Discord mentally sighed to himself. What did that bring him up to? He had no clue; he had lost count a long time ago, and with his chaos being held back, he had only his natural senses to rely on, and, being a statue, most of them didn't do him a lot of good. Sight was mostly blocked out by the stone covering his eyes, smell only really worked when the grass was tended to (or maybe that smell was some bum pony that unceremoniously collapsed in front of his statue, he didn't know), and taste and touch did him no good. So that only left his hearing, and he was often hearing something due to the royal guards doing their routine patrols. He could only tell it was daytime on the rare occasion that there was more noise than usual.

He sighed to himself once again. It looked he was going to have another boring day in the Canterlot gardens. He wished something would happen today, just like he did every other day ever since Twilight Sparkle and her friends turned him back to stone. He heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching from his right. Judging from the sound alone, it was one of the royal guards on his patrol route. The sound got louder for a few seconds before it began to get quieter. "As usual, Celestia's personal guard dogs don't stop for anything," he thought to himself. After the hoofsteps left his hearing completely, he heard another sound. It was the sound of…

"Wait, what IS that sound? Never heard it before, and I know a lot of sounds, especially the ones I created. Wait, what's this… It feels like… Am I moving?" Discord wondered to himself. Had the draconequus been able to see, he would see he was almost right. He WAS moving… but instead of moving across the ground, his statue was sinking into what appeared to be a purple vortex floating just above the grass. The draconequus kept sinking into the ground until he vanished completely, at which point the vortex that had taken him vanished.

Had anypony been around at the time, they'd be wondering what just happened. As such, there was no one around to care, but one thing was for certain: Discord was going to get his wish today.

---

Dr. Eggman grinned to himself, pressing his fingers together as he watched Discord's statue emerge from the portal he had opened, the statue landing on its base right in front of the Time Eater. "Excellent! Phase one of my brilliant plan is now complete!" he said, more to himself than Orbot and Cubot, the two robots floating next to him. He turned around and walked over to an ancient (by his standards) computer console up against a stone wall and starting to type on it while saying, "Now to complete the second phase and get to the real plan!"

As he continued typing, Orbot and Cubot bounced up behind him, the former saying, "Boss, forgive me if I'm interrupting your preparations, but why did you decide to use the Time Eater to pull equipment from your old Scrap Brain Zone base to this world and set them down in this dreadful place?" He held out his arms as he spoke, indicating the large stone chamber that many more computers and electronics now covered. Even with all the mechanisms now littering the chamber, one might recognize it as the chamber in the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters where Princess Luna was freed from Nightmare Moon by the Elements of Harmony.

Eggman stopped typing for a moment to look down at the red-headed robot as he replied, "That's very simple! Despite how old it is now, it's quite easy to reconfigure this old technology to serve new purposes! Not to mention the amount of power it requires is good for the Time Eater!" He thrust his left hand out at the shadowed beast as he continued, "Until I can get a proper generator to run all this with, hopefully courtesy of my new partner, I can run all the systems off of its power, which has the added benefit of helping keep it under control! You know how much of a fuss it put up just trying to get it to bring all this here."

Orbot winced as he recalled what it took to keep the Time Eater from trashing the entire castle. An idea then occurred to him and he asked, with a slightly knowing tone, "Are there any other reasons?"

Eggman hesitated for a moment before groaning, "Oh, all right, fine! That was also the only base I could reach from here that was fully completed that that perky little pest Sonic didn't utterly destroy in some way!"

Cubot perked up at that, saying in his normal, hyper voice, "Oh yeah, that's right! Scrap Brain Zone was only shut down to stop the pollution, just like how he shut down the Oil Ocean refinery to stop the oil getting in the water! Metropolis was shut down too, but that wasn't really a base, or was it? I don't know! Everything else was destroyed or unfinished, though! The Death Egg and Death Egg II were destroyed, the Death Egg Mk. II was unfinished, Final Egg was destroyed thanks to the Egg Viper, Eggmanland's been out of commission since Dark Gaia was defeated, your amusement park's gone, and the Egg Fleet's down too! But there was that one base you used when the Black Arms came, the one near that other old castle! Why didn't you use that one?! Oh wait, there was that machine…"

Eggman growled and said, "Yes, thank you for the little history lesson, blabbermouth! Now go tell it to the wall, why don't you!" With that, he delivered a swift kick to Cubot's back side, sending the robot flying and crashing near the other end of the chamber. Despite how hard the kick and landing were, it didn't stop the yellow-headed robot's incessant talking.

Orbot winced at this action and asked, "Boss, don't you think that was a bit much?"

As he turned back to his computer, Eggman replied, "Be thankful I didn't do it to YOU. I would've made it extra hard to make up for that one you deliberately dodged." He started typing again, Orbot wisely deciding not to press the issue. After about a minute, Eggman announced, "There, all set!" He turned his head to look down at a red button that was all by itself, surrounded by a square colored the warning black and yellow stripes. "As soon as I press this button, Celestia and Luna's days in the current Equestria are numbered! Soon, there will be a new Equestria with two new rulers!" he grinned.

"And who might they be, Boss?" Orbot questioned.

Eggman chuckled and said, "Myself and Discord!" Orbot's eyes opened wide in shock while Eggman raised his left hand, his index finger pointing down at the red button. With no hesitation, he brought his finger down and pressed the button. He then turned around, looking over at Discord's statue expectantly.

As he (and Orbot after a few moments) watched, the Time Eater brought its newly attached arms down, the palms of its open hands pointing towards Discord. After a few seconds, a dark purple aura surrounded the draconequus' statue. At the same time, a counter appeared on Eggman's computer and started counting up, Eggman glancing back at it briefly before returning his attention to Discord's statue. The only thing that mattered right now was confirming that his theory was correct.

Although Orbot quickly grew bored and floated on his side and Cubot continued yammering when he floated back over, Eggman never took his eyes off of the statue, his fingers pressed together and his familiar toothy smile on his face. It would be any second now… Then they all heard it: a cracking sound. For such a small sound, it seemed to echo throughout the empty chamber. Orbot and Cubot turned to look at the draconequus while Eggman grinned excitedly; a crack was beginning to form in the stone covering one of Discord's legs. After a moment, Eggman snapped his fingers and the aura surrounding Discord dissipated.

As they watched, more cracks began to follow and the statue started shaking side to side. The stone surrounding his arms soon shattered completely, followed by the stone around his wings. It wasn't long before Discord burst out of the stone and let out a mighty roar followed by an equally loud cracking noise. "Ugh…! Sweet merciful chaos, standing like that for so long can give you SUCH a crick in the neck!" he groaned while placing his eagle talon on the back of his long neck, just underneath his head.

Eggman spoke, catching the draconequus' attention, "Yes, I would think that would be the case. Good thing you didn't have to spend a thousand years stuck in that position."

Discord began to turn his head to look at the doctor, thinking, "I know that voice. It's one of the ones I've been hearing. Now that I can move, let's see who has the nerve to call me their 'partner'." When his eyes fell on Dr. Eggman, the scientist's arms crossed over his chest, and his robot lackeys floating next to him, he had to fight very hard to avoid bursting out into laughter right then and there. Instead, he floated up and over to Eggman, hovering over him as he craned his neck down and smirked, "Hmm, what have we here? It seems to be a shaved monkey wearing FAR too many clothes!"

Orbot snickered at that while Eggman's calm expression changed to one of indignation. He managed to suppress it quickly, however, and regained his calm demeanor as he replied, "Almost correct, my dear Discord. I am actually a human, and humans evolved from apes. I'd tell you more, but I figure that's not the kind of milk you enjoy."

Discord landed on the ground, his lion paw and eagle talon on his hips as he said, "And you would be correct. I prefer my own." As he held up his lion paw, the palm pointing straight up, and turned his head to look up at it, he noticed the sky through one of the windows in the back of the chamber and decided it needed some variety. Looking back at Eggman, he decided to get his jollies settled before getting back to business. "So, you got a name, monkey boy? And care to explain what those little comments about us working together were all about?"

Eggman chuckled, "Ah yes, I have gotten ahead of myself, haven't I? I am Dr. Eggman, and as for what I was saying…" He put on a more serious demeanor as he went on, "Considering your short attention span, I'll be blunt. Simply put, I have a proposal for you, Discord." The draconequus raised an eyebrow at that; now they were getting somewhere. Eggman continued, "I went to all the trouble of sneaking you out of Canterlot and freeing you to propose an alliance. I released you because I believe we can both benefit if we work together, especially you. I need your help and you clearly need someone to help keep you in line."

