With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

ShadowScion626 · Friday at 10:05 PM

I may be misremembering this, but didn't Orange Lantern outright save both Sodom and his friends lives because Sodom's father was trying to kill his friend and Sodom wouldn't let him? And wasn't Sodom offered the ring and chose to leave afterwards?

This women is just on some straight bullshit. How much anyone want to bet she's going to completely disregard Sodoms own angenvy in this by claiming the ring brainwashed him?

Stsword · 2025-09-20T01:28:54+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Are you talking about the comic version, or this story's version?

In the comic version, he sent police officers. It's not clear whether his country was officially part of India or not, but given the lack of any official protest from the Indian government it seems more likely that they either had a legitimate warrant or were actively persuing a suspect than they just decided to walk over the border and grab someone while wearing a clearly identifiable uniform. Remember, the Justice League were easily able to work out who they were.

The comics.

It is 100% guaranteed that no they have no legal ties to India. He brags about his country having no contact with the outside world. The language of Jarhanpur has been considered dead in the outside world for 5000 years, and Superman described the country as a "complete mystery."

The only reason they were able to find Jarhanpur is because they had the woman from Jarhanpur and they needed a freaking Green Lantern ring to understand her.

And since his thugs only spoke the language of the obvious conclusion is that they were in fact incapable of speaking any language but the language of Jarhanpur. Because "Hand the criminal over!" is an obvious thing to say when from your perspective you are in fact trying to take in a criminal. Which they didn't do. Or at least, not in any language any one there but the boy's mother could understand.

And it being the Amazons fault? Horseshit. The Amazons gave them a verbal warning to leave, then only resorted to violence in self defense when the Jarhanpur thugs ignored their attempts to deescalate and continued their attack on their women's shelter.

And shoot them? They had no guns, the Jarhanpur thugs had swords and knives, and their bandoleers of grenade-like receptacles of Earth Elementals.

Which means that it must have always have been the plan to invade India and murder anyone who got in the way of their kidnapping attempt.

And they didn't do anything to the boy's mother because the Amazons foiled the kidnapping attempt.

So the entire plotline happened because that stupid bitch Rama Khan, being high on his own farts, had people murdered because he was offended that the boy's mother loved her son more than she had loyalty to him.

He had the boy, he had his heir, he had won. That wasn't enough for the asshole. The woman was no threat, she spoke only a language that had been dead outside of Jarhanpur for five thousand years.

The entire storyline began because he had to see a woman punished for disobeying him because his every whim is law and he is infallible. The same stupid arrogance that caused him to offend Jarhanpur at the end of the storyline. So he was an arrogant stupid shit in the beginning, middle, and end.

As for DC ignoring the logical result of Jarhanpur committing what would be perceived as a terrorist attack on Indian soil against Amazons being ignored, well that happened because of comic book writing.

xSieg · 2025-09-20T04:55:39+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Angelika's upbringing covers her occasional use of the n-word. If she'd tried building concentration camps 'because obviously you need them' then I assure you the SI would have been a good deal less understanding.

and it's not like Daxamites aren't morally inferior to Nazis, even if Angelika was a diehard to the party and not a partly indoctrinated experiment. Hell, Cara and her husband would have straight up brainwashed their son and mounted the head of his friend on a pike to display on an alien museum had Paul not interfered.

They're significantly worse than Nazis. Even when Sodam sacrifices himself to power their sun they don't acknowledge him due to his race-traitor ideologies and basically act disgruntled when people want to actually recover his corpse. All this after being saved from an invasion from Mogul, nonetheless!

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-20T07:31:12+0100

26th July 2013
09:36 GMT -7

I spot Discord immediately, huddling as he is up against the cavern wall. He's about a third of his 'complete' size, and looks decidedly nervous to see me.

"Oh, it's… You."

Hm. The Castle is fully functional, but it's more inhabited by historians and cleaning staff than it is actual residents. This part is sealed off by locks both conventional and arcane, and it's not… Immediately apparent how he got in here.

I take a moment to consider the giant locus of friendly and harmonious magic on the other side of the cave. Yep, there's the Elements of Harmony. Shame I don't still have Anti-Life in-.

I snort quietly to myself.

No it isn't.

"Oh dear!" Fluttershy flies out of the boom tube and straight over to him, frantically looking him over for any injuries. "Are you okay?"

"I'm within licking distance of the greatest focus of… Ugh." He shudders. "Harmony, in Equestria. I-."

