Deep within the walls of Canterlot Castle, in a small antechamber designed to contain any type of magical energy, a young purple alicorn was scanning the lines of text scribbled within a dusty and crumbling tome. Her pink-striped magenta mane waved to and fro as she darted back and forth from wall to wall, checking every last square inch of the room’s construction for any type of flaw. What the alicorn was planning to do could have devastating effects, and the last thing anypony needed was for those effects to reach farther than absolutely necessary.

After all, when you play with Chaos, you’re gambling with the fabric of reality itself.

And there to assist the increasingly-nervous mare was a tiny baby dragon, with scales of purple and green shining in the light of the candles that hung about the room. While he certainly wasn’t doing all the work, he was carefully examining every tiny nook and cranny that his companion simply overlooked in her haste. The baby dragon seemed drained, having been working dutifully throughout the week to help his friend get everything in tip-top shape for the upcoming experiment. Without a single complaint, he gladly gave his own vacation in the city of Canterlot for the sake of his friend’s sanity.

Because, as anypony knows, Twilight Sparkle can be a good bit obsessive if things don’t go exactly as planned.

But the young alicorn had a job to do, and she had no intentions of failing at even the most trivial of tasks. Today would be the day when she would test out the odd spell the tome seemed to focus around. An entire tome, a dozen or so pounds in weight, all dedicated to one spell simply screamed ‘suspicious’. That’s probably why the Princess gave her the book to begin with. Of course, she should be relaxing with her friends in the town, but what better time to test the spell than in the presence of every resource imaginable?

“Incense?”

“Check.”

“Assorted fruits?”

“Check.”

“One pound of unprocessed cheese?”

“Ugh…Check.”

“Marquise-cut diamond?”

“That’s a-yep.”

“And finally…Chaos?”

“On his way.”

The mare very anxiously listed off all the items necessary to perform the spell while her assistant marked them off the list. The last item on the recipe was equally unnerving for both of the current residents of the room, as past experiences with Chaos left mental scars that would last a lifetime or ten. Although he had seemed to be less antagonistic with his powers, the embodiment of Chaos still used them from time to time to torment one unsuspecting pony or another. The fun never lasted long, and never ended in any true damage.

And of course he would be on his way. How could he miss an opportunity to freely use his magic without any type of repercussions? This spell of Twilight’s offered the draconequus the perfect chance to release most of the building tension in his aching heart. Having to keep the magic tame was something he had never practiced, and the sudden rationing of his energy was driving him to the brink of insanity. If not for the occasional pony victim, he probably would have snapped by the third day of reformation. So when Twilight confronted him with a request for a powerful blast of chaotic energy, how could the beast possibly resist?

“Are you sure you told him exactly at noon?”

“Of course I did! Several times!”

“Okay, okay. I’m just sayin’ this doesn’t seem like something he’d miss…”

“I’m sure he’ll be here, Spike. You just need a little patience.”

“I need patience? Yeah, okay.”

Just as the two finished their snappy exchange, the doors to the antechamber burst open with a dark green glow. Riding the sudden flow of fresh air into the room, a serpentine abomination appeared with a wide grin, its crimson pupils glowing in the comparative darkness of the room. A single long fang stretched from the beast’s jaw, a stark white against the multitudes of other colors that composed his palette.

With a wave of its eagle claw, the beast greeted the two seemingly-disturbed residents of the room. “I hear you’re in the market for some delicious Chaos! I suppose I can offer my services for a time,” it chuckled darkly, drifting around the room in the breeze. The fires of the candles flickered dangerously as it passed.

Twilight Sparkle looked up at the all-too-familiar monster and sighed, “Thank you for coming, Discord. I’m glad you’re willing to help.” She nodded toward the door, at which her assistant was hard at work attempting to close.

The beast, having maintained his magical grip on the entryway, chuckled, “It’s not a problem, my dear. After all, Chaos is my strong suit. One that, I’m afraid to say, you all have kept me from flaunting in recent months.” With a snap of the appendages on its bear paw, the door slammed shut, causing Spike to tumble forward to a face plant.

