Shelter: New Beginnings

by Raikage77

Rating: everyone
Tags: Crossover, Human, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Science Fiction, Tragedy, Adventure, Discord
Length: 19196

From a world lost, to a life of beautiful loneliness. What wouldn't one girl do to have just one friend.

He is the Spirit of Chaos.
She is the sole survivor of her world.
He is something new to her.
She is a lonely, creative soul.

During a simple chaotic stroll through the multiverse, Discord finds a sleeping girl in a space pod drifting in the void of space. A girl with a tragic past and nowhere to go and not a friend in her beautiful, lonely world; the reformed draconequus decides to give her refuge, by taking her to the one place that she'll be able to make all the friends she desires. The land of Equestria.

In a world where magic is real and she has no control over what happens, how can one lonely girl cope in a new environment not of her making, and her memories of a past she had long since forgotten.

Shelter/MLP crossover (though, there will be other universes added as well, with MLP being the main focus, obviously.)
And what inspired this story is this

Published 2016-11-28 04:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-04-07 05:49:46 UTC

Prologue: Sleeping Survivor

Prologue: Sleeping Survivor

Prologue: The Sleeping and the Chaotic

Free days were always the best type of day. Then again, almost every day was a free for a certain Spirit of Chaos. It wasn't like Discord had a job of any kind, and he didn't need one if he was being honest with himself. His very existence was job enough, it was his calling, what he lived for; balancing out harmony with chaos, for one cannot be upheld without the other, like night and day.

So, yes, he did have a job, and he very much liked his job. Creating chaos whenever he wanted and spending his days as he saw fit. The draconequus couldn't do anything on the same scale as he once had because he was on the good side now, as Spike had put it, but he still spread his fair share of chaos nonetheless.

On some days, he'd do a little chocolate rainstorm here, a few cotton candy apple tree in Sweet Apple Acres there (much to Applejack's annoyance), and maybe a soapy trail or two just for laughs and giggles at the slipping ponies that passed by. He never used to keep track of the days, at least, not until he became friends with Fluttershy and the girls, along with having to keep track of his Wednesday tea dates with the Element of Kindness that he very much enjoyed.

And then, there were days like today, when he used his magic to travel through the multiverse, seeing the sights and maybe spreading a bit of chaos in a foreign world from time to time. And today was a treat with such a potential for disaster it gave him the shakes.

In an island nation called Japan on planet Earth, or what the chaos lord had dubbed 'Earth 8' after having visited so many versions of the world. Discord was floating in the air, quite lazily, watching two young Japanese teenagers as they ended their, not so perfect, lunch date. He had caused small bits of chaos here and there, changing the name of a street sign with another to get the boy lost, only for him to double back and find that he had been going the right way the whole time, resulting in him being a few minutes late, not that the girl was upset with him.

Then, there was the sudden gust of wind at just the right angle, exposing the young girl's underwear to her date, getting a good amount of embarrassment out of the both of them. At the couple's lunch, the chaos spirit mixed up their lunch orders with another table's, making it so that the girl got fish, something that she hated eating, and even the smell seemed to bother her greatly.

"I guess we could choose a different place to eat, next time," the blueish haired boy said.

The light brown haired girl shrugged, giving him a shy smile. "It wasn't your fault. The waiter just got the order wrong, its no big deal," she replied. "I'm having a good time, either way."

Now it was time to place the cherry on top of the chaos cake; Discord was by no means a destroyer of relationships, nor was he a home wrecker, sometimes in the literal sense (at least not anymore). But, there were times when love had to be tested to see if it were true, and who better to give that test than the bringer of chaos himself.

“They are going strong, no doubt about that,” Discord said, lowering himself closer to the teenage couple, almost directly over their heads. "But, for how long is the fun question."

Usually, most humans had a tendency to freakout when they saw him in his true form. Of course, there were the special cases where humans had seen so many strange creatures and things that his appearance didn't bother them in the slightest, some were even almost as chaotic as he was, and that was a big almost at that. In this universe, however, he didn't need to worry about being causing a panic; spirits like him couldn't be seen or heard by normal humans. They weren't even suppose to be able to effect the physical world, either. But, Discord was Discord, in other words, the rules didn't apply to him in the slightest. It was one of the perks of being the Lord of Chaos.

But, even the Lord of Chaos needed to be careful. The last thing the draconequus needed was to end up like his old, sorta, kinda but not really, friend, Shendu, with some powerful monk sealing him away in a scroll or turning him to stone, again. Though, I doubt it would work on me since the Elements only exist in Equestria. The trickster mused to himself. I'd rather not take my chances and find out.

A half hour later, the sun was just starting to set, and the teenage boy had walked the girl to the train station they had met up at early in the day. They stood off near of the main entrance as people walked past them on the street, entering and exiting the station. They didn't say anything for a few moments, just starring at each other.

Until the boy finally broke the silence.

“I had a nice time, today,” the boy said, meekly, his thumbs resting in the pockets of his blue jeans.

The girl smiled, a small blush on her cheeks. “I did, too,” she said. “Maybe, we could go out again, sometime.”

“Defiantly,” the boy said, smiling back. He moved to take a step forward, and the ever watchful draconequus took that as his cue; he snapped his talons and a good size banana peel appeared right under the boy's feet, causing him to stumble towards the girl. His hands shot out to grab something to stop his fall, and landed right on the girl's impressively sized chest.

The girl blushed heavily, too shocked to move and slowly looked from the boy's face to his hand. The boy gave her chest a few good squeezes, not able to help himself. The girl's hair suddenly shadowed her eyes. “You-.”

“S-sorry,” the boy let out, blushing.

“You pervert!”

The loud echo that rang out drawing eyes on the two as the girl slapped the boy. It was too much. Discord started chuckling at first, then burst into full laughter as a red hand print appeared on the boy's cheek, leaving the teenager speechless and wincing. The girl turned and marched towards the train station doors, and her date followed after her.

"I'm sorry!"

“Get away from me, Kei!”

“Miho-chan, I'm really, really, sorry!” They walked inside, taking the drama that Discord had created with them. The draconequus wiped a tear from his eye with a talon, catching his breath.

“That never gets old,” he said, grinning. He rolled up the fur on his lion pawed limb like a sleeve, looking at a wrist watch underneath. “I still have some time left,” Discord let his fur fall back over the watch and floated higher into the air, getting a good view of downtown Tokyo and the sunset. What to do, what to do? He mused. A light blob lit up over his head a moment later, then he took the light blob and ate it. “Ah, I know.”

Discord snapped his talons and a large bowl full of papers flashed into existence in front of him with the words 'Randomness Bowl' on it. He took hold on it under his arm, and dug his enter lion limb into the sea of yellow pieces of papers. “Now, lets see, give me something good,” he grabbed one of the papers with his finger and pulled it from the pile, letting the bowl flash away. He opened the paper and read aloud. “Explore space in a random universe,” he gave a thoughtful expression, then a grin spread across his face. “Well, exploring space never bored me before!”

The draconequus snapped his talons, and in a flash of white, he sat in a nice sized rocket ship, wearing a space suit and all. He flicked a few switches, set the CPS to random, and pressed the big, red button with 'lift off' written in bold white letters. “And we're off~!” The rocket disappeared in a flash, just as the sun set, giving way to night.

~ ~XxxxX~ ~

“Maybe, I was wrong to assume every version of space was fun.”

Discord continued on his route, which wasn't much of a route at all and more making random turns in different directions at random times. “There's nothing here; no space pirates, or giant mega weapons with obvious weak spots, there isn't even a space war going on,” he paused for a second. “Grated, I have had my fair share of those, quite the spectacle. But, still how is there nothing here?”

The only thing he could see was the empty void of space and the trillions upon trillions of white dots. He had passed by a planet not too long ago, though he wasn't really sure if he could call it a planet. A bit too small if you ask me, He thought. After traveling the void for a little while longer, the draconequus let out a huff. “Well, this was a disappointment. Guess I'll head back, have some tea with Fluttershy. I did say I would bring the cucumber sandwiches next time.”

As the spirit of chaos went to snap his talons, a loud beeping noise went off inside his ship. Discord glanced down and lowered his talon, starring closely at the radar on his ships panel; there was something there, something small, an object of some kind. The trickster had made it so his ship could pick up on any other ships within range. The small ship didn't seem to be moving very fast, it appeared to be drifting.

“Looks like someone has engine trouble,” Discord said, grinning. His interest was tickled, and so was his curiosity. He took the handle and flew his ship towards the drifting spacecraft, it didn't take him long to reach and the ship's tiny bright lights stood out among the cold darkness. Discord picked up a small radio, pressing the button on its side. “Hello, this is Discord speaking. Is anyone there, over.”

He waited for a few seconds, getting nothing but the sound of static. "This is the Lord of Chaos, do you read me, over?" More static. The draconequus gave a shrug. Guess, I'll take a look for myself. He appeared in front of the craft in a flash, floating around the object and taking in the details. Seems more like a pod. Not much of a ship, doubt it could fit more than one pony, unless its full of tiny aliens. He stopped near the crafts side and knocked on it with his gloved paw. “Very nicely made, too. Now lets have a look at the pilot.” Discord rubbed his paw against the steel in a circular motion, whipping away the gray color as if it were fog on glass, and peaked inside with one eye closed.

“Well, this is new,” the chaos spirit said as he eyed the occupant inside the small craft.

It was a human girl with long unkempt hair, strapped into a chair. She didn't have on any clothes like most humans he saw and appeared to be sleeping, hooked up to machines that ran along her back and were also attached to the back of her head. The computers around her lit up the tiny room around her, still at work with consistent text appearing on the screens and her body looked so thin it was as if she'd break at the slightest touch.

Discord lifted his head in thought, color returning to the metal. “Odd, very odd,” he muttered. The chaos spirit could say for a fact that there weren't any planets with intelligent life for light years; if there were close, he would have sensed them. With intelligence came civilization, and with civilization came chaos, something he would have felt, no matter how faint. So, that just begged the question. “Why are you out here?”

There were many ways Discord could find the answer. The girl was human, but he couldn't sense any other humans on any planets close by, though he couldn't help the nagging sensation that this galaxies planet count was off. The draconequus reached into his spacesuit pocket and pulled out a huge book titled 'Guide to the Solar System' the most recent edition down to the second with a record and history of each planet. He opened the book and flipped through the pages.

“Lets see, Pluto, I passed that tiny thing. Neptune, Uranus,” he let out a chuckle. “That name is a joke in itself. Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury,” he paused for a moment, tapping his gloved talon against his chin. “Something is defiantly off here, but what?”

He went back over the list of planets again, and a light bulb went off over his head. “Wait a minute, where's Earth?” He began flipping through the book. “Earth, Earth, it should be right ...ah, here it is. Earth: one of the closest planets to the sun, filled with life, yada, yada, yada, destroyed in planet collision. Oh ...well, that explains it,” he snapped the book shut and let it go floating into space. Discord turned to the small pod. “Now, what to do about you. Can't just let you drift out here forever, it'd be quite boring after a while. Then again, you are sleep.” The chaos spirit thought for a moment, then gave a shrug, “might as well meet the sleeping beauty myself. Entering dreams are more Luna's thing than mine, but when in Rome.”

