I'm Free?

by Julian the Dreamer

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Drama, Comedy, Fluttershy, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Discord
Length: 17480

Is Discord out of his prison? Or is this simply another of his dreams?

Discord has spent so much time locked he no longer remembers how reality is; all he has are memories and dreams. And in all of them, he is free from his stone prison. If he actually escaped, could he realize that he isn't dreaming? Assuming that he's really out of his prison...

First story of my series: The Last Spirit of Chaos.

Published 2016-10-19 02:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-27 19:45:28 UTC

The Dreaming Spirits

Centuries ago, when Equestria was still young, Discord the draconequus arrived to the new land of ponykind.

With power and skill unlike anything seen in generations, he took over the entire land in mere hours, submerging the young nation in chaos for months.

The Spirit of Chaos proved to be unbeatable to anything ponykind could throw at him, until the Elements of Harmony were given to Luna and Celestia. Then he was beaten surprisingly easy; mostly because he didn't realize what the alicorns were truly wielding.

In a mix of justice and revenge, Discord was imprisoned in stone for all of eternity, condemned to be nothing more than an ornament in the Royal Gardens. As centuries passed, he was forgotten, remembered only by a select few.

But he was still there, trapped in endless darkness...

Well, actually it's not darkness. It's more like nothing; a total and complete absence of any object, being, dessert, color, shape, taste.

"Yes, yes, yes, we know, Discord; we are here with you. Unless you eperience it, no one can understand true nothingness."

And, surprisingly, he wasn't trapped alone.

"Does anyone keeps track of how long we've been here?"

"Meridian, we lost count so long ago that we don't remember when we lost count."

"Among other things. Many things, in fact."

"But I still remember who did this to us. When we leave, I will devour those alicorns!"

A collective groan resounded in the stone head, the groan given to a conversation repeated so many times it made you want to strangle the speaker.

"Nidhogg, you're a spirit; you can't eat."

"Discord can!"

"He's in a vegetarian phase, remember? Right now he doesn't eat fish, rabbits, cows, sheep, birds, ponies, whales..."

"Shut up, Eris; I swear you're making me hungrier."

"Well, that proves that you're crazy, Nidhogg. Inside this stupid rock you can only feel the cold of winter and the endless burning of our magic."

"Are you implying that you're sane, Eris?"

"What?! Chaos, no! What are you saying, Silver?"

Yes, the Spirit of Chaos wasn't alone in his head. Not out of madness, mind you.

Discord had two options: either ignore the talk of his fellow, tortured spirits-whom he sometimes hated more than the alicorns who had trapped them in stone,- or ignore the burning, all-consuming flame that his magic had turned into after so many centuries in their prison.

A curious thing about chaos magic is that it wants to be used; if you don't, it starts to itch, the feeling growing more and more bothersome until you yielded to its whims.

His stone prison, unfortunately, made such an action almost impossible.

Only in his dreams-thank the Primordial Chaos that he could still dream-he could spend that accumulated magic. Though he could merely spend a few sparks, barely calming the hungry beast that his power was now; the eternal companion he loved and hated at the same time.

But now, he needed to focus on the question. The question that would define it all...

What to ignore?

His magic, or his companions on this eternal torture?

He could always go to sleep and ignore both.

Yes, it was better to take option number three and go to sleep...

In his dreams, he always managed to escape one way or another. He could live again, and do whatever he wanted... before waking up in the nothing that was his current denial of life. It was cruel and depressing, but that was his day to day now.

He sometimes mused if those two alicorns would care about how much it sucked to be him now. Having in count that they were enemies, and they were the ones that put him in there in the first place, it seemed quite unlikely event, even for someone like Discord.

The tree that was the most likely source of the Elements was probably just as uncaring, if it had simply let his imprisonment stand. Harmony my tail. More like apathy...

Putting said musings and potential but realistically useless plans of revenge on the side for the moment, he focused on what seemed to be the beginning of his dream.

A sound going through the seal. Ponies arguing. Because Chaos forbid other species moved into Equestria.

But that wasn't important. The sound was something familiar, and quite useful for his current situation:

Conflict. Disharmony!

Finally, a new beginning! About time, imagination.

The emotions coalesced in the air, invisible to all but some emotivores and magic users like himself. He grabbed it with incorporeal arms and spun it in his mental palm like a ball. It wasn't much, but it was enough for what we had planned.

He aimed to the seal -Wow, this thing could use a renovation; it's full of fissures- and threw the ball of conflict and arguing at it.

The sphere passed right through it, leaving a metaphorical ball-shaped hole before disappearing in the distance, way beyond his current field of view.

All those conflictive emotions ended up hitting an arguing couple, making them angrier at each other and fanning the flames of their growing fury. This discussion would be the last straw on their relationship, destroying any chance of them starting a family and dooming any potential children to oblivion.

But that's not important right now.

I wonder what awaits me this time...

As the seal fell apart like broken glass, cracks growing all over the statue as purple light filtered through, reducing the column he was standing on to dust. His petrified body began to levitate as the Gardens trembled and bowed before the Spirit.

Freedom was so close, he could taste it... and he wasn't going to wait a second longer.

With a roaring thunder, the statue exploded as Discord turned into pure magic and shot himself upwards, straight as an arrow and fast as lightning. The shockwave he left behind shook Canterlot to its roots... and drenched Celestia in hot sauce.

The Spirit of Chaos, now a purple lightning of chaos magic, rose higher and higher, leaving the world behind and reaching the vastness of space.

"Woohoo! Faster!" Eris cheered as they zoomed past the spheres of light that served as the stars of the night sky. Ignoring them for now, Discord accelerated even more, passing through the limit of the magical nebula enveloping the planet, the sun and the moon. The real universe was now before him: a seemingly endless void that begged to be filled.

Who knows how long he wandered, changing direction in a whim.

Red eyes stared at the sky, following a trail only she could see disappearing beyond her world.

So you are finally back, Discord. I guess it was too much to ask for you to stay away. But is your return another of your whims, or something more serious?

Shaking her head, she turned around and walked away. You better not force me to act; I have better things to do than to deal with you.

When he grew tired of flying, the draconequus stopped. Around him, floating in the eternal void between stars, there was incredibly huge amounts of dust. Dispersed, sure, but nothing that a little chaos couldn't fix.

Discord turned material again, put on a painter's hat and went to work.

Hours were spent shaping a nebula, using every speck of space dust that crossed his path. Hundreds of colors, millions of shades, all forming innumerable figures and scenes that came from his imagination. It was a relief to get rid of his magic's itch; and he did not stop until the last bit of that nagging feeling disappeared from his body.

Satisfied, Discord contemplated his masterpiece: the most beautiful nebula in the galaxy.

A black tower stood proudly in a land forever covered in snow, fire and ice dancing around in an endless cycle even as beams of every color fell upon it.

Rivers of light fell over the void, mixing and splitting without pattern and spreading in every direction.

A storm raged over a mountain, wind and lightning trying to overcome the unbending rock.

The rainbow star, mightiest of them all, consumed the world with its tendrils of light.

Ice cream monsters fought against spaguetti serpents as hamburguer knights jumped into the fray.

A purple cat watched a desert stretching across the horizon, while the sand moved with the wind in hypnotic swirls.

... Doesn't that cat look familiar?

"Well, now that you mention it ..."

"I have it on the tip of my tongue."

"...Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"You always had a bad memory, Zero."

"I know I saw it before ... But where? Eris, Nidhogg, Do you recognize it?"

"Not at all."

"Was it someone I ate?"

The other spirits groaned at that last comment. With Nidhogg it was always about food.

After a few minutes, Discord gave up. Well, I'll remember it later. Now what do I do before I wake up?

The other spirits were silent for a few seconds before exploding with laughter.

"You don't know?"

Know what? The others simply laughed harder.

"Do we tell him, Zero?"

"Nah; let him find out by himself, Eris."

You know I hate it when you act like that. Discord complained, but let it pass; when his head's tennants were acting mysterious, there was no way to make them state what 'obvious' thing he had missed.

Ok, ok, the comedy show's ove. Let's use the time we have. Does anyone have an idea?

"Revenge!"

"...Not a bad idea, Nidhogg." The other spirits of chaos agreed.

Then it's decided. It's time to visit those two. The eight spirits erupted in laughter. Evil laughter.

Luckily there was no one to heard them, or an unimaginable terror would have manifested in them as the mother of all chills.

Because Discord's laugh was typical, and even admirable from a certain point of view. But the other seven? Seemed like they were out the worst of nightmares; deep, terrifying, ominous, evil... and any other adjective fitting for such descriptions.

Author's Note

Ok, I translated it (the original one is in spanish), improved the errors (curse you, Google Translate!) and expanded it.

This is the start of a series i've been planning for a while: The Last Spirit of Chaos. With my own take on Discord and other things, filling blanks and probably going AU-ish by the time of the season 4 finale.

I hope you like it, and don't forget to comment.

I won! Well, of course I did

After leaving his cosmic-size masterpiece, Discord took a meteor floating around and cut it in two; he emptied a half and sat inside.

Calculating the distance and direction, he allowed himself to relax while he enchanted the piece of rock to take him home.

You just had to point and accelerate; the universe with its rules and constants would do the rest. Creating such a complex and changing nebula that stretched for thousands and thousands of light years was exhausting even for him.

Oh, don’t forget the seatbelt.

"You should take more risks, you know? They make life more fun."

Traveling through the universe as a mass of chaos magic is not enough risk to you, Morpheus? He said while morphing a small rock into an indestructible seatbelt.

"No."

Meh, whatever. I'm in charge, so we do what I want. Ignoring the complaints of his 'tenants'. Discord leaned back in his makeshift transport and let his mind wander.

Lots of ideas came, fought and went out of his mind, his eyes reveling in the chaos of the universe around him. Order and harmony danced and played to bring balance to the constant chaos, but there was always a change that could lead to new and wonderful things... or not.

Seeing a star explode and destroy every planet and moon around it reminded him of that: chaos was many things, and not all of them were fun. The explosion was spectacular, of course; but the amount of beings that inhabited this star system no longer existed.

If it was inhabited...

"Well, it probably was. Life is like a plague: Where it can be, it is."

"That explains why you're a vermin, Kevin. " Intervened Eris, giggling as the alluded laughed sarcastically.

"Hahaha. Laugh all you want, Eris, but compared to you, I am a gift to the world."

"Don't make me laugh; you're not even an appetizer," muttered another spirit.

" Stay out of this, queenie!"

