//------------------------------// // The Game // Story: An Unlikely Couple // by Legacy55 //------------------------------// “Don’t you think Luna been acting a bit… how do I put this… different?” Celestia asked as they were pacing one of the large halls of Canterlot Castle. “Different? I don’t know what you mean.” Discord retorted, avoiding her gaze. She sighed, “I mean, she been acting a bit… snobby?” “Well she’s always been snobby if memory serves right.” Discord grinned, letting out a small chuckle. “No, not like this… The last time I saw her being so snobby was right before she turned into Nightmare Moon. When the elements changed her she went back to being the kind, caring sister she had been for so many years. It’s almost as if she’s going back to her evil self…” “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing. She’s just a little upset that we’re together, and she simply can’t accept the fact that I’ve changed! I’m sure after the wedding this will all blow over.” “Well, I hope you’re right… It’s just… her transformation happened so suddenly, as if the little sister I once knew was killed. I don’t want that to ever happen again…” Discord laid a comforting paw on her shoulder and pecked her lightly on the cheek. “She’s fine, trust me…” He said, smiling on the inside. --------------------------- “Why go back to Ponyville? Why not just stay here where we can plot and keep an eye on Discord?” “Because, my sister is far too close. We need to stay in Ponyville until we can come up with a decent idea.” The two mares walked outside of Canterlot’s massive gates. Luna was just about to teleport the two of them to Ponyville when they were interrupted by an all too familiar voice. “Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle! I was wondering when you two would try another of your pathetic plans!” Discord said, floating down from somewhere in the sky. “Actually, we were just about to go…” Luna said brashly. “Oh, really? That’s a pity. It’s so entertaining watching you two plot against me!” Just then an idea came to Luna’s mind. A brilliant idea that was sure to work. She smiled at how clever she was sometimes. “You love games, don’t you?” “Oh, that I do!” The Draconequus grinned back. “Well, how about we have a game? We win you call off the wedding.” “…And if I win?” He asked, slithering forward and shoving his face in front of hers. Luna thought for a moment, trying to think of something the Draconequus would want. A light bulb suddenly went off in her head, “Ponyville. For one day you can cause whatever chaos you want, and if Celestia has anything to say about it, she can take it up with me.” Discord leaned back, stroking his beard in deep thought. “Alright…” He finally agreed, “…But I get to make the game!” Luna was hesitant for a moment, but if this was the only way. “Fine, hit us with your best shot!” The spirit of chaos chuckled, “There’s something in the Everfree forest that resembles me the most. Find it by sundown and win, if you come up short handed then I’m the victor! As for rules there are none! You can use whatever magic you have, and I can use all of my powers to prevent you from winning!” Wait, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea… Discord always made sure he had the upper hoof, so he was obviously manipulating the game so- Luna thought only to be suddenly cut off. “You’re on Discord! Oh, and you won’t be able to beat my smarts and Luna’s magic! Ha! I didn’t know you could be so stupid!” Twilight suddenly shouted, grabbing Luna by the hoof and running towards the Everfree forest. Discord burst out laughing watching them, “Good luck! You’re sure going to need it! Hahaha!” ------------------------------ The two ponies were pacing through the scary, increasingly dark forest. Creatures stirred all around them as they moved, and it didn’t help that Twilight was sticking her head in every nook and cranny. “It’s got to be around here somewhere!” She shouted, pulling her head out from a dead hallow tree. “Twilight, don’t you think we should maybe slow down a bit and think about this for a minute? I don’t think we’re going to find whatever it is by combing every inch of this forest, it’s far too big!” “Ah, you’re right!” Twilight teleported right beside her and sat on the dirty ground. She rested her head on one hoof and began thinking, her mind going into overdrive. “That’s it! I know exactly what were looking for!” Luna looked at her expectantly, maybe she wasn’t completely useless. “Were looking for a Draconequus! That’s what resembles him the most, so this should be easy!” She laughed, getting up and running deeper into the forest. Luna sighed at her crazy companion. “Celestia is going to kill me when Discord turns Ponyville upside down…” ----------------------- Twilight was running around like Pinkie Pie after eating a whole bag of sugar. She was really checking every spot, even turning up rocks to see if she could catch a glimpse of a Draconequus. “Hmm, there has to be one around here somewhere!" Luna glanced up at the ever darkening sky; they only had a few hours before sundown… Discord meanwhile was hovering above them unseen, delighting in their pitiful attempts to defeat him. Neither of them were even going in the right direction and Twilight, if anything, was hindering them! This game was as good as his! Still, he wasn’t going to spoil some perfectly good entertainment… “Does this look like a Draconequus to you?” Twilight asked, holding something she just dug out the bottom of a swamp. “That’s a stick…” “Oh! Well it still kind of looks like one…” She said before tossing it to the side and returning to her search. Suddenly, as the stick hit the ground it transformed. What used to be a piece of dead wood, was now a massive, twenty foot long snake. Its scales were a shimmering dark green, and it had two, piercing dark red colored eyes. It let out a mighty hiss before lunging at Twilight. “What in Celestia name?!” Luna cried out as the snake wrapped around Twilight. “Okay, now I know that’s defiantly not a Dracoenquus!” Twilight called out, somehow not panicking as it surrounded her. The snake enclosed the mare tightly, efficiently trapping her. It then reared its massive head and lunged at Luna. The moon princess thought fast and quickly flew into the air, a cloud of dust rising from the impact crater. “Is Discord trying to kill us?!” She yelled, flying across the clearing away from the great beast. With a loud pop Discord appeared