Cadance stared at him, disbelief and mild disdain written all over her face.
“So, you expect me to believe that Spike is some super being capable of rewriting reality?” Discord groaned.
“Of course not, I expect you to understand that if I’m serious about something then it’s probably something you should worry about. I hate making sense, and I hate being serious, so if I’m both cohesive and not making jokes, then you should be worried.” Cadance blinked at him with half lidded eyes, still not believing him. Discord rolled his eyes, before snapping his fingers, and a very confused Shining Armor appeared, holding Flurry Heart.
“Discord? What are you-”
“What did you see when Spike and Thorax first arrived here?” Shining Armor furrowed his brow, thinking.
“It was like the snow had been sandblasted away for like a mile. It was sunny. It’s never sunny here.” Discord gestured wildly at Shining Armor, eyes wide. Cadance remained neutral, but her renewed interest showed in her slightly less lidded eyes and straightened posture.
“What does that prove?”
“Spike reset the area around where Thorax collapsed for around a mile! It nearly reached the empire, I had to go back and fix that area, because there would’ve been a single mile wide space where the frozen north turned into a tropical paradise!” Cadance’s eyes went wide, and for a moment Discord had hoped he’d finally gotten through.
“Thorax collapsed?! Is he okay?” Discord facepalmed.
“Yes, he is. Thanks to the elder god he managed to befriend turning the eNTIRE AREA INTO A TROPICAL PARADISE!” Discord rubbed at his temples, before checking his clock again. Ten minutes. He groaned out loud once more, before turning back to Cadance. “Look, we have maybe ten minutes until Spike causes another reality rewrite, and that’s merely my best estimate. That could change in moments, so we should leave now!” Cadance stared at him again, trying to ascertain if he was lying. Eventually, wasting precious seconds, she relented, sighing before standing up and stretching her wings.
“If you’re lying to me and taking me away from my husband, I will see to it that Fluttershy makes you sleep on the couch.” Discord gasped audaciously, appalled.
“We’re not married! ...Yet. I haven’t found the right ring.” Cadance shot Shining Armor a look, and Discord glared at her husband, who seemed to be fighting back an absolutely relentless case of the giggles.
The two took off, hoping to find Spike in the vast crystal empire before another surge.
“So you can digest anything?”
“Literally anything.” Thorax tapped his chin, thinking.
“Dirt?”
“Eaten it.”
“Wood?”
“The amount of pencils I’ve consumed is shameful.”
“Rubber?”
“Like better chewing gum.” Thorax’s eyes were wide, and he was absolutely perplexed.
“How about garlic?” Spike gave Thorax a look, only to realize that the Changeling was completely serious.
“You can’t eat garlic?” Thorax shook his head.
“Makes me break out and makes my chitin weak. Changelings can’t do garlic. Or chives.” Spike shook his head.
“That is awful. I am so sorry.” Thorax waved it off, but Spike was still in mild shock. Garlic was… well, garlic. It was a staple for ponies, and it’s one of the most common seasonings you could find. To not be able to eat garlic…
Well, Spike didn’t want to think about it.
The night air was cool, but not biting, and Spike took a deep breath through his nose. Coming out late was a good idea, even if they didn’t have much to do. The city was calm, and the crystal ponies, as willing as they were to charge Spike for autographs and things of the sort, were mostly in their homes and quiet. The street lights had long since gone on, and Spike and Thorax basked in the cool glow of the evening, simply enjoying their conversation, and each other’s presence.
“You know, you’re really bulking up.”
“Yeah, I noticed. I’m getting a lot more buff than I expected. I expected to grow more… pudgy y’know? I’ve always been kinda on the tubby side.” Spike furrowed his brow. “Actually, there was that one time I got really huge after a greed growth and I got really lanky.” Thorax turned to face him.
“Greed growth?”
“It’s like a built-in curse or something. If dragons take too much, we get super greedy and start growing really huge. I was like the size of Ponyville’s biggest building. Probably bigger. Apparently I didn’t even reach the limit, so I could’ve been bigger.” Thorax silently marveled, before continuing his stride.
“You know, dragons are really cool.” Spike snorted.
“Yeah, I guess we can be.” The two continued walking in comfortable silence, before stopping at a cafe, whose owner waved them in from the street corner. They each ordered simple drinks, not wanting to be up any later than they would need to be. They’d already been asleep for eight hours. The chances of them going to sleep any earlier than maybe four A.M. was miniscule. In any case, the conversation continued. “Still,” Spike picked up, “I think changelings are pretty cool too. If I could transform into anything, I’d probably be myself the least.” Thorax shook his head.
“Believe me, it’s not the best being something else for long periods of time. It feels… wrong. It’s like going through puberty, your body just feels like it’s not you.” Spike grimaced.
“Yeah, I guess that’s not much fun. Still is a pretty cool power though.”
Allow our protagonists to fade to the background, as we focus back on Cadance and Discord, desperate to find them before the clock strikes zero.
Or maybe, we focus on what’s going to trigger the rewrite instead.
The changeling twitched violently as he silently limped in the direction of his prey. The waves told him to come here. The static had forced his hand. He needed to be here. He had to attack so that the Lord may obtain his power.
The changeling retched, spitting a mouthful of corrosive acid onto the pavement. He had only a few minutes left. The pain was staggering, but the waves in his ears comforted him. It was alright. He would be free soon. It didn’t matter if he died. The Lord would ensure he lived on. It was promised.
He spat another mouthful of acid onto the floor. This one came with chunks. He lightly poked at his own underbelly, feeling the shifting of his dissolving innards as they tried to force themselves out.
He shambled along slightly faster.
His name would not matter, and his body would be returned to the shifting waves.
A comforting thought.
He came upon his target, the Lord and the lower with whom he’d taken interest. They weren’t looking in his direction. The window was open, and he had free reign to attack as he pleased.
He retched another mouthful of dissolving organs and acid, melting the ground in a bubbling pool of green. He stared back at the window, the king lower stared in his direction, horrified. He hurriedly grabbed the Lord’s attention, and with a violent twitch, the changeling jumped through the window.
Cadance was beginning to get worried.
Discord was devoted to his pranks, and she had no doubt he was willing to throw his power at anything for a prank. But he looked so utterly terrified, that she was beginning to worry he was telling the honest truth, and she was about to witness Spike changing the fabric of reality. It was a terrifying idea to say the least, the timid drake becoming a devastating force of reality warping magic.
Discord cried out suddenly, drawing her attention.
“Thirty seconds!”
She scanned the area around them, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two. She was rewarded with the sight of them, relaxing in a coffee bar. She sighed in relief, pointing them out to Discord, who cried out once more.
“What are you-” She followed his line of sight, mouth falling open as a limping, glowing changeling approached the window outside where the two sat. She watched in horror as it twitched and shook, spitting a mouthful of what looked like something corrosive onto the pavement. It twitched a few more times, drawing the attention of Thorax, who alerted Spike to its presence. The changeling jumped through their window, and Cadance dived towards it in time with Thorax’s scream.
Then the world around her fell apart.