Discord sighed. This is gonna be a long journey...

The Spirit of Chaos was about to hit his head against a planet until he split it in half to silence the others. He had had enough of their talks and discussions for the rest of eternity!

"And unless you quit, we will stay with you for the rest of eternity, dear."Eris said, seeing the direction his thoughts were taking.

Forget the planet; he would dip his head in a hellishly hot star and leave it there until not even the atoms were left.

"Discord ..."

Perhaps repeat it in an even hotter star.

"Hey, Discord..."

Or he could find one of those holes in the space-time continuum that swallowed everything...

"DISCORD!"

WHAT DO YOU WANT, SILVER?!

"We’re back."

Looking around, Discord saw that he was right. The draconequus was so deep in thought he hadn’t noticed reentering the nebula of magic around his world.

Little stars of light and magic floated around, following the moon in its turn over the lands it bathed on the night.

Unbuckling his belt, Discord jumped from his transport and let the meteor get lost in space.

Well, I'm back. Now, to search for those two.

Oh, that had been so easy!

With Twilight’s faith in the magic of friendship destroyed, the Elements couldn’t stop him anymore. This dream was proving to be very entertaining.

Not to mention that the level of detail it had was larger than that of the best videogames.

"Uh ... You should hide the Elements again, right? They could find new Bearers."

Discord considered Zero’s words. Yes, you might be right... besides, I have to get even with those stupid things for trapping me. But first I want to have fun. Moreover, it's time to show off!

With a snap, he appeared in the throne room of Canterlot; Celestia should be there.

And she was... along with Luna.

"Oh, but if it isn’t my two least favorite alicorns in the entire world! Long time no see, Luna," the draconequus greeted with false cheer.

"Discord!" exclaimed the princess of the night, charging magic in her horn and attacking before her sister could stop her.

Discord didn’t even bother to use his magic; he just leaned back and the attack passed over him, hitting a wall. He scoffed. "Luna, you cannot beat the second place in the Universal Limbo Championship with moves like that."

"Still can’t believe that human beat you..."

Shut up, Silver.

While Luna was snorting angrily, several guards surrounded him with spears and horns ready to attack.

"Go with your toys elsewhere, children; the adults are talking." Discord said, snapping the fingers of both hands.

Pegasi and earth ponies now noticed that their weapons were rubber, while the horns of unicorns were out of phase with reality; they were still there, but for the ponies it was like they had dissappeared. Any attempt to channel magic caused it to disperse in whatever frecuency of reality they currently occupied.

Discord made sure it was one without life; dealing with beings of other frecuencies that were angry at the sudden body parts/objects he sent to their homes was a hassle.

"Bah, relax; it only lasts ten minutes. Or three hours? I really don't remember how long the spell lasts on its own..." the draconequus mused amidst the cries of surprise and terror, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"Enough, Discord! Leave my people alone! This is between you and me," Celestia said, hiding her nervousness behind all her courage and strength. That he was here did not bode well at all.

"Between him and us, sister." Luna corrected her, standing next to Celestia and casting a defiant look at Discord. The Spirit of Chaos teleported to the beginning of the stairs leading to the throne, walking up towards them.

"True; after all, you two were the ones that caught me in stone."Discord said, before dropping the mask of false joy and continued with a seriousness unknown to the alicorns. And it wasn't pleasant at all.

Discord's gaze was cold and cruel, his voice serious and without a hint of mischief or joke. The princesses could almost feel the anger and hatred hidden beneath.

A fear they had not felt in a long time pressed their hearts; despite the many battles and conflicts theyhad previously faced, something in Discord weakened the strength that allowed them to face any threat.

After all, he had utterly defeated them in the past, in their last attempt to fight him before being forced to search of the Elements. They had been so close to dying back then...

But so had he.

"Not bad, dear; you really know how to instill fear."

"Well, what do you plan to do? Fight? Trap them as they trapped you?"

"Devour them?"

"Why do you always insist with that, Nidhogg?!"

"Because I want to eat something delicious! Also, I want to get rid of them in a painful and humiliating way."

"For once, I agree with Nidhogg."

"Silver, don’t encourage him.

I won’t devour them. Discord thought, annoyed.

"Awwww, but I want meat! " Nidhogg said, sounding like a child who was not allowed to eat cookies.

Returning to that carefree, joking attitude, Discord looked away from princesses, pretending to gaze into the horizon while watching them out of the corner of his eye.

"What I don’t know is how long my handsome figure was trapped in that singing pose."

"Almost 1300 years." Celestia replied cautiously after a few moments, watching for any reaction from Discord.

The draconequuus just looked at the princess of the day, surprise clearly visible in his expression. What? It felt like an eternity ... oh, right. Asleep. No idea how long it's really been…

Ignoring the snickers of the other spirits, Discord cleared his throat before continuing.

"You really aged well; I don’t notice a single gray hair on your heads. Of course, with so much magic in there, it would be impossible to notice if you wanted to. Does the stress made them gray already? What about wrinkles? Or arthritis?" He joked as he showed a smile full of sharp teeth, circling in the air around them too close for their comfort.

Celestia and Luna seemed to age rapidly, to the dismay of the guards and servants present. But with a simple glow of his horns, the princesses broke Discord’s illusion.

"For your information, Spirit of Chaos, we are still in the fullness of youth," Luna replied, clearly offended.

"Well, well; it seems that even alicorns don’t like being told they are old. All females seem to share that. Of course, not all of them are as ancient as you."

As the guards listened slack-jawed as the draconequus mocked the princesses, Celstia tried to calm Luna.

"Huh, how strange. Wasn’t Celestia the first to attack and Luna who used violence as a last resort?" he murmured to himself, pretty sure the roles were inversed centuries ago.

" Things change over time, Discord..." Celestia replied.

"We know that better than anyone..." muttered Eris.

"... But it seems that you're still the same threat you were a thousand years ago."

"Well, you can’t change much when you're a rock. The truth is, you don’t change at all." the draconequus’ voice only showed annoyance, but the princesses knew that much stronger emotions were below.

Imperceptibly, both were preparing to fight; although they could not defeat Discord in direct combat, they would not let the draconequus hurt any of their subjects.

But he simply shrugged.

"Meh, but who cares? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my fun capital of chaos. I think you call it... Ponyville."

The draconequus conjured a hand mirror, through which the princesses saw the chaos that was the villagethe vilage had turned into.

"You won’t get away with this, Discord!" Luna promised. One way or another, she would find the way to stop him.

"But I already did! Only the Elements of Harmony can stop me; and I already took care of them. So no more 'Discord the lawn ornament' for youuuuuuu"the draconequus sang while hopping around. "By the way, if you're going to force me to be a permanent guest, at least you could be good hosts and clean my statue in winter. Do you have any idea the cold that I must endure?"

The words of Discord and the uncertainty of what had happened to Twilight and her friends generated some passing fear in Celestia, which was replaced by cold anger and resolution.

"What did you do to the Bearers?"

It was clear that Celestia was ready to face him at that moment, but Discord didn’t want to fight. The dream was too funny to ruin it.

The Spirit of Chaos transformed the mirror into smoke, which then turned into a small cloud of cotton candy which he quickly devoured. Oh, how he missed that sweet taste.

"I just destroyed their friendship." Discord wished he had taken a picture of her face; Celestia tended to hide her emotions well beside that mask that most politicians and leaders that weren't uncaring tyrants, mad kings or funny people like Puddinghead or himself wore. Seeing her expressions flicker from one position to another as her brain went through every possible thing he could have done and trying to discern if he was being honest or not was something he wished to capture for posterity. But alas, the moment passed.

"What?! That's impossible."

"You're wrong, Celestia; in fact it was very easy. I just had to show them the opposite of the Element that each of them possesses. Honestly, it was entertaining."

Suddenly, the throne became three, puffy theater seats and the alicorns found themselves sitting in them, with Discord in the middle. They were unable to get up.

A giant screen appeared in front of them, showing his game in the maze.

"I showed Applejack how the truth would drive her friends apart... without telling her that it would be due to me bringing their less desired traits to the forefront and they driving each other crazy."

"Twisting things to your favor?" muttered Luna with comtempt.

"Guilty as charged; but hey, I was right about one thing: sometimes a lie is easier to take. With Pinkie, I'm sad to say that I took the fun out of her with the true fact that sometimes people laugh at you, not with you. A shame, really; it's hard to find people that can see the beauty and fun of my chaos."

"Not everyone shares your definition of beauty and fun, Discord," said Celestia, pained of seeing her faithful Bearers twisted into the worst parts of their selves.

"And not everyone shares your methods of teaching; you two sure opposed all my attemps to educate ponies back in the day; but never mind that. Now, to Fluttershy." he took a pause to sip on a drink before continuing.

"That cowardly yet sickeningly kind pony was so conscious and accepting of her faults... and her lack of self-esteem may have helped... that my trickes weren't working, so I had to bring all her repressed rage and ressentment out directly. Too blunt for my taste, but I couldn't afford to lose to them."

"You will return to your prison, draconequus." Luna assured him, wishing with all her might to strike the draconequus messing with her subjects and tormenting her saviors. It'd be useless, but it would at least feel good...

"I'm dreaming I'm out dear, so it's a given. But let's go to the next while we have time," he said. Before they could try to understand what he was saying, Rarity appeared in the screen.

"The elegant Bearer of Generosity is as greedy as a dragon. I just made her believe that rock was a diamond, and she's become completely obsessed with it. She calls it Tom (it looks more like a Jerry to me), and even fell in love with it!" he cackled, trying his best to breathe as he was dying of laughter. As it subsided, she noticed that both alicorns were glaring at him, and frowned "Oh, come on! That's hilarious! Seriously, where's your sense of humor?"

With a snort, he continued. "I made Rainbow believe her hometown was in danger, and that only she could save it. I let the conflicting loyalties do the rest, and she left her friends behind. And Twilight, seeing how her friends were now, lost her faith in friendship. Your subjects are too emotional sometimes," Discord then noticed the corcern in Celestia's eyes as she looked at her downtrodden student. "Relax, Cellie, she'll get over it eventually and maybe she'll learn to enjoy her new home."

In a flash, the screen was gone, and Discord was floating in front of them. "So, as I said, entertaining."

"That was a nice short film, dear."

"You think that destroying such bonds is entertaining?" Luna snorted angrily as she charged her horn. Discord simply blew air on it like it was a candle and, to the princess' surprise, the magic vanished.

