//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Downer Drowner // Story: Turmoil Rising // by JFT //------------------------------// There was a constant noise in the air. It sounded like water running and clashing against obstacles in its way. And on top of that, she felt cold running through her hooves. Her eyes slowly opened and a single ray of light shined down from the gap in the ceiling. Twilight’s head hurt, her sight was constantly splitting into threes as it tried to adjust. She slowly turned it, trying to discern where the chill was coming from. She noticed the floor of the cell had been broken, and now there was water running in, her back hooves being partly submerged. As her consciousness finally cleared and got aware of the situation, instant panic set in. She screamed. “AIEEEEEEEEE! WE’RE GONNA DROWN!” She didn’t get far as the legs gave out under her weight from the fatigue. It rang in her ears, not hearing the tapping sound on the stone as a short figure approached. “Twilight!” the little dragon spoke, as he jumped over a heaved stone plate and over the stream that ran through the broken cell, followed by the fashionista with an extremely frazzled mane. “Thank Celestia, you’re awake!” The princess shook her head, thinking her vision is playing tricks on her. “Spike! Ra… Rarity, what’s happened to you?” “This?” she grabbed a clump. “This is what happens with a freefall into the icy water. I’ll be lucky if my mane can be restored to its previous splendor without going for the scissors. I’ve not brushed for a whole day.” “You mean, lucky if we even get out of here at all,” Spike corrected her. “Don’t worry, Spike. All we need to do…” she suddenly stopped, realizing just now what the white unicorn said. “Wait… we’ve been in here for a whole day already?!” “Yeah, pretty much,” Spike confirmed. She couldn’t believe it she was out cold since the previous morning. “What about the others?” Her companion motioned to follow him. The three climbed over the heaved rocks to the other side of the room and she could hear a strange buzzing sound as if somebody’s turned on a drill. She saw three and a half figures: the orange one lay motionless on one of the broken stone plates, the yellow on was curled up with her face buried in her hooves, and the blue one was standing by a hole in the wall, through which the backside of the pink one could be seen. CLANG! As the alicorn approached, a sudden sound of bending metal followed. The party planner finally walked backward, revealing the frontal pointy tip of her cotton candy hair bent in a sharp corner. “Sorry Dashy, but I’m afraid it’s out of order,” she said with a frown. “Girls, are you all okay?” Twilight asked as she approached. Rainbow Dash turned her head at the sound of the voice. “Twilight, you’re awake!” She looked at the country pony laying by the side. “What’s wrong with Applejack?” “She’s been like that about as long as you, Twilight,” Rarity explained. “I think she may have gotten a concussion.” “Don’t worry. If I know AJ, she’s gonna be up in no time,” the wonderbolt said. The princess sight then turned to the yellow mare, who still had her face buried in her crossed hooves. “Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” “I CAN’T FIND DISCORD!” she cried out in a sobbing voice. “I searched the whole room and he’s nowhere to be found!” Concern crawled up on Twilight’s face. “Wait… you’re not saying that he’s…?” “Nah, doubtful,” Spike rebuked the notion. “If I were in his place, I’d probably crawl into a hole and never come out.” “Spike, that’s a mean thing to say!” “But it’s true. After I embarrassed myself at the Equestrian Games, the last thing I wanted to do was for anypony to notice me. He’s probably just hiding.” “Ugh… y’all might try keeping it down? The scratching sound’s already hard to deal with…” That voice just now didn’t come from the sibling. It came from the orange pony that was still unconscious not a moment ago. “Applejack, you’re awake!” Pinkie exclaimed. “No thanks to this scratching sound,” she groaned. “It’s clawing up somethin’ awful.” “What are you talking about, AJ?” Rainbow Dash questioned. The country pony tried to get back on her feet, but the disorientation still caused her to fall. “A lil’ help, please?” The party planner and the shy one helped her get up, and sling her on wonderbolt’s back. “Put yer ear to the ground over there,” she told them. Spike walked over to the stone plate on which Applejack laid earlier and pressed the side of his head on it. He did hear it; a strange kind of scratching sound against the rock. Twilight approached the plate to lift it, but as she tried to use her magic, it dispersed. “No