//------------------------------// // Unwanted Sendoff // Story: Making the Best of it // by Flame6666 //------------------------------// Making the Best of it Unwanted Sendoff Separated from his friends, Anthony walked his path of the labyrinth. It took him longer than what he thought it would, but he finally got to a clearing, and from the looks of it, it was custom made for him, but he felt sick from the sight. The clearing was filled with My Little Pony merchandise, from toys to clothes, from jewelry to everything else. Six of the toys that looked like his friends started to grow to the size of the originals and walked over to him and started to talk, mimicking their voices. They all said the same thing in unison, "This is how you truly see us... you don't love us... you just use us to live out your sad fantasy's with..." then they just repeated those words over and over again. Anthony's anger was about to boil over, but instead of exploding he took a deep breath to calm himself then spoke up, "Discord! Come out here already, your cheep trick won't work on me." "Oh come now, you should be having more fun with this." Discord's face appeared on the over sized Twilight toy, "Do you know how hard it is to make this much stuff? I have to snap my finger and it hurts some times." "I have a few questions for you Discord, then I'm leaving." "Normally I would say no, but because I know that it will do more harm than good... shoot." "Okay first, how did you know that I had the show on my laptop?" "That's easy, because I picked you." "Picked me?" Discord sighed, "Yes picked you, what else do you think brought you here? "Wait... you’re the one who brought me to Equestria? Why?" "Well you see, the first time that the Bearers of Harmony defeated me, I came up with a plan or should I say my future self did. Anyway I came up with a plan, when I was trapped in stone I used the last of my powers to send ME the plan to beat the Bearers of Harmony and-" Discord was cut off. "Wait that doesn't make sense." "Hello? My name is Discord, what I do doesn't NEED to make sense. Anyway with my power slowly coming back I teleported you to spread a little chaos. But that plan FAILED." "What do you mean? As you pointed out back at the castle, it worked." "No what you where supposed to do was spread terror for just being there, humans are supposed to be creatures of chaos, but those ponies took you in AND you even helped them with those Parasprites, taking away from the chaos that SHOULD have happened, but then I came up with a better plan. I planted the seeds of chaos in each of your hearts." "You did what?" "Yep, I placed greed in honest Applejack, anger in loyal Rainbow Dash and magical Twilight, fear in the kind Fluttershy, made the generous Rarity a megalomania, and as for the laughable Pinkie Pie... I honestly didn't do anything to her, and as for YOU, I hit you twice, once with doubt and again with anger." "Why... why did you need to mess with us?" "Because I feed off disharmony, and with all of it that you caused I was able to break free faster, and now with how the situation is, I don't even have to lift a finger." "Fine... second question, how did you even know that show existed?" "That's a other easy one, because I am the more or less the creator of My Little Pony! You see when I was still trapped in the stone, before I brought you here, I followed what the Bearers of Harmony where doing, past, present, and future, and sent what I saw to your world, and it just so happened to go into the head of someone who turned it into a show. I knew that if ponies thought that their world was just fiction then that would bring way more discord than I ever could." "Wait, then your saying that this world is real?" "Yep, but its not like you can convince them to think otherwise after what I showed them." "But when you showed it to the others they didn't seem to care." "Yes, I realized that too, they seem more down to earth than most, well... besides for the one." Discord smiled. Anthony's eyes grew wide as he realized who Discord was talking about, "...Twilight." Discord jumped out of the toy and yelled, "BINGO! She's probably questioning everything that she knows right about now, she might even decide to... end it all? Well it’s time for me to start playing with their heads, TATA" With that, Discord vanished and Anthony panicked. He had to find Twilight before she goes off the deep end, so he ran back into the maze to find his friend. He finally found her after awhile, Twilight was rolling back and forth in the pony equivalent of the fetal position, she was saying things like, "Everything is fake, everything I know is a lie, My very existence is a lie." Anthony ran over to the confused pony and grabbed her and shook her lightly, to try and snap her out of it. It wasn't working so Anthony did the only thing that he could, he slapped Twilight across the face and she snapped out of. "What was that for?!" Twilight yelled as she put her hoof to her face. "Did you feel that?" Anthony asked. "Yeah, and it HURT!!" Twilight yelled sounding mad. "Good, because that proves that you are real Twilight." Twilight looked at him weird and Anthony continued, "If you can feel pain or happiness or anything else then you exist Twilight, Even if this world is a fictional place as long as you can feel then it's real to you and that's all that matters." Twilight looked away to contemplate his words and she slowly nodded. Anthony let go of her and they both got up, "Alright, we need to find the others. I know the way to defeat Discord but I need your help Twilight. Now then, Discord will give Rainbow back her wings and he will win the game, so before that we need to find the others and when we do, I need you cast some sort of memory reminder spell on them, to remind them of all the good times that you guys spent together." Twilight nodded, "Leave it to me." And so they walked the maze, finding their friends along the way, but instead of them being changed for too long, Twilight cast the spell and cured them of Discord's brainwashing on sight. Once most of the friends had been gathered they saw Rainbow Dash fly out of the maze