Ponyville Castle
"An Apprentice?" asked Spike as he watched Princess Twilight pace the floor. They had been chatting for over an hour before the alicorn of friendship had pinpointed the problem. It had been years since she had realised her purpose as a princess and the thought of helping some other pony the way Celestia did for her was one that filled her soul with joy. It filled Spike's head with confusion but Twilight would soon sort that.
"Why? How? Who?" The small dragon, though not as small as he once was, began pacing the room himself. His claws hardened, leaving marks in the floor. Spike had grown a bit, to the point where he was now eye level with the average adult pony. Another few years and his wings would actually be able to lift him off the ground.
Twilight levitated him up for a moment. He felt weightless whenever she did that
"Relax Spike." she smiled and Spike sighed, giving a faint smile back. "Why, it's simple really. Somewhere, somepony has the potential to achieve greatness but, like me a long time ago, he or she doesn't know it yet. Besides, I'm sure that another Princess would be a great help. Cadence has her family to look after, Luna might be in the process of finding one and Celestia is busy looking into some rumours about the Tartarus Gate."
By this point Spike was beginning to understand. He gestured down and with a chuckle of an apology, Twilight let him back down to the floor gently.
"How are you going to pick one then?" Spike asked, now curious about training a new princess
"That's where my faithful student comes in," Twilight replied.
Spike beamed with Pride.
"Your wish is my command your Highness," he said, giving a little bow "What do you want me to do?"
Twilight held her head up high. "I need you to scout around Ponyville for somepony that just needs the right push to show them that they can be great. Also-"
"You can count on me." Spike rushed out the castle, the fact that Twilight hadn't finished speaking went past the little dragon.
As she watched him from the balcony, she looked over the town that she had called home for so long. The town that housed such amazing memories, of enemies turned friends, of sister's returned and of so many super fun Pinkie Pie parties. She could almost hear the laughter ringing through her ears, almost smell the delicious cake that Pinkie had wiped up, see Pinkie's smiling face hovering in front of her by balloons.
"Hiya Twilight," said Pinkie Pie in her infectiously joyous voice.
"Morning Pinkie," Twilight replied, only somewhat surprised at this point.
"Where'd Spike go in such a hurry?" The look of thousands more questions was in her eyes.
"I asked him to scout for me." Twilight smiled and gestured towards the castle. "I'll tell you inside." Twilight made her way inside again.
"Okey dokie." Pinkie swam through the air like a dog through the ocean. Going by balloon wasn't the easiest method but her trampoline was at the shops. There was an incident with Cheese Sandwich, three melons and a party canon.
***
Ponyville Station
At the train station, two long time friends were saying goodbye. Packed and ready to go was an Earth Pony by the name of Silver Spoon. Her father's company was expanding and she was needed in Manehattan. She had this one last chance to say goodbye to Diamond Tiara. They may not have been the most conventional friends but the two did respect each other greatly.
"I'll come back and visit when I can," Silver Spoon reassured her "And you can come visit me whenever you want."
Diamond Tiara only nodded, trying to hold back her tears. She would never let any pony see her sad, sad was weak to her. Diamond Tiara - in her mind - was anything but weak. The train's whistle blew through the station. They had but one last minute
"Till next we meet." Silver Spoon hugged Diamond and was on her way. As the train left the station, she was seen waving back as long as they were in sight. Then she was gone. For a moment, for one rare moment, Diamond was silent. She was deep in thought. After a while she focused on the one she had clung to since she was a filly. You are stronger than them. Diamond raised her head high into the air and walked out of the station with the look of one of the finest ponies that ever lived. She reassured herself that she'd be writing her letters anyway so there was no need for tears.
As she strode through Ponyville back to her home, she was spotted by familiar, if somewhat round, face.
"Hi Diamond Tiara," it called out. This was the last thing she wanted now. A short brown unicorn walked up to her. The satchel on his back was full of fabrics and clothing tools. It was Snips, a pony who Diamond had long thought moved on from following her around. At first she ignored him. Kept going back to her home where she could be weak in peace. Snips followed beside her. He took a deep breath. Honestly, he still saw her as something of a celebrity among non-royal ponies so to him this was not something he thought of lightly.
