The Adventures of the Power Ponies A Touch of Chaos, a my little pony fanfic

The Adventures of the Power Ponies

#42-A Touch of Chaos

Thousands of years ago…

All was dark. He could not see a thing, nor could he move. But he could still hear. He could hear the voices of the Olympian gods.

"Is he…dead?" asked the perpetually drunken voice of Dionysus.

"Not dead," said the cool voice of Hera. "Just stone."

Stone? They had turned him to stone?! He wanted to shout, but his jaw would not budge from its wide-open position. Perhaps he should not have laughed so cockily at the gods' threat. Even if he had not given in to their demands and relinquished his control over the mortal realm, which he would have greatly preferred, he could have at least ran or attempted a counter spell.

Well, how was he to know their attack would actually be successful?

"I must say," said the voice of Aphrodite, "if nothing else, he will make a lovely lawn ornament."

"Or paperweight," said the voice of Athena.

He wanted to groan in fury. He did not know which goddess he found more annoying: prissy Aphrodite or bookish Athena.

"I am afraid none of us should make a trophy of him," said the youthful voice of Apollo. "I have just received a premonition."

He could hear the gods gathering around to hear Apollo's latest prophecy. He too listened intently.

"Then he will one day be freed," said Hephaestus after hearing the prophecy.

"By a mortal pony," said Apollo.

"But not for a long, long time," said Poseidon.

"No matter how far in the future this will be," said Demeter, "if he were ever to be set free, the mortal realm will be worse than Tartarus."

"Demeter is right," said Athena. "We must put the mortals' safety first."

"I say we shatter that confounded sculpture!" said Ares.

"Works for me," said Artemis.

He could hear a sword being drawn and a bowstring tightening.

"Shattering it will only make things worse," said Hera. "The stone seals his essence. If any part of this statue were to be broken, his essence would be freed."

"Then we must put him someplace no mortal will ever find him," said Zeus.

"I know a place across the sea that has yet to be discovered by mortal ponies," said Athena. "No pony will ever find him there."

The gods muttered to each other and came to an agreement. He heard the sounds of their weapons charging up. The sounds grew louder and louder, ultimately forming into a powerful blast.

Then all was silent.

He listened carefully as he tried to make sense of where he was. The only sound was that of a water droplet. Drip! Drip! Drip!

Where had they sent him? Some silent torture chamber in Tartarus?

Then another sound broke through the silence. A high-pitched shriek, like that of a bat. They had placed him in a cave of some sort.

If he had understood Apollo's prophecy correctly, he would not be condemned to this prison forever. The gods could try to cheat fate all they wanted, but they knew as well as he did that Apollo's prophecies were always fulfilled. A mortal pony would come one day to free him, though he honestly could not think of any pony stupid enough to do such a thing. However, it would not happen for many years, centuries even.

So there was nothing left for him to do but wait.

A cell in Tartarus would have been much more entertaining. At least then some of the horrified screams from the other cells would break through to his ears. In this cave of isolation, there was nothing to listen to but water dripping from the ceiling, the squeaky bats, and the occasional scurry of a rodent he could not determine. He could feel insects crawling all over his body, even over his jaw. He wished they had blasted him while his mouth had been closed.

All this waiting in silence gave the opportunity for deep thought. As time went on, he thought about how he would torture each and every one of the Olympian gods once he got out. Poseidon, he would place in a hot desert, barren of any water. Dionysus would not be given anything to drink but water. Artemis would be stuffed like her hunting trophies. Aphrodite, he would make absolutely hideous. Or, even worse, he would curse every mirror so she would never revel in her reflection again. The list went on.

He also reviewed his hostile takeover to pinpoint where he had gone wrong. His biggest mistake had been underestimating the Olympians. Next time, he would not act so cocky to a point where he would let his guard down.

He also discovered the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Who knew it was "forty-two" all along?

Whenever he was tired of thinking, he would count the drops of water that came from the ceiling. Drip! Drip! Drip! It would take at least five-thousand and twenty-seven drops to put him in a deep trance. Gods did not require sleep, but it was refreshing to completely zone out for a while, and it made the time go by quicker.

He did not know how long he had been here. Any longer in this void and he would have gone mad. Well, madder than he already was. Where was this Keeper when he needed them?

One day—or night, he could not tell—he heard a gust of wind blow through the cave. There must have been some storm outside for that much wind to come through. If he could move, he would shiver from the sting of the cold. Of course, after being encased in stone all this time, he had gotten used to the cold.

Suddenly, there was a sound. It was new, yet familiar. A sound he had not heard for a very long time. It was low and soft, but it cut through the silence like a knife.

It was the sound of hoofsteps, accompanied by heavy panting. The sounds came closer, closer, until they stopped. There was a high squeak, much different from that of a bat. It sounded…clearer, like the ting of a silver bell. This was followed by a soft sigh.

"Oh," said a voice. "It's just a statue."

The voice was shrill, but soft. Based on the fact that he had heard hoofsteps, he concluded that this was a young filly. She was not speaking Gracian, but being a god, he could understand any language. At least he knew now that he was not somewhere in Grace.

He wanted the filly to keep talking. He had not had any contact with the outside world for such a long while, and her sweet voice was music to his ears.

There were hoofsteps again. The filly was close enough that he could hear her rapid breathing. Does she know who I am? He thought. Even if not, will she turn and run from my…unique appearance?

He was caught by surprise when he felt something warm at his frozen foot and hoof. It was fur. Not filthy rodent fur, but soft, clean pony fur. Well, not entirely clean as it was also soaked. The filly must have gotten caught in the storm outside and had come in here for shelter.

He heard her tiny whimper as she curled her small body around his foot and hoof. After years of being subjected to this cold stone prison, this was the first bit of warmth he had felt. Even as she shivered, her warmth spread from his feet, up his legs, and to his heart.

It was…relieving.

He heard a sniff, and soon he realized the filly was not only shivering, but crying. His heart stopped, having the sudden urge to scoop the filly up in his arms, cradle her and shield her from the cold. He was not sure why he was feeling this way. Perhaps it was because being imprisoned here had developed a sort of…loneliness inside him.

He was used to being alone. Everyone feared him, even the fiercest of gods, titans and demons. And he had never complained, for he had had no interest in making friends when his magic allowed him to do whatever he wanted. But at least while he had been free, he could still make contact with others, albeit with malicious intent. He had no one to torture here, no one to tease, no one to play with.

That still did not explain where this sudden compassion for a crying filly was coming from. It was not like he had not heard a filly cry before. He had caused many fillies to cry. Why was this time any different?

Then she spoke again in that tiny voice, "Oh why, why, why am I so weak?"

She sniffed hard. He wished he could snap up a handkerchief for her.

"If only I could fly, if only I didn't have these tiny wings, then I wouldn't've fallen off that cloud!"

So she was a pegasus. One who had difficulty flying, apparently. A pegasus who cannot fly, he thought. How delightfully bizarre.

And he reveled in all things bizarre.

"All the ponies at Flight Camp make fun of me, you know?" she said in a strained voice. "Two colts were making fun of me this morning, because I tripped over a hoop and crashed into a flag. They called me," she whimpered, "Cluttershy. One colt said his baby brother could fly better than me." He felt her small face upon the toe of his dragon foot. "It was the most humiliating moment of my life!"

The warmth welling up inside him now was not due to her fur anymore, but due to his anger towards those colts. Of course, he had been guilty of making fun of others, but this filly had been made fun of for being different. And he knew better than anyone what it was like to be different.

"I don't know what I would've done had Rainbow Dash not stood up for me," she said, a hint of hope in her voice. "Oh, but she just had to challenge those colts to a race. The colts flew by me so fast that I fell out of the sky! Oh, I'm okay. Thankfully, those butterflies were there to catch me."

It was as if she knew he was listening. He had felt like screaming over her being injured, until she had assured him that that was not the case. And the circumstances of her safety were remarkable! Caught by butterflies? Could a mortal have that kind of magnetism?

His little black heart beat against the stone surface of his chest. She might as well have fallen from Mount Olympus itself.

"I wonder if any pony even knows I'm here," she said, her voice becoming sad again, "or if they even miss me. Even if they do miss me, how will they even know where to find me? Who knows how long you have been here."

I know what it is like to feel forgotten, little one, he thought. I wonder if anyone misses me as well.

"Oh, why couldn't I be brave? If I had stood up to those colts myself instead of let some pony else do it for me, I wouldn't be in this mess!"

If I had been there, I would not have been so merciful as to challenge those brats to a race. If he could, he would be growling. I would have wrung their necks, turned them inside out and worn them as shawls!

"I wish I were stronger."

Her tears were hot as they plopped onto his foot. Oh, how he longed to reach his claw down and wipe the tears from her eyes.

It simply was not right, a sweet little thing like her crying because some colts had made her feel inferior. Others had said awful things about himself, once upon a time, but he had learned to accept that he was despised. This filly, however, did not have such resilience. She was just a youngling with a terrible disadvantage.

I wish I could move. I wish I could speak. I wish I were able to lift your sorrows, or at least teach those brats a lesson! Or, I could teach you to teach them a lesson! If I still had my powers, I would not only make your wings stronger. I would make you the strongest mortal alive, a worthy rival of Heracles!

Suddenly, there was a burning sensation on his chest. It did not take him long to realize what it was.

My amulet. My anger must have awoken it!

"Huh?" said the filly.

He could feel her body lift itself from his foot and her hooves go to his stomach. He feared at what she was about to do.

No, little one! He wanted to shout. Keep away, please! There's no telling what…

The filly squealed as he heard an explosion, followed by a thump. His fear increased dramatically.

Oh, no, no, no, no! Tell me she did not touch it! Tell me I did not kill her! Please, Hades old boy, grant me this one wish!

He heard a whimper and he wanted to sigh in relief. She was not dead, but she must have been badly injured. He listened in suspense, counting the seconds between each breath. Five…four…five again…seven…why is her breathing so slow?!

She said nothing for a long time, but her breath never ceased.

"Hello?" a voice called from a distance. "Is any pony in here?"

"Yes!" the filly shouted, grunting. He pictured her attempting to rise. "I'm in here! Help!"

There were hoofsteps and he could make out three distinctive adult voices.

"There's a filly in here!"

"Is it the filly we're looking for?"

"Must be!"

"Gah! What is that ugly thing?"

He wanted to roll his eyes as the newcomers made comments on his appearance.

"Look at that jewel around his neck!"

"Don't touch it!" the filly yelled. "It's cursed! I touched it and it exploded!"

His heart sank at the fear in her voice. Eventually, all beings learned to fear him. Why should she be any different?

"I know some archaeologists who would be interested in this little beauty."

"Come on, sweetheart. Your parents have been worried sick about you."

No! He tried to shout. Do not take her away! Please! At least let me explain what happened!

But how could he explain? He was trapped.

He had hurt ponies before. Killed a few even. But this was the first time he had hurt some pony he was actually beginning to like. And it had been unintentional.

It is just as well she thinks me a monster. Every other injury I had inflicted had been intentional.

Once the hoofsteps of the ponies had faded away, there was silence again. He did not know how long it was before hoofsteps approached once again. There were many new voices murmuring amongst each other.

"Amazing," said a stallion's voice in an accent he did not recognize.

"What do you make of it, Dr. Caballeron?" asked a young mare's voice.

"It is impossible," said Dr. Caballeron, "but this statue appears to be Gracian in origin."

"Gracian?"

"It would seem so, my young apprentice."

He felt a hoof on his goat leg. It was not as soft as the sweet filly's had been, but hard and rough.

"It's definitely similar in style," said the young mare. "A statue with this much patchwork can only be a tribute to the God of Chaos, Discord."

"You would be correct, Miss Yearling," said Caballeron. "But how an ancient Gracian statue came to be in a cave a few miles outside of Cloudsdale is a mystery."

Cloudsdale. I have not heard of this city.

"Do not touch the jewel, Miss Yearling. The filly who came across this statue was severely injured after touching it. Rumors have it she experiences side effects even now."

What side effects? What did I do to her? Tell me!

"Legend has it the evil God of Chaos was turned to stone," said Miss Yearling, "and that he wielded a powerful jeweled pendant called the Amulet of Chaos. You don't think…?"

Whoever this Miss Yearling was, she was a clever one. After the two ponies talked some more, he felt himself being lifted up onto something.

Next thing he knew, he was somewhere out in the open. He could tell from the warm heat of the sun and the birds tweeting all around. Soon he heard voices. Several of them. So many that he could not follow every single conversation.

There was a stallion's voice close by that spoke, "And this, children, is our latest addition to our museum's sculpture garden. Discord, the God of Chaos!"

He could hear the cringes and moans of several foals.

"He's ugly!"

"He's scary!"

"He's cool!"

"Legend has it," said the stallion, "that thousands of years ago, the gods of Ancient Grace sealed the God of Chaos in a stone prison and shut him away somewhere mortals would never find him…until today, that is."

"Is this him, Mr. Fetlock?" a colt asked.

"If it is," said Mr. Fetlock, "he can't do any harm in there. He's just a statue. Hey! The sign says 'Do Not Touch!'"

So. This is how I am remembered? I, the god who struck fear into the hearts of titans, now reduced to a harmless statue put on display like an animal?

He would bet his amulet that the gods were laughing down at him from Mount Olympus this very moment.

Despite the shame, the museum beat the cave. At least here the sounds were always changing. Listening to mortals' conversations made it harder for him to become bored. Eventually, he picked up on the modern dialect, learning new words like "swell" and "dontcha."

But there was a downside to hearing all these conversations. The ponies who came to visit him would comment on how funny-looking he was. Some would laugh and taunt him for being so stupid as to let himself be turned to stone. He was lucky the curator Mr. Fetlock did not tolerate vandalism.

Then one day, some pony said, "Hello?"

He tuned out all the other sounds around him and focused on this one voice. It was her voice.

"I…" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know if you can hear me in there, but…you should know…I dropped out of Flight Camp. Those colts don't bother me anymore."

All these ponies visiting his statue, and she was still the only one who spoke to him as if he were a living, breathing being.

"Your name is Discord, isn't it? I mean…that's what the plaque says."

He smiled internally at hearing her speak his name. There was no sense of condescendence, revulsion or fear in it. She said it calmly, casually, as if the name carried no weight with it at all.

"So I guess…that's really you in there, isn't it? You're not just a statue, are you? I mean you couldn't just be an ordinary statue if that necklace of yours…"

She paused. No, don't stop talking. Please, please, go on.

"Why did you do this to me?" she said, her voice cracking. "Why did you make me a monster?"

He was stunned by her words. Monster? Had I really hurt her that much?

"I can't go to school with other ponies anymore. I'm afraid…" She sniffed. "I'm afraid of hurting ponies."

Please, don't cry. Whatever I did, I didn't mean to do it!

Oh, how he longed for her to hear him.

"The plaque calls you evil," she said. "What did you do to deserve being put in stone though? It can't be very comfortable in there."

Little one, you have no idea.

"How do you eat? How do you drink? How do you go to the bathroom?"

It amused him that this filly thought gods had the same needs as mortals. Still, her concern was admirable. He did miss indulging in food and drink, and his mouth was feeling dry from being open for so long.

"Can you see? Can you hear? I know you can't move. What if you have an itchy nose? That can't be very fun."

His eyes suddenly itched, and he wondered if there was a bird pecking at them. She gets me.

"Well, whatever you did, I don't think you deserve this."

He wanted to embrace her. He wanted to hold her close. He wanted to thank her a million times over. More importantly, he wanted to see her.

He tried to put a face to the voice. She was a pegasus, and a child, that much he knew. But was she plain? Was she beautiful? Not that it really mattered, as what was beautiful to ponies was usually hideous to him.

He wondered what she had meant by "monster." Had she been literally scarred by her injury? Was she so deformed that she felt like a monster? If so, then that just made her all the more interesting.

On the other hand, knowing he had been the cause of such deformity made him feel…bad. He had been born repulsive. While he could deal with it, he had not wanted to force the same fate onto another. It was bad enough she was teased for her inability to fly.

"I don't know why you've cursed me," she said, "but…I forgive you."

Forgiveness. No one had ever offered him forgiveness.

"Fluttershy!" a mare's voice called. "Your brother wants to see the next exhibit. Are you coming?"

"Yes, Mom! In a minute!" The filly then whispered to him, "I'll come see you again."

He listened to the delicate sound of her hoofsteps as they faded away.

Fluttershy. The name sounds just as sweet as her voice.

He repeated the name over and over again in his head, enjoying the sound of it more and more each time. Never had he felt this way towards another, never had his heart been so warm, never had he the compulsion to do anything…pleasant to another.

I will not forget the kindness you've shown me, dearest Fluttershy, he vowed. If you are still living when I get out, I will give you the greatest reward worthy of a goddess.

Fluttershy was sitting at her vanity, brushing her long, pink mane and humming a sleepy tune. Her brushing slowed when she looked in the mirror. In it, she saw a meek little mare with a very tangled mane. She lowered her eyes as she continued brushing.

Then she caught another glimpse of her reflection. This time, she had to a do a double-take.

The mare in the mirror wore a twisted expression. Her eyes were red and her teeth were ground together in fury. Her muscled shoulders bulged around her face, making her look even more menacing. Dropping her brush, Fluttershy gripped the edges of her stool in terror.

Then all of a sudden, something cold touched her shoulder. Closing her eyes, Fluttershy brought her hoof to the object and felt that it was an eagle's talon.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I was hoping you'd come."

There was a low chuckle. "Are you purposely having nightmares just so you can see me?"

She opened her eyes. "No, no! I'm actually having a nightmare now."

Looking in the mirror, she saw the claw on her shoulder, but everything else behind her was a dark shadow.

"Though you can hardly call this seeing you. Why do I always dream of you in the shadows?"

A lion's paw appeared in the mirror as it cupped under her chin. "I can never see your face. Kind of evens the odds, don't you think? Anyway, what has you so frightened tonight?"

As the paw moved slowly to her mane, Fluttershy gazed sadly at her reflection. "M-Me." The paw stopped moving. "I'm frightened of…myself."

There was a scoff. "Trust me. I know frightening, and there's nothing frightening about you."

"Not me. The other me. And…well, maybe the real me too. It's just that no matter how many times I look in the mirror, I'm not," she hung her head, "happy with what I see."

There was silence for a moment. "You don't think you're pretty?"

She shook her head. "It's not so much what's on the outside, it's just…I'm afraid of what's on the inside."

She lifted her head when laughter echoed throughout her surroundings.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, I didn't mean to chortle. It's just so funny you should say that, because I've never seen what you look like on the outside, and I'm not afraid of you."

She sighed. "You're the God of Chaos. You're not afraid of anything."

"Well, that's true." He paused. "Actually, no, it isn't. I am afraid of one thing."

"What's that?"

She let out a small gasp as the eagle claw took a strand of her hair between its fingers. She felt something press against the strand. Then she heard the sound of someone inhaling, but there was no snout in the mirror.

"I'm afraid that I won't get out of this stone prison, and that I'll never be able to put a face to your voice."

"I thought you said it didn't matter what I looked like."

"It doesn't, but it'd still be nice to have some idea of what you look like. I already know you're a pegasus. But what else?"

She hung her head again. "There's…not much to tell."

"Ridiculous! There's plenty to tell! Tell me about your mane, your eyes, your coat color! Anything that would make it easier to pick you out of a crowd!"

Gulping, she replied, "W-Well, uh…my m-mane is…pink?"

"Pink." There was a heavy sigh. "I always did like that color. So vibrant, so lively."

"My coat is yellow, and my eyes are…well, some think blue, some think green, but it's more in between. Like a…"

"Teal?"

"Yes, yes. A teal."

Another sigh came. "You sound beautiful."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't get your hopes up."

