STAND NAME: SMOOTH CRIMINAL

STAND USER: CANNY CLOCKWORK

Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony

Rainbow Dash. You know that name quite well, as it would seem. The two of you work together in Ponyville's small weather team, her the sole mare in charge of daytime sky clearing (well, okay, Clear Skies also helps, but Rainbow Dash is the most frequent contributor), while you do basic weather additions: light sprinkles and drizzles, light winds, etcetera and possibly ad infinitum. It's not even your true passion (you didn't get your Cutie Mark, a star, for managing rain and winds, after all), but it's relaxing and rewarding and-

"You doin' that thing where you monologue to yourself?" asks Canny Clockwork in the grip of your forehooves as you fly past another one of New Divide's folds. In the midst of your inner speech regarding your acquaintanceship with Rainbow Dash, it seemed to slip your mind that you actually were straight up chasing after her.

You shake your head, peering forward and once again focusing on the hot air balloon as it, and Rainbow Dash, draw closer. "It's not monologuing," you defend, admittedly weakly, "it's...compiling information while tuning out the outside world."

"Right..," she replies. You swear you can feel her roll her eyes somehow, as though her good-natured snarking at you has become a physical presence. Which, given Smooth Criminal's existence, might actually be somewhat true.

wizard0209's Comment and the First Section of Down With Chrysalis'

You finally manage to catch up, gaining from behind as you flap your wings and try to keep pace with the hot air balloon. Naturally, the first to spot you is the mare who seems to keep being the most notable of the six Element Bearers, Pinkie Pie, who turns around to spot you and excitedly gasps out "Hi there!" She waves and points you and Canny out to the other girls. You hear a barrage of either greetings or questions.

"Oh, my! What are you doing?"

"Howdy! Uh, so, who's that?

"Um...hi..."

All except Twilight peer over to see you just as you got parallel with the balloon, flying on it's right. "Hey!" you greet. "Me again. From the thing with the library, hi. Uh, mind if me and my friend Canny here help out with Rainbow Dash?"

Twilight finally looks over, making sure the balloon is still chasing after Dash, and smiles warmly. "Sure! More help is always appreciated," she tells you, sounding genuinely appreciative. "I guess we need to catch eachother up to speed first, though. "i mean, why come help us instead of cleaning up Ponyville? And...why are you so beat up and bloody?"

Due to the snug fit, you merely set Canny down in the balloon and keep yourself aloft, flapping your wings by the balloon's side. "Well, helping you is the right thing to do," you justify, choosing to keep your involvement with Celestia until later, when you can sit down and go into great detail about you and your wacky Stands. "And, er, me and Canny got into a fight with some kinda Discord cultist. We won, but he got some good hits on me." You also hide the fact that he was allegedly one of "Celestia's hidden failures." That's something to ask at a later date, when you're hopped up on enough cider to pass out immediately afterwards and forget that you just challenged royalty like that.

Fluttershy, kind-hearted as she is, immediately gasps. She goes over to the side and tells you "After we help Rainbow Dash, can you, um, please get checked out? Your wounds might be bad."

"Eh, I'm still flyin'," you justify, despite all the pain shooting through you with every flap of your wings. "Enough about me. Uh, what's up with RD? Why's she...stealin' a cloud?"

Applejack sighs, using her hoof to hold her hat on as the wind picks up. "Discord did things to our minds in the garden maze, hypnotizin' and such. Reversed our personalities and our Elements," she explains, watching over RD with a careful glare. "Ah turned into a huge liar, Pinkie was a grump, Rarity was a pain in the flank, and so on."

"Wait, wait, hold on," Canny interrupts, raising a hoof up. "So, if I've got this right, The Elements are-" she begins muttering, pointing at each one as she vocalizes something under her breath before pointing at RD. "So, she's Loyalty, right?" she concludes, which everyone else either verbally affirms or just nods to. "So, the opposite of Loyalty is...bloody Cloud Theft?"

"She thinks it's Cloudsdale," Rarity justifies, and you can see Canny's eyebrow raise as a very similar (though not the same) exact flows through her voice. "She's because traitorous and paranoid. She thinks we're trying to steal her home from her."