"Listen, I heard about Silver Spoon moving..."
Before Snips could continue, the mare shot him her signature You will shut up look. It brought her a minute of silence before Snips gulped down the fear and remembered that he had grown a lot since his days with Snails -well in mind, height wise he was probably still the smallest for his age. In a burst of courage he ran in front of Diamond, stopping her in her tracks. She tried to go around him but he simply moved in front of her.
"Snips, move NOW!" she demanded.
"Look, just let me say this and I'll be on my way." Snips’ voice of was at least trying to be confident. That deserved some credit.
"...make it quick." Diamond wanted to get a move on as soon as possible.
"Thank you,” Snips said. He took a deep breath and began his attempt at talking to her like an equal. “I know you and Silver Spoon have been friends for a long time so her moving is going to make you upset-"
"I'm fine," she growled.
"If you say so, just... here." Out from his satchel, Snips gave Diamond a short soft scarf. Since their days in school, he had actually become a somewhat decent clothes maker. Not good enough to design masterpieces but good enough to design something you would call homey. Snips turned to be on his way. "Remember, if you need somepony to talk to I'm around," Off he went on his merry way, proud that he had done that. That he had managed to give her something he made. And relieved that he went before he could have heard the critiques of it.
"Thank you," Diamond called out to him, much to both party’s surprise. Just as she was about to go on her way as well, a streak of pink rushed past her. A bouncing Pinkie Pie was muttering something about "finding the right pony for the job".
***
Pinkie's streak zoomed through Ponyville at an astonishing speed. This was a mare on a mission, a mission that she had been given by a close friend of hers. It was time to gather the elements once more for a ‘super secret, top of the line, meeting of secret things’ (as the mare so very energetically put it). Pinkie's speed did not go unnoticed however. From above she was watched by a familiar Pegasus.
Strong. Tough. Wise. Yes, she was considered one the best flyers in Ponyville. Scootaloo lived up to all of these qualities and more. She watched Pinkie go from a streak to a simple bouncing ball of fun, on her way to her friends.
"Pinkie!" Scootaloo called out to her.
Pinkie stopped in her tracks, like something had paused her in mid walk. Scootaloo glided down to her. The pink earth pony was still frozen. Scootaloo gave Pinkie the gift of a confused glance (a gift Pinkie received often). She gave her a small poke, bringing her back to the moving world.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" enquired Scootaloo.
Swiftly, Pinkie grabbed her.
"Scootaloo," she said, and her voice dropped down to a whisper "Do you know where Dash is?"
Rainbow Dash, the pride of all Pegasi in Ponyville. Scootaloo knew her quite well: Dash had been her mentor when it came to flying. She had helped Scootaloo conquer her weaker wings and soar to great heights. Their days had been spent amongst the clouds, learning what they could from each other. When Scootaloo was a filly, Dash had decided to adopt her. She was already so much a part of Scootaloo's life that it felt natural to make it official. Even though she was under Dash's wing, Scootaloo had become very much her own pony. As the ratchet cutie mark of hers hinted, she had become the town's mechanic, fixing wagons, scooters and wheelchairs for all who asked.
"Yeah," Scootaloo nodded. "Dash is helping Fluttershy look after the bats in the reserve."
"TO THE RESERVE!" Pinkie declared before zooming off once more.
"Wait!" Scootaloo called out to her but she was already past her sight. She sighed, shaking her head that, maybe one day, she'll fully understand Pinkie. She decided to drop her question. As she turned she walked slap bang into the bouncing, smiling face of Pinkie Pie once more.
"Yes?" Pinkie asked.
Scootaloo looked to where she had been, then back to her, then to the path she travelled. By all logic she shouldn't have been in front of her. Then again, logic and Pinkie Pie had a somewhat mixed relationship so Scootaloo shrugged it off as continued.
"Why are you in such a rush?" She put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder to stop her bouncing, naturally it didn't work and she ended up bouncing as well.
