//------------------------------// // Plans and schemes // Story: Eris' game // by Java Joe //------------------------------// Authors note:slight edit to the last lines of this story to better fit with the narrative. "Celestia, think about it, " Rick said while addressing the princess. "If we go in all half-assed, making noise and not knowing where to look we're going to tip off Discord. Either he will then go into hiding or he'll launch his plan before we have a chance to do anything. What we need to do is take this slowly. You will teleport Twilight and I back to the library where we will then hide out. If Discord suspects his spell has failed or has been countered he might try something else. So long as he thinks we're still under the influence of the spell we should be able to co-ordinate certain things from there." "But how will you co-ordinate if you're both stuck in the library?" "That's easy. We ask Spike to be our eyes and ears and then relay what we need through him. If needed we also get Spike to send you updates and you can contact us through him. And think about it, we're the ones with the advantage here. We know Discord is back, we know who's body he's inhabiting and we know he's not as powerful as he's been in the past." "Is there anything you might need from us?" "Now that you mention it, enough of that special tea to last a week ought to be good, " Rick said with a smile. Moments later, they appeared back in the library and scaring Spike in the process. "Guys! Where were you?!? I was so worried that you had left again but this time without actually telling anypony." "Sorry Spike, something happened last night and we had to go to Canterlot to speak with the princess. We didn't have time to leave you a message, " Twlight said. "So lil' bro. We've got a bit of a mission for you. Do you think you're up to it?" Rick asked. "Lay it on me big bro!" Spike replied with a smile. Rick and Twilight explained the situation to Spike, the return of Discord, what they needed him to do and that they personally couldn't leave the library for the next few days. "Why's that?" Spike asked. Twilight blushed, not wanting to give the exact reason. Rick asked Spike to follow him as he had to put the tea in the kitchen anyway and this way could let Spike know what had happened and Twilight wouldn't get so embarrassed. He gave the package to Spike as he needed his mouth free to talk. Once out of earshot, Rick started with his story. "Last night, Discord cast a spell on the two of us which mimicked a mare going into heat. As such we were too caught up in rutting to actually do anything. Luna shows up, frees us from the spell and she then took us to speak to Celestia." "Yeah, when a mare goes into heat it can be a rough time. Rarity went into heat last month and all I can say is it was the greatest three days of my life!, " Spike said while grinning from ear to ear. "Bro! You dog!" Rick said with a smile. "Little brother is all grown up and wearing his big boy pants. Good for you!" he said approvingly while giving him a hoofbump. Spike blushed from the compliment even though he didn't fully understand what dogs had to do with it and why big boys necessarily wore pants. They made their way back upstairs to finalise the details with Twilight. What they needed was a war council. "We need to get everypony together, but we can't make it obvious what we're doing. If Discord gets tipped off, then we're sunk. He needs to believe we're too busy to do anything which effectively gives him another two days head start." "How about this? We get Pinkie Pie to have a party for Applejack and Rainbow Dash's coming wedding. It's a small, private affair. Close friends and family only which means all of us. When she comes to deliver our invitation she finds us... busy and tells Fluttershy. Fluttershy shows up, the rest of the fillies show up and while they're "busy" trying to get us under control we have our war council?" Twilight said. "Isn't that relying a little too much on Pinkie Pie? As much as I love her, she's not exactly the most reliable of ponies. Besides she'd probably try to get all 'James Bond' or something and wind up being too suspicious by being out of character or something. I figure we get the word to Applejack first and let her figure a way to get all the fillies together, " Rick said. "Or since I'm already here, I could panic and run to Rarity and she could use her magic to help out?" Spike said. Twilight and Rick looked at each other as they had never thought to get the young dragon involved but now that he had mentioned this it made the most sense. And if Discord was somehow watching it would look a lot more realistic not to mention chaotic which is probably what he was going for in the first place. Spike was given the go ahead. He took a deep breath to ready himself then he launched himself out of the door and ran like hell towards the Carousel Boutique. Ponies looked in surprise as he ran for all he was worth across town towards the boutique. While they waited for the cavalry to arrive, Rick tried to broach a subject with Twilight. "Babe, I'm going to say something right now that I don't want you to get upset with. I need you to listen and think about what I'm going to say hopefully without getting all emotional about it." "That's a little hard don't you think? When somepony asks you not to get upset it means they either are going to say