The Flutter of a crow taking flight frightens Sebastian as he treks through the woods to find the perfect spot for the spell. His heart pounds with fear as he takes slow meandering footsteps almost scared to find out if the book the gypsy sold him would actually work. Finding a clearing in the dark forest he opens the book and shines his phone light onto it. The page flips open to a page depicting a serpent with antlers and talons like an eagle. He rereads the description, heart pounding, making sure this was the demon he wanted to summon. The demon Discord is a Lord of chaos with abilities that can bend the fabric of reality in ways our mind cannot comprehend and grant the summoner and wishes or desires regardless of scope or scale, often in ways the summoner least expects. He can be summoned by bridging the gaps between dimensions with the Rune of Disharmony; and upon the rune must be a chicken foot, a lizard tail, a feather, a shark tooth, and a tuft of pony tail. With visions of power and glory on his mind, he sets about making the rune in the manner described in the book; referencing the picture on his phone multiple times to make sure he has it just right. For too long Sebastian endured the ridicule of being an outcast, with his lofty ambitions, celebrity, world domination, it could all be his. All he has to do is summon this demon and all of his greatest desires can come true: women, fame, money, power, everything. Placing all the items in their place he takes a few steps back, careful not to disturb the rune. Trembling with fear, excitement, and all manner of feelings flowing through his heart, he begins to read the incantation. "Calling thee, all that threaten harmony. Bring thy malice and drink the chalice, for your foes will soon be in woe, as your sight brings fright! Calling thee, all that threaten harmony!" Sebastian repeatedly chants as the rune burns with the fiery glow of brimstone. It's working, he thinks to himself chanting louder and faster as his apprehension to bring the demon of chaos into this world fades away to the backdrop of his apparent success. Sebastian has to avert his eyes as the glow of the rune starts to sear his skin with the intense heat. With a flash he is thrown back with the book blown away into the darkness. He scrambles to his feet looking all about the dark forest for his demon, but there's nothing there. Confused, he tries to find his phone so he can look for his book, wondering if he messed up the incantation or misplaced the items in the rune. With an anticlimactic poof of glitter and streamers the horrifying dragonequus appears into view sipping tea with a warm smile. With a light clink, his cup returns to its saucer before opening his eyes. Briefly confused by the situation, he looks down to see a human laughing maniacally. Despite his tea party with Fluttershy being interrupted, he's mildly amused by the creature calling to him and plays along. "Discord, demon of chaos, I, Sebastian Felder, have summoned you to do my bidding! Make the world grovel at my feet and satisfy my every desire!” He screams out into the night sky expecting the earth to fracture at his feet. But as the agonizing seconds pass with inaction, Sebastian starts to wonder, why nothing is happening? Despite mere seconds of interaction, Discord has already had his fill of the human before him and decides to toy with him to try and salvage some fun from the situation. “You humans are so predictable. Your ambitions are so limited in scope, making people grovel at your feet. PFT. How pathetic, so easy.” He menacingly explains before fire erupts around them and Discord wills a throne of skulls into existence for him to ride into the heights of the towering inferno above. Wincing from the bright flames around him smothering him in heat, Sebastian growls in anger at the demon’s disparaging remarks, he can’t treat me like this, I’m his master, he thinks to himself. “So, what? If all I want is power, what does it matter to you!” He defensively yells out, not understanding the nature of the demon before him. “I have the power to make the past, present, and future exist in unison, planets and stars bend to my whim, not even the laws of nature are outside my control, and you have the audacity to summon me to make humans your pawns? How unoriginal, I have plenty more fun ideas to do now that you have released me into this world foolish human,” Discord cheers throwing himself back in his throne. “Step one, get rid of you.” He teases flashing the flames around them. With the heat from the flames searing Sebastian's face he desperately tries to call out the mythical creature. “The book says you have to do as I command, you can’t hurt me, you’re stuck with me!” He smugly cries out with a hint of a waver in his voice trying to remember the recall incantation to send him back to hell just in case. The flames dissipate and form a rigid metal bird cage. Discords throne fades away crumbling to ash as Discord feigns aguish. “Oh Human, release me from this cursed state of servitude, it is simply too much for me to bear.” He whines slithering to the ground and laying upon the rune. Sebastian, cautiously optimistic, is pleased by how easy it was to bring the demon under control. Some part of him fantasizes about stomping the demon’s head into the dirt with muddy boots but that will be tomorrow’s mission. “Well, with that insubordination out of the way, let’s get to it. First, I need-,” In a flash, Discord’s eyes gleam with excitement before snapping his fingers and interrupting the human. “Oh, wait, how silly of me. I can’t hurt you, but they sure can.” He laughs as shadowy black horses surround the cage shrieking and kicking the cage as it cracks and crumbles yielding to the magical shadow horses’ blows. Sebastian, covering his ears to protect himself from their shrieking cries, finally accepts that he is in way over his head. Recalling the incantation from the book, he yells out into night. “Demon, thy bidding done, begone, to you whence you came, bear no shame for-,” Sebastian shudders hearing the demonic cry of the dragonequus as the rune erupts in flames under Discord. Encouraged by the apparent success of the incantation, he continues to repeat as the dark shadow horses melt away fading through the bars of the giant bird cage being drawn into the rune. As Discord shrieks in pain and the cage crumbles around them, Sebastian continues yelling the incantation louder with pride defeating the powerful demon with just his voice. With his claws digging into the earth to resist the pull of the rune, discord shrieks one last time to the human with his demonic tone. “It is my destiny to dominate this world pathetic human, nopony will stand in my way!” Losing his grip and landing upon the rune he cries out in a manner fit for peak Shakespearian drama reaching out to the sky as he is absorbed into the earth A flash of light reveals the rune just as he had started. Frantic and trembling from the experience, Sebastian