"Well," her voice had returned her whisper to her for a moment before bursting into her normal cheer once more. "Twilight's looking for an apprentice so I'm off to get the others so she can tell them too. Plus," a dash of confusion came to her voice "Apparently there's something else she wanted to talk about but I have to get everypony first." When Pinkie finished she beamed with pride of the special mission she was given.
Something she hadn't noticed was that their conversation had been in the middle of town. Not even the wind made a sound for a moment after Pinkie had finished. Scootaloo gestured to her to look around. Pinkie did for a minute before zooming off once more to get Dash, leaving dust in her tracks and Scootaloo's eyes. When it cleared she could see just how many ponies had heard Pinkie's news. Their mouths hung wide open in shock.
An Apprentice?
Who?
A wave of gossiping ponies erupted from the crowd that had heard the conversation. They asked so many question. As Scootaloo journeyed, she heard a few of them.
"How long has she been planning this?" she heard a brown earth pony.
"Is there a date for her to pick by?" asked another pony.
"What will the apprentice have to do?" seemed to echo amongst the crowd the most.
Soon, the whole town was abuzz with excitement at the thought of Twilight looking for a student. Scootaloo herself decided to meet up with the CMC heads to tell them.
Next stop Applebloom's farm.
***
The Depths of the Everfree Forest
A crack in the skin of reality. A portal to the deepest, depths of the darkest domain. Through it, oozed out something conjured from pure evil. Only the length of a stallion managed to get through before the portal ceased to exist, cutting it off from its body. The scream that its five mouths let out terrified the creatures that heard it, turning their fur colourless. The blob of hatred, crawled across the forest floor. The trail it left caused the grass to decay.
This was a being that shouldn't have existed anymore. It was something unnatural; the story of its birth had been lost in the great chasm of time. Either that, or this thing was never born, it simply decided to be one day. It had been locked away long ago by two powerful beings of light and dark. The world it had come from had only known it as its only living being (and I use the word "living" cautiously).
In that diminished form it needed a better body to latch onto, a body that it could use as a temporary puppet to free the rest of itself. The body would have had to be more stable than its current mound of flesh like form. Ten separate eyes darted around its location. Nothing. The animals had been scared off by the screams of agony that it had let forth. It would need patience until it met a new host.
Sitting in silence, it saw its next target.
He was flying high in the air. A grey Pegasus with a list for a cutie mark was in its sight. All eyes focused on him. This unlucky stallion was known as Grey Fox, not that the thing without a form cared about names. It just needed him to be within reach. Luckily for it, ponies had always been rather curious. It let out a shriek, mimicking something in trouble while it moved behind a log to watch and wait for its prey to get near. Sure enough, Grey Fox flew down to try and find the pony that needed help. Poor fool
"Hello?" Grey Fox called out. He searched desperately for any sign of life.
The shrieking stopped.
Now Grey Fox's eyes were the ones darting about the forest. "Anypony?" his shout sounded cautious. Grey Fox realised where he was. Everfree forest was known to most ponies as a place that wasn't right. A place that operated by its own laws. Everfree forest was out of any being's control.
Grey Fox swiftly spread his wings for flight. He tried to take off but then it had him. Like webbing, it had shot its very body at Grey Fox to capture him.
"What in the name of Cel-?" before he could finished, the creature had covered his mouth. His mind faded away, pushed to the side in favour of a new intelligence. It clung to his body like a new layer of skin. The eyes and mouths were now scattered around its new torso. A blank, expressionless face would be what met any pony unfortunate enough to come across it. The last thing Grey Fox heard was the voice of his new master. The name of it echoed in his mind before letting him sleep. This new form of Grey Fox had kept the master's name.
Narl.
Chapter 2: Bringing it together
Above Ponyville
The news of the apprentice soon spread to all of Ponyville. Much like a virus, it changed everypony who caught wind of it. Some found it great, some found it puzzling while the rest knew they had to be the apprentice. The chance to train under Twilight Sparkle, the mare who frequently saved Equestria, was just too good to pass up. They could have been walking side by side with some of the most important ponies in history.
