Appledashery

by Just Essay

The Game

FLASH!

A pulse of light.

Fwump!

Rainbow Dash landed on soft grass. She felt this... because all of her senses had suddenly, inexplicably returned to her.

"... ... ...!!!" Her eyes flashed open. She inhaled, filling a pair of healthy, aching lungs. "Guhhhhhhhh!" She rolled over, stretching her limbs, then curling back up. The mare squeaked with fright, feeling her chest.

There was no hole... no wound.

No blood.

"Mrmmmff... gkkt... h-huh?" Her eyes flew open again. She blinked several times.

She heard the rustling of leaves... tall grass... babbling brooks.

A very familiar smell wafted across her muzzle, full of flowers... hay... and apples.

"What... where...?" Rainbow sat up, limbs wobbling. She tilted her head up to see mountains looming in the distance. On one particular peak, a very familiar structure loomed. "Canterlot... Castle?"

She heard the groaning of a windmill.

"...?" Tilting her head to the west, she saw the unmistakable outline of Ponyville against a starry sky.

The mare blinked, her muzzle agape. She gazed down at her numb body. The entirety of Romulus' inflicted wound was gone. It didn't even tingle.

She sat there in total silence. Then—as her wits returned—her brow furrowed. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She clenched her teeth as hotter and hotter breaths filtered out of her curling, growling muzzle.

"Rrrrrrgh..." She spun towards the statue on her right. "Lancie?!" Her ears folded back as she shouted: "What the buck?! I told you to—"

Without looking, the statue raised his talons and—

SNAP!

Flash! A potted plant materialized in Rainbow's grip, its drooping pastel petals glowing in the moonlight.

Rainbow gasped, suddenly cradling the object. Her ears perked up, and she gazed at the inexplicable flora in disbelief. "This... th-this..." She gulped. "...Iced Lavender?" The pegasus shook her head. "But.. but I-I don't understand. Lancie..." She turned towards him, her muzzle blank. "...how? The shards—"

"I didn't need them," he droned, his back to her. "I never needed them. Ever. Not a single piece." With a shuddering sigh, he snapped his talon again.

FLASH!

Two more potted plants of the same extinct flower appeared next to Rainbow.

She looked at them all, eyes twitching. Then she looked at her friend. "Lancie...?"

"My name is not Lancie," he declared. It was anything but triumphant. The wind blew softly at his furry mane and goatee—which is how Rainbow first realized he was no longer made of stone. A very complex creature sat in front of her. He was still a pint-sized thing, but in place of a stone gray body she saw a complex patchwork arrangement of fur, skin, hair, and scales. A set of blue and purple wings drooped at his side as he stared out onto the windswept plains bordering Ponyville. "As a matter of fact, my little pony, I go by the title of 'Discord.' Or at least I once did. It made sense to me at one time—the senselessness. But now?" He slowly shook his head. "I'm tired of this..."

Rainbow hugged the flower to her chest, shaking her head in confusion. "Tired of what?"

"The game," he muttered. "And it was a very lame one from the beginning. Oh, don't get me wrong, you played along nicely at first. But then, with each round that we took it further, you just kept acting... more and more selfless and heroic. It was all very nauseating, or at least that's what I initially thought. But then, with time, you just... kept surprising me and surprising me. Such warmth... and indomitable vigor, for a mortal. I don't even recall at which point I forgot the purpose of the game altogether. It was so fun... so stimulating. I was in it just to see how far you would go... to what extent you would throw yourself into harm's way. And all for what? A freckled sunrise you could never allow yourself through a simple, ordinary gesture? Games are supposed to be fun, Rainbow, but you don't even have the decency to claim that anymore, do you? And now... now the cost is far too great to play along, and me? I'm just tired from all of the confusion. Because... b-because I just don't get it, Sparky... Rainbow." He shook, exhaling limply. "I don't... don't get it... I don't get you."

Rainbow swallowed a lump down her throat. "Lancie, you're scaring me..."

"I told you... my name is Discord." He turned towards her. Red pupils hung in sad seas of yellow. "And there's a lot you don't know about me." His nostrils flared while his fuzzy ears drooped. "And I'm quite sick of hiding it from you..."

Comments

[RoboRed]

...
...
...I'm not sure what to expect at all now. I kind of expected Discord to reveal himself soon once all the shards were brought together, but not like this. Nor did I ever suspect he didn't need the shards at all.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

"I told you... my name is Discord." He turned towards her. Red pupils hung in sad seas of yellow. "And there's a lot you don't know about me." His nostrils flared while his fuzzy ears drooped. "And I'm quite sick of hiding it from you..."

...Hoboy.

[MidnightReflection]

DAMMIT ENOUGH WITH THE CLIFFHANGERS!

[Phoenix Kitten]

So.... what now?
What happens now?
What happens after?
Are we near the end?

ahem...
Boss drop acquired: Romulus' dagger
Quest item obtained: Iced Lavender

[Elsaack]

...Ow. Whiplash.