Discord laughed loudly at that, getting close to hysterics while Eggman continued gazing up at him, his expression not changing in the slightest. Discord eventually calmed down enough to speak and, while wiping his eye with his eagle talon finger, said, "Oh that is RICH! Me, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, being asked for a help by a monkey and then being told I need to be orderly!" Wiping the last of his tears away, Discord grinned down at Eggman, "Sorry, Egg Belly, but I fail to see how either of us could benefit from your 'proposal'. You may have set me free, but if that's all you have to offer, I'm better off alone." He turned and started swaggering his way towards the raised floor at the other end of the chamber, where the large windows were, and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got quite a few things to paint and a list of ponies that need to be put in their place."

Despite the apparent rejection, the look on Eggman's face still did not change and, as Discord strutted away with his head held high, he placed his hands behind his back, using his left hand to discreetly press a button on his computer. Discord raised his lion paw up in front of him as he continued his confident walk, but before he could snap his way out of the old castle, something closed around his upper chest area, causing him to stop and essentially pinning his arms to his body and making him unable to snap either set of fingers.

The draconequus looked down to see a shadowy hand closed around him, holding him in place. Eggman spoke up as he walked towards Discord, "I'm afraid I wasn't giving you a choice, Discord. I know plenty about you, including what you did the last time you were free, and I'm not about to have you ruining anything for either of us. So you're going to either agree to help me or I'm going to turn you back into stone. It's that simple."

Discord turned his head to look back at him, "Back into stone? Are you telling me you know the Bearers of those wretched Elements of Harmony?!"

Eggman stopped next to Discord, his familiar grin back on his face as he answered, "Not personally. I only learned who they are as part of my research. No, to turn you back into stone, I simply have to tell HIM to reverse the process." He nodded his head at something to Discord's side as he spoke, prompting the draconequus to turn his head to the right to see for himself what this 'human' was talking about.

Discord's eyes widened as he beheld the creature that was holding him. He couldn't see much of it, but between the creepy face looking down at him and the fact that he simply had never seen anything like it before, he was… unnerved. For once, he was silent for a time. Then he shook his head and exclaimed, "What in the name of chaos is THAT?!"

Eggman grinned, "Breathtaking isn't it? That would be my latest discovery. I call it the Time Eater!"

Discord turned his head to look at the doctor and asked, "The Time Eater? Why would you call it THAT?"

Eggman replied, "That's very simple! When I analyzed it, I discovered that it has the ability to not only move through time, but also to erase and manipulate it! And you should be thankful for that last one, because that's how I freed you!" Discord raised an eyebrow at that, now curious. Eggman explained, "To put it simply, Discord, I had the Time Eater manipulate the flow of time around you. You mentioned the Elements of Harmony before; the seal they placed on you might've been strong, but I figured it couldn't last forever, even if the Bearers remained strong and connected forever. So instead of trying to sever the connections to the Elements, I changed time so that what was normally seconds became months for you! You probably couldn't tell the difference, but I digress. At any rate, the accelerated flow of time wore down the seal binding you until it was weak enough for you to break free, at which point it returned to normal. Imagine having to actually wait that long for the seal to weaken; you're free a whole lot sooner!"

Discord replied, "Oh really?" Suddenly, his body turned as thin as paper and he slithered out of the Time Eater's grasp onto the stone floor, stopping in front of Eggman. He then inflated himself (the sound of a helium pump accompanying this) so he was standing in front of the human and asked, "How long would that have been, exactly?"

Eggman looked back over his shoulder at his computer, raising an eyebrow as he noticed for the first time just how much time it had taken for the seal to weaken. He mentally noted the numbers and digits before turning back to Discord and replying, "You probably don't want to know."

Before Discord could inquire further, Cubot floated up between him and Eggman and started babbling, "Yeah, you probably shouldn't ask! That's a lot of numbers over there! I can count, but I certainly can't count THAT high! I mean, I know the numbers, but I don't know how to say that or if it's a big number, but I know there are a lot of numbers on that screen! That means something, doesn't it? I guess it does. Why else would you put a lot of numbers together? Also, you smell like mustard! Do you always smell like that or…?"

Before he could finish, and before Eggman could hit him himself, Discord bent down and grabbed Cubot's base with his hands, leaning his head down as he brought the yellow-headed robot up to his face. "Listen, lunch pail, I don't know who or what you are, but you'd better shut it before I cram an apple in you! One of MY apples!" he growled. As he was speaking, a cotton candy cloud floated over to Discord's side and, as he finished, lightning shot out of it at Cubot, sending the robot flying out of the draconequus' hands.

Orbot looked on worriedly as Cubot hit the ground with smoke rising from him, but the robot soon jerked up, his head rotating once before stopping. He then floated up and turned around to look at Discord, saying in a fine, gentlemanly voice, "I say, that was quite rude!"

Orbot facepalmed and said, "Oh dear. And after all the work it took to get his voice back last time…" He then floated over towards Cubot to see if he could help him.

Discord turned to look at Dr. Eggman and asked, "Is he always like that?"

Eggman replied, "He's an idiot; don't pay attention to anything he says. If it weren't for the fact that even his normal voice is annoying, I would be able to." He then grunted, "If I'd had the right tools from my dimension and didn't need to know what he was saying, I would've removed his voice chip before freeing you."

Discord waved his hands in front of him, "Whoa, back up! What's all this dimension talk about?"

Eggman cleared his throat, "Ah, yes, I'm sorry. I'm sure the reason you don't know what humans are is because, according to all the records I could find, and I do mean ALL of them, we don't exist in Equestria. We exist in a different world!"

Discord placed his lion paw on his chin, "A different world? Hm, didn't Celestia…?"

Eggman spoke up, "But that's not important! The important thing is my earlier proposal! Do you want to be a part of my scheme or not?"

Discord looked down at him, "Well, I certainly want to do something OTHER than stand around as a statue all day! But what scheme are you referring to, exactly?" He pointed at the Time Eater with his eagle talon thumb, "And that thing? What's it for?"

Eggman looked at Discord for a moment before saying, "Discord, if we're going to work together, we need to come to an understanding. Therefore, let me show you exactly why I need the Time Eater and your help." He turned and started walking towards his computer, "Follow me." Discord stared after him for a moment before walking after him, Eggman reaching the computer first and quickly closing the window showing the number of years before Discord could see it.

He then began typing on the keyboard, Discord standing behind him and watching for a moment before floating to his side and asking, "What are you doing?"

Eggman replied, "Just a second. You have your enemies in the form of the princesses and the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Let me show you mine." He continued typing until he brought his index finger down on one last button and looked at the screen in front of him.

Discord followed his gaze to see a window had opened up on the screen, the window changing after a second to show a full body picture of a blue hedgehog wearing red shoes with white stripes and white gloves and socks that stood on two legs and had hands. He had his left hand on his hip and was holding his right thumb up off to his side, his facial expression clearly showing his confidence. "Who's that?" Discord asked.

Eggman growled, "His name is Sonic, Discord, Sonic the Hedgehog. He's my nemesis, my enemy number one."

Discord chuckled and smirked at Eggman, "Your enemy, huh? Yeah, he sure looks scary."

Eggman turned to him and pointed his right finger up at him, "Oh, a wise guy, eh? Yes! I could tell you all about him and why he's such a thorn in my side, but just like I would have a hard time believing you if you told me things about the Elements of Harmony, their current bearers, and the princesses, you wouldn't believe me until you actually saw any of it for yourself! The point is that he's MY equivalent of all those things! Much like you, I have brilliant plans of my own, and they're always being ruined by him and his perky little friends!" Eggman used his left hand to press a button on his keyboard and the image of Sonic changed to a group shot of him and everyone he knew.

Discord grunted; he hadn't expected this hedgehog to know so many people, but he still didn't see the problem. "Okay, so what's the big deal?" he wondered.

Eggman answered, "The big deal is, I've been trying for a long time to do something about the way things are done in my world. I have big plans for my new empire, but Sonic is there to ruin things every time! He gets to be a hero while I'm branded a madman, a lunatic, something I'm sure Princess Celestia has done to you!"

Discord's expression darkened at that. "Indeed she has. She and her 'precious' little sister discovered the Elements of Harmony a thousand years back and ruined all my fun! And then she and her sister have the gall to become rulers and start preaching about the 'horrors' of chaos! I was pleased when I heard little Luna fell to her fears and became Nightmare Moon. A thousand years ruling alone… she deserved that."

Eggman thrust his arms out, "Exactly! We've both been ruined and labeled fanatics by those who can't see how brilliant we are! Well, it's high time that changed, and with the Time Eater's power, we can make it happen!"

Discord looked down at him, "How?"

