3rd Person POV

Marcus Struker was bored. His night had started okay, it was Friday night, and some of his coworkers from his new job had invited him to a guy's night out. It was a bit awkward on a count of him not knowing any of the guys he was out with, it was alright, however, Marcus did not fit in well with this group. Marcus was a Veteran, his parents had died years ago, he had no other living relatives, and most of his friends from his time overseas had come home in sealed black bags, the very few left were either still overseas or had lives they'd returned to, and that left Marcus on his own and, while he was by no means depressed, he was having trouble reconnecting to society. Marcus was an introvert, preferring to read a book, work on a D.I.Y. project, or do other such activities, alone. That's not to say he doesn't function well around others, besides his occasional bouts of PTSD, where sudden movement or an unexpected loud noise startled him, he just doesn't regularly go out or do things that have him around other people. Marcus was lonely.

Marcus did not fit in with his coworkers, the things they talked about seemed bland and meaningless to him, rumors from around the office, the new brand of coffee offered in the break room, and other things that seemed trivial to Marcus. Their jokes were unfunny and flat, his were too crass and blunt for their tastes. He was just too different to fit in, and then one guy met a girl and left to go to her place for the night, then another's wife called him home, then another left, and then another, until Marcus was the only one left. So there he was, sitting in an almost empty bar, drinking alone on a Friday night at only half-past nine.

Sighing to himself, Marcus shook his head. "I should just call it quits, and head home." If he went home now he could probably still get to bed on time, but as he stood up, a voice stopped him.

"Well don't you just seem utterly stultified? I watched your 'friends' leave you all alone, abandoning you in this dirty bar, mind if I join you? I think you can help me with a little something." Turning his head towards the source of the voice Marcus is met with the sight of a very peculiarly dressed man.

The stranger is only a few inches shorter than Marcus, probably around six feet tall, and has short-cut black hair, hazy eyes that almost shine red, and puffy white eyebrows. What really makes the stranger stand out is his outfit, it's an amalgamation of several outfits, his suit jacket's arms are both yellow, albeit two different shades of yellow and made of two different materials, the body of his suit jacket is a muddy brown, and he has a coattail that's snow white. His undershirt is dark red, and he has two different handkerchiefs sticking out of his pockets, one is dark blue, almost purple, and the other is a soft sky blue. His pant legs are different colors and stitched in different directions, his right one is bright green and stitched vertically and his left is beige and stitched horizontally, and he's wearing two different colored shoes a white leather boot on the right foot and a dark brown sneaker on his left foot.

Even ignoring the bizarre outfit, Marcus felt... strange looking at this person, like there's something wrong with what he's looking at, but, after a few moments of staring, he shook his head, brushing the feeling off. Standing up fully, Marcus turned to face the strangely dressed man. "I'm not interested in men, and I'm just about to leave. You'll have to look elsewhere.". The stranger bust out into laughter, guffawing at Marcus' response.

The stranger got himself under control and wiped a tear from his eye before he replied, "Ho-boy, That's a good one! But I don't swing that way, at least not unless it's a Tuesday. No, no, no, my friend, I'm here because I'm like you!" Marcus' eyebrow shot up, and the stranger rolled his eyes in response. "Okay fiiiiine, maybe not exactly like you, but I meant that I'm oh-so terribly bored, petrified one could say. It should be a crime really, but I think you can help me fix that!". Marcus threw the stranger an irritated look and opened his mouth to speak, but the stranger threw his hands up in a pacifying manner. "Hey, hey now, look at least here me out! I'll even buy the next round, just sit back down for a few minutes, what'll it hurt? And, if you still wish to go, I'll leave you be, Scout's honor! Not that I'm a boy scout." And the stranger spoke, he pouted and his face contorted almost cartoonishly but Marcus blinked and the look was gone.

Marcus looked from the stranger to the clock on the wall, it read 9:36 pm, and he sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose briefly, and turning and sitting back down at the bar. "Fine, but only for a few minutes. Not like I've got anything better to do...". Marcus raised his hand toward the bartender. "Whiskey, on the rocks."

