Second chances

Chapters

A meeting by moonlight.
Buried memories
A new day
Tough love
The joy of flying
A lesson in respect
Seeing pink
Of spells and curses
The mane 7
Night falls on Ponyville
A change for the better
A fork in the road
Power Or Peace
epilogue
Alternate ending

A meeting by moonlight.

Second chances

Celestia walked slowly through the Canterlot garden. Her sister’s beautiful moon was full tonight, casting pale moonlight over all of Equestria. Ponies slept peacefully, mercifully unaware of the events that would soon unfold, events that could very well destroy them should Celestia failed. She had considered informing her student Twilight Sparkle, but decided against it, instead confiding in her younger sister Luna. Thinking back to a mere half hour ago, it was a decision she now regretted.
“Sister I beg you to reconsider,” Luna had pleaded. “You know what will happen if that creature escapes.”
“Of course I do,” Celestia had replied calmly, “but I assure you that every precaution has been taken. I wouldn’t be doing this if there was even the slightest chance that he could hurt somepony, or break free of my control. Now please return to the castle, this is something that I would rather do in private.”
“Well I will not be held responsible for the damage that this could cause,” Luna had replied angrily before flapping her wings and flying off into the night.
Celestia sighed, no doubt she hadn’t heard the end of this, but as long as Luna remained silent about the plan, Celestia could deal with her later. She shook her head of the memory and resumed her walk, admiring the sculptures bathed in moonlight, each one representing a different virtue. Celestia rounded a corner, passed the statue of victory, and came face to face with the sculpture she was most interested in, the statue which was the reason for her being out in the gardens that night.
This particular statue had the head of a pony, a pair of mismatched eyes, one larger than the other, the body of a serpent, and the limbs of various other animals. Celestia knew all too well what it represented, and she was about to release it. Celestia knelt down in front of the statue, her horn glowing as she reached out to it telepathically.
“Discord can you hear me?” Celestia asked. There was silence. “Do not play these games Discord, I can sense your presence.”
Manic laughter filled her head, “oh but games are so much fun” Discord said to her mind.
“Not the ones you play” she replied.
“Well well well, Celestia herself has come to visit me, you should have told me you were coming ahead of time, I would have cleaned the place up.” Discord said with a chuckle. The only place he meant was his own mind, which Celestia dared not explore, rather she tiptoed around the edge, simply reading his thoughts. “Now what can this humble god of chaos do for you my dear?”
“I have a proposition for you, or rather an ultimatum. I have decided that keeping you alive, even in this state, is too great a risk. You demonstrated that when you exploited my loss of the elements of harmony. So I am giving you two options, prove that there is still good in your twisted heart, or I disassemble you, cell by cell.” Celestia told him.
Another fit of laughter rang in her mind, “oh this is priceless, even after all the fun I caused, you still insist on giving me another chance, will you ever learn?”
“Laugh if you will Discord, but I still have hope for you, I know you can’t help what you are, and I still remember the good times we had, even if you have buried all the memories of them.”
The laughter stopped abruptly, “I let go of those memories centuries ago!” he roared angrily.
“I don't believe that,” she replied softly. “Believe me when I say I take no pleasure in keeping you imprisoned, all I need is to know that you have even a spark of good left in you.”
“Oh Celestia, you couldn't kill me even if you wanted to,” he said smugly. “You know full well that we gods can’t be killed.”
“You are no god Discord, only a monster, a mere shell of the good spirit that could have been a god. In this state, you don't deserve immortality.” Celestia said.
“Yes well we don't always get what we deserve, control of Equestria for example, or world chaos” he said in a sinister voice.
“Enough of this Discord,” she said angrily, “make your choice.”
“Fine disassemble me then,” he replied dismissively. “But you know I'll be back eventually. Even if it takes 1000 years, I'll pull myself back together, and then we can start our game all over again.”
“Not where you are going, I'm sure you are aware of what happened to my sister when she became a threat to Equestria?” Celestia asked
“Of course, how could I forget her adorable little tantrum, and the whole eternal night thing, now that was a classic!” He chuckled.
“Well I won’t banish you to the moon, I think the sun would be more appropriate.” In Celestia's head there was silence. She had won. “I will be back tomorrow night to hear your decision.” With that, Celestia opened her eyes, stood up and walked away slowly. She decided to find Luna and try to reason with her. While in the mind of the self-proclaimed god of chaos, two things were felt for the first time in thousands of years, one was fear, the other was sorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in the small town of Ponyville, a certain purple unicorn stirred in her sleep. Twilight sat up in bed, blinking as the light hurt her eyes… Wait what light? She looked around, all the candles had been blown out and the curtains were closed. She realized that her horn was glowing, a purple aura illuminating her bedroom. A shape stirred at the foot of her bed, Twilight gasped, then giggled when she realized what it was.
“Uhg… Turn the light off,” Spike groaned.
Twilight jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs, her horn casting bright purple light as she went. “Now where could it be?” she said frantically, levitating books from various shelves, before discarding them onto the floor.
Spike waddled slowly down the stairs. “What the heck are you doing?” he asked yawning loudly.
“Looking for my copy of Uncontrolled Magic: Causes and Reactions,” Twilight replied, levitating yet more books from their homes.
“Well that's weirdly specific” Spike muttered. He groaned at the pike of books on the floor, no doubt he would have to clean them up.
“Aha! Here it is!” she declared triumphantly, levitating a large green tome onto her reading podium. Twilight flipped through the pages, “let’s see horn, horns, aha! Here's something.”
“I'm going back to bed” Spike declared grumpily before climbing up the stairs sleepily, he hated being woken, especially when dreaming of Rarity.
Twilight read the passage aloud to herself. “In rare cases, a unicorn’s horn will glow as a warning of imminent danger, to them or someone close to them.” Twilight stepped back from the book in dread, trying to figure out which of her friends might be in danger, or if she herself might be in danger. The library was silent, except for Spikes gentle snoring.

Buried memories

24 hours
Celestia sat by the fire, Twilight’s latest friendship report lay on the floor beside her, unopened. Moonlight shone through the window of her private chamber, though not the beautiful full moon of the previous night. Luna had refused to create a full moon, in anger at what Celestia planned to do. She sighed and with a brief flash of magic, she disappeared, only to reappear in front of her greatest enemy, and greatest regret.
Once again she reached out telepathically, "I have returned discord, what is your decision?” There was silence. "ANSWER ME!" she shouted mentally.
"Yes," came a timid voice.
Celestia smiled ever so slightly, "I'm glad you could see reason Discord." Celestia opened her eyes, stood up and stepped back five paces. A light green aura enveloped her horn, as she prepared to cast a powerful spell. Suddenly a black streak shot out of the sky and landed next to her, the shock broke her concentration and the spell faded.
"Wait my sister, please do not do this! That creature is a menace to all of Equestria, you can’t reason with it!" Luna pleaded.
Celestia was furious, "I gave you clear instructions not to interrupt me Luna!"
The Goddess of the night stepped back in shock and uncertainty; she had never seen her sister this angry before.
"But he doesn't deserve a second chance" she said timidly.
"Did you not deserve a second chance sister?" Celestia asked, her voice cold.
"Th-that was different Tia” Luna stuttered. “My heart had been corrupted by the darkest of jealousies, but this creature… Why it is corruption itself! There could not possibly be any good left in it."
"I would thank you to stop referring to him as it, sister. Now leave me" Celestia commanded.
Luna nodded in defeat, and then vanished in a puff of black smoke, a skill she had retained from her days as Nightmare Moon. Celestia resumed her spell, a green light shooting from her horn, enveloping the statue of Discord. Cracks began to appear, snaking up the long serpent body, finally reaching his twisted horns. There was a flash of green, and the statue vanished, in its place lay Discord, the greatest threat in Equestrian history. "Can you hear me?" Celestia asked hesitantly as Discord lay motionless on the pedestal.
One yellow eye opened, "oh you are so predictable Celestia" he said, snapping his fingers. Nothing happened, he snapped again, still nothing.
Celestia smirked and motioned to the iron ring on his left leg. "Don’t take me for a fool Discord. That ring there is a magic suppressor. It’s my own personal design." The dragonequus attempted to fly away, but was caught in a green energy field. "Stop it Discord, I've taken every precaution, you will not escape me."
He was gently lowered just above the ground, now floating eye to eye with Celestia. "Let me go now" he said coldly.
She gently put a hoof to his face, "please do this for me Discord, I need to know that the good in you still remains." She pressed her horn gently against his forehead. "Remember the good times."
Memories flooded into Discords head, memories that he had tried so hard to bury. He saw himself chasing Celestia through the halls of Canterlot palace, both of them laughing like mad. He saw himself sitting at a table across from Celestia during some meeting with a bunch of boring, stuck up, fancy pants nobles, and mouthing to her that he was so bored, and her smiling and nodding ever so slightly in agreement. He saw himself sitting next to her in a field of flowers, as they gazed up at the sun.
"How the heck will you move something that big?" his memory self asked in wonder.
“They say that it will come naturally, when I come of age,” memory Celestia replied with a smile.
"STOP IT!!!” Discord shouted. "THOSE MEMORIES ARE DEAD TO ME! THEY MEAN NOTHING!"
“I can tell that you are lying,” Celestia replied softly. The green energy around Discord faded, and he fell to the ground with a thud. "Midnight is in one minute, I suggest you disguise yourself. You have 24 hours to prove to me that I should keep you in Equestria and not on the sun." With that said, Celestia disappeared in a flash of magic, leaving Discord sitting silently in the dirt, fighting to keep back the unwanted memories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight paced back and forth, she had sent a mental call to her friends, asking them to meet her urgently at the library. Her horn glow was back, but much worse than last night. Magical sparks were shooting off it, the purple light was pulsing. There was a knock on the door, Twilight raced over and opened it, coming face to face with her five friends. "Oh thank you for coming at such a late hour."
"Think nothing of it my dear," Rarity said, stepping through the doorway, followed closely by the others.
"Yikes Twilight, what’s up with your horn?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That's what I need to talk to you about," Twilight replied.
"Couldn’t this have waited till morning?" Applejack asked, yawning. “I gotta be up early after all.”
"No time, by tomorrow it could be too late!" Twilight told her.
"Too late for what?" Pinkie pie asked, not seeming the slightest bit tired, despite the fact that it was almost midnight.
"My horn started glowing last night, and according to a book I read, that means terrible danger!" Twilight explained.
"D..danger?" Fluttershy whispered.
"Well what in the hay could it be?" Applejack asked.
"I have no idea, but I felt like I should warn you all," Twilight replied
"Well I'm not scared!" Rainbow declared proudly, “whatever the heck's going on should be more scared of me!"
"Yes, well thank you for the heads up Twilight dear, but I assure you we can take care of ourselves" Rarity said.
They each walked out of the library and headed home, except for Fluttershy and Rainbow dash. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow nervously and said "Umm, Rainbow , I..I was wondering if umm, maybe, if it’s not any trouble that is, if I could possibly umm…"
"Stay at my place tonight?" Rainbow interrupted.
"Oh yes please, if that’s okay with you" Fluttershy said.
"Sure I guess,” Rainbow said, sounding slightly irritated, whilst in her head she was doing cartwheels. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, on my gosh!" she thought to herself. Fluttershy was actually coming over to stay; she had wanted this for longer than she could remember. She would comfort Fluttershy, tell her there was nothing to worry about, and then they would curl up in bed together. As the two pegasi left, Twilight walked up the stairs to wake up spike, she would need to send a letter to the princess immediately.

