The Elements of Disharmony

by Damien Helvian

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Discord, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Nightmare Moon, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 7136

Discord Returns for Revenge. The path is unique, but who knows where it will end up.

A year after being sealed away by Twilight and her friends, Discord breaks free with some strange magical energy that he can't quite figure out. But that doesn't matter, for all he cares about revenge. This time, he has a proper plan, determining that the only way to beat the Mane 6, is with themselves. After Concocting the Elements of Disharmony, he seeks a way of tracking down the necessary energy to create these dark clones, and discovers an unusual ally, from the Astral Plane. Side by side, they make their way around Ponyville, preparing for the final defeat of their enemies...will it ever come?

Edit:Spelling and Grammar fixed...I think, if anyone spots mistakes, please message me privately.

Published 2012-05-18 15:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-04-23 21:53:43 UTC

Discord's Return

The Elements of Disharmony

Part 1

Return of Discord

Discord, a beast of many forms, he is the Chimaeric entity of Chaos. A Draconequus by birth, he is the perfect representation of all things Disharmonious. Many centuries ago he ruled over a Chaotic Equestria, everything in a state of eternal unrest. Nothing could match his power. That was, until the sisters, Celestia and Luna, found the Elements of Harmony, and imprisoned him in stone.

They could not destroy him, for the simple fact that Chaos is a necessary evil. The stone prison kept him from controlling the disharmony, but his energy still seeped out in small amounts. It was just enough to create that subtle chaos in daily life. Ponies brush it off as bad luck or coincidence, when in reality, it is disharmony at work.

Just about two years ago, when Nightmare Moon broke free from her own prison in the moon, the Elements were passed on. The six friends, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, discovered a hidden strength in the Elements with their friendship. The new power freed Princess Luna of the dark spirit, Nightmare Moon.

But because the Elements were bound to new souls, the original spell imprisoning Discord weakened. And when a spark of simple disharmony appeared before his statue, the spell broke. With his prison shattered, Discord was free to spread chaos once again. Within a day, Equestria had fallen into a dark age, Chaos ruled once more.

The friends went after the Elements of Harmony, only to discover Discord had hidden them. With a simple riddle, he lured them into a trap within the Castle Labyrinth, separating them and disharmonizing them one by one. And with another trick, a rule was broken in his little game, and everything seemed lost.

In a last ditch effort, Twilight Sparkle, the only pony still herself, followed a new trail, and found the Elements in her own home. But she was frustrated, not thinking clearly, in a rushed attempt to use their power, she had forgotten all that had happened. This not only resulted in failure, but planted a seed of their disharmonious energy within Discord.

All was lost, until Princess Celestia helped her student Twilight find her way again. She sought out her friends, and used a simple memory spell to cure them of Discord’s curse. And once again, they wielded the elements, successfully re-imprisoning the fiend, not knowing what they had already done.

It’s been a year since Equestria was once again saved from the tyranny of Discord. On the anniversary, a small celebration was thrown in honor of the six friends. But, in the Royal Gardens, something was amiss…The grass was pink, the air smelt of peppermint, and Discord’s statue radiated with dark energy.

The seed of disharmony that was planted in him a year ago, had been feeding off they everyday chaos that happened around it, growing in power. Until finally it broke the spell…with a flash, the stone prison was gone, and Discord was free. But, something was different. He felt stronger, but couldn’t quite tap into this new power. He also felt warmth in his heart, but chose to ignore it.

His mind worked through the events of the previous year, trying to figure out what had happened. When he saw the first attempt to seal him, he figured it out. This new power was their power…the chaotic energy of those six ponies. He had to figure out what to do, but he didn’t want to get caught and imprisoned again. With a snap of his claws, a perfect replica of his statue appeared, followed by him vanishing in a flash of light.

“What to do, what to do~” Discord paced around the old castle ruins, deep within the Everfree forest. He had come to the original hiding place of the Elements of Harmony, hoping for some inspiration. “Those damned ponies are the only things keeping me from my throne.”

He snarled, kicking a rock at the statue in the middle of the room, where the stone forms of the Elements once laid. “Even with all my knowledge on them, they still defeated me. And I’m sure it’d be just as easy this time…The only ones who know more them better than I, are thems-“ He stopped, walking over to the statue, “Themselves…that’s how I will defeat them…with their own selves.”

