Chapters Keep Calm and....Wait a Minute
It was another beautiful night in Canterlot....and an important meeting was about to take place.
On a hilltop high up and overlooking the city and illuminated by moonlight, a woman sat there, admiring how the city seemed to sparkle all different colors. She took a moment to take a deep breath and enjoy the peace.
A few feet behind, two other female figures appeared. The first appeared in a beam of moonlight, the second through swirling leaves. Slowly, the approached the sitting figure.
"Ah...hello ladies." The first figure greeted casually, without even turning around. "How did it go?"
The second figure sighed. "It took some convincing but....they have agreed to try."
"Perfect!" The first figure replied cheerily.
"Are you sure this is wise?" The third figure asked cautiously. "He has already disrupted the balance of nature before..."
"I know." The first figure turned around and gave a small smile. "But things will be different this time. I promise."
The second figure stepped forward. "I understand you two used to be close, but remember what happened just after he was released?"
"Don't worry. They can handle this. You've seen what those girls are capable of."
"I still say they are too young." The third figure replied. "You should have waited-"
"You mean like how Discord waited?" The first figure raised an eyebrow. "Or Sunset Shimmer? Or the Sirens? I know you have your doubts, but have I ever been wrong before?"
The second and third figures looked at each other, resigned.
"Very well then." The second figure nodded. "We will leave this in your hands."
"As always." The first figure smirked.
With a flash of moonlight and a swirl of leaves, the second and third figures left, leaving the first alone to her thoughts.
"Ugh!"
The girls turned to find Sunset kicking away a wrapper before joining them on the front steps.
"Is it me, or is the school more of a mess than usual?"
The group looked through the front door, noting the piling up litter on the ground mixed with dirt throughout the halls.
"Well maybe the school would be cleaner if somebody hadn't turned one of the classrooms into a black hole the janitor wouldn't still be missing." Twilight noted, glaring at a certain pink and rainbow haired duo.
The duo then proceeded to look away and whistle inconspicuously.
"So why did Celestia and Luna ask us to meet them out here again?" Aj asked.
"They said they were bringing an important visitor." Twilight explained. "They mentioned them being a part of a special mission."
"A visitor who's important and slow ." Rainbow groaned.
"Ah', kind of glad they're late." AJ admitted. "We had some trouble with beavers building dams and flooding Sweet Apple Acres earlier. Thankfully, Fluttershy managed to set those varmints straight."
Fluttershy blushed as she petted Spike. "Oh, it was nothing. Also, Mr. Beaverton Beaverteeth wouldn't appreciate you calling him that."
AJ humphed.
Sunset looked up and down the road impatiently. "Why are they so late? It's not like Celestia."
"Maybe it's somebody who got in late?" Twilight assumed.
"Maybe it's somebody so terribly important, she still had many more terribly important things to do before she got here." Rarity guessed.
"Maybe it's somebody who got trapped in a time loop, and they had to solve a series of complicated and time consuming puzzels in order to get out!" Pinkie suggested.
Everyone just blinked at her.
Spike opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw. "Maybe the visitor has a deer antler, a goat leg, a bat wing, and a snake tail!"
Twilight waved it off. "Yeah, right. That's Discord."
"Why would Celestia and Luna bring someone like that?" Sunset asked.
"M-m-maybe you should ask... her !" Spike pointed to something down the road.
The girls turned and gasped.
A truck was heading towards the school and in the back of it, secured by various ropes and cords, was the statue of Discord himself.
As a pair of understandably nervous movers unloaded the Spirit of chaos on the lawn, Twilight approached the Principal and Vice Principal.
"With all due respect,............how could you bring Discord here ?!" Twilight realized she was shouting before clearing her throughout. "Ma'am's."
Celestia nodded in understanding. "I'm fully aware that the last time Discord was here, he created serious havoc."
Sunset scoffed. "If by 'serious havoc' you mean causing chaos all across Equestria-"
"-and tricking us into hating each other and turning us into complete jerks-" Rainbow continued.
"-And making yummy delicious chocolate milk rain all over the place without a single cookie to dip it in. NOT. ONE!" Pinkie fumed.
Celestia cleared her through nervously. "Yes, I understand. But we have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil. This is why we've brought Discord here, because I believe that you are the people who can help him do just that."
"This will never work! This is a disaster! How will we ever control him?! We're doomed!" Spike panicked.
"Believe me, I'm with you all on this one." Luna grumbled.
