//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Path Through Everfree // Story: Rise of the Element Gang, Book 3: Heroes United // by Power of Six //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Path Through Everfree As I was watching out of the window of the library in Ponyville, a deep dread settling in my heart. Everything looked so normal with everypony going about their normal business like nothing had changed. They had no idea that the most powerful and malevolent being in all of Equestria’s history was out there right now. His chaos hadn’t spread too far yet, it seemed to have stopped for now. But I knew it was coming… especially if the girls couldn’t stop him. Right there, I was scolding myself for both not going with them and not being able to do more to help them. “Dusk!” Spike’s voice snapped me out of my brooding and I turned to look at him and the others. “You okay, buddy?” “Yeah, you’ve been staring into space for an hour.” Leon said to me. “It’s nothing. I’m just… worried, I guess.” I told them. “About the girls, ya mean?” Dog asked me. “Yes.” I admitted. “I can’t help it. Discord is an extremely powerful being that just about nopony has been able to beat. Right now, I’m wishing I had more than elemental powers which he bested before along with this knowledge and color manipulation of mine. I just want them to come home safe.” “We know how you feel, Dusk. And you shouldn’t worry so much.” Shield told me as he and the guys took me to a table. “Those girls beat Nightmare Moon. I’m sure they can beat this Discord guy.” “I wish I had your confidence, Shield,” I sighed, “but Discord is quite a formidable foe, possibly more so than the corrupted Luna.” “He’s that bad, huh?” Spike asked. I nodded. “Think of how bad things could possibly get, and then add another suitcase full of bad…in simple terms.” “How do you know so much?” “I did a project on early history in Equestria from the Unification of the Three Sects.” I flushed a little at this. “I did quite a lot of extensive study on the subject.” “Yeah, and he got an A-plus on it.” Shield said, making Spike chuckle a little. “Boy, you and Twilight…” the little dragon said to me. “You could outsmart Albert Hoofstein from how much studying you both do.” “I suppose so. Me? Bit of a stretch. Her? Definitely.” I conceded, chuckling along with him and the guys. “What do you know about him then?” he inquired, leaning back on his chair. “Only what any historian would know. He came to power not long after the Unification at Hearth’s Warming. He saw the potential for spreading misery and disharmony and he took it, reigning over them for a very long time.” “Why does he do it though?" I shrugged. “It’s in his nature, as much as eating gems is for you. He’s a spirit of chaos and he lives to spread it. Many ponies were tormented under his rule, my ancestor as one example.” “You mean Fore Sight?” “The same. Discord plagued him with visions that depicted his family and friends in danger and he was unable to save them. Soon, Fore Sight couldn’t distinguish between his own true visions and the ones that Discord tormented him with and he was driven mad.” I sighed bitterly. “That was how it was for everypony. He was just one who suffered from such a thing.” “Until Celestia and Luna rose up against him?” “Yes. But, even then, Fore Sight had trouble recovering from the torment Discord put him through. Then one day he just… left.” “Left? Left where?” I shrugged again. “Nopony knows, but he was gone for a very long time. In fact, everypony thought he was dead until he returned many years later, aged greatly and nearly exhausted. He died not long after. He was still quite deluded towards the end, records saying things how he’d failed to find the pieces that were scattered, how it was still broken…” Spike raised an eye ridge. “How what was still broken?” “Again, nopony knows. He never said and he took the secret to his grave.” “You mean, he didn’t really share it with anypony?” Shield asked me. “Well, not directly.” I answered. “I read in one of my predecessor’s journals who actually managed to get some information out of him from managing to have a few run-ins with him. Out of everypony, he was the one that wanted to know why he was wandering around all of Equestria.” “Well, did that guy say anything to him?” Leon asked. “Not much. From what I could find, what could be gathered were just from Fore Sight’s slight mumbles to himself. Every time, he would repeat the same thing: ‘find the light, unite the seven’. To what he meant, nopony’s really sure.” I shook my