//------------------------------// // Return of Harmony : Part One // Story: A New Hero // by Alex The Lone Wolf //------------------------------// Episode 27 – Return of Harmony Part One I opened my eyes and sat up. I looked out the window to notice the bright sunny day outside. I stepped off the bed and began to head downstairs. It looks like a nice day outside… maybe I can meet up with the girls for something…? I opened the front door and walked out. I was instantly welcomed by a cool and gentle breeze that flowed through my mane. It felt really nice... so nice as if I had been rejuvenated by the energy of the wind... I continued walking through town, observing the events occurring outside. Everypony seemed to be having a good time. There were ponies selling different kinds of things in their stands. There were ponies talking to each other and laughing. All of them had at least one thing in common...a smile. While I was distracted by my surroundings, I bumped into something, almost causing me to fall back. I shook my head and turned it to the front of me to see what I bumped into. It was a pony. After analyzing the pony for a moment, I found out that it was actually Ms. Cheerilee. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Ms. Cheerilee. I didn't see you there." I held out my hoof to pick her up from her sitting position after I had bumped into her. She grabbed my hoof and allowed me to pull her up and she responded back to me. "Oh, that's quite alright... Actually, I'm very glad that I bumped into you. I was hoping you that you might be able to assist me with something." "What is it?" I asked. "Well, I'm taking the children on a field trip to the Canterlot sculpture garden! Although, I was hoping if you could help me by watching over them and making sure one of them don't wander off or get in trouble." "Oh, um. Sure, I could help you with that." "Really? Thank you!" She exclaimed. "Come on, we are just about to head over there now." Ms. Cheerilee led me to the schoolhouse where all the children were talking to each other while they were at their desks. "Settle down! Settle down!" Ms. Cheerilee calmly told the students to cease their excitement as she walked to the front of the class. "I have some great news!" Ms. Cheerilee announced when she arrived to her teaching position. "This is Alex." She introduced me. "He will be helping me on our field trip today, so every one of you be on your best behavior, understand?" "Yes, Ms. Cheerilee…" The students obediently stated in unison. "Great! Now I want every one of you to form an orderly single file line and exit the classroom in a calm matter, do you kids understand?" "Yes, Ms. Cheerilee…" The students repeated their answer. The children did so and Ms. Cheerilee began leading them out of the school house. When we were outside and began heading on our way towards the field trip location, Ms. Cheerilee allowed them to separate a bit, but stick close enough to where we could keep an eye on them. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle moved over to me while we continued to walk. "Soo…" Applebloom began. "I heard you took Fluttershy to the Grand Galloping Gala, am I right?" She released a sly grin. I looked at them with slightly nervous eyes. "Yeah… why does it seem to interest you so much?" "Well…it's just that you had a date with her…so…" Applebloom instantly began bouncing excitedly in front of me. "Is she your girlfriend now? Huh? Huh? Huh?" "What?" I asked, feeling a little embarrassed. "No…" "But you went on a date with her. Doesn't that make you both a couple?" "…Not really…well…I don't think so…" "Well, if you're not with her yet, then you should totally ask her to be your girlfriend!" Sweetie Belle joined in on the conversation. "Bleeeeh!" Scootaloo stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Will you guys please stop talking about this? We're finally going on a field trip and I don't want to get sick on it!" I agreed with Scootaloo, but only because I didn't want to keep talking about…the whole thing with…Fluttershy… I mean…not that it's bad or anything… it's…just… I sighed. "Aw…fine." The other girls surrendered and we continued walking towards the Canterlot Sculpture garden. When we arrived, we saw a lot of white-colored sculptures fill the garden. Besides us, there was an area that looked to be some maze. I didn't have a single clue on why it was there unless it was used for entertainment purposes… "I want to start our field trip here in the world-famous Canterlot sculpture garden." Ms. Cheerilee announced to the kids. She turned her head to one of them. "That one over there represents 'Friendship'." Applebloom stopped to see the