Endgame of Chaos

by Azure129

Rating: everyone
Tags: Discord, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Sad, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy
Length: 38790

The return of Sombra showed Discord is up to something: and for once it's not villainous or chaotic or even friendly. He's preparing for an ending. But what kind of 'end' exactly?

Twilight and friends defeated Sombra after his return because Discord refused to fight in their place (and even hammed it up by taking a blow from the Crystal Empire's former ruler). The chaos master pushed the girls to find the magic in themselves to battle back the villain all on their own. But his 'lesson-teaching' gestures seemed extreme this time around, even for him. What is Discord hiding? What is he waiting for? And what does he want no one--neither the girls nor Luna and Celestia--to know? But Equestria's two soon-to-be-retired princesses want to understand.

A story told in several parts that will end when MLP: FIM does and we finally see what's at the end of this friendship rainbow.

Published 2019-07-18 15:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-12-01 23:40:05 UTC

Darkest Before Dawn? ('Between Dark and Dawn')

Luna and Celestia (still in their vacation garb) stood on a balcony overlooking a pale purple and blue sky with the moon rising high and the sun almost gone.

Luna sighed as he glanced at her moon in its rightful place in the sky. “Finally—at least that's all taken care of.” She turned to her sister.

Celestia nodded as the orange lip of her sun slipped fully below the horizon, dimming the sky a little more. “Twilight did quite a number on this amulet.” She held up the busted sun and moon amulet in her magic, unable to hide a small smile of amusement.

“Indeed.” Luna picked up the amulet in her magic with a dry look. “We’ll have to try a different approach when we really do shift these particular responsibilities over to her and her court.” She made the amulet disappear.

“They did a great job with the Swanifying though.” Celestia smiled sheepishly. “In hindsight, maybe it was a little much at once to leave Twilight in charge of that event and all our usual work and lowering the sun and raising the moon.”

“Perhaps.” Luna couldn’t help a smile as well, and her eyes lit up. “But still, it was so nice for once to be completely free from all responsibilities, all cares, all duties!” She held a foreleg out the horizon. “We haven’t simply watched a sunset or moonrise in over a thousand years! Wasn’t it peaceful to do so for the first time in so long?”

“Peaceful until both celestial bodies looked like they were balls in a ping pong match, I guess,” Celestia replied with a chuckle. And yet her eyes brightened too. “But for the moment before the sun and moon went crazy, yes…it was very peaceful.” Celestia put a foreleg around Luna and hugged her close.

Luna looked to her sister. “And it was also peaceful because we’d made up and were friends again by then.” She hugged Celestia in return.

“We’ll always be friends, sister.”

They gently set their foreheads together.

As the night sky darkened, the sisters separated.

Luna’s smile grew. “I know it’s night now, but if you’re not too tired, we could spend more time enjoying ourselves together right here in our own home. Just like when we were fillies in our castle in the forest: we could play hide and seek or engage in tag or invite Starswirl over and see which of us can play the best prank on him. It could be exciting.” Luna pumped up her eyebrows.

Celestia’s smile grew too. “That sounds fun but maybe a little overstimulating after the vacation we’ve had. I think I’d like some conversation…and there happens to be a triple layer chocolate cake hidden in the ice box for dessert. We could eat that while we chat.”

Luna held out a hoof. “One round of tag and then cake and talking. Deal?”

Celestia nodded and shook her hoof. “Deal!”

The two sisters turned to head inside.

“Celestia, Luna, you have some explaining to do!”

The sisters were met with the sight of a scowling draconequus with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Discord!” they exclaimed at once.

Luna shook her head and snapped out of her surprise first. “When did you get here?”

“Right around the time you two got exceptionally sappy about just ‘watching the sunset/moonrise’ instead of doing it. Now don’t change the subject.” He moved his head down right in front of theirs, his voice low. “You two skipped town and didn’t even tell me you were leaving.”

There was silence for a moment. Then Luna blinked as her sister suddenly burst into laughter. Both Luna and Discord raised an eyebrow at Celestia.

Luna watched as Celestia wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. “Sorry, Discord. I just always think you’re at your funniest when you act so serious about simple things.”

“I…”Discord blinked several times then shook his head to clear it. He looked to Luna. “I’m sorry, did she have a nightcap or something to celebrate the end of your little trip?”

Celestia stifled a giggle again.

Luna just rolled her eyes. “No, she just happens to find you genuinely amusing sometimes now that you’re reformed.” A bit of her smile returned. “But really, Discord, are you so very upset that we went on a little trip and didn’t include you? Come now, ’twas only for a day and it wasn’t a snub. We just needed to do a little sisterly bonding.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Celestia added, her laughter under control. “Before we retire we decided to get an idea of what retirement might be like.” She glanced down at herself. “I’m not sure if we’re going to be sporting the festive shirts and new mane styles everyday, but it was certainly fun to try.”

Discord scoffed, pacing, arms gesturing dramatically. “Festive shirts? Mane Styles? Sisterly bonding? Like I would care enough to take time out of my own busy schedule for all of that!”

“Then what are you upset about?” Luna tilted her head.

Discord snapped his fingers. The balcony doors opened. The chaos master pointed inside, face stern. “You princesses march right in there, and I’ll show you.”

Luna and Celestia glanced at each other. Just as another giggle almost burst from Celestia Luna nudged her sister and walked forward. “Fine, Discord, whatever this is we’ll let you get it out of your system. But then, if you don’t mind, Celestia and I were planning to spend a delightful evening at home.”

The two sisters headed past him inside.

Discord followed after them and shut the balcony doors behind them with a snap.

Inside, Luna watched as the chaos master glanced around the room (which happened to be her bedroom). “Blue and silver drapes, dark wood furniture, moons and stars everywhere. Let me guess, this is Luna’s room—how predictable.”

“If you don’t like the decor, you can always leave,” Luna assured him with a small smile as she climbed upon her bed and stretched out with her hooves facing into the room.

Celestia sat on the bed beside her, facing the same way. “Discord, please just show us what—oh!”

Discord snapped again. A large mist of magic appeared like a screen before them, and Luna noticed Celestia’s eyes glowing and imagined her own must be too. As the sisters looked at the mist-screen, scenes from several of their misadventures today were projected. Zip-lining above a jungle, going over a waterfall in a barrel, riding a rollercoaster at the amusement park, cave spelunking amongst bats, Luna’s severe sun burn session on the beach.

Discord snapped. The magic slideshow disappeared. “That to-do list of yours wasn’t an exaggeration.” From nowhere in particular he pulled the scroll Luna and Celestia had used to list their intended activities out and examined it. “But actually seeing your plans played out is even more distressing than I imagined!” He ate the scroll.

Luna sighed and rubbed her temple. “First of all, please do not use your magic to project our memories like that without warning ever again. And second of all, I’m afraid I’m not following you, Discord.”

“But thank you letting us relive our vacation a little.” Celestia raised a hesitant eyebrow. “Is there any way we could get a copy of those memories? Or some pictures? It’d be nice to have something to go with our photo mugs from the rollercoaster.”

Discord’s jaw fell to the floor—he pulled a string attached to his mouth to make it roll back up like a window shade. “Are you two ladies mentally sound? That wasn’t a vacation you two went on, it was a series of deathtraps sometimes set to a jaunty tune!” He leaned forward, resting his hands on the bed, his eyes wide. “I mean, really, if the other villains and I had known that you two would have gladly put your lives in peril ‘just for fun’ we would have left you to your own devices centuries ago!”

Luna cleared her throat. “Discord, all we did were enjoyable activities that ponies across Equestria do all the time. Are you perhaps...making some kind of joke I do not understand?” She glanced to Celestia.

But her sister only shrugged and gave a half smile. “If it is a joke, I don’t get it either.” She glanced at Discord with a slight frown. “Discord are you feeling all right?”

Eyes wide, the chaos master looked back and forth between them, making gestures with his arms and opening and closing his mouth, though no words came. Luna waited patiently and made sure no more bursts of laughter were about to escape Celestia. Finally Discord paused, took a deep breath, and began calmly. “I am fine. But you two almost weren’t. And I am upset because…” He jumped into the air and raised his voice, “you two put yourselves in danger multiple times for no reason at all!”

The sisters were silent for a moment. Then Luna lowered her head to the bed. “Well then, I can see this is going to be one of Discord’s more colorful dramatic episodes. You’re better at handling him than I am, sister. Smile, be supportive, and wake me up when it’s over.”

“You’re not listening!” Discord whined before snapping himself to sit on the bed between them. “Roller coasters can be terribly shaky, that zip-line could have broken on the spot, you two could have fallen down into that cave with the bats and been knocked unconscious, that barrel over the waterfall thing was just insane, and Luna—sun poisoning is real! WEAR SUNBLOCK! I flaunt all rules of society and sanity, and even I don’t go to the beach without that stuff!” He was breathing pretty hard by now. “You two were supposed to retire like civilized, normal, boring ponies—you were NOT supposed to have some kind of death-defying midlife crisis!”

“Discord, enough!” Luna pouted. “We are grown mares who have fulfilled our duties as princesses, and we get to decide how we retire.”

Celestia frowned. “Discord, we’ve spent our whole lives being put up on pedestals and confined to castles and meetings and official events. We deserve a chance to live however we want to live.”

“You’re still not listening!” Discord countered, temper flaring. But then, as he glanced back and forth between each bothered sister, his look softened slightly. Finally he let out a deep breath and rubbed his temple, his eyes closed. His voice was gentler. “You said the girls get to decide when they’re ready to rule. Which means even if they are ready right now, they don’t feel ready just yet. Which means they still need you here. So, what if you had gotten hurt or lost while you were away? And then what if everyone found out and someone powerful attacked, and the girls had too many doubts again to defeat them? You can’t expect me to take care of things by myself, especially if I don’t know you two might be suddenly missing or out of commission. Okay?”

The sisters blinked and looked at each other then back to Discord.

“Take care of what, Discord?” asked Celestia gently.

Discord’s eyes opened for a moment—Luna watched his gaze lock onto Celestia’s: his mouth opened, almost letting words slip out. For the first time, he seemed vulnerable to Luna. But then the chaos shook his head. “It’s…nothing in particular. I just don’t like the idea of you two doing risky things when still having you available to fight is so important to the nation. I didn’t even know you were gone. Even if you were fine, what if a problem really had come up and the girls couldn’t get hold of you and couldn’t reach me as back-up? What if something bad happened?”

Luna’s brow was furrowed in thought: she was remembering a conversation she’d had with Celestia after Discord’s last visit here following Sombra’s return. Luna’s gaze met Discord’s. “Do you have reason to believe something bad might happen?”

Discord winced very slightly—but it was enough to confirm for Luna her sister’s recent suspicions that Discord knew something and was keeping it to himself. The chaos master looked down and finally replied, “Something bad can always happen.”

“Indeed,” Luna answered gently. “But if you allow fear of the bad to rule your life, Discord, you’ll certainly miss out on a lot of fun.”

Discord shrugged but didn’t say anything.

Celestia smiled a little. “I know some of what we did on our vacation seemed dangerous, Discord, but it was all supervised. And Luna and I are very tough. We can survive pretty much anything.” Her grin grew. “We survived your antics in the past, remember?”

That comment almost got a smile out of Discord again.

Luan smiled more too. “And we survived your ‘reform process’ which was basically several months of you walking a fine line between friendship and villainy to drive us crazy.”

Discord definitely did smile now. “Okay, fine…maybe I…came on too strong about my complaint. But part of that complaint still stands. I know you’re free to retire however you see fit—which turned out to involve a lot more recklessness than I’d ever imagined. But do you think you could hold off on the heavy stuff until the girls are fully established as leaders, until they accept without a shadow of a doubt that they have the potential for all the power they’ll ever need to protect Equestria on their own? Or at least can you give me some warning before you go off on pre-retirement shenanigans?” He hesitated then added in a weak mumble, “Please.”

There was silence. Luna glanced to Celestia, who nodded. The sun princess spoke. “Luna and I might do more than just sit in the castle all day until Twilight and her friends ascend the throne. But if it would really make you feel better I suppose we could let you know when we’re planning to try any especially risky activities…”

“I accede,” Luna started. Then she stood up and got in front of Discord. “But first I need to know the answer to one question: what exactly is it that you’re afraid of lately, Discord?”

Discord sat up a little straighter. “I told you, nothing in particular— just evil in a general sense.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed slightly. “The reformed you is a poor liar.”

Discord scowled and puffed up his chest a little. He turned to Celestia. “Celestia, tell your sister it’s rude to accuse friends of lying.”

But Celestia only frowned at him. “But you are lying, Discord. And there is something specific on your mind. And if it’s something that scares even someone as brave and powerful as you, I think it’s something we all need to know about.”

His frustrated look faltered and he leaned back a little under the gaze of the sisters. “I-I’m just being responsible! I’m telling you two to look out for yourselves because frankly I cant fit in watching over the two of you and all the girls at the same time.”

Celestia blinked. “You’re watching over all the girls?”

“I had assumed you kept tabs on Fluttershy,” Luna remarked. “But all of them…” A realization dawned on Luna. “That is not something you’ve done from the start: this is new, isn’t it?”

“I-I don’t know.” He glanced away and twiddled his thumbs.

“Discord, please,” Celestia urged.

“Tell us…” Luna finished.

“Enough!” Discord flew up, breathing heavily: Luna had never imagined him panicked before, but for a moment he seemed on the verge. “There’s nothing to tell. This whole transition of power thing has just put me a little on edge!” He landed on the floor. “I’m powerful but not all-powerful, just like you two. And I care about what happens to those six ponies and to Equestria and to the pony sisters. And right now, without you two, I’m not sure if things would be okay, and I don’t like feeling that way. Okay?”

He was blushing now as he looked at them.

The sisters took a moment to absorb his words. Luna touched Celestia’s hoof.

“Discord,” Celestia started, “remember our little talk after Sombra attacked? When I told you that everything would turn out okay in the end no matter what happened?”

He nodded. “But what about the bad things that can happen until everything working out happens?”

“If anything bad happens, we’ll all do our best to fix it. No situation or turn of events is hopeless, Discord.” Luna’s made her voice soothing, and she reached out to touch his arm. “Everything is changing, yes. But I promise you, no matter what we face, one day good will prevail.”

Discord didn’t say anything, but he did nod faintly. “Yes, of course. Just…if you two really could tell me next time you’re going off to do anything that could result in serious illness or dismemberment let me know so I can make sure I’m around for the girls for now…until they’re all set to take care of everything themselves, I mean.” He attempted a smile.

“Only if you promise to come talk to us again if you ever feel so upset,” Celestia replied. “I’m the one who’s a little worried about you now, Discord.”

“Indeed,” Luna frowned, some unpleasant memories returning. “It is never good to work oneself up into such an agitated mental state.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me.” Discord waved them off, his familiar grin returning. “I’m Discord—I’m always okay, more or less.” He flew up. “Anyway, glad we had this little chat. Thanks for understanding, ladies. And, uh…if you could not tell the girls I keep tabs on them, I’d appreciate it a lot.”

“Discord, perhaps you should rest.” Luna gestured to her bed. “Celestia and I were going to stay up together for a little while, and my bed will be free all night. Why don’t you take it and then we can all have a nice, relaxing breakfast in the morning.”

“Oh, no, no,” Discord shook his head, “I am not getting the nursemaid treatment from the pony sisters again. Not that Celestia serving me snacks on a silver platter all afternoon wasn’t fun the last time, but I have places to be and things to do.”

“Maybe you could just stay for a little while then,” Celestia quickly added. “Play and relax with Luna and I, have a snack? It could be fun.”

“I would, truly, but I have a busy schedule of chaos to keep.” Discord snapped, filling the room with chaos for a moment, then snapped to make it disappear. “Ta Ta, ladies, glad to see you’re both well after your trip. And I dig the shirts by the way. I think I’ll snap up one of my own.” Discord snapped up a yellow floral shirt then disappeared with a snap of his tail.

The sisters watched him go, neither of them smiling now.

“He’s getting worse…” Celestia said softly.

Luna nodded. “I agree. He’s just like you described him after your last conversation but even more nervous. Perhaps what’s bothering him is something that would affect only himself and that is why he won’t share it—he’s being stubborn and taking on all the responsibility.”

“What if it’s serious?”

Luna glanced over and saw a shine in Celestia’s eyes.

“Sister,” she touched Celestia’s shoulder, “it may be serious, but the best thing we can do right now is listen to him and support him. What we said to Discord about everything being all right and no situation being hopeless—that advice goes to you as well. He will be well.”

“I don’t want to retire until I’m sure he is.” Celestia took a deep breath. “You don’t have to stay on the throne with me if you want to leave sooner, but I don’t want to leave the girls in charge alone while he’s still so uneasy about them and about us. Even if it’s just as an advisor, I’ll stay here.”

“Then I’ll stay with you, Celestia.” Luna smiled gently. “The pony sisters had to rule apart from each other once. That is a mistake I would not care to repeat.”

Celestia smiled, wiped a tear from her eye, and hugged Luna.

They separated eventually.

Luna’s smile grew. “Are you still up for hide and seek then lots of snack?”

“Actually,” Celestia shrugged. “I’m a little tired. Maybe we could have a sleepover like when we were fillies. Turn in early for the night and gossip and share memories and count the stars? Then maybe something more adventurous in our dreams?”

“That would be perfect, Celestia.” Luna used her magic, and the two of them were quickly tucked into her bed together with their shirts gone and their hair down and popcorn and cake on a platter between them. They stayed up for hours laughing and talking and reminiscing.

Celestia had fallen asleep some time ago. Luna watched her big sister slumbering with a smile on her face, and Luna smiled too. The sight of Celestia sleeping peacefully had always been a happy image to Luna—she liked knowing her sister was at ease with her mind safe in the land of dreams. Luna would join her soon so they could have more fun playing and imagining how their retirement would go. She had no duties tonight to take up her time, thanks to the girls.

But for now Luna remained awake, and her mind was on Discord. She had been hoping to visit his dreams: not to ‘spy’ so much as to check up on him. Of course, if some hint about whatever was making him so sensitive lately came up, she certainly wouldn’t mind being able to witness that as well.

However, an hour had passed since Celestia had dozed off and Luna still couldn’t detect Discord in the land of dreams, which meant he was awake. Doing what, exactly, was a matter she couldn’t pin down. Normally, Discord keeping unexpected sleeping hours wouldn’t have seemed strange—he was chaos embodied after all, and who was she to complain about someone staying up to admire her nights. But clearly Discord had a reason for being awake, and Luna wanted to know what it was.

She shifted in the bed, her eyes on the moon. She cringed as she remembered what she had said to Celestia in the heat of argument about her sister probably wishing Luna had stayed up there. The idea sounded silly now—like Discord getting upset and saying that everyone probably wished he was back in stone. In fact, quite the contrary, Luna knew the girls and herself and especially her sister would miss Discord terribly. Her eyes went back to the sleeping Celestia’s smile. Celestia would only admit to her (for fear of Discord getting word and his ego getting out of control) that she was incredibly proud of Discord’s reform. Seeing him learn to be happy and make friends had delighted Celestia from the start… much as she had delighted in watching Luna herself find her place in this world after her return.

Whatever Discord was hiding, Luna tried not to think the worst: she tried to think that he was just being dramatic. She tried to think that even if his mysterious worst fears came to pass nothing would happen to their new chaotic friend.

Luna moved closer to Celestia: her big sister’s presence was always the best comfort to her in moments of doubt.

Celestia yawned and her eyes blinked open. “Luna?” she whispered softly.

Luna smiled gently. “I’m sorry I woke you. I was just settling in to go to sleep as well. I’ll see you in the land of dreams soon, Celestia.”

“Oh—okay. That’s nice…” Celestia mumbled before closing her eyes and resuming her calm sleep.

Luna closed her eyes as well. And she decided one very important thing before she dozed off: just as her sister had decided to keep a close eye on Discord in the waking world, she would keep a close eye on him in the dreaming world. Until whatever he was worried about passed, Luna sensed he would need someone to watch over for him on all fronts.

The pony sisters slept, safe together.

Discord was floating in the air in the Equestrian wilderness under a dark sky while drinking a cup of tea. He'd always liked tea, even before becoming friendly with Fluttershy and having weekly tea parties. It was a soothing, simple drink that let his normally chaotic mind think things through a little.

He had a lot to think through right now.

Because he was looking through a pair of binoculars at snowy mountaintop in the distance where there was a cave enchanted with magical winds so that no creature could ever enter and reach a certain item within.

A bell was supposed to be in that cave at the top of Mt. Everhoof. But the bell was gone. Discord could sense that its magic wasn’t there anymore.

Discord let out a deep breath and lowered his binoculars. “If ‘he’ had it, we’d all be doomed already. Which means someone else has it. But who…” The chaos master had a few ideas of the type of creatures who would take it, though none of them seemed bright or strong or determined enough to have actually succeeded at the bell’s abduction. And, as far as he knew, a fair portion of them were still in Tartarus (supposedly).

But the fact remained that the key to stopping or empowering the greatest evil the world had ever known was missing, which left Discord with some limited options at the moment.

“If I tell the sisters, they’ll want to go after him themselves. But they don’t understand—they’re not strong enough alone. They could barely even beat me, and that was with the Elements.” He sipped his tea again. “The next option is the girls. They’ve got a spark of true power, but they they still have doubts, and this is…this is so much worse than silly Sombra.”

He hugged his knees in close to his chest and closed his eyes. Memories came to his mind again, very bad things. Things that even back during his days of selfishness and lax morals had made him cringe and feel sick inside and want to sleep with the lights on.

Discord opened his eyes. “He’s the only thing they’re not ready for. Not yet. And I can’t help them—not like they think I can, not like I could against Sombra.” Discord shook his head. “Maybe we could all attack together, but if he took out all of us, what would happen to Equestria?” Discord swallowed, eyes wide. “I could go after him myself—ambush him. But if he was pulling Sombra’s strings, then for the sake of everypony I can’t risk what he could do to me.”

He took a deep breath and drained his tea then snapped away the cup. “Okay then, first things first. I’ll figure out who took the bell. A quick field trip to Tartarus should help narrow down the suspects. That’ll be a start, a very safe start.” He tried to hold his head high and look confident even though no one was around, but his insides felt like a solid lump instead of like the zany circus of moments usual for him. “Maybe, just maybe, I can nip this issue in the bud before it’s too late.” He held up his fingers to snap, scowling into the night sky. “I will not let this place go back to how it used to be. Not ever. Even if it takes every ounce of chaos in my body to do so.”

He wiped at his eye with his free hand then snapped himself away.

The wind continued to howl around the frigid mountain peak, empty of its treasure.

Author's Note

A/N:

And here is chapter 2! Again, I hope you all enjoyed this kind of random, more serious story, and thank you for the reviews so far :) As to how many chapters this will have, it really depends on the content of the episodes going forward. I haven't been watching any of the leaks or looking at upcoming ep summaries, so I can't say for now if they'll be any other chapters besides one dealing with the series finale. Fortunately, eps are coming back next month :twilightsmile:

Take care, everyone!

