It was just getting worse.
That was all Discord could think as he looked upon the Chaos Source, watching the crack that was even larger now slowly spread out across the source. He had hoped that by aiding the heroes in fighting back against Sombra and Eggman that their efforts to fix things would fix it, but it seems that, once again, he had made the wrong play. Even he didn't know what would happen if the source broken, but he figured that it wouldn't be good.
"How many times can I be wrong? How many times will I endanger everything I love by making the wrong choice?" Discord asked. He looked at his hand as he said this, summoning as much of his power as he could. He barely managed some sparkles. That was not good.
"What's important isn't that you messed up, what's important is that you keep trying to do better." Discord glanced over his shoulder to see that Fluttershy was walking up to him. "And you're always trying to be better, Discord. It's one of your most admirable traits."
"That and my handsome features, right?" Discord asked.
"I'd say you're more cute than handsome."
"I'll take it." Discord looked at the source again, shaking his head with a sigh. "How did you even get here? I'm a god of chaos and I have trouble getting here."
"You gave me a ticket that will take me to wherever you are, remember? In case I was ever in danger?" Fluttershy reminded him.
"Ah, that's right. Your ticket to crazy town. Population me."
"Are you feeling any better?" Fluttershy asked. Discord didn't answer. "That's what I thought. You haven't been your usual, playful self and are constantly being serious in helping us. You must really be feeling bad."
"It's nothing. I'll be fine," Discord lied. Fluttershy gave him a look. "...okay, things aren't looking great for me. I've got maybe a sliver of my former power left. At this point it takes everything I have to teleport your friends or just find a freaking emerald. After that, I've got nothing. I hate this...this feeling of...uselessness."
"Yup, I hate being useless too," Fluttershy replied.
"Do not say that. You are not useless. You are the kindest, most caring pony that I have ever known in all my many years of being alive," Discord corrected her. "You've saved your world plenty of times over. You even made me see...that there was something worth saving in me. That I was worth something. That's more than my creator ever thought."
"Don't sell yourself short. Your kindness rivals mine," Fluttershy said.
"Feh, you're being nice."
"Discord, you are killing yourself trying to save not only our world, but all the worlds affected by this...crisis? No, that's for another world. Collision? That sounds better," Fluttershy said. "It shows how far you come and how much love is in your heart. You owe none of these beings anything, yet you risk your life every time you cast a spell to save us. All for beings that you will never meet. If I didn't have the Element of Kindness, I bet it would chose you."
"Don't place your bits on foolish bets," Discord replied, though he couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face. "But maybe you've got a point. I have really been sticking my neck out for these beings, haven't I? Heck, if we pull this off, I think that there's a statue in my future. For all I did to save the worlds."
"Of course. I would gladly recommend a statue for our brave and HUMBLE hero," Fluttershy giggled. Discord smiled at her before sitting down, feeling slightly light headed. Fluttershy walked over and sat next to him, staring up at the crack before resting her head on Discord's shoulder. "But if you need to take a break to gather up your strength, I'm sure we can find another way to find the emeralds. Rotor has a machine that-"
"No. I'm going to help. I won't let this world be taken by darkness...I won't let you be taken by darkness," Discord whispered. "I would rather kill myself fighting than risk losing you."
"Well I'd rather you rest and heal than kill yourself to save us," Fluttershy replied. "Because I would rather live in a miss match of worlds than lose you."
"You would be fine living in such a jumbled mess of a world?" Discord asked.
"I could get used to it. After all, I end up coming to like things that are a jumbled mess," Fluttershy replied, smiling up at Discord. Discord found himself smiling back before shaking his head. "But it won't come to that. We'll save ours worlds. We'll get everything fixed and then we can finally visit that little village on the beach."
"The one that has the turtle sanctuary, right?" Discord asked. "You've thought about working there, right?"
"I would like to. But I don't know if I could be so far from Ponyville and my friends," Fluttershy said. "It's an idea though. And if I did go there...would you come with me? When this is all over?"
"Of course, my dear. When this is all over I promise I will take you there myself. There is no force in the multiverse that could keep me from your side," Discord promised. He then took a moment to breath, feeling far more tired than he had been minutes ago. He looked up to see that the crack was spreading even further, getting him to narrow his eyes. He was running out of time. If they didn't fix this soon...no, he would survive, he promised Fluttershy. And that was a promise worth living for.
She was worth living for.
||==O O==||
Sand blew with enough force that it felt like the bites of insects, ripping through the clothing that Pinkie and Sally had wrapped around themselves to try to defend against the storm. There was no way to tell which way was the right way to go in the sandstorm, unless one had a pink pony with them who had an uncanny ability to tell which way they needed to go. Of course, Pinkie wasn't always the easiest pony to follow.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Sally screamed over the storm. She had a hand up to try to shield her face, even though she was already wearing a mask, goggles and a turban that covered her.
