Discord finally returned to the present, standing in the center of the throne room. He had gathered all the artifacts and samples from the ponies that he believed were necessary to recreate his most beloved era. Now, he was making the final preparations. Discord began to draw a series of ancient and chaotic magical symbols, forming a huge circle. He then scratched his ear, extracting a bit of earwax, and flicked it right into the center of the circle. The moment the earwax touched the ground, it transformed into Twilight's magic mirror.

"Wow, Discord... what's all this?" Spike asked as he entered the throne room, gesturing to the guards to relax.

The royal guards were incredibly nervous, given the last known story of Discord, where he turned all the royal guards into chocolate and marshmallow ponies for Hearts and Hooves Day, even though that was over fifty years ago.

"Is that Twilight's interdimensional mirror? Is it for the spell to bring our friends back?" Spike asked as he stood next to Discord, holding a cup full of gems.

"Yes, my scaly little friend. Once Twilight arrives, we’ll be able to see all our friends again and have the grandest adventure of Ogres & Oubliettes!" Discord said, snapping his fingers and transforming both himself and the young dragon into their Ogres & Oubliettes characters. Discord felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him as he donned his costume, and he couldn't help but laugh at Spike, whose outfit was comically too small.

It had been a long time since Spike and Discord had a boys' night. They had tried to have one with other ponies and creatures, but after Big Mac left, Ogres & Oubliettes just wasn’t the same. Gradually, Discord and Spike began to drift apart.

"I'm glad. That... sounds really exciting!" Spike said, struggling with his too-small outfit, which was suffocating him.

Discord, laughing, snapped his fingers again, making Spike's costume fit perfectly for a grand dragon lord.

"You'll get used to the outfit, Spike. Consider it an early gift for a few centuries in the future. Now, where is our dear ruler? One would think she’d be here for the grand moment, or at least for her dreadfully boring court," Discord said, conjuring a sofa and lounging on it.

"Well, Twilight told me she needed to think for a bit and asked to be left alone. So, I don’t know exactly where she is, and I doubt any guard knows either. But I can send her a letter to find out... I suppose all this talk of seeing the girls, her parents, and... and Shining. She probably went to see Flurry Heart and Cadance. Maybe she’s making a list-"

Suddenly, Twilight entered the throne room. Discord quickly jumped off the sofa and duplicated himself into rows of bards playing trumpets around Twilight as she approached the throne.

"Well! You arrived! I feared for a moment you might chicken out and not come. I was terrified that young Spike and I would have to rule Equestria in your absence. I could already see myself sitting on your throne, hearing silly petitions."

"Discord... I need to tell you someth-" Discord silenced Twilight with a quesadilla.

"Yes, yes, yes, Twilight, we have a spell to cast. Once we’re done, you can tell me anything you want, I promise. Now, I need your magic, and I promise we’ll see our friends again!" Twilight, annoyed, spat out the quesadilla, trying to look as serious and firm as possible, although the quesadilla had clearly surprised her and shaken her confidence. But she still had to be firm.

"We're not doing that spell, Discord. I won't help you. I don’t know what you’re really planning, but you won’t get my magic," Twilight said firmly, eyeing the strange symbols on the floor, which gave her a bad feeling.

Suddenly, the copies of Discord vanished, the birds' singing ceased, and the gentle breeze died instantly. Discord snapped his fingers, and all the guards who had taken a defensive stance suddenly

"Twilight, what did you just say?" Discord asked slowly, rubbing the bridge of his snout. The open doors of the throne room slammed shut, and the sound of the guards outside trying to force their way in could be heard.

The atmosphere was the most tense Twilight and Spike had ever experienced. Neither Nightmare Moon nor Tirek had managed to make Twilight's fur stand on end like this. For the first time in centuries, Twilight feared for her life and the lives of her beloved ponies. Now, it was just her and Spike with the Lord of Chaos, and for the first time, her friends would not be coming to help her. Finally, Discord began to laugh maniacally, his laughter likely echoing throughout Equus, frightening and unsettling every living being who heard it.

"Well! I didn't expect that answer from you, Twilight. It seems we adults will have to have a warm chat." Discord snapped his fingers, and Spike fell unconscious to the ground, breaking his cup of gems.

"You’re still too young to participate in adult conversations, my dear dragon. Now, Twilight, could you repeat what you said? I think I didn’t get all the wax out of my ear, so I must have misheard you... right?"

"I... Discord..." Twilight was at a loss. Discord had proven not to be evil in the past, and she even considered him a good friend. However, after Fluttershy passed away, Discord changed, distancing himself and only returning to play pranks. Although these pranks were neither malicious nor dangerous, they had made Twilight see Discord as more of a nuisance, knowing he would only add more hours to her workload. But now, Discord seemed like the malevolent Lord of Chaos she and her friends had once imprisoned in stone. This time, she was alone; even Spike was unconscious. There was no time to send a letter to Smolder, the current leader of the Elements of Harmony. All she could do was buy more time, hoping Smolder would notice something was amiss.

