//------------------------------// // Chapter 31 // Story: Ponystuck // by confoundtheseponies //------------------------------// I Hope this isn't too late. The thought had barely crossed Silver Heart's mind before she realised that it was not, in fact, too late. The pony lying in front of her was still dead, of course, but now Golden was surrounded by a purple aura, the orbs atop his quest bed were glowing a bright white, and an alarmingly awesome fanfare was suddenly everywhere. And then, in an instant, Golden was gone, taking his ascension music with him. Silver was alone next to an empty quest bed, staring down at the symbol below her. It was some kind of mask, or maybe a curiously shaped jug. Whatever it was meant to be, something about it gave her an uneasy feeling. *** Twilight was bored. She was also frustrated with herself for being bored at a time like this, and frustrated with Comet for causing her to be bored. Perhaps the worst thing about being bored was that it gave her time to reflect on how the game had progressed so far. Almost immediately it had deteriorated from "promising new adventure" into "we're all going to die", and Twilight had been astounded by just how terribly things had gone. Back in Equestria, all but the most serious of problems had never placed any of them in such serious danger. Not even when they had first fought Discord... That was an interesting point, Twilight considered. There was Discord on Equestria, who they had defeated with the Elements of Harmony, and who had spent his days making pigs fly and drinking chocolate milks of glass. And then there was this Discord, who was about to be created, and who she had already encountered once in her session. A ruthless, powerful, immortal killing machine. The Discord she had first met was undeniably evil, but he hadn't killed anyone. She realised that she had only assumed that the two Discords were the same - although she supposed that there wasn't any way to know for sure. But if they were the same, then what could possibly explain the difference between the two Discords? Thinking about it wasn't going to get her anywhere, and the unnerving stare of Star Swirl's sprite was beginning to get under her skin. The sprite was a horrific mixture of unicorn and pegasus and lion and eagle and a pair of dice for some reason, along with a lot of additional limbs and items which Twilight found all too familiar. It was undeniably an unfinished stage of Discord, which Comet explained had been made by combining Golden's dream self with a Black King's sceptre. Exactly why Star Swirl was in possession of a sceptre, and why he was stupid enough to prototype with it, was unknown. All Twilight knew was that Comet seemed to find it worryingly amusing to call the abomination a Goldenrod sprite, and that the Goldenrod sprite in question was really creepy to be around. It had stopped talking a while ago, and had resigned itself to simply floating around next to her and glaring. She shook her head and opened up a new conversation. [crespucularMagicant began pestering fractalAbomination] CM: This thing is really starting to get to me. FA: what, goldenrod? FA: don't worry about it. just remember, normal's weak to fighting type attacks CM: ... what? FA: nm CM: Well, whatever. CM: I can't get hold of anyone now. Presumably they're all fighting on Skaia. FA: yeah, probably CM: Why didn't you tell anyone else? I mean, you know what's about to happen. FA: key point number 1 - as far as i'm concerned, it's already happened FA: key point number 2 - i hate to have to explain this again, but everything that someone does to change the future given their knowledge of the future is and must always be in a nash equilibrium FA: key point number 3 - always have 3 key points. always CM: Fine, fine, I get it. CM: I just feel so helpless. FA: yeah, so did i when i figured out that our universe is the result of resetting this universe FA: and that's not even the shittiest of the many wonderful shitty twists that paradox space has seen fit to reward us with CM: Why? What else is there? FA: i'm not going to tell you that. you'll have to wait and see CM: Then why did you tell me about Golden? FA: because i didn't want you getting killed CM: ... CM: Whereas you don't mind letting your friend walk into a trap? FA: summer's not a friend so much as she is a friend of a friend FA: in fact, she's really just a random pony who stalks one of my friends FA: besides, she dies because of this. that's a thing which happens CM: And you're really OK with that? FA: i had my one chance to stop it FA: and that's all i get CM: ... FA: look, twilight, this isn't about what any of us wants FA: do you know what would have happened if i'd said something to summer? FA: she'd have laughed it off. she'd have said it wasn't important, and gone anyway FA: or maybe i'd have been interrupted by something else FA: some external factor that i completely failed to take into account FA: alternatively, i could succeed, only for all the ponies i saved to die immediately afterwards in some tragic and probably very painful fashion FA: i can't do a damn thing to change what happened/what is happening CM: ... urgh, damn it. CM: There really isn't