The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Ch 108 – A Brand New Holiday?

A great groaning was heard as large dark muscles were stretched. Sharp claws extended and receded from the tips of four massive paws. A large jaw spread in yawn as glistening fangs seemed to glow in the light in contrast to the dark fur of the panther. Leaping up to a ledge the feline circled in place for a moment before dropping onto it’s back allowing for it’s head and hind legs to hang off the edges of the rocky outcropping. With another stretch the panther groaned out again before lazily purring while remaining in that slightly awkward position.

“Really? I don’t think that I’ve ever experienced anything like that. That’s really how it felt for you?” An almost chipper voice spoke out without sounding the least bit afraid of the black cat.

“My friend… it felt like the world had ended and had only just begun at the same time.” The panther replied as his deep voice rumbled from within his massive ribcage. “It was… euphoric.” He purred out with his eyes closed.

A pair of wings flittered in excitement as two hooves of light green were raised together in contemplation. “Rayne, I don’t even know what to say about that. Every time you visit me you always bring some fascinating new concept for us to talk about. But this might be the most curious one of them all. Whoever thought that there would be so much about love that we changelings didn't know about? I have to say, of all the times that I’ve met Princess Luna I never had the same reaction that you’re describing… but I admit that it sounds wonderful!”

“Oh Thorax… believe me when I say that words aren’t giving my feelings justice.” The panther swooned as he stretched again from one of the stone ledges that outcropped from the wall in the changeling’s throne room.

All around the hive, changelings came and left as they pleased. Up in the throne room the space was still held as a communal area where any creature was welcome. Different changelings sat by themselves or in small groups while listening on during the feline’s visit just as they always did whenever he showed up.

“Thorax, I'm telling you… the first time that I saw her, I thought my heart was going to leap out of my throat.” Rayne chuckled through his fangs. “I was so nervous that I felt like a scared little boy. All I could do was hide and stare at her from a distance, too afraid to even approach her. I already knew that she was beautiful but to see her… to actually SEE HER, Thorax… Oh, well let’s just say that getting to dance with her last night was like a dream come true.” He mused while curling his paws in and swaying to some imaginary song playing in his head.

The leader of the changelings sat relaxed in his throne and smiled over to the cat who seemed to only half be paying attention now. “So you know, for a creature who is supposed to be this crazed savage killer you’re kind of adorable."

Rayne just laughed and rolled to his side to drop from the ledge. As soon as he landed, four hooves clopped against the granite floor as he now stood as a stallion and walked over closer to his changeling friend. “Who says that I am crazed and savage? Isn’t a spider considered chaos to a fly? And yet spiders live a life of elegance and grace. Each one knows their purpose in life and fulfills their role with precision.”

“I’m not so sure that our pony friends would see it that way if they ever found out about you.” Thorax pointed out, knowing full well about his identity but respecting his dark friend enough to let him make his own decisions.

“Oh well, I’m sure you’re right.” Rayne acknowledged while taking an empty seat nearby the throne. “As a panther, I hunt and rightfully feast upon what I catch. But I never kill for sport and always preserve life wherever I can. And as a pony I keep to my appropriate diet for veggies or whatever else is available while having no problem with that.”

Thorax just raised an eyebrow at him as if knowing there were more to the story than Rayne was letting on.

“Alright, alright. Maybe I might have tracked down an old villain to Equestria or two and… preemptively prevented a return of their reign.” He stated while shrugging as if it were no big deal. Thorax rolled his magenta colored eyes but did not interrupt. “But those days are behind me now… for the most part.” He mumbled.

“Rayne… We talked about this.” Thorax admonished him. “It doesn’t matter if the changeling race is new to friendship or not. Even we can understand without being told that murdering for any reason is wrong.”

“I know!” Rayne called out rather dismissively. “Look, I told you that I’ve put that behind me for now. Yes there were two or three undesirables that I didn’t hesitate to deal with but as long as no new threats rise up in Equestria then I won’t have any reason to ever extend my claws again.”

Thorax crossed his hooves and looked down at the stallion sternly. “So that’s your plan? To just pretend to be at peace until another excuse for violence comes along?”

