//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen: Anonymous' Return, Plans for the Future, and The Everfree's Corruption // Story: Living the Good Life // by Aetherpony //------------------------------// //------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen: Anonymous' Return, Plans for the Future, and The Everfree's Corruption// Story: Living the Good Life// by Aetherpony//------------------------------// The next morning arrives much sooner than you’d expect. You’re stirred from your sleep by Zecora as she gets out of bed. When she hears you yawn and stretch she turns to you. “I was hoping you wouldn’t arise, seeing your eyes open at this time is quite a surprise. I felt that more recovery was needed, since you still have wounds untreated.” She examines your cuts and scrapes. The larger ones have scabbed over and the smaller ones have closed. When you get to your feet this time you’re able to stand with little to no pain rearing its ugly head. As it turns out though, the wounds she mended were in a more metaphorical sense than physical. “What time is it?” You feel your back pop as you stretch. “Dawn is the current time of day. Anonymous please I implore you to stay. There is another brew I must give you, and breakfast should fill your belly too.” Zecora gives you a reassuring smile. Breakfast does sound like a good idea, and she’s offering… A few hours pass from then to now. You and Zecora discussed what she did for a living over a few bowls of salmon soup. She herself dined on a few plants. You didn’t think it, but you were hungry beyond belief. Without having any sort of food yesterday you were liable to starve. You had to eat at least three bowls before you found yourself full. Unfortunately, without any chaotic magic in your body, you didn’t have any sort of resistance to your body’s needs. You really need to make sure you eat. With all that chaos magic being poured into you so frequently it’s getting hard to know when it’s okay to eat and when it isn’t. Your stomach hasn’t been giving you its telltale signs and that worries you. Though, hunger aside, you have to admit that Zecora’s life seemed an interesting one to you. The solitude the Everfree gave her was one of the many wonders of this place. The plants she’d scour the forest floor would take her on many a journey both far and wide through the thicket. She’s come across ancient ruins, monsters of untold origin, unpredictable weather patterns, and much more. She spent a great deal of time discussing her adventures in a vivid manner. It also seems like she’s taken the assistance offering seriously. You make a mental note to at least retain half of what she tells you. After all, if you come back here with zero knowledge what use are you? Though it’s a little hard considering her instructions are all in rhyme, you’re coming back to this hut with a scroll, ink, and some quills. When the two of you finally finish your meals Zecora is more than willing to point you on your way. Turns out the path near her hut will lead you right to Fluttershy’s Cottage. Ten to twenty minutes of walking and you’ll be right back in Ponyville. Before you leave Zecora gives you a manticore skin flask filled with the brew she gave to you last night. “Please make sure every drop remains, you will need it for the pony with the rainbow mane and any others that remain.” Rainbow Dash is the last of the Mane Six, the only one still affected by Discord. You reluctantly take the flask Zecora offers. You have so many items that could turn the tide for either side. It’s horrible being the neutral ground sometimes… You see that there’s no need to recall what you’re possible choices are, nor do you feel you need to remind yourself what’s at stake or what you would lose. You’ve gone through this song and dance many times. There’s no need to do it again. You made your decision last night before you went to sleep. Though, when you tell the ponies and Discord what you’ve chosen will either be happy with that? Regardless it’s your choice to make. They’ll have to cope with the circumstances that come about it. “Thanks Zecora, I’ll keep it close.” You tell her before making your way to the front door. Zecora bids you a final farewell as you step out of her home and onto the path leading out. Your walk is spent in relative silence. Like yesterday there is no sign of life from within the thicket, the only sound gracing your ears is your feet as you trudge along. The faster you get out of this place the better. You're now jogging as you look at the forest line on both sides of you. Even during the morning hours you don’t want to tarry… it feel as if the forest itself is watching you… You're panting when a break in the tree line can be seen in the distance. You break out into a full blown sprint. Your fingers that are wrapped around the flask turn pink from gripping it too hard. You don’t look back as you race through the tree line and to a… very homely looking cottage. At least you believe it to be a cottage. Like Twilight’s treebrary there’s a building seemingly built into a tree. Around the property you come to find are various animals and places built for them to sleep. Their little shelters range from fence in chicken coops for the chickens, to makeshift boxes for squirrels and other rodents. You never got to really learn about Fluttershy… but it seems like before she became a cruel and manipulative Pegasus she was an animal caretaker of sorts. You can’t imagine her being that kind towards anything, especially