Canny's eye twitches as you keep hovering to their right, keeping your own gaze locked on Rainbow Dash. Finally, you hear her say "I can't tell if I expected that answer or not, to be quite honest, so I'll shut my gob for a mo'." She then directs her attention to you, and asks you "You've got a plan for this, right Star?" And as a matter of fact, you do indeed have something in mind.

Cloverleaf: But for New Divide it should be easy....so long as you can catch her with it.

Thanks to what looks like a lasso grabbing onto Rainbow Dash tightly, her immense speed is not an issue as you manage to keep at it. You can see it get pulled as though trying to reel her in, but by that point, you're already flying ahead of it, right towards Rainbow Dash. Remembering New Divide has some range to it, you summon it out as you fly towards her. You can immediately hear the Elements gasp behind you, and from what you remember, they wore the Elements already. Seems like the group finally unlocked theirs, even if they have yet to summon them.

"Hi, again!" shouts Pinkie Pie from behind you as you then remember that you at least assumed she joined the club early. Well, in any case, you keep at it, right up to going behind her. You hear a familiar sound of a gear cannon tuning as Rainbow Dash turns around and glares right as New Divide lunges forward, managing to dodge it. Once she does, though, a gear suddenly materializes, hidden and intangible thanks to Smooth Criminal, and hits the cloud, clearly startling her. She lets out an "eep!" before getting folded in as 'Cloudsdale' floats away from the momentum. The balloon catches up soon after, and you unfold it as the basket holds under, Rainbow Dash falling into the basket. She tries to get up, but you can see Twilight touch her with a glowing horn, and as her color returns, you know this part of the job is done.

Once you all land, everypony, Canny included, walks out, along with a somewhat confused Rainbow Dash getting caught up to speed. "I must say, darling, that was an impressive trick with the floating pony...ghosts or what have you that you and Shooting Star used."

"Stands, Rarity," Canny corrects, cheekily tipping her hat with a smile. "And from what I can tell, you need to have one to see 'em. Guess you just haven't called yours out."

"Truly?" Rarity responds, her eyes seeming to dazzle in the light. "Well, when I can call mine, I hope it is conducive to my fashion. It'd be handy to have my ghost, er, Stand around my workshop." She then asks the obvious question of "Darling, why are they called Stands if they hover?" And all Canny can do is shrug.

You turn around to keep walking to Canterlot, only to see Pinkie Pie grinning widely at you. "You got yours!" she calls out, sounding just as excited as ever. "I thought I was seeing things back at the treehouse, but you have a Stand too! Awesome! I'd throw you a Stand Party, but then I could only invite some ponies and I don't like leaving ponies out. But my sister Maud, I don't know if she has one, but she can do this weird thing with her breathing and sunlig-"

DWC's Comment, Second Section

Pinkie Pie is suddenly interrupted by being lightly pushed out of the way with an Aura of lavender magic, her hooves scuffing up the dirt as Twilight looks at you and the approaching Canny with excitement. "Uh, hi?" you awkwardly ask as she looks over you and Canny.

"Uh, heh," Canny says, looking at Twilight the same way. With a cheeky grin, she says "If you're gonna check me out like that, you should buy me dinner first, luv." Twilight blushes, obviously having heard, but still watching over. "Okay, seriously, you're freakin' me out," Canny says.

"Sorry, just excited," Twilight motor-mouths out. "The floating ghost thingies, what are they called? Do you know? I hope you know."

You look at Canny with a raised eyebrow before responding "Well, Twilight, they're called Stands." She nods at this in understanding.

She takes a step back and looks over you two again, a quizzical expression over her features before she asks "Can you show them off again?" You again look to Canny, who simply shrugs in response. You do so, New Divide appearing by your side as Canny does the same, summoning Smooth Criminal. Twilight twitches, and then suddenly lunges right at New Divide. She flies through it, landing behind you, before going for Smooth Criminal and, again, flying through. Smirking at Canny, who reciprocates the grin, you run in front of the group on the way to Canterlot, with Twilight giving chase.

