//------------------------------//
// The Truth Can't Set Me Free 
// Story: Agent of Chaos 
// by Enfield 
//------------------------------//

	"What have I done? What have I done?" I ask myself as I walk down the hallways to the dungeon where my former friends are being held. It's the fact that they saw me with Discord is what makes me think that they will hate me forever. I pass a few Chaos Guardians who salute me and shout "Hail Discord!". I respond with the same chant and go back to figuring out how I'm going to explain my past life and what I once was. I walk down a hallway and end up at a very sinister looking wooden door being guarded by two Chaos Guardians.
"Is this the dungeon?" I ask.
"Yes sir," one Guardian said. 
"Open the door, I want to see the six prisoners in cell one." 
"At once, sir," the other Guardian said. The door, instead of swinging open, dissolves and as I step through, rematerializes. I shake my head and follow the jailer Guardian who tells me that he's going to lead me to the cell. I follow and try to make myself as hardened as I possibly can, but what troubles me is if the six have been treated well or not.
"So then," I say to the Jailer, "How have you been keeping these six?"
"Meh, it wasn't too easy. The pink one was a little tricky to keep in the cell so we've chained her to the wall. The blue pegasus wouldn't shut up until we beat her into silent submission, that white unicorn is obsessed with dirt so we've gave her something to try and keep the cell clean but Discord enchanted it so it'll never be clean. The orange pony is trying to stop the yellow one from crying, which is starting to get on the other Guardian's nerves. If she doesn't stop then we're going to throw her into the hole. As for the one know as Twilight, she's actually been wanting to see you ever since she woke up."
"Why does she want to see me?"
"No idea, just assume that it won't be good."

We reach the cell and I can see six shadows sitting in the back of the cell. The jailer bangs his club on the bars and one of the shadows move.
"Hey, you got yourselves a visitor. Don't bother trying to escape by the way." 
"Can I get some light in there?" I ask.
"Just go on in," the Jailer said, he then leans closer to me and whispers, "If they annoy you let me know and I'll make them shut up."
He tightens his grip on the club as he finishes the sentence. I ignore it and dismiss him, as I step into the cell the jailer shuts the cell door and locks it, saying that Discord doesn't want to risk an escape. As I step closer to the six several torches light up and I am horrified at what I see: The six are all chained up to the wall. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash are pretty much immobilized because they are coated in chains. Rarity is hunched over a spot on the floor and is scrubbing it with a brush, she stops every few seconds and then goes back to cleaning the same spot. Applejack is trying to comfort Fluttershy but once she sees me, her expression changes to utter hate and she faces the wall and tries to stop Fluttershy from crying. The only pony who's maintaining eye contact with me is Twilight and she doesn't look too happy. No, that would be an understatement, she's furious with me. She knows what I did, she knows that I've assisted Discord and that I'm a traitor to them all. I was once their friends, now I'm their enemy. 
"You wanted to see me?" I ask Twilight. Fluttershy looks up for a second but goes back to crying once she sees me. 
"Yes," Twilight says flatly. I feel a little hurt but I know that it's something I deserve.
"Why did you want to see me?
"Because I wanted to talk to you face to face. I want to know this, why do you have an alliance with Discord?"
"It's complicated to explain," I say with as much heart as I possibly can, "I really didn't want to suffer, you know?"
"You think you're suffering?" Rainbow Dash yells at me.
"Shut it before I come in there and beat you senseless again!" The Jailer yells. Rainbow Dash cringes and shuts up. I sigh and continue. 
"Look, Discord yanked me from my world and told me what he wanted me to do. He also said that if I didn't do as he wanted I was going to die a very slow and very painful death." 
"I bet it isn't as bad as this," Twilight said as she pulled on a chain that was clamped to her foreleg. 
"Yeah," Applejack adds, "What did Discord plan for you? Was he gonna turn you into a haggis?"
"I was going to dissolve to death," I say with no emotion, "I was not going to die like that, no way no how. All I wanted was to live a nice life and now I can't, ever since I ended up here it's been one crazy incident after another."
"But, what about all the good times we had?" Pinkie asks.
"They're still with me," I say.
"I've decided to forget about them," Twilight said. Applejack and Rainbow Dash agree but Pinkie still looks at me with her massive and sad eyes. After several minutes of hearing nothing but Fluttershy's sobs and Rarity's frantic brushing I say something.
"You don't know what I am."
"Yeah we do," Twilight said, "You're a traitor and the worst pony who we've ever met." 
"No, no you don't understand," I say, "I'm not even what I look like." 
"What are you talking about?" Applejack asks. I cringe and look at the floor.
"Just shut your eyes until I tell you to open them," I say. The six look at me and then shut their eyes. Okay, here goes. I use the new power of the assimilated Elements of Harmony and manage to make myself human once more. I look at myself and see that I'm still wearing the same stuff from the day I was taken but I now wear the Helm Of Chaos over my old clothes.

