//------------------------------// // Day Zero // Story: The Game of Seven // by Doctor Umbrae //------------------------------// Hey everypony! glad to have you here! This is a story that me and my friend Drstupid962 put together a while ago. We would both be grateful if you would review it and tell us what you thought. We’re very open to any comments (negative and positive) and would greatly appreciate any review. ~Thanks in advance   Before “Come on Lux…” the draconequus whispered into the ear of a pony that was blindfolded.                      “W-why?” rang a small voice. The whimper came from a grey unicorn. His legs were fastened together with a tan belt that was wrapped around his body. His legs were broken in more than one place and he was pushed further in to the ground by the strange creature’s foot which was the talon of an eagle. The blindfold that was damp with nervous sweat, stuck onto him as tears fell from his eyes.                     “Admit your pain, relinquish it, and give up on these other ponies! They don’t care about you! They left you here with me! Don’t you think they would have brought you with them, if they cared even the slightest bit?” His talon stomped the grey pony further in to the dirt.                      “Let me go… Discord, go away, please,” Lux whimpered as he attempted to push the draconequus off him to no avail.                      “Maybe I will, but how about another game first?” Discord cackled as he stepped off the grey pegasus.                      “No… please anything but that!” Lux cried out as his legs refused to pick him up.                      “Another game… another seven days.” Discord whistled as his steps started to hit the ground melodically. “And I know the perfect six ponies to be your partners this go around.” Lux could almost imagine the smile etched on his face.  “Let chaos reign! Oh yeah! Let it reign!” Discord laughed as he walked away.                      Lux tried to fight it. He cringed in pain as a light flooded his vision.  No I can’t let it happened again!  His thoughts continued to yell at him to pull through, but before he knew it everything was gone. Everything but his name, and the only way to get it back? Win the game.   Day 0            “I’m telling you, Twilight, my senses are just going crazy!” Pinkie’s cotton candy hair bobbed up and down excitedly as she talked to her friend.                      “Pinkie calm down! What could be that bad?” Twilight was staring at her twitching friend with concern. Twilight's gaze turned skyward. I don't know what it is, but today feels... off.                     “That’s just it Twi! I don’t know! It’s never felt like this, but it’s even bigger than a doozy! it’s like a... a doozy woozy!” Pinkies said this with a small frown as she steadied herself to stop twitching.                      Twilight shook her head in half confusion, half sympathy. She loved her pink friend, but sometimes these things just seemed to get out of hand. “Come on let’s go to the library. It’s safe there.” Twilight said with a comforting smile. Pinkie gave a small frown but didn’t reply .She looked at the sky as if expecting something to fall down from it, but she knew better. Her senses were telling her that whatever was going to happen would be too big for just to come falling down of the sky..                      “Sure… can we get the other girls too though?!” Pinkie asked excitedly, starting to hop up and down. Twilight shook her head with a small smile.                      “Sure Pinkie… lets go see if they’re all home.”   Lux groaned as he woke up. His eyes fluttered open revealing his ash grey irises. He pushed himself up and started to stumble as if weight hadn’t been placed on his legs for some time. His black mane and tail were mangled. His grey coat coated by dirt from laying on a hard floor. “Where am I?” He yawned as he sat back down and decided to take everything in. He was inside of a small house that much was for sure. He got onto his hooves and stretched his hooves. The house, or room rather, had only four distinctly boring walls all colored in grey, giving the room an overall dreary feel to it. A door also stood on one of the walls. Lux then noticed the sole window in the room. What’s out there? The question for some reason filled him with dread, and an almost sense of déjà vu overcame him. Outside the window was a small town. What the town’s name was though, he couldn’t remember. He placed his hoof on the window, giving the window a small push, but it didn't budge. Heaving a sigh he looked through the window again and saw something that he didn’t notice before. Where are all the ponies?  He looked closer, trying to see if he missed anything, but couldn’t find a single pony anywhere. He raised his hoof and bashed against the window, but the window wouldn’t even give a sound in reply. “Well that’s not going to work…” Lux said aloud as he shook away the pain on his hoof.  He turned away to check to see if there was anything noteworthy in the room. On one of the walls a wooden door stood tall, on it was a post-it note that his eyes missed earlier. “What is that?” He trotted over to the note, and started to read aloud.   “Welcome to Day Zero. Your entry fee paved the way, and now you must keep the monsters at bay. The shadows darken your every step, but don’t lose your pep. For a game without a winner is boring, and we don’t want everypony running. For the answers you seek, why don’t you open this door for a quick peek?” “What is this?” Lux stared at the note tentatively before finally placing it on the ground beside him.  He stared at the first sentence which confused him the most. “Day Zero?” The term sounded familiar to him, but he couldn’t place it. Now that he thought about it, all of his memories felt fuzzy. A splitting headache started to hit him, and he gripped his head with his hoof. “I- need to get out of here,” he said through pain as he walked slowly to the door. With an anxious release of breath, he gave the door a hard push. The door creaked open, sending a sound that chilled Lux’s bones. He shivered before trying to take a look. “What’s got Pinkie so hyped?” a blue pegasus known as Rainbow Dash commented as she followed behind Twilight, flapping her wings melodically. “She’s just being Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said with a small forced laugh. Twilight looked at her pink friend with a careful look. Pinkie continued walking in front of them, now apparently deep in thought. “Yeah sure, just Pinkie…” Dash said with a small sigh as they entered Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie then stopped abruptly in front of the barn and started looking around strangely. “Pinkie you okay?” Twilight asked her, walking closer. Pinkie looked at her and gave a small frown. “Don't you feel it?!” Pinkie’s voice was barely above a whisper as she leaned close to her friends. “Do I feel what?” Twilight asked confused, as Dash was spinning her hoof around her head in the ‘crazy in the head’ motion. “Everything is all loopey, topsy turvey, curvey!” Pinkie started to bounce around Twilight and Dash. “Pinkie you’re not making any sense.” Twilight said to her pink friend. Pinkie huffed in semi annoyance before starting hop away. “You think they got a Pinkie to English translator?” Dash asked Twilight as they started to follow after her. “That would make things too easy.” Twilight sighed. Lux stared past the door with anxiety grasping at his every breath.   The door led into a winding hall, the end of the corridor not in sight. Picture frames hung from the walls and led all the way down the passage. What’s going on? He thought as his hoof steps echoed through the hall. He looked around frantically taking looks at each of the walls. The pictures that hung from the walls were strange ones indeed.  