Disclaimer - I don't own The Lorax or My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. All characters are property of Dr Seuss/Illuminations Entertainment or Hasbro

A Principle Of Nature

Reformation.

Now, what exactly was "reformation"? Really?

Of course, the discovery of friendship had softened the Spirit of Chaos' heart, but in the end, he was still the Spirit of Chaos. Discord may have agreed to the princesses to use his magic for good, but there was only so much good chaos could do. So how could he possibly keep such a promise?

Well.

He did have his own little way.

Discord had already successfully taught Princess Twilight Sparkle a lesson. And in friendship, no less! Maybe he had found just the right way to use his powers - he could keep his promise and still have some fun along the way. But he was growing tired of Equestria. After all, Celestia's way of running the place really was so boring compared to the way things were when he was in charge. He was starting to think it was time to take a break from ponies.

After the Summer Sun Celebration had concluded that year, Discord, unseen, followed Princesses Celestia, Luna and Twilight to the Crystal Empire when they delivered the news of the Tree of Harmony to Princess Cadence and Shinging Armor. The moment they arrived at the palace, he quickly broke away. He floated silently through the air, roaming the dark halls, occasionally slipping past a guard or two, some of whom were beginning to fall asleep at their posts. He continued deeper and deeper into the quiter parts of the palace, the places forgotten by most, and eventually he came to a closed door where nopony stood guard.

"Oh…?" he stopped, looking at the door with a smirk, "Well, it looks as though somepony knew I was coming. How thoughtfull of them!" And with a snap of his claws, he teleported inside.

"… A mirror?" Discord slumped, his ears drooping, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I should have known," he rolled his eyes, making his way towards it, "Why in the wide, wide world of Equestria would Little Miss Crystal Heart leave a room supposed to hold a portal to another world unguar- What?" He looked up to see that, upon leaning against the seemingly glass surface of the mirror, his paw had fazed right through. But on the other side, he saw no fur or claws. No; skin, nails… fingers. He pulled his foreleg back and his paw reappeared. He inspected it, wiggling his toes thoughtfully. There was something strangely familiar about the image through the mirror…

Of course…!

He had been to this world before. On a number of occasions, in fact, before the Regal Sisters turned him to stone. He had wreaked chaos on every corner of that world, corrupting innocent minds, turning friends into enemies, stirring up "natural" disasters… The good old days.

He raised his hoof, but a sudden thought froze him. He had made a promise. He had friends now. And what would they think if they found out? What would Shutterfl- Fluttershy think?

Well… they don't have to know, now, do they?

With a wicked chuckle, Discord stepped forward.

"Oh, this is going to be fun…!"

* ~ CHAOTIC ~ *

Things were looking promising for the Once-ler's business. Orders had come flooding in and his family actually proved helpful now that he'd let them cut the trees down. His mother was right, it was much faster. The Lorax hadn't been too happy about it, but at least he'd finally earned his mother love. What was the Lorax compared to that? He was successful, and she was proud of him. Who cared what that furball said?

He sat in his cottage, sketching away, constantly revising his old designs for the factory. Outside, Uncle Ubb drove the ax-hacker slowly around the area, the twins close behind him, ready to collect the tufts. His mother was back inside the RV, probably sorting through the orders as usual, and Aunt Grizelda stood watch, keeping the animals out of the way. It had only been a few days since he agreed to start chopping down trees again, but it felt like it had been months since he'd seen the Lorax or any of the other critters that always used to flock to him to snack on pancakes or listen to him play guitar. He wouldn't ever admit it to his family, but he was starting to miss them, especially Pipsqueak. Ever since he'd saved him during the whole waterfal incident, the little bar-ba-loot pup wouldn't leave his side. That is, until his family arrived. But he knew if he took a break now, it would only end with his mom accusing him of shirking his responsibilties. And anyway, he had work to do. He couldn't leave now, they were counting on him. He was going to make their lives so much better. Even if he was still at the bottom now, that wouldn't last long. He was helping people, giving them what they wanted. He couldn't let any of them down.

