Chaos in the World of Order

by Julian the Dreamer

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Fluttershy, Discord, Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 21375

Living amongst beings of Order when you are Chaos goes as well as you expect.

Discord is out of his prison, free to enjoy the living world once again... with limitations, of course.

Being 'reformed', he has to try and find a place to live among the ponies of Equestria. Easier said than done.

They fear his powers and resent him for his past actions; he finds them boring and annoying.

They may preach Harmony, but deep inside they are Order, all the sturdy constants he always fights for freedom and fun. He is Chaos, the change and the unknown they can't help but fear.

... This is going to give everyone a headache.

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

Published 2016-11-25 03:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-11-03 05:09:24 UTC

Mini D, the Assistant

Thirteen centuries ago, shortly after Discord's defeat

In the skies over the Castle of the Two Sisters, said ponies and several pegasi were battling one powerful, yet unbelievable enemy.

Grabbing a pony and throwing it at a window, the creature evaded what felt like the thousandth magic beam in the last hour before tying the tails of two other pegasi together, making them lose control and fall.

While three more dived to their rescue, Celestia let loose a white fireball from below, hitting the attacker head on; but any burnt body part simply fixed itself, like the last hundred times. The Princesses were holding back less and less against the creature, hoping to cause a more permanent damage; but it was useless.

Luna shot forward and managed to hold it between her chest and forelegs while trapping it in magical binds. But it simply turned into liquid and fell like multicolored rain before reassembling itself.

The alicorns glared at it, with some cuts and bruises and out of breath.

The stuffed toy glared back.

No, really; it was a stuffed toy.

Small, with threads and patches and buttons for eyes... that acted and moved like it were real ones.

It would be more surprising and baffling if it wasn't a a stuffed toy of Discord.

With a huff, it twirled in the air around them, even as more pegasi soldiers arrived to the scene.

"This is getting us nowhere. Release him from his prison now, or I'll force you to."

"We won't let such a cruel tyrant free to torment our subjects again, creature!" Luna bellowed, the Canterlot Royal Voice resounding in the sky and giving a slight headache to almost every soldier present.

"My sister is right; he's too much of a risk to Equestria and its inhabitants," added Celestia in a lower but equally serious voice. The stuffed toy narrowed its 'eyes' as a purple glow that was awfully familiar to the alicorns emanated from its body.

"So be it."

Mini D had been taking it easy on them, but they were out of patience. They would have to do this the hard way. My arcane form should be enough to defeat the-

A metallic hand with two fingers appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the toy so suddenly, everyone just stared at it in utter bemusement. Then it pulled away, vanishing in an instant along with Mini D.

After a few seconds, Luna turned her head slightly.

"So... is that it?" She asked her sister, who didn't have better luck at trying to process just what had happened.

The Present

It had been a long month for Discord. Both the bursting joy of being free and the apocaliptic anger at the alicorn sisters had subsided, leaving behind a mild shock and a cold, cold hatred capable of rotting the purest heart.

And a string of headaches.

After refusing to say what happened and turning the conversation around at every chance, Discord spent a day getting to know Fluttershy better. She was patient and liked almost any animal she came across, but was shy around other beings with the ability to speak more complex languages. When he asked, all he understood was that it had to do about bullying or something in her childhood. Seeing at how vehemently she refused when he offered her to give her bullies some payback (something about how revenge was wrong; what a silly pony she was), he changed the subject.

She then asked about him, and he shared some hobbies with her. The tamer ones, of course; anything that required moderate amounts of chaos scared her and made her uncomfortable, and then she felt bad when she caught on his dissappointment and annoyance at her reluctance.

"I'm sorry."

She would say that a lot, and he spent half the time being nonchalant to try and brush her worries away (metaphorically speaking, of course), and the other time checking his acting mask, trying to fix the damn cracks on it.

"You knew this would happen, Discord; they're beings of Order," Kevin reminded him every time his powers made the pegasus uncomfortable. And he could notice; she was bad at lying and/or hiding her emotions.

"We are the change, the unknown," Eris gently reminded him; " she already fears what she knows. If you want this to work-"

"Why you'd want this spineless pony to be your friend in the first place is a mistery, though," grumbled Chryssie, earning a smack from the other Spirit.

"-You're going to have to be patient with her."

Patience wasn't always his best quality, but in this case he didn't have a lot of choices. An uncommon situation for him.

Anyway, they tried. They argued when he did something she found wrong, they shared stories with hot chocolate and marshmallows in front of the fireplace, they cooked and cleaned... he almost lived there.

Sometimes, the other Bearers would drop by to 'visit' (But Discord would bet his tail it was to make sure he wasn't doing something harmful to Fluttershy, which bothered him; who did they think he was?).

The Spirit was more than happy to annoy them to no end, throwing pranks at the ponies every couple of minutes. At least, until Fluttershy proposed for him to try and make friends with them.

Discord laughed for a while, until he noticed she wasn't joking.

"HAHAHAHAHA! HAHA, haha, hahaha, haha... haha... ha... are you serious?"

"And they call us crazy," Kevin quipped.

"Discord, it... it would make things easier for all if you got along with them. I... I don't want my friends to fight," was her answer, so genuine and only with a bit of sadness and misery in it. The draconequus wasn't sure if it was an act or not. Fluttershy was always open with her emotions, after all.

Well... if I try and succeed, they'll stop annoying me. So much.

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Meridian demanded, mentally pushing Discord out of the house.

And so, our beloved Spirit of Chaos decided to spent a day with each Bearer to try and plant the seeds of friendship.

Saturday, Twilight informed him that freezing a road to skate along it to reach a place faster wasn't a good thing to do if everyone else did't gave their consent, or were even warned before doing it. Something about bruises and a broken bone or seven was among her tirade, but he got bored halfway so he tuned her out.

Sunday, Rarity left him deaf with her shrills when he tried to help in the creation of new dresses (something Fluttershy had suggested); it wasn't his fault the clothes tried to eat her cat, or that their colors were so out of fashion it was a crime in modern times. How was he supposed to know about that last one, anyway?

Monday, he decided to spend some time with Applejack and see if a farmer's life was any different these days. She ended the day wanting to kick him all the way to the moon... well, more than usual. He wasn't sure why; maybe it was because he danced with one of her trees, or when he accidentally started a fire when showing off some fireworks. But hey, he put it out, so that counted as a good thing, right? Fluttershy had said something about responsibility...

Tuesday, he decided to ignore his failures and continue the trend he started and went to see Rainbow... who wanted nothing to do with him. Eh, her loss; that way he could eat the ginormous banana split he made as a peace offering all by himself.

He slept all of Wednesday, after days of going nonstop.

He convinced Pinkie to have a prank war on Thursday... that she stopped, because his jokes were 'cruel' or something like that. Apparently most ponies lacked backbones and couldn't take jokes. The little orange pegasus was very offended when he put her on a chicken costume for a reason, though...

In Friday, he went to a tropical island to relax in a short vacation, which turned out to be a splendid idea. Though a lot of ponies groaned in desperation and frustration when he came back at nightfall. Way to make a guy feel loved, ladies and gentlemen...

It was Saturday again, so he went to the library and checked some books, after a lengthy discussion with Twilight about bureaucracy and how he had to register to take out a book. The new Rainbow Dash quickly did all the paperwork before he took half the library with him... or would have, if Celie's most loyal student didn't overreact and stopped him in horror.

He wasn't sure why, but he suspected she loved books too much to sleep in a building that had less than five hundred of them inside. The Spirits obviously immortalized her expressions and reactions in that moment for posterity, and convinced Discord to paint it and make copies to sell.

Most of the Bearers were angry at that, for some reason... except for Fluttershy, that was just nervous and Pinkie, that loved the idea of having a portrait of Twilight and chose the one with the funniest face. That was his only sale, but it sure was better than none.

"No, really: what's the problem with that? I even gave her the best portrait with a 50% discount! If I wasn't making this things with my magic, I'd be losing money."

All he got as an answer was a snort from Rainbow and several eye rolls.

Discord sighed, thouroughly annoyed. No matter what he tried, this wasn't working at all!

"This attempt of yours to form friendships with them had very few chances of working, even for us," pointed out Zero.

"You know, I wish Mini D was here so he could help me understand you ponies!" he proclaimed to the afternoon sky, his voice echoing slightly.

THUMP!

A giant, metalling hand (that Discord recognized instantly) slammed the ground at their left, startling everyone. It lifted in the air, revealing a stuffed toy almost identical to Discord partially buried into the ground.

It lifted itself from the small dent in the earth, and shook an angry fist at the hand.

"What what that for?!"

The hand simply vanished.

"Stupid jerk..." they mumbled, before noticing their audience. "... Discord?"

The draconequus looked in disbelief before rubbing his eyes, popping them out of his head (which freaked out everypony and Spike), cleaning them with a handkerchied and puting them back in before looking back on the toy.

Yep, it definitely was Mini D.

"... I wish for a giant BANANA SPLIT!!!" Pinkie screamed to the heavens with echo and everything, causing everyone to look around and see if something happened.

Apart from Mini D jumping to Discord's neck and hugging him, nothing did.

"Awww..." the pink pony lamented in utter dissappointment.

Author's Note

Well, and here we have the next chapter.

Presenting my new character: Mini D! Kinda obvious what the D stands for, no?

Previously known as The Assistant, Mini D is like Discord's Spike: helping in everything the Spirit works on, and making sure he doesn't go overboard (well, by the Spirits' standards).

We'll know more about him in the next chapters.

New Harmony meets Ancient Chaos

After Discord managed to get the stuffed toy to stop hugging him with all their might, the group moved inside the library so the two of them could catch up.

"So, let me get this straight; she got you out of your prison so you could do something for her? And she actually expects you to agree?!" Inquired Mini D incredulously, while sipping a tea Spike had kindly brewed for him. Discord nodded.

"Yeah, I know; I think she's going senile in her old age,- he quipped, earning a glare from Twilight."

Though they had respectfully let them talk, the others were getting impatient and feeling left out of the conversation; so Applejack coughed.

"Discord, don't you mind introducin' this fella to us?"

The toy left the cup and stood on the chair, bowing respectfully to everyone present.

"Greetings, mortal ponies and dragon; I am Mini D."

"Mini D?" repeated Twilight, tilting her head in confusion.

"Mini Discord, duh! Can't you see he's a miniature doll version of him?" Pinkie answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it was pretty obvious; I wasn't exactly original with the name.

"I am also known as the Assistant," they added. Discord turned to the ponies while Spike refilled his tea cup.

"He was my master long ago; he taught me how to use my powers-"

Kevin snorted, "He wasn't the only one. Or did you forget that too?"

"-and has kept me company through the centuries. He's also the Spike to my Twilight Sparkle. Mini D, let me introduce you to the elegant Rarity."

"It's a... pleasure to meet you, darling," Rarity greeted as politely as she could, unsure of what to make of them.

"Applejack, the strong and honest."

"Howdy," the earth pony greeted with a nod.

"Rainbow Dash, self-proclaimed fastest pegasus in this nation."

"Hey," she greeted, ignoring that last part.

"The yellow one is Fluttershy, the kindest pony I've ever met."

"H-hi..." greeted the pegasus in her usual volume.

"The dragon is the new Rainbow Dash, and previously known as Spike."

He waved nervously as Rainbow looked at him with a mix of confusion and suspicion.

"The one taking notes is Twilight Sparkle," he gestured, amused. The unicorn stopped her scribbling and took notice of everyone's gaze on her person; she smiled awkwardly while blushing a little.

"And Pinkie Pie, a mistery even for me."

The hyperactive mass of fun and comic relief jumped forward and practically pressed Mini D to the backrest with her muzzle as she spoke a million miles an hour.

"Hi!It'snicetomeetyou!youknowIlikemeetingnewponiesanddragonsandzebrasanddonkiesanddraconequuiandnowdollsandI'msoexcitednowthatIcanmakeanewfriend!Ishouldmakeyoua'welcometoPonyvillefromsomewhereelse'party-"

Discord grabbed her with his tail and lifted her from the overwhelmed toy, giving her a paper bag to catch her breath.

"Pinkie, breathe, breathe. Not everyone talks and/or understands such speeds."

With a snap, Discord summoned the Elements to their respective Bearer, shocking everyone.

"And together, these ponies are the new Bearers of Harmony, protecting their nation from evil and disharmony!" He proclaimed to the heavens as hundreds of claps and cheers filled the air while fireworks went off behind them, harmlessly exploding inside the library.

The Spirit closed Twilight's hanging jaw as her brain struggled to understand how he did that. She levitated her Element in front of her face and used a scanning spell; the enchantments Celestia had put in it were in place. 'But that's impossible. There's no way for him to summon the Elements if the spells are active!'