head. “What I wouldn’t give to know what he was searching for. It’s one of the most celebrated mysteries of historians today.” “Well, everypony loves a good mystery.” Spike wrapped me on the arm encouragingly. “Maybe you’ll be the one who finds out.” I laughed at this. “Perhaps, but I don’t think so.” “Well, you never know. You mi…” He stopped and grabbed his mouth. A second later, he belched up a roll of parchment. “Hey, a letter!” “Maybe it’s Princess Celestia telling us the girls are coming back.” Leon asked as I took a look at the letter. “It’s not from Celestia.” I noted the black seal on it. “It’s from Princess Luna.” “She sent you another letter?” Shield said with a arced brow. “Why?” “Let’s find out.” I took the letter as Spike passed it to me and unrolled it. As I suspected, it was addressed to me. I read it out loud for the guys to hear. Dusk Noir, Doubtless thou already knows of what has been transpiring across our fair land. The spirit Discord has been freed and is once again wreaking chaos throughout Equestria. We know that thou must feel, as they say, like a fifth wheel at the moment, being unable to help thy friends in this dire time. But there is something you can do, mine little pony, something that you can find that may give us an added edge to defeat our ancient foe. Doubtless, thou knows of the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters deep in the Everfree Forest, where the Elements were rediscovered. If we are right, what thy seeks lies there. If thou wishes to help thy friends, go there and find it. If thou believe it would help, your fellow elementals can come and assist you. If we are right, thou will know when thou finds it. We wish you the best of luck for the Forest is a treacherous place as thy knows, but know also that your Princess has faith in thee and thou will succeed. Good luck, Dusk, and be safe. Princess Luna, Princess of the Night I felt my fear grow as I read over the letter again, taking it all in. The thought of the Everfree Forest still sent shivers down my spine. “Hold up!” Leon put it in disbelief. “Princess Luna wants you to go into the Everfree Forest? Is she insane?” “And she wants us to go to her old castle?” Dog added, just as confused. “But nopony ever goes there.” “Yeah, and what exactly does she want us to find?” Shield asked. “It doesn’t say.” I answered, rolling up the letter. “But it wouldn’t hurt to go check it out.” “Dusk, are you crazy?” Spike said in disbelief. “You can’t just go off into the Everfree Forest like that!” “I know and I’m not exactly enthusiastic about it myself, but I have to try.” I said. “But that forest is filled with all sort of dangerous and weird things, remember?” Leon said to me. “What if this thing she thinks you can find isn’t even there? You don’t even know what it is you’re looking for!” “Guys, I agree what she’s telling us to do is crazy, considering our experience that adds up to a lifetime in there,” I said to my friends, “but if Luna’s right, where I have no reason to doubt her on that, then there might be something in that castle that could help us. Besides, I trust her. If there’s a chance for me to somehow help the girls, I’m willing to take it.” “Well then… if you’re going we’re coming with you.” Shield told me, speaking for both Dog and Leon as much himself. “She did say we can help out and we know better than to just let our bud walk into danger alone like that.” “Thanks, guys.” I said, giving them smiles of appreciation. “I’m coming too.” Spike said to me. “I’m sorry, Spike. But you’re gonna have to stay here.” I told him. “Somepony has to stay here and keep an eye on things. I appreciate your offer to help, but I’m afraid it’s too dangerous for you. I promise I’ll be right back as soon as I can. Just hold the fort until then, okay?” Spike looked as if he were about to argue, but he sighed and gave up. “I can see what Twilight means.” Spike said to me, making me raise a brow. “Mean what?” “That you can be both smart and stupid at the same time.” “As compared to who, Spike?” I smiled at my friend. “Remember when you tried to see how many gems you could stuff in your mouth before you choked?” “Hey, I thought we agreed to never talk about that!” “With good reason, I’m the one who had to resuscitate you.” He accepted the claw that I offered to shake. “Keep an eye on things until we get back.” “Will do. Good luck, bro. You’re gonna need it.” “Don’t I know it?” I gave Spike one last smile before the others and I set off out of the library, going through Ponyville and beyond the town to the edge of the menacing trees. Twilight’s view “W-We have to go in there?” a nervous Fluttershy asked as we looked up at the imposing entrance of the maze. Even I had to admit, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to venturing inside the vast labyrinth myself. “Nope! Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!” Rainbow Dash looked back at her wings then took off. “I’ll just do a quick flyover and we’ll have the Elements in no time!” Suddenly, in a white flash, her wings vanished and Rainbow crashed to the ground. “My wings!” Another white flash came, followed by a scream and Fluttershy’s vanished too. The same again, only when I looked to Rarity’s and my own head, I saw our horns were gone. “Your horn! My horn!” I couldn’t help but panic at the loss of such a vital part of myself, as much as my tail or legs. Before us, a glowing ball of green light appeared, growing steadily brighter until the mismatched form of Discord appeared before them, the draconequus accompanied by claps of thunder and flashes of lightning as he laughed madly. His face was an expression of utter mirth and amusement. “You–you should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!” As he fell about laughing again, I stepped forward. “Give us our wings and horns back!” “You’ll get them back in good time.” He vanished and reappeared behind Applejack. “I simply took them to ensure there’s no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game: no flying and no magic.” He traced his finger down the side of my face and I wished I still had my horn. I would like to have seen him turned into a swarm of butterflies. Rainbow seemed afraid of this. “The first rule?” “The second rule is everypony has to play or the game is over and I win. Good luck, everypony!” He vanished again, his sinister laughter echoing in our ears. Seeing the others looking so demoralized, I knew it was my job to bolster their confidence. “Never fear, girls. We have each other!” “Yeah! Like Twilight said, there’s nothing we can’t overcome if we all stick together!” Rainbow put in. We all walked towards the entrance to the maze, even Fluttershy was looking fierce and determined. “All right, girls, let's do this!” “Together!” We cried this in unison and stepped into the maze. No sooner had we done this, we were all screaming as the walls of the maze suddenly rose up and separated us, trapping each of us in our own section of the labyrinth. This had to be Discord’s work. I thought to myself, moving to calm the others. “Stay calm, girls! Everypony, head to the middle as fast as you can and we’ll regroup there!” “Moving out!” Rainbow affirmed. “See you in the center!” Rarity promised. “Yee-haw!” Applejack sounded. “See you guys there!” Pinkie added. With that, I set off at a gallop into the maze. I heard Fluttershy cry out somewhere behind me, but there was nothing I could do. These hedges were too thick to push through and I was without my magic. We were on our own until we reached the middle of the maze, where the Elements would probably be. Then, seeing how he was already here, we would stop Discord. I once again felt an ache of regret, wishing that Dusk were here. How would he be coping with all of this, robbed of his special magic and unable to track us? He might panic at first, but then I would calm him down gently and promise to meet him at the center of the maze as quickly as possible. I had a way of doing that. Then he would probably quote somepony a little nervously and set off bravely. He was like that, even though he had low confidence. I remembered something he’d read to me from a story, when the characters were in a similar maze… In the maze, you’ll find no dragons or creatures of the deep. Instead, you’ll face something far more challenging. You see, ponies change in the maze. Oh, find the cup if you can, but be warned: you could just lose yourselves along the way. Hoping that what he said was far from the truth, I carried on into the maze, praying I’d find the center soon. Dusk’s view Me and the guys made our way through the path in the trees, the grass brushing against our hooves and hands as we softly walked. I wondered how Twilight and the others were doing. I felt a pang of worry, along with a desire to see her…I hoped she was okay. Dog seemed to notice it. “Hey, ya okay?” He asked as I looked at him. “I’m fine.” I said. “Just worried about the girls.” “Hey, they handled this before. They’ll be fine.” Dog reassured me. Feeling a strong sense of déjà vu, I looked up at their wicked branches. I remembered the last time we stood at the entrance to the