Discordant Harmonyby Three-Patch-ProblemChaptersPrologue: TransitioningOne: A Most Discordant Return Two : The BargainingPrologue: TransitioningI don't remember what I was doing that day. We had just moved to Ponyville, after my father died in the Everfree forest when we lived in Manehattan where Dad worked as a lumberjack. Ponyville had been around for about thirty-five years. We moved into a small cottage outside the forest, because that was cheapest. It was an old two-story house, with a roof that hung low and blue shutters that always creaked at night, the pipes leaked and the paint that was supposed to be white at some time in the past, was now dirty and peeling. While my mum unpacked the boxes, I explored the trees outside our garden, there was something about plants that made me feel calm and serene. My sense of adventure peaked at the age of ten. Well, and I heard crying, so I ran deeper into the forest to find out where it was coming from. My hoof got caught in a tree limb. I tried to move it out, but it wouldn't budge. I suddenly heard rustling in the bushes several feet away from me. "Is s-s-someone there?" I asked, scared out of my mind. Why was Mom always right?! I suddenly smelled pine trees, and there I saw it. Between the bushes two cold yellow eyes stared hungrily at me, my mother had warned me about timberwolves, but I didn't believe her. Pride before a fall, I guess. It snapped it jaws at me, a low growl that matched it's freaky-looking face. Out of all the things in the world, timberwolves scared me most. My father died being eaten by them. I was only five at the time. So I stood there like a deer in headlights. An odd rain fell from pink clouds, this didn't distract the wolf, it drew closer. The weirdest creature I'd ever seen appeared right in front of me in a flash of light. It had a head of a pony, and a body made of all sorts of appendages. It waved a black wooden sword at the beast, yelling in an odd voice. "What are you doing?" I said. "Saving your life, pony." He said with a mischievous grin. I just stood there trying to process things before he transported us. I came from a family of pegasai, I being the only unicorn in six generations, I had only seen magic like this when I went to a magic show in Manehattan. And even the best magician hadn't done this. "Are you okay?" he asked, helping me off the floor. I stared at the castle in front of us. Large, pink clouds flew around in circles above it. "Cat got your tongue?" He said producing an actual tongue, I backed away from the odd creature. "Gross! Where are we? Who in Equestria are you?" I asked. He caused us to fly into the castle. I almost screamed. It looked like an optical illusion in the books I read, tall hypnotic swirling walls twirled around us as we rose out of the floor. He stopped us from colliding into a swirling wall before producing a couch and dropping us onto the soft purple mass. He stood and bowed "Discord, Lord of Chaos, your turn." He smirked. "Silver Quill. Unicorn gardener. How old are you? I'm ten" I had bragged. He made two glasses appear. "In draconequus age, I'm about eleven. Officially I'm one hundred. Want a drink?" He gestured at the two cups that now sat on a giant cloud table. I blinked in amazement. This was the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me. "Chocolate milk please." I answered. "I had a feeling you were going to say that." And that was that. Our friendship began that day. We became best friends. I would pretend to go play in the forest, and meet him there. It was like that for years. We would play wonderful games of chaotic imagination. And every time, Discord would make me feel like a princess. I had to hide him from my Mom, always giving her an excuse of how I was gardening. In reality, I would spend time with Discord. School was the worst, but I taught Discord some of what I learned, though he would distract me with other things. When I earned my cutie mark, it was all thanks to him. I was carving a statue with my magic, and I earned my cutie mark in sculpting, though I hated sculpting, which made him burst into a fit of laughter. One day we would be knights swearing loyalty to the king (aka a tree), the next day we would pretend to be lion tamers, anything we wanted to do. But one day our days of childhood melted away, we had matured. In our early teens, we fell in love. I shared my first kiss with him, my mother wondered why I was giggling so much. We would spend nights in our castle, just staring at the stars. I would fall asleep in his arms, he always left a note for me. When I was fifteen, I fell out of a tree and hit my head on a rock, it was bleeding so much that I fainted. Discord had this worried expression on his face, he seemed in just as much pain as I was. That day, Discord made me an alicorn, now this was very painful, imagine it, you're growing wings out of your back, you're becoming immortal. It hurts like crap, it's burning, yet freezing. Anyhow, that caused a huge blast of magic and Royal guards investigated the forest and took him to the palace, they brought me to my mother and told her I had been transformed by magical radiation. I loved him, and they took him to the palace. He wrote to me, saying that he was being treated equally by King Terra and Queen Aeterna, and that their daughters were amused by him. I missed him terribly, and his letters one day stopped. That week Terra and Aeterna went to Saddle Arabia, and were killed by a small rebellion. Discord's letters came after six months. It was as if a new pony was writing. He sent me an amulet, shaped like a lollipop. He said the new regents for the Princesses had forced him to stay in the dungeon, that they had called him a freak. A few weeks later, I had gone to Canterlot on vacation. It was a gift from my mother, I had turned sixteen. A surprise came that week, an unpleasant surprise. It began with pink clouds, I thought he had gotten freedom to do what he wanted, then the roads turned to soap an the grass into butter. My mother slipped on our balcony and fell into the butter and died. I gave up that day. On my way home, I was careful and avoided the slippery stuff on the road. Soon news spread that Discord had been transformed into stone. I decided I had nothing to live for. I tried to cut my wrists once, but just as the knife hit my skin, an odd force field would surround my body, as if by magic. I tried again on several occasions, just to see if I was as invincible as I thought I was. Each time would end in failure, the shield protected me. I decided to not interact with anypony any more. I became a recluse, and only a few would enter my world. I lived in my childhood home outside of Ponyville, I built a greenhouse and grew vegetables there. I couldn't die, I was immortal. Years later, a cross-eyed mail-mare became my only connection to the outside world. She had disappeared for five years and come back pregnant. Derpy works two jobs in order to take care of little Dinky. I helped her out, let her stay at my place and took care of her during her pregnancy, she made me the godmother of Dinky. I thought I didn't like kids but Dinky was the sweetest thing. I would do anything for that filly. I taught her magic, and how to hold multiple objects without breaking concentration. Every time she got something right, she would giggle happily. She had the cutest laugh. She always made a craft at the end of the day for me. Whether it was a necklace or a macaroni heart, she would always make an extra. I read her fairy tales, and legends like Nightmare Moon, and we finished them in a week. She loved them all. Every night I would stare up at the sky, and wonder when he would appear. He always loved to make a grand entrance. He had broken my heart, and I loved him still. My parents were gone, forever. So day after day, I would just write and garden. I hoped for him to come and take me away, but then, what would Dinky and Derpy do? They would need somepony to help them, a doctor maybe. So, I adjusted to my new life, the one Discord had forced me into. I hated and loved him still. That was my life until one morning it would all change. Author's Note So I'm updating all my stories, and I thought I should work on the ones I have here. One: A Most Discordant Return One: A Most Discordant Return Discord sat in his stone prison doing what he usually did, plotting his revenge on the ponies who put him there in the first place. While most ponies thought when he was "transformed", he was stone