Discord's Birthday Giftby UniqueSKDChaptersDiscord's Birthday Gift - Chapter OneDiscord's Birthday Gift - Chapter TwoDiscord's Birthday Gift - Chapter ThreeDiscord's Birthday Gift - Chapter FourDiscord's Birthday Gift - Chapter OneBOOM! "SURPRISE!" The sound of a cannon pierced the silence of the supposedly-empty room, followed by the turning on of the lights, revealing a mass of multi-colored confetti floating down from the ceiling, and a large group of mares and stallions standing around a large birthday cake wearing big smiles on their faces as they all looked to a very well known party pony, whom the author of this story is fairly confident the reader will know pretty well by now. Pinkie Pie's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, sparkling with joy and excitement, her face undoubtedly the happiest expression anypony had ever seen. The gathering of ponies couldn't help but chuckle as Pinkie began hopping up and down squealing happily and repeating 'oh my gosh, oh my gosh!' over and over again without pause for breath. When the party mare finally calmed down (which took quite a number of minutes, probably due to all that sugar in her system) she beamed an even bigger smile than usual as she looked on over her friends. "This is the best birthday surprise ever I had no idea you were hosting a surprise party for me but I guess that was what made it a surprise a party because if I had known then it wouldn't have been a surprise and so it wouldn't have been a surprise party so thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!", exclaimed Pinkie in a single breath as she started hopping up and down in one spot again causing the rest of the Mane 6 to roll their eyes, but nevertheless smile at their friend's childish antics. Twilight Sparkle was the first of the group to approach Pinkie and wrap a foreleg around her friend. "Happy birthday, Pinkie Pie," the purple alicorn said with a kind smile. "I hope this little party is okay. We're not as good as you are at throwing great parties. That's your specialty after all." Pinkie simply beamed as she threw her forelegs around the alicorn, almost choking her in a death-gripping hug of affection. "Are you kidding? This is like, the best little birthday party EVER!", she squealed with delight, clearly unaware of the fact that she was close to breaking many rib bones in her friend's body. The rest of the Mane 6 looked on stifling chuckles to themselves at the sight. "Pi-Pi-Pinkie!", the alicorn barely managed to wheeze, slowly turning a shade of blue. "Y-you're crushing me!" Pinkie quickly released her powerful grip from Twilight, who was now greedily gulping as much air as she could get. Pinkie gave her a nervous smile as Twilight shot her a glare, but when Twilight suddenly lightened her expression and laughed, Pinkie understood the joke, and joined in her friend's laughter as well. "So where's the cake? Is there a cake? Wait, of course there's a cake! What is a birthday party without a birthday cake?", Pinkie asked looking up, down left, right, vertically, horizontally, and everywhere else in-between. "Um, it's, um, over there...Pinkie," Fluttershy replied, her voice barely more than a whisper, as she pointed a hoof over to where a very large cake, complete with pink and magenta frosting and icing, was laid on a table, towering high enough that it nearly touched the ceiling. "The critters were really helpful and nice enough to help bake it, even Angel Bunny lent a paw too." Pinkie Pie let out a gasp that seemed to drag on for a minute, before she tackled Fluttershy, holding her in another one of her strong hugs, albeit more gentle given the animal carer's delicate nature. "Fluttershy, the cake looks super duper mega hyper awesome terrific! Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!", Pinkie Pie again squealed in a single breath before putting Fluttershy back down, gently, and then hopping away to mingle with her other guests. "I reckon this here lil' get-tah-gether went down a treat?" Applejack asked Twilight, smiling as she watched Pinkie Pie bounce around. The pink pony's hyperactive enthusiasm pretty much answered the farm pony's question. "Why of course it went well, darling," Rarity said, gesturing at Pinkie Pie, who was standing by the table with the huge birthday cake, eyeing it up and down and all around. with a hungry look in her eyes. "Just look how happy the dear looks. I think she is more than pleased with our little surprise, wouldn't you agree?" "Well, that depends on whether or not bouncing around like a Flubber defines being pleased." The ponies turned around to be met with the crocodilish smile of none other than the reformed Discord, towering over the lot of them and giving them a little wave. "Hello there," he said. "Discord? Why are you here?", Rainbow Dash queried with suspicion. Despite the fact that Discord was reformed now - or at least was less of a troublemaker than he used to be - Rainbow Dash was not particularly convinced that the ex-master of chaos was entirely all that he seemed. "You better