"I grab the impossible and make it look like child's play, Sparky," the draconequus smirked, oozing smugness from every fiber of his body.

In his head, the other spirits were inmortalizing her expression for another painting. They were going to become rich with their growing colection of 'Princess Twilight's Funny Faces' portraits.

With introductions done, Discord turned to his fellow Spirit.

"So, where were you these past centuries?"

Mini D was taking a sip from his tea, spitting it all over Rainbow when his ears registered the question.

"Centuries?!"

"One thousand, three hundred and something, if Celestia is to be trusted," he answered between snickers as Spike gave a towel to the drenching wet, unamused pegasus.

Mini D was dumbstruck; that far had he been thrown into the future?! It wasn't a lot of time for him; but for Discord...

"... I... it had been a few days since the the alicorns imprisoned you, and I was fighting them and their soldiers. I was going to free you," he narrated almost numbly, his mind busy in analyzing the draconequus and checking on him with all his senses. He scowled in annoyance.

"Then the Guardian of the Timeline grabbed me, and next thing I know I'm being slammed outside this tree. Nice library/house, by the way," he said to the ponies before refocusing on Discord.

"Thanks!" Spike stood tall, proud of how clean he kept the place.

"The Guardian of the Timeline?" questioned the lavender unicorn, mentally reviewing all possible references to such a title and coming up with nothing.

"History lessons for later, if you don't mind," Discord waved his talon at her in a dismissive, somewhat rude gesture.

"You can't just be talking about things and ponies-"

"The Guardian is definitely not a pony; they are an energy being that looks like a whirlwind of shiny sand that uses an armor. We just saw their gauntlet a few minutes ago," he pointed out, interrupting the unicorn.

"You know what she meant." Rainbow said.

"Did I?" he questioned 'innocently', before smirking at her growl. 'Heh, it's so easy I don't even have to make an effort.' Then another voice spoke.

"Discord, could you please explain to Twilight who the Guardian is? That is, if you don't mind..."

Fluttershy's Stare, powerful and fearful as it was, had no effect over Discord's mind; his will was simply too strong to even register her efforts. But her gentle approach? That kind way of asking, and the nervousness he couldn't help but find cute? Those compassionate eyes trying to find a middle ground without offending anyone?

Even though he knew she was asking to prevent an argument from arising, his heart couldn't resist.

"Ugh, fine..." he relented.

Mini D looked at that exchange with interest and mild confusion. Discord made circles with his talon, shifting the air and creating a cartoonish, tridimensional image of the Guardian the size of an apple; clearing his throat, he adressed the unicorn.

"Long story short, the Guardian is a being born and made of temporal energies that has taken upon themselves to watch over and protect the flow of time. I guess they didn't want me to be freed back then, so they brought Mini D here before he could break my prison," he ended bitterly.

"And he had the gall to stop us from taking revenge?!" Exclaimed Chryssie, throwing her claws up in anger.

"That's the Guardian for you," grumbled Meridian. He knew them better than anyone; their paths had crossed a lot when he was alive.

"And Ah presume you know that Guardian pretty well, don't you?" the farm pony asked as Twilight took more notes.

Discord laughed at Applejack's insinuation.

"Oh, I do; but not because I mess with time, trying to change the past. No one can." He was technically lying with that last part; but why should he be honest with them about it? They would only distrust him even more.

"Time is inmutable, after all." Twilight added. She knew that after her own time traveling experience.

"Yeah, if all the trouble you went through to stop time last year because you didn't let yourself talk was any indication," he laughed again, earning surprised looks from Spike and everypony (sans the yellow pegasus). "What?"

"How do you know that?"

"What do you think I do in Fluttershy's home, New Rainbow? Teach her how to play cards?" He shuffled a deck between his paws before giving it to Spike with a shrug. "We talk!"

After another hour of talking, explaining and jokes, the particular duo left the house and took a walk through Ponyville. Everypony took cover and hid, fearful from their lives.

... I may be exaggerating a bit. But they sure didn't want to be in Discord's field of vision; too bad they didn't know about his vast field of hearing.

Ignoring their whispers and comments was second nature to the Spirit, so he kept his attention on his master, assistant and oldest friend. But they beat him to it.

"The Elements transformed."

Discord shrugged.

"So? I do it all the time!" He waved a paw nonchalantly, morphing into Twilight, then a dog, a walking plant, a bouncing ball and back to his chimeric self. But Mini D shook his head.

"This is different; the Elements will allow anyone that represents their desired trait to use them; but with those ponies it's another matter. They have accepted them as their rightful Bearers, as they truly represent what they stand for."

Discord lifted an eyebrow, impressed.

"You got all that just with being in the same room with those jewels for a couple of minutes? And people say I'm good.

"I'm good at seeing what others can't." He then looked at Discord; how a toy could make a pair of buttons express as much concern as a pair of normal eyes was beyond me, but they pulled it off perfectly. "Like the fact that your imprisonment hurt you."

Discord's carefree nature dried away, leaving behind a more serious, bitter person.

"You have no idea how much of an understatement that is."

And with a flash, they were gone. Discord was the kind of proud person that hated to show emotional pain in front of strangers, and Ponyville wouldn't be witness to his inner turmoil.

Not today.

Author's Note

Three months working on this, and it's a small chapter.

Gah! Why do I have to be so lazy!

*sigh* Anyway, here you have a new chapter. You better be tracking this story for the next chapter, because I can't promise it will be up this month or the next, what with college and all.

My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

Oh, and don't forget to comment; I love reading what you think of my works :D

To The Chaos Dimension! Now, where did I leave my house?

It turned out the access to the chaos dimension was behind his blind spot, in that point you never manage to catch when you turn around.

Remind me again why I tied the access to my blind spot?

"So it was never out of reach, of course; your blind spot moves with you," Silver answered.

And you didn't tell me that before because... Discord gestured for him to continue, annoyed.

"I forgot what spot you tied it to."

There was more than one snort and chuckle in his head as he rubbed the bridge of his snout.

Mini D grabbed the access, slid two claws in and pulled in two different directions, creating a swirling portal to a multicolored sky.

"Ready to go back home?"

"You can bet I am," Discord said in an exhausted tone as he slithered through the portal.

The chaos dimension was nothing like the world they just left behind: the rules of physics are lax and shifting, gravity is kind of selective, many a creature that wouldn't be able to survive in the known universe thrived here, there was no sun or star on sight, solids turned to liquids and viceversa at the drop of a hat...

Probably the most staggering detail was that Discord and Mini D were the only ones with magic in there. And when I say that, I mean the only magic you could find in the entire dimension was in them.

And it was roaring in delight; this was a place free of the restriction and resistance of the World of Order, where Discord didn't have to hold back to not scare or upset someone. This was a place where chaos could be free!

Discord looked in every direction and took a deep breath, feeling the tickling air enter and leave his lungs. He needed to renovate the atmosphere; the oxygen here was running out.

Silver hummed. "It's a good thing no living being from our world was left here; there's barely a tenth of the required oxygen to sustain most sapient life forms. I'll start working on the spells necessary to increase it."

Sparks flew from his body and circled around the draconequus, more than ready to go back to action.

"I have forgotten how lively chaos magic got in here."

Mini D floated to his side, the portal closing behind them.

"But that's not the only thing you've forgotten, is it?"

Discord looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. Mini D knew him too well; trying to lie to him would be useless.

And why would he want to in the first place?

"It's... hard to put in words."

"Understatement of the century," Zero muttered, coiling over themselves.

"... Well, this is something we'll have to discuss over a nice meal!" Mini D clasped their paws, looking around in anticipation." Nothing like a full stomach to delve into the intrincacities of a mind. Now, where's that house?"

They waited for a while, but nothing showed up.

"That's strange..." Mini D murmured, summoning a pair of binoculars to scan the horizon. "It should be here by now."

"Figured my house wouldn't be of the stationary type," the draconequus chuckled.

Mini D materialized a watch and looked at it move, frowning.

"No, something is wrong. We have to search for it."

Discord just shrugged while he summoned his trusty cup of juice.

"If you say so. How big was this place?"

"Ehhhh..." Mini D scratched their head. "How much was the distance between your galaxy and the nearest one?"

Discord froze mid-sip, causing a river of juice to escape the cup and flow through the space below them.

The two Spirits were on a hunt, skying over the slippery microdimensions that composed space in this dimension. Mini D led the search, being the only one with a idea of what they were looking for. Discord followed, glaring at the things that felt like making them their dinner before blasting them over the horizon. He was not in the mood to deal with Nidhogg wannabes. It did happened less frequently that most would expect from such a place; just three times in the five weeks they've spent searching.

Discord was about to see if he could create a stable time loop in here to send himself a message detailing the place where his house was when Mini D finally caught a trace.

"This way!"

Through mazes of bioluminiscent slugs of many shapes, they found what they were looking for: The biggest slug, with the outline of a building in its shiny stomach. The creature was floating in place, with all the other slugs orbiting lazily around them.

"They must be a new species; I'm pretty sure they didn't exist last time we were here." Mini D crossed their arms as they analyzed the creatures, wary of the dozens of looks they could feel on them.

"We can leave the taxonomy for later; now we have something more important to do. Amnesia or not, no one eats my house without asking me first!" Discord then put two claws in his mouth and whistled.

Every being around them froze and looked at them; the draconequus glared and projected a very clear thought to his audience: they either returned his house, or he would take it by force.

After a few seconds, the slugs lost interest and went back to their business, ignoring the Spirits.

"Wha-? The gall of these creatures!" Chryssie fumed. "Show them you don't kid, Discord!"

Heeding his predecessor, Discord summoned a baseball bat.

A Megazord-sized baseball bat.

But just as he prepared to swing the bat, the slugs behind the draconequus launched themselves at it, irradiating a blue shimmer. As Discord tried to shook them off, he noticed his weapon growing lighter before dissolving in tiny glitter. He looked at his empty paws before glaring at the nearing slugs.

Nidhogg roared. "Hey! That was my favorite bat!"

"If they can desintegrate matter, we're going to need something strong and resistant to fight them," Silver advised. "I don't know if you remember, but we can't use our arcane forms to fight here; the dimensions are hard to move through when you're energy."

"I'll take care of them! Let me fight!"

Discord faded into purple magic, dense and swirling with streams of red and lightblue on it. The two colors vanished as orange grew in the center, the magic growing in size as silver and white scales covered it. Leathery wings extended in a burst of fire and wind, gale winds surging with every beat. Spikes grew in a shimmer of light, crackling with thunder.

Nidhogg opened his blue eyes, the slits thinning as he roared to the heavens.

The slugs grew agitated, circling around the chaos dragon. Mini D barely had time to hold on to one of his spikes before Nidhogg beat his wings and shot through them, right at the giant slug. It screeched as the Spirit tackled it through streams of liquid dust, the swarm of bioluminiscent creatures floating after them.

The smaller ones grabbed hold of his scales and began to shimmer intensely again; but dragon scales were sturdy. They couldn't break through fast enough to cause any damage before Nidhogg regenerated his natural armor.

The giant one squirmed, trying to hit the dragon a seventh of its size that nonetheless was pushing it around like the slug was a tiny ragdoll. But it had been long sice its last fight, and it was rusty; it had grown too dependant of the swarm.

Some of the smaller ones jumped to Nidhogg's eyes, but they were pushed back when they bursted into arcane flames, chaos magic replacing the orbs. The dragon bit his prey and ripped a piece, chewing the slippery surface before spitting it in disgust.

This thing tastes like inked hair!

"I know it's hard for you Nidhogg, but listen to me: less eating, more fighting!" Eris instructed.

Nidhogg took the heat from the slugs' light, freezing them; shaking his smaller foes off his body, he added the heat to his inner fire and released a stream of flames over the giant one. It screeched as they crashed on a big rock. The impact surprised the dragon and his hold lightened; taking advantage of this, the slug shook him off in return and tackled him. They slid over the rock before coming to a halt.

With a grunt, Nidhogg grabbed his foe and lifted it, trying to stand up without loosing his grap on the slug. Perplexed at both his strength in spite of pushing down with all its might and for not thinking about it before, it began to shimmer, showering the dragon in disintegrating light.

Mini D covered behind the spike as Nidhogg winced, his scales starting to boil. Undeterred, he opened his mouth and released a storm of fire. The slug was soon roasting, straining to release itself from Nidhogg. The dragon stopped his attack and took to the air again.

"This is for my bat!" Spinning his foe, he launched it back at the rock. The swarm surrounded him, but he payed them no mind.

"Now! Trap it!" Discord said, passing the dragon a spell.

Extending a paw, he formed a fist.

The rock trembled and shifted, arcs of stone extending from it and trapping the giant slug.

