Chapter 8: Confessions
Ryan's Car
"So can you please tell me why you're so attached to Rainbow Dash?" Carl asked as Ryan drove down the road, his eyes looking straight ahead to avoid the accusing glare of Carl.
Carl was never the most diligent person, especially with schoolwork and finishing things that he starts, such as books. He still had yet to read past page 100 of "To Kill a Mockingbird" even though he promised himself that he'd finish it, but he was keen on finding and answer to this question he had for his friend.
"What are you talking about she's the same element as me," Ryan said, "Besides, she's my favorite out of the mane six. You've knew that before they came into our world."
Carl rolled his eyes and leaned forward to look at Ryan's face from a closer distance. Even while Ryan's face wasn't facing Carl head-on, it was all too clear that he was blushing.
Two and two came together in Carl's mind and his jaw dropped in shock as it hit him like a freight train.
"Oh my God you love her."
"No..shut..shut up." Ryan stuttered nervously, like a kid who had just been caught being aroused during class.
"Dude, she's a cartoon pony, you can't be in love with her. It's so freaking un-natural." Carl said, trying to forget the similar feelings that he had for Twilight the night before.
"You think I don't know that? Why do you think it's so hard for me to admit that I love her? I don't know why but I do. When I look into her eyes, I just..." Ryan sighed before he continued, "When I watched the show, I'd become depressed because when it ended I was reminded that she was just fiction. And now that she's here, living and breathing, with those beautiful eyes and that "stand by your side no matter what" personality...I can't help but feel...attracted to her."
Carl shook his head in a disapproving way.
"Dude, seek help." Carl said flatly as Ryan just brushed him off. Carl then sighed, "Besides, you've got to understand the chance that she has the same feelings for you is like a million to one." Carl turned his attention back to outside, watching as they went past the local park, now pitch-black with the exception of the soccer field, which has a game going on and the huge, towering lights overhead to illuminate the field.
He was so transfixed that he didn't hear Ryan say, "Then there's still a chance."
Carl's Room
"So you're saying that my brother is the Element of Magic?" Lisa asked in shock as she talked with Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were sitting next to Anna and talking to her about animals, parties and clothes. Actually, scratch that, Pinkie Pie was talking while Fluttershy mostly listened.
Lisa laughed, "Okay, you've got the wrong kid. Carl can't be the element of magic."
"Actually, he is." Twilight said.
"But, he's so dumb and, well, ordinary."
Twilight chuckled at Lisa's obvious attempts to put down her brother. "Well, sometimes those who seem the most ordinary have the most unique destiny."
Lisa nodded before she turned to Rainbow Dash and pointed, "And you."
Rainbow Dash looked up at Lisa expectantly.
"Is it true?"
Rainbow Dash gave Lisa a look of confusion, "Huh? Is what true?"
"That you like...mares."
"Well of course I like mares, I'm friends with a bunch of them." Rainbow Dash scoffed but Lisa chuckled.
"No I don't mean like friends, I mean are you attracted to them? Romantically."
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped in shock as the girl asked her such a bizarre question, like she was stunned such a question would come up in conversation at all. She then heard muffled laughter nearby coming from Applejack and Rarity; both of them had their hooves over their mouths, trying to stifle their laughter. Twilight just looked surprised. Not as surprised as Rainbow Dash, but surprised nonetheless.
"Wait...what? No! I'm not attracted to mares! Who said that?"
"A lot of people on the internet," Lisa laughed, "and a lot of bronies."
"But...but Carl and Ryan never mentioned that." Rainbow Dash said as her face turned red in a mix of anger and pure embarrassment. Applejack and Rarity were now on the verge of tears from laughing so hard.
"Oh my, that is simply uproarious." Rarity said through her giggles.
"Oh my, that's just great." Applejack laughed, face red from laughing so much.
"Why would they say that about me?" Rainbow Dash asked Lisa, a hint of sadness in her voice that either wasn't noticed by Lisa, or was ignored.
"Let's see," Lisa began, putting her hand to her chin, "your mane and tail the same color as the flag for the gay community, your mane is cut shorter and most other mares, your voice is raspier than most mares and you are into more boyish things, like sports, instead of girly things like shopping and dresses."
Rainbow Dash was now on the verge of tears, completely humiliated by the accusations that were being pinned to her. Well, maybe not accusations, but labels, labels that weren't true and made Rainbow Dash feel like she was being stereotyped.