completely, though in reality it was a shell, a magic proof shell, but a shell none the less. He had shrunk himself and created a miniature kingdom. He would create masterpieces of wonder and chaos, but what was the point if nopony was around to appreciate his genius? He created a few friends for himself, but usually they would get boring and he would destroy them, there were only a select few that remained. He hated this stone prison that kept him from bringing his beautiful mayhem on Equestria, but tonight he had a plan. He only had to wait for those pesky guards to leave. He had awaited this evening since he discovered he could escape on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. His memory was erased of everything except the two mares who had done this to him. He had tried to use a memory spell, but nothing worked. It was horrible, all his memories, every warm childhood recollection, gone in an instant. He hoped to return his memories by returning to the Everfree forest, home of his childhood castle. Celestia came by the first night after his capture and told him a summary of his life, excluding a part of a friend. After his chaotic reign of course. He would have his revenge. Or at least live comfortably, away from the princesses. Originally when he'd found out he could escape, he had wanted to escape and cause chaos instantly, but he stopped himself last minute. Celestia deserved better, especially after what she'd done to him. He knew what had happened over the years, thanks to gossiping gardeners. Dear old Tia had sent her sister to the moon, which in a thousand years, she had escaped and was transformed back into her original kind form by these six mares who now controlled the Elements of Harmony. "What a pity." Discord mumbled to himself. He had sat in his stone head, awaiting the perfect moment to make his escape. After discovering the Elements were now wielded by the six, he considered the problems that could occur with his attempt. They could use those wretched weapons of peace against him. He had thought many a night over this. He had finally decided on a plan, a brilliant plan. He would kidnap a mare, a mare from their hometown, and threaten harm, those puny ponies would bend to his will. He would keep the mare as insurance. He didn't know what he'd do with the mare, maybe put a love spell on her and turn her into a puppet. He didn't know. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." He said with a grunt. Finally the hour was right. He snapped his fingers and disappeared out of the shell and into a cave. He had decided to stay in the Smoky Mountains. He decided to start in Ponyville, appropriate, the home of that meddlesome unicorn. He snapped his fingers and transported to the City Hall. He caused the sun to go up with a wave of his hand. He made his signature cotton candy clouds appear, he caused them to multiply completely block out any and all light. He turned the roads into flowing brown rivers of chocolate milk, and the fountain to spray soft peppermint bark. He turned the grass into mashed potatoes and the houses into stacked cards. He watched with glee as the ponies ran in panicked herds, frightened by the ruin of their town. Discord cackled with glee, it was good to be back! Crash! I ran outside as the wet cards of what used to be my house crashed to the ground. My greenhouse was still in good shape, thank goodness. I ran inside, my Venus Flytrap was trying to drink the chocolate milk that leaked through the clear glass roof. This place was going insane! "Audrey Two! No!" I pulled the plant away from the chocolate that was now gushing through the roof in a waterfall. My plants would die in this weather. I thought about what I could do and an idea popped into my brain. The Castle! I thought, slowly gathering supplies in my saddlebag with magic. It was pouring outside in hard drops, or were those chocolate orbs? I strapped Audrey Two to my back after my saddlebag and slowly made my way to the back of the greenhouse. I decided to carry what I could of my plants and carry them to the old abandoned castle in the Everfree. Discord and I had gone there so many times, he hadn't destroyed it. I would be safe there. Derpy and Dinky had gone with Derpy's friend The Doctor, to apparently go on vacation or something like that. I hoped they were okay. I feared the forest, but luckily the timberwolves were currently trapped in the large patches of gum. I might have laughed had my home had not been destroyed. The path kept alternating between soapy and dirt, it was hard to concentrate on keeping my plants in my magic hold. I slid, and stopped, I soon solved the pattern to the mess. If one thing frustrated me, it was if something didn't have a pattern. And yet my romantic interest was the Lord of Chaos. Seriously, though, I could figure it out. I slipped around until I finally spotted my old fort. I trotted as fast as I could towards the play place of my youth. When I reached the old castle, I felt as if my emotions had simultaneously smacked me in the face. I felt a mixture of nostalgia and sadness and anger. The clouds were gone and the castle had sunk in a pool of chocolate milk. This piece of my childhood, destroyed of the wonder it held for me. I felt like crying, but I knew that would do nothing except dehydrate myself. Upon hearing the rabid howls of the timberwolves, Crap, they escaped. I thought as I quickly ran inside and using magic, slammed the door shut. I stayed in the main hall, the arches were moldy and the place smelled like mildew and cheese puffs. Though there was a few dry places on the floor. I pulled out a blanket and sat down, leaving my plants a few feet away from me, right where I could see them Finally I was getting organized. I searched in my saddlebag to ration my food, which turned out to be a few sandwiches and bag of crackers. I considered what was happening and how to handle this, I could just stay here and take care of my plants, but how could they survive without water, how could I survive without water. Overwhelmed with the current events, I fell asleep. WhenI woke up to find everything was... Fine. Bizarrely, not a single thing was wrong. The rain was still pounding on the roof, so not a thing had changed. The plants were fine, until I saw one moving away. "Hey get back here!" I yelled stupidly, plants, much to my dismay, couldn't talk. Then again, they weren't supposed to scoot away either. I chased after the mysterious tomato plant as it's vines grew over the sides and it went from scooting to a full sprint. I groaned and finally caught up with it, grabbing it's thin green vine. To my surprise and annoyance, it grew longer and wrapped around my front leg, curling around it in a tight spring. Another vine sprung out as I struggled with the first one, this was the weirdest plant I'd ever seen. I was wrapped on my two front legs, I pushed myself back, trying to escape the small but tough vines that were turning quickly into branches. Another two slid up my legs and four grabbed at my torso, completely covering it. I think I'd seen a movie like this the month before, but I couldn't think clearly with vines covering my every inch. I let out a scream, it had made it's way to my neck, choking me, I looked around desperately, trying to find someone to come to my aid, cursing myself in my head for choosing a secluded area, the only things around for the next fifty miles were timberwolves. My face was scratched by a sharp thorn and I felt blood run down my cheek followed by salty tears. The last thing I saw was the last thing I expected to see. Him. With his yellow and red eyes, looming over me. "Discord?!" I gasped before everything went pitch black. "So how do you do that?" The young filly asked. The draconequus smirked at his best friend. He summoned a stack of couch-less cushions. "What?" He asked. "The magic!" She said, falling from her perch on the stack of cushions. Discord quickly forced the stack under the filly just before she hit the floor. "It's something I was born with." He answered. "Why, do you want to learn?" He asked. The unicorn gasped. "That'd be awesome!" Discord summoned some targets. Silver Quill shot energy bolts, shooting everywhere but the intended targets. She frowned and sighed. Discord transported directly by her side. He placed a arm around her, causing the filly to blush. "W-What are you doing?" She asked, he stared at her with those entrancing eyes. "Concentrate on the targets." He said. She focused her attention