A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

18 - Discorded

Martin nodded his head, his eyes glazed over. "Course mate, I-I will…" He slowly walked towards the door, a huge smile on his face.
Forge came out of the back room. "Martin, I think you're doing a w-hey, where do you think you're going?" He ran up and grabbed his sleeve.
"I-I got to bring this to Michael." Martin said, showing Forge the bag. "D-Discord told me to."
"Discord what now? We still have work to do, you can't leave just yet."
"Ya know, Discord. He-he asked me to give this to Michael."
Forge made sure Martin couldn’t move. "I don’t know what nonsense you're blabbering about but you can't just leave."
Martin shrugged him off and stumbled towards the door. "What… I don’t understand, I have to give this to Michael."
Forge sighed. "Ok, give me the bag and I'll go deliver it. You stay here till your head's clear."
Martin smiled at him. "Thanks mate." He said, giving Forge the bag before lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. "I never knew how beautiful the ceiling is..." He said, his mind elsewhere.
Forge looked at his employee with concern. "Now stay here and I'll be right back." He said before running out of the smithy and to the library, knocking on it violently.
Twilight opened the door. "There's no need to knock, this is a public library!" She said, annoyed.
Forge blinked in surprise. "Sorry Ms. Sparkle but I need your help."
She looked at him. "My help?"
He shook his head. "Martin started spouting some nonsense about Discord told him to give this to somepony named Mike?" He held out the bag. "Martin isn't looking too good; I think he caught a cold or something."
Twilight looked at the smithy worriedly. "Discord was with him?! Where is he?"
"Martin? He's lying down in my shop…" She ran past him, heading towards his shop. "Wait Ms. Sparkle, what's going on?" He galloped after her.
"There's no time to waste!" She yelled.
He sighed but was silent as they got to his shop and Martin was gone. Forge stared in horror. "The buck is going?!" He looked at the librarian.
"Where is he?" She asked, panicked.
"I don’t know, he was here a second ago!"
Martin burst through the back room door, wearing all sorts of armor and weapons. He tumbled towards them. "Hello there Twilight, I never realized how blue ya are…" He kept swaying to either side, never standing still.
Both ponies stared in horror. "Martin, what are you doing?" Twilight asked.
"What are you wearing?" Forge asked, staring at the mismatched armor.
Martin began to laugh uncontrollably and tumble, almost falling over several times.
"Forge watch him, I'll be right back." Twilight said as she teleported away and reappeared in front of Fluttershy and Mike just as the Millennium Falcon landed on the Death Star. They both jumped.
"Twilight, what in the world is going on?" Mike asked.
Fluttershy blushed. "Umm… we umm… we just."
"No time to explain, Discord got to Martin." She said simply, grabbing both of them before teleporting to Sweet Apple Acres, grabbing AJ and teleported back to the smithy.
"Ok, no more teleportations…" Mike muttered, feeling sick.
Martin was lying on the ground gnawing on some leather strips and sat up.
Everypony looked at him. "The world is going on?" Mike asked Twilight as he walked closer to the crazy human. "Martin?"
Martin looked at the approaching pegasus, the helmet he wore was far too small and half of his face was visible. He began laughing uncontrollably again and held his stomach.
Mike laid a hoof on his friend's shoulder. "Martin… everything ok?"
Martin stopped laughing but started again a moment later. He rolled around and eyed AJ, getting up. He tumbled towards her, a huge smile on his face. He leaned down to her height and looked at her for a moment before laughing again. He looked at the confused ponies and raised his hands in the air, crouching slightly and began making weird noises. "Woop! Woop!!"
Twilight zapped him with some magic spell but the human ignored it. "But that was my strongest incapacitating spell, it never fails!" She said, confused.
"Didn’t Celestia say we're slightly resistant to unicorn magic?" Mike reminded her. "But what's wrong with him?"
He began rolling around clumsily, making train noises. "Cho cho!"
AJ walked up to him calmly and bucked him hard in the back of the head and he went limp on the ground. "AJ, what did you do"? Mike asked, staring at his unconscious friend.
"Ah knocked him out." AJ said, looking down at him.
"Well I can see that." Mike said as he held a hoof to Martin's neck, checking a pulse and looked at him closely. "Hey does he seem… gray to you?"
Martin's eyes shot open and he sat up, head butting Mike away. He stared at AJ and began to shiver as his jaw dropped slowly.
Mike fell back, holding his snout. "The fourth damn time!" The girls looked at him; Fluttershy was terrified and began edging towards something to cower behind, AJ glared back at the human, and Twilight's horn was glowing.
"AHHHH!!!" Martin began to scream and scrambled away from the cow pony, hitting the wall and a few weapons fell down next to him. He grabbed a sword and pointed it at her.
