The previous evening, Twilight Sparkle confronted Princess Celestia. “Princess, today I felt like you were constantly pushing me away. I want more than anypony to help send these humans home. I’ve been close to the problem since the first day, and was the first to let you know about these strange happenings. So why didn’t you want me to help? Don’t you respect my discoveries?”

“Twilight Sparkle, my diligent student,” Princess Celestia began, “I do respect your discoveries. I respect your thorough documentation of your observations, and have read your theories with great interest. And it is out of respect for your work that I have held you back.”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“Your reported the unusual void that occurred when you tried using your magic on our visitors. I do not know how far this effect extends,” explained Princess Celestia. “Would it affect your ability to calculate the magical forces needing to send them home safely? I cannot know. I do know, however, that you would not forgive yourself if something did indeed happen to them, as a result of your failed calculation.”

Princess Celestia smiled reassuringly. “Besides, I knew these visitors needed a friend, and I knew you were the one most qualified to show them the one form of magic not affected by these strange circumstances, the magic of friendship.”

“I see,” Twilight Sparkle said. “It just… it just doesn’t feel like I’m helping if I’m not researching or doing magic!”

“I also want you to know that I greatly respect your judgment,” said Princess Celestia. “Your suggestion that these events were orchestrated was agreed to by all, but your subsequent fear that these events were a major threat to Equestria was seen by most as overreaction. It was I that ordered the highest level of preparation here in Canterlot. It was I that ordered the Elements of Harmony here.”

“The Elements!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. “Have you checked on them?”

“Yes, my faithful student,” replied Princess Celestia. “The physical Elements of Harmony are safe in the vault. I have refreshed the wards, and I have asked Princess Luna to rule the night from outside the Elements’ chamber, rather than from her favorite observation platform. As for the spiritual Elements, know that your friends are being protected by a double shift of guards. And pegasus patrols are flying over the trains from Fillydelphia and Appleoosa, so know that Applejack is protected as well.

“Tomorrow, when I perform the ritual to send our visitors home, the Elements of Harmony will be gathered, in case there are troubles. Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Thank you Princess,” replied Twilight Sparkle. “But I still can’t shake the fear that something bad will happen.”

Crossing Over
By Alaborn

Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.

Chapter 7: The Final Countdown

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Celestia,” said an unfamiliar voice. A nondescript male earth pony, brown with a sandy mane, stood in the grounds of the garden. I was certain he wasn’t there before.

The magical glow faded from the horns of Princess Celestia and the unicorns. The incredibly gentle visage of the princess was replaced with intense furor. “GUARDS!” she roared. She turned to the stranger. “Who are you to invade my gardens?” she demanded.

“Who am I? Now, that’s something I wouldn’t expect you to know, but it’s a fair question for these fine ponies,” he said, motioning to the Elements of Harmony. “After all, I’ve been in Ponyville for months.”

The brown pony turned back, watching the guards. They were unable to approach, futilely pounding on a dome of force. “Oh, and this doesn’t involve your guards. Or those other unicorns.” The six spellcasters assisting Princess Celestia were surrounded by giant soap bubbles, and rose into the air, suspended out of our reach.

Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed, but her magic suddenly dissipated. “Now, now, no magic. Use your eyes and your brains,” the stranger said.

Pinkie Pie circled the stranger, examining him from every angle. She put her ear to his chest. She poked his side and flicked his mane. She sniffed him. The stranger grabbed Pinkie Pie’s tongue before she could examine him with a fifth sense.

“Buh tha ihah…” The stranger released her tongue. “But that’s impossible! I know everypony!” said Pinkie Pie, flustered.

“Oh, really? I find that hard to believe, watching you ignore all us humble ponies in the background. At first, I thought it to be too great a challenge. So I made a few changes.” The stranger motioned to his flank, and the image of a desert island was replaced by a trio of horseshoes. Then it became a scroll.

“What in tarnation are you talkin’ about?” said Applejack.

“And how could you be using magic?” asked Rarity.

“See, you’re asking the wrong questions,” said the stranger. “You should be asking, why didn’t I notice this before? In fact, you didn’t even notice a change like this.” He clapped his hooves, and turned into a pegasus. “And I’ve even spoken in different voices,” he continued, in a higher-pitched voice.