He laughed, having figured out that the only ones that could use their energy, was them. And so, he pulled their disharmonious energy from within himself, using it to create his own versions of the Elements, “I shall call you…the Elements of Disharmony~” He laughed again, the necklaces were a dark red in color, each gem an inverted version of the originals. The only one that was different was the crown he made. Its gem was a little replica of himself, “You are just as hansom as the real thing~”

Discord giggled as it started dancing, placing the crown on his head. He deduced that since Twilight wasn’t disharmonized at the time, he was the only one that could fit the role as her opposite, “Now…one little problem left to solve. I need to make copies of them, but it would be unwise to try and clone the real ones. But, I’m sure there are enough of their energies around that I can use. All I have to do is find it~”

He was about to cast his spell and teleport out, when the air grew dark, the moon eclipsing overhead. A powerful voice called out, seeming to come from the walls themselves, “Ah! Discord! A beast after my own heart!” It spoke in the olden royal style, “I’ve been watching you, and I know how you can find the energies you need!”

Discord looked all around, but all he could see was a dense blue fog. Of course, he wasn’t afraid, only one force could oppose him, “Show yourself you coward. I want to see the face of my possible ally against those damned ponies.”

The voice roared again, the fog shifting with its words, “I cannot show what I do not have! I do not exist where you are! My spirit is trapped in the Astral Plane! This place is covered with my energy, which is why I can speak to you here! If you free me, then I will help you! Just cast a spell and pull my power from these walls…I will do the rest!”

The draconequus paused for a moment, thinking to himself, ‘How do I trust, what I cannot see?’ After going over this thought a hundred times, he decided an ally would be a powerful tool in his plans. With a snap, the walls were covered in a blanket of darkness, which began to rip itself away, gathering on a pedestal. The energy slowly took shape, the eclipsed moon revealing its light once more.

After a few moments, the fog faded away, and the light shone down from the moon through a hole in the ceiling. A figure was formed from the dark energy, stepping toward Discord. Approaching him was a large dark Alicorn, with mane and tail of the night sky. “So, it was you all along…I thought you were gone, but here you stand, Nightmare Moon.”

Dark Alliance

The Elements of Disharmony

Part 2

Dark Alliance

The air was calm, and cold. All of Everfree was silent. Deep within the forest, in the dark castle ruins, Discord stood face to face with the newly restored Nightmare Moon, “This is quite a surprise. The Dark Mistress of the Night, trapped in these walls, whilst her original body, Princess Luna, roams free~”

“Do not speak that name!” Nightmare Moon bellowed, though it wasn’t quite as loud as before, “My old body does not matter! Your power has granted me a form of my own! Now, I may be evil, but I am still royal! I will honor my vow to assist you, if only for the reason that I seek revenge as well!” She snorted, stomping her hooves.

Dark magic flowed from the Alicorn, coating the walls of the ruins. Her power restored the castle tower to its former glory, standing like a sentinel over the Everfree. “Now, to the matter at hoof! You need the energies of the six ponies, is that right?!”

The draconequus nodded, showing her the five necklaces, “I had disharmonized the five friends of Twilight Sparkle and from that chaotic energy, I created these. But, I need their regular energy to create duplicates, under my control. You stated you knew where to find these energies?~”

Nightmare Moon walked past him, her flowing tail coiling about his body. She drug the fiend over to the entrance, waving a hoof out in front of her, “I have been watching them from my new home. Their friendship is strong, and they bring out the best in each other. There are places around here, where their true potential has been let free because of their friends. Since your Elements are made with their energy, there is a spell that I know, ‘Seek Your True Potential,’ that will help us find these spots where their energy is strongest.”

Discord listened to the Alicorn, noticing how her voice had softened, she was not using the royal voice anymore. “That sounds simple enough~ Might I suggest, though, that we create some disguises? We will need to be able to blend in, for it is likely at least one of these spots are in a town.”

She nodded in agreement, her mane and tail forming a vortex around her. It quickly vanished, revealing a young unicorn with silvery-blue fur, and a purple mane and tail, “How is this? Do I…blend in?” Her voice was completely different, softer, and higher pitched than before. It was almost the exact opposite of her real voice, “I even changed my cutie mark…” she pointed at her flank, where the mark of a glowing blue moon could be seen, “You can call me, Lunar Glow.”

He chuckled, snapping his claws. In a flash, the draconequus was replaced by an earth pony, somewhat older than ‘Lunar Glow.’ His coat and mane were the same, being dark brown, and black respectively. But, all his strange colorations were gone, that is, except for his dichromatic eyes. One was red, and the other was yellow, “I shall be…Star Dusk.” Discord giggled, a cutie mark appearing on his flank, a white sun setting behind a cloud horizon.