Naturally, all this gossip reached the ears of the delightfully chaotic being that called Ponyville its home. Unseen by the ponies below, or so he believed, he floated as a cotton candy cloud over them all.
"An apprentice," he said thoughtfully "That's not a bad idea." In a flash he returned to his true form; That of a miss mash of creatures. The Draconequus watched as all the residence of the town spoke of ponies for the apprentice. Various names popped up.
Brave Heart,
Featherweight,
Rumble,
But none were particularly interesting to the being of chaos. Indeed, Discord was coming up with his own plan. He drummed his claws on his chin. It could work. Why not? Twilight could always use his help when looking for an apprentice. Why doesn't he scout? But where to go first?
***
Ponyville Arcade
The sounds of battles raging, monsters screaming and heroes becoming victorious littered the air. Fillies and Colts looked on in wonder as the stallion who lead the charge won the day again. They cheered for him, hoping that one day, by some miracle from the heavens, that they too...would beat Doom Mare 4 and receive the glory of 100% completion. The earth pony known by all as Button Mash, looked over them in pride. His natural talent for games had started when he was a colt, it had even earned him a joystick for a cutie mark. Beside him stood the heir to his throne of games, Bit Mash. The two siblings were alike in so many ways. Both had the uncanny ability to pick up a fictional language better than maths and b
oth were under the impression that the other did not know about the being known as ‘The Stache’.
"Go forth warriors," Button Mash declared, "and defeat the villains you come across with a strong heart and an open mind." He moved away from the cabinet he had been at, preparing his best leader voice. "Do it...for the XP!"
The whole arcade erupted into cheers. Button Mash was probably the only fully grown pony who would encourage more video games. Why not? After all, they were fun and it brought young ponies together. Off they all went, to battle whatever forces stood in their way.
Bit Mash herself decided to give Doom Mare 4 a go. The title screen was considered to be just a small taste of things to come. Bit Mash put in a single bit. The title crashed down into itself with a sinister laugh playing in the background. The laugh reached the ears of her older brother, who looked on, ready to support Bit Mash's journey to stop the forces of Tartarus. The Doom Mare 4 logo vanished but the laughing did not. A glitch? Bit Mash began pushing every button she could before the laughing finally subsided. A new image began to fade onto the screen. Button Mash stared at it intensely. He had played Doom Mare 4 dozens of times and this hadn't happened once.
"That was quite a speech," an eccentric voice rang out from the speakers. "What is your name?"
Bit Mash's eyes widened as she stared at her brother.
Button Mash was as confused as her. "My name is Button Mash," he said, the confidence fluctuating in his voice.
"Button Mash, that has a nice ring to it," it said. The image became clear. "I must remember that name for later."
The two Mashes could only watch in half wonder, half caution, as Discord burst forth from their screen. He glanced over at the arcade machines. He was sure some the games were based on him. Button Mash looked up at the Draconequus, wondering what brought him so far from his favourite group of ponies.
"What?" the only thing Button Mash could think to say. It wasn't everyday that you met Discord.
"Oh don't mind me, I'm just doing some scouting." Discord bent down to examine Button Mash, his voice reaching a sly tone. "Of course I'll need to be sure, can't just get any old pony you-."
"Scouting?" Bit Mash interrupted. Discord had gotten the attention of every colt and filly in the arcade. Fine by him, just meant scouting could go faster.
"Yes, scouting," he replied "As you know, Princess Twilight is looking for some lucky pony to be her apprentice."
The arcade gasped in unison. Discord moved to the centre of the arcade, everypony was watching his movements. They had heard tales of his powers, been told of the day he took over and how Fluttershy turned him good but to be in the presence of such a being, it was astonishing. Truth be told, Discord was loving every bit of the attention he was getting. He should have done this years ago.
"Really?" piped up a small blue unicorn.
Discord lent into the, now very nervous, pony. "Why yes," he smirked "perhaps she'll choose one of you. Who's to-"
Every part of Discord twitched, a massive spasm shook his body. Then, as suddenly as it came it vanished.