Eggman explained, "When I breached the dimensional barrier and ended up here in Equestria, I was trying to use the Time Eater to travel into the past. Unfortunately, there were some… difficulties. It got scrambled up and went out of control! It did travel across time and space, but not in the way I wanted it to!" He pointed at Discord, "That's where you come in, Discord. I've read about your powerful chaos magic and what it can do. Not only can you manipulate others, you can control them as you see fit."

Discord chuckled, "Well, I suppose I am a bit famous for it. Anyway, go on."

Eggman continued, "I used what little control I had over the Time Eater to get you here and free you because I thought your power could help me. But I didn't just do it for my benefit, oh no! If you agree to help me, I'll help you too!"

Discord waved his lion paw in a circle while saying, "I'm listening…"

Eggman explained, "My scheme is to go back in time and take control of it, thus erasing all of my previous defeats. Now that our worlds have become connected in a way, the same can be done for you. We could travel back in time and make sure that Twilight Sparkle and her fellow Elements are unable to seal you back into stone. Or better yet, we could travel back a thousand years and make sure you were never sealed into stone to begin with! We could distract Celestia and Luna so they can't use the Elements of Harmony, or we could simply destroy the Elements altogether; it doesn't matter! The point is we'll be able to change whatever we want and make Equestria yours forever! Help me control the Time Eater, Discord, and I'll make sure you get what's rightfully yours."

Discord grinned widely, "Doc, I gotta hand it you, you have a way with words." He then leaned down so his head was closer to Eggman's and said, "Although I can't help but wonder if there's a catch to all of this."

Eggman replied, "Oh, there's no catch, absolutely no catch at all! All I ask is that, once we're done reshaping history to our liking, you give me an untouched patch of your new Equestria to establish my empire in." Discord opened his mouth to protest, but Eggman held up his left hand and continued, "In exchange, I will give you an equally-sized patch of my world that you will be free to spread your chaos in. Both of our new worlds will be established by us working together, and they will be maintained that way. When faced with the combination of my genius and your chaos, no one would ever dare oppose us! We'll establish our own place in history and ride it all the way to the future!" He lowered his left hand as he finished speaking, waiting for Discord's response.

Discord thought for a moment before smirking down at Eggman, "You drive a hard bargain, Eggy, but I think I can get over it." He raised his lion paw hand while Eggman raised his right hand, both of them coming together and shaking to make their partnership official. Once they were done, Discord asked, "So when do we begin?"

Eggman's glasses glinted for a moment, "Immediately."

---

After the Time Eater's first story appearances

Discord laughed as he lay on his back, his long body spread out across his favorite couch. "Oh, that was so much fun, Eggy! The looks of fear and their panicking when they saw the Time Eater… priceless! And I have to admit, I enjoyed smacking down Rainbow Dash and that blue hedgehog! Such a rush…!" he exclaimed.

Eggman, who was standing over at his computer, replied, "Yes, I'm rather satisfied with our success so far as well, Discord. But there's still more to do!" He turned to look at Discord and, while pointing at his screen with his left hand, said, "Ponyville and the site of that little Sonic Shuffle aren't the only places that have been hit by the Time Eater's power. Both time and space have essentially been warped across both worlds. Right now, we could open up a portal to any location in either world at any point in time, so come over here and help me pick spots to drop our guests off."

While Discord snapped his fingers, causing his couch to come to life and begin dragging itself across the floor, Orbot floated up next to Eggman and asked, "Boss, if you've ruined time and space in both worlds, why does it appear as though this castle has been unaffected?"

Eggman looked down at him and replied, "Oh, it HAS been affected. I just had the Time Eater close it off in its own little pocket zone. As long as we're here, there's no way they'll ever find us." Orbot nodded in understanding.

Discord's couch came to a stop next to Eggman, the draconequus resting his lion paw arm on the back of it and looking over at the doctor. "In that case, would you mind terribly if I spruced the old place up a bit? I suppose it's no surprise since Celestia and Luna abandoned it, but I must say, it's severely lacking in decor," he commented.

Eggman eyed him for a second before answering, "Very well. Once I'm done here, you may use your chaos to 'liven' the place up a bit." He then quickly pointed at his ally, "But no polka dots! And keep your chaos off of my stuff!"

Discord chuckled and said, "Very well. So which statue is first?"

Before Eggman could reply, Orbot crossed his arms and commented, "What an odd thing to say." When he noticed Eggman and Discord were looking down at him questioningly, he uncrossed his arms and explained, "The Time Eater caused everyone it captured to be turned to stone; like you said, they're statues. However, I noticed, in the Boss' records, you claimed you didn't turn ponies into stone. Doesn't that make you a hypocrite in a sense?"

Discord held up his eagle talon and channeled his magic into it to drag Orbot over to him. While holding the red-headed robot in his talon, he replied, "Hm, me turning ponies to stone… That would be an interesting thought to consider save for one thing." He pointed his lion paw thumb at the Time Eater, which had all the electronics removed from it and was now sitting quietly in a corner, "That marvelous creation did the stone-turning, not yours truly. All I did was make the Time Eater behave and help your boss capture those ponies and the other creatures. Therefore, I'd say I didn't personally turn anyone into stone."

Orbot replied, "Well yes, I suppose that's true. But…"

Discord interrupted him, "I didn't turn anyone into stone! The Time Eater did! Now why don't you go help your buddy with his speech problem, hm? Or would you like to find out if you can do the same thing?" Orbot took the hint and quickly leapt out of Discord's talon and shot away from him. While watching, the draconequus commented, "He's got quite a mouth on him."

Eggman, who had turned back to his computer during the exchange, replied offhandedly, "Yes, I've had to be reminded of that multiple times." He looked up a few seconds later and said, "There. I believe I have a full map of this world, including all the places affected by the Time Eater."

Discord looked over at him, "Oh? Give me a few names."

Eggman held his right hand to his chin, "Well, there's Canterlot, obviously. Most of the sky spots, including Cloudsdale, were hit, as was Manehattan. It looks like the Crystal Empire is being protected by some kind of force field that's keeping the Time Eater's power at bay, though. Guess we'll have to pop in and let them know that they can't hide from this!"

Discord smirked, "You mean like how we popped in on the Elements of Harmony, completely bypassing that silly spell Celestia placed on that tower to keep me out? That was great!" He reached down with his eagle talon and then brought it back up, now holding an orange apple-shaped necklace in it. "And to top it off, I get to hang onto honest little Applejack's necklace while the rest are scattered who knows where across time and space!" he grinned.

Eggman nodded, "Exactly! As long as we hold onto one of the Elements of Harmony, it doesn't matter if those fools manage to reunite and start looking into what happened. They'll never be able to get them all back now!"

Discord asked, "Speaking of which, do you know if the Time Eater is able to grab things without turning them white or into stone, or is that the only way it works?"

Eggman thought for a moment about what his analysis of the Time Eater had revealed before answering, "I believe it can extract others without changing them. Turning them to stone is better in this instance because it means it's easier to keep an eye on all of them. Why?"

Discord replied, "Oh, I was just thinking it would be fun to scoop up Celestia and have her get out of that castle of hers for a change. She could really use the exercise, her and her fat flank."

Eggman held his left hand to his chin as he thought about this idea. "You know, that's not a bad idea! We could find and grab some old faces from both worlds, throw them in the mix, and see what happens! And not just allies either; I'm sure we can track down some old foes and rivals as well to make it more fun!"

Discord sat up and clapped his 'hands', "Ah, excellent! I'm certain those three fillies that got into an argument just before I was freed last time are related to Twilight Sparkle's friends in some way; let's get them and any other family members involved in this! And I remember feeling some kind of powerful blast going through Canterlot one time. Do you know anything about that?"

Eggman looked at him and replied, "You're probably thinking of the blast that Shining Armor and Princess Cadance created to expel the changelings from Canterlot." Turning back to his computer, he said, "At any rate, I'll set the computer to start searching for anyone, pony or otherwise, that are related to our guests of honor or anyone else they've met that we can use. I, meanwhile, will start searching for something from my world that will no doubt help us immensely, especially if Sonic doesn't get his dirty hands on it first."

Discord looked at him, "What might that be?"

Eggman replied, "Patience, my mismatched friend. It'll be easier to show it to you rather than trying to explain it." He started typing on his keyboard, "For now, I've decided on three locations to drop off six of our guests in, two for each. The rest I haven't decided on yet, but this will be enough for our dear speedsters to begin the games with."

While Eggman kept typing, warming up the Time Eater, Discord grinned as he eyed two screens on the large computer. One showed a rainbow-maned pegasus in a grassy area and the other showed a blue hedgehog in a completely white area. Both appeared to be unconscious, but it was a safe bet that they would start to regain consciousness soon. "Twists and turns, it's all part of our plan. To get through it all, you'll all have to go as fast as you can."