And so it was, that two never before seen ponies, began their journey out of the Everfree forest. ‘Lunar Glow’ cast the ‘Seek Your True Potential’ spell on the Elements of Disharmony, “If it works right, the relative Element will glow near the location of where their true potential would’ve come out. And that is where you will find the energy source…but, this spell has to be cast every few hours, or else it will fade away.” Her voice wavered a bit, clearly she felt awkward in her disguise.

‘Star Dusk’ simply listened, whistling some crazy tune, and trying not to laugh as the Element necklaces jangled on his body. He decided it would be fun to wear them on random parts of his body, “I don’t know what’s so bad about being like this~ Personally, I think you look kind of cute, Nigh-I mean, Lunar Glow.”

It was a strange sight to behold, to see the disguised Nightmare Moon, BLUSHING. She fell silent, no longer sure about what to say. It didn’t take long on their journey, when the first Element began to glow, Pinkie’s opposite. “I recognize this place…” Lunar looked around, “This is the part of the forest I used against them when I broke free…Pinkie Pie defeated my spell with her laughter.”

The earth pony removed the glowing necklace, walking around and using it as an energy detector, “Ah, Pinkie Pie…I do so love the Element of Laughter…and this, her opposite, the Element of Anger~” In between two of the scariest looking trees, the element flashed, revealing a spectral image of Pinkie Pie, representing the energy of her true potential.

Star stomped his hoof, trying to cast a spell to collect the energy, but it failed, “Damn…my spell won’t work in this disguise! Well, nopony is around, it should be safe enough~” In a flash, he was back to his true self, snapping his claws to cast the spell. The image faded, wisps of energy pouring into the necklace. It began to hum softly, the energy forming into a perfect, disharmonized replica of Pinkie Pie.

It took mere moments, and there, standing before Discord and Lunar, was a grayish-pink Pinkie Pie, she tried to speak, only to find she could not. “Oh, I’m sorry dear…but you were born from pure energy…you have no voice~” Discord hugged his creation, “But don’t worry, you can still have fun. Now, go wait in the castle til daddy needs you.” He snapped his claws, warping her away.

“One down, four to go~ I really hope the others are as easy as this~” Discord chuckled, transforming back into his disguise, “Maybe if we do this fast enough, we’ll have enough time for a romantic dinner before taking over Equestria, eh?” he chuckled, joking with Lunar.

“Well, maybe…I guess.” She was blushing, AGAIN. “But, really, we should focus. I suggest we walk around Ponyville first, before heading in. It’s more likely that the energies are out there, than in town.” She rushed ahead, trying to hide the blush, leaving Star confused. Had she softened over these past two years? What exactly happened to her in the Astral Plane?

Star Dusk picked up the pace, soon catching up with Lunar Glow. The moon was still high in the sky, shining bright on the pair as they broke past the edge of the forest. They took a sharp turn, laying out a course around the outskirts of Ponyville.

The path first brought them to Whitetail Wood, home to the annual Running of the Leaves. It seemed there were a few other couples walking through here; apparently it was a romantic hot spot. Star and Lunar started walking closer together, so as not to stand out amongst the groups.

After a while, they were joined by another pair. They seemed familiar, but neither star nor Lunar could figure it out. Until one of them spoke, a Mare with a fiery mane, ‘Hi there! You two gettin’ your fill of the woods before the running?” It was Spitfire, one of the Wonderbolts, except she was out of her uniform. The pony with her was quickly recognized as Soarin’.

Lunar looked at them both. “Spitfire? Soarin’? I didn’t know you two were a couple. Nor would I have ever guessed that you’d come here on a date.” She was shocked, looking to star for confirmation that they were really Spitfire and Soarin’.

That mare laughed, “Naw, we’re no couple. Soarin’ and I just really love this place. We used to practice here when we were just foals. So, we visit whenever we can.” She looked to Soarin’ but he had started running off, “Well, looks like he smells some pie…I better go get him before he pigs out.” She waved a hoof goodbye, flying after her partner in flight.

“We should get goin’ too, before somepony mistakes us for a couple~” Star chuckled, inducing another blush in Lunar. He lead the way out of Whitetail woods, and they eventually ended up in the Gem Fields, a seemingly barren land, known for the vast amount of gemstones down beneath the ground.

