Chapter 4: The Party Will Have to Wait
Jennifer couldn’t contain a grin at the pink ponies enthusiasm. She might be a silly looking little pony now, she might have a different name…but she was still Pennie where it counted. “I think that sounds like a lot of fun Penn…uh…Pinkie.”
At the first sign of acceptance Pinkie was on her hooves bouncing about in excitement. “Oh this has to be a special party too! A super-duper best friend came to visit from another UNIVERSE party! It’ll be my first one of those so it HAS to be extra-special!”
The door burst open in mid-Pinkie-bound, as five more ponies, a baby dragon, and an excited dog all rushed in. Now armed with the knowledge that these ponies were indeed the friends she had to say goodbye to years ago, it was easy enough for Jen to recognize who was who, (girls with pink, purple, or polychromatic hair were pretty memorable).
Everypony seemed happy to see their human friend again, and all were soon chatting up a storm about the goings on of the past few years. All except Twilight, who was sitting off to the side with a faint frown on her face.
“Well this is simply wonderful timing darling! I have a big fall line to roll out and I was absolutely stumped on design ideas! Seeing you again has reminded me of all the plans I had to incorporate fashions from your world into my work!” Rarity beamed radiantly.
Rainbow Dash hovered directly overhead, forcing Jen to crane her neck to look up when she spoke. “Hey and you can come to Cloudsdale with everypony else this weekend to see me compete in the trick flyers competition!”
Twilight finally rose clearing her throat. “Let’s calm down a moment everypony…remember Jennifer doesn’t belong in our world. Princess Celestia explicitly forbade humans from coming back with us remember? It’s why we didn’t invite her to come visit when we left in the first place.”
He words had a sobering effect on the group and they all quieted, even Dash landing with a little huff. Pinkie seemed about to speak when Spike abruptly let loose a little belch of flame…blue-black flame, and a scroll bearing a silver seal appeared, only to be caught in Twilight’s aura of magic. “Well that’s odd; this looks like Princess Luna’s seal.”
She carefully unrolled the scroll and cleared her throat, reading aloud:
My Faithful subjects,
I have received the letter intended for my sister, who is presently indisposed at the moment. The presence of this human child (Jen gave a little hmph here at being referred to as a child) is indeed a serious problem and must be addressed immediately. I am dispatching my royal chariot to retrieve her, and the bearers of the elements of harmony to come to Canterlot Castle immediately. This situation is too urgent to wait for the trains to begin running in the morning.
Princess Luna
Twilight rolled the scroll back up with a frown. “Princess Celestia is indisposed? I wonder what that means?” She couldn’t keep the worry from her voice at all.
Applejack was at her side, giving her a comforting nudge. “Aw don’t worry sugar cube ah’m sure it’s nothing at’all. The Princess is probly off in Saddle Arabia or some such place again.”
The others nodded their agreement and chimed in with their own words of support. Jen just looked nervous though. “I ah…I’m not in trouble am I?”
In a dizzying blur of pink, Pinkie was at her side in a flash. “Of course not Jenny-bean! I mean if you were in trouble Princess Luna would probly be getting her Nightmare Moon on and be here being all ‘RAWR’ and stuff!”
She remembered stories Pennie used to tell her back home. She just assumed the Nightmare Moons and Discords and such were all make believe and that Pennie had a REALLY good imagination. So Pinkie’s assurances had the opposite effect as she remembered the story of the wicked mare in the moon.
Twilight huffed and shook her head. “Don’t let Pinkie get you nervous Jennifer. Princess Luna is very kind just like her sister…if a bit more stern and stiff. She’s probably just as worried and confused as we were, and wants to sort the situation out as quickly as she can.”
This seemed to calm the worried teen somewhat who had been nervously stroking her dogs ears…said dog having decided to collapse into her lap…before slowly climbing to her feet. “Well she said she was sending a chariot….should we wait outside?”
This elicited a nod from the purple unicorn who turned to her assistant. “Spike will look after your dog while we’re gone won’t you? I doubt she’d enjoy the flight.”