not be here to ruin Pinkie Pie's party," the pegasus growled, eyes narrowed. Discord gave her a look of shock and surprise as an angelic halo suddenly appeared over his head, accompanied by the sound of a heavenly choir. "What? Me? Cause trouble for one of my dear, dear friends after kind Fluttershy? How little you must think of me, Dashie, to even consider the thought that I would stoop so low!", he replied melodramatically, his lion-pawed arm raised against his head. "Then why're ya here, of all days?", asked Applejack, an eyebrow raised. The halo above Discord's head disappeared, replaced with a doughnut ring, on which the chimeric entity began to munch upon. "Why, to present Ponyville's favorite party planner with a gift, of course!". With a snap of his eagle talons, a small box poofed out of thin air, landing in his palm. "And I think it's safe to say that Pinkie will most certainly enjoy this doozy of a present too." "Oooooh! A present? For me?". Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared right next to Applejack, making the farm pony jump back in shock. Pinkie Pie eyed the little box Discord held with curiosity and wonder. "What is it? Is it a cupcake? A really tiny trombone?" Discord smiled and shook his head. "Even better, my mad dear. You see, I've been wondering for a while now just how exactly I can make all of Equestria believe that I'm not the mad villain that Hasbro made me to be in the show, that I am truly changed. And then just an hour ago I had a most grand idea. What if I were to willingly give all of my powers to one lucky somepony for, oh let's say, a whole day and a half, as a sign of good will and trust?". His eyes shot into his head and popped out the back to look at the group of friends. "In particular, the trust of four certain ponies who don't seem to be convinced by my good behavior thus far." "Sooooooo, what's the present?", Pinkie asked, intrigued now by whatever it was Discord was giving her. Discord held out the box towards Pinkie with a smile. "My present to you, dear Pinkie, from your lovable and friendly neighborhood reformed son of a gun, are all of my powers." Everypony's mouth dropped to the floor, eyes wide with shock. "WHAT?!?" Discord snapped his fingers, and a megaphone appeared in his paw. "I SAID, I AM GIVING ALL OF MY POWERS TO PINKIE PIE, FOR ONE WHOLE DAY!", he whispered into the device. "AND A HALF!", he added before throwing the megaphone aside. He looked down at Pinkie Pie with a grin. "So, my dear. Ready to walk in my metaphorical shoes for a while?" Discord's Birthday Gift - Chapter TwoThe definition of 'normality'. Normality (also known as normalcy) is the state of being normal. Behavior can be normal for an individual (interpersonal normality) when it is consistent with the most common behavior for that person. Normal is also used to describe individual behavior that conforms to the most common behavior in society. This is the definition of 'normality' according to Wikipedia. For the citizens of Ponyville, the definition of 'normality' is a little bit different, more or less involving parasprite swarms, masses of pink ponies, the never-ending antics of three particular fillies that sometimes leave the town close to ruin, the Everfree Forest coming to life and attacking civilians, and the occasional spontaneous bursting into random song now and then. Today was going to be another one of these normal(?) days for the ponies of Ponyville. The peace and quiet that had previously been present that day in the town of Ponyville was shattered abruptly by the sound of constant giggling and childish squealing that echoed from within the establishment of Sugarcube Corner. The ponies out and about today who passed by the place would shoot strange looks or stand and stare as the building literally bounced up and down, even somehow uprooting itself and doing a huge flip in the air, shaking the ground as it landed back in place, very surprisingly without so much as an indication of any structural damage. At least on the outside, anyway. Suddenly, the front doors of Sugarcube Corner flung open, with force near enough to part the doors from their hinges. The onlooking mares and stallions, fillies and colts, all let their jaws drop to the ground as from out of the establishment a pinkish blur zoomed straight out and hovered above the ground, allowing everypony to gaze upon a most bizarre creature. It's shape and form and design at first led the bystanders to mistake 'it' for Discord, but the pinkish coloration along with the candy floss mane, coupled together with a pair of large blue eyes, had them quite baffled, to say the least. