A Haunting at Chaotic Estate

Summary: Takes place after Season 4. Discord is ready to celebrate his first Nightmare Night ever via party at his new home he fixed up after Fluttershy reformed him. There's just one problem: he discovers from his friends that his estate was once the home of the stallion that came to be the Headless Horse! Is his new home really haunted, or is there a logical explanation?

Ch.1: Welcome to Chaotic Estate

It has been a while since Tirek's defeat by the Mane Six, but all that is now behind everypony as all of Ponyville is now preparing for their favorite spooky holiday Nightmare Night. Even the town's favorite Draconequus is excited!

"I still can't believe we're going to see Discord's home for the first time!" Pinkie Pie cried happily as she bounced alongside the group of her friends walking towards the direction Princess Twilight Sparkle was heading down. "I wonder what cool chaotic stuff he has there. Ooh, I hope he still has his cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk!"

"I still can't believe he's going to hold his Nightmare Night party at his place," Rainbow Dash stated. "Or that this is his first Nightmare Night ever."

"I'm not surprised," Rarity stated. "He was encased in stone before Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon, and Nightmare Night got its start after that incident."

"He certainly has missed out on a lot on all those years after he was encased in stone for the first time," Fluttershy agreed.

Twilight nodded as she kept her focus on the small blue crystal around her neck floating before her and pointing her down the direction she needs to go. This little crystal was a gift to her from Discord when she got his letter inviting her and the others over to his estate for his Nightmare Night Party. It acts like a compass needle to show her where she needs to go when she asks for it, such as where to find Chaotic Estate (Discord's home).

"I'm surprised Discord gave ya that guide-crystal, Twilight," Applejack said to the lavender Alicorn.

"Well, he wanted to prove himself a true friend from now on after the whole Tirek incident," she explained. "So I guess giving me this crystal he made has to be one of them."

"Yeah, especially since you've changed his life with your Element," stated Spike who's riding on her back.

"Well, I say we owe him one besides him giving Twilight the last Key," Rainbow stated. "If it weren't for him, we'd never find out our gifts from Coco Pommel, Seabreeze, Spitfire, Cheese Sandwich, and Silver Shill were the keys we needed to open the chest. He should've been called the 'Master of Guidance'rather than the 'Master of Chaos'."

"I agree," said Rarity before her smile became a frown. "I just wish there was something we could do to truly thank him for helping us besides accepting him as our friend."

"That's exactly why we're heading over to Chaotic Estate," Twilight explained. "Even though he has his chaos powers to get everything ready for his party on Nightmare Night, I'm thinking maybe we can find a way to help him out just as he has helped us."

"Uh, not meanin' to change the subject or anything," Applejack said uneasily, "but doesn't this path seem…familiar?"

"Applejack, I'm sure we're not going around in circles," Fluttershy assured her, despite her own concerns.

"No, I mean the other 'familiar'."

Confused, Twilight looked around from the small hill they've just reached the top of. Behind them is a small forest of bare white birch trees. To their left was just a vast valley, and to their right is a large clean lake.

But what's in front of them is what really made their hearts stop. It was a large stormy gray manor three stories tall, fifteen yards wide, and fifteen yards in length. It was also looks frightening like an abandoned haunted house right out of Twilight's ghost story books. There are also a couple of dark, gnarly trees at either side of the manor's front, but the largest one is farthest from it and standing at the point of the lake farthest from the house.

"Oh, no…" Twilight whimpered. "It can't be…" Just then, there was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder (despite it's broad daylight), and before them appeared a tall, frightening black figure with a scary white face! The frightened Ponies and dragon clutched to each other and screamed…a few seconds before the figure spoke to them.

"Hey, calm down! It's me!" They stopped screaming and turned to the figure when they recognized the voice.

"Discord?" It was indeed Discord. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with white gloves and a long black cape, the kind of outfit you would wear to the opera. And a white opera mask was over the eye part of his face before he took it off again.

