//------------------------------// // Chaos, Victorious? // Story: The Chronicle of The Hidden Key // by Blazewing Inferno //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Chaos, victorious? Blaze hears a distorted laughter and then a shattering sound. “That is never good news.”  Blaze thinks as he senses that another Toa-as this is how he sees Twilight and her friends-has fallen but, due to the nature of how they are falling this small gut feeling starts to turn into something akin to a headache.  A bunch of creepy balloons pop and the archway is open, revealing Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, also paled out similar to A.J.’s current state.   “Pinkie Pie!  Are we glad to see you.”  Twilight says as she rejoices in this reuniting; but Pinkie, irately responds: “Oh, you are, huh?  Why?! Need a good laugh!?”  Yelling at Twilight, again bewildered: “Pinkie?”  Pinkie passes A.J. and goes through the archway.   “What do you suppose has her so upset?  It’s not like her.” the now confused and worried Twilight asks Applejack whom responds with: “I didn’t notice anything strange about Pinkie!”  Which was followed with the guilty face and swiftly leaves back through the archway as Twilight stands even more confused.   “I am sensing a pattern here, Twilight.” says Blaze remembering something from back home in Metru Nui: “Their Unity can be poisoned, their Duty will be broken, their Destiny, I must shatter...Anger amongst them will threaten their precious Unity, Hunger will consume their Duty and Fear will keep them from their Destiny.” Blaze looks worried and hears Twilight leave, knowing that she’s worried and that she needs all the help she can get. As each friend is found, Blaze’s headache gets worse, as they found Rarity, The Element of Generosity, was filthy and thinking that a large boulder was a diamond and was being avaricious-greedy- and as he was helping to carry it around using a standard mask of strength, to avoid risking the anger of one consumed by greed.  They then find Fluttershy and Blaze realizes that the Element Bearers are exhibiting the opposite trait of their element and realizes that Fluttershy was Kindness; and its opposite was...cruelty, this wasn’t gonna end well.  Blaze suddenly hears Discord shouting and as the wall before the group drops Blaze tentatively steps up as he dares not set anyone off.  Twilight goes up to the now corrupted Fluttershy and is met with a rude “Oh, boo-hoo-hoo!”  Leaving Twi and Blaze shocked, “Why don’t you wave your magic little horn and make everything alright!?”  Before anyone can respond Fluttershy continues her bullying: “Oh that’s right; you can’t, you don’t have one.”  And as she turns, Twilight gets Fluttershy’s tail whipped at her face.         “What is happening to my friends?” Twilight asks as Fluttershy trips Pinkie and AJ laughs then quickly fibs again when snapped at.  Blaze and Twi help Rarity, who still has a boulder on her back, up.  They are thanked and before they can return it Rarity’s greed takes over again and she storms off.  Blaze’s headache has begun to affect him as he staggers around, Twilight helps him by firing a Levitation Kanoka disk at him after tying him to the rock so that the mare’s burden is lighter and he is anchored to the group.  They hear thunderclaps and Blaze starts to yell out in pain as only one Element remains uncorrupted: Twilight, the Element of Magic.  He faintly hears Twilight talking and takes comfort in the familiarity of this world and its virtues that it shares with those of his own; Unity, Duty, Destiny.  Blaze gets yanked down as Twilight drops the boulder and a lightning bolt hits him stunned and no longer levitating he drops like a dead weight next to the boulder causing him to switch to a Kiril Nuva-mask of regeneration, which helps him heal and be able to get up.  The maze crumbles and leaves them in a crater as Discord appears with an evil laugh saying “Well, well, well.  Somepony broke the ‘no wings; no magic rule’!”  Discord snaps his fingers and Blaze finds that his fire powers and wings return along with the wings and horns of the Element Bearers.   “Game’s Over, my little ponies!  You didn’t find your precious Elements!”  Discord gets in Twilight’s face and just as fast backs off to his previous spot, materializing an umbrella in his ‘lion paw’ and as he opens it, which makes it more of a bowl, with a meow sound originating from it; saying: “looks like we’re in for a big ol’ storm of Chaos!”  Discord laughs as thunder claps and Twilight’s jaw drops in disbelief as she feels that Discord cheated.