good. The changeling magic negation is still active. I’ll need your help, guys.” The blue pegasus flipped Applejack, tossing her on Rarity’s back, and skipped over to Twilight’s side; joined by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, as well as Spike, they managed to lift the heavy piece of rock and flip it over. There was a hole in the ground, almost like a well, at the bottom of which there was a piece of dry rock surrounded by water. And laying on that sole dry piece was a patchwork of various animal parts, with an empty look on his face, scratching the rocky surface with the tip of his avian claw. They took a peek inside and not a moment later, they all suddenly got shoved aside by the yellow pegasus, who stuck her head into the hole. “Discord, say something! Are you okay?!” It took a while before he finally gave a somber response. “No…” “Did you break something? Where does it hurt?! Your arm?! Your leg?! Wing?!” The draconequus stopped scratching at the stone, lifted his hand, and pointed at his chest. “This…” “His pancreas?” Pinkie questioned. Twilight and Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy and pulled her back to create enough space for all of them to look inside again. “Discord, what are you doing in there?” Twilight asked him. “Come out.” “I’d rather not,” he rebuked. “Discord, you’re being ridiculous,” Rainbow Dash answered. Draconequus’s eye rolled to the side as if he was looking at them. “Am I? I was living a blissful life and then Father reminded me of something I had conveniently forgotten. The first friend I ever had, who I hurt, turned to his side because of what I did… and I couldn’t prevent it.” “Chillax, Discord. It’s not like it was the only time you did it- OW!” an orange hoof smacked the blue pegasus on the back of her head before she could finish, trying to rearrange her sentence. “Errr… I mean, what I meant to say was-“ “No, you’re right,” the former Lord of Chaos agreed. “It seems like whenever I try to do something for the sake of somepony else I’m cursed to just harm them instead. And Father knew it.” “Discord, you don’t need to keep calling Grogar by that name, he’s long gone,” Rarity voiced her thoughts. He was not convinced, however. “If only it were that easy. I can feel him. I can feel his eyes and ears everywhere, he listens to everything, and if I step out of line he’ll come for me. I just want to stay here, with my miserable self.” “What did I tell you?” the dragon said. Spike may have been right, but this really wasn’t the time to be smug about it. Twilight moved closer towards the hole to get a better sight of the draconequus. “Discord, I understand how hard it is for you right now, but you can’t just stay in there forever,” she told him. “It’s best that I do,” he responded. “This is the only place right now where I can’t harm anypony.” “But you’re hurting Fluttershy right now!” the princess stated. “She was worried sick when she couldn’t find you since yesterday while you were hiding in there. She really thought you got badly hurt, Discord. And if you stay, you’ll be doing to her exactly what you claim you don’t want to. Are you going to come out now?” He ceased scratching the stone floor. Of course, she was right, she was the princess of friendship after all. And he couldn’t stand the thought of hurting his best friend either. Despite the dejected state, with minimal effort, he began to scale the wall of the hole. He barely peeked out of it, when a pair of yellow hooves grabbed him and pulled him into an embrace. “Don’t ever do that again, Discord!” the pegasus cried. He couldn’t stand seeing her like this. If he still had his powers, he’d have conjured a box of tissues for her, but as it was, he didn’t really have any other option. He hugged her cheeks and gently nuzzled them. “Well, I guess we’re finally all accounted for,” Twilight sighed as the shy pegasus smothered the former Lord of Chaos with hugs. “Now we just need to get out of the prison. Shouldn’t be that hard, right?” Except for Applejack, everybody else awkwardly looked at one another when she said that. “Yeah… that may be a problem, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash exposited. “We’ve been trying to break out of here since yesterday without any progress. See the hole in the ceiling that’s the only light source here? When the cell fell into the chasm it got impaled on a giant sharp spike, breaking the floor and puncturing a hole in the ceiling.” “We only managed to remove it thanks to Spike,” Rarity joined, pointing to the pointy half of the spike that lay by the side of the stone stump in the middle of the room. “Yeah, after I spent half a day removing it