//------------------------------// // The End of Chaos Ch. 2 Manehattan // Story: The Shadows Saga // by Tagshadow //------------------------------// Tag looked around, they were on the edge of a forest. Lop stopped beside him. “What in Celestia’s name are we doing?” He demanded angrily. McCutchen sighed from in front of them. “I don’t know, we’re just hoping that something will happen soon.” He explained. Pilot landed beside McCutchen. “Sir, We’ve spotted a large town straight ahead.” He reported. “Do we know what town it is?” He asked. “It would appear to be Manehattan.” Pilot answered. “We’ll make for them then.” McCutchen decided. “Maybe they’ll know where Canterlot is.” --- The large group of pirate ponies stood outside the wooden gate to Manehattan. “…Do we knock?” Brook asked looking upward at the guard towers. “Only one way to find out…” Tag mumbled as he trotted up to the door and punched it with his hoof a few times. I hope they’re friendly. Tag thought as he waited. "We’re just a bunch of pirates walking across Equestria during one of the greatest catastrophes ever, as well as a creature the likes of which nopony has ever seen before. Nothing could ever go wrong with this." Book said sarcastically. Tag cast a quick glance back to Fiandu, who appeared to be tense and ready. Up in one of the guard towers a pony anxiously put his head up. The pirates below grouped protectively around McCutchen. A bow appeared over the battlement. “W-what do you want!?” The voice shouted downwards. Tag looked back at McCutchen. “We need to speak to your guard captain!” McCutchen called to the guard. Said guard disappeared below the wall. The group of ponies waited… and waited. “I think he left.” Brook sighed. As she spoke a large grinding noise came from the doors, they opened slowly to reveal a large amount of guard ponies in armour pointing bows at the pirates. In the middle stood a large, muscular pegasus with a spikey red and yellow mane. Beside him was the guard that had been at the top of the tower. “Is he the one?” The pegasus asked the guard. “Y-yes sir.” He answered shakily. The pegasus stalked forward until his face was inches away from Tag’s. “You have a lot of nerve coming here.” He growled. Tag backed up. “Me? What did I do?” Tag asked. The pegasus followed Tag’s movement. “You’re the one that killed Steel Mail.” He hissed. “Steel Mail?” Tag asked looking around nervously; the guards still had their bows pointed at the pirates. “One of my guards, you killed him in a back alley not too long ago.” The pegasus explained. Tag heard voices behind him. “Didn’t think he had it in him.” Pilot muttered. “I don’t think you understand what happened!” Tag stuttered. The pegasus’s expression didn’t change. “Under Discord’s control, right?” He asked. Tag nodded. “I was.” Tag said. The pegasus looked into his eyes, examining his expression for a moment. He spun around and stalked off. “Come this way.” He called over his shoulder. Tag looked back to his friends and shrugged tensely. They all followed the pegasus into the town. Once inside the pegasus, presumably the captain, led the pirates to the guards’ barracks. They all squeezed inside the moderately sized building. The pegasus motioned to a table with three chairs around it. “Tag, you sit. Your captain will join us too.” Tag and McCutchen sat at two of the chairs, the pegasus sat across from then. “My name is Thunder.” He started. “I’m the captain of the Manehattan Guard.” McCutchen nodded his head respectfully. “Good to meet you, Thunder. I’m Captain McCutchen.” “Right. Before we discuss your reason here I must speak to Tag.” “How do you know my name…sir?” Tag asked nervously. “Your brother served as my head archer. He was a good pony and I understand yours and his circumstances. But I’ll tell you now; if anything is amiss about your behavior I won’t hesitate to put you down.” Tag gulped. “Yes sir.” He said. Thunder nodded. “Good, now. Why are you here?” He demanded. “We’re on our way to Canterlot. But the land has been… mixed around a little but and we’re lost.” McCutchen explained. Thunder nodded again. “I realize that had happened. I assume that it has something to do with Discord? The last we heard from Canterlot he had broken free.” “Yes, he’s started to change the weather, the sun and moon, and he’s changed the land around now.” Tag filled in. “I had sent patrols to scout out the new area and we have found Canterlot.” Thunder said. “Can you direct us there?” McCutchen asked. Thunder nodded. “Canterlot has been seen west of here about a half a day away.” He answered pointing with his hoof at the west wall. McCutchen stood up from his seat. “Thank you. If that is all I believe we can be out of your mane now.” Thunder stood up quickly and put his hoof on McCutchen’s shoulder. “The it is supposedly almost nighttime according to the clock. I think it would be a better idea if you stayed the night. For the