something stupid to get you upset or they think you're so unstable that you're going to get upset. So I can't promise you that, but I'll try to listen." "I guess that's the best given the situation. Okay, the spell that Discord put on us was released by Luna last night. Do you know if Discord by himself or Discord in Trixie's body would be able to sense that this spell had been broken?" Rick asked. "Good question. I don't know." "Yeah, that's what I was afraid of so here's the next part. Can you make it appear, at least from a magic point of view that the spell is still working?" Twilight thought for a moment and again said those words that she never liked to say, "I don't know." Her face screwed up for a moment then she said, "it's not pony magic at least not all of it so no matter what I did, without access to chaos magic I wouldn't be able to do anything." "Okay, just wanted to make sure but we might need to be ready to put on a show if needed." "You mean.... " Twilight made a vague gesture with her hooves to indicate something of a sexual nature. When Rick nodded she just blushed a bit which made Rick smile. "Gotta admit it, but you look really cute when you blush, " he said which caused Twilight to redden even further. He walked over and nuzzled her lovingly. Twilight sighed as she nuzzled him back. The door opened at that point and Rarity, looking a little frazzled rushed in along with Spike. "I hope you realise what it is I've done for the two of you, " she chided. "I'm sorry? What's the problem?" Twilight asked. "My mane Twilight dear. I haven't set it properly, " Rarity said with a haughty toss of her head. They both looked at the alabaster fashionista in front of them and couldn't see a problem with her mane, it looked immaculate as it always did. So either she was fishing for a compliment or she actually saw a difference in how her mane normally looked. "You look fine Rarity and if anything your lack of a perfect mane only adds to the realism we're going for." "Oh Richard, you're too kind, " she said with a half-lidded sultry look. He glanced at Twilight who nodded as if to say, "yes, I saw it too.". Okay, he wasn't imagining it, she did just flirt with him. He felt it was odd, but Rarity always did seem to be more than just a little interested in him. But that didn't matter right now, they needed to get the rest of the fillies together. "Okay, the next step is to get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Rarity, go call on Fluttershy and Spike see if you can find Rainbow Dash. She might be out by Sweet Apple Acres." "But Twilight, that's pretty far away. It'll take me a long time to run out there. Wouldn't it be better if Rarity went?" "Actually no, I see what Twilight is going for. The two of you are supposed to be panicking right now because neither of you knows what to do. The first thing is to contact a healer, and Flutters qualifies as this. Rarity is faster so she should go get Fluttershy. But that's not to say that we can't make this easier for you." He turned to Twilight and asked her, " babe, what if you were to teleport young Spike here partway to Sweet Apple Acres?" "Why not all the way?" Spike asked. "It's simple. Rarity has magic but compared to Twilight here she's a novice. If she were to teleport you, would you be able to make it all the way to Sweet Apple Acres?" Spike looked at Rarity, love in his eyes, and said, "she could do anything she wants." Rarity smiled at her young lover and gave him a gentle kiss. "Thank you Spike darling, but he's right. I'm nowhere near Twilight's level when it comes to magic." "Okay, so we get Flutters and Rainbow Dash, of course that means AJ will be showing up as well and that only leaves Pinkie Pie." "Should one of us get her on the way back?" Rarity asked. An slick smile came to Rick's lips and he said, "actually no, I've got a better idea." A few moments later, Rarity and Spike ran out of the library looking as flustered as they could. They talked hurriedly, Rarity cast a spell that made Spike disappear and then she ran off as quickly as she could towards the Everfree forest and Fluttershy's place. Had anypony been watching this little charade they would have noticed that the aura that surrounded Spike before he disappeared was not the light blue that surrounded Rarity's horn. Some pony was watching but luckily for our heroes, this pony never thought about it. Discord was currently sitting in the town square, seemingly enjoying the company of Sunrunner but keeping a close eye on the library as well as whether or not a human would show up in Ponyville. When Spike ran out of the library earlier towards the Element of Generosity he allowed himself a small smile. Obviously the young dragon had discovered the two ponies rutting like animals and didn't know what to do next. He ran to see one of the other holders of the elements and a few moments later they both ran back to the library. "Maybe there's a little bit of fun to be had here, " he thought. So he cast a small spell on the unicorn. Like last night, it wouldn't be immediately noticeable but the unicorn would attempt flirt shamelessly with any and all stallions. He waited a few minutes longer before seeing the unicorn and the dragon leave. When the dragon was teleported away and Generosity ran away he guessed that they were going to round up more ponies, possibly the rest of the elements. Discord of course