The first thing I noticed as I woke to my friends groaning was the cold as a chill breeze blew across my skin. The second thing I noticed was that my fur was gone, and that there was nothing protecting my now-bare skin from the breeze. Opening my eyes, it took me a moment to realize that I wasn't blind, and that it was dark outside. Pushing myself up, it took me another moment to realize that my limbs were not what I was used to, and immediately dropped back to the ground, hitting my head on a rock. “Ouch!” I cried.
“Twilight?” It was Trixie’s voice, calling to me from the dark. I raised my front limbs, marveling at the appendages in front of me. After some inspection, I determined that I could use these arms and hands to push myself up, and after a few false starts, managed to push myself up onto my knees. Looking around, I noticed Trixie, but definitely not the Trixie I was used to.
She was standing tall on her legs, dressed in the same clothing as I saw her before, however it appeared to fit her much better than I had originally thought. Her blue and white striped hair flowed down her back, and she was carrying a staff topped with a crystal that looked very much like her horn when she was a unicorn. Noticing this, I immediately brought my hands to my forehead, feeling for my horn, which appeared to be missing. Casting around in a panic, I noticed a violet crystal in the shape of a horn lying in the dirt next to me. Grabbing it, I immediately felt the presence of my magic.
Trixie noticed my searches, and smiled slightly, my confusion at my new form similar to hers upon entering my world. “That crystal will be the source of your magic from now on. If you don’t have your crystal at hand, you won’t be able to use magic at all.”
Looking up at her in astonishment, I noticed my companions lying nearby, groaning as they too managed to work themselves into a standing or kneeling position. The differences between this world and our world were astonishing. Applejack appeared tall and muscular, her long blonde hair flowing down her back in her usual ponytail, her ever-present hat on her head. She stood taller than Trixie, inspecting her hands with an amazed look on her face, and looking down at herself, feeling her new body. Rainbow Dash was on her knees, her short hair still rainbow-colored, looking over at Fluttershy with confusion. Fluttershy herself was standing as well, looking graceful and at ease with her new form, her light pink hair reaching nearly to the back of her knees, inspecting herself in a way similar to Applejack. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were sitting next to each other, Pinkie Pie’s curly pink hair bouncing as she turned her head this way and that, trying to see everything at once while checking herself out. Rarity was sitting in shock, her purple hair reaching halfway down her back, staring down at a white crystal in her hand similar to mine. Finally, Spike was lying on the ground next to me, staring up at me in astonishment; his head was covered in short spiky green hair.
Trixie gave us an appropriate amount of time to get used to our new forms, scanning our surroundings all the while. She appeared tense, as if expecting something or someone to come out of nowhere. After a few more minutes, her anxiety growing even more, she called us all together. “We need to get moving. The longer we stay out here, the more likely we are to be found by Discord’s minions.”
“Where are we?” marveled Applejack. She was staring out into the darkness, trying to make sense of our surroundings. For the first time, I looked around. The area around us appeared desolate, dead and dying trees dotting the landscape, and broken down buildings visible in the distance. We were sheltered somewhat by a small hill, but other than that, there wasn’t much to see.
“We’re just outside the old village of Equs. We have a small base within the ruins, which we’re pretty sure Discord doesn’t know about. If we head to the old library, we’ll be able to get into the underground base. Big Mac should be able to help us. We’ll be able to get you all some clothes and something to eat.” She turned and gestured towards the buildings, indicating our destination.
We had all managed to get to our unsteady feet, Rarity and I clutching our crystals, and had just started to follow Trixie when what sounded like an explosion came from behind us, and Trixie let out a scream of agony, lurching forward as if struck by an invisible force. I immediately rushed forward to help her and found her clutching her shoulder, blood leaking out onto her clothing. Fluttershy let out a scream of fright, cowering down behind Rainbow Dash, who was looking around for the source of the explosion, as was Applejack. Rarity and Pinkie Pie had come up behind me to see what was wrong with Trixie, their faces set in shocked expressions. At that moment, we heard a voice behind us, a voice we were all very familiar with.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here? I see a few rats have come scurrying out to play.”
I kept my hand on Trixie’s shoulder as we all turned to see a tall man standing at the top of the hill we had just left the shadow of. He was dressed in what appeared to be a pin-striped suit, with a deep red cloak covering his shoulders, a wide-brimmed hat on his head. Even in the darkness he appeared to be wearing sunglasses. He was surrounded by four other men, each of whom was armed with a rifle, one of which was smoking from the recent shot that had left Trixie writhing in agony.
The man looked down upon our little gathering, and his bearded face appeared to light up. “Oh, Trixie, my dear, I thought I’d never be able to find you! I’ve been trying to give you an invitation to one of my parties for months, but you’ve been so elusive.” His voice took on a note of false hurt. “It’s almost as if you didn’t want to come see me. How sad.” An evil smile formed on his face, and he began to stride down the hill, followed by his men. As he moved, the hill itself formed into a series of steps, giving him an easier descent. When he reached the bottom, he turned his eyes on us, inspecting each of us to a point where we all began to feel uncomfortable. It was that point that he took off his sunglasses, and revealed the yellow and red eyes that we were all familiar with.
“Discord,” snarled Applejack. “What are you doing here?”
He turned his gaze on her, appearing hurt. “Why, Applejack, my dear, you wound me! Why shouldn’t the ruler of the world be able to go wherever he chooses, especially when he’s trying to hunt down an errant misfit?”
The shock at him addressing Applejack by name must have been apparent on my face, for he looked at me with a knowing smirk. “Oh, don’t be surprised, Twilight Sparkle. Of course I know who you are. One tends not to forget the group of women that one brutally killed a few months back. You haven’t been brought here to stop me, have you?”