Hawk Horse-Face trundles through the portal, eyes locking onto Discord. "Hey, we found him! Thought you were b-"

The tree glows, then a rainbow beam blasts towards Henry! I-.

Donald's already there, lunging forwards and blocking it with his body! Henry's eyes widen as Donald staggers, and… Checks himself to make sure that he's really fine.

I think the Tree is glowering at him.

"-igger. Don, you okay!?"

"Yeah." Donald prances for a moment to make sure that everything's working. "How the heck did you piss off a tree?"

Discord's eyes leap out of his head, landing on Hawk Horse-Face's head and grabbing his eye stalks for stability as they stare at him. "Do my eyes-"

"Hey!"

"-deceive me? Another draconequus?"

"Nah, I just-. Get these things off me!" Hawk Horse-Face tries to grab the eyes with his claw arm, but they vanish and reappear on Discord's face before he can grasp them. "I came through the magic mirror and it turned me into this. Kinda like it, wouldn't wanna get stuck like it."

"Ah."

"What, you never seen another dragon-horse before?"

"Actually… No. Not one that wasn't part of some sort of weird crossover event." Having assured herself that he's more or less alright, Fluttershy gives him a nuzzle. Discord responds by awkwardly pattering her on the head. "So… What brings you here?"

Fluttershy adopts an oddly awkward upright aerial stance, putting her forehooves on her hips. "We were worried about you! You disappeared right after Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got their cutie marks and didn't tell anyone where you were going."

"In point of fact-" I point to Fluttershy with my right forehoof. "-she was worried about you. With me it's more a vague sense of responsibility rather than any deep concern."

"Yes, I have been wondering." He peers at me suspiciously. "You clearly don't like me-"

Fluttershy frowns at me. "Don't say that."

I shrug. "He's right."

"-and yet you gave me that idea. Why?"

Fluttershy turns and gives me the cutest glare. "Did you tell him to do this to himself?"

"No. I just pointed out that just as you've all been sharing the magic of friendship, so he could share the magic of chaos."

"Um." Fluttershy looks uncertain. "The magic of chaos?"

Hawk Horse-Face throws up his arms. "Whooo!"

"See, I don't really mind Discord per se. I certainly don't mind chaos magic. What I mind is the combination of short sightedness and extreme raw power that appears to be the signature of Lords of Chaos. So I suggested a course of action that would both further his goals and weaken him to the point that I wouldn't feel like giving him the Klarion treatment. It would resolve the root of our conflict."

Discord looks mildly hurt. "I thought you were being helpful."

"I was. That's the beauty of it. You get something that actually changes things, and I get to stop worrying about you being on the same planet as Luna. Except that it doesn't seem to be working on your end. What's going on?"

"I was… Of two minds. I mean, chaos everywhere sounded good, but maybe it sounded too good."

"Um." Fluttershy sounds uncertain. "Everywhere?"

"Just a little bit. Like spreading toast evenly on butter. You probably wouldn't even notice most of the time, and even ponies find a little chaos fun."

"I… Suppose that's true. But what happened to you?"

"I was of two minds… Literally." I raise my left eyebrow. "Alright, more than two. I'm not used to being uncertain about things. So I made each viewpoint it's own thing and decided to fight it out."

"Discord, that's not a good way of resolving your problems. You could have come to talk to me about it."

"Some of me did. Or tried to. They got ambushed." He takes a deep breath, shuddering. "I wasn't joking about the 'fight it out' thing."

I frown. "How does that work?"

"You know how salamanders can make their tails fall off if it gets grabbed by a predator?"

"Yes?"

"Sort of the opposite of that." He looks around nervously. "Hopefully none of the others will come here."

Donald takes a few steps closer, careful to keep himself between the Tree and his brother. "So what did you decide?"

"I thought the Tree might have something useful to say."

Donald examines the tree quizzically for a moment. "How?"

"Pathetic fallacy."

Hawk Horse-Face frowns. "Hey! It's not that small! And you don't even have one."

Fluttershy blushes as Donald winces. "Hank, stop talking. Discord, you were saying?"

"Talking to things isn't usually that hard. And why shouldn't they talk back? But it doesn't like me."

Hm. "Why do you think it would have anything useful to say?"

"It gave up the Elements of Harmony. That's what made it weak enough for the Pundervines to work. I thought it might have some perspective on the whole thing. But-" He sticks his right foot into the cavern proper, and immediately a beam of rainbow light blasts towards it. He jumps up, letting the blast hit the ground beneath him. "-it doesn't feel like talking."

Donald looks thoughtful. "I can block those. Do you just need to get closer?"

