//------------------------------// // Fairground for Ponies // Story: Time is Forever // by MysteryMelt //------------------------------// Fairground for Ponies “Chaos is a law of nature — yet it doesn’t make sense.” ~ Star Swirl the Bearded An empty museum, a pantheon of cobblestone and granite hoisted up to rest in Cloudsdale perched upon a grey cloud of mourning. Among the quiet corridors were dimly lit displays of all the extinct and creatures of Equestria, all of them petrified within tombs of stone. Deep within this eerie museum, a faint chuckle echoed in the darkened halls. Infront of the display of a Kobalos Goblin was Discord. He grinned mischievously. He found it ironic that he was once imprisoned in stone, but he now walked freely among Equestria while they were the ones imprisoned. Thanks to the creative chaos these creatures caused, he may at last return... “Mornin’ Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie Pie said as she beamed with a smile. “G’morning Pinkie Pie.” Mr. Cake replied as she departed from Sugarcube Corner. “Whatcha doin’ there?” Pinkie Pie looked at an enormous but delightfully delicious cake as the husband and wife team rolled it out of their shop on a trolley of silver. “Oh, this is a unique cake my dear, for royal lips only I’m afraid. It is to be put into storage at Canterlot until the presentation of the trident.” Mrs. Cake said apprehensively. Pinkie Pie made her anxious, especially the way she licked her lips and stared at the deliciousness of the icing. “A unique cake? Ooooh!” Pinkie Pie licked her lips even more, intrigued by it. Mrs. Cake broke out into a cold sweat. The Cakes quickly wheeled the monstrous iced-white cake away on a trolley. They were careful but precise. As they departed Pinkie Pie noticed a large poster on the wall of Sugarcube Corner. “Huh? Oooohhh!” Pinkie Pie's face beamed even more than usual. “A funfair... in Ponyville?! Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!” Pinkie Pie nearly exploded with joy as she trotted to the poster and stuck her forehead on it. The most funniest fun place ever! A fairground was in town and there was no way in Tartarus she was was going to miss it. With innocently joyful — and nearly tearful — eyes, she bounced away to join everypony else at the fairground. The fariground was stood on the outskirts of Ponyville. Filled with excitement, happiness and its own aura of fun. Empty popcorn bags tumbled through the wind as ponies of all species rushed under the curved gate marked ‘Welcome’. A wave of sound — a mixture of elicited screams fantastic music that played from megaphones — hit them as they entered. The inside was filled with colourful rides which whirred alive with intimidating high sounds of power. There was giant Ferris Wheel which spangled with a circle of diamonds, a twisty Helter Skelter, even a tall roller coaster which blasted around a wooden track. Sideshows covered in laser light cried out for ponies to test their luck. Ponies were already playing games like tossing horseshoes or popping balloons with their horns with in a time limit, all to earn plushie prizes. Stood taller than everypony, was the fairground-master. He had a typical oaken cane topped with a pumpkin, a black top hat and a curly moustache. He spun his cane around his finger with a gentle smile. “Come one and all, for happiness, for fun, forever.” The days of Ponyville were sweet and quiet... perfectly quiet. There was hardly a soul that remained in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash has plonked her flank upon a dainty cloud to chill. It was unbeknown to her that there was a fairground in town. She thought funfairs were lame and for fillies anyway, so instead she just napped carefree her hooves were crossed and a pair of awesome sunglasses were upon her brow. She could catch a few rays of the sun. “Hey!” “Hey Rainbow Dash!” An unlikely voice mixed with that of sorrow and insanity interrupted the pegasus’ whole evening. Rainbow Dash sat up and dangled her head over the cloud. What was Fluttershy doing here? “Come down here for a sec’” Fluttershy shouted up from the ground up. That was strange, why couldn't she just fly up? Rainbow Dash mumbled as she rolled off the cloud and hovered down to greet her friend. An elated groan parted from her lips... “What’s up Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash put on a false smile and slammed her sunglasses down upon her face. “I’m here to break up with you,” Fluttershy said with wicked laughter. “E-excuse me?!” Rainbow Dash landed gently upon the ground, baffled and confused. “You heard me...” she paused before coming right up to her friends’ face, “I don’t want to be your friend anymore!” Fluttershy said in her most patronizing voice. Her yellow hoof stretched out to grab the sunglasses and then crush them against the grass. When Fluttershy departed her tail whipped Rainbow Dash on the cheek. “W-what the hell?” Rainbow Dash’s jaw hung open as her eye twitched in utter shock. Just like that their friendship was over?! At the opposite end of Ponyville, Fluttershy hummed her favourite little tune. She bobbed her head from side-to-side as she strutted. Her little bunny pet Angel loyally followed behind on their steady stroll. Abruptly something orange is splayed out infront of her. The next thing Fluttershy saw was the dirt. Her eye swirled in her head and when she got up, her fur was weighted down from the mud that stained it. Fluttershy groaned before she turned to see Applejack standing there with a stern look upon her mug. “Um... Applejack, you a-accidentally t-tripped me...” “There was nothin’ accidental about it sugarcube.” Applejack smiled wickedly as the upset Fluttershy curled up into a subjugated ball. Angel with a stern pumped himrself up, rolled up his sleeves and with fists raised bounced towards Applejack to attack. Applejack simply held her muddy hoof out to hold back the rabbit. After some time, Angel collapsed and panted heavily. Fluttershy got up, her body marked with dirt. Salty waterfalls streamed down her cheeks when she fluttered away. “Welcome fillies and gentlesteeds, one and all to the circus of the strange, the sideshows of the sinister, and the future of the bizarre. Cast your eyes upon the cruel oddities of nature, to behold monstrous creatures from the depths of Aquastria. Leave your old lives behind, for those who enter will never be the same again. Step this way...” The fairground-master sung. He was like a true ringleader, accent and all. He spun his cane around his maladroit fingers before he pointed it toward the entrance. Ponies of all kinds brashly marched into the fairground. Now among those ponies were Rainbow Dash and the disheartened Fluttershy along with Lyra and Golden Harvest who all happily hurried within the gates. Lyra and Rainbow Dash were the first to jump into the roller coaster and scream in delight as she lifted her hooves in the air. The roller coaster rolled down the slope. Meanwhile Bon-Bon and Fluttershy partook in the sideshow game and shooting water cannon at small targets. “Why not take a ride on the Ferris Wheel of anarchy? Or