[zaponator]

It's one of the possible outcomes of the quest that I suspected!
...I really hope it works out okay. No matter how he tries to paint it now, Lancie- er, Discord cares, and Rainbow cares about him.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

Discord hates that he has become attached to her. Though that he wants to be honest with her gives me hope that maybe he has started to reform.

[Gammahoof]

Hmm, Rainbow might be kinda pissed once she realizes the past few month have all been a pointless game that played with the lives of dozens of ponies.
She might even be mad enough to hit him.
Maybe she'll hit him hard enough to break him into a bunch of little pieces that would infect her with incurable chaos cancer.

[Lightning Bearer]

I knew something was rotten in the state of Discord, but this isn't the direction I was expecting.

[Phoenix Kitten]

6575464
Just another possibility...of the Continuum Shift.

[destinedjagold]

...revelation time?

[Khao]

OH MY GOD!

...

...I lost The Game again!

[Mister Saxon]

Well, once again, this story has managed to surprise me. Twice in as many days, in fact. I'm impressed.

[Mares-a-Mares]

...I gotta admit, I didn't expect that he never needed the shards to begin with. O.O;; Rainbow's all confused now.

[Frostwolf123]

6575464

"Played" with lives is a bit of an understatement by this point. How many are dead by now exactly?

[Salad king]

Dis gun be good! (insert gif here)

[Jern]

"I told you... my name is Discord."

Now that's going to take some getting used to.

I thought I'd be angry towards Lancie when the inevitable betrayal came, but now I can't help but feel bad for the guy. He finally realized there was something more to life than chaos just a little too late.

[Phoenix Kitten]

6575774
Let's see...
to the best of my memory the body list is...

Flim/Flam's mother
Don Canter
Top Dog
Squidgy
Romulus
An unknown amount of Diamond Dogs, Mob goons, Dragons and Squirrels,
and possibly a basilisk and cyclops.

[Leftover of Saikano]

global3.memecdn.com/say-it-quot-i-lost-the-game-quot--u-mad_o_1183189.jpg

But then, did the pieces have any power at all? Or it was just Discord fueling everything from the distance?

[FloydienSlip]

I'm kinda sad now, for some reason.

[Sharp Quill]

Lancie lied?!!??!!?!

[Scohinyha Sanka]

Makes me wonder if hallucination Jack was actually Lan... Discord's attempt to push her to her breaking point.

[Appledash_Gurl]

AAAAAAAAAND of course, being the person I am, I lost The Game, AGAIN! on the same freakin' website

~ADG

[Hestia]

If my jaw drops any more, it's going to hit the floor.

I am so confused right now. Am I crying? Am I happy? Am I shouting for joy? Am I clutching my heart, gasping for breath because HOLYGUACAMOLE what just happened?

[Cotton Fluff]

And just like that, I lost the game. Such a nice winning streak I had going too...

[viofriedsevey]

Holy shit I fuckin' called it. I finally got an accurate prediction on this story.

[Leftover of Saikano]

6577538
6579013 It's for moments like this that I always carry in my wallet one of these
assets.dacw.co/itemimages/56977.jpg

[Autumn Rush]

...And we all just lost this game, didn't we?

"Lancie, you're scaring me..."

And that's coming from Rainbow. Though I'd be scared too.

[Samurai-Demoman]

Rainbow Dash's Mind in a Nutshell.

(First 20 seconds, for your sake.)

[BabySkittleMonster]

As I'm still in shock from the scimitar, it's taking a while to gather my senses. To be honest, I don't quite know how I feel about this. On one hand, it's brilliant. Lancie isn't evil (as far as I can see) amd he can finally become true friends with Dash. On the downside, I don't know if Dash could forgive him for the hell he put her through. I know I certainly wouldn't. As amazingly loyal as Dash is, I fear this may be the straw that broke the camels back.

[LucyHorseThing]

Is there going to be love confessions up in this? 'Cause Dissy gonna die if he messes with my AppleDash.

[DrEggnog]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,

Wow.

Didn't see that one coming.

The last who knows how many hundreds of thousands of words is now in an entirely new context. And things will never be the same again.

Skirts you BEAST, did you have it planned this way right from page one?

[Thursday]

HOLY SHIT... I didn't see it coming... How did I not see this coming? Rereading the story it would seem so obvious... Wow. Just wow. JE you're a god.

[Seraphimus]

6575416 I agree. This was... Not the reveal I expected. It's Sooo much better though.

[Boop-Happy Lass]

We may have lost.

And this may have been unexpected.

But it was a very glorious ride ;)

[arancaytar]

I'm currently feeling intensely satisfied at having avoided spoilers so far. Because daaaang this one's a doozy.

I'm just tired from all of the confusion. Because... b-because I just don't get it, Sparky... Rainbow." He shook, exhaling limply. "I don't... don't get it... I don't get you."

[bronyheat]

Well this is an interesting take. This is not the direction I thought this would go at all, color me impressed!

[DIRKWITHAGUN]

"I didn't need them," he droned, his back to her. "I never needed them. Ever. Not a single piece." With a shuddering sigh, he snapped his talon again.

i think this is the first time i have ever done a complete, open mouthed double take to a fanfic.