When I arrived, I found myself standing on four hooves, possessing the same body I was born with. It was a strange feeling, being a unicorn again: I’d become so used to being a human that the experience almost felt entirely alien. Either way, what mattered was that I was back in Equestria.
Now, where in Equestria I was, I didn’t know, but it was a start. I appeared to be on a dirt road in the middle of a large grassy plain. In the distance to the north I could see the Canterhorn mountain, but the real object of my interest lay in the town to the south of it, and the gleaming crystal castle that towered above it all. I was only about ten miles away from Ponyville, from the looks of it, and by my own estimate I would be able to reach there on hoof in about three and a half hours.
Walking along the road was a boring endeavor, but steady progress was better than no progress. Finally, well after what had to have been midnight, I arrived in Ponyville. There was not a single soul to be seen on the streets, and all but a scant few lights were left on in the windows. That said, I didn’t need much light to get a good look at Twilight’s Castle. It was... well, ‘gaudy’ was the first word that came to mind. Even at nighttime, when there was very little light reflected on it, it was almost sickeningly bright. The crystals were jarring and clashed heavily with the other buildings, not even coming close to matching the other colors of the town. And Twilight calls this display of utter tackiness her home?
Oh, good lord, I’m starting to turn into Rarity.
It was already late into the night, probably so late that it was already early morning. I could have just snuck into the castle right then and attacked while Twilight’s sleeping, but that would be far too unsatisfying. No, I wanted to take a moment to savor my revenge. I wanted to make it really hurt. That meant I had to be careful, I had to be methodical. An idea already began forming within my mind. I walked up to the massive crystal door, and loudly knocked, hoping that it would at least get someone’s attention.
After what felt like several minutes of knocking, the door creaked open. A very familiar-looking dragon stood behind it, his eyes only barely held open. Funny, a part of me actually expected him to start barking at the door.
“You’d better have a good reason for waking me—whoa! Sunset Shimmer!”
I’ll admit, seeing the look on his face when he recognized me was kind of hilarious. I managed to put on the best friendly smile I could muster. Something told me I’d be doing a lot of acting in the near future.
“Hi, Spike. Do you think I could talk to Twilight? It’s a long story, but I, uh, think I might be a planeswalker. I’m going to need her advice on a few things.”
Spike’s mouth moved silently, trying to process whatever response he’d come up with. His little brain probably couldn’t handle such a revelation this late at night, the poor thing. “Geez... I dunno, she’s definitely asleep right now, and I don’t think I’d want to wake her up. Why don’t you come in and stay the night? I’m sure Twilight would like to talk to you in the morning.”
Sleep was probably a good idea, actually. I was so determined to locate Twilight that I hadn’t even noticed how much my body was clamoring for rest. The longer I thought about sleep, the more I felt the painful aching in my muscles. Before long, my entire body was screaming at me to go lie down for the night.
“Yeah,” I managed to speak through a yawn, “now that you mention it, sleep sounds good right about now.”
Spike led me indoors, and before long I was dragging my hooves up the stairs, through the massive crystalline corridors and into one of the many guest rooms. It was a simple room with simple furnishings and a single bed, but it was certainly nicer than my old apartment in the human world. Granted, I was squatting there, so I couldn’t complain too much, but still.
I lay myself down on the bed, but not before casting a spell on myself to suppress rapid eye movement. I’d never met Princess Luna in person, but I wasn’t eager to have a dream she could waltz into, especially not if my subconscious mind decided to reveal my true intentions.
Before long, I found myself drifting into a deep, peaceful sleep.
————————
I was woken up to the sound of a gentle tapping on the door. My eyes pried open to find the morning sun gently pouring through the window. I was still groggy, but felt well-rested at the very least.
“Mmmgh... come in,” I managed to articulate.
The door slowly opened to reveal Starlight Glimmer, smiling eagerly as she entered. She looked absolutely overjoyed to see me, it almost made me feel bad that I was going to destroy her mentor. Almost.
“Sorry to bother you,” she said. “But when I heard you were back in Equestria, I had to see for myself. It’s so great to get a chance to see you again!”
“You too,” I mumbled, crawling out of my bed. I wasn’t much a morning pony, but I could fake it half-convincingly.
“Well, good thing you’re awake now, because you’re just in time! Spike says he made a special breakfast just for you.”
