My Little Doctor Whooves: Discord

Chapters

Prologue
One-Sided
Search for Harmony
The Master of Not Making Sense
The Shelter
Chaos vs. Harmony
The End
Moving Forward

Prologue

My Little Doctor Whooves
Discord

Dear Princess Celestia,

Twilight winced as she saw the quality of her hoofwriting; it was still legible, but far from the quality at which she normally wrote. She probably just wasn’t used to the way the pen moved across the paper compared to a quill. She breathed and continued.

My apologies if this letter is not my best work, but due to the lack of quills on the TARDIS, the Doctor has given me a new kind of writing utensil. Hopefully, this will not affect what I’m trying to say.

As I’ve just stated, right now, I am with the Doctor, as well as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, on the TARDIS.

The Doctor continued to pull various levers on the TARDIS’ control panel even after the ship started moving. Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack just looked at his almost erratic movements with amazement; Twilight was surprised he even knew what he was doing. Finally, he stopped and took a breath.

“There. The TARDIS should be in stable flight just long enough for me to explain the ground rules,” he said. “Rule one: Do everything I say. I’ve been at this longer than anyone else in the universe, so I know what I’m doing, and I expect you to listen to my expert advice. Rule two: No personal histories or futures. Never ends well. Even I try to avoid it when I can. Rule three: Don’t bring anything back that will compromise your timelines. Rule four…” He paused, almost like he forgot what he was going to say. “No pears. Absolutely hate them. Last time, I had a bad taste I my mouth for weeks.”

Rainbow started talking, “Is that really a—?!”

Twilight, not wanting to talk about the Doctor’s almost random nature, interrupted her. “So where are we going, anyway?”

“That, my dear, is up to you,” the Doctor answered. “You give me the parameters of what you want to experience, no matter how vague or specific, and I’ll set course for the trip of your dreams. So, who’s first?”

“First?” Applejack repeated.

“I figured I’d let you all take turns in deciding where we go, what we do, the works. Never done it like that before, so it should be fun.”

The three mares thought about what he said. It wasn’t too long, however, before Twilight spoke up. “Well, one thing I’ve always wanted to know about was the history of the princesses.”

“Really?” the Doctor replied. “The princess’ own personal student never bothered to ask about her teacher’s past?”

“And I think we’d know plenty about what happened,” Rainbow added. “I mean, we’ve only faced just about every threat that they have.”

“It just didn’t seem right asking Princess Celestia about something so personal,” Twilight defended. “Besides, there’s a difference between knowing what happened through word-of-mouth, and actually experiencing those moments for yourself.”

“Truer words were never spoken, Miss Sparkle,” the Doctor agreed. “And I may have just the event. An event that is so important to Equus’ history, that should it have gone any different, the future, your present, your very lives would be very much unlike what you know.”

He went back to the console and started pressing buttons, pulling levers, and doing whatever else it was he did. Not for the first time, Twilight wanted to question if what he was doing was actually standard piloting methods; she quickly suppressed this thought because, if their past experiences with the TARDIS were any indication, the Doctor knew what he was doing.

“Hold on to your horseshoes, girls!” he shouted. The TARDIS started to make its trademark whirring noise, indicating it was in motion (or however it traveled; Twilight recalled Spike saying it had just faded out when he saw it). The entire room started shaking almost violently. Unlike moving between Canterlot and Ponyville, the motion was more jarring and lasted a lot longer.

“Sorry if this isn’t what you’re used to,” the Doctor yelled over the noise and banging. “We’re traveling through the time vortex to more than a thousand years in your past. Just hang on and don’t lose your breakfast.”

“D-don’t worry!” Rainbow replied. “This-This is nothing! I do tighter loops and zigzags during flight practice!” Something in her voice, however, indicated she may not have been as fine as she wanted the others to believe.

Eventually, everything just stopped. The shaking had turned to stillness and the entire room was silent. Twilight warily looked up at the console and the Doctor, not letting go of the railing she was holding onto.

“And we’re there,” he said at last. “So, ladies, how are you all holding up?”

“A little worse for wear,” Applejack admitted, “but not too bad, all things considered.”

“Glad to hear it,” the Doctor said. “Because that was actually one of my better landings.” Three ponies sighed and slumped their heads in exhaustion.

Rainbow got back up and said, “So where are we, anyway?”

“And when are we?” Twilight added.

“Personally, I’ve always found that the best way to answer that question is to find out for yourself.” He pointed a hoof at the wooden doors. “Ladies first.”

Twilight walked to the doors and tentatively put a hoof on the doorknob. She took a deep breath and pulled.

The view beyond the doors was incredibly strange: rolling hills of blue-and-pink checkered squares; trees that looked more like seaweed, with actual fish swimming through the air around them; clouds of pink raining something that looked like chocolate milk; flowers that were made of fireworks; a line of buffalo dancing ballet. In short, the entire world was not in any way normal.

And yet Twilight, and Applejack and Rainbow when they saw it, knew they had been through this before.

“Welcome, ladies,” the Doctor announced, “to the year 667 A.E. The height of the Reign of Discord.”

Author's Note

And we're back! This one took a while to belt out, but I finally managed... something. Maybe I'll tell you how hard it was later, but for now, enjoy the latest edition of My Little Doctor Hooves!

EDIT: So, apparently, this story isn't doing as well as anything else I've written thus far. Wish I knew why, though, if only so I could do better in the future *cough*leaveacommentandtellmewhy*cough*

One-Sided

The three mares stared in silence. They were actually looking at Discord’s first reign of Equestria. Even though it looked like what happened the last time Discord was free, they still couldn’t believe they were looking at his handiwork again.

“Approximately one year ago,” the Doctor said, breaking the others out of their trance, “a strange creature appeared. No one knew what it was or where it came from. Even fewer were able to describe it. Eventually, everyone took to calling it a draconequus, because all they could agree on in terms of its appearance was a pony’s head on a dragon’s body.

“Then it began. It was small at first. Crops were enlarging almost overnight. Birds started literally whistling Dixie. The roads became silk. Then the real chaos began. The skies became pink. Ponies found their homes invaded by fish. The local wildlife actually went wild, doing cartwheels in ruby slippers. Oceans looked more like milk.

“Finally, the draconequus revealed himself. He proclaimed himself to be the new and forever king of Equestria. King Discord, the Chaotic. The only law of his reign: ‘There are no laws.’”

No one had ever heard the story told that way before. It almost made Discord more terrifying than even Celestia could make him sound.

“So, everypony’s been livin’ like this for ‘round a year?” Applejack asked. “We were barely able ta handle six hours!”

“Makes you respect your ancestors all the more, doesn’t it?” the Doctor replied.

“So, hold on a second,” Twilight said. “If Discord’s here, and we were looking for the princesses…”

“You catch on quick, Twilight,” the Doctor confirmed. “This is the day Celestia and Luna rose against Discord and took their places as Equestria’s diarchs.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow nearly shouted. “This is gonna be sweet! Where are they, Doc?”

“Just a bit that way,” he replied, pointing his hoof to the side. “If I’ve timed this right, we should get there just before the battle begins.”

“Wait!” Twilight said. “Should we really leave the TARDIS like this? I mean, it’s out in the open.”

The Doctor just shrugged. “I would think that a large blue box that nobo… nopony can identify right away fits in with the whole ‘nothing makes sense’ aesthetic Discord has going on here.”

“Aesthetic?” Twilight repeated. “That’s what we’re calling it?”

“Look, did you want to see the soon-to-be princesses defeat Discord?” the Doctor asked rhetorically. “Then come along and no questioning my word choices.” He walked in the direction he indicated earlier, the other three following behind soon after.

As they walked, they gazed at the chaotic landscape. It was as the mares remembered from their last encounter: disturbing with a touch of dark comedy. They would be happy to watch it all fade away once the princesses inevitably won.

Even with this common emotion of anxiety, the feelings were varied amongst the ponies. Rainbow was hoping to see an exciting battle between the forces of good against chaos incarnate. Applejack, having only come to keep her friends from getting into too much trouble, was only more than a little curious as to how the battle would play out.

Twilight, however, let her emotions flow more openly. Although the discomfort was evident, even more so was the giddiness she was feeling. She was going to see a historical event unfold before her eyes. Granted, many of the things she and her friends had done could be considered historical in their own rights, and probably would be in a few years down the line. But there was a difference between making history and merely witnessing it. Added to her excitement was the fact that she would be among the first ponies to witness an event hundreds of years before her time. The scholar in Twilight was excited, as was the student of Princess Celestia.

The Doctor led them to a row of bushes; they were just big enough for them to hide behind. He knelt down and beckoned the others to follow his example. As soon as they were down, he said, “I don’t think I need to tell you this, but the last thing we need to do is involve ourselves directly in this. This is an important moment in your history. Any change whatsoever, big or small, will have massive repercussions.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Rainbow said. “Step on a butterfly here, kill everyone in the future.”

“Erm, not quite to that extent, Rainbow,” the Doctor argued, “but you have the right idea.”

“How in the hay would you even know that?” Applejack asked.

“Daring Do and Sands of Time,” Rainbow answered.

“Girls, quiet!” Twilight hissed. They all looked at a, once again, familiar scene.

The scene was a rolling field, with a landscape just like the rest of the area. A throne was perched on top of a hill, almost demonic in appearance. Sitting on it was a creature with a mishmash of body parts, from a lion’s paw to a hawk’s talon to a bat’s wing to a lizard’s foot to an elk’s antler to a number of other random features. His actual body was long and serpentine, and his head looked like a horse with an unusually long face with a stray canine sticking out of his mouth.

“There he is,” Applejack whispered.

“Discord,” Twilight added.

“Hm, thought he’d be taller,” the Doctor said. The other three just looked at him for a brief moment before turning back.

Discord was looking at the landscape, laughing heartily at the chaos around him. He watched as a leaf blew in the breeze, tap dancing as it did. Suddenly, a voice called out, “Discord!” Discord, and the ponies from behind the bush, turned to find the source of the voice. Standing on the other end of the field were two alicorns: one was pure white and had a flowing, ephemeral, rainbow mane; the other was dark blue with the same kind of mane, except night blue.

“This is it!” Rainbow shouted in a whisper as Celestia and Luna walked up.

“I’ve never been this excited before,” Twilight added.

“Yes, watching your first historical event is quite a moment,” the Doctor said. “Drink it in, girls.”

Meanwhile, Discord looked down at the alicorns. “Welcome back, ladies!” he said with open arms. “Back for another round?”

“Another round?” Applejack whispered. “How long’s this been goin’ on?”

The conversation continued before anyone could reply. “This time, you’re finished, Discord!” Celestia said.