little animals. Your first impression of her was that she’d harm them on sight just to laugh at their misery. You take care to move around the little makeshift homes. Last thing you want to do is step on any of them. As you make your way out from behind the cottage you can hear someone humming. Whoever she is has got to have the most soothing voice you’ve heard since arriving here. Almost in a trance you make your way over to the source of the noise. The closer you get, the more it feels as though you’re safe; as if nothing bad will ever happen to you again. When you reach the front of the cottage you pot a bridge leading into town. The humming is coming from under the bridge itself. Taking care not to trip and lose the contents in your bottle you carefully inch your way down the embankment. You turn to look under the bridge to find Fluttershy, and she looks awful. The damage you did to her face is still there. The bruises, the swelling that’s forced her eye shut, and her jaw to remain closed. Your inner disgust seems to overpower the calming tune Fluttershy is humming to a family of ferrets. When the ferrets smell your presence they turn to you, causing Fluttershy to stop her humming. “Oh my, what’s wrong little crittters?” when she turns your way she freezes. The only eye that can see you has a pupil the size of a pinprick. She visibly starts to shake the longer she looks at you. “Fluttershy-“you try to say. “PLEASE DON’T HURT ME! Ow…” Fluttershy shrieks before rubbing her sore jaw. You make a motion to move towards the timid Pegasus only to have her take off running. She scrambles up the embankment and gallops full speed into her house. You cringe from the door slamming, then look on in confusion as the sound of at least a dozen locks is put in place. You sigh before looking to your reflection in the water below the bridge. You immediately wish you hadn’t. The dried blood upon your lips and the missing patches of hair make you look like a monster. No wonder she’d run from you, even if she were going to give you a chance you looking like some sort of freak would have her or any pony running for their lives. It doesn’t help that you’re the reason why she’s so beat up, even if she did deserve it, seeing something so kind act that way towards animals, and that frightened look in her eye didn’t help matters at all. It was as if someone squeezing upon your heart. It doesn’t look like you’ll be making a friend out of this one anytime soon. You would stay and at least try to talk to her but there’s no way she’ll listen… so you turn to face the two ferrets whose breakfast you interrupted. “Sorry for interrupting your meal.” You tell the ferrets. They stare at you for a few moments before eating the fish Fluttershy left. With that you climb back up the embankment and make your way into town. There aren’t that many ponies out and about at this time; the ones that are wave to you as you pass. Others stop you to inquire about your injuries, and about what you’re carrying. While you insist that you’re fine you explain to them that you’ve started carrying water around with you. No ponies questioned it, but most recommended you go see a doctor or at least a medical unicorn for your cuts. It takes a little longer to get to Twilight’s home as a result of stopping to chit chat. Upon arriving you see Spike talking to Derpy. It seems as if they got a package. Not wanting to risk being locked out of your home you pick up the pace. You make it to the two just as Derpy hands off the package to Spike. Spike is the first to see you approach. He stares at you for a moment before looking you over. “Dude, what happened to you?” He asks as you get within a few yards. “Who’re you talking to?” Derpy turns to look where Spike is looking. When she sees you she gets this big smile on her face, and one of her eyes starts looking at your feet. She flies over to you and wraps you up in a huge hug. You swear you can feel your bones snapping under Derpy’s iron like grip. You manage to make a few gargling noises before trying to tap out. “Thank you so much for saving me! I didn’t get a chance before!” her voice sounds all kinds of adorable but at this rate you’re going to pass out. She needs to let go. You start to squirm as hard as you can in hopes that she’ll get the message. “Hmm?” she looks over your beet red face. “Oh! Sorry!” she releases you from the grip of death. You graciously take in as much oxygen into your lungs as you can. “Don’t, don’t mention it.” You wheeze before dropping to your knees. Derpy giggles nervously before rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof, “Uh, whoa, look at the time! I got more letter to deliver okay cya please don’t sue!” she flies away in a blur and ends up ramming into a street light, then into a wall, she gets it right the third time it seems. Once you get to your feet you find Spike standing before you. He’s got the package on the ground next to him. While he looks up at you he gives you an angry glare. “You got some nerve coming back here after what you said to Twil-“you cut him off before he can go on a long winded rant. “I’m here to apologize for being a prick, can I talk to her?” your mentioning of an apology causes the angry glare Spike was sporting to become a look of confusion. “Wasn’t expecting that one. Okay, come on in.” Spike picks up the package and motions for you to follow. That was easier than you thought it was going to be. Maybe he’s just eager to see Twilight chew you out since she didn’t get to do