The first picture was only words that said, “now how is that fair?” other pictures were drawings of a specific scene. Some of the pictures included six different colored ponies who were accomplishing different things in each picture. Some included two regal looking alicorns. Some pictures also included a strange animal, with the face of a pony with antlers and a horn, a goatee was also present on the strange creature.  His legs included that of a lizard and a goat, while his arms were that of an eagle’s talon, and a lion’s paw. “Draconequus.” The word rang from him before he knew what he was saying. The creature gave him an instant sense of déjà vu.  The aching in his head returned and he had to grab his head to avoid the brunt of the pain.  He continued to walk down the hall seeing many pictures that included the six ponies and the draconequus . Finally he found one picture that showed the strange creature encased in stone. Who is that?  He placed his hoof on the picture and started to follow the outlines.  Suddenly the picture began to move. Lux jumped back in fear and shock. The stone statue that was the creature started to break apart until it was nothing but dust in the picture. Words began to be etched in to the picture as the statue was decimated.   “Silly princesses thought they had me, but they still don’t understand that I’m the owner of this deed.  Those six fillies thought I was wrong, but breaking them apart didn’t take long. So why am I in here you may ask, that answer though is reserved for another task. How about we get to this hall? I’m sure you’ll have a ball.  In these pictures a story you’ll find, without the right order forever in this hall you’ll be bind.  So have fun, and when in doubt look toward the sun.” Lux read the words carefully before turning to look at the other pictures in the hall. “An order?” He thought aloud as he started walking past the picture again. Lux counted and found that there were ten pictures in all, only nine being actual pictures with one being the text that asked “now how is that fair?” Lux scanned the pictures and started to note each one.  He started to make a mental list of each picture One with two alicorns encircling the draconequus One with six ponies staring down the draconequus One with the draconequus sitting atop of what appeared to be a pink cloud One with the six ponies walking in separate directions One with the draconequus sitting on his throne talking down to the two alicorns One with the six ponies who now held golden necklaces around their neck staring at the draconequus One encompassing a dreary world void of color One with seven new ponies who were estranged in the grey world One with the draconequus half statue half his normal color. Lux stared at each picture. Let’s try setting them next to each other. Almost every picture meant absolutely nothing to him. He frowned as he leaned back looking at the pictures.  Only the picture with the seven ponies felt at least a bit familiar, and something inside him told him that the memory was recent.   Why can’t I remember anything?  He started to hit his head a little bit trying to strike a memory with little luck. Failing to conjure up a memory he just placed the picture with the seven ponies to his furthest right, and he stared at the rest of the pictures. Lux started to pace taking a careful look at each picture.  Is there a date or something? He thought somberly, unsure of which order the pictures were supposed to be in.  Silly Princesses thought they had me.  The thought rang from nowhere, but he decided to go with it. “If I relate it to the riddle, then maybe an order will appear.” Lux said as he tried to remember the crude words.  Silly Princesses, he thought again looking through the pictures. The two alicorns stood out the most to him and he started placing every picture of them in to one pile. Six fillies,  Lux thought as the second part of the riddle came back to him. He looked through the pictures once again and separated the pictures that had the six fillies in them. If this is right then the one with princesses should go before the six fillies.  He placed the pictures with the princesses to his furthest left and then placed the pictures with the six fillies in the middle. He looked through the pictures once again to see that he had one with the draconequus  on a pink cloud and one with a grey world, one with the creature half way in transformation. hmm... so why am I here you may ask,’ Lux thought about that line and stared toward the picture of the creature in a half way transformation. The draconequus  held a shocked look on his face, almost without thinking Lux placed that picture to his far right before the picture of the seven ponies. “How does he expect me to do this?!” Lux shouted as twenty minutes had come and go at this point. He crouched down to the pictures of the alicorns he had separated earlier. He had decided to place the picture of the draconequus  on his throne before the picture of the alicorns encircling the monster.  The story wouldn’t have just started with a fight... would it?  Still unsure, Lux moved on. What would connect the alicorn pictures to the ones with the six girls? Lux picked up one picture where the draconequus  was half statues half normal and placed it after the alicorns encircling the creature. Here?  Lux shook his head confused but moved on. After a few moments of thinking of the riddle he placed the six fillies in the order: without necklaces- separating- with necklaces.  Six fillies thought I was wrong... breaking them apart didn’t take long... so why am I here you may ask.  Lux also grabbed the picture that was only text and placed it beside him unsure of where to put it. He stared at the pictures for another five minutes before leaning back and sighing. When in doubt look toward the sun. Lux sat up and started to trot toward the beginning room. The lone window still showed an empty town. He walked up to the window and took a look outside. Outside there was a small town, not many houses that were that large. He made out a large tree that appeared to be a makeshift house now, but something else caught his attention.  Where’s the sun?! In the sky, there was no sun and the only thing there was a cloud simply grey. Scowling, Lux looked for any possible clues that could help him.   “You gotta calm down sugar cube,” Applejack said trying to talk sense in to Pinkie. Pinkie had been getting stranger, she had started shaking and twitching uncontrollably, and was starting to speak way too quickly, even for Pinkie. “Something is strange, very very strange!” Pinkie’s eyes were open wide. Her tail was twitching and her legs were convulsing sporadically. “Pinkie what’s wrong?!” Twilight was starting to panic, is she sick?  Twilight thought as she placed her hoof on Pinkie’s forehead. “I got her some water!” a butter colored pegasus, by the name of Fluttershy, said as she quickly flew back to the small group. “Thanks Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she started to wet a rag and place it on Pinkie. Pinkie stopped convulsing for a second before shaking it off. “Where did Rainbow Dash go?” Applejack asked Twilight. “She left to go get Rarity and Zecora.” Twilight’s scowl deepened as she looked at Pinkie.         Suddenly Pinkie started shaking uncontrollably, and then stopped. Her three friends looked at her with wide eyes, their voices caught in their throat. Suddenly Pinkie’s eyes closed.         “Is she...?” Fluttershy asked, her hooves over her mouth. Applejack reluctantly put her head to Pinkie’s stomach.         “No she’s just asleep.”  She didn’t even try to hide the relief.         “Let’s get her to the library. Maybe if we let her rest for a bit, she’ll get better...” It was an empty idea, but the others had no better one.         Lux stared at the window looking for clues. The only thing he could take from the grey world outside was that the picture of the grey world must have been after the other pictures, but the outside world told him nothing else. There’s nothing here...  Lux thought grimly.  Great now I’m stuck here...  