted into the air, any shock they may have felt dulled by the soothing glow of the aura that now surrounded them. As they began to pulsate, Nightmare Moon looked on, no fear evident upon her face, softly laughing to herself as she took in the desperation of the mares, a heavy thud took her by surprise though, and looking around she found that a statue of a familiar foe had appeared nearby. A twitch forming in her eye, she stared at it.

The statue, which now seemed to be crumbling, was enveloped in the same energy that was radiating from the bearers. Nightmare tried to scramble away, but was unable to escape as a rainbow-colored beam came rushing toward her. She shrieked as she was consumed in the multicolored glow.

Twilight and the others gently fell to the ground, landing on their hooves as they took a collective sigh of relief. The girls took stock of their situation. Any thoughts of celebration were quickly cut off as a groaning sound grabbed their attention. Looking around, they spotted the statue that had distracted Nightmare Moon.

No longer a statue, a creature was raising itself from the stone remains, groaning and grunting with evident pleasure at once more being able to move. Cautiously, the girls looked over the strange beast that had joined them. The first thing they noticed was the sheer oddness of it, seeming to be a mismatch of creatures, with a serpentine body, a talon and a paw, and two mismatched wings, all connecting to the head of a rather nasty looking pony.

After the immediate surprise faded, looks of disgust were shared between them as they took in its visage. Twilight was first to regain her bearings, shaking off the expression of confusion and distaste from her muzzle.

"I've seen you before!" she exclaimed, drawing its attention to her.

The mares shook as the creature's gaze fell upon them, its eyes, yellow with pupils of red, studying them intently. After a few moments, it spoke, voice clearly identifying him as a male.

"Oh? Have you? Well, I've seen you, Twilight Sparkle, so close to Celestia. But never had I suspected that she would send you out to tie up her loose ends; I always assumed you were some kind of pet," he drawled, voice raspy. His bored gaze shifted to his own body as he began examining the necklace that had appeared around him.

Twilight looked on, staring as the beast ignored her. "What are you?" she asked.

"I am Discord, king of Equestria!" he shouted, a dramatic flourish of his paw emphasizing his words. Seeing the confused looks upon the faces of the mares, his face, a thing that spoke of horrors unknown to the world, morphed into one reflecting sadness. "It is a terrible thing. That Celestia has apparently kept hidden the joys I once spread across the land. Allow me to enlighten you."

Discord snapped his fingers, gasping loudly as nothing happened. Eyes widening, he continued to snap them, frantically mumbling to himself about being a bit rusty.

"Just ignore him dear, the beast is clearly mad," Rarity said, coming forward and standing next to Twilight, she scoffed as Discord continued his antics. "The Princess will deal with him. Although, he seems rather distracted anyway." Indeed, Discord kept manically snapping his fingers, looking increasingly desperate as he did so.

Twilight was about to respond, but was cut off as a beam of golden light went flying toward Discord, before dissipating harmlessly upon contact with a wing. Looking around for the source of the beam, Twilight found that the Princess had appeared at the window of the castle, but was surprised to find a steely expression on her face, with her horn pointed toward Discord.

Celestia sighed, raising her horn. Giving a glare to Discord, she spotted Twilight and quickly made her way over, occasionally shifting her gaze to Discord, who had taken notice of the ray that had hit him and was now snapping his fingers even more frantically.

"What happened?" she said, looking at Discord as he stared back at her, their faces bearing mirror images of hatred. "What is Discord doing here?"

"I don't know!" Twilight said. "We just... we tried to call the elements," she looked over at Discord, her attention being caught by the necklace he wore. A quick glance showed similar attire on her friends.

"We all have these necklaces now... I guess he's the the bearer of Laughter?" she offered a sheepish grin. Celestia looked at Twilight briefly, before her eyes moved upward and focused on the tiara that Twilight wore. Eventually, she lowered her gaze and began to speak.

"That's not good," she said, sighing as she carried on. "Discord is a draconequus, he was a tyrant who placed Equestria in a state of perpetual unrest before I turned him to stone with the power of the elements, a method we may have trouble employing again. At the very least, he seems to be unable to use magic," A grin came across Celestia's muzzle.

Twilight studied Discord, watching as he continued his frantic actions. Turning to the princess, she found that Celestia had left her and made her way over to where Nightmare Moon once stood. The attention of the party drifted to their ruler, gasps coming from them as Celestia poked at a small blue filly that had escaped their notice.

"Is that Nightmare Moon again?" Applejack asked, straightening herself as she slowly prepared to fight again.

Discord, who had given up snapping his fingers, laughed, grabbing Applejack's attention. "That's the name she goes by? You can relax, you did a good enough job weakening Luna that Celestia won't have much trouble finishing her off. Although, anyone who takes a name like that deserves it," a slow, cynical laugh escaped him, causing his companions to flinch.

Discord was proven wrong in his prediction, as Celestia nuzzled the filly, who was now profusely apologizing to the white mare. Once finished, a few more hushed words passed between them and Celestia approached the mares once more, Luna following closely behind her, cowering from behind Celestia.

"Twilight Sparkle," she said as the mares bowed to her, before quickly rising at Celestia's bidding. "Forgive me, but I'm not familiar with the rest of you yet. Anyway... This is my sister, Luna."

She gestured to the filly behind her, who seemed to be too busy using her sister as a shield against Discord to properly greet them. Celestia, unfazed, continued to explain. "Using the Elements seem to have had unforeseen effects. Somehow, Discord was released from his prison."

"Stop being such a bore," Discord interrupted, attempting to circle around Celestia to get closer to Luna, who was doing her best to avoid him, whining as she ran from him. "I got this necklace, just like the rest of them." He started to pose, puffing his chest out to show the necklace off, grinning widely as Celestia growled. "Clearly, I'm part of the friendship club now."

Celestia rolled her eyes, sighing. "Yes, unfortunately, Discord seems to be immune to magic and unable to use it himself. This does leave us with a problem; The only solution I can think of is to keep him close to the Elements at all times." She looked apologetically at Twilight. "I'm sorry Twilight, but, for the time being, I think it would be best if you stay in Ponyville with the other bearers."

"Oh, that's okay, if you think it's for the best," Twilight chirped, looking back at the mares she had befriended.

"Well then, let's go back to Ponyville. No point to staying here," Celestia said.

When the group reached Ponyville, they quickly found that Pinkie Pie, with seeming precognition, had organized a party celebrating the return of Twilight and the others. Once a large enough group of ponies gathered around the Princesses, Celestia grabbed their attention and made an announcement.

"Ponies of Ponyville! Nightmare Moon has been defeated! My sister, Luna will now be ruling alongside me, as she once did, a thousand years ago." She gestured to Discord, the cheers of the ponies quickly turning to confusion as they took notice of the Draconequus. "This is Discord, he was found in the forest and will be living in Ponyville for some time. "

As the group of ponies dispersed, heading off to celebrate the avoidance of eternal night, Discord chose not to comment on Celestia's downplaying of his achievements. He stayed with his fellow bearers as they once more gathered around Celestia, eager to see if she had anything new to add.

"You should all go enjoy the festivities now, my sister and I must get back to Canterlot." She focused her attention upon Discord as her gaze hardened, attempting to tower above him despite her unimpressive stature. "You are to stay within the borders of Ponyville for now. Twilight, if you find that he is doing anything odd, you are to send me a letter immediately." With that said, she and Luna took off, flying in the direction of Canterlot.

"Well, excellent news! I don't intend to find out what happens if I get too far from the Elements. So, who shall I be bunking with?"