Gilda and Rainbow Dash sat in the lunchroom of Cloudsdale Flight School, with an odd contraption stationed next to them.

"Dash, I'm just asking you to fill up this balloon with ketchup," a confused griffon said to a surprised filly Rainbow Dash. "When Fluttershy walks over here, I pull the lever, and Shy gets covered in it. Easy peasy."

"You gotta be buckin' kidding me. Ketchup? With balloons? And why a catapult? Tryin' to go old-school this time, G?" the rainbow filly asked.

"Well don't you hate that pony or something? She's super shy, and you're all rough and tough, you're complete opposites." Gilda nonchalantly replied.

"I never said I hated Fluttershy! Sure, she can be a little shy sometimes, ok, more than a little, but I'm her best friend! I would never do such a mean prank to her! Don't you know how sensitive she is?!" Rainbow Dash shouted, starting to lose patience with her feathered companion.

"Geez, since when did you become Clutzyshy's mom? Seriously dude, if you like her all that much, why don't you marry her?" Gilda asked jokingly, only making Dash's anger skyrocket.

"How many times do I have to say it?! Read my lips: I...AM...NOT...A LESBIAN! And if you have a problem, you can just leave! 'Cuz I'm not doin' it!" Rainbow yelled, unaware her voice was gaining slight attention from passerbys. Her voice was also getting the attention of a certain pale yellow pegasus.

"Fine Dash. Clearly, you're not gonna do it, so I'm just gonna bail." Gilda finally backed down with a sigh. As she flew off back to the track, she muttered a curse under her breath. "Deserves it for accidently spilling orange juice over me."

"Sheesh, who put a bee in her tighty whities?" Rainbow Dash said, starting to fly back from lunch period. Her flight was cut short by a quiet voice reaching out to her.

"Umm, R-Rainbow D-Dash? Um, thanks for, um, sticking up for me and not going through with that mean prank." the quiet filly said to the rainbow pony.

"Oh, you, uh, heard me yellin' at G?" Rainbow said with a blushing face. "Yeah, she wanted to pummel you with ketchup balloons. Pretty stupid in my opinion, I would've done something more original, like un-screwing the salt shakers or putting gummy worms in the fruit salads. Hey hey look!" Rainbow replied as a gleeful smile grew on her face, as she saw her prank examples come true. A cross-eyed pegasus with gray skin let out a gasp as a large quanity of salt fell onto her muffin. A white, buff stallion with red eyes and dumbell cutie mark angrily growled as he found a gummy word lodged in his fruit salid.

"When I find the mare or stallion who did this, I'm going to rip their wings off!" Snowflake yelled angrily. Several other ponies soon flew in fear as the giant stallion walked off in a rage.

"Uh-oh. Not a good idea to mess with Snowflake." Rainbow Dash said to herself, taking out a notepad with the words "Who to Prank?" spawled on it, before turning her attention to the timid pony with her hooves over her eyes.

"I-Is it over? That pony scares me." Fluttershy asked with a quiver.

"Yeah Shy. He's just a little too cranky." Dash answered before she saw the white stallion crush a metal pen with his bare hoof. "Maybe he drinks coffee?"

Watching from the sidelines, on a conjured up cloud made of cotton candy, sat Rainbow Dash, Derpy, Dr. Whooves, and Discord. Unlike the other three, Discord was lying down on the cloud, while the others didn't enjoy it.

"Ugh, couldn't you have--Whoa!" Rainbow Dash said as she dropped her face into the sticky mess. Finally prying her face off with enough force to rip her eyebrows off, she continued her rant. "Discord, couldn't you have made a white cloud, or maybe one that doesn't rain chocolate milk."

"Hey, I'm just having a little fun before that overgrowl foal locks me up in the STONY LONESOME. A thousand years of fun in one day on a critical mission is nearly impossible, you know." Discord casually said.

"Oh please, that foal you speak of is basically your soul-mate. I remember the way you gazed into Celestia's eyes the day you met her." Dr. Whooves teased the Draconequus. This irritated the chao Lord a bit.

