Discord was bored.
He sat on a pillow on the floor of Twilight's crystal castle. Next to him sat Fluttershy, quietly roasting marshmallows. Next to her sat Applejack and Rainbow Dash playing some sort of card game. Twilight had her nose buried in a book, and Rarity had some green mush all over her face and her hair wrapped up. Even Pinkie Pie was mostly calm, her face filled with gooey goodness. It would have been very peaceful and pleasant, if it were not for the fact that is was boring. His yellow and red eyes twitched from pony to pony. Fluttershy sighed quietly. Rainbow and Applejack laughed. Twilight's face twitched upward half a tick. Rarity didn't move a muscle. Pinkie's mouth oozed a bit of marshmallow goo.
Discord groaned and leaned backwards with a groan and a whomp. "Is this all?"
Twilight blinked up from her book. "What do you mean?"
The draconequus groaned and propped himself up on his arms - it may be of interest to note that his hands held up his torso while somehow anchored to the floor - before rolling his eyes and replying.
"This. When Fluttershy told me I was welcome to join in on your 'castle warming' slumber party, I was regaled with a much more...oh, how do I put this...exciting description than this party has so far demonstrated." He rolled his neck - it may also be of interest to note that at this point his arms returned to their regular places even as his neck rotated a full 360 degrees. "Forgive me if I'm being a bit rude, but aren't parties supposed to be fun for everyone?"
Twilight frowned a little. "I guess you're right, but slumber parties are mostly centered on restful things, since they're right before bed. There are a few exceptions, like pillow fights - "
Discord clapped. "Ooo yes, pillow fights. That's something I can get behind." He pressed a helmet down upon his head - made of pillows and conjured from nowhere in particular - and grabbed Fluttershy. "She's on my team!"
Pinkie Pie stood up and made a lot of disgruntled noises before swallowing the mass of marshmallows and speaking clearly. "No fair! Nopony would hit Fluttershy with a pillow! You could just hide behind her, and that wouldn't be any fun!"
Discord, who had shrunken down to about the size of Angel Bunny, stuck his head out of Fluttershy's mane. "Oh poo, you're right. Clearly Fluttershy and I would lay the beat-down upon all of you with no contest."
Fluttershy stammered "I don't want to lay a beat down on anyone..." as Discord removed himself from her mane and grew to his average size.
The draconequus patted her on the head, even as he sulked. "Don't worry, it appears there will be no ownage tonight - save for boredom's ownage over little ol' me." He held a claw to his head and swooned back.
Rarity sat up and wiped her face off very carefully. "Perhaps not - there must be something we could do which could entertain you and not, ah, disturb anyone else..." Her eyes moved from side to side and she forced a grin.
Discord blinked with an audible tink at least three times before Rainbow Dash groaned and threw her cards down and assumed a hover.
"Finish yer hand, Rainbow."
The Pegasus glared at Applejack. "No way! You've gotta be cheating, you're like, a hundred points ahead of me."
Applejack snickered. "Naw, I'm just better at this game than you."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever. Discord, I've got a game I bet you'll love! Truth or Dare?"
Discord smiled. "I don't believe I've played that one before - this should be fun."
Rainbow crossed her hooves and grinned. "It's pretty easy. Somepony asks you Truth or Dare, and if you pick Truth they ask you a question that you have to answer honestly. If you pick Dare, you gotta do whatever they dare you to do. Then you get to ask somepony."
Discord hmmm'd. "And if one should refuse to answer or do the dare?"
Rainbow made a face. "Well then you quit and you're not playing, and that's no fun. Is that how you want it?"
Discord chuckled. "You know me too well, it seems. Shall I start then?" He steepled his claws and looked to the other ponies in the room, a predatory gleam in his eye.
Rainbow flew herself into his face. "Oh no, I already asked you, Discord. Truth or Dare?"
Discord leaned back and reclined on nothing at all. "Truth, I suppose."
Rainbow frowned and rubbed her chin, her eyes wandering for a few minutes before a big grin broke out on her face. "What are you most afraid of, Discord?"
"Nothing."
Rainbow frowned. "I told you you have to tell the truth."
"I did."
"You have to be afraid of something! I know you don't want to lose Fluttershy as a friend, doesn't that count?"
The room got much quieter for that moment. Discord sat himself up and folded his arms across his knees. "Yes, Rainbow Dash, I am afraid of losing Fluttershy as a friend. But that's not what I'm most scared of."