scrambles to destroy the rune and ensure the demon cannot return. Trying to gather his thoughts he sets about trying to find the book and see what he did wrong. The Demon horses and the open attempt on his life shattered his confidence. “I did everything the book said to, I did the rune exactly like it said, I put down all the items and-,” Mid thought, Sebastian walks into an invisible wall. Thinking he hit a tree in the dark he fumbles around and feels a perfectly flat solid wall blocking his path. Suddenly he hears an ominous voice behind him cheering and clapping. Turning to see the dragonequus in a director’s chair, floating closer and closer, causes Sebastian to shriek in horror and start crying begging for help. “Bravo! Bravo! Such marvelous acting from all involved, especially that handsome devil dragonequus, he had me positively moved to tears, Encore!” Discord cheers giving himself a best actor award, before turning his attention to the human. “Now, what was that you were saying about me being stuck with you? Oh, no, quite the opposite I’m afraid. You are stuck with me.” Sebastian attempts to run again before hitting another wall, turning, and hitting another before realizing he is boxed in. With the backdrop of the woods turning into carboard cutouts in an instant they all fall away to the void below as he stands on the stage. “How? I sent you back to hell!” Sebastian cries out to the uncaring demon. He tries to flail uselessly against the invisible walls that close in on him, fighting and pushing against the walls, each movement getting tighter and tighter before he can no longer move his legs, body, and finally arms. He groans and screams feeling as though he is about to pop like a balloon. With one more squeeze, he feels his body reconstitute itself into a two-dimensional plane, feeling each cell in his body slip past each other as he moves trapped in the glass plane he looks around at the realm forming around them. Discord shrinks the little human trapped in the glass, pondering him as he twirls the pane of glass in his claws watching the human tumble. “My, such a fragile little thing. I hope you understand human; I am very annoyed with you. I was having a marvelous tea party with my darling Fluttershy before your antics drew me away to some pedestrian power fantasy. How fitting for an end, glass as fragile as your ego.” He sets the glass on its corner and spins it like a top watching it slowly lose speed maniacally laughing. Sick with anxiety, the motion, and the general confusion, Sebastian wonders what he did to get a nightmare like this. As the pane slows and falls over, Sebastian tries to think of a way out, any way to take himself back to when he got the book and tell himself no, but with no options, he begs for mercy before the glass shatters scattering his bits to thousands of fragments spread across the table. A brutal end, however the glass shards melt and reform returning Sebastian to his original self. Confused and traumatized Sebastian starts to cry convinced he has gone to hell. No, no it can’t be, I didn’t do anything wrong he tells himself as he yanks on his hair in distress. With his laughing fit over, Discord attempts to get the human’s attention. “Lucky for you, I’ve been turning over a new leaf as my dearest Fluttershy would be heartbroken to hear what I’ve done to a poor defenseless creature as yourself-,” Discord explains as the human has the audacity to interrupt him. “Please, I’ll never summon you again, I learned my lesson. Just let me go ho-!” He begs as a large zipper manifests itself from his lips and zips his mouth closed. Yanking on the zipper and feeling around his mouth he belts out a powerful muffled scream wanting to jump into the void to see if it will end his suffering or drag him out of this vivid nightmare. The dragonequus wiggles with joy watching the arrogant human suffer. “As I was saying, I have no interest in tormenting you; even though your screams enthrall me like a crescendo in an opera. As much as I’d like an encore, I’ll bid you farewell human, Ta-ta.” He says with a snap of his fingers allowing the table to rapidly shrink. With the Demon now disappeared into the void and the zipper gone, he cowers and trembles as the vast table shrinks to nothing below his feet. He desperately holds on to the last little bit of the table left before the table sprouts a mouth. Causing him to shriek in terror once more. “Hey kid, beat it, I’ve got places to be!” The table spits at him before vanishing into a puff of confetti. With no visual reference Sebastian floats in the void wondering if this was purgatory. The emptiness, no sensation, the only sound left was the sound of his ears ringing. With a little glimmer in the dark Sebastian catches a glimpse of light below him. Unable to stand the dark anymore, he welcomed the little light he saw even as it becomes exponentially brighter. His relief was short lived as he started to see earth below him, houses and eventually trees and cars. With one last shriek he closes his eyes and flails around before feeling himself toss the sheets from his bed. Snapping his bloodshot eyes open, he looks around his room. The transition from nightmare realm to normal reality is so jarring he questions everything. Where’s the demon, why did he let me go, am I in hell, what the fuck just happened! He asks himself hyperventilating. “It was a dream, oh god, it was all just a dream.” He cheers to the world as he looks for anything out of place, walking tables, cannibalistic carrots, even something as mundane as the switch for his lamp wasn’t escaping Sebastian’s anxiety fueled paranoia. With a sigh of relief Sebastian resumes his quest for power. Apprehensive about even putting his feet on the carpet he touches it with his toe before hopping off the bed completely. He rummages through his drawer before finding the book where he left it. Although everything seems right, he’s still not sure if he had a nightmare, or if he got lucky the demon let him go. “Ok, Discord is definitely not the demon I want to summon,” he tells himself searching through the book and finding promising, albeit less powerful, demons. He flips to the page on discord and immediately turns the page. The mere sight of his illustration enough to send chills to his feet. However, Sebastian’s paranoia creeps back into frame, with some hesitation he flips back to the page onto discord, curious to see if he had the correct recall incantation. He reads the incantation and with a weight taken off his shoulder. He finds that it was the correct incantation. The illustration of discord slitters across the page and rearranges the letters to the correct recall incantation with magical glee. “Opps, looks like someone left a typo,” Discord teases lifting himself off the page before the book gets slammed on him. Tossing the book on the floor Sebastian lets out a blood curdling scream. No, it can’t be, that was just a dream! He tells himself as he feels every blood vessel