He snapped his talons, and with a flash, he found himself traveling at high speed through a tunnel of darkness filled with number codes and pixel made pillars, heading straight for a bright light.

Author's Note

I was inspired to right this story. I also wanted to do it to show that I'm back and alive and kicking, and believe me I plan on staying a lot longer. I done with school and such, so I'm free to write as much as I want. I also plan to update my previous stories, so keep on the look out for that~!:pinkiehappy:

Chapter 1: Chaos and Drawing

Chapter 1: Chaos and Drawing

~ ~ (Rin) ~ ~

The mountain range in the distance built itself up, pixel after pixel. She moved her pen along her computer tablet, creating lush green glass and numerous tall beautiful trees that formed into a forest around the glass walls of her bedroom. A large lake formed between the forest and the tall mountains, filling with sparkling blue water like a pool, the sunlight reflecting off the surface of the water.

There was so much more to create and countless other landscapes she could bring into existence with just the swipe of her pen. Soon, she would erase all of her art; the mountains, the forest, all of it, and make something new. She had always tried to make sure nothing was a repeat of something she had done before. No forest was ever the same and neither was the time of day, but it had begun to get more and more difficult after a while as time went on.

Rin was alone in this . It all belonged to her and she could spend her days as she wanted. She was happy here, at least that's what she told herself. However, that couldn't be farther from the truth; Rin didn't hate her world by any means, but she was lonely, so very lonely that at times it seemed to swallow her like an ocean.

Things here never changed on their own. Nothing new happened without her involvement, and everyday was a repeat of the last, even if she tried to make sure that it never was; she'd wake up, check her messages on her tablet, create a new world, big and vast and explore that world until she got bored, then she would go back to her room, sometimes take a long, hot bath, maybe read one of her picture books afterward, then go to bed. Then wake up and repeat the same thing.

It got repetitive. Rin would have lost count of how many days had passed had it not been for her tablet keeping track of it all.

Rin sighed and leaned back into her comfy plush chair, starring out at her world through the clear walls of her room. This would be so much better, if I had someone to share this with, she thought. The young girl wanted someone to talk with, to laugh with, to share her world with. She didn't need everything to herself, and she would gladly share her world if it meant having someone to talk to, even for just a little while.

She got up from her chair, ready for another day of exploring and playing in her created world. Rin look down at the drawing on her tablet and began making a few last minute adjustments. She pressed her pen against her drawing of mountains and moved it to the other end of the forest, closer to the lake; outside of her room, the mountains lifted, glittering pixels sparkling underneath them, moving across the sky and set down in the new area.

Rin couldn't help but take another quick glance at the tab on top left corner of her tablet screen. During her first days in her world, she never really thought much about not having anyone to play with. She was always entertained in someway, and always had an idea of what she wanted to draw and create, it was complete bliss, a child's paradise. However, that feeling of bliss didn't last for long; she started to get lonely, so much so she'd cry sometimes. She tried making others, people like her to play with, and even animals to love and care for.

But, they never turned out right. They would appear just like everything else she drew, but they didn't talk or even move, they just stood there like statues, doing nothing and that made her feel even worse. It was the same result making animals. So, she stopped drawing living things all together and started starring at the tablet messenger every morning when she woke up, during the day, and before she went to sleep.

No one ever sent her anything, not even a simple 'hello'. “What's the use of having a messenger, when no one sends any messages?” She had asked more than once, and she never got an answer.

Sighing again with sadness in her eyes, Rin double tapped her drawing and white light covered her vision, then she found herself out of her bedroom, just outside of the large forest she created. The warm breeze blew against her, moving her long pinkish hair. The lonely girl hugged the tablet to her chest and stepped through the rose bushes into the forest.

There no sound other than the sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves. No matter how good the landscapes she made were, she could never shake the feeling that something was missing for her creations.

No animals. She thought, simply. All the picture books she read from her tablet, said that the forest was supposed to be full of birds chirping and chipmunks running up and down trees and bears and so many other animals she had never seen outside of photos, and some she had never even heard before.

What did chirping birds sound like? Do they all sound different from each other? Where real bears as cuddly as her teddy bear, Taro-chan, and did they like to play? She had so much she wanted to know about, things that picture books and photos would never let her experience.

Then there came a tapping sound.

Rin stopped and blinked. What is that? The girl thought, turning in the direction of the noise. This sound was something new, something she had never heard before ever in her forest and it made her curious. She began walking at first, then running towards the sound, a smile spread on her lips as the sound got closer and closer. She hopped over tree stumps and rocks, through some bushes and found herself in a small clearing.

A clearing that she didn't remember making in this part of the forest. In front of her was the oddest looking tree she had ever seen. The truck was thin and white, with a streak of red swirling up to the tips of its branches, and from those branches sprouted pink fluff that acted as leaves or flowers, with white fruit covered in pink dots. When did I draw this? She looked down at her tablet, unsure. “I didn't make this, did I?”

“Of course you didn't.” A voice suddenly came from overhead. Rin gasped and turned her head up, finding the strangest creature she had ever seen looking down at her. “That,” the creature chuckled. “Would be me my doing.” Rin spun around, more than a little speechless, and just starred. The thing was floating. She couldn't even float and she controlled everything in the . “What's wrong, cat got your tongue? Though, I guess I can't blame you,” digging his lion paw into his mouth, the creature then pulled out an actual, living cat with black and orange fur. The cat hissed at him and jump from his paw, pranced up to her and began rubbing its head against her leg, purring. “Cats get my tongue quite often.”

Rin glanced down at the cat, watching as it went from nuzzling her leg to curling up into a ball by her feet.

The young girl truly could not find the words to speak, for the longest time, she had thought about the things she would say if she met someone else, something else. The games they would play, the things they would do. Now, she was so nervous, she had no idea what to reply with.

“You know, starring is kinda rude,” the creature pointed out.

Was it rude? Maybe it was, but Rin couldn't see how that was.

Say something! Say something! Someone is finally here! Rin yelled at herself, glancing down at her toes. “I-I-I, um-.”

“Yes, you what?”

“I-I'm Rin,” she stuttered out, meekly.

“Ah~ Rin,” the creature floated over to her, causing the girl to take a few steps back, “ a pleasure. I'm Discord, Lord of Chaos, Bringer of Pandemonium, Spirit of Disorder, Master of Mischief and titles and titles and titles,” Discord stuck out his paw, grinning widely. Rin just starred at the paw, then back up at him. “What, no handshake?”

“Handshake?” The girl questioned. “What's that?”

“You can't be serious,” the spirit said, raising an eyebrow. “You know, a handshake? The shaking of hands, a gentleman's grip, a friendly shake? No one's ever taught you that?”

The girl shook her head. “N-no,” she said, meekly. “I don't have any friends.”

“No friends, huh.” Discord then shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, that's too bad. So what do you do for fun around here ...Rin, was it?”

She gave a nod. “I draw,” the pinkish haired girl answered. “And explore.”

“Anything else?”

“I-I sleep.”

“Sleeping,” Discord mused, putting pawed finger to his chin. “There's no fun in sleeping, not really. My sleeping, sure, but normal sleeping isn't much fun. Though, there are dreams, I guess.”

Rin glanced down at her tablet, then back up at the strange creature. His slender, snake like body and right lion arm and left eagle talon. He was made up of so many different animal parts, it was like someone took a hand full of animals from her picture books and fused them at random. “Um, did I, make you, somehow?”

Discord turned his head. He looked down at her for a long moment, making her very nervous. Then, he burst into laughter. Rin couldn't remember what a laugh sounded like that wasn't hers. “You, make me,” the creature said. “Now, that is funny!”

“But, If I didn't make you, then where did you come from?” Rin asked, tilting her head to the side. “Nothing can exist here without me drawing it first.”

“Is that so?” The young girl nodded, slowly. “Well, that sounds interesting. How about show me some of your drawings.”

Rin blinked. “R-really? You want to see me draw?”

“Of course,” Discord said, snapping his fingers. Rin's eyes went wide with wonder, as an artist outfit flashed onto his body and a hat atop his head, with a paint brush in his talon. “I'm also quite the artist, if I don't say so myself.”

“How did you do that?”

Discord grinned. “I can do many things, my dear. It comes with being, well, me,” he said, proudly. “Now, about that drawing.”

“Um ...okay,” Rin looked down at her tablet and tapped the screen with her finger on the option, causing her drawing tool to appear from tiny sparkling, pixels. She took hold of the pen and used it to tap the option on the screen. The mountains, forest, and everything surrounding the two, expect for Discord's tree and the black cat, began to fade away like dust, pixel by pixel until there was nothing but a void of white.

Rin took a seat down on the white surface, and bent her knees, using her legs to support her tablet. She tapped the back of the pen against her temple. What should I make? I've never had someone watch me draw before. She smiled at the thought. I actually have someone to watch me draw. Rin didn't want to do anything random, she wanted to do something nice, something way better than anything she had ever done. I'll draw ...a beach and a beautiful sea.

And so, she brought her pen down to the tablet screen, and started to create her world with practiced ease. The first thing she did was set the weather, a blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds but not too many, with the sun shinning down. As the world around them began to build itself around the girl and chaos spirit, Rin took a moment to glance over, seeing Discord looking over her shoulder. She turned her eyes back to the tablet and continued drawing.

The sand that appeared underneath her was a whitish brown, and tall palm trees with deep green leaves and brown coconuts digitally grew from the ground. She pressed her pin to the screen and picked up a few trees, placing them where she felt they should be, just as sea came rolling in like a tide, licking at the sand a few feet from her toes, sparkling in the sunlight as if made of sapphires.

The breeze blew against Rin's pinkish hair with the smell of the sea. She got up and turned to her guest, as weird as that word sounded to use. A guest. I have a guest! She hugged the tablet to her chest, shyly. “So, w-what do you think?”

“Hmm,” Discord gave a causal gaze at the landscape. “It alright. Impressive, really, being able to create all of this,” he then pointed a talon at her computer tablet. “And you can do all of this by drawing on that?”

Rin nodded. “Yes, I can do everything on here.”

“I see,” Discord said. “Well, as good as your world building skills are, you're missing something that would make this better. The icing on the cake, the cherry on the sundae.”

“Really,” she looked at her tablet screen. “What am I missing?”

“You, my dear, are missing a fair bit of chaos,” Discord said with a wide grin. “Luckily for you, I happen to be an expert,” the Spirit of Chaos snapped his talons and the enter world began to change in the most bizarre ways. The sand under the young girls feet now had a black and red checker pattern, tall palm trees became chocolate trees holding marshmallows and clouds turned pink and the sea, from sparkling blue to chocolate brown and the sun overhead had a large smile and blushing cheeks. Even the air itself now held a sweet scent.

During the whole chaotic change, Rin watched in awe. For so long she had been the only one who could change the world around her. But, this was new, and though it was odd and strange, to her it was also exciting.

“Amazing,” she said, softly, looking at the alter environment. “This is absolutely amazing.”

“Thank you,” Discord said. “I'll tell you, finding someone who appreciates chaos is a hard.” He leaned closer to her. “And between you and me, I'm sure you'd cause quite a bit of chaos where I come from.”

“Where do you come from?”