“Yeowch buddy. You really aren’t mincing words there, are you?” The stallion asked while looking at the changeling’s up-tight posture.

“No, I’m not. And it's because I don’t approve!” Thorax declared. But then he lowered his arms and loosened his tone a bit saying, “Listen, Rayne. I asked you for friendship and you’ve kept your promise. I greatly enjoy your visits and how you will share hours out of your day to come and talk with me or to help play with the hatchlings.” He said while two Obsidianwolves sat in the corner delicately nosing about a small group of baby changelings. “But as your friend, I agreed to keep your identity a secret from the ponies who are also my friends as long as you curve your behavior that would cause them to go looking for your panther side in the first place.”

“And I have!” Rayne insisted. “I mean it. I’ve even dropped my hunting to no more than once a week. And when it comes to threats against Equestria, or even the Changeling Kingdom for that matter, I already made a promise to Discord to allow the normal heroes their rightful chance to save the day. And in case it wasn’t clear, I am in full support of that.”

“Oh, hoo hoo! It really is true. He really DID promise that!” A disembodied voice suddenly called out from overhead.

Looking up in surprise, Thorax and Rayne saw Discord materialize in the air above them. “Oh, hello again Discord.” Thorax said to him politely. “I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

“Ooooh, well… You know how things go. You get busy doing one thing, and before you know it a whole year goes by without keeping up with your contacts and you feel just terrible!” He dramatically exclaimed. “Anyways, I was just popping by to see how our little heart stealer is doing since I couldn’t find him anywhere around Ponyville today.”

Rayne just stepped out of his seat and in front of these particular friends he felt no shame in dropping down on his back in panther form as he lounged out upon the ground. “Oh yes well it is my day off after all.” He lazily replied. “I’m not working at the spa today and I don’t have any shows for a while at the jazz club. And with recent events I felt that I could really use a social day.”

Both Thorax and Discord looked to each other and chuckled. The Draconequus zoomed around overhead and with a cheeky smile said, “And by recent events I’m sure that you mean having a certain princess as your dance partner last night?”

The panther grinned, stretching both front paws out while raking his claws against the ground. “Oh Discord! She was SO AMAZING LAST NIGHT!” Rayne absolutely screamed with excitement. “She was so graceful while she danced with me! And ohhh, she smelt so good when I got to hold her close! And Discord, out on the balcony… the way she looked at me… the way that her eyes were just so deep that they seemed to go on forever!” Rayne just closed his eyes and swished the fluffy end of his panther tail back and forth as he squirmed about happily on the floor.

“Rayne has always been adorable when he gushes about Luna.” A new voice suddenly spoke up from another corner of the room. The three males looked over to where a gray mare had been laying upon a cushioned bed of leaves from still being exhausted by last night’s exploits.

“Oh, I’m sorry babe. Did we wake you up?” Rayne asked while shifting back into a stallion and stepping over to nuzzle her cheek with his snout.

“No… I woke up on my own, just a little bit ago. I just didn’t want to interrupt your ‘guy talk’ that you were having.” Maud responded while closing her eyes and sharing a modest kiss with her boyfriend.

“Yesss, well…” Discord frowned, interrupting the moment with a gag to their sweetness. “I was just hoping to see if my dance partner might want to hit the club with me tonight? Or perhaps share in a rousing round table experience?” He asked but then his tone changed to a curious nature while musing to himself, “I just don’t know what it is but lately I’ve been feeling this rising bit of anxiousness whenever I am around Ponyville. I just can’t put my claw on it to figure out why.”

Thorax and Maud gave each other a look before Rayne stood up and walked back over to say, “I’m sorry Discord but I just have my hooves full right now. The gala just passed and Nightmare Night is right around the corner. I’m sure you know what I’m up to but there is just so much to get done that I’m probably going to be busy all this afternoon and all evening.”

Discord’s shoulders slumped a bit in disappointment. “Oh, well. I guess I can understand. Knowing you it’s probably going to be something extravagant. I mean… who else constructs an entire building for a town just to celebrate a party?” He said with a smirk.