in his chest strain from the horror. “MOM! DAD!” He screams, his eyes never leaving the book not even for a blink, as his mother enters the room. With a hug, his mother comforts her son, “I’m here for you dear, what happened.” She soothes picking him up without any effort. Sebastian hugs his mom’s arm refusing to lose sight of the book. “Mom, the book, its cursed, the demon is real.” He begs as his heart sinks from being picked up by his little weak mother. Refusing to look he hears an unfamiliar voice whisper in his ear. “The book is cursed? Why, how awful! Makes me wonder, why would someone look to the book, that caused them so much trouble. For a second time, I might add,” Discord asks, genuinely curious as to why the human would do something so foolishly reckless. Sebastian turns to see Discord’s horrifying face before pushing himself away floating into the room of tumbling furniture flailing around in the zero gravity. “Please, I didn’t summon you, I swore, I wouldn’t summon you again!” Sebastian begs as chains reach out from the darkness, pulling him tight from every limb ratcheting tighter threatening to pull him apart. Discord snaps his fingers and stops the chains satisfied leaving Sebastian there to stretch. He thinks about a more fun way to deal with the pesky human. “I suppose you’re right, you didn’t summon me, but what if you did something far more dangerous and reckless like summon Lord Tirek instead. I suppose we should look towards addressing the root of the problem shouldn’t we.” Discord explains summoning himself some tea and a chair before giving Sebastian a comfy therapist chair. “Tell me Sebastian, what drives you to summon a demon to solve your problems.” He asks as a massive quill takes notes. With the chains releasing their tension and his body able to relax, he is able to calm himself for a second. Sebastian begins to think about those who have wronged him as his rage builds. “There are these stupid people that need to be taught a lesson, I figure if they were punished, they’d probably be nicer to everyone,” He groans as he contemplates every moment he was never picked for sports, left without a partner for school projects, eating lunch alone. Discord, already peering into Sebastians mind, is not impressed by the silver screen tier projection on display. “Are you sure you’re not part of the problem?” He asks as the obnoxious quill behind him takes notes. Offended at the dragonequus suggestion, he fights back spitting rage. “I tried so hard to be a good friend and they spit in my face. They can get bent; they can grovel at my feet.” He announces with pride standing on the chair Discord’s eyes glow with delight, “Oh, I have a splendid idea. If you’re so convinced that you know everything about friendship, you should have no problem playing a little game. The rules are simple, I ask you a question about friendship, a correct answer, I will grant one of your desires, if you get them all wrong, well, let’s just say you’ll get the form you deserve. What do you say?” Discord smiles giving Sebastian a lion’s paw to shake on. Sebastian stares at the paw knowing he is helpless to stop the power of the dragonequus. The offer of being left alone would have sufficed to encourage him to play discord’s game but the opportunity to actually get his wishes makes the risk seem far more worthwhile. “I learned about friendship in elementary school; I’ll play your game,” Sebastian scoffs with a disparaging tone. “As long as there’s no funny business!” Discord feigns offense at the accusation of being unfair withdrawing his paw. “How dare you, I am nothing but honest and true. Here, let us do a practice round just to make sure you’re comfortable with how this works. Answer correctly you get one of your wishes filled, answer incorrectly and you’ll get the form you deserve. Simple enough? Now, what color is the sky?” Discord asks innocently standing next to the closed blinds. Sebastian glares at the playful demon as he hesitates to answer. “The sky is blue.” He sheepishly answers wondering if the question is a trick or just a genuinely easy question. Discord opens the blinds to show the bright pink sky outside the window with green clouds floating around aimlessly bumping into each other as Sebastian curses him for his deception. With a sigh discord continues with his example. “The sky has always been pink, but, for the sake of argument, let’s just say its blue.” With a roll of Discord’s eyes, the sky turns blue and Sebastian’s arms swell like balloons with massive Biceps. Sebastian can’t help but to flex his new muscles as his enthusiasm for the game becomes overwhelming. This is gonna be easy, he tells himself imagining how the questions are going to be. Just as he’s admiring himself, the biceps deflate like whoopie cushions. With a growl he looks over to the outstretched paw. The last bit of sanity left in him tells him to give up now, but after having a little taste, he has to have it now. “Ok Discord, I’ll play your game,” He agrees grabbing the lion’s paw for a shake “Splendid, let’s get started, first question, should be easy for you: someone you just met is being selfish and a bit rude to you, if you want to be friends with this person, what should you do.” Discord asks with a serious tone not yet seen by Sebastian. “If they’re being rude and selfish, why would I want to be their friend? I’d just tell them to go away.” Sebastian asks with incredulity as he floats in the room. Discord giggles with childlike glee, “Oh, sorry, the answer I was looking for was: ‘give them space to be themselves.’ I’m afraid you gave a wrong answer so that means one little step closer to the form you deserve,” He explains with a snap of his fingers. The terrified Sebastian feels something protruding from his hind end burning and stretching the skin as he scrambles to fight the painful growth. He grunts and groans cupping his tailbone trying to stop it. Wincing and groaning in pain the growth bursts through his pants and reveals a beautiful black pony tail. Sebastian grabs the tail and screams out in horror. “What, why did you do that, turn me back!” He begs yanking on his own tail to see if its real. “You got the question wrong, so I did a little change to turn you into the form you deserve. Those were the rules and you agreed to them. I’m merely playing by the rules,” He teases as a little halo appears over Discord’s head. Sebastian quickly realizes he was never meant to win this game. He curses himself for his naivety and wants out. World domination be damned; he just wants his life to go back to normal and have this demon go back to his own realm. “Ok, Discord, I learned my lesson, I need to learn to be a better friend, please, leave me alone,” He shamelessly begs to the uncaring Dragonequus. “No take-backsies! I haven’t had this much fun in ages! Now for the next question,” He cheers over the human’s plea for mercy. “A person, who is your friend, starts to cause you problems that affect you, or your friends