Lisa smiled demonically at the scene. Rainbow Dash was never one of her favorite characters, in fact her brash nature often got on her nerves, ironically she wasn't any more humble than the cyan mare she was making fun of at the moment. Regardless, she just took enjoyment in making fun of the pony that happened to be Anna's favorite.
Applejack and Rarity laughed, not noticing how upset Rainbow Dash was, but at the same time not realizing how far they were taking the joke.
Twilight went over to her, "Rainbow, are you okay?"
Rainbow Dash nodded, "I'm fine, I mean I know I'm not gay."
"How do we know ya ain't lying?" Applejack asked with a mocking tone.
"Well, you're the element of honesty, you tell me." Rainbow Dash snapped back, her face becoming even redder as she felt a fire rise.
"You could be lying to yourself, so Applejack wouldn't be able to tell." Lisa teased, also not realizing how she was taking it too far.
"I am not!"
"And how do you know?" Lisa asked, leaning down to Rainbow Dash's level with a cocky smirk on her face that would rival the cocky smile of the mare she was currently berating.
That's when Rainbow Dash reached the boiling point and snapped.
"BECAUSE RYAN IS A BOY AND I LIKE HIM!" she shouted before her eyes shot open in fear, realizing what she just said. Tears began to fill her eyes and she burst out of the room and into the bathroom across the hall. Luckily Lauren was in her bedroom at this point, watching television and unknowing of all that was happening just down the hall.
Rainbow Dash shut the door and began to sob, her back pressed against the door and her head buried in her hooves as she cried into them.
"I'm a freak..." Rainbow Dash sobbed, "I'm a freak."
Back in Carl's room, there was pure silence. Anna shot Lisa a dirty look before she got up to go after Rainbow Dash, along with most of the other girls. Twilight started to the door, but looked back angrily at Lisa, "You took that way to far Lisa."
Lisa looked down, feeling terrible about what she did.
After she left, only Applejack, Rarity and Lisa remained in the room, all feeling bad about how they treated Rainbow Dash.
Especially Applejack, who was now conflicted between keeping her promise to Ryan to not tell Rainbow Dash about his feelings, and breaking it to tell Rainbow Dash so she felt better.
Mr. Courtie's Magic Shop
James was busy sweeping up the floor of the shop before it closed for the night. He was exhausted and every inch of his body was screaming at him to go home and sleep, but his mind remembered his parents and Patrick. Naturally, he thought "fuck that" before he happily continued on to find tasks to do.
Besides, he had to wait for Carl and Ryan regardless, might as well be overly productive. He was working when he heard footsteps behind him followed by a kind, old voice.
"You know if you keep sweeping this long every night you'll leave me with nothing but the stick of the broom."
James chuckled and turned to see the gentle, old face of Mr. Courtie. He was wearing casual clothing, a t-shirt and jeans, and had a warm smile on his face, "I know, just making sure the floor is as clean as I can make it."
James put the broom against the wall and walked over to the back of the store to grab his street clothes. It was so annoying how Mr. Courtie had him wear a uniform for such a small proprietorship, but he never questioned it. After all, he really liked Mr. Courtie, even if he was a bit eccentric.
"I know that's not the only reason you do that, come on. Tell me the truth James."
James took his uniform vest off. "The truth is that, I'm perfectly fine and dandy like caramel candy."
James grimaced at the painfully cheesy line he just said. He then tossed the vest to Mr. Courtie, who caught it.
He looked down at the vest and smiled before looking back up at James, "You know I can tell when you're lying."
"Does your "magic" help you with that?" James said with a snarky smile.
Mr. Courtie just chuckled in response, "Ah mocking my passion I see. I expect nothing less from you, James my boy. Nothing less."
"Glad to see I've left a mark on your mind." James said, shutting his locker and starting towards the front to wait for Carl and Ryan. "Anyway, I'm going to wait here until Carl and Ryan pick me up."
Mr. Courtie nodded, but his face showed a quick flash of remorse, before he went back to the storage room. James waited for another few minutes when the bright headlights of Ryan's car flashed brightly into his eyes, temporarily blinding him until the car was turned off.
A few seconds later, Carl and Ryan walked into the store and James glared at them.
"Jesus Christ Ryan, turn your damn brights off when parking. I almost went blind." James said as he rubbed his eyes a bit more.