"Yup! My Pinkie sense is telling me this way!" Pinkie exclaimed. As she said this she stuck out her limbs in every direction, getting Sally to sigh. Pinkie bounded ahead, seemingly unaffected by the storm while Sally trudged after her, fighting back her desire to second guess herself.
She knew she was taking a big risk coming out here. The desert alone was treacherous enough to cross. To do while sending out a signal that only one being on the planet would be able to track was even riskier. But the place they were going to and who waited within, well...if she had told Sonic the whole plan, he would have never let her gone. Not unless she brought everyone with her.
But she couldn't take them away from the job of saving the world. That came first and there was no one she trusted more than Sonic to get the job done. He would save the world. Which gave her time to try to save Nicole. She had to save her. She was one of her oldest friends...and was closer to her than nearly anyone else. It was her fault she was in this mess. Sally had to save her.
"It's always tough being away from somepony you care about, isn't it?" Pinkie asked. Sally snapped herself out of her thoughts and looked over at Pinkie, who had appeared next to her. "I totally get what you're going through. It's been so long since I've seen my family or the Cakes or Gummie or my coltfriend..."
"Wait, you have a boyfriend?" Sally asked.
"Yup! Cheese Sandwich is his name and he's the greatest party planner in the world!" Pinkie exclaimed. "He's funny, energetic, knows just the right thing to says, holds you close when you're feeling blue...he's the best."
"Huh, didn't expect you to be the type to have a boyfriend. I thought you were more like Sonic. A free spirit," Sally said.
"I thought that to until I met him! And now I don't feel complete unless I'm with him," Pinkie said. Then she cast Sally a kind look and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "But I shouldn't talk about my joy so much. Not with somepony who has suffered quite a bit of heartbreak."
"Heh, is it that obvious?" Sally asked.
"You give off an aura of sadness. You've lost a lot, haven't you?" Pinkie asked.
"Yeah...yeah I have," Sally chuckled. Her family, her kingdom, so many friends and allies...Sally shook her head and locked those thoughts away. "That's why we're out here, Pinkie. To make sure that we don't lose anyone else."
"You don't let anything keep you down long, do you?" Pinkie asked. Sally smiled and shook her head. "Hehe, you're pretty cool, Sally. How about when all of this is over and we've saved reality, I throw you and your friends a congrats for defeating Eggman and saving the world party? Because from what you've said, that party is way overdue."
"You know what? If we actually survive this, I'll pick out the cake myself," Sally agreed. Pinkie smiled in delight before her body started shaking like she was in an earthquake.
"We're here!" Pinkie exclaimed. The pony raced forward with such speed that Sally was forced to go into a full sprint to make sure that she didn't lose her in the storm. She almost lost sight of Pinkie only to catch up with the Pinkie pony came to a halt next to two palm trees.
Sally took a moment to catch her breath while looking around. Palm trees stood around in a circle around a large pool of water, what she was willing to wager was the only source of water in the entire desert. And floating in the water was a single large, red canister. She reached into her coat and pulled out a scanner, holding it over the canister and smiling as the device went off.
"We've found it," Sally said. "Now how do we do this?"
"Hey, look what that is!" Pinkie said. Sally looked up to see what Pinkie was pointing at and her eyes went wide. Sitting in the middle of the water was a teal emerald, one which bobbed along the waters surface. "Well how about that? About time something finally went right for us."
"An emerald as well? Okay, now I'm worried," Sally said.
"Why's that?"
"Because normally when something starts to go this well for us it means that-"
An explosion went off right next to Sally and Pinkie, hurling them across the sand. Sally grunted as she shook her head, looking up to see Metal Sonic floating in the sky above them, his red eyes locked onto Sally. And on his shoulder was Nicole, her holo eyes glaring down at Sally.
"Nicole," Sally whispered.
"How interesting. It seems that the princess herself was the source of the strange signal that drew our attention," Nicole stated. "And it seems that she is alone with only Pinkie as her only protection. What a stroke of good fortune for us."
"Yes, now we can finally be rid of the princess," Metal agreed. He slammed into the ground and began to walk towards Sally, extending the claws on his hands.
"I failed you before Nicole, but this time, I'm going to save you. I promise," Sally whispered. She then pulled out her control console and aimed it at the container in the water. "Master control engaged. Signal locked. Power on and reactivate!"
She pressed a button on the device as she did this...only for nothing to happen. Metal looked from her to the container before resuming his stalk towards her. She mashed the button a few more times before groaning.
"So Sally, you have a plan B?" Pinkie asked.
"Fine then," Sally snarled. She tore off her turban, conjured her blades and glared down the metal threat. "I guess I'll just have to rip Nicole out of your body."