"I mean, it can't hurt. No, wait it can, but I don't have any better ideas." He jumps onto Donald's back, and ducks down behind his head. "Giddy up, noble steed!"

Donald takes a rainbow bolt to the face, Hawk Horse-Face grinning at his misfortune.

"Taste the rainbow, bro!"

BR549 · 2025-09-20T07:40:11+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Checks himself to make sure that he's really find.

'fine'

"I point of fact-" I point to Fluttershy with my right forehoof.

'In'

It would resolving the root of our conflict."

'resolve'

"You know how salamanders can make their tails fall off if it gets grabbed by a predator?"

This sentence is like time travel - it's two tense. I suppose it could be Discord being Discord, but barring that, either this needs to be 'they get' or the first part needs to be 'how a salamander can make its tail'.

Coltsguy · 2025-09-20T07:41:25+0100

Honestly, this chapter makes me want to go back to my old story on Fimfiction and put myself into this since it would both work and make things really weird for everyone. Just for more chaosy fun.

Darko · 2025-09-20T07:54:09+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Pathetic fallacy."

Hawk Horse-Face frowns. "Hey! It's not that small

Hawk Horse-Face: And it's how you use it that matters!

Cuchulin · 2025-09-20T08:05:44+0100

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar dude.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-09-20T08:21:40+0100

Mr Zoat said:
26th July 2013
09:36 GMT -7

I spot Discord immediately, huddling as he is up against the cavern wall. He's about a third of his 'complete' size, and looks decidedly nervous to see me.

"Oh, it's… You."

Ha, I can just feel the passive-aggressive annoyance. Like when GLADoS is revived. And given their somewhat antagonistic relationship thus far, you can see why. The person you dislike seeing you this low? That's got to sting.

Hm. The Castle is fully functional, but it's more inhabited by historians and cleaning staff than it is actual residents. This part is sealed off by locks both conventional and arcane, and it's not… Immediately apparent how he got in here.

I take a moment to consider the giant locus of friendly and harmonious magic on the other side of the cave. Yep, there's the Elements of Harmony. Shame I don't still have Anti-Life in-.

Well, it's very hard to keep someone who can step between panel borders or through the layers of animation form getting somewhere you don't want them to be..

I snort quietly to myself.

No it isn't.

Yeah, you do not want live Anti-Life anywhere near Harmony. It's like matter meeting antimatter.

"Oh dear!" Fluttershy flies out of the boom tube and straight over to him, frantically looking him over for any injuries. "Are you okay?"

"I'm within licking distance of the greatest focus of… Ugh." He shudders. "Harmony, in Equestria. I-."

Like a buzzing gnat in your ear, or a mite fluttering about your eyelashes? OR stuck next to an absolutely awful stink that makes you break out in hives?

Hawk Horse-Face trundles through the portal, eyes locking onto Discord. "Hey, we found him! Thought you were b-"

The tree glows, then a rainbow beam blasts towards Henry! I-.

Ah, it does not like the idea of two Discords hanging around, eh? Even if Hank doesn't have a clue how to do any of the things Discord can.

Donald's already there, lunging forwards and blocking it with his body! Henry's eyes widen as Donald staggers, and… Checks himself to make sure that he's really find.

I think the Tree is glowering at him.

As much as a gnarled mass of wood can be without a face? I like that Don's Lamassu form is Orderly enough to tank Harmony.

"-igger. Don, you okay!?"

"Yeah." Donald prances for a moment to make sure that everything's working. "How the heck did you piss off a tree?"

That's an image, a prancing 'bull'.

Discord's eyes leap out of his head, landing on Hawk Horse-Face's head and grabbing his eye stalks for stability as they stare at him. "Do my eyes-"

"Hey!"

"-deceive me? Another draconequus?"

Not a female, though, so don't go getting any ideas. Especially with Fluttershy right there.

"Nah, I just-. Get these things off me!" Hawk Horse-Face tries to grab the eyes with his claw arm, but they vanish and reappear on Discord's face before he can grasp them. "I came through the magic mirror and it turned me into this. Kinda like it, wouldn't wanna get stuck like it."

Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to shapeshift? Though I imagine it's like trying to rub your belly and pat your head at the same time.

"Ah."

"What, you never seen another dragon-horse before?"

Admittedly, he's not much of a dragon or a horse, unless there's a seahorse in there.

"Actually… No. Not one that wasn't part of some sort of weird crossover event." Having assured herself that he's more or less alright, Fluttershy gives him a nuzzle. Discord responds by awkwardly pattering her on the head. "So… What brings you here?"