"Sorry, Spike," he said as they calmed down with relief. "Sorry, girls. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just in the middle of trying out my Nightmare Night costume when I sensed you coming over. I guess I was so excited to see you that I forgot to change out of it."

"Well, it may have frightened us," Rarity assured him with a relieved smile, "but now I see how handsome you are now that we have a better look at you."

"But…what are you supposed to be?" asked Spike with an arched eyebrow. "Some kind of masked vampire?" Discord turned to him with an annoyed glare.

"I'm the Phantom of the Opera!" Spike only gave him a confused blink in reply. "The novel by Gaston Leroux?" Another confused blink. "It was made into a film with Lon Chaney before a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber?" Blink. "He was played by Michael Crawford before his retirement!" When Spike gave him one more blink, Discord placed his claw and paw on his hips. "Did you even read that book I gave you?" At that mention of the book, Spike started sweating nervously.

"Uh…" Discord groaned with a face-palm in reply.

"I should've guessed," he mumbled.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Discord," Twilight stated, "Spike here didn't even bother to read that book I gave him that talks about Starswirl the Bearded. He mistook my Nightmare Night costume for that old stallion at the retirement home." Spike only returned the annoyed scolding that she was giving him.

"Really? You're really gonna bring that up?" he snapped. "How many times do I have to say 'My bad'?!"

"Well, anyway," Discord then said cheerfully, wanting to change the subject quickly before things get out of hoof, "since you're here, how about I show you around the manor? That way, you'd know your way around in time for the party." His friends' faces went a bit paler at the offer, but he didn't seem to have noticed as he scooped them up with his long body and flew them into the house.

Upon entering the black oak double-doors that he had magically opened, Discord let his friends off his back. The foyer they had entered was large enough to be its own room, complete with a fresh coat of cerulean paint on the walls. There's also a coat rack on the right side of the doors that's actually shaped and made of black licorice. At the wall opposite of the doors stood a large fireplace made of green limestone with a roaring green fire. And above it stood a portrait of Discord accompanied by the Mane Six, Spike, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. There are also a couple of pink-polka-dotted chairs and a side table with purple zigzag stripes.

"Welcome to Chaotic Manor of Chaotic Estate," Discord announced to his friends as they looked around in awe. "We'll start our tour with the foyer, where you can hang your coats and hats on the coat rack or warm yourself by the fire." Twilight quickly snapped out of his thoughts, remembering what she has to tell her friend.

"Discord, I'm afraid to tell you this, but—"

"I know, I'm still working on the redecorating," he interrupted with a shrug. "I'm thinking about changing the wall color to give it a Nightmare Night theme for the party."

"No, Discord, that's not what I—"

"I'm thinking about making them red and doing the same with the fire in the fireplace to give it that eerie glow, but I need Rarity's opinion. Do you think I should go for crimson walls or—"

"DISCORD, YOU'RE LIVING IN A HAUNTED HOUSE!" Twilight quickly slapped her hooves over her mouth as the others turned to her with shock, even the wide-eyed Discord. She then looked up at him sheepishly before giving him a "Sorry…" more meekly than Fluttershy would do.

"Oh, nice going, Twilight," Rainbow said sarcastically. "Way to lay it on him easy!"

"Well, you would have done the same yourself, darling, if you're trying to tell him that but he wouldn't stop talking," Rarity stated before turning to the Draconequus. "And I agree with the crimson walls, Discord, but for the flames, I would suggest autumn colors." Discord then snapped his claws, and the blue walls dissolved into crimson. The flames in the fireplace did the same, but they change from scarlet to amber to gold back to scarlet like some sort of lava lamp.

"Thanks, Rare," he said to her with a smile. "It does look better now that I have a better look at it." He then turned to Twilight with an arched eyebrow. "And what's this about my new manor being haunted, Twilight?"

"Well…you know the stories of the Headless Horse, right?" asked Rainbow.

"Yeah, I've heard the stories," he answered with a bit of thought, "but what's it got to do with my home?"

"Thing is, Discord…" Applejack answered with a slight gulp, "yer home's believed to have belonged to him."