it yesterday. Or maybe he’s taking pity on you for your little outburst. Yeah you’ll go with outburst. As he opens the door and steps inside you watch as the package is levitated out of his grip and away from sight. “Thanks Spike,” you hear Twilight say from within the library. “We have a visitor.” Spike says before motioning for you to come inside. “Oh we do? Who is it, Spike?” Twilight trails off as she sees you walk into the room. The two of you stand idly by for a few moments. Neither you nor she seems to be willing to strike up a conversation. The air feels a bit heavy and you find yourself with a dry throat and nervous sweating. You cast your eyes to the floor, expecting to be yelled at or berated for the insults you threw her way. The wait was maddening. Where’s the shouting? Where’s the verbal beat down? “Anonymous, about yesterday,” she starts, “Are are you—” You rub your arm nervously as you nearly choke out your response. “Cured? Yes. Zecora helped me out when I ran into the forest an-“you're unable to continue since Twilight wraps you in a hug. Her little hooves can’t seem to wrap around you so she’s satisfied with holding onto your sides. When you feel warm tears hit your lower stomach you squat down and hug her back. ”So I take it you’re not mad?” Twilight adjusts her head so she can rest it on your shoulder. She shakes it before wiping away her tears. “How can I? I was so worried about you I didn’t have time to! When I saw you skip into the Everfree I knew I had to get to Zecora a.s.a.p.” she sets herself upon the ground and sits on her flanks. “So I teleported to the path and galloped as fast as I could, and oh thank Celestia she found you.” She flashes you a smile showing her relief. The two of you stay like this for a moment, you kneeling before the purple unicorn and she looking up at you from her sitting position. Suddenly she giggles. She raises a hoof over her muzzle in hopes of stopping herself. “What’s so funny?” you ask as you get to your feet. “You look ridiculous Anon, you need to let me fix you up.” You can recall Twilight trying to fix you back when you first got to Equestria. That did not end well for her. She did bring you relief but she was exhausted as a result. Even if you believe she could fix you, you doubt she’d be able to. After all Zecora said that the potion got rid of your impurities, you have no idea if that includes the chaos magic from Discord or not. And you’d rather not risk getting hurt again. Discord warned you about chaos magic back when you were bedridden and there’s no way in Tartarus you’re going to allow yourself to be put in a precarious position like that again. Hell, Discord’s little example combined with whatever Eris did was what helped break you. “Twilight, no. I’m just gonna deal with what I did to myself for a few days. You can fix me up the day after tomorrow.” You say before backing away from the unicorn. “Are you sure?” “Yes I’m sure,” you respond, “while it’s nice to see you and all, and it’s great to see that you’re back to your old self, I’ve gotta get to Discord.” You say before walking around Twilight. “Why would you want to see him?! He’s the reason why you’re like this, Anon!” Twilight exclaims before moving to block your path. “Twilight, I’m the reason why I’m like this. All Discord did was push me a little, and if it wasn’t for him then I’d still be an angry, sour, elitist mess.” Twilight can’t seem to believe what you’re saying. “His mistake is why I met Zecora in the first place. He doesn’t know it but because of him and you I’m a lot better off. If anything I need to thank him for messing me up.” You chuckle. “Plus, I managed to get the Elements of Harmony from Eris. I’ve got to get them in my room.” Now that catches Twilight’s attention. “You really found them?!” Twilight’s eyes are wide open in shock. “I took Eris out on a date on Hearts and Hooves Day. She gave them to me because she had fun. She said it was my reward.” You explain. That isn’t the whole truth but you don’t need to bore Twilight with the details. “So it was Eris that stole them, I should have realized. But still, now that we have them again we can fix Equestria. We can get the Princesses back!” Twilight cries happily before bouncing in place. “Wait, you went on a date with a Draconequus? I thought that’d be nothing but a headache for all parties involved?” she’s stopped bouncing and she’s looking to you inquisitively. “It was, but it got better as the night went on.” To you it felt incredibly awkward talking about these things to Twilight, especially with Spike snickering on a nearby chair. “Hehehe, I bet you kissed her too huh, Anonymous?” Spike’s laughs while slapping his knee; looks like he thinks he’s some sort of comedian. You are not amused and neither is Twilight. “Hey Spike? Did you know dragons are a delicacy back on Earth? Yeah, a whole lot of us will gang up on em and eat them. We get crazy when we’re hungry.” You flash him a toothy grin. Spike’s laughter dies away immediately, only to be replaced with a scared gasp, “R-R-Really?” he shivers with fright. You nod. “Yeah, I haven’t eaten a good meal in days and you’re looking pretty tasty right about now.” You take a single step towards him and Spike ends up running out of the library. Now it’s your turn to laugh, Twilight punches your leg with a hoof. “What?” “Was that really necessary?” Twilight narrows her eyes at you. “Yes it was.” You answer before stepping around Twilight. “Okay, I won’t keep you, but Anonymous, we still don’t have