"Okay, I'm ready." 
The six open their eyes and stare at me in amazement. I hold up my arms and give a small smile.
"Ta-daa," I say in a quiet voice. 
"What are you?" Twilight asks in a hushed voice.
"Human," I say, "I always have been and always will be." 
"You're really weird looking," Rainbow Dash said.
"It's how I'm biologically set up," I reply. Twilight gets up and walks closer to me, I kneel so I can look her in the eye. 
"Why didn't you tell us anything?" she asks me.
"I was told not to, if I did then Discord would've had me killed," I sigh and then continue, "I'm really, really, really sorry that this had to happen. But I promise that I'll try to keep you as safe as I possibly can." 
"What do you mean by that?" Fluttershy asks.
"Discord has some sort of burning vengeance against you," I say, "He's already turned the Royal Family into statues and-"
"Wait!" Twilight said suddenly, "What about my brother? Is he okay?" 
I take hold of Twilight's hooves in my hands and look at her in the eyes. Just by doing this I feel some sort of strong connection between two species that have never encountered one another until now. 
"Is he okay? Scott, tell me!"
"No," I said, "He's-he's nothing more than rock now. I'm really sorry."
Twilight tears up and her head sinks down to the floor, tears drop from her face to the floor. All I do next is hug her and I'm surprised that she doesn't push me away, instead she hugs me as well and starts to cry softly.
"I'll try to get Discord to bring him and Cadence back so you can see him," I say.
"You-you will?" Twilight asks.
"I'm not your enemy, even if I work with one I will never try to hurt you. Don't denounce me for what I did."
"I won't," Pinkie said.
"Ah still don't trust you," Applejack said.
"I'm going to have to think about this," Rainbow Dash said.
"Can you keep the torches lit?" Fluttershy said.
"Clean, must clean everything," Rarity said as she scrubbed the same spot with the brush.
"Just try and keep your promise," Twilight said, "Do that and I'll forgive you."

Wait, what? No escape plan? No requests? Maybe they know that trying to overthrow Discord is futile and pointless so they're accepting what's happened to them. Doesn't seen like it would apply to this situation. Nevertheless, I let go of Twilight and change myself back to a pony. I back away and the cell door opens and I step into the hallway. The Jailer lets two Guardians into the cell and I think nothing of it until I see that both of them have studded clubs. 
"Whoa, hang on a second," I say. 
"Daily beatings," the Jailer said, "Makes my job that much more enjoyable."
I watch in horror as the six are smacked with clubs. I can't take the sight or their screams of pain anymore, I try to stop the Guardians but an unseen force closes around my head and chest and I am forced to watch the savage sight. The entire show lasts for five minutes but it felt like an age. Once the two Guardians are done they fly out of the cell and the force leaves me. I run into the cell and take Twilight's head in my forelegs, her face is bloody and bruised and I can't help shedding tears.
"Scott," she says weakly. I lean closer to her.
"Yes?" 
"I know about you're Cutie Mark. It's not a Cutie Mark, it's a brand."
A brand? Doesn't look like one. I let Twilight explain.
"You're a servant to Discord," Twilight said, "The mark is only seen on ponies who have fallen under the power of Discord. You were unfortunate to have such a thing happen to you."
I start to get a very strong feeling of anger and rage. Twilight reaches up and touches my face and I take hold of her hoof.
"What happened to me was something that I couldn't stop," I say, "This is something that will." 
And with that I let go of Twilight and leave the cell. The Jailer locks the cell behind me and starts laughing, I wait until his back is turned, once it is I proceed to break his neck so that I can get the keys but the same force from earlier prevents me from moving again, this time however a massive painful shock runs through me and I collapse to the floor. I lie there for a minute before I gain my motor abilities again. After I rub my eyes to get the blurs out of my vision I find myself in my room with Discord standing over and smiling at me.

"You never fail to entertain me, Scott," he said. 
"What the hell was that back there?!" I yell at him, "What in the name of God did I just witness?"
"Something that those six have deserved since they turned me to stone." 
"You ordered the Guards to beat them?" I ask, fury burning throughout my body.
"Yes," Discord said, he then leans down at me and gives me a very sinister look, "Is there a problem with that? Because if you do have a problem then I'll have no problem replacing you."
I sigh heavily and look away from Discord. If I say yes then he will kill me, no more faking, it'll be real and it'll be painful. I have no other choice but to follow the orders of my master and to deal with whatever he does.
"No, no I have no problem."
Discord then smiles and pats me on the head, as if he's taunting me for being powerless to stop him.
"Good boy," he said, "Now get yourself ready, I'm going to Ponyville and I want you to look after the Castle of Chaos until I get back."
"How long are you going to be gone for?" I ask.
"About two days," Discord said, "Maybe more depending if there's a riot or not." 
Discord vanishes and I'm left on my own again. For a few minutes I'm left staring at my reflection but then out of nowhere I sink down and start crying. What I saw in the dungeon was pure brutality, what did those six do to deserve such a fate? I feel awful for allowing it to continue, for not speaking up to try and stop it, for not being able to do anything to help my friends. I look up and see my reflection again, I can't see myself like this. I try to telepathically spin the mirror around but instead it goes crashing to the floor, something inside of me wants to get out, something very powerful and very, very angry.