“Discord… You stay out of those decorations that they’ve been stockpiling at the construction site!” Rayne warned but not really in a threatening manner.

The Draconequus simply raised up his arms and began to float away. “You have nothing to worry from me about interrupting your pony festivities!”

Once he was gone Rayne waved his hoof around in the air just to check. Then Thorax snickered and leaned in close to Rayne while whispering, “So Ponyville, in one week… around seven in the morning?”

“Oh please, don’t push yourselves. Eight o’clock should be fine.” Rayne replied while Maud just rolled her eyes with a smile in the background.

• Six Days Later -

“Rayne… now are you SURE this is a good idea?!” Twilight pleaded while having a mild panic attack.

“It’ll be fine! I promise you! And once you see the smiling faces on everypony you’ll be proud that you helped me with this.” Rayne assured her while packing a surprise box into the corner of the map table room after having finally having learned Pinkie’s art of hiding confetti cannons everywhere. “Besides, the whole town already knows about it. What do you want to do, cancel now? After everypony has worked SO hard to make this thing happen?”

“No…” She pouted while slumping herself down over the map table. “But it’s just… this is the craziest thing that anypony has ever asked me to do. And TRUST ME! With my friends, I’ve had some doozies.” She remarked and Rayne had to stop himself from laughing from already knowing all about it. “How do you know that the town will even survive something like this? Could this be… dangerous?”

Rayne stopped and looked up for a moment from where he had been glancing over a map of the town with large X’s written all over it. “I don’t see how. The town was never in any actual danger before. Things were just… inconvenient.” He said simply.

“INCONVENIENT?!” The princess raged as her tone was becoming increasingly erratic. She slowly walked around the map table while speaking frantically as if she were losing it. “You weren’t there Rayne… You don’t know… You didn’t experience what it was like!”

“And I’m telling you that it will probably be just like that again this time… but in the end it will all be okay!” He said calmly.

Twilight looked as if she were about to faint. “J-j-j-just like… Just like last time?! Did you just say JUST LIKE LAST TIME?!” But that was when Starlight stepped out of her room with a scowl and shoved a paper bag over Twilight’s lips before magically dragging her back to her bedroom to calm down.

Meanwhile, Rayne just shook his head and walked out of the castle to see how the rest of the preparations were going. "You're the one who gave me the idea Twilight, with you and all your friends putting on that play for Celestia. But don't worry, I know what I'm doing…"

• -

Once outside in Ponyville, things seemed to be mostly the same except that every townspony was behaving just a bit off. They were all looking around as if anxious for something to happen. Meanwhile some ponies seemed to walk past a building, or stop behind a bush, or lean behind a crate in an alley and drop something off out of sight. On the surface the town seemed perfectly normal but underneath it was clear that Ponyville had a secret today and that everypony was in on it.

“Hiya, Rayne!” Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo cheered as they looked leaned together and snickered.

“Girls! Shhh, you need to calm down. Remember?” Rayne shushed them quickly. "But not too calm. Just go play a game or something and act normally."

"Right!" The three cheered in unison before speeding off together.

"Ahem, Rayne?" Mayor Mare suddenly called out as she walked up from behind him. "I fear that I need to have another word with you about your plans for tomo-"

"Nightmare Night!" Rayne quickly interrupted her. "You need to have another word with me about my plans for Nightmare Night, isn't that right?" He insisted while giving heavy emphasis on what he was not allowing her to really say.

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes. About the… holiday that you have coming up very soon." She stated so as to not actually mention what Rayne had instructed the entire town to not actually talk about. Rayne was surprised that he had been able to hold the secret together for so long. It didn't help that as he walked with the mayor toward town hall, he saw Pinkie rushing around town placing empty barrels around while looking up at the sky with a crazed look on her face.

• The Next Morning -

It was with a grumble and a snort that Discord finally woke up from his upside-down bed that was attached to the ceiling rather than the floor. "Mmmahhmm… what time is it? Ohhh, what a restless morning. It's never a good sign to get out of bed feeling so antsy." He said to himself.