His claw cupped her chin and slowly lifted it so she could face the mirror. Fluttershy gasped in surprise. The mare in the mirror was dressed in a gorgeous green gown, her pink mane was braided with daisies, and her face was practically sparkling! Fluttershy lifted her hoof to the glass, not believing that this was her reflection.

"It will not matter what you truly look like. To me," the voice whispered in her ear, "you are the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful creature ever to come into existence."

The reflection had pink in its cheeks.

"If you'd let me out," he said, his paw going down her back, "I could tell all this to your face."

Fluttershy frowned. "Oh, but I don't know how."

"All you have to do is accept my gifts."

She blinked. "Accept your gifts?"

"Of course. Let me out…" She gasped as his paw wrapped around her middle. "…and I will be at your disposal."

She closed her eyes, breathing sharply as his claw tangled in her mane.

"Anything you desire," he said, his warm breath on her neck, "and it will be yours, my…"

The sharp buzzing tone of her alarm clock snapped her out of the dream. Fluttershy sat up in bed and slammed her hoof on the digital clock. Sighing, she flopped back onto her pillow, smiling and blushing fiercely at the dream she had just had.

While Applejack was flipping apple flapjacks on the stove, her ears picked up on some humming. As the hums grew louder, they became a series of "la-la-las." Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Fluttershy twirling into the kitchen. Her eyes were blissfully closed as she sang and got plates out from the cabinet. It was a miracle she didn't drop anything in her trance.

"My, my, some pony's in a good mood today," Applejack said as she flipped over a flapjack. "You're even singin' in front of me."

"I am in a good mood today," Fluttershy said as she seated herself at the table. "I haven't had a sleepless night in ages! And it's all thanks to…"

She trailed off, but Applejack didn't need to hear the rest. She looked at her roommate warily.

"You were dreamin' about…him again, weren't you?"

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves "Would it be so bad if I was?"

Sighing, Applejack flipped some flapjacks onto the two plates Fluttershy had gotten out. "Look, I know our victory against the Sirens last week was a real breakthrough for ya, but…" She set the plates down as she joined her roommate at the table. "Has it ever crossed yerr mind that this…connection ya have with Discord might be…dangerous?"

Fiddling with her fork, Fluttershy said, "He hasn't…seemed dangerous so far."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Need I remind ya he did try and enslave the world with his chaos?"

"But that was in the past. What if…?" She spoke quietly. "What if he's changed?"

"Sugar," Applejack said slowly, "I've met enough gods to know that they can't go against their nature, and Discord's all for chaos."

"So? That doesn't necessarily make him bad. And after being in stone for thousands of years, don't you think he's learned his lesson by now?"

"Ya can't know that for sure."

"Neither can you."

Shutting her eyes, Applejack released a sigh. "I just want ya to be careful, okay?"

"Alright."

The earth mare started eating her breakfast. "So, ya got any plans for after work today?"

"Well, I do plan to stop by the museum for a little while…"

Dropping her utensils, Applejack said, "Uh…actually I was…hopin' we'd go out tonight! To celebrate, uh…life!" She winced. "And, uh, afterwards maybe we could do some nightly patrol together?"

Fluttershy blinked. "You're asking me to go on nightly patrol with you?"

She nodded. "Yup!"

"But…you never ask me to go on nightly patrol with you. Or any pony for that matter."

Applejack gulped. "Well, uh…you've just made so much progress that…I feel I should take ya along and give ya some pointers, you still bein' new and all. It'll be fun! Just us gal pals, ownin' the night, beatin' up purse snatchers and muggers!"

Fluttershy tilted her head curiously at her roommate. Applejack was clearly hiding something. She just wasn't sure what.

"I…guess that would be fun," Fluttershy said.

Applejack let out a sigh of relief. She still hadn't told Fluttershy about Demeter's warning to stay away from Discord's statue. With all the sympathy towards Discord building up in Fluttershy, Applejack was even more convinced that telling her she was the key to his freedom would only convince her to go to him even more. And, call her crazy, the heavy amount of red in Fluttershy's cheeks gave Applejack cause to suspect that what her roommate was feeling was more than mere sympathy.

"Have a nice day!" Fluttershy said, giving the customer a smile as she handed him his cat. "Remember to come back in six months!"

As the customer left, Doctor Fauna stepped up to the front desk. "I must say, Fluttershy, I've never seen you in such a good mood! Usually you're too terrified to talk to the patients' owners!"

"I know, right?" Fluttershy said with a squeak. "I don't know what it is about today, but I just feel so cheery and…confident!"

Doctor Fauna smiled. "Well, are you confident that you can take your lunch break now?"

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to leave you to take care of the animals all by yourself."

Her boss waved her hoof. "We don't have that many appointments this afternoon. Go, have your break and I'll have mine when you get back."

"Okay, Doctor Fauna."

With a skip in her step, Fluttershy grabbed her saddlebag and left the clinic. As soon as she stepped outside, she inhaled the fresh air of the city.

"Ah, what a beautiful day," she said with a sigh. "I'm in the mood for something baked. I should go swing by Applejack's cart and say hello."

She was about to walk down the street when something caught her ear. It was the sound of several dogs barking.

"Strange," she said, looking back at the veterinary clinic. "We don't have that many dogs staying with us today."

The barking grew louder, causing her to turn her head. A stampede of dogs was running up the street, barking frantically!

"Oh, goodness!" Fluttershy approached the edge of the stampede. "Um, excuse me? Hello? Are you all okay?" But the dogs were running too fast to pay her any heed. "What's gotten you all so frightened?"

She squealed as a dog pounced on her, knocking her over. Barking on top of her was a white poodle with poofy purple hair. But that wasn't the strangest part. The dog was wearing a costume and mask that bore a striking resemblance to…

"Radiance?" Fluttershy asked.

The poodle barked and nodded rapidly.

"Is that you?" Fluttershy sat up. "Who did this to you?"

Radiance the Poodle turned around and pointed her nose down the street. Standing there, laughing maniacally, was the Great and Powerful Trixie. In her hooves was a small black statuette of a dog's head.

"Yes!" Trixie cried, hoisting the statuette into the air. "With the Head of Anubis, all of Maretropolis will be turned into dogs! And then they will see that the greatest magical equine who ever lived…no! The greatest magical equine who ever will live is the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

She laughed again as sparks emitted from her horn.

"Not so fast, Trixie!" the Masked Matter-Horn shouted, swooping down from the sky. "I should've known it was you who had stolen the Head of Anubis from the museum! Return it now," she powered her horn, "or suffer the consequences!"

"You're too late, Matter-Horn!" Trixie said with a smirk. "Or should I say," she pointed the statuette at the alicorn, "Matter-Hound?!"

Before the Matter-Horn could react, a red beam shot from the statuette's eyes, striking her instantly. When the light diminished, in the alicorn's place was a purple basset hound with dark purple spots, still in the Matter-Horn's costume. Having no wings, the Matter-Hound dropped to the ground. She got up immediately and barked furiously at Trixie, who only laughed.

"Aw, look at you!" she said teasingly. "You're so cute and threatening! Ha!" She kicked the basset hound hard. "Who's great and powerful now, pup?"

Fluttershy gasped in alarm. Turning ponies into dogs was one thing, but to kick a helpless little pony-turned-dog just for fun? Already, she could feel the blood boiling inside her.

"Not yet, Fluttershy," she growled, glancing at her flower bracelets. "Hold the anger in a little bit longer."

She quickly dashed into the nearest alley. Meanwhile, Trixie was still taunting the Matter-Hound.

"At last!" she cried, pointing down at the fallen dog. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has defeated her greatest foe!" She placed her hoof on the dog's belly to prevent her from rising. "And to think all Trixie needed to do was steal one little statue so she could turn you into a pathetic little pup!" She raised the Head of Anubis above her head. "And now, with the Masked Matter-Hound out of the way, there's no pony powerful enough to stop the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"How about me?"

Confused, Trixie turned to see Saddle Rager scowling a few feet away from her. "Who the heck are you?"

Saddle Rager puffed up her chest. "I'm Saddle Rager! And I'm here to defeat you!"

The unicorn blinked a few times and then cackled. "You think you can defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie?!" She pointed at the basset hound. "Not even the Masked Matter-Horn could defeat Trixie! How can a weak little thing like you defeat some pony as great and powerful and amazing as Trixie?!" She glanced at the Head of Anubis. "Oh well. You'd make a nice Chihuahua anyway."

She aimed the statuette at the pegasus and fired. Saddle Rager didn't even blink as the beam bounced off her. Squealing, Trixie ducked so the reflected beam wouldn't hit her. She looked back at the now dog-shaped carrot dog cart in shock.

"B-B-But…how…?"

Saddle Rager narrowed her eyes further. "You may have the power of Anubis," she said as her eyes started to glow red, "but I have the power of Discord."

Trixie fell backward, quickly catching the Head of Anubis before it could hit the ground. "Did you say D-D-D-Discord?"

The pegasus nodded. "And do you know what I really hate?" Trixie's jaw dropped as Saddle Rager started growing. "I hate two things!" The muscles in her legs doubled in size, tearing through her costume. "When some pony messes with my friends," she said, her voice much deeper now as her shoulders broadened, "and when some pony messes with poor, defenseless," she now towered over the unicorn, "ANIMALS!"

Saddle Rager let out an angry roar, making Trixie scream. Springing to her hooves, she attempted to run away. Saddle Rager stomped after her, not even bothering to run. She caught Trixie in her hoof and brought her to her face. Trixie grinned awkwardly.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?"

The monster roared into her face. Trixie shut her eyes as her hat was blown off. But that wasn't all that blew off. The Head of Anubis flew out of her hooves and hurdled towards the ground.

"No!" Trixie shouted, igniting her horn.

But Saddle Rager threw her hard into the air before she could try to catch the statuette. Trixie screamed as she was propelled through the sky. She stopped only when she crashed headfirst through the concrete roof of Balkham Asylum and into a prison cell.

Meanwhile, the Head of Anubis hit the street and shattered into millions of pieces. Saddle Rager shut her eyes as she was blinded by a flash of red light. When it went away, all the dogs had been transformed back into ponies.

"Saddle Rager saved us!" some pony said.

Fortunately, the pegasus had calmed down enough to shrink back to her original form, so the ponies weren't afraid to swarm around her.

"I'm so sorry!" Saddle Rager said, shrinking under their gaze. "I didn't mean to hurt any pony!"

Then she opened her eyes in surprise when they started cheering, "Saddle Rager! Saddle Rager!"

It wasn't long before reporters showed up.

"Saddle Rager! How does it feel to be the one to save Maretropolis single-hoofedly?"

"Saddle Rager! Is it true this is your first time saving the day alone?"

"Saddle Rager! Who does your mane?"

The Masked Matter-Horn flew in and landed in front of her friend. "Don't worry, Rager. I'll distract them so you can slip away."

"Um, actually," Saddle Rager said, slowly rising to her hooves. "I'd kind of like to…answer some of their questions."

The alicorn turned to her in surprise. "Really?"

With a small smile, she nodded and addressed the reporters. "If you could be so kind as to ask your questions one at a time, please?"

While Saddle Rager was reveling in her victory, Rainbow Dash was having a row with her boss in the sculpture gardens of the Maretropolis Museum.

"Mr. Fetlock," Rainbow said, struggling to keep up with the stallion, "we can't ignore the cracks any longer. Ponies are starting to notice! We should move the statue to a secure location until…"

"I've told you!" Mr. Fetlock said with a groan. "The statue of Discord is the centerpiece to this exhibit! I can't simply move it!"

"But Daring Do said we should…"

She almost ran into him as he suddenly stopped in front of the statue in question and spun around to glare at her.

"I don't care what Daring Do says!" he spat venomously. "She may have donated half of the exhibits, and assisted in securing this one, but she does not own this museum! I do!"

Rainbow blinked. "Uh…doesn't Twilight Sparkle technically own this museum?"

Mr. Fetlock growled. "I've kept this establishment afloat for decades! This statue has been here almost as long as I have! We've already had one exhibit ruined this week with the theft of the Head of Anubis, we're not ruining another!"

The pegasus nearly broke her spectacles as she smacked herself in the forehead. "There might not be any exhibit left if that statue breaks open!"

As they argued, a small ball of dark light pulsed within the statue of Discord's chest.

"What's the secret to your success?" a reporter asked, sticking her microphone towards Saddle Rager.

A lock of hair fell over Saddle Rager's eye as she shyly turned away from the cameras. She didn't like being the center of attention, but the victory and adoration from her heroic feat had instilled a newfound confidence in her.

"W-Well," she said with a slight blush, "m-my power comes from…Discord, actually."

The reporters turned to each other in confusion. Apparently, their knowledge of Gracian mythology was limited.

"Care to elaborate on that?" the same reporter asked.

"Oh, yes," Saddle Rager said, looking down at her hooves. "See, when I was a filly, I was granted my powers from a statue of Discord, the ancient Gracian God of Chaos. Whenever I become angry, I…turn."

"God of Chaos, you say?" said another reporter. "Would you call these powers a curse?"

She bit her lip. "I…I used to, but now…" She grinned slightly. "I feel like I was given these powers for a reason. I'm able to help so many ponies with my powers. I mean before, I had no idea I could stop an evil magician from turning every pony into dogs!"

"So you've come to accept the fact that your powers come from a god of chaos?" asked a third reporter.

Saddle Rager smiled further as she hugged herself. "Y-Yes. I guess I have."

"I don't care how realistic the statue looks," Mr. Fetlock shouted, "it is not the real God of Chaos!"

"And what if it is?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Look, even if you don't believe me, you at least have to put it away awhile so no further damage is done!"

Neither of them heard the crackling noises.

"It wouldn't be damaged if you had found that vandal like I told you!"

"There's no vandal! It's cracking all by its…"

They were knocked to the ground as something exploded beside them. Mr. Fetlock cried out as stone shards struck him. Rainbow covered her eyes as dust blew into them. Lowering her hoof, she saw the statue of Discord standing before them.

Only he wasn't stone anymore.

His long, serpentine body was brown and furry. His long neck and pony head were gray, his lion paw and eagle claw were yellow, his goat's leg was tan, his dragon's leg was green and his snake tail was red and scaly.

He was standing tall, his body stretching out as he roared like a ferocious dragon. Mr. Fetlock crawled backward in fear while Rainbow clutched the lightning bolt pendant beneath her shirt.

Then Discord's scream turned into a disgruntled yawn. His eyes popped open, revealing gold irises with red pupils. He grunted as he stretched up his arms and wriggled his body around.

"Oh, Tartarus!" he said, pulling back his goat leg. "Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it was in there?" Sticking out his snakelike tongue, he rubbed it rapidly with his claw. "Ugh, I'm telling you, the number of birds and insects that have taken residence in here! Blech! Remind me never to eat bugs again!"

Rainbow stared at the creature in bewilderment, thinking, That's the Lord of Chaos?

She really thought he'd be scarier.

"Oh, it feels so good to be able to move again!" Discord said, pulling his lion arm over his chest.

During this stretch, his lion fingers snapped. After a brief flash of light, the ionic columns that held the ceiling behind him turned into cheese. Already the weight of the ceiling was pushing down on them.

Gasping, Rainbow dashed off to make a quick change.

"Alright," Discord said, snapping his other fingers, transforming a statue of Eros into gelatin. "That should do it. Now," he said, eagerly scouring his surroundings, "where is my sweet little savior?"

"My museum!" Mr. Fetlock cried.

Discord looked down at the stallion. Yelping, Mr. Fetlock jumped to his hooves, but was prevented by a snake tail which ensnared his waist. He was lifted up to Discord's eyelevel so that he was facing the God of Chaos upside-down.

"I know you," Discord said, pointing at him. "You're that Fetlock guy, right? You're the one in charge around here."

The curator's only response was a whimper. Discord saw that he was looking at the cheese pillars and gelatin Eros.

"Nice place you run here," Discord said, facing him again. "I suppose you want me to change everything back, right?"

Mr. Fetlock nodded dumbly, making Discord sigh.

"Very well. Consider it a thank you for keeping all those annoying brats from climbing on me."

With a snap of his fingers, the cheese columns were returned to normal, once again stabilizing the ceiling.

"T-The statue," Mr. Fetlock said, pointing to the gelatin. "The statue of Eros!"

"Ah, yes, Eros," Discord said, scowling. "Never quite liked that little imp. He and his meddling mother have been trying to set me up for eons!" He smirked. "Well, I suppose in some way, she…" He shook his head. "Never mind! Perhaps you can help me, mortal." He brought Fetlock closer to his face. "Where can I find the pegasus, Fluttershy Buttercream?"

The curator blinked. "D-Doctor B-B-Buttercream?"

"Yes! The mare who found me? The mare who visits me every day? Has the voice of a siren?" His eyes narrowed. "Tell me where she is, and I'll turn your pointless tribute to Eros back to normal."

"I don't know where she is!" Mr. Fetlock said with a squeak. "I mean…she hasn't been here in weeks!"

"Well then. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"I-I don't know." He gulped. "Work, maybe?"

"Of course!" Discord smacked himself in the forehead. "She's a working mare, I forgot!" He looked back at the stallion. "Her healing center. Where is it?"

"Y-You mean S-Sweet Feathers' V-Veterinary Clinic? I-I think it's on Rover Street!"

He was suddenly dropped to the ground, causing him to cry out. Discord wore a huge grin on his face.

"Thank you oh so very much," he said, clasping his paw and claw together. "You have been oh so very helpful."

True to his word, the Eros sculpture was returned to its former marble.

"And don't worry!" Discord exclaimed as he flapped his wings. "I'll be sure to invite you!"

Rubbing his head, Mr. Fetlock looked up at the departing draconequus in confusion. "Invite me to what?"

By this time, the reporters had dispersed. Radiance was embracing Saddle Rager while the Masked Matter-Horn gathered the remains of the Head of Anubis.

"Oh, darling, you were simply fantastic!" Radiance said, pulling away from the pegasus. "You defeated that ruffian! Not to mention you handled those reporters very well!"

Saddle Rager blushed. "It was nothing, really."

"It was definitely something! I've never seen you so…so bold! And to think you conquered your camera shyness on top of it all!"

"Though I'm pretty sure Mr. Fetlock's not going to be happy about this," the Matter-Horn said, levitating the black shards into view.

"Whenever did you get so brave?" Radiance asked.

Saddle Rager shrugged. "It was simple, really. All I did was think about…"

"Discord's out! Discord's out!"

"Zapp?" the Matter-Horn said, pressing down on her commlink. "What's going on?"

There was a sound of Zapp taking a deep breath. "I'm at the museum. The statue of Discord…it really is Discord! And he's out! He's out!"

"What?" the Matter-Horn said.

"What?!" Mistress Mare-velous screamed through the device.

"What?" Saddle Rager said in disbelief.

"Cool!" came Fili-Second's voice. "We've never had to fight a god before!"

"Is Saddle Rager with ya, Zapp?!" Mare-velous demanded.

"Saddle Rager's with us on Rover Street," Radiance said. "The Great and Powerful Trixie had…"

"Then how did he get out?!" Mare-velous said.

"I'm not sure!" Zapp exclaimed. "Mr. Fetlock and I were just arguing and then the statue broke and there he was! In the flesh! Wait. Do gods have flesh?"

"But if Fluttershy was nowhere near him, then how…?"

She quickly stopped herself, but too late for her question to escape her colleagues' notice. Saddle Rager's eyes had gone wide and the Matter-Horn did not appear pleased.

"Hey, what's with the suddenly awkward pause?" Fili-Second asked.

"Mare-velous," the alicorn said slowly, "is there something you would like to share with the class?"

There was a gulp. "Uh…"

"Demeter told her that Fluttershy is Discord's Vassal who's destined to set him free, happy?" Zapp said.