sculpture. I stopped as well to observe it. The sculpture depicted three ponies above each other. The three of them were smiling brightly, almost looking as if they were laughing… Scootaloo had bumped into Applebloom, which caused Sweetie Belle to bump into Scootaloo. They were disoriented for a moment, but when they regained their balance, they looked at each other angrily. Ms. Cheerilee continued speaking, which caused the three little ponies to catch up with the group. "Alright my little ponies, this one represents 'Victory'." She led us to another statue portraying a pony standing proudly with a flag in her hooves. There were a couple of stars by her side as she smiled. "How cool would it be to have that for a cutie mark?" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Cool, if you were actually victoryful at somethin'." Applebloom replied as she rolled her eyes. "That's not a word!" Sweetie Belle argued while Scootaloo returned an angry look at Applebloom. However, Scootaloo changed her expression to a slightly annoyed one when she heard Sweetie Belle. "What are you, a dictionary?" Scootaloo directed at Sweetie Belle. "Girls!" Ms. Cheerilee scolded, causing the girls to immediately catch up with the group once again. I sighed and caught up with them as well. "Now this is a really interesting statue. What do you notice about it?" Ms. Cheerilee pointed to another statue…but it wasn't like the others… I looked up to the statue… and it instantly brought a chill to pass through me. It was standing up, looking as if it was laughing. I could only stare at it motionless as the girls brought up the description of it. "It's got an eagle claw." Applebloom threw out. "And a lion paw!" Scootaloo added. "And a snake tail!" Sweetie Belle excitedly threw her forelegs around. All the girls seemed happy, despite the eerie mood the statue placed. "This creature is called a draconequus." Ms. Cheerilee added on to the description. "He has the head of a pony and a body made up of all sorts of things. What do you suppose that represents?" As I continued to stare at the statue, my right hoof immediately began shaking. I pulled it up and looked up at it. No…not again… "Confusion!" "Evil!" "Chaos!" I heard the girls answer from behind me, but my hoof kept my attention straight towards it. "It's not chaos, you dodo!" Sweetie Belle argued to Scootaloo. "Don't call me things I don't know the meaning of, and it is too chaos!" Scootaloo counterattacked. "Is not!" "You're both wrong!" Applebloom intervened. They began fighting over the answer but my eyes were glued on to my hoof. Suddenly, something else caught my attention. A darkened spot had emerged on the statue, but vanished as quickly as it appeared. I gave a light and quiet gasp after I saw it. "Actually, in a way, you're all right." Ms. Cheerilee answered, instantly bringing the fighting to an end. "This statue represents 'Discord'…" Another chill invaded me. "…which means a lack of harmony between ponies. In fact, you three have demonstrated discord so well, that you're each going to write me an essay explaining it." The rest of the group laughed. "Now let's go, and I don't want any more fighting." Ms. Cheerilee continued walking, bringing the group with her. However, I stayed behind with my trembling hoof. I was about to look at the statue once again, but Ms. Cheerilee startled me when she called my name. "Alex? Are you coming?" I looked over to her to find her looking at me, a little concerned. "Oh…um…" I walked over to her, trying to hide my shaking hoof as much as possible. "Actually, Ms. Cheerilee… I… I don't feel too well… I think I should go home…" "Oh, no. What's wrong? Do you have a headache? Or does your stomach hurt?" She asked, a little more concerned. "Um… not really… I just really don't feel good." "Oh… then by all means, go ahead and return home. You should get some rest, or maybe you could go visit the doctor." "Thanks, Ms. Cheerilee… are you sure you can go on without me?" "Of course, don't worry about it. You just worry on getting home. I'll be fine." Ms. Cheerilee returned a smile, just like one the flowers had on her cutie mark. "Okay… I guess I'll see you some other time, then?" "Yes. Yes. You should get going before you feel worse." "Okay…bye…" I turned around and began walking out of the sculpture garden. After reaching a certain distance from Canterlot, as I was heading back towards Ponyville, I stopped and looked at my hoof again. It had stopped shaking. I sighed in relief and continued walking towards Ponyville. Why did I react like that when I saw the statue…? Discord… When I arrived at Ponyville, I still had this weird feeling I hate where I feel like there's absolutely