“Oh, a little place a few dimensions over. Chaosville is my neck of the woods, but when I'm not there I'm in Equestria, having tea with Fluttershy, or helping out ol' Celestia with her subjects needs from time to time,” Discord said.

"What were you doing before that?"

"Its a long story, honestly."

"We could have tea, and you can tell me about it," Rin said, meekly. She had read once that tea was something a good person did for their guest. Wait, I don't know how to make tea. She suddenly realized.

"Tea time, hm," the Chaos Lord pulled up his lion paw fur like a sleeve, looking at a watch. “Well, I guess I could stay a little while. I have to be getting back soon, from the looks of it.” The draconequus snapped his talons and two chairs, one looked like an expensive pink chair and the other looked like it was a throne fit for a king. A small round, gingerbread table was between the chairs, holding a pink teapot, teacups and two plates of sliced cake with white icing, appeared on the beach near them. Rin starred at the setup, until Discord told her. "Have a seat, my dear."

Rin took a seat in the normal looking chair and Discord sat on the throne, the teapot sprouted thin black legs and moved around the table, pouring tea into each teacup. So strange, but I like it. Rin thought, smiling. Discord is truly something amazing, I can't even do stuff this amazing. The young girl watched in wonder, and looked up, about to ask something of Discord, when a voice spoke, that didn't belong to her or her guest.

"Ah, you are very pretty, ma'am," Rin looked down and saw the filled and steaming teacup starring up at her. "Your hair is nice as well, love the sparkles."

"Um ...t-thank you," she said, blinking at the teacup.

"You're quite welcome, ma'am," the teacup turned around with its handle facing her. "You can drink from me if you wish."

Rin gently picked the cup up with her index and middle finger, the steam of the sweet smelling tea raising to me her nose, almost as if it were alive. She brought it to her lips and took a sip; her eyes widened, for the first time ever since waking up in her world, she could taste something. Rin didn't need to eat or drink, she never got hungry so food never seemed that important to her and even if she did draw food, it never had any taste. But, this ...this actually tastes like something. Rin lowered her teacup and picked up the fork near her slice of cake, then dug her fork into it and took a bite.

The flavor was magical, and familiar, right on the tip of her tongue. She had eaten this type of cake before and whatever the connection was, it made her sad and happy at the same time. Inside her head, she could see the flash of a man's face, and hear voices.

"Happy birthday, Rin."

"Wow~ a teddy bear! Thank you, Papa!"

"Are you alright?" Discord asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rin looked up at him. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, the sudden water works," Discord reached behind his back and pulled out a mirror and held it in front of her.

Tears were flowing down her cheeks and she hadn't even noticed. Rin wiped her eyes with her hand, both confused by the emotions she felt and the image that flashed in her head. "S-sorry," she said, shyly.

"No need to apologize, I won't belittle you for crying over good cake," Discord said, picking his slice of cake up in his paw and taking a bite. "Now, you said you wanted to hear my story?"

Rin gave a nod. "Yes, please."

"Then I'll start from the beginning of my reign over Equestria," Discord said. He cleared his throat and continued. "Long ago in a distant land I, Discord, ruled over the ponies of Equestria with an iron fist, and by iron fist, I mean chaos-."

~Some Time Later~

"And so, I turned everything back to boring, old normal, got to stay friends with Fluttershy, and found out that friendship wasn't as bad as I had first thought," Discord sipped the last of his tea and tossed the cup, causing an small mushroom cloud explosion behind him.

"So, they turned you to stone just for making the world the way you wanted," Rin mused, taking another bite of her cake. "That's kind of mean."

"Really, now," the chaos lord asked, looking amused.

"Yeah, I mean, I make the world the way I want all the time and no one ever showed up to turn me into a statue."

Discord chuckled. "That's because no one else is here, my dear. You have this little reality all to yourself," he suddenly floated up from his throne-like seat. "In fact, I really shouldn't intrude on you anymore than I already have. Its time to take my leave."

“You're leaving?” Rin stood up quickly, her eyes widened. “So, soon? B-but you just got here.”

The thought of being alone scared her. They hadn't talked long, not even an hour, but for the first time in forever, Rin felt that she wasn't alone and, maybe, she could finally make a friend.

Now, she was about to be all alone, again. Discord might not even come back for a long time, if he even came back at all. Rin glanced down at her tablet's messenger. She had always told herself that she was happy and perfectly fine, that she didn't feel lonely at all. That's a lie. She told herself.

“Yes, a shame, this setup you've got here isn't that bad.”

I don't want to stay here alone. Not again. Rin thought. She looked up at the mismatched creature. “Is there no way to make you stay? We could play games, or-or draw some more. I even have books.”

“Afraid not, I'm on a bit of a tight schedule,” Discord said, pulling a calendar from behind his back and showing it to the girl. “See, tea time with Fluttershy tomorrow, and I can't keep her waiting.”

“T-then, then,” she paused for a moment. She felt like crying, but she held it in as best she could. “Then take me with you.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “You want me, to take you to Equestria?” She nodded. “Away from all of this, a world you can control and create anything with no rules or worries. You want to leave that behind?”

She nodded, again. “You said its easy to make friends where you come from. I don't have any friends, here its just me,” Rin let out a sob. “I don't want to be alone.”

Discord gave her a thoughtful look, his mismatch eyes starring at her. Then, he shrugged. “Fine.”

“Huh?”

“Fine,” Discord said. “If you want to go make a friend so badly. I'll take you.” The strange creature was caught off guard when the young girl suddenly climbed onto the table and hugged him.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

“Alright, lets calm down,” he said, wiggling his way out of her grasp. “You're getting tears in my coat.”

Rin rubbed the tears from her eyes and smiled. “S-sorry.”

“Remember what I said. No need for apologizes,” Discord said, before he added. “Now, how to send you there, you need to make an entrance, after all,” he thought for a good moment or two, then a small grin spread widely on his face, and he looked over at the girl. “I know exactly the place?” The draconequus snapped his talons and the world around them slowly began to fade from her vision, then she was falling down a long black tunnel covered in stars, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Above the hole in the ground, Discord waved to her, getting farther and farther away. "Until we meet again, Rin. Tata~!" Then he was gone in a flash and it was just her and the fast blur of sparkling pixels.

~ ~(Applejack)~ ~

It had been a good day on the farm, the apple ripe to enough to eat were bucked into baskets and squared away for selling, her brother Big Mac finally got around to fixing the hinges on the barn doors, and Granny Smith had made the best tasting dinner to end the day off with. After a shower and brushing her teeth, the apple farming mare made her way to her bedroom, ready to hit the hay.

The floor boards creaked a bit under her hooves with each step, not loud, but loud enough that anypony with good ears could pick it up. I outta repair these floor boards, too. The last thing we need is one of them breakin' and Granny gettin' hurt, Applejack thought. She made a mental note on that and entered her bedroom, removed her hat and plopped down on her mattress with a small sigh as she crawled under her huge blankets.

Applejack rolled onto her side, taking a short glance at the starry sky through her window and closed her eyes. "Hopefully, tomorrow is jus' as great as today was," she uttered. She was close to being fully sleep not long after.

However, she was not fated to sleep well this night.

A loud explosion went off in her ears and the ground shook like a giant had fallen just outside her house. Applejack was up the moment she heard it, a bit light headed from waking up so quickly, but the feeling soon wore off and she was out of bed and galloping towards the front door in seconds. Of course, the blonde mare wasn't the only one to be woken up by the sound.

"What in tarnation was that," Big Macintosh asked loudly, racing out the front door after his sister.

"How should I know," Applejack replied. "I just came out here like you."

The big, red farm pony looked up, spotting a vanishing smoke trail in the sky, heading over the farm house towards the orchard. "Well, whatever it was, it crashed over there," Big Mac said, pointing a hoof towards the orange light in the distance. "Started a fire from the looks of it. We should go check out the damage; I reckon we might be needin' a few rain clouds, too."

So much for ending the day on a good note, Applejack thought, frowning. "What about Apple Bloom and Granny?"

"I told 'em to stay inside until we got back. Lets hurry before the whole farm lights up!"

"Right behind ya!"

Applejack let the big red farm pony take the lead and they galloped towards the eastern most part of the farm, moving through the rows of huge apple trees like swift wind. As they got closer to the crash site, the smell of smoke and burning wood got stronger and stronger until they came upon it. Big Macintosh had been right, a fire had started; the tops of five apple trees were burning in a rage of red and orange flames, fruit and all, though some had fallen loss from their branches.

The sight made the blonde mare's heart sank. "Our apples are burnin', Mac!"

"I can see that, AJ," Big Macintosh said with a heavy heart. "Nothin' we can do about it now. The fires not spreadin', lets be thankful for that."

It took a moment for Applejack to notice. The five trees that were on fire were too far apart from the rest and as bad as she felt about losing the precious she had worked so hard to make sure grew big and strong, AJ knew her brother was right. It could have been much worse. The wind blew the dark smoke to the side, and the two farm ponies got a glimpse of something; big and black as the smoke itself and its bottom covered strange dull lights of red, blue and white, it had been perfectly hidden until just then.

Applejack trotted forward, her eyebrows narrowed as she focused on the object. "What the hay?"

"AJ, I don't think we should go near that thing," Big Mac said, cautiously. "Could be dangerous."

Applejack turned her head, about to respond to the older pony, when a loud series of beeps came from the object. She looked back at it, and Big Mac quickly trotted over protectively in front of her, despite his own warning. The beeping came to a stop a minute later, then the object let out a hiss and a cool, white mist pushed away the black smoke as, what could only be a door, lifted and groaned. The light from inside the objected blinded the two for a moment, causing them to cover their eyes and where they lowered their hoof, they saw it.

By Celestia. Applejack thought, taking a step back.

The thing came crawling out of the inside of the object, one thin limb after the other, and rolled down the object's long front until it hit the blackened earth below with a weak moan. The two farm ponies didn't move an inch and just starred as the odd creature weakly got to its knees and looked at the two with what Applejack could only guess was confusion and fear. Its body was much too thin and it was hairless, save for the long brown hair on its head that shrouded most of its pale skinned body illuminated by the flames of the burning trees. And it was much to close to the fire.

As odd as the thing looked, it seemed weak and harmless and was obliviously starving. Regardless of where it had come from, the last thing the blonde mare wanted was for it to get hurt by the flames close by. Applejack slowly trotted forward, until she was stopped by her brother.

"What are ya doin'," Big Macintosh asked, putting a hoof in front of her.

"What do you think, I'm tryin' to help it."

"We don't know whatit is."

"Well, we can't just leave it be, Mac," she said, pushing down his hoof and pointing at the creature. "I mean, look at it. Its more scared of us, than we are of it and I doubt it could put up a decent fight even if it wanted to. Beside, you're one of the strong ponies I know; something happens, your right here."

Big Macintosh glanced over at the odd creature, then let out a groan. "Fine ...just, be careful, AJ."

"I know."

