Chapters A Walk In The Canterlot Gardens
Starlight was honestly surprised to make it as far as she did in her life.
When she first made her town of Equality, she was at her lowest, believing that cutie marks were the bane that caused friendships to crumble ever since Sunburst left her, so she figured by removing them, she would be able to make a change. A good change that would benefit all of Equestria.
However, in the end, her ideals were selfish, she forced her will onto her villagers, and was only giving them a false happiness.
She took a bold move in recruiting Cheese Sandwich into her village, he was a popular party pony who was starting to believe that he only exists to make others smile, Starlight admittedly felt bad for him and recruited him into the town. Once he did, Pinkie Pie was made aware, and got her friends, including Princess Twilight to try and help the villagers find a better way.
However, once Twilight had talked her down as she tried to make off with her and her friends’ cutie marks, she relented and allowed herself to become a student for the Princess.
She made a few mistakes as she stayed in Twilight’s library, and heck she got a little too bold at one point and even tried to stop the infamous magic eating centaur Lord Tirek on her own, but that only led to her magic being stolen and being held hostage until Twilight traded her magic for hers’ and her friends’ release after Tirek forced Starlight into making him aware of Twilight’s biggest weakness.
Ironically, it was thanks to Starlight giving a necklace Sunburst made for her to Twilight as a sign of their friendship that Twilight not only defeated Tirek but also gained a new crystal castle.
To this day, Starlight was still shocked that she was forgiven for the messes she made and even with reuniting with Sunburst, she still felt a bit hollow. Twilight suggested to her that she should take a walk around the Canterlot gardens to clear her head.
And there Starlight was, at said gardens, it was mostly isolated, probably because hardly anyone interested bothered to look there. She looked to one statue of three ponies seemingly having fun, she smiled a bit fondly, she knew it represented friendship, something that she hoped to achieve one day.
She then saw another statue of a pony holding up an orange flag with yellow diamonds. It didn’t take Starlight long to realize that was a flag of victory.
“Wow both these flags represent Twilight well. Friendship and Victory. Hope I can achieve that one day.” Starlight smiled fondly.
”Oh gag, your talk about friendliness and hope and all that garbage is so gag-worthy.”
Starlight heard an eerie voice from the garden and she immediately flared up her horn, “Who’s there? I’m really good at magic you know, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
”Calm down you impulsive little unicorn. I’m a statue, I can’t exactly hurt you.”
Starlight heard the voice explain, so she refrained from using magic but kept her guard up, “You’re a statue, which one are you?”
”Ah, so you want to know. Take a good look around the field, you will likely notice that one of these are not like the other.” The voice riddled.
“One are unlike the other.” Starlight analyzed the statues, only to find a statue that looked very different from the other pony statues. This one looked terrified, it had a pony head, a lion’s paw, an eagle claw, a lizard leg and hoof, and a snake tail.
“Are you the mismatched creature?” Starlight asked warily.
”Ding ding ding, someone give the pony a prize, oh wait I can’t, sorry.” the voice spoke mockingly.
Starlight fought the urge to show any anger towards the statue and continued to ask questions to see what the creature was, “What are you anyway?”
”I’m a Draconequus. I’m a mismatch of ordinary creatures and can create chaos on a whim.” the voice spoke, suddenly Starlight’s eyes widened in horror, Twilight spoke of a freaky mismatched creature she encountered, it also caused chaos and anarchy.
“But I’m sure you knew of that Starlight Glimmer. Student of Princess Twilight Sparkle!” The voice said mischievously.
“Discord… Wh-How do you know my name?!” Starlight cried out in alarm.
”Being turned to stone does not keep me from hearing what ponies say. Everypony’s been talking about you, the former cultist, the one who led Tirek to Twilight, and most importantly being Twilight’s student.” Discord spoke sinisterly, and Starlight could only assume that he was smirking underneath that stone.
“How are you even able to speak to me anyway? You’re still a stone statue.” Starlight asked with a shaky tone.
“Oh Starlight. So much chaos has been occurring for a while now. I couldn’t not begin to start cracking. Though the Elements were certainly stronger than last time, so I’m not really gonna be escaping anytime soon.” Discord said, which Starlight hoped was the truth.