forest, on that cold winter's day. The girls were in danger and I looked to be the only one who could help them. My team came with me to help me find them. In a way, it was the same again, even if we had changed from last time. I gulped as I looked up. Even in summer, the forest didn’t look any less foreboding. “Here we go again.” Leon said. “Feels like only yesterday we were running in here to save the girls.” “Yeah, and the situation is just as dire.” Then I took a deep breath and said “Oh, well… onwards and upwards, as they say.” With that, we stepped into the Everfree Forest, already me feeling my dread increase with every sound that my hooves and hands made. I remembered when I’d asked Twilight the route that she and her friends had taken through the forest when they were going to the castle. We had to follow the path until we reached a steep cliff face, a series of natural platforms providing a way down, as it was too far to fall. We followed the path deeper in until the trees become thicker, which would take us to a river shallow enough to wade through. Once on the other side, we had to find a rope bridge that would take us right across to the ancient castle. In theory, it sounded simple enough, in practice… Quelling my fear, I lead my team as we followed the path as I remembered her telling me, reaching the steep cliff face she’d mentioned. By the looks of it, part of the rock had fallen away, possibly due to some natural event…or somepony had caused it. We all tried not to think about it as we slid down the grassy hill to the edge, where we dug our hooves (and my claws) in hard to stop ourselves. Well, most of us. Feeling my stomach jump, I spotted the platforms and we started to jump down onto them. Well, so far so… CRACK! I felt the platform shift beneath my hooves and claws, leaning forward in a precarious way at the foremost of it. I scrambled backward as the stone came loose, I had to get back. Hurry, hurry! It was going to fall! I was gonna fly, but some rock fell on my wing. I couldn’t use it, so I couldn’t fly. The others made it to the other side and were waiting for me. “Dusk, come on!” Shield said. “I can’t! My wing’s busted!” I told him. “Then jump!” Dog said. “What?” I said, shocked that he said that. “I don’t have enough distance. I won’t make it to the edge.” “Not if I catch you.” Dog said as he held out his hand. “Come on, Dusk!” “But…” I said, nervously. “Trust me, I’ll catch you!” Dog said. I then gulped and then ran. After getting to the edge, I then jumped and reached out. I closed my eyes just as it seemed I was gonna fall to my doom. Luckily, I heard the sound of the breaking rock just in time and I opened my eyes as Dog held onto me. The rock chunk tumbled away from my added weight. After being pulled up, my heart was now pounding against my chest, my breathing short and rapid, I waited a few moments to calm myself before I then hugged Dog. “See? I was telling you the truth.” Dog said. “Yeah. Once again, you proved to be a pony to have faith in, Dog Fries.” I said as we then broke the hug. “Thank you for reminding me.” “Anytime.” He said to me. “Now let’s keep going.” We then started jumping down the rest of the way and I breathed a sigh of relief. We looked up to where we had been standing. If I had fallen there, I might have had broken my legs…or worse. Shuddering and feeling a lot tenser, we carried on away from the cliff, thankful we wouldn't have to try that again anytime soon. Twilight had told me how they encountered a manticore on this part of the route. There were a few tracks around, but my magic told me that they were many days old and there wasn’t one close by. At first, we thought we wouldn’t have any trouble from the forest's many dangerous inhabitants. Until we reached the thicker trees… Trying to ignore how much darker it was, I shone a light for good measure as the trunks closed in around us, like the forest itself was trying to trap us. “Don’t be scared, guys.” I told the guys, as much as I was telling myself to stop thinking like that. “These trees aren’t alive… well, not all of them anyway.” I whipped my head around when I heard the sound of something behind us. The others noticed it too. “What was that?” Leon asked as we looked around. “Fear must be getting to us.” I said. “Let’s keep moving.” We then walked on, until we heard the noise again. Our eyes darted from shadow to shadow, our ears raised to pick up any sound, our legs and arms tensed, ready to fight…or to run. We waited. Had we imagined it? Were we just hearing things, being paranoid? Or was… BAM! Something