Discord suddenly broke down in laughter. “Oh ho ho! You should listen to yourself. The way you say that is just so… bad! It’s so bad, it’s actually hilarious!”

“We shall see who has the last laugh when Equstria has finally seen the last of you!” Luna shot back.

Discord just continued laughing. “Ah, the Mistress of Cliché strikes again. Really, Night-Brite, you should trade in your encyclopedia of comebacks; your material’s drying up faster than water on hot cement.” At this, he snapped his fingers. A pile of wet cement immediately poured on top of the alicorns and dried up almost instantly. It started cracking, though, and Celestia and Luna both used their magic to break it apart.

“We’re wasting time simply talking to him,” Luna said to Celestia, her annoyance evident.

“Agreed,” the older sister replied. “You may have the first blow.” Luna immediately fired a beam of blue magic. Discord merely snapped his fingers and disappeared before the beam could even touch him. He reappeared as soon as the beam had passed.

“That was a good blow, all things considered,” he said. “But how do you like this one?” He started sucking in air, his normally thin body growing into a sphere. When he was done, he exhaled, releasing a gust that almost swept the sisters off their hooves. Celestia struggled to face the wind and fired her own golden beam at Discord. The beam impacted, causing his expanded body to burst in a flash of light. However, when the light cleared, he still looked unharmed; the only comfort was that the wind had stopped.

Luna flapped her wings and took off, trying to bring the fight to close-quarters combat. But before she could land a hoof on Discord, his body was replaced by what looked like a green cloud, and when Luna punched, the whole cloud dissipated. The problems were only added to when a colorful array of similarly shaped clouds surrounded her. Celestia flew up and flapped her wings, blowing away the clouds. Unfortunately, Discord wasn’t in any of them.

They didn’t have time to wonder where he was, however, as a sudden snowstorm piled on top of them. With the snow piled on top of their wings, they couldn’t keep themselves airborne and fell to the ground, hard. They stood up slowly, the cold making it difficult, and tried to shake the snow off.

As the fight was going on, Twilight spoke up, whispering to the others, “This is… not what I expected.”

“Hey, you know what Discord’s capable of,” Rainbow pointed out.

“But the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight argued. “They should be using the Elements of Harmony on him.”

“I have to admit,” the Doctor added, “this is peculiar. The historical records show that the final battle with Discord was an easy victory. Although this appears to be one-sided, it’s not what I was hoping.”

The battle continued on as it had. Discord had stayed defensive for much of the fight, but he still managed to lay his talon or paw on the two alicorns on occasion. Finally, it got to a point where both sisters put Discord between them.

“Now!” Celestia yelled. They both charged up a spell and, before Discord had much time to react, their spells took the shape of large nets that flew toward him.

But the nets just passed right through him as though he was a ghost. They continued their paths until they tied themselves around the other caster. Both princesses fell to the ground and struggled against their bonds.

“A word to the unwise,” Discord mocked. “When you have a secret plan, try not to use verbal signals; it might just alert to your enemy that you have a secret plan.” Both sisters leered at him; Luna even threw out a growl. “Tell you what,” he continued. “Since you’re both a little tied up at the moment, I’ll do the honors of finishing this bout.” He held his talon out, ready to snap.

Celestia gasped and lit up her horn. Luna noticed and lit hers as well. Just as Discord snapped, they vanished in a flash of light. However, the lights were colored yellow and blue and were instantaneous, not like the smoother, white light associated with Discord. Twilight realized, and eventually the others, that the princesses teleported of their own volition.

As for Discord himself, a bowl of blue ice cream floated in front of him after he had snapped his fingers. “Huh,” he said to himself. “I was just going to offer them a snack for the road. Ah well, I suppose poison joke-flavored ice cream is an acquired taste.” He materialized a spoon and began to eat. “Mmmmm, tastes like chaos with a hint of blueberry.” He returned to his throne and continued eating.

The Doctor backed away from the bush. The others looked at him. “I think we’ve seen enough for now.” The mares nodded and followed him back to the TARDIS.

Search for Harmony

The walk to the TARDIS was uncomfortably silent. The events of the battle left the entire group confused, and no one knew how to express these feelings. It was only when they were inside the TARDIS that somepony, Applejack, decided to finally speak up.

“What the hay happened back there?” There was another round of unsure silence.

“If I had to guess,” the Doctor said after a while, “perhaps we didn’t actually land at the precise moment of the final battle. Maybe we’re off by a day or two. Admittedly, driving with hooves is something I’m still getting used to, so I might have made a slight error. I could always check the spectrochrometer to see when exactly we are.”

“There’s still something wrong, Doctor,” Twilight said. “According to Princess Celestia, she and Princess Luna used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord the first time.”

“The Elements of Harmony?” the Doctor repeated. “You mean those necklaces and that tiara you all were wearing when we met back in Canterlot?”

“Uh, sort of,” Twilight said hesitantly. “They might look different now. But the point is, the princesses were supposed to use the Elements back there. And we just saw them try to trap him in a net!”

The Doctor paused in thought for a moment. Then he turned toward the console and fiddled with the instruments. When he stopped, he looked up at the computer screen. “We definitely landed on the right day,” he whispered. “Something’s very wrong here.”

“How wrong are we talking about?” Rainbow asked.

“If Twilight’s correct, and given her source, I have no reason to doubt her,” he explained, “the key to this event is these so-called Elements of Harmony. Tell me, what exactly do they do?”

“Um, well,” Twilight started, nervously at first, but she regained her composure and continued. “The Elements are Equestria’s greatest line of defense against chaos and evil. There are six Elements; five of them each represent a different aspect of harmony: Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Kindness. The sixth is the Element of Magic, and it allows the others to… do their thing.”

“Do their thing?” the Doctor repeated.

“I don’t know if I can describe it,” Twilight explained. “You see, the Elements can’t be used by just anypony. Their bearers have to embody the specific spirit of whatever Element they represent. Applejack, for instance, bears the Element of Honesty.” She pointed to Applejack, who tipped her Stetson in acknowledgement. “Rainbow Dash holds the Element of Loyalty.” Rainbow put her hoof to her chest proudly. “Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy are Laughter, Generosity, and Kindness, respectively, leaving me with Magic.

“And when we use them, we feel… some sort of… overwhelming feelings of harmony and… our friendship… and… well…” Twilight stopped. “I realize this sounds incredibly ridiculous.”

“Yes it does,” the Doctor agreed. “But you said yourself you can’t describe the feeling all that well, so I’ll let it slide. But the main idea is that these Elements can get rid of dark forces. Am I correct?”

“You bet,” Applejack said.

“And the princesses, for whatever reason, don’t have them,” he continued. “It’s the only reason I can think of for not using such powerful artifacts by now.”

“Then what happened to them?” Rainbow asked.

“You’re asking the wrong pony, Miss Dash,” the Doctor admitted. “Equus has always been something of a mystery to many races, even the Time Lords. And the existence of these Elements of Harmony seems especially mysterious. If we want to know what’s keeping Celestia and Luna from using them, we have to first know where the Elements are.”

“And how in the hay do we do that?” Applejack asked.

“Erm, that is actually a good question.” The Doctor thought for a moment. “I bet if I can find something connected to these Elements, I might be able to pinpoint their location.” He smiled. “And luckily, I have three connections right here.” He looked at the three mares; they all looked back in confusion. “Twilight, you said you three ‘represent’ the Elements, or at least half of them. If I tune into the right frequency between you and them, I can bring the TARDIS to them.”

Twilight just stared at him. “And… how do you plan on doing that?” The Doctor pressed a button on the console. Three helmet-like objects were lowered by cords from the ceiling.

“These will scan your unique temporal energy signatures,” he explained. “Once the TARDIS has the three of you in the database, it’ll search for anything in this time connected to you. And once I narrow the search to involve all of you at once, the remaining matches will include whatever shares a mixture of those energy signatures.”

“With the Elements hopefully being among them,” Twilight finished excitedly.

“Ah din’t understand half a’ what you just said,” Applejack interjected. “But if it’ll find the Elements of Harmony, Ah say we go for it.” She took off her Stetson and put one of the helmets over her head. Twilight and Rainbow nodded at each other and followed her example.

As soon as they were all settled in, the Doctor pressed a button. Thin electrical currents traveled down the cords connecting the helmets to the ceiling to whatever in the TARDIS was powering them.

Twilight’s eyelids felt heavy. She closed them, but she started seeing things: her entire life seemed to play out, images of her favorite possessions passed by, and a figure resembling the Element of Magic came into full view. The image glowed until she saw only white. Her eyes immediately snapped open.

She looked around and saw that Rainbow and Applejack were as disoriented as she was, indicating they had experienced the same thing she did.

“That should do the trick,” the Doctor finally said. “You can take off the helmets now.” Twilight was the first to comply, and the other two followed her lead.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and held it up to the computer. (“Really need to get the hang of hooves,” he mumbled.) The screen flashed with a large wall of data, almost incoherent with the size of its text and the speed at which it flew. Finally, it stopped on what everyone could only assume was a map. The layout was completely unfamiliar to them, especially the three mares, but they chalked that up to the chaotic landscape. Everyone’s eye was drawn to a flickering spot.

“Is that it?” Applejack asked.

“If it’s not,” the Doctor replied, “then something very interesting is going on here. Aside from the obvious, I mean. Either way, only one thing to do now.” He pulled a lever and the TARDIS hummed to life. The others instinctively grabbed onto the nearest object as the room began to shake.

Suddenly, the shaking took a violent turn; it wasn’t the usual back-and-forth rocking the girls had come to associate with the TARDIS, but more similar to an earthquake. They clung tighter to their railings to avoid being thrown around the room. The Doctor leaned into the console, keeping himself close to the controls.

“Doctor!” Twilight yelled. “What’s happening?!”

“Well, either something is throwing us wildly off course,” he replied, “or the TARDIS is misbehaving. And to be honest, either one is quite viable. Still, if it is the former, it should be easy enough to fix.” He started pulling more levers and almost slammed his hooves on some of the buttons near him. Whatever he did, it must have worked, as the shaking soon stopped.

“Hoo-wee!” Applejack exclaimed. “What was that? And how’d it stop?”

“Some force is keeping us from reaching our intended destination,” the Doctor explained. “I had to make an emergency landing in the nearest safest place. And thankfully, that place wasn’t inside the TARDIS this time.”

“Huh?” Twilight breathed out.

“Long story. The point is, whatever we were heading towards, we can’t get there by TARDIS.”

“So now what?” Applejack asked.

The Doctor thought for a moment. “Well, since we’ve got no other ideas, let’s see where we’ve ended up.” Rainbow recovered from her daze and walked as steadily as she could toward the doors.