“You made a mistake in revealing this Discord, when Twilight and Celestia are aware of this, they’ll…” Starlight began to speak before Discord laughed mockingly, “Oh please, so long as I am stone no one will know about this. I’d suggest you do yourself a favor and keep your mouth shut, I’m only looking out for you after all, they’ll likely assume you’re crazy and begging for attention.”
Starlight had to admit, Discord had a point, no one would believe her as long as Discord was still in stone. All he had to do was keep silent, what could Starlight hope to do.
“You won’t get away with this you know. Sure enough, you’ll somehow be stopped.” Starlight said defiantly.
”I sincerely doubt it, but in the interest of our new companionship, should I see you if I escape. I will not harm you or your precious Sunburst. Then you can’t say I didn’t do anything nice for you.”
Suddenly Discord stopped speaking, which confused Starlight, soon enough a brown stallion who was in a yellow guard uniform walked up to Starlight.
“Miss Glimmer, your time here is up, it’s time to go.” The stallion told Starlight.
“Oh… of course.” Starlight smiled nervously before trotting off to exit the gardens, that was certainly a weird experience, but Starlight figured there was no way that could be real. Her mind was probably messing with her again.
Unfortunately for Starlight, from inside the stone, Discord had been in a dark void, sitting on a lounge chair and eating chocolate coated popcorn from a bag, and held a cotton candy with mustard on top, as he looked through inside the statue the whole time, watching the unicorn exit with a sinister grin on his face. It was clear that Discord had indeed been talking with Starlight this whole time.
“I think I found my new favorite Twilight. She’ll be perfect for my new utopia.” Discord said, still wearing that same smirk from before.
Author's Note
This concept was just too perfect. This is basically an AU if Starlight were able to reform Discord instead of Fluttershy. I had thought about it for a while so all I had to do was think of an alternate outcome for how to defeat Tirek, reform Starlight early, and get Twilight her castle and it all looked up from here.
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Making A New Friend But Reminders Of Discord
Starlight was currently at the kitchen of Twilight’s castle, Twilight had called her down to tackle another friendship lesson, she was kinda relieved if she was being honest. Starlight had been so caught up over the whole Discord vision, she figured that a friendship lesson would take her mind off the Spirit Of Chaos and Disharmony.
She then let her mind wander as Twilight placed her purple plate on the kitchen table, and then adjusted it, Did that whole conversation I had with Discord actually happen… No, I was just being silly. He’s stone, he can’t hurt me.
“We very carefully set the table-“ Starlight vaguely heard Twilight say.
Starlight didn’t need to be told twice and used her magic to levitate the plates and utensils to the correct position and when she was done, she smiled at Twilight.
“Did you...?! How? When? What?!” Twilight asked in shock.
“What?” Starlight asked in confusion, had she done something wrong?
“I said no magic. You were supposed to do it by hoof so I could work in a friendship lesson.” Twilight told the unicorn.
“Oh… I heard set the table, and… kinda went for it.” Starlight smiled sheepishly.
“Well, if you hadn't used magic, you'd have heard me say, uh...” Twilight began speaking before turning to the utensils and the plate, “This plate represents your head, this spoon is your heart, and the knives... are sharp! Always be careful with knives.” Twilight smiled nervously before sighing, “The metaphors make more sense when you're actually setting the table.”
Starlight began to feel bad for Twilight so she suggested, “Should I change it back.” Starlight could easily do so, she had the magic prowess.
“I just want to make sure you're ready for this dinner. Princess Celestia will be joining us tomorrow night to see how the friendship lessons are going.” Twilight explained.
Starlight paled a bit when she heard that, she met Celestia before, but to meet her again, especially after her supposed encounter with Discord. Was Starlight sure she’d be able to deal with it? But soon, she focused her attention onto the four seats.
“If it’s just you, me, and Princess Celestia, why are there four seats?“ Starlight asked curiously.
Twilight smiled and walked over to Starlight, “Well, the whole point is for you to bring a new friend. That way, the princess will see for herself just how far you've come.” Twilight explained happily, “And how good a teacher you have.” She playfully nudged Starlight’s shoulder with a smile.