“Thanks,” I said. I briefly looked in the mirror to check my mane. It was a bit unkempt, but I could brush it later. A rumble from my stomach reminded me that food was my first priority.
As I followed Starlight down the stairs, a twinkle of curiosity appeared in her eye. “So, I heard you’re a planeswalker now?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “It’s a long story, but I ended up discovering it yesterday. I came here to see if I could travel back to Equestria without the Magic Mirror.”
“Seems like it worked out pretty well, didn’t it?” Starlight replied. “Oh, do you know what this means? It means you and I will have even more chances to see each other!”
That almost certainly wasn’t going to happen, but for the sake of maintaining my facade I decided to humor her. “Yeah, it’s... great. So where’s Twilight, anyway?”
“Oh, her?” said Starlight. “I’m pretty sure she’s in the library right now. She said she wanted to bring some notes in case you had any questions about planeswalking.”
Yeah, that sounded like Twilight, all right. “I just hope she doesn’t bring the entire library with her,” I joked.
Starlight let out a giggle. “I know, right?”
Before long, we’d made our way into the dining room. Four spaces had already been set out at the central table, with plates utensils, and a napkin before each of the four chairs. As I sat myself down, Spike entered with a massive plate of... bacon? That couldn’t be right. The table, thankfully, was low enough that he could set the plate down in the center without a problem.
“Ta-dah!” he proclaimed. “In commemoration of your return to Equestria, I prepared for you the most fitting breakfast I could think of! A plate of the world’s finest apple-smoked hay bacon, made just for you!”
Oh. That would explain it. Somehow I’d forgotten that ponies have hay-based substitutes for certain meats. You know, maybe I’ve been spending too much time as a human. “Thanks, Spike. It looks good.” I paused, as a sudden realization weighed down on me. “Hold on, bacon? Is this because of my mane?”
Spike laughed nervously. “W-well, yeah. It’s just your mane looks kind of like, uh... I just thought...”
Ugh, that little twerp. I tried to make sure my annoyance didn’t show on my face. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’s delicious. Thank you, Spike.”
“You’re welcome!” said Spike. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some cleaning up to do in the kitchen. Be sure to save some for me!”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as Spike left. I’ll admit, though, the hay bacon did look delicious. It probably wasn’t as good as real bacon, of course, but I wasn’t about to say it. As hilarious as it would be to see ponies’ reactions to me admitting I’d developed a taste for meat, I didn’t need that kind of attention right now. A teal aura surrounded a piece of hay bacon as I levitated it to my mouth. In a few very satisfying bites, it was gone.
As I finished the bacon strip, I noticed that Starlight Glimmer was staring at me strangely. In fact, she seemed downright perplexed. It... made me feel uneasy, for some reason. Why was she looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong? Does she suspect something?
“Um... what’s the matter?” I said.
“Oh!” Starlight blinked, as though my words had suddenly shaken her out of a trance. “Right! Sorry! I didn’t mean to stare. I just got confused for a second. For a moment I almost thought your magic was the wrong color. Crazy, huh?”
Suddenly, my entire body froze. I could feel my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. Memories were called to my mind, memories of a time when I was only a spectator to my own life.
It was the parasite. That damned parasite. When she first met Starlight Glimmer, her magic took a deep red color, a stark contrast the teal hue of my own aura. She might have sounded like me, she might have looked like me, but her magic couldn’t hide what she really was. An impostor in my own skin, forcing me to watch helplessly as my body did things outside of my control. I could vividly recall all the hours I spent screaming in horror, desperately crying out in the hopes that something would notice me and rescue me from the prison of my own mind.
And then the memories were pushed away by the sound of my own voice, coming from inside my head. It sobbed desperately, its every word wracked with sorrow.
I... I’m sorry! I’m not an impostor, I-I... I-I just wanted to live my life... I didn’t know...
Are you... are you pitying me, parasite? If so, I don’t want to hear it. Only now have you even begun to understand what you did to me. You can’t take that back now.
I quickly returned to the conversation in the real world, turning my attention back to Starlight Glimmer before she could notice I was withdrawing into my own thoughts. “My magic?”
Starlight shrugged. “Eh, I’m probably just misremembering things.”
