The city streets of the Crystal Empire were in full swing. With a healthy layer of snow coating the streets, lights strung about on every lamppost, and joyful celebrations all around. Carolers roamed the streets as ponies raced around with gifts hanging from saddlebags on a wild last shopping trip before the holiday.
Each and every shop was packed to the brim with colorful arrays of items, desperately trying to catch the attention of the next passerby. Children raced through the streets, either dragging their parents along towards the next shiny thing or running from their friends in the middle of a snowball fight.
Cadance and Shining were happy to take in the sight of their people on such a joyous occasion. As her head lightly rested against Shining on their small shopping trip, she couldn’t help the excitement bubbling up in her for Hearth’s Warming. “Shiny, do you even have the slightest clue what you’re looking for?” She teased with a raised brow.
Shining glanced to his right and gave a sheepish smile before he looked up in thought, “I’ve got a few. But I doubt you’d believe me, dear.”
She giggled, “Because you’re never prepared!”
He recoiled his head away with a pout and said, “Not true! I knew exactly what I wanted to get Kieran.” He held his head higher with a proud smirk.
Cadance leaned in further with a devilish grin. “It isn’t hard when he doesn’t have anything to his name to begin with, honey.” She said while resting her hoof on him playfully. She looked back ahead and glanced from side to side before they crossed the street. “Don’t think you can trick me with our foal’s interests.”
Shining sighed with a short chuckle, accepting the lost argument with a smile. They walked through the main shopping district, heads turning at every new shop they passed by. Eventually he found his mind back on Kieran again: “Mother has been telling me how excited she is to see them both.” Shining told her.
Cadance stopped waving at a group of passing ponies and hummed happily, “I’m sure! I can’t believe you waited all the way until we adopted him to tell her! You’re a monster.”
Shining laughed. “I didn’t want to get her hopes up if things didn’t… work out.”
Cadance scoffed and leaned against him more. “I’m a master of my craft; you doubt me far too much.”
Shining playfully rolled his eyes before meeting hers. “I don’t doubt you a single bit, honey. Your tricks simply aren’t as effective anymore.” He said with a teasing smile.
She giggled and leaned up, giving him a short kiss before retracting. “Let’s get your gifts already. We should be spending time with our foals.” Shining nodded in agreement.
“Cadance? Shining?” The two turned in surprise at the voice and smiled happily when they met with Sunburst and his mother, Stellar Flare.
Cadance smiled widely and stepped forward, giving them both a hug. “Oh! How are you two?”
They smiled as Stellar put a hoof on her chest. “Well, we figured we might as well join the festivities. Your city is absolutely beautiful this time of year, dear.”
“Thank you,” Cadance replied with a giggle. “My ponies simply adore the holidays.”
Sunburst hummed in agreement. “I figured I should take a break.” He stopped to think for a moment about what to say. “Cadance… about the research-”
Shining held a hoof up, “Taking a break doesn’t mean bringing it up during an outing. It’s alright.” He reassured the unicorn by putting a hoof on his shoulder.
Sunburst looked unsure, but Cadance quickly nodded and said, “It’s okay, Sunburst. Everything’s been going alright; relax and take a break, please.”
Stellar sighed as she put a hoof to her forehead. “I’ve been telling him this all week! The amount of sleep he has lost over it is not healthy! That’s what I told him.”
“Where is Sunspot today?” Shining wondered.
Stellar sighed. “He came down with something earlier this week. It seems to be mostly gone already, but he’s resting.”
Cadance frowned sympathetically, “Oh, I hope he’s well enough to come over tomorrow.”
Sunburst waved his hoof. “He’s already gotten back to his old self; he already reassured us he wasn’t missing tomorrow’s gathering.”
They nodded and sat in silence as Cadance looked up to her left and gasped excitedly. “Oh! Would you two like to get coffee with us? My favorite place is just across the street.”
With a unanimous agreement, the party of four made their way into the quaint little coffee shop. Immediately, an older green mare greeted them happily as they found a booth near the window. The older green mare quickly took their orders and left, as Sunburst looked at them worriedly. “Regardless, I’d still like to ask how he’s doing.”
Cadance and Shining smiled at each other before answering. Cadance cleared her throat. “Well, if being able to call him our colt is any indication…”
Shining nodded and finished for her, “I’d say it’s going well.”
Stellar happily hummed, "Oh, darling, you adopted him? That’s wonderful news!”
Sunburst got over his surprise as he smiled and sighed in relief. “Great, he needs good people to look after him.” He looked between the two and said, “I can’t think of anybody better for the task.”
They both blushed and moved on with their conversation. The coffee they all drank was downed quite quickly, reducing the chill from their shopping to a comforting warmth that matched the feeling radiating through the rather busy cafe.