Mike stumbled and ran in front of her. "Martin, hey! It's us!" He slowly walked closer to the panicking human.
"Mike, don’t get too close…" Twilight said as the three girls watched intently.
Martin stared at Mike, his eyes wide open in terror. “Get away!” He yelled, swinging the sword.
The tip cut Mike's cheek, the blood slowly oozing out. "Martin, it's just me…" He slowly walked closer.
Martin leaned against the wall, blood covered the tip of the sword. "Get away from me you monster!"
Mike paused. "Wait just a second there; crazy yes, suicidal yes, but monster… I don’t think so pal." He glared at the Martin, slowly inching closer.
Martin stood up, taking the position he had against Discord not too long ago. "One more step and I will kill you!"
Mike ran right up to him. "Then do it!" He yelled as Twilight and AJ ran towards them.
Martin grabbed him by his mane and forced him on his hind legs, holding the blade close to Mike's throat. "One last warning, I will let you go and you will leave…"
"Martin, let him go." Twilight demanded, aiming her horn at his chest.
"Sugarcube, let yer friend go this instant." AJ said, glaring at him.
Mike silently stared at his friend.
Martin looked at all of them before glaring back at Mike. He threw him to the ground. "One wrong move and I will end this faster than you'll realize…"
Mike bounced against the ground as Twi and AJ caught him. They helped him up and Mike launched himself at Martin, surprising everyone. "Like hell I'll let you go crazy damn it!"
Martin grabbed him by the snout and used the hilt of the sword to punch him in the stomach. Mike fell to his flank as Martin glared at him, raising the sword to give him the death blow.
"Do it, kill your best friend, I dare you!"
Martin's hands began to shake. "Wh-what's wrong? I-I can't move my arms…" He looked at Mike, confused. He lowered the sword, a hand to his forehead as he grunted in pain, tumbling backwards.
Mike jumped and landed on his shoulders. "That’s right! Fight because if you don’t, I'll have to kick your ass! Imagine telling people at home that you got beat up by a one eyed pony!"
Martin's anger flared back to life as he glared at the pony. He grabbed Mike's head and smashed his head against Mike's.
Mike glared at him, his snout pouring blood. "Oh what's this? Got some fight in ya? Bring it on!"
Martin kicked him away as he got ready for close combat. "You think you're a match for me?"
Mike laughed. "Oh hell no, I couldn’t beat you as a human but I may be able to knock some sense into you!" He charged the human again and went to kick his knee. "Remember back when we first met and you blew me up rocketjumping?!"
Martin made a quick dodge and punched Mike in the face.
He fell flat on the ground and groaned in pain. "Oh Redheart's gonna kill me." He moaned, getting up and shook his head. His glasses cracked and clattered on the ground in pieces. "Oh that’s it…" He charged him again but slid in between his feet and kicked the inside of the knee, bouncing off the wall. "Remember when I got you to go fishing? You thought it'd be fun!"
Martin fell to his knees before reaching around and grabbed Mike's mane. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!!!" He yelled, ramming Mike's face into the ground.
As Martin raised Mike to eye level, Mike spit blood into his eye. "Re-remember when we're comparing injuries and you laughed when my eye fell out?" He asked weakly.
Martin grunted in pain and threw Mike to the ground as he got to his feet, wiping the blood off his face. He glared at the fading pegasus, a tear running down his face.
Mike stood wobbly on his feet. "Yeah… re-remember when we first fought… and you beat the shit out of me?" He chuckled. "Kinda like right now… and we had to call it a tie cause you couldn’t move?"
Martin yelled before charging him, grabbing him by the throat and smashing him against the wall. "Why do you know these things!? Only Michael knows that, only he knows!!" He yelled, tightening his grip on the pegasus's throat.
Mike gurgled, reaching a hoof to his right eye and struggled to reach it. He finally took it out and showed the raging human the fake eye. "Cause… I… am…" He struggled to say, his voice faint.
Martin stared at the barely conscious pegasus. He began to shake and loosened his grip as Mike fell to the ground. He yelled in pain, holding his head. It felt like a fire had erupted in his head, the terror increasing a thousand fold; pictures of Mike as a pony and the girls being ripped apart by some unseen monster. He tumbled backwards, yelling in pain.
Twilight galloped to him and shot a spell directly into his chest, all the memories that had resurfaced and the terror Discord caused disappeared, his head feeling heavy and wary. He looked around, his mouth wide open. He sunk to the ground, holding his throat and started gasping for air.
AJ appeared in front of him. "Easy, just take a breath." She hit him lightly on the back and air started entering his lungs again. They both watched something small, black, and slimy scurry away.
He looked at AJ, breathing heavily.
"Hey… welcome back." Mike said faintly, his voice small.
He stared at Mike blankly before an excruciating pain flared in his chest. He gasped, holding his chest. Twilight encased him with a brief spell before the pain dulled slightly.