Fluttershy adopts an oddly awkward upright aerial stance, putting her forehooves on her hips. "We were worried about you! You disappeared right after Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got their cutie marks and didn't tell anyone where you were going."

And that is still quite the surprise. Did they even get cutie marks out of it?

"In point of fact-" I point to Fluttershy with my right forehoof. "-she was worried about you. With me it's more a vague sense of responsibility rather than any deep concern."

"Yes, I have been wondering." He peers at me suspiciously. "You clearly don't like me-"

And really, having Fluttershy worried about him must make him feel like a right heel.

Fluttershy frowns at me. "Don't say that."

I shrug. "He's right."

"-and yet you gave me that idea. Why?"

Hey, at least he's honest about it. And he's still civil to Discord, with the threat of violence only to be employed if he crosses a rather vague line.

Fluttershy turns and gives me the cutest glare. "Did you tell him to do this to himself?"

"No. I just pointed out that just as you've all been sharing the magic of friendship, so he could share the magic of chaos."

My god, he just no-sold the Stare?

"Um." Fluttershy looks uncertain. "The magic of chaos?"

Hawk Horse-Face throws up his arms. "Whooo!"

The trick is making sure that the people getting it aren't going to abuse it in the way that the Renegade was most worried about.

"See, I don't really mind Discord per se. I certainly don't mind chaos magic. What I mind is the combination of short sightedness and extreme raw power that appears to be the signature of Lords of Chaos. So I suggested a course of action that would both further his goals and weaken him to the point that I wouldn't feel like giving him the Klarion treatment. It would resolving the root of our conflict."

And save him having to get stabbed. Which would upset Fluttershy the point of being angry.

Discord looks mildly hurt. "I thought you were being helpful."

"I was. That's the beauty of it. You get something that actually changes things, and I get to stop worrying about you being on the same planet as Luna. Except that it doesn't seem to be working on your end. What's going on?"

After all, a seemingly cruel thing can be beneficial to everyone. The person it's being done to might object, true...

"I was… Of two minds. I mean, chaos everywhere sounded good, but maybe it sounded too good."

"Um." Fluttershy sounds uncertain. "Everywhere?"

I mean, diluted that much... Could it be that dangerous?

"Just a little bit. Like spreading toast evenly on butter. You probably wouldn't even notice most of the time, and even ponies find a little chaos fun."

"I… Suppose that's true. But what happened to you?"

As long as no-one gets hurt, anyway. Not permanently.

"I was of two minds… Literally." I raise my left eyebrow. "Alright, more than two. I'm not used to being uncertain about things. So I made each viewpoint it's own thing and decided to fight it out."

"Discord, that's not a good way of resolving your problems. You could have come to talk to me about it."

brings a whole new meaning to 'talking to yourself', though.

"Some of me did. Or tried to. They got ambushed." He takes a deep breath, shuddering. "I wasn't joking about the 'fight it out' thing."

I frown. "How does that work?"

Oh, dear. I suspect a few viewpoints were rather militant about things, then.

"You know how salamanders can make their tails fall off if it gets grabbed by a predator?"

"Yes?"

"Sort of the opposite of that." He looks around nervously. "Hopefully none of the others will come here."

I'm picturing multiple Discords mushed together into a ball like clay.

I suspect it's far worse.

Donald takes a few steps closer, careful to keep himself between the Tree and his brother. "So what did you decide?"

"I thought the Tree might have something useful to say."

Besides 'For the love of Me, don't do it!'?

Donald examines the tree quizzically for a moment. "How?"

"Pathetic fallacy."

I mean, if he can animate things... I suspect the tree might object to being touched by Chaos like that, but...

Hawk Horse-Face frowns. "Hey! It's not that small! And you don't even have one."

Fluttershy blushes as Donald winces. "Hank, stop talking. Discord, you were saying?"

Ah, 'Shy, such a cinnamon bun. Though I'm impressed Hank recognised the word 'phallus', mistaken as he was...

"Talking to things isn't usually that hard. And why shouldn't they talk back? But it doesn't like me."

Hm. "Why do you think it would have anything useful to say?"

Hell, if it heard his plan, it would probably just start screaming at him. Not even coherently, just [screaming externally].

"It gave up the Elements of Harmony. That's what made it weak enough for the Pundervines to work. I thought it might have some perspective on the whole thing. But-" He sticks his right foot into the cavern proper, and immediately a beam of rainbow light blasts towards it. He jumps up, letting the blast hit the ground beneath him. "-it doesn't feel like talking."