She opened them and looked around. “Coast is clear,” she called back. The others treaded carefully to the outside world. They were in some kind of forest, but the trees were a variety of objects (pinwheels, popsicle sticks, drinking glasses, etc.), so it was difficult to tell where exactly in Equestria they were.

Everyone spread out, thinking they might find something. Their search didn’t take too long, as Twilight called out, “Hey, check this out!” Everyone gathered around her.

On the ground before them lied a large, strange bulb of swirling energy. It was a variety of different colors, not unlike a rainbow, all shifting around each other.

“What is it?” Rainbow asked.

“Hard to say,” the Doctor admitted. He looked around the area and found a fair-sized rock. He picked it up and tossed it on the bulge. The rock disappeared into it, but immediately sprang back up, leaving a trail of rose petals behind it as it arced several meters behind them. “But I would suggest not touching it,” he concluded. The others nodded an uneasy confirmation.

The Doctor took out his screwdriver and, taking great care to stay far enough away from it, ran it over the bulb a few times. “Um, Doc,” Rainbow started, “what are you doing?”

“Running a quick scan,” he said. “If we know what this energy is, we’ll know how to counteract it.” Soon, he pulled the screwdriver away and stared at the green light. “This… this is impossible. The power of this energy is off the charts one second, then barely registers the next, and then goes to something in between. And there’s no pattern to it at all. It’s just… chaotic,” he finished quietly. He paused, his face blank.

“Doctor?” Twilight asked.

“This energy is pure chaos,” he finally said. “Out of all the chaos in this world, Discord chose to concentrate as much energy as he possibly could and focus it here. But why?”

“Cuz there’s somthin’ there that he don’t want us to find?” Applejack suggested.

“The Elements!” Twilight interjected. “If we really were heading toward the Elements, then that means this is supposed to keep us, and anypony else, out.”

“But this is practically just a plug,” Applejack argued. “How’d it cause the TARDIS to go all crazy like that?”

“Actually, the field of energy goes pretty far, if my scans are accurate,” the Doctor countered. “We may have gotten caught within the energy field; we’re lucky that all it did was just bang us around a bit.”

“Wait, you can tell all that by just looking at your screwdriver?” Rainbow challenged.

The Doctor paused, considering his answer, before he spoke. “You know, when you put it like that, it does sound weird. Let’s just say, ‘alien technology’ and move on. And by ‘move on,’ I mean ‘get this information to the TARDIS so we have a more accurate picture of what we’re dealing with.’” He turned back and went inside the ship, the mares following him.

The Doctor placed the top end of the screwdriver into a slot on the console. After a few seconds of beeping, the computer started to reveal an image. The overall form was shapeless, like a large blob with an arm branching off to the upper left. The most curious thing, however, was a fairly large hole within the main body.

“Um, what the hay is that?” Applejack asked.

“This is an image of the chaos energy,” the Doctor explained. “You see that long, skinny part right there? At the very end is the bulge we saw outside. In other words, Applejack, this is not just some plug in the ground; Discord really wanted to make sure nopony and nothing could get in there. The entire outline of this field is basically where the energy ends and the earth begins.”

“What about that hole right in the center?” Rainbow asked. Everyone focused on the dark patch within the image; it was perfectly circular.

“My best guess,” the Doctor said: “something that chaos energy can’t get through. An energy that is just as powerful, if not more so, than the chaos surrounding it.”

“Harmony,” Twilight said. “It has to be harmony. It’s the pure opposite of chaos.”

“Then the Elements really are here,” Applejack added.

“Doc,” Rainbow started, “think you can get us in that hole?” She pointed to the image, specifically at the dark spot indicating the lack of chaos energy.

“I’d like to,” the Doctor replied, “but after that shake-up, I wouldn’t try risking any more jumps for the time being, especially ones that require such precision. We land too far off our intended mark, we end up back in the chaos energy, and this time, we may not be as lucky as we were before.” This thought made the others pause.

Finally, Twilight spoke, “Is there a way to dispel the chaos energy from out here?”

“Only if we had another source of harmonic energy,” the Doctor replied. There was another round of uncomfortable silence.

Suddenly, Rainbow shouted, “I got it!” All eyes turned to her. “All right, so that big hole right there is the Elements of Harmony keeping the chaos away, right? Well, guess what we’ve got.”

“Rainbow, the Elements we use are back home,” Applejack pointed out. “Ah don’t think we can just waltz into the castle and ask if we can use ‘em jus’ so we can make sure history takes its rightful course. That, and we’d need Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity to use ‘em, and Ah don’t think they’re ready for this quite yet.”

“We won’t need any of that,” Rainbow stated. After getting three confused looks, she continued, “We’ve got three Elements right here: Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic.” She indicated to herself, Applejack, and Twilight as she spoke.

There was another pause as the others considered what Rainbow said. “Actually,” Twilight said, “that might work.” Now all eyes were focused on her; even Rainbow was curious. “I know a spell that can simulate emotions and transmit them into something else. Maybe if we all work together, we can create an offshoot energy similar to the Elements.”

“What do you think, Doctor?” Applejack asked.

“Worth a shot, I’d say,” he said. “We don’t have anything else to go on at the moment.” The girls nodded.

With their plan in mind, they left the TARDIS and went to the bulge. They huddled around it, Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack standing close to each other while the Doctor stood opposite them. Twilight looked to either side at her friends, who both nodded.

“Okay, girls,” she said. “I want you to recall strong memories of loyalty, honesty, and friendship. Try to replicate your emotions from those memories. Then, hold on to me.” The other two mares closed their eyes and concentrated. Twilight did the same. She thought back to every lesson on friendship she had learned and how, with her friends, anything seemed possible. Thinking of those times made her smile.

Then she felt a pair of hooves grab her from either side. Immediately, she reached into her magic and performed the spell. She felt the magic energies leave her body through her horn and flow toward the mass of chaos.

The Doctor ran the sonic over the chaos energy as Twilight’s magic flowed into it. But it seemed like no matter how much magic Twilight put out, nothing happened. He looked up and saw that Twilight was beginning to tire. “Twilight, stop,” he said at last. Twilight’s horn stopped glowing and the flow of energy ceased to exist.

The three opened their eyes. “Did it work?” Rainbow asked. Then she looked down. “Never mind.”

“I actually wouldn’t say that,” the Doctor assured. “The chaos energy was being affected by your spell.”

“Well, that’s good,” Applejack said. “Least we know we’re on the right track.”

“But the affectations were incredibly miniscule,” the Doctor continued. “I barely even noticed anything going on. I had to stop you before Twilight overdosed her magic again.” Everyone noticed that Twilight was breathing slightly heavily.

“So now what do we do?” she asked.

“We need to find a stronger source of harmony,” he replied.

“But that would mean getting all six Elements.” Twilight pointed out. "How do we pull that off?"

Before the Doctor could answer, however, a voice said, “Well, this is intriguing. And for me, that’s saying a lot.”

The Master of Not Making Sense

Everyone froze as they heard that voice, especially since it sounded so familiar. They slowly turned their heads toward the TARDIS. As they suspected, but much to their chagrin, they saw Discord himself, perusing the box from almost every angle. Luckily, it looked as though he hadn’t seen them.

“Fascinating,” he said to himself. “Truly fascinating. There is simply no reason for this box to even be here.” He put his talon to his chin. “Not even me.”

Meanwhile, the ponies all backed away, hoping Discord was still unaware of their presence. “On the plus side,” the Doctor whispered as they entered the “foliage,” “I think he likes her. Told you the TARDIS went with the scenery.”

“Is now really the best time?” Applejack whispered back.

Discord continued with his musings. “I’d definitely remember something like this. But I couldn’t have possibly come up with this in a million years.” He paused. “Perhaps there’s something delightful inside.”

The ponies stopped as soon as he said that. They wanted to run out and try to stop him, but they also didn’t want him to know they were there. Discord snapped his paw and a small light shone in the lock. As soon as it subsided, he grabbed the doorknob and pulled.

But it didn’t open. Then he tried pushing it. But it still didn’t budge. Discord started to lose his patience and shook the door, threatening to rip it off its hinges. But nothing ever happened.

“Gotta hand it to her,” the Doctor said, mostly to himself. “She’s a tough old gal.”

“Why do you keep talkin’ like it’s an actual female?” Applejack asked, still whispering.

“That’s how sailors talk about their ships,” Twilight answered, “with a feminine pronoun. I would think the same applies for spaceships.”

“Actually, in the case of the TARDIS,” the Doctor interjected, “it’s a bit more literal than that.” The three ponies looked at him with confused stares before Discord finally gave up.

“A box that doesn’t open even for me. This just doesn’t make any sense. I like it!” He smiled. “But I still want to see what’s inside. You sir! You wouldn’t happen to have a spare key I could borrow, would you?”

The ponies flinched. No one said anything. “Come on, then, I haven’t got all day.” More silence followed. “Would this help? I’m looking for a pony in a blue suit!” Everyone still kept quiet, though the tension was growing with each word Discord spoke. “Oh, why do they always want to do this the hard way?” He snapped.

Suddenly, the ponies found themselves in front of Discord, feeling a little nauseated, not from the sight of him, but from the unexpected teleportation; even Twilight, who had cast teleportation spells several times in the past, felt slight discomfort from the unfamiliar magic she was forced through.

“Yes, chaos teleportation is rather stomach-churning for the unexperienced,” Discord said unsympathetically. “I remember my first time; I was hovering over the toilet for hours. But this wouldn’t have been necessary if you had just come out when I asked you to.”

No one said anything. Instead, anyone who recovered from the sudden teleportation looked up at him with equal parts fear and disdain. “But that’s all in the past now,” Discord continued. “Here’s how I see this whole scenario. This box is here, and I’m pretty sure I had nothing to do with it. Additionally, there are four ponies in the immediate area. So the most likely assumption is that you and this box are connected somehow and therefore know how to get into it. Perhaps you would be so kind as to sate my curiosity.” He finished with what could only be described as “trying to pull off a look of innocence,” complete with big eyes with large eyelashes.

“And if I say no?” the Doctor said, breaking the group’s silence.

Discord smirked. “Then evidently, you don’t know who I am. But that’s impossible. After all, you went out of your way just to see me, am I right?”

The Doctor was confused for a second before speaking again. “What are you—?”

“Memory games, my good stallion. I’ve been trying to read your memories since I noticed you. I have to admit that you, sir,” he said to the Doctor, “are very hard to pin down. So much incoherency, you’d give my chaotic mind a run for its money.” The top of his head flipped open and spat out a few coins.