"What in the world happened to you?" Twilight asked, staring at him.
"Easy Twi, give him a minute." AJ asked, putting a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.
He frantically looked around the room, hearing voices. 'He's the enemy, kill him' repeated over and over in his mind. He grabbed his head. "There's something in my head!" He yelled.
Twilight and AJ shared a look before AJ forcibly kissed him. His eyes widened and his face turned red. He slowly let go of his head and continued to stare into her eyes. She pushed away, the voices disappearing.
"Did that help?" She asked shyly and her face bright red.
He stared at her blankly, his face bright red, before nodding.
"Good, now let me try that again." She said, slowly leaning forward, resting her lips on his. She closed her eyes as he stared at her, his mind blank before he succumbed to it, closing his eyes as well.
Discord's influence seemed to finally vanish as Martin regained control of his body again. It ached and was exhausted as he enjoyed the kiss before his mind caught up to what he did.
He broke the kiss and stared at the ground. "What have I done?"
"Martin it's ok, it wasn't yer fault. You were under Discord's influence."
He slowly turned his head and looked at Mike. "I-I did that to him?"
Mike's body was bruised and there were finger marks around his throat. Blood continuously poured from his broken snout and mouth. His left eye was swollen shut and he limply held his fake eye. Martin saw the remnants of Mike's glasses on the floor.
He bent down and picked them up. "Oh no… no, no, no…" He looked at his friend.
"Martin, Ah'm sure he'll understand". AJ said, trying to reassure him.
Tears rolled down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, so, so, so sorry…"
"For what? Just like being at home aye?" Mike wheezed. "Well I think you did do a little more damage this time…" He chuckled.
Martin kneeled in silence, holding what's left of his glasses. "I-"
Mike groaned in pain. "But you're back right? No crazy Martin?"
"I-I'm a rocket ship, on my way to Mars." He said quietly.
Mike smiled. "Are you on a collision course?" He sighed. "Is Flutters around?"
Martin shook his head and stood up. "I don’t think so…"
"Ok then, I'm gonna take a nap…" Mike said, taking an unsteady breath and closed his eyes, his fake eye falling from his hoof to the ground.
Martin sighed. "Oh crap…" He grabbed the fake eye. "Umm… Michael? Michael?" He nudged Mike's head; it was unresponsive. He frowned. "To the hospital again." He picked him up and looked at Twilight and AJ.
Twilight glared at him as Mike floated out of his grasp and over to her. "Martin, go to the library now. I'll go take Mike to Nurse Redheart and get Fluttershy to watch over him. AJ go get the rest of the girls." Before either could respond, she teleported away, Mike going with her. AJ sighed as Martin looked around, noticing a pink tail hiding behind a suit of armor.
He slowly walked towards it. "Umm Pinkie, is that you?"
It eeped and started shaking. "Please… just go away…" Fluttershy sobbed.
Martin stood there, his legs frozen. "I…"
"Please…" She whispered even quieter.
"Fluttershy, Twi took Mike ta the hospital if ya want ta wait there…" AJ started to say but Fluttershy ran off, tears streaming from her eyes as she bolted towards the hospital.
He watched her leave, trying to yell after her but no sound came out.
AJ sighed. "Come on, let's go back to the library and get the girls." She said, walking away sadly.
He stared at the ground before turning around to follow AJ. They quickly rounded up the rest of the girls, minus Fluttershy and Twilight as they all waited back at the library.
"So what's all the fuss about?" Dash asked as she reclined on the couch.
Martin sighed, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. "It-I-"
"Spike, take a letter." Twilight said, appearing next to him. Everypony looked at her weirdly as Spike grabbed a quill and parchment. As she explained what happened Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie stared at the human, horrified. Dash looked like it took every fiber of her being not to pummel his face in, Rarity backed away from him, and Pinkie tilted her head, her mane slightly losing some of its puffiness.
Once she finished, silence filled the library. He looked at the assembled ponies. "I'm sorry…"
"Sorry? You're sorry?! I bet Michael feels differently!" Dash yelled, zooming into his face.
He stared back at her. "Do you think I wanted to do that? I couldn’t do anything to prevent it. Do you think I don’t feel terrible?"
"Well apparently you didn’t feel bad enough pounding his face in!"
He glared at her. "You didn’t see what I saw; you didn’t hear what I heard. The voices in my head; screaming, yelling at me… the burning pain." He grabbed his head with both hands. "I can still hear them, screaming faintly, yelling at me… to kill him! That’s all they say, over and over again."
Before anypony could say anything, the library door flew open and guards rushed in, surrounding Martin. "Twiliy, are you ok?" A unicorn stallion in armor said, his blue mane briefly visible underneath his helmet.