away from the warm lion paw around her torso. "Now take a deep breath." Silver sucked in as much air as her lungs would allow. "And release." She exhaled. "Now shoot." He whispered into her ear. She blushed and felt herself feel tingly all over. And then she hit the target. Discord transported himself and the vine covered pony immediately to his palace. He'd forgotten about the vine trap in the playhouse ruins, originally put there to prevent intruders, he'd placed it several centuries ago, but over the years it had evidently grown a mind of it's own. "Alright let the pony go, Seymour." He ordered the self-aware plant, pointing a claw at the chocolate floor. The bulb shook from side to side. Discord produced a small bottle of weed killer out of thin air, it released the pony instantly. Discord made the weed killer evaporate before examining his prize. It was a mare, tall and thin, her softly curled mane was black, with pale blue and maroon highlights, long and flowing, with bangs that hung over her forehead and covered a bit of her eyes, her fur was periwinkle, most bizarre though, were her eyes, though they were closed Discord had seen her struggle, she had no irises, only dark purple pupils. She was an Alicorn, though Discord fixed that quickly by removing her horn. Her cutiemark was an obsidian rock carved into a flower. "How odd." Discord chuckled. Now that he knew what she looked like and that she was immortal, Discord had to figure out what to do with her for the time being. He could lock her in a cage, tie her up in the air, transform her into an animal, he could do anything. Though the possibilities were endless, he decided on placing her in a cage. She would be secure there, she couldn't escape and he'd be free to prepare for those pesky elements. She looked so peaceful, this one would be fun, ponies were always good for a laugh, especially reclusive ones. She'd be easy to crack, though for some reason, she seemed familiar, Discord didn't know why, but he decided to put it off and go prepare some things for the next events. He decided to prepare an invitation and snapped his fingers. It would be burped out by that dragoness secretary that always stayed by Celestia's student's side. Discord made a floating quill and scroll appear. "Hmm. What should it say?" He paced in the air. "I've got it!" He exclaimed, startling the quill into leaking a few drops of in onto the floor. "Write this." He began to dictate a short letter to the Elements inviting them for tea. "Classy, yet mischievous. Perfect." He said after sending the note. Next, on his list for preparations was to make a way to transport the stallions without hurting the or making them too suspicious, lest they find out his plans before he revealed them. Hopefully Tia's little angels wouldn't be too stupid to figure this one out. With the castle floating thirty feet in the air, the stallions would need a way to get up, he summoned nearby stones and flattened them into huge round pancake-shaped discs. He carved each element onto the stone, so that they would definitely know it was for them. He created a sign out of a duck on a stick and attached them to the north wall of the castle. He sighed at the sight of his work, this would be so much fun. He disappeared back inside and made a cloud hammock appear. He slid into the soft plushness of the cloud. He soon fell asleep, dreaming of his wonderful plan succeeding. Blissfully unaware, how this simple mare would change him for the better. Author's Note I hope y'all enjoy this, because I've worked my flank off writing this. Though it's very fun to write, I really enjoy writing Silver Quill's POV parts. More editing, this was easier because I had this saved on Notepad. I'm not using Male Mane Six, I found it hard to do. Sorry it took me so long to publish, editing is my least favorite thing to do, and I have to write the other chapters, so I hope you enjoy! Patience shall be rewarded. Two : The BargainingTwilight paced around the library. Her friends looked to her with concern, they knew how their friend could get when she was too nervous. Outside it was raining chocolate milk, and Pinkie Pie was jumping around with her tongue sticking out. Rainbow Dash dragged the reluctant mare inside the library as it began to rain anvils. Rarity groaned as Pinkie licked the chocolate off herself in a literal tornado of tongue. Spike passed out their elements. They placed them on their respective necks, and waited for Twilight to finish her muttering and pacing. As soon as she started to run down the flooring Spike placed a claw in front of her. "Sorry girls. I'm nervous. Discord hasn't done anything apart from chaos and destruction. He usually has some grand scheme." Twilight said, rubbing her hooves through her mane. The rest of the girls pulled her into a group hug. Just then, Spike barfed up a message. It floated and attached itself to Rarity's face. She reacted as anypony would, by screaming. "GET IT OFF ME!" Rarity screamed as she ran back and forth trying to get the possessed scroll off her precious purple mane. She ran around before Twilight pulled it off the screaming mare, giving her a slight smirk. She rolled her eyes and opened the scroll. My Dear Elements, I've got a little surprise at my castle. Come to negotiate. If you do, there will be cake, If not, well you enjoy chocolate rain, Don't you? Toodles, Discord "I can't believe this!" Twilight said in disbelief. Pinkie Pie stole the note away. "Me neither! It's not even raining chocolate anymore! Liar!" She said. "How do we know this isn't some sort of trap?" Rainbow said, the others nodded in agreement. "I don't know, he might be lying, but we need to trust him for now if we want things in Equestria to go back to normal." Twilight said sternly. Pinkie threw an arm around her friend. "Twilight's right. We have to go. Discord said there was a surprise!" Pinkie squealed like an excited child. The other mares looked to each other. Rainbow Dash flew up. "Okay, all in favor of going, raise your hoof." She raised her hoof. Applejack raised hers, and she was followed by almost everypony in the room, except Fluttershy. They all looked to her, she backed into the shelving. Rainbow Dash pulled her to the group, she clawed at the floor. She blushed and raised her hoof. "Good, we're all agreed. Well, let's pack a bag and try to find this castle." Twilight said. The scroll floated towards her, the back transformed into a map. Twilight seized it with her magic and placed it in her pack, the others packed their saddlebags and strapped them to their backs. Rarity had made a hat. The anvils had stopped raining down. But Twilight placed a force field over them anyway. They headed towards the Everfree Forest together. I woke up in an odd cage. My forehead burned. I reached up to touch it, and I found my horn was gone. Brilliant. I attempted to look beyond the cage, but in between the bars was this mesh wire. I was stuck in a cage, with only my wings. Great. I sat and tapped the cage floor. I waited around, continuously tapping. Last I saw, this was Discord's doing, and I knew one way to insult him. "This is typical. Place a mare in a cage. Boring." I said. The mesh disappeared. I nodded. A box appeared before me. A filly popped out. She wore a beanie, and her mane was curly and purple with white highlights, or maybe it was the other way around. The strangest part of her was her eyes, they were swirled and magenta, like a lollipop. She flew up to my cage, though she had no wings. She looked like an Earth pony. "Hi! I'm Screwball!" She said with a cheery voice. I stared. "Do you like chocolate? Why are your eyes like that? Do you like watermelon? What's your favorite color? Mine's green, or white, I love all the colors!" Screwball said. She looked at me with a discerning eye. She reminded me somewhat of Dinky, which sort of comforted me. "Well let's see, I like chocolate, my eyes are dark purple because of an effect of emergency Alicorn transformation, I like watermelon, I don't have a favorite color." Screwball's jaw dropped. "No favorite color? Do you at least like candy?" I shrugged. She screamed. She flew up to a security camera on the wall. "Daddy why did you take this mare?" She yelled into the camera. I realized she was Discord's creation. It made sense. She flew down to my cage. "Why did Daddy choose you?" She spun the cage around me. I disappeared into my mind palace, searching through my memories. "Come with me." He whispered into my ear. My body