take a plunge on the roller coaster of dismay. Once you ride... there is no going back.” The silhouette of Celestia etched across the wall paced up and down the royal chambers. “The tides have shifted,” Princess Celestia said stood infront of the colourful stained glass window of her students defeating Discord with the Elements of Harmony. She had sensed that something was wrong, she could feel it inside her bones, she could feel... chaos. Crash! "Your highness!" The chamber doors burst open and crashed against the walls. An out of breath portly guard named Drone waddled in. “We need to you out of the castle, your highness. It’s... Discord.” Drone said. Princess Celestia marched out into the palace proper with guards either side of her. She saw the needless destruction and felt a loss for words at what she could see: chocolate rain, houses made of toffee with ponies trapped inside the stickiness, animated black and white chess pieces which charged around and chased everypony. In the midst of the chaos Celestia saw a familiar face; Rarity. “Argh!” Rarity screamed as she uplifted tables in an uproar at everypony. She cleared a path to the castle, she seemed somewhat incredible stronger than normal. Her magic was much more powerful and could actually be used as a weapon. “Wait... that’s not Rarity, that’s...” Princess Celestia stepped back aghast. “It can’t be.” “Drone!” Celestia shouted as Drone reappeared to stand by her side. “What is it? Do you know of this darkness?” Drone informally replied to the princess. “Mannequins.” Celestia answered with utmost fear from the bowels of her stomach. Her horn glowed white ready to subdue the pony, until the imposter Rarity teleported infront of the princess and both their magic collided. White light consumed Celestia’s vision, she felt her bones crunch as she hit a hard surface. The floor of the royal palace no doubt. Her vision readjusted, her hooves managed to straighten and Celestia got up, no lasting damage was caused. The imposter Rarity suddenly attacked the royal guards heartlessly, she twisted their spears out of their hooves, and pushed them back into the wall against their will. A heartless and demonic look upon her brow, she turned now to Celestia who laid in a heap on the marble tiles in the castle. “How can you even be here?!” Princess Celestia groans in pain. “I need something from you and you’re going to listen for once.” The imposter Rarity didn’t have her own voice, but that of Discord’s, a much more mischievous voice. “Celestia, how funny but equally predictable you are.” Discord's voice filled the room. “Discord!” She paused... “I should’ve known!” “Well excuuuuse me Princess. You foiled my plan last time, but not again, allow me to explain,” Discords echoic voice can be heard but he himself not yet revealed, Princess Celestia looks at all four corners of the room, but couldn’t spot the beast. “You're willing subjects are now walking into my trap, and this time, this time, your little ponies — your most prized squires — will not interfere. As even they have fallen into my trap.” Princess Celestia got up steadily with a stern look, Rarity stood there silently with an annoyed look. It wasn't the regal and beautiful Rarity she knew so well. “Trap? What trap?!” “I like to call it... the Carnival of Chaos.” Click! A misty portal formed in the centre of the royal palace. It reflected the fairground in a murky picture. “Where both the rides and time last forever.” Discord chuckled again through the Rarity mannequin. But as Discord stalled, so did they. Princess Luna had snuck into the royal chambers and now stood at the door, she waited to jump on the spirit whenever he revealed himself. Luna frantically shook her hoof upwards to silently tell Celestia to continue to stall. “Enough hiding Discord, enough games! Show yourself!” Princess Celestia spoke in a stern voice, “what more do you want?” “It’s not what I want, but what you can give me and that is... THIS!” CRAAZZZZ! The floor buckled under Celestia, her hooves slipped against a floor that tilted inward. She jumped back and hovered with her wings. She folded her wings inward to protect herself from the debris. Discord exploded through the royal chamber floor and flew up from underneath. Bricks and cracked piece of marble tiles few in all directions. A huge pillar of light shone up from the new hole in the palace, the spirit of chaos finally revealed himself. Discord smashed his way through the rubble, out of the archives below and into the royal palace. But it was not the the draconequus that caught her eye, it was a huge golden circular mechanism with ancient hieroglyphs embedded around the outer circular disk: Princess Celestia stood in awe as Discord floated above a hole in the castle floor with a devious grin upon his face. “I try to be nice and where does it get me? Oh please, I’m actually really quite excited.” Princess Luna took her moment and charged at him, horn ablaze. Discord didn’t even turn, but instead clicked his finger and with the sound of the snap... Princess Luna felt her entire body change. Her hooves changed into something with fur, her horn shrunk into her skull, her body warped against the laws of physics. She shrunk and changed. As Celestia watched her sister transformed, a thick green vine crept up behind her like a sneaky snake. “Arh—” Luna groaned her last word. “Oh, Luna. You’ve have got to see yourself...” Discord said and dragged to her a mirror in the shape of a half-moon. “You’re a kitten!" “Meow?” Luna said and then placed a paw over her mouth. Her speech was gone! She gracefully twisted and turn on the spot. Her cuddly tail was erect and her eyes beamed with intellect. “How uniquely mindblowingly delightful.” Discord clamped his claws together and fluttered his puppy dog eyes. Lunacat just looked so... cuddly. "Ack..." Luna gagged as she found her vocal chord. "Turn me back right now Discord!" Luna's voice sounded like it was on helium. "What? My... my voice?! Aaaaaaa!" Luna spun around in circles. Discord laughed so much he did a tumble through the air. Suddenly the vine grabbed Celestia's forehoof, they wrapped around her body and immobilized her wings. The vines then layered around her horn too and nullified her magic. Discord clenched his largest paw which emanated with magic and suddenly even more vines grew from out of the cracks in the marble floor to tug and keep Celestia sealed against the floor. “D-discord... d-damn you...” Celestia struggled, but was pulled against the floor by the vines. Eventually the thick vine covered her mouth. "Graaaaaaaaah!" Luna's squeaky voice cried out as she padded across and headed straight for Discord. She jumped up at him, claws drawn. Discord pointed his index finger in her direction and a crackle of lightning shot forth from the tip. Luna was engulfed in lightning as she fell out of the air. Poff! Her fur spread out and made her look like a burnt-out fuzz ball. She harmlessly rolled backwards like a ball across the floor. “RIGHT THEN! I’m afraid the fun and games are at an end." Discord pouted, he was almost sad to stop all the fun. "Now I have what I