With a groan, the baby dragon lifted himself from the ground. He scoffed, “You can quit the acting, Discord. We both know why you want to help.”

Discord, adopting a look of serious indignation, chuckled, “Why of course you do! It’s not balefire science! No, I think the reward for this pious act is quite enough compensation for the loss of my time.” He squinted at Twilight before continuing, “That’s assuming you weren’t lying about the reward.”

The alicorn shook her head and moaned, “Of course I didn’t lie! One week of immunity. It even has the Princess Celestia Seal of Approval.” As she spoke, she levitated a small certificate from her saddlebags, an alicorn-shaped white stamp signing the bottom of the page.

In big, bold letters it read ‘For your contributions to Equestrian society, I hereby grant thee immunity from the punishments of laws for seven days.’ The draconequus grinned slyly as he read the words multiple times over. Something about this whole scenario seemed too convenient.

“The Princess would never go back on her word,” Twilight snapped after holding the promise in the air for several minutes.

Discord chuckled darkly, “I’m aware. Let’s get on with this, shall we?”

Scratching the back of his head, Spike walked toward the small pedestal at the center of the room where all of the required ingredients waited. He sighed, “Here goes nothing…”

The purple mare wasted no time in beginning her instructions. “I need you to wrap each of those items in your magic, but you can’t alter any of them. Once you do, Spike will put them where they go, and the spell can begin.” She stepped away from the center of the room, nodding at the beast to begin his magic.

“How dull. I thought you promised actual Chaos.”

“I did. And there will be, once everything’s in place.”

“…Right.”

With that, the beast smothered the items around the baby dragon in his dark green aura. Each item in turn was placed in a very precise location as per instructions on a diagram in the book. Certain that everything was in the exact millimeter it was meant to be, the assistant darted from the pedestal and gave his friend a confirming nod. They both turned toward the abomination.

Twilight’s wings expanded in nervousness, uncertain exactly how well everything would play out. She hesitated to say, “Focus every last ounce of chaotic energy you have on those objects. Do whatever you want to them, but don’t move them from their spots.” She winced as the beast’s head jerked toward her.

“Anything I want? As long as they stay in place…I can do anything?” He smiled happily and his eyes widened in sudden clarity. His mind started to jump around. “Imagination is the key to Chaos, don’t you agree?”

While there isn’t much to do with stationary objects, Chaos is Chaos. And the abomination had no intentions of squandering the opportunity presented to him. With a kick of his goat leg, he let out a burst of green energy that collided directly with the diamond. Within the blink of an eye, the diamond took the shape of Princess Celestia herself. The crystalline figure’s head shook back and forth as if searching for something before being would-be-painfully compacted back into its original cut.

The sight made Twilight grimace, more-than-somewhat concerned with what may have been going through the beast’s mind at the time. Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of a trumpet. A puff of purple smoke drew her eyes toward the fruit basket, where a banana-colored figure held an apple-shaped flute to its mouth. What had once been a vine of grapes bounced joyfully around the banana-pony as it played the percussive apple. With a slight smile, Twilight turned back toward the chaotic monster.

Despite his first act of magic on the diamond, the beast seemed to be at peace. The tricks he was performing were trivial at best, but they seemed to do the creature good. For the first time since his reformation, he seemed to be genuinely relaxed, comforted by his old vices.

A sudden burst of flames caught all three’s attention as the scent of chocolate filled the air. With a light chuckle, Discord commented, “Chocolate is such a nice treat, don’t you agree? You can use it for all kinds of things.” The fire fizzled out, the smell being replaced by one of aged cheddar. A bubbling noise erupted from the vicinity of the cheese. “However, I find cheese to be the most provocative to one’s senses. You can see its sheen, smell its age, and taste its flavors. Cheese is something that gets better with time,” he paused here and glanced toward the alicorn, “almost like magic.”