Lux sighed as he began to turn away. However, right before he turned away completely, something caught his eye. A pink blob in a darkened world. The bloc was a pony with a mane that simply defied gravity in its ‘poofiness.’ The mare fell from the clouds and sailed toward the ground quickly. Lux’s mouth dropped in disbelief at this new mare. She landed through the roof of the house made of a tree. You could hear the bumps and crashes as the pony fell through the roof and whatever floors beneath it. “Wow... I hope she didn’t get hurt too bad before...” Lux didn’t want to finish the thought. Surely she’s dead from that drop...          Lux’s eyes widened as the pink mare trotted out of the tree as if nothing had happened. She craned her neck and legs as if she was getting a kink out, and then moved on her merry way.         “What?” Lux heard himself say in disbelief. How can she act so nonchalant about falling from so high?!  He watched as the Pink mare spun her head around, getting a good look around town. Her ears then noticeably perked up and she started to skip away.          Why does she look so happy?  was the first thought Lux thought as he saw the pink pony skip away. “Hey!” Lux called out to the pony to no avail. She turned around a few times obviously hearing the voice but wouldn’t skip in his direction. “Over here!” Lux yelled again gaining another response from her twisting head but no movement. Suddenly the pink pony hopped just barely out of his vision. “Dang it!” Lux swore as he sat back. The first pony I see in this deserted town, and she doesn’t even see me, Lux thought with a sigh.         “Hi there!” suddenly came a hyperactive voice outside the window. The new voice made Lux flinch away from the window. The pink pony had decided to pay a visit. She stood at the window with a smile printed on her face, tailored fit for her. “Do you know where everypony is? Because my friends were worried about me, and I don’t want to keep them if they’re still worrying, especially since I feel super duper terrific now! I’m Pinkie by the way!”   She never took a breath... Lux noted with wide eyes staring at the pink pony. “Um... no sorry but I think the town is empty besides you and I, and I’m Lux, nice to meet you.”         “Oh.. well that’s not good...” She put her hoof to her mouth as if thinking critically about something, the pose lasted less than a full second. “I got it! You gotta help me find them!” Her smile strengthened as she reeled her hoof back and pounded on the window.         “The window is too strong,” Lux said, stifling a laugh. Pinkie’s face turned in to a small scowl. “Is there another way out?” The pink pony asked as she hopped on her two hooves to get a better look in.         “There’s a hall way, but I’m not allowed to pass until solving some puzzle.”         Pinkie suddenly inhaled a huge gasp. “I love puzzles! Especially the ones with the x’s and the o’s and the um...” She drew a number sign in midair to show me the symbol. “Tic-tac-toe?” Lux asked her. “Noooooo! That game’s too boring! I’m talking about the game of ox!” Her smile grew as she remembered the name of the game. “I don’t think there is a game called ox.” Lux responded, walking closer to the window. “Well of course there is!” she said with a slight pout.         “Um... okay.” Lux said with a small laugh. His shoulders started to relax.           “So what was the puzzle thingie?” Pinkie asked         “Um, wait one second,” Lux said as he returned to the hall where he had placed the pictures. He quickly picked them up and brought it back to the room with the window. He laid them in front of Pinkie so she could see each picture.  ‘When in doubt look toward the sun,’ was she what the last part of the riddle was about?         “Ooh ooh! That’s me and my friends!” Pinkie said as she pointed to the pictures of the six fillies. Lux took a closer look to see that one of the ponies in the picture was distinctly pink, and was a mirror copy of the pony in front of him.           “Yeah you’re right.” Lux noted. “You know anything else?”                  “Well there’s Princess Celestia and Luna there!” Pinkie pointed to the two alicorns who Lux had assumed to be the princesses before, but Lux was glad for the confirmation. “Ooh! That’s Discord too!” That name. “AH!” Lux shouted in pain as he grabbed his head. Why does this name seem so familiar?!           “Lux?!” Pinkie placed two hooves on the window to get a closer look at the grey pony on the floor.         What is this?! He thought to himself as his brain felt like it was being carved open with a knife.         “Lux!” Pinkie’s voice had turned to panic immediately. She started to pound on the window attempting to break through.         The blistering headache eventually simmered down to a mild throbbing. “Ugh I’m okay.” Lux said through gasps.         “What was that!? You were okay one second and then you just went...” Pinkie started convulsing and grabbing her head to demonstrate before fake falling on the ground and performing a fake seizure.         “I’m not sure.”         “Well that’s not good!” Pinkie said as she returned her gaze to the pictures. “What do you have to do with these pictures anyway?”          “I’m supposed to put them in order somehow.” Lux sighed at the very thought.         “Oh! That’s all?!” Her hyperactive voice had picked up to a new height. “You put that one there! That over there! That one... I dunno, so put it over there!” Pinkie continued to orchestrate the order of the pictures for a few minutes before the order came to be throne alicorns encircling Discord, then the one with the six mares staring at Discord, one with the six ponies traveling in different directions, the one with Discord on a pink cloud, one with the ponies, now reunited, staring at Discord with necklaces around their necks. “Those are the Elements of Harmony!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly while telling Lux where the pictures were supposed to go.         “Elements of Harmony?” Lux asked as he stared at the picture with the strange jewelry.         “Yeah! They’re these...” Pinkie started to move her hooves to show a shape of a sphere, “and they have the magical power of... well... harmony!” She acted sporadic while attempting to explain these apparent “magical” items.         “That’s very helpful.” Lux said his eyes rolling backwards as he turned his head down to take a look at the remaining pictures. “Any of these other pictures look familiar to you?” Lux asked. The only pictures left was one with only text saying “well, how is that fair?”, a picture with seven ponies on it, one with Discord half turned into a statue, and one simply showing a world devoid of color.         “The one with Discord half turned into a statue should go at the end.” Pinkie noted as she took a look at the the other pictures. “Hey! Hey! There’s you! Right there!” Pinkie pointed to the picture of the seven ponies. Lux picked up the picture to get a closer look. “The grey unicorn!” Lux placed a hoof over his forehead and felt only his forehead.         “Um... Pinkie, I’m a pegasus.” Lux told her as he took a look a the pony she was referring to. The pony looked almost exactly like him except for the horn on his forehead, and the fact that this pony lacked any wings.         “What does that have to do with anything?” she asked.         “This is a picture of a unicorn.”         “...so?”                  “I’m not a unicorn!” Lux exclaimed at the pony.         “ I know you’re not a unicorn silly, you don’t have to tell me.” she said with a small giggle. Lux stared at her awkwardly for a second before leaning back and exhaling a sigh.         “Well do you recognize any of these other pictures?” Lux looked around the room.  I just want to get out of this place, I need to stretch... maybe catch some air.         Pinkie stared at the remaining pictures tentatively. “No idea!” she said  with a quick shake of her head.         Lux stretched awkwardly as he stood up. “Time for some trial and error!” Lux exclaimed as he grabbed the pictures, making sure that they were in the right order before leaving the window Pinkie was at.         “Tell me how it goes!” Pinkie said waving at Mach speeds before bobbing away from the window.         “What a crazy pony,” Lux whispered under his breath as he made his way down the hall. “Do you know what’s wrong with her Zecora?” Twilight asked inquisitive. “Her condition I cannot disclose, but a question I must pose. When did she fall ill? Maybe with that knowledge I could find the right fill.” Twilight looked around at her four other friends. “About twenty hours now.” Twilight told the zebra.   Zecora twitched her mouth around, trying to think about the situation. “Perhaps if my ingredients I had, then I could help... at least a tad.” “What would you need?” Twilight asked quickly. Zecora stared at Pinkie and walked over. She placed her hoof on to Pinkie’s head and checked for a fever, and then she placed her head on Pinkie’s raising and lowering stomach. “I’m sorry my little ponies, but the sickness seems like a phony. She has no fever, and no flu, yet when thinking if she's sick... I’m still a believer. All I can promise is to check my books, I’ll make sure to check every nook” "What do you mean 'believer'?" Twilight asked inquisitively. They all heaved a sigh. “Thanks for coming Zecora.” Twilight responded. “I apologize, this sickness may be dramatised. She’s been asleep for a day, at least for now, keep your fear at bay.” Zecora said as she walked out of the library. “Now what?” Dash finally piped up. “Well... maybe we should send a letter to Spike, I was thinking maybe he would want to know...” Fluttershy commented. “Spike left for his ‘vacation’ and besides, there’s no use in worrying him about something that he couldn't’ get back in time for anyway.” Twilight said. “Well how far away is he? Maybe I could just go and sonic rainboom him back?” Dash noted. “He left to Fillydelphia, It’s about a week walk, and I don’t think Spike could handle riding back on you Dash.” Twilight said with a smirk. Dash shrugged at the remark . “Why don’t you use that ol’ teleporting trick?” Applejack asked Twilight. “Fillydelphia is a long way away, and making a round trip would drain me completely, if not strand us half way. Let Spike have his fun, there wouldn’t be much he could do here anyway. The ponies nodded at the comment. “What do you think is wrong with her?” Rarity asked the question that had been on everypony’s mind. “I don’t know, but I’m sure she’ll wake up soon, and we’ll all feel stupid forever worrying about her.” Dash laughed. ********* “Okay, wake up Pinkie!” Twilight had had enough. Her cheeks were flushed red as she stood over her limp pink friend. “Pinkie this isn’t funny!”  Tears were forming at the corners of  her eyes. Five other ponies stood around the bed with Twilight, each staring with worried looks at the pink mare. “Don’t be such a drama queen. She’s just sleeping...” Dash turned away from Twilight, trying not to betray her true thoughts. Twilight turned to Dash her eyes wide open and bloodshot. “Pinkie has been asleep for THREE days! Zecora couldn’t even figure out what was wrong with her!” “There... has to be something we can do.” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together as she floated in the air. “Sugarcube calm down, there ain't no use ‘n panicking.”  Applejack had attempted to be voice of reason as soon as Twilight had fallen off the deep end, but each  day passed slower and slower, and it was beginning to see any really hope for the Pinkie’s sleeping figure. “Celestia will be here tomorrow darling, if anyone can fix Pinkie it’ll be her.” Rarity said trying to comfort her disorientated friend. “Pinkie had been acting weird all morning...” Twilight whispered as she sat down on the floor by her bedside. “This isn’t your fault Twilight...” Fluttershy said as she sat next to Twilight. “I can’t help thinking that it was. Maybe if I had listened more carefully to her, she wouldn’t be like this...” “Git some sleep Twi, you’ve probably gotten the least amount of sleep of all of us.” Applejack told her as she walked Twilight up the stairs to her bedroom. “Pinkie will be okay... right?” Fluttershy asked Rainbow Dash as she started tapping the ground with her hoof. “Yeah! Definitely! I mean we got the Princess on it! Pinkie will be back to her normal prankster, party throwing, kind of annoying self in no time!” Dash let out a half-hearted laugh at the end of her comment, betraying her words. Dash walked closer to Pinkie’s sleeping figure. “You better get better soon Pinkie.”         “Open sesame!” Lux yelled at the wooden door in front of him. The door had exactly nine holes in it barely large enough for the pictures, now rolled up, to fit in, and Lux had been attempting every magic word he knew with every possible combination of picture for the last half hour. “Open, you stupid door!” Lux shouted as he dashed in to the door. The whole attack gave an audible clunk as Lux was thrown back because of his momentum. Sighing, Lux place his hoof on the door, looking for a switch for the third time. Finding no switch, Lux took the pictures out of the holes, rearranged them and placed them in to the holes. “What word opens you?” Lux asked aloud as he stared at the door. “Did you try alakazam?” a voice came from behind him. Lux paying no attention to it, “of course I tried it, I also tried abracadabra, and open sesame, got anything else?” “Chupacabra?” the voice said this time. “Why wou-.” Lux stopped mid-sentence and blinked. He turned around and faced a familiar face. The being stood about four times as high as he did. His deer and goat antlers stood proud with his lion paw and eagle talon crossed over his stomach, it was Discord from the pictures. “Surprised? Shocked even? You must be amazed by my attractiveness! It’s okay, many are.” A large smile that held no emotion behind it formed Discord’s face. “I suppose it’s time I introduced myself, Lux.” His voice held a certain allure to it, which was almost intoxicating. The soft tune of his voice made Lux almost respond in awe rather than his true emotions. “How do you know my name?” “That’s your first question? I mean, you’re stumped on the first test on Day Zero, and you ask me a stupid question? Tsk Tsk, I expected better from you Lux.” Discord said, shaking his head in harmony with his tsks. “Okay, then do you want to tell me how to get out of here?” “Not particularly.” Discord said heaving an over exaggerated sigh. He started walking away from Lux his steps making audible echoes in the hall. “But the game is no fun, if you simply die from starvation here... then again dying here is kind of figurative huh?” Discord laughed until he saw the confused look Lux held on his face. “Why the long face?” he said holding in a snicker. “What are you talking about?” “Well you see my young friend, you can’t die here.  In fact that isn’t the point of the game at all! What fun would it be that the game ends when you die?! I mean do you know how fragile you ponies are?! I mean look!” Discord suddenly appeared in front of Lux and grabbed his front leg and snapped it in the span of a second. “AH!” Lux yelled in pain as he fell to his side bracing his leg. “You broke my leg!” “Get up you sissy! Your leg is healed, only the pain still lingers.” Discord said as he shook his head.  Lux steadied his breathing before feeling the pain start to fade away, and he was even able to put weight on his leg with only a twitch of pain. “How...?” “Let's go with magic,” DIscord said obviously bored. “You're going to give me any answers?” Lux panted as he stared at Discord in the eyes, rage building. Discord looked at Lux’s eyes for about two seconds before smiling. “That’s what I want to see!” Discord laughed. “What?!” “Rage! Fury! They always lead to well, chaos! At least you’re embracing it better this time.” Discord’s smile had never left his face. “This time?” “Not important! Anyways, let's get down to business shall we?” Discord snapped his talon making a wooden desk appear between the two creatures with two chairs.” Have a seat my friend.” Discord said gesturing to the seat. “I think I’ll stand.” Lux said with a frown. “Suit yourself.” Discord sat down and snapped his fingers again creating a pipe in his lion’s paw. “How about we start Lux? What would you like to do? Psychotherapy, parapsychology, or my personal preference, get more intelligent through the use of electric shock therapy.” “What?!” Lux asked confused by the draconequus.   “Keep up Lux, it’s not that hard,” Discord said taking glasses off his face that had not been there a few seconds earlier. “Just tell me what you’re trying to tell me.” Lux said placing his hoof on his head in  anger. “Oh quick tempered I see... almost like a child.” His smile never wavered as he made the note.         “Don’t compare me to a child!” Lux said, stepping closer to Discord, both only separated by the desk.         “Although I’d love to sit here with you all day trading insults, I must prepare for the games. So lets skip the casualties.” Discord yawned.         “What is this game you keep telling me about?!” Lux barked at the draconequus.         “Ah, finally a question I want to answer!” Discord sat up from his chair and jumped on to his desk. “This is my game! And the game consists of seven days. Each day I expect you and six other ponies to figure out whatever riddle, overcome any challenge, and accomplish anything to win that day, otherwise I’ll deem you all unfit and simply kill you.” He blew on his nails as if this was a casual thing to say.         “You said we couldn’t die here!”         “I know what I said, but that’s only in the process of the game. You become decapitated, you wont die, it’ll just hurt a lot, and eventually you’ll regain your body, if you’re lucky that is. However, if you or one of the ponies whom I pare you with decide to blow off the day and not attempt to complete the game then well... you’re not worth my game and I’ll personally take you out of the game, if you catch my drift.”         Lux just stared at this creature, shocked by all of the words.  How can somepony be this... cruel?  “What was today then, what do you mean by day zero?”         “Day zero is a day in its most technical sense I suppose, but nothing fun happens, all it is is getting my pawns together to prepare for the game ahead.” Discord gave a cackle as he finished his comment.         “And Pinkie?”         “She’s one of the six ponies that will be your... lets say partners on this magical adventure.”  His smile still stood strong.         “Why her?”         “Grudges last forever my sweet pony, and she and some of her friends decided to limit my fun, it’s only fair that they give some of it back.” Discord explained as if it was obvious.         “Well why me?” Lux finally asked .         Discord’s eyes turned downcast as he looked at the floor, something was there... Sympathy?         “You’ll just have to figure that out yourself.” Discord snapped his fingers and the desk disappeared leaving the two creatures in the hallway only staring at each other. “Well, it’s been fun as always, but it’s time I left... can’t wait to see you later.” His smile had returned and he was just about to snap his fingers.         “Wait! How do I open the door!” Lux cried out.         “Oh yeah, almost forgot! He snapped his fingers and the doors swung open revealing the outside world.         “I had to find the order for these pictures and everything, and you could just open it with your fingers?!” Lux asked obviously peeved.         “The pictures were never meant to open the door, the right order was simply to call me here to give you this small chat.” Discord gave a wink to the confused pony before snapping his fingers and disappearing.         Lux blinked looking at where Discord used to be, and he turned and walked in to the outside world. “This is going to suck, I can tell already.”         “What do you mean there’s nothing you can do?!” Dash yelled aloud. Her eyes were wide and she was biting her lip in order to keep from letting her rage show even more.         Twilight sat down and stared at her teacher who had just said that she couldn’t do anything for poor Pinkie who laid in bed.          “I’m sorry, but I cannot do anything about this.” Celestia bit her lip to prevent from saying something else. Twilight saw it and knew that her teacher was holding something back, but at that moment didn’t care about the deceit.         “She’s been comatose for four days now, and you wont help her at all?!” Twilight asked, her voice just above a whisper.         “I can’t help her Twilight Sparkle, it’s not in my power...” The princess turned away from the somber looks given by every pony. Fluttershy had ran out of the house seconds after Celestia told them that she wouldn’t do anything about Pinkie’s condition.         “Imma check up on Fluttershy.” Applejack said to Twilight as she walked out of the library her head low.         “There must be something you can do...” Rarity said, attempting to plead with the alicorn. “You’re the princess! How can you not fix Pinkie?!” Dash yelled. Silence ensued and Celestia heaved a small but noticeable sigh. “Twilight, I’m taking my leave.” Celestia said walking out of the library leaving  only more silence in her wake.  Twilight sat there next to Pinkie’s bed unsure of what to do next. The door swung open as Applejack walked in, tears threatening to fall from the somber Fluttershy walking in.                            Fluttershy looked ragged, tears had mixed in with her coat and her eyes were beat red. “We’ll find a way to help her!”  Dash exclaimed trying to convince herself more so than the other ponies. They all looked toward the sleeping figure of their best friend. They had tried to feed her and give her water, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. She would twitch every now and again, but gave no noticeable sign of danger, that is until they checked her pulse. Her heartbeat had changed from a hundred beats a minute to sixty beats in the four days, and was still lowering with no signs of slowing down.         “Girls I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but if her heartbeat keeps dropping like this, then soon they’re will be no way to help her...” Twilight sighed.         “Well there has to be something, sugarcube... a spell you forgotten maybe?” Applejack plopped down in to a sitting position. “I tried everything I know already...” Twilight said avoiding the looks from her friends.  I wish there was something I could do. There should have been something I could do. Maybe if I studied more there would be a spell I could have used. A tear fell from her left eye as she stood up and started to pace. “I’ll try to find something...” Life had drained from her voice, and with it hope had left as well. Her friends gave small nods at Twilight’s fleeting figure. “Because it is a hop, skip, and a jump, and just move your little rump!” Pinkie had had better days then simply being alone in a desolate Ponyville, but she wasn’t going to let that get her down. “Somepony has got to be around her somewhere!” Pinkie exclaimed as she continued to bop around town. She had first checked  the library, and found nopony there, afterward she took a quick look at Sweet Apple Acres, and found it empty. “I’ll need to tell Applejack to return to the farm, it’s Applebuck Season. I don't want her to get behind.” Pinkie continued to hop on the trail back to Ponyville.   Ponyville wasn’t much different from the Ponyville that she knew. It even had the cupcake in the cupboard that she had hidden away from Mrs. Cakes a few days prior. Pinkie smacked her lips still savoring the remnants of said cupcake as she wandered back in to town. Something’s off about the town...Pinkie noted as she looked at her surroundings, besides the missing ponies the real change was simply how darker everything was. It felt like a grey hue had covered the whole town, making each color much more ominous then before. Pinkie huffed before bobbing toward Rarity’s shop.  A little grey is no problem.         