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! That was super duper fun! Don't you think so, guys?", the draconequus Pinkie Pie (yes, Pinkie Pie's a draconequus now, as a side effect of receiving Discord's powers, surprise twist!), looking over her shoulder at the five ponies, as they stumbled out of Sugarcube Corner in a daze. Their only response was a groan as they collapsed into a pile. Another groan, albeit a louder and pained one, sounded from the pile as Discord fell out into the street as well, landing right on top of the five friends, his eyes rolling and stars spinning around his head, an impish grin plastered on his face. "Let's go again! Let's go again! Let's go again!", he chanted in his gleeful daze. "NO!", cried the ponies underneath him in unison. The (currently former) spirit of Chaos frowned and stuck his tongue out. "Fun-killing party-poopers," he muttered. "Hee hee! Why're you on the floor, silly fillies? There's no fun to be had down there!" The sound of giggling got the ponies attention, as they all looked up to see the pink draconequus snapping her new lion-paw fingers, making various items appear from out of thin air, mostly an assortment of confectioneries and sweets. By the time the friends had gotten up onto their hooves, there were about ten piles of sweeties and candies towering as high as Sugarcube Corner. Discord looked at the piles and nodded his head. "Well, she certainly seems to have learned how to control her new powers rather quickly, though personally I'd have summoned something a little more than a year's worth of cavities." He strolled up to one of the piles and picked out one of the candies, popping it in his mouth. "Oooh! Snozzlewozzleberry! One of my favorites!", he exclaimed. He turned back to the Mane Six (well, Mane Five rather, seeing how Pinkie Pie isn't exactly a pony for the duration of this story, so I'll be referring to them as such, reader. Yes, the author breaks fourth walls too), holding a handful of candy. "Would anypony like to try some of -?". He stopped as Rainbow Dash was suddenly right in his face. "PINKIE PIE!?!", the cyan pegasus yelled as she pushed her muzzle against Discord's face. "Of ALL the ponies to give your stupid powers to, you chose Pinkie Pie? Are you INSANE!?!" Discord was about to reply, when Rainbow shoved a hoof in his mouth. "Forget it, Discord. I already know the answer." "Oh come now, Dashie. There's no need to be such a sour puss just because it wasn't yourself getting my powers," Discord remarked, putting his hands on his hips and tut-tut-tutting. Rainbow Dash scoffed and turned her head away. "That...that has nothing to do with anything!", she answered defensively. Discord narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Hmm, I bet it's not." The rest of the Mane Five trotted towards Discord and Rainbow Dash at this point. Fluttershy approached Discord, who suddenly looked a little worried. "Discord," the usually-shy-pegasus started sternly, "I want the truth from you, mister. Is this all some kind of mean trick you're playing on poor Pinkie Pie?". She narrowed her eyes and gave the mad creature a hard look. Discord threw his hands up in front of himself. "Kind Fluttershy, I give you my word that there were no ill intentions in what I have done. Honestly, I wished only to give Pinkie Pie a very special gift to make today her best day ever!" Fluttershy's stern expression slightly loosened up. Discord continued. "Might I also add, Fluttershy, that not everypony here has been totally convinced by my reformation? Say, your friends, for instance. So long as a former villain as handsome and witty as I is free to roam, these ponies" - he gestured to all the ponies gathering around Pinkie Pie, watching in awe and bewilderment as she began to juggle her head and eyeballs - "will never truly trust me. So, what better way to earn their trust than to show them all that I am willing to part with my magic for a day, and coexist with the civilians of this town as a harmless and totally trustworthy member of its community?" "But why do so today? Why not any other day?", Rarity asked, stepping forward. Discord shrugged. "I dunno, it's what the author of this story decided." Author's Note Sorry for this not being a great chapter. I am not used to writing stories with more than a single chapter. Oh, and for the love of Celestia, Luna, and even Lauren Faust, stop posting those darn letter bombs in my mail. Or at least spell my name right before you mail them! Jeez! UniqueSKD Discord's Birthday Gift - Chapter ThreeA rather large crowd of stallions and mares, colts and fillies, were starting to gather outside their homes as the sound of hysterical giggling fits from above piqued their curiosity. Their looks of puzzlement quickly changed to expressions of surprise (well, more like weirded-out than surprise to be honest) when they all saw a pink amalgamation of various creature components floating about in the sky. A few ponies simply took one look at the strange sight and just shrugged as they returned to whatever they were doing. It's Ponyville. When you've lived in this town for a while, you would get used to odd happenings too. Down below in the streets, the Mane Five (plus Discord)) trailed after the pink party pony, each expressing a look of concern, uncertainty, and in Discord's case, amusement. Considering that the most hyperactive mare in Ponyville, if not all of Equestria, had been granted the powers of Chaos by Discord over half