I awoke to screams. Those God damn annoying screams. My eyes popped open and I got back on my hoofs. I dispelled the invisibility on my cloak and weapons, putting them on. Scanning the area, my sights landed on Ponyville.
Now I would understand if ponies were screaming because there was a killer on the loose or something of the sort, but that wasn’t the case as far as I could tell. Apparently, the cause was due to a rearrangement of the town. Yes, the ground was redecorated as far as the eye could see. Yes, some of the buildings were levitating. Yes, Town Hall was upside down, but none of that was something to scream bloody murder about. My ears just finished ringing when he appeared.
“Hello Spirit, how are you this lovely morning?” asked Discord, standing against the tree.
“Other than the annoyingly high pitched screams that woke me up, I’m fine,” I answered, sitting down, still looking at the town. “I see you’ve been busy.”
“Thank you for noticing. I call it the Chaos Capital of the world. What do you think?” he asked rather eagerly, sounding excited.
“Well, as long as no one got too seriously hurt by the environment itself during the process, I’d say it looks like a good source of entertainment, but I bet that’s exactly what you were going for.” I look over to him as saw him snap his chair into existence right next to me, taking a seat.
“I won’t deny it.” killing the happy mood is not something I wanted to do, but it was time to get down to business.
“I’m surprised neither the princesses or the element bearers are chasing you right now.”
“Thanks to yours truly.” he gestured to himself.
“You didn’t hurt anyone, did you?” I asked, shooting him a glare.
“No, of course not.”
“Alright, let's hear it. How did you pull it off?” I asked with a smile returning to my face.
“Unfortunately it was very simple and boring. Just took away the princesses horns and locked them up, along with reversing the personalities of Twilight’s friends, making them not want to fight.” he sighed.
“You’re right, that is boing.” then I remembered. “Hey, Discord. I just thought of something.” he gave me a curious glance. “Now that you’re free, we’re officially enemies now. Aren’t we?” his reaction told me that he didn’t think about it either.
“I guess you’re right. Too bad about that, you would have made a great pal.” he stood up to his full height. “So long, for now, I have some chaos to spread.” and with a snap of his eagle claw, he vanished. Well shit, looks like I have some work to do. I took off in a gallop to the now Chaos Capital.
__
Upon arriving, I stopped to catch my breath and think. I have to restore a sense of order if I want to even attempt to take back the place. I might even need to find some help. I thought back on what Discord said. If Discord didn’t lie or leave anything out, he didn’t do anything to Twilight. Better go find her. I dashed down the marketplace but got distracted by something, causing me to stop. I was in front of Sugar Cube Corner, looking through the storefront window when I saw a gray Pinkie Pie is a major asshole to everyone. So I went in to see what’s up.
“Hello Pinkie, you’re a little different today. Anything happen?” I asked as a pinkish gray asshole of an equine noticed me stroll in.
“Look who’s here. What do you want?” At least she’s straight to the point now. She didn’t move from behind the counter, so I just took her in my magical aura and levitated her with me. “Hey! What are you-” I tuned her out. Unfortunately, I think I might need this one at the moment. Though she wouldn’t stop taking. After I went back outside, Pinke pike in tow, stopped and levitated her in front of me.
“Listen, if your talking starts to give me a headache, I’ll set you on fire, freeze you, thaw you out, then I’ll slam you against every building I pass.” that got her to shut up. “Good girl, you still know what’s good for your health…...somewhat.” I added, remembering the fact that all she eats is sweets. I resumed my trot to Twilight’s library, Pinkie still in tow. Maybe Twilight will know how to fix what Discord did to her.
I was still passing through the marketplace when I saw Apple Jack. Like Pinkie, she was also gray and being an asshole. She was making fun of some fillies with lies so painfully obvious that they would even make Discord cringe. She didn’t notice me yet, so I took the chance to talk to Pinkie. So I levitated her in front of me before speaking.
“So, I’m considering giving you a little wiggle room, but first I need to know if you are willing to follow me till I’m done with you.” she nodded. “Good, but just so you know, if I have to hunt you down you’ll learn what real pain is.” I released her and she fell in behind me. “Good, we just have to get this one before moving on.” I gestured to Apple Jack as I spoke.