no pony around me. I decided to go to Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe seeing my friends will take this feeling off me… I saw Applejack picking corn from a field of corn and placing them on her cart neatly above each other when I walked into Sweet Apple Acres. I felt a little better when I saw her, so I began walking towards her. She spotted me and smiled. "Howdy, Alex!" She exclaimed. "Hey, Applejack…" I responded, reaching up to her. She observed my face. "Somethin' troubling you?" "Well, a little. I think I just needed to get out…maybe breathe in the air here?" Applejack was about to ask me something else, but Rainbow Dash suddenly zoomed above us. "Hey, I didn't tell you to go anywhere!" A storm of pink clouds followed behind her. Brown drops fell upon us. I observed it for a moment. Is this… chocolate milk…? "Rainbow Dash, what's going on with this rain?" Applejack shook her head. "I mean chocolate milk?" Applejack shook her head again. "I mean chocolate milk rain?" Applejack asked very worriedly. "There's crazy weather all over Equestria! Cloudsdale is getting soaked by a major cola storm right now!" Rainbow Dash responded, worrying as well. As Rainbow Dash continued to explain the situation, I began hearing popping noises near me, which revealed the corn field around us transforming into popcorn. How in the…? "But don't worry. I'm not leaving you until I get control of Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash left when the corn in front of us suddenly began popping and bombarding us with popcorn. "Why would you wanna stop this?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing over the popcorn filled area. She stuck her tongue out and slurped the chocolate milk that splashed on her. I grabbed Applejack and pulled her out from the pile of popcorn. We saw Rarity walking towards us, wearing a purple stylish raincoat while she had a fashionable saddle that held an umbrella over her. "Ahem." Rarity cleared her throat. "I heard about your troubles, Applejack, and I came to see if there's anything I can do without getting wet. Or dirty. Or out from under my umbrella…" Suddenly we heard more awkward noises near us. The apples on the trees grew much more weight that they actually caused the trees to lean helplessly to the side. Squirrels jumped on the apples and began eating them all. Applejack spotted Fluttershy near one of the trees with a familiar bunny. "Fluttershy! Do somethin'!" "Now, Angel…" Fluttershy began to softly entreat the bunny. "…you really shouldn't– The bunny's legs suddenly transformed into very long ones and made him about ten feet taller. "No! It's not possible!" More of Fluttershy's bunnies began running through the trees with the same appearance. "I must be seeing things!" We saw Twilight and Spike walk over to all us. Twilight contained a very surprised look on her face as she stared at all the unusual things happen everywhere. She held her hoof up and spoke while keeping her eyes in her book. "Don't worry everypony. I've learned a new spell that'll fix everything." She knelt down and began casting magic with her horn. A bright pink color shot from her horn and engulfed everything in light, blinding us for a moment. She recovered from her flinch and looked to observe if her magic had any effect. Unfortunately, it didn't. Long-legged bunnies continued to run around through the chocolate milk rain as the corn field popped. "My fail-safe spell... failed. What do we do?" "Uh, give up?" Spike suggested. Rarity walked over to them and surprisingly placed her saddle umbrella on Twilight. "Spike, Twilight will come up with something." "Hmm…" Twilight thought for a moment. "…time for plan B. Rainbow, can you corral all those clouds in one corner of the sky?" She asked Rainbow Dash who was still struggling with a candy cotton cloud as she contained many pieces of it on her face. She quickly shook it off her and saluted towards Twilight. Rainbow Dash began flying to catch all the loose cotton candy clouds in the sky. Under one, Pinkie Pie was lying on the ground, happily holding her mouth open for the chocolate milk until Rainbow Dash removed it. She lifted her head up, still having her tongue out and grinning. "Applejack…" Twilight called as Rainbow Dash continued to bring all the cotton candy clouds closer to each other. "I need you to bring those high-strung storm clouds down to Earth." Applejack grabbed a lasso and began twirling it around. She threw it out to the clouds as Rainbow Dash removed herself from being near them. Applejack tightened the rope, causing the clouds to cease dripping chocolate milk. Yet again, Pinkie Pie was under them, chugging the milk down her