The little dragon nodded and snapped a salute off to the human. “You can count on me!” He shifted his gaze to the dog…that was nearly as big as he was with a little gulp. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”
The six ponies and one human made their way from the tree house, Jen taking to rubbing at her horn again. Fluttershy seemed to notice this and frowned in concern. “It um…it doesn’t hurt does it?”
Jen almost missed her speaking entirely at first, having forgotten just how soft spoken Felic…Fluttershy could be. “What? The horn? No it doesn’t hurt just….feels kinda weird to suddenly have one y’know? I didn’t even notice it until Twilight pointed it out to me but now I can’t stop thinking about it.” She gave a little grin.
Rainbow was zipping about in the air above the group before she gave an excited cry. “Hey I see it! The chariot’s comin!”
They all turned to watch its approach. Pulled by four of Luna’s intimidating night guard, the large silver and blue chariot landed before them gently. The normally unflappable guard ponies did a brief double take at the sight of the bipedal beast standing with the six ponies, but they quickly regained their composure, the lead clearing his throat. “We’ve come to escort you to her highness, place board quickly and we’ll be on our way.”
Dash of course opted to fly alongside, while the others hopped in quickly. Jen hesitating to climb in. “…there’s no seatbelts. Or…guard rails or anything.”
Twilight merely nodded. “Well it’s typically used by Princess Luna, and more for ceremony then an actual need to be transported anywhere. She doesn’t really need such safety devices.” The ponies were short enough they could hardly see over the edges of the chariot without standing on their hind legs. Jennifer however was a good deal taller than they and could easily topple over the side if it made an abrupt bump or turn.
Her fear clearly written on her face, Rainbow hovered before her. “Hey don’t sweat it kid, if they get butter hooves and drop ya I’ll be right there to catch ya, alright?”
This seemed to mollify her somewhat, and she slowly climbed in with the rest…sitting down quickly with her back braced against the front of the vehicle. Once their passengers were all aboard, the six pegasi broke into a gallop…wings beating as they lifted off into the night sky.
The chill night air blew strongly over the group as the ground grew further and further away. The closest Jen had ever come to flying in the past was her drop from the cliff upon her arrival in Equestria. However the fear was ever so slowly giving rise to something that had been building since she arrived. The thrill she got from exploring a new place was slowly creeping up on her…only now it was an entire new world. Everything would be new and unknown to her. Ever so slowly she inched forward, lying flat on her stomach and looking down at the ground rushing below them. Dash slowed a bit to fly near her head. “First time flyer huh? I can see it all over yer face. Same look a foal gets on THEIR first flight.”
Jen could only nod slowly as she watched the clouds…the CLOUDS…pass below her, before lifting her eyes to Rainbow Dash. “Hey…you said if I fell you’d catch me right? You could do that? Carry someone as heavy as me without much trouble?”
This elicited a shrug from the Pegasus. “Yeah sure, yer skinny as a beanpole still so it’s not like ya weigh much. And I’m a lot stronger’n I look.”
The teenager seemed to digest the information a minute, before she grinned. A grin Rainbow Dash was familiar with. The one she always wore when she was about to pull an awesome new stunt. “Good.” Was all she said. Before springing off the back of the chariot and into the open air.
She heard the shouts of alarm from the ponies…but only dimly. Her falling away from the speeding chariot carried them out of hearing distance quickly coupled with the sound of the wind rushing through her ears made it impossible to hear their shouts. She was too focused on the sensation of the free fall to pay them any mind anyhow. Arms and legs spread as far as they could she closed her eyes imagining she was really flying instead of just falling. She was snapped out of her fantasy by Rainbow Dash’s less than happy sounding screaming. “Are you NUTS?! You just jumped! You can’t fly Jen!” The incense pegasi was keeping pace with the falling human, eye to eye with her.
This just got a grin as she shouted back. “You said you’d catch me! C’mon I thought you were a daredevil! I didn’t know you were such a scaredy cat.”