They paused near a mound of dirt, so Lunar could cast the spell again, for it was fading off. Almost instantly, one of the Elements began to glow. Star quickly removed it, “Oh look…the Element of Greed…how fitting that Rarity’s energy is in the gem fields~ If I remember correctly, because of her, the Diamond Dogs no longer dig here~”

Once again, he used the necklace as a tracking device. It took longer than before, the area being an open space. But, eventually he found it near a cracked open geode. After glancing around, he transformed to cast the spell. Rarity’s spectral image faded, the energy collecting in the necklace to create her disharmonized doppelganger. It immediately pounced on the geode, looking at Discord with a scowl.

“Now, now, that’s no way to treat the one who created you~ I want you to go to your room, and think about what you’ve done.” Discord sent her home and changed back, walking up to Lunar, who seemed worried about something, “What’s the matter, Nightmare?”

She sighed, scratching a hoof at the ground, “These first too were far too easy, something tells me the others won’t be as simple to find. I think we should ask around town, maybe somepony can tell us where Twilight’s friends had their best moments…Actually, why not ask Twilight herself? Put our disguises to the test.”

Star clapped his hooves together, “Brava! Now you’re thinking like a true evil mistress. Trick Twilight Sparkle into helping us find the tools of her own destruction~ Oh, I do love that plan~” He laughed, walking with Lunar towards Ponyville.

On the Verge of Chaos

The Elements of Disharmony

Part 3

On the Verge of Chaos

Heads turned to watch as a black-haired earth pony, and a unicorn colored like the night sky, walked into town. Why? You may ask, most likely because the earth pony was wearing three red necklaces in the strangest of places. They walked along silently, occasionally nodding their head or waving a hoof at one of the locals. Star Dusk chuckled softly, “At least nopony can recognize us…so far- Oh crap, here comes Pinkie Pie.”

Hopping down the main road like a bunny, was the well known pink queen of parties, Pinkie Pie. And she was heading right for them, shouting with glee, “Oh my gosh! New Ponies!~ It’s been so long, well not that long really, we get new ponies here allllll the time. Well, not all the time, that would be silly, if they came in all the time, this town would be PACKED! But~ Then again-“ She rambled on faster and faster.

Lunar tried pushing Star into a hiding place but he already gave up hope of avoiding Pinkie, “She’ll find us…she always will. Nopony can hide from her for long~ Just grin and bear it…You’ll have to do the talking though, she’d recognize my voice.”

Pinkie came to a literal screeching halt right in front of them, “Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie, and this is Ponyville, of course you probably already knew that. The Ponyville part that is, not my name, unless you’re psychic…are you psychic?” She asked, her head turning upside down.

Star mimicked her, snickering softly. Whilst he had his fun, Lunar responded, “No, no we’re not psychics. Glad to meet you Pinkie Pie, we’re travelers and we heard of somepony named Twilight Sparkle who might be able to help us. My friend here, Star Dusk, is looking for information about the star patterns around these parts. Could you possibly point the way? Oh, and my name is Lunar Glow.”

“Star Dusk and Lunar Glow, those are funny names. Come to think of it, most pony names are funny, have you ever noticed that?” Pinkie giggled a bit, “Well, Twilight is a really good friend of mine, and she has lots of other friends too, she’s good at making them. It’s because she’s so smart and helpful, and her magic is amazing~ She should be in the library right down thataway!” She pointed a hoof towards the library.”I’ve gotta go set up a party now, byebye!’ She hopped away whistling.

Lunar rubbed a hoof against her head, “That pony’s voice, gives me such a headache. Let’s hurry before somepony else decides to stop and talk with us. I’ll bet Twilight can help me out with this headache too…” She sighed, trotting forward at a slightly faster pace than before.
Star followed behind, but remained at a steady pace, watching her slowly drift away, “You know me, Pinkie is my favorite~ she’s always so happy and silly. A one-of-a-kind charmer~” He passed another earth pony, his coat was a light brown, and both mane and tail were a darker brown. Star spotted his hourglass cutie mark.
Time seemed to stand still as their eyes met, a strange energy filled the air. Each thought eh same thing about the other, ‘There is something not quite right with this pony…’ The gaze was broken and things slowly returned to normal as they walked away. Star mumbled to himself, “I know every pony around here…except that one…why is that?”
Eventually he caught up with his partner, receiving a very harsh glare, “What took you so long?” her voice was slightly similar to her original with her anger. Star responded with a shrug and they approached the door. Shortly after he knocked, a purple aura surrounded the door, opening it, “Come right in, I’ll be right with you, just give me a few seconds. And please, try not to wake the baby dragon.”

