Moonlight's POV

I know we are in trouble when the letter from Blueblood arrives. He tells us that Celestia is sending her army north, to the border of Equestria. Then it gets worse.

A creature from the Garden of Statues has been released... and is working for Sunbutt.

"Joy of joys," I grumble when Sombra reads the letter aloud for me.

"Do you know which creature it is?"

"No, there's hundreds of statues. Some of them are those who have been trapped in stone for committing crimes, others are just ordinary statues made to honour those who have helped Sunbutt over the years. You can't tell which is which just by walking in the garden."

"An unknown enemy. Fun. We will ready the guards, and have scouts in the area. If there is any sign of the Solar Guards, we'll send our own to meet them."

"What do Chrysalis and Rutherford think?"

"Yak friend send urgent supplies by airship to Crystal Ponies," Sombra says, mimicking Rutherford. "Tall bug mare sending scouts."

"Not the time for jokes."

"I am sorry, but I need a good laugh."

About three days later, a good laugh arrives, except the joke backfires on us. I am on my way to the Changeling Hive and it starts raining, except it isn't normal rain. Sunbutt knows how it is possible for the clouds to rain chocolate milkshake of all things.

Uh, Sombra, you might want to step outside for a moment.

Ok, I am going out onto the balcony as we speak, but what's- No. Impossible. Is it raining chocolate milk for you as well, or am I hallucinating?

Everypony else has chocolate flavour rain. What does this mean?

Trouble. One, it is going to ruin my cloak if I stay outside for too long. Two, this is probably one of Sunbutt's little tricks.

This isn't her style. The pony who did this is probably working for her though.

I take off into the air, and look through the clouds for anything that might be causing the rain to become chocolate flavoured. I catch sight of a red dragon's tail, and fly towards it, but the realise that there is a mirror of all things in the clouds, and that the dragon - or whatever it is - is actually behind me.

The mirror disappears, and I turn around. No sign of the creature. I head back to the relative safety of the ground, but my armour gets snagged on something in the sky, and I am slowly lifted upwards. An oversized barbed fishing hook is lodged in one of the plates of my armour. I know immediately that I'll never be able to get it free or take off all of my armour in time, and the string that is hauling me into the clouds won't snap, even when I try to bite myself loose with my fangs and try to cut it with a large pair of magical scissors.

Sombra, I'm being lifted into the clouds by a fishing rod. I can't cut the rope and the hook won't come loose at all. Get here now.

"Moonlight, I am down here. What do you expect me to do? Unlike you, I don't have wings!" he shouts.

"Find Chrysalis, she can help," I reply, wincing as the rope pulls me further into the air with a sudden jerk. "And I'm pretty sure you can fly. Teacup into a rain cloud." I try to fly away, but the rope must have elastic qualities because I spring back to where I was, only a little higher up in the air. I even attempt to switch to my shadow form, but the hook remains stuck regardless of what I do.

I watch his tiny far-away form sprint towards the Changeling Hive. Drenched in chocolate rain and tired out from trying to free myself from the fishing line, I decide to let the draconine beast haul me into the clouds and give him a piece of my mind.

Soon, I catch sight of it, relaxing on a sunbed at the edge of a large cloud and wearing ridiculously oversized sunglasses. The orange hat does not quite cover his thin grey face, or his one deer antler and one gnarled horn. He has a mane that I would associate with a zebra's if it were stripy, but it is completely black. He has a lion's paw, a griffon's claws, and the feet of a goat and a dragon. Then there's that long red tail, and his mismatched torso. I have a feeling I know who this monster is, but I want to hear him say it first.

"Can you take off the fishing hook, please?" I ask him. He stops reeling the fishing line in, so that I am suspended in the air just below the cloud.

"Oh, little bat pony, how could I ever do that? I have a job to do, you know."

"Which is?"

"It used to be causing chaos and destruction, but I've reined myself in so to speak and retrained as a fisherpony. This catch might get me quite a bit of money, you know. I can't just let you go."

"I'm guessing you're Discord."

"Right-o, right-o." He removes his sunglasses and hat with a flourish of his claw. "You guessed who it was below the disguise. Mind, I'm quite a distinct character. So are you, little Daughter of the Night."

"For Sunbutt's sake, don't call me that. Look, I want to make things plain and simple. Let's do a little Q and A."

"Ooh, an interview with Discord. Do you want to write it down?"

"No, I have a good memory. Question one, who asked you to come here and catch me?" I decide to be as methodical as I can, just to wind him up.

"Oh, I thought you would have known. It was Sunbutt, the princess who I have begrudgingly agreed to work with. She has a lot of rules, but she also gives a good wage, you see."

"Question two, how much money did she say she would give you?"

"If I get the one she's looking for, which happens to be you, millions of bits. Quite a nice life. It's not chaos, but I can make chaos happen. I control chaos magic. I'm Discord, the Spirit of Chaos. I'm one of the ones who likes to make life more chaotic."

"Third question. You said you were the Spirit of Chaos, but you're one of the ones who makes life chaotic?"

"That's not exactly what I said, but yes. Confusing, huh? I might be the Spirit of Chaos, but I'm not the only one who dictates how the world works. You and King Sombra are two of them. You used to rule a kingdom. That's gone out the window." A window appears, and he throws both his hat and his sunglasses through it, breaking the glass, which promptly turns into more chocolate rain. "Sunbutt's face is going to glow as brightly as the sun when she sees you."