myself,” the dragon added. She resumed. “But that’s when we realized the water broke in. It seems we’ve landed just above the surface of an underground river, and the only reason we’ve not completely sunk yet is that we’re lodged on its narrow sides.” “And we tried to break through on all four sides but two of them will flood us and the other two lead straight into bedrock, so this “thing” is out of order,” Pinkie Pie pointed at her bent drill mane. “Wait… are ya sayin’ it’s only a matter of time before this place collapses and we sink?” Applejack on her back suddenly got worried. “Yes,” she gave a blunt answer. The princess began to share her concern when she suddenly heard a low rumbling sound nearby and jumped to the side. “On no! It’s happening already!” But there was nothing. The sound was gone and no rocks crumbled away nor water breaking in. Her sight wandered over to the little dragon, who held on to his belly. The strange rumbling sound returned for an instant and this time she heard precisely where it came from. “No…” Spike voiced a complaint, “that’s just my stomach. I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday and we didn’t even have breakfast when we left.” “None of us did, Spikey-wikey,” Rarity agreed. The princess of friendship looked at everybody’s faces and finally realized that they weren’t doing all that well, and after a moment of thought she herself felt rather empty; she finally understood how serious the situation was. “Then it’s all the more imperative that we get out of here. Our only possible exit now is to go through the roof.” “That’s not going to be as easy as you make it sound, darling,” the fashionista addressed the princess. “It seems like the rubble from above collapsed on top of us. Even with that hole punctured into the ceiling, there are several hooves of rock still between us and freedom.” “I tried to just bust through…” wonderbolt said and leaped to try flying, yet she didn’t get more than a few feet off the ground before faceplanting on the ground, “but with the state in which my wings still are that’s not happening any time soon.” “Even then, we agreed that brute-forcing it would probably cause the whole thing to collapse on us.” “And since the changeling magic that Grogar placed on this room is still active, we can’t use our powers either,” the alicorn said. “There’s got to be another way.” The princess went into thought. Some time passed; the sound of running water and the dragon’s occasional growling tummy were the only things that disturbed the peace. Fluttershy finally loosened her grip on the draconequus, her gaze traveling up to the hole for a moment, then back to the creature in her embrace. “I… I think I got an idea,” she finally spoke, and everybody else’s heads turned to face her, as she lifted her miniature friend at them. “Discord’s small enough. He can get out through the hole and get help.” “Great idea!” Spike responded and the mares soon join in agreement with him. The draconequus on the other hand wasn’t seen as very enthusiastic; as everybody pushed him to go, he wasn’t showing particular eagerness. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, guys.” “What do you mean, Discord?” his best friend asked. “You’ll more than fit right through.” “That’s not the problem…” the former Lord of Chaos explained. “Yeah, I can pass through the hole without a problem, but what about then? The way I currently am, at my size, it’s going to take hours for me to get off the mountain itself, even with the roof missing, and it will probably take more than a day before I could reach civilization to get any help, and that’s the kind of time none of you have. And besides…” “Besides what?” wonderbolt asked. Discord flew from Fluttershy’s hooves and landed by the wall, facing towards it, his back turned away from the rest. “I think I’ve helped everypony enough for one lifetime. All I would do in the end is just hurt you if I tried to help… as it always happened.” He was completely despondent. He was so beaten into the ground by his maker and his new cohort that he simply rejected any attempt in assisting out of fear of hurting those he cared about. This wouldn’t work. Fluttershy had the right idea, but the one who could do it simply decided to opt out, out of the feeling of self-loathing and inadequacy. Who could take his place? She thought for a moment and then her gaze wandered over to her companion, who was still rubbing his belly every time it made a growl. “Spike, how’s your wing feeling?” she asked him. The little dragon spread them out, one of them slightly lagging. “Better than before.” “Good enough,” she responded, “you’ll have to take Discord’s