Rainbow Dash. The elements won’t work without her.” You put the flask Zecora gave you in front of her. “Zecora said that Rainbow has to drink this, it’s the same stuff Zecora gave me. It’s used to rid ponies, and apparently humans, of impurities.” “But getting Rainbow to come off of a cloud long enough to make her drink it. That’ll be a challenge, and I’m not sure if we’ll be able to catch her.” You put a hand to her whiter and she looks up to you. “Twilight, you’re probably the smartest mare I’ve ever met. I have no doubt you’ll come up with a plan to get Rainbow to come back.” You reassure her that you’ll help in any way you can. With that you head off into the basement, leaving Twilight to come up with whatever she can for Rainbow. If her name matches her flying then she’ll probably be a pain to catch… But if she’s got the strength of Fluttershy then you should be more than capable of holding Dash down long enough to force the concoction down her throat. Once you have somewhat of an idea in mind, you hand off the flask to Twilight, and then you make your way down the stairs and under the covers of your basement bed. It doesn’t take long for you to make your way into your home’s hallway. You sigh to yourself before stepping over the darkened threshold. You hear items being moved around from within your room. In fact, you see that your door’s open. It’s obvious Screwball and Discord saw the mess and they’re probably clearing everything out. You reluctantly make your way over to your open door to find Discord fixing your things. He’s repaired your bed and nightstand, and he’s working on pushing your dresser over to your wall. Eris stands looking over him with her arms crossed. Discord himself is covered from head to toe in bandages. It’s almost as if you’re looking at a mummified version of the Chaos Bringer. Screwball bounces on your bed with a smile on her face. “You’re going to put his dresser back JUST like Anon had it, or else round two starts on your sorry flank!” She shouts. Discord seems to cringe in fear at his daughter’s harsh tone. What happened while you were gone? You watch as Discord finishes putting your dresser up against the wall. When he sets the mirror on top you walk into the room. “That’s wrong! Move it to the left daddy.” Eris commands before pointing with her lion’s paw. “Actually, it’s fine where it is.” You make your way over to them. Your voices cause the three of them to drop what they’re doing to look at you. They stare silently at you as you make your way over to your dresser. When you lean against a piece of furniture and look their way you speak, “Wow, such a warm reception guys. I really feel welcome.” You chuckle. “Are you, uh alright in the head?” Eris asks while pointing to your cranium. “Yeah, I’ve calmed down now,” You smile. You see Screwball has already made her way over to you. She’s clutching to your leg. “Yay! Anon isn’t crazy anymore!” she shouts before nuzzling into your leg. Eris grabs hold of Screwball and pulls her off of you. “Screwbal,l give the guy a break. He’s been through Tartarus and back.” Eris sets her next to Discord. Discord himself looks around anxiously. “Is there something you want to say daddy?” Eris asks before placing her claws on her hips, at least you think it’s her hips. “Are you serious? Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?” Discord tries to sound authoritive, but it’s all for naught. Eris’ glare stops that. “Alright, you win. Anon, about the whole breaking you, and trying to fix your mind, and making you crazy bit, my bad.” He flashes you a nervous grin. That was probably one of the worst apologizes you’ve ever heard in your entire life, but it’ll do. You’re not angry with him in the slightest. Okay maybe you’re a little mad, but what came about as a result is too much of a positive. “Discord, its fine, but I feel I’ve got to thank you.” Discord looks on in confusion as you explain. “If you didn’t use any of your magic on me I wouldn’t have been able to face what made me so angry in the first place. So, thanks, thanks for being inconsiderate, and for bringing me to Equestria.” Needless to say you threw Discord for a loop. Same could be said of Eris and Screwball. Neither can believe what you’ve just said. He sputters out a response. “I… uh… um….eh… you’re welcome?” Discord manages to say. “So, do you want me to take care of your uh… patchy head?” He points to your scalp. Fear overtakes you for a moment. ”NO! Eh… heheheh… no thank you,” you find yourself cowering before him. “So be it. I have finished my task. I shall take my leave, but before I go,” Discord uses his magic to summon the Elements of Harmony, and then he places them upon your dresser in a row. The magic used to bring them out has caused them to glow with an eerie light. “Please be sure not to pile rubble on top of them next time you have a mental breakdown.” Discord says before snapping his talons and disappearing from sight. “Alrighty, I’m gonna go hot tubbin. See you losers later.” Screwball sticks her tongue out before galloping out of your room. That leaves you and Eris. “Hey, about yesterday, I’m sorry if I freaked you out. I wasn’t myself, and I’m sure Discord wouldn’t be fixing up my shit if you didn’t knock some sense into him. So good job on that one.” “You’re welcome, jerk.” Eris sticks her tongue out at you. “Hey, what’d I do?” “You made me drop your food all over your floor! So, you owe me for that AND making daddy fix your stuff.” You scoff, “So what would you have me do?” “You’re