After rolling out of bed and dropping to the ground into a pair of Celestia faced fuzzy slippers, Discord stretched the sleep away before musing to himself, "Let's see, I think I'll start my day with that new cup of breakfast tea Fluttershy recommend and then-OOH!" He gasped as he had only meant to levitate the kettle over to him but instead it came zooming toward him at full speed before smashing against the wall when he ducked out of the way.

"Well, that certainly is odd." He stated while snapping his fingers to return the kettle unbroken back to the table stand. "I really must learn to stretch my magic in the morning. Sometimes I just don't know my own streng-AhhYeahhh!!!" He cried as he motioned for a chair to slide over to him but every seat in his house slid toward him at one time.

"What in the NAME of EQUESTRIA is going on with my magic this morning?!" He cried out before snapping his fingers and returning everything to their usual, unusual, positions. But then he stopped and looked around as if sensing something. "Wait a minute… speaking of Equestria… no, more in Ponyville specifically, something feels very very off." Then he walked to his front door and opened it to see the exit of Sugarcube Corner's entrance in front of him and he stepped from his house out into town.

What he saw before him was enough to boggle even his mind. Ponies everywhere were looking absolutely ridiculous. Mares and stallions were walking around with pants on their front legs and shirts on their hind ends. A street sweeper was traveling through town only cleaning spaced out squares at a time making the ground have a chess board look to it. Pegasi were up in the air bringing different clouds of various types of weather that certainly didn't belong together.

"What is going on around here?" Discord asked as he had to lift up one hoof when a small stampede of pigs came rushing down the street with little paper wings on their backs. Furthermore he saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders having a joyous time of slapping paper mâché pictures of different cutie marks on the sides of lots of ponies.

"Oh, hello Discord." Mrs. Cake said as if it were no big deal as she started handing out squishy looking cupcakes where the wrapper was on the inside and the cake was on the outside.

Then when he turned around to look down the street he saw Applejack and Big Mac pulling a giant cart of liquid soap which they were using to paint the roads in town with.

"Hiya, Discord." Applejack told him also as if nothing were out of the usual.

"Eyup!" Her monosyllabic brother replied.

After that Discord ducked as a series of cotton candy cones came shooting passed from hidden surprise canons all over town.

"Oh, good morning to you Discord." Rarity chimed in from down the street. She was handing out umbrellas to everypony that were bent upwards to be inside out and yet everypony seemed to be happy to take one.

Needless to say Discord was confused to see everypony acting so out of character. "Applejack, what are you and your brother…. And Rarity, why you would never allow for ponies to…. Has everypony in this town finally gone nutty?!" Then he frowned seeing Fluttershy wave from a distance where she had a little booth setup with a Cockatrice in it. There was a sign advertising the opportunity to be turned to stone for five minutes and then turned back again. And from the looks of things it was proving quite popular with the townsponies. "What is the meaning of this?!" Discord screamed.

"Oh, hello Discord." Twilight said as she had just walked out from her castle and into the town with Spike and Starlight by her side.

"Twilight! Finally a pony who will listen to reason! What is going on?! Everypony….they all seem to be acting positively, chaotic!" He cried.

However she just smiled back at him and that was when he looked over her shoulder noticing that Spike and Starlight were carrying a large cauldron of a bubbling liquid. "It's nice to see you Discord. Lovely weather we're having." She answered as behind her a lightening bolt struck and on her other side the sun was shining brightly. "Care for some twelve hour poison joke mix?" She asked before Starlight snickered and started flinging the liquid at townsponies at random while Spike held the cauldron steady. This was followed by Twilight levitating a giant pepper shaker and enchanting it to chase ponies around making them sneeze.

Discord gasped and shouted, "Oh no, not you too! Is no pony safe from this madness?!"

But that was when the Draconequus saw a certain stallion walking up from around the town fountain. "Rayne!" He growled and zoomed over above him. "What have you done to this town, Rayne?! This has your lunacy written all over it!"

Rayne raised his hooves innocently but the wide smirk on his face showed that he was obviously playing dumb. "Me?! Oh, no, no, no! Don't you recognize the town like this? Half of these are your old bits, Discord." Rayne pointed out while the school fillies were eating fake glass made of sugar with chocolate fudge inside and the construction ponies were tacking up oversized playing cards all over town. "It looks to me like the Master of Chaos has gone back to his evil ways and is wreaking havoc again."