Rarity’s door was unlocked, as was every door in the town. Pinkie pushed the door open to reveal her friend’s shop. You could just make out the start of a disaster in the back rooms where Rarity kept her “organized chaos” at. “Hello? Anypony home! It’s Pinkie!” Pinkie yelled at the top of her lungs. No response. A small pout formed on Pinkie’s lips. “Well... now what?” Pinkie started to look around Rarity’s store not seeing any clue whatsoever.           Pinkie finally found the opening in to a white kitchen. She stopped before entering and took a quick peek in to the kitchen. “I’m sure Rarity won’t mind if I get some treats while I’m here...” Pinkie’s smile had returned as she happily skipped toward the fridge. Finding some left over pie, she dug in happily.         “So you find that your friends aren’t home, and you loot their fridge?” a voice cackled behind Pinkie.         “Hey! I was only thinking about looting everyone else’s fridge!” Pinkie said, pie still in her mouth as she talked. She turned to face the voice who spoke to her and saw a familiar face. She swallowed her food down in a single gulp. “Hi Discord!” She waved at the draconequues happily.         Discord shook his head, holding back a laugh. “So you are Ms. Pie, I don’t believe we’ve had formal introductions without your friends around.” Discord said holding out his paw.         “Well there was that one time in the maze with the balloons and the faces that were like:” Pinkie took her hooves and spread open her mouth in an attempt to force a scary smile.         “Good times.” Discord cackled as he sat in one of the chairs in Rarity’s kitchen.         “No...not really. But the party that we threw after you turned to stone, THAT was fun.” Pinkie said hopping only a few centimeters in the air with each syllable.         Discord’s eyes squinted together. “Yes, right, anyways lets get to the point of me being here.”         “If it’s for pie, then you’re out of luck, I may have... ate it all.”         “You’ve been here for less than a full minute...”         “Point?” “Nevermind, now back to the topic at hand. Ms. Pie you shall be playing in a game that I have created.” “Ooh I love games!” “Then you’ll be a great participant!” Discord said with a smile. “Anyways this game will span seven days, each day will have its very own riddle.” Discord snapped his talon and a small piece of paper appeared over his talon. “Solve the riddle and complete what it says, and you move on to the next day. Fail to figure out the riddle before the day is up or simply fail to complete the task laid out before you then...” He snapped his talon and the piece of paper burned in a green flame. “We get to see green fire?” Pinkie asked excitedly staring at the dazzling display. Discord eyes lowered annoyed. “No it means you’re gone, poof, decimated, vaporized, you know the deal. “Well that’s not very nice.” Pinkie said annoyed as she turned her back to Discord to see if Rarity had any left over sweets. “Are you even listening to me?!” Discord asked, his tone growing in impatience. “Not really,” Pinkie replied as she threw out an apple core. “Rarity needs better food...” Pinkie sighed as she walked past Discord, out of the kitchen. Discord stared silently at the pony who had just left him behind. “What?” Discord said finding himself to start laughing. “Oh Ms. Pie, you’re going to make this very entertaining for me.” “Why is that?” Pinkie asked as she left Rarity’s house. I wonder if Lux got out okay?  Pinkie thought as she started to hop toward the center of town with Discord following behind her. “You seem... oh lets use the word entertaining.” Discord said as he floated next to her skipping body.                  “So Discord why are you here anyway... Didn’t we seal you up or something... like a couple of months ago? You went all....” Pinkie explained by standing on her hind legs and staying completely still. .         “Why this is my world Pinkie, and I can do what ever I wish here.”         “Can you make pie fall from the sky?”         Discord snapped his talon and a pie fell into his lion paw. “Why yes I can, but I can do much more like for instance.” He snapped his talon and a large castle wretched itself from the ground tearing other houses away, when the castle was finished it stood much higher than Canterlot’s castle did in height. “My power has no equal here.”         Pinkie was staring at the pie in Discord’s paw through this whole spectacle. “Can I have the pie?” Pinkie asked, eying the pie behind Discord’s back. Discord looked from the pie in his hand to the castle that he had just wrought. He heaved a sigh and threw the pie in Pinkie’s face. Pinkie excitedly licked all the pie filling off her face before staring at Discord expecting more.  “I bring up a massive castle without breaking a sweat and you ask about the pie?!” “What can I say... I like pie.” Pinkie shrugged before deciding to move on due to the lack of any sweets in the vicinity. “How about I go screw with someone easier?” Discord said, shaking his head before snapping his talon and disappearing.   Sleep was for the weak. That had became Twilight’s motto over the last three days Pinkie had been in a comatose state for seven days now, and Twilight was scanning her books for any clue that could lead to waking up the poor filly. As predicted Pinkie’s heart rate had kept going down steadily. The last time they checked earlier that morning Pinkies heart rate was only heard at thirty beats a second.  Would she even function normally after all of this? Twilight would ask herself as she read through some books.  Pinkie had been oddly still lately and one of the five would always become a little antsy and make sure she was still alive, luckily she hadn’t left the world of the living yet. Everypony had been trying their best, whether that be remedies proposed by Fluttershy or Applejack, messages and ideas from other unicorns brought via rainbow Dash express, or Twilight scanning every single book she had looking for a possible remedy. “There is nothing here!” Twilight would say in frustration as she threw another book off of her desk.   “We can’t just give up Twilight. Maybe this book will have the cure.” Fluttershy said, attempting to encourage Twilight and abate her frustration. “None of these books even mention something like this. Comatose patients don’t reject food and water when you give it to them, this is something different.” Twilight said, running her hooves through her mangled mane. “Well, maybe we could-” Fluttershy was cut short as a book fell from one of the shelves. How about this one? It was a strange thought. A thought from nowhere. But it kept repeating itself. Look in the book.  Twilight heard the voice in the back of her mind like somepony was reciting words in her ears. “Do you hear anything Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, starting massaged her temples. “No,  I don’t hear anything...” Fluttershy said, twiddling her hooves. Twilight shook her head, attempting to stop hearing things. Great I’m starting to hear things...  “Fluttershy, could you hand me that book that just fell?” Fluttershy nodded before floating over to the book and brought it over. The book didn't have a title. It was simply a black book, no designs, just a hardcover, black as night book.  “What is this?” Twilight asked as she turned the book so Fluttershy could see it as well. “Um... I don’t know, I don’t remember seeing it here before...” Twilight opened the book desperately. Maybe there is something in here! Twilight’s face dropped at the mention of the first word. Discord.   “Hello my young fillies, it’s been so long since we last met... you know since the whole stone turning incident. No hard feelings... well maybe a little, but I know of your predicament and am willing to help in any way possible. Pinkie was my favorite after all. I’m sure if you’ve picked up this book, you’re on your final legs, no way to save the pink pony and with your princesss not even attempting to help, maybe you’ll understand my view of our ‘government’ now.”  