A short yet heavy breath escaped my lips. I felt like I’d just barely dodged a bullet aimed straight for my heart. Thankfully, no other pony had seen the red magic aura coming from that thing piloting my body, so my real aura probably wouldn’t appear strange to them. Still, I might have to be more careful around Starlight. I may even have to limit the use of my own telekinesis. Everyone will probably just figure I’m more used to moving things with my actual limbs.
I’d eaten almost a dozen more strips of hay bacon by the time I’d decided I had my fill. There were many, many more left on the plate, and while they were quite good, I wasn’t really here for the food. No, my true interest lay elsewhere.
My ears swiveled as the door to the dining room opened, and I turned to face the mare I’d been waiting for. Twilight Sparkle, the so-called Princess of Friendship. The one who took the life that should have been mine. As pretty as she was, I could barely bring myself to look at her directly. It had taken all the willpower I could muster to maintain a friendly appearance. She’d get her comeuppance soon enough.
“Oh my gosh, Sunset! I’m so glad to see you!” She levitated several different books at once as she approached me.
With some effort, I was able to put on a fake smile. “You too. So, I take it you brought some notes along?”
A blush appeared on Twilight’s face. It was... honestly, it was kind of adorable. How could someone I hate so much be so cute? I swear I don’t even know what my feelings are doing sometimes.
“I, uh, wanted to make sure I had enough to cover the basics,” said Twilight. “Oh, this is so exciting! To think, you’d be a planeswalker, too! There’s so much I can show you now!”
“Maybe you should put down the books until after breakfast,” I suggested. “I don’t think you’d want to get bacon grease on them, would you?”
Twilight gave a slight giggle. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll go set these down. Be back in a moment!”
Still levitating the books in her telekinetic grasp, Twilight happily trotted out the door. I instinctively averted my eyes as she turned her backside to me.
As she left, I had a sneaking suspicion that I was blushing.
————————
Twilight and Spike shortly joined us for breakfast, and any strips of hay bacon that were left were quickly devoured by them both. I’d expected a dragon to have the most voracious appetite, but was utterly astonished to see Twilight practically vacuum down most of them. I guess it would make sense for alicorns to have an incredibly hyperactive metabolism, but it still came as a shock.
After our meal, I joined Twilight in the library, where she happily conversed about the basics of planeswalking. I wasn’t really paying attention to most of it, to be honest. Planeswalking didn’t matter to me. No, what mattered was getting her back for stealing the wings I deserved and ruining all of my plans. Anger bubbled up within my chest as she continued her dreadfully boring lesson. I didn’t like inhibiting myself, but I couldn’t show that rage to her. Not yet. She’d see the real me soon enough.
That said, there was one part of the lesson that I did take interest in, shortly after I described my first planeswalking experience on Lorwyn. I had to omit a few details, of course, and I was careful not to tell her the situation that caused my spark to ignite before that. I didn’t want to reveal too much about my situation, after all.
“Wait,” said Twilight, “you were still a human when you planeswalked?”
“Well, yeah,” I replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“The transformative magic that surrounds this plane is only temporary,” said Twilight. “As soon as you leave, you’ll revert to your default form. I’d figured it was the same way for Anthropia.”
“Maybe the magic surrounding Anthropia is stronger?” I suggested.
“That’s doubtful,” said Twilight. “The plane has so little natural mana that sustaining a world-spanning enchantment with a permanent effect would be nearly impossible. I think the real reason is that you were in Anthropia for such a long time.”
Yikes. I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. “What do you mean?”
“Well, normally a temporary transformative effect like the one surrounding Anthropia would only affect the body,” Twilight explained. “But if you spend long enough under its influence, that magic will begin seeping into the soul as well. Basically, you’ve spent so long being magically transformed into a human that your soul itself started becoming human as well. Until you can find a way to change your soul back to a pony’s, being a human is now your default state.”
Suddenly, it felt as though a weight was pressing down on my body. What Twilight had just told me was disturbing, to say the least. I never really stopped seeing myself as a unicorn on the inside, but apparently reality itself now disagreed with me on that. Then again, I did start to notice after a while that I used human phrases and mannerisms much more easily than I did before. I don’t think I’ve even thought the word ‘everypony’ since I came back to Equestria.
Twilight seemed to notice the discomfort that was plainly written on my face. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry, Sunset. I didn’t think about how uncomfortable the idea of being permanently human must have made you.”