Now the Draconequus was aghast as he recoiled back, "No I haven't! I swear! I've been framed! This is a travesty!"

"No it isn't!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she and the town juggler were tossing pies back and forth through the air together. "This is fun!"

That was when they were all distracted as Mayor Mare stepped out onto the steps of town hall while ringing a loud bell to draw everyponies attention. But to their surprise the grey hair dye she usually uses was all washed out leaving her natural pink mane to show for the first time in years. "Everypony! Hello! May I have everyponies attention?!" She called to give the official morning announcement. "Several years ago on this day, Ponyville suffered a terrible calamity. The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony was unleashed upon our town!"

A loud roar came from the town and Rayne nudged the Draconequus in the side snickering, "Hey look, you're famous."

"Oh har, har Rayne. Very funny." Discord replied while listening to the rest of the announcement.

Mayor Mare spoke on saying, "And on that fateful day all of our heroes were powerless to stop him. So in reverence to that moment we bow our heads to the once conqueror of Ponyville. May oh you Lord Discord be merciful and kind to your subjects and to the property damag-" But she stopped when Rayne used his magic to covertly kick her in the flank.

All around ponies now bowed to Discord as he stood there looking flabbergasted. "I-, I-, but I didn't! I never d-..." He stammered. But Rayne eventually stepped up to answer his skepticism.

"Oh great and powerful Discord! Master of Chaos! Spirit of Disharmony! On this day, the anniversary of your reawakening, we give you this day!" Rayne cheered.

Discord furrowed his brow and scratched his chin as he asked, "Yes but what does that mean?!"

Then Rayne chuckled as he said, "Hey, relax. It's Discord Day."

"Discord Day?" The Draconequus asked as Rayne nodded and skipped ahead in front of the town.

-Redacted Content- (But because this is a fan song, I left the link.)

All of a sudden Rayne sent off a red flare from his horn and then a wall was knocked down as Vinyl Scratch was there playing an electric beat while the dark stallion began to sing.

Rayne sang as townsponies danced with little marionettes. The whole town feigned wailing with woe.

Rayne said, pretending to be made of stone.
He called before jumping forward to his knees as the rest of the town bowed toward the Draconequus.

Rayne sang while Discord perfused that he didn't. But then his curiosity grew as he saw Twilight and Applejack stepping over with a model replica of his old black and red throne.

Rayne called out but Discord mumbled 'Wait, you're not accusing me-'... 'You're all wanting me to…' He gasped.

Discord levitated a few houses out of the ground. Discord snapped his claw and completed the efforts to finish the soap roads and tacking the playing cards posted all over town.

Thunder cracked through the sky as Discord sat on his throne returning Ponyville to the checkerboard madness which it once had been.

With a head nod the bunnies once more grew giraffe legs. Then with an excited whine from Pinkie Pie she looked up at him pleadingly while sitting atop a cotton candy cannon.

He nodded back as he changed all the clouds to cotton candy that rained chocolate milk. Then Pinkie cheered as she leapt like a dolphin from barrel to barrel that she had set out to catch all the chocolate rain.

Then Rayne levitated over a crown which he had constructed himself just for this occasion and placed it upon Discord's head. Now the Draconequus looked around seeing ponies all over bowing down to him in subservience. But despite that, no pony actually seemed upset. It was like a game they were all playing and nopony seemed to mind fulfilling their role.

As the stallion's song came to an end, everypony in town cheered as they sought out to explore their town in a whole new light. Even while nervousness and trepidation filled their hearts, they had smiles while exploring around every turn. Likewise, Discord looked out from atop his throne seeing the series of gag gifts and prank traps which half the town had set around behind bushes or crates or whatever else they could find. Exploding snakes, silly-string, noise makers, and spring loaded pies covered the town whenever anypony went.

"Ahem." Called a steady voice which made Discord turn around to see mane six along with Rayne, Spike, and Starlight staring at him. Twilight stepped forward and gave a little bow saying, "Good morning, Lord Discord. As the Princess of Friendship I hope that you enjoy this day which is all for you, your Discord Day."