"That would be a shame." Ryan muttered sarcastically.
"You ready to head out?" Carl asked. James wiped his nose on his sleeve and nodded.
"Yeah let's go," James placed the broom against the wall and turned his head towards the back of the store, "See you tomorrow Mr. Courtie!"
"Good-bye James!" Mr. Courtie shouted back.
Carl sighed, feeling like he should probably say hello to Mr. Courtie, even if he really hadn't spoken to him in years. He turned to Ryan and James.
"Hang on you two I'm going to say hi. I'll be right back." With that, he walked towards the back of the store. He passed all sorts of magical objects that woke a sense of nostalgia from the depths of his soul. He saw a black top hat that Mr. Courtie often pulled corn snakes out of, as he felt that, "rabbits were too clichéd". He also passed some older books that the old man told him had spells in it from medieval times, but to this day Carl just assumed they were filled with nonsense.
He finally went into the storage room to see Mr. Courtie sitting at his desk, writing some stuff down on a piece of paper. Carl cleared his throat, which caused the elderly man to turn around and smile.
"Carl!" he quickly got up and ran over to Carl, wrapping his arms around him in a tight bear hug. "How are you, my boy?"
"Fine, Mr. Courtie." He said as the hug was broken. Mr. Courtie smiled and looked him over.
"My how you've grown."
"It's been a while since I've worked here."
"Five to be exact!" Mr. Courtie said.
"Yeah." Carl said, rubbing the back of his head nervously, somewhat uncomfortable being around the old man, especially after the manner in which he quit his job all those years ago.
Mr. Courtie snapped his fingers, just then remembering something. "Oh, that reminds me! I've got something to show you."
With that, he walked over to a table and picked up a black disc, which he brought over to Carl.
"What's that?" asked Carl.
Mr. Courtie smiled, "Just watch." He closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating with great intensity until a blue aura began to emit itself from the disc. The disc then began to hover above Mr. Courtie's hand, still engulfed in the blue aura.
Carl was stunned at the sight, but he didn't show it. He wouldn't give Mr. Courtie the satisfaction of knowing he suspended his disbelief. So, all Carl did was give a small, unimpressed shrug.
"So how are you doing that?" he asked flatly. "Strings? Magnets?"
Mr. Courtie gave Carl his typical grin "Magic, what else?"
Carl rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Mr. Courtie, you know that you can quit this bullshit charade, I'm seventeen."
"But Carl, magic can exist and it does. You just have to have faith in it." Mr. Courtie said in his typical, giddy manner.
Carl was now getting furious, memories of working with this man, and the pain it caused him flooded his mind like water on a sinking ship.
"I had faith in it five years ago, and what the hell did that accomplish?" Carl hissed.
Mr. Courtie's expression fell from a smile into an almost depressed look. Carl turned and started to walk out, not turning around even as Mr. Courtie began to call after him. He didn't care; he was seething.
How dare this man try to tell him that bullshit idea that magic existed? I mean, he knew that Twilight and Rarity could use magic since they were unicorns, but as far as humans on Earth? Eh...no, just no.
Carl made his way to the front of the store. "Come on guys let's get going."
Carl then noticed that Ryan was staring at something that was hanging up on the wall, some sort of poster. James was standing near him, looking annoyed.
"What are you two doing?"
James rolled his eyes and pointed to Ryan, "Ask Mr. Inquisitive over here." Carl walked over to Ryan and looked at what he was looking at. When he saw it, his jaw dropped.
It was a picture of two, animated unicorns that clearly were from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. One unicorn was Twilight, but the other was one that none of the boys recognized. It had a light blue coat and white mane. Its cutie mark appeared to be a magic wand with a yellow spark coming off of it.
But something was strange about it, it looked almost too well drawn to be fan-art, and that's saying something considering all of the brilliant fan-art that existed. It looked as if one of the animators from the show actually went out of his way to create this unique character for this picture, and then drew in Twilight Sparkle for good measure.
Ryan looked over at Mr. Courtie, who had just appeared in the room.
"Mr. Courtie, where did you get this My Little Pony picture?"
Mr. Courtie suddenly looked nervous, like the three boys were asking him something that he didn't want them to know.
"I just got it online."
"Who is that pony there?" Carl asked, pointing to the blue one. "Not Twilight, the blue one."
