I take the Element out from my vision and rub my eyes before looking in the mirror again. There was nothing there but once I look through the Element again I see the same message. I read it a few times and try to figure out what Discord wants. I might as well go, not only will he eradicate me if I don't but he says that he has a gift for me. If there's one thing I like it's getting presents, unless it turns out to be either a lie or something disappointing. That has happened to me before, both last Christmas and my birthday. I got presents that I though would be my dream gift but they turned out to be useless trinkets. We've all had that happen to us and we can all agree that it's the most saddening thing in your life. Risking extreme disappointment or death I decide to go and meet Discord to see what he's going to give me, I head out of my room and back up into the shop where Mr. and Mrs. Cake are talking with each other as they look over stuff in a book of some sorts. I don't see the Cake twins but I do see Pinkie sweeping up her mess with the flour. I notice that her mane and tail have gone from the usual puffy look to a flat, dark, almost deflated appearance. I give her a wide berth and trot over to the door.
"Oh Scott," Mr. Cake said, "Would you mind coming over here a minute?"
I stop and back up to Mr. Cake, he looks slightly troubled which is a look I don't like.
"Do you request my assistance?" I ask.
"No, we were just hoping that you would be able to help us tomorrow with making a large birthday cake for Princess Luna. Do you have any ideas on what it should look like?"
I rub my chin as I think. When Discord zapped me back in the hospital, there was a sliver of information about Princess Luna. Ruler of the night and was once the infamous Nightmare Moon. Now she lives in a castle that now sits on the lunar surface, only coming to Equestria every Nightmare Night. This is too easy.
"Why not make a cake that looks like the moon?"
Mr. and Mrs. Cake look at each other and nod.
"Good idea, can you help us with it tomorrow?" Mrs.Cake asks.
"Yeah, I might come up with more when I get back from my walk."
"Stuffy down in the basement?" Mr. Cake said, "If it is I'll clean it up."
"No, no, I just need to get out for some air," I say.
"Be back soon," Mrs. Cakes says as I walk out of the door.
By now the day has turned to night and the temperature has dropped slightly but I barely notice it. I look around and see a few other townsfolk wandering the streets but not much else. Now all I have to do is find myself the monolith that I was first warped to when Discord sent me here. All I'm able to remember is that I was in a forest when I landed here. I see a forest over to my left and head in that direction, hoping that I'm right. If not, I'll use the Element of Chaos. I don't use it yet because I don't want to attract attention to myself, I'll wait until I'm outside of town. I reach a bridge and stand at the top of it to get a better look at my surroundings. The forest is too thick to see through so I go ahead and continue into the darkness. The forest is much darker once I enter it but I pass a thicket and check to see if I am visible from the town, once I can tell that I'm well and truly hidden I conjure up a headlamp and a glowstick to wear around my neck. With the help of the lights I am able to make it to a small clearing, but there's only one problem, I have no idea where I'm going.
"Where the bloody hell is that monolith?" I say. Almost instantly a wink of white light flashes out of the corner of my eye and catches my attention. I follow where it came from, I guess that it's Discord guiding me but it could be a trap. No matter, I have the Element of Chaos. The only unsettling thing is that I have no idea how to use it in combat. I'd better learn fast. The light flashes a few more times and I follow them, soon, I'm in the middle of a perfectly circular clearing with a large black monolith sitting in the center. Leaning against it is none other than the God of Chaos and my master.
"Get lost did we?" he asks as he picks at his claws.
"I was half dead when I landed here, I don't remember much from here," I reply.
Discord shakes his head and looks at me, I cringe when I see that he looks disappointed.
"I really am annoyed Mr. Websly, do you know why?"
"No," I said, "No I have no idea."
"What I'm annoyed about is that you were able to break the connection of one Element and it's holder. I'm sure that you know who I'm talking about."
I stand dumbfounded until I remember earlier today.
"Hang on, you mean Pinkie?"
Discord nods and grins.
"I had no clue that she took her work seriously," he said, "You were able to outdo her and make her hate everything, therefore breaking the connection."
"Why?" I ask, "What Element of Harmony was she?"