was still burning from the transformation. "Where?" I asked. He pointed to the mountains. "We could live there forever, just the two of us. You're immortal now. We could live together up there, just the two of us, for all eternity." He kissed my cheek, making me blush. "Discord, my mother would be destitute. I can't just leave her. I can't." I said as he kissed my neck. He stopped. "Well we'll have to wait until she's dead then." He said. "What?" I yelled. He shrugged. "Everypony will die one day. Except for us." He said in a matter of fact voice. "But, but." I stuttered. He placed a claw over my mouth. "I understand. You can't handle it right now. But when you're ready." He said. We kissed, I saw in the corner of my eye, his claw getting ready to snap. "What are you doing!" I yelled, he looked at me calmly. "It's not what you think." He said. I shook my head and backed up. Suddenly light flew around him. I fell out of the tree. He was struggling against the magic, I pulled on my blanket and flew clumsily up towards him. Sun guards surrounded him, Celestia's mark on their chest armor. "What are you doing to him?!" I yelled, they blocked me from reaching him. "Ma'am stay out of this." The one holding him said, Discord had fallen unconscious. I fought against the ones holding me back. I fired a shot at them, followed by another, and another. I was shooting at them, I couldn't stop. My eyes glowed, my sound mind went inside myself, I was blinded by anger and rage. They fired one shot at me, the first two hitting my wings, the last, my head, causing me to fall to the ground, paralyzed as they took Discord away. Meanwhile in the real world, Screwball was tapping me on the shoulder, her hooves somehow magically passing through the cage. "Hello? Are you still there?" She asked, hitting the side of the cage. I came back. "Yes?" I answered suddenly. "So, what do you wanna do? I'm really bored. It's usually just Daddy and me here." She said. I nodded. Suddenly, an idea formed in my head. I decided to put it to action. "Could you get rid of this cage? Then we could see your dad together. And then we could have some fun." I said, she clapped excitedly. Then she leaned back her head and laughed evilly. "Of course!" I'd love to introduce you to Daddy!" She squealed. I felt the cage glow around me, the cage slowly burned. Finally the cage disappeared. The chance was too tempting, what with a window just open a few feet away. I had to get away from this horrid madhouse. I flew out. I flew away as fast as I could. I reached the edge, a force field stopped me from flying any further. I struggled as chains appeared around my hooves. Suddenly, Discord appeared next to me, holding the chains and making a "tsk, tsk" noise. He looked as he did when I knew him. Except he had a beard. "Oh, I'm disappointed in you... What was your name again?" He looked to me. I thought, he doesn't recognize me, I could use this to my advantage. I thought of something unrelated to my name. "Why should I tell you?" I said. "Well if you're going to disappoint my daughter I would like to know your name. I'm Discord by the way." He said, picking his ear. "I'm Stargaze." I said. "Well Stargaze, you are about to be a very useful mare." He said. He placed a paw to his ear and listened to something I couldn't hear. He then started to work hard. "Starry, we'll have to continue this fun chat later." He said, chuckling as he laughed. I glared at him. Discord snapped his fingers and I appeared in a small cage in a place that looked sorta like a backstage for a theater. My wings were bound my two chains. I struggled against them, but they wouldn't budge. Discord put a claw to his lips and shushed me. "Wait for your cue, my dear." He said, I replied with an angry grunt. He rose up from the floor, leaving me in the dark. Discord rose out of the floor, matching the gazes of the other ponies who stared in amazement as they stood on their platforms. "Welcome, dear ponies! I hope you enjoyed my little transport present!" He said, summoning a throne with a snap of his fingers. He only received cold stares in return. "What is this visit for, Discord?" The purple unicorn asked. Ah, Celestia's little teacher's pet. Twilight. Well she would learn. "Yeah! That ride wasn't fun at all!" Pinkie said. "Yes, but the platforms are made of chocolate." Discord said. Pinkie licked the platform, and her tongue got stuck on the frozen metal, she pulled on it and yelled for help. Discord chuckled at the sight. "What is it that you want Dipcord?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Simply a few things. If you'll allow me to explain, then I will. If not. Well, let's just say the next few day will rain killer chocolate rabbits." He said. Fluttershy gasped. Twilight sighed. "Well why should we give anything to you?" Rainbow asked. "If you want your kingdom back, you'll do it. And there's the matter of my hostage." Discord said with a grin. "Hostage?" The element bearers parroted. Discord snapped his fingers as a cage appeared. A purple pegasus in a cage rose, her muzzle covered with a gag, her wings bound to her back with chains. The girls gasped. "What have you done to that poor mare?" Twilight asked. "Nothing yet, though I will if you refuse me." Discord answered. "Girls! We have to save her! What if he feeds her chocolate bunnies until she bursts!" Pinkie yelled, apparently freed from the platform's trap. "Who is she?" Rarity asked. "Why, I am surprised at you all. She was a resident of Ponyville. I thought you would recognize her." Discord said, he looked at the pegasus with renewed interest. Pinkie stared. "Nope! And I know everypony in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie said. "What do you want?" "Well, I have a little deal for you. I'll stay in my old castle here, and you'll take the mare off my hooves for a week. Then you decide, you can let the mare rejoin me, or any mare can join me. Your choice. If you do anything in an attempt to destroy me in anyway, I'll go back to my old ways, and Equestria turns to my vision of perfection. So don't think about using those pesky Elements." Discord said. The mares were obviously considering it. "Well what will you do to the mare when you have her?" Twilight asked, her eyes narrowed. "I don't know, lock her up, transform her into an orange, anything is possible." Discord said with an indifferent shrug. Twilight turned to her friends for guidance. They formed a small circle of friendship, all of them with their backs facing Discord. They all looked at each other, waiting for somepony to speak first. "We can't just give him an innocent mare... Can we Twi?" Applejack said. "I can't even begin to think of what he would do to her." Fluttershy mumbled. "I don't know. But we can't leave Equestria to suffer, we'll take her to Princess Celestia and figure out what will happen then." "That seems wise." Rarity said. The others muttered agreements. They turned to the waiting draconequus, of whom at that point had made his own living room as he sat smoking a bubble pipe while wearing a robe and fez. He snapped his finger and everything disappeared around him except the robe, fez, and pipe. Can I really condemn a mare to a lifetime with this beast? Twilight thought. She looked to her friends for guidance. "So, my little ponies, deal or no deal?" He asked, transforming the room into a game show set, with the mares in front of colorful podiums, each with a large red button on top. Twilight swallowed her fears and hit the button. Bzzt! "We accept. On one condition." Twilight said, she still sounded unsure. "And what would that be?" Discord said in a condescending tone, irking Twilight. "You have to treat whoever comes to you at the end of the week in a respectful manner. You can't hurt the mare." Twilight said. Discord raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I think I could live with that." Discord replied. He shook Twilight's hoof to seal the deal. He snapped his fingers and the mare fell to the floor and gasped for air. The group ran over to her and pulled her towards the exit. "See you in a week!" He called after them as the chaos slowly disappeared around them. He knew that for the hermit pony, a week in society would be torture. And he would be thrilled when she came back begging to be released from those ponies obsessed with making new friends with everypony they met. Oh this was far too good a plan. Author's Note So now, Discord will call Silver by her alias. Stargaze. Applejack, don't kill me! I promise you get a bigger part in the next chapter!