want," he referred to the spinning circular artefact. “I bid you adieu, oh...” Click! The mirror image — still in the royal chamber — changed into a bigger much more clearer picture this time. Celestia could watch as more and more ponies entered the fairground, this included Rarity and Applejack and even Pinkie Pie. “...feel free to watch your kingdom fall while I cause a reign chaos, such the like has never been seen for a thousand!” Discord paused, he ran his maladroit finger underneath Celestia's chin and forced her to look at him. “Afterall Celestia... that’s why you loved me.” He said with an evil snarl. Celestia gasped. Discord backed away through the air and surrounded himself in a magical swirl of stars and disappeared along with the mannequin of Rarity and the golden mechanism. Both the princesses were trapped on either side of the massive hole that gaped in the centre of the royal chambers; they couldn’t even help each other. Princess Celestia didn’t weep, and she did not falter. Instead, as soon as the villain departed she used her teeth to try and bite through the magical vines. Lunacat, with the loss of all her magical abilities, simply washed her whiskers with the back of her paw. With everypony inexplicably at the fairground, Ponyville had become a ghost town. Only the sound of the whistling wind that flapped wooden windows against the cottage walls could be heard. Twilight was in the town square, she found it eerily quiet. Are they all at the fairground? Crackle! Through a flash of white and a heap of smoke and pyrotechnic effects, Discord was revealed. “I’m back... for an encore of anarchy!” Discord clicked his finger to clear the smoke in one fell go. “Discord!” Twilight shouted in disgust. “Did you miss me Twilight Sparkle?” Discord tipped himself upside down and poked his face in hers. “I missed you.” “How you were released?” Twilight inquired. “Oh for goodness sake, questions already?! You're thinking about this too logically. A old fool once said ‘chaos is a law of nature — yet it doesn’t make sense.’ In order to understand chaos you need to bid adieu to all those pesky little voices in your head trying to make sense of everything. All that happened before was that Dark Plague just helped me out a smudge. We villains have to stick together afterall.” Discord finished. From behind Discord, Twilight’s friends emerged. No, they weren’t her friends, but four darker versions of them. Two were missing, the opposite to Twilight and the opposite to Pinkie Pie. Each emerged in a puff of black smoke. “Wait, but they’re—” “OH! You do make me laugh. Mannequins, meet Twilight Sparkle, ever a drag." Discord did a twirl through the air. “Almost everypony has an elemental opposite, especially your friends. Unfortunately Twilight, you’re the only one to have eluded my grasp. They’re is no opposite to friendship, except for having none of them of course. So I had no choice but to remove your friends entirely. Knowing that I couldn’t reverse your element I unleashed these mannequin puppets to separate all of your ‘goody-two-shoe’ little friends.” Discord finished. The darker version of Rarity was the one who attacked Canterlot, she was their leader and wore a red crown, identical to that of the element of magic other than its colour. “If friendship is magic then where are your friends? You’re all alone here Twilight Sparkle, you have always being alone.” Discord said amidst the mannequin’s laughter. “Because of these mannequins your friends have now walked into my trap, that is, the Carnival of Chaos. Everypony will ride the roller coasters, spin in the carousel and stay there forever!" “Trapping ponies by making them have fun... forever? Urh, Discord, only you could think of something like that.” Twilight deadpanned. "Nopony can resist the fun of a fairground now can they? They’ll never want to leave. Meanwhile, I’m free to convert Ponyville in the chaos capital of the wooorrrld! Uhahaha!” Clash! – Lightning crackled in the sky as a mass of pink clouds blocked out the sun. “Yes! Yeeesss!” Discord chuckled in victory, unrivalled by everypony occupied by their opposites he was free to do as he pleased. A devious grin upon his face, the spirit was free to cause as chaos as he pleased. It is almost too easy, he clicked his finger as a large black cane with a pumpkin at the top of it, a large top-hat appear upon his head with holes in it for his maladroit horns, as well as a fake moustache upon his maw, the fairground-master is indeed an alias of Discord himself. He danced on the air, to the sound of disharmony and deceit. He cracked all his fingers and then cast bolts of magic from the tips of his index fingers in every direction as he danced with defiance. Click! Everything the sparkled magic touched changed into something incredibly... weird. Cottages flipped onto tiny islands that floated up and down, the grass had turned orange and grey in chequered form, the mannequins charged around the perimeter of Ponyville and protected it from any intruders. A tall red and black throne appeared for the chaos lord to sit and admire his work. Discord soaked up the chaos and enjoyed his new reign upon this small corner of Equestria. Twilight had escaped from the midst of it all. When the town converted into madness she had run away. Her friends were all at the carnival, she had to save them. Head and horn pointed down, she galloped for the fairground. Meanwhile, all Princess Celestia could do was helplessly watch and naw at the vines with her ever aching teeth. A powerless but fluffy Lunacat paced up and down with nothing else she could do. It was the encore to the big old storm of chaos and this time chaos had won. At the fairground something was terribly wrong. Ponies couldn’t get off the rides and roller coasters, they simply won’t stop. The various ponies struggled at the restrains but all of them soon realising that they were rapt to ride it forever more. Some ponies simply couldn't tolerate the sensation and fell unconscious. All the rides, the carousel, the roller coaster kept speeding around and around. Lyra Heartstrings held her mouth until the vomit could no longer be held in... “URGH! Bleouup!" Lyra's vomit flew through the air and onto everypony else in the seats behind. When Twilight entered the carnival the bittersweet smell of candy-floss filled the air with an misleading aura of fun. They were huge crowds inside of the fairground and everypony who was inside had their eyes swirl in a trance. Their bodies were no longer their own. “This is impossible!” Twilight shouted in the middle of the carnival. She concentrated on the facts, there had to be some form of sense in this nonsense. “Somepony has to operating all the fairground rides. But where, and who?” Twilight caught site of a pink pony with a twisty mane, the pony wore a beanie hat and had swirls in her eyes. Strange, she was unaffected by the dazzling lights, music and magic of the funfair. The pink pony gasped, she had being spotted! “Hey! Stop!” Twilight charged headstrong after the pony. She knocked ponies flying into the air along the way. In the chase the Twilight got caught in