Discord let out a long and loud sigh as he melded himself onto his couch. "There's absolutely NOTHING going on right now! This is it, this is how I disappear. Again!"
As much as he desired to pester his favorite Pegasus, Fluttershy was out of Ponyville, doing her annual visit with the Breezies. Spike was busy with Twilight and the school, as well as Big Mac with the apple family orchard, so they were all out too. For once in his millennia of being (somewhat) alive, the master of chaos...had nothing to do. At all. And it was making him worry for his well-being. The other ponies were just...too mundane and so...so ORDINARY and uninteresting! It wasn't his fault they were so...bland. But it was their fault for not being a reliable source of entertainment, but he found it within himself to forgive them. I've grow oh so exponentially since finding friendship, I never cease to amaze myself. Maybe I should write a book about it.
Discord drummed his digits along the arm of the couch, sighing once more as he let his eyes roll...out of their sockets to the ground below, making squeak toy sounds as they did. "Confound those breezies, taking up valuable time that could be much better spent with-- Hellooooo~. What is this doing here?"
One of his detached eye balls caught a glimpse of a black cable beneath his couch, one that was unfamiliar. Certainly not from any lamp he owned anyway. He blinked a few times as his body shrunk down to the size of a dust bunny and observed this new finding. Discord gave it several light tugs, trying to hear for where it was coming from. If the aforementioned lamp broke as a result, well, more power to it. Literally. That's how the thing works. Several more tugs, harder this time. To his surprise, there was an answering tug right back, making Discord pitch forward from the force of it. Grumbling to himself, he follows the cord to a very slight nook where the carpet meets the railing of the wall.
"What in blue blazes?"
Discord dug his feet into the floor and pulled at the cord with all his might, trying to pull in whatever was at the end of it. He immediately regretted everything as the cord took on a serpentine-like shape, hissed at him and coiled around his body, yanking him down into the nook.
A sudden cry of alarm rang out as Discord felt himself collide with something at the other end. Something that was solid and...fuzzy??
"Ohhh...what the what was..?" A voice that was not his own spoke out. "Oh! Well, this is new."
Still stuck to the cord, Discord felt himself being lifted up. He shook the dizziness from his head, trying to stop his vision from swimming long enough to see where he was and who he was with. He was met with a beige wall of fur, with yellow eyes and a black mane tied back. Also, rectangle spectacles. What's this? Another draconequus?? They looked slightly irked, to his confusion. And super fluffy.
"Heya, could ya do me a favor, neighbor, and quit pulling on my power cable please? I'd really appreciate it."
Discord seemed to become more alert at their words, surprise turning into indignation. "P-Power cable? Do you mean to tell me that you're asking me to stop pulling on your power cable? When you're the one mooching off MY utilities?"
Discord snapped his talons and poofed the cable away, a scowl on his muzzle. The other draconequus rolled their eyes (said eyes remaining in their head) and held up a massive bear-like paw, taking an invisible hold of Discord and bringing him along into their home. "I never said it was your utilities I was using, you old coot. Your home is connected directly to the chaotic dimension."
As they ventured further in, Discord took note of the bare tackiness of the other creature's home. Normal furniture, normal kitchenware, normal...everything. And what was that black device they were holding onto in their other paw? "Then what was your cable doing there in the first place?"
They settled down in, what Discord perceived as, the living room, where he was released onto a simple brown couch as the other drac planted themselves onto a black leather recliner that sat in front of a...box? Adjacent from Discord sat. "You're directly nestled comfortably in the chaotic dimension, whereas my home is, literally, between dimensions. Like that awkward little crevasse between the fridge and the stove. I need chaotic energy to live here. Hence, where the cable came in. So it isn't...mooching off you, per se. It's more of...mooching through you."