“But these three,” he turned back to the girls, “they seem very focused on me. At the very least, they know what I’m capable of. Except some of these images don’t make a whole lot of sense. Normally, I’d be happy with that, but I’m talking about all these events involving me that I don’t remember. I mean, I know I haven’t made any soapy roads lately. And this ‘Ponyville’ as ‘the chaos capital of the world,’ why, I don’t think I’ve even heard of such a place.” The three mares’ eyes widened as they realized what he was getting at.

Discord turned back to the TARDIS and ran his paw over it. “Strange box. Unreadable stallion. Three ponies with memories I don’t have. There can only be so many explanations.” He smiled again. “But I can only think of one.

“Time travel.”

No one said anything; they were too shocked to try. Finally, Twilight spoke. “W-well, that would be… impossible. I-I mean, nopony has… ever been able t-to travel through time suc-successfully.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Discord waved, obviously not buying Twilight's flimsy excuse, “it doesn’t make a lick of sense. But I’m the master of not making sense, so I think I know what I’m talking about.” (“Mah head hurts,” Applejack moaned.) He turned back to the TARDIS and slid one of his talon fingers across the wooden surface, followed by putting it in his mouth as if tasting it. “I would have to say, oh, over a thousand years, 1500 being the closest estimate, give or take a century.”

He turned back to the ponies and smiled. “And based on these memories of me I keep seeing, I think we can all assume one thing.” He waited, but got no response. “I think I’ll be around for a very long time.” He chuckled to himself and whispered, “And those silly princess ponies think I can be so easily defeated.”

“Shows what you know, buster!” Rainbow suddenly shouted. Unable to handle just sitting still any longer, she launched herself at Discord. However, she bounced off his body like it was made of rubber. She landed not too gracefully in front of the others; Applejack went to inspect the damage.

“But that brings the question of why you’re here in the first place,” Discord said, as though nothing had happened. “Although, judging by your friend’s attitude, I think I can guess. I’ll admit, I’ve had a few… dissenters, let’s call them. It seems very few ponies can appreciate the intricate beauty of chaos.

“So let’s put the pieces together.” He snapped his fingers, conjuring a bowl and three slips of paper. “A: You’re all from the future, meaning you came to your past for a reason. Two: You obviously don’t like me all that much, if the rainbow one is any indication. And tres: If your memories are correct, then I’ll still be around for millennia to come.” As he listed each statement, the slips of paper floated into the bowl. “Mix it all up and…” He snapped again, and a whisk appeared, mixing the contents of the bowl. Soon, everything disappeared, leaving only a full sheet of paper behind. Discord grabbed the paper and adjusted a pair of reading glasses (that weren’t there before).

He cleared his throat and read off the paper, “You’re here to find a way to stop my reign before it goes any further.”

For a while, no one spoke. It was clear Discord had both the right and wrong idea, but they figured it was for the best to not give away the specifics of his inaccuracies. Twilight knew that the less he knew of his future, their present, the easier their task would be.

Finally, the Doctor spoke. “So what do you plan on doing with us, then?”

“Oh, nothing horrible, I can assure you,” Discord answered. “I don’t believe in causing ponies harm where I can help it. After all, how can one enjoy the world I bring if I attacked everypony who so much as turned their noses up at me?”

“Din’t you say somethin’ about nopony ‘appreciatin’’ your chaos?” Applejack countered.

“Just give it a few years, they’ll grow to like it,” Discord dismissed. “And even if I wanted to put a more… permanent solution to stopping you, you’re all time travelers. I don’t really know what would happen if any lasting harm came upon you, so I won’t even risk it.

“That being said, I certainly can’t let you just have your way with me. Don’t get me wrong; if two alicorns can’t even touch me, I’ve got nothing to fear from you. But doing nothing is even more dangerous than waiting for someone to try to dethrone me every other day. At the very least, I could… dissuade you from your little quest.”

By now, Rainbow was finally able to stand up. “Dissuade how?” she asked. Discord smirked and snapped his fingers.

The ground started shaking. The forest floor broke apart, revealing a white, smooth platform under the ponies’ hooves. It was flat along the bottom, but the edges were raised. The platform continued to rise above the ground, taking the ponies with it.

“What is this?” Twilight asked. The Doctor tapped his hoof on the surface, producing a “ding” sound.

“Just a hunch,” he said, “but I’m going to say ceramic.”

Eventually, the platform stopped almost a couple of meters off the ground. Suddenly, it began spinning, slowly at first, but building up speed quickly. They could hear Discord’s voice below them. “I do so enjoy the old spinning plate trick!”

It didn’t take long for someone to act; Rainbow lifted herself off the plate and flew along the outer edge, moving opposite to the direction it was spinning. She began to pick up speed until she was little more than a rainbow blur encircling the others. Soon, the plate slowed down to a point where it started feeling a little wobbly. Unable to take the weight without the momentum, the whole plate toppled over causing the three ponies to tumble onto the ground.

Getting up was a little shaky, due to the spinning and resulting dizziness. Twilight did something with her magic, encasing them in a lavender field that dissipated quickly. Everyone on the ground felt stable.

“What was—?” the Doctor started.

“Reorientation spell,” Twilight quickly answered. “Really helps for first-time teleporters.”

Before the Doctor could reply, something shot past him. It looked like a rubber dodge ball. “I suggest a tactical retreat, ladies.”

“Ferget tactics, jus’ run!” Applejack nearly shouted. Everyone ran away from the barrage of dodge balls.

“Never did have much of a throwing arm,” Discord said offhandedly as he prepared another wave of balls.

The ponies kept running, not looking back for a long time. Eventually, the dodge balls stopped coming. But the ponies continued to run. After a few moments, Applejack shouted, “Ya think he’s gone?”

Rainbow spun around so that she was flying backwards. She saw Discord gliding through the air towards them. “How about I not answer that question?”

“Well, what’s he doing now?” the Doctor asked.

“Don’t know, don’t care!” Rainbow said as she turned back around. Everyone just kept moving.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light hit the ground in front of them. They barely even saw the ribbons sprouting like a weed in time. They swerved out of the way, not wanting to find out what happened if they got too close, but Discord kept lobbing more blasts of chaos at them. Each blast, when it hit the ground, created another oddity the ponies had to avoid: a geyser of grape juice, a giant glove, a ruler, among others.

“Everypony! Scatter!” Twilight yelled out. The group separated, leaving a large amount of space between them. The blasts kept coming, but they didn’t have to worry about them as much, since the shots landed in the empty spaces.

“This is ridiculous,” Discord said to himself. “I’m throwing everything at them but the kitchen sink.” He waited a moment before saying, “Ah, why not?” He prepared another orb of light and threw it at the ponies. The orb flew far over the ponies’ heads, though almost hitting Rainbow, and landed just barely in front of Twilight. Luckily, Twilight had already been preparing a teleportation spell and jumped just as the light landed, reappearing behind it not more than a second later. The light, when it landed, turned into a sink.

Rainbow saw this and immediately cried out, “Hey guys! I got an idea!” She landed near the sink and the other ponies came up next to her; even Twilight backtracked when she heard Rainbow’s voice.

“Twilight,” Rainbow said hastily, “think you can tilt the nozzle up?” Twilight looked confused for a brief second, but Discord was approaching fast, so she just activated her magic. The aura surrounded the nozzle on the sink, but it didn’t move. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and held it at the sink; the nozzle bent up almost immediately.

“Rainbow, what are ya think—?!” Applejack started.

But Rainbow interrupted, “Just turn it on when he gets close.” Applejack turned and saw Discord flying towards them. All objections were lost and Applejack put her hoof on one of the spigots. They waited until Discord, his hands carrying more chaos orbs, was almost on top of them. Rainbow turned on the faucet from her side, followed by Applejack when she realized what the plan was.

A yellow liquid burst out of the nozzle and sprayed Discord right in the face, stopping him and throwing him backward; he was blown rather far due to his airborne position.

“Um,” Applejack asked, “what the hay is this stuff?”

The Doctor dipped his hoof in the stream and put it to his mouth. After tasting the liquid, he said, “I’d say juice from citrus limon, some hydrogen hyrdoxide, and a hint of sucrose.”

“What’s all that mean?”

“Lemonade,” he simply said. “Discord is not going to be happy when he gets out of that.” Indeed, Discord was having a bit of trouble stopping the lemonade from assaulting him.

“Come on,” Twilight said. “This won’t hold him long.” Everyone silently agreed and resumed running.

Discord lied on the ground sputtering at the lemonade being forced into his face for what he felt was a long time. After he finally got over his initial surprise, he weakly held out his paw and snapped. The spray diverted itself and arced away from him. After catching his breath, he stood up and looked for the ponies, but they were nowhere to be found.

“I’ll give ‘em this,” he said to himself: “they’re good.” He thought for a moment. Those ponies had been near the bulge. He realized what this meant and flew off where he hoped they had run off to.

The Shelter

Everyone kept running deeper into the chaotic forest. The “trees” became thicker and more numerous. Eventually, Rainbow decided to look back. Seeing nothing, she said, “Hey, guys, I think we lost him!”

Reassured by their friend, everyone slowed down to a stop. They all breathed heavily from having run so long. “How long… do ya… think… we got?” Applejack asked between breaths.

“Assuming he didn’t… get up right away,” the Doctor answered, “and he… actually… managed… to follow us… not very long, I’d say.”

Twilight’s breathing seemed to be the most under control when she said, “We’ve got to find a place to hide until we’re sure Discord’s gone.”

“But where?” Rainbow asked. “He’s gotta know this entire forest by now. Where are we supposed to hide?”

Before anyone could reply, they all heard something. “Psst!” They all looked around for the source of the sound. They hoped it wasn’t Discord already. “Hey! Over here!” The voice was quiet, yet almost demanding. And slightly feminine (though it was hard to tell with the hushed tone). “Down by the orange one!”

Applejack looked down and almost jumped in surprise. One of the bushes (made of cabbage leaves) had lifted up to reveal a unicorn mare, dark blue in color with a lighter shade for her mane, poking her head out of a hole in the ground. “Hey, y’all,” she called to the others. As soon as they looked at her, she pointed to the unicorn.

“Hurry up and get in here!” the mare said. She stepped to the side of the hole. With little else to rely on, Applejack led the way inside the hole. The others followed after her.

The hole led to a stairway carved out of the earth against a wall. The other side revealed an entire room. The obvious comparison any of the ponies could make was that of a bunker, but its aesthetic was similar to a bar. There were several tables dotting the area, many with groups of ponies sitting around them. On one end of the room was the bar itself, a long desk with an earth pony stallion sitting behind it and a cabinet of drinks behind him. There was also another platform off to the side.

