Magic

Magic, Chapter 2, Unwanted Memories Part 2

Knowing full well that being in the air would be the easiest way to be spotted, John hastily began his retreat towards the edge of the city, skimming close to the rooftops. As he sped over the houses, he lowered himself down so that his stomach was millimetres away from touching the tiled roofs. The rush of wind that battered his face due to his speed was nothing compared to the wave of choking emotion that held him in an icy grasp. Shock-waves of fear made him tremble from head to tail, throwing him slightly off balance as he nimbly dodged the occasional chimney jutting out of the top of houses. He was aware that he could still be spotted, but only from the air at this height. Above him, as he didn't dare to look, he was dimly aware of a faint roaring. It only served as reason to increase his speed, and he did so. As he dashed across the city, he felt an unexplainable burst of anger gnaw at him, and he wobbled as he tried to ignore it.

"Hey!"

John heard the exclamation from behind him, and he quickly peeked around to see who it came from. He was going too fast to actually find who had shouted; the buildings kept flashing in his vision. Was it the buildings? He didn't care. He gritted his teeth, and flapped harder, fatigue already sapping at his willpower.

Wow, I'm really out of shape.

Pushing the thought aside, he continued his escape. To an onlooker, he was be a grey blur racing across the rooftops, unable to decipher or be recognised as a pony.

"Please, stop!"

Despite his initial reaction to turn around, he ignored his natural instincts and dove down, blasting over the heads of crystal ponies in the streets following their boring daily routines. He looked down, focusing on the thin doorway that fringed his vision. With a snort, his eyebrows slanted down and his crimson irises locked onto his target. The rush of air displaced by him rocketed through the streets, blowing some ponies off balance and throwing any unsecured item into the air. There were several monotonous insults thrown back at him, but he shrugged them off.

The air rushing past his eardrums obscured the sound, but he thought he could hear the unmistakable sound of hooves pounding against stone, and the faint flapping of wings behind him, somewhere to the left and up. With an agitated growl, he ducked down further, now flying at head height to try an throw off whoever was pursuing him.

As if it isn't obvious.

Rolling and spiralling to avoid hitting anypony, he watched as he came astonishingly close to hitting an out-of-place cart containing whatever it contained. He needed to get on the ground if he was to escape from them.

Sneaking a peek behind him, he wasn't at all shocked to see five very familiar ponies following a similar path. Twilight was obviously pushing herself to try and keep up with him, beads of sweat already dripping from her brow. Pinkie had an expression of stoic determination etched onto her features, with a faint sheen of sweat on her brow. Applejack, as ever, was out in front, eyes glued to him and hooves battering the crystal underneath relentlessly. Her stetson, John noted, was perched precariously on her head, on the verge of dropping off due to the astonishingly fast gallop she was implementing.

With a grimace, he flew back up to give himself more room to use. The street was completely straight, with no objects or extensions to block his advance, so he gazed back again.

They weren't gaining on him, nor was he gaining. They were at a constant distance, now that the crystal ponies that he had flown over had retreated to the sides of the street and they had a clear path as well. He could see Rarity and Fluttershy now. They were bringing up the rear, but were still very close to the other three. Daring to look to his left, he was greeted with the unwanted sight of a cyan pegasus.

"Stop running!" She shouted at him, though it was muffled to the point of inaudibility by the air resistance. Her rainbow trail was visible behind her, and her mane was pulled all the way back over her head; she was going that fast to keep up. Her eyes were filled with something, but it was negative. With a gulp, John's head snapped back in front, and he immediately squinted, water streaming from his eyes.

His wings were now beginning to give up on him, his flight muscles straining to keep him airborne, screaming in protest. With a grunt of pain, he dove down again, holding his wings out as he extended his legs. There was a thunk of pain as his hooves touched the ground, and he winced as he drew them back up to his chest, slowing down enough to stay ahead. As he did so, he heard a sudden absence of wings flapping, and he instinctively dropped his hooves. He stumbled at first, but quickly recovered and began sprinting.

Why are you running, pony?

The voice in his head told him, but it was not his own. It was deep, rung in his ears and undoubtably melodious. As he listened, he felt a rush of confusing anger, and he stumbled again, staggering off to the right. An influx of memories rushed into his head, inciting a snarl from the fleeing pegasus.

Get out of my head!

He blinked to clear the water from his eyes, and judged the distance he still had to run. It wasn't that far; he could easily see

the gateway from here. It was, however, still a feat he doubted was within his capacities to perform.