---

After Ice Cap

Discord chuckled to himself, the draconequus sitting on his couch on the side of the chamber opposite Eggman's computers. He had a glass of chocolate milk in his lion paw hand and was sipping the glass as he looked at the TV he had created in front of him. "Ah, that Amy Rose certainly has her thorns. Who would've thought that," he mused to himself.

Orbot and Cubot hopped up onto the couch and opened up next to him, Orbot asking, "What's on the television? Did Sonic upset Amy again?"

Discord replied, "No, Twilight Sparkle's little dragon assistant did. She's just mad at Sonic because he's protecting the little baby." He finished his glass and threw the chocolate milk over the back of his couch, the milk exploding when it hit the floor, and held his hand lion paw hand to his chin while his eagle talon was already getting a new glass from a cotton candy cloud, "I'm a bit surprised, actually. Is she often this angry?"

Orbot replied, "I believe she mellowed out for a while, but then she seemingly got obsessed with Sonic all over again and it's given her a short fuse, so to speak. Sonic did try to go on a date with her a few times, but from what I can tell, he's really been avoiding her lately. I don't fault him." Discord nodded before placing his lion paw arm on the back of the couch and holding his glass of chocolate milk in front of him.

Cubot asked in a Jamaican accent, "Hey mon, can't you do something about that womon? Can't you use your fancy magic and make her the opposite of who she is? She might be a little nicer that way."

Discord replied, "Honestly, I don't think that would happen. I'm actually worried about what would happen if I did mess with her. Pinkie Pie may have been wild while she was normal, but she never got quite that angry, even when I did wrap her up in my magic."

Cubot whined, "Aw, come on, mon! You've done everything else so far! You got cows dancing around downstairs, the walls and floors don't match, and you keep making the sky change color! Do the mind thingy! You said you're famous for it, right?"

Discord, now a bit annoyed by the yellow robot, replied, "Okay box head, I'll tell you what." He closed his lion paw into a fist and held it over Cubot's head, "I'll give your personality a switch!" With that, he slammed his fist down on top of the robot's head, his eyes closing for a moment when it came back up before they opened again and he stared blankly for a second.

Then he spoke in a familiar accent, "Arrr, you're gonna regret that, ye Leviathan! No beast has tangled with this 'bot and lived to tell the tale! Mark my words, I'll have ye keelhauled!" He then turned and shot off the couch, quickly exiting the chamber.

Discord chuckled to himself at Cubot's 'mood swing' while Orbot facepalmed. "I could've sworn I removed that chip from him…" he groaned.

"Oh, relax. You know Egghead's opinion of him isn't going to change if he catches him acting like a pirate," Discord said, waving his lion paw and bringing his chocolate milk up to his lips.

"I heard that, Discord," Eggman's voice suddenly spoke, causing Discord to lose his grip on his milk and send it falling to the floor, where it promptly exploded while splattering drops of glass on the draconequus.

Discord growled and both he and Orbot turned their heads to look at Eggman, the scientist walking over to their couch with his hands behind his back. "This better be important. Not only am I missing some good chaos, but I just wasted a chaotically good chocolate milk!" he exclaimed.

Behind his glasses, Eggman rolled his eyes, "Oh, like you could ever run out of chocolate milk, Discord." He came to a stop right behind the couch while Discord continued to look at him angrily. Ignoring the glare he was receiving, Eggman turned to Orbot and asked, "So tell me, Orbot, did Sonic and his new pony friends make it through the frigid Ice Cap and rescue Knuckles and Applejack?"

The red robot replied, "I'm sure you know the answer already, but yes, yes they did."

Eggman smiled, "Good! I've sent a few old friends to hopefully break up their little party for the time being, so I believe it's time to have a little fun of our own with the rest of them."

Discord's expression lightened a bit at that, "What kind of fun?"

Eggman looked at him, "I was thinking we could give those ponies a shock by reintroducing them to someone from their past. Someone they thought was long gone."

Discord raised an eyebrow, "You mean me?"

Eggman replied, "Yes and no. I was thinking more along the lines of, oh… the Mare in the Moon!"

Discord's eyes brightened, "Oh, you want to bring Luna into this too, huh? Watching Twilight and her friends get attacked by their 'princess' and 'friend' who has once again fallen to darkness… sounds deliciously chaotic! Are you bringing Nightmare Moon here now so I can 'convince' her to help?"

Eggman deadpanned, "No. You need to get off that couch and do something other than enjoy yourself, Discord. That's why YOU will be playing the role of Nightmare Moon… but they won't know that!"

Discord's eyes widened and then narrowed in seconds at this, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I agreed to help you with your little scheme! You never said anything about me having to change into a girl!"

Orbot looked up at him, "That seems like a rather unusual thing to do. Are you saying you can't do it?"

Discord stood up from the couch and placed his hands on his hips as he glared down at the robot, "Of course I can do it! I can do anything I want!"

Orbot pressed, "So why are you not agreeing to it?"

Discord answered, "You said it yourself! It's unusual, but not chaotic! My magic works better if what I'm turning into is more than 'unusual'!" He raised his lion paw and snapped his fingers, a flash obscuring him from view. When it cleared, Discord was dressed like an elderly woman, wearing a pair of glasses on the end of his nose, lipstick, a purple shower cap with yellow polka dots that had white hair sticking out from under it, and a bracelet on his eagle talon. He spoke, "This is chaotic!" He snapped his fingers again and, after another flash, he changed his appearance to look like the original Nightmare Moon, "This, however, isn't just unusual and child's play, but also normal! And that REALLY puts a drain on me!"

Eggman spoke, "I had a feeling it might. That's why what I was looking for will help you immensely!" He brought his hands out from behind his back, revealing a bright, shiny emerald in his right hand.

Discord eyed it with his now-equine eyes suspiciously, "An emerald? That's what you were looking for? It looks nice, I'll give you that, but that's the big thing you were trying to find?"

Orbot spoke, "Why, that's no ordinary emerald! That's one of the seven Chaos Emeralds!"

Discord looked surprised at that, "Wait, CHAOS Emerald? Wha… HUH?!"

Eggman smiled, satisfied at Discord's reaction. "Ah, that's right. I was so eager to get right to the plan that I didn't tell you about the Chaos Emeralds. They don't just 'look nice' as you said; they're also quite powerful! That power is creating that glow you're seeing."

Discord held his right hoof up to his chin, "Really?"

Eggman replied, "Feel for yourself!" He tossed the emerald to Discord, who caught it in his right hoof. The temporary alicorn's eyes soon widened a bit. Eggman smiled, "Can you feel the power?"

Discord deadpanned, "Oh. I can feel it. I might be able to pose as Nightmare Moon after all."

Eggman nodded, "As I thought. Now imagine if you had six other emeralds that had the same amount of power you're feeling now. Think of the chaos you could cause with that kind of power!"

Discord replied after a moment, "I think I already have enough power on my side to be able to cause any kind of chaos imaginable already, doctor."

Eggman shrugged, "Well, fine then, you don't have to use them. But you see now, don't you? Why we have to keep those emeralds away from Sonic and the ponies? It wouldn't be good for us if they were to gather all seven! So take that one with you to help maintain your disguise and introduce its power to your old pony 'friends'! Let them know what will happen if they decide to actually cross us!"

Discord replied, "An excellent idea, doctor! It will be…" He cleared his throat and started again, now speaking in Luna/Nightmare Moon's voice, "It will be their worst nightmares brought to life!"

Eggman smiled, "The Time Eater is all set to take you to your destination, 'Nightmare Moon'. They're all yours; happy haunting!" Discord flew over to the Time Eater, the beast opening a portal for him that closed shortly after he flew into it.

A few seconds after the draconequus had left, Orbot asked, "Boss, are you sure it was a good idea to give him that Chaos Emerald? He is the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, after all."

Eggman replied, "Oh, don't worry about him. For having such a big title and ruling Equestria prior to Celestia and Luna, it seems like he's mostly out to amuse himself, and he amuses fairly easy. What he's done with this castle so far appears to be what he mostly does; at least it's all he was ever really shown doing when I looked into the past. He might be able to turn his chaos into attacks, but he's still a clown. If he ever had to go up against someone like Shadow, I have a feeling he wouldn't last long." He looked over at Orbot and asked, "By the way, where's that Element of Honesty necklace Discord was holding onto?"

Orbot shrugged, "I don't know. As far as I know, he still has it."