Dash reared back and snorted. “I’m not scaredy cat! You want daredevil?!” She zipped behind Jennifer and wrapped her forelegs around under her arms, tilting them down into a fast nosedive. Her passenger obligingly brought her arms and legs in tight together as they approached the ground and breakneck pace. She could her her human friend screaming…and was about to slow until she glanced at her face at the huge grin. Screams of exhilaration she could get behind! And soon both girls were letting out loud whoops until Dash snapped her wings open skimming them just over the ground and angling back up into the air. Pushing hard to catch up with the chariot. “How was THAT for daredevil?”
Jen just smiled all the wider. “I think I got the short end of the stick by getting a horn instead of wings.” She laughed as Rainbow caught up to the chariot. They spotted a beleaguered and terrified looking Fluttershy hauling an excitedly squealing Pinkie Pie back up a bit to the side of them.
“You bet you did sister.” Dash zipped ahead to apologize to the pullers while Twilight fixed Jen with a stern glare. “That was INSANELY dangerous! What if Rainbow wasn’t fast enough to catch you?” She swung around to fix the party pony in her look next. “And you! I can’t believe you’d do that to poor Fluttershy!”
Pinkie just beamed as per usual even under Twilight’s scolding. “But Jenny-bean did it and it looked like a lot of fun so I wanted to do it and I knew Fluttershy had my back!” She flopped across Jen’s lap as the girl resumed sitting. “And it WAS a lot of fun! Tons of fun! We should do it again!”
She made for the edge eliciting a squeak of alarm from the timid pegasi, before a shimmering purple aura lifted Pinkie off her hooves and set her down firmly beside Twilight. “Absolutely NO MORE Skydiving! From anypony…” Jen opened her mouth and Twilight shut it with a look. “Or anybody. Besides…we’re here.”
They all turned to look as Canterlot came into view. This wasn’t a new sight to the ponyfolk, but the enchanted city nestled on the side of a mountain with its waterfalls shining silver in the moonlight caused a sharp intake of breath from the visiting human. “Wow.” Was all she managed to get out at the sight.
The chariot came to a gentle landing inside the castle garden. Its passengers all climbed out and milled about for a few moments until an official looking grey earth pony mare trotted their way, bearing a quill and scroll cutie mark. Her eyes only widened very slightly at the spectacle of the universal invader before she cleared her throat. “Twilight Spark and companions Princess Luna will see you right away. Please follow me.”
The mare led them group through the courtyard doors and into the main castle. They passed several waiting groups of dignitaries, none looking too happy at the newcomers getting preferential treatment. Upon sighting the human in the group many gave gasps of surprise or alarm, one looked simply curious. A finely attired unicorn stallion, complete with monocle and slim moustache watched her as she passed. She noticed Rarity give him a faint smile, which he returned inclining his head politely before the doors to the throne room boomed shut behind them.
The room was well lit by the chandeliers overhead. The stained glass windows lining the walls depicted scenes of battle and triumph for the ponyfolk. She smiled a bit when she recognized her pony friends in several. One specifically caught her eye and she stopped before it. Fluttershy noticed this and broke away from the others to stand with Jen. “That was when we had to face Discord…it was probably scarier than Nightmare Moon!” Her voice almost rose to normal levels at the proclamation and she blinked in embarrassment. “Sorry…I get a little worked up thinking about it.”
Jen nodded, just looking at the strange creature transfixed in the rainbow emitted by the ponies in the window. She remembered Pennie telling stories about HIM too. Realizing that the terrifying creatures these six little ponies faced were more than just the fanciful stories from an energetic baby sitter somehow made it all a bit more intimidating. Sure the ponies have beaten everything thrown at them…but it seemed there was always another monster waiting in the wings. She was about to hurry to catch up to everyone before she whipped around to look at the mural of Discord again.
“…I swear he just winked at me.”
Fluttershy had caught up to her friends and bowed before the throne of the royal sisters with the rest of them. Both Princesses were in attendance; however Celestia was not looking her best. She had circles under her eyes and her mane wasn’t flowing quite as freely as usual.
Luna seemed unaffected by whatever was troubling her elder sister, and she surprised them all by speaking first. “We are glad you brought this problem to our attention as swiftly as you did Twilight Sparkle. The presence of a human being in Equestrian is cause for grave concern.”