Their conversations carried on jovially for a long while before they rose to their hooves with intent to finish their shopping. Sunburst was the first to stand, helping his mother to her hooves. “Well, this has been pleasant as always. But we have to finish shopping before everything’s sold out!”
Cadance nodded agreeingly, “Agreed. I’d like to get home and spend time as a family.”
Sunburst hummed, “Tell them both I said hello.”
Shining chuckled. “Flurry will enjoy that.”
They laughed together for a minute before a rumbling was felt at their hooves. There was a certain energy radiating in the air, and Sunburst’s horn flashed with recognition, causing the unicorn’s face to become distraught. The tables slowly began to shake as the entire building itself seemed to sway. Sunburst furrowed his brow before running out of the building in haste. His mother followed right after him: “Sunburst!?”
Cadance and Shining looked at each other with confusion for a moment before swiftly following the duo out of the cafe. The crowd of ponies in the street had all stopped, looking towards the castle in shock. Cadance felt a pit fall in her stomach as she rushed out the door, unprepared for what she was about to see. She whipped her head up and towards the castle. Her heart sank.
One side of the entire upper part of the castle had been completely obliterated. A massive energy blast was reaching far up and colliding with the barrier, causing cyan magical particles to rain down on the entire empire before quickly evaporating.
“I-Is that…” Cadance began with horror.
The beam ended, sending its last wisps of energy up into the atmosphere before completely disappearing. Cadance could already see rubble falling from the broken side of the castle, and she only had one panicked thought on her mind.
“M-My foals...” she muttered.
Sunburst felt a chill roll up his spine, and his eyes widened in horror. Sunburst shook his head quickly and turned on the growing crowd of ponies with purpose: “Everypony! Mana surge, get down!”
He wasn’t looking, and he had no clue just how bad it was or how terrifyingly correct he was. As the shockwave traveled in their direction, Stellar shouted desperately, knowing she couldn’t do much else to protect him, “Sunburst!” He didn’t even have time to see it coming; his mother jumped forward to tackle him, hoping to bring Sunburst closer to the ground with force. However, it was far too quick, and instead she found herself taking the brunt of the shockwave for him.
Shining himself only had less than a second to react, barely forming a barrier that could shield the front of both himself and Cadance from the overwhelming force of magic.
Then, all at once, destruction came.
It was so fast that nobody had time to react. Shining’s half-formed shield hadn’t been enough, and it shattered when the shockwave hit them. Sending both Cadance and Shining flying back a good distance along with the wave of ponies. The cafe’s glass shattered along with every other store in the district.
Screams and panic were heard, mostly out of shock and the sudden destruction of everything. Cadance was the fastest to recover from the blast, as she stood to her hooves and looked around in horror.
And as if that wasn’t enough, a loud crashing sound was heard, and the barrier rippled above them once, trying to reconnect itself. Not long after, it evaporated, sending the entire empire back into an eternal winter.
Shining was groaning as he barely managed to return to consciousness. Cadance quickly glanced over Shining for injuries, but other than the shock, he was relatively fine. Cadance glanced to her left, where Sunburst blinked his eyes open. His mother laid on top of him, but blood was quickly dripping from her head.
With so many problems presented right in front of her and the view of the castle blocked off from the snow, her foals were in completely unknown amounts of danger. She felt so conflicted and panicked.
What would she do? Her ponies needed her; the barrier was gone.
Her friend was hurt.
Who else did she need to save? And which one did she need to help with first?
And most concerningly, with that shockwave, she felt her magic tracking link to Kieran snap like a twig under the pressure of a hurricane. And this terrified her more than anything else.
“Mother!”
Sunburst’s yelling seemed to snap Cadance out of her stupor. And Shining was even quicker to react than her, quickly moving over to lift the injured Stellar off of Sunburst’s body. He laid her across his back.
Sunburst got up in panic as he held his mother’s head up. She was breathing, but the wound on her head was awful. “Mother.” He cried desperately, “It’ll be alright!”
Watching the scene unfold made Cadance take hold of her own breathing. Steeling her nerves and suppressing her panic as best as possible. “The… the link… the castle…” She muttered in horror.
Shining trotted over to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Cadance, dear.” She glanced up, and they locked eyes as Shining smiled reassuringly, “It’ll be okay. Do what you need to do, honey.”
Her eyes widened, and she sighed gratefully with a nod. “Get Stellar medical attention.” She told him swiftly.
Shining nodded firmly and sighed. Cadance stepped forward and nuzzled him quickly. “I’ll make sure they’re safe. Don’t worry.”
Shining nodded. “I trust you, honey.” He remarked as he trotted off quickly into the fog of the snow, with Sunburst hurriedly limping behind him due to a pained hoof. Already, uninjured guards and regular ponies were taking to the streets, helping to pick up and help their fellow ponies out.