sake of your crew.” McCutchen thought for a moment. “Are you sure? We have quite a few bodies.” He asked. Thunder nodded. “Most certainly.” He answered. “We’ll take you up on your offer then. Thank you.” McCutchen said gratefully. ---- Tag sat outside the barracks looking up at the dark night sky. Then the bright shiny sun. I killed somepony while I was under Discord’s control? He asked himself. To be fair, you killed Tac too. Book answered. I mean I killed somepony that didn’t deserve it. Tag restated. You killed Iron Hoof. Not making me feel better. Tag thought with a frown. “Can’t sleep?” Asked a voice beside Tag causing him to jump. Turning around he could see Thunder standing next to him. “It’s just that… I don’t really know what happened to me on my way to Canterlot. I didn’t know that I had killed somepony.” He explained sullenly. Thunder sat beside him. “I don’t blame you for it.” He said. “I just wasn’t sure if Tor had managed to save you or not.” “He did.” Tag said. “And now I have to save him.” Thunder turned to him. “Oh?” “He’s been captured, along with the entire town of Ponyville. I don’t know what Discord is doing to him or my friends. I can only hope that they’re safe… and intact” “You can do it.” Thunder said confidently. “What makes you say that?” Tag asked looking at the pegasus. “When he told me the story of you two brothers, he spoke of how you had confidence when he doubted himself. He said that you always seemed to have a purpose behind you that drove you forward. Tor was always hard to impress, he was steely at best in the guard. But you managed to impress him the first day. There’s something special about you, he knows it, the Princesses know it and I know it.” Thunder lectured Tag. “There IS something special about Tor and I. But it isn’t a good thing.” Tag said quietly. “Either way you should go to sleep. The princesses will need you to be strong tomorrow.” ---- Tor awoke to the sound of a hoof beating cruelly on the steel bars of his cell. Looking up from his corner he could see Tac grinning evilly on the other side, Dumo was strapped to his back still. “What do you want?” Tor demanded weakly. “Just wanted to say goodbye before I head for Canterlot. I’m sure that by the time I get back there won’t be much left of you.” The monotone voice said. Tor bared his teeth. “Somepony will stop you. Somehow.” He said. Tac did his panting laugh again. “You tried, it didn’t work. And I doubt your brother will be able to do anything after I destroy what’s left of the Royal Guard.” Tor gulped audibly. Tac turned around and stalked out of the room laughing all the while. ---- Tor sat in his bubble. The room around him was the same as it was the last time he had been there, supposedly 24 hours ago. Discord was sitting on his throne trying to keep a straight face as he awaited the arrival of the prisoner. Discord sighed and glanced at Tor. “I have no idea what could be keeping them!” He exclaimed innocently. Tor looked back at Discord with distain. Before he could say anything the doors burst open and a pink pony bounced in merrily followed by a chain that trailed in the dust. Two shadows ran into the room trying desperately to gain control of Pinkie. She eventually came to a stop in front of Discord and looked up at him wide-eyed. “Hiya Discord!” She said happily and waved at him. The shadows had come to a halt at a respectful, and safe, distance behind Pinkie. Discord waved back at her slowly. “Hi.” He said. Pinkie tilted her head to one side. “What’cha you been doing since we saw you?” She asked, almost casually. Discord stood up and approached her, as if he didn’t know how to handle the situation He stooped so that he was face to face with Pinkie. “Do you even know what’s happening right now?” He asked seriously. Pinkie blinked. “Of course silly! I just want to know how your day… or night is going!” She explained elatedly. Discord sighed. “Fine, my day is going fine. Do you know why I’ve brought you here?” He asked trying to retain some of the atmosphere. Pinkie looked off into space for a moment. “Nope!” She said remaining happy. Discord groaned out loud. “Oh, on my creators' bones and inside whatever blackened spirit is left!” He cried. “Just get with the program already!” He banged his fist on her head causing her to fall over, pupils going in circles. Tor felt his mind being pulled in her direction and braced himself. ---- There was a curtain of pink hair in front of Pinkie’s eyes. She brushed it away with a pink hoof. Looking around the room she saw that table she had set up not too long ago; sitting around it were her new ‘friends’. A pile of rocks, a lint ball, and a sack of flour; at the head of the table was Pinkie’s pet Gumby. On the table was one of the magnificent cakes she had ever made, only the best for Gumby even though it was his after birthday party. “It’s a shame that my ‘real’ friends couldn’t come…” Pinkie trailed