I'll say it one more time. What is inside your stomach is ours! Return it, or I'll tear you apart to recover it.

Defeated, the creature yielded, and in a flash the house was free, floating towards Nidhogg as the swarm rushed to release it from the stone shackles.

Nidhogg grabbed the house and looked one last time at his foes.

"You're not edible, so I'll let you live. But never steal from me again; a dragon may be compassive of a thief once, but never twice."

If you steal from a dragon once, you're a brave fool; if you steal from a dragon twice, you're an idiot. Luckily, the slug was no idiot, so it vowed to never cross paths with Nidhogg again as the chaos dragon flew into the horizon.

Having found a good place to settle the damaged house, Nidhogg faded away, Discord coming back as he stretched his reformed vertebrae.

"Oof! I've forgotten how it felt to give control to the others."

"Passing from driver to passenger can be off putting." Mini D floated to his side, adjusting the front door and cleaning the glitter from it. Discord looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm surprised you didn't help Nidhogg fight those slugs."

Mini D snorted, trying to open the door.

"Like he needed my help. He's the best in physical combat."

The door fell open as the entire structure groaned and sunk in itself a little. The Spirits looked a teach other before Discord summoned a toolbox.

"I'm going to need it, though."

Once inside, a perplexing sight awaited them.

From several rooms, dust bunnies came out, unsure of what was going on.

Yes, bunnies made of dust; you read that right.

Confused at first, they froze when catching sight of the Spirits.

From generations, thay had heard stories of the creator of this place, the safe zone in which they could live and thrive. He'd disappeared generations ago, and this place had been theirs. But then those deadly lights arrived and almost devoured them all, house included.

And the Spirit had saved them. He was their hero!

The bunnies erupted in cheers, hailing and thanking them from saving their lives.

Discord smiled in slight amusement; he didn't even remember they were here in the first place, but if they were offering to become his servants and take care of the house in gratitude, who was he to correct them if he and Nidhogg were heroes by accident?

The dragon shrugged. "If they know how to make a decent meal, you won't hear me complain."

Time Turner and the quest for the Muffin Muncher

Arcana Magna, the World of Order. An unique place in the entire universe, created long ago by a Spirit of Order whose name has been lost to the tides of time. More akin to a machine that runs on magic, it's a hotspot of powerful energies, coveted by many that lurk in the inmense vastness of space.

Chaos was accepted in this world only because it could help protect it. And from that queasy alliance, wonderful things were born: Harmony, Nature, and their mixes. It forever derailed the plans the Spirit of Order had crafted, so they were forced to adapt.

And so, Arcana Magna flourished in a way it was never meant to, but somehow managed to grow instead of collapsing.

Magic is a double-edged sword, though, so others decided to intervene for the sake of everyone.

Time Turner wasn't what you'd call a normal stallion; not in the place he was born, nor in Ponyville, whose normal was already a rarity in Equestria.

An inventor and researcher, he loved nothing more than creating something new. Though his job tended to take a lot of his free time to enjoy hobbies. And the scroll that materialized in the middle of his lab was a clear example of it... even if he was too busy fixing a radio to notice it.

The scroll buzzed, but he was oblivious to its attempts.

The scroll shone while whistling, but Time Turner was like Twilight when really focused into something; the world could be ending and they wouldn't realize it unless it was bothering them. All it got was a flick of his ear.

Tired of waiting, the scroll floated over the pony and hit him on the back of the head.

"Ow!" rubbing the sore spot, Turner looked around, startled; his eyes finally fell on the floating piece of paper. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

If scrolls could give looks, and if looks could kill, Time Turner would have had to finish his testament. Ignoring the urge to hit him again, the scroll unraveled to reveal the message within.

"'Chrono-thief... track down... ask for reinforcements... good luck.' This sounds like a job for a Chronos Warrior, you know," he said to the scroll after he finished reading. It did the closest approximation it could to a shrug before rolling up and vanishing in a flash.

The stallion sighed and put his tools away. Waves of yellow energy surged through him for a second as he called upon his power, ready to use it at a moment's notice.

"Well, duty calls."

Time was an ocean of temporal energy, through which the timelines flowed like rivers while beings of temporal energy swam between them. Chronos was such a being, and long ago he found the Order to protect the timelines from idiots, conquerors, monsters and ignorant travelers that put them in danger.

The Order of Chronos recruited living beings from the timelines to have better understanding of those that tried to mess with time, and to better communicate with their inhabitans; only a few like the Guardian of the Timeline could speak their languages, after all.

As a Chronos Watcher, Time Turner was on the lowest rank of the Order, and his job was to observe and report on important and/or delicate events of history, with confrontation as a last resort in case things went wrong and he didn't deem necessary to call for reinforcements. He was currently keeping an occasional eye on Discord, though now he had to add the search of a chrono-thief to his to-do list.

Walking through Ponyville in the most nonchalant manner he could, the earth pony looked for any suspicious behaviour. But there was nothing out of place: ponies talked or made errands, three little fillies were running around carrying a worrisome amount of fireworks-Not my problem.-a trail of letters zigzagging through from one extreme of Ponyville to another, Rainbow Dash napping on the only cloud in the sky, if the streak of rainbow hanging from the side was any indication...

Turner slowed to a halt, his mind going back to the letters.

That's strange. Curious, he walked to the nearest patch. Muffins never loses so many letters at once.

He looked along the road; no one was paying attention to the trail; not even a curious glance before ignoring it. It was like it wasn't even there. The earth pony extended a hoof to grab one of the letters, and as soon as he made contact a faint yellow glow enveloped it, and the object flickered in and out of existence.

Turner took a step back, worried. The letter felt old. As if it's time had passed.

Because it had, he realized with a start. This is not a trail, this is an echo! The chrono-thief has Muffins!

Ten minutes ago

The time stream was like a violent ocean, but she'd finally manage to reach a timeline, diving without caring to check if it was a dangerous one or not.

Luckily, she hit the ground in a seemingly peaceful place and era. The impact had left her like a puddle of golden liquid, so she struggled to reform herself, with little result.

Sighing, she left herself fall down as a puddle. Right, forgot about this part. I just need to find someone to borrow... She looked around, not seeing any particularly sapient species around. C'mon, please tell me there's a city, a village, even a farm around! I don't want to be a squirrel again! She whined as she reached that last thought.

A shadow passed over her; it was a pegasus. The thief lifted an extremity of golden particles, brought it close to a part of the puddle and whistled. Somehow.

The pegasus stopped and looked around, confused. She then noticed the shining puddle of strange liquid on the ground. Muffins decided to investigate, curious.

Landing besides it, she leaned over the puddle to study better. The liquid swirled, the majestic spirals within seemingly showing her a glimpse of time itself.

"Ooooohhh; pretty..." she mumbled, slightly hypnotized by the movement.

In the blink of an eye, the puddle shot forward, splashing her right in the face. Muffins staggered back, sneezing and blinking rapidly. Everything turned golden and blurry, reality falling apart in a blink. A frantic Muffins found herself floating aimlessly, her memories, thoughts and dreams fading in and out of existence around her... and to her growing worry, they looked blurrier every time they appeared.

Across Equestria, echoes of her and of her past flickered into existence, invisible to most.

Meanwhile, the thief stood up, taking her first breath in what felt like an eon. Stretching her new pony form, she went over it. If the outfit was any indication, this pegasus was a mailmare.

"Not the ideal body, but it'll do. But first..."

She covered her hoof with golden energy and slapped herself, blinking several times before revealing her eyes were now staring in the same direction.

"Much better; I was starting to get a headache." "he turned towards the village a minute away by flight. "Now, let's see where I am."

With hesitant moves, she extended her new wings and flew in a clumsy manner towards Ponyville, crashing against every tree in the way and then some.

Note to self: next time, try to get a wingless body...

Twilight Sparkle tended to fret about something at least once a month. This time, she was pacing back and forth in front of her house/library, impatiently waiting for the mailmare to arrive.

She'd ordered a new tome on the study of arcane portals and the theoretical alternate dimensions they could connect to; though if her thorough analysis of old fables and stories was accurate, more than once ponykind had managed to connect their world with others.

But she'd placed her order weeks ago, and after two delays she was out of patience. What is taking so long?!

There was a flash of energy, and reality ripped apart, a portal to another dimension opening right beside her.

Twilight, gifted as she was with magic and her arcane senses unknowingly amplified by her Element when it chose her, felt what was coming through: a storm of possibilities, raw power that could become anything.

It was beautiful; it was dangerous, breathtaking...

It was ominous. It was-

Discord then crossed through the portal, and the feeling coalesced into him. Did I-did I just feel his magic?!

Twilight wasn't sure what to think; part of her was cowed at the sheer bizarreness she'd perceived on the Spirit. Another part was disappointed that the incredible, deadly enigma had been none other than Discord.

... Wait, Discord!

Missing for weeks, leaving Fluttershy worried about him and putting Equestria in high alert as they suspected he was planning either a hostile takeover or his revenge. And he just stepped out of a portal in the middle of Ponyville, whistling as he walked over giant keyboards that played different notes and sounds when stepped on.

"Greetings, Flutters! How have you-" he greeted before looking up and realizing he wasn't in the cottage. His gaze fell upon Twilight. "Fluttershy, did you get a good disguise of Sparky, or I'm at the wrong place and you're actually Celestia's pretty attack pony?"

Her annoyed glare was all the answer he needed.

A grey blur leaving a golden trail zoomed between them, a frantic Time Turner running after them.

"HiTwilightheyDiscordsorryI'mbusystoppingachrono-thiefseeyoulater!" he screamed as he panted, trying to keep up with her.

The pair watched the chase for a few seconds before Discord's mind caught up with what the pony had said.

"Waiiiiiiiiitaminute. Did he just say chrono-thief?"

"He sure did, dear."

Meridian perked up. "It's been a while since we've come across one."

"What's a chrono-thief?"

Discord looked at Twilight, having momentarily forgotten she was there.

"An echo of someone who was erased from the timeline, by their own meddling with the past or someone else's actions."

"Wha-But..." Twilight was trying to understand his answer when she remembered something. "You said time no one could change time!"

"I lied." He admitted unashamedly. "I do that occasionally. Anyway, the echo possess someone and take over their body, slowly erasing them from the timeline to create a void they can fill to fully exist again."

Twilight was left dumbstruck, trying to comprehend what Discord had just revealed to her. It was hard to believe. She then came to the terrifying conclusion.

"Wait, then someone's been attacked by this thief?"

"And got their body snatched? Yeah, it's very likely. If you knew whoever was targeted, you've probably forgotten them by now."

As Discord floated around the unicorn, Twilight stared at him in horror as he continued in a nonchalant manner that, unknowingly to her, hid his worry at the situation.

"Isn't there a nagging thought at the back of your mind, something that calls at you without words but you can't grasp it?" he stopped and emitted a wave of chaos magic, making the echoes of letters and packages around the library visible for a few seconds. "These echoes of things manifests as a life unravels across time and space; they are being erased from existence, and soon you'll have forgotten completely about this pony and every impact and relation they had in your life, with you none the wiser."

Twilight's horror grew as she realized he was right: there was something like that in her mind, and only now she was aware of it. The unicorn then teleported, in an attempt to find the thief. She couldn't let someone suffer such a terrible fate!

The thief cursed her luck; she just had to end in a place with a member of the Order of Chronos!

As soon as she'd stepped into the village, the earth pony had seen her, let out a wordless battlecry and threw himself at her. The thief's new body was fast, but he was almost relentless. Stupid equine stamina! Couldn't I be chased by a tiger or something similar? They would be tired by now!

And unused as she was to her wings, she forced herself to run; at least she had been cuadrupedal in her previous life.

A flash of light blinded her for a second, and the thief found herself floating in midair, a curious Discord looking at her with a finger raised.

"Are you the chrono-thief?" the pegasus' eyed widened as she struggled to free herself of the invisible force that kept her floating like a balloon. "I'll take that as a yes."

Gasping for breath, Time Turner managed to catch up to the pair, his eyes going back and forth between the pegasus and the draconequus.

Said mismatched being lifted an eyebrow at the brown pony. Now he had a nagging feeling at the back of his mind.

"Have we met before?"

Twilight materialized at his side before the earth pony could respond; the unicorn looking between the three of them. Now that Discord was further distracted, the thief quickly concentrated energy around her and released a golden wave, freeing herself and pushing the ponies and draconequus back.

Not wasting time she shot forward, making sure she stepped on Discord's head as she escaped. The draconequus sat up, muttering a couple of insults as he glared at the retreating pegasus. Turner got up and chased after her, the other two joining him.

"Was that the thief?" Twilight asked as they run.

"Yeah, and judging by the uniform, they've taken possession of the mailmare," Discord answered as he flew beside them, conjuring a toy ball.