-Azure129

Some Friendly Advice ('2,4,6 Greaaat')

“Enough merely studying the magical sources running through Equestria. I need to observe our enemies again. They spend so much time on seemingly mundane tasks, but that may only mean their serious actions are veiled.” Hunched over his crystal ball, Grogar mumbled to himself with a laser-focused look in his eyes. “I’ll reveal every secret; I’ll know ever defense and every weakness before my final strike. They must be hiding something. And if I keep looking closely, I’ll find it. I’ll—AH HA!” Grogar’s scream of triumph reverberated throughout the empty cavern of his lair. And then came his maniacal laughter followed by an explosion of magic that made Grogar and the crystal ball disappear.

Grogar reappeared in a larger cave, and with three bursts of magic his three fellow villains appeared as well…in various unexpected states. Tirek had a hand mirror held out in front of himself while he struck a dramatic pose, Chrysalis wore an eye mask and was cuddling her purple Twilight stick in a napping posture, and Cozy Glow sported curlers in her hair and a white face mask. Needless to say, the three bad guys experienced a rather chaotic moment when they suddenly found themselves all face to face.

“Oh, er… where did this mirror come from, heh!” With a sheepish smile Tirek tossed the mirror away then put on the best stern look he could manage. “We’d better be under attack…”

“Indeed! Who dares to wake a queen!” Chrysalis ripped off her eye mask, hissed, and held her Twilight stick close.

“Oh my gosh, no one look at me! I’m only half done with my beauty regiment!” Cozy Glow half hid behind a rock. “And what’s the big idea interrupting me? Do you know how much effort it takes to maintain this cute appearance so I can be at my most manipulative?”

“SILENCE!” Grogar roared with a stomp of his hoof. “Enough of your insolent shenanigans! I have made an important discovery! And since you three have observed the modern reign of princesses first hoof, you will explain it to me!”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Is this ‘modern discovery’ about photography again? I told you, the black box is a just a camera, and what comes out is just a picture. A mere image! And, no, you can’t use photography to capture creatures’ essences on paper! That’s simply not how it works!”

Tirek’s look went dry as he answered Grogar now. “Or is this about plumbing? In which case we’ll be happy to explain everything to you about that particular technological advancement. One good thing about Tartarus was plumbing. And the changeling could stand a bath.”

Chrysalis bared her teeth, hissed loudly, and twisted her head in Tirek’s direction though he didn’t flinch.

“SHUT UP!” Grogar boomed. “This meeting is not about useless ‘inventions’ or your own pathetic creature comforts. It’s about war!” Grogar held up his crystal ball, and in a flash an image projected for all to see.

There was a stadium of creatures (including Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight) watching two teams of young ponies pass a ball back and forth over a field. Some viewers would easily recognize this projection as the buckball game between the School of Friendship and the School of Magic. Other viewers, however, like Grogar…might not.

Grogar’s nostrils flared. “I knew these sappy ponies couldn’t really just spend all of their time and resources frolicking. And here’s the proof—public combat training, and for creatures barely more than foals no less!” He thrust his hoof at the projection, eyes narrowed. “These ponies are much more actively engaged than the guards that spend their time trotting in place and watching doors in Celestia and Luna’s castle, and I must understand their role in Equestria’s defenses! You three, explain everything you know of these military actions—now!”

There was a long, strong silence throughout the room. A sound almost like a faint snicker occurred, though Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow glanced at each other, all uncertain of who had made it.

Grogar thrust himself into the center of the three, red eyes aflame. “Who DARES ‘laugh’ about our preparations for world domination!? Now, tell me, what is this battle exercise!?”

Cozy Glow wiped away her face mask and raised an eyebrow with a half grin. “But…that’s just a buckball ga—“

Tirek put his hand over her mouth and grinned as he addressed Grogar. “A Buckball Gambit—yes, that’s what it’s called. But as for details, ignore the child, Grogar—she has no military training. Right, Chrysalis?”

Chrysalis’s eyes were wide as she hesitantly replied, “Er…yes.” A brief moment of eye contact with Tirek made the grin return to her face though, and she addressed Grogar. “Celestia, and later Twilight, started these schools with the idea of modeling future generations. They train the young ones early to see who the military standouts will be. The ball…er, represents an enemy brought into submission by the three breeds of pony working together in friendship—earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus.”

Grogar eyed the game carefully. “Then why does one squadron of these ponies consist entirely of unicorns but with one only using hooves and the other bearing…wings! Is that a new princess!?”

Cozy Glow flew away from Tirek and shrugged with a smile. “Uh, they probably just gave her wings because the buckball rules say—“ Chrysalis wrapped up Cozy Glow’s mouth in her tail, effectively silencing the little pegasus again.

The changeling queen approached Tirek with an innocent shrug as she eyed the game. “Oh, of course not, Grogar—a princess wouldn’t have such flimsy wings. And she would be trained as a general, not a common soldier. But you’re right, all three on that side are unicorns. It doesn’t make sense, unless…” She gasped (probably a little too dramatically) and turned to Tirek. “Tirek, do you think…?”

Tirek raised an eyebrow but then cleared his throat and approached too (batting away Cozy Glow as she struggled to free herself from Chrysalis’s tail). “Er….I don’t know. It seems impossible.” He scratched his head. “Unless you really think it’s….you know…?” He waited.

Chrysalis looked to Grogar, a hoof to her mouth. “It could be!”

“What?!” Grogar’s head whipped back and forth between them.

Chrysalis lowered her hoof. “Perhaps Celestia and Luna are training new recruits to see if they can handle temporary enhancement to their powers on the battlefield. Imagine, a unicorn or a pegasus with earthy pony strength too! Or worse…an army of makeshift alicorns!”

“Impossible!” Grogar bellowed, and the cave shook.

The shaking freed Cozy Glow, and she scowled and flew up. “What are you guys talking about? Those wings are just from a spell that—“ This time Tirek grabbed Cozy Glow in a headlock and Chrysalis stuffed her Twilight stick into Cozy’s mouth.

“Cozy Glow,” Tirek cooed (firmly), “you don’t need to soften the reality. Grogar isn’t intimidated by any pony tactics.” He looked to Grogar. “All pony magic is based in spells. And a spell that grants automatic alicorn status, even temporarily, must be a very powerful one indeed.”

“Agreed!” Chrysalis scowled in determination. “And who knows what else they have planned beyond this Buckball Gambit!”

It was around then that the halftime show started in the projection.

Grogar staggered back as the music played and the cheer squad took formation. “What is this now? A multi-creature attack, perfectly-executed sequencing, a battle cry to arms, and a canon!”

Tirek and Chrysalis shared a brief look, biting their bottom lips (as smiles struggled to form at the corners of their mouths). Then their eyes went down to Cozy Glow who was scowling with a defeated look. She spit out the Twilight stick (which Chrysalis promptly scooped up and held close). “Don’t worry, I get it,” she grumbled, “we’re ‘helping’ Grogar.”

Chrysalis stuck out her tongue at Cozy Glow as Tirek finally released the little filly. Cozy Glow shook the curlers out of her hair and flew over to the projection, her tone quite dry. “Oh yes, this is one of the School of Friendship’s more advanced areas of study. Notice how the yak’s stomping is like the drums of war, see how the dragon’s smoke provides cover, and how easily maneuverable the party canon—uh, the canon is. And those two dance ponies have been trained since birth to be in perfect harmony: like a double-bodied warrior with one mind. Observe how effortlessly they rally the crowd to a battle frenzy.”

Grogar growled under his breath. “I knew only fools would create academies without any defensive purpose. Those six mares and that sun and moon princess are preparing an army of friendship and magic!”

As if to confirm Grogar’s theory, the crowd rhythmically chanted ‘School of Friendship!’ and then Celestia bellowed out ‘School of Magic!’ once more, and the stomping of hooves in applause followed. Grogar’s yellow eyes were aglow with fury as he ended the projection and held the crystal ball close. “I’ll be in my lair considering how to best combat this situation. Facing a few princesses and their friends was one thing, but if they can amass a fully-trained army, I’ll have to revise my tactics.” He considered then glared at the villainous trio. “If only you three fools hadn’t failed to retrieve my bell! One jingle could hypnotize hundreds of potential ponies for us!”

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow shared a wide-eyed look. Then they carefully turned back to Grogar. Cozy Glow put on her best pitiable frown. “Oh yes, we’re really sorry again about the bell, Mr. Grogar. But I’m sure you’ll think of something. You’re so smart, after all…” She nudged Tirek.

“And powerful,” Tirek quickly added, rubbing his side.

Cozy nudged Chrysalis.

“And clever,” Chrysalis added, grinding her teeth.

“Well, somebody in this group has to be,” Grogar mumbled as he turned around. “I’ll be in my lair pondering this latest problem. And continuing to gather information on the magic of Equestria. And honing my own powers for our final attack. You three…ugh, I’d say do something productive, but somehow I think even that would be asking too much. Just try not to disturb me.” And with a quick explosion of magic he disappeared with the crystal ball.

The three villains glanced around, making sure he was really gone.

And then they promptly burst into laughter and collapsed against each other.

“Buckball Gambit!” Tirek chortled.

“Army of Alicorns!” Chrysalis howled.

“That part where he thought the cheerleaders were sounding the calls of war!” Cozy Glow tumbled in the air then wiped a tear from her eye. “I’m sorry I didn’t get it at first, you guys, but I didn’t think even Grogar could be stupid enough to see a school buckball game as a military uprising!”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, sometimes it is rather difficult to believe our fearless leader is as stupid as he actually is.”

“Indeed.” Tirek stomped the floor. “Thankfully none of us were ever such fools as leaders of an uprising.”

“Of course not.” Cozy Glow waved him off. “We all just got beat because the others were working together, like Grogar said. Though…” she brought a hoof to her chin, “Chrysalis, replacing everypony close to Twilight except Starlight with changelings was a pretty big oversight during your last attack. And Tirek, actually releasing Twilight’s friends in exchange for her magic instead of just keeping them trapped once you had the power of Equestria’s final princess was pretty sloppy.”

Tirek and Chrysalis both glared at her and swatted, though Cozy flew just out of their reach.

“Oh, and like you did any better!” Tirek challenged. “You couldn’t even convince a bunch of fillies and colts to keep following your orders as school Headmare!”

“And you should have just sent the chancellor away entirely once he stumbled into your plan!” Chrysalis added. “I mean, really, who keeps a hostage just sitting around in an office. You knew the castle had underground caves—just shove him in there!”

Cozy Glow flung out her forelegs. “Give me a break, I’m a kid! You two are the ones with like a bajillion years of experience!”

“I spent a thousand years weak and sick in Tartarus before my last great attack!”

“And I’ll have you know I’m not a day over 476!”

Cozy Glow sighed deeply and flew down between them. “Okay, calm down, we’re fighting each other again when we should be fighting Grogar!” Her grin returned. “And right now we three just did a great job at messing with him. He’ll be so distracted trying to strategize the secret powers of buckball that he won’t bother us for days!”

Tirek and Chrysalis finally smiled a little again too.

“Yes, we did work together impressively.” Tirek twirled his beard.

“Agreed.” Chrysalis nodded. “Not as ‘friends’, of course, but as accomplices in our plan.”

Cozy Glow’s eyes narrowed. “And we still have the most important thing of all…” she said in a low, singsong voice, which elicited some low chuckles from her compatriots that eventually started growing into full maniacal laughter at their shared secret about a certain bell.

Then they heard a sound—something like a hoof fall against one of the rocks. Quickly the trio clammed up. Cozy Glow whispered to Tirek. “Do you sense Grogar’s magic? Is he coming back?”

Tirek sniffed the air deeply. “No, he’s still off in his lair. It was probably just a vampire bat or…” He paused and inhaled deeply again.

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. Cozy Glow glanced around, an eyebrow raised. Tirek grabbed Cozy Glow and moved her over by the far wall then turned to Chrysalis…but the changeling was already one step ahead of him. Her eyes glowed as she stared at the far wall and licked her lips. They shared a quick glance then looked to Cozy Glow who still looked confused until there was another sound like a hoof fall against rock and her eyes narrowed.

Everything happened very quickly then.

Tirek turned and smashed the highest part of the wall with his fists, Chrysalis activated her magic to compel the nearest source of love to come toward her, and Cozy Glow took up a position to catch whatever spying creature (who Tirek had clearly detected and who had enough love for Chrysalis to sense) fell out of that wall.

Cozy Glow quickly dropped to the ground though when that creature turned out to be Discord who promptly collapsed on top of her. He was up in an instant though and caught from behind by Tirek's grasp and in front by the pull of Chrysalis’s magic.

“Discord!” all three villains yelled at once.

With a snap of Discord’s tail, a cream pie flew into each of their faces. Using the surprise to his advantage, the chaos master snapped himself free, made a lasso out of licorice, and tied his three attackers together with it. “Be quiet! And do NOT say my name!” he hissed. Then he held up a finger, listening.

When the sound of Grogar’s hoof falls didn’t meet his ears, Discord let out a sigh of relief and slumped on the floor. “Oh crystal berries, I knew I shouldn’t have come into this part of the cave with the magic connoisseur and the love vacuum and the small screaming one. Couldn’t Grogar have had his little fit about buckball back in his lair? I swear, this entire experience is going to sour me on the fun of eavesdropping for life.”

By now the three villains had eaten through their face pies.

“Discord!” Chrysalis hissed, wriggling in the lasso.

“Discord…” Tirek narrowed his eyes, puffing his chest against the lasso.

“Former Vice Headmare Discord…” Cozy Glow pouted.

Tirek and Chrysalis glanced at her with dry looks. “Seriously?” they said at once.

“What?” Cozy Glow shrugged. “It’s hard to stop calling your teacher’s by their titles even after they stop teaching you. Ask any kid.”

Discord raised an eyebrow. “What part of ‘be quiet’ and “stop saying my name’ just compelled you three to yell out my name?” He rubbed his temple. “Please tell me I wasn’t this bad of a listener when I was a villain.”

“Grogar!” Cozy Glow yelled as loud as she could with a big grin. “We have an intruder! It’s Dis—“

Cozy Glow quickly found her mouth stuffed with cotton candy. She started eating her way through it, but the journey would clearly be a long one.

“Give us one good reason why we shouldn’t call Grogar?” Chrysalis smirked. “Other than the fact that whatever he does to you might prevent me from consuming some of that squishy soft love inside of you.”

“Yes, I’m curious to see what would happen myself with Grogar here.” Tirek grinned. “I sense so much power when I’m near each of you. But is that fear I see in your eyes, Discord? I remember that look from when you betrayed your little friends and they had to save you…”

Discord rolled his eyes (and did his best to hide a swallow). “You shouldn’t call Grogar because if you do tell him I’m here I might have to take advantage of the meeting to explain what buckball really is. And while I’m at it, maybe I’ll show him a little magical projection of my own of the three of you laughing over sending him on a wild cockatrice chase.” He snapped, a cockatrice appeared, Chrysalis flinched, Cozy Glow tried to fly up, and Tirek back-kicked it far away into the cave.

“Fair enough.” Tirek grumbled. “Now what are you doing here?”

“Spying for his little friends no doubt.” Chrysalis blinked. “Which means our whole mission could be compromised! Forget whatever Discord could tell Grogar—we have to act now before we’re shot full of rainbows or something by princesses!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Cozy Glow started, finally done with her cotton candy. “If there’s one thing I know about Discord from studying his history in class, it’s that he’s a lone wolf unless he’s forced into including friends. He acts like it’s because he’s superior, but really it’s because he worries about his friends getting hurt.” Cozy Glow smiled and eyed Discord. “They don’t know you’re here, do they?”

Discord gave her a dry look. “I never liked you. Twilight really needs to start vetting her students better.”

“But I’m right!” Cozy sang.

Discord crossed his arms. “The work I’m doing is above their pay grade. And maybe I just had to see if Grogar was still as much of a paranoid hothead as he’s always been. He’s worse, by the way. Nice play with the ‘Buckball Gambit’ thing.”

Chrysalis smiled. “Well, thank you…”

“Yes,” Tirek nodded, “it was pretty funny…”

“Hey!” they said at once with scowls.

Cozy Glow sighed and looked to Discord. “Okay, how about we make a quick deal—we won’t tell Grogar you were snooping, you don’t tell him we’re plotting against him.”

“Only if you’ll answer one question,” Discord countered.

“Only if you’ll spare us some speech about how we should reform like you did.” Chrysalis cringed at the notion.

“Deal.” Discord held out his paw to the three of them but hesitated and glared. “I know none of you are in the habit of keeping promises, but know this: if Grogar even thinks you’re betraying him, he’ll end you as quickly as any goody-goody pony. So I’d suggest you keep this one promise for your own good.”

The three villains shared a glance then nodded. “Very well,” Chrysalis replied as they turned back to Discord.

“Is that why you’re afraid of Grogar, Discord?” Tirek’s grin picked up on one side and he raised an eyebrow. “Because you betrayed your evil ways?”

Discord looked right into his eyes. “All I’m afraid of is how much boring work it’ll take to clean up whatever mess you four make of Equestria before you inevitably fail at conquering it. I don’t like Grogar, and that’s all you need to know.”

The chaos master shook hands with Tirek, Chrysalis, and finally Cozy Glow who rolled her eyes. “All right, sheesh, enough with the dramatics. What’s your one question?”

“Where is the bell?”

The villains’ eyes widened.

“Bell?” Tirek tilted his head.

“What bell?” Chrysalis brought a hoof to her mouth, aghast.

Cozy Glow shrugged. “Golly, jee, I don’t know about any—“

“Oh sweet chaos, can you three please just save it?” Discord flung out his arms. “You’re talking to me now, not Grogar. I didn’t just ‘come close’ to ruling Equestria, I conquered it! And the first time I was defeated, half the reason I let myself get put into stone was just for fun so I could use my plunder seeds! I could have beat Sombra with two snaps of my fingers, and that goes double for you three when you’re tied up like this! Now answer the question—where is the bell?” He took a deep breath. “The bell’s no use to you three, and if Grogar gets it he’ll be able to destroy each of you as soon as he’s bored of your antics. Give the bell to me, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

Their eyes narrowed.

“We’ll take our chances,” Tirek replied.

“We earned that bell together,” Chrysalis snarled.

“We put it some place you’ll never find it, Discord.” Cozy Glow smiled sweetly. “No one’s ever getting it but us.”

Discord’s stern look faltered, and he grinned a little. “A lot of ‘we’ and ‘together’ talk. You three are friends, aren’t you?”

“NO!” They all yelled at once.

“QUIET!” Grogar boomed from his lair.

Everyone lowered their voices.

Discord couldn’t resist a chuckle. “Next thing you know you’ll be breaking into song together.”

The villains’ eyes widened and they glanced away awkwardly.

“It’s already happened, hasn’t it?” Discord’s jaw fell. “Oh this is too much—I should have pretended to join this ragtag group just for the buddy moments.” He snorted.

“Ugh, Discord, you’re not getting the bell, so leave!” Chrysalis spat.

“Fine.” Discord flew up. “But only because I have better things to do. And only because I already said to you everything I had to say. Except for one thing.” He leaned in close. “You three don’t deserve to be living in a cave or Tartarus or in the woods alone. You could have something better, and getting it is really not so bad.”

Tirek groaned. “You promised no reform lectures.”

“I’m sharing my life experiences. That’s slightly different.”

“Hey, before you leave, can you at least get us out of this rope?” Cozy struggled against the restraint.

Discord waved her off. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll eat your way out in no time: consider the licorice a peace offering.” Discord smiled and reclined back in the air. “Ta ta! And, as a bonus, Chrysalis, I won’t tell anyone about your little Twilight stick.”

The changeling queen hissed as Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared.

The three villains were left alone.

Tirek started eating the licorice rope then looked back to his two companions who were just sitting there doing nothing. “Aren’t you two going to help?”

Chrysalis held her head high. “I refuse to eat the makings of that draconequus’s magic. Also refined sugar doesn’t sit well with me without a full stomach of love first.”

Cozy Glow shrugged. “I already had to eat a whole bunch of cotton candy, and I have a tiny tummy—I’m stuffed.”

“Oh fine,” Tirek dug into the rope. “But you two are going to spot me while I do more weight training reps to make up for all this extra dessert.”

“Okey dokey!”

“Whatever.”

Cozy Glow considered. “So are we really going to keep Discord’s visit a secret from Grogar?”

“Honestly, the less I have to talk to Grogar, the better,” Chrysalis replied with a bored look. “Plus he might want us to go after Discord, and I’m in no mood to deal with that request.”

Cozy Glow nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. And anyway, what can Discord do—we have the bell!” she announced proudly.

Tirek finished a large bite of the rope that finally freed them. “Yes, and now we know more than ever that we should hold onto it. If Discord wants it, maybe its powers really can be used by someone else besides Grogar. We just have to figure out how.”

“Discord’s gone so soft, he doesn’t deserve the bell. You should have felt all the love I sensed inside of him—pathetic.” Chrysalis wrinkled her nose.

“Yeah,” Cozy flew up, now free, “but I do kind of regret that we don’t have him on our side. We’re already a pretty unstoppable group, but he’d be the perfect secret weapon against Grogar.”

“Trust me, not going to happen,” Tirek replied dryly.

Chrysalis kicked away the licorice remains.“So, what should we do now?”

“I say we go back to our mutual corners where we were before Grogar interrupted us.” Cozy Glow smiled. “And then later maybe we can do some plotting over fresh cupcakes. And we can make fun of Discord some more—and then plot to attack him all at once when they timing is right.” She rubbed her hooves together with an evil smirk.

“Sounds good,” Tirek and Chrysalis agreed, both smirking as well.

The three villains laughed and separated, going back to their tasks.

Discord needed a moment. Being around villains made him cringe to remember how arrogant and ridiculous he must have sounded back in his former evil glory days. He stretched out on the grass under the empty bleachers at Twilight’s school. Ideally he would have been here right now with the bell in hand, ready to destroy it (possibly with help from some of the artifacts Twilight kept around the campus). But at least his mission had turned up some useful information—Grogar was definitely back; Grogar was still a paranoid drama king; Grogar didn’t have the bell; but Grogar’s team did have the bell and they were ready for a mutiny. All helpful points. The question on Discord’s mind was should he share this information with anyone, and if so, whom?

The problem with sharing was that then he would lose control of the information and something could change. Right now the balance of power in this situation was delicate. If only he’d gotten the bell, then he could have ratted out the bad guys to Grogar and summoned the princesses for a quick strike against the villains while their little group was in disarray.

Discord sighed and snapped to make a few pies rain up from the ground—he was hungry, and pie and chaos always hit the spot.

“Whoa! Wait, pies? From the ground… Discord?”

Discord blinked and sat up then glanced around—through the slats in the bleachers he could see the buckball field where Twilight Sparkle was now present. She wiped pie off of her chin as she glanced around, clearly in search of him.

Discord snapped himself in front of her. “Twilight, really, you shouldn’t sneak up on me when I’m making chaos. You know things can get messy.” He snapped up a hose, sprayed her off, then snapped up a large fan to dry her (which left Twilight’s hair a little frazzled).

She shook out her mane. “Hi, Discord. I haven’t seen you in a while—not since Sombra actually. How are you? Is everything okay?”