As soon as the last of the ponies, Twilight, was past the entrance, she asked, “What is all this?”

The unicorn lowered the bush, blocking the hole. “Just one of many around here,” she said. “Don’t you have shelters where you come from?”

“We’ve, er, made it a point not to stay in one place for too long,” the Doctor replied.

“Can’t decide if that’s smart or stupid,” the unicorn remarked. “Though, to be fair, staying cooped up in here has its disadvantages.”

“Wait,” Rainbow said, “you never go outside?”

“Well, we do have to get supplies every once in a while,” the unicorn answered, “but we do try to limit our trips, and I have to stay here on sentry duty.”

“That how you knew we were out there?” Applejack asked.

“It’s my specialty.” She pointed to her flank; it bore a symbol like a set of crosshairs. “Proximity spells have been part of my routine for so long, it’s as natural as breathing. Refining the spell even lets me ‘see’ what sort of creatures I’m sensing. And an eavesdropping spell let me know that you were trying to hide from Discord.”

“Well, thank you very much, Miss…” The Doctor trailed off.

“Searchlight,” the unicorn said. “The name’s Searchlight.”

“Yes, thank you, Searchlight,” the Doctor continued. “If you could keep us informed of Discord’s movements, we’d appreciate that.”

“You’re not going to stay?” Searchlight asked.

“We’ve got something important to do,” Twilight said. “We only intended to stay for so long anyway.”

“Right,” Searchlight relented, “the life of a wanderer. I guess I’ve just been used to living like this for so long that the idea of going outside just sounds like too big a risk to take.”

“We appreciate yer concern,” Applejack said, “but we’ll be fine. Ah guarantee it.”

Searchlight nodded. “I’ll let you know if there’s any activity.” With that, the four ponies entered the room proper and took one of the empty tables.

“You really think we’ll be safe here?” Rainbow asked.

“Safer than we would be out there,” the Doctor pointed out. “Discord was gunning for us specifically, so he might not have given up until he found us, which wouldn’t have been long. And if these ponies can avoid him for around a year, I think Discord won’t think twice about looking for any secret passages.”

“Fair point,” Rainbow conceded.

Everyone heard footsteps coming their way. They turned and saw the stallion from behind the counter walk up to their table. He was a little older than most of the other ponies in the room. His coat was golden and his mane was an earthy green. Because he was closer now, they group could see his cutie mark: a wooden drinking mug.

“Hey there, folks,” he said. “Can I interest you in anything?”

“Oh, no thanks,” the Doctor replied.

“Come on,” the bartender said. “You four got hounded by Discord. A little something to calm the nerves wouldn’t do you any harm. Never let it be said that old Hard Drink didn’t take care of nopony.”

The four ponies looked at each other, as if they were actually considering his offer. Finally, Applejack said, “Y’all got any cider?”

“Freshly squeezed juice from apples grown right here,” Hard Drink said proudly.

“Really?” Twilight interjected. “I didn’t see any apple trees in the area.”

“One of our gatherers dug up one of Discord’s RLA trees and found a way to cultivate it here in the shelter. Helps when you have a farmer whose specialty is rare and unusual plants.”

“RLA?” the Doctor repeated.

“Really large apples,” Drink explained. “Apples so big and heavy, they bend the tree trunk. Best part is the apples never run out too quickly; you pick one, another takes its place sometime later. About the only good thing to come out of Discord’s conquest,” he added sullenly.

“That’s the thing about chaos,” the Doctor offered: “with all that randomness, something has to go right.”
Applejack coughed to bring the attention to her. “Anyway, four cups, please.”

“I’ll get right on that,” Drink said. He walked back to the bar where the others could now see a tunnel entrance just beside the drinks cabinet. He went into it and disappeared into the darkness.

“You know,” Rainbow started as soon as Drink was gone, “it’s hard not to feel sorry for these guys.”

“Ah know what you mean,” Applejack replied. “It’s amazin’ they’ve lasted this long. And it sounds like this place ain’t the only one.”

“But at the end of the day,” the Doctor added, “it’s admirable. You ponies, even in the midst of all this chaos, don’t give up so easily. You hold onto what makes you feel happy and safe, particularly each other. This is more than a shelter.” He waved a hoof across the room. “This is a community, with everyone looking out for each other, even if all they contribute is just a friendly face. It’s not these ponies we should pity, but anyone else out there who’s got no one to give him that sense of happiness.”

“If we’re lucky,” Twilight spoke up, “we won’t have to pity anypony. If we can just find a way to get to the Elements of Harmony…” She stopped and bowed her head. “If we can find a way…” she repeated, stressing the first word.

“We will, sugarcube,” Applejack said, placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “You heard the Doctor; we were makin’ progress. We jus’ gotta figure out how to better the odds.”

Hard Drink was back soon after the group finished their conversation, balancing a platter of mugs filled with cider on his back. Using her magic, Twilight lifted the mugs off the platter and set each one down in front of her and the others. Applejack was the first to take a sip.

“Not bad,” she said. “You can really taste the apples in this.”

“Always appreciate the compliment, ma’am,” Drink replied.

“Hey, uh,” Rainbow started, “do we owe you anything for this?”

Drink just snorted out a small laugh. “Listen, I don’t know what sort of places you’ve all been to, but ‘round here, I don’t need bits. Just happy drinkers. Let me know if you need anything else.” With that, he walked back to his place behind the bar.

Rainbow took a sip from her own mug. After licking her lips, she said, “It’s not Sweet Apple Acres, but it’ll do.”

Twilight, meanwhile, turned to the Doctor. “So, Doctor, what are we supposed to do now?”

“Not much we can do at this point,” he replied. “We’ll likely stay here for a while until we’re sure it’s safe, then we’ll get back to the chaos energy.”

“But we still can’t break through it,” Twilight pointed out.

“True,” the Doctor conceded. “But unless one of us comes up with another theory as to how to do so between now and then, we’ll have a better chance of finding a solution where we can study it.”

Twilight looked sullen for a second and said, “Sorry. I’m just worried. You said that if this day goes differently, it could change Equestria, and with Discord, I can only assume for the worse.”

“Worried is good,” the Doctor said. “Worried keeps you focused on the task at ha… hoof. That being said, you shouldn’t let it dictate your every thought. Don’t focus on everything that can go wrong; remember, for everything that can go wrong, it could also go right.”

“‘Sides, Twilight,” Applejack added, “we’ve gotten past Discord’s tricks before. And we can do it again.”

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” the Doctor said. “You all talk like you know Discord personally. And if he’s correct, Discord actually does have a presence in your time.”

“He broke out a few months ago and started doing his thing,” Rainbow explained. “We managed to put a stop to that, though.” She put her hoof to her chest as if boasting.

“Except he almost destroyed our friendship in the process,” Twilight added. “We might not have made it if I hadn’t reminded everyone that our friendship is worth fighting for. And even then, I was only able to do so because Princess Celestia reminded me.”
There was a moment of silence before the Doctor picked up the conversation again. “Wow. I never would have guessed you all had your adventurous moments before I came along.”

“You kiddin’?” Applejack said after another sip. “With the amount a’ crazy we go through, Ah’m surprised Ponyville is still populated.”
Before the conversation could continue, Twilight noticed that Hard Drink was walking up to the platform in the side of the room. He cleared his throat and stamped his hoof, causing everyone to focus on him.

“So, everypony, how ya feeling? Good?” There were a few murmurs in response indicating yes. “Well, I can tell you that’s not true. That’s because Ms. Relief hasn’t been on stage for a bit to lighten the mood. Luckily, she’s just finished her latest routine and, since we’ve got a few new guests,” he indicated to time displaced ponies, “she wants to show them how we have a good time. So, without further ado, stomp your hooves for Ms. Comic Relief!”

As he walked off the stage, the ground started to vibrate as the other ponies in the room applauded. Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and the Doctor all looked around with some confusion, the Doctor especially.

“I guess that makes sense,” he whispered to himself.

“What does?” Rainbow asked.

“The way you applaud,” he replied. “I imagine it wouldn’t be easy to stand on your hind legs for even half a minute while you clapped for someone.”

None of the others even had time to be confused by the Doctor’s statement before they noticed a pegasus mare, green and purple in color with a comedy mask cutie mark, take the center of the stage.

“Thanks, Boss,” Comic Relief said, “but I keep telling you: stop calling me ‘Miss’. It makes me feel like you’re trying to throw something at me.” A few chuckles went around the room; even Twilight and her friends laughed a bit.

“Anyway, great to be back on stage,” she continued. “Like Mr. Drink just said, we’ve got some new faces here, which is a good thing. I mean, I like to think my routines are good, but it really breaks my heart when all these familiar faces are disappointed with my jokes. But now that you’re here, I can disappoint some new ponies!” Everyone started laughing again. “Anyway, as I understand it, you four were just on the run from Discord. Is this true?” She indicated to the group.

Everyone was taken slightly aback by this sudden interaction, but Applejack eventually said, “Uh, yeah. Don’t think Ah ever ran so fast, or far, before.”

“Well I don’t blame you one bit, honey,” Comic said. “A face that frightening could cause trolls to run in terror.” She waited for the laughter to die down. “Anyway, I ask because I just got done writing a Discord-specific routine. I’m not sure if that was a coincidence, good timing on your part, or the universe saying, ‘Just get it over with! Pleeeeeease!’” She voiced that statement in an overdramatic tone. That alone was enough for a few laughs.

“Now I know what you’re thinking. ‘But Comic, why would you want to make jokes about Discord?’ Simple: Because it’s easier to laugh at Discord than with him.” There were a few amused glances. “Then again, if someone dropped an anvil on your head, would you be in a chuckling mood?” As soon as she heard her response, she said, “You’re chuckling. I’m honestly not sure how to respond to this.” The chuckling grew to full-blown laughter.

“This isn’t my first time talking about Discord, though. I was in another shelter this one time and I made a comparison between him and a chimera. You know, because he’s basically a mishmash of different body parts? In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have said that in a room where half my audience was a bunch of chimeras.” That got the desired result. “And now you know why I left that shelter. You ever seen an angry chimera? I can’t tell if I should revoke my comparison or not.”

Comic waited until the ponies stopped laughing. “You know, I actually met Discord once.” The room was silent. “We had a conversation going, and I use the term loosely; he pretty much praised chaos the whole time. Although, you’d think that for someone who relishes in things that don’t make sense, his name wouldn’t be so… spot on.” That broke the tension enough for a few more laughs. “Then again, look who’s talking; my name is Comic Relief, and I’m up here telling jokes.