throat until she noticed that it had stopped. "Hey! What happened?" Nonetheless, Applejack slowly brought the cotton candy clouds down to the ground as they lightly leaked chocolate milk. Twilight was whispering loudly to Fluttershy, although I wasn't able to make out the words. Fluttershy's eyes opened as she looked at the animals around her. "Oh dear. I hope none of the animals see these delicious chocolate-filled cotton candy clouds. I'd hate to have to share them." Fluttershy purposely exaggerated her sentence. "You and me both, sister!" Pinkie Pie, who was munching loudly on the cotton candy clouds that lay on the ground, exclaimed. However, all the animals immediately ran towards the cotton candy clouds and began chomping down on them. "Hey!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed when the animals pushed her away. "And when y'all are done with that, feel free to have some popcorn for dessert!" Applejack announced towards the hungry animals. "You see, Spike?" Twilight said. "You should never give up. There's nothing we can't overcome if we all work together." Spike burped unexpectedly, revealing a letter. Twilight picked up the letter with her magic and read it. She immediately gasped afterwards, concerning us all. "Come on ponies. Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately!" All of us began running towards Canterlot, being my second time today, and headed towards Princess Celestia without question. We rushed through the doors to see Princess Celestia finish her pacing. "Princess Celestia, we came as fast as we could!" Twilight announced as we ran inside. "Thank you, Twilight. Thank you all." Princess Celestia replied in a serious manner. She no longer had the heartwarming smile. Instead, it was replaced by a serious frown with a worried tone. She stood on top of the stairs as we stopped at the bottom. "Is this about the weather?" Twilight asked very quickly. "And the animals' weird behavior? What's happening out there? Why isn't my magic working? Is there– Princess Celestia had raised her hoof, immediately ceasing Twilight's questions. "Follow me." She led us into a very long hallway, heading us towards the large door at the end of it. As we walked with her, we could see stain-glassed windows depicting the history of Equestria. "I've called you here for a matter of great importance." Princess Celestia announced seriously. "It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned. His name... is Discord." Fear instantly instilled upon my heart once again, even causing it to pound a little harder. This made me stop and place my hoof on my chest. I heard Fluttershy suddenly shriek. I turned my head to see her hide behind Twilight as Princess Celestia continued speaking. "Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone." "All right, Princess!" Rainbow Dash cheered, but Princess Celestia continued walking us in an unaffected manner. "I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the elements, the spell has been broken." "No longer connected?" Twilight questioned. Princess Celestia finished leading us towards the room and stopped in front of it. "This is Canterlot Tower, where the Elements are kept inside since all of you recovered them." She formed a determined and serious expression on her face. "I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos." "But why us? Why don't you— "Hey, look!" Pinkie Pie interrupted. "We're famous!" Pinkie Pie pointed towards one of the stain-glassed windows which displayed us defeating Nightmare Moon. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were depicted on the left side while Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were on the right. I was on the middle. We were all using our elements to defeat Nightmare Moon, who was encased in a bubble on the top. "You seven showed the full potential of the elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe. Although Luna and I once wielded the elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord!" The girls looked at each other, worriedly, for a moment. However, Twilight formed a bold look as she responded to Princess Celestia. "Princess Celestia, you can count on— "Hold on a second!" Pinkie Pie cut off Twilight once again, raising her hoof up in the air. "Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!" Twilight looked over to Princess Celestia and smiled. "Don't listen to her, Princess. We'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again." Princess Celestia nodded and turned around to the door. She lowered her head and inserted her horn in the lock of the door, releasing magic and unlocking the door. The door released a bright light blue glow and