The stranger smiled widely, before clapping to himself and jumping onto the stool next to Marcus. "Wonderful!" Turning his head towards the bartender the stranger excitedly ordered a drink, "I'll have a Mai Tai!", before returning his attention to Marcus. "Now, before we begin, we should introduce ourselves, I'm Discord."

"Marcus."

Over the next few hours, Marcus would find himself relaxing, and even enjoying, Discord's company. The strange man just seemed to get it, he wasn't off-put by Marcus' direct (read: blunt) nature, of course, the alcohol probably helped. Nonetheless, the pair would first talk about mundane things, before gradually, with subtle direction from the Chaos Spirit in disguise, moving on to deeper and more personal topics, such as the death of Marcus' parents, his growing sense of isolation, and, after Marcus' 9th or 10th glass of Whiskey, his time overseas. It was only after the pair were finally kicked out at around half-past 2 in the morning that Marcus remembered, through the haze of alcohol, that Discord had originally wanted his help with something. "'ey Dissord, what a, what wass it yoou, hic, wanted my, hic, my 'elp with?". Discord, seemingly sober despite drinking more than Marcus, grins maliciously.

"Oh, that, right! Well, my intoxicated friend, I was going to ask you to come with me back to my world. You see, I'm not actually a human or of this world, I'm what's called a Draconequus, from the world of Equus, and The Spirit of Chaos. Currently, back in my world, I'm stuck as a statue due to an irritating pair of pony princesses and their magic bling, but that's not what I need your help with, no, I'll be out of there soon enough. What I need from you is entertainment! I've been imprisoned in stone for the last few thousand years on my world, and I'm so dreadfully bored and, while I've mostly starved off that boredom by visiting other worlds, such as yours, even that's started to grow stale! So instead, I'm going to bring someone else to Equus and watch them as they interact with pony society! That'll create entertainment, and hopefully throw a wrench into old Celly's plans too! Genius, I know, and since you humans are so inherently chaotic, you're perfect for the job! So, how's that sound? Want to go on an adventure in another Universe?"

Marcus, still highly drunk, believed his companion to be bullshiting, and rolled his eyes, almost causing himself to fall over in the process, but catching himself on a wall, coincidentally looking away from Discord in the process. "Yea, suuurrrrre, you said there was a Princess? I'll go be a Knight or something." A cartoonishly large Cheshire grin appeared on Discord's face.

"Then the Pact is sealed! Oh, I should also warn you, there's no coming back, and there might be some unexpected side effects of your soul crossing the dimensional gap, buuut, I'll throw in a boon for you as compensation. Enjoy!" As Discord said the word pact, there was an odd pop sound that Marcus turned his head to investigate. There, in Discord's claw, was a piece of parchment with glowing writing on it, but it wasn't the parchment that drew Marcus' attention, no, what drew his attention was the eight-foot-tall amalgamation of animal parts that was standing where the oddly dressed man had been not moments before.

Despite the haze of alcohol clouding his mind, Marcus was still a veteran of a bloody and terrible war, and as the predatory look that adorned the abomination's face chilled his blood, his body reacted before his mind could, falling into a loose combat stance and reaching for his concealed pistol. Discord, now in his true form, just guffawed again, the parchment in his hand turning to smoke in the process. "Oh, yes, you were definitely the right choice! Now, it'll be a while before we see one another again, so do have fun, and don't forget to cause a little Chaos for me! Ta-Ta!", and with a wave of his arm, Discord disappears, and a sudden feeling of extreme vertigo fell over Marcus, and as his vision darkened, Marcus was able to say one last thing.

"I shoulda just gone home."

Author's Note

Alright, so that's done, what'd you guys think? I don't have a beta reader so apologizes for any mistakes, but they'll get fixed eventually. Maybe. If you're interested in becoming my beta, message me and we'll talk.

This one is quite a bit shorter than what I want for my average chapters, where as for normal chapters I want around 5k minium, but we'll see how that goes. Till next time, Absolutely No One signing off.