Applejack turned her attention back to the thin creature and slowly made her way over to it as she would a frightened animal. The creature's eyes widened and it weakly back away from her against the black object it had come out of when she got too close, clutching something its chest. Is that a stuffed bear?" The blonde mare thought. It was. However, she decided to worry about the toy later. "Calm down, now, it's okay," Applejack said, softly. "I'm not gonna her ya none." The creature just starred at her, not saying a thing, so AJ continued. "Listen, its not safe right here-." A loud cracking from overhead caught her attention and Aj looked up just as Big Mac shouted.

"Applejack, move!"

Applejack looked up and gasped, just in time to see a thick, burning branch gradually coming loose, showing tiny embers of her and the creature. She moved before she could even think about it and reached out, taking the creature by one thin limp and yanked it forward into her and hopped out of the way only moments before the branched crashed where the creature had been sitting. AJ let out a huff. "Sweet applesauce, that was too close," then she looked down at the being in her hooves. "You alright?"

Wide brown eyes starred back up at her in utter silence, and as Big Macintosh came over to make sure she was alright, it spoke meekly and tilted its head, saying something Applejack was surprised she understood in the slightest.

"Is this ...Equestria," It asked. No, she said, the creature was obviously a young girl by the voice.

Applejack blinked. Not really sure how to respond to the girl thing. "I ...um, yeah, it is."

The girl let out a sigh and closed her eyes, her head leaning against the blonde mare's chest. "I'm glad," she uttered, tiredly.

When she suddenly went limp, Applejack feared the worse. "Hey, are you alright? Hey," only then did she notice its side still moving and feel quiet breaths on her coat. The girl had fallen asleep.

"Am I hearin' things, or did it just talk," Big Macintosh said.

Applejack nodded. The girl need some serious help, and there was still the fire to worry about. "We should get her to Ponyville General, she ain't lookin' so good."

Chapter 2: The Nurse and The Alien

Chapter 2: The Nurse and The Alien

~ ~(Redheart)~ ~

The young white medical mare made her way through the doors of Ponyville General to start her work shift for the day. It was a little past eight in the morning and though the hospital was relatively empty, save for the other medical ponies, doctors and nurses like herself buzzing about, helping patents and assisting those who needed it.

Redheart trotted up to the front desk, giving a smile to the brown and green maned earth pony sitting behind it. “Morning, Checkup,” she greeted. “How was your night?”

“Alright, I guess. I had some trouble sleeping, but nothing other than that,” Checkup said.

“Is there something wrong,” Redheart asked, before giving her a look. “Don't tell me you're still having nightmares about Rin.”

“Um ...yes, and no,” the mare said. She sighed. “I know you said it ...she is harmless. But, I just can't help the way I feel. I mean, what if she's acting helpless to lead us into a false sense of security for when the invasion starts?”

Nurse Redheart couldn't help but giggle. “Checkup, trust me, Rin isn't some invader or monster out to conquer Equestria. She just a shy girl without a home, who just so happens to be from another planet.”

The green maned desk mare gave her a look, then shrugged. “If you say so, Red; all I'm saying is that we should keep our guard up. She's only been here for a few days. We don't know her,” she said, matter of factually. “Remember the changelings?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well, this could be the same thing.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” the white medical mare said, before she trotted through the double doors to her left, towards the employee changing room. I swear, sometimes ponies are so paranoid sometimes. Not everypony different is out to get us. Then again, she couldn't really blame them for being cautious. Rin was otherworldly, the first being from beyond the stars in the recorded history of Equestria.

In all the movies she had seen having to do with aliens and space, it was always portrayed that the government would have a clean up crew on standby, cover everything up, and deny that anything ever happened, like with the supposed UFO crash in Rosmare. However, when Rin, a really real alien was brought into the hospital a week ago, Twilight Sparkle did everything but try to cover up the fact that there was an alien in Ponyville General.

~One Week Ago~

“Well, Mrs. Pots, you gave your husband quite the scare yesterday,” Redheart said, smiling at her patent, reading the clipboard in her hooves. “But, I'm happy to let you know that everything came back just fine.”

The elderly gray mare sighed. “Oh, that's good. I was worried something might have been really wrong,” she said. “Thank you for taking care of me, Nurse Redheart.”

“Its nothing, I'm always happy to help, ma'am,” Redheart said. “Once everything is in order, you'll be good to leave tomorrow afternoon. I'll be sure to let Mr. Pots know the good news,” the white mare placed the clipboard on the small desk near hospital bed. “Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave for the night.”

“Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine, dear,” Ms. Pots said with a soft smile. “its been a very tiring day. I'd just like to rest.”

Redheart gave the elderly mare a nod, and picked up the clipboard. “If there's nothing else, you have a nice night, Ms. Pots and I'll be back to check on you in the morning.”

“Yes, you have a nice night as well, dear.”

With nothing else needing to be said, Nurse Redheart turns and trots out of the room, balancing the clipboard on her back as she slid open the door and close it behind her, before taking the board in one hoof, making her way down the second floor corridor.

She gave a sigh, then smiled softly. I love this job. She thought to herself. Being a nurse had been her dream ever since she was a young filly, even before she had gotten her cutie mark. She loved helping ponies; rather they be sick, hurt, or just needed a shoulder to cry one. It felt good to have ponies depend on her and the level of trust they had in her was worth more than anything she could think of.

Redheart wasn't afraid to admit that, yes, the pay was good as one would expect working in the medical field, and for a lot of ponies that was the main reason they became a doctor or a nurse. Not to say that that made them bad ponies, because she had seen time and time again that they were generally concerned for the patients in their care.

But, for Redheart, it was more than a good paying job. It was her calling, one she had had since that incident back in summer camp, when she gave first aid to one of her bunk-mates who got seriously hurt playing in the woods and earned her cutie mark, in the form of the red cross and four pink hearts on her flank.

She loved her job, and she loved helping other ponies even more.

However, helping ponies was tiring work, and at the moment all Redheart wanted to do was change out of her uniform, clock out and go home, have dinner and relax with a good book before she went to bed.

Aside from close friends, many ponies didn't know it, but Nurse Redheart was a huge fan of the scifi genre. Plenty of the books in her collection were on medical things, such as nursing techniques and assisting in surgeries; those books were in small amount, compared to the massive collection of science fiction adventure, some that she had owned since she learned to read in grade school.

Her favorite book, or rather books from her collection wasn't one that she had personally brought herself, but a gift from her grandfather, a series called: The Space Odyssey by somepony named Nightscope; aliens, UFOs and government conspiracy theories and countless other things, the books went into it all.

Redheart wasn't a believer in everything the books told about, unlike some fanatics, as much as she would like some of the stuff to be true, though she did believe in life on other planets and somewhat in UFOs.

I know so much about aliens, maybe I should write my own book. The medical mare mused. She turned right at the end of the corridor, and pushed open the metal door leading into the hospital stairwell with her head. As she made her way down the stair spiral of stairs towards the first floor corridor, a coworker of hers burst out of the door leading to the first floor before she could even attempt to open it.

“Redheart, I've ...been looking for you,” the light blue maned mare said, panting.

Redheart gave the mare a look of concern. “What's wrong, Cool Press?”

“I-I don't really know how to explain it, honestly,” Cool Press said. “All I know is that its an emergency. The Apples, Applejack and her brother, they brought some ...thing in for medical attention.”

“Brought what in?”

“Just have to come see for yourself, Redheart.”

Nurse Redheart nodded, and the two made their way through the first floor hallway at a fast trot, their hooves echoing on the white marble floors as they made contact with them. The mares took a right into another hallway at the center of the corridor, and exited out into the waiting room through the door at the end.

The waiting room was in complete chaos; medical staff were rushing about, and as she turned her head, Redheart spotted three ponies, two nurses and a doctor, loading some kind of long maned creature onto a hospital bed, the doctor check the things heart and breathing as they did so.

The medical mare was taken slightly aback at the sight of the thing. She had never seen something quite like it in her entire life, it remembered her somewhat of a Minotaur, but it also had similarities to a young dragon, lacking wings, scales and a tail.

“What in Equestria is that,” Redheart asked, turning to her coworker.

Cool Press shrugged. “No idea, Doctor Stitch doesn't know what it is either.”

Redheart spotted the doctor in on the other side of the room, talking to Applejack and her brother. She suddenly had that small mystery itch, the one that came out whenever she read one of her scifi alien books; she wanted answers. With a start, she trotted towards Doctor Stitch and the Apples, taking a few glances at the thin, brown maned creature on the moveable bed.

“Doctor Stitch,” Redheart said as she approached the three ponies, getting their attention. “Cool Press said that you needed me. What's going on, and what's that creature over there?”

Doctor Stitch adjusted his glasses on his muzzle. “I have no idea what it is, Redheart. I've never seen a creature like that before now. I'm not even sure how to handle what Applejack and Big Macintosh just told me.”

Redheart raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, Doctor?”

“They said that the creature fell from the sky, in a spaceship, if I'm understand correctly.”

“A spaceship, like a UFO,” Redheart said. She turned to the farm ponies. “A UFO really crashed in your orchard?”

“If that's what ya call the black thing that destroyed some of my trees and nearly set our property on fire,” Applejack said, frowning. “Then, yeah.”

“I don't care what it is, all I know is that the thing inside was in mighty bad shape,” Big Macintosh said. “Can ya help it, Doc?”

“We'll do our best, but until we examine the creature and find out what its body is like, we're going in guessing, here,” Doctor Stitch said, before sighing. “And right when I was about to get off work, too.”

Oh ...Celestia, then that means. Redheart looked over to where the medical staff was carting the creature away towards the ER. That thing is a real alien from outer space. My books were right, I knew there was life on other planets!

Give medical attention to an alien. That scratched one life long dream off her bucket list.

~Present Day~

Looking at herself in the mirror, Nurse Redheart placed a nurse's cap neatly over her pink mane, adjusting it ever so slightly so that the cap was at the right angle. The symbol on the cap was the same as her cutie mark, a red cross with four little, pink hearts in the corners.

And we're good to go. The white coated mare thought. Once she was sure everything was in shape and her white nurse uniform was in order, Redheart left the changing room and trotted down the hall to the elevator. She had just pressed the button for the third floor, when her good friend and coworker, Doctor Stitch turned the corner, trotting in her direction with his face in a bundle of papers being held by his magic aura.

He had yet to notice the nurse, so Redheart greeted him first. “Good morning, Doctor.”

The brownish-red coated unicorn looked up at the sound of her voice, a smile forming on his muzzle. “Ah, Nurse Redheart, good morning,” he said, stopping next to her. “How are you doing?”

“I'm good, I think,” the pink maned mare said, happily. “I'm still kind of excited, honestly. Everything that has happened this past week; I still can't believe it.”

“Well, you have every right to be,” Doctor Stitch said. “Not many ponies can say they've help nurse back to health Equestria's first extraterrestrial visitor. Has her condition changed at all?”

The elevator gave a bing, and the metal doors slid open. The medical mare gave a nod as the two trotted into the lift; the doors closed and the metal box ascended upwards with a start. “Rin's doing much better, now, and she's able to move somewhat on her own. But, Doctor Aid is concerned.”

“About what,” Doctor Stitch asked.

Redheart gave him a sad frown. “To be blunt, her muscles are in a horrible state. I'm surprised she can even eat on her own; the doctor and I don't know how long she was starving, but with how her muscles are its as if she hasn't moved on her own in literally years.”

“Can Rin recover from this?”