She finally gives up after around ten minutes of yelling about science and study, huffing and panting as she settles down. "Sorry, you two," she apologizes. "I don't know what came over me. I guess this new phenomenon excited me to the point where I felt like it was more important."

You walk over to Twilight and shrug. "Eh, apology accepted," you state. "It's a new thing for us, too, and it's new and exciting. I get it. Tell you what, after we get done with Discord, you can study Stands to your heart's content if we're available-"

"Or just look at the ones you and your friends must have," Canny pipes up from behind you. You see Twilight perk up with slight confusion, looking at Canny oddly as she processes.

She places a hoof to her chin before asking "Do I have one?" Right as she does, what you can only guess is her Stand suddenly materializes by her side. All you can see of it is that it's equinoid and white in color before it vanishes, Twilight's dropped jaw indicating that she's too shocked to keep it up. She lets out a small squeal of excitement before declaring "Amazing! So many discoveries being made today!" And with that, all involved chuckle and move on.

BrownDog's Comment

Finally, with the Elements wearing, well, their Elements, you arrive where Discord is. You see him on a throne holding a glass of what looks like chocolate milk, smirking at the Elements as they step up. You and Canny attempt to walk forward, only for another Discord to suddenly, and quite literally, pop up in front of you. As in, like a pop up book, he suddenly folds out into the third dimension with a wave of his hand. "Well, well, well," he says, smiling down at you and Canny, "my little Stand-Masters. Well, users in any case, "Master" might be a bit much. Anywho, what can I do for you?"

You grit your teeth and step up, shaking you heard as you reply "What can we-what? No! We're here to stop you so nopony else dies today!" With this declaration, you summon New Divide, ignoring his power level and whatever fear you may have. And then with one single question, he throws you off-guard.

"Well, good for you! But in that case, I ask again: why are you here?"

After taking a second to parse, you tilt your heard and ask "Huh?" You're not quite sure you heard that right.

Discord pulls out a list on parchment, the words "Personal Kill Count" written at the top. When he shows you the contents, they are blank. The list is blank. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, and as my list here clearly states. And it's not wrong, I triple-checked it twice. I haven't killed a single creature."

Canny growls and walks forward with little hesitation, glaring right into Discord's eyes. "Just what are you talking about, you shoulda-been wankstain?! That Patient bloke's dead! Crumpled up, broken neck, on some random table some damn place!"

Discord places his mis-matched hands on his hips and smiles smugly down at the two of you. Like nothing you're saying counts to him. "Well, yeah, sure," he admits, before haughtily responding "And by who's hooves was that, exactly?"

"Yours!" Canny responds, summoning out Smooth Criminal, who hits it's forehooves together. It's itching for a fight, just like her. "You-"

Discord holds his hands up and gestures downwards, clearly asking her to quiet it down as he retorts "Was I the one who beat him to death? With knives, and gears, and Stands, and a yodeling door named Wilford? If you'll look back at the battle in all it's admittedly spectacular glory, you'll see I did nothing but be a dutiful Fantasy Hoofball fan."

You and Canny look at eachother, exasperated. He both simultaneously has a point and yet keeps dodging yours. "But, he was-" you defend, but he does the same motion. This time, he then also pulls out some kind of remote control and presses the "volume down" button.

The wind quiets down immediately and no other sounds can be heard save for you and Canny breathing and Discord's utterly smug disposal of the remote by throwing it away. You can hear it explode, but as your dad always said, 'He who looks at explosions is not cool enough to create explosions.' In any case, Discord finally responds with "He was...a lunatic, to be sure. Nasty piece of work. The last thing I need is worshipers like him. To be quite honest, no being of chaos with crazed worshipers turn out good. That's why that Slender-fellow never comes around to my dimension, you know: too many people kissing his feet to let him walk. Or something to that effect." He crosses his arms and gets back on track. "Point is, what you really did was a service, getting rid of a monster like him. But the point still Stands, wink-wink-" and you can hear Canny groan before you yourself do so.