Prologue: TransitioningI don't remember what I was doing that day. We had just moved to Ponyville, after my father died in the Everfree forest when we lived in Manehattan where Dad worked as a lumberjack. Ponyville had been around for about thirty-five years. We moved into a small cottage outside the forest, because that was cheapest. It was an old two-story house, with a roof that hung low and blue shutters that always creaked at night, the pipes leaked and the paint that was supposed to be white at some time in the past, was now dirty and peeling. While my mum unpacked the boxes, I explored the trees outside our garden, there was something about plants that made me feel calm and serene. My sense of adventure peaked at the age of ten. Well, and I heard crying, so I ran deeper into the forest to find out where it was coming from. My hoof got caught in a tree limb. I tried to move it out, but it wouldn't budge. I suddenly heard rustling in the bushes several feet away from me. "Is s-s-someone there?" I asked, scared out of my mind. Why was Mom always right?! I suddenly smelled pine trees, and there I saw it. Between the bushes two cold yellow eyes stared hungrily at me, my mother had warned me about timberwolves, but I didn't believe her. Pride before a fall, I guess. It snapped it jaws at me, a low growl that matched it's freaky-looking face. Out of all the things in the world, timberwolves scared me most. My father died being eaten by them. I was only five at the time. So I stood there like a deer in headlights. An odd rain fell from pink clouds, this didn't distract the wolf, it drew closer. The weirdest creature I'd ever seen appeared right in front of me in a flash of light. It had a head of a pony, and a body made of all sorts of appendages. It waved a black wooden sword at the beast, yelling in an odd voice. "What are you doing?" I said. "Saving your life, pony." He said with a mischievous grin. I just stood there trying to process things before he transported us. I came from a family of pegasai, I being the only unicorn in six generations, I had only seen magic like this when I went to a magic show in Manehattan. And even the best magician hadn't done this. "Are you okay?" he asked, helping me off the floor. I stared at the castle in front of us. Large, pink clouds flew around in circles above it. "Cat got your tongue?" He said producing an actual tongue, I backed away from the odd creature. "Gross! Where are we? Who in Equestria are you?" I asked. He caused us to fly into the castle. I almost screamed. It looked like an optical illusion in the books I read, tall hypnotic swirling walls twirled around us as we rose out of the floor. He stopped us from colliding into a swirling wall before producing a couch and dropping us onto the soft purple mass. He stood and bowed "Discord, Lord of Chaos, your turn." He smirked. "Silver Quill. Unicorn gardener. How old are you? I'm ten" I had bragged. He made two glasses appear. "In draconequus age, I'm about eleven. Officially I'm one hundred. Want a drink?" He gestured at the two cups that now sat on a giant cloud table. I blinked in amazement. This was the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me. "Chocolate milk please." I answered. "I had a feeling you were going to say that." And that was that. Our friendship began that day. We became best friends. I would pretend to go play in the forest, and meet him there. It was like that for years. We would play wonderful games of chaotic imagination. And every time, Discord would make me feel like a princess. I had to hide him from my Mom, always giving her an excuse of how I was gardening. In reality, I would spend time with Discord. School was the worst, but I taught Discord some of what I learned, though he would distract me with other things. When I earned my cutie mark, it was all thanks to him. I was carving a statue with my magic, and I earned my cutie mark in sculpting, though I hated sculpting, which made him burst into a fit of laughter. One day we would be knights swearing loyalty to the king (aka a tree), the next day we would pretend to be lion tamers, anything we wanted to do. But one day our days of childhood melted away, we had matured. In our early teens, we fell in love. I shared my first kiss with him, my mother wondered why I was giggling so much. We would spend nights in our castle, just staring at the stars. I would fall asleep in his arms, he always left a note for me. When I was fifteen, I fell out of a tree and hit my head on a rock, it was bleeding so much that I fainted. Discord had this worried expression on his face, he seemed in just as much pain as I was. That day, Discord made me an alicorn, now this was very painful, imagine it, you're growing wings out of your back, you're becoming immortal. It hurts like crap, it's burning, yet freezing. Anyhow, that caused a huge blast of magic and Royal guards investigated the forest and took him to the palace, they brought me to my mother and told her I had been transformed by magical radiation. I loved him, and they took him to the palace. He wrote to me, saying that he was being treated equally by King Terra and Queen Aeterna, and that their daughters were amused by him. I missed him terribly, and his letters one day stopped. That week Terra and Aeterna went to Saddle Arabia, and were killed by a small rebellion. Discord's letters came after six months. It was as if a new pony was writing. He sent me an amulet, shaped like a lollipop. He said the new regents for the Princesses had forced him to stay in the dungeon, that they had called him a freak. A few weeks later, I had gone to Canterlot on vacation. It was a gift from my mother, I had turned sixteen. A surprise came that week, an unpleasant surprise. It began with pink clouds, I thought he had gotten freedom to do what he wanted, then the roads turned to soap an the grass into butter. My mother slipped on our balcony and fell into the butter and died. I gave up that day. On my way home, I was careful and avoided the slippery stuff on the road. Soon news spread that Discord had been transformed into stone. I decided I had nothing to live for. I tried to cut my wrists once, but just as the knife hit my skin, an odd force field would surround my body, as if by magic. I tried again on several occasions, just to see if I was as invincible as I thought I was. Each time would end in failure, the shield protected me. I decided to not interact with anypony any more. I became a recluse, and only a few would enter my world. I lived in my childhood home outside of Ponyville, I built a greenhouse and grew vegetables there. I couldn't die, I was immortal. Years later, a cross-eyed mail-mare became my only connection to the outside world. She had disappeared for five years and come back pregnant. Derpy works two jobs in order to take care of little Dinky. I helped her out, let her stay at my place and took care of her during her pregnancy, she made me the godmother of Dinky. I thought I didn't like kids but Dinky was the sweetest thing. I would do anything for that filly. I taught her magic, and how to hold multiple objects without breaking concentration. Every time she got something right, she would giggle happily. She had the cutest laugh. She always made a craft at the end of the day for me. Whether it was a necklace or a macaroni heart, she would always make an extra. I read her fairy tales, and legends like Nightmare Moon, and we finished them in a week. She loved them all. Every night I would stare up at the sky, and wonder when he would appear. He always loved to make a grand entrance. He had broken my heart, and I loved him still. My parents were gone, forever. So day after day, I would just write and garden. I hoped for him to come and take me away, but then, what would Dinky and Derpy do? They would need somepony to help them, a doctor maybe. So, I adjusted to my new life, the one Discord had forced me into. I hated and loved him still. That was my life until one morning it would all change. Author's Note So I'm updating all my stories, and I thought I should work on the ones I have here.