"Hey, I had to make sure they couldn’t use the Elements. It was either that, or killing them." He got between them and threw an arm around them bringing them close with surprising strength. "And we know I don't like that last one. Life's where the fun and emotion is. I mean, I' would love to tear you apart..."

He let them go and floated lazily in a circular fashion, relishing the tinge of fear in their eyes while sending the guards trying to sneak up on him to the other end of the room in a flash. They were confused; he didn't even looked at them.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Chanted the spirits eagerly.

"... but if I do, I would become the kind of Spirit I don't want to be."

"Awwwww..."

"And speaking of fun, I better go back to my capital; who knows what I'm missing. It wasn’t a pleasure to see you both again." Taking off a purple hat he wasn’t wearing a second ago and doing a mocking bow, Discord disappeared in a blinding burst of light.

Luna looked at her sister, worried.

"What do we do now, sister? If Discord truly ended the friendship of the Bearers, and with the Elements no loger responding to us, I don't know how we could use them to solve this."

Celestia sighed; she had hoped that, with Luna healed and the friendship between them restored, the Elements would accept them again. But they didn’t; for some reason, they no longer considered them worthy.

"The Elements respond to the bond of friendship between Twilight and her friends. If we restore it..." An idea suddenly appeared in Celestia’s mind. "Luna, come with me. I think I know what to do. Their bond is stronger than Discord thinks; we just have to make them remember that."

Author's Note

Well, here's the second chapter.

Don't forget to leave your comments and any questions you have; I'll do my best to not spoil too much when answering them.

Celestia's risky plan

On a hill lay an alicorn. Her white coan was dirty and unkempt, and her multicolored mane flapped strongly to the harsh wind.

An inexplicable fear consumed her; she didn’t want to open her eyes. She didn't want to see what was in front of her.

But why? She was brave. She wasn’t a frightened filly who feared the monsters hiding under the bed, lacking the courage to look and face them. Those days were over.

But now, it was like she was once again small, insignificant, fearful.

Why couldn’t she…?

A gentle push on her cheek brought her out of her ruminating.

Celestia opened her eyes to see Philomena standing on her bed. The phoenix kept gently pecking her cheek; she wanted her to get up so they could play. She gets bored easily, after all.

Stretching, Celestia smiled to her pet as she stood up, letting the strange dream fall into the depths of her mind. Although it was unusual, it was not the strangest thing she had dreamed, after all. For now, she had a friend to play with. She owed her that, with how busy she usually was...

After spending a fun time with Philomena and going through her morning duties, Celestia decided to go out for some fresh air. After donning a long and colorful scarf, she went to the gardens.

The Canterlot gardens were beautiful: full of wonderful and well maintained plants and flowers; full of animal life (which, unfortunately, were not very sociable when it came to ponies); magnifically carved statues ...

Him.

Princess Celestia walked through the beautiful garden ... that was completely covered by snow. One problem with the weather factory of Cloudsdale had caused a sudden and rapid snow in the area. Several feet of snow falling all at once, to be exact...

Several ponies were working to clear the grounds of the excessive amount of winter’s beautiful white powder. Celestia helped a little, but it wasn’t necessary; they could handle it.

Seeing that she wasn't needed, the princess went to a secluded part of the gardens, where access was not allowed. Apart from some bushes, there was only a statue placed in the middle. A prisoner.

Since he'd been caught again, Celestia had increased all the security measures around him; to rely solely on the Elements’ seal was not a good idea, however powerful it was.

Guards watched the only access, and several spells permeated the area. He was as contained as he could possibly be out here.

At least once a week, the Princess visited the statue to think, and make sure everything was in order. She'd been doing this for several months, and there hadn't been a change in his prison. This time, however, there was something that was obviously different.

Discord was almost buried in snow.

Celestia watched the terrified face of the Spirit of Chaos, now more white than gray. Despite the insistence of his sister to put him in a dungeon, that didn’t seem right to alicorn. She imagined that being a statue was enough for the draconequus; leaving him outside seemed more appropriate.

Celestia turned and walked forward her castle; her free time was running out.

By the way, if you're going to force me to be a permanent guest, at least you could be good hosts and clean my statue in winter. Do you have any idea the cold that I must endure?

The words jumped suddenly to her mind, stopping the white hooves on the soft snow.

With Discord, it was difficult to know when he was being honest and when he was lying. But what harm could come from doing that? Celestia was a kindhearted alicorn and although she was fair, she was not unnecessarily cruel.

She had thought that the elements had done the same as a basilisk do: turn a being to stone, and kept them unconscious for as long as they remained like that. Ignorant of the world around them. But if it wasn’t like that ...

When Celestia left the grounds, her compassion and reason had begun to form a plan in her head. It was definitely something wild and dangerous; but if it worked, it would greatly benefit Equestria. After all, it would help her with that other issue she's been trying to solve for the past months.

The statue of Discord was free of snow...

The sudden absence of cold surprised the bored draconequus. What? Is winter over already?

"Maybe the princesses took pity and cleaned your statue, dear." suggested Eris.

Discord snorted. Oh, please; that didn’t bother them for who knows how many winters; why would it now? Besides, why would they care about me...?

"Sister, no offense but ... Have you gone CRAZY?!"

It was night; the moon and the stars bathed the night sky with their beautiful light, giving a sight worth to be seen.

The person responsible for that, however, was arguing with her sister about a matter of great importance.

The two princesses were in a small room, reclining on cushions. A table located between them had a couple of teacups, a teapot and a plate of cookies.

Although the alicorns were too busy talking to eat.

"I'm not, Luna! I’ve been thinking this over for several hours, and I believe it’s a good plan!" Celestia replied, as she pressed a hoof to her ear; as usual, Luna forgot to use a volume of voice that didn’t shook whatever room she was in. Luckily her eardrums were resistant, or she'd been driven deaf centuries ago.

"What you propose is absurd sister; he is evil. He’s a lost cause," argued the princess of the night.

"Is he? The magic of friendship is powerful, Luna. I think that's what Discord needs to stop being a threat."

"Do you really think he will accept it?" The blue-coated alicorn asked skeptically. She saw no way for Discord to make friends. A being so selfish and inconsiderate? I don’t think it’s possible.

"I hope so."

A soft silence fell over them. Luna took a few sips of her tea before voicing her doubts.

"I don’t know, sister; I believe in you, but ... The Spirit of Chaos? I think you wouldd have better luck reforming a changeling. Also, think about the dangers..."

"I know the risks, and have taken them into account. I will not release him now, without measures to contain him if necessary." Celestia said, trying to soothe her sister’s doubts. She had thought long and hard about this, and had already launched a number of security measures. Althought the protection spells for the Elements were going to take a few more days...

"I suppose I cannot convince you to do otherwise, right?"

"I think it's worth trying. Discord could be a valuable ally for Equestria. Moreover, if indeed he is conscious despite being a statue, he must be suffering greatly." At her sister’s response Luna sighed resignedly. She still had qualms about this plan.

"That is the punishment the Elements gave him for his crimes. But I accept; if this is what you believe is right, I will support you. And if things get out of control, I'll be there to help."

Celestia approached her sister and hugged her, stroking Luna’s mane. One advantage of being taller.

"Thank you, Luna."

"... You know he won’t be happy to see us. When we saw him in the throne room, he was so angry ... I'm surprised he didn’t do more than mock us," Luna said after finishing the embrace.

"That's why we won’t be the ones who will teach him the magic of friendship."

Author's Note

So, a few months have passed in the story's time, and we see Celestia coming up with a plan that will eventually change Equestria in ways no one could predict. I feel like Luna should argue more with her about it, but I honestly can't come up with more dialogue that doesn't feel redundant.

By the way, in this fanfic's timeline, Tanks for the Memories happened in the first winter that Rainbow passed with Tank, instead of the third or fourth like in the show (seemed more reasonable to me, don't you think?; so Discord had a more unpleasant winter than usual, for a while.

Oh, if he ever finds out, he will make Rainbow rue the dark and selfish path her bond with Tank made her take *insert evil laugh here*

Now they make sequels out of everything

"Is she serious?"

"Nah, it must be a joke..."

"Maybe they want to torture us; giving us false hopes and then crushing them to cause us more suffering. That's both cruel and impressive"

"Are we dreaming? Zero Morpheus, are we dreaming?"

"Well…"

Of course it's a dream. Discord interrupted. Do you really believe she would release us?

"Well, Celestia wants to use us. It wouldn’t be the millionth time something like that happens..."

Guys, shush.

Celestia’s crazy and ridiculous plan confused the Spirits of Chaos; as if they would do something for her after what she had put them through. The alicorn would sooner find herself incapable of feeling the taste of any dessert or sweet before they even jokingly considered the idea.

The numbness of his body slowly yielded as the magic of harmony undid its own prison bit by bit. Gradually, flesh, scales, feathers and fur replaced the cold and lifeless stone.

Discord was used to strange things happening in his dreams; with his imagination and how unpredictable chaos magic was, almost anything was possible. From realistic dreams -like the hyper realistic one that he'd had who knows how many days ago- to fantasies that broke all known logic and nonsense. For most, there were no words in any language to describe them.

... But this was something new.

As his body came back to life, a myriad of sensations hit Discord at once like a sucker punch; going from barely feeling something to perceive everything in an instant was too much for his senses. A terrible dizziness grabbed hold of the draconequus. He fell to his knees, somehow supporting himself with his claw and paw on the ground to avoid falling completely.

Infinity of sounds, a sea of scents, warm breezes and countless leaves in his fur and scales, some spit on his tongue... it was too much. He closed his eyes when they ceased to be just two stone orbs; he had more than enough with all other sensations.

This is... this never happened before.

"What's going on?!"

"Sensory overload!" Silver cried, his mind working at full power to think and find a solution in the middle of all that dizziness. "The sudden return of all your sensory capabilities is too much for your senses."

"Oh, I see, dear. So could you please TELL US WHAT TO DO?! " Shouted Eris, dropping her calm tone.

"Block all your senses!" Following Silver’s order, Discord grabbed his magic and spread it throughout his body, his world returning to total nothingness.

"... I think he did it too well; I can’t feel anything."

You try to use magic when you're that dizzy, Kevin.

"All right Discord, now listen to me: we must reactivate your senses slowly so as to not overwhelm them.

Following Silver’s words, the draconequus slowly brought his senses to life one by one.

First, taste. Slowly, he could feel the saliva on his tongue and the sulfur on his breath.

"¡Blegh! I never liked that taste of rotten eggs. Eat a mint or something."