Twilight read the page aloud to her four other friends who had came in to the room. “Discord?” The ponies said in unison. “I think so, later he signs the letter.” Twilight opens the book to show everypony and sure enough a couple of paragraphs later there was a signature that said “the bringer of chaos, the ruler of the universe, and the most handsome fellow in all of Equestria, or simply Discord.” Twilight sighed as she turned the book around so she could only read it. “When your on your last legs just give me a call, no need to break the curse, simply pour some of your power into the book oh mighty apprentice and I will appear before you, not in my true form, but close enough to where we can all have a true civilized conversation. Twilight looked out to her friends who stayed quiet. “What do we do?” Twilight asked them. “Ah say we call ‘em. We can always put him back down with the Elements of Harmony if things get outta hand.” Applejack said. “But... how will we use the Elements of Harmony without Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked in a voice barely above a whisper. Applejack sighed as she began to think about another way.         “I say we don't call him, he was able to easily tear us apart last time.” Rarity said, recalling the event.         “We don’t have much of a choice though Rarity.” Dash chimed in.         Twilight nodded before looking at the book again.  What if there really is no other way?  Twilight thought. Her friends began to bicker with Applejack and Dash wanting Discord to come, and Fluttershy and Rarity against the idea. Seven days have gone by... Pinkie wont last much longer... Twilight began to focus on the book in her hand and poured the red aura in to the book... The effect was immediate.  The book burst into green flames erupting in a collective gasp from every pony in the room. The green flames consumed the book before turning it in to a pile of grey ash. What now?  From the ashes erupted a new figure. Discord had joined the party.         Discord looked similar to how he had looked only a few months ago, however, he looked faded, almost transparent in Twilight’s eyes. “Yeah, being this weak does make me look like a ghost a bit doesn't it? I mean I wanted to lose a few pounds, but this is taking the comment a bit far.” Discord said as he looked at his body.         “Hello Discord.” Twilight's voice was cold, unyielding even.         “Hello there young apprentice and hello again to you young mares.” He said this with a smile addressing everypony there.         “So can you really help?” Dash asked, while leaping in to the air to speak to the draconequus face-to-face.         “If you mean, ‘is it in my power to relieve Pinkie from her comatose state?’ Then the answer would be yes.” Discord yawned as he picked up his feet and floated in the air.         “You can save her?!” Fluttershy asked excitedly.         “I could.”         “But you wont.” Twilight finished for him.         “I never said I wouldn’t, but there are stipulations.”         “Course there are.” Applejack said.         “No need for the mistrust Applejack, however, since you ponies ruined my fun, I have a very limited amount of fun in my ‘world’.” Twilight noticed the extra emphasis on the word ‘world.’         “What are your stipulations?” Rarity asked.         “A game. A seven day game in my mind scape, if you win, you get Ms. Pie back, if I win... you ponies won’t even see the next sunrise let alone your friend.”         “How do we know you’re not lying to us?!” Twilight barked at Discord.         Discord snapped his talon revealing a small cloud that opened to reveal a scene. The world inside the cloud was a darker version of Ponyville and spot in the middle of it was Pinkie. “I’m not lying to you because Pinkie is already in the game, or well the prologue of it.” Discord explained as the picture poofed away.         “What did you do to Pinkie?!” Dash shouted.         “Just wanted to have some fun.” Discord shrugged as he stood up. “ It gets so boring living in eternal torment.” Discord laughed.         “What is this game like?” Twilight asked.         “A rather fun game if I say so myself. I’ll even give you all a partner, rather smart fellow, what he has in intelligence though he lacks in common sense.” Discord said as he shrugged. “But in the game, you simply answer or complete a task. You get one day to do it, if you fail then well...” He pointed to each and everypony’s body making sure they knew that they knew he was referring to their bodies. “Those will fail. if you win the seven days, then you get out scott free with Pinkie in tow, and with a promise from me to never mess with any of you ponies again.”         “You’re asking us to risk our lives for your enjoyment?” Rarity asked.         “No, I’m asking you to risk your life for your friend. If you choose not to join in... then that’s okay with me, Ms. Pie is a rather... entertaining guest, and she will still be in my world long after her corporal body dies.” Discord explained as he prepared to leave.         “Wait! Don’t go!” Twilight yelled out, with the other friends mimicking her reaction. “I’ll play your game, they don’t need to risk their lives..” Twilight said, gesturing towards the other ponies.         “You’re insane if you think we’re going to let you do it alone.” Dash chimed in as she stepped next to Twilight.         “We wouldn’t let yah do this on yer own sugarcube.” Applejack said, stepping next to Twilight.         “I suppose, anything for Pinkie.” Rarity sighed. “I don’t like you though.” Rarity said gesturing towards Discord. He simply raised his hands up in defense, still holding on a smile that never left his face.         “ I-I’ll try my best to help..” Fluttershy stammered as she walked next to her friends.         “There, everypony is going to go, we accept your challenge Discord!” Twilight exclaimed at the draconequus.         “Marvelous. We’ll all have such a fun time.” His smile had grown wider as he snapped his fingers and a blinding light enveloped the library.         Lux’s first steps outside of the house were refreshing to say the least. He let out a sigh of relief as his wings stretched to their full wingspan. “I just feel like flying!” Lux exclaimed happily as he prepared for a takeoff.         “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The voice immediately brought him down.         “Why are you here again?!” Lux gasped as he jumped away from the voice.         Discord had reappeared to the side of him. “Oh right in your eyes, it’s only been about a minute since we last talked.” Discord yawned. “Colt I’m telling you, it’s getting much easier to get ponies to accept stipulations.”         “What are you talking about?” Lux asked as he began to step away from the creature.         “Nothing really, your team however, will soon arrive.”         “My team?”         “Why yes, Miss Pie, made up one of the members, but the other five will be coming as well. What a fun game this will be!” Discord laughed as his feet started to shuffle with anticipation. “You know what that means?!”         “Can’t say that I do.”         “Day Zero is almost over! Finally, this is the most boring part of the game as I’m sure you’d understand.”         “Why do you want this game so bad?” Lux asked preparing to take off in a hurry.         “Why not? The next seven days will be your personal Hell, and I get to orchestrate all of it.” He couldn’t mask the glee in his voice as he snapped his fingers. “See you soon.” He exclaimed as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Lux gazed at where the creature had once stood and shook his head.         My first objective should be to find Pinkie.  Lux thought to himself as he leaped in to the air and began to flap his wings.  