I was reading one of my comic books when I heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," I called out.
Scootaloo entered the library. "Hey, Spike. Is Twilight around?"
"Not at the moment. Why?"
"I want her opinion on something."
"Why don't you ask me?"
"Okay." Scootaloo pulled out a list. "Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and I are trying to figure out what our next activity should be to find our cutie marks. Which do you think is more awesome: skydiving, ziplining, or fire dancing?"
Oh...it's this episode.
"I would say ziplining," I replied, "because it's safer, but—"
"Great!" Scootaloo rolled the list back up. "I'll let the girls know. Thanks, Spike." She then dashed out of the library.
"Just make sure to go one at a time!" I yelled.
Aside from that moment in the beginning, there was not much else I could do for “The Cutie Mark Chronicles” aside from thanking Rainbow Dash for hatching me.
Today seemed pretty much like a normal day. Twilight and I were organizing the library as usual. To be honest, I couldn’t tell if she spent more time reading the books or reorganizing them.
“Come on, Spike,” Twilight said. “If you’re gonna help me sort these books, then get to it.”
“I’m trying,” I replied. “It’s not easy stacking these when you don’t have a horn or wings. Or when you’re as tall as a filly.”
After our pretentious stacking, Twilight and I headed for Applejack’s farm. Twilight had her nose in yet another book.
“So why are we going to Applejack’s?” I asked. “I thought she bucked enough apples for today.”
“It’s not her apples,” Twilight replied. “Most of her corn is ready to be picked.”
“Wait, she grows crops other than apples?”
“Well, yeah. They just don’t sell as much as the apples, though.”
That’s when something occurred to me.
Why does this feel strangely familiar? It’s like...oh, no!
A low rumbling noise filled our eardrums.
“What was that?” Twilight looked up at the sky. “That can’t be thunder. Rainbow Dash said it wasn’t—”
Twilight’s confusion was interrupted by a weird liquid falling from the sky. The droplets coated the buildings in a thin coat of brown.
“Yikes!” I grabbed Twilight’s book and held it over my head like an umbrella. “Was there a freak accident at the weather factory?! Why is it raining gunk?!”
“Wait.” Twilight stuck out her tongue and tasted the brown liquid. “It’s...chocolate?”
“Chocolate rain? Even Rainbow Dash wouldn’t pull a prank like this.”
“We gotta find the girls! Come on!”
We hurried to Sweet Apple Acres. Just like in the show, the farm was littered with chocolate-soaked popcorn, giant apples that deformed the trees, and rabbits with grotesquely long legs. It was complete chaos, and I knew who was responsible for it.
“Don't worry, everyone!” Twilight read through her book. “I've learned a new spell that'll fix everything.”
Sadly, her magic failed. After casting the spell, the chaos still remained.
“My fail-safe spell...failed!” Twilight rubbed her head. “What do we do?!”
“Don’t you have a Plan B?” I asked.
In fact, she did. Twilight ordered Rainbow to group all the cotton-candy clouds together, Applejack to bring them down to Earth, and Fluttershy to get the animals to eat the chocolate spewing clouds.
“Good job, girls,” I said after their successful plan.
“Thank you, Spike. There's nothing we can't overcome if we all work together,” Twilight proclaimed.
Suddenly, I belched out a scroll. Twilight picked it up and read it. The shocked look on her face told us it wasn’t good news.
“Come on, girls,” Twilight announced. “Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately!”
Then the realization hit me.
“Wait! Twilight! The Elements!” I shouted.
“Princess Celestia has them, Spike. Don't worry. Head back to the library and make sure there isn’t any weird stuff happening there.” Twilight and her friends ran off in a flash.
“That’s not what I...”
But it was too late. The girls were already gone.
Wait. I gotta check to see if the Elements are where I think they are.
I quickly made a break for the library. The entire town was already descending into a misshapen dystopia. Buildings were lifted from their foundations, the hills turned into a giant checkerboard, more of those cotton-chocolate clouds drenched the streets in a torrential downpour, and ponies everywhere were in a frenzy.
Good grief. I feel like a character in a nineties platformer video game.
Eventually, I made it to the library, which was fortunately unfazed by the surrounding chaos. I entered the library and slammed the door behind me.
I checked the shelves until I found the book I was looking for: "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." At least there was one advantage to Twilight’s obsessive organization.
