My Little Discord: Chaos is Lovely

Dawn in Ponyville is always beautiful,predictable, and short. Twilight rarely wakes early enough to see it, instead preferring to stay up late studying, but today she had made an exception. Applejack had asked her to, said she needed Twilight's help with a favor.

"An' by the apples on my rump, be discrete 'bout it," she had said. "Last thing ah need is ponies in this town runnin' 'round sayin' ah cain't take care myself. This favor involves only you and I alright?"

Rather then arouse AJ's stubbornness yet again, Twilight had chosen to listen to her friend's suggestion, though the temptation was strong to lecture her friend on the virtue of not taking on more than she could handle. Twilight sighs, her eyes gazing off toward one of her books. She tries to shake off a shiver. Her face frowns and contorts. Applejack had told her that she specifically needed magical assistance, that no other pony could help her. Remembering it now makes her eyebrows furrow.

"Spike, why wouldn't Applejack tell me what her job for me was? And why would she need my help? What kind of magical help could a pony like AJ possibly need? Doesn't this seem odd to you? Why so secretive?"

After not receiving a word, she shoots her eyes to Spike, who snores peacefully.

"Oops. Sorry big guy," she whispers. "Well, I'm off. Don't wait up for me."

A quick sideways smile, and a gentle adjustment of Spike's blanket, and Twilight is out the door. A thick fog outside immediately envelopes Twilight. She purses her lips and slows her pace. The warm wall of cloud makes breathing difficult, and sight even worse.

"Rainbow dash!" She calls. "Dash! Where are you? ...What's with the fog?"

No answer. Twilight considers the time of day. Dash awake this early? Unlikely. Still, the oddity of the fog drags Twilight out of her morning sluggishness. The rhythm of her walking is cautious and deliberate. She uses her horn to light her way, but it helps little. Even with the light, she can only barely see the pathway beneath her feet. In the fog, the light practically blinds her. She walks with one hoof outstretched in front of her, like a blind pony searching for the crosswalk. The thick fog almost chokes her. She follows the path forward, searching for any kind of landmark to show she is still moving in the right direction. Her eyes begin darting, as the knowledge that she could be going the wrong way begins to dawn on her. All she can see is the road, but she cannot see which way she is going. She doesn't recognize anything, not in the fog. Immediately, Twilight's thoughts drift.

What if this is some serious problem? Why would Applejack ask her to be discreet? Why magic? And what if this fog is actually...connected to it?

Twilight gasps, half scaring herself with the sound.

Applejack has a serious, magic-related problem, and I'm not going to get there in time to help her, all because of this stupid fog! Whatever is causing her problem might have even put this fog here to slow me down!

With a withered face, Twilight again turns her attention toward finding a recognizable landmark, though her previous morning serenity is now destroyed. Her head turns left and right like a bloodhound that lost its scent. At long last, her face is close enough to see a house. She looks closer and recognizes it as the Sugarcube Corner. A flood of relief washes over her. From the Cakes, it's just a straight shot down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight turns her eyes back down to bloodhound mode and again follows the road, moving quicker this time. The sight of a shadow in the distant fog halts her.

"Princess Celestia?" Twilight calls. No answer returns to her, and the shadow disappears back into the fog. Of course it wasn't her. It couldn't be her. Celestia would be getting ready to raise the sun right about now. She wouldn't be wandering aimlessly around Ponyville in a fog for no reason. But still. The shadow was unmistakable. It was her outline, down to the hair that flows without wind.
Twilight follows the path again, this time more quickly. The shadow re-emerges. "Celestia? Celestia!" The shadow slows a little, and Twilight slowly catches up. "Yes, my little pony?" Twilight hears Celestia's voice. As Twilight finally catches up to her mentor, she calls out, "Celestia, Why are you here? Aren't you usually raising the sun at this time?"

"Oh no, the voice replies, I decided to stop doing that. I think I'm going to take up music instead. I've always felt in my heart that I'd make a good entertainer, and politics are oh so tiring."

Twilight forgets the fog. "...Celestia?"

She is interrupted by a raspy, familiar laughter.

"Discord! How? I mean? What?"

With a snap of his fingers, the fog in a small circle around them disperses. In front of her stands Discord with all his various parts, but contorted into the outline of Princess Celestia. "Oh miss Sparkle, you truly are a joy to watch. The look on your face, hahaha! Priceless. As you can see, I've been practicing my yoga."