“Er…oh, I’ve been busy.” Discord glanced to the side and shrugged. “And I just wanted to pop by and congratulate you on the first buckball game.”

Her smile grew. “You watched? I didn’t see you in the bleachers.”

“I have my ways.” He held his head high, going for a mysterious vibe.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “But if you saw it why aren’t you in Canterlot congratulating Celestia? Her team won.”

“Don’t remind me.” Discord scoffed. “She’s going to be passively smug for at least two weeks after a last=minute victory like that, and I won’t be going near her until she’s over it. Besides, you’re the one who hosted the game and put on that cheer show, so of course you get a congratulations. Just make sure to pummel the School of Magic next time—passively perturbed Celestia is fun.” He grinned.

Twilight laughed. “I’ll see what we can do, Discord. Anyway, I have to head inside for a meeting. Would you mind cleaning up the field?” She gestured to the pie remains.

Discord rolled his eyes but snapped things back to normal.

“Thank you, Discord. I’ll see you later.” As Twilight walked away though, the chaos master hesitated and got in front of her. “Wait, Twilight…” He bit his lip.

“Yes, Discord?”

He took a deep breath. “I may regret saying this, but I think I have a friendship problem.”

Twilight’s eyes glittered in anticipation.

Discord’s look went dry. “Forget it.” He raised his fingers to snap.

“No!” Twilight latched onto his paw. “I promise, I’ll be calm.” She took a breath. “Now, tell me your problem, Discord.”

Discord flew up and crossed his arms. “Let’s say I know three creatures who are hanging out with a bad influence. And I tried to tell them to stop, but they won’t listen—and they don’t want to hang around me. And I’m afraid they’re all going to do something stupid. What should I do?”

Twilight’s eyes hazed as she smiled gently.

“What?”

“The girls and I all felt the same way about Fluttershy hanging out with you when Celestia first asked her to reform you. But now you’re not the bad influence, Discord—you’re the good influence.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She went on. “Discord…you tried to talk to these three creatures, which was the right thing to do, but they won’t listen. Have you tried talking to the bad influence?”

“Things could get worse if I do; trust me. He does not like me.”

Twilight nodded, her brow furrowed pensively. “Then, Discord, I think you have to let these three creatures make their mistake and realize they deserve better in their own time. You can’t control creatures—they have to find their own way, even if it takes some creatures longer than others.”

“But I can’t just wait around and watch! What if someone gets hurt!” he countered as he threw up his arms.

Twilight reached out and put a hoof on one arm. “You can watch over them, and if you see anyone about to be seriously hurt then of course you should intervene, Discord. But if your friends are really determined to make a bad choice, it may be what they need to do before they can move on to something better.” She sighed, her voice quiet. “It’s like what happened between you and Tirek, Discord. Until you made a bad choice with him, you weren’t ready to take your reform seriously. And now you’re one of our best and most trusted friends.”

Discord’s brow was still furrowed in worry as he looked down at Twilight. He glanced left, he glanced right, then bent down and hugged Princess Twilight Sparkle very tightly. Her eyes widened in complete surprise until the chaos master quickly put her down. He scowled, crossed his arms, and whispered, “We will never speak of what I just did again, got it?”

She smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks for the advice, Twilight. It helps.”

“I’m here any time, Discord, just like how I know you’ll always be here for us.”

A wince went through Discord. But then he put on a smile again. “Like you could ever get rid of me.” He flew up. “Well, ta ta, Twilight. I really must be going. Enjoy your boring meeting. And, seriously, at the next buckball game take Celestia down!” He winked, and as Twilight laughed and waved he flew into the clouds and away from the school.

Discord’s smile fell when he was alone He had to agree with Twilight’s advice even if all the waiting it would involve was agonizing. But he did decide to take action regarding two things: he would continue to keep an eye on Grogar and the others despite the risk to himself, and he would fight to save Equestria…and maybe those three misguided but sort of friendly villains…with every ounce of magic he could summon if the time came.

Author's Note

A/N: Here you go, a new chapter based off the content of "2, 4, 6...Great" :twilightsmile: I really love writing Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow together lol. Still not sure how many more installments of this story there'll be before the finale, but I have a feeling next week's episode will give me some material to work with. Please review if you can, and thanks for reading! :yay:

-Azure129

Party Crashers--You Gotta Love 'Em ('Summer Sun Setback')

“I suppose I could fix everything. But isn’t the real miracle here the miracle of teamwork and character growth?”

“Oh come on!”

“Discord is right—Twilight needs us.”

Rainbow Dash’s lament followed by Fluttershy’s very wise words about himself being right were the last sounds Discord heard before his magic made him reappear outside near the throne room wall. He snapped away the ‘miracle’ get-up and leaned against the stone exterior of the castle, fingers digging into the mortar as his smile quirked into an expression of doubt. He closed his eyes. “You do not have to do this for them—they can fix it. It’s just a party…even if everything that’s going wrong is clearly the result of those three evil idiots traipsing around here somewhere! You do not have to rope and hog tie those three and stick them in the dungeon, you do not have to make the food and the weather and the entertainment perfect with a snap of your fingers, you are not going to break your promise to yourself to make sure the girls take care of themselves.”

Discord opened his eyes and took a deep breath. “It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine, it’ll be fine. Okay, now I need to stop freaking out before I turn into Twilight.” He shuddered and flew off of the wall. “Anyway, this issue is low key danger at best.” He looked down at the party—dark clouds and wind, a few apple ponies wrapped in blankets, entertainment guests being divas. Even without the ‘threesome of theatrics’ here mucking things up, all of these incidents could have easily happened on their own. It was more boring than chaotic. Though watching the girls slapdash things together to keep Twilight in the dark definitely had some chaos potential.

Discord smiled a little and made a mental note to come back to the castle courtyard for that part of the evening—and to observe very closely how Twilight would handle herself when she inevitably found out about all of this. For now, whatever Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow wanted here was his greater concern.

Discord snapped himself away.

Hiding deep in the rafters of the throne room—not even invisible but just standing in a shadow with a pink dodo mask and pink feather boa around his neck because, seriously, these three could be even more clueless than Grogar sometimes—Discord watched as Cozy Glow peeked into the room with Tirek and Chrysalis waiting just outside.

“Not here—the archives are in a different part of the castle.” She closed the door.

Discord sighed to himself. Announcing a key element of your diabolical plan out loud—how predictably villainous.

To his interest, one of the dodo’s looked up at the door then trotted off somewhere with a scowl. Discord really appreciated this security protocol idea of Luna’s—it was chaotic and it could drive Celestia nuts sometimes. Win-win in his book. It was nice to have part of the security system taking over his work for him. Archives—so they weren’t even looking for the princesses or artifacts or spells? They weren’t even going to trash the castle? Probably looking for the archives to find dirt on Grogar—weaknesses or something.

Discord decided to leave this matter alone now and let the security protocols and the natural stupidity of the three villains handle things. Besides, he needed to get back to the girls (not to fix things, just to check on them, he promised himself).

Discord snapped himself away.

From a cloud, Discord watched the end of the Summer Sun Celebration—and the start of a new holiday (like the pony sisters needed anything else to inflate their egos). Still, it was refreshing to see Twilight take charge and create the holiday instead of just looking to Celestia and Luna for approval. She and her friends had fixed the whole party without a single snap from him: they were all growing up. Discord smiled to himself. “You know, it really does seem like you just might be ready for whatever comes next, your majesty.” He ate a crescent moon cookie. Who could see a bleak future ahead when the sun was coming up and friends were all smiling and you were eating a cookie?

The guests started to clear out.

Before Luna and Celestia could invite Discord down from the sky to check in on him, or before the girls could invite him just to stick around, Discord snapped himself into the castle. He couldn’t sense the magic of Tirek or Chrysalis or Cozy Glow anymore—good, they were gone. But he could follow a slight trail.

He found himself at the doors of the library. Discord raised an eyebrow. “They seriously went for the archives? Everything in here is boring though! And those three know they’d get a better reaction from messing with Twilight’s books rather than Celestia and Luna’s.”

Still, Discord snapped open the doors. He floated around a bit—boring history books, boring biographies, boring geographical studies… the fiction was okay though, he guessed. He kept going deeper into the library until he reached the start of the archives section, and then deeper, following the trail into a dimmer and dustier part of the library. Suddenly he could feel a lot of protective spells, and now some of the book spines had images and titles that were a little…dark for the pony sisters. “Oh sweet chaos, Celestia’s archives have a restricted section.” He took a breath: at least most of these books seemed to be about unicorn magic (which none of that bad guy group possessed), or dark ages of Equestria’s past (which were long gone), or powerful artifacts which obviously were under much better protection than these dusty old…

Discord’s eyes widened.

There was a plank on a shelf with chains that were loose and no book.

He went close and inhaled deeply, sensing the magic. The trio had been here, but another magic’s presence lingered. Discord shivered: magic about the bell and Grogar.

His pupils shrank. “Oh my.” He bit his lip and began to pace in the air. “I knew I let myself get too confident about everything being okay! Ridiculous holiday messing with my head! And I let things get worse! Why didn’t I think to check the library for a restricted section? If I Twilight-level freaked out now, no one would be here to see it so it wouldn’t count, right?” he asked to no one in particular, his paw on his forehead.

Still, he heard two familiar voices suddenly saying his name from not too far away.

“Discord?” Celestia.

“Discord!” Luna.

Discord’s head split in half and resulted in him having two full heads. One head’s eyes were darting around as it bit its lip, the other head gave the first one a dry look and raised an eyebrow.

The panicked head dragged one of Discord’s hands down his face and whispered in a high-pitch, “I did not sign up for babysitting the salvation of Equestria!”

The serious head grabbed the first one’s shoulder with his one of Discord’s arms. “Get it together, Discord! They’re ponies, you’re the chaos lord—you can figure this out! Now march out there and be the smarmy, sarcastic, stupendous draconequus you are!”

The panicked head nodded, and then the serious one knocked their heads together, causing both to combine into Discord’s original one. He shook his head then snapped himself to the entrance of the library.

“Dis—Oh there you are!" Celestia smiled as he appeared right in front of herself and Luna.

“Good morning, Discord!” Luna smiled (but hid a yawn). “Celestia and I were just about to have breakfast. The girls are fast asleep already from all the excitement, but we thought you might like to join us.”

“It’ll be fun,” Celestia’s eyes hazed, and her grin grew, “we can talk about how you’ve ‘known us longer than anyone’ and about how you used to ‘terrorize us’ and how we ‘turned you into stone’.”

Luna chuckled. “Twilight informed us of your colorful offer to assist her with the final preparations earlier.”

Discord rolled his eyes with his usual charming grin. “Oh ladies, while I would adore the chance to make your silverware dance and crack jokes about ten centuries ago while munching on royal food, I’m afraid I have to be off. But you’re welcome for having me grace you with my presence for this entire holiday.”

Celestia sighed but nodded, her smile a little weaker though. “I understand. You probably want to rest too, Discord. And…it’s really been a while since we’ve talked.”

They hadn’t spoken privately ever since just after Sombra’s attack when Celestia and Luna had needed to nurse him back to health embarrassingly enough. And Discord had not brought up again his concern about the future—no sense worrying any pony in advance, he had decided after that day.

“But do you need something?” Luna asked, glancing around. “We were surprised to find you in the library. Perhaps you are looking for some sort of reference?”

Discord chuckled. “No, no, I think you’re confusing me with our favorite book pony, Twilight. I was simply wanting through the castle in search of random places to booby trap for fun. But drat, you got me before I could get to the books. Oh you cheeky princesses, always one step ahead.” He leaned in closer, laughing.

Luna continued to smile but Celestia’s was still a little weak. “I see,” Celestia replied simply, “well, if you ever come by just to talk about anything, we’ll be here.”

“Until you’re not,” Discord couldn’t help but mumble as he flew past her.

Celestia blinked and frowned a little along with Luna. They shared a look then turned to Discord who stood in the doorway now facing away from them.

“Discord,” Luna said quietly, “we already told you we wouldn’t leave until we were sure the girls were ready and that everything was safe.”

“We still haven’t picked an exact day,” Celestia added, “but we needed to move the process forward. Discord, the ponies need to learn how to say goodbye to us, and Twilight needs to come into her own. It’s time, Discord. But we love Equestria and the girls. We won’t just disappear forever.” She tried to smile again.

Discord sighed, arms crossed. He didn’t turn to face them. “I know.” He rubbed his temple then blinked and managed a smile again as he turned back to them. “I’ve really got to get going though. I suddenly remembered a very important errand. Good day, ladies. Congrats on the holiday! And do me a favor and drop hints to Twilight that I deserve one too.” Before they could answer, he waved and snapped himself away (his ears drooping a little as the last sight he saw was the pony sisters watching him with frowns).

Why was the Crystal Empire so cold? Even with the protection of the Crystal Heart, the weather was like endless wintertime up here. How did these ponies deal with it? Discord had half a mind to snap up a heatwave (with a little spicy salsa rain for good measure), but he decided to refrain. He didn’t want to get on her bad side—he had questions, and he needed her listen.

Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t make an entrance.

Which was why Discord found himself floating on the kitchen ceiling just after dawn while below him a bleary-eyed Cadance with crazy hair and a pink robe with stuffed animals in the pockets heated up a baby bottle over the stove by hoof and used her magic to create a large mug of coffee.

Discord watched as she put in four spoons of cream and four sugars—did this princesses run on sweets or something? But he was too distracted by the amusingly chaotic look of ‘morning Cadance’ to care much about the answer. Cadance yawned and look like she could barely function until she brought the coffee mug to her nose and inhaled deeply.

Finally Cadance’s eyes opened a little.

“Want a scone to go with that coffee? My speciality is jalapeño cheddar.”

Cadance smiled a little. “Actually, I prefer chocolate scones. But thank yo—DISCORD!”

The coffee mug dropped toward the ground and the bottle nearly went flying out of the pot of hot water.

Discord righted both items before anyone could get hurt (or any precious coffee or milk could be lost). “Hey there—i know it’s great to see me, but you don’t have to go creating a mini display of chaos for my benefit.”

Cadance rubbed her forehead with her hoof and closed her eyes again. “I’m a little groggy right now but still pretty sure this isn’t a dream. Discord, if you’re here to ‘test my friendship’ or something, isn’t it a little early?”

“Silly Cadance—testing friendship was something the semi-reformed Discord did, but I’m fully reformed now and much more helpful than I used to be. See?” He grinned then snapped up her mug to be twice as big…and twice as full of coffee.

Cadance’s eyes widened and almost sparkled as she carefully took the mug in her magic. She took a deep sip then looked to Discord again. “Uh, thank you, Discord.”

Discord sighed and rolled on his back in the air. “You’re welcome, I suppose. Oh and don’t forget this.” He levitated the warm baby bottle from the stove, wrapped it in a dishcloth, and floated it over to Cadance who caught it in one of her forelegs.

She smiled a little, an eyebrow raised. “You’re being suspiciously helpful and suspiciously unchaotic—what do you need, Discord?”

“First of all, I can’t help being unchaotic right now. For the Summer Sun Celebration Twilight specifically requested I do nothing Discordy—which is a word that has no set definition, but I do know it when I’m doing it. Second of all, I am always helpful in my own roundabout way.” He winked as he flipped back onto his stomach in the air.

“You still haven’t denied that you need something.” Cadance kept smiling.

Discord shrugged. “We don’t talk enough Cadance—I figured we’re overdue. And what with all the changes happening in Canterlot and to Equestria, I thought I’d stop by and check on the only classic Equestrian princess who isn’t retiring.”

Cadance still eyed him.

Discord sighed. “You weren’t at the Summer Sun Celebration, and I was curious—why?”

“You’ve never been a parent before, have you, Discord?”

“Ugh,” he cringed, “I should hope I’d never put myself in a situation where I had to be so responsible.”

She laughed softly. “I didn’t go because it involves a lot of traveling and staying up all night and loud noises and crowds. If I put Flurry Heart though that, her sleep schedule for a least a week would be, well…chaos. Which means mine would be too. And Shining and Sunburst and I just got her sleeping through the night and staying up only during the day. Discord—I’m not going back.” Cadance yawned and took another big sip of her coffee.

Discord smirked. “And let me guess—that little thing wakes up exactly at sunrise. Tell me we don’t have a mini Celestia in the making.”

“With her wingspan, I’m not so sure.”

The two of them laughed.

Then Discord sighed, glancing down aloofly. “I really did just want to talk, you know. And I figured you’d be alone right now.”

“Well, as long as you’re willing to lend a claw, come on.” Cadance turned and headed out of the kitchen, Discord following after her. “Shining Armor had to lead the troops through formation at dawn this morning, and Sunburst and Starlight are off visiting their parents again, so it’s just me with Flurry right now.”

“You could have servants take care of her…”

“I wouldn’t miss a moment of taking care of her, Discord.” Cadance gave a sleepy smile. “She’s my world.”

“Fine, fine—sentimental ponies. What do I have to do?”

They reached a door and Cadance opened it. “Not much—just avoid magical blasts and keep her entertained for a little while.”

“Eh, that’s basically what I had to do the last time I was at war with Celestia and Luna—I think I can manage.” He headed inside with her. Cadance closed the door and turned on the light. “Good morning, Flurry girl.”

“Bah!” Flurry Heart instantly teleported in front of her mother, reaching for the bottle. Then her eyes went to the coffee and widened. “Ooo….” She smelled the mug and licked her lips.

Cadance surrounded both items in a magical barrier. “No coffee for babies. And no bottle yet. First we have to get you cleaned up: you know the drill.” Cadance levitated both items over to Discord, who caught each in a hand. “We’ll just leave these with our special visitor—Discord.”

Flurry Heart’s eyes locked onto the chaos master, Her head tilted so far back as she looked up at him that she did a back flip in the air.

Discord grinned, his head tilted, and waved to Flurry Heart with his tail. “You’re the one who destroyed the crystal heart by crying and who blasted a hole through a book Twilight was holding. I like you.”

Cadance caught her daughter with her magic and led Flurry Heart (who was reaching toward Discord with eyes shining with wonder) over to the changing table where she laid her down and proceeded to check her diaper.

Discord reclined on the floor, glancing around the nursery. “So, you like all this ‘parenting’ stuff, huh?”

Cadance nodded as she disposed of Flurry Heart’s old diaper and got out a fresh one. “I love it. I always wanted the adventure of being a mother.” She laughed softly as she booped Flurry Heart’s nose. “Is that what you came to ask me, Discord?”

Discord waved her off and scoffed. “No, no, I haven’t reached that level of boredom yet. Just making conversation.”

“It sounds more like you’re avoiding getting to the point.” Cadance placed a puff of powder in the new diaper and then wrapped it around a giggling, squirming Flurry Heart. As soon as the diaper was secure, Flurry Heart teleported out of her arms and right up to Discord. She perched herself on his horns and gurgled.

Cadance laughed as she went over to the crib to straighten the blankets. “If she climbs all over you, that means she likes you.”

“Good,” Discord grinned, “glad the feeling is mutual.” He wrapped his tail around Flurry Heart to lift her off his head then placed her gently on the floor with his tail coiling around her a few times to support her. “And I never avoid my point, Cadance—I just get there in my own, sweet, chaotic time.” Discord’s smile grew as the baby clearly continued to be fascinated with him, touching his tail scales and smiling and reaching for the rest of him. He dangled the tuft of his tail above her head to play with.

Cadance came closer to Discord, her eyes hazed and she looked at him with a special smile. “Discord, are you in love with someone? Is that why you’re here?”

The chaos master’s eyes widened enough to fill his face. “Who…would I even be…”

“Oh, I figured maybe Celestia or Luna,” Cadance said far too casually as she used her magic to put away a few toys. “I mean they’re retiring, you’re about the same age, you’ve known them for a while…”

His jaw dropped to the floor. Then his look went utterly dry—he was going for a scowl but was painfully aware it looked more like a pout. He glanced at the baby. “Oh Flurry Heart, your mommy is a very twisted pony.”

Cadance snorted with laughter. “Mommy just likes matchmaking as much as Auntie Twilight likes solving Friendship problems.” Cadance grabbed a soft brush in her magic ran it through Flurry Heart’s mane a few times. “Besides, Discord, love is always what creatures come to me about. If I get an unexpected visit or an invitation somewhere, it’s always about romantic advice.”

“I know the feeling.” Discord sighed. “I rarely get invited places unless it seems like my magic will come in handy. Fluttershy is the exception of course. But usually if I’m somewhere it’s because I just showed up on my own—like at the Summer Sun Celebration.” Discord was looking at the baby with a dull gaze but a small smile as he tickled her chin with his tail tuft.

Cadance’s eyes widened a little, and her smile softened as she put away the brush and turned to Discord again. This time she sat down in front of him. “You don’t get to make many appearances either, huh?”

“Hardly. It’s like there’s minimal room for me in the budget or something.”

Cadance chuckled, and Discord cracked more of a smile. Flurry heart gurgled and teleported herself out of Discord’s tail…but found herself right back in it again.

Cadance raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask Discord explained. “Proximity spell—something I cooked up for emergency situations so I can make sure magic doesn’t take Fluttershy from my side. Guess it works well on teleportation-happy princess babies.”

Cadance teleported her mug over and took a deep sip of her coffee. Then she gave Flurry her bottle. “Discord—you know, whatever you want to talk to me about, it’ll be between us. I trust that if you want it to stay private, there’s a good reason for it to stay private.”

Discord glanced away, trying to look bored. “I can’t tell you everything—it’s such a long story, and I don’t have the patience. I just…” he rubbed his temple, “when you say you’ll tell no one, would that include Celestia and Luna and her majesty Twilight?”

“It’ll just stay between you, me, and Flurry Heart. Don’t worry, she’s good at keeping secrets.”

Discord looked at the baby again—she was sucking her bottle and looking up at him with eyes that were just too big and cute to be fair. He twirled his beard around his fingers and considered carefully for a moment. Then he started. “Cadance, even though Flurry Heart is safe and cared for and almost absurdly powerful, do you still worry about her sometimes?”

“I worry about her every moment of my life,” Cadance replied simply. “Maybe it won’t be as strong when she’s older and can take care of herself more. But right now, even with Equestria at peace and the Crystal Empire secure and her surrounded by guards and crystal walls and magical protection and family—I do worry about her, Discord. I love her.” Cadance touched Flurry Heart’s cheek with her hoof. The baby gurgled.

“So…that’s normal: irrational worry about creatures you care for who are definitely capable but not as powerful as you?”

“It depends on the situation. But at the very least I think it’s understandable.” Cadance looked to Discord again. “But just because I worry about her doesn’t mean I’m unhappy or that the worry takes over my life. I accept that all I can do is love her and support her and trust the other creatures who care about her to keep her safe just like I do.”

Discord slouched a little, arms crossed. “Letting go is such a bother.”

Cadance nodded. “But letting go helps things work out better in the end for everyone. I end up able to feel calm, and Flurry eventually learns to take care of herself. I’m not saying it’s easy, leaving some things up to chance…watching someone you’ve cared for change and grow and maybe even need you less…” Her head was down, her gaze on Flurry Heart. “But when you love someone, you trust them enough to make their own choices.” She raised a hoof and wiped a tear from her eye then blinked, her gaze going back to Discord. “Sorry, I got a little emotional imagining Flurry Heart all grown up… Discord?”

