//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Switchy-Witchy Stone // by PurpleWonderPower //------------------------------// Chapter 1 "It's been ages since we've visited the castle," Twilight Sparkle said, as she, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Spike walked down the soft mossy ground of the Everfree Forest, "I've really missed its library." "I want to play the organ again!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, happily bouncing along the road with them. "And I still have some tapestries to hang!" squealed Rarity, "Oh, I can't wait for you all to see them in place! They'll look simply divine!" "Me and Dash have a bet on," said Applejack, "Whoever can walk through the whole castle and remember to avoid all the traps, wins. If Dash wins, I have to make her a week's supply of cider free of charge. WhenI win, Dash does all my chores for a week." "If you win, AJ," corrected Rainbow Dash, "And you'll be the one supplying me with cider, thanks!" She sighed dreamily and licked her lips at the thought of it. "Well, you won't have long to wait," said Twilight, "There's the castle now." They reached the end of the trees and spotted the Castle of the Two Sisters on the grass, beside the huge cavern that led to the Tree of Harmony. "Two whole hours of pure reading bliss!" said Twilight, dreamily, looking round at the shelves as they opened the library doors and walked in, "All those books! So many left to read!" "Ohoho, if it isn't Princess Twilight and her pals!" a familiar voice sounded, "To what do I owe the pleasure?" The Mane 6 and Spike looked over to where the voice had come from to see Discord sitting against a pile of fallen books, deeply engrossed in a book called Chaos Magic And Its Implications. "Discord!" beamed Fluttershy, "What are you doing here?" "Oh, just doing a bit of light reading," said the draconequus, lazily, turning the book to the next page, "Didn't expect to see you girls here. Oh, I found something that might interest you, Twilight," he said, reaching for a book, "Here." He tossed her the book and she caught it with her magic. Her eyes widened as she read the title: Star Swirl the Bearded's Knowledge of Ancient Equestrian Relics. Twilight's jaw dropped! "Star Swirl the Bearded's Knowledge of Ancient Equestrian Relics!" exclaimed Twilight in delight, "OhmygoshohmygoshohmyGOSH! Thanks, Discord! Come on, Spike!" She grabbed her dragon friend with her magic and galloped over to one of the reading chairs, "You've got some notes to take! Hee hee hee!" "I still have my tapestries to hang," added Rarity, heading out after them. "Applejack and I are gonna go and watch Applejack fall into traps," added Rainbow Dash, cheerfully, fluttering out the door, "The cider is mine! I just know it!" "Not if I have anythin' to say about it!" declared Applejack, galloping out after Rainbow Dash. "And I have an organ to play!" declared Pinkie Pie, spiritedly. "HANG ON, ORGAN!" she yelled, whizzing out of the door, "I'M COMING FOR YOUUUUUUUU!" "Well, I guess that just leaves you and me, Fluttershy," said Discord, snapping his fingers. With a flash of light, they were both sitting at an extremely fancy tea table, and Discord was dressed in his pitch-black dinner jacket, complete with the twirly moustache. The table was laid with a hot teapot, two teacups with saucers, and a tray of delicious-looking cupcakes with different coloured icing for each one. "Care for a some tea?" asked Discord, in a very posh accent. He picked up the teapot and Fluttershy's teacup, turned it upside down and poured the tea up from the teapot into it. Fluttershy giggled! "Yes please." ... Meanwhile, Rarity strode into the castle hallways, levitating her saddleback behind her. Opening it up, the unicorn levitated one of her beautifully folded tapestries out and hung it up against the wall. She gazed at it, proudly. One half was a beautiful sea-blue, like the morning sky, and the other half was a deep indigo, with stars dotted here and there, and right in the middle was sewed Equestria's symbol: the two princesses circling around the sun and the moon. "Oh, it's simply divine!" sighed Rarity, fanning herself. She moved onto another wall and took out two smaller tapestries from her bag. The first was deep black, studded with sapphires and amethysts. The moon shone above the landscape and tiny stars were dotted around. At the top there was the symbol of Princess Luna. The second was a lovely peach colour, with a rising sun on the horizon, casting its rays over the land, and topazes and rubies were sewed into it. At the top was the symbol of Princess Celestia. Rarity levitated them both onto the wall and straightened them out, feeling very proud of herself. "Fabulous!" she remarked, "Fabulous if I do say so myself!" ... "OK," declared Rainbow Dash, "This is it! If either of us falls into a trap, the other wins!" "Well I'm not fallin' into any traps!" declared Applejack, "I'll finally be able to relax while watchin' you try and plough a field and buck apples for a week." "Or I'll be watching you make me a ton of cider while I relax," corrected Rainbow Dash. "I guess we'll find out!" replied Applejack, "Unless you're too afraid!" "Afraid?" repeated Rainbow Dash, "Perish the thought!" She trotted down the corridor, keeping a sharp lookout for all the traps they knew. Applejack followed, avoiding all the stone hooves holding torches. She knew which of those activated