Luna had only took one step into Elfilis's Dream when it suddenly vanished, jolting her awake with a terrible migraine. That was her first clue that something was wrong.

Her second was the fact that her room was blindingly white, but she couldn't focus on that as the bright color made her sight go red, elevating her headache to the next level of pain and discomfort.

Her third was when she shot out a hoof to try to grab the glass of water she kept on her end table. Instead, she felt something crunch under her leg, followed by buzzing and the unmistakable feeling of being stung over and over.

It was all happening too quickly.

Screaming in agony, mind clouded in anger, acting in desperation, she cast a spell she remembered from her time as Nightmare Moon. It was rather tame in comparison to the more savage and vile spells in the parasites repertoire, but it was a dark spell nontheless. Luna painfully brought the magic to her horn, grit her teeth as she formed the spell, and breathed a sigh of relief as she cast it.

The spell was rather crudely named 'Removal of Weakness,' and it turned off all nervous systems related to physical feelings, including part of her brain.

Luna stopped feeling the migraine and the bee-stings, but she also stopped feeling the sheets of her bed and the air through her fur. And, she realized as she rolled off her bed, it also turned off her third-dimensional perception. She didn't put her hooves out in time to stop her muzzle from cracking against the floorboards.

Putting off any sense of embarrassment, she stood up as quickly as she dared to see what had happened to her room. Her end tables were replaced with bee-hives, one of which was now destroyed, and all of its colors were switched to their polar opposites. Luna was afraid that this meant exactly what she thought it meant, and she hurried to leave her room and find her sister. She ended up smashing through her door, as it was actually fused to the walls beside it. And was made of dry ramen noodles.

The halls weren't any better, with the fixed lanterns flashing at one another in morse code, and the carpets rippling like the surface of water. A poor guard was wading through it as best he could. She didn't need any more confirmation.

It would be best to assume that this was the work of Discord.

Carina twisted and turned under Elfilis's arm. It seemed like no matter what she did, she just couldn't find a way to sleep comfortably. She groaned and reluctantly let herself wake up, knowing it was too early. So she sat up, pushing the arm off of her, and stretched out her back.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" Every muscle in her body stiffened without her permission. She opened her eyes to look at her partner, not knowing what was setting her off. He looked the same as he always did, with his unique proportions and scruffy collar of fur. The large wings that sprouted from the sides of his head, that she loved even as she wondered how they didn't drive him insane. And his voice, it was the same, but the way he spoke was too upbeat for morning-Elfilis. And his face, it was held too tightly against his skull, trying too hard to look worried for her.

The most horrifying aspect of this being? There was not an ounce of Love in the creature in the bed beside her. Carina did the only thing she could do.

She screamed, fell off the bed backwards, and gave a double-donkey kick to the imposters neck on her way down.

Celestia was finalyzing the last few documents she needed to complete before she headed to bed. There was always paperwork when something happens in the castle, and paperwork related to logging attacks was not something she had much practice in. Regardless, it was done, and she let herself smile just a little bit as she rolled up the last peice of parchment for the night. Abruptly, she dropped her quill and ink from her telekinesis.

It was not from shock, or because she fell asleep at her desk, or even any form of exhaustion.

She was suddenly unable to feel her horn. She couldn't feel her face, or her neck, and she realized that she suddenly couldn't move either of them in any meaningful way either besides turning them both side to side on a swivel. Celestia stood up, knocking down a candle stand and a pile of blank parchments in her haste. Someone was in the room with her. She turned around, an action that took more effort than it should have, and found herself unable to gasp in horror.

"To be honest, I'd normally love to talk and gloat and all that phooie, but my throat isn't terribly well at the moment so I'll do this quickly." Discord frowned as he massaged his neck. "Thousand years, I debatedly don't turn ponies into stone, what's the fun in making sense, I hid the Elements of Harmony, blah blah blah. I think I mixed some of those up, put its my episode so... Toodle-loo!" And he deflated like a balloon until there was no longer any proof of him being there.

Aurum was supposed to be asleep. He was supposed to be in his crib. He was supposed to be unaware of the dangers around him. He was supposed to be protected by those around him.

He wasn't supposed to be an adult.

"What the heeeeell...?" The large golden changeling looked around his temporary nursing room as he tried to understand his own existance. He knew things he knew he wasn't suppose to know for many years, and he remembered the things that he should have long forgotten if he truly was his current apparent age.

Being born (ew), suckling on his birth mother's teats (double-ew), needing to be-

Okay, so maybe baby memories were best left alone, but the point still stood that he remembered these things he shouldn't. Or maybe he should? Because he wasn't supposed to be an adult? But why does he know what he should and shouldn't remember or know? Or does he only think that he knows these things? Whose to say-

"Alright, I'm not getting anywhere with this. Where's an adult when you need them? Or, well, you know. An actual adult... Why am I still talking to myself?"

Swaddle-Dee was busy reading a catalogue on the best-rated baby products in the Canterlot Library when he heard a sudden ringing noise followed by the rough sounds of someone attempting to clear their throat. This annoyed Swaddle-Dee. Didn't everyone know libraries were supposed to be quiet places?

He hopped off his high stool and started making his way towards the aisle with all the noise coming from it. He took two steps around the corner, arm over his mouth to chastise the ruckus maker, only to abort the moment he saw what it was. Swaddle-Dee swiftly hopped back behind the shelf, hoping that the monster with the limbs of other creatures didn't notice him.

"Grrr... Gaaah... Cough and hack and other forms of onomatopoeia. Sigh. This isn't the right library but I'm already off script so it's not like anyone'll find them anyways." Swaddle-Dee heard the sound of a book slamming shut and being slid back into it's place, following what sounded like water going down the drain. He only waited a moment to go back around the corner to see what the being had done.

