Discorded Time

by Fluffy Cloud

Rating: everyone
Tags: Nightmare Moon, Fluttershy, Snails, Spike, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity, Tragedy, Adventure, Discord, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Snips, Rainbow Dash
Length: 3903

Discord has escaped once again, and Twilight goes to confront him. But when she does, Discord sends Twilight back in time, to when she learned of Nightmare Moon's return. Now, Twilight must try to stop Nightmare Moon once again and stop Discord. But it seems impossible when Equestria is already in chaos.

Published 2011-11-26 17:49:48 UTC
Last updated 2012-01-22 18:53:43 UTC

Chapter 2

It was morning in Ponyville, and at the library, sunlight was streaming through the windows, waking Twilight up from her slumber.

Or at least, that's what was supposed to happen.

What was happening was that the moon was still in the air, not showing a sign of going down. Ponyville was still dark, and ponies were coming outside to see what was going on. What woke Twilight from her slumber was moonlight streaming through the window, and into her face. Twilight blinked a few times, pretty sure that she had woken up in the middle of the night. She got up and rubbed her eyes, blinking a few more times to get them adjusted.

Twilight reached for clock, which was a bit hard since she had just woken up. After several tries, she finally grabbed her clock, and Twilight turned it to her direction.

Twilight gasped. It was 10:00 in the morning!

Twilight jumped up, gasping. She jumped off her bed and onto the ground. "Spike! Spike! SPIKE!!!!!"

There was some shuffling coming from a basket on the floor. "W-wha? What's goin' on Twilight?"

"The moon! It's...it's still in the sky! And...and it's 10:00 in the morning! Quick, we need to tell Celestia!"

Spike's eyes grew wide. "You're right! We should tell Celestia!" Spike grabbed a quill and a sheet of parchment. "Wait...this involves the moon not going down, which means...she and Luna are in trouble. We can't tell Celestia."

Twilight tugged her mane. "Then what can we do?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to make breakfast. I'm-"

Knock knock knock.

"Twilight?" said the voice from outside. "Twi, are you in there?"

"I'll get it," said Spike as rushed downstairs and opened the door.

Twilight came downstairs and watched as a orange mare with a blond mane came in.

"Applejack, what are you doing here?" asked Twilight. She watched as the orange farm mare took a seat and looked at her.

"To see if you knew anythin' about what's happenin' with the moon," replied Applejack. "Oh, and do y'all mind makin' somethin' warm to drink? It's pretty darn cold outside."

"I don't know what's happening with the moon, Applejack. And Spike, make Applejack some hot chocolate." Twilight nudged Spike.

"Okay, boss," said Spike and he went to the library's kitchen.

"So, what you're sayin' is that you don't know what in the hay is wrong with the moon?" said Applejack.

"No, I don't Applejack, and I'm sorry," Twilight sighed. "Hey, where are the others?"

"I don't know. Maybe they'll figure out that they should come here."

Spike came out of the kitchen and handed Applejack the hot chocolate. "Thanks Spike. You are the best assistant," said Applejack.

Spike blushed. "Oh, thanks, Applejack. I guess-"

Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock!

Somepony was frantically knocking on the door.

"Twilight! Twilight! Oh, please, please, please, pleeeease let me in! It's soooooooo dark! Oh, please, Twilight, please! I don't like being in the dark!" said the scared voice on the other side of the door.

TheN another voice. "Hey Twilight. You in there? Because...it's dark out here."

Spike opened the door and a yellow pegasus with a pink mane rushed in, and grabbed the nearest chair. Then a cyan blue pegasus with a rainbow mane came in, and sat lazily on the chair the yellow pegasus was holding.

"Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy?" said Twilight. "What are you two doing here?"

"It's not just them, Twilight," said a voice from outside. In walked a white, purple maned, unicorn, and a particular pink party pony. "Me and Pinkie Pie are here to," said the white unicorn.

Spike was beside the white unicorn's side in a instant. "R-Rarity? Can I get you something?"

"Oh yes, dear Spike," replied Rarity. "Can you go make me some tea? It's quite cold outside."

"Yes Rarity," said Spike. He walked off, whispering happily to himself. "She called me a dear! Dear Spike...ohhh, I knew she had some feelings for me..."

"Okaaay," said Twilight. "Now that we're all here, how about we have a conversation on what we think is happening."