“Princess!” A guard hurriedly made his way over to her and kneeled. “Princess, what are your orders?” By his badge, she could tell he was a higher rank than usual.
Cadance sighed as her mind blanked again in the overwhelming feeling. “What happened to the barrier?”
“Unsure, princess.” He said swiftly.
Cadance gritted her teeth. “Just... keep helping anypony who may be injured to the hospital. Make sure everypony gets off the streets until the barrier is fixed.” The guard nodded and saluted at the same time before rushing off into the snow.
Cadance looked towards where the castle was, allowing herself to deal with the most important part of all of this.
‘Please be okay, please be okay…’ Cadance begged in her mind as she closed her eyes, feeling her horn thrum to life. She wasn’t very great at teleportation spells herself, but it didn’t matter much to her as she allowed her body to slowly be covered in the teleportation spell.
It had to have been Kieran. Cadance had decided that the moment she saw the beam of uncontrolled magic. It reminded her much of Flurry as a baby, back before her crystalling when she couldn’t control anything.
‘He must be terrified.’ She lamented as a few tears made their way to the edges of her eyes. ‘It’s okay, you two; momma is coming.’
Her body shimmered and evaporated into thin air, leaving behind the twinkling remains of her spell.
I felt awful.
My heart was beating far faster than it should be, and I was sweating profusely as I rushed myself down the hallway of the castle while dodging the rubble and cracks I’d made.
The only thing that could’ve made this entire thing worse is if it had been my fault.
But the guilt was still there. Especially as I passed many guards who were either completely out-cold against the wall or just barely staggering to their hooves.
But still…
…
I did this…
I felt my rage subside for a moment as a gripping feeling of despair and horror overtook me once again. I hurt so many people, I ruined the holidays, and I broke the barrier.
I took one deep breath, then two.
…
No, I didn’t do it. Flurry Heart made me; I have to remember that.
I have to get away from her; she can’t be trusted. Why couldn’t she just leave things be?
I felt my hooves stop moving under myself. The only sound audible was the violent howling of the wind through a crack in the wall next to me.
If she had just left things to be fine, would I really be happy? Blissful ignorance that everything had been a lie, it felt good the past few days, especially. But if I’d let her control me for longer? Five... ten years? It would’ve felt even more devastating when I eventually realized the truth.
I saw my reflection in a shattered piece of glass lying on the floor. I studied Flurry’s face for a minute, probably too long if I’d really wanted to leave. I dared a glance behind me, but nobody was pursuing me; the castle was silent. Eerily so. Even more so for the middle of the day. You'd usually hear a maid or two cleaning and a couple of guards conversing when they thought nobody was around.
But now all of it was silent. The joy that usually radiated through the castle was nothing but uncertainty and, very likely, fear.
Fear towards me, I would assume... They had to know it was me by now, right?
I looked back at the glass on the floor and felt tears on my face. I mustered up a glare but dropped it only a second later. “How many people did you make me hurt?” I whispered under my breath.
I didn’t even want to think of a worse scenario than that. Had I only hurt people? Has it been even worse than I could imagine? Did I accidentally...
No… Don’t let your mind wander there. You didn’t do it on purpose.
I forced myself to step over the broken glass as my hooves crunched on the remnants of glass shards and fallen rubble.
I need to leave. Somewhere, anywhere.
I hurried my steps through the hallways, climbing over fallen furniture and dodging the notice of recovering guards and maids. As I witnessed the destruction in the castle alone, my heart rate rose, and my breaths became quick and unsteady.
…
Would Cadance blame me? Would she hate me after this?
…
Did I care whether she did or not? She’s not my mother… Our relationship was found on a pile of deceit. Her attempts to reconcile with me in the streets and at the castle were all just a steady attempt to lure me in.
But then why does my chest hurt so much right now? Why was the only thing I wanted to do right now was to run to her and jump into her arms and forget about everything while she told me it was okay?
Would things be okay?
…
…
Only if I left…
…
Why did it feel like I was leaving behind something I’d never get again?
That feeling only made my breathing quicken again, until it got uncomfortably noticeable.
…
I finally got to the front entrance of the castle, but as I’d expected, there were still guards. I counted at least twelve. A few of them were nursing wounds as maids, and Moon Petal, the nurse pony, was checking on each individual who made their way in.
I couldn’t hear their conversations from here. But I could see fear in their eyes; they were all on edge. Ponies were skittish creatures, and it was apparent by the way that four of the guards held their weapons steadily in hoof by the doorway.
I probably reminded them of when Sombra attacked… It didn’t feel good to be just as bad as one of Equestria’s worst villains. That was the only way to describe him.
I sighed to myself. There’s no way I was making it through there.
Could I make a distraction? Should I just bolt through before they notice? Would they just let me walk out? Or would they throw me in the dungeons?
I scrambled my head with both hooves and groaned quietly; there were too many variables. And things would only get harder as more guards recovered and reconvened in the entrance room.