The candlelit library was warm and inviting. The only problem seemed to be the countless piles of books everywhere, “Sorry about the mess, today is Spike’s day off, and I’ve been distracted lately.” The purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, put her book down, smiling at the guests, “Pleased to make your Acquaintance, I’m Twilight Sparkle, how may I be of assistance.”

Star nudged Lunar, nodding the approval to proceed as she looked at him, “It’s nice to meet you, miss Twilight Sparkle. My name is Lunar Glow, and this is Star Dusk, feel free to just use our first names. We’re here on a research project about you and your friends, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, correct?”

Twilight approached them, nodding slightly, “Well, Lunar, beautiful name by the way…this is true, but we haven’t used them in a year. What exactly do you need to know?” She inquired, her eyes spotting the other mare’s cutie mark, “Although, I do want to talk to you about your cutie mark. A blue moon is quite a strange one…in fact it’s very similar to the one Princess Luna has.”

Luna blushed at the mention of her cutie mark. She turned to Star for advice, but he had gone to look at Spike, the green and purple baby dragon, sleeping in his basket bed. “I knew Luna had a moon cutie mark, but I never thought mine was close to hers. I’m not really sure why mine is a moon, I just know that I’m a night-time Unicorn, and my magic is stronger in the moonlight.”

“That makes sense, I guess. I thought the Princess’s was unique thought. Now I wonder if there might be another pony with a sun-based cutie mark.” Twilight glared at Star, “Would you please leave my assistant alone? He needs…his…sleep…” her voice drifted off as her gaze fixated on the necklaces, “Where did you…get those?”

Star chuckled, hopping towards the mares. He spoke, trying his best to hide his real voice without laughing, “I made them myself~ I didn’t want to make them too close to the real ones, so I inverted them.” He spun around to show them off, “Oh, I heard you say something about a sun cutie mark…mine is like that~” He pointed at his flank.

Twilight watched the stallion, something about him seemed familiar, but she couldn’t quite figure out what, “Well, they are very well made…although quite strange to say the least.” She got a close look at his cutie mark, a star, looking like a white sun, setting on a horizon, “Very odd…two new ponies come into town, with cutie marks similar to the princesses. Do you think we could get together after you’re done with your research?”

Star chuckled some more, “I’m glad you like them, they were so fun to make~” He nudged against Lunar, “We’d love to get together again…We’re almost finished with our project. I’ve been using these necklaces as, well a sort of monument. Placing them where the great heroes…I mean, you and your friends, had your best moments. We found Pinkie Pie’s and Rarity’s already but the others escape us. Could you help us out?”

The purple unicorn thought for a moment, scratching her chin with a hoof, “I’m not really sure. I would definitely say Fluttershy’s is up on the mountain. Some time ago, a dragon was sleeping up there, his smoke was covering the skies of our town. And even though she was afraid, she faced him down, and got him to leave…” She pointed towards the mountain in the distance.

“And my best guess for Applejack would be down at Sweet Apple Acres…” Twilight continued, “During my first Applebuck Season here in Ponyville, she tried to harvest all the apples by herself, and stacked up helping her friends out along with it…she was too stubborn to accept help. Halfway through though, she realized the truth, and accepted out assistance…I don’t really know what to say about mine,” she blushed, “And all I know about Rainbow Dash, is that it’d most likely be where she got her cutie mark…”

“Where she got her cutie mark, you say…” Star quirked a brow quizzically, “Well, we can try to find it. Lunar can cast a flight spell if it’s in the sky. Is there anything you know that might be able to help us find this spot…?” He glanced over at Lunar, she was standing by the door, bored.

“All I know is the story, how she performed the Sonic Rainboom for the first time. In fact, it was because of her that my friends and I go our cutie marks.” Twilight giggled, “Rainbow Dash had gotten into a race near Cloudsdale. When she was about to lose, she pushed herself to the limit, creating a Sonic Rainboom and winning. I don’t know where around Cloudsdale it is though…”

Star joined his partner by the door, “Thanks Twilight, I’m sure we’ll be able to find it, it shouldn’t be too hard. We’ll see you soon, ta-ta~” He waved a hoof with a chuckle, and they headed towards the forest, obviously their first destination being the mountain.