“What do you want?” demanded Rainbow Dash. She flew up to the stranger, and raised her hooves, in an imitation of a pugilist. “You looking for a bruising?”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, so brash,” he said. “But surely you remember all the attention you’ve received?” The stranger shifted again, into a gray earth pony with a camera. The camera flashed, and Rainbow Dash staggered back, dazzled.

“And dear Applejack, surely you remember these moves?” The stranger changed into a larger green earth pony, wearing a cowboy hat and neckerchief. A lasso appeared out of thin air, flew out, and trussed Applejack with lightning speed.

Applejack craned her head. “You!”

“You mean me, first place in the lasso competition at the Canterlot Rodeo?” The pony stuck an oversized blue ribbon to his chest.

The stranger changed again, into a unicorn. “Remember that high society party I invited you to, Rarity? You were so excited, you were willing to break a promise you made to your friend… and yourself!” Rarity fumed.

He changed again, into a goat. “And it was easy to send a certain minotaur in the direction of Ponyville.” Fluttershy stepped back, bad memories of “new Fluttershy” returning to her.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Princess Celestia, her royal voice powerful enough to stop even the smarmy stranger. “I know there’s only one creature cruel enough, wicked enough, to toy with my little ponies. Reveal yourself!” she commanded.

The goat shrugged, morphing back into a pony, then flashing through dozens of forms before finally growing. The resulting form was that of a tall chimerical creature. I recognized it from the statue in the gardens. It was….

“Discord!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“In the flesh,” he responded. “Did you miss me?”

“But how?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “We defeated you, and bound you again in stone!”

“Oh, Twilight Sparkle,” he said. “Surely, you remember that I was bound for centuries by the powers of the Elements of Harmony… and the magic of the Princesses. Now, while your own magic is at quite a respectable level,” he said, placing his eagle claw hand at Twilight Sparkle’s eye level, “surely you realize that the magical capabilities of a humble draconequus are at, shall we say, a much higher level.” He raised his lion paw hand above his head, then his arm stretched ever upwards, indicating the very high opinion he held of his own power.

Discord’s unnaturally stretched arm fell to the ground like a rubber hose, then reached out, encircling the Elements of Harmony. He pulled them close, into a hug that was the very opposite of tender. “So you see, my little ponies, your magical bonds ended up as constrictive as this little hug.”

“But… but… the statue…” said Fluttershy.

Discord abandoned the hug. “Oh, that old thing? Shoddy workmanship. It makes me look fat, and doesn’t capture my noble chin at all.” The stone statue rose, floated towards the group, and then fell, shattering into dozens of pieces when it hit the ground. The statue was revealed to be hollow, and a brown, viscous substance flowed onto the grass.

Pinkie Pie walked up to the broken statue, sniffed the goop, and scooped up a healthy portion with her tongue. “Discord turned into chocolate pudding!” she exclaimed. She took an even bigger bite. “Delicious chocolate pudding!”

Discord slapped his forehead with his lion paw hand. “I’m right here, you silly thing. I will admit it took a considerable amount of time to find a chocolate pudding of sufficient quality to be worthy of taking my form. But that’s neither here nor there. What is important is that it took mere moments after my ‘defeat’ for you ponies to argue once again. And that first argument created a loose thread, which I merely had to pull to unravel the entire binding ritual.”

I stood in the magic circle with my fellow transformed humans, watching the scene unfold before us. We were pretty much forgotten at this point, as this old rivalry was monopolizing everyone’s attention.

“What the hell did we get dragged into?” said Bobbie.

“I don’t know, but I want to slap that monster,” said Shannon.

“He’s monologging! He’s totally monologging!” Brianna complained.

“He sounds just like Q,” said Chris.

“There’s just one of him against seven good guys,” I said. I hoped that was enough for the good guys to win.

“We’ve heard just about enough,” said Twilight Sparkle. Her horn glowed, and the ornate chest opened. Pendants that looked carved from solid gemstone rose, and flew to the necks of five of the ponies. Each pendant took a different shape, tied to the ponies’ cutie marks. A larger crown, a star like her cutie mark at its center, settled itself onto Twilight Sparkle’s head. “You failed to steal the Elements of Harmony this time. The power of our friendship and the Elements of Harmony will defeat you again, and with the help of Princess Celestia, we will bind you away forever.”