“At this point, its hard to say since we barely know anything about her or even what she is. She can barely walk and she sleeps for hours at a time. Whatever the poor dear's been through, I don't even want to imagine.”

Doctor Stitch sighed and shook his head. “Hearing that, I find it hard to believe how anypony can be scared of her,” he said. “She's lucky to have you taking care of her, Redheart. Celestia knows the other nurses and staff are too scared to get close to her.” The elevator stopped at the third floor. A loud ping sounded and the doors opened; as Redheart began making her way into the corridor, the unicorn doctor continued. “Be sure to keep me posted on how our guest is doing.”

“I will, doctor,” she said. The doors slid closed, and the white mare started down the hall towards the first room on her list on patents.

She went from room to room throughout the entire morning, checking on different ponies with the other assigned nurses and before she knew it, an hour had passed; it was close to eleven when she left one of her coworkers to tend to the needs of an elderly mare to continue on to her next patent. The one patent none of the other nurses wanted to help.

Shame, and they call themselves nurses. Redheart trotted pass three doors until she got to the last room in the corridor; being polite, she softy rapped her hoof on the door. “Rin, are you awake?” she waited for a few moment and no one answered. Must still be asleep. She slid open the door and entered the room.

The room was quiet and smelled clean, like every other hospital room in Ponyville General. The heart monitor on a continuous loop of soft beeps and in the large bed, her extraterrestrial patient slept soundly in a blue nightgown, with an IV hooked up to her arm. Redheart felt bad for having to wake up the poor girl, but she had to take her to the hospital bathing room to be bathed, something she couldn't do while Rin was sleeping. The pink maned nurse reached a hoof over and flicked on the light switch, then walked over to the window and threw on the curtains and lifted the window to let the nice, morning breeze into the room.

She hears a groan, and the medical mare turns around, seeing the alien shifting a bit underneath the covers, before she yawns and her eyes blink open. Redheart smiles and trots over to the bed. “Good morning, Rin.”

“Um ...h-hi.”

“How are you feeling dear,” the medical mare asked. She noticed the girl straining somewhat to sit up, and gave her a helping hoof until she sat up on her own. Rin's gained some weight. The nurse noted. Good, but she's still much too thin.

“T-thank you, nurse,” the girl said, meekly.

“Its no trouble at all, dear,” Redheart said. “You shouldn't strain yourself too much, if you need help, just let me know, remember?”

Rin frowned. “I remember.”

“Rin, what's wrong?”

“...I used to be able to do everything by myself. Back in my world I could walk wherever I wanted without help, now I can't even go two steps without falling,” Rin said, bitterly. She grabbed some of her long, brown hair and ran her fingers through it. “My hair isn't even the same color anymore. I-I'm so confused; I thought I would've seen him by now so he could answer my questions."

"Him who, dear?"

"Discord," Rin looked at her.

The white mare blinked. "Wait, Discord? Like, Discord, Discord. The Spirit of Chaos?"

Rin nodded. "Y-yes, he sent me here."

Oh, Celestia, this changes everything. I should have known. UFOs don't just come falling from the sky without him being involved Redheart thought with wide eyes. "Rin, why didn't you tell that to Princess Twilight when she came to visit?"

"W-was I suppose to? ...Am I in trouble?"

Redheart placed her hoof on the girl's hand. “No, of course not, dear,” she said, softly. though her thoughts completely different. If Discord has something to do with Rin being on Equestria, the Princess Twilight needs to know. “Its just that Discord is known for doing these types of things. He might have sent you here as some big, practical joke."

"But, I asked for him to send me here."

"What," Redheart said. "So he didn't send you here against your will, at all?"

Rin shook her head. A sad frown formed on the girl's lips as she traced her slim fingers along the outline of her frail legs underneath the sheets. "I was alone for so long. I didn't have any friends to talk to, no one. It was just me and my drawings," she gave a small smile. "Then one day he showed up out of no where, and I finally had someone to talk to. But, after all that fun, he had to leave and I didn't want to be alone anymore, so I begged him to let me go with him," she sighed. "I didn't expect that leaving home, would make me like this."

"You'll get better, Rin. Its just going to take some time, but I promise you, you will," Redheart said, smiling. "You know what always cheers me up when I'm down in the morning?”

“What?”

“Breakfast,” Redheart answered. “How about we get you some food in your belly, and after that you can have a warm bath. Doesn't that sound nice?”

Rin gave the pink mare a small smile. “Y-yes,” she began reaching over to the side and paused. “Oh ...right ...my tablet is gone.”

This wasn't the first time the pink maned mare noticed the girl looking for whatever she called a 'tablet'. The first day she woke up, Rin had panicked, yelling about how the tablet had everything on it and how she had to find it. It must have meant a lot to her, for her to reach for it all the time. Redheart thought.

Sighing, she trotted into the bathroom and grabbed a toothbrush, toothpaste, and filled a glass up with water and brought the tray of items back to her patient, holding the metal tray in her mouth. She placed the tray on the nightstand, and Rin picked up the toothbrush and toothpaste and started cleaning her mouth.

When Rin was done brushing her teeth, Nurse Redheart took the tray back into the bathroom, making everything was clean for the next time it needed to be used; as she trotted out, she headed towards the door, and spoke. "I'll be back in just a moment with your breakfast, dear." The girl gave her a nod, and Redhead left the room and continued down the hall towards the elevator.

Chapter 3: A Helping Hoof

Chapter 3: A Helping Hoof

~ ~(Rin)~ ~

The first thing that the young girl felt was the warm air of the room hitting her face as her pink maned nurse and friend opened the door and wheeled her into the bathing area. At first glance, the bathing area reminded Rin of her bath back in her world, only bigger; the floor was made of blue and white marble tiles, like a checker board; showers lined both walls, fourteen in all, and at the very back of the room was a large, steaming pool.

Rin held her teddy bear, with a small yellow bin on her lap, glancing around the area in awe. “This place is really big.” She looked up, and caught sight of a mural on the ceiling. “Oh, wow.”

It depicted the four different types of ponies she had seen; an earth pony tilling the land and growing different plants, a Pegasus moving the clouds and changing the weather, and a unicorn wearing a pointed hat and cap with a beard preforming magic of different types, and above them was a tall white pony with rainbow like hair, standing tall and regal against the sun.

“Its beautiful, isn't it,” the mare next to her said.

Rin nodded. “Yes. Its amazing. Who made it?”

“I don't honestly know, to tell the truth. This hospital used to be a hot spring bath hotel, until it got closed down. After that, some business ponies decided to reopen it as a hospital. That was before I was even born, and no pony knows who made the mural, but from my understanding they kept it because it looks nice, ” Redheart answered. She stopped the wheelchair near a row of lockers and opened one of them. “You can put your stuffed bear in here, dear. I'm sure you don't want it to get wet.”

“B-but what if someone steals Taro-chan while I'm not looking,” Rin said, meekly; everything else she had known or been familiar with was gone, and the only real thing that stayed the same was her stuffed bear she had had since forever.

“No pony is going to take your bear, I promise,” the nurse said, softly. “And the locker can only be opened with a code, so once your bear's inside, I'm the only one who'll be able to open it.”

Rin glanced down at her stuffed friend, then over at the mare. Seconds later, she sighed and held her stuffed toy out to the nurse. “Okay ...I guess it would be bad it he got wet.”

“There's no need to worry, you'll have your bear back in a bit,” Nurse Redheart said. She took the bear by the ear between her teeth and laid it do on the floor of the locker, before she closed the metal door and turned the combination lock. She turned to Rin and smiled. “Alright, Rin, I need you to hold on to me,” she pointed her hoof at one of the closest showers. “I'm going to help you move over to one of the shower spaces.”

“I ...um, I don't think I can walk that far, nurse,” Rin said, sadly, glancing down at her thin, pale legs. She hated how they looked and felt. She didn't trust herself not to fall, especially after the first time she gotten out of bed and tried to walk on her own; the pain she felt when her hip hit the floor, it scared and shocked her. She couldn't remember the last time she felt such pain ...in fact, she could even remember the last time she had ever gotten hurt, or even hungry.

It wasn't even so much the fall that scared her. It was the pain that came after, and her legs were just so thin, now. Falling was bad enough. What if my legs break? I don't wanna feel that. Maybe leaving home was a mistake, I should have thought more about this.

“Rin.” The voice of the white mare and the feel of her hoof on her arm, brought the seemingly fragile girl from her thoughts. “Its going to be okay.”

“B-but what if my legs break,” Rin said in quiet fear.

Nurse Redheart patted her legs. “That's not going to happen. Your legs may not be as strong as they should be, but their stronger than you think,” she said. “I'm not going to let you fall; as long as there's somepony around to help you walk, you'll be fine. Now,” the medical mare took the small yellow bin between her teeth and sat it on the floor. “Wrap your arms around my neck, and let's take this one step at a time. This is to help you get strength back into your legs, little by little.”

“...Are you sure my legs won't break?”

“I'm sure. Just, lean on me.”

“O-okay.”

Rin leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Redhearts neck, then she slowly stood, her legs wobbling under her weight. Each step she took required more effort than the last; by the sixth step, Rin's legs were burning and she felt herself start to sweat from the strain, as well as from the warmth in the room.

“You're doing great, dear,” Redheart softly encouraged her. “We only have a couple more feet.”

But, to the girl, a few more feet felt like one-hundred miles. She was leaning all her weight on the nurse at this point, and the burning in her legs lessen a bit. Rin kept her face in the mare's soft, pink mane, just focusing on one small step after the other, then the small stool rubbed against her leg, and the nurse helped her sit down on it, just under the shower head.

Rin hunched over, lightly panting; Redheart gently messaged her legs. “You did great. I told you your legs were stronger than you thought.”

“M-my ...legs burn,” Rin let out.

“It'll pass, the muscles in your legs are just getting used to being active again,” the white mare said. “Do you need any help bathing.”

The young girl shook her head. “I want to do this on my own.”

Redheart gave a nod. “Alright, I'm going to undo your gown,” the mare went behind her, and untied the strings with her teeth, and Rin tugged her arms out of the sleeves and handed the garment to the nurse to be put away. “I'll be right back.”

Rin's legs were one thing, but the rest of her body was in a similar state. She could still see her ribs still showed through her skin, and she didn't eat much. It only took a small portion of food to make her full.

Why am I like this? I was just fine before I got here. Rin slid her fingers along the ribs on her side. She could count each one, and feel the slight differences each had. What if I never get better? That was a scary thought, one she didn't want to think. Rin trusted Redheart; the mare was always so kind and soft spoken, and most of all she wasn't scared of her like some of the other ponies.

The young girl truly wanted to believe the nurse. However, she still had her doubts.

~ ~(Redheart)~ ~

Nurse Redheart trotted back to her patient with the yellow bin in her mouth and placed it at Rin's feet. She picked up the hoof held shower head from its holder and turned on the water; it took a moment, then a cold burst sprayed on the young girl's leg, causing her to let out a soft yelp.

“H-hey, that's cold!”

