"Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing!" Discord declared, taking a sip of freshly rained chocolate milk with a sense of smug satisfaction. Yes, everything was going exactly as planned. Those troublesome ponies were no doubt at each other's throats, unable to even stand the sight of one another, more or less band together enough to use their precious Elements of Harmony. Equestria was his at last, to rule however he saw fit, and there was no one left to stop him.
At least, until the illusion of victory shattered like glass moments later.
"Not as wonderful as friendship!" A voice declared, snapping the draconequus from his thoughts. He glanced towards the sound, eyes narrowing at the sight that greeted him. They were back; of COURSE they were back. He should have known things wouldn't be that simple.
"Ugh, THIS again?" Discord groaned, downing the rest of his beverage before tossing the emptied glass over his shoulder, a plume of smoke erupting as the object hit the ground and promptly exploded.
"That's right! You couldn't break apart our friendship for long!" The orange mare, Applejack, declared, head held high.
Discord nearly rolled his eyes, stretching a clawed finger outwards. His magic activated, grabbing Applejack by the necklace clasped around her throat and dragging her closer. "Oh Applejack, don't lie to me. I'M the one that made you a liar!" He chided. His magic spread, latching onto the other ponies' necklaces and pulling them in as well. "Will you ever learn?"
The purple mare, Celestia's little protegee, glared at him as a burst of white magic emitted from her horn. In the blink of an eye, she vanished, only to reappear next to her floating companions. Another flash from her horn, and the group was enveloped in a pink bubble of pure magical energy.
The draconequus' expression soured as he felt his own magic being cut off, his yellow eyes watching as the unicorn carefully floated her friends back down to safety. He could not allow himself to show weakness, though, forcing an amused expression back onto his face as the unicorn (Twilight, if he remembered correctly) began to speak again.
"I'll tell you what we've learned, Discord! We've learned that friendship isn't always easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!"
Discord scoffed, materializing in front of the group with a look of displeasure. "Ugh, GAG! Fine, go ahead, try to use your little Elements, frenemies! Just make it quick!" He retorted, teleporting back to his throne. "I'm missing some EXCELLENT chaos here."
Twilight grinned. "Alright ladies, lets show him what friendship can do!" The mares' eyes narrowed with determination, their stances shifting as they prepared to attack.
"Wait wait wait!" The pink pony, Pinkie Pie, yelled out, rushing over to enjoy one last gulp of chocolate milk rain from a nearby cloud. She licked her lips with a murmur of satisfaction, but when her gaze met the annoyed looks of her peers, she bounded back over with a battle-ready scowl.
A white glow began to surround the ponies, light pulsing from their Elements in bright flashes of color. Purple, pink, orange, blue, yellow, red. Projections of the Elements' stones began shooting through the air, whizzing past Discord's head, making the draconequus lean forward in confusion.
"What's this?" As Twilight's eyes opened, revealing glowing white pools of magic, Discord felt his heart sink. "No…" A burst of rainbow magic erupted from the mares, shooting into the air in an arch before racing downwards towards the draconequus. Discord's eyes widened, a tremor of fear shooting through him. "Noooo!"
The ponies were blinded by the overbearing colors and flashes, their eyes closing as Discord's horrified scream echoed through the air before falling silent. After a moment, the light began to dissipate, the magic receding back into the Elements as their bearers were gently lowered back to the ground. One by one, they opened their eyes, the landscape of overwhelming chaos that had previous surrounded them magically transformed back into its calm, peaceful original state. Their plan had worked; Discord was defeated, Equestria was back to normal.
But all wasn't right, as Pinkie Pie was quick to notice.
"Hey, where's Discord?" The pink earth pony asked, looking around in a state of confusion.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, we just turned him to stone! He's right-" The blue pegasus paused, eyes widening as it dawned on her as well. "Wait, where is here? He should be RIGHT HERE, shouldn't he?"
"He's gone!" Applejack gasped, a pang of fear running through her.
"But…I don't understand. That spell should have turned him into stone. Equestria is back to normal, we had to have done SOMETHING!" Twilight said, beginning to pace back and forth.
Fluttershy let out a gasp. "We didn't KILL him, did we?" The yellow pegasus squeaked out, mortified by the mere thought.
"I don't think so, he'd still be here." Rarity replied, placing a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder.
"Unless we vaporized him! Or turned him into grass!" Pinkie Pie shrieked, hoping from hoof to hoof as she looked down at the ground in panic.
Rarity yelped, rearing up on her hind legs. "You mean we could be STANDING on him?!" The unicorn squealed.
"Guys, we didn't kill him!" Applejack reassured him, though her eyes did glance nervously over to Twilight. "Right?"
"We shouldn't have." Twilight replied after a moment. "The Elements of Harmony cannot destroy. They may work in mysterious ways, but that fact is for certain. Whatever they did to Discord, they at least returned everything to normal."
"So, what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked.
"We must inform Princess Celestia about this…"
…
A few hours later, after ensuring that everything truly WAS well in Ponyville, the ponies recounted their story to Princess Celestia, who listened quietly and intently. Once they had finished, she asked to speak to Twilight in private, her guards escorting the rest of the group to the dining hall for some well-earned snacks.
As the doors shut behind them, Twilight turned to Celestia with a concerned expression. "We DIDN'T kill him, did we?" She asked slowly.
Celestia shook her head. "That sort of deed is not within the Elements' power."