personally, what should you do?” He asks with an answer of pure worried silence from the human. “I should have mentioned it before, but no answer is still a wrong answer.” Discord teases ready to snap his fingers again before the human frantically stalls. Scrambling over his words buying for time he finally gets an answer together, “Um, just let them do whatever they want?” Sebastian desperately answers hoping that the answer is satisfactory to the demon. Discord snaps his fingers again beginning the next transformation. “Oh, that’s the last thing a good friend would do. The correct answer is: ‘a good friend would set clear and reasonable boundaries.” Sebastian feels his heart shatter as he feels the nerves tingling on his belly. Frantic, he pulls up his shirt to reveal a patch of green fur overtaking his skin. He tries scratching at the growth. He grows increasingly frantic before scratching away at his own skin to stop it, causing himself immense pain as the unstoppable green fluff overtakes his body. “Oh god, please, please, I’ll do anything please, just stop!” He screams out as the fur slowly creeps up his neck. “I’ll be your servant in hell; you can have my soul! Please just let me go!” He begs with tears running down his face. With his body jiggling with joy, Discord gives the human a disturbing smile, “Ready or not, final question: A friend breaks their promise with you over something very important and takes advantage of your kindness. What should you do?” He asks cracking his knuckles to perform the final transformation With the green fur overtaking his cheeks Sebastian desperately thinks of some answer he can give that would satisfy Discord. Erring on the side of caution, he thinks of a very friendly answer. With his voice choked up from the anxiety, he finally answers, “You should talk to them and see why they’re acting out?” Sebastian answers on the verge of hyperventilation. In a heart shattering snap Discord begins the final transformation. “Wrong again!” He cheers with a laugh. “The correct answer was: no real friend would take advantage of your kindness and you should not be friends with such person.” He watches with joy as the transformation takes place and gives the pesky human what they deserve. Sebastian panics and flails in futility as his legs take a horse-like appearance with his bones groaning and cracking, his leg muscles cramping and tearing, taking the new shape. “Fuck you, piece of shit, you made those answers up!” Sebastian cries out in furious anguish giving the dragonequus double middle fingers before his fingers melt together like wet wax over hot coals. He gazes on in horror as the flesh on his hands melts together to form hooves. His hooves press against his face as it starts to form a pony snoot. Contemplating every decision that brought him to this moment Sebastian stops fighting the magic, and in a tearful state, he lets the transformation take its course. As he relaxes, the pain fades as his body shrinks and his prideful bits fade away to nothing, he gently floats down to the comfort of the bed. Exhausted, Sebastian sits upright struggling to find his way out of his shirt, once he pokes his head out of his shirt, feeling his hooves, flowing mane, and girly bits, his lips tremble as he starts to sob without shame blaming himself for toying with powers beyond his comprehension. Wiping his tears with his hooves, he struggles with the immense burden of regret that brought him to become nothing more than a helpless little filly. Discord can hardly contain his giddy laughter picking up the precious little sobbing filly. “Aw, what happened, you had so many strong words to say. So expressive but now you’re looking a bit humbled.” Discord tosses the filly back onto the pile of clothes mocking the filly with his laughter. Sebastian trembles in fear hiding under the shirt. Hyperventilating and trying to think of a way to escape, he can do nothing more than cry out for his parents. With the shirt blowing away with a simple brief gust. The room has vanished as he desperately clings to the bed trying to figure out how to use his hooves so he doesn’t fall into the void. “Oh, you want your parents? How adorable, and pathetic. That was a good laugh but I have better things to attend to so-,” Discord teases wanting to simply banish the filly to Tartarus for added cruelty, but he stops himself and rubs his hands together with a mischievous smile. “Parents, oh yes, why didn’t I think of that? I can only imagine how much joy it would bring me to see their faces when they realize their son is a little filly.” Picking up the trembling filly and giving Sebastian a little farewell pat on the head, he prepares to snap his fingers. “You on the other hoof, get to see it for yourself. I’m almost jealous. Ta-Ta!” He mocks with a snap of his fingers disappearing the filly back to his dimension. With that human nonsense behind him, Discord drops the scary void walls around him to walk through his front door, chuckling to himself about the ordeal walking up to his house. Although Sebastian is traumatized by the transformation, and wonders how he is going to live his life as a pony, he is relieved that the demon finally lost interest in tormenting him and is simply letting him go after what seemed like ages of pointless torment. With a flash, Sebastian reappears right in front of the Dragonequus. When he sees Discord’s horrifying figure once more, he screams and cries trying to shuffle away tripping over his hooves like a newborn foal. “You said you would let me go!” Sebastian screams before being flashed away presumably to the human realm. Discord, confused by the sudden reappearance of the filly, shakes off the encounter. “That was odd, I must have sent him to the wrong dimension.” He mutters to himself as Sebastian reappears at his feet once again. Discord groans as the screaming and crying filly fuels his frustration. Severely annoyed, he tries to troubleshoot the issue by flashing Sebastian back into his human form before casting him off back to the human dimension. Moments pass as he thinks he may have solved the problem. However, the second his lion’s paw touches the door knob the little green filly reappears on his door step once more. Ripping off his horn and antler in frustration, Discord puts his scrambled thoughts together, before he realized what spell he used the make the transformation. “This must be that stupid destiny magic, why did I bother, it’s no fun, such a stubborn form of magic, you can’t do anything fun with it.” He whines to himself as the filly cowers on his doorstep. Sebastian, trembling from having to relive the transformation once more in the magic realm, is almost too shocked to say anything. “I don’t care anymore, just do what you want with me.” He utters softly under his breath between sniffles and tears. He lay on the door step defeated ready for whatever fate claims him in this cruel world he has found himself trapped in. “If it makes you feel better, you’re