anything we can do, is there? FA: nope. it's far, far too late now FA: all we can do is sit back and enjoy the fireworks FA: speaking of which, things are about to heat up around here FA: you may want to take the opportunity to calm the fuck down *** "So, here you all are at last," Mild said, grinning at the sight of the assembled heroes - Applejack, Summer, Comet, Star Swirl, Celestia, and Luna - as they and their White Queen dove out of the sky and onto the meteor-wrecked surface of the Battlefield. "I've been waiting for you." "You've had this coming for a long time, Mild," Summer said. "This is going to be fun." And that was all the introduction that was necessary, as all the gathered ponies leapt into the air as one, weapons drawn. Below them, the White Queen ran forwards, towards the looming Black King, darting between Dersite soldiers that hopelessly attempted to slow her progress. Although in terms of prototypings her power equalled that of the King, the sceptre granted him a vast increase in size as well as strength compared with her relatively unchanged dimensions. Seizing a lance from one of the soldiers at the foot of the monarch, the Queen flew upwards along the side of the King, stabbing the lance forwards as she became level with his head. The lance was driven into the King's neck, managing to create a small gap in his carapace where it was thinnest, and became lodged in place. The Queen continued upwards, narrowly weaving in between colossal fists that angrily swatted at her, and reached out with her powers to a meteor which was aimed slightly away from their current position. Being prototyped with a King's sceptre, she had received moderate control over the Reckoning - although not enough to stop it entirely - and with this she slightly rotated the meteor's trajectory so that it now aimed towards them. Before the King could react to this, it was already too late, and the large rock crashed into his leg with a deafening explosion. The King staggered backwards, as the Queen approached for a second round. Elsewhere, Comet and Star Swirl were attempting to deal with Silver Edge. An unfair volume of axes danced threateningly around Silver as she leapt around the bolts of energy which Star Swirl was firing. Comet, meanwhile, was standing around idly as he attempted to factorise a cubic equation in his head. "Comet," Star Swirl said, attempting and failing to catch Silver off guard by firing a series of delayed lasers in quick succession, "This would be so much easier if you were helping." At that, Comet was suddenly at his side, with a large book open in front of him. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that patience is a virtue?" Comet asked, before rapidly flipping the pages of the book and creating a magic circle around both himself and Star Swirl in the process. Suddenly, Silver began moving much slower, barely dodging out of the way of a large laser beam in time. "You slowed her down?" Star Swirl asked Comet, who shrugged. "I sped us up, which makes us look a whole lot cooler from an external viewpoint. Now quick, use your magicannon." They both paused for a few moments, after which Comet sighed. "Don't tell me you don't have a magicannon." "I have no idea what a magicannon is," Star Swirl informed him, before firing several lasers as quickly as he could. Which of course meant that, from Silver's point of view, he was firing lasers faster than she could dodge them. Changing tactics, she attempted to create a shield around herself to deflect the onslaught. "Have I hit her yet?" Star Swirl asked, unable to see as his horn was aimed towards Silver. "I think she made a shield," Comet said. "She's better at magic than I thought. We appear to be in stalemate." He shrugged. "Still, she can't keep this up forever." "Neither can I," Star Swirl pointed out. "Ah, yes. Good point." *** CM: So, will you be joining me and the others once they get over here? FA: no FA: i have somewhere i need to be CM: Uhuh. So you keep saying. And what are the rest of us supposed to do? FA: head back to your session. discord's been running amok over there for all this time, and i don't care how unusually overpowered ember is being for whatever badly explained reason. they're going to die unless we can help CM: But... you're from the future, so... CM: Don't you know what happens to them? FA: ... no. but we both know that there's plenty of surprises in store FA: golden being discord? that's just the tip of the iceberg of terror which we are currently crashing the fuck into FA: with sburb, every day is christmas day FA: and we've all behaved atrociously FA: our stockings are filled with misery and death FA: the tree in the corner is the harbinger of our misfortune, clad in baubles of despair and... FA: uh, what are they called, those little tiny winged things CM: Cherubs? FA: yeah, that's it. clad in baubles of despair and cherubs of darkness, reminding us of the futility of existence FA: or, indeed, of attempting to understand what the hell is going on CM: Was there any point to that really drawn out and muddled metaphor? FA: yeah. the point was that we all suck CM: That's reassuring. CM: What are you even doing in the palace that's so important? FA: i'm resetting the session FA: or rather, i'm starting the process. the actual reset is very dramatic and drawn out, so you'll all have time to get out CM: Do you want us to wait for you? FA: yes FA: however, i know from experience that you don't CM: So... what's going to happen to you? FA: no idea FA: should be interesting CM: ... FA: anyway FA: i need to work. you can get on with meeting everyone, they'll be appearing shortly FA: oh, and when they ask who was smart enough to reset the session? FA: it was you. don't let anyone know about me, especially not me FA: that would be disastrous CM: I... really don't understand what's happening. FA: yeah, that seems to be a recurring theme FA: so... i might see you later, relative to me CM: Yeah. OK. FA: oh, and twilight? CM: Yes? FA: listen, i want to be serious for a moment FA: i... i'm sorry, ok? FA: i'm just a complete idiot CM: Sorry for what? FA: like i said before FA: everything [fractalAbomination ceased being pestered by crespucularMagicant] *** "Luna, Celestia, go and help the Queen!" Summer yelled over the sound of several explosions going off at once. Most of them were her fault. "If we don't stop the King in time then we lose!" Celestia put a hoof to her head in a mock salute, and then pulled Luna in the relevant direction before she could object. "AJ, get over to Mild and try to distract him from controlling these soldiers. I'll cover you." As Applejack nodded and began carving a path towards the cackling god, Summer fired a few shots in rapid succession at the Prospitans and Dersites who were attempting to slow Applejack's progress. Sadly, even the sound of her rifle firing wasn't quite enough to completely drown out Comet's distant taunt of 'I bet you will'. Reaching Mild, Applejack swung her scythe downwards towards him, only for Mild to leap to the side at the last second, his concentration broken. Which means that the soldiers'll stop attacking, Applejack thought to herself, sparing a glance around her to make sure that that was the case. What she saw was quite alarming. Presumably moments before releasing them, Mild had frozen the Prospitans in place so that the Dersite soldiers could kill them. Now that he was no longer in control, the only survivors were the Dersites - who were loyal to him anyway. "Heh, I almost feel sorry for you," Mild said patronisingly as Applejack was shaken out of her surprise by several knives nearly managing to knock her hat off. "That would have been a nice plan if I was still 3." "Don't try to be all high and mighty," Applejack replied, leaping over the attacking soldiers as she tried to make her way towards Mild. "It really doesn't suit ya." Again, her scythe narrowly missed the Thief, although it did manage to behead a few soldiers who were behind her. "Ha, nice," Summer said approvingly, as she shot down a few more soldiers. Not that it helped, as there seemed to be an endless amount joining the battle. "But really, the best way to annoy him would just be to not react at all." "Stop giving her advice!" Mild snapped, sending a knife flying towards Summer, who simply stepped out of its way. "You're going to regret not taking me seriously," he said, kicking Applejack away from him before taking flight and surrounding himself with a bright green glow. Instantly, Summer felt herself collapsing. This seemed odd to her as her eyes remained level. What also seemed odd was that she could see herself collapse a short distance away from where she was currently standing. Glancing down, she realised that for some reason she was a Dersite soldier, which she had almost certainly not been moments ago. This was all rather odd. "Summer!" Applejack rushed towards the collapsed pegasus that Summer was supposed to be, as it picked itself up with a confused look. This didn't make any sense. Summer glanced up at the smiling Thief. This was his doing, so presumably her mind had been trapped in a Dersite soldier. But then, why was the blue pegasus still moving? Oh. Realising what had happened, and what was probably about to happen, Summer began sprinting towards Applejack. If there was a Dersite soldier in her body, then... Suddenly, Applejack noticed the thing that looked like a soldier rushing towards her, and Summer was less concerned about Applejack's health and more about her own, as the farm pony slashed out at Summer with her scythe. A Dersite head rolled across the floor, and Summer instantly found herself in her own body once again, along with the distinct feeling of having just had her own head cut off. It hurt like hell. To Applejack's dismay, Summer cried out in pain and collapsed again, while Mild smiled knowingly. Picking herself up - with Applejack's help - she and the earth pony stood facing Mild. "You're going to pay for that," Summer said quietly, all desire to make jokes suddenly leaving her. Mild raised an eyebrow, but was paused as a bright light distracted all three ponies, causing them to glance at the illuminated quest bed in the distance. Gears clicked in Mild's head. "I'm sure I will," he replied hurriedly. "But not today. I'll be taking my leave now." With that, he disappeared behind several waves of soldiers that suddenly rushed towards Summer