That's one way to tell him 'Go away!'

Donald looks thoughtful. "I can block those. Do you just need to get closer?"

"I mean, it can't hurt. No, wait it can, but I don't have any better ideas." He jumps onto Donald's back, and ducks down behind his head. "Giddy up, noble steed!"

Good god, imagine the sight of it. Imagine the 'This is a draconequus riding a Lamassu, your argument is invalid' memes...

Donald takes a rainbow bolt to the face, Hawk Horse-Face grinning at his misfortune.

"Taste the rainbow, bro!"

Brotherly love.

I suppose if you really want to talk to the source of all Harmony, then this is the way to do it. I don't know if it's capable of anthropomorphising itself (equestrimorphising?) to that level to actually communicate, but it's worth a shot? I suppose the next Renegade segment is going to be something amazing, even if it's just Harmony yelling at him.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-20T09:06:06+0100

BR549 said:
'fine'
'In'
'resolve'

Thank you, corrected.

This sentence is like time travel - it's two tense. I suppose it could be Discord being Discord, but barring that, either this needs to be 'they get' or the first part needs to be 'how a salamander can make its tail'.

I think it's alright.

GigaVanguard · 2025-09-20T16:59:48+0100

BR549 said:
This sentence is like time travel - it's two tense. I suppose it could be Discord being Discord, but barring that, either this needs to be 'they get' or the first part needs to be 'how a salamander can make its tail'.

"It" is the tail, not the salamander. I suppose you could make an argument for they since it's tails, plural, but that feels like nitpicking.

Frozen20XX · 2025-09-20T22:10:59+0100

Chojin Patriarch said:
I suppose if you really want to talk to the source of all Harmony, then this is the way to do it. I don't know if it's capable of anthropomorphising itself (equestrimorphising?) to that level to actually communicate, but it's worth a shot? I suppose the next Renegade segment is going to be something amazing, even if it's just Harmony yelling at him.

The Tree is capable of communicating, such as when it did so with the Student Six on one or two occasions (three if we consider the theory that Twilight's message from G5 is actually the Spirit of Harmony). Whether or not it will actually talk to Grayven is up in the air.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-21T10:30:36+0100

26th July 2013
09:41 GMT -7

Discord ducks again as another rainbow bolt hits Donald in the face.

Hawk Horse-Face lost the ability to hold in his guffaws two bolts ago.

Donald sighs. "I guess we can safely conclude that it's not intelligent."

I shake my head. "The fact that it's not rational doesn't mean that no thinking is taking place. The more different a species' nature, the more different its thought processes are going to be."

Fluttershy looks sheepish as she walks alongside him entirely unmolested. "I'm so sorry, Mister Dove. I just don't know what's gotten into it."

"What exactly happens if it hits Discord?"

"Um." Fluttershy considers the Tree as she tries to work it out. "Well, the Elements turned him into a stone statue twice. But they also freed him when we asked them to. The only thing they got rid of on their own was the Plundervines, and that was when we put them back. Mister Grayven, do you think it doesn't like your plan?"

I step pointedly over the line into the cavern. And it doesn't try to shoot me. "It has no ears and no magic systems have shifted yet. I don't think it's got any way to know what my plans are."

"Um. I suppose. But… Could it be responding to Discord? I mean, that there's something different about him?"

"That sounds plausible." Donald stops close enough to the Tree to have a conversation, but far enough away that Donald can face tank incoming rainbows. "Alright, Discord. We're here."

"Right." He cautiously peeks out from behind Donald's head. "Hello, old foe."

The Tree starts glowing faintly, but doesn't shoot yet.

"So I was wondering… How it felt. Giving up the Elements. How it worked with you being harmonious. Because I was sort of thinking of doing something similar, and with the Elements and the boxed rainbow it seems to me that you're the expert."

Hawk Horse-Face leans towards me. "Is this, like, the ponies' god?"

"No. It's.. a.. manifestation of what they consider to be the highest virtues. Imagine if you could go somewhere and talk to industry or prudence, and get superpowers if you lived those virtues."

"Doesn't industry make a load of pollution?"

"No, not 'industry' in the sense of manufacturing or a chemical refinery. 'Industry' in the sense of hard work. Being industrious."

"Oh. Huh."

Discord dares to lean out a little further. "It's just that if you don't say anything then I have to work it out for myself, and I doubt that you'd like that much."

I shake my head. "What are the alternatives, exactly?"