Celestia glared at her sister before continuing. "Need I remind you that you are the mages who turned him back into stone like this in the first place?"
'Well...." Twilight began to think. "..we could always just use the Elements to turn him back into stone if he gets out of hand."
"And you all don't have to worry about him taking them like last time." Celestia nodded to Luna, who opened the jeweled box she was carrying. "We've cast a spell so Discord can't take them and hide them again."
"Why do you have to reform him now!?" Spike asked, still panicking.
"Because some Goddesses like to mess with us mortals for their own amusement." Luna said plainly, before receiving an elbow to the gut courtesy of Celestia.
"Uh, quick question?" Sunset spoke up. "If this is Element of Harmony business, then why am I here?"
Celestia smiled warmly at her ward. "Simple. I believe you and Fluttershy may know best how to begin reforming Discord."
"What !?" Everyone gasped.
"M-me...?!" Fluttershy meekly asked.
"I realize that this is a tall order, but I wouldn't ask if I weren't confident you two could get him to use magic obediently of his own free will." Celestia explained.
"And... you really think we'll know best how to do that?" Sunset asked.
Celestia smiled. "I do. Now, we have to go over details with the council. You may release Discord when ready."
With that, Celestia and Luna teleported away while the moves drove away at the speed of lightning, leaving the girls alone with the statue.
"Okay, girls," Twilight announced, putting on her crown. "guess it's time to get started. Let's just hope this releasing spell works."
"Ill just....support you from way over there!" Spike said before hiding behind some bushes.
"Okay, as a precaution, let's keep out Elements on at all times, okay?" She received five nods as the girls put on their respective necklace.
Sunset took a few steps back, giving the girls their space.
With that, the six teens held hands and started the spell, causing their Elements to start glowing. A rainbow began to flow through each of the gemstones before gathering at the Element of Magic and be blasted at Discord.
Just as before, the rainbow completely surrounded him, but this time the sound of stone breaking could be heard.
Quickly the rainbow faded....revealing a very much moving and free Discord.
Author's Note
Alright...we all knew this was happening so here it is!
Honestly, i was hoping to get a Pinkie and Rarity story in before this one but I got stuck so here we are!
Keep Calm and....Wait a Minute
Discord stretched his limbs out, screaming.....which turned into a yawn as began wiggling his whole body out.
"Oh! Ooh! Ooooh! Well, it's about time somebody got me out of that prison block. What a relief!" Stretching his arms over his head, he snapped his fingers, causing a nearby squirrel to grow bat wings and fly around.
The girls gasped.
"What are you doing!?" Twilight demanded.
Discord pulled on his cloven leg. "Nnnnnnnnngh– Why, stretching, of course. When you're a creature of chaos, stone bodysuits aren't your typical go-to fashion choice. Nnngh..." He snapped his fingers again, bringing some nearby flowers to life with evil looking faces. Using their leaves, they began picking up some stones and throwing them at various objects.
"Make those flowers pretty again!" Pinkie stamped her foot.
Discord teleported to the flowers and began to pet one with his finger. "Aww...but they're adorable just the way they are." He recoiled when the flower tried to bite him with it's sharp teeth. He simply folded his arms and blew a raspberry at it.
"You know what else is adorable?" He teleported over to Sunset and Fluttershy. He examined at them through a huge microscope."That you all truly think you can reform me. And that you're putting your faith in these two to make it happen." Then he appeared in between them, dressed as a grandmother and began pinching their cheeks. "Makes me wanna pinch your little magicky cheeks..."
Sunset glared at him, pulling away and rubbing her sore cheek. "How'd you know about that?!"
Discord gave her a flat look. "Being turned to stone doesn't keep me from hearing every word Celestia says." He then proceeded to remove his eyes and roll them on the ground. "Although I admit it makes rolling my eyes a challenge." The eyes landed in two holes, and the earth around them transformed into Discord.
Twilight stepped forward. "Well, unless you want us to turn you back to stone, you'll zap those things back the way they were, pronto!"
Fluttershy glared at him."You think you can treat poor defenseless animals like that and get away with it?!"
"You go Fluttershy!" Rainbow cheered.
"You'd best watch your step, buster, or I'll give you... the Stare !"
The girls actually gasped at this. The stare was Fluttershy's secret weapon .It was skill that was normally exclusive to mothers and teachers. When she used it, no animal or person could refuse her.
Discord burst out into laughter! "Oh right! Your scary disapproving eyeballs! Ha ha!"