traps. As the approached the staircase, Rainbow Dash stopped suddenly. "You, uh, go ahead, Applejack, I've just got...something in my hoof," Rainbow Dash said, innocently, pretending to pick something out of her hoof. "Alright," answered Applejack, trotting down the staircase. Rainbow Dash watched intently as the orange pony headed down, right towards the trick step near the bottom of the staircase. She got closer and Rainbow Dash's face split into a wide grin! But before Applejack reached the trick step, she took a leap and landed on the carpet at the bottom of the staircase. Rainbow Dash's face fell. "Thought I wouldn't remember to jump the trick step, Dash?" said Applejack, smirking. Rainbow Dash scowled and fluttered down the staircase after Applejack. There was a sudden click as she landed on the carpet at the bottom. Realizing in an instant that this was another trap, she and Applejack immediately leapt aside and flattened themselves against the wall, a millisecond before dozens of needle-sharp arrows whizzed past where they had just been standing! "That was close," said Rainbow Dash, exhaling. "N-not that I was scared or anything," she added, hurriedly. "Well, me neither," said Applejack. Suddenly, a loud intimidating organ sound echoed from below them! On that one chord, the wall gave way, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash fell down into another trap! The floor beneath Discord and Fluttershy's table swivelled right down, dropping them both into a hole beneath the floor! A trapdoor opened beneath Rarity's feet, and she dropped right down, screaming! Twilight and Spike heard the scream, but before they could do anything, the floor beneath their feet dropped too! All seven of them fell down their own holes and all dropped into a large metal cage! Then there was a clink from above them and the cage dropped! Everypony screamed, then the floor opened up and the cage fell right through the ceiling of the organ room! The cage landed on the floor with an almighty BANG! and everypony saw Pinkie Pie at the organ, playing to her heart's content. "Pinkie!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, crossly. Hearing Rainbow Dash's voice, the pink pony stopped playing the organ and looked round to see all her best friends trapped in a cage. "Hey you guys!" she beamed, "Looks like the organ still works great! Isn't it just super duper fun!?" Discord snapped his fingers and the cage vanished in a flash of light. "What in the world was that?" he said, looking up through the hole the cage had fallen through. "The organ keys control all the traps in this castle," said Twilight, standing up and shaking out her mane, "We all once spent a night in this castle, where Pinkie played the organ all night long and we fell into traps like there was no tomorrow." "Wow," mused Discord, approvingly, "That sounds—" "Completely and utterly terrifying!?" exclaimed Fluttershy, grabbing herself and shuddering as she remembered that night. "I was going to say "chaotic," but that works too," Discord said, patting Fluttershy on the head. A little while later, once Rarity had hung all her tapestries, Twilight had read all the books she needed and Pinkie Pie had boomed on the organ to her heart's content, (Rainbow Dash and Applejack had eventually abandoned their bet, due to the fact that both of them knew the Castle and all its traps back to front) they all went down to the cave below the Castle to look at the Tree of Harmony. "Seems like only yesterday you six were using these little trinkets to imprison me permanently in stone," said Discord, ruffling Fluttershy's mane affectionately as they all looked at the Tree of Harmony. "This might sound a little weird to y'all," said Applejack, "But I kinda miss 'em." "What do you mean?" asked Twilight, "They're still here. We can visit them any time we like." "I know," said Applejack, "But I miss actually usin' them an' all. Remember when we first discovered them and used them to beat Nightmare Moon? Hoo-ee, was that excitin'!" "It was pretty awesome," agreed Rainbow Dash. "You never know," said Twilight, "Maybe one day we'll use them again." "We'll have to find some incredibly-absolutely-completely-and-utterly evil supervillain to plunge all of Equestria into eternal disaster first!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, "Think about it! Evil reigns supreme! Equestria blown to smithereens! Everypony DOOOOOOOMED FOREVER! And then, hey, what's that? It's Pinkie Pie and her super-duper friends come to save the day! YAAAAAAAAAAY!" She whipped out her party cannon and blasted a huge explosion of confetti and streamers all over the others! "Wouldn't that be FUN!?" squealed Pinkie Pie! Twilight shook some confetti out of her mane. "Yes, Pinkie," she said, smiling amusedly, "It would." "Oh, but that wasn't enough confetti!