place.” “Wait, me?” he said in a surprised tone. “You’re the only one who still has a chance of actually fitting through that hole.” “Errrr… I dunno. I’m not feeling very optimistic.” “Spike, don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now as well?” Rainbow Dash suddenly turned up. “What? No, of course not! I just-“ he didn’t get to finish his sentence when his inner rumblings interrupted him. “I’m not sure I’ll make it in my current state.” “But we got no other choice, Spike,” Applejack added. “You’re the only one who can save us now.” “Help us, Spike! You’re our only hope!” Pinkie hopped in. He felt pressured. He wanted to help, yet he wasn’t feeling very confident he’d be of much use to anybody if the stomach pains get the better of him now. His tune would change, however, as the fashionista traipsed over to him, lowered herself to his eye level, and spoke in a tempting voice. “Please save us, Spikey-wikey.” A sudden sense of determination stirred inside him. He can bottle up the empty feeling; his friends, as well as his fair lady, needed saving. He quickly climbed on top of the stump of the burnt-off spike. “Twilight, gimme a boost!” She obliged, grabbing him and flying up to the hole in the ceiling. He reached with his claws into the tunnel and pulled himself in, Twilight giving him a boost inside. It was really close. Despite his size, he could feel the sharp rocks grinding against him, but thanks to his scales, he luckily felt no pain, and after a few moments of a rather claustrophobic feeling, he finally squeezed out. They were right about what they said earlier; the prison was half-submerged in an underground river, and the spike inside, as well as the narrow walls on the sides, were keeping it up, on top of that, the rubble from upstairs all fell on top. He could see the clear skies above from the broken mountain. Now the only problem would be how to climb up there. His wing was still suffering from a sprain to actually fly up directly, so her made a compromise. He walked to one of the walls, gripped one of several ridges, and pulled himself up, and as he did he quickly flapped with his wings, giving himself a significant boost. He repeated it several times, quickly scaling up the wall. Several minutes passed and the little dragon finally managed to reach the ledge that the old sorcerer ram cut off and pulled himself up. He was panting heavily. He managed to get to the top in his limited state, but it was still draining on him. He heard that familiar growling sound again. No! He had to keep it down; the lives of his friends are at stake and he can’t think of hunger right now. He rose back on his feet and followed the tunnel. He was sure he was up to the task of traversing the mountainous maze. He overestimated himself. It was uncertain to him how long it was, but by the time he finally managed to get through the main entrance he was completely exhausted, and that growling noised started to get increasingly consistent. It was hard for him to think straight. But one thing was certain: he couldn’t stop. He walked a few more feet to the edge of the ridge, and looking down he saw a forested area below and in the far distance some houses. The civilization and help were in sight but they seemed so far off. No way he could walk all the way there! It was time to improvise. He stepped to the edge of the Jagged Ridge and spread his wings open. He may not be able to fly normally, but at the very least he can glide a considerable distance and save up some strength. He leaped off and sailed through the sky. It was working! Despite all odds, he might actually make it all the way out of the forest and into the open fields just before the settlement, saving up hours he would have to thread through the forest. But just he was starting to feel optimistic, disaster struck. A cramp! The sharp pain erupted in his abdominal region, as starvation finally hit him, and in the spasm, his wings shut closed. He fell like a rock. He desperately tried to open them again but it wouldn’t help, the stomach pain was simply too much. He bashed against the treetops before he started to descend lower, crashing against the branches which slowed his speed ever so slightly, until he finally rolled downhill and landed in a shallow stream at the bottom. Everything in front of his eyes was spinning; whether it was the trauma he just received or the hunger, it didn’t really make a difference. With what little strength he had, he dragged himself out of the water so he wouldn’t drown and then collapsed. This was it for him. He hurt all over, could barely move a muscle and the lack of nourishment for more than a day was absolutely