A new perspective

At first, it had been the greatest feeling he had ever had, being free again. Why would it not be?

after all, a thousand odd years of being a statue was so very...dull. His happiness and new found sense of freedom quickly left him as he allowed the circumstances of his new position to sink in. Before him now where the Princesses. Two sisters of immense power who ruled over the land with no question of authority. Save for him in his prime of course.

As a smile broke the questioning look on his face, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the taller and elder sister. Wreathed in alabaster and gold she was the very image of beauty and harmony. It made him feel a bit dizzy in a sickening fashion just to look upon her. Turned to stone or not he would never forget her name, Celestia.  "I am sure you are wondering why we have allowed you your freedom. Both my sister and I have noticed a change in your heart, your very spirit. Being as eternal as we are, we have seen it fit to allow you the chance to prove yourself worthy of a new life."

At the end of her statement the eldest gave a small hum as she looked him over, the smaller and younger sibling matched the noise after stepping forward. His brow shot up in a questioning way. "And how do you suppose I go about doing that?" A genuine question. once asked the elder of the two raised a brow of her own and smirked.

"I could have sworn the first words out of his mouth would have been an insult..." she looked almost crestfallen at his choice of words.

The younger sister to her side, wreathed in a darker scheme of midnight blue and silver was harboring a large smile as she finally spoke up. "I told you he had changed. If you had not felt it as well, we would not be here." She paused for a moment and it gave him a chance to remember her name. Luna, the mistress of the night. Just before she was to continue he interrupted with a raised arm.

"Since I do not yet know my circumstances, I do not know whether this should come across as rude, or simply curious so I'll ask it anyway." a grin again split his features "I do believe you went on....vacation shortly after myself, am I mistaken?" He let the question hang for a moment before lowering his arm and retracting it to rest under his bearded chin.

Standing there as he had been he first looked to the eldest, then to the youngest. Luna made to respond finally, "I do believe we should introduce him to our companions. It might make a bit more sense after that." turning and giving him a sidelong glance, Luna finished with "And yes, my...vacation," She spat the word like venom " was over a millenia, over a thousand years with the very moon serving as my prison."

He flinched at the fire in her eyes for a moment before raising a hand again "Wait."  Off to the side, Celestia simply sat on her haunches, interested as to how the situation had already panned out. Luna turned back and cast a wary glance at her sister before walking towards him. "I do need to go fetch our companions, what do you need to say?" She looked about as interested in his words as he was in looking at another statue.

For a moment it seemed like he was going to remain silent, thinking while scratching at his scruff. "I'm sorry" was his final statement. Both sisters' jaws fell a fraction of an inch, the reaction of their eyes widening much more obvious. Luna, without a word, turned and moved at a more brisk pace towards the palace interior.

Celestia stood and walked over to him, all her otherworldly grace still intact even after centuries of time. He couldn't help but chuckle at the familiarity he felt. "You know. A few hundred years ago I would have fought Titan for a chance to be this close to the two of you. Then again I suppose I'm not at full power now am I?" Celestia clicked her tongue and laughed, "Of course you are. I just simply stored large amounts of it away. We had to be sure you really had changed." A frown took her features and her bright eyes grew serious "We do not trust you. But, we are entrusting you to the care of six individuals, very powerful individuals that are going to watch over you for one week."

The air suddenly became stale in his lungs. His eyes narrowed, "So what you're saying is I have a time limit. I have seven days to show you that I'm not still some crazed monster o-or.....you....you..." He closed his mouth and shut his eyes tightly. For a moment Celestia actually thought she saw a tear form at the corner of his left eye. "When do I meet the little lovelies?" the aversion was obvious but Celestia had no idea whether he would act violently if she pressed it or not, in her mind she made the decision to let it be for now. She would have to warn Luna not to bring up his imprisonment lightly.

Celestia eye him carefully for a moment longer and smiled "They have a picnic set up for you on a hillside overlooking a small town they call home. We should hurry on or we might be late." "Late?" he snicker raising a hand "Dear, dear Celestia, did you forget about magick?" He snapped his fingers and a golden flame engulfed his hand, extinguishing the rising ball he had been creating. With a glare in her direction and dripping with sarcasm he spoke "I suppose that was what you were talking about?" With all the innocence of a five year old caught with the cookie jar Celestia replied "Why I have no idea whatever you might mean. I simply wished for a nice walk...I do suppose the hill is quite a distance away."

With a large golden flash he found himself sitting down on the grass now underneath him. It finally hit, he really was free.

In a moment of sheer elation he kept his rising voice that threatened to become a shout of joy in check while breathing in deeply through his nose. The feeling of fresh air travelling his body's system was something he would never take advantage of again, even if he had done just that moments before in the palace garden.

Opening his eyes, which he didn't even realize he had closed, he noticed a grouping of seven individuals off to his right on a nestled hill. Pointing and looking towards Celestia he stood at a nod. They walked together towards the group. As he came closer to them his pace slowed and he quickly fell behind of Celestia.  He knew his reputation had to be atrocious. But hell, if he didnt have to make the first impression he should at least enjoy the second. With a snap of his fingers a top hat with a silver band landed on his head. The smile that followed could have split his face, especially once he saw Celestia rolling her eyes.