"You," I say, "are going to let me go."

"Am I? I don't think so."

My blast of magic hits him in the face, and he drops the fishing rod. I fly until it is out of his reach, then remove the hook from my armour. "Discord, think about it. Sunbutt told you to come here and catch me, and I bet she asked you to cause a bit of mayhem that would have to be cleared up. However, I bet she doesn't let you do this back home."

"What are you trying to tell me?" He jumps off of his sunbed, which disappears. He pulls a large net out from behind one of his ears, and throws it over me. It turns into a bubble that lands on a cloud. The walls are like steel, but apparently made of soap and water. He begins rolling it southwards. I don't bother fighting him. I have a plan, and though I am not the best at things like this, I have no doubt that it will work.

"Sunbutt has strict rules, and while she's going to let you cause your mayhem here, she's only going to do that until she gets what she wants. As soon as she has the Crystal Empire under her control, she won't want you playing any more jokes. You'll have to say, Yes Princess, No Princess, I'll Do Exactly As You Tell Me Princess. I don't think all the money in the universe can buy you freedom and happiness."

His face falls, quite literally. His snout becomes even more elongated and drops to the surface of the cloud. "Fair point. Obviously, there is the appeal of migrating to another planet, but oh so few of them have any life on them, and if I move there the money she's offering me is worthless."

"King Sombra and I will have to decide exactly how much fun you can have, but if you help us we're willing to let you have free rein to a certain extent. Wait, the Northern Lights here aren't actually all that impressive. I bet you could put on a real light show for the foals. They're not easy to please though. You'll have to do more than just a few blue and green wavy lines in the night sky. Also, I don't know if you play chess, but I have somepony who might want to challenge you."

His face returns to how it normally looks, though "normal" could never really describe him. He holds his paw to his ear and tilts it towards me. "I'm listening. Tell me more about your kingdom."

"I think you might like the Crystal Empire. It might look rather bland at the moment, but that's only temporary. As soon as Sunbutt is dealt with, there's going to be a massive party, complete with rainbows of colour and an all-you-can-eat buffet. A gift from King Sombra and myself for those who choose to help us."

"HmmmmmmMmmmmmmmmmmMmmm..." he hums, imitating a wasp. "I think we can make an agreement. What are the rules?"

"Rule one: you can safely ignore whatever Sunbutt tells you to do, but you absolutely MUST listen to myself, Sombra or Princess Luna."

"Ignore Sunbutt, listen to Moonlight, Sombra or Luna. What else?"

"Rule two: if you hear anything you think we need to know, especially about Sunbutt, tell us."

"Eavesdrop on Sunbutt and tell Moonlight whatever nonsense I hear."

"Rule three: Sunbutt is the only one who you are allowed to give a nickname. Also, when talking to me, King Sombra or Princess Luna, use our proper titles."

"Give everyone nicknames but don't use them when talking to them. Use proper titles, for example King Sombra, Princess Luna, Princess Moonlight, the sweet little Princess of the Stars." He looks at me, and I raise an eyebrow. "Well, you are related to Princess Luna as far as I know. I've been told that you are."

"Rule four: if you betray us, prepare to go through Tartarus."

"Ignore Sunbutt's offers, because Moonlight can double anything Sunbutt gives me."

"Can you deal with that?"

"Hmmmmmmmmm, I think so. Sunbutt has a lot of cash, but you have told me you can give me almost complete free rein. There's a lot to say for that. I think you just burst her bubble." He pops the bubble with a claw. "I am going to have to consider everything maybe write down some things so I don't get confused, but I think I might help you out. Happy?"

"Yes. Now what are you going to do? Tell Sunbutt that you're not interested, or stay with her and see what you can find out?"

"I'm staying with the Element Bearers, and they don't keep many secrets. Toodleloo, I'm off." He and his flock of chocolate rain clouds vanish, accompanied by a loud POP.

I return to the Crystal Castle by teleportation, and explain everything to Sombra.

"Hmm, next time you see this Discord creature, tell him that he can have as much fun as he likes annoying Sunbutt for us."

"Right-o," says Discord, popping into the room, this time sporting a green cape that has been fashioned out of some old curtains. "Right-o. I'll annoy Sunbutt as much as possible, which is a lot if I bend the laws of physics to my liking. Also, in a week's time, look at the stars. You might find a hidden gem." He disappears.

"Look at the stars and find a hidden gem." I murmur. My special talent. I smile in anticipation at the gifts Discord is going to bring.

Author's Note

Writing Discord is very headache-y. And how much did I actually accomplish there? Hmm, I think I have a new minor story arc to explore. OK, that could be fun. Also, since Discord is a performer, expect him to dress up for the occasion if he appears again. Top hat and waistcoat? I could imagine it, but something tells me that's a bit too fancy for somepony like him. Brown waistcoat and lime green scarf? Now that's more like it.

I have a story recommendation for you all. This inspired me, and not a lot of Fimfiction authors have done that. It has Best Princess and an awesome OC.

[Unpublished stories cannot be embedded]

Go read it to clear your head of the nonsense that is this chapter.