going to keep me company.” She may be giving you a cocky smirk but she can’t hide the red tint in her cheeks. ”You know what? I’d love to.” You say before walking over to your bed. “I can’t wait…” You weren’t going to say anything about eating all of that salmon soup with Zecora; if you did, that meant that you’d be losing out on a meal. That would be terrible in your book. When Eris gets back with your meal a few minutes later the two of you eat in relative silence. Throughout your second breakfast you can’t help but take notice of the glances she keeps throwing your way. She grimaces as she looks over your various wounds. When you turn to her she yelps before looking at her own plate. “I look like hell, don’t I?” you ask when you finish the last of your eggs. “Yes you do, and it’s kinda my fault. I shouldn’t have read your mind, and I shouldn’t have tried to change you.” Her ears flatten and she looks over her plate with a saddened expression. “Don’t tell me you actually feel bad about that? You didn’t seem to feel bad about shoving a muffin down my throat.” You chuckle. In response she punches your arm. You wince before rubbing it. She shoots you a glare before continuing. “Anyway, I’m sorry about all that. You just seemed so miserable and I wanted you to have a good time, ya know?” you nod in understanding. “When you got on that stage and started pouring your little drunken heart out up there it looked like you were having the time of your life.” The two of you share a short laugh at that. “Eris, that was probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Same thing goes for the pranks we did after.” You start digging into your sausage links. “What about what happened afterwards? When we got back, I mean?” Eris seems to be playing with her food at this point. “You mean the kiss?” Eris nods. “I don’t know.” Eris turns to you confused. “What do you mean you don’t know?” she asks, dumbfounded. “It was my first one. I don’t have anything to compare it to.” You shrug before getting back to your meal. You don’t notice the little smile play across Eris’ features. The rest of your meal is spent in relative silence. As the day wears on the two of you spend it inside. Just like on Hearts and Hooves Day the two of you go for a swim in the pool. Screwball decided to join you on that little venture. You’re still wondering how a pony could come across an inner tube or inflatable water wings. After the swim came the hot tub. The warm, constant stream of bubbles did well to ebb away the chilling waters of the pool. You loved the way they seemed to dance around you. It seemed to slowly chisel away the stress your body underwent yesterday. Soon you found yourself nearly falling asleep in the tub. Eris was virtually in the same boat as you. She found her way over to you at some point during your stay in the hot tub. She ended up using your arm as a head rest. “Aaaah, I could live like this every day.” You say with a contented sigh. “Eeyup.” Eris agrees. After about an hour your little in home adventure moved to the living room. She decided it’d be a wise idea to challenge you to a game of ping pong. Neither of you expected the challenge you provided. You found out that day that you had a knack for the tabletop game. She didn’t score once against you in the seven games you played. With each victory you got she would up the amount of games it took to win. You could see that with each point you received she got a little bit angrier, until she threw in a little of her magic. When she served, and when you went to hit the ball back to her it exploded into confetti upon contact. The force sent you flying back and onto the couch. Eris cheered in victory while you recovered from the shock on the couch. Admittedly you were a bit reluctant to get back into the game after that so the two of you moved on to other things. Those other things involved her showing you the secret door that led into Canterlot Castle. The door in question was revealed when Eris put her claws to the wall on the right of the couch. The pristine white hallways, the regal red carpeting, the gold laced trimming that decorated the carpet and curtains that lined the hall, all of it culminated into a rather awe-inspiring sight. The Celestial Banners that hanged above every archway matched the carpeting, but unlike the carpeting the banners shown golden suns that were expertly woven into the fabrics. You and Eris, well, you tore a large amount of them down, you threw a few pieces of furniture out of windows, and the two of you had a dinner cart race that led you throughout the majority of the castle. Eris beat you by a figurative mile considering she has wings to propel herself and you, well, you have feet. When you finally make your way to her she’s bragging about how badly she beat you. She felt that she earned a prize for smoking you, so you raided the Canterlot Armory. The entire time the two of you are sifting through spears and pieces of armor you can’t help but wonder about something. “Hey Eris?” you ask while examining a lance. “Yeah what’s up?” you turn to find Eris sifting through a container full of helmets. “Where the hell are all the guards?” you ask before placing the lance on a nearby table. Eris shrugs. “I don’t know. After Discord made Shining Armor do that strip tease the rest of the guards left.” Eris explains. “Who? And wow, seriously?” “No pony important, but oh man, you should have seen it! Those poor guards couldn’t take it!” She laughs madly. After that moment in the