The medical mare giggled. “Sorry about that,” she used her hoof to make sure it was at a comfortable temperature, once she found it fine, she ran the warm water over Rin's body, starting from her hair and over her shoulders. The nurse moved some of girl's long brown hair, and squinted her eyes ever so slightly; along the girls back, from the back of her skull, down to her lower back, were what appeared to be circular, metal plug outlets, the largest of them being on her head.

She and the doctors had no idea what they were for, and even Rin herself was confused when they brought it to her attention; the young girl didn't even know how they got there, or who put them there. The only thing they did know for sure was that the outlets were sensitive when touched. Rin ...she truly is a mystery. Redheart thought.

Rin reached into the bin and took out a blue washcloth and a bottle of apple scented, three-in-one(body wash, shampoo and conditioner), gel soap; she scrubbed slowly, covering her arms, legs and torso in the nice smelling soap. The young girl could clean her front and limbs just fine, it wasn't until she tried to wash her back that things seem to get difficult for her.

“Do you need so help, dear?”

“N-no, I can do this by myself,” Rin said, struggling to not touch the outlets on her back.

“Are you sure? I don't mind.”

After almost a minute of trying, the girl sighed and slumped her shoulders. “I need help.”

“That's what I'm here for.”

Nurse Redheart took the cloth from her hand and applied a little more of the gel soap, then she got to work; the medical mare stood on her hid-legs and softly scrubbed her patients back, doing her best not to touch the metal outlets. However, her fore-hoof slipped and ran over the edge of the one just below Rin's shoulders and the girl's back jolted.

“Eh!”

Redheart pulled her hoof away the second it happened. “Sorry ...sorry, dear,” she said, apologetically. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Rin answered. “It feels really weird. Like there's ice in my back.”

“I'll try not to touch them, again. I'm almost finished.”

Redheart went back to scrubbing her back, and true to her word she stayed away from touching the outlets; They weren't much of a problem, until they were touched directly. Rin could sleep on her back and move around fine; Doctor Stitch and a few others had debated on rather or not it would be a good idea to surgically remove them. The answer became a defiant no after Rin's x-rays came back.

The outlets were wired to her spinal nerves, and the one in her head was attached to her brain. Even with the best surgeons, removing them would cause more harm than good, and the risk of death was too great.

If anything, the metal plugs in her body reminded her of a movie she had seen called The Matrix. It had a very interesting concept; the main character, a hacker named Aria Ivy, finds out from a group of ponies that the world she lives in is a virtual simulation created by machines. I wonder if that could that be the reason for the plugs?The nurse mused. It'd make sense.

“And, done,” Redheart said after she scrubbed Rin's lower back. She put the washcloth in the bin, and picked up the shower-head and rinsed the suds from her body. Once she was sure she hadn't missed any spots, the nurse ran the water over the girl's hair again. “I'm going to wash your hair, so make sure you keep your eyes closed.”

The young girl gave a nod and did as she was told. The pink maned nurse grabbed the bottle of soap and poured some over her patient's head, before putting the container to the side and using her hooves to massage the soap into her scalp.

~ ~(Rin)~ ~

She sighed, letting the relaxing massage lull her into a trance of sorts. Nurse Redheart's hooves were very soft, despite what she had expected from reading her tablet books on animals. A pony's hooves are suppose to be hard, right? She thought. Or is it just when they have horseshoes? I can't seem to remember. Regardless, Rin enjoyed it; the way her hooves worked on her head and scrubbed her hair.

Rin found her mind at peace, focusing on nothing at all, except the massage and her breathing. This is nice ...really nice. I can't help shake the feeling someone's done this before, a long time ago.

And suddenly everything got quiet, the running water and Nurse Redheart's humming were blocked out, and Rin found herself in complete darkness, as if she was falling, then she was standing in the doorway of a bathroom; a little girl with long brown hair was being washed in a bath filled with bubbles, and a man with short brown hair sat on a small stool outside the tub, messaging shampoo into her hair.

“Make sure you keep your eyes closed, Rin. I don't want to get shampoo in them,” the man said, softly.

The little girl held her eyes shut tighter than needed, remembering how it felt the last time she had shampoo in them. “Okay,” she was quiet for a moment. “ ...Papa, do you think my hair is pretty?”

The brown haired man smiled. “Yes, sweetie, your hair is very pretty. It reminds me of your Mama's.”

“Really,” the girl asked. “Did you shampoo her hair, too?”

“Not usually, she could do it by herself,” the man chuckled. “She was a big girl.”

“I'm a big girl, too,” the little girl said. “Can I do my own hair next time?”

“I don't know. You got shampoo in your eyes the last time, remember.”

“But, Papa, I can do it. Pretty please.”

The man sighed. “Alright. I'll let you clean your own hair. Next time.”

“Yay~!” She cheered, as a result of this, however, she ended up getting some of the shampoo suds in her mouth. “Ew ...soap is nasty.” The man laughed and reached over for the bucket of water next to him, and slowly poured it over the little girl's head. "Papa, can you sing that song you said Mama used to sing."

"Sure." Though he was smiling, there was something sad about his expression that Rin couldn't quite put her finger on; the man started singing, his voice soft and mellow.

Rin was steered from her trance when she felt Redheart remove her hooves and run the warm water over her head. She was confused, now more than ever. What was that? She wondered. Was I dreaming? But, it felt so real. And familiar. There was also the song that the man was singing; she had heard it, somewhere.

“You can open your eyes, now,” the mare said. Rin blinked her eyes open, moving the mop of brown hair from in front of her face; the medical mare turned off the shower and placed the shower head back on its holder. she turned to her, smiling. “So, do you want to head back to your room, or do you want to relax in the spring pool.”

Rin looked over at the large pool at the end of the room. She wanted to relax in the bath, but she wasn't sure if her legs could get her that far. "Maybe, another time. When I'm better," The young girl turned back to Redheart. “I wanna go back to the room. I'm kinda tired, now.”

Redheart nodded. “How are your legs feeling, dear?”

“T-they still burn a little, but their okay.”

“Walking will get easier over time. For now, just hold onto me like before; you can lean as much weight on me as you need to.”

“A-are you sure that's okay. I'm bigger than you are.”

“Earth ponies are a lot stronger than you think,” Redheart informed her. “Besides, you're not that heavy, trust me.”

With that being said, Rin reached her arms around the nurse's neck like before and stood, putting almost her entire weight on Redheart's back, which didn't even seem to effect the mare in the slightest. This thankfully made walking a lot easier; she was practically being carried. I guess she really is strong. She thought. For someone so short ...or should it be somepony? She is a pony.

One thing was for certain, Rin was going to take a nice nap once she got back to her room.

~ ~(Discord)~ ~

The Lord of Chaos floated lazily around his home, located in his personally crafted pocket dimension, Chaosville. He had woken up not too long along, and after a breakfast consisting of cotton candy, chocolate milk and a box of Sugar Bombs, including the box(a snack he had picked up on one of his many multiverse trips). He soon found that he had nothing planned for the day.

Or do I? As Discord drifted into his living room, he snapped his talons, and an unnecessarily large calendar appeared in front of him. “Let's see now,” he traced his index-talon along the marked off week blocks, until he got to present day. It was blank. “I guess I really don't have anything planned for today. Shame.”

The trickster lowered himself to his checker theme couch, and tapped his chin in thought. What to do ...what to do? ...wait! He chuckled to himself. I never checked up on our new visitor! Discord picked up his chocolate bar remote; the large television flickered on and the draconequus began searching through the channels. “No, no ...funny, but no. Ah, here we are, channel Rin.”

The image on the screen showed the young girl he transported getting into bed with the help of one of the nurses he neither bothered, nor cared enough to meet. He had expected her to be in slightly better shape by now, than what he was seeing, considering all the magical treatments and potions that had been made since his one-thousand-year stone imprisonment.

Discord had a sneaking suspicion that he knew the reason, and conjured up Rin's hospital record to read for himself.

“Let's see here. Malnourished, okay, I expected that. Muscle deterioration, abnormal sleep,” he frowned a bit. “There should a potion to help with all of these problems. Unless ...oh, poo,” he got to the last page. “Healing potions and spells don't work on her. Who knew. Then again, she's not exactly from this dimension.”

The fact that healing magic and potions had no effect on her wasn't all that surprising to the chaos spirit, after all, those things were made for ponies and other creatures of Equestria, not humans from other dimensions. However, the girl needed help, badly. Without the modern medicines that were provided for ponies working, healing would take a long time and she would still have damage that would stay with her for life.

“And staying in a hospital bed is beyond boring. Looks like I'll be calling in that favor I never planned on using,” Discord snapped his fingers and a floating banana telephone appeared next to him. Picking up the receiver, he dialed in the number to one of his many acquaintances.

The phone rang for a few seconds, before someone picked up. “Hello.”

“Ah, Korin! How's my favorite feline hermit?”

“L-Lord Discord?”

“The one and only, amigo,” Discord said with a goof grin. “It appears I need to call in that favor from you, and how's Kami, can I speak to him?”

“That's not possible, my lord. Kami passed not too long ago. He is no longer the Guardian of Earth.”

“Really? That's unexpected, thought the old green bean had a few more centuries in him. However, I'm sure you can help me.”

“Of course, I promised to return your favor. I intend to keep it if I can.”

“Wonderful, just wonderful~! So tell me, you wouldn't happen to have anything for hurts and boo-boos, would you,” Discord asked. “Preferably, insta-heal.”

The voice on the other line was quiet for a moment, then he spoke. “I believe I may have something for you, Discord," Korin said. "A short while after you left, I found a special bean that could heal almost any injury.”

"Any injury at all?"

"Yes, as long as its not a virus or disease. They take some time to grow, but I don't mind giving you some if you're interested."

“Of course I'm interested. I'll be there in a jiffy~! We can catch up and have tea like old times!”

"I'll let Popo know of your visit. I'm sure he will be happy to see you after so long."

Discord hung up the phone. He snapped his talons and a door with an orange, four stared orb on it appeared; he opened the door and floated through, then it slammed close behind him, and in a flash, the door and the phone were gone.

Chapter 4: Chaos, The Cat, and The Gardener

Chapter 4: Chaos, The Cat, and The Gardener

~ ~(Discord)~ ~

Discord drifted through the swirling rainbow void as he had done many times before, in style. He was relaxing on a reclining chair, eating a large bowl of cotton candy flavored popcorn in large handfuls; around him, random objects like large clocks and bells jetted pass him, or rather he moved pass them, until he came to an open doorway and was spit out into a cloudy, blue sky.

Below him was great circular platform, Kami's Lookout, or just the Lookout, where he spotted the round figure of his old pal, Mr. Popo, watering flowers in the garden; there were slight changes to the Lookouts' design, but for as long as he had been a stone statue in the Canterlot Gardens, he had expected as much. From his experience in travailing to different universes, this version of Earth, he had dubbed 'Earth Toriyama', was similar to Equestria in a number of ways, one being that Earth's time and Equestria's time were close to being the same, give of take a few centuries.

It was rare to find planets with intelligent life in most universes that matched so closely with Equestria's space-time-line. almost like two beings holding stop watches before going into separate rooms, and trying to guess when the other would press start, and it was even rarer that he would have acquaintances, friends and even students in such worlds.

