Dear Twilight,
HELP!!!!!
Okay, calm again. As calm as I can be considering MY BEST FRIEND WHO DIED ABOUT A MONTH AGO IS RIGHT HERE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO FUCKING DO!
I know you couldn't spare the princesses or the elements in case some weird magical shit or Tirek came through your side... BUT WHAT DO I DO!? SHE'S NOT GOING AWAY!
"You sure she's even going to be able to read that? Your writing looks like shit."
Jackie let out a very high pitched scream when she turned and saw Poppy looking right over her shoulder. "Don't do that! I'm really freaking out right now Poppy!"
"Yeah, I can see that." deadpanned the mechanic, stuffing her hands into her jeans pockets "You need another ten minutes to calm down or what?"
"Maybe! I mean, what? Are you a zombie? A ghost? WHAT?!" said Jackie, nearly fumbling the journal off the side of the floating path but managing to catch it at the last second. The guitarist was wide-eyed and still pretty pale looking as she gazed upon Poppy. She looked exactly as she did the day she died, even down to the bullet holes- oh fuck her stomach was churning again.
Shaking her head, Poppy walked over and started rubbing Jackie's back as the blue haired woman was doubled over, beginning to dry heave. "Jacks, take a pill. I could be either of those. Or it could just be some weird magic shit." she waited a beat before smirking and continuing "Or I could just be a magical conjuration of your mind as you go insane. Or some sort of magical being ready to drop the facade and pounce. Take your pick."
"Thanks Poppy..."
Giving Jackie a pat on the back, Poppy placed her hands on Jackie's shoulders and Jackie soon stood up straight.
"Okay so if you're supposed to be a figment, how'd you do that?" questioned Jackie, looking confused.
"Could be you just did it on your own but had imaginary me do that. Either way we're going to be here forever if you keep fucking questioning everything. Come on, we're going on a walk." said Poppy, motioning to the floating path that seemed to go on forever, far beyond in the horizon. .... Did this place actually have a horizon line?
Before Jackie could dwell on it, she took a step forward, then another and another as Poppy fell into step next to her. They were silent for minutes as they kept walking, Poppy as cool and neutral as Jackie remembered her being in real life while Jackie felt her stomach tying into a variety of knots.
"... it wasn't your fault you know." Poppy finally said.
"Is that you really saying that? Or is that my mind just saying that?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. I mean..." said Jackie, rubbing her forehead and looking upset "You got in front of me to save my ass. It was my fault..."
"So my choice to push you and get in the way of those bullets was totally your doing." deadpanned Poppy, raising a brow as Jackie scowled "I had no free will. I heard your command in my mind telling me to risk my life for yours. Your previously undiscovered power of mind control is-"
"I get it!" snapped Jackie, scowling as she crossed her arms, looking even more frustrated "But still... I dunno it just... it feels like that shouldn't of happened... I feel like such a dumbass."
"Believe it or not, for once that's not the case." snarked Poppy. "Jacks, we all just reacted. We had no idea that he had a gun and even then we might've figured we could take one guy. I mean after Chrysalis and Sunset coming back, didn't you get this feeling we could just do anything?"
"... maybe." admitted Jackie, scratching the side of her neck.
"Right. So stop being a dumbass about this and start getting over it. You need to pull yourself together because the situation in here right now is serious. Can you do that?" asked Poppy, coming to a stop and letting Jackie walk ahead of her.
"Yeah... yeah I think I can." said Jackie, continuing on for a few steps more.
"Good. Then take care of yourself Jacks... I'll miss you."
That made Jackie stop dead. She knew Poppy wasn't one to get too sentimental so she turned quickly... and found that the mechanic was gone. She sniffed for a moment and rubbed her eyes before stuffing her hands into her pockets and continuing on. She still felt bad, and not just because she'd gone on the mother of all benders recently. Bad... but not horrible like she had been feeling.
She'd keep walking for what felt like hours, having no idea where she was going since everything looked the damn same way. There was no sign of anyone and Jackie was starting to feel very much alone. She didn't feel hungry but at this point she just wanted to eat to have something to do. She pulled her pack off and started rifling through it "Apples... cupcakes... carrots... I wish I had the guys back home pack, least Tino would've given me some meat burritos or something..." she mumbled, looking around until finally she found something that looked good "Ooo, a fritter!" Pulling out the fried sweet treat, she was just about to take a bite when she noticed something.
She wasn't on just a path in a floating voice. Now she was surrounded by... well, weird shit. Flowers with mouths, the rocks were colors from all over the rainbow, melting guitars on bare trees, and weird as fuck looking animals with the features of humans or objects. "... am I high or insane?" mumbled Jackie, finally taking a bite of a fritter as she slowly started to make her way through this new landscape.
"Most assuredly not high. But insane?"
Jackie paused and slowly looked over to her right, eye to eye with a pair of red eyes with yellow sclera instead of white.
"Well... I think that's out for the jury!" said the bearded goat head that was attache to her shoulder.
"...." and understandably she screamed.
That was enough to make the head disappear in a flash of magic before the long bodied being appeared before her, an eagle claw digging at one of his long ears. "Really now my dear! Was that hardly necessary?"