Fluttershy glared at him, and then proceeded to do 'the stare'.
The nearby animals ran for cover and even the world around them seemed to go quiet out of fear.
Discord cowered in front of her, his eyes going red and swirly. "No! Please! Anything but that! I'm melting! I'm meeeeellllttttiiiiinnnngggg!" With that, he quickly dissolved into a puddle. Fluttershy gasped and was about to poke it when in a flash of light, Discord was back and laughing hysterically.
"You're hilarious !" he laughed.
Twilight had had enough, and put her foot down. "If it turns out we do have to turn you back into stone, I'm sure we can convince Celestia, Luna and even the Gods themselves that it was for a good reason!"
This caused Discord to pause. "Mmm... I suppose that's correct." Defeated, he snapped his fingers and turned everything back to normal. He gave the girl and innocent grin and shrug....while the white tuft on his tail turned into fingers and snapped.
"Ooopsie!" He whispered to....someone......"Well it looks know where I'll be crashing while I'm being "reformed"... With you two!" He summoned them into his eagle arm while giving them a noogie with his lion paw all while laughing.
"Oh dear..." Fluttershy mumbled and she and Sunset looked ahead in horror.
They decided on Fluttershy's house first (since when they called Celestia and Luna all that could be heard was Luna shouting) and because Twilight wanted to keep Discord as far from CHS as possible.
"I Know he's been borrible, but that doesn't mean we have to be horrible back." Fluttershy told her friends as she quickly tidies up the place. Discord had already made himself home on the couch.
"It doesn't?" Rainbow asked, only to receive an elbow from AJ.
"We should at least try to be polite and hospitable."
Sunset stepped forward. "She's right. Take me for instance I was-"
"A demon?" Rainbow spoke, only to receive another elbow from AJ.
"-mean ." Sunset finished. "But you guys took a chance with me. It's only fair we do the same with him."
"Thank you Sunlight!" Discord exclaimed.
"Sunset."
"Oh whatever." Discord waved it off. "I just want to thank you and Fluttershy for your concerns. If only your other friends could be so considerate..."
"Don't listen to him!" Rainbow shouted. "He's just trying to drive a wedge in between us like last time!"
"Oh please Rainbow Dash!" Discord rolled his eyes. "Do you honestly expect the spirit of chaos to repeat himself ?" Beside him was another Discord, who just repeated what he said. Glaring, the first Discord snapped the second away.
AJ rubbed her nose. "Ah can't watch this."
"Yeah, I gotta get going."
Twilight turned to the two teens with worry.
"Are you sure you girls will be able to handle him?" They turned and saw him bringing some glass animal decorations to life, scaring Angel.
" I know it's not gonna be easy, but it's worth a try. Besides..." Fluttershy and Sunset looked at each other and smiled. "I-I think we can actually know what to do."
Twilight was shocked. "You do!?"
Sunset nodded. "I think the key is to befriend him. Just give him some space and being kind is the best way to do that. Just like what you girls did for me."
Twilight looked away, thoughtful. "Alright....but just say the word and we'll be there with the Elements." She glared at Discord. "So watch your step mister!"
Discord looked surprised. "Wh-what?! Look at me!" He snapped his fingers, and then he was wearing a bathrobe reading the newspaper while smoking a bubble pipe. "I'm practically reformed already!"
Twilight looked doubtful, but left with the others anyway.
Once the door was shut, Sunset turned to Discord with a determined look.
"Alright....let's get to work!"
Keep Calm and....Wait a Minute
"Okay lesson one: being polite." Sunset stated, before she noticed that Discord wasn't paying the slightest attention to her.
"Are you...eating paper?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.
Swallowing a page, Discord replied. "Am I? How odd." With that he stuck his fork in and chewed up another page.
Sunset glared at him. "First rule: pay attention when someone is trying to talk to you."
"I'm sorry. Did you say something?" Discord was about to take a bite when he felt himself sprayed with what.
"What the-!?"
"It's part of the learning process." Fluttershy explained, holding the squirt bottle. "It comes in handy whenever I'm training a new animal."
"And since your part horse....goat...dragon?...we thought it would work." Sunset continued.
"Hmph!" Discord crossed his arms. "I, for one, find that highly offensive and-ah!" He jumped when Fluttershy sprayed him again.
"It's just temporary until we make some progress."
Discord rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine."
"Now," Sunset continued with the lesson. "When you want to ask someone for a favor, what do you say?"