There was a sudden whistling from above, and he galloped even faster, knowing exactly what that sound meant. His legs strained to maintain the speed, but he willed himself forward. Soon enough, the crystal slowly began to fade out into grass, the colour a welcome changed to icy blues and whites. The ground was softer, but it made his muscles go slack momentarily, and he came extremely close to falling over and onto his face. Regardless, he kept going.

"Why must you follow me?!" He shouted into the wind, leaving him with a lack of breath.

"We just want to talk!" Was the return from Twilight, panting ringing in his ears.

"Well, I don't wa-Urk!"

The next thing he knew, he was on the grass, wings struggling above him. He could feel each individual blade poking into the skin on his underside, but it was soft. He also felt hooves pushing the small of his back down, and whoever they belonged to was ultimately stronger than he was, so he didn't waste any energy. His nostrils were full of the earthy odour, and John couldn't help but breath it in. His hooves stopped scrabbling at the ground, and dropped unceremoniously to his sides whilst his wings drooped, and folded back in as he sniffed.

John tasted something metallic in his mouth, and he swallowed, aware of the dryness in his throat.

"Got you! Why were you running?!" Dash hissed in his ear, making him shiver. He shook his head numbly, closing his mouth and biting down on his tongue.

Why do you refuse to talk? Are you afraid?

Hoofsteps behind him signalled the arrival of the other five mares, and he went rigid as he felt Rainbow's hooves dig harder into his back. Heavy, laboured breathing indicated that they were all out of breath, so John assumed that's why they remained silent. He heard the roaring again, and he winced. His eyes were directed at the gateway, a mere few metres away, and he chastised himself mentally.

Damn it all to the moon! So close!

He closed his eyes in defiance as the fringe of Dash's hair appeared at the edge of his vision.

"Who are you? Are you a spy?!" She growled.

He refused to acknowledge her question.

"Dash... simmer down now. Ah think you knocked him out." Applejack warned, seemingly standing in front of him. Rainbow's hooves stopped applying pressure to his spine, and he resisted the urged to breathe out in relief.

"He...uhm...said his name was Stormy Skies..." Fluttershy muttered, somewhere off to his right. The absence of Rainbow's hooves made him realise just how tired he was, but his brain refused to let him sleep.

"That doesn't explain why he's here." Twilight added, and he felt a hoof tap against ribs lightly. John opened his left eye a fraction of a millimetre, and sure enough, the orange cowpony was blocking any route of escape. His wings had gone numb, but there was nopony above him. If his wings cooperated with him, he could go, and leave them to go back to their own lives.

Ah, you're afraid. I expected as much.

"Why does he exude a feeling of familiarity?" Rarity asked, to his left. That meant that he was surrounded, and that meant no hope of staying silent. They would do something eventually to get him to speak, but until then, he would hold his tongue.

"Ah feel it too. Dash?" Applejack confirmed.

"Mm." Was the simple yet effective response.

"Has anypony seen him before? Fluttershy?"

"I..ah...haven't. But he knows where we're from..." The meek yellow pegasus answered.

"Suspicious, but that doesn't explain anything. Pinkie?"

"Nope!"

There was a heavy sigh, and he felt the cold touch of magic against his coat, slithering underneath him. "Maybe if we see his face? Applejack, you may want to move." Twilight uttered.

Yes!

John heard Applejack move, and tensed his muscles, fighting against the magical hold. His hooves found purchase on the ground, moments before Twilight would have turned him over. He sped off, reaching out with a hoof towards the gateway. Straight away, he felt the magic pull him back, and he was thrown roughly to the ground, landing on his stomach again. There was quiet for a few moments, and he felt himself being dragged backwards onto the cold crystal ground.

"So he is awake!" Dash shouted, and he felt somepony bite down on his mane. As he struggled to keep his head down with all his might, he found that his face was slowly being raised to the sun. Silence ensued, and he felt something touch his forehead.

"He obviously knows who we are and where we live. He's a pegasus, not a crystal pony, and he was running away. There's something odd going on girls, but we need to remain calm."

That struck a dark chord inside him.

"Calm?"

"You look like you're having a good day, like absolutely everything was perfect..."

"You think I'm having a good day?"

"Erm...well...you see..."

"You really think that I'm having a good day? After yesterday? ...Yes. I'm having a perfect day. Of course I'm having a good day, I mean, how could I not? The past week of my life has been perfect!"