"I do NOT love Celestia! She's simply too boring for my tastes, and right now, my taste is for cotton candy" Discord retorted, before eating a bit of the cotton candy cloud with his long snake tounge, nearly causing Rainbow Dash to puke.

"Oh come now Discord, you're simply discordant with your love life. Do not be ashamed of your failure to admit your affection for Celestia."

"Is he a Lord of Chaos or a God of Chaos, and if he's a God, then who created Discord?" Derpy chirped in.

"Ugh, this sappy tree sap is making me lose my lunch." Rainbow Dash said with a grossed-out grimace.

"ENOUGH, ALL OF YOU! IF I LOVED CELESTIA, I WOULD'VE BEEN WITH HER A THOUSAND YEARS AGO! I WAS JUST--"

"Just what?" Dr. Whooves asked.

"It-It doesn't matter anymore, I've gotten over it! The past is the past! I've let go of that...faithful day in history." Discord answered.

"Though on that 'faithful day', you got rejected, more or less friendzoned, by the princess." Dr. Whooves said.

"Or you could say Discord got friend-stoned!" Rainbow Dash joked, causing a barrage of laughter to further irritate the Chaos Lord. Just the mention of his chilling defeat by Celestia, Luna, and the Elements sent unimaginable chills down his 7 foot tall scaly back. Discord was now in pure melancholy.

"I've had enough of this." Discord said in a quiet tone.

With a sigh, Discord walked off the cotton cloud and fell through the clouds, before spreading his wings and flying down to a nearby cloud platform. The 3 ponies jumped down to the platform, searching for the monster.

"Discord? Where the hay are you?! Are you hiding again?!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Maybe he's hiding behind that really good-drawn door with an oversized handle." Derpy pointed the rainbow-maned mare to the regal looking door. Rainbow Dash flew over to the door, gazing in surprise at the 10 foot tall door, as it appeared to be painted by a skillfully handed, or hooved paintist. Opening the door with a hoof, Rainbow's eyes widened to see Discord wearing an artist's beret, brandishing a paintbrush in his eagel talons, only for the door to close quickly. Shaking her head, opening the door, she then saw Discord without his Leomaredo da Filly get-up. Discord lowered his head in shame at the pony.

"Discord, why are you bein' so quiet and sappy? You're starting to freak me out." Rainbow asked, only to see Discord open his eyes, now completely filled with golden scarlet rage and remorse. She was now expecting to be turned into a coconut or a pineapple, depending on his mood.

"I don't know, Rainbow Dash. It's like something inside me loves Celestia, yet something else craves...destruction, chaos, imbalance." Discord said.

"W-what? That doesn't make sense." Rainbow asked, confused.

"You may not think it, but chaos is an important element in life. Without chaos, peace cannot be perfect. There is no balance, no perfection. When I was encased in that...horrid stone prison, chaos was briefly exterminated from Equestria. Chaos could still survive, but only in small portions; such as evil beings, like Gilda or Trixie for example." Discord said.

"What Discord is trying to say is, chaos is a natural thing. It exists in every possibility. Without chaos, barely any natural outcome can be expected. Discord was simply too...choked up by chaos to realize the more important things." Dr.Whooves said, winking to Discord.

"Yes...I was trying to keep chaos alive. I may have...overdone it a smidge. I never...wanted to infuriate dear Celestia. My chaotic feelings made me her archenemy, but I never wanted an enemy! I wanted...a friend." Discord replied.

"What are you trying to say, Discord?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Maybe he wants a muffin?" Derpy asked with paying attention.

"Derpy...no. I don't think, wait, what?" Rainbow asked. The spirit laid out on the cotton cloud in contempt, shutting his eyes out from the world. Rainbow nudged him with one of her wings.

"Come on, talk to us, Discord," Rainbow pried. No response. Derpy offered a muffin from out of nowhere, but the chimera shrugged it off.

"Look at me, Discord," Rainbow pressed on, grabbing Discord's muzzle with her hooves and pushing the edges of it upwards to simulate a smile, but as she let go, they flopped back into his depressed frown. And Discord laid back down, looking glum. Rainbow Dash then walked over to him, her eyes met the spirit's, his own different sized pupils forming tears that streamed down his face, beside his slightly quivering lip. For the first time ever, the Draconequus was showing total sadness, dispair, and once again mentioned melancholy.