Discord raised his taloned hand to his mouth. “Oh, my. How could I have forgotten the Elements of Harmony? My flawless plan, revealed to have a flaw.” He dramatically put the hand to his forehead. “I’m ruined.” He fell backwards, landing on a couch that wasn’t there seconds earlier.

“How DARE you imitate me, you ruffian!” shouted Rarity.

Discord stood up, the couch no longer present. “I guess it’s time to face the music. Perform your little ritual, and send me away for good,” he said, completely insincerely. He held his arms out, as if he were looking to be handcuffed.

Doubt crossed the faces of the six ponies. Twilight Sparkle rallied them. “Don’t fall for his tricks. Do it, now!”

The six ponies concentrated, the five respective amulets glowing. A pale white energy connected each element to Twilight Sparkle’s crown. She rose into the air briefly, but the energy sputtered, then dissipated entirely. Twilight Sparkle collapsed into the ground.

“What’s happening?” asked Fluttershy.

Discord collapsed to the ground, laughing and pounding the ground with his fists. “Oh, this is so precious. Watching the Elements of Harmony without their precious harmony? You should see yourselves.” He produced a mirror out of nowhere, so the ponies could in fact see themselves.

“Try again!” ordered Twilight Sparkle. Again, whatever the Elements of Harmony were trying to accomplish didn’t work.

“While I admire your spunk, my little ponies, surely by now you realize that the Elements of Harmony require harmony to work,” explained Discord.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the seven of us. Then Discord turned his head. Soon, everyone was looking at us. I groaned. This situation was going to get blamed on me, somehow.

Discord jumped into the middle of my group. Motioning broadly, he said, “Meet the elements of disharmony. The element of weirdness, the element of strangeness, the element of bizarreness, the element of…” Discord started paging through a thesaurus that had suddenly appeared in his hands.

“Wait, which is which?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Discord discarded the thesaurus. “Does it really matter? They’re all weird. And more importantly, they have never known, and will never know, harmony. Such a lovely feeling, don’t you agree?”

“But how did you find us?” I asked. If this jerk was willing to monolog like a stereotypical villain, I might as well take the opportunity to get some questions answered. As long as he was talking, he wasn’t going to be hurting us. And I held a slim hope that the delay would allow someone to figure out a way to defeat him.

“You see, my little alien, there’s a rather strong though recent connection between your world and mine,” said Discord. “Since I was trapped for so long with nothing but my unparalleled mind to keep me company, I was well positioned to notice this change. I suppose Celestia’s been too busy with her ‘raising the sun’ and her ‘ruling beneficently’ thing to notice.

“And what a world it is! A spell of astral projection enabled me to feel such wonderful emotions. Fear! Hatred! Mistrust! Dishonesty! Discord, in its purest and most potent form! Why, just a dash of these negative feelings could destroy the overweening harmony so carefully enshrined in this world!

“And thus, I crafted a backup to my original genius plan. Oh, I was confident that I could turn each of you away from your individual elements, and I was right. But the magic of friendship,” Discord sneered, making finger quotes with his incongruous hands, “had grown a lot more potent since my last reign. Your work, I suppose, Princess.”

“This time, I’ll let you have all the elements you want. Laugh away, Pinkie Pie. Love everything, Fluttershy. Stand by your friends, Rainbow Dash. Generously give of yourself, Rarity. Stay true, Applejack. Be Equestria’s biggest magical egghead, Twilight Sparkle. But how is that working out for you right now?”

Discord sidled up to Applejack. “I’m sure you enjoyed that long train trip with your two bickering friends. I bet you’d say anything to get them to shut up, wouldn’t you?”

“That’s a lie!” yelled Applejack. Then she looked shocked. “Wait, that was a lie,” she admitted to herself.

Discord appeared behind Pinkie Pie. “Look at those pathetic fools. Don’t you just want to laugh at them?”

“Laugh at? But that’s the bad kind of laughter,” said Pinkie Pie.

“They aren’t worth lifting a hoof to help, are they, Rarity?” Discord continued. A scowl was her only response.

“And sweet Fluttershy,” said Discord maliciously. “Are you enjoying the feelings these visitors inspire in you? Feelings of....”

“Don’t say it!” screamed Fluttershy, her eyes shut tight. She exhaled, and stomped her hoof. Opening her eyes, Fluttershy stared at Discord. “And you’re wrong. John said he wanted to be my friend.”

“A friend whose only goal is to leave you forever?” said Discord. “Oh, that’s what the best friendships are made from.”