"-that I have never killed anypony in my thousands of years of life." He finishes off his long-winded defense with. he has somehow, at some point, changed into a blue suit and he is resting his hands on a desk with a placard reading "Defense Attorney".

You face-hoof and shake your head. Canny just sighs before trying to explain "Just beca-" He interrupts her by clearing his throat and pointing at the placard. In a deadpan tone you hear Canny say "Objection. Just because ya didn't do the deed doesn't mean ya didn't enable 'im."

"Overruled," his smugness continues, leaning back in a chair that just showed up. "I never once said it was a battle to the death. You all just decided to take it a few steps further. My hands are fully clean of blood, as you can plainly see."

"Bullshit!" you yell out, sick of his childish attempts of trying to suck all the seriousness from this. "You shot Canny with the arrow!"

"Yeah, you utter tart!" Canny responds, pointing right at him.

You get right up in his face, slamming your hooves onto the desk as you get in his face. "If she wasn't worthy enough, she would have died. You almost killed her for your so called "Chaos!"

Discord seems to shake his head in what you can only describe as "pity", before he snaps his fingers. The suit, the desk, all the added minutiae is gone just as soon as it arrived. "Do you honestly think I can’t tell who’s worthy and who’s not?" he rhetorically asks. "That I would go around shooting randomly for fun? Chaos is random for sure, but you know what’s better than a fifty-fifty shot that could leave somepony dead? A one hundred percent guaranteed shot, that produces a Stand who’s power could be literally anything!"

With that said, he pulls up a 2D map of the world. Not just Equestria, but the whole world. When it rolls out, you and Canny can see red dots blinking over every stretch of land. Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Canterlot, Manehatten, Trottingham, Griffonstone, Yakyakistan, and so many more places have red dots randomly blinking everywhere. "W-What?" you worriedly ask, "what i-is this?"

"Hmm?" Discord responds. "What, you thought I'd just be sitting here this whole time?" In his free hand twirls the Stand Arrow, and he simply says "I've been a busy draconequus."

Canny's jaw drops as she steps back, you looking over to see if she has any reaction but only finding sheer shock. "Smeg...just how many ponies did ya shoot?" she asks, sounding actually horrified by the sight.

Discord folds up the map and chuckles, wagging a finger as he replies "Well, that's for you to find out, now isn't it, my dear?" He hands Canny the map, who holds it in her magic grip, as he keeps twirling the arrow. "Stands are the truest form of chaos. They come from nothing, break reality, and are so unpredictable that not even I can guess just what one will do. They are, in essence, a higher form of flattery to me than any two-bit worshiper with a god complex and enough disorders to need his drugs mixed into cocktail glasses." He leans down low in both of your faces, and in a much more serious tone, says "What you decide to do with these powers. Save, destroy, conquer, or control. I'm just getting the ball rolling. And that, my dears...that is Chaos Theory."

You and Canny look at eachother, intent clear in your eyes. When you turn back to Discord, he is still smiling smugly. With his legs wide open.

"VENDETTA!"

"SHAMONE!"

You hear a cracking sound as New Divide and Smooth Criminal deck him in the groin. His eyes widen as he sinks onto his knees, holding his undercarriage with a groan. "Yep, there goes my Chaos Emeralds," he says, eyes closed in pain, as the projection vanishes. The real one is also on his knees and holding his nads in pain just as the Elements of Harmony blast him with a rainbow blast of death, turning him back into stone, locking him in an indefinite state of experiencing male pain on a new level.

"Serves the tosser right!" she says, even as you cringe, feeling his pain somewhat.

Still, you turn to her and shout "Yeah! Fuck Chaos!" The two of you share a hoofbump, the day won and Equestria returning to normal around you.

Down with Chrysalis' Comment: The Remainder

To make matters even better, as you and Canny join the Elements, hoofbumping and sharing compliments, Celestia arrives. The perfect face of majesty watches over the area, and then everyone proceeds to watch as that mask is shattered and Celestia, for lack of a better phrase, points at the Discord statue and laughs her ass off. Her mad-mare laughter, manic in it's jubilation, clearly shocks the Element Bearers, but they go along with it, laughing at Discord's torment. Poor sod. Needless to say, you and Canny get the feeling you just earned big favor points with the Princess.