"I think...I think...that Nightmare Moon has returned," said Fluttershy, letting go of the chair. "And she probably brought eternal night!"

"Now, that can't be true!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "We got rid of that villain long ago!"

"I have to agree with Rainbow on this one," said Applejack.

"Oh, oh, Nightmare could've come back, and now that big meanie brought eternal night!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

"No, no, no!" yelled Twilight. "We got rid of Nightmare Moon long ago! She was just a shadow of Luna!"

"Okay," said Rarity. "That's settled. But...who else has the power to control nighttime and daytime?"

Twilight thought for a while, then gasped. Her eyes became wide. "I think I know who."

"Who?" said the other five mares in unison.

"Discord."

Chapter 4

Celestia and Discord were fighting fiercely in the royal throne room. A magical barrier blocked the throne doors, keeping everypony out.

Celestia had made a sword of magic, and so had Discord, using the power of pure chaos. Their swords clashed, sending sparks into the air. Luna lay hid behind the thrones, since Celestia has told her too.

As Celestia gave a swing at Discord with her sword, she exclaimed, "Discord! Stop this nonsense!"

Discord's sword immediately dropped, and his jaw hung open. "Nonsense? NONSENSE?!?!" he roared. "This is no nonsense, dear Celestia! This is pure chaos!" Discord picked up his sword and sliced at Celestia's cheek, which left a small cut.

Celestia backed away away to the thrones, and whispered, "Are you okay sister?" Luna nodded.

Disocrd overheard and laughed. "Always caring for your sister! How touching!"

At this, Luna stood up and puffed out her chest. "Does thou dare question my power?! How dare you?!" she exclaimed. Using her magic, she made a sword, and aimed it at Discord. "Feel my wrath, heathen!"

As Luna and Discord fought, Celestia harnessed her magic. She could feel it. When Luna stepped out of the way-

Boom!

A large crater sliced through the throne room. The magical beam had missed Luna by a nose. Smoke floated into the air, and everything was silent for a moment.

"Oh Celestia, you're a laugh!"

Discord jumped from the ceiling, and with a flash of light, he turned the Royal Pony Sisters into stone. Discord walked up to the two statues and said, "Don't worry. I'll make sure to keep your thrones warm for you. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

Crash!

A stained wall broke to pieces as Philomena, the phoenix, flew in. She threw a blaze of fire at Discord, setting his hand on fire. He summoned a bucket of water to put it out, then glared at Philomena. "You! Stop this!"

Philomena dived towards him, but Discord smacked her into a wall, breaking one of her wings. Discord stood over her and laughed. "Now Equestria will have a new leader!" he cackled.

Discord turned to the throne and sat down. "No pony can stop me now!" he exclaimed.

Philomena slowly dropped her feathers. Soon, she would be able to warn everypony about Discord's return. Soon...

Chapter 5

Twilight walked to the middle of the library. "Well, we better stop Discord," said Twilight. "So let's-"

Bam! The door swung open and in came the three crusaders and two colts.

Fluttershy immediately noticed Scootaloo's injury and rushed over. "Scootaloo! What happened?"

"She ran into a apple tree," explained Apple Bloom. "Can you help her?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Fluttershy. "Twilight, do you have some gauze?"

Twilight pointed her hoof to the bathroom. "In there."

"Thanks." Fluttershy helped Scootaloo up and they began walking to the bathroom.

"Fluttershy! Hold on!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. She joined them and the three ponies walked to the bathroom.

"So, Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?" asked Rarity. "I thought you were with your friends at your clubhouse."

"Apple Bloom, I thought I told you to keep your friends at the clubhouse!" exclaimed Applejack.

"I'm sorry, big sister, but we wanted to help you," said Apple Bloom. "And your friends."

"You didn't even know what was goin' on! How did you know there was something wrong?"

At this, Snips and Snails looked at their hooves. "We told them," admitted Snips sheepishly. "I thought they might want to know."

Applejack glared daggers at them. Then she sighed.

"Sweetie Belle, I'm flattered that you and your friends wanted to help," said Rarity. "But...well...you are a little too young, and I don't want you getting hurt."

Sweetie began to pout. "But you and your friends need help! We might even get our cutie marks helping you and your friends!"

Rarity sighed. Then she turned to Spike. "Spike, can you get me some tea? I'm...a 'little' stressed."

"Anything for you, m'lady," said Spike. He turned and rushed to the kitchen.

Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle. "You can help us, Sweetie Belle. You and your friends can keep the library safe!"

"That sounds boring. I want to go with you, big sister!"

"Please, Sweetie Belle, stay here. This place is important."

"Okay. Fine," said Sweetie Belle. She turned to her friends. "We're going to keep the library safe, okay girls?" Her friends nodded.

"That's good, Sweetie Belle," said Rarity. Then she turned to the other mares. "So...where are the Elements of Harmony?"

"I'm thinkin' they're in the castle," said Applejack.

"Of course!" said Twilight. "Celestia usually keeps the Elements for safekeeping!"

"So were goin' to the castle," said Applejack. "But the chariots must have been stopped! How in the hay are we going to get there?"

"Walking I guess." Twilight shrugged. "It's the only way."

"We have the balloon, Twilight!" pointed out Rarity.

"Of course!" exclaimed Twilight. "Nice thinking, Rarity. No one has borrowed it at the moment."

Pinkie Pie hadn't been talking for a while. In fact, she wasn't listening. Suddenly, she snapped back to the conversation when Twilight asked," What do you think, Pinkie Pie?"

"What?"

"Of the balloon."

"What balloon?"

"The hot air balloon."

"For what?"

Twilight groaned and explained everything to Pinkie. After a while Pinkie jumped up and excitedly nodded. "We'll be flying in the clouds!" she exclaimed. "And it'll be more fun, since it's nighttime!"

Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Scootaloo came from the bathroom. "Don't explain," said Rainbow Dash. "We heard."

"Thanks, Fluttershy," said Scootaloo. "For helping me." It was true. Scootaloo had the top of her head wrapped up in gauze, but she was better than before.

"Oh, Rainbow and Fluttershy," said Twilight Sparkle. "Can you pull the balloon? We need to get there as fast as we can. And we'll try to help the balloon speed up, in some way."

"What about me and Applejack?" said Pinkie. "How can we help?"

"Keep a lookout for trouble," explained Twilight. "In case somepony needs help."

"Oh, oh, oh!" exclaimed Pinkie. "I know how I can help! I can make provisions! Cookies and cakes! And candy!"

Twilight smiled. "Okay, Pinkie Pie."

"I'll go now!" Pinkie bounced out the door.

Spike came out of the kitchen, carrying a cup of tea on a small plate. "Here you go, Rarity. I used the finest tea in our house."

"Thank you, Spike," said Rarity as she levitated the tea to her and drank some.

"Okay everypony," said Twilight. "Pack up what we might need. It takes a long time to get to Canterlot by balloon."

All of them left to their homes to pack things they might need. Applejack got some apples and other foods, for provisions. Fluttershy got some blankets and pillows, to sleep on. Rainbow Dash looked around hew house, but found nothing quite important except for a tent. Rarity got some sweaters and jackets, and some thread and cloth. Twilight and Spike were getting some provisions, some books (actually Twilight got the books),a compass, and some blankets and pillows. And finally, Pinkie was just finishing up her candy and cakes.

They all walked to the library. They waited outside as Twilight got the balloon ready. Then the mares and Spike piled their stuff inside.

"It's quite chilly at this time of year," said Rarity. "Especially in the dark. So I packed sweaters and jackets for you all!" Rarity then handed them each a sweater or jacket. They put them on and got into the balloon, and waved to the Crusaders as the balloon went higher and higher.

Spike seemed ready to faint when he put Rarity's sweater on.

"Take care of the library!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Okay!" said the Crusaders.

Soon the library was just a dot on the ground, like the other houses that surrounded it. Then the balloon went through and over the clouds, where it was more chilly.

Twilight looked around and saw the castle. "Okay," she said. "Applejack, get your rope. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, come here."

Applejack grabbed her rope and Fluttershy and Rainbow walked to Twilight. Twilight tied the rope around Rainbow's and Fluttershy's middle, then pointed to the castle. "Fly in that direction," said Twilight.

With Rainbow and Fluttershy giving the balloon speed, and Twilight and Rarity helping, Applejack and Pinkie Pie decided to keep a lookout for anything suspicious.

"Okay," said Twilight. "With this speed, we'll-"

"Pink cloud!" exclaimed Pinkie, jumping up. "Pink cloud! Fillies and gentlecolts, looks like we're gonna have a storm of chocolate rain!" Pinkie Pie pulled out a bendy straw.

Twilight looked, and sure enough, there was a huge pink cloud. And it heading straight for them!