As soon as he got close enough Luna motioned for him to come closer as he was introduced to the six other females sitting around the cliche checkered blanket. Each of the six was giving off an eerily familiar feeling with their presence that he could not put a finger on. In the first turn he heard each of their names, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack Apple, Pinkimena Diane Pie, Miss Rarity, Miss Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

As the introduction came to an end Celestia and Luna stood to present the very reason they had come "My loyal companions and friends, this fetching creature before you is named Discord. He will be spending a day with each of you, and ending his week at Twilight's to present himself for a report. As you all know he has been gone from Equestria for a long time, longer than even my sister." Celestia took a moment to turn so she could see his reaction at her next words, "As the Elements of Harmony," Discord choked on the bit of sandwich Pinkie had offered him. "As the new Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, this is a task of the utmost importance to each of you. Treat it though, not as a task, but as a friendly favor. I wish for him to truly experience what it is to live in each of your lives, if even for a day. We believe him to be reformed of his old ways and wish genuinely for him to have some fresh ground to start on. You six will provide this for him in the ways you see fit. With that being said there is one final thing for you Discord." Celestia focused for a fraction of a second and two glowing orbs appeared around him. He recognized their feel instantly as his own. They where solid orbs of his magickal essence. They dispersed across his body like water and sank in. with an audible moan of delight, Discord's eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers, appearing on the other side of the gathered individuals.

The look of mirth on his features was unparalleled. It was infectious as everyone else smiled. "I have given you power again, but not enough to cause much harm, perhaps enough for experimentation on my part. Do with it what you will. But know this. If any of these six come to harm because of you, your judgement will be swift."

He clenched his jaw but saw fit not to push his luck. "You'll forgive me if I'm not use to accepting orders and ultimatums. It was never my style in the past."

"Well, with that being said Luna and I will leave you to your scheduling with your new friend ladies." and in a burst of golden light she was gone. Luna stayed for a moment, walked over to discord, reached up an arm and softly patted the side of his face. A moment later and she had vanished in a quickly dissipating cloud of blue smoke.

"Friend?" He questioned with a blank stare to the east. Pinkie was the first to speak up "Well, yeah. You are our friend now. We still have to get to know you but that doesnt change the fact that we are going to have some super duper funnerific times together!" the others echoed their agreement in their own ways.

"Duh," stated Dash, "Besides, just wait till you see some of my tricks, you'll never want to leave."

"Or, the festival darling, its simply divine! And you must come by for me sometime, I own a boutique and it would be my pleasure to stitch you a few new threads as they say." Rarity finished with a sweet smile and a soft wave.

"Doncha dare forget 'bout ah nice meal at Sweet Apple Acres neither." Chimed in Applejack

Fluttershy even stepped up "And of course, I can show you around all of my animals, i-if you would like."

Last was Twilight "And since I'll have you twice we can do whatever you would like, I've already whipped up a schedule for us all to follow, gather up girls, lets go over it real quick."

While they gathered he allowed his mind to wander, questions burned within his mind, but were calmed when he remembered the mental image of the two sisters, two opposites standing together...together in harmony

With a snap of his fingers his vision was split between his eyes.

In his left eye he saw what he thought he had wanted most. The small village torn asunder by all acts of.... chaos. Such a delicious word it was. Everything having lost its natural function and taken on another. Tree’s crawled, water flowed backwards, the streets turned to a slippery substance, the ground was in checkered patterns, in every direction his eye looked he felt a warming sense of mirth overtake him at the sights. An itch in his chest pulsating slightly but quickly dying.

In his right eye however, was a much different picture to be painted. It was…harmony. Beautiful in every aspect. things were as they should be except he was a part of them, that in itself was strange. He could see himself out with the ones he had met so very recently. Everything was graceful in motion, the flowing of the stream against its own bedrock, The rustling of the leaves in the trees, even the warmth of the sun on his chest. He had once been, even now likely still was, considered a fugitive, an escaped convict if you will, though in his eyes he had never been given a proper trial. Unjust imprisonment by all means, any could have seen that. But....

Standing where he was atop a hill that overlooked the town, he felt every inch the conflicted being his mind was making him out too be. Even his outward appearance was evident of some mighty clash. Not in the sense that he had many scars but….well to put it kindly he was a monster. His physical appearance was distorted into nothing like a normal being. That never bothered him much, his appearance may have been frightening to some but most would look past that and speak with him at least once before giving in to their fears.

Allowing his mind to wander on the many good and extensively many more bad experiences he had had based on his looks alone, he watched a few blue dots soaring through the sky, leaving a trail of grayish black smoke wherever they maneuvered.  He thought back on one of the sixes idea's to take him to the Carnival. hah, Carnival. Such a misleading name for what they celebrated during one in these towns.

“Back in my time….” he stopped before finishing the thought, he was still alive now….why could these not be his times as well? Slowly he shook himself back to the present, back to his ….friends as they had wished him to call them. As they brought the conversation his way and he responded he realized something. The world was a balance of chaos and harmony, a perfect balance. He could never have seen that before having them side by side as he had always. Never thinking the two could do anything other than oppose one another…never intertwine.

A smile came across his features and all six of his friends gave him large smiles in return. Pinkie Pie asked him outright “Whats got you in such a great mood all of a sudden?”

“Nothing my…friend. I simply figured something out. I think I just," pausing for a moment he nodded and continued, "Just want to belong.” he finished with a large smile, lowering his head slightly to look at the six standing in front of him.

Everyone can change…

Besides,

Was it so bad to want to belong?