proving to be a very ill-mannered guest and overstaying your welcome, despite me being gracious enough to send you home!” Discord groans tossing aside his horns as the new set grow in their place. Sebastian backs up against the door unable to make eye contact, fearing upsetting Discord any more than he already has. “But I didn’t do anything, I just want to go home!” Sebastian begs looking for a means to escape. A lightbulb flashes over Discord’s head as a twisted smile creeps over his face. Despite the filly backing away, Sebastian gets scooped up by the tail and dropped into his arms. Discord rocks the filly in his arms with his mind cooking up a little scheme for his persistent little thorn in his side. “What is home anyway? I’m sure an adorable orphan filly like you would find a loving family in no time.” Sebastian can’t believe his ears as the Dragonequus threatens to take absolutely everything from him. His body, his manhood, and now even his family will be taken from him. With his throat course with crying and screaming, he can’t muster any energy to be more upset and crushed than he already is. “No! you said you were gonna send me home!” “That’s right, but you can forget all about that human world, your old life, and that poor excuse of a family. My dearest Fluttershy will help you find a loving home in no time.” Discord teases trying to provoke another reaction from the emotionally tapped-out human. Sniffling and wiping away tears, Sebastian manages to stammer out a threat through his sore throat. “I’m gonna tell Fluttershy everything you did to me, I’m gonna let everyone know it was you who that turned me into this!” Sebastian yells flailing his hooves in pouty rage. “Silly little filly, in case you forgot who you’re dealing with here, I think your book called me, and I quote, “a Lord of chaos with abilities that can bend the fabric of reality in ways our mind cannot comprehend.” You’ll be able to comprehend this with ease, I assure you” He gleefully explains, gently reminding the little filly of the power he has as with a mere snap of his fingers. Sebastian feels his body start to morph forcing him to contort in unnatural ways as his skin burns from phasing between fur, flesh, and scales, his hooves tear themselves apart to form hands before turning into claws and eventually melting back into hooves. he starts to beg before the contortions get any worse or spread across his body. “Don’t hurt me! I’ll listen; I’ll be good I swear! I won’t tell anyone anything.” He eeks out collapsing and writhing in pain begging for mercy once more as his body takes the form of a dragonequus. Discord wishes he could stop the transformation as is and admire his beautiful creation but as he snaps his fingers, the magic of destiny takes control and reverts Sebastian to his filly form. “Good, now repeat after me, “I’m just a little mare” don’t be shy, just say it with me little filly.” He teases watching his toy catch its breath. Sebastian feels a jab in his heart, a sting in his pride as the demon forces him to repeat his lines. Although he wants nothing more than to tell off the dragonequus, his filly body and little hooves serve as a permanent reminder as to why resistance is futile. With immense strain and shame, he finally manages to say it. “I’m just a little mare,” Sebastian says with a quiver in his voice, like a toddler forced to apologize after a spanking. “Excellent work my little pony, say it louder, more pride, nothing to be ashamed of here.” Discord cheers trying to coach his toy to be a convincing lost filly. Sebastian trembles as Discord slithers his body around him. Teasing and scratching under the chin. Fearing any more punishment he tries to calm his trembling voice. “I’m a just a little mare!” Sebastian forces out holding back his tears as he’s cradled in the dragonequus arms. With a little chuckle, he opens a portal to Equestria satisfied Sebastian is fearful enough to keep his mouth shut, at least for the time being. “There, there, little filly, I’m going to make sure everyone takes good care of you. If you follow that one simple rule, you’ll forget all about your silly human life and family in no time.” Discord cheers tormenting the trembling little filly in his arms. The blinding sun forces Sebastian to cover his eyes with his hooves as he walks through the portal. Gazing around the beautiful fields and the tree cottage in the distance, he feels the cool breeze cut through his fluffy green coat and curls himself tight to stay warm. Feeling the filly shiver in his arms, Discord feels a shred of remorse for his actions. With a snap, he gives the filly a blanket as it’s the least he can do to make up for what he did. The two exchange looks, Discord, a look of shame and Sebastian a quick flinch of fear the moment he realized they locked eyes. Walking faster, discord tries getting the filly to Fluttershy as fast as possible. Hiding under the blanket, Sebastian tries to understand what discord meant by destiny magic, looking around the world around him he struggles to understand why this place. I had a destiny in the human world he defiantly tells himself; I was going to…I was going to, he thinks to himself scrambling to think of what he was doing with his life in the human world, getting ready for community college, and doing a few credits a semester for an Associate’s degree in art? He slumps in the dragonequus’s arms wondering if this place truly was his destiny, what if I am supposed to be a filly, what if this is how the demon gave me my wish, my innermost desires? Considering all the torment he has been through, he defiantly refuses to accept that this as his destiny, he will make it back to the human world somehow. “Oh Fluttershy! The most awful thing happened; I found this poor little filly all alone in the Everfree forest! Surely there is something you can do to help her find her family.” Discord cries out flinging open the door to the cottage and caking his tone in dramatic flair. Sebastian plays his part and hoping he will finally be left alone to beg for help but as he turns to see the fluttering Pegasus fly across the room, his eyes are filled with majestic wonder the gleaming yellow feathers and pink mane cause him to sigh with adoration as he gets scooped up by the doting Fluttershy. “Oh, my goodness, are you alright, you should know better than to go through the Everfree forest all by yourself missy. What if you got attacked by a bug bear or got turned to stone by a cockatrice! Your family must be so worried about you. what do you have to say for yourself?” She scolds with a voice soft enough to cushion a plummeting egg. Sebastian blushes and stammers as she takes him into the living room. His dreamy stare is shattered as he catches an evil glare from the dragonequus. Remembering the line, Sebastian quickly stammers it out. “I don’t know, I’m just a little mare.” He glances over to see a smile from Discord that fills his little filly heart with relief. “Aw, thank you for bringing