Turner turned around corner in pursuit, ponies taking cover at the sight of the draconequus rushing behind him.

"We have to save Muffins before she stops existing!"

"Any chance she's new and I haven't met her yet?" Twilight asked anxiously.

"Pretty sure she's delivered your mail for years!" Turner answered frantically. That didn't bode well.

"Then I've already forgotten her!" Twilight screamed in desperation, causing the two ponies to run faster.

"I don't feel any tingle in my mind, so I probably never met her before," Discord commented before Twilight realized something as she looked at Turner.

"Wait, how do you know what's going on?! And you still remeber her?!"

"I'll explain later, now we need to stop the thief!"

"I've got this!" Discord aimed and threw the ball at the thief as she turned around a corner; catching sight of something shooting right at her, she shot a glowing hoof forward. The ball stopped, frozen in front of her.

"I wouldn't be so sure," she mocked the draconequus before the ground below her shot upwards, trapping her in a facsimile of a paw. Caught by surprise, her power faded and the ball hit her right in the face, bouncing off her muzzle.

"Made you stop, didn't I?" the draconequus said with an arrogant smirk.

The thief's body was consumed in a golden glow before she broke herself free in an instant, sending dust everywhere as she shot down the street at a speed rivaling Rainbow's in a good day.

Discord snorted and snapped his fingers; everything around them seemed to slow down as he proceeded to teleport the group in front of the thief; startled, she squeaked before stumbling down and getting trapped in Discord's elongated tail, the extremity coiling firmly around her.

"Did you just slow down time all around us?" Twilight asked, confused as to what had just happened.

"No; I sped us up."Discord repiled smugly. "We are moving as fast as her."

Turner then hit the ground with his own glowing hoof, and everything was back to normal. Both unicorn and draconequus were staring at him, utterly perplexed. Well, Twilight more than Discord.

"And you just put us back to normal speed." the draconequus said, staring at Time Turner with wary eyes. "Who are you?"

"A member of the Order of Chronos, that's for sure," Zero Morpheus said, watching the current events with interest.

Turner looked at Discord in confusion.

"Wha-haven't we met yet?"

Discord then screamed in pain as the thief struggled, temporal energy attacking every scale in contact with her body.

The ponies took a step back in alarm, the thief taking the chance to try and release herself. She was assaulting Discord with centuries of aging, trying to force the draconequus to grow too old he'd turn into dust.

But Discord was immortal and couldn't die of old age, nor would his body deteriorate from his prime; the only thing the attack did was making him feel the pain of forcefully aging centuries in mere seconds.

"Owowowowow! Stop that!" He snapped, hitting her in the head with his paw. But his tail loosened slightly due to the pain.

Powering through her own pain, she increased her attack and managed to get free, taking to the skies in an unsteady manner. Discord grabbed one of her hindlegs, stopping her ascent before slamming the pegasus back on the ground.

Desperate, the thief threw beams of temporal energy at the group, forcing them to dodge. Twilight charged her magic, ready to immobilize the pegasus before being hit in the face by the mailmare's bag.

Dizzy from the hard hit, her magic dissipated as she fell to the ground. As the other two evaded the continuous barrage Twilight noticed a book had came out from the bag, lying right in front of ther.

The book she had been waiting for... got impacted by a shot of temporal energy.

Right in front of her, the pages fell off and turned into dust, the knowledge escaping her grasp even after all the delays she went through.

For Twilight, books were important; and adding to that what had just transpired, this cruelty made to someone that may even be her friend, someone who could vanish forever and get their life stolen... it lit a fire inside her.

Twilight's magic gripped the chrono-thief's neck and dragged her right in front of the unicorn, who glared at the pegasus with furious, blazing eyes. Her mane and tail unknowingly lit up with fire, crackling in anger.

Wide eyed, the thief whimpered as a fireball formed in the point of Twilight's horn, growing in size and rising in temperature before she was thrown into the air. The pegasus barely managed to stop herself from hitting a building before the fireball hit her; she didn't even notice it coming before crashing through the house's wall.

Discord blinked. That wasn't a spell of any kind of magic Twilight should be able to use. Was that-

"Nature magic? Yeah," Silver answered, bemused.

Twilight wobbled, feeling dizzy as the flames faded. Time Turner caught her, also bemused as to what he'd just seen.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Nidhogg wondered. "Hey look, the thief is up again!"

Shaking the ashes off her, the only damage the thief sported was a singed mane.

Meridian pushed Nidhogg aside, ignoring the dragon's annoyed growl."Discord, let me take care of this."

Now that was the worst idea Discord had heard in a long time. Nu-uh; no way. You are not getting control, Meridian.

"Time is my specialty! I'm the best one for this."

"He may be right, Discord," Silver admitted. "Meridian holds the biggest chances of solving this."

An explosion of temporal energy launched Discord into a house, leaving a hole shaped like him in the wall. Ugh, fine! But I swear, if you cause a disaster I'll rip you out of my head and turn you into Twilight's paperweight.

Discord faded into purple magic, the red and light blue morphing into sand brown. Green scales covered the power as a two-tailed crocodile smiled with a mouth filled with way too many teeth.

Twilight looked at Discord, wondering what he had turned himself into while Turner paled.

The chrono-thief stood up; but when she looked at Meridian, she trembled.

"N-no! That's impossible! It can't be you!" she cried.

"Unfortunately for you, it's me." the Spirit said idly, teleporting behind her. His tails grew in length and snared her in an instant.

Now even more trapped than before, the chrono-thief stared in terror as Meridian worked his magic on her. Gripping her very essence, the Spirit pulled with all his mental might as his tails tugged in the opposite direction.

As the golden liquid was being pulled from Muffins' body, the thief screamed, struggling to stay inside. A lavender aura surrounded her as Twilight grabbed the pegasus in her magic and pulled the body in the same direction Meridian's tails were doing it, having deduced what he was trying to do.

Meridian growled from the effort; this thief was particularly stubborn and clingly. Ugh! A little help here!

The other seven Spirits joined on the mental pull. Between the nine of them, the thief was extracted.

Her hold in the stolen body lost, there was no more resistance and Muffins' body was catapulted through the air, out of Twilight's and Meridian's grip; speeding himself up, Turner run and jumped, catching the pegasus and using his body to cushion their fall. Immediately, he send all of his power into her, hoping to restore Muffins. As Twilight run to his side to check on the pegasus, the thief was sent flying across from Meridian.

The Spirit dissolved into magic, brown warring with red and light blue before succumbing to them.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

Eris held him, dragging the crocodile back into Discord's mind. "What Discord asked of me. Mind helping me, Nidhogg?"

"With pleasure." The dragon grabbed both Spirits and held Meridian back as Discord reasserted himself.

Not taking risks with you; who knows what you will do if I let you in control a second more than necessary.

"True as it may be: screw you!"

Teleporting at the side of the thief currently trembling with rage, Discord conjured a bottle and trapped her in there, making sure the cap was secured.

Meanwhile, the golden glow around Muffins receeded back into Turner as the pegasus tiredly opened her eyes, once again watching in two different directions.

"Muffins, are you ok? " He asked, worried. The pegasus held her head with a hoof.

"My head feels like it hit every tree in a forest..."

As Twilight felt her memories of Muffins come back, she breathed out in relief. It seemed like she wasn't going to fade into oblivion.

Turned chuckled in relief and slowly help her to get up. Discord then appeared at their side, holding a bottle.

"Thief contained!" he proclaimed proudly. "Now, what do we do with her?"

"I'll take care of it," Turner answered, taking the bottle.

Turner accompanied Muffins back home, saying she'd only need a day's rest to recover from the ordeal. Twilight managed to held her questions, the earth pony having promised to answer what he could tomorrow.

As they walked away and all the ponies came out of their hiding places, wondering what just had transpired, Discord held Twilight up in a side hug.

"So, did you miss me, dear Twilight?"

The unicorn groaned as she teleported out of his grasp.

"I'm in no mood to deal with you, Discord. I lost the book I've been waiting for weeks."

"So a book is more important to you than catching up with your good friend Discord?" He said with a paw over his heart, acting offended and hurt.

Twilight didn't buy it. Discord snorted in a mix of annoyance and amusement.

"I suppose I couldn't expect another thing from a bookworm like you. So go ahead and marry this tome if you think it's better company than The Magnificent Discord."

With that said, the draconequus threw a book at Twilight, who could barely catch it in her magical grasp. It was the book she had been waiting for. Surprised, she looked up, only to notice that Discord was gone.

Did he just- Opening the tome, a pie hit her right in the face. ...I swear, if there's even a smudge of food in this book, I'll make you pay.

Twilight couldn't know, but her eyes flashed red and her cutie mark briefly faded before reasserting itself again.

Author's Note

I'm my own worst enemy.

Self-hatred aside, here I come with a new chapter. Hope you like it.

If I missed any mistake, let me know.

Secrets

Celestia was a calm mare, a trait forged as the centuries passed and the ruling of a nation demanded of her to not be rash. Luna's return had brought back their sibling bond and all the arguments that entailed, so when it came to her sister the alicorn regressed a little.

But seeing the white alicorn rushing through the castle, frantic and cursing, and Luna nowhere on sight, was alarming for everyone.

This is impossible this is impossible I blocked her she can't be here Mother assured me the chance of that was almost none this can't be happening!!!

Maids and butlers stepped aside in astonishment as guards rushed after their ruler, only to be dismissed. Entering her room, Celestia closed and locked every door and window, even closing the curtains so none could even catch a glimpse of the princess lifting and throwing her carpet towards a wall without a care.

Taking deep breaths to calm herself, the alicorn called forth her golden magic, crafting it into a very specific spell. The arcane power shifted and amost seemed to solidify into a thin blade, gently floating towards the floor.

Gently merging with the tiles, her magic spread in swirls, forming a pulsing, spinning whirlwind. Celestia stood on the center and let out a gentle pulse of power through her hooves, feeling as the spell responded and light enveloped her.

Much like her master Starswirl centuries ago, Celestia had her own private laboratory carved into the mountain upon which Canterlot rested. A secret place that very, very few knew about; a room where she could work on spells without interruptions and the most confidential of her plans that did not involve the equestrian government were designed.

A circular room filled with ancient and recent tomes of arcane knowledge, alchemical ingredients and advanced machines for a myriad of uses.

A place where the tracking device she had always functioning received signals from the complex web of spells she had cast on her student-with her permission, of course-, gathering information and sending her alerts. Like the one that had her so worried right now.

As soon as she materialized within the room, she rushed over the machine and checked all the papers it had printed, going over the results several times. What this device tracked was something she had kept hidden from Twilight, fearing how the truth would affect her beloved student.

"Just a spike of nature magic that lasted a few seconds before disappearing, nothing more; everything is fine..." Celestia repeated out loud to calm herself. A part of her was already planning a visit as soon as possible without causing suspicion or worry among her subjects.

She then remembered her mad dash across half the castle.

Celestia groaned and buried her head in the papers. Way to go, princess.

The next day...

It was a brand new day, and Twilight had enjoyed the first new chapters of the latest addition to her library. After making breakfast, Spike had left to help Rarity as he usually did once or twice per week, so the unicorn had the library all to herself. It suited her well, seeing as she was waiting for someone.

As she absentmindedly organized some book, a gentle knock on the door announced their arrival. After greeting each other, Time Turner entered the library, noting how it seemed to be empty apart from the two of them.

He made himself comfortable and faced Twilight. "I suppose you have questions."

"Is Muffins ok?" She inquired first.

"Yes; she just needs to rest. Being erased from existence as a chrono-thief takes your place is tiring." Rolling his neck, the earth pony became more serious. "What I'm about to tell you is something you shouldn't share with anyone; not even your friends. Nor Princess Celestia."

"Why?" Twilight asked warily.

"I am a member of the Order of Chronos; we watch over and protect the timeline, dealing with beings like chrono-thieves." Turner lifted a hoof, golden power emanating from it. "Time is a dimension in on itself; beings of temporal energy are born and live there, and some protect our world and others from any threat to the timelines."

"Like the Guardian of the Timeline?" Twilight inquired as she observed the golden energy, captivated by how similar yet different it looked from magic.

Time Turner did a double take. "Ho-how do you know about the Guardian?!"

"Discord told me."

The earth pony rolled his eyes. "Of course he did..." Clearing his throat, he continued. "Yes, like the Guardian. They have recruitment programs, teaching those like me to deal and face the smaller incidents. Yesterday would have been more terrifying if a temporal being appeared in Ponyville instead of sending a pony after the chrono-thief."

"So why are you so secretive?" Twilight questioned.