John tried to inch away from the object, as tendrils of magic wormed their way into his mind. As the distant memory passed through his mind, he felt the tendrils recoil, and a pang of emotional grief exploded inside him.

"Get off me!" John's eyes snapped open. He flapped his wings, and his mane was released. Unable to stop basic physics, his head thumped against the crystal ground, hard, and the darkness of sleep claimed him.

/br/

"Twilight? You alright?" Dash asked as Twilight picked herself up from the floor, rubbing her head once she stood up.

"I think so. He shouldn't be able to block my spell, so I'm a little confused and tired, that's all."

"Wait, he blocked a Grade 5 memory spell?" Rarity emphasised.

Twilight was stunned for a moment, before shaking her head. "How do you know what spell I used?"

"A lady must expand her knowledge sometimes. Even if I can't use the spell, I can learn it, my dear Twilight."

"Oh. And to answer your question, yes. Although, I did break through into his thoughts."

"Can ya tell who he is?" Applejack asked.

"No. It's... er... I don't exactly know how to phrase it. It's like a... uhm..." Twilight frowned.

Everypony aside from the unconscious pegasus looked at each other uncomfortably for a few moments, silence filling the void.

"His mind is scrambled. Scattered. I dare say broken." Twilight announced, momentarily scowling.

Rainbow Dash's expression darkened at this statement.

"You make it sound like chaos." Rarity returned, tilting her head at the pegasus, studying him intently.

"I just don't know how else to put it." Twilight kicked her hoof against the ground, deep in thought.

"Alright. Ya'll can stay here, and mahself, Pinkie and Shy will go an' get help." Applejack said. Twilight nodded at her, and the cowpony walked off, with Fluttershy and Pinkie hot on her heels.

"All I want to know is why he was spying on us." Dash muttered, gazing down at the dark grey stallion.

"Maybe he wasn't." Twilight mused, "I think he was hiding from us."

"Why?" Dash looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know. All I know is that either he, or somepony else, is blocking me from seeing his memories. That only happens if a pony has been in sufficient emotional turmoil or trauma."

"Agh! Let's just bring him to Princess Cadence. She'll know what to do with him."

The stallion below the three twitched, and their heads snapped down in shock.

"Twilight?" Rarity asked, noticing first.

"Yes, Rarity?"

"What's the record for the longest time without having a cutie mark?" Rarity pointed at his flank.

Dash frowned, and looked down on her side of the stallion. "Hey! He has this weird scar up one side of his flank, just... like..."

Her eyes opened in shock, and Twilight shared a glance with Rarity.

"It can't be. He looks nothing like John. The idea is simply preposterous."

"Open his eyes; see if he's awake." Twilight ordered, still massaging her head. Rarity used her magic to flip him over, and carefully opened one of his eyes.

It was red.

"Curious." Twilight breathed, crouching down to get a closer look. "Only unicorns could have red eyes, unless he's been affected by Anti-Magi, of course."

"Like Discord?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah."

Twilight looked up at Dash. The cyan pegasus was frozen in place, blinking every few seconds. As she looked closer, she could see a trickle of a tear in her right eye, and a slightly swishing tail to accompany the action.

"So is it John, or not?"

"I haven't a clue, darling. I think we should bring him to Princess Cadence and your brother. And then, we can go and see if there's anything in the library about defending the kingdom. That's the priority."

/br/

"Hah! I hope it hurt, you thrice blasted foal!"

A masculine voice, deep and melodious, cackled through the darkness, bouncing off the walls and reverberating in the eardrums of any within earshot. As the laughter died down, there was a sudden and unexpected flash of light; hued the foulest green. It briefly illuminated the darkest reaches of the treacherous cavern, throwing a few of the inhabitants into view for a minuscule amount of time. Their eyes, a piercing and cold shade of blue reflected the light, giving them a glowing appearance whilst it lasted. Tongues clacked as they glanced at one another, unsure of what to do. Black exoskeletons shone momentarily. Then, silence.

A great, hulking beast of an insectiod pony sauntered from the source of the flash, a rare thin-lipped smile on his face. He was blacker than night itself, the dull steel armour he wore glinting in the near darkness. His hooves, if you could call them hooves, were encased in bracers of an equally dark metal, the bottoms of which thumped against the stone underhoof as he approached. His mane, dirty and unkempt from a period of mourning, flowed down the back of his neck, a horrible sea of dark grey-green framing his face. His eyes were alight with malice and the darkest of intents, green flames dancing in his cat-like pupils with a crazed intensity.