her over, I’ll ask Rainbow Dash and Twilight if they can help find this poor little filly’s family. They must be worried sick.” Fluttershy explains ushering Discord out the door much to Sebastian’s relief. Discord continuing to play innocent rescuer sheds a few tears and wipes them clean with his handkerchief. “When I was transported to the forest, I knew it was for a good reason, Chaos magic doesn’t just do things for no reason you know. When I found her, I knew she needed help, and who better to help than my darling Fluttershy.” Discord explains as Sebestian eves drops nearly wanting to vomit from the sickening niceties. “Aw, thank you Discord, you’re proving every day to be reformed already. I’m sorry our tea party was cut so short today, let’s do it again in a few days to make up for it.” Fluttershy quietly cheers, singing the dragonequus’s praises unaware of the horrors inflicted on Sebastian. “That sounds lovely, you know I’ll be there. Thank you again for taking care of the poor little filly; hopefully you find her family soon. Ta-Ta Fluttershy, see you soon.” Discord waves as the door is shut, finally allowing Sebastian to feel a sense of safety. Trembling and peeking out the window to watch Discord disappear into his portal. The paranoia creeps in, nothing in this world seems to look right but he can’t tell if it’s the filly eyes, the different dimension, or just another trick. His heart nearly explodes as the tap of a dish carrying a daffodil and daisy sandwich is set on the table. He whips around to see the yellow Pegasus set the dish down for him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you little one, I’m Fluttershy, what’s your name?” She asks embarrassed by not considering how stressed and worried the filly must be. Sebastian standing on the couch and franticly flipping between looking out the window and back to the sweet Pegasus behind him, realizes Discord never gave him a name. “My name is Sebastian.” He stammers, busy looking for any signs of the Dragonequus. “Is he gone, like actually gone?” He asks with his hooves trembling in fear. “Discord? Yea, he had to go home. He may look scary, but don’t worry, he’s super nice.” Fluttershy explains trying to get the anxious filly to stop looking out the window. “I got you some food, you must be starving.” She says as she takes a seat next to the distressed filly. “Don’t worry missy, we’re gonna find your family in no time.” Sebastian contemplates if it’s worth the risk to tell this stranger what happened. If there is a remote chance he can get back to the human world, he’s willing to consider but he has to know for sure the demon isn’t listening somehow. He trots over to the Pegasus and hops up to whisper into her ear. “Help me, please, I’m not a pony.” He whispers to where Fluttershy can hardly understand. “What, you’re not a pony?” Fluttershy’s face turns sour with anger as she trusted that horrible Dragonequus to do the right thing, but before she condemns him entirely, she asks a question to make sure. “Discord turned you into a pony?” Sebastian quivers wondering if Discord’s magic will either start the transformation on its own or only when Discord sees fit, but he presses his luck. “I was a human and he kidnapped me and turned me into a little girl pony! Now I’m stuck here!” He whines pouring his heart out, dumping his sorrow, hugging, and crying against Fluttershy’s soft yellow fluff. Comforting the little Filly, Fluttershy retorts. “Oh, that big meanie, when I see him again, I’m gonna give him the stare and make him change you back to normal.” Discord softly grumbles mimicking her voice with flawless precision as he discretely unzips himself from his Fluttershy suit. Given how stubborn Sebastian was, he knew he would tell someone what he had done, but he was surprised at just how quickly it took for him to spill the secret. He wanted to give Sebastian the benefit of the doubt, and as much as he would like to just let the poor human go, Sebastian proved he could not be trusted. With a lackadaisical smile he prepares a magic drip. One drop on the poor filly’s head would cleanse the filly’s mind and erase Sebastian, as he knew him, without mercy, leaving behind an adorable orphan filly with nothing but pony thoughts. Sebastian sniffles cuddling tighter before continuing. “But, I-I don’t know if I wanna to go back to normal, I wasn’t happy as a human and Discord used destiny magic or something and it decided I was a pony. Maybe I am supposed to be here? Do you think I should give it a try, being a pony?” Sebastian asks not knowing how close he came to his doom. Discord scrambles to dissipate the drip before struggling to find an appropriate reaction to the revelation. “You want to be a pony now? Are you sure, I think Twilight might be able to help turn you back.” Discord starts to prod with a perfect Fluttershy voice, trying to understand the full extent of Sebastian’s feelings. “She can also make sure discord is punished for what he did to you too.” Sebastian groans in disinterest at the idea of the demon being punished. With a teary sore throat, he partially admits what happened. “Don’t punish him, it’s all my fault I got into this mess.” He groans trying to build up the courage to explain the circumstances. Discord clings to every word, his curiosity getting the better of him as Sebastian clings to him tightly. “It’s okay, just let it all out. You’ll feel so much better when you get it off your chest.” With a deep breath and a sniffle, he continues. “I was just some loser, I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t even have a job, I was doing nothing with my life. I came across this book and they said if I summoned one of the demons, they would make every dream come true.” Sebastian cries out trying to explain himself through the sobs. “So, I summoned Discord and tried to use his power to get revenge on the people I hated, and he turned me into a pony. I was willing to do so much worse to my enemies if I had even a little bit of his power. I’m a horrible person, it’s only now that I’m stuck with this pony body that I realize I got what I deserved.” Sebastian sobs making even Discord’s lips tremble with sadness. Feeling pity on the filly, Discord finally gives up the act, fully unzipping the Fluttershy suit. Despite being obvious about his reveal, Sebastian hardly stirs as Discord tries to find a diplomatic way to approach the situation. “I want to apologize, I feel awful about what I did, I thought I was simply tormenting a bully, but I should have taken the time to have some empathy and understand where your feelings were coming from.” Hearing the zipper, Sebastian groans realizing he has been tricked again, but his sadness paralyzes him as he waits for his punishment, but instead, treated to kind words and an apology, Sebastian manages to look up to the Dragonequus wiping his tears with his hoof. “No tricks?” Sebastian asks not wanting to get his hopes up just for those fleeting feelings to be crushed