I looked around me for a solution quickly—anything that could expedite my escape.
I immediately saw it—my saving grace. And my eyes widened with a hum.
"Hello, old friend…” I whispered while staring at the window. The same one I’d jumped out of what felt like forever ago.
I originally jumped through while working on pure adrenaline, but it was only now that I realized just how far off the ground the jump was. I sighed and pulled a nearby stool over to the window.
After climbing up, I poked my hoof out the window. The glass was shattered anyway. I immediately wrenched it back in shock at how cold it was. The freezing cold I felt walking the halls was nothing compared to the chill outside.
I needed something to keep warm…
I glanced down to my left, where a tablecloth had conveniently fallen onto the floor. I shrugged and hopped down, pulling the purple and gold cloth over my back. I quickly tied it around my neck like a cloak, with a hood covering my head.
Unfortunately, a rather large gust of wind pushed me to the ground suddenly, causing me to bang my elbow and causing me to yelp as quietly as I could possibly hold in.
“Who’s there?” One of the guards shouted, causing a chill to run up my spine. I quickly collected myself off the floor and scrambled to the stool.
“Why so aggressive?” Moon Petal admonished him with a scolding tone. “Whoever it is, you can come out! We’ll help you!” She called out much more sweetly than the guard had.
I scrambled up onto the window seal and suddenly felt fear enter me. Was I really okay with jumping out of a window and praying the bush was still down there? Well, I guess there was a lot more snow, so it’d be even softer. I was only about two stories off the ground…
I heard hoofsteps and turned my head, my eyes widening as Moon Petal rounded the corner. I quickly hid my face and inched backwards on the stool, working the courage up to make the jump.
“W-Who?” Moon Petal stuttered in confusion. She looked between the window and me, and some realization came to her: “Wait! Don’t-”
But her words drowned out as I held my breath and jumped. Immediately, the raging snowstorm berated my body, and I felt as if I’d just plunged myself into the depths of the antarctic. But I only had a moment to think of the cold as I tried to remember how I landed last time.
“Hooves out, hooves out; roll once you hit the ground.” I reminded myself.
But I didn’t have to. The moment my body made contact with the snow, I wedged into it like a soft pillow. I sighed in relief.
I dared not look back up at the window; Moon Petal would likely be scanning the ground for me, and I didn’t want her to know yet. Not that she was dumb; she’d know it was me if she hadn’t already.
I grunted and pulled my limbs out until I was out of the filly-sized hole and ready to move.
Perks of being a filly:
I’m light enough to stand on top of the snow without sinking into it.
I’m small, so the cloak covers my whole body.
…
…
Yeah, that’s about it.
Compared to the downsides, like being small so my steps don’t take me far, being rather weak, and a plethora of others, it wasn’t such a good deal. I was being blown around like a newspaper in a tornado, and it took more willpower than I imagined just to stay on my hooves.
The cloak didn’t help very much against the chilling bite of the cold. The wind chill was lessened by the cloak, but I still found it piercing the cloth enough to be uncomfortable. The tablecloth wasn’t particularly thick overall.
…
…
Where am I going?
…
…
My mind blanked, and I stood still in the snow, contemplating my very existence for the umpteenth time in only the past ten minutes.
Preferably, somewhere I won’t die of cold. And alone.
I kept walking only a bit further, and the city itself came into my view. A conveniently placed map stood on the street corner, which I struggled towards. It didn’t take much scanning for me to come up with a plan.
Especially once I saw where the train station was and realized it was just down the street from me. How did I know when I could barely read? It had a train symbol, simple as that.
Y’know, I never cared much for the snow. It’s cold, sticky, and it gets everywhere.
…
I’ve had enough of this place.
Forcing my hooves to move underneath me and feeling very nostalgic for my last snowstorm experience, I trudged onward into the unknown. Quite literally, as I could only see two or three hooves in front of me. My teeth chattered, and my hooves shook underneath me as I cursed my re-existence.
“Leaving so soon?”
The voice made me jump, and I immediately whipped my head around myself, searching for the source. But I didn’t see anybody at all.
“At your feet.”
My brow furrowed as I looked down. I was met with a pile of oversized snowflakes made of ice that I hadn’t noticed before. I tilted my head in confusion and leaned my head farther down to look at them better.
“Not so close!” I retracted my head with a small yelp of surprise. The snowflakes quickly melted and turned to snow, and a small whirlwind kicked up around them as the snow formed itself into a snowman head. But the snowman's head was the shape of some weird-horned creature with a beard.
Imagine my surprise when that snowhead gained a real set of eyes as the mouth began to move. “So you're the new alicorn nobody will shut up about.”
After a large gap in my brain functionality, I finally calmed down my breathing and stared at the head with intrigue and weariness. “And you’re… you’re…” The fear entering my voice betrayed my attempts to stay neutral and not upset the spirit in front of me.