"Discord? What are you doing here?"

"Oh Twilight, you're all business, just like your mentor. You need to stop being so straight to the point and learn to enjoy the journey once in a while."

"Well, whatever reason you're here, I need to visit AJ. I'll leave you to...I don't know, do whatever it is that gods of chaos do."

Discord's eyes narrow and his pupils widen. "You mean cause chaos?"

"I hope not. Or if you do, it better be harmless."

"Oh, I can do harmless, Miss Sparkle. Irritating? Yes. Frustrating? But of course. Life changing and necessary for growth? That's all me. But yes...harmless."

"What are you on about now?"

"Oh you'll find out shortly, but I'll leave you for now. Tata, my little pony."

With a snap of his fingers, Discord disappears once again into the ether, leaving Twilight to wonder if he is somehow connected to the fog or AJ's favor. She walks with even greater haste to the orchard, watching that she doesn't hit anything.

The fog begins to thin out as Twilight reaches the orchard. She knows because she recognizes the familiar smell of the orchard, the slightly sweet smell coming from the apples, mixed with the slightly noxious smell of farm animals. Before she even gets near the outside fence she hears AJ calling to her from inside the barn.

"Twilight, hurry! I need yer help! Ya gotta git here quick!"

Twilight breaks into an all-out dash.

"Don't worry AJ. I'm coming! I have no idea what is going on, but I'm coming."

"Thank goodness yer here Twilight," AJ rubs her neck. "I'm...so sorry I had to do this to you Twilight..."

By the time she reaches the barn, Twilight is out of breath. "Oh, no worries at all, I've woken up early before you know. Now what's this all about?"

"No, not that. I'm...sorry ah had to deceive ya. Discord...he...made me. Said he'd turn mah whole family inta puppets if ah didn't do what he said."

"Wait, Discord? What did he do?"

"Look inside, and you'll see."

Inside are four ponies floating inside of little magical pink bubbles. Rainbow is charging into hers again and again, never stopping once in her attempts to break free. Pinkie is turning innocent somersaults in her bubble. Rarity is complaining about her treatment, and Fluttershy...she just sits there in quiet fury. She seems too hurt for words. Applejack walks slowly up next to Twilight and empathetically frowns.

"Doncha see, Sugarcube? It's a trap."

Twilight's wings drop. "AJ...I..."

"I'm so sorry Twilight. Please, please, please forgive me. I just didn't want to see my own kind hurt, but I didn't think he'd capture our friends. I shoulda known better."

"It's alright, Applejack. We all thought Discord had changed for the better. I guess I should have known better too."

Out of the ether, the raspy laugh again. His voice returns.

"Oh my goodness, Twilight Sparkle, the cute faces you make when you're mad! They are absolutely divine."

Discord creates a camera from thin air and photographs himself next to Twilight and Applejack. "You truly are all about the hilarious faces today."

"You shut that there trap o' yours and git to lettin' my family go, 'fore I hoof ya in the face!"

"Of course, Applejack. A deal is a deal. But stick around for a little bit. I'll need your help."

A similar bubble appears around Applejack and lifts her in the air with the others.

"I will however, give Applebloom a second tail for a while. I'm sure she'll get teased about it at school, but don't worry. It builds character. Imagine how my school days went! Why, with a little luck, she may even grow to be just like her uncle Discord."

"Why you little backstabber! Discord, when I get outtah here, yer gonna wish ya didn't mess with me."

The orange pony flings her entire self at the bubble, pushing against it with all the strength and anger of a wild boar.

"Backstabber? Oh, like you should talk, AJ. How quick were you to turn against your best friends when you found out your family was in danger? And not even real danger, just the mere danger of falling victim to one of my little pranks? Didn't think twice did you? You'd think you'd have learned your lesson from Ms. Dash over here."

Dash stops her charging and looks down. Those few words take more of the fight out of her then any punch to the gut ever could. From the other side of the barn, Fluttershy breaks her stare at the wall.

"That's low, Discord. Even for the likes of you. Even now, you still only think about yourself."

"Fluttershy, I-"

"No! Don't you Fluttershy me! Why would you do this, Discord? Why? I thought we were friends? Is this how friends treat each other?"

"Fluttershy."