“There’s no need to apologize, Twilight.” Really, there wasn’t. The absolute last thing I wanted was anyone’s pity, much less hers.
“If you say so,” said Twilight. “Just let me know if I say anything else that makes you uncomfortable, alright?”
“Yeah, sure,” I mumbled. A thought suddenly popped up, one that nearly made my hair stand on end. “Wait, you haven’t told Princess Celestia that I’m here, have you?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell her if you don’t want me to,’ Twilight reassured. “I know you’ve had a difficult history with her, and I wouldn’t force you to see her again before you’re ready.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Well, thanks for that, I guess.”
A noise came from the library door as it pushed itself open. Not one second later, Starlight Glimmer came rushing in, eyes wide. “Twilight, I think something’s wrong with the Magic Mirror! I went to check on, and it’s gone completely dark! It won’t even show my reflection!”
“What!?” Twilight exclaimed.
My body went cold. Shit. This isn’t good. This is really, really, not good. If she finds out the other side of the portal was gone, she could start to suspect something was up. I had to come up with an excuse, an alibi, something.
“W-wait!” I blurted out. My outcry immediately drew everyone else’s attention. “I, uh... might have had something to do with that, actually.”
Twilight turned to me, the glare in her eyes making it clear that, whatever I was going to say, she wasn’t going to like it. Isn’t it just like her to be judgmental? God, I hate her so much. “Sunset, what did you do?”
“Um, well... You remember how you said to me that if magic continued to leak through the Mirror, it could have a profound and potentially negative effect on Anthropia?”
“Yes, I do,” said Twilight. “But I don’t see what that has to do with—” She stopped her sentence in its tracks, and her eyes went wide with epiphany. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me...”
“I destroyed the portal on the other end,” I admitted. It was probably not the best lie to tell, but it was all I could come up with. “I figured I wouldn’t need it anymore now. Right?”
Both of the other ponies immediately cried out in unison. “You what!?”
“Hey, don’t look at me like that!” I shot back. “We already know people in Anthropia are getting magic that they shouldn’t thanks to it leaking through the Mirror. I was almost trapped in a pocket dimension for all eternity, for crying out loud!”
Twilight’s teeth gritted, and a loud groan escaped her throat. “Sunset! That’s... ugh! I still had a ton of research to do on the Mirror! I can’t believe you’d do something like that!”
Starlight’s ears folded back against her head. Her eyes wobbled, as though she were on the verge of tears. “I... I was planning on taking Trixie to the human world someday. I guess I’ll never get a chance now...” She glumly stepped away and retreated into the hallway.
It took all the effort I could muster not to gag at the sentimentality. Trust me, you two will have a lot more to be worrying about than the Mirror. Either way, I had to think of a way to defuse the situation. If Twilight kept getting angry at me, it was only a matter of time before my guise crumbled and I exploded at her with all the spite I could muster. I couldn’t afford to be so reckless. Thankfully, I already had a plan.
“You know,” I said, “you’re pretty cute when you’re angry.”
Any remaining anger on Twilight’s face vanished. Her entire face stared back in blank surprise, looking as though she’d just been slapped. “I... thanks?” was all she could bring herself to utter.
For once, what I’d said wasn’t a lie. Twilight really was the cutest mare I’d ever laid eyes upon. If I didn’t so thoroughly despise her, I might have asked her on a date. For now, I’d settle on relishing the absolutely priceless look on her face.
A sly grin crept its way across my muzzle. “You’re welcome. You know, I’ve been eager to meet some of your friends here. Why don’t you introduce me to them?”
Twilight’s eyes darted about the room, as though looking for the first excuse to escape the awkward situation. “Um... yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”
————————
As we walked into the town, it suddenly occurred just how large Ponyville really was. Sure, it wasn’t exactly a small town by any means, but the streets were so packed with different ponies going about their everyday lives that it was virtually unrecognizable from the empty streets in the middle of the night. I had to wonder if there were this many ponies living here before Twilight’s castle appeared; I’d imagine houses within view of the castle would be prime real estate, as ugly as the castle was.
“Rarity’s boutique is the closest from here, so we’ll visit her first,” said Twilight, trotting alongside me. “Although, if I know Pinkie Pie, she’ll probably find us both before we get there.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Pinkie, alright,” I said. “Her human counterpart always did seem to know whenever someone new was at school.”