the crowd until she couldn’t even distinguish their colours any longer. She smashed her hooves against the ground, the music and lights in the funfair were a labyrinth of sound and magic that mocked her and caused her to get lost in its madness. “NO!” Twilight scrunched her eyes closed; it wasn’t going to put her in a trance. It wasn’t... Just before Twilight went crazy, a familiar voice stuck out like angel above all the others. “...Roll up! Roll up! For Madame Pinkie’s bizarre predictions!” Twilight’s eyes opened. “Pinkie Pie?” She said with intrigue and cocked an eyebrow. A small purple tent was erected in the middle of the funfair. Twilight’s friends were the only lifeline to save her from crazy place and in this case, Pinkie Pie was her saviour. Twilight parted the curtains when she entered. There was a crystal ball on a circular table covered in a blanket. Pinkie Pie wore a purple turban and scarf. “Pinkie Pie! What has he done to you? Don’t you recognize me?” Twilight sat down. Pinkie Pie beamed with a smile when she saw Twilight, but it wasn’t a smile of recognition for her friend, but a demented one. Stars and swirls spun in Pinkie’s eyes. She had been possessed. “Care to see into your future and take a trip into the supernatural world?” Pinkie Pie said spookily and leant into the bright crystal orb and stroked it with her hooves. “The mystical orb of fate's destiny will tell all!” Something was off. It was like Pinkie wasn’t in control of her own body anymore. “Ohhh, I see a cruel future for you: thunder and... a square-based tetrahedron?” “Pinkie Pie, you’re not psychic! Please snap out of it.” Twilight said and looked down at the crystal ball, it spun with smoke and dark green light. Inside the crystal ball Twilight saw a series of misty images, images of Pinkie Pie’s past. As she stared into the crystal ball the image of Discord appeared within it and with an evil chuckle he tried to hypnotised Twilight. Twilight’s eyes drooped and her head fell low. “No!” Twilight snapped out of it, grabbed the crystal ball and reached back to throw it. “Eeeeeenough!” Smash! As the crystal ball shattered against the ground, lights twirled up from it's broken innards. The lights were the suppressed memories of Pinkie that whispered with speech from the past. They twisted around and conversed back into Pinkie Pie. Her eyes flashed with memories long lost as they returned to her. “Urg...” Pinkie groaned. “Twilight? What are you doing? What am I doing?” She looked around the tent, filled with strange and mysterious magic and objects of interest. “I have such a dizzy head. Hehe.” She gave a giggle. “Dizzy head.” “Pinkie Pie! You’re back!” Twilight grabbed her friend and hugged her tightly. “C’mon Pinkie Pie. We have to find the others and help them out of whatever grip Discord has on them.” They two friends charged out of the tent and out into the funfair. Clash! A wave a lightning ensued. The mannequins emerged out of the crowd of ponies in the carnival. “Oh please, your ideals of friendship are pathetic.” Rarity’s mannequin spoke. “Whoa! You... talk?!” Twilight was surprised, they hadn’t spoken on their own until now. “Of course we do. Moron. Isn't it obvious? We’re your reversed elements, while Rarity is giving, I am selfish. I’m afraid we can’t let you help your other friends.” Rarity’s opposite barked angrily. At least she shared some traits with Rarity. She was grey in colour, all of them were grey in colour like all the life had being lost in them. Their eyes were bright red. Rarity’s mannequin’s mane and tail were jet white and her cutie mark was three diamond skulls. Unwilling to fight, Twilight had another idea. “Split up,” she commanded and shared in a nod with Pinkie Pie. They charged into opposite directions and merged into the crowd of ponies. Pinkie Pie emerged on the other side of the carnival. She looked up at the bright sign which flashed with the words: ‘Roller Coaster of Dismay’. Rainbow Dash rode on the never ending coaster while all the other ponies struggled to keep their breakfast inside their stomachs, they all seemed to be in a catatonic trance. The rolling sound of the roller coaster was like a ticking clock that kept them from ever leaving. Pinkie Pie jumped up onto the coaster platform and charged to the heavy switch. But in a cloud of black smoke one of the mannequins emerged. It was the opposite to Rainbow Dash: She was darker blue in colour, with a bloody chunk missing out of a right her and a mane with five different shades of grey. Her cutie mark was red lightning. She smiled wickedly at Rainbow Dash. “You think she’s sooo cool, don’t ya’?” Rainbow’s mannequin looked up at the real Rainbow Dash. Even these ponies’ voices were the same as the real ones; however this mannequin’s voice had more of a rebelling attitude to it. “But Rainbow Dash told me she won every race she’s ever been in...” Pinkie Pie looked at her flying friend. “Oh really?” The pony said with an upward inflection. “Is that she told you? They’re all lies. You really thought she was that cool? Bwahahaha. Listen Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash doesn’t need you, she doesn’t need any of you. She only looks after number one.” Pinkie Pie slowly backed away, until her rump met with the switch. “Oh yeah? Well just watch this!” Pinkie turned and pulled heavily on the switch with all her might. Her hooves strained and her muscles ached, but eventually the switch buckled. Rainbow’s mannequin disappeared just as the brakes slammed on the roller coaster and caused it to come to an abrupt halt at ground level. The dizzy ponies spun out of the cart as did Rainbow Dash. “Roll up, roll up!” Discord's voice repeated on a loop across the various megaphones dotted around the carnival. Twilight couldn’t detest his voice any more than she already did. She arrived infront of a red and yellow striped circus tent. “Of course, the animals.” Twilight knew her friends well, she galloped inside. The tent served as an incubator to the heat. The central ring of the tent had several obstacles: A flaming hoop, trapezes that swung on their own through the air and a seesaw. The wooden seats around the centre ring were filled with creepy cardboard cutouts of ponies, mainly the inhabitants of Ponyville. It was especially eerie inside an otherwise fun place to be. Fluttershy was in a trance from all the animals inside the circus. Strange butterflies with the same white beards of Discord and weasels wearing fezzes. All the animals creepily danced around Fluttershy as she performed various tricks. Fluttershy jumped through a ring of fire. The cardboard crowd would then cheer with a fake audience ambient that played on the megaphones. Fluttershy's eyes spun around with swirls in them. Twilight dived into the circle of animals and a quick spell sorted them out. Fluttershy jumped through the flaming hoop and did a twirl as a dance move. Twilight looked around; something must be keeping Fluttershy in her trance. As Twilight turned to look up she saw it: A giant spinning wheel with a black and white pattern that swirled around and around. Twilight readied her magic, but