"Oh Celestia knows I have no idea."
This grabbed all three boys' attention, even James, who was until then trying to hide the fact that he knew about the show.
"Don't you mean Lord knows?" Carl said, taking a step towards Mr. Courtie, whose eyes darted beck and forth for a second when Carl was right in his face, "Are you a brony?"
"No." Mr. Courtie said with a sigh.
"Why do you have this picture?" Carl asked.
"Are you a brony Mr. Courtie?" Ryan asked with a small, excited smile.
Mr. Courtie looked at Ryan and shook his head.
He then let out a sigh and shook his head, "Carl, I think it's time to come clean. That unicorn in the picture is named Bright Illusion. He is Twilight's uncle and...the owner of this magic shop"
"Wait! I thought you owned this shop." James asked, clearly confused as hell.
Mr. Courtie looked at James and gave him a small nod, "Exactly."
All three of the boys looked at Mr. Courtie in shock once the word left Mr. Courtie's lips.
Seeing their surprised faces and knowing that explanations were in order, Mr. Courtie gestured for the three boys to follow him into the back room of his shop. He started to walk back, the three boys slowly following him, not exactly sure of what to make about this news.
Understandably, Ryan and Carl were more inclined to believe Mr. Courtie's story based on everything that they've already seen.
James, however, thought the old man had lost his mind. As he went to the back room, he hoped that he could somehow bring him back to reality.
Once in the back, Mr. Courtie slowly sat down at his desk and turned to face the boys with a very serious look on his face. Much more serious than any of the three teens were used to from this generally giddy and light-hearted old man that now claimed to be Twilight Sparkle's uncle.
Both Carl and Ryan's faces were much more relaxed than James' since they believed Mr. Courtie, and the initial shock of this revelation had since passed. But they still had a glimmer of surprise in their expression.
"So where to begin?" he asked, thinking for a moment, "Have you met Twilight yet Carl?"
"Yeah, yesterday I ran into her at a party." Carl answered.
Mr. Courtie nodded and then turned to Ryan, "You aren't questioning any of this too much. Are you one of the other five elements?"
Ryan nodded, "Yeah, I'm loyalty."
"Well that only leaves four more." Mr. Courtie said with a small nod, as if to say that they were off to a good start. This was all James could take before he burst out laughing. Everyone turned to look at him making an ass out of himself right in the middle of the room.
"Are you three serious?" he asked through his laughter, "Christ I thought organized religion was bad, but this...this is psychotic! Saying six cartoon ponies are somehow in this universe and have met you? That you are elements of harmony, and to top it all off, Mr. Courtie, you say you're Twilight Sparkle's uncle?" James almost fell to the ground from laughing as hard as he was. He clutched his stomach as tears rolled down his eyes.
"I take it you aren't buying any of this." Mr. Courtie said with a sarcastic smile.
James' laughter lessened and once he regained his breath he looked Mr. Courtie in the eyes, "Pardon my French sir, but no shit. I have a hard enough time believing that God exists, something that millions of people all over the world do. Yet you expect me to believe this tripe about cartoon ponies being real?"
"Actually, James, that's the reason why you need to come back to my house now, you're the element of kindness." Carl stated.
Once again, James burst out into even more hysterics, sounding more and more like a laugh track for a funny show that finally managed to make a decent joke, "Fuck, it's like I'm the only sane one in a room full of mental patients."
"You're an atheist, aren't you James?" Mr. Courtie asked for confirmation.
James looked at him inquisitively and shook his head, "Agnostic."
"Ah agnostic wow, big risk you've taken there." Mr. Courtie said with a sarcastic smile, "you've put yourself on a pedestal as being too "smart" to believe in God, yet you're too much of a coward to completely dismiss his existence."
"What business is it of yours what I believe?" James asked. He was shocked at how Mr. Courtie suddenly changed from the sweet old man that he knew, into a crazy, condescending jerk.
"I'm just wondering why you make such a commitment to this being impossible while still being open about the existence of God. Why can't both be possible? Is it because God threatens to punish you in the afterlife if you reject his existence, while you don't feel cartoon characters are a threat? Why not accept that some things are beyond your reasoning?"
James shook his head in disbelief, "This is lunacy."
"No it isn't."