Discord rolled his eyes. “Come on, you’ll get there. It’s… D… I…. S…”
“Discord…” I said with a huff, interrupting his spelling, “You’re Discord, I’m guessing.” I said it with a small, nervous laugh.
“You sound disappointed.” The head grumbled with squinted eyes.
I waved my hooves, “No, no… I’m just confused. And you’re sort of distracting me. Plus, I’ve been warned to steer clear of you if possible, so…” I circled around the head, giving it a wide berth.
"Wait, wait, wait!” He called.
I glanced back as the wind swirled around the head again, forming a full snowman version of what I assumed Discord was. I’d heard he was a draconequus, and I read about him, but man, he looked weird. Even if he was only made out of snow right now.
“I heard that thought!” He said with a huff as his snowy arms crossed each other.
Realizing that he wasn’t nearly as threatening as I expected, I felt myself grow irritated. “What do you want?” I grumbled. “I’m sorta freezing here. And I’m not in the mood.”
Discord broke out of his snow prison, and I got my first look at him in all his glory.
Or chaos would be a better descriptor…
Discord grinned, theatrically snapping his fingers. I immediately felt myself grow much warmer, and flowers even began to grow at my hooves as if he’d made the one spot I was standing turn to summer weather. I felt relief at the warmth, but knowing the stories I’ve heard, Discord would never give anything for free.
“What do I want?” Discord said this in surprise as he placed a claw to his chest. “Hmm… I never thought! Well, it’s certainly an interesting question, considering I can have anything I want…” He suddenly snapped his fingers with an excited look, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go skydiving as a parachute. But nobody ever trusts me enough! Care to try?” He said while turning into a parachute.
I stared wide-eyed as I came to grips with everything I was seeing. I eventually shook myself out of the stupor. “What? No.” I said with a sigh, “What do you want from me? Why are you here?”
He sighed, turning back into himself with a snap. “Fine, spoil sport.” He muttered, “I’m sure you know what I am?”
“A spirit of chaos?” I replied as he circled me as if he were swimming through the air. Which was breaking my brain, but I was unable to think too much about it.
“Yes, my friend!” He said excitedly, stopping by my side and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “And what you’ve made here is perfect! The absolute pinnacle of chaos! A true work of chaotic art!” He pulled back and straightened a bow-tie that materialized. “And that says a lot, coming from somebody of my caliber.” He held up a scoring sign with the number ten.
I pulled his paw off me. “I thought you were supposed to be good now or something.” I huffed, “Was that just a lie too?”
He scoffed, “I wish it was sometimes, certainly… It’s awful! I’m not allowed to cause any chaos on a scale such as what you’ve done here, lest I be returned to a simple garden statue again. It gets boring!”
My face darkened. “So what? You came to… congratulate me? On ruining everything?” I huffed and gritted my teeth. “How generous…”
He threw his arms behind his head again. “I felt all the chaos brimming, so naturally I arrived as fast as possible! But when I saw that you were out here, I figured you could use a little bit of help!” He laughed crazily. “I mean, trying to run away when the entire population of alicorns is on your case is more than a little bit crazy! It brings a tear to my eye to see the youth so brave.” He wiped his eyes.
“I… I mean… I hid for almost a whole month. It can’t be that hard!” I reasoned with growing nerves.
He laughed again. "Oh, it certainly can. I think you mistook Cadance’s naive hope that you’d look for help sooner as incompetence.”
I suppressed my annoyance. “Okay, well… What does that have to do with you?”
“I have everything to do with that problem! A little bit of help from me, and all your problems will be taken care of!” One of his arms detached from his body and floated over to me, extending into a handshake. “Care to make a deal with me?”
Yeah, nope, I’ve seen this cliche one too many times. Not happening.
I stared at his outstretched paw for a moment with disdain before scoffing and walking past him.
Curiously, the small patch of summer seemed to follow me wherever I went, leaving snow back on my previous path as if I’d never been there.
“Again?” Discord lamented as he rushed ahead of me, “Just hear me out!”
I continued walking right through him. “No thanks…” I muttered, “I have enough on my plate; making a deal with the devil isn’t one of them.”
“How dare you…” Discord muttered in a mock, hurt voice. “Whoever this ‘devil’ is would be very upset!” He chuckled shortly.
As I was walking away, I found myself walking on a blanket of some kind and looked down to see a classic picnic blanket checkered in red and white. I shrugged it off and walked a few more hoofsteps, but I felt and heard a loud squish on my hoof. I gazed down to see that my hoof had gone right through the center of a pie.
I pulled my hoof out of the pie in confusion, and suddenly a pony phased into existence right next to me. She was around my size, maybe a bit smaller, colored green with black hair, and had a mystery cutie mark. “Hey! What gives!” She growled with a scowl.