He turns his head around to face me. "Well, I either do what you say, or I just go back to doing what I was doing; hanging around and spreading a little chaos wherever I go."

"And what else?"

"Huh?"

"There are far more than two options in any situation. What other alternatives have you considered?"

"Well, I… I did sort of consider making 'Elements of Chaos' or something like that, but then I'm just repeating what someone else has already done and I couldn't think of good names. And would they be upbeat affirmations of change and growth, or something playing into my antagonistic origin?"

Fluttershy awkwardly raises her right forehoof. "Um. I prefer the first one, if that's okay with you."

"Dear Fluttershy, if I knew what was 'okay' with me then I wouldn't be in this situation with this-" He turns back towards the Tree. "-unhelpful, uncommunicative lump of crystal."

Fluttershy visible girds her loins and flies closer to the Tree. "Hello Mister Tree. I know we haven't spoken much, but Discord's having a really hard time deciding and he's made put a lot of effort into becoming a better person. It would really help him if you shared your opinion."

The tree shoots Donald in the head with a rainbow again.

Discord snorts as Donald blinks to clear his eyes. "At least it's consistent. Alright, we can-."

Donald's head turns slowly around, and his eyes are rainbows.

Ah.

"Paragon of Kindness. What is your question?"

The voice is a little distorted, not surprisingly as if the speaker isn't entirely familiar with the lamassu vocal system.

Henry leans closer to me. "You sure that's not a god?"

"As of five seconds ago, no."

Fluttershy looks from the Tree to Donald uncertainly. "Ah, Discord wants to know what he should do."

"I released him because you asked. I imprisoned him twice because his nature is antithetical to my own. I could destroy him utterly as he is now."

"That's not very kind."

"I am not kind. I shield and empower kindness. I stay my hand save where the unified paragons ask it."

"Okay, but-. Um." She glances at Discord and then tried to work out how to phrase his question. Or perhaps, how to get a helpful answer regardless of his ill-considered question. "Would you prefer to be the one making that decision?"

"No."

"And… Why is that? If you don't mind me asking."

"I am not a living creature. I cannot experience life as you do. Requiring six living creatures in harmony with one another and embodying the virtues to work together to unleash my power is a reasonable safeguard."

"But what about the Plundervines? They could have destroyed you."

"That has no significance."

"Ah." I nod to myself. "A synthetic god with poor prioritisation. I shouldn't be surprised given that it arose from the souls of ponies."

"So what do you think Discord should do? If.. you assume that he's in the same position as you."

"Discord can become more like living creatures than I can. If you can live as they live you can understand them better than I can."

Discord looks uneasy. "Most living creatures can't just click their claws and do anything they like. But I don't know if I really want to limit myself like that."

"What is best for your friends?"

Discord's face creases up. "Using the plural might be a little optimistic. But I suppose that it impacts her too. Fluttershy, what do you think I should do?"

"Oh! Oh, um. I thought you were happy how you were."

"Yes, but I'd never have become like that if you hadn't convinced me. So anything else you convince me to do might be just as good an idea that would have never occurred to me."

Fluttershy gives the matter some thought. "Well… When Twilight came to Ponyville, my only pony friend was Rainbow Dash. And… Then Nightmare Moon came back, and I had to make friends and do.. scary things.. to stop her. But afterwards, I had four new friends. So… I think maybe sharing with more ponies is better?"

"Hmmmmm…"

I hear him click his fingers-. No, wait, that wasn't-.

"Ahah!" Another Discord lunges across the cavern floor and grabs our Discord's tail. "Got your tail!"

"Rats."

Our Discord has a moment to look irritated, then-. His upper body gets sucked.. in on itself, until only the tail is visible. New Discord promptly sticks it on next to his own.

"Better. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more tails to grab!"

Darko · 2025-09-21T11:01:44+0100

Mr Zoat said:
suppose that it impact her

"impacts"

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-21T11:44:37+0100

Darko said:
"impacts"

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-09-21T12:42:54+0100

Mr Zoat said:
26th July 2013
09:41 GMT -7

Discord ducks again as another rainbow bolt hits Donald in the face.

Hawk Horse-Face lost the ability to hold in his guffaws two bolts ago.

At least someone is enjoying the show. I rather imagine Donald isn't having much fun with all that giving him facials. Still, it's better than having Discord get vaporised back into primal thaumic particles.

Donald sighs. "I guess we can safely conclude that it's not intelligent."

I shake my head. "The fact that it's not rational doesn't mean that no thinking is taking place. The more different a species' nature, the more different its thought processes are going to be."