Whirling up into the air over their heads the Draconequus beamed, "Really?! You mean you were in on this too? And… you're actually approving of this? But… why?!"

Applejack spoke up next. "Because we trust you Discord… kind'a."

Rainbow Dash nudged her in the side and flew up to him saying, "Because I may be good at pranks but I'll never be 'Discord good' at them!" She cheered with excitement.

Pinkie Pie attempted to speak but her obsession of drowning herself in the chocolate rain prevented her from being understood. As such, Twilight picked things up explaining, "It's because you are our friend Discord and we wanted to show you that. So we are giving you one day… ONE day! The rules are that you have to keep your antics confined to Ponyville, no galavanting across Equestria or making trouble for the princesses in Canterlot or anywhere else. You can't do anything to hurt anypony but I don't expect that kind of trouble from you anyways, and at the end of the day you have to put everything back just the way it was."

"And that's it?" Discord asked.

When Twilight hesitated Rayne spoke up next saying, "Yup, that's it buddy. You are free to run amuck. Transform things, move things, create things. Whatever you'd like as long as you can undo all the chaos that you cause."

Fluttershy spoke next saying, "Think of it like a holiday, Discord. You get to play around and sow chaos but it's a holiday for all of the townsponies too." She pointed out to him. "Just because you might transform things or change our town in ways we wouldn't expect doesn't mean you have to be mean and nasty about it. Play with us Discord! Create games for the ponies of Ponyville to share in with you! I'll bet that if you give it some thought then you could make this event really fun for everyone!" She cheered, showing her absolute faith in him.

Before he could respond there was one other caveat brought up as Starlight stepped forward. "Actually there is just one more thing that I would like to ask." The heliotrope unicorn stated. "Even though it technically resides within Ponyville, please leave the School of Friendship and all of it's students alone."

Discord scratched his chin and nodded saying, "Well alright, I suppose that I could give you that one modest concession… seeing as I am soooo benevolent and all." Starlight frowned but didn't argue since at least Discord was agreeing. But then the Draconequus rose up and grinned. "Very well. If my pony friends are wanting chaos games then I'll be happy to throw the town or treat or two."

"Oh and Discord…" Rayne suddenly said as he nodded over towards a group of multicolored visitors who had just showed up right on the edge of town at that moment. "I hope you don't mind that I invited a few friends?" As if all the Draconequus antics weren't enough, a large number of changelings happily stormed into down, copying different ponies that they found and starting a town wide game of hide and seek with their matching counterparts.

• Several Hours Later -

By late afternoon there were few who could deny that Ponyville had become not just the chaos capital of the world but the fun capital as well. The town had been transformed into looking more like an amusement park than the small country community that it was known for. The town fountain had been transformed into a water slide that would shoot ponies and changelings around to various other attractions. Sweet Apple Acres had been miniaturized and the trees enchanted to sing 'It's a Small Farm After All' to any who passed by. Even the Castle of Friendship was not spared as it had been remodeled into an open floor, neon, disco, rave scene… much to the extravagant terror of Twilight.

All the while, Discord was cackling to himself from atop his throne as he had changed the rules of the cockatrice stand. Now the stone ponies were used as chess pieces in a giant chess game with whoever wanted to challenge him. But the petrified ponies were returned to normal after either being removed from the board or after each game ended.

However once a certain dark stallion finally stepped out of a roleplay setting 'Adventure Land' in Ponyville, the Draconequus slithered over to wrap around his friend. "Well…. This day has been a day of days, now hasn't it? And why do I get the feeling that I have you to thank for all of this? HowEVER did you manage to pull this off with the whole town and not have me realize what you were up to?"

Rayne just smirked as he walked through a part of town that was half animal racetrack and half lollipop guild. "Oh well it was simple. I actually got the idea a while back ago when Twilight and her friends put on that play for Celestia. All I had to do was make a big enough fuss about my plans for Nightmare Night. That way, as I covertly spread the word around town and everypony was getting ready for this, you would just mistake my actions as prep for that holiday when really I was getting things ready to start your own holiday."