I took a step back in pure shock. “I… I’m… sorry?”
The small green filly steamed with anger. “You better be sorry! That was my picnic pie, you little sh-”
Discord snapped his fingers again, and the bubble of summer surrounding me phased out and back in. I was simply surrounded by grass again, with no picnic at my hooves.
I looked up at him in pure confusion and asked, “What was that!?”
Discord shrugged as I interrupted the filing of his claws. “What? Am I not allowed to put you between multiverses to keep you warm?” He sighed and grumbled to himself about me being ungrateful or something as he rolled his eyes. “No matter. I just replaced the one you were in for one where school is in session for the day.”
I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. Discord put a paw to his inquisitive face and said, “I’ll have to visit that dimension again, though; that filly strikes me as interesting.”
I tried to ignore the fact that it meant I was standing in an entirely different dimension right now. I think I fully understood what people meant when they talked about Discord. I felt like I should’ve been more scared or worried. But after dying, resurrecting as a puppet, and blowing up an empire, you begin to grow numb to the phenomena of… life.
I finally sighed, giving him a serious look. “Fine, I’ll hear you out. But only on one condition.” I realized I had his attention, so I carried on, “I can say no to your proposition if I want, and you’ll leave me alone regardless of my answer.”
He raised his brow. “That’s all?” He quickly replaced his scrutiny with a large, welcoming open arms. “Of course! You can say no if you’d like. Simply hear me out first.”
I sat down and held my hoof out in a ‘go on’ gesture.
Discord nodded. “I’ll keep it short and sweet. I like chaos, and you’ve proved to be a great source for it.” I rolled my eyes but nodded nonetheless. “So, I offer to help you in your disguise.”
I raised my brow and tilted my head curiously. “Why…?”
“Because!” He suddenly morphed into a foal my size, his voice taking on the excited giddiness of a colt on Hearth’s Warming Day. “The longer you stay hidden, the more chaos will unfold! It’s a simple joy of mine to see ponies unable to accomplish a goal for so long that it drives them mad.” As he talked, he morphed into a slew of different foals of all kinds of colors.
I huffed and shrugged my shoulders. “So you’re just like everyone else and just want to use me.” I said with disdain.
He opened his mouth to reply, but I quickly cut him off. “Won’t you be making the alicorns angry if they find out you’re doing this?”
He grumbled and crossed his arms, or… hooves, I guess. “The fault of ponies is assuming they can control the chaotic urges of the living embodiment of said chaos.” He bemoaned while taking a sip from a steaming coffee mug that appeared from nowhere: “After a decade of being a good little spirit, I believe it’s okay were I to relapse a little!”
He leaned in and smirked at me. “Also, I’m not even the one causing it! I’m merely keeping the one causing it from getting caught!” He said this as he pinched my cheek.
I swatted his paw away. “Fine, fine. Just make me into a colt or something and leave me alone.”
“Little problem with that,” he muttered, turning back into himself, but incredibly small. “Tiny, really.” He became even smaller.
I looked around nervously and groaned, “Spit it out already! They’re going to find me at this rate.”
“I can’t change that part of you!” Your only option is a color change. He said with a long release of breath, “Only color, no body-related changes or otherwise. There, happy?”
“Not really!” I shouted back. “You have me standing in another dimension right now, and you can’t even do something simple like that!?”
Discord pouted, his lip quivering. “I’m not allowed to change those things! They’re directly tied to somebody’s soul, and I’m not allowed to shape them! That’s harmony’s domain; if I do, she’ll be on my case!” He sighed in his own disdain. “Like I said, it’s only an illusion. Any unicorn could cast a spell like this and certainly remove the spell as well.”
So Harmony is in charge of ponies’ souls? Are they the one that I need to be angry at?
“What’s the downside?” I asked steadily.
“For a normal pony? The illusion ends when the one who created it goes to sleep.” He hummed and pointed at himself with a giant foam finger. “But if you let me, it’ll never disappear out of the blue! Because I never sleep!” He leaned in and pretended to whisper a secret: “Just don’t act suspicious and get revealed by some prying eyes.”
It kind of sounds like the spell changelings use to disguise themselves, but... really, what choice did I have? Walking around as a Flurry clone with a different hairstyle was like a walking red flag, so I really had no choice.
My head shot up as I heard guards in the distance shouting orders. I looked up and locked eyes with Discord. “Sure, whatever, do your thing. Just pick some colors; I need to get out of here.”
With pleasure, Discord smiled and snapped his fingers. I felt a magical feeling wash over me in a wave, and I felt a weird tingling sensation that was uncomfortable. Like your entire body had just been coated in oil. It disappeared soon after and began to feel natural, but my spine still chilled, and I had to shake off the feeling.