Twilight went back to her book, thinking aloud to herself, “It’s almost like I’ve met them somewhere before…and how exactly did they know where Pinkie and Rarity had their best moments…? Something strange is going on around here…but the smart move is to wait things out and see what happens.”

The trip to the mountain was easy enough, but going up it seemed to take an eternity. Mostly because Star, instead of using the path, was walking sideways on the cliffs that lined the path, And no matter how hard she tried, Lunar couldn’t get him to come down and walk like a normal pony.

She even screamed in the avalanche zone, hoping that the rocks would knock him down, but Star was able to easily avoid the boulders. Eventually though, when she was about to give up on it, they arrived near the peak, at the Dragon’s Horde Cavern, which was said to be empty since the sleeping dragon incident.

Lunar recast the seeking spell on Fluttershy’s counter-element, knowing that this was to be hers, and after a little walking around, the source of potential energy was discovered at the cavern’s entrance. In an instant, Star had transformed back into Discord, and was ready to cast the spell when a roar echoed from the cave.

“Who the hell is in my space? Is it those damn ponies? I’m not sleeping this time, and you know I’ll only talk to one of you…I’m here for a sho-Oh, you’re not them. Except for that one, I like her…is she a ghost?” The large red dragon head peeked down at them, pupils narrowing a bit.

Discord laughed, flashing himself onto the dragon’s nose, “Nah, just a bit of essence and energy. How are you cousin? Having a nice day so far?” He wanted to talk with the dragon, but a glare from Lunar set him back on the task at hoof, flashing back to the ground, “You see, we are on a quest to destroy those ponies…and we’ll be leaving as soon as we get what we need~”

The dragon placed his large claws between Discord and the disharmonized Fluttershy spirit, “No! They may have been hurtful that time, but they had reason to be. And that one is my friend now…she visits me sometimes when I stop here to rest during my trips…She was here today, actually, brought me some nice turquoise. Just leave them alone…” he bent his neck down, “Before I eat you…’cousin’…”

The draconequus laughed again, snapping a claw to levitate the dragon’s arm out of the way, “You can’t stop me, I have the power of Chaos~” He cast the spell on the energy, after the disharmonized Fluttershy was formed, she flew over and kicked the dragon’s leg, before being transported home.

“And just so you won’t be able to tell them…~” Discord snapped his claws again, creating a zipper on the dragon’s mouth, locking it tight, and chaining him deep within the cavern, on the farthest wall, in the darkest darkness. Soon enough, he turned back into a pony, “Sorry to be so harsh, but we’re too close to let things fall apart now…ta-ta~”

The dragon struggled against the chain, hot tears in his eyes. The metal was far too strong for him to break, and his claws were too big to try and pick the lock. If he tried to breathe fire with the zipper there, it could kill him. He watched as Star Dusk and Lunar Glow headed down the mountain, their next destination, Sweet Apple Acres.

Discovering the Truth

The Elements of Disharmony

Part 4

Discovering the Truth

The trek down the mountain was as long and droll as the trek up. Discord, back in his pony form of Star Dusk, simply walked down the side. Lunar Glow, though her magic was strong, she didn’t have the same reality defying capabilities as the deity. Thus, she had to take the actual path down the mountainside, but at least she didn’t have to deal with the other’s bothersome ways. She had her thoughts to herself for the first time since they started this little adventure, and it made her happy as can be.

Happiness can’t last forever though, and eventually the pair met up again at the base of the mountain, “Luunnyyyy, I missed you so very much!~” Star stated with feigned drama. He wasn’t too good at this though, since as soon as he said it he burst out laughing like a hyena, which earned him a spiteful look from his partner, “Can we just get on with it already?”

“If you’re so impatient Lunar Glow, then we’ll take the quick way.” Before she could respond, the brown pony had an arm around her, with a hoof stomping into the ground. In a flash of bright light, the duo vanished without a trace, reappearing all the way in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres. And as soon as they got there…”YOU IDIOT! WHAT IF SOMEPONY SEES US?!” Lunar slapped Star right across the face, growling in fury.

And he just giggled away without a care, “We’re in the middle of the orchard, and it’s not even harvest season. The odds of anypony being out here are slim to none. Relax my dear, and cast your spell so we can get out of here quickly. Since this orchard is so big, I’ve decided that it’d be a good idea to enhance your spell.” A quick glance around, and he transformed himself into his true Draconequus form, holding the Element of Dishonesty out.