suddenly Fluttershy's opposite appeared from behind the spinning contraption. Twilight quickly stayed her magic. The opposite of Fluttershy had a jet black and flat mane which draped over her eyes. Her wings were poorly stitched onto her body and the stitching marks could still be seen. Her fur was a mixture of red and yellow and she seemed to have trouble controlling her anger. “I... hate... you.” The mannequin spoke in a depressed almost dizzy tone of voice, like she hated the world. Her cutie mark was three butterflies but with patterns of skulls on their wings. Twilight grinned as she shot a quick bolt of magic upward at the chain that held the trance inducing contraption. Snap! The chain broke and the spinning wheel swung down. Twilight ducked just in time as it flew overhead. The other chain soon broke as well and the whole wheel rolled across the central ring and crashed into the cardboard crowd. The explosion sent a plume of black smoke to billow upward. Fluttershy soon came to her senses. She looked around to see all the animal run in fear from the smoke, her opposite had disappeared. Rainbow Dash charged through the carnival and after her ordeal Discord, he could no longer control her. She had to find Applejack. As she pushed a dozen ponies out of the way and fought her way through the wave of sound, she was suddenly blinded by a dazzling display of lights, this was the sideshow section of the fairground. They were ponies shooting water at targets and others who whacked giant hammers on a button to send the weight soaring upwards to hit the bell. Applejack was at the back of the sideshows with another pony, Golden Harvest. Together they played a never ending game of horseshoe. Each time the earth ponies threw a horseshoe, it just teleported back. As Applejack threw the horseshoe, Rainbow Dash flew forward and caught it in her hoof. Ching! “Ow!” Pain throbbed through Rainbow Dashes hoof. A sharp object cut into her hoof. The horseshoe fell to the ground. Rainbow Dash turned to see Applejack’s mannequin. Her jet black hat spun through the air and landed back on her head with style. The sides of the hat were paper thin and sharp. This ponies mane was blazing red, her fur was a darker more sickly orange and her cutie mark was that of three green poisonous skull apples. The mannequin took off her hat and arched her hoof back to throw it again. The heavy horseshoe spun had smashed the mannequin's head. The sound of crunching ensued and the next thing the mannequin saw was the dirt. “Ye better back off now!” Applejack stomped a hoof at her opposite, she was back! “Ha! Brave words for a pony that sleeps with a bunch of apples rather than a cuddle bunnie!” The mannequin parted with a snorted laugh as she got back up out of the dirt. Her head didn’t bleed, instead, black ash drained like sand from the wound. “Why you little squeaker— wait a minute... I don’t do that!” Applejack retorted. Then it suddenly hit her. Applejack’s elemental opposite was dishonesty, meaning this mannequin was a liar. The opposites knew all about them, all their blackest secrets and inner most thoughts. With a snorted laugh, the dark pony disappeared into black smoke. Eeeeek! Somepony! Anypony!” A distressed cry rang higher against all others. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s ears propped up. It was Rarity. The queen of drama was sat on a seat above a swimming pool. Little fillies threw small rubber balls at a target. Rarity clung onto the platform for dear life; a direct hit on the target would give her a freezing cold bath. Rarity seemed to have kept to her senses, however she was trapped from the fear of getting wet. Just as the filly hit a target, Rainbow Dash flew in to catch her. “Oh thank you, thank goodness!” Rarity breathed heavily. As soon as her hooves touched the grass she bent down to kiss the land. Pinkie Pie must have taken a wrong turn. ‘The Hall of Mirrors’ it read above the funfair attraction. Now she regretted galloping inside. She was trapped was a labyrinth of mirrors, she was faced with her own reflections, but they weren't really her. Their faces looked disturbed. Pinkie galloped forward to the exit but fell back as her face bashed against another mirror. “Heeehehee...” A demented giggle echoed out across the hall of mirror. One reflection was different, it was her opposite. Her opposite didn’t seem physically different, other than her hair was straightened and draped down over her eyes. Her opposite giggled truly insane then broke down and wept. Pinkie Pie watched the pony cut her hooves trying to reach for her through the glass of the mirror. “Ahahahaha!” Pinkie Pie ran for her life through the maze, she felt her way through the mirrors. Her reflection was everywhere. They reflected more and more horrific deformations, in one reflection she had no eyes, in another her face was mashed into pieces. Pinkie Pie curled up into a small ball and placed her hooves over her ears. She gently rocked back and forth and tried to sing herself into a safer place. The reflections' laughter was more like a scream than anything joyful... “Aaaaaahahahaaaaaaaaa!” Smash! Boom! Clash! Glass showered Pinkie Pie. All the mirrors exploded around her with red fire. Glass crashed to the floor until the entire room was filled with the sharp shards. The silhouette of a unicorn stood at the exit with a bright white light behind her, her red magic sparked from her horn. Pinkie Pie smiled and got up. Her opposite was gone. But somehow Pinkie Pie knew that there was no opposite, maybe she had scared herself. Her insanity was all in her head. From the exit Pinkie Pie was levitated over all the deadly shards of glass and into Twilight Sparkle's hooves. The unrelenting sound of ponies that cheered and laughed was at it’s peak in the centre of the carnival. Here is where the six best friends met once more. Ponies of all kinds still enjoyed the never ending sideshows and rides around them, but Twilight knew she couldn’t save them all until they destroyed the source of the chaos. As Twilight planned her next move, her five friends bickered. “Now wait just a darn a minute, I only came to this here carnival because I was being accused of something I didn’t do.” “But you... um... tripped me.” Fluttershy replied with a whimper. “What?! I did nothin’ of the sort,” Applejack protested, she was always honest with her friends. “Lies!” Pinkie Pie shouted at Rarity. “You told me that my parties were ‘abysmal’.” “You told me you didn’t wanted to be my friend anymore.” Rainbow Dash mercilessly pointed the blame at Fluttershy. “It’s simply not true.” Rarity returned. "And that's how I met the king of the potato people!" Pinkie Pie outburst. All of the shouts blended into one accord of pointless angry voices. Twilight Sparkle stood with her ear pressed down, silently shocked that all her friends were in uproar. Her friendship was being torn apart before her eyes and she couldn’t stand it, the best friends all with stern looks snuff each other and all then begin to walk their separate ways... “I hope I never see you again!” Rainbow Dash lowered her eyebrows. “Me too!” Fluttershy