Shut up, Meridian. Ignoring the whiny spirit, Discord continued with touch. Gradually, he could feel the grass caressing his body, and the soft breeze that moved every hair of his coat and feathers.

Then he followed with smell. Fresh grass, sulfur from his breath, ponies, a dragon, sugar and baking powder...

Wait a minute.

"Are we in the middle of a picnic or what?"

"Oh! I hope there's meat; I'm dying to eat something delicious."

Discord opened his eyes and let his eyesight return. He had to blink a few times to adjust the brightness, contrast and colors. Easier than using a remote.

He was surrounded by six ponies and a dragon, which looked at him with fear and caution. And anger. Oh, and they had the Elements.

... Don’t they seem familiar to you?

"They’re the new Bearers of the Elements!"

"They must have freed us."

"Right, Celestia and Luna can no longer use them."

"Typical of a ruler; when they can’t do something, they throws the problem to another."

"You know that very well; don’t you, queenie?"

"I’ll let you know that I did most of the field work! I lived for the action!"

"Field? I'm pretty sure you preferred the bed." Kevin joked.

"Why you little…"

Hey, since when dreams have sequels? That silenced the other spirits. For an instant.

At the next one they burst out laughing.

"Discord, dear-"

"No, Eris; let him figure it out himself." Chryssie interrupted, giggling.

Figure what out?

"Oh, nothing important. Only something obvious that you haven’t noticed yet." Kevin said.

Not in the mood to play guessing games with the tenants in his head, he decided to ignore the other spirits (as usual). Discord stood up and stretched his numb body. So sensitive were his ears that reactivating only a small part of his hearing was more than enough to listen to the upcoming conversation.

"You look familiar. Aren’t you the ponies that I beat before?" He wonderes as his claw stretched his neck up about thirty meters; like a spring, it returned to its original length with a 'BOING!'

"Hey! We are the ones that beat you! " Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Well, I won first by breaking your friendship; you fixed it -though I don’t know how- and then you... *ahem*... defeated me," Discord said quietly, not wanting to admit that he had been beaten. "Did you get me out to break the tie?"

Twilight Sparkle took a step forward and cleared her throat before speaking in a formal tone of authority. "No, Discord; you see, Princess Celestia has decided to reform you..."

"Wait, wait, wait. Was she serious?! Does she really believe that the power of friendship can change me?" Discord could not believe his ears; with a claw he cleaned one to make sure that he hadn’t misheard. A leftover piece of stone came out and he threw it away in disgust.

"But how...?" Twilight began to ask, surprised, before the draconequus interrupted her again.

"I could hear inside that damn statue. One of the few things I could do..." he muttered that last part under his breath before resuming his usual volume. "My point is: that's ridiculous! And when I, master of the ridiculous and nonsense says it, you better pay attention. I think I'd rather do something else, like... I don’t know, make it rain milk chocolate again? My sweet tooth is acting up."

Pinkie Pie launched herself towards the draconequus and held his shoulders, with the expression of a child who has been promised a delicious dessert after eating their vegetables "Oh! Oh! Oh! Do it, do it!"In less than a second, the pink pony became very serious.

"But do NOT forget the whipped cream."

2Whipped cream? But of course! Why didn't I think of that?2 Discord said, striking his forehead for not thinking of something so obvious. Patting Pinkie‘s cheek in gratitude, he laid her on the ground before searching the sky with his gaze -"First I need a cloud..."

In his arms he conjured a familiar lasso to a certain farmer.

-"Hey, that's my lasso!" Applejack said, quickly removing the object from his paws.

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission. Not that I was gonna say sorry," Discord replied, shrugging with a disinterested air.

"Could you try not to be so rude?" Rarity said with a huff. Discord turned to look at her, suddenly wearing an elegant suit, hat and monocle included. He addressed her with a sophisticated and educated tone.

"Oh, sorry madame, did I offend you? I fear that when your pieces of jewelry decided to turn me into a garden ornament -while in the middle of a song, by the way; and I'm the rude one?- they did not include my social skills. Furthermore, almost all of you have a terrible sense of humor."

That said, with his characteristic show of light he disappeared, only to reappear as a tiny version of himself on Twilight’s head, without the suit and dancing wildly.

The dragon and pink pony endured as long as they could before exploding in laughter.

"Spike! Pinkie!" The lavender pony scolded, trying to remove the draconequus from her head. She didn't have much success.

"Sorry Twilight, but he's ... hahaha... HE'S DANCING ON YOUR HEAD! AGAIN!" Pinkie managed to say before falling in another fit of laughter at the sight of Discord breakdancing in the unicorn’s mane.

After another minute of pure laugh from those two, Discord appeared before them at full size.

"Can you act serious for a moment?" Twilight practically demanded, irritated and doing her best not to scream at the annoying Spirit.

His childish attitude left him entirely; Discord straightened to his full height and crossed his arms.

"Very well; I'm serious now. What do you want?" There was no trace of joke or lightness in his voice.

The six ponies and baby dragon were shocked by the sudden change in the draconequus; and, frankly, quite intimidated. More than one was scared: out of his trickster attitude, Discord was ... imposing. Threatening, even.

He may have been letting a bit of his power manifest.

"Ahhhhh .... I think I was less afraid of him before." Spike said, hiding behind Applejack to avoid Discord's gaze; without that spark of madness and fun in them, it was difficult to see him in the eye without losing all courage.

Not every mortal could face a Spirit; they could be scary when they wanted to be. And for Discord, seeing them looking at him in fear was amusing. Maybe he wouldn't break in laughter this time and could keep the charade a bit longer...

After a few seconds of doubt and fear, Twilight took a deep breath to summon said fugitive courage; putting aside how much of a bad idea was to ask that, she went straight to the point.

"Are you going to accept?"

"Or do we have to turn you to stone again? And don’t doubt that we will," guaranteed Rainbow Dash, flying until he was face to face with Discord. Her pride and recklessness guided her.

"She’s either brave or stupid."

"I would call her reckless, dear Zero."

"And stupid." Kevin added.

Recovering his playful attitude, Discord smiled cruelly as his eyes reflected his typical desire to play and entertain himself.

"Oh, you can try; but you will not defeat me so easily this time. Especially if you're a chicken," threatened the draconequus with both a playful and slightly menacing tone. While Rainbow growled defiantly Discord raised his paw, ready to turn her into said farm animal.

"Discord!" A cry (which was barely one, due to the lack of volume) drew everyone’s attention. Fluttershy hovered in front of them, looking as severe as she could.

"Yes?" Said draconequus asked, lowering his arm and losing the threatening tone.

"Ummm ... d-don’t ... don’t you do anything to anypony!"

"What about me?" Asked the dragon, feeling forgotten.

"Oh! I’m sorry, Spike... or to Spike! Or... Or I'll use... The Stare!"

"...The what?" Discord had no idea what the pegasus was talking about.

"Go get him, Flutters!" Pinkie cheered from the sidelines.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, summoning all her courage and all the power of her will. Don’t worry, Fluttershy, you can do it...

The Stare was unleashed upon Discord. The draconequus fell back, afraid... no, full of terror. He fell to his knees, trying to cover his eyes with his paws while his body shivered and shrunk.

"No... no... NO! Not that! Stop! The horror ... THE HORROR!" Discord continued, turning white as a sheet until he broke down and burst out laughing, becoming large and colorful again again.

No one was more surprised than Fluttershy. It didn’t work?

"Forgive me, but I couldn’t resist." After a few seconds, Discord was calm enough to continue. "Did you really think that looking at me with a hard glare would make me stop? Although seeing you being so firm it was interesting; I didn't expect the Bearer of Kindness to be so... strong and confident. I keep underestimating you, and you keep surprising me."

Discord gave her a smile that reflected his interest and his approval, floating closer to her while Fluttershy flew back, stammering with embarrassment. Was that a compliment? That comment was undoubtedly sincere. But he was too close for her comfort.

"Hey!" Rainbow exclaimed, positioning herself between them to shield her friend.

"It was only a compliment, nothing else. Can’t your dear friend receive praise? Or maybe you don’t like not being the one being praised. Wanting all the attention is something I understand, after all." Two reflectors appeared, illuminating Discord and Rainbow Dash, while several disembodied voices cheered.

"Five minutes for the sky blue Pegasus to explode with rage? " Meridian commented, entertained with the conversation.

"I give her three."

"Discord..." Twilight interrupted him, noting how close Rainbow was to attack. The Spirit of Chaos got rid of the reflectors and the voices before sighing, annoyed.

-"Come on, can’t you take a joke? I'm even using my material suitable for mortal children!" He raised his claw that held a black box by the handle. On it was a paper that clearly read "material suitable for mortal children".

-"We are not children!" Spike exclaimed.

"Says the baby dragon. You could start collecting your own treasure to grow at least a head taller, you know? If not, it will take you a couple of decades to reach the egghead," he pointed at Twilight, who simply glared at him. "Don’t you want to be a great and powerful dragon that makes the earth tremble with his roar?

"He will have more than enough time to grow on his own. Whatever the case, Spike is perfect just as he is now." Rarity said firmly, hugging Spike with a hoof and bringing him closer to her. Discord could see the dragon's happiness and the hearts in his eyes with ease. He decided then to investigate later so he could plan a good joke.

"Well, he won't grow anytime soon or completely without a treasure. But whatever," he said, uninterested; the truth was he couldn’t care less if the dragon grew or not. If he wanted to stay little, it was his choice.

"Are you going to accept or not?" Twilight asked, tired of all the comments and arguments derailing the conversation.

"Well, let me check my agenda. - With those words, Discord brought a little notebook from out of nowhere notebook and began reading the pages- . Let’s see... revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge ... Wow, I’ll have to talk with my assistant; so much revenge doesn’t do good to anyone.

"I don’t know, Discord; I could use a few days of vengeance. Or years," Chryssie said. The draconequus closed the notebook and turned it into a muffin; he then tossed it aside.

Pinkie caught it in her mouth and swallowed it in an instant. Mmmmm, banana...

"I should have planned my schedule better. Well, why not? It's better than being a stone."

The ponies and dragon were not the only ones confused by his decision.

"Yeah, we won't-Wait, what?

"Why are you accepting, dear?"

Because I want to have fun. I want to see how long it takes to make that small pegasus lose her patience.

"What?" Said the draconequus, seeing how the ponies and dragon were looking at him. "Like I said, it’s better than being stone. It could also be entertaining."