Eggman looked at him for a moment before replying, "Well, it's no big deal if he does, I'm sure. As long as he holds onto it, that is." He turned and started walking towards his computer while saying, "Anyway, I've got to be ready for my cue when Sonic shows up, and then there's a certain magician that's been hanging around Ponyville lately that I would like to invite over."

---

After the battle against 'Nightmare Moon'

Orbot and Cubot jumped as a large portal opened on the wall of the chamber and the Time Eater came through it, dragging 'Nightmare Moon' with it and dropping the 'alicorn' in the middle of the room before going back to its resting spot in the corner. Seconds after it landed, while 'Nightmare Moon' recovered from the rough landing, Eggman's Eggmobile emerged from the Time Eater's body and flew over to the raised platform at the end of the chamber, landing next to it. The doctor then climbed out of it and walked down the steps, angrily walking over to his ally.

'Nightmare Moon' sat up and glared at him, "What was the big idea back there?! I had everything under control!"

Not breaking stride, Eggman said, "Oh, drop the falsetto, Discord! I'm not paying you for it, especially not after THAT performance!" He stopped in front of the fake alicorn and poked his left finger under his/her chin, "And while you're at it, make yourself a little more presentable! That is NOT a good look for you!"

Discord glared at him for a moment before saying, "Fine!" He tapped his left hoof on the ground and, a second later, he regained his true form, still sitting down and above Eggman. He lowered his head so his face was right in front of Eggman's, "NOW do you want to tell me why you decided to butt in?!"

Eggman got right up in the draconequus' face, "Yes! Because you were getting too into your role! I warned you Sonic would be different from any of those ponies, even Rainbow Dash, and what do you do? You not only provoke him, but you fell for his taunts! I had just invited a very important guest over when my robots alerted me to what you were doing! If I hadn't stepped in with the Time Eater when I did, who knows what you would've done!"

Discord argued, "Come on, you don't like the hedgehog any more than I like those ponies! What's it matter if I rough him up a bit? And what's this about a guest?"

Eggman retorted, "You'll get the answer to that question later, and for your information, no one's allowed to defeat Sonic except for ME! That honor is reserved for me alone! You either defeat him with me or you don't get to defeat him at all!"

Discord raised his head and looked away, "Yeah, right." He rubbed his neck with his eagle talon, "That Nightmare Moon disguise was getting a bit stuffy anyway."

Eggman grunted, "Hmph! I suppose it's no surprise that you're able to bounce back from being defeated like it's nothing." He started walking past Discord before stopping and turning back to him, holding out his right hand as he said, "Oh yes, I want the Chaos Emerald back now."

Discord glanced down at him for a second before saying, "Oh, all right." He began reaching into his fur with both hands, even detaching his arms so they could do a full sweep, but neither hand grabbed or brushed over anything. He raised an eyebrow, "Hmm? I know I put it…"

Eggman immediately caught onto what he was saying and yelled, "Don't tell me you dropped it!"

Discord reattached his arms and shrugged, "Looks that way, Doc. I think I also dropped the Element of Honesty too."

Eggman facepalmed, "Grr…! I told you we needed to hang onto that! Same with the Chaos Emerald! Do you WANT them to get both first and seal you back into stone?!"

Discord glared angrily down at him, "Do you even need to ask? Of course not! I don't want them to get those emeralds since they're so important, and I definitely don't want them to get the Elements of Harmony again, especially since you won't let me mess with them!"

Eggman looked up at him, "Good, I'm glad we understand each other! Our best course of action right now would be to get the Element of Honesty and the Chaos Emerald they have back from them before they can find the rest of the Elements and emeralds! And since you're responsible for this mess, YOU get to fix it!" He angrily started walking back towards the end of the chamber, going back to his Eggmobile.

Discord eyed him, "How am I supposed to fix it when you won't let me do my thing? And where are you going?"

Without stopping, Eggman replied, "I'm taking the Time Eater to make an appearance over Ponyville in order to restore part of the town and open up some new portals! As for fixing it, I'd suggest following Sonic and his little friends into one of them, preferably the first one they pick, and getting that necklace and the Chaos Emerald back!" He reached the stairs and walked up them, climbing into his Eggmobile and starting it up. Before he took off, he added, "And make sure you do it in such a way that they still don't know that you're free!"

While Discord watched him fly up to the Time Eater, Orbot and Cubot bounced over next to him and opened up. "Sheesh, what a control freak!" Discord groaned, propping his eagle talon elbow up against his goat leg and resting his chin in his hand.

"Yes… but I suppose that's what you get for not doing what you were told. This day isn't exactly changing into what you thought it would, is it?" Orbot commented.

Discord whirled his head around to look at the robot and yelled, "I wasn't talking to you!"

Cubot piped up, "Arrr, the sea hears everything, ye scurvy dog! She swallows all she's given too! You'd best be careful around the captain, or you'll be walking the plank!"

Discord spun around and bucked him with his goat leg, saying, "Oh, shut up!" The buck sent the yellow robot flying across the room, where he landed in a heap on the floor.

Cubot soon hopped up and exclaimed, "Arr, the sea! She advises a retreat for now… But my fury continues to grow, beast! I shall return! AWAY!" And with that, he once again shot out of the chamber, both Discord and Orbot watching him.

They soon turned their attention back to the Time Eater, the creature giving a growl as it started up again. It soon opened a portal on the wall of the chamber and flew into it, the portal closing up as soon as it was out of sight. After it closed, Discord raised his lion paw hand to his chin, thinking about how best to approach the situation he was inevitably going to have to face once Eggman returned…

---

After the Windy Valley race

Eggman was typing on his computer and Orbot and Cubot were floating over Discord's couch watching cartoons on the TV when a loud pop from the center of the chamber caught their attention and they all turned to see three battered pegasi standing in the middle of the chamber. Upon noticing their unusual features, Eggman said, "So you're back. Did you get the Chaos Emerald and the Element of Honesty back?"

The two male pegasi slid into their leader and, with a bright flash, changed into Discord, the draconequus rigidly standing and looking like he was sulking. "No, I didn't," he deadpanned. Noticing the look on Eggman's face, he mockingly said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Doc. After all the sneaking around in the shadows and waiting to spring a trap on them, I just couldn't do it and let them go." He groaned as he rubbed his cheek where Twilight had hit him with her book, "You know, you could've told me a little more about that fox friend of Sonic's. I mean, did you expect me to know he was thinking up a plan from the moment he saw me?!"

Eggman quipped, "You're made up of a lot of different creatures. Don't you already know foxes are smart like that?"

Discord snapped his lion paw fingers and his couch immediately shot out from under Orbot and Cubot and slid over to him. He flopped down onto it and said, "It's kind of hard to think when you have a headache as bad as I do right now."

Orbot and Cubot floated over to the draconequus, the former asking him, "Would you like an aspirin?"

Discord looked down at him and replied, "I don't know what that is, but no. I've got three times the headache I should have thanks to those ponies and their friends, and don't get me started on how the rest of me is feeling." He looked up at the ceiling and dramatically cried, "Oh, the pain~! Oh, the pain of it all~! This is why I prefer to let my magic do all the work for me while I watch! I can't handle it!"

Eggman snorted, "What a lightweight." Discord sat up and glared at him, causing Eggman to smirk, "You should get into fights more often, Discord. Your enemies clearly do, save for Celestia, and look at them! They don't crumple as easily, or at least not complain as much, as you do." He then stood proudly, "And don't forget about me! All this time fighting Sonic and his friends has done wonders for my physique! You can really build calluses and muscles by fighting a meddling hedgehog! With as much as you sit around and snack, I'm surprised you haven't started to go soft!" He then turned back to his computer and, while typing on it, muttered to himself, "Hmm… So that's where the changelings ended up… I wonder if they'd like another chance at revenge… and to temporarily have the transformation abilities that these mimicker creatures have."

While he continued working, Discord turned and looked down at Orbot and Cubot and asked, "Is he serious?"

Orbot shrugged, "I wouldn't know. If he was, you'd think he'd be bulging with muscles with as often as Sonic beats him. And he thinks you should be the soft one; he's constantly sitting down and snacking on something, whether it's a sandwich, ice cream, or something else that's unnecessarily fattening."

Cubot nodded and, in a girly voice, added, "Don't forget his late-night snacking! And for wanting to compete in the Olympics, you'd think he'd work out more!"

Before any of them could say anything else, Eggman shouted, "I HEARD ALL THAT!" He whirled around and glared angrily at his robot lackeys, both of them suddenly looking extremely nervous. "Since you two apparently have a lot to say, why don't you come up with a plan to get the Chaos Emerald and the Element of Honesty back from Sonic?!" He then leaned towards them as he added, "And if you know what's good for you, you'd better not disappoint me!"