armory you move on with new items in hand. The two of you spent hours traversing the castle, spying on many rooms, moving a few things around, and defacing a few walls. Eris tok ten containers of ink and painted a giant pony flank with a sun on it. It read “Stop eating the cake sunbutt” in bold lettering. You asked Eris who she was referring to. Unfortunately she was too busy laughing to tell you anything. Oh well you’re sure you’ll find out eventually. Hours later your little escapades in the castle finally come to an end. The two of you head back home as the moon starts to make its way into the sky. The fun didn’t end there though, turns out Daddy Discord has a stash of booze in a hidden compartment of the fridge. Eris decided it’d be best if the two of you raided it. Which you do, a good portion of his liquor is now in your possession. With Discord being gone and with Screwball hanging out in her room, the two of you sneak off into her room in order to enjoy your bounty. What you see upon entering is quite a surprise to you. She seems to be into the… rock genre a little bit. You see various posters lining her walls of what you believe to be pony rock bands. Well, at least they’re carrying the proper instruments that allow them to pull off the look. You browse over a few of them; Avenged Seven Wings, Foal Fighters, The Moonshiners, and many others. The room’s paintjob seem to mesmerize you. It felt like you were looking into a constantly moving pool of colors. It reminded you of one of those features on TVs where you could watch color move to the beat of music. Like something you’d watch if you just got done taking recreational drugs and wanted to kill a few hours. Her dressers, nightstands, and desks mimicked the wall’s exotic patters. The only thing that didn’t was her bed itself. Black blankets, upon black sheets, with black pillow cases. It’s like this chimera has a thing with focusing only on the colors that played upon her walls. To say it was disorienting would be a very accurate statement. “Hey Eris?” you ask as you make your way over to her bed, “what’s with the uh, decor?” you motion to the erratic flow of colors on her walls. “It’s unique and I like looking at it. It calms me down if I’m having a stressful day.” Eris explains before grabbing opening one of the Applejack Daniels bottles; “that among other things.” Eris says under her breath. “What was that?” “Nothing.” She hands you a bottle of your own. You decide not to question it; after all she just handed you booze. You turn up the bottle and drink the night away… An untold amount of time has passed since the two of you have started drinking. It didn’t take much to get the two of you drunk. Perhaps Eris should have held back on the number of bottles she stole. The two of you lie upon her bed and watch as the colors morph and twist around the room. It’s a sort of tranquil silence that you found rare back on Earth. Here you have something you could just lie back and watch for countless hours and not have to worry about work the next day. You sigh happily before a collaboration of yellow and purple wisps catch your eye. You watch as they snake around Eris’ posters and onto the ceiling. They fade away into multi colored dust when they hit the center of her of it. “Eris, it’s*hic* beautiful…” you trail off as more colors demand your attention. “I know right?” she nudges you. When you turn her way you spot her pointing to a color combination of blue, purple, and green. The patterns form an intricate looking lily before morphing into a snowflake. You would have killed to have a room like this as a child. Then a very familiar sensation hits you, interrupting your fun time. “Bathroom…” is all you manage to say before trying to get out of Eris’ bed. You lose your balance. When you fall to the floor your arm ends up hitting her nightstand. The loud bang jolts Eris from her tranquil state. She scurries over to the edge of her bed, when she looks down she finds you lying on your back in the floor. “Anon y-you okay?” You nod. “Yeah, gimmie a… *hic* a moment.” As you shakily rise to your feet the sound of something vibrating catches your attention. You can hear it as it hits the wooden interior of Eris’ nightstand. What could it be? “H-hey Eris?” you try to maintain balance. “What?” When she sees you point to her nightstand her eyes widen in horror. “W-what’s making that noise?” you reach out and grab the night stand’s handle. “N-nothing!” she gasps before racing over and pushing you away. She stands in front of her nightstand as if to hide something from you. A small scuffle ensues as you try your best to move past her in order to sate your drunken curiosity. She in turn tries to keep you away. “C *hic* come on Eris! What’s in… in…” you reach out and grab hold of the handle and Eris pushes you away yet again. “Its priv… private!” She shouts, when she realizes she was a bit too loud she covers her muzzle with her claws. Her cheeks are nearly glowing from her embarrassment, or it could be the alcohol you can’t figure it out. Knowing that you won’t be able to get into the drawer you merely shrug it off before turning around and leaving the room. “Be right back.” You stumble out of Eris’ room and into the hallway. You find yourself using the wall for support as you make your way to your bathroom. After breaking the seal, washing your hands, and heading out into the hall you spot Eris coming out of her own restroom. She's rubbing her stomach. “Ugh,” Suddenly her cheeks inflate. She puts her claws