"Discord? You ok?" Rainbow Dash asked the chaotic being. She tried to jump in surprise as her small body was then spawled in the grasp of Discord's arms: Discord, the one who tried to oppress Ponyville, who turned the Mane 6 backwards, was hugging her.

"Oh for the love of Chaos and the Continuum! I'm just peachy keen now, Rainbow Dash! You're right, I do in fact love Celestia, but I was too afraid, and too absorbed and eaten alive by chaos to show it!" Discord gleefully shouted as he practically hugged Rainbow Dash so hard her rainbow colors were literally squeezed out of her like a pulpy orange.

"Whoa, Discord! You're kinda killing me right now! My Luna, I never thought I'd want Discord to not be evil!" Rainbow Dash uttered in pain.

"All the poor guy wanted from Celestia was to be loved, but was rejected. Makes you feel for him, don't it?" Dr.Whooves asked his assistant.

Watching from a nearby portal, led the Mane 5 ponies, 50 feet below the cloud, visibly shocked by the the events that had transpired a moment ago.

"Ok, I'm just gonna say it." Pinkie Pie said in a serious tone. "THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!" She then screamed. Overhearing her, Rainbow Dash quickly turned her head and noticed the 5 ponies all grinning ear to ear.

"RAINBOW DASH!" all 5 of the mares screamed happily in unison.

"Guys! What are you doing here?! Did you get my note?" She screamed back in surprise, as the group then jumped down to meet them.

"Yes, we did. It looked so horrid we assumed you were cloud-mugged." Rarity started.

"So we used your Element of Harmony as a tracking device." Twilight finished.

"We need you back, Rainbow Dash. Equestria needs you." Twilight said.

"That's why I left. I left so I could fix something that destroys Equestria! That's why I'm time-traveling with these guys!" Rainbow Dash said back to Twilight.

"Yes, something indeed will happen that will, like Rainbow said, destroy what is Equestria." Dr. Whooves replied.

"Oh but Dashie! We planned this super fun Welcome Home Party for you! I even sent out invites!" Pinkie chimed.

"I'd love to come home now, but I need to find out what destroys Equestria, and so far, nothing's worked." Rainbow Dash said, losing a bit of hope.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find that life is much better where I'm taking you." a mysterious voice said.

"Who said that?! Show yourself!" Rainbow Dash yelled into the distance. Out of nowhere, an emerald green swirling portal opened up a few feet from Rainbow, taking her by surprise. Erupting from the portal, stood Darkness Flash, the very stallion plotting to kill the rainbow mare. Darkness took advantage of the moments of stunned silence to glance at his surroundings.

"What a...colorful bunch of misfit ponies." Darkness spoke, glancing at the fuming mares with a raised eyebrow. Turning his attention to Discord, he and Discord exchanged looks of anger and jealously.

"If it isn't Discord, the creature made of several animals; the rock star of chaos who managed to get himself screwed up from a Princess who doesn't even love you." Darkness said with pride in his voice, although he was unable to faze the Draconequus.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?! And why do you look so much like Rainbow?!" Twilight yelled at Darkness.

"I'm sure you'll know who I am in due time." Darkness replied with a smirk. Trotting slowly to Rainbow Dash, then circling her, he begun making remarks at her.

"So...this is the backwater filly who serves as my...alternate imperfection. Tell me...have you ever seen a pony do...this?" Darkness mocked the pony with a demonstration of his power. Flaring his wings, and stomping the ground with his two front hooves in full force, unleashing a ring of fire slowly edging towards them. At Darkness' will, the ring of fire stopped, and proceeded to grow larger, as the grass burned to nothing, Rainbow Dash stood opposite to Darkness Flash, with a dark grimace of anger on her face, ready for anything. Now completely separated from the others in the circling inferno, Darkness and Rainbow were prime to kill, ready to strike. Darkness then spoke in the most threatening voice possible.

"Been waiting a long time for this moment."