Bit Mash stepped forward. "Are you okay ?" she asked, becoming unfazed by the large, multi-species creature.
"Oh that happens sometimes." Discord smiled at her innocent face "It does mean however, something is off." None could have missed his twitching. "If I were you, I'd be quite careful around here. Something has made the world out of balance." Like the Cheshire cat, he began to dissolve into nothing. "Be careful not to trip." His laugh filled the arcade. Button Mash stood firm by his sister. The laughter faded and the being of chaos was no more, leaving the arcade silent. Only the arcade machines dared to make a sound. Button took one deep breath and readied himself for an adult decision.
"You ponies stay here and play, I'll be right back," He announced to the arcade. An adult decision; to go off and find the disturbance without telling a higher authority. Sounded about right.
"One more thing," Discord appeared on the Doom Mare 4 screen once more, shining on in its bleak demo run. "If you want to be Twilight's apprentice, I'd act fast if I were you." Discord smirked before vanishing again.
Button Mash shook off Discord's words and looked on to his sister.
"Listen Bit," he said. Bit stood at attention. "I need you to head the arcade while I'm gone." With a firm, if rushed, plan he was about to head out when Bit Mash bonked him on the nose. She gestured around the arcade. All of the ponies had gone, rushed off to try out for the apprenticeship. So much for the adult decision. Oh well, they never helped anyway. On to the practical thing to do. On to gathering friends to help. Button Mash gestured for Bit to follow him.
"Where are we going?" asked Bit.
"I'm gonna need help," Button replied, not really paying attention "I need a pony who will be wise and strong in my quest."
"Quest?"
"I'll need...an actor." Button declared.
He ran out the arcade, Bit Mash trying to keep up with. Button was going to find the cause of the disharmony and then bravely make up the rest as he went. He wouldn't be doing it alone though. Bit rolled her eyes. Sometimes she had to wonder who was really more mature.
Button stopped in his tracks. "I have a better plan." Button smirked
"You had a plan?" asked a very confused Bit Mash
"I'll go fetch Pip Squeak," he continued, unfazed. "I need you to find any pony that can help us find the imbalance and recruit them for the mission."
"I'm just going to go get some help?" Bit Mash yelled at the speck that was once her brother. With a hastily put together plan he was off. Leaving Bit Mash to find the rare ponies who did not go off to see the Princess before completely ignoring Button Mash's words and simply following him.
***
Ponyville Theatre
The place where ponies took on new lives and experiences, all in the name of entertainment. The theatre itself was fairly new to the town. It was made four years ago for a Nightmare Night special performance. Afterwards everypony decided to keep it around. It had its actors, its crew, its writers, all while being in the comfort of a small town. On that day only two ponies were in the theatre, practising for upcoming plays.
On centre stage was the spotted earth pony, Pip Squeak. The lights were on him. He looked out into the empty audience. Being on a stage had earned him his theatre mask cutie mark long ago.
"Tis I!" Pip Squeak bellowed "The great and powerful Tirek." The power in his voice drained away.
"Not very subtle is it?" he turned to his friend off stage. Dinky Doo was providing her usual support for him. Pip Squeak had known the grey unicorn since their days in school. She always walked with him to get home, despite the fact that her house was in the other direction.
She smiled sheepishly. "Maybe we can ask Play Wright to change it?"
"Where is she anyway?"
"Probably taking care of a few things."
It was at that moment fate decided to have a sense of timing, as Play Wright the purple pony pushed passed through the doors with a pow and passed out in the presence of her friends. It happened so quickly that neither Dinky nor Pip could react in time. What could you say to that? Did you bring a pillow? Dinky went to Play's side and levitated some of Pip's water over her head. Slowly she turned the glass so that the water lovingly poured onto her face but only enough to wake her.
After Play got to her hooves again she calmed herself down. She had the tendency to get very excited about stuff without thinking them through. This had earned her the cutie mark of a quill in the shape of an exclamation point. Dinky put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Once the unicorn's breathing was back to normal so gestured for the two to come closer. Dinky and Pip shared a quick glance before accepting the gesture.