unbearable. There was no way he would make it now. He failed them all… especially Rarity. All he could hear was the sound of water from the nearby stream splashing, it kept growing louder until it mutated into something different… it sounded like hoof steps, ones that kept coming closer. He shifted his head in the direction of the incoming sound; everything was still spinning in front of his eyes and all he could discern was a tall figure looking over him, the head strangely big for a pony. “I feared the worst would come. Are you okay, my chum?” The six mares and the draconequus were left in the prison, all their hopes were now pinned on a single little dragon, who himself was not in the best state, but nobody else was in a fitting position. All they could do now is wait, hope for the best, and be prepared for the worst. But even knowing how serious their situation was, boredom and irritability began to bear down on them, so it was only a matter of time before somebody just got frustrated enough to start asking some questions that were on their minds. “Are you finally gonna come clean with us?” Applejack directed it at the former Lord of Chaos. “About what?” he asked. “Discord, don’t play coy with us!” she said in a stern tone. “Ah haven’t forgotten yesterday mornin’ when Ah asked you how you knew so many things and you decided to just dodge the question, as you did several times up until THAT moment upstairs, and now Ah finally understand why you’ve been avoiding them. So now that the cats out of the bag, how about you start bein’ honest with us and tell us the whole truth? Grogar, you, Gusty, all of it!” “I agree,” Twilight nodded, “there were so many times you could’ve told us, and maybe we could’ve avoided this mess in the first place.” “I concur,” the fashionista simply added. “I’m with AJ,” wonderbolt joined. “Maybe it’s because I heard only the abridged version from Pinkie, but I wanna know THE TRUE version of Gusty the Great.” “Ooooh, is it storytime? Great!” Pinkie Pie simply jumped with excitement. Fluttershy stepped before them to create a barrier between them and her friend. “Everypony please, I understand you’re frustrated, but please go easy on him,” she turned slowly to face the draconequus. “Discord, please tell us what happened?” He sighed in defeat. “I suppose there’s no point trying to hide it any longer. And since we’re not going anywhere any time soon, I might as well,” the former Lord of Chaos cleared his throat. “Now, a long time ago-“ “Oh oh oh! I have a question!” the pink pony interrupted him before he could properly start. “What is it, Pinkie?” he asked. “Where do baby monsters come from?” An awkward silence fell over the prison before Twilight broke it. “Pinkie, what kind of a question is that?” “I always wanted to know that. I know pony babies come from-“ Before she could continue a blue hoof was shoved in her mouth by the rainbow-maned pegasus. “We already know where they come from, Pinkie, no need to just throw it out.” The draconequus surprisingly cracked a smile. “Well, I can tell you that’s not the case here. Monsters aren’t “born”, as you may understand, they’re created. One moment there’s nothing and all of a sudden, POOF! You can see, you can hear, you can smell you can feel, and if lucky, you’re by some miracle able to speak comprehensive words. But one is always frightening.” “You have really odd standards as to what counts as “frightening”, Discord,” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Because you didn’t seem that scary the first time we met you.” He sighed. “You could say I’m a special case. Father always had this knack for creating monsters by distilling the strongest traits of two or multiple creatures and embody them into a single being, eliminating any weaknesses the single creature had. But there was this one time he felt like seeing what it would be like for a creature to exist that’s made entirely of traits that have no beneficiary strengths.” “Wait… he created you… just because? As an experiment?” Twilight frowned. “I guess that’s the best way of putting it,” he resumed. “After that, he just tossed me out of Tambelon, into the wilds, and let my “elder siblings” do the rest.” “The way you describe it, it couldn’t have been all that rosy,” the fashionista voiced a sense of discomfort coming on. “That’s putting it mildly,“ he assured her. “I was… I am small and scrawny, with no special or unique traits. The best I can do is fly, but what makes me look threatening in the first place? Nothing. And they caught on to it quickly. To them, I was a little more than a tasty morsel waiting to be devoured. I only got lucky because they started to fight between themselves