replied. “Fine!” Rarity turned away. “Fiiinnee!” Rainbow Dash shouted back. “Stop!” Twilight shouted as everypony looked back. She was beyond upset. “Don’t you see? This is all Discord’s doing.” Twilight cast a spell that pulled her friends back together. “He’s made us all argue so we’d all end up falling for the spells in this carnival. That way he would be free to cause chaos.” Twilight hugged her friends together against their will. Everypony looked around, the noise of the funfair, the energy, it had all gotten to them... it made them act differently, made them turn against each other. “Wow Twi'... yer right. Ah’m mighty sorry for saying those things.” Applejack apologized. “Me too,” Rainbow Dash shared in a hoof bump with Applejack. Clash! A wave a lightning ensued as chocolate rain began to fall. The lightning struck the grass and caused a pillar of black smoke to spin up into the air. Twilight and her friends watched in awe as the four mannequins appeared out into the open air. The best friends stared at the darker versions of themselves, then they realised how foolish they have been, these ponies had impersonated them. “Wala!” Rarity’s opposite flicked her horn up with flair. “You just don’t give up do you? I’m afraid we’re just going to have to crush you." “These ponies. They’re not really us; they’re just like the opposites to our elements. They are what we were in the Canterlot Labyrinth, only they have their own bodies.” Twilight Sparkle paused. Unknowingly to everypony, in the pink clouds above, Discord hovered in the air. He held two pieces of plywood attached to magical string and moved them accordingly. He controlled the mannequins like puppets. Rarity’s mannequin blasted a deadly beam of red magic at everypony. Twilight quickly retaliated by casting a pink bubble around her friends, instantly protecting them. “Fight back!” She shouted and blasted another flash of red magic which exploded in vain against the shield. “Fight back!” She repeated louder this time. “Why... why fight?” Twilight stood firm but didn’t retaliate. “Because, we’re your opposites?” Fluttershy’s mannequin answer seemed confused as if she herself didn’t know why they all fought. “Just because you’re our opposites doesn’t mean we need to fight. We are two sides of the same ponies, in a sense.” Twilight explained. The puppets froze and looked puzzlingly at each other, each one hoped for answers from the other. They came to the realisation that their opposite was telling the truth. “Wow... I never really thought about it like that.” Her saddened eyes opened wide with the sudden awareness. She smiled, she actually smiled. The mannequin eventually lifted up her hoof to order them all the stop the attack. “What in tarnation?! Why are we stoppin'?” Applejack’s dishonest opposite turned to everypony with a confused look. Their entire demeanour had changed to one less threatening. “Discord has tried to fool us all. He’s used us against each other and tricked us all. Despite what he may have told you... we can still unite together to beat him.” Twilight explained. “What do we do?!” Fluttershy’s opposite shouted as all the mannequins turned to their leader. It was ultimately her decision, she wore the red crown. They looked up to her as the real ponies looked up to Twilight. “Look at us, what differences do you see?” Twilight turned to look at all the ponies. Despite their colours and personalities, the smallest of differences could be seen. “We don’t need to fight.” Rarity's opposite replied and managed a smile. She too had come to the realisation that their opposites are just the other side to them. All the mannequins raised their hooves and grabbed the previously invisible strings attached to their backs. They pulled the string out of their fur with great pain. They each detached themselves from Discord’s grasp. “Phew,” everypony took a deep sigh of relief. Twilight lowered the bubble shield. “Our true enemy is Discord. If we band together we may just have a chance of beating him without the Elements of Harmony.” “You’re quite alright... for an opposite.” The two Rainbow Dashes nudged each other with her heavy hooves. All ten ponies shook hooves with one another. They returned to Ponyville together. All ten ponies walked in a line through the chaos... The chaos of latex bubbles that popped into stars, trees than danced and chocolate rain that fell. The ten friends stopped infront of a giant chess set. The giant black and green chess pieces hopped around the board. Discord was sat slumped in his throne; he moved the pieces with a click from his finger. He seemed bored. As the ten ponies surrounded the throne where Discord sat in dismay, the chess pieces suddenly turned towards them and stood at arms. Discord, with a grin affixed upon his face was quite pleasantly surprised to see them all again. “Well, well, well.” He spoke with arrogance now when he stepped up out of the dark throne. “Everypony seems to have realised the truth.” “It’s over Discord! After all we’ve bring through, no matter how many times you sought redemption, you cannot defeat friendship.” “Bah!” Discord grunted. “I’m giving you this one chance to walk away, walk away and live in peace... to just leave us alone.” Discord looked at them, raised an eyebrow and then looked at Twilight. “Well... we’ve come to this again it seems. But before you defeat me yada-yada-yada, there’s something I was told to tell you first. A rhyme from a pony with a heart of ice: “When darkness falls and dragons rise, that day will be Equestria’s demise. Unless your friends are recovered, from a castle yet to be discovered.” The draconequus recited and then smoked a pipe which blew bubbles. “Huh?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Ignore it... he’s just trying to confuse us. It doesn't mean anythin' important at all.” Applejack’s mannequin said. “We are no longer your puppets!” The mannequins shouted and stood united beside their counterparts. They all knew his tricks. “Oh please, mannequins?! You’re nothing but cloth and fluff filled with ash.” Discord deadpanned. “I created you, I can most easily return you to whence you came!" Click! Suddenly the bodies of the mannequins started to leak ash from the hooves up. The sewn stitching of their bodies started to slowly untwine and the mannequins disturbingly felt their innards of black ash drain out of them. Discord had animated them from ash and dust. “Leave them alone!” Together, Rarity's mannequin and Twilight suddenly shot several bolts of magic at Discord, each exploded on his body. Bang! Boom! “Aaaaahh!” Discord groaned dramatically pain as black smoke consumed him. Then his screams of pain turned into more laughter. He waved his paw to clear away the dust. “Really?” He cocked an eyebrow with a smirk. “CHARGE!” The mannequins shouted as all ten ponies galloped forward across the giant chequered grass. The chess pieces, in particular the knights and rooks turned and faced for battle. They hopped across the board. The two groups collided together in battle. The mannequins charged through the chess pieces, Applejack’s mannequin threw her deadly hat like