an hour ago as a supposedly seemingly harmless birthday gift, they had very good reason to be worried. So far, Pinkie only made a few mountain-high piles of cupcakes and muffins appear outside of Sugarcube Corner (which had been left to the public to deal with, which they had done with much enthusiasm), but still who knew what Pinkie Pie would attempt to do next? Well, their answer came pretty soon as the group found themselves chasing Pinkie Pie to Sweet Apple Acres. "Oh hay, no!" Applejack exclaimed as they began nearing the gates leading onto the farm pony's orchard. "Pinkie is NOT gonna use any o' Discord's magic round' mah apple trees, she ain't!". Her pace hastened, and she speed ahead of her friends - and Discord - towards the apple trees, as Pinkie Pie disappeared from view, sight of her now obscured by the hundreds of tree tops dotted with fresh apple harvests. "Applejack, wait a second!", Twilight called out after her, though the farm pony didn't respond, either too far ahead of the group to hear them or ignoring them on purpose so as to not be distracted from protecting her family's sole source of income from a hyperactive pony/draconequus. Twilight and the others quickened their pace hoping to catch up to Applejack, Discord struggling to keep up with the group, due to his mismatched feet. "Um little ponies? Perhaps you could be so courteous as to...oh, forget it, you're already gone." Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity all expressed looks of shock when they caught up with Applejack. The orange earth mare herself did not share the same expression, instead showing a very, very angry look. And trust me when I say that when Applejack gets very angry, I mean she gets VERY ANGRY and right now she was - oh, forget it, you're an intelligent person, you get the point. Anyway, Applejack's reason for looking so angry probably had something to do with the giggling wide-blue-eyed pink troublemaker floating above who was snapping her lion paw fingers (if you could even call them that, I guess?), each snap of her, um, 'fingers' turning a random tree's worth of apples into candy canes. Already a few dozen trees had red-and-white striped treats hanging from the branches in place of the juicy red fruits. "Pinkie! Stop messin' wit' the apple trees!", Applejack was yelling after her. "Those apples are near ready fer harvest! Mah family can't make cider from candy canes!" Unfortunately, Pinkie did not heed her friend's words, likely due to her laughing too loudly. Applejack growled angrily as she looked from one tree to the next, nearly half of her orchard's apples turned into candy canes. She let out a loud annoyed groan as she whipped off her hat and threw it to the ground in frustration. By this time, Twilight and co were approaching her though they did so with caution, as like I said before; when Applejack gets very angry... yeah, you get the hint. "Applejack, are you okay?", Twilight asked with concern, trotting over to her friend's side. Applejack gave her friend a fierce look, and Twilight backed away in surprise. But her friend's angry expression quickly softened as soon as the farm mare acknowledged her friend, and Twilight placed a hoof upon her shoulder. "Nah, I'm not fine, sugarcube. I mean, just look at all of this!". She gestured to all of the apple - or rather, candy cane - trees. "Pinkie's practically ruined mah family's orchard!" "Why would Pinkie Pie do such a thing?" Rarity asked in wonder. "True, she can get a little carried away at times, but she has never done anything with ill intent in her life!" "I don't know what's gotten into Pinkie, but I think Discord has something to do with this," Twilight replied. In fact, the unicorn was certain Discord had something to do with Pinkie's uncharacteristic behavior. "Look at the orchard!" Applejack said, throwing her hooves in the air. "What am I an' mah family supposed ta do with all these darn candy canes?" "Well, Christmas isn't far off. You could always trade off the candy canes," Discord spoke up, walking onto the scene. The ponies turned around and looked at him with frowns, with the exception of Applejack. She gave the chimeric prankster a foul angry glare as he plucked a candy cane from one of the former apple trees and began to suckle on it. "Mmmm, peppermint. Have you ever considered putting this flavor into your apples, dear Applejack?" Discord asked innocently as he approached the group. He stopped in his tracks as he noticed everypony glaring at him. His eyes shifting from one pony to the other, he took the candy cane out of his mouth and hung it on the branch of a nearby tree. He gave a weak smile as their faces continued to glare at him. "Um... just a suggestion?", he said with a shrug of his shoulders. And then with a yell, Applejack pounced on top of him. Author's Note Yeah, I've said before I'm not great at writing long stories. I find it hard to keep each chapter interesting, let alone decent, so I ask that you please forgive the poor quality of my story-telling skills. Don't send me any letter