"Oooh, very clever." Discord cheered but from the smirk on his face Rayne could tell he was up to something. "Well, this has been a treat indeed. I would even say that this day has been almost perfect! Well… almost." He said while lowering his tone.

Now Rayne raised an eyebrow to him curiously. "Oh? Is something the matter?"

"Well… you see the thing is…" Discord whined while levitating through the air above the stallion as if doing a backstroke. "All this wonderful chaos is just doing wonders for my completion, hehe. But I can't help but notice that there is this one tiny bit of disharmony going around that doesn't actually have ANYthing to do with this holiday at all."

"Oh is that so?" Rayne asked, already not liking where this conversation was going.

"That's right. And I'm sorry to say that it's coming from right here." Discord said as he stopped Rayne from walking and pointed his claw right into the stallion's chest. "There is disharmony in your heart, Rayne. And quite a significant amount of it. I think you know what it is I'm talking about, don't you?"

The look of guilt on Rayne's face was undeniable as he looked around and seemed relieved that none of their friends were around at the moment. Rayne looked at a town bench with a traffic light on it and waited for it to turn green before sitting down to rest for a minute. "Alright, you're right... And yes, I do know what you're talking about. But I can't just-"

"Don't be a coward, Rayne." Discord said in an unusually serious tone for him. Putting all his antics and playfulness aside for the time being he looked Rayne in the eye and told him, "I'm going to do something that is a bit out of character for me because right now I'm pretty sure you need it. I'm going to give you some honest, straight up advice. It doesn't matter how strongly you feel for someone. If they are hurting you then it is never the wrong decision to stand up for yourself."

After checking again to make sure the coast was clear, Rayne stood up and said, "Yeah but it's not like I can just throw it back in her face! Chrysi is… well she's sensitive." Rayne said to put it mildly.

Discord sat up straight and crossed his arm. "Yes… As sensitive as a bug being squished by a two ton boulder if she causes my best Ogres and Oubliettes pal to have his heart burst. Ever stop to think of that?" He remarked bitterly.

Even though he didn't say it, Discord's meaning that he cared about Rayne still rang through. "Thank you Discord, I appreciate the sentiment. But I don't want you to worry. As much as it pains me to admit, I agree with you… I can't keep on like this." That was when he glanced over to his left. Down the street and across the soapy walkways Rayne could see the Ponyville Hotel which had been changed into a gingerbread house that covers anyone who gets too close in frosting. "I don't know when next I'll see her. It could be today… it could be tomorrow… but you're right. Something… something has to change."

Author's Note

First of all I just want to say Happy Hearthswarming to you all! I know the chapters have been rolling out kinda slow for me of late but I figured what a better way to celebrate Hearthswarming Eve with all of you than by releasing a chapter about a holiday? Even if it is a brand new holiday haha.

So to remind everyone, when Thorax willingly gave his magic for Rayne to take it was with the stipulation that Rayne return and chat with him. Well that was a promise which Rayne has kept. Whether it be his main self or just a copy of him Rayne makes sure to pay Thorax regular visits to hangout. However there is now a group of individuals who are aware of Rayne's secrets which now include Discord, Maud Pie, Thorax, and probably about half of the entire changeling race by this point. Is Rayne losing his edge? Or is living in Equestria simply making him more trusting?

So what I was going for in this chapter was the idea that the more chaos there is for Discord to feed upon, the more powerful that he becomes. I got the idea from the TV episode where Discord begins fading away after trying to make himself normal for Fluttershy. I assumed that the opposite would also be true, or at least to some degree. But worry not, at the end of the day Discord does indeed put everything back the way that it should be.

The song was Discord by The Ling Tombstone. Originally I found this on Spotify but I couldn't find that exact version on YouTube.

And then of course, what would the end of any chapter be without as little foreshadowing of things to come? Rayne got a real taste of happiness with Luna recently but his experiences with Chrysi have been quite different. Also, I think Discord mentioned something that we can all hope to live up to. "It doesn't matter how strongly you feel for someone. If they are hurting you then it is never the wrong decision to stand up for yourself."