"We keep to ourselves, trying to keep everyone else in the dark as much as possible to avoid interfering with the timeline. You wouldn't imagine what being public knowledge would cause," he explained, shuddering at the idea. "Ponyville is such a magnet for trouble that yesterday remaining unexplained will soon be forgotten by whatever decides to wreck the town next month.

"I have permission to inform you of my job and the Order, but just on a basic level. And it must remain a secret; you can only tell others in case of extreme urgency. Being late for a report doesn't count," he finshed in a joking tone with a knowing smile.

Twilight coughed, smiling sheepishly. "You know about that?"

"We have Starswirl's time spells under surveillance; it was one of the initiation rites back when I was doing training. Most boring job ever." Realizing they were getting off track, he cleared his throat again. "So, do I have your word?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

No hurt eye this time, which the unicorn was grateful of.

Two braincells made a connection in Twilight's mind, a doubt surging from it. "Wait, haven't you been around for a couple of years? Were you waiting for the chrono-thief for that long?

Turner waved a hoof. "No, she happened to appear here; seeing as I was in the area, they asked me to take care of it. I'm actually on Ponyville due to a certain Spirit."

I didn't take Twilight more than a few seconds to understand what he was not so subtly implying. "So, you're here to keep an eye on Discord?"

"Yes; his current situation is... delicate. My superiors thought that a friendly face would help if it seemed like he would come to clash with Equestria again," he answered, rubbing his neck nervously at the titanic effort that possibility implied.

"You two have met before?"

"I have met him before; but I'm not sure if he has met me yet." Noting the unicorn's confused face, he elaborated. "Discord travels through time a lot, so he doesn't always meet people in a linear manner. Your past may as well be his future, and viceversa."

WIth a sigh, Turner massaged his face. "Discord is one of the most dangerous beings of the planet, Twilight, but not because he is evil or something like that. Chaos magic grants him endless possibilities he's more than capable of executing flawlessly. I know him well, and not even I can tell what he could do to Ponyville, to you if he wanted."

Though it wasn't his intention, Time Turner was starting to worry Twilight.

Not scare, worry. There's a difference.

Said dangerous being was now phasing through Fluttershy's door to greet her friend, debating between summoning a band or fireworks for an entrance.

A carrot to the face interrupted that plan. Blinking in surprise, he looked down to the rabbit that was glaring at him.

"So, what do yout think of a rabbit stew for dinner?"

Nidhogg, I get the feeling I would choke on that rabbit's spite. Besides, I think Fluttershy would get angry if I ate her carrot-loving friend.

"So, we meet again, fierce protector of this cottage," Discord challenged as he shrank down to Angel's size. "That chrono-thief and a fierce battle against those fifth-dimensional beings from beyond this universe may have delayed me for a day, but I am finally here to visit Fluttershy. And not even you will stand in my way."

Rabbit and draconequus charged, clashing against one another in an encounter that had every animal in the living room captivated. Discord was powerful, magic bringing his every thought to existence as bubbles, arrows, chainsaws, cakes and more flew towards the relentless mammal.

Angel took everything head on, showing incredible abilities in boxing by blocking or evading every attack while throwing punches and kicks at blinding speeds, never staying in the same place for more than an instant.

A blur of white clashed against a storm of a myriad colors as both fighters exchanged blows all over the living room, more than once forcing a spectator to jump or fly out of the way to avoid being caugth in the relentless crossfire.

"What a worthy foe," Chryssie mused.

Eris cheered him on as the pair moved to the table. "C'mon Discord! Show him that no rabbit fighter is a match to the Spirit of Chaos!"

"Incoming! Duck, punch and spin!" Kevin warned as Angel launched himself forward at top speed. Caught by surprise, Discord barely managed to dodge before following Kevin's advice. Using the spin to hit the rabbit with his tail and push him back, the Spirit retreated a few steps as he considered his next tactic.

Nidhogg shot a fist forward. "Your turn! SENT HIM FLYING!"

Fast as lightning, Discord shot forward and headbutted a surprised Angel in the chest, sending the rabbit flying against a wall. The wood flexed under the rabbit like a soft pillow, absobing all his impulse before letting him fall to the ground.

Groaning in pain, Angel stood on tired legs as Discord arrogantly challenged him to make his next move.

With a snort, Angel sprinted forward and jumped towards Discord, the draconequus meeting his charge halfway with his own. Angel spun midair and kicked Discord in the stomach with all his might at the same time a talon closed into a fist met the rabbit's cheek.

Both fell to the ground, Discord managed to stand on four legs after a few seconds as Angel sat down, rubbing his aching cheek.

"I've met warrions of legend, and they don't measure up to this rabbit," Zero Morpheus commented, impressed.

Discord smirked as smoke came out of his nostrils, ready to keep going. Angel glared for a few second before looking away and sighing. With a reluctant nod to the draconequus, the rabbit hopped away to heal his bruises and his hurt pride.

As the animals around him whispered excitedly about the fight, Discord stood up and grew to his normal size, shooting a fist to the sky in silent celebration.

Fluttershy then entered the room, freezing at the sight of Discord.

The draconequus shook the pain off him before noticing the pegasus. "Oh, hey Flutters."

"Discord!" With a sincere smile, Fluttershy gently flew over and surprised Discord with a hug, the Spirit not certain how to respond. "I'm glad to see you again!" Her happiness soon became concern.

"What happened? You were gone for weeks, and you left so suddenly..."

"Let me guess, you ponies thought I was plotting my revenge."

Flutthershy looked to the side before giving him a nervous smile and part of the truth. "I didn't think that."

The draconequus snorted in amusement but let it go. "Mini D helped me remember how to get to my home. I left it in another dimension, a big dimension, and we had to look of it."

"Did you find it?"

"In the stomach of a giant creature, yes." Discord floated over and let himself fall over the unoccupied couch. "A rude, new species over there, I believe. Neither I nor Mini D had seen them before."

"Oh? Where's Mini D?" Fluttershy asked, looking around for any sign of the little toy as she sat in the smaller couch.

"Back home, making sure nothing important is missing." Discord didn't mention that he wasn't helping because of his amnesia. "When you are eternal like me, losing track of time is very easy, so uhhhh..." Discord coughed and tried to gesticulate with his paw, leaving Fluttershy confused.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, I'm just... trying to apologize for worrying you?" He shrugged lamely.

"Blegh, so sentimental..." Meridian complained, pretending to throw up. Eris smacked him with her tail. "OW!"

Fluttershy smiled gently, touched at that little gesture and secretly a bit amused at his attempts to say sorry. "It's ok Discord; you don't have to apologize for that. Your home is important. I mean, I will miss having you as a roommate," she looked a bit down at this before perking up, "but I'm happy you have your home back."

Discord just stared, caught off guard. He honestly didn't know how to answer that.

Kevin snickered. "Did your heart just skip a beat?"

"Awww, how adorable!" Chryssie said in a mock-sweet voice, trying hard not to laugh. Nidhogg didn't bother holding back and was practically roaring in laughter.

Oh, $%?& off.

The draconequus tried to play it cool. "Oh, don't worry; I'll visit you often so your life won't become the dull existence it was before I moved in."

Fluttershy giggled. "That would be great. Would you like some tea?"

"Sure, why not." As Fluttershy got up and went to the kitchen, Discord discreetely admired the pegasus. It's hard to believe someone like her can exist.

"You sure you didn't dream her up?" suggested Zero Morpheus.

Terror filled the rising draconequus at the possibility.

After all, he had used his magic to create dreams as real as possible during his imprisonment; a friend as perfect as Fluttershy would be just what he needed to bear the nothingness and the burning and the cold and-pain he needed pain I NEED PAIN!

A pan materialized and whacked him in the head, exploding in little stars as he fell back onto the couch. Yes, that will do.

Nidhogg and Eris smacked Zero with their tails. "OOOF! What was that for?!"

"For the headache; now shut up or we'll see if I can make a snack out of you."

Revenge of the Spirit of Chaos

Time Turner was just coming back home from buying food in the market, thinking about what he would make for dinner. Absentmindedly, he opened the door, freezing at the entrance when he caught sight of a hippogriff sitting in a chair at the end of the room, reading a book.

She looked at him before closing the book and letting it fall to the floor. "About time you showed up."

Standing up, she walked towards the annoyed pony. Turner sighed and closed the door, leaving his saddlebags next to it. She was not someone he wanted to deal with; but it seemed he didn't have a choice.

"River. Long time no see."

He met her halfway, Chronos Watcher and Chronos Warrior staring at each other. After a few seconds, Time Turner rolled his eyes and walked past her, towards his lab.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" The pony asked sarcastically.

The hippogriff hovered in front of the pony and stopped him with a claw pressing against his nose, earning an annoyed look from him."There was a complication as I pursued my targets."

Time Turner swatted the claw aside; River turned around and hit him with her tail across his muzzle. Rubbing his face with a hoof, Turner groaned and followed the feathered pain in the flank.

"I needed a place for someone to rest while they healed, and your house was near, so..." she finished. River didn't want to be near Turner more than she had to; they couldn't stand each other and more often than not ended up arguing and fighting.

The last forty seconds were a good example of that.

"So they finally assigned you a new partner?"

"I don't need a partner."

Turner rolled his eyes. "River, did you seriously just say that? That phrase screams 'I need a partner right now'," He deadpanned before getting serious. "Wait, then who's in here with us?"

Opening the door to his bedroom, River gestured to the mare currently resting on it, looking troubled.

Time Turner walked closer. Unicorn; older than a filly, but still a few years from becoming an adult. A fiery mane; I hope she doesn't have a similar character... he though as he checked her over, noticing the bloody towels laying at the side of the wall.

"What happened?"

"I was pursuing my targets in a plane between universes when we crashed into her; she seemed to be traveling through some sort of portal... bridge... something? I don't know what it was," she answered quietly, not wanting to disturb the sleeping pony.

"So young and already getting in conflicts of epic magnitudes. Just like you, River," Turner commented as he checked the unicorn's temperature, not needing to look back to know a rude gesture was being thrown at him.

Picking up the towels, he proceeded towards the washing machine with one important question for River.

"Seriously, did you have to use my bed?" He whispered.

"It's the only bed in the house!" She countered.

With a silent groan, Turner closed the door and left to wash the bloodstains off the towels.

"She didn't look too hurt," he mentioned as he prepared the washing machine.

"I asked Tic Tac for help; her wounds were... strange, and within the range of what she's allowed to heal." River mentioned, looking to the side. Remembering how broken the unicorn was as she called for help...

River hoped she would survive, because her death was something she didn't need on her conscience.

Turner groaned as he turned on the machine. "You know she dislikes that nickname."

"Too bad."

The earth pony massaged his temple. Let it go, Turner, it 's a lost cause...

River shifted her weight, impatient. "As soon as she's better, I need to go and check if there's been a change in the timeline, or if I can return the unicorn to whatever path she chose."

Turner looked pensive for a second. "I have an invention for that. We can use it to check that point if it's not too far away in the timestream."

River looked at him warily. "Does it work? Without exploding?"

In a private room on Canterlot Castle, Discord and Celestia were sitting on a table, facing each other. The princess took notes and reviewed everything Discord had just told her as the Spirit rested his head in his talon, the opposite paw drawing patterns in the air that a fleet of paper planes followed, swapping formation with every turn.

Apparently, obligatory reunions with Celestia to review how he was getting along with the rest of Equestria was one of the conditions for his 'reformation'. Discord didn't remember agreeing to that.

Then again, listening to Celestia giving speeches of moral rectitude, or whatever they were called, was boring. And after the last centuries, he didn't pay attention to boring.

Celestia took notes while listening, the perfect picture of a student paying attention to their teacher. The temptation of throwing something at that face was growing rapidly, so Discord decided to finish his report.

"...so I finally managed to convince her that the book uprising was an accident. No permanent damage done to Ponyville, and Twilight just hates me a little bit more."

"I wouldn't say that she hates you, Discord."

The draconequus raised an eyebrow as he summoned his cup of juice. "I bet you a moon that if she were to turn me to stone right now, her only regret would be at failing you in trying to convince me of being an asset to Equestria."

"First of all, I don't want to turn you into an asset; I just your help with something important," she explained as Discord drank and drank, briefly wondering just how much liquid that cup had before moving on. "And about Twilight... I'm not asking you to be friends. I certainly don't expect you to be best friends tomorrow."

"So you're smarter than you look."

The princess ignored that. "It is not easy to forgive, or to move forward. From what you showed me, you utterly defeated the Bearers using the aspects of themselves they dislike or try to keep buried, and made Twilight believe her friendships were over-"

"Yes, I know, I was there causing it, is there a point to this?"

Celestia grabbed a blank page with her hooves, crumpled it into a ball and threw it at the draconequus. Discord just stared in bemusement as the projectile bounced off his muzzle while the alicorn smiled mischievously at him.