off by herself. The pile of rocks began to shift in front of her eyes. “If they wouldn’t come, then they aren’t your real friends!” It exclaimed. Pinkie recoiled in surprise. “Rocky! Of course they’re my friends! Just because none of them wanted to come to this PARTICULAR party doesn’t mean they don’t want to see me ever again!” Pinkie exclaimed. Out of the corner of her eye Pinkie saw the lint ball jump up. “Be serious my dear Pinkamena! Are you just going to let them talk to you like that? They treated you incorrectly and I say that they are a bunch of losers!” Pinkie looked away, thinking. “Well… that was pretty rude…” She thought aloud. “RUDE!?” The sack of flour shrieked in a French accent. “IT WAS DOWNRIGHT DESPICABLE!” It cried smashing a corner of its soft material on the table. Pinkie brightened up with an angry frown on her face. “That was! Wasn’t it?” She asked. The bucket of turnips started to move around. “If I were you, I wouldn’t speak to them ever again.” It said sounding slightly bored. Pinkie pointed at the bucket with a hoof. “You know what? I’m NOT going to speak to them again. And I’m not going to ever invite them to one of my parties ever again! They don’t DESERVE it!” Her eye twitched. “…Not after the way they’ve been acting…” The ‘guests’ began to chant encouraging words until a knock at the door could be heard. “Who could that be?” Pinkie wondered. Rainbow Dash pushed the door open slightly and stuck her head into the room. “Hey Pinkie Pie.” She said sheepishly. “Sorry I couldn’t stop and chat earlier, I had to be someplace and couldn’t afford to waste any time.” She explained. “You know how it goes.” “I know how it goes all right.” Pinkie muttered through gritted teeth. Rainbow Dash looked at the party guests uneasily. “…Yeah… why don’t you come with me over to Sweet Apple Acres?” She asked hopefully. Pinkie trotted over to the table saying aloud. “No thanks, I’m spending time with my real friends!” She put a friendly hoof around the sack of flour. “Isn’t that correct, Madame Le Flour?” She moved the sack with her hoof. “Oui! That is correct!” Came from the corner of Pinkie’s mouth. Rainbow Dash watched her mouth slightly agape. “Uh… Pinkie Pie?” She asked cautiously. “Another slice of cake Sir Lints-A-Lot?” Pinkie asked the lint ball unaware of Rainbow Dash’s continued presence. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something but a gray light flashed through her eyes. She glared at Pinkie Pie. “Fine, if you want to be with your REAL friends then you can. But that is that.” With those final words she jumped up into the air and flew outside leaving Pinkie Pie to speak to her friends. “I can’t stay around here, they would just try to take me back…” Pinkie said coming to another realization. “I must move away from Ponyville!” “I have the perfect place! My home town of Wheat Way!” Madame Le Flour cried. Pinkie Pie smiled devilishly. “That settles it then, I’m going to go pack my stuff!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly and ran for her closet. ---- Wheat Way was one of the smallest settlements in all of Equestria, composed of only 20 or so ponies. It was the kind of place where everypony knew each other and would lend a helping hoof no questions asked. The village was fairly new too, only having earned the title only two years ago when nearby towns started to trade for the plentiful flour causing the settlement to flourish. Pinkie stopped atop the hill she had been climbing and looked at the small collection of buildings, nine in all. She turned to the sack of flour strapped on her back. “We did it Madame Le Flour!” She said excitedly, her happiness had returned almost immediately after she had left Ponyville; although she was sad that her other friends couldn’t come (Rocky would have been heavy anyway), she felt like a weight had been removed from her chest and she was free to do whatever she pleased. She could have thrown a party right on top of the hill even and not even cared in the slightest. “Yes, it is good to be home again.” Madame Le Flour agreed in her high-pitched voice. Pinkie began to charge down the hill with her wagon of luggage rolling down the hill after her. She stopped galloping when she got to the midst of the buildings and was about to shout out a greeting when Madame Le Flour slapped a fold of soft material over her mouth. “Quiet!” She hissed. Pinkie turned her head and looked at Madame Le Flour with large, round eyes. “Whnm nm I fmnum?” She asked fearfully. Madame Le Flour removed her fabric and looked around with her ‘eyes’. “My family may not appreciate our being here. When I left things were… problematic.” She warned. Pinkie nodded in understanding. “What should we do now then?” She whispered for fear of being caught despite the fact she was out in the open with a large wagon. Madame Le Flour motioned toward a large barn behind one of the houses. “That is where I