Twilight frowned and dared to interrupt, moving her concerned gaze from the exhausted looking Celestia who barely managed a faint nod and smile toward her most prized student. “I gathered as much from your reply princess, but why? I mean obviously she stands out even more than a zebra around us ponyfolk, but once they get to know her I’m sure there’ll be no problem at all.”
Celestia lifted her head, even her voice sounded tired…her usual gentle tones just sounded weary. “It’s not her demeanor that’s the problem rather that she comes from a world with no magic. Recall your own didn’t work when you visited her realm. However everypony in Equestria possessed some small amount of magic. Even the creatures and plant life. The portal that brought her here basically broke down what made her…HER…and remade her suited to life in Equestria.”
By this point Jen had grown tired of the antics of the dancing image in the window. It seemed odd to enchant something so serious to act so silly but hey…maybe these princesses were more like Pinkie then Twilight in seriousness. She found herself a bit awestruck at the sight of the royal sisters both of whom exuded an aura of strength and serenity. Though the smaller Princess, it had to be Luna, looked a good deal more impressive than the larger. She gave an awkward curtsy. “It’s um…a pleasure to meet you your majesties.”
Both alicorn mares inclined their head in a greeting. Luna’s horn shimmed softly as the silk handkerchief lifted from Jen’s back pocket and floated to rest beside her. “It’s a pleasure to see you again Jennifer, though I hope our conversation will end better this time than the last.”
Now every eye was turned toward the teen as she blushed in embarrassment and looked down. “Y…yeah I’m really sorry for ah…shoving you down.” This brought a cascade of gasps from the six non-royal ponies. “It was kinda a shocker is all.”
Luna simply smiled and waved it away. “I understand. I am told I am somewhat lacking in social graces from time to time.” She and Twilight shared a brief smile at that. “Would you please approach us? We wish to get a clearer look at you.”
Jen swallowed the lump in her throat and approached the sisters. Celestia drew herself up more fully though it was clear the effort was taxing. Her own horn shimmed with a gentle golden aura, which moved and enveloped Jennifer. “How very interesting. Your horn is identical to any unicorns, and like theirs is tied to your special talent. Has it done anything?”
Glancing back and forth between the two princesses (who suddenly seemed a lot bigger and more imposing up close) she only nodded. “Yeah I think so. When I first arrived I was lost and wanted to find some help. I sorta felt this…gentle tug from my head…well my horn it must’ve been. It led me right to Ponyville.”
The Princess of the night nodded slowly, her own magical aura mingling with her sisters in examination of Jennifer. “You are perhaps fond of exploration Jennifer?” At her nod the princess continued. “I would guess your horn is capable of leading you in the proper direction to whatever it is you are presently seeking. Quite a useful talent. You’d likely be able to develop other magics in line with your special gift, and of course learn the basics as any unicorn filly would.”
Celestia cleared her throat at this. “I believe that would be a bad idea. The use of her new Equestria given magic could accelerate her condition.”
Eyes widening alarm at this Jen looked between Luna and Celestia. She heard the ponies below her gasp and cry out as well. “Condition? What condition?!”
It was Luna who answered. “Well was it explained that we could only visit your world for a certain amount of time?” At a nod she continued. “Well that is because the longer you are in a foreign realm, the more you will change to adjust to it. If overexposed the change is permanent and you will be unable to traverse between worlds without fatal consequences. Generally this process takes only a few weeks, however my sister and I can use powerful spells to delay this process.”
Everyone seemed to relax at this as Celestia spoke. “I wouldn’t worry too much dear; we’ll have you back home soon enough. Well before anything as drastic as that comes to pass.” This brought a few disappointed awws from the ponies. “I know this isn’t what everypony wanted to hear, but Jennifer simply cannot just leave her life behind anymore then you could leave Equestria Pinkie Pie.”
This brought a few understanding nods, (and one pink hoof scuffing on the floor in a pout). “What surprises me most in all this is how careless you were in not only leading her to, but leaving the portal open sister. It showed very poor judgment.”
Luna’s eyes widened at the sudden chastisement, wings flaring defensively. “I did no such thing! I had no idea she had a hound with which to track my scent. And I most certainly did not leave the portal between our worlds open.” She seemed genuinely hurt now. “I know I do not have a spotless track record but I hoped you thought better of me than this.”