A new day

The town of Ponyville was silent, its citizens lay peacefully in their beds, unaware of the unfamiliar stallion sitting on a hill overlooking their small town. He was not new in town so to speak, he had met many of the residents before, but there was perhaps only one pony in town that could possibly recognize him. A purple unicorn who had been the architect of his defeat. A quick scan with her magic would expose him, and that would no doubt be a problem. His disguise was convincing enough, his coat was a simple brown, his mane a light grey, his cutie mark was a pair of grinning and frowning theatre masks. Truly the only thing even slightly noticeable about him was a pair of large tinted black glasses, which covered his misshapen yellow eyes.
24 hours he had been given, 24 hours to prove that he was capable of good and that he could live peacefully in society. The iron ring on his leg prevented him from spreading the chaos he so craved, but try as he might, he was unable to conjure a single chocolate storm cloud. He had opted for a unicorn body, which gave his an amateur amount of magic at best, just enough to teleport or perform a simple mind reading. It drove him mad to feel such a huge amount of power, but only be able to use a fraction of it, like water trickling through a blocked stream. Celestia would raise the sun in an hour, so until then he watched and waited.
As the sun rose, there were three ponies awake in Ponyville. Applejack, who had gotten up to begin the days chores, Rainbow Dash, who had decided to clear the clouds as early as possible, so she could have the day off, and Discord, who sat silently contemplating a life without chaos. Oh how he wished for his ability to control the sun and moon, the waiting was unbearable. He stood up, cracked his neck, and reached out mentally to any pony that might be awake. He saw the Element of Honesty bucking apple trees. "All the power of an element of harmony, and she just wants to kick trees?" he said aloud. He reached out again and saw the Element of Loyalty, zipping through the air at an incredible speed, flying through clouds and doing flips without a care in the world. “Well I suppose I at least have a place to start,” he decided, and with a flash he was gone.
Applejack gave the tree a hard kick, causing apples to fall into the baskets below. She wished Big Mac was here to help, but he was in bed with the flu, and she obviously couldn't ask Applebloom to help out. She prepared to kick again, but a flash of light caused her to lose balance and fall over. "What in tarnation!?" she cried, then looked up to see that standing before her was a brown stallion.
"Do you umm… Need any help?" he asked nervously.
"Who heck are you?" she asked angrily.
“Oh um my name is…” Oh blast! Why hadn't he come up with a name earlier? AJ was staring at him, waiting for an answer. "My name is Vanishing Act" he blurted out.
"Alrighty then Vanishing Act, may I ask just what the hay you're doing on mah farm?" She asked.
"I just… Well you see… I umm, thought you might need help is all," Discord replied, trying to sound convincing.
She eyed him suspiciously, "have you been spying on me?"
Of course he had been spying, but obviously he couldn't admit it. “No I was just passing by and you looked like you needed some help, so I decided to offer my services.”
"Well alright then, I suppose ya can help me buck apples if ya want, but don't try anthin foolish ya hear" she warned.

"Of course not,” he assured giving the nearest tree a hard kick.
"So can I call ya Vanish?" AJ asked.
"Yes that's fine, but I need something to call you." In truth he already knew her name, he had cursed it over and over while in his stone prison, along with the names of the other five elements.
“Ya'll can call me Applejack," she replied with a slight smile.
"Alright then Applejack" he said, kicking another tree.
"So are ya new in town?" AJ asked.
"Yes I am, this, is my first visit to Ponyville, it’s quite a nice little town," he replied.
"Um, what’s with the glasses? If ya don't mind mah askin that is" AJ asked curiously
"Oh my eyes are very sensitive to the sun," Discord replied
"But the suns barely even up yet," she pointed out.
"Force of habit I guess, I just put em on without even thinking," he chuckled nervously.
"Maybe we should quit talkin and get to work," she suggested.
"Yes great idea," he said quickly. They spent the next hour in silence, the only sound was the bucking of trees and the thumping of falling apples.
Applejack wiped the sweat from her brow. "That's enough for today I reckon," she said, giving the nearest tree a final kick. "Thanks fer helpin me out Vanish, yer alright."
"Oh it was no problem," he assured, and he meant it, kicking those tree's hadn't even caused him to break a sweat. By now the sun was in the sky and ponies were rising from their beds to begin the day.
"Well I gotta take mah sister ta school, maybe I'll see ya around," AJ said.
"Yes, maybe you will,” he said cheerfully and with a flash was gone. As Applejack headed back to the house, she wondered about Vanish. What kinda feller just offers to do hard work without expectin somethin in return? But she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Far above, Discord lay on a cloud, watching her. “Did you see that Celestia?” He thought angrily, “good deed done.” Suddenly in his mind he heard gentle sobbing, “that sounds familiar,” he thought. He searched Ponyville mentally for the source of the sobbing, but found nothing. Then he realized it wasn't coming from in town, but above it.
It must be a pegasi he realized, scanning the clouds for any signs of life. He burst out laughing when he found the source of the noise, there on a cloud, high above town hall, was a light blue Pegasus. “Oh this is priceless!” He thought, the ever confident Rainbow Dash, sobbing like a baby. He couldn't wait to find out what the problem was. With a quick magical pulse, he could hear her thoughts as clear as day. She was thinking about the Element of Kindness for whatever reason.
"Darn it! why can’t I work up the courage to just tell her?... I bet she'd just laugh at me, that's why" Rainbow thought to herself. Discord burst into another fit of laughter; oh this was too good, Rainbow Dash, the supposedly toughest pony in Ponyville, was in love, with a mare no less. His whole body shook with laughter, imagine if he told somepony, he was laughing so hard that he fell off his cloud, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Tough love

Tough love
Discord didn't even feel the impact when he hit the ground, he was still laughing uncontrollably. Oh the fun he could have, what if he told Fluttershy, or stood in the centre of town and announced it to everypony in the royal Canterlot voice. Well in any case, he had to tell somepony, but whom? Then it hit him, why not catch up to Applejack and tell her, she would probably get as much of a kick out of it as him. He locked on to Applejack mentally, she was in her kitchen, talking to a yellow filly who was most likely her sister. With a flash he was standing in front of them. “APPLEJACK YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT!!!” he shouted excitedly.
Applebloom fell back in surprise, "who the heck are you!?" she demanded.
"Oh um Applebloom, this here's Vanish, he helped me out on the farm this morning and he’s new in town," Applejack explained.
"A pleasure to meet you my dear," he said shaking Applebloom’s hoof.
"Umm, yeah, nice ta meet ya too I guess," she said hesitantly.
"Uh, Applebloom why dontcha run along, I'll catch up in a minute," AJ told her sister.
"Sure thing sis!” Applebloom replied, running out the door, glad to get away from the stranger in their kitchen.
"Now what the heck do you need to tell me that was worth scarin mah sister?" AJ asked.
“Well you know Rainbow Dash,” Discord said.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“Did you know she has a crush on, wait for it,” he said struggling not to laugh... “FLUTTERSHY!” he burst out, falling on the floor in a fit of laughter.
"Yeah ah course I know that, everypony in town knows," the unamused mare deadpanned.
He stopped abruptly, “are you kidding me? So you all know? Does she know you know?"
“I didn't think it polite ta ask, now if all ya wanted was ta laugh at mah friends, I’d thank ya ta leave" AJ said, sounding annoyed.
"Oh don't be like that, I was only having fun," Discord said.
"Fun at the expense ah others ain’t my kinda fun" she said angrily, “now I gotta go".
As she left, Discord sat contemplating what had just happened. How could Applejack not find it funny, the fact that it was her friend shouldn't have made it any less funny, but somehow it did. Well it had been over 1000 years since he last had what could be called a friend, so maybe more had changed than he thought. "Applejack wait up", he called trotting after her.
"What in tarnation do ya want now?" she asked as he caught up to her.
"Look I'm sorry I laughed at your friends alright, I didn't mean any harm, honest," Discord told her, trying to salvage the situation.
"Fine," she said, not looking at him.
"I really mean it. Look, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" He asked.
A smile spread across Applejacks face, "yeah, now thatcha mention it there is, get Rainbow to admit her feelings to Fluttershy." Discord was speechless, she expected him to play matchmaker. "How the heck did ya find out about Rainbow anyway" she asked suspiciously.
Oh damnit, he was caught, "um I kinda sorta...”
"yes?" she demanded impatiently.
"I read her mind", he said timidly.
“YA DID WHAT NOW!?” she shouted, but before she could say another word he was gone. Only to reappear on a cloud above her, he peered down, silently watching as she ran to catch up with her sister.
"Well I think that went well", he said to himself. For the first time in centuries he felt regret. A great opportunity to actually make a friend, and avoid disintegration at the hooves of Celestia, and he completely wasted it. He groaned, "Rainbow Dash it is then.”
In the little town of Ponyville, the day was in full swing. The sun was shining, stall keepers were selling their wares, the streets were busy with ponies going about their daily business. You would never guess that high above it all ,in the clouds, a blue Pegasus was crying uncontrollably.
“Why me?” she wondered, “of all the ponies to get stuck with these weird feelings why me?” The perfect opportunity had been last night, after Twilights crazy doomsday prediction. Fluttershy had been right there, curled up in a ball, scared out of her mind about this supposed danger. But Rainbow had wimped out, the words had gotten stuck in her throat, the ones she had said to the mirror so many times. “Fluttershy, I think I like you,” it sounded so simple when she said it to herself. But it didn't matter now, she was never going to get that good of an opportunity again. Rainbow leaned over the side of her cloud, looking at the happy ponies below. She resented their happiness. Suddenly she was blinded by a flash of light, she opened her eyes to see a brown stallion standing on his own cloud, directly in front of her.
"Rainbow dash I presume," he said with a grin.
"Who the heck are you!?" she demanded.
"Hey hey, relax, consider me a friend," Discord replied in what he hoped was a soothing voice. “The names Vanishing Act”
“I've got plenty of friends, I don't need weirdo ponies like you spying on me!" Rainbow snapped.
“I can assure you I wasn't spying,” he lied,” in fact, your friend Applejack sent me to talk to you."
"Oh really, and just what did she send you to talk about?" She asked suspiciously.
He took a deep breath, "look Rainbow I'm going to be to be blunt with you, everypony in town knows you like Fluttershy, except for Fluttershy herself obviously.”
Rainbow blushed furiously, “everypony?” she whispered.
“Yes that right everypony, and I'm on a deadline here, so you're going to fly over to Fluttershy’s cottage right now, tell her how you feel and then we'll all live happily ever after, doesn't that sound like fun?”
“NO!” she yelled, looking at him like he was a madpony. “I can’t!”
Discord groaned. "And why can’t you?"
“Because, well, what if she says no, or thinks I'm some kind of freak!?" Her voice sounded panicked.
“If she says no I'll turn her inside out" Discord growled.
“You'll what!?” Rainbow asked, shocked.
“ Never mind, forget I said that, look you can fly or I can drag you, either way you’re going to Fluttershy’s house!” Discord told her, getting annoyed.
"I WONT GO!" she yelled, attempting to fly away.
Discord caught her in a field of red magic, "fine we'll do this the hard way" he declared angrily. With a flash they were standing in front of the small cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Rainbow hung limply in the grip of his magic. "Now are you going to knock or should I?" She was silent, so Discord reached out with a tendril of magic and knocked on the door three times.
“Just a minute” came a soft voice from inside, there was the sound of quiet footsteps and the door opened slightly. "Who's there?" the voice asked.
"It’s me Fluttershy, open the door" Discord said, mimicking Rainbows voice perfectly.
"Oh Rainbow Dash thank goodness, I thought maybe it was the danger that Twilight warn...” she stopped when she saw Rainbow floating in the field of red magic, and a brown, grey maned unicorn wearing shades standing slightly behind her, horn glowing red.