"It's bullshit. What you're claiming is that you, a man I've known for years, is a cartoon unicorn from a made-up world." James then leaned forward, eyes like daggers trying to penetrate Mr. Courtie's soul, "It's. Not. Possible."
"You know, just because say something is impossible, doesn't make it so." Mr. Courtie said with a small, smug smile that he knew would eat James up on the inside.
James was silent for a moment before he chuckled. He had reached the peak of his patience.
"Fine, you want me to believe? Go ahead and show me your magic, oh mighty unicorn of Equestria, Uncle of Twilight Sparkle." he hissed the last bit with a completely sarcastic tongue which, coupled with his snarky smile, gave him the appearance of a very condescending individual.
Mr. Courtie smiled, "With pleasure."
James rolled his eyes, while both Carl and Ryan looked at Mr. Courtie with anxiety as he became nervous about what was going to happen to them.
A few seconds later the room began to shake, some of the furniture rattled, yet nothing fell over. In fact, the only things that seemed to be wobbling at all were the three teenagers.
This got the attention of all three boys. They nervously looked at their surroundings before staring back over at Mr. Courtie, worry in their eyes. Not a word was uttered between them, but they all knew that the old magician was behind this, if not by his sly smile, then by the rest of his appearance.
Mr. Courtie's eyes were engulfed in a pale, blue glow. His hands and forehead had an aura of the same color surrounding them as well. Just then, the room began to rotate around; the sound of a crank echoed throughout the entire shop as if someone was cranking a pulley that was causing the room to spin.
As the room rolled around, the three boys legs became like jelly. One by one, they each lost their balance and fell to the floor, letting out screams as they hit the ground.
They continued to slide around erratically as the floor moved up, slowly becoming the ceiling, while the ceiling became the new floor.
Amazingly, they were the only things in the room that were moving or falling over. Even with the room rotating as it was, Mr. Courtie still remained in his seat and none of the furniture budged in the slightest. Not even the items precariously placed on the shelves on the walls moved an inch. Only the three teenage boys rolled around on the floor, trying to find something, anything, to grab a hold of, were rolling around like they were in some sort of amusement park ride.
Ryan grabbed onto a table-leg, and Carl grabbed a different leg on that same table and hung on for dear life. James scrambled around until he laid eyes on a large, wooden cross that looked like it came straight out of the dark ages, right across the room from Mr. Courtie. He lunged at it and took hold just as he was lifted into the air. All three boys were now hanging from furniture that was on the floor, which was now technically the ceiling.
They looked down at the "ceiling" and back up to an upside-down Mr. Courtie, who was still sitting in his chair as if nothing happened. Even his hair wasn't misplaced in the slightest, it was like someone took a picture of him and simply rotated the image so that it was upside-down.
James was directly above a fan. He stared down at it in terror, bringing his knees up as way to hoist himself up to a safer position.
Now, Mr. Courtie's shop had a pretty high ceiling, so falling from where the boys were would have resulted in definite injury, maybe not death, but a broken arm or leg wasn't out of the realm of impossibility. But the fan had a decorative design that ended in a silver spike-shaped feature that normally would have been pointed at the ground. But right now, it was pointing straight up, directly at the scared James as he dangled from the cross, clutching it so hard his nails began to scratch the wood.
Meanwhile, Mr. Courtie, still in his chair, engulfed in the blue aura, smiled and looked directly into James' eyes.
"Is that proof enough for your rational mind?" Mr. Courtie taunted.
"Parlor tricks." James said as he began to breathe rapidly.
"Parlor tricks?" Mr. Courtie said as he rubbed his chin and he pointed at the cross that James held onto. "I must say, I love the irony of you holding onto that cross.."
"Shut up!" James shouted, adjusting himself so his arms were wrapped around the cross and he was hanging on as tightly as he possible could. "You didn't prove anything!"
"Even after all this," Mr. Courtie gestured to the flipped room and the dangling boys, 'you don't believe in magic?"
"No." James said defiantly, but he also had a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
Mr. Courtie smiled and gave a small shrug, "Fantastic."
Mr. Courtie raised his glowing hand, which was no longer a hand, rather it was a light blue hoof, and pointed to the cross that James was holding onto. The cross jiggled a bit and was suddenly released of its hold on the "floor" and James fell towards the fan that was below him, screaming as the spike neared him.