"Princess Twilight is looking for somepony," Play Wright whispered, dramatics being a weakness of hers. "We need to get to her castle as soon as possible. The fate of Ponyville hangs in the balance."
Silence filled the grand theatre. The news sank in to the ponies' very souls. Their hearts skipped a beat as they thought about the weight of Play Wright's words. At least that was what Play Wright thought. In reality Pip and Dinky were just curious.
"Who told you this?" asked Dinky, trying not to sound like she was doubting Play.
"It's all over town. I'm surprised you two haven't heard about it already." she replied.
Before Pip could give his thoughts on this, two ponies ran through the hole that used to have the door in it.
Stood panicking, and stealing Play's spotlight, was Pip's friend Button Mash and sister Bit.
Play sighed. "I've already told them about the apprentice thing."
"Thing. In. Forest" Button said, breath barely being caught at this point.
Bit slowed her breathing down and approached Pip and the gang. Once again, she would have to do the talking.
***
Above Apple Aches
Having successfully told the CMC with only a little destruction caused, Scootaloo was on her way to actually talk to Twilight about it. Down on the ground, many ponies were still chatting about the apprentice scheme. Honestly at this point it seemed like everypony knew but hadn't actually managed to talk to Twilight about it. Logic had taken somewhat of a holiday. Timing had not though as a light grey stallion crashed into her. It took but a second for Scootaloo to compose herself. She recognised the stallion as Rumble. He looked distracted.
"Going somewhere Rumble?" She couldn't help but smile a little.
"Depends where Grey Fox is." Rumble focused on Scootaloo "He was suppose to be back from Manehattan today but he's nowhere to be see".
"Maybe he took a later train."
"No" Rumble quickly shook off that idea "He was flying back. Said it would be easier. Never did get that."
Scootaloo thought for a moment. If Grey Fox was going for the quickest route, and was running on low sense, then his journey would have took him past-
"You don't think he got lost around Everfree forest do you?" Rumble asked.
Scootaloo forgot about Twilight in that moment. She swiftly grabbed Rumble and flew across to the entrance of the forest. In a split second Rumble's face went from distracted to knowing exactly where Scootaloo was taking them both.
***
Outside Diamond Tiara’s Home
By this point, Diamond Tiara had made it home. While she had heard of the news, she couldn't care less. Her only goal at that point was to be alone with her thoughts for a while. A day of nostalgia for her and Silverspoon seemed like the best option to take.
“Diamond Tiara!” came a voice in the distance.
He was persistent, she had to give him that at least. Still, if she went inside her house, he would just keep knocking until she spoke to him. Best to get it over with so she could be left in peace for while.
“Thanks for waiting,” the stallion said, out of breath.
“Make it quick Snips,” Diamond sighed.
“Have you heard the news about Twilight’s-”
“-Yes,” Diamond snapped. “Did you come all the way here just to tell me that?”
Snips looked down at the ground. “I thought you could be her apprentice.”
A strange new aura turned the air cold and Diamond was just stood there, a million different sarcastic remarks running through her mind.
When Snips looked up and saw Diamond’s expression, a glare that would take down the most strong willed of Minotaurs met him.
“You don’t notice much do you?” said a new, sly voice.
The two ponies turned to see Discord floating nearby, popcorn in one claw and camera in the other. A small mouse was peering up at him, too scared to move.
Diamond Tiara and Snips whipped their heads around. They were at the entrance to Everfree forest. The trees made a row that almost beckoned them to enter. It beckoned them to challenge the creatures that were inside.
“What did you do?” asked Diamond.
Discord folded his arms. “Take a wild guess.”
“But why did you-”
Diamond Tiara’s approaching rant was interrupted by the gargled screech of whatever was now calling the forest its home. The mouse hurried away.
A wise mouse.
Before Snips and Diamond Tiara could follow it, they found themselves floating up towards Discord’s level.
“Let me explain.” He began.