a Frisbee and Twilight shot several red bolts of magic. “Knight to King's Rook 7.” Discord commanded, he had to make a game out of everything. The mannequins seemed tired, weak and less noble. The black ash poured out of their bodies and littered the giant chess board. Rainbow Dash crashed into an invisable shield, her eyes swriled in her head. "Hey, what gives?!" She shouted and looked down at the chequered grass. "You can only move in the direction of the chess piece you related too." Discord explained from afar. "Oh brother..." Rainbow Dash groaned and charged across the chequered grass diagonally. The giant flat bottoms of the chess pieces tried to crush several of the ponies. But the mindless animated objects couldn’t outsmart all ten ponies together. The last chess piece – the king – fell faced down upon being defeated. Checkmate. They had won, but with the click of Discord's fingers... everypony went dizzy. “Huh... I feel funny...” Pinkie Pie snorted. “Discord?! What did you do to them?” Twilight looked at him and then them. Twilight and the mannequins beside her were unimpressed. “You cannot ‘organize’ chaos Twilight, perhaps that is why you hate me so." Discord laughed along with everypony. “FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!” Pinkie Pie suddenly bounced around like she was sugar hyper. “The magical fun of hope and wonder.” Fluttershy commented with a demented laugh. “Girls, we need to stop Discord.” Twilight said and stood aghast. “Hahaha. I’m gonna pee my panties... wait... I'm not wearing any panties. Ahaahaa!” Pinkie Pie fell over as she held her sides. Twilight giggled. “N-no... NO!” She stopped herself from laughing even thought she so desperately wanted to. “Stop it. Stop laughing!” Twilight commanded. “Twilight’s got 'the serious face'. A-ha a-ha...” Rarity parted with a snorted giggle and rolled on the chequered board. “Aaaa-hahaaa!” Crackle – Boom! Twilight’s horn exploded with an explosion. Everypony snapped out of it. “What’re we doin’?” Applejack looked around to see everypony on the floor. “Fun? Fun?... Fun?” Pinkie Pie held her a dizzy head. Suddenly the mannequins dived upon Discord and grabbed his fur to drag him down. They did what they could, some bit into his skin, others pulled on it. Or at least they tried... with one fell swoop Discord grabbed each of them and flung them into the ground. “Uhahaha!” The spirit bellowed at the top of his lungs. Friendship does not last forever, but chaos most certainly will... and this time chaos will be victorious.” Discord scowled, he looked more evil than ever in the shade of the black clouds. “But not this time! I cannot lose! I AM DISCORD. GREAT SPIRIT OF CHAOS AND DISHARMONY!” His voice echoed across the empty town. Discord showed his true self. He roared angrily, he clenched his claws and fingers in pain. His entire body lit up with magic, his fur changed to a darker colour, his eyes turn red and his sharp claws had become elongated nails. He warped into a draconequus of true evil, and grew almost twice in size. His laughter was darker and his voice was much lower in tone. “Now everypony will feel the true might of chaos!” Discord raised his arms into the air as the entire town shook violently. Discord slammed down his paw, the entire chess board smashed it to pieces and cracked apart. He grabbed a pink cloud spewing out chocolate rain and squeezed out its innards it to satisfy his unquenchable first, the cloud dissolved as it was emptied. Nearby, Twilight Sparkle helped her six friends up. It was their turn. They charged after the chaotic spirit, but doubt remained: could they defeat him without the Elements of Harmony? “That must be Discord at his height of his power...” Fluttershy’s mannequin broke the silence. They watched as their real selves charged away to fight Discord. All of the mannequins were slowly melting away into black ash but they still had enough power to remain alive, for now. “Cut him off!” Twilight shouted as the six friends split up and ran down the many small alleys of Ponyville. The evil draconequus raged through the town to the side of them. Each step caused tremors; each roar could be heard for miles. Pinkie Pie stood at the end of the main street, Discord headed straight for her. Applejack acted the fastest and tossed a lasso rope to Fluttershy. Together they pull it taut. As Discord’s foot collided with the rope they held it tightly in their maws. Tears filled Fluttershy’s eyes as Discord tripped magnificently and crashed met with the ground in an eruption of smoke. “Well, that was easy.” Applejack tipped her hat in victory. As the smoke cleared, Discord was back to his normal size and his old self. Was it all just another chaotic magic trick? Apparently not. As the friends regrouped, they noticed that Discord seemed to have used all his magic in one moment and now weakly limped away. They had him surrounded, there was no escape. They had defeated him again... But maybe this time... it had all gone overboard... Discord said nothing and the air grew quiet as the smoke evaporated into the air. His vision was blurry, he could barely see his claws grasping for the ground infront of him. What was this? His heart had slowed, he felt weak. His lips went dry and liquid salt fell from his eyes... tears?! He dared not to close his eyes for fear they would not reopen. He lifted up his paw... Click! In a unimpressive display of stars a thin golden circular device appeared before him. The device had several layers of plates and two semi-circle doors in the middle. The outer plate spun around and was outlined in mysterious hieroglyphs: Discord collapsed on the grass as the artefact spun automatically in the air. “W-what is that?” Fluttershy mumbled. Everypony manically tried to decipher the strange hieroglyphs for some clue to what it could be. “It’s... a gate...” Discord mumbled as he clung onto his life. He had become a weak fawn. The true damage to the spirit could be seen: one of his wings was broken and his tallest horn had snapped half in half. “A g-gate?!” Twilight's entire body went stiff, those words echoed through her head. She remembered back to the defeat of Dark Plague... ‘The gate will open... for you!’ Dark Plague did release Discord. Is this the gate she meant? “Figuratively speaking... it’s called a 'Mirror.’” Discord groaned, every breath and every word was a chore. He rolled over onto his back. He had become skinnier than usual and his rib cage could be seen poking out. “Like most magical mirrors in Equestria it will take you to parallel plane of existence. This Mirror is special however, not only is it a one-way trip, but it only opens for the one who used it last... and that was me. ARGH!” Discord clenched his claws so tightly... The Mirror ascended into the air the inner plates also rotated around. The Mirror turned to face Discord. “I guess this is... goodbye.” He whimpered weakly. "What are you planning, Discord?" Twilight said with a hint of uncertainty. The sound of mechanical locks and cogs could be heard from inside the Mirror. They all looked up to hear a complex puzzle of locks unlock from within. Twilight Sparkle stood frozen in fear. Then silence... The doors to the Mirror screeched open with a jolt. It was clear this mirror hadn’t opened in a long time made evident by how jittery the two half-circle doors opened. Behind the doors inside was a beautiful portal of blue light that swirled inward like a maelstrom. The Mirror was bigger on the inside and contained within it was a huge portal. The mirror approached Discord and hovered up as he faced it. “D-discord? What are you doing?” Twilight's voice cried out. “Magnificent...” Discord was memorized by the swirling portal inside, he ignored the cries of everypony. “Discord!” A different voice made them all turn. The mannequins had returned, they slowly emerged into the main street. Their bodies had emptied from ash even more. Now they were forced to drag themselves along the ground without any back hooves to carry them. The four of them all used the last of her strength to make one final jump. Discord turned to find all five of the darkest ponies now latched onto him, some by the fur and some by his one horn, but all of the ragged him about like a feral animal. All Twilight and friends can do it watch in awe as puppets and puppeteer struggle. “No-no-noooooooooooooowwww!” Discord gave a final scream in defeat as the mannequins and their puppeteer -- with a look of pure fear upon his face -- tumbled backwards into the portal. The spirit felt himself fall off reality, his body became weightless as he fell inside the Mirror. He knew, even chaos was powerless inside the Mirror. This was the end for him. He floated deeper and deeper into the portal contained within the Mirror, until the light within the portal consumed both the draconequus as the now empty mannequins who empty into a pillar of black ash. Both the doors screech to a close... Slam! “NO!” Twilight wiped her eyes from the tears. She slammed her hoof against the closed metal mechanism over and over again, hoping for it to open again. Hoping for that last shred of hope. In a flash, the Mirror disappeared in Twilight’s grasp and caused her to stumble forward and prop herself up with her front hooves. In that final puff of magical stars... they were all gone. Their lives, their voices, dreams and smiles, all extinguished without a second thought. “Twilight... it doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that it’s over.” Pinkie Pie said to her friend. Twilight tried to put a smile upon her face, but the unicorn was already sobbing. The pain of her tears did not fade as easily as their wounds heal. Never before had Ponyville seemed so eerily quiet... “He... eradicated them? Didn’t he?” Rainbow Dash said with a pout. “They were never real to begin with though, right?” Pinkie Pie replied. "They were just silk stitched together. Puppets." “They were real, real enough to have thoughts and feelings, real enough to know good from bad. Discord just— ended them... I knew he was low, but I didn’t know he was this low...” Twilight growled disappointedly and clenched her hooves in anger. She picked up a small pile of the black ash and felt it sieve off her hoof. She couldn't understand... Snap! Princess Celestia was at last released from the vines upon Discord’s defeat. The green vines wilted into a sickly brown colour. The royal guards including Drone who were all too late, rushed to the princesses aid. Lunacat was restored. Princess Luna embarrassingly still washed her face with her hoof when retransformed. She hoped not to retain her cat habits. Princess Celestia stood up firmly. She had watched everything through the image and seen all of the relentless chaos. In through that same image she stepped through and was transported into the town of Ponyville. The princess wasted no time when she immediately galloped to comfort her most faithful student... Celestia wrapped her wing around Twilight and drew her close. “I am so sorry, I couldn’t save them.” Twilight sobbed safely in the princesses embrace. “You did everything you could.” Princess Celestia sighed and closed her saddened eyes. A ray of warm light emitted from Celestia’s horn. The light spread across all of Ponyville, warm waves of light emitted across the town, the carnival, the sun. Like a warm hug everything it touched in Ponyville was retransformed from the chaos. Peacefully, the dark clouds parted and the sunlight rayed down upon Ponyville. The pink earth pony with a strange beanie hat on her head was none other than Screwball. She was the one who operated the funfair rides when Discord was away. For some unknown reason, she worked willingly with Discord. His chaos hadn't affected her because she was already deemed to be mad. She was found in the control room for the funfair and was quickly arrested for crimes against harmony. Without a controller to the rides the funfair was put to rest. For one last night, Princess Celestia allowed the funfair to remain outside of Ponyville, as a sort of celebration. The rides had being restored to normal, as it could be. Not many ponies returned for obvious reasons... although most couldn’t even remember their time inside the 'Carnival of Chaos’. As Twilight marched into the fairground, the wave of noise from the carnival music and the whirring of the rides hit her on approach. She stood with her six friends, Pinkie Pie seemed to be the most happy as she carried and munched upon a fog of candyfloss. The fairground was good now and there was no need for concern, now ponies can enjoy the rides and sideshows without any fault. Her friends left her side as they went inside. Twilight was stood with no emotion etched on her face. She stared as her five best friends who went on without her, unlike all the rest; she just couldn’t have fun, not after what happened, not today. This was the moment her faithful friend Spike would appear with a quill and a piece of parchment. But she had even lost him. With the roaring fairground sprawled out infront of her just waiting to behold fun, Twilight remembered back to the mannequins as she wrote her report... Dear Princess Celestia. ‘Today I’ve learned that opposites can attract, although you may not be like the same as everypony, it doesn’t mean you can’t get along with them. We’re all bound to have differences: But we should also strive to find similarities rather than the differences in each other. You cannot have magic without destruction or harmony without chaos. I’ve finally realised that chaos — and every crisis is causes — cannot always be managed. It will however, continue and remain to be feared by the dominant archetypes of Equestria. Still, I miss them greatly. I conclude that me and many of my friends feel like they have lost half of themselves. But maybe we’ll see them again... one day...’ Your faithful retired princess, ~ Twilight Sparkle. To Be Continued... My Little Pony: Time is Forever™ will return... Soon... ‘One of the crusaders will get their cutie mark...’ Notes: The hieroglyphs on the Mirror are genuine and spell out a secret message, only those with the correct translate sheet will work out what it says. The Mirror will return... The Mannequins will return... but not as you know them.