hit me hard on the back of the head, a sharp pain rising from that area and my vision blurring. As it did, I could see two-clawed prints being formed seemingly from nowhere, until they suddenly stopped before one of the trees, claw marks appearing in the trunk. Shaking my head to clear my vision, I could see the odd set of prints appearing all over now. We were surrounded. “What is that?” Leon asked fearfully. “Chameleodemons.” I said, whirling around to try and see them, though I knew it was pointless. “Chameleo-what?” Shield asked. “Creatures of the Everfree Forest.” I answered. “Careful. These things have a superb natural camouflage that renders them near invisible to their prey. Usually, one doesn’t even know they were there…until it’s too late.” “How do we fight something we can’t see?” Dog asked. “I don’t know.” I said. “But we’ll have to try.” SNICK! We then watch as Dog felt a sharp pain erupting from his leg and I looked to see blood trickling from a three-clawed scratch that had appeared there. Shield punched the air, but it hit nothing, the creature already scurrying away. It was nothing serious…they were just toying with us. But we weren’t going down without a fight. My sharp mind went to work, considering strategies. We couldn’t outrun them as they were fast enough through the trees, which they knew better, to catch up to us in seconds. They had the advantage of invisibility, but it didn’t seem like there were too many of them. They weren’t very strong either, it wouldn’t take much to knock one out. They needed concentration to maintain their camouflage…perhaps a distraction. I quickly weaved a few color swirls, dancing them around the trees, giving a little more extra light. At first, it didn't seem like this would work…until, very briefly, I saw the outline of one nearby, a brief flash of red. “Gotcha ya.” I whispered before I shouted “Shield, 12’o’clock!” Then Shield turned around and charged forward. Before it could run, his hoof made contact with it, sending a slight pain as we saw it appear suddenly out of thin air and fly backward, sprawling on the floor. We didn’t have time to look at it, as we heard another close by, scuttling up to Leon. He used his powers to turn some dirt on the ground of his left hoof into a patch of mud and flung out in the general direction of the noise. A patch of brown gave one away, floating eerily in the air until a kick from Dog sent it flying backward into a tree. No sooner had he done this, I felt a weight leave my head and looked up to see my hat, which was now floating mysteriously in the air, dancing away from me, a rasping cackle sounding from it. Even if it was just a piece of headwear, I was still annoyed at its theft. However, it did let me see my enemy, as it scampered away. “Oh, boy.” Leon said worryingly. “Big mistake, pal.” I growled and swiftly caught up to it, ramming a fist into the source of the sound, catching my hat, and putting it back on my head. “Nobody takes my hat!” As it slumped to the floor, I had the chance to have a good look at it. It was rather small, no taller than my arm, with a pointed face and hooked nose and wicked small eyes. Its legs were thin and gangly, ending in two toes, and its arms ended in wicked black claws, which were stained a little red. The one that had scratched me, I thought with grim satisfaction. A vile-looking creature, but I still didn’t like having to fight it. A screech snapped me out of my thoughts and I whirled to see one dart from a tree straight at me, claws red and yellow eyes alive with malice. It might have got me, were it not for my quick thinking. Luckily, it had made the mistake of letting me see it, which meant I could catch it with my magic, which was just what I did. I held it there in a dark blue aura, as it struggled furiously in the air trying to escape, hissing and spitting at me. “Sorry about this.” I said to it and threw it at a tree, knocking it out along with its fellows. We waited a few minutes to see if there was any more. But none came. It had just been those four. Wincing a little, from our pain and leaving our fallen foes behind us, we pressed on, knowing that we would soon reach the river. When we did, we stopped at the bank, making time to clean our wounds with the cool clear water as well as to take a drink. I would just have to ignore my throbbing head for now. I remembered what Twilight told me about when she came through and the trouble that they had. Almost falling off a cliff, the manticores, being scared out of her wits… I wondered how they’d view our little adventure