Discord did a backwards hop and ended up floating on his back, snapping his fingers as he found a comfortable position.

"What was that?" Twilight asked, as everyone looked at him with suspicion in their eyes.

"Just stretching my muscles. Being a statue, as perfect as you are to be admired by others, is not good for your health; it leaves you unbelievably numb. I'm just practicing for when I do use my magic."

It was a half-truth; with the snap, he had also released some of his magic and hypnotized the beavers near them so they would make a dam and flood Applejack’s farm.

Multitasking was an useful skill to have.

Author's Note

So, here we have the next chapter.

Not much to say in this one. The parts of the episodes I don't rewrite happened as they did in canon. I just expand or change them when it's necessary for my version of some of the characters.

I can't believe it... I lost

In a small cottage near the Everfree Forest, a pegasus was doing her best to try and fulfill the mission given to her by princess Celestia: to reformthe Spirit of Chaos. To become friends with him so he wouldn't immerse the kingdom in pure chaos again.

It was easier said than done.

Mainly because he was purposefully trying to drive her crazy.

"I must admit, Fluttershy; I didn't expect you so patient!" Discord commented, as he turned on a mini carousel that used to be a table. "Most people would have run away or tried to kick me out by now."

"Well ... we all need space to do things that makes us feel comfortable..." Fluttershy said, hovering a few centimeters above the ground.

Emitting a glow with extra rays and stars shooting out of him, the carousel was a table again and Discord appeared beside Flutershy, floating in the air and reduced to the size of Angel Bunny.

"Ponies don't like when I 'get comfortable'. As the beings of order that you are, most of you don't approve of the changes I do." he said absently while flying around. Fluttershy looked at him in curiosity.

"Beings of order?"

"That's a story for another day," having said that, Discord teleported to the couch, again in his normal size, "but look at you; here I am taking advantage of your kindness and hospitality, and you still haven't called your dear friends to try and return me to be a garden ornament."

"You what?"

" What did you think I was doing? If we are to be 'friends' -ugh, that word has a horrible taste-, I have to see if you can withstand my whims and ideas. So I'm overwheming you to see when you'll reach your limit and blow your lid, so to speak."

Fluttershy bit her lip and looked to the side; he had confirmed her suspicions.

"Ummm... Discord? That's no a good thing to do."

"For you; I see no problem in it. If you really plan to do this, you'll have to accept that we are very different. You think you can do that?"

"Yes."

After her simple but honest answer, Discord raised an eyebrow in surprise and confusion. That was fast.

"Really?"

"Yes; all my friends are different. Whether it's the animals I care for or the ponies I know ... or dragon. I know we don't have much in common sometimes, but we accept and respect each other and seek common things to do together. And if there are conflicts, we try to solve them. Because that's what friendship is about!" Fluttershy replied, her soft voice friendly and confident.

"...I don't know if to throw up of how cheesy your speech was, or clap at your deep and meanigful words."

"Well, I know what I'll do. Blergh!" Kevin said, retching.

"Cleaning in hall 3!" Meridian quipped.

"With you it's the same, just ... more extreme."

Discord laughed at that.

-"Well, I never liked doing things halfway." With a snap, lots of food appeared in the kitchen while various utensils came to life and began to prepare dinner. A couple of brooms were sweeping the floor as dishes, glasses and cutlery were positioned on the table.

"Oh! Thank you Discord." Fluttershy said, surprised to see the activity in the kitchen. "But you're my guest; you shouldn't be the one cooking dinner."

"Meh, don't mention it; I just want to spend some magic. Besides, I have to show a gesture of good faith to your buddies. They'll probably think it's poisoned or something cliché like that, though..." he mused loudly, ignoring Fluttershy's alarmed look. "Now, let's see what to do with you."

"What?" Before she could utter more words, a huge mirror appeared in front of her. Discord stretched his claw and it seemed to dissappear; he was actually checking an invisible reality bubble where he kept a lot of things for safekeeping and the occasional gag.

He had another one for storing food; it always felt like it lacked something when he created it from nothing. Go figure.

He pulled out a long line of diverse clothes and briefly rummaged through it. He pulled out a gala suit and wrapped it around her; it shifted and changed to fit her form perfectly.

Fluttershy was trying to tell him it wasn't necessary, but he was both too focused and distracted to pay her attention. Though she had to admit that it looked good on her, even though it was like Spike's suits for galas and weddings and the like.

"Mmm ... no, too formal," the draconequus said, before snapping his fingers. He replaced it with a yellow dress.

"Nah, it's indistinguishable from your coat."

Snap!

A beautiful red dress appeared on her while her hair acquired some curls.

"I like it, but I doubt you know how to dance flamenco."

Snap!

He put an elegant blue dress around her to replace the former, while her hair was braided and fell on her left shoulder.

"It's a dinner with your friends, not a date. Although that's a good hairstyle."

"Discord-"

Snap!

"Let's see..." then he put out a piece of clothing that was definitely for ponies, but too deviant to describe with this rating. Fluttershy went redder than a tomato at seeing it while Discord just stared for a few second before pulling it back.

"Ok, that's a definite no; I'm pretty sure the old Rainbow Dash would try to kill me if she sees you with that, and I'm not in the mood to dish out thrashings. Why do I even have that, anyway?"

"What, don't you like? It's what my last pony lover used. She was so kinky and daring..." Chryssie answered with a nostalgic tone, mixed with a significant amount of desire.

"For the last time, queeenie, we DO NOT CARE with who or how many you were with!" Kevin yelled, trying his best to get that image out of his mind.

"I don't... need to use anything in particular; it's just a dinner with my friends," Fluttershy said while Discord kept looking for a dress. He stopped and pushed all the clothing back into the reality bubble before folding the mirror and putting it in a pocket of his pants that weren't there instants ago and were gone just as fast.

They were useful for keeping things, but pants just weren't made for draconequi.

"Yeah, well, good impressions and all those silly, boring things." Discord did several spins, a butler suit and a long, thin mustache appearing in him as he finished. "How do I look?"

"You look good!" Fluttershy replied with a little smile.

"Fluttershy, my dear; was there any doubt?

Discord had to admit he did not expect to enjoy friendship so much. Never before had he needed a friend; but maybe it was not a matter of necessity.

Spending time with Fluttershy was... pleasant, fun even. Like the entertaining dinner where her friends were rude enough to insult the sensitive kettle without caring if they hurt its feelings, and had the gall to feel offended when it sprayed them with hot tea. It was worth watching, though.

And Fluttershy had even called him a friend! Something in that old, tired heart of his beamed and he felt warm and fuzzy feelings that made his stomach go to the bathroom and throw up of how sickeningly sweet the other organ was acting.

He was so lonely and desperate for companionship that he was starting to care for a pegasus that he had spent only a few hours with. An imaginary pegasus from a dream.

When Kevin and Meridian called him pathetic, he had to agree.

But still, being with her was without a doubt different from his permanent interactions with the spirits in his head.

And, apart from Eris', infinitely better.

"You know something, Discord? That hurts; we help whenever you need it. And even endure your lack of good chaos" Kevin, clearly offended for what he thought.

It's the truth.

"Well the truth hurts ..."

Of course, it hadn't been enough to stop his plan. He wanted to have fun while the dream lasted. It was the only good thing in this imitation of life his current existance was.

And annoying the Bearers was a great way to do it.

Flooding Applejack's farm? It was funny! Especially with her family paddling in carts and barrels like they were in the middle of a lake.

Seeing Fluttershy angry with her friends for believing her a dumb and gullible pony? Hilarious!

Improving the place making it an ice rink? Sometimes simple was the best option. Besides, why keep a promise to a fragment of his imagination? He wasn't crazy enough to do that.

You know, I missed skating. The draconequus muttered in his mind, while he put clothes and skates on and went to do incredible pirouettes on the ice.

"So did I. And I must admit, dear, you did a great job defeating the Bearers."

Thank you, Eris; and that did not even have make an effort.

And with Fluttershy keeping her promise, they could not stop him. This was getting better!

It seems like she loves being my friend so much she doesn't want to make me a lawn ornament again. We're going to have so much fun together!

"Really?" Chryssie asked, suddenly interested. "Because I have a couple of ideas ...

Not that kind of fun, Chryssie.

"Awwww..."

"Are you going out to eat something? Because I have a craving for rabbit...

Not that neither, Nidhogg.

"Oh, come on! When are you going to eat something I like?!" protested the spirit.

And if I ignore you, nothing will ruin this dream.

"I'm not your FRIEND!" Fluttershy shouted, throwing the skates Discord had given her to have fun together to the ground. She turned around and started walking towards where the dragon and the other Bearers were. Her friends.

"...When will you learn not to tempt fate?" Kevin asked rhetorically as he snickered.

Discord was confused, and surprisingly upset too; after all he did for her, she left him that easily? After tolerating her, helping her and having fun together? He just wanted to play for a while! And this place could be fixed in an instant if he felt like it.

"Now you see why it's no use having friends" Chryssie said.

"With the huge differences between them and you, such a complicated and disruptive bond as friendship is unlikely and useless." Silver added.

"Face it, dear: the Spirit of Chaos can't be friends of beings of order like them. They don't tolerate change; and you live to change things. Why don't we go and have fun elsewhere?" Eris suggested, trying to comfort him when feeling how upset he was.

Discord skidded over to Fluttershy, to tell her a few things before leaving. And leave a sweet ice storm in the village.

"That's it? You spent hours trying to show me how wonderful friendship is, and you then go just like that? I thought that I was the one not putting any effort into this."

"You're hurting my friend and her family. You ignored my request to fix your disaster!" Replied the pegasus, looking at him for just a few seconds.

"Disaster? It's a wonderful ice rink! And the place can get back to normal with a snap. Why can't I have fun?" Discord was starting to get angry; when was the last time a dream had bothered him so much?

"You must be considerate of others! You can't always do what you want!" Fluttershy bit her lip before continuing, frustrated "I didn't want to do this! But I did it for the princess!"

Fluttershy turned his back and walked on.

"And then... because I thought you could be a great friend..."

"But if I don't do what you say, if I do what I want, you just leave? If I don't want to be controlled and manipulated by that stupid alicorn you give up? And don't say it's not like that!" he almost snarled, seeing her open her mouth to deny his last words "She clearly said, in front of all of you, that she got me out because she wants to use me, and nothing else! And you, sweet, little manipulator, are no better for doing this."

"Discord, I... I don't think she wants to control you."