She had an eyebrow raised: Discord hoped she hadn’t seem him wipe a tear from his own eye. “No, no,” he quickly started, “don’t be sorry. Hearing all of that is helpful. It makes me feel less lonely.” A beat passed and then his eyes widened. “I mean, not ‘lonely’—why would I ever be lonely? Heh…” He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Okay, why is it almost too easy to talk to you?”

“Because I’m a mom, Discord,” Cadance replied, “and I’m the princess of love. I try to create a safe space for creatures and their emotions wherever I go.” She frowned a little. “I’m sorry if you’ve been lonely, Discord. But I’m glad what I said helped you a little with whatever’s on your mind.”

He nodded. “I—lonely really was probably too strong of a word.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, er… I… the real reason I came here was to suggest in some sort of tricky and playful way that you swing by Canterlot sometime soon. But… maybe being here is better for you—you know, with your subjects and your hubby and this little ball of feathers and fuzz who’ll probably be empress of us all someday.”

Cadance tilted her head, an eyebrow raised. “Is the master of chaos inviting me to Canterlot for a specific reason? Or, I guess, un-inviting me?”

“I don’t know.” Discord pouted, scowling a little. “I was thinking about it, but you have your hooves full already with a lot. Besides, it might not be the best time anyway—she’s just starting to really get there, they all are…”

“This is about Twilight and the girls running Equestria, isn’t it, Discord?”

He glanced away innocently. “Maybe. And maybe now I’m thinking that holding strong to making them do everything on their own from here on out is the best plan. And I don’t know if involving you would be cheating anyway.” He furrowed his brow in thought.

“I may regret asking this, but you did double my coffee for me this morning, so I’ll give it a shot. In what way is asking me to come to Canterlot cheating, Discord?” Cadance laid down on the floor, sipping at her mug like it was full of life itself.

He bit is bottom lip but then finally let out a deep breath and rested on his elbows on the floor in front of her. “Well, since Celestia and Luna are retiring, naturally they’re disinclined to fix problems for the girls when they come up Those six ponies have tried to turn to me to just snap things better, but I’ve cut them off. They can’t assume I’m always going to be around to fix stuff just because I’m practically the most powerful being in Equestria.” He glanced away for a moment, his look less stubborn and more faraway. But then he went on as he had before. “You are a tricky factor though, Cadance. You’re still an active princess, but your domain is up here in the Empire. But the Empire is technically connected with Equestria. So I’m not sure if you coming around would be a good thing to help Twilight if she needs it since you’ll be available anyway for the foreseeable future, or if it’ll be a bad thing because it’ll give Twilight and the girls a crutch.” He snapped up a crutch and balanced the stick end in his paw.

Flurry Heart stopped sucking on her bottle for a moment and burped.

Discord looked at her, leaning close. “Also, Flurry Heart’s probably happiest with you here to watch over her.” Flurry Heart reached up and tugged Discord’s beard. He winced but then smiled as she giggled. “Driving me nuts—you really were born to be a princess, weren’t you?” She smiled and picked up her bottle again.

“Discord…”

He turned at the sound of Cadance softly saying his name. She had her hoof on his shoulder. “How about this—if someone in Canterlot needs me, like the girls or Celestia and Luna or even you, I’ll come. Because when the girls defeated Sombra, they still needed Celestia and Luna and Starswirl battling the Everfree Forest at the same time. And when the girls put on the summer sun celebration, they still needed all the ponies there working together to make it happen. So even if Twilight and her friends can and will do whatever Equestria needs on their own, I’m happy to be there to play my part. I’m not afraid. I want to protect our world—for Flurry Heart—so she can grow up in it just as happily as I did.”

Discord looked at her in wonder for a moment. Then he gave a single nod and swallowed. “Ponies should summon you for more than love advice. You’re a tough cookie, Cadance.” Discord snapped up a moon-shaped cookie from the Summer Sun Celebration and presented it to her.

Cadance took it with an appreciative smile and dunked it into her coffee before swallowing it in one bite.

“Mmm…” Flurry Heart pouted and reached out to where the cookie had been, her lip wobbling and her eyes big and shining.

Discord noticed and held up his fingers to snap.

“Discord, no sugar for breakfast,” Cadance chided gently.

Discord rolled his eyes but nodded. “Okay, but how about just something small? I promise, minimal sugar…” Discord put on a big-eyed pleading look of his own.

Cadance nodded with a smile. “Okay, Discord…something small.”

With a snap of his fingers, the milk in Flurry’s bottle changed to chocolate milk.

Her eyes widened at the sight and then she chugged the milk with a big smile.

Cadance stood and gently floated Flurry out of the confines of Discord’s tail with a smile. She lowered her voice. “Flurry likes a nap after breakfast—she gets sleepy. And then mommy gets to rest a little more, which is nice.” Cadance brought Flurry Heart into the crib and tucked her in with fresh blankets. After a few final sips from the bottle, Flurry let it go, blinking. She burped then started to snuggle in and close her eyes.

Cadance walked quietly back over to Discord.

“I should probably go,” the chaos master whispered, already with his fingers raised to snap.

“Actually,” Cadance gestured to the door, “that cookie reminded me I’m starving. You mentioned scones or something before—“

With a smile and a snap of his fingers, Discord had them both back in the kitchen. Cadance was seated at a table and Discord was floating in the air. He snapped again. The table filled with various apple desserts (including scones) and several slices of cakes and more moon and sun shaped cookies. “I took some leftover goodies with me from the Summer Sun Celebration for the road. Feel free to dig in—I’ll just grab some more cookies for the road.”

“You’re really leaving already?” Cadance asked after pulling her eyes away from the delicious spread.

Discord shrugged. “Well, you’ve got your morning routine, and I’m sure you like to relax when you get the chance. And now that the serous stuff is out of the way, I’m going to be prone to chaos and pranks, and I know how draining ponies can find that.”

“Discord,” she smirked, “I have a powerful magical alicorn baby—I am immune to chaos and pranks. Stay, rest, eat.”

He blinked then smirked with an eyebrow raised. “You are such a mom.” But he did take a seat as well.

“And tell me about the summer sun celebration,” Cadance went on after swallowing half a scone and another deep sip of coffee. “It sounds like things didn’t go so smoothly at first, but I know it must have been wonderful.” She leaned on her hooves on the table with a big smile.

Discord took a slice of cake. “Oh yes, it was almost sickeningly touching. There were tears and laughter, fire performers, weather patterns, a full buffet. And now we have a new holiday—the Day of the Two Sisters. Seriously, so much pomp about sun princess and moon princess raising the sun and moon and being princesses.”

“Aw, Twilight made them their own holiday to celebrate sisterhood? I think that’s sweet, Discord.” She dunked another cookie in her coffee. “Maybe one day Twilight will give you a holiday too. A chaos day. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun.”

“Do you really think so?” Discord perked up, ego and all.

“Totally.” Cadance blinked. “I’m sorry, Discord, I almost forgot—can I get you some coffee too?”

“Oh I’ll get it, don’t worry.” He waved her off and snapped up a mug even bigger than hers full of steaming, sweet goodness. “Half pure espresso, half hot chocolate—my favorite.” He drank deep then let out a pleased sigh. “Oh that feels good after tonight’s shenanigans. Nobody truly understands how stressful it is to be me.”

“I know what you mean.” Cadance shook her head but then smiled again. “But at least we know how are our jobs are and how good we are at them.”

“I like you, Cadance—you’ve got the poise of the pony sisters without the pomp.”

“And I like you too, Discord—you’ve got the wisdom of the pony sisters without all of the seriousness.”

“Just don’t suggest I’m in love with one of them again—I’d like to keep my breakfast down please.” He rolled his eyes.

“Had to at least ask, Discord.” Cadance relaxed more into her seat with a yawn. “Speaking of Celestia and Luna, I can’t wait to see them in retirement. I think it’ll be funny.”

“Oh, it’ll ludicrous—you should have seen them taking a vacation last month. Basically four days of near-death experiences and wandering off alone for giggles. Silly princesses.” He considered then leaned on his elbows on the table too. “Ooo, have them babysit Flurry for you whenever you want! You deserve some downtime, and it’ll keep them on the toes of their hooves.”

“Already making plans for it…” Cadance winked, and she and Discord shared a laugh as they ate their way through the snacks and their coffee.

Sometime later enough that the sun was in the kitchen window, Discord heard hoof steps and opened his eyes, unsure of where he was. He quickly realized he was slumped over one end of a kitchen table with a sleeping Cadance seated across from him and a bunch of pie tines and used plates between them. And standing in front of him was Shining Armor with Flurry Heart in one foreleg.

Discord stretched a little, groggy. “Okay—I ate too much apple pie. I admit it. Never tell Applejack, but it was so good…”

Shining Armor grinned. “Good morning to you too, Discord.” Flurry Heart giggled and reached for Discord, touching his nose.

Discord tickled under her chin with his tail tuft then stretched, twisting himself in a spiral and untwisting himself. “Hello, Shining Armor. You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here in your kitchen with a bunch of eaten snacks and your wife passed out and snoring and doused in crumbs.”

Shining Armor just shrugged, still smiling. “Discord, I’m pretty used to unusual things by now. I’m married to a princess and I have a sister for a princess. This is not the weirdest thing I’ve seen in this kitchen.”

“Name something weirder.”

“Sunburst and Starlight accidentally in each other’s bodies and brewing up a potion to switch back that involved a live chicken, zap apples, and twenty coconuts for some reason.”

Discord’s eyes widened. “…Okay, point taken.”

“How was the Summer Sun Celebration?” Shining Armor levitated a bottle over from the stove and gave it to Flurry Heart.

Discord considered. “Your sister is actually learning to own being Equestria’s new leader—who would have guessed.”

“That’s my Twily.” Shining Armor’s smile brightened.

Discord smiled for a moment too but then cleared his throat, quickly yawned, and floated up. “I should get going. When Cadance gets up say bye for me.” He floated closer to Flurry Heart. “And bye to you too, little lady. Be a good girl—as in keep shooting random bolts of magic chaotically but only shoot them at scary things. Got it?”

Flurry Heart grabbed his whole face and snuggled it. Discord eventually managed to pull away. “Ta ta, everyone!” With a snap of his fingers he disappeared.

Discord snapped himself right back home where he promptly collapsed on his sofa, eyes closed. “I’m not sure if I just made a major breakthrough in all this drama or got deliriously sidetracked. But I am glad the pink one isn’t retiring, I guess.” He sighed deeply. “The book and the Bell… If those three have any real talent whatsoever I hope it’s in keeping those things from Grogar. And I hope they’re not stupid enough to use the book and Bell themselves: I did warn them. The girls and Twilight really have grown up though: they can do this. I know they can.” Discord curled up his body, grabbed a pillow, and decided to try for more sleep. He felt better but still a little unsure. And he suspected the time for feeling anything but perfectly ready was running out.

Author's Note

Hello everyone! I pretty much had to write a chapter for this episode lol. (And going forward I'm putting the episode titles next to the chapter titles just to make it clear which chapter goes with which ep). Discord's new less nervous attitude really surprised me, and I can't wait to see where everything goes. (No spoilers please--I'm sticking to the USA schedule :) ). Plus I like seeing Cadance and Discord interacting--we need more of that.

I hope you liked this latest installment, please review if you can! Thank you guys for reading ^_^

-Azure129

A Shy Strategy ('A Horse Shoe In'/'Daring Doubt')

Discord’s living room was currently a little more chaotic than usual.

Like always there was furniture floating on the ceiling and random dust bunnies roaming the floor and that singular set of stairs against a wall leading to nowhere. But right now there were also books scattered on every surface, diagrams with magical symbols suspended in midair, and levitating parchment pieces on which Discord was currently writing using quills in his paw and tail. And on the ceiling above all this new chaos was a large sketch of a figure that could only be Grogar.

Discord sighed and mumbled to himself. “He’s missing something and doesn’t even realize: he’s an idiot for not knowing they have the bell. But there has to be a ‘best’ way to attack him about it. There’s always a ‘best’ way to do everything…I think—right? Ugh, why didn’t I pay attention to the finer points of those friendship lessons and positivity pep talks the girls are always spouting? Maybe I’ll ‘borrow’ their old journal and brush up on some things. The point is strategy is key.” He grinned and wrote more fervently as he glanced up at the sketch of Grogar. “Strategy—from the chaos master: he’ll never see it coming.” Discord chuckled at his own joke.

Then there was a knock on Discord’s door.

The chaos master flinched but caught his quills before dropping them. “Okay, there is no way that is Grogar—he is not that subtle.” He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the door. “And that couldn’t be Tirek and Chrysalis and Cozy Glow unleashing some big final attack already. It’s too soon, and either way the three of them wouldn’t have the courage to be nearly so casual: that’s my bit.”

Another knock. “Discord?” a familiar, soft voice asked. “Are you home?”

“Fluttershy!” Discord gasped. “Er…” he called out, “Yes, yes, of course, Fluttershy! Be right there!” He snapped his fingers multiple times to make various scrolls furl up and books drift away to another room and the quills hide themselves wherever possible. He glanced around and quickly remembered to make the sketch of Grogar disappear too. “Did we have a tea party scheduled? You’ll have to pardon me, I completely forgot!” He quickly snapped up their usual table and tea place setting.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Fluttershy responded from behind the door. “I just had something to deliver to you. And…I also wanted to talk if you about something if you’re not busy.”

Discord took a final glance around his living room, breathed a sigh of relief at how unsuspicious the chaos looked, then flew over to the door and opened it with a warm smile. “For you, Fluttershy, I’m always free as a bird.” He snapped, and a toy cuckoo popped out of a clock on his wall, chirped and flew around Fluttershy, then went right back into his clock home. Discord stepped aside and gestured forward. “Come in—I’ve already got some tea and cucumber sandwiches set up even if we didn’t have plans. See how good I’ve become at preparing for friendly company?”

Fluttershy trotted inside, smiling (and with a scroll held in one wing). “Oh my, yes—how hospitable. Thank you, Discord. You do make the best cucumber sandwiches.”

“Naturally.” He held his head high and walked over to the table to take a seat along with her. “It’s because I start with pickles and use chaos magic to turn them back to cucumbers. Gives them a bit of a zing.”

Fluttershy laughed softly as she sat down put a sandwich on her plate. “Yes, it does.”

Discord poured them both tea. “Now then, what are you delivering to me? Oh, tell me Twilight is finally sending out the invitations for her coronation. I’ve been looking forward to adding the big bash to my date book for weeks.” He snapped up a black book and opened it, a quill in hand.

“Oh, I’m afraid not.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I think Twilight is just going to make an announcement extending a general invitation to all of our friends and everyone in Equestria. This scroll is actually from Starlight.” She Discord snapped away the date book and raised an eyebrow as Fluttershy gave him the scroll. She explained as he read. “Starlight chose Sunburst to be her official Vice Headmare—or, I guess, Vice Headstallion—at the Friendship School. But she knows how much you like the idea of contributing to the school yourself, so she’s naming you Official Substitute Headmare or Vice Headstallion. If she or Sunburst can’t look after the school for any reason, she wants you to fill in until they can get back.”

Discord was beaming. “Really?!” When he glanced up from the scroll and saw how much Fluttershy was smiling at his giddiness, he cleared his throat and went on a bit more casually (though he couldn’t help continuing to smile). “Er, I mean…how nice. Yes, I’d be happy to grace the school with my presence.” He hesitated though for a moment, and hid the gesture by shrugging and sipping his cup of tea. “As long as I’m available, of course, and up for the challenge…”

Fluttershy’s smile softened slightly. She bit her lip like she wanted to speak but looked down at her tea for a moment instead.

Discord noticed and pouted a little. He didn’t like hesitant Fluttershy: he wanted Fluttershy to always be able to tell him anything—they were best friends after all. “Is something wrong? If you’d like to be Substitute Headmare sometimes, I’d be happy to share.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that, Discord.” She looked up and shook her head. “It’s just…Starlight announced she was looking for a permanent Vice Headmare last week, but you didn’t apply for the job even after you went through so much that one time to send me and the girls away so you could be part of the school. It was surprising that you didn’t take the chance to be Vice Headmare officially: or at least make an appearance just to remind Starlight the you want to help.”

Discord blinked then shrugged as he polished off a sandwich. “Oh, you know me—popping in to share some of my style is one thing, but a permanent job—I…that’s such a big, long commitment.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Also I didn’t realize she was hiring. I suppose I haven’t been eavesdropping as much on the goings-on of Ponyville as I used to.”

“I know.” Fluttershy frowned a little. “You’ve only been around lately when you’ve been invited. And then when you are around you’re…not so Discordy.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m still chaotic.”

“Yes, of course, but…you’re not causing problems, even fun ones. And if problems come up, you’re encouraging us to solve them specifically without you. That’s…new.” She frowned a little. “Maybe I’m worrying too much but…is everything okay, Discord?”

Discord continued to sip from his teacup for a moment longer than necessary. Then he lowered the cup, his smile gentle and his tone as normal and carefree as ever (if perhaps just a skosh gentler than usual). “Fluttershy…Twilight—and the rest of you girls to an extent—are going to be taking over this entire nation. I’ve run this entire nation before—admittedly, I sort of ran it into the ground and for only about two weeks. But my point is, if you’re going to run it you need to be ready to handle anything. And I believe in the six of you; I think you can handle anything. But I’ve decided that me snapping my fingers to clean up messes and show off is only going to make it take longer for the six of you to realize just how amazing you are. You don’t need me, Fluttershy, however much it pains my ego to admit the fact.”

She frowned. “But we do need you, Discord. Not to fix things, but…because you’re you and you’re our friend. We love having you in our lives, Discord. We need you because you’re important to each of us in a special way.” Her smile returned. “Even believing in us so much is something we need. I’m a little scared about helping Twilight run all of Equestria, but I’m not so scared when I think about it when the girls are around or when you’re around.”

Discord smiled a little more, his eyes hazed in an all-knowing way. “You want to know something, Fluttershy?” He leaned in close, glanced around playfully like someone could actually be listening in, then turned back to her. “When I first tried making friends, I was scared I couldn’t do it. And after I made friends I was scared I couldn’t keep them. And after I kept them, I was scared they wouldn’t want to keep me eventually. But being around you always made me less afraid. Knowing you has made me brave, Fluttershy. And it’s taught me how to take care of my friends. Thank you.”

Fluttershy was smiling so much, hiding in her hair a little as her eyes shimmered with happiness.

Discord shifted back from her and took a deep breath. “You girls can handle Equestria—better than I ever could. And once you realize it, you won’t even think to come to me for a snap of my fingers when a party goes awry or some nutty villain comes back from the past.” He swallowed and shrugged as he added “And who knows? With you six being so strong and independent, maybe one day I’ll go off somewhere for a bit one day—see the world and do some crazy retirement activities like Celestia and Luna. Because now this world is a place I really like even if Equestria isn’t chaos one hundred percent of the time. But I’ll always be supporting you, and you and I will always be connected because we’re friends, Fluttershy…right?” He hesitated, an eyebrow raised, almost like he wanted to confirm that he’d drawn the right conclusion about how friendships worked.

Fluttershy nodded and put her hoof on one of his hands. “Always.”

“Good.” Discord sighed and squeezed her hoof in both hands. “I really haven’t meant to worry you lately. I think I’m just…growing up, in my own chaotic way. And so I’m acting a little differently.” Her relieved smile made Discord smile more. “But as long as you’re here as my considerate best friend, I want you to have something. Now’s as good a time as any…” He snapped—a troop of dust bunnies rolled across the floor and spread apart once they reached the table to reveal a small, multicolored key on a pink chain. Discord picked it up and held it out to Fluttershy. “This is a spare key to my cottage. It’ll open the front door and any door in the house. And all you have to do if you’re in Equestria is put the key into any door lock, turn it, open the door, and a portal will appear that will take you right here.”

Fluttershy looked on in awe as Discord slipped the chain around her neck. “Discord, I don’t know what to say. Thank you, but…I still think I should send you a note before stopping by. I wouldn’t want to interrupt you if you’re in the middle of anything.”

“My house is your house, Fluttershy, and my magic is your magic.” He leaned back with an easy grin. “Come and go as you please. I leave it all to you and in your capable hooves. Besides, the dust bunnies really like you.”

For a moment the little herd of them crowded around Fluttershy’s chair, and she laughed. When she threw them a couple slices of cucumbers, they dashed off in a tiny dusty stampede.

After she finished giggling and waving goodbye to them Fluttershy turned back to Discord, her gaze and tone easy once more. “Thank you for talking with me, Discord. I guess I was getting worked up and worrying over nothing. It’s probably from all the excitement lately. I’m just happy everything’s going well for you.” She hesitated. “And you really will be at Twilight’s coronation, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” he replied, looking into her eyes as he held up a paw, “chaos’s honor. I’m determined to see you girls off into your new roles and powers. And besides, I love a good party. And I love spending time with my friends,” he added that last part softly, nibbling on a cucumber sandwich.

“In that case, would you like to come back to Equestria with me right now?” Fluttershy asked, standing up from her seat. “Twilight’s having the girls and I over to the castle to help her pick out some things for her coronation, and to talk about transitioning things at the school, and also to figure out our schedules for how we’ll help her once she’s in Canterlot.”

Discord chuckled. “Sounds like a potentially stuffy meeting that’ll quickly evolve into playful chaos all on its own, though I’m sure I could help it along with a few good jokes. But I’m afraid I can’t, Fluttershy. I was working on something just now, and I really should get back to it.”

“Would you like any help?”

He floated up and snapped away the tea things, then snapped to put all of the leftover cucumber sandwiches into a satchel which he placed on Fluttershy’s back. “I’m afraid it’s a bit of a surprise: something I’ve been planning. And I promised myself I’d have all the chaotic kinks worked out by coronation day. But you go have fun, take the girls some sandwiches, and take the recipe too.” He snapped up a recipe card and popped it in her mane behind one of her ears. “And remember what I said; that key I gave you means you’re part of this cottage…and my home.”

Fluttershy touched the key and nodded. “I’ll remember, Discord.” She shifted the sandwich satchel more onto her back. “Thank you for the sandwiches, Discord: I’ll share them at the meeting. And I can’t wait to see your surprise. I won’t say anything to the girls about it so they’ll be surprised too.”

“Thank you, dear Fluttershy.” He landed. “I want it to be like a little gift from me to all of you. I think you’ll appreciate it very much.”

“I’m sure we will.” She came forward and hugged him with her foreleg. “Enjoy your afternoon, Discord.”

He took a deep breath and put an arm around her to return the hug. “You too, Fluttershy.”

She pulled back as Discord snapped up a portal for her. Then with a final smile she trotted through, and the portal disappeared.

Discord watched her leave. When she was gone, and the cottage was silent again, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes. “No matter what happens, Fluttershy, you are going to live a safe and happy and long life with your friends. And no matter what happens to me in the process, as long as I can give you that…I think I’m okay.” He opened his eyes and he was smiling a little though he had to wipe a tear away quickly. He regained his composure and floated up then cracked his knuckles then snapped his fingers on both hands—all of his charts and diagrams and scrolls including the sketch of Grogar reappeared. He stared at the sketch.”Friendship has made me better than you, old creature: you just don’t know it yet.”