Just before his chest hit the spike, he stopped in mid-air, eyes wide and mouth agape as the spike was literally three inches below his chest. He then took notice of what had stopped his descent, a blue aura that had surrounded his body. Slowly, the aura began to lift James up and away from the fan. He was then rotated so that he was floating in a near standing position, except his feet were behind him and his knees were bent, as if her were kneeling in a church to pray.
Mr. Courtie looked at James as he began to change. The transformation started with his hands and feet, and moved up to his head. In a matter of moments, the unicorn that was in the picture; Bright Illusion, was now sitting in the chair that Mr. Courtie had occupied not seconds before. Bright sat there in a human-like position that Lyra would, his blue eyes focused on James. A smile was plastered on his muzzle, but it wasn't one of joy, it was one of calm arrogance, one that showed that he knew James couldn't reason his way out of this.
"Let me ask you," He said as the room began to rotate back to its normal position, "do you believe in magic and cartoon ponies now?"
James couldn't answer, as he was too frightened, flabbergasted, stupefied, stunned, shocked...really any synonym for scared or baffled, at the moment to do so.
Once the room returned to its normal state, Mr. Courtie gently lowered the terrified James to the floor. James quickly scrambled back behind Carl and Ryan, eyes wide in fear as he looked directly at Bright Illusion as if he was some sort of demonic creature instead of a pony that just looked like it was ripped straight from the world Lauren Faust imagined.
Bright Illusion stood up and walked over to Carl and gave him a smile, "I was assigned by Princess Celestia to make sure you never lost your faith in magic. That is why you worked for me when you were younger." he then looked downcast and let out a deep sigh, "I know that I failed with that, but I hope that you will be able to find it again."
Carl slowly nodded before Ryan stepped forward. "So, you've always known? About us being the Elements?"
"Not quite. I knew there were six but I only knew about Carl being one of them. I didn't know about you," he pointed at Ryan, "or James until tonight."
Bright then turned to Carl and took a small step towards him, "Carl, it is important that you realize that I am one of the only allies you have in this town. Discord he has control over many people and his power over them is great."
"He...he can't possibly control all of that...can he?" James asked with a small gulp, slowly regaining his ability to speak, though he was still in a state of disbelief that any realist would be in.
"Think about it, which person in Wilmont can easily cause mass chaos. Who has control of the police, school, and the local government? Who can manipulate people with ease? Who has caused chaos in the form of increased crime from anarchist gangs and wants to "change the system". Who had his opponent killed in an "accident" at a Diner last night?"
Carl's eyes went wide, "You mean the Mayor? Mayor Drocsid?"
"Discord, yes."
Carl thought for a second and his eyes went wide. "Wait, his name is Discord backwards." Carl said and Bright Illusion nodded. He laughed a bit at this, "Wow, I'm surprised none of us bronies noticed that. That is such an unoriginal name."
"But I'm not a brony." James muttered defiantly, though there was the unmistakable tone of uncertainty in his voice as well. An uncertainty that only someone ashamed to admit he watched the show would have.
This statement earned him a glare from both Ryan and Carl.
"Dude, please, we know damn well you watch the show." Carl muttered.
"Do not."
"Now James, don't tell me you forget all of those times you've talked about watching the show with your little cousin." Bright Illusion said with a sly smile, enjoying all of the embarrassment he was causing for the black-haired realist, "How Fluttershy always manages to make you feel like you are one half-moon cookie away from needing your foot to be amputated."
James sighed and looked down, "Fine, you got me. Okay, I watch the show. Satisfied?"
"See, now was that so bad?" Bright asked with a smile.
James, who was blushing from embarrassment, his breathing slightly erratic from working himself up over his boss pulling him out of the brony closet against his will, gave a small shrug like it was no big deal.
But Bright just chuckled to himself, knowing that James was lying through his teeth, too prideful to admit he was humiliated.
Bright Illusion turned back to Carl, "Discord's plan is to cause anarchy to rise in Wilmont, with the hope that it will spread. The recession hit Wilmont hard two years ago and people were desperate. Discord knew how to manipulate the anger that people had with the economy through inspirational speeches that cause people to start blaming others. The fire was always burning; he just added gasoline to it."
"He knew that humans are not innocent like ponies. That humanity is corrupted by the reality we live in. Each one of us lacks faith in the six elements that Equestrians, namely my niece and her friends, believe in and cherish every day. Discord knew this and that's why he chose this world to rebuild his strength, because it was more prone to violence, chaos, and discontent. "
"The anarchist gangs that have been appearing; they're his work. His cronies work for him, mostly in positions that the local government controls, such as the police and schools. It doesn't matter how well you think you know everyone in this town, no one is trustworthy."
