A/N: I don't normally put these at the top, but I really want someone to win! Check out the OC contest I'm holding. Link at the end of this chapter. (And chapter 7)

Lurking

I was pacing. Pacing the whole house. It was like a chaotic prison cell. A prison of my own making, how ironic. I kept walking, and I began to stroke my beard and glance about. Oddities everywhere... but something was missing. But what could it be? I still hadn't figured it out. Ever since I noticed - when Pinkie left - it had been on my mind. Which meant a bad sleep. Which meant I was grumpy today. Ah, damn Pinkie Pie! Maybe she took something more than my signature when she left. Well I wasn't going to wait to find out. Even if she hadn't taken anything - which, given her demeanour, was unlikely - then maybe she'd know what I was missing. It was always good to have a second set of eyes. Nodding, I zoomed out of my house, heading for the bakery. I was about to really stretch my wings when I heard it. Pinkie was calling to Fluttershy. Interested, I wove my way back, allowing the mare time to get settled. Maybe they'd talk about something interesting. I needed to approach the pink filly anyway. As I drew near, the animals around Fluttershy's place grew nervous. (I had that effect on most creatures.) The pigs were happy to see me though... a side effect from giving them wings, to be sure. I landed on the roof before changing into a cockroach and crawling down to the windowsill to listen. Pinkie had gotten the honour of making the first apple treat of the season. Mildly interesting, though I was mainly concerned with myself. If Pinkie were busy, she might try to postpone my chaos day. Fillies were known for constant yabbering, so I tuned them out. I watched the sun a bit, wondering how long this would take. Of course they brought me up, handsome devil that I am, so I tuned back in. I peeked inside, noticed the two were having drinks and wished for a glass myself. I wasn't prepared for what came next.

"I was wondering if it was the right thing to do." Pinkie said, and I stood frozen in my little cockroach form. So my little saviour wasn't sure if she'd done the right thing? Not that surprising, no one really liked me anyway. But... listening further it sounded like she wasn't really talking about me in that regard... No, it was if I would break their boring rules and get her into trouble. Well, she certainly shouldn't be blamed, but Pinkie was right - most ponies would blame her anyway. Idiots. The two sat in silence, and I peeked in again to see them sipping at their drinks once more. I was about to leave - out of boredom - when Pinkie spoke up again.

"...Maybe he's lonely."

Lonely? Me? As if. An all powerful spirit like myself? Though... I tuned out the mares' conversation as I reflected upon this. I did enjoy it when others appreciated my work. Who didn't? Luna had always giggled at my antics, and I had appreciated that. Was that what was missing? I had only felt the stirrings of... loneliness, if that's what it was, after Pinkie left... It made sense. Ugh, making sense. I shook my head, little antenna swaying with the movement. Boy, it was warm out. Maybe I could... I glanced back inside at the lemon drinks the girls were having. No, they shouldn't know I'm listening in. I tuned back into their conversation to realise that Pinkie was getting ready to leave.

"Thanks for listening, Fluttershy."

"You're welcome... um... are we still on for Friday?"

"Sure are! I'll make sure to remind the others when I see them."

I watched Pinkie leave and turned into a wasp to follow. I realized something wasn't right when Pinkie watched for Fluttershy to enter her house again. Sure enough, the pink filly turned to gallop to my abode. Odd. I flashed into my garden and looked behind me to see the pony running up. I had changed into my true form en route, so she would see what she expected. She was still headed to the front door, so I waved to catch her attention.

"Discord!" She smiled, trotting up to me, "You'll never guess what happened!"

I smiled and flashed us into my kitchen.

"I bet I could, but let's hear it."

"The Cakes said I could bake the premier apple treat!"

"Congratulations, Pinkie Pie." I wove my way to the cold box, retrieving some fruit punch, "Have you decided what you're going to make?"

"Not yet, but I think... something light. Normally it's a heavier treat."

"Ah... tricky." I turned back with two cups full of the red juice to see the filly frowning at me.

"Tricky?"

I groaned, walking over to the table, "Tricky isn't all bad Pinkie Pie. It's tricky because a light dessert doesn't fill one up as much, giving anypony the idea that they can have more than one. More sales you see."

"...Oh. That's not what I meant." She had an odd look on her face.

"I don't doubt it." I slid a glass over to her, and she caught it absentmindedly.

"I was wondering..." Pinkie faltered, turning the glass in her hooves.

"Go on."

"You like sweets, right?" I held in a laugh.

"King of cotton candy clouds, not like sweets?" I clutched my chest, "Perish the thought."

She smiled, "My kitchen is kinda small, and I want the treat to be a surprise... If I could use your kitchen, you could eat the testers!"

That caught me a little off guard.

Was she trying to remedy my loneliness?

"That... might be okay... I keep odd hours."

"Anytime is okay, as long as it's okay with you!"

I looked at her a moment, looking for another motive. Keeping an eye on me? Perhaps... but...

"Alright Pinkie Pie." If she really wanted to keep an eye on me for her dear princess, so be it.

"Yay! Thanks!" The mare bounced in place, grinning madly, "I gotta go tell the others! And I promised Spike I'd play Pony Blitz with him."

"Pony Blitz... that's the game you and Fluttershy were playing, yes?"

"Oh, yeah!" Pinkie stopped her bouncing to stare at me, and I shifted under her gaze.

"...What?"

"Did you want to play?"

I looked back at her, this young mare who decided to help me get out of my prison and give me my freedom without asking anything in return. She wanted to be... ugh... my friend.

"...It looked fun."

"It is fun! You should try it! I've gotta visit a couple more ponies, but if you want to come along you can."