"You hurt her, you hurt them, and they may resent you for that. Giving the first step to forging a bond of friendship is not easy in those conditions; if you do want to be friends with Twilight, you may have to take the first step."

Discord was silent for a moment. "You know, for a piece of wisdom coming from you, that wasn't mind-bogglingly boring."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she chuckled.

Chryssie growled. "Discord, don't compliment one of your torturers."

I am not. Scratching his muzzle, he lifted an eyebrow at Celestia."What makes you think I want to make friends with the other Bearers?" He asked; Discord couldn't see that happening with most of them.

"Don't you desire a place where you can fit in, where you can share great experiences with others and form good memories? Equestria may be that place, if you give it a chance. What do you say?"

Discord just looked at her, the fleet of paper planes passing behind him and forming a very obscene word for a few seconds before swapping formation.

Celestia wasn't impressed, simply rolling her eyes at the gesture. She had been called worse many times in her first years as a ruler, when she was still young and inexperienced, not to mention less imposing. Among other things, being twice the height of the average pony tended to have that effect.

I do wonder why I am this tall; Mother is barely an inch shorter than Luna...

"Equestria is not my kind of place, Celestia. You are all so..." Discord struggled to find the right word,"...immature. And not in a good way."

The Princess of Equestria, for the first time since the bachelor party of her last Captain of the Royal Guard, found herself speechless, eyes wide, nose twitching and jaw hanging.

Discord stared back, both amused and weirded out at her face. "What?"

"You. Are calling my subjects immature. You." Celestia gestured at all of him with both hooves, "I mean... you!"

"Which should tell you that ponykind still have so much growing left to do." He pointed out.They would probably be slightly more mature if you had let me finish my rule, but oh well.

"Ours is a job of sacrifices, with no one to say 'thank you', and many to condemn you. For change is never easy and rarely welcome." Eris spoke sagely, ignoring that Chryssie was mocking her from behind. She did notice Meridian and Zero trying not to laugh. "Of course you wouldn't take my words of wisdom seriously, you ingrates."

Meridian snorted. "Like I needed your wisdom back when I was Discord."

Meridian, you were the worst.

"THE worst." The other six emphatized.

"...Whatever."

"Anyway, are we done here? I have better things to do, like planning ways to overthrow you. You know, to keep the mind sharp," The draconequus smiled mockingly.

Celestia nodded, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. "Small steps, Celestia. He's less of an enemy with each day."

"I won't reach a point where I'll become a gallant hero that will steal your heart, either."

The princess froze for a second. "Did I said that out loud?"

The squad of paper planes shot towards the table, stabbing the wood and forming an elegant 'YES'.

"Now, if you excuse me I'll... find something fun to do."

Discord slowly faded away with an evil, exaggerated chuckle.

"... He's going to annoy me for the rest of my life." Celestia summed up, letting herself fall back to the chair with a groan. "The things I do for Equestria."

What followed was a long four days of Discord pranking the alicorns in every way conceivable... that wouldn't get him turned into a lawn ornament again.

The first day, Luna's breakfast jumped and hugged her face as Celestia's dinner ran all over the room. And they ran out of cupcakes.

The second day, the throne refused to let someone sit on it, instead going to the garden to take a nap. Luna found herself with a beard of cream that didn't get away until two in the morning. And the Royal Cupcake Maker was sick, so there weren't cupcakes available.

The third day, Celestia couldn't find her horn, cleverly hidden under Luna's pillow, so the sun rose a bit later. And, due to some whimsical, ancient rule, only the currently sick Royal Cupcake Maker could make cupcakes for the royalty and nobility present in the castle, so there weren't any cupcakes that day. Again.

The fourth day, as the Princesses fought tooth and hooves to abolish that rule, Discord made it rain cupcakes all over the castle. Desperate for the sweet snack, many jumped and devoured them, only to discorver their changed fur color wen ingested. A race started to find one that would give them their original color, until it was discovered it washed away with water. The alicorns couldn't even take advantage of that for dinner, as zealot chefs gathered and burned the cupcakes. They justified their actions as following the teaching of the food god Abundance, who saw food with magic as sacrilegious.

So, no cupcakes for diner.

On the fifth day, Discord pretended to have gone away, so the Princesses would eventually lower their guard and he'd have the perfect moment to strike with his latest prank! ...that was still under development. But it was going to be great!.

The law abolished, the now recovered Royal Cupcake Maker was made a chef more, and he was happy they weren't reducing his pay, so the draconequus' plan couldn't include the shortage of cupcakes again.

Such plans were put aside, however, when the Spirit saw Celestia vanish in her room after using a reverse summoning spell.

Landing on the floor, he stared at the traces of magic, adjusting his eyes to see it. Where did you summoned yourself, Celestia?

With a snap, a spark of magic appeared and melted into the floor, expanding and filling the echo of the spell done hundreds of times before.

Silver examined the shining echo. "Ah, she wove the spell into the floor itself, renovating it periodically so it wouldn't fade or deteriorate and making a key to activate it whenever she wanted."

But who needs a key when you can follow the trail? With another snap, his magic left the spell and traveled after Celestia, the echo of the path taken visible now that he knew where to look.

As he followed, he realized it was leading him inside the mountain Canterlot rested on... and through many spells to protect against teleportation and portals.

Oh, Cellie, you should be more creative if you want to keep me out. Discord simply floated through the rock, now intangible. He didn't go too deep before he arrived at his destination:

A room filled with machines and books.

...I'l be honest with you all, I'm kind of disappointed.

"Well, what did you expect?" Silver asked.

Something more than a laboratory.

"A secret laboratory," Meridian pointed out. "Who knows what kind of projects she keeps hidden in here?"

A smile grew across Discord's face as he turned invisible, floating silently to the part Celestia was currently working on. rowing visible again, he made funny faces at her before shrinking as she turned around, now the size of a fly. The princess looked around a couple of times before shaking her hear and going back to work.

Now... what to check?

Chaos magic was a mysterious thing, a storm of possibilities beyond good and evil, whimsical yet mindful. In a moment of almost sentience, a thread emerged from Discord and, as the draconequus watched in surprise, shot towards a pile of scrolls neatly ordered in a bookshelf.

"Well, that happened," Nidhogg said after a moment of silence.

In an instant he was back to his normal size and in front of the bookshelf, the thread vanishing back into his body.

With a few sparks of magic and willpower, the scrolls floated out of the bookshelf and unrolled, revealing pictures of ponies with short descriptions and lines connecting them.

Now this is a puzzle...

"No," Silver said."It not a puzzle. It's a genealogical tree."

"... Yeah, now that you mentioned it, I can see it." Chryssie looked over the pages. "And it's definitely more than one. Discord, put them in order."

With a thought, the scrolls reorganized, each fitting and forming lines that extended all the way to the roof, forcing the Spirit to fold them to the side.

There must be hundreds in here-wait, is that Pinkie Pie?

A gasp and a book falling to the gound caught Discord's attention; turning around, he found Celestia looking at him in surprise, fear, and growing anger.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

As a draconequus, Discord possessed incredible hearing. So, a scream that makes the entire room shake and breaks little pebbles from the roof hurts a lot.

And by a lot, I mean the Spirit cried in pain as his eardrums almost exploded, falling to the ground while cursing; the furious alicorn actually paused in her angry walk towards the draconequus for a second. What did he just call me? ...is that even an insult?

Discord groaned as magic repaired his battered ears. He glared at the alicorn."Primordial Chaos, Celestia! What's wrong with you?!"

Not many could stand up to the angry glare of a Spirit. Celestia glared back, even as she had to look up at the rising draconequus.

Ignoring the pain of her neck at having to hold the gaze of someone taller after centuries of dealing mostly with shorter creatures, the alicorn opened her wings slightly and snorted.

"What are you doing in my private laboratory, Discord?!"

"I was just following you to make another prank and saw you coming here. Not a bad place, welcoming notwithstanding."

Celestia stomped once, her hoof cracking the stone. "Leave. Now. And never speak of this place to anyone."

Discord stared at her for a moment before exploding in laughter. "Oh, this is precious! Do you think you can order me?"

The laughter died in an instant, and Discord's muzzle was pressing against Celestia's, the Spirit of Chaos glaring at the alicorn. "I do not serve you, Celestia. And I never will. So don't treat me like on of your subjects, because I won't tolerate that from someone I hate."

Celestia faltered for an instant at the venom of that last word and she stepped back, breaking eye contact.

"Still, what are you doing here?"

Discord shrugged, "I'm curious. I saw you do a reverse summoning and follwed the trail."

The princess just took a deep breath. As she tried to order her thoughts, Discord glanced back at the genealogical trees, full with ponies and information of their skills and magical affinites and best possibles partners-

"Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitaminute. Have you been secretly controlling the bloodlines of your subjects in an attempt to create powerful ponies you would use for slightly nefarious and/or benevolent purposes?"

'Geez, you can't trust in a ruler,' Chryssie quipped before noticing the looks the other six Spirits were giving her. 'What?'

"No!" Celestia denied, enveloping the papers in her magic with a simple thought. "It's... not how I would word it." She finished rather quietly.

Discord gestured for her to continue.

"I... have been playing matchmaker."

The draconequus snorted, a bit amused. "That's what they call it these days?"

She glared at his mocking smile. "We both know how dangerous the world is! And you know it better than me. I wanted ponies that would have the power to face those dangers, while my teachings would make sure they wouldn't be evil."

"Being a statue does not make keeping up with the times easy, but I'm pretty sure that last part of your plain didn't exactly work," Discord pointed out, but Celestia ignored him.

"I have strived to create a more harmonious society, free of the evils that plague every living being. It's not an easy road, but I believe they are getting there," Celestia turned back to Discord, resigned to reveal one of her greatest secrets. "I don't have my mother's knowledge or resources, but I learned enough from her to know that there's a biological aspect when a prodigy at magic is born. Secretly, I searched for those that showed great magic, or the potential for it, and worked to try and make sure they would fall in love and form families with carefully chosen partners, so their children could equal or surpass them."

"Did you force them to?"

Celestia looked at him with utter seriousness. "I care for all of my subjects, Discord. I would never take their freedom. I heavily nudged the couples to be together, but if they refused to or fell in love with others, I just let them be and moved on."

"And all without anyone knowing," he guessed.

"Most of them were convinced that it was destiny itself the one bringing them together," she admitted with a small chuckle that morphed into a sigh. "It wasn't a perfect plan, and not every child was above the average, but the number of magical prodigies is around fifteen times larger than it was when I was accepted my position."

"Centuries of carefully selected breeding to adquire the desired traits in the offspring, having in count it wasn't enforced but done subtle enough that the subjects never realized it was happening and could back down..." Silver muttered to himself, doing calculations on his mind, "With around a dozen subjects as the starting amount if those scrolls were completely accurate... there are hundreds of ponies out there that could reach the ultimate arcane potential of their species."

Nidhogg whistled. "What I wouldn't give to eat one; flesh rich in magic has an taste unlike any other."

The other Spirits groaned in disgust at that. Discord ignored them as he realized something.

"Twilight is one of them." It wasn't a question.

Celestia put the papers back in their place with a bittersweet smile. "My faithful student... she is going to be great, if my mistakes don't ruin her future."

Discord blinked at her choice of words. Now that's interesting.

The Princess of the Sun took a deep breath, prepared to use her best resource to ensure his secrecy. "Can I trust you won't tell a word about this place and my projects?"

"Weeeeell..." Discord made a show of thinking it over. "It would be fun to see your precious ponies react to this particular information-"

"I'll give back your greatest treasure if you promise to keep this a secret."

My-... what?

"Bribery? After probably stealing your greatest treasure? Wow, with every minute here Celestia looks less like a paragon of virtue," Chryssie commented.

"She never stopped looking like a bother that would make a delicious snack with the right spices. And what treasure is she talking about?"

I... I don't know.

"You don't know, or you don't remember?" Kevin asked.

His greatest treasure... those words filled Discord with a longing for something so precious it hurt his heart to not have it, yet the void that consumed most of his memories gave no hint as to what it was.

He had to have it.

"Deal," he accepted impulsively.

This was a risk, but Celestia had to take it. Showing him trust first could convince him to help her; and she needed his help.

Celestia summoned a box from a secret compartment in the laboratory, and something inside resonated with Discord. Something gripped his heart.

What... what is this feeling?

"Even though I shouldn't, I'll trust in your word. Don't break it." She passed the box to him, both noticing his trembling paws before he got them under control.

Discord just nodded and went away in a flash of light; the box was very light, but it felt so heavy in his soul. He needed time to think, and he wasn't going to do it near the alicorn.

A few hours later...