“Well, I can't choose. I like all your friends.” Starlight smiled warmly.
“That’s the best part!” Twilight said enthusiastically, “You have to make a new friend.”
“Really? Are you sure? Ponies are probably still mad about what happened with Tirek.” Starlight said nervously.
“Oh trust me Starlight. The town isn’t that mad at you as you think. I clarified you were trying to help track him down, even if it badly backfired, you’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Twilight warmly reassured the unicorn.
Starlight sighed in resignation, she may as well try.
Starlight sighed as she walked to the fountain of Ponyville, not a lot of her attempts to make friends went well, Pinkie tried to introduce her to Mrs. Cake but she ended up accusing her of trying to put her out of business for making an extravagant cake, she tried to make friends with Big Mac but he wouldn’t even talk to her, and Rarity and Rainbow Dash’s advice didn’t help.
She did befriend Angel Bunny but that wasn’t what Twilight had in mind, she was also sure Angel and Fluttershy might end up having commitment issues for some reason.
She looked down at her reflection and sighed. “What is going on? This is Ponyville! If I can't make a friend here, there's gotta be something wrong with me !”
Suddenly her reflection turned into Discord wearing a smirk, causing her to scream fearfully, and back away, gaining weird looks from the townsponies.
She chuckled nervously and walked to the right, she soon saw the Spa Hut, “Maybe I could work with this.”
Soon she headed to the spa, as she was oblivious to the fact that something was in her hair, a barely noticeable brown dot was there.
We then see that Discord was still in his void, watching the events with Starlight unfold.
“That magic camera I placed is working wonders. Take a spa day all you want Starlight Glimmer, you’ll accept the chaos eventually.” Discord spoke with a grin.
Author's Note
Two in one day, I was gonna wait to post this, but practically everything I wanted to cover for this chapter was ready to be posted.
Disappointment and Dreams
Author's Note
So I decided to skip the rest of No Second Prances for the sake of plot. This story is about Starlight and Discord, so for this to work, I kinda have to skip the unimportant stuff.
Disappointment and Dreams
Against all odds, Starlight was able to take her mind off of Discord for the last two days.
Ever since she met Trixie at the spa, who also was a reformed villain like her, she was finally able to find common ground with somepony. Although Twilight seemed very distrusting over their friendship, and Starlight was well aware of that.
Starlight guessed that was the reason she decided to skip out on the dinner to help Trixie with her Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive. Though, after Twilight came to lecture Starlight, she and Trixie almost fell apart due to Trixie accidentally admitting she was using her. It was thanks to Twilight that they were able to patch things up and finish the show correctly.
Unfortunately, Twilight remembered she’d have to face Celestia since she and Starlight were late to the dinner and she was a nervous wreck. Starlight tried her best to calm her down, it was the least she could do since this was her fault.
“Hey Twilight, don’t worry. It was my fault I showed up late. I’ll explain this to Celestia.” Starlight offered with a kind smile.
“No.” Twilight sighed, “I’m the one who drove you away by not trusting you to make your own friends. I should tell Celestia about what happened.”
Soon the two entered the kitchen, where Celestia was awaiting them with a glare. Starlight gulped fearfully while Twilight was better at keeping her cool.
“Twilight Sparkle! Starlight Glimmer! I trust you two have a reason as to why my time was wasted.” Celestia spoke sternly.
Starlight breathed in and out, “Celestia I’m the one who missed out on dinner because I wanted to help my new friend Trixie with her magic show, if anypony’s to blame it’s…”
“Me!” Twilight jumped in immediately, “I interfered in Starlight’s attempt to befriend Trixie. I didn’t trust Starlight enough to make her own friends, and it probably led her to act out. It’s not her fault, it’s mine.”
Starlight mouth was agape in shock, did Twilight seriously just do that?
Celestia’s face went from mad to disappointed, “Twilight, I am disappointed. You should never interfere with a friendship, unless you know that friendship is toxic.”
“I know. I guess I just forgot to show Trixie the trust I showed Starlight.” Twilight sighed sadly.
“If it is any consolation, I do believe you learned your lesson.” Celestia smiled warmly at Twilight who still frowned sadly, “Let us put this all behind us and learn from it.”