yet again. Discord hugs Sebastian tight pulling him onto his lap, “No tricks, I think I learned a valuable lesson about friendship today, but I doubt Fluttershy will see it the same way, and she will probably never forgive me.” Discord explains slumping back into the couch fearing he will likely be found out anyway regardless of what he ways. Sebastian, despite still being upset about his pony body, sees an opportunity to set things on the right track with the demon, and takes a leap of friendship. “If it gets us on the right path here, I forgive you, and I promise I won’t tell your friends about everything that happened” Sebastian promises with a quivering hoof extended in friendship. Although Discord struggles with friendship, he does understand that there is a give and take. He tries to think of what he can do to help Sebastian and he perks up from the somber mood they found themselves in. “I promise I will do everything I can to help you transition to your new life in Equestria so you can live your life as a filly the way the magic intended.” Throwing out a lion’s paw, Discord shakes and makes himself an unlikely new friend. For the first time in forever, Sebastian feels optimistic for the future, an opportunity to live a better life even if it’s in a strange pony body. “I can’t wait to see what Equestria has to offer then.” Sebastian stutters fearful of losing the human world forever for a chance in the unknown. “Think I’ll make a friend in Equestria?” “Equestria is the friendliest place in all of the dimensions I have had the joy of visiting, I guarantee you’ll find a friend there.” Discord opens a portal to the real Equestria holding the filly tight. With a step, they go through the portal to the real Fluttershy house. Nervous and holding the filly tight for comfort, Discord finds himself ready to face the consequences. “Fluttershy, I have something I need to talk to you about.” A week later, with some coaching from Fluttershy, Sebastian has learned, how to use his hooves, some proper manners, and a basic idea of what the world he lives in looks like. Sebastian immersed himself in this world ditching his old name and embracing his filly form with a name that fits the image. With beaming pride, she goes by Emerald Glimmer and Fluttershy is all too happy to indulge her. With her mane brushed and presentable, Discord, Fluttershy, and Emerald Glimmer prepare for the big day to put Twilight’s concerns to rest and make a future for the little filly. Fluttershy makes a last-minute adjustment to the filly’s dress making sure she’s presentable as she tries to put her mind at ease. What if Twilight says she has to go back, what if Rainbow Dash gets mad at discord again? The worry causes her to whine to herself as she gets her tea ready. “I hope they bring the other fillies over; Sweetie Belle and the others are very kind, I think you’ll get along really well.” She explains pouring some tea for Discord. Discord, expecting this tea party to be an interrogation more than anything, sips away at his tea ready for the questions to come his way. He would rather be anywhere else, but seeing the happy filly dance around with excitement at the idea of being allowed to live in Ponyville and getting a family brings some joy to the dragonequus. Just then his joyous smile evaporates as he hears a knock at the door, with a sigh he whines and takes a sip of tea. “So it begins, my inquisition.” As Fluttershy opens the door, his suspicions are confirmed as twilight enters wearing her element of friendship. Emerald Glimmer trots up with excitement and gives Twilight a curtesy. Seeing the large tiara makes her nervous as she stammers out a greeting. “Hello, Miss Twilight, do you want some tea?” Twilight is initially startled as she still isn’t entirely sure if the filly is dangerous or not. With only Fluttershy’s word to go off of, she has to be sure, but seeing the curtsey, she can’t help but to return the gesture. “Hello, you must be Sebastian, Fluttershy told me all about you.” “Oh, no, she goes by Emerald Glimmer now, isn’t that adorable? She gets all excited when you use that name.” Fluttershy interjects putting her wing over the filly. With a glow of her horn, Twilight scans the filly’s mind checking for any signs of mind control, memory erasure or any other anomalies, however, much to her surprise, she just sees the mind of a happy filly. “Huh, nothing out of the ordinary there. Yes, I’d love some tea.” Discord pouts and takes an obnoxiously loud sip of his tea. “Yes, almost like I had nothing to do with her decision to remain a pony,” He snaps keeping his sass to a minimum as the rest of the mane six arrive to discuss the matter further. Angered by his seemingly unbothered tone, Rainbow Dash launches accusations at the dragonequus. “Don’t you start playing innocent, we know you did something Discord!” Discord scoffs clutching his imaginary pearls. “What, me? I’m a kind redeemed soul; I could never do such a thing” he says as Applejack butts in. “You turned Ponyville into a center of mayhem, and just recently, you mind controlled critters to flood Sweet Apple Acres, then you froze the flood waters to go ice skating! You think we’re gullible enough to believe that you just happen to come across a human, turn them into a filly, and have them be perfectly fine with it?” Apple Jack seethes trying her best to remain even tempered in spite of another obnoxious sip of tea. Discord seemingly lost in thought breaks with a sensible chuckle. “Oh right, that, good times but as they say, let bygones be bygones, that’s all in the past.” He smirks getting Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack to erupt in anger. Wanting to make a good impression, and get her mind off the argument unfolding over by the table, Emerald Glimmer gives a curtsey to the rest of the ponies as they enter. Once she locks glances with Sweetie Belle, her demeanor changes from expressive model pony to her usual shy recluse self, more so as she sees Scootaloo and Apple Bloom with her. Her heart pounds as she can’t even scramble the words together to say hello. No! I can’t mess this up; I have to say something, I have to make friends. Oh no, I’m blowing it. The filly whines to herself as her crippling social anxiety starts to take over. As he starts to withdraw, she finds herself cuddling the doll Fluttershy gave her. “That’s a cute doll, did Fluttershy make it for you?” Sweetie Belle asks wanting to find out what all the fuss over this pony is about. Rarity and Twilight told her all about the human that turned into a pony, but as she looks the newcomer up and down, all she sees is a regular filly. Emerald Glimmer seeing the opportunity presented to her leaps at the chance. “Uh, yea, she gave it to me, I don’t have a name for it yet.” She explains starting to come out of her shell a little. “Do you have a doll too?” Sweetie Belle takes her doll out of her saddle bag with the glow of her horn. The magnificent dress for it a replica of one of