"Rainbow!" Mare-velous hollered. "I mean Zapp, er… Ugh! I never know what to call ya when we're alone!"

Saddle Rager was frozen, unsure of what to say. The Matter-Horn was scowling hard.

"And just how long have you had this information?" she demanded.

There was a pause. "When we had to defeat the Sirens…" Mare-velous started to say.

"And you're only telling us this now?!" the Matter-Horn yelled, her wings shooting up in anger.

"We don't have time for this!" Radiance said. "That ruffian is on the loose, remember?"

The alicorn took a deep breath. "Right. Zapp, do you have a visual on Discord?"

"Yeah, he's right…oh no, wait. He's flying away."

"What?!" Mare-velous exclaimed. "Follow him, ya ninny!"

"Don't call me names! I'm going!"

There was a whoosh sound.

"Keep an eye on him and stop him from whatever trouble he causes," the Matter-Horn said. "We'll catch up."

"Fluttershy can't come," Mare-velous said.

"W-Why not?" Saddle Rager said, finally speaking up.

"You're his Vassal. The first thing he might come lookin' for is you."

"And his Chaos Amulet!" Zapp said. "When the statue was found, the amulet was removed from it and put on display in another part of the museum."

"Zapp," the Matter-Horn said, "go back to the museum and tell Mr. Fetlock to secure that amulet."

"But you told me to…"

"We might not stand a chance against Discord at all if he gets that amulet!"

Zapp let out a heavy sigh.

"Now," the Matter-Horn said, turning to Radiance, "who wants to go fight a god?"

Ponies gaped in bewilderment at the strange serpentine creature flying through the streets of Maretropolis, unsure of whether or not to run. Discord was glancing around at the tall skyscrapers.

"They've certainly upped the building codes since I was last here," he said. "Athena must certainly be proud."

With a snap of his fingers, the skyscrapers were instantly turned to cheese. There were screams as the cheese started to sag.

"Yes," Discord said, nodding. "Taller buildings were certainly a gouda idea." He stopped suddenly. "Ooh!"

He zipped down to a building he had not yet transformed. He pressed his face to the window of a bridal shop. His eyes focused on a particular white wedding dress on a mannequin. It was puffed up like a pastry, with a long translucent train and veil to match.

"So this is what ponies wear to their weddings nowadays, hmm?"

He poked his paw through the glass as if it were nonexistent. The clerk screamed as his lion arm stretched across the room, grabbed the dress and snapped it back through the window. In a flash, the dress was on his person.

"I don't know," he said, turning around. "Not exactly my color." Snapping his fingers, he changed the dress from white to orange. "Perfect! Now if only we had some…" He spotted a flower shop. "Flowers!"

He surprised the florist by lifting the display window up and snatching up a bouquet of lilies and chrysanthemums. He slammed down the window, shattering the glass and held the bouquet upside-down in his paw. Next to the flower shop was Bray Jewelers. Upon spying a particular article of jewelry, Discord skipped all subtlety and just broke through the window, setting the alarms off, to swipe the lovely piece.

"Excellent," he said, tucking the jewel away. "Now all that's missing is…"

He turned upon hearing a mare shriek. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane was flying away.

"Fluttershy!"

Stretching out his tail, he grabbed the mare and brought her to his face. She twisted in his grasp as she tried to escape. He frowned as he got a better look at her.

"Brown eyes," he said with a disappointed sigh. "Wrong one."

He snapped back his tail, tossing the mare across the street. Fortunately, having wings, she was able to fly away before she could hit something. Discord then caught a glimpse of another yellow mare in the window of an apartment building. Her back was to him as she was brushing her pink mane at her vanity. Grinning, Discord reached his paw inside and closed it around the mare's waist. She let out a yelped as she was suddenly pulled out of her bedroom.

Discord noticed his error immediately as she looked her over.

"Shoot," he grumbled. "You're not even a pegasus. Oh well. Any idea how to get to Rover Street?"

"Put me down!" the mare screamed.

He shrugged. "As you wish."

He tossed the mare over his shoulder. Sadly, this mare did not have the wings nor the magic to save herself. Covering her eyes with her hooves, she prepared to hit the sidewalk. Zapp swooped down in time to catch her and set her down safely on the sidewalk.

"Yeesh," Zapp said, putting her hooves on her hips. "I knew the guy was evil. I didn't think he was sloppy."

As she took her pendant in her hoof, Discord tugged on the collar of his dress. "Is it just me? Or is the mortal world a lot warmer than I remember?" He squinted up at the sun. "Ya planning to burn these mortals alive, Apollo? I always knew you'd crack one day. What we need is some shade."

As he raised his fingers, dark clouds started forming overhead. He looked at his fingers in confusion.

"Odd," he said softly.

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck his rear, making him jump. Now, there are few things that can actually hurt a god. Lightning was not usually one of them, unless it had come directly from…

"Zeus," Discord said, rolling his eyes as he massaged his posterior. "Figures. Just when I'm starting to have fun, who should come to crash the party? None other than…"

But as he turned around, he was surprised to be met with a costumed mare with a seriously bad haircut he could respect. Raising his eyebrow, he said, "…not Zeus?"

"Break time's over, Discord!" Zapp said, flapping her wings as she brought her bolt up higher. "Once my friends get here, you're going back in that statue where you belong!"

As he cocked his head, Discord's eyes fixated on the pendant in her hoof. "Well. This is certainly new." He rubbed his chin in interest. "How is it that a mortal mare is able to wield Zeus' Lightning Bolt? What are you? His demigod daughter?" He smirked. "His latest mistress, perhaps?"

She gagged. "I'm no one's mistress and I'm no one's daughter!" She paused. "Okay, I am some pony's daughter but…" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter who I am! All you need to know is that I'm the mare who's gonna fry ya!"

Discord leaped out of the way as another bolt of lightning struck behind him. "You may have Zeus' powers," he said, raising his claw, "but you're still no match for me."

Before he could snap his fingers, a golden rope closed around his wrist. "What the…?"

He cried out as he was suddenly pulled to the ground. Looking up, he saw Mistress Mare-velous standing over him, the rope hovering at her side.

"How 'bout a little Zeus and Demeter?" Mare-velous said.

He stared at the rope. "What? Was there a Free Divine Relics Giveaway I missed?"

"I'll be the one askin' the questions here," Mare-velous said, stepping on his claw. "How did ya get out?"

Discord smirked. "You may have Demeter's rope…"

Something tapped her on the shoulder. Snapping her head around, Mare-velous saw Discord's eagle claw hovering beside her. Gasping, she looked down at the rope and saw Discord's arm was now handless. He grinned as he proudly stood up. His claw then flew up and snapped back into place.

"…but you're not as clever as her," he said, flexing his fingers.

"Hello!"

Discord yelped as he suddenly found a pink mare in a white suit perched on his shoulder.

"By the way," Fili-Second said, "love the dress!"

He summoned a flyswatter to shoo her off. Before he could make contact, she zoomed down to the ground. He was amazed at her lightning speed.

"And what are you?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Some spawn of Hermes?"

"I ain't no spawn to no one, buster!" Fili-Second shouted.

She zipped up to him and started punching his stomach really fast. To Discord, her punches had no effect. He simply watched her with a yawn.

"Clearly," Discord said, picking her up by her head, "while you do seem to possess unique abilities for a mortal, they are of no divine origin whatsoever."

Another lightning strike caused him to drop her. He glared at the singed fluff on the tip of his tail.

"That's it," Discord said, turning to Zapp. "Since you like playing with electricity so much, I sentence you to an eternity as an electric eel!"

He snapped his fingers and in a flash, Zapp's mane was thin and sleek. It appeared to be in the shape of a squiggly eel sticking up from her head. Discord looked at his fingers in confusion.

"That's…not what I meant to do."

He snapped his fingers again, but all it did was make Zapp's tail shaped like an eel. Discord's eyes widened as he felt around his neck.

"My amulet!" He padded his paw and claw around his body. "Where is my amulet?!"

Before he could search any further, he found himself imprisoned in a glowing pink birdcage.

"And for your crimes against fashion," Radiance said as she marched into view, "I sentence you to an eternity as a canary with no fashion sense!"

Discord squinted at the unicorn. "Speaking of fashion, is that what ponies are wearing nowadays?" His face lit up with inspiration. "Well, if I must keep up with the times…"

Swiftly, he ripped off his dress and veil, revealing an orange jumpsuit underneath. On its chest was a big red "D," which matched his red cape and mask.

"Ooh," Radiance said in admiration. "Those colors really do match your complexion. However, is the mask really necessary if we already know who you are?"

"Is that what this thing is for?" Discord asked, tearing off his mask. "I thought it just looked cool." He tossed it aside. "Oh well. Now that I'm properly dressed for the occasion…"

He gripped the glowing pink bars and snapped them as if they were toothpicks. Radiance's jaw dropped as he slithered out of the cage through the hole he had made.

"But the…" Radiance stammered, pointing. "How did…?"

"God of Chaos!" Discord cried, flying above the heroes. "Hello? You really think these little parlor tricks are going to get the best of me?"

He didn't see the ice beam coming. He landed on the ground encased in a giant ice cube. The Matter-Horn fluttered above him.

"Nope," she said with a smirk, "but that might."

Just as she said this, something glowed red inside the ice cube. Discord broke through the ice, his body covered in flames. The Matter-Horn flew back in alarm.

"An alicorn?" Discord said as the flames extinguished. "Seriously? Those things are even rare amongst us gods!"

Shaking off her shock, the Matter-Horn narrowed her eyes. "Then this should be a rare experience for you."

She shot a laser beam, but Discord surprised them all again by splitting his head in half to let the beam through and then reformed his head again.

"Uh, how exactly are we supposed to beat this guy?" Fili-Second asked.

"Zapp," the Matter-Horn whispered to the pegasus. "You studied Gracian mythology. How do we defeat him?"

"Yeah," Zapp said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "We'd kinda need all twelve of the Olympian Gods' Gifts to put him back in stone."

The alicorn gritted her teeth together. "What?"

"Zeus' pet is right, Ali-Horn," Discord said, hovering upside-down. "Unless you've got ten other divine relics handy, I'm pretty much indestructible." He flipped onto his belly. "What, were the gods too scared to face me themselves that they sent a bunch of wannabe demigods to do their dirty work?"

As he laughed, Mare-velous tightened her rope. "I really don't like this fella."

"We might not be able to destroy you," the Matter-Horn said, "or turn you back to stone, but that doesn't mean we can't stop you from destroying Maretropolis! Power Ponies! Hit him with everything you've got!"

As they charged at him, Discord simply cracked his knuckles. "This should be amusing."

While the battle raged on, Saddle Rager was hiding behind a mailbox. Her teammates had told her to stay away, but she couldn't resist coming to see him. After seeing him in a frozen state for over a decade, and only hearing his voice in her dreams, she yearned to see him in person.

His appearance was no surprise. She knew every inch of his body. However, it was so different seeing him in color. He was like a patchwork quilt of different animals. Having cared for many different types of animals, the sight was impressive.

The way he acted as the God of Chaos was not what she had expected. He was so lively, so flamboyant, so…juvenile. It was the complete opposite of how he had behaved in her dreams. She had mixed feelings watching him battle her friends. So far, it seemed like he hadn't done anything too destructive. Was attacking him really fair?

"Look, this is fun and all," Discord said, yawning as he created a hole in his stomach to dodge another one of Matter-Horn's rays, "but I really must be going. You heroes wouldn't happen to know where I can find Sweet Feathers' Veterinary Clinic, would you?"

"Fluttershy's clinic?" Fili-Second said. "Oh sure, just go two blocks down, around the corner and then another five blocks down!"

The other Power Ponies shot her angry looks. Fili-Second put her hoof in her mouth.

Discord's facial expression changed into one of elation. "You know Fluttershy?" He snatched Fili-Second by the tail and raised her to his face. "Good. Then you can help me find her!"

Zapp's mane frizzed with sparks. "You leave Fluttershy alone, you monster!"

The storm cloud above her head became bigger, and the pegasus was blazing with electricity. Gasping, Saddle Rager jumped out from behind the mailbox and shouted, "Zapp, no, stop!"

Discord's ears perked up and his head turned in her direction. "Fluttershy?"

While he was distracted, Demeter's Lasso looped around him. With a strong tug, his arms were pulled to his sides, forcing him to drop Fili-Second. Discord followed as the rope dragged him to the ground. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"Well, heroes, looks like you caught me. Question is, since you can't turn me to stone, what are you going to do with me?"

"Yeah, partner," Mare-velous said, turning to the Matter-Horn. "What are we gonna do with him? He's a god.We can't just take him to jail or Balkham like the rest."

The Matter-Horn rubbed her chin in thought. "You're not gonna like this."

"There is no way this is gonna work!" Mare-velous said.

"There's nowhere else to put him," the Masked Matter-Horn said as she pressed the keypad on the wall. "If we keep him here at headquarters, we'll be able to keep an eye on him, and these magical security measures, courtesy of Sparkle Labs, should be enough to keep him in check."

Mare-velous looked over to the god, still bound up by Demeter's Lasso while sitting in a padded cell.

"I must say," Discord said, bouncing on the cushioned floor, "this is much cozier than my last prison."

"Isn't this a bit overkill?" Mare-velous whispered to the Matter-Horn. "I mean the rope seems to have made him harmless enough already."

"This is just for added measure," the Matter-Horn said. "This force-field is laced with enchantments to ward off any evil spirits." She glanced briefly at their divine prisoner. "I think the God of Chaos counts as an evil spirit."

"You flatter me," Discord said with a grin.

Mare-velous shook her head. "I don't know what scares me more. The fact that we're keepin' the ancient embodiment of all things evil in our headquarters, or the fact that ya already had one of these evil-wardin' cells handy."

"And…done," the Matter-Horn said as she punched in the last key.

A transparent magenta wall materialized over the cell's opening.

"The force-field's active behind the walls, above the ceiling and beneath the floor too," the Matter-Horn said. "Only way in is if one of us punches in the correct passcode. The keys are set to only register the hoof prints of us, our teammates, and Humdrum's claw print."

"Impressive magic," Discord said, staring at the force-field. "Who did you study with? Hecate? Circe? Calypso?"

"Celestia, actually," the Matter-Horn said.

He blinked. "Who?"

The alicorn opened her mouth in astonishment. She was prepared to rant when Mare-velous put a hoof on her shoulder.

"He was banished before the princesses were born, remember?" Mare-velous whispered.

The Matter-Horn sighed. "Right. He probably doesn't even know about the Vassals…"

"What are you girls whispering about?" Discord said, his childish grin remaining. "You talking about my astonishing good looks?"

Mare-velous glared at him. "I'll bet he does know a thing or two about divine Vassals after what he did to Fluttershy!"

"Aha!" Like a snake, he slithered closer to the force-field. "You do know who Fluttershy is! Is she around here?"

Mare-velous stepped up to the force-field, her muzzle just an inch away. "Maybe first you could tell us why ya put that curse on her!"

He blinked. "Curse?"

"What kind of sick creature are ya, puttin' that kinda burden on a tiny little filly! Do ya have any idea what ya did to her?!"

He stared at her for a while, then his eyes widened. "I did hurt her, didn't I?" He hung his head. "Oh, I wish she hadn't touched that amulet! But how could I have warned her? I wasn't exactly in a position to!" He looked up at the heroes with an expression of worry. "How bad were her injuries? Was she deformed? I didn't mean to hurt her! It was an accident!"

Mistress Mare-velous blinked in confusion. "Accident?"

The Masked Matter-Horn appeared to be just as perplexed. "You mean to say…you have no idea what you did to Fluttershy?"

Discord shook his head. "Whatever I did to her, it was unintentional. Now will some pony tell me what exactly it was I did to her?"

The two heroes shared a look and decided not to press this question further.

"How did you escape?" the Matter-Horn asked.

He smiled. "Fluttershy freed me."

"Fluttershy was nowhere near ya when ya got out," Mare-velous said. "How'd she free ya?"

Laying his head down on the floor so that he was glancing sideways at the mares, he said, "Like the prophecy says, she accepted my gifts."

Mare-velous eyed the rope. "What else does the prophecy say?"

"Oh, you don't want to hear it from me. It's really better when you hear Apollo say it. I should know." He chuckled. "I was there."

The rope tightened around his waist. "Just answer the question."

He only laughed. "You think that's going to hurt me? True, I cannot lie in this." He looked down at his lying form. "Well, I can't lie in one way, anyway. But this squeezing thing is only going to give me a more slender figure. After all, it's not as if there's any air for you to cut off."

The Matter-Horn sighed. "He's right. There's not much we can do to hurt him."

"Fine," Mare-velous said with a shrug. "Don't tell us how ya got out. At least tell us why you're so interested in Fluttershy."

His grin widened and his eyelids drooped. "Why shouldn't I be interested in the mare who rescued me from the dark depths of my stone prison? I merely want to thank her for all she's done to me. Is that so wrong?" He tilted his head so he could look at them right-side-up. "Would you do me the courtesy of bringing her here so that I may thank her properly?"

After a quick glance at the Matter-Horn, Mare-velous said, "We'll see."

As they turned their backs to walk down the hall, Discord called, "I know that line! Zeus used it on me every time I asked for my own holiday! Guess what? It never happened!"

The rest of the team was in the main lounge. Humdrum sat at the monitors, keeping an eye on Discord in his cell. Saddle Rager sat on the couch, her eyes also fixated on the god. Radiance was polishing her bracelets while Fili-Second was gouging down on forty carrot dogs.

In the corner of the room, Zapp was pacing around while talking on her cell phone.

"Yeah, I know. I told Mr. Fetlock to…" She winced. "Boss, I mean Daring, I… Yes, we have him secured." She paused. "Ugh, he's not gonna like that." Another pause. "Any ideas on how we can…?" As she listened, she shook her head. "We're screwed then. Well, call us if you can find anything else."

"I take it Daring Do doesn't have much helpful information?" the Matter-Horn asked as she and Mare-velous walked in.

Zapp hung up the phone. "She's gonna do some digging in her books, but like we already figured out, we can't turn him back to stone without all twelve of the Olympian Gods' Gifts."

"But we can't just leave him in that cell either!" Mare-velous exclaimed, pointing at the screen. "I'd like to have my rope back at some point!"

"We may not have a choice," the Matter-Horn said, "unless there's some other way we can contain him."

"What about that Chaos Amulet he keeps raving about?" Radiance asked.

"Despite being a god," Zapp said, "Discord's powers in the mortal world are restricted. The Amulet of Chaos was given to him by…actually no pony knows who gave it to him. But it's supposed to give him unlimited control over the mortal realm. We're sure lucky he didn't find it at the museum."

"Even so," the Matter-Horn said, "we may have to put that amulet under tight security. It's risky having it on public display."

Zapp cringed. "Mr. Fetlock's not gonna like that. It's bad enough we already broke the Head of Anubis and then another one of the exhibits came to life today."

"He'll probably change his mind once Twilight Sparkle has a little chat with him."

Saddle Rager looked down at her hooves. "Did…did he…say anything about me?"

Mare-velous bit her lip. She still felt guilty for keeping the secret of her roommate being Discord's Vassal. Since she had repeated Demeter's message, Mare-velous could feel the tension arising between her teammates.

"He says you were the one who set him free," the Matter-Horn said.

"I didn't mean to!" Saddle Rager insisted. "I mean…I didn't even know how…he had talked about it…"

"What?"

Saddle Rager blushed. "He, um…he's been speaking to me in my dreams for a while now."

The Matter-Horn put her hoof to her head. "We really need to organize some trust exercises or something. This team seems to be lacking in it immensely!"

"I didn't think they meant anything!" Saddle Rager twiddled her hooves. "He…he was asking me to set him free. I asked him how, and he said I had to 'accept his gifts.'"