The joy of flying

The joy of flying
A wave of pure terror washed over Fluttershy as she saw the two ponies standing before her. Well, one was standing, the other was floating. "Hi Fluttershy", Rainbow said weakly.
"Yes, hello Fluttershy", the brown stallion added.
“I..I..I,” was all the shy pegasus could manage.
"Oh for the love of Celestia, please don't scream,” the stallion interrupted. "Rainbow Dash, your friend appears to be scared out of her mind, is there something you would like to say? Some comforting words perhaps?"
“Uh yeah, Fluttershy this isn't what it looks like, this guy isn't what Twilight warned us about" Rainbow assured Fluttershy.
“Bu… but he…” She pointed to the red field surrounding Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, that's kinda my fault, could you let me go already, I'm not gonna fly away.”
Discord released his magical grip, causing Rainbow to hit the ground with a thud.
“Fluttershy, I believe Rainbow Dash has something to say to you,” Discord said
"Maybe we should go inside", Rainbow offered.
"Oh, okay then" Fluttershy said kindly.
“I guess I'll take my leave now” Discord said proudly, as he was walking away, Rainbow put a hoof on his shoulder.
“Thanks for doing this, I think I'll be alright from now on,” Rainbow said with a smile.
"No problem my dear, sometimes all we need is a little tough love" Discord said, returning the smile.
"What was your name again?" Rainbow asked.
"Call me Vanishing Act," and with a flash he lived up to his name. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked in to the cottage, while Discord sat on a cloud high above, telepathically watching the two of them.
Rainbow walked into the living room and collapsed on the couch. Fluttershy rushed over, "oh goodness are you alright Rainbow?"
“Yeah I'm fine, rough morning is all… Hey Fluttershy, come sit next me,” Rainbow patted the seat next to her.
She obliged, sitting down next to Rainbow. "So what did you need to tell me?"
“Uh this is kinda awkward, and I don't wanna freak you out or anything but…” Rainbow began.
Fluttershy put a comforting hoof on Rainbows shoulder. “Look me in the eyes Rainbow,” she said sternly, “we've been friends for years, and I guarantee that whatever you have to say won’t affect that.”
“I...well I ummm, I LIKE YOU,” she blurted out.
"You like me” Fluttershy repeated, slightly confused. "Well gee Rainbow I like you too."
Rainbow groaned and face-hoofed, "no I mean I like you as more than a friend."
Fluttershy's face lit up with understanding, "oh, you mean you like me in the other way."
Rainbows cheeks turned a deep shade of red, "yeah something like that" she muttered. “Look I know it’s weird alright, but I can’t help it, and it’s been eating me up for a long time. So now you know, that's the end of it, I've gotta go.” As she stood up to leave, Fluttershy put her hooves around Rainbows waist, pulling her back down into a gentle kiss.
“Well I guess you’re not the only weird one,” Fluttershy said sweetly.
High up on his cloud, Discord pumped his fists in the air. “Yes yes yes!” he cried, “eat that Applejack.” He located her mentally, she was in the town library, talking to, Discord shuddered, her. The ambitious purple unicorn who had defeated him. But what were they talking about? He concentrated harder.
“I dunno Twi, he just seemed a tad weird ta me,” AJ told Twilight.
“Weird how?" Twilight queried.
“Well he just kinda just appeared outa nowhere with no explanation, just sayin he wanted ta help me work," Applejack explained.
"Maybe he's just a nice guy, is that so hard to believe?" Twilight asked
"Nah, I guess not, but still, somethin didn't feel right about him, and he said he'd been readin Rainbow Dash's mind…” She was cut short.
Twilight gasped, "really!? A real life mind reader, right here in town!?"
"Twi, I think yer missin the point" AJ tried to stop Twilight’s excited chatter.
“Oh wow a mind reader!” Twilight interrupted, “think of the research possibilities!”
Discord stopped listening, it seemed his cover was safe for now, but he decided to wait a while before gloating to Applejack.
Maybe if he took a walk through town, an opportunity for good would present itself. But he didn't want to risk being recognized by Applejack, with a quick pulse of magic, his coat changed from brown to dull white, his mane from grey to bright chestnut brown, and his cutie mark from a pair of masks to a single light grey cloud. Oh what the heck he decided, swapping his unicorn horn for that of a set of pegasus wings. He shot into the air, doing a flip, and flew towards Ponyville at a speed that made Rainbow Dash look amateurish. It felt so liberating to actually fly after so long, with his mismatched wings. He had been able to hover, but true flight had been impossible. Now he streaked through the sky, obliterating the clouds in his path, a cool breeze on his face.
More memories began to surface. "Your wings are so pretty Celestia, not like my ugly things" he said, spreading his large bat wings.
"Aww, you’re not ugly Discord,” Celestia assured, “besides I think they're pretty cool looking".
"Wanna race?” he asked her excitedly.
Discord flew faster still, trying to get the images out of his head, only to smack head first into a grey pegasus.
The impact sent them both crashing to the ground, momentarily stunning Discord. He lay there with his eyes clenched shut, his glasses lay somewhere nearby. “Well this is it,” he thought, “not even one day and I've already killed somepony!” Killed was the wrong word he decided, at the speed he was going, splattered would be more accurate.
"Are you okay", a strange voice asked. Discord opened his eyes slightly, as not to scare the pony away.
“Huh?” was all he could manage.
“My bad, I guess I didn't see you," The voice said apologetically.
“Could you find my glasses?" he muttered. He heard hooves running away, only to return a moment later.
"Here you go" the voice said, dropping the glasses on his chest. He put them on; remarkably they were still intact, strong magic he guessed. Discord opened his eyes, and almost yelled loudly in surprise. Just inches away from him, was a pair of wonky golden eyes.

A lesson in respect

Authors notes:Many thanks to my young apprentice Amethyst Dawn for fixing my lousy punctuation.

A lesson in respect
The golden eyes continued to stare at him, well one did, the other seemed to be looking at something else entirely. Discord wriggled back slightly. "Hi!" the grey Pegasus said cheerfully.
“Hello…” Discord replied, standing up. He was a little uneasy on his feet, "did I uh, crash into you by any chance?
“Yep” she said with a nod.
“And how did you um...” He hesitated, not wanting to use the word survive. "Are you okay?" he finally asked.
"Yeah, I feel fine!" he noticed muffins and mail scattered in every direction.

"Well I'm terribly sorry my dear, perhaps I could help you clean up this mess," Discord offered.
“Sure thing!” she replied, picking up her leather mail bag.
They spent the next few minutes gathering fallen letters. "What about the muffins?" he asked as the final letter was returned.
"Huh, oh I dunno where those came from," the pegasus said.
"Oh alright then" he said slowly, “what's your name” he asked as she prepared to fly away.
"Derpy Hooves!” she replied.
Derpy huh, what an odd name, Discord thought. "Well listen Derpy, I'm new in town and find myself in need of a...” He didn't want to say friend. "A companion, yes that's it, a companion, how would you like to accompany me into town?" She stared at him blankly, “I mean how would you like to take a walk with me?"
Her eyes lit up, "oh sure thing!" She said grinning. They set off, walking into Ponyville.
"That's Lyra," Derpy said, pointing to a light aqua mare sitting on a bench.
"Why does she sit like that?" Discord asked curiously.
“She won’t say, it’s a big secret.” They continued to walk casually through the streets of Ponyville, Discord taking in the sights, and Derpy pointing out the townsfolk that she knew. They passed a cafe, where Discord overheard two mares arguing.
“Honestly darling, classical music is so much more tasteful and refined,” came a sophisticated sounding voice.
“Yeah, if by refined you mean boring,” came a rougher voice.
“Oh you can be impossible sometimes!” The first voice said.
“Yeah, and that's why you love me right?” The second voice chuckled.
They don't need help Discord decided. "It all seems so peaceful" he said to his companion.
"Yeah, it’s pretty nice town, all the ponies are super nice to me… Well… All except for one…” Derpy finished quietly.
Discord froze, "what did you say?" he asked calmly.
“I said all the ponies are…”
"No not that" Discord cut her off, “did you say some pony is giving you a hard time?"
“Oh it’s not a big deal really" she said, looking nervously at the ground.
"I assure you it is a big deal, now please tell me who it is," he replied, looking at her.
“Well I'm kinda embarrassed about it… It’s a filly…” She trailed off.
“A filly is making trouble for you?” He asked slightly confused.
“Well it’s not just me, she's mean to everypony.” Derpy explained.
“What does she do to you?” Discord asked.
“She makes fun of my weird eyes” Derpy said softly, still looking at the ground. Time seemed to stand still, sounds were muffled, and all he saw was grey, as something inside of Discord snapped.
“She… makes... fun of you... because of your appearance?” he said slowly. Derpy nodded, “do you have something of hers by any chance?” he asked calmly.
Derpy reached into her bag and pulled out a letter, “she's gonna be mad if that letter gets lost.”
"Oh I think she will be fine my dear, now, why don't you get to work delivering those letters, and I'll see you later.” Discord said, smiling at her
"Okay see ya!” she cried, flying into the air. Discord walked quickly behind the nearest house and restored his unicorn disguise, magic was needed for what he was about to do. He touched the letter to his horn, feeling the life force of the pony who had written it. He closed his eyes, searching the town mentally for the matching life force. He found it quickly. It was coming from the school across town.
Discord sat on a cloud, floating just above Ponyville School. He could hear the laughter of fillies as they played, carefree out in the bright cloudless day. He scanned the playground, spotting Applejack's sister playing with two friends. He found it hard to believe that one of these smiling fillies could be the one who made fun of Derpy. Then he saw her, a light pink filly wearing some kind of silly tiara. He did a quick check with his magic, the life force matched. Oh the things he could do to her, turn her inside out, send her to the underworld. But Celestia's words rang in his mind, she wanted proof that he was capable of good. Well what better way to prove it than by sparing that ponies miserable life. Still, there was no harm in giving her a warning. Discord teleported down to the ground, appearing in front of Applebloom. "Hello Applebloom" he said cheerfully.
“Uh… Hi Vanishing Act,” she replied nervously, "ya know mah sisters lookin fer ya, she seemed pretty mad."
"Yes well, I'll speak to her later, now tell me about that filly over there,” he pointed to the cause of Derpy's unhappiness.
"That's Diamond Tiara", the white unicorn filly next to Applebloom said.
"And is she a problem?” He asked.
"Yeah she's always making fun of us because we don't have cutie marks.” Am orange fured pegasus filly replied.
That was all Discord needed to hear, "thank you girls" .He walked over to the one called Diamond Tiara, even saying the name in his head made Discord cringe. "Excuse me he said sweetly, are you Diamond Tiara?"
"Yeah I am, what the heck do you want?" Diamond Tiara asked suspiciously.
”Oh, I just wanted to have a chat,” and with a flash both of them vanished.
They re-emerged in the Everfree forest, Discord holding Diamond Tiara tightly in the grip of his magic. She kicked and thrashed. “LET ME GO!!!” she screamed.
Discord chuckled, “my dear, if I let you go in here you wouldn't live 10 minutes. You'd fall down a hole or touch a poisonous plant… That is if you weren't devoured first.”
She stopped struggling, “w… what do you want?”
“Oh there are a lot of things I want, many of which I didn't even realize before today. But the one thing I want most of all right now," he pulled her close enough that she could see her reflection in his shades, “is to skin you alive.”
She burst in to tears. “Please don't hurt me!” She wailed, “I'll do whatever you want!”
“Oh relax, as much as I want to kill you, I can’t. Not directly anyway, now I hear that you've been making fun of Derpy, is that true?" He asked.
“Y..yes” she sobbed.
"And why may I ask have you been making fun of her?" He queried.
“Be... because she has weird eyes…” She whimpered.
"I see, weird eyes, well I’d love to get your opinion on something, would you rather have weird eyes, or no eyes?" With a flash of magic, Diamond Tiara's eyes turned a milky white.
She screamed, “wh... wh... what have you done!?” she whimpered.
"I took your eye sight, you didn't deserve it anyway.” He released his magic grip, and she fell to the ground with a thud. Discord watched in amusement as she fumbled around in the dirt, unable to gain her balance. “Now what else can I do with you?” he wondered aloud, “oh of course, you have a problem with blank flanks don't you.”
“No…” she whimpered.
“DON'T LIE TO ME!!!” he roared, “oh how I hate people like you.”
His mind flashed back to more painful memories. "Celestia they're all staring at me."
"Let them stare" she said reassuringly, “you have nothing to be ashamed of."
He felt like every pair of eyes was on him, as they strolled down Canterlot’s main street. Now about the whole blank flank thing, he charged his horn, this was going take a huge amount of magical power. His horn pulsed as he gathered more and more magic, then finally he cast the spell. There was an explosion of green energy, which flattened all the nearby trees. Discord looked around, examining the damage he had caused, maybe that magic suppressor ring isn't as powerful as Celestia thought. There in the centre of the destruction lay Diamond Tiara, she was unharmed except for one thing, her cutie mark was gone.
Discord walked over to where she lay, motionless. He bent down and whispered in her ear, “no more making fun of blank flanks I guess.” She didn't respond, "oh you must me in shock my dear, well don't worry, the blindness spell is temporary, the cutie mark removal spell however, is not. I'll decide when you get that back,” she muttered something, “what was that my dear?”
“I.. I'm sorry…” Diamond Tiara whimpered.
He stood up, "yes of course you are my dear", he said sarcastically. "This town is a happy place, filled with happy ponies, you are the only piece of that puzzle that doesn't fit, so if I were you, I would convince my parents to pack up and leave this town, and never come back. He teleported her back to the schoolyard where they had met, leaving him standing alone amid the destruction he had caused, "Oh discord you are a smooth one" he said to himself.