"Do it or I'll turn your house into cheese?" He received another spray, causing him to hiss like a cat.
"The correct word is 'please'. Now, when a person does something nice for you, what do you do?"
"I turn them into a sock monkey?" Another spray. Another hiss.
"The correct response is to say 'thank you'." Sunset was starting to get fed up with his antics. "Okay, your in a contest, and you lose to someone else. What do you do?"
"I turn them and all the other competitors into mice, the judges into cats, the grab the prize while laughing at them."
As he received the spray, he finally had enough and snatched the bottle in his teeth and began chewing on it ferociously.
"...I think we need a new approach." Sunset concluded as she and Fluttershy backed away slowly.
"Another key trait of being a good person is to have kindness." Fluttershy said. "Which is why we've brought two volunteers to help with this!" She smiled as she opened a holed box and took out Angel bunny, and a small yellow leopard gecko. "Angel and Ray were more than happy to help us out."
This statement caused Angel to glare up at his owner, whose smile turned into a nervous grin. "...Mostly."
"What's the point of this again?" Discord asked.
"Being kind to animals is arguably easier than being kind to people." Sunset explained. "If you can learn to be kind to animals, it'll make it easier for you to be kind to others."
Discord railed an eyebrow, clearly needing more info.
"Just pet them." Fluttershy encouraged. "And be gentle!"
Discord slowly approached the two familiars.
The two animals just blinked up at the creature before them.
Looking up, he saw the two teens smiling and nodding encouragingly.
Slowly, he lowest his eagle claw, and began to pet Ray, who hummed with content.
Discord looked back at the two teens, who were both giving him two thumbs up and nodding enthusiastically.
He decided to try his luck with the other pet, and moved his claw closer to Angel....
*SMACK!*
...only to him to smack the claw away with a glare.
Returning the glare, Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly Angel was wearing par of tap shoes.
That wouldn't stop dancing.
At all.
Angel was danced around the room despite his protests while Discord snickered. At least, before he noticed the disapproving frowns the girls were giving him.
"Okay..." Fluttershy sighed. "New tactic."
"Okay.." Sunset paced in front of an easel. "We're just going to run through some hypothetical scenarios. A sort of 'what would you do' in these kinds of situations. Ready?"
Discord, lying on the couch, gave claws up. "Whenever you are Sunshine."
"Sunset."
"Whatever."
"Alright..."She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Let's just start." She nodded to Fluttershy, who lifted back the paper, revealing a drawing of a distressed cat in a tree above a crying little girl.
"There's a little girl whose cat is stuck in a tree. What do you do?"
"oh! Oh! Oh! Me! Me! Me!" Discord waved his claw around eagerly.
"Yes Discord?" Sunset said with a hopeful smile.
"You turn the tree branches into a bunch of snakes!" He answered with energy. "There's no way the cat will want to stay up there after that!"
Sunset and Fluttershy just stared at him.
"...okay moving on." Sunset nodded to Fluttershy again, revealing a picture of a building on fire. "There's a house on fire and there are people trapped inside. What do you do?"
"Easy! Just freeze the house instead!" He snapped his fingers, and the picture turned into a house trapped into a giant ice cube.
Sunset facepalmed. "Moving on ..." The next picture was of a kid in a pool with a panicked expression and waving his arms. "A kid is drowning in a swimming pool. What do you do?"
"Too obvious!" Discord waved his claw. "Just turn the water into jello! Nobody drowns in jello!"
......
The sound of a head banging against the wall could be heard for miles.
After a few more trial and error tests, Sunset and Fluttershy figured they had made some progress.
Not a lot, but some.
Which was enough for them to show their friends what he learned. And what better way than that but a dinner party?
Fluttershy and Sunset decided to head out to get supplies, leaving Discord alone.
"Okay, we'll be back n a little while."Fluttershy instructed. "Make yourself at home and just call us if you need anything."
Discord, now donning fluffy robe and slippers and holding a steaming mug, bid the girls farewell.
"I promise you, I'll be completely fine! Bye now!"
Once they were gone from sight however, Discord turned to the two familiars, a sinister smirk on his face.
"You like carrots?" He asked, pulling one out of his ear and smacking them with it. "I'm playing your owners for fools." His face the appeared on the carrot in Angel's arms. "How do ya like them carrots!?"
While Angel gave a very girly scream and ran off, Ray just stood there, his calm smile ever on his face.
"...You really are a buzzkill on the whole 'I'm still a bad guy reveal' aren't you?"