The most obvious thing of note was the toilet on the ceiling, bowl still full of water that refused to bow to gravity. When he was done staring at that, he began looking at all of the books on the shelf. One stood out significantly, as it looked to be bursting at the seams and wasn't able to fit in between its neighbors snugly.

Swaddle-Dee, being the responsible and self-respecting Dee that he was, wasted no time getting his stool. It was basically an obligation that he snoop in on whatever was happening. He hopped on the chair and pulled out the rotund book and let it open on its own to the pages with something in them, and was surprise to find six unusually cut gems wedged into the spine.

A red lightning bolt.

A pink butterfly.

An orange apple.

A purple diamond.

A blue balloon.

A pink star.

Swaddle-Dee could only stare, mind blank as he beheld them. He was shocked into silence, both mental and otherwise. He only knew one thing for certain, only one undisputable fact about the crystals he found.

They were really, really neat.

Daroach gaped as the unfinished airship suddenly grew many pairs of legs and began running away from him and Storo. With the rest of the Squeak Squad still on it.

"Storo! Drop the cannon! We need to catch up!"

Toby stood still as the old pony wiped his face with a wet towel. He was a good friend.

"I lose sight of ya for half an hour and you get all this pink shit on your face. We've definitely missed the train back, so I hope you're okay with staying somewhere in Canterlot until-" Toby blinked as the stallion threw the towel on the ground angrily. "What's happening now, damn it!?" Toby looked curiously at where his head was pointed, and gasped as he saw Canterlot turn into something that even he thought was strange.

One of the castles towers started spewing smoke as it took off like a rocket, houses were balanced like spinning plates on top of tree trunks, and the road was moving like the worlds largest treadmill. Nothing was as it should be, and Toby still had friends in the heart of Canterlot that he needed to make sure were safe in all this non-sense. He didn't even have to think about it before choosing to sprint towards the chaotic city.

"Lucky! Where are ya-! You idiot! Stay safe! That's a bloody order!"

Twilight Sparkle was hiding. She knew something was warping the castle, and she knew she wouldn't have much warning to avoid the source if it chose to appear nearby. Her new spell, which allowed her to see Type energies, had allowed her to notice a strange Dragon-Type energy dripping into her study from between the ceiling tiles. She stayed away from the bulk of it, picking up and waking up Spike as she went, choosing to stay cautious of this phenomenon. Twilight knew she made the right choice when her books began to flap their covers like wings and flew out her windows. When her quill and inkpot began drawing unfamiliar faces in the air. When the chairs tore the legs off her desk to engage in a sword fight.

Twilight refused to drop her spell now. It was the only thing keeping her and Spike from walking straight into the worst of the chaos. It also allowed her to see how it was propagating. The source was serpentine in nature with malformed horns, if what little of its shape she could distiguish from its glowing silhouette through the walls could be trusted. She could see it teleporting from room to room, each time leaving a growing puddle of itself in its place. Twilight could only hope that of the few pony-shaped energies she could see, that her friends were none of the ones that were surrounded by the growing danger.

The truth was, Twilight was scared. She was tired and weak from using her magic to attack Chrysalis and she had given herself no time to truly recover. She knew in a test of strength, this new adversary would win every time. She would have to be more clever, more cautious than it to either defeat it or escape it.

Twilight didn't know which one was more feasible, or which one was the right choice. Either way, she wasn't leaving until she found her friends. She would never forgive herself if she ran when her friends needed her, and the Elements would undoubtedly be her best bet of ending this disaster.

Twilight's fear levels at 67%

Converting to energy at 78% efficiancy

Celestia ran head first into her sister as she turned the corner, knocking them both over. Luna recovered first, picking up her sister and firmly grasping her head in her hooves.

"Oh no, Tia, what did he do to you?" Celestia's head was turned to stone, her eyes half-lidded and her serene smile cemented on her face. Discord had made it personal.

Celestia, in turn, was horrified for her sister, though she could not say it. She could see Luna's face, she could see the blood dripping from her nostrils and the gash near her horn from when they collided. One of her hooves was terribly swollen, and she could barely make out an alarming number of bruises forming under her coat of fur. Celestia didn't know Luna's condition was not Discord's intention. He didn't plan to give her a migraine, and he didn't know she would have one when he changed her room as he did. It was his fault, but it was a result of recklessness as opposed to malevolent intent. She saw her sister injured, beaten, and swore that this was the last time Discord would get the chance to play his games.

Discord 'hmmm'd' and 'haaaa'd' as he carried six large bird cages in just as many hands. He had five of the six new Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the violent pink changeling contained, but he just didn't seem able to find that last unicorn. He could've swore she never left the castle, and everytime he went to go check where he thought she'd be he would end up in an empty room or hallway wondering how she escaped him. No pony has ever been able to hide from him so easily, and he didn't believe it was possible until today. Discord could go wherever he wanted after all.

He wants to be in the same room as little Celly? He pops into the room, regardless of whether or not he was ever there or if he didn't know where she was. He always got what he wanted, until now.

Surprisingly, this wasn't upsetting to him, Discord actually found it rather exciting, even if his missing prisoner was screwing up his plans somewhat. He found himself saying 'this doesn't make any sense,' and he couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity. It was a novel situation, one he would treasure as he continued the search. He figured the love interest of Elfilis could work for his purposes anyway, though he knew he was also dancing on a razors edge by getting her involved.

In his defense, it was really hard to keep up a disguise when you're choking on your own adams apple.

Author's Note

Looks like Discord is being much more proactive this time around.

Also, it is really difficult to write scenes that convey Discord's brand of chaos.