"Oh, because you believe she's a paragon of goodnees and fairness, incapable of doing something bad? Stop looking up at her so much, little pony. And while you are doing that, try to be brave enough to say 'no, princess, I don't want to try and reform Discord'!" he said, imitating her voice perfectly "But if you are gonna be that much of a coward, then..."

"Hey!" Rainbow then got between the two of them, the rest not far behind. It was a little hard not to slip on the ice.

"I'm not talking to you, so stay out of this." Discord then slid his leg over the ice, the portion where the ponies were spining so that Fluttershy was again in front of him, if looking in the wrong direction. She turned around and glared at him.

"I'm trying to make you understand that there's things you can't do if you want to make and keep friendships. This much chaos is an example of that."

'This much' Discord mouthed in disbelief. An ice rink was too much for them?! Unbelievable.

The other Bearers, Spike, and even Applejack's family watched the exchange in surprise; Fluttershy's frustration and anger against an equally bothered but sincere and free of tricks Discord. It was hard to say what was more bizarre.

The draconequus snorted like a horse, steam coming out of his nostrils.

"Fine! Well then, go! You don't wanna be my friend and enjoy my chaos? So be it!"

He turned around and skidded away. He felt most of the Elements starting to charge, and Fluttershy's refusal to use hers. As they were about to start an argument, a wave of chaos magic surged from him and pushed them back a little, his power smacking the magic they were gathering and dispersing it.

While Twilight's jaw hit the floor in disbelief, Discord turned around. He had one thing left to say.

"Do you honestly think that you can control me?! Thatt I will listen to you so I don't lose the only friend I've ever had?!"

And just as those words left his mouth, Discord froze. Metaphorically speaking.

"Discord ... What's wrong?" Asked Eris in concern.

"Oh, no ... Are you serious" Meridian said, his voice full of disbelief.

It was. Discord was alone. And he was tired of it. With Fluttershy ... it felt good. He had forgotten what it was like to be with someone who wanted to be with you.

"Discord... uh... dream, remember?" Said a nervous Kevin.

I know; none of this is real... Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. But I will never be free. This is all I have. And ... I don't want to lose it. I don't want to lose her.

The other spirits were silent due to the obvious sadness and resignation in his voice. Discord always made jokes and bothered them; they had not seen him in that state in centuries.

"... Zero, we should-"

"No; he wouldn't believe us, Eris" interrupted Silver "and less in this situation."

"Well played, Fluttershy," The pegasus looked at him, her anger and dissapointment mixing with confusion at his defeated and resigned tone. She saw the draconeques sitting in the crown of a tree protruding from the ice, looking very tired. "Well played."

A blinding light appeared surged from chest, growing and consuming the whole place. In a moment it faded, revealing the farm as it was that morning; it was as if nothing had happened.

Defeated by my own imagination and my dreams; I sure am good, huh? Discord thought, laughing without humor.

The next day, Ponyville witnessed a very special meeting.

Celestia stood in front of the Bearers, Spike and Discord; but while she showed her typical royal pose, pride in her subjects could be seen in her eyes and the smile on her face.

"I did not expect to hear from you as soon; and I'm really impressed that you have succeeded in such a short time."

"We can't take credit, princess. Although it was difficult, all this was done by Fluttershy herself," Twilight said, giving her friend a wide smile. The timid pegasus smiled back while looking sheepish.

Celestia gave her another smile before looking at the Spirit of Chaos, walking to stand in front of him.

"Discord, despite the word of the Bearers, I must ask: Are you reformed?"

Discord huffed, annoyed; but he took a step back and surprised the princess by genuinely bowing to her, no mocking or pretense on his act.

"I won't not take this kingdom from you, and try to be your definition of 'good'. But I will not stop causing caos," he said, before giving her a mischievous smirk.

"I don't expect you to, Discord. Reforming doesn't happen overnight, but it's a long and continuous process; you've already taken the first steps. The path you have chosen is long, and it will take you time to adjust to how things are in Equestria..."

Discord stopped paying attention. She sure is boring when giving one of her speeches.

Author's Note

And here we have the next chapter.

I thin kthe drama came about right, but I want your opinion on it. Discord can be a hard character to write, in part because he's hard to understand sometimes.

What do you mean I'm free?

Celestia's plan had, surprisingly, worked; Discord came to realize that he preferred Fluttershy's friendship to a land of chaos.

To change Equestria would be an improvement from the boring place it currently was, and it would help their inhabitants to learn what in his mind they sorely needed to; but it would be a lonely world for him.

And being alone sucked. So, even though he couldn't believe himself, he had accepted defeat and promised to not exceed himself with his powers.

There was the matter of their differences as to what was excessive, but that's a thing for the sequel.

Of course, the princess was not so naive as to believe that the Spirit of Chaos would change in an instant, or that there wouldn't be incidents in the future; so she had left the Elements with their Bearers if the situation got out of control. And with all the protective spells she had placed in them for days and days, Discord could not hide them again or put some sort of trap on the artifacts. At least, not without being discovered.

But wether you believe it or not, the draconequus had no interest in that; fun was the most important thing for him right now, and messing with the jewels of incredible power that could ruin his dream did not seem like a good idea at the moment.

While Celestia, the Bearers and Spike went home to sleep (most looking over their shoulders with suspicion, which was understandable), Discord found himself bored. It was one of the things he hated the most.

He was about to snap his claws when he remembered he was now 'reformed'. With how delicate and easily frightened ponies were (and Celestia complained when he tried to get them to toughen up a little and not be such cowards; go figure), even the smallest and gentleest form of entertainment would make them demand that he be returned to work as an lawn ornament again.

"Seriously? You're going to worry about that now?! For the love of Chaos, Discord! If they fear what is different, they're just a bunch of cowards." Kevin exclaimed.

"You won't change things in chaotic and entertaining ways? Because you don't want to disturb these ponies?"

"We can go back to that stone prison again if we don't limit ourselves, Meridian..."

"I don't care, Eris; Why should we do that for them?" He protested, his tails hitting everything in reach in the mental plane.

The draconequus grunted as that idiot kept hitting his thoughts and scattering them. If they got lost he may never find them; a mind was a pretty big place, and he sometimes got distracted and forgot what he was looking for.

"Technically, Discord does it for Fluttershy."

"Potato, potatoe... my point is: YOU ARE THE SPIRIT OF CHAOS! And you let them control you with a bond of friendship?"

Yes, I admit it's not an ideal situation. Look, I'm just tired of not having another company that's not yours. And let's face it, we don't have much affection for each other.

"You're right about that."

"Yes."

"I would kill you all if I could."

"I would devour you all if I had a mouth and you flesh to devour.

"Yes, yes, I get it; we hate each other and all that."

"I don't dislike you, dear; but I do hold contempt for others. How not to, considering the vile monsters they are?"

"Even when you insult you're educated, little siren ..."

Ok, enough. If Discord didn't stop them now, they'd continue for the rest of eternity. The point is that I won't be able to do whatever comes to my head. Or maybe I will; who knows.

"So, what do we do now?"

"... Annoy Celestia?"

Discord snorted. Nah, I've had enough for today of her righteousness and nobility. And everything else. Always so neat and in that role of princess. Besides, I made sure to reverse her taste buds so she'll register sweet things as bitter and viceversa."

They all chuckled at that. It was petty, but they were not above pettiness every once in a while.

"...Annoy Luna, then?"

Luna's Bedroom - Canterlot

The princess of the night was resting comfortably in her soft and elegant bed, her mild snoring the only audible sound in the room.

Faint beams of light filtered through the curtains, but other than that everything was dark. At least until Discord appeared with a bright glow that lit the room for an instant.

Luna moved slightly and mumbled something unintelligible, but soon turned over and kept sleeping peacefully.

With a snap, Discord placed a soundproof bubble around the room and then jumped to the bed, transforming into a rooster in midair.

The animal took as much air as it could before releasing the typical cackle that marks the beginning of a new day ... right in the alicorn's ear.

"KIIIIKIRIKIIIII!"

"AAAHHHH!"

Luna practically bolted to the ceiling in fright, like a cat. Of course, having no claws, she fell back on her bed instantly.

Discord was dying of laughter as he returned to his normal form. To be honest, all eight Spirits of Chaos were.

"HAHAHA! Oh, that was ... that was hilarious! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" the draconequus said between each fit of laughter, rolling from the bed and floating like gravity wasn't something he obeyed.

"DISCORD! What the are you doing in my room?!" Luna shouted as she stood up, looking very upset and angry at the Spirit writhing with laughter beside her bed.

"What, can't I go and visit the majestic princess Luna?" He said as the fit subsided, making a mocking bow while chuckling. Luna huffed; she could not tolerate subjects that were disrespectful to her. Of course, the position of Discord in society was debatable, but she still believed he had to show proper respect to one of the rulers of Equestria.

"Shouldn't you be under the supervision of the Bearers of the Elements?"

"I'm free to come and go as I please. If I want to drop by and bother you, that's what I do!" Discord replied, sticking out his tongue as he summoned a bag of candy and eat them with loud crunches, causing the alicorn to cover her ears.

Luna tried to take the bag, but Discord stepped aside and make the princess hit a wall that wasn't so close a few seconds ago; she fell on a skateboard that raced through the floor and jumped, making her fall in her bed before exploding into a multicolored glow.

"I see that my sister was wrong in thinking that it was possible to reform you..." Luna murmured as she rubbed her sore muzzle. As she had just seen, the Spirit of Chaos was the same as a thousand years ago; maybe a little more tame with his jokes.

Discord finished the candy, bag and all, and floated around her with an innocent smile that didn't hid the mischief in his eyes as he prepared more pranks.

"What are you talking about? Her plan worked."

"...What?" Luna thought he had misheard, or that the draconequus was making a joke.

"Are your ears clogged or what?" With a small wet handkerchief, Discord started to clean Luna's ears as the princess tried to free herself from the draconequus' grip, "Done. As I said, Celestia's plan to manipulate me with friendship worked; I can't turn this place into a fun and entertaining land of chaos without losing Fluttershy."

Luna could not believe what she was hearing. Is he serious?

"Are you saying that ...?"

Ugh, yes! The Great and Powerful Discord, Spirit of Chaos, Master of Possibilities, the Liberator, Knight of the Octagonal Stool, He Who Brings the Change, Master and Lord of Sweets and so on, and etc... Where was I?

"The reason you 'reformed', dear."

"Oh, right! Well... couldn't beat the power of friendship, because he doesn't like to be alone."