bombs. Again. Discord's Birthday Gift - Chapter FourSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Discord's Birthday Gift - Chapter OneBOOM! "SURPRISE!" The sound of a cannon pierced the silence of the supposedly-empty room, followed by the turning on of the lights, revealing a mass of multi-colored confetti floating down from the ceiling, and a large group of mares and stallions standing around a large birthday cake wearing big smiles on their faces as they all looked to a very well known party pony, whom the author of this story is fairly confident the reader will know pretty well by now. Pinkie Pie's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, sparkling with joy and excitement, her face undoubtedly the happiest expression anypony had ever seen. The gathering of ponies couldn't help but chuckle as Pinkie began hopping up and down squealing happily and repeating 'oh my gosh, oh my gosh!' over and over again without pause for breath. When the party mare finally calmed down (which took quite a number of minutes, probably due to all that sugar in her system) she beamed an even bigger smile than usual as she looked on over her friends. "This is the best birthday surprise ever I had no idea you were hosting a surprise party for me but I guess that was what made it a surprise a party because if I had known then it wouldn't have been a surprise and so it wouldn't have been a surprise party so thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!", exclaimed Pinkie in a single breath as she started hopping up and down in one spot again causing the rest of the Mane 6 to roll their eyes, but nevertheless smile at their friend's childish antics. Twilight Sparkle was the first of the group to approach Pinkie and wrap a foreleg around her friend. "Happy birthday, Pinkie Pie," the purple alicorn said with a kind smile. "I hope this little party is okay. We're not as good as you are at throwing great parties. That's your specialty after all." Pinkie simply beamed as she threw her forelegs around the alicorn, almost choking her in a death-gripping hug of affection. "Are you kidding? This is like, the best little birthday party EVER!", she squealed with delight, clearly unaware of the fact that she was close to breaking many rib bones in her friend's body. The rest of the Mane 6 looked on stifling chuckles to themselves at the sight. "Pi-Pi-Pinkie!", the alicorn barely managed to wheeze, slowly turning a shade of blue. "Y-you're crushing me!" Pinkie quickly released her powerful grip from Twilight, who was now greedily gulping as much air as she could get. Pinkie gave her a nervous smile as Twilight shot her a glare, but when Twilight suddenly lightened her expression and laughed, Pinkie understood the joke, and joined in her friend's laughter as well. "So where's the cake? Is there a cake? Wait, of course there's a cake! What is a birthday party without a birthday cake?", Pinkie asked looking up, down left, right, vertically, horizontally, and everywhere else in-between. "Um, it's, um, over there...Pinkie," Fluttershy replied, her voice barely more than a whisper, as she pointed a hoof over to where a very large cake, complete with pink and magenta frosting and icing, was laid on a table, towering high enough that it nearly touched the ceiling. "The critters were really helpful and nice enough to help bake it, even Angel Bunny lent a paw too." Pinkie Pie let out a gasp that seemed to drag on for a minute, before she tackled Fluttershy, holding her in another one of her strong hugs, albeit more gentle given the animal carer's delicate nature. "Fluttershy, the cake looks super duper mega hyper awesome terrific! Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!", Pinkie Pie again squealed in a single breath before putting Fluttershy back down, gently, and then hopping away to mingle with her other guests. "I reckon this here lil' get-tah-gether went down a treat?" Applejack asked Twilight, smiling as she watched Pinkie Pie bounce around. The pink pony's hyperactive enthusiasm pretty much answered the farm pony's question. "Why of course it went well, darling," Rarity said, gesturing at Pinkie Pie, who was standing by the table with the huge birthday cake, eyeing it up and down and all around. with a hungry look in her eyes. "Just look how happy the dear looks. I think she is more than pleased with our little surprise, wouldn't you agree?" "Well, that depends on whether or not bouncing around like a Flubber defines being pleased." The ponies turned around to be met with the crocodilish smile of none other than the reformed Discord, towering over the lot of them and giving them a little wave. "Hello there," he said. "Discord? Why are you here?", Rainbow Dash queried with suspicion. Despite the fact that Discord was reformed now - or at least was less of a troublemaker than he used to be - Rainbow Dash was not particularly convinced that the ex-master of chaos was entirely all that he seemed. "You better not be here to ruin Pinkie Pie's party," the pegasus growled, eyes narrowed. Discord gave her a look