Return to Disharmony

Trixie lied in her cage in the abyss.

She looked at the gray floor of her cramped dwellings, watched the static of the abyss which surrounded her, and absentmindedly watched the screen which showed a worn, dirt road as her body trotted through at a leisurely pace.

It was early in the morning, an hour after she would’ve gotten up to clean the sculptures after…Mr. Leo would’ve started to yell at her.

Her mind replayed the last few hours over and over again, the hostile takeover of her own body, Mr. Leo turning to stone…

She felt lower than she had ever felt before yet after a while, all she felt…was tired.

“How’s it going in there my little vessel?” Discord chimed in mockingly.

Trixie merely snorted when she heard Discord’s voice, not even his voice could lull her from stupor.

“Oh come now, it’s only temporary and I promise I’ll reverse his condition once you’ve done every little thing that I’ve asked of you.”

Trixie rolled on her side as she said “well how am I going to do your favors if you’re using my body.”

Discord gasped as he remembered what he had done and said “oh my, I do apologize for being so heavy-handed with you these last couple of hours but I just knew that unless I was tough on you, we’d have problems with one another.”

“So the best way to avert problems was to take over my body and kill my boss?”

“Again, I didn’t kill anyone and, assuming he had no long term health problems, he should be a-o-kay and besides…you’ll get your body back.”

“When?” Trixie sighed in apathy.

Suddenly, the screen turned black as the abyss around her cage began to fade. In time, more and more of the abyss shifted to become a bright, blinding light until Trixie couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer in its brilliance. Trixie yelled as she felt something pulling her from the cage into the everlasting light.

When Trixie opened her eyes, she found herself standing atop a tower, specifically on a black disk of magic which levitated of the top of the tower’s spire. Trixie jumped back in surprise and was surprised to see the disc shifting so that she wouldn’t fall off.

“Now that would’ve been an embarrassing way to die, good thing I’m here huh?”

“W-w-what…?”

“…are you doing here, in canterlot, atop the tallest tower overlooking the royal chambers, well this is where I have to cash in one of my favors because you see…I need you to schedule an impromptu visit with the princess today.”

Trixie almost gagged as she gasped in shock.

“What? How do you expect me to get to the princesses? I mean…they have to have thousands of guards in there, not to mention that they are, you know, the princesses.”

Discord laughed.

“Well my dear, I’m an ancient spirit that embodies chaos and disharmony, no one is going to stop me unless I give them permission to. Besides, as long as you’re with me, my lovely vessel, you’re practically immortal anyway.”

Trixie nervously inched her way towards the edge and reluctantly looked over the sides to see the long drop to the streets below. From where she stood, everypony looked like ants scurrying through a narrow tunnel, completely unaware of the mysterious mare which stood in the air stories above them.

Trixie withdrew from the sides as her heart started to race.

“How am I supposed to get down from here anyway? I hope you don’t expect me to jump!”

“Now my dear, I never thought that you’d suggest anything so suicidal. Why don’t you just warp?”

“Warp?” Trixie said incredulously.

“Yeah,” a flash of black light blinded her vision for a moment before Trixie found herself falling out of the sky, “as in teleport, verb, the act of instantly moving from one place to the other.”

Trixie screamed as she fell out of the sky, desperately flailing her hoofs to slow her descent, before a black flash filled her vision and she found herself landing atop the black disc atop the tallest tower.

“P-p-p-please…d-don’t do that…again!” Trixie said as she shivered from fear.

“Well pardon me for providing a visual aid. Anywho, why don’t you just warp to the ground like I did?”

“Because obviously I don’t know how. It’s not like unicorns just wake up knowing to warp like you and…”

“Like me and Twilight can?” Discord mused.

Trixie was silent as she tried to come up with an answer. Nothing came.

“Well it’s no worry my dear, what kind of entity would I be if I didn’t teach you how to warp like I do, especially since you’re going through all the trouble to help little ol’ me with my plans.”

“Not like I have a choice…” Trixie muttered.

“Now then, I suppose the best place to start would be to close your eyes and imagine yourself standing in the place where you want to warp.”

Trixie followed Discord’s instructions and closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself standing on the ground. She felt something building in the base of her horn which caused it to tingle.

“Now then, after you do that, imagine a doorway opening in front of you…”

Trixie saw a wooden doorway appearing in front of her in her mind as the tingle in her horn began to travel upwards until she felt her whole horn tingling with raw magical power.

“Good, great work my little servant. Now then, for the grand finale, imagine yourself stepping through the door until you’re on the other side.”