"Then what is?" Rainbow glared at him.
"Nothing."
Rainbow tugged at her mane. "But you just...and that's not...Twilliiiiiiiiiight, make Discord follow the rules!"
The purple Alicorn had already tucked a quill in to her book and had her forelegs crossed over it. She looked between Rainbow and Discord for a moment.
"Discord, you're saying you are afraid of things, right? You're not saying you're fearless?"
He scoffed. "Heavens, no, I've seen a lot of things, and plenty of them are scary - I'm sure we'd disagree on which ones, but that's besides the point."
Twilight nodded and continued. "And what you are scared of, most of all, is nothing?"
Discord pointed a finger at her. "Bingo."
Rainbow ground her teeth. "That doesn't make any sense. How can you be scared of nothing?"
Discord looked at her with disinterested eyes, before turning away. "What happens to you when you die, do you think?"
Rainbow dropped out of the air, landing on her bum. "Where did that come from?"
Twilight frowned. "Discord, I'm not sure this is a good thing to be talking about at a slumber party..."
Discord rolled a finger through the air, twisting the universe around it. "I know a lot of ponies have differing opinions - great fields of hay, golden gates, everyone is an Alicorn, etcetera...but nopony really knows, do they?"
Rainbow shuffled. "Yeah, so? I don't get what this has to do with - "
Discord sprang his face in front of hers. "I know there are a lot of universes out there, Rainbow Dash. I've visited many of them, and I have yet to find one where ponies appear after death. Not the unyielding lakes of fire, or the infinite grassy knolls. What lives or un-lives there is completely independent of life in Equestria, or anywhere else." Step after step, word after word he pushed Rainbow Dash back, she unwilling to let his snout touch hers. "Maybe, just maybe, the connection is so delayed and mixed up that I don't notice it. It's possible - anything is, really. But I don't really know that anything happens. So, what if nothing happens, hmm?"
Rainbow bumped her flank into the cold crystal wall. "I...uhhh..."
Discord leaned forward, further pushing the pony against the wall. "Imagine, if you will, absolute nothingness. No memories, no sensation, no thoughts - you're just gone, there's nothing there where you used to be, nothing where anything used to be." Rainbow was sweating. He raised up on his haunches and leered at her for a moment before looking away, avoiding Twilight's glare. "So yes, Rainbow Dash, I am afraid of nothing, more than anything else."
Rainbow let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Sorry, I...I never really thought about that. I just, wow. Sorry."
Discord floated himself back to his pillow and put his arm around Fluttershy, who was shaking. "Most ponies seem to think Harmony is the opposite of Chaos, and that's what I should be afraid of." He shrugged. "Most of those ponies haven't really thought about Entropy, I suppose."
Twilight nearly growled "Most ponies try not to think about it, especially right before bed." She shot a pointed glare at the trembling mass that was Fluttershy.
Discord flinched and patted the Pegasus on the shoulder. "Sorry you had to hear that, Fluttershy. It's a bit of a sensitive subject for me, you might imagine. But that happens when you're dared to talk about your biggest fear, isn't it?"
Fluttershy trembled before reaching out and pulling Discord into a crushing hug. "I'm so s-s-sorry, being trapped in stone must have been the worst thing to ever happen to you, and for a thousand years! Oh, and then we went and p-p-put you right back, oh, that sounded so scary..."
Discord hesitated a moment before patting her head some more. "It wasn't quite that bad - I could hear things, and I have a notoriously active imagination. I may have had a slight fixation on bright colors and sweet smells when I got out, but it could have been much worse."
It took a few minutes of deep breathing, but Fluttershy was able to calm herself down and wipe away the tears threatening at the edge of her eyelids. She finally let go of the hug and settled herself down into a less tight but still reassuring position on the floor.
Discord wasted no more time than necessary. "So, according to the rules, I answered the question, now I get to ask somepony." He scanned the room briefly. "Rarity, Truth or Dare?"
Rarity snorted. "After that little debacle? I'll take dare, as long as you keep it to something I can physically do - I'm not the Lord of Chaos like some of us here."
Discord grinned. "Oh I know that, don't worry. So when I say 'I dare you to kiss Applejack' you should have no problems whatsoever."
Author's Note
Train of thought went something like
Chaos = infinite unpredictable action
Entropy = infinite lack of action
Harmony = something in the middle