Celestia then used her horn to teleport outside the castle.
Soon Twilight began to tear up, which concerned Starlight a lot, she immediately extended a hoof to comfort Twilight.
“Twilight? Are you o-“ Starlight began to ask before Twilight embraced her tearfully, “I’m sorry I was a bad mentor and friend. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Starlight patted Twilight on the head and spoke comfortingly, “It’s okay Twilight. I made a mistake too. I’m not mad.”
Twilight let Starlight go and then spoke, still with tears, “I should have shown more trust for you though, you were right, I wasn’t giving you OR Trixie a chance. I just hope I can be a better teacher in the future.”
She then teleported away, leaving Starlight to tear up sadly as well, before heading to her room sadly.
Starlight soon found herself sleeping but then woke up to an oinking noise, she found herself on a checkerboard sidewalk, while the grasslands and hills appeared to be plaid colored, pigs were flying, the sky was pink, buffalos were dancing, houses were floating, and the sky was pink.
“Where am I?” Starlight asked in confusion.
“Oh Starlight, I figured you’d recognize Ponyville by now.” A hauntingly familiar voice was heard.
Starlight turned behind her to see Discord sitting on his black throne with red cushions.
“I thought you weren’t real! What are you doing?! What have you done to Ponyville?!” Starlight asked fearfully.
“Calm down Glim Glam, that’s your new nickname btw.” Discord smirked playfully, “You’re only dreaming, but I must say, you pulled off some excellent chaos today.”
“Wh-What?” Starlight whimpered.
“The emotional turmoil between you, Trixie, and Twilight was just phenomenal. I couldn’t have done it any better myself, well maybe I could, but you certainly impressed me Starlight Glimmer.” Discord smirked with a teasing eyebrow raise.
“No. No, I never meant to hurt them. You’re wrong Discord.” Starlight cried out defiantly.
“Oh but you still hurt them.” Discord smirked, causing Starlight to frown guiltily.
“Face it Starlight. Like it or not, you’re just like me. Accept it, and you’ll finally be free.” Discord smirked as his eyes glowed red.
Starlight shook her head before glaring hatefully at the Draconequus, “I’ll never be like you. Ever.”
“Eh, I guess denial is natural.” Discord shrugged before continuing, “By the way, I’m not so happy with being replaced by that so-called rebel Trixie. She’s so obnoxious.”
Starlight just raised her eyebrow in confusion, “Replaced? What are you talking about?”
Discord just smirked villainously, “You’ll find out soon enough.” He then pinched her cheek…
And Starlight woke up, right back in her bed. She looked around to see she was still in the bedroom Twilight offered her.
“Was that… really Discord?” Starlight asked herself fearfully before shaking it off and smiling shakily, “No, my mind is just feeding on my guilt. I’ll apologize to Twilight tomorrow.”
Starlight went back to sleep with that plan in mind and seemed much more at peace, little did she know, she was still being watched by Discord in his void.
“Sleep well Starlight, you earned it.” Discord admitted fondly.
“You know, I really don’t get why you’re bothering with that mare.” A nasally voice said from behind him.
Discord turned behind him to see that his oh so boring counterpart Specs, who was him but in glasses, staring at him stone faced, “I mean, it’s not like this unicorn is connected to the Elements, why not go after Twilight or Fluttershy or even Rarity?”
“Oh Specs, you don’t get it do you?” Discord smirked villainously as he got near Specs’ face, “The thing about Starlight Glimmer is that she was able to cause a bunch of chaos in the past, and she will be my ticket to freedom if I push her enough.”
“And if I am able to push her enough, she will join me in my conquest and become my Royal Advisor. As much as talking to myself is charming, it’s kinda dull. I want something new in my life and this unicorn is exactly that.” Discord continued monologuing.
“And the cherry on top of this delicious lemonade sundae?” Discord asked himself as he holds a sundae that had a lemonade moat before throwing it at Specs’ face, “The fact that Twilight Sparkle will be forced to face with the fact she lost her precious pupil to ME. And I will rule Equestria in chaos!” Discord began laughing maniacally.
“So rest easy Starlight Glimmer.” Discord told Starlight through the screen although she could not hear him, “I have big plans for you.”