Discord went back to planning.

A week later…

Fluttershy was so excited to surprise Discord with a visit at his cottage today. Of course, no matter what he’d said about coming and going as she pleased after he’d given her a key, Fluttershy still intended to send him notes in advance asking to come by. But right now she just couldn’t wait to share everything with him about her adventure yesterday with Daring Do and Doctor Caballeron and Ahuizotl: how the three of them had learned through kindness to be friends, and how Caballeron and Ahuizotl had decided to be more honest going forward. Helping them had reminded Fluttershy of helping Discord—listening and encouraging and letting him realize that being happy and expressing himself was so much better than being angry and clinging to bad memories. Maybe Discord would even want to write a book about his experiences one day? Or maybe he’d like to meet Ahuizotl or Caballeron and be friends?

Despite his assurances last weekend that he was just a little different lately because of some personal changes and all the excitement about Twilight’s coronation, Fluttershy still sensed a shadow of something underneath Discord’s smiles and jokes: her friend was nervous. So if she could help him feel better, that was one more reason to be thankful for the adventure she’d just had and to share it with him right away.

Fluttershy took Discord’s key, put it into her own cottage door, and turned. She removed the key, and the door frame glowed. Fluttershy opened the door and trotted through the portal.

On the other side she found herself standing on the upside down stairs Discord had in his hallway. Before she could drop to the floor, she stuck out her wings and managed to turn herself over and land softly. Fluttershy glanced around; the house seemed quiet. Maybe Discord wasn’t home? She trotted toward the kitchen to check. “Discord?” He wasn’t there. She trotted to one of his back windows and looked out into his yard—sometimes Discord liked to garden or play in the chaos. But no, he wasn’t out there. Fluttershy went to the living room next. “Disc—oh.” Fluttershy got quiet—Discord was curled up on his sofa, snoring, his face buried against a pillow. A teapot sat on the coffee table with an empty teacup beside it.

Fluttershy smiled and very quietly walked over and used one wing to move a quilt over his body. She stepped back—she would visit again later. Right now she was just happy to see Discord getting some well-deserved rest.

Then Discord gasped and tossed violently in his sleep.

Surprised, Fluttershy’s eyes went wide and she quickly flew back, hiding behind a bookshelf made of books.

“Mmmm….” Discord moaned and trembled a little. “No…”

Fluttershy frowned. Should she wake him up? Did waking up creatures from nightmares cause any problems? If only Princess Luna were here… Fluttershy didn’t know what else to do but wait close by and help if and when Discord needed it. Hopefully he would wake up soon and they could talk about his nightmare. He would feel better then: everypony had nightmares sometimes after all, but talking always helped.

“We won’t go back—you can’t have me back! No matter what it takes…. No!” Discord bolted up, clinging to the sofa and the blanket, eyes open wide and breaths fast.

Fluttershy was so surprised again that she instinctively hid even more behind Discord’s bookshelf.

The chaos master sat there for a moment, catching his breath and clutching his heart. Eventually his breaths slowed and he closed his eyes. He took a final deep inhale in and out. “I’m not scared. Nothing bad is happening. I’m okay. I…” He took another deep breath and collapsed back onto his sofa.

Fluttershy didn’t move. She would have felt bad trying to talk to him right now—she knew Discord didn’t like getting caught in vulnerable moments unexpectedly, and right now he seemed like he’d been through enough.

She could hear him still talking to himself though, faintly. He sounded different than she’d ever heard him…except for once, she realized: he sounded a little like that time he had said ‘I’m sorry’ to her after helping Tirek and then being betrayed. Like he was small and tired and sad. “Maybe I am a little scared of everything changing. Feeling that way can’t be wrong. I deserve to be happy too—and I’ll be happy once everything works out…” He settled more into the sofa. “I need to get back to sleep. I haven’t been sleeping enough lately.”

Then he didn’t speak anymore, and Fluttershy only heard light breathing.

She quickly walked backward to the hall closet, put in Discord’s key and turned. The door glowed. She opened it and stepped through the portal.

She found herself back in her own cottage. Fluttershy sighed and looked down. “There really is a problem—but he just didn’t want to worry me.” She looked at the key. “He sounds more than nervous about whatever’s coming up; like he’s scared. Could it really be the coronation that’s worrying him that much? At least it’s in only three weeks: maybe he’ll feel a little better once it’s all done. Then I can help him if anything else is bothering him.” She nodded to herself. “For now, I’ll just do my best to be a good friend to him. Maybe he is just going through a phase and some growing up like he said, but he shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

Fluttershy walked over to her desk, put a quill in her mouth, then wrote on a scroll and folded it up. Discord had enchanted her mailbox a while ago so that any letter she put in there addressed to him would automatically teleport into his cottage mailbox (a safeguard for preventing lost or delayed mail after the ‘missing Gala invitation’ incident a while ago).

Fluttershy tried to smile as she took the furled up scroll in her hoof. “I’ll invite him over for an extra tea party this week. I’ll clear the whole afternoon and put out his favorite snacks. And he can sleep over on the sofa, and in the morning we’ll have carrot muffins with Angel Bunny and then we’ll visit the animal sanctuary. We’ll just enjoy being together, no worries about anything else” She trotted outside and slipped the scroll into her mailbox. The box glowed, and then the scroll was gone. “I’ll make sure he has some time to just relax and have fun. We’ve never talked about it, but I’m pretty sure fun and relaxing are very key components to being a healthy being of chaos.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and her easy smile returned. She looked at her cottage and then out at the fields and woods around her. “Discord’s helped us out so much the last few years—without him, I’m not sure if we’d have Equestria as peaceful and happy as it is right now. And if I’m going to be part of taking care of it, it’s nice to know I have a friend like Discord to support me.” Her smile brightened a little. “Maybe after the coronation I’ll let him know that, and I’ll remind him that I’m always here to support him too. It’ll be the least I could say to thank him for everything and for whatever surprise he’s planning.”

She walked back inside of her cottage, touching the key around her neck to Discord’s cottage. He wanted her around, and she would be there for her friend because she wanted him around too, no matter what would come next in their lives for everyone.

Author's Note

Hello everyone! I'm still keeping to the USA schedule, but I decided to expand this story to cover two episodes :) Seeing Starlight picking a Vice Headmare made me think of him, but I didn't feel like I had enough for the story until last week's ep with Fluttershy (which I loved if for no other reason than it was a perfect demonstration about why Fluttershy is pure kindness and too good for all of us lol :yay:). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!

All I've looked at in advance are ep titles and maybe a one line description of upcoming eps. So I think there'll be one more chapter in this before we hit the finale. :twilightsmile:

A Better Way to Be (Wed) ('The Big Mac Question')

Discord had decided weddings were fun—not as fun as a proposal could be, apparently, but Big Mac and Sugar Belle’s ceremony certainly had a few memorable moments too. There was decorating and fancy, funny outfits, and of course Discord had been particularly satisfied by the singing apples he’d created (though he’d silenced them once the reception was underway and ponies started dancing and playing music). And now he wanted to linger on the edges of the small gathering, observing. Ponies always threw parties and were happy at them, but this was a different kind of happiness, and Discord found he liked it in a different way.

There was a lot of love here along with all the friendship. Maybe that new mix was what had him so intrigued.

The chaos master couldn’t observe for too much longer though—here on the outskirts Discord had sensed some familiar sources of magic approaching. And as a personal favor to Big Mac and Sugar Belle he was going to make sure those three particular sources of magic high-tailed it out of here asap.

Discord stood in front of a tree so he couldn’t be seen as he heard the creatures approach through the bushes nearby.

“See, what did I tell you? Oh, smell all that love in the air!” Chrysalis hissed.

“And so many ponies gathered in one place, so much magic…” Tirek chuckled.

“Plus tons of great presents and snacks for us to swipe!” Cozy Glow giggled.

Discord heard them move forward, then he stepped out from his place behind the tree and came face to face with the three familiar foes.

The chaos master’s look was dry, his eyes hazed, his mouth in a rare, straight, serious line.

The trio gasped and stepped back, then all of them narrowed their eyes.

“Ugh, him again?” Chrysalis spat. “Shouldn’t you only be spying on your pony friends instead of us too, Discord?

“Discord.…” Tirek raised his nose in the air. “I should have known you’d be weak enough to be part of such a frivolous affair!”

“And wearing a bow tie too.” Cozy Glow shook her head. “It’s hard to imagine you’re the same guy who took over Equestria a thousand years ago like I learned about in school. How the mighty have fallen.”

They laughed.

Discord snapped his fingers.

The trio stopped laughing now that each of them had a bowtie stuffed in their mouths.

“Get out.”

The three villains blinked and glanced at each other with raised eyebrows then spit out the bowties and looked back to Discord.

“Absolutely not!” Chrysalis stamped her hoof. “There is a feast of love out there, and I’m starved!”

“And I could use some magical bulking up.” Tirek flexed his muscles. “If we’re going to conquer Equestria soon I want to be at my best. And there are so many ponies out there to take magic from in this remote location.” He smirked.

“And I’m just bored of not seeing ponies scatter in panic!” Cozy Glow added with a too-cheerful smile. “And, golly gee, you can’t stop all three of us, Discord. Guys, scatter!”

Each of them dashed forward in different directions to get around Discord.

They each got a single step before a snapping sound broke the air and all of their legs were secured to the ground with pink taffy.

“How dare you detain a queen!”

“Oh no, what if it gets in my hair and I have to cut off some of my curls? I can’t be cute and manipulative without my curls!”

“Wait, I think I’m strong enough to break free! Queenie, Cozy, each of you grab an arm and I’ll pull forward to get out then free you too! Then we can take him down together!”

Cozy Glow nodded with a smirk and grabbed one of Tirek’s arms as Chrysalis did the same.

The look on Discord’s face remained serious, though he did raise an eyebrow slightly. They were working together—truly cooperating and trying to help each other…even if it was for an awful goal.

If he had more time, maybe he could have talked to them, reasoned, staged a hilarious but serious intervention, or even just played with them more with his chaos to see how they would respond as a group. But the chaos master just couldn’t: Big Mac and Sugar Belle had to come first today.

Discord snapped once more just as Tirek got free—he made the taffy disappear and the three ended up falling forward onto a floating cotton candy cloud right in front of him. They managed to sit up. “Are you three through?” Discord’s voice was still level—no humor at all.

“Never!” Chrysalis hissed while Tirek raised an eyebrow and rubbed his shoulder and Cozy Glow just shrugged.

“Well, learn to be,” Discord continued, “because you’re not going near that wedding.”

They all opened their mouths.

Discord flew up with a scowl, his voice low and deep. “Quiet!” His eyes flashed red.

The three villains closed their mouths, eyes a little wide.

Discord landed, his gaze dull and tone casual again. “You three want to attack Equestria? Fine, bring it. I’m ready and so are the girls. But not here, not now. You turn around and leave these ponies alone on this day…or I might lose my temper.”

“Please—you’ve grown soft,” Tirek challenged (though maybe with not as much confidence as usual).

“Not. About. My. Friends.” Discord’s eyes narrowed again. “I am the master of chaos. You each have one power, but I have all the powers.” He started snapping over and over and over, making random bits of chaos appear, each more deranged and unusual than the last. “I will bury you in my magic. And before you can escape it, I will go to your little not-so-secret hideout, I will get Grogar, I will tell him you have the bell and the book, and I will lead him to you three. And during whatever happens next, I will make saving these little ponies my priority far beyond saving you three.” He stopped snapping—for a ten foot radius around them, everything was a madman’s dream, and Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were huddled close together on the safety of their cloud. “Now…I am going to snap my fingers one more time to make everything disappear. And when I say ‘leave’, you three will go. Got it?”

The trio glanced at each other.

Cozy Glow bit her lip. “Okay, I know unstable creatures because I am one a lot of the time, and he is definitely unstable right now.”

“Perhaps we should prepare for a surprise attack some other time…” Tirek mumbled.

“But I want all the love…” Chrysalis whined until Discord’s eyes flashed red again. “Er, I mean…taking so much here would probably give away our position and big plan. Maybe we should head back before Grogar suspects we’re out on our own doing anything.”

Discord snapped. All the chaos disappeared including the cloud. The trio landed on the ground and quickly stood. They started to back up but Discord held up a hand. “Wait a minute, I didn’t say to leave yet.” He snapped—a cupcake with an apple slice on top appeared in each of their hands and hooves.

Discord almost smiled. “A cupcake for each of you from the party. It is a wedding, after all—everyone should celebrate even if they weren’t invited. Consider it a parting gift.”

Chrysalis wrinkled her nose and opened her mouth to speak.

“Trust me, these are all made with a lot of love,” Discord quickly interjected.

Chrysalis smelled the cupcake, and her look relaxed a little.

“Is this a trick? Are these laced with some kind of friendship curse, perhaps?” Tirek raised an eyebrow.

Cozy Glow rolled her eyes. “That is so not how friendship works. We learned that on, like, day one of friendship school. This cupcake is just some goody-goody stunt any sappy creature of friendship would pull to throw off a bad guy.”

“If you want to look at it like that, fine,” Discord replied with a sigh. “I just thought you three might like to be included in this special day, to see how it feels.” He turned to glance back at the festivities not far off. “There’s a better way to be, you know.”

“To be…what?” The three asked at once.

“Just to be.” Discord glanced back at them. “Enjoy your cupcakes on your way home. I won’t be so generous if you show up here again.”

As they started to turn away, Discord snapped his fingers and made them disappear in a flash.

With a heavy sigh the chaos master moved closer to the party and settled on the ground under a large apple tree by the buffet. Big Mac and Sugar Belle were dancing: Big Mac hadn’t taken his eyes off of her since the end of the ceremony. Discord wondered if being married would mean Big Mac would have less time to hang out with him and Spike for guys night. The idea was disheartening, but maybe Big Mac would also have him and Spike over for dinner to let them get to know to Sugar Belle better. And Discord could introduce her to all sorts of chaos, so maybe this new situation was okay, especially if it meant adding a new friend into his life. Discord had really come to enjoy making new friends these days… And maybe that melodramatic bad guy trio could too…

“Discord, there you are!”

Discord smiled as Spike approached him from the crowd and sat down next to him on the grass. “We thought you might have gone home now that your apples aren’t singing anymore.”

“Perish the thought,” Discord waved him off. “This whole affair is still fun even without my apples. You know, I’ve never been to a wedding before—well, never as an invited guest anyway, though as a party crasher I was legendary.”

“Glad this could be your first formal introduction to weddings then.” Spike’s smile warmed. “And thanks for your help today, Discord. What you did was definitely a little different than what Big Mac and I expected. But even if it was chaotic, that day turned out perfect somehow. Better than any of us could have planned, actually.”

“Of course it was!” Discord held his head high with a proud smile. “Chaos and perfection aren’t mutually exclusive, you know. In fact, they’re more similar than you realize: just look at me, absolutely flawless.” Discord gestured to himself and chuckled. Then he sighed and slumped. “But I suppose I won’t have another proposal to help out with for a while. Not until yours at least.”

“You’d help me with mine one day?” Spike blushed, his smile glowing.

“Absolutely!” Discord replied, with maybe a smidge too much giddy enthusiasm. He quickly pulled back and finished with a shrug, “I mean…if you truly needed my help I suppose I couldn’t refuse.”

He glanced at Spike to see the little dragon eyeing him with a grin.

“What?”

“You believe in love, Discord.”

Discord bit his lip for only a moment, but then instead of going on one of his usual rants against that fuzzy emotion he merely sighed and replied,“So?”

“You finally admit it! Yes!” Spike flew up, claws clasped together, smile beaming. “I knew Big Mac and I would get you to officially come around! Trust me, it’s a lot of fun being a hopeless romantic.”

“I am not a hopeless romantic,” Discord held up his hands to Spike, “but I have come to appreciate the chaos of love.” He crossed his arms and held his head high with a smile.

“Fair enough.” Spike landed and considered. “Would you ever want to get married like this, Discord?”

“I am too much for any one mare to handle, and they all know it.” The chaos master flew up. “I prefer being the wing man, as they say.” He snapped to give himself full scale alicorn wings then snapped them away.

Spike chuckled. “Well, we’re happy to have you as wingman and as our friend, Discord.”

Discord nodded. “Yes…I am too.” He glanced out at the party, the orchard, all the smiling ponies. “This is nice—all of it. I’m…proud to be here, to be part of this moment.”

“Yeah,” Spike sighed dreamily, “I wish this day could keep going, just like this.”

Discord took a deep breath and swallowed. Then he made himself smile a little and crack a joke. “Not unless Celestia goes bananas while she’s still on the throne and pulls a Daybreaker on us.”

Spike laughed, and eventually Discord laughed too.

There was some commotion from the center of the reception—a quick glance over showed Sugar Belle was standing on a platform with her bouquet.

Spike’s eyes lit up. “Hey, she’s throwing the bouquet! Come on, Discord—tradition says whoever catches it gets to be the next one married!”

Discord floated up. “Again, not really my thing, but I’m always happy to help a friend in need.” Discord snapped Spike onto his shoulders and then snapped them into the center of the crowd where his height made it easy for Spike to snatch up the flowers one Sugar Belle threw them.

Everything was good right now. Discord wished nothing had to change either…even though, if change never happened at all, he wouldn’t have been here right now free from anger and stone in favor of friendship and happiness. Change was messy but necessary, and sometimes for the worse and sometimes for the better. Quite chaotic. Discord hoped that fact would help him cope alright with whatever would come next.

Twilight’s coronation was in two weeks—he had to be ready.

For now though he enjoyed the day. Any fighting could wait, but this time together was rare and perfect and had even included singing apples. What could have been better?

The wedding party continued.

In a certain lair, three creatures sat in a circle pouting and scowling and staring at three cupcakes.

“It could be a trap,” Tirek grumbled.

“Or a stupid prank,” Chrysalis hissed.

“It’s just a dumb cupcake,” Cozy Glow sighed. “Trust me, this level of cutesy stuff is right on par with Twilight’s version of friendship. It’s boring.”

Yet the three of them didn’t leave or look away from the pretty cupcakes topped with buttercream frosting and an apple slice.

“I mean…” Tirek started, “they look good and the food out here is horrible.”

“And they were made with love…and there’s not much love out here for me, of course,” Chrysalis licked her fangs.

Cozy Glow’s stomach grumbled. “And I am a little hungry. And I do love sweets.”

The trio shared a look.

“Just a bite…to keep up our strength.”

“That idiot Discord wouldn’t have to know…”

“And I’m a growing pony and a kid.”

They looked at the cupcakes again.

So this state was what they had come to—fighting to resist a simple dessert while Discord ate and was offered probably dozens of cupcakes freely out in the open instead of hiding in caves and bushes and shadows.

“Grogar never gets us sweets…" Cozy Glow added with a pout.

“Grogar never gets us anything.” Chrysalis pouted too.

Tirek scoffed. “Grogar—“

“Grogar. What?”

They turned, eyes wide, to see Grogar stride into the room with a dark look.

Cozy Glow flew forward with her cutest smile. “Uh, he was saying Grogar isn’t around! Otherwise we’d offer you one of these yummy cupcakes we picked up.” She gestured to the cupcakes with a plastered-on smile then elbowed Tirek and Chrysalis who winced but quickly nodded.

“Oh, yes, just a little teamwork training by…gathering and sharing dessert,” Tirek explained.

“We figured we deserved some sort of treat after everything we’ve done for you so far,” Chrysalis couldn’t help adding with an edge of impatience to her tone.

Grogar just eyed them all for a moment.

Then he plowed past them, stomping through the cupcakes.

“There are better ways to be a team than stuffing your faces, and you know it. Don’t bring this absurdity into my presence or our lair ever again. You are villains—do not be failures.” He turned and stormed away, leaving behind only a pile of cake and frosting mush.

Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow just looked down at the cupcake remnants and sighed.

“They…they probably tasted too appley anyway,” Tirek tried.

“And siphoning love from living beings as opposed to food is more nourishing.” Chrysalis swallowed.

Cozy Glow scowled. “Adults are stupid and cupcakes are stupid. And there’s only one way to be—the way we are. And we have the bell and the book.” She flew away. “I’m going to bed.”

Chrysalis and Tirek watched her with frowns but then quickly cleared their throats and resumed their scowls.

“I should get started on my cocoon for the evening.”

“And I need to do a few bench presses before bed.”

They went their separate ways as well.

Grogar’s private cavern was dark except for the light of the Eye. Grogar stood before the orb, watching. His gaze was hard and piercing. “No more failures. I suspect one too many already exists…”

Images outlined in light flickered over the Eye; different monstrous forms etched in light fading in and out. And in the end one form lingered: it bore a very draconequus-like shape until it too faded away.

Grogar almost smiled—and then his look went black once more.

The light of the Eye went out.

Author's Note

Hey everyone! Sorry this is so late getting up--I've been super busy ^^ (I haven't even watched the finale yet lol...) I will respond to comments once I've had a chance to after this weekend to make sure I don't stumble on any spoilers. Thank you to everyone so far who has been covering up spoilers with tags :) And I'm really excited to see how things turn out. Just how much of a corner have I written myself into with this story and what will I have to do to write my way out depending on how the finale goes? I'm excited to see! :trollestia:

Once I've seen the season/show finale, updates to We're the Same 3 and The Most Chaotic Date Ever will follow :yay:

Thank you guys for reading!

-Azure129

I'll Have a Plot Twist, Shaken Not Stirred ('The Ending of the End')

The final battle was won, Equestria was saved, the trio of villains—Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek—were stuck as a ridiculous statue, and now Discord watched as Twilight led the girls off toward Canterlot to celebrate their victory.

And if such a triumphant finale wasn’t enough to explain the big smile currently on Discord’s face, the chaos master also had his powers back now: another tragic wrong perfectly righted.

Discord turned away from the happy scene, holding up his fingers to snap. All he wanted now was to head back to his cottage, soak his feet (which still ached from all that walking earlier), sip some tea, put on a recording of Pinkie Pie playing her one-pony-band machine, and slip into a well-deserved (in his opinion) moment of ease. After all the hard work he had put in over the last few months and especially today, he had earned it—

Then behind him, a Bell rang—a very familiar Bell.

And when Discord turned to face the sound, he watched as his magic drained into Grogar’s Bell which was currently being wielded by a stone-faced Celestia, a scowling Luna, and Cadance with an eyebrow raised.

Discord looked from the three princesses to the Bell to his fingers and snapped—nothing. He turned back to the princesses and crossed his arms. “Oh, ha-ha, ladies, very funny. Come on, give me my magic back—and that Bell. I need to make sure it’s hidden exceptionally well this time.”

“Absolutely not.” Celestia stepped forward. “You owe us a full explanation about exactly how you orchestrated this disaster, Discord. We want to hear every detail so we can make sure it never happens again.”

“Indeed.” Luna nodded. “And you not having magic will make your explanation take less time since you won’t be inclined to stop to snap up jokes…or to snap yourself away.”

“I’m a little curious myself, Discord,” Cadance added. “I have some questions too.”

Discord, with wide eyes, looked to each of the princesses, and then his look went dry. “I’m not getting my magic back until I do this, am I?”