With another snap of his fingers, Discord materialized a mirror in front of me. “Well? What do you think?”
I looked up and only raised a brow and sighed. “Really?” I shot him an unamused look.
“What? What!?” He remarked defensively, “You didn’t give any colors. And gray is my favorite!”
I sighed as I took another look at the mirror. I was now a regular earth pony filly, with gray fur and a slightly—and I mean slightly—lighter gray mane, virtually indistinguishable colors from each other. Even my eyes were a dark gray color. I looked like someone had taken an eraser to my body and rubbed the Equestria out of it. “How… dull… and an earth pony?” I questioned.
It was his turn to raise his brow at me. “You can’t use your horn or wings after all, correct? An earth pony is the perfect fit.”
I gave in with another sigh and a shrug. “And inconspicuous, I guess, you know what? Good choices.”
“See?” Discord hummed, “I knew you, and I would see eye to eye! Like two seaponies in a pod!”
Immediately, the bubble of warmth around me disappeared and was replaced by the cold snow. Immediately, I was buffeted by the cold wind, and reality hit me like a ton of bricks… and snow.
“Toodaloo! And good luck out there!” Discord said before beginning to evaporate as if nothing was there in the first place.
"What, so that’s it? You just disguise me for your own satisfaction and leave?” I shouted over the howling wind.
Discord smirked at me, his head the only thing left. “Yes, that’s it.” His rather crazy look became a bit serious as he furrowed his brow. “Unless, of course, you want to go back?”
I looked down at my hooves and was about to retort, but his head finally disappeared before I could. I could still hear the lingering remnants of his voice around me when he was gone, like a haunting mockery of everything he had said. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
And I was again left alone, in the cold and snow.
Except now I looked like a nobody, a perfectly average and unassuming filly.
Of course, I was still a filly… Which wasn’t very satisfying.
…
I didn’t know how to feel right now. Sad, angry, or confused? Terrified?
…
Tired. I was tired… of everything.
…
With the weight of being discovered quelled at least a little bit, I forced myself through the snowstorm once again. Desperately hoping my body held onto the warmth of the bubble he’d put on me, at least for a few moments longer.
As I was walking, I was surprised to see some of the lights in some buildings turned on and a few street lamps lit. I must have not blown out the entire energy infrastructure.
I tried to keep myself hidden and inconspicuous, even as I passed by buildings where ponies were ushering in strangers in the storm to enter. I felt a pull to join at the promise of warmth, but thought better of it.
I continued to trudge forward, not really knowing if I could make it all the way to my destination. I doubted whether I was going in the right direction many times, but it wasn’t going to help to second-guess myself.
I passed by many ponies and many families as well. They paid me no mind; they were more concerned over their family’s wellbeing, and rightfully so. A few more un-structurally sound buildings had been reduced to rubble, mainly abandoned, decrepit buildings, but I couldn’t shake the consequences from my mind.
Who’s to say someone they knew hadn’t been buried?
The one that hurt the most was the family I passed by. The mother was out-cold with a rather minor injury to her chest, especially with the doctor attending to her. But the cries of her foals were heartbreaking and haunting, to say the least.
“Mom, mom, wake up, please!”
It reminded me of exactly why I was leaving.
I drowned out the surroundings and every sound I could by focusing solely on the sound of the howling wind. That helped things, at least for now.
My lungs hurt, my hooves hurt, and my body was numbing from the growing cold of the storm. I felt that I would never get to the station, not in time anyway. A few times, the urge to lay down and give up appeared in my mind, swiftly followed by a shake of my head as my teeth chattered.
I had to have been close, right?
My saving grace came in the form of a loud whistle that was unmistakable from a train. It was ahead of me, still out of sight, but the confirmation allowed my energy to return just enough. My pace quickened as I forced my limbs to move, unable to really feel the snow below me much more.
When I finally got to the train station, there was a crowd of ponies waiting in front of the large passenger train that sat idly. And at the front was what I could only assume was a conductor pony, if the hat was anything to go by. He was trying to quell the unrest of the freezing crowd. “Please, please, calm down! There was a bit of rubble and a few misaligned tracks, and the door wiring is down; it’s already almost fixed. We have our best workers on it right now!” It quelled the crowd a bit as the conductor returned inside the train.
I made it onto the platform and looked around. A bunch of holiday-packed ponies were impatiently freezing in the cold, hoping they could board the train and get to their destinations in time for Hearth’s Warming. Parents trying to quell their children’s complaints and crying with huddled-up warmth and hugging. As the adults conversed amongst each other with gossip and worry, I tensed a bit as a duo of guards passed by me, but they didn’t so much as glance my way.
Their words didn’t hurt as much as they felt they were deserved. And I could only sink further into my makeshift cloak the more I heard. Each conversation around me was bouncing around in my head in an exhausting and dizzying way.