“But why did you steal us from the past as well?” I asked.

Discord turned again to face us. “Do you want to be here?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Do any of you want to be here?”

Everyone else said no, with several choice unprintable words modifying the nos.

Discord clapped his hands. “Exactly! Dragging someone here who wanted to be here wouldn’t suit my plans at all. Thus, a blast from the past. But enough chit-chat. It’s time to begin the second reign of Discord.

“I’m feeling a bit hungry. Shall we have an early lunch? I’ve come to truly appreciate the Filly cheesehay sandwich. You should try it.” Discord snapped his fingers, and a giant sandwich formed around Rarity. She squealed as long strands of straw were stuck to her coat by the yellow-orange cheese sauce.

Princess Celestia’s horn glowed, and the giant sandwich disappeared. “I will defeat you myself if I have to, Discord,” she said. Her horn glowed with the yellow light of the morning sun, and a beam shot out at Discord.

Discord raised his lion paw, and an untidy wave of red energy flew into Princess Celestia’s beam. The energy of the two beams dissipated with a hiss and sparks of orange energy, but with no effect. Discord casually inspected his eagle talons and yawned.

“Didn’t we do this thirteen centuries ago, Celestia? I can keep this up all day,” said Discord. “Our powers will forever be at the same level. You know you need to do something else to defeat me, and without your precious Elements of Harmony, it’s time to admit it. YOU LOST.” Discord’s last two words echoed throughout the garden. I could feel them shake my body. The landscape seemed to shimmer as the power of his voice spread across the land.

The magical duel between Discord and Celestia continued to do nothing. Various attacks by the other ponies were shrugged off by Discord as if he were brushing away gnats.

“That’s it. We are officially screwed,” said Tim. “The dark side has won.”

“He’ll never send us home,” said Brianna.

“He’s Q, with an even worse attitude. I didn’t think that was possible,” said Chris.

“I don’t care what animal parts that thing is crafted from. He is 100% ass,” spat Shannon.

I watched Twilight Sparkle’s horn glow with an intense orange energy. Whatever spell she cast washed over Discord, barely warranting his notice. Why couldn’t I do the same with my horn?

I had an epiphany. I knew magic better than almost any human. I’ve thought about spells, words, motions, magical theory, the whole otherworldly logic of it. I must be able to draw upon this. I concentrated, and stared at Discord.

“Avada Kedavra.”

I feared not the consequences to my soul of uttering the Unforgivable Curse. These were desperate times. I would take the risk to save everyone’s life and defeat this tyrant. I pictured the scene where this Unforgivable Curse was uttered against poor Frank Bryce. I thought to the movie, remembered the exact gestures, and echoed them with movements of my horn. I remembered the final battle at Hogwarts in Book 7, the passion, the desperation.

“Avada Kedavra!” I shouted.

This is the point where I’m supposed to finally master the power I know is in me. I save the day in the nick of time. I earn the eternal gratitude of Albus Dumbledore and the begrudging respect of Severus Snape. I receive the hearty congratulations of my fellow students in the common room, and have my pick of any of my fellow students. (Hermione.)

Again, I was reminded that I didn’t make it into the Harry Potter universe. Absolutely nothing happened, except that everyone was looking at me incredulously. If I were honest with myself, I’d have to admit I knew it wouldn’t work. The horn on my head was nothing but a useless lump of bone. Or ivory, or keratin, or whatever it was. I pounded my horn into the ground in frustration. Vibrations ran through the tough horn and into my skull.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. A horn that can’t be used for magic is still a horn. I lowered my head and started running. My horn pointed straight forward, and I charged at Discord, imagining him as the enemy knight in a joust.

I think I briefly brushed his goat leg, but he jumped in the air, still maintaining all his magical effects. He looked at me; I took some comfort in the fact that I actually surprised Discord. “Temper, temper,” he scolded. He waved his taloned hand, and a force like a moving car slammed into me, sending me into the air.

As I was falling, a pair of strong forelegs grabbed me. Rainbow Dash caught me and returned me to the ground. “Thanks,” I said.

“Ah, don’t mention it,” she replied. “We won’t let you down.” Rainbow Dash flew off to rejoin the futile battle.

A chunk of rock from the destroyed Discord statue smacked Discord in the back of the head. Discord turned and saw Dan, hefting another chunk of rock. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” he said, ignoring the fact that none of us were anywhere near the draconequus’ size.

