• Published 24th Apr 2012
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- Off The Record - The King of Hearts



A new pony is introduced to Equestria just before the fight with Nightmare Moon in Episode 1. Changing the entire story.

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The Beginning of Chaos

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The Beginning of Chaos
////

“Is everypony ready?” Twilight whispered, looking between her friends, and brother, as she readied to cast her spell.

They all nodded.

The seven of them stood inside the Everfree Forest, as close to Ponyville as they could possibly be without encountering any chaos. They were all dressed in skin tight black latex to hide themselves under the cover of the night. Pinkie also had a cardboard box, and an eye patch.

Closing her eyes, she silently cast her spell, as a small sprinkle of sparkles fell on each of them, making them glow faintly, before returning to normal.

“Okay,” Twilight whispered, “The chaos within the town shouldn’t affect us.”

“Where are we headin’ first?” Applejack asked.

“To Fluttershy’s cottage,” She said, gesturing over her shoulder, “We’re only a few minutes away from it.”

“How do we find the Element in her house?” Rarity asked, “For all we know, Discord has hidden it in a place we’d never look!”

“It’s up to Fluttershy to locate it,” Twilight explained, “We can all feel out Elements, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Applejack nodded.

“She’ll locate it, and then we’ll move on to the Library,” Twilight finished, “Any more questions?”

Silence.

“Good,” She nodded, smiling, “Let’s get to work!”

The walk to Fluttershy’s cottage was a strange one for them all. Only a few days ago, everything was perfectly normal. They had woken up as they would any other day, they got ready for a dance, and they left home. And now, coming back for the first time since then, they were all apprehensive to see what had become of their friends and family.

“Oh my goodness,” Rarity gasped as they stepped out of the forest, on to a checkerboard patterned ground.

The entire town had been changed by Discord.

Pink clouds hung in the air, ponies were running around, clearly out of their minds, massive chunks from the ground had even been levitated into the sky, and simply floated there. It was a horrible sight for them all to see.

“I hope the Cakes are alright…” Pinkie said quietly, knowing that she had recently gotten pregnant, but had asked Pinkie to keep it quiet.

“Ah’m jus’ glad that Apple Bloom is safe an’ sound,” Applejack said, now fully understanding the gravity of their situation.

“It would be so easy for those girls to get hurt out here,” Rarity said, nodding, “They just need to stay put until we can fix all of this.”

Finally reaching the cottage, Fluttershy bit her lip. She was pretty nervous about all of this. What if all her animal friends were big, evil monsters now? They might eat her!

“I don’t know about all this, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, looking around nervously, “This isn’t so bad! Maybe we should just live here in the chaos!”

“Oh no you don’t, Fluttershy!” Rarity jumped in, “Do you think any of your animals will be happy again if Discord isn’t stopped?”

“Well… no, I guess not.” She said quietly.

“Great,” Shining said, walking up to the door first, and slowly opening it, seeing nothing out of place in this house.

“It looks pretty normal,” Twilight said, recognizing the interior, “What do you feel, Fluttershy?”

“It feels like It’s really far down,” She said, scratching her head and stepping inside.

Everypony followed her inside before the door suddenly closed behind them.

“What’s going on?” Spike said running back, and trying to get the door open, “We’re locked in!”

“Hello everypony,” A very recognizable voice said from behind them.

“Discord?” Twilight asked in disbelief that her magic had been beaten so quickly, “How did you find us?”

“Don’t worry about trying to TALK to me,” Discord said, looking at them, “I’m just a projection. I’m much too busy to chase after all of you.”

“You’re not really here?” Pinkie said to him, bouncing over to the floating body, and trying to hit him as her hoof passed through him.

“I imagine Pinkie is hitting me right now,” Discord said, rolling his eyes, “But I’m not here.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie said, bouncing back and giggling, “He’s good!”

“Now, since your dear Princesses have gone and turned to stone, I’ve decided to take their place as your mentor,” Discord smiled, confusing all of them, “I’m going to teach you all wonderful things about the fickleness of friendship!”

Twilight growled.

“Oh calm down, Twilight,” Discord laughed, having anticipated this from her, “When this is all over, you’ll be thanking me!”

“Somehow I doubt ,” Shining Armor said.