Once all four objects had been touched by Discord’s true power, Twilight cast a beam of purple energy rose up from the center of the pedestal, rising upward. With an ear-grating roar, the spell’s ingredients were sucked up toward the ceiling. A window of dark purple and black popped to life, creating a cyclone of wind that vacuumed everything not fastened securely into it. Among the items taken were Twilight and Spike, while Discord simply stared on in vivid excitement, wondering if this was going according to plan.

He took the time to snatch his immunity certificate from Twilight’s saddlebags before she disappeared into the void. As suddenly as it appeared, it vanished from the room, leaving the draconequus alone. Nothing remained from the experiment other than himself, and even that seemed shaken by the event. A dreadful feeling developed in his gut, and he very slowly exited the chamber.

Uncertainty filled his head as to what he just witnessed. Was that thing meant to appear? Did his transformations count as moving the objects and set the spell for failure? Had Twilight made a mistake with her part of casting, or had Spike simply slipped up by a few inches?

And then the certificate in his claw grabbed his attention. One week of no punishments sounded amazing to him, though he’d already released his chaotic tension for the evening. A good night’s sleep was in order. After that, though, would come immeasurable fun on his part, and Celestia would soon probably regret her deal.

“Ah yes, freedom for seven days. I can’t say I’m too concerned with the poor pony’s health. I held my end of the deal, and that’s all that matters.” With a beaming grin, the beast took flight through the castle halls, the bat’s wing doing most of the work.

It was a matter of seconds before he reached his chamber. An odd presence seemed to fill the air outside of it, reemerging the odd dread in his gut. Without a moment’s hesitation, he physically twisted the door’s handle and shoved it open. He found himself staring into the almost-emptiness of his room.

Something small and ghostlike stared back at him.

Deep in the woods beyond the gloomy gates of Twilight Town, just beyond the ruins of the ancient Creepy Steeple, a large amphitheater had been constructed. Though the town offered no real danger to visitors, many citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom simply refused to visit a place eternally masked in the light of twilight. Something about being trapped between the purity of day and fright of night unsettled many of them. It was this very irrational fear that kept the town’s economy from growing, but the local mayor decided it was time to change that.

And what better way to change a scary town into a thriving tourist attraction than to implement one of the most popular past-times in the kingdom?

The theater had been designed with the specific intentions of ensuring potential viewers wouldn’t flee at the sight of the forest it resided within. Large portions of the wooded area had been cleared and installed with guide lights and anti-Dayzee sonic emitters. Tourists could safely travel the woods to visit either the relic of Creepy Steeple or the entertainment center beyond. After the Dayzee-repellant proved successful, tourism in the area greatly increased, only helping seal the idea of starting regular entertainment.

It was the theater’s grand opening, and citizens from all over the Mushroom Kingdom were racing to be the first to see a show there. And what better play to open up with than ‘Paper Mario?’ After all, it had gained so much fame over the year since the real adventure’s closing that even the most reclusive of Mushroom citizens had come out to see it at least once. It was a smash hit from the very first night, mostly due to the gorgeous appeal of Madame Flurrie and the doppelganging talents of Doopliss the Duplighost.

The grand opening would be a special show to all those who attended because of the free autographs and merchandise that came with buying the tickets. And, no matter how much anybody denied it, everyone in the kingdom wanted to meet Flurrie in person. Doopliss was a much less known actor, despite being present on stage at all times. Sad to say for him that, because of his antagonistic role in the real story, he took on the role of the hero Mario, using his shape-shifting powers to back up his persona.

Of course, he was still rich, so his little-known name was fine by him. But the thing about Duplighosts is…their names hold their magic.

That’s a tale for another time, however, and as the two most popular actors in the world were preparing for their biggest show yet, the citizens of everywhere were crowding into the depths of the Twilight Forest, waiting to see the amazing show in a brand new light. Or in this case, the lack thereof.