Her elder sister frowned deeply at her words, clearly troubled. “The magic required to open and maintain the portals is immense. Only one of us is capable of this. Or the elements of harmony but I have those safely locked away.” She looked to their human guest. “Jennifer can you tell me anything…” She trailed off when she realized her attention was drawn away from the conversation to the windows. “I know the pictures are lovely dear but we need to focus.”
Jen snapped her attention back to the princesses. “O…oh I’m sorry. Just…the moving pictures are kinda distracting.”
Brows furrowed as the royal sisters exchanged a confused look. “Moving…” Eyes widening in alarm they whirled to the windows….just in time for the image of Discord to step off the window. The two dimensional image warped and filled into a very three dimensional draconequus.
The element bearers (sadly at the moment lacking said elements) were on their hooves in a flash. The royal sisters reared back, wings spread wide and horns glowing dangerously. “Discord! But how?!”
A wide grin split the muzzle of the chimeric villain who stretched his arms over his head and gave an exaggerated groan, as if he was just waking up from a long sleep. “How?” There was a flash as he vanished and reappeared behind Celestia, casually pacing behind her and Luna. “How my dear Princess Celestia? All that delightful chaos unleashed when that charming Queen Chrysalis led her changeling army into Canterlot and you really wonder how I got loose? Last time all it took was a pair of fillies having a little squabble.”
The sisters were constantly turning to keep him in eye sight. But he seemed less interested in them and more interested in the only pair of eyes not widened in horror, but watching with curiosity. “Oh and here she is! I was hoping if I left the door open you’d wander in…and so you did! So tell me my dear how ARE you finding out charming little Equestria?”
She let out a little yelp as a plush arm chair just…appeared and swooped behind her dumping her into it, (despite herself she had to admit it was a pretty excellent chair). She was even more surprised as a can of her favorite lemonade popped into being in one hand, while a matching chair with a seated Discord popped in front of her. Jen opened her mouth once. Then closed it. Then opened it again. She’d heard Pennie’s stories about this guy and knew he was bad news…but he wasn’t doing anything she’d call evil…yes. “Oh uh…it’s…nice?”
This caused him to clap paw and claw together and grin all the wider. “It IS isn’t it!? Fresh air, plenty of space to roam and…explore?” He winked at that. “And all the toys to play with that you can imagine!” He snapped the digits on his paw and there was a bright flash. When it cleared the room was free of living ponies…sitting where the six elements had been and two princesses were small decidedly inanimate toy versions.
Jen gasped in horror and jumped to her feet. “Change them back!” Her horn flashed brightly and let out a powerful pulse of unrefined magic blowing her from the chair across the room with a yelp and shattering the windows and cracking a bit of the stone work.
This only caused a rolling wave of laughter from Discord who seemed unphased, he merely whipped a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. . “Oh my! So fierce! So quick to anger! How delightfully unponylike!" He looked at her slyly lowering his shades enough so she could see his eyes. “You certainly pack quite a wallop in that horn too m’dear.” He clapped merrily, but glanced in irritation at the ramming coming from the door. “Tsk tsk, so rude.” Another snap and the doorway simply vanished…replaced by smooth wall. He returned his attention to the fuming teenager. “While I’m eager to keep our budding friendship on a smooth path I just can’t change them back. Last time I let them run about on their own I wound up turned to stone…again.”
Slowly calming down when she realized just how powerless she was against this creature Jen relaxed her posture gradually…lowering herself back into the chair Discord had provided. She couldn’t help but glance at the plastic pony toys on the ground, but she fought back the tears and kept her face stoic. Something he had said seemed…off. “…friendship?”
Seemingly satisfied that his ‘guest’ had once again calmed down he retook his seat. “Well of course! It’s been so long since I saw someone from home. Why I didn’t even think there WERE portals to and from Earth and Equestria. But when I felt Luna’s presence just disappear I HAD to find out why. And imagine my surprise when I found a portal! Naturally I couldn’t pass through myself…I’ve obviously been here a bit longer than a week, but I knew I could bring someone over to me. And here you are!”