“So!” Discord smiled, “Why don’t we get things started here?”

Suddenly, the floor vanished from below them, and they all plummeted into bottomless darkness.

////

“I had a lot of fun there, Alex,” Dash said as they walked away from the school, hand in hand, “I would have probably dominated that place if I had gone there.”

“You probably would have,” He agreed, “But we probably wouldn’t have ended up together, if that were the case.”

“It’s a different dimension, I’m sure plenty would be different,” She nodded, “So, where next?”

“You wanna get something to eat?” Alex asked, passing the diner him and his father used to frequent.

“Sure,” She nodded, “Do they have hay by any chance?”

“You can ask,” Alex laughed, “I wouldn’t hold my breath, however.”

Arriving at the diner, Alex smiled immediately upon seeing his favorite waitress in the world, Rosie.

“Alex!” The middle aged waitress said ecstatically, “I haven’t seen you in what seems like forever!”

“Hey, Rosie,” Alex smiled, accepting the hug she quickly gave him, “How’s it going?”

“Same old same old,” She smiled, looking to Dash, “And who is this?”

“Sarah,” Dash said, extending a hand, “His marefriend.”

Alex played it off pretty well, “Come on, Sarah, no one says marefriend here.”

“Is that a thing these days?” Rosie asked, “Well, either way, you two here to eat?”

“Sure are,” Alex smiled.

“Grab a seat anywhere,” She winked, “I’ll take care of you.”

Walking over to the table in the corner, they sat down.

“Do you think they have anything without meat?” Dash asked, grabbing a menu from the side of the table and opening it up.

“They should,” Alex said, grabbing his own, “There’s a salad you can get.”

“What do you usually get here?” Dash asked.

“The hot dog?” Alex said, “Or maybe the chicken…”

Dash didn’t particularly care about the fact that people were so hugely carnivores, but it was a tiny bit strange. Equestria had its share of meat-eaters, from griffons to dragons, but it wasn’t like they had a lot of them around in Ponyville.

“What’s a hot dog made of?” Dash asked, having not heard that name before, “Is it made of dogs?”

“No,” Alex shook his head, smiling, “It’s either made of pork, or beef.”

Dash gulped. Cows in Equestria were sentient, and obviously off the list for most creatures because of that. But, again, it was a new world. Apparently horses were even eaten in some places here. That was something that DID make her uncomfortable.

“You okay, Dash?” Alex asked, seeing her suddenly look sick.

“Sorry,” She said, taking a deep breath and composing herself, “It’s just a bit weird to think of ponies getting eaten... Thank goodness humans aren’t in Equestria!”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, some humans eat other humans,” Alex shrugged, “It’s a messed up world.”

“I can tell,” She nodded, “But, as long as I can eat what I normally eat, I’ll survive.”

“Good to hear,” Alex nodded, as Rosie brought them a couple of Cokes, “You kids know what you’re getting?”

“I’m gonna have… this.” Dash said, pointing to the Caesar salad.

“Alright,” Rosie nodded, “You want any cheese or bacon bits on it?”

“No, she doesn’t,” Alex said quickly, “Just the salad and the dressing.”

“Got it,” She jotted down, “What about you?”

“I’ll have the same,” Alex said, making things easy for her.

“Well alright,” She smiled, “I’ll grab this for you quick.”

“Thanks,” Alex nodded, as she walked off.

“What’s bacon bits?” Dash asked, wondering why Alex had cut in like that.

“Pork,” Alex said, “Meat is everywhere here.”

“I can tell,” She nodded, “Thanks for the save.”

“No problem,” Alex said, lifting the glass bottle of Coke up, and taking a long swig.

“What is this?” Dash asked, listing the bottle and inspecting it.

“It’s called soda,” Alex said, placing it on the table, “It’s bubbly drinks.”

“Oh, we have that in Equestria,” Dash nodded, lifting the bottle up, and taking a drink herself, “This is pretty good! What flavor is it?”

“Cola,” Alex said, wondering if that would help her at all, “It’s one of the most popular flavors here.”

Tasting her next sip carefully, she nodded, “I like it! All we have in Equestria is apple, orange, or grape fizzies. Maybe cherry too.”