Mare-velous' eyes widened. "That's exactly what he told us!"

"But I don't know what that means!"

Radiance gasped. "I think I do! Saddle Rager, you remember after you defeated Trixie and talked to the reporters? You told them that you had accepted your powers from Discord!"

The Matter-Horn stiffened. "Zapp, when did you start noticing the crack in Discord's statue?"

Scratching her head, Zapp said, "Let's see…Mr. Fetlock pointed it out around the time we fought the Shadow King, and the security footage showed it springing up a week before that, so…" As she trailed off, her face became blank. "Not too long after…Fluttershy joined the team."

"So if you think about it," Fili-Second said, sitting upside-down on the couch, "this is our fault!"

"What do you mean, Fili?" Radiance asked.

"I mean we were spending all this time trying to build up Fluttershy's confidence and convince her to use her powers for good and accept that scary part of herself and get her to love herself and accept that this was a part of her when all it was doing was bringing Discord closer and closer to his escape which makes sense if the statue started cracking when Fluttershy became Saddle Rager and then burst open when she finally accepted her freaky powers so Discord wouldn't have escaped if we hadn't been supportive teammates." She rolled her eyes. "Duh!"

They were silent for a long while. Mistress Mare-velous slapped her forehead with her hoof.

"All this time," she said quietly, "I thought bringin' ya out of yerr shell would do ya some good. But it was just makin' that gosh darn prophecy come true. Didn't even matter that I was keepin' ya from that statue!"

"Don't blame yourself, Applejack," Saddle Rager said. "You were only trying to help me."

"She's right, Mare-velous," the Matter-Horn said. "From what I know about Gracian mythology…err, history, I should say; trying to escape Fate only seals it."

Zapp huffed. "What's the point of making prophecies if it's just gonna happen no matter what you do?"

"Well," the Matter-Horn said, "we at least have one advantage over Discord." She turned to Saddle Rager. "He doesn't seem to know that he had cursed you."

Saddle Rager blinked. "He…doesn't?"

The alicorn shook her head. "When we asked why he had cursed you, he didn't seem to know what we were talking about."

"And he can't lie with Demeter's Rope around him," Mare-velous said. "He said when ya touched his amulet, he was scared that it had hurt ya, that he didn't mean what he did." She spoke quietly. "Hate to say it, but I believe him."

"But how can he not know?" Fili-Second asked. "Isn't he a god or something?"

"Not all gods are all-knowing," Zapp said. "If that were so, they would've put Discord someplace where no pony would find him."

"Not even Demeter knows everything," Mare-velous admitted begrudgingly. "Back when her daughter Persephone was taken, she had no way of knowin' that Hades had her."

"So if he doesn't know about the curse, he must not know about Saddle Rager either." The Matter-Horn tapped her chin. "Have you ever mentioned the Power Ponies to Discord when he was stone?"

Saddle Rager took a moment to think. "I…must have brought you up a couple of times, but…n-no. I don't think…I don't think I ever told him I was a superhero. There were always other ponies present at the museum, I couldn't risk being overheard."

"Maybe it's best that he doesn't know, for now."

"Oh, most certainly," Radiance said. "Take it from some pony who has been in a dangerous situation with a villain. It is one thing to have a villain interested in one side of you. Imagine what power that villain would have over both sides of you!"

"V-Villain?" Saddle Rager stammered. "T-That's a bit…h-harsh, don't you think?"

Everyone turned to her in shock.

"You're kidding, right?" Zapp said. "You're talking about the guy who took over the world two thousand odd years ago!"

"But that was in the past," Saddle Rager said. "Maybe…maybe all that time in stone made him reconsider things."

"Even if that were possible," Radiance said, "you forget the mayhem he caused in town just after he was released."

Circling her hoof in the floor, Saddle Rager said, "I don't know if 'mayhem' is the right word for it."

"He was throwing ponies across town!" Zapp shouted.

"He robbed several elegant department stores!" Radiance said. "And broke many fashion codes!"

"Not to mention he's really annoying!" Fili-Second exclaimed, crossing her hooves.

"And he'll do much worse if he gets his paw and claw on that amulet," Mare-velous said. "But like I said, we can't hold him in there forever."

"Unless he can tell us of some other way to imprison him," the Matter-Horn said.

"That should be easy with Demeter's Lasso of Truth," Fili-Second said.

"Not really," Mare-velous said. "Just because he can't tell an untruth, doesn't mean he can't hide anything. When we interrogated him, he kept dodgin' our questions with other truths, except the truths we were lookin' for."

"We asked him about the prophecy," the Matter-Horn said, "but rather than tell us what it was, he said it was better we heard it from Apollo."

"We asked him about why he was so interested in Fluttershy, he said why wouldn't he be interested in the mare who freed him? He says he just wants to thank her, but," Mare-velous said, rubbing her chin, "what if there's something else that he's just not tellin' us?"

Zapp shrugged. "Discord is famed for his mind games. He even managed to confuse the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, a couple of times."

"What if I talked to him?"

For the second time that day, everyone looked at Saddle Rager in shock. She shrunk back from the sudden attention.

"I mean," she said, clearing her throat, "he wants to talk to me, right? Maybe…he'll cooperate if we…give him what he wants?"

They all stared at her for a while.

"She does make a good point," Fili-Second said.

"If you can get him to trust you, Fluttershy," the Matter-Horn said, "he might reveal his weaknesses. Or, if he knows, the location of the other Gods' Gifts."

Mare-velous shook her head. "I don't like the idea. Like Zapp said, Discord is known for his mind games. Who's to say her interrogatin' him won't have the opposite effect?"

"I can do it," Saddle Rager said boldly. "After all, from what I've seen in my dreams, he seems to trust me already."

"You just can't let him know you're Saddle Rager," the Matter-Horn said, "or else he'll use that knowledge against you." She glanced at Mare-velous. "And in case Discord should try anything, we'll be watching on the monitors and listening through our commlinks."

"I still don't like it," Mare-velous said, looking at her roommate, "but I see no other options."

"Hooray!" Fili-Second cried, throwing her hoof around Saddle Rager. "Go get him, Clarice!"

Radiance blinked. "Who's Clarice?"

"Yes, well," Saddle Rager said, looking down. "It's probably a good thing I managed to get out of work for the rest of the day."

"How did you manage to get out of work anyway?" Zapp asked.

"I just told Doctor Fauna that I'd been turned into a dog and that the experience was a bit traumatic."

Fili-Second laughed. "This is probably the only town where a wacky excuse like that can actually work!"

The elevator doors opened to the hallway with the holding cells. For a while, Fluttershy just stood there in her veterinarian uniform, hesitant to go forward. The doors automatically closing finally convinced her.

Holding out her hoof, Fluttershy stopped the doors and stepped into the hallway. She stood frozen as the doors shut behind her. She stared down the hall, knowing that Discord's cell was at its very end.

She was incredibly nervous. Not because she was about to meet an all-powerful god who was possibly evil, but because she realized this would be the first time the two of them would meet face-to-face.

For years, she had spoken to him with no reply. He couldn't even see her. He had been able to speak to her in her dreams, but even then, neither one could see the other's face. And now, she would see him, and he would see her, and they would actually engage in conversation.

"It's okay, Fluttershy," the Matter-Horn said through the commlink. "We're right here."

But she couldn't hear her, for she was too deep in thought.

What if he's not what I thought he was? What if he'd been playing with my head all this time? What if he doesn't like me anymore once he sees me?

"I know you're there."

Fluttershy jumped upon hearing Discord's voice. It was just as low and haunting as it had been in her dreams.

"Come closer," he said softly. "There's no need to be afraid."

His tone was kind enough to compel Fluttershy's hooves to step forward. Yet she still hesitated.

"Please, my dear," he said with a hint of sadness. "Come to me. Let me see your face." She still did not move. "It's alright. I won't hurt you. I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to. And I never will."

Gulping, Fluttershy slowly walked down the hall, her hoofsteps echoing with a light ping! She approached the cell at the end, its entrance covered by a magenta force-field, and turned to face the creature inside.

The moment he saw her, his red pupils dilated so that the yellows of his eyes were nothing but thin ribbons.

"F-Fluttershy?" he said in a voice of astonishment and wonder.

Quivering her lip, she replied, "Y-Yes."

His body was still as his eyes raked up and down her body, drinking in the sight of her. At first, he felt confusion, for the Fluttershy who had spoken to him had expressed concerns about being monstrous, but by pony standards, she looked completely ordinary. On the other hand, he was relieved that he hadn't disfigured her. So then why was she so afraid of herself?

She hadn't lied about her features. Her mane was indeed pink, her coat was indeed yellow, and her eyes were indeed teal. For the longest moment, those teal eyes were locked on his.

He found no flaw in her appearance. No wrinkle, no scar, no freckle, not even a mosquito bite or split end. Normally, something like this would irk him and he would do something to make this perfect being imperfect, like mess up her mane or change the color of her eyes to something outlandish like orange. Something this flawless should not be permitted to exist.

Then, in a sudden burst of shyness, her head lowered, her gaze directing to the floor as a thick lock of her mane fell over her eye. Her hoof moved to sweep that stray lock behind her ear. Discord watched in interest as she did all this slowly and gracefully.

There. There was the flaw he'd been looking for. Despite having such a perfect appearance that would be aesthetically pleasing to any being other than himself, she did not think she was a being worth admiring. Not knowing that she was flawless was her flaw.

It was a conundrum he found delightfully charming.

She looked back up at him and her cheeks took on an adorable shade of pink. Discord's wings would have fluttered had they not been constricted by the rope.

"Um," Fluttershy said, rubbing her foreleg awkwardly. "You're…um…you're kind of…"

Discord finally blinked and quickly shook his head. "F-Forgive me for staring, but…" He leaned closer towards the force-field. "I…I've just dreamed of this moment when…when I'd see you at last."

She glanced to the side. "I'm…sorry if you're disappointed."

"No!" Realizing he'd said that a little too loudly, he cleared his throat. "N-No. Quite the contrary, in fact."

His lower jaw hung open, and there was silence again.

"I…I spent so many years thinking of what I should say…how I should…but I…" After a pause, he laughed. "Congratulations, my dear. It's a rare achievement to strike a god speechless."

A smile tugged at her lips, and Discord could've sworn her face became brighter.

"G-Guess I'm not the only one who's," she said, slowly locking eyes with him again, "n-nervous."

He grinned too. "What's there for you to be nervous about? You're only meeting the most powerful god in the cosmos." The rope tightened around his waist. "Okay, so maybe the second most powerful god." It squeezed further. "Okay, okay! In the top ten at least!"

Fluttershy giggled softly, making Discord's ears perk up.

"What?" she asked, noticing his staring again.

"N-Nothing," he said, "it's just…I don't believe I've heard you laugh before."

She blushed further. "I…can't remember the last time I laughed."

"You're doing great, Fluttershy," the Matter-Horn's voice said in her ear. Fluttershy had almost forgotten the others were listening in. "Keep talking, but keep it casual."

"I…" Fluttershy said, shaking her head. "I have so many questions."

"As do I," Discord said. "Perhaps you could start by telling me what year it is. It's hard to tell how much time passes when you're trapped in stone."

"It's the two thousandth year of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's reign."

He blinked. "Princesses? What princesses?"

"You…don't know?"

He shrugged. "I've been in that statue for at least two thousand years, apparently."

"Well," she said, twiddling her hooves, "I don't know much history, but…the story is that once the ponies started learning how to take care of nature all on their own, with the pegasi controlling the weather and the earth ponies tending to the crops and all, the Gods of Olympus decided that the mortals didn't need them anymore. So they retired."

Discord's eyes widened. "So…the Gods of Olympus…aren't in power anymore?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"Interesting," he said in thought. "That would explain why Zeus' Bolt and Demeter's Lasso were in possession of some renegade mortals."

"That's the thing," she said. "Even though the gods had retired, they still figured the ponies might still require their help every now and then, so they gave their symbols of power to mortals they deemed worthy."

She paused. "There was also the matter of bringing forth day and night. While unicorns had the magic to do that task, it was still a job that was too taxing on them, as it required a lot of magic and many unicorns to raise and lower the sun and moon. So together, Apollo and Artemis created two alicorn sisters, Princess Celestia who would bring forth the day, and Princess Luna to bring forth the night."

"So the Olympians' symbols of power are all scattered across the world, eh? And the gods themselves no longer involve themselves in mortal affairs." Discord smirked. "Very interesting."

"Might wanna change the topic there, Sugar," Mare-velous said through the commlink. "I think ya may have given him a little too much information."

"Oh, um…" She looked down the hallway. "How'd you know it was me in here?"

He leaned forward. "I'd know the sound of your hooffall anywhere. You've visited me so many times."

She glanced down at her hooves. "I…wasn't sure if you were listening."

"Oh, I was listening alright." The rest he said in a low whisper. "And I held onto every word." He shook his head. "I never quite understood why you doubted yourself so often. I know it's a common trait amongst you mortals, but seeing you…I just can't understand how some pony so beautiful can be so unsure of herself."

Fluttershy allowed her mane to fall over her face so he wouldn't see how red it was. "You…don't have to be polite."

He huffed. "Believe me. I'm the least polite being I know. This stupid rope's just forcing me to be honest." As his eyelids drooped, he said, "Though it would be hard for me to deny the brilliance of the goddess before me."

"Don't fall for his flattery, Fluttershy!" Zapp exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Fili-Second said. "Even if you are totally drop-dead gorgeous!"

"I agree, darling," Radiance said. "I've envied how well kept your mane is ever since we first met! What shampoo do you use? And please don't say Tangler's."

"I think you're missin' the point here, Radiance!" Mare-velous hollered.

"Not that you're not pretty, Fluttershy!" Zapp said insistently.

"Is it a store-bought brand or some all-natural concoction you whipped up yourself?" Radiance asked.

"What does it matter?!" Mare-velous shouted. "Shampoo is shampoo! Ugh! Now ya got me talkin' nonsense!"

As they prattled on, Fluttershy turned so that the ear with the commlink was facing away from Discord.

"We've talked enough about me," she said, casually taking the earpiece out and slipping it into the pocket of her lab coat. "I'd like to know about you." She swept her mane behind her ear. "After all, I…never got to hear from you in all that time."

"Oh, perfectly understandable," Discord said, throwing back his head in an attempted mane flip. "I am a fascinating specimen." He noticed her stare. "Hello? Truth-telling rope?"

She couldn't help but giggle a bit. "I just…wanted to know if…what they say about you…is true."

He shrugged. "Depends on what you mean. Do they say I'm the handsomest, suavest, irresistible god alive?" He looked down at his bounds. "I'd flex my muscles, but…"

"That's not what I meant. Are you," she said, biting her lip, "at least…were you…evil?"

His smile vanished, and Fluttershy could've sworn she saw fear behind his eyes.

"A-Again," he stammered. "It depends on your definition of evil."

Ashamed of her question, Fluttershy gazed down at the floor. "What I mean is…when you took over the world, did you…hurt ponies?"

For a long while, his expression was unreadable, his gaze never leaving her. Then he glanced to the side.

"I will not lie." Twisting against the rope, he said, "Cannot lie."

She closed her eyes. "I see."

When he looked back at her, he felt a twinge of pain at seeing her so dejected. "I wish I could tell you that what they say about me is wrong, that I'm not a monster." He sighed. "But yes, I…have hurt ponies in the past. Donkeys and cows and minotaurs too."

"But why?"

He paused as if to think about it. "Don't you wonder why there aren't many temples erected to me? Why ponies only turn to me when all the other gods refuse to answer their prayers? Why I'm that final act of desperation rather than their first choice?"

She looked up at him. "N-No, I…had no idea."

"Well, it's because they all hate me."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, they can't all have hated you. You are a god, after all."

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Being a god doesn't necessarily mean you are liked. It's merely a title that means you're immortal and have power over the forces of nature and guarantees you only a handful of followers who are really just mojo in the coco or some angsty teenagers going through a nemo phase." His lip turned upward. "At least I think that's how you translate it. I really do appreciate how chaotic and confusing your modern Ponish is."

Looking him over, she asked, "So…you lashed out on the mortal world because…no pony appreciated you?"

He nodded. "I figured if I ruled over them, they would have reason to respect me."

"But…then they'd also have reason to fear you."

"Yeah." He hung his head. "But at least I wouldn't be ignored."

She rubbed her foreleg. "And are you…still thinking about taking over the world?"

He paused. "As tempting as the idea is, lately I've had something," he said, his eyes focusing on her, "else on my mind."

"Really?" Fluttershy said, her heart filling with hope. "That's wonderful! What is it?"

He glanced around the hallway. "You wouldn't happen to know where my Amulet of Chaos is, would you?"

Frowning, she turned her head away from him.

"You don't know or you just won't tell?"

She sighed. "Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn't ask that."

"Hey, hey, hey! I just wanna take back what is rightfully mine. That amulet was made for me, after all."

"True," she said, facing him with a stern expression, "but it's also what helped you take over the world, and what turned me into…"

She quickly put her hoof to her mouth. This action did not escape Discord's notice.

Taking a calming breath, Fluttershy said, "I may not have been around when you took over the world, but I know that amulet is nothing but trouble, so I don't think anyone should use it." Her eyes narrowed at him. "Especially you."

Discord groaned. "But this world is no fun if I can't manipulate it the way I want."

"I've seen you manage to do that just fine without the amulet."

"Yes, yes, but turning inanimate objects into other inanimate objects is so old cap. If I had my amulet, I could give them sentience, manipulate the minds and emotions of mortals, control the weather without Zeus interfering, create absurd plants and animals to annoy the Hades out of Demeter and Artemis! I could pretty much do anything!"

Fluttershy lowered her head in sadness. "So…having that amulet and control over the entire world would make you happy?"

"Well, duh!" He stuck out his tongue. "You think ruling the world would be a bad thing?"

"It just," she said in a small voice, "sounds kind of lonely."

He stiffened. "What?"

"All those ponies, afraid of you, afraid of what you might do to them." She shook her head. "They certainly wouldn't like you."

As she locked eyes with him again, Discord's body became completely still. They were so wide, so innocent, so truly mesmerizing.

"I've asked you this so many times when you were in stone," she said quietly, "but…I must know…was there no one who liked you? What about your parents?"

Sighing sadly, he said, "I was born from pure Chaos. Not exactly the most involved parent, stirring underground all the time."

Crossing her legs in nervousness, she asked, "Didn't you ever have…a friend?"

He looked away. "I've…never had a need for friends."

"Oh," she said, hanging her head.

Glancing back at her, he said, "But…I suppose I…did feel lonely sometimes. But that was before…"

She lifted her head. "Before what?"

Facing her again, he whispered, "You came along."

The blush returned to Fluttershy's cheeks and she hid behind her mane once again.

"Why do you shy away from me," Discord asked, "when all I do is give you praise?"

She pulled her mane further over her face so that he could not see her small smile. "I, uh…don't think I'm worthy of such praise."

"Nonsense," he said with a shake of his head. "Let me tell you, sweet Fluttershy. I've lived for millennia. I've seen all the beauties. Aphrodite, Persephone, Helen of Troy. I've seen them all. But none of them," he leaned forward, "none of them, hold a candle to you, my dear. With your sweet demeanor, kind heart and delicate appearance, you have the complexion of an angle!"

She raised an eyebrow, making Discord wince.

"Sorry. What is it you ponies today call it? Oh, yes." He grinned with half-lidded eyes. "Angel."

She turned away, her face beat red and the corners of her mouth reaching all the way to her ears. No one had ever offered her such a compliment, and, like her dreams, it made her heart beat at a tempo that defied logic. And, since he was bound by Demeter's Lasso of Truth, he must have been sincere.

That glimmer of hope that he was not entirely evil returned inside her. Maybe all he really needs is a friend to show him a little kindness.