opened, revealing a decorative chest which presented gems as well. "Ooh." Rarity gazed in awe. "You can keep the Elements. I'll take that case!" "Have no fear, ponies." Princess Celestia encouraged us. "I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord…" Princess Celestia moved the chest towards us and opened it. "…with these!" There was nothing in the chest, causing the girls, even me, to gasp. Princess Celestia suddenly dropped the case in shock as she flinched back in horror. The sound of the chest landing on the ground with no items in it created a very eerie thud that echoed throughout the halls. The halls remained silent as the ponies slowly walked up to the case. "The elements…They're gone!" Twilight announced as she continued to stare at the empty chest. Princess Celestia immediately began pacing worriedly near us. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break! This doesn't make sense!" Suddenly, laughter echoed throughout the halls, causing me to gasp lightly and feel my heart start to pound. "Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" "Discord... Show yourself!" Princess Celestia commanded. That…was Discord…? He responded with a chuckle. I looked at my right hoof. It began shaking, uncontrollably… just like this morning… "Did you miss me, Celestia?" We looked around the halls to try to find out where the voice was coming from but he appeared in one of the stain-glassed windows instead. "I missed you. It's quite lonely being encased in stone…" He spoke as he moved throughout the other windows. "…but you wouldn't know that, would you, because I don't turn ponies into stone." He knocked on Fluttershy's portrait in the window that portrayed us with our elements. "Enough! What have you done with the rest of the Elements of Harmony?" Princess Celestia ordered. "'Rest'? Oh… of course…" He slid slyly over to the window I stood near. "Alex… the one who bears the element of a pure heart…" Chills began invading my body. I quickly sat down and placed my left hoof over my right. "…an element I cannot physically take, can I? But who says, I can't take it in another way?" Though, he couldn't physically touch me, he still managed to strike more fear into me, somehow. I felt as if I began having trouble breathing. Discord slid back into another window. "About your other elements? Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while." He snapped his fingers and caused the elements in the window to disappear. "You'll never get away with this, Discord!" Princess Celestia answered boldly. "Oh, I'd forgotten how grim you can be, Celestia." Discord laid back casually as he seemed unaffected by the threat. "It's really quite boring." "Hey! Nopony insults the Princess!" Rainbow Dash immediately flew over to the window in an aggressive way. Discord vanished from the window, leaving Rainbow Dash to smash herself into it. He reappeared when Rainbow Dash pulled herself off from the window. "Oh, you must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent." "That's right! I'll always be loyal to the Princess!" Rainbow Dash assured. Discord disappeared from the window. "We'll see about that…" "I can't believe we're wasting our time talking to a tacky window." Rarity commented. "The beautiful Rarity, representing the element of generosity, if I'm not mistaken?" Discord responded, reappearing on the window Rarity was in front of. My breathing became worse. I began breathing heavily now, feeling as if all the air in the room was beginning to be sucked out. The shaking of my hoof became fiercer as I could only try to keep my composure. "So you know who we are, big deal." Applejack walked over to Rarity, sounding irritated. Discord enlarged himself on the window. "Oh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack." "You seem to know our strengths, too?" Twilight questioned. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle, and yours is the most powerful and elusive element, magic. Fluttershy's is kindness and Pinkie Pie's is a personal favorite of mine - laughter." Pinkie Pie couldn't stop snickering for some reason, catching Twilight's attention. "Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie began laughing out loud. "He's standing on your head!" She pointed towards the window, presenting Discord dancing on top of Twilight, immaturely. "Stop stalling, Discord!" Princess Celestia exclaimed, shutting Pinkie Pie's laughter. "What have you done with the rest of the Elements of Harmony?" "Oh, so boring, Celestia." He stopped his dancing. "Really? Fine, I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way." He vanished from the window and presented himself from window to window as he spoke... "To