of shock and surprise as an angelic halo suddenly appeared over his head, accompanied by the sound of a heavenly choir. "What? Me? Cause trouble for one of my dear, dear friends after kind Fluttershy? How little you must think of me, Dashie, to even consider the thought that I would stoop so low!", he replied melodramatically, his lion-pawed arm raised against his head. "Then why're ya here, of all days?", asked Applejack, an eyebrow raised. The halo above Discord's head disappeared, replaced with a doughnut ring, on which the chimeric entity began to munch upon. "Why, to present Ponyville's favorite party planner with a gift, of course!". With a snap of his eagle talons, a small box poofed out of thin air, landing in his palm. "And I think it's safe to say that Pinkie will most certainly enjoy this doozy of a present too." "Oooooh! A present? For me?". Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared right next to Applejack, making the farm pony jump back in shock. Pinkie Pie eyed the little box Discord held with curiosity and wonder. "What is it? Is it a cupcake? A really tiny trombone?" Discord smiled and shook his head. "Even better, my mad dear. You see, I've been wondering for a while now just how exactly I can make all of Equestria believe that I'm not the mad villain that Hasbro made me to be in the show, that I am truly changed. And then just an hour ago I had a most grand idea. What if I were to willingly give all of my powers to one lucky somepony for, oh let's say, a whole day and a half, as a sign of good will and trust?". His eyes shot into his head and popped out the back to look at the group of friends. "In particular, the trust of four certain ponies who don't seem to be convinced by my good behavior thus far." "Sooooooo, what's the present?", Pinkie asked, intrigued now by whatever it was Discord was giving her. Discord held out the box towards Pinkie with a smile. "My present to you, dear Pinkie, from your lovable and friendly neighborhood reformed son of a gun, are all of my powers." Everypony's mouth dropped to the floor, eyes wide with shock. "WHAT?!?" Discord snapped his fingers, and a megaphone appeared in his paw. "I SAID, I AM GIVING ALL OF MY POWERS TO PINKIE PIE, FOR ONE WHOLE DAY!", he whispered into the device. "AND A HALF!", he added before throwing the megaphone aside. He looked down at Pinkie Pie with a grin. "So, my dear. Ready to walk in my metaphorical shoes for a while?"
Discord's Birthday Gift - Chapter TwoThe definition of 'normality'. Normality (also known as normalcy) is the state of being normal. Behavior can be normal for an individual (interpersonal normality) when it is consistent with the most common behavior for that person. Normal is also used to describe individual behavior that conforms to the most common behavior in society. This is the definition of 'normality' according to Wikipedia. For the citizens of Ponyville, the definition of 'normality' is a little bit different, more or less involving parasprite swarms, masses of pink ponies, the never-ending antics of three particular fillies that sometimes leave the town close to ruin, the Everfree Forest coming to life and attacking civilians, and the occasional spontaneous bursting into random song now and then. Today was going to be another one of these normal(?) days for the ponies of Ponyville. The peace and quiet that had previously been present that day in the town of Ponyville was shattered abruptly by the sound of constant giggling and childish squealing that echoed from within the establishment of Sugarcube Corner. The ponies out and about today who passed by the place would shoot strange looks or stand and stare as the building literally bounced up and down, even somehow uprooting itself and doing a huge flip in the air, shaking the ground as it landed back in place, very surprisingly without so much as an indication of any structural damage. At least on the outside, anyway. Suddenly, the front doors of Sugarcube Corner flung open, with force near enough to part the doors from their hinges. The onlooking mares and stallions, fillies and colts, all let their jaws drop to the ground as from out of the establishment a pinkish blur zoomed straight out and hovered above the ground, allowing everypony to gaze upon a most bizarre creature. It's shape and form and design at first led the bystanders to mistake 'it' for Discord, but the pinkish coloration along with the candy floss mane, coupled together with a pair of large blue eyes, had them quite baffled, to say the least. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! That was super duper fun! Don't you think so, guys?", the draconequus Pinkie Pie (yes, Pinkie Pie's a draconequus now, as a side effect of receiving Discord's powers, surprise twist!), looking over her shoulder at the five ponies, as they stumbled out of Sugarcube Corner in a daze. Their only response was a groan as they collapsed into a pile. Another groan, albeit a louder and pained one, sounded from the pile as Discord fell out into the street as well, landing right on top of the five friends, his eyes rolling and stars spinning around his head, an impish grin plastered on his face. "Let's go again! Let's go again! Let's go again!", he chanted in his gleeful daze. "NO!", cried the ponies underneath him in unison. The (currently former) spirit of Chaos frowned and stuck his tongue out. "Fun-killing party-poopers," he muttered. "Hee hee! Why're you on the floor, silly fillies? There's no fun to be had down there!" The sound of giggling got the ponies attention, as they all looked up to see the pink draconequus snapping her new lion-paw fingers, making various items appear from out of thin air, mostly an assortment of confectioneries and sweets. By the time the friends had gotten up onto their hooves, there were about ten piles of sweeties and candies towering as high as Sugarcube Corner. Discord looked at the piles and nodded his head. "Well, she certainly seems to have learned how to control her new powers rather quickly, though personally I'd have summoned something a little more than a year's worth of cavities." He strolled up to one of the piles and picked out one of the candies, popping it in his mouth. "Oooh! Snozzlewozzleberry! One of my favorites!", he exclaimed. He turned back to the Mane Six (well, Mane Five rather, seeing how Pinkie Pie isn't exactly a pony for the duration of this story, so I'll be referring to them as such, reader. Yes, the author breaks fourth walls too), holding a handful of candy. "Would anypony like to try some of -?". He stopped as Rainbow Dash was suddenly right in his face. "PINKIE PIE!?!", the cyan pegasus yelled as she pushed her muzzle against Discord's face. "Of ALL the ponies to give your stupid powers to, you chose Pinkie Pie? Are you INSANE!?!" Discord was about to reply, when Rainbow shoved a hoof in his mouth. "Forget it, Discord. I already know the answer." "Oh come now, Dashie. There's no need to be such a sour puss just because it wasn't yourself getting my powers," Discord remarked, putting his hands on his hips and tut-tut-tutting. Rainbow Dash scoffed and turned her head away. "That...that has nothing to do with anything!", she answered defensively. Discord narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Hmm, I bet it's not." The rest of the Mane Five trotted towards Discord and Rainbow Dash at this point. Fluttershy approached Discord, who suddenly looked a little worried. "Discord," the usually-shy-pegasus started sternly, "I want the truth from you, mister. Is this all some kind of mean trick you're playing on poor Pinkie Pie?". She narrowed her eyes and gave the mad creature a hard look. Discord threw his hands up in front of himself. "Kind Fluttershy, I give you my word that there were no ill intentions in what I have done. Honestly, I wished only to give Pinkie Pie a very special gift to make today her best day ever!" Fluttershy's stern expression slightly loosened up. Discord continued. "Might I also add, Fluttershy, that not everypony here has been totally convinced by my reformation? Say, your friends, for instance. So long as a former villain as handsome and witty as I is free to roam, these ponies" - he gestured to all the ponies gathering around Pinkie Pie, watching in awe and bewilderment as she began to juggle her head and eyeballs - "will never truly trust me. So, what better way to earn their trust than to show them all that I am willing to part with my magic for a day, and coexist with the civilians of this town as a harmless and totally trustworthy member of its community?" "But why do so today? Why not any other day?", Rarity asked, stepping forward. Discord shrugged. "I dunno, it's what the author of this story decided." Author's Note Sorry for this not being a great chapter. I am not used to writing stories with more than a single chapter. Oh, and for the love of Celestia, Luna, and even Lauren Faust, stop posting those darn letter bombs in my mail. Or at least spell my name right before you mail them! Jeez! UniqueSKD
Discord's Birthday Gift - Chapter ThreeA rather large crowd of stallions and mares, colts and fillies, were starting to gather outside their homes as the sound of hysterical giggling fits from above piqued their curiosity. Their looks of puzzlement quickly changed to expressions of surprise (well, more like weirded-out than surprise to be honest) when they all saw a pink amalgamation of various creature components floating about in the sky. A few ponies simply took one look at the strange sight and just shrugged as they returned to whatever they were doing. It's Ponyville. When you've lived in this town for a while, you would get used to odd happenings too. Down below in the streets, the Mane Five (plus Discord)) trailed after the pink party pony, each expressing a look of concern, uncertainty, and in Discord's case, amusement. Considering that the most hyperactive mare in Ponyville, if not all of Equestria, had been granted the powers of Chaos by Discord over half an hour ago as a supposedly seemingly harmless birthday gift, they had very good reason to be