And in one particular dressing room just backstage, the Duplighost that would be Mario kicked back in a comfortable armchair, waiting for curtain to be called. As he relaxed, an anxious mass of clouds paced to and fro through the air, silently reciting her lines in anticipation of the spotlight. Her blue body seemed to pulse with each passing syllable, and her pearl necklace added a fine charm to her figure.

The doppelganger, oblivious to the torments of stage fright due to his role as the silent protagonist, simply stared on in disbelief as a pink Toad attempted to help the cloud settle down.

“Flurrie, how long we been doing this show?” the white-garbed creature asked suddenly.

The cloud stopped instantly, the Toad’s head bouncing right off her underside. She scoffed, “About a year now, sugar. What makes ya ask something like that?” Her drawl added an appealing flair to her voice, giving her an even better standing as an actress.

The relaxed actor sighed, “Yeah well, you see we’ve been doing this so long; I can’t see why you’re so nervous. This stuff’s pretty much our lives now.” He grinned cockily to the elder actress as if to make a point.

Madame Flurrie’s reaction was unexpected by either other resident of the room. She scoffed, “I suppose you’re right, dearie. But I just can’t shake the feeling that something’s gonna happen tonight.” She hesitated and glanced around the room before lowering her voice and continuing, “Something bad.”

Doopliss’s crimson eyes shot wide open at the genuine concern in her voice. He waved a dismissive nub and chuckled, “Nothing’s gonna happen that hasn’t happened before. Worst comes to worst, some crazed fan might throw you another of those pearl necklaces you love so much and knock one of our Boos out cold.” He shook his head in disappointment before leaning back into his comfy chair.

Though she wasn’t entirely convinced, the cloud relaxed slightly and sighed, “Goodness me, you’re right! I guess my head wasn’t on straight. I suppose we got nothing to fear.” She sent a smile toward her companion, who simply opened up a book and began to read.

During the exchange, the assistant Toad was busy finishing the preparations to Flurrie’s makeup, seizing the stationary opportunity as efficiently as possible. Seeing the actress had calmed down, she nodded good-bye and left the dressing room with a smile. A few seconds later, a weary-looking blue Toad entered the room with a small bag of coins hanging from his waist.

Without waiting for a greeting, he gasped, “Tickets are all sold out and the seats are all filled. The Lakitus are busy making some cloud seats above the theater to seat some of the remaining folks. Curtain in ten minutes.” Taking a deep breath, the poor toad turned-tail and left as suddenly as he entered.

Almost a minute later, the Duplighost placed his book to the side and groaned, “Good talking to you, Slick.” His blue, red-star textured party hat shifted slightly as he hopped from the chair and approached a full-body mirror.

Madame Flurrie floated beside him and giggled, “I daresay that poor fella’s gonna die early if he doesn’t kick back once in a blue moon.” She waved a hand through her luscious purple hair and waited for her friend to do his thing.

Looking directly into his own eyes, Doopliss took a deep breath and held it. Tightening his muscles as hard as he could, he let out a guttural roar. The white sheet-garment around him fluttered wildly as a purple smoke burst from nowhere and smothered his body. In less than ten seconds, the smoke had cleared, and in place of the white specter stood a short, plump, and hairy plumber. The plumber was decked out in the traditional red clothes and hat, complimented by the classic blue overalls and white gloves. The thick mustache on his upper lip screamed manly-man, and the large nose on his face showed no signs of fear.

Letting out a small sigh, the pseudo-plumber relaxed and returned to the comfy chair to wait for curtain call. Flurrie floated in place, still amazed by her companion’s abilities even after all the times she’d witnessed them firsthand. “Dearie me, I still don’t see how that isn’t painful or tiring.”

Doopliss scoffed, “Oh, it isn’t all lollipops and gum drops, trust me. But you get used to it. Now it’s more of a tickle than anything else.” He started to open his book back up, but decided against it as a knocking rang out from the door.

The blue Toad from earlier poked his head in and cheered, “Curtain in one!”

The excited mass of clouds squealed, “Alright sugar, it’s time to shine!”