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Rarity. "It'll get my mane wet!"

Spike quickly hid under a blanket.

The cloud stopped once it was over the balloon, and let bucketfuls of chocolate rain drop onto it. Then more pink clouds came and soon, the balloon was soaking wet.

"Quick!" exclaimed Twilight. "Rainbow, Fluttershy, pull!"

Fluttershy and Rainbow (mostly Rainbow) quickly pulled the balloon from the clouds. For a while, the clouds followed them, but then fell behind.

"That was close," said Applejack. "I thought we wouldn't be able to reach the castle."

"If we keep this up, we'll reach the castle in no time," replied Twilight.

They couldn't keep this up.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike had dozed off, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash seemed to be slowing down. Twilight, though, stayed up and alert.

Twilight knew that Dash had a tent that they could sleep in. And they had just passed over a forest. Maybe they should stop.

"Lower down!" exclaimed Twilight. "Rainbow, Fluttershy, lower the balloon down to the ground!"

The balloon began to lower down, and soon, they had reached the ground. Then the mares began setting up the tent and starting a fire. After a quick dinner of daisy sandwiches, all of them went to sleep.

Chapter 6

Discord sat on his throne, laughing as he looked outside the windows. It was pure chaos out there, and Discord was loving it.

In a corner, a small fire burnt for a moment. Then there was just a pile of ashes where a bird had once stood. Then the ashes formed into a phoenix.

Philomena crouched low to the ground and went to the window that she had broken. Then, she quickly flew out and towards the library. The Elements of Harmony would need her help, so she had to hurry.

When Philomena was just about to fly over a forest, she spotted something. Near the edge of the forest was a tent. Campers? At this time? She flew down for a better look.

Then Philomena saw the Elements of Harmony. They were asleep in a navy blue tent, shivering. A pile of logs stood in the front, covered with ashes, but had no fire. A chilly breeze blew, and made things colder.

Philomena needed to help them, so she lit a roaring fire on the logs and saw that the ponies shivering had stopped. Philomena flew onto a tree branch, and tucked her head into one of her wings. When they woke up, she would too.

Twilight woke up, and saw that it was still nighttime. How long was Discord going to make them suffer?

Anyhow, she had to wake up the girls and get ready to keep moving. They couldn't stay here forever. She walked to the fireplace and watched the fire.

A fire?! But Twilight hadn't lit the fire at all. The last time she had, it was when they landed. She scanned the trees, and saw a phoenix sitting on a branch.

"Philomena!" exclaimed Twilight. Philomena flew onto Twilight's back, and pecked her affectionately.

Everypony began to wake up, and when they saw Philomena, they were so excited, they looked like they were going to explode.

"Oh, hi, Philomena," said Fluttershy calmly. Philomena landed on her back, and pointed her wing at the castle.

"I guess that means she'll help us," said Rainbow Dash. She stretched her wings. "I wanna beat that Discord to a pulp!"

"We're just gonna put him back into his stone prison," said Twilight. She gathered the things they needed, and after a quick breakfast, they untied the hot air balloon and lifted off.

With Philomena helping, they got there in no time. They reached the front yard of the castle, and saw nopony there.

"C'mon y'all, it's safe," said Applejack as she crawled from the balloon. So did everypony else.

They could see what Discord had done. Purple, striped, and rainbow bushes lined the castle walls, and candy vines crawled up the walls. The walls weren't even walls. They were just cloth.

The castle looked even more ridiculous with more silly things. Things the ponies didn't bother noticing as they hurried into the castle.

They didn't notice the two large hornet guards high above them. The hornets had the body of a hornet and the head of a hornet, but their wings were dragon wings, and their tails were rabbit tails. And their feet were large claws. The guards flew up and into the throne room's broken window. They landed in front of Discord and bowed.

"What is it?" asked Discord. "Make it quick, because I'm missing some excellent chaos."

"The ponies are here," said one hornet guard. "What should we do, boss?"

"I told you two to call me your highness. And don't worry about the ponies. They're in for a big surprise." He laughed. "Oh, and one more thing." Discord snapped his fingers, and the hornets' heads turned into elephant heads. They turned to look at each other, but instead bumped their heads together and sent them spinning around the throne room.

Discord laughed. Two good things were happening. The hornet guards were just so hilarious, and the ponies were in for a big surprise.