about who’s going to feast. And that was basically the routine for as long as I can remember. I would keep hiding at every turn, always moving, always living in fear and despair when another of Father’s creations would appear when I least expected and have me for brunch.” The yellow pegasus covered her mouth from what she was hearing. “That… that’s just so horrible, Discord!” The former Lord of Chaos simply nodded in agreement. “So how did you find Gusty?” country pony asked. “It was the other way around, actually,” he corrected her. “I had just made another narrow slip and as I was resting under a rock, I wasn’t aware somebody was rummaging about and lifted it. That’s when she revealed herself. I’ve never seen a pony before; she was tall, bright, and had this… spark of life in her eyes. But the moment she saw me, she screamed in shock, I screamed in panic, and then she trapped me in a bubble and took me away in fear that I’d tell “my siblings” about it.” “You sure know how to make a first impression, Discord, I’ll give you that,” wonderbolt smiled. The draconequus glared at her. “I’d like to see you in my shoes and see if you’d do differently. Anyway, I spent a night in a small camp she had built, and once she learned I can actually talk, she started to ask questions, I answered, and we got it off. A few days in her company we managed to evade other monsters together. At that point, I warmed up to her enough that she decided to trust me, and take me home.” “What was Gusty’s home like?” asked Rarity. “First off, she had me promised to keep myself inconspicuous. She may have trusted me, but everypony else was still as antsy as ever from anything that didn’t look like them. She took me to the mountainous hill, and I thought to myself, “how could anyone possibly live inside a rock all their life, it must be a miserable place”, and after that…” he let out a deep sigh this time. “Let’s say I’ve not been so dazzled before in all my life. The slopes and the peak were only an illusion on the outside, but on the inside, it was completely different; it was a town full of vibrant colors, of laughter and cheer. I couldn’t comprehend the stark contrast between this and the world that stood outside of it. For this blooming paradise to exist so deep in Father’s domain, where everything was dark and dreary… it was inconceivable. And even though I spent most of the time concealed in the attic when her family was around, it was a remarkable experience, and with all the things we did together, I felt something strange I never felt before. Do you know what it was?” There was no response. For a moment he thought he would have to spell it out, but it didn’t take long before the pink marshmallow hopped in his direction, picked him up, and spun him about. “I know!” she proclaimed loudly. “Living in a bland, dreary, and colorless world, with no laughter or cheer, and then suddenly experiencing all of it… Discord, you felt joy!” He gave her an awkward smile. “Yes, Pinkie. Now please put me down.” She put him back on the solid ground and patted him on the head before hopping away. Draconequus resumed. “Those were the happiest moments I remember. For the first time, I felt like I was actually enjoying life and not constantly fleeing for it. I hoped it would last forever but… deep down I knew that would never be the case. It would only be a matter of time before Father eventually found it, and if he did, he would hurt Gusty. I wanted to do something for all she’s done, but as long as Father was around I knew this would never happen… not unless he was removed permanently, and I was well aware that neither I nor any other of his creations had the will to stand up to him. But I knew who did now: Gusty’s kind. If she and her kin, who lived further north came together, they would be able to rival Father and maybe even destroy him. And then in my enthusiasm, without thinking the whole thing through…” he paused, knowing what was coming. “Well, you saw what happened after that.” How couldn’t they? His maker shared it all for them to see it. He sold out his ONLY friend in an attempt to help her, thinking everything would work out without a hitch. “Ya know,” Applejack spoke again, “Ah think I’ve noticed a pattern where you seem to think ya know what you’re doing and then having the whole thing blow up in your face and making things worse for everypony else.” “APPLEJACK!” Fluttershy scolded her. "There's no reason to rub it in!" “No no, she’s right,” he rebuked her attempt at censure, “this was just the first time. After that happened, I felt so horrible I couldn’t live with myself. Gusty’s words… were just so painful. I had to make it right. For