Rarity’s favorite designs. “Sure do, isn’t she pretty?” She brags as Emerald Glimmer gushes over the dress. “Aw, yours is so nice and that dress is so elegant” She whines to herself playing with the mane on her doll with envy. “mine’s just naked.” With a glow of her horn, Sweetie Belle takes a dress from her saddle bag and gives it to Emerald glimmer. Beaming with pride, Sweetie Belle admires the dress as her new friend carefully examines the details of the dress in her hooves. “You can have that one, I’ve had it forever.” Emerald Glimmer can hardly believe her ears as she has to question the act of kindness. “Really, you mean it? Thank you…uh, what’s your guys’ names?” She asks embarrassed to have skipped over such basic formalities. Feeling comfortable with the “potentially dangerous” human pony, she introduces everyone. “I’m Sweetie Belle, this is Apple Bloom, and that’s Scootaloo, what’s your name?” She asks using her horn to help get the tight-fitting dress on Emerald Glimmer’s doll. Admiring the gift and swelling up with joy and confidence, Emerald Glimmer nearly trots in place. “I’m Emerald Glimmer, you can call me Emmy for short!” She cheers excited to meet her new friends. As the time passes, the Mane Six go back and forth trying to determine if they should let this human transplant stay, but after intense deliberations, Twilight takes a look at the Filly in question. Watching Emmy’s eyes glow with fascination as the cutie mark crusaders talk about their adventures, and crazy things they’ve done in the pursuit of their marks, forces her to consider what her life would look like in Equestria. Asserting herself, Twilight puts her hoof on the table. “Dash, Applejack, I know Discord has done some upsetting things to us, and honestly, we wouldn’t be having this discussion in the first place if it weren’t for him, but we should be thinking; what is best for Sebastian? If what Fluttershy is saying is true then they have never been happier and who are we to deny that.” She explains watching the group of fillies playing and laughing. “I think we should let Sebastian, or Emerald Glimmer, stay in Ponyville and grow up just like any other pony.” Twilight explains with a unifying confidence and smile; however, she notices there are holdouts. “Letting Emerald Glimmer stay doesn’t mean that you think Discord did the right thing.” She sighs trying to get the last two ponies to finally agree. With a glare of suspicion thrown Discord’s direction, Applejack softly concedes. “If you say so sugar cube, I reckon that little filly aint gonna do anypony harm.” Apple Jack smiles with taking a glance at Apple Bloom smiling and laughing, and with a slightly more optimistic tone, she gives her endorsement. “Aw, let her stay.” Rainbow Dash, crosses her hooves and gives Discord an indignant scowl. Though she cannot bring herself to agree that discord did nothing wrong, she can’t justify punishing the admittedly adorable green Filly “Yea, she can stay” She groans as Fluttershy gives her a hug. Twilight smiles with regal confidence as the group decides to let their new guest stay in Equestria. Despite all their initial apprehensions, the human seems to be fitting in quite well and has made a few friends already. Sweetie belle uses her horn to fix the mane on Emerald Glimmers doll before reaching into her saddle bag. “Oh, don’t worry about it, Emmy, Rarity made me thousands of these dresses from fabric scraps. Pick a couple you really like.” Scootaloo rolls her eyes tired of all the doll talk, “Come on, hurry up, last I checked, there aren’t any cutie marks for playing with dolls.” Scootaloo whines with exaggerated boredom flopping onto the floor. “Do humans get cutie marks?” Apple bloom shows off the bow on her doll proud of its curls. “Oh, hush now Scootaloo, we have a whole day to go on a cutie mark crusade.” She explains wondering why Twilight wanted them all there. “We just have to let them talk it all out first is all.” Emmy takes a couple dresses for her doll that she really likes before her heart quivers in fear as all the ponies get up from the table. She meant to listen in keenly to the conversation at the table but got distracted with all the fun with her new friends. Are they gonna send me back? No, I didn’t do anything wrong, I’m a good little mare she tells herself before finally looking up to see a warm reassuring smile from Twilight that puts her little heart at ease, although her lips quiver in fear as she waits to hear her fate. Twilight playfully roughens up Emmy’s mane putting the little filly at ease. “Welcome to Equestria Emerald Glimmer, the girls and I decided it’s in your best interest to let you stay. I think you’ll be a wonderful addition to our town.” She explains not expecting the filly to throw her hooves around her to give a tight hug. As they embrace Applejack calls out to Apple Bloom. “Apple Bloom, I know you’re goin’ by Rarity’s for that tea party later, you better not be late for supper again. Have fun girls.” Scootaloo rolls her eyes at the idea of the tea party, but with them being all but dismissed, she excitedly throws on her helmet, “Awesome! Come on, let’s go, I have a whole list of things we have to try before the tea party!” Scootaloo cheers with a cheer of excitement from Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Emmy sits back, watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders gear up for another adventure with mellow happiness. Although she enjoyed their company, she conceded that they already had a friend group and that it’d be rude of her to nudge her way in but with a little tug on her dress, she turns to see Sweetie Belle. “Hey Emmy, want to come with us? It’ll be fun!” Sweetie Belle teases as Scootaloo joins in on the encouragement. “Oh yea, I never thought about it, I can’t wait to see if humans can get cutie marks too.” Scootaloo thinks leaning on her scooter with ideas of what a human cutie mark would look like. “Well, she is a pony now, of course she will get a cutie mark, anypony can get a cutie mark.” Apple Bloom cheers making room on the scooter for an additional passenger. Emmy nearly wells up with tears of joy as she hears her new friends invite her on an adventure. “Are you sure?” She asks, not even waiting for a response before wiggling out of her dress and hopping onto the scooter. “I’d love to!” She looks back to Discord and Fluttershy giving them a beaming smile and waving good bye as the pair lovingly return the gesture. Holding on tight and zooming down the road, Emmy thinks about what brought her to this place as she looks out into the distance. When she first arrived, she often thought that this was a nightmare brought upon her by a foul demon, however she quickly realized this land is a dream come true, all she had to do was open her heart and accept her destiny to be a little pony. Now with friends, and grown ponies willing to help guide her on her journey, she knows she’s in good hands, or hooves, regardless of what comes her way.