Taking only a second to consider his options, the duplighost leaped from his chair and followed Flurrie’s fast pace through the halls of the theater, ready to see the red curtain rise on the first act to the now-natural play. As the two arrived offstage, they caught the ending to a pink pony-tailed Toad’s introduction monologue.

“…our story begins in the streets of Rogueport, where brave Mario began his journey to save the world from the curse of the Thousand-Year Door!”

Multiple background actors of different races took their places on stage as the curtain lifted to reveal the backdrop. The pink Toad happily skipped past the two main performers with a smile that could light up the world plastered on her face. As she usually did, Flurrie whispered her praises to the passing speaker before turning to watch the actress playing one of her old friends step into the spotlight.

Minutes passed as short pests called X-Nauts flooded the stage, pestering the actress as was normal for the story. It was Doopliss’s time to shine! With all the confidence of the plumber he pretended to be, he stomped onto the stage and whacked a rather angry X-Naut out of the way with a large mallet. The remaining pests fled, save for the largest brute in the bunch. Without hesitation, the fight was underway.

The two traded blows for several moments before everything began to rattle wildly. The stage shook, most of the backdrop falling forward toward the crowd. Dust sprinkled from the walls as sparks of purple and black filled the air. When the background actors on stage fled, it became obvious that the rumbling wasn’t part of the show, and most of the crowd flew into a panicked frenzy. Shoving wildly past one another, the viewers fled the twilit auditorium without looking back.

Even the brute in the battle ran away screaming in fear. Above the stage a giant purple window popped into existence, multiple random objects crashing down on the unlucky remaining actor’s head. First fell a puddle of cheese, followed by smoky incense, and topped off by a basket of living fruit. The sounds of the banana-thing’s apple-flute filled the air and drowned out the rumbling. Soon after the fruits smashed onto his head, two other random figures appeared from the portal.

But Doopliss didn’t have time to register them, as an intense burst of wind sucked him up toward the ceiling of the stage where the purple and black wall waited to greet him. After he should have splattered against it, everything went black. Suddenly, he felt very cold and his assumed form disappeared with a loud pop. His fingers and arms turned back into nubs, his body compacting back into its original ball-like shape. The white of his sheet-cloth seemed to brighten and develop a sharper image as colors burst to life around him.

Of all the bad things that had just happened to him, it all ended on a softer note. He landed face-first onto the softest bed he had ever been graced to touch. The blankets threatened to swallow him whole, and the cushioning power of the mattress attempted to steal his consciousness from him in a peaceful and accepting manner. After several moments of intense inner debate, the Duplighost decided it was time to get up and see just what had happened to him.

When he lifted his face from the embrace of the bed’s pillow, he was blinded by a foreign brightness he’d never seen before. Once his pupils adjusted to the level of light, he found himself disoriented by the sheer vivacity of the colors around him. Everything seemed more defined, clearer, and all-around alien. He felt a knot form in his gut, one of absolute amazement and curiosity. He always hated the bleak boringness of the citizens of Twilight Town, and now he was in a place that was everything but bleak.

He leaped from the bed and darted for the door, stopping halfway as he realized that everything within the room was massive compared to him. Even the doorknob was too high for him to jump, and even if it hadn’t been he never would’ve been able to grip it efficiently to turn it. He suddenly felt insignificant in the presence of a would-be giant’s room, almost making him cower down into the shadows of a nearby dresser. But the villain-turned-actor wasn’t going to let his size get the best of him.

Using his wits, the creature quickly devised a plan to escape the pseudo prison. He wasn’t familiar enough with any creature large enough to bypass using terrain for assistance, so he resorted to pushing a nearby chair slowly but surely toward the exit. After what felt like hours of rigorous work, he managed to get the furniture in position and climb to the top to touch the handle on the door.

Just as he was about to attempt gripping it, the knob turned slowly, knocking the prisoner to the seat of the chair. After he finally regained his senses, he looked through the now-open doorway into a massive expanse of regal décor beyond. However, he found himself focusing on one thing in particular. Directly in front of his chair, staring down at him with large yellow eyes and crimson pupils was a massive beast that didn’t seem to be just one thing.