her sake, I had to. So I did the only thing I could… I followed.” “So how did you remove your memory then?” Twilight wondered. Discord sighed again, before looking in her direction. “Remember that climactic battle between Father and Gusty from the book? Where she removed the Bewitching Bell from his collar and used it to depower him? Truth is, she didn’t… I did.” “YOU?!” a collective shout followed, causing him to cringe and cover his ears. After the noise settled, he resumed. “I was there when Gusty took Father head-on. I knew from the start it was a folly. She may have been gifted with magic, but he had the power of Tambelon with him. The only way to stop him was to use his own tool against him. So, while the two faced off, spells flying all over the place on the battlefield, nearly completely obscured by the kicked-up dust, I used that chance to sneak up on Father and unhook his bell. It was a few moments later that he finally realized something was amiss and finally spotted me. And that’s when I decided to use it.” “Wait, hold on,” Rarity interrupted, “that doesn’t add up. Grogar said that all of his creations have had an active compulsion programmed into them so they wouldn’t try to directly harm him.” “And it’s true,” draconequus confirmed, “that’s what I felt immediately after I decided to use the bell against him… I couldn’t do it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t force myself to use it. Father knew that as well. But the look of anger on his face… the fact that one of his creations dared even for a moment thinking of defying his will. I’ve never seen him so angry. That’s when I decided to work AROUND the problem. I couldn’t hurt Father directly, so I did it INDIRECTLY. I put myself between the Bewitching Bell and Father… and rang it.” “What… what happened?” the shy pegasus asked in a surprised tone. “I… don’t remember. All I do remember before I rang it, was that I wished for only one thing: I wanted to forget the look of Gusty when she was at her worst - when I hurt her. I just wanted it gone. By the time I finally woke up, Father was gone and Gusty lay unconscious. That’s when I heard the sounds around me change. Without Father to spur on his children, they all turned on one another in the middle of a battle; without his command, they became disorganized and were easily swept aside by the ponies. That’s when I realized they’ll be coming for me as well, after all, I was a monster myself. I couldn’t haul the bell with me and make a quick escape, so the only thing I could do was simply leave it in Gusty’s care. But there was one thing that needed to be dealt with: The Collar of Dominion; it was all that was left behind by Father after he was defeated. If these two artifacts were left together, who knew what lunatic would try to use them again for his own personal gain. I had to make sure that the two remained separated forever. So, I grabbed the Collar and ran away… and that would be the last time I ever saw Gusty.” The country pony asked the obvious question. “So that’s how you knew where the artifact was? You brought it here?” Discord nodded. “I ran for days, maybe even weeks with the strap of leather. I couldn’t stop knowing that I might have pursuers on my tail, who were hunting down straggles after the battle. I couldn’t stay in Equestria, but I couldn’t return home either, and east was ruled by the Griffon Kingdom, who were constantly watching over their border like angry hawks. I only had one place to go: west. I ascended the Jagged Ridge and hid the collar deep into the mountain, hoping it would never be found. After my task was finally done, I only had one place left to go. I descended the other side of the mountain and entered the Nether Lands,” he stopped with a pause. “And that’s where it all ends.” A dreary atmosphere was in the air; the story was just downright depressing. But the princess’ curiosity wasn’t sated yet. “Wait, you’ve not covered everything. There’s this word you mentioned a few times about Grogar, but you never explained it. What exactly is Tambelon?” Before the former Lord of Chaos could answer, they heard a thud. It came from above. Did somebody just land on top of their prison or was it just a rock? “You guys!” a familiar voice spoke through the hole. “You still okay in there?” Twilight flew to the spike stump and looked through the hole upwards and saw the well-known giant reptilian eye, surrounded by purple scales. “Spike?! You’re back?! Did you get help?!” “Well, actually it found me, but ye, gimme a moment I’m lowering it right away!” he responded. Lowering? What’s he going to lower into prison? The whole gang gathered around. The light disappeared