“I never had them,” Alex said a bit surprise, considering her had been there for a year, “Where are they sold?”

“Pinkie always managed to get her hoofs on some,” Dash shrugged, before her expression darkened, “I hope she’s okay.”

“I wish there was some way for us to get back there,” Alex said quietly to her, “But we just need to wait right now.”

“I hate waiting,” Dash sighed, her eyes narrowing at the thought.

“I know,” Alex said as comfortingly as possible, “But we need to stop worrying about it.”

“How can I stop?” She said, clearly being torn up by this, “It’s already been three days for them, Alex.”

“I know, but—“

“A week from now, it’ll have been a month!” She said, “If they’re not here before then… I- I just don’t want to live here for the rest of my life.”

“I know, Dash,” Alex said, grabbing her hand, “We’ll find a way back, I promise.”

She didn’t respond, she just looked at the table, and squeezed his hand lightly.

“Here’s your food,” Rosie smiled, carrying two plates over to them, and placing them down, “Hey, is something up?”

“Sorry,” Dash said, looking up and wiping a tear from her eye, “I’m just thinking about some friends I’m missing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rosie said comfortingly, “But I’ll leave you two alone for now.”

“Thanks,” Alex smiled to her as she left them alone.

The two didn’t say anything to each other after that. They simply worked on their food, neither wanting to move on with the sad conversation, and neither of them wanted to look like they were trying to change the subject.

Finally, after a few minutes, they each finished their food, and Rosie made finally made her way back to them, “How was everything?”

“It was good,” Alex said softly, still not feeling great, “Sorry, we’re not really in a good place right now.”

“Of course,” She nodded, “Take your time, we’re not in any rush to get you out of here.”

Alex nodded as she once again left, taking the plates with her.

“Why don’t we go get you something to wear for tonight?” Alex asked, hoping she wasn’t going to be upset with him.

“How can we go to a dance, when something awful could be happening?” She asked, looking at him, honestly wanting an answer.

That was the question Alex had been worrying so much over. How could they? For all he knew, everypony he knew was dead. And here he was, playing video games and watching movies.

“Well?” She asked, giving him a determined look.

“Because it’s all we can do,” He said back, seriously, “We can sit here, and mope and hope that somepony comes to save us… Or we can enjoy the time we have here, and if we go back, we do. If we don’t…. We don’t.”

She looked like she was about to cry.

“There’s no point in us sitting around, okay?” Alex asked, “We’re going to be happy, and give our friends the benefit of the doubt. We owe them that.”

She nodded, “Maybe you’re right… Celestia did say how hard it was to cast the spell to get you home.”

“And they probably don’t even know we’re here,” Alex said, “It might take them a LONG time to find us. Which’ll be good, because time fly’s by in Equestria for us.”

“Yeah,” She said, feeling a little better, “You’re right.”

“Exactly,” He smiled back to her, “Our friends will come for us, I’m sure of it.”

////

“Wake up dear,” Discord said, looming over Fluttershy as she slowly regained consciousness, “We have plenty to do!”

Opening her eyes, Fluttershy found herself in a massive white room, with nothing notable around her, except the beast standing in front of her, with a panicked look on his face.

“Ugh…” Fluttershy coughed weakly, “D-Discord?!”

“Yes, of course!” He said as she stood up, “Your friends are in trouble!”

She stepped away from him, “What do you mean?”

“Somepony’s trapped them in a dragon’s lair!” He said, smiling knowingly.

“You did that!” She accused.

“I’m hurt you would consider ME!” He grinned, “I’ll forgive you for now, but you’d better get going!”

“B-But—“

“And you’d better take this,” He said, placing her Element of Harmony around her neck with a quick motion, “You’ll need it!”

“What--?”

And like that, Discord was gone.

Suddenly, Fluttershy was standing just outside of a terribly familiar cave. She knew it from when her friends had gone to move a dragon that had been sleeping, and filling Equestria with smoke. But now, there was no smoke. Just a dark, cloudy sky, and a dim light coming from somewhere inside the cave.

The only noise anypony would be able to hear from miles around, was a high pitched whine, as Fluttershy realized just what was ahead of her.

“Oh boy…”

(Quantum Leap Theme)

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