and Applejack. *** "Damn... this guy's tough," Celestia commented, while Luna tried to remember the few basic healing spells she knew. It would have been easier to do so if there wasn't quite so much blood, and if it wasn't leaving Celestia quite so quickly. She quickly glanced behind her to make sure the Queen was managing. She was, and if anything the monarch's attacks were becoming increasingly vicious as the battle wore on. "Hey sis, you OK?" "Yeah, I'm fine," Luna assured her. "It's you we need to worry about." Suddenly Celestia's eyes widened, and she pointed a hoof behind her. "Asshole at 6 o'clock!" She yelled, and Luna span around to see a large purple ship flying through the air towards them. On top of it could be seen a familiar grey god wearing bright green clothes. Mild. "Oh, he just had to come back for another round, didn't he?" Luna sighed dramatically. "Alright, let's get this over with." To her surprise, however, the ship immediately turned as it approached, as the Black King knocked away the White Queen and leapt onto the ship. It buckled worryingly under the sudden weight, before pulling away at high speed from the pursuing Queen. "Ha, they're running away? How disappointing." Her words sounded hollow in her ears - fighting while defending an injured teammate was something of a recurring theme, and it almost always ended badly. "Look on the bright side," Celestia pointed out. "We just saw an eighteenfold Black King jump onto a ship without sinking it. This is the most important step forward in disproving gravity since the double-jump." She grinned, which was a worrying sight given the amount of blood which was on the wrong side of her body. Elsewhere on the Battlefield, Comet was rapidly running out of ideas. Star Swirl was getting tired, and although he probably had more resistance to magic than Silver, every second that she was maintaining a shield was effectively three seconds of casting lasers. "OK, let me think..." Comet quickly got out his laptop. [CURRENT fractalAbomination began responding to memo FIX EVERYTHING] CFA: right CFA: how do you kill silver [FUTURE fractalAbomination began responding to memo FIX EVERYTHING] FFA: wtf is this FFA: you're using the walkthrough now? FFA: no way. i don't use cheats. i'm a pro FFA: i'm not having you being a little noob and make the rest of me look bad CFA: what the hell CFA: how is this cheating FFA: how is this not cheating FFA: i've done it FFA: and you cba to figure it out for yourself so you want me to tell you CFA: yeah. so tell me FFA: no way, i worked it out by myself FFA: when are you going to stop relying on yourself to help you and start solving things by yourself CFA: ... FFA: ... CFA: ... FFA: fuck FFA: ok listen up FFA: if you do this right, which you are damn well going to do, it is going to be badass CFA: nice CFA: do go on FFA: right, here's what you do... *** Wooh, back at last, here I-oh, wait a minute, I... ow... When Golden Shine awoke, it was in a sea of chaos and destruction. His personal fanfare in the background was drowned out by the screams and the explosions, although all sound was just a faint background noise to him. Wow, I feel good. Really, really good. I could probably destroy a planet, I feel so good! ... That's... that's an odd way of putting it. I don't normally think like that. Then again, I've never felt like this before. Slowly, Golden came to realise what it was that wasn't quite right. He realised this when he noticed that he was standing upright on two legs, one of which was that of a lizard. He began suspecting that something wasn't quite right when he noticed his long, snaking tail, and his mismatched arms. I... what the hell happened to me? This doesn't feel too good at all... or does it? What... what am I? His mind could provide no answer to that question, other than a large golden apple that filled his vision. No, wait, it wasn't that. It was Prospit, dipping into the atmosphere of Skaia far above him. The sceptre whose power was nestled somewhere inside Golden was slowly dragging him towards the planet of darkness, and now Prospit was attempting to call its wayward hero back before he was lost forever. Golden understood all of this, and it made him a tiny bit furious. Outraged, even. You want to save me now? It's a bit late for that, don't you think? Look at what's happened to me... I'm... I don't even know what I am! And why? Why did it happen to me? LOOK ME IN THE EYES AND TELL ME! Prospit neglected to provide its answer, assuming it had one. The evil of Derse shifted around in Golden's mind, firmly rooting itself in place. He was lost to Skaia now. Look at me! Did I ever have any purpose in this game besides becoming... THIS!? Why am I here? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS? Damn it, I said to look at me! Again, Prospit filled his sight, but this time it was of his own volition. The power of a King amplified by unicorn magic and the power of an Heir, reaching out and grasping hold of the golden planet in its entirety. LOOK. AT. ME! Prospit finally responded, as Golden's power dragged it out of the sky, and it began accelerating towards the Battlefield. Golden glanced down at the land where it was going to strike, spying a group of distant ponies battling. Even if they noticed the falling planet immediately, he doubted that all of them would get out of the way in time. He smiled. Ponies are going to die today. That's... good. *** "...and that's what we're doing. Got it?" Comet finished his explanation, which Star Swirl did his best to listen to despite being on the verge of collapse from sheer exhaustion. "Do I really need to say the thing?" Star Swirl asked. "Of course. That's the most important part," Comet said. "Anyway, let's do this." And with that, he froze time. Not completely of course, but in a thin bubble around himself and Star Swirl, while Star Swirl continued to fire lasers. But instead of shooting forwards, they simply hovered in the air in front of them, while Comet looked out at the world around them, which - from their perspective - appeared frozen. Of course, in truth it was they who were frozen, existing in their own separate timeline for as long as Comet kept the spell functioning. After releasing it, the timeline would immediately snap back into place. Rapidly accelerating the flow of time and giant laser beams was a combination which always had good results, in Comet's experience. Outside of the time freeze, Silver Edge deactivated her shield and took a few cautionary steps forwards. The two unicorns were completely frozen. That was surprising. Silver began to take another step forwards, when a voice called out to her. "Hey Silver, hurry up!" Turning, she saw Mild piloting a large Dersite ship, with a colossal passenger behind him. Frantically, Mild pointed a hoof to a distant quest bed. "He's up! We need to get over there right now!" He pointed upwards, to where a rapidly growing Prospit-shaped object could be seen. "More to the point, we need to get away from here! Come on!" Gasping in surprise at the revelation that the Prospit-shaped object was, in fact, Prospit, Silver flew into the air and came to rest next to Mild on the ship. Immediately, the ship turned around and began flying away. "Whew, that was close. Hey, what were those two doing back there?" He asked, to which Silver shrugged. "I don't know. Star Swirl was shooting lasers, and Comet was messing around with time or something, and then they just froze." The two ponies were silent for a few moments, and Silver glanced behind her at the two unicorns. "... oh, fuck no." Unfreezing, and rapidly accelerating forwards to match up with the several minutes of missed time, Comet and Star Swirl were a little disconcerted by the sudden change from a cowering Silver Edge to an escaping Dersite warship, but there was no time to rethink their brilliant plan. "Magicannon: Final Spark!" Comet and Star Swirl yelled in unison, as the combined efforts of two minutes worth of laser beams were fired forwards simultaneously, merging together into one enormous blast. Back on the ship, Silver and Mild simply looked at each other. "Did they just say final spar-" Mild began, before the laser caught up with the ship and things stopped being things which weren't light and pain. *** "OK, no worries," Comet said quickly after being brought up to speed on Celestia and the missing Queen. "We need to get out of here, what with the Prospit and the crashing and the mysterious light that we don't know what it is and all that." After the surprising success of the magicannon, Comet was really struggling to stop grinning like an idiot. "I vote LOPAD. Luna, do the honours." Luna nodded, and then paused. "Wait, what about Summer and AJ?" Comet looked around, finding an abundance of places where the two ponies weren't. Then he looked up at the ever-approaching Prospit. It was becoming increasingly warm and decreasingly happy, and he guessed that they had about a minute before dying. "OK, you guys stay here, and be ready to hit that button the moment I tell you to hit the button. I'm going to try and find them." Comet turned around and sprinted into the distance, not waiting to argue about who should be going to find them. Above him, Prospit loomed. Summer and Applejack stood catching their breath, waves of dead soldiers beneath them, and more approaching from all directions in spite of the danger. They had noticed Prospit halfway through the battle, but had realised that they would never have been able to get out of range in time. "Hey, AJ," Summer began, "I'm sorry about all this. If it wasn't for my session then none of this would have happened." Applejack shook her head. "Don't apologise," she said. "It's too late to change what's happened. Ya did what ya could." She smiled, in spite of the situation. "So... thanks." "Summer!" Summer and Applejack both started at the sudden noise, glancing around them for the source. Eventually they saw Comet a few hills away from them, behind the walls of approaching waving madly. "Come on! We can get out of here!" The two ponies glanced at each other, and then up at the planet which was now about 30 seconds away. "No," Summer yelled at him. "No we can't. Get out of here!" Turning in a full circle on the spot, she clubbed away the approaching soldiers with her rifle. "If I'm going to die, it's going to be awesome!" She looked over at Applejack, who grinned back at