didn't want to be around all of them at the same time so he got up to leave. Trixie however, being a magician herself, did notice the difference in aura when Spike was teleported away. She resisted the urge to laugh and gloat knowing that whatever they had planned required her to keep her mouth shut. As Discord made his way with Sunrunner walking meekly behind, he did notice the door of the library open and the brown stallion take a few shaky steps outside. His eyes were glazed and wild at the same time, there were flecks of froth about his lips, and every step he took looked like it took an inequine amount of willpower. The stallion was breathing heavily, but with each step he seemed a little more able and a little less manic. There was a whining / whinnying sound coming from the library as if the mare was somehow trapped and unable to get to her stallion. The sound of hooves bucking at the walls and books hitting the floor brought a smile to his lips. "Ah, how easily these ponies are led and how easily I shall take this world back from them, " he gloated as he carefully made his way through the town still on the hunt for the elusive human. He passed by the stallion and just for a moment stopped and looked at him. There was something odd about him. He was just so... plain looking. In a land where ponies were every colour of the rainbow, this one had the ordinary colouring of a horse. The stallions typically didn't stand out like the mares did and yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that this stallion was not what he appeared to be. Almost as if he didn't belong. Rick slowly made his way over to Sugarcube Corners, trying desperately to stay in character just in case Discord was watching. He didn't know what Trixie looked like so he was on the look for an azure pony with a silvery mane. It was then with some trepidation that he felt really exposed when a silvery-blue pony with an azure mane started to pass him by then stopped and began to examine him. The caramel coloured pony with her seemed to shrink away from this large, crazy looking stallion so Rick decided to take his acting to another level. He turned his head to the unicorn and started sniffing at her while dialing up the crazy to 11. His breath coming in ragged gasps he took one trembling step towards her, still sniffing at her like crazy before her nerve broke and she trotted casually away with a dismissive air. The caramel coloured pony with the sunny cutie mark trotted away with her as if caught in her wake. Turning back towards Sugarcube Corner, Rick couldn't help but feel like he had come face to face with the biggest threat he had faced so far. It wasn't anything concrete, but he had spent close to a year in Equestria and that unicorn didn't react like any pony he knew. Filing it away for future reference, he made his way to Sugarcube Corner and to Pinkie Pie. Luckily the shop was nearly empty and when the last customers left he was able to drop the act. "Oh Hi Ricky Sticky Licky!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "What can I do for you today?" "Hey Pinkie, we don't have much time but Twilight and I need you at the library. There's something there we need to discuss." "Oooh! Is it a secret?" she said bouncing up and down. "Yes Pinkie, it's a secret meeting. Just us and the rest of the fillies. Nopony can know about this. So I need you to go there and I'll meet you there soon. It's going to take me a little while to go back." "Why's that? Did you hurt yourself? Or, " she leaned in conspiratorially and asked, " or did Twilight get too rough with you last night?" She finished it off with a wicked leer. A little embarrassed and off balance by her questioning he could only respond with a "whaa?" "Oh don't be so bashful. I heard you two last night. I came by the library because I had forgotten something and I heard the two of you having fun upstairs. It sounded pretty intense so I thought I'd come by later today to get my thing. And wouldn't you know it? I didn't forget it at all and it was sitting in my room the whole time!" She giggled. "No... yes... I mean no this sorta doesn't have anything to do with last night but never mind all that we'll explain it all later when we're all there." Pinkie went about gathering a few things such as cupcakes and some party favours. "It might not be a party but that's no reason we can't have some fun and food at the same time!" she said brightly as she trotted happily out of the cafe. "I swear I will never understand that filly, " Rick said to nopony in particular as he headed out back to the library. Twilight in the meantime had been watching through one of the windows and every so often would kick the wall, throw some books around or scream. Passing ponies would take a look but then long-time residents of Ponyville had learned a long time ago that some weird stuff went on in that library so they just ignored it. This did allow her to watch Rick's progress across the town square. He was really selling his role, maybe overdoing it a bit when that filly stopped and stared at him. There was something familiar about her, but she couldn't place the mane or the coat. It wasn't until she turned and trotted away that Twilight saw what was left of her cutie mark. It had been badly burned but it looked deliberate. The fire was just too perfectly placed so practically obscure the entire thing. And while she