lived before I left, we shall hide there for now.” Pinkie shrugged and crept towards the barn. The inside of the barn was fairly simple, a large floor area and a smaller but still roomy landing above. On the landing was a massive pile of flour sacks; Pinkie propped Madame Le Flour beside them and waited silently while they spoke to each other. “It’s okay, we can stay.” Madame Le Flour announced after a moment. Pinkie gave a small bounce of joy. “Yay!” She exclaimed, “I hope nopony finds my stuff…” She trailed off looking anxiously out a nearby window. “They won’t know where to look.” Madame Le Flour reassured her. Pinkie climbed on top of the pile of flour sacks and closed her eyes. “I think I’ll take a little nap, then we’ll figure out what to do.” She closed her eyes and was promptly snoring. ---- Barely more than 6 hours later Pinkie’s eyes snapped open. She bolted up causing little clouds of flour to rise from the sacks she had been laying on. She jumped onto the floor and stretched her body. “Allrighty then. Madame Le Flour! Where to today?” Pinkie looked to where she had left the loveable sack of flour the day before, nosack was there. “… Madame?” ---- Tor gasped as his mind was jerked back to reality. Pinkie was sitting in the room with a strange look on her face, not exactly devastated, as the others had been, but still much different from her usual demeanor. Her mane was darkened to a dusty gray and hung around her face as if it was trying to hide something. Discord watched her from a small distance away with a smug look on his face. He looked to Tor and took notice that he was awake; stepping gingerly away from Pinkie he made his way back to Tor’s bubble. “Here we are again; I get to have a little fun explaining this one to you. But first I should ask if you have any guesses as to what THIS feeling is.” He said. Tor said nothing but looked up at Discord with a blank expression on his face. Discord gave a slight smile. “I figured as much. This one was loneliness, which is a feeling that I’ve had to get used to after all this time. Loneliness… is very different from the other emotions we went over last time. Loneliness drapes over the mind in increasingly thick layers until it blocks out rational thought and you look to the strangest of sources for comfort and interaction. Take our dear friend Pinkie Pie for example, loneliness takes a powerful hold over a pony like her and she looked to those… objects for interaction and counsel, and it led to her making a bad decision. Soon, loneliness will be the only company you have when you’re just a pony talking to bits of rock and grass.” Tor thought silently about it. All by myself, huh? He asked. At least there won’t be anypony for me to fail or fear for… Tor, you’re losing to battle. Forget about being lonely. I’ll always be here for you through thick and thin but I NEED you to stay focused! Silver said loudly from a distant place in the back of Tor’s mind. Tor felt tempted to ignore him. You’re right. Tor thought. Discord smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll get there soon enough.” He spun around and looked back to Pinkie, he then nodded to two shadows sitting in a darkened corner of the room. They silently trotted out and began to drag Pinkie away. She said nothing, didn’t move a muscle and soon was gone from Tor’s sight. Discord clapped his claws together. “Bring in the next one!” He called out the door before it slammed shut. Mere moments later one shadow walked into the room followed by Fluttershy, the poor pony looked ready to pass out from fear or have a heart attack. Tor felt a renewed sense of guilt; it was his fault that Fluttershy and other sensitive ponies had been thrust into this situation. Fluttershy didn’t say a word but followed the shadow until she was crouching right in front of Discord’s towering form. Discord put his claws on his bent knees and brought his face close to Fluttershy’s as if he was talking to a frightened foal. “Don’t worry your pretty little head Fluttershy I won’t hurt you.” He said sweetly. Fluttershy looked up and quickly put her face back in her hooves. Tor could make out an unintelligible sound coming from her form. Discord leaned back as if thinking about the best way to proceed. He brought a claw finger to Fluttershy’s head and scratched behind her ear, a maniacal smile appeared on Discord’s face as Fluttershy’s wings extended slowly and she raised her head, a blush starting to appear on her face. Discord pushed his face into hers and swirled his pupils around making sure that hers followed. “Let’s delve into your past, I’m just dying to know…” Tor’s mind warped and twisted toward Discord and Fluttershy. ---- Fluttershy hid behind her mother’s legs trying to avoid the questioning gaze of the elementary school secretary. It was to be her first day of elementary school at the Cloudsdale Cloud School, and she was predictably nervous. Fluttershy’s