“Would you like some….assistance?” Pinkie asked with the grin of the devil.
“Oh, looking for some fun?”
“Hell yeah.” Interesting, didn’t know ponies knew the name hell. She must have heard me say it.
“Okay, if she refuses, then sure, go crazy.” she nodded.
We walked over to the orange-gray mare after the fillies she was speaking to ran away crying. If fillies can’t see lies like that a mile away, they might be beyond help. “Hey, AJ! Remember me?” I called, getting her attention. She turned to face me and Pinkie.
“Spirit? Weren’t cha in Canterlot?” she asked, looking confused.
“That’s none of your business right now. Right now, you should be more worried about not pissing me off.” she was about to speak, but I continued with another question. “Tell me, how would you like to be incinerated?” she smirked.
“Don’t bluff with me, I know that-” I interrupted her by casting an illusion on her hat, making it appear that it turned to ash. Her maw dropped.
“Continue, please. What were you going to say?” I taunted, giving her my own smirk. She began to shake. Pinkie looked disappointed, knowing that she won't have the chance to be set loose on Apple Jack.
“What do you want?” she asked, sounding defeated.
“Good girl. Now, I feel like I might need you. You are to come with me until I no longer need your services. Got that?” she nodded, a tear forming in her eye. “Oh, and about your hat…” I dispelled the illusion, making it look like I fixed it. “Sorry, but I needed to get your attention. Let's go.” we proceeded down the last street to Twilights.
Upon reaching the door, I knocked and waited. AJ and Pinkie started to complain, though I’m not sure why. “Just remember, what I said weren’t threats. A threat implies that I won’t do what I said. The difference is that I will.” they both shut up and Twilight opened the door.
“Spirit, w-” she started to say but stopped when she saw my two…..followers.
“Twili, I know what Discord did.”
“You do? How?”
“Let us in first, then I’ll explain.” she started to look weary of me.
“How do I know it’s you and not Discord?” Are you serious? I sighed.
“You mean other than the fact that a disguise isn’t exactly his style? How about this? The first night I was here, instead of sleeping here, I chose to sleep under a tree just off the edge of town while letting you think I was in an inn.” she started to look hopeful. I didn’t notice that she had a grayish color to her too until she started to regain her lavender color. Fucking Discord.
“Alright, when I asked you why, what reasoning did you give me?”
“Because I didn’t want to intrude on the happy lifestyle you and Spike shared.” as I finished, I was surprised with a hug. I heard her sniffle and I returned the embrace. “There now. Now is not the time, so let’s go inside.” breaking the embrace, she backed off.
“Come on in, please.” she led us inside and I took a seat on the couch, joined by Twilight. Pinkie and AJ joined after some hesitation as well. “ So, why are you two here?” Twilight asked the pair.
“He made us.” answered AJ. Twilight gave me a concerned look.
“Yeah, it’s about Discord. He told me that he altered their personalities. So if you find the right spell, you should be able to reverse it. I would help but I have business to tend to.” Twilight looked worried. I think she might know that I’m still hiding things from her.
“What are you doing to do?”
“You don’t need to-”
“NO!” she interrupted. “You are not going to put yourself in danger.” Shit, can she read minds? NA! Though I need to tell her any way I suppose.
“Twilight,” I began, my voice soft and gentle as to not give the wrong impression. “What I’m going to do is something I have no choice but to do. Please, don’t worry about me. You have yourself to worry about, as well as Spike. Tend to what you have before anything else. Right now, that would be a home and friends. Will you do that for me?” She hesitated, then nodded slowly as if she was forcing herself to. “Good. I have to leave now. Goodby.” I got off the couch.
“What about you? You’re also one of my friends. Right?” She looked like she was about to cry, and it broke my heart. I really didn’t want to answer that.
“Let’s not make this any harder than it has to be.” I left her, heading for the door, nearly crying myself.
As I went through the door, I saw Discord stanking in the road. “Are you ready?” he asked, his grin being that of the devil. I nodded.
“Better get this out of the way.”
“Are you sure? I think you forgot to say your farewells to Spike too.” He’s right.