Beautiful music filled the park, notes dancing in the air as the musician practiced.

Octavia was a mare whose heart beat with the power and passion of the musical arts, whether it was like the elegant works of old or the powerful and energetic melodies of the present. She was always chasing after songs, her soul yearning for a masterpiece that would complete her existence.

Not to mention help her pay the rent; prices were going up in Canterlot. Again.

If this keeps going, I'll have to move to another city, she mused with her eyes closed as she went for a slower, melancholic song. Taking the train for the important shows will be less expensive than staying if I manage to find a place that doesn't like to squeeze the bits out of your saddlebags. The heart and jewel of Equestria Canterlot may be, but it sure is greedy.

As part of her frustration bled over her instrument, the notes grew more irritated, the tone more aggressive.

As the music slowed to an end, Octavia took a deep breath, gently caressing the strings of her beloved cello as her mind went over her current problem.

"Not bad."

"Ah!" The sudden voice startled her, and she went straight to panicked when the source turned out to be a floating, chimeric creature right at her left. "AHHH!"

"I'm more into rock and metal, to be honest, but your music's pretty good," Discord continued with a wince, massaging his ear as Octavia and her instrument fell to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Asked Chryssie.

I need a distraction. If I focus on the box, I'll go madder.

"You didn't even open it! You are dying to know what's inside, so gather your courage and do it, you coward." Kevin said, annoyed after hours of seeing Discord fret over the thing.

I can't! Not... not right now. Now shut up and let me talk!

After a few seconds of staring in shock, Octavia realized that there wasn't any danger. Discord was just staring back at her as he floated, eyebrow raised in amusement as he held a box in his talon, not giving even a hint of the discussion going on in his head. Clearing her throat, she got back on her hooves and picked up her instrument.

"Thank you. I, ah, apologize. You took me by surprise."

"Heh, taking others by surprise is fun. And you didn't run away screaming or tried to hit me, so there's nothing to apologize for," Discord said as he landed. He did notice the glances the mare tried to hide as she put the cello in its case. "I'm Discord, Spirit of Chaos. I'm a draconequus; you've never seen one before and you never will. My skill with magic is unrivaled, so don't be surprised if I can do things you consider impossible. I was chatting with Her Royal Bother and be gone as soon as possible, so you probably won't see me around much. And I'm currently single."

Octavia tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What?"

"There is no one like me in the world, so everyone comes up with the same questions when they first see me," the Spirit explained as he let himself fall backwards, the ground rising to meet him halfway and catching him with the softness of a plump mattress.

Octavia blinked before the last part came to mind. "Why do others ask if you're single?"

A cheeky smirk was her answer, and the mare just rolled her eyes. She put the case on her back and prepared to leave before stopping and turning back at the draconequus. "I'm sure we haven't met before, but you look familiar..."

"I spent centuries as a statue in the castle's gardens."

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "Now that you mention it, I have seen a statue with your appearance in the gardens, but I doubt it came to life and turned into flesh and bones... are you flesh and bones?"

"Oh, it's a long story; but I've got time. I have all the time there is, and then some." He summoned two glasses, milk and ice cream to make milkshakes. "If you are not busy, I could tell you."

Octavia thought it over. Accept a milkshake from a stranger, or going home to discuss with my landlord for the increase in the rent I'm sure is waiting for me?

It didn't take her long to decide.

"Sure, why not?"

A pillow materialized near her, and she sat in front of the Spirit. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Octavia; it's a pleasure to meet you," the mare introduced herself as she extended a hoof.

Discord put the box in the indetectable reality bubble he kept with himself to carry important things and took the hoof with his talon. "I don't remember the last time someone said that to me. Here's your milkshake, musician."

As the draconequus began his tale, Mini D observed them from the distance, giving them privacy. A bittersweet smile crossed their face at the nostalgic sight.

Author's Note

I need a better schedule.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to comment.

Of Boxes and Alicorns

Discord rested on a cloud, far above Equestria. In front of him, holding all of his attention, a wooden box floated in chaos magic.

It had been a week since he got the box, and he spent all his time either freaking out or distracting himself with whatever thing that caught his attention. It hadn't been all bad...

But right now, though he seemed calm, a storm of emotions raged on his mind and heart.

It's mine and I have it but i don't know what it is but I have it but I don't remeber but I missed it and I couldn't believe I lost it and I don't remember losng it don't be stupid of course you don't remember amnesia remember? Oh I hate them for making me go through that and I hate her for taking this and I'm grateful that she returned it and I hate that now I owe her one it was a deal but it doesn't matter I have it so important SO IMPORTANT I owe her I hate Celestia I owe the alicorn have to punch the alicorn someday have to made her an old wrinkly elephant and do something to Luna need to open the box NO I can't it hurts but I have to have to open no yes noyesnoyenoyeyeninynynynynynynynyny this is getting ridiculous but it hurts it doesn't wound but something happened and it broke me what what what was it? Curse you amnesia need to remember open the box nonono you can't make me...

"..."

"So... who wants to enter that typhoon of emotions and get him to calm down?"

"IIIIIIIIII think it's best if we let him calm down on his own," Chryssie said, warily observing the thoughts and feelings crashing with each other.

Mini D, floating besides Discord, simply watched, waiting for the draconequus to talk or act. Anything that gave a hint or a signal that he wanted to interact.

Discord took a bite out of the cloud and slowly chewed on the vapor. Good enough for me.

"Are you ready to open the box?"

Waves of magic shone over his form as the draconequus kept his power contained. To release it when his emotions were like this was a bad, bad idea. The disaster he'd have to clean up would be a hassle, not to mention the complains he'd receive from the equestrians. He wasn't in the mood to deal with that.

"No."

Aaaaaaand I'm worried. Mini D landed on the cloud, taking the box and sitting in front of Discord. The Spirit looked at the stuffed toy, his old master and eternal assistant; having buttons for eyes didn't stop them in the least to show their concern.

A minute of silence floated between them, magic embers slowly floating off Discord and forming a spinning circle around the two.

"We need to talk," Mini D finally said.

"I know," Discord groaned, fur and feathers rising in agitation, "but I don't want to. It's easier that way."

"Pretending your problems are not there won't make them go away. We know how much problems like following you around," Mini D joked.

"What can I say... with me around, things are never boring."

They shared a short chuckle. Discord took a deep breath.

"They beat me." He admitted reluctantly.

Mini D just waited. The Assistant was older than his universe; they could wait for him to continue at his leisure.

"Celestia, Luna, the Spirit of Harmony those Elements are a part of; they won. Their victory was absolute, and... and all I could do was suffer."

"For all of eternity," Mini D lamented in a quiet voice. "They have no idea how long eternity is, do they?"

"What mortal does? What immortal that hasn't truly lived does?" Discord was fuming now, the ring of fire burning brighter while spinning faster. "We came here to change things, and we did! I hate to admit it, but those two truly guided the ponies in a better direction after I got rid of most of their hatred. We could have gone on vacation until the next disaster struck instead of me being reduced to a lawn ornament."

"You were a cruel teacher, but they went beyond that to achieve victory," Silver added.

"No, to take revenge on you, Discord," Chryssie seethed.

Mini D sighed. "I should have been with you."

"And then they would have had two statues for the birds to use as a toilet instead of one. Trust me, you don't want to go through that," the draconequus pointed out with a shiver.

Their private conversation was cut short as the ring of fire trembled and broke apart; as the Spirits watched, the pieces joined together in a miniature sun, one that burned in anger and despair as it orbited the cloud.

No...

Discord looked at Mini D. "You heard that, right?"

They nodded.

The sun the left them behind and shot southwards and downwards. Discord put the box in a safe place and the pair followed the magic.

Time and space change and drift in way many will never truly grasp, possibilities rising from and falling back into inexistence within every moment and in every place. Discord's magic had just stumbled upon a dying possibility that fought back, a blazing flame that refused to be rejected even as another took that wanted place in reality, becoming more and more certain with every second.

With a scream of anguish and rage, the flame was pushed back again, and the miniature sun the Spirits were following vanished over Ponyville.

A little place where weak traces of a most familiar, unwelcomed power extended over the houses and beyond.

"Who used the Elements of Harmony and didn't bother cleaning up the expelled energy? I thought Sparky was obsessed with cleaning." Discord complained as he moved a tendril of energy aside.

"I wonder what they used them for," Mini D said out loud as his gaze wandered over the tendrils going through Ponyville, noticing most of them intertwined with a cetrain house/library/tree.

"Only one way to find out," Silver pointed out as Discord charged his claw with magic, "Though it could be a trap."

The draconequus turned to Mini D. "If this is a trap, avenge me."

He then grabbed a few tendrils, their magic mixing with his for a moment.

They were fading, mere parts of something greater, now absent and dissolved into the dying echoes of the past; but the Spirit got a clear word out of them:

Ascension.

The tendrils broke; Discord shook his hand to get rid of the annoying buzzing the experience left him with as Mini D floated closer.

"Ascension..."

"If someone was 'elevated to a higher form' or whatever definition this magic used... Who was it? And where are they?"

Discord conjured a bow and took aim. "Well, we both know where to start looking for answers..."

Chaos magic surged from his paw and coalesced into an arrow; he released the cord and the projectile shot towards the library. It phased through the walls and slightly exploded in the middle of the main room, a portal manifesting long enough for the Spirits to cross through before collapsing.

They paused. Inside Discord's mind, Nidhogg tensed.

"What am I feeling?" Growled the dragon.

"The ascension, I suppose," Kevin answered. "Though I have to admit it's been a while since I've come across something like this."

Echoes of a peculiar spell filled the space around them, and Discord reached out with magic in every direction.

Purple magic filled the room like a silent cyclone, a rainbow of harmony power manifesting on the floor as a circle small enough for a pony to sit in the middle appeared. As most of his magic returned, Discord and Mini D stared at the image of Twilight Sparkle appeared inside, her eyes a blinding white.

The unicorn reared up as she was engulfed in red and shrunk to the size of an orange. Now a crimson sphere of energy, it burned with arcane potential.

It began to ascend slowly as a ghostly wind picked up in the room, books and other objects thrown to the walls or the floor as it coalesced into a deep blue orb. Wind, storm, rain and blizzard crashed within.

Discord jumped and floated as the ground started to vibrate, planks cracking and bookshelves falling over as a silver orb rose from the ground, the whole tree shaking at its presence. Vitality and life beat inside.

The two orbs joined the sphere, the three lights dancing around each other; closer, faster.

As they embraced eath other, the ring of harmony burst into an explosion of light that forced them to cover their eyes and caught the attention of those close enough to the library to see the beams of white brilliance surging from the windows for a few seconds.

The light died down, revealing an sphere that burned with the three colors, growing and fading to reveal a winged Twilight Sparkle.

Unicorn, pegasus and earth pony. The three combined...

"The Spirit of Harmony turned her into an Alicorn?!" Chryssie exclaimed, not believing her eyes.

Mini D floated closer as the image dissipated, floating in the middle of the disaster the library was now. "An alicorn has the power of the pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns, plus a few things unique to such a mix. Would that count as an ascension?"

"That echo was enough of an answer for me." Discord stared at the spot the image had been standing on. "I thought Keeper was the only one who knew how to create Alico-"

Flames burst behind them for a moment, a cry of rage and defiance shaking the library like an earthquake for a second. By the time they turned around, the fire was gone. A dying echo sunk into impossibility.

But not before a wave of power slammed into the Spirits, throwing them against the wall.

Eris and Chryssie, the ones more sensitive to emotions, trembled in fear.

Kevin noticed their reaction, and his suspicions were confirmed. "Whatever happened here, it made something furious."

A something that is way more powerful than me, Discord pointed out as he dug himself out of the wall, shaking himself free of splinters as Mini D slid to the floor, landing head first on a thick book.

"Ow."

An hour later, the pair was sitting in a roof on Canterlot; the ponies below and above came and went in a rush, the city caught by surprise.

There was a new alicorn. A new princess.

"You know, I wonder why becoming an alicorn gets you turned into royalty in Equestria," Mini D said as he watched the ponies below galloping in every direction frenetically, gossiping or preparing for a last minute ceremony. "I mean, how does that make you a good leader?"

Discord didn't answer, his gaze on the box floating in front of him.

Mini D sighed. "Do you want to go look for Twilight?"

"I know where she is," the draconequus answered. "They are all in the castle, celebrating and crying in joy and preparing for a ceremony and whatever."

A pie manifested at his side, and he finished it in record time. "I'm not in the mood to try and have fun only to get their annoyance and wrath. It's entertaining sometimes, but... right now, that would be just a distraction. And getting distracted, as much as I want it to, won't solve this problem."

Mini D floated closer, circling around him. "Fluttershy could help you. Or that mare you met the other day."

