//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: An Empty World // by The_Unnamed_Pawn //------------------------------// Everything was quiet for a moment, and then suddenly it wasn’t. Spectrum couldn’t help but feel he should be more shocked when the nonsensical creature floated into view and wrapped itself around him and the rest of the group. “The spirit of disharmony,” he mumbled, “I guess I finally got to sleep.” “What the hay is Discord doing here?!” Lightning screamed from across the dragon. Spectrum stared in wonder as the creature’s head reared into view in the center of his coiled body. Spectrum did his best not to think too hard about that. “That doesn’t seem like the proper way to thank somepony for saving your life,” the spirit said. “So does anypony know what’s going on here?” Goldstone asked. He was close enough for Spectrum to see him. He was currently scrounging through his bag for some reason, though to his credit he was looking at Discord. Spectrum couldn’t say that much. “Did we lose?” “No no,” Discord clarified, “Your older sister just had a little tantrum. Don’t worry things will be back soon.” “So you’re going to help us then?” Dew Drop said. As usual she sounded more doubtful than excited. “Not in any meaningful way,” Discord responded cheerfully, “No more than I’ve already helped you in any case.” “Can you at least explain what’s going on while we’re here?” Caesar spoke with an authority that seemed to override the absurdity of the situation. When Spectrum decided to look at him, he saw that the stallion was actually standing on Discord’s back. “Yes I think we’d all appreciate that,” Twinkle said in affirmation. Discord responded with a sigh. He didn’t even bother to look at either of the speakers. It wasn’t until Dew Drop spoke that he actually even showed what might be called interest. “Please Discord.” That was all she said, but she still spoke with the same kind of authority that Spectrum had heard in Caesars voice; albeit a bit shakier. Perhaps that’s why Discord thought she was worth facing and smiling at. “You do know what’s going on here, don’t you?” “I do but I have to say I hate delivering exposition.” Discord chuckled and moved his head toward Low, “Why don’t you give it a go for me?” “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Low was smiling and speaking cheerfully and confidently as ever. He wasn’t standing like Caesar and Dew were though. Discord sighed. “You know it’s not often I have regrets,” he said turning to the side and looking straight at Spectrum for some reason, “Twice in one day must be a record.” A griffin’s talon rose from Discord’s torso as he spoke and reached out to grab Low. At least that’s what it looked like initially. In the end all it did was poke him on the head. “Now go on, Ace.” Aces Low sat in a daze for a minute before responding. Spectrum was unnerved a touch by the dimming of his color, but the strange monotone he spoke in was far more disconcerting. “Screwball attempted to erase the world in order to remove chaos from it. As a result she inadvertently freed Discord by freeing him from the stone. In order to respond to Screwball’s plan, Discord created five ponies to bear the elements of disharmony and stop her.” “Wait, who’s Screwball?” Stinger suddenly chimed in. Spectrum hadn’t noticed that she was sitting right next to him. As it turned out, she’d been spending most of her time prodding Discord with her bracelet. He didn’t seem to mind. “She is the pony we met at the castle,” Low responded, still in that monotone voice. “And the elements? Could you explain those a bit more?” Stinger punctuated her question with another jab to Discord’s torso. “They are the gems we are all wearing right now.” Spectrum swore he heard at least three ponies respond with, “I knew that was important.” One pony actually responded with another question though. It was Stinger again. “So you’re saying we can use these things to take her out then?” she asked, waving the bracelet in front of Discord. The effort was clearly pointless since Discord was looking in a completely different direction, but Stinger got her answer anyway. “Maybe,” Low said. “What do you mean maybe?” Lightning Flash shouted suddenly. Low just shrugged in response. Discord provided a more satisfying answer for this particular question though. “It’s not like I could be bothered to test them.” “I can’t help but wonder why nopony’s asking about that ‘created’ line,” Twinkle interjected, “Am I the only pony here who’s concerned about that.” “It’s not important, Twinkle,” Dew Drop said. Spectrum noticed Discord’s smile widen a touch. Dew Drop on the other hoof, was clearly in