This might just be he equivalent of it yelling 'Go away and leave me alone!', after all.

Fluttershy looks sheepish as she walks alongside him entirely unmolested. "I'm so sorry, Mister Dove. I just don't know what's gotten into it."

"What exactly happens if it hits Discord?"

Especially in this 'weakened' state? HE seems to have divided his power alongside his mind, after all.

"Um." Fluttershy considers the Tree as she tries to work it out. "Well, the Elements turned him into a stone statue twice. But they also freed him when we asked them to. The only thing they got rid of on their own was the Plundervines, and that was when we put them back. Mister Grayven, do you think it doesn't like your plan?"

I mean, it could be playing some long game to allow the ponies to function without it.

I step pointedly over the line into the cavern. And it doesn't try to shoot me. "It has no ears and no magic systems have shifted yet. I don't think it's got any way to know what my plans are."

"Um. I suppose. But… Could it be responding to Discord? I mean, that there's something different about him?"

Renegade, you know arcane beings don't always rely on meat-based senses.

"That sounds plausible." Donald stops close enough to the Tree to have a conversation, but far enough away that Donald can face tank incoming rainbows. "Alright, Discord. We're here."

"Right." He cautiously peeks out from behind Donald's head. "Hello, old foe."

Ah, so polite. You'd almost think he wasn't antagonising a tree.

The Tree starts glowing faintly, but doesn't shoot yet.

"So I was wondering… How it felt. Giving up the Elements. How it worked with you being harmonious. Because I was sort of thinking of doing something similar, and with the Elements and the boxed rainbow it seems to me that you're the expert."

I don't know... He and Harmony are very different things. Would that method of infusing aspects of Chaos into objects even work?

Hawk Horse-Face leans towards me. "Is this, like, the pony's god?"

"No. It's.. a.. manifestation of what they consider to be the highest virtues. Imagine if you could go somewhere and talk to industry or prudence, and get superpowers if you lived those virtues."

Such as gaining the ability to fire rainbow lasers.

"Doesn't industry make a load of pollution?"

"No, not 'industry' in the sense of manufacturing or a chemical refinery. 'Industry' in the sense of hard work. Being industrious."

I rather imagine the latter concept inspired the naming of the former, to some degree? Etymology is weird sometimes, especially with English's ~~stolen~~ acquired vocabulary.

"Oh. Huh."

Discord dares to lean out a little further. "It's just that if you don't say anything then I have to work it out for myself, and I doubt that you'd like that much."

I imagine there'd be a lot of screaming and running around on someone's part.

I shake my head. "What are the alternatives, exactly?"

He turns his head around to face me. "Well, I either do what you say, or I just go back to doing what I was doing; hanging around and spreading a little chaos wherever I go."

Ah, a bit short-sighted, eh?

"And what else?"

"Huh?"

"There are far more than two options in any situation. What other alternatives have you considered?"

And I'm sure the Renegade has so many ideas he can share with you, doesn't he?

"Well, I… I did sort of consider making 'Elements of Chaos' or something like that, but then I'm just repeating what someone else has already done and I couldn't think of good names. And would they be upbeat affirmations of change and growth, or something playing into my antagonistic origin?"

Again, I shudder to imagine how that would work, and who would end up empowered by them...

Fluttershy awkwardly raises her right forehoof. "Um. I prefer the first one, if that's okay with you."

"Dear Fluttershy, if I knew what was 'okay' with me then I wouldn't be in this situation with this-" He turns back towards the Tree. "-unhelpful, uncommunicative lump of crystal."

That does seem to be the issue at hand, doesn't it?

Fluttershy visible girds her loins and flies closer to the Tree. "Hello Mister Tree. I know we haven't spoken much, but Discord's having a really hard time deciding and he's put a lot of effort into becoming a better person. It would really help him if you shared your opinion."

Ah, Fluttershy, capable of diplomancing nearly anything...

The tree shoots Donald in the head with a rainbow again.

Discord snorts as Donald blinks to clear his eyes. "At least it's consistent. Alright, we can-."

...I don't think this is going how you think it will...

Donald's head turns slowly around, and his eyes are rainbows.

Ah.

"Paragon of Kindness. What is your question?"

Oh, that's significant. 'Paragon', rather than simply 'Bearer'.

The voice is a little distorted, not surprisingly as if the speaker isn't entirely familiar with the lamassu vocal system.

Henry leans closer to me. "You sure that's not a god?"

I would figure they're not a common sight in Equestria. Or any lands nearby, perhaps?