momentarily and the dragon pushed something down the narrow shaft. By the time it finally got through, everybody was left confused. It was a saddlebag, knitted from brown straw, yet there was something familiar about it. “Spike, what are we looking for in the bag?” country pony asked. “Nothing,” he simply replied, “just climb inside.” What did he just say? Climb inside the saddlebag? That didn’t make any sense at all. “Spike, that’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard for this kind of situation!” Applejack retorted. “Just trust me!” he answered. If only it were that easy. How are they all supposed to just “climb inside the bag”? It wouldn’t even fill one leg, let alone six whole ponies. Twilight pulled the saddlebag with her and set an awkward question. “Soooo… who wants to go first?” “Oh oh oh! Me!” the pink pony predictably jumped with excitement. The princess rolled her eyes and held the bags opening in Pinkie Pie’s direction. The party planner took a few steps back, wiggled her backside, and charged. Everybody else braced themselves for a predictable impact that would follow, and just when she was about to reach them, she leaped at the bags opening and flew straight in. It took a moment for them to completely register what just happened, their mouth being left agape. “It… it actually worked?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe it. Soon, the pink pony poked her head out of the opening. “Come on, girls! It’s actually quite roomy in here.” She slipped back inside and the other mares looked at each other with astonishment. But if she’s telling the truth, then perhaps Spike was being serious after all. The wonderbolt walked over to the bag’s opening and peeked inside when suddenly pink hooves grabbed her by the head and dragged her in. Now seeing that the dragon was being completely serious, they all lined up and followed through. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy with Discord one after another entered until Twilight was all that was left; it was her turn now. She stuck one hoof into the bag’s opening and pushed in, yet she didn’t reach the bottom, so she stuck in the other hoof as well until she was nearly up to her waist inside. “Spike!” she called out to him. “We’re about ready to go!” “Roger!” he replied. Just when she was about to slip inside, the pull from upstairs forced her in. She suddenly found herself in a dark space, landing in a soft pile consisting of her friends. “Told you guys it was roomy,” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Pinkie, you could’ve given a heads up, you know?” Rainbow dash complained. “Now I got this feeling in my back as if I’m bent on top of something.” She shifted about, a clanking sound came, and something plopped and rolled out from under her. It was a giant jar. They all looked at it, noticing something dark moving inside. Pinkie Pie slipped out from under the pile and walked over to it, picking it up. “Oh, look here who’s come to join us, girls!” She lifted the jar in their direction and a familiar presence emerged. The swirling black mass inside suddenly formed a mouth and hissed at them. They all panicked and scrambled off the pile to the side. “It’s Mister Grumpy! Who’s the mean little Grumpy?” she loudly exclaimed, before making baby noises at it, and it snapped back at her. “Yup, still grumpy as always.” “Pinkie, what’s that thing doing here?” Rarity pointed at it. “I thought we left it with Zecora back in Ponyville.” “Wait…” Fluttershy stopped them. “You don’t think the one to whom this bag belongs is actually-?” The room shook. The floor suddenly slanted until they all fell on the wall, and even that turned into a slope and they all slid down towards the opening. One after another they rolled out of the bag and onto the stone ground. They could finally see the clear sunlight from the broken mountain top, even if it was through the tunnel, and on the far edge of it, the little purple dragon stood, holding the bag. “You guys had a nice lift?” he quipped. He suddenly felt the loss of ground under his feet as he was lifted and pulled into Twilight’s embrace by her magic. And all other mares joined in. “Thank you, Spike,” she cuddled him. “I told you, you could do it.” “You’re my hero, Spikey-wikey,” Rarity planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks,” he blushed, “but I can’t take the whole credit. Had it not been for her, I don’t think I would’ve made it.” “Her? Her who?” the princess inquired. The sound of hoofs echoing through the corridor followed. A figure approached, and the light from the outside illuminated her features. Even though she wore a cloak, she was easily identified.