Long ago, Star Swirl the Bearded was in Canterlot, writing words down in his book. Celestia came up to him.
"Hello, Star Swirl, what spell are you working on this time?" she asked. Star Swirl was a magnificent pony in many ways, and argubly a better spellcaster than Celestia herself. This, however, was not true, and even Star Swirl himself knew it. He, however, was working on a powerful spell that could change the future of Equestria.
"You see, I'm working on manipulating the magic of Cutie Marks," he said. "Just imagine the possibilities! People could change their cutie mark at will if they have a new talent, fillies could get their cutie marks as early as they could talk, and people with many talents could get more than one if they wanted! It'll change Equestria forever!"
He calmed himself down, and asked "Would you and Luna be my subjects, please?"
"Cutie Marks are a very dangerous force," Celestia replied. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure it is the safest idea. If anything goes wrong, just remember you were warned." And with that, she walked off.
Star Swirl still wasn't convinced. He decided that he would use his many familliars to cast this spell. He gave each of them a talent to swap, even though he couldn't give them Cutie Marks yet. He still hadn't figured out the last line of the spell, so he had to make do. He recited the line.
"From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled." As soon as he completed the line, all the familliars flew up into the air. Their various body parts flew off of them. His deer's antler, his bat's wing, his goat's leg, his lion's arm, his bluebird's wing, his eagle's feather's and talons. All of which were spinning around in a tornado of appendages. Even tufts of his own fur were getting in the tornado.
Suddenly, Flare, his pet dragon, came in. "Hello, Star Swirl, here is your tea," he replied. Random body parts started flying and latching onto him. Suddenly, only his tail was exposed.
"Watch out!" Star Swirl shouted, but Flare was engulfed in animal parts. "Flare?" he asked feebly.
"Flare? Who is Flare?" he asked, sounding a bit sadistic. "From now on, I will be known as DISCORD! Muahahahahah!"
Star Swirl asked "Flare, wha- what are you talking about? We're friends, right?" He was about to reverse the spell, but Flare, or now Discord, teleported his horn away onto his head, which bulged with the talents that he gained from the animals.
"I won't be needing YOU anymore," he shouted, and flung him through a portal into the future.
Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane 6 were taking a nightly stroll though Ponyville. "Isn't it nice to be in Ponyville without all that daily clatter?" she asked to her friends.
"Kind of," Fluttershy said, "but it's a bit dark. Anyone want to get a few candles?"
"Let's just enjoy the night and make a wish on that shooting star up there," Twilight said.
"Ooh, ooh, I wish-" Pinkie Pie said, but was cut off by the shooting star landing, which turned out to be none other than Star Swirl the Bearded! He was ragged, fur was missing from him, and his horn was missing.
"Help, me," he said. "Defeat Discord for me. I'm too weak now."