retrieve your missing elements just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the elements back where you began." He then switched to the window over to me. "You better hurry too, your precious little 'hero', doesn't look too good here!" He laughed as he alerted the other ponies of my current state. I was struggling so much to breathe in air, that I couldn't even speak. My hoof continued shaking, my heart was pounding, my eyes were closed as they were straining, and I didn't know what to do. "Alex!" Fluttershy announced my name as she raced over to me. Finally, Discord released one last laugh and vanished for the time being. I felt Fluttershy caress me as she tried to somehow help me. Fortunately, my symptoms began fading away. I was now able to breathe and my hoof stopped shaking. My heart returned to its normal rate as I opened my eyes and looked at Fluttershy. She kept her eyes locked on to me. "I'm…I'm okay…" I announced, panting a little. "No! We've got to stop him before he does any more harm to Alex!" Applejack exclaimed after noticing what happened to me. "What do you reckon he meant? Twists and turns and ending back where we started?" "Twists and turns..." Twilight responded as she walked over to the window. "…twists and turns... twists and turns! That's it! I bet Discord hid the elements in the palace labyrinth!" Princess Celestia nodded. "Good luck, my little ponies. The fate of Equestria is in your hooves." "Thanks, Princess. We won't let you down." Twilight replied and looked over to me. "Alex… you stay here…" "What…?" I answered, shocked. "After what just happened to you, I can't let you come with us." "No…!" I slowly stood up, struggling a bit. "I'm coming with you girls!" "But…" "Let him come with you." Princess Celestia told Twilight. "He will be alright. As long as you all are together, you'll be victorious." Twilight sighed, but soon nodded. "Okay, Princess." Twilight looked over to me. "Come on then, Alex." I nodded and was about to run, but Fluttershy kept her hooves on me. "Are you sure you'll be okay, Alex…?" She asked, very concerned. "Yeah… I'm okay. Let's go…" She slowly nodded with hesitation. We commenced our pursuit for the rest of the Elements of Harmony. The girls gasped when they reached the palace labyrinth. It was the maze I saw earlier in the morning… The entrance contained several flags on the front. "W-We have to go in there?" Fluttershy asked, worried. "Nope!" Rainbow Dash stepped forward. "Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!" She presented her wings and began flying upwards, over the labyrinth. "I'll just do a quick flyover and we'll have the Elements in no time." Suddenly, her wings vanished into thin air, causing her to land harshly in front of us. "My wings!" Fluttershy screamed as her wings disappeared as well. After, Twilight's and Rarity's magic horns were removed. "Your horn! My horn! Ahhh!" They screamed to each other." A green ball of light formed in front of us and revealed Discord's true form. He laughed as lightning flashed and thunder boomed around him. I thought I would receive the symptoms like I did back with Princess Celestia… but I didn't… "You–You should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!" He laughed once again, a lot less terrifying now. "Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight demanded. "You'll get them back in good time. I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game: no flying, and no magic." He explained as he slid around us, ensuring we understood clearly. "The first rule?" Rainbow Dash asked, a little confused. "The second rule is everypony has to play or the game is over, and I win. Good luck, everypony!" He laughed once more and vanished. "Never fear, ponies. We have each other!" Twilight ensured to keep us motivated. "Yeah!" Rainbow Dash confidently agreed. "Like Twilight said, there's nothing we can't overcome if we all stick together!" "All right, let's do this!" Twilight announced as we all stood at the entrance to the labyrinth. Twilight stood at my far right with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy in order. I stood right by Fluttershy. Everypony stomped their hoof forward and cheered loudly. "Together!" Suddenly, walls of shrubs appeared to Twilight's right and immediately began separating each of us in the labyrinth, causing the girls to scream. "Stay calm!" Twilight exclaimed. "Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can, and we'll regroup there!" Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie responded to Twilight's command. "Moving out!" "See you in the center." "Yee-haw!" "See you guys there!" However, I could hear Fluttershy panicking on the other side of the wall. "What's that? Who's there? GIRLS!" "Fluttershy, it's alright!" I tried to calm her down. "Just calm down… and listen to my voice." Fluttershy began taking deep breaths and finally spoke calmly. "Okay, Alex…" "I'm sorry I can't be with you… but just head to the middle like Twilight said and we'll all be together again. Okay?" Fluttershy took another deep breath. "Okay, Alex… I'll see you all in the middle…" "That's it. Now, go on ahead. The faster we start, the sooner we can regroup." "Okay!" Fluttershy answered and I could her galloping on her way. I nodded and began sprinting my way through the maze. I continued running until I felt fatigue fall upon me. I lightly slowed to a trot and then to a walk as I panted. After a moment of catching my breath, I heard a howl. It wasn't any kind of howl… it was… I looked at my mark. A wolf's howl… I began walking towards the origins of the howl, but as I walked, the scenery slowly changed. When I entered the part of the maze that the howl originated from, my surroundings were now dark. It was dark with a star-filled sky. There was a large full moon above me. I looked around, confused on how the setting transformed to what it was. "…what happened…?" I asked myself, softly. I spotted a pond near a tree. I slowly walked over to it and looked at the water. I saw my reflection. "Sad, isn't it?" I heard a sudden voice behind me. I quickly turned around and spotted a wolf sitting as it stared at me. "What the…what are you talking about…?" I asked. "Isn't it sad to be the outcast, Alex? Isn't it sad to have no friends? No pony to care about you?" "What…?" I questioned with slight fright. I shook my head and returned a serious look. "I know that's you Discord! Don't play any games!" The wolf laughed. "You are smart, Alex… you ARE smart. But in all seriousness, with intelligence like yours, how can't you see that no pony really cares about you?" "No pony cares about me…?" I began to look away sadly, but then stopped myself and continued my serious expression. "No! The girls do! They're my friends!" "HAH!" The wolf released another laugh. "OH REALLY?" The wolf continued laughing. "Oh, please. Don't make me laugh; you're going to kill me!" I didn't say anything but continued glaring at the wolf. Discord, the wolf, finally stopped laughing and sighed happily. He noticed my expression and then sighed with a frown. "You think they're actually you're friends? They only act like your 'friends' because they pity you for what you are!" "…what…?" "Don't you see, Alex? All this time, they've been using you for their own personal needs. Tell me, Alex. Since the first day you met them, why have you still not managed to smile?" "Well, I…" I couldn't answer that question. "Well, if they were your REAL friends, you surely would have smiled by now!" "T…that's not true… I don't believe you…" "Please, Alex! Turn around! Take a good look at yourself!" I slowly turned and looked at the pond water. The wolf slowly walked towards me and stopped at my side, observing my reflection in the water as well. "Tell me, do you see anything about you that's happy?" I didn't answer but just continued to stare at my reflection… A big mistake… "You know… you and I aren't so different… we're both lone wolves… destined to be alone forever…" "No…" I responded. He looked at me with intrigued eyes. "Don't believe me? Then you must not believe yourself!" He pointed towards the water. "Take a good look at the water, Alex! Oh? What is that on your flank? Tell me, Alex. Please. I'm not sure if what I see is true. C'mon, tell me. What is on your flank?" I analyzed it… "A lone wolf…" I answered, solemnly. "Oh, gosh! A lone wolf! Wow!" "But…but…my friends…" He now sighed in annoyance. "Alex! That's your cutie mark! A lone wolf! You're destined to be a lone wolf! You're special talent is being alone! You aren't meant to have 'friends', you are to be alone!" He did make a point... That was my mark. A lone wolf... alone... "I…I…" "Still don't believe me?" He sighed. "I wished I'd never have to do this but… take another good look in the water." I did and something strange occurred in the pond. It formed ripples to where I saw an image in the water now… I saw myself walking away from Twilight under a dark sky. Wait a minute… this seems familiar… this is… this is the night of the party when I first met the girls! Twilight sighed and walked back to the party. She met up with Applejack who just finished eating some cake. "Oh, hey, Twilight. What happened to the new fella?" Applejack asked. "Eh, he went home I guess." Twilight responded, sounding a little annoyed. "Oh, well." Applejack replied, cheerfully. " So, what