"The answer is no! Friends help each other. They don't play mean tricks or threaten others or trap their friends in little pink bubbles and not let them go."

"Fluttershy...I know."

"Excuse me?" Twilight's eyes go wide and she finds herself unable to lift up her jaw."

"I know that isn't how a friend behaves, Fluttershy. But I also know that good friends listen to each other. They don't threaten to stop being friends just because they disagree about something. Good friends trust each other, and if one friend is able to see things that another friend does not, they take a leap of faith and trust them. Do you trust me, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy stares at Discord with a raised eyebrow. "But...but...how can I? After...this?"

"Of course," Discord now sits in a slump. "Oh course you're right." The chaos god breathes a deep, heavy sigh. "I'm...sorry Fluttershy...but I have to do this." With a snap of his fingers, the five ponies disappear. His body drapes over itself for a while, and he says nothing.

Twilight stares at him too, trying to make sense of an emotion she's never seen in Discord. A few moments drift by, then a few moments more.

"So... " Twilight says, "What exactly did you just do to my friends?"

The chaos god perks up his entire body, and a smirk travels across his face.

"Oh that's right! Ms. Sparkle, I got so tied up in my own thoughts that I forgot my little game with you. The long and short of it is that all of your friends now have completely different personalities, don't know who you are and live in entirely different parts of the world."

"What?"

"It's your job to bring them back. What do you say? Are you ready for a little adventure?"

"No."

"Well, it's not like you have much of a choice. If you want to see your friends again, you'll need to find them first."

"While you do what? Run amok in Ponyville and take over Equestria?"

Discord leans back in a circular fashion. "True, true...I could do that, but I think it would be more fun to follow you."

Twilight falls on her back hooves and crosses her arms. "Wait, what? You're just going to follow me around? That's all? What's your game Discord?"

"I already told you the game, Silly McSparklehooves. Now listen. This next part is important. One denies herself in a place of of beauty."

Another one of Discord's riddles. Twilight tunes him out. Really? At a time like this? A riddle? He just went from somber and depressed to this.

"One brings beauty to a place of void."

He totally made his only friend disappear into Celestia knows where and he's saying riddles like it's nothing?

"One turns backwards, sorts oranges from apples..."

None of this makes any sense, though I suppose that's his thing.

"Twilight Sparkle! Pay attention!" The stern rebuke in Celestia's voice jostles Twilight out of her thoughts. She loses her balance and falls, crashing backwards. The raspy laughter again. A long breath of air and then more laughter. "You," Another breath, "You, should have..." Two more wild breaths. "You should have seen your face. That's going in the scrapbook. Discord once again pulls the camera from nothing and takes her picture. When he pulls out the pic, the Twilight in the pic bangs on the walls to get out.

"Quiet, you! Now, where were we? That's right. I'm only going to repeat myself this one time, so listen."

Like a teacher checking on a room of unruly schoolmates, Discord Looks over at Twilight, clears his throat, and waits a few seconds.

"Now then. One denies herself in a place of beauty. One brings beauty to a place of void. One turns backwards, sorts apples from oranges. One went city bound to trade success for joy."

Discord pauses again. He leans over to Twilight and whispers. "The last one is my favorite." Discord reappears on top of the barn. "The last you'll find is closest to home but the farthest from redeeming, for the last you'll see is stubborn yet free, in a manner most unseeming. Now dear, dear Twilight, would you like that in writing? I did bring my crayons."

Twilight stops herself. "Discord, why are you doing this? Fluttershy, she trusted you."

"And she'll trust me still when this is all through. At least...I hope. In either case it's necessary. And to answer your question, you like learning. Consider this educational."

"So that's the point, to teach me? Really?" Her face drops.

"Well, I have my reasons as well, but for now we'll leave it at that. Tata!"

"Wait, I thought you were coming with me?"

"Oh? Afraid to be alone my dear Twilight? Well, Twilight, it is certainly true that I am going with you, but you see, you're more fun to watch when you forget I'm here. Also, I forgot my popcorn."

With that, Discord disappears, leaving Twilight confused and alone in the fog. She has a plethora of unanswered questions, Was it a trick or a trap? Should she talk to Princess Celestia? Where does she need to go? She decides to sits down on a tree stump, relax, and takes a breath. For once, Discord doesn't intervene.