worried. So far, Pinkie only made a few mountain-high piles of cupcakes and muffins appear outside of Sugarcube Corner (which had been left to the public to deal with, which they had done with much enthusiasm), but still who knew what Pinkie Pie would attempt to do next? Well, their answer came pretty soon as the group found themselves chasing Pinkie Pie to Sweet Apple Acres. "Oh hay, no!" Applejack exclaimed as they began nearing the gates leading onto the farm pony's orchard. "Pinkie is NOT gonna use any o' Discord's magic round' mah apple trees, she ain't!". Her pace hastened, and she speed ahead of her friends - and Discord - towards the apple trees, as Pinkie Pie disappeared from view, sight of her now obscured by the hundreds of tree tops dotted with fresh apple harvests. "Applejack, wait a second!", Twilight called out after her, though the farm pony didn't respond, either too far ahead of the group to hear them or ignoring them on purpose so as to not be distracted from protecting her family's sole source of income from a hyperactive pony/draconequus. Twilight and the others quickened their pace hoping to catch up to Applejack, Discord struggling to keep up with the group, due to his mismatched feet. "Um little ponies? Perhaps you could be so courteous as to...oh, forget it, you're already gone." Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity all expressed looks of shock when they caught up with Applejack. The orange earth mare herself did not share the same expression, instead showing a very, very angry look. And trust me when I say that when Applejack gets very angry, I mean she gets VERY ANGRY and right now she was - oh, forget it, you're an intelligent person, you get the point. Anyway, Applejack's reason for looking so angry probably had something to do with the giggling wide-blue-eyed pink troublemaker floating above who was snapping her lion paw fingers (if you could even call them that, I guess?), each snap of her, um, 'fingers' turning a random tree's worth of apples into candy canes. Already a few dozen trees had red-and-white striped treats hanging from the branches in place of the juicy red fruits. "Pinkie! Stop messin' wit' the apple trees!", Applejack was yelling after her. "Those apples are near ready fer harvest! Mah family can't make cider from candy canes!" Unfortunately, Pinkie did not heed her friend's words, likely due to her laughing too loudly. Applejack growled angrily as she looked from one tree to the next, nearly half of her orchard's apples turned into candy canes. She let out a loud annoyed groan as she whipped off her hat and threw it to the ground in frustration. By this time, Twilight and co were approaching her though they did so with caution, as like I said before; when Applejack gets very angry... yeah, you get the hint. "Applejack, are you okay?", Twilight asked with concern, trotting over to her friend's side. Applejack gave her friend a fierce look, and Twilight backed away in surprise. But her friend's angry expression quickly softened as soon as the farm mare acknowledged her friend, and Twilight placed a hoof upon her shoulder. "Nah, I'm not fine, sugarcube. I mean, just look at all of this!". She gestured to all of the apple - or rather, candy cane - trees. "Pinkie's practically ruined mah family's orchard!" "Why would Pinkie Pie do such a thing?" Rarity asked in wonder. "True, she can get a little carried away at times, but she has never done anything with ill intent in her life!" "I don't know what's gotten into Pinkie, but I think Discord has something to do with this," Twilight replied. In fact, the unicorn was certain Discord had something to do with Pinkie's uncharacteristic behavior. "Look at the orchard!" Applejack said, throwing her hooves in the air. "What am I an' mah family supposed ta do with all these darn candy canes?" "Well, Christmas isn't far off. You could always trade off the candy canes," Discord spoke up, walking onto the scene. The ponies turned around and looked at him with frowns, with the exception of Applejack. She gave the chimeric prankster a foul angry glare as he plucked a candy cane from one of the former apple trees and began to suckle on it. "Mmmm, peppermint. Have you ever considered putting this flavor into your apples, dear Applejack?" Discord asked innocently as he approached the group. He stopped in his tracks as he noticed everypony glaring at him. His eyes shifting from one pony to the other, he took the candy cane out of his mouth and hung it on the branch of a nearby tree. He gave a weak smile as their faces continued to glare at him. "Um... just a suggestion?", he said with a shrug of his shoulders. And then with a yell, Applejack pounced on top of him. Author's Note Yeah, I've said before I'm not great at writing long stories. I find it hard to keep each chapter interesting, let alone decent, so I ask that you please forgive the poor quality of my story-telling skills. Don't send me any letter bombs. Again.
Discord's Birthday Gift - Chapter FourSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