After the medal ceremony for the Bearers, you all stand within the throne room. Somehow, it feels smaller. More cozy. Like you actually belong now. You are showing them the map Discord gave you, the red dots still blinking everywhere with no end in sight. "And yeah, basically, Discord has created Stand-users everywhere. And I do mean...everywhere," you finish explaining, rolling the map back up.

"I'm new to Stands," Twilight chimes in, "heck, I summoned mine by accident the first time. But this isn't something we can ignore, correct? The myriad effects of these things could be catastrophic unless in the right hooves!" Celestia nods before whispering to Luna.

The two of them trade whispers, talking amongst themselves as everyone stands, awaiting their response. Finally, they come to a decision as Celestia pulls back to address everyone. "You are correct, Twilight," Celestia admits. "This can't go unanswered. Which is why, while you will return to Ponyville to hone your Stands and continue your lessons on friendship, I will assign Shooting Star and Canny Clockwork to aid us. Do you accept?"

"Yes!" you say with no hesitation.

Canny also doesn't hesitate to respond "Why not? Sure, I'll take it! Love a good scrapper."

"Excellent," she replies, smiling. "Then henceforward, you two will be apart of a new division: STAND. With your goal being to monitor Stand users, and either capture or, should it need to be, eliminate hostile ones as they arrive. And...yes, I know the name is simple, Canny." Canny lowers her hoof as Celestia continues "We're workshopping it. In any case, you may still stay in Ponyville or Canterlot or wherever else when not "on duty." We merely ask for your swift response if needed."

Technically this is a promotion, but having to fight a bunch of creatures with Stands all over the world could be seen as a downgrade as well. Still, your bravery wins out as you nod. Celestia's final words, however, do make you slightly nervous. "And do know this, my little ponies. Stand users attract other Stand users. This is known as Gravity. And it affects us all."

With that done, the meeting is adjourned and the ponies walk out "Well, I guess I'll room with ya," Canny says. "Beats the commute. You go ahead and buy tickets while I pack." You nod and she walks off. With all this said and done, you're actually glad the adventure continues. This is the start of a new chapter in your life.

So, what will you and Canny do with it?
<---To Be Continued.

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPCLFtxpadE

And after twelve chapters, the "Return of Harmony" arc is finished! Woo! Thank you all so much for your support so far, and for any and all continued support as the story continues on. :D

Now, here's what I'm thinking: the next two chapters will be downtime chapters. First one, next chapter, will focus on Shooting Star, and the second will Perspective Shift to Canny. Then we can go adventuring. There's a ton of good reasons for this: gives good downtime after twelve chapters packed with plot and action, gives a lot of freedom for character development, lets us learn about the Mane Six's Stands (I already have ideas for Twilight's and Pinkie's, but don't hesitate to come up with cool Stands for the rest!) and provides a good environment to set up future plot beats, both on my end and yours.

If this isn't perfect for everyone, don't hesitate to go adventuring or exploring. Just as much your story as it is mine!

Now, for the Question of the Day:

Should we change the Ending Song?

I feel like Roundabout is perfect as a good song to end the "episodes" on, being the OG JoJo ending, but with the first story arc done, it makes me wonder if the story wants it's own identity and with it, it's own song.

Oh! Before I go on any further, I need to return a favor: Down With Chrysalis, who comments on this story, is also kind of a big deal when it comes to CD-Stories like this. He's the author behind Life of a Wanted Changeling. He recently gave a shout-out to this story in the latest chapter of his current project, and so I'm doing the same: read I Have No Mouth, and I Must Squee! It's another Comment Driven Story with JoJo references, this time starring a mute human He-Man fan with his own ambitions. It's awesome.

With that all done, I'll see you all next chapter! Looking forward to every comment, I can't wait to see what you all continue to come up with as the story continues.