Celestia smiled a little. “I’m afraid not.”

Discord sighed deeply and rubbed his temple. “All right, all right…you’re not going to like some of the fine print though.”

“We did not expect to,” Luna replied.

“And I want the Bell back when this is done,” Discord added with a pout.

Luna and Celestia scowled and opened their mouths, clearly about to refuse, but Cadance cleared her throat and spoke up. “If you can give us a good reason why you need the Bell back, we’ll consider it. Okay?”

The pony sisters glanced at each other but then turned back to Discord and nodded.

Discord nodded as well. “Deal. Now, one of you please teleport us somewhere where I can sit down. I was not made to be on my feet for this long.” He held up his dragon leg, massaging the tender foot.

With a roll of her eyes, Celestia powered up her horn; the group disappeared.

The group reappeared in the library of the Castle of the Two Sisters. The princesses each sat upon a cushioned seat in front of Discord who sat in a wooden chair, facing them.

“We can use this castle for our chat since you destroyed most of our Canterlot one.” Celestia cleared her throat, barely hiding the tone of impatience creeping in.

“And we’ve chosen this room because interrogations should always be done in a small, hidden space.” Luna glanced at her hoof then eyed Discord darkly.

Cadance sighed but smiled a little. “And I think the wooden chair you’re on is the result of a little passive aggressive annoyance with you, but here’s an ottoman for your feet if you need it.” Cadance made a small wooden stand with a cushion appear in front of his chair. When Discord put up his feet and smiled at her, Cadance’s smile fell. “I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, Discord, but you need to be very clear and honest with us. What you did could have spread to the Crystal Empire—to my Shining Armor and my Flurry Heart. Do you understand?”

DIscord’s smile fell a little and he nodded.

Celestia cleared her throat, and Discord’s eyes went to her. “Start from where you got this idea, Discord… and then explain everything in detail.”

Discord swallowed. “Some of the details—could we keep them from the girls for now? They’ve been through enough, after all.”

The three princesses glanced at each other then nodded and looked back to Discord.

Cadance used her magic to create three mugs of steaming hot cider for herself and the princesses. As soon as Discord’s eyes went to the mugs, she smiled a little again created one for him as well.

Discord took a sip, regained his smile for a moment, then cleared his throat and began. “You know, even when I was only semi-reformed I was always testing the girls, seeing how far they had come. At first it was just because I thought I could break their confidence in friendship. But once I was completely reformed, after Tirek, I interfered to help them feel better about themselves. They have a potential I wanted them to realize more than anything. I think I believe in them or something…” He rolled his claw in the air but blushed slightly.

The three princesses looked at him with wide eyes.

Discord took another sip. “I decided to bring back as many villains as I could at once to boost the girls’ confidence. But, with the coronation happening, I also did it to sort of…clean house. If they could get rid of that many potential threats, maybe they’d have a few years of just getting to enjoy life and running Equestria before any creature attacked again.”

Celestia rubbed her temple. “You could have just released the villains though, Discord—why pretend to be Grogar, and why unite them all an unstoppable force?”

Discord eyed Celestia. “Because bad guys aren’t like other creatures, Celestia—they don’t naturally come together in relationships. Those four would have fought each other tooth and nail until three were semi-out of commission, then the weakened winner would have attacked Equestria and probably been taken out by one good glare from Fluttershy. And the others would have come back eventually and been taken out one by one, and who would that help? I wanted to give the girls a challenge to conquer in one fell swoop. And to do that, I needed someone scary enough to bind the villains together right away. I knew Grogar was the only one who had enough clout to do that—and I knew him well enough to impersonate him flawlessly, I might add.”

“You knew Grogar?” Cadance tilted her head.

Luna and Celestia raised an eyebrow.

Discord’s ears fell and he shook his head. “Not the point! It was a long time ago anyway…” He looked away, lounging over the arm of his chair. “The point is, I did attempt to think this plan through…it just turned out to be a lot harder than I thought, and especially doing it alone. I’m not really used to doing things alone anymore.” He sipped his cider again.

Luna and Celestia's stern gazes softened slightly.

“Discord,” Celestia prompted softly, “just explain everything to us. We’re not mad…” He glanced at her. She cleared her throat. “Okay, we’re not very mad—not anymore. We just want to understand some parts of this situation that don’t make sense to us.”

Luna spoke up. “Perhaps you could start with why I could sense you having nightmares sometimes during this Grogar escapade—like the one you had that day Celestia and I found you passed out near the castle and brought you inside.”

Discord glanced from one princess to the next and squirmed in his seat a little. “It was…upsetting sometimes, pretending to be him. I didn’t like acting like Grogar—it brought up some bad memories. And I was already stressed enough about the plan. That’s all.”

Luna frowned a little.

Discord scowled a little at the look of pity.

Celestia had her brow furrowed in thought but spoke again. “Then…you were upset with Luna and I for going away on our day off to have adventures because…”

“Because I already had my paw and claw full with making nice with the girls, wrangling those three villains, and still keeping up the appearance of being a carefree chaos master! How was I supposed to keep an eye on you pony sisters too in the middle of everything?” Discord flung out his arms. “You two went frolicking off on an adventure without any warning: Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis could have attacked you or Equestria at any time!”

Cadance’s gaze hazed. “Discord, thank you for caring so much about them.”

Discord blinked then blushed and sipped his cider—he gave her a hesitant shrug.

Celestia rubbed her forehead. “All right… from that point, you became very scarce, Discord. What exactly happened with you and those three when you were with them? And how in the world did the Bell become part of this?”

“And the book as well!” Luna made the book appear with her magic. “This book should be under lock and key in the castle library. Tell me you didn’t know they had this, Discord…”

Celestia’s eyes widened then narrowed. “And tell me you didn’t know they had the Bell…” she added in a low voice.

Biting his lip with a swallow, Discord placed his mug onto the floor then clasped his hands together. “Look, I did leave parts of the story out for the sake of brevity earlier. So would you three ladies like me to start with good news first or the bad news first?”

Celestia glared, her voice low. “Discord, so help me, you’d better be joking right now about more ‘bad news’ or I’ll take on your chaos magic myself, attack whatever threat you might be referring to all on my own, and leave you powerless until Twilight coronates the next new leader of Equestria!” She stomped her hoof.

Discord leaned back a little in his seat. “Okay, well, er, no need for that. The threat I’m talking about has already passed.”

“A threat beyond what you already put us through, Discord?” Luna’s eyes flashed.

“Well…more ‘adjacent’ to what I already put you through, heh…” His smile was weak. He looked to Cadance for support.

She just gave him a serious look. “Discord, tell the truth…”

He took a deep breath. “I’ll start with the good news then. The good news is that the extra threat has already passed and been taken care of. The bad news is…for a brief time I…sort of technically did bring Grogar back.” He attempted a grin.

Celestia smacked a hoof to her forehead, Luna’s jaw fell, and Cadance just sighed deeply and shook her head.

Discord held up his claw and paw. “Once those three had the Bell, everything went crazy for a bit!”

“So you did know those three had the Bell!” Celestia’s brow furrowed in distress as her eyes met his. “Discord, how could you?”

“Don’t yell at me anymore! I tried and I failed spectacularly—I get it, all right!” Ears dropped, Discord looked from princes to princess. They were all still for a moment. Then Luna nodded, Cadance nodded with a small smile, and Celestia hesitated—her own ears down at first—then nodded too.

Discord took a deep breath. “Okay, if I’m doing this, we could be here for a while. You’d better magic up some snacks.” He sipped more cider then spoke again as Cadance created a platter of cookies and passed them around. “It all started that day I talked to you pony sisters about your dangerous retirement antics. After I left you, I went on a little field trip…to Mount Everhoof. You remember Mount Everhoof—tall, snowy, windy, rumored to have a cave where the Bewitching Bell was hidden away…”

He looked up to the ceiling as he told the story.

Floating in sight of the mountaintop, Discord sighed. “He’s the only thing they’re not ready for. Not yet. And I can’t help them—not like they think I can, not like I could against Sombra.”

If Grogar’s magic got released from that Bell and was wielded by the right creature, it would be like Grogar himself was here. And there was a viciousness to Grogar’s magic that Discord was not ready to expose the girls or princesses to.

And yet the Bell was gone. He’d sent his villainous trio off on a mission to retrieve it, but could they have actually…

Discord took a deep breath to keep calm as he considered the potential scenarios. Sucking up that much raw power was definitely in Tirek’s wheelhouse; the centaur had taken all of his chaos magic once, after all, even if he’d never weirded it. Though Discord also knew that Cozy Glow and Chrysalis wouldn’t be left out of the fun without a fight. Discord wasn’t sure what would happen if a single creature absorbed all of Grogar’s magic—would they become like a version of Grogar? And then what? “Maybe we could all attack together, but if he took out all of us, what would happen to Equestria?” Discord swallowed, eyes wide. “I could go after him myself—ambush him.” Grogar hadn’t just been a master manipulator of creatures though—he’d been strong enough to control them. If his spirit awoke in any creature, he could even revive Sombra again if he felt like it, and bring that dark king and eventually all of the other villains onto his side. “But if he was pulling Sombra’s strings, then for the sake of everypony I can’t risk what he could do to me.” As long as Discord kept himself in play and able to help the girls, he felt okay about whatever might come next…even the idea of a real unstoppable league of villains attacking. Sure, yes, of course—the situation was still fine and totally under his chaotic control…

Discord swallowed and drained his tea then snapped away the cup. “Okay then, first things first. I’ll figure out who took the Bell. A quick field trip to Tartarus should help narrow down the suspects. That’ll be a start, a very safe start.” After all, there was a chance—probably a decent chance—that his villainous trio hadn’t been able to cooperate long enough to actually retrieve the Bell. Maybe some other nefarious sort had made off with it centuries ago and it was now just lost to time and legend. If anything, sending the trio off the find the Bell had been a fun prank to play on them at worst and a team-building exercise at best…probably…hopefully…maybe? Ugh, this had all gotten so complicated. “They told me they didn’t have it. Could they have lied? To me? To Grogar? Oh, the treachery! It’s just poor form!”

Discord tried to hold his head high and look confident even though no one was around to see, but his insides felt like a solid lump instead of like the zany circus that was usual for him. The trio actually finding the Bell then hiding it from him had not been an anticipated part of his plan. “Maybe, just maybe, I can nip this issue in the bud before it’s too late.” He held up his fingers to snap, scowling into the night sky. “I will not let this place go back to how it used to be. Not ever. Even if it takes every ounce of chaos in my body to do so.” If there was even a chance those three might use Grogar’s power or, worse, bring him back, Discord would stop it at any cost.

He wiped at his eye with his free hand then snapped himself away.

The wind continued to howl around the frigid mountain peak, empty of its treasure.

Discord appeared in the secret cave in the Everfree Forest where his nefarious trio gathered. He was back in his Grogar disguise. Putting on his best scowl, Discord strode through the chambers of the cave until he heard some noise coming from the cavern connecting the trio’s private chambers. He peeked in.

The three of them were sitting in a circle, laughing maniacally about something. Discord quickly realized what their topic of conversation was when Tirek held up two curved index fingers above his ears, scowled, and slipped into a passable Grogar impression.

“Ooo, look at me—I’m so grumpy all the time, no wonder my coat is blue. All hail Grogar!”

Chrysalis actually transformed into Grogar. “Hey, I’m only a grump because I’m an absolute relic who doesn’t even know what indoor plumbing is.”

Cozy Glow flew up and put her hooves above her ears like horns. “But for some reason I’ve got this cute red yoke on my neck full of little bells like I’m making some kind of statement!”

They burst into laughter again.

‘Grogar’ huffed through his nose. They were talking about bells…which might lead to—

“Speaking of bells,” Tirek started, “it’s time for our afternoon check to make sure our Bell is still hidden safely away…and that none of us have taken it.”

Cozy Glow and Chrysalis nodded. The three glanced around and then walked over to the far wall. Discord watched in much interest as Chrysalis turned into a snake, Tirek threw her up into a small, tight crevice, and she slithered out with the Bell in her teeth which she tossed into a flying Cozy Glow’s waiting hooves. They could work together. Discord’s ‘Plan A’ for these three had been to return then to Tartarus, but maybe reform wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.

However, as soon as the Bell was secure, Tirek turned all of his attention to it, which left Chrysalis to fall out of the crevice to the floor. She stood and pushed him which made him knock into Cozy Glow. The three villains glared at each other. Discord sighed and decided not to get his hopes for reform too high. Meanwhile, their glares soon turned to malicious smiles as their eyes rested on the Bell.

Discord pouted with a low scowl. Being good was so much extra work.

He waited them out as they gloated over the bauble for twenty minutes. Then, just as they finished putting it away, he stormed in. “Villains! Have you been lallygagging all day while I’ve been gathering vital information for our plans?”

“Er, no Grogar, of course not!” Tirek held up his hands.

“Just talking about all the evil things we can’t wait to do,” Chrysalis assured with a grin.

“And resting up so that we’re at our extra super best for the big attack!” Cozy Glow chimed in.

Grogar glared at all of them then strode forward. “Well, then you’ll be happy to make yourselves even more useful for the rest of the afternoon. Go out into the forest to collect food and firewood for dinner, and NO FIGHTING! I must be alone to contemplate our next move.”

With pouts and a mumbled ‘yes’ here and there, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow headed past him.

As soon as they were gone, Discord turned back into himself and headed over to the wall. He propped himself up on his tail, snapped up some magic-proof oven mitts, and reached into the crevasse. “Come on, where are you? Can’t risk using my magic to snap you into my hands or it could set you off… Ah, there we are!” He pulled out the Bell and lowered himself back to ground level.

There it was: Grogar’s Bewitching Bell. And it was pulsing with so much of Grogar himself that Discord felt queazy for a moment. He leaned against the wall. “This one’s going to be tricky. Those three are regularly making sure the Bell is here: I can’t risk them missing it and getting into a full-on brawl—it could throw off the timeline of my entire plan. But I can’t just put a fake Bell there—Tirek would sense the lack of power in an instant….” He furrowed his brow. “Okay…okay, this is going to be a small work of art. And of course no one is here to be impressed by it because I had to be noble and pull off this fantastic plan of mine all alone. But my magic and Grogar’s magic are similar enough that it just might work…” He set the Bell on a rock, removed his oven mitts, then flexed his fingers. Discord closed his eyes, furrowed his brow, and snapped both his fingers at once.

“Why would your magics be similar?” Luna raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know that fact, Discord?”

Discord kept his eyes down and crossed his arms. “I told you, I knew Grogar once—let’s just call all of it a convenient coincidence and leave it at that.” He cleared his throat and sunk a little lower in his chair as he went on.

A Bell appeared on the rock, identical to the real Bell. Discord snapped his tail over it, and a drop of his black and green and purple chaos magic slipped into the Bell, which glowed for a moment then ceased. Discord opened his eyes, wiped his brow, then leaned in close, studying both Bells. “Hmm…” He straightened up and smiled and nodded. “Close enough!”

Suddenly he heard the sounds of bickering that could only come from the three creatures he’d been spending way too much time with lately. He threw his arms in the air and whispered, “Oh come on! They’ve been gone all of five minutes, how are they back with dinner already?! Was I ever this prone to cutting corners?”

They were chuckling about stealing a picnic basket from a camper or something inane. Discord rolled his eyes. He grabbed the fake Bell, shoved it back in the trio’s hiding place, snapped the real Bell into a magical bubble, and snapped himself away.

Discord reappeared in his cottage with the Bell. He let out a sigh of relief, but then his eyes went wide at the sight before him—the most powerful magical artifact of all was in his living room, and now on top of everything else he had to take care of it.

“So you see,” Discord shrugged as he looked back to the princesses, “bringing the Bell into play was absolutely not an intended part of my plan—just a little bit of chaos that worked its way in all on its own.”

Cadance was still listening with interest, and Celestia had her brow furrowed.

Luna had a dry look. “So…you got the Bell—the real Bell. With no issue. You didn’t mix it up or get tricked or accidentally duplicate it exactly…?”

“Whoa, whoa, you’re getting way too far ahead in the story!” Discord held up his hands. “Yes, I had the real Bell! See, I can be responsible!” He crossed his arms and held his head high.

“Then how did those three end up with it, and why did a supercharged centaur, a wizard-level changeling, and an alicorn no pony ever needed to experience destroy my throne room!” Celestia glared. “You had the Bell, Discord! you could have destroyed it and saved us all this mess!”

Discord’s ears drooped as he leaned back a little. “Hey, we said no more yelling…”

“Sister…” Luna put a hoof on her shoulder, “relax, it’s okay.” Celestia took a breath.

“See, Luna’s on my side!” Discord attempted a smile.

Luna frowned at him. “No, I am on my sister’s side and do not like to see her agitated. Regarding you, I’m still trying to process how you managed to make yourself an even greater threat to Equestria as an ally than a villain, and by accident no less.”

Discord’s look fell again.

“Discord,” Cadance started gently, “please keep going. I…have a feeling we’ll all feel a lot better once everything’s out in the open.”

Discord nodded and cleared his throat. “Okay, okay. Well, I didn’t really know what to do with the Bell…”

“Like destroying it… “ Celestia mumbled.

Discord scowled. “It wasn’t that simple!”

The shout made each of the princess’s eyes widen. Discord blinked and cleared his throat. “Sorry, it’s just…it’s complicated.” He took a breath. “For the moment, let’s say, I didn’t know what to do with the Bell. I just knew I had to keep it hidden and away from magic so it wouldn’t risk sucking in anymore. But I did want to…understand its power better. Erm…after all, if you’re going to destroy something, it’s best to know exactly how it works, right?” He twiddled his fingers. The princesses tilted their heads but nodded.

Discord went on. “Of course, though, I didn’t have a ton of time to look into the matter—I still had to keep up appearances with the girls and with Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, not to mention my own chaos duties. But I did ‘borrow’ the book on Grogar’s magic from your library archives…”

He glanced hesitantly at Celestia who was just watching him with a dry look, almost smiling and shaking her head. “Discord, I’ve accepted for months now that you just ‘borrow’ things sometimes. After everything we’ve been through today, hearing you admit it doesn’t phase me. Go on…”

Discord raised an eyebrow at her but then shrugged. “Well, I got a basic idea of the Bell’s magical mechanics from the book, and then I went from there…”

In his cottage, Discord stood in a large magical bubble and handled the Bell using magical protective arm extensions. The book was floating in his bubble, open to a page. “Okay, so the Bell only ever existed without magic when it was forged before Gusty used it to capture Grogar’s magic. Aim and ring to suck magic in or out of a subject…” He raised an eyebrow. “So, in theory…if I let Grogar’s magic out but there wasn’t a subject to absorb it, it would just…be unusable by any creature forever because Grogar’s body is gone and the Bell is what focuses the magic so other creatures can take it.” He glanced around. “If a bit of random magic was floating around in my dimension, it wouldn’t make a dent against all the chaos. And I wouldn’t be destroying anyone’s magic or the Bell. And then the Bell would be safe—or at least less dangerous.”

Discord took a deep breath, snapped to add an extra layer of protection to his bubble, cringed, and grasped the Bell. “Here it goes…” He gave the Bell a ring.

For a moment, nothing happened and Discord raised an eyebrow.

Then the Bell rumbled, and a bright flash of magic poured out into the house.

DIscord’s jaw fell open wide.

A vortex of energy tore through the cottage, knocking upside down things upright and scattering dust bunnies everywhere. Discord’s eyes darted around, following the lightning center of the magic as it careened everywhere. Finally he snapped himself out of his bubble, snapped a huge baseball mitt into his hand, and then dove at the magic’s center. The chaos in the room settled as Discord sat up with a sizzling orb of power in his mitted paw. He heard laughter now—echoey, like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere, and the laughter was Grogar’s but Discord wasn’t the one faking it. The laughter was real.

Discord’s eyes darted around and then fell on the ball of magic. It rose up, and with a bright flash Discord saw the silhouette of Grogar appear—an echo of the creature himself born from the concentration of his magic. Discord backed up along the floor, eyes wide, ears fallen. The essence of Grogar sneered at him then looked at the front door and lowered his head, pawing the ground.

Letting some extra magic float vaguely around his dimension was one thing—letting a disembodied Grogar on the loose was quite another.

As Grogar charged the door, Discord snapped up a protective hazmat suit for himself and lunged at him. Discord fell to the floor and felt all the power of Grogar trapped underneath him. Before the magic could rally, Discord snapped open a closet door, shoved the creature inside, then snapped the door shut and instantly snapped up every form of magical and physical protection he could think of. “Oh this is bad, this is bad, this is so, so, so very bad…” There were spells and locks and chains and ‘keep out’ signs over the door, and now Discord snapped up a fake door in front of it so that nothing would look suspicious. Inside the closet he could hear some rumbling. Discord snapped up a silencing spell that made the rumbling lessen. Then he collapsed to the floor. “Okay, I”m almost tempted to bring the princesses in now—almost…”

Celestia rubbed her temple as Luna sighed. “Yes, that would have been an excellent course of action.” She took several more cookies.

Cadance smiled a little.

Discord rolled his eyes and went on.

Suddenly the cuckoo clock on his wall chimed, the hour and minute hands spinning backwards and forwards. Discord threw his arms in the air. “Oh great, I’m due at the cave for another Grogar performance! I can’t leave those three unsupervised too long or who knows what they’ll get into.” He stood, arms behind his back as he paced. “Okay, time to give them a new little project to distract them. And then I need a moment to think, and then I am taking care of the latest skeleton in my closet!” He looked up with a determined grin, jumped at a final rumble from behind the closet door, then snapped himself away.

Discord reappeared floating above Ponyville. “Hmm…what can I give them to do? What can I give them to…?” Discord noticed some commotion near the School of Friendship—a buckball game between Canterlot and Ponyville? Oh too easy…

Discord snapped himself away to the cave and put on a grand performance as Grogar thinking the game was a defensive training of some kind. He even let the villains ‘cleverly trick’ him into believing buckball was actually an advanced military operation. Discord then left Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow alone, but then lingered as himself, hiding in another space in the ceiling, watching them. They had worked together again: sure, it had been to spitefully trick Grogar, but still… They were showing more signs of progress as friends. And what would Equestria be like with those three on the side of friendship?

But then the trio had used their spontaneous ability to work together to catch him snooping. Discord put on a show of fear to keep them from calling Grogar, and then took the random chance to actually present the idea of reform to them because… maybe they just needed to know the option was there. They dismissed him of course, and Discord left. But he felt better now that he’d tried.

He still had the Grogar’s magic situation to deal with though. And to clear his head Discord snapped himself to the simplest place he could think of—Twilight’s school. The game was over so no one would be by the bleachers. How had his plan gotten so complicated? How was he now responsible for so much? And how was he going to get this mess back on track before the coronation?

He stretched out on the grass under the empty bleachers with the sounds of the Friendship School around him. Ideally, he would have come here right now with at least the empty Bell in hand, ready to destroy it (possibly with help from some of the artifacts Twilight kept around the campus)… or maybe seal it away or something. If that option was easier, of course. Grogar was definitely back; Grogar was still a paranoid drama king; Grogar didn’t have the Bell (because the Bell was useless at the moment and Grogar didn’t have a body); but Grogar’s team did have the Bell (or so they thought) and they were ready for a mutiny. All helpful points. The question on Discord’s mind was should he share this information with anyone, and, if so, whom?