The two creatures’ eyes met, locking in place to stare.

“Hmm? What could you possibly be? Are you parasprite with clipped wings, perhaps?” Discord floated in place, caught off guard by the mysterious creature’s residence in his room. After several minutes of awkward silence, the two began to question the existence of one another.

“What’re you going on about, Slick? I’m not a para-anything!” Doopliss retorted indignantly. He continued to snap, “And what are you supposed to be, a dragon-horse-bird thingy?”

With a dark chuckle, the abomination replied, “Why yes, you could say that. So if you aren’t a parasprite, then what are you?”

“You nincompoop, I’m a Duplighost! I’m only the most famous Duplighost in the Mushroom Kingdom! Ever heard of ‘Paper Mario’? Well I play Mario!” The creature stomped a foot angrily on the chair’s cushion, the apparent ignorance of his speaking partner beginning to irk him.

The draconequus waved a dismissive claw and said, “I don’t know what this Mushroom Kingdom is, but it sounds like a fine entrée.”

“F-Food?! How could you possibly be thinking about food? You open your bedroom door and find a strange creature you’ve never met, and you’re thinking about food?” After another few angry stomps, the Duplighost’s rage simply vanished. With a smile he continued, “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

The abomination leaned down closer to the tiny white ghostlike thing and examined it carefully. He chuckled, “I’m not sure who you are or if anything you said earlier wasn’t gibberish, but I can understand the importance of food. Care to join me for a meal?”

Without waiting for a reply, Discord snapped the appendages of his bear claw and with a loud pop tables of food appeared out of nowhere around the room. Assorted cheeses, delectable fruits, and seemingly-bland flowers appeared in bowls on the tables. Doopliss stared on in disbelief as the beast before him simply summoned food to eat and began munching away.

“You…can make…food?”

“I can do a lot of things, kid.” Taking a bite from a wedge of cheddar cheese, he continued, “Are you going to eat or what?”

A feeling of intense anger flooded the foreign creature. Directly in front of him was the epitome of everything he ever wanted: a carefree beast with the power to summon food! And yet, after his loss at the hands of Mario, he vowed to never use his powers for entirely-selfish reasons. But Mario wasn’t there, and there was no telling how far from Twilight Town he really ended up. This was his chance to have a little offstage fun, and the Duplighost was not about to lose the opportunity. Dismissing the guilt growing in his gut, the doppelganger planted his feet on the cushion of the chair and stared directly at the cheese-devouring beast.

Discord turned around in mid-swallow to see just what his guest was doing. To his shock, a ring of white light appeared above his head and waved up and down his entire figure. After the light vanished, the foreign figure vanished in a cloud of purple smoke, replaced instead by a mirror image of…

Himself…

With a triumphant voice, the pseudo-Discord cheered, “Woo-hoo! First time copying something so huge, but it worked without a hitch!” Staring directly into the real abomination’s eyes, he chuckled, “Looking pretty good, Slick!”

Discord’s jaw dropped open at the sight of the almost-perfect replica of him. The copy was almost identical, albeit with a shade or two of purple thrown into the color scheme. While he was amazed at the strange creature’s magical prowess, he was also slightly worried as to what might happen now that there was another him running around. The worry vanished into sly planning as the beast began to brainstorm ideas as to what he could do with two of him.

Doopliss cut off his thoughts with a simple, “Let’s eat!” Without waiting for an awestruck response, the pseudo-abomination buried his face in a bowl of fruits.

Two Discords, both alike in chaotic mastery and fun-loving priorities, together with Canterlot as a royal playground. Both of them were essentially given a week of freedom by the certificate of Twilight’s promise. The cogs in Discord’s mind began to turn, ideas forming hastily as he considered the damage two of him could deal to the ponies of Equestria in one full week.

The beast’s plans were only strengthened when his companion lifted his head from the bowl of fruits and asked…

“So, Slick, what else can we do?”