I wouldn’t do that if I were you, the comment rang through his head, and he learned why. As soon as he leaped into the air he fell back down, his wings refusing to capture any air to lift him up. “What?!” Lux said confused as he tried again to no avail. “Well I guess I’m walking then...” Lux pouted as he started to walk towards the  house that appeared to be made out of a tree in the middle of town.         Lux traversed the town, the silence almost insanity driving... at least to him it was. Many of the building looked to be broken in to, and the fridges were all open with their content spilling out.   I wonder what happened... He thought as he shied away from venturing in to any of the houses. Discord still unnerved the pony, and he didn’t want to be caught in an enclosed space with him again... especially after having his leg broke by the creature.                  “Lux, you made it!” A familiar voice rang out. Lux turned to the right to see Pinkie carrying a tray of cupcakes on her back as she trotted over to Lux.         “Pinkie?” Lux asked as she drew closer. “What’s with the cupcakes?”         “I know, I know, I mean I wanted the cakes or the pies, but I couldn’t get it out of the freezer since it was locked...”         Not having a suitable response, Lux simply nodded. “Where’d you go?”         “Well I tried looking around town to see if anypony was around, but nopony and I mean NOPONY is here!  It’s like...” she stopped mid sentence and attempted to offer a comparison. “It’s like an empty town.” She flashed a smile at Lux’s confused look.         “Well what do we do now?”         “We live Lux! We live.” Pinkie exclaimed, not really directing the comment at Lux, he looked strangely at the mare, before shaking his head and deciding that he should just start walking. “Wait for me!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bobbed after Lux.         “Really though, where do we go from here?” Lux asked, feeling a bit awkward walking next to a  pony who appeared to be jumping in the air.         “We could loot more cakes.” Pinkie said with a very serious expression on her face.         “Don’t loot anymore cakes!” Lux replied.         “How about pies then?”         “No”         “You’re no fun.” She pouted.         “Well we’re kind of stuck in another world, right now, so forgive me if I don’t want to loot houses.”         “Apology accepted!” Pinkie said, flashing a big grin Lux’s way before happily hopping off.         “Colts and fillies I welcome thee!” The voice boomed across the sky like someone was using an air horn to deliver the message.         “What is that?” Lux asked.         “Well if you don’t hurry up, you won’t find out!” Pinkie said as she was already about a hundred meters ahead of Lux.         “Wait up!”         Both ponies raced to where the booming sound was coming from and ended up at the place where Pinkie had originally fallen. The tree was excessively large with a smiling Discord perched at the very top.         “I see our contestants have started coming, I ask that you applaud their entrance!” His voice boomed across Ponyville. Lux felt his spine shake each time he spoke a word. “Now let’s start with the introductions!” He snapped his fingers and an orange pony with a blond mane suddenly appeared in a flash of light. She looked disorientated and had to catch herself from falling,         “Applejack!” Pinkie yelled, waving excitedly at the pony.         “In this corner we have the spittoon spitting, sugarcube saying, apple picking mare known as Applejack!” He snapped his fingers and a sudden noise of applauds rang through out Ponyville like thunder. “Okay! That’s enough! She’s not that special! The applauds died down a bit. “I’m just kidding with you all, give her another round of applaud!” The applauds picked up even louder than before before Discord lowered his paw effectively ending the clapping sounds.         “Where am I?” Applejack asked grasping her head with one of her hooves.         “Not important at the moment!” He then snapped his talon again, and a new pony appeared this one was yellow in color with a pink mane. She fell over, completely disorientated by the experience.         “Look there’s Fluttershy!” Pinkie was becoming ecstatic and was now waving with both hooves wile standing on her back two.         “Like that pink mare keeps saying, this is the mighty Fluttershy!  Her adorableness rivals that of hundreds of small bunnies! She has the ability to tame any animal, and gain the power of a small army when enraged!” Discord cackled as Fluttershy struggled to get up.         “Lets head over there.” Lux told Pinkie, but Pinkie was already halfway over there before Lux noticed. Sighing he raced over as a mass amount of d’awws and applauds complimented the appearance of Fluttershy.         “HI you two I missed you SO much, I mean an hour completely alone... oh well with Lux, but he didn’t want me to eat cakes or anything! I missed you guys so much!” Pinkie cried as she tightly hugged the two disorientated ponies.         Lux’s eye twitched at the comment about him, but didn't say anything and just shook his head.         “Pinkie, you’re okay!” Fluttershy finally said, a gleam of light flooding her eyes and the gleam of light turned into a tear as Fluttershy hugged back. Applejack mirrored the yellow pony.         “Okay you ponies are reunited, friends forever blah, blah, blah. Now back to the main reason everypony is here! Next up is:” He snapped his finger and a white unicorn appeared from no where and fell next to them.          “Oh dear!”  the unicorn cried as she fell to the ground.         “Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed as she raced over to the pony and tackled her in a hug.         “This my audience is Rarity, seamstress and dressmaker of Ponyville. She has the ability to... to well make dresses!” Discord yelled out.         There were many woah’s going through the crowd , and some sounds of awkward clapping.         “Nice crowd...” Lux remarked.         “Now we have the self proclaimed fastest in Equestria, even though she could never beat me personally in a race, Rainbow Dash!” Discord snapped his fingers again and a blue pegasus appeared from nowhere and landed on the ground with a thud.           “Hi Dashie!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran over to her friend.         “She’s fast, she’s colorful, she’s Dash! With the power of rainbows on her side, what could stop her!” Discord laughed. “Now lets head over to the next pony! Fillies and gentlecolts, I would like to introduce you to the one the only Twilight Sparkle!” A purple pony was suddenly teleported into existence beside the ponies. For some reason, boos ensued and overtook any clapping if there was any for this pony.         Why are they booeing?         “This pony is Celestia’s personal apprentice, and she is one of the strongest unicorns in  Equestria! She is also a buzz kill and was the main one that caused me to turn back into stone!” Discord threw a couple of pebbles over Twilight’s way. “But I am a more civilized person to hold that personally against her.” Clapping ensued as soon as he finished the comment.         “This guy sure has an ego.” Lux stated, watching the dancing draconequus.         “Now everypony should be acquainted with the other two ponies down there, but we should introduce them anyway! To the left is Miss Pinkie Pie! Possibly the only pony who has a sense of humor to match even my own!” A mass amount of clapping ensued, and Pinkie stood on her two hooves taking all the applauds by waving at an imaginary audience. “And the other pony is a pegasus this round that goes by the name of Lux! He had to trade his memory to play this game with me, and I know he’s going to be in for a shock when he gets it back!” Discord laughed and the laugh boomed across the town.         “What do you mean by shock!” Lux yelled at Discord. What does he know about my memory?         “Oh you’ll find out soon enough! My audience, here are you participants! This marks the end of Day Zero as you all know, and tomorrow the fun begins!” He snapped his fingers and Lux’s as well as everypony else’s vision went black.         “So for now... Good night.”