The two robots were silent for a moment before Orbot held his hands to his head and said, "Oh dear, Boss! It seems Discord's headache is contagious! I have one now!"

He nudged Cubot as he said the last sentence, the yellow robot getting what he was doing and following suit, "Uh, yeah! I can't concentrate either! Can we go lie down?"

Eggman sympathetically said, "Aw, you two have headaches…" Both Orbot and Cubot nodded wildly. Eggman soon grinned widely, "Guess the doctor's going to have to OPERATE!" The two robot's eyes widened and they froze up as Eggman put on a tool belt and picked up a large hammer he had next to his computer. As soon as he took the first step towards them, they took off, hovering as far away from him as they could. While holding the hammer over his head, Eggman chased after them while yelling, "Get back here!"

While Eggman continued to chase his robot lackeys around the chamber, Discord sat back in his couch and watched the show, making a bag of popcorn appear next to him. "Ah, my headache is feeling much better already!" he smiled to himself as he tossed some popcorn in his mouth, the sound of pop rocks popping filling the air as he chewed.

---

After Frog Forest

Discord hummed to himself as he passed through the doorway leading to what he had dubbed the weird scientist's lab in the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. He looked over to his left to see Eggman, back to work on his computer after making the Time Eater appear over Ponyville for a scare, no doubt still searching for the Elements of Harmony and the Chaos Emeralds. On his right, Orbot and Cubot were once again floating above his couch and watching TV. Discord shrugged and walked over to Eggman while tossing his iDiscord camcorder (his personal brand!) up and down in his lion paw hand. Once he reached the scientist, he pressed against the console with his eagle talon hand and said, "Hey Eggy."

Without looking up, Eggman asked, "Yes, what is it, Discord?"

The draconequus replied, "You might be interested to know I decided to take a little walk just now." Eggman grunted and nodded, still not caring, "Yep, to the jungle where Twilight and her little friends were just at, to be exact."

That caught Eggman's attention and he looked up at Discord, "What?! They didn't see you, did they?!"

Discord waved his eagle talon in a dismissive manner, "Of course not. I resisted the urge to reveal myself like you told me to, and anyway," he held his camcorder out to Eggman, "you might be interested to see what I saw while I was out there. It sounds like Sparklebutt is having some kind of problems, problems that she's willing to talk to Sonic about… alone."

Eggman looked at the camcorder with interest at that, "Really?" He took the camcorder and looked down at it as he said, "This could come in handy later, if my research is correct."

Discord held his hands behind his back and stood up tall with his eyes closed, "Glad to be of service." He then opened his eyes and looked down at Eggman, "So, any luck yet?"

Eggman grunted, "No. Despite upgrading everything, the warping of time and space is still messing with my equipment. It's making it difficult to track down the remaining Chaos Emeralds and Elements of Harmony since the time-space barriers are so weak, their readings are spilling over into other locations and making it difficult to pinpoint their exact locations."

Discord asked, "So your machines are worthless, then? That means you're going to have to try something else to find them, doesn't it?"

Eggman turned and set the camcorder down on top of his computer as he said, "Not a chance. I put together some new software that will pick up on the readings and start to track them back to their source. That will reduce the likelihood of false alarms."

Discord shrugged, "All right, if you say so." He turned and started walking over to join Orbot and Cubot on his couch.

As Eggman looked up, his eyes caught one of the screens on his computer and he looked at it for a moment before raising his right hand and snapping his fingers. At this, the Time Eater opened a small portal on the wall next to the chamber entrance. As he walked towards it, Eggman called, "Please excuse me, gentlemen, but I have to go check on our guest. And behave! I don't want to be disturbed unless the scanners pick up something!" The three couch potatoes gave a halfhearted grunt or murmur in response. Eggman ignored this and continued walking, going through the portal.

The portal led Dr. Eggman to a chamber hidden underneath the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, most likely a former basement or meeting place when the castle wasn't as ancient. Eggman proceeded to the center of the chamber, where, atop a raised platform, an azure unicorn with a magic wand sprinkling pixie dust for a cutie mark was chained to the ground, a magic-binding collar strapped to her horn. On the ground nearby was what appeared to be a superhero costume designed to fit a pony.

As Eggman approached her, the unicorn struggled to break free, but the chains held strongly against her attempts. When Eggman was standing right in front of her, he spoke, "I must apologize again for the accommodations, Miss Lulamoon. It was the best I could do on such short notice. We'll get right down to business since I know you great and powerful magicians are QUITE busy." He smirked down at her, "It's been a little while since I gave you my proposal. Have you given it any further thought?"

---

After the Time Eater's appearance following the FinalHazard battle

Discord glanced up lazily as a portal opened on the wall and the Time Eater came through it, the draconequus sprawled out on his couch with his hands behind his head. He smirked to himself as the creature landed in the corner, wondering how Eggman would react to his redecorating. He got his answer after Eggman detached his Eggmobile from the Time Eater, his robots hanging onto the side, and he started making his way over to the landing area. As soon as he noticed the walls, which were covered in lines, polka dots, and bright colors, he screamed, "DISCORD!"

Discord laughed as he sat up, admiring his work as he said, "Hey Doc! You like what I've done with the place?"

Eggman didn't respond until he had landed his Eggmobile and walked across the chamber to Discord, where he said, "For your information, I DON'T! I told you: no polka dots! And what's with all the bright colors? I'm getting a headache just looking at the walls!"

Discord sighed and snapped his fingers, causing the walls to change back to their normal gray color. "There, you happy now?" he asked. Eggman just gave him an annoyed grunt as a response and walked a short distance away. "Sheesh, what are you upset about now? You get a letter from Weight Watchers or something?"

Eggman glared at him over his shoulder, "I'll have you know my weight is VERY attractive and healthy! As for why I'm feeling this way, I nearly had one of the Chaos Emeralds and the Element of Magic!" Discord looked at him curiously at that. Eggman grumbled, "Unfortunately, it looks like they were hit by the Time Eater's power differently compared to the other Emeralds and Elements. They were both completely white and turned to stone. That wouldn't have been a problem if, when we tried to approach them, they repelled the Time Eater and forced us to retreat! Therefore, it looks like we're going to have to wait for Sonic and his friends to restore them before we can take them for ourselves."

Discord replied, "Hm. Well, you don't have to get all huffy about it. You've got that other Chaos Emerald that you found after you finally stopped chasing your lackeys around, and it's not like you're going to grow old waiting for them. Learn some patience!"

Eggman grunted, "Like you would know anything about patience, Discord. You were all set to go back to turning Equestria upside-down without stopping to learn more when I set you free. And I highly doubt, had anyone been able to know what was on your mind, you were ever patient as a statue." He then looked off to the side and muttered, "I'm beginning to see why he was sealed into stone in the first place."

Discord raised an eyebrow, not hearing what Eggman said but knowing he had said something. He soon decided to ignore it and said, "Fine. So what do you plan to do now?"

Eggman walked over to his Eggmobile and began to dig through it, saying all the while, "I'm not going to do anything myself just yet. I believe it's still too early for that. That doesn't mean it's not okay to up the ante and make it a bit harder for them, though! It'll be easier to snatch the Element of Magic and Chaos Emerald from them if they're tired out." He soon found what he was looking for and walked back over to Discord. He then held up the object in his hand, which looked like a small tuning fork, and said, "I'm going to need you to put some of your magic in here, Discord."

Discord eyed the object skeptically before looking up at Eggman and asking, "Why? What's that for?"

Eggman answered, "It's a fairly standard neuro-controller. I can attach this device to somebody and control their physical actions from far away. The difference with this one is it has an additional small compartment for your magic. When the magic is added to this compartment, it will add the effects of the magic as an additional effect, thus making the device more effective. As such, the bursts of magic it releases will be controlled."

Discord sat up straight and crossed his arms, turning his head to the side and closing his eyes as he said, "I don't think so, Eggman. I'm a force of nature; there's no controlling any part of me! You can go find someone else to help you with your crazy idea because I'm not doing it." He opened one eye after a second and looked down to see Eggman looking at him expectantly. They continued to stare at each other for several seconds before Discord finally relented, "Fine. What kind of magic do you want?"

Eggman replied, "A little bit of mind control and a tiny bit of memory loss. I don't want that unicorn to remember everything."

Discord grunted as he pointed his lion paw down at the device and began to fill it with the requested magic, "Ugh, that boisterous showboat? Why don't I add a little something to make her magic more powerful while I'm at it?"