Discord stared at us. “Why don’t you learn your place?” he hissed. All the magical effects between him and Celestia continued to operate on their own. Discord’s attention was fully on us.

Discord’s comment incensed Bobbie. She picked up a large piece of statue and hurled it, though it fell short. Meanwhile, Shannon pulled off her cloak, and was waving it in front of her, like a matador’s cape. “Olé, sucker,” she said.

Discord imitated a bull, lowering the mismatched horns on his head and pawing the ground. Then he stood up, laughing uproariously. His lion’s paw covered his face while he slapped his goat’s leg with his eagle’s talon. “Whatever inspired you to think I’d charge you like….”

The rest of Discord’s words were muffled as the cloak, thrown by Shannon the instant Discord was distracted, wrapped around his head. I made the most of the opportunity granted by Shannon’s action, and charged. I hit. Discord’s draconic hide was surprisingly tough, but my horn sank deep enough to draw blood.

More stones flew, thrown by Dan and Bobbie. One of Bobbie’s throws slammed into Discord’s chest, and he tumbled backwards, landing hard on the ground. As he continued to struggle with the cloak wrapped around his head, I started kicking his prone form as fast as I could. Chris and Tim soon joined me. Shannon rushed up and jumped on Discord’s body, planting all four hooves on his chest as hard as she could. Brianna ran up and bit down hard on Discord’s arm. Dan rushed up with a large rock, as did Bobbie, a long piece of stone that was once the statue’s tail clutched in her teeth.

Discord finally ripped off the cloak. His eyes first fell on Bobbie, anger obvious in her eyes. She stared at Discord, and smiled wickedly. “Go… to… hell!” she said, through clenched teeth, as she swung her makeshift bat between Discord’s legs.

Discord’s surprised scream ripped through the gardens. Twilight Sparkle suddenly stood up tall. “Girls! Use the Elements of Harmony, now!” she ordered.

The five ponies surrounded Twilight Sparkle and concentrated. A vibrant energy, tinged a brick red color, surrounded each amulet, and flowed into Twilight Sparkle’s crown. The energy surrounded her, raising her into the air, soon followed by the other five ponies. Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, her pupils vanished from the orbs of pure energy. Suddenly, a wide beam of energy streaked out, encasing a still-stunned Discord.

Before my very eyes, I watched as the evil Discord petrified, forming a statue made of basalt. When the last bit of flesh had turned to stone, the glow ceased, and the six ponies collapsed. They appeared unhurt, merely depleted.

Princess Celestia rose. Her own magic formed spectral chains, wrapping around the form of Discord.

All around me, things returned to normal. The sky, which I hadn’t even noticed had turned stormy, cleared. The trapped unicorn spellcasters returned to their ground, their bubble prisons popping. The guards who had been trapped outside rushed in, looking for any further dangers.

Twilight Sparkle was quick to stand. “Is he trapped for good, Princess?”

Princess Celestia smiled gently. “Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle. Discord shall not be free for a long time.”

Twilight Sparkle turned to us. “I want to thank you, John. You’re the one who told me how humans feel a kind of harmony when united against a common foe. It’s not the way harmony is supposed to feel, but it was enough to allow the Elements of Harmony to function again.

Pinkie Pie rose. “Why do I have the sudden urge to use sarcasm to make people laugh?” she wondered. “Like that would be a good idea,” she continued.

Rarity shook her head. “I feel like I need a very long and very hot bath,” she announced. “And not just to get rid of these awful cheese stains.”

“I’m having bad feelings of new Fluttershy,” the yellow pegasus admitted.

“Ah’m just glad this is over,” said Applejack.

“I guess you guys are all right,” Rainbow Dash said to us. She gave each of us a hoof bump.

Fluttershy hesitantly walked up to me. She extended her foreleg. I extended mine. They touched, briefly.

“Does that mean you’re no longer feeling ‘not like?’” I asked.

“I still feel very strange,” she admitted. “Instead of not like, I feel… weird. But it’s a nice kind of weird.”

I’ll call that a victory.

Again, we stood within the magic circle. Spellcasters were practicing their incantations. Princess Celestia was ready to power the ritual.

“Wait!”