His horn, twisted and gnarled, jutted out of his forehead at a proud angle. His wings, folded against his thin but muscular torso, glittered in the remnants of the light.  The stark ebony crown upon his head gave out an otherworldly glow, mysterious and entrancing to the creatures. He turned with a regal flourish, smiling down at the confused populace. A few dared to tilt their heads and hiss, inquiring as to what had happened.

"He is alive and unstable. All it will take is one push, and he will be ours. For now, prepare."

He looked up to the distant ceiling, murkily shrouded from his view.

"Chrysalis was too cautious, too slow."

His horn began to light up like a firecracker, green sparks flying off it at every angle imaginable.

"And she was struck down because of it."

The light became harsher and infinitely more bright.

"Celestia, and her pitiful sister Luna will fall."

The creatures began to circle around him, gathering. More appeared from the darkness, hundreds of pairs of beady eyes lighting up with feral excitement.

"And we," He shouted, a cacophony of distortion gracing the ears of his subjects and spurring them on.

He paused, listening to the hisses of those who had congregated around him with a wide grin, a sight never seen on his face before. A drop of sweat slid down one side of his face; the strain of holding the spell was overwhelming.

"Will have our revenge!" He finished, firing the spell he had been charging into the cavern ceiling. It hit the rock and sizzled, melting through countless layers before breaching the ground above. Drops of molten rock dripped from the aperture created, splashing lightly against the stone below with little plops. There were hushed whispers around the cavern.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the ground began to shake. The bolt of energy had burst out into the surface, expanding rapidly until it filled a large dip in the rocky mountains, situated among the dusty plains of the Badlands. The rock on either side was starting to melt, forming a fiery pool of death that trickled into the dip. Boulders began to tumble, picking up speed as they rushed down the mountainside, occasionally being thrown into the air by odd extrusions in the stone crags.

Slowly but surely, the lava eventually spilled over an edge that was slightly lower down than the others, quickly rushing in to bolster the volume of the magically burning, and as such, ever flowing liquid. It poured down the ancient, scorched sandstone, creating a picturesque vision of Tartarus, heralding doom and despair.

Inside the cavern, the creatures were cheering and frenzied, whooping and laughing as one grotesque devilish choir that never sung in harmony. Even as they celebrated, even more were drawn to the abnormal addition to their landscape, knowing full well what was now going to happen.

Revenge.

/br/

A spark of awareness, similar to coming out of a long sleep, was the only thing occupying John's thoughts. The scent of perfume hung lightly in the air, delicately working it's way into his nostrils. He welcomed it, and took a measured breath, sniffing at the aroma delicately, as to preserve and appreciate it.  After a few more tentative breaths, he cracked an eyelid open completely. As soon as he did so, he hissed and shut it again; the light streaming in through a window to much to bear in his current state. Recovering quickly, he slowly opened both eyes, and tried to look around.

His vision was blurred, and as such, he could only make out the faintest of details; medium sized blobs of colour obscured most of what he could see. John shook his head wearily to clear his line of sight.

Three figures he recognised were standing before him, all in their own resplendent glory and nobility. The first was a mare of small stature compared to her compatriots, purple in colour, eyes sparkling with a mixture of unreadable emotions. She stared at John knowingly, as if she had caught him out. The second was a taller mare, a warm comforting pink in hue. Her wings, two toned and magnificent, were folded precisely against her chest. Her horn was aglow with a soft purple glow, calming the stallion considerably. Her face was lined with fatigue; dark bags under her eyes betrayed her pleasant air of happiness. The last, and perhaps the most formidable of the three, was a mare of equal height to the previous, but coloured in respectable hues of the night; blues and dark purples. Her teal eyes shone with a mixture of admiration and confusion, and were securely locked onto John's own red pair. Her wings were spread regally, and her horn was levelled at his prone form.

"Erm... Hi?" He said. The mares were not fools, and didn't fall for his deceit. They approached slowly, hoofsteps muffled due to his groggy hearing. John carefully, but swiftly, got to all fours, wobbling on his hooves as he struggled to regain balance. As he shook his mane, he watched the greyed colours swish around him before settling in his usual style. As they got closer, he ducked down, lowering his head to the floor in an equal display of fear and acceptance.

"Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Twilight." He uttered, keeping his eyes squarely on the floor.

"John... You're alive." Twilight whispered, watching him curiously.

