//------------------------------// // ~ 06 ~ Alright, that's the chapter title (WilloIllo) // Story: The Enchanted Computer: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse // by SigmasonicX //------------------------------// “Where do you think you’re going?” Twilight stared at the oily, shadowy reflection of Discord and glared coolly. “Get behind me!!” she said to the others, spreading her wings to shield Lightning Dust, Fiddlesticks, Incantation, Cadence, still alicorn’d Marble, and Pinkie. She tried to ignore the shaking in her hooves, or the whispers in her head. She’d done this before. This explained why her necklace had been glowing brightly – and it meant they were closer than she had planned. Twilight's mind spun as she tried to figure out a plan. For now, she needed to keep this manifestation of the chaos magic talking; if they were talking, they weren’t being pulled further into this illusion. “I was wondering how soon you would catch up to us,” she said calmly, giving the shade a cool expression. The shade’s baleful eyes simmered, and she could feel its smile, even as its form remained an inky void. “My dear Princess, you should know by now you can’t escape me.” “Naturally,” Twilight agreed, giving a challenging smile. “And thus far we’ve managed to banish you every time.” The magic growled in response to the challenge. “Twilight!!” Incantation, still disguised as Rarity, said, aghast. She turned towards the spirit with a smile. “If you’ll excuse us a moment?” She pulled Twilight close and whispered harshly. “Twi, I know Boss won’t shut up about how clever you are, but I really have to ask. Are you insane?” “Just trust me,” Twilight whispered back. “I know what I’m doing.” Inky paused, her eyes narrowing. “You better.” turning back to the spirit, she nodded. “Continue.” “... As I was saying…” The chaos’ face was incredibly unimpressed, glaring down at them, its hatred especially hot and bright for Twilight. “Such boasting,” it said. “What you took down were mere shadows compared to me. Luna’s dreaming and your silly little guilt is nothing compared to the depths of despair your dear teacher has fed me.” “As I recall,” Twilight said, pacing back and forth while keeping her eyes on the being. Her plan was working; she had gotten the chaos magic to do something Discord had always loved: gloating. “I’ve heard this one before. Surely you can be a little more creative than the other spirits of chaos.” “Now hold on just one darn minute,” Fiddlesticks said. “You mean the spirit of chaos is the one behind this?” “Can we please discuss this later?” Twilight asked. “Kind of in the middle of something here.” “Well excuse me,” she muttered under her breath, unimpressed. “Well aren’t you just so clever,” it growled at Twilight. “Yet despite your confident words, it seems you’ve ended up trapped here.” “For now,” Twilight said, giving a smile. “I’ve escaped you before, and it’s only a matter of time before we figure out how to break your illusion–” “Illusion?” the spirit interrupted, giving a deep throaty chuckle, growing swiftly into a cackle. “You think this is an illusion? My dear, dear Twilight. I thought you were smarter than this!!” Twilight froze, staring up at the spirit as her confidence drained away. “What? Of course this is an illusion. Only the real Discord could do this much, and you’re a sliver of his power.” It tutted her. It tutted her, like she was a student who had come to the wrong conclusion. “Ohh, my dear Twilight. Surely you’ve figured things out by now. I’m not doing any of this.” Her mind spun, and she backed away. “No… you can’t mean…” “Now, as delicious as watching you suffer is, we really must end this,” it interrupted her, its voice dripping with amusement. With a snap of its fingers, its form twisting back into a cracking and marred green dragon as the cacophony of ‘Princess’ Strawberry Sunrise’s voice, still shouting for guards to come take them, filled the room, Twilight fell to her haunches. Pinkie woke her from her shock, shaking her. “Twilight!! We gotta go!!” “But– the exit–” “It reappeared while you were talking,” Marble interrupted from behind her, opening a large, wooden door with the magic she’d acquired in this chaos. “You’re the last one out.” “C’mon Twilight,” Pinkie insisted again. “Before that meanie gets to you!!” Twilight nodded and followed, sparing one last look behind her. The chaos magic, re-formed into a large green dragon, roared and opened its inky maw in the direction of the door, before she slammed it shut in its face and ran off with the others. “Is everything okay, Twilight? You froze like a popsicle in there!!” Pinkie asked her. Twilight took a deep breath and let it out before responding. “I’ll be fine. That thing just took me by surprise, that’s all.” She kept running, turning a corner quickly. “The fact that Discord’s spirit is here means we’re starting to get close. We just need to see this through to the finish.” As she rounded the corner, she felt the ground falling away beneath her yet again and she stumbled for a moment as she was suddenly shifted into what appeared to be a dungeon, smashing face first into a pony looking like Rarity. “Sorry Inky,” Twilight said. “Uh… Boss? That ain’t me,” a clone of Rarity said from beside her. Twilight paused, did a double take, and her jaw dropped. “Rarity?!!!”