"Discord, I don't think we were about to do the right thing. Neither harmony nor chaos should tamper with life and dea-"

Suddenly, Discord grabbed Twilight with his lion arm, which had grown gigantic. Twilight could feel the pressure of his hand and the coarse fur of his fingers wrapping roughly around her before he slammed her into the largest symbol in the circle he had drawn.

"I’m tired of being patient, Twilight. I’ve lived a life full of pure chaos, destruction, and jokes, but always alone. Then I was imprisoned for millennia and freed, finally finding happiness and your precious 'friendship.' But like all things, it had to end, didn’t it? After centuries of study and effort, I found a way to be happy again, to reclaim the beacon of light and joy I cherished most. I thought you, like me, would want this too, but it seems I didn’t know my supposed friend as well as I thought. Believe me, Twilight, I still consider you a friend; otherwise, I would have already taken your magic and used your empty shell to cast this spell. But you’re more useful to me if you cooperate, so I regret that you’ve forced my hand," Discord said, growing to an enormous size, his body filling almost the entire throne room.

The royal guards who had broken through the doors tried to enter but were blocked by the wall of fur and flesh that was Discord's body.

Carefully, Discord took hold of Twilight's horn with the tips of his eagle claws, causing both their eyes to glow. Without wasting time, he released her horn and with the same claw shattered the mirror, breaking it into many fragments. These fragments melted into a viscous purple mass that covered the circle Discord had drawn on the floor with the symbols.

"Discord, please, STOP! I don’t know what you plan to do, but this isn’t right!... I promise if you stop now, I won’t reprimand you or turn you back into stone. I know this is all my fault... I should have been there for you. You’re my friend after all. I know when Fluttershy died, it hurt you even more than it did me. Instead of supporting you and being there for you, I left you to suffer in your solitude. I didn’t know you were in such pain, Discord. I thought in my foolishness that you distanced yourself because you had matured since you never brought chaos again. Please, Discord, stop what you’re doing, and let’s start being friends again," Twilight said, beginning to tire, still trapped in the grip of Discord’s giant lion paw.

"It’s too late, Twilight. Too much time has passed, centuries even. If you had truly seen me as a friend, you would have been happy to see me. You would have known that my harmless pranks were just attempts to bring a bit of excitement and joy into your life because you were my friend. But instead, I received rejection, anger, and disdain," Discord said angrily, pulling out the samples and objects from his pocket dimension, sorting them by pony, encapsulating them in bubbles, and placing them into the purple viscous mass that now covered the circle.

"However, I appreciate your apology, and as a token of my gratitude, I’ll tell you exactly what I’m doing, Twilight. You see, I am the embodiment of Chaos, as you know, but neither chaos nor harmony can interfere with the cycle of life or death. We can’t bring the dead back to life or completely eliminate a soul, no matter how powerful we are. A soul can only exist once and never be duplicated in the same reality. But what if I transfer a copy of a soul to another world where it doesn’t exist? Of course, I can’t create life, but nothing stops me from altering it, especially if it’s just forming. That’s what these samples and objects are for, Twilight," Discord said, lifting a very familiar Stetson hat that Twilight recognized, then encapsulating it along with some orange and blonde hair strands.

"YOU CAN'T JUST ALTER OTHER REALITIES LIKE THIS, DISCORD. YOU CAN'T TRANSPLANT OUR FRIENDS INTO ANOTHER REALITY. Besides, what do these things have to do with a soul? They’re just objects and a bit of DNA," Twilight said, struggling in vain to free herself from Discord’s grip. His hand was enormous, and he was applying enough pressure to immobilize her.

"You’re quite observant, Twilight. You really deserve a gold star. You see, the DNA samples explain themselves, don’t they? They’ll only make the individual take on the appearance of our beloved ponies, but not their essence. That’s where the objects come in, my dear friend. What better way to capture the essence of a pony than by using something they cherished and represented them? This is what will truly bring our friends to another world, Twilight. As I tried to explain before you interrupted, these bubbles containing our friends will travel to an alternate reality, one without magic or harmony to interfere with my plans," Discord said, placing the bubble he made for Applejack into the viscous mass.

"But... But you can’t create life, Discord. That’s impossible-" Discord suddenly released Twilight, realizing she was too weakened, and his grip could now cause her physical harm. He was still draining her magic, preventing her from moving, but Discord himself was also tiring.