over her mouth before flying back into her bathroom. You hear the sound of her emptying her stomach into her toilet. As you step through the threshold into Eris’ room you can’t help but think you forgot something. You swear it has something to do with Twilight, but you can’t recall as to what. Oh well, you’ll just… oh wait, the Elements! You were supposed to give her the Elements! What if she thinks you got hurt or something? You sigh when you realize your stupidity. Of all the irresponsible things to do, and you’re not fit to make such a trek to Twilight’s library, even if it is only a couple of feet away. She’d just be angrier if you came to her drunk. You’ll just have to deal with her tomorrow when you get up. With that in mind you make your way back to Eris’ bed. You collapse upon her it and wait, and wait, and wait, after what feels like an eternity Eris finally comes back into her room. She lets out a pained groan before floating over. She takes a spot next to you on her bed. You can smell the mint from here. Seems like after she was emptying her stomach she cleaned out her mouth, she probably over did it on the mouthwash hence the strong smell. She buries her face into her pillows. “I’m done…” she whimpers, her words muffled by the pillows. You don’t bother answering; instead you adjust yourself so you can get into a comfortable position. It’s not as much fun drinking alone; if she’s done then you’re done as well. So there you lie watching the colors play about until your eyelids grow heavy and sleep’s sweet embrace takes you… As you sleep peacefully, a slew of activity chugs along not but a few rooms away. Twilight Sparkle, along with Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are all standing in her library coming up with a plan; a plan to catch the last discorded element bearer. The five of them stand looking at a table in the center of the room. That table has a map lying open on top of it. The map itself shows the town of Ponyville, The Everfree Forest, and a few other territories lying around it. While Twilight discusses a plan she tells her friends about the Pegasus ponies who’ve happened to see her over the weeks of her disappearance. Twilight has these places marked with a marker. “These three areas… here, here, and here are where Cloud Kicker and other members of the weather team have seen Rainbow.” “She still on that there cloud a’ hers?” Applejack asks before looking over the three circles Twilight marked on the map. Twilight nods. “Yes, and she still believes that it’s Cloudsdale. Whenever a Pegasus pony gets close she takes off with it in tow, but she always stays in her pattern. Whenever Rainbow goes over the Everfree Forest the Pegasus ponies refuse to pursue.” Twilight explains as she draws arrows leading to each circle. “Rainbow seems to move in a clock wise pattern around town. The problem is that there aren’t any Pegasus ponies fast enough to catch her.” The ponies nod to each other in agreement. “What we need to do is figure out a way to force Rainbow into town, but after we get her in we have to find a way to keep her there, but how?” she looks to her friends for ideas. “Um, i-if you don’t mind I might have a—“Fluttershy’s suggestion is overshadowed by Pinkie and her plan. “OH I KNOW! WE’LL THROW HER A HUGE PARTY!” “Pinkie, how is a party going to help?” Twilight asks. “Come on, think about it! We could totally put up streamers in Ponyville and—“Applejack silence Pinkie by throwing her hooves over her mouth. “That might not be a good idea sugarcube. how bout you Rarity, ya’ll got any ideas?” Applejack turns to the fashionista. “I still can’t believe Discord made Rainbow think that dainty little piece of fluff is Cloudsale!” She exclaims. “Well he made ya’ll think that big ol’ rock was a diamond didn’t he?” Applejack asks with a sly grin. That seems to strike a nerve with Rarity. “I thought we would never speak of that again!” She casts the farm pony a glare. This causes Applejack to laugh heartily. “Um,” Fluttershy tries to say again. “What is it Fluttershy? “ Twilight asks as she turns to her beaten and battered friend. “I have an idea.” Fluttershy moves her mane around in hopes of hiding her bruises. “That’s great Fluttershy, let’s hear it!” Twiliight happily exclaims. The others turn their attention to the timid Pegasus. Fluttershy shivers as she tries her hardest to tell them her plan. “Well, I, um if we get her over the Everfree, I-I could lead unicorns into the forest and, oh this sounds so mean.” Fluttershy’s ears droop. “Keep going Fluttershy, its okay, she’s not herself. If we have to be rough to get our friend back we will.” Twilight speaks with confidence. Fluttershy takes a deep breath before continuing. “I could um, set up unicorns under her, and h-have them scare her off the cloud with magic? T-then when she moves away on her path we can have pegasi ready to block her. If we have pegasi on the other side she can’t go back, so she’ll HAVE to head into town. Then, we can have our friends fence her in somewhere-oh this is cruel!” Fluttershy covers her eyes with a hoof. “Fluttershy you’re a genius!” Twilight smiles then squees with joy. Fluttershy moves her hoof away from her eyes. “Are-are you sure? B-but who’ll catch her? I’ll be in the Everfree. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie will have to help set something up in town,” Twilight strikes a confident pose. “I’ll catch Rainbow with my magic.” Twilight states before pointing to her horn. “But, um, what if Rainbow breaks free?” Twilight ponders that possibility for a few moments. “If by chance Rainbow gets free from my magic then Anonymous will have to be there to pick up the pieces.” Twilight shrugs. When Twilight mentions your name she cowers in fear. Applejack’s ears flatten before she finds herself pawing at the floor with a hoof. Fluttershy is still scared of you and Applejack still feels guilty about what happened to you. That night you came to their farm for dinner she didn’t dare go anywhere near you. She had a feeling you would have blown up at her if you saw her. Twilight notices her friend’s dilemmas. “You know the two of you are going to have to face him eventually.” Twilight states flatly. Both look her way but neither Fluttershy nor Applejack acknowledges what she says. Twilight sighs in exasperation before shaking her head. “Applejack, you need to invite him to a family dinner or something so you can talk about what happened.” Twilight moves on to Fluttershy after that. “Fluttershy, you may not remember it, but you were a pain in the flank and you hurt Anon multiple times throughout his stay. I’m sorry to say this, but you deserved the beating he gave you.” Tears form in Fluttershy’s eye after Twilight finishes. “I-I didn’t mean to be a bad pony,” Fluttershy’s tears start to pour out of her good eye. “We know you didn’t, but you need to give Anon a chance to meet the kind Fluttershy. Do you think you can do that?” Fluttershy gives a meek nod. “I’ll-I’ll try, b-but he’s so scary,” Twilight seems satisfied with that. It’s better than Fluttershy avoiding you for the rest of your stay. Speaking of which, Twilight is starting to get worried about you. She assumed you’d be back within a few minutes. Did something happen to you while you were gone? Twilight tried to follow you by crawling into your bed, but it didn’t work for her. There’s a barrier keeping her from going through the same portal you’re able to go through. It’s frustrating but she’ll have to trust in you and hope that you’ll return with the elements. If you don’t then the plan will be all for nothing. She casts a glance back to her basement door in hopes of seeing you coming up the stairs, but you don’t. She gives her group a final announcement. “Okay, so, now all we have to do is get the townsponies to help. Everypony needs to do their part in gathering anypony they can. All of us have a part to play…” with that the meeting is adjourned… Discord watches Applejack and the others head home from within the flames currently roaring within his fireplace. His foreboding laughter resounds throughout his quarters. “This is perfect!” Discord exclaims with joy while reclining in his chair, “It appears as though the pawns are moving into position. I think it’s about time the King made a move of his own.” With a snap of his talon purple fire erupts from them. His eyes seem to glow as he watches the flames dance along his digits. “After all how boring would it be if I really sat here and did nothing!” Discord cackles as the flames long his claws snake their way off of him and to his fire place. When it comes into contact with the flames already burning they too take on a purple hue. The flames rush through the top of the chimney and out into the night sky. Almost as if the fire were sentient it snakes through the endless expanse of sky at unmatchable speeds. Its destination: The Everfree Forest. As his mysterious plan takes action Zecora finds herself mixing a few items in her cauldron. She’s looking to make some healing ointment she can trade to the populace of Ponyville. She's unable to concentrate as an eerie purple glow begins to shine from right outside her window. Zecora stops what she’s doing in order to take a look outside her hut. “Tonight seems to be in quite a state, and to think things have been quiet as of late,” she watches as the flames from Discord make its way through the brush. “I think it may be wise to leave, that thing bears ill intent I believe,” Zecora puts out the fire burning under her cauldron, packs whatever she can, and leaves her hut in a rush. What Zecora doesn’t know is that while she heads to Ponyville, Discord’s magic begins to work its way into the hearts and minds of those dwelling within the forest. Manticores, cockatrices, Fruit bats, timber wolves, and many other creatures become enthralled by his will. The more the flames begin to seep into the sleeping creatures the more are turned… “Ugh, my head…” Celestia grumbles. Her disoriented vision can’t seem to focus upon anything. “Did-did I eat all the cake again?” she turns over to face Luna. “Ah sister, thou art awake. No thou did not eat thine cakes again.” Luna says from nearby. “I’m hungry,” Celestia trails off before licking her lips, “Do we have any cake?” “No sister we don’t have any cake, you know this.” Luna sounds annoyed. “But, delicious pastries…” she whines. “Celestia, thou art going to have to cope with thine circumstances there is no—“Luna fumbles over her words when Celestia cuts her off. “Cake is really yummy, and I want it all in my tummy,” she sings before promptly falling back into a state of unconsciousness with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Luna groans, “We believe we bucked thou a little too hard…” She looks to the planet yet again. What little bit of a good mood she had seemed to disappear every time she looked over it. Lately Luna can’t help but feel as though something major is about to occur, as though all the pieces lying upon the board were falling into place…