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, stuffing her cannon full again, "I can do it again!" As she got ready to blast them all with confetti for a second time, they all braced themselves! Not wanting to experience Pinkie's confetti explosion again, Discord quickly snapped his fingers, and his hands vanished from his wrists, reappeared beside the cannon and quickly turned it round to face Pinkie Pie. It exploded in her face, with a huge bang of brightly coloured confetti! Everypony laughed! "Good one, Discord!" laughed Rainbow Dash! "Thanks," replied Discord, his hands reappearing on his wrists. Pinkie Pie spat out a mouthful of confetti. She looked a little annoyed at first, but then bounced back up with her usual goofy smile on her face. "Wow!" she squealed, shaking confetti out of her mane, "That was fun!" She jumped up onto one of the nearby rocks and used her mane to polish her party cannon. But as she did so, there was a strange noise, like gravel being scraped across stone, and the rock she had sat on began to slide down into the ground! She gave a yelp and jumped off it! There was another gravelly noise and a section of the wall detached from the rest of the cave and ascended up into the ceiling, revealing a hole in the wall with cold stone steps going down. "Ooh!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, jumping off the rock, "A secret passage! How fun!" She bounced into the hole, trilling a tune. "Pinkie, wait!" exclaimed Twilight, "You don't know what might be down—" There was suddenly a loud scream, followed by a series of slipping noises and then a loud smack! "Pinkie Pie!" everypony exclaimed, in horror, and all ran into the hole! Suddenly, as they ran, the ground got considerably steeper and everypony's feet slipped from under them and hurtled towards the bottom of the slide! They all screamed, but then the slide ended abruptly, and everypony landed in a heap at the bottom. "That was fun!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, who was sitting a few metres away from them. "Pinkie Pie!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, scrambling up and running over, "Are you OK?" "Absotutely!" declared Pinkie Pie, jumping up and shaking out her mane, which instantly sproinged back into its usual bouncy shape. "Where are we?" wondered Twilight, sitting up and smoothing down her ruffled mane. Everypony got up and looked around. They were inside a round cave, a little bit larger than the late Golden Oak Library. "I don't care," said Rarity, squeamishly, looking at the dirt on the floor, "All I care is that we get out immediately." Spike brushed himself off and took a look up the hole they had just slid through. "Wow," he said, leaning on a large crag of rock poking out of the wall as he looked up, "It sure looks deeper from the bottom." Suddenly, the crag of rock he was leaning on jolted down like a lever, activating another trap! There was a loud crack! as the ground beneath Discord and Twilight's hooves split in two, and the pair instantly dropped through the hole! "Aaah!" cried the others! With a rather painful landing, Discord smacked onto a stone surface! He gave a SPLURK! of pain as Twilight landed right on top of him. "Sorry!" apologized Twilight. "Now that," said Discord between gritted teeth, "Really hurt." He levitated Twilight off him with his magic, and brushed himself off. Suddenly, a bright silver glow lit up from behind them. They both turned round. They were inside another wide stone cavern, probably somewhere underneath the Castle of the Two Sisters. The place looked long-forgotten; the cold stone walls were caked with moss and lichen, and puddles of water were dotted here and there. But at the very back of the cavern was where the silver glow was coming from. Twilight and Discord came closer to see what it was. Standing at the back of the cavern, was an ancient stone pedestal, which looked like it had been standing there for centuries. Its hard rock surface was cracked slightly, and the moss and lichen growing on it seemed to be the only thing keeping it from crumbling apart into dust. And sitting on top of the pedestal was a glowing silver gem about the same size and shape as the mysterious chest Twilight had gotten from the Tree of Harmony a year or so ago, that had released the Rainbow Light and created Twilight's castle. "What is that?" breathed Twilight, as she approached the stone. "I have no idea," answered Discord, following her over. Twilight slowly reached out and touched the stone on its silver surface. Suddenly, as if triggered by her hoof, it lit up in a blaze of white light! Magical sparkles fizzed around it, as if it were warming up to explode! "Whoah!" exclaimed Twilight! She tried to back away, but she couldn't! Her hoof was stuck to the stone's surface! She gave a yelp and tried to pull it off! "Aah!" she exclaimed, trying to pull her hoof away, "My hoof's stuck!" Discord grabbed Twilight's hoof and tried to pull it off the stone, but as he did, his lion paw pushed against its surface, and became stuck too! They both tried desperately to get free, but their hands were stuck fast! Suddenly, two beams of bright white light zapped out of the stone, one hitting Twilight and one hitting Discord! Twilight gave a panicked shriek and they both tried desperately to free their hands! Then, as the white light from the stone engulfed them, a bright magenta glow suddenly lit up around Twilight, and Discord a deep blue! "What's happening!?" screamed Twilight! The pink light around Twilight drained out of her, gathering in an orb above her head! The blue light around Discord did the same! Then, with the velocity of two bullets, the orbs zapped down towards the other one, the pink into Discord and the blue into Twilight! As the orbs zapped into them, the light from the stone faded away, and Twilight and Discord's hoof and paw detached from it. They both fell backwards onto the stone floor, and looked up with an expression of shock on their faces. "What," gasped Twilight, "Was that!?"