The revelation that this…creature had come from her home…maybe even been human at one time set Jen rocking back on her heels. “You…you’re from Earth? But you’re…uh…” She gestured at his body.
Another laugh from the creature was her reward. “Definitely NOT human?” A quick pop and the Celestia and Luna toys where hovering between the pair. “My good ‘friends’ here wanted an ambassador between our worlds. I of course agreed, eager to make such powerful new allies for my king…I was a court scribe at the time by the way...and the Princesses thought it best in lieu of me soaking up the needed energy to settle naturally into an equestrian form that they accelerate the process.” He leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “It didn’t quite work out like we expected.”
Discord heaved a dramatic sigh and tossed the toys into the pile with the rest, drawing a wince from Jen. “Oh playing with ponies is fun and all, but you can only do that for so many centuries before it grows a little boring.” He clapped again seeming delighted once more. “But now I have YOU. A fellow Earthling to talk with! To come up with all sorts of delightfully chaotic ideas to unleash on Equestria!”
Jen’s eyes narrowed at the revelation of what he had planned for her. She was frantically trying to think of a way to help her friends. Then she blinked. “A game.”
This caught Discord’s ear and he looked from the pile of toys back to the girl. “Pardon?”
A plan was slowly coming into shape in her head. She remembered in the story…even when he clearly had the day won for himself; Discord bet it all on a silly riddle and game. “I propose we play a game. If I win, you change them back…and leave the people…or uh…ponies of Equestria alone.”
A spark of excitement lit in the dracequus’s eyes (literally, she could see sparks coming from them) “Ohhh wonderful! I Just KNEW I made the right decision in bringing you here! Thinking like me already! I LIKE That. I like that very much. But what pray tell do I get if I should win?”
Jennifer nodded as if she expected that. “You get me. I’ll go along with whatever you want to do. I’ll come up with all sorts of stuff to unleash on the land. You’d be pretty amazed, and maybe scared, of what teenagers can think up now.”
Leaping from his seat he clapped and laughed with excitement. “Yes! Yes yes yes! Ohhh how fantastically fun! Why I think I wouldn’t even mind LOSING this time! Hmm…but what shall we do? You proposed the stakes so it falls to ME to propose the game of course.”
Jen swallowed at this…she wasn’t expecting THAT but it wasn’t as if she could argue with what she expected was a near all powerful and likely insane magical being.
Discord had been pacing back and forth for some time, looking between Jen and the pile of toy ponies as he thought. “Aha! Yes this is perfect! And it will be fun for YOU too I believe.” He spread his forelimbs apart and there appeared moving images between them. Jen tilted her head at what appeared to be her six friends, though dressed rather oddly and segregated firmly by their race. “Well before Equestria as we know it was founded, the pony tribes weren’t terribly fond of one another, and lived in another land.” The pictures accelerated showing many conflicts, before the six set out separately yet managed to wind up in the same place at the end of their respective journeys. “They eventually came together to found our little land in the spirit of friendship and blah blah BLAH.”
Jen nodded slowly, following everything he was saying so far which seemed to please him even more. “Bright too…ohh…” He hopped from foot to foot in excitement. “So! When the ponies migrated from their homes they left many of their things behind. YOUR task…is to travel to the equestrian’s original homeland…and retrieve an object from each of the tribe’s settlements."
He spread his paw and claw apart and images took shape. An old book, a fierce looking helmet, and a delicate pair of spectacles. “These belonged to very important ponies of the time. Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, and Smart Cookie. You have a four week time limit.”
Nodding slowly the girl seemed to consider the challenge put forth. “The Princesses said that I would become a fully acclimated equestrian in one though.”
Waving his paw dismissively, a flash and a pop surrounded Jen. “There you’ll be immune to the outward saturation effect….however…” He grinned deviously. “If you use your own magic you’ll draw in more equestrian energy and accelerate the process all over again.”
This brought an annoyed grunt from her. She was hoping to use her horn to lead her to the ancient pony home. “Alright…but what about you? What will YOU be doing during all this?”