And she was very happy to be that friend.

Discord was frowning, as he had taken her turning away as a sign of rejection.

"I'm…sorry if what I said frightened you…"

"No, no!" Fluttershy said, facing him with a smile. "I…I'm flattered."

His ears flapped excitedly. "Do you think you can come closer? I'd like to see you better."

After a moment of hesitance, Fluttershy took a step forward.

"Closer," he murmured.

She stepped up so that she was just an inch away from the force-field. "Is this alright?"

His eyes wandered, taking in every detail of her face. He let out a toothy grin of satisfaction.

"Perfect."

Meanwhile, in the main lounge, Zapp was pressing buttons on the control panel.

"How do you turn the volume up? I can't hear what they're saying!"

She jumped as a siren went off.

"Quit playing with that!" Humdrum hollered, pressing a few keys to switch the siren off.

"Fluttershy?" Mare-velous said, pressing into her ear. "Fluttershy, are ya there?"

"She must've taken her commlink out," the Matter-Horn said.

"Why in the hay would she do that?" Zapp asked.

Mare-velous rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you girls hadn't been arguing over haircare products!"

Radiance gasped. "I'll have you know that haircare products are worth arguing over…"

"Why is she so close to the force-field?" Zapp said, leaning closer to the monitor. "What does she think she's doing?!"

"She's fine," the Matter-Horn said. "That force-field is impenetrable to organic as well as magical matter."

Radiance squinted at the screen. "There's something strange about that Discord."

Crossing her hooves, Mare-velous said, "You're figurin' that out just now?"

"Haven't you noticed that his eyes have hardly ever left Fluttershy? And when he looks at her, his pupils dilate? In fact, I don't believe he's even blinked more than twice since she entered the room."

"Do gods even need to blink?" Fili-Second asked.

"Not to mention he seems very elated to see Fluttershy."

Fili-Second tilted her head as she looked at the screen. "Fluttershy seems kind of happy too."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was almost as if…" Radiance shook her head. "No, no. It's absolutely ridiculous."

There was a ringing sound and the heroes turned to the couch where a cell phone was vibrating.

"One sec," Zapp said, going over to the phone. She picked it up. "Hey, Daring, what's up?"

"Dash," Daring Do said from the other end, her voice sounding panicked. "I've just gone over my old Gracian texts talking about the Discordian Prophecy, and I think one of the words may have been mistranslated and if it means what I think it means, your friend Fluttershy may be in danger!"

Glancing at her colleagues, Zapp took a few steps away. "What do you mean? What does it say?"

"Well," she said over a rustling of paper, "when going over the prophecy, I remembered that in Ancient Gracian, the word for 'core' also translates into 'heart,' so rather than Discord being released by the 'Keeper of His Core,' it could mean the 'Keeper of His Heart!' And, well, this changes the meaning of the text completely!"

"What are you say—?"

"I'm saying that if your friend Fluttershy's the one who released Discord, it's because she has his heart! And the next couple lines say he will give the Keeper of His Heart everlasting life, making her his and his alone!"

Zapp glanced back at the screen, showing the footage of Discord and Fluttershy, laughing together.

"You don't mean…"

"Dash, I think Discord plans to make your friend his immortal bride!"

Zapp dropped the phone, causing her colleagues to turn.

"You alright?" the Matter-Horn asked.

"Get Fluttershy away from that creep!" Zapp shouted, quickly picking up the phone.

"WHAT?!" Daring Do hollered at a volume that could be heard by everyone in the room. "YOU ACTUALLY LET HER NEAR THAT MONSTER?!"

"It's okay!" Zapp said, bringing the phone to her face. "Even if Discord manages to break through the force-field, Demeter's Lasso is holding him back."

"Demeter's Lasso?!" There was a slap, possibly Daring's hoof against her face. "That's what you used to secure him?!"

Zapp frowned. "Yeah, what's the problem? Nothing can escape…"

"Dash," Daring said slowly. "It took all twelve of the Olympian Gods' combined powers to put him in that statue. Do you really think Demeter's Lasso alone is enough to hold him?"

"What are you talking about? We've had him tied up all…"

As she caught another glimpse of the screen, she saw how intensely Discord was looking at Fluttershy and how close to her he was leaning. Zapp's eyes widened in realization as she dropped her phone a second time.

"He's playing us!" she shouted. She pressed her hoof into her ear. "Fluttershy, get outta…" She groaned. "Right, she took out her earpiece!"

"What's going on?" the Matter-Horn asked.

"No time! Fili, get down there!"

"On it!" Fili-Second said as she zoomed off.

"Come on!" Zapp said as she flew towards the stairs. "We can't let him take her!"

While Zapp was having her realization, Fluttershy and Discord were laughing over a story he had told.

"You actually turned Demeter into a," Fluttershy said, biting hard on her lip, "tree?!"

"She said she always felt one with nature!" Discord exclaimed. "And she made a fine tree at that! But let me tell you, the fruit she bore was just sour! I mean have you met Persephone?"

Despite herself, she laughed harder. "That's so mean!"

"Then why are you still laughing?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea!"

He grinned as he watched her face, which seemed to glow even brighter with every chortle.

"Oh Fluttershy," Discord said with a sigh. "I've waited so long for this moment."

She smiled up at him. "Me too."

"Really? I mean you're not the one bound to tell the truth here."

"Really. I," she said with a blush, "I've…wondered about you for a long time."

"And," he said, moving his face as close to the force-field as possible, "you are not afraid of me?"

"Maybe I was a little…nervous about meeting you at first, but afraid?" She shook her head. "Never."

He craned his neck downward so that his eyes were at her level. "You have no idea how pleased I am to hear that."

She blushed deeper as she twirled a strand of her mane around her hoof. "I'd, um…actually like to be a tree."

"Hmm," Discord said in thought. "I suppose that can be arranged."

"Or a flower. Something related to nature."

He grinned. "I think you'd make a lovely flower. You've talked so much about flowers, I've always wondered which one is your favorite."

"Oh," she said, shaking her head. "I could never pick just one. I love all of them! Roses, tulips, mums, lady slippers…"

Suddenly, a bouquet appeared in her hooves. It consisted of roses, tulips, mums and…pink ballet shoes hanging from stems. When Fluttershy did a double take, she realized they were made of paper.

"Sorry they're not real flowers," Discord said. "Part of my restrictions in the mortal realm."

Looking up at him, Fluttershy backed away in alarm. "I-I…thought you couldn't use your magic while in that rope."

Frowning, Discord glanced at the paper flowers and then at the rope. Chuckling, he shook his head.

"Looks like the dog's out of the sack."

Fili-Second zipped in between Fluttershy and the force-field. "Fluttershy! Discord's playing us!"

The god smirked. "A little late for that, Hermes Gal."

Just then, the upper half of Discord's body detached itself, causing Fluttershy to drop her bouquet. His lower half slipped out of the rope before it could close in on him. Having nothing to hold, the rope tightened itself into a knot. As his body came back together, Discord pierced his paw and claw through the force-field and pushed it aside, making a circular hole. He hoisted himself through the hole and snatched up Fluttershy.

This series of actions was so surprising and so quick that not even Fili-Second had time to react.

"How…when…what?" Fluttershy said, shocked to find herself in Discord's arms.

"At last," Discord murmured, his claw running along her chin as he brought her face to his. "How I've longed to hold you…"

The slow movement of his claw made Fluttershy shiver, but it also made her face feel hot. His red and yellow eyes were burning into hers, and she could not find the willpower to look away.

"Get away from her, you creep!" Zapp hollered as the rest of the Power Ponies came racing down the hall.

Rolling his eyes, Discord put up a force-field of his own. The heroes collided into the golden shield.

"See how you like it!" he exclaimed.

"W-What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked.

She flinched as Discord ran his claw through her mane.

"Oh, don't worry, my darling," he said, gently pressing his forehead to hers. "For your sake, I won't harm them." He sent the heroes a glare. "This time."

The Power Ponies opened their mouths to shout as they banged against the force-field, but their voices were not heard by Fluttershy or Discord.

"But I can't have them interfering with my plans," he said.

"W-W-What plans?" Fluttershy asked, shrinking in fear.

He smirked as he swept a lock of hair out of her face. "The plans I have for you, my dear."

She squeaked. "Me?!"

"A thank you gift for setting me free. Trust me. You'll love it." Narrowing his eyes at the unheard but persistent heroes, he said, "But first, why don't we go somewhere more," he sent Fluttershy a sultry look, "private?"

Whipping out his claw, he sliced at the air, tearing a hole in space. Fluttershy's eyes widened at the swirling red vortex before her.

"W-What's that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Relax, my dear, it's perfectly safe," Discord said. "Although, you might feel a slight tickle in your throat upon going through. I'd suggest holding your breath."

Fluttershy took in a gulp of air as he clutched her to his chest and leaped through the vortex. As the vortex closed up, Discord's force-field fell away. Once the heroes had picked themselves off the floor, they gazed in horror at the place where they had last seen their friend.

"Fluttershy," Zapp said in a cracked voice.

The Power Ponies were still by the holding cells, stunned. Mare-velous was on the floor of Discord's cell, holding her rope in her hooves.

"He just…took her," Zapp said, staring at the place where Fluttershy had been taken through the vortex.

"I can't believe he'd been playing us all that time," the Matter-Horn said, her hoof caressing the control panel for the security system. "How could I have known that basic protection spells would be useless against his chaos magic?"

"He just slid right through," Mare-velous said, clutching her rope to her chest. "Nothin' can escape Ole Bessie. Nothin' except…" She stiffened in realization. "Fluttershy." She face-hoofed herself. "Stupid! I should've known! If Fluttershy'd been able to escape Ole Bessie, of course the source of her power would be able to do the same!"

"Whatever does that monster want with poor, darling Fluttershy?" Radiance asked.

"He wants to marry her," Zapp murmured.

"WHAT?!" the Power Ponies exclaimed, turning in the pegasus' direction.

"Daring called and said that according to the Discordian Prophecy, the one who sets Discord free will be given everlasting life and belong to Discord. We thought this pony was called the Keeper of His Core, but, because ancient Gracian is so unspecific, turns out it's the Keeper of His Heart."

"Which means…" Mare-velous said.

"That scoundrel is actually smitten with Fluttershy!" Radiance said. "I knew it! The way he spoke to her, it was blatantly obvious!"

"I'd have to say," Fili-Second said, "as crazy as the idea of an evil chaos god being in love with sweet little Fluttershy, it's kind of expected what with her visiting his statue all those years and him listening to her. You think he'll let us be bridesmaids? Or at least invite us to the wedding?"

"There ain't gonna be a weddin'," Mare-velous said, gripping her rope as she stood. "Not if we have anythin' to say about it!"

"But what can we do?" Radiance asked. "We don't even know where they are!"

The elevator opened up and Humdrum came out, panting. "I saw what happened on the monitor! Bad news, I can't trace the signal of Fluttershy's commlink!"

"Then wherever could she be?" Radiance asked.

"I don't think," Mare-velous said, her face becoming grim again, "she's in this world anymore."

Fili-Second gasped. "She's dead?!"

"What? No, no! I mean Discord may have taken her to another realm, maybe his own. Demeter told me each god has their own private realm or special place where they have free reign."

"I remember reading about a Realm of Chaos in my Gracian Mythology books," Zapp said. "But it's impossible to get to! Only Discord can get in and out without a hitch! Even if we did manage to get there, no pony's ever come out the same! We could come back with fish heads, or ostrich wings, or just completely lose our marbles!"

Fili-Second gasped. "That bully! He ain't getting my marbles!"

"We gotta at least try to get there," Mare-velous said. "I'm just not sure how."

"What about if we summoned him like you summoned Demeter?" Zapp asked.

"I don't know. To summon a god, ya need to make an offerin'. Fortunately, Demeter's only interested in plants and produce. But to summon a god whose thing is chaos," Mare-velous said, twisting her rope around her hoof, "I shudder to think what sort of offerin' that would take."

The Masked Matter-Horn lifted her head slowly. "It's risky, but I have an idea. But first," she said, turning to her colleagues, "we need to secure the Amulet of Chaos. Now that Discord has Fluttershy, he's sure to go after his amulet next."

"But what about Fluttershy?" Zapp asked. "Who knows what that monster is doing to her?!"

"I…actually wouldn't worry about her too much, Dash," Mare-velous said.

"What?!" She flew into her face. "How can you say that?! You're about as close to her as I am! How can you not worry?!"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Remember what happened last time some creep tried takin' advantage of Fluttershy?"

Zapp paused and then cracked a smile. "Oh, yeah. That old Caballeron never saw it coming!"

"Fluttershy can hold her own for a little while," the Matter-Horn said, "but if Discord gets ahold of the Amulet of Chaos, our chances of defeating Discord and saving Fluttershy will be even slimmer."

"But how can we stop Discord from taking the amulet too?" Radiance asked. "Your security spells didn't work."

"Well then," the Matter-Horn said, narrowing her eyes in determination, "we'll just have to use something stronger than security spells."

Gasping, Humdrum put his claws to his mouth. "You don't mean…?"

The Matter-Horn nodded. "Spike, call Bon-Bon and tell her to meet us a few blocks down from here. Radiance, you better get back to work before Suri notices you're gone."

"Coco can only cover me for so long," Radiance said.

"Fili-Second, you stay here and watch the monitors for any more danger, see if Discord stirs up any more trouble."

"Roger Wilco!" Fili-Second said, saluting.

"Roger who?" Humdrum said.

"What about us?" Zapp asked, indicating herself and Mare-velous.

"I'll need you to come to the museum with me," the Matter-Horn said. "As for you, Mare-velous," she looked at the orange mare sincerely, "I need you to help me with something…special."

Fluttershy let out a squeal as she was suddenly dropped. When she landed, her body started bobbing up and down. Looking down, she realized she was lying on a strip of pink rubber. In fact, it was an entire road of rubber stretching across…

She had no idea what she was looking at.

The sky was purple, swirling like an endless abyss. When Fluttershy peered over the rubber road, the same abyss was beneath her. Shrieking, she backed away from the edge so that she wouldn't accidentally fall. Above her, a giant bird she did not recognize was soaring. It was turquoise, with yellow feathers and a sharp beak, and was the size of a cow. She ducked as the bird swooped downward.

There were chunks of land floating all around, containing plants of odd shapes and colors. Some of these islands floated upside-down and sideways. For a moment, she was mesmerized by the unique species of plants, until one of the flytraps caught the monstrous bird in its pod.

After another shriek, Fluttershy started breathing heavily and realized that the air smelled like moldy cheese. Discord seemed to enjoy this smell, for he was inhaling it deeply.

"Ah," he said, releasing his breath. "It's just how I left it!"

Fluttershy gasped as a swarm of what appeared to be eyeballs equipped with batwings surrounded Discord.

"That's right, my little abominations," Discord said, his voice suddenly becoming cutesy. "Daddy's home, and he's never leaving you again."

He kissed one of the eyebats, making Fluttershy cringe in discomfort.

"It's good to know that no matter what those goody-goody gods do to me," Discord said, snuggling the eyebats, "they can't touch this place."

While he was distracted, Fluttershy took the opportunity to slowly crawl away. She had thought she could trust Discord, but knowing that he had been playing her by pretending to be captured, and then captured her, she knew she had to get out of here before…she shivered to think what he was going to do to her. She had no idea where the exit was, but she had to at least try.

But she was so busy checking to see that he wasn't following her that she didn't realize she was reaching the end of the rubber road. She shrieked as her front hoof gave out beneath her. She would've fallen into the dark abyss if Discord hadn't caught her with his tail.

"Whoopsie!" he said, bringing her to his face. "Forgive me, darling, but in all the excitement of my homecoming, I nearly forgot about you. How neglectful of me. I promise it won't be this way after the ceremony."

"C-Ceremony?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

"I wouldn't wander around here if I were you. Sometimes even I don't know what little beasties might turn up." He chuckled. "Adds to the thrill of things, don't you think?"

She glanced around. "W-W-Where…?"

"Oh, but where are my manners?" he said as he gently set her down. "You've been in my home for two minutes and I haven't even offered to take your coat!" He leaned forward to whisper, "This may surprise you, but I don't get many visitors."

With a swift whoosh, Fluttershy's lab coat was suddenly blown off her body. Blushing in embarrassment, she tried to cover herself with her hooves as much as possible.

"Oh, please," Discord said, rolling his eyes. "You ponies go naked half the time anyway." He looked her over. "But, if you prefer some covering…"

He snapped his fingers and Fluttershy found herself dressed in a green Ancient Gracian-style dress. Chiton, she believed, as it was held together with buttons over her shoulders. Her head suddenly felt heavier, so she put her hooves up to her mane to find it tied up in a braid wrapped around her head.

"What the…?" Fluttershy started to say.

"And, of course," Discord said, "what sort of gracious host would I be if I didn't offer the lovely lady a present?"

She scowled. "Now see here, Discord, I…"

She was cut off as Discord dropped to one knee and held out a bouquet of flowers to her. It was the same bouquet he had given her earlier, with the mums, the tulips, the roses, and the ballet slippers.

"I figured since you dropped the last one…" Discord said.

Still stunned by the gesture, Fluttershy slowly took the bouquet in her hooves, making the god clasp his paw and claw together excitedly. This bouquet was slightly different from the first, as the stems, leaves and petals felt and smelled real.

"I…thought you couldn't make real plants without the amulet," Fluttershy said.

"Only in the mortal realm," Discord said, gesturing to his surroundings. "Here in my Realm of Chaos, the rules of the mortal realm don't apply. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, with no restrictions."

Fluttershy stiffened at that thought. "N-N-No restrictions?"

"Well," he said with a shrug, "except maybe the fact that no one can get in and out of this place without my saying so. That's pretty much the only rule we have here."

She looked around nervously. "You mean I…c-c-can't leave?"

"Oh, you can leave whenever you'd like."

She gazed up at him hopefully. "Really?"

"When I let you, of course."

Fluttershy frowned.

"But for now, relax! Pull up a seat!"

In a flash, Fluttershy was sitting on some sort of red couch adorned with soft cushions. Discord lay sprawled on another couch across from her. A small round table appeared between them. Snapping his fingers, Discord conjured up two golden goblets hovering in midair. An amphora flashed above the goblets and started pouring red liquid into them both. Grabbing one goblet, Discord held it out to Fluttershy.

"Have a drink," he said.

She stared at the goblet unsurely. While she wasn't as much an expert in Gracian Mythology as Rainbow Dash or even Applejack, she did know a few of the stories. She had read the myth of Hades and Persephone and how the God of the Underworld had tricked the Goddess of Spring into eating food from the Underworld so that she would be doomed to stay with him forever as his wife. She wasn't sure if the same rules applied to the Realm of Chaos, but she couldn't take any chances.

"I, um, actually," Fluttershy said, attempting to smile politely, "don't drink wine."

"Really?" Discord said, looking curiously at the goblet. "Huh. Well, I must say you're the first pony I've met to say that." He snapped his fingers, turning the wine into brown liquid. "How do you feel about chocolate milk?"

She scrunched her muzzle in confusion. "You know what chocolate milk is?"

"Of course! I invented it!" He rolled his eyes with a groan. "Didn't really catch on with the other gods though. Dionysus said, 'If it doesn't make your brain fuzzy, it's not worth drinking!'" He huffed. "If he had tried it, he would've seen what a sugar rush can really do!"

Fluttershy held up her hoof. "I'm…not really thirsty."

"Hungry, then?"

He snapped his fingers to conjure up an assortment of food on the table.

"Take your pick. I have all sorts of cheeses, breads, apples, olives…"

Fluttershy tried to ignore the grumble in her stomach. The food did look scrumptious. Then Discord suddenly appeared on the couch with her, making her gasp. His body was coiled around her and his face was right beside hers.