couldn't see the other side, she was sure that it would have been burned away as well. She was going to continue on this train of thought when Rainbow Dash barrelled in with AJ hot her hooves. Spike hopped off AJ's back moaning about his aching scales. "Okay, we're here! What's so important that Spike had to ruin my nap?" Dash asked. "Right now we need to wait until everypony is here, " Twilight said. "Now if you'll excuse me for a moment." With that she continued bucking at the walls and screaming a few times. "Yew feelin' all right there sugarcube?" AJ asked. "Fine. We'll explain later when all ponies are here." In short order Rarity showed up with Fluttershy and almost immediately after Pinkie Pie came bounding in. Rick brought up the rear, practically breaking down the door. "I wanted to make it look like I had finally lost whatever resistance I had and it was too strong for me, " he said. "Now will somepony please tell us what the buck is going on?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Please Rainbow Dash, language!" Rarity said while giving Rick more than just a simple once over. Twilight noticed this but didn't think much of it at the point. She knew that Rarity had a bit of a thing for Rick in his human form, although it was possibly just because of his fingers. However, they needed to explain everything and what had been going on. "We needed you here today because we think that Discord is back." Shock rippled through the fillies and each took it in their own way. AJ looked determined, Rainbow Dash looked like she was ready to fight, Rarity gasped in surprise, Fluttershy squeaked and tried to hide and Pinkie Pie started singing "Chocolate Rain". "That's not the worst of it. We think he's hijacked Trixie's body." Suddenly the mood got a lot more sombre. So sombre in fact that Pinkie stopped singing in mid-verse. "And on top of it all, there was a spell cast on Rick and myself last night at the party that mimicked me going into heat. If it wasn't for the timely arrival of Princess Luna we'd probably still be going. We don't know if this was planned specifically because of Discord's arrival or if he simply got bored and decided to spread some chaos. And speaking of chaos, Rarity? What the buck do you think you're doing?" Rarity looked up at Twilight and asked, "why, whatever do you mean darling?" "You're rubbing up against my husband like a mare in heat... oh crap!" and with those words she grabbed Rarity in a bubble of magic. "Twilight Sparkle, you let me go this instant!" Rarity shouted from within the bubble. "Not until I'm sure you're normal." She probed the alabaster unicorn with her magic and now that she knew what she was looking for was able to sense the tendrils of chaos energy that seemed to writhe lazily around Rarity's head. With a blast from her horn, the tendrils disappeared and Rarity seemed to come back to normal. "What? Twilight? Why am I in this bubble?" Rarity asked. "I'm guessing she was zapped as well?" Rick asked. "Something like that and next time we might not be so lucky. Speaking of which, " Twilight turned and faced the rest of the ponies gathered there as well as Spike. "I'm going to need to check you all for chaos magic. You won't feel a thing." She scanned each pony as well as Spike and Rick for any residual chaos but couldn't find any more. "Looks like you're all clean. So now we get down to business." "Okay sugarcube, so whut do we do first?" "Well, the first thing to do is to find Trixie. She's going to have to be around here somewhere." "But where do we look? She could be anywhere, " Rainbow Dash said. "Excuse me..., " Fluttershy started before Rarity cut her off. "And who is to say that she looks the same way? All she has to do is dye her mane and change the style and nopony would recognise her." "Maybe I..., " Fluttershy tried to say before Pinkie Pie spoke instead. "I know! I know! We'll have a fancy dress up party where everypony shows up in a costume and mask and when everypony takes their mask off we grab her!" "I think I know..., " again nopony paid any attention to Fluttershy as she desperately tried to make herself known. Finally after all the other ponies kept talking for the next few minutes she had enough. Calling back on her training with Iron Will she took a deep breath and said as loudly as she could, "everypony shut up and listen to me!" Unfortunately, she never really mastered volume and it came out more as a normal speaking voice. Fortunately it was loud enough for the rest of them to hear her so almost as one, the group turned around to face her. Unfortunately, this being Fluttershy she shrank back under their gaze and tried her best to be invisible. "Fluttershy, darling. Did you have something to tell us?" Fluttershy, barely looking Rarity in the eye, nodded her head slightly. "Is it concerning Trixie?" Again, she nodded. "Would you be able to tell us?" Again, she nodded and if it was possible seemed to shrink inside herself even more. The assorted ponies waited for her to speak but as she wasn't forthcoming with the information. "Fluttershy, we really need you to talk to us. I know you're uncomfortable with this being at the centre of attention and all but tell you what. Can you whisper it in my ear and I'll tell everypony what you know?