Seeing pink

Authors note:Thanks Amethyst Dawn for editing
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Seeing Pink
Discord strolled leisurely through the Everfree forest, an activity that would terrify most ponies. But even at a fraction of his power he was still more dangerous than anything he was likely to meet. He whistled a cheerful tune, still on a mental high from teaching that awful little filly a lesson. Perhaps he would pay her parents a visit if there was time; no doubt they were just as awful as her, if not worse. Imagine if he were to casually show up at their house. But his heart sank slightly as he realized she wouldn't see it. Still, just hearing his voice again might be enough to push her mind to the breaking point. Truly there was nothing more enjoyable in this world than mentally torturing ponies, hearing their scream of fear and anguish.

Discord had never cared for physical torture; it was far too messy, unpredictable, and required too much effort. Pain was temporary after all, and even the weakest of ponies were capable of ignoring pain, but if he could break their mind, the damage was permanent. They would suffer forever, and there were infinite ways in which it could be accomplished. But there was something different about what he had done today, it was a feeling he couldn't quite describe, not just the usual feeling of dominance and self-gratification. No, by teaching Diamond Tiara a lesson, he had helped others. He had made a difference in their lives for the better, no longer would school fillies suffer at the hooves of her cruelty; no longer would anypony have to suffer. He had helped them, and it felt pretty damn good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile at Ponyville schoolhouse, a crowd had gathered around Diamond Tiara, who had just re-emerged in a flash of light. Harsh whispers filled the air.

What’s wrong with her eyes?" One colt whispered.

What’s she saying?" Another asked.

"Her cutie marks gone!" A filly cried in horror.

Their teacher Miss Cheerilee pushed through past them, "everypony back the classroom now!” she ordered. They shuffled away, still whispering and glancing over their shoulders. "Diamond Tiara, can you hear me?” She asked urgently, “do you know where you are? Are you hurt?” Diamond Tiara was silent. Miss Cheerilee began to panic, in all her years as a teacher, nothing this terrible had happened to one of her students. Not being a unicorn, she couldn't even perform a simple medical scan to see what had caused this, she would need to inform the filly’s father, who would be furious. Then it hit her, there was a powerful unicorn living right here in Ponyville. No doubt Twilight Sparkle could diagnose the problem, and possibly reverse it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Discord emerged from the Everfree forest, right in Fluttershy's backyard as he had planned. He walked up to the side window and peeked in, the room was empty. But candles were still lit, and he could see the front door was ajar. He levitated himself to the second floor window, and what he saw made him giggle madly. There, lying in bed was Fluttershy, and cuddled up with her was Rainbow Dash. Discord knew exactly what they had been up to, “LOOKING GOOD RAINBOW!” he boomed in the royal Canterlot voice.

Rainbow bolted up, “who's there!?” she demanded, but Discord was already gone.

As Discord strolled through Ponyville, he felt better than he had in centuries. He felt none of the fake happiness mixed with underlying anger that he did when spreading chaos. Only genuine happiness at the thought of helping others, and being surrounded by ponies who would in turn help him, if he required it. Discord looked up at the sun, judging by its position, he guessed it was around midday. He still had to find Applejack and tell her about how he got the two mares together, and maybe even have a conversation with the pony, who up until a few hours ago, he had hated with the passion of 100 exploding suns. But no longer, all the pent up anger had vanished, all his feelings of hatred, at least his hatred of ponies that didn't deserve it, was gone. He decided to first locate Derpy, then maybe the two of them could...His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bouncing.

He had heard that sound before, but where. Then it dawned on him, "oh no no, oh please in the name of Celestia not…”

"HI I'M PINKIE PIE!" a voice shouted from behind him.

Discord groaned loudly, “why her?” He whispered to himself.

She leapfrogged over him, and shoved her face right up against his. "Oh my gosh are you new in town? Because I've never seen you before and if I've never seen you before then that means we’re not friends yet and if we’re not friends then I need to throw you a party so we can celebrate us becoming friends!!!"

Discord reeled back from the onslaught being shouted at him. “Yes I am new in town” he replied calmly, “and no we are not friends yet.”

"Well duh! I just said that silly, but don't worry since we’re friends now!" the wideness of her smile seemed to defy reality.

"So Pinkie,” he said nervously.

"Yes new friend who I don't know the name of yet, what’s your name by the way?" She asked.

"Uh my name is Vanishing Act," Discord replied.

"Wow! Are you like a magician or something?" Pinkie asked curiously.

"Uhh, yes sort of… Look the thing is Pinkie, I'm rather busy today, and I need to get going" Discord said.

“Aww, too busy even for a party?" Pinkie asked disappointedly.

“Yes I'm afraid so," he replied. As the smile on her face fell, Discord felt what was left of his heart literally break. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, well how about a hug instead?" Her eyes brightened, and instantly the smile returned. She leaped at Discord, squeezing him tightly. He squeezed back, resting his head in her super soft puffy mane. She smelled like a thousand different candies, and her mane was like a pillow. After what seemed like an eternity, they let go.

“Well I'll see you later Vanish, but I still owe you a party!” She bounced away, humming cheerfully. Discord felt like he was melting, that ten second hug had been, without a doubt, the best thing to happen to him in over 1000 years. He wanted to move, but all he could do was stare silently at the ground, a dumb grin spreading across his face.

Of spells and curses

Authors notes:Thanks to Amethyst Dawn for the editing.
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Of spells and curses
If you were to ask an average citizen of Ponyville how their day was going, 99 percent of the time their answers would be positive, this town wasn't like the high class Canterlot, nor the low class sinkhole that was Manehatten. This town was a perfect balance of nice ponies and modest living, where everypony knew everypony, and there were always good friends to help with any problem that may arise.

This day had been particularly kind to a certain blue Pegasus, who with the help of a stranger had confessed her love to a childhood friend. Or perhaps you could ask the mail pony Derpy Hooves, whose run in with the same stranger, had left her feeling confident about her odd appearance. Perhaps you could ask the fillies Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who thanks to the actions of this stranger, had avoided harassment at the hooves of the school bully, and most likely would never suffer harassment from said bully again. If you felt brave perhaps you could ask the town’s baker Pinkie Pie how she felt about her run in with this stranger. In truth that simple hug had left her feeling funny inside, but not in a bad way, though she would be embarrassed to admit it. Yes, truthfully there was only one pony in Ponyville who was not having a good day, though if you asked anypony about it privately, they would tell you that she deserved it.

Twilight walked through the doors of Ponyville general hospital. She had been in the library, reading a particularly interesting tome on theoretical magic, when Spike had coughed up a letter. Apparently a school filly had been magically injured, and her expertise was needed to find out what spell was used. "Excuse me", she called to the receptionist, “I was told that somepony had been brought in with a magical injury"

“Ah yes Miss Sparkle,” a doctor walked up to greet her, “please come with me.

She accompanied the doctor down a sterile hallway to a waiting room. “Stay here a moment, I'll check if they're ready for you to go in.” He disappeared into one of the rooms. Miss Cheerilee was sitting in the waiting room, along with Diamond Tiara's father, who was crying.

"Oh thank you for coming Twilight Sparkle, the doctor's say they've never seen anything like it,” Cheerilee said.

“Can you help my daughter?” Mr Rich sniffed.

"Oh of course I can" Twilight reassured him, “then we'll know whatever or whoever did this.”

“Whoever?” He asked confused,” are you saying that this was done deliberately, that it wasn't an accident?

“No I'm not saying that,” she assured him. ”After all,” she thought to herself, who in Ponyville besides herself was halfway decent at magic anyway.

“You can go in now,” the Doctor said, re-emerging from the room.

“I think I should do this privately,” Twilight said.

Mr Rich nodded. “Please help my daughter, she's all I have.”

Twilight put on a strong face as she smiled at him, then entered the hospital room. Twilight immediately cast a silence spell on the room. Whatever happened in here, Mr Rich didn't need to hear, it would only upset him further. Diamond Tiara lay in bed, her eyes staring but seeing nothing. Twilight recognized the spell immediately, temporary blindness. Some sick fools idea of a joke she thought, casting a simple counter curse. The white in Diamond Tiara's eyes faded, and she immediately began to scream, thrashing as pain washed over her in waves. Twilight immediately cast a re-blinding spell, and Diamond immediately fell silent. What an odd curse she thought, it was if someone didn't want it removed, which told her this more than a simple prank.

Twilight examined Diamond's flank, where by all rights a cutie mark should have been. But there was nothing, not burn mark, or scar, nothing to indicate that it had been removed. What the hell kind of magic was this? Twilight wondered, was this what her horn had warned her about? And if so, had she failed to protect this filly somehow? "Diamond Tiara, can you hear me?" She asked gently, there was no response, "Diamond, please say something, who did this to you?" Twilight decided to read the fillies mind; surely she must some memory of what happened. Twilight's horn glowed as she pressed it gently against Diamonds forehead, peering into her mind. Twilight saw Diamond teasing Applebloom, she saw her talking to her friend Silver Spoon, and she saw Diamond crying in her room, clutching a framed photo. She dug deeper, looking for any memories of today. She saw the Everfree forest, heard an unfamiliar voice,

"Oh how I hate ponies like you" Suddenly there was a burst of green light, Twilight screamed as it burnt her eyes. She pulled her horn back and the memory ended.

"What in the hell was that!?" she exclaimed to nopony. Who in Equestria besides the Celestia and Luna could even perform such a powerful spell, one that apparently was powerful enough to strip a pony of their cutie mark. Another thought hit Twilight, suppose she did discover who cast the spell, what then? She would be no match for somepony as powerful as that. "Oh Diamond Tiara, I wish there was something I could do for you."

As Twilight was leaving, Diamond muttered something, “I...”

Twilight rushed over, “what did you say?”