“Alright, give me a few minutes.” I turned and re-enter. “Twilight, is Spike-” I was interrupted by the roof coming down on everyone. It happened so fast that I shouldn’t react fast enough to teleport out. There was a sharp pain and everything went dark.
When I regained consciousness, I felt stiffer than ever. I wasn't able to open my eyes. Fuck! I would have shouted it, but I was unable to open my maw. It felt like my entire body was restrained, pinned to the ground. On top of it all, my horn ached worse than when I first woke up in the public hospital in Canterlot. However, I was still able to hear, I heard what sounded like rocks being thrown around, along with someone complaining, I think. After a few minutes, I was unburied. Apparently, I was covered in rubble. Why the- then I remembered what happened. Oh. upon looking around, I found who uncovered me.
“Spike?” I asked the little drake. “Nevermind. How’s everyone else” as I asked this, I also noticed that the place was on fire. Shit! Not good.
“Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie have already made it out. We still have to get Twilight though.” Spike pointed to Twilight’s location as he said her name. Twilight was buried in rubble too, but not as bad as I was. Definitely not good. Think!
“Alright, Spike, I’ll get Twilight. I need you to spread word that the town is now under orders to evacuate immediately. It doesn’t matter where they go as long as it’s not here. After that, you need to leave too.” I knew that dragons were immune to fire, but I had no doubt that Twilight would at least try to kill me if I let him stick around.
“Alright, will do.” and he scurried off, no questions asked. He must be in a mental panic. I rushed over to Twilight to start removing the rubble. I only managed to remove the smaller bits though because of how hurt I got myself from the collapse. I hesitated when I noticed the fire closing in. of course, when you think things couldn’t get worse, life steps in and claims you as it’s bitch.
Then I felt a droplet of water hit my horn as it began to rain a downpour over the area and put out the fire. That couldn’t have happened naturally. I looked up to see a pegasus jumping on a dark cloud. When the fire was out. He glided down to me.
“Dude, there’s an evacuation order. Leave, now.” his voice was scruffy, probably due to running out of breath. He was a young cerulean pinto pegasus with a white muzzle and had legs that looked like paint splashes, his eyes were emerald green, he also had a short crop marine mane and long tail.
“I know. I’m the one who ordered it. You are the one who needs to leave…..um, who are you?”
“Mix-up.”
“Right. Mix-up, do me a favor. Make sure the town is empty. I can’t leave without Twilight.” looking back at her, I winced. Damn, going to have to use magic. My horn still hurt like hell, but I was out of options.
“The town’s already empty. You two are the last ones.”
“Then go,” I didn’t give up. I have to stay determined. I began trying to teleport her out, but the pain was making it difficult to focus at all. In fact, trying to teleport her was making the pain worse, almost unbearable. “If she’s the last one, then I can focus on her.” I refuse to leave her behind when she needs help the most.
“What gives you the authority to order an evacuation anyway?” Are you fucking kidding me? Is he a dumbass?
“A few things. If the fact that the town is consumed in chaos magic doesn't convince you, maybe this will.” I stopped to show him my pendant. I don’t know what I was thinking to expect him to know what it is, but to my surprise he did.
“A representative of the crown?!” Close enough.
“I don’t know if the word has gotten out yet, but the princesses are gone, so that means I’m in charge now.” I said, playing along with what he just said. “So leave!” I shouted before returning to Twilight.
He refused and stayed, but I didn’t pay any more attention to him. I tried and tried again to save Twilight, but failed. Eventually, my magic got dangerously low and I was forced to stop.
“Come on,” Mix-up insisted. “If we go now we could come back with help. Everypony would listen to you. You’re the next thing to a leader we have, a hero even.” I paused, looking down at the unconscious purple unicorn mare.
“Hero?” I asked softly. I felt tears building up in my eyes. “I’m no hero. No more than the average soul. I was just at the right place at the right time.” I sighed. “I know what I must do and it ain’t either favorable or pretty. Now, I must ask you to make sure everypony is safe.”
“No, I won’t leave you behind. “ I lit up my horn and levitated my pendant onto him. “Sir?”