"Well excuse me for being on edge!" snapped Jackie, taking a few deep breaths to calm down while the draconequus patiently waited. "Okay... who the hell are you? And why do you kind of look like the CHS Janitor?"
"Really? A janitor in your world?" he said, looking mildly insulted before thoughtful "Well, janitors do hold the most power in any universe... but anyways that is neither here nor there. My name is Discord my dear and I'm here to help you navigate this place to find your girlfriend and save the worlds!"
".... okay." said Jackie, seeming much more calm now that she knew who he was. "How're you gonna do that?"
"Well, this place is quite hard to navigate on your own, especially without magic! Even with magic honestly." mused Discord, pushing aside a fish that was floating by like a balloon with his lion paw. "I can't say I've ever tried to see the place between worlds. It's quite a dangerous place for a variety of reasons."
"Why? It's just a weird ass place." said Jackie, starting to continue walking while Discord floated next to her.
"Well yes and no." said Discord, stroking his goatee as they passed by a tree that had a bunch of puppy heads yapping away on it's branches. "Think of it as a wall. It's made of things to keep two sides separate. The wall has a solid foundation, bricks and mortar, it's got multiple kinds of magic to keep it all together and in place, with the odd wear and tear that allows some things to seep through to each room. All crafted by a master craftsman."
"... you talking about god now?" asked Jackie with a raised eyebrow.
"Bingo!" said Discord with a grin "Although I hear it depends on which universe you ask." he mused before seeing the still confused look on her face. "There's a variety of universes out there, Miss Vibrato. A multiverse if you will. It's not all one neighborhood, it's more like a country if you will. And although they go by the same idea of being a god, there's a different mayor of each town, with county lines that are blurred, more so in some places than others. And some with more than one mayor."
"Okay... so like, what's that got to do with this place?"
"The point being, the mayor in charge of this town has a bigger badge than mine. I can get us through here faster through teleportation but... I'm not even sure what I can actually have an effect on in here. I can move us about more quickly, that much I know." said Discord.
"Can you teleport us out of here?"
"Mmm, that's up in the air. It's easy to get in, hard to find the way back out, near impossible to punch a way out without preparation and things aligning just right. So the sure fire lifeline out is that journal you have in your possession."
"So you may or may not be a big help and you're fucked without the journal too." sighed Jackie, shaking her head.
"Only in terms of dealing with this place directly. As far as your human Tirek goes I'm sure that can be easily dealt with." said Discord with a toothy grin.
"Cool. So we gonna start teleporting then?" asked Jackie, hoping to get this done sooner rather than later.
"Of course!" said Discord, grasping her arm with the lion paw before his eagle claw gave a snap.
"Freezing!" yelped Jackie, finding herself knee deep in snow in the middle of a blizzard.
"Hmm..." said Discord, eyes extending into a pair of binoculars to look around. "Nope." Then another snap.
"EW!" squealed Jackie, not even wanting to look down at to what she was knee deep in now.
"Nada."
".... more rocks." deadpanned Jackie, finding that instead of just a rocky path, this looked more elaborate, with some floating caves, and a dead garden, along with some statues that had some wear and tear.
"Hmm... looks like a place she used to hang around." mused Discord.
"She?" asked Jackie, confused again but following after Discord as he floated forward.
"Well the crafter of this slice of the multiverse needed something aesthetically pleasing after all, amongst all the raw magic." said Discord, poking at the statue of a rather pretty looking woman, dressed in robes of sorts.
"Yeah but... god's a she?" asked Jackie, looking amused as she wandered aways off to look at a withered willow tree.
"Oh in this neighborhood absolutely!" said Discord with a toothy grin "I've never seen her myself but I believe I heard her voice once."
"Riiiight." said Jackie, not discounting the possibility but finding Discord a dubious witness at best. Then she noticed something up ahead, something that looked akin to a pillar of light "And what the hell is that?"
"That my dear would be mortar! You see-" Discord was then cut off by a blast of black tinted aura blasting through his chest, causing him to burst into a million little gooshy pieces across the ground.
"OH JESUS FUCK!" said Jackie, feeling her stomach churn violently at the sight before looking up to see the culprit. "T-Tirek...?" she managed to get out.
The man looked like hell, his clothes torn and burned away to reveal burned red flesh beneath, the gemstones hanging around his neck, covered in a black light. He looked dirty and half crazed as his yellow eyes narrowed "You... I know you. The girl from the forest..." he growled out, stalking towards her. His hands were covered in a dark aura and ready to fire more destructive magic "Your friend got in the way. But this time..."
Jackie's knees were knocking as he raised his hand. She shut her eyes tight, figuring this was it!
"JACKIE! GET DOWN!"
Suddenly she was tackled down onto her stomach, something on top of her, covering she heard a blast go right over her head before the thing on top of her fired back, making Tirek cry out in pain. Before she knew what was happening, there was a flash and a bang, her eyes opening to see they were in a cave... probably one of the ones around the area.
"Jackie, what the hell are you doing here?!"