Trixie did so and the power in her horn began to spread until her whole body was enveloped in it. Her whole body felt warm, tingling as the power soaked into her until all at once she felt nothing. For a brief moment, she felt as if she was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, halfway in and halfway out until she could feel herself again and was surrounded by the sounds of the bustling city surrounded her.

Trixie opened her eyes and felt the ground shaking until she could no longer stand up straight. After awkwardly navigating through the crowd, she uneasily leaned against the side of an adjacent building.

“Not bad servant, though you may want to work on something a bit more…inconspicuous.”

Trixie was too sick to retort and held her hoof to her mouth to keep the nausea from overwhelming her. As she looked ahead, all she could see was the crowd busily trotting about their business, oblivious to the mysterious mare seemingly hugging the side of the building only a few feet away.

“Why don’t they notice me? Don’t they see that I need some help?”

“Well my dear, these ponies are too stuck-up and self-centered to lend a hoof to a stranger in need. In fact, I always wondered why someone as “friendly” as the princess would allow her subjects to act this way towards other ponies…but then again I am talking about the mare who sent her own sister to the stratosphere.”

Trixie tried to get her balance but a wave of nausea overwhelmed her senses. To keep herself from falling over, she held out her hoof and tried to grab the closest thing in front of her which just so happened to be a random stallion.

“Ick,” he yelled as Trixie’s hoof brushed against the side of his jacket, “you’re filthy! Get away from me!”

The stallion jumped away from Trixie as she lost her balance and fell on the sidewalk. As she looked up from the ground, all she could see was the crowd, walking around her, making cruel comments about the way she dressed and the way she looked. Trixie self-consciously at herself and realized how much her body had changed since Discord took over it. Her blue fur and light blue highlights had changed to gray and her entire body was covered in dirt and dust. She hid her face into her hoofs and her face burning from embarrassment. She wanted to crawl into a hole and waste away until she heard Discord speaking to her.

“Now now Trixie, you shouldn’t let these high class sticks in the mud get you down. You hold the powers of a god in your hoofs and you were chosen to become my servant. Do you think that I’d choose any ol’ mare off the streets to take on a task so important?”

Trixie somehow felt a little better when she offered a weak “no” in response.

“Correct, now I can’t have my servant sitting in the corner and crying just because a few ponies don’t know who they’re talking to. I mean, are you just going to lie here on a filthy sidewalk and allow that stallion to get away with his arrogance?”

“Of course not!”

Trixie got off the sidewalk and looked ahead until she saw the stallion who had rudely allowed her to drop. She felt the power building in the base of her horn before she felt the familiar warmth surrounding her. The next moment, she warped a few inches ahead of the stallion who had fallen backwards in surprise, causing a smirk to appear on Trixie’s face.

“I want you to apologize to me.” Trixie said as she watched the stallion picking himself up off of the ground.

“I will do no such thing you litt-“

Trixie built the power up in her horn and released it over herself and the stallion. One moment later, they both found themselves falling out of the sky towards the ground several miles below. The stallion screamed as he fell while Discord laughed heartily inside Trixie’s head.

“You’re insane,” the stallion yelled over the roar of the winds, “put me down, put me down right now!”

“If he’s more patient, he’ll hit the ground any moment.” Discord chuckled.

“I want you to apologize and you’d better hurry, the ground’s coming up any second now.”

The stallion resumed screaming until he looked down and loudly spouted “all right, all right, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please get us down.”

“Why thank you for apologizing sir, I really appreciate it.” Trixie said with a satisfied smirk as she rebuilt the power and enveloped herself and the stallion in it.

The next moment, both ponies found themselves standing in the middle of a crowded street as the crowd looked at the pair with looks which resembled a gamut of shock, surprise, and confusion. The stallion, realizing where he was, quickly crawled away from Trixie as his teeth started to chatter.

“W-wh-who are y-y-y-you?” The stallion stammered as he tried to pick himself up off of the ground.

Trixie arrogantly laughed as she felt the rush starting to return. “It’s been a while” she thought as she arrogantly laughed in the faces of the crowd.

“I’m the great and powerful Trixie,” she boasted, “and I guarantee that everypony here is going to remember my name!”

Trixie rebuilt the power into her horn and warped away from the center of the crowd back to the disc high atop the tallest tower. As she looked on at the city of canterlot, she couldn’t help but beam at herself and her new-found powers. It’s been a while since Trixie felt this joy in her life and for the first time since the Ursa incident, Trixie could feel nothing but pride because for the first time in a long time, she felt in control of her own life again.

“Not bad for a first day…”