“I...I don't,” Diamond murmured

“Yes?” Twilight asked.

"I don't fit." Diamonds eyes closed, as she fell into unconsciousness.

“You don't fit, what does that mean?” Twilight wondered aloud. She emerged from the room.

“How is she? Mr Rich asked, “did you find anything?”

“Your daughter's going to be fine, the blindness was caused by a spell and will soon wear off, the cutie mark on the other hoof..." Twilight trailed off.

“What happened to her cutie mark!?" he asked worriedly.

“I checked her memories; it seems somepony removed it with a spell, the same pony who caused the blindness.” Twilight replied.

The expression on his face went from one of sadness, to one of extreme anger. “You're saying that somepony attacked my daughter!?” he growled, it seems that way, “and whoever it was appears to be incredibly powerful, possibly the most dangerous pony in all of Equestria, who knows what else he could be planning?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile across town, Discord sat at one of the tables outside Sugarcube corner. "So are you sure we haven't met?" the brown, spiky maned stallion asked him.

Discord groaned, ”For the hundredth time, we haven't met, I promise you've never seen me before!"

“Were you at the battle of Gallifrey?" The stallion persisted.

“No,” Discord answered tiredly.

“How about Canary wharf?” He asked.

“No, I don't even know what that is,” Discord said.

“Are you at all affiliated with the Sontarans?” He just wouldn’t give up!

Discord slammed his head repeatedly against the wooden table. “Look sir, as far as I know sultanas are a fruit, and I have no affiliation with them, so if you could PLEASE stop talking to me.”

The mane 7

Authors notes:Thanks Amethyst Dawn for editing
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The mane 7

Twilight stepped out of the gloom of the Everfree forest, into a clearly non-natural clearing. Her five friends followed close behind. "Wow I feel kinda funny" Applejack slurred as she stepped into the ring of flattened trees.
"I feel just fine,” Rarity insisted, “except for having to stare at this dreadful mess."

"It looks like a sonic rainboom went off or something" Rainbow offered, she too felt woozy.

"Oh I hope that no animals were hurt", Fluttershy said worriedly.

"Maybe sompony just had a super super fun party here!" Pinkie said bouncing into the clearing. The magic in the air was so thick that Twilight could almost taste it. Being a unicorn, she was able to channel some of the excess magic into her horn; Rarity's horn was also doing this non-voluntarily. But they were being hit full force, magic washed against them like waves against a rock.

“So what are we doing out here Twi?” Applejack asked.

"Investigating!” She replied excitedly. "An extremely powerful unicorn is in Ponyville, and once I get a sample of his magic aura, we can track him down. He's already put one filly in the hospital, who knows what he might do next." Twilight closed her eyes, attempting to feel the flow of magic around her, but she didn't feel the usual calm rippling of magic in the air, instead it was like an ocean in a storm, wild, bashing against itself, uncontrollable.

Twilight opened her eyes," did you get anything?" Rainbow asked.

"No,” Twilight replied sounding defeated, it was too chaotic. Like trying to catch individual grains of sand in a sand storm.

"Oh well you tried your best dear” Rarity said hastily, “now perhaps we should leave this dreadful place."

Twilight followed the others out of the clearing, she felt like screaming. She had failed to understand her horns warning, and now failed to track down the pony who had stolen Diamond Tiara's cutie mark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the six of them entered Ponyville, Twilight considered sending a second letter to the princess. It had been almost a whole day and still no response. In two years of sending letters, never once had one been ignored. Well the princess must have a good reason Twilight decided, maybe she's just busy with royal duties. As they approached the library, Twilight saw a brown stallion with black glasses sitting outside, leaned against the tree. With the glasses on Twilight couldn't tell if he was awake or asleep.

"Oh, hiya Vanish!" Pinkie cried, bouncing past them.
He smiled, "why hello there Pinkie"
"Sup Vanish" rainbow said, they hoof bumped.

"There ya are Vanish!” Applejack exclaimed, “I’ve been wantin ta thank ya fer helpin out Rainbow."

"Um girls, what’s going on here" Twilight asked confused.

"Oh we haven't met my dear" he said standing up. "My name is Vanishing Act, a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he shook Twilight's hoof , causing the fur on her arm to prickle.

“Nice to meet you Vanish, I'm Twilight Sparkle.” She said.

He turned to the white mare standing to the side, “and you are?”

My name is Rarity,” she said blushing slightly.

"Your mane is finely styled,” he complimented her.

"Oh why thank you," Rarity smiled.

“Perfect!” he declared, “introductions are made.”

“So uhh, Applejack, you and Vanish have already met?” Twilight asked.

“We sure have, he helped me out with the apple buckin this mornin!” Applejack replied happily.

“Yeah, and he talked some sense into me about Fluttershy” Rainbow added, flying down to give the yellow mare a gentle kiss.

“Oh oh oh, me next!” Pinkie interrupted. “Well there I was just walking along and the all of a sudden I see somepony that I…”
Twilight shoved a hoof in pinkies mouth, "I think we get the idea. Well Vanish, the six of us were actually planning to go on a picnic, and you’re welcome to join us.”

“Of course I'll join you, in fact don't worry about bringing anything, I've got it covered.” With a flash they were in a field of soft grass.

"Where are we?" Twilight asked.

“Oh just a little out of the way pocket dimension.” A picnic blanket materialized, along with a variety of cakes, candies, pastries and various other treats that you would expect to see a child's birthday party.

“D… did you say we're in another d…di..dimension!?” Twilight stammered.

Discord looked confused, "why so shocked, surely you've travelled between dimensions before?"

“No, as a matter of fact I haven't,” She said.

"Well in that case I'll have to teach you, but right now I'd rather enjoy my time with friends" Discord smiled wide at them all.

The picnic was more fun than any chaos Discord could have created if he had tried for a thousand years. They talked and laughed for hours, Rainbow showing off her new tricks, Rarity discussing what fashions were in this season, Twilight fascinating them with her new spells and magical discoveries, Discord making up stories about himself as he went along. Creating a fictional life for himself, he could be anypony he wanted, but chose to keep it simple by claiming he was from Canterlot, and had moved to Ponyville to live a quiet life. Pinkie Pie seemed content to sit quietly, glancing at him when she thought he wouldn't notice. There was something in her eyes, admiration mixed with something he couldn't quite identify.

"So Vanish, are there other dimensions besides this one?" Twilight asked.

"Oh of course there are my dear, far too many for me to explore, but occasionally I find a nice one like this, and keep a magic record of it for quick access." He grinned at her.

Rainbow stood up, “alright, I've been saving this trick for the Wonderbolts, but I think I'd rather show you guys.” She prepared to take off, but stopped when she heard laughter. Vanish was on his back, laughing like a mad man, tears running down his face."Whats so funny!?" she demanded angrily.

“Oh I'm sorry my dear, but the... Wonderbolts!" he burst out, with a fresh bout of laughter.

She stood over him, glaring,"tell me what’s so funny about the Wonderbolts!" she said angrily.

"You do know that they're frauds right, why in the world would you want to join them!?" He replied.

"THEY ARE NOT FRAUDS!!!" she yelled at him.

"Oh yes they are, they get energized with unicorn magic before every show, without it they couldn't go much faster than Fluttershy after doing a few tricks." He told her.

Rainbow was speechless, her idols, the greatest flyers in all of Equestria, were nothing more than average pegasi mixed with unicorn magic. It couldn't be true, there was no way, “YOUR LYING!!!” she yelled, tears forming in her eyes, “THEY ARE THE GREATEST FLYERS!!!”

“How could you possibly know that they're frauds?” Twilight asked.

"Let’s just say that I'm in a position to know a lot of things," He said.

Rainbow suddenly jumped up and flew off into the distance, ignoring her friend’s pleas to come back, and Vanishes cries of how sorry he was.

Night falls on Ponyville

Authors notes:Thanks Amethyst dawn for editing, you're a light in the darkness of my lousy punctuation.
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Coming to terms
Rainbow Dash didn't know where she was going, and frankly, she didn't care. Tears filled her eyes as she flew through the clear blue sky of this foreign world. How could this be happening, all her life Rainbow had wanted to join the Wonderbolts, marvelling at their incredible speed and daring manoeuvres. Then in an instant, her lifelong dream had been shattered, dreams of joining them reduced to a joke.

All by Vanish, she thought angrily, why couldn’t he have just kept his mouth shut!? Who was he to just appear out on nowhere, make this the best day of her life by uniting her with Fluttershy, then hours later turn it into the worst day of her life by exposing her lifelong heroes as magically powered fakes. She flew faster still, in an attempt to somehow escape the painful truth, Vanishes laughter still ringing in her head. After what seemed like an eternity, Rainbow finally collapsed in exhaustion. Sobs racked her body as she fell to the soft grass below, right now she felt content to just curl up in a ball and die.

Through the sound of her own crying, Rainbow heard a gentle, familiar voice. "Please stop crying Rainbow, you're going to make me feel like crying" Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and looked up at the mare standing over her. Flowing pink mane, big aqua eyes, coat a shade of butter yellow, she was truly beautiful in every sense of the word. Fluttershy pulled Rainbow up gently and embraced her in a hug. Rainbow rested her head against Fluttershy's mane, it felt softer than any cloud.

"What would I do without you?" Rainbow said softly. There was a brief flash as her other friends emerged, rushing over and essentially ruining the moment that she and Fluttershy were sharing. Standing away from the others was Vanish, looking nervously at the ground.

"Hey uhh, listen Rainbow", he started, but was smacked in the face by Rainbows Dash. The others gasped in horror as Rainbow beat him furiously with both hooves. He made no attempt to defend himself, simply standing there as blows were rained upon him.

"Rainbow stop!" Twilight pleaded, but Rainbow couldn't hear her, all she wanted in life right now was to hurt this fool, make him suffer for destroying her lifelong dream, or at the very least break those damned glasses he was wearing. Discord felt his nose break, his jaw pop out of place, warm blood ran from a gash on his forehead, but he didn't care, after a thousand years of feeling nothing, even pain was welcome, and if giving him a beating was what it took to make Rainbow feel better, he was happy to oblige. She bucked him in an attempt to smash his glasses, they didn't even crack.

"COME ON AND FIGHT ME!!!" she screamed at him desperately.

"No Rainbow Dash, I won’t fight you" he replied, it hurt him terribly to speak, but pain was temporary after all.

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE, I'LL KILL YOU!!!" she struck him in the cheek.

Discord felt something shatter. "If you killed me would you feel better?"

She stopped, "I.. I don't know…"

"Well how do you think it would it make your friends feel?" He asked.

She stared at him dumbfounded, his face was covered in blood, bones broken, yet all he did in response was attempt to reason with her. “I'm sorry…” she said, suddenly ashamed at what she had done to the poor stallion.

"Think nothing of it my dear", he said with a pained smile. "Besides, what makes you think you need to join the Wonderbolts, you're faster than any of them."
"Yeah I guess I am" she said excitedly.Imagine that, now i really am the best flyer in Equestria." "just say the word and we''ll get even with the Wonderbolts".Rainbow grinned devilishly,"I'm looking forward to it"

"Oh Vanish your face" Twilight said sympathetically

"Don't worry about it” he replied, grimacing in pain.

"Well I'm not much for medicine darling,” Rarity added, “but I have plenty of makeup to hide those unsightly bruises."

Discord laughed, causing a burning pain in his head. Discord charged his horn with magic. "This should only take a moment" he assured, green energy enveloped his face, resetting broken bones, cleaning off the blood, sealing the cut on his forehead.

"Very impressive healing spell" Twilight complemented.

"I could teach it to you sometime," he offered.

"Now I think it’s about time we headed home" Applejack suggested.