"Yeah. Unfortunately." He returned, a little bit on the spiteful side. Twilight winced as if she'd been stung, but quickly regained her composure, lowering herself to the floor to try and make eye contact.

"Why would it be 'unfortunate'?" Cadence asked, watching the stallion refraining from looking up at the three.

Will have our revenge!

John gasped, and lifted a hoof up to his head, staggering forward as he did so. He heard a insectiod buzzing in his ears, like millions of pairs of wings right next to his ear. He froze in place, strangely attracted to the noise.

In his mind's eye, as he stood there, he saw a mountain explode into a maelstrom of fire and flames, and a city collapsing in the rubble as it sped down the cliff-side. It swiftly changed form, separating into pieces and reforming. Now, John saw another explosion of fire, centred on a pony's silhouette. It engulfed the shadow, and then dispersed. By now, the stallion was shaking slightly as he stood, staring blankly at the three mares. When it was gone completely, he muttered incoherently, a dull ache behind his eyeballs making him lose rational thought for a moment.

"John?" Luna asked, stepping forward. When he did not respond, she touched her horn to his forehead, a brilliant blue glow bursting into life. Her eyes went wide, and then her brow knotted. The stallion promptly went slack, collapsing into a heap on the floor. He felt no pain as he hit the crystal, but he was aware that he would have even more bruises. Through the haze of tiredness, he was able to catch a few words, eyelids beginning to droop.

"...Canterlot...Celestia...alert her...knows..."

"...he see? Is he..."

"No... Stay...empire...I need..."

He watched between forced openings of his eyes as Luna began to gallop away, her ethereal mane waving in a faint breeze as she ran. And then, the darkness claimed him again.

/br/

A feeling of weightlessness accompanied by the quaint sensation of being numb was the first thing that John was aware of. It felt similar to sleeping, but he was obviously not sleeping. That alone was a cause for concern. Eyes bursting open, he drew in a quick breath and scanned his surroundings. He saw nothing but black.

What in the name of...

Looking down, he found himself to be standing on nothingness, and whinnied in surprise. Jumping up into the void, he tried to spread his wings, but soon discovered that he was actually supported by the nothingness, and resolved to bring them back to his sides. Or, at least, he thought he had. After a few moments of deliberation within his head, he resorted to idly corkscrewing on the spot.

It was a unique and eerie experience, not feeling the effects of rotating, nor seeing the world in front of him spin with him. This struck him as rather strange, and he stopped.

"Am I even spinning, or was I imagining it?" He asked, not expecting a reply from the empty space. When he didn't hear one, he sighed in relief, thankful that this was not just a hallowed dream. This was a reality, and he was finally dead.

But am I?

Again, the questioning voice in his head had piped up, and he hushed it quickly.

Squinting in the dark, he looked around again. As he gazed into whatever was in front of him, he couldn't help but think about how nice it would be to see. No sooner than he had finished his silent declaration, had a small flickering orb of brightness blazed into life overhead. He blinked once, a little alarmed, but consoled himself swiftly. Almost immediately, the light went out, extinguished by an ominous breeze that chilled him to the bone.

He imagined another orb to combat the mournful re-invasion of darkness, the fresh light casting out a warmth that he welcomed, warily casting his eyes around him once more to search for the source of the wind. The brilliance of the sphere lit up the area in front of him, and he was oddly confused at what he saw.

The sleeping form of a stallion no bigger than he was in front of John. At least, he assumed a stallion; it was a crude representation. Bright colours, jagged edges and an otherworldly glow scarcely made up a pony. He thought it cartoon-ish, and then remembered the irony of living in a cartoon-like plane of existence. The numbness began to recede as his gaze rested on the form. Eventually, he found himself able to feel his limbs again, and was overjoyed and disappointed to find he still had hooves.

Remembering his priorities, he began to look around more, but his eyes kept wandering back to the stallion. Giving up, he let his body control itself.

Out of nowhere, beyond the hues of twilight, the "stallion" twitched, edging towards the light. As it approached, John begun to take notice of it, in particular, he was drawn to observing the colours.

A grey body. A light blue and azure mane. An unrefined blue meteor drawn on the flank facing him.

Shaded Comet.

Unable to avert his gaze, he helplessly watched as the awkward impersonation raised its head weakly, meeting John's eyes with a pair of empty pits even darker than the void behind it. John was startled momentarily, until something above the likeness of Shaded caught his eye. Faint strings were attached to the limbs and body, and he followed them, until he came to the pony, or rather, creature behind this.