“But back to Discord. I mostly used our ‘conversation’ to blow off a little steam. It all came to a head when I said he drives us batty. I think I might have struck a nerve, because his bat wing twitched.” She held a wing out and flicked it for emphasis; the combination of the joke and motion produced a few chuckles.

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and the Doctor had been following the crowd’s example since the start of Comic’s performance. “She’s good,” Rainbow said when she finally caught her breath.

“You said it, Rainbow,” Applejack agreed. “’Specially after what happened earlier.”

“That might be the point,” Twilight said. “I mean, you all saw how I was getting just because things were, and… still are, looking bleak. But these ponies have had to live with their situation for the past year.”

“Like I said,” the Doctor added. “What really contributes to these ponies’ willpower is each other. Nothing like having friends to laugh with to brighten any mood.”

“I never did figure out what happened after that.” Comic continued with her story (which, by this point, the ponies started to suspect was just for the routine). “All I can remember is that it involved a clamshell, a giraffe, and waking up a few hooves from Discord with a large bump on his head.” More laughter followed. “Didn’t bother sticking around to ask what happened. I mean, it was Discord; that’s a bad idea on many levels.” Twilight just kept on laughing, feeling lighter than she had since they first landed in this era.

Chaos vs. Harmony

Discord had been searching for quite a long time, and still there was no pony to be found. He shouldn’t have been surprised, though. After the rainbow one managed to keep him busy with the lemonade faucet (Was his lemonade really that sour?), they could have gone anywhere in this forsaken forest; he would have been surprised to learn he even managed to actually follow their general direction.

This is getting ridiculous, Discord thought to himself. If I keep this up, I’m only going to end up tiring myself out and risk truly throwing myself at their mercy. I need to shift my focus.

Those ponies had been at the bulge, where the Elements of Harmony rested, safely out of reach for anypony. But if these ponies had a way of counteracting the chaos field, however unlikely that sounded, they could grab the Elements. What they would do with them was unclear, but there was a reason Discord wanted them sealed away in the first place.

Perhaps I could go back there and wait, he mused. After all, that box is still there, and if it is what I think it is, they’ll need it; they’ll come back for it. However, his mood fell after a few seconds. No, they’ll just run off again, leading to another game of cat and mouse that could go on for who knows how long. I need something permanent, something to catch them by surprise, maybe even take out the Elements in the process.

He soon smiled. Oh, why didn’t I think of this before? Better get those seeds ready.

Comic had moved on to the interactive part of the routine. The concept was deceptively easy; the audience would ask her questions and she’d provide the punchline, almost like a “jokes on any subject” routine, but with a narrower range of responses.

“So, why does Discord only have one tooth?” one pony asked. He held a hoof to his mouth and air-drew Discord’s notable, lone canine.

“Oh, he has two teeth,” Comic replied. “He just can’t find the other one.”

By now, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and the Doctor had broken into full laughter. Applejack was the first to recover from this latest joke and decided to throw her two bits in. “Hey, this one time, we saw a line of buffalo dancin’ ballet. What’s up with that?”

“Well, square dancing would have just seemed stereotypical.” Anyone who just got over their laughing fits succumbed to them once again.

“Well, I don’t want to be charged with knocking my audience dead,” Comic quipped, “so I think we’re going to leave it at that for now. As always, you’ve been a great audience, and to our new friends, I hope you enjoyed what you heard. Thank you, and good night.”

“It’s 3:30 in the afternoon,” one of the ponies said.

“Ah, it’s nighttime somewhere in the world, especially if Discord has his way.” She waited for the final round of laughter to die down before she said, “Thank you all, you’ve been a wonderful crowd.” She then stepped off the stage as the other ponies applauded.

The four ponies eventually managed to stop laughing, though the smiles were still present. “Well, that was definitely a hoot-‘n-a-half,” Applejack said.

“It was,” the Doctor agreed. “But I think it’s time we hit the road. We’ve got to get back to the chaos energy.” He stood up and stretched his legs, the others following suit, before they all headed toward the stairs.

“You guys leavin’?” Hard Drink asked. Everyone turned to him; he was behind the bar once more.

“We mean no disrespect,” the Doctor said. “We just have some things to do, and they can’t be done from underground.”

“Well, I won’t argue with you,” Drink replied. “You take care of yourselves.”

“Will do,” Rainbow said, saluting with her wing. Everyone walked toward the stairs and Searchlight.

“What’s the word?” the Doctor asked.

“All quiet,” Searchlight answered. “Been that way since you guys came here. If Discord really did follow you, he would have shown up by now.” There was a short pause. “I don’t suppose I can at least try to convince you to stay.”

“Sorry,” Twilight said, “but we really do have places to be.”

“Can’t say I agree with you,” Searchlight said. Her horn glowed dark blue and the bush covering the entrance lifted itself up. “But I won’t stop you either.”

“Searchlight,” the Doctor said, “you’ve done more than enough for us. Thank you.”

Rainbow poked her head out of the hole first and looked around. “No sign of anyone. We’re good to go.” She slipped outside and the others followed her up.

Everyone looked back at the bush and saw Searchlight’s sad smile. “Good luck,” she said as she lowered the bush over the hole.

Looking at the chaotic landscape once again reintroduced the ponies to several unpleasant feelings; fear, confusion, and anxiety, among other things. Thankfully, those feelings weren’t as bad this time around.

“Now what?” Rainbow asked. “I can’t even remember which way we came from.”

“Give me a moment,” the Doctor said. He took out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on. He held it out and pointed in several directions. Soon, he stopped. “Okay, I’ve got the signal to the TARDIS. Assuming Discord hasn’t touched it, this should lead us back to the chaos energy.”

“Sounds like a plan t’ me,” Applejack said. They all walked in the direction the Doctor indicated. Everyone was careful to watch for any sign of Discord. Luckily, it seemed as though he really had given up, or at the very least, he was somewhere far enough away.

After several minutes, Applejack noticed a look on Twilight; she seemed deep in thought, and given her previous bout of depression, Applejack was worried. “You alright, sugarcube?” she asked.

Twilight shot her head up at Applejack’s call. “Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.”

“You’re not getting down in the dumps again, are you?” Rainbow asked, making her way into the conversation. “Because after what just happened, there should be no excuse for that.”

“Don’t worry, girls,” Twilight replied. “I’m done with being moody for today. In fact, what I’m thinking about is actually more productive than that.”

“Do tell, Ms. Sparkle,” the Doctor interjected.

“I was just working out some solutions on how to get past the energy. It might be good to have a few solutions ready for when we actually get there.”

“A fair point,” the Doctor agreed.

“So, what’cha got so far?” Applejack asked.

“Not a lot, admittedly,” Twilight sighed. “All I’ve got to work with is our original attempt. I mean, you said we were actually making some headway.” She looked to the Doctor, who nodded. “But all I’m getting from this is, unless we copy all six of the Elements at once, we won’t get much better than what we had.”

Rainbow hummed in thought and turned to the Doctor. “Is it possible for us to go back to the present and just slip the Elements away for a few minutes?” she asked.

“Not likely,” he said. “Believe it or not, we are now entwined in these events. If we attempt to leave, your present will look much like this. And the Elements we’re trying to get will still be under the energy.”

“And the ponies of that time will be like the ones we just met,” Twilight added; “living underground trying to hide from a tyrant, with only their friendship keeping them sane for any stretch of time.”

Suddenly, she stopped walking. Everyone turned to her. She was staring blankly. “Twilight? Are you okay?” the Doctor asked. There was a look in her eye, almost like a twinkle.

“I’ve got it,” she whispered. She started smiling. “I’ve got it!” Everyone just stared at her. “I think I have an idea! Doctor, how far are we?”

The Doctor seemed taken aback by Twilight’s newfound optimism, but looked at his screwdriver. “We still have a ways to go.”

“Let’s hurry then!” Twilight said. Without warning, she galloped past the others, who barely registered what happened before they started running, and flying, to catch up with her.

“Would someone please explain what’s going on?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah, once Twilight gets an idea,” Rainbow explained, “she can get a little weird.” She spun her hoof toward the side of her head for emphasis. “Remind me to tell you about the time she almost missed a friendship report.”

Not surprisingly, Twilight was the first to notice the TARDIS coming into view. This only pushed her to run faster. The others had tried to keep up, but by the time they all stopped, everyone, even Twilight, was exhausted.

“Twilight,” Applejack breathed. “Next time… you wanna… get here quicker… try not to go so fast.”

The Doctor, meanwhile, looked at the TARDIS. “Looks like she’s okay,” he said, mostly to himself. “Better check the inside, though, just in case. You girls keep an eye out for Discord; I don’t want any surprises.” He fished a key out of his suit pocket, unlocked the doors, and stepped inside.

“So, what’s your bright idea?” Rainbow asked Twilight.

“The way I figure it,” she explained, “the reason our last plan didn’t work was because we tried to channel only three Elements. In order for this to work, all six need to be present, or at the very least, simulated to actually make this work.”

“But the Elements are back home,” Applejack pointed out. “And you heard the Doctor; if we try and go back, nothing here’ll change.”

“I realized that pretty early on,” Twilight continued. “But then I thought about what happened back at the shelter. Searchlight, Hard Drink, and Comic Relief all had what we lacked. Searchlight was kind enough to open the shelter to us and even let us go, despite her better judgment. Drink allowed us to partake in his own stores, even going so far as to refuse payment. And Comic helped us stave off those feelings of sadness and anxiety by making us laugh. Kindness. Generosity. Laughter. The three Elements we need to make this work.”

“Then why didn’t we go back to the shelter?” Rainbow asked. “It sounds like we could use their help.”

“That was my first thought, but something even deeper came to mind. It wasn’t just that we were trying to stick to three Elements. We were trying to embody those Elements. But friendship is more than what we are; it’s what we experience as well.”

“Where exactly are ya goin’ with this?” Applejack asked.

“We have to expand the scope of our memories,” Twilight answered. “Think of everything that relates to the Elements: what we just experienced, our friends back home, what we’ve all done for each other. If we want to create an offshoot of harmony, we have to include all its components.”

There was a small pause as Rainbow and Applejack took in what Twilight was saying. Soon, Applejack said, “Alright, we’ll give it a try. Better wait for the Doctor, though, run it by him first.”

“Won’t need to,” the Doctor’s voice said. Everypony turned and saw him just walking out of the TARDIS.

“How’s the TARDIS?” Rainbow asked him.

“Couldn’t be better. Discord hasn’t touched her at all,” he answered. “Anyway, I heard everything from in there. The plan has plenty of merit to it.”

“Then let’s do it,” Twilight said, her voice filled with determination. She walked up to the bulb of chaos energy, with Rainbow and Applejack taking either side of her. The Doctor stood in front of them, sonic screwdriver in hoof.