“Excellent idea Applejack, I'll have us out momentarily," Discord replied. With a flash of light they were back in Ponyville, in the same spot where they had left from.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow I feel kinda weird" Rainbow said.

Discord chuckled, "actually, most ponies don't handle inter-dimensional travel as well as you six have."

Fluttershy looked up at the now night sky, "were we really in there for that long?" She asked anxiously.

Well that dimension can be a little disorienting, since the sun never sets".

“Well I best be gettin back ta the farm, I'll see ya'll tomorrow, bye,” Applejack started off to Sweet Apple Acres at a trot.

“I should be going to, angel is probably hungry,” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash left together.

“Sorry about your face” Rainbow called over her shoulder, meet me tomorrow and we'll figure out what to to do the Wonderbolts".

"I suppose Sweetie Belle is wondering where I am, it’s been a pleasure meeting you Vanish, " Rarity said.

“And you my dear" he replied charmingly as she started off to the Carousel Boutique.

Twilight bid goodnight and entered her library, leaving Discord and Pinkie Pie alone outside."So do you um, have anywhere to stay?" she asked in an uncharacteristically shy voice.

"Why no, as a matter of fact I don't,” he replied.

“Well Mr and Mrs cake are out of town and I guess that means that I…” She said.

"I'd love to stay at your house Pinkie," he interrupted. They walked in silence, Pinkie due to nervousness; Discord due to the fact that in less than three hours, he may be dead.

"You live in a bakery?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Sure do" she replied, unlocking the door with a key from under a rock. Discord entered, and was immediately hit with the mouth-watering smell of baked treats. No wonder Pinkie smelled so nice he realized, since she not only worked, but lived in this wonderful place. "The uh, bedrooms upstairs, but I kinda only have one bed"

“That's no problem dear, I can whip something up with magic.” He said with a smile.

“Hey Vanish, could you come with me for a minute?” She asked.

“Umm, sure” he said, feeling a tad nervous.

She led him upstairs and into her room, “just sit on the bed for a sec."

“Oh... alright then" he said slowly, then sat on her soft, pink coloured bed.

She turned to him, “I know who you are,” Pinkie said softly.

A change for the better

Authors notes:Thank you Amethyst Dawn for editing
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A change for the better
""Of course you know who I am" Discord replied hastily, “I'm Vanishing Act, remember, and you're Pinkie Pie.” Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, he felt his muscles tightening, he was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Don't be silly" Pinkie replied coldly, “take off the glasses."

"Huh, oh no I can’t, I have a problem with my eyes,” he replied.

"I'll say, they're yellow". Discord mentally ran through his options, he could vaporize her with no effort, or teleport and spend the next three hours in hiding, even a simple memory wipe would take care of the problem.

“No,” he said aloud,” I won’t hide anymore!” With a flash his disguise was gone, and there stood Discord, in all his horrible glory. "How long have you known?" he asked, no longer caring.

"Since we met,” Pinkie replied.

"Then why in the Name of Celestia didn't you warn your friends about me?” he asked confused.

She smiled. "Well I didn't need to, I mean at first I saw you and I was like, oh my gosh Discord's back! But then you weren't trying to kill us all so I figured maybe you just wanted to be a good guy and you were trying so super-duper hard to be nice and…”

Discord put a strip of magic tape over her mouth. "So you kept my secret because you though I could be good?”

“Mmm hmm!” She said through the tape, nodding her head.

"Oh Pinkie, you’re the greatest!" Discord cried, grabbing her and flying into the air. He hugged her tightly and she hugged him right back. Discord pulled the tape off her mouth, "you're the nicest pony I've met in a thousand years!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight lay in bed unable to sleep, the events of the day playing over and over in her mind. More troubling was the knowledge that somewhere in Ponyville at this very moment was a unicorn powerful enough, and indeed cruel enough to steal a cutie mark. Twilight ran through a mental list of every unicorn in town, there was Rarity, obviously it couldn't be her, nor could it be Vinyl scratch the town DJ. Trixie perhaps… No, that was ridiculous, she couldn’t possibly have that power, then something in Twilight's head clicked. There WAS a unicorn in town with that kind of power, Twilight had spent all afternoon with him.

“No, that's impossible!” She thought. “How could he be right under her nose the whole time without her realising?” But the pieces fit, he just shows up one day out of nowhere, his magic was even more powerful than hers; it was even green like in the memory. "Oh no, Pinkie!” She said aloud. Twilight jumped out of bed, ran past Spike who was snoring, down the stairs and out the door into the cool night air.

She ran furiously in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, fearing that it might already be too late. What would that horrible Vanish do to Pinkie? What if he stole her cutie mark? Or worse… Twilight's horn glowed with purple magic, ready to defend herself from whatever magic Vanish planned to use. "How could I not realize it sooner" she thought angrily to herself, she was supposed to be the prize student of Princess Celestia. Instead she had allowed this evil pony to infiltrate her group of friends, no doubt he was scheming to steal their cutie marks, perhaps as trophies to add to his sick collection. Twilight knew full well that she would be no match against Vanish, he would most like end her with a single blast of his sickly green magic. But if she was going to die, she would happily do it in defence of her friends. There was Sugarcube Corner up ahead, Twilight could see that the lights were on, maybe she wasn't too late.

Twilight burst through the unlocked door, "PINKIE PIE CAN YOU HERE ME!?"

There at the corner table sat Pinkie pie, and next to her was… Discord!? They ALWAYS wear clothes, a… and they walk on two legs!” he stammered, struggling not to laugh, Pinkie Pie burst into a fit of giggles and snorts.

"Wow they sound pretty silly!" Pinkie managed to say through her laughing. Discord noticed Twilight staring blankly at the two of them, she appeared to be unable to speak. "Oh, hey Twilight!” Pinkie greeted her cheerfully, “you're up kinda late.”

Twilight fell to the ground with a thud. “I think she fainted” Discord said, sounding slightly amused. “Help me get her upstairs?” he asked Pinkie, “without a unicorn body I can’t even perform levitation.” He motioned to the ring on his leg, “if only I didn't have this damned thing on.” Discord carried Twilight up the stairs with Pinkie’s help, and he placed her gently in bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight's eyes shot open, she wasn't in the library, the bed felt different, more soft and cushiony. Then everything came flooding back, she was in terrible danger, somehow Discord had escaped, and he had Pinkie under some kind of spell. Twilight jumped out of bed and rand downstairs, Pinkie was asleep with her head resting on Vanish’s shoulder. “What the hell is going on here!?” Twilight shouted angrily at him, “are you working with Discord!?”

"Please be quiet, Pinkie's asleep" he said quietly.

“What have you done to her!?” Twilight demanded, her horn glowing and ready to blast him.

"What have I done? Well we came here, chatted for a while, and then you burst in and fainted,” he replied.

"Ha ha, really funny, who are you?” Twilight asked.

“Oh you are a slow one my dear, I'm Discord.”He told her.

Pinkie opened her eyes, "feeling better Twilight?" she asked sleepily.

"Pinkie get away from him, its Discord!" Twilight warned.

“Well duh, I've been talking to him for like, two hours now,” the pink pony replied with a yawn.

“Alright Discord, you better tell me what's going on here, and lose the disguise.” With a flash he was Discord again, Twilight gasped when she saw him.

"Oh don't act so surprised, we've met before I believe," Discord said.

"Discord you look different” Pinkie said, also looking shocked. Discord looked at his left hand, it was black. He looked at his other hand, also black.

"Is there a mirror in here!?" he asked frantically. Twilight conjured a large mirror in front of him, Discord looked at his reflection in shock.

His whole body was black, his mismatched hands and feet had been replaced with dragon claws. He was significantly smaller, his neck and body had reduced in length. Gone from his head were the antler and twisted unicorn horn. His goatee was gone, His wings had become beautiful and bat like, now large and strong enough to allow real flight. His yellow eyes remained, though now they were correctly sized and stood out magnificently on his black face. "I look... I look…”

“Stunning” Twilight finished for him.

A fork in the road

Thank you Amethyst Dawn for editing
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A fork in the road
“WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME!?” Discord cried, turning to look at his newly formed wings.

“Wow you look awesome!” Pinkie said, poking him with her hoof.

"No no no, this can’t be happening! I... I have to go” he said, hastily gliding out the door.

“Discord, come back!” Pinkie cried, running after him, Twilight followed. At that moment, the clock on the wall struck midnight. He attempted to teleport, forgetting about the ring on his leg. Discord yelled in frustration as he glided like a black streak through the streets of Ponyville, finally flapping his wings and disappearing into the sky.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME CELESTIA!?” he shouted at the sky, “IS THIS SOME KIND OF CRUEL PUNISHMENT!?” There was no response, he roared like a lion in the Canterlot voice, shattering windows and waking almost every pony in town. “YOU CAN’T IGNORE ME FOREVER!!!” He grabbed the ring with both claws, tearing at it with all his strength. He pulled harder, feeling like his claws were going to snap. There was a sound like cracking stone as he finally broke the ring, sending a ripple of magic through the sky. He dropped the two pieces, which disappeared into the clouds. Discord immediately felt power surge through him. "Now let’s make some chaos" he said with a devious grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celestia sat in her chambers, silently watching her grandfather clock; the minutes seemed to last for hours. The clock struck 11.59. Celestia stood up, and walked out to her large balcony. From here she could see Ponyville, such a nice little place she thought. Luna swooped down from seemingly out of nowhere, landing gracefully next to Celestia. "Well sister, I am embarrassed to admit it, but your plan seems to have succeeded, perhaps there truly is good in us all."

"I am glad to hear you say that sister, you've have learned a valuable lesson." Celestia smiled.

"How do you think he will adjust to life as a commoner?" Luna asked.

“No doubt it will be difficult at first, Chaos magic after all is highly addictive, and withdrawal can be… unpleasant. But with the help of my faithful student, I have...” Celestia stopped mid-sentence. Huge black storm clouds were forming over Ponyville, Luna immediately took to the sky, flying in their direction.

"I take back what I said,your plan has most definitely failed sister, she called over her shoulder. Celestia could only watch in horror, as the town was enveloped in a black cloud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Discord laughed maniacally as buildings burst into flames around him. Ponies cowered in their homes, watching cautiously out of the windows as he walked past. He wandered casually into the centre of town, vaporizing town hall with a snap of his claw. With another snap he conjured his all too familiar throne, placing it in the dead centre. He gazed up at the sky, admiring his work. The cloud was so thick that it completely blocked the moon and stars. Discord sat down in his throne, and waited. Sooner or later Celestia would have to face him, and when she did, he would destroy her. The irony amused him, 2000 years he had been trapped in stone, and it had only taken him one day to escape and achieve near total victory. What things could he do to Celestia? Trapping her in stone was too obvious, take her wings and horn maybe, trap her in a dimension of pure darkness. The possibilities were endless, "you don't want to do this" a voice said.

"Who's there?” he shouted, “come out so I can burn you alive".

"There's no one there Discord, it’s just us," the voice replied.

"Us who, where are you?" Suddenly Ponyville Disappeared, and Discord was lying on the ground, surrounded by darkness.

Twilight and Pinkie raced towards the centre of town, where the source of the clouds seemed to be. “Why didn't you warn us!?” Twilight asked angrily.

"Because he seemed like a nice guy, he just wanted to make friends with us," Pinkie replied.

“Oh Pinkie how could you be so naive, he manipulated you, and all of us.” Twilight said.

But why would he try so hard to be nice?” Pinkie pondered aloud.