and Discord made the maze vanish, declaring that he won. But Discord noticed something out of place. "Uhm, why aren't you ponies at each others throats?" Discord said with a puzzled look. "Because you forgot that I knew the show Discord and that I know how to defeat you." "But that's cheating!" "I only used what you so kindly gave to my people and used it against you." "Hmm two can play at that game." Discord snapped his fingers and vanished. "What did he mean by that?" Twilight asked Anthony. "I'm not sure, but we need to get to the library right away." "But what about Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie brought up. "Don't worry, you'll find her after were done at the library." Anthony assured her. Instead of walking back to the library Anthony asked Twilight to just teleport them back to save time, her horn glowed then in a flash of light they where back at the library. Anthony left the book on the table so it was easy enough to find. "The elements should be in this book." Anthony said while opening the book, but to his surprise the elements weren't there, "What the? The elements aren't here. Discord must have put them somewhere else." "B-But where?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm not sure, in the show they where in this book. This must be what Discord meant by "two can play at that game." he might be using my knowledge of the show against us." "Great, how are we going to find out where the elements are?" Twilight asked. "Just because Discord is changing his plans around doesn't mean that he isn't playing by the rules. So the answer should still be in the riddle." Anthony thought for a minute, "Okay here is the plan, Twilight and I will think what the riddle might mean and the rest of you go find Rainbow Dash and when you find her just throw a rope around her and drag her back here, that's the only way to help her." The others nodded and left the library, Twilight looked at Anthony and asked, "So how are we going to figure out this riddle?" "Well he said we’ll find the elements back where we began. So that could mean a number of places." "Well then, we should start thinking." Anthony nodded and thought, "Hmm... find the elements back where you began... only two places come to mind, the old castle where they first became the Bearers of Harmony or the place where Twilight and Spike where at in the first episode." "I think I know where they might be." Anthony said to Twilight, "I think that they are either at the castle where you guys defeated Nightmare Moon or where you and Spike where staying at before you came to Ponyville." "Why would they be there?" "Think about it, "where you began." The only places that come to mind are those two, since they are the places that you began." The door opened and standing there was Fluttershy, "We got her!" Twilight and Anthony nodded and followed Fluttershy to where the kicking Rainbow Dash struggled to get free. Twilight put her horn to Dash's head and Dash stopped the pointless struggle. "Ahh... what happened?" Rainbow Dash asked. "No time to explain, we need you and Fluttershy to fly to the castle where you defeated Nightmare Moon and to look for the elements there, and Twilight and Rarity should go to where Twilight was staying in Canterlot to also look for the elements." "What about me and Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked "Um, for now we wait." Anthony said thinking of nothing that the two can do. "So find the elements and bring them back, got it." Rainbow Dash flew off to the Everfree Forest with Fluttershy slowly following. "We'll be back in a flash." Twilight said as she teleported herself and Rarity to Canterlot. The other three went back into the library to wait for the others. About an hour later Twilight and Rarity telepoted back with frowns on their faces. "We couldn't find the elements anywhere." Twilight said sadly. "Even after covering ourselves in dust." Rarity complained. "If they weren't there then they gotta be at the castle. We just have to wait for Dash and Fluttershy to get back." Just then Rainbow Dash came through the window. "Hey guys, I don't know how to tell you this but the elements weren't there." "Are you sure you guys searched the entire castle? Twilight asked. "Yeah, every inch and came up with nothing." Rainbow confirmed. Anthony got up and started pacing, "Shit... think brain, think... where you began, where you began, where you began... where you began... that's it! If Discord really was using what I know about the show then it was stupid of me to think that the elements would be at those places." "What are ya talking about now?" Applejack asked. "I know where the elements are, their at the place where I first came to Equestria... in the Everfree Forest." he looked at Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow, your coming with me. When we find the elements I'm going to need you to fly back here and defeat Discord." "Anthony, you can't go in there with just the two of you." Twilight pointed out. "I did it before by myself and besides, this time I'll be prepared. Anthony got a bag and filled it with supplies, food, rope, a fire starter, and a cast iron skillet just to be safe. Twilight teleported them to the Fluttershy's cottage and the two went into the fearful forest to find the elements. It took them awhile but they soon heard singing, Anthony knowing who it was ran ahead with Dash following, they got to the rivers edge and looked around to find no one but soon enough Anthony saw the water bulging out and was faced with an old friend. "MUUUUSTAAAAACHE!" The purple sea serpent sang as it burst out of the water. "Steven Magnet! It’s been to long my friend!" Anthony yelled at the serpent. "Ooh Sir Anthony... it’s been too long indeed, how have you been?" Steven asked getting closer. "I've been doing fine thanks to you. I see you haven't let your singing get rusty." Rainbow poked Anthony's side, "Oh that's right... I'm sorry Steven but we must get going, can you help me across river?" "No problem, just grab my tail. Steven moved his tail over to Anthony and he sat on it and was moved across the river. "Thanks Steven, when