Martin slowly sunk to his knees, starting at the ground with his hands on his head. "Make it stop…" he pleaded.
The unicorn looked at him coldly. "On your feet, claws out." He demanded.
He slowly raised his head, staring at him. "I can hear them; I can still hear them…"
Twilight looked at Martin. "I don’t understand, we got rid of Discord's influence over you."
"It doesn’t matter; we're supposed to take him to Princess Celestia." The unicorn said, floating a pair hoof cuffs. "Now, claws out." He demanded again.
"Wait, what do you mean Shining?" Twilight asked.
"He's attacked a pony and he's been corrupted by Discord. Princess Celestia said that if he does anything like that, we're supposed to bring him before her."
Martin continued to stare at the unicorn. "It burns… it burns so much." Blood rolled out of his eye and down his cheek. "It burns." His eyes became bloodshot as his pupils turned red.
The ponies stared at Martin before both Twilight and Shining shot him with some form of spell and he fell over.
"What's wrong with him?" AJ asked worriedly.
"I don’t know but Celestia needs to be informed."
Martin was on the ground, shaking. "It hurts so much, why can I still hear them. Why can I still hear them?!" He yelled, slowly getting back on his feet as blood continued to come out of his eye.
"Ok, this is getting old." The stallion said as he zapped Martin with an electrical spell and his body started to spasm as all the nerves were shot.
He grunted, trying to resist. "I have to…" He stood in front of the group, his entire body shaking uncontrollably.
"You have to sit down!" Shining demanded. "We'll take you to Celestia and she'll decide what to do with you."
"I can't, they're screaming… yelling at me. I have no choice."
"You have a choice!" AJ yelled at him, stomping up to him. "You've always had a choice! If yer not 'man' enough to fight them, why bother?"
Martin stared at her, blood dripping from my chin. "I want them to stop, I don’t want to kill him but they make me."
"Fight it ya knucklehead! Everypony can make decisions; you just have to be convinced you made the right one. Do you want to keep hitting yer best friend till he dies?" She poked him in the chest. "Ah don’t care if Celestia herself yelled at you to kill anypony, it's your choice whether or not to follow through with it."
"I can't kill him, I will never kill him but the voices still scream at me. They yell at me." He closed his eyes for a second, the blood stopped but when he opened his eyes, his pupils were still red.
"Good, so you don’t wanna kill him." She paused as she exposed her neck. "Do ya wanna kill us? How about me? All ya have ta do is reach a bit and ya can snap mah neck."
He began to shake my head. "No… I don’t want to kill them! I don’t want to kill anyone!" He closed his eyes.
She leaned forward. "Then why did ya give up so easily? Remember the voices can be silenced if ya tell them too."
He stared at AJ and the others. "Make them stop, please… I'll do anything." He grunted in pain and clutched his head with his hands.
Twilight sighed as she walked up to him, against the advice of her brother. "Open up."
Martin stared at her; blood began to flow out of my eye again. "I don’t understand."
"Close your eyes and take a few breaths, calm your mind enough so I can hear them." She said, eyes closed as he could faintly make out that her eyes were glowing, her horn brighter than ever before.
He closed his eyes and tried to calm down, he grunted in pain a few times before he could feel the burning increase as the voices grow louder.
"Good." Cleansing magic washed through him, voices fighting against it, causing horrible pain. He screamed, holding his head in his hands. The magic intensified, the voices growing quieter as they became more painful. The battle in his head caused the world to spin. Finally, what felt like an eternity later, the voices were gone again and it was quiet in his mind, the only voice was Martin.
He opened his eyes, his pupils blue again. The blood on his cheeks had dried, his breathing was slow. He looked around the room, lowering his hands and letting go of his head. Twilight took a deep breath and light vanished from her eyes and she stumbled.
"Well, that was a lot harder than I thought." She said, smiling at them before passing out and slumped to the floor.
Martin caught her and hugged her tightly. "Thank you."
"Let. Go. Of. My. Sister." A voice seethed behind him and the blue maned unicorn looked at him, his eyes burning with anger. Dash was right next to him, ready to attack Martin and the guard's spears were all leveled on him.
He gently put her down and stood up, the unicorn barely reached Martin’s shoulder with his horn.
"Claws out." The stallion demanded again.
Martin looked at him for a moment before holding out his hand. They were instantly encased by hoofcuffs.
"You're under arrest per Princess Celestia's orders. Come with us so she can decide what to do with you." He briefly looked at Twilight sadly.
"Martin…" AJ said, looking at him as the guards led him out of the library and towards a chariot.
He looked at her sadly. "Don’t worry, I'll be back." They forced him inside, hitting the top of his head on the roof. A few guards squeezed inside, one being the captain. Most stayed in Ponyville, watching over the town as the chariot began its long journey to Canterlot.