Ray just continued on smiling.
Author's Note
Friendship is spraying someone with a water bottle when you know they're acting up.
Keep Calm and....Wait a Minute
When Sunset and Fluttershy returned, they found Discord lying on the couch eating paper again. The only difference was...
"Are you sure this isn't overdoing it? You said to make myself at home while you were gone, but I wouldn't want to overstep my bounds." Discord asked as he took a bite.
The two girls looked at each other. Then they looked around the living room. Furniture that had previously been on the floor was now either on the ceiling (including the couch Discord was on) or floating around. The throw rug had been turned into a puddle filled with singing fish and the lamp was now doing a waltz with the vacuum cleaner.
Fluttershy was just thankful her parents were out of town and not here to see this.
"Oh...of course not!" Fluttershy quickly reassured him " If this makes you comfortable, the please, feel free."
"Yeah!" Sunset nervously spoke up. "Though a little warning would have been nice...."
"Why you girls are just so understanding!" Discord gushed. "Not like your nasty, closed minded friends."
"Hey. Our friends aren't nasty!" Sunset argued.
"Which just goes to show how understand you are!" Discord laid an arm around Sunset's shoulders. "As one ex-villain to another I must say, you really are getting through to me Sunrise."
"Sunset."
"Whatever. You really understand what I'm going through. I'm starting to think Celestia and Luna were right about picking you two for this. You've both done such a good job that I am seriously considering being reformed." As he said this, another Discord head appeared on the back of his and blew a raspberry at Angel.
"Sunset! FLuttershy!" A voice shouted from outside.
Fluttershy gasped. "That sounds like Twilight!"
FLuttershy and Sunset found Twilight and Spike on the sidewalk, gaping at the house.
"Girls! Are you okay!?" She asked, looking at the state of the house. The trees were now giant lollipops, the grass was sandpaper and the stone walkway was now made of rubber stones.
"We're fine!" Sunset quickly reassured them
"What are you doing here?" Fluttershy asked.
"We've come to get you away from Discord! He's just terrible and, from the looks of it, completely out of control!" Twilight explained.
Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, but you're wrong! We're making great progress!"
Twilight and Spike both stared at her. "Seriously!?" They gestured to the state of the house.
Sunset stepped forward. "I know how it looks, but's fine. We're just earning his trust by giving him a little space to be himself! After all, you can't expect the spirit of Chaos to stop causing chaos completely right ?" She gave a hopeful grin. "Besides....we'll find a more permanent spot for it later."
"Hate to break it to ya," Spike spoke. "but he used that "space to be himself" to tear out all the reforming spells from the library!"
"'Reforming spells'?" Sunset asked.
Fluttershy put a hand to her chin in thought. "That does explain the paper eating..."
"He ate them?!" Twilight groaned.
"But we aren't gonna need a spell." Fluttershy assured them. "He's already really considering being reformed! He said so."
"And you believed him?" Spike asked skeptically.
"If we're going to be his friends, we have to start by giving him the benefit of the doubt!" Sunset reasoned. "Besides...you didn't need a reformation spell on me, right ?" She raised an eyebrow.
Twilight looked away in guilt.
"Tell you what." Fluttershy continued. "Bring all the girls over for a dinner party this evening, and I'll bet his manners will have really improved by then. We'll even get him to put the furniture back on the floor!"
Twilight sighed, knowing they weren't about to give up on this. "Alright...dinner it is."
Later that evening, the five mages stood in front of Fluttershy's newly restored house.
"Ugh!" Rainbow groaned "I can't believe we're having a dinner party with Discord!"
"At least I didn't bother wearing my best dress." Rarity said while wearing a still stunning purple and pink dress.
"Sunset and Fluttershy think the best way to reform him is to give him a chance. After all, it worked for Sunset didn't it?"
There were mutters of reluctant agreement.
"Yeah.." Pinkie spoke up. "But Sunset only stole one of the most powerful magical artifacts of all time and turned into an evil demon that tried to brainwash everyone and Discord is an ancient Spirit of Chaos that tried to spread disharmony to all of Equestria. So...kinda hard to compare the two."
"I mean...they both made horrible decisions, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve a second chance. Right?"
As id on cue, the door opened, revealing DIscord wearing a waiter's uniform.
"Good Evening ladies!"
He dropped his jaw and rolled out his tongue which kept rolling into a red carpet and he jumped up at the end.