Trixie looked up at him, murder in her eyes mixed with the pain from her shoulder. “They will stop you, you bastard. They already have and know how to do it again.”
Discord looked curious. “I see. Now, which of my many incarnations have you fought against? Hmm…” He glanced around, and his eyes fell on Fluttershy. “A simple touch should do it,” he said. With that, he vanished suddenly, appearing next to the cowering Fluttershy. He proceeded to grab her by the neck, knocking Rainbow Dash to the ground, and lifted Fluttershy into the air with one hand. He drew her towards her and his gaze bored into hers, even as she struggled fruitlessly against his iron grip. He finally released her as her face was begging to turn blue, and she landed hard on the ground, coughing and trying to catch her breath. His arrogance plain to see, he scoffed at us. “Ah, the draconequus. Well, he always was a bit of a softie. I am nothing like he was, ladies, so you’d best remember that. I’ve already killed you once, and I can do it again very easily.”
Turning, he moved over to Trixie, watching curiously as she tried to struggle against the pain while backing away from him, a look of fury and determination on her face. He stopped short of her, looking disappointed. “Ah, Trixie, and here I thought you’d be happy if you were able to bring someone else to try and kill me, even if you know you won’t be able to bring them home again.”
We all looked at her as one, astonished. “Trixie?” I asked. “Is that true?”
Trixie shook her head, glaring at Discord. “It’s not. I can bring you home, once we get rid of him.” She spat in his face, and continued, “I know your tricks, you slime. Every chance you get, you try to drive a wedge between people. That’s how you killed them before. It won’t work this time, though. They’ve been through your garbage already, and know what to expect.”
Discord looked angry for a brief moment, then regained his composure as he drew out a small handkerchief, and proceeded to wipe his face. He turned away from her, and began to move between us all, hands behind his back. “Ah, Trixie, I thought that perhaps someday you and I could become friends, much like your princess and I. But alas, it seems that it is not to be.” He glanced behind himself at her, yellow eyes glowing slightly in the darkness. “It seems that since I have you here, I must do something about you. Now, what should that be…?” He struck a thoughtful pose, tapping his chin.
As he was doing that, I noticed Trixie was gripping her staff tightly, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. Light was beginning to emanate from the crystal at the tip, and a moment later, a blast of flame emerged from her crystal, aimed straight at Discord. He was engulfed immediately, and Trixie slumped, leaning on her staff, triumph in her eyes. “I’ve… been saving… that for you, you… bastard,” she gasped, breathing heavily. “I… hope it hurts… That’s for my friends…”
A flicker behind her and her words were cut off by a grunt, as she looked down at herself in disbelief. A sword was protruding from her midsection, and as she watched, Discord slowly withdrew it, blood flowing freely from her stomach. She simply dropped to her knees, despair plain on her face, as we all watched in horror. Her staff clattered to the ground, and there was another flicker as Discord’s boot landed on the crystal, shattering it to pieces. Trixie looked up, tears streaming from her eyes, right into the barrel of Discord’s gun. An untouched Discord spoke in an offhand voice, saying, “I told you that you wouldn’t be able to bring them home.” A second later, he fired point-blank into her head with a sound of finality.
I became aware of a screaming sound as I watched Trixie’s body fly backwards from the force of the blast, blood flying from the wound in her head. It wasn’t until I realized that I was clutching my cheeks so hard I was cutting into them that I realized that I was the one screaming. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were just staring, Fluttershy was crying uncontrollably, and Pinkie Pie was furious. As I screamed, my voice growing raw, I noticed suddenly that Pinkie Pie was no longer where I had seen her before. Suddenly, one of the men who had been hanging back watching was lying on the ground, apparently dead, a knife in his throat. Pinkie was standing in his place, holding his rifle, and she proceeded to put a bullet into the heads of each of the other three before they were able to react.
Before I was able to register my astonishment at this, Pinkie had vanished again and reappeared right behind Discord, gun pointed directly at his head. Discord was watching her, head turned completely around and smiling confidently, nodding as if he had expected the sudden turn of events. “Ah, Pinkie Pie, your surprise parties never cease to amaze me. It’s almost as if your talent was made to kill people from the shadows.”
Pinkie, who was glaring at him, breathing heavily, suddenly looked down at the gun in her hand. Her expression was one of surprise as she saw what she was holding, and she nearly dropped the gun as she flinched away. Discord merely laughed, spinning the rest of his body around to face her. “What’s the matter, Pinkie Pie? Afraid of your new party cannon?” His fist suddenly shot out and connected with her cheek, sending her sprawling on the ground. He leered down at her as she lay there, and made as if to advance upon her. Immediately, Applejack moved between the two of them, her fists raised.
“You get away from her,” she demanded, and she stepped forward quickly, letting loose with a right hook that caught Discord on the jaw. His head snapped to the side, and proceeded to spin completely around, yellow and red eyes alight. He laughed maniacally, and said, “My, my, I’d forgotten how much fun you all can be.” Stepping back, he paused thoughtfully. “You know what, I think we’ll have another game. I’ll let you go, and we’ll see who survives this game. The six of you against me. If you can get to me with your precious elements of Harmony, then you win.”
“And if we can’t?” I asked.
He suddenly vanished, and I jumped as I heard his voice right behind me. “Well, then,” he said smoothly, as I felt his hand caressing my cheek. “You’ll be dead.” With that, he vanished once more, and his voice echoed into the darkness as he left us in the clearing, surrounded by carnage.