"Then what exactly DID they do? I mean, they banished Princess Luna to the moon, then changed her back to normal later. They turned Discord into stone before, but didn't this time. What does it all mean?"
"The Elements' job is to restore balance to Equestria. From what I have seen, the Elements turn one into what they truly are inside. When my sister was banished, she had nothing but darkness in her heart, thus they imprisoned her within the moon. The second time, they saw an inkling of good within her, and simply brought that goodness back to the surface. As for Discord…" Celestia trailed off for a moment. "Discord has a heart that is as cold as stone."
"Does he even have a heart?" Twilight asked.
"Every creature has a heart, even if they will not show it to others." Celestia replied.
"So…what did the Elements do this time?"
"Nothing."
There was a pause, the purple unicorn's eyes widened. "Nothing?" Twilight asked in shock.
Celestia nodded in confirmation. "Yes, nothing. Discord escaped before the spell could hit him."
"But…Ponyville is normal again! I restored everyone's memories! The spell should have worked!"
"When Discord saw that he could not break your friendship, and that his re-imprisonment was eminent, he chose to flee rather than face the consequences of his actions." Celestia explained. "He knew he could not defeat you, and so, he ran like the coward he is."
"How do you know? Are you sure we didn't…vaporize him?" Twilight asked slowly.
"I know Discord. He is smart enough to know when to retreat."
'So you're saying he's still out there? We have to find him! Equestria is not safe as long as he's free!"
"No Twilight, there is no point in trying to seek him out. You will not find him if he does not wish to be found, and Discord knows better than to attempt another takeover of Equestria, at least until he finds a better way to combat your Elements. We are safe…for now."
"But Princess Celestia-" Twilight started, only to be silenced as Celestia silently raised a hoof.
"Twilight, we do not know where Discord is, and it would be far too dangerous to blindly seek him out. The only thing we can do is wait for him to come out of hiding. When he does, you and your friends will need to be ready. Do you understand?"
Twilight opened her mouth, as if to protest, but then shut it. Slowly, she nodded.
"Good. Now, before you leave today, I will cast a spell to protect the Elements, so that Discord may not take them again. After that, they will be left in the care of you and your friends. When Discord returns again, we MUST be prepared."
Twilight nodded once more. "Yes, Princess Celestia."
…
And so, the six ponies returned to Ponyville and waited. Each wore their Element at all times, ready for the draconequus to make his grand return at a moment's notice. They told no one that the draconequus had escaped, not wishing to cause a panic, and went about their daily business as normally as possible. Tensions were high, and they all slept with one eye open, convinced that Discord would strike the moment they showed any weakness.
Soon, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into a year. Still, there was no sign of Discord. It was as if the spirit had vanished from the face of Equestria, leaving only bad memories and stained glass windows to remember him by. Little by little, Twilight and her friends began to relax, though they never fully let their guards down. Twilight studies divination in an attempt to see into the future, to ensure he would not return, ot at the very least locate the draconequus, to no success. She was powerful, but even Luna and Celestia could not perform such a feat.
And then, Twilight ascended to princesshood, earning a pair of wings and the title of Princess of Friendship, and things got even more complicated. While she still resided in Ponyville, she spent large amounts of time away tending to her royal duties, and slowly her divination lessons and attempts to track down Discord fell by the wayside. After all, she now had more important duties than chasing a ghost.
As Twilight's fame grew, so did that of her friends. Rarity's designs grew rapidly in popularity, and the unicorn soon became a household name among Canterlot's most rich and fashionable. Her business grew so quickly, she had to enlist Sweetie Belle and her friends for assistance, the little fillies helping her pack and deliver orders to the post office.
Rainbow Dash was offered a position with the Wonderbolts, who at first just wanted the increased media attention that came with hiring one of Equestria's saviors, but eventually grew to recognize Dash's talent for what it was.
Pinkie Pie expanded her party business beyond Sugarcube Corner, beginning to take up weekend gigs in various small towns across Equestria, though she always made a point to reserve her best tricks for her friends.
Applejack continued working at Sweet Apple Acres with her family, making deliveries to Canterlot once a month as the demand for their organic delicacies spread beyond just Ponyville. When she wasn't busy with school or her friends, Applebloom would help her big sister bake the apples into various delicious treats to sell at the farmer's market on weekends; apple pies, apple cider, apple tarts, the works.
Each one had a new, glamorous lifestyle and duties to attend to, and little by little, they all began to forget about Discord. Well, all but one.
Of the six mares, Fluttershy's life had changed the least. While her role in saving Equestria had made her more popular among the townsfolk, she still kept to herself whenever possible, spending her days tending to her animals and garden. As time passed, stallions and mares alike had started to take more interest in the pegasus, swinging by her cottage with bundles of flowers and requests for dates. She turned them all down, as kindly as possible, of course. She just…wasn't ready for a relationship, though the attention did feel rather nice.
On quiet nights, Fluttershy sometimes found herself thinking about the draconequus. While some part of her was still fearful of him (he HAD tried to take over her home), she mainly felt a sense of pity towards him. He didn't seem to have any friends, and Fluttershy was sure the spirit of chaos had been quite lonely, even if he would never have admitted it. Was there something she could have done to help him? Could she have been kinder towards him? Would that have made any difference at all?
These musings would always end in the pegasus shaking her head and attempting to go to sleep; surely there was nothing she could have done. He was a monster, plain and simple…right? Besides, it had been so long, Fluttershy doubted she would ever see him again. After all, what were the odds he would turn up again NOW, of all times?
What were the odds indeed…