Please, for the love of Celestia, be in here!
I flipped through the pages and breathed a sigh of relief. The Elements of Harmony were sitting right there in the book.
“So if the Elements are here, then that means…”
I dashed to the table and grabbed a quill and parchment. I almost spilled the ink trying to scribble a letter as fast as I could:
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Tell the girls to come back to Twilight's Library. Hurry! I found the Elements of Harmony in the Reference Guide!
Signed,
Spike."
I quickly rolled the scroll up and sent it to Princess Celestia.
I hope the girls get the letter before they enter the maze, and I hope that Celestia doesn't think it's a trick.
I sat down next to the book and patiently waited for a response. Suddenly, a flash of light blinded my eyes.
What stood before me was the most unusual creature of all. He had mismatched limbs, antlers, and wings, a tail of a dragon, and a goat-like head. He was a draconequus, and he was much freakier in the flesh.
“I know who you are,” I said in a determined voice.
“Same with you,” the draconequus replied.
“Discord.”
“David Smith.”
My eyes widened. I haven’t heard that name in a long time. It was the first time someone in the pony world has called me that.
“How...How do you know my…?”
“I know a lot about you, Dave. I know you came from another world, and what you’re trying to do. And I’m here to tell you that it’s not gonna work.”
I grabbed the book with the Elements inside. “You’re not gonna corrupt my mind or steal these Elements, Discord! You can forget about it!”
"I'm not here for the Elements, Dave. I know you’ve seen all the events happening before. Let me ask you something, do you know what a Morton’s fork is?”
“Uh...no?” I kept a firm grip on the book.
“It’s when no matter what choices you’ve made, the outcome in the long run is still the same. Take those gala tickets for example. Last time, Spike rejected the tickets, which resulted in the girls fighting over them. In this reality, you accepted the tickets, however the girls still fought over them. Another example was when you prevented those two colts from going into the forest. The ursa minor still showed up in town thanks to that cockatrice. My point is no matter what you say or do, Dave, the ending will always be the same. Trust me, I have seen it all before, and I did the same thing you did."
“Wait, you’ve already experienced this?”
“Multiple times in fact. Just like you, I tried to make things right. I kept repeating the same timeline over and over and trying to change the outcome for everything. But all of them were almost identical. What you saw in your own show was one of my better attempts, if I’m honest.”
“So you know about Tirek escaping, and you’ll still side with him even though he’ll betray you?”
“As long as I get my magic back.”
“And Starlight changing the future?”
“She’ll still get reformed.”
“What about disguising yourself as Grogar and getting Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis to work with you? The girls in this world weren’t the only ones who were mad at you.”
“That troublesome trio would no longer harm your little ponies.”
“And what if none of those things happen? What if Twilight and the others fail?”
“They won’t fail. No matter what happens, those ponies will always win. You can’t change fate, Dave. Heck, I’ll bet that when you reach the final episode, it’ll play out exactly like the show did.”
I thought about it for a minute, then it occured to me. “I don’t believe you!”
“Oh? Why not?”
“Nice try, Discord. This is one of your mind games! You’re trying to corrupt me! Well, I’m not falling for it! I know I can change the future, and I'll prove it to you!”
“Suit yourself.” Discord looked at his wristwatch, which somehow appeared on his wrist. “Well now, I better be going. I’ve got some chaos to do!”
“You do realize that you’ll be turning to stone soon, right?”
“It’s not like I can surrender unconditionally now. I’m still a villain here, and the girls aren’t going to trust me that easily. Tallyho!”
And just like that, Discord disappeared. I thought about what he said.
I know I can’t change fate, and I know that the girls will win regardless. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make them win in a different way. Trust me, Discord, I’ll be using that fork to my advantage.
Then something flashed across my mind. Was he the one who sent me to this world? If so, what did he do with the old Spike? Is he able to send me back? If he isn’t responsible for my appearance, does he know who is?
My thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open. I looked to see the Mane Six barging in.
“Girls!” I called out. “You’re back! And none of you are grey!”
“Where are the Elements?!” Twilight said. “You said you found them?”
“Right here.” I handed Twilight the book. She opened it to find...
“The Elements! They were here all along!” Twilight called out. The girls were filled with glee.
“Golly, Spike,” Applejack said. “How did ya know the Elements were in here?”