The other drac adjusted themselves in their recliner, bringing up the black device in both their paws and began moving their thumbs, bringing some sort of character to life. Above the character was a light blue name that read "Sorbet". Said character was currently running around (or smashing around, if that fist was any indication) in a place where metal characters were, some of them the same color blue and others were a bright red. Discord looked around and saw thin cases with titles and strange characters on their fronts and observed each of them. "'Overlook'? 'FellThrough'? 'Final Fantactics'?? What kind of tomes are these? They look...too flimsy to be actual books, and there's no pages. OR pictures inside! And what kind of name is 'Sorbet'?"
With a light, annoyed breath, the draconequus stopped their character and regarded their guest. "Those are my games, not books. And well, 'shaved Ice' was already taken, so I used the next best thing. Not a safe thing to do by the way, I advise against using actual names in a console."
"Con...soul?"
Sorbet dragged her paw down her face as she groaned. "Right. I forget. All of these things you see here", she points to a small monolith looking thing (router), the "tomes" in Discords' hands (cases) and to a big square black box (console of choice) by the even bigger, slimmer box (50' flat screen) on a book-case like display. "All of these things are from one of the dimensions I frequent. They're just so much fun!"
A mischievous grin spread across Discords' muzzle and Discord poofs atop Sorbet's head. "So all of these...doohickeys are from another world, in a way. Is that what I just heard?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, if I could do it, I thought we all could. Made sense anyway."
"So, there are...other worlds to wreak havoc on?"
"From my experience, yes." As they spoke more, Sorbet began moving the sticks beneath her claws. In turn, the massive character she controlled moved the way she moved it. It suddenly stops as Discords' face showed up in place of its own head.
"So then Why aren't you out sowing chaotic oats throughout the worlds?! You're just...sitting there, taking control of these...heroes?? Ugh, such tasteless attire this one has. Why take control of them when you can just hop right in and make your own fun! I mean, where's the fun in playing fair?~"
With a grumble, Sorbet reached her paw into the screen and pulled out Discord, then resumed another game. This time playing as a female character with scary looking hands. Perhaps it was a harpy. "Look, I get it. Believe it or not, I have done some chaotic stuff in my greenhorn years, but...there's something relaxing about playing through a visual story line or just blowing up stuff in a simulated scenario! Well, for me anyways- OH, C'MON!!"
Discord looked to the screen with a start. A big metal...thing just got destroyed while she was spraying gold at them, after which she too met her demise at the hands of some laughing explody guy and a big, pink haired angry looking female. "I WAS RIGHT THERE HEALING YOU, YOU GOOB! SPAM ALL YOU WANT, I WAS RIGHT THERE DOING MY JOB!!"
She hears a snort of amusement from her guest, and Sorbet purses her chops. "Oh yes, real relaxing. Mm-hm."
"Here", Sorbet paws over a thin, rectangle device with another game on it to Discord. "Try this one out. All you have to do is touch-and-drag the cards. So simple, even a relic like you can get it."
Discord arches his white brows in confusion as he reads the title. "'Heroes of the Hearth'? What kind of-"
"Just give it a shot! If you can complete one game, then I'll take you to one of the dimensions."
"That's it? Just one? Bwahahahahahahaa!! Be ready to have a chariot for me, I have very demanding...demands when it comes to traveling."
"Oh yeah", Sorbet tosses out from over her shoulder. "No chaos magic allowed!"
"WHAT?!?"
"Hey, If I can play these without magic, then so can you! Unless, you can't, that is. I understand completely if you need a handicap. I just thought the actual master of chaos could...y'know, do it. Ack!"
In a literal flash of magic, Discord is glaring daggers at Sorbet as he presses her muzzle, snout-to-snout, in a challenging manner. "Very well, you're on!"
Sorbet watches as Discord plants himself onto her couch and hears him grumble as he tries to tap and slide his paw across the screen. She chuckles to herself and resumes her own playing. That oughta buy me some time. Now then...
A digital voice announces the start of another game, displaying two separate rows of names. One in particular name, on the red side, makes Sorbet narrow her eyes and grip her controller. We meet again on the battle field...Moonlit underscore M4R3*!
-End
Author's Note
* This was a made-up name for this fic, and is not related to any [known] player, though I wouldn't doubt it.