“Remember, girls,” Twilight said, “concentrate on harmony in all its parts.” The other two nodded once. Everyone closed their eyes and concentrated. Twilight saw several images, many more than during their first attempt, about all the ponies she ever cared about, and vice versa, especially the ponies they just met. Once again, she felt a pair of hooves hold on to her. She activated her magic.

This time, something felt truly different. Twilight remembered struggling against the energy only to produce barely noticeable effects. Here, she felt no resistance. She squinted open one eye, followed by both eyes bursting open when she saw what was happening; the stream of magic had not only pierced the bulge, but it looked as though the energy caved in at its mere presence. Eventually, any remaining energy furthest away from Twilight’s spell faded out of existence.

The Doctor had been holding his screwdriver to energy, now merely a large hole in the ground. “It’s actually working,” he whispered. “The chaos energy isn’t just moving away, it’s being destroyed. All that harmonic energy must be too much for it to handle.”

“Does that mean we can stop?” Rainbow asked.

“No,” the Doctor replied, “there’s still some energy left, especially in the big chamber surrounding your Elements.”

“Not a problem,” Twilight said. “I can keep this up all day.”

They waited for a few more minutes. The Doctor kept his screwdriver close to the hole. Finally, he said, “That should do it. The chaos energy should be completely gone by now.” Twilight’s magic stopped and the other two mares let go of her.

“Alright, what are we waiting for?” Rainbow said almost immediately. “Let’s get the Elements to the princesses ASAP!” Just before she could fly into the hole, she felt herself being stopped by her tail. She turned and saw Twilight holding it in her magic grip.

“We can’t,” Twilight said. “The princesses don’t know about us yet. If we take the Elements directly to them, we could risk hurting the future.” Rainbow stopped struggling and Twilight let her go.

“So now what?” Applejack asked. “We freed the Elements, but if the princesses don’t so much as see ‘em, it’ll all be for nothin’.”

“We could find a way to bring them here,” the Doctor suggested, “let them find the Elements for themselves. Although that would require some expert tracking skills, as well as extreme secrecy.”

There was another pause; no one seemed to have an answer to this latest development. However, Twilight slowly said, “I think I may have an idea.”

“Well, they’ve worked so far,” Rainbow pointed out. “What’cha got?”

“When I first became Princess Celestia’s student, she taught me spell that could call her to me if I was ever lost or scared. I think I still remember the spell.”

“Is it safe?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean, it was taught to you by the princess herself. Won’t she figure it out it once she teaches it to you?”

“Is it weird that saying that actually makes sense?” Rainbow asked, though to no one in particular.

“Maybe,” the Doctor replied. “But back to the matter at hoof, we don’t have much else to work with. I say it’s a risk worth taking.”

“Well, rule number one was, ‘Do everything you say,’” Twilight said with a smirk; the Doctor smirked back. She held her head up, pointing her horn to the sky, and it glowed.

Author's Note

We're coming to the end game folks. This story ended up being much shorter than I expected. Ah well, it's always been my belief that unless it's an integral part of your writing, overall length should be the last thing on your mind.

The End

“Rrrrgh!” Luna growled, not for the first time. After their defeat—again, not for the first time—she and Celestia returned to their hideout, a cave with just enough space to live in. Luna punched the rock wall, causing a small crack.

“On the plus side,” Celestia said, “if this keeps up, we’ll have more living space.”

Luna realized what she was doing and put her hoof down. “I’m sorry, sister,” she said. “This whole situation just… frustrates me so.”

“I figured,” Celestia quipped.

Luna sighed. “How long, Celestia? How much longer must the world be ruled by his iron paw?”

“We’ll defeat him, Luna,” Celestia said calmly. “We just need another plan.”

“Face it, sister; our plans do nothing. Plans require a level of predictability and expectation. Discord is the very antithesis to those.”

Celestia sighed. She hated seeing Luna so downtrodden, but in the end, she could not disagree. The last battle was a disaster, and their current state showed. Her normally pristine coat was covered in scratches. She envied her sister; at least her marks were mostly concealed by her much darker coloring. And everything else they had come up with during their previous attempts had been shot down almost as immediately as their recent one. She didn’t even want to recall what happened with the earth trap they tried to set up.

Celestia could only walk up to her sister and place her head next to hers. “I’m just so tired of this, Celestia,” Luna said quietly. “I just want it all to stop. I want to put an end to this crazy… thing! And no matter what we do… we can’t.” Celestia said nothing.

A sudden sensation caused her to jerk upward. Luna felt her sister’s movement and looked up at her. “Celestia? What’s wrong?”

“I… I’m not sure,” she said. “It feels like… like someone is calling out to me. But I don’t know who. Or why.”

There was a small pause as the two alicorns tried to figure out what to make of this strange turn of events. Finally, Luna said, “So what do we do?”

“Only one thing to do,” Celestia replied. She walked up to the mouth of the cave, spread her wings, and flew out. Luna galloped to the entrance a second later and follower her.

Twilight stood there for a while, standing as still as possible. The Doctor had gone back into the TARDIS to look out for the presence of the princesses. Rainbow, meanwhile, took over sentry duty, looking for any sign of Discord.

As the only one who had nothing to do at the moment, Applejack asked Twilight, “So… would you actually be able ta tell where Celestia was with this?”

“Mm-mm.” Twilight shook her head. “Usually, she would find me long before I even knew she was there.”

“Then let’s hope the Doctor’s doohickeys can find them before they find us,” Applejack said.

They waited a few more minutes. Everything was quiet. Finally, the Doctor shouted, “I’ve got something!” Applejack ran into the TARDIS to see what was happening. The Doctor was staring at the computer screen with a map of the surrounding area. “I’ve got two blips here, and they’re heading right for us. Scans indicate they have immense power. If these aren’t your princesses, then I’ll be very surprised.”

Applejack ran out and yelled, “Twilight! Rainbow! They’re comin’!” Twilight, confident they didn’t need the spell anymore, cut off her magic and ran into the TARDIS. Rainbow flew in soon after. Once they got the doors closed, the Doctor set the coordinates and pulled the lever.

Celestia looked below at the unnatural landscape. Whereas Luna would often become angry at the sight of it and its creator, Celestia could only feel sadness. Discord’s reign had put ponies through so much misery; it was a wonder they even survived this long, a wonder that might not last much longer if left unchecked. But like Luna, she was starting to become discouraged. Discord had foiled every attempt they made at him, making them look like fools in the process. It was getting to a point where even Celestia, arguably the more optimistic of the two, didn’t see an end in sight.

She pushed these thoughts out of her head for the time being. Something had called out to her, and the sensation was getting stronger by the minute. It got to the point where she could probably pinpoint the source even without the signal. She and her sister had been quiet throughout the flight; neither was sure what to make of this development and, consequently, didn’t know what to say.

The sensation hit its strongest point when they flew over one of Discord’s many chaotic forests. Then, it stopped. Whatever Celestia had felt, she didn’t feel it anymore. She slowed down, prompting Luna to fly closer to her.

“What’s wrong, sister?” she asked.

“It’s gone,” Celestia said slowly. “Whatever’s calling to me has stopped.”

It didn’t take long for something new to come up, however. “Wait,” Luna said. “Do you hear that?”

Celestia remained quiet. After a few seconds, she could make out a strange noise. It was a low sound, almost like a growl, but it sounded far from natural. It also happened at regular intervals, like somepony, or something designed it that way.

Celestia turned to where she thought the sound came from. “This way,” she said. She flapped her wings and flew downwards into the forest. She kept quiet, hoping to not alert her presence to anyone. Whether this was one of Discord’s tricks or something else entirely, she didn’t want to be noticed unless she felt she had to.

The two sisters followed the sound until it was at its loudest. They finally saw where the noise was coming from, but whatever made it had already gone. All they saw was the fading image of… something before it had disappeared completely.

They waited a few more seconds before stepping out into the clearing where the object was. “What was that?” Luna asked.

“I’m not sure,” Celestia admitted. “It disappeared too quickly to get a good look at it. But this is where we were called to, so it can’t be a coincidence.”

“Then neither is this,” Luna said. She was looking at a large hole in the ground. Celestia walked up to it and looked inside. She could see a path leading further underground.

“This has to be it,” she said. She lit up her horn, shining it in the darkness. “Let’s see where it leads.” Luna was unsure, but she followed her sister into the cavern.

There wasn’t really anything of interest, just earth and rock surrounding them. The tunnel was just big enough to allow Celestia, the taller of the two, to stand at full height. Eventually, the cavern opened up into a larger chamber. The only thing that could be considered noteworthy was a soft light that appeared from around a corner. Celestia doused her horn and the two sisters made their way toward the light.

As soon as they rounded the corner, they saw something truly amazing; the light was coming off what looked like a tree. Its bark was like platinum and the leaves shimmered like diamonds. There were five large branches sprouting from the central trunk. Each one, at its end, held a gemstone of a different color: red, blue, pink, orange, and purple. At the center, where all the main branches started, was a six-pointed star.

Celestia just stared in awe, unable to speak. So Luna voiced her thoughts for her. “The Tree of Harmony!”

If that was true, Celestia reasoned to herself, then the gems on the branches must have been what would surely be their saving grace: the Elements of Harmony.

The TARDIS quieted down almost as soon as it started up. The Doctor looked at the console. “Okay, we’ve skipped ahead by about an hour or so and landed at our original destination. The princesses will have found the Elements of Harmony by now and should be on their way to rechallenge Discord for the final time. You all ready to witness history as it should be?”

“Let’s get to it!” Rainbow said excitedly. She already flew to the doors and opened them. Everyone headed out and, relying on memory, went back to Discord’s throne.

Something about this trip felt lighter than when they first arrived. They were no longer apprehensive at the scenery. Maybe they had merely gotten used to it, but more likely, knowing they assisted in bringing down one of the greatest threats to Equestria made them feel excited, even if all they did was set the stage for Discord’s defeat.

The ponies found the hill where Discord’s throne rested, with Discord once again sitting on it. He was facing the opposite direction this time, probably to add variety to his field of view. The ponies found the bush where they hid the last time and, hoping Discord was unaware of their presence, crouched behind it.

“This is going to be great!” Twilight whispered excitedly.

“Let’s just hope it goes right this time,” Applejack said, though the tone of her voice suggested she wasn’t as pessimistic as she sounded.

They waited for a few minutes. Discord hadn’t made a move. Suddenly, Rainbow whispered, “Look!” Everyone turned and saw the princesses. They still had the scratches and scrapes from their previous encounter. But the most noticeable difference were the saddlebags on their backs. (Never really pictured Princess Celestia with saddlebags, Twilight remarked to herself.)