"Grapes?" he asked, holding up a stem of purple grapes. Smirking, he plucked one grape off. "I'd be happy to…pop them in your mouth."

As he moved the grape towards her mouth, she slowly recoiled. "N-N-No, thank you."

"Oh," he said, tossing the grapes over his shoulder. "Very well." He popped over to the other side of her. "Pomegranate?"

Her eyes widened at the round red fruit in his claw. Squealing, she backed away to the far side of the couch.

"What's the matter?" Discord said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't like pomegranates either?"

"N-N-No, it's not that, it's just…" She paused, wondering if she should tell him. "I-I've…read the myth of Hades and Persephone."

He stared at her and then down at the pomegranate. Then he slapped himself over the forehead and laughed.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, tossing the pomegranate aside. "Oh, oh, oh! You thought…" Clutching his belly, he fell back onto the couch. "Oh no wonder you were acting so strange! You have no idea what's going on, do you?" Sitting up, he wiped away a tear. "You needn't worry, sweet one. The rules of the Underworld don't apply here. You can eat and drink anything you'd like with no strings attached."

She looked at him suspiciously. "How do I know you're not just saying that?"

"Hmm," Discord said, tapping his chin. "I suppose that would be difficult to determine, considering I'm not wearing Demeter's little lie detector anymore."

Fluttershy folded her hooves across her chest. "But you were lying."

"What? No." He waved his paw. "That wasn't lying. I never said that rope would actually be able to contain me."

"I see." She turned her back to him. "Then I suppose since that rope never had any power over you, none of what you were saying was true either."

She felt him take her hoof as she was spun around to face him. His cocky expression had been replaced with a sincere one, which struck Fluttershy by surprise. And was that…sadness she saw in his eyes?

"That rope may not have been able to hold me," Discord said, closing his paw and claw around her hoof, "but it still compelled me to tell the truth."

She stared at the hoof he held in bewilderment. "So…"

He nodded. "Every word I said to you back there was the complete and honest truth."

Closing her eyes, she wrenched her hoof out of his grasp. "How can I know you're telling the truth right now?"

She felt his talon on her chin. When she opened her eyes, his were staring back at her, wide and focused.

"You can't," he said softly. "You're just going to have to trust me."

With a scowl, she swatted his claw away. "And what exactly have you done to earn my trust? First you pretend to be captured, make me believe that you were harmless, then you escape and then you kidnap me and whisk me all the way here!" Glancing around, she asked, "Why did you even bring me here? What are you planning?"

Sighing, Discord shook his head. "Of course, of course. You of all ponies deserve an explanation."

With a snap of his fingers, a lyre appeared over the table and started strumming on its own. The tune was slow and soothing.

"I apologize for deceiving you," Discord said. "I had no intention of doing so, at least to you. But the deception was necessary. You see," he scooted closer, "it was my only way of meeting you."

Fluttershy blinked. "What do you mean?"

"See, those heroes had mentioned your name. I figured if I pretended to be their prisoner, eventually they would reveal you to me. After all, I had never seen your face, and it was much easier than collecting every yellow, pink-haired, teal-eyed pegasus mare in town. Not to mention less messy."

Shifting uncomfortably, she said, "Okay. But…if you could've broken out of that cell at any time, why did you still keep up the charade when I came to you?"

He looked at her as if her question was absurd. "I was enjoying your company, of course. I didn't want our conversation to end so abruptly when it was going so well."

"But…it did end abruptly."

"Yes, well," Discord said, clearing his throat, "I may have gotten a bit carried away…"

"A bit?!" Fluttershy shouted, indicating her dress.

"I didn't mean for it to go like this. I was going to eventually lead up to the question of you visiting my realm and then bring you here." He levitated the bouquet of flowers into view. "If I wasn't so intent on impressing you, this whole thing would've gone a lot smoother."

"Impressing me?!" Fluttershy clenched her hooves as she tried to hold back her anger. "What is it you want from me?!"

He stared at her. "You mean you haven't guessed?"

Her eyes narrowed at him.

"Alright, alright. Confession time."

He snapped his fingers, making the table of food vanish and transforming the couch opposite them into a throne. The wood was black, its cushions red, and from the top came a set of menacing deer antlers.

"You see, Fluttershy," Discord said, floating over to the throne, "as a god," he lowered himself down into a lounging position, his tail hanging over the armrest, "you'd think I wouldn't want for anything. After all, I can conjure anything I'd like with a snap of my fingers."

To demonstrate, he summoned a goblet of chocolate milk. When he raised it to his lips, the goblet slowly disappeared, leaving only the half-circular shape of chocolate milk.

"But no matter what I do," he said, throwing the milk over his shoulder and setting off an explosion, "it's never enough."

He summoned a necklace with a round red jewel embedded in the pendant. Fluttershy's eyes widened as she recognized it as the amulet that had cursed her.

"That's why I used the Amulet of Chaos to take over the mortal realm," Discord said, snapping the replica away. "And let me tell you, it made my charmed existence even charm-ier. Manipulating this realm is one thing, but it's so much more fun when there are others around to…experience it."

He frowned upon seeing her disgusted expression. "Rope or not, I won't hide the fact that I'm imperfect to you. Everyone knows what I've done. What's the point in denying it?"

When her expression did not change, he sighed sadly. "Point is that I was having the time of my life until I was turned to stone and placed in that cave. Alone." He paused. "I…I couldn't move, couldn't see, I didn't have my magic. I was left with…nothing. Just darkness, and silence. No sound but the drops of water, the occasional breeze or the scatter of tiny insects."

These details made the anger inside Fluttershy melt away. She had thought about what it must have been like for him in that statue, and knowing that her suspicions had been correct didn't make her feel any better.

He grinned at her. "Then you came along."

Rising from his throne, he slowly approached her. "By speaking to me, by treating me like a living being rather than a statue, you brought light into my darkness, and warmth to the coldness of my stone prison."

He gently took her hooves, making Fluttershy blush at the sudden heat rushing through her. She was breathing heavily as he lifted her from the couch and floated backward, leading her towards the throne.

"It's because of you I was brought to the museum," he said, his gaze fixated on her, "and I had many more interesting things to listen to." He brought his paw to her face, and this time, Fluttershy did not flinch away. "But the sound I looked forward to hearing the most…was your sweet voice."

She looked shyly down at her hooves. "I…had no idea my…talking to you meant that much."

"Oh, but it did, Fluttershy." He frowned slightly. "My only regrets during all those visits were that I couldn't talk back, couldn't see you, couldn't…" His paw moved down to her shoulder. "…couldn't hold you, couldn't…"

Fluttershy gasped as his paw reached down her back.

"…couldn't comfort you when you were sad." His claw moved up her foreleg. "You might as well have been talking to a statue."

Fluttershy's mouth opened as she struggled to find the words to tell him that his touches were making her uncomfortable. But she couldn't. For while his paw and claw felt uncomfortable, they were also soft and smooth, and the way they gently rubbed her made her feel…almost safe.

He then effortlessly lifted her up as if she were weightless and set her down on the throne. Holding her hoof like a delicate object, he knelt down on one knee.

"But here you are now, with me," Discord said, his eyes becoming glossy. Fluttershy was surprised, for she had no idea gods could cry. "My admiration for you has grown over the years, Fluttershy, as I've heard your voice mature and become all the more sweeter. You looked upon my face without fear, and when I visited you in your dreams, you welcomed me. Then, by accepting all I have to offer, you released me at last."

Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat as he ran his claw through her mane.

"I owe everything to you, Fluttershy," he said, his voice lowering into a whisper. "There's no pony like you in all the cosmos, no pony as kind, or as caring, or as…" He caressed her soft cheek. "…as beautiful."

His claw lingered on her cheek for a few seconds before returning to her hoof. "I've had plenty of time to think of how I would thank you, how I would reward you for all you've done for me. It wasn't until a few years back, when I noticed how you'd blossomed from a shy young filly into an independent young mare that I realized what I had to do."

Fluttershy heart was beating wildly in anticipation. "W-What is it?"

Smirking, he snapped his fingers and a velvet pink rectangular jewelry case appeared in his paw. He opened it and held it up to her. Inside was a necklace with pink diamonds embedded in the chain, a pink butterfly-shaped jewel at its center.

Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth. The necklace was beautiful and the pendant matched her cutie mark exactly.

Her previous opinions of him were starting to return. Perhaps he wasn't as evil as he appeared. True, it would have been nice if he had asked her if she wanted to come to his place instead of simply taking her, but maybe he just wasn't used to these sorts of things. The gift truly was thoughtful, not because it was beautiful but because it represented her personality. And he sounded truly grateful for her visits, which he seemed to care about more than her setting him free.

She was about to thank him when he spoke.

"Fluttershy Buttercream, will you marry me?"

Her smile vanished and she looked up at the god, her eyes filled with shock. "What?"

"Marry me, Fluttershy." Still holding the case in his claw, he took her hoof in his paw. "Marry me and become my immortal Queen of Chaos."

"First, my Anubis statuette gets stolen and shattered," Mr. Fetlock said, rubbing the bridge of his muzzle, "then my Discord statue comes to life…"

He turned to the three ponies and dragon. Twilight wore her usual purple pantsuit, Rainbow was dressed for work again, Spike hid behind Twilight's leg, while Mistress Mare-velous remained in costume.

"And now," he growled, "you're telling me that you want to remove another priceless, historical artifact from my museum entirely!"

"Boss, calm down," Rainbow Dash said.

"No!" He stomped is hoof. "I will not calm down!" He darted his eyes at Mistress Mare-velous. "Why is it every time you Power Ponies are around, something from my exhibit gets lost and or broken?!"

"Mr. Fetlock, if you will please listen…" Twilight said.

"It wasn't enough that that careless, obnoxious colleague of yours took my bolt," Mr. Fetlock said, advancing on Mare-velous, "you have to take my prized amulet too?!"

"Obnoxious?!" Rainbow exclaimed, putting her hooves on her hips.

"You Power Ponies call yourselves heroes," he said, poking Mare-velous in the chest, "but you're nothing but thieves and vandals!"

"I don't think you understand the severity of this situation, Mr. Fetlock," Mare-velous said, taking a step forward. "Now that Discord's out, he's gonna come lookin' for his amulet. If we don't get it outta here first, he's gonna take it. Besides," she said with a smirk, "ya wouldn't want him comin' back here and ruinin' all yerr other exhibits, now would ya?"

Mr. Fetlock took a step back, shivering at the memory of his Eros statue being transformed into gelatin.

"On second thought," he said with a nervous grin, "we need to make room for the Anugypt exhibit anyway."

Half an hour later, Twilight, Mare-velous and Spike were in Twilight's limo, a thick metal box containing the Amulet of Chaos in the unicorn's lap. Rainbow had stayed behind to finish her shift at the museum. The driver turned back to them. She was a light yellow earth mare with blue eyes and a curly pink and blue mane.

"Where to now, Miss Sparkle?"

"Home, Bon-Bon," Twilight said. "And…I'd appreciate it if you'd give us some privacy."

Nodding, Bon-Bon pressed a button to raise the divider between the driver's seat and the backseat. Once the vehicle started moving, Mare-velous turned to Twilight.

"So what's with all the crypticness?" she asked. "What's this plan ya've got for stopping Discord from gettin' the amulet?"

"Wait until we're alone," Twilight said, eyeing the driver. "As much as I trust Bon-Bon, this is something more secret than our own identities." She turned to Mare-velous. "So secret, there's a reason I didn't ask the others to come along."

Mare-velous blinked in surprise. "So why just me?"

"I figured you were the most likely to keep this a secret from the rest of the team." Twilight looked at her sternly. "Since you were already so intent on keeping what you knew about Fluttershy a secret from the rest of us."

The earth mare rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Oh, right. That." She raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you said we shouldn't be keepin' anymore secrets from the rest of the team."

Twilight sighed. "Once you see what I have to show you, you'll understand."

When they reached Twilight's penthouse apartment, she led Mare-velous and Spike to her study. As Mare-velous had expected, the shelves were stocked full of books and organized very neatly. Not a speck of dust was in sight.

Twilight then came to a portrait hanging on the wall. It was of herself as a young filly, cuddling a baby version of Spike. Illuminating her horn, Twilight removed the portrait from the wall. Using another spell, she made a control panel appear in the spot the portrait had hung.

Mare-velous watched as Twilight let the panel scan her hoof, her eyes, and her horn. Then a small cup came out of the panel, into which she spat. It was not unlike the security system for the tower.

"Name?" the machine asked.

"Twilight Sparkle."

There was a ding, but nothing happened. Twilight turned to a bookcase on her left and used her magic to pull one book from the shelf. The spine bore the title: Don't Cry After Sunset.

The floor shook as the bookcase moved to reveal a secret passage.

"Spike, you stay here," Twilight said.

The dragon nodded with a gulp. "Okay."

She tilted her head towards Mare-velous, indicating for her to follow. As the two mares stepped inside, the bookcase closed behind them.

"Welcome to my private study," Twilight said.

This study was even bigger than the last one, with even more shelves and books. It also held several peculiar objects, like a glowing crystal ball, an assortment of gems, an empty cauldron, and…Mare-velous jumped upon seeing a dragon's claw in a jar.

"I can see why ya didn't bring Spike in here."

She couldn't help but notice that unlike the previous study, this one was messier and disorganized. Books lay open and neglected on the floor and cobwebs decorated the shelves.

"There are many reasons why I never let Spike in here," Twilight said, blowing the dust off an open book. "These books contain dangerous knowledge that I don't want him looking into."

"Whaddya mean?" Mare-velous asked, looking around. "What is all this stuff?"

Twilight looked down ashamedly at the floor. "Books on dark and forbidden magic."

Mare-velous looked at her in shock. "Say what now?"

The unicorn picked up a book and flipped through it. "I've tried to distance myself as far away from dark magic as possible." She shut the book and placed it on a shelf. "But in situations as dire as this, I find they are sometimes necessary. And it's better that the books I find stay locked in here rather than be made available to the world."

Mare-velous shivered as she read some of the titles of the books: Necromancy, Forbidden Spells: A Reference Guide, 1001 Ways to Vanquish Your Enemy, Raising the Dead for Dummies, Shadow Spells And You.

"I'd ask how ya managed to get all this stuff," she said, "but I'm afraid of the answer."

"Now you see why I can't have the others seeing this?" Twilight asked. "The knowledge in here can corrupt the weakest of minds."

"Oh." Mare-velous put her hooves on her hips. "So you're worried about corruptin' every pony else on the team, but ya have no problem riskin' that with me?"

"No, Applejack," Twilight said, looking at her sincerely. "I brought you here because unlike the others, you understand the darkness in the world and aren't afraid to face it. You watched your parents get murdered right before your eyes, you've been to the Underworld and back."

Mare-velous' eyes widened. "How'd ya know about that? Did Fluttershy tell ya?"

She responded with a wave of her hoof. "It's not important. What is important is that in one of these books, there is a spell that we can use to protect the Amulet of Chaos from Discord. Since it involves using some dark magic, it'll be stronger against any god. And, if my memory serves correctly, there should also be a spell in here that can help us travel between realms, even the Realm of Chaos."

"I still don't get why I had to come here. Couldn't ya have gotten the spells yourself?"

"Yes, but I don't remember which book it's in, not to mention it's been forever since I've organized this place. I'm going to need your help to find the right spells."

Mare-velous glanced back uncomfortably at the morbid titles. "There…anythin' I should know before I open these creepy-lookin' books up?"

"Yup," Twilight said as she picked up another open book. "Don't read any of the spells aloud, and try not to be pulled in by their tempting, dark content."

The earth mare narrowed her eyes. "Thanks."

While Twilight flipped through her book, Mare-velous decided to start with Forbidden Spells: A Reference Guide, as that seemed to fit what they were looking for. After blowing the dust off the cover, she opened it up to the title page.

There was something scribbled on the page. It must have been written some time ago, for the penciling was faded. Upon squinting, she saw that it read:

To Twilie,
Hope you find what you're looking for in here.
Love, S.S.

"Who's S.S.?"

A magenta aura encased the title page, turning it over.

"Ignore that," Twilight said quickly. "We have more pressing matters to deal with."

Mare-velous wanted to ask further about this, but remembering Fluttershy, she decided to listen to Twilight.

After flipping through the book, Mare-velous came across something called a Flight Spell. It made her pause because the page showed a picture of an alicorn. Beneath the name of the spell were some words in Pony Latin.

"Terra, penna…?" she attempted to say.

"I said don't read the spells aloud!" Twilight hollered.

Mare-velous showed the page to her. "Is this the spell ya use to make yerr wings come out?"

Twilight stiffened as she stared at the page. Then she nodded slowly. Mare-velous looked at her in concern.

"The spell ya use to turn yourself into the Masked Matter-Horn is…forbidden?"

Twilight said nothing for a long while. Then she pulled out another book from the shelf.

"Like I said, we have more pressing matters to deal with."

Mare-velous sighed, knowing the unicorn was right. Though they were clearly going to continue this conversation later.

The first sign that the bed Fluttershy awoke in wasn't her own was the fact that it was far more comfortable. Instead of a cheap, lumpy queen-sized mattress, she found herself in a king-sized waterbed. As she sat up, her whole body wiggled along with the mattress. Frantically, she patted her hooves around to get a feel of where she was.

The sheets were red and felt as smooth as satin, and the comforter was, surprisingly, made of black cloud. Looking up, she saw that the canopy was literally a night sky, with stars stretching unto infinity. She couldn't see anything else around her as the bed was shut in with red velvet curtains.

It took a second for Fluttershy to remember the events prior to her blackout. Discord had escaped from stone, pretended to be captured, brought her to his Realm of Chaos against her will, and then…

Squealing, Fluttershy threw the cloud covers off her body. The sight of the chiton dress Discord had dressed her in made her sigh in relief. She was still clothed, and, upon feeling her stomach, there were no other surprises hiding there.

"At least he hadn't…" Fluttershy said with a shudder. "At least he's not that kind of god."

Suddenly, said god flashed beside her, lying on his side with one elbow propped up. Shrieking, she pulled the covers over her body, despite not being naked.

"Oh, thank Chaos you're awake!" Discord exclaimed, his tail wagging like a puppy's. "With you being mortal, and I being not, it was difficult to determine the severity of your situation."

"Um…" Fluttershy said, unsure of what question to phrase, as there were so many.

"Are you alright?" he asked, feeling her forehead. "Any dizziness?" He took her hoof, examining it. "Swelling?" A goblet appeared in his claw. "Do you need some water?"

Despite still being in shock, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel a bit touched over his concern, as it seemed genuine.

"I-I'm…fine, thank you," Fluttershy said, politely pushing the goblet away. "Um…what am I doing in your bed?"

He huffed. "Oh, this isn't my bed, it's our bed!"

Her pupils shrank to a point where they were barely visible. "Our bed?!"

"By that I mean it will be our bed." He traced his claw along the sheets. "You like? Personally, I prefer to sleep upside-down and have a few spikes and shards present, but I figured you'd be more attracted to gravity." He flopped his whole body up and down, making the bed wriggle. "And bounciness."

When the bed became still again, Fluttershy scooted a few inches away from the god. "Okay, we'll, um, talk about this later. Back to my previous question, why am I in this bed?"

"Oh," Discord said, sitting up. "You fainted right after my proposal."

Fluttershy's face turned red. "Oh, right, your…proposal." She rubbed her foreleg awkwardly. "Um…could you…remind me what my answer was?"

"Don't know." He shrugged. "You fainted before you could give one."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, that…sounds like something I would do."

"Oh, don't worry about it, darling. I understand."

She looked up at him. "You…do?"

"Of course." He smiled brightly. "You were so overjoyed, your delicate mortal body couldn't handle the excitement!"