Made up in a similar manner to Shaded, the orange draconequus smiled down at John, a curious expression that he didn't expect.

"Discord." John muttered, rolling his eyes.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy to see me again. Of course, once we got past all the hate and all..." The spirit replied, shrugging off the venomous look that John gave him.

"There are no words beyond "hate" that I could use to describe my feelings towards you." John returned.

Discord looked hurt. "Ouch. That's a little deep, don't you think?"

"Nope."

The spirit dropped the strings, fixing him with an agitated look. "Oh lighten up, will you?"

John raised an eyebrow. "Lighten up? You," John pointed a hoof at him, "want me," he pointed at himself, "to lighten up?"

"That's what I said, isn't it? Or did I give the wrong impression?"

"Just shut up."

Discord growled, and silenced John with a raised claw. "I'm here under the banner of peace," he said, waving a white flag above his head, before dispelling it, "but with all joking aside, what I have to say is important. Unfortunately, what you have not yet realised, and neither have anypony else, is that you can't kill a spirit. All you have done in your little crusade, all you have succeeded in, is simply halting me momentarily. And, on top of that, put in motion a series of events that could potentially destroy Equestria." He finished with a dismissive wave of his lion's paw.

"What?!"

Discord grinned at him, reaching out with a talon to prod his cheek.

"Did it ever occur to you that Chrysalis had a husband?"

The crushing reality hit him like a wet sock in the face.

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. But, what you have also done has begun another series of events that will counter him. For instance," Discord

pointed to himself, doing a somersault, "You have absorbed me."

"What do you mean?" John questioned, a little distraught.

"You forget again. In the month that I have been a part of you, I saw each and every one of your memories, which stopped you from seeing them. I know who you are, right down to the most insignificant of details. Including when you and Luna had that conversation."

"You mean..."

"Mmhmm. You didn't think carefully about your method, did you? I mentioned before, spirits can't be killed. There are quite a few who you have met already, in pony form. Most are broken, shadows of who they once were. But all are important. Therefore, there must, I repeat, must always be a spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. That is how I'm talking to you. I am now a part of you, until I regain enough strength to give myself a body again."

Discord stopped his antics, and looked John dead in the eye.

"But you are unique. Luna has explained to you who I used to be. And because you have the combined power of three of the strongest spirits dormant inside you, two of them being positive, you have changed me."

"When Magi or Anti-Magi is transferred between objects or people, the receiver will always undergo a change..." John whispered, studying the draconequus carefully for any signs of deceit.

"Correct. The Magi in you was displaced by the full force of of the spirit of Chaos entering you, and it had to go somewhere. Effectively, you are now the spirit of Chaos, until such a time as you can bestow it upon somepony else."

John stayed silent, brain completely numb. He was completely gobsmacked. Discord stayed silent for a few moments, allowing John to regain his thoughts. Once he had given him a sufficient amount of time, he continued.

"But... Spirits aren't always physical. I was the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, one of which is intangible. The inverse is my previous form; the spirit of Order and Harmony."

"So..." John rolled his hoof, barely understanding.

"You are now the holder of two polar opposites. Congratulations, it's a first. Chaos, Order, Harmony and Disharmony are now a part of you."

"But they balance each other out, so I can't be all four, can I?" John shook his head, watching the draconequus spin around him in circles.

"No. That is why I am still here. For as long as I am here, the four combined make up the spirit of Balance." Discord stressed. "If I were to leave, you would become the spirit of Chaos, and as such, I would have to destroy you."

"Because you're the spirit of Order and Harmony." It was a statement, not a question, which Discord recognised.

"Indeed. It's a vicious circle. But, as you are not, and never will be, a natural holder of the spirit, you cannot house it. Again, that is why I was absorbed. If I wasn't, the power would have made your head explode, literally."

John blinked. "Oh."

"Welcome to life. Enjoy your stay." Discord quipped. He stopped moving again, landing beside John. "There is a way out, but it requires the help of a large number of spirits."

"And that is? I'm not sure if I want to be an all-knowing, all-powerful God."

Discord laughed, the deep melody bouncing off the walls of his mind.

"You bestow Balance onto me. After all, I am a natural holder, and it means that-"

Without warning, the draconequus disappeared, whisked away by the ominous wind. The chilled air made him shiver, but it was gone quickly.

John sighed wearily, frowned, and then lay his head upon his hooves, the final words replaying in his head.