mother, Sky Dancer, was trying desperately to get Fluttershy to come forward. “Come on, Fluttershy.” She said angrily, but her efforts seemed fruitless; Fluttershy would not budge. The secretary sighed heavily. “Is something the matter?” She asked in a bored voice. Sky Dancer looked back up and shook her head vigorously. “No no no! It’s just that she’s painfully shy, especially around new ponies.” She explained. Turning back she forcefully picked up Fluttershy and dropped her on the desk. Fluttershy tried to make a desperate run for Sky Dancer’s legs but Sky Dancer stopped her with a piercing stare. Fluttershy made a small noise and fell over. The secretary adjusted her glasses and examined the little filly. “Will she be alright?” She asked doubtfully. “She’ll be fine.” Sky Dancer said. ---- Fluttershy sat on her little stool behind a small desk. There were several other fillies and colts sitting in identical desks. One colt next Fluttershy leaned over as the teacher at the front of the room began to talk about clouds. “Hey, you’re Fluttershy, right?” He asked. Fluttershy looked at him with eyes filled with terror. She paused and breathed in deeply. “…Yes…” She answered un-inspirationally. The colt looked at her for a moment then snickered. “You have a speaking problem or something?” He asked. Fluttershy flinched. “No… I’m just… shy.” Fluttershy whispered. The colt snickered again, but before he could say anything the teacher spun around. “Feather! In at recess!” She said quickly and resumed scribbling on the board. The colt’s smile turned into a nasty frown. He glared at Fluttershy who just sunk into her seat. ---- It was recess and Fluttershy planned on spending it somewhere where she could be alone, that appeared to be on a fairly distant cloud a ways from the back of the schoolhouse. Fluttershy looked around nervously, the other fillies and colts were playing with each other and weren’t paying any attention to Fluttershy. She took a small jump and landed flat on her face. She got up and looked around quickly, nopony had noticed her fail. Fluttershy got back up briskly and shook her body spraying bits of cloud everywhere. She looked back at the cloud and backed up a bit to get a running start, she jumped and fell flat once again. This time, however several of the other students had taken notice and trotted over to see what the commotion was. “Hey look!” Called one colt, Fluttershy recognized him as one of the other colts from her class. “FlutterFAIL can’t even get off the ground!” All the other students began to laugh and point at Fluttershy, she could feel dozens of pairs of eyes staring at her… surrounding her becoming an impenetrable wall trapping her within a confined space. Without a word Fluttershy ran past everypony and off of the cloud, her desperation to get away gave her wings the strength they needed to carry her all the way home. ---- “Fluttershy!?” Sky Dancer called from the kitchen. “What are you doing here?” Fluttershy tried desperately to hide her shame-covered face behind her mane. “The other ponies were making fun of me…” She trailed off sadly. Sky Dancer sighed and shook her head angrily. “Well that’s why you’re supposed to go to a teacher or the principal even, it’s no excuse to come all the way home.” She picked up Fluttershy and slung her across her back. “Now come on, we have to get you back to school.” Fluttershy sat back in her desk trying to avoid the questioning stares of the colts and fillies around here. The colt from earlier, Feather, leaned over. “I still owe you for getting me in trouble.” He said quietly. Fluttershy began to sink back into her seat. ---- Tor’s mind was thrown back into his head and he groaned in pain. Through slightly blurry vision he could make out Discord standing over Fluttershy in the middle of the room. Her coat and mane had turned grayish much like the others. Discord had stepped up to Tor without him noticing. “I don’t suppose you have any guesses as to what this little emotion is?” He asked innocently. Tor blew air in his general direction, too tired to formulate a coherent answer. “Didn’t think so.” Discord turned back to watch Fluttershy cower as though the eyes watched her again. “This emotion is loathing, the feeling of others loathing you to be specific. Not the best example here but fits the bill, don’t you think?” Tor said nothing. “This one feels like a hot nail being driven into you and it gets worse when there are even more eyes drilling inwards. Sooner or later the pressure becomes too much, and you lash out pushing away any who still cared. Fluttershy was too shy to lash out or even get remotely angry. Makes me sad cause that would have made my day.” Discord explained with a small chuckle. “Speaking of which, I think this is enough for today. Attacking the mind is so tiring, wouldn’t you agree?” He smiled and began to step away. A single shadow came in to drag Tor away.