“NOW GO!” I shouted, lighting up my horn in a threatening manner. He nodded and flew off as fast as he could. “And godspeed.” I mumbled.
“Spirit.” I heard a voice say softly. I turned my attention back to Twilight.
“Twilight, hold on. Please!” tears finally breaking out of their watery prison.
“I’ll be fine.” I heard her breath. Just know that she’s still alive was enough to give me hope. Using whatever magic I had left to spare, I managed to teleport Twilight out from under the debris. She didn’t have the strength to get up. “What happened?”
“The roof collapsed on us.” her eyes widened, looking as if she just remembered something. “Sorry, but now that you’re safe, I have to go. When you’ve recovered, leave Ponyville. You’ll know when it’s safe to return.”
“Wait, we could just get Celestia’s help and-” she stopped when she saw me shaking my head.
“We can’t. I know that this isn’t what you want to hear, but both she and Luna are gone. Don’t worry though, they’ll be back when I’m done.” I didn’t like lying to her, but it is for her best interest. I’m not saying it’s not true, but I’m not saying that it is. “So just do as I said.” she looked like she was about to cry, so I gave her one last smile. “Hey, what’s with the tears? You and everypony else is safe.” again another possible lie.
“You say that, but what about you?” I saw her desperate eyes.
“Well, we both know I’m not exactly a pony, and I still have unfinished business.” I paused. “I’m afraid this is where we must part.” thinking that this might be the last time I see her felt like my heart was stabbed with a knife from the inside. This is why I was trying to avoid getting too close to anyone.
She looked like she had more to say, but fell unconscious before she could. Better that way, now she can’t try anything stupid and recover. I decided to leave her a few words. Fortunately, the stairs were still accessible and the fire wasn’t anywhere upstairs. I went up to her room, got a quill and parchment from her desk, and started to scribble down my message. After letting the ink dry, I folded the note in half, took it with me back downstairs and tucked it under one of Twilight’s hoofs.
“I guess this is goodbye.” I muttered. I turned and left out the front door. Talking off in a gallop, I yelled: “GERONIMO!!”
Spirit's Memo
Twilight's P.O.V
Waking up, the last thing I could remember was Spirit’s face and how pained it looked. Getting up, I felt how sore my body really was, but at least it wasn’t as bad as it was before. I scanned around to see if Spirit was still around, but he was gone.
“He left already? When I see him again I’ll-” I paused as I was distracted by a feeling from under my hoof. Looking down, I saw that my hoof rested on a neatly folded parchment. Executing a levitation spell, I levitated it off the floor, unfolded it, and began to read.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
Hopefully, you’ve fully recovered by the time you read this. There’s no doubt in my mind that you are just filled to the brim with questions. Well, sorry to tell you this, but I think it’s better that you don’t know the answer to most of them, unfortunately though, I know that you already know enough to piece it together. Yes, when I think back on it, I know you entered my dream during my coma, so we both saw this coming. So I’ll tell you. As you already know, the cause of all of this is the spirit of chaos, Discord. Remember when I had those dreams when I stayed with you? I bet it’s all coming together in your head right now, as you are reading this. I know you’ve told me you don’t want to hear it, but I’ll like to close up another secret between us. Less weight on my shoulders then. The reason I was brought into Equestria was to fight Discord. So don’t come looking for me. Don’t worry about Spike either. Knowing him, after I told him to evacuate, he probably chose to go to Canterlot. Now, things get a little heavier. Reality can be cruel, even to the fairest. So even if everypony, wants a happy ending, that doesn’t mean we’re going to get it. I would be lying if I told you that there’s a good chance that I’ll make it. I hope you can accept it as I have. Also, I just wanted to say that you were fantastic. Strange pony gets teleported out of nowhere in the middle of your home, almost kills one of your friends out of instinct, and you still helped him. You were bloody fantastic. And you know what? So was I.
The last bit was unreadable, smeared with some sort of fluid. Was he crying when he wrote this? Why am I even asking, of course he was. This sort of thing would be hard or even unbearable for anypony to accept.
I still couldn’t accept it. I can’t accept anypony saying that their only reason for being alive is to knowingly walk to their fate. I have to do something to help. I tossed the note in some random direction and bolted out the front door.