"May I take your jewelry for safe keeping?" Discord asked slyly, reaching for Twilight's crown.
Twilight backed away just in time and looked at her friends.
"Hold onto your Elements girls....it's gonna be a crazy night."
Inside the decor was now tacky and bold (much to Pinkie's delight and Rarity's disgust) at the center of it was a large dining table where Fluttershy and Sunset were already seated.
"Welcome girls!" Fluttershy greeted. "Don't you like what Dicord's done for tonight?"
"Well..."
"It's certainly colorful..."
"Meh..."
"I love it!" Pinkie replied with her usual enthusiasm.
Sunset nodded. "As you all know, Fluttershy and I were tasked with teaching Discord with using his magic for good."
A gravy sailed around the table, as though the tablecloth were water.
"Gravy Pinkie Pie?" Sunset offered.
"Ooh!" Pinkie marveled as the boat topped some gravy on her mashed potatoes before sailing away.
"Kinda creepy if you ask me..." Rainbow said as she watched her napkin fly away like a bird.
"Rainbow, you're not giving him a chance." Fluttershy scolded.
Then, a teapot with wings flew over to Rainbow and poured scolding hot tea in her lap.
"Hey! Watch it!" Rainbow yelled as she jumped up.
Discord quietly chuckled before noticing the eyes on him. "So sorry! May I offer a nice, cold glass of water instead?" With that, a flying pitcher full of water flew over to Rainbow....and poured water all over her head.
Rainbow growled as she glared at Discord.
"Hey did that on purpose!"
"Oh come now!" Discord thew his hands up in self defense. "Everybody makes mistakes. Look!" He pointed to the center of the table. "Dancing forks!"
Indeed, all the forks had gathered and were dancing in sync....until Rainbow blasted some magic at them, causing the to jump away.
"Come on you two!" She looked at Sunset and Fluttershy. "He's just trying to distract us-OW!" She immediately found herself under attack from the floating forks, causing her to run around the room as they chased her.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Ah suppose that just another 'mistake'?" AJ questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Do I think you just made them mad."
"Something strange is going on...." Twilight surmised before getting hit with a roll the candelabra was throwing around.
"Discord?" Both Sunset and Fluttershy asked with worry.
"B-bad candle! Bad boy!" Discord scolded. "Honestly, it's so hard to find good help these days."
"That candle's only doing what you tell it to do!" Rarity accused.
"Now let's not jump to any conclusions..."Sunset said, trying to cool things down.
Rainbow returned, having lost the angry forks. "Can't you see what he's doing? He's playing innocent with you so you'll never agree to use the Elements of Harmony against him!"
He folded his arms. "Now that's just cruel."
"You see what I'm saying right?" Rainbow asked her friends.
Sunset and Fluttershy glared at her.
"You know what I see?" Sunset asked. "I see that Discord's far from perfect, but I also see none of you giving him a chance!"
Numerous complaints arose from the others.
"What's gotten into you?!" Rainbow demanded. "Why do you keep cutting him so much slack?"
This caused both girls to rise up and each put a hand on Discord. "Because that's what friends do." Fluttershy stated.
That statement caused Discord to blink in surprise. "We're friends?"
"Of course!" Sunset responded. "After all, you weren't the only one who had a hard time learning to be good." She gave a hard stare to the rest of her friends, who averted their gazes.
"Oh... Well, I've... never really had a friend before." Discord stammered.
"Well, now you do!" Fluttershy reassured him, causing him to smile.
*Creeeeeek!*
The sound of a window opening could be heard, and everyone turned and saw a frantic Angel climb though and hop on the table.
"Now is not a good time, Angel. We're having a dinner party." Fluttershy said as he started chittering away. "Huh? Oh no!" She gasped.
"What?" Twilight asked. "What's he saying!"
"There's something wrong at the school!"
"And we all know who's behind that now, don't we?!" Rainbow shot a look at Discord.
A halo appeared over his head. "Who? Me?" He asked innocently.
"Oh, give it a rest! What do you think of your "friend" now you two?"
Sunset and Fluttershy shared a worried glance before looking at Discord with doubt.
Author's Note
Special thanks to Comickook for helping me with this chapter!
Keep Calm and....Wait a Minute
Arriving at CHS, the girls gasped at what they saw.
Many wild animals, from bears to birds, were making themselves right at home, building nests in the rafters and ventilation to taking up the classrooms as dens. Several reptiles had even made themselves at home in the boiler room!