“Ohmigosh! Sunset, you’re here!”
“Gah!” I jumped back as a pony-shaped blob of pink appeared just before my eyes, seemingly out of nowhere. Pony or human, Pinkie always managed to be predictably unpredictable, as contradictory as that sounds. “Hi, Pinkie.”
“It’s so great to see you!” said Pinkie. “I mean, you’ve probably seen me a whole bunch, but then again it wasn’t really me me, but now that you’re here we can have so much fun together!”
“Let me guess,” I said, “you want to throw me a party?”
Pinkie nodded so rapidly that I swear I could hear her brain rattling around in her skull. “Yup! Although...” She paused, a pulled out a notepad from... from... well, from somewhere. A small crease appeared on her brow as she squinted at whatever was written down on it. “Now that I think about it, it looks like I’m going to be busy with catering and other party planning services for the rest of the week. I’m really, really sorry, but do you think you could wait until this Saturday?”
Saturday, huh? Today was Monday, so that would give me plenty of time. “Sure thing,” I said. “I was planning on staying here for a while, anyway.”
Twilight gave me a disapproving look. “Don’t you have school to attend?”
I let out a small laugh. “Twilight, I’m not even technically a real student at Canterlot High. All of my legal documentation is forged, everyone else just sort of went along with it. Trust me, I’ll be fine.”
Twilight shook her head. “I just hope your education doesn’t suffer because of this...”
“I’ll be fine, Twilight,” I repeated. “And I’ll be looking forward to this party of yours, Pinkie.”
“Don’t you worry! I’ll be sure to make it the best party you’ve ever had! I’ll see you then!” Pinkie cheerfully hopped away, bouncing with a noise that almost made her sound like a spring.
Though I didn’t say anything out loud, inwardly I let out a groan. This Pinkie seemed to be even more capable of doing unexplainable things than her counterpart, and that could be difficult to deal with if I wasn’t careful. More and more I was feeling like I was in over my head. But I wouldn’t give up. I would either have my revenge or die trying.
Twilight led me closer and closer to what I presumed was the location of Rarity’s boutique. As we walked, she was greeted by the friendly faces of numerous ponies, all of whom seemed eager to say hello. Everyone loved her, it seemed. Everyone adored her for being a princess, for becoming the one thing that I’d always wanted to be. I seethed silently with every step, each passing wave and hello rubbing more salt into a wound that had never had the chance to heal. Throughout it all, I was only made more determined to get back at Twilight. I would destroy her. I would end her.
I was so caught up in my own well of rage that I almost didn’t notice when a pegasus loudly crashed into the ground directly in front of us. A grey mare with a yellow mane and a collection of bubbles for her cutie mark, carrying a satchel that looked to be full of letters. Just what kind of post office would hire a mailpony that crashes like that?
As she stood to her feet, the mailpony looked at me with a pair of eyes that refused to stay pointed in the same direction. I had the strange feeling I’d seen her counterpart before, but I couldn’t recall where. Probably one of those unimportant humans that was just kind of there in the background.
“Oh, hello Ditzy,” said Twilight. “How’s everything going?”
Ditzy shook her head vigorously, and her eyes became slightly more steady, though still not entirely straight. “Pretty good, thanks. I was just on my usual delivery route.” She turned to look at me. “So, who’s your friend?”
“Oh, that’s right!” said Twilight. “You probably don’t know her, do you? This is Sunset Shimmer. Sunset, meet Ditzy Doo.”
“Nice to meet you, Sunset,” said Ditzy.
“You too,” I said, offering a hoof. She grabbed it and gave me a hoofshake so powerful that it very nearly tore my leg off. For such an obvious klutz, Ditzy was impressively strong.
“Actually, now that you’re here, there’s something I was wondering about,” said Twilight. “Sunset’s from Equestria, but she’s also a planeswalker like me. Do you know where Time Turner is, by any chance?”
“Doctor Time Turner,” Ditzy insisted. She paused, and a frown crossed her face. “Wait, did I really just say that? Shoot, now he’s even got me doing it! Anyway, I don’t know where the Doctor is. He said he’ll be gone until Saturday. Something about a field trip in another time stream.”
Twilight and I turned towards each other. I was relieved to see that she was just as confused by that statement as I was. “Time stream?” said Twilight. “You mean like an alternate timeline?”