Eggman pulled his hand away once Discord lifted his lion paw, "No, I've already put a little something together for that." He looked down at the device as it shone yellow for a moment, the glow fading as Discord's magic found its way into the compartment. He nodded, "This will do for one of my backup plans in case those fools don't tire out on their own. I just have to get the others ready." He then looked over at his robots, which had been quietly floating the entire time, and said, "You two, come with me! We've got work to do!" Despite whatever the robots were thinking, they obediently followed him as the Time Eater opened up a new portal and went through it with him.

Once the portal had closed, Discord turned to face the TV and made the remote appear in his eagle talon hand. "If they flew over Ponyville, some new portals should have appeared. Let's see what their travel plans are now," Discord said to himself as he turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels for a bit, he soon came across a channel showing stone paths, exotic food, and Eastern architecture. "Boring!" he yawned as he changed the channel. Seconds later, an image of giant food, rides, and chocolate milk was displayed on the screen, catching his attention. "Ooh, I think I've finally found a place to set up my summer home!" he smiled to himself. He savored the vision before him for a minute before, reluctantly, lifting his claw to change the channel. The claw came down…

And he winced when the new image appeared on the screen. "Uh… Barren, wasted land, erupting volcanoes and lava monsters, and possible widespread destruction… It's chaotic… but not in a good way," Discord breathed to himself. Curious about this location, he pressed the button on the remote that said 'Information' and began skimming over the details. "Unstable crust… world destroyed by Iblis and its minions… a future that shouldn't exist?" he murmured to himself. He threw the remote over his shoulder (the remote squeaking and bouncing like a rubber ducky when it hit the ground) and flew over to Eggman's computer, wanting to know more.

"Hmm… Mephiles the Dark… Pretty strange, yet creepy, looking fellow. Is there anyone else at this hotspot besides our guests?" he mused to himself. He soon found his answer, "Looks like Applejack's got a cousin and a friend there. Dragons… some hedgehog named Silver… hmm? Silver met this Mephiles character in this alternate future?" He thought about this for several moments before looking around the chamber. "No Eggman or his lackeys to keep an eye on me…" he thought. With this in mind, he snapped his lion paw fingers, a bright flash coming from his body as he changed. When the flash cleared, he looked like a pale, off-color Shadow, exactly what Mephiles looked like in some of the pictures on Eggman's computer.

Discord looked over himself for a moment before nodding, "Looks good. Now…" He cleared his throat and said, in a darker voice that fit his new appearance, "It's time to spread some chaos!"

---

During the Dragon Road chase

Eggman grunted as he stared intently at the TV screen in front of him, the scientist sitting firmly on Discord's couch. In his hands was a gray controller with two analog sticks and a collection of buttons; on the floor in front of the TV sat a gray box, most likely some kind of computer system. Eggman carefully moved the left stick on the controller forward, his eyes focused on the screen as he carefully made his move.

"HEY EGGMAN!" Discord's voice suddenly rang out, causing Eggman to yelp and jump slightly as his concentration was broken, though he thankfully took his thumb off the left analog stick. He glared back over his shoulder to see Discord's grinning face looking back at him. "You know, you really shouldn't be so focused on one thing like that. Loosen up a little!" the cheeky draconequus said. He spotted the piece of hardware sitting on the floor in front of the TV and asked, "Ooh, what's that, an Eggsbox? Can I be player two?"

Eggman groaned as he bent down and picked his controller up, focusing on the TV again as he grumbled, "Hmph. No, you can't be player two, Discord."

Orbot floated up next to his leg and asked, "May I be the second human-controlled player then, Boss?"

Eggman replied, "No, you can't be player two either, because there is no second player! This is a one player game, and I have the controller!"

Before an argument could start, Cubot floated over, holding something in his right hand, and said, "Pardon, m'lord, but methinks I hath foundeth something." Orbot, Eggman, and Discord looked at the yellow robot as he held up what appeared to be the end of a red unicorn horn.

Eggman eyed the horn suspiciously, "A red horn? How did that end up here? And why…" He stopped short as he remembered where he'd seen a horn like that, dropping his controller and backing away a bit. "Egad! That's King Sombra's horn!" he exclaimed.

Discord looked at him, "Who?"

Eggman answered, "King Sombra!" Discord still looked confused, so Eggman clarified, "Ruled the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago? Enslaved ponies?"

A look of comprehension dawned on Discord's face, "Oh yeah, him." His expression quickly changed and he flew over to Eggman's computer, exclaiming, "Ugh! Get that thing out of here!"

While the draconequus started typing something on the keyboard, Cubot looked at Eggman in confusion, "Forgiveth me, lord, but I do not quite understand…"

Eggman saw a portal open up behind Cubot and, while standing up, said, "You don't have to! Just hold still!" He then crossed over to Cubot and swiftly kicked the horn out of his hand, sending it flying into the portal. The portal closed as Eggman breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down on one knee. "There. He's their problem now," he muttered as he started dusting his boot off.

During the battle between Trixie and Twilight

Eggman growled as he fought with his controller, his eyes briefly glancing at the HUD on the screen before shifting back to the action. "Rrgh…! Blasted unicorn, hold still! You should be as athletic as I am, what with all the time you spend with your nose buried in those books of yours!" he yelled as he threw his headset onto the couch.

Discord was sitting next to him on the couch, the draconequus daintily sipping a cup of tea before saying, "She's a feisty one, isn't she? This really isn't looking good for you, Doc."

Eggman grunted, "You think?! It's not my fault! The fighting controls aren't working the way they're supposed to! I should've spent more time developing it!"

Discord took another sip of tea and asked, "You sure you don't want a second player?"

Eggman glared at him, "For the last time, NO!" He looked back at the screen and grunted before saying, "Now look what you've done! I could've dodged that if you'd kept your mouth shut!" Discord rolled his eyes and continued to watch silently. A few minutes later, on the TV screen, Twilight unleashed a powerful dome of magic that sent Trixie flying and damaged the neuro-controller Eggman had placed in the azure unicorn's ear. The TV screen went to static for a moment before going black and displaying the words 'YOU LOST' in red letters.

Eggman growled and threw his controller on the ground, crossing his arms and pouting while Discord watched in amusement. Eggman soon stood up and walked over to his console, disconnecting it from Discord's TV. "Hey, I want a turn!" Discord complained.

Eggman picked his console up and tucked it under his left arm, along with the controller, before turning to the draconequus and saying, "Well, too bad! That's another plan 'B' down the drain, just like luring them into the den of that Iblis creature was!"

Eggman winced and held his right hand to his head, feeling as though the name 'Iblis' was familiar for some reason. While he shook off the feeling, Discord thought to himself, "So was manipulating that Silver hedgehog. Then again, it was rather amusing to see him fight his friend and shout all that weird stuff."

He returned his attention to Eggman as the scientist straightened up and walked towards his computer on the other side of the chamber. As he walked, he said, "I'm getting sick of playing around with Sonic and his little friends! I'll let them run around a little more, and then we'll see how they like my LAST plan 'B'!"

Discord looked back at him and called, "And what if your LAST plan 'B' flops, Doc?"

Eggman didn't even slow down as he answered, "We still have one other Chaos Emerald. If this plan 'B' fails, then it will ensure that plan 'C' doesn't!" Discord shrugged to himself and, after Eggman left the room, decided to take a break and head to Sweet Mountain for a while…

---

After the Egg Wyvern battle

Orbot and Cubot watched from next to Discord's couch as the Time Eater came through a portal into the room, carrying Dr. Eggman underneath it. As it flew close to the middle of the chamber, the Time Eater released Eggman and let him hit the ground hard. Once the creature was back in its place, Discord floated up out of it and flew over to Eggman. "Heh heh, how's that egghead of yours doing, Doc? Now we're even!" he smiled. Eggman just grunted angrily and stood up, walking rigidly over to his computer. Discord followed alongside while saying, "Oh, come on! I didn't drop you THAT hard!"

Eggman growled, "Oh, shut up, Discord! I don't care about that! I went to great lengths to get that hedgehog alone for a final confrontation; I even had a Chaos Emerald powering my latest creation, and he STILL managed to defeat me!"

Discord shrugged as Orbot and Cubot floated over and caught up with them, "Yeah, so? What are you going to do about it? We still have to stay hidden, do we not?"

Eggman stopped in front of his computer and said, "Not anymore." He picked up a remote that was sitting atop the panel and looked at it for a moment before saying, "We're done playing hide-and-seek with them. In fact, this is where all the games end."

Discord looked intrigued at this while Orbot and Cubot stared at Eggman attentively. "Boss, are you saying…?" Orbot asked.