Chapter 1

It was nighttime. Ponyville had now gone to sleep, all the doors closed and lights out. Only nighttime creatures came out, making little sounds.

The moon let it's light shine on a garden. The Statue Garden. The grass was tainted a light blue from the moon's light. The Labyrinth loomed nearby, it's twists and turns casting long shadows. The garden was filled with statues of ponies, but one seemed to stick out.

It was Discord, the creator of chaos and disharmony.

This was the Discord that had recently been turned to stone by the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony. His face was in terror, since he had been attacked when he thought he had been invincible.

A slight chuckle came from the statue, and the statue broke a little. The chuckle became a loud evil laugh, and the statue broke and broke and broke even more until-

Boom!

A flash of light appeared, then faded. In the statue's place, stood Discord, yawning and stretching. "Ahhhh...it feels good to be back."

Discprd grinned and laughed evilly. "Ahahahahahahahahaha!" Then he silenced himself and looked in the direction of the castle and chuckled. "Just you wait, Celestia and Luna. Soon, Ponyville will be the Capitol of Chaos once again!"

Discord laughed again, and then he disappeared in a flash of light. Where Discord had been standing, thee was nothing. In the statues place was nothing at all. Bits of stone surrounded the pillar on which the statue of Discord had once been.

And then, everything suddenly went back to normal. It would be the last normal things Ponyville would have in a long time.

And Ponyville slept on and on and on, unaware of what was happening, and dreaming of Celestia's beautiful morning. No pony had seen Discord's escape. They never knew that they would soon have chaos once again in their lives.

Chapter 3

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked outside their tree house, and stared at the shadowy trees. They were going to do crusading, but Sweetie Belle said it was way too dark and kept them inside.

"Come on, Sweetie Belle," whined Scootaloo. "I wanna do some crusading! Especially in the dark!"

"I don't know guys...," said Sweetie Belle. "This reminds me of going into the Everfree Forest...and now I'm scared again."

"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "We're not afraid of anythin'!"

Sweetie Belle suddenly perked up, all her fear lost. "Yeah!"

Scootaloo jumped up. "Yeah! Let's go outside, Sweetie Belle!"

The three fillies ran outside and looked around.

"Uhhh...what can we do outside?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I don't know. Usually, Scootaloo thinks of the things we can do," said Apple Bloom.

"Hmmm..." murmered Sweetie Belle. "How about Cutie Mark Crusaders Stargazers?"

"Naw," said Scootaloo. "How about...Cutie Mark Crusaders Night Adventurers?"

Apple Bloom smiled. "That doesn't seem half bad!"

"Then let's go, Crusaders!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"Wait!" exclaimed a voice.

The crusaders turned to see two unicorn colts running to them. They were known quite well, for they brought a Ursa Minor into Ponyville just to see Trixie defeat it, when Trixie actually couldn't, that she had lied to make her look good.

"Snips!" said Apple Bloom. "Snails! What are y'all doing here?"

"I stopped by Twilight's library! All her friends were there!" said Snips. "She said...she said..."

"Said what?" said the crusaders in unison.

"That Discord has returned!" exclaimed Snails.

The crusaders stood there, their mouths wide, not believing what they had just heard. But they had to, because the evidence was clear.

"B-but Twilight and her friends can stop him, can't they?" sputtered Sweetie Belle.

"Of course!" said Snails. "They did it before!"

"But..." said Apple Bloom. "What if they need help?"

"What if Rainbow Dash needs help?" said Scootaloo shakily.

"And Rarity?" said Sweetie Belle.

"And Applejack?" stuttered Apple Bloom.

"I think you should help them," said Snips.

"We'll come with you," said Snails.

"Crusaders, let's go!" commanded Apple Bloom. Then the five school ponies ran into the apple orchards.

Bam!

"Scootaloo!" exclaimed Applejack. She stopped beside Scootaloo. Scootaloo had ran into a apple tree. She had a small bump on her head and some bleeding, but it still looked bad.

"I'm fine. I just ran into a apple tree in the dark. I couldn't see," said Scootaloo. She gave a small, weak, laugh. "Wonder what Rainbow Dash will think when she sees me."

Apple Bloom bit her lip. "You're not fine. And Rainbow Dash will be surprised. Fluttershy will take care of it." Apple Bloom helped Scootaloo up. "Come on."

The two fillies caught up to the others and raced off through the apple orchard and ran in the direction of Twilight's library.