//------------------------------//
// A Phone Call and Impending Doom 
// Story: Salt and Sun 
// by VanishingAct 
//------------------------------//

"Well now, what should I refer to you as now?" I asked tentatively.

It didn't take long for Maxie to respond. He had obviously already worked this out.

"Well this is just a new body, isn't it? Everything up here's still the same," he said while waving a hoof around his head, "So I'm still Maxie."

"Alright then.".

Still Maxie, eh? What are you, Maxie? What do you see yourself as? What do you think other people see you as? I understand the ways you work but other people don't. They won't be so forgiving when it comes to it, and I wish that you won't have to face it so soon, but that's all gone now thanks to... to this. 

He never operated the same as regular children his age. He would always refrain from contact with others, shying away from anyone who wished to get to know him. For the longest of times I had believed it to be because he just plain wasn't interested with the affairs of others, being hugely self centred, but now I believe it's quite the opposite, and that he refrains for an altogether different reason.

And then he discovered the joys of alcohol, and pulled off a surprisingly successful face-heel turn, as he would call it. No more was the socially awkward rich kid in the corner, here was this new, high flying social butterfly that everyone wanted to be, and yet he still has few that he would actually refer to as a friend. He obviously dislikes extended social contact, and I have a tentative theory which would explain his behaviour over the years, but I need to work out whether it is true...

"Jiles, take a look at this!"

Startled from my musings, I looked at Maxie's monitor, which now displayed a news article.

"Celestia and Luna have gone missing!"

"Celestia and Luna...?"

"Well, basically," Maxie began, "In Equestria, where the ponies come from, there are two immortal princesses that move the sun and moon, called Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Moving the sun and moon? Whoever became these two must have been very pivotal. "Continue."

"So last week, when this all started, Lauren Faust, creator of the MLP series, and Tara Strong, voice actress for Twilight Sparkle, became Celestia and Luna, and announced that all of the Mane Six should meet up in New York."

"Mane Six?"

"The six wielders of the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, Fluttershy, Element of Kindness, Applejack, Element of Honesty, Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter, Rarity, Element of Generosity and Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty."

My face furrowed as I struggled to grasp the concept. I eventually gave up, dismissing them as six powerful ponies. I'll work this out later.

"So them going missing is important?"

"HUGELY IMPORTANT!" Maxie shouted shrilly, "When two near god-tier beings disappear from the face of the earth, you know some serious- oh, Lord."

Maxie was wrenched from his train of thought by a realisation. "What is it Maxie?"

"Discord."

I allowed myself to handle the explanation of this new name in simple turns. "Powerful evil person?"

"Powerful, yes, extremely so. Evil is debatable. If you consider widespread chaos evil then-"

"So, evil being. And I assume he is the cause for all of this?"

"Most probably."



Of course! That had to be it! Discord is causing all this shit to happen! But... why?

If I recall correctly, (which I nearly always do when it comes to ponies) Discord was sealed in stone, so how did he break reality?

Then I realised, asking how a god of chaos broke reality is like asking why the sun rises in the morning. It just does, inevitably.

So, this is his new method of spreading chaos? Turning people into ponies? If you asked me, it seemed too... regular. I mean, why not other creatures? Why not just the same routine as he did when he was freed?

That was when I worked out he had a plan. Discord always does. This ponification must be a cover for something bigger. But what?

...That was about as far as my thought process took me. No matter how hard I tried, there were no explanations as to what he could be planning. But I knew one thing.

"As much as I like the guy, he needs to be stopped."

No sooner did I say that, my phone began to rang, the chorus of TheLivingTombstone's remix of 'Discord' beginning to play, funnily enough. Knowing that I normally received few calls, I could already predict who it was. With a groan of discontent, I began to reach forth to it with my magic, but stopped myself when I remembered how hit and miss it was.

"Jiles, could you answer it and pass it to my hoof, please?"

He did both and I put my phone to my ear and answered.

"Hello?"

"What's up, Littlehands?" asked a feminine voice down the line, and I sighed in frustration as I knew who it was. Pretty much the most terrifying person I knew, man or woman. She took great delight in causing me pain, passing it off as 'nothing much', then told me to get up and do it all over again.

Begrudgingly, I present to you my friend (sort of), my enemy (definitely) and my ballroom dancing partner, Alexandra Stipes.

"Oh, erm, hi, Alexandra..."

"So what's going on around your place?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. I'm kinda hung over and all-"

"Well, I guess that explains what happened to your voice," Probably should have come up with an excuse in case she thought it was wrong, but she glossed over it, so it's all good!

She continued, "Well, over here, I'm bored as all hell. D'you think you can come over?"

Oh no. I know what trap you're planning, and besides, I can't, now that I'm a pony. "Yeah, I don't really feel like practising today-"

"Oh no, we don't have to practice!" She replied unusually swiftly, "Although your co-ordination is terrible..."

"Shut up, my co-ordination is perfect!", she lies, I tell you, she lies!

A short silence preceded her response. "Yeah, right. So anyways, could you just come over?"

Now is when I had to bullshit, "Yeah, about that, I can't really leave the house today-"

"Then I'll come over to yours!" Darn it, stop cutting me off! "I'll even bring Chester-"

"I SWEAR DOWN, ALEXANDRA, IF YOU EVEN THINK OF BRINGING THAT DARN DOG, I WILL HAVE JILES LOCK THE GATES ON YOU!!!" I shouted very necessarily loudly. That dog is the bane of my existence. It constantly wants to sit on me, demands I give it attention and food at every possible opportunity and shits in all of my best shoes!

I don't understand why you would have a dog anyway. Constantly having to look after the darn thing day in, day out would drive me insane. No, I have enough to worry about myself, I don't want to have to worry about something else!

Another silence, longer this time, which was good in my opinion as it meant that she had more time to take in the fact that I do not want that dog within a mile of my house. "So, I can come over, but just not with Chester?"

"N-"

"K thanks bye!" She cut me off before I could respond!

As I realised how I had been duped, I put the phone gently back down on the table.

"That crafty..."

Jiles took the opportunity to speak up, "So what happened, Maxie."

"Prepare yourself." I answered. "We're going to have company in T minus 15 minutes."