Eggman nodded, "It's time to put all this back where it belongs and close up shop. No more hiding; it's time to end this once and for all." He pointed the remote up at the Time Eater and pressed the central button on it, "I have some final modifications to make to the Time Eater. Open up those other portals along the train route to Canterlot to delay them." As the mist began to lift from around the Time Eater, Eggman clenched his left fist, "Enjoy the ride while you can, Sonic. It will be the last thing you and your friends get to properly enjoy."

---

After Sonic's birthday party

Discord mentally sighed to himself. Once again, it was a beautiful day in Equestria and here he was, stuck as a stone statue, unable to liven it up for anypony or, more importantly, himself. How much time had passed since he'd been turned into stone for a third time and had to endure that horrible party they had thrown for that Sonic hedgehog? How many times had he groaned, sighed, and thought about what had happened? He wasn't sure… again.

So that was the way it was meant to be. He had been freed by a creature (somewhat) under the control of a human from another universe, convinced by said human to help him with his scheme with the promise that they would rewrite history, got to trick and mess with his enemies (even if it didn't work out at all times, especially at the end), and, most importantly, got to cause some chaos… only to end up being turned back into a statue, having changed nothing.

Discord felt his stone to see if there was any weakness, but again, there was no change. If the seal never weakened, the only way he could possibly get free again would be if the Elements of Harmony themselves removed it. And how he wished they would; once again he was cramped and sore and desperately in need of stretching. He briefly wondered if he should have stayed outside of his body, either in Equestria or Sonic's world, and remained a specter for all time. He quickly shot this idea down, as being a ghost that couldn't do much of anything paled in comparison to what he was normally able to do.

What made being turned to stone so much worse this time was the direction his thoughts were taking due to everything that had happened when he was free. The last time he was turned to stone, he had no regrets and was filled with questions as to how Twilight Sparkle and her friends had managed to defeat him as he was so sure chaos triumphed over all else. For whatever reason, though, way in the back of his mind, he felt different now; he actually felt bad about what he'd done… but since it was way in the back of his mind and he was sure it was something either the ponies or Sonic had done to him, he was sure he could ignore it. Unfortunately, with nothing better to do than think, he found he was bringing up these thoughts more often than he wanted to.

Finally, something interesting came along to distract him from these thoughts. Although he couldn't see, he could hear Celestia's voice. It sounded like she was talking to her guards. He tried to strain his ears to listen to what they were saying. The guards sounded curious, confused… What's this? Celestia was taking him to Ponyville? To be reformed?

Now that was a good one. Celestia, thinking she could reform chaos… what was she thinking? If he had been able to, Discord would've rolled his eyes. Celestia had to be really off her rocker if she thought he would ever be made into a good boy. Still, if she was serious, that meant he would have to be set free in order to be 'reformed'. If Celestia thought her student and her friends would be able to reform him, then this could only end well… for him. He just needed to get on their good side (most likely Fluttershy's) and make certain that, even if he couldn't steal the Elements of Harmony, they would be unable to use them on him. Once that was done, he would be free to spread his chaos as he wished, and there would be no Sonic to help the girls this time…

However, as the guards loaded his statue onto a chariot and set off after Celestia's chariot, Discord's mind once again turned to one of the thoughts that he did not like. He fought hard to suppress the thought, and by the time they were on their way to Ponyville, the thought had left his head. Still, the memory of thinking the thought remained with him, and the thought itself made him worry.

"What would it feel like if somepony were to honestly call me their friend?"

---

Huh? Huh? See what I did with the title there? Ah heh heh... eh, no.

Anyway, how many of have been wondering about Eggman and Discord's little alliance? How many of you have asked about that? ...Well actually, almost nobody has. But I figure it's been on a few minds for a while, so that's partly where this comes from (the other part is that I wanted to make a semi-proper backstory for some of the events in the story). I could've stopped after showing Eggman and Discord agreeing to work together, but I realized there are a few things that happened that were either not explained well or seemed random, so I decided to do a bunch of little vignettes to hopefully answer some questions. I don't write short bits very often, so I don't know how successful I was. If I cleared anything up or you got a chuckle out of this extra bit of story, then I suppose it did what I wanted it to.

Now, notes...

As far as anyone knows, Scrap Brain Zone wasn't destroyed after the events of the original "Sonic the Hedgehog". Heck, it's not known if the Sky Base Zone in the Master System and Game Gear versions was destroyed after Eggman was defeated. Aside from the fate of Metropolis Zone, everything else Cubot says is mostly accurate to what was seen in the games. The other castle base he mentions is the base he had during the events of "Shadow the Hedgehog", and the machine he mentions is the one that Shadow and Espio use to get into Eggman's database at the beginning of the Mad Matrix level and Shadow uses appears from before Cryptic Castle.

Orbot's mention of Sonic trying to date Amy a few times refers to "Sonic Unleashed" (where he can tell Amy he might consider going on a date with her in the 360/PS3 version) and "Sonic and the Black Knight" (the date Amy claims Sonic forgot about it after he finishes telling her his story).

The elderly woman appearance Discord briefly turns into is the same appearance he took on in "Keep Calm and Flutter On" when he was pinching Fluttershy's cheek.

Eggman's mention of mimickers is a retcon due to the fact that I now know that changelings can only turn into ponies (as mentioned in the Cutie Mark Crusaders' story in the comic micro-series).

iDiscord... a parody of iSonic.

Although Discord calls the machine Eggman is using to control Trixie an Eggsbox as a joke, Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily were seen playing an EGGSbox on the "Evil Friends Forever" variant cover of Sonic Universe #53.

There were two scenes that I didn't include: a scene of Eggman putting the finishing touches on the new Egg Wyvern, and a scene showing what happened with Sonic and Twilight after Twilight had been Discorded. I didn't include the second one because I remembered this chapter was meant to focus on Eggman and Discord, and I couldn't squeeze in the first one properly.

The last line by Discord is a reference to Discord's (eventual) Heel Realization in "Keep Calm and Flutter On".

No music here. Instead, I have two sequel ideas I want to mention:

1. A crossover with "Sonic Lost World" at some point after FiM's season 4 two-part opener. Like with this story, it would basically be the story of that game with ponies and likely some expansion, and now that Sega's announced a Deadly Six (Bonus) Edition of the game, I might be able to make this one work. The main problem is that questions like how Chip's necklace is connected to the Elements of Harmony would not be answered during the story, and there would be certain other things I wouldn't be able to do like bring in a slightly different version of Sunset Shimmer. Which leads me to...

2. A story taking place after the events of "Lost World", again sometime after the two-part opener for season 4 of FiM. Currently the more-developed idea, it would be closer to being an original story, so it might get tricky to write at times, but I would be able to do some of the things I wouldn't be able to do with idea 1 and be better able to set the stage for future stories taking place in this continuity I seem to be establishing. Another thing to note: since Sunset Shimmer would most likely appear, I wouldn't be surprised if there are references made to "Equestria Girls" (since I'm following the show continuity, EqG doesn't happen no matter which idea I choose).

So those are my two sequel ideas. A third option might be to combine elements of both together and once again have closer to an original story, but that's debatable. At any rate, I can only choose one sequel idea, and with the time that's going to be spent waiting for "Sonic Lost World" to be released and FiM's fourth season to start, I will hopefully make up my mind earlier rather than later.

In the meantime, like I probably said a bunch of times, I'm going to do an interquel to FiT that explains what happened during the train ride to Canterlot between chapters fifteen and sixteen. You can already guess from the dialogue at the start of chapter sixteen that there will be a rival battle involving Lightning Dust and the Babylon Rogues, the Sonic Storybook series worlds, and a "Sonic Rush Adventure" level, but there will be more. I was thinking of also using levels from spin-off games like "Sonic 3D Blast" as well as using some of my original level ideas (so you'll get to see what I originally planned to do when I was thinking of using Twinkle Park and Casino Park/Bingo Highway as levels). I hope that it will turn out to be a good extra story for you all.

With as long as it took to complete this story (I curse my writing abilities), I've also considered crossing ponies over with other things, which I will list below:

Halo

Metal Gear

Okami/Okamiden

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon

Splinter Cell

For anyone wondering, these are just ideas. While some of them are developed, I don't know when I'll be able to write them, assuming they stick. I mean, I'm not sure if I burned myself out on writing for ponies due to how long I delayed parts of this story, and plus...

Ugh, I'm starting to ramble. Better stop that now. It's my problem, I'll figure out how to deal with it.

At any rate, guys, I want to say thanks to all of you. This story really ended up growing out of what I originally had planned for it and I certainly hope it was enjoyable to all of you. For as long as it took, I can finally say this story is over... for now. Thanks for everything. It's time for the ending medley.

www. youtube. com watch?v=KDeYlPCZl1I