“I have no idea, but we’re going to find out.” They reached the town centre, and ran smack into a magic forcefield. Twilight shook her head, she could see Discord sitting on a throne, and he appeared to be asleep. She dismissed it as more of his nonsense, firing a magic blast at the shield, It bounced off harmlessly. Other ponies began to gather around the shield, looking in at the strange creature that was causing all this destruction. More unicorns began firing there magic in an attempt to break through, but it was a futile attempt.

Twilight's other four friends came rushing towards her. “What the hays going on!?” Rainbow asked, “the clouds have gone nuts!”

“I… is th… that D-d-discord?” Fluttershy stuttered, pointing at the sleeping figure.

“I'm sorry girls, but Discord got the best of all of us.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Whada ya mean!?” Applejack asked.

“Vanishing Act was Discord the whole time” Twilight answered, hanging her head.

The four of them gasped, “you mean we spent the whole afternoon making friends with Discord!?” Rainbow asked angrily.

Why that no good trickster!” Applejack exclaimed, bucking the shield.

“He...he complement me,” Rarity said in disbelief, “he was such a gentlepony.”

“You mean all that stuff he said about the Wonderbolts was a lie!” Rainbow growled, flying into the shield with a loud smack. "This time I really am gonna kill him!" She slammed into the shield again.

"Rainbow Dash, stop,” Fluttershy pleaded, “you’re going to hurt yourself!"

"I don't care! I want a piece of him!" Rainbow said stubbornly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“WHO'S THERE!?” Discord shouted at the darkness. “Celestia, is this some kind of trick!?” A figure stepped out, Discord couldn't believe his eyes. It was him, a much smaller version of him.

"Hello Discord,” it greeted him politely.

"Where am I!?" He asked.

“You’re inside our head" the copy replied.

"What do you mean our head?" Discord asked.

"Well I am you and you are me, so that makes this our head… Interesting work we've been doing out there don't you think," small Discord said.

"Are you making fun of me?" Discord asked.

"No I mean it, we worked so hard to make friends, only to ruin it for no good reason, I find that interesting," small Discord explained.

"How do I get out of here?" Discord asked.

“Well, there are two ways, you can either give up chaos and join me…” Small Discord said

"OR EMBRACE CHAOS AND JOIN ME!" a second voice thundered. Out of the darkness emerged a third Discord, it had his body structure, but was made entirely of swirling black smoke, except for two red eyes. “COME WITH ME, WE'LL DESTROY CELESTIA AND RULE THIS PATHETIC WORLD!”

“You still have a chance to make things right,” the small Discord cut in.

"SILENCE YOU WEAK FOAL, HE HAS BEEN MINE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS!" The smoke Discord boomed.

"And in a single day has managed to almost defeat you. Please Discord; you've already won physically, now you need to defeat him mentally," small Discord pleaded.

“CHOOSING YOU WOULD LEAD TO WEAKNESS, PERHAPS EVEN MORTALITY.COME DISCORD, YOU DON'T WANT TO AGE AND DIE LIKE A COMMONER!” Smoke Discord said, it seemed his voice was permanently loud and booming.

"Your friends are waiting just outside, and I believe that pink pony had a thing for you," small Discord said with a slight grin.

“HE IS'NT FOALISH ENOUGH TO THROW AWAY THE POWER OF A GOD FOR SOMETHING AS SHALLOW AS AN INFATUATION!” Smoke Discord laughed.

Small Discord looked at Discord. "Make your choice Discord, either way I'm sick of listening to this guy."
Discord could only stare at them in disbelief, who are the two of you, he asked.

"I am the manifestation of your kindness", small Discord said with a bow.

I AM THE MANIFESTATION OF YOUR HATRED AND RAW POWER, the smoke Discord boomed, I AM WHAT HAS MADE YOU STRONG."

Power Or Peace

Authors notes:Thank you Amethyst Dawn for editing, and SongBrony for making a revised edition.
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Peace or power 
Twilight blasted the shield furiously with her magic, but there was no effect. Fire raged in the distance, Ponyville would be lost if it wasn't stopped soon. Twilight cursed herself, this was all her fault. She hadn't been smart enough to uncover Discords plan and now everypony else was suffering because of it. Discord appeared to twitch slightly, which infuriated Twilight even more, he was sleeping peacefully, safe inside his shield, while Ponyville burned.
Thunder cracked loudly overhead, as the black clouds continued to swirl. Rainbow continued to bash angrily against the shield, while Fluttershy pleaded with her to stop. Twilight would have expected Fluttershy to be the one crying, but instead it was Pinkie Pie. She was sitting on the ground, sobbing quietly, her hair had gone limp.

"Pinkie Pie, what the heck's the matter with you!?" Twilight asked.

"This isn't him," she muttered.

"What are you talking about!? Of course it’s Discord!" she replied angrily.

“He's not like this Twilight, Discord is nice, not super-duper mean and scary. He’s changed. I saw it in his eyes." Twilight groaned in frustration, it seemed Pinkie had finally broken mentally.
Through the thick cloud came a black streak, which flew over the raging fire, extinguishing it with magic. "Princess Luna!" Twilight cheered, if anyone could get through this shield, it would be her. Luna landed next to Twilight, "oh princess, thank goodness you're hear."
"Greetings Twilight Sparkle, I apologize for the damage my sister has caused, I warned her that nothing good would come of releasing Discord," Luna replied.

"Wait a minute, are you saying that Princess Celestia let Discord free!?" Twilight asked, shocked.
"I am afraid so, Celestia believed that this creature could be turned from evil, if he were able to make friends. Clearly that has failed, and now he must be stopped.” Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing, how could Princess Celestia do something so dangerous. Then another thought hit her, was that why Discord attempted to befriend them, was the Princess’s plan actually working, up to a point? If so maybe Discord could be reasoned with, if only they could get through his shield. "Stand back,” Luna said forcefully, “I'll get through this enchantment, then finish that creature once and for all, something my sister refused to do all those years ago."
“Don't hurt him!” Pinkie cried suddenly, “he's not a bad guy! Please Luna!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Be reasssonable Dissscord", the smoke creature hissed, its voice had lowered in volume, but was still no less threatening. It wrapped its long fingers gently around Discords head. "You know you love chaosss, and making those weak foals sssuffer is ever so much fun.”

“Are you really gonna trust this guy?” Small Discord asked, “I mean just look at him. Is this the type of draconequus you want to be?"

“Be sssilent weakling, I am what true power looksss like." Discord brushed the smoke creatures hand away.
"What makes you think the ponies will forgive me?" He asked small Discord.

"Well you've met them, don't they seem like the forgiving type?" Small Discord replied.

“Tsk tsk tsk. If they were forgiving, why is it we had to change our appearance? If they were truly forgiving, we would’ve ssstayed as the creature we are. They will never forgive usss.” Smoke Discord said quickly, “they have alwaysss mistrusted us. But we can have our revenge, join me and we will tear the ssskin from their bodies".
“Listen to him. Skinning your friends? Is that something that you would want to have happen?” small Discord asked. “Think of Princess Celestia. Remember when you two were young? You would lay in the grass and watch the stars. You would chase each other around playing tag. When she and her sister would fight, you were there to comfort her.”
The smoke creature snorted. “Sssilence! Those memories are meaninglessss. She betrayed you. She turned you into ssstone for being who you truly are. You would have had your revenge if it weren’t for those six poniesss. It’s their fault you’re being put through the liesss the weakling is feeding you.” he said.

Small Discord didn’t falter. “When you walked through Canterlot, being stared at for being different, did Celestia turn you away, reject you for being different? No. She stayed by you and stood ever closer to you. She was there for you. Then this monster reared its head and caused you to do all that you did. It’s not your fault Discord that you were turned to stone all those years ago. It’s his.” He said, pointing towards the smoke creature. “Think of Pinkie Pie. She forgave you, and she knew who you were even before you revealed yourself. What does that show?” he asked.
Discord looked at Small Discord. “That…that she is my friend…but what about the other six? Won’t they still hate me? What about Rainbow Dash? I told her the truth about her idols, and now that she knows who I am, won’t she think I lied to her for my own amusement?” Discord asked.

“Of courssse she will.” the smoke creature said. “She is going to try to hurt you because of the truth. She won’t forgive you. She never will. Join me, and you can keep your pink friend” he said with a grin.
“Discord, there is an important lesson about friendship you need to know. When one friend makes a mistake and it takes all their friends away, he must be able to show that he made a mistake and show that it hasn’t changed who he truly is. Celestia gave you her second chance. The other ponies are sure to do the same.” Small Discord explained.
“Enough of thisss nonsense. With me, you will have unlimited power. You will be a god in Equestria, something friends could never give you.” the smoke creature said.
“What good is being a god if nopony likes you? Think about that when making your decision.” Small Discord said.
Discord looked at both of the creatures who stared at him. I’ve been alone for 2000 years. Celestia gave me the one thing I truly wanted. A chance to make friends. But I used to be a god. Not just any god, but a god with immense power. Nopony could stand in my way, not even Celestia.
He looked at the two figures in front of him and closed his eyes. When he opened them, Small Discord stood next to him, dragon claw on his shoulder. “I knew you would make the right choice.” He said with a smile.
“Are we still in my mind?” Discord asked.
"Of course we are, but you just turned the lights on" Small Discord smiled.
“Is that creature dead?" Discord asked.
“Of course not, he’s just buried. Every mind has one of him and one of me, but your version of him was way out of balance." Small Discord replied.
"How can I keep him out of my mind?" Discord asked.
"I think you already know the answer to that my friend." The white began to fade, "well so long Discord, come back and visit me sometime, bring your friends too!"

Suddenly Discord was back in Ponyville, lying in the dirt. He looked around, ponies were standing around in a circle, looking at him through a magic shield. Discord looked up at the sky, the black swirling clouds were gone, replaced by the beautiful full moon. He could see Twilight Sparkle and her friends, along with Celestia's sister, there was Derpy and Lyra, and that lunatic stallion who had talked to him at great length about Cyberponies and holes in time. But there was only one pony that he wanted to see, the pink pony who had believed in him. He saw her sitting on the ground crying, mane and tail dead straight, which almost caused him to drop dead from his heart breaking.
Discord stood up, then immediately fell down. His second attempt was successful, he stood up, feeling ashamed as every pony stared at him in horror. “I'M SORRY,” he declared in the royal Canterlot voice. “I DIDN'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN. I TRIED TO FIT IN, BUT LOOK WHAT I'VE DONE.” The shield vanished as he fell to the ground, sobbing. Ponies cautiously approached him, whispering to each other. Their looks turning from horror to pity. He looked up, to see familiar faces looking at him questioningly. Princess Luna approached him,
"LOOK AT THE DAMAGE YOU HAVE CAUSED CREATURE, she boomed at him.
"Please don't hurt me", he pleaded. “I never wanted anything bad to happen…”
“LIES!” she declared. “I have seen who you really are. A creature of chaos. 2000 years trapped in stone hasn’t made you change one bit. I’m going to do what my sister should have done when she released you!” she said and sent a magic bolt at him.
“Luna please! Stop!” he begged. He soared into the sky dodging bolt after bolt that was thrown at him. “I have changed! I don’t want to be the ruler of chaos anymore!” he said. He looked for Pinkie Pie and found her looking at him, tears streaming down her face. This gave him pause, and bolt hit him in his back. He fell to the ground with a loud thud.
“NOOOO!” Pinkie exclaimed in horror. She rushed over to his body and fell on top of him weeping. Luna and her friends walked up behind her. Twilight walked up and put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder.
“Pinkie…I’m sorry. I did what I had to"

Luna kneeled in front of Pinkie. “I’m sorry. But he was a terrible creature. He would’ve wreaked havoc on Ponyville and Equestria for all time if this hadn’t happened.”
Pinkie raised her head. Who are you to decided that he hadn’t changed, and that he deserved this?!” she yelled, distraught. “You weren’t with him. You didn’t see how kind and nice he was to all of us.” she said, softer now. “He helped Applejack when she needed it, he brought two mares who loved each other together, and you deem him unworthy of living?” she said, adding as much malice into her final words as she could.
Luna lowered her head. “I was only doing what was best for Equestria. I wasn’t going to let another age of chaos ensue over us.” She said as she rose to her feet and walked away. Pinkie Pie put her head in the crook of Discord’s neck and cried silently.