The problem with sharing was that then he would lose control of the information and something could change. Right now the balance of power in this situation was delicate. If only he’d gotten the Bell and had actually been able to just make Grogar’s magic disappear into the world never to be heard from agin. Then he could have pretended to rat out the bad guys to Grogar, revealed himself to be Grogar to that trio (because how deliciously theatrical would that moment have been), and then summoned the princesses for a quick strike against the villains while their little group was in disarray.

Discord sighed and snapped to make a few pies rain up from the ground—he was hungry, and pie and chaos always hit the spot.

“Whoa! Wait, pies? From the ground… Discord?”

Twilight Sparkle. For the first time Discord didn’t feel a little exhausted at the idea of her suddenly appearing in his midst…actually she seemed like the perfect pony to help him.

Discord answered her and opened up as much as he could without revealing his plan for her sake.

Discord glanced back at the princesses. Cadance continued to listen with interest, and now Luna was too. Celestia’s gaze was down as she considered something then raised an eyebrow. “You cared very much about making your plan work. You put in a lot of effort for the girls. I…didn’t know you could work so hard on a project, Discord.”

He smiled a little. “I’ve discovered a lot of new things about myself ever since we became friends.” He blinked. “I mean, ever since I became friends with Fluttershy and then later the girls, which meant you three and I were on good terms.”

Luna and Celestia smiled a little, and Cadance held back a giggle.

Discord slumped again, blushing faintly.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Discord,” she asked in her usual kind tone, “will you explain to us next how the trio got the book…and then, I suppose, the real Bell?”

Discord raised an eyebrow at the change in tone but sat up a little more again and nodded. “The book first. So you and Luna wouldn’t miss it, I put it back in your library before the Summer Sun Celebration. And then I thought I could have a night to just kick back and watch the girls set up the big event. But of course Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow had to show up—for the book, of all things—and I had to manage them in the middle of all the mischief they caused. I’m just glad the girls are so capable these days—them putting everything back on track on their own saved me a lot of extra work.” He furrowed his brow. “One thing I promised myself for this plan—throughout it I was not going to use my magic to fix things for the girls unless it was an absolute emergency. They don’t need me…they deserve to know that.”

“Discord,” Cadance started, “You know you’re needed.”

“Yes, yes, for my friendship, I know.” He blushed more and waved her off. “But they don’t need me to fix things with magic. They have enough magic together.”

He glanced over to see Celestia and Luna looking down with small smiles. Celestia took a breath. “We understand, Discord.”

“Yes, we do.” Luna touched her sister’s hoof.

Cadance’s gaze softened. “The girls are growing up. Parents always have to learn to let go. And it’s hard but…it means you’ve done something right.” She looked back at Discord. “Go on, Discord.”

He nodded, almost smiling a little too. “Well, after they stole the book, that’s when I ran into Celestia and Luna in the library. You two asked me again if anything was on my mind or wrong, and I got a little tense with you about retiring. Sorry— I was pretty stressed at that point. If those three used the book with the Bell and realized their Bell was a fake, everything was going to fall apart. And then afterwards I went to see Cadance.” He smiled in her direction. “I meant to say thank you, Cadance. I felt a lot better after that night; really ready to tackle the whole ‘essence of Grogar trapped in my closet’ problem.”

“You visited Cadance?” Luna asked with a small smile of interest.

“I needed a neutral party,” Discord explained. “And to remind myself that the Crystal Empire was there as backup if Equestria needed some extra support.”

“Flurry Heart misses you, by the way.” Cadance smiled. “She keeps pointing to that spot where you sat in her nursery and looking at me each morning.”

Discord’s look brightened. “Well, then I shall have to visit our happy princess quite soon. Besides, I like her—she’s chaotic. And she laughs at my jokes.”

Celestia laughed softly, her smile warm. “I’m glad you’ve made a new friend, Discord.”

“And I’m glad you felt better after spending time with us,” Cadance added.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “it gave me the motivation I needed to really sit down and try to analyze my Grogar problem. Of course, just as I felt like I was about to crack it, Fluttershy showed up at my cottage for a visit. Starlight sent her with a message, and Fluttershy was getting a little worried about me on her own. I was getting too scarce around the girls, and she noticed how I wasn’t throwing around my magic anymore.” He twiddled his fingers. “Talking to her was helpful too—it reminded me of who I was doing all this for, of the future I wanted. I couldn’t let her down.”

Celestia and Luna frowned at each other then Celestia turned back to Discord. “Discord, this future you keep talking about…you’re going to be here with us for it, right?”

“Because sometimes,” Luna continued, “the way you’ve spoken lately almost sounded as if you…were perhaps not intending to be here. And my sister and I have been concerned about that notion.”

“Are you kidding?” He blinked. “I meant to be cagey with those remarks, not cryptic! Of course I’m planning to be here! If anything, I never want to leave! I want us all to have a chance to keep growing together! And if enacting my plan all on my own could help, I was willing to make any sacrifice to see it through. I want us to enjoy the rest of our lives together!”

The three princesses gave him such an endearing look at this passionate confession that Discord quickly looked away and added with an awkward clearing of his throat and twirling of his tail, “I mean, you know, I was just…doing what was best for me which happened to also be best for others. That’s all.” He blushed again.

“I see.” Celestia nodded. “Well, Grogar isn’t back, obviously, so let’s hear how you defeated what little of him did return.”

“Indeed, continue with the story please!” Luna held up a hoof.

“I’d like to hear more too, Discord.” Cadance smiled. “This would be a great pony tale to tell Flurry Heart someday.”

Discord tried to smile but his look of ease returned; he sat up a little more again. “Well, um…before Fluttershy left I gave her a key to my cottage because I was going to face Grogar’s magic once and for all.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I want to keep growing with all of you but Grogar’s magic is a dangerous thing, so, erm…no matter what happened I wanted Fluttershy to have a way to visit. Kind of…told her the place was hers just as much as it was mine actually…you know, just in case of…anything.”

“Discord!”

“Celestia, I said no more yelling! Please!”

But when Discord looked at her, she didn’t have the angry scowl of earlier. Her eyes were wide shining a little. “Discord, let me make something very clear going forward—if you are ever in a position where you feel in danger in any way, you need to reach out to one of us to help you.”

“Agreed.” Luna nodded, her own eyes wide in concern as well. “We don’t want anything to happen to you, Discord. We want to spend time with you too.”

Cadance wiped a tear from her eye. “Flurry Heart would miss you a lot, Discord…”

“I…” Suddenly Discord had to wipe at the corner of his own eye very quickly, “I promise. Sorry.” He blinked several times and swallowed. “Anyway, once she was gone I just sealed all the windows and the door, got in front of the closet, and grabbed the Bell… There was only one thing I could think of to do.”

Discord snapped away the fake door and stood in front of the original closet door that was still covered in chains and spells and ‘keep out’ signs. There was silence on the other side. He snapped up his hazmat suit but then snapped it away and replaced it with his anti-magic oven mitts and picked up the Bell. “I need to be able to move freely even if that does mean exposing myself a little more.” He narrowed his eyes at the closet door. “Okay—it’s just you and me. We’re settling this.” He snapped his tail—all the protections disappeared and the closet door flew open.

There was darkness inside.

Discord didn’t blink. “I know you’re in there, Grogar. Come out. Now.”

Nothing, nothing, nothing…then a glimmer in the dark.

Discord held position.

The glimmer brightened, the closet shook, then a beam of magic darted out aimed right at Discord. Eyes squinted shut he held up the Bell. Discord heard it ring and didn’t feel any pain. He opened his eyes in time to see the magic absorb into the Bell. Another shot fired out of the closet, and Discord held up the Bell again—the beam flew off course and went straight inside. Discord grinned at the sight then looked into the closet again. “Let’s dance, old man!”

Grogar’s form came forward in a haze of magic. His head was down in ramming position. Discord swallowed but stayed strong. “I’m not afraid of you!” As Grogar charged, Discord dove at him with the Bell held high.

There was a lot of bright light, and Discord hit the floor hard. At one point he opened his eyes and saw the glow of Grogar’s eyes staring into them—everything inside of Discord locked up for a moment. But then he closed his eyes again and held strong to the Bell, feeling the air around him crackling with Grogar’s power.

There was a quick surge of magic and light, and at the end Discord found himself lying on the floor, panting, gripping the Bell as it pulsed with power in his mitts. Eventually he opened his eyes: he felt okay and the room looked its normal chaotic self and the closet was empty…and he could sense Grogar’s magic all back in the Bell. He sat up, dusting himself off and panting. “Okay, this is getting ridiculous! I’m heading back to that cave right now, I’m pretending to be Grogar, I’m going to ‘find’ their fake Bell right in front of those three, call them out on it, and just threaten them within an inch of their villainy before I take it away! No more games, no more messing around, no more Bells or books—I am getting too old for this!” He snapped himself away.

Discord reappeared at the hideout disguised as Grogar with the real Bell in tow in a magical bubble: he was in the main cavern again connecting Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis’s private quarters. He walked over to the wall where their hiding place was, but of course he realized that in this form he couldn’t reach high enough to snatch the fake Bell or the book. But he didn’t want to use his magic and risk it activating something in the book—it would be just like Grogar to have his book cursed to engage some horrible spell at the touch of Discord’s magic. Discord transformed back into himself, used his tail to balance, reached up with his protective mitts on his hands, and pulled both the fake Bell and real book out of the wall. He put the book in a magical bubble as well and got on his feet in the cavern again. Discord hid the bubbled real Bell behind a rock next to him and transformed back into Grogar. Now where were those three? “Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, your presence is demanded now!”

No reply met him.

He stomped his hooves and sighed dramatically. “Oh come on! The one time they’re not lazing around here! Really!” He sat down on the floor, hid the bubbled book behind the rock with the bubbled Bell (he wasn’t going to teleport them to his cottage unsupervised), and put the fake Bell on the floor beside him. He would wait them out.

But they were gone for a very long time, Discord waited and waited—eventually the day grew late and Discord’s eyes started to blink closed after all the excitement he’d had so far. He had to wait them out though… Had to…

He must have dozed off—the next thing he knew he sat up with a start and heard the trio’s voices coming closer from somewhere in the cave. Discord looked down and realized he had untransformed in his sleep. They sounded like they were around the corner. No, no—earlier he had been so frustrated that he’d had a whole speech planned to shut them down, but now he felt confused and tired. Now wasn’t the right time—he needed to plan better. But that meant the book and Bell needed to go back to where they were, and with no bubbles, or the trio would find out everything and his plan would be ruined. As long as he kept the real Bell, those three ridiculous creatures couldn’t do anything anyway.

He snapped—the protection bubble around the book disappeared, the magical mitts were back on his hands, and Discord grabbed the book and fake Bell in one mitted hand and the bubbled real Bell in his other mitted hand. He dashed to the wall, propped himself up on his tail, and went to put the book and fake Bell back in their hiding place, but slipped when he heard Tirek laugh—they were just around the corner. The book and Bells all fell to the floor along with Discord.

And clearly the bad guys heard the sound.

“Grogar?” Cozy Glow called out. “Is that you?”

Discord looked down—he had lost focus, and the bubble around the real Bell had burst. He grabbed the fake Bell (or, rather, the Bell closest to his hand that had been holding it), grabbed the book, flew up, shoved them away, then bubbled the other Bell and made himself invisible.

The villains entered, looking around suspiciously. They checked every corner and then finally checked that the Bell and book were safe.

“Perhaps it was an animal,” Chrysalis suggested with a sneer, “you know how lousy these caves are with vermin.”

“Or maybe Grogar snooping and he just left,” Tirek suggested.

“Well, we know one thing for sure,” Cozy Glow grinned, “he didn’t find the book and Bell otherwise he would have definitely yelled at us.”

The three villains shared an evil grin.

Discord snapped himself away.

Once he was back in his cottage he snapped the bubbled Bell into his closet, put back on all the locks and warnings, and then put the fake door over it again. “I don’t want to even think about that Bell until this whole coronation business is over.” He laid down on his sofa and closed his eyes. “I need a minute…” And then he dozed off into a restless sleep.

Discord shrugged. “And I guess I grabbed the wrong Bell. To be fair, the fact that I made that mistake is a testament to how well I made the fake one. If I hadn't locked it up in my closet right away, I would have realized eventually though. I just…” He hugged his knees into his chest, “the whole Grogar thing was getting a little too real for me, all right? By the end, I just wanted to get through the plan for Twilight’s sake and then deal with anything else later! And I ended up having to save Big Mac’s wedding from Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow not long afterwards on top of everything.” He put a hand to his head, rubbing one of his temples. “I tried to work in another reform talk for the three of them, then I snuck back to our hideout and pretended to be Grogar in a bad mood. Those three still could only come together over a common enemy, but it was still a start. Had another bad dream though that night--about Grogar and me...” He closed his eyes, his brow furrowed, and shook his head.

After a moment he blinked a few times and glanced at the princesses. All three of them were looking at him with frowns of concern.

Discord just looked down and frowned too. He picked up his cider mug from the floor but it had gone cold. He just sat staring into the swirling liquid of the cup. “Believe me, it was a rude surprise when I realized those three had the real Bell when they used it on after I came back to the cave to get them ready for the coronation attack. I felt so stupid…”

He put the mug back on the floor and lounged back over both arms of his chair, attempting to smile again. “And there it is, ladies, my whole story. I’m sure I booked a lot of laws and rules and such, not to mention all the lying. So what’s my punishment? Come on, I can take it…”

The three princesses looked at each other.

“I’d like to be the one to decide, if that’s okay,” Cadance quickly offered.

Celestia and Luna blinked but shared a look and then nodded to her. Celestia turned to Discord. “But first, let’s give you back your magic.” She rang the Bell, and Discord’s magic rushed right back into the draconequus. He snapped his fingers to successfully create a pink and blue checkered balloon then smiled.

“And now we can destroy this Bell once and for all,” Celestia finished, looking at the ancient item.

“Wait!” Discord held up his paw. “Do we have to? I mean, if it’s got no power left since Twilight’s friendship rainbow dissipated all of Grogar’s magic, does it have to be destroyed?”

“Discord, it's a dangerous tool,” Luna offered.

“I-I know…”

“And it’s caused you a lot of distress,” Celestia added. “Don’t you want to see it gone?”

Discord squirmed in his chair. “I don’t know. I don’t want it to hurt anyone… but…”

“Discord,” Celestia spoke softly, “I know we agreed we’d think about giving it back to you, but unless you can give us a very good reason, we really need to destroy this Bell.”

Discord frowned a lot and looked down.

Cadance frowned too. “Discord, do you have a good reason that’s maybe also a private reason?”

He nodded.

The three princesses shared a concerned look. Then they stood and came closer.

“Discord,” Celestia started, “whatever it is, if you tell us, we’ll never tell another creature.”

“You have our words,” Luna added, “as your friends.”

“You’re always safe with us, Discord, I promise.” Cadance smiled gently.

Discord took a deep breath and looked at the Bell then spoke. “Grogar was…known as the father of monsters. He concocted a lot of creatures in his day—some that are still around.” He glanced down at himself then glanced back up at the princesses hesitantly.

After a moment of thought, Cadance and Luna’s eyes widened and Celestia brought a hoof to her mouth. “Discord, was Grogar your—“

He cut her off. "Let's not bring certain words into the subject!” But then Discord blinked a few times, arms crossed as he held himself. “I’m sorry. I just never liked him. Even at my worst I never did because his worst was so much more awful. And he did not like me—always said I could be far too silly instead of cruel. That I was a disappointment nine times out of ten. That I would never be half the wielder of magic he was. That’s why I wanted to keep my hands off of the book and Bell if possible—I could see him rigging anything of his to respond badly to my magic.” His brow furrowed in distress. “So I think, perhaps, that it can’t be…right to destroy the last piece of some creature who’s the only reason you’re here in the first place. Right?” He glanced at the princesses at of the corner of his eye, hesitant and unsure.

“Oh Discord…” all the princesses said at once, and they came forward to hug him.

Discord let them. He felt nice and warm and safe in their hooves.

“Discord,” Cadance said softly as they pulled back, “I don’t mean to upset you, but please, tell me, do you have any happy memories with Grogar?”

Discord shook his head.

“Was there ever anything he helped you do? Did you miss him when he was defeated last time? When you think about your future do you want him back?”

Discord shook his head to all the questions.

“Then he wasn’t much of a ‘father’ of anything,” Cadance continued. “You deserved better. You’re so unique and kind and funny and special, Discord. You’re inspiring, and a good friend, and a lovely person. You deserved someone who…”

“Who would wake up at the crack of dawn just to play with me and give me breakfast even though there are servants who could do all that just as easily?” Discord replied softly.

“Exactly.” Cadance nodded. “Now…” She took the Bell in her hoof from Celestia, “you don’t have to destroy it—but you can choose whether or not we do. If you don’t want us to, then you have to be responsible for the Bell for as long as it exists, Discord. But if you do want us to destroy it, then we’ll make sure there are remains and you can have them.”

Discord looked at the Bell with wide eyes. He reached out a hand but hesitated. “The second option please.”

Cadance nodded. “Okay.” Cadance turned to her fellow princesses. “Ladies?”

Luna and Celestia powered their horns and Cadance powered hers. They aimed their magic at the Bell. It glowed and floated and spun and then burst into grey and silver dust—Cadance made a mason jar appear and trapped the dust inside. “Here you go, Discord.”

Discord hesitantly took the jar. Then he took a breath and snapped his fingers—it disappeared. “I put it back in the cave on Mt Everhoof—my magic can teleport things into that place, just not out of it. That was Grogar’s final resting place…and that should still be his place.”

Cadance smiled. “Well, then, all that remains is the punishment you talked about earlier for everything today. I sentence you, Discord, to help me watch Flurry Heart for at least one day per moon over the next year.”

Discord’s ears perked up. “Really?”

She nodded. “And I also sentence you to spend some quality time with Celestia snd Luna for the rest of today—go out for a nice meal, maybe get a drink, or you could even go dancing!” She gestured to the princesses. “You two are retired, and Discord, in a surprising turn of events, needs to relax because it’s clearly been so long that I’m starting to worry he’s forgotten how. It’ll be good for all of you!”

Discord rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to smile too much. “Cadance, please tell me this suggestion has nothing to do with that crack you made about me dating one of these two?”

“Dating?” Celestia and Luna exclaimed at once.

Cadance chuckled. “Just work on having a better friendship for now, you three. I’d come with you, but I’ve got the baby to get home to.” She powered her horn. “Goodbye!” With a wave, Cadance teleported away.

Celestia, Luna, and Discord were left behind looking at each other with curious expressions.

Discord smiled but sighed. “Look, I know I’m a bit much to manage—I’ve probably given you both multiple headaches today, and I actually made Celestia yell. If you two don’t want to do this, it’s fine.”

“Actually, I think it could be fun,” Luna offered with a small smile. “The three of us do not spend personal time together. But…going forward I too would like us to have a real friendship, Discord.” She held out her hoof.

Discord hesitated but then reached forward and shook her hoof, smiling more.

“I agree.” Celestia held out her hoof as well. “Maybe if we become closer we’ll all be happier together and we can help each other.”

Discord shook with her as well with his other hand. When they released they were all smiling.

“Well then,” Discord clapped his hands together, “where shall we go? How about out for a bite or a pint of cider? I can be your wingpony—help you find dates so Cadance will stop trying to pawn me off on one of you.” He gave them both elbow nudges.

Luna grinned and Celestia snorted. “Actually, could we go to your house?” Luna asked. “I’ve never been but I’ve always wanted to see it.”

“Yes, I’ve been wanting to see it too, Discord,” Celestia agreed. “Fluttershy always describes it like such a fun place.”

Discord’s look brightened. “Of course! I’ll snap us up some snacks and have the dust bunnies put on a show. And we can go chaos gazing in my garden when we’re done.”

“You have a garden?” Luna tilted her head.

“Yes, I grow all sorts of chaotic vegetables—they just taste fresher when they’re grown than when they’re snapped up, you know?” He chuckled.

“And can we get some chocolate milk too?” Celestia asked sheepishly. “I’ve always wanted to try it.”

“As your incredibly handsome host I think it would be insulting of me not to offer you some with the finest crazy straws to drink from.” With a chuckle Discord snapped them away and back to his home for a nice evening of bonding.

It would be the first such evening of many, as retirement and the girls coming into their own allowed the three beings to form a deep friendship with many memories and much love.

And that month would also be the start of Discord’s visits to Cadance, which would be many as well. Watching her be a mother to Flurry Heart and helping out gave him a good feeling—it filled up something he had been missing inside without even knowing it.

The future was a warm place.

Author's Note

A more thorough A/N is at the end of the epilogue, but I really wanted to explore the whole 'father of monsters' comment that was made in the season opener. I hope you guys enjoyed where I went with it. Continue reading for the epilogue!

Epilogue: Growing Up ('The Last Problem')

Princess Twilight waved goodbye to her dear friends until they would meet next month. It had been a full day; not only had the Council of Friendship convened but Luster Dawn’s journey had started. Twilight was happy and sad all at once—life kept moving forward, all good things came and went and changed. But in a way she was also excited; Luster Dawn’s progress in a few years might mean that she could step down from the throne herself soon and pursue a new path in life: her own retirement.

Twilight sensed a familiar source of magic approaching, and in a flash Discord appeared—and behind him was a familiar statue of three villains. “You sent Luster Dawn to Ponyville, didn’t you, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight smiled at her old friend and nodded. “Yes, Discord. It’s time.”

“And you’re still planning to have her first big test be reforming these three, right?” Discord flew around the statue.

Twilight nodded. “I think a few decades in stone will have mellowed them. And Luster does like a challenge. Plus I know she’ll have a certain chaotic safety net waiting in the wings in case things get bad.”

“Only for her first few trials, I promise!” Discord grinned and held up his paw. He glanced at the statue again and raised an eyebrow. “This is a tall order though…are you sure?”

Twilight walked down from her throne, still smiling. “My first battle was against Nightmare Moon herself, Discord—a corrupted princess. Luster can handle these three in their state, especially with friends by her side.”

Discord shrugged. “You’re the head honcho.” He flew over to her. “Now then, I just finished substituting at the School of Friendship while Starlight and Sunburst went off for a week to visit Flurry Heart—you know, my charming young protege who I have done an excellent job training in the fine art of being chaotic with pony magic.” He held his head high.

“Yes, I know my niece, Discord,” Twilight tried not to laugh.

“But…” Discord went on, eyes bright, “I hear tell that you want me to fill in here for you for a few days…and not at the School of Magic this time but on the throne. Could it be? Will I finally go down in history as an official—if only temporary—ruler of Equestria?”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” Twilight used her magic to remove her crown and turn it into a simple gold and silver checkerboard one which she placed on Discord’s head. “With my plans for Luster Dawn moving forward now, I could use more than an afternoon with Sunset Shimmer to discuss our plans for the future.” Twilight used her magic to pull aside a tapestry to reveal a mirror. She touched her horn to the mirror—it glowed and then Sunset appeared in the glass.