through the forest today… I wished they were here with us. “Hey, Dusk.” Leon said to me, bringing me back to the world. “What do you think Princess Luna thinks we’re gonna find at her old castle?” “Well, I’m not exactly sure.” I told him. “There’s not much about it that can be told, I’m afraid. All that it was once where Celestia and Luna resided and that the last known place to hold the Elements of Harmony at one point. Seeing how they’ve been stored away in Canterlot under lock and key, who knows what Luna wants us to find. Could be some other magical artifact that had been lost in myth and legend, some kind of power source, anything.” “Well, whatever it is, I sure hope we find it.” Dog said as he and Shield came over. “Yeah, that is if it’s even there at all.” Shield put in, giving out a sense of doubt. “Excuse me, my good sirs. Is everything alright?” A voice from the river caught our attention. Who it was surprised us for it was a huge water serpent, gazing at us with concern. His scales were a rich purple that looked like they were well cared for, as did his quaff of orange hair and rich orange mustache that was styled quite impressively. I let out a breath of relief and smiled up at him. River serpents were just as intelligent as ponies, though many were scared off at first glance. He seemed friendly at any rate. “We’re fine, thank you.” I assured him. “Besides a bit of a headache I have, I mean.” “What about you?” He asked as he looked at Dog. “Just a scratch. Had worse.” Dog answered, showing his leg. “Oh, that looks nasty.” He leaned in for a closer look and scowled. “Chameleodemon. I never could stand those horrible creatures.” “Tell me about it.” Dog said to him, no doubt still feeling pain from that bite. From there, now that the serpent was closer, I could see something else tucked into his hair: a strand of styled tail hair that looked very familiar. “Pardon my asking, sir,” I said, wondering if my suspicions were correct, “but did a white unicorn mare give you that?" “Oh, this?” He preened proudly at it, revealing it to be a piece of Rarity’s hair. “Oh, yes. A very generous soul, she was so understanding of my plight. My mustache had been sliced clean in half, can you imagine?” “No, I… can’t.” I decided not to say anything else as he carried on. “Anyway, she was kind enough to slice off her own fabulous tail in order to make my marvelous mustache complete again. After it grew back, it seemed like such a horrible shame to throw it away, so I kept it to remember her and her wonderful friends.” He looked down at me eagerly. “You don't know her by any chance, do you?” We all then realized who this was now and knew we could get a chance for some help. “Yes, we do. And we’re close friends with her. In fact, she’s my cousin. Her name is Rarity, by the way. You’ll never meet a more generous pony anywhere.” At this, he beamed and nodded. “Oh, I know. She’s marvelous! You’re all lucky to know her. Are you wishing to cross the river perchance, my little friends?” “Indeed.” I affirmed. "We don’t want to impose, good sir, but we don’t suppose you’d oblige?” “But of course! Anypony who’s a friend of the generous Rarity is a friend of mine.” Reaching out with massive clawed hands, surprisingly well-manicured to note, the serpent gently lifted us up and across to the other side. “There you go. Glad to help.” “Thank you very much, Mister…” Leon said as we made it to the other side. “Steven Magnet, but you call me Steve.” the serpent bowed. “And yourselves?” “Dusk Noir, my good serpent.” I tipped my hat to him. “And this is Shield Steedor, Leon Aquilous, and Dog Fries. Thank you, Steve. And we’ll give Rarity your regards.” “Would you? That would be fabulous! Safe travels, you four.” He smiled at me and turned to go. “Oh! And by the way, Dusk, I just love that hat!” I glanced at it and beamed proudly. “Yes, I’m quite fond of it myself. Good day, Steve.” With one last wave, I sprinted off to the others, knowing we were close. We were soon there. As we reached the rickety bridge, crossing over its rotting planks to the crumbling stone ruin, I felt a sense of triumph as we stood before the gate. We’d actually made it. “Here we are.” I said to the guys. “Hard parts over. Now it’s time to see what we came for.” Twilight’s view I carried on through the maze, doing my best to stay calm and collected despite my growing fear. This maze was huge. With twists and turns and dead ends galore, it seemed endless. I wished the others were with me… I wished Dusk was here. As I rounded another corner, I came across a strange sight. A