One: A Most Discordant Return One: A Most Discordant Return Discord sat in his stone prison doing what he usually did, plotting his revenge on the ponies who put him there in the first place. While most ponies thought when he was "transformed", he was stone completely, though in reality it was a shell, a magic proof shell, but a shell none the less. He had shrunk himself and created a miniature kingdom. He would create masterpieces of wonder and chaos, but what was the point if nopony was around to appreciate his genius? He created a few friends for himself, but usually they would get boring and he would destroy them, there were only a select few that remained. He hated this stone prison that kept him from bringing his beautiful mayhem on Equestria, but tonight he had a plan. He only had to wait for those pesky guards to leave. He had awaited this evening since he discovered he could escape on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. His memory was erased of everything except the two mares who had done this to him. He had tried to use a memory spell, but nothing worked. It was horrible, all his memories, every warm childhood recollection, gone in an instant. He hoped to return his memories by returning to the Everfree forest, home of his childhood castle. Celestia came by the first night after his capture and told him a summary of his life, excluding a part of a friend. After his chaotic reign of course. He would have his revenge. Or at least live comfortably, away from the princesses. Originally when he'd found out he could escape, he had wanted to escape and cause chaos instantly, but he stopped himself last minute. Celestia deserved better, especially after what she'd done to him. He knew what had happened over the years, thanks to gossiping gardeners. Dear old Tia had sent her sister to the moon, which in a thousand years, she had escaped and was transformed back into her original kind form by these six mares who now controlled the Elements of Harmony. "What a pity." Discord mumbled to himself. He had sat in his stone head, awaiting the perfect moment to make his escape. After discovering the Elements were now wielded by the six, he considered the problems that could occur with his attempt. They could use those wretched weapons of peace against him. He had thought many a night over this. He had finally decided on a plan, a brilliant plan. He would kidnap a mare, a mare from their hometown, and threaten harm, those puny ponies would bend to his will. He would keep the mare as insurance. He didn't know what he'd do with the mare, maybe put a love spell on her and turn her into a puppet. He didn't know. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." He said with a grunt. Finally the hour was right. He snapped his fingers and disappeared out of the shell and into a cave. He had decided to stay in the Smoky Mountains. He decided to start in Ponyville, appropriate, the home of that meddlesome unicorn. He snapped his fingers and transported to the City Hall. He caused the sun to go up with a wave of his hand. He made his signature cotton candy clouds appear, he caused them to multiply completely block out any and all light. He turned the roads into flowing brown rivers of chocolate milk, and the fountain to spray soft peppermint bark. He turned the grass into mashed potatoes and the houses into stacked cards. He watched with glee as the ponies ran in panicked herds, frightened by the ruin of their town. Discord cackled with glee, it was good to be back! Crash! I ran outside as the wet cards of what used to be my house crashed to the ground. My greenhouse was still in good shape, thank goodness. I ran inside, my Venus Flytrap was trying to drink the chocolate milk that leaked through the clear glass roof. This place was going insane! "Audrey Two! No!" I pulled the plant away from the chocolate that was now gushing through the roof in a waterfall. My plants would die in this weather. I thought about what I could do and an idea popped into my brain. The Castle! I thought, slowly gathering supplies in my saddlebag with magic. It was pouring outside in hard drops, or were those chocolate orbs? I strapped Audrey Two to my back after my saddlebag and slowly made my way to the back of the greenhouse. I decided to carry what I could of my plants and carry them to the old abandoned castle in the Everfree. Discord and I had gone there so many times, he hadn't destroyed it. I would be safe there. Derpy and Dinky had gone with Derpy's friend The Doctor, to apparently go on vacation or something like that. I hoped they were okay. I feared the forest, but luckily the timberwolves were currently trapped in the large patches of gum. I might have laughed had my home had not been destroyed. The path kept alternating between soapy and dirt, it was hard to concentrate on keeping my plants in my magic hold. I slid, and stopped, I soon solved the pattern to the mess. If one thing frustrated me, it was if something didn't have a pattern. And yet my romantic interest was the Lord of Chaos. Seriously, though, I could figure it out. I slipped around until I finally spotted my old fort. I trotted as fast as I could towards the play place of my youth. When I reached the old castle, I felt as if my emotions had simultaneously smacked me in the face. I felt a mixture of nostalgia and sadness and anger. The clouds were gone and the castle had sunk in a pool of chocolate milk. This piece of my childhood, destroyed of the wonder it held for me. I felt like crying, but I knew that would do nothing except dehydrate myself. Upon hearing the rabid howls of the timberwolves, Crap, they escaped. I thought as I quickly ran inside and using magic, slammed the door shut. I stayed in the main hall, the arches were moldy and the place smelled like mildew and cheese puffs. Though there was a few dry places on the floor. I pulled out a blanket and sat down, leaving my plants a few feet away from me, right where I could see them Finally I was getting organized. I searched in my saddlebag to ration my food, which turned out to be a few sandwiches and bag of crackers. I considered what was happening and how to handle this, I could just stay here and take care of my plants, but how could they survive without water, how could I survive without water. Overwhelmed with the current events, I fell asleep. WhenI woke up to find everything was... Fine. Bizarrely, not a single thing was wrong. The rain was still pounding on the roof, so not a thing had changed. The plants were fine, until I saw one moving away. "Hey get back here!" I yelled stupidly, plants, much to my dismay, couldn't talk. Then again, they weren't supposed to scoot away either. I chased after the mysterious tomato plant as it's vines grew over the sides and it went from scooting to a full sprint. I groaned and finally caught up with it, grabbing it's thin green vine. To my surprise and annoyance, it grew longer and wrapped around my front leg, curling around it in a tight spring. Another vine sprung out as I struggled with the first one, this was the weirdest plant I'd ever seen. I was wrapped on my two front legs, I pushed myself back, trying to escape the small but tough vines that were turning quickly into branches. Another two slid up my legs and four grabbed at my torso, completely covering it. I think I'd seen a movie like this the month before, but I couldn't think clearly with vines covering my every inch. I let out a scream, it had made it's way to my neck, choking me, I looked around desperately, trying to find someone to come to my aid, cursing myself in my head for choosing a secluded area, the only things around for the next fifty miles were timberwolves. My face was scratched by a sharp thorn and I felt blood run down my cheek followed by salty tears. The last thing I saw was the last thing I expected to see. Him. With his yellow and red eyes, looming over me. "Discord?!" I gasped before everything went pitch black. "So how do you do that?" The young filly asked. The draconequus smirked at his best friend. He summoned a stack of couch-less cushions. "What?" He asked. "The magic!" She said, falling from her perch on the stack of cushions. Discord quickly forced the stack under the filly just before she hit the floor. "It's something I was born with." He answered. "Why, do you want to learn?" He asked. The unicorn gasped. "That'd be awesome!" Discord summoned some targets. Silver Quill shot energy bolts, shooting everywhere but the intended targets. She frowned and sighed. Discord transported directly by her side. He placed a arm around her, causing the filly to blush. "W-What are you doing?" She asked, he stared at her with those entrancing eyes. "Concentrate on the targets." He said. She focused her attention away from the warm lion paw around her torso. "Now take a