“I wouldn’t know,” said Ditzy. “And honestly, at this point I’ve learned it’s better not to ask. Anyway, I should really be going. I have a lot of mail to deliver.” A few wingbeats, and she took to the sky, waving back even as she wobbled slightly in the air. “Bye, Twilight!”
“See you later, Ditzy!” Twilight called back. “Well shoot, I was hoping I’d be able to introduce you to Time Turner. He could tell you so many things about planeswalking that I couldn’t.”
I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that statement. “He’s a planeswalker, too?”
Twilight beamed. “That’s right! He’s been doing it for a lot longer than I have. In fact, he’s just about as old as Princess Celestia herself! Just think of what you could learn from him!”
Just as old as— No, that couldn’t be right. Princess Celestia was more than twelve hundred years old. Assuming there wasn’t another alicorn I hadn’t heard about, there’s no way he could be that old. Unless...
...unless this ‘Time Turner’ was someone far more powerful than I could hope to be on my own. Judging by his name, he was likely a chronomancer, and that by itself was a bad sign. Chronomancy was the single most advanced and dangerous form of magic known to equinity, and someone skilled enough at chronomancy to specialize in it could stomp me into paste before I even had a chance to move. A tingle of panic began to run down my spine. I only had until the end of the week before he returned. If I was going to pull off my revenge scheme, I had to work quickly.
But if there was one thing that was absolute certain in my mind, it was that revenge was coming. One way or another, I’d get what I came here for.
————————
I’d spent the next two days scouting, trying to get to know Twilight’s friends better so I could understand their weaknesses. I’d told Twilight I wanted to spend some time ‘getting to know her friends,’ which in a way was true. I’d spent time trying out clothes with Rarity, watched Rainbow Dash practicing with the Wonderbolts, volunteered at Fluttershy’s animal sanctuary, and even had dinner with Applejack’s family on Tuesday evening. Wednesday was mostly spent in Twilight’s castle, but I did offer to help out Pinkie in Sugarcube Corner. I’d hoped spending time watching her bake would help me understand exactly how she managed to do so many strange things, but I’d come out of it knowing no more about her than I did before. Oh, well, it was worth a shot. Thursday, however, was the day I’d been waiting for. That was the day that Fluttershy had scheduled a tea party with Discord, which I’d offered to join.
Now, Discord... Discord was something else. Twilight had told me of all of her adventures through the journal, and Discord was easily the one being I was most afraid of. While likely not omnipotent, his magical powers seemed to have limits above and beyond anything that any pony could hope to accomplish. He could undo all of my plans with just a snap of his fingers. That’s why I’d quickly decided that I needed to take him out of the picture first.
When Thursday evening came around, I’d found myself sitting at Fluttershy’s dining room table. Her cottage was the very definition of ‘cozy,’ possibly the single most picturesque house I’d ever seen in my life. Its interior looked like something you would see out of an especially sappy greeting card. Fluttershy hummed gently to herself as she poured tea out of a pastel-colored teapot, into three matching soft pink teacups, before passing them out to each of us. Sitting on a plate in the center of the table were an assortment of bite-sized sandwiches, cut diagonally with the crusts carefully removed.
I held onto the teacup with a hoof and gently sipped from it. The tea was so weak that it barely tasted any different from boiled water, but I tried to hide my distaste. Discord, meanwhile, levitated the out of his cup as a glob of floating liquid. The tea separated itself into thin horizontal slices, and Discord grabbed onto one and popped it into his mouth. The way the tea-slice crunched as he chewed on it made it sound like he was eating a potato chip.
“It’s so nice of you to join us for tea, Sunset,” said Fluttershy, gently holding her own cup. She sipped her tea gently, so gently that it didn’t look like she was drinking any of it at all.
“It’s no problem at all,” I replied. “I’ve always wanted to meet Discord, myself.”
Discord popped another tea-chip into his mouth. This time, it made a sound like a miniature thunderclap as he chewed, sending small sparks of static between his teeth. “It certainly is a rare pleasure to meet someone from the world beyond the Magic Mirror,” said Discord. “I don’t think I’ve ever visited before, now that I mention it. Perhaps I’ll pop over and say hello sometime.”
A loud cough escaped my throat. The mere thought of Discord showing up at school very nearly made me spit out my drink. “That, uh... won’t be necessary. Trust me.”