“I was sorting out the last of the books when I noticed the reference guide felt heavier than usual,” I lied. “When I opened it, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Elements. I don’t know how they got here. The Princess sure has weird ways of hiding stuff.”
The girls put on their respective Element with haste.
“Necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, and one big crown!” Twilight called out. “Now, let’s get rid of Discord. Come on!”
I hopped on Twilight’s back. “Onward!”
“Spike?”
“You’ve got a surefire way to take down a crazy villain. There’s no way I’m gonna miss that!”
“Just let ‘im tag along,” Applejack said.
Twilight rolled her eyes as the group galloped out of the library.
“Now we just need to find Discord!” Twilight yelled.
“Where do you think he could be?” Rarity asked.
Suddenly, a light flashed in front of us. The same draconequus appeared mad as a hornet.
“Right there,” I answered bluntly.
“How dare you!” Discord bellowed. “Trying to trick the Lord of Chaos like that!”
“Trick us?” Twilight said. “‘Find the Elements back where you began.’ That was part of your riddle!”
“Yes, but you claimed you’d start at the labyrinth first! You’ve got some nerve double-crossing me like that!”
“It’s a lil’ something called ‘fightin’ fire with fire’!” Applejack shouted. “And now we’ve got the Elements.”
“And who’s to say they’re not fake?” Discord asked calmly. “Are you really gonna trust some whelp who just sent you a letter at the last minute?”
I gasped.
Shoot! I forgot to check if they were real! Oh, no! What if they aren't?!
“That’s enough stalling!” Twilight shouted. “It’s time to defeat you once and for all Discord!”
“Ugh, gag. Fine, go ahead. Try and use your little Elements. Friend me. Just make it quick.” Discord’s throne appeared behind him. “I'm missing some excellent chaos here.”
“Alright, ladies! Let’s show him what friendship can do!” Twilight called out.
“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Pinkie shouted as she drank from one of the chocolate rain clouds. “Okay, now I’m ready!”
I sat next to a nearby floating tree stump and watched as Twilight’s horn glowed. Every one of the girls' necklaces shot out blinding laser beams in all directions. That was a relief.
Yep, they’re real. If only I grabbed some of that popcorn from Applejack’s farm.
Like a rocket launching into space, a rainbow blasted from the heroic group and slammed directly onto Discord. His struggling was made futile by his entire body being encased in stone. He hollered a loud “NOOO!!!” before his head was also turned into granite.
The rainbow arc turned itself into a dome that covered all of Ponyville before expanding ever outward. I watched as the buildings returned to Earth, the grass pierced through the checkerboarded ground, the clouds turned into water instead of cotton candy, and roads paved themselves with dirt instead of soap.
The entire event finished in an instant. What was left was a normal Ponyville, the Mane 6 standing proud, and a shocked Discord statue.
“Good job, girls!” I called out.
“Thanks, Spike!” Pinkie said.
“Did anypony else feel like that was mighty easy?” Applejack asked. “The feller didn’t put up much of a fight.”
“And you’re complaining?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It was because of our Elements of Harmony. No villain can stand a chance against us with these babies on our side!”
Suddenly I burped out a scroll. I still haven’t gotten used to that.
“It’s from the Princess,” I said as I read the scroll. “She wants you back at Canterlot for a celebration!”
We took the train back to Canterlot. By the time we arrived at Celestia’s Castle, there was already a huge crowd waiting for us. We approached Celestia as fanfare blasted across the halls.
“We are gathered here today to once again honor the heroism of these seven friends who stood up to the villain Discord and saved Equestria from eternal chaos.”
The cheers were loud and proud. Celestia unveiled a new glass window showing the Mane 6 defeating Discord. I noticed that I was included in the window. I was in the bottom center holding the Reference Guide above my head.
“Wow, I’m included as well?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes,” Princess Celestia replied. “If it weren’t for you finding the Elements, there would be no telling what might’ve happened.”
I chuckled as I rubbed the back of my head. “Heh, well, I just happened to find them. It was pure luck.”
“And it seems the Mare of Luck has been kind to you today. You deserve the praise just as much as Twilight and her other friends.”
“Thank you.”
The crowd continued to cheer for us. Confetti and streamers rained down on us. I never thought I would be given such admiration. It truly was an excellent day for the girls and me.