Discord grinned. “Why I’m sure I’ll find SOMEway to entertain myself here in Canterlot while I wait for you.”
Once again her mind was spinning, trying to come up with a way to keep him from bringing misery to the innocent folk outside. She didn’t know them but if they were anything like the other ponies she’d met they didn’t deserve what he’d unleash. “…well if you want to be BORING…”
Eyebrows raised he glared down at her now. “Boring?! Me?! My dear girl I don’t know the meaning of the word…but I suspect you have something in mind? Oh DO tell me I HAVE to know what you’re thinking now!”
A slow nod was her response. “I think we should make it a race. Whoever reaches it first and claims the majority of the three needed items first wins.”
Another hopping clapping laugh and the mighty Discord was looking more spritely and excited than he ever had. “Oh yes! A race! A challenge between you and me? Future master versus future apprentice with the fate of the whole world in the balance! How dramatically exciting!”
Despite the situation the adventurous girl couldn’t hide a smile of her own. “BUT…now I get to make some rules.” She’d remained seated through all of this, and her companion resumed his own seat, eyes glittering with excitement. “First…I want my friends with me. I don’t know a thing about Equestria other then it’s filled with magic talking horses.”
Discord frowned…in thought though not in displeasure as the smile hadn’t left his eyes. “That sounds fair…but I don’t want to run the risk of them getting their hooves on those elements again…you may bring THREE of them with you.”
She nodded slowly. “I suppose that’s fair…then the other condition is we need to be on an even playing field. From what I’ve seen you can pretty much do anything you want whenever you want so…you can’t use your magic…outside of the basic stuff I can do I guess. That’s fair.” She finished with a firm nod.
Now the ancient chimera seemed to need to genuinely consider this rule. “Hm…hm…” He was up and pacing again. “I’ll agree…on the condition that I get to have a team of my own. They’ll be no stronger or more magical then who you choose…agreed?”
Jen stood as well. “Agreed. I’ll bring Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle…and Rainbow Dash.” She held out her hand to shake.
“Aahhh ha ha ha! How delightfully exciting! I haven’t been this excited in oh so long!” He clasped her offered hand with his paw…and there was a flash. When her vision cleared Jen was staring at…another human. Well mostly..he still had that long fang peeking from his lips, and his ears were slightly pointed. Other than that he looked like a distinguished older gentleman dressed in a rather dapper silk suit. “Oh how strange to be human again.” That was when she noticed they had more guests. Discord the human turned to them. “Ah…this is my team!” The first was an icy blue unicorn with a silver mane wearing a conical wizards hat and purple cape both decorated with many stars and moons. “This is the Great and Powerful Trixie.”
The unicorn gave a haughty nod toward Discord and Jen…and frowned in the waking Twilight Sparkles direction before he motioned to a teal Pegasus mare with an orange and yellow mane. “Lightning Dust…one of the best fliers in Equestria.”
Lightning Dust just snorted and glared at the groggy Rainbow Dash. “THE best flier in Equestria.” Discord merely chuckled and indicated the last, a crotchety looking donkey clearly wearing a black toupee. “And Cranky Doodle Donkey.”
The donkey gave a loud harrumph and a snort. “Let’s just get this nonsense over with so you can give what you promised.”
Discord nodded and looked back to Jennifer. “Well then…” He slid a silver chain from around his neck, at the end was a small jewel roiling and swirling with every color one could imagine. “I’ll leave this with you…to keep me honest hmm? It contains all my power. You COULD access it if you wished…but afterwards it would immediately return to me and YOU will have forfeited.” He placed the necklace in her hands and turned to his team. “Trixie if you’d be so kind as to work a way passed the guards for us?”
She gave a soft snort. “The great and powerful Trixie’s magical might is wasted on such mundane tasks…but for what you promised she will comply.” There was a shimmer of unicorn magic…and all four vanished from sight.
Jen moved to help her disoriented friends but paused when she felt an invisible hand on her shoulder. “Good luck my dear, and may the best team win hm?” And then it was gone.
Almost as soon as she felt him leave, the reappeared throne room doors burst open as a contingent of guards charged in. They took in the scene before them and focused on the startled human.
“Seize her!”