"What? N-No, I…I mean not that I…"

"But now that you've gotten that out of your system, we can pick up right where we left off!"

In a flash, the bed was gone and Fluttershy found herself back on Discord's throne. Once again, Discord knelt to her with the open box containing the butterfly necklace in his paw.

"So as I was saying, my sweet darling," he said with a toothy grin. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Now that the initial shock had worn off into mere uneasiness, Fluttershy was better able to process the situation.

She had to blink several times to keep herself from fainting again.

If any pony had told her this morning that an all-powerful god would be proposing to her, she would have laughed it off. Yet here he was, on one knee, looking at her expectantly with hope in his eyes.

What was she to say? What could she say? Despite having visited his statue since she was a filly, they had technically just met today. Did he really expect her to say yes to marriage now?

"I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't faint again," Discord whispered. "But if you must, do you think you could give your answer before you pass out? It'd kill me to have to wait in anticipation for several more hours."

"N-No, I'm not…" Fluttershy started to say, but then shook her head. "I'm just a bit…confused."

He cocked his head. "What's there to be confused about? The fact that I, the God of Chaos, am offering you the role of a goddess in return for your eternal love and devotion, or are you wondering how much this necklace cost?" He leaned forward to whisper, "Like we gods need to actually pay for anything."

"Um, okay," she said, pulling herself as far back as the seat would allow. "Possibility of theft aside, I just don't understand…why me?"

Discord chuckled. "Why not you? Didn't you hear my speech earlier? After hearing your comforting voice for years, is it really any wonder that I should eventually fall in love with you?"

Fluttershy's mouth fell open. "L-L-Love?"

"But of course!" Releasing the jewelry case to let it float in midair, he took her hooves in his paw and claw. "My heart's yearned for you for quite some time, Fluttershy, in a way I never knew it could. See, it's not easy for me to care for some pony. Ever since I realized I was in love with you, I've longed for the day that I would make you my own.

"Although," he said, raising his claw to her face, "I didn't expect you to look so…normal."

Scowling, she swatted his claw away.

"Not that there's anything wrong with how you look!" Discord said hastily. "It's just with all your talk of being a monster, I thought you might be…deformed in some way." He smirked. "Doesn't matter. I'm willing to take you for my wife no matter what you look like, for it's your kind, gentle soul that makes you beautiful."

Fluttershy's nerves were increasing dramatically. "You want me to be your wife?"

"It's like I said, buttercup. I have everything a god could possibly want," he said as his ears drooped slightly, "except someone to share it all with. What I need is an eternal companion, someone to appreciate me and everything I create, someone who isn't quick to judge me. After all, Zeus has Hera, Poseidon has Amphitrite, Hephaestus has Aphrodite, Eros has Psyche, Dionysus has Ariadne, even Hades has a bride.

"However," he said, rolling his eyes, "unlike some gods I know, I intend to be loyal to my wife and not waste my time with lesser beings. Fortunately, I don't get attracted very easily so you'll have no one to be jealous of."

Fluttershy squeaked as he brought her hooves to his chest, forcing her face to be close to his.

"And out of all the mares," Discord said, his eyelids drooping, "out of all the females, out of all the beings in the world, I've chosen you," he sighed as he pressed his forehead to hers, "my beautiful Fluttershy, to be the one to bring my days of loneliness to an end."

He gently cupped her chin. "I can make you a goddess, Fluttershy. Oh, and you'll be a magnificent one. Mortals everywhere will adore you, worship you." He lifted his head proudly. "Though I, of course, will be your most devoted follower. Anything you desire, my queen, will be yours. You will never want for anything, this I swear. So, what do you say, my darling?"

Throughout his entire speech, Fluttershy had been staring unblinkingly at him. She believed him. Truly, she did. His sincerity was apparent in the gentle way he held her hooves and the affection he held in his gaze.

He was in love with her.

Never had anyone admitted such a thing to her, and while she'd dreamed of hearing those words one day, this wasn't what she'd had in mind. She hadn't thought the one who would confess his feelings for her would be a practical stranger…let alone a god.

He looked so excited and hopeful that she truly hated herself for what she was about to do.

"Um," she said, biting her lip, "no?"

Discord seemed to wilt like a flower. Every part of him fell: his face, his ears, his paw and claw, his wings, even his horns.

"N-No?" he said in a voice so small it wrenched Fluttershy's heartstrings.

"Don't get me wrong," she said, trying to sound comforting. "I'm f-flattered, really. I mean no one's ever proposed to me before…"

"Really?" he said, his horns rising slightly. "I would've thought all the males would be knocking at your door."

"N-No, not really." Fluttershy shook her head. "Anyway, everything you said was…nice, but…aren't you forgetting something?"

"Hmm." Discord tapped his chin in thought. "Let's see. Find a fair mortal, wow the mortal with divine gifts and or acts, whisk her away to some remote location, make her your mate." He listed each thought on his talon. Then he shook his head. "Nope. Don't think I left anything out."

She sighed. "Discord, that's not how…"

"Oh, but of course!" he said, smacking his forehead. "How could I have not seen it before?" He looked down at her, his excitement returning. "You'd prefer it if I were in some other form, huh? Perhaps a swan?"

He transformed into a gray swan, keeping his yellow and red eyes and bushy white eyebrow. Fluttershy pressed her back against the throne as she cringed.

"Or maybe a bull?" Discord asked, turning into a gray bull. "Or a giant worm?"

Fluttershy yelped as he turned into a fifty-foot gray worm towering over her.

"Nope?" he said, cocking his bushy eyebrow. "Not doing it for ya?" Sighing, he returned to his original form. "How does Zeus do it?"

Scowling, she shouted, "Your appearance isn't the problem here, Discord!"

"Oh," Discord said, clasping his paw and claw together, "then you find me handsome the way I am?"

Fluttershy had to grip the armrests of the throne to keep her budding frustration at bay. "That's not what I'm…"

"But of course, if you grow tired of looking at me each day…"

He poofed away. Not wanting to be left alone in this strange dimension, Fluttershy looked around frantically for him.

"I can make myself invisible," Discord's voice whispered into her ear. "And come to you only when you sleep."

"Discord!" she hollered, her face burning as she became angrier.

"You're right," he said, becoming visible again. "Even I think that's creepy. I don't know how that Psyche managed not to lose her mind over being married to a ghost."

Putting her hoof to her head, Fluttershy said, "Discord, if you'd just listen…"

"It's the place, isn't it?" he said, gesturing around him. "I can change it so it's more to your liking."

Snapping his fingers, he made several patches of exotic flowers appear. The sight was enough to dispel her anger for the moment.

"They're…lovely. But Discord…"

"Or animals! You like animals, right? How 'bout a puppy?"

Suddenly, an Orthros leaped onto her lap. It would've knocked her over had the throne not been so sturdy. At first, she screamed in surprise, but then giggled as the two-headed dog began licking her face.

"Stop, stop!" Her face became serious when she remembered her situation. "Seriously, stop!"

She shoved the Orthros off. Then he began whimpering, which earned her pity, so she allowed him to set his heads on her lap.

"None of that is what's wrong here, Discord," Fluttershy said calmly as she pet the Orthros' heads with both hooves.

"Then what is?!" Discord asked, holding his paw and claw out in desperation. "These things worked for all the other gods!"

She hung her head with a sigh. "That may have been how relationships worked two thousand years ago, but that's not how they work today. I'm glad I finally met you, and I'm glad you're out of that awful stone prison, and I'm more than willing to get to know you better, but…love? Marriage? It's too soon for any of that, Discord!"

"Too soon?" He placed his paw and claw firmly on his hips. "Too soon?! I've been waiting for you for years! Before that, I was frozen in a cave for thousands of years more! If there's one thing that prison has taught me is that life's too short, even for gods! Who knows when someone might try and imprison me again?"

She looked up at him sternly. "You may have had a lot of time to think about this, but for me…this is all new. We've only just met and…I hardly know anything about you. Maybe you…we felt a connection while you were in that statue, but…our conversations were still one-sided. While I told you so much about my life, you were unable to tell me anything. Can you really expect me to…to love you when I wasn't even sure if you were there?"

Discord stared unblinkingly at her, saying nothing for a long while. Fluttershy wondered if he had understood her and was about to ask when he suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Oh, I get it!" he said with realization.

"You do?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

"What was I thinking?" He slapped himself in the forehead. "Of course you wouldn't just say yes to someone you've just met, you're too good for that sort of thing!"

Fluttershy sighed in relief. "Glad we have an understanding."

"You want to be courted first!"

"Yes, exact—" Her face fell. "Wait, what?"

"I mean you're the most perfect being in the universe!" Discord said as he paced around, his hoof and foot not touching any surface. "A mare like you needs to be earned through grand romantic gestures before anyone can win your hoof in marriage!"

"That's," she said, holding up her hoof, "not really what I had in…"

She yelped as Discord grabbed her hoof and yanked her off the throne. His lion arm caught her around the waist and pulled her close. Flustered, Fluttershy looked up at the god grinning mischievously down at her.

"Very well then, my dear," he said, snapping his fingers. "Let the wooing commence!"

Suddenly, they were in a marble pavilion with ionic columns entwined with vines of roses.

"Let's see," Discord said, looking around, "we have the ideal romantic setting. Now for some candlelight!"

With another snap of his fingers, candles appeared floating all around them.

"Next, music!"

A lyre and some kind of flute materialized above them and began playing slow, peaceful music.

"And finally, a dance!"

Fluttershy yelped as she was abruptly spun around and dipped below Discord's waist. "Discord! This is…"

"Exciting?" he said as he spun her again. "Thrilling?" He brought her back to his chest. "Romantic?"

Scowling, Fluttershy pushed against his chest. "As lovely as all this is, I'm just not…"

"Into dancing? Understood." He snapped the floating instruments away. "You're more into poetry, aren't you?"

He summoned a scroll and cleared his throat. "Some say a cavalry corps," he recited. "some infantry, some, again—oh no, wait." He tossed the scroll aside. "My mistake. While I do appreciate Sapphony's work, it doesn't really fit this situation."

"Discord," Fluttershy said slowly, "if you'd let me speak…"

"Aha!" He snapped his fingers. "Perhaps I can prove my bravery by bringing you the head of a mighty beast!"

Shrieking, Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth.

"Oh, right, right." He cringed in embarrassment. "You're an animal lover, of course." Snapping his fingers, he had another idea. "Would you like more pets?"

Fluttershy was instantly surrounded by animals. There were so many, she couldn't quite process what species they were.

"Discord," she said, gently pushing a platypus off her lap.

He clapped his hands together. "More flowers!"

Fluttershy screamed as she was showered with a countless variety of flowers. "Discord!"

"More jewels!"

In another flash, she was covered head to hoof in jewelry, from bracelets to necklaces to a pearl crown upon her head. Fluttershy's eyes glowed red, for she was unable to keep her anger in any longer.

"DISCORD!" she shouted in her Saddle Rager voice, pushing all the flowers and animals aside. "STOP IT!"

Discord was stunned into silence upon hearing her outburst. Seeing his astonished gaze, Fluttershy gasped and turned her back to him, covering her face.

Don't lose your temper, Fluttershy, she thought. Remember what your teammates said. Letting him know your identity will give him power over you. Just use the techniques Tree Hugger taught you.

She took in a deep breath, her mind clearing with the help of the aroma of the hundreds of flowers surrounding her. When she opened her eyes, they were teal again. Feeling calm, she faced Discord, who was still staring at her in bewilderment.

"Please," Fluttershy said slowly. "Enough."

Discord blinked. "What was that?"

She pretended to be ignorant. "What was what?"

He pointed to her. "You…sounded different there for a moment. And your eyes, they…they changed."

She kept a stiff expression. "I have no idea what you're…"

"You're hiding something from me." He slithered over to her so that his face was in hers. "It's very…intriguing." He smiled brightly. "Do you have some kind of hidden personality or something? If so, I'd very much like to know more about it!"

Fluttershy gently pushed his muzzle away. "These gifts are very lovely, Discord, and, frankly, it's nice that you paid attention to my interests," she said, looking around at the flowers and animals, "but I'm afraid my answer still stands. I…I don't love you, Discord. Not in the way you want me to. I'm sorry, but it's the truth."

Surprisingly, Discord didn't seem at all disappointed. "Oh, that's quite alright, my darling," he said, poofing the animals, jewels and extra flowers away. "You don't have to say yes right away." He sat down in his throne, which had suddenly appeared behind him. "I'm a patient god. It doesn't matter what you think of me right now, because I know you're going to be my wife eventually."

Once again, she was confused. "W-What?"

"The Fates have decreed us the perfect match. It's in the prophecy, don't you know?"

"Prophecy?"

He propped his elbow onto his armrest, leaning his head on his paw. "When I was turned to stone, Apollo gave a prophecy foretelling my release. It goes something like this."

Straightening up, he put his paw to his chest as he recited:

"Two thousand times the Earth shall turn
Before the Chaos Lord is released from stone,
When the Keeper of His Heart accepts his gifts,
He will roam free once again
And grant the pony life everlasting,
Making her his and his alone."

He looked down at Fluttershy, seeing her eyes wide in bewilderment. "Believe me, it sounds a lot more poetic in Gracian. Even rhymes. The point is," he said, leaning forward, "we're meant for each other, Fluttershy. One day, you're going to be my immortal queen. And take it from someone who was there when Oedipus blinded himself, running from our fate won't bode well for either of us."

In a flash, he was kneeling down to her again, holding her hooves. "So why wait for the inevitable?"

She stared at him long and hard. "Are you…sure that's what the prophecy means?"

He shrugged. "What else could it mean? All you have to do is accept my gifts."

She blinked. "You…really don't know…"

"Know what?"

She shook her head. "Discord, there's nothing you can give me at the moment that can help me change my…"

"Then name it!" He held her hooves tighter. "Wish for the most impossible thing you've always wanted, and I'll give it to you! I'll give you anything!"

Fluttershy went still. "A-Anything?"

He grinned. "Anything."

It was a lot to consider. If he can do anything, could he…take away my curse?

To think she could be a normal pony again. She would never have to worry about hurting any pony ever again.

It was the most tempting thought she'd had throughout this entire ordeal.

Then another thought made her frown sadly. "You couldn't do it."

His mouth moved to match hers. "Yes, I can!"

"No." She shook her head. "You said you couldn't do anything to…change ponies."

"I could! I mean…provided you give me something in return."

She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Releasing her hooves, he moved his paw and claw in illustrative motions. "See, gods are allowed to bend the rules a little bit, provided they create a divine contract with another party. For instance, Artemis once wanted me to create a new beast to scare off this stalker guy Orion. In return, she agreed to make one night a year longer than the rest so I could party in the dark longer. That's why we have the Winter Solstice." He bowed. "You're welcome.

"But we often make contracts with mortals who want impossible gifts from us. The mortals must do us favors in return. It often involves a lifetime of servitude or the selling of one's soul…" He noticed Fluttershy's uneasiness. "Not that I ever did something like that! Sometimes it doesn't have to be that big. Dionysus had given a king the power to turn things to gold just for letting the drunken fool crash at his place."

"And," Fluttershy said with a gulp, "what would you ask for in return for…my wish?"

"Why," he said, chuckling, "your hoof in marriage, of course."

"Right." She supposed it silly to expect anything less. "Isn't there…some other way we can settle this without my having to marry you right away?"

"Well," he said, stroking his beard, "if I had my Amulet of Chaos, I could simply grant your wish without the need for a magical contract."

"Oh." She crossed her forelegs. "So this is about your precious amulet."

He huffed. "Well, you can't expect me to take over the mortal world without it."

She shook her head. "You know something? I was beginning to think you weren't like the Discord in the stories at all, but you're…you're just…" She grunted. "Mean!"

Turning her back to him, she shut her eyes and lifted her chin in defiance. Discord was hurt by her words, but he couldn't help but admire her boldness at the same time.

Honestly, it was really hard for him to be upset with her.

"Sure I wouldn't mind ruling the world again," he said, floating towards her, "but only if you'd rule it with me." Cupping her chin, he turned her face towards him. "Your boldness is only further confirming my belief on how excellent a queen you'd make."

Glancing downward, she lowered his paw. "I don't doubt your feelings for me, Discord, but this isn't the way to win my heart."

His arms drooped in exhaustion. "Then what is?! Tell me what I have to do, Fluttershy!" His voice became small. "And…I'll do it."

"First of all," she said, meeting his gaze, "I am not a prize you can simply win. Nor am I some idol you can worship. I'm a person, Discord, a person you can't keep. I may not have this kind of experience, but I do know that love doesn't come so easily. It's not about the things you can do for me, it's…whether or not I feel comfortable around you, whether or not I can trust you." She sighed. "And I'm sorry, but at this point, these standards haven't been met."

Unable to handle the sight of his disappointment, she turned away from him again. "I don't need jewels, I don't need gifts, I don't need…to be Queen of the World. All I need is a friend I can trust my life with." She murmured the rest. "Trust my heart with."

As Discord listened to her words, he started to see the misery that was building up inside her. It pained him to think that he had been the cause.

He truly didn't understand how romance worked, at least not how it worked in this new era. If he was going to win her love, he had to learn the rules of this time period first.

"I…have to go."

She faced him in confusion. "What?"

He snapped his fingers, opening a swirling vortex. "I…have some errands to run. I'll be back in a bit."

She glanced at her surroundings. "Wait, you're gonna just…?"

"Just stay in this pavilion and the wandering beasts shouldn't bother you!" He paused. "Probably."

"Wait, Discord!"

But he had gone through the vortex before she could stop him. As the portal closed, Fluttershy gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"He is really making it hard for me to hold myself back!"

The librarian of the Maretropolis Library, a pale yellow unicorn with messy red hair and spectacles, was taken by surprise when a strange creature with a body made of several different animals suddenly appeared on her desk.

"Excuse me," Discord said, looking at the nameplate on the desk, "Miss Moondancer, but where do you keep your scrolls on romance?"

After blinking several times, Moondancer pushed her glasses back into place. "Um…we don't keep any scrolls here. We have books, DVDs, videotapes…"

"Interesting," the draconequus said, lifting the cover of one of the books on her desk. "You ponies really have come a long way, haven't you? What does DVD stand for?"

The librarian opened her mouth and then paused. "Um…it stands for, um…" She scratched her head. "Huh. You know I never really thought about…"

"Ahem. Romance?"

"Oh, yes. Are you looking for romantic fiction or relational advice?"

Discord tapped his chin. "A little bit of both, actually."

"Well, the romance section is in Aisle 7, and you can find relational advice over in Self-Help." Using her horn, she opened the drawers to the filing cabinet behind her. She spun her chair around to search through the cards. "I'm sure I could find you some recommendations if…"

"Oh, that won't be necessary! Bye!"

And then he was gone in a flash. Moondancer readjusted her glasses as she tried to sort out what had just happened.

A scream came from Aisle 7. The librarian was about to shush them when the pony shouted, "WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE ROMANCE NOVELS?!"

Mistress Mare-velous watched as the Masked Matter-Horn, back in wings and costume, focused her magic on one of the holding cells. In its center, sitting on a pedestal, was the metal box containing the Amulet of Chaos. Surrounding it was a circle of salt lined with lit black candles. It didn't look so bad until the magic from the Matter-Horn's horn turned from magenta to black.

The beam shot towards the salt circle, instantly causing it and the candles to glow purple. The Matter-Horn panted heavily as her horn diminished.

"There," she said, pressing some buttons on the control panel beside the cell. "The spell should create a secure barrier around the amulet, and even if anyone or anything teleports within the circle, it will cast them out." The cell's force-field activated. "The force-field's just an added precaution. Even if it hadn't stopped Discord before, it will still trigger alarms. There should also be one of us patrolling the tower at all times, in case all this isn't enough."