Pinkie Pie rushed into the circle. “I’m sorry we don’t have time for a ‘You’re leaving Equestria forever’ party, or even a proper ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party before the ‘Leaving Equestria’ party, which I have thrown before, unlike the ‘Leaving’ party, because who’d want to leave Equestria forever, and…”

“Pinkie!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, so I thought the least I could do is give you a going-away cupcake.” Pinkie Pie handed each of us a box, sized to fit a large cupcake, then left the circle. I shrugged, and put it in my saddlebags.

Princess Celestia raised her horn. It glowed, as did the horns of the six spellcasters. I quickly glanced around, then focused on the basalt statue of Discord. It remained unmoving. My mane and tail rose as electrical charge grew within me. I tingled. Energy formed around me, and connected with the metal rod at my back. I felt a strange twisting sensation. Then, blackness.

“Did it work?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“It did,” replied Princess Celestia. “As best as I can tell from where I stand, in our world, the visitors are safe in their home world. The magical changes to their form should be undone.”

“But what can we do about Discord?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “Is it true that he risks being freed every time the Elements of Harmony change hooves? Are we doomed to fight him every generation?”

“Discord is a fundamental force in this world. His magic is too strong to eliminate forever,” explained Princess Celestia.

“This world? Princess, what about….” Twilight whispered an idea into Princess Celestia’s ear.

Princess Celestia smiled. “I think that’s an excellent idea, my student. Would you like to help me with the calculations for the ritual?”

My head hurt. I opened my eyes. I was on my stomach, sprawled on the ground, dead leaves everywhere. I crawled to my hands and my knees. Hands! I patted my body. I was back to normal!

I stood up and grabbed my phone from the side pocket of my backpack. 11:56 AM, April 9, 2008. I remembered days of… something that made absolutely no sense. Was it a dream? If so, that was the shortest dream ever. I don’t even think a minute had passed. There was no sign that anything had happened in this wooded area that I had been running through….

The test! I ran as fast as I could, and made it to class only three minutes late. I put the exam in front of me. I struggled to remember the formulas. Yesterday’s cram session now felt like so long ago.

Time was called. I sighed. If I didn’t do well on this test, I’d just have to do better on the final.

As I left physics class, everything felt normal again. I remembered the campus walkways, the fliers posted on the outdoor bulletin board. I thought about tomorrow’s shift at the pizza place.

By the time I sat down for my 1:30 PM calculus class, I had convinced myself that nothing had happened after all. Then I opened the main section of my backpack to retrieve my homework. There was a box there. Opening it, I saw a large chocolate cupcake.

When I returned home that afternoon, the first thing I did was turn on my computer. I typed up everything that I remembered happening on my “trip.” I read it over and over. Then I closed the file, and moved it to an obscure subdirectory of my hard drive. I ate the cupcake. Dark chocolate, with a cherry center and chocolate-cayenne buttercream. It was delicious.

I also found that issue of Bobbie’s punk rock zine in my backpack. I scanned it and e-mailed it anonymously to a punk rock history website. I hoped they would enjoy it.

With that done, I took out my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—the original Bloomsbury edition—and started reading.

Discord stewed. He was trapped again. How could these aliens find their own harmony in such a short time period? And how could they restore the power of the Elements of Harmony? He had thought through the plan for months. How could it have gone wrong?

Powerful magic reached out, gripping Discord’s very essence. This power was too good, too pure. It had to be Celestia. He felt himself being stretched, pulled, twisted, and reoriented. Discord’s keen mind analyzed the observed sensations and translated them back into theory. He could sense he was traveling across dimensions!

Discord’s essence reformed into one metaphysical piece. He felt himself still trapped in stone, a somewhat unfamiliar stone shape, but then he felt something wonderful. Something powerful. Something chaotic. All around him, Discord felt the potent disharmony, the very feature that attracted him to this world.

“I can rule this place,” he thought. With such power everywhere around him, he would make Earth the chaos capital of the multiverse. He reached out to pull strands of chaos, to fashion some chaotic playthings.

Nothing. Discord did nothing. Discord could do nothing. In a world where magic did not function, all his power was for naught. It was only the primal power of being the spirit of chaos incarnate that left him with enough magic to know he was alive.

A pigeon settled on his stone form. “Shoo. Scat. Get away,” thought Discord. The pigeon did not react. Its tail feathers twitched and rose.

“Don’t you dare,” thought Discord.

*plop*

“He dared.”