wooden door stood before me with the sparkling star of my cutie mark emblazoned onto it. This door definitely looked like it wasn’t meant to be here. It could be one of Discord’s tricks…but I had nowhere else to go, other than back the way I came. Cautiously, I opened the door and stepped inside. In the middle of the grassy clearing was what looked like the makings of… a library? Two shelves laden with books, some of which were flapping about like birds, surrounded it, with a fireplace in the middle of it, in which burned multi-colored flames and pink smoke. Two plush armchairs were placed before it and in one of them was Discord, wearing reading glasses and peering down at a book open on his lap. I noticed the chair was floating. He looked up as I entered, his red eyes fixing on me and beamed at the sight of me. “Twilight Sparkle, so nice of you to visit. Welcome! Pull up a chair, pick a book, and make yourself comfortable. Here, try this one.” He tossed the book to me and I caught it with fumbling hooves. I hated being deprived of my horn. The book was completely illegible: some words were the right way round, others were sideways, long ways, mirrored, upside down. Some weren’t even words, just random squiggles and shapes on the page. “Do you like it? I penned it myself.” he said proudly. “I call it A Study of Chaos. It’s really quite good, if I say so myself.” I knew he was just trying to mess with my head, just like Dragonis said. I closed the book and tossed it back, remaining defiant. “I’ve read better.” “Everypony's a critic.” he groaned and snatched it back up, letting it fly back onto the shelf. Something just occurred to me as I watched him. As long as he was here, I might as well try and ask. “You said in your riddle that we’d need more than the Elements to beat you this time, even if we did find them.” “Oh, sudden change of topic to catch me off-guard.” He grinned wickedly at her. “Won’t work, I’m afraid. I invented that trick.” She ignored him and pressed on. “What did you mean by that?" He just chuckled and wagged a finger at me. “Now, now, Twilight Sparkle. It’s not a good story if you read ahead to the end. I think your second assistant would agree with me in that respect, wouldn’t you say, Miss Sparkle?” I flushed at the mention of me, a spark of worry beginning to form. “Why are you so interested in him? I know he’s El Dragon and all, but you seemed to be talking a lot about him. Seeing how his ancestors couldn’t beat you, I thought he’d be nothing to you.” “Really, Twilight Sparkle? That’s not a very nice thing to say.” He hovered up behind me, still wearing that grin. “I just think it’s such a shame that he’s not here, missing out on all of this. I thought he was meant to be your friend.” “He is!” she yelled in spite of herself. “He’s not your concern, we are! Just leave him out of this.” He ignored me, facing me upside down. “You know, it really is a pity he’s missing out on all of the fun. I wonder what he’s doing right now.” He snapped his fingers and a book appeared, flicking to a page. “Let’s have a look, shall we?” Unable to resist, I looked down at the page. In it was a moving picture depicting my best friend Dusk and Shield, Dog, and Leon? He seemed okay, but my eyes never left him regardless. Dusk and the guys were tentatively walking into the ruined halls of a very familiar location, one of mossy walls and crumbling stone. “That’s the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.” I whispered, my hoof tracing over the image. “But…what’s he doing there?” “You tell me. You’re the smart one.” I looked back up at Discord, who was glaring at me with malice. “What he would be doing there, I wonder. What do you think?” “I… I don’t know.” I replied desperately. I didn’t like the way his eyes glowed like that. “Aw! That’s a shame.” He went into a mock thinking pose and snapped his fingers. “Hey, why don’t I just go and ask him myself? I’ve been so looking forward to meeting him, so I can do that at the same time. Good thinking, Twilight Sparkle!” “No! No! Leave him alone, he’s not…” He raised a hand to silence her. “Don’t fret, I won't be gone long. Just a quick hello, that’s all… Who knows? I might have some fun with him.” He grinned once more, giving a little wave. “T.T.F.N.: Ta-ta for now!” With a snap of his fingers, he vanished again, leaving me alone. Feeling very scared now, I gazed back down at the book, watching as Dusk and the boys step into the main hall. I wanted to warn him, to scream that Discord was coming for him. But I couldn’t do anything. All I could do was watch.