Mare-velous shook off her astonishment from watching the spell. "Okay, we really need to talk about all this freaky forbidden magic you're usin'."

"Later," the alicorn said as she trotted towards the elevator. "Come on. I asked the others to meet us in the main lounge in a few minutes."

Sighing, Mare-velous stepped into the elevator with her. "At least tell me somethin' to assure me that you're not some dark wizard in the makin' or that you're secretly plannin' to raise the dead or somethin' like that."

The Matter-Horn did not look at her, only stared blankly ahead as the doors closed. "Let's just say that I was once…young and…foolish." She hung her head. "And it ended up costing me a friend."

Seeing that this was a painful subject for her, Mare-velous decided to drop it for the moment.

The doors opened and sure enough, the rest of the Power Ponies, save for Saddle Rager, were gathered in the main lounge.

"The new spells should be enough to ward off Discord…" the Matter-Horn said as she and Mare-velous approached them.

Zapp huffed. "Why does that sound familiar?"

The alicorn cleared her throat. "Nevertheless, we should take shifts in guarding the tower. I suggest that each night some pony also sleeps here."

"Ooh!" Fili-Second cried. "Like a stakeout sleepover!"

"Did you find a spell that can get us to the Chaos Realm?" Radiance asked.

"Yes," the Matter-Horn said, levitating an old and tattered brown book from her saddlebag. "But a simple dimension-hopping spell won't be enough for us to get somewhere as remote as the Realm of Chaos."

"Did you just call a dimension-hopping spell simple?" Zapp asked.

Ignoring her, the Matter-Horn flipped open to a bookmarked page. "Opening the gateway to the Realm of Chaos requires a more…complicated ritual. There are actually two rituals we can perform, but considering how rare a jellyfish heart is, we'll have to use the other one. First, we'll need to draw a spiral on the floor out of blood…"

"Say what now?" Zapp said.

"Blood?!" Radiance exclaimed at the same time as Zapp.

"Wait'll ya hear the next bit," Mare-velous murmured.

"Not just any blood," the Matter-Horn said, tracing her hoof over the words on the page. "A mixture of blood from all four races of pony: earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, and alicorn."

"Well that's just great!" Fili-Second said. "Where are we supposed to find an earth pony, unicorn, pegasus and alicorn at this hour?!"

They all stared at her. After a few seconds, Fili-Second's mouth fell open.

"Ohhhhhhhh." She giggled. "Right."

"Thing is, I'm not sure if my blood's enough," the Matter-Horn said, ruffling her feathers. "I'm not an alicorn by birth, after all."

"We've gotta at least try," Zapp said. "And I suppose Radiance and I are gonna have to give our blood with Fluttershy out and you representing the alicorn."

"I'd be happy to give my blood for my friends!" Fili-Second piped.

"No need, Fili," Mare-velous said. "I've already offered to do it."

"There's more," the Matter-Horn said. "At the center of the spiral, we're supposed to place a chaotic object or creature, something that defies all logic."

"What do you suppose it means by that?" Fili-Second asked, taking a lick of an ice cream cone that suddenly appeared in her hoof. She noticed everyone's eyes were on her again. "What? There something on my face?"

"Looks like you'll be playing a role in the ritual after all, Fili. Now," the Matter-Horn said, taking a series of empty blood bags out of her saddlebag, "who wants to go first?"

It was evening, and Discord lay on a cloud high above the Maretropolis Park as he read through the mountain of books he'd "borrowed" from the library. For him though, "reading" was flipping through the pages of each book in a matter of seconds. As a god, he was able to commit everything he saw and heard to memory.

"Strange," he said. "I don't know why I didn't consider meddling in romantic affairs before. Romance is even more confusing than chaos." He huffed. "Thank you, Aphrodite and Eros."

Every love story was the same. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, there is some complication, the complication is resolved, then they live happily ever after. Of course, every now and then he found a refreshing change.

Sometimes, the main couple did not get together in the end. One story ended in the boy and girl killing themselves. Discord tossed those books aside, knowing they weren't going to be of any help.

Sometimes, it wasn't necessarily a boy and girl falling in love. Not that it really surprised Discord, for he'd known quite a few gods into that sort of thing. It just seemed to be a lot more common now than it was in his day.

Sometimes, the two romantic leads were not of the same species, which gave Discord some hope. There were some stories that reminded him of Eros and Psyche. All of them seemed to end in the beastly character becoming a pony by the end of the story.

"Is that what she wants?" Discord asked himself. "Some princely figure to save her from a miserable life of solitude?"

Then something caught his eye as he gazed down at the park below. Two mares were sitting side by side on a park bench. One was a pale yellow earth mare with a curly blue and pink mane. The other was a green unicorn with green and white hair and yellow eyes. The earth mare wore a dark uniform of some sort while the unicorn held a paper bag in her hooves. Being the ever curious god that he was, Discord made his ear grow larger so he could listen in on their conversation.

"Sorry I missed our big night out, Lyra," the earth mare said. "Miss Sparkle had quite a few errands to run this evening."

"That's okay, Bon-Bon," the unicorn, Lyra, said, using her magic to take something out of the bag. "I've got something better than a fancy spaghetti dinner!"

Bon-Bon gasped when what appeared to be knotted bread covered in cheese and some kind of red sauce was levitated into view. "Pizza pretzels!" She snatched the food. "You know what I love!"

"Yup," Lyra said, smirking as she took out her own pretzel. "Probably the only thing you love more than me."

"That's not true!" Bon-Bon said, biting into her pretzel. "Pizza pretzels are only my third-favorite thing."

"Oh?" The unicorn scooted closer to her. "And what's the first?"

Swallowing, Bon-Bon replied, "Chocolate bonbons, of course. Then there's you."

Lyra stiffened. "Hey!"

"You have to admit, honey," Bon-Bon said. "Bonbons are hard to beat. You oughta know." She booped her on the nose. "You married one."

Lyra stared at her and then burst out laughing. "See? We don't need to go anywhere fancy to have a good time."

"Yeah," Bon-Bon said, looking down guiltily. "I know my job can keep me…busy, sometimes. But…I'm glad that no matter how busy things can get, we always find time for each other."

"You bet," Lyra said, taking her hoof.

Discord watched in awe as the two mares rubbed each other's noses. It truly amazed him how…simple it all was. There was no candlelight, no flowers, no expensive gifts. The unicorn, who had the magic, wasn't doing anything magical to impress her partner. They were just sitting there, enjoying nothing more than a simple meal and each other's company.

And they seemed happy.

He clutched his chest, wishing he and Fluttershy could have what they had.

A candle appeared above his head and Discord cried out, "That's it!"

His sudden outburst caused Lyra and Bon-Bon to look up, but there was nothing for them to see.

"Did you hear something?" Bon-Bon asked.

Lyra shrugged. "Big park. Some pony must've gotten excited over something."

Fluttershy was scratching the Orthros' belly, smiling at how the animal was enjoying it. However, there was sadness and confusion behind that smile.

"What am I to do?" she asked the Orthros. "He won't listen to me. Now that he isn't frozen in stone, he won't listen to me." She sighed. "Maybe I should marry him. No, really. I mean…he cares for me. That much I know. Perhaps, in time, I could feel the same way.

"And if I marry him, he might take my curse away. I wouldn't have to worry about hurting any pony anymore. I wouldn't be a mon—"

She stopped, staring at the two-headed dog. It reminded her of the incident this morning, and what had caused for Discord to be released in the first place.

"But…I'm not a monster," she murmured, laying her head on the Orthros' stomach. "Not any more than you or Discord is. When I'm Saddle Rager, I help ponies, not hurt them. They need Saddle Rager." She closed her eyes. "My friends need Saddle Rager."

Her head rose up in determination. "I need to find a way out of here."

Glancing around the pavilion, she searched for an exit. Despite what Discord had told her, she had to believe there was another way out. There was nothing around the pavilion to suggest it though.

"Come on," Fluttershy said, standing up. "You can protect me in case any…less friendly beasts show up."

Walking to the edge of the pavilion, she found that there was nothing beyond it but the swirling purple void. Taking a deep breath, she flapped her wings and took off. The Orthros whimpered behind her.

"Sorry," she said, turning back to it. "Looks like I'm going to have to go at this alone."

Shaking with fear, Fluttershy flew into the void and searched all around. Random objects and creatures floated by, ones she could not describe. If she never found a way out of here, was this to be her home for the rest of eternity?

It's the place, isn't it? Discord's voice echoed throughout her head. I can change it so it's more to your liking.

She shook her head. "No, Fluttershy. You can't get distracted."

Her heart leapt with joy as she came across a door. Was this the way out?

Then she paused upon seeing the door's design. It was yellow, the same shade as her coat. Painted near the top were three pink butterflies. Her cutie mark.

Curious, Fluttershy slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. What she saw made her gasp.

It was a bedroom. The walls were painted green, covered in vines of gorgeous pink and blue flowers. The large canopied bed in the center was adorned with pink petals scattered across the green bedding. A string of butterflies fluttered past Fluttershy's muzzle.

Stepping inside, Fluttershy glanced around in awe. It was like walking into a fairytale garden, only for sleeping in. It was certainly unusual, but it did not match the chaotic nature of the rest of the realm. It was peaceful and serene.

She came across a vanity made of what appeared to be oak. The mirror was made of crystal, framed with pink and blue flowers. Fluttershy ran her hoof across the wooden surface, making contact with a brush made of green crystal. Picking it up, Fluttershy noticed an engraving in the crystal. The letters looked Gracian, so she could not read it.

"It says, 'for my dearest love, Fluttershy.'"

She spun around upon hearing Discord's voice. He stood in front of her, looking down at her with solemn eyes.

"I warned you not to wander," he murmured.

"W-What," she stammered, glancing around, "what is all this?"

He held his paw out to his side. "Yours."

She blinked. "But…you said that bed I woke up in…that would be…"

"Yes. But I also figured that even if you accepted my proposal, you would not yet be comfortable with sharing a bed, so I made this room while you were out. It was meant to be an engagement gift."

Holding the brush to her chest, she said, "Y-You…made all of this…for me?"

He nodded. "I…knew you would desire something less…chaotic, so… I incorporated everything I knew about you into this room." He looked away in embarrassment. "This…this is how I feel…whenever you are with me." He held out his finger to allow a butterfly to land on it. "Peaceful, natural, even…a bit harmonious."

He watched as the butterfly flew away. "My only wish is that one day, you could…feel the same way."

As Fluttershy stared at him, she felt her heart beat heavily against the hairbrush. He faced her again, taking one hoof in his paw.

"I mean it, you know?" he said softly. "I would do anything for you."

"Even," Fluttershy murmured, "stop thinking about taking over the mortal world?"

Discord's mouth closed, which caused her to hang her head.

"See? You hesitate."

"Do…you think, though?" he said hopefully. "That one day, you could love me?"

She raised her head. "M-Maybe…one day." She locked gaze with him. "But not today."

He sighed, lifting his claw. "I waited a lifetime for you." Fluttershy closed her eyes as his talons entangled in her hair. "I can wait a little longer."

She opened her eyes. "So…what now?"

His claw stopped moving. "I…recently read a story where…a hideous creature takes a beautiful mare prisoner. As time passes, he dares to fall in love with the sweet thing." Straightening up, he backed away from her. "But he knows he cannot keep her, for every day she becomes more and more miserable. So," he said, hanging his head, "he has to do something…very hard."

Fluttershy stared up at him. "What?"

"Just to be clear," Fili-Second said, "this isn't gonna be a live sacrifice thing, is it?"

Fili-Second stood at the center of a newly-made blood spiral on the floor of the main lounge. Zapp, Mare-velous, Radiance and the Matter-Horn each had a bandage around one front knee.

"This is just to open the portal, Fili," the Matter-Horn said, setting a damp brush inside a bowl containing the mixture of their blood.

"Besides," Zapp said, "despite Discord's lack of mercy, none of the ancient texts say anything about him being interested in live sacrifices."

"If he does try to take ya," Mare-velous said, levitating her rope into view, "we'll stop him."

"Oh, okay," Fili-Second said, her legs shaking. "I guess?"

"Now what do we do?" Radiance asked, massaging her sore leg.

"We join hooves around the spiral," the Matter-Horn said, placing herself at the edge of the bloody pattern, "and I will say the spell."

She sat down and held out her front hooves. Mare-velous took one and Zapp took the other. Radiance took Zapp's hoof while Humdrum took Mare-velous'. They all sat down and closed their eyes.

"This better work," Mare-velous whispered to the alicorn.

"It will," the Matter-Horn said, taking a deep breath. "Almighty Discord, Spirit of…"

Suddenly, there was a crash of lightning and a yelp from Fili-Second. Everyone opened their eyes to see a swirling vortex open right behind Fili-Second.

"Wow, that was fast!" she said, zipping over to her friends.

"But this can't be," the Matter-Horn said in confusion. "I hadn't even started…"

They were all silent as Fluttershy stepped out of the vortex. Once she was out, it closed in around her.

"FLUTTERSHY!" they all cried, rushing to embrace their friend.

"You're okay!" Fili-Second exclaimed.

"We were so worried!" Mare-velous said.

"We thought that monster might have defiled you!" Radiance said, looking Fluttershy over. "But oh my! Where did you get that gorgeous gown?"

"But how?" the Matter-Horn said, pulling away. "I mean it couldn't have been the spell. We'd barely begun it!"

"What happened in there?" Zapp asked.

"He…" Fluttershy said in a tiny voice. "He asked me to marry him."

They all gasped.

"I knew it!" Zapp said. "Daring Do told us about the prophecy."

"Then what happened?" Mare-velous asked.

Fluttershy hung her head. "I said no."

Radiance huffed. "I knew you wouldn't give into that monster so easily."

"Then what happened?" Humdrum asked.

"Did you beat him up?" Fili-Second asked, looking a little too excited.

Fluttershy shook her head. "He let me go."

All were silent.

"It's true," Fluttershy said. "Once I explained that I didn't share his feelings, he opened the portal and let me go."

"Just…like that?" Mare-velous asked.

Nodding, Fluttershy started walking away from them. "Just like that."

They watched her go, unsure of what to say or think.

"Hang on!" Zapp shouted, holding up her bandaged leg. "You mean to tell me that we just gave our blood for nothing?!"

It was Saturday afternoon and Fluttershy still hadn't come out of her room. Worried, Applejack went in to check on her. Fluttershy sat at her window, petting Angel on her lap as she stared wistfully out. Sighing, Applejack slowly approached her.

"Sugar," she said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell ya what I knew about…you and Discord."

"I'm not mad at you, Applejack," Fluttershy said with a shake of her head. "You were just trying to protect me."

Applejack hung her head. "Hell of a lotta good that did." She looked at her roommate. "Look, I know what happened may have been…overwhelmin', but it's been almost a week now. Ya haven't been to work, ya haven't joined us on any of our missions, and ya haven't gone outside."

Fluttershy looked down at the bunny on her lap. "He…he loves me, Applejack." She closed her eyes. "He looked so…sad when he let me go. I know. I saw his eyes. There was no pretending. I…I know he's supposed to be evil, kidnapping me was wrong and he still wants to take over the world, but…I can't help but think that…somewhere deep down, he…"

She trailed off, unsure of how to finish her thought. Applejack laid a hoof on her shoulder.

"Do you love him?"

Fluttershy stopped her petting. "I…care for him, at the very least."

Applejack nodded in understanding. "Ya have the biggest heart I know, Fluttershy. That's…why I waited so long to tell ya. I…was worried ya'd let him out as soon as ya knew ya could."

"It didn't matter if I knew or not. It happened." She opened her eyes. "All because…for once in my life…I accepted myself for who I was."

Wrapping a hoof around her friend's neck, Applejack said, "Ya know, he could've taken away yerr…gift, if ya'd asked him. Why didn't ya?"

Fluttershy gazed out at the cityscape. "For years, I wanted nothing more than to be normal again, to have what was done to me be undone. But…after all I'd been able to do as Saddle Rager, when I…finally had the opportunity to get what I wanted, I realized that…" She turned to Applejack. "I didn't want it anymore."

Grinning, the earth mare hugged her tighter. "Ya can't spend all yerr time in here mopin' about it though. Ya should at least get some air to clear yerr head."

Sighing, Fluttershy said. "You're right." She stood up. "I'll go take Wynona for a walk."

But she soon discovered that not even the fresh air, the flora of the park, or the cheerful panting of the dog whose leash she held could cheer her up. All of it reminded her of the Realm of Chaos, and all the gifts Discord had given her.

I need to stop thinking about him, she told herself. Though it is strange how no one seems to have heard from him over the past few days. I really thought he'd at least be causing mischief. I hope he's not too heartbroken about…

She shook her head. No. It wouldn't have worked out. You were right to say no to him. It's your life, and he should respect that. Besides, it's not as if you were truly in l—

Her thoughts were interrupted when she collided into some pony, causing her to fall and let go of the leash.

"Eep!" she cried, hearing rapid barking. "Wynona!"

Just then, the end of the leash, encased in blue magic, floated in front of her. Looking up, Fluttershy's eyes met a pair of bright red ones. The eyes belonged to a unicorn stallion with a smooth gray coat and a short, but neat, jet black mane. His horn was lit up with the same blue magic that had the leash. Upon squinting, Fluttershy realized the horn was unusually blue too.

"Fear not, milady," the stallion said in a deep, rich voice. "Your hound has been apprehended."

Giving her a warm smile, he held out his hoof. Blushing, Fluttershy took it and allowed him to lift her up.

"She's…not my hound, err, dog," Fluttershy stammered, taking the leash. "She's my roommate's."

"Terribly sorry for colliding into you, Miss," the stallion said sincerely, "but I was so taken in by the wondrous sights, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"No, no, no, the fault was mine," Fluttershy said with a small giggle. "Though I can understand. The park is very beautiful."

He locked gaze with her. "I wasn't referring to the park."

Fluttershy's cheeks flushed pinker as she gazed into those bright red eyes. Something about them felt familiar.

"H-Have…have we met?"

He gently took her hoof. "I think I would remember meeting such a lovely specimen of pony-kind."

He took her by surprise again as he pressed his lips lightly to her hoof. Fluttershy reluctantly glanced at his flank, seeing a cutie mark of a cyclone.

"Perhaps," he said smoothly, lowering her hoof, "I could make up for this incident…over dinner?"

Unable to hide her blush anymore, Fluttershy looked away shyly. "I…don't even know your name."

"My friends call me…Delancey," he said, frowning slightly. "Of course, they would if I had any friends."

"Oh," Fluttershy said, saddened by this confession. "W-Well, D-Delancey," she said, shaking his hoof, "you've made at least…one friend today."

He grinned. "I'm glad to hear that, Miss…"

"F-Fluttershy," she said, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.

"Fluttershy," he said with a sigh. "Such a pretty name." He kissed her hoof again, making her heart skip a beat. "I think we'll get along just swimmingly."

"Twilight?" Spike called, opening the door to his guardian's study.

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked, looking up from her desk. "Trouble?"

"No. At least," he said as he closed the door behind him, "it could be trouble."

She leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

Gulping, Spike held his tablet out to her. "You should have a look at this."

Twilight took the tablet with her magic. The screen showed a news story from the Canterlot Times. The headline alone made her eyes widen: Dark Magic-User Granted Early Parole for Good Behavior.

She skimmed through the article, her eyes lingering for several moments on a black-and-white mugshot.

"Should…we be worried?" Spike asked.

"For now?" Twilight said, setting down the tablet. "No."

"But," he said, biting his claw tips nervously, "if she's back, won't she come after you?"

She shook her head as she stood up. "The article says she was let out on good behavior." She made her way over to the bookshelf. "Hopefully, she's put everything behind her."

"And…if not?"

Her hoof ran along the spine of the book Don't Cry After Sunset. "Then I'll be ready for her."