"As of five seconds ago, no."

Fluttershy looks from the Tree to Donald uncertainly. "Ah, Discord wants to know what he should do."

Hard to know who to look at when someone's using someone else as a speaker...

"I released him because you asked. I imprisoned him twice because his nature is antithetical to my own. I could destroy him utterly as he is now."

"That's not very kind."

At least it's being clear about it. No cryptic mumblings, no fancy metaphor, just 'I don't like him.'

"I am not kind. I shield and empower kindness. I stay my hand save where the unified paragons ask it."

"Okay, but-. Um." She glances at Discord and then tried to work out how to phrase his question. Or perhaps, how to get a helpful answer regardless of his ill-considered question. "Would you prefer to be the one making that decision?"

Huh. So Harmony is not the kind and gentle thing Ponies seem to think it is, eh? 'Good is not always nice', and all that.

"No."

"And… Why is that? If you don't mind me asking."

"I am not a living creature. I cannot experience life as you do. Requiring six living creatures in harmony with one another and embodying the virtues to work together to unleash my power is a reasonable safeguard."

OR in some universes, seven. Or two, in the Princess' case. It certainly ensures it's used for worthwhile reasons, at least.

"But what about the Plundervines? They could have destroyed you."

"That has no significance."

In other words, the tree is largely a focal point, not the whole. Makes sense, if Harmony is spread across Equestria.

"Ah." I nod to myself. "A synthetic god with poor prioritisation. I shouldn't be surprised given that it arose from the souls of ponies."

"So what do you think Discord should do? If.. you assume that he's in the same position as you."

Or maybe the renegade is putting the cart before the horse. who knows which came first, eh?

"Discord can become more like living creatures than I can. If you can live as they live you can understand them better than I can."

Discord looks uneasy. "Most living creatures can't just click their claws and do anything they like. But I don't know if I really want to limit myself like that."

You don't think it'd be much fun? Perhaps an avatar, then? A nice, normal pony that happens to share a connection to give him that mortal perspective?

"What is best for your friends?"

Discord's face creases up. "Using the plural might be a little optimistic. But I suppose that it impacts her too. Fluttershy, what do you think I should do?"

Good, at least he's admitting to himself that she matters. He could have been too embarrassed to say so...

"Oh! Oh, um. I thought you were happy how you were."

"Yes, but I'd never have become like that if you hadn't convinced me. So anything else you convince me to do might be just as good an idea that would have never occurred to me."

Sometimes, all it can take is a little outside perspective.

Fluttershy gives the matter some thought. "Well… When Twilight came to Ponyville, my only pony friend was Rainbow Dash. And… Then Nightmare Moon came back, and I had to make friends and do.. scary things.. to stop her. But afterwards, I had four new friends. So… I think maybe sharing with more ponies is better?"

"Hmmmmm…"

Ah, but how will he interpret that? Sharing power with others? Sharing his life with more than just her? He's just too chaotic to predict...

I hear him click his fingers-. No, wait, that wasn't-.

"Ahah!" Another Discord lunges across the cavern floor and grabs our Discord's tail. "Got your tail!"

Oh, come on!

"Rats."

Our Discord has a moment to look irritated, then-. His upper body gets sucked.. in on itself, until only the tail is visible. New Discord promptly sticks it on next to his own.

"Better. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more tails to grab!"

Take a moment to mull over the new perspective first, thank you.

Well, that was sudden. Let's hope his little moment of inspiration hasn't been lost on the rest of Discord as they pull himself together. And perhaps he'll be more of a fun trickster than a threat to life and limb from now on. Let's just hope he doesn't get totally the worst ideas and end up tasting the Sword of the Fallen...

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-21T14:14:38+0100

Chojin Patriarch said:
Oh, that's significant. 'Paragon', rather than simply 'Bearer'.

Since they put the Elements back on the Tree, they're not bearers any longer.

Huh. So Harmony is not the kind and gentle thing Ponies seem to think it is, eh? 'Good is not always nice', and all that.

No.

View: https://youtu.be/V728_qPZL7I?si=UV-brYfzcjtXEIAJ

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Making the rounds.

Versed in the lewd.

Getting sticky.

Dedicated ragequitter

This is filth! FILTH!!

Colts fan. Anime fan. Breast and back fan.

Connoisseur.

Versed in the lewd.

Veteran Lurker

Dedicated ragequitter

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Making the rounds.

Dedicated ragequitter

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

Veteran Lurker

Dedicated ragequitter

Users who are viewing this thread