deep breath." Silver sucked in as much air as her lungs would allow. "And release." She exhaled. "Now shoot." He whispered into her ear. She blushed and felt herself feel tingly all over. And then she hit the target. Discord transported himself and the vine covered pony immediately to his palace. He'd forgotten about the vine trap in the playhouse ruins, originally put there to prevent intruders, he'd placed it several centuries ago, but over the years it had evidently grown a mind of it's own. "Alright let the pony go, Seymour." He ordered the self-aware plant, pointing a claw at the chocolate floor. The bulb shook from side to side. Discord produced a small bottle of weed killer out of thin air, it released the pony instantly. Discord made the weed killer evaporate before examining his prize. It was a mare, tall and thin, her softly curled mane was black, with pale blue and maroon highlights, long and flowing, with bangs that hung over her forehead and covered a bit of her eyes, her fur was periwinkle, most bizarre though, were her eyes, though they were closed Discord had seen her struggle, she had no irises, only dark purple pupils. She was an Alicorn, though Discord fixed that quickly by removing her horn. Her cutiemark was an obsidian rock carved into a flower. "How odd." Discord chuckled. Now that he knew what she looked like and that she was immortal, Discord had to figure out what to do with her for the time being. He could lock her in a cage, tie her up in the air, transform her into an animal, he could do anything. Though the possibilities were endless, he decided on placing her in a cage. She would be secure there, she couldn't escape and he'd be free to prepare for those pesky elements. She looked so peaceful, this one would be fun, ponies were always good for a laugh, especially reclusive ones. She'd be easy to crack, though for some reason, she seemed familiar, Discord didn't know why, but he decided to put it off and go prepare some things for the next events. He decided to prepare an invitation and snapped his fingers. It would be burped out by that dragoness secretary that always stayed by Celestia's student's side. Discord made a floating quill and scroll appear. "Hmm. What should it say?" He paced in the air. "I've got it!" He exclaimed, startling the quill into leaking a few drops of in onto the floor. "Write this." He began to dictate a short letter to the Elements inviting them for tea. "Classy, yet mischievous. Perfect." He said after sending the note. Next, on his list for preparations was to make a way to transport the stallions without hurting the or making them too suspicious, lest they find out his plans before he revealed them. Hopefully Tia's little angels wouldn't be too stupid to figure this one out. With the castle floating thirty feet in the air, the stallions would need a way to get up, he summoned nearby stones and flattened them into huge round pancake-shaped discs. He carved each element onto the stone, so that they would definitely know it was for them. He created a sign out of a duck on a stick and attached them to the north wall of the castle. He sighed at the sight of his work, this would be so much fun. He disappeared back inside and made a cloud hammock appear. He slid into the soft plushness of the cloud. He soon fell asleep, dreaming of his wonderful plan succeeding. Blissfully unaware, how this simple mare would change him for the better. Author's Note I hope y'all enjoy this, because I've worked my flank off writing this. Though it's very fun to write, I really enjoy writing Silver Quill's POV parts. More editing, this was easier because I had this saved on Notepad. I'm not using Male Mane Six, I found it hard to do. Sorry it took me so long to publish, editing is my least favorite thing to do, and I have to write the other chapters, so I hope you enjoy! Patience shall be rewarded.
Two : The BargainingTwilight paced around the library. Her friends looked to her with concern, they knew how their friend could get when she was too nervous. Outside it was raining chocolate milk, and Pinkie Pie was jumping around with her tongue sticking out. Rainbow Dash dragged the reluctant mare inside the library as it began to rain anvils. Rarity groaned as Pinkie licked the chocolate off herself in a literal tornado of tongue. Spike passed out their elements. They placed them on their respective necks, and waited for Twilight to finish her muttering and pacing. As soon as she started to run down the flooring Spike placed a claw in front of her. "Sorry girls. I'm nervous. Discord hasn't done anything apart from chaos and destruction. He usually has some grand scheme." Twilight said, rubbing her hooves through her mane. The rest of the girls pulled her into a group hug. Just then, Spike barfed up a message. It floated and attached itself to Rarity's face. She reacted as anypony would, by screaming. "GET IT OFF ME!" Rarity screamed as she ran back and forth trying to get the possessed scroll off her precious purple mane. She ran around before Twilight pulled it off the screaming mare, giving her a slight smirk. She rolled her eyes and opened the scroll. My Dear Elements, I've got a little surprise at my castle. Come to negotiate. If you do, there will be cake, If not, well you enjoy chocolate rain, Don't you? Toodles, Discord "I can't believe this!" Twilight said in disbelief. Pinkie Pie stole the note away. "Me neither! It's not even raining chocolate anymore! Liar!" She said. "How do we know this isn't some sort of trap?" Rainbow said, the others nodded in agreement. "I don't know, he might be lying, but we need to trust him for now if we want things in Equestria to go back to normal." Twilight said sternly. Pinkie threw an arm around her friend. "Twilight's right. We have to go. Discord said there was a surprise!" Pinkie squealed like an excited child. The other mares looked to each other. Rainbow Dash flew up. "Okay, all in favor of going, raise your hoof." She raised her hoof. Applejack raised hers, and she was followed by almost everypony in the room, except Fluttershy. They all looked to her, she backed into the shelving. Rainbow Dash pulled her to the group, she clawed at the floor. She blushed and raised her hoof. "Good, we're all agreed. Well, let's pack a bag and try to find this castle." Twilight said. The scroll floated towards her, the back transformed into a map. Twilight seized it with her magic and placed it in her pack, the others packed their saddlebags and strapped them to their backs. Rarity had made a hat. The anvils had stopped raining down. But Twilight placed a force field over them anyway. They headed towards the Everfree Forest together. I woke up in an odd cage. My forehead burned. I reached up to touch it, and I found my horn was gone. Brilliant. I attempted to look beyond the cage, but in between the bars was this mesh wire. I was stuck in a cage, with only my wings. Great. I sat and tapped the cage floor. I waited around, continuously tapping. Last I saw, this was Discord's doing, and I knew one way to insult him. "This is typical. Place a mare in a cage. Boring." I said. The mesh disappeared. I nodded. A box appeared before me. A filly popped out. She wore a beanie, and her mane was curly and purple with white highlights, or maybe it was the other way around. The strangest part of her was her eyes, they were swirled and magenta, like a lollipop. She flew up to my cage, though she had no wings. She looked like an Earth pony. "Hi! I'm Screwball!" She said with a cheery voice. I stared. "Do you like chocolate? Why are your eyes like that? Do you like watermelon? What's your favorite color? Mine's green, or white, I love all the colors!" Screwball said. She looked at me with a discerning eye. She reminded me somewhat of Dinky, which sort of comforted me. "Well let's see, I like chocolate, my eyes are dark purple because of an effect of emergency Alicorn transformation, I like watermelon, I don't have a favorite color." Screwball's jaw dropped. "No favorite color? Do you at least like candy?" I shrugged. She screamed. She flew up to a security camera on the wall. "Daddy why did you take this mare?" She yelled into the camera. I realized she was Discord's creation. It made sense. She flew down to my cage. "Why did Daddy choose you?" She spun the cage around me. I disappeared into my mind palace, searching through my memories. "Come with me." He whispered into my ear. My body was still burning from the transformation. "Where?" I asked. He