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy nodded meekly and Twilight trotted over to see her. She leaned over and whispered something in Twilight's ear. Twilight's face went blank when she heard what Fluttershy had told her. "You're kidding me. Really?" Fluttershy just nodded her head and Twilight just hung her head as if in defeat. "I should have thought of this, but she's in the same place she was when we fought the last time." "You mean the place where you kicked her butt?" Twilight just nodded. "So what are we waiting for? We hit Discord with a pre-emptive strike. Buck him up and down when he's not ready for us then BLAM!, " Rainbow Dash punched the air for emphasis, " we knock him down with the Elements of Harmony." They thought about this for a few minutes, had some cupcakes and discussed the pros and cons of such an action. It was true that hitting Discord with a pre-emptive strike would be preferable to him attacking first but would it not be better going in with an actual battle plan? "One thing I think we're all missing is how did Flutters find out about this? I'm not saying she's wrong, but I just find it's a little convenient that we just so happen to find out where Discord is hiding out just as we're trying to figure out how to get him." " mumble mumble mumble..." Fluttershy mumbled. "Didn't quite catch that Flutters." "She said that one of her animal friends told her, " Twilight said. "And how did her animal friend know that this was Trixie?" " mumble mumble mumble..." Fluttershy mumbled once more. If it was possible for her to hide completely behind her mane she would have by now. "The burrow belonged to a bear and Trixie bucked him out of there when she came by last time. This time around it was a different looking pony that did it but she smelled the same." "I guess that makes sense. So, what do we do now?" Rick asked. The general consensus was to confront Discord, use the Elements of Harmony on him and if couldn't turn him to stone then maybe exorcise his essence from Trixie. The Elements of Harmony were gathered by the fillies and now they were ready. Bravely they marched, or flew in the case of Rainbow Dash, to that area just out of town where Twilight had defeated Trixie so long ago. They were determined not to let this continue longer than it had to and to deal with Discord immediately. Silently they entered the burrow, there was a light further on down and they could hear some voices talking but couldn't understand what they were saying. Further and further down they creeped until they got to a corner. They were close enough to hear Discord speaking in Trixie's voice. "And then after that my dear Sunrunner, we shall go off just you and me and leave this dreadful place altogether. Would you like that?" Discord asked. "Yes mistress, I would, " Sunrunner responded. "Good, but there's just one thing that's stopping us from doing so." There was a flash of magic and all the ponies suddenly felt themselves trapped. Discord trotted around the corner and smiled evilly as he admired his handiwork. "Did you honestly think it was going to be that easy?" he said. It was quite chilling to hear Trixie speak in her normal voice but with the same intonation and style as Discord did. "I knew about your little plan and how you two had broken the rutting spell I placed on you. The minute that your little pet dragon ran out of the library to fetch his lover I knew. I must admit that your little act was very impressive. All the kicking, and yelling and you Mr. Stallion whatever your name is, your little act as you walked towards the cafe was nothing short of brilliant. Had I not known what you were doing I would have been utterly convinced you were the lust crazed stallion you appeared to be. And while you don't really matter in the long run, I'll keep you as insurance. If I have you, then your lover won't dare attack me." The magic around Rick suddenly intensified and he felt himself starting to get cold and his hooves getting numb. To his horror he discovered he was slowly being turned to stone from the bottom of his hooves up. He struggled as best he could but was held fast. He looked desperately at Twilight who was also frozen in horror at what was happening to her husband. The process sped up and he barely had the chance to say "I love you" before his lungs turned to stone and the breath caught in his throat. He hoped his eyes could say it all before the lights went out completely and his mind froze. "RICK!" Twilight screamed at seeing what had been done to him. "You monster! I'll kill you! Let my husband go Discord!" she thrashed about trying to get free but Discord's attention was elsewhere right now. "Rick? That's not a pony name..., " and a big, sickly smile spread across his face. "He's the human! No wonder I couldn't find him. He had been turned into a pony!" Discord laughed in triumph, finally he was going to win! Not only did he capture the elements of harmony but he had found the elusive human after all. "Sunrunner? Be a dear and get those baubles the ponies are wearing." Sunrunner obeyed and one by one pulled the elements of harmony from the individual fillies. Once he had gathered them, Discord said, "goodbye ponies. Hello Equestria! Oh and by the way Twilight Sparkle, you can call me 'Eris' from here on in, " Discord... I mean Eris said as she turned her flank to reveal a golden apple where her former cutie mark resided. And in a puff of smoke she had disappeared along with Sunrunner, the Elements and the statue of Rick.