tears. “What exactly do we have to do to save everypony?” she continued. Again Low just shrugged. “I just told you I didn’t have time to test them,” Discord said, “It shouldn’t be too hard though. All you need is to gather them all together.” “Aren’t there supposed to be six?” Everypony nearby, Discord included glanced toward Airheart when she spoke. She shied back a bit when the giant head turned her way, but continued nonetheless. “I mean I’m guessing you’re not one to follow many rules, but there are six elements of harmony.” Discord actually laughed once Airheart finished. His laughter did stop rather abruptly though. It stopped the second that Low started speaking in fact. “There are six,” the stallion said, prompting another quick turn. Spectrum wasn’t sure how many other ponies saw it, but for him time slowed down again the moment he saw Discord’s talon moving towards Low. Despite his monotone voice, the stallion was clearly smiling. “I think that’s enough of that,” Discord said while he returned Low to normal, “Besides I need you to be in tip top shape for when Screwball realizes what happened.” Discord smiled again and pulled a lion’s paw with a watch on it from somewhere nopony could quite see. The face clearly bore the labels, “exposition,” “laughter,” and “midnight.” There were no hands though. “It should be any moment now.” ***** Twinkleshine awoke, along with everypony else, in the gardens behind Canterlot castle. Standing in front of her was a towering statue of the creature he’d just seen in his dream, Discord. “So it was just a dream?” Spectrum mumbled from beside her. Twinkle stood up and smiled at Spectrum. She had planned to assure him that it wasn’t, but before she could her action was rendered unnecessary. “You stupid noisy meanie!” somepony screamed from above them. It only took a cursory look in order to confirm that it was most definitely Screwball screaming at the statue. “Hey mule!” Twinkle turned to see that she was not the only pony who’d gotten up just yet. Stinger had risen as well, and it was clear that she was ready for a fight. Before Screwball could even turn the mare had jumped her and landed a solid right hook. Twinkle followed Stinger as the punch landed, but Screwball didn’t react with more than a jerk. “Just go away!” the floating mare screamed once Stinger had landed. Since Screwball didn’t move when she yelled, Twinkle decided she needed to get a better look at her face. Once she had circled around to see it, she found that Screwball was crying. “Why didn’t that work?” Stinger complained, “I hit her with the gem.” “We need to all attack at once,” Low said as he got into a place near Screwball. Twinkle shot him a nervous smile and backed away from the floating pony. She hoped he still knew what he was talking about. From what she understood, Discord had given him the knowledge of the situation. Twinkle was joined by four other ponies. Only Wisp and Airheart seemed hesitant to back away from the battlefield, but Twinkle was sure they knew that this wasn’t there fight. “I hope they can handle it,” Caesar commented from beside her. “I’m sure they can,” Twinkle said as she watched the five chosen ponies gather in a circle around Screwball. Stinger and Lightning Flash both were ready to go, and Low was every bit as ready as them by the looks of it. Goldstone didn’t seem particularly hesitant either. His eyes were locked firmly on the tiara sitting on Screwball’s head. Even Dew Drop didn’t hesitate to draw her knife, although, she was crying just as much as the mare in front of her. “It was what they were born to do,” Airheart commented. Twinkle noted the twinge of sadness in her voice, but chose to ignore it for now. Philosophy would have to wait for once they’d gotten the world back. The five gathered ponies attacked all at once. It couldn’t have been more than a split second between each strike, but Screwball wasn’t fazed by a single one of them. While it was no surprise that Low’s beam and Goldstone’s uninspired bag swing did nothing, Screwball was left equally unfazed by the crossbow bolt, the trained fist, and the knife that hit her almost immediately after those two particular attacks. The only thing that had changed was that she was now shaking. Screwball was left shaking there for a minute as the other ponies stared on in awe. Mumbled words were exchanged, primarily about why it wasn’t working, but Twinkle paid them no attention. The darkness was back, and it was closing in faster than ever. “Just. Let. Me. Sleep!” Screwball roared with an intense anger when her sentence reached its end. It was then that the darkness finally finished closing in on Twinkle’s vision.