"The Element of Laughter, now with her out of the way the others will become miserable and be easier to break. And once that is done, you can get rid of the Elements themselves."
"But how am I going to get the Elements?" I ask.
Discord snaps his fingers and a box lands on the ground in front of me, I take it and open it up. In the light of my headlamp I see what looks like a black special forces suit and a smaller box of spy gear. I take the mask out of the box and look up at Discord.
"I can give you the equipment that will help you on your mission, but as for the mission itself, you are on your own."
He vanishes in a puff of smoke and I am left by myself in the forest with a box of spy gear. I pack everything away and pick the box up and set it on my back.
"Thank you Discord," I say, "I'll make sure I put this to good work."
Going back to Ponyville was slightly marred by the massive box on my back and that it had gotten much darker. Navigating the forest became much harder because the glowstick and my headlamp were slowly dying. I managed to make it out of the forest after about an hour of tripping over branches and roots. Making my way back to Sugarcube Corner was tricky as well because there were no streetlights anywhere to be seen but once I get back I see Pinkie standing in the doorway, looking quite angry.
"Hey Pinkie," I say.
She doesn't reply.
"If you're wondering what I have here it's just something I found."
Nothing.
"I'm just gonna go to sleep, I'll see you in the morning."
Pinkie still says nothing as I pass her and make my way into the basement and into my room. I shut and lock the door to my room before pushing a large box in the way of the door, something about Pinkie's look made me think that she might have a thirst of envy and revenge.
"Now, let's see what's in this box," I say as I pop the top off the box and arrange the items inside on my bed. Not only is there spy gear but also a set of motion activated alarms, a grappling hook and a launcher, something that looks like a dart gun and what is undoubtedly night vision goggles.
"My god," I think, "How well guarded are these things?"
"Too guarded if you want my opinion," Discord said as he materializes in front of me.
"You really have to stop doing that," I say.
Discord leans over the bed and examines everything that I have laid out on the bed. He nods and smiles.
"This is going to be the best plan I have ever cooked up," He said. I turn to him and hold up the Element of Chaos.
"I must ask you something, I've never baked before but only today I was able to cook up over twenty cupcakes without setting fire to anything. Does the Element have to do with this?"
"It's interesting isn't it?" Discord asks me, "When I made the Element of Chaos I gave it the power of deception and the power of adaptation. What you did back there was none other than an illusion that the Element conjured up in order to make things not what they seem."
"Did I poison them?" I ask fearfully.
"No no, more of gave them something better than they thought or were seeing."
"So what they actually ate was something that I failed to make properly?"
"Yes."
I look to the door then back to the spy gear on the bed, Discord has done a lot for me in order to do this mission for him. It would seem bad to cut and run, bad for me because he would probably track me down and kill me. The only reason I'm sticking with Discord is because I think that if I do help him he can make my life much better than I could ever imagine.
"So when do you think I'll be able to get to the Elements?" I ask as I put away everything except the motion alarms.
"If there was a more perfect day to get to the Elements, then Luna's birthday is it. All you have to do is find a way in and then once everypony is distracted then you get to the Elements and destroy them, once that is done, I'll appear and take down Celestia and Luna and then rule Equestria."
"Sound's simple enough," I say.
"It's going to be much easier than you think," Discord said as he backed away to the wall, he bows and before phasing through the wall says something that I would never expect, "A good night to you Scott Websly."
I am left in my room mouth agape at what I just heard. Did the God of Chaos just say what I heard? I shake my head in disbelief and set up the motion alarms outside my bedroom door and around the basement. If Pinkie does want revenge tonight, then I'll make sure I'm ready. I set up the trackers in a semi-circle around the door to my room leaving two to monitor the door in case it opens, I place the alarm unit next to my bed and just as I clamber in to sleep, I remember the dart gun and load a magazine of sleeper darts before stuffing the gun under my pillow. I'm hoping that I don't have to use it but then I remembered that I will eventually, I'll consider this it's test run if Pinkie does come at me from the darkness. I arm the trackers and turn off the lights, thinking about how I'm going to get into Luna's party. I know that it's going to be tricky but I know that there will be more than one way.