The alicorns made their way to the throne, never speaking, though not even trying to be sneaky with their presence. Finally, they stopped and stared at their enemy.

It wasn’t long before Discord turned around, laughing at this latest attempt. “Oh ho ho! This is sooo much fun!” he chortled, almost boasting his superiority. “How about a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-pony?” he joked as he held up something in his paw. Nopony had realized it was Celestia’s own tail until she looked behind her in shock.

After getting over that little sidetrack, the two sister’s faces hardened again. “Playtime is over for you, Discord!” Celestia said, calmly but firmly.

“Oh, I doubt that,” he said dismissively. He suddenly had a bag of… something in his hand (Why doesn't anyone notice these things until after they happen, Twilight thought to herself), like black seeds the size and shape of pebbles. He put a talonful in his mouth, savoring them immensely, though quite a few of the seeds spilled out of the bag and even his hands while he did so.

“Hungry?” he mockingly offered. Some of the seeds he dropped landed near the two alicorns; a few even bounced off their faces. Both were unaffected, their faces still scowling. Discord noted this lack of response and merely said, “Suit yourselves,” and kept eating.

Celestia and Luna both looked to their respective saddlebags and, using their own magic, pulled out six gemstones; five were cut into a long, octagonal shape, while the sixth, from Celestia’s bag, was a lavender six-pointed star.

“Are those it?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes,” Twilight said. “Princess Luna’s got the Elements of… Laughter, Honesty, and Loyalty, and Princess Celestia has Generosity, Kindness, and Magic.”

“The star one?” he continued. Twilight nodded. “Well, seeing as how it’s supposed to control the others, I guess it makes sense that it’d be different.”

Meanwhile, Discord also took a notice of what the two had. “Oh, what have you got there?” He seemed genuinely interested; he even dropped the bag of seeds as he asked.

Celestia wasted no words in her response. “The Elements of Harmony.”

“With them, we shall defeat you!” Luna added. All six Elements suddenly spun around the two, almost disappearing in the magic field they created.

Discord just laughed, like what he saw truly was funny. “You should see yourselves right now! The expressions on your face, so intense, so sure of yourselves!” He broke down into more laughter.

“Ah don’t believe it,” Applejack said. “He goes ta all that trouble ta make sure the Elements aren’t found, and now that they’re right in front a’ him, he’s not even worried.”

“He probably believes what he saw back when he confronted us,” the Doctor argued. “He truly thinks he’ll reign uncontested in the millennia to come.”

The princesses locked their horns together, causing the magic of the Elements to take the form of a rainbow. It arced up and headed straight for Discord, who was so busy laughing that he didn’t notice what was going on around him. By the time he realized it, it was too late. The rainbow fell over him and his body gained the consistency of stone; his paw clutched to his chest, his talon spread out to the side, and his face stuck in laughter. After that, the rainbow expanded to cover the ground. The checkerboard design reverted to actual grass, the trees returned from being an assortment of giant items, floating houses were lowered to the ground… essentially, everything that Discord had done throughout his reign had reversed to normality; even Celestia’s tail had returned to its rightful place.

Finally, everything had just stopped. The rainbow was gone, the world looked as it should, and a statue of Discord, perpetually frozen in laughter, dropped from its hilltop perch and slid down to the princesses’ hooves. Everything was silent until Luna sighed. “Is it over? Is it truly, finally over?”

Celestia looked one last time at the statue before turning to Luna. “It is.” She was caught off-guard by a hug from her younger sister. She could feel her coat become wet with Luna’s tears. Celestia put a hoof around her, eventually shedding a few tears herself: tears of happiness.

“So, what comes next?” Luna asked her.

“We’ll let tomorrow worry about that,” Celestia answered softly. “Today, I would say we’ve earned a nice, long rest.” Luna looked up at her and nodded. They both let go of each other and, after gathering the Elements, spread their wings and flew off.

The four ponies, meanwhile, were left in absolute wonder. As soon as they were out of earshot of the princesses, Twilight said, at normal volume, “Wow.”

“You can say that again, sugarcube,” Applejack agreed.

“You know, I kinda expected a bit more action than that,” Rainbow said. “But somehow, what just happened is almost as good.”

“Thanks for bringing us here, Doctor,” Twilight said. “This is going to be one of those ‘hard to forget’ moments.”

“Glad you enjoyed it,” the Doctor said. “Always nice to introduce others to the wonders of space and time.” Everyone stood there for a while longer and admired the restored scenery. “Ready to move on?” the Doctor said suddenly.

“Actually,” Twilight replied, “there’s one more thing I want to do here.”

Author's Note

Only one more chapter to go. I really liked writing these Celestia/Luna scenes. (Not like that! You crazy shippers.)

Moving Forward

Searchlight stood at the makeshift door, unsure of whether to open it. She had been getting strange feelings for the past few minutes now, and when she relayed this news, everyone was on edge.

“You’re sure?” she heard Hard Drink say.

“Absolutely,” an earth pony mare replied. “The RLAs are just… As now.”

“You sure you didn’t do anything wrong?”

“I’ve been taking care of that tree for more than eight months now!” the mare said indignantly. “I think I know what I’m supposed to do!”

Searchlight tried to ignore them, but the revelation that their food storage would be a bigger challenge than before just added to her building anxiety. She was seriously thinking of opening the door by just a bit before she picked up a new presence. What really worried her was how sudden it had appeared, like it just popped into existence.

“Guys, quiet!” she whispered harshly. The whole room fell silent. “There’s something up there,” she explained, “and I don’t know what it is.” The whole room waited nervously. Searchlight kept her magical “gaze” on the mysterious… whatever it was for what seemed like a long time. Suddenly, she felt something else, something familiar.

“Searchlight, you there?” she heard from outside. The voice was male and carried a Trottish accent.

“It’s them,” she whispered, mostly to herself. Feeling much more reassured, she lifted the bush above her and looked at the four ponies she met earlier. “Well, for ponies who never stay in one place too long,” she said, “you sure came back in a hurry.”

Then she realized something; the scenery around them looked… off, somehow. She turned her head in all directions and got it almost immediately; the forest around them looked like an actual forest, with real trees and real grass, not at all like what she saw every time she looked at the world around her for the past year.

The others must have seen the look on her face, because the purple one (Why didn’t I get their names before? she berated to herself) said, “We just thought you’d like to know: Discord’s been defeated.”

Those three words were what Searchlight, and every other pony in Equestria for that matter, had wanted to hear for a long time. And yet, she could barely believe it. “Really?” she finally mustered.

“Yep!” the rainbow-maned pegasus replied. “Literally stone cold.”

“Rainbow, that wasn’t funny,” the orange one chided.

“Regardless,” the stallion interrupted, “the only thing he’ll be ruling over anytime soon is someone’s lawn.”

“Incredible,” Searchlight whispered. She turned back to the shelter. “Hey, everypony! You’re not gonna believe this, but it’s over! Discord’s gone!” Many of the faces she saw were a reflection of her reaction. “Come on up!” she said. She turned back to the exit and, for the first time in over a year, walked into the world.

She relished the feeling of grass under her hooves. Her eyes took in the natural green of the forest, as opposed to the eyesore that was Discord’s world. She was about to turn to the four ponies but they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, she heard a strange, rhythmic noise. She turned to see a faded object disappear from sight.

By now, several ponies had come out of the shelter and were marveling at the return of their home. “Searchlight?” she heard. Hard Drink walked up to her. “Is something wrong?” Her mind drifted to the strange object she saw; it almost looked like a box, but it was so faded that she couldn’t be sure. Did it have something to do with the mysterious ponies? Did they have a hoof in making all of this possible?

Searchlight smiled and shook her head. “It’s not important right now,” she said, answering Drink’s question. “Come on. We better spread the word.”

“Okay, Doctor,” Twilight said, holding a sheet of paper with her magic. The Doctor looked up from the TARDIS console upon hearing his name. “I’ve found the paper, but I don’t know where the quills are.”

“Actually,” the Doctor said slowly, “I don’t have any quills. And even if I did, I don’t have any inkwells.”

“Then what am I supposed to write with?” Twilight asked hysterically.

“What exactly are you writin’?” Applejack asked her.

“Just my latest friendship report,” Twilight replied. “I realize I learned this more than a thousand years ahead of time, but I still learned something, and Princess Celestia would want it either way.”

“Well, if it’s writing utensils you’re looking for,” the Doctor said, “try this.” He reached under the console and pulled something out of it, tossing it to Twilight. She caught it with her magic and looked at it. It was small and thin, made of plastic with a metal point on one end. “It’s a pen,” the Doctor explained. “Same principle as a quill, really, just with all the ink already inside it.”

“If you say so,” Twilight said. “You got a place where I can write?”

“Down that hall, two doors to your right,” he answered, pointing toward one of the branching hallways.

“Just how big is this place?” Applejack asked.

“You know, I’ve never really looked into that.” The Doctor’s voice faded as Twilight followed his directions.

She found herself in a simple room. She figured it was meant as some sort of guest room, since there was a bed and a desk, but little else. She placed her paper on the desk and thought about how to write her letter. She figured it best to start where she always did.

Dear Princess Celestia,

She winced as she saw the quality of her hoofwriting; it was still legible, but far from the quality at which she normally wrote. She probably just wasn’t used to the way the pen moved across the paper compared to a quill. She breathed and continued.

As I’ve just stated, right now, I am with the Doctor, as well as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, on the TARDIS. He offered to show us things that nopony has ever seen before, and seeing as his ship doubles as a time machine, I practically jumped at the chance. I regret to say that I can’t tell you where we went for our first adventure together, but only because doing so would probably disrupt the timeline. I’ve read enough science fiction novels to know that such rules basically constitute Time Travel 101. But while I was experiencing my first real encounter with time travel, I learned something.

Our adventure was only solved because we met several ponies who’s devotion to each other and even total strangers taught us all that friendship is more than what you bring to the table, but what others do for you as well.

I’m afraid that’s all I can say without actually telling you where, and when, I’ve been. I’ll send you this letter as soon as I get back.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Having nothing to roll it into for the moment, Twilight just set the letter on the table for the time being. She stopped at just the right time, because Applejack called to her, saying, “Come on, Twilight! Rainbow finally made her decision.” Twilight remembered that they agreed to let Rainbow choose the next destination.

As she left, she turned to Applejack. “Should I be worried about this?”

“It’s Rainbow,” Applejack said frankly. “Of course you should.”

Author's Note

And that's it for another one, folks. Hope you all enjoyed (especially those of you who weren't scared off by the poor ratings [seriously, never did figure out what happened]), and I will see you later.

This is CF signing out.