With a groaning sigh, Lunar cast her spell on the necklace, hearing a snap of claws as Discord enhanced it. A few moments later, the Element tore itself out of his talons, lifting up in the air and spinning about before racing off into the apple trees. The pair chased after it, weaving around tree after tree. It was quite easy for the deity, his serpentine body snaking its way through with easy. But Lunar had to stop a lot, almost running into trees constantly, her focus on the Element ahead.

Following behind, was a small, cream colored filly, a red bow right atop her head. Apple Bloom had heard the pair landing in the orchard. She had been sleeping, but the sound of Lunar Glow shouting had awoken her. At first she was just curious as to what they were doing, but when Discord transformed, she thought best to follow them. The more she knew, the more she could tell her sister and the others.

As quick as her little hooves could carry her, the young filly chased after Discord and his strange marefriend. It was easy for her, knowing her way around the orchard, just like the rest of her family. The hard part was keeping quiet, her inherent nature wanting to speak up against them, but fear helping keep it in check. She remembered well what happened the last time Discord was out, and what he was capable of.

After so very much running, Discord and Lunar finally found themselves at the top of a hill, somewhere in the middle of the orchard, with a single tree resting atop it. The Element was hovering near the base of it, waiting for the next spell to be cast. And with a snap of the claws, Discord conjured up the replica of Applejack.

“Sis? Why’s she lookin’ so gray?” Apple Bloom watched from behind a tree at the bottom of the hill, “And how’d Discord get her element?” She continued to watch as the pair of villains vanished in another flash of light, “Ah’ve got to go tell sis!” As quick as she could, the little filly headed for home.

Back at the castle ruins, four disharmonized replicas were duking it out, attempting to steal the other Elements of Disharmony from each other. Anti-Rarity had managed to get all of them, and was trying her best to keep it from the others. With Anti-Applejack yanking at her tail, Anti-Pinkie Pie gnawing at her legs, and Anti-Fluttershy stomping on her back, that was quite difficult.

A flash of light coated the area, followed by a booming voice, “CHILDREN! STOP, OR YOU’RE GROUNDED!” The four ponies stopped and stared at Discord, with Anti-Rarity quickly returning the Elements to the others, trying to look as innocent as possible. “It’s almost time, there’s just one of you left to go. So stop fighting, clean up, and get yourselves ready for an even bigger fight.”

Each of them nodded and saluted their chaotic creator. With that over, Discord transformed himself into Star Dusk, and headed back outside the castle to meet back up with Lunar glow on the edge of Everfree forest. Since this area was so close to Cloudsdale, they figured walking would be best, too much risk for being spotted.

Meanwhile, back at Sweet Apple Acres, “Applejack, Applejack, ah have somethin’ ta tell you!” Apple Bloom was running about, looking for her big sister, wanting to warn her about Discord’s return and the strange copy of her she saw, “Where are ya sis?”

“Ah’m right here, ya silly filly, what in tarnation are ya goin’ on about?” Applejack made her way out of the barn, carrying buckets of rotten apples, “If’n ya wanna talk, help out a bit.”

Apple Bloom frantically ran up to her sister, “No time for work, Discord’s back! Ah saw him with some odd mare out in tha orchard. He used a weird spell, and ah saw you there, but you were all grey and quiet…they vanished and ah came here ta get you.”

“Discord…but he’s a statue Apple Bloom. Me and the girls turned him back to stone with the Elements, remember?” This was her sister though, and she wasn’t one to lie, “But if’n it’ll make you happy, ah’ll go talk to Twi, ok? But you have to do mah chores while ah’m away.” She set her buckets down, and her sister picked them up with a quiet nod.

Applejack hurried off to town, hoping her sister was just seeing things. If Discord was back, things would get real bad, real quick. Along the way she remember the last time he broke free. The chaos he spread, being disharmonized, and losing her friends. She never wanted to go through that again.

Being the powerhouse that she was, Applejack was in town pretty quick. And on the way to the Library, she spotted Pinkie Pie, twitching and spazzing about. Curious, she stopped to ask her friend what was wrong, “What in tarnation is goin’ on with you?”

“I’m really not sure what’s going on. I just started twitcha twitchin and I just cant seem to stop.” She was talking in her crazy fast voice, a sign that her Pinkie Sense was going haywire, “Been stuck here for so long can you drag me to Twilight’s? Something super bad is coming super duper bad!”