I come back around we can catch up then alright?" "I'll be looking forward to it Sir Anthony." Steven waved and Anthony waved back. It took awhile but they found where they needed to be, the spot where it all began. They scanned the area but didn't see the elements, "Wheres the elements?" Rainbow Dash asked still looking around. "I'm not sure but they have to be around here somewhere." just then they heard the shaking of a nearby bush. Dash got behind Anthony ready for whatever creature would come out. Anthony could feel Dash shaking like a leaf and sighed. Then took a few steps closer to the bush. Rainbow Dash gasped when he did and tried to stop him, but Anthony had a feeling that he knew what it was So he went up to the bush and opened it up with his hands, and sure enough it was a cute little bunny that was sleeping with the elements around it. Anthony carefully picked up the elements and put them in a bag and gave it Dash, "Here you go Dash, now fly back to Ponyville and stop Discord." "But what about you? You might get attacked by something out here." "I'll be fine. That's why I brought the skillet." "Fine, but be back as fast as you can." Dash flew off toward Ponyville. Anthony sat down where he thought he’d woken up when he first got to Equestria and looked up to the sky which was a greenish color and after about ten or so minutes it changed back to the blue that it was normally. "Guess that means they defeated Discord an- HNNNNNNNGGGGG" Sudden pain filled Anthony's body... the pain was to intense for Anthony to stay conscious for long and he blacked out... Anthony heard people talking next to him and soon he opened his eyes. It was Twilight and the rest, looking over him, "What... what happened?" "We’re not sure... Rainbow found you where she left you and you where unconscious." Twilight said. "I knew I shouldn't have left you Anthony." Rainbow Dash said with tears in her eyes. "It's okay Dash... you guys needed to defeat Discord." Anthony reached out to pat Dash's head but stopped and looked at his hand... or what was left of it. It was mostly transparent, he looked at his other and it was in the same state. Anthony tried to touch his face but his hands went right though it, "Guys... whats going on?" Anthony said with panic in his voice. "I think I should be the one to explain it." Princess Celestia came into the room with a saddened expression on her face, "You see Anthony... Discord was to the one who brought you here... and it was his power that kept you here. Once he was turned back to stone that power faded and now you are... disappearing from our world... and not only that but I believe that you may forget everything that happened here..." Celestia had tears falling from here eyes. "But... but I don't want to go or forget... being here was the happiest time of my life... I wouldn't mind going back as long as I keep my memory's but... but it’s not fair... I don't want to go back...back to the way I was." Anthony cried out, choking on his words. "Don't worry Anthony... you might forget your time here but you will never forget the feeling that you shared with everypony... I don't know how much time you have left, but you should fill what time you do have with happiness." Celestia said and she walked out of the room. Over the next two days Anthony's time was filled happiness, he had the time of his life. It was at a party that Pinkie Pie planed that Anthony had the most fun, everyone was laughing with their eyes closed when they finally noticed that they couldn't hear Anthony laughing, when they opened their eyes to see what was wrong with their friend... all they saw was orbs of light hovering upward... "Ow... what happened? Did I trip?" Anthony said when he got himself off the ground, "Well better get home... Garrett is going to need a ride tomorrow for sure." Anthony walked a little further down the road and felt something on his face, "What the... tears? Why in the world am I crying?" Anthony tired wipe them away but they wouldn't stop and they didn't stop until he went to bed. It was the next morning and Anthony got up, still a little weirded out by how he couldn't stop crying last night, he just shrugged it off and went to go pick up his friend Garrett. Anthony decided to walk there because he felt as though he was a lot healthier for some reason, he could even see his feet now..."What the hell? How the buck did I lose that much weight in one night... and when the fuck did I start saying buck?" Again he just shrugged it of, free weight lost, no need to question it. When he got to the blue house he noticed that Garrett's car wasn't there, "Walked all that way for nothing. Might as well say hi." He walked over to the door and knocked, after a few moments Jared opened the door with a shocked expression. "Dude where the hell have you been? You've been gone for like a week!" Jared yelled at Anthony "No I haven't... I just walked home from here last night..." "Dude... that was ten days ago... and what the hell happened to you? You lost a lot of weight. Come on in we can talk inside." Jared let Anthony in and went to the living room, "So where have you been? Or do you even know?" "Well if what you say is true then, I have no idea where I was." "Well that's fine... as long as you’re alive that's all the matters. I'm going to give Garrett a call, the dude has been worried sick about you, he thought that your disappearance was his fault. Got to say though dude... you seem a lot more open then at the party, maybe where you disappeared to helped with that." Jared said jokingly. But Anthony felt like what he said might have been true to some extent. What if where he ended up really did change him but he just couldn't remember for some reason... the memories right there, but just out reach it... Anthony knew that these feelings would never leave him. ---------------Authors Notes--------------- Well that was a fun last chapter, didn't think it would be over 3000 words that's for sure. Anyway I would like to thank you guys from some good feedback, seriously thank you And a shout out for King Trollestia who was kind enough to offer to be the editor, thank you kind sir.