Toriyama was one of those rare Earth planets that had beings who could live as long as he could naturally, without having to be bitten by some creature of the night or literally ripping their souls out and hoping for the best. Not to say he had anything against the beings that did go about getting immortality that way, it just seemed to him that they ended up warped in one way or another.

It stills looks the same as it did when I left. Though, I don't remember there being trees up here. Discord mentally mused. On the Lookout's circular surface were sixteen giant pine trees, split into four lines near the edges, two rows of four smaller pine trees leading up to the ancient building of the Lookout, and two rows of palm trees further away from those. I still have yet to find out what was with Kami and the number four.

The chaos lord drifted down, still invisible and undetectable, until he touched down on the grounds of the platform and became tangible again. At the same time, he changed his form, going from a draconequus, to a middle age man with grayish skin, spiked back silver hair and a small goatee. For clothes, he wore a white dress blouse tucked into brown dress pants, a gray and black striped vest with a gold pocket watch in the breast pocket and a mid-length black shoulder cape that went down to his lower back, with a symbol of his true form trying to eat his tail sown onto it and gloves, one sand brown and one yellow.

In truth, Discord could have kept his true form. What would be the fun in that? He thought. The trickster had different forms for different reasons; sometimes they were to pull pranks on unsuspecting citizens. Sometimes being most of the time, and other times it was just to blend in with the crowd and not get noticed. It was an ability of his to alter and change his form at will, so why not use it.

Discord gave a small grin, and floated towards the ageless gardener, intending on doing what he had tried so many times before, actually scare the onyx skinned being. After all this time, who knows, maybe he's gotten sloppy. He opened his mouth and inhaled deeply, preparing to make a loud, lion like roar.

Only, it seemed Mr. Popo wasn't sloppy in the slightest. “If you're going to sneak up on someone, a small bit of advice.” The gardener stood up and faced the chaos spirit, smiling. “You should try hiding your presence better, Discord.”

Rather than roar, Discord exhaled, sounding similar to a deflating balloon. He slouched his shoulders and pouted. “And here I was thinking I had that little skill down to the letter. Not that I ever really need to hid my presence to begin with,” he said, taking in the centuries old gardener. “You haven't changed a bit, Popo. I was expecting a few wrinkles.”

“I could say the same, Lord Discord,” Popo said. “How have you been all these years?”

“Oh, you know, spreading chaos, pulling pranks and annoying others to near death with some adventuring in between," Discord answered. "The usual gig.”

Popo's smile changed a slight bit. “Its good to see you haven't lost sight of your purpose.”

“Of course, why would I ever stop doing what makes me ...well, me,” Discord said, grinning. “Besides, if I stop doing my job, the multi-versal balance of things will get all tangled and loopy, then I'll have Harmony yelling at me because I, "Only have one job" .”

“Yes, you're other half is quite bossy,” Popo said, lifting his flower can. “Allow me to finish things up here, then we can sit and chat.”

“What do you have left to do?”

“Hmm ...trimming the hedges, watering the other plants, pulling up the weeds and planting seeds for the new rose bushes.”

“Oh~ Is that all! Allow me to give you a hand then, or a hoof,” Discord said. He snapped his fingers, and in a flash of white, a small crew of six identical looking earth ponies appeared, with blue coats, red eyes, and white manes, equipped with all the tools one would need for gardening. “Alright, you ponies know what to do, chop chop,” he ordered, clapping his hands twice.

“Yes, sir~!” The conjured ponies all gave a salute in union and went about starting their work.

Discord turned to Popo. “Now, old friend, how about that well earned tea break? Seeing as you're bound to this place, I'd say you deserve one,” he said, looking around. “Though, I'm kinda curious as to why your world has so many strong fighters. At least, fighters that are stronger than usual.”

“A lot has changed, Discord. The world has gotten a lot stranger since you were last here some eight-hundred years ago,” Popo informed him.

“Naturally. It feels to me like quite a bit of chaos has been brewing around here.” Discord, being the curious trickster that he was, reached under his cape and pulled out a rolled up magazine with the words 'Multi-World Weekly' printed at the top of the front cover in bold with a green humanoid bug creature's picture below it; next to said creature were headlines:

Big Tournament Has Begun!
Will The Z-Fighters Survive?
Can The Earth Be Save?

The draconequus skimmed through the magazine. “Yep, things have definitely been chaotic, with a capital C.”

“No matter how many times I see it, your powers still astound me,” Popo said. "With your unpredictable nature, your enemies must have a tough time."

“Popo, I live to be unpredictable,” Discord said. He closed the magazine and folded it under his arm, “now, if only Korin would get up here, we can start this friendly reunion.”

As if on cue, the feline martial artist came flying from the edge of the Lookout. “Popo! We've got company coming, take out the good tea sets and china-.”

Popo and Discord looked up to see the talking cat in question descending down to them. Korin touched down just a few feet away from the two, with his wooden staff in one paw and a small brown pouch in the other. “Oh ...Lord Discord, I wasn't expecting you here so soon,” Korin greeted, bowing his head. “Its an honor to see you again after all this time, my lord.”

“And its great to be back, my feline friend,” Discord replied. “Now, enough of this 'my lord', stuff. Relax, we're old friends. No need to be so formal,” the chaos lord snapped his fingers and a large wooden gazebo appeared a few meters away in the center of the Lookout. “Shall we talk over tea.”

Popo gave a nod and moved aside slightly. “After you.”

“Ah, Popo, you were always the gentleman,” Discord said as he walked pass, patting the gardener on the shoulder. “Hard to believe you're still single.”

As the three walked, Korin laughed. “Popo is the only one I can say is married to his job, and be completely serious.”

“Yes, because trying my luck at failed romance is so great,” Popo said to the immortal cat, his smile never changing.

Korin winced. “Jeez, Popo, way to reopen century old wounds.”

“I'm just stating simple truths,” Popo said.

“So, Korin has a failed romance, huh,” Discord smirked. “That's one story I'd like to hear.”

“Of course you'd want to hear about it,” Korin said, glancing up at the human formed draconequus. “When it comes to enmity and strife, you're the embodiment of the very concept.”

“And, I wouldn't change it for the world.”

When they got to the gazebo, Discord opened the door and let Popo and Korin inside, before walking in himself; inside was a neatly decorated circular table, covered by a red table cloth with three fancy chairs; on top of the table was a teapot with three blue and orange tea cups, and two different cakes already cut and ready to eat, one chocolate and the other carrot.

The three took a seat, and the reunion to an already good friendship began.

"Now, about that failed romance."

(~ (Sometime Later) ~)

“He was stronger, and Goku ...well, the kid punched a hole through his body and that was the end of that. At least until his son showed up sometime later a the World Tournament, but I can honestly say, Piccolo is nowhere near as bad as his father,” Korin took a sip of tea as he finished his story. “Nope, not by a long shot.”

Popo gave a nod. “All young Piccolo needed was guidance, and the right motivation to change,” the wise caretaker said. “He may be the son of the Demon King, but he is his own person with his own soul. He just needed someone to show him the light.”

“I can ...sorta relate to that on some level,” Discord said, taking a bite out of his cake. Thinking of the kind Pegasus pony who became his first friend in Equestria. “Its kinda funny though, don't you think?”

“What, exactly,” the immortal cat asked.

Discord chuckle. “Goku and the Demon King were enemies, and Piccolo used to hate him just as much as the old green bean's dark side with a passion, if not more, from what you've told me. However, he ended up caring for the son of his enemy, while being the son of Goku's old enemy,” he said. “Fate loves throwing curve balls.”

Korin chuckled. “Fate works in funny ways. History proves it all the time.”

“Yesterday's enemies, more often than not, become tomorrow's friends,” Popo added with a red lipped smile. "Just look at us."

"True, when this crazy guy first got here spreading his chaos around, we were ready to fight him with everything we had," Korin said. "I'll tell you, we would be sitting here talking like this if Kami's predecessor hadn't sat you all down to talk things out and get the world back in order."

“Hey, I fixed everything I warped; besides, friends can go back to being enemies the next day,” Discord said, grinning. “I've tested quite a few bonds in my time, and I'll tell you, some relationships just don't last,” he tossed a slice of pie into his mouth, and drank it down with tea. “The ones that do survive my tests, however, come out stronger than they were before.”

“That's a little cruel, don't you think,” Korin asked, giving him a look. “I know causing chaos is your calling and all, but don't you ever feel bad for ruining a good thing for people.”

Discord put on an expression, as if he were thinking on the question, then shrugged a moment later. “Not at all. Bonds were meant to be tested, and sometimes the person you think someone is, isn't actually who they really are,” he said, wisely. “Way I see it, if friends or lovers can't get through something like a simple misunderstanding, I'd say I'm doing them a service by having them split up to meet new people.”

“Maybe so,” Korin said. “You truly are one of a kind, Discord. If I were you I don't think I'd even come close to enjoying spreading so much chaos among people. How do you do it?”

Discord picked up another slice of pie, giving a half shrug as he ate it whole. “Don't know. Asking me that question, is like asking how newborns know how to breathe; it just comes naturally.”

“Mr. Popo! Are you in here?” A young child's voice called from outside the gazebo door.

Popo stood up from his seat and opened the door; the child that Discord saw was similar to Kami in almost every way, like the time he had played that prank on the old Guardian of Earth and turned him into a child while he slept; Kami had been more than a little peeved at his new form, and it was only made worse by Discord giving him the nickname 'Little Green Bean'.

The trickster chuckled at the memory. Those were the days, I kinda miss old greeny, but at least he's whole again. For once. Discord thought, before he spoke. “So, Popo, who's our little visitor here? Did Kami lay an egg, after all?”

Popo shook his head. “Discord, this is the new Guardian of Earth from Namek, Dende,” the ageless gardener introduced the two. “Dende, this is Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Lord of Mischief.”

“Spirit of Chaos?” the green child said, tilting his head. “I've never heard of you before.”

“Of course you haven't, I haven't been here for centuries. Way before your time,” Discord stood up and floated over to the little guardian. He held out his hand for a shake. “I most say, congratulations on getting employed, not many get the honor of being titled as a god. Even if it is just in title.”

“Um ...t-thank you.” The meek green alien shook his hand, before he yelped loudly a moment later and pulled his hand away. Discord burst into laughter, kicking his legs in the air; Dende wasn't pleased. “T-that's not funny!”

Discord continued laughing, slapping his knee. “Oh my~ that brings back memories,” he grinned widely, showing his one sharp tooth, and showed the green child his hand, or rather the small toy in his hand. “Gotta love a good ol' joy buzzer~! Such a classic, I tell you!”

“Discord,” Popo sighed.

“Awe, come on, Popo. That was gold,” Discord said, chuckling. “I'm just joking with little green over here, harmless fun.”

“My name's Dende,” the alien child muttered, rubbing his shocked hand.

“Dende, Sunday, Monday, its all the same, really,” Discord said with a shrug; seeing that the child was still clearly not happy with his joke, he calmed his playful nature. A little bit. “Alright, turn that frown upside down. I was just joking.”

“I don't find getting shocked funny,” Dende said, plainly.

Yeah, Kami didn't, either. Bunch of party poopers, these two. Discord thought. He signed. “Fine. No more jokes, and to make it up to you I'll give you a wish.”

“A wish,” Dende said, blinking. “You grant wishes?”