Everyone (aside from Discord who was riding on the back of a bear) stood in a hallway in horror.
Fluttershy tried talking to one of the local birds for inside, only to receive some very rude chirps in return.
"Why Hubert!" Fluttershy gasped. "Such language!" She turned back to her friends. "I'm sorry everyone. I just don't know what's gotten into them. They won't listen to a word I say."
"If Celestia and Luna see this, they'll so upset!" Twilight exclaimed.
"There has to be something we can do!" Rarity exclaimed as she opened a random door to see what she could find...only to find a black hole on the other side! A man in janitor's uniform was blown out right before she slammed the door shut.
"Hey!" Pinkie said. "You found the janitor!"
The man looked around, eyes widened in horror with visible bags beneath them. He quickly got to his feet and ran off shouting "I QUIT!!!!!!"
The girls just stood there for a moment, blinking.
"You know Discord's behind this, right?" Rainbow asked.
Sunset stomped her foot. "Of course we know he's behind it! We're not idiots! We've just been trying to get him to trust us!"
"Hey there you two!" Discord greeted as he teleported next to them. "Like what I've done with the place? I know you two like animals, so this must be a dream come true!"
Fluttershy gave him a stern glare. "No, it's not. Wild animals don't belong inside a high school."
"Really? Why didn't you say so! And to think I was just trying to do something nice for you girls...." He said in a way that was pretending to be hurt.
Sunset sighed and step forward. "Discord, we appreciate the thought, but we need you to fix this so actual people can learn here."
Discord held a finger to his chin in consideration. "Hmmmm....alright. I'll fix it. One one condition."
"Which is?" Both girls asked.
Discord pointed to the Element around Fluttershy's neck. "You must promise to never use your Element of Harmony against me. As a sign of our friendship."
Fluttershy looked at Sunset, who had the same unsure expression on her face, then to the rest of her friends, who were silently shaking their heads and signaling to say no.
She took a deep breath. "I promise to never use my Element of Harmony against you." She quickly reached around and removed her necklace and cast it aside, much to her friend's horror.
Discord smirked with victory. "Wonderful!" He snapped his fingers and in a flash of light the animals vanished.....but now the inside of the school was turned into an ice skating rink!
He skated around, doing a triple spin, earning top scores from a panel of judges made of other Discords.
"DISCORD!!!" Sunset and Fluttershy shouted furiously. "THAT"S NOT 'FIXING IT'!"
"What's wrong pals?"
"Don't call us your 'pals'!" Sunset shouted.
"Oh, pfft," He waved her off and summoned two more pairs of skates. "Come skating with me, and we'll let bygones be bygones.
Twilight slid over and held out Fluttershy's Element to her. "Here. He fixes this or he goes back to stone. I'm sure Celestia will understand!"
Fluttershy looked at her Element, at Discord holding out the skates, at Sunset, then around the rink.
She took a deep breath. "I made a promise not to use my element against him, and I'm going to keep it." With that, both she and Sunset grabbed a pair of skates.
Pinkie gasped and AJ and Rainbow groaned.
Discord reveld in his victory. "You see? They wants to have fun with me because we're friends. She can't use the elements against me because we're friends. I'm free forever!" He laughed maliciously as Fluttershy and Sunset turned red with fury.
"NOT. YOUR. FRIENDS!" They shouted, throwing the skates to the ground.
"Huh?" Discord turned to them, confused.
"We thought you wanted to be our friend! But friends don't do this to each other!" Fluttershy shouted.
Sunset, in a rage, spoke, "I thought you wanted to change! Don't you understand the opportunity you're being given!? Do you know how hard it was for me after I tried being good!? I wanted to make things easier for you, but apparently you don't want to be a good person! Well you know what!? I've HAD IT! If you want to be a bad guy forever, fine! Be that way! Just don't involve us in your antics!"
As the two girls marched away, a frowning Discord followed them.
"Who cares? I'm the master of Chaos! I can do whatever I want, whenever I want! I've seen civilizations rise and fall and you think you can control me?! You think I'll start being good just because you asked me to!? Because if I don't I'll lose the first friends I've had in eons !?"
He paused, his eyes widening as the full meaning of his speech hit him. His face dropped."Oh. Oh. Well played, you two. Well played."
He then sat down sadly, and an aura emerged from him that turned everything back to normal in it's wake.
The girls cheered as they hugged the two mages.
Discord approached them timidly. "I like it better my way, but... I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?" He smiled at Fluttershy and Sunset, who both smiled back.