“Do you think it was that foal the newspapers were talking about?”
“Well, I think they should’ve seen it coming. It’s all a little odd, don’t you think?”
“Maybe she planned it.”
“Are we positive that Sombra's influence is gone?”
“Is it even safe to live here anymore?”
“My favorite cabbage stall was destroyed…”
“I knew he was trouble when he treated the guards so poorly.”
I took a long sigh and put my two hooves up, pulling down on my cloak more, trying to keep their voices from being heard while also hiding my face and trying to stay warm. And yet their muffled gossip still made roots in my mind.
“-she was injured from the head. It was awful.”
“I had to save a foal buried under her house; her mother was so distraught.”
My lips quivered, and I tried to keep myself from crying. I didn’t deserve to, not after everything that happened. I felt a sinkhole open up in my chest, taking my mind and body with it.
“I think she should’ve just stayed lost. The princess should’ve let her freeze to death.”
“I heard she fought them the whole way; why didn’t they just throw her in the dungeons?”
“Bet they will now!”
I was saved from a potentially full mental breakdown by the loud whistle of the train as it came to life. Causing me to flinch and pull back in shock before sighing in relief. I felt it wash over me as the welcoming doors of the train opened up with a hiss, the lights coming on, and a warm draft of air wafting out of the cabins.
I watched as a few workers stationed themselves by the door and suddenly panicked. I don’t have a ticket.
The first ponies made their way up; a few offered tickets, but the workers merely waved them ahead. Suddenly the conductor poked his head out and said, “Not worried about tickets, folks; too cold. Just get in if you’re trying to get out!” He called with a jovial tone.
The ponies quickly piled on after, and I fell in line behind a family to blend in. My heart rate continued to increase more and more. I watched the worker with the corner of my eye intently. Unfortunately for me, my lack of attention caused me to trip as my front hoof fell in between the gap between the steps and the pavement. I gasped and caught myself from hitting my head with my other hoof.
“Are you alright?” The worker quickly bent over worriedly and helped me pry my hoof free.
I pulled it out and nursed it with my other hoof as I seethed a bit with pain. “Y-Yes, I’m okay.”
The stallion worker nodded and quickly patted my head. “Well then, go get warm with your family, okay?”
My feelings soured, but I held a smile on my face and nodded, quickly boarding the train without trouble afterward. I felt I’d hurt myself more than I realized because I was subconsciously limping a little bit. But I ignored it and pressed on, trying to find an open and empty room in one of the cabins.
I had to go about three cabins down before I found a free one. And I quickly rushed inside, standing on the comfortable cushioned bench and reaching the door, pushing it shut with all my strength. It was all fine now; the little window on the door was the only slight interaction with ponies that I’d have to have now.
I settled myself against the seat, letting the warmth and success of getting where I wanted wash over me. I was exhausted now, and the magic I’d released was only the cherry on top. In fact, I was quite impressed by the fact that, after all that release of magic, I hadn’t passed out. Though it had been a struggle for a few minutes.
I opened my eyes and glanced out the window. I couldn’t see anything out there, but just knowing that there were hurt ponies galore and ponies freezing made me all feel sick to my stomach. It’d take them forever to recover from this. And some ponies might never recover…
I lowered my head, allowing myself to fully lay down on the bench and curl my body up. Finally, I cried. I didn’t stop myself this time, finally allowing all my emotions to come out. I wouldn’t exactly call it a flood of tears, but it soaked my face.
“What did you think would happen? Are you dumb?” I questioned myself as I lightly hit a hoof against my head.
“You knew it was too good to be true. And then you… you…” Hurting innocent people because of me was the part I couldn’t say out loud.
I shivered and breathed in shakily, “You’re not good enough unless you’re perfect.” I said with disdain.
I wiped my face with one hoof and sniffled heavily as my other hoof rested on the cushion, throbbing with pain still from the trip on the stairs I’d had. I looked down; there was a rather large cut on the inner side of my leg, going all the way down to the bottom of my fetlock.
I didn’t care about that right now…
I just needed to disappear…
The intercom above me came on with the conductor’s voice. “Alright everypony, a couple more stragglers are boarding; once they do, we’ll be off. And only thirty minutes behind schedule!”
Silver lining, I guess? Everybody's travel plans aren’t completely ruined.
I started laughing a bit, even as I was still crying. I was crying and laughing at the mixture of despair and irony that should concern somebody. It probably looked pathetic, like I deserved to be locked up in a mental facility.
The voices of everybody came back to my head, and I buried my face into the side of the cushioned bench. Like demented, haunted ghouls, that would likely follow me for as long as this second life would carry me.
The train finally chuffed to life, jolting the cabin a little bit. The train whistle sounded one last time. The train moved slowly as it warmed itself from the storm before seeming to catch a rhythm and chug along.
That was it; there was no going back.