Some of the orange in her hair had faded to a peach color, but she was still Sunset, wearing orange pants, a white blouse, and a gold jacket. She had a book in hand. “Hey,” she said from behind the glass, her look warm, “I got here first—finally I’m earlier than you for once.”

Twilight laughed. “How did your book signing go?”

“For ‘Tales of Equestria’ Volume Three?” Sunset grinned. “The kids ate it up! I’m booked at a convention next weekend.” She hesitated then asked, “How did things go with Luster?”

Twilight’s gaze warmed. “She’s going to Ponyville. It’s starting.”

Sunset’s eyes glowed. “Great! Twilight, congratulations! Come on, we’ll celebrate at dinner! I mean, if you got him to cover for you—“

“Hello!” Discord popped up right beside Twilight and waved, pointing to his crown. “Yes, I’m covering so you two can scamper off for a few days on two legs instead of four like all the cool kids. Have fun! Sunset, don’t keep her out too late! And Twilight, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“Thank you, Discord.” Twilight put a foreleg around him in a hug. He blinked but then rolled his eyes and hugged her back.

She pulled away and walked through the mirror.

Now on the other side, Sunset stood next to the current human version of Twilight—slightly taller than Sunset, a bit younger-looking, but with a touch of pale purple in her long hair at the temples. She wore a long purple dress and a pink sweater. They a tight hug and a warm look but then blushed and glanced away sheepishly when they remembered Discord was still watching them. They waved to the chaos master then walked away from the mirror on their side holding hands.

“So how’s your world’s Twilight doing?” Twilight asked

“Great!” Sunset smiled. “She just celebrated another anniversary as Canterlot High’s Principal. And the rest of the girls are good too—they can’t wait to see you.”

“Have you told them yet that I’m planning to move here permanently in a few years?”

“I was tempted but I thought it’d be better coming from both of us. But we’ll still visit Equestria for all the major pony holidays, right? And for zap apple jam season? I love that stuff.”

“That’s the plan. It’ll be a nice way to retire.” Twilight hugged a little closer to her, and Sunset squeezed her hand as the two ladies disappeared from view in the mirror.

Discord smiled at the sight of them then pulled the tapestry back over the mirror. He glanced around the throne room then snapped his fingers: the statue disappeared and a scroll appeared in the air. Discord wrote a note, then snapped it away. He plopped himself on the throne with a grin. “Three, two, one…”

In a burst of magic Celestia and Luna appeared with big smiles.

“Discord, you’re not serious…” Celestia held back a laugh.

“No, no, look at the grin, Celestia—he is,” Luna pointed out with a smirk.

Discord held his head high, making sure the light caught his little crown. “Oh, I’m sure Twilight just doesn’t like to bother you two with these things in the midst of your retirement. But yes, I am indeed in charge of Equestria as the temporary Princess for the weekend while Twilight galavants off with her future little partner in crime and friendship and more. And you know what that means…”

“Discord,” Celestia’s look went a little dry, “is there any work you have to do first?”

“Not for the rest of the day,” he assured with his eyes narrowed, “And that means—throne room Princess Party!” He snapped—the room was full of balloons and confetti and dust bunnies and cakes and horns that were playing themselves for music. He snapped up another scroll then sent it away. “And I just sent an invite to Cadance, so—“

In a burst of magic Flurry Heart appeared, pulling her mother by the foreleg. “Uncle Discord! We just got your invitation, and we’re so excited! Princess Party!” She rushed over to Discord and pranced in place in front of him.

He flew around her and tousled her hair. “My Flurry Heart, always up for a party!” She laughed then used her magic to teleport and perch herself on his back. “Whoa!” Discord wavered a little—she wasn’t a baby filly anymore—but he could still remain floating for a while with her up there. “Flurry Heart—think fast!” Discord created a cotton candy ‘snowball’ in his hands and tossed it high into the air. Flurry Heart flew up and shot a beam of her magic at it. The hit was perfect, and bits of cotton candy and drops of chocolate milk rained down for all to enjoy. “Excellent shot!” Discord clapped for her.

Flurry Heart flew up, catching some in her mouth, then swallowed and landed back in front of Discord. “Thank you, Uncle Discord! Yummy!” Then her eyes widened and her smile beamed. “Ooo, I like your crown!”

“I’ll be sure to tell your Auntie Twilight!” Discord assured as he tilted the crown on his head.

Cadance laughed and came forward, brushing some of her hair (the yellow streak faded to a pale gold) behind her ear. “Flurry Heart was very excited to get your invitation, Discord, and so was I. Also, it’s wonderful to see you. And you too, Celestia and Luna.”

The three princesses shared a hug then pulled back.

“We’ll all have to get together with Twilight one day too.” They shared a node.

Then Discord teleported into the center of them, hugging them all close with Flurry Heart sitting on his shoulders. “Come on, everypony! Princess for the weekend Discord says Princess Party starts now! Conga line!” He snapped to arrange everyone. He was at the front of the line, Celestia held around his waist, Luna held around hers, then Cadance and finally Flurry Heart. They started to dance across the room.

At that point the throne room door opened: Spike stood there.

The conga line froze for a moment as Spike watched it with wide eyes. Then his look went dry and he grinned a little. “Twilight left already?”

“Yup,” Discord replied.

“Princess Party?”

“Yup.”

“Can a Royal Advisor get in on that?”

“Yup!”

Discord snapped to make Spike appear behind Flurry Heart in the conga line, and the group danced the afternoon away.

No matter what threats had come against Equestria in all these years, everyone found their ways back to happiness, including Discord himself. He had been raised to be a monster but had grown into a friend. In the midst of a moment as chaotic and free and good as this one, Discord knew this was the ending he and the ones he loved deserved most of all. And he wished an ending like this one for any other creature whom it would help.

Author's Note

My reaction during the Grogar reveal in the finale:

*Turns out to be Discord*

Me: ........... Well, f*** :moustache:

So here's my attempt to reconcile my previous chapters of this story with the series' ending, and I hope it was enjoyable ^^ I took a few liberties, but I tried to keep everything in line. I hope you enjoyed it!

I could see some negative reactions to the big reveal, but I was just impressed with the show for surprising me like that at the very end XD And then watching Discord try to talk his way out of it was hilarious. I'm really glad he had a major roll in the ending. And I'm glad to know the comics are planning to continue 'season 10' of the show. If you've never read the comics, they're worthwhile, and they have some more freedom regarding storylines. The Discord arcs are exceptionally good :)

Also, since I wasn't really shipping Discord with anyone in this story I couldn't resist putting in another ship. I'm having a lot of fun including some ships lately that I don't normally have a chance to write about :yay:

Please see my blog post for info about my next planned update, and thank you all for reading and for reviewing :heart: Take care!

The End of the Beginning ('The Beginning of the End')

And so, once again, the day was saved thanks to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her court of friends.

Oh, certainly Celestia and had joined with Starswirl to help keep the Everfree Forest at bay, and Discord had stopped a few of Sombra’s blasts (and taken one). But ultimately Celestia’s former faithful student and her friends had beaten back the surprise return of the villain with their own magic, no Elements required. They would make good leaders for the future: everypony would be safe in their hooves. And besides, after so many years Celestia was a little tired, and she knew Luna must be too.

With the girls gone from the castle now, Celestia and Luna each let out a sigh. The two sisters turned to each other. Celestia smiled. "We should probably check over the castle and grounds to make sure everything really is back to normal and that there’s no lingering dark magic.”

Luna nodded, though her eyes were hazed in some tiredness. “Yes, you’re right, sister. We’ll all need quite some time before we have to face a battle again—best not leave any lingering forces of darkness to chance.”

Celestia placed a hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “I know you must be especially tired, Luna—you haven’t slept since yesternight. Why don’t you just take a quick fly over the grounds to make sure everypony who was under Sombra’s spell is safe and gone. I’ll take care of checking through the castle.”

Though she'd been holding it back, Luna finally gave into a yawn and nodded. “I would appreciate that very much, Celestia. Thank you.”

The two sisters shared a brief hug and then Luna flew up and teleported out of the throne room.

Since Sombra’s base of power had been in the throne room, Celestia decided to search for any remnants of dark magic here first. Maybe there would be some clue as to how he had returned to power in the first place. Such a strange event to happen—the most unexpected one Celestia had witnessed in quite some time.

“Sister!”

Celestia turned as Luna reappeared flying in the throne room, her brow furrowed.

“Luna, what?”

“It’s Discord! Come quickly!”

Celestia’s eyes widened; she instantly flew up to meet her sister who teleported them away.

When the sisters reappeared, Celestia saw they were just outside of the throne room’s castle wall. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be seeing until Luna pointed downward. There was Discord, out cold and slumped over the hedges against the wall, curled up on his side.

The sisters flew down and landed by him.

Luna frowned in concern. “I saw him like this as soon as I got out here—he must have fainted after he left by the window!”

“Discord!” Celestia lifted up his head with her hoof and tried to smile. “Discord, the girls are gone, you don’t have to pretend anymore that Sombra actually hurt you. Fluttershy will be very worried,” she added quickly, knowing Fluttershy was always the key to getting the truth from Discord.

He didn’t respond.

Celestia’s eyes widened more. “Luna…” she powered her horn, “help me lift him up and get him back into the castle—I don’t want to risk teleporting him right now.”

“Mmm… Oh honestly…" Words came weakly from Discord suddenly as his eyes blinked open, “can’t a draconequus just take a nap without all this…oh…” He clutched his side and grumbled as his eyes cringed shut again.

Luna and Celestia just looked down at him with wide eyes and stricken faces. Then the pony sisters gazes met again, all seriousness. “He needs help—now,” Celestia declared.

Luna nodded and powered her horn as well. “I’ll alert the staff to prepare a place for him.”

“No.” Celestia shook her head. “I don’t want anyone finding out about this just yet—we’ll bring him to my room. It’s the only bed that’ll fit him except yours, and you need your sleep.” The two sisters had Discord lifted up by now.

Another dull groan escaped the chaos master at the movement. “What? Oh, I am not being carted around like some fragile filly—I’m going home!” He squirmed in their hold and held up his fingers to snap, though the two digits weakly slid past each other without the familiar pop of his magic.

“It’s alright, Discord.” Celestia frowned down at him. Then the two sisters flew up with Discord suspended between them, eventually finding the window that led to Celestia’s room.

Everything was so hazy and dark. All Discord could see were shadows moving. He heard cries and there was smoke, but no one came. Everything so bleak. No light of the sun or light of the moon or lights of friendship. Bad times in a bad past, and he was there and bad too. The only laughter was his own, and it sounded cold and hollow and cutting. No escape. And maybe it was all coming back…

Gradually there came some hazy lights to his eyes, and he felt a dull ache in his side. There were soft sounds like voices: pretty, perfect, princess voices. Oh for the love of chaos, if what he thought had happened had actually happened, he’d never get out of this one…

“Luna, it’s okay, you can go to sleep. I’ll look after him.”

“He’s having a nightmare right now.”

“What?”

“I can tell. Besides, Celestia, we don’t know how badly he’s hurt or what kind of healing he might need. It might take both of us to help him. I’ll at least stay until he wakes up.”

“Mmm…” Discord groaned, keeping his eyes deliberately squinted shut, “does that mean if I admit I’m up, I’ll get at least some peace because only one of you annoying princesses will be here instead of two?”

“Discord!” “Discord!” the pony sisters exclaimed at once.

And then Discord’s eyes flew open because suddenly two alicorns were half on top of him and hugging him.

“Ow!” Discord winced. “Not healed, not healed! Ladies, please!”

The princesses released him and stepped back with abashed smiles.

“Apologies, Discord,” Luna started, “we were just so happy to see you awake.”

“And to hear your sarcasm,” Celestia had to add with a smile. “That seems like a good sign.”

“Ugh…” Discord sat up a little and rubbed his head as he finally took in his surroundings. He blinked: canopy bed, fancy vanity table, pink and purple colors everywhere, a lot of scrolls and books, sun emblems scattered among the decor. He collapsed back down against the pillows. “Sweet chaos, you two seriously brought me to this sunshiny place? Not that I haven’t dreamed of pranking you on your home turf, Celestia, but I’ve had a long day and I’m really not in the mood.”

“It’s the only bed that would fit you besides Luna’s,” Celestia explained, “and she needs her sleep.” She glanced at Luna with a big sister look clearly saying it was bedtime.

Luna pouted and held up her head. “I’m not leaving until we talk to Discord.” She turned to him. “Discord, what happened? You said you were fine back in the throne room with the girls—that it was all a joke.”

“The girls!” Discord’s eyes flew open wide and he sat up (a little too quickly because he winced again in pain). “You didn’t tell them about this, did you? Oh please tell me you two at least had that much sense!”

“We wanted to talk to you first,” Celestia replied gently. “We didn’t want to worry them until we had an idea of what the problem was.”

Discord let out a relieved sigh. “Good. That’s very good… Fluttershy needs to relax and be happy.” He brought a claw to his forehead. “I figured Sombra would keep taking shots and I’d let one hit me for effect—I didn’t think he’d take an extra powerful pot shot at Fluttershy just because I got sloppy and brought her up. Of course I jumped in front of that one—I didn’t have choice.”

He caught Luna’s gaze—her eyes were narrowed slightly in a searching way. “So you did let him hit you to prove a point to the girls. But when he hit you, it actually did hurt you somewhat. Is that what your nightmare was about?”

Discord glanced away with a stubborn pout. “Oh like old smoke-and-mirrors Sombra could really hurt me, the master of chaos. I’m fine, just a little sore from my first battle in a while and tired too. I’ve been having to give the girls nudges all day to build their confidence and to get Twilight to stop ‘twilighting’ so hard.” He rolled his eyes. “Not all of us can be off giddily planning retirement.”

The sisters couldn’t help but share a small guilty look before they turned back to Discord.

Celestia took a deep breath and approached him on one side of the bed. She made eye contact and leaned in close. “Discord, do not change the subject. You got hurt—it happens to the best of us. Now tell us how badly and what you need to feel better. Please.”

Discord’s eyes widened. He squirmed a little under the covers then sunk against the pillows with a sigh. “Seriously, I just need rest. My powers have to recharge a little after everything I did. But I was impatient and tried to snap myself home so I could do relax there. I guess that big of a jump was too much right now, though, and I got a little light headed and decided to take a power nap…

Luna raised an eyebrow, her tone dry. “Outside in the bushes?”

Discord crossed his arms and held his head high. “Unless that’s suddenly illegal, then yes!”

Luna rolled her eyes.

Discord lowered his arms, unyielding as ever. “The point is, I’m not cursed, I’m not suffering, I’m not perishing. I can handle things—Ow!” He tried to turn on his side away from the sisters but winced.

Luna approached from the side he had turned to. “Let me see, Discord.”

The chaos master held the covers tightly around him and scowled.

Celestia considered then smiled a little from her side of the bed. “Discord, did I ever tell you about the time Chrysalis defeated me just before Cadance’s wedding? In public…very thoroughly I might add.”

His ears perked up and he glanced over at her. “No, I would definitely remember hearing that story…

Celestia smiled more. “Well, I’ll tell it to you…if you show Luna where it hurts.”

There was a momentary stalemate. Then Discord rolled his eyes. “Oh fine… But like I said, it’s not a big deal.” He moved the covers aside then snapped—on the fur along one side of his body that had seemed fine there suddenly appeared a dark semi-circle; something between a bruise and a singe. “It’s just a recoil effect from Sombra, see.” He quickly cleared his throat then put all of his attention on Celestia. “Now then, tell me the story!”

She nodded, though not before giving Luna a quick glance. Luna winked then began examining the wound. She made a cloth appear, set some of her magic into it, and gently rubbed the dark area at Discord’s side.

Celestia cleared her throat and began. “Well, I was all ready to officiate the ceremony for the many guests when Chrysalis finally showed herself. I stood up to her head to head—I’m all for letting the girls take over, but right then she’d dared to interrupt a fellow princesses’s wedding, and I’m afraid I was quite angry. So I took her on, princess versus queen.” She held her head high in determination.

“Yeah, yeah,” Discord prompted eagerly, “get to the part where she beats you.”

Celestia shook her head with an amused smile but went on. And Discord’s attention remained rapt as Luna worked at his wound and Celestia recounted not only her defeat but being strung upside down in the throne room for all the kingdom to see much to Discord’s interest and amusement.

Not long later, Luna had left to finally get some rest. Discord had a bandage of his wound and a hot water bottle against it.

Celestia remained by his side. “Are you sure there’s nothing else you need?”

“I told you, just rest. You know as well as I do that magical recoils can heal perfectly fine on their own. Stop trying to pamper me, honestly!” Discord rolled his eyes. “The attention is fun when I’m faking it, less so when I really do just need to be alone for a bit.”

Celestia nodded…but hesitated. “Discord? I…Is something wrong?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Celestia, don’t do repeat performances—it’s beneath you. You already asked me about my boo-boo, remember?”

She frowned. “I mean something more than that. Ever since Luna and I announced we’re retiring, you’ve been ‘extra’ supportive about pushing the girls into the position.”

“Are you saying it’s a bad thing that I put some time into making sure your replacements are really ready to replace you?” He raised an eyebrow with a dry look.

Celestia shook head. “Of course not. But, you were a little overzealous even for you. Taking a hit like that to prove a point was…a lot…even if you are more powerful than Sombra. Is there anything you want to tell me?” She looked into his eyes. “And whatever it is, I won’t tell the girls if you don’t want me to. I promise.”

Discord hesitated for just a moment, which was all Celestia needed to know for sure that something was on his mind. But then his look went dry again. “What’s there to tell? I just felt like participating a whole extra lot in this little ‘ascension to the throne’ escapade. The girls can officially take care of themselves all by themselves. If you two aren’t going to be around, they should know how capable they are.”

Celestia sat, patient, listening.

Discord eyed her and glanced away, twiddling his thumbs. “And I certainly don’t have the time to be their new secret weapon no that the Elements aren’t around.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s actually good those pesky things are gone for now—it’ll teach the girls to fully hone and use the magic inside of themselves.”

Celestia continued to wait.

Discord finally shrugged, his voice a little low. The fidgeting and nervous glances stopped, replaced by a serious look. “Look—it’s a little odd that Sombra just suddenly reappeared, don’t you think? He’s not exactly the villain anyone was expecting to pop up on the radar, was he?” His eyes met Celestia’s.

She swallowed: it was true.

“And his magic felt…” Discord started, his brow furrowed in a faraway look. But then he shook his head. “Even if Equestria’s at peace or whatever, things can go wrong. Things you never imagined or thought you’d see again can surprise you. And I need to know the girls are safe, with or without you and Luna…or me.”

Celestia half smiled. “Are you thinking of retiring too?”

He didn’t smile back. He didn’t look at her. “I’m just thinking about the future.”

Celestia considered. Then she placed a hoof on Discord’s arm. He glanced at her “Discord, we can prepare for the future but we can’t control it. But I promise you, in the end, no matter what, things will work out all right.”

He didn’t respond with sarcasm or by turning away from her in the bed—Celestia took that as a good sign. She swallowed and decided to try and ask about one more thing. “Discord…your nightmare before…”

“Just a bad dream,” he said in a firm way that told Celestia the subject was closed.

She sighed and released his arm. “Just promise me from now on, no more taking hits to prove a point. Please.” She smiled a little. “Luna and I were sort of looking forward to having some fun together with you in our retirement, and we’d hate to have you out of commission for it.”

Discord's tilted his head at this news and almost smiled. His gaze and tone eased a little. “Well, I’ll try not to disappoint you.” He settled against the pillows. “And I think…I think it’ll all be okay too, Celestia. Some extra preparation just makes me feel better, that’s all.” He swallowed. “I’m glad you’re not retiring just yet—even though the girls definitely are ready to take over.” He glanced at her almost like he was challenging her to say otherwise about Twilight and her court.

She nodded. “Even if the girls are ready I’m glad I’m not retiring just yet too.” Celestia gave him a gentle hug then released him. “Take care, Discord. Get a lot of rest. If you need anything—“

“I’ll just snap it up. I’m still the master of chaos, and I’m feeling better already,” he replied with a huffy tone.

Celestia shrugged and glanced to the side innocently. “Oh. Well, I was going to offer to be your personal servant for anything you might need, but if you’d rather waste your energy snapping…”

That offer got a grin out of him. “Really?”

Celestia smiled at the look and sound of the old, sly Discord. “Yes, really. I’ll bring you some tea and cookies later, but if you need anything before then just say my name. I’ll hear it.” She winked.

Discord nodded as he turned over in the bed. “All right, it’s your funeral, Princess.”

She laughed and gave him a little wave. “Bye, Discord. Sweet dreams.”

“Sure, sure—just let a draconequus get some sleep, Celestia, honestly.” He waved her off and turned away from her, tucked deeply under the covers.

Celestia watched him for a moment longer. Then she left, and closed the door behind her.

The smile faded from her face a little. That draconequus was up to something, and she had a bad feeling—not that he was plotting something villainous or preparing to spread an excess of chaos, of course. Instead, she felt like he was getting ready to make a choice, and something at the heart of the choice felt sad.

Celestia wouldn’t tell the girls about the conversation between herself and Discord, but she would keep a very close eye on their chaos master friend for a while, just in case (and would ask Luna to do the same). Discord had become too dear of a friend to leave alone with whatever he was going through, even if he was too stubborn to admit he might need some help from a friend.

Celestia went off to finish checking the castle for signs of Sombra’s magic.

Discord lay still in the quiet of Celestia’s room for a moment. Then he let out a deep breath. “He can’t be here. As long as I don’t say the words out loud, it won’t be true. I mean, there’s not enough evidence to actually suggest the idea anyway, so why worry anyone? It doesn’t matter if something in Sombra’s magic felt like…” He shuddered and pulled the covers closer around himself. Through Celestia’s window he could see the castle grounds, Canterlot, and Ponyville in the distance. All so orderly but somehow chaotic under the surface in a beautiful way. He’d…almost come to love this land of Equestria. And he’d certainly come to love some of the ponies in it even if he would never say such mushy words aloud.

These days Discord didn’t like breaking promises, but he knew that despite what he’d just told Celestia, if the time came for him to take another hit for the sake of this place and his friends he’d do it no matter the cost. Even if he knew for certain it would be a much bigger hit than Sombra’s and with much bigger consequences. The girls could take care of themselves: he repeated the phrase silently to himself, because that fact was all that mattered to him.

With the dull ache in his side almost gone, Discord eventually dozed off into a shallow and fitful sleep. And in his dreams he tried to avoid the grey shadows and sounds of sadness and a familiar voice from the past that kept calling to him from a bad memory.

Author's Note

Hello, everyone!

Yes, I'm finally surfacing again lol. I hope everyone is doing well (and enjoying TrotCon or SDCC if you're at either of those events :) ). I've had a very busy couple of months, but with the new season here I decided to write this brief story (maybe two more chapters total) to explore Discord in his final appearances on MLP: FIM. I hope you all enjoy the story--another chapter (set after the ep "Between Dawn and Dusk") should be up eventually.

Take care! And read my blog, please, for info about the next chapter of MCDE ^_^

-Azure129