"No one?" Carl asked.
Bright Illusion shook his head, "No one, only the other Elements." He said, looking over at James, who was still shocked.
"So I'm an Element too?" James asked, "Didn't Carl say that?"
"Yes, he said you're kindness, no?" Bright looked at Carl who nodded, "which means that you still have to find generosity, honesty and laughter, and you must do it fast."
Carl, realizing the urgency of the situation, turned to Ryan and James, "Guys, we need to go." Just before they left, Bright Illusion stopped them by putting his hoof out in front of them.
"Wait one more thing." With that, he closed his eyes and a familiar blue aura appeared, in the air in front of him. James suddenly got scared, but his worry subsided as the aura's brightness dimmed and a symbol appeared. The symbol was a black letter "D" with a draconequus wrapped around it like a snake.
Bright Illusion pointed to it, "If anyone has this tattoo on their hand, know that their allegiance is to Discord, do not trust them."
Slowly, the symbol faded until it disappeared, and Bright Illusion turned back into his human form of Mr. Courtie. He gave the boys his kind smile.
Carl nodded and turned to his friends, "Okay guys, let's go."
The three started out when Carl stopped. As Ryan and James headed towards Ryan's car, Carl went back to Mr. Courtie and hugged him, "I'm sorry for holding a grudge against you for years." He muttered before breaking off. Mr. Courtie gave Carl his warm smile and nodded.
"Don't worry about it." Mr. Courtie then broke the hug and looked down at Carl. He smiled and placed both of his hands onto his shoulder, "Protect my niece and her friends, Carl. Not just from physical harm, but mental. This world is far darker than Equestria."
Carl nodded, "I know that. And yes I'll protect them all with my life."
Mr. Courtie nodded with a small smile as Carl headed out to join James and Ryan outside. The old man sighed and walked over to the photo of himself and Twilight, both smiling happily all those years ago, the violet mare much younger than she was now. He took the picture and held it out in front of him, a look of longing in his eyes.
"Twilight, you're such a powerful unicorn. I wonder if she's still as innocent as she was back then." he thought with a sigh, knowledge of our world making him concerned for her state of mind, as well as her friends. He slowly placed the picture back on the shelf and walked towards the back of the store, his eyes looking down at his hand as the familiar blue aura he had used earlier danced around his finger-tips.
City Hall
After the chaotic day in the that Wilmont City Hall had, which Mayor Drocsid just relished in, Brett was somewhat relieved when the place finally turned back into its empty, desolate, boring self that it did every night once all of the workers and politicians left. At this time, Brett was still in his office as he conducted serious business for Drocsid. He was sitting at his desk and pulled out his cell phone.
Now that he had the information they needed from Lawrence and his two idiot lackeys, it was time to take action. Brett knew the Mayor wouldn't want them to simply be brought in and killed, he wanted to bring them in so he could get under their skin and mess with their minds. It was his love after all, being the God of Chaos in disguise and whatnot.
Brett punched the numbers "9-1-1" into his cell phone and held it up to his ear, waiting for someone at the police station to pick up the phone.
After a few rings, a commanding, masculine voice came over the other end. <i>"Yes Obscure?"</i>
Brett smiled and cleared his throat, "A Black 2007 Tahoe. Tell your men to find it, Shaded."
The voice, belonging to someone, or possibly somepony, named Shaded, chuckled on the other end.
"Copy that. Hail Discord."
"Hail Discord." Brett muttered with a deadpan tone that completely contradicted the joy he felt at the moment. He never was one to express joy, though. He was more reserved with that emotion.
Rage, on the other hand, was a different story as Lawrence found out earlier when Brett introduced him to the wall of Mayor Drocsid's office.
Brett pressed "end", tossed his phone onto the desk in front of him, and leaned back into his chair. He looked down at his hand, and concentrated on it until it turned into a black hoof. He twirled some of his aura around it, feeling its energy course through his veins, giving him a feeling of strength and power that he so loved. In fact, Brett to strength and power was similar to Mayor to chaos.
"Discordia et rex." He muttered as his hoof reverted back into a hand and the aura disappeared.