//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Relic of a bygone age // by DeadEternal //------------------------------// Tuesday afternoon. Fluttershy sat on her couch, a kettle full of tea in front of her, as well as a tablet full of teacakes, with a bit of space for cucumber sandwiches. Angel Bunny was sitting to the left of her, and on the other side of the table was another couch, empty. Why is it still empty? He should have been here half an hour ago. The tea is getting cold, she thought while staring at the empty space. Is it because I had to cancel last week’s teaparty? But Twilight wanted to get the first Friendship Council meeting done as soon as possible, and I told him that it was only that one time! She waited for another hour before she started cleaning off the table, slowly trotting into her kitchen. He hadn’t shown up at all. Wednesday night. Big Mac and Spike were sitting in the cellar of the old castle of Friendship. It felt strange, now that Spike and Twilight had moved to Canterlot, but there was no way he would miss playing Ogres&Oubliettes with his two buddies. After all, Garbunkle, Sir Biggun and Captain Wuzz were closing in on the grand finale, the final showdown against the Squizard! But not this night, because it was only them two. Captain Wuzz didn’t show up. Spike sighed towards Big Mac, and the stallion noddod. Discord had never been late for a single session, and suddenly he didn’t show up, without even telling them that he couldn’t come. It was annoying. Thursday morning. Spike had worried all night long, even shouting Discord’s name in the hope of him just appearing out of thin air. Not exactly an unusual way to get the attention of the Spirit of Chaos, but this time, nothing had happened. So he decided to go and ask the pony he was sure would know why his buddy didn’t show up. Fluttershy. He wanted to walk over to her cottage slowly, but somehow he found himself in front of the door faster than he thought. He knocked gently, not wanting to disturb the animals that lived with his friend. From inside, he heard a joyous “I’m coming!” and the sound of hooves. The door swung open and Fluttershy looked at him. “Spike? I’m surprised to see you here this early. Aren’t you supposed to be in Canterlot with Twilight?” “Well, probably, but I have to speak to you. You know that every second Wednesday night is Guys’ Night. Big Mac, Discord and me spending most of the night playing Ogr-” he stopped for a second “-cool games.” The mare nodded. “And I heard it’s a lot of fun every time! I’m happy you three have this little ritual! Discord always seemed a lot calmer the following days.” She smiled at the dragon. Spike scratched his head. “And that’s exactly why I needed to speak to you. Discord always took Guys’ Night very serious, always showing up a bit early to make sure we had as much time as possible, although he tended to say something like ’A draconequus is never late, nor is he early,he arrives precisely when he means to.’ But yesterday, he didn’t show up at all! I’m a bit concerned. Do you know why he would have missed Guys’ Night?” “Oh my. I thought he only missed our teaparty this Tuesday because I had to cancel last week’s! But if he also missed Guys’ Night, that means it’s something else. Oh, I hope it’s nothing bad. Maybe he’s sick! I should go and check on him. Thanks for telling me, Spike!” She rushed out of her house, leaving Spike standing there alone and confused for some seconds before she rushed back in. “You don’t know how to get into his dimension by any chance, do you?” she asked with a light blush while the dragon rolled his eyes. Spike didn’t know how to get to Discord, so they decided to ask someone whom they thought might know the answer: Twilight. She was currently in the Royal Archives, reading through old documents. Maybe she was the new ruler of Equestria, but she still needed to get more comfortable with the relations to other countries and how to handle them. She did appoint some ambassadors, but as Princess, she had to know how to handle those meetings in a diplomatic manner. And what better way to learn about diplomacy than reading how Celestia had handled it in the old times? Because of this, she didn’t notice her visitors for quite some time, until Spike waved his claw in front of her. “Equestria to Twilight. You in there?” “What? Oh, hey, Spike! Nice to see you got back from Guys’ Night! How was it?” She looked around. “And why did you bring Fluttershy with you? Did she join your Guys’ Night?” She stood up and hugged both Spike and Fluttershy. “Anyways, nice to see you, Fluttershy!” “Nice to see you too, Twilight, and no, I didn’t join Guys’ Night. It’s, you know, for guys only. Although it IS part of why I joined Spike on his way to Canterlot. One of the guys didn’t show up, and, well, neither did he on Tuesday for our teaparty.” She sniffed. “I hope Discord didn’t feel left out because of our Friendship Council meeting last week. I had to cancel our teaparty because of it, and maybe he thought that our meetings would replace the teaparties. He didn’t send any letter or so to tell me or the guys that he wouldn’t be there.” Twilight pondered for a moment. “I’m sure that’s not the case. Sure, I’m still a bit angry about what he did, disguising as Grogar and all that, but he should know that we’re all still friends. So, what do you need from me? Should I summon him?” “Nonono, that wouldn’t be nice, pulling him over without giving him the chance to prepare or anything. You remember how we summoned him the last time, and he was under the shower at the moment…” Fluttershy blushed at the thought. “I just thought you could, you know, open a portal to his dimension or something. Whenever I visited him, he had to teleport me himself, so I don’t know how to get to him on my own.” Spike raised his claw. “I’d like to go with her, if you don’t mind. He’s my friend too, and we missed Captain Wuzz yesterday.” The two mares raised their eyebrows at that name. “Don’t ask. I wouldn’t answer anyways,” he said while rolling his eyes, earning a chuckle from them. “Well, I didn’t go there myself yet, but I know somepony who had been there once. Although it took him quite some time to get back after he delivered the invitation. But this means he knows how to get to Discord and back too!” They didn’t need to look for the mailpony for too long. After his adventure in the Chaos dimension, he went back to be a normal mailpony, no adventures, no nothing, but he got some fame among his colleagues, and thus managed to rise through the ranks. Now, he was sitting behind a desk in the General Post Office in Canterlot. He rose quickly when the three walked into his office. “Princess Twilight! It is an honor to be visited by royalty! Parcel Post, at your service!” He bowed. “No need to bow and all that, Parcel Post. In fact, my friends and I need your help. We need to get to a specific place, and you are the only pony I know that managed to get there.” “Me? But where could that be? I’ve nev-” he stopped, his eyes growing with terror. “You… you don’t mean THAT place? I swore to never go there again! It took FOREVER to get back from there! I couldn’t imagine why anypony would want to go there voluntarily! It is terrifying!” “Mister Post, I know how hard it has had to be for you, and I am sorry to ask this of you, but it’s for a friend of ours whom we are deeply concerned for. We NEED to get there. Please, help us,” Fluttershy said, her eyes watering with tears, while Twilight and Spike had a look of deep concern for both Discord and Parcel Post on their face. After a while of shivering, Parcel Post cleared his throat. “Well, I can get you into this chaotic place, but I won’t be able to guide you to the house I delivered the letter to back in the day. The place constantly changes, and even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t find it again. If you think you’re up for the task, please, follow me. There is a secret among us mailponies that you would need to use.” He walked towards the exit, stopping to wait for the three. Fluttershy had a look of resolve on her face. “It’s for Discord. I will do this. But I don’t know how long we would be in there. Twilight, you need to stay here, to raise the Sun and Moon if I am gone for more than the rest of today. And Spike, as much as I appreciate your offer, I think it would be best if I alone go and speak to him. But I’ll tell him how concerned you and Big Mac were.” She followed Parcel Post, leaving the other two perplexed. Spike looked at Twilight. “Did Fluttershy just decide to go to a place frightening enough to scar a mailpony like that alone? Guess she is even braver than we have ever given her credit for.” “Spike, if it is for the good of a friend, nopony is as brave as Fluttershy.”