The mixture of disbelief, surprise and skepticism in the face of Luna was such that Discord wasted no time and summoned a digital camera in his hands to take a picture. By the time Luna was blinking due to the blinding flash, the image was already saved for posterity. I'm going to laugh so much with this later ...

Luna kept rubbing her eyes with a hoof, trying to recover her sight while anger kept growing inside; it was a little surprising that she hadn't exploded and sent the draconequus flying to the wall with the force of her voice yet.

"Whatever; the point is that now Equestria won't stop being a boring land of order and I don't make you suffer from trapping me in stone... too much."

"Too much?" Luna tensed, getting out of her bed; she was ready to fight back and call for reinforcements at the slightest signal of an attack from Discord. He just shrugged like it wasn't something important.

"Hey, there's no way I'll just let go all you two made me suffer. I will take revenge..." Discord said ominously with a dangerous smile in his face, getting closer until their muzzles almost touched, feeling each other's hot breaths while their glares fought.

Among her slight fear and worry, Luna's heart quickened at the prospect of a battle. Ever since she was purified from the Nightmare Forces, there had been a desire for battle that had been absent all those centuries ago. Though she still didn't know where it had come from, she could help but enjoy fighting. And currently there wasn't a bigger challenge than the mighty and unpredictable Spirit in front of her.

But the draconequus fell back, dropping his threatening attitude, and the princess tried to squash the sudden dissappointment that flared inside her.

"...only it will have to be something smaller than I would usually do. Lots and lots of pranks for the rest of your and you sister's lives should be enough, don't you think?" Then, he threw an apple pie at her.

The red color in the face of the princess came not only from the pie's filling; she gradually moved closer to the point where her anger would explode.

"The Elements gave you a just punishment for your crimes, draconequus."

"I would not call what I went through as your garden ornament a just punishment, alicorn," Discord scoffed, pronouncing the last word with disdain. He bent down to bring his face close to Luna. "Nor was your exile, Nightmare Moon."

Hear him say that name was shocking to Luna. The princess stepped back, stunned.

"Bu-but how ...?"

"Newspapers. I read every edition of the last months shortly after leaving my statue," he interrupted her. "That's how I knew who the new Bearers were. And you would not believe how many newspapers talk the conflict with your sister. Apparently most were more surprised about the fact Celestia had a sister and you were not just a picture in the moon."

Discord began walking around Luna, a cruel smile on his face; the princess didn't lose sight of him for even a second.

"I must admit I did not expect such a thing; you two were so close ... Whose fault was it?" He asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Who had the fault? Celestia refused to share the glory with you? Was she so absorbed in her duties and the love and adoration of your subjects that she didn't see you suffer in the shadows?" With a wave of his paw, the room around them faded and images of Celestia being praised by several ponies under the sun while Luna was ignored in the darkness appeared.

"Or was it yours? Maybe you wanted more than your share; maybe your subjects didn't love you as much as they loved her and you resented her for than, though it wasn't her fault and maybe, even tried to help." As he conjetured, his words became illusions around them.

Expert as she was in those kind of spells, Luna didn't let herself get carried away by the spectacle around them. Although Discord was right with some of his assumptions, she wasn't distracted.

"What gave birth to Nightmare Moon? Was it the spiteful and envious younger sister with bad temper?"

"Discord..." Luna warned, her tone strained.

"Or the arrogant older sister?" at those words, an almost perfect image of Celestia appeared beside them. "Those who hide behind the masks of perfection hide secrets. Maybe she didn't want you at her side; why share power, after all?"

Luna was greatly offended at that.

"That is not true! Celestia is happy to have me at her side again, and the truth is she's relieved to not have to bear so much responsibility on her own!"

"Well, she could have changed her mind," Discord continued, shrugging. "Ruling puts much weight in the ruler. In addition, she probably realized that sealing you away condemned her to be alone for centuries, in the company of mortals with much shorter lives than hers. What are they, compared with you two? Something passing, which is soon be forgotten and replaced."

"You are wrong, Discord." Luna answered with conviction.

"Am I?" He got closer, their snouts one again almost touching. "I have lived a long time, and I regret to say that those less important to me have fallen into oblivion."

"We're not like you, vile creature."

"Oh, the pain! How can I bear such words?" Discord put a claw on his forehead and dropped dramatically in the air, floating upside down before glaring again at Luna "We are more alike than we would like to admit, at least when it comes to living a long time among those who leave the world too fast in our eyes."

At that Luna had no answer. Part of her felt offended that the draconequus suggested any likeness between them and wanted to refute it with all her strength... but another part prevented it, bitterly admitting that Discord had a point.

Although she would never admit it.

"The ponies believe that you are perfect and incapable of being wrong, but I know you two are not. You're arrogant, spiteful, have a bad temper, not to mention being terrible at bonding with others, unable to fit in with those around you..."

Luna didn't like the way he criticized her, and even less so since it was coming from Discord, whom she still considered an enemy and a threat. All this talk was ending with her short patience.

The draconequus, moreover, had to make an effort to not to show his annoyance; his tenants didn't stop pointing out how Luna wasn't the only one who fit that description.

"And don't get me started on Celestia! So condescending, always projecting an air of perfect leader, quite stupid and blind enough to not see the horrible sister she really is..."

That was the last straw; nobody insulted Celestia in front of Luna.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, DRACONEQUUS! YOU DO NOT KNOW MY SISTER, AND DON'T YOU DARE TO SPEAK OF HER IN THAT WAY IF YOU DON'T WANT MY FURY UNLEASHED UPON YOU!"

The Royal Canterlot Voice is a marvel in terms of power; that such a small being can scream with enough force to compete with the roar of a dragon is nothing less than impressive.

Luna's cry Discord sent flying into the wall, and even pushed the princess back to her bed. The Spirit of Chaos held his poor ears, which almost exploded in pain; one could even see smoke coming out of them.

"What is wrong with you?! For the love of Chaos, Luna, that hurt!"

And, for the second time in two days, Discord froze due to having an epiphany.

"Watch your language then, Spirit of Chaos! I will not tolerate anyone talk of the princesses of Equestria that way."

" …That hurt." Discord was no longer listening to Luna, and not just because his ears only registered a high beep. He was focused on the pain that filled his head.

"And don't think I'll stop there if you don't show us respect."

"It hurt." It was all Discord said, staring off into infinity as a great truth was revealed to him.

There was an unbreakable rule when it came to dreams, something that even he couldn't change:

You can't feel pain in a dream.

If his eardrums had exploded and he had the mother of all headaches ... he had to be awake.

"Took you long enough." Kevin said.

Wait, you knew?!

"Well, of course we did!"

"We noticed it the first time we got out."

FIRST TIME?! Discord had to hold his head; thinking so loud with a migraine was not a good idea.

"That hyper realistic dream you had? Totally real." Zero replied, trying to get rid of the headache.

"We wanted to see how long it'd take you to notice."

"We are free, dear Discord. We can live once again." Eris said cheerfully, twirling excitedly in the mental plane.

"I'm free?" Muttered the draconequus, his voice barely audible.

"Discord?" Luna was confused; the Spirit's anger was gone in an instant, and now he was... quiet and distant. And his eyes filled with tears as a smile of pure happiness blossomed on his lips.

"I'm free..." With a flash, his eardrums had healed, but the pain was still there, slowly declining. Discord looked at the princess, his smile growing more and more.

"Luna, I'm free. I'M FREE!" Taking her hooves, Discord began to turn and to jump around the room, while Luna was increasingly confused... well, more than usual when it was Discord.

"What?!"

"I'm not trapped in that statue! I truly am free!" Discord released her and the princess fell (surprisingly gently) in her bed, while the draconequus bounced everywhere.

He hit his head more than once, but the pain only reaffirmed that beautiful, miraculous, wonderful truth.

"I'm not dreaming; I'm not dreaming!"

"What are you ...? - Luna could not finish the sentence because Discord's wings exploded in flames, growing to become a majestic pair of phoenix wings, burning with the power of a pure and untamed fire. With a beat, the draconequus shot out the window, destroying it in a thousand pieces; but the fragments stopped in the air and fell back, returning to their place and merging, leaving the window as good as new.

Officially, Luna was more confused than she'd ever been in centuries.

While the guards and citizens of Canterlot watched the speedy trail of fire that passed through each color known (and even a couple that did not exist in that universe), Discord pirouetted while he flew through the air, as his magic sprang from every pore, hair and scale in his body.

"I'm free!" The clouds formed arms and cheered while using their newfound voices, high fouring with him as he passed.

"I'm free!" A river rose and roamed the skies, forming an incredible track by which the draconequino slid like it was ice.

"I'm free!" Giving a jump, he fell on a mountain of hot, chocolate covered waffles, which he devoured with a speed and voracity that a certain Tasmanian Devil would envy.

"I'm free!" Dozens of rocks morphed into the most spectacular fireworks in recent history, delighting everyone near as they directed their eyes to the lights and explosions that changed shape and grew until, with the last one, released colorful glow that fell to the earth, covering it with the warmth of a cup of hot chocolate in winter.

"I'm free!" A bird grew to the size of a roc and carried Discord through floating rings of pure magic that changed the color of the sky every time they passed through them.

"I'm free!" Abandoning the bird, Discord dropped into a lake; the water extinguished his fiery wings as a wave deposited him gently on the shore, in the shade of a tree.

"I'm free!" The tree stood in its roots and taking Discord with it's branches, dance wildly with him, scattering leaves and dirt everywhere.

"I'm free!" Leaving his companion- who went bouncing cack into its place-, Discord teleported to the center of Ponyville, where he hit the ground with his goat hoof.

A stream of chocolate milk shot out from the ground a few meters at his right, going up into the sky before falling as rain.

"I'm free! - As he and Pinkie Pie -who as soon as she saw the stream of chocolate milk ran to that place- tasted the delicious drink by opening their mouths and letting it fall into their mouths, Discord appeared a can of whipped cream. He poured some into his mouth before giving it to a cheerful Pinkie and sliding away on a skateboard to the fields on the outskirts of Ponyville.

"I'm free!" Jumping from the skateboard (which exploded to propel him towards the grass), Discord dropped, watching the sky as his magic pulsed with joy.

"I'm free." He muttered happily, as he dropped tears of joy. Finally, he lived again.

I never ... I never thought this day would come.

"I know, dear; but here we are."

For a moment, the eight Spirits enjoyed the scenery before Meridian spoke.

"So now that you know this is real, are we going to drown Equestria in chaos and take revenge on Celestia and Luna?"