Discord shrugged. “Well, if you insist. But if you ever want to make things a little bit more interesting, you know who to call.” The sunlight glinted off his teeth as he shot me a snaggletoothed grin.
“Don’t count on it,” I replied. Once I was done with him it wouldn’t matter. “Anyway, Fluttershy, do you have a bathroom I could use?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. It’s just up the stairs, and to the left.”
“Thank you, Fluttershy,” I said. I made my way to the door at the edge of the dining room and turned the corner. I wasn’t planning on going to the bathroom, obviously. I watched from just around the corner, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Sure enough, that opportunity came.
It didn’t take long for Discord to break out into one of his usual antics. With a snap of his fingers, a drawer opened and set of silverware jumped out, dancing around the table by the handles. Fluttershy giggled as they did their little routine, and then gave a little bow.
That was when I decided to make my move. A subtle touch of magic from my horn. A sudden motion as one of the butter knives flew outward. A painful shriek, and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Discord desperately calling out the name of his best friend.
I turned around the corner, pretending to be surprised by the sudden noise. “What’s going on!?” I shouted.
There, just before me, was the scene I had created. Fluttershy lay unconscious on the floor, her chest bleeding from the butterknife embedded in it. Discord was sobbing his eyes out, barely able to keep his composure enough to stand.
“Sunset!” he called out. “Sunset, oh, thank goodness you’re here! Fluttershy’s life is in danger!”
My mouth hung open, the best impression of shock and horror that I could put on. “Discord... what did you do?”
“Wh-wha... I-I didn’t do anything, I swear! I was just putting on a dancing silverware show, and one of the knives just—”
My eyes narrowed, and I glared at Discord so fiercely that he visibly flinched. “Discord. What. Did. You. Do?”
“I...” Discord let out an audible gulp. “I... I don’t know... I just...”
I gritted my teeth and stepped closer, never once letting my eyes off him. It was the perfect image of righteous anger. Not the kind of anger I really felt, but certainly the kind I wanted to show. “Your magic is based on chaos, correct?”
Discord seemed to shrink as I approached. He might have literally been shrinking, but I didn’t care. “I... yes, of course.”
“And can you control chaos?”
“W-well, no,” Discord admitted. “I just sort of... push it in the right direction, I suppose. B-but I never wanted—”
I pointed an accusatory hoof straight at Discord’s chest. “But it doesn’t matter what you want if you don’t control the outcome, does it? Does it? This entire time, you’ve been playing with fire! You’ve been harnessing a power far beyond your control, hoping it wouldn’t backfire and hurt someone you care about!”
“B-but...”
“But it was only a matter of time before it did backfire,” I hissed. “Fluttershy’s life is in mortal danger, and it’s all because you were toying around with the forces of chaos! Is that all this is to you? Do you think this is all just some sort of game?”
“W-well, no, but—”
“Just admit it!” I shouted back. “Your magic is a danger to her, and to everyone else! Maybe this whole world would be better off if you just... just disappeared!”
Discord suddenly went silent. He closed his eyes tightly as he turned his head toward the ground, a single tear falling from his eye. A single sentence made its way out of his mouth, spoken barely above a whisper.
“...You’re right.”
A change occurred in Discord’s body. Subtle at first, but increasingly noticeable. It became translucent, more and more of the ambient light passing through him. Then it turned fully transparent. Then, it was barely visible at all.
And then, Discord had disappeared completely. He was gone, just as I had planned.
I approached Fluttershy’s body and placed a hoof on her foreleg. Her pulse was steady, despite her injury. That was good. If she were actually in danger of dying, that would ruin my plan before it even started.
I then walked into Fluttershy’s living room, and my eyes drifted towards the telephone. It was a primitive thing, a wall-mounted rotary phone that would have been seventy-five years out of date by Anthropia’s standards. I quickly picked it up and dialed the emergency number.
“H-hello? Can I get an ambulance?”
————————
Discord’s Defeat 1R
Sorcery
Choose target nonenchantment permanent you control and target nonenchantment permanent you don’t control. If the permanent you don’t control is a creature named Discord, Spirit of Chaos, destroy it. Otherwise, destroy one of them at random.
“You’d think chaos incarnate wouldn’t be so predictable.”
— Sunset the Exiled