I considered it, downing my cup of fruit juice - glass and liquid both. Going with her might set a precedent I didn't want. Especially considering she'd already got into my house under the pretense of free baking. Who would turn down free baking? Tricky. That's what she was, tricky. She took a gulp as I considered. The more the merrier? I could always throw her out if I wanted.

"I'll come with you. Everypony should start getting used to seeing me in town."

"Yay! I think we should visit Applejack first, since she's farthest from Ponyville."

"What about Fluttershy?" I asked, keeping up the illusion of not listening in to their dreadfully boring conversation.

"That's right! I didn't tell you I saw her first before coming to you!"

"Ah." I watched her down the glass of liquid, "Well, we best be off then."

"Hey Discord, you can flash anywhere you want, right?"

"...Yes."

"Well then why bother with walking around?"

"Sometimes one likes to enjoy the scenery." I said shortly, not feeling like I should have to explain why I did things or didn't do them. I was a spirit of Chaos, did she not understand?

"I guess so. ..." I tuned Pinkie out as she yammered, both of us heading to the door.

We began our journey to Sweet Apple Acres - which to me sounded a little dirty, not that I'd tell any other soul - and dear Pinkie Pie started her search via yelling. Loudly.

I cringed - what was a male to do when faced with a pony with such a large lung capacity? Bear it... barely. The filly finished a rather large yelp before sitting on her poof of a tail. Apparently this was 'normal'. Despite most ponies' ideas, I did know what normal was. Or what qualified as normal. Partaking and knowing were two completely different animals. This yelling thing was certainly not the norm. Not a bad thing per se... but a bit much on the eardrums. I curled myself into a pretzel, seeing that the little pony wasn't going to bound off anytime soon. No, what concerned me was the idea that I couldn't read Pinkie Pie like any other pony. She wasn't 'normal' like the others. Refreshing in some aspects, but mildly appalling in others. I was the King of Chaos - damn embodiment of it. I ignored for the moment that I was really the Spirit of Disharmony. Chaos was my thing damn it all, and a filly like her crowding in on my territory? Preposterous.

Intriguing, but preposterous.

"Well, howdy!" Applejack called, voice echoing from a hill they could see, "Gimme two kicks!"

"OKAY!" The bouncing filly yelled back, before settling once more.

"Dear spirits abroad, mare!" I growled, "Could you not come up with a different way to get your friend's attention?!"

The filly looked confused for a moment before she saw me rub my ears.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your ears, Dis-" her eyes widened, pupils dilating. Seizure? Apparently not, because she then opened her mouth and asked a question I was hoping to avoid.

"Is your name truly Discord?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I just thought..." We were thankfully interrupted by Applejack's hoof falls.

"Hey y'all, what brings ya here, Pinkie?" The orange mare asked, giving me only a cursory glance. I could tell that not all ponies were at ease with me. Which was expected... but... I shoved the thought away as the pink pony began to spill the news about her new 'honour' of making an apple treat. We still had to go through five other four legged 'friends' so I cut Pinkie off.

"Wouldn't it be faster to tell them all at once?"

"That would make sense..." Pinkie said softly, before turning her head toward me, grin slowly spreading across her whole face like some kind of maniac. Dear sweet spirits of all things crazy, did I just say something to help... in making sense? The world as we know it was crumbling. Rather than admit defeat, I rose to the occasion.

"Just because I'm a master of chaos doesn't mean you are."

I sounded just like a school kid.

Great.

Discord, harbinger and Spirit of Disharmony.

That's what I thought of myself as. And yet here I was, sitting in the - relatively - quiet room above a bakery playing a card game. With rules. And not just playing a game with rules, but playing it with a bunch of fillies holding within them the Elements of Harmony. And not just playing.

Kicking serious filly ass.

Discord smiled as he smacked down another green card on top of the pile he'd just used, causing the girls to groan or outright curse him. Not that the little ponies knew a good set of curses. Ass to them meant a bad name for a donkey, not 'butt'.

"Discord, you stinker!" Rainbow Dash barked, "Whatever, I can still win!"

The multi-hued mare went as fast as her moniker, laying out three cards in different piles. I frowned; her sheer speed, while incredible, was ruining the piles, making it hard to tell what cards belonged where.

"Honestly, Raindow Dash," Rarity sniffed, horn glowing and neatening the piles as they played, "I understand your enthusiasm, but you must be careful with the cards."

The cyan filly grumbled something in the affirmative before slapping down a yellow card. The other girls weren't nearly so violent. Except Applejack, though it was probably more to do with her strength than ill intent toward the thin plastic.

Rarity and Fluttershy were taking a break, but I suspected it was more to do with Fluttershy's shyness than anything. Pinkie Pie, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and myself were all having a lovely time. Gag. I tossed out a few more cards, getting slapped by Spike as he tried to lay down a card on a pile I was going for. He groused about pebbles or some such. I was about to yell my victory when Pinkie yelled, "BLITZ!"

Everyone, myself included, groaned. I wasn't even paying much attention to her moves. A mistake, obviously. She was like a Pony Blitz ninja. She got rid of her pile of cards, so she didn't get a deficit to her final score. Damn pony.

She turned to me and smiled, "You get better the more you do it."

"Is that a challenge?"

"You bet it is!" She laughed, and the others excused themselves.

Laughter versus Chaos.

Oh, it. Was. On.

A/N: Sorry for the wait!

My contest is still WIDE OPEN for guessing Pinkie Pie's apple treat! Please enter, what's the worst that could happen? Ummm you don't win? Or you DO WIN :D

Details: tinyurl.com [slash] 7fshllh

Haven't felt the muse recently, but the faves that I came back to made me want to smile and pump this one out.

Big thanks to PinkiePi on FIMfiction, as usual :)