“Of course, I'm Discord, Master of Mayhem, Honorary Kai of Chaos,” he paused. “At least that last title was the one they gave me in the Other World. But, getting back on track, yes, I do grant wishes ...sometimes. When I feel like doing so.”

“Discord, are you sure this is wise?” Korin asked.

Popo turned to the spirit. “Granting a wish with chaotic magic in this realm. It could upset the balance.”

“Its fine, really,” Discord said. “Wouldn't be the first I did someone here a favor with my magic. I've got ponies working on the garden.”

“Even so-.”

“Popo, really, its fine, I'm much better at controlling things than before,” Discord said, turning his attention to the green guardian. “So, what do you want, the worlds grandest cake? Ice cream? No, you're like Kami ...what about water?”

“I can ask for anything?”

“As long as its not something like world peace,” Discord said, making a face at the thought. “No one wants that.”

Dende's mood brightened. “Well, actually-.”

“Nope, no world peace. People can't grow strong if they don't struggle, kid. Take it from me, I've been to plenty of planets that made world peace happen and destroyed all their major weapons. Then, the aliens came,” Discord paused in thought. “Then again, from the things I've heard that wouldn't be anything new to you.”

“So, no world peace?”

“Were you not listening, little green.”

“My name is Dende.”

“Yes, yes, you've said that twice now,” Discord said, with a dismissive wave. “Maybe granting a wish isn't the best idea. How about a request? Or a favor? something small scale.”

Dende gave the trickster a look. “You'll help with anything I ask?”

“Anything within reason,” Discord said.

“O-okay ...then, I want you to help Gohan and the others fight the monster called, Cell,” Dende said.

Ah ...he wants me to help with their little pest problem. Discord thought. He smirked and turned to Korin. “I thought that this Goku character was this world's certified exterminator?” He picked up the magazine and turned to the last page, just as the new page started to create itself. “As a matter of fact, it reads here that his son is the one giving Cell a run for his money, not him.”

“I thought so from when we felt his power spike,” Korin said. “I don't want to jinx it, but if he or Gohan fail-.”

“Cell's trying to blow himself up,” Discord said.

“Wait, what,” Korin eyes widened. “You're serious?”

Discord nodded, and turned the magazine to him. Showing the immortal cat a picture of a bloated Semi-Perfect Cell. “Yep, says it right here. He going to try and take the entire planet with him because he was losing. What a drama queen.”

“That's bad news, very bad news,” Korin said. Popo's smile left his face, and Dende looked frightened. “You have to do something!”

Dende walked closer to Discord. “Help my friends, please, you have to. If you don't, we're all going to die!”

You, maybe. I'll be just fine. Discord sighed. But, I did say I'd grant him one request. Can't go back on it now that I've said it. As much of a prankster and a trickster he was, a liar he was not; half truths and being cryptic, sure, he did that all the time for kicks. But, he never really told outright lies. Being as old and powerful as he was, why would he ever need to.

“Fine, I'll grant you this one favor,” Discord said.

“Thank you,” Dende said, smiling.

Discord simply shrugged. “No need to thank me. I'm just keeping my word; besides, its a simple bug problem. Can't be that hard for me to handle.” And with that, the chaos spirit disappeared in a flash.

~(Cell Games Arena)~

Discord appeared in the air overhead, the energy from Cell's bloated form kicking up dust and debris. The bio android laughed as the wind howled. Below him were the Z-fighters; He was hiding his presence, though he was pretty sure none of them could sense him even if he wasn't, seeing as they were completely focused on their current predicament.

And thus, it gives me the chance to make a dramatic entrance. Discord thought with a grin, scratching his chin. Now, how to fix this little problem. I could send him into space. But ...I always want to try sealing someone away, the monks always made it seem so fun. Before he could contemplate further, Cell's loud voice brought him from his thoughts.

“Ten more seconds and the Earth will be gone,” Cell said, mostly to the young half Saiyan who forced him to resort to self destructing. “I guess we'll call the game a draw!”

That's my cue, sealing it is. Discord flashed from the sky and appeared next to the blond super preteen. Cells eyes widened in surprise at his sudden appearance, and Gohan lifted his head, just as shocked.

“I have a better idea,” Discord said, grinning. “How about we call it, your lose.”

“Who are you,” Cell demanded.

“A friend of a friend of your enemy. I'm here to help, displace this bug problem,” Discord answered, taking out and glancing at his pocket watch. "And would you look at that, we're out of time." He reached out his left hand and softly poked his index finger against the bloated android, his thumb and middle fingers held against each other. “Be good, bug-man, Aethyr doesn't like trouble makers.”

“You can't stop me-!”

Discord snapped his fingers, and Cell disappeared in a flash of white. The wind died and everything seemed to stand still; the chaos spirit spun around, brushing his hands together. “And, my work here is done.”

“Wh-what happened,” Gohan stood up. “Where's Cell?”

Discord held up his index finger. “One moment.” Reaching into his cape with his other hand, he pulled out a cellphone, flipped it open and dialed a number before putting it to his ear.

A few moments later, someone answered. “...Discord, what do you want?”

“Hello to you, too, Aethyr,” Discord greeted. “I was wondering if you got the package I sent to the Zone.”

“You mean the boated insect?”

“Yes, that one.”

“Its here,” Aethyr said. “This is the first time you've ever sent a prisoner into my domain. The Kryptonians are the only ones who send their trash here.”

“Well, you know, a first time for everything.”

As the phone conversation between the god and the chaos spirit continued, the rest of the Z-fighters came over next to Gohan, just as shocked and curious as the boy was.

“Um ...who is this guy,” Yamcha asked.

“I think the better question would be, where is Cell,” Trunks said, frowning. “I can't sense his ki anywhere.”

“I don't know, maybe this is a good thing,” Krillin added. "I mean, everyone's alive."

“How in the hell is this a good thing!” Vegeta shouted, glaring at the short monk. “I trained hard to defeat these androids, and this low level clown just shows up out of nowhere and gets rid of Cell like it was nothing! Bullshit!”

“Hold for a sec, Aethyr." He turned to Vegeta. "Do you mind not yelling,” Discord said, moving the phone away from his ear. “I'm on the phone.”

“On the phone,” Vegeta's eye twitched. “On the phone! I don't give a damn about you pho-!”

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers; a zipper appeared on the corner of Vegeta's mouth and zipped itself, sealing his lips such. The Z-fighters were taken aback, and the Saiyan Prince shouted inside of his mouth, struggling to pull the zipper off.

“O ...kay,” Tien muttered. “Never thought I'd see the day that happened to Vegeta.”

“Ditto,” Krillin agreed. "Seriously, who is this guy?"

"I don't know," Goku said, after starring at the chaos lord for a little longer. "But, I can sense that he's strong."

"Great, glad we had this chat. Bye, bye." The Spirit of Chaos ended his phone conversation, he turned to the Earth warriors, flipping the phone closed and tossing it behind him, resulting in a mini nuclear explosion. “Now, then, I believe introductions are in order.”

"Um," Trunks pointed to Vegeta. “...My father still like that.”

“Oh ...right, almost forgot,” Discord snapped his fingers, and the zipper on Vegeta's mouth vanished.

The Saiyan warrior was fuming. “H-how dare you do that to me!”

“Maybe that wouldn't have happened if you weren't so rude,” Discord retorted, lazily. “Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?”

Vegeta clenched his fists; everyone could feel his power raising from the comment. “Y-you, I'll crush you!” He shouted, before he turned super in an explosion of yellow and dashed at the trickster; Vegeta threw a punch at Discord's chest, however before his fist could make contact, the draconequus' split in half, from head to waist, completely dodging the blow and reformed his body, catching the Saiyan's hand in his chest like sticky clay. “What the!”

The Z-fighters gave a shocked expression at what they had just seen.

“You tried to hit me, huh,” Discord spoke, as if he didn't have a fist in his chest.

“What the hell are you?”

“Someone who actually has manners,” the Lord of Chaos said. “Here's your fist back.” Before Vegeta could even respond, a small portal formed next to Discord and Vegeta's fist shot out and hit him in the face, sending the Saiyan flying into a cliff not far from the group. Discord chuckled. “Your friend really should stop hitting himself.”

“Alright, enough funny stuff,” Piccolo said, stepping up to the trickster. “Who. are. you?”

Discord grinned and pulled out a badge from nowhere. “Glad you asked my green friend. I'm Discord, certified Lord of Chaos and Kai of Discourse.”

“Wait, your a kai,” Goku asked, excitedly. "So, do you know King Kai?"

"We've met."

"Was he the one that sent you, Lord Discord?"

“No. A little green birdy asked me to help you with your little bug problem, so I stopped by.”

“Well, we sure are glad you did,” Krillin said.

“Yeah, I thought we were goners,” Yamcha added.

“Discord, sir, you still didn't answer my question,” Gohan said. “What happened to Cell?”

“Oh~ Your bug friend got sent to the Phantom Zone, trust me, he won't be back,” Discord answered.

“Well, you have our thanks, Lord Discord,” Goku said, sticking his hand out. “We can't thank you enough for getting rid of Cell.”

Discord shook his hand. “It was child's play, truly.” He let go of the Earth raised Saiyan's hand. “I'll leave the victory celebrations to you folks, I've got places to be. Tata~!” In a flash of light, he was gone.

~(The Lookout/minutes later)~

“It was really that easy, huh,” Korin asked.

Discord nodded, floating lazily. “Like putting a baby in a playpen.”

Dende gave the trickster his thanks, and walked out of the gazebo with Popo to prepare the dragon balls for the arrival of the Z-fighters. With everything being said and done, the chaos spirit decided it was time to return to his world.

“So, these beans, they heal any injury,” Discord asked, looking at one of the beans in his hands. Korin had given him a total of twelve in a small brown pouch.

“Yep, as long as its not a virus or something,” The immortal cat answered. “The magic of the senzu beans isn't just that it heals you, eating one puts you at one hundred percent health, no matter what state you are in and can keep a person full for ten whole days.”

“Impressive,” Discord said. He put the bean back in the pouch and pulled the top string closed. “This will work wonders, I'm sure of it.”

Korin smiled. “That's good to hear. And how about next time you don't wait eight centuries to come back and visit, huh.”

Discord laughed, he had no intention of getting turned back into stone ever again. The bore of being a statue for one-thousand-years might actually be the thing that drives him crazy. Well, crazier than he already was considered being.

“We'll have to set up a date for us to get together again, sometime. I always enjoy our chats.” The chaos spirit snapped his fingers, causing a door to leading back to Equestria to appear next to him. He opened the door and stepped partly inside. “You and Popo can expect to see me in the near future.”

Korin gave a nod and waved. “Until then.”

“Until then, indeed.”

With that Discord waved and walk through, closed the door behind him; the door flashed away, along with all the other things that Discord had conjured up during his visit, as if he had never been there to begin with.

A little while after Discord had left, the Z-fighters showed up, and Vegeta, well, he was on a hunt for blood and his black eye didn't exactly lighten his mood.

"Father, please, calm down."

"Where's that freak! I'll send that bastard to oblivion!"

Korin shook his head. "It never goes smoothy with Discord."

"Some things never change, I'm afraid," Popo said.