It was a little later that were find these teens and Discord standing in front of the school with Celestia and Luna.
"Yes indeed you two, I'm fully ready to use my magic for good." Discord stated before muttering under his breath. "Most of the time..."
Celestia beamed with pride. "Well done girls, I knew you do it. I definitely sense a big change in Discord." Then she whispered to Twilight. "I have the Elements on hand, just in case."
Twilight nodded while Discord gave them a confused look.
"You were right when you said Fluttershy and Sunset would be the ones to find the way to reform Discord. By treating Discord as a friend, they got him to realize that friendship was actually important to him. And something that, once he had, he didn't want to lose." Twilight smiled at the trio.
FLuttershy nudged him. "Go on....say it."
Discord groaned. "Fine." Then, very quickly, he recited. "Friendship is magic."
Sunset placed a comforting hand on him "See? He can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him."
"Thank you Sunset."
"It's-oh. Yeah, that's it."
Luna coughed. "Unfortunately, that's just the beginning."
The girls looked at them in confusion.
Celestia continued nervously. "Duo to the chaos he caused, we feel it would be best to give Discord some sort of 'community service' to show the public he is reformed and to help him further learn his lesson."
"What kind of community service?" Rarity asked.
Luna grunted. "First point, we ran into the old janitor, who has.....decided to take an early retirement."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he made that abundantly clear when we found him. The baby."
"So..." Celestia continued. "The board decided to grant his request. And as for his replacement.."
Just then, Discord teleported in the middle of the group, wearing a janitor's uniform.
"Guess who's going to be your new janitor!?" He announced cheerfully.
Only Sunset and Fluttershy looked happy for him, the rest of the girls' jaw dropped in horror at the prospect, except for Twilight who stayed surprisingly emotionless.
Luna marched up to Discord and gave him a stern glare. "This means no funny business, you understand? Especially with the students.Now, your first job is to get rid of the black hole."
Discord saluted her. "You got it boss lady!"
Then Twilight walked up to him and spoke. "Congratulations Discord. I hope this works out well for you. Now if you all will excuse me..."
With that, Twilight calmly walked back into the school, shutting the door behind her.
Celestia gave a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness. For a moment there-"
The sound of frustrated screaming could be heard through the walls.
Discord smiled casually. "I say she took that rather well. Don't you?"
That night on a hilltop high above Canterlot, a figure sat there enjoying the view.
"Enjoying your freedom?" A feminine voice asked.
Discord smirked and without even turning his head, replied: "Don't try to play innocent with me Izzy, I know you had a hand in this."
The woman smiled knowingly. "Oh?"
"Celestia and Luna deciding to free me, getting one of the Elements of Harmony to reform me? I could smell your scheming little mind from miles away."
The woman chuckled "You always had it in you, even if you yourself didn't recognize it. Besides, chaos and order are both part of life. As long as you don't try to disrupt that balance again, everything should be fine."
Discord got up and approached her. She swiftly responded with a warm hug.
"It's good to have you back."
"Good to be back."
He broke the hug. "So....why did you want to reform me now?"
The woman sighed and looked out over the city. "There's trouble approaching in the near future. It's....one of those times again."
Discord nodded, listening. "And you don't think those little bearers can handle it."
"I think they'll need all the friends they can get."
"Hmm hmm. And I'm assuming they have no idea you yourself are involved with this."
"So far I've only reached out to Twilight....but no, she doesn't know who or what I am. Neither do the other girls. Do you mind holding off on that until-"
"-until the time comes?" He finished for her. "In return for freeing me, you got it."
"Thank you."
"You always did prefer working from the shadows."
"What can I say? The light can get a bit dull after too long."
"And your sisters? If I recall, they weren't particularly fond of you coming down here."
The woman sighed. "I've been helping people for eons now. They couldn't protect me forever."
"I also recall that they weren't that fond of me either."
The woman smiled at him. "They'll change their minds, and so will the others, just give them time. But know that you will always have a friend in me."
Discord discreetly wiped a tear from his eye.
"Are you crying?" The woman asked playfully.
"What? No! I'm just...allergic to the night air is all." He folded his arms and tried to regain some of his dignity.
The woman just giggled at him. "Then I suppose we must get going."
"Canasta on Thursday?"
"You got it!"
With that, the two figures vanished.
Author's Note
There....sigh...that's finally over and done with.
So Discord's now a recurring character now!
See you all next time!