But on the other hand, they were getting plenty of work down on their own. They wouldn't really miss him if he just slipped out for an hour or two, right? With a sly smile, he put down his pencil and grabbed his guitar, slipping out the door.

* ~ CHAOTIC ~ *

"Ah, it's been many a year since I was last in this world," Discord smiled to himself as he strolled through Greenville, his yellow eyes and oddly sharp tooth hooked over his lower lip receiving nervous looks from people as he passed by casually, "I must say, it has changed since then…"

As he walked, he noticed something else he found familiar. Unusual trees with soft tufts instead of leaves lined the streets. He had seen these trees once, a long time ago, long before this town was built. And if these trees were here, he knew a certain someone would be here too.

"Perhaps I should go and pay him a visit."

* ~ CHAOTIC ~ *

The Once-ler sighed contently and tipped his hat further over his eyes. He was sat with his back against a truffula tree, his guitar propped up next to him, with Pip by his side, copying his pose. He didn't notice the strange-looking man with yellow and red eyes, fang, beard and mismatched clothes gliding past the trees.

Discord had quickly found the Lorax helping some bar-ba-loots collect truffula fruits and was thrilled to learn that a young man had intruded in the forest and started stirring up trouble. So, of course, he just had to find this boy. Ignoring the Lorax's attempts to stop him, he had calmly strolled away to do so.

Upon finding the Once-ler lying against a tree with his hat over his face, Discord paused for a moment. His pasts expreiences in this world had told him he still had access to his chaotic powers. It was chaotic power, after all. Before the boy could notice he was there, he transformed his human body back into its natural draconequus shape. He slowly inched closer, grinning, until the young pup at the Once-ler's side woke and saw him. Frightened, he jumped and clung to the boy.

"Wh- Pip…?" the Once-ler lifted his hat enough to look down at the startled bar-ba-loot, then tipped it back further to see what had scared him, only to let out a short yelp himself. Discord couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction, and his chuckling soon turned into roaring laughter. He snapped his claws and was once again human.

"That was just brilliant! Y-you should have seen the look on your face…!" he wiped a tear from his, just barely containing his laughter. Having calmed himself after the initial shock, the Once-ler frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me. Another 'mystical creature' come to warn me that everything I'm doing is bad and wrong and that I shouldn't be doing this…"

Discord's eyes widened. He hadn't expected any kind of comeback, but nonetheless, he knew just how to respond and looked back at him, feigning innocence.

"On the contrary, my dear boy. I never did like that old Lorax. So boring. Always trees this and bar-ba-loots that. Ugh. Trying to keep you on the straight and narrow, is he? Now, where is the fun in that, I ask you?"

The Once-ler stood up, Pipsqueak nervously stepping behind his legs, peeking out to look at the stranger.

"Exactly! I mean, I'm trying to do something good here. I'm helping people, I'm giving then something useful, aren't I?"

"Helping people? Oh, no, my boy, that is not what they deserve from you."

The boy faltered, looking at Discord weakly. "I-it's not…?"

"Not at all. Not. At. All," he came closer, "No, they've hurt you. They've laughed at you. Ridiculed you. Pushed you away like you were nothing. Even now, it's not you they want. Only what you can give them."

"Yeah," he looked down, "… You're right…"

Discord took this oppurtunity to wrap an arm around his shoulders, raising his hand in front of him. "Think back. What was it you said to your family when you left him? That you wanted to help people?" He smirked at the boy furrowing his brow in thought. He could practically see the gears turning in his head. This one wasn't going to be so difficult.

"No… No, I said… I would prove them all wrong…"

"Yes…!" Discord released him suddenly, making him stumble slightly, "And now you have, you need to show 'em who's boss. You've given enough. It's time they started giving back."

With a sly smile, he prodded the Once-ler's chest, and a similar smile began to spread across his face. His magic was working.

"Y-yeah…! Yeah, that's exactly what they're gonna do! This is my company and my invention. I should be getting all the praise a-and all the money and all the fame. It's all mine!"

"That's right, my dear boy. After all," Discord rested a hand on his shoulder, "How bad can it be?"