"Probably; but I lost track of Octavia, and Fluttershy is in the castle. If I go to her, I'll have to deal with the others. And dealing with them is so... annoying! I don't like being the one annoyed."

"So why don't you leave?"

It was a simple suggestion, one Discord would usually take when bored. But now there was a problem with that idea.

"Where would I go?"

Thanks to his amnesia, he didn't know what or who expected him out there, in spite of his heart telling him he should. Dealing with the embarrassment of not recognizing someone wasn't fun to Discord when he was the forgetful one. I think I'll leave the awkward for the mortals for now, thank you.

"Visit Hubert, for example. You know he loves to chat with you. Or the Smooze. That being needs more friends to be honest." Mini D suggested, before noticing Discord was looking at him strangely. "What?"

"... I have no idea who you are talking about."

Author's Note

This chapter continues here: here.

I'm slow with that story, so next chapter of Chaos in the World of Order will be up soon, in spite of chronologically being after the end of the first arc of The Worlds of Magic.

Don't forget to comment. I like comments.

Take revenge or not take revenge; that's... that's how the quote went, right?

Well, I guess it was inevitable.

The battle raged on for hours, one versus many. It was a magic clash that surpassed all previous ones in centuries. Not even Nightmare Moon's battle against Celestia 1000 years ago could compare.

As Equestria shifted and turned, Discord looked around him. Hundreds of soldiers lay down on the ground, their armors' parts fused together and with the earth and stone below them. Even those who were still conscious didn't have the strength left to break free.

Ripping yet another spear from his back, Discord threw it to the side, glad for must have been like the millionth time in his life that Spirits didn't bleed.

The weapon rolled and stopped in front of a wingless Rainbow. Her belly was so big she could only flail her hooves around, incapable of moving and buck him in the face as he could see in her eyes she so wished to do. She was insulting him nonstop, though.

Behind her, a healty apple tree grew in the middle of the torned battlefield, out of place with the warlike appearance of the landscape. Applejack's new form wasn't original at all, but he honestly was too occupied blocking dozens of magic beams at that moment to think of something better.

He walked forward, passing a mouse that used to be Rarity and the small dragon that held her gently in his claws while trapped in a cage of ultra durable concrete. It was too strong for him to break free, and (thanks to Nidhogg's curiosity) he knew that dragons couldn't digest concrete, so devouring it wasn't an option for Spike.

He glanced to the sky as he sumoned an ice pack for his aching head, seeing the moon floating on the horizon and dragging with it the night. Pinkie Pie was up there. Not even her chaos magic could bring her back, so he could relax and not worry about that pony for a few hours.

The Elements were floating somewhere inside the sun; the heat, pressure and humongous amounts of magic in the celestial orb would eventually destroy the blasted artifacts.

He kept walking while the rubble of Canterlot's castle floated and circled over his head. The Princesses that called it home were almost in front of him, hurt and exhausted with their armors broken. Luna was on the ground, her mane and tail no longer a starry sky, but a light blue. Her glare was a mix of anger and resignation; she knew victory was his, and couldn't do anything to change that. Celesia was trying to stand up and muster the courage to see beyond her pink mane and to the Spirit in front of her.

Discord looked way worse: covered in burns and wounds from which magic shone as the energy fixed his body at a snail's pace. He could do it in an instant, but he was so exhausted he let that function in automatic. It was pretty slow by itself.

That's why he was missing both his bat wing and his tail, among other things.

A burst of fire at their right caught their attention.

A prison of books burned as flames consumed the paper, and with it the spell on them, freeing their only prisoner.

In a flash, Twilight was in front of him, covered in ashes and glaring at him while tears trickled down her face.

"Hah! Told you she would destroy the books, Meridian! I win!"

"Damn! I was so sure that she loved books to much to do that." the crocodile lamented.

"Let that teach you to never bet against me! Now I get to choose dinner, and we'll enjoy that cheese and ham stuffed chicken I like so much." Chryssie gloated, dreaming about her favourite food... that wasn't an emotion.

"Chicken?! Bless you, Chryssie! I love you!" Nidhogg said, crying and showering her with kisses. While the others laughed at Chryssie's attempts to get him off of her, Discord just sighed in annoyance.

"I'll say this once, Sparky: please step aside," were his tired words. Both of them knew she wouldn't, but he still asked her; his problem wasn't with the unicorn.

Twilight gritted her teeth and summoned a barrier around her and the princesses with all the magic she had left.

Discord's tail materialized and shot underground; a few seconds later it erupted between Twilight's hooves and coiled around her. The unicorn found herself lifted in the air but before she could do something about it... and started to laugh as the puff of white hair tickled her mercilessly.

Her concentration broken, the shield fell and in an instant Discord was in front of her, holding Twilight's horn.

"Sleep."

And so she did.

Gently letting her on the ground, Discord walked around until reaching the alicorns, who were back on their hooves and glaring at him.

The three were exhausted and hurt, but Discord wasn't going to stop until he had his revenge.

He growled... no, they growled, eight voices as one, ready to impart justice and exact revenge. The ice pack melted so suddenly it went straight to plasma.

And then something tackled the Spirits and threw them to the ground.

Looking up, and now back in full control, Discord noticed that everything around him was frozen. But not in ice.

In time.

Annoyed, Discord shifted his gaze to the newcomer.

Discord knew that the creature in front of him didn't have a physical body. They (because male or female weren't terms that could be applied to the newcomer) just used the armor to move comfortably in this plane of existence.

"Oh, no; not him!" Meridian groaned.

The Spirit of Chaos stood up as tall as he was, all twelve feet, more than twice the size of the white metal vessel in front of him.

"Long time no see, Guardian of the Timeline."

[b"]Discord," Their voice echoed, like they were talking from a deep cavern. "I cannot let you do this." The draconequus groaned while the spirits in his head protested and threw insults at the Guardian.

"And why, for the love of Chaos, can't you? This is just a simple revenge."

"Killing the alicorns will change everything for the worse, Discord," they said, their voice so calm it was almost monotone.

He stared at them with a dumbstruck expression, blinking several times before talking again.

"Killing? I was just going to ruin their lives."

"WHAT?!" The other seven Spirits roared. The draconequus's world went white for an instant due to the psychic scream. More than enough for the Guardian to disappear from his sight.

Gee, thanks guys. That's exactly what I needed.

"Are you kidding me, Discord?!" Kevin shouted, ignoring him.

Dead people don't suffer, Kevin.

"... Hes got a point, you know." Silver admitted.

"You have lost most of your self-control." Came their voice from behind him.

"Oh, really? I wonder why," he deadpanned as he turned around and threw a snowball at the time being.

It impacted their helmet and left it with a funny looking snow beard. The Guardian ignored it and walked towards him, undeterred.

Discord summoned the coldness of space, trapping them in an ice so cold, oxygen itself was solid; but the creature walked through it, undeterred.

Discord bent space between them, up and down and sideways and making shortcuts and longcuts throught the smaller, subatomic dimensions that ended up even before the beginning; but they walked through them undeterred, unfolding reality and putting it back together.

Discord pulled a lever, and the Guardian was on an elevator that shot up at incredible speeds, ending up in front of the unbelievably hot sun. He wasn't surprised (but was definitively annoyed) when the hot red box came back and the door melted apart, revealing the undeterred time being walking forward like it was nothing.

Getting tired of this, Discord glued their feet to the ground with hyper-strong, hyper-durable glue capable of keeping tectonic plates together. The Guardian simply took off the armor's feet and summoned new ones.

"... You have to admit, that was a bit funny." Kevin chuckled.

With a groan, Discord fell back into a comfortable couch, calling forth his patented cup filled with an ocean of frutal mix juice. With so many fruits in it, the flavor changed as you sipped it.

"Ok, I'll listen to you only because I'm too tired to try and stop you."

The Guardian walked until he was standing in front of Discord. The yellow particles filtering through the helmet's holes (Discord betted to a Spirit of Harmony that they were simply too lazy to make a decent one, and won, to Chryssie's delight) stared at the draconequus.

"The damage they had caused to you goes deeper than you believe, Spirit of Chaos."

"More reason for me to make them pay." He said dully, taking a long sip.

"You are but a mere, pathetic shadow of what you once were."

Ohh... bad move. If Discord was anything, it was prideful.

"EXCUSE ME?! I'm still the most skilled wizard in the entire planet, and probably in all of the world's history!" The Spirit snarled, greatly offended. Good thing the cup was as close to indestructible as he could make things be, or there would be a new ocean in the planet.

"Perhaps..." Oh, Discord wanted to make him swallow those words so much "...but I meant that your mind is so damaged, you're barely the person you were before. With a simple, harmless comment, I can bring you to anger; that's how vulnerable you are now emotionally."

"Like I said: more reason for me to make them pay!" This day was going from bad to worse, and Discord's mood along with it. The juice helped to distract himself from all that, though.

"You know it is my job to-"

"Yeah, yeah, the timeline and the flow and everything; I haven't forgotten that," he snapped.

"Keep walking this road, and you would doom this world like some of your predecessors did. Nowhere near as that foolish, blasted excuse of a Spirit that Meridian, though." They said, expressing emotion for the first time in this conversation:

Annoyance.

As everyone else laughed at a grumbling Meridian, Discord chuckled and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, screams and threats came out through his nostrils, fading in the frozen air.

"If (and it's a huge 'if', mind you) I listen to you, what do you want me to do?" The Guardian turned around and looked at the princesses as they answered.

"They are still needed; they have been the greatest reason for Equestria to become what it is today, and are the best choice to repair what Meridian broke. They are still putting the foundations, but one day their legacy will create something that you've been wishing for."

Discord was silent, wondering which of his many wishes the Guardian was talking about.

Everything around them blurred; alarmed, Discord conjured an hourglass and looked at the sand.

it was going from the bottom to the top.

Reality became clear again, and things were back to their usual, dull way before he flipped his lid.

"This time, choose another way. Because you'll have to face me if you repeat what you did."

The Spirits were the most powerful beings on the planet, and the Spirits of Chaos were probably the only ones that could face beings like the Guardian and have good chances of winning... but Discord knew they would kick his tail to the ends of the galaxy before he managed to simply scratch that armor. So it wasn't an encouraging prospect.

"This thirst for revenge won't sate that easily, you know," he mumbled, looking at the castle with such intensity that all of Canterlot trembled briefly under the power of his gaze.

"Then do what you had planned before; annoy them for the rest of their lives. Be that thorn in their side that they can't get rid of."

"...I could live with that," he admitted. 'What about you, guys?'

His tenants huddled together and discussed something in such a low voice that he couldn't made out the words before they split and Silver took a step forward. "We have reached a consensus," the gargoyle said; " as much as we'd love to enact revenge on the alicorns, we are in no condition to fight and beat the Guardian. So, we reluctantly agree to his terms... for now."

'Good enough for me.'

"Fine, you win," he told... to the air. The Guardian was gone.

'Huh, not even a goodbye? How rude.'

After stretching, he teleported to Fluttershy's cottage.

He had made sure to trap her there during the battle, trying to get out only making her enter the building again from the other side. And it was definitely not because it was heartbreaking to see her betrayed face and hear her desperate cries for him to stop.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but that Guardian was right. You've been friends for a day! It shouldn't have hurt you so much; you are not that desperate..." grumbled Nidhogg.

"Hey, Flutters."

She turned around with a surprised smile that promptly fell when she saw him. That was followed with a scream that hurt Discord's battered sense of hearing.

"Owowow, my ears!"

"DISCORD! What happened to you?!" she whisper-yelled -that was new for the draconequus- before flying to him, her hooves checking his arm.

"What are you... oh."

He was still wounded.

"You know, the Guardian could have healed you. The least it could do for stopping our revenge," Chryssie complained.

"Right, forgot to fix that." With a red, light blue and purple glow (Fluttershy could swore she saw the shadows of another seven dimensions then; though she had no idea how she could even tell that), Discord was back to normal, if still looking like he had had a long, long day.

"What happened?"

"A little incident that ended with some time travel. Nothing that should worry you, it's all fixed now," he answered rather vaguely, taking her couch and stretching it to use as a bed. "Do you mind if I sleep here?"

It took her a while to calm down. For the most part it was at how exhausted Discord looked, and how fast he fell asleep. Still, she couldn't help but worry, and the next day she greeted him with a great, delicious breakfast.

Which both made his day and make him feel guiltier at what he'd done in that moment that no longer existed. Not that he was ever going to tell her.

Author's Note

Wasn't sure how to start this story, but I think I finally had it right. What do you think?

The Guardian is gonna be something of a recurring character, appearing to make sure the timeline doesn't change for worse, and generally making sure Discord doesn't screw things up while he recovers. We may not see him, but he's always watching.

Always.