"Sunshine?" she mumbled out, quickly turning around and coming face to snout with Sunset Shimmer. In pony form. She had her own gem tied around her neck and the unicorn looked mighty pissed, tired with some fur and hair singed. "I... I came to get you back."
"Well you shouldn't have!" said Sunset, getting off of her girlfriend and moving a way, running a hoof over her mane. "Jackie, there's no way out Jackie and it's fucking dangerous!"
"Hey, Twilight figured out a way! I got your journal so if we just use it we can get out." protested Jackie, moving to sit up now, it kinda annoyed since she had expected Sunset to be a bit happier to see her.
"Great, but now you're going to get yourself killed because Tirek is off his rocker. He's been going on about finding a way out and using the magic here. I've kept following him and fighting him to try and take him down."
"Well... I'm sure we can figure out something." said Jackie, shrugging off the pack on her back.
"No, you're going to stay here and let me deal with this."
"I can help!"
"Haven't you been listening? Didn't you see him almost blow you up!? Jackie, just listen to me and-"
"No way! I want to help! I'm here for you Sunshine-"
"Like you were there for me when you up and disappeared a couple days ago?!" snapped Sunset, the fatigue having worn on her as she shot a sharp look to Jackie. The gaze immediately softened seeing Jackie wilt under her gaze, looking very low. ".... I'm sorry." she said, moving over and placing a hand on Jackie's knee. "I'm just... I'm tired Jacks. I've been going non-stop against Tirek and navigating this crazy place. And after what Poppy's mom said to you at the funeral..."
"It's fine..." said Jackie, not sounding fine despite her best efforts.
Grimacing at that, Sunset rubbed her forehead before glancing over to the mouth of the cave. She felt terrible for kicking her girlfriend when she was down, but she had to put a stop to Tirek. "... stay here Jacks. I'll be back, okay?" said Sunset, nuzzling the guitarist's cheek before turning and galloping out. She spotted Tirek heading for the pillar of light and gave chase, horn glowing with magic before she fired off another blast.
Tirek was hit square in the back, the man tumbling forward but his lashed out with a backhanded swing, firing off a wave of black colored magic that forced Sunset to put up a shield. It seemed the raw power Tirek put in wouldn't hold though, not when the unicorn was so tired. The shield cracked and broke, tossing the pony to the ground as she struggled to stand.
"DIE!" shouted Tirek, firing with both hands a large blast of magic at Sunset, coming on fast and it was too late to teleport.
Then... she was surrounded by a bubble? The magic hit it and she was send bouncing away by the blast. "What the-?"
"Ooo not bad, not bad at all for a human!" cackled Discord, the gooey bits of himself turning into mini-Discords that ran up into a formation, causing Tirek's eyes to bulge out at the sight. "Charge!" said the lead Discord, dressed in a general's outfit as the mini-Discords gave a cheer and flew forward. The human tried blasting at them but there were too many to catch, and any he did blast either teleported or put up a shield. So Tirek decided to just book it for the pillar of light, Sunset rolling along, still in the bubble like a hamster as she kept up with the show.
"Discord? Discord! You gonna keep him away from that pillar of light?!" called Sunset, looking increasingly frazzled as the mini-Discords caught up to the human, crawling all over, claws digging into skin, hair being pulled, some even tried to dig into Tirek's ears and his eyes. Tirek was shouting angrily and showed off something new, he created a blast of magic that originated from him, flinging the mini-Discords off of his body. Discord was on the ground, the mini-Discords forming back up together as the human Tirek got on top of him, one hand at his neck, burning it with magic and another raised, ready to blast. Sunset had been hit as well, bouncing back in the bubble...
Up until it hit something solid that sounded like a certain guitarist "Oof!"
"Jackie?!" said Sunset, looking through the bubble to the human beneath her "I told you to stay in the cave!"
"Yeah but-!"
"ARGH!"
They both looked up to see Discord clutching at his face and stumbling back, blood seeping through his fingers with blood glinting off of Discord's talons. "Barbaric... but more than enough for a human." sneered the god of chaos, his toothy smirk predatory in nature until he saw where Tirek was stumbling back to. "Uh oh..."
"GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Tirek when he came into contact with the pillar of light, his back seeming glued to it as his dark aura flared up, weak at first but it seemed to start infecting the pure white light as the gems around his neck glowed all the more brighter.
"Get him off of that!" said Discord, the bubble he put up around Sunset disappearing, allowing the unicorn to charge forward with Discord. However, Tirek raised both hands and his magic shot out in the blink of an eye and captured them in a magical hold.
A terrible smirk came to his face as a magical flux traveled through the beam that connected his hands to them, sending a shock of pain that made them both cry out for a start, but then increased to screams as he turned up the power.
Meanwhile in the human world Los Pegasus, there came a shock wave through the city, setting off car alarms and making everyone think that they'd suffered one hell of an earthquake. Up until they looked towards Grand Park.
"Holy-!" said Dash, having gone to the roof of Jackie's apartment building with all of the others. A dark, shadowy figure was starting to fade into the world, growing larger, more sinister, with red eyes.
"... is that a centaur?" asked Bobby.
"... fuck." said Tino.