her. "Right, AJ?" The farm pony looked around. Even more soldiers, eager to take a couple of seconds of off their lives, approached from all sides, only to be either shot of beheaded, or both. And above them, an entire planet was careering towards them. And yet, Applejack felt alive. She grinned. "Eeyup." For a few seconds, Comet watched as the Heir of Light and the Knight of Life fought off the horde of Derse atop the hill where they were making their final stand, before helplessly turning back and running to safety. *** "OK, we're safe for now," Star Swirl said, as he and the others appearified on the Land of Pillars and Doors. "Although we've lost our medic, so Celestia's wounds are looking a whole lot more serious now." Comet was silent. "I'm fine," Celestia protested, although she remained on the ground. "Oh, look who it is." As one, the group turned to face Twilight and Silver Heart as they approached. "I Hope you've got some good news, Silver," Celestia said, giggling at her joke. "Did Golden ascend OK?" Silver nodded, and Twilight looked between the two of them with a confused expression. "Wait... you guys don't know what happened?" Clearly they didn't, as they glared questioningly at Twilight, who shrank back a little. "Oh, I just assumed you did. Golden, he's..." she paused, swallowing her nerves. "...turned into Discord." She attempted to say the last part a little too quietly to hear, but sadly she failed. Silver looked at her as if she had suggested that maybe genocide wasn't such a bad idea. "What!?" Silver asked, the others sharing her confusion and anger. "Whatever makes you think that?" "I don't think that, I know it," Twilight replied. "Star Swirl, your sprite was a big jumble of different things, right?" Star Swirl nodded. "Mild put Golden's dreamself into it as well, and then when he ascended... the two Goldens combined, along with all of that random stuff, which came from an inherently evil sceptre. The result, of course, is Discord." "Wait a minute," Luna said. "How long have you known all of this?" Twilight paused. She couldn't tell anyone about the other Comet, especially not while Comet was around. "Uh... well, since I came here from LOWAF and found the sprite." Comet, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke. "Yeah, that was something else I wanted to ask," he said. "Why did you come here, of all places? You knew there was a battle happening." "I..." Twilight paused, considering her options. The easiest thing to do would be to take the credit for the reset, like Comet had suggested. "OK, there's something I need to tell all of you. This session, or rather the Universe it comes from, is the parent of the Universe that me and Comet come from." She waited for a few moments for the others to digest that. "There's a feature of Sburb reserved for failed game sessions, that allows the players to initiate what's called a Scratch, or a reset. It completely resets the initial starting conditions, and creates a parallel Universe from the parent one - similar, but slightly different. That's what happens. This session is scratched and out of that comes my Universe. And knowing that, that means that this session fails, and that means that something really terrible happens." "So the Scratch mechanism is on LOPAD, which is why you came here?" Comet asked, and Twilight nodded. "And you didn't think to tell anyone else about this while you went off and... and what, reset the session? It hasn't happened yet, obviously, so it must have some kind of startup." Twilight nodded again. "Which means that, rather than us be wiped out along with the session, your plan must be to escape back to your session. You planned that out, you knew it was going to happen, but you didn't even think to tell us we were going to have to leave before being reset!?" "I..." Twilight faltered under the irritated faces glaring at her. She sought out a familiar face, and found none. "Hey... where's Applejack?" "Oh, you want to know where Applejack is?" Comet asked, his tone suggesting to Twilight that she didn't want to know where Applejack was. "She's in the same place as Summer. Specifically, she's buried beneath 801 metric fucktons of golden masonry because you didn't tell us jack shit about what was going on!" Twilight nearly gave in at that point, nearly telling him about future Comet, about how she hadn't understood what was happening until it was too late, about how she was just as scared and confused as the others. Nearly, but she didn't. She was able to keep control of herself, but only through the unifying power of anger. "Do you think I wanted this to happen!?" Twilight snapped back at all of the others. "Do you all think that I was just sitting here cackling to myself while I watched some great plan unfolding?" Their angry faces were angled away, unable to bring themselves to look at her. "I don't have any more of an idea what happens next than any of you do!" There was silence, as the whole group stood in confusion. They were all furious, and had no idea who they were furious with. "Is this a bad time?" Discord asked, appearing from behind a tiny pebble. "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything." He grinned a slow, wicked grin.