“HE ISN’T DEAD!” a booming voice shouted over the crowd. Twilight and the rest of the ponies looked around in shock. Pinkie rose her head.
“What do you mean he isn’t dead?” Rainbow asked to the mysterious voice. “A bolt hit him in the back. And who the hay is this?”
Celestia flew from the clouds and landed in front of Pinkie Pie and Discord. “It is me, young one. He isn’t dead. I can feel his life force, she said with a small grin on her face.
“Whaddya mean? Ah may not be no Unicorn, but Ah know a magic bolt when Ah seen one.” Applejack said.
“And it hit him right on the back, your highness. How could one have possible survived the magic from it?” Rarity asked.
"My sister doesn't have anywhere near enough power to destroy Discord.. Though in his now powerless state, he is much more vulnerable.

“But Princess? Why go through all this trouble? Why allow Discord to trick us, Twilight asked.
Princess Celestia looked at her favorite student. “Would you have trusted him if you knew who he really was?
Twilight lowered her head. “No, Princess. I wouldn’t.”
Celestia walked over to Pinkie Pie and Discord. She knelt down and put her horn to Discord’s head. With a bright flash, Discord slowly started to open his eyes. He looked up to Celestia and gave a small smile. “Thank you.” he said quietly.
“I knew the real you would awaken. All it needed was a reminder.” she said with a smile. “It’s good to have you back old friend.”
“Discord! Oh I’m just so so happy that your'e ok!” Pinkie Pie shouted happily. Her mane and tail returned to their usual puffiness. She held him in a tight hug.
Discord returned the hug. They let go of each other, and Discord looked at the ponies around him. “I know that what I have done in the passed was wrong…could you ponies ever forgive me?” he asked.

Rainbow looked at him. “I guess so. But you’re still a jerk for what you said about the Wonderbolts!”
“Ah guess so. Ah mean, you did help me out buckin apples this mornin.” Applejack said.
“I think I can too. I mean…Everypony deserves a second chance..” Fluttershy said.
“Don’t worry darling. We forgive you.” Rarity added.
Twilight looked at Discord and sigh. “I forgive you too. You have shown me something very important. That even those who have done dark things in the past can still be subject to change for the better, and that everypony deserves a second chance.” she said with a smile.
Celestia gave Luna a nudge. Luna walked forward and looked at Discord. “I’m sorry for what I tried to do. I only was doing what I thought was best for my ponies. I truly meant to kill you she said, feeling ashamed.
“Think nothing of it Luna. I know you were doing what was right at the time. Besides, I've survived far worse.” Discord said. Luna smiled at him and walked back to her sister.
Speaking of second chances… Discord thought to himself.. I wish there was something I could do for that filly that I hurt.

Discord stood up and took Pinkie Pie’s hoof. “You want to make some cupcakes? I’m ravished after all that has happened tonight.”
“Yes! And while we’re at it, let’s throw a huge party for you!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Why that would be marvelous! I haven’t been to a party for a very long time.” Discord said happily.
“Then let’s get started silly! No need to waste time talking about having one when we could be making one!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day a huge celebration was held for Discord in the town center.Rainbow and Fluttershy sat next to each other hoof in hoof, Rarity had gone off to talk to Photo Finish about getting her designs sponsored in one of Canterlot’s famous cat-walks, Applejack was talking to some pony with spikey hair about something called the empty colt. Discord and Pinkie spent the whole day together,now able to enjoy each others company without worrying.
Twilight walked up to Princess Celestia,Who had organized the event, with Pinkies help. “Excuse me Princess?” she asked.
“Yes my faithful student?” Celestia replied.
“Sorry for not trusting your judgment earlier. I just thought that Discord had come back to wreak havoc and take his revenge on us all. But I do have one more question… How did you know that he wasn’t going to wreak chaos after he was released?” Twilight inquired.
A smile grew on Celestia’s face. “I didn't.”she said.
"If only all of Equestrians enemies could be won over with kindness", Twilight said jokingly.
Well now that you mention it Twilight, there is another enemy who I plan to visit."
Who, Twilight asked, intrigued.
"No doubt you recall the events of your brothers wedding"
"Oh princess, you cant be serious," Twilight said shocked.

epilogue

Thank you Amethyst Dawn for editing
_________________________________________________
Three week later

Things pretty much returned to normal in Ponyville after that night. The buildings damaged by fire were rebuilt, a new town hall was under construction, but there were a few subtle differences that could be noticed. For one thing, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been spending a lot more time together, often seen holding hooves or flying through the sky together, even sharing the occasional kiss in public. Another noticeable difference was the absence of the school bully, Diamond Tiara. She and her father had left Ponyville, to move to Canterlot, much to the town’s relief. But the major change that could be noticed was an odd looking creature that had taken up residence in town. He could often be seen around town, gliding like a black streak through the streets. Often stopping to chat with ponies about various things.

He and the town baker Pinkie Pie, were also seen spending time together. He would glide slightly above the ground, while she bounced along beside him, her bright pink standing out against his simple black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Discord wake up!", he felt hooves shaking him.

"Uh Pinkie what time is it?" he asked.

"I dunno but I couldn't sleep… Hey! Do you wanna explore the Everfree forest today?" She asked excitedly. He opened his eyes, sunlight was shining through the window.

Discord rose from his bed, his clawed feet tapped softly as they touched the floor. "I'd love to Pinkie, but I'm pretty busy this morning, how about we do it after lunch"

“Sounds great, I bet it'll be super duper fun!" She said bouncing down the stairs. Discord made his was down the stairs of Sugarcube Corner. He had paid Mr and Mrs Cake enough bits to move to Canterlot, so he and Pinkie could have the shop to themselves.

Discord wished he could spend the morning with Pinkie, but he had to get to Twilight's house for his lessons. After he had rejected the smoke creature that night, Discord had found that he could no longer use magic. Twilight had explained to him that hate and anger had been the source of his power, so without it he was powerless. But she had agreed to help him find a different source, and to channel magic that way. He had vowed never to use chaos magic again, but still wanted at least a basic amount of magic use. Enough to levitate things, or to travel between dimensions. He had promised Pinkie that when he was able to, he would take her to a dimension made entirely of candy.

He glided casually down the street, waving at ponies as he passed them. They waved back, or said hello, not caring what he looked like. He passed Lyra and Bonbon, who he suspected had a thing for each other.

There was Derpy, flying happily through the sky. “Hi Discord!” she called waving to him. He smiled and waved back, he felt good about having helped her, though slightly guilty about what he had done to Diamond Tiara. He had learned that her mother was dead, and that was why she was so cruel. When he got his magic back, the first thing Discord planned to do was give back her cutie mark.

He passed Vinyl and Octavia, who as usual were debating which was the better type of music. “Personally I prefer classical,” he commented.

Aha! See Vinyl, even the god of chaos himself prefers classical music,” Octavia said triumphantly with a smug smile.

“Yeah yeah, EX god of chaos that is, we should ask Princess Luna what she thinks, that'd settle things once and for all!” Vinyl Scratch said.

“I highly doubt the Princess has time for such trivial matters,” Octavia replied.

Discord arrived at the library; he knocked on the door and was greeted by Spike. "Oh hey Discord", you’re early for once."

“Ha ha very funny, is Twilight here?" Discord asked.

“Yeah she's upstairs, come on in.” He entered the library, “Twilight, your student's here’” Spike said mockingly.

"I told you a hundred times, I am not a student," Discord said annoyedly.

"Oh yeah, what do you call it then?" Spike smiled.

"I call it ‘I won’t be made fun of by a baby dragon stuck in the friend zone’" Discord had explained a while ago to Spike, that he was in a place called the friend zone with Rarity. Spike had denied it, claiming that Rarity was in love with him, and that it was just a matter of time before she asked him out. Discord loved nothing more than teasing Spike about it, though he often gave advice on how to get Rarity to notice him.

Twilight walked down the stairs, “morning Discord,” she said cheerfully, “are you ready to get started?” They spent the next few hours meditating, Twilight instructed Discord on how to find his centre, and feel the magic flowing through him. He tried thinking happy thoughts, and even managed to levitate a book for a few seconds. He then tried thinking of Pinkie Pie, her bright colour, her smile, her seemingly endless energy. Something inside his mind opened, and he found that levitation was now effortless. With a snap of his claw, he lifted a stack of books, enveloping them in blue magic, as opposed to his previous green.

He left the library feeling great, he had mastered levitation, and teleporting would hopefully be next. He flew into the sky with a flap of his wings, heading in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, he now had the rest of the day to spend with Pinkie. It would be just the two of the, alone in the Everfree forest. Neither one of them was afraid, since they had been in there before. Last time, they had found an old ruin, filled with ancient books. Twilight had been ecstatic when Discord had given them to her.

He landed in front of Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie was already waiting. "You all set to do some exploring?” She asked excitedly.

"You now it Pinkie, maybe we'll meet a dragon or something!" They walked quickly in the direction of the Everfree forest, Discord enjoying the sound of Pinkies bouncing. He was going to the Everfree Forest with Pinkie today, and tomorrow he was going to fly with Rainbow Dash, show her some of his tricks. Life was going to be good for the ex-god of chaos from now on.

The End.

Alternate ending

This is for all you whiny twats that didn't want Discord to be forgiven.
______________________________________________________

Alternate ending
"You would have me skin my friends," Discord asked the smoke creature.
"Of course, remember how much we loved the sssweet sound".
"Sounds like a plan to me Discord cheered", taking his smoke replica by the hand.

Discord woke up, in the distance fire raged, black clouds swirled overhead.Ponies were staring at him in horror,through the protective shield.Discord felt incredible power surge through him, oh how he had missed the feeling of pure chaos magic, running through his veins.He stood up, cracked his neck, and dissolved the shield with a snap of his claw.
Luna immediately charged at him.
"This time I shall finish, you she cried"
Discord knocked her aside with a wave of his hand, sending Luna crashing into a nearby building."You should have learned to trust me", he growled.He noticed that his voice had changed, it now sounded like two voices were speaking at once.
He turned to the six ponies who had been so kind to him, each of them looked terrified.
You have shown me kindness, for that you shall be spared.With a snap of his claw, they vanished.

Discord turned to the crowd of ponies watching him, WELL ISN'T THIS WHAT YOU WERE EXPECTING, he roared.He snapped again, causing the pony nearest to him to burst into flames.The crowd screamed and ran in every direction, in an attempt to escape.
Discord followed casually behind them, picking up pony after pony, using his telekinesis to rip the flesh from their bodies.

As he held another pony in his psychic grasp, Discord felt something hit him in the back.He turned to face his attacker, it was Princess Luna, standing defiantly."This ends now monster", oh I'm afraid its just beginning, he chuckled.She fired a blast of magic, which passed through him harmlessly.With a snap of his claw, her horn disappeared, she backed away in terror.

"Now how long was I trapped in stone, 2000 years I believe it was, so now you're going to spend the next 2000 years in a dimension of pure pain, doesn't that sound fun". "Oh and I'll give your regards to Celestia when I destroy her".With a snap of his claw Luna vanished."Well that was far too easy, maybe I'll finish off Diamond Tiara, he thought excitedly.Buildings burst into flames around his, as he strolled casually in the direction of Ponyville hospital.