"I know, Twilight. It seems I finally got the Princess’s prized student to be wrong. I told you I couldn’t revive or create life but could alter it. When a new soul forms, it’s almost empty. So, when it’s forming, I can interfere and insert the soul of one of our dear friends, making the new soul take on theirs as if it were its own, thus creating a copy of our beloved ponies," Discord said, placing more bubbles into the viscous mass, mockingly holding a book full of Twilight’s lessons and letters, along with some purple hair strands, encapsulating them and placing them into the mass.

"I hope you enjoy this world of Equestria without your beloved Discord, because I’m leaving. This is probably what you wanted all along, isn’t it?"

Just before Discord could immerse himself in the viscous mass, the ceiling of the throne room exploded. From the debris and clouds of dust emerged two very angry alicorns.

"Stop right there, Discord! Cease what you’re doing and surrender," the two sisters said in unison, firing a beam of pure magic at Discord, who shielded himself with an arm.

“You two are more annoying than a pain in the ass. I understand why you're so obsessed with me, after all, I am Discord. Who wouldn’t fall in love for such a magnificent draconequus? But you’ve chosen the worst possible moment, and this will likely be your final interruption. I’ll make sure of it once and for all," Discord said, deflecting the magic. But he was exhausted, and the combined magic of Luna and Celestia overpowered him. Nervous, Discord resorted to trickery. He redirected one of the sisters’ beams toward Twilight.

Celestia quickly noticed and broke off her attack to save Twilight, falling right into Discord's trap. He swiftly redirected Luna’s beam towards Celestia, hitting her square in the chest. She gasped, collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud, writhing in pain.

"CELESTIA, NO!" Luna screamed, momentarily distracted by her sister's fall. Discord seized the opportunity, swatting Luna like a fly with one of his hands, sending her crashing into a pillar, shattering it, and embedding her in the wall.

"This wasn’t part of the plan, and you’ll pay for it. If you’re so eager to participate, then I’ll oblige," Discord said, materializing the crowns of both princesses.

"If you wish to play so badly, I’ll make you players in my game," he added, placing Celestia’s crown on the head of the now unconscious ex-monarch. Discord snapped his fingers, and Celestia was absorbed by the magic of her crown.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY SISTER, YOU MONSTER!" Luna yelled, struggling to free herself from the crack in the wall. Once free, she tried to charge at Discord, but her legs gave out beneath her.

"That hurt, Luna. That’s no way to speak to a friend. I thought you wanted to play with me, so I’m including you. You see, I’m not entirely sure how all this will work. It could go wonderfully or terribly. It’s all very... chaotic, don’t you think? Especially for you two. You’ll be a particularly interesting case. I mean, the others just have a bit of DNA, but you two..." Discord began to laugh, "You two are going whole into a new world. Not even I will do that."

"Wait, what?" Luna managed to say before she was absorbed by the gem in her crown, encapsulated in a bubble. Discord, exhausted, held the two sisters’ bubbles before his face.

"Yes, my dear friend, I’m not going in whole like you. I’ll be fragmented. The bubbles that now contain you, your sister, and the replicas of our ponies’ souls are essentially my essence. Once I enter the portal, I’ll disperse and reinforce these bubbles. This will prevent you from taking your pony forms immediately. It will also allow me to choose and modify which pony assimilates which soul, so I can try to recreate as much as possible your pony versions in that world dominated by primates," Discord said, playing with the bubble containing Luna.

"To put your mind at ease, think of it as a way of imprisoning myself. I won’t be able to interfere directly at any time. But remember this, my dear friend. A day will come, and I don’t know when, where, or how, but when all the souls are present, I will slowly return, and everyone will revert to their pony forms."

"It will be amusing to watch you all struggle with your pony and primate versions in that universe. I wonder if my spell will be powerful enough to truly replicate the ponies we all loved, or, in the worst case, a conflicted being torn between two completely different minds," Discord said, his tone mocking. Luna tried to scream, pounding on the crystal of her own crown from the inside. Discord laughed and simply placed the bubbles into the viscous mass.

Finally, Discord bowed, doffing an imaginary hat to the unconscious Twilight and Spike, as if they were an audience in a theater. Then he stepped into the viscous mass. The warm darkness enveloped Discord, and he felt a comforting peace as he was slowly absorbed by the thousands of bubbles.

"Twilight, Spike, what happened to you?" Sunburst, the greatest wizard in Equestria, shouted as he rushed into the throne room with a dozen guards, alongside Smolder and the current Elements of Harmony. They saw the destroyed room, the unconscious Twilight and Spike, and the strange, enormous symbol on the floor. "What in the world happened here?"

Author's Note

With that, we've come to the end of the introduction to this story. I'm already working on the next part, which will focus on the Apples (since they’re my favorite family from the Mane Six).

However, I'm open to suggestions on who you'd like to see featured after the Apples.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this fic, and I hope you enjoyed it!