a few feet from her, laughing up a storm. “Oh it’s not dangerous! It’s just a basilisk!” “A basilisk?! The king of snakes?! The thing that can kill anything with a single look?! How is that not dangerous?!?!” Luna screamed, her voice almost at the volume of the royal Canterlot voice as it charged at her again. “Well I made some adjustments to it. First of it doesn’t kill anypony with a glance. Second it couldn’t even crush a twig it’s so weak. And finally, it has no teeth!” Dodging another of the basilisk’s lunges she gave him an angry look, “Are you crazy? This thing is going to kill us! Now get rid of it already!” “Oh, now where would the fun be in that? Oh, and I forgot to mention it-” Discord was cut off as the basilisk made a disgusting retching sound; it reeled back its massive head and spat up an orange liquid all over the exhausted Luna. “Bwahaha!” He couldn’t contain his laughter, falling onto the ground and rolling about. “Oh, I can’t remember that last time I had this much fun!” “Discord…” Luna said with a savage tone in her voice, “…What is this?” She wiped the unknown liquid from her eyes. “Oh don’t worry! Just orange soda!” He said, wiping a stray tear from his eye. “Orange…Soda?” Just said in between deep breaths, her anger reaching critical levels. “This is going to be impossible to get out of my mane!!!” She screamed, a massive bolt of lightning hitting the basilisk leaving nothing but burnt ashes. “Oh…Time to go!” Discord quickly snapped his fingers and teleported away, fearing for his safety. Twilight sat up, rubbing her head; the bolt of lightning hadn’t hit her but it affected her somewhat. “Well, let’s get searching again!” She shot up and went back about her search. Luna stood taking very deep, sharp breaths. Everypony around here was crazy! Why in Celestia’s name did she come up with this stupid plan?! Here she was, covered hoof to head in orange soda with a crazy mare in the middle of nowhere! Oh, when she got her hooves on Discord… ------------------- “GAH!” A high pitched screech echoed through the Everfree forest. “We’re running out of time! This is our best chance to break up their relationship, and we’re letting it slip away!” Twilight cried, finally giving up and collapsing on the ground. “Yes… We only have about an hour before sundown, and still nothing that resembles Discord in the slightest…” Luna responded, slightly calmer now that she had had some time to cool off. “Oh, it’s all over! Celestia’s going to get married to Discord and we’ll all be doomed! Doomed, I tell you!” Luna rolled her eyes at her. She was such a drama queen. She found it odd how not too long ago she was so full of energy and hope, and now she was just a crying mess. She did have a point though, their chances of winning at this point were very, very low… Suddenly a single ray of hope shined as she caught sight of something. Just past a dense clump of trees were dozens of different colors, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was. Maybe the answer was in there. “Quick, follow me!” She quickly brushed past the trees and stepped into a completely new world. Everything was colorful, the ground they were walking on was all shades of colors, and they were surrounded by a candy cane forest. They sky was pink and it was raining gumdrops. “It looks like Discords’ been to work…” Twilight’s eyes shined as she observed all the different colors, “Whatever resembles him is bound to be around here, let’s go!” Her energy back she began running across the endless wasteland. Knowing that she would cover much more ground in the air, Luna took flight. She soared across this chaotic paradise in the Everfree forest, just looking for anything that remotely reminded her of Discord. After a few minutes her hopes were quickly diminishing. All she saw were candy cane trees, and nothing that resembled a Draconequus. But then suddenly she saw it. Sitting atop a dangerously steep hill was a statue of Discord. That must be it! She pushed her wings to their limit as she rushed towards it, landing right beside it. This thing really was Discord, looking just like he did when he was imprisoned in stone. She gave a stout laugh, “We beat you Discord! Just in time too…” The sun was almost gone from the sky. The Draconequus appeared before her with a grin that shot from ear to ear. “Oh, you won, did you?” “Yes! This statue looks exactly like you, so don’t even try and weasel out of this, we won fair and square!” Luna reached out a hoof and tapped on the statue for effect. She raised her head up and now it was her turn to laugh. That was until a loud crack filled the air. The statue broke, and a wave of hot chocolate poured out of it. Before Luna could get out of the way it washed over her, quickly hardening in seconds. “Ah! Looks like you lost this particular game Luna!” He chuckled, giving her chocolate encrusted body a light tap with his eagle claw. Just then psycho Twilight came running up the hill, pointing a hoof at Discord. “There’s the Draconequus! We won! Yippee!” She yelled in glee, repeatedly jumping around him in circles. Luna, fuming with anger, exploded with fury and the chocolate encasing her shattered. “ENOUGH! I’ve had enough of you and you’re stupid little games! This ends here!” She screamed, jumping at him with her hooves swinging. Discord teleported away and Luna rolled face first down the hill, finally coming to a stop when she crashed into a candy cane tree. Her head was spinning as she got up and he reappeared. “I won the game fair and square Luna, so don’t get angry about it!” He stuck out his tongue at her. “But…” Luna sighed, he was right. They lost the game and he won, and she never should have come up with this stupid idea. How could she possibly think that she’d be able to beat Discord in a game? “Fine… You win…” Discord fist pumped the air triumphantly. “Yes! Oh, don’t be so sad Luna, you put up a good fight! I’m sure you’ll have another chance to break apart mine and Celestia’s relationship, just keep at it!” He snapped his fingers and they all left the woods. Within an instant they were at the edge of the Everfree forest. Discord looking towards Ponyville with a grin. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun! I’m going to paint the town red! Literally…” Luna put her head down in shame, Celestia was going to freak on her. She might end up sending her to the sun instead of the moon! Discord turned back to them. “Enjoy today, because tomorrow, chaos reigns!”