pointed to the mountains. "We could live there forever, just the two of us. You're immortal now. We could live together up there, just the two of us, for all eternity." He kissed my cheek, making me blush. "Discord, my mother would be destitute. I can't just leave her. I can't." I said as he kissed my neck. He stopped. "Well we'll have to wait until she's dead then." He said. "What?" I yelled. He shrugged. "Everypony will die one day. Except for us." He said in a matter of fact voice. "But, but." I stuttered. He placed a claw over my mouth. "I understand. You can't handle it right now. But when you're ready." He said. We kissed, I saw in the corner of my eye, his claw getting ready to snap. "What are you doing!" I yelled, he looked at me calmly. "It's not what you think." He said. I shook my head and backed up. Suddenly light flew around him. I fell out of the tree. He was struggling against the magic, I pulled on my blanket and flew clumsily up towards him. Sun guards surrounded him, Celestia's mark on their chest armor. "What are you doing to him?!" I yelled, they blocked me from reaching him. "Ma'am stay out of this." The one holding him said, Discord had fallen unconscious. I fought against the ones holding me back. I fired a shot at them, followed by another, and another. I was shooting at them, I couldn't stop. My eyes glowed, my sound mind went inside myself, I was blinded by anger and rage. They fired one shot at me, the first two hitting my wings, the last, my head, causing me to fall to the ground, paralyzed as they took Discord away. Meanwhile in the real world, Screwball was tapping me on the shoulder, her hooves somehow magically passing through the cage. "Hello? Are you still there?" She asked, hitting the side of the cage. I came back. "Yes?" I answered suddenly. "So, what do you wanna do? I'm really bored. It's usually just Daddy and me here." She said. I nodded. Suddenly, an idea formed in my head. I decided to put it to action. "Could you get rid of this cage? Then we could see your dad together. And then we could have some fun." I said, she clapped excitedly. Then she leaned back her head and laughed evilly. "Of course!" I'd love to introduce you to Daddy!" She squealed. I felt the cage glow around me, the cage slowly burned. Finally the cage disappeared. The chance was too tempting, what with a window just open a few feet away. I had to get away from this horrid madhouse. I flew out. I flew away as fast as I could. I reached the edge, a force field stopped me from flying any further. I struggled as chains appeared around my hooves. Suddenly, Discord appeared next to me, holding the chains and making a "tsk, tsk" noise. He looked as he did when I knew him. Except he had a beard. "Oh, I'm disappointed in you... What was your name again?" He looked to me. I thought, he doesn't recognize me, I could use this to my advantage. I thought of something unrelated to my name. "Why should I tell you?" I said. "Well if you're going to disappoint my daughter I would like to know your name. I'm Discord by the way." He said, picking his ear. "I'm Stargaze." I said. "Well Stargaze, you are about to be a very useful mare." He said. He placed a paw to his ear and listened to something I couldn't hear. He then started to work hard. "Starry, we'll have to continue this fun chat later." He said, chuckling as he laughed. I glared at him. Discord snapped his fingers and I appeared in a small cage in a place that looked sorta like a backstage for a theater. My wings were bound my two chains. I struggled against them, but they wouldn't budge. Discord put a claw to his lips and shushed me. "Wait for your cue, my dear." He said, I replied with an angry grunt. He rose up from the floor, leaving me in the dark. Discord rose out of the floor, matching the gazes of the other ponies who stared in amazement as they stood on their platforms. "Welcome, dear ponies! I hope you enjoyed my little transport present!" He said, summoning a throne with a snap of his fingers. He only received cold stares in return. "What is this visit for, Discord?" The purple unicorn asked. Ah, Celestia's little teacher's pet. Twilight. Well she would learn. "Yeah! That ride wasn't fun at all!" Pinkie said. "Yes, but the platforms are made of chocolate." Discord said. Pinkie licked the platform, and her tongue got stuck on the frozen metal, she pulled on it and yelled for help. Discord chuckled at the sight. "What is it that you want Dipcord?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Simply a few things. If you'll allow me to explain, then I will. If not. Well, let's just say the next few day will rain killer chocolate rabbits." He said. Fluttershy gasped. Twilight sighed. "Well why should we give anything to you?" Rainbow asked. "If you want your kingdom back, you'll do it. And there's the matter of my hostage." Discord said with a grin. "Hostage?" The element bearers parroted. Discord snapped his fingers as a cage appeared. A purple pegasus in a cage rose, her muzzle covered with a gag, her wings bound to her back with chains. The girls gasped. "What have you done to that poor mare?" Twilight asked. "Nothing yet, though I will if you refuse me." Discord answered. "Girls! We have to save her! What if he feeds her chocolate bunnies until she bursts!" Pinkie yelled, apparently freed from the platform's trap. "Who is she?" Rarity asked. "Why, I am surprised at you all. She was a resident of Ponyville. I thought you would recognize her." Discord said, he looked at the pegasus with renewed interest. Pinkie stared. "Nope! And I know everypony in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie said. "What do you want?" "Well, I have a little deal for you. I'll stay in my old castle here, and you'll take the mare off my hooves for a week. Then you decide, you can let the mare rejoin me, or any mare can join me. Your choice. If you do anything in an attempt to destroy me in anyway, I'll go back to my old ways, and Equestria turns to my vision of perfection. So don't think about using those pesky Elements." Discord said. The mares were obviously considering it. "Well what will you do to the mare when you have her?" Twilight asked, her eyes narrowed. "I don't know, lock her up, transform her into an orange, anything is possible." Discord said with an indifferent shrug. Twilight turned to her friends for guidance. They formed a small circle of friendship, all of them with their backs facing Discord. They all looked at each other, waiting for somepony to speak first. "We can't just give him an innocent mare... Can we Twi?" Applejack said. "I can't even begin to think of what he would do to her." Fluttershy mumbled. "I don't know. But we can't leave Equestria to suffer, we'll take her to Princess Celestia and figure out what will happen then." "That seems wise." Rarity said. The others muttered agreements. They turned to the waiting draconequus, of whom at that point had made his own living room as he sat smoking a bubble pipe while wearing a robe and fez. He snapped his finger and everything disappeared around him except the robe, fez, and pipe. Can I really condemn a mare to a lifetime with this beast? Twilight thought. She looked to her friends for guidance. "So, my little ponies, deal or no deal?" He asked, transforming the room into a game show set, with the mares in front of colorful podiums, each with a large red button on top. Twilight swallowed her fears and hit the button. Bzzt! "We accept. On one condition." Twilight said, she still sounded unsure. "And what would that be?" Discord said in a condescending tone, irking Twilight. "You have to treat whoever comes to you at the end of the week in a respectful manner. You can't hurt the mare." Twilight said. Discord raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I think I could live with that." Discord replied. He shook Twilight's hoof to seal the deal. He snapped his fingers and the mare fell to the floor and gasped for air. The group ran over to her and pulled her towards the exit. "See you in a week!" He called after them as the chaos slowly disappeared around them. He knew that for the hermit pony, a week in society would be torture. And he would be thrilled when she came back begging to be released from those ponies obsessed with making new friends with everypony they met. Oh this was far too good a plan. Author's Note So now, Discord will call Silver by her alias. Stargaze. Applejack, don't kill me! I promise you get a bigger part in the next chapter!