Perhaps after celebrating.

"Celebrating?"

Well of course! After so long, I'm alive again. Revenge can wait; It's time to have fun! In a flash, Discord was standing in the air, while millions of ideas roamed his mind. One of them kicked the others out and stood firm in his head.

We must go for Mini D! How had he not thought of that before?

All eight tenants complained instantly.

"Do we have to?"

"You know I don't get along with thm."

"I don't care; my life, my party, my guests. Let's go for Mini D! Discord was about to snap my fingers and go for one of the most important beings of his life when he realized something very important.

… Does anyone know where they are?

"Duh, they're probably at home." Kevin replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

To Discord it wasn't; rather it was concerning because of something. Something he should know.

… I have a home?

Yeah. What, you don't remember?

"Wait a minute; What home are you talking about?" interrupted Nidhogg. Kevin was confused.

"Don't you remember? In the chaos dimension. You gotta check that brain of yours, dragon."

"Ah, that dimension, right." Chryssie said.

"And how did we get there?" the dragon asked.

"Well, by ... using ... doing ..." Kevin's voice was becoming weaker as he realized that he couldn't recall.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Zero Morpheus said.

"Oh, no."

"What is it, Silver?" Eris asked, dreading the answer.

"Everyone, check your memories." He replied, with traces of horror in his voice.

The others obeyed him ... and were astonished, if not aghast.

They had lived a long time, and accumulated an incredible amount of memories. They had led... peculiar lives, to put it in some way. None had been a saint, so there were plenty of things that would freeze the blood of the most uncaring and immoral bastard in the universe; Discord himself didn't check their memories more than he had to. Nidhogg's were why he was in an occasional vegetarian phase, among other things.

But now ... most of it was empty, lost in that nothingness that had trapped him away from reality in almost every way when they were captive. From what they could see, most were damaged, blurred or simply absent.

"I knew we had forgotten some things, but I... I didn't expect it to be this much." Zero mumbled, talking more to himself than to the others.

The draconequus fell to the ground, and somehow managed to sit. His gaze was again lost beyond this world; but this time it was not in joy.

So many lost things... he felt the emptiness, but didn't know what should be filling it.

A deathly silence reigned in Discord's head until, at last, Kevin spoke:

"I don't know about you, Discord, but I'm gonna kill those two."

Author's Note

And with this, the story is done.

There will be a sequel, but it may take a while. I did say this was going to be a series, didn't I?

So, what do you think of my handling of the characters? That's probably the greatest challenge for me when writing these fanfics; not going too OOC.

Geez, can't you let a Spirit dream?

Well, that had been fun!

Aaaaaaaaand a bit frustrating.

Discord had not expected to be so angry with them; but the truth was that he was full of hatred and resentment. Celestia and Luna had left him to suffer in here, after all.

During the first century of so, he had done unspeakable things to them in his dreams, cutting loose and holding nothing back. They were only figments of his imagination, after all. He probably wouldn't torture the real ones that much after letting it out.

Probably.

Surely they believe themselves the heroines. After all, what does it matter if they did something indescribable to a villain?

"It's the typical hypocrisy countless heroes suffer, dear. I have seen it too well in this and other worlds."

"If it is someone you hate, why should you care if they suffer?"

Eris and Zero‘s words were hanging around in Discord's mind while he searched for something to entertain him in Ponyville.

"You could rename it, and go for something less dull and unoriginal. After all, this is your new capital of chaos."

You're right, Meridian. But I'll think of something later; now I know what to do. Discord replied, watching an old pale green mare and a red stallion amid an apple farm, trying to contain his cotton candy clouds. Their coats were turning grayer by the minute.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Eat them?"

Ever saw an elderly woman dancing ballet? The draconequus asked, ignoring Nidhogg.

"Oh, that would be funny, dear."

"I doubt that pile of bones can move with such coordination."

Leave it to me; anyway it's time to see if I still have my skill. And to find out if ponies can burrow like bunnies. Discord thought, before cracking his knuckles and floating toward them.

"Excuse me, ma'am; Does your hips bothers you?"

Ah, it was a good day for Discord. He had gotten rid of the annoying Bearers -although Pinkie was actually fun to joke with, and there may be a little bit of guilt for taking that from her, but that bond they shared with each other and the Elements was practically begging to be smashed- and those old alicorns couldn’t stop him. And his beautiful capital of chaos (whose name was still pending) was very entertaining.

Concentrating much of its power and all of his will on the heavenly bodies, the Spirit of Chaos switched their places to bring the night. Moving such magical constructs, mainly the sun, was not easy; but challenges were so exciting.

Three minutes later, he did it again.

I'd like to see the face of the Spirit of Order now; not even the one who created the sun and the moon could make it look this easy.

All around him, the bored and rarely changing land of Equestria became a chaotic land of fun and ... well, chaos.

Some ponies were running, scared and unable to understand the wonders that surrounded them.

"Bah, typical beings of order. Change things and they scream and run like little children."

"You're right, dear Zero. Although some do seem to enjoy it." At Eris' words, Discord blinked in confusion and focused on the ponies.

It was true; small groups (for some reason, all in varying shades of gray) went back and forth enjoying the chaos and fun like never before. A couple tried to stop them, yelling for them to stop acting so crazy; but they didn’t stop dancing with animals, skating on the paths of soap, devouring the raining desserts, and other funny things.

"I'll be damned; how is this possible?" Meridian muttered, baffled. Although being a Spirit of Chaos meant to be open-minded to the possibilities, that ponies enjoyed such chaos (without the spirits manipulating their minds, of course) was completely unexpected. Pinkie Pie was an exception; but that was due to the chaos magic in her.

"Well, judging by the change of color in their coats and manes and the disbelief of their peers, I think all the chaos that we're releasing into the environment to reshape it is affecting their minds. They are experiencing a lack of inhibitions and that affects their ability to make rational decisions, simply following their unconscious impulses and whims. Or maybe they just want to have some fun."

I'd forgotten how smart you are, Silver, old gargoyle. Discord said. Should I worry? Now that you mention it, I’m leaving too much magic in the air. Honestly, he was weakening; he was putting his magic on the earth and the objects to make them change continuously, rather than making permanent changes. And he hadn’t slept since leaving the stone. It was a huge waste of energy, but seeing as he was finally rid of the itching, for the moment it was a good thing.

If he had to fight against the alicorns in that state, they had good chances to win. Sure, if this wasn’t a dream, it would be serious...

The other Spirits of Chaos (sans Eris) erupted in laughter.

"Why you should care about them, Discord?" Meridian asked.

"They're just entertainment, never forget it. And delicious snacks, once you taste them." Chryssie said.

"I agree with the queenie. Especially when they scream and fight." Said Nidhogg, creeping Discord out.

I don’t share your taste for killing, remember? Also, I don’t want to go crazy, or end up like you.

"Should I feel insulted?"

If it makes you feel better, Zero Morpheus, don’t. But please, do feel insulted.

"Just ignore the sociopaths, dear. They never cared for anything other than themselves" Eris said; one could feel the look of disdain she was giving the others.

Meridian snorted "Don't act like you were any better, little mermaid. Or do I have to remind you why they named you 'The Avenger'?"

"Discord!" That familiar voice broke him out of his thoughts.

Twilight Sparkle, accompanied by the rest of the Bearers, walked towards him, anger and determination in her gaze.

Oh, great, another heroic speech. Discord thought sarcastically, already bored; this was his least favorite part when dealing with heroes. Turning their world upside down and playing games with them so they could see how wrong and/or flawed their convictions and beliefs were, however...

"What makes you so sure she's going to monologue?"

Kevin, if it’s not a heroic speech, I’ll drink a strawberry milkshake ...

"Yes! My favorite!"

... But if it is, I'll have another glass of chocolate milk.

"Awww, but I don’t like chocolate milk..."

"Hey, why don’t you ever eat something I like?" Nidhogg complained.

That’s what happens when you convince someone on a vegetarian phase who dislikes eating sapient beings when he craves meat to be the new Spirit of Chaos. The dragon just mumbled something unintelligible, clearly annoyed.

After a brief magical confrontation and another heroic speech (and a nice glass of chocolate milk, to Discord’s pleasure and Kevin's dislike) Discord closed his eyes, bored.

I have to admit that they are stubborn; but they can’t stop me.

"Yeah; those colorful ponies should learn once and for all that they can’t defeat s Spirit, and especially if that Spirit is you with us backing you up."

"... Weren’t they gray?"

Meridian’s question made the draconequus open his eyes. All around him, beams of magic shot out from the Elements and sailed through the air, catching him in a field of harmony magic.

And it was not just a light show; on the contrary, it was very active.

His magic was numbing! The power of the Spirit of Chaos (whatever he had left) wasn’t responding to his commands. It was like it was stunned.

"What is this?"

"Discord?"

"Do something!"

"Discord, escape!"

Despite the cries of the spirits in his mind, Discord couldn’t stop the power of the Elements. The field of harmony magic was obstructing his control over his own magic, and he was pretty sure that it also blocked teleportation.

Twilight was saying something, but Discord was too busy looking for a way out to listen. Running wouldn’t work; if the increasing light was any indication, he only had a few seconds before ...

The rainbow fell upon him.

Harmony magic has a peculiar feeling, different from his beloved and energetic chaos. But in this case, he only felt all feeling being drained from his body. Quite paradoxical, really.

And he could only scream.

He was back on the nothingness.

The dream was over.

It always ended, one way or another. Either through a defeat like he just went through, or snatched from the middle of a sweet, sweet victory. It was hard to say which was worse.

The other spirits didn’t stop ranting, insulting and making threats.

Why all the fuss? As good as it was, it's just a dream. So knock it off.

Strangely, silence reigned in his mind.

Although very unusual, Discord decided to appreciate that; he needed to get rid of his annoyance at the way the dream had ended. Plus, now that he was awake, he had to deal with his magic...

... which was not as unbearable as before. Actually, the itch was almost gone. Wow, I think I managed to spend a lot in the dream; my magic is no longer like a fiery star.

"Should we tell him?" Kevin asked.

"No, dear; let it be. Ignorance is bliss, after all ..."

As always, Discord did his best to ignore the other spirits. He focused on whatever sound passed through his stone prison, to see if anything interesting was happening outside.

Shouts of joy and celebration filled the air. Oh great; another party. Another one to attend without being able to enjoy anything...

Author's Note

So, what do you think? Was it a dream, or he actually got out for a while?