you gonna have him do for you, Twilight?" "What?" "What are you going to have him do? I'll see about having him do my applebucking for me…maybe…I'm not sure yet." "We just met him. We can't just go up to him and ask him for all these 'favors' " "Yeah, of course! We just gotta pretend that we're his friends. We'll start slow and move up on from there. Got it?" "Sounds like a plan. I like it!" Applejack chuckled. "Yeah… C'mon, let's go tell the other ponies." Twilight nodded as she smiled and followed Applejack to somewhere else. The image slowly faded away as I could only stare in great disbelief. How…how…how could they do that…? Discord sensed my emotions. "Oh I'm so sorry Alex… but it's the way it's meant to be. You see, even I am a far better friend than they are! I showed you how they really lied to you, how they laughed at you behind your back, how they really weren't generous or kind to you. They were never loyal to you. Thus, they aren't real friends, which then loses the magic of everything you thought was real. So how about it, Alex? Still think they're your friends?" I lowered my head, feeling my hair cover my closed eyes as I felt immediate darkness surround my heart. I remained silent for a moment. "They're not my friends…" I answered coldly. I instantly saw myself transform into a grayish color… but I didn't care. "Spendid!" The surroundings reverted back to its originality. The wolf vanished and out released Discord's true self. "Now that you know the truth… I know a perfect way to get back at those ponies!" I didn't say anything but stare at the ground as my mane continued to hang over my eyes. "How about you join me in ruling Equestria in pure chaos, Alex? We can get rid of those ponies once and for all! And when other ponies see how powerful you stand, no pony will ever want to mess with you again!" He teleported to me and brought out his claw. "Do we have a deal?" Instead of responding, I walked by him, shoving his claw out of the way with my shoulder. He chuckled. "Don't worry about it… you can decide later…" After that, he vanished, leaving me by myself as I reached the other side. An exit formed, revealing Twilight passing by. She suddenly stopped to see that the exit had been uncovered. She looked in and saw me. "Alex!" She rushed over to me. "I'm so glad you're okay! Something is going on with our friends. They're acting very weird, and I don't know what to do. I was hoping you could— "What? Help you?" I answered in an irritated tone, cutting off her sentence. I scoffed. "Yeah, you would like that, wouldn't you?" "Alex…?" She noticed how I was different. However, I walked past her, continuing with the coldness that surrounded me. When I walked out of the area, I saw all the others. They were shaded with gray too. Twilight continued walking, but Rarity noticed her as she stood next to a huge boulder. "Twilight!" Rarity called after Twilight. Twilight looked back and sighed annoyingly. Twilight walked over to the boulder and picked it up. She continued walking as Rarity walked by her side, proudly. As Twilight walked, with the boulder on her back, I could see how much she was having trouble with it. Instead, I turned my head angrily to the front of me and didn't bother asking to help her. She just wants to make herself noticeable… they all do… "Must... find... Rainbow Dash." Twilight grunted through each breath. "As a team... we're unstoppable. Rainbow Dash won't let us down." "Well, looky there." Applejack suddenly announced, no longer having that cheerful and warm tone to her voice… or was it actually the same, but instead, it's the voice I now hear after finding out the truth? "Rainbow Dash is flying away. She's abandonin' us." "Now I know that's a lie." Twilight responded and removed the boulder from her back. After we noticed Rainbow Dash fly away from us and towards the sky, Twilight gasped. "How can it be?" Suddenly the whole maze dissolved towards the ground and left us in a wide, open, and bare crater. "Well, well, well. Somepony broke the 'no wings, no magic' rule." Discord announced, appearing before us. He returned Twilight's and Rarity's horn, giving Fluttershy her wings as well. "Game's over, my little ponies. You didn't find your precious elements." He began taking out an umbrella. "Looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos!" He opened the umbrella upside down. After, he began laughing evilly as thunder cracked and lightning flashed in the sky. Twilight returned a worried expression as her mouth was agape in shock. As Discord continued laughing under the fierce sky, I could only remain seated and turn my head away in sadness…not caring about anything anymore… To be continued…