The Inventor's game

Part One

The Game

In a brightly lit room with majestic pillars, two Alicorns are sitting at a table.

"Hah! I win again!"

"Be a fair winner, my student."

"Yes Princess Celestia, I know, and I'm sorry, It's just, I get so excited! Science is just my favorite game."

"I know Science the Gathering is your favorite game," Celestia said. "And we both know who introduced you to it."

The two Alicorns smiled.

"I know Princess, and I will be forever in you debt for that."

The lavender Alicorn began packing her Science cards back into her saddlebag.

"Later today I'm going to one of Pinkie Pie's parties for I-have-no-idea-what," She said over her shoulder. "would you like to come?"

"I'm sorry I'm going to be busy," Celestia said. "probably changing my deck for when you come over again."

"Or doing her royal duties," A voice in the shadows between the pillars said.

"Luna!" Princess Celestia gasped. "I told you to stop doing that!"

"So thy did," The princess of the night said. " but thou must admit, that was funny."

"Verily," Twilight said with a smile.

***

"So, why are we here again? I mean this party is great, and it has cool music, but you haven't told us anything about why except for a string of un-understandable numbers!"

"I agree," Vinyl Scratch said. "I know I'm just here to play music, but I still don't get it."

"I agree with Viny, it makes no sense." Octavia said.

"I told you not to call me Viny!" The DJ said with annoyance.

"Really?" Sunset Shimmer frowned, "You don't get it?"

Twilight was mentally frowning herself. How could they not get it? Twilight thought in wonderment. But then she thought, Not everypony could do that kind of math in their head.

"Silly Rainbow Dash, 't+1/2x(1.374y)=n, let t represent when Twilight came to Ponyville, let y represent one year, let x represent the time

difference between when the changeling queen invaded Canterlot and when Discord was reformed, and let n represent now' is not a series of un-understandable numbers! Twilight! Enlighten them with your Princessy-ish, smarty-pants-ishness!

Twilight sighed. "Basically, today is one point three seven four years multiplied by half the time between when Chrysalis attacked Canterlot, and when Discord was reformed, after when I got here."

"I stand corrected," Rainbow Dash said. "It's not just a series of un-understandable numbers. It's also series of un-understandable words."

"Rainbow Dash, don't be mean. It's okay Pinkie. I understood it," Sunset Shimmer said.

"Of course it's okay silly. Why wouldn't it be okay?"

"Well I thou-"

"I agree with Sunset, Rainbow Dash, you shouldn't spoil Pinkie' moment of mathematical ingeniousness. Shame on you," The voice said, leaning on her shoulder.

Everypony gasped.

"Discord! When did you get here!"

"And get of me," Sunset Shimmer grumbled

"Yeah! How did you even know there was a party going on here?" Pinkie said. "I forgot to invite you."

"Don't be that way Sunset, and come on! Twilight and Sunset, I'm talking to you. Twilight, do you know the seven varieties of magic?"

"Of course! Movement, Transformation, Illusion, Binding, Seeing, Influ-!"

"Sunset, do you know what Binding is?"

"Yes, it's binding multiple things together physically or magically, like extremely strong glue, or like voo-doo dolls. The more similar the objects are for magical bind-"

"Twilight, do you know that belief is one of the possible sources of magic?"

"Yes bu-"

"Both of you, do you believe that I am Discord?"

"Well, yeah."

"Yes"

"Well there you go. You invoked my name several times. It's  hard for an extremely magical spirit such as myself, not to notice that. So I popped on over to see what the occasion was!"

"Yay! Group hug!" Pinkie's arm stretched impossibly long to encompass everypony.

"Ack." Sunset Shimmer said, visibly distressed.

"Help me." Octavia said to nopony in particular.

"Oh, no no no." Discord's body cleanly split in half vertically to escape the hug."

"How does that work anyway, Discy?" Pinkie frowned, releasing everypony from her death-grip to stick her head inbetween the two halves of Discord's body. "I'm not seeing a spine, or blood vessels, or internal organs, or anything! Just a dark blue vortexy thing. Is that part of you, Discy? That can't be healthy."

"Thank you for your concern Pinkie, but don't call me Discy! The dark blue vortexy thing is a portal that I made between the two halves of my body. By moving the top portal, I move the top part of me."

"What if you move the bottom portal?"

"The bottom portal controls how much of me comes out of the top portal."

"Ah."

"Would you like me to be more technical? I can be a lot more technical.

a=c-x, b=c-y, a=b(-1). There. Was that technical enough?"

"Okie dokie lokie!"

"Not even I understood that!" Twilight exclaimed. "You didn't tell us what the variables we-"

She was cut short, as everything went black.