Discord watched as a gray pegasus mare in a mail cap and carrying a messenger bag stopped on a park bench. He watched as she pulled out a brown paper bag and opened it.

While not really a term that Discord used very often -- as in "never before in his life before this moment" -- he could only think of one way to describe the sight: weird. Trees were juggling bushes, there were chickens the size of buffalo and buffalo the size of chickens, there were trails with soap and ice all over the town (which had been funnier when there were more ponies out and about), even flamingos singing in barbershop quartets. Yet here is this one little mare, going about her business as if there is absolutely nothing going on.

As Discord continued to watch, this mailmare pulled a muffin, a box of juice, and a bagel sandwich. She smiled as she looked at her food. At least, he thought she was. One of her eyes was focused on the sandwich now in her hooves while the other seemed to be looking up and away. Whatever the case, she seemed quite happy as she took a big bite out of her sandwich.

For some reason, the look of joy as she ate was too much for him. Discord could not stand it any more. Floating over to the bench, he landed to stand on the backrest. Placing his hands on his sides, he crouched down to glare at the pony.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to look as annoyed and angry as possible.

The gray pegasus turned toward him, lifted his head to look him in the face, and gulped. That last part he would have appreciated if it had been a gulp of fear and not of her simply swallowing her bite of sandwich. One yellow eye looked at him as she smiled.

"Hi," she said in a cheery tone. "I'm Derpy. What's your name?"

The look of anger vanished from Discord's face as it was replaced by confusion. This... this... Derpy pony was looking at him in the middle of a town turned upside (or at least a couple of its buildings were), and acting like everything was perfectly normal, just smiling up at him. Why was she so calm, so cute, so relaxed and upbeat? She should be running in terror before he does something to her, not sitting in the park looking adorable and making small talk while eating.

"Discord," he answered with a sigh. After clearing his throat he straightened up. "Now, let me ask you again: what are you doing?"

Derpy took another bite of her sandwich before answering.

"Taking my lunch break," she answered with her mouth face. She held her stand out toward him. "Do you want a bite? It's alfalfa and cheddar."

"Nooo....." Discord said as he stared at the offered food. "And that's not what I meant. What are you doing out here?"

"Oooh," Derpy said, eyes going wide. "I'm delivering the mail."

"Delivering... the... mail..." Discord repeated slowly as it tried to sink in. The answer was so casual and normal, that Discord was pretty sure the hamster on the wheel that was his brain had just had a heart attack from the shock.

"Well, yeah," replied Derpy as she turned back to her lunch. "I'm one of the mailponies for Ponyville. It's my job to make sure that ponies get their letters, catalogs, and packages." She paused to take a bite before continuing. "I have a lot to deliver today. None of the others showed up today for some reason. So now I don't just have to deliver my mail, but the mail of the others as well."

"Delivering... the... mail..." repeated Discord a second time, giving a shake of his head. He could not believe it. "You mean to tell me," he growled, "that with all of this" -- he waved his paw around -- "going on, and you're not only going about your normal job, but are covering for your co-workers?"

The question seem to give Derpy pause. She turned to look at him a moment, her big yellow eyes blinking. She then shoved the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and swallowed.

"Well yeah," Derpy answered. "Haven't you ever heard of the postal service oath?" She jumped up on her hind legs and posed struck one of her front legs straight out in front of her.

"'Neither snow," she called out, "nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, stays these couriers from their appointed rounds.'" She then placed her hooves on her hips, spread her wings wide and puffed out her chest.

With a huff, Discord rolled his eyes and gave a shake of his head.

"That's all very nice, but it says absolutely nothing about tyrants, beings of chaos, or soap-covered roads."

Dropping back into a sitting position, Derpy lifted a hoof to her chin, tapping it as she thought. Her nose scrunched up and ears pinned back as she considered what she had just been told.

"No," she finally conceded, "but it does include 'gloom of night,' which means that if Nightmare Moon had taken over, we would still have to work. So why would this be any different?"

Discord opened his mouth to retort, then stopped. Two things came to him. One: that was sort of a valid point. If they were expected to deliver the mail while one insane nigh-immortal being tried to take over Equestria, why would they not expect the same when another was? Second -- and more importantly -- why was he even having this discussion in the first place?

With a huff, he turned his attention to her muffin. Grabbing it, he stood back up and held it in his talon. A gasp from the mare drew his attention. She was staring at him with her eyes wide.

"What are you doing?" she cried out. "That's my muffin."

Eyes narrowing, Discord pealed the wrapper from muffin.

"Stop it," Derpy growled out. "My daughter made that for me."

Discord threw the muffin over his shoulder, hearing a splash as it landed in something and a shocked gasp from the mailmare. He then shoved the wrapper into his mouth and chewed.

"She must not be a very good cook," he stated around the paper. "That is one of the worst muffin wrappers I have eaten in years."

After staring where her muffin had landed in a puddle, then got stomped by chicken sized buffaloes, then pecked by buffalo sized chickens, Derpy turned back toward Discord. Both eyes focused on him -- which he found strangely disconcerting -- as they narrowed into a glare. Her nose scrunched up as her cheeks puffed out with frustration. She was so cute when she was angry.

Before Discord knew what was going on, the mare was nose to nose with him, pressing a hoof against his chest.

"You're lucky I have to get back to work," she growled before turning away. Grabbing her mailbag and juice box, she gave him one last glare. With a final huff, she turned away and took off.

With a huff of his own, Discord took off as well. Taking a long, twisting path that let him look at different pieces of Discordia, he made his way toward what had been Ponyville's town hall. He landed on the sill of one window and walked in, stepping into The Mayor's Office.

The pony that had been the mayor of Ponyville stood behind her desk. Her jaw clenched as she watched the newly arrived Discord make his way toward her.

"Oh, don't give me that," Discord told her. "You were the mayor of Ponyville. Since it is no longer Ponyville, you're no longer the mayor. You should be grateful that I let you use the office for a little longer before I turn the place into my wreck room."

"You will never get away with this," Mayor Mare shouted. Although, the sounds did not come from her mouth, but the other end.

"Oh, blow it out your ass," Discord snapped. A grin spread across his face as he started to chuckle. "Although, I suppose you did that already."

"Somepony will try to stop you," the mayor continued.

"Oh I do hope so," Discord squealed out. He turned and walked back toward the window. Leaning against the frame, he looked out. "After all, what fun would it be if none of them fought back? It sounds like it would get very boring pretty fast."

He looked out at what had once been a dull, boring, normal little town. Now it looked so much better. Still... it felt like it needed something more. The curse of any artist Discord supposed. No matter how much effort a creature put into something, or how wonderful it seemed, there was always a feeling that there was something more they felt they could do to make it perfect.

"Part of the fun is seeing how ponies react and what they'll do about it." He waved his talon out toward the town. "After all, what would be the point of doing all this, if there was no response."

His eyes caught sight of a familiar looking form. Discord grinned as he moved toward the edge of the window.

"Looks like I see a familiar face down there. If you'll excuse me, Mayor, I have a little bit of rubbing in to do."