AJ nodded, grabbing her shaky friend by the tail and dragging her all the way to the library. In most cases, other ponies would stop and stare, but this was Pinkie, so the just glanced and carried on their merry ways, unknowing of what was going on.

At the Library, Twilight was freaking out. She’d just received a letter from Celestia telling her that the statue of Discord in the gardens was a fake, which only meant one thing, HE WAS FREE! The purple mare had already contacted Rainbow Dash, who grabbed Fluttershy and Rarity, and they were already there.

Her messages to Pinkie and Applejack hadn’t been answered, and thus she was freaking. When she spotted the pair coming through the door she nearly screamed, “Thank Celestia you two are here. I’ve got big news Dis-.”

“Discord’s free, right?’ Her sister was right, “Ah already knew, ah just had hoped it wasn’t true. Apple Bloom spotted him and some strange pony back at the farm. They’re doing something weird…she said she saw me, and that I looked like I did when he made me into a liar. You got any ideas Twi?”

Twilight was silent for a moment, but quickly composed herself and started scanning through her books. Rainbow on the other hand was ready to go, “Who cares what he’s doing, we should just hunt him down and take him out before he can do it. It shouldn’t be that hard, Pinkie Pie’s like a bad stuff detector…we can use her to track him down.”

“No, no, no, no, NONONO!” Twilight wasn’t even paying attention; she just kept looking through her books for any possible shred of information. “Wait…” she dropped all the books she had in her magic, “Strange pony? There were two of them in here earlier…they had necklaces that looked like the Elements of Harmony.” She went straight to her book on the Elements.

After scanning through it a few times and finding nothing, she threw it to the wall, “Nothing! And the only other book with information is in the Archives, there’s not enough time!” As if on cue, Spike belched a large fireball, an ancient tome dropping out of the flames, “I’ll never understand how the Princess does that..”

The tome looked like an even older, bigger version of the one she had. It must’ve been the original book. There was no title, simple a picture of the elements on one side, and a picture of the inverted elements on the other side, “These are what he was wearing. So they weren’t just replicas, that pony must’ve been Discord.”

All her friend waited in intense silence as she read through it, “Well, this book has quite a bit more information, but not a lot about those things on the back. It doesn’t even have a name for them, just this little quote. ‘When Harmony is Broken in the midst of Chaos, it shall bring forth a new power, the likes of which Equestria has never seen before.’ Do you think that means, when we used the Elements while we were all grey, it made him stronger?”

“We never used the Elements while like that.” Rainbow stated. She didn’t even know it happened, because she had been replaced by Spike. Nopony told her though, they promised Spike because he was afraid of being hurt.

“Actually…we did.” Twilight confessed, “You were on that little cloud, so we used Spike in place of you….” She paused, “Wait…maybe….” She looked through the tome again, “Aha! Since you weren’t present, he doesn’t have your power! And you said you last saw him at the farm, right AJ? The mountain is closer, so he would’ve gone their first. And Cloudsdale is the furthest away, which means he’s heading there now. Let’s go!”

Before any of them could respond, the unicorn sprinted out the door. They quickly followed, all of them heading for Cloudsdale. On the way, Twilight hoofed out the Elements of Harmony. Celestia had determined they’d be safest with Twilight, since nopony would expect them to be in Ponyville.

With the occasional burst of teleportation from Twilight, it didn’t take too long for the six friends to make it to the area where Cloudsdale floated. And there, hovering in the sky was Discord, and the dark blue mare from before. The Element of Disloyalty was glowing softly, and drifting around as they sought out Rainbow’s energy.

A quick blast from the Element of Magic caught their attention, “Give it up Discord!” Twilight shouted, “Did you forget? Rainbow wasn’t there during our first attempt at sealing you, so whatever you’re doing won’t work! And whoever your friend is better reveal herself!”

Two flashes of light, Discord and Lunar teleported to the ground. Another four flashes, the anti-ponies appeared with them wearing the Elements of Disharmony, “I guess we’ll just see how things go without the final element. Unless you’d donate your power Nightmare….” Discord looked to his friend.

Lunar laughed sinisterly, dark clouds of energy surrounding her, transforming her into Nightmare Moon, “We meet again, girls. It’s been far too long…” she smirked, her mere presence causing dark clouds to roll over the area.

“Discord AND Nightmare Moon? This is bad, very, very bad.” Twilight looked over at her friends. They thought it was going to be easy, just Discord, right? But with Nightmare Moon in the picture, things looked like they would take a turn for the worse.